The Legend of Corinair (9 page)

“Kind of takes narcissism to a whole new level, doesn’t he?” Jessica commented.

“Surely, out of all these worlds, someone must possess the truth of how you all came to be out here.”

“There are many,” Jalea interrupted, speaking for the first time since the meeting had begun. “They form an order of sorts, partially spiritual, partially historical. But they maintain documentation of the truth of our origins. This is what Tug refers to when he speaks of the Legend of Origins.”

“Shouldn’t it be called the Truth of Origins?” Nathan suggested.

“Perhaps,” Jalea agreed. “But the Ta’Akar began using the word legend in order to support their claim that the records were no more than fabrications created to further the agenda of the Order. Actually, we had hoped that you would be able to fill in some of the holes in the legend that have been created by the efforts of the Ta’Akar over the decades.”

“Well, as I explained to Tug before, civilization on Earth fell apart because of the plague. Had we not discovered the Data Ark a century ago, we wouldn’t even be back in space yet, let alone a thousand light years from home.”

“Did this Ark contain nothing about the mass exodus from your world?” Jalea asked.

“Only that people fled the core worlds in order to escape the bio-digital plague. We assumed that most of that migration had been to the few fringe worlds that were just being established at the time. We surmised that some expeditions might have struck out on their own, traveling deeper out into space. But early into the plague, the Data Ark was sealed off to protect it. So details about the aftermath are vague at best. The following seven centuries were brutal for the people on Earth. It took more than two hundred years just for the population to start to increase again. There were only a few million people left alive after the plague ran its course.” Nathan sighed. “So, you can see how we would have very little information that might help you. Quite frankly, we were shocked to find out that some of us had traveled out this far.”

Cameron looked around the room, waiting to see if they had finished their discussion. “If we can get back on topic?” Nathan nodded sheepishly. Cameron took his cue and touched the display control pad, zooming in again to show the Pentaurus cluster and a few of the systems on its borders, including their current location just outside of Haven. “Although I still believe that departing the area posthaste would be the most prudent course of action, in line with your orders, sir, Tug and I have discussed the best location in which to conduct repairs and take on more supplies.” Cameron pointed to at the second binary system she had described earlier. “The Mellabore system, or more precisely, the secondary component, Darvano.”

“That’s all the way on the opposite side of the cluster,” Nathan pointed out. “Is it even within our range?”

“Technically, yes,” Abby said. “However, I would prefer that we travel there in two shorter jumps instead of one max-range jump. We have yet to test the drive at its maximum jump range.”

“Other than the thousand light year jump that got us here,” Nathan reminded her. He looked at Tug. “Why Darvano?”

“Several reasons,” Tug started. “First, being so far away, it is not only the last place they would look for you, but it is also the last place that will learn of your existence. Even with the comm-drone system, unless they were to dispatch a dedicated drone, it would take nearly a week for the message to propagate through the system and reach Darvano. Second, the presence of the Order is strong on this world. This usually means that there is considerable support available for our cause. Although if news of our defeat has reached Darvano, then that might no longer be the case.”

“Any other reasons?”

“Yes, and perhaps the most compelling. We have a rather unique facility hiding in the Darvano system. The system has a fairly dense asteroid field. It is heavily mined, using a method whereby the larger asteroids are hollowed out until they are nothing more than an empty shell. Then the shell is sent on a slow intercept trajectory inward where it will be captured by the primary world, Corinair. Once settled into orbit, it is further dismantled into nothing.”

“How does this help us?”

“It takes decades for this process to complete. Therefore there are literally dozens of hollow asteroids scattered throughout the belt, waiting to be de-orbited. And there are hundreds more that have had huge caverns carved out in preparation for an eventual mining station to be placed inside to complete the harvesting. Nearly a decade ago, we prepared one such asteroid to act as a hiding place for a ship even larger than your own. We had hoped to capture such a ship from the Ta’Akar. But that task proved beyond our means, and the effort was abandon. The base, however, remains available. Once inside, your ship would be invisible to all scans. And as far as anyone else knew, it would be just another mining camp operating inside an asteroid.”

“I’m a bit confused, Tug,” Nathan stated. “If this place is such a good hiding place, why didn’t Jalea tell us to go there instead of Korak, or Haven for that matter?” Nathan suspected he already knew the answer. He also suspected that the answer he was about to receive would not be the truth.

“Simple, Captain. Neither she nor Marak knew of its existence. The project had been completed by my cell, under my supervision. The other cells knew of the project, vaguely, but not of its location.”

“Who else knows about this
hideout
?” Jessica asked.

“My entire cell was killed during our attempt to capture a Ta’Akar warship. I am the only one left alive who knows that this
hideout
, as you put it, is still available and is located in the Darvano system.”

Nathan wasn’t sure he believed Tug’s explanation. While it did explain a few things, and it lined up nicely with what they already knew about the rebels, it seemed convenient.

“What about patrols?” Jessica asked. “Are there any Ta’Akar ships stationed in the system?”

“The Ta’Akar are down to only about twenty warships. But only three of them are the large capital ships. There were once four of them, until you arrived.” Tug smiled respectfully.

“And the others?” Jessica asked.

“About six of them are the heavier cruisers, like the one that is probably still sitting in the Haven system. The rest are smaller patrol frigates, like the ones you encountered in the Korak system.”

“How are they deployed?”

“The capital ships stay closer in. There are usually two of them in the vicinity of the Takara system, in order to protect the capital. They are normally accompanied by a few of the heavy cruisers as well as several patrol ships. The third will tend to wander amongst the other three systems, making unscheduled visits in order to maintain a visible presence. She generally drags one or two patrol ships along with her. The rest regularly patrol the borders of the cluster, occasionally sticking their noses back into territories that they once directly controlled, just to ensure they are not forgotten.”

“The patrol ships don’t worry me, Captain,” Jessica explained. “But the heavy cruisers are a handful, even if we were at full strength. The capital ships? Forget about it. If we hadn’t jumped in so close to the first one by accident, we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near it without being vaporized from a hundred-thousand kilometers away.”

“Yeah, and without even breaking a sweat,” Nathan added, remembering the pounding they had taken during their first engagement with the Ta’Akar.

“You are quite correct,” Tug said. “That is exactly why we were never able to capture any of the larger ships. Their reach and their fire rates are too great. We could never get anywhere near them.”

“So you think this base, the one inside the asteroid—this will be a good place for us to hide?”

“Yes, Captain. I do. It was designed to accommodate the repair and retrofitting of spacecraft of at least your size.”

Nathan looked at Cameron. “What do you think, Commander?”

“I’m not crazy about the idea of flying the Aurora into a cave,” she stated emphatically. “What happens if the find us? We’d be sitting ducks inside that rock. How would we even know if anyone were out there when it came time to leave?”

“The base was equipped with external sensors to monitor the area, as well as external communications equipment.”

“They could see that, couldn’t they?” Cameron said. “A rock with sensors and comm-towers on it has got to look suspicious.”

“Unless yours is not the only rock that has such equipment,” Tug pointed out with a smile. “Commander, there are at least a hundred active mining camps located inside such rocks. All of them are similarly equipped. It would look no more suspicious to the Ta’Akar than would the comm-array on your ship.”

“Hiding in plain sight,” Jessica commented. “One of the oldest techniques in the spy game.” She looked at Nathan. “There’s no better way to gather intel than to park your butt right in the middle of the enemy’s backyard.”

“I’m sure you’re right, Jess,” Nathan agreed, “but I have to side with Commander Taylor on this one. The idea of a Ta’Akar ship trolling around the belt while we’re hiding inside an asteroid… well that makes me just a bit nervous.”

“The Ta’Akar ships do not
patrol
the area in the sense that you mean. When they enter the system, they usually just enter orbit over the most populated world in the system, sit there for a few days, and then depart. These days, they spend more time patrolling the borders of Ta’Akar space than the interiors.”

“What’s the payoff?” Nathan asked. “Other than the cool hideout, what does this system have to offer us?”

“You should be able to find anything you need,” Jalea told him. “Food, medicine, parts, raw materials. You can even hire additional skilled labor if desired, to help you with your repairs. Corinair is not Haven. It is a highly advanced, fully developed, industrialized world with more than a billion inhabitants. There are even small shipyards located within the asteroid belt itself, servicing the smaller ships that ply the belt.”

“I see,” Nathan said, leaning back in his chair. “Then what exactly are you proposing that we do?” The question was directed at Tug. Rather than jousting back and forth, Nathan preferred to let Tug explain his vision of a plan, and then decide how it fit with their own goals.

“I’m not sure I understand, Captain.”

“Assume for a moment that we have agreed to join forces with you to help you defeat the Ta’Akar, in exchange for which you would provide us with a working version of this zero-point energy device. What would your
plan
be?”

Tug looked at Nathan, then Jalea, then Jessica and Cameron. He had not expected such a question and felt ill-prepared. “Well, from what you’ve told me so far, your ship is not only in need of repair, but its construction is also incomplete. The asteroid base I spoke of would be ideal for this task, as it is already equipped with power generation, living quarters, a medical bay, and even modest fabrication shops. Also, and please take no offense at this, it would appear that your technology is somewhat behind our own. Maybe not in all areas, but in most. We might be able to improve some of your existing systems, or even add some of our technology to them to give you greater capabilities. In fact, if we could capture even one small patrol frigate, we might be able to install many of their systems on board your vessel. Combined with the tactical advantage of your jump drive, we could quickly defeat many of their ships—maybe even strike at the heart of the Ta’Akar capital—cutting off the head of the dragon, so to speak.”

“Whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, there, Tug,” Nathan exclaimed. “Helping you take out a few ships, maybe even capture one or two of them to give you a fighting chance—that’s one thing. Jumping into the middle of the primary system and attacking their leader? That’s quite another.”

“If you want access to the zero-point energy device, that’s where you have to go. To Takara.”

“We’re not interested in helping you over-throw the entire regime, Tug.”

“No one is asking you to do so. But if you want the device, you have to go to Takara. If you wait for them to install it on one of their ships in the hopes of trying to capture that ship, it will be too late.”

Nathan sighed, wondering how they had managed to get in so deeply in such a short period of time. All he had been doing since they had arrived was trying to find a way home.

“Doctor Sorenson,” Nathan asked, “how long would it take us to multi-jump all the way home?”

“Assuming that we restrict ourselves to jumps of eight light years, for safety sake, and that we spend ten hours at each stop to recharge and perform service and diagnostics—about fifty-two days. Throw in down time for maintenance along the way, and I’d revise that estimate to at least two months. And that’s assuming the drive can make that many jumps without any catastrophic failures.”

“And what are the chances that we could significantly reduce the transit time utilizing the zero-point energy device?”

“If it works, then we could be home in a single jump.”

“That’s a pretty big guess, isn’t it?” Cameron challenged.

“No, I don’t believe so,” Abby defended. “Look, we got here in one jump, so we know that it can be done. And the math supports the theory of unlimited range. It’s simply a matter of available power. We use these energy banks because we don’t have the ability to generate that much power all at once. According to the math, a zero-point energy device just might provide the power that we need.” She looked around the room, noticing all the doubting expressions. “At the very least, it could reduce the number of jumps needed to get home to a dozen or so. We could be home in a week.”

“And the Earth would have not only a jump drive, but also a zero-point energy device,” Jessica added. “That sure would help in their defense against the Jung.”

“Yes, it would,” Nathan admitted.

“As would any of our technology that could be added to your ship, Captain,” Tug reminded them.

“Nathan,” Cameron pleaded. “So far, we’ve not been the aggressor, but you’re talking about going on the offensive.”