CHAPITRE 12 – BREAKTHROUGH
10:03 (Drakan City Time)
Saturday, March 04, 2322 (Earth calendar)
Drazt Navy Astroport, Drakan City
Kadosh (Ross 128b)
All the Drazt present on that area of the tarmac of the Navy’s astroport either bowed or saluted as Supreme Conductor Bar Kosh walked towards the patrol frigate KOBOL, which had its crew lined up next to the ship’s access ramp. Stopping a few paces in front of the crew of 26 members and returning their salute, Bar Kosh then spoke up in a firm, solemn tone.
‘’Crewmembers of the KOBOL, the mission that you will accomplish today may be the most important mission ever flown in the history of our people. If you are successful in proving that our new interstellar drive works as well as we hope, then you will have opened the road to the stars to our people, thus allowing us to at last expand and multiply out of our home star system. I cannot stress too much to you how vital your mission is, especially in view of the uncomfortable presence of Humans near our star system. Be assured that our whole race will be with you in spirit.’’
Bar Kosh then took two steps to give a four-arm hug to the captain of the KOBOL.
‘’I wish you success on your mission, my nephew. Return safely from your trip.’’
‘’I will not deceive you, Supreme Conductor.’’ replied Gor Mak, hiding his nervousness. In reality, if his interstellar test flight proved to be a failure, then he would be able to kiss goodbye to his career as a naval officer. He already owned his present command position and rank mostly to his family connections and favors and there would be no shortages of officers who had been jumped over by him and who would then be too happy to sink him. Also, the Supreme Conductor may have been his uncle, but he was known to react badly to failures by others. Being his nephew would not be enough to save Gor if he returned from a failed mission. After a last salute to his uncle, Gor pivoted around and shouted out loud an order.
‘’CREW OF THE KOBOL, TO YOUR POSTS!’’
With Gor Mak taking the lead, the 25 other crewmembers ran up the access ramp of their frigate as Bar Kosh and his escort party took a safe distance before the ship could take off. Some six minutes later, the KOBOL started to rise nearly silently from its landing pad, then accelerated its climb once at a safe altitude, watched by Bar Kosh and the Navy admirals present.
‘’Go and make our family proud, Gor.’’ said Bar Kosh to himself.
10:42 (Universal Time)
Bridge of the patrol frigate KOBOL
Speeding away from Kadosh (Ross 128b)
‘’Destination coordinates and jump parameters entered and locked in the main computer. We are ready for our jump, Shipmaster.’’
‘’Excellent! Initiate final countdown to jump!’’
‘’Initiating final countdown. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one: jumping now!’’
The announcement by the navigator was followed by a brief, silent flash of light that appeared for only a fraction of a second. The tense bridge crew waited for more physical signs that their interstellar jump had been successful, but felt nothing more. Deathly worried that this would prove to be another failure in the long history of attempts by Drazt scientists to come up with a working star drive, Gor Mak looked at the external view screens of the bridge. He felt immense relief on seeing a lone red star dead ahead that was visibly not Kadosh’s mother star.
‘’Navigator, confirm our position! Is this the Markan Prime Star?’’
‘’Analyzing now the spectral signature of the star ahead… Yes, Shipmaster: this is indeed the Markan Prime Star!’’
A concert of joyful shouts and comments greeted that announcement, while Gor Mak sat back in his command chair while letting out a breath of relief.
‘’Thank our ancestors’ spirits for that! Alright, since we are here now, we might as well see what is this star system made of. With luck, we will find one or more planets which will prove habitable for our people. Sensors Officer, do you detect planets in this system?’’
‘’Affirmative, Shipmaster! Two small planets are visible right now. I will be able to provide more data about them in a few minutes.’’
‘’Very well! Pilot, head towards the nearest of those two planets at best speed: once there, we will go into orbit around it in order to map and scan it.’’
‘’Aye, Shipmaster!’’
Gor Mak observed intently the planet they were approaching, hoping to see a living world instead of a dead rock. As the KOBOL got closer to the planet, large blue patches became visible on its surface, boosting Gor Mak’s hopes. The sensors officer finally reported back to Gor, his voice tainted with joy.
‘’Shipmaster, I can now detect large quantities of liquid water on the surface of this planet. There is also evidence of the presence of a substantial atmosphere.’’
‘’Excellent! Pilot, place us on a low polar orbit around this planet, so that we could start mapping and studying it. Sensors Master, activate all of our sensors and optical cameras and prepare to effect a full survey of this planet.’’
‘’Aye, Shipmaster!’’
Less than three minutes later, the patrol frigate was inserting itself into a low polar orbit, with all its sensors activated and recording. What the Drazt crew saw at first was quite encouraging indeed.
‘’Shipmaster, I can confirm the presence of a breathable atmosphere around this planet. The average surface temperature is also within acceptable limits. I am now transferring to you command chair the detailed results from our scanners.’’
‘’Thank you, Sensors Master.’’
Gor Mak had been looking at the scanners’ data and images for a few minutes when a shout of alarm made him twitch in his command chair.
‘’AN UNIDENTIFIED SHIP JUST CAME OUT FROM BEHIND THE PLANET, SHIPMASTER. IT IS ALSO FOLLOWING A POLAR ORBIT BUT IS HEADING STRAIGHT TOWARDS US.’’
That made Gor slam one of his fists on the left armrest of his command chair at the same time that he swore loudly.
‘’BY THE MORGS’ SLIME! IT MUST BE A HUMAN SHIP! TO ALL THE CREW: BATTLE STATIONS!’’
11:16 (Universal Time)
Bridge of the exploration ship H.S.S. QUAZAR (ex-space liner AURORA)
In polar orbit around planet LHS 288c (17 light-years from Earth / 7 light-years from Ross 128)
Captain Vance Merrik, having up to now a rather quiet duty shift as his crew of planetary scientists mapped and examined LHS 288c, had allowed his wife Elizabeth to come visit him on the bridge, along with their baby daughter Mindy. It was actually common for civilian ships like the QUAZAR to have family members aboard, including small children. In the case of the QUAZAR, a converted ex-luxury space liner, the top-notch onboard accommodations made that even more convenient, something that helped tremendously the morale of the crew during long space missions like this long-range exploration mission.
Vance had three-months-old Mindy in his arms and was cuddling her when the duty sensors officer suddenly shouted, surprise and alarm in her voice.
‘’Captain, we are now detecting another ship! It is also following a polar orbit similar to ours, but is turning in an opposite motion and is coming at us.’’
‘’Another ship? But we are not expecting a courier ship until tomorrow. Do you have a positive identification for it?’’
‘’Negative, Captain!’’
‘’Then, hail it and ask it to identify itself.’’
‘’Aye, Captain!... Unidentified ship approaching on low polar orbit, this is the exploration ship QUAZAR. Please identify yourself!’’
11:18 (Universal Time)
Bridge of the Drazt patrol frigate KOBOL
In low polar orbit around LHS 288c
‘’SHIPMASTER, THE OTHER SHIP IS HAILING US: IT IS A HUMAN SHIP!’’
The warning from his communication officer made Gor Mak swear violently.
‘’Damn! I knew it! That vermin is decidedly everywhere. The orders from the Supreme Conductor about such an encounter are clear and strict: that Human ship cannot be allowed to report back to Earth about our experimental jump. Weapons Master, is that ship within weapons range?’’
‘’Yes, Shipmaster!’’
‘’Then, open fire with all batteries! Destroy that ship!’’
‘’Aye, Shipmaster!’’
Pushing or touching a few buttons and tactile surfaces, the weapons officer had the unlucky QUAZAR locked into his firing computer in seconds, then pressed a prominent black button.
‘’FIRING NOW!’’
The four medium disintegrator cannons of the KOBOL then spat blue beams of lethal energy which straddled the exploration ship at once.
On the bridge of the QUAZAR, Vance Merrick didn’t even have time to react before the first disintegrator beam hit his ship head on, vaporizing part of its bow section, including its Koomak drive generator. The giant hole in its hull immediately created an explosive decompression in a number of main compartments, sucking out into space dozens of screaming crewmembers as well as members of their families. Two seconds later, a second disintegrator beam struck, holing the ship in its mid-section, killing more crewmembers and disabling its main thermonuclear drive engine. With no weaponry of his own and with disintegrator beams hitting in succession his ship, Vance Merrick could only give one order.
‘’TO ALL THE CREW: ABANDON SHIP! I SAY AGAIN: ABANDON SHIP!’’
He then looked firmly into the eyes of his terrified wife while giving her back their little daughter.
‘’Go to a rescue pod, Elizabeth, now!’’
‘’But, you…’’
‘’I will follow you soon. Now, go and save our daughter!’’
Understanding that her husband was right and that time was of the essence, Elizabeth Merrick cradled little Mindy in her arms and ran to the nearest elevator, intent on going down to the nearest deck with access to life pods. Her elevator cabin barely had time to go down two levels to her chosen deck and open its doors before a new hit on the QUAZAR violently shook the ship, nearly making her fall on her knees. A female bridge crewmember riding with her and seven other crewmembers caught her in time and supported her while running with her out of the cabin.
‘’THE LIFE POD TUBES ARE THIS WAY, MADAM. FOLLOW ME!’’
Two more disintegrator beams hit the ship before they arrived at the sealed access hatches of a group of four life pods. Pulling open a cover panel, then pressing a large green button, the bridge female officer made the access hatch of one life pod open quickly. She then forcefully pushed Elizabeth and her baby inside.
‘’QUICK, GO TAKE PLACE IN ONE OF THE SEATS AND STRAP YOURSELF IN!’’
The bridge officer did not follow her inside the life pod at once, instead shouting and gesticulating at other crewmembers and family members who were running towards the life pods.
‘’COME ON! HURRY UP! WE MUST LAUNCH THE PODS BEFORE THIS SECTION IS HIT.’’
Pushed by fear and panic, nine more people ran into the open pod hatch before the bridge officer decided it was time to go. Besides, the pod was now at near full capacity. Entering herself the pod and closing and locking its hatch, the female officer ran to one of the two remaining available seats in the pod and sat down in it, shouting a command to the computer controlling the life pod as she started to fasten her safety harness.
‘’LIFE POD COMPUTER: EJECTION NOW!’’
The computer did not waste any time into responding to her order, being programmed to eject as quickly as it was safely possible to do so, and made the protective outer cover of the launch tube blow away. A quarter of a seconds later, a pressurized air blast ejected the four-meter-long ovoid pod out of its launch tube and into the void of space. Three seconds later, a disintegrator beam struck that section of the ship, vaporizing two pods full of crewmembers which were about to be launched. Inside Elizabeth’s life pod, the wife of the captain could only sob hysterically while pressing little Mindy in her arms.
‘’My God! Please let Vance escape as well.’’
On the bridge, Vance Merrick was now alone in his command chair, having ordered all the other bridge crew members to evacuate the ship while himself staying at his post. His command panels, at least the ones still functioning, told him enough for him to realize that his ship was irremediably lost. Feeling both anger and bitterness about such a treacherous attack on his ship, he did his best to control his emotions and switched his intercom to the central computer of his ship.
‘’Computer, this is the Captain. Voice recognition mode!’’
‘’Voice verified and identification confirmed, Captain Merrick.’’
‘’Computer, program our interstellar distress buoy for an immediate jump to the Solar System, then eject it, now!’’
‘’Distress buoy programmed. Ejecting now!’’ replied the always calm voice of the QUAZAR’s central computer. Less than a half second later, a small ovoid object the size of an oil drum was ejected at high speed into space from its deep core storage tube. Being very small despite its advanced capabilities, the distress buoy was not noticed by the KOBOL, its mass being masked by hundreds of pieces of metallic debris breaking off from the exploration ship. Only once the buoy had been confirmed as launched did Vance Merrick jump out of his command chair and started running towards the nearest elevator cabins to go to a life pod. He never made it before a new hit explosively decompressed the bridge section. At about the same time as Vance Merrick died, the QUAZAR’s distress buoy activated its small Koomak Drive generator and jumped out of the LHS 288 system, heading out to the Solar System.
On the KOBOL, Gor Mak looked on, fascinated, as the Human ship broke up into dozens of large pieces, some of which then fell towards the planet and reentered the atmosphere, where they burned up before impacting the surface. He was happy to see that Human ship destroyed, but it had been much easier than he had expected.
‘’That Human ship didn’t fire back once. How come?’’
That prompted a guilty look from his communications officer.
‘’Uh, I am sorry if I didn’t provide you with that detail before, Shipmaster: that ship announced itself as being an exploration ship. It was probably unarmed.’’
While a few bridge crewmembers froze on hearing that and felt bad about it, Gor Mak shrugged that off after a split second.
‘’Too bad for that ship: the orders from the Supreme Conductor about leaving no witnesses to our passage in this system were clear. Sensors Officer, do you detect any sign of life inside the sections of that ship that are still in orbit?’’
‘’In ship sections, no, Shipmaster. However, I can detect a total of four small objects with thermal signatures inside them. They are probably lifeboats of some sort.’’
‘’Very well! Weapons Master: target those lifeboats and destroy them.’’
The weapons officer hesitated for a moment, nearly voicing an objection to that order: one of the mottos of the Drazt Navy was ‘Honor’. Killing survivors inside their lifeboats struck him as a most dishonorable act, but the Shipmaster was also a nephew of the Supreme Conductor and was following a direct order from him. The officer thus targeted one of the four life pods they had detected and, after a last hesitation, pressed his firing button.
‘’Firing now, Shipmaster.’’
The disintegrator beam, having a diameter over half of that of the life pod, completely vaporized it on impact. Elizabeth Merrik and her little daughter Mindy didn’t have time to suffer before being obliterated, along with the ten other occupants of the life pod. Less than a minute later, the three other life pods and their occupants had been vaporized by disintegrator beams, leaving only debris in orbit around LHS 288c. Satisfied with his work, Gor Mak gave a new order to his navigator and pilot.
‘’Let’s leave this system before another Human ship could show up. Navigator, calculate a return jump to Kadosh and jump when ready. I am anxious to give the good news about our new interstellar drive to the Supreme Conductor.’’
‘’Aye, Shipmaster!’’
A minute later, the KOBOL disappeared from the system, on its way back to Ross 128.