Doug rubbed his temple hoping to make the headache go away. “Let’s hope the Kyrra made it into Alliance space. They are the ones I think will matter the most.”
“The Kyrra, and no Chroniech,” Captain Sheppard agreed sinking back into the command chair.
She pressed a button on her console and paused as the ship’s announcing system emitted an attention-getting tone. “All hands, this is the Captain. We have successfully entered Chroniech space. At this time there are no enemy ships capable of intercepting us within our detector range. Stand down from general quarters. Maintain the ship at alert status.”
A Problem Arrives
Fleet Commander Chomach tey Tantaga floated God-like above a gigantic three dimensional representation of space. In actuality, he was seated at his command console in the fleet operations center deep inside the
Rin’Bak
. The total-effect virtual reality helmet on his head provided the illusion of his God-like abilities. With a flick of his hands or a turn of his head he could quickly fly to any location in space, bring up the detailed tactical analysis of any chosen target, or put himself in direct communication with a single ship or an entire fleet.
The Fleet Commander kept a watchful eye on the nearly 200 ships that had been placed under his command. Spread out across a vast area of space, the fleet hung motionless with respect to the position of the fold waiting for it to vanish. The
Rin’Bak
was one of only four Tholtaran juggernauts in existence. She was a titanic warship of almost inconceivable power.
The juggernaut had been designed to bring the power of planetary-scale weaponry directly to the enemy. Prior to the Chroniech war only six had ever been built. One had been destroyed by the Humans and one by the Hess. The Chroniech had managed to destroy two more. The
Rin’Bak
was the first of several replacements and had taken nine years to build in the highly automated Tholtaran shipyards. A second had recently been completed and was undergoing space trials. Three more replacements were under construction but it would be years before they were completed.
Chomach came from a family with an extensive military background. He could trace his lineage back several hundred years. His great grandfather had fought the Humans in the short-lived war that had erupted shortly after that race had gained the ability to build a stardrive. His father was a renowned scientist developing advanced stardrives for the Alliance.
Chomach had originally tried to follow in his father’s footsteps and had enrolled in the science academy. Science, however, was not something he enjoyed. Instead, he had spent his spare time reading military history and studying battle tactics. He struggled for two years at the academy before dropping out and joining the Tholtaran navy.
His father had been bitter over Chomach’s decision but soon became proud of his son as he graduated at the top of his class then proceeded to advance rapidly up the ranks until he now commanded the most powerful ship ever built by his race. His unique background in both science and military tactics made him a formidable Fleet Commander.
The pre-fold charts showed a star system to be located 1.3 light years from their present position. The validity of this information was verified by the presence of a large mass affecting space at the location specified by the old star charts. The long-range sensors, however, could detect nothing there.
Starships traversing the Kyrra fold were required to have their navigational systems reprogrammed to account for the oddities encountered in this area of space. The
Rin’Bak’s
navigational and tactical computers both recognized the presence of the fold and ignored what appeared to be large mass anomalies. Instead, the computers substituted the location of the stars according to the travel distance. It took some getting used to.
The current charts showed the nearest system to be located 3.7 light years away. Fifteen years ago that same star would have been unreachable because it was located over 1,200 light years from their current position. The Kyrra hyperdimensional field had altered space in an almost incomprehensible manner.
Nobody, including the infamous Rouldian scientist Falnath, could say for certain what would be seen today when the hyperdimensional field was deactivated. There were plenty of guesses but nobody was willing to go out on a professional limb to predict exactly what would happen.
“Starshift has been detected!” the senior tactical officer announced.
“Acknowledged,” Chomach replied. “Power all weapons and standby.”
The juggernaut’s long-range sensors, operating at faster-than-light speeds, had been locked on the same guide star the
Komodo Dragon
was watching. The star had suddenly vanished indicating that the hyperdimensional field had been shutdown. For a brief moment the juggernaut’s tactical computer became confused and error messages appeared. A secondary program activated and loaded the old map into the tactical system. The hologram swirled and shifted then stabilized as the tactical computer regained its composure.
A new star had appeared 1.3 light years from their current position. A few seconds passed as the long-range sensors scanned space. The blue icon representing the
Komodo Dragon
began moving into Chroniech space at a very high speed. Three red icons representing Chroniech ships appeared. A second later a series of numbers and symbols appeared next to each of the enemy icons.
Chomach quickly read the statistics with a practiced eye. One heavy freighter heading away from them at a moderate speed – no threat. One battleship at the edge of their detection range – too far away and therefore no threat. One light cruiser at a distance of 0.12 light years was quickly altering course and speed and could possibly become a threat if it managed to cross into Alliance space before the Kyrra reengaged the hyperdimensional field.
Chomach made a movement with his right hand and a virtual command console appeared. He pressed a nonexistent button to activate a fleet-wide transmission. “All ships are reminded to remain at their assigned position until the field is reestablished,” Chomach ordered then dismissed the keyboard with a wave of his hand.
One Chroniech light cruiser was no threat to the assembled firepower of the Alliance fleet. Chomach, however, knew that in less than fifteen minutes things could quickly change. Twelve hundred light years away there may very well be other Chroniech ships heading beyond the fold. The moment the hyperdimensional field was reactivated all of Chroniech space would suddenly vanish. If the majority of the predictions were true, then virtually all of the Chroniech ships that had managed to make it to Alliance space would suddenly appear on their sensors as space itself shrank. Until then, the fleet would hold their position and wait.
The allotted fifteen minutes seemed to take an eternity to pass. Chomach watched as the icon representing the
Dragon
made its small course correction. He was pleased to see it pass the line it had to cross to ensure they were in Chroniech space when the hyperdimensional field was reactivated. A few minutes later, the stars again shifted, the hologram swirled, and the blue icon was gone. One by one, as the long-range scans returned their data, fourteen red icons spread out across a huge area of space appeared.
Three yellow icons traveling at over 16,000c had also appeared. Chomach quietly spoke into the microphone inside his helmet giving the tactical computer instructions. The yellow icons turned blue and were identified as Kyrra. As he finished, a flashing icon appeared in his field of view indicating an incoming transmission. He accepted it and the furry face of a Kyrra appeared in the inset virtual screen.
“This is Fleet Commander Chomach. Welcome to Alliance space,” he began. He was interrupted before he could continue.
“We have detected the presence of a Chroniech ship that must be destroyed. It is a large vessel currently located exactly 0.213 light years from our current position.” The Kyrra’s face was completely covered in a polychromatic fur which appeared to be primarily light tan in color. Its large brown eyes stared directly into the screen. The mouth was small and no ears could be seen.
From what Chomach knew of the Kyrra, their instructions were not to be taken lightly. He made some quick hand motions and spoke a command to the tactical computer. The fast-moving Kyrra ships were highlighted and a dim sphere appeared around them A single ship on the surface of the sphere was identified and highlighted. Chomach selected that ship then in quick succession selected three nearby battle groups and four Mispha class interceptors. A virtual console appeared and commands were issued.
Returning his attention to the Kyrra, Chomach said, “Three battle groups have been dispatched. Why is this particular Chroniech ship more important than the others that have made it into Alliance space?”
“We believe the ship to be capable of generating a field that will allow the Chroniech to breach the hyperdimensional field.”
“We shall give priority to its destruction. I have been ordered to request that you proceed directly to Almaranus. My readings indicate that you are already on the correct course. I have no ships capable of matching your current velocity but if you wish to slow down I can assign an escort.”
“We do not require an escort. Time is of the essence,” the Kyrra replied.
“Very well,” Chomach said. “You are to contact Almaranus as soon as you are able.”
“Understood,” came the terse reply and the communications link was closed.
Chomach quickly reviewed the current tactical situation. The Chroniech had managed to react quicker than anticipated to the disappearance of the hyperdimensional field. The enemy ships consisted of six light cruisers, three heavy cruisers, two battleships, and one of unknown class of considerable tonnage. This last vessel had already been identified as a serious threat by the Kyrra.
The tactical data displayed so far was based on the estimated tonnage and energy signature of the associated ships. Detailed scans were being blocked by interference fields. The unknown ship had mysteriously reversed course as soon as the fold had been reestablished and was now slowing to a halt relative to the fold. As Chomach watched, it dropped out of stardrive.
Chomach scanned the tactical display until the movements of the remaining Chroniech ships began to show a pattern.
They’re all running in different directions,
he thought.
They may be trying to draw the bulk of our ships away from the one the Kyrra warned us about or they may simply be trying to escape so they can regroup later.
Chomach quickly split his remaining resources into several groups and issued orders.
Mishpa class interceptors, which had been strategically positioned throughout an enormous volume of space, were soon racing toward their designated targets. Built by the Rouldians, the Mishpa class interceptors were sleek craft designed for but one purpose – to intercept an enemy warship and force it into normal space. Their stardrives were constantly being updated to keep them state of the art. They carried minimal weapons but were protected by the tightest and strongest shield known to Alliance science.
Chomach congratulated himself on the positioning of the interceptors. The Chroniech ships were fast – very fast. If the interceptors had been in formation with the rest of the Alliance fleet they would have been unable to catch the fleeing enemy ships. The Mishpa class ships could achieve a maximum sustained speed of 4,683c. The fastest Chroniech ship was racing away at a speed of 4,884c. But, because of Chomach’s positioning of the interceptors all of the Chroniech ships would be intercepted in a matter of minutes.
Because of the Kyrra’s warning, Chomach had ordered the
Rin’Bak
to join the other ships now approaching the mysterious stationary Chroniech ship. The titanic juggernaut, easily the largest ship ever built by any Alliance race, lagged behind the rest of the force.
Using his VR helmet and the interlinked data-net, Chomach focused a tight sensor beam on the unknown vessel from the nearest Alliance ship – an interceptor. At first, no additional information was obtained but that slowly began to change as the interceptor closed on its target.
The unknown ship’s gravitational footprint seemed to indicate it had a mass on the order of 470 kilotons putting it in the heavy battleship category. The energy signature, however, was much higher than expected and did not seem to contain the sidebands associated with powered weapon systems. All of a sudden, the sensor data became scrambled. Chomach switched to another ship only to find the same jumbled mess.
“Science station, what do you make of the sensor data from target one?”
There was a moment’s delay then a voice came through the headset. “The computer claims the sensor beams are being completely reflected. No return information whatsoever.”
“A sensor shield?” Chomach replied trying to figure out how such a thing was even possible.
“No sir,” the voice replied. “All data indicates that target one is enveloped by a total reflective shield. Everything impinging upon the shield is being reflected back all the way down to the quantum level. It’s perfectly reflective.”
Chomach had never heard of such a thing. Nothing could be perfectly reflective. Even if such a shield could be created it would serve no purpose. The ship inside would be completely cut off from all outside information and firing through such a shield would be impossible. Tactically, the shield would be useless because activating it would prevent the ship from doing anything. It would be protected but that would be all.
While the Fleet Commander thought about this, a Human battle group led by the battleship
Princeton
arrived on the scene and opened fire. Sixteen sparkling balls of energy from the battle group’s sledgehammers raced toward the Chroniech ship. Simultaneously, eighteen beams of coherent death erupted from their main guns.
Traveling at light speed, the beams struck first and instantly bounced back as if they had struck a mirror. In the blink of an eye two ships found themselves under fire from their own fleet. The interlinked tactical computers analyzed the situation and within a few microseconds the beams hitting friendly ships were silenced.