“I can think all day long, my friend. There is no way we can boost the engine that much. It’s running too hot already. Like I just said, it’s a miracle that we didn’t blow it out already jumping again so soon. I haven’t slept in three days either, you know. I’m starting to lose my mojo.”
“Well we need your mojo for one last delivery. If we can’t boost the ship, can we boost a smaller craft like a fighter?”
Yanis paused. “Hmm…interesting. I never thought of that. The problem is if you fire up the engines of your fighter too near the ship, you might very well provoke an explosion inside the jump corridor and send us all to heaven.”
“Or hell.”
“Semantics.”
“Let’s focus on the problem at hand, shall we? So is it safe to fire up the engines if we manage to get ahead of the ship?”
“It depends… If you take another direction, it might be okay, but if you stay on the same path as the Destiny I wouldn’t recommend the engines at all.”
“Dammit, that’s not good. So how could we accelerate if we couldn’t fire the fighter’s engines?”
“Accelerate? How do you get off the flight deck in the first place is the question!”
“Can’t we use the tractor beam for that?”
Then Yanis’ face lit up with that strange, genius smile he sometimes got. “Of course!”
“Of course…what?” asked Chase.
“Give me a minute, will ya?” Yanis called while running towards the closest terminal.
When he reached it, his fingers blurred as he started bringing together displays, schematics, fighter diagrams, and what appeared to be a physics formula that made no sense to Chase whatsoever.
After a few moments, a bit of beard rubbing, and some throat clearing, Chase started to feel like they were really on to something. Yanis’ eyes were glowing like a kid on his birthday, ready to open his presents.
“Here we go!” he suddenly said with unrestrained pride.
Chase sighed in relief. “So, will it work?”
“In theory, it could. All we have to do is modify the tractor beam so it can send a reverse pulse, acting as a deflector and not a tractor. That way, we use it to bring you in front of the ship, and then reverse the beam to push you away into a higher jump velocity without you even having to fire the ship’s engines. It might be a bit bumpy. And well, we’ll probably need to reinforce the shields, but it shouldn’t be a problem to divert power from the weapons and engine systems to the structural integrity and shields since you won’t need them in the hyperspace corridor. I think it could actually work.”
“Awesome! Can you do it for multiple ships?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem, but who would be crazy enough besides you to attempt something that no one’s ever done before. And in all seriousness”—he glanced back at his schematics—“there’s still a good chance this could blow you out of the sky.”
“That’s why I will be going alone, but with many ships.”
Yanis’ head whirled around. “You’ll do WHAT?”
“That’s the other assignment I have for you. Can you link the other ships to respond to commands from my main computer?”
“Theoretically yes. But Chase, your scripted commands are for one ship. That is, unless you intend to program an entire squadron in the blink of an eye.”
Chase frantically searched his pockets, and then handed Yanis a data crystal disc.
“I’m ahead of you on this one. I’ve been programming these for a while, hoping one day it could be useful...”
Yanis grinned. “No...you programmed this in case you were the last pilot standing, didn’t you? Admit it. You like to think that even if you were the last one on the battlefield, you could win the battle all on your own.”
“Well it doesn’t hurt to be prepared now does it?” Chase tried to keep a straight face but failed. “Okay yes, that’s why I programmed it. You know me too well…”
Yanis laughed. “It amazes me how grim you have to be, to be thinking of contingencies like that.”
“If I didn’t, we’d be having some problems just about now, wouldn’t we?”
“Can’t argue with that logic, I guess. You didn’t take just an afternoon to do all these?”
“It’s been months in the works. I still have to write some mission specific commands to be added to a repertoire this large.. In essence, it’s simply a tool. I just need to use it in the correct way…and come up with a halfway decent plan.”
“A plan to do what?”
Chase shook his head. “You know, you should really read the security bulletins more often instead of making love to your jump engine every chance you get.”
“I’m not making love to it; I’m taking care of it.”
“Potato, potado.”
“Very funny,” Yanis said with a reluctant smile. “Okay, so since I’m not following the news, what’s up and what timeline am I looking at to make these adjustments? I was kind of hoping to hit the sack for a few hours first.”
“No can do, bud; we need all we’ve just discussed ready to go in one hour tops!”
“But that’s insane…and impossible.”
“I thought that impossible wasn’t part of your vocabulary.”
“Oh damn... Okay, I’ll do my best. But don’t come complaining if you blow up during this crazy stunt of yours.”
Chase raised his hands innocently. “I won’t complain. I might do some haunting…”
Yanis shivered. “I hate ghosts even more than sleep deprivation. I’d better make sure everything is checked twice then.”
“Yes, better make sure indeed.”
“Should I start now? I guess I would need the captain’s authorization to do such heavy modifications to the Destiny or its fighters. You got the paperwork, right?”
“Nope, but I’ll have it before you’ve managed to modify the tractor beam. Promise.”
“I could lose my job if you screw up, Chase.”
“When was the last time I left you hanging?”
“Alright, but please make sure it’s okay with the captain. ASAP.”
“Consider it done. Keep in touch; call me once the tractor beam has been modified.”
Yanis nodded. “By the way, what’s the plan?”
Chase was already running back to the hall. “Save the universe!”
“Go figure…”
There was an ominous silence in the conference room as everyone scratched their heads to find a solution to this latest problem. Twenty minutes had passed since every senior officer had been asked to the meeting, but they were still at square one.
“Still no solution to penetrating their jamming signals?” Saroudis asked, clearly discouraged about discovering a timely solution.
“I’m afraid not, Captain,” answered the communications officer. “And even if we do find a way to penetrate the jamming, our brief analysis of Earth suggests that its people would be unlikely to trust an alien race. They may even construe a message on our part to be a plot to invade them.”
“That’s just…great.” Saroudis dropped his face into his hands and rubbed his forehead. “Any other ideas, anyone?”
Every member of the room either looked away or stayed silent. Then, all at once, the doors opened and Chase stormed in shouting, “I got it! I know how we can save Earth!”
“Despite your repetitive lack of protocol, I’m very interested in hearing what solution you may have found, Lieutenant. By the way, you forgot to take out your gun.”
Chase smiled broadly at his sarcasm. “Here’s what we’re going to do: I’m going to jump ahead of you with some fighters and distract and weaken the enemy for the time that you need to join the battle. Basically, I’ll be giving the enemy something other than Earth to shoot at.”
“That’s nonsense, Lieutenant. First, you can’t jump with fighters; we haven’t installed jumping drives into the smaller craft; and even if it was feasible, I doubt we would have the time to do so. And second, you w
ould arrive at the same time as we do...as we are already in hyperspace.”
“Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but that’s not what I had in mind.”
“Then please, by all means, enlighten us, Lieutenant.”
“We’re already at jump velocity, you’re right, sir, so theoretically we could use a modified tractor beam in reverse to push the fighters away from the Destiny. It would manage to increase their velocity, ever so slightly, over the current jump speed.”
“I thought hyperspace speed was actually the limit of what our ships can travel; won’t your ship get crushed in the process?”
“Just like we can push the engines to get slightly faster in hyperspace, we should be able to add a little more velocity to small craft. As for being crushed, it’s a chance but, if we reinforce my shields, diverting power from weapons and other non-essential systems, it could work. I might have to constantly readjust the shield frequency, but I’m confident I can do it.”
“It seems really farfetched but, for the sake of argument, say you succeed. Your plan still has a major flaw, Lieutenant.”
“What would that be, Captain?”
“How in the blazes do you intend to divert an entire fleet of enemy ships during the time it will take the battlegroup to reach Earth? Granted, you’re the craziest pilot I’ve ever seen. You proved that not long ago with your stunt recovering the commander, but even you can’t pull this off on your own.”
“Oh, did I forget to mention that I’ll be going with a full squadron?”
“Really?” the captain laughed. “And do you really think you’ll be able to find that many pilots as crazy as you? If Daniel was up and running I’m sure he would join you, but otherwise, I can’t ask pilots to volunteer for a mission that could have them blown up the second they attempt it.”
“No worries, Captain, I don’t need any other pilots for this plan to succeed.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I’ll be remotely flying the entire squadron. I’ll take some heavy birds loaded with torpedoes and remove some of the opposition. That way, not only will I be buying us time but, if all goes well, I should be able to reduce the odds to a manageable level before the fleet engages the enemy. It would considerably lower the loss of life on our side.”
You could hear a pin drop in the conference room. There were many open mouths, but no one could seem to speak. Then, the second in command, Major Bradis, broke the silence.
“How exactly do you intend to fly a full squadron on your own? Is that even possible? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Quite simple, Major. All the computers will be synchronized to mine; I’ll simply be giving formation and attack commands which are being reprogrammed in my fighter’s computer as we speak. Now, I won’t have control over each ship individually, so I expect to lose some if not all in the process, but the idea here is to buy our fleet the time it needs to reach Earth. We need to be able to protect the planet until you arrive and finish the job.”
The major shook his head. “Captain, even if this idea has some merit in originality, it’s not realistic and we shouldn’t waste our time, energy and already limited resources on a mission that we don’t even know we can manage to pull off. There are simply too many factors and variables that can go wrong, starting with the farfetched idea that we can inverse our tractor beam to push the fighters to a faster speed and—”
Right before the major could finish his sentence, a comm interrupted him.
“This is Chief Engineer Tixichos. As requested by Lieutenant Athanatos, I’m reporting that the modifications to transform the tractor beams into deflector beams have been completed. We’re good to go. At least in the simulations, we’re all in the green. Do I have the green light to start linking the reserve fighters together and uploading the lieutenant’s command database to his ships?”
“This is Captain Saroudis. You’re telling us we can push the fighters to a higher velocity safely?”
“Aye, Captain. If someone is crazy enough to be in one of the ships, it should be a bumpy but fun ride.”
“Thank you, Chief. You have a go.” The captain then turned to the major. “Thanks for your input, Major, and while I respect your skepticism, it seems to me that Lieutenant Athanatos has presented us with the only viable solution to our predicament so far. My only concern is that this sounds a lot like a suicide mission. One pilot against a full fleet… Are you sure you want to even try such a perilous mission, Lieutenant?”
“I have to, sir. It’s the only way we can save Earth. You and I both know it. You need to let me do this.”
“I have to admit, this plan is bold, borderline insane. And only a crazy mind would suggest it, let alone volunteer for it. But then again…I suppose it will only be the third time you’ve done something crazy this week, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Both men smiled at each other.
“Very well, you have my authorization to assign as many resources as you need to finish the preparation for your mission.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
* * *
In the med-bay, Daniel was being tended by medical bots. He was still in a coma. Chase approached the bio-bed and sat on a chair next to him.
“Sorry, pal, didn’t bring you any flowers. I know you probably can’t hear me, but I’d still like to tell you a few things. The fact of the matter is, I don’t know if I’m coming back from this mission and, well, this could very well be goodbye. I know what you’re going to tell me. I’m too pessimistic. Maybe I am. But the captain wasn’t far from the truth. My plan is a suicide mission, one that I’m not sure even I can pull off… I wish you could fly with me on this one; I could sure use a wingman of your caliber.” He sighed and clapped his sleeping friend on the shoulder. “Anyway, I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing. Unfortunately, I really have to hurry...so take care of yourself, buddy.”
Chase got up, but stood for a few moments, hoping that Daniel would open his eyes and wake up. But when nothing happened, he left the med-bay and headed for the cargo bay where his squadron was waiting for launch. While running in the corridors of the Destiny, Chase was rehearsing his tactics based on the latest logs they acquired of the enemy armada during their last engagement. He knew in his heart that this was a long shot, but he also felt that if Aphroditis had chosen him to save Earth, then what he was doing now must be the right course of action. He just wished he could be sure…
As he thought the words, Chase realized that he was no longer running in the corridors of the ship, but through a very dark and troubled valley. On each side of his path rose insurmountable mountains, miles high, and the air was cold and dry. Not seeing an end in sight, he stopped and looked back. It was the same scenery on both sides—a small, almost cramped trail in between two huge mountain chains as far as the eye could see in both directions. He suddenly felt cold. Was this the sign he had asked for? If that was the case, it couldn’t be a very positive one… Then he heard her voice in his mind, resonating in his very soul.
“Keep running, Chase, you must keep running.”
He started running again, not knowing where he was going. The sky got even darker and, to add insult to injury, it started pouring rain as a terrible storm exploded. The rain got worse and worse and the mountain chains lit up with lightning and boomed with thunder. Soon, the very sides of the trail were shaking.
“Faster, you must hurry!” said the voice.
Faster, he said to himself. And he picked up speed. He ran as fast as he possibly could, faster than he’d ever run in his whole life. All of a sudden, the dark scenery faded and the familiar shapes of the Destiny’s corridor came back to his sight. By the time his vision had fully faded back to reality, he was in the cargo bay in front of his fighter. Yanis was there waiting, but he took a step forward when he saw Chase.
“You okay, buddy?”
Chase gasped and looked around. “I think so, I... I’m not sure.”
“Havi
ng second thoughts? This is quite suicidal, despite being right up your alley.”
“No, I don’t have second thoughts, it’s just...” Chase paused. He wanted to share the strange vision he’d just had, hoping an external look could give him some clues as to its meaning, but now wasn’t the right time. So he simply said, “Never mind, it’s nothing. We’ll talk about it when I come back.”
“Glad to finally see some positivity.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll need it to succeed with this mission.”
“Well, you should get going. You’re on a pretty tight schedule.”
“I sure am. Thanks a lot, Yanis. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“No biggy. I like a challenge and it makes days like these more interesting.”
Chase simply nodded at his friend and climbed into his fighter. He made all the pre-flight checks and made sure the remote link with the rest of the squadron was working. Everything was in the green.
Then the silence was broken by an incoming radio signal from Yanis.
“Hey, buddy, I almost forgot. I made a little change to your personal ordnance. Nothing drastic though.”
“My plans depend on my ordnance, Yanis! What did you change exactly?”
“Instead of the normal central twin torpedo complement, I replaced it with one of my latest pet projects. A shielded torpedo.”
Chase was impressed. “Shielded?”
“Yep. I managed to include a strong enough power source to shield the sucker, so it should resist quite a few direct hits before being destroyed. That should give you an edge in that you’ll be able to launch that particular torpedo from farther away from its intended target. Thought it would help.”
“Seems like an advantage I could certainly use. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, boss.”
“I gotta go now.”
“Roger that. Good luck.”
Chase flipped on the comm. “Captain, this is Lieutenant Athanatos. I’m in my ship, ready for my mission.”
“Very well, Lieutenant. Good luck, Chase!”
I think I’ll need it, Chase thought. He signaled Yanis that all was good to go and the tractor beam soon locked onto the squadron.
Earth Last Sanctuary (Universe in Flames Book 1) Page 7
