Dreaming of Atmosphere (30 page)

“So what does stop the field?” asked Mal.

Cellulose has been found to be an effective barrier against Xendrite waves.

“Cellulose? Plant fibre?”

“Polycrete foam uses a polysaccharide similar to cellulose.” came Zoe over the PA. She was obviously listening in.

“Nice. We coat the ship in polycrete.” said Mal sarcastically.

That will not be necessary. A lattice mesh will suffice, much like a faraday cage for electricity.

“Good work, Zoe. We shouldn’t need to detect that one, we just do the lattice and leave it.” I said, smiling at a camera. “This next one has me stumped. Never even heard of these effects.”

I brought up the specs of a warhead called a Yand-Gur Type G. Most of the specs were indecipherable to me.

The Type G uses farnian pressures to slow time in a local field. The effect of decelerating time as it passed close to an object breaks most molecular bonds.

“What are farnian pressures?” I asked.

A principle developed by the Votus nearly two millennia ago. They haven’t been able to find a use for the technology beyond weaponising it.

“So how do we counter it?” I asked.

Insufficient data to provide a meaningful answer.

“I’m with plastic brains.” said Mal. The others just gave me blank stares.

“Will the nanites be able to detect the change in time flow?” asked Fel.

Negative. If they enter the time distortion effect, they will be destroyed.

“So we’ll see holes in our nanite net?” I asked

Correct.

“Okay, at least we’ll be able to detect it. What the range of the effect?”

Adjustable from 220m to 4 km.

“If we keep our net tighter than two-twenty metres,” said Crege, “and we start to see holes, we move. We map the size of the effect and program an evasive pattern to counter it.”

“That works for me.” I said.

We went on like this for another hour, going through each weapon type and brainstorming ideas to counter them. It felt good, working together like this. We were acting like a team, and seemed to have put the recent tragedy of Eric’s death behind us, for the meantime. Even Mal was being occasionally helpful. When we had our defence plan hashed together, we organised work teams to start implementing them and preparations were soon underway.

We just hoped it would be enough. There were a lot of assumptions and guesses, but we had no blaring gaps in our logic or reasoning according to Tac. We also covered all the weapon types, which surprised me. Had Jenner been right when he chose us for this mission? Were we just the right mix of balls and brains to pull off a stunt like raiding the Gossamer System? If we could outsmart and out manoeuvre a Corporate warship captain, we just might be.

If we couldn’t, it would be a moot point. We’d all be dead before we got there.

36.

We’d just started to implement our plans, when Tac alerted us to another firing. As Fel and I ran to the command module, the Blade of Xerxes fired again. And again. The fourth round was fired just as we got to the hatch to the bridge. Zoe was almost in a panic.

“What do I do? What if they’re all nukes? We’re not ready for other types! How will we tell what they are?” she was practically jumping on the seat.

“Our wisest course of action is to remain calm, Ms. Ward.” chided Fel as he closed up on his station.

“And I wouldn’t let Crege catch you jump on his chair. He’ll be cranky.” I added.

“How can you be so calm!? They fired four shells! We’re not even ready for one!”

“Hergo and Denno are deploying the nanite net as we speak, that’ll give us some idea about what we’re facing.” I said.

“But we’re not ready for anything!”

“She has a point, Seth. Do you have a plan?”

“I’m working on it. My console says we have seventy three minutes until convergence. How much lead time will that nanite net give us, Tac?”

Not much, Acting Captain Donovan. The best we could hope for is 12.2 to 14.1 seconds.

In the end, we’d decided to use a trailing nanite arrangement. We had several canisters of scan nanites that Tac was able to reprogram to form chains. These nano-scopic tendrils will dangle behind the ship like streamers, branching and dividing to form our net. It was the best way to get the maximum distance and still communicate with them. They’d also be able to keep up as they were anchored to our hull. As long as we didn’t perform high gee manoeuvres they were strong enough to remain attached during the lateral thrusts to avoid incoming rounds.

“Okay.” I started, “Options; we sacrifice some acceleration and veer wide of the whole cluster. We get a minimum of five clicks from the nearest one, hope it’s not one of the more exotic ones. Seems like a big gambit to start the show off with, and this seems like it was designed to cause us to shave some time off our head start.”

“It’s a plausible scenario.” agreed Fel.

“Downside is that if we do respond this way, they’ll figure we’re going to do the same each time and wear us down. Can’t afford to lose too much acceleration. They’ve already gained…”

1 minute 12 seconds.

“Thank you, Tac.”

“What else can we do?” asked Zoe.

I was silent for a few moments, thinking. “Not much. Are optics picking up any distinguishing features of the rounds? Any other sensors able to spot anything?”

“The round labelled bravo is emitting more energy in the x-ray bandwidth, but otherwise they appear identical.” reported Fel.

“Tac, will our point defence weapons be able to damage the rounds as they get closer?”

Negative. Even if they could, they would be close enough to detonate and release their payloads regardless.

“I was thinking the same, but at least now we know. Zoe, bring us to port red one five and north one five degrees. Let’s see if the shells have guidance.”

Zoe turned the ship and we headed in the direction I’d asked. Although the shells gained their velocity from the rail gun that fired them, each shell could also house a rudimentary guidance system that could perform adjustments to their course. As most of the volume and mass was reserved for the warheads, these guidance systems couldn’t have a lot of power. These weapons were designed to be fired upon larger vessels, after all, not relatively small scale transports such as the Dreaming of Atmosphere. It was probably the only advantage we had.

“One of the rounds continuing on original course, the rest are turning to follow.” reported Fel.

“Straighten us our on original course, Zoe.”

“Roger, levelling out.”

“One down, three to go.” I could see Zoe’s hands were shaking and she was moving head about to look at the various screens around her using frantic motions. I leaned over and put my hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing great, Zoe, just relax.”

She nodded and leaned back into the seat a little, taking deep breaths.

“Weapons release detected.” came Fel, “Four more rounds on the way.”

I could hear Zoe suck in her breath and let it out in a shudder. I was starting to worry about her. If she froze up at a crucial moment, it could spell disaster for us all. What would Maxine do, I began to think. Would she step in and take over? Would that undermine the crew’s confidence? No, she would support them, reinforce their belief in themselves.

“We have plenty of time, no cause for concern just yet. Zoe, can you read me out the trajectory vectors for those new rounds, please?”

“Ah…rounds echo, foxtrot and golf are on direct intercept. Round hotel is four degrees to starboard of the rest.”

“Great work, Zoe. Take us to port on red one zero, south one zero degrees, tell me if they adjust their vectors.”

“Roger, red one zero, south one zero…they’re all turning.”

“Okay, smooth flying. Level us out again, let’s get some readings on those new ones. Fel?”

“Scanning. Foxtrot appears to have the same x-ray signature that bravo has. Hotel is very hard to track, it’s blending in the background radiation and our ion wake”

“Already? It’s still sixty eight minutes away.”

“I have a theory there.”

As do I.

“Fel, hit me with yours first, Tac can confirm or refute.”

“The two x-ray heavy ones are nukes. They’ll go off and provide a distraction, the real threat is hotel.”

I concur. Hotel is the real threat. I have pulsed several light beams at hotel and deduced that it is slightly heavier than the other projectiles. It is also several microns larger in size.

An idea hit me then. “It’s a stealth boarding pod. The nukes will blind us when they go off, the pod will start its own propulsion just as they go off.”

“Won’t that kill whoever is in there?”

“They’ll be synthetics. High gee drop pod, penetration boarding. They’ll punch right through our armour and anything left standing inside will pour out. It’s what I’d do, if I was that captain. Make one last grab for the ju…the package.”

Acting Captain Donovan is correct. His scenario is highly probable. It stands to reason that the remaining contacts are merely kinetic rounds to act as decoys.

“So, what do we do?” asked Zoe.

“Nothing.”

“What?”

“We still have over an hour before we have to do anything. We might as well relax.”

“But…”

“The hardest thing to get used to in space combat is the distances that everything takes place at.” explained Fel.

“We form a plan, and then we just have to wait.” I said.

“What’s the plan?”

“We just move two kilometres…port, this time. When they’re ten seconds away we’ll provide lateral thrust and strafe to port two kilometres, avoiding the blasts and soaking up the gamma’s from the nukes.”

“And the boarding pod?”

“We’ll probably have to fight that one off. You two going to be okay up here? I’m going to get Art, Hergo and Denno to suit up.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

She was quiet, looking straight ahead. “What if there’s another warhead in among those others?”

“Then it will probably wipe out the boarding pod before it has a chance to hit us. Would be a waste of an opportunity. I’m pretty sure there won’t be one.”

“How sure?”

“Pretty sure.”

“
How
pretty sure?”

Acting Pilot Ward, the Acting Captain has devised the most tactically logical scenario. Be assured that our response will be appropriate to the incoming threat.

“I wish I had your confidence, Tac. I’m scared out of my wits.” she admitted.

“You’re doing great, Zoe. Better than great. Even Crege would be doing what you’re doing right now.” I said.

“I’m not doing anything!”

“Exactly.”

“I’ll look out for her, Seth.” said Fel.

“All right, be safe you two.” I got up to leave, giving Zoe a squeeze on the shoulder and nodding to Fel. I headed aft and down to Deck 2. The two Argen were at their station in the mess deck, their damage control tool kits resting at their feet. Artemis would be in the med lab, filling in for Zoe as medic.

“Let’s get to the armoury. We’re expecting boarders in one hour. Meet you there, I’ll grab Art.” The two got up and headed down the ladder well. In the med lab I found Crege and Art mid discussion.

“…once got shot in the foot. Hurt like a bitch and I limped for nearly a year.” Artemis was saying.

“That’s nothing.
Lost
whole foot several years ago. This one is re-grow. Cost whole pay. Kicked at wrong time, enemy blade take foot. Fair trade, killed him with his own sword after.”

“Artemis, need you outfitted to repel boarders. They’re going to try and grab the package one more time. Armoury, now.”

Crege made to stand but I held my hand up at him.

“Uh, uh. You’re staying put. Doctor’s orders. My orders too.”

“
Ertak, et ka kurdo, burbak
!”

“Don’t give me that. You’re a liability at the moment. You can barely stand. Don’t worry, if they get in here you have my permission to hit them with your crutches.”

“You insult me,
kitrak.
Warrior can still hold gun. Still fight.” I considered his words carefully. Once again, I thought back to how Maxine would handle this. Would she risk injuring Crege even further to protect a valuable choke point? On the other hand, would she tell him to stay put, to hell with his bruised ego?

“Sorry, buddy. I need you to get better. The
galab
that swims in its own blood cannot smell its prey.”

“Hrm. Warrior without a brain in not warrior, he is
fedang.
You are right,
kitrak.
”

“You call Maxine
kitrak.
I never knew what it means. Is it captain?”

“No.
Kitrak
is similar to leader, yes, all
kitrak
lead. But not all leaders are
kitrak.
Not all captains are
kitrak.
What is human word? Admire? Respect?
Kitrak
is all these things.”

“Huh, you never called me
kitrak
before.”

“Haha, that because you weren’t
kitrak.”

“And now I am?”

“Careful. Humans only take so much praise before head explodes. Go.
Kak
is right. Crege will rest.”

I nodded to him and left, heading back to the mess deck and up to the command deck. I ran aft and hit my cabin, grabbing my ablative coat from its hook and my E2S. I strapped on my PX-2 just to be sure. I was down to two batteries, one for each. I’d have to get more from the armoury. I left the cabin and went down two decks to the forward cargo hold and our makeshift armoury. Already Artemis was putting on the exo-rig again. I grabbed two more batteries and a sword. The two Argen were helping each other don the infantry vests, and had personal shield generators set aside.

“You two going with the Thudguns again?” I asked.

“Yes. Good weapon.” said Denno.

Artemis chuckled.

“What’s so funny, Art?” I asked.

“They like them because they can’t aim.”

“We’re miners, woman. Not soldiers.” said Hergo.

“They play to their strengths and build on their weaknesses. It’s a sound tactic.” I said.

“Well, just make sure they don’t stand behind me.”

“Don’t worry, woman, I wouldn’t dream of shooting you in the back.” said the Argen.

For some reason, that actually caused Artemis to shut up for once. A strange look came over her face for a split second, and then it was gone. Was I imagining seeing remorse on her features? On Artemis?

First salvo of projectiles are 30 minutes from convergence, Acting Captain Donovan.

Thank you, Tac. Keep me posted.

The way I figured it, the first salvo will be just a distraction as well. The nuke will go off, we’ll dodge the kinetic rocks, and then think the second salvo will be the same. That has to be the enemy captain’s plan. If I was wrong, we could be missing a vital clue to avoiding a deadly mistake. I began to have doubts. What were we missing?

A gauntlet was shoved into my stomach.

“Here, loverboy, help me put the last of this rig on. You’re day dreaming.” Artemis handed me the last few pieces of the rig. She still have her gloves and the chest plate to put on, then the external power pack. I pulled on her gauntlets and connected them to the power loom that ran down the arms to the back of the rig. When I was done, I started to bolt the armoured chest plate on. As I was working, Art caught my attention and briefly, our eyes met. She had the weirdest look on her face.