“Counting the last 400 to jump in, we only have 300 ships left to arrive to complete our roster.”
Forget the last 300, they can merge later. Get the fleet organized now; how long, Headman?”
“At least one rotation to organize and one more to assign jump coordinates then we will be ready to jump.”
“Notify the draining dreadnaughts that they need to be prepared to leave at that time.”
“Yes State leader, it will be done.”
Tag jumped in to Earth and went directly to Kosievs Bridge, “What happened?”
“The 5,000 ships jumped into the Glod system, took a ship count, and left. Now the fleet is shaking itself down in preparation to jump. Those big dreadnaughts with the machinery on board are also moving away from the planet out to the star drive limit; looks like it’s going to be show time shortly.”
Tag pressed his com and said, “Director Nicole.”
After a moment he heard, “Yes Tag, what can I do for you?”
Tag then explained to her that they were going to manipulate the screen surrounding the planet to try and draw the Alliance fleet in close to the planet. To prevent a general panic in Earth’s population, she needed to give a warning of what to expect.
Kosiev sat there and thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Then he knew he saw only his piece of the puzzle. This young man seemed to see all the pieces at once.
“You’re right,” Director Nicole said, “I’ll get it out immediately.”
“You might also let everyone know that we may let a few beams thru into things like the ocean or desert. Don’t be afraid if that happens.” The Director disappeared from his com.
“Well, Admiral. Would you like some popcorn? We have a few hours to waste until they come calling.”
Kosiev said, “Absolutely, and I’ll have butter on mine. I’ll be jumping out to Ross with the other Ultra Ships shortly but there’s always time for popcorn. I have no idea why I don’t weigh as much as a Glod with all the popcorn I consume. What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to hide the Ultra Ship Atlanta on the Earth’s surface and keep tabs on what the Alliance is going to do. I also intend to help Colonel Taz play with the screen.”
Kosiev stopped his hand halfway to his mouth and said, “I’ve heard what you’re like when you’re trying to fool someone. I almost feel sorry for those Alliance ships. Please notice I said almost.”
They laughed and continued to eat their pop corn.
State Leader Sten and Headman Dgzh watched as their fleet sorted itself out. Sten said, “That is the largest fleet we’ve ever put together in our long history.”
“It is huge and looks invincible.”
Sten looked at him and said, “So why am I so nervous about this venture?”
Dgzh continued to look at the fleet and without moving his head said, “The Humans have been one step ahead of us every step of the way. I don’t care what the Vgrig Warleader says; I wouldn’t be surprised if the Humans turned up with a thousand ships or none. They will prove to be unpredictable whatever happens.”
“What happens to us if we lose this battle?”
Dgzh looked at him and said, “We don’t need to worry about us. If we lose 17,000 ships we probably won’t have an Alliance to worry about. This is a critical moment in our history.”
Sten watched the fleet and continued to worry.
The Vgrig Warleader looked at all his assembled ships and thought of the majesty of the moment. Now was the time for a great victory. Not only would his people grow in esteem but he can claim whatever prize he wanted. He would also have an entire planet to torture and punish for his earlier defeat. He looked forward to starting this operation. He turned in his chair and asked his communication officer “Is the fleet ready?”
“Yes it is, Warleader.”
“Open a Communication channel to all ships,” he said and waited for the light on his console to light up. After a moment it turned on and he pressed the com channel, “I want to make sure that everyone understands out plan. We will enter the Human system at the orbit of their outermost planet and begin moving in. I want every square inch of their system gone over thoroughly with our sensors to ensure there aren’t any surprises waiting for us. We will move in toward the planet and tighten our fleet formations as we advance. No one gets closer than 50,000 miles from the planet. The dreadnaughts will begin draining their screen as soon as we make sure that the system is clear of ships. We will divide our fleet in half once we arrive at the planet. Half will stay at the planet to make sure no one escapes and the other half will proceed to the jump limit to prevent anyone coming in to rescue these humans. Prepare to jump in 10 dregs.” The Warleader then leaned back in his chair and thought that he was being cautious having half the fleet at the jump limit. After his last experience, he wasn’t taking any chances. He was going to be with those at the jump limit just to make sure he would have an escape just in case things got ugly. He had seen firsthand how quickly things could go wrong. It wasn’t that he wasn’t brave; he just wasn’t stupid.
“One dreg to jump,” his ship leader informed him.
He leaned forward and thought, “What are they planning this time?” then his ship jumped.
Chapter 13
Tag watched his feed from the passive sensor in the Central Alliance System and saw all the ships getting into formation. He was sitting in the main control room of the Asteroid Defense Center watching the screen with Colonel Taz. “They should be jumping in shortly,” Colonel Taz said. “Where are the ships you want to bring inside the screen?”
“They’re at Mars orbit. We’re going to hold them there until the Alliance fleet arrives and can see them on sensors. We’re not sure how the Alliance will approach their invasion and we’ll have to wait to plan our response. What are your plans on deceiving them about our screen?”
“I’ve set screen depth at 72 feet. That’s slightly bigger than it was after the last attack but it should make them think it’s all we’ve got.”
“How much depth do you really have?”
Colonel Taz touched a switch on his console and looked at the result then said, “About 124 feet.”
Tag whistled and then said, “I know our engineers don’t put much stock in their ability to drain our energy but they really don’t know how effective those dreadnaughts will be. Once they start their operation I’ll need an estimate of how effective they are. If they are making a big dent in our reserves, we may have to attack them without the support of your fortresses.”
Colonel Taz glanced at another screen and said, “We have taken these asteroids almost to the suns outer corona to fully charge them and it took a week to reach full charge. I just don’t see 800 ships draining our screen; I don’t care how large they are.”
“Science is funny, Colonel, you just never know until it starts operating. Here we go; some of the Alliance ships just disappeared from the feed. They’re on their way; notify Kosiev and send him a feed on what’s taking place.”
“Yes sir, right away.”
Seventeen thousand Alliance ships jumped into Earths solar system. They arrived in a globular formation even with Neptune’s orbit with the Earth at the center. They then began moving in system running back and forth between their ships making sure that all space was checked for unpowered ships lying in wait. They didn’t rush but took their time scanning the outer reaches of the solar system and moved slowly and inexorably in toward the planet Earth. When the Alliance ships reached the Star drive limit the 800 Draining Dreadnaughts jumped in and joined the fleet. By that time they were inside the orbit of Jupiter and could clearly see the 97 Earth ships at the orbit of mars. The Alliance Fleet ignored the Earth ships and continued scanning for other hidden ships. The distance between the ships in the huge fleet diminished as the globe became smaller as it moved closer and closer to the inner planets. Suddenly the Earth Ships gathered at Mars orbit turned and ran back to Earth and landed on the Planet.
&nbs
p; The Warleader thought, “I wouldn’t waste them either. We’ll probably have to deal with them at the end. Continue scan,” he ordered his fleet. “At this rate we should reach the planet in two rotations,” He said to his bridge crew. “It will be worth the time though; there won’t be any hidden surprises.” “Let me know if anything is detected,” then he left and went to get some rest before the actual fighting took place.
Tag and Taz watched as the fleet moved closer. “Looks like they’re not taking any chances,” Tag said.
“Do you think they will be able to detect the caverns on the Moon?” Taz asked.
“No. Those caverns are deep and shielded by miles of metallic rock. Even the Launch tubes were just cut with a power laser so there won’t be any exotic metals. Their sensors aren’t that good and I’m not convinced that we could detect them either. I know Kosievs ship couldn’t.”
“At the rate they’re moving, we probably have a couple of days before they reach moon orbit. Why don’t you get some rest,” Taz said.
“I think I will. Thanks, call me if anything changes.”
“Count on it. I’m taking a shift off but Captain Glenn will keep us informed.”
Admiral Dorg and Tgon-Gee were watching the feed from Earth as the Alliance fleet moved toward the Human’s home world. Dorg said over his com, “That fleet is the largest I’ve ever heard of and it looks like they aren’t taking any chances.”
“You’re right. Do you think our Human brothers can handle that fleet?”
“I don’t know. If they can lure them in close to the planet, those asteroids pack quite a punch. It just depends on how the fleet commander decides to play it out. If they won’t come closer, it will be a space battle. I understand that the Humans have more than 7,000 ships which give the Alliance less than three to one odds. That is the best the Humans have faced so far. If they can destroy most of those ships, then the Alliance will be in real jeopardy.”
“If that many ships are lost by the Alliance, I know at least five hundred members that would take advantage of the moment and attack other members. Have you been directed to stay out of this battle?”
Dorg thought for a moment and said, “No, we just haven’t been invited and I sure would like to see how our new ships perform in combat. Why, are you planning to crash the party?”
Tgon-Gee chuckled and said, “Those Humans have some very descriptive sayings. I’ve thought about it but like you said, we don’t have an invitation. That’s odd, what’s the Alliance fleet doing?”
Dorg looked at his feed and said, “I don’t know. I wonder what they’re up to now.”
After two days of scanning the solar system the Alliance fleet had finally reached the orbit of Earth’s moon. The planet was totally surrounded by the Alliance fleet and then suddenly, half the fleet turned and accelerated away from the planet toward the Star drive limit. The Vgrig Warleader issued his instructions over the main Alliance frequency. “Half the fleet will now go to the Star drive limit to make sure no ships from outside the system jumps in to trap us. Start the Dreadnaughts draining of the screen and no ships get closer than 50,000 trigs. Keep me informed of your progress.” One hundred dreadnaughts moved in position to start draining each of the eight asteroids circling the planet. They established their orbit to stay even with the Asteroid they were assigned to drain. The Lead dreadnaught commander Brantu ordered his ships to start draining the Human’s screen. Eight hundred beams shot out simultaneously and struck the eight asteroids.
Tag and Taz had watched the Alliance fleet advance closer and closer over the two day period and waited for them to arrive at earth orbit. When they finally did and half the Alliance fleet turned and ran to the star drive limit it genuinely surprised both of them. “Well, that’s something I hadn’t planned on,” Tag said. “It seems our Alliance neighbors are suspicious of our intentions. I guess this changes the number of invitations we send out.”
Taz laughed at Tag’s humor and said, “So what is the plan now?”
“Colonel, I’m not sure that we can trick them in close. If they are so worried that half their fleet leaves, I just don’t see anyone getting close to the planet unless the screen just goes completely down. Even then I suspect they will fire a few nuclear missiles at some of our population centers to make sure we’re not bluffing. Do you think differently?”
“You think they’ll stay away even if we let a few shots get through?”
“Put yourself in their place. Their commander has seen firsthand how powerful your weapons are on these asteroids. Would you get close under any circumstances?”
They watched their monitors and the ships surrounding Earth moved no closer than 70,000 miles. “You’re probably right. What do you want to do?”
“How are the dreadnaughts affecting your screens?”
“They are actually draining a huge amount. If they could stay at it for a year they could probably get us down to dangerous levels. I would have thought we could hold our own with solar energy but whatever system they designed really takes energy.”
“Is there anything you can do about it?”
“We can send them more energy than they can handle. They are outside our beam range but they give us a perfect conduit to fire a needle thru their beams into their ships. It will give us a chance to try the new larger needle. With the oversized Coronado Cells, the size of the circle got much bigger with nine foot cells. We can fire more than 3000 hornets in each of those beams and not even worry about them touching the sides of the beam.”
“Hold off on that, we need to decide what to do about this divided fleet.” Tag touched his control panel and commed Kosiev, “What do you think about the Alliance tactics, Admiral?”
“It does present a problem with preventing their escape. Half their fleet could just jump out of trouble any time they chose. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that the Vgrig Warleader had a little fear in him. I notice he placed his ship in the middle of the fleet out near Jupiter. I’d say we got his full attention on his last visit. Kosiev paused and said, “If he’s that afraid, I don’t think you could trick them in close. You would have to be willing to lose some population centers before any of them approached the planet.”
“Colonel Taz and I have reached the same conclusion. Do we just destroy those ships around the planet? I don’t see the outer ships coming in to support the ones in close. Do you?”
“No, once they see we have more than the ninety or so ships they think we have, I expect Chicken Little out there to make a run for it.” Kosiev paused and said, “We could cut their numbers down, though.”
“How?” Tag asked.
“We have the ultra ships. Where do you think they will try to escape to if they run?”
“Probably back to the Alliance main government planet where they jumped in from.”
Kosiev reached into a bag of popcorn and munched a few kernels then said, “We could jump all the Ultra ships to the Alliance system and be waiting for them to jump in. As they enter normal space we could hit them with needles. I could have the ships running full speed crisscrossing thru their arrival location so we could catch a large number of them before they realize what’s happening.”
Tag thought about the idea and said, “We’d be giving away the existence our new ship.”
“We would probably do that anyway. There’s not a realistic probability that we could destroy all 17,000 Alliance ships. Some would escape with recordings to share with their leadership. I see no good reason not to use them in this battle.”
“Well, I don’t have another plan to use, so we might as,” “Tag!” He suddenly heard in his mind.
“Hold on just a minute, Admiral. Danielle, what’s wrong. I notice your thought has levels of distress.”
“Tag, I was talking with Tgon-Gee a few minutes ago and he mentioned that if you were successful in defeating this Alliance fleet that it was a good thing that the Asteroids were in place. When I asked him why; he told me that there were at least fifty o
ther races that would jump at the chance to attack his home world if the Alliance wasn’t there to stop them. I didn’t give it much thought then but it has been bothering me. I called Terl and asked how many of the Alliance members had feuds with each other. Tag, he said more than 90% would attack another member if they could get away with it. If you go thru with the destruction of this Alliance fleet, will the Alliance collapse? If they do, how many lives will be lost because of our actions?”
Tag was stunned. He saw the truth in her words. “It would be like the Grendap and Procians on a massive scale.” Tag could visualize the nuclear holocaust that would ensue.
“Tag, we can’t let that happen,” Danielle thought. “We would lose our souls if we caused that much loss of innocent life.”
Annihilation: The Power of a Queen Page 17
