Dreadnought (10 page)

“But
the Dreadnought can use its own scanners effectively through this shield,”
Daerran pointed out.

“How
can it?” Tarrel asked.

“There
seems to be only one way to make that work. The Dreadnought’s shield already
pulses at a certain frequency. All shields do, since it is that wavefront
pattern that deflects the bolts of cannon fire. At a high enough frequency and
intensity, it will also break up active scanner beams. At an even more intense
level, it has the same effect even on light. But the Dreadnought knows the
frequency of its shield, and it knows the corresponding frequency for an achronic
beam that will slip through the wave troughs. It is a shutter that opens and
closes thousands of times every second. From the outside, it appears constantly
closed. From the inside, constantly open. Does everyone follow me so far?”

“From
a distance,” Tarrel remarked drily, and several of the others seemed to agree
with her.

“If
the secrets of the universe were easy, there would be no justification for
experts,” Dalvaen explained. “Unfortunately, knowing all of this does not give
us what we would like to have. Let me show you on the simulation what we have
so far. This is an application of what Captain Tarrel did to get the only clear
scanner reading of the Dreadnought we have so far. She hit it with so much
energy that just enough of the proper frequency and intensity was bounced back
by the Dreadnought’s shield. We have developed a special high-intensity
achronic scanner pulse which we propose to call an impulse scanner. When the
pulse strikes the surface of the shield, it is absorbed in the same manner. But
at that same moment, achronic resonance causes a signal of proportionally
smaller strength and frequency to be bounced back. ”

He
set the simulation into motion. The carrier sent two pulses, and a target
responded deep within the system.

“No
scanner lock,” one of the Starwolf Commanders observed.

“No,
we do not receive a clear signal of the target,” Dalvaen said. “All we get is a
ghost reflection of the shield itself. It is perfectly accurate to location,
size and distance, but it still gives us no detail about anything within the
shield. It cannot, since the signal never penetrated the shield. It was easy
enough to guess how to do this, since the Dreadnought did it to the Kerridayen
after failing to find her on normal scan. You can find those pulses in the
Kerridayen’s records, but there was no reason for the ship’s computers to
consider it relevant information at the time. ” “Unfortunately, there are three
deficiencies with this system. The first is that it gives you no information
about the target itself. Because the pulse generates its response by
interacting with the shield, it cannot reach through the shield to the ship
within. Secondly, you will only want to use the impulse scanner very sparingly.
The interaction of the pulse with the shield can be detected. The Dreadnought
will sometimes know that it is being scanned, and the side of the shield
reacting to scan indicates the general direction of the source of the scan. You
can see it, but it will know to begin looking for you.' The third problem is
that there might not be a better way to do this, since the Dreadnought used the
same system itself.”

“You
used the word ‘sometimes,’ ” Daerran observed. “Just how often does it become
aware of the scan?”

“Our
simulation is designed to respond to impulse scan by returning scan,” the
researcher explained. “The simulated Dreadnought returns scan only twenty-one
percent of the time.

However,
we expect the real thing to be much more sensitive to scan by an unknown
factor.”

“Could
it see through normal stealth intensity shields, or would it get the same ghost
reflection?” Daerran asked.

“The
simulation tells us that it receives only the reflection,” Dalvaen answered.
“Perhaps it does not yet know what a Starwolf carrier looks like.”

“It
knows already,” Daerran reminded him. “We lost our shields before it was over.”

Fleet
Commander Asandi nodded absently. “Very well, then. You have a working model.
How soon can you design working hardware?”

“We
anticipate two hard days of work, if we let the computers do most of the
general design for us,” Dalvaen said, having prepared his answer to that
important question already. “The next question is, do we build a working model
to scale and test it aboard a smaller ship, or do we go ahead with the fitting
of a carrier?”

Asandi
considered that only briefly. “We test it on a carrier. If it works, we’re
ahead that much. If not, we lose very little. How soon can construction and
actual fitting of the device be completed?”

“That
depends entirely upon the ship,” the Kelvessan said, as if he already
anticipated some problem with his answer. “This is a major refitting, requiring
extensive opening of the hull around the nose and all through the ventral
groove. We have to make major modifications to the scanner computers and
rebuild the surveillance station on the bridge. We even have to go into the
ship’s core computer, and you know what that involves. Expect four to five
weeks on an existing carrier.”

“Existing
seems to be the relevant word,” Asandi observed. “We could manage the conversion
in half the time on the Methryn. Her hull is still open at every important
point, and she was built with a number of modifications that make her computer
grid more versatile. We can tie the new systems directly into the network. The
parts can be installed as quickly as they can be made, perhaps nine days, and
another week to close the hull.” Asandi turned to one of the Starwolf
Commanders. “Is the Methryn ready to fly, Commander Gelrayen?”

“We
were going to take our time closing up, perhaps another four weeks,” he
replied. “By foregoing simulations and an extended trial run, we could do it.
But I do not have to point out to you the disadvantages.”

“We
will discuss it,” Asandi said, then turned back to Dalvaen. “Prepare designs
for the Methryn, the Kerridayen and one of the flight-ready ships in port.
We’ll have a decision on which ship to refit first in a couple of hours at
most. Could you join myself and the Commanders in my office in a (quarter of an
hour?”

Captain
Tarrel was not completely certain what it all meant, except that a portion of
her mind that was always devoted to business was thinking that, if the Union
had this impulse scanner, the Starwolves would never again be able to slink
about their systems unseen. All she could do was to remember everything that
she possibly could of what she heard, for all the good it might do. The Union
had trouble with the most basic achronic technology, so they could never
reproduce this. She followed dutifully as Asandi and his flock of Starwolves
made their migration through the station. Her presence had not, however, gone
entirely unnoticed. When they entered the tram on the military level, Asandi
joined her.

“You
will tell me if you learn anything that you shouldn’t,” he said. “I have too
much to worry about to remember to pay any attention to what you might be
hearing. How many secrets have you dug up, by the way?”

Tarrel
almost laughed, thinking that Asandi was good at pretending to be a kindly,
doddering old fool. “Only one, really. We fool ourselves, back where I come
from. The Union is completely out-classed. Your Starwolves could have made
short work of us long ago.”

“No,
not really,” he told her. “We have the technology, and you have the numbers.
When we have pressed you to it in the past, usually without meaning to, you
have been able to put together fleets large enough to pull down a carrier. Do
you realize that you people have destroyed two-thirds of the ships we have ever
built?”

“Just
returning the favor,” she quipped, although she was surprised to hear that.

“This
is some fine war that we’ve been fighting,” he continued. “We’ve been at it for
thirty thousand years. Either side could end it at any time, and neither side
wants to pay the price that would demand of us. I wonder if we might be able to
keep the truce, once we get rid of this monster.”

“Unless
it eats us both alive,” she commented.

The
mood of the meeting in the Fleet Commander’s office was a strained, brooding
one. Commander Gelrayen sat somewhat apart from the others, looking remarkably
like someone who had found himself in trouble and did not entirely understand
why. He was a young Kelvessan, in so far as they all looked young. Perhaps it
was fairer to say that he seemed less experienced than the others. While the
others wore command white, he was in the solid black of the fighter pilots. She
recalled that his carrier was still in the construction bay, and she realized
that he had probably never commanded a ship in flight before.

“There
is no reason to make an issue of this,” Asandi declared as he took his own seat
behind his desk. “This is not an emotional matter. We are here to discuss the
merits of fitting the Methryn with the first of these pulse scanners. At issue,
I suppose, is the question of whether or not a ship that has never even flown
should become the spearhead of our attack against the Dreadnought.”

“
An inexperienced ship, and an inexperienced commander,” Gelrayen added. “I
might point out the Methryn might still be the best choice. If we have only one
ship with an impulse scanner, it might be tactically best to have that ship
stand off from a distance and supply information to the others. They could then
remain invisible to the Dreadnought.”

“Assuming
that we move out now to attack the Dreadnought,” Daerran said. “First we have
to test the impulse scanner to see if it works, and to what degree. Then we
have to do something about finding a way to make that machine vulnerable to our
weapons. The Methryn would have a lot of work to do. ” “Then you take the
Methryn out,” Gelrayen told him. “You have good, solid battle experience, but
you need a ship. Your experience, and that of your crew, makes up for
Valthyrra’s lack.”

“Captain
Tarrel, what do you think?” Asandi asked suddenly. She sat up straight, looking
surprised. “Give the impulse scanner and anything else that comes along to the
Methryn, and make Commander Gelrayen take her out to fight. He has no
experience, meaning that he has no preconceived ideas of how a carrier should
fight. You need your most inventive Commander running this ship, and
inventiveness is the only thing that will make your new toys work for you.”

“That
is a very remarkable statement,” one of the Starwolf Commanders said. “Could it
be that, in your desperation to get help to your people as soon as possible,
you have some motivation in having any carrier modified as soon as possible?”

“Are
you accusing me of being devious?” Tarrel asked. “It is hardly in the Union’s
best interest to send out a carrier that is going to accomplish nothing except
get itself damaged or destroyed.”

“I
am not questioning your honesty,” the Kelvessan insisted. “I only wish to
suggest that desperation might be influencing your judgement without your being
aware. We are not trying to be stubborn. As you say, it does no one any good to
send out a carrier that cannot accomplish its mission as well as one of the
other ships.”

Fleet
Commander Asandi sat back in his chair. “I see no reason to question Gelrayen’s
ability to command. He has been a very capable pack leader for nearly a hundred
years, with something of a specialty in dealing with unusual and dangerous
situations. The Alcaissa Disaster done—”

“You
were responsible for Alcaissa?” Tarrel interrupted in surprise.

“Were
you at Alcaissa also?” Gelrayen asked.

“At
Alcaissa? It happened a decade before I was even bom.”

“Kelvessan
tend to forget about time,” Asandi told her discreetly. “The point is that he
can handle the Dreadnought as well as anyone. But the fact remains that he has
a carrier that has never flown and a crew that has never before worked
together. Can they give him what he needs of them? Commander Gelrayen?”

He
considered that carefully. “The crew might be new to each other, but they are
by no means inexperienced individually. When I asked the carriers for crew and
packs, they sent me their best. I see no reason to doubt them. As for my ship,
I can say only this, Valthyrra is no longer young. Methryn has been under
construction for sixty years, and her core was engaged almost from the first.
She has been able to interact with people and other ships for at least five
decades, and she has settled into her personality completely. But I cannot deny
that she has no experience in flight, much less battle. She might be slow in
anticipating what is required of her.”

Asandi
was watching the Kelvessan. “If the Methryn receives the pulse scanner, what
would be your recommended course of action?”

Gelrayen
already seemed to know what he would do. “I would like one day, possibly two
for a trial flight. Then I would take the Methryn out to find the Dreadnought,
test the impulse scanner from a safe distance and possibly play some slightly
dangerous games. That first mission is to collect the information we need to
find a weapon to fight that thing.”

Asandi
turned to Commander Daerran. “Do you think that the Methryn can tease the
Dreadnought into revealing more Secrets?”

“I
cannot say,” he admitted. “The Dreadnought might be able to keep the rest of
her secrets from us until we do find a way to strip her shield. My suggestion
is that we test the pulse scanner, and put Dalvaen and his people to work
finding a scanner that will see through that shield.”

“We
need more information,” Dalvaen said. “The information we expect to collect
from the reflection of the pulse will give us our first detailed information on
the actual composition of that shield. We might be able to infer the total
output of power expended in maintaining that shield, whether the ship’s hull is
immediately below the shield or some distance within, even the number and
location of shield projectors. We also expect to learn whether the Dreadnought
possesses conventional drives or some other type, perhaps a non-reactive drive
like a complex jump drive. Engaging any of those drives will affect the shield.
In fact, the flare of conventional main and star drives require venting through
the shield.”