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  Isaac Zengal, frowned deeply as he began. “I think most of you have already looked through the portal. The damage you see is the non-technical version of this briefing.” The Chief then provided a not so brief technical briefing. Amy smiled as he finally concluded. She understood what he had said as she had an engineering degree. Everything could have been summarized as, without the control room, it was impossible to start the fusion reactor, without the fusion reactor, it was impossible to start the Bias Drive, and without the Bias Drive, it was impossible to travel faster than light. They would all die of old age before they ever saw home again.

  “Did we get a message out before…?” A junior officer asked still standing alongside the captain.

  “We didn’t have any warning.” The communications officer replied.

  Amy nodded, no Bias Drive, no faster than light communication.

  “I don’t think they’ll come looking for us.” Marcus said to the Captain, “Command still considers Altair to be behind enemy lines. We’ll just be listed as missing-in-action.”

  The Captain nodded. “You’re probably right; however, it is also true that as long as we’re alive there is the possibility of getting home. We have plenty of water, sufficient power for environmental systems and, if we ration, 45 days of food. Another United Planets ship could come within range.”

  “Our orders were to map and survey the system and report on any enemy activity and,” he paused, looked at the assembled officers and continued with even more conviction, “We will fulfill our mission.” He paused again and his tone lighted just a touch, “While we’re doing that I need all of you to remain upbeat. Stop the idle scuttlebutt on the ship and” he said firmly, “We need to put off any talk of dying as long as we can. Do you all understand what you must do?”

  “Yes sir,” came the reply almost in unison.

  “Can we replicate the parts?” Amy asked.

  Everyone looked from Amy to Chief Zengal.

  “I’ve already had someone run the energy, mass and time figures. The system we have is designed for creating small critical parts,” Zengal said carefully.

  “I don’t care what it’s designed for, Isaac. What can we make it do?” the captain stated. “Could we replicate the minimal controls we would need?”

  “No, we would all be dead and cold before we could replicate the controls.”

  “Okay.” Captain Harris said flatly. “I have one last item before I let you all go back to work. The Captain looked directly at Amy. “Lieutenant Palmer, would you come forward?”

  Amy suppressed the urge to say, “Me?” As she neared the Captain he gestured for her to stand by his side.

  “Lieutenant Palmer, I wish this came under better circumstances but you are now the engineering officer.”

  “Oh? Yes sir.”

  “And as the next senior officer you are now the acting executive officer.”

  Amy’s mind raced. She knew she was the senior lieutenant, but she now realized that with the death of Commander Brad Abrams, Commander Chou and Lieutenant Commander Connors she was the next senior after the captain. “Yes sir,” she said trying to sound confident.

  “And I still need you as environmental officer.”

  I’m not going to die of boredom. “Yes sir,” she said again.

  The Captain looked out over his assembled officers. “Okay people let’s get back to work. XO dismiss the crew.”

  Amy, feeling a bit self-conscious, called the group to attention and dismissed them. As she turned to leave, Chief Zengal stepped closer. “I look forward to working with you in engineering and speaking of work we need a new watch bill. Shall I take….”

  Amy sighed. Here it comes—the workload from hell. “I’ll take care of it Chief.”

  The Captain now stood at her side. “Lieutenant, Chief, would you both stay for a moment.” He paused as the crew departed and watched as the last one out secured the hatch, leaving the three alone in the compartment. “Since Mirage can’t run from the Hex ships or mines,” the Captain said, “I want us to hide. Can we get the ship into the Altair Kuiper Belt?”

  “We’re still near the edge of the system,” Amy said with a nod.

  “Yes,” Chief Zengal said, “if we divert power to the Bias Drive from all but critical systems, I can get you a second or two at near light speed and the thrusters still work. It would be slow, but we can get there.”

  “Good. We can hide there until…” The captain’s voice trailed off. “Thank you Chief, that will be all.”

  “Yes sir,” the Chief replied and walked away.

  When they were alone the captain sighed. “Amy, what I’m about to discuss with you must stay in this room.”

  She nodded

  “Do you remember your studies of World War II at the academy?”

  “Some. It’s a required subject.”

  “Do you remember the Kamikazes of Japan during the war?

  “History was never my strong subject.”

  Captain Harris frowned. “Because Japan was losing the war they needed to make every plane, bomb and drop of fuel count. The bombs back then were simple devices, they fell on a target and exploded on impact. They trained young pilots just enough to fly out to the American fleet and dive the plane, bomb and all, into the ship.”

  “Sir, why are you telling me this?”

  “Because Lieutenant, if nothing changes, if we can’t leave the Altair system, I’m still going to try and make every gram of this ship count for the war effort.”

  “You’re going to ram a Hex ship?”

  “I’m sure they still patrol this system on a regular basis. When we spot an enemy ship we’ll do the best attack we can but, the last missile, we’ll ram up their ass and light it off.”

  Amy hoped her surprise did not show on her face.

  “With the anti-matter we have onboard I’m sure it would destroy them and any nearby enemy ships.”

  “Along with us,” Amy said looking at the Captain. “I guess that would be better than slow starvation.”

  “I think so,” Captain Harris replied. “Still, I want you to keep an engineering team constantly working on the fusion control room. It will give the crew hope and, who knows, we might still find a way home.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “I’m also going to have the sensor techs survey this system and have the rest of the crew run a series of battle drills.”

  “For our final Kamikaze attack?”

  “Yes and I don’t want anyone to have time to think about our situation.”

  As she left the Captain’s cabin, she wondered, do the Hex have an ass?

  * * *

  The ships bell rang twice signaling to all on the bridge the start of the hour. Amy turned in the command chair and looked at the clock. It was 0100. A technician nearby yawned and, involuntarily, she followed. I hate mid-watches. She sat a stack of reports and memos on the table beside the command chair, stood and arched her back. I’ll never get all this paperwork done. One good thing about being the executive officer was that this would be her last watch as an Officer of the Deck.

  Amy knew she would fall asleep if she read one more report, so she walked slowly around the bridge. As she moved about the compartment, she glanced at the various workstations. One display showed that power output from the fission reactor was adequate for current usage. Another showed thrusters were on automatic, but none were firing. The ship coasted in the Kuiper belt.

  The holo of the Altair system displayed several asteroids in the area, but none in orbits that were a hazard to the ship. Again, she searched the display for the five planets on this side of the Altair star. It helped focus her tired mind, but it was a useless exercise. Still staring at the screen, she smiled, something new, a comet was now within sensor range. Turning to the sensor tech she asked, “When do you think we’ll be done with mapping the system?”

  He rubbed his face and said, “Oh, we’ve done about thirty percent over the last few days so…”

&nbs
p; “What was that?” the communications tech exclaimed.

  Amy turned toward the tech.

  The technician pressed a hand against his earpiece and stared at the screen in front of him.

  “What?” Amy asked as she walked towards him.

  “It’s a distress beacon.”

  “Really?” It was a mixture of question and query. No other humans were supposed to be in the system and the Hex didn’t seem to use distress signals.

  “It’s a standard United Planets beacon,” he said and turned to the sensor tech. “Ramon, I’ll need your help to get a fix on the signal. It’s very weak on 500 kilohertz.”

  “I hear it!” Ramon’s fingers flew across his sensor control panel as he triangulated the distress beacon. In less than a minute, he had a fix on the location of the signal. “It’s coming from very near a large asteroid about 40,000 kilometers from here.

  Amy walked back to the command chair. “Helm plot the course.” Then she pressed the commlink pad and said, “Captain your presence is requested on the bridge.”

  Captain Harris entered the compartment in less than two minutes. Even though it was the middle of the night he was dressed in a clean, well pressed, uniform.

  Amy briefed him as he entered.

  Walking up to the technicians the captain asked, “Any more news about what you two have found?”

  “The signal is automated and repeating,” the communications tech advised.

  “It’s coming from an unidentified object very near a large asteroid. Both the asteroid and the signal source are in an elliptical orbit around the Altair star.” Ramon added.

  The Captain peered over his shoulder. “It has to be a vessel of some type. What can you tell me about it?”

  “Not much sir. So far we have only used passive sensors on the target,” Ramon replied. “The signal source is trailing the asteroid by less than ten kilometers and is somewhat hidden by it. No infrared or electromagnetic emissions have been detected. We’ve only been able to determine some rough dimensions by noting the blocking of background starlight and radiation as it passes by various points on its orbit. Do you want us to use active sensors?”

  The Captain rubbed his chin.

  Amy tensed and waited for his decision. Active sensors would reveal much more information but, if this were a Hex trap, the sensors would also reveal the location of the Mirage.

  “No,” the captain replied. Turning to Amy he said, “Thank you Lieutenant, I think I’ll take it from here.

  “Yes sir,” she said and assumed her normal bridge post at environmental systems.

  In an almost conversational voice the captain said, “General quarters.”

  The Petty Officer of the Watch announced general quarters to the ship and sounded the klaxon.

  “Rig for stealth,” the captain said in the same conversational tone, “and helm I need an intercept course to the beacon.”

  “Aye sir. Course has already been plotted.” The helmsman said with a note of pride.

  “Good job,” the captain replied.

  “What’s going on?” Marcus asked Amy as he entered and assumed his post.

  “We’re receiving a UP distress beacon,” Amy replied.

  “Really,” he said as his eyes widened. He turned and walked over to Ramon.

  Moments later the Petty Officer of the Watch announced, “General Quarters and Stealth are set throughout the ship.”

  “Good,” the captain replied. “Proceed with a one ‘G’ thrust. Increase velocity to 30,000 KPH.”

  As Mirage moved closer, the Captain ordered the ship to slow. At 1,000 kilometers from the source of the distress signal, Ramon said he was certain it was a ship, but he couldn’t be sure of much more.

  “Assume a parallel course keeping 1,000 kilometers from the source,” the captain ordered.

  “Aye sir. Speed of the object is 31,824 KPH in an elliptical orbit. Adjusting velocity to match,” the helmsman responded. As the Mirage achieved a parallel course, the signal died.

  The captain’s face was instantly tense; his gaze fixed on the holo display which showed almost nothing. “Begin active sensor sweeps,” he ordered. “I want to know if anything moves towards us. Engineering prepare to go to maximum thrust.”

  Within moments Marcus announced, “Sir, there are no objects on an approach vector. The ship is a recon ship, Chameleon class. There’s major damage to the bridge and bow, a blast hole where the docking port should be and some damage just forward of engineering. There are no infrared or electromagnetic signatures.”

  The lack of emissions from the vessel told Amy there was no heat radiating or equipment functioning on the ship. The ship was as dead and cold as space. “As far as I know we’ve lost only one recon ship in this system and that was the prototype, the Chameleon,” she said.

  “I think you’re right,” Captain Harris said looking at her intently.

  The captain’s gaze remained fixed on Amy for a moment, long enough for her to wonder why.

  Turning away he said, “Set restricted maneuvering and close to one kilometer.”

  Both the helmsman and the Petty Officer of the Watch responded, “Aye sir.” The Petty Officer of the Watch announced to the ship, “Set restricted maneuvering procedures,” and sounded the alarm.

  “And get Mumbai ready,” the captain said. “We’ll have it check out the ship.”

  Thirty minutes later the RT unit, exited Mirage using a thruster pack secured to its back and traveled to the derelict ship. The robotic humanoid pulled a cargo sled along with power packs and tools.

  “Show me the view from Mumbai,” the captain said.

  The robotic unit had artificial intelligence and required only minimum control, but a technician did monitor his work on a video screen. That tech directed the video from RT into the holographic projection on the bridge. The powerful light built into its head like forehead illuminated the derelict ship as Mumbai glided over it.

  “Sir, how do you want RT unit to enter the ship?” he asked. “There is a gaping hole where the bridge should be and most of the bow is gone. There is also a smaller blast hole a few frames forward of engineering.”

  “First do a complete survey of the outside. Then bring Mumbai in through the docking port. I don’t want to take the chance of getting it tangled in debris at one of the blast points. Once you have the unit onboard the Chameleon have it survey engineering and the auxiliary control room.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Completing the exterior survey and finding no Hex traps the petty officer told Mumbai to plug a power pack into the docking bay and enter the ship. The interior of the vessel was as black as deep space and as cold. Mumbai’s light provided the only illumination.

  “Instruments read a temperature of 2.7 Kelvin,” Ramon said.

  Leaving the docking port Mumbai entered a portion of the ship that had not decompressed and proceeded toward engineering.

  Amy shuddered as she looked at what had been the ship’s atmosphere now covering all surfaces as ice. It’s colder than minus two hundred degrees over there.

  “What’s that?” One of the crew asked.

  The petty officer controlling the robot saw it also. “Mumbai stop and turn left.”

  As the unit turned and illuminated the spot Amy said, “It’s a body.” She had seen corpses like this before. Exposed to the vacuum of space, the body was quickly mummified. Her stomach churned and twisted in a knot. Father? She shook her head. No, he wouldn’t have been here at the end. She repeated it several times trying to convince herself.

  Captain Harris looked at Amy but said nothing.

  It appeared the engineering spaces had decompressed during the battle but were largely intact. Both the fusion and fission reactors were offline but intact.

  “If both reactors are shut down and every battery is as cold as space, how did we get the distress call?” Marcus asked no one in particular.

  “That’s a good question,” the Captain replied. “Have Mumbai chec
k out the auxiliary control room and do a complete survey of the ship’s interior.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Secure from general quarters,” the captain said. “Lieutenant Ralston, you have the bridge. XO, please come with me.”

  Amy turned to Marcus in surprise. It was still her watch.

  Marcus shrugged and said, “Yes sir.”

  Amy followed the Captain to the tiny ready room just off the bridge. The Captain turned on the monitors above the cramped corner desk and then sat on the bunk. He motioned for Amy to sit in the only chair.

  “If it turns out the Chameleon is not booby trapped I’m wondering if we can we use the fusion controls from it to repair our ship?”

  Amy smiled. “I was thinking the same thing. The fusion reactor on the Chameleon is an earlier type. The controls are very different.”

  The Captain frowned, “But?”

  “I’ll make it work.” I’m not sure how yet but I’ll find a way.

  “Good. I’m sure you can do it. We have to—or die trying.”

  “No pressure,” Amy said with a sardonic grin.

  With a twinkle in his eye he said, “None at all.” He stood. “Work up a plan of action with Chief Zengal, but not a word to anyone else about this until we know more. As soon as the survey of the Chameleon is complete, report back to me with your proposal.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Amy stepped back on the bridge. “I’m sorry Marcus but the Captain has a project he wants me to do. Could you…” She stopped herself. “I need you to take the watch.”

  He frowned then grinned. “No problem. Sleep is for the weak.”

  Amy yawned. “I would love to be weak right now.” She pressed the commlink and said, “Chief Zengal, meet me in engineering.”

  * * *

  Amy stood and stretched. She should have been asleep hours ago. “How long have we been working on this plan Chief?”

  “Three hours, more or less.”

  Amy moaned.

  “But I think we’ve got a plan,” he said looking over the diagrams and notes. “I think we can do this.”

  Amy agreed and the chief went to get a pad. After he left, Amy sat down and put her head on the table.

  “XO?”