by Kal Spriggs
"Go to hell," Forrest snapped. He cut the transmission. "What's the status of those vessels, are they turning to attack?"
"Negative," Petty Officer Godbey reported, "They've jumped to shadow space. We're getting hit by targeting radar from the moon, though."
Forrest brought up the main drives and the moon began to recede. "Any weapons fire?" he asked.
"Not yet, sir," Petty Officer Godbey responded.
"What kind of weapons do we have?" Forrest asked as he brought up the weapons systems.
"Uh, something called a 'GLAS' and some kind of pulse laser system," Elvis said. "I've got no idea what kind of effective range they have, but the GLAS uses a lot of power, whatever it is."
"Right," Forrest said. The bigger one seemed to be a forward mounted spinal weapon. Forrest frowned as he saw just how limited the system's firing arc was, with less than fifteen degrees of play. Lieutenant Medica was right, though, it did seem to use a tremendous amount of power.
He flipped through the other weapons systems, the ship mounted two pulse laser turrets for fighter or missile interception. Forrest also found an arming switch for missiles and but the fire control mechanism showed a number of safety-interlocks that he'd either have to bypass or fix to fire it.
"This sucks, anything that would be useful we either can't use or we don't know what it does..." Forrest complained. He brought up the defensive systems and saw active and passive stealth. "What the hell is active stealth?" Forrest asked. A stealth system generally included methods to shunt heat and electromagnetic noise in the opposite direction of enemy vessels. A stealth screen further used cool ionized gasses to mask emissions. But that wasn't an "active" system beyond the minimal power used to operate it.
Forrest closed out of those systems and brought up the navigational system. Time was the issue. They'd escaped from the base, but that didn't mean that Marius Giovanni wasn't preparing to scramble ready fighters or ships to stop them. The ship didn’t mount an ansible and the ansible platform in the system had been destroyed. The only way to get a message out was to deliver it themselves. He could plot a shadow space jump, the question was: which locations were saved in the ship's navigational computer.
The answer was: not many. At some point someone had wiped the navigational data. Someone had added data recently, their location, the Tanis System, and the Kapteyn's Star system.
Forrest knew that the smart thing would be to go to Tanis. He could contact Captain Beeson and warn him of the attack on Kapteyn's Star. But that might be too late. The voyage to the Tanis system would take thirty days. The journey from there to Kapteyn's Star would take another thirty-two days. The battle would be over by then, with either Reese's forces having won or lost.
If he went straight to the Kapteyn's Star system, he'd be outnumbered and the blockade would view him as hostile. If he was lucky they wouldn’t shoot at them, but they’d be far too busy engaged in a battle to listen to anything he had to say.
Yet his duty was clear. He had to stop Reese. There was no telling how much destruction the man could unleash with the power of the Enforcer Station. Forrest began the jump calculations to Kapteyn's Star.
"We don't have an ansible or anything useful like that, do we?" Forrest asked absently.
"Negative, sir," Petty Officer Godbey answered. "The base just launched two frigates and a squadron of fighters, they're headed our way."
Forrest just nodded, "Fine, we should have time..."
As he watched the enemy ships gain on them, he watched the navigational computer's progress, even as he checked their course against it. The calculations took less time than he would have expected. Apparently the jump from 767A36 to Kapteyn's Star was an easier calculation than most.
"Enemy is launching!" Petty Officer Godbey said.
Forrest brought the shadow space drive online and began to input the coordinates. As the indicators went green to confirm a good set of jump coordinates, he saw that the enemy missiles were nearing final acquisition. He initiated the jump.
***
"I told you he'd go to Kapteyn's Star," Marius said, a quiet, satisfied smile on his face. Most of the base's command center was empty. They'd already evacuated most of their personnel, save for key people. After all, it wouldn't do to scramble to evacuate after they had allowed prisoners to escape who knew the location of their secret base.
"You did," Spencer Penwaithe nodded in reply. "I have to say, I'm impressed. I think it's time for Admiral Collae's part, now." Spencer Penwaithe and Admiral Collae both stood opposite him on the far side of the tactical display. It would remain here, as evidence of their "hasty" departure, along with tidbits of information that would doubtlessly sow confusion and distrust among their opponents.
Admiral Collae spoke, "I'll depart to my vessel and make the call. I'd caution you, I think this plan has far more complexity than necessary."
Marius couldn't help but gloat a bit, "This plan has been the culmination of decades of work. Complexity is the spice for my revenge, Admiral. And this is a dish I'd prefer to savor. The beings that engineered my fall will come to realize that soon enough."
Admiral Collae departed without another word and Marius turned to Spencer, "You've made the preparations for the evacuation?"
"Of course," Spencer replied. "Though I'm curious what you'd like me to do with the prisoners who seized the hangar control?"
"Bring them," Marius said, "that kind of spirit is admirable." He couldn't allow them to talk, otherwise he'd have given them their freedom. Since the alternative was to kill them, he'd just keep them prisoner a little while longer.
Spencer turned to depart and then he paused, "You know, I've warned you before that I think you've let your personal life intrude too much upon our goals."
"You have," Marius cocked his head and he and Spencer met one another's gazes for a long moment. Spencer, he knew, wouldn't have gone to these efforts, not for one of his children. Then again, Marius thought, he's always been rather more clinical about such things. "We've sparred over such things before, Spencer. Do you really want to risk this operation when we are so close to success? Or need I remind you about what happened at Halcyon?"
Spencer grimaced a bit at the reminder, but he didn't look away. At Halcyon, Admiral Collae had brought in the pirate, Tommy King, to remove Admiral Mannetti. Spencer Penwaithe's plan had been to then seize Halcyon and the entombed alien base and fleet. The plan had backfired though. Admiral Mannetti had seized power, Admiral Collae had withdrawn, and then the United Colonies, tipped off by the former pirate Tommy King, had seized the planet. While they hadn't made a priority of getting those alien warships in working order, they'd reverse engineered some of the technology... and Spencer and Marius's plans for a powerful force to use against the Balor had failed.
Now, though, now they had nearly unlocked far greater potential.
"You really think that Reese will win your daughter over?" Spencer asked.
Marius shrugged, "If he doesn't, he'll bring her here. I think I'll have far more of an effect, in person." He broke the staring contest and moved away from the display, careful to keep his longtime ally and sometime opponent in his field of view. Spencer didn't normally result to anything as plebeian as personal violence, but that didn't mean he never used such tactics. Marius knew Spencer was entirely capable of shooting him in the back if he dropped his guard.
"If you or Admiral Collae ruin this for me," Marius said, "our alliance will be ended. Your little stunt at Halcyon? It was just part of the game, you and I understand that... but this? This would be personal. Deliver on what we agreed upon and I'll give you unlimited access. After we defeat our enemies, we could carve the rest of the galaxy into empires for ourselves. But if you cross me on this I'll use every bit of the power I gain to destroy you. There will be nowhere that you can hide from me."
Spencer didn't move from the display. He gazed down at it, his dark face thoughtful. "Ambition is a nice, predictable emotion. This, though, your love..."
Spencer spat the word, "That's something I don't trust, that I can't anticipate."
"Revenge is something you understand, though," Marius said, a reminder of the feud between Spencer Penwaithe and Thomas Kaid. "And believe me… that will be what motivates me if you betray me."
Spencer looked up again and he gave Marius a shallow nod. Not of agreement, but of understanding. He didn't necessarily understand why Marius wanted his daughter on his side, but he understood the consequences if he ruined the arrangement.
That would be enough, Marius hoped. Otherwise his daughter would pay for his trust with her life.
***
Chapter XV
Shadow Space aboard the UCS Constellation
March 1, 2410
Daniel paused in the midst of shaving as his comm chirped. He wiped away the foam and didn't bother to restrain a scowl. Many officers and enlisted opted for depilatory treatment that lasted the length of their service. Daniel's father, a staunch traditionalist, had insisted that Daniel learn to shave with a straight razor to the point that it had become ingrained in him. Daniel had hated shaving and he still hated it. It would be far easier and more convenient to receive the depilatory treatment once and never have to concern himself with it again.
Daniel missed his father and he shaved as a sort of communion, a shared experience that he somehow knew his father would have viewed with approval.
He altered the surface of the mirror to a display, "Yes?"
"Sorry to interrupt, sir," Lieutenant Meyers said. "We just received a transmission from Admiral Collae. I can play the entire transmission for you, but it appears that he believes an attack on the Kapteyn's Star Blockade is eminent."
Daniel rubbed his forehead. They were trapped in shadow space for another twelve hours. Their arrival at Luyten’s Star would allow them to change destinations, but if he remembered the star charts right, they'd be fifty-six days by a roundabout route to Kapteyn's Star. "Does he have any sort of confirmation and timeline?"
"Uh..." Lieutenant Meyers checked off-screen, "No confirmation, but he projects their attack force will arrive within five days. He says he can meet us as we arrive at Luyten’s Star."
Daniel bit his lip the timing didn't favor them. In fact, the initial battle would be over weeks before his ships could arrive. If Reese gained access to the Enforcer Station, he could destroy Daniel's entire task force upon emergence from shadow space.
Yet presumably whatever process he had in mind would require some time to complete. He’d have to defeat the blockade, land his shuttles, and make whatever preparations necessary for his attempt to take over the Enforcer Platform. And it was possible that navigation could come up with an acceptable direct route from Luyten’s Star to Kapteyn’s Star...
It's possible, Daniel thought, only barely, but still possible that we can stop him.
If he was wrong, the Enforcer Station could destroy his entire force. But if they didn't stop Reese, he'd be able to do that to thousands of ships across dozens of systems.
"Very well, as soon as we emerge from shadow space, we'll need to contact Kaigun Motogami. In the meantime, please prep the ansible for me to transmit to Kapitan Langsdorff and Chairman-Admiral Ortega."
"Sir, we'll be violating..."
"Admiral Collae has already violated the transmission protocols if he messaged us," Daniel said. And as much as he hated to think it, if these mystery enemies could get in position sooner to stop the attack, so much the better. "I'll be there in a few minutes."
He cut the connection and then sprayed some shaving foam on his face. Despite the stress and the worry and fear he felt, he finished shaving. It was something of an indicator and confidence builder for him. He held the straight razor steady as he completed his shave... and maybe that was what his father had wanted all along.
***
"I'm afraid," Langsdorff said, his voice tight, "that due to the political realities I cannot, under any authority, launch another attack into Confederation space."
That was what Daniel had feared, but he had still hoped that the Tau Ceti officer would prove those fears unfounded. "Chairman-Admiral Ortega has said much the same," Daniel replied. "Is there any chance that you could dispatch a ship even as a neutral observer..."
Langsdorff pursed his lips and he looked off-screen at someone. Daniel wondered if that meant some kind of political overseer had been assigned to the officer. "I will see if that is possible. Thank you for this information. Have you messaged Centauri about this impending attack?"
"I have," Daniel said, his face grim. Annabelle Spiridon had seemed dismissive, as if she doubted the credibility of the information. Then again, Daniel couldn't entirely dismiss the probability that Admiral Collae sought to set him up. She'd given him a warning that any intrusion upon the blockade would be met with lethal force.
Which hopefully means she'll reinforce the system, Daniel thought to himself.
"I wish you the best of luck, Senior Captain," Langsdorff said. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but he cut the comm without a further word.
Daniel looked at Lieutenant Commander Capdepon who had arrived in the middle of the ansible call, followed by Rory and Feliks, "Have we run the numbers on the course?"
"One hundred and three hours," Lieutenant Capdepon said. “There is a charted course, but it’s one that’s recommended for military traffic only due to the… unstable nature of some of the route. I gather shadow space in that region is extremely volatile.”
Daniel frowned at that. While all of shadow space was in constant motion, there were pockets of unstable shadow space that made travel riskier. Those tended to be areas where more ships than normal vanished and spacers avoided those areas whenever possible. Still, the risks in such routes were generally overstated and shaving over fifty days off their travel time was worth the risk.
Daniel glanced at his conference room chrono. They would arrive at Luyten’s Star in another twenty-two hours. That meant they’d arrive seven hours after Reese. That was pushing the limits of their best projections on his efforts to capture the system.
"Captain Beeson," Rory spoke up, "I wonder if I could make a suggestion?"
Daniel's eyebrows went up. He would not expect Rory to phrase any suggestion in such a neutral fashion unless he had serious reservations about speaking up. "I'm listening."
"At the Akris system," Rory began, "I was monitoring the situation on the bridge and I can’t help but think about what happened when you were initially unable to plot a navigational jump..."
Daniel winced. They'd been bombarded by heavy radiation from the accretion disk around the black hole. Systems had begun to fail in a cascading fashion and a few more minutes would have doomed the ship. They didn't have star charts for the next jump and the explosive remnants from the star going nova had blocked any visual of stars beyond the system.
It should have been impossible for Lieutenant Forsberg to plot a course thought that, he thought. Yet thinking back, it hadn't been Lieutenant Forsberg who plotted that course... it had been Alannis Giovanni. Daniel's eyes narrowed and Rory nodded as he saw Daniel’s expression shift.
Rory ran a hand through his thinning hair, "I think—“
“We think,” Feliks corrected.
“Yes, well, we think that Lieutenant Giovanni might have some psychic abilities so she might be able to shave some time of the course," Rory said.
“There is at least a fifty percent chance,” Feliks nodded, his owl-like expression serious.
"And if she isn't," Daniel replied, "then we'll be out the time she tries to calculate a course. Even if she is, there's a good chance that she doesn't know what she's doing and it might not work."
"We'll already be seven hours late, sir," the XO said, "What's another twenty minutes?"
Daniel frowned, but as he considered it, he couldn't argue with that logic. If it didn't work, then they'd be out the time spent trying. If it did...
Daniel had been there at the Third Battle of Farday, whe
n they'd managed to jump on top of the Balor fleet, from inside the same star system. A powerful psychic named Kandergain had made that jump, but longer jumps were generally far easier, often by orders of magnitude, than shorter jumps.
"It doesn't hurt to ask, I suppose," Daniel said. "XO, please send Lieutenant Giovanni up."
***
"You want me to what?" Alannis stared at her Captain in shock.
"There's a strong possibility that what you did was tap into a natural psychic ability," Daniel said, "I did a bit of research while I was waiting, and it seems that spontaneously projecting a course like that through shadow space is generally a sign of such abilities."
"I could have just been lucky," Alannis shook her head. "For that matter, Princess-- that is, Empress-- Hycar is psychic and it could be some kind of weird resonance with her abilities..."
"Possibly," Captain Beeson nodded. "But look at it this way, Lieutenant. We're going to arrive at the Kapteyn's Star system seven hours after Reese's forces. That's seven hours that he has to defeat or drive off the blockade force and do whatever it is he's going there to do."
Alannis closed her eyes as she considered that. It seemed ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. She was a grown woman, she'd been in hazards and dangers, nearly been gunned down, seen friends killed in front of her... she would think that some ability would have manifested beyond a gift of navigation.
Her mind shied away from the very thought... which startled her. Why should it be so hard to think about? Her grandmother had been a powerful psychic and if what her brother had told her was true, then her great-grandmother had also been a powerful psychic. As far as she knew, such things tended to run in families... but that would imply that her father and brother should have such abilities as well.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt a headache coming on. It wasn't as if she wanted such abilities. In some ways, it would be the last thing she wanted. Yet as she forced herself to consider it, it felt as if she had slammed her head into a brick wall and then bounced off.
