Operation Wolfsbane

by Shane Lochlann Black

  Annora broke the medical kit out of the second aircar and went to work stabilizing Ensign Tyran, who seemed to have gotten the brunt of the crash. Commander McGrath had a broken wrist which was quickly tended to with an inflatable field splint.

  “We need to get moving,” Dupree said under her breath. “Every minute we wait is going to make it harder to locate her.”

  Alexander nodded. “I’m with you, sergeant. Gotta defer to the commander, however. It’s not our mission.”

  “Don’t worry, Sergeant Dupree,” Annora said as she put the finishing touches on a dressing for Ensign Tyran’s most serious wound. “We’re not going to have any trouble locating Shea.”

  “I beg your pardon, ma’am?”

  Annora looked up with a confident grin. “I’m an SAR officer. I know where everybody is.”

  Eight

  “Okay, explain this to me like I’m not an engineer,” Jason Hunter said. He and Commander O’Malley had convened one of their traditional high-ranking pow-wows on the engineering deck right at the base of reactor six.

  “It’s the same technology we used before. We’re just adapting it to work inside a Barker-Type wormhole instead of using it in open space,” Yili replied. “It’s more efficient. That’s what gives us the high speed.”

  “And you can take a landing party and just drop them into place on the Achaen Station using the same technology?”

  “Correct. We simply create an adapted drive field and the wormhole at the same time. No destruction or reconstruction. All you’re doing is stepping through a doorway.”

  “Kind of like those fairy tale stories where you step through into a fantasy world!” Zony added. “And we can do it all without violating the laws of physics. Know why?”

  “I wouldn’t dream of guessing,” Hunter said. O’Malley looked on, intrigued by the energy in the conversation. He was beginning to understand why the Bandit Jacks were so effective as a fighting force.

  “Because we’re not in normal space,” Zony said triumphantly, rocking back and forth on her heels. “Yili taught me that.”

  “Okay then,” Jason said with a delighted expression. “What’s the next step?”

  “Put us in orbit around Achae Three and we’ll test the system using inert materials and the station’s own security grid.”

  “But you said people have to ‘step through’ this thing. How are you going to make it work on inert matter?”

  “We simply move the wormhole,” Yili said. “That’s the best way to describe it without going into five-dimensional physics.”

  “Good enough for me,” Hunter replied. “What’s the maximum range of this thing?”

  “I wouldn’t want to try to keep it stable beyond about a thousand or two thousand miles,” Curtiss replied. Someday we’ll be able to do better but for now that’s where I’d draw the line.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll get us in a high orbit and we’ll do some tests. I can say I will be most gratified if I can perform a search of the station without having my landing parties climbing from deck to deck inside that thing. I’m not at all enthusiastic about going down there anyway.”

  “You’re not joining the landing party, are you, sir?” O’Malley asked.

  “Of course,” Hunter replied. “I can’t ask my crew to do something I wouldn’t do first.”

  “But we really should test this wormhole thing first before we risk our C.O.”

  “If Yili says it will work, that’s also good enough for me,” Hunter replied, patting the XO on the back. “I’m headed back to the bridge. Let me know what you need and when, engineer.”

  Curtiss and Zony stared. They hadn’t expected they would be testing their new portal device with the captain in the lead!

  A few minutes later, Hunter took his post at the Argent conn. “Alright Yolanda. Set a course for Achae Three approach. I want a standard orbit zero point five degrees off the station’s course. Set alert condition two. Battle screens to maximum.”

  “Acknowledged,” Lieutenant McInerney said. “New course delta five mark negative three. Engines to 60% power. We will achieve standard orbit in eighteen minutes.”

  “XO, you’ll have to get used to the ongoing science fair around here,” Hunter said as his ship accelerated towards the inner system. “We’ve got autonomous fighters, gunships that can talk, planets we can fit inside a very large cave, conversion drive that can get me from star system to star system in a long weekend and now we can create portals from ship to surface and surface to ship.”

  “It does present some interesting tactical advantages, sir. Just think what we could do with boarding parties and marine actions. Imagine what we could do with surface combat. If this thing works on large enough formations we could win a war of maneuver without firing a shot.”

  “A fine idea. I’m quite taken with the idea of miniaturizing this thing and equipping fighters with it. No more need to eject and wait for a pickup in a life support capsule. Now we could simply zap the pilot out of their damaged fighter and back to our flight deck. Provided we’re in range, of course.”

  “Very good, sir,” O’Malley said. “With your permission I’d like to observe the experiments from the engineering deck. If this technology is going to be part of our standard arsenal, I want to be well acquainted with its idiosyncrasies as quickly as possible.”

  “That’s why I picked you for XO, Cochrane. You’re the details guy the admiralty has been trying to find for this ship since she was built. Learn all you can about it, and while you’re at it, I’m appointing you as the officer in charge of finding a name for the tech. We need to know what we’re doing when we activate Yili’s Barking wormhole field drive or whatever the hell she said. Get all the specs down on paper too so we have something to wave in the air back at headquarters. You know how much officers with desks love to have something to stack on them.”

  “Acknowledged. Request permission to form a landing party for the station.”

  “Granted. Keep me advised.”

  Argent settled into orbit over Achae Three with her entire electronic warfare suite on a hair trigger. Although it was standard procedure to “clear the arc” with combat space patrol fighters before putting a warship in a position where targets could easily hide from her instruments by using the planet to disrupt line-of-sight, in this instance Hunter was far more interested in keeping his pilots safe until all the potential hazards had been identified.

  The captain took the unusual step of actually walking up the steps to the signals station and leaning on the console while Zony worked to get a sensor report on the planet surface.

  “The key question, commander, is what might be on the surface of this planet that would affect the people on the station,” the captain said.

  Zony worked efficiently enough to have a preliminary analysis of the surface up on the screen in moments. “We don’t have a classification for this planet type, sir. I can say the surface is not made out of this unusual alloy. The atmosphere is not conducive to carbon-based life. It is a mixture of ammonia, methane, sulfur dioxide and sodium. Surface temperature is 300 degrees Fahrenheit at the equator. Gravity is about 10% stronger than Earth. Planet’s core consists of about a dozen heavy elements. Its magnetic field is relatively strong but is prone to wild fluctuations.”

  “Magnetic field. Could that have an effect on the station?”

  “It could, sir. Although the Achaen Station is equipped with fairly capable shields. They wouldn’t protect the facility in combat but they certainly should be able to modulate whatever effects the planet might have.”

  “There’s a piece that’s missing here,” Hunter said as he wandered back to the conn impatiently. “Maybe it’s aboard the station. Give me a sensor sweep of it and the surrounding space.”

  “No life forms. Internal pressure eight pounds per square inch. Unusually high concentrations of water vapor. Atmosphere is breathable but the temperature is too low for a landing party without environmental suits.”

>   “What about power?”

  “Most of the station is dark,” Zony replied. “According to the spectrometry report, the auxiliary reactors still have fuel. The batteries are all dead. Main power has been offline for quite some time.”

  Hunter pondered the screen for a moment, then grabbed the black handset from the overhead console. “Engineering, Bridge. What are the chances of a power transfer to the Achaen Station? Can we get life support operational and restore basics before we try and send a landing party over there?”

  “We could launch a Copernicus,” Lieutenant Madison replied. “If we can open the landing bay manually, we could set down and power the station with our capsule reactors.”

  “What are the risks?”

  “Can’t think of any off-hand. There’s always something unexpected, though.”

  “I heard that. Stand by engineering. Alright commander, my mad inventors club informs me I can land a corvette over there and get us power and life support. That obviates the need for Yili’s portal device, but I have a thought about the best way to test it.”

  “I can’t wait to hear this,” Zony said.

  “Annora will be so pleased with me,” Hunter said in an exaggerated tone as he cast a smirk at the signals station. “We’re going to portal an angel over there to look for wounded.”

  “Now that is an innovative idea!” Zony replied, returning Jason’s smirk. “I thought the mad inventors club was where all the smart people worked.”

  “Ah, but you see I invented the inventors club.”

  Zony rolled her eyes.

  “One of the perks of being captain. I get to take credit for what the smart people do. Yolanda, re-verify our range to target and keep us in synchronous orbit with the Achaen Station. As soon as everything is lined up we’ll turn the portal people loose.”

  “Acknowledged. Range now 41.7 miles and holding. Orbital velocity 22,000 miles per hour. We’re in the pipe.”

  “Signals, any unusual readings from the star, planet or station?”

  “Negative.”

  Jason spoke into the handset. “Alright engineering. You’ve got the green light. Transport an angel on to the operations deck. Coordinate with Flight Two and get me a Copernicus spun up for a temporary power supply on the double.”

  “Acknowledged, captain. Jets in ten.”

  Hunter slammed the handset back into its overhead cradle. He leaned back with a confident expression. “We’re going to teleport an angel to the space station. You know if I said that back at headquarters they would bust me down to command of the snack bar.”

  “That might have its share of perks too,” Zony teased.

  “Good point.”

  Meanwhile, in fusion chamber six, a small audience had gathered for what some of the crew members described as the commander’s “magic trick.” An angel autonomous medical rescue unit had been procured from one of the Tranquility corvettes and had been guided to a small dais surrounded by half-disassembled electronics, cords, wires and scattered tools. An ad hoc control console of sorts had been hastily built for the test. It was situated roughly five yards from the platform where the angel dutifully waited, floating on the power of its internal counter-grav.

  Commander Curtiss was in her element. She moved from control panel to platform and back, using a specialized field analysis unit to make certain her theory about surrounding something human-sized with a drive field wasn’t going to accidentally surround half the reactor chamber and some of the audience members at the same time. As far as she could tell, all of the numbers were adding up as expected. Yili tapped her commlink.

  “Zony, I’m transmitting all the numbers to you. Take one final look and tell me if my math is right.”

  The response was instant. “If your math is right? How am I supposed to know?”

  “Because you’re the only other senior officer who took and passed theoretical physics.”

  “Why did I take that class? You know, I seem to remember you talked me in to taking that class.”

  “Because I predicted that one day you and I would be the queens of five-dimensional mechanics.”

  “Ooh, if you zap half the engine room over there, it’s not my fault!”

  A few moments later, the numbers came back. Yili’s math was correct, at least as far as the Argent signals section was concerned. Yili switched her commlink. “Madison, divert one percent of reactor six power to the portal matrix.”

  “Acknowledged, reactor six. Power at your command.”

  The console and platform lit up as expected. Yili had her power. Now she had to perform a three-step operation, and it had to start and finish in only a few seconds. Fortunately, the first thing she accomplished after building the control console was to automate the start-up sequence. All she had to do was activate the device. Argent’s main computer was set to handle the sequencing.

  “With your permission, XO.”

  Commander O’Malley looked surprised for a moment, then grinned. “At the engineer’s discretion.”

  “Okay, stand by.”

  Yili activated the portal device. For a moment, it didn’t appear anything was happening. Then a faintly visible cylinder of energy appeared around the angel. There was a brief glimmer of what looked like tiny flecks of brightly colored metal around the device’s hull. Then it faded from view.

  “Transport complete.”

  The people in engineering looked very much like the people on the bridge. Everyone was hesitant, not entirely sure what had just happened. It was clear the angel was gone. But where?

  On the bridge, the captain was staring at the high-definition image of the Achaen Station, wondering if perhaps the activation of Yili’s new portal device would somehow register inside one of the windows or something. After a few moments, he swiveled towards the signals station, where Zony was working intently.

  “How did the test go?”

  The signals officer nodded towards the screen. Hunter swiveled back and was greeted by a view of a circular corridor. The walls and visible hatches looked worn. Most had marks and residue from where it appeared dirty water or sludge had leaked from the ceiling. The floor was covered with debris.

  “This is the feed from the angel?”

  “Affirmative, sir. Transport successful.”

  “Put engineering on the MC.”

  Zony switched the intraship. The sounds of cheering and clapping filled the bridge. Hunter’s face broke into a wide smile. Zony looked up and laughed at the celebratory noise.

  “Engineer? I think we just teleported a piece of sophisticated electronics about 40 miles. What say you?”

  “Bridge, engineering.” Yili sounded both relieved and thrilled. “We’re getting a full telemetry feed from angel four. Its in perfect working condition. All the pieces are in place. Total energy usage was 12% below estimates! I’m calling it a successful test.”

  “Very well, engineer. Now for the second half of the festivities. Let’s see if you can lock on to the angel and zap it back to reactor six.”

  “We’re going to have to drop our drive field to do that, sir. We can transport out, but we can’t transport back through our battle screens.”

  “Understood,” Hunter said. “Zony, we’re certain there’s nothing hazardous in orbit.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Very well. Tactical, lower our screens until further instructed.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  “Alright, commander, you’re green.”

  The voices in reactor six hushed again as Yili went back to the controls on the console. The cylinder of light appeared again just as before. The sparkling metal formed a shape before everything disappeared, leaving only angel four behind.

  “Transport complete. We have it, sir.” Another cheer.

  “Very good. Tactical, raise shields. Zony, notify flight two I want the Copernicus to navigate to the utility deck on level 28 of the station. Once we have power and life support, the XO and I will take a landing party and find
out what the hell happened over there.”

  Nine

  “There it is in black and white,” Lucas Moody sighed. His weight settled into the shock couch. He tossed his pistol on the Triton facility’s main SRS console on sub-level one. “They are setting this planet and this manufacturing facility up as a listening post.”

  “An early warning station,” Oakshotte growled. “They can respond much more quickly to reinforcements coming through the Descartes gate if they know about them in advance.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if there are other relays in-system. They might even trail as far back as Gaelphos itself.”

  “One thing puzzles me, Lookah Moo,” Oakshotte said as his muscular frame leaned over the controls. “This planet of yours. This Mycenae Ceti Four. There are Sarn there. Tens of thousands of them. They may be your enemies without you even knowing. And that planet is in perfect position to relay communications from this station and the gate back to Gaelphos.”

  “For all we know, they could be coordinating their attack from that planet.”

  “But now we know it may be hostile.”

  Moo absently looked at Oakshotte’s whiskery face. An idea began to form.

  “If the Sarn can use this facility as an early warning station, maybe we can too.”

  “You have a plan?”

  “Their communications would have to be LOS or at least tightly constrained to avoid alerting our ships once they are navigating in-system. Those LOS transmissions have to make use of targeting coordinates. What if we pointed the orbital communications relay at those coordinates and used it to boost our SRS gain?”

  “We might get readings on whatever is relaying our signals.”

  “And once we know where they are, we can perform the same trick at each node in the relay network. We could map the entire Sarn presence in the Mycenae Ceti system.”