Deep Space Automated Tracking System
Updating target track: UKX7834-101
Timestamp: 0020730925.23.59
Calculating destination vector... [248] [006] [+/- 15%]
Calculating velocity... 75547699 [+/- 11%] km/h
Calculating distance... 201880720885 [+/- 16%] km
Calculating time to intercept... 813 [+/- 14%] days
Calculating signal lag... 8 [+/- 8%] days
EZRead POI:
Priority override...HIGH
Shuttle Shenfeng, beyond Luna orbit
Hui adjusted the attitude of the shuttle. Unable to
use the fusion drive for fear of detection, she had to use the compressed gas
thrusters. These provided enough thrust for manoeuvring.
This was one of new combat shuttles fresh from the
assembly lines planetside. As with all pilots she experienced a thrill when
flying any new craft. This new model was based on the same transport shuttle
she’d flown countless times between L1 Station and Earth. Although it did lack
the extended range of the specially modified Zheng Fe. That meant that it already
felt familiar to her as she sat in the pilot’s chair and first powered up the
systems.
The shuttle might have felt the same at first, but
this craft had teeth. In conformal weapons pod beneath the wings and fuselage
multi-role missiles awaited her command. The targeting systems integrated with
her implants, anything she could perceive with her own senses, or those of the
shuttle or any networked sensor could be used to target the missiles.
Under the nose a fixed line rail gun could spit
hardened projectiles at a velocity it would take her fusion drive a year to
reach. Above and below the fuselage, behind the cockpit DEW pods provided point
defences against incoming missiles as well as additional light strike
capability.
The shuttle’s skin also differed from the old
model. The state of the art stealth covering gave the ship an insectoid look.
Black and menacing. The absorbent skin could soak up the energies of most
active scanners. Augmenting this passive system an active electronic warfare
and stealth system provided additional counter measures aginst detection.
The first of its kind, and now was flying it on
its first combat mission.
Hui thought back
to the days of briefings. They had become almost routine on her visit to
Earth. From early in the morning until late at night she provided endless status
reports to a variety of officers and officials from high command. The constant
reviews and adjustments for logistics and plans began to numb her, making that
final meeting all the more surprising.
In this meeting the attendants were brass heavy.
Not only General Po Ling, but the Head of the Air Force, and even the Defence
Minister all waited for her. This meeting changed the whole complexion of the
mission. A new phase in the operation would begin. This change brought her
here, on course to a commercially worthless lump of rock, drifting through
interplanetary space.
The High Command and Ruling Committee decided that
a more active campaign to prevent the trade was needed. This new campaign would
need to be covert. Open conflict with the UN wasn’t a desired outcome, they
said. Not yet.
They determined the weak spot as the Luna Mining
Corporation. Their shipyard enabled directly and indirectly the trade mission
as well as threatening the Asian Alliance’s expansion into space.
The plan they described was simple. Knock one of
the smaller rock asteroids into a Luna intercept course. Split the massive rock
into smaller fragments, then watch as they smashed into the LMC shipyard. Even
partial damage would slow the LMC production hampering theirs, and the UN’s
plans.
While it looked simple in the presentation with
its elegant graphics, the actual implementation was another matter. The first
part of the plan had already been started before Hui had been briefed. A robot
drone intercepted the asteroid. Microscopic robots then tunnelled into the rock.
The robots had two objectives. The first to create a shaft to the centre of the
asteroid, down which an explosive charge would be placed. The secondary
objective created tiny hairline fissures throughout the asteroid, when the
charge exploded they would guide the force ensuring fragmentation.
Moving the asteroid into a new orbit proved more
problematic. The usual methods of attaching fusion drives or detonating a large
nearby explosion were far too noticeable. Deep space tracking systems would
spot the activity and the LMC would have plenty of warning and so be able to
prevent or minimise the attack.
Thankfully the Russians provided the solution,
although they weren’t aware of it. The Mig-Sukhoi corporation’s experiments
with mass drivers provided a stealthy mechanism for accelerating the asteroid
into a new course. According to the data stolen by the cyber-espionage teams
the system had never been tested on an object so large. It was really designed
for launching cargo pods at high velocities. Simulations had shown that the
technology could be adapted to make a smaller velocity change to a much larger
object.
Hui adjusted the shuttle’s course again. The
journey here had taken four days, they drifted along unable to use the
shuttle’s main drive. The initial burn masked by an old Indian freighter
following a parallel course.
The mission also operated under full electronic emission
controls, so no communications with home where allowed. Silently they drifted
through the dark, now they now reached their target. The asteroid was dark,
reflecting little of the Sun’s light. Even with her enhanced vision it was
difficult to see. Only the slowly spinning bulk as it obscured the stars behind
it gave any visual indication of its presence.
She checked the electronic threat indicators. Only
the deep space tracking radar showed on the board. Out here the strength of the
radar is too low to detect the shuttle. Even the huge lump of rock would barely
register at this range. Using just the compressed gas jets she manoeuvred the
shuttle above the asteroid. Once in position she sent a message to the marine
engineering squad assembled in the cargo bay.
“We’re in position. You are go to deploy.”
She opened the cargo bay door. Without active
sensors her enhanced view lacked the clarity she was used to. It didn’t feel
right not having that extra awareness. Beside her the co-pilot focused on the
volume of space around them. The shuttle’s computer did the same without pause,
but an extra pair of eyes watching for danger provided some reassurance.
The engineers drifted out of the shuttle, tiny
against the indistinct form of the asteroid. The first dropped towards the
asteroid. He would access the robot drone directly, make sure that the
tunnelling was progressing on schedule.
Once he completed the checks he would return to the shuttle, collect the
explosive charge then drop it down the tunnel. His final task would be to
hammer magnetized blocks across the surface of the asteroid. Along with the low
latent magnetic field this would provide something for the accelerator to grip
to and push the asteroid.
The rest of the team unfurled what looked like a
large black cloth. It wasn’t really cloth, but a smart material designed to
absorb radar energy. Once fully unfurled it stretched over a mile in each
direction. Small magnetised blocks attached along its outside edge would allow
it to be accelerated in front of the asteroid. It would then shroud the
asteroid from detection until it was too close to the target for LMC to react.
Once the shroud was in place they pulled the
accelerator from the shuttle. It had been modified heavily from the original
Russian design. Long strips slotted together forming a cage that enclosed the
asteroid in a tunnel. The acceleration cage took twelve long hours to
construct. Adding the impulse units along the tunnel’s length took another
four. Exhausted the team returned to the shuttle. Four fusion generators would
provide the energy required to launch the three objects.
Hui nudged the shuttle behind the asteroid, out of
the enclosing cage. First the accelerator launched the shroud. In sequence from
back to front the impulse units activated pushing against the magnetised
blocks. The shroud then quickly accelerated into space. All parameters looked
nominal.
Next the asteroid was propulsed through the cage.
Three of the fusion generators drained their energy output within minutes. Over
a million tons of asteroid slowly gained momentum. The velocity change was tiny,
but it should be enough.
She waited an hour then flew the shuttle into the
cage. The propulsers triggered a final time and launched the shuttle stealthily
back towards Earth orbit. As the shuttle
passed the asteroid the timer on the cage activated the nano-bots that
immediately began eating into the framework, reducing the complex apparatus to
dust.
LMC Shipyard, Luna orbit
The first vessel from the upgraded shipyard nosed
its way slowly out of the construction bay. The assembled construction crew
watched in silence as the fledgling ship crept from its nest. Michael Richards
watched from amongst the crowd, his customary place on the podium now occupied
by one of the security team. Everyone on the station, except those needed for
the actual launch crowded together to watch the event.
He’d originally intended to present a speech to
the team. Once he’d arrived, flanked by Jacob and his security team he changed
his mind. This was a major milestone for the company, and he wanted to
celebrate that. Being here with the workers that had pushed themselves with
double shifts made him realise the celebration should be for them.
A loud cheer shattered the quiet, heralding the
vessel’s exit from the shipyard. This ship would take its first voyage to the Stellar
Collector Corporation’s asteroid mining base. This new freighter would be the
first of Pa Jackman’s new fleet. His old ships, as they are replaced will then
be transferred to the UNOC. It wasn’t one of the new mega-freighters, the vast
bulk of one still under construction could be seen in shadow behind the station
on the giant viewscreens. Even so, this new freighter still represented a
significant upgrade for the old man. Within the next two weeks another vessel
would leave this station and join its sister ship.
As the cheers died down Michael turned to the
workers near him. He refrained from the rough back slapping, but he did take
their hands, shaking them vigorously, a large smile spread across his face. He
worked his way through the throng, his facial recognition system providing
names for every person he greeted.
The company rule for no alcohol allowed on active
shifts had been relaxed for this occasion. He’d brought pouches of champagne
for everyone, these were now handed out and the cheers resumed. He didn’t
manage to greet everyone personally, but he covered most of the two hundred
people present. Another happy roar resounded as he announced that the day’s
shifts would be cancelled. A day off for everyone.
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