Dreadnought (31 page)

“I
was given the opportunity to acquire additional information concerning many of
those questions about the Dreadnought that we have been trying to answer,” she
said. “I still do not believe that it is fully self-aware, or many of its
actions would have been more subtle. But just how clever is it? None of its
actions during this incident indicated that it is very clever at all. It
responds most often in a very simple, automatic manner. But we have in the past
seen it function in a more clever, even unpredictable manner. My own conclusion
is that it is a machine, but one that we must be careful not to underestimate.

“How
fast is it, and just what type of drive can it be using inside that shield? My
captured images show the back end of the Dreadnought, assuming that it even has
a back or front in any conventional sense, and we can clearly see that it does
not employ main drives or star drives as we know them. But I did observe
evidence of unexpected speed. My own guess is that the Dreadnought uses a very
refined version of a jump drive, technology that we do possess but never
bothered to refine.”

“But
not a very powerful version of a field drive?” one of the Kelvessan engineers
asked.

“Even
a field drive has a very strong static power emission, but I did not detect
anything. Any final speculation about that drive must wait for one piece of
information that my files do not possess. Can Kelvessan sense a jump drive in
operation? My crew was able to sense the Dreadnought’s generators while its
shield was down, but not a drive.”

Not
even any of the ships knew the answer to that question, but somewhere in that
station were the records dating back to the time when the first jump drive had
been tested aboard the carrier Valcyr, which had disappeared on her first
flight.

“There
is one observation that I certainly would not have expected to have found,”
Valthyrra continued. “I believe that the Dreadnought is nearly blind. Now it is
only logical to realize that it is receiving no visual information through that
light-consuming shield, but I now suspect that its ability to receive common
scanner information is very limited. Once it had restored its shield, the
Dreadnought pursued me at a following distance of less that a thousand
kilometers. I was open to passive scan as well as being very visible against
that planet, and yet it seemed unable to see me.”

“Do
you have any theories on that subject?” Asandi asked. “For that matter, I
believe that I have proof. Meaning no criticism, I suspect that our scientists
here at Alkayja invented an explanation for why it could use its scanners
through its own shields, when in fact it cannot,” She began feeding images to
the main viewscreen. “Because I did have the Dreadnought targeted clearly
against the planet, I was able to get some detailed images of its shield. In
these images, you can in fact see several relatively tiny objects protruding
through the Dreadnought’s shield. Several are knob-like projections about a
meter across coming only just through the shield, which I believe are scanner
beam projectors. There are also dozens of whip antennas, coming through the
shield to a length of four or five meters, which are probably active and
passive scan detectors. When the Dreadnought is under attack or trying to evade
detection, it draws these units back until they are obscured from scan by that
shield, but this severely limits the effectiveness of these devices.”

“In
that event, if the Dreadnought was attempting to avoid detection by one
carrier, a second carrier might be able to slip in close enough to fire cannons
through those shields?” Trendaessa Kerridayen observed.

“Yes,
I believe so,” Valthyrra agreed. “And that brings me to one very encouraging
observation about the Dreadnought. I suspect that it might not be as tough to
crack as we feared. Once a cannon bolt finds a way through that shield, it
seems to take damage very easily, if only temporarily. It also seems to get
shaken, as if it cannot decide whether to take an offensive or defensive
stance. These are things that we can exploit to our advantage.”

Asandi
nodded slowly. “Since you have fought the Dreadnought with reasonable success,
what do you recommend?” “Is the Kerridayen fitted with an impulse scanner?”
Valthyrra asked.

“Yes,
but the ship is not yet fully repaired.”

“Then
my suggestion is that the Kerridayen and myself coordinate an attack, luring or
driving the Dreadnought within range of an ambush. Once it has come within
moderately close range, two or three carriers could match frequencies with
their main batteries until they pierce that shield, standing by with either
missiles or conversion cannons when it fails. Once we know where it is, we
should be able to find a place to arrange an ambush easily enough. I will admit
that this plan is not perfect, but it is the best that we have at this time.”

“And
you believe that you should be allowed to fight the Dreadnought?” Asandi asked.

“I
believe that I should be allowed to coordinate the attack,” Valthyrra declared
frankly. “I have a feel for how the Dreadnought operates and reacts. I think
that I have proven that.” “One might also argue that you were lucky,” Asandi
remarked. “It was my thought that we should have you repaired but held in
reserve, in case our first major attack against the Dreadnought should fail.
Captain Tarrel, what has been your impression of Valthyrra’s performance?”

“Actually,
I believe that she has done very well,” Tarrel insisted. “I hesitate to speak
plainly in her presence, however.” “I prefer that you should,” Valthyrra told
her.

“Then
the bad news first,” she continued. “Valthyrra still seems to be getting used
to stressful situations and dealing with events beyond her own control,
experiences she could not get sitting inside a construction bay. At the same
time, she allows nothing to interfere with duty. When the time comes to act,
she never foils to act cleverly and decisively. Although I must admit that my
experience with the Starwolf carriers is limited, it did seem to me that she is
more inventive and quicker to react than I found the Kerridayen to be. I
believe that her desire to lead the fight against the Dreadnought has to be
considered for the very reason she gave, although we must still consider all
the alternatives.”

“Some
achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them, and some are just
built that way?” Asandi asked, amused. “Frankly, I do see reason to be
impressed with our young ship. But regardless of her qualifications, the
Methryn is still wrecked. Half of her main drives are out, her star drive is
operating at half of normal efficiency, and a portion of her sensor array and
her weapons have been destroyed. Will she be in any condition to fight any time
soon? I cannot in all conscience send her into battle crippled.”

“The
star drives can be repaired easily enough,” Gelrayen said. “Those can be fully
operational in a few days. She does have four heat-damaged main drives that
will need weeks to rebuild, but we could replace those here in station in a
matter of hours.”

Asandi
looked uncomfortable about that. “As it happens, we have a full set of eight
main drives in surplus here at the station, and the Methryn will get the four
she needs. Fortunately, she is the first carrier to come home needing
replacement drives.”

“All
other repairs will be simple enough,” Gelrayen continued. “We can go out again
in perhaps as little as four or five days.”

“What
do you think about your ship’s ability to fight?”

“I
learned very quickly that I can trust her completely. She was making all the
decisions and giving the orders during that battle.”

Asandi
nodded slowly. “What about her ability to lead others, and to deal with people?
Does she have the experience to deal with others?”

Captain
Tarrel smiled. “You saw the state her crew was in. Valthyrra talked them into
that quite cleverly. That was, by the way, a little joke that turned into a
philosophical experiment.” “A what?” Gelrayen asked, perplexed. “What does
tricking several hundred Kelvessan into running around naked have to do with
philosophy?”

“Well,
Valthyrra and I discovered that the most amazing thing happens when you take
the clothes off a Starwolf,” Tarrel commented. “He begins to contemplate the
meaning of his existence and his place in the universe.”

“Oh,
is that what causes it,” he said, looking greatly surprised. “Well, a Starwolf
just has to be careful about the strange thoughts that seize the mind when he
is naked.”

“If
you don’t mind ...” Commander Asandi suggested, rubbing his face. “Captain, you
need to be careful when you play games with my Starwolves.”

“It
was Valthyrra’s idea,” Tarrel insisted.

“Was
not!”

“If
you don’t mind,” Asandi interrupted, then shook his head slowly. “I would like
to give Valthyrra what she wants, but I just do not feel that this is the time
to stick out our necks and take a risk. I really believe that we should arrange
a more conventional attack on the Dreadnought, at least this first time.
Commander Daerran, the Kerridayen is in her bay, ready for battle. What do you
think?”

“It
seems to me that the question really comes down to deciding between two
options,” he answered. “No matter who leads the attack, the first question we
have to ask is whether we plan to throw a majority of our resources into this
first battle with the Dreadnought in the hope that it will be the last, or do
we take only the ships here in station and leave the rest of the carriers
running their patrols. ”

“Exactly,”
Gelrayen agreed. “Just how many carriers do we have here?”

“The
Kerridayen, the Destaen, and the Mardayn are fully functional and ready for
battle,” Commander Asandi explained. “We have nearly completed work on the
Vardon’s hull, and the Methryn seems to think that she can be out again in four
or five days. That gives us five fighting ships here at Alkayja, as well as the
freighter Taerregyn to carry replacement components.”

“I
should probably add at this point that we only have operational sets of
auxiliary shield generators for four ships,” Dalvaen, the leader of the
Kelvessan research team, told them. “At the same time, the Kerridayen is now
fitted with a fully functional impulse scanner.”

“That
settles matters for me,” Daerran said. “My own suggestion is that this group of
five fighting ships should go out as soon as possible, locate the Dreadnought
and try to arrange an ambush. The Kerridayen and the Methryn can direct the
attacks of the other ships. If we feel like we need more help, we can call in
two or three of the carriers on patrol near that area.” “Do you need the
Methryn?” Commander Asandi asked.

“I
honestly believe that we should pool our experiences before we go, and the
Methryn’s experience fighting the Dreadnought will certainly be valuable. But I
doubt that we are going to have any idea of just what is best to do until we
find the Dreadnought. As for having the Methryn come along, I would certainly
like to have her at hand.”

The
other Starwolf ships and Commanders were quick enough to agree with his
judgement, and that seemed to settle the matter. Commander Asandi looked
thoughtful, but not necessarily upset or annoyed as he capitulated to their
wishes. Still, Captain Tarrel was certain that he had his own ideas about the
Methryn’s immediate future, and not necessarily just to have her in reserve, as
he had said. But, whatever his real reasons might be, they were nothing that
she could guess.

The
final decision was to send out the main battle fleet con-sisting of the
Mardayn, the Destaen, and the Vardon, supported by the Kerridayen and the Methryn.
They would be able to direct the other carriers with their impulse scanners,
since those three ships would actually be fighting blind. This arrangement was
actually to their advantage, since the attacking ships would be able to correct
the impulse images transferred to them by the surveillance carriers that would
be standing off, but without betraying their own presence with beams. These
three ships were to receive a pair of auxiliary shield generators each, with
the Kerridayen receiving the last available pair in the event they were needed.
The fact that the Methryn was passed over for receiving a pair seemed to
indicate that she was held to be inferior in status to the older carriers. The
Starwolf freighter Taerregyn would accompany this fleet, carrying a wide
variety of replacement parts, extra drives and construction crews from Alkayja
station, and she would be standing by to tow any carrier that could not be
repaired in space.

Commander
Asandi intercepted Tarrel in the hallway once the meeting had been concluded.
“Captain, I was wondering if I might speak with you privately for a moment.”

“Certainly,”
she answered, falling into step beside him. “First, I should tell you that I
appreciate the difficulty of the decision you made when you ordered Valthyrra
to fire that missile, and I commend your ability to act quickly and
decisively,” he began, then hesitated. “If it is your intention, however, to go
out with the Starwolves yet again, then I feel that I should warn you about the
danger of tampering with their social self-image. ” “Danger?” Tarrel asked.
“That was actually Valthyrra’s doing, and it began only as a joke. They were
trying to call each other’s bluffs, and that young machine out-bluffed them
all. I just happened to observe the results.”

Commander
Asandi looked uncomfortable. “Those Starwolves are insidious. They can be so
candid and good-natured that you find yourself compelled to love them. Even
you, an honored Union Captain; you are beginning to love them yourself. You
want to help them. I want to help them, and that makes it only that much harder
to deny them. But the fact remains that we have been working to keep their
self-image in balance for tens of thousands of years, and this is certainly not
the time to upset things.”