Chapter 5: Chapter Four The Meeting

First Officer’s Log May 27th 158 CSD:

It has been four days since the Cathamari breached the Lunar Perimeter and assaulted Earth.  We have spent much of that time rendering aid to stricken warships. That hasn’t stopped people from talking about what happened to the planet. Hard for them not to notice, especially with the total lack of communications from Earth. It saddens me as well, just looking at the planet. It has been four days and the planet is still shrouded with plasma clouds. As far as we can tell the planet has been rendered uninhabitable, but our sensors have been unable to scan the surface. The intense plasma storms wracking the upper atmosphere have complicated efforts to determine exact surface conditions. Preliminary indications are that the surface has been irradiated, and if that is the case, all life may be gone. I doubt that, but there is nothing we can do to help them. Our resources up here are strained as it is. I’ll be attending a meeting in a few hours to determine our course of action going forward.

Countryman stepped into the war room. They had gathered officers from the remaining ships here, and several vessels that had been abandoned. Normally they would have just used the conference room on deck one for a meeting like this. Given the number of officers involved in this meeting, they needed the extra space that the war room provided. Looking around the room he spotted a few familiar faces but most were officers he hadn’t worked with. He had taken the liberty of reading files on everyone though so he knew who was in the room.

Countryman headed for his seat, and noted the presence of Captain Reynolds. Four days had been enough for him to recover from his injuries in the medical bay. Countryman’s seat was next to his. As was natural, but Countryman noted an oddity. Reynolds had taken Countryman’s assigned seat and left his own empty. When Countryman got near, Reynolds gestured for him to sit in the chair for the ship’s captain, and Reynold’s mouthed, “I’ll tell you during the meeting.”

Something was up. He could tell. His instincts told him so, but they also told him Reynolds wasn’t hostile. He let this slide. A few minutes was nothing.

It was not long before the meeting opened. Reynolds, as hosting captain, began the meeting. “Alright people, we have much to discuss in light of Earth’s current condition.”

Drakes said, “Yes, we do. I think we should start with a general review of what we have.”

Countryman had already done that, “I’ve compiled a manifest on what we have.”

Drakes nodded, “Thank you, Commander. Let’s hear it.”

He went over it with them. Only a small fraction of the fleet had survived the battle, less than two hundred ships. All of which had sustained damage of one degree to another. Only three of those ships had FTL capability. Just over half the surviving ships were supporting minimal crews while the rest had taken on survivors. The Enterprise was the largest of the surviving ships, and she had launched with a minimal crew. Most of the officers meant for the ship had not arrived. The same could be said for Coto and Umikaze. Hell, both destroyers were being commanded by officers that weren’t originally slated for command at the moment. They hadn’t been expecting to launch for another three weeks, but the crews were slated to start arriving yesterday. Not that it mattered anymore.

Moving on from ships he stated, “Now about our supply situation. We have nearly fifty thousand people scattered between the ships and stations. We only have enough food and water for six months. Now, the Enterprise is equipped with a hydroponics bay but first growth hasn’t even been started. Thankfully, we do have some seed supplies on board.”

“Hmm, that sounds like a problem. Might I suggest we check the Lunar surface domes? They were hit as well, but not as heavily as Earth. There may be some surviving supplies or better yet, an intact hydroponics facility.”

“I was getting to that. I did a few system scans, there are several intact hydroponics facilities, and a few thousand life signs still on Luna. Star Tech One is also still intact and manned. We can find some vital supplies there as well.”

Drakes nodded, “Sounds like we have options. Now, I guess the next order of business to consider is what we do long term.”

Reynolds interjected, “I have been thinking about it, and I have spoken some with my first officer on this. We have come to the conclusion that we can not stay here long term. Earth can no longer sustain us. Mars might work, but if the Cathamari return we would be hard pressed to defend it. Not to mention most of the surface was irradiated when the Cathamari bombarded it six months ago. As for Venus, the terraforming project was never finished, and it’s not ready to support human life.”

Williams said, “You are suggesting we leave the system aren’t you?”

Drakes responded, “That is exactly what he is suggesting.”

A young woman, an officer off the Baltimore named Sanchez interjected, “We can’t! Earth is our home!”

Second officer Greyman chuckled, “Where would you suggest we stay then? Luna?”

She looked away sheepishly.

Countryman interjected, “Most of our ships aren’t equipped for traveling between stars. We will have to leave them behind. It might get a bit cramped aboard the Enterprise, but I think we can modify the ship to accommodate everyone. We will just have to convert a couple of auxiliary cargo bays into living quarters.”

Reynolds nodded, “The ship is big enough, might stretch the regenerative life support systems a little, but that can be fixed. We can reduce the strain a bit by making use of the Umikaze and Coto. Both ships will also need modification to accommodate additional people. Even better is the fact that all three ships are not only equipped for interstellar travel, but equipped with a warp drive. That means they can make the journey between stars in a matter of months, instead of years.”

Countryman interjected, “I have ideas on how to improve the drives already, and the Enterprise does have lab space onboard. We can work on that enroute.”

A so far silent young woman that Countryman was quite familiar with looked up, “Yes, I recall. I’m already working on those ideas.”

Countryman smiled. The young woman was named Ruri, and frankly, she was a genius. She had been invaluable to the Warp Three project. She was here as chief scientist for part of the Warp Four project. When they had started the warp three project they knew it would be too slow for the admiralty, but the best way to improve upon the engine was to study it in actual use. That was part of why they put labs on the Enterprise. The fact that she was intended in part as an exploration vessel also played into the decision. In the end, they managed to fit onboard some nice state-of-the-art labs that may prove even more useful to them than they previously thought.

Williams frowned, “That sounds nice, but where exactly would we go?”

Countryman sighed, “That is the question alright. Logically the first place to go would be Proxima Centauri it’s the closest star to Earth. I can’t think of a better place to start a search for a new homeworld.”

He looked around. Everyone had blank looks on their faces. After a moment Drakes interjected, “Well that does sound like a plan. The start of one anyway. Searching for a new homeworld. That could take a lifetime, and preferably somewhere the Cathamari won’t be expanding too soon.”

Reynolds interjected, “Yes, we are talking about a journey that could take years. Finding a suitable world may prove difficult.”

“Fuel would be a major concern, with such a long journey ahead of us we will need to take measures to ensure our fuel supplies last.”

Countryman interjected, “There are a few things we can do to minimize fuel consumption right away. Dimming the lights to minimal levels and hard locking them to turn off when not in use would save a fair amount of energy. More energy can be saved by running everything on auxiliary rather than the mains while on sublight. “

“Yes, it sounds like you know what to do with that. So perhaps we should just leave it to you.”

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Reynolds leaned forward, “That reminds me. Another important point we need to discuss is leadership. Since we only have three ships capable of making this journey, it becomes very important to consider where we put people. Of the few command level officers we have there are only two that have any experience with these three ships. My first officer Countryman is frankly the most experienced with these new ships. As such I feel it best that he be field promoted to captain, and take my place as captain of the Enterprise. While I will transfer my command to the Coto whose crew would benefit from my leadership. The Umikaze also needs a more experienced captain, and I think the best person for that job would be Captain Drakes, formerly of the Yamato.”

Williams’ face turned red and protested, “Wait! You can’t put that Cyborg in command of the force flagship, are you nuts!? What if that computer in his head short circuits? There is no way we can trust a walking computer with our lives. Not to mention we already have other experienced captains of command rank left. No need to promote the machine.”

Reynolds gave her a look, but it was Drakes who said, “It sounds to me that you are actually mad to be passed up for a command. However I actually agree with Reynolds, Countryman is the most experienced with the Enterprise. It would be best if he was in command here.”

Countryman was a bit surprised by this. He wasn’t expecting Reynolds to just hand him command of the Enterprise. Although now that he thought of it maybe he should have realized. The seat thing was a bit of a giveaway for that.

She glared, “I doubt that, and if Captain Reynolds isn’t confident in his own skills, maybe you should give the command to me. I would make a far better leader than the damn machine.”

Great, day one and he already had a political enemy. He already planned to keep an eye on her, but it seemed she was ruled by her emotions. She would need to be carefully watched.

Countryman sighed and leaned forward. “I think your own response runs counter to that.”

She just looked away in a huff, and then Reynolds asked if there were any other objections. There were none, and just like that Countryman ended up declared the new captain of the Enterprise. With Reynolds moving to the Coto, and Drakes taking command of the Umikaze.

Williams wasn’t happy about that, but the rest of them simply moved on. “Alright, I guess we have a rough idea of long, and short-term goals. Anything else we need to discuss?”

Countryman nodded, “There is. We only discussed immediate goals. There is also the matter of the ships we are leaving behind, and what we can’t take with us.”

Everyone around the table nodded in agreement, and it was Greyman who voiced what was on their mind, “Yes we can’t leave anything intact for those scaly bastards.”

“We shouldn’t just mindlessly destroy what we can’t take. It might prove useful if we ever come back.”

“Star Tech One is still intact, and that station was fortified when it was militarized. It shouldn’t be too difficult to turn it into a storage site.”

“Yes, but would it not be vulnerable, dumped here in orbit. Surely they would find it here?”

Countryman interjected, “We could always move the station. Besides, we wouldn’t be able to go to warp until we clear the debris fields anyway.”

The debris fields Countryman was referring to were the extensive ship graveyards that filled the system. Many of them were booby-trapped and concealed radiation generators and mines.  In fact, the minefields set up in the system were extensive. Two years of war had left the system a navigator’s nightmare. The current state also forced the Cathamari to navigate the system at sublight speeds throughout much of the system. Human ships were faster at sublight and harder to detect so the debris fields also opened the Cathamari up to ambushes. Especially if they weren’t traveling in a pack.

“The debris fields? Well as I recall those thin out considerably once you get past the asteroid belt. So that leaves us with a few places to hide it.”

Reynolds leaned forward, “The asteroid belt actually would be perfect.”

Greyman stated, “Yes, it would. There are still parts of the belt with traps and defenses left over from the old Martian Perimeter. Traps the Cathamari never cleared out. We leave it in one of those zones, and chances are it will be left alone for decades. Especially if we leave it in the middle of a radiation field.”

“That sounds like a good place, but does anyone here happen to know the codes for the generators?”

Countryman was about to answer, when Reynolds said, “We won’t need those codes. The Enterprise is equipped with radiation shields that should protect us.”

Countryman quickly confirmed that, “Yes, and so is the Coto and the Umikaze.”

“Should? Do you mean they are untested?”

Countryman shook his head, “They have been tested actually. In the lab, and in the hanger. They will work.”

“So you scientist types finally cracked energy screens? How do they compare to Cathamari shields?”

Countryman chuckled, “Uh poorly. These weren’t made for battle, and they are related to the Mercury Project. Something most of you should be familiar with.”

They nodded, and one said, “That was the project about setting up a colony on Mercury wasn’t it?”

“Not quite, but close enough. Anyway, the requirements of that project required the development of a shield that could protect against extended radiation exposure. Especially the intense thermals of the sun. We made the first breakthrough with that over a decade ago, but the first radiation shields were bulky and energy-hungry. Making it prohibitively expensive to mount them on ships, and only ships like the Yamato could have mounted them. It wasn’t until about a year ago that the technology progressed to the point that it could conceivably be mounted on a ship.”

“Interesting. So why hadn’t they been mounted earlier then?

Countryman shifted his stance, “Limited value in being placed on ships has resulted in few ships being equipped with them.”

“Although helpful for us, if we are going to drop the station in the middle of a radiation field. Now we just have to decide what we are taking, and what we are leaving behind.”

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