The Lost Prince (25 page)

Violet said, “Are you alright, Abigail?”

“I’ve suffered a lot while Lt. Lungen practiced, but this maneuver has pretty much completed getting my body used to the stresses. It is going to be brutal, but the price is worth it.” Abigail thought a moment and said, “By the way, thanks for asking.”

Violet smiled, “I honestly didn’t think you’d last a week, but now I’m glad the two of you are here. I feel a lot safer with you two around.”

“Thanks, Violet.”

“Doc, do you have that maneuver downloaded?”

“I do.”

Drey looked at Andi, “Let’s go change and see if we can pull it off.”

Andi looked at Abby on her display and left the bridge. Abby knew that Andi was still not over her past remarks. Even Ian didn’t appear to like her. She shrugged and said, “Is there anything else you want to try?”

Gary smiled, “There is an additional move coming out of the reverse twist where we accelerate back along the path we’re moving. G, we were somewhat slow going past them.”

“We were in normal force field and thruster systems. I suspect that we could activate the Dark Matter Drive and blow by them, but we would be moving too fast to fire any weapons.”

“What if we used the blue field to stop and reverse and then immediately went back to the standard systems?”

“I don’t know if I have that degree of control. You’re talking about changes happening in ten thousandth of a second.”

“Actually, the time would be a little longer due to the change of direction. Some time would be required to stop our forward momentum before we began moving on the new course.”

There was a pause and G said, “I’m not sure. We’ll need to give it a try before I know.”

Gary looked at Abby and she threw up her hands, “You know you’re going to do it. Will the loads change?”

“G?”

“I’ll work the suppressors to make sure they don’t go over six gravities but I compute that eight g’s will happen if I don’t.”

“G, the early astronauts endured 10 g’s on liftoff and survived. How long will the load be happening?”

“About two seconds.”

“Will we lose consciousness?”

“I suspect you’ll come close. If it lasted longer than four seconds, you would.”

Gary was silent as he considered the information. Abby looked at him and said, “Let’s say we’re being pursued by eight or ten alien ships and they’re moving in on us. The maneuver will allow us to probably kill the ones that are right on us, but other ships will be following them. We need to kill as many as possible to even the odds. If there’s a chance this will allow us to take out more ships, we need to see.” She paused and said, “G, will reducing the load to keep it at six G’s slow the maneuver?”

“Slightly.”

“Then try it at eight and let’s see if either of us are capable of manning the weapons.”

Gary nodded and said, “G, let’s do it.” An hour later, both of them were able to fire after the reversal. “G, send this maneuver to the other two ships.”

Drey looked at the incoming information and shook his head. Andi said, “What?”

“Those two are crazy.”

“What have they done now?”

“You don’t want to know. This is something we won’t do.”

“If they can do it…”

“E, do you have that maneuver in your databanks?”

“I do.”

“We’ll give it a go if we’re forced to it.”

“I think that would be wise.”

Andi showed her frustration and Drey said, “We all have our talents. Me trying to match your ability at analyzing energy would be like us trying to match Gary’s flying skills. We can only go so far before we fail. This is that place.”

Andi took a deep breath and then nodded. She looked at the display and smiled, “Well, at least I get to wear this uniform for the remainder of the trip.”

“I thought you’d like that.”

• • •

Ian looked at the others on his display and said, “Alright, I think we’re ready to go. Are there any last details before we go?”

E said, “We’re able to communicate now through that other space. There is no longer a need for an escape destination to get back together.”

Drey shook his head, “E, that other computer may intercept our communications.”

“Let it. We’ll be encrypting them as we communicate. By the time it gets one done we’ll no longer be using it.”

Drey shook his head, “I wouldn’t sell that computer short.”

“It’s good but not that good. We have had the series of encryptions downloaded into our databanks and we’ll be going through them rather rapidly. I don’t see it breaking through.”

Andi said, “We should be in good shape on our weapons. It said that our beams are three times stronger than the ones used on their best ships.”

Ian shook his head, “It wasn’t telling the truth.”

Andi looked at Ian, “Oh?”

“Andi, it sent five ships to that dead planet to catch us. It wouldn’t have done that unless it believed we were monitoring its transmissions. If it suspected that, it would not have told the truth about the strength of their weapons on an open frequency.”

Andi thought a moment and said, “You’re right.”

Abby said, “Have we got a reading on their force fields? That should give us an idea of their relative beam strength.”

Drey said, “Andi got a reading on the decay of gamma rays on the inside of their force fields.”

Abby started thinking and said, “Yes but any idio…” She paused and after a moment said, “That was a good idea with the system you were using.”

Andi stared at Abby and said, “What were you going to say?”

Abby looked at her and said, “I really don’t know. Lt Lungen has pointed out that when I’m really concentrating on something I have no patience and say things that are very offensive. I’m trying to stop that behavior.” Abby looked at Andi, “What did I say?”

“You said any idiot.”

Gary said, “No, she said any idio.”

“I know what she meant.”

“It appears you don’t.”

Abby said, “Lieutenant, stay out of this.” She looked at Andi and said, “I’m sorry if I offended you, but you actually made a good decision to run that type of scan given the system you were forced to use.”

Drey saw Andi’s anger but it changed to curiosity, “What do you mean by the system?”

“The systems on your former ships don’t have the same software as the new ship. You didn’t have a way to scan for neutrino impacts or Higgs forces operating on the outer force field. You did the logical thing in looking at gamma ray degradation.”

“You mean we can now scan neutrinos?”

“You’re actually able to passively scan every energy emission.”

Andi looked at Drey, “We’ve got to go back to their main planet and run another scan.”

Abby said, “Why don’t you scan the energy band and I’ll take a reading on the Higgs.”

Andi’s excitement was clear, “How are you going to do that?”

“I’ve developed the process, but it involves numerous minor adjustments as the readings come in. I’ll be glad to show you how to use the process.”

Drey looked at Ian, “What do you think?”

Ian tilted his head and shrugged, “I think we should listen to our experts and do what they say.”

Andi looked at Abby, “What about photons?” Abby nodded and saw Andi’s excitement.

Ian said, “We’ll be jumping in and will remain out of normal space for the duration of the stay. Plan to jump in thirty minutes.”

The displays went dark and Abby said, “Thank you for coming to my defense but she was right.”

“Not entirely. You stopped yourself.”

Abby nodded and said, “I need to make sure I do not talk while I’m deep in thought.”

Gary smiled, “I think that would be wise, Sir.”

Abby punched him on the arm, “Hey, we’re informal here.”

“Yes…ma’am.”

Abby laughed and pulled up the Higgs software.

• • •

The three ships were directly above the alien planet and Abby and Gary were stunned at what they saw. Gary shook his head and said, “I don’t feel so confident anymore.” Abby nodded and smiled. Gary looked at her, “Why are you smiling?”

“I’m so thankful I was forced to come. I’m going to learn so much.”

Gary shook his head.

Andi appeared on the secondary display, “How do you want to do this, Abigail?”

“Call me Abby, Andi. I think we should scan a ship that is arriving at that space facility as it shuts down its force field and try to scan one that’s leaving as it powers up its fields.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll send you what I get.”

Abby nodded and watched the display for a ship that met the requirements.

Drey appeared on Gary’s display, “What do you think?”

“This is scary.”

“That it is. We’re here to buy the Union time to build a fleet.”

“They’ll need a hundred years to even start matching what I see in this system.”

Drey shrugged, “I’m planning a little soiree with one of those smaller vessels when the ladies complete their work. I want you and Ian there to hold off any party crashers.”

Gary tilted his head and said, “We’ll do what we can. We need to know their capabilities.”

Drey nodded at Andi sitting behind him, “I suspect we’ll know a lot shortly.” Gary nodded absently and continued to stare at the massive city covering the planet below.

An attack ship began backing out of the huge facility and Andi said, “Abby?”

“I’m on it.”

Violet looked at Ian, “I’m feeling useless again.”

Ian said, “Get with E and see what information you can get on the ship types and which direction they’re heading out of this system.”

Violet nodded and started speaking.

Ian looked back at his scanner that was set to view inferred on the planet’s surface. He found numerous bright spots and plotted them on the map of the planet. He switched the view to positron emissions and overlaid them on the map.

Fifty minutes later a ship moved in system and Gary saw Abby sit up straight in her chair and start making adjustments on her panel. He glanced at the display with Doc’s bridge and saw Andi start doing the same. I guess we’ll soon know.

An hour later Abby said, “Send me what you have, Andi, and I’ll send you my readings as well.” Abby looked at her panel and smiled, “I have them, thanks.”

“No problem. We might what to move away and not run the risk of too many communications.”

Ian nodded and said, “Gary, I’ve sent the coordinates of where we go above the galaxy. We’ll see you there. Stay below normal space.”

Gary saw the coordinates and entered them in the drive. G arrived and Gary was amazed at the beauty of the Milky Way below him.

Drey said, “I suspect it’s going to take a few minutes for them to analyze this, so we might as well take a break and get something to eat.”

Abby didn’t even look up, “Are you planning any combat operations in the very near future?”

Drey looked at her and said, “Why do you ask?”

“You might want to delay eating until after they’re over.”

Drey thought a moment and said, “No, we’ll take some time to discuss what you’ve discovered. We’ll start the party later.”

Abby nodded and continued to stare at her display. Gary shook his head at her ability to focus so intently on her display and still be aware of what was happening around her. He got up and went to the small kitchen and prepared a meal for himself and Abby. He brought it back to the bridge and placed it beside her. Over the next hour he watched her flashing screens on her panel and absently eating the sandwich he had put next to her. He finished his meal and took her plate with him to the kitchen. He came back and reclined on his chair. He fell asleep as Abby continued to punch keys.

• • •

“You can wake up now.”

Gary started and jumped up. He looked at Abby and saw a gleam in her eyes. “Are you done?”

“Yes, we are. Andi just wrapped up as well.”

Gary stood up and stretched, “What time is it?”

“Ten p.m. ship’s time.”

“You’ve been at this twelve hours!?”

“What time did I start?”

“Ten a.m.”

“I guess I have.”

“Abby, that Higgs scan is amazing.”

“It is isn’t it? I’m very proud of it.”

“You should be. Do you want to start the discussion now?”

“No, I think we should get some rest. We’ll probably be crashing shortly and I want to be alert.” Andi looked at her and Abby said, “Gary tells me we’ve been at it for twelve hours.”

“Really?”

Gary said, “Really.”

Andi stood and stretched and looked at Drey, “Come on; you can rub my shoulders.”

Gary saw the display go dark and he leaned back in his chair. Abby said, “I’d sell my soul for a good shoulder rub.”

Gary smiled and came around to the back of her chair and said, “Lean forward; you won’t have to pay that much.”

Abby leaned forward and Gary started massaging her shoulders. Abby sighed and closed her eyes, “That’s heavenly.” After a few minutes Abby said, “Can you reach my lower back?”

“No.”

“Then follow me to my room and continue this, please.”

Gary followed her out and stopped rubbing her back and shoulders when she fell asleep. He went to the bridge and reclined in the command chair remembering how good she felt under his hands. Eventually, he fell asleep smiling.

A
bby arrive on the bridge with her hair still damp from the shower. It hung down her back and she shook it as she sat down. She saw a hot breakfast beside her panel and looked at Gary. “Good morning. I asked G to let me know when you woke.”

“Thank you. I’m famished.”

“You should be. Did you learn anything?”

“Oh yes. Let’s see if the others are up.”

“Eat first.”

Abby smiled and dug in. She thought a moment and said, “I didn’t hear you leave.”

“I waited until you were asleep.”

“Well thank you.” Abby paused and said, “You could have just slept there.”

“No I couldn’t.”

Abby stopped the fork an inch from her mouth and looked at Gary, “Why not?”

“You know, we’re not allowed to fraternize with our commanders.”

Abby ate the fork full of eggs and said, “Is that so?”

“It is.”

Abby continued eating and said, “What rank is Violet?”