by Jeff Sims
This made Crista’s rising anger suddenly evaporate and she started laughing. She reached over and gave Clowy a small hug and said, “Pleased to meet you.”
Lorano looked over at Clowy to ascertain whether she realized that he was physically in the room and standing right beside her. He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and stayed silent.
Carank continued, “Clowy, these two Solarians have been given orders by the Alliance Senate to rendezvous with the Sunflower and lead us to a secret hyperspace location where we will obtain our replacement crewmembers.”
Clowy asked, “Where is the secret hyperspace location?”
Victor responded, “I’m sorry. It’s a secret.”
Victor took this a queue to end the introductions. He sat down in the pilot chair and plotted a jump to Conron. He didn’t bother to run the simulation or double check the coordinates.
Lorano looked over at Clowy and said, “We are ready to jump at your command. Please give the order to jump.” He noted that he had essentially repeated himself.
Victor could have simply pushed the button, but Lorano had insisted that Clowy give the order, so that it would on the official record. Clowy quickly responded, “Jump.”
Victor replied, “Now engaging jump engines” and pretended to push the button to engage the hyper drive.
Carank immediately stood up and said, “Clowy, please come with me. There is something that needs your attention.”
As soon as she exited the bridge, Victor boxed his ears and immediately afterward slapped his right cheek. He watched Crista yelp in pain. However, the control collar had successfully made contact with Sunflower’s navigational system. He noted that the hyperspace coordinates had changed. He hoped they were the correct parameters for Earth. He then pushed the button, sending the Sunflower and about an hour later the Vista to Earth.
Carank led Clowy down to the bottom level of the bridge. Along the interior wall of the bridge was a row of 5 emergency life support chambers. The life support chambers were designed as a last resort to save the bridge members if the ship became compromised or stranded or lost. Because the bridge section was separately shielded and powered, the officers could survive for decades in hibernation in the life support chambers.
Carank said, “Please step inside this stasis chamber; there is something I need test.”
Clowy said, “What?” but must have realized the answer by herself. She dutifully stepped in and turned around to face Carank.
Carank attached a strap across her chest and activated the console next to the chamber. He selected Altian, Female and entered her approximate height and weight. He said, “Clowy, we have to test the emergency cryostasis chambers to ensure they are properly functioning. This is typically done by an officer and since you are the only one aboard, you will have to do it.”
Clowy asked, “How long is the test?”
Carank didn’t want to lie to her, so he massaged the truth by answering a different question. He said, “You will only feel like you have been asleep for a minute or two, ten tops.”
Clowy responded, “Oh, okay.”
Carank pressed the sealing button. A glasslike transparent wall slid across the opening, trapping her inside. Carank hit the activation button and essentially freeze dried Clowy.
The Sunflower exited hyperspace about 10 hours later on the outskirts of the Earth system. Victor immediately programmed a micro jump for the usual location just outside of the moon’s orbit.
Victor pushed the button and said, “Coordinates set, jumping now.”
Carank led Crista to the communications officer chair and gave her a brief lesson in its operation. Most of the controls were similar to in function to the mini-freighter. If Crista could master the board it would give her something to do and free Carank from the additional duty.
They exited hyperspace three minutes later and Victor announced, “We have arrived.”
Suddenly an alarm on the communications control board sounded. Crista looked down and shouted for help.
Carank said, “We are being scanned. Activate electronic jamming.”
Lorano shouted back, “The control is on the communications board.”
Carank quickly showed Crista where the control was located. Crista checked the readout and said, “The electronic jamming is already active at level 1. Moving to level 2.” Crista quickly adjusted the control.
The alarm was still sounding. Lorano said, “They still see us; go to level 3.”
Crista adjusted again and announced, “Level 3 active.”
Lorano waited for a moment, then two. Finally he announced, “Level 3 is working. Earthlings, I mean humans, can no longer detect us.”
Victor walked over and looked at the electronic jamming control. There were only 6 levels and they had to go halfway to avoid detection. Every previous time he had visited Earth, level 1 jamming was more than adequate – and that was using civilian technology. Realistically, there was no possible way the humans should have been able to detect a military ship with military electronics and hardware.
Lorano said, “How did they get so much better so quickly? We have only been gone a few months.”
Victor replied, “I don’t know. Maybe they have discovered some new technology or something.
Victor said, “I am setting a course for the hangar in Akron, .03 light.” He paused for a moment and continued, “Computer, run an analysis. How did they find us so quickly?”
…Now scanning the area, please wait. It appears the humans have dramatically upgraded their scanning capability. In addition, they have increased the volume of space they are scanning. Further, there is a fixed scanner aimed directly at this location. It is 82.5% probable that the humans have detected this location as a nexus point…
Victor said, “We will have to chart a different starting coordinate to micro jump. It appears the backside of the moon is no longer an opportune location.” He continued, “The course is set. We will be arriving in the early afternoon. However, I strongly suggest that we wait 7 hours and arrive in the evening.”
Lorano responded, “I don’t want to waste the time unless we absolutely have to. I seem to recall that they fly those blimps in daylight.”
Victor replied, “I would prefer that we wait. The blimp disguise is very good, but in broad daylight humans may be able to visually see through it.”
Lorano responded, “That would mean sitting in one place and giving the humans another 7 hours to try to detect us.”
Victor replied, “We can’t risk it. I know we want to get there as quickly as possible, but their observation systems have increased four-fold since our last visit.”
Lorano nodded in agreement with Victor. He opened a channel and contacted the human pilots. He said, “Humans, we are in the Earth’s Solar System. Unfortunately we have arrived at an inopportune time. It is still daylight at our landing area. We will have to wait in local outer space approximately 7 hours until we can safely navigate the atmosphere undetected.”
Lorano broke contact. He looked at Victor and said, “We should pay the pilots something. Do you have any Earth currency in the bank?”
Victor said, “I don’t know.”
Victor realized that they were close enough to Earth that he could simply log into Victory Games and check. Victor checked his account and noted that it had over $500 million in it. He then created a bank account for each of the 20 pilots. Victor then transferred $2 million into each of their accounts.
Lorano re-established contact with the pilots and said, “Humans, again sorry for the delay. However, you can make use of this time. We are close enough to the planet that you can call your relatives if you so choose. Also, you can access the local websphere to make travel arrangements or read the news.”
Crista interrupted Lorano and said, “I think they call it internet here.”
Lorano continued, “Correction, you can access the local internet from your com pads. Also, I am sending each of you a bank a
ccount number. This account contains your accumulated pay thus far.”
He closed the communication, organized his thoughts, then reopened the channel and said, “When we land on Earth, you will be free to leave. If you don’t wish to return, we will simply replace you with a new pilot.”
He checked an Earth calendar and said, “However, if you decide to remain in the program, you will be granted exactly three weeks of leave. Today is May 14. You will need to be ready to leave again on June 4.”
He finished, “Please use your com pad to indicate whether you are staying or going. We need an accurate count to determine how many we need to replace.”
Lorano really needed the humans back in Waylon in a month to launch the next set of missiles. He would be upset if a human changed his mind after leaving. Finding a last minute replacement could delay his search schedule.
Lorano said, “Computer, please display graphic count of number of humans staying and leaving.”
…Graphic displayed. Sixteen decided to remain immediately after your announcement. Two more decided shortly thereafter. There are two remaining to decide. Update, all are staying…
………………………….
Russ Brand finished looking at the announcement and looked at Jim Donovan. He said, “Do you think this is legit?”
Jim said, “No idea. After our performance, I doubt they want to get rid of us.”
Russ replied, “That said though, $2 million is a huge sum. We could retire and live like kings for the rest of our lives.”
Jim replied, “Yes. It is probably some test of allegiance. If we return, then we pass or something.”
Russ answered, “True, what do we do.”
Jim chuckled and said, “Well, I suppose we vote.” He looked down at his com pad and indicated that he would be returning in three weeks.
Russ did the same. He said, “What about our plan?”
Jim said, “Secure the flashdrive cubes. We will take them with us. A return to Earth is a little premature, but perhaps we can implement a portion of it while we are here.”
………………………….
Lorano realized that since they were close enough to check the local websphere, they could review the data from Victory Games training program. He decided to start with the fighter pilots because they should they already had the criteria in place from their earlier visit. As a result, the selection process should be fairly easy.
Lorano said, “Computer, log into Victory Games servers and display statistics for fighter pilots.
…Showing graphic…
Carank and Victor wandered over to the monitor and also checked the rankings. Victor said, “Look, there are four hundred plus with scores over 10,000. That is still the passing score, isn’t it?”
During their previous trip, there had been some confusion concerning the minimum score required to pass the fighter pilot simulation. At the time Carank had been convinced the score was 10,000. He had later learned the passing score was only 1,000. Apparently no one had told Victor about the error. Carank didn’t bother to correct Victor.
Lorano responded first. He said, “We may as well take the highest ranked pilots again. It seems to have worked okay the first time.” He continued, “Computer, re-rank the top 40 pilots by five criteria: overall ranking, age, marital status, number of family members, and dependents.
Carank reviewed the re-ranked list and said, “Not bad. It looks like 20 of the top 26 gamers meet our criteria of being single, between the ages of 18 and 24, having no dependents, and come from a family with at least two children. I am actually impressed it was that easy.”
Victor looked beyond the top few and said, “We could easily recruit another 200 pilots using these same criteria.”
Crista asked, “Don’t you think the humans would notice that many missing and do something?”
Lorano waved his hand dismissively and said, “Yes. We could take them all. They probably wouldn’t even notice. However, the Senate only requested another 20.”
Victor nodded his head in agreement and said, “Too bad we can’t test these 20 somehow.”
Lorano said, “That is actually a great idea. We can, but you two will have to hide for a few minutes.” He then contacted the humans and said, “Jim Donovan, please report to the bridge conference room immediately.”
A few minutes later Jim entered the conference room and said, “Where is Captain Clowy? I didn’t see her on the bridge when I went past.”
Carank was seated on the far side of the conference in Solear’s chair. He responded, “She was tired and decided to take a long nap.”
Lorano motioned Jim to a chair and pulled up the rankings on the conference room’s main monitor. Lorano gave Jim a moment to study the list.
Jim said, “I don’t recognize any of the names. I assume that these are the 20 new pilots you have selected.”
Lorano responded, “Yes. Here, watch this.”
Lorano showed a recorded simulation that showed the majority of the pilots in action. They performed extremely well, completing the objective without losing a ship. Lorano said, “All of the 20 gamers are currently enrolled in the same simulation. We would like you to take your squadron and challenge them to a duel.”
Jim tried to remain straight faced, but he was practically bouncing out of his chair in excitement. Jim replied, “I agree. A test would be beneficial. However, it appears that many of the parameters need updated. For instance, look at the defensive missile profile. It still shows that an Alliance defensive missile can destroy 2-4 enemy missiles.”
Carank replied, “Yes. The defensive missiles performed much worse in reality.”
Lorano reviewed all of the data obtained from the recent battles with the Hiriculans and updated the simulation’s main parameters. In addition to the defensive missiles, he added the extra defensive missile ports on Hiriculan destroyers and added the 300+ new simulations that had been created by Jim’s squadron.
Finally, he created an add-on package that included Netos as opposing fighter pilots. He set their profile as accurately as possible. Now, for a nominal fee of $9.99, players could fight against two types of aliens.
“All done.” Lorano announced. “Jim, return to your squadron and enter the simulation. I will connect you to the Victory Games servers and pull the selected fighters into it.”
Carank said, “Good luck.”
After Jim left, Carank looked at Lorano and said, “Someone at Victory Games will notice that we overrode all safeguards and reprogrammed the simulation.”
Lorano shook his head and responded, “I secretly marked that the changes were made by Victor Tyrano. If the humans search in detail, they will find his name.”
“Still, “Carank responded.
Lorano continued, “We will tell Victor what we did. Since he is going to be there physically tomorrow, no one will question the modifications.”
“True. I guess you are right.” Carank responded.
Lorano answered, “Besides, the changes are so minor, I doubt anyone will notice.”
………………………….
Christopher (Kip) Armstrong loved flying. He flew every chance he could get – prop planes, cargo planes, jet fighters, it really didn’t matter. His day job was training new recruits to become fighter pilots for the U.S. Air Force. At the moment though, he was seated in a Victory Games full-sized simulator located at Laughlin Air Force base in Del Rio, Texas.
Kip was leading Alpha Squadron through an attack on a Hiriculan battle fleet. This was a newly released add-on package that allowed massive numbers of players to play in the same battle. Unlike most of the other Victory Games simulations that only involved only one fighter or one squadron, this was a multi, multi-player game.
The objective was simple; win or die. The Alliance had two destroyers and three wings of fighters. They were facing a horde of Hiriculans; one battleship screened by three cruisers and a mind numbing 200 enemy fighters*.
Another Victor
y Games innovation had been the creation of fixed squadrons. Before, your squadron mates were randomly selected. Now, one could join a squadron (or create a new one) and participate in battles with friends. However, the higher ranked players generally banded together to form phenomenal squadrons.
This was the case with Alpha squadron. Kip was awarded the name Alpha because his squadron was currently ranked number one. The squadron featured Kip as the top player in the world. He used his rank to successfully recruit 7 of the other top 10 players. All 20 members of Alpha squadron were ranked in the top 50.
His nearest competitors were Ghostrider and Chaos squadrons. Ghostrider squadron boasted 12 players in the top 20 and all in the top 50. Chaos squadron contained every remaining member in the top 60. Alpha squadron had defeated both of the other squadrons, but the margin of victory had been razor thin. Kip hated to admit that the difference between the #1 and #10 ranking was almost inconsequential.
Today was going to be a historic battle. For the first time ever, the top three squadrons were going to compete together in the same simulation. Well, Kip thought, three of the top four anyway. Kip briefly thought of the weird event several months ago when 20 of the top pilots suddenly quit playing.
There had been questions galore about their sudden disappearance. Most attributed it to burn-out or some sort of protest. Victory Games even made a statement that the players’ accounts were still active, they just weren’t playing publically anymore.
That hadn’t stopped the rumor mongers from declaring that they had been kidnapped by a rival government or abducted by aliens. After a month or two though, people stopped talking about them and they were largely forgotten. Someone had ceremoniously named them the Lost squadron and the name had stuck.
The three squadrons burned through the leading elements of the enemy’s fighter wing. Kip shouted on a general broadcast, “All units, the enemy is going to attempt to loop us. Chaos roll left; Alpha roll down on me; Ghostrider, you have the lead.
The standard enemy attack when it possessed overwhelming numbers was to loop one wing up and then down and loop a second wing down and then back up. This catches the Alliance pilots in a tremendous disadvantage as they are effectively being attacked by three fighters at once. By breaking his flight back into three separate wings and rolling them, he would catch the enemy at the midpoint of their roll and completely unprotected.
