The Captain, to her credit, listened to Stricklen’s request and actually contemplated agreeing to it. But, in the end she had to disagree. Their primary mission was to assist the Kyrra and they would wait for them for as long as it took.
Stricklen was on watch when the Kyrra finally appeared. “Multiple drive wakes detected,” the tactical station announced. “Distance 1.68 lights; Speed 16Kc plus; ETA one hour.”
“Multiple?” Stricklen remarked. “How many?”
“I count twenty-six on approach.”
“Twenty-six? Are you certain they are Kyrra?”
“Drive wakes match that of the Kyrra.”
An hour later the Kyrra fleet dropped into normal space. Captain Sheppard had relieved Stricklen and was now occupying the Captain’s chair. Stricklen was standing beside it chatting with Sheppard when the coms station announced, “Incoming communications.”
A second later the main screen shifted to show the furry face of a Kyrra Ken recognized. “Trel’mara!” he blurted out before anyone else had said a word.
“I am pleased you recognize me Ken,” Trel’mara replied. “Due to the lack of communication between yourselves and the worldship I must inform you of some recent developments.”
“I would appreciate it,” Captain Sheppard replied. “We were expecting Norgoola. Why are you here?”
“Norgoola, along with the people you provided, are aboard the worldship where they will continue to search for a way to open negotiations with the Chroniech. The fleet now at your location is being controlled remotely from the worldship using our version of the Chroniech instantaneous communications device. This transmission is also being accomplished using the same device. I am still aboard the worldship.”
“Impressive,” Sheppard remarked. “What are these ships for?”
“The ships represent approximately one half of our entire compliment of warships. We are providing them to assist you in your defense of the Alliance. They are limited in their abilities since they are remotely controlled. We will control them from the worldship.”
“I was under the assumption that you would be keeping all your warships for your own use,” Sheppard said.
“We have changed our mind,” was Trel'mara's simple reply.
“It would sure be nice to have one of those transceivers,” Ken said.
“We have anticipated your need for one and a shuttle has been loaded with a transceiver,” Trel’mara replied. “As soon as the fleet has matched velocities with you the shuttle will be ejected. You will have to bring it aboard with a tractor beam as we are unable to control it from here. Instructions for its use are displayed on the shuttle’s computer.”
“Thank you Trel’mara.”
“About a day ago we re-established the hyperdimensional field. We estimate it will take the Chroniech about two weeks before they are able to force us to deactivate it again. Once that happens the field will stay down.”
Trel’mara glanced over his shoulder then continued, “We are recommending that you and the ships we have provided head toward Alliance space.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Captain Sheppard replied. “As soon as the transceiver is aboard we will be ready to depart.”
It took the engineers nearly four hours to integrate the Kyrra transceiver with the
Dragon’s
internal datanet. As soon as that had been accomplished Captain Sheppard walked over to the communications station and asked, “Explain to me how the new transceiver operates.”
“Right now,” the operator replied, “our transceiver is linked to one located on the worldship. From there, the signal can be routed to any of the other transceivers built by the Kyrra. When the entire system is operating per design we would connect first to the worldship then to a transceiver in our own communications hub and from there to any of the other transceivers that might be in operation throughout the Alliance.”
“But what can we do with it right now?”
“From what I gather, we can talk to the worldship or to the few transceivers that were brought through to the Alliance by the Kyrra.”
“See if you can’t connect with someone in the Alliance military,” Sheppard asked.
“I will try,” the operator responded turning to his panel.
Captain Sheppard returned to the command chair. A few moments later the central screen came to life with the face of a Kyrra. “I am Char Torma. At the moment, this is the only operational instantaneous transceiver in Alliance space. The units we brought with us are still en route to their final destinations. I can forward any message you desire to any destination using your own communications network.”
“Thank you Char Torma. I will have our computer transmit an update to be forwarded to fleet command.”
Sheppard closed down her link then instructed to computer to carry out what she had just said she would do.
Heavy Losses
Commander Cross had managed to review only a fraction of the projects in the huge Havatanu database when Falnath walked into his office. He put his work on hold and gave her his full attention. He couldn’t tell if she was bringing good news or bad.
“You have news?” he asked standing up and stretching.
“I do,” she replied stopping in front of his desk. “The new drive works.”
Falnath paused as if trying to find the words. Jim was happy to hear some good news but held back sensing there was bad to follow. “I sense there was a glitch?” he prompted.
Falnath shuffled her four legs and her four hands were intertwining themselves as if she was nervous or upset. “The drive itself works perfectly, however… ”
Jim walked around his desk and stopped in front of Falnath. He had always liked the scientist. As a child growing up on Earth he had been fascinated by the ancient stories of dragons. When his parents told him that the Rouldians looked very much like dragons he wanted nothing more than to meet one.
It took several years, but one day he spotted a Rouldian tourist during a visit to the local zoo. Without asking permission to do so he had taken off at a run. By the time his parents had caught up to him he had already reached the unsuspecting Rouldian. The alien tourist had been happy to engage the child in conversation and they spent several hours walking together through the zoo.
Jim waited for a few seconds for Falnath to finish her sentence then prodded, “It works, but what? You look upset.”
“Upset? No. Disappointed is a far better word. The drive is lethal.”
“Explain.”
“In order to assess the effect the drive might have on living organisms, several types of animal life have always been aboard the test craft. The moment the ship returned to normal space a massive energy pulse was recorded – powerful enough to knock the computers offline. Everything alive on the ship is dead. The drive can’t be used.”
“Can we shield the crew from the pulse?”
“No. As best as we can determine the energy is emitted directly from space itself. It comes from everywhere and permeates everything. It does not permanently damage the equipment but it has a disastrous effect on anything living. It causes damage at the cellular level. Death is nearly instantaneous.”
Jim sat in thought for a moment then decided to temporarily put that particular issue aside. “Let’s focus on the positive aspects of the test for now. Tell me about it.”
“We set our initial test flight at 25 light years. We had no way of knowing how accurate the targeting system would be so we chose an area of space as far away from everything as possible. Six hundred probes were positioned around the target zone. The drive required fifteen minutes to build up sufficient power. Internal clocks show the transit time from point of origin to destination to be 1.66 seconds.”
“I’m impressed!” Commander Cross exclaimed. “Twenty-five light years in just over a second is unbelievable. How close to the target coordinates did the ship get?”
“The ship appeared less than 150 kilometers from the intended target point. There was a detectable energy spike and an unusual EM burst that occurred at the moment of appearance. Bear in mind too that the time recorded was an average from the three clocks that were aboard the test ship. The time for any one piece of the ship to travel to the destination is essentially zero. It takes time for the entire ship to move through the two dimensional portal that is established.”
“Good Lord!” Jim could barely contain his enthusiasm. The military implications of such a drive were staggering. Instantaneous travel from one location to another was something that had been dreamed of for as long as people thought about moving among the stars. His enthusiasm was quickly tempered by Falnath.
“It is an exciting discovery,” she said. “But nothing living can use it. As soon as I got the results from the test I went back through the equations and discovered that the energy pulse is a natural byproduct of the hyperdimensional tube and its interaction with spacetime. It can't be engineered out.”
Jim thought about that. After hearing about Falnath’s project he had, of course, thought about the military applications of such technology. One way to ensure an Alliance victory in any one battle would be for the Alliance to have an overwhelming numerical superiority in ships. The Kyrra’s instantaneous communications system coupled with this jump drive would have allowed the Alliance to move entire fleets in the blink of an eye to any location the Chroniech attacked. Those hopes had been dashed.
“How about installing the drive on autonomous fighters?” Falnath suggested.
The Commander was familiar with such ships. Humans had continued to employ them even when they had proven to be ineffective. “Most space battles are fought at long range,” he explained. “Fighters are short-range craft used mostly for planetary defense. We Humans tried to use them in several major engagements. They were picked off by the far more powerful guns of the capital ships as they attempted to get closer so they could engage the enemy.”
“Then I see no practical use for… ”
“But,” Jim interrupted, “the Alliance has a large number of automated defense stations orbiting all major planets and military installations.” The Commander stopped talking as his mind considered the possibilities.
Falnath waited shifting her weight between her left and right sets of legs. “I need some more details,” Cross finally said. “What is the maximum range of the drive?”
“It is limited only by the ability of our instruments to target the destination. If we had accurate targeting information we could send a ship across the galaxy in the blink of an eye.”
“What happens if you target the interior of a planet or a star?”
“Impossible. The hyperdimensional tube cannot form near a gravitational field. It will get a ship farther into a system or closer to a planet than a conventional stardrive, but it cannot form if the gravitational gradient is too large.”
“How big of a ship can be moved?”
“Again, it is limited only by the amount of power available. The power requirements are not based on mass but on size. The test vessel was 86 meters long and was powered by an eight giga-watt reactor. The power requirements are not linear either but are more or less geometric. Given enough power though, we can move practically anything.”
“I need you to do something for me,” Jim explained. “Pull up the specs on the most popular automated defense stations in use by the Alliance and let me know the power requirements to fit them with your jump drive. As soon as that’s done, get your team working on the plans for jump drive units capable of moving them.”
Falnath seemed to be in a better mood as she turned to leave. “I will have the power requirements in a few hours and the plans by the end of tomorrow.”
At last things were starting to look up. The Kyrra were building advanced shields that would soon start arriving in the fleet. They had provided the Alliance with the plans for advanced weapons that factories were even now gearing up to build. And now, they had the ability to move large numbers of weapon platforms to any battle front nearly instantaneously.
“We might win this war yet.”
Jim thought.
* * * * *
Fifty-four hours after the invasion had begun Supreme Fleet Commander Aruthra Manetgu received some disturbing news. He was in the main operations room watching the progress of the various attack fleets as they raced into Alliance space when several emergency messages arrived at once. After they had been processed, it became clear that the Kyrra had pulled another surprise on them.
Not only had they once again engaged their hyperdimensional field but it had been expanded. The new field, unfortunately, also enclosed both the breach ships. He issued orders to recall them and to ready the breach generator.
Despite the setback, things were not as bad as they had at first appeared. As soon as the new diameter of the hyperdimensional field had been established the main tactical viewer had been altered to show its location. Commander Aruthra smiled as he noted the large number of warships that had made it into Alliance space. They should be able to soften the Alliance up before their main forces could once again be released.
* * * * *
“Multiple drive wakes detected!” the science station announced. “Distance 1.67 light years. Tactical says they are Chroniech.”
Commander Chomach had been dozing in his command chair and jerked himself awake. “All ships alter course to intercept. Tactical, what is our time to intercept?”
It took the tactical station a moment to account for the change in course and relative velocities of both fleets. After a few seconds he replied, “Unless they alter course we will intercept in 1.7 hours.”
“Very well. Coms, inform the rest of the fleet that we will be going to battle stations in one hour. Have the interceptors assume their preassigned flanking positions.”
Chomach left the bridge and went to his stateroom. He took a hot shower to refresh himself and to clear his mind. Thirty minutes later, he was in the fleet operations center. The world around him disappeared as he activated the 3D tactical display.
Fifteen hours earlier a Mispha class interceptor on high-speed patrol had picked up the drive wakes of a large Chroniech fleet heading into Alliance space. Although the contact had been brief Chomach had received enough information to guess the enemy’s general direction and had set his course accordingly.