by Robert Boren
“They’ve got a mole someplace. Peteralinia knew to hit that facility when he took out your palace.”
“I’m aware of that,” Aeon said.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
Aeon leaned forward in his chair. “The Forestall has gotten the required data from U67444. They jumped towards the Free Zone already.”
“That’s good news. Do you want me to do something?”
“We still have those five Clan-identified ships, correct?”
Corsi chuckled. “Yes. They don’t have all the latest updates.”
“Send them after the Forestall. I want some insurance. They shouldn’t be molested by anybody, since U67444’s ships are here.”
“They might get noticed leaving the base. It might draw an attack.”
“That base is full of junk, so I don’t care,” Aeon said. “Doubt they’d hit it anyway, frankly. Vermillion has bigger fish to fry.”
“Okay, I’ll get right on that.”
“Dismissed,” Aeon said. He watched as Corsi left his office.
{ 7 }
New Command
A ndrea sat in the Captain’s chair of the Zephyrus, Tim and Izzy at their posts.
“We’re out of the jump in a couple minutes,” Tim said. “Got people manning the disk launchers?”
“Be nice,” Andrea said.
“Maria, stop that right now!” Izzy said, turning towards Tim with a grin on her face.
“You women always stick together,” Tim said. “Deacon, Deneuve, and Caraway are on the launchers, right?”
“That is correct,” Andrea said. They all felt the static charge as the ship came out of the jump. “Here we are. Get into orbit around Toatoiana. Is Pyrite here yet?”
“They just came out of their jump,” Izzy said. “We’re in orbit. Pyrite is as well.”
“Scan,” Andrea said.
“Started that as soon as we got out,” Tim said. “Nothing yet.”
“How many we doing again?” Izzy asked.
“Three hundred from each ship,” Andrea said. “Captain Clarke backed off some on the numbers.”
“Even six hundred is overkill,” Tim said.
“Put her on screen, please,” Andrea said. The center screen lit up, Alana’s face filling it.
“Hello, Captain. We’re firing off our disks now. We’ll be done in just over six minutes.”
“Ours will be completed in four minutes,” Andrea said.
“What?”
“How are they seeing us?” Izzy asked.
“If I had to guess, they’re seeing the flight suits heat up in the atmosphere during entry,” Tim said.
“Visual on Central Authority fighters,” Izzy said. “Looks like about forty.”
“Whoa, three of them just blew up,” Tim said.
“Heard that,” Alana said. “We’re done in twelve seconds.”
“Wait for them,” Andrea said. “Just in case.”
“Standing by,” Tim said.
They waited, watching the main screen as enemy fighters continued to blow up. Then all of them disappeared.
“The surviving fighters just jumped away,” Izzy said.
“Finished,” Alana said. “Let’s blow this joint.”
“Jump now,” Andrea said. They felt the dizziness as the ship took off. “Pyrite jumped too, correct?”
“Level 14, just like Toatoiana,” Tim said. “You’ll give us coordinates?”
“We’ll beat them there by about ten minutes,” Andrea said. “We have to go to the surface to pick them up. Hopefully nobody is watching when we breach the atmosphere.”
“How are you getting communications to us in a jump so easily?” Tim asked. “I know Butch is probably using Captain Clarke’s holographic communicator. Did you get one too?”
“That’s an important improvement,” Tim said.
“You can say that again,” Izzy said.
Izzy rolled her eyes. It’s a figure of speech. You know that.”
Deacon walked in the door. “Heard all that. Like having kids.”
“Yeah, they’re almost worth it,” Andrea quipped.
“You’re worried about something,” Tim asked.
“Are we sure that we didn’t have a cloak breach?”
Andrea leaned back in her seat for a moment, thinking. “I’m pretty sure it was the heat traces from entry into Toatoiana’s atmosphere. No attempt was made to hit our ships. They were headed towards the disks.”
“Crap,” Tim said. “We can’t pick these disks up off the surface of Ozarander.”
“Right,” Deacon said. “If they see the very small heat signatures of the flight suits, they’re gonna see our heat signatures too, since we aren’t that far from the battle zone.”
“Do you really think that’s a big risk?” Andrea asked.
“Oh,” Andrea said. “Butch, you still there?”
“How will we retrieve them?” Izzy asked.
“Send one of the battle ships over,” Tim said. “The flight suits can fly into the bay. That would only take a few seconds.”
“We shouldn’t land the flight suits on the surface, either,” Deacon said. “We let them drift, or keep them in orbit.”
“Okay, Izzy, change course back to the base,” Andrea said.
“Aye, Captain.”
***
Captain Clarke sat on the bridge of the New Jersey, having just been briefed by Butch about the flight suit retrieval situation. “We need to keep this situation in mind.”
“Why? It’s easy to get around,” Sondra said.
Skip shook his head. “We’ve been sending the Zephyrus through the atmosphere on Amberis over and over again. That puts our fuel supply at some risk, if a Central Authority temp scanner is nearby.”
“Exactly,” Captain Clarke said. “This will take some thought.”
Captain Cla
rke chuckled. “Have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law?”
“Decorum on the bridge.”
Skip burst out laughing. “What’s your problem with that phrase?”
“And yet you said we’d have to be very unlucky to be seen. How is the concept of luck different from Murphy’s Law?”
“Stop,” Skip said. “I told you about that.”
“You just wanted to bring it up again,” Skip said.
Sondra rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about it. This is a real concern. We can move ships out of harm’s way in a hurry. We can’t move our fuel source out of the way.”
“Yes, this is an issue,” Captain Clarke said. “However unlikely. This is like poker. You have to bet on probabilities, knowing the facts as well as possible, and the consequences. We’ve gone all in on this fuel source. If we lose, it could be game over.”
“The concepts are important,” Captain Clarke said.
“What about the Overlord’s source?” Sondra asked.
“The enemy knows where that is,” Skip said.
Captain Clarke nodded. “We need to find alternate sources, and we can’t afford to wait too long to do that. Meanwhile we need to work a strategy to hide our heat signature.”
“Which battleship are we sending to get the flight suits?” Skip asked.
“I’m thinking about sending Animus,” Captain Clarke said. “Get Simone on the line, Butch.”
After a moment, the big screen lit up, Simone’s face filling it.
“Hello, Captain Clarke. What can I do for you?”
“Has Silver told you what happened at Toatoiana?”
“Yes,” Simone said. “Silver passed it along as soon as Butch told her. Do you want us to go pick up the flight suits?”
“I was thinking about using Animus. What do you think?”
Simone thought about it for a moment. “You want to put her into harm’s way to see if we have any leak issues. We’d have six hundred flight suits there to protect her if needed. That is a good test, and provides some safety. I think that’s a good idea.”
“I’m also thinking about letting Cyrus be the permanent captain of Animus. Are you good with that?”
“I think it’s a great choice,” Simone said. “He’s far too talented to be kept on Tristar.”
“Good, I’m glad you agree. Let’s chat with him, if you have time.”
“I do,” Simone said. “Kaleb and I finished the last part of our strength training this morning, right after we met with Katerinolia and Prime Minister Peteralinia.”
“Butch, call Cyrus, please.”
“So, what do you think of the Nano capability?” Captain Clarke asked.
Simone smiled. “It’s amazing, but we need to keep it close to the vest.”
“I agree a hundred percent,” Captain Clarke said. “Is Kaleb training others from the Overlords?”
“Yes. I wish we had a better handle on our mole situation. We’d be able to move much faster.”
“That will get better with time.”
The center screen split into two panes, Cyrus in the right side.
“Hello, Captain Clarke. What can I do for you?”
“We’ve got a job for Animus,” Captain Clarke said. “We want you to proceed to Ozarander and pick up six-hundred flight suits, then bring them back here and distribute them to the Spitfire and New Jersey.”
“Ah, good,” Cyrus said. “Heard about what happened. I was hoping you’d make that decision.”
“Why?” Simone asked.
“So we can test Animus for enemy incursions while we’re in a battle zone.”
Captain Clarke chuckled. “Exactly our thinking, and Commander Klemperer can use those flight suits to protect you if the enemy shows up.”
“I suspect the Central Authority Razors will have a hard time with us regardless,” Cyrus said. “We’ll be cloaked, and we’ve improved the shields and plasma guns. We’re probably safe.”
Simone smiled. “I believe you’re right, Cyrus, but I’m glad we don’t have to test that now.”
“One other thing, Cyrus. I’d like to make you Captain of Animus. Does that interest you?”
Cyrus grinned. “Yes, very much so, sir. What about Tristar?”
“Keep her in the bay for now, and groom a new Captain.”
“Do you have somebody in mind, Cyrus?” Simone asked.
“Sasha,” Cyrus said. “Thoughts?”
“I think that’s a wise choice,” Captain Clarke said. “Talk to her, make sure she wants it.”
“Will do,” Cyrus said. “When should we leave for Ozarander?”
“Right away, please,” Captain Clarke said. “Did you get the holographic communicators delivered to the other Razors?”
“Yes, and we finished testing them this morning with the new patch. We’re in good shape.”
“Excellent,” Captain Clarke said. “We’ll be in touch.”
Cyrus left the screen.
“Well he looked happy,” Sondra said.
“He should be,” Simone said. “Animus was a good ship… and now she’s a great ship with the recent improvements.”
“Agreed,” Captain Clarke said. “Have anything else, Simone?”
“Nope, I’ll go back to my studies.”
“Talk to you soon,” Captain Clarke said. Her face left the screen.
“I’m going for a bite to eat,” Captain Clarke said. “See you in a little while.” He left the bridge, going into the main corridor.
Trey walked down the corridor, trying to clear his mind. He needed to idle for a while. His sleep was suffering. The only relief he had was JJ, and the stress was getting to her too. They were in a real war now. They were committed. Allies were joining. New people were getting closer, and some would be traitors. Quit thinking about it. He forced his mind back to the old days, to Earth, to his father, to the outdoors, away from space. His heart rate slowed.
***
Ecason woke up with a start, as Elizabeth entered his room.
“Whaaa?”
“It’s just me,” she said. “It’s late. Our captor is going to come bug us any minute now. Are we still pretending to work the cloaking device, or have you changed your strategy?”
Ecason sat up, trying to shake off the sleep. “I need coffee before I can answer that.”
She smiled. “Would you like me to bring you a cup?”
“No, I’ll get up and have one. Best clear out, I sleep naked.”
Elizabeth nodded, heading for the door. “Sorry I woke you.”
“Don’t be, it was time,” he said.
She went out the door, closing it behind her. Ecason got up and dressed, joining her in the lab. She already had his cup of coffee brewing. “That smells so good.”
“What do you think XC22272 ran off to do after you told him about the eggs? Should we be worried about that?”
Ecason took the steaming cup from her, having a sip. “Hell, I don’t know. I’m hoping he was interested in my offer to work something more beneficial to their society.”
“I don’t see that happening.”
“Neither do I, but I can hope. When he realizes he’ll never get a cloaking device from me, he’s liable to kill all of us, you know.”
Elizabeth picked her freshly-brewed cup of coffee off the machine and had a sip. “Why isn’t our coffee this good?”
“I don’t know. They probably roast it different or something. Maybe they’ve created a better strain of the plants. They were way ahead of us in biology, you know.”
“Yes, I know they helped us extend our lifespans,” Elizabeth said. “Why do we have to be enemies?”
“Authoritarian systems of government must expand to stay vital. This was always the flaw in Alexander Carlson’s plans. We had many a conversation about it.”
“He thought the peace treaty would last forever?”
“No, he thought that the Clan society would move towards more individual liberty. They did the opposite, which was what I expected.”
“So you could say I told you so,” Elizabeth said.
Ecason smiled, taking another sip of coffee. “If I could talk to that man again, I’d never bring that up. He was such a jewel. Of course he’d probably bring it up. He was never afraid to admit being wrong.”
“Do you think there’s hope for Clan society?”
“It will continue to exist, but it will change. I fear it’ll be taken over by a strong leader, who will rule with an iron fist. That might get the trains running on time again, to use an old Earth adage. Since we no longer have the Samson Drive remote destruct to keep them from expanding, I think the Central Authority will get attacked.”
“Attacked?”
“Yes, the Clan will eventually go back to what they were doing before the Samson Corporation came along.”
“Will they win?”
“Depends on what happens in the Central Authority Zone. We’ve been out-producing them for a couple hundred years. If Aeon takes over and runs the zone as an authoritarian top-down society, we’ll lose that advantage. Our best and brightest will be stifled.”
