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Authors: Christopher Nuttall
Tags: Science-Fiction
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space. Civilian drives left their ships unable to return to quantum space until the drive had repowered, leaving them vulnerable to pirates and hostile powers.
“Drive online,” he said. He’d decided to pilot the ship himself, at least for the first voyage. The ship might have been reliable – the Association built to last – but he needed to get a feel for how she operated. Some ships could perform amazing manoeuvres and others had problems making even a tiny course change. “All other ships confirm ready?”
“Everyone says they’re ready,” Karla informed him. He’d had to switch around some of the crews until he found combinations that actually worked, in terms of interpersonal chemistries and styles. He hadn’t told them exactly what they would be doing, but enough had leaked out to give them a good idea. The more greedy of them were already speculating on how wealthy some carefully-targeted piracy could make them – if, of course, they lived long enough to spend it. “Captain?”
Joshua triggered the quantum drive. Space seemed to blur in front of Blackbeard , shimmering into the eerie lights of quantum space. The higher-energy dimension – at least according to the scientists who’d studied what little the Association had told them about quantum space – allowed starships to move at speeds that, in normal space, were many times that of the speed of light. And with their own drives, the Clunker Fleet wouldn't even need its own quantum gates. They could operate completely independently.
“Well,” he said, finally. “Only a month to go until we reach our operations area. And then the fun really begins.”
Chapter Six
It was time.
Admiral Tobias Sampson stood on the bridge of Nimitz and watched as the First Strike Fleet prepared to enter quantum space. Fifteen cruisers, each one more technologically advanced than anything the Hegemony had ever seen, escorted by fifty destroyers, three assault carriers and a small fleet of freighters with military-grade drives. Apart from a handful of officers, no one on the fleet knew where they were really going – or what they were going to do – but they’d responded splendidly. The fleet was ready for war.
He closed his eyes for a long moment, recalling the final meeting between him and the Federation Council. There had been no reason for hope, no reason to believe that the Association would stand up to the Hegemony, no matter what Ambassador Li did on Center. Federation Intelligence had even reported that the Hegemony’s Queens were already dividing up human space between them, ensuring that their clan maintained sole grasp of humanity and the worlds it had developed. There would be war. Two weeks from the moment they entered quantum space, they would reach Terra Nova and start the war.
The thought was chilling. He’d seen war; humanity’s petty fighting on its own planet and a handful of brief brushfires between the Galactics. Many of the fine men and women under his command would die, their bodies vaporised as fusion plants blew, preventing them from being laid to rest on their homeworld. It was even possible that one of the destroyed ships would be Nimitz , that he himself would never return home. Civilian leaders often talked about war as if it was the easy option, but the cost was always high. Tobias had steeled himself to start and fight a war more desperate than any in humanity’s history, yet now part of him wanted to quail. A lost war would be utterly disastrous for the human race. It might mean the end of humanity itself.
But there was no choice. Fight now or fight later, under worse conditions.
He looked over at Captain Kevin Rupert, CO of the teardrop-shaped starship. “Take us into quantum space,” he ordered quietly. Once they were in quantum space, he’d issue the order for the commanding officers to open the sealed orders from the Federation Council, authorising the attack. “It’s time to start
“Drive online,” he said. He’d decided to pilot the ship himself, at least for the first voyage. The ship might have been reliable – the Association built to last – but he needed to get a feel for how she operated. Some ships could perform amazing manoeuvres and others had problems making even a tiny course change. “All other ships confirm ready?”
“Everyone says they’re ready,” Karla informed him. He’d had to switch around some of the crews until he found combinations that actually worked, in terms of interpersonal chemistries and styles. He hadn’t told them exactly what they would be doing, but enough had leaked out to give them a good idea. The more greedy of them were already speculating on how wealthy some carefully-targeted piracy could make them – if, of course, they lived long enough to spend it. “Captain?”
Joshua triggered the quantum drive. Space seemed to blur in front of Blackbeard , shimmering into the eerie lights of quantum space. The higher-energy dimension – at least according to the scientists who’d studied what little the Association had told them about quantum space – allowed starships to move at speeds that, in normal space, were many times that of the speed of light. And with their own drives, the Clunker Fleet wouldn't even need its own quantum gates. They could operate completely independently.
“Well,” he said, finally. “Only a month to go until we reach our operations area. And then the fun really begins.”
Chapter Six
It was time.
Admiral Tobias Sampson stood on the bridge of Nimitz and watched as the First Strike Fleet prepared to enter quantum space. Fifteen cruisers, each one more technologically advanced than anything the Hegemony had ever seen, escorted by fifty destroyers, three assault carriers and a small fleet of freighters with military-grade drives. Apart from a handful of officers, no one on the fleet knew where they were really going – or what they were going to do – but they’d responded splendidly. The fleet was ready for war.
He closed his eyes for a long moment, recalling the final meeting between him and the Federation Council. There had been no reason for hope, no reason to believe that the Association would stand up to the Hegemony, no matter what Ambassador Li did on Center. Federation Intelligence had even reported that the Hegemony’s Queens were already dividing up human space between them, ensuring that their clan maintained sole grasp of humanity and the worlds it had developed. There would be war. Two weeks from the moment they entered quantum space, they would reach Terra Nova and start the war.
The thought was chilling. He’d seen war; humanity’s petty fighting on its own planet and a handful of brief brushfires between the Galactics. Many of the fine men and women under his command would die, their bodies vaporised as fusion plants blew, preventing them from being laid to rest on their homeworld. It was even possible that one of the destroyed ships would be Nimitz , that he himself would never return home. Civilian leaders often talked about war as if it was the easy option, but the cost was always high. Tobias had steeled himself to start and fight a war more desperate than any in humanity’s history, yet now part of him wanted to quail. A lost war would be utterly disastrous for the human race. It might mean the end of humanity itself.
But there was no choice. Fight now or fight later, under worse conditions.
He looked over at Captain Kevin Rupert, CO of the teardrop-shaped starship. “Take us into quantum space,” he ordered quietly. Once they were in quantum space, he’d issue the order for the commanding officers to open the sealed orders from the Federation Council, authorising the attack. “It’s time to start
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