Chapter 348

Landfall Space Academy – Selina and Diana's Mission

Astonishing herself, Diana slept soundly for her allotted two hours. When Selina shook her awake, she smiled at her commander.

"My cycle," Selina said. "We are still in warp. Breakout in approximately four hours as planned."

"Yes, Commander," Diana returned, yawning, as she stretched and vacated the bunk. "I hope you rest as well as I did."

"I did not sleep at all well last shift. Instead, I worried about this mission."

"Rest while you have time, then," the Mission Second responded.

Diana stopped by the head, then got a cup of stim in the tiny galley before entering the bridge and sliding into the command seat. After making certain that both boards were still showing green on all systems, she sat to think as she sipped her stim.

When the two hours were up, Diana realized that she wasn't sleepy. Selina was tired. Unless she wakes on her own, I'm going to let her sleep until we approach dropout.

Shortly before time, she awoke her partner. "Dropout in ten minutes at system 9317-SY, Commander." As Selina sat up, Diana continued. "And before you ask, I was not sleepy and I knew you needed the rest, so I did not wake you for my turn. I'll have a cup of stim waiting after you visit the head."

Selina frowned at her Second, but shrugged and mumbled a thank you as she came to her feet.

A few minutes later, she entered the bridge to slide into her seat, then reached for her cup of hot stim in its holder by her left hand. Taking a first sip, she smiled. "This is excellent."

"Thank you," the AI responded, thinking she was talking to it. "It is my own blend."

"All systems still optimal, Commander," Diana said with a smile.

"Warp systems will disengage in four minutes and twenty three seconds," the AI announced.

"After dropout, I will assume manual control," Selina told it.

"Very well, Commander," the AI responded, a hint of surliness in its voice.

"It's pissed at you now," Diana said with a grin.

Selina ignored Diana's comment and went on with, "As you are aware, AI's are frequently predictable," Selina returned as she scanned her boards, not bothering to care that the AI heard. "Should an enemy ship be within a light minute of our dropout point, they would detect us, and I certainly would not want to be predictable under those circumstances. Hopefully, they will not be able to detect us in any fashion other than our warp pulse from dropout, but if there happen to be a sufficient number of war craft near, they might well be able to saturate the area with high yield missiles, and destroy us before we could escape. I would much prefer to be as unpredictable as possible should something of that nature happen. Hopefully, no enemy craft will be within a light minute and our breakout will go unnoticed."

Selina turned to her partner. "You should have awakened me after I had slept my assigned two hours. Are you certain you are not tired?"

"There was no reason to wake you. I was not sleepy and it was obvious that you were fatigued. I didn't want to go into the critical part of a mission with my commander tired."

"So long as you did not give up your rest when you needed it..."

"I didn't." Diana said as she changed the subject. "All systems remain at optimal and our package is still on standby, but I confess, that thing makes me nervous – very nervous."

Selina turned to stare at her partner. "Should the device malfunction, the human brain would be far too slow to register the occurrence before the annihilation occurred. We would know nothing; would feel nothing."

"And that is supposed to make me feel better?" Diana answered with a sick grin.

Selina raised an eyebrow, but didn't pursue the subject further.

"Ten seconds to warp dropout," the AI announced.

"Here we go," Diana said as she brought the scout's weapons on line.

Dropout was anticlimactic. No craft registered on their screens, but they waited a full minute before engaging the inertialess drive. The minute wait was to allow time for light to travel the distance that breakout from warp could be detected by a distant vessel, and similarly for the scout's passive scanning to register another vessel at a light minute distance.

"Looks like no one is around," Diana said even as she continued running passive scans.

"Affirmative," Selina responded as she engaged the inertialess drive. "We appear to be well within the boundaries of our planned dropout coordinates."

"Too bad we weren't able to warp straight in," Diana said, "but dropping blindly into the system they are supposedly using to hide one of their main supply bases would be highly risky, at best. That would still be true even if no enemy vessels detected us, but with all the debris in the system, blindly dropping out of warp in there would be suicidal. Even at this distance, our scanners are picking up millions of asteroids and planetoids. There must have been a collision between two very sizeable planets to make so much debris."

The AI broke in with, "In addition, there is a random nature associated with much of the debris as objects collide with others causing many more new vectors."

"Even so," Selina said as she studied her screens, "I would surmise that the enemy has mapped out areas that are relatively free of debris, and that has enabled them to warp in and out with little or no danger."

"That is a logical assumption," the AI returned, "but that mapping would take a considerable length of time – far more than the time that has been allotted for our mission; the amount of consumables, air and water we have on board notwithstanding."

"So, we spend a few days sneaking into the system," Diana summarized, "just as we planned. Too bad intelligence had so little useful information for us. It would be nice to know what we're up against – or exactly where it is, for that matter."

Selina commented. "As we surmised during our briefing, if this is a major supply base, it will obviously be highly fortified and the system heavily patrolled. However, the amount of debris in the system not only makes it difficult for an attacking force to warp in, but it should provide our mission with cover that will also make the enemy's successful scanning for us problematic at best."

The AI spoke up. "I surmise that the catastrophic event that created all the debris might well have happened in the 'recent past' as far as the time scale of solar systems go. Otherwise, the distribution of the debris would have already moved more into the elliptical plane around the primary. Might I also remind you that my reflexes are many times faster than those of human beings. Therefore, I am the logical choice to pilot us through this part of the mission. If the data I received from our briefing is correct, we are approximately 55 AU's from the supposed position of the planetoid that the base is located on, and my preliminary readings of the system indicate there are approximately twenty AU's of the most densely packed debris field in that general area. If there is a hidden base in this system, that would be the logical place to hide it."

With a sigh, Selina released the controls to the AI. "Maintain our present course, veering as is necessary to avoid the debris when we reach it. Only during an emergency are you allowed to use energy in excess of what our shields will screen from the enemy. Prepare to instantly release the controls to manual upon my or my second's command."

"Acknowledged, Commander," the AI responded.

As Selina absently picked up her empty cup, Diana slid out of her seat for refills for both of them. As she returned with the stim, "Have you thought of anything that we didn't cover in our planning?"

Selina nodded her thanks as she took a sip before answering. "Yes, many things. Unfortunately most are speculation at this point. We desperately need more data. High on the list of things I wish to know is just how sensitive the Tulmores' scanning equipment is. Unfortunately, the only way available for us to obtain that information is to continue until we complete our mission or they detect us. The latter, of course, might well prove fatal."

The AI interrupted to say, "I have detected seventy-three drive signatures throughout the system, but the main concentration is in the general area that we were given as the most probable location of the base. Coordinates on that area are on your screens," it finished. There was a hesitation, then, "As my scans gain clarity, I am beginning to discern what appear to be small groupings or clusters of the drive signatures."

"Shit," Diana mumbled under her breath as she scanned her instruments, then louder, "A couple of those signatures are quite large, and from the type, I suspect they are freighters. I'll bet the small groups are patrols. What the crap is this place, anyway? We expected it to be a large base, but I've never seen anything quite like this on any of our missions, nor in any of our training vids."

"And whatever is there is still shielded by the dense debris field in the area," Selina reminded.

"We are still 50 AU's out. Even with our passive scans, we will be able to detect more detail as we draw closer," the AI advised.

"Search for in-system drives that suddenly appear. Perhaps that will allow us to determine where the Tulmore are warping into the system. The location will probably be in an area that is relatively free of debris."

"Yes, Commander," the AI responded.

Time drifted slowly onward. Selina and Diana consumed numerous pots of stim (the academy's version of coffee) as they worked their way into the system, but after a time, that was no longer sufficient to keep them alert, and they were forced to go on chemical stimulants. Finally, Selina snuggled their little vessel against a chunk of rock deep inside a thick swarm of like bodies, and deployed remotes so that nothing could approach from the other side without their being aware of it. "Rest for two hours, then I will," she ordered her Second.

At this point, Diana could still see her screens and instruments even with her eyes closed, and she was beginning to wonder which view was real. "Yes, Commander," she mumbled as she staggered to her feet.

Two hours later, with much shaking from Selina, Diana's consciousness swam back into reality. Her head hurt, her hands shook, and her eyes felt as if they were boiled. She was barely clear of the bunk when Selina collapsed into it.

A couple of moments later, half stumbling, Diana sat in Selina's seat, popped a pill into her mouth and downed it with a swallow of stim, barely noticing the burn from the hot liquid as she scanned their boards.

"I would have notified you if there were any enemy vessels in the vicinity," the AI said. Diana ignored it and continued her detailed scans.

As the stimulant took hold, her vision cleared as well as her headache. That was the deepest sleep I've ever had, she thought. Even just two hours has cleared my mind, though. When I shut my eyes, at least I don't still see my instruments. Maybe Selina's rest will do her as much good. I surely hope so, because the most critical part of our mission is just ahead.

As she sat watching her scans, a section of the jumbled mess around her must have cleared for a second. Wow! That was a much stronger pulse, but the clear path must have closed up with all the movement of the debris, because whatever it was isn't registering now. She addressed the AI, "Did you have time to get a reading on whatever that strong pulse was?"

"It was not of sufficient length to allow detail, but with the assumption that the object has the same general density as the other debris in this area, I estimate it to be roughly one hundred miles in diameter with a margin of error of twenty percent plus or minus."

"How far?"

"If I could bounce a scan off it, I would be able to tell exactly."

"So fucking guess," Diana, in her weariness, snapped.

"Again I..."

As Diana cleared her throat, the AI went hastily on, "Two to five light minutes. I have no frame of reference to narrow the distance down any more accurately than that."