"It's survivable," said Garrett, though mostly to himself.
Morris called up the unit's diagnostic module. It presented a lot of information well beyond his training but several options he did understand.
"Find me some green jolt, Mister Garrett. Twelve cc's."
Garrett's eyes widened at the size of the dose but he complied. Morris desperately wanted Jackson beside him but that wouldn't happen soon. He administered the drug and Harper drifted off to sleep.
"Keep close watch on her, Mister Garrett. Notify Mister Polov and have him apprise Jared of the situation. I'm going to check engineering.
Morris located an emergency locker, pulled out an EVAC and donned it.
A molten, smoldering mess greeted Morris when he cycled into engineering. Not only did the capacitors short, most of them vaporized only to condense on the walls, ceiling and floor. The fusion plant slagged and melted and the starchamber cracked. The catalyst rings showed signs of advanced sublimation. Lubricant and hydraulic fluid hissed and popped and occasionally flamed as it hit hot metal. Morris needed no instruments to know the ship was dead, he only hoped her commander wouldn't follow.
With no worry about any power in the systems Morris conducted what investigation he could. He knew he'd isolated the capacitors as well as everything else but obviously someone manged to gain access to engineering and connect them to the fusion plant and every other isolated system. From there, no doubt, they built up to a tolerance ten load. Then something triggered a discharge. Morris tried to check the monitors but the ones not totally fried yielded no data. Either intense heat or a well-placed thermex charge melted the datacore connected to every one.
After Garrett's repeated and emphatic assurance he'd notify him of any change in Harper's condition Morris cycled outside. He found Polov poking through the prefabs and spraying out fires.
"Everything hooked to the ship was fried, sir."
Morris nodded. "Commander Harper said it was a capacitor short. She's in sickbay and still alive."
Relief washed over Polov. "What do we do now, sir?"
What indeed?
Morris and Polov started assessing damage and noting salvageable items when the second float roared in. Kody jumped out almost before it settled to the ground with Eisley and Harkin close on his heels. The midshipman looked at the ship, then Morris, then back at the ship. He finally reported to Morris and saluted.
"Target team two reporting, sir."
"Relax, Mr. Kody. Commander Harper is alive and in sickbay. I have Mr. Garrett watching her closely. By her report it was a capacitor short. It fried most of the ship and prefabs so we won't be leaving soon."
Tension drained from Kody.
"Thank you, sir," he said, "What do we do now?"
"That would be your decision, Mister Kody. With Commander Harper down command passes to you."
That puzzled Kody. He drew Morris away from the others.
"Sir, Ms. Harper gave me orders last night. She planned to launch the beacon drone while we were away. That's the only reason I went. She told me she enlisted you under Article 27 and specified that you were in command if anything happened to her." Kody checked the others and lowered his voice. "She told me why as well, sir."
Morris nodded tiredly.
"Thank you, Mister Kody." Then a thought occurred to him. "How did you get back here so fast? Did she give you an override key? The rover should have arrived first."
"They'll be here in twenty or less, sir." Kody shifted uncomfortably. "Umm... I don't have a key, sir. Culle knew the transit sequence security override for the traffic computer. He said he could go to prison for even knowing it existed and I took responsibility, sir."
"Don't worry, Mr. Kody. No one will be in trouble for it."
News of the rover's imminent arrival absorbed all of Morris' concentration. He considered taking one of the floats to it to retrieve Jackson but that wouldn't save much time. Then he almost convinced himself to go again.
As soon as the rover arrived Jackson rushed to sickbay. After examining Harper carefully he placed her in stasis.
"She'll live," said Jackson, "She really isn't that badly hurt, all things considered, but more so than I can fix now. Same with Blakeschiff. His stasis pod wasn't connected to anything so he's still good." Jackson sighed hugely. "Tran told me about the 27, Morris. Do you need to talk?"
Morris considered telling the big man everything but second thoughts quashed that.
"I'm sorry, Jared. It isn't my information to give."
"Bloody damned League politicians. Morris, whatever it is you can count on me."
***
Morris regarded the somber group around him. All of them knew he had command and that burden weighed heavily on his shoulders. They all sat in the largest prefab, one with its own airlock, on crates or bits of furniture. They had some power. Morris pulled the simple, small fusion plant from the smaller float, made sure it had plenty of fuel pellets and hooked it into the isolated and patched building. Although it didn't generate a lot of power it would last a long time. While he did that the others gathered as much undamaged equipment as they could from the ship and other prefabs. Morris also managed to assemble a simple air and water purifier so neither of those would be a problem.
"Our situation is this," said Morris, gaining absolute silence, "We are isolated here. The ship is a complete loss as far as taking off is concerned. We have power enough for basic life support, water and air so that's a stable environment. We have a good cache of medical supplies and food but it is limited.
"When the League or Halcyon doesn't receive word from us one of them will send a ship to investigate but I don't know when that will happen. What I intend to do is ground here as hard as we can and wait."
"What about the beacon drone," asked Harkin, "Won't that expedite matters?"
"Commander Harper did not launch the drone," said Morris.
"What," asked Eisley incredulously, "Why?! After everything that went wrong she still didn't launch that frosted thing?"
"Ms. Harper did not share her decisions with me," lied Morris, "I only know it's still parked in orbit."
"Can we launch it?" Polov looked anxious at what Morris' answer might be.
"Not from here." Morris considered that when investigating the ship. "We need a high-density high-resolution extended secure data channel. Those are about seventeen times more complex than standard 'comm or data pipes and the only one we had slagged when the capacitors went. I checked the array and I might be able to salvage some of the peripheral components but the important ones are gone. Unfortunately it's not something I can build from scratch."
The others considered this uneasily.
"What happens when the rations run out," asked Lace.
"Stasis. We have enough field pods for everyone here. If any of you prefer we can freeze you now."
None volunteered.
After a while Rackwell spoke.
"Morris, describe to me what you would need to launch the beacon drone and why you cannot use what we have here."
"Communication is easy," said Morris, "The requirements aren't severe for simple voice. Video and streaming data is harder but not that much. Basic data transfer is only a bit more difficult. Within the ranges we're using we have enough redundant pipe to error-correct over whatever quality we happen to have from second to second.
"Working with something like the drone requires reliable pipe several orders of magnitude greater than our 'comm networks. I'll also have to direct-link to the drone itself because the gensats are only rated to standard GIPS, that's global information and positioning systems, and they don't have the data density or quality required, even if I could mesh them.
"Next is the question of the protocols involved. Because of its nature a beacon drone will only communicate over a secure channel of a particularly high quality, which of itself precludes anything we have here now. The crypto alone chews up more than streaming analysis-quality image data over a sporadic rel
ay with small pipes. I might be able to tear apart eight or nine satellites and build something with a small chance of working but they're in orbit and we're not."
Rackwell considered this.
"Is the methodology you need particularly advanced?"
Morris sighed inwardly. Rackwell had his teeth around an idea again.
"More so than I can patch together here, Dr. Rackwell. Other than that, no."
"In that case I may know where we can find the requisite components."
Morris and the others stared at him.
"In every recorded instance," said Rackwell, "Imperial strongpoints always contain the most advanced communication and sensor equipment available throughout the Imperium."
***
Morris didn't know how long he sat silent. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but would it be possible?
The frequencies would be nowhere close but he could adjust them. He'd need a massive array but size didn't really matter since the underlying principles hadn't changed. As Rackwell said advance bases meant advanced technology and no recorded colonies or trade routes around this one meant very late Imperium, possibly even after the Collapse started. That made the technology here the most advanced in the Imperium. He'd also need power but he had the other float and the rover. He also had a fair stock of parts salvaged from the ship as well as the equipment in the buildings.
Awareness seeped in slowly and Morris saw the others staring intently at him.
"Well," asked Lace.
"I don't know if it will work," he said, "but I don't know it won't and it's certainly worth trying. Besides, we might as well accomplish something while we're here."
The others voiced approval at this. Morris decided that possible or not they would work on it. They would all work on it until lack of rations drove them into stasis. Better that than sitting around brooding.
Morris sat at the terminal and watched the image build, fractal by fractal. The camp had LOS to the nearest scanner and he now cared about nothing but an entrance. Early scans verified the installation, now they needed access to it. The direct connection was abysmally slow but the gensats balked when he tried a wide-pipe relay.
Morris found several potential entrances, one not far from the scanner site. Unfortunately most of the area around it and the base was wrinkled with mountains which made its usefulness problematic. Nonetheless it did at least provide a starting point: they would use it!
Morris lay back on his bunk, unable to sleep. The others made soft, semi-wakeful sounds around him. Lace and Polov salvaged and improvised partitions so each of them had a private space but none of the flimsy dividers reached the ceiling. Morris found that comforting.
By cold nightfall second thoughts began chewing on him. With the lights dim and no one else around technological feasibility seemed more distant than what he'd thought before. Morris turned his thoughts to the saboteur among them.
Morris didn't deceive himself: the traitor outmaneuvered him, truth and pure. Nor did he soft-coat the evidence he mulled. Though sparse, he still had ample evidence of what happened. The saboteur connected the capacitors to the weakened fusion plant, the power net and possibly even the thalyssium grid in the hull. With the ship's computers compromised or neutralized it wouldn't be difficult to cover that evidence along with the slowly-overloading system. Most likely Harper triggered the trap when she tried to contact the beacon drone. The resulting power surge blasted through all the ordinary safeties, wrecked the ship and injured her.
That left Morris with only the saboteur. He could almost admire the elegance of how the systems failed. With none of them alive to talk it would be ruled a tragic accident. Intelligence, whether League or Halcyon, might suspect differently they'd have a hard time proving it. Suspicion would flare and erode the alliance between the two governments, not much but not a little either. Then someone else could move in and take over the site.
Morris toyed with the idea of Rackwell as his suspect but discarded it immediately. He knew Halcyon wanted credit for discovering the site as well as the right to develop it and he knew just as solidly that the League would allow that, provided Halcyon would accept funding and assistance. Rackwell knew that.
A more comforting thought occurred to Morris in the reason the saboteur left the rest of them alive. He or she still had to operate within the bounds of accident and chance or risk someone leaving a record otherwise. Before he went to bed Morris recorded his suspicions using both Harper's crypto and a Guild key. Only the League Navy and a Guild Arbiter together could break it.
As far as opening the Imperial base Lace scored a treasure ship in the form of a sealed crate of biogel tubes and another of bioanalysis gear. That would allow them to thoroughly test the interior atmosphere for biochemical agents.
An anomalous sound drew Morris' attention. Slowly, quietly he rose and crept toward it. Before his second step he realized he had his laser in hand, safety off and ready to fire.
Crystal Delroy sat at the computer in the main area with her personal terminal hooked into it. Between Morris, Garrett and Jackson they salvaged enough computer gear to assemble a unit sufficient for their needs. Then, with Morris' assurance that no dangerous power levels remained within the ship everyone retrieved what they could of the equipment within the ship and their personal possessions.
Delroy looked unhappy with what she saw on the terminal. Morris saw only a pair of interlaced three-dimensionally complex structures but not so Delroy. She furiously manipulated one of them but the other refused to change. Then Morris noticed something else.
Delroy had a satellite uplink active.
Chapter 14. The Revelation
"Technician."
Morris opened his eyes to Kody standing over him.
"It's time, sir."
The others gathered around the main table. Morris noticed the area nearly matched the layout of the lounge. Garrett portioned out rations and someone brewed chog.
Everyone would go. Morris could think of no reason to leave anyone behind, not one he could tell, and that very unspoken reason also dictated that he not. Rackwell, still shaky on his feet, probably should have stayed but Morris could not deny the excitement in the man's face. No, they would all go.
Morris sat in the secondary position as Jackson guided the rover. He opted against taking the float because of the rover's more rugged construction and, irrationally, because he didn't want that much emptiness between himself and the ground. As he drove Jackson occasionally dropped the pushblade to help clear out a road. They decided to make the trip in two stages: base to scanner site and from there to the presumed entrance. With part of that trail already cleared they could move faster.
After they reached the scanner site Jackson swapped with Morris. Harkin moved beside Morris and Jackson moved to the back. Built for eight people with room, ten left the rover feeling quite crowded. Fortunately they had a bonus seat in the form of a forward turret mount. Ordinarily a mission specialist or equipment operator sat there, now they just used it as an extra seat. When Jackson started snoring Garrett volunteered to ride in the cargo hold for the return trip.
By the time Morris tired Jackson woke and spelled him. Morris went back and sat between Eisley and Kody, dozing fitfully until the rover stopped.
Before them Morris saw an impressive mountain with more behind it. Though overgrown the semi-clearing in which the rover sat had an artificial look to it. The base of the mountain opened into a cave easily large enough for the rover to traverse.
"Supply route," opined Jackson, "Looks like this was a building complex or town. We almost have a road straight into that cave."
"That's good," said Morris, "but do we have a place to put the camp?"
In response Jackson lowered the blade and cleared an area.
"We do indeed have a place to put the camp," he grinned.
Their camp consisted of five good-sized bubble tents arranged around a portable air and water purifier. While Morris connected it to the rover's fusio
n plant Kody ran a hose to a nearby stream. The others had the tents deployed in short order. Morris designated one tent for supplies and posted Kody there. Lace, Eisley and Delroy took one tent, Garrett and Harkin another, Rackwell and Jackson the one closest to the rover leaving the last for Morris and Polov.
Morris checked the purifier. It had a small internal battery and that had charged enough to run the thing for almost an hour so they decided to explore the cave. Not far past the entrance it showed definite signs of artificial shaping. The natural rough taper widened and turned smooth. They also saw evidence of fixtures on the walls and ceiling, likely lighting or security apparatus. By close examination Morris saw what could have been tracks worn into the floor.
Just over halfway to the mass that was the actual site their journey stopped. The tunnel either collapsed or faulted; their road came to a sudden cliff. They exited the rover to examine it.
"Looks like seven to ten meters," said Jackson, "and it's definitely a vertical shift. See the tracks continuing forward? We're not getting the rover in there."
"We have a ladder," said Rackwell, "Is it long enough?"
"We have several," said Morris, "And yes, they are."
Morris and Garrett assembled the ladder, actually a sturdy apparatus meant for anchoring, and Jackson used the lifter to put it in place. Morris anchored the top solidly to the stone, descended and anchored the bottom as well. Jackson followed him down with a lightstaff and the two of them walked forward. After most of a kilometer the tunnel sloped unsteadily upward at which point the tunnel resumed.
"Go or go back," asked Jackson.
"Go back. There's one thing I really want to do."
When the two of them walked back Garrett and Harkin waited at the bottom of the ladder. Lace descended at Morris' call with the biogel and analyzer.
"Of course I'll go," she said, "It isn't that hard to set up but I'd rather me do it than you."
"Stay in touch, sir," said Garrett.
"We have holocasters active," said Morris, "If anything happens you'll probably know before we do."
Walking the rest of the tunnel took a lot longer than driving would but none of them minded. They knew they arrived when they came to a solid wall with a massive metal door set into it. Lace examined it closely and pointed her handscanner at it, then gave a long whistle.