LITMIR.BIZ

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commander of the Consul Pran had little or no choice. The destroyer could only afford a couple of standard jumps, after which they could forget about traveling in hyperspace. On the other hand, the Lieutenant Commander hoped that the complete exhaustion of the ship's resources would finally force his superiors in the real world to stop this endless ordeal, which both Hirch and his men had already become accustomed to, but, apparently, it could only be counted on after the last mission.

      The yellow dwarf, which the Consul Pran could still reach, had a rather strange status. One of his planets was populated by wild infected humans. However, the order received did not specify whether the infected necessarily had to be former citizens of the Sixth Republic, which meant that the destruction of their civilization was as obligatory as the sterilization of any republican colony affected by the contagion.

      Information about this planet entered the fleet database from the report of the commander of the cruiser Admiral Kuhn. He was lucky enough to intercept an infected transport ship coming out of hyperspace at a standard surfacing point equipped with a subspace beacon. After hacking into the central computer of this transport ship, it became clear that just three jumps away from the interception point was an entire planet of infected people, virtually unprotected by an orbital defense system. The cruiser commander made a decision not to miss such a chance… But no one ever heard of him or his ship again. The cruiser disappeared without a trace, as if vanishing into space. And now the only target available to the Hirch destroyer was this planet.

      The destroyer commander did not risk approaching the yellow dwarf without reconnaissance, but at the same time he saw no point in simply sending a drone there to collect data. Something that managed to destroy a cruiser was unlikely to approve of an automatic reconnaissance ship, not the most advanced one, appearing in its star system. Most likely, the ship will be shot down before it can transmit any meaningful information to the destroyer.

      Having consulted with technical specialists and analyzed on the ship's computer several scenarios for the upcoming operation, Hirch settled on a rather complicated and cunning variant. One of the unmanned reconnaissance drones was not fully operational. During the Consul Pran's last skirmish with an infected frigate, the drone sustained damage and its systems could not be fully restored. The camouflage field generator was losing power at the most unpredictable moments, and the active scanning systems were working at 30 percent of their normal capabilities. In general, this machine was no good, unless you use it as bait.

      Hirch assumed that it was unlikely that they would start firing at a small and unarmed ship, which, moreover, was clearly damaged. If this ship tries to accelerate to jump, then, of course, yes, but otherwise… If the drone behaves peacefully, and even gives a distress signal, claiming to have passengers in medical pods on board, the infected humans might fall for this nonsense. While the enemy is figuring out who it is that has come to his system, the scout ship will begin collecting data without using active scanning; it will transmit information via short-range communications to the second drone, fully operational and covered by a camouflage field, which will not go close to the planet, but will come out of the jump at the borders of the star system and hang there quietly, receiving narrowly focused data packets.

      But if a serious defense is waiting for them in the system, both drones will be burned immediately, but that would also be the result, which would clearly show that the Consul Pran has nothing to do near this yellow dwarf. Well, if it all works out, then Hirch will be able to make a more conscious decision.

      The idea worked, though not completely. It was not to say that Hirch counted so much on the fact that the infected people naively rushed to rescue the fugitives he had invented, fully disclosing themselves, but the lack of any reaction on their part was somewhat disappointing to him. The only habitable planet in the star system looked wild. No orbital infrastructure, no terminals, factories, shipyards and docks… But there was something here all the same. The Admiral Kuhn didn't come back from here…

      “The first passive scan data packet from the Eye-1 ship has been received,” the space control operator reported. “The reconnaissance ship discovered a number of debris indicative of a fairly long-standing space battle in high orbits of the natural satellite of the third planet. Accurate identification without active scanning is difficult, but there is a high probability that these are fragments of the hull internal structure of the Bear-class cruiser. Explosion craters and fragments of destroyed buildings can be seen on the surface of the satellite. Judging by their shape and location, there is a tiered base under the surface. This is not a purely military facility – there are too few defensive structures and too many buildings of unclear purpose.”

      “Admiral Kuhn should have been able to handle them without too much trouble,” Hirch said thoughtfully, “But I have no doubt that this space debris orbiting the satellite is what's left of it. Something happened here that decided the fate of the battle not in favor of the cruiser. Judging by the condition of the structures on the surface, the base is badly destroyed. Can you determine what remained after the battle?”

      “Only approximately,” the operator answered after a short pause, “The lower levels of the base and some of the peripheral defense systems may have survived. They destroyed the cruiser with something… If the camouflage field generators work, we won't see anything from this distance.”

      “Is the drone broadcasting a distress signal?”

      “It's been almost ten minutes. No reaction.”

      “Either our trick has been figured out, or they simply have nothing to answer with,” grinned Hirch, “And how is this to be understood?”

      “Something must have survived, commander,” replied Hirch's deputy in charge of weapons. “It's a pretty big objective. The cruiser couldn't have destroyed everything and then crumbled to pieces. Unless the base was later evacuated….”

      “I don't think so. Hardly anyone could have come to their aid, judging by what was going on in the central worlds. Let's not guess. Launch a flock of local probes. Have them orbit the planet and take a closer look at the remains of the base on the satellite. Their camouflage fields work fine, so hopefully the enemy won't detect them.”

      “Too much distance, Commander. They will take two weeks to get from Eye-1 to the planet in camouflage mode.”

      “We're not in any hurry,” said Hirch. “I'm not going to expose my ship to anti-space defense fire. The hull is barely hanging on as it is. All we needed was more holes in the sheath.”

      In fact, Hirch was indifferent to the fact that his decision would greatly delay the mission. Completing the task and entering the "real world" became for him an increasingly abstract goal that existed only somewhere on the fringes of consciousness. Subconsciously, he did not want to leave "virtuality" and wished that he had never had to do so. Mental illness was too deeply rooted in his brain, having long ago passed into an irreversible stage.

      “Local drones are activated.”

      “That's better,” Hirch nodded. “Lieutenant Crate, you're in charge on the bridge. If there's any news, I'm in my quarters.”

      Twelve million kilometers from Earth, the cargo bay hatch opened in the hull of the automatic reconnaissance ship, and nine small cylindrical vehicles floated out one by one. Turning on their weak engines, which left almost no emission trace, they began a leisurely acceleration toward the third planet of the system. Minidrons covered by camouflage fields could remain undetected for a very long time and were able to sneak up close to reconnaissance targets. Lieutenant Commander Hirch was not going to take any chances and preferred to trade time for information.

* * *

      “Drones are in orbit, Lieutenant Commander, Sir,” the reconnaisance drones operator reported. “Now we have more information.”

      “Report.”

      “There is a constellation of scientific satellites orbiting the third planet. They have good camouflage fields, so the drones probably didn't pick up everyone, but some satellites are damaged and therefore easier to detect. Apparently, this is a consequence of the arrival of the cruiser Admiral Kuhn in the system. It probably just didn't have time to destroy the entire network, or it was distracted by another enemy.”

      “Do

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