Slipspace: Harbinger Page 8

  The dust and debris from the collapse drifted forward, coating Foster and his team. He lowered and thumbed the rifle’s safety. The medics and surviving marines coughed and wheezed on the dust and, if he had to be honest with himself, Foster’s lungs had started to protest the contaminants as well. But that would wait.

  “Move out,” he barked. “Back to the birds!”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  October 13, 2832

  21:15

  Mjöllnir - Operations Command

  CODY AMADO STEPPED through the open hatch. As if on cue, the lights changed and the alarm klaxons rang throughout the ship. The protocol of salutes and ceremonial respect of the chain of command were dismissed while under general quarters and Amado did not bother asking for a situation report as he approached the central display. One was already in progress.

  “Commander, two dozen energy signatures coming into range of the buoy, unable to lock onto IFF signals,” the officer of the watch reported.

  “Why not?” Cody asked as he took the station across from his sister.

  “Can’t say for certain, Captain. Likely it’s a combination of the standard Slipspace distortion with no gate to filter the signal and the background radiation decay out here.”

  Aler piped in next, “All rail positions manned and operational, heavy cannons are charging, ECM frequency coverage is 95% negative.”

  “All outer compartments have been evacuated and sealed. All internal pressure hatches have been secured,” Melor reported.

  “Nest, Gryphon Lead,” Labonne reported over the comm. system, “Gryphon flight rallied and en route. ETA, two minutes.”

  Silence fell over the deck for the briefest of moments while they waited. The next report came from the watch officer: “Slipspace event opening, we have incoming!”

  On the display in front of him, Cody watched the circular rift open, small at first, but growing larger before his eyes.

  “All positions, defensive fire only until targets are identified. No offensive rail position or heavy cannon fires without my explicit authorization.”

  Less than a minute later the ships appeared, first as unresolved blips--- spheres in the holographic display. As the interference cleared and data came in, the spheres morphed into the shape of ships, recognized by both the computer system and Cody’s own eye.

  “Confirmed,” shouted the watch officer as data bubbles appeared over the representations of the ships. “Transponders are coming in now.” She paused as she waited for the list to come through. “Exavian, Terasdur, McMurphy, Bellerophon, still more friendlies coming through, Captain.”

  Cody heaved a heavy sigh of relief. “All stations stand down to condition three. Call off Labonne’s fighters.” He turned to Cassie, grinning with a smile unseen in almost a day. “Calvary’s here.”

  The deck erupted in celebration and relief, almost drowning her response.

  The jubilation continued for longer than appropriate, but given all the crew had been through, Cody allowed their indulgence.

  “Captain!”

  Amado turned to the elevated deck where the communications officer had called for him.

  “Sir, I have a priority signal from the Bellerophon. It’s Admiral Marr.”

  “Put him through.”

  The holo display changed from the sensor feeds to the image of Marr’s holographic head.

  “Captain Amado.”

  “Admiral Marr. Welcome to Artez. I’m sorry it’s not under better circumstances.”

  “Thank you, Captain. I’ve brought relief and support as per your request.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Cody replied.

  “We will be taking lead on the investigation and recovery. Please make preparations to transfer all data to my ship. I’d also like you to come aboard and brief within the hour.”

  Cody swallowed. “With respect Admiral, I can brief you easier over here as it will take more than an hour to transfer our investigation to you. All of our forensics are here at the moment and will take time to preserve.”

  Marr paused a moment. “Very well, Captain. I will receive my briefing on board your ship. Please prepare for my arrival.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  The hologram winked out, returning the display to the external sensor data. Amado turned to his flight deck coordinator, sitting a chair to the left of the comm. officer. “Give him priority clearance and recall the Gryphons. They need to rest and re-fuel, but order Labonne to form up and escort the Admiral’s launch in.” He paused for a moment to consider his next instruction. “Don’t tell Labonne who she’s bringing in.”

  October 13, 2832

  22:00

  Mjöllnir - Engineering Section

  THE ADMIRAL’S presence bore down on Cody Amado as the two made their way to the engineering section. As would be expected, the attack had caused enough tension on board ship, and the Admiral’s direct presence had only intensified the feeling. Cody would much rather have had room to breathe. The fleet he had requested would have given the crew the much-needed space, but for the Admiral’s arrival.

  Walking in silence, they turned down the junction, personnel clearing a path for them and saluting as they passed. They paid no attention to the subordinates as they stepped into Engineering. Melor stood hunched over a large dark object. Given it’s charred and burned state, Cody could only imagine how many explosions the debris had survived. Under the damage, Cody could make out the bright-yet-ugly orange and yellow pattern, ensuring visibility in almost any circumstance.

  “What do you have, Lieutenant?” Marr asked.

  Melor snapped to attention but Marr set her at ease with a dismissive wave.

  “Admiral,” Melor began, “Captain, my team and I managed to analyze the recovered data recorder. It’s only a fraction of what was available, but the rest of it is going to take a bit of time to recover.”

  “Show me, please, Lieutenant.”

  Melor stepped away and motioned for Amado to follow as she led him across the compartment to another desk, this one with a computer already activated. She cycled through a series of screens and menus until the display settled where she wanted it. The graphic appeared as a wave form, similar to that of an audio signal. Next to it, a full spectral and frequency analysis appeared for user review. Melor raised an open hand toward the display as if showing it off for presentation.

  “Admiral Marr, Captain Amado, meet the butcher of Artez.”

  Amado frowned as he scrutinized the display. “A wave form frequency killed Artez?”

  Melor shook her head. “No, no, of course not. But something that leaves this radioactive decay in its wake, did.”

  Amado sighed and shook his head. Perhaps the long hours were getting to his engineer. “This isn’t news, Lieutenant. Colonel Labonne discovered that decay signature this morning.”

  For her part, Melor showed no anxiety. “Of Course, Captain. But our devil is found in the details: details Labonne could not see. She may have found it, but because it was previously unknown to us, she could not isolate it.”

  Amado blinked, as he tried to assimilate what she was saying. Perhaps the long hours were getting to him as well.

  “Walk us through it,” Marr said.

  Melor keyed another sequence into her console and the display of the frequency analysis retreated to a corner. Additional analysis data appeared in a gridded pattern, each showing a different set of data.

  “Damaged though it is, the data recorder retrieved by Gryphon Squadron pulled in a tremendous amount of information regarding the attack. While some of the data is damaged beyond repair, and other will take more time to pull out, I was able extract several energy signatures. From of the looks of the magnitude, I’d say these were power outputs for engines, but I’ve never seenpatterns like this. I ran the forms in front of you against the data we have on file for all known players. I can match the slipgate’s transit conduits.” She clicked a pointer, and one of the frequency displays blinked out. “I can match
the ISPA frigates in the area.” Another pair of frequencies disappeared. “I can match the cruisers. I can match the fighters, and I can even match the civilian ships.”

  By the time she was finished, only the original remained.

  “But this one, I can’t match to anything. I’ve run this thing against everything we have on file, but the nearest correlation I have is only sixty one percent.”

  Cody turned to the Admiral, yielding to him. “Which signature was that, Lieutenant?”

  “Admiral, this footprint doesn’t look anything like anything we’ve seen. That being said, sir, the closest correlative match of sixty one percent was that of the Ralgon.” She paused. “If it is them, it could indicate an advance in their technology. If that’s the case, and they yielded this....” Melor’s voice trailed off.

  “Yeah.” Amado finished, already knowing where her line of thought would have gone. “Anything else?”

  “There is. I was also able to gather partial direct sensor data of what I’m presuming our killer to look like. It’s not a complete picture, but we may have an idea.”

  “Show us,” Marr ordered.

  Melor moved to another table. “Holographics are coming up now, though I should warn you, the image is not yet fully resolved, so the rendering will be incomplete.”

  “Anything you have now is better than the nothing we had before.”

  The image appeared before them, hovering over the display table. The image appeared as an elongated elliptical structure. At what Amado presumed to be the front end, a smaller, support structure, branched just a few meters out in four directions until they disappeared in a render error. The damn thing looked as if someone had taken a giant dirigible frame, mounted four smaller dirigibles to both the front and back and then skinned it with a hard, pebbly carapace. As if it weren’t ugly enough, a hardened superstructure had been fused to the main body. It looked like hardened whiskers that sprouted in all directions extending from the hull. But even with the unconventional design of the ship, the strangest aspect was in what appeared to be a tail. Eight spindling, flowing tails extended out from the aft, reminding Amado of Manta Ray tails back on Earth. These tails were paired, with two extending up and out from each of the cardinal points, much like the supports at the front of the ship.

  Cody would not say it out loud, but it definitely looked Ralgon to him.

  “There’s certainly more here,” Marr commented.

  “Agreed, Admiral,” Cody replied.

  “There’s one more thing, though,” Melor cut in. “If my readings are correct, this thing is big. Huge, in fact.”

  “How huge?”

  “Judging by the main body only, this...whatever it is, is at least nine kilometers long. If you add the tail, that number jumps to over twelve kilometers.”

  Marr’s eyes widened. Whatever it was, be it a ship, or some natural creation, the object that shimmered in holographic light before him was a leviathan. If Melor was right, and it had taken out the entire sector on its own, the Mjöllnir could not stand in its way. Not alone.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Marr said. “Please begin transferring this data to my ship.”

  “Aye, Admiral.”

  “Amado, you’re with me.”

  October 13, 2832

  22:30

  Mjöllnir - Captains Office

  “CAPTAIN, I’ll come right to the point,” Marr began. “I know you’re dealing with some incredibly challenging circumstances leaving your crew stressed, upset, and very tired. Despite this, you and your crew have done a magnificent job out here, and are to be commended for your work.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. Something to drink?”

  The Admiral nodded and Amado did the honors.

  Cody handed the Admiral a coffee cup and they sat down. Cody took the single seat behind his desk and Marr helped himself to the couch along the wall. Amado had questioned the need for a couch in his office, but having it proved useful for him when wanting a more relaxed mood while reading the copious reports that graced his desk.

  “I don’t like the implications here, Captain. Assuming no inaccuracy in Lieutenant Melor’s report, the likely attacker is a twelve-kilometer-long ship of some form, of which we cannot get a full resolution image.”

  “It would seem that way, yes, sir.”

  “All right, then.” Marr paused. “This thing killed a colony, and a station, possibly single-handedly. We need to confirm it is of Ralgon origin before we do anything else. I want you to find it and bring home as much intelligence and tactical data as you can on it.”

  Amado paused, taken aback. Idealistic though the orders may be, the notion of hunting down and spying on a target responsible for this level of destruction seemed more suicidal than prudent.

  “Excuse me, Admiral?”

  “Your orders are to find the hostile, and bring me as much intelligence as you can. What about that statement eludes your understanding?”

  Amado shook his head. “I understand your instructions, sir. My concern lies with feasibility. This thing destroyed an entire sector of space. How can the Mjöllnir, a heavy battleship, gather this information for you without also being attacked? We aren’t optimized for stealth operations, Admiral.”

  Marr took a sip of his drink and smiled. “It’s your job to figure that out, Captain. Good hunting.”

  October 14, 2832

  6:00

  Mjöllnir - Gryphon Squadron Briefing Room

  DESPITE BEING GROUNDED since the arrival of the relief task force eight hours ago, Jenna Labonne’s squadron still bore the fatigue of the past day’s duties. Having checked up on her pilots to ensure they followed standing orders, she knew they had spent most of their downtime sleeping, leaving the maintenance and repair work to the deck crew. Even so, from behind her place at the podium, the squadron’s fatigue was hard to miss.

  “With the additional ships in the area, we are fanning out to widen our search perimeter,” Labonne outlined. “Our mission is changing from recovery to reconnaissance.”

  At this, her pilots perked up. A few leaned forward, suddenly interested in the briefing. “The Mjöllnir has been tasked to hunt down the hostile. Sensor and spectral analysis indicates no additional Slipspace events since the attack other than our own and the relief task force. To that end, Captain and Commander Amado believe the hostile may still be in-system.”

  She paused to let it sink in and, as expected, a low murmur and hushed conversation came over her pilots.

  “This,” she continued, “is our target.”

  She pressed a button on her remote and the data on the hostile displayed on both two- dimensional screens lined throughout the room as well as in a three-dimensional hologram hovering in the space between Labonne and the rest of the squadron. The image, although incomplete, caused another stir within her group.

  “We do not believe this to be a complete rendering, but it is all we have been able to retrieve from the data recorders this squadron recovered. Suffice it to say, the brass believes there is much more information to be obtained. We are to search the system and gather whatever we can.”

  The two- dimensional screens transitioned again to show the analysis of the radioactive decay. “We believe this is the hostile’s engine signature. If we are right, when we find this, we find the target.”

  She paused again to allow questions. There were none.

  “So, we go up, we search. If we find it, we gather as much data as we can, and we report back. We do not engage under any circumstances. First flight goes up in…” She paused to check the clock on her gauntlet. “Twenty minutes. Dismissed.”

  The squadron began filing out of the room as Labonne closed up her presentation and shut down the displays. A few pilots remained to talk amongst themselves, but eventually the room fell silent.

  “Hello, Jenna.”

  Labonne stopped in mid-motion as the familiar, though unwelcome, voice pierced the silence like an arrow through paper. It had been two months since s
he had heard that voice, and almost ten years since it had been in person. At the time, she had told him she never wanted to speak to him again. He had said that in time her head would cool and she would reconsider. It had been a decade, and so far, he was wrong. She grabbed a pointer pen off her podium and moved over to the flight roster. She needed to update the listing and it gave her the perfect opportunity to avoid eye contact.

  “What can I do for you, Admiral,” she asked as she pushed a button on the pen. With a flick of her wrist, one of the names on the roster highlighted. She waved the pen towards another column on the roster, and the name slid into its new position. Behind her, she heard his cautious footfalls. Every thump of his boot echoed with the sounds of his boots at home when she, as a little girl, watched him pack and leave for assignment after assignment. Then she had wished for her father to come back home. Now she just wanted him to go away and leave her the hell alone.

  “I suppose it would be too much to ask you to turn around and face me?”

  Labonne continued working, reshuffling and updating the flight roster. When she needed to add a name, she wrote it in the air. The board interpreted her motions and the new name appeared in place.

  “I’m sorry, Admiral, I’m very busy right now and would like to keep working…if that is acceptable.”

  She heard the scoff, but did not react. “Admiral? After everything, I don’t even merit the respect of being referred to as your father? I deserve better from you.”

  Labonne continued her work as his words grated against her nerves. Another flick of her wrist and her alpha wing transitioned to the ‘B’ slot on the rotation. It was her prerogative to stand down, and she needed the sleep. “How do you figure that, Admiral?”

  This time the foot fall was a stomped boot as he stormed towards her. “Dammit, Jenna! You have no right to shut me out! I’m your father!”

  This was Jenna’s turn to scoff as she wheeled around on an angry heel. “My father? I don’t know what fantasy you live in, but I didn’t have a ‘father’. I had ‘the Captain’ and then ‘the Admiral’ who dragged my mother and me around from post to post to post. I had the ‘Captain’ and then the ‘Admiral’ who was never around, who pushed my mother away, and then continued to stand in my way as I chose a career that he didn’t like; a career, to which he exposed me and in which I became immersed! Now what exactly do I owe you, Admiral?”