Free Retribution: The Augmented Human Rebellion - Book 2 by Terry Lefler Page B

Verm warships. 
    So the Shipbuilding Facility is changing the destination for each FTL
test flight now, and is sending warship escorts.  “Well,” the Admiral
thinks, “give them credit for that, and give Fleet Admiral Duncons credit too. 
These changes require 2 warships for each test flight.”
    What to do? 
    “We could follow the ships to the same destination coordinates,” thinks
the Admiral.  “But we will have to battle 2 Verm warships.  We could
win the battle, but we might lose some ships in the process.  Then the
captured verm ships
won’t be free anymore.”
    Then she has an idea.  “ Shiela ,”
she says.
    “Here, Sir.”
    “Are we able to change the destination coordinates in the test vessel?”
asks the Admiral. 
    “Give me some time to speak with the other AIs ,” Shiela responds.  “And it might be good if you spoke with Chief Scientist
Barnard.”
    “Good plan.  Comm me when you know more,” Admiral Meyers says.
    ***
    “The Sweetwater AIs have concluded that only the AIs ,
on the Verm vessels, can change the destination coordinates,” reports Shiela .
    “And Science Officer Barnard doesn’t know of any way to electrically or
mechanically override the AIs ,”
agrees the Admiral.  “But who gives the AI the destination coordinates?”
     “It will be sent over a secure comm link.  Probably from the
Shipbuilding Facility,” answers Shiela .
    “And the same coordinates will probably be sent to the escort ships at
the same time,” muses the Admiral.  “How long before the launch will the
destination coordinates be sent?”
    “Probably some minutes in advance.  There is no reason to wait until
the last minute,” replies Shiela .
    “That is where we can take them,” say the Admiral.  “If we know the
destination coordinates before they launch, we can be at the destination
waiting for them to arrive.  We can destroy the warships, as they emerge,
and capture the test vessel.”
    “Now,” she continues.  “Just tell me how to get those destination
coordinates in advance.”
    ***
    Sweetwater Fleet begins looking for some way to ease drop on the traffic,
over the secure comm. 
    Science Officer Barnard determines that the secure comm link is a laser system,
but it is not focused – meaning that it projects a wide beam of light, which
would be useful for general announcements.  He deduces that by observing
the spread of the beam– if the beam was focused he would only be able to
see a fine line, at the laser’s frequency.
    That means that any receiver in back of the test vessel, or warships
could view the coded signal. 
    Officer Bernard takes a warship to a location that is still outside of
the system, but where he can see the laser light transmission, from the
Shipbuilding Facility to the test vessel.  Using their highest power
telescope, Officer Bernard is able to copy the secure comm signal.  He
notifies the Admiral, and she relocates the Fleet close to the Chief
Scientist’s position. 
    While Officer Bernard is refining his reception techniques, and the
decryption specialist is learning to crack the code on the Verm secure comm
system, Admiral Meyers is planning the hijack attempt.  There will need to
be lots of plans and contingency plans.
    ***
    Everything is set.  And now the Admiral is getting greedy. 
Sometimes the Shipbuilding Facility will launch 2 or 3 test vessels, within an
hour.  The Admiral is thinking that they might be able to capture more
than one vessel.  And she is getting picky.  She wants big
battleships instead of cruisers or destroyers.
    They wait 3 more weeks, until everything is just right . 
There should be 2 launches within a 1 hour span, and one of the ships is a
battleship – a twin brother for Retribution.  The other vessel is a heavy
cruiser. 
    “Good enough,” says the Admiral, and all systems are GO for the hijack
operation.
    ***
    Ensign Seagrams ,
the crypto expert, has the transmissions decoded within a minute of