The End of All Things #2: This Hollow Union Read Online Free PDF

Loom Ghalfin said, pointing at the image of a tumbling spacecraft on the briefing room monitor. Ghalfin was the director of the Conclave’s ports and facilities. In the briefing room were me, Oi, General Gau, Chancellor Lause, and Regan Byrne. Along the wall of the briefing room stood several of Ghalfin’s subordinates, all of whom looked as if they were lined up to be shot. Well, and if Odhiambo struck the asteroid, it would be the most merciful thing that could be done to them.
    “The Odhiambo skipped into Conclave space roughly a hundred ditu ago,” Ghalfin said. Ninety ditu in a serti, so not very long ago at all. “Almost as soon as it entered Conclave space, it reported several explosions and extensive damage.”
    “Do we know what caused the explosions?” Gau asked, and nodded toward Oi. “Vnac here told me and Hafte it was an attack.”
    “We don’t know what it was,” Ghalfin said. “At entry the Odhiambo was reporting, verbally and by automated monitoring, that all systems were nominal. The next thing we know everything went haywire.”
    “Vnac?” Gau said.
    “My analysts started looking at data as soon as the damage reports came in, cross-referencing with what we know of the Odhiambo, ” Oi said. “The Odhiambo is a lend-lease ship, originally an Ormu freighter. The pattern of damage it reported right after the explosions occurred isn’t consistent with what might happen with a power systems failure. It is consistent with what would happen if the power systems were attacked to cause secondary damage.”
    “So an attack,” Gau said.
    “Seems likely to me.” Oi motioned to Ghalfin. “Although I will bow to any additional information our colleague here can offer.”
    “We’re combing through our own data now to see if anyone or anything else skipped in just before or close to the arrival of the Odhiambo, ” Ghalfin said. “We’re back a full sur on the data now and nothing’s pinged.”
    Tarsem nodded. “Let’s get back to the current situation.”
    “The current situation is that the Odhiambo is heavily damaged and tumbling in Conclave space. The explosions have imparted a small bit of momentum on the ship toward the asteroid, and the asteroid’s native gravity is doing the rest. Left unchecked it will impact in three serti, fifty-five ditu.” The image Ghalfin was showing tracked out and showed the projected path of the Odhiambo toward the Conclave’s headquarters.
    “What will the impact damage here?” I asked.
    “No habitats, either general or specialized,” Ghalfin said. “We’re not looking at any substantial death toll. But the Odhiambo will impact directly on one of our solar power farms, and several surface-level agricultural domes are nearby, which are at substantial risk of damage. How much damage depends on how the Odhiambo ’s power systems fail at impact. Best-case scenario is we lose the solar farm, solely from the impact. Worst-case scenario is the ship’s power systems fail spectacularly in addition to the impact.”
    “In which case the asteroid gains a shiny new crater, debris gets thrown far and wide, including potentially into the docking area, damaging other ships, and into other areas of the asteroid, including possibly populated areas,” Oi said. “Which makes the potential death toll a bit more substantial.”
    “And the crew of the ship?” Tarsem asked.
    “Sixty crew, ten passengers, all part of the diplomatic team from Earth,” Ghalfin said. “The ship’s captain reported six dead, eight seriously wounded from the explosions, most from the engineering department. The dead are still on the ship. The wounded and most of the rest of the crew evacuated the ship via lifepods. The captain, executive officer, and the chief engineer are still aboard.”
    “But our diplomats are trapped,” said Regan Byrne.
    “That’s what the captain reported,” Ghalfin agreed. “The passenger quarters housing your team are sound but the passageways into their