Retreat And Adapt (A Galaxy Unknown) (12 page)

"It's nice to be back at Quesann," Jenetta said, "but I wish our business here today wasn't so distressing. As I'm sure you all know by now, one of our missing ships has been found. All hands are deceased. When I first learned that the
Yenisei
was missing, I hoped against hope that it was merely a technical problem such as the one I experienced with the first Dakinium-sheathed ship, the
Colorado
. But the lockout system developed at the Mars shipyard that prevents a Light-9790 ship from engaging double-envelope travel while a single-envelope is in place has to date been completely effective, so there have been no more catastrophic energy failures aboard any DS ship. The condition of the
Yenisei's
hull makes it almost a certainty that we are facing a new enemy threat— one that is unlike any we've faced before, because this enemy appears to have a weapon capable of destroying what we believed was almost indestructible. This news doesn’t bode well for the fate of the
Salado,
which is still missing. I've read the report sent by Commander Nydia Romonova, captain of the
Thames,
until I know it by heart, but I still don't have a clue to the identity of the attackers. I've transmitted a request for information to my contact in the Hudeerac Order asking if they have any knowledge of a new enemy or an old enemy who might be making a fresh assault. But owing to the distance, I haven't yet received a reply.

"Keith, have you received the
Yenisei's
log information yet?"

"No, not yet, Jen, but we're expecting it at any time. I'll notify your office as soon as we receive it."

"Thank you. So then here's all we have so far," Jen said as she nodded to Lt. Commander Ashraf.

An image of the
Yenisei's
hull, sent by Commander Romonova, appeared on large monitors mounted on the walls around the room.

"As you can see, the ship looks like a piece of space junk. No wonder it was so difficult to locate. Before this, I wouldn't have believed that a DS ship could suffer this kind of damage. And the damage is not limited to the outer skin. It extends for up to thirty meters into the ship, which means that most of the atmo was evacuated in minutes. What hasn't been explained is why the entire crew died. A weapon that penetrates thirty meters into a ship would be able to breach most areas of a scout-destroyer, but there should have been at least a few small areas that remained airtight. We probably won't have more insight into the deaths until the
Thames'
doctor completes his report, or info about air-tight areas until we receive the
Yenisei's
logs.

"That's all I have. Any thoughts?"

"If this enemy's weapons can penetrate thirty meters beyond the Dakinium hull," Admiral Kanes said, "our cruisers and battleships will have to spearhead any actions. Personnel aboard lesser-sized ships must wear Marine body armor or EVA suits during any engagements."

"It appears that way," Admiral Buckner said. "Unfortunately we have neither sufficient Marine armor supplies to outfit all Space Command personnel nor enough of the bulky EVA suits."

"How many ships do we have looking for the
Salado
, Augustus?" Admiral Holt asked.

"Every ship we could spare. As of today, fifty-one ships are involved in the search, in groups of three. I'll send you a roster later. For now, all I can say is that most are scout-destroyers and that they all have orders to be acutely cautious when approaching unidentified ships. Each group leader has been ordered to transmit location information every sixty seconds when investigating anything unusual."

"So we have seventeen groups sweeping that area of space," Jenetta said. "It's not nearly enough."

"It's the best we can do."

"I know. It's just that a complete search by seventeen teams in an area a thousand light-years by a thousand light-years, covering a thousand light-years ante-median and a thousand light-years post-median, could take thousands of years
if
we don't have to stop to investigate every anomaly."

"That's only if we don't locate them reasonably close to their last reported position," Admiral Kanes said.

"How close was the
Yenisei
to its last reported position?"

"Roughly eight light-years."

"And it took months to find it."

"It wasn't emitting a power signature," Kanes said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Exactly. And I'll bet that neither will the
Salado
, if the same fate befell him. So we'll have to stop to investigate every anomaly."

"I'm open to a better solution," Admiral Poole said, "if you have one."

"I don't have one," Jenetta replied. "I know of no way to speed up a search like this. It's even possible that we could miss spotting the
Salado
since our search vessels will be traveling at Light-9790. If we don't find the
Salado
within twelve light-years of their last reported position, I suggest we search the same area again. Twelve light-years represents almost half a day of travel for a Light- 9790 vessel. I really doubt they would have traveled further than that without reporting their position."

"I have to agree," Admiral Poole said. "In fact, we should even consider
three
passes of the primary area before moving further afield. A worst-case scenario would have the
Salado
being taken by surprise and not having a chance to report in, but the captain would have filed her daily report at ten hundred hours if he was able."

"Discounting the time required to investigate all anomalies," Jenetta said, "the seventeen groups can cover the primary area in just under five days at maximum speed. That's a lot more workable."

"Have the search groups reported seeing anything unusual?" Admiral Holt asked of Admiral Poole.

"Unusual in what way?"

"Anything out of the ordinary that might point to who is behind these attacks."

"No other ships were spotted by the original searchers. But you have to remember that most of the searching for the
Yenisei
was done by just two ships that happened to be within two hundred light-years when the ship went missing. It's taken time for the others to reach the search area. Region Two is enormous, and we're really spread out here. I don't have to tell this board that we have less than ten percent of the ships we need to patrol properly."

"We're still getting most of the new ships coming out of the Mars facility," Jenetta said, "but it will take time for the Second Fleet to reach approved ship strength. One of the items we have to discuss today is the creation of a shipbuilding facility here in Region Two. And that's just one of the many issues. There's little more we can do on the subject of the
Yenisei
and
Salado
until we have more information, so let's move on to regular business. Augustus, after you brief us on what's happened since I left, I'll brief the HQ Board on important matters being discussed at the Admiralty Board."

* * *

"What the devil…" the image of Commander Kevin Bemming said in the bridge log being viewed by the Region Two HQ Board in their meeting hall several days later. Bemming moved forward in his command chair and stared at the image on the front monitor before asking no one in particular, "Are those ships?"

Another monitor in the HQ Board hall was showing the image that Bemming was staring at.

"Freeze image," Jenetta said. "Look at those objects."

"They appear more like the froth on a glass of ale than spaceships," Admiral Poole said.

The HQ Board had been viewing the logs from the
Yenisei
for more than an hour before reaching this point. The small ship had pursued a cluster of three ships for over seven hours, attempting to close the distance without using Light-9790, but was unable to overtake the vessels using its maximum single-envelope speed. In the end, Commander Bemming had given the order to jump ahead of the unidentified ships and wait for them.

When the three ships discovered the
Yenisei
sitting in front of them, they slowed to sub-light speeds and slowly closed the distance between the vessels. Jenetta had ordered the replay to be fast-forwarded until the unknown ships slowed to sub-light speeds after Admiral Kanes informed the board that nothing noteworthy had happened after the
Yenisei
had begun pursuit until it confronted the three ships.

"The design is certainly unique," Admiral Holt said. "I've never seen anything even remotely like it before. I have to wonder about the hull construction. It looks so fragile."

"Continue playing the log," Jenetta said.

As the vid started again, the unidentified ships moved slowly closer to the
Yenisei
.

"Com, attempt to contact those ships again," Commander Bemming said.

"Aye, Captain," the com chief said, then could be heard saying, "Unidentified ships, this is the GSC ship
Yenisei
. You have entered Galactic Alliance Space. You must identify yourselves immediately." The com chief repeated the message two more times when the ships failed to respond.

The ships continued to move closer without any response. Suddenly, the tac officer aboard the
Yenisei
shouted, "Multiple weapons launched. Ninety-two seconds to first contact."

"All laser gunners fire at will," Commander Bemming announced over the ship-wide system. "Knock those birds down and target the alien ships." Looking toward the helmsman he said, "Helm, evade."

"Aye, Captain," the helmsman said and the ship began to move. "We canceled our envelope so we're limited to sub-light speeds."

"Should I target the alien ships with torpedoes, sir?" the tac officer asked.

"Not yet. They can't hurt us with their weapons and I want a chance to talk to them before we use torpedoes. Com, try to contact them again. Tell them to stop firing on us or we'll be forced to destroy them."

"There are too many torpedoes coming in, Captain," the tac officer said. "I'm seeing over ten thousand."

"What? Over ten thousand torpedoes? From three ships? That's not possible."

"They're small, sir. Tiny. Nothing like ours."

"That's a relief. Tiny torpedoes can't harm our Dakinium hull. But let's shoot down as many as possible just to be sure."

Laser pulses stretched out from the
Yenisei
, searching for targets, and small explosions dotted space between the two ships.

"The Phalanx system is taking control of all guns but the torpedoes are small and moving fast," the tac officer said. "It's having trouble tracking them."

"It's still better than a human gunner. Don't override the control."

The admirals and their aides watched the log in safety but, knowing the outcome, felt anxiety for the
Yenisei
crew, coupled with sadness and regret that they couldn't warn them.

Expectedly, torpedoes began to penetrate the umbrella of fire from the overwhelmed Phalanx system and impacted against the hull. On the bridge, no buffeting was felt, but alarms soon began to sound at the tac station.

"Tac, what's going on?" Bemming barked over the alarms.

"I don’t know, Captain. The missiles are tiny and causing no apparent damage, yet we're getting warnings that the hull has been breached in multiple locations. Large areas of the ship are opening to space. We're losing atmo at a far faster rate than should be possible."

"How can their tiny missiles be responsible for that?"

"I don't know, sir. They seem more like annoying stings than powerful weapons."

"So what's causing the hull damage?"

"Unknown, sir. Perhaps Engineering can investigate."

In response to new explosions that suddenly began rocking the ship, alarms suddenly began shrieking on the bridge.

"Multiple bulkheads have been breached in this frame section," the tac officer yelled. "Evacuate the bridge."

Crew people on the bridge began jumping from their chairs. Most ran towards the corridor doors, while a few headed for emergency air supplies. None were able to save themselves. The evacuation of atmosphere suddenly turned into a tsunami of wind as a new explosion ripped away a huge section of a bridge bulkhead. The surge of air towards the hole was enough that most crewmembers lost their footing. By then, the corridor was also breached, so no safety would be found there. The ones who tried to reach the emergency supplies were already in the grip of hypoxia and just didn't have enough time or strength left to open the emergency cabinets, pull out the equipment, and activate the tanks. They collapsed to the deck and never moved again.

"How could that have happened?" Admiral Buckner asked aloud. "How could that bulkhead have burst like that?"

"It can't," Admiral Kanes said. "At least not normally. Small missiles with minimal explosive power should not have been able to do that. They should not even have been able to perforate the outer Dakinium hull."

"Obviously, the warhead on these missiles is the key," Admiral Holt said. "They don't achieve the damage through explosive force but rather with some sort of particle manipulation or molecular disintegration. Plus, the sheer volume of devices fired at the
Yenisei
overwhelmed its Phalanx system. I doubt that even a battleship could have survived that onslaught of missiles."

"The report by the captain of the
Thames
that accompanied the logs states that the metal immediately around the hull penetrations crumbles like papier-mâché," Admiral Poole said.

"We have to face the fact that this enemy might be in league with the Raiders," Jenetta said.

"The Raiders?" Admiral Buckner echoed. "What leads you to that assessment?"

"We know for a fact that the Raiders managed to get a sample of Dakinium a few years ago. By now, they'll have put it through every metallurgical test their scientists know. And they may have shared their findings with whoever it is that attacked our ship. Even if the attackers can't manufacture Dakinium, they might have been able to use the information to develop that weapon."

"I'm not sure the Raiders have the kind of resources necessary to do that," Admiral Holt said, "but I can think of one enemy who is intelligent enough to develop something like that, and has the resources."