Alien Enigma Read Online Free PDF Page B

half dozen small screens and one oversized one. Jergens grinned and showed him the controls that allowed the chair to be either locked into place or detached from its mooring so the captain could scuttle around in his seat if he didn't want to stand. The safety harness was unobtrusive but he was willing to bet it was just as much improved over its uncomfortable predecessor as other aspects of the new seat were.
    "Now look over here," Jergens suggested and led him to one of the stations. "This is the astrogation and astronomy station. We've incorporated another improvement, a larger and much more versatile telescope. This is basically the astrogator's workstation but an astronomer can fit in here as well. You can also call up a view of what's going on from the Captain's seat whenever you like. The telescope focuses or changes its viewing aspects depending on what wavelengths you want to utilize. I swear, that thing cost damn near as much as the ship!"
    Keane laughed at first then stifled it. An all-purpose telescope wasn't really a single instrument but several contained in the same package. He had no idea if the different lenses or receptors were all housed together or even whether there was just one computer controlling them all or separate ones for each type of view. Whatever, it was a fine addition to the array of sensors that included light, radar, lidar, visual and gravimetric mass detection. As a reciprocal, Jergens explained, from another station pulses or beams of various wave lengths and amplitude could be directed toward objects such as planets, asteroids or even other ships to determine composition, detect metals, measure temperatures and many other functions. It caused him to wonder how many science specialists he'd have aboard.
    He sat down in the Captain's chair to try it on for size. Even without power it fit him as well as his easy chair at home. He could only imagine what it would be like when he was able to adjust it-or was it self-adjusting? He sat there for a moment or two, looking around the huge arc of the consoles. He twisted around and the chair turned smoothly with him. He examined the rest of the control room with approval. There was a niche at the rear for coffee and snacks and another space that could be closed from view should the Captain or others need privacy for confidential conversations. The control room hatch had a heavily armored door for use if necessary. It was tucked neatly away during normal operations. A number of other little work spaces and alcoves were designed for secondary communications, auxiliary computers, petty officer stations, a specially equipped workstation for the Chief of Boat, a backup weapons station, a place for the engineer or his assistants, and several other stations thought necessary for a working interstellar space ship. He liked it. No, that wasn't quite right. He was going to love it. He turned back in his chair until he was again facing the consoles and stood up. There was one he didn't recognize.
    "Fred, what's the function of that console third from the end there, the one with all the bells and whistles?" He pointed.
    "Whoops! Sorry, sir. I forgot to tell you about it. This is the first interstellar ship I know of that has stealth technology and electronic warfare capabilities added to it. It's another spinoff from the increased capacity of the drive. Admiral Mullins had it built and installed in accordance with his orders from the Secretary: to protect the ship at any expense. Hence the stealth and weapon upgrades. The way I heard it, he told the design team that when the retrofit was completed, if the ship had to fight dragons he wanted it to be able to shoot fire with the best of them. And then serve dragon stew for the crew in the mess."
    Keane smiled. "That's pretty much the way I heard it, too."
    "Oh, the Admiral left some gifts. One's from the Navy Secretary." Jergens brushed back his hair and pointed to a laser-etched gold plaque and a black velvet