Post by Lorpius Prime on May 22, 2010 0:42:52 GMT -5
Fortunately, Xi Feng's quarters weren't far from the bridge. She'd been in bed reading when the alarm sounded, but was on the bridge less than five minutes later. Her hair was a loose mess, but she had a band in her pocket and could tie it down once she was strapped into her chair.
Hiram Wade, the XO, dutifully pulled himself up and over to his usual station as she approached.
"All right, Commander, what's happening?" She sat down a little forcefully, but bore the pain and focused on strapping down.
"Large unidentified object," he shunted a navigational plot over to her monitor. "It's still a ways out, but it's on an intercept course with the Diligence, and we think it's accelerating."
Xi Feng nodded, "All right, I have the bridge. Let's get the rest of the Task Force on alert, too. Tell them to be ready for maneuvers in…" she took in the information from the monitor, "let's say ten minutes."
"Aye, sir," her comm officer acknowledged.
"Lieutenant Sarkisian," she said to the sensor officer, "I'd like to test the theory that this is a powered object. Assuming the rate of acceleration doesn't change much, how many degrees of arc do you need to see it move through before you feel sure."
"Uh," the Lieutenant looked up at the ceiling as she thought quickly. "Anything more than five degrees and I'd have high confidence. That's assuming you want a conclusion within an hour or two."
"As expediently as possible, yes."
"Then yes, sir, we've got a good enough eye on this thing that I'd put five degrees outside the margin of error."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Xi Feng next turned to her navigation officer. "Okay, Lieutenant Lahiri, I'd like to keep us to our present acceleration. So how long would it take for a fleet maneuver deflecting us…" Xi Feng's fingers danced over her monitor as she played with an interactive physics model that let her perform rough Newtonian physics calculations on the fly. "Thirty degrees from present course, Lieutenant?"
The Navigation officer had an even more detailed version of the same program on her monitor, one kept updated by the sensors and communications stations with the positions of the other ships in the task force. Xi Feng could have the done the same work all herself, but Lahiri was in much better practice and could puzzle through the complex problem more quickly.
"Call it thirty minutes if we cut acceleration, maneuver, and then burn again," was the answer. "And we can shave that down to under twenty if you want to keep up a burn through the maneuver."
"No, let's keep it as simple as possible for the Company people. I don't want to throw them into hysterics unless I have to." Xi Feng rolled her tongue around in her mouth for a moment. "Right then, Lieutenant, pick a vector and set that maneuver up.
"Aye, sir."
"Sarkisian, who's got the best read on the object, us or the Congo?"
"We do, sir," the sensor officer said proudly.
Xi Feng smiled, "All right, then, Lahiri. We'll stay on course while everyone else makes the adjustment, keep the sensors level."
"Aye, sir."
Xi Feng glanced to the comm station, "Lieutenant Raptis, what's the status on the task force?"
"Everyone reports ready for maneuvers, Commodore, Tadpoles included. I do think the boys on the colony ships are flustered, but they're keeping it under control."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Lahiri?"
"Maneuver's plotted, if you'd like to approve?"
"Yes, please."
The course adjustment which the navigation officer had plotted out came up on Xi Feng's monitor.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Everything seems to be in order, get it out to the task force."
The bridge was silent for a few moments as Xi Feng's officers worked. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until the comm officer spoke again.
"Task force reports ready for maneuvers on your signal, Commodore," Raptis said.
"Very well," Xi Feng nodded. "Begin maneuvers."
"So while we're waiting and watching," Xi Feng said. She'd forgotten to tie up her hair earlier and was just now getting around to it. "Any theories?"
Lieutenant Cheyo seemed to have been waiting for the opportunity to speak. "Commodore, I think I can say with absolute confidence that it is not something of ours. Probably."
"The Tadpoles say they haven't detected it yet," Raptis offered, "and that our sensors don't give them enough information to make any conclusions. But they're reasonably confident that it wouldn't be something of theirs."
"Well that's a little more helpful than Tactical's appraisal," Xi Feng sighed. Cheyo feigned a hurt expression.
"It's still just a speck of light on the telescopes," Lieutenant Sarkisian said, "or if you prefer to magnify, a fuzzy blob of light. But if it's a ship, the location says to me that it's probably Charterling or Kyhyex."
Xi Feng looked back to her Intelligence Officer, "Any opinions, Commander Donaldson?"
He shrugged, "We've seen ships from the Bats, Charterlings, and Kyhyex operating at this radius from the sun. Kyhyex or Charterlings would be pretty far from home with Jupiter on the other side of the sun, still it wouldn't be the first time they came this far out of their way. Saturn's closer, but we don't see hardly any Bat traffic this far in-system except for their trade ships, and this isn't one."
"You mean we didn't until these last couple months," Lieutenant Cheyo pointed out.
Donaldson nodded, "That's true. And we know that all three of them are probably capable of moving stuff around out here without us noticing quickly or easily. Still, based on the location and, uh, Lieutenant Cheyo's assessment of current events, I think that if it's a ship, the Bats are the most likely owners. That's pure speculation, of course."
"Understood," Xi Feng said, "but that's about all we can do at the moment."
"Oh," Donaldson piped up again, "it could also be the Tharn. Of course I don't think that's the case, but we don't have any information to specifically rule them out."
"Jeez, covering your ass much?" Cheyo whined. "We don't have any information to specifically rule out faeries, either."
Donaldson held out his hands, "Sorry. I really don't have the evidence for any sort of conclusion."
Commander Wade leaned over towards Xi Feng. "We could contact the Barn Swallow and ask if Mr. Yaheek can shed any light," the XO said.
"Hmm," Xi Feng drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. Her inclination was to keep the Bat spy in the dark just on principle. Earth Fleet's policy was to give aliens as little information as possible about Humanity's technological capabilities. Letting Yaheek know that they hadn't identified the object yet might reveal a weakness the Bats hadn't deduced yet. On the other hand, Yaheek might also be able to alert Task Force One to an unexpected danger. It depended on what the object turned out to be.
"Not just yet," Xi Feng said, outwardly calm. "Let's see if we can provoke a reaction first. How are we doing, Lieutenant Lahiri?"
"Ten minutes left on the burn, Commodore."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I guess we'll—"
"Okay!" Sarkisian yelped from the sensor station. "Object has changed direction of motion and acceleration has increased to at least eight gravities. That thing is definitely powered."
The bridge was suddenly filled with murmurs, and Xi Feng raised her voice to silence them. "Where's it going, Lieutenant?"
Sarkisian shook her head, "Still adjusting. But it's moving the right way to resume an intercept with the Diligence."
"How long?"
"Ah, unless it slows down, less than three hours."
"Okay, Cheyo, start working up point-defense scenarios. Lahiri, get us back in formation with the task force—one gravity, please. And you can plot a maneuver to put us all back on our original heading as soon as convenient."
Xi Feng paused for the double acknowledgment of "Aye, sir!"
"All right, time to let this thing know that we've seen it. Message for general broadcast, and let's translate to Bat on repeat."
"Ready."
Xi Feng stiffened in her chair and hardened her expression. Only her voice would be recorded, so there was no need to perform for a camera, but adjusting her body helped her to achieve the proper mindset.
"This is Commodore Lee of Earth Fleet Task Force One attempting to contact unknown vessel. The spacecraft you are approaching are Human property representing the Organization of Earth States and under the protection of Earth Fleet. Our vessels are armed. If you do not alter your course to maintain a safe distance, then we must consider you a threat, and you will be destroyed. Please respond immediately and alter your course. Message ends."
"Got it, sir," Raptis said, "I'll start broadcasting immediately while I run it through the translator."
"Thank you."
Xi Feng took a deep breath, and allowed herself to relax slightly.
"Commodore," Sarkisian said into the silence, "their course has settled, it's still intercepting Diligence. Acceleration is down to four gravities, which puts the intercept at just over two hours.
"Should I prepare another course change?" Lieutenant Lahiri asked.
Xi Feng shook her head, "We're not dodging them at four-gees. Either they alter course voluntarily, or we nuke them and dodge the debris. On that note, Cheyo, weapons status?"
"Laser pods are all up for the task force. Guns and missiles standing by."
"I don't believe we'll need missiles, but let's get the guns loaded. Live rounds, please."
"Aye, sir."
Xi Feng could feel herself sweating, although the nerves weren't showing through into her voice. Yet.
"Okay, message translated."
"Thank you Lieutenant. Alternate broadcast with the original. Run them through all the usual comm protocols, of course," she added needlessly.
"Aye, sir."
"I think we can give them a few minutes to listen up before the next step."
"Ninety minutes to intercept. They're still holding at two gravities."
"Commodore," Commander Donaldson said, "maybe the lower acceleration is a response to your message. But if so, I can't really fathom what it's supposed to mean."
"It looks like a taunt to me," Cheyo offered. "They're just giving themselves more time to laugh at us."
"Any ideas from Barn Swallow?" Xi Feng asked reluctantly.
Lieutenant Raptis shook his head, "Ambassador Molinas says that Mr. Yaheek has heard of the Charterlings using powered kinetic missiles before, but only very rarely and never as an anti-ship weapon. He says he'd need better sensors to make a judgment."
"Nothing more from the Tadpoles, either?" Colleen Muyskens chirped from her seat along the outer wall.
"Not since they said they didn't know, no."
"I think we're going to need Plan B," the XO said.
"I agree," Xi Feng leaned back slightly. "Lieutenant Cheyo, how would you design a shot across the bow for this situation?"
"Um, well we're not going to be able to blow anything close enough to frazzle them for a while yet. If you want something more… immediate, then I think we start setting off nukes directly along their current trajectory. Maybe a series of detonations approaching them, and then we hope they're looking where they're going."
Xi Feng looked at Commander Wade, "Well it sounds good to me, does it sound good to you?"
"My only concern is that we'd be showing them how our weapons work," the XO said.
"True," Xi Feng sighed. "But I don't want to skip straight to destructive force if we can still escalate our warning. Let's assume that if they're in this system, they've already seen our weapons and not worry too much about it."
"Aye, sir," Wade nodded.
"Lieutenant Cheyo, we'll use your series of approaching detonations. Make it three nukes, no lasing rods.
"Aye, sir," the tactical officer replied, "I've got a program set up. Spacing about ten kilometers apart, twenty second intervals between detonations, take about… ten minutes from firing to the first detonation."
"Sound good. Lieutenant Raptis, inform the task force. Cheyo, initiate firing program and execute when ready."
"Aye, sir!" A pause as he entered instructions into his station terminal, then, "Firing program initiated, brace for acceleration."
A single one of the Uruguay's railguns firing did not result in the terrific quaking that all twenty at once did, but it still produced a noticeable rattle. Xi Feng squeezed the arms of her chair as maneuvering thrusters compensated for the acceleration. The thrusters fired twice more as program ran its course, taking less than twenty seconds.
"All right, Raptis, new message for broadcast. Translate like the first one, but don't broadcast until you can send both versions."
"Ready."
"This is Commodore Lee of Earth Fleet to unknown vessel making unauthorized high-speed approach towards Human spacecraft. You have ignored our warning to alter your trajectory and cease your approach. If you do not immediately change course, I will order my ships to destroy you using any available means. Your approach can be considered an act of war against the Organization of Earth States and Humanity, and Earth Fleet will retaliate against such aggression. This is your final warning: cease your approach or be destroyed. Message ends."
"Good copy," Raptis said, "working up the translation."
"Send it so the first repetition is received just before Lieutenant Cheyo's detonation sequence begins."
"Aye, sir." Raptis looked up from his station to beckon at Cheyo with a finger. Whistling, the tactical officer pulled up a dramatic-looking red countdown on his monitor, and shunted it over to the communications station for Raptis to use.
Xi Feng resisted the urge to call up the same countdown on her own monitor. Watching it would make the minutes pass slower.
Instead, she closed her eyes and counted her breaths. It didn't actually help pass the time faster, but it was a somewhat less stressful way to wait.
Finally, "Message sent, sir."
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
"Ten seconds to first detonation," Cheyo was nearly squealing with excitement.
Xi Feng called up one of the external cameras. Three tiny blooms of white light appeared in the distance, one after the other, and then vanished.
She hoped it looked more impressive to whoever was in the oncoming spacecraft.
Nothing happened.
Colleen Muyskens was not the only one glancing nervously about the bridge, but she was the only one who worked up the courage to say "Um, so…"
"Yes!" the chair to which Lieutenant Fern Sarkisian was strapped creaked as she tried to leap out of it. "And holy crap, too. Um, sir." She shrank a little in embarrassment, but grinned. "They're, uh, decelerating. At something like twenty gravities, too. Why can't we have engines like that?"
"So they're not on an intercept course anymore?" Xi Feng frowned at her overview plot, which did not seem to have changed dramatically.
"Well… sort of. If they keep up the current deceleration, they'll hit zero-zero at just about a hundred klicks from the Uruguay, and another six hundred from the Diligence. I was kind of expecting them to deflect, but it looks like they're just reversing."
"Huh," Lieutenant Cheyo said, which pretty much summed up the feelings of most of his shipmates.
"All right," Xi Feng said, "cautious optimism is approved. Lieutenant Lahiri, set up a course change to have the task force deflect ninety degrees from that course, quarter gravity. I don't think I'm ready to outright trust—"
"Commodore!" Lieutenant Raptis interrupted. He turned to give her a bewildered look, and gestured at his monitor. "We just got a request for a, um, a video conference coming from the vessel."
"Okay," Xi Feng did her best to swallow that development in stride. "You sound unsure, Lieutenant?"
"Yeah, it's—well, that's what the computer says it is. But it's an old legacy protocol, not one of our modern standards, or any of the alien conventions we know."
"But we can use it, yes?"
"Y-yeah, or the computer thinks so," Raptis shook his head abruptly. "Sorry, sir, yes."
"All right, then plug me in."
The communications officer sent the conference display to Xi Feng's monitor, and she watched it flicker as the connection was established with the alien computer. Out of the corner of her eye, Xi Feng noticed the other bridge crew calling up repeater displays on their own monitors. Earth Fleet ships didn't have the "main view screens" of spaceships in old movies, but they did make it possible for the crew to watch what was happening all the same.
The digital handshake completed, and an image appeared on the display in front of Xi Feng. In the top left corner, a box-out showed her own face staring back at her, so that she knew how the person on the other end viewed her.
Or the thing on the other end.
It took Xi Feng's brain a few seconds to sort out what she was looking at. The video showed an open… area. It was not really a room, because although there were walls, they did not completely enclose any sort of clear area. It was more like an architectural skeleton, visible support beams and half-finished metal bulkheads. A starscape was visible between the projections of metal on one side. She was looking inside the alien spaceship, and it was open to space. Xi Feng suppressed a shiver.
The area was not empty, either, though it took her even longer to notice. They blended in with the dull unpainted metal of their surroundings. But watching closely, it was possible to make them out from the way the reflections of light from their surface slowly shifted. Xi Feng's brain finally began to catch up with the imagery, and the details filled in. There were dozens of them in the picture, like molds or tumors attached to any available surface of their ship, without the slightest thought of consistent orientation. One might mistake them for particularly ugly-colored bean-bag chairs, but it would most likely be a fatal mistake.
Caught up in the image alone, Xi Feng jumped when the voice came out of the monitor's speakers. It was utterly without inflection, a monotone mechanical thing.
It said, "I am speaking and listening."
Now how was she supposed to reply to that?
Hiram Wade, the XO, dutifully pulled himself up and over to his usual station as she approached.
"All right, Commander, what's happening?" She sat down a little forcefully, but bore the pain and focused on strapping down.
"Large unidentified object," he shunted a navigational plot over to her monitor. "It's still a ways out, but it's on an intercept course with the Diligence, and we think it's accelerating."
Xi Feng nodded, "All right, I have the bridge. Let's get the rest of the Task Force on alert, too. Tell them to be ready for maneuvers in…" she took in the information from the monitor, "let's say ten minutes."
"Aye, sir," her comm officer acknowledged.
"Lieutenant Sarkisian," she said to the sensor officer, "I'd like to test the theory that this is a powered object. Assuming the rate of acceleration doesn't change much, how many degrees of arc do you need to see it move through before you feel sure."
"Uh," the Lieutenant looked up at the ceiling as she thought quickly. "Anything more than five degrees and I'd have high confidence. That's assuming you want a conclusion within an hour or two."
"As expediently as possible, yes."
"Then yes, sir, we've got a good enough eye on this thing that I'd put five degrees outside the margin of error."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Xi Feng next turned to her navigation officer. "Okay, Lieutenant Lahiri, I'd like to keep us to our present acceleration. So how long would it take for a fleet maneuver deflecting us…" Xi Feng's fingers danced over her monitor as she played with an interactive physics model that let her perform rough Newtonian physics calculations on the fly. "Thirty degrees from present course, Lieutenant?"
The Navigation officer had an even more detailed version of the same program on her monitor, one kept updated by the sensors and communications stations with the positions of the other ships in the task force. Xi Feng could have the done the same work all herself, but Lahiri was in much better practice and could puzzle through the complex problem more quickly.
"Call it thirty minutes if we cut acceleration, maneuver, and then burn again," was the answer. "And we can shave that down to under twenty if you want to keep up a burn through the maneuver."
"No, let's keep it as simple as possible for the Company people. I don't want to throw them into hysterics unless I have to." Xi Feng rolled her tongue around in her mouth for a moment. "Right then, Lieutenant, pick a vector and set that maneuver up.
"Aye, sir."
"Sarkisian, who's got the best read on the object, us or the Congo?"
"We do, sir," the sensor officer said proudly.
Xi Feng smiled, "All right, then, Lahiri. We'll stay on course while everyone else makes the adjustment, keep the sensors level."
"Aye, sir."
Xi Feng glanced to the comm station, "Lieutenant Raptis, what's the status on the task force?"
"Everyone reports ready for maneuvers, Commodore, Tadpoles included. I do think the boys on the colony ships are flustered, but they're keeping it under control."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Lahiri?"
"Maneuver's plotted, if you'd like to approve?"
"Yes, please."
The course adjustment which the navigation officer had plotted out came up on Xi Feng's monitor.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Everything seems to be in order, get it out to the task force."
The bridge was silent for a few moments as Xi Feng's officers worked. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until the comm officer spoke again.
"Task force reports ready for maneuvers on your signal, Commodore," Raptis said.
"Very well," Xi Feng nodded. "Begin maneuvers."
* * *
"So while we're waiting and watching," Xi Feng said. She'd forgotten to tie up her hair earlier and was just now getting around to it. "Any theories?"
Lieutenant Cheyo seemed to have been waiting for the opportunity to speak. "Commodore, I think I can say with absolute confidence that it is not something of ours. Probably."
"The Tadpoles say they haven't detected it yet," Raptis offered, "and that our sensors don't give them enough information to make any conclusions. But they're reasonably confident that it wouldn't be something of theirs."
"Well that's a little more helpful than Tactical's appraisal," Xi Feng sighed. Cheyo feigned a hurt expression.
"It's still just a speck of light on the telescopes," Lieutenant Sarkisian said, "or if you prefer to magnify, a fuzzy blob of light. But if it's a ship, the location says to me that it's probably Charterling or Kyhyex."
Xi Feng looked back to her Intelligence Officer, "Any opinions, Commander Donaldson?"
He shrugged, "We've seen ships from the Bats, Charterlings, and Kyhyex operating at this radius from the sun. Kyhyex or Charterlings would be pretty far from home with Jupiter on the other side of the sun, still it wouldn't be the first time they came this far out of their way. Saturn's closer, but we don't see hardly any Bat traffic this far in-system except for their trade ships, and this isn't one."
"You mean we didn't until these last couple months," Lieutenant Cheyo pointed out.
Donaldson nodded, "That's true. And we know that all three of them are probably capable of moving stuff around out here without us noticing quickly or easily. Still, based on the location and, uh, Lieutenant Cheyo's assessment of current events, I think that if it's a ship, the Bats are the most likely owners. That's pure speculation, of course."
"Understood," Xi Feng said, "but that's about all we can do at the moment."
"Oh," Donaldson piped up again, "it could also be the Tharn. Of course I don't think that's the case, but we don't have any information to specifically rule them out."
"Jeez, covering your ass much?" Cheyo whined. "We don't have any information to specifically rule out faeries, either."
Donaldson held out his hands, "Sorry. I really don't have the evidence for any sort of conclusion."
Commander Wade leaned over towards Xi Feng. "We could contact the Barn Swallow and ask if Mr. Yaheek can shed any light," the XO said.
"Hmm," Xi Feng drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. Her inclination was to keep the Bat spy in the dark just on principle. Earth Fleet's policy was to give aliens as little information as possible about Humanity's technological capabilities. Letting Yaheek know that they hadn't identified the object yet might reveal a weakness the Bats hadn't deduced yet. On the other hand, Yaheek might also be able to alert Task Force One to an unexpected danger. It depended on what the object turned out to be.
"Not just yet," Xi Feng said, outwardly calm. "Let's see if we can provoke a reaction first. How are we doing, Lieutenant Lahiri?"
"Ten minutes left on the burn, Commodore."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I guess we'll—"
"Okay!" Sarkisian yelped from the sensor station. "Object has changed direction of motion and acceleration has increased to at least eight gravities. That thing is definitely powered."
The bridge was suddenly filled with murmurs, and Xi Feng raised her voice to silence them. "Where's it going, Lieutenant?"
Sarkisian shook her head, "Still adjusting. But it's moving the right way to resume an intercept with the Diligence."
"How long?"
"Ah, unless it slows down, less than three hours."
"Okay, Cheyo, start working up point-defense scenarios. Lahiri, get us back in formation with the task force—one gravity, please. And you can plot a maneuver to put us all back on our original heading as soon as convenient."
Xi Feng paused for the double acknowledgment of "Aye, sir!"
"All right, time to let this thing know that we've seen it. Message for general broadcast, and let's translate to Bat on repeat."
"Ready."
Xi Feng stiffened in her chair and hardened her expression. Only her voice would be recorded, so there was no need to perform for a camera, but adjusting her body helped her to achieve the proper mindset.
"This is Commodore Lee of Earth Fleet Task Force One attempting to contact unknown vessel. The spacecraft you are approaching are Human property representing the Organization of Earth States and under the protection of Earth Fleet. Our vessels are armed. If you do not alter your course to maintain a safe distance, then we must consider you a threat, and you will be destroyed. Please respond immediately and alter your course. Message ends."
"Got it, sir," Raptis said, "I'll start broadcasting immediately while I run it through the translator."
"Thank you."
Xi Feng took a deep breath, and allowed herself to relax slightly.
"Commodore," Sarkisian said into the silence, "their course has settled, it's still intercepting Diligence. Acceleration is down to four gravities, which puts the intercept at just over two hours.
"Should I prepare another course change?" Lieutenant Lahiri asked.
Xi Feng shook her head, "We're not dodging them at four-gees. Either they alter course voluntarily, or we nuke them and dodge the debris. On that note, Cheyo, weapons status?"
"Laser pods are all up for the task force. Guns and missiles standing by."
"I don't believe we'll need missiles, but let's get the guns loaded. Live rounds, please."
"Aye, sir."
Xi Feng could feel herself sweating, although the nerves weren't showing through into her voice. Yet.
"Okay, message translated."
"Thank you Lieutenant. Alternate broadcast with the original. Run them through all the usual comm protocols, of course," she added needlessly.
"Aye, sir."
"I think we can give them a few minutes to listen up before the next step."
* * *
"Ninety minutes to intercept. They're still holding at two gravities."
"Commodore," Commander Donaldson said, "maybe the lower acceleration is a response to your message. But if so, I can't really fathom what it's supposed to mean."
"It looks like a taunt to me," Cheyo offered. "They're just giving themselves more time to laugh at us."
"Any ideas from Barn Swallow?" Xi Feng asked reluctantly.
Lieutenant Raptis shook his head, "Ambassador Molinas says that Mr. Yaheek has heard of the Charterlings using powered kinetic missiles before, but only very rarely and never as an anti-ship weapon. He says he'd need better sensors to make a judgment."
"Nothing more from the Tadpoles, either?" Colleen Muyskens chirped from her seat along the outer wall.
"Not since they said they didn't know, no."
"I think we're going to need Plan B," the XO said.
"I agree," Xi Feng leaned back slightly. "Lieutenant Cheyo, how would you design a shot across the bow for this situation?"
"Um, well we're not going to be able to blow anything close enough to frazzle them for a while yet. If you want something more… immediate, then I think we start setting off nukes directly along their current trajectory. Maybe a series of detonations approaching them, and then we hope they're looking where they're going."
Xi Feng looked at Commander Wade, "Well it sounds good to me, does it sound good to you?"
"My only concern is that we'd be showing them how our weapons work," the XO said.
"True," Xi Feng sighed. "But I don't want to skip straight to destructive force if we can still escalate our warning. Let's assume that if they're in this system, they've already seen our weapons and not worry too much about it."
"Aye, sir," Wade nodded.
"Lieutenant Cheyo, we'll use your series of approaching detonations. Make it three nukes, no lasing rods.
"Aye, sir," the tactical officer replied, "I've got a program set up. Spacing about ten kilometers apart, twenty second intervals between detonations, take about… ten minutes from firing to the first detonation."
"Sound good. Lieutenant Raptis, inform the task force. Cheyo, initiate firing program and execute when ready."
"Aye, sir!" A pause as he entered instructions into his station terminal, then, "Firing program initiated, brace for acceleration."
A single one of the Uruguay's railguns firing did not result in the terrific quaking that all twenty at once did, but it still produced a noticeable rattle. Xi Feng squeezed the arms of her chair as maneuvering thrusters compensated for the acceleration. The thrusters fired twice more as program ran its course, taking less than twenty seconds.
"All right, Raptis, new message for broadcast. Translate like the first one, but don't broadcast until you can send both versions."
"Ready."
"This is Commodore Lee of Earth Fleet to unknown vessel making unauthorized high-speed approach towards Human spacecraft. You have ignored our warning to alter your trajectory and cease your approach. If you do not immediately change course, I will order my ships to destroy you using any available means. Your approach can be considered an act of war against the Organization of Earth States and Humanity, and Earth Fleet will retaliate against such aggression. This is your final warning: cease your approach or be destroyed. Message ends."
"Good copy," Raptis said, "working up the translation."
"Send it so the first repetition is received just before Lieutenant Cheyo's detonation sequence begins."
"Aye, sir." Raptis looked up from his station to beckon at Cheyo with a finger. Whistling, the tactical officer pulled up a dramatic-looking red countdown on his monitor, and shunted it over to the communications station for Raptis to use.
Xi Feng resisted the urge to call up the same countdown on her own monitor. Watching it would make the minutes pass slower.
Instead, she closed her eyes and counted her breaths. It didn't actually help pass the time faster, but it was a somewhat less stressful way to wait.
Finally, "Message sent, sir."
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
"Ten seconds to first detonation," Cheyo was nearly squealing with excitement.
Xi Feng called up one of the external cameras. Three tiny blooms of white light appeared in the distance, one after the other, and then vanished.
She hoped it looked more impressive to whoever was in the oncoming spacecraft.
Nothing happened.
Colleen Muyskens was not the only one glancing nervously about the bridge, but she was the only one who worked up the courage to say "Um, so…"
"Yes!" the chair to which Lieutenant Fern Sarkisian was strapped creaked as she tried to leap out of it. "And holy crap, too. Um, sir." She shrank a little in embarrassment, but grinned. "They're, uh, decelerating. At something like twenty gravities, too. Why can't we have engines like that?"
"So they're not on an intercept course anymore?" Xi Feng frowned at her overview plot, which did not seem to have changed dramatically.
"Well… sort of. If they keep up the current deceleration, they'll hit zero-zero at just about a hundred klicks from the Uruguay, and another six hundred from the Diligence. I was kind of expecting them to deflect, but it looks like they're just reversing."
"Huh," Lieutenant Cheyo said, which pretty much summed up the feelings of most of his shipmates.
"All right," Xi Feng said, "cautious optimism is approved. Lieutenant Lahiri, set up a course change to have the task force deflect ninety degrees from that course, quarter gravity. I don't think I'm ready to outright trust—"
"Commodore!" Lieutenant Raptis interrupted. He turned to give her a bewildered look, and gestured at his monitor. "We just got a request for a, um, a video conference coming from the vessel."
"Okay," Xi Feng did her best to swallow that development in stride. "You sound unsure, Lieutenant?"
"Yeah, it's—well, that's what the computer says it is. But it's an old legacy protocol, not one of our modern standards, or any of the alien conventions we know."
"But we can use it, yes?"
"Y-yeah, or the computer thinks so," Raptis shook his head abruptly. "Sorry, sir, yes."
"All right, then plug me in."
The communications officer sent the conference display to Xi Feng's monitor, and she watched it flicker as the connection was established with the alien computer. Out of the corner of her eye, Xi Feng noticed the other bridge crew calling up repeater displays on their own monitors. Earth Fleet ships didn't have the "main view screens" of spaceships in old movies, but they did make it possible for the crew to watch what was happening all the same.
The digital handshake completed, and an image appeared on the display in front of Xi Feng. In the top left corner, a box-out showed her own face staring back at her, so that she knew how the person on the other end viewed her.
Or the thing on the other end.
It took Xi Feng's brain a few seconds to sort out what she was looking at. The video showed an open… area. It was not really a room, because although there were walls, they did not completely enclose any sort of clear area. It was more like an architectural skeleton, visible support beams and half-finished metal bulkheads. A starscape was visible between the projections of metal on one side. She was looking inside the alien spaceship, and it was open to space. Xi Feng suppressed a shiver.
The area was not empty, either, though it took her even longer to notice. They blended in with the dull unpainted metal of their surroundings. But watching closely, it was possible to make them out from the way the reflections of light from their surface slowly shifted. Xi Feng's brain finally began to catch up with the imagery, and the details filled in. There were dozens of them in the picture, like molds or tumors attached to any available surface of their ship, without the slightest thought of consistent orientation. One might mistake them for particularly ugly-colored bean-bag chairs, but it would most likely be a fatal mistake.
Caught up in the image alone, Xi Feng jumped when the voice came out of the monitor's speakers. It was utterly without inflection, a monotone mechanical thing.
It said, "I am speaking and listening."
Now how was she supposed to reply to that?