Chroniech! (29 page)

"Thanks Doug. Power up all weapons and drop a couple of probes to see what happens," Stricklen replied. Turning back to the Hess he said, "The Chroniech fleet is trying to cut us off. We will not get very far before they catch us. Let's just hope our new weapons can get us out of this — Komodo Dragon out."

The minutes ticked by as the Komodo Dragon slowly made its way out of the gravitational influence of the pulsar. The tactical viewer showed the Chroniech fleet taking a long looping course toward them. Ken strongly suspected they knew what sort of weapons the Hess had at their disposal and they were maintaining a comfortable distance from them. The continuous analysis of the tactical situation by the Dragon's tactical computer showed the Chroniech fleet slowly closing the gap between themselves and the Dragon.

"I have an idea sir," someone said.

Stricklen turned around to see his communications watch looking at him. "Let's hear it Mr. Jurasinski."

"If I recall, the Hess stated they have several hundred probes in storage on the planet. Unless I'm mistaken, each one of those probes is powered by a small reactor which could theoretically be made to detonate. In effect, the Hess have a small supply of missiles."

Stricklen was impressed. "Mr. Juransinski, I think you may have a career in battle tactics after this is over. Open a channel to the Hess."

As the channel was being opened, the Dragon made the change-over to FTL drive. Unlike the standard Kauffman stardrive used by Humans, there was no noticeable effect as the drive fields formed around the ship. "Channel open sir."

Stricklen quickly outlined the proposal to the Hess. "Only an aggressive species would think of using a probe as a weapon," the Hess replied. "In order to make the probe as small as possible and to enable them to travel for very long distances they are powered by matter/anti-matter reactors. Although there are numerous safeguards, a method of triggering an explosion is possible. Your suggestion will be implemented."

"The planetary assault platforms are in position," Scarboro announced from CIC. "A visual from our probe is available on com channel eight."

Stricklen switched the tactical viewer so they could all see what was happening. "Multiple launches detected from the surface," Doug announced. "Looks like at least 375 small high speed probes are heading this way. ETA three minutes."

"They must have exhausted their entire inventory," Stricklen commented.

The formation of assault platforms had entered the radiation beam of the pulsar. Although the intense radiation was invisible to the naked eye, it had an extraordinary effect on the defense screens of the three ships. Each of the powerful defense screens was ablaze with deflected energy. Stricklen was amazed the Chroniech shields could withstand that kind of punishment considering how close they were to the pulsar.

Acting as a single structure, the formation altered its position slightly. A moment later, some sort of intense green energy field formed between the three ships. At first, nothing seemed to be happening but as Stricklen watched, something strange began to occur.

The pattern of deflected energy began to change. Streamers of excited particles began to flow across the defense shields toward the center of the three platforms. Stricklen entered a command into his console and finally understood what was happening. The sensors of the probe had detected a powerful force field of unknown structure coming from the assault platforms which was acting like a gigantic funnel. The radiation beam from the pulsar was being guided so that it passed through the center of the formation where other forces were at work.

In a process too complicated for him to understand, the Chroniech had created a giant lens using fields of force alone. In effect, all the available power from a large portion of the pulsar's radiation beam was being concentrated and focused into a coherent beam of indescribable power. The Chroniech were apparently having some difficulty stabilizing the effect, since the beam never fully reached a highly focused pattern. It seemed to sputter and spray out into space almost as soon as it was formed. Stricklen watched as they worked to bring the beam into proper focus.

"Hess probes approaching Chroniech fleet," Doug announced. "Detecting massive energy discharges. Tactical says they're matter/anti-matter explosions… Chroniech fleet is now sub-light… More explosions… Drive wakes detected, they are in pursuit again. Looks like seven… no — make that eight ships still on an intercept course."

"Look!" someone shouted. The probe had turned its pickup toward Shaular. A large silvery dome of force had formed over the Hess installation. This was the defense shield of the Hess in its most protective mode. Something was beating against the shield with unbelievable force. Huge solar flare like discharges of deflected energy erupted from the shield's surface. The entire shield seemed to waver and ripple as it fought to protect the Hess.

As suddenly as it began it ended. The Chroniech were unable to accurately direct their new weapon to a given target and thus the beam wavered about the surface of the planet. In its wake, a red hot ribbon of molten rock tens of kilometers wide and several deep marked its path. Bare rock met with the unleashed power of a dead star. It did not glow, or even boil, it literally exploded instantly into vapor. Wherever that finger of energy touched, destruction resulted.

Eventually, the wandering beam of incomprehensible power once again reached the Hess base. As before, enormous ribbons of energy cascaded off the defense shield. The silvery surface of the shield wavered and rippled and then promptly ceased to exist. With horror, the crew of the Komodo Dragon watched as the Chroniech allowed their awesome beam to pass over the Hess installation several times.

On its third pass a massive explosion occurred. An enormous column of molten and solid rock was thrown into the sky — some of it achieving escape velocity. The shock wave of the explosion was visible as it raced across the surface of the planet. An expanding ring of dust and tectonic upheaval speeding away from the epicenter of the most titanic explosion anyone had ever witnessed.

The entire world of Shaular shook with the force of the explosion. The containment field holding the anti-matter within the stasis chamber's power plant had either been breached or been deliberately shutdown. The Hess were no more.

There was a deathly silence on the bridge. Even though everyone knew the Hess was not a living creature, they all felt a deep sense of loss. Some thought of the Hess as a sentient being and morned the loss as if it had been a living breathing individual. Others saw the loss of an incredible technologically advanced device along with all the knowledge it held.

Stricklen waited until the pursuing Chroniech fleet was only a few minutes from intercept before he issued his next order. "Helm - disengage stardrive and drop to normal. Weapons - bring all systems on-line and designate all incoming targets as hostile. Permission is granted to open fire as soon as they are within range. CIC - give me a tactical of the incoming ships."

Stricklen had decided to stand and fight when and where he chose and not the Chroniech. The planetary assault platforms were not an immediate threat since they were so far down the pulsar's gravity-well that it would take them many minutes before they could try to engage their own stardrives. The tactical display which appeared on the bridge's main viewscreen showed him what they were up against.

Eight Chroniech warships had survived the Hess attack. Five of them were heavy cruisers and the other three were battleship class. If he had been in command of the old Komodo Dragon Stricklen would have tried to run. But the ship he now commanded was protected by the advanced weapons technology of an ancient civilization.

Kyrra designed and Hess built, these weapons provided the Dragon with unparalleled destructive power and Stricklen had no qualms about using them against the Chroniech. After hearing what the Hess had said earlier about Chroniech technology he fervently hoped his new weapons would be adequate.

"Chroniech ships dropping to normal," a voice from CIC reported. "Sledgehammers are charging. All other weapon systems are on-line and locked. Sensors show the Chroniech weapons are powered."

Confident of their ability to destroy a single Alliance warship, the Chroniech advanced. They soon discovered their intended prey was no ordinary Alliance ship. It had been previously learned that the Chroniech weapon's had a range of about 115,000 kilometers. At a distance of 130,000 kilometers the Komodo Dragon opened fire. Two brilliant white beams of energy stabbed out from the Hess weapons. A Chroniech battleship found itself in a losing battle for its own existence.

The defense screen of the enemy ship flared into brilliant denial, throwing enormous bolts of dissipated energy back into space. Even at this extreme range the shield was no match for the Kyrra weapons. Within a few seconds, it began to leak and soon portions of the hull started to glow. After a few more seconds, the shield collapsed entirely and one Chroniech ship was no longer a threat.

The remaining ships were now within their own weapons range and opened fire. At this range the Hess shield easily fended off the assault. The Dragon's tactical computer evaluated the situation and within three microseconds had retargeted its weapons.

Since the enemy ships had closed the distance to the Dragon the effectiveness of the weapons involved had increased. The Dragon's tactical computer took this into account and divided the Hess weapons between the two remaining battleships. The now fully charged sledgehammer's along with every non-Kyrra weapon the Dragon had to offer simultaneously opened fire.

Fifteen seconds later two more Chroniech battleships were drifting in space without shields or power. Blobs of still glowing metal, debris, bodies, and parts of the once mighty engines of destruction now floated in the vacuum of space.

The remaining enemy ships realized they were in a losing battle, veered off, and engaged their stardrives. After watching them for a moment, Stricklen said, "Stand down from battle stations. Helm — resume our original heading; maximum possible speed."

Stricklen activated the ship-wide address system and said, "Congratulations on a job well done! The Chroniech have retreated after suffering heavy losses."

Stricklen's hand reached out to end the announcement then withdrew as another thought entered his mind. "We have a very long journey ahead of us. I would like all hands to help in stowing our supplies. Once that is complete, you are free to take it easy as long as you are not on watch.

"I am canceling the rest of the normal workday routine for today. There will be a senior staff meeting in the main conference room at 0800 tomorrow morning to discuss the ship's routine for the remainder of the journey. The results of this meeting will be put out at department level meetings as soon as possible tomorrow. That is all."

Stricklen contacted his chief engineer next. Skip's image appeared on the monitor and, judging from the background, he was in his favorite spot — the primary engineering control center. As soon as he noticed the connection had been made Skip looked directly into the monitor and said, "What can I do for you skipper?"

Stricklen saw the obvious joy on his engineer's face and knew he was in heaven. Watching an alien stardrive take your ship to previously unheard of speeds would excite any engineer. Stricklen smiled and asked, "How long before we will be at maximum speed?"

"With the acceleration we're allowed and the required pauses for the dynamic tuning that still needs to be done, I would say about six hours," Skip replied. Stricklen noticed that his eyes kept glancing off to either side.

"Is everything okay down there?"

"Oh yes! Kyrra technology is amazing. This stardrive practically aligns itself. You should come down here and have a look."

"Thank you but I think I will pass this time. Let me know if you experience any problems." Stricklen then called up a tactical display showing their present course. He entered some information into the console and observed the results. Satisfied with what he saw, he shutdown the viewscreen and stood up.

After stretching with the appropriate accompanying verbal utterances (along with a few cracks and pops) he announced. "I'm going to get something to eat and then I'll be in my stateroom."

As he made his way to the mess hall Stricklen thought about the future. By the time the Komodo Dragon reached the Chroniech border she would be traveling far faster than any other ship, Chroniech or Alliance, had ever been capable of. They should be able to simply get out of the way of any ship attempting to intercept them.

They were finally on their way! In a few months, if their luck held out, he would soon be face to face with a member of a civilization which has been in existence since his own's early stone age. The thought was a little frightening.

18 - The Journey Begins

The council chamber was deathly quiet. The chosen leader stood before the council with his claws fully extended. The hair on nearly every inch of his body stood on end making him appear much larger than he really was. Despite thousands of years of evolution this ancient display of hostility had remained. The leader would never attack one of his own; the Chroniech were far to loyal to their own species. But, if any other creature had been within striking distance, those razor sharp claws would have been put to use.

Chroniech males were large, heavily muscled individuals. Possessing two arms and walking on two legs. Their basic anatomy followed what nature seemed to settle on as being the most common. They were completely covered with thick, very course hair which had originally served to shield them against attack. Their underlying skin was tough and leathery.

Their three fingers and single opposable thumb were thick and short with razer sharp retractable claws. Sitting on a thick muscular neck was a massive head. Their eyes were set into deep sockets with protective bone surrounding them. The extended jaw could open wide and housed a number of sharp teeth along with both an upper and lower set of canine teeth.