Read Online Yorktown: Katana Krieger #1 by Bill Robinson - Free Book Online
Authors: Bill Robinson
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requires him to illegally use the nav telescopes on the ZR to take glossy photos of unphotographed solar systems, which he sells to map makers when he gets home. He thought he saw something in one of them which you might find interesting."
We take it over to the RISTA station where a fascinated McAdams asks him for details, and then has him download his whole photo collection. Meanwhile, she quickly computer enhances the first few.
There's decidedly something in them, or not in them actually: missing stars. Not always missing, missing in the way that stars go missing when large metal objects pass between them and an observer. Missing in one frame, back in the next, as another star further away goes missing. It's a photo sequence of the asteroid field not far from Beta. What's in it is big, hard to tell exactly how big without a reference point, but there is definitely another ship out there, not spherical, and moving toward the mining station as the photos were taken.
There's another photo sequence, this with a smallish sphere we know was Richard headed toward its destruction. My ensign won't even take a guess, but my brain knows the unknown ship is at least cruiser size, and it managed to hide from an extremely competent Lt. Springer until it was too late. Doesn't mean it's necessarily an equal to Yorktown , or even a danger. The commercial ship traveling with Bainbridge was 30 times our size, but with a hull so thin and so unprotected that our 24's would rip it apart in seconds. That's if it can't hide from us.
Still, word spreads, and the laser drills get even more serious.
Then at 2200, we give away our second two day pass.
Petty Officer Quisha Wallace, co-pilot on Ayala's shift, floats on to the bridge and over to Lt. Bass who is nearing the end of his shift. They talk and point at his screens for about 10 minutes before inviting me over.
"What did you find, Petty Officer?" I don't know her well, but from how her dark blue uniform doesn't fit she might be the only one on the ship who understands my pain.
"Sir, I've been going through the data we got on Gamma Omicron 1, and I think I found something."
Bass fixes that last sentence. "She definitely found something, sir."
We play on the computer for another few minutes. It turns out to be the cutest little magnetic anomaly, equatorial, long and narrow, the classic pattern of a crashed ship.
I have Bass stay a little longer, just as Manuel shows up to relieve him, and let Wallace help him program a probe to go learn something useful. After this, my guess is half the crew will get no sleep for a while. I hit my rack, comfortable with the thought that others are not.
First thing in the morning the ship's doctor wins a prize. I'd almost forgotten he was on board, he'd been so invisible. I float onto the bridge at 0800 to relieve Ayala, and there he is floating next to my couch, waiting.
"Captain," Ayala has obviously been listening to him for a while, "Dr. Bonilovich here has something, it's a bit over my head, but worth a listen."
"Thanks, Matt, go get breakfast." I turn to the doctor. "What do you have?"
"I play around with experimental physics when I'm off duty." Ok, he needs to get a life. "I ran a couple experiments on the signal we're getting from Gamma Omicron 1, and I can prove it's a ship's disaster beacon."
"On my screen." I point, he plays with the mouse and keys.
I listen, and am actually about to award him his two day pass when I hear McAdams' voice from three inches behind my left ear.
"Damn that was good."
"I agree Ensign, though next time you might want to give my ear a break when you want to jump into the conversation."
"Sorry Skipper."
"Why don't you take the doctor to your station, and double check everything."
"Aye." They go to work.
Find out later he even helped RISTA score a pass of their own early afternoon by finding electromagnetic and other evidence of a laser battle in orbit around Gamma Omicron 1, including a small debris field.
We take it over to the RISTA station where a fascinated McAdams asks him for details, and then has him download his whole photo collection. Meanwhile, she quickly computer enhances the first few.
There's decidedly something in them, or not in them actually: missing stars. Not always missing, missing in the way that stars go missing when large metal objects pass between them and an observer. Missing in one frame, back in the next, as another star further away goes missing. It's a photo sequence of the asteroid field not far from Beta. What's in it is big, hard to tell exactly how big without a reference point, but there is definitely another ship out there, not spherical, and moving toward the mining station as the photos were taken.
There's another photo sequence, this with a smallish sphere we know was Richard headed toward its destruction. My ensign won't even take a guess, but my brain knows the unknown ship is at least cruiser size, and it managed to hide from an extremely competent Lt. Springer until it was too late. Doesn't mean it's necessarily an equal to Yorktown , or even a danger. The commercial ship traveling with Bainbridge was 30 times our size, but with a hull so thin and so unprotected that our 24's would rip it apart in seconds. That's if it can't hide from us.
Still, word spreads, and the laser drills get even more serious.
Then at 2200, we give away our second two day pass.
Petty Officer Quisha Wallace, co-pilot on Ayala's shift, floats on to the bridge and over to Lt. Bass who is nearing the end of his shift. They talk and point at his screens for about 10 minutes before inviting me over.
"What did you find, Petty Officer?" I don't know her well, but from how her dark blue uniform doesn't fit she might be the only one on the ship who understands my pain.
"Sir, I've been going through the data we got on Gamma Omicron 1, and I think I found something."
Bass fixes that last sentence. "She definitely found something, sir."
We play on the computer for another few minutes. It turns out to be the cutest little magnetic anomaly, equatorial, long and narrow, the classic pattern of a crashed ship.
I have Bass stay a little longer, just as Manuel shows up to relieve him, and let Wallace help him program a probe to go learn something useful. After this, my guess is half the crew will get no sleep for a while. I hit my rack, comfortable with the thought that others are not.
First thing in the morning the ship's doctor wins a prize. I'd almost forgotten he was on board, he'd been so invisible. I float onto the bridge at 0800 to relieve Ayala, and there he is floating next to my couch, waiting.
"Captain," Ayala has obviously been listening to him for a while, "Dr. Bonilovich here has something, it's a bit over my head, but worth a listen."
"Thanks, Matt, go get breakfast." I turn to the doctor. "What do you have?"
"I play around with experimental physics when I'm off duty." Ok, he needs to get a life. "I ran a couple experiments on the signal we're getting from Gamma Omicron 1, and I can prove it's a ship's disaster beacon."
"On my screen." I point, he plays with the mouse and keys.
I listen, and am actually about to award him his two day pass when I hear McAdams' voice from three inches behind my left ear.
"Damn that was good."
"I agree Ensign, though next time you might want to give my ear a break when you want to jump into the conversation."
"Sorry Skipper."
"Why don't you take the doctor to your station, and double check everything."
"Aye." They go to work.
Find out later he even helped RISTA score a pass of their own early afternoon by finding electromagnetic and other evidence of a laser battle in orbit around Gamma Omicron 1, including a small debris field.
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