Battleship Destroyer 2 (Battleship Destoryer)

by Larry Roberts

  Admiral Halsey shook his head and frowned. “I will review the down load later but for now it sounds like you could have been a little more diplomatic with Admiral Spencer. I am sure the Admiral had no idea and is just as adamant as you about getting the transmitters off his ships.”

  “No Sir.” Halsey’s eye brows lifted a little as Jack continued. “I had to make it perfectly clear immediately that I was the one in charge and doing the search, otherwise we would spend days wasting time over turf arguments when my men are the only ones that can insure that every ship is clean. I don’t want to waste time searching ships time and again as personnel are transferred around while we have to defer to the ships crews. Both of our forces probably have people that are going to start dying if we don’t get some supplies soon and we can’t worry about that until those damn transmitters are taken care of Admiral.” Jack frowned taking a deep breath. “Speaking of which we need food and we need it now. When can we expect Supply ships? At least a half dozen within two weeks or people start dying when we run out of MRE’s. My old Tramp Ship had to go on the emergency energy pills once and we lost a lot of people before we got back to civilization. It took a few month before they started dying but I am not going to take the chance. In 6 months that won’t be a problem when the domes start producing enough food for my crews but it will be years before we can start producing enough for the Admiral’s Crews even if they could last that long. Which brings up another problem I can get TF-58 out of there but where do they go. If I just take them to another Staging Station the same thing is going to happen to them or something worse. Can I just take them directly to The Rock?”

  Admiral Halsey took a deep breath and grimaced. “Yes you do know where the rock is don’t you.” The Admiral stated not making it a question as Jack looked out the huge ports surrounding the ready room and pointed nonchalantly and smiled as he shrugged his shoulders as the Admiral continued. “No, if they even approached The Rock with Earth’s Congressional Cabal mostly in charge and the hysteria flooding the ranks thanks to that very Cabal, they would probably just declare them the enemy and wipe them out. Three hundred battleships against less than a hundred that are half hulks would not stand a chance or last long enough to surrender especially when the people in charge don’t want them to.”

  “Ok well what if we just broadcast to the Republic that Task Force 58 has survived and returned and prove old Bingamton is a fraud.”

  “Come Turner, the liberal Democrats run all the news services with the majority of the news castors proud members of the Democratic Party as well as the internet police. They aren’t going to allow that news to survive longer than an hour before they will have a hundred experts they invite and pay, publishing a consensus that says that Task Force 58 is dead and the news of their survival is a fraud. Scientist Consensuses is always used when scientific facts are lacking. With a growing number of reports and experts that know nothing about the subject and a thousand talking heads repeating the same exact words over and over again that the story is a fraud day and night while using every nasty name and slur in the book whenever talking about anyone that says different. No one is going to believe the truth.”

  Admiral Halsey shook his head as he sat back in his chair disgusted. “There is already talk here coming from that very Cabal about a possible attack by Spider crewed Republic ships that were captured. No, I see now that they are already setting up an excuse to go to Delta 7 and take care of their problem in the next month at most. Going after the crews of TF-58 after it has pretty much starved to death and has no possible threat of defending itself. I have been watching it develop and ignoring it until now as panic talk.” Shaking his head. “Now that you have told me they are still alive it all makes sense. But there is nothing I can do about it right now Jack.”

  “Well we have to do something Admiral.” Jack could not believe what he was hearing about the Admiralty.

  “Yes we will do something Turner. We will do a lot but it is taking time to get the word out to the Colonies. For now do your search and get those transponders and give Admiral Spencer my apologies but tell him I said he better damn well cooperate with you and quit being a stubborn butt. Get the basic scans done and have him patched in to me as soon as possible so we can talk and figure out what we are going to do but the best bet is to send him to join your little Command at New Home.”

  “And about the food situation Admiral? We need you to send as many transports of food stores as The Rock can spare. At least we know they will reach TF-58 and then we can take any surpluses you happen to send. That is if The Rock is not starving as well.” Jack said sarcastically meaning it as a joke.

  Frowning the Admiral Shook his head. “The Rock has enough food to last a hundred years with everything it already produces for itself. But sorry Turner. I can’t ship a single food container out of here anymore and now I know why at least. They are trying to starve out TF-58 before they attack and destroy it.”

  Hulsey chuckled and smiled. “Tell you what Turner. Staging Station Q-19, the closest Station to Earth, has become the cargo drop off point for ships coming from Earth and the Colonies. I am using it as a waypoint with the fast long range ships dumping off cargo for the slower short range cloud transports and tramps to bring to The Rock. They have enough food to feed millions for years and getting more in every day.” The Admiral started tapping on his desk. “I am sending you orders to pick up as much as you need. But you are going to have to use your own ships and any transports you can scrape up from what is stuck there with TF-58 to do it. I can’t give you anything, not one ship. Oh and one more thing. You will only get one shot at it. As soon as The Cabal finds out you took even one load of supplies which will take about 12 hours to get processed at The Rock, they will put a stop to it.” Halsey stopped in mid tap. “You have gotten those Destroyer already haven’t you?” and then waited for Jack to answer.

  “Aaa, not yet Admiral. I have been a little busy running around this neck of the woods trying to rescue my food transports.” Jack suddenly had the urge to ask if he knew what a neck of the woods was since no one else could ever tell him exactly what it meant beside a general location but dropped it. Though his grandfather Pop used the expression a lot but would only smile when Jack asked him.

  Shaking his head the Admiral started typing again. “I was afraid of that Turner. You are going to have to grab the ships first or forget about them as once you strip Q-19 they won’t let you near the ships sitting in storage at The Maze. Fact is, once you grab the food you still have to run a gauntlet of corridor security blocks across the full length of the cloud as the Cabal tries to keep you from getting back with it to Gama 13. Even if they have to plant a fleet at the Gama 13 Hulk Station which means you are going to have to cut all ties between New Home and the Hulk Station before you visit Q-19.” Taking a deep breath. “Don’t fail me here Turner. Without that food TF-58 and possible your little New Home is not going to last much longer and with them goes any chance we have of defeating the Spiders. I am sending you the Intel of cloud routes codes and procedures that may help you avoid the patrols and checkpoints. Though that could change without warning. I only find out about security changes after they are enacted. I am also sending you authorization to grab what cargo is at Q-19. A blank check so to speak. Use it wisely as limited as you are in hulls to transport it. Just remember you will have less than 12 hours once you sign for anything. Which should not be a problem with 20 or 30 transports loading at the same time if you are careful.”

  The Admiral looked up from his typing and grimaced as he looked at Jack. “I have been running into rumors and talk amongst the Captains about Battleships massing at the Maze Station with The Rocks Battleship docks looking damn deserted lately. I just thought they were out on maneuvers. But if several hundred Battleships and Carriers are at the Maze Station getting ready to head for TF-58 you would not get away with taking the DD’s. You need to go after the supplies at Q-19 for now and forget about the DD’s and I will see abo
ut getting them to you later. Just make sure you take as much food as you and TF-58 will need, because it will be the last you get in a very long time. Even the million Refugees I send you will not have that much food with them when they get there since The Rock is supposed to have plenty of food and that is where they were originally going. The only good thing right now is the convoy of construction ships I told you about sending is on its way. I am sending them the long way around to avoid the blockade to Gama 13 they have in place but it is going to take a couple of weeks to make it to you. I have put as much food with them as possible which was only enough to feed them for a couple of months.”

  Admiral Halsey continued to type as Jack stared at him with his mind a million miles away.

  The Admiral finally looked up to see Jack staring at him. He had seen that look before and had thought it was a look of stupidity but had learned better real quick. “Turner!” When Jack ignored him the Admiral smiled. “Turner, just don’t forget to have Spencer Call me as soon as you can. Out.” And the screen went blank as the Admiral continued to type and bringing up screens.

  Jack finally looked around and then hit his comm. “Get me New Home.” Jack had a lot of arrangements to make and little time to do it.

  Exactly an hour after Jack had told Admiral Spencer he had an hour to decide, the Admiral was on the screen of the Red Peppers Captain’s ready room. “Yes Admiral Spencer, what is your decision now that you have run your own search and found nothing.”

  “How did you know we ran our own search? And that we found nothing?” Jack could see the defiance in the Admirals eyes.

  “I would have had every ship under my command tear itself apart looking as soon as the Comm screen went blank if I was in your shoes Admiral. As far as finding nothing. You had already spent 6 months making repairs and tearing things out and it still came as a surprise Admiral. Another hour was not going to change that.” Jack took a deep breath and let it out. “Are you ready to cooperate or do I need to pull out my big guns and eliminate the threat. Admiral Halsey said for you to damn well start cooperating and quit being such a stubborn Butt. He is waiting to have a talk with you.”

  “You tell that reprobate… No, I will tell him. But how the hell are you getting through when I cannot?” The Admiral shook his head and without waiting for an answer. “Shit. You have my full cooperation Turner. What do you want me to do?”

  “General Meyers of the 107th Marine Mech Division is running the search. I will put you in touch with him in a minute. General Sherman with the 82th will be joining in 3 or 4 days.”

  “I know General Meyers, we have worked together several times. He is a good no nonsense fireball. We can make this work.” The Admiral looked at a side screen as his eyebrows lifted. “But I don’t know this General Sherman, according to his record he is just a Brigade Major with a lot of demerits and bad reviews from his superiors which is why he is still a Major and a Brigade Commander.”

  “That so. Well General Shitsu specifically appointed him as the Division’s new Commander when I told him that if his division did not have the best officer the General had access to commanding them, his whole Division was going to get wiped out in just a few days during their first Combat against the Apes. Aaa. The Spider Battleship troops, since you don’t know what Apes are yet.”

  “That Opinionated Ass hole Appointed Major Sherman as his division’s new Commanding officer after giving him half his demerits and bad reviews. If you want someone that is stubborn, Shitsu is the definition of the word.” Tapping the desk in front of him a couple times. “So why did you relieve him of his Command if that is even legal.”

  “Actually he resigned. As a friend and supporter of Vice Admiral Ditzen, I could not have him at my back. As far as the bad shit against Sherman, the General said he was his best Brigade Commander and always got the job done while the rest followed. He wasn’t about to lose him to any promotions which probably explains the bad reviews that only started a few months after he joined the 82nd.” Looking at the Admiral as sternly as possible. Though Jack didn’t think he was pulling it off. “General Meyers is in complete charge of the search. If he says to fire on and destroy any or all of your ships, the guns will be firing before the words hit his own ears. Is that understood Admiral?”

  The Admiral’s lips became paper thin as he stared at Jack. Then. “I understand Turner. General Meyers has complete control.”

  “Very good. Now that we have the chain of Command settled.” Jack let his face smile trying to lighten the mood. “While General Meyers is cleaning out your ships, I am going to get started on getting us some food before we starve to death. I need every Transport and Tanker in your fleet and station. How many are operational Admiral?” Jack already knew how many transports were in the system now with the new sensors even with all the rock camouflage but he needed to get the Admiral engaged and back into commanding something.

  The Admiral continued to stare at Jack for a good 10 seconds but finally looked over to another side screen. “I have 52 transports and 8 tankers listed in the system at this time with another 45 Battleships that have had their bows so badly damaged I am turning them into Battletransports with mostly empty patched hulls or domes ahead of the Tanks for a bow using material and equipment from 27 hulks. The problem is we have virtually no reaction mass. This damn section of the cloud doesn’t have any concentrations anywhere close. The shit is that most of the damn 52 transports that came into the system over the last 5 months have carried mostly ship repair parts and only food for a few thousand and not hundreds of thousands, which was good for my ships but shit for my crews.”

  “Well damn. I didn’t want to hear that about the food Admiral but as far as reaction mass goes we have plenty for a couple dozen transports which was what I was expecting and plenty of time to scoop up more. General Meyers will start with the transports even though most of them are from the cloud, while we refuel them. My tanker will start refueling transports as soon as they have been searched and while fuel scoops are added to your tankers. You have about a week or two and we will see about moving your fleet Admiral. Admiral Halsey will talk to you more about that in a little bit. Now if you could please get the transports moving toward the vacant side of the Station’s Bay to save time before we go on. I will wait.” Jack sent the coordinates.

  The Admiral frowned but did as Jack had asked and less than a minute later the Admiral crossed his arms across his chest and looked at Jack. The transports with a coating of rocks around their hulls started heading for the assembly area. As the Assault Transports approached the Bay’s Staging Basin through the cloud the scout bombers and fighters started flying through the Bay around the Task Force. Their scanners looking for the dreaded enemy beacons.

  “Very good Admiral Spencer. Now I need Crewmen from you to fill out the crews for 24 Destroyers now and then more for at least another 100 I am told I can pick up if I decide to go after them. I don’t care where they come from. Active or the many rescued crews you have aboard the Black Dwarf. But they have to be your best. There is a massive enemy fleet headed for the cloud to replace the one I destroyed. Another reason we cannot waste any time finding those transmitters. If the enemy gets within range of even one of them we are screwed. The only thing that is going to stop them from blockading the cloud again or dropping down your ass if we don’t get all the transmitters in time, are your crews and my upgraded Destroyers.

  I need Captains that think like fighter pilots not Battleship Commanders that have been trained to sit and slug it out with other battleships. We aren’t fighting that way anymore. That also Means pilots are out period, they are too self-centered, egotistical and anal about small minor details that don’t mean shit on a ship even if they are life and death on a fighter. No the average pilot just does not have the skills learned over years by ship’s officer on how to manage large crews without someone wanting to frag the asshole as crew performance drops to nothing until the pilot captain is replaced. But I need your best fighter pi
lots as well to fly the destroyers like fighters just not command them. If you catch my drift. I need your best because they are going to have to learn to operate and fight these ships in a matter of weeks or even days. Out of a quarter million crewmen I am sure you can find me great crews. I will down load my crew needs and the tactics that the Destroyers will be using to give you an idea of what will be expected of the Commanding officers and crew. We will also be up grading your ships after they are cleaned but more about that later. For now the Transponders come first. Are there any questions Admiral?”

  “Now I see why you are talking about blowing my ships up. No! We don’t have time for questions right now. We have too fucking much to do. If you will give me a list of the ships you identified as having transponders, I will isolate them just in case we need to destroy them. Now put me in contact with General Meyers so we can get this show on the road Admiral Turner.”

  “Sorry Admiral but one of them is the Dwarf. I can’t establish a secure Comm until it has been cleaned. Here is the list along with everything else. I will transfer you to the Red Pepper as soon as possible so you can talk to Admiral Halsey. General Meyers will be on momentarily Admiral.” Jack hit the comm key to bring the General on the line.

  The Admiral gave Jack a strange sick look and then started giving orders to his staff before Jack had time to put the General into the conversation.

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  Twelve hours later the last of the 8 tankers pulled away from the Red Pepper with a minimum of reaction mass and the last set of scoops Jack had brought for the Transports he had thought would be waiting for him. The Tanker joined the rest of the tankers that now had scoops skimming the cloud around the bubble to fill their tanks with the small percentage of fluids and gasses found in each ton of Nebula cloud dust so they could remass Task Force 58. The back ends of the scoops dumping the dust back into the void as the tanks slowly filled. The search for the transmitters continued as they prepared to vacate the Basin after all the ships had been cleaned. Jack could not believe how difficult it was trying to organize over 50 Tramp Transports that had signed on to run around the cloud on independent missions with no training when it came to close formation convoying. Having to negotiate new contracts with the majority of them to cover the new job he was asking them to do. Though most of the actual face to face work was done by others that had a lot more experience working with leased ships. Having so many senior officers with his was now paying off handsomely.