Read Online The Ascendant Stars by Michael Cobley - Free Book Online
Authors: Michael Cobley
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operators in visored headgear and interface gauntlets sat in a ring of back-tilted couches. Angled holoscreens were projected above them, opaque windows busy with images and symbol patterns, a blurring datadance. And on a raised dais by the edge of the virtual operators’ pit was a low-backed swivel chair flanked by moreholoscreens. Its occupant turned as the lieutenant led Kao Chih over.
‘Welcome to Bridge Operations, Envoy,’ said Admiral Zhylinsky. He was a burly, grey-haired man with terrible searing on the left of his face and an ocular implant where his left eye had been. According to Kubaczyk, he lost it twenty years ago during one of the many system battles then fought against Earthsphere attempts to disrupt governance of the Vox Humana worlds.
Kao Chih gave a short, polite bow of the head and Zhylinsky waved the lieutenant away with one hand. The other held a pointer device.
‘Captain Kubaczyk speaks highly of you,’ the admiral went on. ‘He says that your comm-link coordination was crucial to the smoothness of the evac, and that without your negotiation skills several misunderstandings could have turned ugly.’
‘The captain is too kind,’ Kao Chih said. ‘But there are others who easily put in as much effort as I who also deserve praise.’
‘I saw mention of other names,’ the admiral said. ‘But due recognition of their part will have to wait. Right now, we have a potential situation developing.’
‘A serious situation, sir?’
‘Our Roug allies seem to think so. Three ships are heading this way from well outside the system, moving in Tier 1 at high transit kinesis. Our sensors don’t have that kind of reach so we are relying on a feed from the
Syroga
.’
Zhylinsky used his pointer to highlight a schematic on the main holoscreen before him, bringing it to the front. It showed the local star system, the sun and its four orbiting planets, one of which was tagged with four familiar ship names. The perspective then zoomed out and three new symbols came into view, closely clustered and moving steadily towards the Pyre system.
‘Mandator Reen for you, Admiral,’ said a silky, resonant voice.
‘Thank you, Ino. I’ll take it here.’
The holoplane scarcely flickered as the layers of data were replaced by the head-and-shoulders image of a Roug. In commonwith all members of his species, Mandator Reen had a spindly physique, a narrow neck widening to a slightly conical head, and garments resembling tightly wound strips of dark, coppery-brown material that left no area uncovered apart from bulbous meshes covering the eyes and mouth. All an illusion, Kao Chih knew, a form secretly adapted by the shapeshifting Roug for their long-term purposes.
‘Admiral Zhylinsky,’ the Roug said in a rough, papery voice. ‘Are all your intercept craft berthed and secure?’
‘We are awaiting confirmation of that from the
Viteazul
, Mandator,’ said Zhylinsky as he studied a dataframe on one of his other holoplanes. ‘In fact … yes, that is the last Marauder clamped and sealed.’
‘Good. The navigational subsystems we installed are harmonised and course information has been encoded. You may commence departure jump to Tier 1 when ready, Admiral.’
‘With pleasure, Mandator,’ said Zhylinsky. ‘Ino, execute.’
The Roug’s image vanished from the holoplane. Kao Chih scarcely felt the hyperdrive transition, and found himself recalling his part in the hyperspace pursuit of the Tygran flagship,
Chaxothal
, that vertiginous plummet through yawning gulfs of chaotic energy and tormented light. He shivered.
‘Tier 1 kinetic state achieved,’ said that pure, resonant voice which Kao Chih suddenly realised had to be the ship’s command AI.
Up on his dais, the admiral stared at the data on his holopanel and muttered something under his breath. Then Mandator Reen reappeared.
‘They have altered course,’ Zhylinsky said. ‘But there seems to be a discontinuity in the trace.’
‘The pursuers
‘Welcome to Bridge Operations, Envoy,’ said Admiral Zhylinsky. He was a burly, grey-haired man with terrible searing on the left of his face and an ocular implant where his left eye had been. According to Kubaczyk, he lost it twenty years ago during one of the many system battles then fought against Earthsphere attempts to disrupt governance of the Vox Humana worlds.
Kao Chih gave a short, polite bow of the head and Zhylinsky waved the lieutenant away with one hand. The other held a pointer device.
‘Captain Kubaczyk speaks highly of you,’ the admiral went on. ‘He says that your comm-link coordination was crucial to the smoothness of the evac, and that without your negotiation skills several misunderstandings could have turned ugly.’
‘The captain is too kind,’ Kao Chih said. ‘But there are others who easily put in as much effort as I who also deserve praise.’
‘I saw mention of other names,’ the admiral said. ‘But due recognition of their part will have to wait. Right now, we have a potential situation developing.’
‘A serious situation, sir?’
‘Our Roug allies seem to think so. Three ships are heading this way from well outside the system, moving in Tier 1 at high transit kinesis. Our sensors don’t have that kind of reach so we are relying on a feed from the
Syroga
.’
Zhylinsky used his pointer to highlight a schematic on the main holoscreen before him, bringing it to the front. It showed the local star system, the sun and its four orbiting planets, one of which was tagged with four familiar ship names. The perspective then zoomed out and three new symbols came into view, closely clustered and moving steadily towards the Pyre system.
‘Mandator Reen for you, Admiral,’ said a silky, resonant voice.
‘Thank you, Ino. I’ll take it here.’
The holoplane scarcely flickered as the layers of data were replaced by the head-and-shoulders image of a Roug. In commonwith all members of his species, Mandator Reen had a spindly physique, a narrow neck widening to a slightly conical head, and garments resembling tightly wound strips of dark, coppery-brown material that left no area uncovered apart from bulbous meshes covering the eyes and mouth. All an illusion, Kao Chih knew, a form secretly adapted by the shapeshifting Roug for their long-term purposes.
‘Admiral Zhylinsky,’ the Roug said in a rough, papery voice. ‘Are all your intercept craft berthed and secure?’
‘We are awaiting confirmation of that from the
Viteazul
, Mandator,’ said Zhylinsky as he studied a dataframe on one of his other holoplanes. ‘In fact … yes, that is the last Marauder clamped and sealed.’
‘Good. The navigational subsystems we installed are harmonised and course information has been encoded. You may commence departure jump to Tier 1 when ready, Admiral.’
‘With pleasure, Mandator,’ said Zhylinsky. ‘Ino, execute.’
The Roug’s image vanished from the holoplane. Kao Chih scarcely felt the hyperdrive transition, and found himself recalling his part in the hyperspace pursuit of the Tygran flagship,
Chaxothal
, that vertiginous plummet through yawning gulfs of chaotic energy and tormented light. He shivered.
‘Tier 1 kinetic state achieved,’ said that pure, resonant voice which Kao Chih suddenly realised had to be the ship’s command AI.
Up on his dais, the admiral stared at the data on his holopanel and muttered something under his breath. Then Mandator Reen reappeared.
‘They have altered course,’ Zhylinsky said. ‘But there seems to be a discontinuity in the trace.’
‘The pursuers
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