Scout Expedition

  Chapter 6: My name is Etienne and I'm a weapons master.

  Grandmother Shannon insisted mother name me with this weird name. She claimed it was earth French. She insisted that I'd learn to fight early and I'd need to be tough to survive.

  We're about 2 months out from rendezvous star 2 running without any electromagnetic broadcast. This warship along with # 6 will survey the system, make contact and then report back to the convoy with one of 3 signals. Safe, Contact, or Flee. We veered off the main trajectory last year and have been under 1.5 acceleration since. We're approaching from the galactic south, where as the convoy will pass north of the star in about a year. The plan is that our first pass through the system will be under power and then we'll split up and start our main survey.

  First pass detected no non-natural electromagnetic radiation. We've started back in from the Oort cloud and are now looking for any indication of non-natural artifacts. Our passive radar receivers have been adjusted to the frequency just a bit off from the main frequency this star transmits. We've picked up enough ice asteroids in the Oort cloud so we'll look like a comet as we enter the main part of the system inside the asteroid belt. It is within the liquid water band between the inner gas giant and a smaller rocky planet about 3 AU out.

  The radar guys detected 3 highly reflective points in the asteroid belt on our pass through. The pilot adjusted our course around the star so we'd pass close to one of them on our way out. Communications reports that we passed through a communications laser 5 minutes ago.

  The captain called full alert, we bailing out of the comet and heading straight for the closest reflection.

  Communications punched out a communications laser greeting at the target. Their reply was to cease trying to burn holes in our hull.

  I just detected a dozen or so small chemical rockets being launched from the target. I reported to the captain that they were big enough to carry a crew, or really big explosive charge. He finally told commo to transmit on low power our convoy greeting.

  Then radar reported we were being overtaken by a spacecraft under torch drive. It's smaller than us, but the torch is an equalizer.

  Commo finally got a reply from the target and they suggested we move aside because the torch ship was on automatic and unmanned. They couldn't get it to disengage.

  As we lit our torch and moved off at 90 degrees from its trajectory it turned to follow. No one had ever thought of a dog fight between torch ships using their torches as weapons. The captain ordered all weapons to fire on the spacecraft. I targeted just forward of the torch hoping to burn through into the manufacturing power plant. However I soon lost my angle and started near one edge of the disk and intended to cut a chunk out of it to unbalance the spacecraft. Suddenly one of the other weapons masters announced that the spacecraft was rotating, we needed to hit the torch with everything we had before it could line up on us. We'd been jigging all over the star system and the computers in the attacking spacecraft finally figured out that they were close enough to damage or destroy us. I focused every laser I had on the throat of the torch hoping to get a slightly better angle and be able to fire directly into the magnetic well as it rotated. Suddenly the spacecraft turned into a ball of raw energy as its torch went out of focus. As I analyzed my data screen I realized we'd been fighting an asteroid with a torch engine attached. There was no vulnerable point on the front to disable it. As I relayed that information to the other weapons stations and the captain we received another hail on the radio frequencies. It demanded a visual signal.

  Commo put the received signal on all our stations and we saw for the first time members of our human race that'd been out of contact with us for about 4 hundred years. As soon as the captain stopped talking I keyed my station and demanded to know how many more rocks they had with torches attached.

  She replied that they had six. However they had been turned off and it was safe for the convoy to enter the star system for rendezvous.

  The captain then told them that this system wasn't suitable for us to stop at. They should boost out and rendezvous with the main convoy.

  Then to my surprise the captain informed them that we were required to do a complete survey and contact before we could send a signal to the main convoy to stop here. Our time window was three months, so we'd come over for contact and then complete the system survey.

  The habitat we approached was in poor shape. Half the north end was missing and we could see where interior sections had been plated over. It looked like it had been in a fight. The captain picked me and one of the engineers to cross over. We were to evaluate the habitat and report back to him.

  We were briefed by the commander of the habitat and my second question was how much of the population survived. One of the other members of the briefing team broke down in tears and sobs as he told us that almost half the population died in the first attack. Only one of the habitats survived with no civilian casualties. One had been cannibalized after they arrived. There were only three left out of their convoy. As soon as the briefing was over the captain instructed us to continue with the evaluation and he was going to start the asteroid belt survey. The habitat commander then said he would contact the other habitats and work stations and tell them that we were human and would be surveying the belt.

  I accompanied our engineer as we were shown what was left of the drive sections. Less than half of it was undamaged. We could see where major repairs had been accomplished. The weapons systems were in better shape, but I could tell that a child with a sling shot could have pounded them to pieces. Their only really dangerous weapons were the asteroids with the torch rockets. They were setting up a colony on a planet when they were discovered and attacked at their last stop.

  Talk about being paranoid, they admitted leaving a trail of wrecked ships and equipment out of that star system and then they changed course. They told us about the decision the last commander and council had made to bypass the rendezvous star for fear that they were being followed. Three months later we were called to the command section and informed that the habitat was going to be abandoned because the hull was failing faster than they could repair it. One of the other habitats would be docking in about a week.

  I watched from the command section as the other habitat approached. It had also taken a beating, but I didn't see the hull cracks that this one had. After the population was aboard the engineers moved in and started stripping the old habitat. In a month we disengaged and started moving to another section of the asteroid belt. If I'd been beaten like they had been I think I'd have curled up in corner and died. Pure guts was what kept them going.

  About two months later warship 6 picked up the engineer and me. Then we headed out of the system at almost 2G. The captain informed us that we were going to rendezvous with the main convoy. We and the other contact group would brief them personally. The trip was pure hell. Only once did we drop below 2G and that was so some equipment could be repaired.

  The briefing to a combined council only took 3 hours. An hour later one habitat was moving its population over to others. Only the engineers and pilots with their families were left aboard. One of the new warships volunteered to accompany them. The plan was for them to pick up the other group, stop at another star, build another habitat and rendezvous with the main convoy in another hundred years. That way both convoys would be assured that they weren't followed. It took almost six months before all of the warship crew recovered completely and we were cleared for full duty.

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