"You may as well know now a fact that is not yet public property; that even convoyed vessels are no longer safe. The pirates have developed ships of a new and extraordinary type; ships that are much faster than our heavy battleships, and yet vastly more heavily armed than our fast cruisers. Thus, they can outfight any enforcement vessel that can catch them, and can outrun anything of ours armed heavily enough to stand up against their beams."
"That accounts for the recent heavy losses," Kinnison mused.
"Yes," Haynes went on, grimly. "Ship after ship of our best has been blasted out of the ether, doomed before it pointed a beam, and more will be. We cannot force an engagement on our terms; we must fight on theirs.
"That is the present intolerable situation. We must learn what the pirates' new power system is. Our scientists say that it may be anything, from cosmic-energy receptors and converters down to a controlled space warp—whatever that may be. Anyway, they haven't been able to duplicate it, so it is up to us to find out what it is. The Brittania is the tool our engineers have designed to get that information. She is the fastest thing in space, developing at full blast an inert acceleration of ten gravities. Figure out for yourself what velocity that means free in open space!"
"You have just said that we can't have everything in one ship," Kinnison said, thoughtfully. "What did they sacrifice to get that speed?"
"All the conventional offensive armament," Haynes replied frankly. "She has no long-range beams at all, and only enough short-range stuff to help drive the Q-helix through the enemy's screens. Practically her only offense is the Q-gun. But she has plenty of defensive screens; she has speed enough to catch anything afloat; and she has the Q-gun—which we hope will be enough.
"Now we'll go over the general plan of action. The engineers will go into all the technical details with you, during a test flight that will last as long as you like. When you and your crew are thoroughly familiar with every phase of her operation, bring the engineers back here to base and go out on patrol.
"Somewhere in the galaxy you will find a pirate vessel of the new type. You lock to him, as I said before. You attach the Q-gun well forward, being sure that the point of attachment is far enough away from the power rooms so that the essential mechanisms will not be destroyed. You board and storm—another revival of the technique of older times. Specialists in your crew, who will have done nothing much up to that time, will then find out what our scientists want to know. If at all possible, they will send it in instantly via tight-beam communicator. If, because of distance or for any other reason, it should be impossible for them to communicate, the whole thing is again up to you."
The port admiral paused, his eyes boring into those of the younger man, then went on impressively: "That information must get back to base. If it does not, the Brittania is a failure; we will be right back where we started from; the slaughter of our men and the destruction of our ships will continue unchecked. As to how you are to do it, we cannot give you even general instructions. All I can say is that you have the most important assignment in the universe to-day, and repeat—that information must get back to base. Now come aboard and meet your crew and the engineers."