Star Strike: Book 3 of the Star Man Series

by I. G. Roberts

  The contact divulged a wealth of information, explaining recent events in Cambridge. Colin Gordon’s involvement in crushing the Democratic Party leadership had made a few people his enemies. These were the faceless ones. They worked in the back rooms. Few people knew them, or the power they wielded. The next time the Democratic Party took Government, these people should hold the real power.

  As expected, the contact divulged that Sasha’s prey planned to attend the Destroyer launch ceremony, and the President proposed going too. If Sasha killed Gordon and Constantin, it would be a significant coup.

  Other influential people attended these events. Sasha recognized an opportunity when he saw one. He had the potential to kill many of Cambridge’s most senior people.

  Sasha needed to make his way to the Orbital Shipyard where he could kill his targets. The faceless ones might help him there too, by arranging the transport and access he needed.

  Sasha planned to kill them when his masters took control. If you couldn’t trust them to understand where their own best interests lay, you couldn’t trust them. These people would betray anyone if it suited them.

  Cambridge Shipyard

  The faceless ones took four days to make the arrangements. They obtained identification cards for Sasha and his people then arranged for them to travel to the Shipyard on business. This wasn’t a problem for Sasha’s troops, they’d trained to hide in plain sight.

  Sasha and five Special Operations troops disembarked from the Shuttle at the Shipyard. He’d found it easier than expected to arrange a semi-legitimate reason to go there. For now, the Operators looked as if they were doing their regular everyday jobs. They had to blend in and look for an opportunity to complete their mission.

  When they found it, the Operators worked hard at their jobs throughout the day, moving equipment to the large compartment where the Navy had scheduled the ceremony. They had hidden explosives with a shrapnel load inside tubes intended to make part of the stage designed for the dignitaries.

  Few realized why these men worked there. Only they knew the entire plan. Even the faceless ones didn’t understand Sasha’s plans. The six men sorted the parts for the stage and assembled it.

  The Operators had a fright when security staff came poking around the compartment. Although these staff looked straight at the bomb-laden tubing, none noticed an anomaly.

  Sasha approached one of his troops and said, “We should finish by tonight. We’ll test the circuits and make final connections when we’re done. Do you agree?”

  The Operator stopped to consider his response then replied, “That sounds right.”

  After a moment the man continued with an evil chuckle, “They won’t know what hit them.”

  “Maybe, we shall see. Get this finished, the sooner we have everything assembled, connected and tested, the happier I’ll be.”

  “That’s okay, but make sure nobody surprises us when we make the connections. I can’t hide that part of the job.”

  The men worked until they completed the platform. They tested their circuits to make sure it worked then hung the decorations. The decorations hid the stand’s incriminating features from prying eyes.

  While Sasha’s people camouflaged the bomb well, a practiced eye might notice something out of place. They planned to leave long before show time. Sasha had seen the program and set the bomb to explode in the middle of the ceremony.

  They risked missing their targets but had no acceptable alternative. If Sasha’s crew were still on the Shipyard when the bomb exploded, they risked capture. Sasha held no illusions about the treatment they could expect in that case. Their lives would be short and deaths brutal.

  Erecting the stand and setting the bomb took two days. A public servant came to inspect their work before signing the sheet. The inspection gave them pause, but he noticed nothing out of place. The man’s interest lay in how pretty the final display was and whether it was solid.

  Once he signed off on the job, the six Operators, packed up their belongings then moved to the Shuttle bay to catch a ride to the surface. They had a few tense moments after they disembarked from the Shuttle. An officious little man checked everybody’s ID before he permitted them to pass.

  Sasha wondered if he should just kill the man, but soon realized he couldn’t escape if he did. Then Sasha decided, if this man exposed them, he’d kill him and fight to the end.

  None of this was necessary though because the official let them through after he examined their ID cards. After they left the Shuttle Terminal, they took a ground car to the center of Harmon, then disappeared into the crowd.

  Intelligence

  The people behind the Democratic Party weren’t the sole faceless people in Cambridge. DNI had a central cadre of individuals who operated under deep cover. Even the handlers on Cambridge didn’t know the agents. These people never met each other, and nobody told them others existed.

  DNI embedded several agents inside the Democratic Party. A supervisor tasked one with getting the IDs given to Sasha Stafford and his men. Another became a secretary’s lover. Through pillow talk, he learned that she had to arrange transport authorizations for people to go to the shipyard.

  Contacts told another agent that a meeting took place on Harmon’s seedier side. This session involved a Democratic Party functionary and a mysterious man. These agents reported their information to their handlers, who passed the data back to DNI Headquarters.

  These pieces of information appeared unrelated, so they sat in a pile awaiting entry into the AI that DNI used for intensive data analysis tasks. After sifting through the collected data, the AI flagged a threat.

  When the AI raised a flag, a human analyst became involved. The DNI analyst worked her way through it. It is difficult when working with this data to keep an open mind. The analyst must form an opinion based on the data.

  Often, the AI placed random pieces of evidence together and raise the flag. This was a deliberate ploy to convince the analysts that a few pieces of flagged data were invalid. DNI took care not to overdo this tactic although it returned unexpected results sometimes.

  This time, the analyst, Elise Thornton, took care to work her way through the data and understand it. After sorting through it in her mind, Elise sat back, staring into space while she considered what it meant. Sometimes, her mind returned to the present while she jotted notes on her pad, or rearranged the display to fit things together.

  Elise spent a day on this task before concluding that a threat existed. Now she had to infer where the danger lay. Again, she gathered the available data and considered it in depth.

  She took a while, but Elise realized they only had two possible targets, the Destroyer, or launch ceremony. Before reporting her findings, the analyst worked through the data one last time to check her own conclusions.

  That done, Elise performed a final save on her work and reported her concerns to her supervisor, James Hamilton. Often, Elise heard nothing more, this time James called her into his office within half an hour of submitting the report.

  When she entered, her James asked, “Are you sure, Elise?”

  “Yes, Sir, it’s the only thing that fits.”

  “Well then, gather your data, we’re going to Navy Headquarters to see an Admiral.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Elise left to prepare for the meeting, bemused at her inclusion. It wasn’t usual for an analyst to go to these meetings.

  An hour later Sarah ushered James and Elise into a small briefing room near Admiral Fraser’s office. Moments later, Henry arrived with Colin Gordon. James noted that Colin appeared tired and too thin then remembered he’d been ill.

  When everyone settled, James turned to Elise. “Explain your thinking and conclusions to these Officers please Ms. Thornton.”

  Although tentative at first, Elise soon warmed to her subject. Her voice grew more confident as she explained her interpretation of the data. Neither of the Officers she briefed commented until Elise finished with her conclusion
s.

  The room was silent for a minute before Admiral Fraser spoke. “I agree we have a concern here Ms. Thornton. Can you suggest the form an attack may take?”

  “I’m sorry, Admiral. I’ve told you as much as I can infer from the data. They traveled to the Yard, stayed three days, then returned planetside this morning and passed through immigration control at the Shuttle Station. Their IDs checked out.

  Colin spoke, “So, we have three possibilities. One, these people are preparing for someone else, perhaps hiding weapons at the Yard. Two, they have a way to make a covert return to the Yard, and they prepared for this trip. The final choice is a remote attack. Does anybody have other ideas?”

  Hamilton spoke up, “We can protect against the first two options. The third, I’m not sure. There is a fourth possibility. What if they’ve done something to the Shields? A ship may make a fast attack run on the Station. The casualties might be high.”

  Colin said, “I hadn’t thought of that scenario, Simon. We can bring a few Patrol-Boats in close enough to stop such a run, but if an attacker doesn’t mind committing suicide, a successful attack is possible.”

  Henry said, “What now? The ceremony is only two days away.”

  “Well let’s analyze this,” said Colin. “First, the Yard is huge, our boys must localize any sabotage near the Destroyer’s slipway. We start an intensive search there. Henry, we should arrange for teams to search areas around the Destroyer for signs of a bomb, or something that will make the Shields ineffective. As we check an area, we should radiate further out. If something doesn’t belong, we take steps to neutralize the potential threat.”

  Henry said, “That a plan Colin. Can you involve the Marines, please? By tomorrow night we must understand the threat.”

  “Yes, Admiral, I’ll begin now.”

  “Simon, keep trying to find these people. Now, I believe we have work.”

  The participants left the room returning to their respective duties.

  The Search

  After leaving the meeting, Colin contacted Major Gunderson to arrange help at the Shipyard. Within hours, two Companies of Marines lifted to orbit to aid the search and offer security during the ceremony.

  Colin followed close behind to liaise between the Marines and the civilians at the Yard. When he disembarked from the Shuttle, Marines were spreading into the facility. The priority for Colin was to contact the yard management and explain the threat.

  After reaching the administration offices, Colin walked straight to the receptionist to ask for the manager. The receptionist saw his face and blinked. His expression told her this was serious.

  She asked, “How may I help you, Sir?”

  “I must see Mr. Manning.”

  “Do you have an appointment, Sir?”

  “No, I don’t. Miss, I must see Mr. Manning, now.”

  The receptionist opened her mouth to protest but then looked at Colin’s face again.

  She folded and asked, “Who may I say is calling Sir.”

  “Commodore Colin Gordon, miss.”

  She made a call to announce Commodore Gordon. After listening for a few seconds, she rose and asked Colin to follow her before leading him to the manager’s office. Zach Manning rose from his desk as his assistant led Colin into the room.

  Zach asked, “Is there a problem Commodore?”

  Colin glanced toward the door which the receptionist closed on departure. He turned to Zach and said, “We have a dangerous situation, Mr. Manning. DNI found evidence of a threat to FNS Harmon’s launch. We aren’t sure of the threat’s precise nature yet, but need help from your staff.”

  “What do you need Commodore?”

  “Can we pair your people with our Marines during the search? We’re looking for anything outside the norm. Your people will help us find the abnormal.”

  “Maintenance staff will be the best Commodore. I’ll have them meet you in the compartment we reserved for the ceremony. Come on, we’ll go there now.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Manning.”

  Maintenance staff arrived in the compartment with the speaking platform before Colin. The Yard Employees didn’t know why their boss summoned them but expected to find out soon enough.

  A few minutes later, Zach Manning arrived with Commodore Gordon. They teamed Pairs of Marines with maintenance staff. Stark assigned each team an area to search.

  Soon, the compartment was empty as the teams fanned out, checking the surrounding bays and Engineering spaces with an impact on this part of the facility. Kevin Stark stood near his communications team. As each group checked an area, they reported back. Stark intended to have each compartment searched by at least one more unit hoping that if the first team missed something, the second wouldn’t.

  As the reports came in, staff marked each compartment off the list. Time ticked away. Nothing was out of place. Stark felt they were missing something. He had a few Marines still in the compartment so had them search the immediate surrounds.

  Nils Higgins was one of these Marines. He stopped, gazing around the chamber, wondering what to search for and where to look. He considered the different features of the area before concluding the platform appeared new.

  Nils made walked to the platform to examine it. He took his time, checking each joint. He noticed Lieutenant Stark walking over and expected trouble.

  Stark asked, “Did you find anything?”

  “No, Sir, not yet. This platform looks new though. It might have evidence.”

  “Do you want help?”

  “One extra, Sir. With more, we’ll trip over ourselves.”

  Stark nodded and left to send someone over to help Higgins.

  The platform comprised an elaborate structure for its size with many joints. The two Marines checked each joint in sequence. Higgins was checking one joint when he noticed a dull red light that leaked from inside the joint. He stopped, then backed away before walking to Lieutenant Stark.

  He said, “I’ve found something, Sir.

  “What something is that Nils?”

  “A dull red light coming from within the joint Sir. I’ve seen these platforms before, they’re only a bunch of pipes. There shouldn’t be lights in tubes.”

  “So, it’s the platform then. That’s part of their plan at least. Okay, we need to empty this room. Move everybody from the compartment, I’ll talk to Commodore Gordon.”

  After Stark explained the discovery to Colin, he swung into action organizing people and equipment to resolve the problem.

  The bomb disposal specialists arrived within hours and took over the compartment. The first step was to deploy small robotic devices with a variety of Sensors designed to sense explosives. These Sensors found nothing to confirm explosives.

  The next step was to try various nondestructive techniques to figure the make-up of the parts in the platform. This gave them proof, something wasn’t kosher. Several structural components appeared to be solid. They should be hollow, so they must have something packed inside them.

  The team considered their options, deciding the only safe way was to find the hollow structural members and dismantle the platform by cutting them to separate the solid ones.

  Once they separated the suspect parts from the rest, the problem was how and where to move them. The disposal team considered it too risky to transport these elements in a Shuttle or ship. An explosion there, guaranteed fatalities.

  The final solution was to transfer the parts to an unused slipway and stack them, surrounded by ballistic absorption materials. Too little time remained to erect a new platform, so they cleaned and redecorated the compartment ready for the launch ceremony.

  Launch

  The day after the security team removed the platform, dignitaries arrived to witness the launch of Cambridge’s first Destroyer. By then, Engineering had started one of her reactors, and she sat on the cradle under her own power. There wasn’t enough for her to engage the drives, but she had enough power to run life support, lighting and onboard instrument
ation.

  Dimitri had his crew on board ready for the launch. He needed to attend the ceremony to accept command of the ship. In the meantime, Dimitri left his Executive Officer in charge, making sure everything was ready.

  As dignitaries arrived, Colin’s team and ship’s Officers gave them a tour of Cambridge’s newest creation. Colin briefed the people undertaking the escort duties on what to tell the visitors. Several politicians puffed up with pride after seeing FNS Harmon. Most didn’t understand enough about Naval ships to know how much their guides kept from them. They recognized her power but had no details.

  Colin and Dimitri gave Edward and Teri Constantin the tour. The Constantin’s were among the few who understood that their guides divulged few of the ships abilities recognizing this as a necessary measure. The fewer people outside the Navy who knew this ship’s capabilities, the better.

  After completing the guided tours, everyone gathered in the compartment to watch the ship launch. Various politicians looked around for a platform, surprised to see none. Henry acted as the Master of Ceremonies. He began by introducing the President.

  Edward moved to the front of the room and spoke, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m proud to be here on this occasion. We have followed a tough road to reach this point. We’ve had traitors in our midst, but many good people on both sides of politics worked to stop them from meeting their goals. I wish to acknowledge Samantha Tallus for her work to keep the Democratic Party operating as a workable opposition. Although we are on different sides, we are both fighting hard for our beliefs and for the welfare of Cambridge. Our system of Government needs to have at least two active political parties to work well.”

  Edward let his message sink in as he gazed around the ring of faces. Samantha appeared surprised, others in the crowd, irritated, Edward didn’t care.