Carpathia IV: Episode 281 - Tracking
Space, NCCS Shadowdancer-A
Aire sat uneasily in his chair, perched upon the end of it, tapping his foot impatiently, rethinking his decision over and over. Each time he came to the same conclusion. It was best to pick up the crew on the planet instead of going after the Vashta runabout. He couldn't leave his crew on the planet, wide open to an assault from the enemy. Aire already contacted Admiral Zhang and all other ships are too far away to help, busy assisting with the evacuation of Polaris Deep. Shadowdancer was alone.
Nalma: I have a line on the course of the Vashta runabout. It appears they're headed directly for the Blood Agony. From what I can tell with this limited data, it's even faster than a regular Vashta ship. I don't think we could catch them in time even if we started off right now.
Aire grumbled, too incensed to respond, since he knew he would explode if he did. Instead, he directed his attention to getting his people off the surface.
Aire: Status of the surface team.
Baal: The last shuttle is lifting off now. Foregoing safety protocols, they should be docked in five minutes.
Aire: Break all the rules. I want them here now.
Kit: I'll relay your orders, Captain.
Aire: Nalma, Baal, we need to get close to the Blood Agony. Find a place to conceal the ship, preferably before it reaches Polaris Deep.
Baal: Any number of planets or moons that could do that. We'll find the best one.
Aire: Teek, finger on the throttle. We're going as soon as the shuttle bay doors are closed.
Teek: Ready, Captain. Just give the word.
Aire had five minutes to wait, an eternity under the circumstances, so he took the opportunity to plan. He wasn't letting Quenya and Sylvar go without a fight, but that would likely mean an infiltration of the Blood Agony. Could they do that? Would Admiral Zhang let him? Many questions and the only way to get answers would be to, first, study the Blood Agony plans.
Aire: Bridge to Engineering.
Minnie: Minnie here, Captain.
Aire: I need an engineer in the conference room to go over Blood Agony plans. Either you or Ramei, whomever you think is best for the job.
Minnie: If this has something to do with Quenya and Sylvar, then I'll come myself. Right away, Captain?
Aire: Yes, I'll meet you in the conference room as soon as the shuttles are docked.
Minnie: I'm on my way.
Conference Room, NCCS Shadowdancer-A
With the shuttles docked, Aire sent all the senior bridge officers to the conference room, all except one. Someone had to stay on the bridge, but he wanted all in the discussion. This was just too important. His solution was to put Joust on the bridge with a tablet so that he could listen. By the time Aire arrived in the conference room, it was already filled with senior bridge officers and Minnie, representing Engineering.
Aire: Right, I don't like to make guesses at times like this, but let's suppose that Quenya and Sylvar are in the brig. Where is that?
Minnie tapped at her controls and a hologram of the Blood Agony appeared over the table.
Minnie wasn't done yet, however, and the hologram rapidly zoomed to the interior, through endless decks and corridors, to a section of tiny rooms and wide hallways.
Minnie: Right here, Captain. Port side, Deck 117, about 12,000 meters from the bow.
Aire: And is there any way we might be able to get in there?
No answers, at least not right away, while those present cast surprised glances at each other.
Trex: Captain, are you really considering breaking into the Blood Agony?
Aire: I'm not letting any possibility go unexplored. Unless we have a way of catching that runabout, this may be our only option.
With a nod, Amenaru started punching data into his console.
Amenaru: I'm using the brig area as a starting point and linking it to all known ways in and out of the ship. Let's see if anything works.
One after another, a squiggly line materialized inside the hologram, each starting from the brig and ending at some exit point. A hangar bay. A cargo hatch. A docking port. Not only was every one of them long, in the realm of kilometers, but they all twisted and turned a hundred times, passing through areas of the ship that would be heavily populated.
Nalma: I really don't like our odds with any of those.
Trex stood and pointed at one of the glowing red slats that ran from the center of the ship to the sides. With a virtual grab with her hand, she zoomed in on it, showing the opening from the outside and the deep cavern penetrating into the ship.
Trex: What are these openings here? It looks like this one runs from the outside all the way down to where the brig is.
Minnie: Those are heat sinks. A ship that big generates a lot of heat and especially when it's firing that black hole weapon.
Trex: Could we go in there? There's no opening to the brig area, but we could cut our way in.
Minnie's eyes widened, her face now full of possibility, as she tapped at her console.
Minnie: Let's see... It's pretty toasty in there. 52 degrees celsius at normal operating temperature. Over 300 when they're charging the weapon, but we shouldn't have to worry about that. According to this, they're oxygenated, so that's a plus. It's a long way in. Ten kilometers from the opening to the back side where the brig is.
Aire: Assuming we go that route, how do we get in there?
Nalma: Our only option would be the car. The Tokkastran design elements are meant to evade sensors and penetrate shields and we confirmed that in our tests on Vashta designs. The problem is, the Blood Agony is moving at Q2.2. The cars only have induction engines. It would be like trying to catch a maglev train with a bicycle.
Amenaru: What if we adapt one of the shuttles? Put the tokki tech from the car into that?
Minnie: That's a no-go. A big part of what gives the car those attributes is the material it's made from. However...
Amenaru: Put quantum engines on the car!
Minnie: Exactly! We could rig up something temporary. After all, it would only need to work for two trips, in and out. I'll bet we could do Q3 or better.
Amenaru: We'll have to upgrade the deflector too.
Minnie: And tear apart the other car to make the materials.
Aire felt just the tiniest bit of hope, the first in a long time, even if this plan only had a small chance of success. He was about to order Minnie and Amenaru to start work on the car when he got a call from Joust.
Joust: Captain, Kit has something important you'll want to see. He's coming up now.
Aire: Understood, Commander.
Just a few seconds later, the conference room door opened and Kit rushed in, making straight for the nearest console station at the conference table, unceremoniously pushing Trex aside. He spoke as he tapped at his screen.
Kit: We're getting a signal from the Blood Agony. Sort of.
Aire: The Hand again? And what do you mean, "sort of"?
Kit: It's not that kind of signal. Let me show you before it goes away again.
The schematic image of the Blood Agony faced away from over the table, replaced by another image, this one a distant view of the same ship, but now with the Vashta runabout visible, still making its way back to its mothership. Curiously, a blinking red light flashed inside the runabout and, as Kit kept working, a green line connecting the runabout to the Blood Agony and finally to the Shadowdancer.
Trex: Either Sylvar or Quenya have figured out a way for us to track them?
Minnie stood and slapped her hands on the table.
Minnie: It's Sylvar! He told me that he programmed his hearing aid to act as a tracker.
Nalma: I heard that too, but there's no way it could work at this distance.
Amenaru: It must tie into the runabout's comm system. That must be why we can't see it all the time. We can only see it when the runabout contacts the Blood Agony.
Minnie: Hopefully, when he gets on the Blood Agony, the signal will be continuous.
Aire: Let's get to work! Minnie, get everyone you can to start modifying the cars. Kit, keep an eye on that signal. Trex, a list of people for the assault team. Nalma, we need a place to launch the car near to the Blood Agony's flight path. Find something. The more options the better. Let's work fast before the Vashta figure out what he's doing. Dismissed.
A rousing chorus of "Yes, Captain!" rang out before everyone bounded out of their chairs and rushed away to tend to their assigned duties.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Colourbrand
Falke2009
