Now that the Destaen was crippled, the Taerregyn had no choice but to tow it to safety, leaving the burning hulk of the Kerridayen’s remains behind. If the Dreadnought left the wreckage alone, perhaps they could return later to discover if any of Trendaessa’s memory units remained intact and could be salvaged. The Taerregyn moved in directly above the Destaen and settled until the two ships were nearly touching, and the freighter locked onto the carrier’s hull magnetically with retractable grappling units. Once the two ships were secured, the Taerregyn engaged her main drives and began moving them both to safety. The Methryn and the Vardon remained behind, waiting for their transports and capture ships to gather in the Kerridayen’s escape pods.
“Judging by the number of escape pods I have counted, I believe that we can hope to recover one third to one half of the Kerridayen’s crew,” Valthyrra reported. “I have ordered the packs to return to their bays, since there is no hope in continuing this fight. The Dreadnought is still distracted with her own condition.”
“Are we giving up?” Gelrayen asked.
“No, but we are going to do this the way I knew it should be done from the first. As soon as we have all survivors aboard, then we are going through that shield to destroy that monster.” “According to the plans we have discussed?” Gelrayen asked, although he knew what her answer would be. “How many fighters do we have modified so far?”
“Only two, but I have every reason to expect that to be enough. The question of pilots for those two ships remains. Granted that I expect you to claim one of those ships for yourself, and I do not intend to protest that. This mission will require your experience and judgement. Will you take Pack Leader Teraln with you?”
Gelrayen looked unhappy. “The problem in deciding is that we have never had a chance to see our packs in operation, so all I have to judge them on is their records. Teraln looks like the best choice.”
“I am moving the fighters to the lower left bay and having them fitted with auxiliary weapons,” Valthyrra told him. “We should be ready to launch in a quarter of an hour.”
“I want to go down to the bay now and have a look at that ship,” Gelrayen said, then turned to Captain Tarrel. “Would you like to come with me?”
“Yes, I’m very much interested in this great plan of yours,” Tarrel said as he helped her from the seat. “My Starwolves seem to be keeping secrets these days.”
“Well, you are the enemy,” he told her as they descended the steps from the upper bridge. Gelrayen paused to collect his helmet. “When Valthyrra observed that the Dreadnought is able to see by extending probes and sensors through that shield, she began to wonder how that was done. A shield that dense should seem completely solid to any physical object, and its tremendous power should have fried any electronics being poked through. And yet we know that the Dreadnought does extend some of its most sensitive sensory devices through its shield. How?” “Good question,” Tarrel agreed as they stepped aboard the lift.
“The answer is so simple that Valthyrra only had to think about it for half a minute,” Gelrayen explained. “Any shield is simply a projection of a great deal of energy, and there would always be static discharge between the ship and the shield except that the shield is grounded to the ship. Under those circumstances, anything that is also grounded to the ship is grounded to the shield as well. That tells you how to put something through a shield.”
“Yes, I see,” Tarrel agreed. “Then modifying a fighter to penetrate that shield is very simple. The tricky part is actually doing it.”
The concept sounded reasonable enough and she believed that the Starwolves might actually make it work. It involved some piloting that she would not have attempted, but the flying skills of the Starwolves were legendary. There was something about this business that bothered her a great deal, but she was not going to mention anything to Commander Gelrayen at this time. By the time that the lift had carried them all the way back through the ship to the bay, the packs that had been launched earlier had already come back aboard. Two packs had returned to that bay, and the overhead handling arms were lifting the large black fighters into their racks for safe storage.
Gelrayen went immediately to the pair of fighters sitting in their racks at the front of the bay. The only difference in these two large ships, at least that Tarrel could see, was that they had been fitted with some curious harpoon and cable device under their long, tapered noses. Each ship also carried four featureless black pods farther back along their extended forward hulls, things that looked suspiciously like explosive devices. Pack Leader Teraln was already waiting for them, standing beside the nearest of the two fighters while one of Valthyrra’s probes hovered at his side.
“Has Valthyrra explained the theory to you?” Gelrayen asked.
“Theory, yes,” Teraln agreed. “What she has not explained is why I get to volunteer for this.”
“Your name started with a T,” Gelrayen offered. “If you have no interest in going along, I can find another volunteer easily enough.”
Teraln looked surprised and annoyed at the idea that he could be replaced. “Oh, yes? Who?”
“Captain Tarrel, for one.”
“Oh. Then I certainly volunteer.”
“I wonder if I should be offended?” Tarrel asked Valthyrra, but the remote gestured “no” with its camera pod.
“Valthyrra, what is the Dreadnought doing?” Gelrayen asked as he climbed the boarding platform beside the cockpit.
“Absolutely nothing, last time I looked,” she responded. “I have decreased my impulse scans to one each minute, to avoid calling an excess of attention to myself.”
“Then I believe that we should go immediately,” he decided. “If we wait until that thing starts to move, we might never get a chance to attempt this maneuver. We will be dependant upon your scans to lead us to it.”
“As long as she can place us to within twenty kilometers,” Teraln amended as he hurried to his own fighter. “From that range, you can actually see the beast. That shield is actually a shade darker than background space.”
“Then do not alter your scan interval, unless it begins to move again,” Gelrayen added as he settled himself into the cockpit, while a bay crewmember helped him with his straps. “If it stays in one place, we already know all we need about where to find it.”
“I understand,” Valthyrra said.
“Complete your rescue efforts quickly, and then you and the Vardon should begin to withdrew slowly. I will need you back immediately once that shield goes down, so put Captain Tarrel back in her seat. Teraln and I will get ourselves well clear before you come into range. If, by chance, this does not work and I do not come back, then you are to have sole command of the ship, but listen to Kayendel and Captain Tarrel. Your first duty is save yourself and the other ships. Anything else?”
“Take good care of yourself,” Valthyrra called to him. “I love you.”
Gelrayen paused and stared. “What?”
“Hey, bear with me. This emotional stuff is all very new to me.
The two fighters sealed their cockpits, and began to power up their major systems. Valthyrra and Captain Tarrel joined the bay crew in retreating a short distance, as blast barriers came up from the lower deck to protect the ships farther back in the bay from the drive wash. The two pilots signaled that they were ready and Valthyrra gave them a count with the lights above the forward bay door. The two fighters engaged their main drives at the final green light, but left their racks and moved out of the bay relatively slowly, dropping down to avoid the transports and capture ships bringing escape pods to the transport bays near the front of the carrier.