New Frontiers (Expansion Wars Trilogy, Book 1) (5 page)

Celesta frowned. The startup on the RDS was an intricate and lengthy procedure that also required they shut down a myriad of other systems that would interfere with the initial calibration of the field generators. Realistically that meant that if Graham’s interface was triggered and cut the drive during combat, or even normal intrasystem flight, that would be it: no RDS for the remainder of the operation until they could call for a full stop somewhere.

She was also worried about what that would mean for her bridge crew, specifically Navigation and Helm control. If a course was plotted with the assumption the RDS was available, and the helm was flying that course, what would happen if the drive dropped out without notice? The MPD main engines were kept primed and ready as standard operating procedure, but their performance envelope was completely unlike what the reactionless drive was capable of.

“Proceed with your least favorite option, Commander Graham,” Celesta said after a moment of thought. “Go right to the point that you actually tap the interface into the MUX. Worst case scenario is that your people get some invaluable training and familiarity with the new hardware while fabricating the necessary parts.”

“That’s not the worst case scenario, with all due respect, Captain,” Graham said with a slow shake of his head. “But I will get my crews to work immediately on the interface. I will alert you as soon as we’re ready to implement it, of course.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Celesta nodded. “Carry on.” Her trip back to the command deck was filled with doubts about the orders she’d just given. Was she as enamored with the idea of a gravity engine as the CENTCOM brass was? Maybe she should have told Commander Graham to pull and stow all the cables leading to the RDS pod and leave it as useless ballast until they returned to New Sierra. As the lift doors opened she pushed thoughts of Tsuyo’s engineering debacle out of her head and began to gather her thoughts about the upcoming push back into Xi’an. Not only did she not know what she would find there, she also had to consider that her taskforce’s very presence would be seen as a hostile act by the Asianic Union should she be spotted.

“Let’s be quick about this, everyone,” Celesta said to the wall-sized monitor that was split seven ways so she could simultaneously talk to each starship captain and the CIS agent. “I want to be transitioning out of this system within the next forty-eight hours. For the sake of clarity allow me to state that my orders give me operational control over this mission, but as of now I’m just as much in the dark as any of you. Agent Uba, would you please rectify that?”

“Of course, Captain,” the agent said, seeming unsurprised at the abrupt introduction and handoff. “Captains, before I begin let me say that this is classified Top Secret, Special Instruction Level Six. Even though there may not technically be a Confederacy at the moment, CENTCOM will still come down on all of us like a hammer should word of this get out.”

“We know what classified means, Agent Uba,” Captain Kolsh of the heavy cruiser
Leighton
said testily. “Please get on with it.”

“Approximately four months ago a proximity beacon was detected in the Xi’an System,” Uba continued, unruffled. “It was first determined that this was some sort of ruse or even threat by the Asianic Union, even if our analysts didn’t fully understand the context. Three and a half weeks ago the prox beacon stopped and a full power emergency beacon was detected from the same ship. The coding of this ship’s emergency beacon wouldn’t have been something the AU was privy to.”

“Which ship are we talking about, Agent Uba?” Celesta asked.

“
Starwolf
-class destroyer, Seventh Fleet,” Uba said, his face impassive. “It’s not transmitting its registry, however, so that’s all we know.”

“Well we know that’s impossible,” Celesta said after a long, uncomfortable silence where she could sense everyone watching her closely. “Every
Starwolf
-class ship is accounted for and Tsuyo will not be making any more.”

“I’m well aware of that, Captain,” Uba said. “Our initial recon of the system indicates that there is something of appropriate mass, however, that is squawking classified codes identifying it as a Black Fleet destroyer. We have now been waiting here, one warp flight away, for your taskforce to arrive so that we may thoroughly debunk what our sensors are telling us and, if possible, link it back to the AU. Consider the second task our mission priority.”

“So the analysts are convinced that this
is
an AU ploy?” Kolsh asked.

“We believe so,” Uba nodded. “While we’re unsure how they would have gotten the proper code sequence for the transponder, we’re relatively certain there is no other logical explanation.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Celesta nodded. “But why? If it’s supposed to be a message I’m afraid I don’t understand it.”

“Your former CO has become a reviled character behind the closed border of ESA space,” Captain McKenzie of the First Fleet frigate
Midlands
said, her accent identifying her as not a Britannia native despite her posting. “In order to absolve themselves from the blame for costing the lives of billions, the AU and Warsaw Alliance governments adopted an official position blaming the attacks on the reckless behavior of a certain Starfleet captain from Earth. As these things often go, he has been morphed into a nefarious caricature that some people believe led the Phage to them on purpose. Using a
Starwolf
-class beacon signal could be aimed at him. This might be some sort of propaganda effort as much for the benefit of their people as it is a message or warning to us.”

“Absurd.” Celesta scoffed at the idea the AU was blaming Wolfe for actions they had perpetrated. “But the point is well taken. This could be a threat or a warning that we’re not able to fully comprehend due to being closed off from what’s happening on ESA worlds.” She was becoming more comfortable now that it was apparent that this was humans playing games and nothing more. Even if there was an ESA fleet sitting near Xi’an they’d be able to simply fly the perimeter of the system and transition out before anyone was close enough to do something foolish.

“I wish there was more, but that’s the long and short of it,” Uba said. “I’ll have the raw data from our limited recon flights transmitted to each of your ships immediately.”

“Thank you, Agent Uba.” Celesta stood and began to pace behind the conference table, the camera on the wall automatically tracking her movements and keeping her in the center of the frame. “I would ask each of you to review the data thoroughly, and if there are any questions or concerns contact the
Icarus
before we reach our jump point. In light of the brief I am bumping formation’s movement up five hours. Be ready to begin transition acceleration seven hours from now. If there’s nothing else?” She left the question hanging in the air, directing her gaze to each of her fellow captains for a second. “Very well,” she nodded. “Dismissed.
Icarus
out.”

“Channel closed and secured, ma’am,” Ellison said. She’d brought her bridge com officer to run the equipment during the conference since he’d already been privy to all the com calls coming in from the Prowler.

“I had better not learn of any scuttlebutt on the lower decks about Confederate ships appearing in the Xi’an System, Mr. Ellison,” Celesta said sternly.

“No, ma’am,” Ellison agreed. “Unless you need me further, Captain?”

“You’re dismissed, Lieutenant,” she said. Ellison spun smartly and unlocked the conference room hatch before escaping his captain’s steely gaze. Her warning hadn’t been just idle fretting on her part; the rumor mill on every starship seemed to plod along with an almost comforting regularity, but recently it had shifted into high gear aboard the
Icarus
. The phenomenon seemed to really gain some steam about two weeks after Ellison had reported aboard. Her command style required that she have a bit more proof, however, before accusing one of her officers of disseminating classified information. 

Celesta sighed in irritation at some of the more mundane aspects of command. But, mundane or not, things like a bridge crewman with loose lips had to be addressed. She picked up her tile and comlink, slipping the latter into her utilities, before leaving the conference room for the bridge to prep her ship for the last leg before they reached the objective. If this was indeed the ESA as she suspected, it would mark a strange kickoff to what promised to be a long and especially contentious cold war.

****

“Report!”

“
Icarus
has successfully transitioned into the Xi’an System, Captain,” the nav specialist called out. “Position confirmed within fifteen thousand kilometers of target.”

“Tactical, begin full passive scans of the system. Helm! Bear to starboard and clear the jump point, maneuvering thrusters only,” Celesta ordered before turning her head slightly. “Coms?”

“It’s there, ma’am,” Lieutenant Ellison confirmed. “Decrypting now. The file header is properly formatted ... It looks legitimate. Reading a strong beacon for a Terran Starfleet
Starwolf
-class destroyer, no registry identification transmitted with the message.”

“OPS, stow the warp drive and clear Engineering to start main engines,” Celesta said. “Coms, begin working with Tactical to ascertain where the signal is coming from and put your directional data on the Link. When the rest of the taskforce arrives we’ll be able to triangulate and pinpoint a position.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

“The Prowler and the
Leighton
have just transitioned in, ma’am,” Accari reported. “Waiting on confirmation that they’re moving into position.”

“Very well.” Celesta stood up. “Nav, send our first course and speed change to the helm. Helm, when you have main thrust available you’re clear to engage the mains, ahead one-quarter.”

“Ahead one-quarter when mains come up, aye,” the helmsman said. It was another few minutes before she saw her helmsman reach over and advance the twin throttles up to twenty-five-percent thrust.

“Engines answering ahead one-quarter, Captain.
Icarus
is now under power.”

“The Prowler,
Leighton
, and
Midlands
have all initialized their Link connections,” the tactical officer, Lieutenant Commander Adler reported. “The computer is processing the incoming data stream. We’ll have a rough location within a few hours and will resolve with more accuracy as the formation spreads.”

The other ships slowly filtered into the system and began deploying as the
Icarus
continued her course down into the system in the opposite direction of the Prowler while the Midlands and
Leighton
fanned out above and below in relation to the ecliptic. Celesta could feel herself tensing up and tried to force herself to relax. This wasn’t likely to be anything more than a bizarre but otherwise harmless action from the Asianic Union.

“Beacon is confirmed, Captain,” Ellison reported. “As far as the computer is concerned, that
is
a
Starwolf
-class destroyer down there.”

Celesta just nodded to her com officer but didn’t answer. That wasn’t welcome news. She’d assumed once the computer began parsing through the encrypted portion of the beacon transmission it would become apparent that it was a fake. It was actually the main reason an encrypted sign/counter sign signal was piggybacked onto the standard distress call, to keep someone from doing just what she thought the AU was doing and baiting a trap with another ship’s emergency transponder signal.

It was another two hours before they were able to lock down a general location for the signal’s origin. When she saw it Celesta began to doubt her initial assessment as to what they were seeing.

“Nav, plot a course to the signal’s point of transmission. Ahead full,” she said quietly.

“All engines ahead full, aye.” The deck began to vibrate gently as the two massive plasma engines ran up to full power and the
Icarus
raced down into the system.

“Tactical, begin active scans,” Celesta said. “Coms, tell the rest of the taskforce to remain silent. Let’s only have one ship broadcasting until we get a better idea of what it is we’re dealing with.”

“Active array is coming up now, ma’am” Adler said. “Threat board will begin populating once we start getting returns.”

“Do you think it might not be prudent to at least arm the forward missile banks, ma’am?” Barrett leaned in and asked quietly. “This is starting to spook me a bit.”

“Do you really think that’s one of our ships down there?” Celesta asked as she considered his request.

“I don’t see how, Captain,” Barrett almost whispered. “But I know I’m really hoping it isn’t and for more than one reason.”

“I think I take your meaning, Commander,” Celesta nodded before raising her voice. “Tactical! Arm the forward missile banks, Hornets only. Standard yield and don’t tie the guidance into the active array just yet.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Adler said, clearly surprised. “Missiles initializing; they’ll be available in thirty seconds.”

Celesta didn’t bother to clarify her orders further as she watched the first weak returns begin to show up on the threat board. The computer would begin trying to correlate the objects to anything in the database to assign a threat number to each. The threat board itself was a holographic representation of local space that was overlaid upon the main display, and she could adjust the opacity of the outside view from her terminal so that the detail wasn’t lost. It would make more sense if the main display didn’t show the outside view at all, but studies had shown that crews had lower stress levels if they could see outside the ship, even if the “view” was nothing more than an image put up on a display.

“How long until we can begin visual confirmations of the objective?” Celesta asked.

“At current speed and assuming our degree of accuracy increases with proximity … roughly thirty-nine hours, ma’am,” Accari said, earning him an annoyed glare from Adler, who was still trying to get the proper display pulled up.

“Coms, let the other department heads know I want to maintain our alert status but we’re more than a day from knowing any more than we do now,” Celesta said. “Make sure they’re on normal watch schedules and that their people are rested and ready. OPS, dig into the archives and find out if we have any intel on what was physically left of the planet Xi’an after the Phage Charlies were done using it for target practice.”

“At once, Captain,” Accari said crisply before turning from his main console to the auxiliary station to his left, programming it to begin fishing through the
Icarus’s
servers to find the information his captain wanted. Celesta watched her bridge crew go about their tasks, still feeling the tension hanging in the air, when her comlink buzzed. She flipped it over and looked at the message.

Captain, all parts for the RDS interface have been fabricated, tested, and are ready to implement. –Commander Graham

“Commander Barrett, would you please accompany me to Engineering.” She stood up. “Ensign Accari, you have the bridge … I need Lieutenant Commander Adler focused on tracking and identifying our objective.”