Free Chroniech! by Doug Farren Page B

belief that the enemy was waiting for reinforcements to arrive prior to attacking.
    Stricklen approached Sorbith and was delighted to find the peacekeeper had already requested additional ships, unfortunately, they would not arrive for several days. Trisk somehow found out that Stricklen had gone over his head and was furious.
    The fleet commander tried to remove Stricklen from command of his ship but backed down when Sorbith calmly informed him that if he tried, he would be stripped of rank and assigned to the galley of his own ship as a cook. Ken took the opportunity to launch three probes of his own on a search mission.
    "Everyone is clear of the cargo bay," reported a voice. "We are ready to begin cutting."
    A moment later, an invisible beam of coherent energy leapt out from the side of the Komodo Dragon and struck the derelict's outer cargo bay doors. Although the beam was invisible in the vacuum of space, its effect on the armor plating of the alien ship was very visible.
    For a brief moment the armor plating resisted, first glowing red, then white hot in a vain attempt to dissipate the heat being pumped into it. Within seconds the needle beam won the contest and began cutting a long thin line across the cargo door.
    Three minutes later the beam cut off and the eerie bluish light of a tractor beam replaced it. Unlike the concentrated beam of pure energy that preceded it, this beam manipulated space and produced a visible track where it passed. An enormous section of plating was pulled from the side of the ship leaving a gaping hole into the cargo bay.
    Several maintenance drones moved in and, using their own tractor beams, began the delicate operation of extracting the stasis chamber. As the chamber slowly cleared the newly cut entrance, a report came in saying that the fifth probe had been destroyed. Ken watched for a few minutes then put in a call to Travan McCallister who was the person in charge of figuring out how to shutdown the stasis device.
    "Any progress to report?" Ken asked as soon as the connection had been established.
    "Some," McCallister replied. Ken could see several computer screens with complex schematics on them in the background. "The main control systems are routed entirely through their computer. Because we stand little chance of gaining control of the computer, we have concentrated our efforts on the backup and emergency control systems."
    "I thought the main computer was inactive?" Stricklen cut in.
    "That is true for the bulk of the machine," McCallister replied. "But, there are small isolated sections of circuitry that are active. I believe we have identified at least one of the backup systems and several other circuits are being traced out now. We should have some idea about how the controls work within a few hours once we can get back to work."
    "Excellent. Please let me know as soon as you learn anything." Stricklen cut the connection and went back to watching the transfer. The chamber had cleared the ship and was about one-third of the way to the Dragon's waiting hanger bay.
     
    * * * * *
     
    "The enemy is removing a large object from the ship of the ancients," the tactical station monitoring the probe reported.
    The captain was seething inside. How dare these inferior creatures deface a ship of the ancients! He was also worried. The legends contained stories of the ancients possessing weapons of irresistible power. If such a weapon had survived and was aboard the ship the enemy had found, it would be unwise to let them examine it.
    Despite the lack of reinforcements the captain could not allow the enemy to gain possession of anything that might give them a technological advantage. If he could not retrieve the ancient ship then he felt duty-bound to at least attempt to destroy it. He was forced to act.
    As part of the training for his command he had studied the behavior of the Alliance member races. How such a diverse collection of species ever managed to function together was currently