The Earth Conundrum: Book 1 of the Alliance Conflict (31 page)

The return voice sounded metallic. Frank imagined he must be using a voice changer. The voice said, “No. It is going to take a while.”

Frank responded, “I asked you to do one simple thing.”

The metallic voice said, “It may be one thing, but it isn’t simple.”

Frank responded, “Well, maybe I will just call the Hiriculan ambassador and ask him if he has a spare Hiriculan beam rifle I can borrow.”

The metallic voice said, “I doubt that. As you know, it is virtually impossible to obtain a Hiriculan beam weapon. However, the death wound only has to look like it came from a weapon of Hiriculan design. It doesn’t have to be from an actual Hiriculan weapon.”

“Okay,” Frank responded. His curiosity had been piqued.

The metallic voice said, “I am in the process of having a weapon made that will match the Hiriculan beam signature. This will take time because the beam signature has to be a perfect replica and it has to disintegrate after use.”

Frank responded, “Keep me informed” and broke the connection. He briefly considered allowing Earth to join the Alliance. That way he could simply hire a human to eat the talkative Senator.

Senator Korno entered the room a few minutes later and said, “Frank, can you think of any projects that we could reassign Lorano to lead. The ion cannon project is a failure.”

Frank responded, “As a matter of fact I do know of a project. The Solarian senator has been bothering me incessantly since we stopped the project to look for Old Solaria.”

Korno said, “Yes. She has been bothering me too.”

Frank said, “I don’t like the way she smiles and politely reminds me that finding Old Solaria is a top priority. She is so nice and kind I just want to slap her.”

Korno seemed lost in thought for a moment, so he simply responded, “Yes.”

Frank continued, “Lorano could use those gravity missile things he invented to potentially search a broader area faster.” Frank smiled at Korno and continued, “Finding Old Solaria would be quite an accomplishment for Lorano and would cement his reputation as one of the greatest scientists of all time.” He knew the smile and compliment would immediately get Korno’s agreement and full support.

Korno nodded his head in satisfaction. He said, “That is an excellent idea. We can solve two problems at once. I will have Lorano travel back from Altian-1 to Advranki Prime. However, is there anything we can do to get started before he arrives?”

Frank said, “I don’t know, but I do know who would.” Frank paused for a moment and said, “Computer, place a call to Carank.

…Connection established…

Frank said, “Carank, you remember Senator Korno.” Korno waved hello at the communicator. Frank continued, “I have a question for you. If you were going to use Lorano’s missile method to search for Old Solaria, how would you do it?”

Carank stared at the monitor deep in thought for a moment. He responded, “Am I going to go search for Old Solaria?”

Frank responded, “Well, at this point it is still hypothetical.”

Carank said, “Please. I want to go search for Old Solaria. Can I be part of the team?”

Frank said, “What about your research into heavy defensive missiles?”

Carank responded, “It won’t work. The project is at a standstill. The technology necessary to make it work hasn’t been invented yet.”

Frank asked, “Can’t you invent the technology?”

Carank said, “I’m an engineer, not a particle physicist.” He paused for a moment for effect, then continued, “The technology required will be out of our grasp for centuries. It may not ever be feasible.” Technically, Carank had degrees in both engineering and physics, but he really liked the saying.

Frank smiled and said, “Yes Carank. You are now on the team. What are the main items that you will need?”

Carank said, “We need a cruiser or something mobile that can create a hyperspace field. We will also need a machine shop of some significance to build the missiles. Specifically, we will need raw steel and the machinery to stamp out missile casings. We will also need machines to create electronics for the missiles. Oh, and we will need a small staff of 20 or so beings to assist us with building, launching, and tracking the missiles.

Frank had a devious idea. He said, “Do the beings need to possess any special skills?”

Carank said, “It would help if some of them were pilots.”

Frank said, “Does the ship classification matter – cruiser, corvette, or fighter?”

Carank said, “No. Well, having fighter pilot training might actually be helpful. If one or two of the staff could fly a fighter, that would actually be helpful. We could use a fighter to fire the missiles.”

Korno said, “There is an old cruiser, the
Peerless
, at the Conron shipyard that is going to be decommissioned next month. They could use that one. They could get the machinery and most of the supplies here and obtain the rest of the necessary items from the depot in Conron.”

Frank said, “Gather a list of necessary supplies and submit it the Alliance Senate. You will leave in 5 days. I will arrange to have a mini-freighter transport you.”

Carank asked, “To where?”

Korno asked, “Well, where do you think the best place to search for Old Solaria is?”

Carank said, “I would begin the search from Waylon.”

Frank said, “In that case, I believe that the team should begin the search in Waylon.”

Carank smiled and said, “You will have the list tomorrow at the latest.” Carank broke the connection.

Frank and Korno walked back into the budget meeting. Frank said, “We need to add a new item to the budget.” When he had everyone’s attention, Frank continued, “We need to fund another mission to find Old Solaria.”

Korno added, “Lorano will be leading the mission and Carank will be assisting. The team was so successful on Earth; it only makes sense to pair them together again. With luck, they will be able to locate it.”

The Solarian Senator stood and applauded. They voted and the budget request passed unanimously. Frank smiled. Today was an excellent day. He enjoyed solving two problems at once.

Chapter 15

Ella said, “We are exiting hyperspace now.”

Arean said, “Everyone, welcome to wild and wonderful Hepitila.”

The Hepitila system consisted of a single, average star surrounded by 5 planets. The fifth planet was a gas giant with two moons of its own. None of the planets or the two moons was capable of sustaining life. In summary, there was little of interest in the system.

If the Hepitla system were drawn as a two-dimensional circle, the
Sunflower’s
position would be at the 300 degree mark (Southeast corner). The closest astronomical object to them was the gas giant planet; its 450 day rotation around the sun also placed it in the southeast corner of the system. The physical proximity to the star severely limited the cruiser’s ability to micro jump inside the system. If they were going to go anywhere in the system, they would have to do so in real time using the plasma reactors.

Solear said, “Scan the area. Quickly people, let’s go.”

The system’s size is determined by the distance that one has to travel in space to get around the gravity anomaly. If the
Sunflower
, or any ship for that matter, started on one side of the system and traveled at a velocity of .1 light to the other side, it would take it 80 hours to complete the trip. Light, traveling oddly enough at the speed of light, would therefore traverse the system 10 times as fast, or in 8 hours.

An initial, or sometimes called passive, scan simply draws a picture of the system using the light immediately available to it. The area closest to the ship is in real time, but as the scan goes farther and farther out, the corresponding light gets older and older. The picture from the far side of the system is 7-8 hours old.

If another ship was in the system, it could have moved significantly in this amount of time – possibly from the 7 hour band to the 6 hour band. However, if it made a micro-jump, it could be anywhere.

A full or system scan involved sending a beam of light across the system and waiting for it to bounce off of something and return. Again, the information could be as much as 16 hours old when it returned, but it generally provided much more detailed information about the objects it detected.

Ella said, “Initial scan complete. No other ships were detected.”

Arean looked at the results and said, “Aren’t there supposed to be 6 planets?”

Solear said, “Yes, where is it?”

Ella displayed the scan on the main viewer. Lexxi looked at the scan and pointed at a large, dark object on the screen. She said, “What is that?”

Everyone looked at the object. The sensor image was unclear. It looked like a large, artificially constructed object. Arean said, “It is huge. It appears way too big to be a ship. Maybe it’s a fort.”

Solear answered, “That doesn’t make sense, unless perhaps it is a hollowed out asteroid or our missing 6
^th
planet.” When no one responded, Solear said, “Computer, analysis.”

…Initial scan inconclusive. The object is partially obscured by the gas giant planet. Physical size is immense. Unable to verify corresponding mass…

Solear said, “Ella, conduct a full scan of the system. Concentrate on the anomaly.”

Ella responded, “Full scan of the object initiated. It will take about 2 hours to complete. The scan of the rest of the system will take up to 16 hours to complete.”

Arean said, “We may have to fly around the planet to get a clear view of the object.”

Solear said, “Ella, please calculate how far we would have to travel to get an unobstructed view of the object.”

Ella worked at her station for a few moments. She frowned and looked up once she had completed them. She said, “We would have to proceed at course 12.22.22 at our present speed of .06 light for an hour and 48 minutes to get a clear view.” Ella overlaid the potential course over on the monitor still showing the scan.

Solear walked closer and carefully reviewed it. He noted that both Arean and Lexxi had joined him. Solear finally said, “We will have to enter deep into the sun’s gravitational field to get a clear view.”

If they enter the sun’s gravitational field, they would not be able to jump to hyperspace. They would have to retrace their path to get back out of the gravity field.

Solear said, “Computer, display the gravity field on the monitor in red.

…The gravity field is in red…

Captain Solear again studied the chart with the help of Lexxi and Arean. Neither had moved in the last moments. Solear said, “The gravity field is farther out than I had hoped. We will hit the gravity field in 10 minutes.”

Arean thought it sounded like a questions, so he answered, “Yes. We will be in the field for 1 hour and 38 minutes before we can start the scan. Then, say 48 minutes to complete a full scan and maybe a fly over, then another 1:38 back. It will take us three hours tops to get the information we came all this way to get.”

Lexxi was still intently studying the map, so Captain Solear asked, “Lexxi, what do you think we should do?”

She replied, “I don’t care. Do whatever you want.” She reached to put her earphones back over her ears, but Solear was faster. He pulled them off of her neck before she could place them on her ears. Solear said, “Sorry, but I need you to be alert and focused for the next few hours. You can have them back after the mission.”

Ella said, “So are we going in then?’

Solear said, “Let’s go around the room. Tell me your opinion and possible options. Clowy, what do you think?”

Clowy responded, “About what?”

Solear skipped her and said, “Arean, thoughts?

Arean said, “The initial scan looks good. There doesn’t appear to be anyone here. I think we can make it in and out before we are detected. I say let’s go.”

Solear said, “Ella, how do you feel?”

Ella responded, “Maybe we should increase our speed to .1 light. That will reduce the travel time to 65 minutes each way. We could cut 43 minutes off of the trip in both directions.”

Arean said, “Yes. But we would be traveling way to fast to get a proper scan.”

Solear said, “I think you are both right. When we get there we will have to reduce speed to .03 light to get a complete scan. It will take far too long to slow down from .1 light. However, on the trip back we can increase speed and cut the 43 minutes off that leg of the trip. It would drop our total time from 3 hours to 2 ½ hours.”

Ella said, “We can go in at .06 light, slow at the last moment to .03, loop around the object, then increase speed to .1 light and leave.”

Lexxi said, “Hey, that way you scan the object the entire time you are traveling around it. That is pretty smart. I vote we follow that plan.”

Solear thought about correcting her by telling her that one really doesn’t vote on a warship. However, Lexxi was enthusiastic and involved in the conversation for a change so he decided to let it pass. Solear said, “Okay then, set a course as you described it and engage.”

The
Sunflower
turned and changed course toward the object. Both Lexxi and Arean returned to their stations. Lexxi reached for her earphones, noticed they were missing, and emphatically plopped into her chair. She started rocking back and forth in her chair until everyone looked at her and yelled at her to stop. The bridge crew was already very tense and the sound and motion of her rocking was annoying.

Suddenly a warning light went off on the weapons board. Solear turned to Lexxi and said, “Lexxi, status report.”

Lexxi answered, “Don’t let me stand in the way of you figuring that out.” She got out of her chair and took three steps to the right.

Arean walked over and sat at her station. He reviewed the monitor and sighed. He said, “There is an air leak in the emergency pressure sensor module. This is the same module that had an issue in Opron.” Arean pressed the button to cancel the signal and led Lexxi back to her seat.

Solear said, “I thought we had that fixed while the ship was in dock. Clowy, can you research the work order and see what was done.”

Clowy tapped a few commands into the computer. She looked at the results and frowned. She tried a few more keystroke and frowned again. Tears formed in her large eyes and she wiped them away. However, this smeared the eye highlighter that she had spray painted on that morning. She stopped typing while Lexxi came over and corrected her eyeliner.