Metal Boxes (41 page)

Bob looked thrilled. “This is great stuff. You even released documents that had been erased from the ship’s database.” He glanced at the
admiral, “Oh, the Mark Nineteen would have recovered the erased data in time. But this makes recovery so much easier. Nothing can be erased permanently when a Mark Nineteen is on the job.”

Melendez nodded
, “That is why we have thermite charges built into our database cases. If we are about to get captured by the Hyrocanian we can do a meltdown to keep the information out of their hands.”

“Captured?” Stone asked.

“Yes, Captain,” Melendez replied. “Capture is to be avoided at all costs. No prisoner has ever been retaken.”

“Not alive
,” Numos said. “They have some very persuasive and rather unpleasant information extraction methods.”

Stone took a deep breath in the silence follow
ing the marine’s statement.

“That brings me to the real reason we are here. I am sure Commander Melendez is doing everything possible to get the Ol’ Toothless ready for a
combat zone jump, but I have never done this and I would like to know what to expect.”

Shalako said, “I have made more combat insertions tha
n this whole crowd put together. You only have three options. First, we jump into a combat zone and no enemy combatants are in the area. We use sub-light engines to move into place to resupply our ships. We use shuttles if there are planetary engagements to consider.

“Second possible outcome, we jump into a combat zone and all of the enemy combatants are contained by our ships. We stand off and allow our ships to come to us a few at a time for resupply.

“Third, we jump into a combat zone and there are only enemy ships or our ships are contained. We then leave the area and report back at the nearest navy base.”

Stone said, “We can’t help our ships if they are…what did you call it…contained?”

Shalako snorted, “What do you think this old warehouse pile of junk can do if our top of the line battle units are being overwhelmed by superior forces?

“We run?” Stone asked.

Melendez nodded in agreement with Shalako, “There isn’t anything else we can do, Mister Stone. No one wants to leave. I can guarantee there isn’t an officer on the bridge who wouldn’t try, but it is just not possible if the enemy has achieved containment.”

“What is containment?”
Stone asked. He sat quietly and listened as Melendez explained modern space warfare.

Spacecraft s
hields had made the Emperor’s navy virtually unstoppable. They had rolled over the Alarii without breaking a sweat. The same shields that protected human designed spacecraft from collision and cosmic radiation also protected them from missiles, lasers, masers, grazers, sticks and rocks. The shields and the inertial dampeners were a byproduct of the anti-gravity engines. Their spinning discs of liquid metal generated an impenetrable barrier encompassing the ship.

None of the Alarii’s weapons had made any impression on the
navy. The shields were unidirectional. The navy could fire out, but nothing could get through from outside the shields. The navy was free to fire back or to fire anti-missiles, but normal policy had been to let the Alarii throw everything at them they could and then ask for their surrender.

Planetary actions against the Alarii had been
very bloody. With the navy ships intact humans could threaten to rain destruction from above. The Alarii ground troops often fought anyway.

The war with the Hyrocanian started the same way. But
a short time into the war the Hyrocanians developed shields of their own. It was assumed the Hyrocanians had learned how to make shields from prisoners or information captured in ground action. The warfare ground to a halt, a clear stalemate, with neither side holding the advantage. Both sides could expend their weapons storage and no damage would be inflicted.

Human
engineers developed a space mine that could work against Hyrocanian shields. Mines were attracted to all spacecraft, but they had IFF signals that would let the mine identify friend and foe. One on one, a mine could not get past a ship’s shielding.

Shields were expandable
to thousands of kilometers beyond the ship itself, but the farther a shield expanded the weaker it became. The mine design, seeking out enemy ships from thousands of kilometers away, was to stick in clusters to shields. The enemy could keep the mines from their shields by firing through their shields, but the mines were so simple and cheap to make that humans could flood an enemy ship until its guns ran dry.

The mines would explode in sequence w
hen enough of them finally stuck to the enemy shields with their blasts aimed in the direction of the ship that had captured their magnetic interest. The first couple of mines wasted themselves against the shielding, but they emitted an electro-magnetic pulse that weakened the shields just enough for the fourth, fifth or twelfth mine to blast into the ship. The E.M.P. would not seriously injure living creatures or damage much of the ship. It did emit a cone of sub-component pulses generally called E1, E2 and E3.

An exploding
mine generated a super-high amplitude E1 pulse, a flood of gamma rays. It did not use the fission of the old fashioned nuclear explosions to produce gamma rays, but used a smoother channeled explosion to release a spray of x-rays. The shipward-directed cone of gamma rays soon collided with electrons in the spacecraft’s internal atmosphere and they transferred their energy to those electrons. The supercharged electrons were blasted away from their parent molecules, colliding with other electrons in a massive cascade within the blast cone.

T
he E1 blast cone melted electrical systems, but outside the cone it was easily defended against with electrostatic shielding or even common surge protectors. The E.M.P. blast cone would spread wider the farther away the mine exploded from the ship. The Hyrocanians soon learned to keep their shields in close to their ships, keeping them as strong as possible and preventing the blast cones from spreading before cutting through the ship’s internal systems. But if the navy used enough mines it would not matter.

The low amperage E2 pulse generated a force that wiped electronic equipment. It coupled with any device by acting like
an antenna and funneling excessive charges of amps into the equipment shorting them out completely and melting their components. The E2 pulse was attracted to any conductive material. Since spacecraft were made of conductive material wrapped in ceramics, the E2 was able to travel the length of the ship.

The E1 and the E2 pulse were minor inconveniences to the Hyrocanians. Blown circuits and disabled toasters
did not stop any warship.

T
he very low amperage E3 pulse was the killer of the three pulses. It was super conductive, travelling the length of the ship in a nanosecond. It combined with and expelled magnetic forces. It caused a voltage collapse with a resultant overheat shut down. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue with any ship system as E.M.P. shielding protected all of the critical systems, except one.

The anti-gravity engine design
was completely dependent upon spinning, magnetic discs of liquid metal. Placing E3 blast shields around these engines rendered them useless. Any space craft could do without gravity for a while, but these engines also provided the inertial dampeners necessary to keep the crew from being buffeted about into jelly. They also generated the ship’s shields.

The first
E3 blast caused catastrophic shield failure as the anti-gravity discs solidified and welded together. Without shielding, the Hyrocanian ships were as vulnerable as the Alarii had been. But they still refused to surrender. They ran away when they could run. They used a tactic of clustering their ships together into a small ball if they could not escape. They were able to overlap anti-mine fire coverage and supplement each ship’s protective umbrella with fire from its neighbor. However, in forming a defensive ball they lost all the forward momentum that was so necessary to generate a hyperspace bubble.

The
navy began to contain the enemy’s clusters by completely encircling the ball of ships and pounding at it from every direction. They threw mines at the Hyrocanian clusters from large tubes that looked like nothing more than giant shotguns. They threw load after load of mines until the enemy’s supply of anti-mine munitions was depleted.

W
hen a Hyrocanian ship finally lost its shielding, it skittered behind the shielding of another ship. Eventually, the trapped ships would try a futile rush, trying to break free of the containment. Most tried to build up enough speed to make a hyperspace jump out of the combat zone. Few ever got free.

Then suddenly
, things changed when the Hyrocanians developed their own mines.

Engagements devolved to what
warfare experts called the General George Meade effect: the win went to the side that got there the firstest with the mostest. The side with the most ships invariably contained the smaller force. It was then a battle of attrition. If you had more munitions than your opponent, you won. If not, you tried to run or hyperspace out before you were trapped in containment.

Melendez explained that if the
Emperor’s ships were trapped in containment, the Ol’ Toothless could try and supply them and possibly break the containment with greater supplies. They had no hope of breaking through the Hyrocanian encircling ships to reach their comrades. If the Periodontitis jumped into a combat zone with the navy contained, they jumped away as fast as they could.

“No one likes it
,” Melendez added. “It would just be futile to try to save them.”

“That is why the
admiralty builds bigger and bigger fleets,” Shalako said.

Stone asked, “Do we have a lot of mines on board?”

Melendez nodded. “Tower six.”

“The whole tower?” Stone stared at the man.

“Almost the whole tower. There is a workshop midway that can turn out a few thousand mines per hour if they had more space to store the resultant product. Since a finished mine is about the size of a basketball, we can squeeze quite a few into what is essentially a tube that is sixteen kay by eight kay. I’ve never done the actual math, but we have a butt-load, if you pardon the expression.”

Stone nodded
, “Thanks, Commander. I am sure you will make the right choice about jumping out or staying when the time comes.”

“Oh no
,” Shalako said with a wild laugh, “that is the captain’s call and no other. If we jump into a containment system you will decide whether you kill everyone on board or if you leave a navy fleet to die.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY FIVE

Stone decided he liked the navy less and less each day. Kill or be killed. Kill this guy or kill that guy. Life was sure easier on the Golden Boulder when the most challenging decision he had to make was which color of underwear to put on for the day.

“Crap!” Stone said.

He looked around the room. The only one to meet his gaze was Admiral Shalako. The man was grinning.

“Still want to be in charge?” Shalako asked.

“I didn’t want to be in charge in the first place,” Stone said. “Do you still want to kill me?”

“Son, if I had wanted you dead you would be dead
,” Shalako laughed. “Don’t worry about containment though. We are staying ahead of the Hyrocanians in fleet size. I have never had to jump out on a fleet yet. As a matter of fact, the Emperor hasn’t lost a fleet in the last few years.”

Stone shiver
ed and decided to change the subject. “Major Numos, please give us an update on securing this ship for Agent Storovitch.”

He sat quiet
ly and listened with half a brain while the major listed system after system that was shutting down. Much of the Ol’ Toothless was in preparation for a combat zone jump, so lockdown had been easy. The marine and the security forces were syncing up well so far and would continue to do so as long as the E.M.I.S. agents did not identify any security forces involved in criminal activity.

When the
major finished his report, Stone looked around to see if anyone else had anything to add. He checked the time and realized the meeting had gone on a lot longer than he had planned.

“I am sorry for taking up so much of your day
,” Stone said.

“Ha!” Shalako said. “I don’t have anything else to do.”

Stone ignored him, “I do have two questions before we break for…for whatever. Commander Melendez, do the fleet’s battle wagons pull into the aft docks when they come for resupply?”

At the man’s nod
, Stone continued. “Then we start drawing what they need from all over the ship’s warehouse spaces. Don’t we really have a good idea what they are going to need? I mean Grandpa always has pretty much the same shopping list every time we have to resupply the Golden Boulder. Shouldn’t we be able to put together various bundles based on the ships we are expecting to resupply?”

Melendez was frowning, so Stone said, “I mean, a destroyer will need
supplies A, B, C & D. And any cruiser will need A, B & E. We can always supplement from all over the warehouses if we need to, but wouldn’t it be quicker…”

He let his voice fade away as
Melendez looked at him oddly.

Shalako laughed
, “That is not the navy way. Just because that works for a commercial freighter doesn’t mean it-”

“Of course
it will work,” Melendez interrupted. “With all due respect to Admiral Shalako, that is a good idea, Captain. It would be a lot easier to move a bundled package from storage to a ship than pulling pieces from dozens of places. It would tremendously speed up the load out.”

Numos
added, “Suppose you tell the fleet that cruisers are to resupply in tower two’s aft dock and dreadnaughts resupply from tower three’s dock and so forth. That way you do not even have to move your bundles around too much. After all, we marines are used to being told where to go and where to stand. You navy types can get used to, it if you try.”

“I will get working on a plan right away, Captain. I should have a load out chart for you by the end of the day
,” Melendez grinned.

“Whoa, Commander
,” Stone said. “I don’t know enough to approve your plan. If you think it will work, then just do it, okay?”

“
Aye, aye, Captain,” Melendez grinned.

“My last question of the day isn’t quite
as easy. Commander, did you ever play the vid game ‘Iron Commander’?”

“No, Captain. Sorry, I have enough live combat experience under my belt
that I really want to avoid such gaming,” Melendez replied.

“I understand, Commander
,” Stone said. “I ask because I have played it a few times with my cousin Jim. He always beats me. He does one thing that I can’t figure out how to do and he gets me every time. He changes the IFF signal on my missiles so they hit me just as often as they hit him. Can we change the IFF signal on Hyrocanian mines?”

“I do not know, Captain
,” Melendez said. “I know we pick up their signals, but I don’t know how well we can interpret them, much less if we can subvert them. That is a fantastic idea though. With your permission I will ask some of my staff…sorry, your staff, to look into it.”

Stone stood and stretched
, “I want to thank everyone for meeting with me. I know you don’t have the time to explain every little thing to me, but I appreciate it. I am sure we will have to meet again soon, but I am going to try to keep these gabfests down to as few as I can.”

Maggot said, “Mister Stone, since Shalako is already here I would like to ask him a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

Stone shrugged, “That is up to you and the admiral. I have no objection.”

He turned to the drascos, “Hey
! Do you two want to go for a little walk with me? Come on, let’s go stretch our legs.” He opened the hatch to the corridor leading to the atrium. Outside the hatchway there was a pair of security guards, one marine and one navy, both enlisted and both in combat armor.

“Excuse
me; is Lieutenant Vedrian or Hammermill around?”

“No, Mister Stone
,” the marine answered. “They are both off duty for now. Do you want me to call them? Lieutenant Heller is the detail commander.”

“No
Sergeant, I am just planning on taking Jay and Peebee for a stroll down to the tower one fields. They need to spend some time running around. Would you be able to escort me?”

The
marine looked at the petty officer and nodded. “Yes, Mister Stone. I think between us we can find our way to tower one.”

“Okay, Sergeant. Let’s go.”

The sergeant held up a massive gloved hand. “Mister Stone, the navy goes first to lead the way. You and your whatever they are; are in the middle and I will bring up the rear.”

That was the order they used to get to the elevator and head down to
the next cross tower corridor. On the way he called Commander Wright on her p.a.

Her voice was harried and rushed. “What?” she shouted.

“It is just me, Commander,” Stone said.

“Sorry, Mister Stone, we are just busier here than an anteater at an ant convention.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I take it that is busy. I just wanted to let you know I am coming across to tower one. Jay and Peebee need some fresh air.”

“They are probably hungry
, too. Have your containers taken up to your location.”

“Oh, good idea, thanks.”

“I will try to get up there to see you and the girls as soon as I can, but it might be a while.”

Stone ended the call and c
ommed Heller. The man sounded irritated that he had left the bridge area without telling him. Irritated or not he promised to have someone get the drascos containers and get them up to the tower one fields area near the bridge crossover tunnel.

It did
not take long for Jay and Peebee’s containers to show up, but it had been too long to wait for the drascos. They all but stripped a small tree and chewed off a ten square meter area of long grass. The girls were interested in the containers, but not for food. They jumped and ran in circles until Stone pulled out their balls. He threw them across the open field as far as he could. They did not go far.

The
marine sergeant held out his hand when the drascos brought the balls back.

Stone shrugged and handed him
a ball. He was surprised to see how far a marine in an enhanced combat suit could throw a rubber ball. Peebee did not register surprise, she just wonked happily and raced after the ball. She sprinted full speed and caught the ball on the first bounce.

The
sergeant whistled in astonishment and threw Jay’s ball even farther. Jay managed to get under the ball, making a leap upward snagging the ball before it reached the end of the throw.

The
sergeant must have called someone because security forces in marine and navy armoured combat suits appeared as if they oozed from the bulkheads or grew from the grass.

Stone spotted a small bench under a large shade tree and sat to watch his drascos play. Even though his eyes watched everything, his mind continued to worry and gnaw at a command he really did
not want.

He still did
not like being outside, but the drascos enjoyed playing with people in armored combat suits. They could be as rough and tumble as they wanted without damaging their new playmates.

Stone found himself sitting on the same bench day after day. He told people it was for the drascos
. The reality was it really kept him out of Melendez’s way and out of Maggot’s investigation.

The days turned into weeks and their anticipated month in the gray was coming to an end.
Stone knew he was running out of hyperspace time.

Stone picked up the red ball
that had rolled up to his feet and threw it as hard as he could. He was still not very good at throwing, but almost every day for the past month Hammermill had been teaching him to throw and catch in the park area near the bridge crossover tunnel.

He was
not sure where Hammermill was now. He still had a marine and a navy escort. The E.M.I.S. agents had tagged and arrested most of the navy personnel involved in the theft scheme. Stone had been shocked at how far reaching it had become. He was very surprised to find out that no one from his old third watch warehouse three whiskey crew was involved. He had been sure Petty Officer Watkins knew what was going on, but Maggot’s crew cleared him completely.

Without Hammer
mill around he was not playing catch. Jay and Peebee were happy to fetch anything he threw, but they were engaged in a game of some sort with a couple of dozen enlisted men. Stone was not sure of the rules. He knew Jay and Peebee did not play by any rules. What the men did one day varied from what they had done the day before. Ever since the first day of play men showed up to play fully encased in their combat armor. They were able to play, wrestle and tackle the drascos without damage to themselves, each other, or the drascos.

I
ncreasingly larger crowds showed up, both to gawk at the drascos and to play with them. Jay and Peebee reveled in the attention, but neither one ever let Stone out of their sight. The crowds always kept a respectful distance from him. In the beginning, he thought having an armored combat escort was putting people off, but he soon realized it was because he was captain. He had seen Rodriguez and Rojo from his old warehouse crew once, but they just nodded to him from a distance.

Despite his good intentions
of not having too many meetings, he had to oversee a staff meeting every morning. He invited all officers to come to the meetings to ask questions, discuss issues or just listen. At first, he invited the admiral to sit in, but after Shalako repeatedly made snarky remarks about and to the guest officers, Stone had him removed and ordered him to stay in his quarters under E.M.I.S. arrest.

Stone finally opened up his staff meetings to every officer
and senior enlisted on board. When even the auditorium on Delta Deck became too small, he had the meetings broadcast to venues throughout the ship for everyone who wanted to listen or participate. He was not surprised when good ideas began coming in from all over the ship. Melendez assigned a couple of officers to collect and publish all issues discussed during the meetings.

Stone had taken to having
his lunch under the wide tree while the drascos played, ran and ate. The drascos eventually turned their faces away from the remains of Allie’s World leaves and began exclusively eating the grass, trees and bushes growing in abundance in the tower one fields.

He was feeling more and more isolated every day. Allie did
not stand guard duty anymore, instead she arranged the schedules for his escorts and checked in on them occasionally. She did not look at him even when she was in the area. Her eyes were always on the crowds, watching, analyzing and calculating.

Commander Wright
managed to only drop by and see him a couple of times. She was busy in what she called a round up. Tower one crew was spending the hyperspace time gathering up many of the farm animals and sending them to a slaughterhouse facility near the tower aft. The crew harvested the animals for their meat and rendered down every part for protein. The meat went to the warehouse freezers and the powdered protein was put on the shelf. It was all done to prepare for feeding the fleet. Dani spent much of her time selecting animals to keep as breeding stock.

Stone watched the players running back and forth with
the red and blue balls. Whoever had either ball was fair game to be tackled, dragged to the ground and pummeled until the ball was coughed up. For whatever reason, today the red ball was more valuable than the blue one. He watched two suits grab a third and threw the person into a knot of other players. Whatever the game was, it was not for the faint of heart. One of the teams scored a goal, although Stone could not tell how the points were earned or even if anyone was keeping track of who was winning.