Progeny (The Progenitor Trilogy, Book Three) (32 page)

              They also learned that Admiral Hawkwood had been placed in overall command of the Commonwealth’s war strategy.  Pending further reconnaissance and successful testing of the new weaponry and sensors, he and his staff, together with the Chief of Staff of the Army, were in the process of identifying key systems to be retaken once the opportunity arose.  For now, however, the emphasis was to be on the defensive, although word had reached the Commonwealth that the Nahabe had gone to war at last, striking from their secluded systems at Shaper rallying positions in Hadar and Spica and other as yet unknown systems far beyond the Commonwealth’s southern border.  The Shapers had been checked for the moment, giving breathing space to the other races.  One thing was certain: that it was bound to be a temporary reprieve.

              Chen caught up with McManus on the hangar deck.  She found him chatting with a couple of pilots as well as the three deck hands working on their Azrael torpedo bomber.  Panels and components from the craft lay neatly on the deck as the men in grease stained coveralls peered inside the weapons bay with the aid of torches.  The craft itself looked brand new.

              ‘So, I finally tracked you down,’ said Chen.  ‘How are things down here?’

              ‘Looks like we have a problem,’ said McManus.  ‘This new batch of Azraels we got shipped in to replace the ones you lost have all sorts of mechanical problems.  The weapon release clamps on this one are faulty, for example, but the maintenance crews have found something different wrong with just about all of them so far without needing to look very far.  They’ll have to be stripped down and inspected, each one of them.’

              Chen sighed, wearily.

              ‘Walk with me a moment, Commander.’

              ‘Certainly, ma’am,’ said McManus smartly and fell into step with Chen as she started to walk down the length of the deck.  He lowered his voice and added. ‘So, I take it that you’re bored out of your mind and came down here for something to do?’

              ‘Oh yes.  Bored and increasingly frustrated.  I can’t believe that we’re still stuck here!  Time is a precious commodity and something we have little enough of without all this general chaos to deal with.’  She exhaled and ran a hand idly through her hair.  ‘I needed a break from stewing in my office or sitting on the bridge checking the time every five minutes until the end of the watch.  How are you settling in, by the way?’

              ‘Aye, pretty well.  This ship runs like clockwork, Admiral.  You’ve got good people here.  These lads on the hangar deck for example, they’ll have those torp. bombers up and running in no time for you.  They promised me without me having to even ask.  You know, I had planned on playing the old hard arsed XO act to whip a few people into shape, but I don’t think it’s that necessary, just between you and me.’

              ‘Singh said he’d seen you skulking around the corridors.  Lurking in the corners, I think he said.’

              ‘He did?  Aye well, that’s where you usually find the things that others have missed.  The little things out of sight that come and bite you in the arse when you least expect it.  I have to admit though, I haven’t found much to complain about.  I always say that you need to get to know a ship like you’d know your wife... or husband in your case ma’am.  You need to know everything about them, all their little quirks and foibles, their likes and dislikes.  Thing is, I think I was always better at choosing ships than I was at choosing women... some of the ships were better looking too.’  He shot her a wry grin.  Chen raised an amused eyebrow.

              ‘Well, I’m glad that the
Churchill
meets your high standards, Commander.  Of course, that means it now falls on you to maintain it.  Actually, it is good to hear someone coming from outside the ship and poking their nose into every nook and cranny say that they found little to complain about.  I like to think I run a tight ship, and Haldane actually did his job well, right up until the point where he tried to blow my head off.’

              ‘Kind of a negative trait in an XO, I’d say.  So, still no word from Command on our mission, I take it?’

              ‘No, unfortunately.  We’ve had yet another message today in the past hour ordering us to stand by and await further instructions pending better intel.  I’ll be meeting with the three captains at thirteen hundred hours.  We need to go over possible strategies and also any other issues that they might have.’

              ‘Are you doing this over the comm?’

              ‘No, I’ve asked all three to meet in person here on the
Churchill
.  Security concerns, first of all, but largely because I think we all need to get together in a room and meet one another, the Nahabe Lord Protector especially.  They can be a little... let’s say that they have their own way of doing things and many humans have never even seen one, much less spoken to one.  We need to be able to work together effectively as a unit.  Personal relationships are a part of that.’

              ‘Aye, that’s right.  They can be a little forbidding inside those suits of theirs.  It’s sometimes hard to remember that there’s a being not unlike ourselves inside.’

              Captain Alison Trent and Captain James Hardaker greeted Chen on the hangar deck with salutes and warm handshakes.  Both of them were slightly younger than Chen. Trent was a serious looking woman with a pale complexion and blonde hair, Hardaker a stocky, barrel-chested man with dark hair cropped close to his skull.  Both seemed a little in awe of her at first.  Chen noticed that Trent’s eyes kept flicking to the ribbons on her uniform and the woman seemed a little nervous of her.  Hardaker kept pressing her with questions about the battle for Earth.  She tried to give him modest answers and attempted to put them both at ease with idle chatter as they waited for the Nahabe commander to arrive.

              A few minutes later, an odd, angular craft the colour of verdigris landed gently in the middle of the
Churchill’s
deck and from it, emerged a floating, boxy form.  This time, the Lord Protector of the Order of the Void Hunters appeared in what Chen guessed must pass for more casual attire in the Nahabe military.  Gone, was the tank-like suit which the creature had previously worn.  Instead, the creature piloted a smaller suit little taller than the average human, whose panels were decorated with complex geometric designs inlaid with precious metals, and which failed to sport any obvious weaponry.  Indeed, it was a matter of trust as to whether this was the same individual at all.

              Chen saw Trent and Hardaker cast sidelong glances at one another as the Lord Protector approached, floating silently towards them.  It spoke, using the same deep, synthesised voice as when it and Chen had previously met.

              ‘Admiral Chen, it is an honour to be welcomed aboard your ship once more.  Captain Trent, Captain Hardaker:  I am the Lord Protector of the Order of Void Hunters.  I look forward to working alongside you both.  Together will we hunt Shapers and smoke them out of their hiding places, yes?’

              ‘Uh yeah, that’s the idea,’ said Hardaker and smiled weakly.

              ‘Excellent,’ replied the Lord Protector.  ‘Admiral Chen?’

              ‘This way, please,’ Chen said and guided them to the nearest cargo lift.

              The meeting took place in the
Churchill’s
ward room, the three humans and the single Nahabe clustering around one end of the long, dark, polished table.  Outside, through the windows, the brilliant blue seas and mottled deserts of New Hatti provided a backdrop to the multitude of warships and transports that hung in orbit above it.  The gunsphere
Shadow in the Void
hung in the centre of the scene, its strange, geodesic shape and dark green colouring contrasting sharply with the grey, functional forms of the human craft around it.

              Chen sat at the very end of the table, her hands clasped together in front of her.

              ‘I know we haven’t received our final orders yet,’ she said.  ‘But I thought it would be a good idea if we all met one another and discussed the options open to us.  I’ve had a few ideas that I intend put into practice, but I’d appreciate the input of everyone here.’

              ‘So we still don’t know what system we’ll be heading to?’ said Hardaker.

              ‘No.  Command needs to find us a suitable system that we know has Shapers in it, but which isn’t too far from friendly systems in case we need to make a quick getaway or if we need extraction.  The trouble is, is that they’re having to do it without using our brand new sensors.  They don’t want to risk losing our only working examples or give the Shapers a hint that we can detect them, before we hit them hard.  It’s our only advantage at the moment, so we can’t overplay our hand.  As you can appreciate, this is proving a little difficult as the Shapers can’t be detected in hyperspace using the old equipment.  It may come down to visual confirmations.’

              ‘Okay, I see,’ said Hardaker.  ‘So, we find a system.  What then, ma’am?’

              ‘Well, that depends,’ Chen turned to the Nahabe commander.  ‘Lord Protector, your ship is equipped with what - for want of a better term - might be called a cloaking device, is it not?’

              ‘Yes, that is correct,’ said the Lord Protector.  ‘Our ship has the ability to bend light and other forms of radiation around the limits of its drive envelope.  It’s a refinement of warp drive technology that so far, no other races seem to have exploited.  I’m afraid that that is one modification that cannot be made to your ships.’

              ‘That’s fine.  What I want to know is: how effective is it against Shapers’ sensors?’

              The Lord Protector emitted a sound not unlike a sigh.  ‘We have had... varying amounts of success.  The Shapers appear to possess highly sensitive sensor equipment, far in advance of our own.  In cases where the Shapers were not actively looking for one of our vessels, the cloaking technology did provide a measure of protection and allowed our craft to avoid detection until they got much closer.  However, we have theorised that the Shapers’ ships are highly sensitive to changes in space-time and are able to detect the space-time curvature caused by the mass of our ships over great distances.  We also possess a measure of drive stealthing technology, and although this is more effective than the illegal device used by the ship belonging to Captain Caleb Isaacs, it is not fool-proof and will not allow us to escape detection at distances under ten million kilometres.’

              ‘How about if you were to disguise the mass of your ship by moving close to a large body, such as an asteroid?’ said Captain Trent.

              ‘There is some benefit to such a tactic,’ said the Lord Protector.  ‘A dense asteroid field would be particularly effective at masking the mass of our ship, particularly if we allowed the ship to drift, giving it the appearance of just another asteroid.  Inserting ourselves into the field without detection would be the problem, of course.  We lack the drive cores necessary to use our translation drives, having utilised them in the defence of Earth and thus cannot insert ourselves into the system in such a manner.  If I might ask, Admiral Chen, where is all this leading?’

              ‘You have successfully modified your ship’s sensors according to the specifications furnished to us?’

              ‘Yes, we have.’

              ‘Since the modifications to your ship were less complex than those undertaken on the
Appleton
and the
Dulles
, being merely software reconfigurations rather than engineering modifications as well, it would seem more likely that they will work.  All you have done is alter the settings on existing equipment.’

              ‘We haven’t had a chance to test them, but yes, that seems logical.’

              ‘What I propose is that the
Shadow in the Void
jumps into the target system ahead of us and conceals itself somewhere before sweeping the system for Shapers.  We then jump in separately, activate the sensors on the
Appleton
and
Dulles
and compare our results before jumping out.  We shouldn’t need long in the system in question before we jump back.’

              ‘Time enough for the Shapers to lay a trap for you.  They may detect your inbound drive signatures and lie in wait.  They may also capture one of the cruisers and determine its purpose,’ the Lord Protector replied.

              ‘It’s a risk that we’ll have to take, I’m afraid.  It’s unlikely that we’ll avoid detection, however we need to get in and out as quickly as possible.  Of course once we have a target we’ll be able to plan more specifically and minimise the risk.  However, Captain Hardaker and Captain Trent, I expect you to take the necessary steps if it seems likely that either of your ships will fall into enemy hands.’

              ‘Ma’am?’

              ‘I expect you to scuttle them, or at the very least, sabotage the sensor arrays.  We cannot allow the enemy to learn of our new technological advantage.’

              The two captains looked at one another nervously.

              ‘Of course, Admiral.  Understood,’ said Trent, in clipped tones.

              ‘We have the firepower of the
Shadow in the Void
and the
Churchill’s
spatial distortion cannon should we face combat, but I’d rather it didn’t come to that.  I intend to avoid any engagements with the enemy if at all possible.’

              ‘In and out, fast and clean,’ said Hardaker and nodded.

              ‘That’s the plan, Captain,’ Chen replied.

              ‘There is one final matter that I would like to bring to your attention,’ said the Lord Protector.  ‘Something that our high command has passed onto me, since we are likely to be the first ships to penetrate the area of Commonwealth space occupied by the Shapers and their minions.’