Frontiers Saga 10: Liberation by Ryk Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

initial inspection shows a greater energy storage capacity than was originally designed into our system. My father was always conservative in his range goals, choosing to concentrate on successful execution before worrying about increasing performance.”
    “Is it possible to get it to work?”
    “Anything is possible, Captain,” Abby said. “The jump field generators appear to be fully installed, and the power distribution grid and control array are also in place, as they were built into the Celestia’s hull rather than being added on after the fact, as was the case with the Aurora. All that remains is to fabricate and install the emitters.”
    “Any chance we could use our existing emitters?” Vladimir asked. “We could pull the emitters from our secondary array and use them. That way our fabricators would be free to create the parts we need to perform the most immediate repairs on the Celestia.”
    “I’m not crazy about the idea of stripping our secondary array,” Cameron argued.
    “Neither am I,” Nathan admitted.
    “It would be better to fabricate new emitters,” Abby assured them, “as there may be some subtle design differences that would necessitate lengthy testing and calibration. If you want to get the Celestia ready to jump away as quickly as possible, I would not use our emitters.”
    “How long would that take?”
    “To fabricate and install the emitters on the Celestia, maybe a week if we are lucky,” Vladimir said.
    “That would be assuming that the Celestia’s prototype actually works,” Abby said. “It has yet to be tested.”
    “If it’s basically the same as ours, why wouldn’t it?” Nathan wondered.
    “The jump drive is a very complex system, Captain,” Abby reminded him. “It took more than a decade of effort on the part of more than a hundred scientists and technicians to develop the Aurora’s jump drive.”
    “Yes, of course,” Nathan said. “What I meant was, is there any reason to doubt that it will work at this time?”
    “Based on what I have learned thus far, I expect that it will work, Captain.”
    “That’s good to hear,” Nathan said. He leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath as he considered his options. “I don’t think I need to point out to anyone here the advantages of having two jump-capable warships at our disposal. To that end, I’d like to try to save the Celestia.” Nathan turned to Vladimir. “Vlad, start the propellant transfer as soon as possible. I want to be able to get her off Metis and on an escape trajectory as soon as possible. We should be able to time her burn to reduce her chance of detection by the Jung. Once she’s clear of the Jovian system, we should have enough time to get her emitters installed and jump her out of the Sol system.”
    “Yes, sir. I will start the most immediate repairs as well,” Vladimir said.
    “That’s fine as long as they don’t interfere with the propellant transfer. That comes first, as we don’t know how long we’ll be able to sit here. If the Jung come our way, we’ll have to go into action. So make sure whatever you rig up to transfer the propellant can be quickly disconnected from the Aurora.”
    “Sir,” Cameron began to protest before being cut off.
    “I would also like you to rig a remote detonator for the charges on the Celestia’s antimatter containment bottles. I want to be able to blow that ship remotely if necessary.”
    “Yes, sir,” Vladimir answered.
    “I want two remote detonators as well, just to be sure,” Nathan added. He turned toward Cameron. “Commander, start working up a crew roster for the Celestia. Minimal staffing, just what we need to meet immediate needs. You’ll also have to work out a way to logistically support her operations using our resources.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Major Prechitt, assign some of your people to get to work on the Celestia’s flight deck. I want to be able to run shuttles in and out of her as soon as possible.”
    “What