Spinward Fringe Broadcast 13 by Randolph Lalonde

Author:Randolph Lalonde [Lalonde, Randolph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-988175-19-5
Publisher: Randolph Lalonde

Twenty-Six

The Slumbering Giant

* * *

‘Traveller.’ It was a huge improvement over Hal's original call sign; 'Hot Chow.' He didn't mind the old one, it was based on something he shouted once to raise his fellow pilot's spirits once they arrived in the galley after a long patrol. Traveller had a better ring to it though, and it reminded everyone that he'd been around a little, seen some things that most people hadn't.

Maybe that's why they sent him and Rip, a pilot that was picking up some officer training on her way to Samurai Squadron, to do a high-speed sensor sweep around the solar system's sun. The new Uriel fighters were perfect for that kind of duty, with much better shields and the ability to turn all that radiation into energy or bend it around the craft when capacitors and backup batteries were full. "Hey, a transmission was just sent to our sector," he said. "There's a ping back."

"I see it," Rip said. "My passive scan is picking it up, and there's some kind of noise, no, encrypted transmissions ahead. Strong signals, big waves."

"Yeah, my computer can't figure out what kind of encryption it is, but there are a lot of signals. If we can see them on passive scanners while we're this close to the sun, the transmitter's gotta be huge. Maybe a base?"

"Oh, wow, big energy bloom! I'm marking it," Rip exclaimed.

"That's not far from here," Traveller said, looking at the energy profile. "Flight Command, we're investigating an energy bloom ahead. It followed a bunch of transmission activity, nothing matching known profiles, all encrypted." The data became clearer as the energy passed by them. It cut through the solar radiation, wholly different. "It looks like someone's making a few micro-wormholes at a time, at least, that's what it reminds me of. There’s a lot of wasted energy, though. Their tech is either cheap or old."

"Be careful on approach, we can confirm that what you're seeing isn't from the sun. Remember: cloaking won't be reliable," one of the Officers from Flight Control said.

"Acknowledged," Traveller replied. "Let's hit the thrusters, we'll do a hard scan on a high speed flyby." He said, turning his throttle up to maximum.

"I like your style," Rip said, accelerating along with him. "What do you think this is? I bet it's an old transport, like the ones they used to load up with Omni Virus patients then send into the sun."

"That’s a dark thought," Traveller chuckled. "No one proved that ever happened, but it wouldn't make much sense, since it just started popping five micro-wormholes a second open and closed. It's trying to send signals to someone."

The ship came into view. It was broad, with a thick, pockmarked hull under angled plating that was outrigged a few metres from its main body. "That thing's got almost as much mass as the Triton," Rip said. "Launch bays on all sides, most of them are short, wide, like they're made to send and retrieve a few dozen fighters at a time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.