Read Online Test of Mettle (A Captain's Crucible Book 2) by Isaac Hooke - Free Book Online
Authors: Isaac Hooke
Tags: Science-Fiction, Thrillers, Space Opera, Military, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, alien invasion, Thrillers & Suspense, Technothrillers, Metaphysical & Visionary, Exploration, Space Exploration, first contact, Galactic Empire, Space Fleet, Colonization
Ads: Link
crew could be engaged in a life or death struggle beyond the Gate at that very moment. The thought made every second of waiting an unbearable agony. He almost retracted his previous order, and was ready to send the fleet through at full speed. But he reminded himself not to second guess his choices.
Stick to your decisions. There is no guarantee Rail is fighting anything over there. Or that we would even be able to help her if we went through now.
He could feel the palpable tension in the air as the other members of the crew also shifted in their seats, obviously battling similar nerves. The captain continued to stare at the countdown on his aReal, and although he urged the seconds to tick down faster, those twenty minutes proved to be the longest of his life.
Finally the timer hit zero.
“All right,” Jonathan said. “Looks like she’s not coming back. Tell the fleet to advance, Miko. Quarter thrust. Be ready to open fire on my mark.”
The ships accelerated toward the Gate in succession. The Aurelia traversed. Then the Dagger.
The Callaway approached.. .
Jonathan watched the external feed from the nose as his prized starship passed through the distortion in space time. When the wormhole seized hold of the ship, the constellations and star patterns abruptly changed, reflecting the Callaway’s new absolute location in the galaxy.
He was taken aback by what he saw.
Or rather, the lack thereof.
eight
J onathan stared at the external feed. The Aurelia and Dagger floated in front of the ship. The Salvador lurked beyond them, appearing little bigger than a star in the distance—he only knew it was there because of the aReal. According to the tactical display, the comm drone was still intact, roughly three klicks off the port bow, twenty-five degrees declination. The two other telemetry drones the Marley had launched were similar distances away.
There was no return Gate.
“Well, at least we know what the problem was,” Robert said.
The Grimm, Marley, and Maelstrom arrived in sequence behind the Callaway .
“Helm, continue accelerating from the Slipstream endpoint,” Jonathan said. “Full power. Miko, relay the order to the fleet. Let’s put some distance between ourselves and that wormhole. Lewis, are we receiving any pings from the Prius 3 comm nodes?”
“No. There’s...” She hesitated. “There’s something wrong, Captain.”
“What is it, Ensign?”
Lewis looked at him. “Prius 3 is a three planet system around a single Class K star. However, we appear to be located on the outskirts of a binary star system, with seven planets currently showing up on passive sensors. No signs of habitation.”
“What?” Jonathan stiffened. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, Captain,” Lewis said. “At first I thought there was a problem with our sensors. I’ve been in touch with my equivalents aboard our sister ships. They’ve confirmed my readings. We’re definitely not in Prius 3.”
“Then where the hell are we?”
“I ran the surrounding constellation and star patterns into the system, looking for any matches to the telescope data we’ve archived from different colonies and space flights. No matches. So I’m having Maxwell run an extrapolation algorithm to try to figure out our exact coordinates. The AI is also probing the entrance to confirm that the return journey would take us to Vega 951.”
There was a way to estimate the endpoint from the opposite side of a Slipstream with surprising accuracy. The method involved measuring, among other parameters, the redshift and gravitational lensing of the star patterns at the wormhole’s entrance. Jonathan hadn’t even thought to have the scientists run that test from the previous side, as Slipstream endpoints were supposed to be immutable.
“Evidently you were right,” Jonathan told Robert. “The aliens did in fact tinker with the Slipstream. Just not in the way you thought.”
“No. I wasn’t expecting them to alter the
Stick to your decisions. There is no guarantee Rail is fighting anything over there. Or that we would even be able to help her if we went through now.
He could feel the palpable tension in the air as the other members of the crew also shifted in their seats, obviously battling similar nerves. The captain continued to stare at the countdown on his aReal, and although he urged the seconds to tick down faster, those twenty minutes proved to be the longest of his life.
Finally the timer hit zero.
“All right,” Jonathan said. “Looks like she’s not coming back. Tell the fleet to advance, Miko. Quarter thrust. Be ready to open fire on my mark.”
The ships accelerated toward the Gate in succession. The Aurelia traversed. Then the Dagger.
The Callaway approached.. .
Jonathan watched the external feed from the nose as his prized starship passed through the distortion in space time. When the wormhole seized hold of the ship, the constellations and star patterns abruptly changed, reflecting the Callaway’s new absolute location in the galaxy.
He was taken aback by what he saw.
Or rather, the lack thereof.
eight
J onathan stared at the external feed. The Aurelia and Dagger floated in front of the ship. The Salvador lurked beyond them, appearing little bigger than a star in the distance—he only knew it was there because of the aReal. According to the tactical display, the comm drone was still intact, roughly three klicks off the port bow, twenty-five degrees declination. The two other telemetry drones the Marley had launched were similar distances away.
There was no return Gate.
“Well, at least we know what the problem was,” Robert said.
The Grimm, Marley, and Maelstrom arrived in sequence behind the Callaway .
“Helm, continue accelerating from the Slipstream endpoint,” Jonathan said. “Full power. Miko, relay the order to the fleet. Let’s put some distance between ourselves and that wormhole. Lewis, are we receiving any pings from the Prius 3 comm nodes?”
“No. There’s...” She hesitated. “There’s something wrong, Captain.”
“What is it, Ensign?”
Lewis looked at him. “Prius 3 is a three planet system around a single Class K star. However, we appear to be located on the outskirts of a binary star system, with seven planets currently showing up on passive sensors. No signs of habitation.”
“What?” Jonathan stiffened. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, Captain,” Lewis said. “At first I thought there was a problem with our sensors. I’ve been in touch with my equivalents aboard our sister ships. They’ve confirmed my readings. We’re definitely not in Prius 3.”
“Then where the hell are we?”
“I ran the surrounding constellation and star patterns into the system, looking for any matches to the telescope data we’ve archived from different colonies and space flights. No matches. So I’m having Maxwell run an extrapolation algorithm to try to figure out our exact coordinates. The AI is also probing the entrance to confirm that the return journey would take us to Vega 951.”
There was a way to estimate the endpoint from the opposite side of a Slipstream with surprising accuracy. The method involved measuring, among other parameters, the redshift and gravitational lensing of the star patterns at the wormhole’s entrance. Jonathan hadn’t even thought to have the scientists run that test from the previous side, as Slipstream endpoints were supposed to be immutable.
“Evidently you were right,” Jonathan told Robert. “The aliens did in fact tinker with the Slipstream. Just not in the way you thought.”
“No. I wasn’t expecting them to alter the
Similar Books
