Origins by Mark Henrikson Read Free Book Online Page A

thickest point.  The vessel looked as if an elongated diamond had been squished flat leaving four shallow sloping sides that met in the middle facing up and an identical configuration facing down.  With the exception of the ion engines located at the center of each side panel, every square foot of the hull bristled with weaponry: wave blasters, ion cannons, fusion torpedo launchers, and pulls concussion launchers.  Every aspect of the ship screamed ‘go away or you’re going to get hurt.’  It was magnificent.
    The only sound on the tiny, oval shaped command bridge of the Lazarus was the soft hum of the ion engines coursing through the ship as everyone sat mesmerized by the image in front of them.  Everyone except the brash young helmsman that is. 
    “So that’s the new ship?” Valnor exclaimed with disappointment dripping from every syllable.  “I mean sure it brings a lot of fire power to the fight but that things got to maneuver like a fly stuck in honey, and they may as well paint a big bulls eye on those massive side panels.  What enemy ship could miss hitting that?  Who got drunk and drew up that design?  They must have been hitting the sauce for a couple weeks before giving it a go.”
    Hastelloy slowly turned the relatively oversized head attached to his three foot tall body to look over at his first officer.  The man’s hairless white head rotated toward the captain until his rounded triangle shaped face dominated by two oversized black eyes met his.  The grin on Commander Gallono’s thin lips kept on growing and nearly passed the flat ears on either side of his head.  Clearly he couldn’t have been more amused had Valnor stepped on a garden rake to make the handle whip up and smack the young man in the face.  Gallono raised a hairless eyebrow as if to ask his captain, ‘should I give him some salt for that foot he just stuck in his mouth or would you care to do the honors?’  After serving with Gallono for over a thousand years, Hastelloy knew better than to give him the lead on this occasion.
    “So helmsman, you believe the ship presents a large target to the enemy?” Captain Hastelloy asked rhetorically in a stern tone that only a seasoned officer of the fleet could project.  “That would depend on your perspective wouldn’t it, since combat in space takes place on three axes not just one.  It’s true the vessel presents a broad target on one axis, but it presents an almost non-existent target for the remaining two.  This is achieved while the Thorin is still able to fire its abundant array of weaponry in any direction.  As to your question about maneuverability, I challenge you to look at the monitor again and this time I want you to assume the designers did know what they were doing.  Give me your analytical assessment please.”
    Valnor swallowed hard to dislodge the lump that had formed in his throat over the last couple seconds.  The entire crew was watching him now.  In addition to the captain and commander, Tomal was now looking up from his free standing engineering station that stood just behind the Captain on his left side.  Even Tonwen, the science officer, was listening to see what happened next from his station positioned behind the Captain’s right side. 
    After looking at the ship displayed on the forward wall of the cramped bridge for a few seconds Valnor summoned the courage to deliver his thoughts.  “Each of the eight sides has its own ion engine.  This would allow the helmsman to rotate the ship at a moments notice in any direction to constantly present the narrow profile to the enemy while still being able to fire its full complement of weaponry at the attacking ship.  How did I miss that before?  It’s brilliant.”
    Hastelloy continued the lesson, “You missed it because you instantly closed your mind to other possibilities.  You jumped to a conclusion and formed all of your logical arguments around that initial assumption.  You’d do well to