The Phoenix War (22 page)

“Aye, aye,” said Cassidy. Summers nodded
toward the XO’s seat next to her and Cassidy took the hint and sat.
There was no reason for Cassidy to remain standing the whole time,
and honestly Summers preferred to have Cassidy sitting next to her
than the buffoonish Acting XO. Besides, Miles would need to take
the defense post now that she’d dismissed Mister Roy. And Summers
didn’t feel like taking the station herself, although she was
perfectly qualified. Mister Donaldson was the new White Shift
defense officer, and he would undoubtedly report to the bridge with
the others, but considering the inherent danger of the situation
they were about to enter, Summers preferred to have Miles at the
defense post. Sure he was a complete idiot for which the universe
owed the human race both an apology and an explanation, but he was
also, admittedly, damned sharp with the ship’s guns.

By the time the others arrived, and replaced
the Green Shift officers, they were only seven minutes away from
their destination. Summers ordered Sarah to keep the ship’s depth
and trajectory steady. As expected, Miles whined about Cassidy
being “in his chair” but once it was made sufficiently clear that
Summers intended for Miles to sit with his big sweaty fingers
curled around the ship’s guns, he stopped complaining and took the
seat he was most used to. The only place on the whole damn ship he
belonged, the only tiny fraction of a reason that even remotely
pretended to justify his presence on an Intel Wing starship.

“ETA three minutes,” reported Sarah, giving
them reports at regular intervals as instructed.

“Final check, all systems,” commanded
Summers. She’d gotten a status report not two minutes prior but it
didn’t hurt to check again. Especially since she knew she had to be
ready for anything once they dropped out of alteredspace; they all
knew it.

“Jump depth ninety-one percent and holding.
All systems prepped for alteredspace exit, stabilizers and braking
thrusters report ready,” said Sarah. “Comm traffic silent.”

“Shields are unpowered but ready for action,”
said Miles, looking more than a bit trigger-happy. “Missiles
loaded, guns loaded, and beam weapon is ready to charge. We’re
armed to the teeth and ready for a fight, Your Mightiness.”

Summers narrowed her eyes at Miles’ use of
the honorific, which was a kind of insubordination in its own way.
But she didn’t have the luxury of rebuking him just now. “What
about the stealth system?”

“Engaged and running like a champ.”

“Very good,” Summers next looked to Iwate
Shen. Who seemed… almost distracted. He had a somber look to him
and appeared absent-minded, as if off-in-space somewhere unraveling
the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything else, perhaps
not ready for action. When he didn’t provide a status report,
Summers was sorely tempted to have Cassidy replace him then and
there, but somehow she found the patience within herself to give
him one more chance. “
Mister Iwate
,” she said.

“Yes, Commander,” said Shen, snapping back to
attention. He shot Sarah a strange look as he twisted his chair to
face the center of the bridge. Summers made eye contact with him,
thinking there was something different about the man’s brown
irises. Almost a hint of redness to them, though it was probably
just her imagination…

“Status report,” she said in an even
tone.

He spun back to face his computer screens.
“All systems are good, critical systems such as defenses and life
support are ready to receive auxiliary and tertiary power if
needed.”

“Very good, Lieutenant. Make certain you’re
ready.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

“Forty-five seconds,” said Sarah.

“Standby for alteredspace exit,” said
Summers. “Keep your eyes on your systems, especially Lieutenant
Iwate and Mister Brown.”

“
Acting Executive Officer
Brown,”
Miles mumbled.

Summers ignored him. She took a moment to
steel herself mentally, wanting to be ready for whatever situation
they found themselves in once they arrived. She then looked over
her officers, pleased to see that they appeared ready for action.
Sarah was focused on initiating their transition from alteredspace
to normal space, and was no doubt standing by to guide the ship
into emergency maneuvers should the need arise. Shen seemed checked
back in and focused on his computer screens. Miles sat on the edge
of his seat, no doubt itching to blow something up. And Cassidy sat
next to Summers, clearly eager to help in any way she could.
Summers smiled at her, glad to have her presence of mind and
levelheadedness as a sort of check against Miles’ idiocy. Mister
Donaldson was there too, standing uselessly. He’d no doubt expected
to be seated at the defense post since he was technically the
current White Shift defense officer. Summers had ordered him to
remain in case she needed to remove Miles from the post, or if the
large oaf of an officer proved otherwise unable to serve.

“Ten seconds,” said Sarah. “Nine. Eight.
Seven…”

Summers locked her eyes to the 3d display.
Currently it was blank, except for a projection of the Nighthawk at
the center. She wondered what they would see once they dropped into
normal space.

“Three. Two.
One
.”

A splash of stars suddenly filled the window,
as if painted by a swift brushstroke.

“We have arrived in normal space,” announced
Sarah. “Braking thrusters have fired, current position
one-one-three-nine-point two-seven-seven by
three-three-six-mark-four by nine-one-nine-mark-one. All stop.”

“Defense systems?”

“Stealthed, shields down, weapons standing
by,” reported Miles.

“Ops,” said Summers, “what do we see?” Her
eyes flicked back to the 3d display but it still showed blank.
Certainly there had to be
something
out there.

“We are twenty-two point three million mc’s
from the local sun. In this system, there are over four million
objects larger than one kilometer in diameter,” said Shen.
“Composition: silicate rock, nickel, iron, and carbon with trace
other elements. The nearest object is seven point three million
mc’s away from our current position. Computer confirms we have
arrived at the edge of the Kynar Asteroid Field.”

It’s about time
, thought Summers. “Do
we see any ships?” she asked, wondering if the ships carrying the
isotome weapons were still in the system.

“Impossible to tell for certain,” said Shen.
“Our scanners haven’t identified any yet, but there could be one or
more ships hiding within the asteroid belt. A small starship’s mass
would be impossible to distinguish from the asteroids, and visual
and radio scans could be equally frustrated. We’ll have to comb
through the asteroid field in a circuit to know for certain.”

Summers nodded. “What about alteredspace jump
signatures?”

“None that I can detect. Though there are
signs that might indicate the remnants of a very faded, or very
distorted, series of jump signatures. It is likely that any
alteredspace jump signatures have faded beyond recognition.”

Unfortunate but not unexpected
.
Nevertheless, Summers remained hopeful; she knew the jump
signatures of the isotome bearing vessels all coalesced to this
point. Which meant someone was here or soon would be, they
had
to be! Which made this system, and any clues it would
reveal, the best lead they had to chase down and destroy weapons
far too deadly to be in the hands of mere mortals.

“Very well, commence search of the asteroid
field. Lieutenant Winters, accelerate us to sixty-thousand mc’s per
second. But slow us down appropriately once we risk striking the
debris.”

“You got it,” said Sarah. She still wore her
inappropriately cropped uniform, despite her knowledge that Summers
disapproved. Unfortunately, a rebuke would have to wait.

The position of the stars in the window
seemed to move as the ship changed angle and accelerated.

“I have something,” said Shen. “At least… I
think it’s something.”

Summers nodded to Cassidy, indicating that
she should go investigate what had gotten Shen’s attention.

“Is it a ship?” asked Summers.

“No,” said Shen. “It’s a radiation
source.”

“A weapon?” asked Summers.

“No, it’s a natural source of radiation.
There appear to be several small, dense pockets of thorium
distributed throughout the asteroid field. Considering the entire
field, thorium composes less than a thousandth of one percent.
However, near those pockets of thorium, there is enough natural
radiation to confuse a starship’s sensors. If there is something
near any of the thorium asteroids, something no larger than a
starship, then odds are good that a scan of the asteroid field
wouldn’t detect it. Even from close range.”

“Even with scopes as advanced as ours?” asked
Summers.

“Yes, probably.”

“Perfect little hiding places…” mused Summers
thoughtfully.

“Yes, I think so,” said Shen.

“Suppose they are hiding there, either the
isotome weapons or the ships carrying them, how would we discover
them, if our ship’s scans won’t pick them up?”

“It would take a while but we could do two
close orbits, laterally opposed by ninety-degrees, of each
significant thorium object and could inspect them visually.”

“You mean we have to look out the window to
see if they’re there?” asked Summers. “Detect them with the naked
eye?”

“That and use the standard optical
telescope,” said Shen. “I’m not saying it won’t take a while. But
if they are out there, and that’s where they’re hiding, that is the
only way I could guarantee that we would find them. After all, it’s
not like they can literally become invisible.”

“True,” admitted Summers. “Though neither can
we. If we’re that close, close enough to see them visually, then
that means they would be able to see us as well. Stealth system or
not.”

“Yes that’s probably true,” said Shen. “The
hull of our ship is black and that should help us a little, but
ultimately you’re right. If we move close enough to see them, then
they will likely see us too. And the element of surprise will be
lost.”

“What do you think, Midshipman Dupont?” asked
Summers.

Cassidy looked away from Shen’s screen, which
she’d been reading over his shoulder, and turned back to Summers.
“I agree with him. If there’s anyone out here, that’s where they’d
be.”

“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” said
Summers, making a snap decision. “Mister Iwate, program a flight
path and send navigational coordinates to Sarah’s console.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Notify all decks to keep a sharp eye out the
windows and have the lab activate the optical telescope.”

“Already on it.”

Summers wasn’t sure what kinds of ships would
be out there, or indeed if any were out there, and she couldn’t be
sure that the Nighthawk would win in a fight, for all she knew
they’d be outnumbered. But considering the scope of the isotome
threat, there was no other option. She had to risk it, even if it
killed them all. But at least she knew the Nighthawk packed a mean
punch.

“All decks report ready, and the lab confirms
the optical telescope is in position and online,” said Sarah.

“Excellent,” said Summers.

“I have a recommendation,” said Cassidy as
she sat back down in the XO’s chair. Summers noted that Shen looked
relieved not to be having the other ops officer hovering over
him.

“What is it?” asked Summers.

“We could dispatch a probe or two to do the
same job. Lessen the time it will take us to search each of the
thorium deposits.”

“If they catch sight of a probe, that might
spook them and they could flee the system before we have the chance
to intercept them,” said Shen.

“Not if we only use the probes to search
thorium deposits near our ship. It would accelerate our ability to
search the deposits, and any ships, once spotted, would be too
close to outrun us and escape.”

“She has a point,” said Sarah. “They’d have
to clear the asteroid field before they could jump to alteredspace,
and I doubt any of their ships can maneuver these asteroids faster
than the Nighthawk. We’d catch them. Provided they aren’t more
than… two million mc’s away from us when the probe finds them.”

Shen gave Sarah a strange look but did not
object further. Summers took that to mean Cassidy and Sarah had the
right of it. “Very well,” said Summers. “Launch two probes and
direct them to assist in our search. Make certain they remain
within a one-point-five million mc radius of the Nighthawk’s
position.”

“Aye, aye,” said Shen.

With that, the extensive search began. Sarah
deftly angled and maneuvered the Nighthawk, frequently firing
thrusters to accelerate or decelerate the vessel as they made
progress through the asteroid field. It was neither larger, nor
denser than other common asteroid fields, but any asteroid field
was considered extremely hazardous to any starship attempting to
traverse it. Fortunately Sarah was expertly trained, and the
Nighthawk was an order of magnitude more maneuverable than proper
navy warships. Then again, proper navy warships would simply use
firepower to carve a path, or else avoid the asteroid field
altogether. For Summers and the Nighthawk, neither was an
option.

“We’ve reached the nearest thorium deposit,”
said Sarah.

“Thorium composes fifty-seven percent of this
asteroid,” said Shen. “Two passes around the rock should be enough
to know if there is anything hiding in this spot. After that, I
suggest we move on.”

“Agreed,” said Summers. “Commence first
orbit.”

“Commencing,” said Sarah. The ship swung
swiftly around an asteroid that was only perhaps four times the
length of the Nighthawk. “First pass complete. Moving to position
for second pass.”