TFS Theseus: The Terran Fleet Command Saga – Book 2 (13 page)

Their course of action decided, the
Hunters
engaged their sublight engines at maximum power, accelerating away from the Resistance task force and also taking some random evasive action of their own. Each RPSV calculated that their C-Drives would need just under two minutes to reach a point where an escape transition would be possible, so their immediate goal was to confound the enemy ships’ efforts to target them just long enough to make their C-Jump back to the nearest hyperspace comm beacon. After a few seconds, both of the
Hunters
broke formation simultaneously and began increasing the distance from its former “wingman” at varying rates in the hopes that at least one of them might survive.

Unexpectedly, from the AIs’ point of view, energy weapons fire from the Resistance task force began arriving at their location just twelve seconds after their arrival. Both ships recorded the fact that the enemy must have access to real-time surveillance of the region surrounding their rally point in order to respond so quickly to their presence. Each also noted impassively that their chances of survival had decreased dramatically as a result.

Ten light seconds aft, well beyond the practical range of most warships’ energy cannons, the battlespace defense cruiser
Hadeon
continued its massive barrage of energy weapons fire. Still relatively new to Sajeth Collective naval forces, the
Keturah
-class BD cruisers were equipped with heavy emitters capable of the increased power handling and beam coherence required for precisely this type of engagement. This, coupled with advanced fire control AI, placed the fleeing
Hunter
RPSVs still well within
Hadeon’s
lethality zone, particularly given that they were lightly armored vessels with no shields.

For the first several seconds, it appeared that the RPSVs’ evasive tactics might actually allow them to escape. Most of the incoming energy weapons fire passed well clear of their flight paths and initially gave the appearance of a randomized firing pattern sent in their general direction in the hope of scoring a chance hit. Over time, however, its accuracy steadily improved. Twenty seconds into the engagement, the fire control AI had gathered enough data to begin predicting how the
Hunters
would vary their flight paths in response to incoming fire. Just ten seconds later,
Hadeon
made her first kill. “Nail 43” took a glancing, off-axis hit that probably would not have been lethal under normal circumstances. Nevertheless, the energy bolt burned through the outer skin of one of the ship’s HB-7c missiles, causing a malfunction that detonated its compact antimatter warhead. The resulting matter/antimatter annihilation event was marked by the creation of extremely high-energy gamma photons and a brief but spectacular flash of visible light as the RPSV was completely obliterated.

“Nail 42” fared slightly better at first, surviving for almost a full minute before the cruiser’s ever-more-precise fire managed to coax the vessel into a predictable kill box. The beam that finally ended the
Hunter’s
attempted retreat struck the small ship squarely astern, quickly overloading its small reactor’s containment field and once again blotting it from space as if it had never existed.

As a matter of course, both
Hunters
had burst-transmitted their reconnaissance data in the direction of several of the nearest comm beacons, the last known positions of several TFC vessels, and towards Earth itself for good measure. Those signals, containing the crucial data needed for Earth’s defense, now streamed away from the Resistance task force’s rally point at the speed of light. It would take nearly eleven hours before Terran Fleet Command noted that
Hunter
formation “Nail 42” had failed to transmit an update via NRD net at the appointed time — and just under three years and four months before any of the RPSVs’ signals arrived at their intended destinations.

Chapter 10

TFC Yucca Mountain Shipyard Facility

(Simulated Fleet Operations Training Center)

Terran Fleet Command operated the three most advanced full-motion simulation facilities ever constructed, each of which being collocated with one of their three largest spacecraft construction facilities. Here, the age-old military axiom of “train like you fight” was applied in the purest form allowed by the current state of the art. Every critical section of each Fleet vessel could be modeled with near perfect fidelity, including simulated weapons impacts with actual gravitic field manipulation that could be downright dangerous for any crewmember failing to follow real-world procedures to the letter. Although the cavernous rooms dedicated to reproducing the ships’ engineering spaces were impressive in their own right, it was the arena-like bridge simulation facility that tended to garner the most attention. The “bridge sim” had already earned the reputation of delivering a terrifyingly realistic facsimile of combat operations aboard Fleet vessels — along with a humbling dose of reality for their sometimes-cocky crews.

For the past several weeks, the simulator had been dedicated exclusively to preparing
Theseus
-class destroyer crews for their first deployments. Since
Ingenuity’s
arrival, however, her crew’s urgent transition to
Theseus
had left little time for the other destroyer crews.

“Did you notice that our chairs on
Theseus’
bridge are much more comfortable than these are,” Reynolds asked, wearing a conspiratorial grin and leaning over so that only Prescott could hear.

This was the first time the entire first watch bridge crew had been present in the simulator at the same time. The frenzied pace of preparing the destroyer and her crew for departure had forced the XO into a “shotgun approach” to training where anyone not immediately required for duty onboard the ship was expected to be in the simulator. Although less than ideal, the entire crew had now successfully completed the minimal sequence required for designation as “mission ready” aboard the new destroyer.

“I was probably too distracted to notice. The rumor is that at least one person …” Prescott checked himself, looking around to make sure no one else was listening to their conversation, “soils themselves in here every day. Let’s just say that I was highly motivated to make sure that wasn’t going to be me,” he laughed.

“Seriously?” she grinned, suppressing what might have otherwise been uproarious laughter. “I never would have guessed something like
that
was happening, but thanks for giving me something else to worry about when I’m in here! Now that you mention it, though, I guess it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise, given how intense it can be. I think they finally got all the G-force stuff dialed in the way Fleet Training wants it, but I have to say I think they may have gone a little overboard. We’ve seen real combat once and also did a real-world simulation at the Live Fire Training Range, but I don’t remember it ever being anywhere near as strenuous as it is in here.”

“I think that’s all about adrenaline and distraction. In the heat of combat, a little G-induced discomfort from lagging inertial dampeners doesn’t really register. We did briefly hit 6 Gs several times at Gliese 667, thanks to our wannabe fighter pilot helmsman over there.” Prescott briefly raised his voice enough for Blake Fisher to hear the jab, prompting the young ensign to respond from the Helm console by raising his hand in a “thumbs up” gesture. “Kip says they updated all of their settings based on
Ingenuity’s
battle data, so it should all be pretty accurate at this point. It’s definitely not what I’d call pleasant, though,” he said.

“No it isn’t … and I had a slice of pizza for lunch while running between
Ingenuity
and
Theseus
, so I really hope they aren’t planning on any of that kind of thing during today’s briefing,” Reynolds sighed, puffing out her cheeks.

“Hah, the old ‘a pizza pie before you fly,’ eh?” he laughed. “I think you’ll be okay. As far as I know, it’s just Kip doing the briefing, and I don’t think he has any plans to demonstrate anything other than general system ops. By the way, I was pleased to see that you managed to get everyone through their initial qualification training sequence. That’s quite an accomplishment, given the time crunch.”

“Thank you, sir. I didn’t think it would go over very well if Fleet gave us a launch order and we had to respond with a ‘mission ineffective’ status. Besides, it’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up sleeping.”

“The extra few days have been helpful for all of us, but our luck, if you can call it that, may not hold out much longer. If our reconnaissance flights are going to find the Resistance ships at all before they show up here, it’s going to happen within the next forty-eight hours. So now that we’ve reached a minimal level of readiness, I want you to bump crew rest up to the top of your priority list. Well-trained or not, we won’t perform if we’re sleep-deprived … and you know how I feel about stims,” he said, staring into his XO’s bloodshot eyes with a furrowed brow.

“Aye, sir. Will do.” For her part, Reynolds had never been especially fond of the idea of putting her people on prescribed stimulants either. Fleet Medical’s official stance was that they were safe and effective for keeping crewmembers on duty for up to seventy-two hours straight, but only in cases of ‘urgent operational necessity.’ Although she took more of a pragmatic stance on the issue than her captain, Reynolds hated the way they made her feel. She already dreaded the “detox” period — which usually required a different set of meds to help force her mind out of its chemically-induced state of alertness so that she could finally get some rest. The absolute worst part about the stims, however, was the restless sleep and weird, unsettling dreams that always seemed to follow.

Prescott stared at his XO a moment longer, knowing full well that she had worked herself well beyond the point of mental and physical exhaustion. He knew she was doing what she felt was required, and the last thing he wanted to do was discourage her after the monumental effort of the past several days. Instead, he contented himself with a subtle tilt of his head and a look that he hoped registered his concerns without any implied criticism.

“I know,” she smiled, nodding her head and closing her eyes momentarily. “I haven’t had one in twelve hours, and I’m hitting the rack right after this briefing.”

Prescott nodded his approval without comment, then paused briefly before getting back to the subject at hand. “Logan has been pretty tight-lipped about what he has to show us today, but I gather it’s mostly about new systems, particularly getting us up to speed on the shields.”

“Uh huh … I think I would appreciate eventually being assigned to a ship that’s loaded up with technology that has proven itself reliable over a long period of time. And by ‘proven itself reliable,’ I mean by someone other than us.”

“Oh come on. You have to admit we’ve been very fortunate along those lines so far. Besides, if the shields don’t work properly, we’ll be the first to know as soon as someone starts shooting at us again.”

“How did Joseph Heller say it? ‘That’s some catch, that Catch-22.’”

“‘It’s the best there is,’” Prescott chuckled, completing one of his favorite literary references.

The bridge simulation facility was becoming increasingly crowded as members of all three of
Theseus’
bridge watch crews filed onto the floor of the simulator area itself. Since the room was designed to be quickly reconfigured to mimic the bridge layouts of all four of Fleet’s primary ship classes, it was a bit larger than
Theseus’
actual bridge, thus providing a fair amount of standing room around the perimeter. At the same time, an even larger group composed primarily of crewmen from other departments filled the round observation deck perched high above the simulator floor.

Although not designed for the delivery of technical briefings, the room performed admirably well in the role in spite of its minimal seating capacity. Every system present on the destroyer’s bridge was faithfully reproduced to the smallest detail. This included a fully functional ship’s AI, which, while clearly overqualified for the purpose, made for an excellent audiovisual assistant. Perhaps most importantly, the enormous, wrap-around view screen lining the front of the bridge was visible throughout most of the facility, and was supplemented, where required, by a few additional screens installed around the perimeter of the observation deck.

After a few minutes,
Theseus’
chief engineer, Commander Kip Logan, squeezed his way through the rear entrance of the now-crowded simulator floor and made his way to the open area between the Helm console and the front of the bridge.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” he began, playing up his disarming Southeastern U.S. accent as he often did when speaking publicly. “I think most of you know me by now since I’ve been the guy running around yelling at everyone within earshot for the past several days. In case I haven’t yet had the opportunity to yell at you personally, I do apologize, and I’m sure I’ll get around to it soon. Anyway, I’m Commander Kip Logan. I was
Ingenuity’s
chief engineer until a few days ago, when I was reassigned to the
Theseus
. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not sure being
Ingenuity’s
Cheng necessarily makes me qualified to transition immediately into the same role aboard
Theseus
. After all, it’s a completely different class of ship, right? The good news is that, even after only a few days of working with her, I can tell you without hesitation that the whole ‘mod/com’ concept works, and works very well. I was skeptical at first, as I’m sure many of you were, but I have to tell you, folks, I’ve become a believer in a big hurry.

“On all four of our primary ship classes, parts, systems, and even crew procedures are interchangeable to the maximum extent possible. While it’s not one hundred percent, I’d say it’s probably about as close as we’re likely to ever get. We operational guys tend to beat up on the eggheads at Fleet Science and Engineering quite a bit for being out of touch with real-world requirements, but I think they’ve truly done a great job in this case. In fact, I think as soon as I can get someone to show me how to start her engines,
Theseus
will be ready to go.” Logan smiled and looked around the room in an effort to gauge his audience, but other than a few people clearing their throats or shifting in their seats, his attempt at humor was met with complete silence. Searching for encouragement, he glanced at his captain and XO and saw that each was wearing a lopsided grin while slowly shaking their heads – both clearly enjoying his discomfort.

“Oh, come on, people … that’s pretty good comedy as far as engineers go. Trust me when I tell you that I can do a lot worse.”

“It’s the truth, he can!” Reynolds interjected, which finally drew a smattering of laughter from the impassive crowd.

“Okay, now that I see what I’m dealing with here, I’ll move on. Oh, and before I forget, all of you know that essentially everything you see, hear, smell, or touch at the beautiful Yucca Mountain Shipyard is classified, Top Secret, code word MAGI PRIME. Even though the entire facility has been raised to this classification level, Fleet still wants you to be reminded of your responsibilities along those lines when we start talking tech. This is also intended to be an informal presentation, so feel free to interrupt with questions anytime. Most of you look like you’re way past due for a nap, so I’ll try not to keep you too long today.

“This briefing is primarily for the benefit of
Theseus’
bridge crews, all of whom I believe have now been designated as ‘mission ready.’” Logan glanced at Reynolds for a confirmation and received a nod in return. “Alright, that’s good. So that means you all have at least a basic understanding of the ship’s systems, so I’m not going to spend too much time talking about those today. For those of you coming from
Ingenuity
like me, a good rule of thumb to remember is that many things on
Theseus
are simply three times what they were on
Ingenuity
. That applies to quite a few basic stats like length, displacement, crew complement, and number of reactors, to name a few.”

On the bridge simulator view screen, and without prompting from Commander Logan, the AI provided supporting information in perfect synchronization with the briefing. At the moment, multiple views of both ship types were displayed, with specific traits highlighted as he continued to speak.

“The truth is that our ‘factor of three’ observation doesn’t come close to telling the whole story. Even with Earth under the threat of a possible attack, the
Theseus
-class ships were held in port until the remainder of their systems could be fully integrated. I think you’ll all agree that this was a huge risk, given the circumstances, right? Well, the reason the Admiralty was willing to take that risk is evidence of the tactical advantages these ships have over all other Fleet vessels at the moment … and hopefully over the bad guys too.

“Quick question … and feel free to shout out your answer. Successful warship design always has and always will come down to one thing — and that’s …”

There were a number of answers around the room including “speed,” and “big guns,” before someone came up with the word “power.”