[Frontiers Saga12] - Rise of the Alliance by Ryk Brown

Author:Ryk Brown [Brown, Ryk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ryk Brown
Published: 2015-04-06T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Jump complete,” Mister Riley announced.

“Position verified,” Mister Navashee reported.

“Maneuvering to the first deployment point,” Mister Chiles announced from the helm.

“Captain,” Captain Poc, the CO of the third Scout ship began, “I’m curious how your people were able to put together antimatter mines on such short notice?”

“We’ve managed to harvest over twenty antimatter cores from the Jung ships that have been destroyed within the Sol system.”

“Why do you think so many of them survived?” Captain Poc wondered.

“According to my chief engineer, the Jung antimatter cores are similar in design to our own,” Nathan explained. “Fully self-contained units, complete with their own power source for maintaining their antimatter containment fields even when separated from the reactor itself. When their ships come apart, the cores eject automatically, just like ours. We do it because antimatter is not an easy thing to create. The Jung take it one step further. They rig theirs with miniature sensor suites and detonators. If they sense a ship that is not transmitting a Jung ID code, they wait until the ship comes close enough, then deactivate their containment fields.”

“They become mines,” Captain Poc said. “How did you manage to avoid setting them off?”

“We retrieved the deactivation codes from the Jar-Keurog before she was lost.”

“Coming up on the first deployment point,” Mister Chiles announced.

“The first two mines are on the topside launch pads and ready for deployment,” Lieutenant Eckert reported.

“Very well,” Nathan said. “Deploy as planned, Lieutenant.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Topside cameras?” Nathan added. The image on the main view screen switched from the standard forward view to a camera on the forward section of the main drive, facing forward. The image zoomed in, centering on the starboard dorsal launch pad. On it sat a large, rectangular cargo container, with a thruster pack attached to each end, and transceiver array fixed to its middle.

“We put the cores into small cargo containers, connected everything up, then packed the containers with debris from the destroyed Jung ships in order to provide the correct amount of matter for the antimatter to react with.”

“A simple, effective solution,” Captain Poc admitted.

“And one that uses the Jung’s own detonators,” Nathan added. “Gotta love the irony in that one. Truth is, we’ve had a lot of experience with makeshift engineering over the past eleven months.”

“Launching the first mine,” Lieutenant Eckert announced.

All eyes watched the main view screen as the thrusters at each end of the cargo container fired briefly. With the artificial gravity on the launch pad set at only a fraction above zero, the cargo container rose easily off the deck, drifting higher with each passing second.

“First mine is away,” Lieutenant Eckert reported.

“Moving to second deployment point,” Mister Chiles announced.

The image on the main view screen zoomed back out, causing the cargo container to become a tiny dot floating above the forward section of the ship. The stars appeared to shift slowly upward as the ship pitched down slightly and started moving. Their only perception of forward motion was the cargo container itself as it moved toward the camera growing ever larger with each passing second.

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