Dark Echoes - Part 27

The preliminary scans showed nothing but random and seemingly unremarkable space anomalies and related noise. There was no way such a vast facility didn’t have any security measures, Aaen told himself. The Aurora’s commanding officer was apparently in agreement. The shipyard was CRAWLING ships of different sizes, and none of them were broadcasting a registry signal, which meant they were illegally possessed and likely engaged in unlawful operations—probably terrorism, Aaen quipped darkly.

“Their defensive perimeter extends for nearly five A-U’s surrounding the shipyard; it is equipped with three trimateralogical sensor grids, all of which are in a state of flux on their own multi-spacial aexeon band. Even if we tied the stealth system directly into the main reactor and proceeded at maximum sublight, we would only have a one-percent chance of getting through undetected.”

Probably an understatement, Smith thought skeptically, turning his head at Aaen as if to advise against the direct approach.

“Aurora acknowledges transmission.” The two-star admiral sitting on the dreadnought’s center seat declared directly.

“There’s no way we are just going to fly up to their front door,” Jones declared in frustration. There was no way Odyssey would get past that sensor grid, much less three layers worth!

Aaen felt short on options. Any solid object that tries to get through that sensor grid was basically guaranteed to be detected, he told himself, watching the belt-like crisp 3D animation roll across the view screen at a slight angle. “Suggestions?” He asked generally to both ships. That place must be crawling with heavily-armed ‘personnel’, probably mercenaries are their close occupational ‘cousins’ of sorts.

“Captain, hold your current position. We have a Shadow team on board that will proceed to neutralize the sensor grid. Our T-A-O suggests Odyssey move in when the sensor grid is down and proceed to this point,” a series of tactical images appeared on the viewscreen, including a projected flight path all the way to the strategic objective point extremely deep into the heart of the shipyard. “Once inside, you will drop six high-yield-torpedoes at these points.” The images continued to change with the briefing, “Once you are clear at a range of one hundred billion kilometers, you will then detonate the warheads. My T-A-O’s calculations indicate the resulting cascading explosion should obliterate the shipyard. Acknowledge.” The mention of a Shadow team sent chills through Odyssey’s bridge. Aaen felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight at the mention.

Aaen took a breath, sat upright, and then replied, “Odyssey, acknowledged.”

The two-star faced his viewscreen sharply and then directly commanded, “Standby for our signal, Odyssey. All hands: execute.” The line closed abruptly.

“Aurora is taking position five-hundred-kilometers directly above the neighboring planet’s north pole. . .” The deck shuddered like an 8.0 earthquake as the enormous hulk maneuvered like a cruise liner for the next ten seconds. “I’ve lost them,” Jones declared lowly.

Aaen and Smith exchanged a concerned, skeptical look about whether or not they would get through the field of thousands of headaches that would be if they were detected, the silently agreed.

“Hot-dog!” Jones exclaimed under a breath, eyeing the data pouring onto their screen amid the growing flurry of activity on her screen. We’re flying right into a freakin’ hornet’s nest! The number of sensor contacts had quintupled in a matter of seconds. There wasn’t a hostile ship on sensors that wasn’t armed to the teeth; and if that weren’t bad enough: she detected all manner of ongoing incoming scans! There weren’t just ships! There were automated weapon platforms everywhere! Even better: distortions in space-time that she couldn’t explain. This bothered her, but she bit her tongue on the matter. There was no apparent immediate danger to the ship, but they seemed to be following them. 

*****

Steve H. of Portland, OR told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

Make sure to check out our official website, like and follow the official StormTeam Simulations Facebook page and @StormteamS, and @JordanFoutin for the latest! 

Make sure to buy your copy of STORMTEAM, available on Amazon.com in Kindle eBook, softcover, and audiobook! Also available at these fine retailers:

Smashwords.com (Remember to like and share!)

Apple iBooks

Barnesandnoble.com 

Scribd.com 

Kobo.com

Blio.com 

Thank you, and happy reading!