Two days later, Max, Colin, plus Gene's mental presence were having breakfast while watching an ISN feed with a bowl of popcorn shared between them. Cynthia Torqueman was anchoring a broadcast on the Nazi attacks, her suit was immaculate and her blonde hair cut just below her ears.
"The simultaneous attacks on New Liberty and Gersal by the Waffen-SS and allied forces underscores the fundamental weakness of the United Alliance of Systems." The anchor said, before turning to a talking-head sitting across the table. "We're joined by Dr. Edward Cumberland from the Earth Force Naval Staff College to discuss the reasons for this weakness and what it will mean for the Earth Alliance and our allies in the Interstellar Alliance going forward." she took a pregnant pause "Dr. Cumberland?"
"I think the lesson we need to take from this is that busybodies get the boot. The ISA is an economic and mutual defense alliance. It doesn't stick its nose in where it's not wanted. The United Alliance of Systems on the other hand does, with great enthusiasm. They have an interventionist foreign policy that spreads their military too thin to defend their own border from one of the very people's they intervened against. It sticks its nose in anyway and they've just reaped what they've sown."
Max laughed instead of breaking out into rage, but the anchor, to her credit, looked properly aghast.
"Doctor, these are Nazis, responsible for an entire galaxy of atrocity, surely if anyone needs to be stopped it's them."
"Oh I'm not disputing that!" he back-pedalled. "And if it were just the Reich, it wouldn't be a problem. The United Alliance of Systems sticks its nose in everywhere. For even more comprehensive definitions of the term than we could imagine a few years ago, including in the Earth Alliance. It's a symptom of a larger problem. They're stretched thin on an operational tempo they can't sustain, and as a result the last Holocaust survivors from the Nazi home universe were almost killed."
"Speaking of that, there are reports coming off New Liberty that there were members of the Psi Corps present?"
"Yes, and we're not exactly sure why. There are a few theories floating around but as usual the Psi Corps isn't commenting. I don't want to speculate, and EarthGov approved the trip, but theories among certain civilian commentators range from them clandestinely attending the summit being held there to a covert operation to mentally control the attendees and implant sleeper agents," the professor replied. "I'm just a civilian, I don't have the clearance for the real reason."
"Ah, well, as it happens we have someone on the line who was there and who might be able to shed some light on the situation on the ground there. Joining us by hyperlight comms is Rabbi Isaac Liebgott from the Omega VII colony. He's currently being brought back on the appropriately named science vessel Maimonides." She tapped a button on her desk and brought up the rabbi's bearded face. "Thank you for joining us Rabbi Liebgott."
"It's a pleasure. Though I wish I had more prep time, I only got your request this morning."
Shit. This is either going to go really well or be a complete and total clusterfuck. Gene thought at Colin, who relayed it to Max. Max in turn frowned.
He means well, but he's over his head. Max replied, and set the popcorn down.
"Sorry about that." and it was very evident that Cynthia was lying. "So what can you tell us about what happened? You're currently traveling with two members of the Psi Corps…"
"Ah yes. Well I was attending a separate summit on interuniversal Judaism. You can imagine the different cultural histories can lead to some interesting divergences in Jewish thought. I was worried about my privacy so I put in a request for the Psi Corps to assign me a psionic bodyguard, which they did. However, given the issues they've been having with telepaths going rogue, they also assigned a Psi Cop to make sure Mr. Cohen didn't defect and protect him from attack by rogue telepaths from the Free Colony."
Both telepaths facepalmed, and Colin felt Gene hit his head into his desk.
Owe! I felt that.
Sorry it's just… ugh. They're gonna use that to play up the fact that we can't deal with the rogue problem, and we can't go on the record to correct it either. Great. Gene grumbled.
"So what happened during the attack?" Cynthia pressed.
"Mr. Cohen, Dr. Meier, and Governor Golmar Kuhn of the Byron Free Colony saved all our lives, that's what happened. They killed the Nazis attacking New Liberty's Jewish Quarter and then went on to aid others including saving the planetary governor. Then they assisted in search and rescue efforts."
Cynthia got a predatory gleam in her eye that from his facial expression, Isaac caught sight of and realized his mistake. "Wait, so you're saying that members of the Psi Corps were meeting with the governor of the Byron Free Colony?"
"Nothing like that." Isaac replied, and he wasn't even lying, he didn't know that Colin had been meeting with the man. "Mr. Cohen was with me at the Judaism summit, Dr. Meier was nearby on overwatch. Mr. Kuhn was at the primary UAS summit and when the Nazis attacked he wasn't about to let the Nazis butcher a bunch of Jews. They set their differences aside to combat a mutual enemy, that's it."
Cynthia seemed momentarily mollified by that, but her scheming face was plain for Colin to see. It was going to be spun. She just didn't have what she needed to do it just then. "And you say they killed the Nazis? Were they armed?"
"Well, no they weren't; but they're all trained combat-telepaths, they have to be for their jobs…" Isaac replied a bit nervously he knew where that was going and didn't like it. She didn't even need to spin that, all she had to do was let him say it to remind her viewers that telepaths could kill with their minds and thus water seeds of fear.
"Rabbi, I have to ask as a follow up, what is your relationship with the Psi Corps? Your congregation on Omega VII had a reputation for being friendly with them before they withdrew from the planet. Is what you're saying to us today colored in any way by your evident friendship with telepaths?"
At that, Isaac's eyes went hard and his spine straightened. The correct and simple answer under the circumstances was no. Colin knew it. Max knew it. Even Isaac knew it, but they also knew that Isaac couldn't leave it at that. "They're good people, Mrs. Torqueman. I'm a Jew. A Rabbi. I know what the badge we force them to wear is. I know what the Crawford-Tokash Act is. It's Nuremberg all over again, and I will not sit here and let you use me to promulgate a blood libel against my friends and fan the flames of fear like you're trying to do right now. This interview is over." With that, he cut the connection and Cynthia looked directly into her main camera.
"Well, that's as good a time as any to cut to a message from our sponsors. This is Cynthia Torqueman and we've been discussing the attacks on New Liberty and Gersal. See you again in a few minutes."
Those same words played over the holo-monitor in Nasira's office while she and Philippe went over weekly status reports with the ship's top NCO, Master Chief Xuan Guo-Ling, a woman of sturdy build with dark brown hair and gray eyes. The reports were by department and Chief Xuan provided the lower decks' view of things. That she was more than twice the age of either of her superiors was not lost on any present.
The status reports were forgotten for the moment. The broadcast from ISN had been of interest if only because Commander Oparan had been behind the hyperlight comm link that made Isaac's role possible. Seeing the whole thing played out led to nothing but frowns. "It reminds me of the worst of state television and Western news," Nasira murmured after shutting the feed down.
"I have seen worse news sources in the Alliance," Chief Xuan remarked, her English accented slightly and in the fashion of a resident of New Kowloon. "Although they usually don't get preferential broadcast time on interstellar communications networks."
"That professor was offensive to any decent sense of right and wrong," Philippe added.
"He reminds me of a Tetzelian," Nasira noted. "They've made similar statements. Senator Pensley is known for them."
"Pensley is a naive fool," Philippe growled. "That man was trying to use the deaths of millions to score a political point."
"To craft a narrative," said Xuan. "I have seen it before. The people in charge want their citizens to think a certain way about us. If we are moralistic busybodies sticking our noses in, our protests against mistreatment of minorities can be dismissed more easily."
Nasira turned her attention back to the status report before her. "The cross-training with security, that started?"
"As soon as we left New Liberty, ma'am," Xuan said. "I've got every hand working with Lieutenant Manchester's teams during off-watch times, including off-shift hours. Everyone's getting two training periods a week, at least."
"Any complaints from the crew?" Philippe asked.
"None." Xuan's expression was severe. "Everyone saw the footage from Gersal and New Liberty, and many took part in the S&R and cleanup efforts in the Colony. The personnel know what is at stake, and why this training is necessary. If the worst comes, the crew of the Maimonides will be ready to fight."
Nasira nodded. A thought crossed her mind. "Chief, Commander, I want all officers to be assigned no less than two training periods a week during off-shift times. I don't want the enlisted personnel being the only ones cross-training to deal with boarding and anti-boarding missions. That goes for all of us. I'll take a Gamma Shift slot myself."
Xuan nodded. "The crewers will appreciate that, Captain. But you shouldn't overdo it. Take a Bravo Shift training slot, the crew will be fine with that. They know you've got their back and you need to be in top shape for other duties."
Nasira gave Chief Xuan a nod of acceptance. Conscious again of their age difference and the relevant experience gap, she said, "A good point, Chief. Your suggestion is accepted."
"I'll make the arrangements," said Philippe.
"Then we should move on to the issue of the department assignments," Xuan said. "These are the adjustments I made to accommodate the crew we transferred to the Aurora before we left…"
"God damn it." Colin muttered to himself. "That could have been worse, I guess." He was angry. He didn't blame Isaac; Isaac was trying to do the right thing and defend them but ISN was the sort of environment where breathing could be spin-doctored. It took being in the room with one of their 'journalists' and actively using telepathy to even have a hope of dodging it.
"Oh it certainly could have been worse. They could have pegged to the fact that this is a military ship." Max replied. "I think the concept of a military science ship is just foreign to them, but if they knew they'd call it a spy ship."
Colin felt Gene's horror before his husband said anything.
What is it? He asked.
The Fenrir just picked up a distress call from the PCV Zhang Qian. PCVs were civilian vessels, PCSs were military. Colin recognized the name as a civilian trade ship. The Civilians ships were hidden on paper but not physically, they had Earth Alliance issued transponders and rode the beacons like everyone else, which mean they could be hit in normal space while going from gate to gate. They're carrying a trade delegation into Federation space by way of Teyan Station. The attacking ship matches the one that hit us at Tau Atrea.
What!? How? They wouldn't know the ship had telepaths unless... then he got it, and Gene confirmed it for him.
We have a leak, or someone susceptible to bribes figured it out. Either way, the usual tricks aren't working. The Security contingent is reporting mind-voids in ship control positions. Best guess is that the flight crew are all Cybertroopers or similarly modified. And that meant only one thing. Aristos. They've boarded. Shit they're subduing the crew.
Dead?
No. Fuck they're using sleepers! That clinched it in Colin's mind, and Gene's. The Eubians had help from within EarthGov. He didn't need to say it, Gene was already typing out an order for the Bloodhounds to scrutinize the entire supply chain, but that didn't solve the immediate problem which was that the delegation of four high-level members of Commercial Division as well as their support staff and the ship's crew were in the hands of Eubian slavers. Astrid Bergsen and Indiri Singh among them.
After a few minutes of horrified silence Gene piped back up again. They've taken the ship and gone to hyperspace. Astrid managed to pull their planned course from one of the officer's minds and send it before they got her. They're headed your way, think you can intercept? We can't get into whatever version of hyperspace they're using.
I'll talk to the Captain. Colin replied and stood up. Looks like I'll need to get into my luggage after all.
Nasira was working on the finalizing the reports Xuan and Philippe left her with when she was informed by Philippe of Colin's arrival on the bridge. Under regulations he was only supposed to come under her invitation, given his guest status, and he knew that. For him to ignore it… Nasira let out a silent prayer to all of the saints listening that this wasn't going to be as bad as she feared. "He can enter," she said over the intercom.
The door slid open moments later. Colin entered in full dress uniform, sans the rapier and sidearm but complete with aiguillettes.
"I apologize for the impertinence of my arrival on the bridge Captain, but a matter has come to my attention and I must, in my official capacity not as a Psi Cop within Metapol but as a Coordinator of the Psi Corps, formally ask for your assistance. One of our ships has been taken by Eubian slavers and their projected course puts them in the flight path of this ship. None of our ships has any hope of making an intercept."
Nasira was standing by the time he was formally asking for assistance. By the time "slaver" came out of his mouth, her full attention was on him. Only when he was finished did she nod and say, "Of course", not bothering to hide the fury boiling within her, nor the memories. She'd seen slavery before, in the Facility days, on rescue teams dispatched to every corner of her Earth of origin, or the Earth of C1P2. As far as she was concerned, it was an infernally-designed blight on all beings. "This way."
Colin caught those memories, and while under normal circumstances he would offer words of empathy given his own experience, all he did was telepathically project emphatic agreement. The Aristos of the Eubian Concord were the worst he had ever seen, and it was the consensus of the entire Psi Corps that they be destroyed. Root and branch. He followed.
When Nasira exited her ready office, she kept her strides firm and constant. Not looking like she was rushing, not desperate, but urgent. "Commander, we have a situation," she said to Philippe. He wordlessly nodded and changed to his proper chair while she sat in her command chair and Colin, invited by a gesture, sat to her left. She turned to him. "Do you have course data? The kind of drive they were using?"
"I do. Universe S0T5 hyperdrive, and the course information..." He projected exact course information into Latamrilam's mind.
The Gersallian Astrogator quickly entered the information into the computer and started calculating the course. Meanwhile Nasira asked aloud, "Computer, display information on main holo-viewer, all data on Eubians."
The holo-viewer displayed the information in text large enough to read. It was a basic profile of a polity called the Eubian Concord, ruled by an Emperor named Jaibriol III. An image showed a man in his late twenties, skin white as marble, dark hair, and carnelian red eyes not normal to most branches of Humanity, dressed in black finery above the shoulders. The universe was designated as A5R0. Complete trade sanctions, no trade from the Alliance allowed for the Concord's use of slavery.
It was the scope of that slavery that stunned her. The demographic data displayed put the population count at trillions of slaves, and an infinitesimally small number of non-slaves, not even ten thousand. How would that even work?
But that was it. Most of the remaining information was locked under a high level classification, one above her rating as a science cruiser captain. Whatever Defense Command was learning about them, she didn't need to know, apparently.
But she knew enough. They were slavers. And whatever they were, they had Colin wound up so tight he was almost a completely different person. And she thought she could see the faint glint of deep, despairing worry in his eyes.
He also didn't give a damn about the classification levels, and he'd been inside one of their minds. "It works because their slaves have a hierarchy and get used to police those lower on the totem pole. Telepath slaves are both the lowest ranking and the most highly prized. They're used for Transcendence. Tortured to provide intense gratification to their masters. The effect for them is like a mixture between drug induced euphoria and a prolonged orgasm. Just being around them is painful for us and they have mental defenses to boot. I'd have a hard time killing one that way, if I could do it at all."
"In other words, if we fail to find that ship…" Philippe began, but stopped himself from continuing the distracted thought. "If they're using S0T5 hyperdrive, they're not going to show up on most subspace-based sensors, or even tachyon. But our best sensors should be able to detect their approximate location."
"The problem is that we don't know where they're going, or if they have friends waiting for them," Rodrigo said from Tactical. "And we can't intercept a ship in hyperspace. Even ships in hyperspace can't do it, not that band."
"As you can imagine, we've been trying to figure out a way to pull them out of hyperspace, but the Aristo whose mind we tore to pieces didn't know how the drives work…"
"They probably bought the technology from the Solarians or Cevaucians," said Oparan.
Nasira noticed an intent look on Philippe's face. "Commander?"
"Forming an idea in my head," he said. He looked to Treepk. "Commander Treepk, do we have them on sensors?"
"No," was the reply. "I'm not detecting anything in that band. We're probably not in range yet."
"Astrogation, I want to see their course and ours."
Latamrilam obeyed. The data from Colin showed the origin point as far off, not quite at the edge of Earth space. "They probably used their band of hyperspace to slip through Earth's perimeter sensors," Philippe said. "Then laid in wait for an ambush. Probably cloaked, or using a major planetary body to mask themselves until their victim was in range."
Nasira nodded, but her attention was on the course data. At the moment they were two hours off the projected flight path of the ship, but many light years away. Far enough that it would take them over a day at warp to arrive at the origin point. "Helm, alter our course. Follow that track."
"Toward Earth Alliance space?" asked Latamrilam. "But we don't have clearance…"
"We'll stop before we're at the border, if we go that far. But I doubt it." Nasira turned her attention to Treepk and Philippe. "What is this idea, Commander?"
"S0T5 hyperdrives are sensitive to bodies of significant gravity in real space," Philippe said. "Stars, black holes. And since they can't change course once in hyperspace, any obstruction forces them to leave hyperspace to make a course correction."
"Ah, yes," chirped Treepk. Her beak opened slightly before closing, as she was in thought. "That is how we can do it."
"Because even the slightest course miscalculation can lead to a ship plowing into a star, ships with that form of hyperdrive have emergency shutdown systems," Philippe said, grinning. "Just in case they detect a mass shadow in their path. The ship will override all piloting control and forcefully drop from hyperspace. It can take time for a ship to then correct and make a hyperspace jump, time in which we can intercept."
"You're talking about making a mass shadow," Tasina said from her engineering station. "But how to make one that big?"
"That, I will need assistance with," Philippe said. He looked to Nasira. "Captain, with your permission, I would like to go to Science Lab 2 with Commander Ka, Lieutenant T'Seris, and Lieutenant Iktas. We'll need to discuss this with Doctor T'Rya and her staff."
Nasira didn't hesitate. "You're relieved, Commander. Keep me updated." She tapped the intercom key on her chair. "Bridge to Security. Lieutenant Manchester?"
"Captain?" The woman's voice was one that Colin thought close to Gene's, indicating the speaker was from the Pacific Northwest, or at least a space colony populated by people from that region.
"I want all of your teams ready for a boarding action. It will be a rescue mission."
"Roger that. I'll get my people ready," was the reply.
"I'll be joining them. They'll be facing Coserian Cybertroopers; with line of sight I can blow out their implants." Colin informed her tightly. "I will of course follow tactical commands." he added to the end.
"Thank you. We don't have Marines, and only a small security contingent," Nasira said. "We'll probably be assigning some of the standard crew to support the boarding parties."
"What I wouldn't give for a platoon of my marines right now…" Colin verbally wished.
Nasira grinned at that. "You read my mind, Coordinator Meier. Although you forgot the star cruiser."
"Only one? Captain, let me tell you, if we ever find ourselves in a position to wage it against the Eubian Concord, the Multiverse will learn a whole new meaning of the word Jihad."
She gave him a sardonic look. "You're aware my ancestors didn't have the best experience with those, correct?"
"I am aware. That's why it's a new meaning, not the old one. Besides, there isn't really another word that fits."
Nasira smiled thinly at that and said nothing else. Nearby an Ensign in the science department took over the science/sensor post from Treepk, who joined Philippe and Tasina in departing the bridge.
Colin was in distant conversation with his husband. I'm with you Colin. I don't think we can chain together a gestalt at this range though, so it'll just be us.
Thanks babe. We've got this. I hope. I wish I'd brought the EMP grenades but memory was limited.
True… on the other hand, you won't be going into a boarding action in your dress blacks. I'll take that over grenades.
Point.
Word spread quickly through the ship on the reason for their diversion. While the Maimonides only went to standby alert, not even Code Yellow alert, a raw tension built in the crew at the prospect of upcoming combat. It was, in a way, welcome, given what was seen at New Liberty.
Hours passed, during which every department prepared for what may come. Security triple-checked the ship's armory and made sure everyone had the necessary tools for a boarding action. Lieutenant Manchester was preparing her people for the unexpected mission to come. In Engineering the personnel prepared for imminent combat by checking all of the ship's reactors and the drives, while damage control teams inspected the forcefield and emergency bulkhead systems to deal with any hull breaches.
And all the while, caffeine of various kinds poured into Science Lab 2, where Philippe and the ship's top science and engineering minds debated if they could even pull this off.
Nasira finished updating Admiral Ikamria over IU comms and watched as the teal-skinned, blue-spotted Dorei woman disappeared from her monitor. She had Ikamria's blessings, but little else. The fleet was tied down on other missions and defense of key worlds following the attacks. For the moment, there would be no ships jumping in to aid the Maimonides if they successfully managed the intercept.
She was already considering what she would ask Rodrigo about their tactical options when she received a call from the bridge. Commander Oparan's voice was terse. "Captain, we have a hyperspace signature on long range sensors. Course and speed are a match for our target."
Nasira nodded despite being alone. "Match their course and keep us ahead of them. We need to buy the others time to figure out how we're going to make this work."
"Yes Captain."
With that done, Nasira had nothing left to do but the most responsible thing. She pulled off her uniform jacket, set it on the hanger on the wall, and laid on the couch in her ready office to catch some sleep.
At that same time, the ship's main conference room was the domain of the security staff. At twenty-two officers and crew, the staff was smaller than standard for a ship of this size, but with the emphasis on the science mission and the fleet's desire to reserve trained security personnel for ships more likely to need them, that was no surprise.
For the first time Colin and Max met Wendy. To Colin she seemed like a piece of whipcord, thin but not weak. She quickly invited him to join her and her second. Tasandi, like all Dorei, had a slight psionic aura to him, but only slight; his species were only touch-empaths unless they had metaphysical gifts.
Colin looked at them, and realized that when dealing with cybertroopers, there were exactly two ways to make it go smooth. Psi Corps marines, or someone with a lightsaber. They were nasty customers and in tight confines, none of these people could afford to let them get within melee range the way he or Robert could.
"Alright, gentlebeings." Colin started his own briefing, having fought cybertroopers before. "We're going to be looking at a mix of normal human crew and Coserian Cybertroopers. Leave the humans to me. I can take them out before any of them ever fire a shot. What I need you to do is focus overwhelming firepower on any Cybertrooper you see. This is not a time for taking prisoners or using a stun setting. They're heavily armored and don't feel pain. You need to kill them as quickly as possible, so bring extra power packs or whatever you use for energy weapons and set them to as near maximum power as possible. Better yet use armor piercing slug thrower rounds. Personal shields can take their energy weapons, but you do not want to let them close into melee range with you. Ever." He glyphed everyone in the room a mental image of the grisly results.
"It matches what I have seen of them in our records," said Tasandi. "We have the replicator patterns for Systems Alliance-made Crusader shotguns, we'll be issuing them as backup weapons to every member of the team. In the confined space the cybertroopers will be less able to dodge fire, so they will likely charge us. Be ready."
"I can slow them down, even kill them with my mind, but it takes some effort and concentration. Once I've dealt with the normies, I'll spare as much attention to keeping them off you as I can." By which he meant engaging them in close quarters battle with Gene's help. "Please try not to shoot me. Ultimately, our objective is to locate and rescue the crew and passengers of a Psi Corps ship, the PCV Zhang Qian. A total of least thirty telepaths are on board, some of them are combat trained and once freed can easily assist in their own extraction. The rest have varying degrees of self-defense training. We'll need to administer the counter-agent for sleepers. I can program it into the ship's replicators…"
"There's no need," Wendy interjected. "Every replicator in the Alliance has the formula."
Colin gave her a look that turned into a bemused smirk. "Ah. So that did get leaked. Good."
A Human male, tan-skinned, raised a hand. "What will our boarding method be? Are we beaming in or going by shuttle?"
"Beaming is the most likely," Wendy answered. "There's no guarantee we can safely launch by shuttle. But be on standby for either choice." She checked the time. "Go grab some rack time while you can, everyone. You're all dismissed."
The severity of the situation was clear by the choice of stimulant drink now abounding in Science Lab 2, with most of the attending holding steaming mugs of raktajino. The Klingon answer to coffee was bitter beyond reckoning, a key component to how it kept the imbiber awake.
One of the lab's main holotank displays now showed the profile of real space from the perspective of a ship in hyperspace, particularly how astronomical mass objects were seen. T'Rya was responsible for the display, with the input of one of her subordinates, Dr. Yatasenran, a Gersallian man of dark brown complexion and close-cut brown hair. Yatasenran held a doctorate in subspace physics, much like T'Rya, but his field of study was in methods of superluminal propulsion, and he had the most knowledge on the hyperspace in question of anyone present.
Treepk whistled lowly, a particular tone to it from the sound going through her dark orange-hued beak. "Simulating such a thing with just our ship will be a challenge."
"Challenge?" Tagiya snorted. "I'm not sure where to even begin. Generating that kind of gravity field would require literally astronomical amounts of energy or mass. Or both."
"Indeed," T'Rya agreed. "It is a most difficult conundrum. In other circumstances I would dismiss the idea of trying such a thing. But the stakes you have communicated require the greatest measure." She analyzed the data quietly. "A subspace field could disrupt hyperspace locally, forcing the vessel to shift back to normal space."
"Hyperspace bands like this are more resilient to subspace field shifting than you might expect," said Yatasenran. "I'm not sure this vessel has the power needed to generate a sufficient field, nor can we be sure it would work."
"Trial and error is a part of any scientific endeavor. Circumstances aside, this is precisely what we are engaged in."
Philippe shook his head. "You're both right. Trial and error is part of this, but we don't have the time to try everything. We may only get one shot at this."
"Could we trick their guidance systems?" Tasina proposed. "Make them think they're on the wrong course?"
"No. Not without someone already on board."
"A biotic field," the Asari said. "We use one to increase the mass of… no, we don't have nearly eezo on hand to do that."
Treepk gave a thoughtful look to T'Rya. "What if we were to only fool their sensors?"
T'Rya gave the Alakin science officer a curious expression. "In what way are you meaning?"
"We create a subspace signature that their scanners will mistake as a mass shadow," Treepk suggested.
Philippe nodded in understanding. "Right. A strong enough subspace field would cause an effect in hyperspace. If the field includes gravitons, it might just fool their safety systems into thinking it's a mass shadow."
"Creating that kind of field will still require a lot of power." Tagiya started tapping at a secondary console, causing mathematical formulae to run. "And the only mechanism we have that could accomplish it is our warp drive. We could end up overloading the nacelles."
"It would take time to restore warp, then," Tasina said. "But if we have teams ready with replacement parts for the projectors…"
"An hour, two, maybe three if many systems go down," Tagiya said. "Doctors?"
Yatasenran considered the idea intently. T'Rya nodded. "The theory is sound, and you clearly have an idea on how to accomplish the effect," the Vulcan woman remarked calmly. "I cannot guarantee your ship can generate the necessary field, or that their systems will register the result as a mass shadow."
"It would certainly show up on sensors in that band of hyperspace, I can promise you that," Yatasenran added. "The graviton element should give it the characteristics of a mass shadow. But I can't promise anything either."
"The timing will have to be exact," T'Rya said. "Generating it too early will give the opposing crew time to override the safety protocol, should they realize what you are up to."
"And generating too late won't trigger anything at all," Treepk agreed.
"We can't keep the drive hot forever," said Tagiya. I'd say you'll have about five seconds before we have to emit the field or blow out the entire warp system, which will take quite a bit longer to fix."
"But this is our only option, so we must try," said Philippe.
"We could simply follow and wait to see where they come out of hyperspace," Yatasenran suggested. "I mean, they might have a rendezvous point they're scheduled to meet, maybe if they're first…"
Before the suggestion could be completed, a tone came from the ship's intercom. "Bridge to Science Lab 2," said an accented voice, Commander Oparan's to be precise. "What do you have for us?"
"We may have something," Philippe said. "But we won't know until we try it."
"I'll tell Captain Fanous. Be ready to enact it, we're going to be cutting it close."
"Oh?" Philippe shared uncertain looks with the others. "What are you saying?"
"We've picked up another signature on long range sensors. Another ship in hyperspace moving to meet our target. And it's a big one. Possibly a full-sized star cruiser. If we don't intercept within two hours, we're going to be facing two enemy ships, not one."
"Then it appears there is only one logical course," said T'Rya. "We must attempt the graviton field."
"Agreed," said Philippe. He looked to the engineers. "Make the preparations. I will speak with Captain Fanous."
Nasira made the decision without a moment's hesitation, and the order was promptly given. Across the ship the engineers sprung into action. The parts were secured from storage to rapidly restore warp function. Security was assembled at the transporter stations for a rapid beaming deployment, while every shuttle and the two runabouts were manned as a backup for deployment or extraction.
At the ten minute mark, Nasira gave the next order. Klaxons sounded across the ship, sending the crew to battle stations, and the civilian staff to their protected sections for the duration of the emergency.
Now the final countdown was coming. On the Bridge and in Main Engineering, the engineering and science teams had the clocks synchronized and set. The marks at which power would be pushed to full, at which the ship's tractor beam systems would be activated, and at which the field itself would be activated. The timing was to the second, less than that. It would have to be.
In her command chair, harness now criss-crossing her chest to hold her safely in place, Nasira prayed to every saint she could think of to intercede for them and for their cause.
"Time to target is one minute," Philippe said from his seat beside her. "All systems are ready."
"Swenya's Light, I hope this works," Latamrilam said from the helm.
In Transporter Station 1, Wendy gave Colin a knowing look. She knew he could sense the pre-battle tension inside of her. The instinctive fear, the uncertainty over the outcome, the certainty that she was likely to see some of her people killed even if she lived through it, and the determination to get the job done regardless. Just like on Germania.
Colin was nervous too. She might see some of the people killed, but when it happened he'd feel it. He'd feel their enemies die too. It was something he'd gotten used to over the years. The mind-screams, the open-shut sensation of someone's mind departing the mortal coil; but he never liked it. He also knew how to anchor a formation of men and women who were as sensitive to that as he was. So he returned that look with a nod visible through the Systems Alliance issue heavy armor he wore - in black and copper of course- and projected the same sense of calming reassurance he did with his own troops. He still wasn't entirely used to the idea of actually having troops.
Two more teams stood off the pad, ready to jump up and be transported over. Among them were four non-security personnel pressed into the boarding teams, representing the best of those still cross-training. And they all felt it. And all appreciated it.
They weren't the only ones facing these thoughts, of course. From every transporter on the ship, forty people would be going over in total, to ensure they got to their target, and more coming if absolutely necessary.
And every one of them felt fear. And every one of them knew the stakes, and was ready to face that fear, and their mortality, to save the captives from the horrifying fate awaiting them in Eubian space. For many of them, this was what they'd signed up for, and for the others, it was part of the job, and they held pride in doing that job, whatever ship they were on.
On the bridge monitor, the icon representing their target blinked closer to the location of the Maimonides… as did the other icon, the ship coming out to meet their target. Was it a rendezvous already arranged? Or had the slavers detected the Maimonides and sent reinforcements just in case they managed an intercept?
These thoughts filled Nasira in the final moments before everything kicked into gear. Then her attention was solely on the mission.
"Engineering reports full power to warp systems, standing by for field generation," Tasina said from her station.
"Graviton relay completed, channeling gravitons into the field emitters in the nacelles," added Oparan.
"Phasers are on standby, capacitors charged," Rodrigo said from tactical. "Torpedo launchers loaded." He alone turned back to look at Nasira. "I've got my firing plan ready."
Nasira knew what he meant, and nodded. "As soon as we drag them out of hyperspace, let them have it."
The time those remarks took brought them to the final five seconds. Treepk was the one to maintain the countdown to field generation, and she did so with a quiet calm.
One moment the Maimonides was sitting quiet in space, her nacelles still in optimum warp field configuration. The next moment the nacelles surged with light, as if the ship were going back to warp. But it didn't move. The field simply held for a second or two, at which time it promptly collapsed.
For a brief moment Nasira feared it'd been all for nothing, that all they'd accomplished was knocking out their own warp systems.
Then there was a flash of light on the holo-viewer, and a ship seemed to appear from nowhere in a blink-and-you'll-miss it blur that ended with it stopped before them.
No, not one ship. Two, with a smaller, long vessel caught in a claw suspended from the belly of the larger.
"Firing!" Rodrigo cried out, his fingers already hitting the firing keys for both of his weapon systems.
For the first time the Starship Maimonides fired her weapons in anger, and not in the manner expected, for she was not defending herself from aggression, but defending others. Amber light cut into the other ship like a series of scalpels, slicing through partially-armored hull to disable power conduits and other systems within. The biggest beam cut cleanly through one of the big visible cannon turrets built into the "chin" of the opposing ship.
At the same moment the phasers began slicing into their foe, the Maimonides' forward torpedo launcher fired a full spread. Six blue-white sparks of light, representing the drive fields propelling the naqia-enhanced warheads of the torpedoes, raced through the thousands of kilometers of space between the two ships. They struck home on the belly of the ship. Two were "misses", in that they hit well forward of what Rodrigo was aiming at. Another was a complete miss, flying off into space beyond.
Three hit home, slamming into the claw, and utterly devastating it.
The blasts bathed the captive Zhan Qian in energy. There was no atmosphere to generate a blast wave, but the particle waves sent off by the warheads nevertheless transferred raw force to the Psi Corps transport, pushing it away from its captor and the mangled claw that once held it prisoner.
Nasira was so focused on the fire, and its effects, that she didn't immediately acknowledge Oparan when he called out, "Beaming now!" The ship's four transporter stations went into action, each sending a team of six people to the Zhang Qian. The moment those people finished beaming, the next group came up and did the same.
The third team was beaming over when the element of surprise began to fade. Whoever was manning the tactical or gunnery station on the slaver cruiser reacted. A deflector shield went up around the ship, stopping Rodrigo's strikes from continuing to cut the ship up. Said deflectors were not wide enough to block the Zhang Qian, so the team made it over, but they were quickly followed up with a burst of plasma fire at the relatively-stationary Maimonides.
Rodrigo was raising shields, but the first plasma pulse got through first, crashing into the Maimonides' bow at Deck 3. The ship's hull was not equipped with self-repair systems, nor with the higher quality armoring that a full star cruiser would enjoy, and it could not stop the blast from blowing open a hole in the hull. The entire ship shuddered at its wound and the strain of the other shots against the Maimonides' deflectors. On the bridge Oparan gave the report on the damage. "Hull breach on Deck 3, Section A. Shields down to eighty percent."
"Evasive maneuvers, Plan Echo!" Nasira ordered, and Latamrilam sent the Maimonides into a high-powered turn and maneuver away from the slaver ship with as great an acceleration as the ship's impulsors could manage.
"Maintaining firing pattern," Rodrigo said, his phasers now producing nothing but the flaring of ruby energy from the other ship.
"Captain, that ship's shielding… it's not Coserian or Cevaucian as expected," Treepk said. "The energy pattern is consistent with Reich shield technology."
"File that for transmission to Portland, and keep an eye on that incoming ship!" Nasira cried out. Good luck, Wendy, Dr. Meier, she thought. It's up to you now, and to the grace of God.