One complication remained. The sensitive fusion optics in Aztec’s stern wouldn’t function while the AG beam, coming from the cargo holds forward of the propulsion section, was active. Hence, the procedure they had been forced to adopt was first to fire the main drive to accelerate Aztec away from Trojan; then cut the drive and energize the AG beam, which would act as a brake and retard it; then repeat the cycle. The momentum acquired by Aztec and then lost again was thus transferred to Trojan in a series of massive pulses, each one adding to its rotation like successive pushes to a children’s carousel. Which of course increased gravity inside all the modules as well as putting all kinds of extra stresses on the spoke and support structures—with hopefully deleterious effect.
It was having other effects too, Wernstecki could see for himself on the screen without having to consult the analyzer readouts—although it had been expected. He was still at the monitor console in the control compartment by the cargo hold, frantically trying to synchronize the beam dynamics with the firing of the ship’s drive, which Reese was directing from the Bridge, coordinating via one of Wernstecki’s screens. Trojan wasn’t just increasing rotational speed about its longitudinal axis; the axis itself was building up a tumbling motion of its own. The gravity pulses from Aztec were being applied to one side of the wheel only, producing an imbalance of force that was setting the whole structure into gyration like a wobbly spinning top. Carried to completion, this would result in a second, end-over-end mode of rotation superimposed on the first. What the effects would be on the occupants was anyone’s guess. Wernstecki had hardly had time to go deeply into it—even if he’d had the inclination.
The additional degree of freedom in Trojan’s motion made it necessary now to reorientate Aztec into the correct relative position before each fresh AG pulse. This meant predicting when the target portion of Trojan would move into alignment with Aztec’s stern and at the same time be on a matching approach vector, which involved a tricky computation.
“Hold on X . . . coming in on Z now, twelve . . . ten-point- three . . . nine-nine . . .” Tanya recited, watching an adjacent panel.
“Dee-phi to five,” Wernstecki directed over the link to Reese. “Reduce alpha more.”
“Two-second burn on FS2. Retro on MP4, ten percent power,” Reese translated to others on the Bridge. “Fire main at ten.”
“Main drive firing, ten percent,” a voice acknowledged.
Wernstecki took in several displays. “A half on dee-theta. Steady right there. . . . Steady . . . Wait on my count. Ready on beam.”
“Ready on beam,” the engineer in charge in the hold confirmed.
“Six . . . five . . . four—it’s good—three . . . two . . . one . . . Cut!”
“Cut main,” Reese ordered on the Bridge.
“Main drive out.”
The force that had been impelling everyone rearward in their seats vanished as forward acceleration ceased, but all anyone felt was a brief nudge as the underdeck Yarbat arrays compensated. For a brief moment Aztec coasted away from Trojan in freefall.
“Go, beam.”
“Beam on.”
This time the transient was beyond the range of the compensators. Wernstecki and the others held on for support as the invisible leash yanked Aztec back to a relative standstill.
“Off, beam.”
“Beam off.”
“What’s your reading?” Wernstecki asked Merlin Friet, who was running other calculations at a crew station in the Communications Room.
“Axial multiplier alone should be at four-plus,” he replied. It meant that anyone in the Trojan’s ring modules would now be in possession of more than four times their normal body weight from just the speed-up, never mind what else the added tumbling did. Wernstecki told Reese that it should be enough to disrupt all the ship’s functions for a considerable time to come.
“Then let’s hose the Hub and the drive, and get out of here,” Reese said. They had already agreed that for good measure they would aim a pulse each at the region of the Trojan’s spoke bases, where most of the weaponry was concentrated, and at the tail-end fusion complex—simply in the hope of inducing further dislocation and chaos for those aboard to attend to.