Read Online TFS Theseus: The Terran Fleet Command Saga – Book 2 by Tori Harris - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tori Harris
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information,” Naftur began. “The first thing I would like to do is provide you with some background information regarding the so-called ‘Pelaran Resistance’ task force. While there is a certain degree of supposition involved, I have a general idea of the makeup of their forces. Assuming my guesses are largely accurate, I believe I can offer you some idea of their military capabilities as well as their most likely strategy for conducting an attack on Terra.”
“That information alone will leave us deeply in your debt, Admiral.”
“Unfortunately, Admiral Sexton, the challenges your world faces at the moment are manifold,” he replied in a mournful, guttural tone. “It is my hope, however, that we may yet be able to locate the Resistance warships while they are still in the process of assembling their forces. If we can do so, I believe I may have some hope of averting the attack altogether.”
“I have no doubt of your sincerity, Admiral Naftur,” White began, “but surely these vessels could be just about anywhere. How could you possibly hope to locate their staging area?”
“It would seem so, Admiral White, but this is one of the few circumstances that fall in our favor at the moment. The majority of ships the Resistance is likely to have at their disposal have been commandeered from regions of Sajeth Collective space where the threat of military action is minimal. In many cases, these are older ships nearing the end of their service lifespans, but still useful for missions such as regional patrol or what you might refer to as ‘peacekeeping.’ Please do not misunderstand the intent of my words here. What these ships lack where modern propulsion or shielding systems are concerned, they more than make up for in terms of raw firepower. In the hands of a competent task force commander, these vessels represent a serious threat, particularly when paired with the command and control systems available on the more modern vessels. Make no mistake, the combined resources of this task force are more than capable of mounting a truly devastating attack on Terra. Having said all of that, when most of these vessels were constructed, the state of the art in hyperspace navigation was much less advanced than it is today. At the time, Wek starships relied on standardized navigational pathways defined by a variety of stellar phenomena such as the X-ray emissions from pulsars. This provided the accuracy they needed to avoid unfortunate events … transitioning from hyperspace within the interior of a star, for example.”
Although never actually employed as a primary means of navigation on Terran spacecraft, the idea that the clock-like regularity of pulsar emissions could be used in such a way had occurred to Humans as well. During the late twentieth century, Pioneer 10 and 11 as well as both Voyager space probes included a pulsar-based “we are here” map. The drawing featured fifteen lines from a common origin, fourteen of which included binary representations of the unique emissions from specific pulsars. The length of each of the fourteen lines provided the relative distance from each pulsar to Sol, while the fifteenth line indicated Sol’s distance to the center of the galaxy. A number of scientists had argued that providing a road map to our homeworld might eventually turn out to be a bad idea. Physicist Stephen Hawking was even quoted as saying that an alien visit to Earth would have likely resulted in an outcome similar to Christopher Columbus landing in America … which hadn’t turned out very well for the Native Americans.
“So are you saying that these vessels are forced to follow somewhat predictable flight paths?” Sexton asked.
“With an understanding of how their navigation systems were designed as well as the stellar cartography of the region near the destination, yes. A few of these older vessels will likely be traveling to the rally point alone. Since the Sajeth Collective assumes that your
“That information alone will leave us deeply in your debt, Admiral.”
“Unfortunately, Admiral Sexton, the challenges your world faces at the moment are manifold,” he replied in a mournful, guttural tone. “It is my hope, however, that we may yet be able to locate the Resistance warships while they are still in the process of assembling their forces. If we can do so, I believe I may have some hope of averting the attack altogether.”
“I have no doubt of your sincerity, Admiral Naftur,” White began, “but surely these vessels could be just about anywhere. How could you possibly hope to locate their staging area?”
“It would seem so, Admiral White, but this is one of the few circumstances that fall in our favor at the moment. The majority of ships the Resistance is likely to have at their disposal have been commandeered from regions of Sajeth Collective space where the threat of military action is minimal. In many cases, these are older ships nearing the end of their service lifespans, but still useful for missions such as regional patrol or what you might refer to as ‘peacekeeping.’ Please do not misunderstand the intent of my words here. What these ships lack where modern propulsion or shielding systems are concerned, they more than make up for in terms of raw firepower. In the hands of a competent task force commander, these vessels represent a serious threat, particularly when paired with the command and control systems available on the more modern vessels. Make no mistake, the combined resources of this task force are more than capable of mounting a truly devastating attack on Terra. Having said all of that, when most of these vessels were constructed, the state of the art in hyperspace navigation was much less advanced than it is today. At the time, Wek starships relied on standardized navigational pathways defined by a variety of stellar phenomena such as the X-ray emissions from pulsars. This provided the accuracy they needed to avoid unfortunate events … transitioning from hyperspace within the interior of a star, for example.”
Although never actually employed as a primary means of navigation on Terran spacecraft, the idea that the clock-like regularity of pulsar emissions could be used in such a way had occurred to Humans as well. During the late twentieth century, Pioneer 10 and 11 as well as both Voyager space probes included a pulsar-based “we are here” map. The drawing featured fifteen lines from a common origin, fourteen of which included binary representations of the unique emissions from specific pulsars. The length of each of the fourteen lines provided the relative distance from each pulsar to Sol, while the fifteenth line indicated Sol’s distance to the center of the galaxy. A number of scientists had argued that providing a road map to our homeworld might eventually turn out to be a bad idea. Physicist Stephen Hawking was even quoted as saying that an alien visit to Earth would have likely resulted in an outcome similar to Christopher Columbus landing in America … which hadn’t turned out very well for the Native Americans.
“So are you saying that these vessels are forced to follow somewhat predictable flight paths?” Sexton asked.
“With an understanding of how their navigation systems were designed as well as the stellar cartography of the region near the destination, yes. A few of these older vessels will likely be traveling to the rally point alone. Since the Sajeth Collective assumes that your
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