Chapter 11

[Reality Check - Friday Sep. 4 2009, 0931 hours, Bay 5B] 

"Yes, Sergeant, what is it?" Thallin replied, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible. 

"I'm calling to ask a favour, Sir. For a favour, of course." <I knew it> thought Thallin, his face contorted in a slight grimace. <Keep messing with the computer and they'll eventually catch up with you.> The woman on the screen shifted slightly and Thallin realised her skin was not as dark as he had first thought - the lighting on her end was rather dim. "I might have gotten myself into a bit of hot water with Captain Hemlock," <Who the hell is that? Did I piss him off, too?>, "and to avoid trouble I told him that I was under your authority - I noticed that you'd place quite a lot of orders recently, you see, and I thought I might be able to expedite things a bit - If you'll help me of course." 

<Ah. Blackmail. Chantage. How cliché.> "I see," Thallin paused, pondering the problem for a moment. "OK, I'll smooth..." <What was his name again?> "...Arsenic out, but I need those orders filled fast..." He paused, realising the error he had committed in the first place by leaving those requisitions in the system. "And I want the records of the transactions removed." 

To her credit, the Sergeant barely batted an eyelid. <Must be well versed in the art of blackmail.> "Yes Sir. Which order takes priority? You will have to detail it verbally, I'm afraid; I don't have the listing with me." 

"The woman's clothing, Sergeant. The clothing." Thallin snapped off the connection, irritated that he had been caught so stupidly. His hacking mentor would have had a fit if he ever heard of it. <It's a good thing he's on Earth and I'm up here.>Stepping to his feet, Thallin paced up and down the length of the room, alternating between each side of the regen-tub every so often. First the problem of Izabelle being seen by members of the crew who had known Christina Leeds, and now this blackmail attempt from someone who had just stumbled across his name on requisitions he should have erased from the databanks. He was making mistake after mistake. What was wrong with him? 

Eventually, he sat down at the console and dialled Hemlock's number. The conversation was short but to the point - when the Captain's face appeared on the screen, Thallin flashed his badge open and said "Captain Hemlock? Lieutenant Braywater, Research. You've been hassling Sergeant Sam'di. She's one of mine. Take care not to do it again." before breaking off the connection. He could not help but smile at the dismayed look upon Hemlock's face. <Another one who'll swear to God that Research is manned by lunatics. And he's not far from the truth.>Lying in her bunk, Izabelle closed her eyes and resumed her interrupted sleep. 

[Reality Check - Sunday Sep. 6 2009, 1112 hours, Bay 5B] 

Thallin was sitting at his computer console, programming one of the Valkyrie's MEMICs to account for Izabelle's control-module modifications, when the call came in for him to report to Research at once. 

Grumbling under his breath, Thallin strode down the corridors, forcing those within to give way if they did not want to be knocked over. Eventually reaching the laboratory in question, he simply keyed the door open, not bothering to knock, and stopped dead in his track. Inside, in what used to be the room containing the Fold Engine, was a curious agglomeration of conduits, plasma containers, power routers, and various implements that seemed, to Thallin, dangerously jury-rigged. Thallin made a grab for a passing technician and pointed at the structure. "What the hell is that?" he asked. 

The technician blinked for a moment, then turned to face what Thallin was pointing to. "Pinpoint barrier system. To the left is the control room, to the right is the fire/shutdown emergency system." Thallin let the technician go and proceeded to the control room, a small assembly jutting from the left side of the base of the pinpoint barrier structure. Inside, mayhem ruled. Electricians, mechanics and a few others Thallin did not recognise were busy setting up a central console with three sets of... <Trackballs...?> Around Thallin, up on the walls surrounding the three- place console, large schematic diagrams of the SDF-1 laid dormant, the ship represented upon each screen from every direction. Threat-boards and repeater systems were inlaid in each console positions in front of the trackballs. For a very brief moment, Thallin thought himself in the middle of a gigantic version of the "Missile Command" game that had enjoyed a brief resurrection three years ago with a new 3D-version of the game. At the centre of this mayhem, Dr Emil Lang surveyed the organised chaos around him. 

"Ah, Thallin." he suddenly explained, having noticed the new arrival. "We have found a use for the 'event' you experienced in this room." Lang raised his hand as if to grab Thallin's arm to pull him aside, then thought better of it and simply motioned for Thallin to follow as he walked around the room, pointing things out. "The energy emissions seem to to be linked to hyperspace - a hole to it, if you will. The problem then became one of how to manipulate this energy so that instead of appearing at random, it would be where we wanted it. This we achieved by using a modified plasma containment unit. By placing the centre of the room within these units, we were able to harness the energy and make them appear as we wanted them, instead of randomly. We also found that if the magnetic bottling is increased in a particular direction and slightly weakened diametrically opposed to that, the emanation could appear where, as well as when, we require them." Lang paused, looking at his companion expectantly. 

"In other words," Thallin started slowly, "this contraption brings to life one of science-fiction's most sought-after device - an energy shield!" 

Lang nodded. "Exactly. However, there are limitation." Lang reached over to the console and flipped a switch. One of the displays lining the walls around the room lit up with a diagram of the SDF-1. Superimposed upon, ridiculously small compared to the rest of the ship, was a circle of bright light. "Because of the severe limitations of the sizes of our plasma containment units, this is the maximum diameter capable of being sustained by the device. We thought of overlapping thousands of these disks to cover the ship, but found out that the 'event' provided us with only enough emanations to create three disks." 

"So, we can stop some of the damage, some of the time." 

"Yes." agreed Lang. "Captain Gloval has been appraised of the situation and we believe that properly trained personnel may be capable of making snap decisions as to which incoming fire to block and which to ignore. We are now in the process of screening applicants for the positions." 

"So... What does all of this have to do with me?" queried Thallin. 

"One of our applicants is Lieutenant(jg) Izabelle Fate. Her records indicate that she is not only a Veritech pilot but also currently assigned to you for the duration of your experiment with the VX-001." Lang paused. "You know, I do not remember authorising her transfer to you... Anyway, she has clocked up the best response time so far and I would like to have her on the pinpoint team during the battle." 

Thallin gaped. "Battle?" 

"With the pinpoint barrier system operational, and the main guns, Captain Gloval feels that we may actually be able to take the offensive. He is preparing the ship for combat using the rings of Saturn as cover. I am not as confident about this as he is. We've had to disconnect the power conduits to the main gun while building this contraption. This is all new and untested. I do not trust it." 

"YOU COULD AT LEAST HAVE TOLD ME!" Thallin yelled. "I MUST HAVE LOOKED LIKE A COMPLETE FOOL IN FRONT OF HIM!" 

"I apologise, Thallin. It was not my intention to volunteer for any other duty aboard the Macross. There was a line of young women and I assumed that a new cafeteria had opened on this level. By the time I realised this was not so, I was already inside the chambers. You yourself told me not to attract attention to myself and leaving at this point would have been surprising to those around me. They would surely have asked questions." 

"So instead you went a scored the highest on the test." Fuming, Thallin was walking about the room, gesticulating wildly. "Did it ever occur to you to try for a below-average score so you could duck out unnoticed?" 

"No. You yourself built me to be the best I can be. It is not within my nature to give less than my all. I cannot, I will not, be second to anyone." 

For some reason, a cold chill went down Thallin's spine. 

[Reality Check - Monday Sep. 14 2009, 0800 hours, Bay 5B] 

The klaxon sounded, warning all those that war was upon them. This time, however, the crew of the Macross was not caught unaware. Indeed, they looked forward to bringing the war to the enemy. 

In bay 5B, Thallin sat next to the black-and-gold-trim VX-001. He had finally finished reconnecting the new systems together and was hoping to test it during this battle... Except that Izabelle, who was supposed to be the pilot for the test, was now sitting in the control room of the pinpoint barrier system, awaiting the orders that would bring the Macross face-to-face with the enemy. 

Through the deck he felt the rumble of engines as wave after wave of Valkyries took off in formation to create a wall of Mecha in front of the SDF-1. This wall would then flatten out and merge with the rings of Saturn and hide there while the SDF-1 attracted the attention of the enemy war machines. The Veritechs would then emerge from the shadows and destroy the battle-pods, then withdraw from the area for the Macross' main gun to finish off the battle-cruisers the pods came from. 

At least, that was the plan. 

Thallin was now working hard to integrate new remote-control systems to cover for Izabelle's absence. It was hard work, alone, and he had a dead-line to beat. He switched on the plane's radio and listened to Macross' Tactical Officer as she ordered the planes in formation. 

"Attention escort units. SDF-1 is descending into the rings. Maintain relative position." Squadron after squadron responded their readiness as the ship slowly sunk into the sea of asteroids which surrounded the nearby planet. 

While the Veritechs outside started their dance of death with the enemy battle-pods, Thallin continued to cross-link system after system, hoping that he would not be too late to matter. Eventually, the last light on the control console winked green and Thallin closed the canopy to the Veritech. As he stepped down from the step-ladder he glanced at the name Izabelle had stencilled on the side of the cockpit. <"Night of Gold"> he reflected, looking at the colour-scheme. <Somehow, it fits.>Thallin sat at the control console and tapped open the doors to the bay's airlock. 

Outside, Thallin had problems orienting himself. He had forgotten that there was no gravity apart from inside the Macross, the Valkyries responding even more violently than it had in atmosphere on Earth. Looking at his radar screen, Thallin started the Veritech towards Black squadron, diving into the rings himself. 

VX-001 had barely arrived at the combat zone when Thallin's radio sputtered to life. "This is Black Leader. We require assistance in sector Thirteen-Thirteen. Luna Squadron, can you assist?" Thallin banked the Valkyrie in the direction of the call and applied thrust to the mecha, the speed quickly reaching the safety margin in the rings. Over the tac-net, sounds of explosion and grunts were coupled with screams cut halfway through, and then "Where's the fucking Cavalry when you need it?" 

<The lady wants a cavalry, the lady's got a cavalry> Humming the call to charge over the comm, Thallin flipped a switch, watching as twelve cross- hairs appeared on the screen, moving quickly towards twelve pods as the missile targeted independently. Kicking in the afterburners, Thallin jumped the Veritech out of the rings, simultaneously pressing the firing button, sending all twelve of his missiles on their way. All targeted pods disappeared in a cloud of fire while Kay Landers cheered over the radio. Thallin switched the weapon selector from missile to laser, then used the GU-11 gun-pod to blast two more pods on the way through. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted two explosions directly behind him. <Better watch your back, boyo. Next time you might not have a wingman.>The comm screen bleeped to life as Commander Hayes appeared on it. "Black Squadron, we need assistance at the SDF-1. Your Gamma wing is in need of assistance. Over." <Oops. I'm still on command frequencies.> He tapped the screen a couple of time, returning the comm-unit to Research's secure frequency. What he heard was a series of frantic conversations which told a frightening tale. 

"...why hasn't the main gun fired?..." 

"...think the barrier system is interfering..." 

"...Lang wants this done NOW, you hear?..." 

"...pinpoint system blocking transfer..." 

"...conduits not connecting properly..." 

"...send somebody in to..." 

Thallin cut in, calling in a direct link to Lang. "Sir, why hasn't the SDF-1 fired yet?" 

"There seems to be a blockage within the pinpoint barrier mechanism. Something is interfering with the proper connection of the conduit. We've just sent Williams down the contact path to see what's blocking." 

The pods around the Veritechs were in full retreat. Suddenly, a group of them separated from the rest and returned to the thick of the battle. Thallin nudged the plane in their direction, then pushed the throttle to full, following them, all the while listening to Williams as he made his way down the tunnel in the middle of the pinpoint barrier system. 

"I'm almost at the junction now. I can't quite see what's blocking the conduits. I'll have to go in closer and have a look." 

A vision came to Thallin. In his mind's eye, he saw the snake-like conduits stuck by some obtrusion. He saw the main gun's accumulators waiting for power to reach them so they could charge up the guns for firing. He saw this vast amount of power being generated by the engines when the order to fire had been given, power which had nowhere to go and which was probably still building up. And in the middle, he saw Williams' suited figure. "GET HIM OUT OF THERE! WILLIAMS! GET THE HELL OU..." 

A scream cut him short. A long, painful scream supported by the intense buzzing of a gigantic electrical discharge as the power that had been building up at the engine's end used the metal components of Williams' environment suit to bridge the gap between the two ends of the conduit. The scream continued for a full ten seconds, then ended abruptly as a dull thudding sound resounded on the radio. There was silence for a second before a voice came over the net. "Bridge... The conduits have been damaged. Power to the main gun is cut off." 

Sobbing, Thallin did not look at where he was going, his Veritech flying madly, the battle-pods all but forgotten. It took the warning beacons of the console to bring him back to reality. Looking at the forward views on the console, Thallin was greeted with a view of the Prometheus' control tower. 

"Oh boy." 

Forward to Chapter 12.
Back to Chapter 10. 

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