“That’s classified beyond your level, Commander.”
You need a classified slap upside your head.
Instead, he said. “We are officially operating, unofficially, Lieutenant.” There was that confusing thought again. “There’s nothing classified from outlaws. Give me the run down on that ship now. And send the file to my personnel device.”
She bit her lip, and then she tapped a few commands on her personnel device and flicked it over to his. “It’s a third generation prototype deep space capable stealth vessel,” she finally said. “Built for covert assault and reconnaissance missions by United Fleet Advanced Starship Research and Design Division. Designated Valkyrie-class. Larger than a frigate such as Trident but smaller than a cruiser. Max emergency sub-light speed, sustainable for only six hours is .998 c. Cruising in-system speed of .7 c. Max warp speed two thousand c. Triple redundant interlocking thrusters for enhanced combat maneuvers.”
Aaron’s eyes widened. Advanced didn’t quite do it justice. “Armaments and defenses?”
“Heavily armored with the latest, thinnest, lightest, but toughest ceramic composite. Enhanced further by reflective polarized field generators, apparently, significantly stronger than the current absorptive type. Main railgun batteries situated port and starboard, with turreted mark-twelve micro-railguns fore, rear, dorsal and ventral. A pair of forward launching anti-capital ship torpedo tubes, sixth-generation close-in weapons system (CIWS) and point defense cannons. Two industrial-sized fabricators for munition and spare part replenishment. And . . .” her voice trailed off suddenly as though she were about to say something she shouldn’t.
Clearly, she knew far more about starships than she let on, or she was adept at reciting things. “Yes? And what?”
“I’m sorry, Commander,” she shook her head. She indeed sounded sincere. “The remaining technologies are beyond classification. Few people know about them besides the designers and the engineers themselves, who the Fleet sequestered to design the ship over the past ten years. Even I do not know the location of the facility or shipyard. What I’ve told you so far regarding its capabilities are advanced versions of starship systems you are already familiar with. The remaining technologies are beyond even my knowledge. The Supreme Commander ordered that those systems remain locked out and that I was not even to discuss the theory. I know this could be a hindrance under certain circumstances.”
Those last words boiled his blood. A hindrance under certain circumstances.
“A hindrance, Lieutenant? If we engage in battle with an untested starship, without knowing the full range of its capabilities, it might be more than just a hindrance. More like a colossal failure of epic proportions.”
“I understand, sir, but I cannot change what it is. I didn’t build the ship. I merely oversaw logistical requirements of the project.”
“I can’t believe the Supreme Commander would instruct you in such a way regarding this.”
“You think . . . you think I’m lying,” she sounded genuinely hurt.
Not lying, but she was definitely hiding something. The best lies always included parts of the truth. For some reason, Shepherd nor Lieutenant Delaine wanted him to know the full truth about this ship or its capabilities. “No, Lieutenant. I’m sorry . . . let me rephrase.” He paused. “I believe you. It’s more that I can’t believe he would give such an order. Nor can I think of any reason or situation where such an order would make sense. It would be like giving me a new sidearm, just before a ground action yet not telling me about its capabilities and not giving me a reason why you won’t either.”
“Sir, I am in total agreement with you,” Delaine said. “I therefore am of the opinion SC Shepherd, gave that order because either the systems don’t work as designed, or he didn’t expect we would need them. This is a covert mission after all. The ship has no markings and there’s no record of it in any Fleet database.”
“It’s highly peculiar,” Aaron said, “and troubling, but it is what it is. Given you don’t know the functions of those systems, then I don’t believe you could even be aware of a situation where those systems might aid us.”
She nodded her agreement. “Again, I am sorry, sir.” She seemed relieved he let her off the hook so easily.
He nodded. But he was going to find out those secrets some other way. He was beginning to appreciate the nuances of her role as an Intelligence officer, just as she had deferred to him during their excursion planet side and their course of action now.
“One other thing,” he said, glancing at his personnel device and noticing the dimensions and mass of the ship. “That’s a lot of firepower jammed into such a small package. How extensively were the new technologies and the ship itself tested?"
“I am not certain. I know it underwent rigorous trials, to stress the design. No major design flaws manifested—officially, that is. But those tests completed six months ago and the project languished until . . .”
Another half-truth, he was certain it didn’t languish and she wasn’t very good at filling in the blanks. “Lieutenant, it's rather annoying how you stop right when you get to the good part.”
“Sorry, Commander. Until Supreme Commander Shepherd gave orders to ready the ship for our use. I don’t believe that many—if any—of the innovations were approved for inclusion in any new starships currently on the drawing boards. Nor do I believe any of the advanced technology could simply be retrofitted to current ship designs. In the end, the ship might just be a test bed for various new technologies. If there are any further alterations, they will be done before we build the next generation of Fleet ships using the technology.”
“At least she’ll have the distinction of being the only kind of her class.”
“It would seem so, Commander,” she said.
“You seem to know a lot about the ship and USSF plans regarding future ship construction.”
She shrugged. “I was the Supreme Commander’s adjutant. He trusted me to personally handle many aspects related to the logistics of this project. And a great many other projects.”
“Noted.” He scrolled the file on his personnel device. “When we get near, we’re going to trigger the hangar bay door remotely. We need to get inside quickly, take control, and burn for the heliopause. I’m assuming at least some aspect of the stealth system works as designed, otherwise it would be visible to our sensors by now. But at least we know it’s there. That destroyer doesn’t.”
“I defer to your judgment on the plan, Commander,” she said, rising from her seat.
“Oh, just two small issues. First, are there any major differences from the control mechanism of the prototype and current United Fleet starships?”
“As far as I recall, Commander, the interfaces and controls are all familiar to anyone who’s been trained on starship systems. I don’t recall the implementation of any new control methods.”
He still had to ask, just in case they’d come up with some classified control scheme beyond their understanding. Starships were largely automated anyhow, and they didn’t need hundreds of crew to maintain them. Unlike previous generations.
“Second, what’s she called?”
Her face twisted. “Called, Commander?”
“Her designation, Lieutenant.”
She shrugged. “It never had any, only a reference. Project XN-2017.”
XN-2017. The first thing the ship needed was a name. Everyone knows that besides a good crew a ship needs a good name.