Impulse (23 page)

“Check the icon menu on the left,” he said. I did. Sure enough there was an icon for the torpedoes that I could swear wasn't there before. I gave my mentor a look but said nothing and then quickly brought the system online. I couldn't make out all the details, but it looked like the torpedoes carried a significant atomic payload.

“What's the tactical scenario under which we'd use these?” I asked. “The yield seems pretty high.”

“The torpedoes are for long-distance pursuit and disabling of an enemy, not for close tactical exchanges,” explained Serosian, who I could tell was trying hard not to look annoyed at my questions. “I want to have them online in case we need to use them.”

“How close can we get to the asteroid and still use them safely?” asked Dobrina.

“That's debatable in this circumstance, Captain. We may have already passed the safe-use range, but I want them available for any eventuality,” Serosian replied.

“Then I take it we'll be using the coil cannon as our main weapon in this engagement?” I said. He looked up to me again before responding.

“Affirmative. However, we may find ourselves outgunned in that department,” he said. That gave me no comfort.

“I thought you said the yacht was more advanced than the HuK?” I said.

“It
is
more advanced, Peter. However that doesn't mean we have superior weaponry. These two vessels were built for very different purposes.” I turned back to my board.

“One minute,” I said as we edged ever closer to attack range. We didn't have to wait nearly that long for the action to begin. “Enemy vessel is breaking course, decelerating and turning to attack,” I reported seconds later.

“Confirmed,” said Serosian. He nodded to Dobrina and she strapped herself into the sole remaining safety couch. “Coil cannon?”

“Ready,” I replied.

“Torpedoes?” I checked my board.

“Armed and hot.”

“Cut the drive, Mr. Marker, switch us to impellers,” he commanded.

“Aye, sir, switching to impellers,” said Marker.

“Mr. Layton, change our vector by point-oh-oh-three-three positive to the ecliptic.”

“Aye, sir, point-oh-oh-three-three positive,” said Layton, then quickly carried out his commands.

“We'll fly right past her at this speed,” stated Dobrina. “Aren't we going to change course and try to engage her?”

“No,” said Serosian flatly. “Once we complete our maneuver we'll have the asteroid to our back.”

“But we'll be vulnerable to her weapons fire as we pass,” she said. I turned to look at my commander and saw the concern on her face. We exchanged worried glances.

“The Hoagland Field should be enough to protect us from any attack from the HuK,” said the Historian.

“
Should
?” said Marker from his station.

“
Should
. Now if all of you don't mind, I have a battle to fight. I suggest we all check our straps again, get ready, and debate tactics later,” replied Serosian. It was the first time I'd ever detected annoyance in his voice.

“Ten seconds to firing range,” I said.

“And the enemy ship's firing range?” asked Dobrina.

“Unkno—” I was cut off by the yacht rocking from a coil cannon barrage, knocking the wind from me in midsentence. When I got my breath back the tactical display showed the HuK closing on us, the coil cannon array spinning rapidly about the center cylinder of the craft, looking for all the world like a metallic whirling dervish spewing out green-tinted lances of energy at us. “Inertial dampers are compensating, but we're taking direct hits to our defense field,” I said, anxiously waiting for the command to strike back. When it didn't come I grew concerned. The HuK was closing, and pelting us with coil cannon fire as it came. “Sir!” I blurted out in between hits on the field. I could tell the dampeners were weakening. It felt like we were being shaken apart.

“Target the forward cannon!” commanded Dobrina from her safety couch.

“Belay that!” replied Serosian over the din of coil fire erupting off the shields. “Stay the course, and hold your fire. I don't have time to argue with you, Captain!” he yelled at Dobrina. I watched her clamp her jaw shut and she nodded at me reluctantly as we shook and bounced through the enemy fire. We went on like that for what seemed an eternity, the yacht absorbing volley after volley from the HuK. Sweat was running down my forehead as I looked back to Serosian at the command console, waiting for the order to fight back.

It didn't come.

Just when it felt like we'd fly apart from the strength of the barrage and our rapid deceleration maneuver we passed by the HuK and the volleys stopped. The enemy would have to recalculate our position and rotate its cannon to get a new fix on us. I watched the tactical as Serosian executed a perfect maneuver, rotating us on a dime, so smooth that I didn't feel a thing.

“Cut the impellers Mr. Marker!” he demanded. Marker did. Suddenly our forward cannons were in firing position on the HuK and the asteroid was behind us as we hurtled toward it, our momentum carrying us into its minute gravity well.

“Lock the cannons and fire, Mr. Cochrane!” he ordered.

“Aye, sir!” I replied. It took me barely a second to carry out his command. I targeted the stanchion supporting the enemy's coil cannon array and fired all four of our batteries. Orange fire launched from our triple cannon ports and converged on the enemy, cutting through her weaker rear shields as she tried to turn away from us and recalibrate her attacking vector to place her stronger forward shielding between us. It was a vain attempt. My cannon fire seared a long scrape up the stanchion, slicing across the support and then severing it with a satisfying explosion as displaced energy flowed out into the vacuum of space. The wounded HuK spun like a fish on a hook trying to break free, then quickly accelerated out of our firing range before I could get another fix on her.

“Good shooting, Commander,” said Dobrina.

“I agree,” chimed in Serosian. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my sleeve.

“I did have ample time to calculate a firing solution,” I deadpanned. Serosian shrugged.

“It was necessary in order to maximize our strategic position, which we have now achieved,” he said.

“Won't the HuK come back?” I asked.

“Very possibly,” said Serosian. “But she's been badly hurt. Likely she has some reserve cannon ports on her, and possibly torpedoes. But if she intended to destroy the asteroid she could have used them at any time. My guess is it will watch and wait for another opportunity to attack us. This is not over. However, we are now between the asteroid and the HuK, and that was essential if we are to retrieve the relic,” he said.

“Then let's get on with it,” Dobrina said, unstrapping from her couch and standing to give instructions, taking over the mission command again. “Mr. Marker, reengage the impellers. Mr. Layton, take us in to the asteroid. Mr. Cochrane, try and pinpoint the location of the . . .” She hesitated. “. . . object. Mr. Serosian, I hope you don't mind, but I need to have a word with you. Alone.” Serosian nodded agreement. “Carry on,” she finished to the rest of us, then stalked off toward the Historian's quarters. He reluctantly got up and followed her down the short hall, shutting the door behind him as he entered.

“Wouldn't want to be in his shoes,” said Layton. I laughed.

“Neither would I.” Then I turned my attention back to my board.

The asteroid itself was a mystery. It had a shape to it almost like a cut diamond, the kind you'd see on an engagement ring, which seemed unnatural. As I scanned it, the mystery only deepened.

The object reflected all of my attempts to probe it right back at me. Frustrated, I switched to a visual display using the yacht's high-resolution 'scope and adjusted the display to show the asteroid in a north-south orientation. To my great surprise, true “north” on it was in the exact center of the diamond shape's table, or top. It still looked like an asteroid at this distance, complete with a mottled surface and impact craters, but some of them were in disturbingly geometric patterns. The ratio of the thing—I hesitated now to call it an asteroid, even in my own mind—was almost a perfect three miles tall by one mile across. This confused me, as miles were an old Earth measuring system and not considered as accurate as metrics. If it was artificial, and I was beginning to believe it was, why would an ancient culture of humans use a seemingly arbitrary and archaic system of measurements?

I bounced a low-density radio wave off the object and got back another surprising result. There was a delay in the return, indicating that the object was scattering the wave before bouncing the signal back. But that would indicate—

“What have you found, Commander?”

It was Dobrina's voice and it startled me. She and Serosian had emerged from his cabin, having apparently concluded their discussion, and I'd been so engrossed in my explorations I'd failed to notice their return. I turned to them as she sent Marker and Layton to check on their stations for battle damage, putting them out of hearing range.

“All of my scans appear to be reflecting back, except the radio wave, which seems to indicate—”

“That the object is hollow,” finished Serosian, speaking quietly, leaning forward and looking over my data. “This is common with Founder Relics. They were often disguised within an asteroid-type body by a covering of natural material, rock and dust, to both protect the Relic and act as a shield in case of attack.”

“Attack?” I asked. “Was that common?”

“From what we know of the Founders they had many rivals, and war was as standard for them as it is for modern humans, unfortunately,” Serosian said. He ran his hands over my display, checking the radio wave data. “This object is completely artificial, look at the radio return.” He put the display up on the yacht's main monitor. It showed highly reflective surfaces, facets and . . . what appeared to be innumerable rooms and connecting corridors.

“This technology is far beyond us, and yet they fell,” I said as I watched the signals echo about the object.

“But they left the Relic for us, their children, to find,” replied Serosian.

“Wait, I'm unclear,” said Dobrina. “Is this asteroid the Relic, or are we searching for something more?”

“The asteroid, or rather the artificial object masquerading as an asteroid, is merely the housing, the protection for the Relic itself, which is no doubt secured inside. The Relics we have found in the past tend to be small in size, so as to be more usable, or rather more accessible to interfacing with our technology,” Serosian said. Dobrina looked back at the display and the cascading radio signals.

“And how will we find it, inside that maze?” she asked.

“We can track the hyperdimensional emissions to a certain extent, but the faceting will make communication difficult, especially if the interior is crystal, which is likely. The best way will be to simply explore the rooms,” said the Historian. She looked up at the display again. It was painting in a myriad of pathways and rooms as our signals bounced around inside.

“That could take months,” she said.

“Then we'd best get started. Mr. Cochrane and I can do the EVA together. Likely we'd work most efficiently that way.”

“If you think I'm staying here while you go on a walkabout—”

“I'm not willing to risk more than the two of us on this mission,” said Serosian, interrupting the captain. “Peter and I have trained together for many years and I know that I can trust the commander to follow my instructions. Can you say the same?” Dobrina crossed her arms in frustration but that seemed to settle the issue for the moment.

“Very well,” she said, raising her voice. “Mr. Layton,” she called, “get back here and take us in, slowly. Mr. Marker, one-hundredth speed on the impellers, no faster. And Mr. Cochrane,” she said, turning to me. “Your job is to find us the way in.”