The eternity artifact, p.11
The Eternity Artifact, page 11
That was understood. No military organization would risk vessels for “mere” science.
“The Magellan has delocked from Deep Find Station. Once the final cross-checks are completed, we will be leaving Hamilton system. We will be accompanied by the battle cruiser Alwyn and two couriers. Because each of you will receive a complete briefing package on your work-space systems shortly, I won’t go into specific in-depth details. Our objective is what D.S.S. believes is an alien world crossing the void between galaxies. It has neither a sun nor satellites but is rotating slowly on its axis. We’re calling it Danann. We have incontrovertible indications that it once hosted a very high-technology alien civilization, but that was more than several billion years ago. There is strong evidence that many of the structures remain intact, despite the passage of time, and undisturbed. That level of technology certainly appears to surpass anything we have accomplished to date.” Morgan paused.
I could see heads nodding around the mess tables, and while I could not help but be intrigued and excited by the possibility of beholding the ruins of an alien civilization, I had to wonder why I’d been included among all the scientific experts. I had my doubts whether the lessons of human civilization and history applied to long-departed aliens. I also couldn’t help but be annoyed by the choice of the name, because properly it was a possessive form of the name of an ancient goddess. If they were going to name the place after ancient deities, it should have been Danu, but no one had consulted me.
As Morgan spoke, the captain and the Special Deputy Minister made a quiet egress. I had no doubts that Special Deputy Minister Allerde was present only as a political prop so that, once the expedition was over, the Minister of External Affairs could assert that a high-ranking representative of the people had been overseeing the operation all the way.
“It is possible that this could also be a dangerous expedition,” Morgan went on. “As mentioned earlier, we will have a D.S.S. battle cruiser as an escort, and we have attempted to keep those who know me objective and the stakes to an absolute minimum. Keeping such a secret, unfortunately, can reveal that the secret exists…”
That secrecy revealed as much as it concealed was irrefutable.
“We are also operating under a time constraint. Danann will remain in a position where the planet can be explored and evaluated only for a few more years, perhaps less than three. That is another reason for this commitment.” He stopped and surveyed those in the mess before going on. “At the moment, anything more from me would be either superficial or superfluous. After you have a chance to study your briefing materials, either Major Tepper or I will be meeting with the various teams to discuss and develop operations in dealing with Danann.” Morgan offered a pleasant smile, a nod, then turned and was gone.
His behavior fit what I would have categorized as a typical military approach—make a presentation so general that the only value was the basic announcement and follow it with a promise of more information, while avoiding all questions on the basis that they were premature before we read the briefing materials.
“I said it was an alien artifact.” Melani was radiating both excitement and anxiety. “How can we even begin to understand how they thought?”
Alyendra said nothing.
“You must have noticed that we are among the few who are not specialists in the physical sciences,” Tomas said. “I believe there are also an artist, a cryptographer, and a linguist.”
If Tomas was correct in his assessments, we were indeed a minority.
Alyendra finally spoke. “Why all the secrecy? It’s not as though the Covenanters, or the League, or even the Sunnite Alliance or the Middle Kingdom, could use the Comity Gates to get to us, or to wherever we may be headed.”
An economic sociologist she might be, but Alyendra clearly didn’t understand the trends of human history. I cleared my throat.
“If this is truly a scientific expedition, why such a fetish for secrecy?” she continued, her voice increasing in volume and stridency. “All of us could have prepared better if we had known where we were going and why—”
I cleared my throat again. This time I was louder. “Throughout human history, over time, no polity has long regarded the limbus of authority of another polity as sacrosanct, regardless of the difficulties in surmounting either political or geographical borders. No polity has ever resisted the temptation to attempt to possess and monopolize new knowledge and technology. If what the Special Deputy Minister and the commander have asserted is accurate, and the D.S.S. obviously believes it is, or they would not have committed such an inordinate accumulation of resources and expertise, then the potential for a brane-explosion of new knowledge exists for whoever can find it and exploit it.”
“But a Gate is as close to invulnerable as… as a star itself…” That was Melani.
“That is indubitably so. Do you recall what occurred in the Dirty War or the Second Arm War?”
Melani frowned.
“Gates had been long established by that time. Each of the belligerents controlled its own system Gates. Not a single Gate of any belligerent polity was compromised or destroyed through direct military action, yet whole systems were decimated.”
“They created Gate-ships,” pointed out Tomas. “Those were ships that went through their own Gates and ended up outside the enemy’s systems, and then they were converted into functioning Gates for the attackers.”
“Exactly. Consider that those wars were over control of populations, territory, and human knowledge. Wouldn’t the possibility of alien knowledge be worth the expenditure to create or use Gate-ships, either to gain control of such knowledge or even to preclude the Comity from monopolizing it?”
“How would they be able to build them so quickly?”
“They wouldn’t. Those earlier Gates later formed the basis for enhanced interstellar contact—those that were not dismantled because of their excessive operating costs. Do you know how many Gates are positioned outside Hamilton system?”
“How would I know that?” asked Melani.
“That’s the salient point. Unless a Gate is used, space is vast enough that no one would know it’s there. If its first use is to translate a fleet…”
“You think they would come after us, after a D.S.S. ship like the Magellan?”
“The commander said we would have a full battle cruiser as an escort.” To me that more than intimated that the D.S.S. anticipated a high probability of some form of hostilities.
“Then let us hope that no one sends a dreadnought after us,” Tomas said quietly.
While I appreciated and shared his concerns, I would rather that he had not expressed them quite so directly.
22 CHANG
On fiveday, early, I was down in the ops workout rooms trying to get back in better shape. Never had the time on Alpha Station. McClendon contract had been a bitch. Not many there, and all D.S.S., except for one of the civilians. Dark-haired, working hard but smoothly in the high-gee area. Doubted I could match him. Wondered who he was.
All pilots to stations! All pilots to stations! I’d forgotten that the links worked everywhere in the Magellan. Shouldn’t have forgotten that. She was a D.S.S. ship.
Ran through the shower and scrambled into my uniform and up the ramps—faster than the lifts for a few levels. Lerrys was in the ready room before me. Braun was right behind me.
Major Tepper was waiting, not Morgan.
“We’ve got a small problem.”
Tepper looked across us and the five needleboat pilots. All were junior lieutenants. Lindskold, Rynd, and Rigney were the ones I knew. Rigney was the biggest pilot I’d ever seen, over 190 centimeters. Name strips on the other two said SHAIMEN and UNGERA.
“An out-system Gate has translated two battle cruisers and two frigates. They’ve split. One of the cruisers and one frigate will reach us just before we reach our Gate.”
“The others are positioned to keep us from returning to Hamilton system without a fight?” asked Braun.
“They’re Sunni-configured, and once they’ve translated through a Gate, they don’t back off.”
“Why the Sunnis, sir?” asked Rynd.
“We don’t know. It could be that they’re the most desperate for any possible alien technology. Their systems are outflanked by the Covenanters and the Comity, and Old Earth blasted them the last time they encroached on League worlds.” Tepper gave a tight smile, wry. “If we prevail, the Alliance will deny that those ships ever existed. There certainly won’t be any records. Or if there are, they’ll be raiders funded by some extremist splinter group. All that’s beside the point.” She looked hard at the junior lieutenants. “Sunnite ships carry lots of needle-boats. Each needleboat can carry one antimatter torp.”
Rynd winced.
Rigney nodded.
“We’ll see what the spread is, but you’ll probably have to launch in another three hours.” Tepper turned in my direction. “You’re the designated rescue pilot. Once we engage, you’ll be suited and in shuttle one, but you’ll stay cradled in the bay unless and until you’re needed.”
“Except for Lieutenant Chang, you can all go back to whatever you were doing until ten hundred. Then I expect you back here, ready to fly. If we need you sooner, you’ll be alerted.”
Major didn’t say a word until we were alone.
“Commander Morgan picked you for this, Lieutenant.”
The way she said it meant she didn’t agree. Would have bet she’d done the pickups before. “Yes, sir. I didn’t know.”
“I wouldn’t have expected you to. You know how all the equipment works, and you’re the best overall shuttle pilot we’ve got. It’s basically a close and grapple and return operation. No armor to armor, and you never leave the controls. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Lieutenant, if you’re launched, your only task is to pick up any disabled needleboats and bring them back, as quickly as possible. We can’t afford delays. You will not recover any enemy artifacts or boats unless specifically ordered. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.” Wasn’t stupid. Bringing a needleboat that still carried an antimatter torp inside the Magellan’s shields was suicide. Hell, Sunnis had been known to strap antimatter bomblets in place of one of the recycler packs on their space armor. Never understood suicide tactics. Doubted I ever would. Just accepted that some idiots were like that.
“Good. Do you have any other questions?”
“Bringing back disabled boats… what bay do you use?”
“Fourth bay for salvage and repair. It will be the only bay open on your return. That makes it easy.”
“The ship will be maintaining heading and acceleration?”
“That’s the plan, Lieutenant. Delays might provide opportunities for others.”
“How many others?”
Tepper looked like she wasn’t going to answer. Then she nodded brusquely. “We don’t know. We’ve learned of a major security breach. There are… religious implications… we believe.”
Religious implications? What did aliens have to do with religion? If someone believed in an all-powerful god—or goddess—the damned deity had to have power over aliens and us. Who believed in a deity that wasn’t all-powerful? Didn’t say anything, though. Never did understand why people believed that crap. Life after death? Even the words were a contradiction.
“If you don’t have any more questions, Lieutenant…”
“No, sir.”
Tepper left. So did I.
Did a quick workout, then got a shower and a big breakfast No telling how long I’d be standing by.
At ten hundred, I was back in the ready room, and by ten-thirty, I was strapping into shuttle one. Wore full armor, except for the helmet, racked just back of the couch. Had to be able to reach it in instants, but links didn’t work well through armor, unless you used a habitability connection like they did in the needles. Glad I wasn’t running a needle. They piloted in full armor, helmets and all. Went through the prelaunch checklist and put everything on hold. Didn’t carry a tech on a recovery. Nothing a tech could do.
Navigator Control, this is Porter Tigress. Standing by at prelaunch.
Porter Tigress, Control, stand by until further notice. Estimate bogeys in operating area in fifteen plus.
Control, Porter Tigress standing by.
While I waited, called up the Magellan’s farscreens through the links, and the lower command net. Could see the Sunni cruiser and frigate, closing. Alwyn—D.S.S. battle cruiser escorting us—could have outrun both. So could the two couriers, Bannister and Owens. They’d run for the Gate. No reason not to. They didn’t carry but four torps and light shields. Magellan had too much mass to make that speed in a short time. Gate was too far. We wouldn’t make it before the Sunnis reached us.
Alwyn moved to intercept. Sunnis split. Frigate accelerated plus fifteen on a course thirty relative. Would try to intercept from the port forequarter. Magellan should have screens to hold off a frigate. Had to wonder how many needleboats the two Sunnis would launch. They’d need plenty to offset the Alwyn’s firepower.
The Sunni cruiser turned on a tail chase directly toward the Magellan. Alwyn altered course, dropping back slightly, but maintaining position between the Sunni cruiser and the Magellan.
Frigate kept accelerating, trying to draw abreast of the Magellan.
I ran the parameters through the shuttle’s comps. No frigate had enough fusactor mass to keep up that acceleration for long, not even with augmentation from photon nets. Good question as to whether the AG drives would melt down or the fusactors would shut down. Frigate had to be figuring on a one-way attack or a later pickup from another ship. Farscreens only showed the other two Sunnis—heading toward a stand-off near Deep Find Station. They’d be able to reach the frigate before any Comity ship could. There weren’t any other ships anywhere close in our out-sector of Hamilton system.
Sunni cruiser began an accel-run toward the Alwyn. That didn’t seem right. I checked again. Cruiser was aimed at the Magellan.
I could see the Sunni tactics unfolding. Cruiser would shift all power to acceleration and forward shields. Alwyn would have to shift power to screens and block or destroy the cruiser. That would slow the Alwyn. If the Alwyn didn’t have to protect us, she could have just cut back at an angle, and the velocities would have been great enough that the Sunni wouldn’t have been able to bring torps—or anything else—to bear for more than instants. With the Sunni cruiser on a collision course with the Magellan, the Alwyn had to stand and fight. Both couriers were well clear, closer to the Gate.
I kept listening on lower command band.
Bandit one, closing. Range is one-point-three kilo-kay ETC is eight minus. Bandit two, closing on Navigator, terminal vee. ETC is eleven plus.
Both Sunnis were working on a simultaneous attack, one on the Magellan, the other on the Alwyn.
Bandit one, all shields forward. ETC five plus…
Couldn’t figure why there was so little on the lower command, but realized that the Alwyn was a warship, and the captain of the Alwyn was probably senior to Captain Spier. Meant that he was commanding and using upper band—why it was blocked. They had to give me access on lower for recovery ops.
Farscreens showed a reddish blip that was the Sunni closing on the blue ovoid that was the Alwyn. Magellan was a larger oval, with the smaller red triangle that was the frigate coming in from the port side.
Magellan’s internal shipnet came up with a warning. All personnel! Secure for null grav, Secure for null grav. Probably went out over all audio speakers, too, but I wasn’t where I’d hear that.
On the farscreen, I saw that the Alwyn fired five torps, almost point-blank. Except point-blank in space combat was something like two hundred kays. Sunni cruiser didn’t return fire.
Sunni cruiser’s shields stopped the first torp salvo. Thought I saw a flicker of orange when the fourth and fifth impacted shields. Less than fifty kays separation when the second salvo went. This time the third salvo went on top of the second.
Sunni’s shields went amber, vibrated green-amber, then dropped through the amber to red.
Attacking cruiser, your shields are gone. Surrender and decelerate, or be destroyed.
That message went out on all bands and was repeated in all of the major system languages. Recognized some, but not the others. Sunni piled on acceleration.
Alwyn fired another spread of torps.
I shifted screens to check the frigate, coming in faster, burning drives and systems. Clear suicide run. Looked like that, anyway. A good ten torps blew out from the frigate. Ten? Half were torps, and half were needleboats.
Torp spread flared out from the Magellan, five headed toward the frigate. Another five followed.
Ten torps? More than half the total load of a corvette.
Launching needles this time. Null grav in bays four and five. That was lower command band.
The frigate’s shields went into the amber, but held, through the first salvo, and even the second. The Sunni torps didn’t even cause the Magellan’s shields to flicker. Five Sunni needleboats spread—small targets for torps.
Lead needleboat from Magellan targeted the middle Sunni needle, one that looked larger on the screen.
Bandit one destroyed. Hold rear shields for debris. Another expanding energy globe appeared where the Sunni cruiser had been. Could make out chunks of matter going in all directions, but most of it was headed toward the area aft of the Magellan. Made sense, laws of motion and energy. Sunni cruiser had been accelerating toward us.
Turned concentration back to the port screens. White energy appeared on the screens where the two needle-boats had been. When it cleared, both needleboats were gone. Sunni had triggered antimatter torp—or the D.S.S. needle-boat had.
