The Black Gate (The Messenger #11) - J.N. Chaney Page 0,60

same way the Cygnus Realm was struggling to understand them.

“We need a better surveillance system.” Dash stood once more at the front of the Command Center aboard the Forge. “We’re just not getting enough warning about these Deeper attacks, which isn’t much of a problem when it’s single ships. But if a whole other fleet suddenly appears pretty much right on top of us, that’s a different matter.”

“Can Custodian and the other AIs do something to improve the range and resolution of our scans?” Wei-Ping asked.

“We can detect Dark Metal from a long way away,” Amy said. “Maybe we could do something with our Dark Metal scanners.”

“The short answer to your question is no, we have no capacity to extend the effectiveness of our scanners,” Custodian said. “They are already operating at the full extent of their intended design parameters. The issue is not scanner capability; rather, in some fashion, the Deepers are simply undetectable to our systems until they are relatively close.”

“What about scanning for Dark Metal, like Amy said?” Conover put in. “Dark Metal is pretty much unique in that it blocks neutrinos, right? There couldn’t be much the Deepers could do about that.”

“True, but the Dark Metal scanners have a relatively coarse resolution, particularly at long ranges. Moreover—and Conover is aware of this—Dark Metal scans are relatively slow, being limited by the number and spacing of detectors in use.”

“There’s also the fact that beyond the galactic margin, the neutrino field is very weak when viewed against the backdrop of interstellar space,” Sentinel added. “It is sufficient to offer sporadic responses, but they are dim and only triggered by large quantities of Dark Metal.”

“In other words, no, just improving our existing tech isn’t really an option,” Dash said. “We need more, plain and simple.”

Benzel’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? More ships? That’s going to take time.”

“Not only that,” Viktor said. “But recall how long it took the Forge to build capital ships before we had Bercale’s people available. The Forge had to make individual components and sub-assemblies, which then had to be dragged outside and put together in space. Unless we can get a shipyard working on this side of the Gate, we’re going to have to do all new construction back in home space.”

“And we lost a lot of capacity over there when the Deepers destroyed Assembly One,” Harolyn added.

“Which makes me think that’s specifically why they destroyed it,” Benzel said. “They decided that building new ships was our most vulnerable point and attacked it.”

Dash held up a hand. “We don’t need ships for this. We’ll build drones. Lots of drones. Equip them with full sensor suites, Dark Metal detectors—hell, we’ll put telescopes on them if that will help. We’ll then send a swarm of these things out there, including some into the intergalactic black, and tie them all together with real-time comms into a sort of scanner wall. That should extend how far we can see Deeper threats coming.”

Dash turned to Harolyn. “In the meantime, I’d like you to put your diplomatic clothes back on and take a delegation to the Rimworld League. They’re hurting, and they’re scared. They’ve just slammed face-first into the realization that they can’t hope to face the Deepers with their current tech. Tell them that we intend to change that. We’re going to set them up with Unseen tech for their ships and drives and weapons, so they can become full partners in our war against these alien bastards.”

“Will do, Dash,” Harolyn said. “Although, won’t that just strain our resources even more? We left the Anchors on the other side of the Gate to help maintain the integrity of our space back there, which means we’ve only got the Forge on this side to manufacture stuff.”

“It does sound like we’re going to stretch ourselves pretty thin over here,” Viktor said. “And this is all assuming that Gate doesn’t just close, switch off, and strand us over here.”

Amy nodded. “Have to admit, Dash, that is a worry. If the Deepers were the ones who created that Gate, couldn’t they just decide to close it down and concentrate on fighting us on this side of it? We’d be cut off from everything back home.”

“You’re absolutely correct.” Dash raised both hands to forestall the sudden wave of apprehension that rippled through the Command Center. “However, that doesn’t look likely. Custodian?”

“The Messenger is correct. The Black Gate is fundamentally based on a natural phenomenon, a so-called wormhole. I believe that everyone is likely familiar