The Tau Ceti Agenda by Travis S. Taylor

Author:Travis S. Taylor
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Science Fiction - Adventure, Science Fiction - Space Opera, Fiction - Science Fiction, American Science Fiction And Fantasy, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Presidents, Science Fiction - Military, Intelligence officers, Space Opera, Science Fiction And Fantasy, General, United States, Space warfare, Suspense fiction, Adventure, Presidents - Election, Fiction, Science Fiction, Election
ISBN: 9781416555391
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2009-04-30T17:40:38+00:00

Chapter 13

October 31, 2388 AD

Sol System

Oort Cloud

Saturday, 7:14 AM, Earth Eastern Standard Time

"What the hell was that!" Captain Jefferson shouted over the reverberating hull. The Madira lurched downward with the force of several gravities so abruptly that the captain's teeth rattled. The extreme noise propagating through the supercarrier's hull rapidly approached the danger zone. The CO was certain that standing with his head up the tailpipe of an FM-12 on full burn would be quieter. Jefferson also caught a glimpse of the COB losing his balance and tripping headfirst into the bulkhead. Had it not been so damned loud, he was certain that there would have been some colorful euphemisms to follow the COB's fall as he raised up, rubbing his forehead and sipping from the coffee mug from which he hadn't spilled a drop.

"Not sure, CO," Commander Monte Freeman, the ship's science and technology officer, replied. The STO tapped at his console and reached out for imaginary icons in his virtual mindview but found no answer. The impact or explosion or whatever the hell it was had just appeared to have come from out of nowhere. And whatever it had been had packed one hell of a wallop.

"Captain, we've got damage reports flooding in from everywhere." The XO shook his head to clear the ringing from his ears, just as the ship jerked and lurched a second time. "Fuck me!"

"Goddamnit, I want to know what that is!" Jefferson white- knuckled his chair until the ship stopped shaking. Yellow and red warning lights flashed, and klaxons blared across the bridge.

"I'm working on it, CO." The STO continued to work up simulations from the limited data that the ship's sensors had gathered on the impacts, but he was having little luck. The ship's self-diagnostic sensors, on the other hand, were going apeshit. The STO was certain that the CO could see all of this in his DTM, but he might not be paying attention to that particular detail at the moment since there was a battle raging outside and all. "The SIF generators were taxed to ninety percent of maximum and are running hotter than the coolant systems can overcome. From the usage of the SIFs, I should be able to back- calculate the energy of the impact."

"COB, you and Vanu see what you can find out!"

"Aye, sir." Command Master Chief Charlie Green and Senior Chief Patea Vanu started calling in to the watch posts and duty officers of all the decks for reports. All of them had been pounded to hell, but had no idea what had hit them. Nobody had seen a thing.

Uncle Timmy, you got anything? the CO asked his AIC.

Sorry, sir, I've played it back a hundred times already and can't seem to isolate it. Reflectance data from lidar sensors on the hull suggests there is a particulate cloud trailing from the impact region on the ship's hull. But I have yet to isolate what it was. Whatever it was gave us a thrust vector downward along these coordinates.

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