CHAPTER 53 – REVERSION
DATE POINT: JUNE 2ND, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, NEAR JUPITER,
ABOARD UTRN FIST OF THE ARGONAUTS
LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER OLIVIA SEYDOUX
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Olivia stepped through the heavy blast door into the CIC cradling her datapad under her arm. Several heads looked up towards the movement before they returned their attention to their stations. The captain was busy working at his console, so she cleared her throat to get his attention.
“Ah, Olivia, I didn’t hear you there. How did the inspection go? Will everyone be ready?” He asked.
“It went as well as could be expected, skipper. All section heads are reporting status green. We’re ready to enter FTL on your orders.” Olivia replied.
“What about our new friends? Are they settled in and ready?” The Captain asked.
“Yes, sir. I have them confined to the Patriot bay for the moment under the close watch of our own contingent of big friendly giants. I expect a nice quiet trip out of them. We had a little chat that laid out our expectations in no uncertain terms.” She replied with a hawkish smile.
“It’s a twenty minute trip, I'd really hope so... Any signs of conflict or tension?” The Captain said drily.
“They’re doing just fine. We don’t have to be concerned. The rest of the crew seems to be mostly accepting of our new guests, which is another unambiguously good sign. We won’t be seeing the same kind of chaos as what happened aboard the Indomitable Will, I’ve made sure of it. We’re as ready as we are ever going to be.” She replied.
“Perfect, that leaves just a few last-second action items to take care of here.” The Captain said before he turned towards the crew stations to speak.
“We’re closing in on the convergence point; I’ve been more than patient here, but we’re just about out of time. I need those Inversion drive calculations finalized now!” Commander Cutter called out with a slight snarl.
“I’ve been working on it as fast as I can… I’ve only done this a few times, now, sir. I’m just… about… done. Boom! Nav computer is updated and ready for you, Captain!”
“Finally... Helm, line us up and lock in our course for final approach then shut down the TK drive. Our velocity is just about perfect, so we’ll just coast the rest of the way in. Reactor control, what’s our capacitor status?” The Captain asked.
“Course locked, making final adjustments now then I’ll kill the drive.”
She braced herself through one last turn before the ship jerked and the sensation of gravity left them. Olivia’s boots beeped as their inbuilt magnets activated and clamped her to the deck.
“Sir! Capacitor charge is at eighty seven percent and climbing. Full charge in approximately two minutes.”
“Perfect, redirect the power from the TK drive into our capacitor stacks, then update me on the new timetable to full charge. I want enough excess capacity stored to fight or flee the moment we exit FTL.” Captain Cutter replied.
“Rerouting power, we’ll be at full capacitor charge in approximately five minutes. All systems are operating normally. We’re ready when you are.”
“Thank you, Chief. Sensors, keep a close eye on our exit point, I don’t want any surprises out there.”
“Aye Captain, long range sensors show no contacts or heat anomalies within one AU of our exit point.”
“Thank you, sensors, ops, I need a status report on our stealth systems.”
“Yes, Captain! Hull refrigeration systems are running at equilibrium with external temperatures. Heat sinks are at six percent of maximum; all systems are nominal. We’re a ghost out here, sir, they’ll never know what hit ‘em.”
“Well, then it would appear that everything is ready.” The captain said before he locked eyes with Olivia.
She gave a curt nod which he returned before he activated one of the controls on his console.
“All hands, this is your Captain speaking. Prepare to enter FTL for a twenty light-minute trip into the outer belt. Fire control, prep all point defense stations for antimatter deflection. We’ll be activating the Inversion drive in T minus thirty seconds. Stow all unnecessary gear and make any final preparations now.” The Captain said over ship-wide comms.
He then turned back towards the bridge crew.
“Sir! We’ve merged into the local bend of the gravitational superhighway. Ready when you are, skipper!" Their helmsman called out.
“Thank you, Andersen. Ops, raise barriers, and prepare to Invert on my command!”
“Aye, aye, Captain!” Olivia heard before the exterior cameras went dark as all light was blocked by their barrier.
“Invert now!”
The ship shuddered as the forward interstice was violently torn wide open and they passed through the baryonic barrier and into FTL.
“Ops, status report!” Commander Cutter called out.
“Entrance into FTL confirmed; the baryonic bubble is stable. Barrier generator operating perfectly; power draw is down eighty-one percent, waste heat down ninety-three percent. All systems are operating within expected parameters.”
“Perfect, thank you. Keep your eyes peeled to that status screen. Go ahead and reactivate the TK drive again in artificial gravity waveform mode at one gee. Sensors, get me that antimatter threat report, stat.”
“We’re clear in the short range, I’ll need another thirty seconds for the long range scan!”
“Good, get it to fire control the second you have it ready.”
“Yes, skipper!”
The Captain settled into the back of his chair with a nearly imperceptible sigh of release. Olivia could see on his face that there was something still bothering him. No matter how good he was at hiding it, she had spent enough time with him to know better.
“Something on your mind, skipper?” She asked in a low tone just above a whisper.
“No matter how many times we do this, I keep expecting something to go wrong.” He replied quietly as he rubbed the upper bridge of his nose.
“Is this about the dream, sir?” Olivia asked.
“Maybe it was at first. It’s evolved since then to more of an… omnipresent foreboding feeling… a premonition, perhaps. I know its irrational, so don’t you go worrying about it, or me, for that matter. The pure utility of condensing a two week trip into twenty minutes can’t be ignored, any more than our orders can. We’re using the Inversion drive no matter how my lizard brain might feel about it.” He replied.
“I get it. It’s new technology that we barely understand, and it has already gone bad once for us as it is… You’re right though, we have to make use of it whether we like it or not. If anyone can keep things compartmentalized, it would be you, sir. You know you can confide in me anytime without judgement, right?”
“I know, it seems the heavens themselves conspired to give me the perfect second in command. Gonna be a shame to lose you to your own commission when this is all over.” He teased.
“Ah don’t you go getting ahead of yourself, I’m not going anywhere any time soon. I hope to have a command of my own someday, but we have to focus on surviving this mission first.” Olivia countered.
“Right, and for that we need intel. I think its high time I meet our new guests.”
“I’ll go and pass along the invitation then.” Olivia said with a slight smile.
“I’ll be ready with the briefing materials, Intel just put the last finishing touches on them a few minutes ago. Dismissed.” The Captain said with a nod. He then returned to his workstation and Olivia turned to head towards the Patriot bay.
FIVE MINUTES LATER….
DATE POINT: JUNE 2nd 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, INVERTED DIMENSION
ABOARD UTRN FIST OF THE ARGONAUTS
LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER LANCE BLACKFORD
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Lance followed closely behind Anubis at the center of the five-man detail assigned to keep him in check. Together they walked the path from the Patriot bay towards the armored core of the ship that contained the CIC, the hospital, and the reactor complex. Allowing him so near the inner core burned at every instinct he had, but orders were orders.
He wouldn’t do anything to the ship he relies upon to live. Would he? Fuck it; If he tries anything, we’ll be ready for him. He studied his charge with narrowed eyes.
The elongated skull of the towering brute had some distinct differences from the skull of a standard human. Besides the obviously larger cranial capacity, there was an prominent brow line, a broader jaw and facial features, longer, sharper canine teeth, and six-fingered hands. He could see where the pure giant DNA had been mixed with that of what he recognized as modern humans. The contrast sparked ancient, deep-seated fears of the uncanny valley in spite of his best efforts to master the unsettling feeling.
The enemy, when they invaded, were monsters which stood more than twice the height and breadth of even the largest human. Their huge heads and mouths were easily capable of biting a person’s head off with a vicious double row of sharp teeth. When he had first encountered them, they had reminded him of a gorilla with an upright gait. Even a small one could bend steel and throw vehicles around with ease.
Horrid memories of seeing just one of their shock troops in power armor shred through his platoon after slagging their vehicles with its shoulder-mounted plasma cannon played through his mind. Killing that one had required costly air support, at a time when their stock of surviving advanced planes and ordnance were thin. Such battles had played out across the entire front in the early days after they made landfall in upstate New York after they had bombarded Earth’s greatest cities from orbit. He still felt guilty to have survived when so many others hadn’t.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Christ, that phase of the war was hell.
The fact that Anubis would have been considered a runt compared to his full-blooded giant cousins did nothing to diminish the potential danger that he presented at all times to everybody aboard their ship. Lance knew that he could never let his guard down as flashbacks of the gym massacre hit him. He gripped the pommel of his sword grip as it hung from his belt while he considered the situation.
That can never be allowed to happen again. Those null matter blades he conjures are just too damn dangerous. How can we negate that threat when we can’t even disarm him?
Gardner gave him an admonishing look from his side, making him realize he must have been staring. He released the sword hilt then narrowed his eyes at her, which seemed enough to get her to disengage and look forwards again with a subtle shake of her head.
Her recovery was speeding along at an uncanny pace. The doc said she was clear for light duties now and would probably be deemed combat ready after her final check-off, which was supposed to be any day now. She certainly seemed to be ready from what Lance had seen.
I really hope she’s ready. Her technical skills will be invaluable, but it’s far more important that she be there to keep the big guy in line. It’d be a real shit-show if she couldn’t exert control over him at a critical moment. Might be worth testing her influence over him between now and then…
As they marched the final few paces towards the meters-thick armored door that lay open to access the CIC they were met by Olivia.
“Ah, excellent, there you are. If you will follow me Ambassador, Anubis. This doorway was made intentionally small to prevent boarding giants from accessing the inner core. With your… smaller size, you should be able to squeeze through. Do watch your head now.” She said with a smile that beamed innocence in spite of her veiled snark.
Anubis simply growled. That stormy mood hasn’t improved, it seems.
Gardner seemed to sense the yawning conversational divide before she stepped in to speak. When she did, she seemed to have taken on a small portion of Anubis’ frustration herself.
“Thanks, Lieutenant, I still remember being mindful not to bang my head on it back when I was in my human body. I appreciate you looking out for our well-being like that. Especially since Anubis isn’t fully acquainted with the quirks of this class of ship like we are.” Gardner’s face seemed to display a similarly warm smile, but her tone of voice betrayed her true feelings.
Oh shit. Better get ahead of this one.
“Yes, I think we can all agree that you have shown us truly unparalleled hospitality and concernforourwell-being. Is the Captain ready for us?” Lance asked.
He focused his narrowed eyes on the ambassador to signal his displeasure. Hopefully he could help reframe her attitude, even if only a little. They needed to find ways to come together, not succumb to the forces that threatened to drive them apart. Olivia, thankfully seemed to take the cue and thus pivoted her attention onto him, instead. Lance found that being the object of her full attention was rather akin to a mouse staring into the eyes of a dive-bombing hawk.
“He’s been ready. If you would follow me, we hope Anubis can identify some long range scans and provide valuable intel.” She spun about and ducked through the door with a ballerina’s grace at a pace far too quick for their entourage to match.
Lance gritted his teeth and turned to Paul.
“Paul, Vic, why don’t you two try and navigate that doorway first for us? Anubis and Gardner can proceed through next, followed by the rest of us.”
“Yezzir… I can go first….” Paul replied.
Lance kept a strictly blank face despite his internal amusement as Paul struggled to find a good way through the small doorway. He finally had to crawl through on all fours with a barely audible grumble.
“Vic, you’re up.” Lance said. The big man nodded and proceeded through the same way Paul had with a slight bit more difficulty due to his larger frame.
“That’s gonna be a real problem soon as we keep packing on muscle.” Victor grumbled.
“That’s a problem for tomorrow. If I have to liaison with the Captain on our behalf in the future because you all are too swole, the trade off will be worth it. You all chose this path willingly; you knew there would be challenges.” Lance replied.
“Not everyone had the same choices or made them so willingly. C’mon Anubis, let’s get this over with.” Gardner replied in a bitter tone.
“As you wish, my lady. I can cut this doorway open wider; you need only ask. It would be a trivial task.” Anubis replied flatly as he summoned a null matter blade and then banished it.
“A part of me is sorely tempted, but no. Let’s not remodel the inside of our host ship any further than we already have.” She replied with a chuckle as she laid a hand on Anubis’ broad chest.
“Now watch me closely, I’ll go first.” She said with a wink.
Gardner then crawled through rather slower and with a deeper arch to her back and more of a wiggle to her hips than Lance suspected was truly necessary. It had the effect of locking all of their combined attention onto her rather shapely behind before Lance caught himself staring and averted his gaze. Anubis grunted and followed after her with a real struggle before he managed to squeeze through the comparatively tiny doorway.
“Alright. Hamilton, O’Brien, you two follow behind me.” Lance said as he ducked his head and walked through with ease.
Thank God I didn’t let them turn me into a Guardian. Lance thought, as he fought a smug feeling that welled up from within.
Soon after that, the last of the Guardians squeezed themselves through. Lance motioned to Paul, who then beckoned their formation on towards the CIC. They emerged into the semi chaotic room to see Commander Cutter standing in front of the holo-table with a grim look plastered on his face.
“Thank you for joining us, I’m sure you know why I summoned you here, so let’s get to it.”
He pulled up the system map and zoomed in on the outer asteroid belt.
“Are you familiar with the system map enough to be able to identify what these heat anomalies are? Our analysts have their own ideas, but we are hoping you have additional insights for us. We would have asked before, but your sequestration after you were attacked delayed this conversation.” The Captain said as he intently studied Anubis’ face.
Gardner stepped in and immediately began translating the Captain’s words for Anubis before he nodded and began to study the map with interest.
“So, these circles represent the locations of the heat anomalies you have identified? If so, you have missed both early warning listening posts. They are located approximately here… and here. We will need to neutralize those first. This crew is mighty, and I understand your ship is stealthy, but one mistake and these facilities will bring down Set’s Ur-Uatchti upon us. We would not survive that battle.” Anubis said as he pointed at the map as Gardner relayed his message back to the Captain.
“Shit, this is exactly why we wanted to have this conversation earlier... How do you propose we take out these listening posts without alerting Set? Do they run a continuous signal? Are there timed check-ins? Tell me everything.” The Captain replied.
“They are built into medium-sized asteroids and are supplied with power via zero-width wormhole uplink to Nii’Baruu. Their exterior surface is covered with recessed receiver dishes artfully designed to look like impact craters, and the interior electronics are cooled and vacuum-gapped to prevent heat leakage and to maintain stealth. They maintain a constant data uplink to the central command post here, where Set and Aten have fallen back to and fortified. This same facility is where they have their Ur-Uatchti docked and is also where Lord Rah’s war body has been imprisoned within a temporal coffin.”
Silence reigned in the room as the ambassador finished translating for Anubis and everyone mulled over what they had just heard. The Captain stroked his short, perfectly trimmed beard as he stared into the map.
“We figured that was the main facility, based upon our own imaging and multi-spectral analysis. What if we spoofed the signals from the listening posts? If we can perform a close enough flyby coasting on momentum, we could cold drop a team to upload an adaptive computer virus into their systems then swing back around for a pickup. What kind of internal defenses would they have?” The Captain asked.
Anubis listened intently as Gardner relayed the message before he paused for a moment then gave his response.
“This… adaptive computer virus as you call it, has this been tested against our systems? We left these facilities undefended, though that will not matter if your stealth systems fail you, if your virus is discovered, or if the signal gets cut for any length of time. We didn’t talk about these heat anomalies here and here. Those are powerful particle cannons that are tasked with defending the central facility as well as these listening posts. If your virus fails and you are discovered, they will not hesitate to vaporize the facility and your people within it.”
As soon as Gardner finished her translation, the Captain shared a look between himself and Olivia, then over to Lance, and finally to Paul.
“We haven’t tested it on your systems specifically, but they were designed in the latter stages of the war to hijack control of Nephaeli’im computer systems created by the forces of Apophis. The virus is really better described as a… a kind of shackled and highly specialized artificial intelligence. The virus should absolutely allow us full root access so long as we can upload it without detection.” The Captain said with steadily growing confidence.
“Then let us hope your faith in your artificial intelligence construct is justified; the lives of your team and your crew depend on it. We will remain with this ship to assist in preparations for the assault on the main facility. If your teams do fail, then we will have minutes at best to board and disable the Ur-Uatchti in dry dock before its crew can be retrieved from temporal stasis and they can launch. If your infiltration teams fail, it would be wise to retreat and return in force at a later time.”
They all shared an uneasy look as Gardner finished translating Anubis’ reply in a somber voice.
“I don’t like it; what we have is not good enough yet. Get those brains working, people! I want everything that can go wrong laid out on the table and I want to hear your good ideas and solutions. I’ll finalize the mission plan once we have it tightened up to my satisfaction.” The Captain replied.
“Are these listening posts equipped with null matter field distortion detectors, or just long range multi-spectral scanning arrays?” Paul asked, before his eyes snapped open wider. “Could they detect this ship’s FTL reversion back into real space?”
Gardner relayed the question back to Anubis with a slightly alarmed note to her voice. The alien set his jaw and seemed to narrow its eyes for a moment before he answered.
“They do have such sensors, though the difficulty of detecting a smaller distortion field from the cosmic background can make an incursion possible. This ship is large enough that it’s drive distortion would be detected within a fairly sizeable radius. It is likely that your gunships, however, would generate a small enough distortion that they could hide amongst the gravity wells of the asteroids and make small adjustments and maneuvers without detection. Your FTL reversion radiation spike will be much more difficult to mask, but its detection radius will be smaller as well.”
Lance and Paul shared a look this time as their translation software needed no interpreter for them to understand the implications. Lance looked back at the system map and saw just how close their plotted reversion point was to the closest of the two listening posts with growing alarm.
“Captain, we need to revert the ship to real space, now!” Lance said, right as Gardner had finished her translation for the Captain. He immediately turned and went into action.
“Ops! We need to revert to real space immediately! Set a timer for thirty seconds then proceed. Helm, be on standby for evasive maneuvers!”
“Aye Skipper, reverting in T minus thirty seconds.”
“Ready evasive maneuvers, aye! Warming up the TK drive now.”
Wasting no time, Commander Cutter hit the control to open ship wide comms.
“All hands, prepare for early reversion in T minus twenty seconds and brace for evasive maneuvers! Fire control, be ready to deflect micrometeoroids the moment we return to real space!”
He then turned back to the crew at their stations behind them after shutting the comms down. Seconds later, the ship shuddered as they reverted back to the 3rd dimension.
“Ops, drop barrier. Sensors, set all passive scanners to full and check for local threats, then prep an asteroid drift chart for navigations.”
“Aye aye, Captain, prepping passive sensors now.”
“Thank you, navigations, get me our precise location and plot us a course once you get that asteroid drift chart. While you’re at it, get me an estimate on how many days we’ve just added to the mission clock.”
“Yes, sir!” The Captain rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment before he turned to Gardner.
“What’s your take on our odds of successfully reverting to real space without detection?”
She first looked back at Anubis then the Captain before she spoke.
“Looking at the orientation of re-entry, and our approximate distance from the closest facility… The Hawking radiation burst spreads outwards in an approximately two hundred and seventy degree radial cone, which aids in dispersion. If we account for all these factors and apply the inverse square law… I’d estimate that the radiation density would be down to less than one percent by the time it reaches detectable range. Our chances of discovery are low, but the sensitivity of their equipment as well as their levels of paranoia will affect the odds in a way we simply cannot account for.”
“Thank you for your assessment Ambassador. Sensors, launch a spy drone, and set it for tight-beam communications only, I want eyes on that dreadnought at all times. Alert me immediately to any signs of activity, no matter how seemingly insignificant.” The Captain replied.
“Yes, Sir! Initializing spy drone… Launch authorized in three… two… one! Spy drone deployed. I won’t let you down, sir!”
“I know you won’t, and don’t forget, we still need those drift maps completed.” The Captain replied with a nod before he turned towards Lance. “As for you, Lieutenant Commander, damn quick thinking on your part there, it may very well be that you have saved us all. You’re an absolute credit to the uniform. Now… back to refining our battle plan. We’re only going to get one shot at this, and for the next few days it seems we’ve got nothing but time. Let's get to work, people."
A wicked smile set across the Captain’s face, one that Lance could very much appreciate.
Time to hit these bastards where it hurts. He thought with a smile of his own slowly spreading across his face.