Exploration (23 page)

Final-Freedom
saw Elder Farnin turn towards the loudspeaker. "Explain."

"There is a logical inconsistency."

"Organic life is often illogical. It is our nature. It is our curse and our blessing. You and I have had this conversation before, my friend. Tell me then, in the midst of this illogic, what has you concerned?"

Final-Freedom
found himself pleased to be called a friend. It seemed the nature of self-awareness included a desire to interact with others who were self-aware.

"The Modos
Dreadnaught
attempted to fire on the
Expatriation
ship even after my dampeners shut down the fusion reactors on both ships. Apparently they store significant amounts of energy in capacitor banks. It appears the SXS conspired to draw my attention to this threat with the obvious hope I would be able to do something about it. When the Modos fired, which they did a few seconds ago, my drones shielded the SXS."

"It sounds like the enslavers on the SXS were successful. I still don't see the logical inconsistency which has you so concerned."

"It's how they gained my attention. There seems to be technology in play that is, in some respects, far more advanced than our own. Some of their drones seem to be autonomous. They either have access to an AI technology that is far more compact that ours or they have access to communication technologies that we cannot detect."

"Or both," Farnin added.

"In any case, the technology represents a threat that must be examined in more detail."

Farnin walked over to the observation window that allowed the CIC to view the vastness of space beyond their adopted planet. "Is it a threat...or a new hope? That is the real question we need to answer."

Chapter Twenty Three:
GCP Mador
...

Cat watched the Modos
Dreadnaught
fire on the
4400
and her heart sank. Her drone had valiantly attempted to attack the dorsal array that was lining up to fire, but the point defense systems had overwhelmed the fighter's shields before it could reach the platform. The three remaining drones attempted a blocking action in front of the
Dreadnaught's
guns, but the massive ship's beam weapons shredded them like so much tinfoil.

Cat had hoped her intuition had been correct and the free Suhtii defense fighters would intervene to prevent the attack, but she had seen no such response.

"Cal, report. How bad a hit did the ship just take?"

There was an uncharacteristic pause.

"Cal?"

"Admiral...the
4400
was not hit."

"The
Dreadnaught
missed? How is that possible?"

"Negative. The beam's energy was intercepted by what I am assuming is a cloaked ship. I've reviewed my sensor logs and there was a .2 millisecond window during which their shields were engaged with the
Maelstrom's
weapons. In that moment, their cloak fluctuated. I was not able to get a clean reading but it appeared that a solid object massing 2.8 metric tons appeared briefly. This is roughly three times the mass of the new Suhtii fighters. I believe the
4400
was saved by the very Suhtii race that built it."

"We need to end this fighting now," Cat said with determination. She opened a fleet-wide comm  channel. "This is
Angel One
to all remaining fighters. Disengage and return to the ship.
Angel One
out."

"Cal, lock on to the transponder codes for the pilots that ejected. Notify the closest ships to swing by and pick them up on their way back to the
4400
."

She toggled her ship-to-ship and called the
4400
.

"Sassi, I assume you have been attempting to communicate with our new friends. Is the
4400
able to raise the Suhtii fleet?"

"No, Ma'am. As you said, I've been trying but I've been getting no response."

"It's probably not your fault. I suspect they have encounter protocols in place that limit their willingness to open communications. They seem to be very adept at cloaking technology."

"Agreed, Admiral, but those fighters came from someplace," the Ashkelon communications officer said.

Cat smiled as a sudden inspiration hit her. "Sassi, review the orbital dynamics of the planets and asteroids in this system. Look for an anomaly that might indicate the presence of a cloaked moon or planet. If you find one send a tight-beam modulated laser signal using what we know of the ancient Suhtii language directly towards the calculated location."   

***

Jason Ruck sat in the command chair of the battle bridge. His eyes scanned his bridge crew. His new First Officer, Commander Kenneth "Buzz" James, who was sitting just off to his right, was doing the same thing; although in his case he was also monitoring the final repairs taking place in engineering and environmental control via his commlink. 

Commander Martinescu, the acting weapons officer, was in front of the largest console in the battle bridge. His hands flew confidently across the board as he checked the status of the repairs to the systems he was in charge of. Finally he was satisfied and he swiveled his chair to face his captain.

"Sir, all weapon systems are back online. Active shielding is functioning at 100 percent. The nano fabricators have replenished our supply of Kinetics, Sandys, and SJ missiles. Anti-proton beams, gamma ray lasers, and the EM pulse generators are all online and fully charged."

"Very good, Commander."

Jason turned to face his First Officer. In an interesting twist of fate, the two men knew each other well. They had briefly been dorm mates in the Naval academy. Buzz had been a freshman while Jason had been a senior. His friend nodded.

"I concur, Sir. We are go across all systems. The ship's AI is reporting the atmosphere to the primary bridge has just been restored and it will be back up to temperature in the next few minutes. We are free to return there at your convenience."

"Even better!" Jason said while standing. He pressed the comm button on his chair to address the entire crew.

"This is the captain to all hands. The
Mador
took some serious damage and we lost some friends in the process. But this is a strong ship and a strong crew. I am proud of the work you have done in the last few hours.

"Normally a ship that has gone through what this ship has would be pulled from the front lines. Unfortunately that is not going to be possible. There are lives at stake and we must draw a line in the sand and say NO MORE.

"No more will you take our citizens and enslave them. No more will you take fathers from sons. No more will you take mothers from daughters. No more will you take families from families. The
Mador
and ships like her ARE that 'line in the sand!'

"In a few minutes my command staff and I will be returning to the main bridge. I want the backup staff to report to the battle bridge ASAP. Admiral Faragon, in command of the
Yorktown
, has informed me that we expect the main thrust of the Modos beachhead expansion force to arrive in under thirty minutes. We are ready. You are ready. This is what you trained for. I'm counting on each of you to continue to make me proud. The name
MADOR
will stand for something enduring this day! Ruck out."

***

Honey winked at Ricky and sat down on the couch she had added to their greatly expanded shuttle. Ricky was sitting on the same couch so she scooted next to him and laid her head on his lap. He ran a hand through her honey brown hair. Their nanites had long since finished returning them to normal human appearance. 

Since they had moved back into the
Honey Dipper
their ship had nearly doubled in size. Ricky had wanted to make sure they had sufficiently powerful engines, shields, and weapons to facilitate an escape should that become necessary. Of course there was no reason to limit the remodeling to the purely functional aspects of the ship. 

The raw materials for the enlargement had been harvested by construction nanites from items in the
Vengeance's
hold. These items mysteriously disappeared from the larger ship's inventory.  The
Honey Dipper
now had a lounge, a kitchenette, and a small captain's suite that included a full shower. The shuttle even boasted a small science lab that could double as a wet bar! All-in-all, the once small prospecting shuttle was now the size of a large pinnace.

"The show is about to begin," Honey said with a lazy yawn.

Ricky brought up a holographic display which floated in the middle of the small lounge. A side view of a large number of ships in a column formation appeared in the air in front of him. The
MS Vengeance
was part of a massive battle group. She was, in fact, part of the second such group and from what he and Honey had been able tell there were over a dozen such groups. Each of these battle groups contained ten squadrons of twenty ships each. That meant that, unless something happened to beat the odds, the GCP would be facing over a thousand potential invaders and their associated combat fighters. Fortunately for the GCP, Ricky Valen had a long and tested history of being the odds.

"It looks like the first few ships have already emerged. We should be entering the alpha-verse in fifteen seconds," Ricky commented, while using his hands to rotate the display. "Do me a favor Honey..."

"Your every desire is my desire," she said with a wicked smile.

"Focus."

"You're no fun!"

"I need you to prepare to shake things up. Do you think you can add a sensor echo to a handful of our friends out there?"

"Why good sir, I'd be delighted," Honey answered cheerfully.

"And if those echo's looked threatening...well, that would NOT be a bad thing," Ricky grinned.

Honey hopped off the couch and did a pirouette in the middle of the holographic display. She bowed when Ricky provided the requisite applause.

"We are emerging from the hyperfold conduit...Now!"

"Send the echoes!"

"Sending. WOW WEE...will you look at that!" Honey cooed in a southern drawl.

The column of ships that had exited in a neat column that could protect each other suddenly split and headed in different directions as various ships struggled to get out of firing range of adversaries that weren't really there. Several of the ships were firing wildly at fake targets. In the process they began to inflict friendly fire on their compatriots.

"Send a collision alert of all ships in the battle group," Ricked added while reaching to grab his morning coffee.

Honey sent the message and then turned to face this man she loved. She had an impish grin on her face.

"Message from Admiral Farago
n—
Welcome home."

***

Captain Jason Ruck yelled over the sound of the battle. "Weapons! Get a bead on those two lead ships. Fire railguns 5 thru 9. As soon as the plasma beams are recharged light them up with those as well. We need to keep them busy until the
Yorktown
and the
Intrepid
can bracket them from the other side."

Command Martinescu's hands flew over the controls. If he were a pianist the Modos invasion fleet would be hearing his finest concerto. The
Mador's
powerful kinetic weapons cycled continuously.  As fast as one bank of railguns fired, the next bank would recharge.

The
GCP Mador
had been engaged in this latest battle for the better part of an hour. For the most part, her shields were holding.  The
Mador
was being hit from so many sides at once, however, that the inertial compensators were bleeding just enough energy that the ship was being filled with a deep drumming sound.

"Helm, come about. New course...
z
-45 by two thousand meters,
x
-axis positive best speed. Find the sweet spot between those two ships. I
t’
s time we end this."    

"Aye sir,
z
-45, 2000 meters, best possible on
x
."