by Robert Boren
“We’ll work that as soon as we get off this call,” Katerinolia said. “You’ve got something else to tell us.”
Simone nodded. “I’m no longer on the Animus. My new ship is called Spitfire.”
Peteralinia smiled. “They gave you the New Jersey’s sister ship.”
“That is correct. Sorry I didn’t tell you before. I’ve been on this ship since the first call with Katerinolia.”
“How is it?” Peteralinia asked.
“This thing is a terror,” Kaleb said. “Not that it’s invincible.”
“So there are two New Jersey Class ships? Or more?” Peteralinia asked.
“Only two are completed. There are several more in various stages of production. I’m sure Vermillion will share more about our current situation. It’s good, but Aeon’s resources are vast. This won’t be an easy conflict, and we might lose.”
“I agree,” Peteralinia said. “We had several Central Authority people defect to our side. They told me some rather disturbing things.”
“They have a lot more Razors than we thought,” Kaleb said, “don’t they?”
“They have right around six-hundred, but there are over a thousand more in production, and we will have a hard time hitting their production lines.”
“They’re in the Clan Zone,” Kaleb said.
“That is correct,” Peteralinia said. “Luckily we are getting leaks from Aeon’s organization, which back up what the defectors have told us.”
“He’s being too hard on his people,” Simone said.
“Yes, he’s killing spacers… even Captain level, if they fail. He’s also trying to set military strategy, and ignoring his top advisors, for the most part.”
Kaleb shook his head. “He’ll have the same problem the Clan is having. Captains will start to desert.”
“That’s what we’re hoping for. It isn’t happening yet, but the leaks are a good sign that it’s coming.”
Katerinolia nodded. “What we heard today was very interesting.”
“What’s that?” Kaleb asked.
“Captain Stuart Cain and Admiral Boeraton have been sent to the Clan Zone to kidnap Ecason.”
“Is he really still alive?” Kaleb asked. “I’ve heard that, but it seems too implausible.”
“Aeon thinks he is,” Peteralinia said, “and since he’s dealing with the Clan on spacecraft production, he’s in a position to know.”
“He wants Ecason to help them develop a cloaking capability,” Simone said.
“That’s what we’re afraid of,” Katerinolia said.
Kaleb nodded. “We’d better prevent that if we can. Do you know about their new Plasma Burst technology?”
“This is another thing we heard via leaks,” Peteralinia said. “You can confirm?”
“They used it against the New Jersey in our last engagement,” Simone said. “In the current configuration, they can’t destroy a New Jersey class ship before we destroy them with our plasma weapons. Captain Clarke told me our shields were falling at an alarming rate, though. They got below 90% very quickly. If the Central Authority can improve their shields enough, we could have a problem.”
“I think it’s a lousy weapon, to be honest,” Kaleb said. “They can’t use it near any of their other ships, and we’ve proven that they aren’t affective against our new fighter/bomber. I think we’re all scared of it since it’s the only chance they have of hitting our cloaked ships.”
“I share that view to a degree,” Peteralinia said. “It’s a Hail Mary weapon, to use an Earth term.”
Simone was silent for a moment.
“Something wrong?” Katerinolia asked.
“No, just something Captain Clarke told me earlier. Aeon has mines that can jump. We saw them in plenty of time, and destroyed them with our own mines, but the scans showed something rather frightening.”
“What was that?” Katerinolia asked.
“The only nuclear weapon residue found at the scene had our markers.”
“Captain Clarke thinks those mines have the Plasma Burst capability,” Peteralinia said. “That would make sense. Wormhole drives are expensive to produce. If you’re going to put those onto mines, the ability to re-use them would be very important.”
“Exactly,” Simone said.
“Great, yet another thing to keep me awake at night,” Katerinolia quipped. “Shall we go get the meeting set up, Mr. Prime Minister?”
“Yes, we should have the meeting sooner rather than later.”
Simone smiled. “Great. Let us know. You can contact me directly now. I’ll send you the connect data. It will bounce around a lot, so have patience.”
“Prudent,” Peteralinia said. “Talk to you soon. Thanks.”
The screen went dark.
“This is a good development,” Kaleb said.
“It is, but we must proceed with caution. Vermillion and Drake both require a strong firewall between us and them, and I agree.”
Kaleb eyed her. “Something’s bothering you.”
“They’ve let Central Authority personnel defect. That’s a good way to get spies in your ranks.”
***
X22954 rushed onto the Forestall bridge. Captain Cain and Admiral Boeraton were both there. “I just put a file on the network. U67444 gave me the info. There are sixty-two routes to C1111A, with transfer points in case we need to switch it up. They’re all legal routes, too, in case we need to play the Diplomatic Immunity card.”
“Excellent,” Boeraton said, Cain pulling up the screen on his Captain’s chair.
“Very detailed, nicely done,” Cain said. “I’ll load them into the system. We can take off right away. Do we need to notify Aeon first?”
“No, let’s take off and notify him in the normal message. Hopefully he’ll be too busy for a chat.”
X22954 chuckled. “Is this an escape?”
“Don’t even think that, especially during a call with Aeon,” Boeraton said. “I mean it. He’s great at figuring out when he’s being had, and he trusts nobody.”
“Did something happen while I was busy?” X22954 asked.
“My sources on Devonia Axxiom told me there have been leaks. Seems some of our colleagues are getting tired of the success or death routine.”
Cain burst out laughing. “I understand completely. Ready to go?”
“You picked a route already?” Boeraton asked. “How?”
“I guessed,” Cain said. “Have a better suggestion?”
Boeraton eyed him a moment, then shrugged. “No, I don’t. Let’s go.”
They felt the dizziness as the ship took off.
“You don’t need your first mate up here for a jump, I guess,” X22954 said.
“The level of automation on these ships allows me to run the bridge by myself if we’re just traveling. I wouldn’t go into battle that way, of course.”
Zindra, Cain’s first mate entered the bridge, her blonde locks flowing as she rushed to her station. “We just took off?”
“Yep, headed for the Free Zone and points beyond.”
“I’ll monitor,” she said. “We’re going through the main military pathway in the Free Zone?”
“At first,” Cain said. “I put the route on your monitor, along with alternates if we need to change course. Take some time to study them please.”
“Yes sir,” she said.
“And here it starts,” X22954 said. “How long until we hit the Free Zone?”
“Roughly thirty-six hours,” Cain said. “We’ll have to find a fuel source in the far end of the Free Zone. Best to start working that issue, Zindra.”
“Aye, Captain.”
***
Trey got back to the bridge. “Butch, on speaker please.”
“Skip, anything new to report?”
“Aeon tried to attack another ten worlds shortly before you
went into that meeting. Same thing. People are fighting back. Aeon went kinda nuts on the ten from yesterday. Massive railgun and Plasma Saturation attacks. He’s killed millions, but he’s also lost about thirty percent of the ships, including two troop transports.”
“Good, glad to hear the people are fighting.”
Sondra turned toward him. “It’s not all good news. Several freighters were destroyed in the main shipping lane between Devonia Axxiom and Pentant Simtar. Aeon might be planning a blockade.”
“Expected that,” Captain Clarke said. “Butch, set up a meeting with the bridge crews of the Zephyrus and Pyrite.”
“Big conference room, as soon as possible. Oh, and notify Chairman Vermillion, just in case he wants to join. It’s not mandatory, it’ll be a tactical meeting.”
“Are you pulling non-essentials off the Zephyrus?” Skip asked.
Captain Clarke thought about it a moment. “No, I don’t see a reason to do that. They aren’t going to fight. They’re just gonna fling pilotless flight suits onto Toatoiana and come home.”
“Thanks, Butch. Call Nolan and JJ too, please. They’re in the lab.”
“Guess I’d better get over there, then,” Captain Clarke said, getting out of his seat. “Sondra, you have the ship.”
Captain Clarke left the bridge, taking a tin can to the big conference room, Vermillion walking up as he got there.
“Decided to come, huh?” Captain Clarke asked.
“Nothing going on at the moment, so why not?”
They went into the conference room. Andrea, Izzy, Tim, and Deacon arrived.
“Hey, Cappy, we going into some action?” Deacon asked.
“You’ll join the Pyrite on a mission to place pilotless flight suits on Toatoiana.”
“Are we sticking around to pick them up afterwards?” Andrea asked.
“Let’s wait for the meeting,” Captain Clarke said, as the Pyrite bridge crew arrived. Alana, the Captain, a tall woman with long black hair, followed by Keith, her first mate, a young man with a shaved head, and Tessa, the pilot, a middle-aged woman with a warm smile.
“Hello, Captain Clark, and Chairman Vermillion,” Alana said. “Good to see you both.”
“Do we have a quorum?” Vermillion asked.
“Nolan and JJ will be here in a moment,” Captain Clarke said.
“Should we have Commander Klemperer here?” Deacon asked. “Maybe we should send some Mark VI fighters as an escort, since they can jump.”
“No need to send fighters,” Vermillion said. “Not with all those pilotless flight suits. I’d have Klemperer on deck with his team to control those flight suits if they need to protect the freighters, though.”
“Butch, get him over here please,” Captain Clarke said. “Good idea, Mr. Chairman. Sorry I didn’t think of it.”
JJ and Nolan came in and took their seats.
“Are we expecting the enemy to catch us while we drop off the payload?” Deacon asked.
“I think Aeon is watching for our next attack,” Captain Clarke said.
Nolan nodded. “Yes, I agree, and though we’ve almost got them in a needle and haystack situation, they’ve probably got a million fighters. They could spread them around by any likely targets, and both Avid One and Portuna are very likely.”
“Why?” Izzy asked.
“They’re between Devonia Axxiom and Earth,” Captain Clarke said.
Commander Klemperer entered the conference room and took a seat. “We gonna need fighters?”
“How are you doing with the control apparatus for pilotless flight suits?” Vermillion asked.
Klemperer grinned. “That’s working out better than I dreamed it would. We were doing some maneuvers yesterday. I’ve got two hundred pilots ready to go. I hate to admit it, but these things will make normal fighters obsolete eventually.”
“Okay, let’s get this meeting started,” Captain Clarke said. “As I’ve alluded to, this is going to be a quick mission. Your ships will proceed to Toatoiana and place pilotless flight suits, then return home.”
“What happens when the flight suits are finished with their mission?” Klemperer asked.
“They’ll either jump to Earth, or jump to another rendezvous point where we can pick them up,” Captain Clarke said.
“What are they going to do on Avid One and Portuna, Captain?” Keith asked.
“There are Central Authority bases on those worlds. We’re going to destroy their hardware and flood the bases with Variant 3 and 4 Nanos, then leave.”
“I like it,” Nolan said. “That will make it difficult for Aeon to attack Earth.”
“When do we leave, Cappy?” Deacon asked.
“Right after this meeting.”
“And the attack happens later?” Andrea asked.
Captain Clarke was silent for a moment. “It depends.”
“Depends on what?” Andrea asked.
Nolan chuckled. “I get it. If we are discovered while placing the flight suits, we should destroy whoever discovers us and do the attacks right away.”
“Exactly,” Captain Clarke said. “Anybody have suggestions or objections?”
“We should give Estes a heads-up,” JJ said. “Just in case we want to send the flight suits to Earth.”
“Good idea,” Vermillion said.
“Butch, could you send a message please?”
“What do you expect to be waiting for us?” Tim asked.
“Nothing, more than likely,” Captain Clarke said.
“Doubt they’d send battle ships,” Nolan said. “They don’t have enough of those.”
“As far as we know,” Klemperer said. “If there’s any sign of Razors, get away fast, finished or not.”
“That’s a must,” Vermillion said. “That burst capability will destroy you before you can destroy them.”
“What if their fighters have that capability?” Tessa asked.
“Unlikely,” Klemperer said.
“The mines might have burst capability,” Nolan said. “Watch for those as well. Luckily Aeon can’t cloak anything.”
“Yeah, for safety’s sake, if anything shows up, jump away immediately,” Captain Clarke said. “That’s a must.”
“Bring him on,” Captain Clarke said.
The screen lit up, showing Estes’s face. “Greetings. Glad I caught you before you were done.”
“You have something to add?” Captain Clarke asked.
“Yes. If you run into anything that has that burst weapon, put the flight tubes back into disk configuration right away. I’m working on some software to detect and do that automatically.”
“Why?” Vermillion asked.
“We can maneuver them in disk mode, and the reactor took a lot of shielding, mainly for human pilots. They’ll orient the shielding towards the burst and survive it. These things are probably safer around the burst weapons than any of our smaller ships, save perhaps the Mark VI LBs.”
“Fascinating,” Nolan said. “Glad you let us know.”
“Why not just leave them in disk mode?” Alana asked.
“They need to be extended to use the railguns and lasers,” Estes said.
“Oh,” Alana said. “That makes sense.”
“Do you want us to send them to Earth after the battle?” Vermillion asked.
“Not unless you have no choice,” Estes said. “Send them to a rendezvous world and pick them up with the freighters.”
“Why?” Vermillion asked.
“We’ve put our production lines into overdrive,” Estes said. “We don’t have the storage space.”
Nolan chuckled. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Thos
e things are gonna win the war for us.”
“They might,” Klemperer said.
“Okay, I think that’s it,” Captain Clarke said. “Any other questions?”
“I’m good,” Andrea said.
Alana nodded. “Me too.”
“Go for it,” Klemperer said. “I’ll have my AI monitoring the situation, and put my flight suit pilots on standby.”
“Perfect,” Captain Clarke said. “Thanks, everybody.”
***
Aeon sat at his ornate desk, fuming over his problems. General Corsi arrived.
“You’re late.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Prime Minister. My commanders needed to chat about strategy. They’re falling apart.”
Aeon leaned back on his chair and sighed. “I understand. We’ve had more setbacks than I expected. That doesn’t leave the room. We have leakers.”
“Nothing we discuss ever leaves the room,” General Corsi said. “Any idea who is leaking? You don’t think it’s me, I hope.”
“Nothing we’ve discussed in confidence has leaked, so I don’t suspect you at this point.”
“At this point?”
Aeon cackled. “I don’t fully trust anyone. You understand.”
Corsi sat on the chair in front of Aeon’s desk. “Yes, I understand, and I don’t blame you for that. What are we going to do?”
“Continue on with the ten planets per day. When we’re stymied, move assets to a more advantageous position.”
“How are the targeted planets getting the word so quickly?”
“Damn Hamilton Zenos and his Overlords helpers,” Aeon spat. “I heard something disturbing this morning.”
“More good news, huh?”
“Pentant Simtar and the Samson Corporation might be making an alliance.”
“Dammit,” Corsi said. “First Simone and her Overlords, and now this.”
“We can’t see Simone’s ships anymore,” Aeon said. “That worries me.”
“Admiral Boeraton told you that?”
“No, Crike’s people, from Space Intel Command.”
“Good, he’s still got people. I was worried, after the last reports.”
Aeon nodded. “We lost some agents, but Crike had his best agents in a safe place when the headquarters was destroyed.”
