Countdown by John Walker (feel good fiction books txt) 📗

of a fighter. It was square with three legs per side, each terminating in sharp points. Panels had been removed but as far as Harcourt could tell, the internals remained intact.

“This doesn’t look like anything I’ve researched before,” Harcourt said. “It’s definitely a new design. Trenik?”

“I agree.” Trenik scanned it, peering at the screen for several moments. “This is basically a high-powered transmitter. This…” He pointed at a section in the center, “houses an ether core. That helps power it.” Moving to the other side, he crouched by one of the edges. “These legs are not merely attachments.”

Harcourt joined him, checking the scan. “They’re an interface.”

Trenik nodded. “You’ve seen this before in our reflective armor, yes?”

“Yeah.” Harcourt turned to Nina. “What he’s referring to is a technology in some of their ships. They have armor which, through contact with the hull, can interface with different terminals throughout their vessel. This allows them to reinforce the shields in specific places. Think of it as… configurable emitters. For lack of a better explanation.”

“I see.” Nina clasped her hands behind her back. “So what was this interfacing with?”

“The hyperdrive,” Trenik replied. “It receives a signal, sends a message to the drive, shuts it down. Contrary to our initial assessment, it’s a surprisingly safe process because it uses the drive itself to make it happen.” He paused as something popped up on his scanner. “Oh my. Look at this.”

Harcourt leaned close. There appeared to be some kind of computer onboard with a reasonably sized memory. It buffered the signal sent to it along with an ID signature. “Why would they allow that to happen?” He asked. “What would be the point?”

“Likely to ensure that the signal it received was authentic,” Trenik replied, “rather than an accident from your own vessel. More to the point, however, this has a designator. I can track this back to the source. Whatever ship or station sent the signal, I can find it. I am not sure what good it would do… but it is an option.”

“Do it,” Nina said. “I’d love to know.”

“Are you thinking it might be their homeworld?” Harcourt asked. “Or something else?”

“It’s all academic anyway,” Nina replied. “But interesting information nonetheless.” She backed away. “This ship is coming with us to the conflict. I’m authorized to leave you here if you want to work on this together. I just have to let the commander of the vessel know. Is that your preference?”

Harcourt nodded then turned to Trenik. “Right?”

“Correct. This is a better use of our time than being locked up in a room on your ship.”

“Just be prepared to talk when we get there,” Nina headed for the door, “to save the people that aren’t fighting.”

“She is a hard woman,” Trenik said. “I am not entirely sure why she’s so angry. War means death. It’s hardly worthwhile to be so upset.”

“Humans get bent out of shape when their friends die,” Harcourt replied. “Anyway, let’s focus. This thing might have some more clues. We’d better introduce ourselves around here if we want to get any help with tracing that signal though. And to receive any help with tools that we might need.”

“Yes. We better hurry too. Once the fighting starts, no one will want to listen to our findings.”

“Excellent point.” Harcourt turned to one of the guards. “Can you get us the chief engineer? We’d like to introduce ourselves.” He turned back to the device. Now… where do we start? I guess with the computer. Should be similar to the ones we’ve seen before. I might as well dive in.

***

Noah arrived on the bridge as the Confed fleet emerged from hyperspace. They’d rendezvous in less than two hours. Dorian let everyone know they were already plotting the best course to get to their destination. In just two and a half hours, they’d be on their way to what promised to be a final battle with the ervas.

Several things weighed on his mind as he stared at the viewscreen. He wanted to know if Zem found Rita. No one had heard from Borden’s ship since it left Gallik so they remained a loose end. Then there was the bit about the war dog… Mac… and the relationship they shared though only one of them likely knew it.

I can’t risk his efficiency by bringing it up.

Noah thought to go down to talk to Mac about the memories while they had downtime. He worried it might bring about a true psychotic episode, not like the one where he took over the ship but something more akin to Caesar, the one that kept people as slaves.

There will be time later.

But Noah didn’t believe that. Even if they succeeded in the assault, even if they swept the planet and won the battle, he doubted he and Mac would have another chance to chat meaningfully. This fight would be the last time war dogs were used in battle. The fact so many had been brought out of storage worried him.

They can’t possibly control all of them.

Noah wasn’t entirely sure what they were going to do with them all. He only knew that one of the battleship captains had them all ready to deploy. Each vessel had one as well in the same capacity as Mac… to provide tactical analysis and assistance against the ervas.

All the information they compiled on the aliens had been made available. Shortly after engaging their systems, they’d be fed the data to keep them focused and on task. Rather than allowing them to consider the possibility of violence or some other form of revolt, they needed to have a reason to be on.

A chance to inflict violence upon an enemy.

Captain Gaston Ledieu commanded the ship with the war dog contingency. Noah sent him a private text message asking if he had any special orders with the devices.