Battle in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 4)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “Certainly, Captain Marston.”

  “Find us a spot the same distance from here as our first planned jump.”

  “I know just the direction, Captain. Here. I’ve passed the coordinates to Mz. Sue.”

  “Sue, Keiko. Let’s do it again.”

  They did. Everyone got their headaches back.”

  “Well?”

  “Exactly on, Captain!” an exuberant Sue announced.

  “Ya, Lassie! You’re the girl!”

  “Nice work, Sue. Igaklay, pick another spot, this time twice as far. Same safety requirements.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Igaklay understood the current relationship of the crewmates and worked to join in.

  Krag took Griffin through five more jumps, ending at the originally selected asteroid. All jumps ended cleanly, with less than a one-one thousandth of one percent error factor.

  “Engineering team, including Igaklay, Vidhee, I accept this upgrade. It appears to work. Thank you all.”

  Everyone, still sitting in their very comfortable gravity chairs, gave ‘here, here’s’ and clapped.

  “Gopai, you’re up. Do that asteroid.”

  “Doing the asteroid, Captain.”

  Everyone saw Krag’s ‘too much Mack’ head drop and slow shake.

  The rail gun fired the gravity rocket. The rocket imbedded itself in the asteroid. After a few moments the asteroid began contorting and reshaping while shrinking. After a short time, the asteroid, previously larger than Griffin, now could fit in the cargo bed of Griffin’s ground vehicle.”

  “All right, Guppy.”

  “Guppy?”

  “Yeah. Guppy. A small fish. I just came up with it.”

  “But, I’m bigger than any of you.”

  “Yeah, Guppy. But in pecking order, you’re smaller than all of us. So your new nickname is ‘Guppy’.”

  Knowing that being tagged with a nickname by Mack made him more of a den member, Gopai playfully growled, being careful to keep his teeth covered.

  “Great. Another name to remember. This time, I want a live action run. I want Igaklay to pass the coordinates to Sue for the next asteroid. Then Sue, plot the jump. I want this timed. We pause the timer at this point while Vidhee checks Sue’s calculation. Then, pass the plot to Keiko, she jumps. Immediately on target, Guppy fires.” Krag smirked at Mack. ”Let’s see how long it takes.”

  They ran the drill twice for the last two asteroids. Sue’s calculations proved to be exact. Keiko’s jumps proved fast and smooth. Gopai’s launches proved accurate and crushing.

  “Nice job, people. Keiko, Sue, take us home.”

  Ballison Pyramid

  An excited crew deplaned Griffin and headed to the conference room. On the way, they passed Sir Mahajani working the eight Royal Guardsmen in the training yard just to the side of the silver pyramid. With only cursory glances, they saw eight tired, droop-furred, Guardsmen being pushed and pummeled by one huge Elonian, who seemingly relished his role of doling out abuse and torment.

  “I would not want to tangle with that giant.”

  “Smart, Wrenchy.”

  “Ya, Lassie. How about you, Guppy? You ready to take on the Master?”

  “Only when I dream, Mack. Maybe in a year or two, I might be able to survive.”

  The Humans, Elonians and two synthetics reached the front of the Ballisonian Government building, where an orifice dilated open. They all headed to the kitchen area for ordering meals and drinks. Then they strolled over and into the conference room. Taking their seats at the table, the biologicals noticed Vidhee also taking a seat, rather than remaining rigidly standing.

  Although they noticed, no one said anything, welcoming that the synthetic was becoming closer, more bonded to the group.

  Igaklay had used the pyramid’s construction nanites to create a raised chair for his avatar, preferring to be an actual, involved entity rather than an amorphous voice echoing from the walls. He took his now familiar spot between Keiko and Mack.

  “Ok, all. We tested. Griffin seemed to function properly. Let’s go around the table. Everyone comment. Master Varrini. You’re first.”

  “Thank you, Captain Marston. Monitoring the mass negator and the anti-matter drive, everything performed according to the specifications which Sir Igaklay supplied.”

  “Then you sign off on the test?”

  “Yes, Captain Marston. On the Ballisonian drive, I sign off.”

  “We do have one wee problem, though, Cap.”

  “And that is, Mack?”

  “I kept monitoring the dark matter usage. It was pretty high. It drained the tanks pretty good. So we’re going to need time to refill in between jumps. Especially large ones.”

  “How much did we use?”

  “about a third, Cap.”

  “And that was a small jump, with multiple ones after. Igaklay. How far can we jump before our dark matter tank is drained?”

  “Approximately seventy light-years, by your measurement, Captain.”

  “Is that for multiple jumps or just one?”

  “Just one, Captain. When you make multiple jumps, the time in between is spent collecting more dark matter.”

  “Got it. Is there any way we can collect the dark matter faster?”

  “For our long-reaching ships, we used dark matter sails. This gave us a much larger surface area to collect the dark matter.”

  “Master Varrini, Mack. Get with Igaklay and come up with a design for a dark matter sail. Igaklay, can we have auxiliary tanks of dark matter?”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  “Master Varrini, Mack. Add that to the list.”

  “Added, Cap.”

  “Gopai. Weaponry?”

  “I have no issues, Captain. I just need more practice.”

  “You’ll get that. Sue?”

  “Well, our first tests ran smoothly, after my screw-up.” She grimaced.

  “Not a screw-up, Sue. A fixable error. Quit getting down on yourself. We all make mistakes. I’ve made some dandies.”

  “Thank you, Captain. Well, the tests. They were all about the same distances. I want to test everything from a micro-jump to the full seventy light-years, with a bunch of midranges in between.”

  “I can see that. That will be a good time to test our new sail that those three are going to put together.” Krag waved a hand at the two engineers and Igaklay’s avatar.

  “Keiko. You’re up.”

  “No problems here, Captain. Like Gopai, I just need some practice.”

  “Vidhee?”

  “Everything balanced out, Captain Marston. And Mack is correct. We had a fairly high drain of the dark matter. Your solutions for a shorter collection cycle and an ancillary storage unit should alleviate the problem.”

  “Also, there is the question of reliability. I believe that the extended testing recommended by Mz. Benton will allow us to verify that none of the systems will break down over a period of extended usage.”

  “Excellent point, Vidhee. We will add that to our next, and extended test run.”

  “I had a thought.”

  Everyone changed their focus back to Keiko.

  “When we fly to Yeni Persia, we will be flying into a war zone.”

  “True.”

  “And, all of our upgrades, our modifications have been done with the focus on linear flight.”

  “Yes. Our thinking has been pretty myopic in that area. What is your thought?”

  “Has anyone ever seen a hummingbird?”

  Krag and Sue both raised their hands.”

  “Here, let me show you.”

  Keiko worked her tablet and a holographic image of a hummingbird flashed into existence. Everyone watched as it darted from flower to flower, pausing to draw nectar and flitting to the next. It would hold steady in flight for scant seconds then dart to its next target.

  Leaving the video up, Keiko continued.

  “In martial arts, the primary goal of any conflict or combat is to not get hit. You avoid gettin
g hit in one of three ways. Attacking, defending and avoidance. Because I am small, I use avoidance the most. So here is my thought. Griffin is not a large ship. Its best defense is avoidance. Can we make Griffin flit around like a hummingbird?”

  Mack and Varrini quickly locked eyes.

  “An excellent concept, Ambassador Suzume.”

  “Ya, Wee-One. Jets. We cover Griffin with little jet engines. Like our positioning jets. Only more powerful and quicker firing.”

  “Maybe eight rows. Top and bottom, each side. And at forty-five degrees from the vertical and horizontal planes. Also, front and back.”

  “Good one, Master Varrini. That gives us full three-dimensional hopping.”

  “That will be a bear to program, you two.”

  “Aw, Lassie, you can do it.”

  Everyone waited while Sue percolated.

  “Maybe a special control panel. Two infinite touch pads. One for the X-Y coordinates. One for the Z-plus and Z-minus coordinates. Touching different spots on both would set the jump target.”

  Everyone got drawn into Sue’s brainstorming as she tugged on a tuft of hair.

  “Yeah. You got it, Lassie!”

  “Ok, you three. That’s your next project. Work up a presentation. See if you can get this to work.”

  Varrini, Mack and Sue all exchanged excited looks.

  “We’re on it, Cap.”

  “I do have a question, Mack.”

  “What, Iggy?”

  “If you are worried about Griffin getting struck, why haven’t you put a disseminator shield on her?”

  “Never heard of it. What’s a disseminator shield?”

  “Using charged dark matter, a disseminator shield can be generated around an object which reacts with the negative electrons of matter. This causes molecules to disconnect into individual, positively charged particles which disseminate.”

  “What? You mean like, if someone shines particle beam at the shield, it dissipates?”

  “Yes, Mack. The shield dissipates the beams.

  “And missiles?”

  “If they are small enough.”

  “There must be a giant amount of energy used.”

  “That is the drawback. When the shield reacts, it consumes the dark matter. A constant flow of dark matter is required to keep the shield sustained while under bombardment.”

  “So, after constant battering, a shield would quit.”

  “Yes, Mack. It would cease to function.”

  “Can we put one on Griffin?”

  “With a large enough dark matter storage and collector, yes.”

  “Cap?”

  “Look into it. But first the flit kit.”

  “Flit kit. I like it.”

  “Doctors? Princess Analyn? Anything to add?”

  The Princess spoke for the three. “This is an engineering and military meeting. We are just observers.”

  “That’s it then?”

  Everyone at the table made close-of-meeting motions.

  “Back to work, people. Mack, you have a discussion to make.”

  “Aw, Cap. You just had to do it. You just had to ruin a perfectly good brainstorm session.

  Nuevo Aires

  Emilio’s Consejero and his top gunsel, Julio and Carlos, crept through the streets, hiding in doorways, ducking behind obstacles as they worked their way from the second defensive line towards the oncoming alien tanks. Each carried a rocket launcher as well as machine pistols and belts of ammo. Reaching a corner, Julio took a quick peek before advancing, then froze.

  “Got one,” Carlos stated in Spanish. “Coming this way.”

  “You stay here. I’ll cross. Take cover in that doorway.” Julio pointed to an opening across the street. Fire at the rear. I’ll hold off.”

  “Si.”

  “Then run like hell. Get to my Dad’s restaurant. We meet up there.”

  Carlos watched Julio quick-walk across and press into the indicated doorway. The two waited in their hides. The alien tank lumbered down the street, its treads gouging the pavement, destroying the roads that had been in place for hundreds of years. The tank passed the two ambushers. Julio held his arm up and waited. Carlos sighted his rocket launcher.

  Julio dropped his arm. Carlos fired. The rocket struck and penetrated the armor protecting the rear of the alien tank. Both of the Latinian gunmen pressed back, under cover. The tank exploded spectacularly. A fireball shot into the air. Metal pieces cratered the buildings walls, smashed windows and tore doors off hinges.

  Julio and Carlos tried to press themselves even deeper into their cover as more pieces of the alien tank careened down their perspective streets, bounced off pavement and walls, flashed by the two. Once the explosion quieted, the two ran.

  Ten minutes later, two very careful Latinos sneaked through the back door of Julio’s Restaurant and Bar. Their first stop was the bar. Julio pulled two beers from the fridge, twisted off the caps, passed one to Carlos and took a long swig. Carlos followed.

  “Still cold.”

  “Refrigerators do that.”

  “Rockets work.”

  “Si.”

  “Gotta tell Emilio.”

  “Already did. Radioed on the way in.”

  “Now what?”

  “Jefe wants to see if the tops of those tanks are vulnerable.”

  “Well, we’ve got one launcher left. Let’s go see.”

  “After you, amigo.”

  After building and wolfing down sandwiches, the two snuck out the back door and towards the second defensive line. At midpoint, Julio pointed to a rooftop and Carlos nodded.

  “You can’t help. Stay down here. I’m going up. Take the shot.”

  “Si.”

  Carlos moved further down the avenue and found a place to tuck himself into. Julio climbed the escape ladder and reached the top of the selected building. Walking to the back, he verified that his memory of the rooftop was accurate. It was. The space between this building and the next could easily be jumped. The escape ladder’s top poked up on the other side, away from where he planned his ambush.

  Returning to his selected spot, Julio eyed a tank just beginning its run down the wide avenue. He watched as the alien killing machine swung its cannon across a building, its particle beam melting through the foundations. The building collapsed. Swinging to the other side, the tank repeated the process. More building became a pile of rubble.

  Six more buildings crumbled. Four, two on each side, stood between Julio and the alien tank.

  Julio raised the rocket launcher, aimed at the turret and fired. This destruction wasn’t as magnificent. But it still did the job. The top of the tank blew off, rendering the turret nothing more than scrap. The tank rumbled to a stop. A side door clanked open and three aliens dashed out, raising their weapons and scanning the surroundings.

  “Julio didn’t wait. He dropped the rocket, pulled his machine pistol and sprayed down, hitting one alien. Carlos opened up, killing the other two. Then both, Julio and Carlos ran like the demons of Hell chased them, sprinting for all they were worth, racing towards the human defensive line and temporary safety.

  Onboard Odin

  Sitting in his command pod, Vice-Admiral Weiskoff looked over Odin’s bridge. He felt the dread of coming failure and death. He also felt the pride in seeing his men and women perform their duties with professionalism and focus.

  “Captain Brewer. Please contact Governor Kaufman. And Lieutenant Rosser. And that old man, Roth. Set up a four-way com.”

  “Aye, aye, Admiral.”

  “Route it to my wardroom. Have you and Lieutenant Clarke join me.”

  “Aye, aye, Admiral.”

  Just as the three reached Weiskoff’s wardroom and Weiskoff positioned himself at his desk, his screen split into three panes and he looked at the three Tolimarian men which he had requested.

  “Governor. Lieutenant. Mr. Roth. As you know, the aliens have taken Arium. If they stick to their usual plan, they’ll be there for about six months
before they come here. I’ve set up a cycle of monitor drones to keep tabs on them. So we can see if they stick true to form.”

  “We truly appreciate your efforts on our behalf, Admiral. I know it’s been hard.”

  “For the Federacy, Governor. And, yes, it has been hard. Now, to why I called. As you no doubt all know, Odin is the last Federacy ship in this sector. And this is the last stop. The aliens will come to Tolimar.

  “We figured that, Admiral.”

  “Well, I plan on taking a run at the carrier, maybe buy you some time.”

  “That’s a suicide run, Admiral.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. I’m going to come out of the sun, make a charge and keep on going. Into the dark. Or through the dead-end gate.”

  “Ballsy. How long can you survive out there?”

  “A very long time. That’s why I’m contacting you. I plan on sending down all un-needed personnel.”

  “That’s what? Fifteen hundred?”

  “About that.”

  “We’ve got room.”

  “And five squadrons of fighters. Sixty planes, pilots and about three hundred support personnel.”

  “Those will add some spice to the fight.”

  “Do you have enough space to land them?”

  “Yes, we do, Vice-Admiral. Two landing strips.”

  “And three hundred marines.”

  “We’ll take those, too, Admiral. They’ll fit right in.”

  “Lieutenant Rosser. I understand that you have unbricked some ex-military. Is that correct?”

  “Um, well, Uh, yes, sir.”

  “How many?”

  Rosser looked at Kaufman and Roth. Roth pursed his lips and nodded a go-ahead.

  “Just short of one hundred, eighty thousand.”

  “Jeeze, Louise. That’s bigger than the force on Cencore.”

  “Well, the Federacy has a lot of retirees. And they seemed to want to come here.”

  “Go juice?”

  “We have a plant cranking it out.”

  “You do know that this is a treasonous act, right?”

  “Now, Admiral. That is not a time you want to go, just yet.”

  “There will be a time, Mr. Roth.”

  “How ‘bout, you try, Sonny. I’m sure those one hundred, eighty thousand, or what’s left, will have something to say about that.”