Battleship Destroyer (120 page)

"I am getting a hard wall reading Jack from our lasers as well as radar waves." The Ensign said. "It does not make
sense but I think you could be on to something."

"Distance?"

"1,450 miles and closing." The Ensign said.

"Number 2, bring us to a stop
please. Number One, send one of the recon missiles in to check it up close." Jack looked at one of the upper side screens and froze for a few seconds. "Engineering, turn off our running lights please."

The
engineering officer at his console turned to Jack baffled. Seeing where Jack was looking then followed his eyes and shrugging as he reached down and flicked off the ships external navigation, running lights. Then looked back up at the side screen again that was suddenly blank and dark and frowned. What looked like a ship in the distance with its navigation and running lights on, was gone.

"Turn them back on." Jack said.

The engineer turned them back on without looking away and the ship lit up in its bright glory. "Captain, I am sorry sir. I don't know how we got the navigation running lights backwards sir. I will have them fixed today. Sorry again sir but we don’t get many chances to look back at the ship from a recon missile sir."

"No Lieutenant. That is not from a recon missile.
The navigation lights are not backwards." Jack switched the small side screen to the main screen. "That Gentlemen is our reflection in the bubble wall surrounding our little universe." Letting that sink in for a good minute as the recon missile approached the bubble wall. "Ensign, hit the wall with a particle identification laser.”

“I am sorry Captain but the
recon missile is not equipped for such a job."

“Well the ship is Ensign. Hit it with the laser.”

A minute later the Ensign gasped. "It reads solid carbon glass Jack ah, Pure Diamond Captain. How did you know? Sir."

"Basic Chemistry and
Achom’s razor. It could not be anything else that made sense. Can you tell how thick it is?"

"Sure
, now that I know what is there. Already sending the concentrated waves and it is 200 feet thick with the waves breaking up strangely after that. Damn where did that much material come from? Let me check around the bubble as to how consistent that measurement is."

"
Well there was a lot of material in this cloud. But that is damn thick. Weapons, use a single 16(8), reduce the power until you can maintain a constant beam and keep shooting until it melts through. If you stop before you are through, the heat will dissipate into the rest of the crystal and we will have to start all over again. Only we will be dead from the heat buildup in the ship we can't get rid of. Since all our heat radiators have been destroyed."

The beam hit the wall and bounced
or reflected back missing the ship by only a few hundred feet and then the still bright hot core still sitting at the center by a few miles. The beam continued the 100,000 miles across the bubble and bounced or reflected off the far wall of the bubble and within seconds the beam had bounced around the bubble hundreds of times and was going strong. Rapidly working its way around the bubble.

"Cease fire, Cut!" Jack slapped at the kill button at the corner of his console. This time he got it on the first slap but the beam continued to bounce around the bubble for thousands of times
in a geometric pattern as if it had been programmed for a light show until it finally hit the Shield of one of the Spider Battle cruiser hulks still floating around the bubble.

"The beam only raised the temperature of the Diamond bubble a hundred degrees where it hit Jack." The Ensign studied her screens as she tapped her controls. "In other words it reflected 99.999% of the beam. And that is with the bubble wall still being at almost 3,000 degrees. By the time it gets down to normal
, temp it will reflect even more. If we are going to do something Jack we need to do it soon while it is comparatively soft or we are going to be trapped here."

"Ah. Captain we have a problem with the hull as well. The temperature is going back up with some kind of atmosphere forming around us sir. How is that possible?"

Jack turned to Pan as she walked back onto the bridge. "Your people have any ideas Pan? Now would be a good time to hear any."

"My apologies Captain but we have never run into or heard of this situation before.
" Rubbing her chin for a few seconds. "We have some experience with the diamond crystal we lined your gun barrels with but the temperature and pressures we used was only a fraction of what this bubble was made from. We have etching chemicals for our crystal coatings but the bubble is at too high a temperature still to use them. At the shell density our instruments are reading, it should be at when it cools (If it cools),  it will take years for the chemicals to etch even a few inches as hard as it is.” With what Jack would later learn was a shrug for her race, she continued. “If you had some kind of explosives you could possible blast the start of a hole for your beams to continue cutting?” Rubbing her chin again. “But you would need to do it soon before the bubble wall finishes hardening as it cools. Once hardened the explosive forces will be transmitted throughout the shell dissipating the energy before it can do any damage to the shell."

Jack
rubbed his face trying to think as he watched the hull temperature rising.

"Captain, we still have C magazine full of torpedoes. We just need to get at them is all sir." The Weapons Officer spoke
as his face lit up.

"Good going lieutenant
." Turning to the Exec., the ship’s Damage Control Officer at the consul at the back with the ships damage control screen running along the back bulkhead. "Get your crews and the marines working on that top priority. We don't have much time and we are not after anyone alive so don't waste time getting pretty about it." Turning to Pan. "See what your people can do to help please Pan." Turning away. "Weapons, we have any missiles left?"

"No long range missile
s sir. They were taken out with the fins. We still have hundreds of small point defense missiles Captain but I don't know what good they can do us."

"I don't know either Lieutena
nt but they are worth a try since we have little else. Number Two take us in to a hundred miles if you please."

The Red Pepper closed with the bubble's shell as crews went to work
tearing apart the worst damaged section of the ship. Clearing a path to C magazine. "One hundred and 3 miles Captain."

"Very well. Weapons, target
the point our beam hit and fire a S.R. missile at the shell and set the warhead on armor piercing. Hopefully the beam softened it up a bit."

"Captain, the
hull temperature has stopped going down." The engineer was not happy. "We are at a thousand degrees and the heat is starting to penetrate into the ship itself. The outer compartments are at a hundred degrees and climbing. Without our cooling fins we can't get rid of our waste heat let alone the heat permeating in from the hull."

"Jack, with the shell temperature still close to 3,000 and t
he core fireball still at almost a million degrees and the outside pressure rising, the ship is going to cook everything inside it if we do not get out soon."

"Ready to fire Short Range Missile Captain."

"Very well Lieutenant, Shoot."

The small 10 foot long 5 inch wide missile streaked from one of the many launchers scattered around the ship and headed for the shell.
The high temperature flames streaked back for miles behind it as the missile accelerated. Not having to follow a moving target it flew straight into the shell hitting just after its chemical motor burned out."

Jack studied the screen. "Ok I can't see anything. Get a sensor torpedo over there now."

"I think it penetrated Jack." The Ensign was bent over studying her screen. "But the shell is still pliable enough to absorb the forces as well as the projectile. Though the temperature of the impact point went up a thousand degrees according to my readings."

The ship shuddered under their feet as a bang echoed
through the metal of the ship.

"What the hell was that?" Jack exclaimed.

"Point missile box launcher just went up Captain. The hull heat and temperature of space around the ship detonated the chemical motors and warheads in the rockets." Turning around to face Jack. "The rest will join them soon if we don't launch them sir."

"Damn it. We need to use the missiles in coordination with the torpedoes. The missiles can soften the target up while the explosive torpedoes blast the softened material out.
" Grimacing as he turned toward Damage Control. "How far are we from C magazine?"

"The crews are working as fast as they can sir."

"Tell them to work faster damn it. Exec. Start transferring everyone into the core hull of the ship and seal the outer compartments. It should stay cooler longer in the core."  Looking around at the weapons officer as the ship shook again with a distant thump. "Try crossing a pair of the 16(8)s on the surface of the shell and see if that will heat it up."

"But Captain, 4,000 people
? In the core hull and pipe chase?" Said the Exec.

"Just do it damn
it. I want those tanks cleaned out before our new crewmen start roasting."

The
beams from separate turrets crossed on the bubbles shell where the missile had hit. The explosion seemed to be several times more massive than previously measured when attacking the Spider ships. Seeming to wash out from the shell toward the ship. The video sensors dampening down the bright reflections on the shell of the bubble.

Jack waited for several
minutes as he stared at the Ensign.  Finally. "Well Ensign?"

"Oh
... Well, most of the energy was reflected away from the shell and what was absorbed was spread over such a large area it only raised the temperature a few degrees even at the center."

"Ok well
." Turning to the Weapons Officer. "Will the torpedoes with their shaped charged warheads be able to dig the shell out by themselves or not lieutenant?"

Pan suddenly stood up and rushed over to Jack grabbing his arm
, turning him away from the Weapons Officer. "Captain Turner." She whispered her eyes darting around the bridge then settling on Jack. "I am talking to several other ships that survived the blast and the CAPTAINS want to surrender to their new GOD."  Bighting her lip and taking a deep breath. "They do not want to spend eternity in this hell you have created for them. They will do anything if you will take them with you when you leave."

Jack just
stared at her for a good minute then swallowed. "How the hell did any of them survive. No never mind. We don't have room for all we have now." Jack looked around as the ship shook again with another distant thump. Grimacing then tight lipped he said. "Weapons fire all the remaining point defense missiles at the target, target Alpha. Try to time their hitting in sequence as fast as you can. Shit what more can go wrong?" Turning back to Pan. "Just how many and who are we talking about Pan?"

Missiles started streaking from the launchers scattered around the ship forming a stream headed for the point on the bubble's shell now designated Alpha.

"Many of the first ships you knocked out, were far enough away from the fireball to survive when they turned their shields into the blast wave. They are on the other side of the bubble. I am talking to my counter parts on each ship who the God Captains in turn have contacted begging for their help with the famous new God who is taking the slaves of the other ships for himself."

"Ok…" Jack took a deep breath.

"Captain, D.C. here, they have reached the Torpedo magazine."

Jack smiled. "Great, get those damn things up to the launch bay
now even if you have to carry them."

"Ah sorry Captain but we are now in contact with a survivor inside the magazine."

"What he hell. No. It has been over two weeks since the battle. How the hell is anyone still alive in there?"

The missiles started hitting the shell and disappearing.

"It is going to take a while to attach a portable airlock to get her out Captain. We were not planning on needing one."

"Godstar what next. Pan what do you suggest?"

"With the God Captains cooperation. Each ship's surviving slaves can load and launch their transports from the ship's boat deck. Your gunners were very good at missing the slave decks and taking out the engines, guns, Ape storage and Officer decks. Most of the slaves survived.  We will make sure no God Apes board with the help of the hundreds of slave Apes on each ship that are ready to swear allegiance to you Captain Turner." 

Jack turned from Pan and hit his comm. "
Not what I was asking about but fine. Commander Murphy."

"Yes Captain."

"Are you on the DC detail at the Torpedo Magazine?"

"Yes sir. With my marines
."

"Good.
I want you to personally blow the hatch into the magazine. Tell the crewman in the magazine to put on her helmet then blow it now. Even if she does not have a helmet and get those torps up to the launch tube bay now."