then cleared his throat again, a sure sign of unease. “The Sekoi make very good equipment. I’m wondering why this happened.”
“Most things come down to money,” Absen said steadily. “Letoi probably figured we’d be long gone before problems started showing up, but we’ve driven our systems hard in the last 48 hours. We’ve probably created two month’s worth of wear and tear in two days.”
“Granted, sir, but that doesn’t really say why.”
“You don’t think it’s money? The rich always want to get richer.”
Ekara shrugged. “You asked me to play devil’s advocate. What if it was sabotage?”
“Seems pretty unsubtle, and noncritical.”
“I won’t know that until I get everything tested – and I mean everything , unless Desolator made it himself. Including the Exploder system. That’s why I need a week. Maybe longer.”
“All right,” Absen said. “You’ll have as long as you need. So…let’s continue reports with CyberComm. Ellis, you wait until last.”
The weapons engineer raised his eyebrows and nodded.
Warrant Officer Second Sirtus said, “Comms are five by five, except for some of the same.” He sat right back down.
“Helm and navigation seem fine, Skipper,” Okuda said. “And the TacDrive system has 100% Desolator -made components.”
“Good to hear. BioMed?”
Doctor Horton from BioMed said, “Medical facilities are first-rate. No significant failures, but then again, they aren’t new designs. Biolabs, however, are mostly of Sekoi manufacture, and will be run by a team of experts of both races. Them and humans, I mean. Ryss are…”
“…not up on the biology. I get it,” Absen replied. “Finally, some good news. We’ll skip Aerospace until the squadron is on board. Quan?”
Ekara glanced at Nightingale sourly, as if it was his fault for not reporting first. “Power systems seem to be functioning at or better than design spec, outside of the faulty components. This ship is still a power hog, though. We have ten times her old generation capacity, but fifty times her previous consumption. Before, we always had plenty of power – enough to fire continuously for half an hour. Now, we can exhaust ourselves in five minutes or less.”
“Including TacDrive?” Absen asked.
“No, sir. TacDrive capacitors are separated. I’ve designed a cross-connect for emergency use, but I’d hate to have to use it unless we really had to, unless we could get into a shipyard or back to Desolator to do it right. I actually don’t understand why it wasn’t built to cross-connect with the rest of the power grid.”
“My fault, Commander,” Absen said. He saw surprise show on Ekara’s face. “I don’t ever want to be short of power to escape using the TacDrive, so I asked Desolator to make it difficult to borrow from its capacitors. Power goes in, but I don’t want anyone to take it out easily.”
Ekara’s frown deepened, even while nodding reluctantly. “I understand.” When Absen made to move on, he raised a hand. “One more thing. I’d like to use Michelle. WO1 Conquest, that is. She can help test components. Speed things up a bit.”
“All right. She’s assigned to you. Now, maybe this will help explain about the power system setup.” Absen nodded to Commander Nightingale.
“Sir, weapons are excellent, performing beyond spec in fact, except for the Letoi gear. At under 1000 kilometers, a coordinated alpha strike delivers enough of a wallop to kill a Destroyer in one salvo. I can’t guarantee it will be vaporized like with an Exploder, and it will still be available as biomass for other Meme ships to eat, but my calculations show that it and every other living thing on it will be killed.”
Absen smiled. “Excellent. That falls in line with the tactics I intend to use.”
“Sir, can you explain those tactics from start to finish?” Lieutenant Fletcher said. Absen had put a bug in the man’s ear to ask just that question at the right
“Most things come down to money,” Absen said steadily. “Letoi probably figured we’d be long gone before problems started showing up, but we’ve driven our systems hard in the last 48 hours. We’ve probably created two month’s worth of wear and tear in two days.”
“Granted, sir, but that doesn’t really say why.”
“You don’t think it’s money? The rich always want to get richer.”
Ekara shrugged. “You asked me to play devil’s advocate. What if it was sabotage?”
“Seems pretty unsubtle, and noncritical.”
“I won’t know that until I get everything tested – and I mean everything , unless Desolator made it himself. Including the Exploder system. That’s why I need a week. Maybe longer.”
“All right,” Absen said. “You’ll have as long as you need. So…let’s continue reports with CyberComm. Ellis, you wait until last.”
The weapons engineer raised his eyebrows and nodded.
Warrant Officer Second Sirtus said, “Comms are five by five, except for some of the same.” He sat right back down.
“Helm and navigation seem fine, Skipper,” Okuda said. “And the TacDrive system has 100% Desolator -made components.”
“Good to hear. BioMed?”
Doctor Horton from BioMed said, “Medical facilities are first-rate. No significant failures, but then again, they aren’t new designs. Biolabs, however, are mostly of Sekoi manufacture, and will be run by a team of experts of both races. Them and humans, I mean. Ryss are…”
“…not up on the biology. I get it,” Absen replied. “Finally, some good news. We’ll skip Aerospace until the squadron is on board. Quan?”
Ekara glanced at Nightingale sourly, as if it was his fault for not reporting first. “Power systems seem to be functioning at or better than design spec, outside of the faulty components. This ship is still a power hog, though. We have ten times her old generation capacity, but fifty times her previous consumption. Before, we always had plenty of power – enough to fire continuously for half an hour. Now, we can exhaust ourselves in five minutes or less.”
“Including TacDrive?” Absen asked.
“No, sir. TacDrive capacitors are separated. I’ve designed a cross-connect for emergency use, but I’d hate to have to use it unless we really had to, unless we could get into a shipyard or back to Desolator to do it right. I actually don’t understand why it wasn’t built to cross-connect with the rest of the power grid.”
“My fault, Commander,” Absen said. He saw surprise show on Ekara’s face. “I don’t ever want to be short of power to escape using the TacDrive, so I asked Desolator to make it difficult to borrow from its capacitors. Power goes in, but I don’t want anyone to take it out easily.”
Ekara’s frown deepened, even while nodding reluctantly. “I understand.” When Absen made to move on, he raised a hand. “One more thing. I’d like to use Michelle. WO1 Conquest, that is. She can help test components. Speed things up a bit.”
“All right. She’s assigned to you. Now, maybe this will help explain about the power system setup.” Absen nodded to Commander Nightingale.
“Sir, weapons are excellent, performing beyond spec in fact, except for the Letoi gear. At under 1000 kilometers, a coordinated alpha strike delivers enough of a wallop to kill a Destroyer in one salvo. I can’t guarantee it will be vaporized like with an Exploder, and it will still be available as biomass for other Meme ships to eat, but my calculations show that it and every other living thing on it will be killed.”
Absen smiled. “Excellent. That falls in line with the tactics I intend to use.”
“Sir, can you explain those tactics from start to finish?” Lieutenant Fletcher said. Absen had put a bug in the man’s ear to ask just that question at the right
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