Junkyard Dogs 1: The Scrapyard Incident Read Online Free PDF Page A

have lost the battle and the
War. I think Talbot might have been right."
    "That's a pretty
tall order, Ensign," said Kresge.
    "Don't I
know it, Sir! "
    "What do you
expect to learn by coming out here?" asked Harris.
    "Well, you
can only learn so much by looking at schematics and naval architectural
drawings. Even 3-D holos, as good as they are, have their limitations. I need
to inspect some of the ships first hand to get construction information and
other details that will help me refine my estimates of just how much punishment
the different classes of ship can take and dish out. Especially
the destroyers. The biggest problem with Talbot's angle is that most
experts dismiss the entire premise as ridiculous; the Orion Class destroyers
couldn't have stopped the Succession battlecruisers because their outmoded
projectile weapons couldn't deal enough damage. That and the destroyers
couldn't have withstood the power of the main pulse beam batteries of the
battlecruisers long enough to carry off an attack. If I could prove them wrong,
I could confirm, or at least advance, Talbot's theory. That would be just a start, he has several other theories that are just as
controversial."
    "Like
what?" asked Harris.
    "Well, there
are a number of assumptions that have been made regarding the root causes of
the war that Talbot disagrees with. He believes that some of the tensions
between different societies that led to the war were badly misunderstood and,
according to him, many are still simmering out here in this part of
space."
    "Really,
such as...?" asked Kresge.
    "Well, he
suggests that overpopulation is one of the main driving forces but that long
standing religious disputes may be even more important. Take the Meridians, for
example."
    "Meridians?"
asked Harris. "How so?"
    She thought for a
moment before replying.
    "As a native,
you would know that New Ceylon and Meridian were on opposite sides in the
Succession War. What you may not know is that Meridian itself had been deeply
divided before they got involved in the war."
    "We were
taught that," said Harris, "It got so bad there was nearly a civil
war in the Meridian system. Those problems effectively took them out of the
Succession War, a month or so before the final battle. It was much more than
just political. The orthodox Islamic minority wanted out of the War and they forced
the issue. Meridian effectively became a neutral planet."
    "Very good,
Lieutenant," said Carlisle. "Although 'Orthodox
Islamic minority' doesn't quite fit anymore. They currently make up over
sixty-five percent of the Meridian population. Talbot maintains that the same
tensions are still operating on Meridian and on other worlds of the Islamic
Alliance as well as in the Federation itself. He doesn't think it would take
much to set off some renewed aggression."
    "Radical
stuff!" said Kresge. "Good luck proving any of it, although I must
say that I agree with you and Talbot about one thing: there's a lot of
political and religious tension in the air these days."
    "Thank you,
Sir. What would really help is an intact ship's log or two from any of the
destroyers. If I had the actual blow by blow descriptions of the battle by any
of the destroyer captains I might really have something. Trouble is , there was just so much destruction in the battle. After it
was over and the War with it, who would've cared about a handful of badly
mauled destroyers?"
    "We might
still have some wrecks out here," said Harris. "Intact
logs?" He shook his head. "We'll just have to see. I'd say the
chances are pretty slim, it's been a long time!"
    "Actually we
think that there are at least three destroyers from the last battle out here in
the Reclamation Center, Lieutenant Harris," said Carlisle.
    "We?"
    "Oh, sorry, Sir." She tapped a device on her
wrist. "I brought along a list of all ships known to have participated in
the final battle. Lieutenant Perkins helped me check the Scrapyard inventory
and I matched up three of the destroyers.