“How many times are you going to pass this corridor before you realize it’s the one you’re looking for?”
Nathan turned and saw Cameron leaning against the bulkhead a few meters down the corridor, her arms crossed and a look of disbelief adorning her face.
“Really, Nathan. You’re the captain of the ship, for Christ’s sake.”
“Ssh,” he said, putting his forefinger to his lips. “Don’t tell anyone,” he pleaded as he turned down the corridor towards her.
“Am I going to have to put study ship’s layout on your to-do list?” she teased as she turned and led him down the corridor and into the squadron briefing room.
“Captain on deck,” she announced as she led him into the room. Vladimir, Jessica, and Enrique-being the only actual crew members in the room-all jumped to attention. The rest, feeling out of place, started to stand as well.
“Don’t even,” Nathan objected, motioning for them to remain seated. He glanced over at Cameron, who appeared quite pleased with herself. “Very funny,” he muttered under his breath. Despite the joke at his expense, he was happy to see the lighter side of Cameron popping up now and then.
“Good afternoon everyone,” Nathan began. Nathan looked about the room. He had been in similar rooms during his small craft flight training back at the academy but this one was considerably nicer. It was darker than most of the spaces on the ship, lending a more serious tone to the room. The seats were all high-backed and overstuffed, and were arranged in four rows of eight, with a center aisle splitting the rows into pairs of four. Each row was slightly more elevated than the one in front of it, ensuring that everyone in attendance had a clear view of both the speaker at the podium as well as the three large display screens along the wall directly behind him. The lighting was subdued but adequate, with tiny spotlights shining down onto each seat from above. Nathan could easily imagine the room full of swaggering fighter jocks, ready to jump into their cockpits and catapult out into the blackness to face the enemy. In fact, at that point, Nathan really wished he had both those fighter pilots and their ships at his disposal, as it would make him feel a whole lot safer. Instead, he had this collection of fresh-faced academy graduates, Karuzari rebels, and a few refugees from Haven. Considering his own lack of qualifications and experience, he didn’t feel fit to command even this ragtag group. Yet here they all sat, ready to perform whatever task he set them on, and without question no less. That was the most amazing thing about command. They were all aware of his lack of experience-at least those in the Fleet were-yet they were still willing to do his bidding. They placed their faith in his ability to make decisions and to protect them from harm as best he could while still carrying out their duties.
“We are about to enter the Darvano system. It is a heavily populated and fully industrialized system, with at least three populated worlds. The bulk of the population is on Corinair, the fourth planet out. There are also a few populated moons located in orbit around the sixth planet, which is a gas giant. Our destination is in the asteroid belt which lies between Corinair and the fifth planet, also a gas giant. Asteroids within this belt are mined from the inside out, leaving a relatively empty shell that is later de-orbited so it can be captured by Corinair’s gravity to be broken up and harvested later. Apparently, this is all a very lengthy process, resulting in hundreds of hollowed out asteroids waiting for their turn to be de-orbited. Within one of these hollow rocks is a base that was constructed by the Karuzari some years ago for the purpose of servicing captured Ta’Akar warships. Unfortunately, they were never able to make such captures; hence the base has gone unused since its original construction. Our plan is to use this base as a hideout in which to conduct repairs.
Jessica and Enrique were both sitting together in the back row. Ever mindful of security, Jessica always wanted to be in a position where she could keep an eye on everyone else. “If the belt is constantly mined,” Enrique asked, “isn’t it possible we’ll be spotted?”
“The breadth of the belt, and the distance between most objects makes it highly unlikely, unless there just happens to be a ship in the vicinity when we arrive. Tug assures us that once inside the facility, we will be well hidden to even the most active penetrating scans.”
Nathan turned on the display behind him. A representation of the layout of the Darvano system showed up on the screen. “We’d prefer to jump into the system as unnoticed as possible, and close to our final destination. “Tug, do you have any recommendations?”
Tug, Jalea, and Allet were all sitting in the front row. Allet, having been working pretty much nonstop since he came aboard, looked like he could fall asleep at any moment. Tug and Jalea, although probably no more rested than anyone else, appeared more attentive.
Tug straightened up slightly before speaking “Captain, I would suggest arriving on the far side of the fifth planet. It is a massive gas-giant-almost a proto-star-that gives off a lot of radiation which will obscure the sensors of most ships. As long as we remain in a relatively low orbit, we should remain undetected.”
“Is there no traffic in the area?” Vladimir wondered. “Perhaps the nearby moons?”
Because of the radiation levels, the gas-giant’s moons are not hospitable,” Tug explained. “And the close proximity to the asteroid belt results in frequent collisions between the existing moons and rogue asteroids captured by the planet’s gravity well. For these reasons, this part of the system is not commonly navigated.”
“What about the radiation?” Vladimir asked. “Is it safe?”
“As long as we do not linger in orbit for more than a few hours, we should be safe,” Tug promised.
“Doctor?” Nathan said, looking at Abby who was sitting by herself, directly behind the three members of the Karuzari. “Will the gas-giant’s gravity well present any problems?”
“As an arrival point? No. However, you may have to compensate for its gravity rather quickly when we jump in next to it.”
“Maybe we should assume a speed equal to the orbital velocity of the altitude we expect to arrive at before we jump?” Cameron suggested.
“That would probably help mitigate the sudden change in gravitational forces,” Abby agreed. “If done properly, I suspect you will require no more than a minor orbital inclination correction burn.”
Nathan looked at his audience for signs of any other questions. Sensing none, he continued. “Okay then, that’ll be our entry point. Once we have achieved a stable orbit, we’ll launch the shuttle. Josh, you guys will be carrying a team of four into the base. Tug, Jalea, Vladimir, and Jessica, will all be going into the base to check it out and make sure it is still operational before we take the ship inside. Now, the place has been powered down for years, so you’ll all have to go in full pressure suits.”
“Captain?” Josh interrupted. “Are you saying we’re gonna be flying inside that asteroid?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Excellent. I’ve smashed rocks, captured rocks, and even dodged rocks. But I’ve never flown inside a rock.”
“The shuttle doesn’t have an airlock, sir,” Loki pointed out.
“Then I guess you’ll all be wearing pressure suits.”
Josh looked excited about that prospect as well, even if Loki did not.
“Once you get inside, Jess, check the place out and power it up. Once both Tug and you are satisfied that it’s safe, we’ll break orbit and get inside as quickly as we can to avoid detection.”
“And if there’s traffic in the area?” Jessica asked.
“If necessary, we’ll jump in close. But we’d like to avoid that if possible, as the jump itself creates quite a flash which is highly noticeable if you happen to be looking in the right direction.”
“It is highly unlikely that we will encounter any traffic,” Tug insisted. “This particular asteroid was chosen due in part to its location. Most of the asteroids in the area have already been mined to their limits, so there should be no interest in that particular region.”