The Earth Conundrum: Book 1 of the Alliance Conflict (32 page)

Clowy said, “Captain, I am having difficulty finding that work order. It doesn’t seem to be in the computer.”

Solear responded, “Computer, run a scan for documents related to the emergency pressure sensor module and also search for the painting of the corridor. The work was approved, so it has to be on file.”

…Scanning. Document located. It was filed under ‘hair pretties’…

Clowy said, “Oh yeah. That’s right.” Clowy didn’t offer an explanation as to why it was filed under that particular category. She continued, “Computer, show file on the main monitor.”

Solear said, “Computer, also relocate the file to the correct location.” He walked over to the monitor to read the report.

Clowy beat him there and read the information. She said, “See, it says right there, maintenance greased the solenoids exactly as requested.”

Solear almost yelled, but he caught himself at the last moment. It probably wasn’t her fault. Maintenance at the station had probably just viewed the last work order and duplicated that one versus reading the actual text of the work instruction. Solear verified that the actual work instruction definitely said to replace the solenoids.

Solear knew that the solenoids would have to be re-greased immediately, but he really didn’t want to pull anyone from maintenance to do it. He really missed Carank at this moment. Oh well, he could certainly afford to send Lexxi to do the job, but he knew that she would refuse. Her nails were way too nice to get smeared in grease. Solear finally grabbed his communicator pad and said, “Maintenance, please send someone to the lower bridge to grease the solenoids in the emergency pressure sensor module.”

They had completed well over half of the journey and were now at the closest point to the gas giant. Ella said, “Now running detailed scan of the planet.”

The planet was technically a gas giant, though just barely. Its mass was 10.2 times that of Advranki Prime; just passing the threshold of 10 masses required for classification as a giant. Any gaseous planet below 10 masses is considered a gas dwarf. The planet had a thick atmosphere of helium and hydrogen. Unlike some gaseous planets, it did have a solid core. The core consisted primarily of molten rock and nickel iron.

Ella reviewed the scan and said, “That’s odd”

Clowy responded, “What?” Apparently she hadn’t been paying attention and wasn’t even sure exactly what she was questioning what about. Ella must not have heard her for she didn’t respond, so Clowy repeated, “What? What is odd?”

Ella said, “The scan shows that the planet is devoid of deuterium.”

She received a chorus of “What?” from everyone on the bridge.”

Deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen, is one of two naturally occurring isotopes in hydrogen. The other isotope is protium. The typical ratio in naturally occurring astronomical bodies that contain hydrogen is 99.99% protium and 0.01% deuterium. However, there was virtually none present in the gas giant, only the tiniest of a trace remained.

Solear said, “Stripping the planet clean would provide enough deuterium to keep the Hiriculan fleet hyper drives going for a century. Why could they possibly need that much of it?”

Arean thought that the question was probably rhetorical, but he responded anyway. He said, “I seem to recall that the amount of power required to jump larger and larger objects through hyperspaces is not linear. Carank or Lorano could give us the formula, but I think that the bigger the object you move; the more power it requires by a square of some variable.”

Lexxi ventured, “Mass.”

Arean answered, “No. It definitely isn’t mass. I think it is width or surface area. That is why all of our ships are long and narrow.”

There was a pause in the conversation, so Ella said, “The scan revealed something else unusual.” Ella hurriedly continued before anyone could ask what it was. She said, “The 6
^th
planet now rotates the gas giant. Also, it has been dramatically reduced in size and shows evidence of mining or perhaps core drilling.”

Solear said, “Computer, analyze the new moon formerly known as the 6
^th
planet.”

…Analysis inconclusive. The planet shows evidence of mining or perhaps core drilling…

Arean said, “Perhaps the planet was been drilled through to the center so that the Hiriculans could mine dense materials from the core. It is possible that the drilling slightly altered the planet’s path and it was captured by the gas giant’s gravitational pull.”

Captain Solear didn’t like the ramification that these activities implied. The Hiriculans had mined all of the deuterium from the gas giant and removed an incredible amount of iron ore and other heavy metals from the planet. They had enough raw materials to build something very, very big. And to make matters worse, they were rapidly approaching an unknown objet in this system that was very, very big.

Solear said, “Computer, can you determine if the missing mass from the planet is equivalent to the mass of the unknown object?”

…Analysis inconclusive…

Ella announced, “30 minutes until we can begin scanning. 40 minutes to the turn.”

Solear said, “Computer, display the time on the time on the monitor as a countdown.”

…Time displayed. Beginning verbal countdown…

The minutes ticked by slowly. It seemed like time was almost standing still. Solear glanced at the clock several times a minute. He thought about cancelling the request, but he didn’t want to appear silly in front of everyone.

…25 Minutes remaining…

The sound of the computer made Lexxi slightly jump in shock. She tried to cover it by pretending to straighten up and fix her hair. Solear said, “Computer, belay the verbal countdown.”

Time hadn’t sped up or slowed down. It was moving at the same time it always had. Therefore, exactly 25 minutes had passed when Ella announced, “We are now clear of the gas giant. I am initiating scan now.

The response came back much faster than it should. Ella announced, “The scan is still unclear. I can get a possible, size, but I am not reading a mass. The scan is fuzzy or perhaps the unknown object isn’t really there.

Arean shouted, “It’s a trap.”

Solear bolted out of his chair. He said, “The scan is being jammed. There are Hiriculan warships hiding somewhere out there. We cannot detect them because the object is obscuring them.”

Arean said, “They are waiting for us to fly by the object. They will have us completely hemmed in and unable to maneuver if we continue on our current course.”

Solear said. “Ella, perform the turn now; then increase speed to .16 light. Let’s try to outrun them.”

Ella said, “The new course and speed has been inputted. We are making the turn now.”

Clowy said, “We are being hailed.”

Solear said, “On-screen. Remember to have the computer translate it to Alliance basic.”

Clowy said, “Okay, putting it through.”

…Estimate translation at 99.5% accuracy…

…Alliance cruiser, you are in violation of section 41.8.19, sub-paragraphs 14 - 18 of the Hiriculan – Alliance treaty. Correction, you are in violation of basically the entire section. You are under arrest for illegally entering the gravitational sphere of a Hiriculan system. Your abrupt course change toward this sector can only be interpreted as spying or espionage. Please stop you vessel and prepare to be boarded by HAS units. If you refuse, you will be destroyed. This is your only warning…

Ella said, “I have a clearer scan now. Two Hiriculan destroyers have appeared from behind the object and are chasing us.”

Solear noted the mention of the HAS units. HAS, short for Hiriculan Armored Suit, was the Hiriculan equivalent of AAU (Alliance Armored Unit). Destroyers for both navies typically carried 6 such armored soldiers. Cruisers did not carry any powered units.

Once the HAS soldiers boarded, resistance of any kind was pointless. The powered armor had oversized shields that could withstand an incredible amount of enemy laser fire. Further, the HAS unit had large beam weapons that would disintegrate anyone not hiding behind a shielded force field. If he was forced to surrender, the HAS soldiers weren’t really necessary, but they existed and the Hiriculan commander and seen fit to include the threat in his communication.

Solear then recalled that the Hiriculans had two sub-classes of destroyers. The original destroyer had 6 missile launchers per side, a large ion cannon, and carried 20 fighters. The second, newer class had 8 launchers per side, carried 24 fighters, but had a much smaller ion cannon. Not that it particularly mattered. The smaller ion cannon was still large enough to pulverize his cruiser should it hit.

Solear briefly wondered why they had downsized the ion cannons. He said, “Computer, analyze the two destroyers.”

…The enemy destroyers are both newer model D161’s. It is assumed that they have 8 missile launchers per side, 24 fighters each, and have smaller sized ion cannons…

Solear said, “Commander, I agree. I think it was a trap. I think they were baiting us with that object. More than likely, they were hiding behind the object and were waiting for us.”

Arean asked, “Captain, what are we going to do?”

Solear answered, “Well, we don’t have very many options. We can’t surrender because the enemy will find the humans and have conclusive proof that the Alliance Navy is using humans. Also, we will most definitely convicted of spying and imprisoned for the rest of our lives.”

Arean said, “Then we will have to run.”

Solear didn’t immediately respond to Arean’s comment. Instead he said, “Clowy, record and send the following message, “Hiriculan destroyer, this is the Alliance cruiser
Sunflower
. We are on a peaceful mission to Dunron. We received a distress signal and changed course to offer aid if required. Now that we recognize that no aid is needed, we are returning to our original course.”

There was an established hyperspace lane to on the far side of the system that linked Hepitila to Dunron. The Dunron system still belonged to the Alliance. If the enemy accused them of spying, they planned to claim that they were heading there. They even had a false set of orders stating as much.

The Alliance really didn’t want or need Dunron. However, Dunron seemed like a logical place to search for new planets, so the Alliance had kept it. All searches thus far had proven fruitless. The Alliance Navy had given up searching for new star systems from Dunron. Further, now that tensions between the two factions had risen, it didn’t make sense to try to find a route to a potentially habitable planet that the Alliance couldn’t defend or even travel to without traversing enemy territory.

Captain Solear doubted that the Hiriculans would believe that story. It was after all a complete fabrication. Hopefully though, he could get them to talk and diffuse the situation peacefully. Or, at a minimum, delay them long enough to escape.

He had an ulterior motive for the speech. Right before they were caught, he would beam the communication between two ships back to Conron. The Alliance citizens would eventually hear that the reason the
Sunflower
entered the system was to provide aid. They would be outraged and demand the Hiriculans return the crew. Similar situations had occurred a few times in the past.

However, this time it was quite a bit more complicated. The humans were on board. Solear could not let them be found. Second, the Hiriculans had used the words surrender or be destroyed. He seemed to recall that the normal statement was surrender or be fired upon. He suspected the Hiriculans had identified the ship as one that was involved in the earlier battle and wanted to exact a measure of revenge.

Clowy said, “We have received a reply to your message.”

Solear frowned and said, “Translate and play it.”

…99.3%. Sunflower, please note that your extra-solar communications signals are being jammed. Your speech will not be heard by anyone. This is your last warning…

Lexxi said, “I thought the last warning was our last warning. How many more final warnings do you think we will get?”

Clowy thought that was a valid question. She rephrased Lexxi’s question and sent it to the Hiriculans and asked for clarification. She smiled at her own initiative.

Solear answered, “I think that was the final last warning.” He paused for a moment; then said, “Ella, what is our status?

She responded, “We have turned and are now heading back out of the system. Our speed is increasing. We will be clear of the gravity field and able to jump in 51 minutes. However…”

Ella paused for a moment and continued, “The Hiriculans have already launched their fighters and they are pursuing us. The fighters will be in range in 14 minutes. The two destroyers are also pursuing and they will be within powered missile range in 30 minutes.”

The
Sunflower’s
speed had been .03 light when it turned. It was rapidly increasing to .16 light. The two destroyers had an initial velocity of .07 light and were accelerating to match the cruiser’s speed. A cruiser could out accelerate a destroyer, but not nearly enough to overcome the enemy’s initial velocity advantage.

The
Sunflower
was traveling on a straight line path leading directly to the hyperspace lane. The two destroyers were taking an angled path that was drawing inexorably closer to the cruiser. Visually, it looked like two cars drag racing; one was going straight ahead in its lane and the other was going just as fast, but veering into the first car’s lane. In a few minutes the two paths would collide.

Captain Solear could order the ship to turn away from the enemy destroyers. However, he would also be turning back toward the gravity field and farther away from the hyperspace lane. It reminded him of an ancient Advranki proverb; he was stuck between force field and a transverse harmonic wave.

Solear did some quick math. The two destroyers would be in missile range for 21 minutes. The destroyers can launch a volley of missiles every 3 minutes. This means that the two ships combined could launch 7 volleys of 24 missiles, or 168 offensive missiles during the engagement.

Technically, each destroyer could launch 16 missiles each or 32 missiles per volley. However, standard Hiriculan doctrine was to fire 1 in 4 defensive missiles. If the destroyers changed their doctrine, then the
Sunflower
would be facing an overwhelming number of missiles.