Corvette by Ken McConnell

Author:Ken McConnell [McConnell, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: GB Press
Published: 2017-03-20T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 13

On the bridge Vance set his helmet on the scanner console and stood beside the captain at his chair. Xander’s face was drawn, bags were under his eyes when he looked at Vance.

“How long for repairs?”

Vance glanced at the chronograph embedded in his suit arm. “About an hour, after that we’ll need to get the hell out of this radiation.”

“I have something I want to discuss with you. Come with me,” Xander said as he got up and headed for the back of the bridge. The Captain’s Mast room was just off the bridge and was big enough for maybe four people. Used for doling out punishment to the crew when needed, Xander liked to use it for private conversations. There was a simple metal table and two stiff back chairs. The back wall of the room was an access panel that led to the instrument racks housing communications and scanning gear.

After Vance shut the hatch Xander began.

“Have you ever been to sea? You know, like the navies of the past?”

Vance shook his head no. Where the hell is he going with this?

Xander took a moment to frame his thoughts before beginning.

“Naval ships mostly ran on top of the water. But there used to be specialized ships that ran underneath the waves. They called them...”

“Submarines, yes I know this,” Vance interjected.

“Right. Subs were pressurized, not unlike starships. But they were not really designed for deep water use. So if they happened to go too deep, they would implode from the pressure of the outside water.”

Vance nodded. Xander moved to the single port hole and pointed to the gas giant outside. “The atmosphere of a Jovian planet is just like deep water. The lower into the clouds you go, the higher the pressure. At some point gases even turn to liquid.”

Vance looked out at the swirling bands of orange and white gas of the planet’s atmosphere. He wasn’t quite tracking.

“If we dive into the planet’s upper atmosphere the Blue Devils might follow us,” Xander said, his voice trailing off as he tried to lead Vance to his idea.

Vance shook his head. “But a starship’s not as thick walled as a submarine, we’d be crushed.”

“Exactly!”

“I don’t follow you sir.”

“How far down into the atmosphere do you think they would go if they were trying to follow us?”

Vance slowly started to catch on. “But we’d be crushed before them.”

Xander winced. “That’s where my plan breaks down. How do we trick them into sinking far enough to implode, without actually popping ourselves?”

Vance shook his head. The whole idea seemed insane to him.

“Sir, we’re repairing a breach to our hull. I’m not sure we could sustain that kind of pressure even before the damage.”

Xander waved his hand excitedly. “I know, I know, but I have this feeling that captain,” he pointed behind them at the unseen enemy vessel, “will follow us wherever we go. His thinking is completely two dimensional. Why didn’t he simply come at us from above while we’ve been in this ring? Instead he sends his men through the ring ice to attack us.

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