The Good That Men Do - Andy Mangels [17]
After being prompted with a curt monosyllable, Terix said, “The first full-up test of the new stardrive was undertaken earlier today, Admiral, on Unroth III.”
“And?” Valdore asked in a low growl, making an intentional display of impatience; he hated verbal tiptoeing of this sort.
“We received official word about the results about four dierha ago. The prototype failed, explosively. The resulting energy discharge completely destroyed the prototype and the research complex, and blew off a good portion of Unroth III’s atmosphere.”
Unroth III. Valdore recognized the designation as belonging to a remote frontier world, far from the Empire’s better-traveled military and commercial corridors.
“Survivors?” Valdore asked.
The centurion appeared relieved that he now had somewhat better news to impart. “Fortunately, Doctor Ehrehin and several key members of his research team were safely evacuated just before the conflagration escaped the containment measures.”
Valdore nodded, thankful for whatever good news he could find. After all, the Unroth disaster could have been far, far worse. “What are the prospects for getting the project back on track?”
A subtle expression of fright crossed Terix’s forehead once again. “A new prototype is several khaidoa away, Admiral. Even if the new stardrive had passed all its tests and were to go into mass production tomorrow, Coridan would still be far ahead of us. So far, only the internal political dissension that now divides the Coridanites has prevented Coridan Prime from sharing its warp technology with Earth, or any of the other Coalition worlds.”
Now Valdore understood both the suddenness and the urgency that had motivated both the Praetor and the First Consul in their decision to free him and restore his military commission.
They saw him as the Empire’s deliverance.
It was therefore Valdore’s mission either to expedite the work of Ehrehin and the Empire’s other premier warp engineers, or to buy them whatever time they might need to gain the technological upper hand. Using whatever means might prove necessary.
Valdore stared at the brown-and-blue world that now filled the screen that dominated the wall before which Terix stood. Coridan Prime itself was clearly the key to this business, because of its technology and its vast dilithium resources- both of which had to be denied to the worlds of the still-forming Coalition of Planets. The central world of the Coridan system must be the primary target for any attack, he thought. Regardless of Earth’s political role in the alliance.
But he also knew that a conventional military campaign against Coridan could generate many undesirable and unintentional consequences for the Empire. Coridan was home to some three billion people, whose wealthy, resource-rich society would doubtless be roused to considerable wrath should Valdore initiate a direct attack that could be traced back to Romulus.
Therefore the only solution to the problem was to launch a wholly unconventional campaign.
“Show me the most recent reports from Chief Technologist Nijil’s office,” Valdore said. “How far has he progressed on his warship-cloaking research since my… sabbatical from duty began?”
The bleak look on Terix’s face grew even bleaker. “Unfortunately, this new stealth technology remains adequate to conceal only small devices, such as mines or probes. It could be decades before it will become practical to use it to conceal an entire ship. I fear that the setback we suffered as a result of the loss of the original prototype cloaked bird-of-prey nearly three fvheisn ago may well have ensured that.”
Valdore scowled at the bleak memory of the explosion that had vaporized the experimental cloaked bird-of-prey Praetor Pontilus after its extremely power-intensive stealth system had caused a catastrophic antimatter containment failure. But he understood all too well that such losses, however tragic they might be, were necessary for the protection of the Empire.
“What about telepresence drones, then?” Valdore asked, barely suppressing a wince as he mentioned the project