“Will it?” she asked.
“No, but my nanites have just about balanced the fluid in your ears. You should be feeling better now.”
Charlotte blinked a few times, then stood and noticed the whole crew, including Karishma, gathered around her. “Sorry, did all of you go through this?”
“I think everyone was affected to some degree except Rick, Annchi, and me,” said Misha with a grin, “but then again, I don’t think we can be successfully poisoned.”
Omandi gave her a flat stare and Rick said, “Damien, Annchi, Misha and I do not seem affected by gate transit. Linnea and James had symptoms similar to yours, just far less severe. Again, I believe the subterranean nature of this cavern contributed to the effect.”
The doctor stared pointedly at Keung, who shrugged, and said, “Similar to my first days in zero G, not great, but not debilitating.”
Charlotte took another long breath, then said, “Well, hopefully we won’t be using these gates very often,”
“Very often,” blurted Karishma, “Captain, please, in the name of my thirty-three million gods, how about we never use them again, except in space?”
Charlotte rolled her shoulders, gave a thankful glance to Rick, then extended her hand to the chief engineer who smiled and accepted the gesture. “Great to finally meet you, Karishma. It seems you’ve pulled off a miracle.”
“Yeah,” interrupted James, “and the miracle refuses to open up and let us in. Can you please come outside the construction building?” The Irishman reached over, took hold of Omandi’s arm, and began tugging her toward a nearby door.
Charlotte shot a look at Karishma as she fell into step beside James. “I was referring to her miraculous singularity gates, Lt. Branson. Now, I can see you’re excited, but please stop tugging.”
Karishma leaned in and fake-whispered, “Truth be told, Captain, I’m a bit anxious to unlock Bladerunner as well.”
“We all are,” added Linnea.
James sprinted ahead several feet and two large doors swept outward. He stared back at the group, as they approached, then spun and pointed. Omandi couldn’t help but smile at the look on his face. It reminded her of a religious painting where Saint Teresa basked in the glory of God. She crossed the threshold to stand beside Branson and followed the line of his outstretched arm. Charlotte felt her stomach twist and dance as her eyes swept upward.
“It’s huge,” she whispered.
“She’s fecking gorgeous!” cried James, and he bounced forward several feet, then pointed again. “Have you ever seen anything as beautiful in your entire life? I know I haven’t.” The pilot shot a furtive glance toward Misha who just snickered and shook her head.
Bladerunner gleamed beneath the glow of countless lights embedded in the cavern’s rough cut roof. It rested on four massive metal pylons, each the size of a mid-rise office building. The pylons rose from an equally large circle that had been etched into the cavern’s floor. Four strips of polished rock led to the circle’s center as if each were coming from one of the compass cardinals.
James pointed to where the polished areas almost met. “That’s how we get in. Karishma said there’s a magnetic lift thing that works like some kind of tubular elevator.”
“I did not call it a magnetic lift thing, Lieutenant. It’s a mag-lift.” Patel turned to Charlotte and said, “Once active, the Bladerunner can extend a pressure sealed conduit that is lined with electro-magnets. The base of that conduit is conductive, as well, and can be raised or lowered to provide ingress and egress to the ship’s main body. It will also provide hard seals to other ships we may need to board in space. There are similar, but smaller, mag-lifts within Bladerunner, herself, that facilitate transit between decks.”
“I’ve reviewed the specs, Captain,” offered Misha. “It should provide significantly better breaching capabilities than what we cobbled together when cutting into that Chinese shuttle, on our way back from Luna.”
Omandi nodded absently, and said, “Yes, you’ll have to fill me in on that later.”
“Yes, sir,” said Misha, “but I also think it’s important to—”
Linnea reached over and tapped Sokolov on the shoulder. “Give her a minute to catch up. You stared at the damned ship with your mouth hanging open for thirty minutes before managing to ask your first tactical question.”
The security officer nodded in mild chagrin. Everyone took a step back, as Charlotte circled around to the right, and Karishma fell into step beside her. Omandi pointed at the twin wing-like structures that extended down from the main fuselage.
Karishma said, “Those provide atmospheric lift in case of main power failure. They also house some of the weapons systems and shield emitters.”
Charlotte’s eyes traced upward, past two long rows of, what appeared to be, rectangular windows. Above them rested a long oval. It was broad to aft and tapered toward the ship’s bow. Karishma joined Omandi as she continued to circle the ship. “Those are the Alcubierre nacelles. That is Terran technology. It is an additional faster-than-light mechanism to the singularity gate propulsion that the Drac’ath use. We could lose either one and still be able to warp space-time.”
Omandi paused. “I’m surprised Howard-Prime opted for what seems like such a major redundant system.” She stared at Karishma, then added, “Given the time constraints, I assume it wasn’t easy to do both?”
Patel gave a mirthless laugh, “It was not easy at all, Captain, and it wasn’t Doctor Howard’s idea. He wanted to stick with gravity-well sub-light propulsion coupled with singularity gate FTL since the combination would be most familiar to the Drac’athians. He also wasn’t well versed on Alcubierre drive mechanics. I was well versed, so decided to build both.”
Charlotte furrowed her brow. “Why?”
Karishma glanced back to the others and lowered her voice. “I don’t trust Nerr’ath or her people, Captain. Any race willing to commit planet-scale genocide makes me nervous.”
“Understandable,” said Omandi, smiling.
“Well, so I figured they must have some automated means of confirming a successful FTL jump, but what if they don’t want us to succeed?”
Charlotte frowned, then said, “I’m not sure I follow. Why would Nerr’ath go to all the trouble to—”
Karishma waved away the comment. “Not her, sir. The people that sentenced her. If she succeeds, they look like fools, right? I’ve read all the materials Doctor Howard provided on that Galactic Confederation of theirs. It hasn’t materially changed in thousands of years. When someone suggested it should, they turned her into a lizard-cicle, then shot her into space.” The engineer shook her head, “Anyway, I just feel better having some tech that I understand and they likely do not.”
Omandi reached up and squeezed the younger woman’s shoulder. “Fair enough, and who am I to judge? You managed to build two FTL systems, rather than one, so it seems the height of stupidity for me to look that gift horse in the mouth.” Charlotte turned back to the ship and pointed at three different areas. “What are those?”
“Oh,” began Karishma, “that top part opens up similar to how the old twentieth century U.S. space shuttle functioned. That’s where the Galileo and Kepler are stowed when not in use.” The Captain arched an eyebrow and Patel smiled. “Oh, you don’t know about the Kepler. Sorry, Captain, she is the Galileo’s sister shuttle. Kepler’s in there now and I planned to have James remotely pilot Galileo to us, after launch.” The engineer shrugged. “I had an unlimited budget, and figured if you’re going to build one, you might as well build two. It’s not like I was doing the actual work. I just programed the construction-bots to run a parallel process to—”
Charlotte’s eyes widened as she interrupted the chief engineer. “You didn’t build another—”
“Bladerunner?” laughed Karishma, “Don’t be silly, uh, Captain.”
Omandi nodded, “You’re right, dumb question.” She nodded back to the ship, “What about those two triangles and chevrons benea
th the ship’s bow?”
“The triangles above the nose are each view ports…really big viewports. According to the specs, they are located on either side of Bladerunner’s command deck, are made of crystalized aluminum, and take up the entire forward wall of each room in which they’re installed. The left one is in your salon-slash-office and the right one is for the command deck’s conference room. The chevrons are part of the ship’s plasmatic shielding array and also contain holographic emitters.”
Charlotte and Karishma had just completed their three-hundred-sixty degree circuit when James bounded up to them. “The holographic emitters are part of Bladerunner’s activation sequence,” he said in a rapid staccato.
“Really,” said Omandi, “that seems odd. Why would you need—”
“It’s not just for that, Captain,” interrupted Karishma, with a sidelong glance at Branson. “Smaller emitters are equipped throughout the ship in addition to the primary one mounted there. They are designed to enable external communication for us, and others who may not have access to authorized hand terminals.”
“But it is also part of the activation sequence,” pressed James.
Patel stared daggers at the Irishman, then said, “The pilot is correct, Captain.”
Omandi continued to stare up at the ship for several seconds, then asked, “It does seem pretty dark up there, why haven’t you activated her systems?”
“We can’t,” blurted James, then cut himself off and shifted his weight from foot-to-foot, as Karishma projected her voice. “Bladerunner, activate systems.”
A deep hum filled the cavern and the ship’s front chevron glowed a teal blue. The crew were surrounded by a broad beam of projected light. Within and above them, swirls of light coalesced to form a face that smiled down at the small assemblage.
“Coleman?” asked Omandi, “Is that you?”
“Greetings, Captain Omandi,” replied the familiar voice, then he focused on Karishma. “I am sorry, Lt. Commander, as I mentioned, on five previous occasions, only the captain may initiate ship’s systems.”
The chief engineer frowned at Charlotte and spread her hands. “Doctor fucking Howard,” she grumbled. “I’m good enough to build the damn ship, but not good enough to turn her on. It’s one of his accursed trigger-locks.”
“Not just one,” said Coleman, “the last.”
“This is the last trigger locked event?” asked Charlotte.
The AI seemed to consider this, then said, “As far as I know, yes. Would you like to activate all of Bladerunner’s primary systems and initiate the boarding sequence?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” murmured James, almost as if it were a mantra.
Charlotte pursed her lips and said, “Karishma, do you know where we are located right now?”
The engineer shook her head, “I wasn’t lying before, Captain. I honestly don’t know, but I do think it is somewhere near my home country.”
Chao said, “That’s interesting, why would you think that?”
Karishma shrugged, “Just because when Doctor Howard bustled me off here, it didn’t take very long. Even with a supersonic aircraft, we couldn’t have gotten too far.”
Omandi turned back to Coleman. “Where exactly are we located?”
“I’m sorry, Captain Omandi, that information is secured by a Howard-Prime event trigger-lock.”
“And what event is that?” she asked
“Captain-level authorization of Bladerunner systems,” replied the AI crisply.
Charlotte nodded and turned to face her crew. “Seems we’ve gone as far as we can go without the big girl up there. I think we should be prepared for gaining some unwanted attention when she lights up, unless Howard-Prime thought of that too. Questions…” She watched as everyone shared looks, but no-one said anything. Omandi locked eyes with Chao, “How about you, Commander?” She gestured toward Annchi, then added, “Seems you are also placing a loved one in the metaphorical hands of our new ship.”
Before he could respond, Annchi said, “Actually, Captain, I am placing myself in your hands. Were my father to have his way, I’m sure he would cloister me away on an idyllic farm somewhere.”
Aside from a slow and steady inhalation, Chao seemed to ignore his daughter’s interruption and inclined his head to Omandi, “Sir, where you go, I follow. We have drilled extensively with internal simulations while at Ice Station Zebra. However, if Bladerunner powering up is not detected, the crew would certainly benefit from some hands-on time with the actual ship. If we are detected, I am ready and they are ready.”
Omandi tilted her head back slightly and addressed the hologram. “Coleman, this is Captain Charlotte Omandi. Initiate primary Bladerunner systems and provide access to all those present per operating parameters Omandi one-alpha.”
The cavern rumbled and dust, which had previously settled across much of the ship, floated down like so many snowflakes. Bladerunner’s forward facing nacelles began to glow red-orange even as soft light filtered from the ships many portholes. Coleman’s voice boomed through the cavern. “Howard event trigger lock seven of seven complete and satisfied. TSS 1701 Bladerunner is now under the command of Charlotte Omandi. Per your previous question, Captain, we are located approximately forty-two meters beneath the surface of Narcondam Island’s volcanic mountain.”
“Narcondam Island,” began Omandi, “I don’t—”
“It’s a small island formed around a long dormant volcano,” interrupted Karishma. “I knew we had to be close to India. Narcondam is about eight-hundred miles east of Vizag.” She noticed the blank faces, and sighed. “Vizag is the financial capital for the state of Andhra Pradesh.” She grimaced, then pointed to her left “It’s a very nice place about halfway down India’s eastern coast…that way.” Karishma glanced down at her hand terminal. “We’re fortunate Doctor Howard chose this location. I doubt anyone will be expecting a starship to lift off from a tiny island in the Andaman sea.” She tapped at the device. “Speaking of which, battery power is nominal, Captain. The ships’s asking if I want to authorize deuterium injection.” She paused and looked up at Omandi. “Uh, it’s what is needed for the fusion engine to—”
“I understand that much, thank you, Lt. Commander,” said Charlotte with a smile. “And you don’t need my permission to do your job. All I want to know is if you are ready to, as our pilot would say, light this candle?”
The chief engineer grinned back and swiped across her terminal without looking. “I’ve been ready, sir.” She glanced down again. “Fusion reactor is online. Batteries at thirty-five percent and rising. Primary systems are now running on a continuous deuterium reaction. Secondary systems are shifting to fusion power now.” Karishma gave James a pointed look, then added, “Magnetic boarding system is online.”
The pilot’s eyes widened, he took several steps past the group, then turned back to face them. “Captain?”
She shook her head. “You don’t need my permission to do your job either. Unless you have some way to pilot the ship from down here, Lieutenant, I suggest you get us inside.”
Apparently, James needed no further encouragement and he all but yelled, “Coleman, we have nine ready for immediate boarding.”
“Deploying magnetic tunnel, please stand clear,” said Coleman. Seconds later, a whirring came from far above and a translucent vertical tunnel descended from the Bladerunner. It’s round platform landed on the cavern floor with a metallic clang and one section of the tunnel-wall parted. Without a backward glance, James sprinted for the platform and hopped onto it. He turned and gestured as everyone began moving toward him. Once all nine of them were safely standing within the reinforced tubular structure, James tapped a control panel along one section of the curved wall. The opening sealed shut and they felt the surrounding pressure increase slightly.
James let his finger hover over the panel’s glowing green button for a moment. They all looked at him expectantly. He shook his head once, grinned, and said, “Here we go.” Branson dropped hi
s finger and the button immediately shifted from green to blue. Everyone reached for one of the tunnel’s handholds as the mag-lift swept them into Earth’s first starship and last hope for humanity. They were boarding the Bladerunner.
Chapter 42
Launch
The mag-lift hissed to a gentle stop, it’s door slid open, and all nine of Bladerunner’s new inhabitants piled out. Coleman opened his arms in greeting. “It is wonderful to see all of you safely aboard. Might I suggest a quick tour of the primary sections before—”
Chao interrupted. “Coleman, are the ship’s external sensors online?”
“Of course, sir. They are part of Bladerunner’s primary systems.”
“Good,” he said, “Have there been any changes to indicate we’ve been detected?”
“Oh, I am sorry, sir,” replied Coleman, “I did not understand the intent of your question. While the sensors are online, they cannot effectively function beyond the cavern walls. They were designed to operate in space, not a subterranean dormant volcano.”
Keung quickly scanned the midsized room, but found it both unremarkable and lacking the display screen he sought. The lift-room was perhaps ten meters square with what looked like storage lockers stretching across two walls. A third wall contained a reinforced door with the words Airlock 3 stenciled above it. The mag-lift platform occupied the majority of the room with the one remaining door providing an exit to the rest of the ship. Chao pulled out his hand terminal and said, “Daemon, acknowledge.”
The face resolved, stared at Chao for a moment, then said, “Greetings, Commander Keung.”
“Can you scan externally for any indication that Bladerunner has been detected?” asked Chao.
“Yes,” replied the Daemon, then remained silent.
“He’s a bit literal,” offered Charlotte, with a smile, “It actually kind of grows on you.”
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