Here's an excerpt from a novel I'm working on titled Task Force Arrow. It's about a group of warships that find themselves stranded in another part of the galaxy and are forced to fight their way home!
“Well, as you all may have noticed, we’re in a bit of a bind,” Greggory began with a little understated humor to lighten the mood. “The Far Walker’s tunnel drive has failed. It brought us one hundred ninety million light years across the galaxy only to malfunction, preventing us from completing our mission. Because of the time sensitive nature of our mission, any possibility that we could have gotten the tunnel drive up and running so that we conduct this operation has effectively evaporated. Compounding this problem is our inability to raise Upper Command.” Greggory settled a gaze upon the Executive Officer seated to his right. “EO Lian, what is our communication status?”
The EO shook her head. “Negligible, Commander. A month before we ventured on this mission, five relay communication beacons were tunneled to these coordinates.”
Lian picked up a remote and thumbed a center button, bringing a holochart to life above the table. From the center of the chart toward the upper right corner was a string of icons representing the relay beacons. Lian toggled a side control, expanding the size of the chart, revealing the beacons’ location in relation to TFA’s mission objective.
“Now, according to our readings, the tunnel drive transit did not even place us close to where we’re supposed to be.” Lian could barely keep the exasperation out of her voice. “LA Hilburn, exactly how ‘off’ are we?”
“Thirty million light years from our designated insertion point, EO,” the astrogator replied crisply.
Lian pursed her lips and looked up at the commander. “We should have still been able to contact the beacon. Even from this distance, there is no way that we could be out of comm range. Yet, all we’re getting is static.”
“On top of being stranded in an uncharted, unexplored part of the galaxy, we have no way of sending a message regarding our predicament back to our homespace,” said Greggory.
“We’re screwed.” That colorfully blunt assessment came from Surface Element Commander Dorious Clanton.
Most captains and commanders would have censured comments like that. Greggory didn’t mind, however. He encouraged brutal honesty in his meetings. No sugarcoating, no holding back.
“Now, we need to get unscrewed,” Greggory stated with a wink in his voice. “Right now, we’re stationary, but we’re not stuck. Pratsoot, give us a propulsion rundown.”
Lead Engineer Kyra Pratsoot, leaned forward, her thin doe eyed face tense with nervous excitement. She had just been promoted to her current position prior to being assigned to TFA. It was more daunting for her being in the midst of these veteran commanders who were now her peers than unraveling the mind numbing complexities of a starship engine. “The Far Walker’s sublight impulse is operating within the normal parameters. I could upgrade the impulse on all of our ships to a light speed variance which will facilitate much faster travel toward homespace. The problem is, that would only be a cosmetic remedy. Each FTL jump would result in impulse burnout due to the fact that sublight engines are not designed for FTL velocities. Frankly sir, the warp engine should never have been removed when the tunnel drive was installed. A standard warp engine could have served as a backup mode of rapid propulsion.”
“But instead, we’re relegated to squeezing light speed out of a sublight engine,” Greggory summarized sourly.
“And we must do it in phases, sir,” Pratsoot stressed. “The jumps must be short and after each one, the engine has to given a period of time in to recover from the exertion placed upon it.”
“Well, kudos to the genuiuses who removed the warp engine,” Captain Oshkinz of the missile frigate, Journey, put in with heavy, growling sarcasm. “Anyway Lead Engineer, with your adjustments to the sublight impulse, how much faster to homespace are you talking?”
Pratsoot cleared her throat to mask her unease at being the center of attention. “Well, um, judging from the charts I’ve studied and the extrapolations I’ve made based upon our current position, I’d say it would take us approximately seven months to get back to homespace if we perform the modifications I’m suggesting.”
“Seven months of unhindered travel,” Operational Intelligence Chief Grimes interjected. Grimes reached for his own remote and detached it from a tabletop niche next to his right hand. He thumbed a control and the image on the holochart reconfigured into a newer, denser arrangement of stars. “I did some studying as well. Our route home lies through this section of space. Even without LA Pratsoot’s impulse upgrades we could potentially cut that trip down if we take this path.”
“If the travel were unhindered as you mentioned,” said Greggory.
“If,” Grimes conceded. “I ran some spectroanaylsis on this region. The readings are off the charts. The region is overabundant with oxygen-rich planets, all situated comfortably within the habitable zones of their host stars. In addition, the region is smothered with emissions traffic indicative of the existence of multiple tech bases. Highly advanced tech bases.”
“How do you know they’re highly advanced and not just the crude emissions of pre-space flight industrial worlds?” Asked Colonel Goshin.
Grimes raised a bushy brow. “Because pre-space flight industrial worlds don’t dabble in supra-light propulsion. And there’s enough spatial distortions in the region to indicate more than significant numbers of vessels with that capability.”
“If the vessels in that region have supra-light capability then by logical extension, their level of military capability should be comparable,” Greggory commented with thoughtful consideration.
“More or less,” said Grimes. “But until I dispatch a few recon probes into the area, we won’t know for certain what we’re up against.”
“Do it,” the commander ordered.
Grimes nodded and rose from the table.
As the operational chief exited the conference room, Greggory turned to the lead astrogator. “Is there no other course we can take, one that won’t have us cutting through a heavily populated, potentially hostile area?”
Hilburn shrugged. “Sir I went over Grimes’ findings. That region is our obstacle to homespace, yet through it runs the shortest path home. If we go around it we will be years in transit.”
“Years,” Greggory repeated, curling the fingers of his right hand into a fist. With the knuckles of his fist he tapped twice on the table. “We don’t have years. If that’s the only viable path to homespace then that is the path we’ll have to take. Any thoughts? Suggestions?”
A round of silence met the commander’s interrogative gaze. Greggory didn’t press for a response because he knew that if anyone had something of value to offer that person would have not have hesitated to offer it.
As it stood, the officers were as eager to seize upon the one option available to the task force as their commander.
Greggory shifted to Hilburn. “Alright then. Set a course.”
“Right away, sir.”
Greggory dismissed the gathering. The officers filed out of the conference room, their faces grim with purpose.
Only the EO remained behind.
“Are you going to the bridge?” Lian asked.
Greggory folded his arms, his brow crinkled in thought. “No, not yet. I think I’ll pay a visit to the Anaylsis Section.”
Lian produced a sly smile. “Ah, let me guess. You think he might know something about this part of space.”
The commander gave a suggestion of a shrug. “Doesn’t hurt to inquire.”
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