Retreat And Adapt (A Galaxy Unknown) (27 page)

"I had a great advantage at Dixon and Stewart. Being inside an asteroid severely reduces concerns about a surprise attack, but it's become a great concern here. And with the GA Senate and SHQ taking up residence here, I'll have to commit a greater portion of our fleet to Quesann's defense. When you factor in the forces I'll have to commit to safeguarding the new shipyard and foundry, it's going to further weaken our ability to patrol the regions and respond to problems. Given the new threat from the Denubbewa, I wish the Senate and SHQ would reevaluate their decision to move here. I tried to tell the AB how dangerous it still is out here, but they said the GA Senate has decided to move and that's that."

"They trust that Admiral Carver will protect them from any harm."

"I wish Admiral Carver was as confident as they are. And I admit to having felt a lot more confident before the Denubbewa showed up."

Speaking of the Denubbewa, I haven't heard anything about that missile the
Tagus
found."

"We believe the missile was one used during the attack on the
Yenisei
, which as you know occurred at the furthest sectors of Region Two. It's taken months for the
Tagus
, traveling at Light-9790 to bring it here for laboratory analysis. The engineers aboard the
Tagus
had orders to only dismantle it sufficiently to ensure it didn't pose an imminent threat to the ship, so we only know a little bit about it at this point. What we do know has confirmed our hypotheses developed from examinations of the
Yenisei
and
Salado
. We now know for certain that there are three sections consisting of a small warhead at the fore end, a small nuclear payload behind that, and then the delivery section. The fuel in the delivery section was completely exhausted. That's about all we know for sure right now, but we hope to have more information very soon."

~ July 12
^th
, 2287 ~

"Lieutenant," the com chief said, "we've just received a message on the SC General Broadcast frequency."

"From R2HQ, Chief?" Lt. Kyle Gleason, the third watch commander aboard the
Mekong,
asked from the bridge command chair.

"No, sir. It's from a Region Two Territorial Guard ship."

"In the clear?"

"No, sir. The message is encrypted, and it's one of the new encryption codes put into use following the
Yenisei
and
Salado
incidents."

"Put it on the front monitor, Chief."

"Aye, sir."

A second later, the head-and-shoulders image of a Milora wearing a Territorial Guard officer uniform appeared on the large screen. After a two-second pause, the Milora began to speak.

"This is Captain Bdillaaq of the SC Territorial Guard destroyer
Mnesppretul
on routine patrol in the sectors around Ruwaler Space Command Base. Minutes ago, we were startled to encounter a mother ship like the one described in reports about the Denubbewa. We established its size as being roughly one hundred twenty-six kilometers, and it was covered in those bubbles that the alert named as missile platforms. In compliance with Standing Orders to avoid all contact with the Denubbewa, we immediately altered course. The mother ship was under power and we were able to determine its course using DeTect information as we put distance between us. My navigator and tac officers will append their data to this report.

"Uriqollor Bdillaaq, SC Territorial Guard, Captain of the
Mnesppretul
, near the Ruwaler base, end of message."

"Chief, put the reports of the navigator and tac officer on my right monitor."

"Aye, sir."

Gleason viewed each of the reports carefully. The images of the ship showed it to be nearly identical to the one the
Mekong
and
Rio Grande
had been watching until it disappeared. Audio from monitors mounted on the command chair was automatically routed through the chair occupant's CT. After listening to the reports and scanning the graphed data, Gleason touched his SC ring to establish a carrier. His eyes darted to a chronometer reading on another monitor and he closed his eyes for a second before taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. "Captain's quarters," he said.

Commander Cody Morrow, Captain of the
Mekong
, scowled at the dim numbers on his bulkhead chronometer after waking to the chime of the com unit on his nightstand. It seemed like he'd just gone to bed, but the chronometer indicated that it was 0408.

"Captain," was all he said as he raised the com lid.

"Sir, we just received a broadcast that reports the position of a Denubbewa mother ship."

"A broadcast?" Morrow said sleepily.

"Yes, sir. It was an encrypted message from the captain of the Territorial Guard destroyer
Mnesppretul
. It puts the Denubbewa ship eighty-six light-years from the Ruwaler base."

"Ruwaler?" Morrow said with obvious incredulity as he came fully awake. "That can't be
our
missing ship. There's no way it could have gotten all the way up there since it disappeared."

"No, sir. That's why I felt the information was important enough to disturb your sleep."

"Was the ship stationary?"

"No, it was under power."

"Where's it headed?"

"Uh— this way, sir."

"Towards us?"

"Yes, sir. Not directly, of course, but in this general direction. It's reported course will take it directly towards the location of the mother ship we had been observing."

"Hmm, sounds like they intended to rendezvous," Morrow said almost absentmindedly.

"Yes, sir. It does sound that way. I thought they still might."

"Are we near the course
our
mother ship would follow if there is an intended rendezvous?"

"No, sir. The search plan we're following has that area assigned to the
Rio Grande
."

"Very well. Contact the
Rio Grande
and tell them of our suspicions. Commander Hodenfield will have to decide whether or not to alter his search to investigate the search area where we suspect the mother ship might be. Uh— ask them to keep us advised. I'm going back to sleep. Out."

"Yes, sir. Out."

As Morrow laid back down, he thought about the situation. If Hodenfield decided not to break off his search and follow the vector the mother ship might have taken if a rendezvous was planned, he would take it upon himself to do so. But he knew Marc Hodenfield pretty well and couldn't really imagine him not following up on this lead.

* * *

"A message for you just arrived from the
Mekong
, Captain," the com chief said early in the first watch.

"Put it on my right-hand monitor, Chief."

"Aye, sir. After tapping a point on his console, he said, "It's there, sir."

Morrow scanned the queue and selected the message.

"Hi, Cody," Morrow heard in his CT as the image of Commander Marc Hodenfield appeared on the monitor. "We've located the missing mother ship along the vector you suggested. My compliments to your third watch bridge crew. We received the Territorial Guard broadcast, but my third watch commander decided not to wake me and just put the message in my queue. However, when your message came in, he decided I should hear it right away. I had him immediately alter course and we've just located the Denubbewa ship.

"Since we've just confirmed the presence of the ship, you're up next in four hours. My navigator will send you the position, course, and the exact time we plotted it so you can plot the next location for your flyby. The ship is traveling at Light-462.

"Assuming that our mother ship is on its way to rendezvous with the one reported by the Territorial Guard ship, and that both are traveling at only Light-462, my navigator estimates they won't meet up for months. So I suppose the question is whether or not there are others also headed to the rendezvous location in preparation for making a concerted push through Region Two. But I guess that's something for R2HQ to think about. We'll just keep following our orders.

"Marc Hodenfield, Commander, Captain of the
Rio Grande
GSC-SDD063 in Region Two, message complete."

* * *

"The laboratory analysis of the missile is complete, Admiral," Captain DeWitt said.

"Tell me you have good news," Jenetta said.

"I have— news."

"Okay, tell me anyway."

"The warhead is as we expected. A substance is contained in a glass globule which is protected by a composite metal shield that shatters on contact with a target. The substance in the globule is a thick viscous matter rather than a liquid, so it doesn't spurt out. We envision it as spreading from the force of the strike but never separating. Upon contact with the hull, a chemical process is initiated that eats away at the Dakinium. The missile shaft remains firmly rooted in the goo while the chemical process takes place. The tip of the missile beneath the glass globe contains a fuse and the goo also eats away at that while eating away at the ship's hull. When it eats through to the fuse, the nuclear charge is detonated. By that time, the hull where the goo spread out is ready to flake apart, so the small nuclear charge blasts through, destroying bulkheads and flooding the interior of the ship with radiation. Following the explosion, the atmo is evacuated. It's a simple device, much like our bomb, but highly effective."

"Yes, we've seen the evidence of that. Now for the big question. Do you think the goo was developed from the chemical formula we use to cut and mold Dakinium?"

"No. We believe it was just a coincidence. The goo has destroyed everything we've tested it on. It's just a sort of all-purpose hull penetration chemical."

"So you're saying they just got lucky?"

"I can't say that. Perhaps an enemy they've encountered in the past had a material like Dakinium, and they had to develop a chemical that would destroy it as well as anything else. We know that the Dakistians had a Dakinium-like material hundreds of centuries ago."

"So much for our vaunted invincibility," Jenetta said.

"If it makes you feel any better, the Denubbewa goo also eats through tritanium in seconds."

"It doesn't. It means that our older ships and the Territorial Guard ships will be just as vulnerable as the DS ships. We still have to find a way to defeat this race. Any luck with the DeTect issue?"

"Not yet. My people are studying everything ever written about the development work, but we're only partway through the hundreds of thousands of pages of research notes."

"Okay, Barbara. Thank you. Good work on the missile analysis. Is there anything else?"

"No. That was all, Admiral. I wanted to get this report to you right away."

* * *

"As all of you know," Arthur Strauss, Chairman of the Lower Council said to the other council members, "the eight male members of the Upper Council unanimously opted to undergo the DNA Manipulation process and change their gender so they could undergo the Age Regression process which, as you also know, only works on females. The four female members of the Upper Council elected to undergo the Age Regression and Age Prolongation process immediately since their gender was already suited to the processes. Once the DNA Manipulation process was complete for the males, they also immediately opted to begin the Age Regression and Age Prolongation processes. Last night I was informed that the four members of the Upper Council who first partook of the Age Regression process are now terminally ill. Inexplicably, their internal organs have begun mutating. They are not expected to live beyond the end of this year. The other eight show no sign of the mutations— as yet, but will be closely monitored for any such changes."

"Mutating into what?" Councilmember Erika Overgaard asked.

"Not mutating into anything. They're simply changing form, composition, and function. To repeat what a doctor said to me: What happens when your heart no longer performs like a heart? If it was just one organ, it could be replaced, but their entire internal physiology structure seems to be changing. The doctors don't know any more than that at this time.

"All four patients are under twenty-four-hour observation and are highly medicated to ease their pain. The eight former males are also under round-the-clock observation because the doctors expect they'll suffer from the same mutating effects. The only successful application of the Age Regression process was Nicole Ravenau, a.k.a. Mikel Arneu, and all medical records of her regression were lost when her laboratory was destroyed. If she hadn't been killed, the doctors could examine her and possibly get some insight into the problem."

"Since Ravenau had been a male originally," Overgaard said, "perhaps the eight members of the Upper Council who had been males will not suffer the mutations."

"That's our hope at this point. It's possible that the recuperative powers of the DNA Manipulation process made the males immune to the mutation effects."

"So where does that leave us?" Councilmember Frederick Kelleher asked.

"The Upper Council is the guiding force of the corporation, but this council conducts the day-to-day operations, so business will continue as always. Once we know more about the long-term medical situation of the Upper Council members, decisions will be made regarding a possible restructuring of both councils."

* * *

"Commander," the technician in the Approach and Departure Center said, "That anomaly has returned."

Commander Blithallo moved behind the technician reporting the anomaly again and stared at the DeTect screen.

"It's gone already, sir. It only appears for an instant and only twice each shift."

"We're under power now. It doesn't make sense that we would see it out here."

"Yes, sir, I know, but it keeps showing up nevertheless."

"The city directors must be correct. Despite assertions by the repair technicians that the equipment is working properly, it has to be a mechanical problem."

"Yes, sir. I should ignore it then?"

"I had a dozen different ships visually check that area of our perimeter when we were stationary, and they never saw anything out there. We're under power now, so if there was something, we should have left it far behind us. It has to be a problem with the equipment. Yes, just ignore it."