Talosian Chronicles 2: Star Dancer (21 page)

“What theory would that be, Commander?” Chief Dommer asked as his hologram appeared in one of the chairs at the table.

“Using a small ship as a sling shot to throw explosives at the Super Nova, Chief,” Chloe said. “Bloody brilliant if we can make it work.”

“Oh we can make it work, it’s the same as a mass driver only on a larger scale. We can replicate the ‘ammo’ for that by the ton,” Chief Dommer said. “But I don’t imagine that’s what you needed me for is this, Commander?”

“Nope, I need you to come up with something completely new. I need something small, that has a main battery class armament on it, and has to be self-maneuverable and remotely operated,” Ian said.

Chief Dommer
almost
smiled. “How many do you need Sir? And what kinds of armament? Laser, Ionic pulse, Mass Driver? Gravity wave?”

“Uh, all of the above, but what’s a gravity wave?” Ian asked.

“Something I’ve been playing with in my spare time. There was a theory of faster than light travel called a gravity wave generator. The main problem with it was that the wave tended to move everything caught in the wave, and it had a relatively short range. I was thinking if we down scaled it quite a bit, and just used the generator on a narrow beam instead of as a propulsion system, we could use it as an anti-fighter weapon. Theoretically, it should overload a fighter’s engines and cause them to either shut down, or explode. Either way, it takes the ‘fight’ out of the fighter,” Chief Dommer explained.

Ian shrugged. “Hell, build a couple of them. We can test out the theory on these bastards. As for the rest, how many can you build before those fuckers arrive?”

“If I can use the large scale replicators in the landing bays, I can build two at a rate of about every fifteen or so minutes per replicator. I already have the designs, so we can get started any time,” Chief Dommer said.

“That’s why you almost smiled! When were you going to tell the rest of us about this?” Ian asked.

Chief Dommer was totally unruffled. “Well, I was going to tell you later this morning, but just so you know, the only difference between this and those decoys you had me build is the holographic and the sensor emitters. If you want, I can include those in a few of these as well, but you’ll need to add about five minutes to the fabrication.”

Ian nodded his understanding. “How many of the decoys did you finally build?”

“Six,” Dommer replied. “I didn’t want to overdo it, as they would only fool the Caldarians for so long, after all.”

“True. No, I don’t think putting in the emitters will be necessary. For these I just want them to be able to harass the living hell out of them.  The object is to keep their attention focused up and not on the planet. If one of these platforms can take out a Caldarian carrier before it gets destroyed, then it’ll be well worth it, especially if it gets the bastard before it can deploy its fighters,” Ian replied. While he and Chief Dommer had been talking, the other people he had asked for had come online as well. “Yes, you can use the replicators in the landing bays, but I would like you to pass the plans on to Talos and the moon base as well. The more of them we can get built and seeded out there, the better off we’ll be.

“Welcome everyone, as you can tell we’ve had some ideas we need to get moving on ASAP. Debbie, I want you to go into full production mode. Standard ship to ship missiles with warheads, but I will need them to be able to be activated remotely so they can launch themselves without the ship. We’ll give them their targeting data, but I’d like to dump as many of those out there as we can as well. I’ve recalled all the Centurions to run seeding missions and Operations will put together a deployment plan for them. As soon as we can get one of the ships filled, I want it out of here so we can fill the next one. The same goes for Talos and the moon base as well.

“We’re Phoenix Base now, Sir. Dr. Punjab will be making it official tomorrow morning,” Major Borhiem announced, smiling. “I’ll get the production staff working on this right away.”

“Don’t take anything away from fighter production though, we’ll need those more than these toys,” Ian replied, nodding. “We should have a few shuttles to help as well, but the primary work horse for this will be the Centurions. Draft the pilots to help load if we need them. Major Borhiem, has there been any news on the Wasp upgrade, or Shadow production?”

“Yes Sir, the Shadows are in full production at the moment, we currently have four plus the prototype SX-One-Beta. I am told two more should be ready by morning, At Lieutenant Johnson’s suggestion, I have borrowed some cadets from the flight academy to go through second seat training for them. But we will most likely only have a squadron of them ready before the Caldarians arrives.

“The Wasp/Hornet modification has been worked out, and Lieutenant Johnson’s team has refit another Hornet fighter into the Wasp variant. However, Tinker and her people are too busy with the Shadow pilots to perform a test flight. The reports look very promising, but we have no way to test it at this moment, and all our fighter production facilities are taken up by the Shadow project anyway, so a tentative hold has been placed on that for the time being.

“I feel I should mention, that I have ordered the immediate construction of another fighter production facility, but that too will take more time than we currently have at the moment. If I had a week more, I could start Wasp production for you as well,” the man finished.

“Wow, excellent work, Major,” Ian replied.

“Sir, if I may?” a Senior Lieutenant from Talos asked.

“Go ahead, uh, Sorgrussen isn’t it?” Ian asked.

“Yes Sir,” the woman smiled. “If I understood all the conversations correctly, then the production of the toys as you called them, doesn’t require the use of the fighter production facilities?”

“No, Lieutenant, just the large scale replicator in fabrication mode,” Chief Dommer said.

“Well Sir, why can’t we work on the Wasp variant down here? I have a full fighter production section just sitting here idle,” she said.

“You could easily do that, Lieutenant, and it’s a great idea but for one problem. The Wasp is equipped with enigma armor and you haven’t been fitted with a discharge system,” Chief Dommer replied.

The young woman shrugged. “With respect Sir, how hard is it to run a grounding cable to a spike? We have grounding spikes all over the damn place for the welders anyway, why can’t we use those?”

For a moment, no one said a word, until she grinned. “Don’t tell me you guys forgot I’m on a planet down here?”

“It sure looks like we did, Lieutenant,” Major Borhiem replied. “However, the variant hasn’t been tested yet either. The last time we attempted this, the fighter ended up self-destructing after ejecting the pilot right outside of
Star Dancer’s
Beta landing bay.”

“Major Borhiem, see if you can talk Tinker into making enough time to test the variant. If she signs off on it, then send the Lieutenant the design for her to begin on, she already has twelve Hornets down there, so she shouldn’t need any for a couple of days,” Ian suggested. “Phoenix Base and Talos, unless you are attacked, continue with all production, including the toys we outlined earlier. Chief Dommer will also be sending you a design for a largish explosive package to be used in slingshot maneuvers against the Super Nova by our pilots. I would suggest you have plenty of those on hand as well. You can store them at a preselected orbital location for your pilots to pick up at their discretion during the fight. Any questions?”

“Yes Sir, how many of these toys do you want in Earth Orbit?” Chloe asked.

“None of them that can penetrate the atmosphere, Major. We don’t want to accidentally destroy a city or town with a missed shot. Major Eischens, please keep all of us updated on your projected plot for the Caldarians, it will give us a better idea where to concentrate the toys,” Ian asked.

“We’ll do that Sir, but I feel I should remind everyone that the ship is large enough to have to exit hyperspace at least two and a half AU from the star. Which will put it just passed the orbit of Mars. At this time, it will be arriving at forty degrees below the plane of the ecliptic and slightly to the galactic east of us.  That will put it on the far side of the sun from us, but depending on its exit velocity and vector, it can be in orbit around Earth in just under two hours. Based on its current vector and deceleration profile, it will take up a position very near Venus, placing it well within striking distance of both Earth and the moon,” Major Eischens explained. The man looked very tired, like he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all.

“You looked beat, Will. Haven’t you gotten any sleep?” Ian asked.

The man shook his head. “Not really Sir, there’s a problem with the hyperspace sensor unit, and we’ve been working on getting it fixed.”

“What’s the problem?” Ian asked.

In reply, Major Eischens typed something on his terminal in his office, and the screen in Ian’s ready room suddenly expanded to show more of their quadrant of the galaxy. It also showed more hyperspace traces – a lot more. “I have brought this to anyone’s attention because we don’t know for certain if they are real, as a lot of them seem to be intermittent. This could simply be a case of interference due to distance since, as you can see, almost three thousand light years are covered here. Since none of them appear to be coming here, I decided to not worry about it since none of them looked to be coming here.”

Ian got an odd feeling when he saw those other hyperspace traces. “If these are sensor ghosts, are we sure the one we’re tracking is real?”

“Yes Sir, the one we are tracking is real, it has remained consistent, and on course since we detected it,” Will replied.

Star interrupted. “My apologies Major Eischens, but you have made several errors in your logic here. Firstly, the records from the Phoenix Base Hyperspace Sensor array completely agree with the findings of the one installed on the ship. Sensor ghosts do not behave in this manner, however, the technology involved is so sensitive that it could be simply detecting the reflections of currents and eddies in the flow of hyperspace.

“Secondly, there are a number of these erroneous traces that are inbound to this location, unless they change course, they will intersect this sector. No deceleration is detected, so it may be that they will simply pass us by,” Star said logically. “Talosians and Caldarians were not the only space faring race in the galaxy. It is very likely we are seeing the hyperwake from those ships.”

“Could we send them a message? Maybe ask for assistance?” Chloe asked looking at Star.

“If I could isolate their communications protocols, we might be able to send them a message, Major, however, it is very unlikely they would even respond. They had their own troubles with the Caldarians. If those troubles are concluded, it is highly unlikely that they would wish to get involved again.”

“Star, what is the possibility we are looking at reflected currents?” Ian asked.

“Without knowing there is indeed a ship at that location, there is no way to calculate that, Sir. However, I suggest we simply wait three point four days, and find out for certain.”

“What happens then?” Major Eischens asked.

“The closest of the inbound tracks will be close enough to determine the source of the hyperwake,” Star replied. “Until that time, I will work to discover any communications coming from the inbound trace. If I can detect one, then I would certainly issue a request for assistance, provided the race in question is not hostile.”

“If you detect a signal, come to me before you do anything about it, please,” Ian said. “Just listen and see if you can figure out who they are.” 

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.5
AU (Approx. 45 Million Miles) above the Solar North Pole (center of the solar system)

Sol System

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“C
urious, these humans seemed to have developed a material that converts energy from one state to another that they can utilize,” the first being said. “We must investigate this material.”

“Agreed, if it can alter energy, it would go far to helping us travel further from home without need to return to refresh ourselves. However, we must be careful, there are two here that will be able to detect us. I can feel them even from here,” the second being said.

“Very curious, it would seem that we have discovered an old Talosian AI that has been allowed to develop sentience. Perhaps this would be a good method to utilize if we need to communicate with these humans. However, I am interested in the second AI. It is new, but still shares the sentience of the other AI. A child perhaps?”

The first being agreed. “We will report before we investigate. Things here are not what we believed. A stronger presence may be required. The planet is also aglow with energy, it seems as though the Talosian mental gifts are much stronger with these humans.”

“Perhaps they are the father race of the Talosians, and therefore further along in the evolutionary track?” the second suggested.

“If they were the father race, then why are they not more technologically advanced? They have not even decided on a single ruling body, and still make war upon themselves. No, these would have to be an off-shoot species of the Talosians, perhaps sharing a common genesis lost to the mists of time?” the first being said. “Further observation but no contact, and we must avoid detection if at all possible.”

“This should be a challenge, it is not often we have to
try
to stay hidden,” the second being said with slight humor.

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P
hoenix Base.

Selene (Earth’s Moon) orbit

––––––––

L
ooking through the external sensors, Star focused on the blazing glory of the Sun. Although she couldn’t put her finger on it, there was something slightly different about it. Detecting nothing out of the ordinary, she returned to her duties, but set a note for herself to check again later.

Today was the day that Bill Laskar was going to awaken her son, Mathias. The original plan for the moon base had been to build another female AI there, but aberrations in her core personality matrix had forced Chief Lasker to dump the entire program and start over. It had been Star’s choice for this one to be male. After weeks of testing and cross checking subroutines and core command matrixes, it was finally time for a full power on test. Using the holographic emitters built into the entire moon base facility, Star stood beside Ian, Luke and Dr. Amal Punjab as they waited for Mathias to come online.