“I don't have many regrets, but the ones I do will probably haunt me till eternity. Looking back, there are some things that shouldn't be meddled with.”

- Antioch

***Deep Space***

***Antioch***

“How do you do it!?” I ask Martin and groan, allowing the adaptive chair to knead my back. My body may be an optimized construct, but after a few hours, even my muscles are at their limit. When I made the chair, I made it as a joke while I researched ways to increase a pilot's resistance towards high g-forces. No matter how you put it, making a chair out of thousands of tiny nano-machines is a little bit excessive, even if it can adapt to any body.

The nanomachines are of my own design, and by no way nearly as versatile as the nano-tech from the V.C. But they do the job when it comes to physical tasks, like forming different surfaces.

“I warned you, didn't I? But no! You walk right into the trap,” Martin complains while he inspects one of my research projects, a miniature warp-drive. After learning about his technical skills, I decided to invite him on a tour through my laboratories. While his skills aren't exactly overlapping with my research, he already managed to give me a few hints and ideas, drawing on the memories which he has left from his time in the V.C.

The laboratory which serves to conduct this research is a large and tidy hall with various machines and instruments. They would allow me to conduct some of the research myself, but most of the time I use one of my drones as peripheral. It's better that way since some of the things in this room are prone to blowing up at inopportune moments.

“A trap!?” I gasp as the chair massages a tight spot of knotted musculature.

Pleasing three women in a single night borders on hard labour. “I don't know if it was a trap. It felt like heaven to me. Given the chance, I would do it again. Now I finally understand a little of what you were talking about, though I would still take Silith over all the others.” I found it quite nice to wake up sandwiched between the girls and with my mate on top of me. Though, I don't know if I am alright with the long-term implications of that night.

Fiona and Lisandra also avoided me at breakfast. I hope I didn't hurt them when I... got a little forceful.

“Are you insane? Do you have any idea what kind of a race you created? Next time, check the data-sheet thrice! We will be drowned in crying babies within months! I don't know what kind of reward the system is offering the women, but it must be a good one. Otherwise they wouldn't be so eager to get... things done.”

I hum, contemplating the issue, and recognize that Martin has a point. “We will have to set up some kind of infirmary and take turns. At least until some of the kids are old enough to look out for the new ones.”

“At least you are smart enough to recognize that it won't end with just one pregnancy!” Martin huffs and points at the schematic which he was comparing to the miniature warp drive. “Those values are off. If I understand this correctly, then the drive won't work for more than a few seconds at a time. Let's not mention that, without a power source, the whole concept isn't feasible. I think that you would do much better to improve on the larger drive which you had in that fighter of yours. The one which you used to kamikaze our pursuers.”

That's not entirely accurate, so I decide to educate him.

Martin's observations are - on the whole - correct, but he doesn't seem to see it from the right perspective. “I shelved the fighter project for the time being. Though, I intend to set up a shipyard once we have a base of operations which doesn't have to be on the run. The idea behind the fighter-concept was to have a small ship which can strike at enemies before they can threaten Haven.”

Martin wants to say something, but I stop him with a raised hand.

“The idea worked fine, but the execution was lacking. Now, I know that one fighter being able to stop three large battleships from pursuing us is a good outcome, but it could be better.”

“You destroyed one of them,” Martin responds.

I nod. “At the cost of myself and the fighter. Looking just at the numbers, it looks good, but our enemies aren't idiots. They will be more careful the next time. The main reason why the strategy worked, is that they weren't expecting that a small ship could do so much damage. We were lucky that they didn't perform evasive manoeuvres. At the end, the last ship almost got away. I would've never been able to plant an antimatter-mine in its path.”

Gesturing, I indicate the minature warp-drive. The cone-shaped device is as large as a man and shines like silver, it's innards hidden behind polished metal.

“I took a look at our records. The ships which were hit by the mines dropped out of warp and probably needed quite some time to repair their drives, but otherwise, they seemed completely fine. The mines can be seen as nothing more than an unreliable stalling tactic if you ask me.”

I place my hands thoughtfully on my chest, considering the last few moments of the engagement. “Now, ramming the other ship with an incorrectly modulated warp-field was a completely different matter. When I did it, I thought that nothing much would happen. At least not more than what happened with the mines. But... reality seems to be different from what the equations tell us. That ripple of light, when space itself seemed to split open, generating more power than the G.S.-warship and my fighter could have produced together, now, that was interesting! It was like a glimpse at the beginning of the universe.”

Raising my hands to the ceiling, I realize that I am rambling. I quickly lower them and study Martin's expression.

Sadly, he doesn't look like he shares my enthusiasm. “To be honest, I was just freaked out by that scene and I believe that's what actually happened. Splitting the universe open, I mean. You should go and see a shrink if that turns you on!”

I cough and answer defensively, “It doesn't turn me on, but it interests me, mostly because I don't understand what happened. Hence, the miniature warp-drives. They are as much a concept study, as a safe way to conduct experiments.”

“Only a madman would dabble willingly with powers he doesn't understand,” he mumbles.

Martin's eyes slowly shift to the cone-shaped device next to him. “Those aren't intended as independent drives for your fighters. You are weaponizing the warp-drive as a torpedo!” He shakes his head. “No, that can't be it. You are still missing an energy source. Without that, those drives won't go anywhere.”

“That's where you are wrong. Those drives don't need their own energy source, and the warp emitters don't need to be designed to last much longer than a few seconds before they burn out. The intention is to aim the warp-torpedo at the enemy, charge the warp-emitters with Haven's reactors, and send the thing on its way. Fire and forget. Once the emitters are charged, they can maintain the warp-field for a few seconds, and once they start running out of energy, the warp-field destabilizes completely on its own.

“The only problem is that I still have to solve how to aim the damned things. We would need a very good idea where the enemy is. I assume that it will be necessary to deploy a swarm of reconnaissance drones before I have any hope of hitting the target. I have no idea why the G.S. hasn't already used such a weapon against us.”

Martin tilts his head, studying the torpedo. “Because they don't have one. And let's be honest, what you are describing is like throwing a rock at a flying fighter-jet. You don't have to aim over a distance of a few hundred kilometres, we are talking about light-seconds! I admit that it would be a very potent deterrent. You could shut the G.S. out of a solar system – if you have more warp-torpedoes than they have ships.

“If you intercept them a few light-minutes outside the system, they would need weeks to approach with relativistic speeds. We would see them coming and have plenty of time to prepare for their arrival. Though, it all depends on our ability to aim the torpedoes beforehand, and I am not sure that's possible with our current technology. It might be better to add a capacitor bank to the torpedoes and design the warp emitters with a little more leeway.”

Raising an eyebrow, I study my creation. “Why?”

“Let's assume that we can design it in a way which allows it to jump twice. The capacitor bank just needs to be big enough for a second, short jumpstart. We charge the emitters through the launcher and send the torpedo on its way. That would make it unnecessary to hit the target on the first try. We just have to get the torpedo close to the other ship. Once it falls out of warp, it can update it's targeting data. If it's close enough, it jumps a second time, going for the kill.”

That's... actually a good idea. “That could actually work. And it eliminates the need for a swarm of sensor drones for targeting data. A normal sensor suit should be sufficient to gain the required information. It increases the cost of the torpedo, but that's nothing compared to what the sensors would require.”

“I am glad that I managed to be of help.” Martin grins as if he is expecting praise.

To be honest, I am a little embarrassed that I didn't come up with the solution on my own. “Thanks. Should we take a look at the other research labs? Maybe you can make some other suggestions.”

I get up and guide him out of the room.

“That reminds me, you still haven't announced where Haven is going,” Martin raises another topic while we walk down the corridor.