Tau Quartet: The Broken Fleet, #4

By Richard R Lockwood

In Tau Fleet, Quartet, we meet some old friends from the Broken Fleet series and watch others grow into the new society the Twins have created. Sometimes they run into wonders, sometimes they run into vast and bloody brawls, and sometimes they run into pretty silly situations. If you like such variety in your speculative fiction then give these stories a chance to amuse you. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard R Lockwood
• Release date: Oct 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215469941

Richard R Lockwood

Was born in Miami FL. Worked for the University of Florida until I retired. Been married to the lovely Cecelia for 40 years now, proof that I'm a lucky guy. Now living on the Nature Coast in Citrus County. Enjoy all kind of wildlife, especially reptiles and insects, so I'm pretty sure I'm in the right place. When I'm not writing I enjoy wood carving. Both of the heads beside me in the picture are cedar from the Chassahowitzka Forrest. I also love to walk my dog Bark Anthony. Probably need to go do that now. A Chronology of the Twins Alternate Universe novels and some thoughts and rationales - https://www.ricklockwood.net/Chronology.html My Books on Books 2 Read - https://books2read.com/ap/RaZ9Br/Richard-R-Lockwood  

Book preview

Tau Quartet

Part One

1

Appearing motionless in the vastness of interstellar space, a starliner approached a small orange sun at .6 light. Even though the tiny star was still two light months away, it seemed to stand out against the background of tinier lights as the expectations of the astronomers back on Terra affected the senses of the officer on the bridge of the starliner's cruiser escort. Signs of abundant carbon dioxide had shown up on two planets in this system a year ago, and the data the cruiser was sending back through the portal was getting more attention by the Terran scientific community every day.

The Tau Fleet had named it Pruitt's Star after a WWI Medal of Honor winner. That was their standard protocol; in Admiral McKenzie's opinion there were many people who deserved the honor, and who could make sense of the usual astronomer's naming system, full of numbers and Greek and Latin and Arabic?

Commander Doug Russo looked over at the starliner in the cruiser’s bridge display, then checked the communications board one last time as he prepared to leave her. He would be back once a week for the same inspection, and then in twelve weeks the crew of the starliner would start to accompany him on his visits as their ship neared its destination. No error reports or unusual items were waiting for his eyes as he scanned across the monitors. The empty liner was surrounded by her eight cruiser escorts, all of them three light minutes away in an octogon pattern as they neared the system, and all of the cruisers were empty except for the one occupied by Russo and Marine Sergeant Tiswalla. Tiswalla was one of several Gurkhas that had enlisted in the Tau Fleet and would lead one of the Marine platoons when the small fleet arrived at Pruitt's Star in four months.

Commander Russo prepared to leave the bridge and motioned the sergeant to precede him through the portal, then for a moment he was the only human being for billions of kilometers. He smiled at himself as always for enjoying such a small ego booster, then stepped through the portal to Hough Station.

Sergeant Tiswalla was waiting for him in the Hall of Portals and they left the bay where the portal to Pruitt's Star was set. The Lieutenant on duty accepted the Commander's nod that all was well with that expedition and made a notation at his console. Russo looked around the room at the other bays with portals; there were seventeen so far, each looking like a full length oval submarine door, and watched the familiar activity of the communication consoles in the center and a few other officers as they went about their duties. A squad of a half dozen Marines in battle suits - standard dress for Hough Station - were always on duty in this room and they watched him watching them, every one of them aware that if something were wrong the Commander would not be standing there, rubber necking like a tourist. Of course it was his station, and if he wanted to look around with a smile on his face, well, each of these Marines was a veteran, they knew things could be a lot worse.

The Hall of Portals took up a small portion of a cavern hollowed out of a much larger asteroid. The asteroid was parked next to the battle stations, slowly rotating to provide a small amount of gravity for those working inside it. It was parked under the guns of the station; half for protection for it, and half for protection from it in case some alien menace should come boiling out of one of the portals. If that should ever happen it was possible to eject a particular portal out of the cavern and into space where the big laser cannons of the station could destroy it, but it was also possible that they would have no time for that, in which case it was the job of the Marines to give the officers at the consoles enough time to arm the nuclear bombs that surrounded the cavern, and to die with them in defense of the human race in the Sulia system. Sulia would lose contact with the other expeditions, but since there were no people on those expeditions it would be an easy choice to make. Once an expedition reached its destination a military team would evaluate the far system, and if it was safe, the portal would be moved out of the hall and taken to Bob City where it would be used by many thousands of scientists and immigrants to the new system. The Hall of Portals was the front line for travel into the systems that surrounded Sulia, systems that were not linked through the giant gates that were the portals in to the rest of the galaxy. It had been in use for eight years, and the Pruitt's star expedition was the first one to approach a system that seemed likely to have anything close to an Earth type planet. Other similar expeditions had reached their destinations, but after evaluation had been ordered to keep going on into farther space.

The other half of the asteroid was where the magic was accomplished. It took a team of scientists and engineers about four months of steady application of the gravitic tension generators to create a pair of portals. Once that had been accomplished a fleet was gathered, a system picked out, one of the portal pair was set up on an escort cruiser bridge, and the whole package sent on its way.

Commander Russo had toured the Hall of Portals at Abrams City several months ago on a trip to Terra. It had been in use for three years longer and had twenty six portals linked to its own expeditions in the space surrounding Sol. Exciting times, thought the Commander, and fifteen years ago Terra didn't even have a base on its own moon. Now they had three of these portal bases, although the one at D-Tau had only been on-line for two years.

He turned to Sargeant Tiswalla who was waiting patiently while his commander mused. One more, then we'll break for lunch.

Sergeant Sen Tiswalla was a veteran of the Royal Gurkha Rifles. He'd been severely wounded in Afghanistan, but his battalion commander had recommended him to the Tau Fleet recruiters and four months later he had a new leg and was training with other recruits in the D-Tau system. Three years of service later he had earned his share of Tau Stellar stock and now owned several apartment buildings in Kathmandu, the Nepali capitol. One of several Gurkha billionaires on active service in the Fleet, he was considered to be one of the most eligible catches in Asia, even though he already had three wives.

Perhaps that was why Sen was still out here with the fleet, his commander thought, not that it mattered, who wouldn't want to be a part of this great expansion of the human race? That was why he was here, even though he had earned his own share several years ago. He would never forget the day he had stood on the tarmac at Coronado with thirty five other US Navy fliers while then Captain McKenzie had them count off, then led them into space. Two years later he had resigned his Navy commission when his application to Tau was accepted. Now he was right where he wanted to be, and this work would become more exciting and interesting as the various expeditions reached their targets.

Such musings were a familiar path and it only took the Commander a moment to travel them again, then he motioned for the Sergeant to proceed him to the next portal. The Marine led the way to the next bay, labeled above the archway were the words Sampler's Star, and stepped through followed by the Commander. Fifteen minutes later they were back; like most other expeditions, this one was far from its destination, and did not reward sight-seeing while there. But this time when he returned the duty officer had a worried expression on his face.

Commander, he said, We're getting some radio traffic in front of the liner at Gaffney's Star. No translation yet, sir. I've called the reaction squad.

Alright, Lieutenant, we'll wait, Russo replied as he reviewed his knowledge of that expedition. Gaffney's Star was actually a pair - a large blue white giant and a smaller brown dwarf - orbiting each other in a dance that would lead to disaster for the dwarf in five million years. The scientists were not expecting to find much of interest there besides the astronomy, the plan had been to stay for a few months and then set the expedition back in motion headed outward. The expedition was still at least three years from the system, and very much in the middle of nowhere.

The reaction squad began filing in from the ready room nearby. Another dozen Marines, it also had three Tau Fleet officers to fly cruisers if necessary. Since the Commander liked to put himself into the inspection rotation, he was the official Reaction Officer as well if anything occurred during his watch, which meant he would lead the little force.

Anything new on the radio signal, Lieutenant? he asked.

No sir, um, wait one moment sir. The system just tentatively identified it as a distress signal, sir, due to the repetition and stress analysis of the voice. Language is still unidentified, sir.

Thank you, Lieutenant. Are we ready? he asked Tiswalla, who had just finished a quick inspection of the men.

Yes sir, the sergeant replied, and without waiting for further orders led the men to the Gaffney portal, then through it and on to the bridge of a cruiser four light years away.

2

The Gaffney's Star expedition was still far from its goal but the blue white giant was already dominating the view in the bridge display. The officers spread around and sat at the bridge stations while half the Marines went to the hold of the cruiser as soon as they arrived. Each cruiser hold contained a factory seed and a gunship and the Marines soon reported that both were operational.

Call in three other cruisers, ordered Russo. Three of the empty cruisers flying in formation with them were called closer and within fifteen minutes his little force had transferred and spread out and now consisted of four cruisers and four gunships flying alongside with Marine crews. Now Russo felt comfortable enough to consider the signal and had the cruiser map it out on the bridge display.

The signal source was not directly ahead of the expedition, and by now they had traveled far enough that they could triangulate its position to about eighteen light hours away. The ship's instruments could detect nothing in that direction; it must not be under power or very large. They would know more in a few hours as they got closer. He ordered the course correction to intercept the signal.

Put the signal on the bridge speakers, he told the ship. A squeeky high pitched whine filled the air, then it gave way to a scratchy voice almost as high pitched, but filled with urgency as it seemed to struggle with its words. Russo was unable to tell if it was a male or a female. We'll find out soon enough, he thought, then changed his mind as the message started to loop. It could have been playing for centuries, no telling what they might find out. He left the bridge through the portal and back in the portal room told the duty officer to have another squad and an engineering team scheduled for twelve hours later. Anything new on the signal? he asked.

No sir. I've sent it to Fleet.

Good. They need something to do. I'm going to put the reaction squad on stand-by for twelve hours, then we'll power up and get ready to squash this annoying little signal.

Yes sir.

Russo looked at him with an eyebrow raised. You should laugh when your Commander makes a joke, Lieutenant.

Ha ha.

The eyebrow got higher.

I mean ha ha sir.

Lieutenant, come with me. Russo waved the man towards the portal he had just come through and they rejoined Sergeant Tiswalla on the bridge of the cruiser headed to Gaffney's star. This is your duty station for the next hour, Lieutenant. Tell the reaction squad to get some rest and be ready in twelve hours. The Sergeant and I are going to lunch, and you will practice while I am gone, understood?

Practice, sir?

Ha ha, Lieutenant, ha ha, Russo replied. Let's hear it.

Ha ha, sir, the Lieutenant started, then was encouraged by further hand waving from Russo to keep going. Ha ha, sir, echoed in their ears as he and Tiswalla left the bridge.

The education of Lieutenants, he told Tiswalla, Is never ending.

Truth, sir.

3

Twelve hours later Russo and Tiswalla got ready to check out the signal. The other seven cruisers had two officers in each one, the eight gunships had two Marines and an engineer apiece, and the starliner was still empty as they sent it slightly forward of the military ships. The most valuable thing out here was the portal, and next to that were the factory seeds in the hold of each cruiser. The starliner was there as a visible target for any hostile encounters, and as a hotel until they got the factories producing. As long as they had the portal working and a factory seed to start a colony, the expedition could be a success; without the portal they had nothing, so the cruiser carrying the portal hung back and let the starliner go first with a screen of cruisers in between.

Fleet Headquarters on Sulia had not been able to make anything definite of the signal, except that perhaps it might be using an ancient message protocol. Thanks a lot, thought Russo, whoever thought that up sure earned their money today.

As they got closer they could begin to resolve the object through their telescopes. It began to look like a huge barrel, and was aproximately five times the size of the starliner. Looks like an orbital, sir, sent Lieutenant Commander Newhouse, the squadron commander, Or perhaps a generation ship. They started to slow down when they were a half hour away. The object was going at about 2% of lightspeed but it was not headed for Gaffney's Star.

The cruisers and gunships were in full stealth and communicating by tight laser beams. Everyone was watching as the starliner approached to within a ship's length of the object.

Send a hail, Russo said to Lieutenant Togawa, his communications officer. Togawa fed the hail through the starliner's antennae. Gunships line up on the object from the star side. Engineers let me know what you think.

Ten minutes later the consensus was that it was a derelict. It was showing no lights or power usage on their sensors except for the message loop. There was no response to their hail. There were hundreds of long lines trailing the object for several kilometers, and they could see the ends of the lines were uneven.

I wonder if it used to have a light sail, sir? sent Lieutenant Yanay Ramos.

No guesses from the engineers, Yanay? Russo sent back, I could have sworn we had some with us.

I had to kick two of them off my bridge, sir, she sent back, I hope they didn't get lost.

So there's room on your bridge, now?

Barely enough to do my job, sir.

Let me know if that situation changes, Yanay.

Of course, sir.

Russo indulged himself for a moment to consider Yanay Ramos. The product of a Guatamalan father and a Louisiana Creole mother, she was easily the most beautiful woman in the Sulia system, just as smart as she was pretty, and at 52 kilos and 160 centimeters tall she fit perfectly into most men's fantasies. Good thing she had a sense of humor, he concluded, or he would have to transfer half of his command, including himself.

Any hatches? he had Togawa send over the broadcast net.

I think we'll have to go closer, sir, sent back Lieutenant Tom Mercer, the head of the engineer team. This thing is so big it just seems like we're close.

Give them some cover if they find one, Russo sent to Newhouse, I'd like to see what's inside. Full xeno protocol of course. That meant battle suits stayed buttoned up even if they found air, and full decontamination when they returned to their cruisers. It was no surprise to anyone; the fleet often practiced for events like this and had developed standard protocols as their leaders tried to prepare for whatever they might find in space.

With its barrel shape, the object had probably rotated to provide gravity, so the engineers looked for hatches in the middle of the flat ends where it would not have been moving as fast, and found them. Two gunship crews at each end were now bodyguards for the engineers as they tried to figure a way in. The large hatch in the middle obviously needed power to open and shut, but smaller hatches spread around it looked like a better bet, they started trying to manipulate the handles and wheels next to them.

Sir, sent Lieutenant Mercer, I'd like to call the end with all the trailing lines the north end. We have a team at both ends trying to get in. There's some kind of script painted on different parts of the hull, I'm sending video.

Russo told himself to be patient, he didn't want anyone to do something stupid now. Fifteen years ago, this would have been the biggest find in history, he thought, now it was probably just a big piece of obsolete space junk, but you never know where Murphy may be hiding.

Sir, sent Lieutenant Mercer, I'm at the north end, we have an open hatch. It doesn't look very big.

Feel free to enlarge it, Tom, sent back Russo, We won't be taking this thing home with us.

I think Tolson can make it sir, but none of the Marines can fit.

You'll have to enlarge it then, Tom, no choice.

Yes sir.

Any of the cruiser sensors picking up anything, Phil? Russo sent to Newhouse.

Not really, sir. A few small power readings deep inside. We didn't pick up any sign of an atmosphere when they opened the hatch.

Tolson was now inside the hatch with a laser wand and Newhouse made sure the area was clear of ships around the opening. He would be firing up from inside the small space to enlarge the opening in an effort to minimise damage to the interior. A moment later a green beam shot into space and made a sweeping movement. When Tolson was done Mercer grabbed the floating hatch before it could drift off into space.

Looks like aluminum, sir, he sent to Russo.

Make sure you recycle it, Tom. It's not easy being green out here.

No problem, sir. Tolson's working on the inner hatch. Still no sign of any power or air, sir. Alright he's in. We'll have to enlarge this one, too, sir.

Proceed. You brought a generator so you can power the big hatch if we need to?

Of course, sir.

Just checking, Tom. You get an 'A' so far.

Thank you, sir. My mom will be proud. Enlarging the opening again.

Once again the green beam played around the exterior of the object as they widened the interior hatch opening. Now the way was open into the interior unless they encountered more hatches and two engineers and two Marines turned on their utility lights and proceeded to work their way in. Similar progress was made at the south end and a few minutes later another team was working its way in from that end.

Yanay, sent Russo, Can you estimate the course of this thing back to a probable origin star?

"Already did, sir. A little yellow type 'G'. I'm marking it on