56. Who was there

“It’s a fine ship, captain!”

Giant of the Stars — concept by Greg

“It’s a fine ship, captain!”
“Thank you, admiral. It will be when finished in half a year. May I give you a tour?”
“I am less interested in a tour, bring me directly to the bridge.”
“Yes, sir. Just around the corner.”
“My understanding that you are already running on your own power.”
“Yes, sir. The main reactors were just brought online last week. We have short range jump capability, planned test next week. Here is the redesigned bridge, sir.”
“Great. Very ergonomic.” — the admiral sat down in the captain’s chair, while missing the thrill of the frontline action, not really looking forward to what he has to do now — “This is Admiral Haggardt for shipwide announcement. Due to a developing emergency, I take command of the Steeldome. Prepare for launch in an hour. I want FTL drive and weaponry to be online by that time.”
“Sir, what… wasn’t notified of this.”
“Now you are. Do as ordered. I suppose you want to keep your rank, captain.”
“Yes, sir.” — the captain, half of the age of the admiral turned around once more — “May I ask the nature of the emergency?”
“No, you may not. Need to know basis. But… one of our ships about to betray the Federation.”

“Defense calls Mr. Coldman to the witness stand.” — everything looked like just another day of a mundane trial despite what happened during the previous afternoon.
“Yes, I solemnly swear I tell the truth and only the truth.”
“Mr. Coldman, what was your position during the GTSB investigation?”
“I was the special counsel ordered to keep diplomatic connection between the major stakeholders, president of the Federation and the delegates from different colonies whose civilians were affected by the Giant’s accident and subsequent rescue efforts.”
“Have you met Mr. Sotomayor before he arrived to the accident scene?”
“No, I have not. Only a few occasions afterward.”
“How would you describe Mr. Sotomayor from those occasions?”
“Brilliant, but hot-headed. Careless for consequences.”
“Objection, speculative, subjective.”
“His expertise is diplomatic missions, knowing people. And Mr. Sotomayor is an expert, we can question the character of an expert witness.”
“I sustain, strike the last answer from the records. Go on, Mr. Coldman, but stay strictly on observations, not conclusions. Latter is the jury’s job.”
“Understand, excuse me, ma’am.”
“Mr. Coldman, what did Mr. Sotomayor do after his arrival?”
“Well, he ordered the salvage operation to stop. Then proceeded to the surface without checking in with me or any of my staff. And killed a civilian worker during his time down there.”
“Which caused strain in colonial-federal relations?”
“Yes, took considerable effort to handle this unfortunate event.”
“How do you think this affected Mr. Sotomayor’s report?”
“Objection, call for speculation.”
“Sustained, defense, you are trying my patience.”
“Mr. Coldman, what happened during the second time Mr. Sotomayor went down to the surface?”
“He got an entire commando to escort him. From the decks of the Irondome, it looked like the ship waged war on civilians and somehow managed to lose dozens. Later they held a funeral for all those wasted lives.”
“Thank you. I have no more questions.”
“Prosecution, do you want to cross-exam?”
“Yes, your honor. Mr. Coldman, is it true you and Captain Sebes decided Mr. Sotomayor only acted in self-defense?”
“I don’t remember exactly who said what…”
“It was a yes or no question, Mr. Coldman. Don’t look at the defense lawyer, I am asking now.”
“Yes, we designated it as self-defense.”
“And you let him work unrestrained, just as his mandate was supported by Federal institutions?”
“Yes.”
“Good, and about the second excursion. How do you know who were the attackers?”
“Actually I don’t.”
“Exactly. How could you, when no colonies, no other type of jurisdiction could identify the workers who were reported to attack the lawfully acting navy officers?”
“I am not sure what is your question.”
“Let me rephrase, do you know any jurisdiction who identified the casualties outside of the navy’s?”
“No, actually, I don’t.”
“Thank you, I have no more questions.”
“Redirect?”
“No, we don’t have more questions, your honor.”

As the judge was about to close off the day, Victoria touched her ear twice. Over light years of distance, in the same now, her executive officer aboard the Irondome answered:

“We are ready. Waiting for your signal, captain.” — he nodded to let helm control know they can proceed.

A few moments later the docking clamps retracted and the vast carrier slowly pushed away from the enormous Zodiak station it called home port. As dozens of ships come and go, nobody on the station questioned the Irondome’s departure.

“Sir, one of our bugs intercepted a video signal, you not gonna like this.”
“What is it? Put it on screen.”

Horrifying scene played in front of all officer on the bridge. A lush green planet calmly rotating in space. The camera stream coming from a satellite, its identifier printed on screen with time stamp. Recorded only a few minutes ago.

A bright flash blinding the satellite. Brownish, orange pieces leave the lush planet to all directions. Another orange circle expanding on the surface covering increasingly large area. One of the piece hits the satellite bumping it to rotate uncontrollably out of orbit.

“Is this what I think it is?”
“Yes, one Alcubierre torpedo, replay frame by frame. The torpedo hits with full FTL speed right in the center of the image. Someone aimed to be sure we see it.”
“Anyone taken responsibility yet?”
“Not yet, at least not on the common channels. And it will take time until the news get to central media nodes.”
“Yeah, I get that, estimated casualties?”
“Last census on the affected planet, five point five million people. Perseus arm’s second largest colony. If they had no ships right there, ready to leave from the surface, survival is extremely low chance.”
“Thank you. Let their souls rest in peace. One more down, ten more torpedoes unaccounted for.”
“Only eight unaccounted for, sir.” Checked the satellite logs I could gather, they fired three torpedoes at the same time, making sure the planet has no chance.”
“So they are not the usual type… have you checked the keys the captain provided? Can we disable those torpedoes remotely?”
“I think so, sir. Assuming they did not manage to circumvent the safeties.”
“That is a big assumption. We may need to use all our cards.”
“Captain, they made their second move.”
“Click, click, click.”
“Understood. Helm, take us to Earth, use the improved drives, maximum speed.”
“Aye, aye.”

It took ten minutes until someone pulled the alarm on the Zodiak station. A young analyst found the orientation of the Irondome strange. Her inexperience allowed the window for the captain’s plan.

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