Space Fleet Sagas Foundation Trilogy: Books One, Two, and Three in the Space Fleet Sagas

by Don Foxe

  He bit his lip, withheld the yelp, and figured he could endure the cold for a quick Navy shower — water on, water off, soap up, water on, out. Then Storm decided to join him, and in the tight one-person stall, her body heat felt wonderful. But it would not last under that spray. He quickly soaped her up, totally enjoying how her wet, slick body felt under his hands. Their passion turned the ancient practice of taking a cold shower to reduce sexual desire, into the native eskimo practice of sex in an ice house.

  Though incredibly cramped in the shower, somehow he entered from behind her. He pressed her against the bulkhead, hands cupping the full breasts, and very, very hard nipples. They lasted less than a minute.

  Sky waited with towels, and took their place in the shower. A loud yell escaped when the spray hit her skin. As soon as she came out, Cooper was there with a towel to briskly dry her, using the friction to warm her skin.

  They dressed quickly, Cooper remembering the first time he had seen the girls on the 109’s monitor, unable to not notice the hard nipples beneath the skin-tight tops they wore. Reality was so much nicer than a monitor.

  Of course he realized he was using them, and their bodies, as a distraction. He had little doubt the Zenge would eventually acquire the ship and start for them. They had no time left for any normal activities. After this, the ship would prepare for battle, and his attention would move to surviving until the 109 arrived.

  “The Zenge are in the solar system,” he finally told them.

  They made short-term plans. Cooper to Angel 7, and Sky, and Storm to the bridge. They would meet at Cooper’s fighter for lunch and updates. Long hugs, and short kisses, and they set off on their separate ways. Not the worse way Cooper had ever deployed.

  Chapter 23

  On his way down, Coop thought about the Osperantue he saw along the way. The Bosine made up the majority of those on board. There were also Posine, with similar facial features, but shorter, stouter, and their skin a darker shade of pink than the Bosine. Woolifer; fine-boned and slender. Their noses wider, their eyes closer set, and with much smaller ears. They were seldom seen because it appeared they were adept at technical and mechanical matters. They were the ones most likely taking care of the areas less visited. They worked with the operational systems in the ship which maintained heat and cold; atmosphere; the air scrubbers which regenerated breathable air from exhaled gases; the water reclamation and recycling, and the waste reclamation and recycling systems.

  The Fray made up the fourth Osperantue race, but he had not met any, and remained unaware of them except by name. If they were aboard, they either looked similar to the other three races, and he did not recognize the differences, or stayed to themselves.

  He thought about the Fellen, but not about being personally involved with Sky and Storm. He thought about the species. A race of technological wizards who had evolved from fighters. People who fiercely guarded their secrets, and their fellows.

  A species who traded in high-end electronics across trillions of miles of space, and maintained a tribal community at home.

  Osperantue and Fell had been attacked and overrun, and they were only the latest planetary systems to fall. There were several other worlds invaded before these last two, with any number of races inhabiting each world. These were now people on the edge of extinction, if not already gone, because one species decided it wanted everything, and had the strength to take it.

  After over 100,000 years, humans finally agreed to create a single, centralized government to mange the planet. Considered an impossible dream, and taking a horrific pandemic as a catalyst, it happened, and in his lifetime. Now, when they were on the edge of reaching out to other worlds, an alien species might be on their way to destroy everything humans had accomplished.

  The Osperantue, and Sky, and Storm, believed they had stumbled onto a superior race. A species with the technology to fold space and time, which allowed them access to anyplace within the solar system, or anywhere in the universe without the limitations of wormhole travel. A world with incredible ships like the John F. Kennedy. Not knowing she was a one-and-only. The first, everyone hoped, of more to come, but now the first, and the only.

  These aliens were fleeing other aliens, looking to Earth as a safe-haven, and a possible champion.

  The truth revolved around the tale of a species which had barely survived. Time and time again, the planet, outside forces, or civilized mayhem had come near completely destroying humanity. It was only in the last thirty years mankind found sure footing, and then only because of a world-wide plague, and the pure dumb luck of finding ancient technology with “how-to” guides regarding space, and star travel.

  If they survived this attack by the Zenge, then he would come clean with his alien allies. If they lost, then it would not have mattered.

  Chapter 24

  Sky climbed to the access tunnels above the command bridge. The forward, or command sphere, of the Star Gazer had dozens of antenna, as well as information gathering nodes, cameras, and dishes. Most species were notorious about saving money, and used barely serviceable equipment.

  She carried a bag with Fellen-designed boosters and cable connectors designed to improve carry times, quality of sound, and picture. There was a signals booster unit, a black box, which would accept radar or sonar related rebounds, and interpret what they encountered in greater detail.

  The first item to receive her attention was the deep-space video system. A cursory scan, and she moved to the audio systems. Whoever installed the video put in the best optics and receivers available. Unfortunately, not so much attention to detail with the other scan and recovery systems. Heavy sigh as she melted into a cross-legged position in front of the audio array. This was going to take a few hours.

  #

  Storm appeared on the command deck like her nickname; a force of nature ready to kick butt. She caught Poonch’s attention, and motioned him to her. A quick explanation of her presence, and the Captain made a general announcement to the bridge crew explaining whatever she asked for she got.

  The bridge’s semi-circle design wrapped around the Captain’s chair and pedestal. A pilot and navigator console with two chairs sat directly in front of him. From port to starboard (left to right), the semi circle had stations for long-range radar or sonar, audio scanning, and communications. The video scanner console monitored feeds from both interior, and exterior cameras, and set to the right of the concave view screen, which dominated the forward wall.

  Next came the interior environmental monitors and controls, with engineering and power systems monitors, and the bridge over-ride command station.

  Storm needed to appraise the systems from radar to communications, and then use her knowledge, and skills to improve those systems as best she could with the tech she had available.

  It was good they had a few days head start on the Zenge. She would need the time.

  #

  Captain Poonch was not content to sit in his chair and wait for the Zenge, or watch others at work.

  He had taken Captain Cooper’s suggestions to heart, and was already in the process of having his maintenance crew install alarms near the cctv monitors on every deck of both spheres.

  There had been a ship-wide announcement, the Captain was seeking the help of civilians with any technical or engineering skills. Over 21,000 Osperantue from the four races signed up to assist. It was his job to make sure they were assigned areas where they could assist with as little on-the-job training as possible. He already placed 1,500 working on the deck alarm systems, which would take less than a day. Without the help, it would have simply been impossible for his limited crew to do the job.

  He selected another 1,200 for their advanced knowledge, skills, and work histories, sending them to departments throughout the ship to act as helpers. The rest he gave his thanks, and kept their locations in case of future need.

  All this accomplished in less than twelve hours. He was exhausted and proud, but on the whole, exhausted.


  He had not made a general announcement regarding the Zenge’s appearance in the solar system. His crew knew. The citizen volunteers would soon know, and they would spread the news. He was going to need to make it official before panic set in.

  There were already rumblings regarding the power shut down, the cold water, the cold corridors, and the darkness. His people completed their business using emergency battery lighting. Even the bridge crew used battery lights not hooked into the power system, therefore, not registering on enemy scans. The Zenge had not located them yet, and while he maintained scarce hope, he was not making any announcements until the Zenge either turned to chase, or left the solar system.

  He sat quietly in his command chair. First, watching the Fellen, Storm, which was actually easier to say than her whole name, and the translation did fit the Fellen’s personality, and then falling into a deep slumber. His crew said nothing. Their Captain had earned their respect, and they respected his need to rest.

  Cooper began his pre-launch checks at the communications and tactical station in the cabin. Situated left of the door to the cockpit, the com-tac operator could easily communicate with the pilot, and co-pilot by radio, or voice. The noises of war were absent in space, unless atmosphere venting from an exploding ship provided enough oxygen for a muted blast.

  The com-tac officer constantly ran scenarios before and during battle. They input updated information, and created strategies on the move to provide the ship with any tactical advantages. It was up to the pilot, who was in command, to decide what information, or strategy was applicable to the immediate situation.

  He placed icons that represented friendly and opposition ships on screen. When needed, these icons would provided tactical info, like weapons status, armament stores, speed, location, status of systems, and strength of forcefields. In the case of the Zenge, as any pertinent information regarding their ships was observed, and added, updates would simultaneously occur.

  The icons allowed for private, or public communications with pilots, crews, or individual computers between ships. He doubted seriously he would have communications with the Zenge.

  He next inspected the co-pilot’s station, starboard side of the cockpit. The co-pilot’s controls were duplicates of the pilot’s, with one addition. The co-pilot acted as the primary gunner aboard Angel 7, and had access to two joy-sticks. They pulled out and up from underneath the main console. The co-pilot could engage weapons using computers, or aim by line of sight, firing independently. The co-pilot targeted and fired the ship’s railgun using the left stick. The wing-mounted laser cannons operated with the right. When weapons were readied, a heads-up display would appear. Com-tac constantly updated the display with weapons’ status data. Confident the co-pilot’s systems were functional, he moved over to his seat.

  Angel 1, the next-gen prototype he test-flew twenty-five years earlier, came with a seat much less comfortable. He had been the first human to test an operational space-fold engine, and the first to fly faster than .05 ls. He was the test pilot who discovered when the primary engine was active, it produced a sonic forcefield that surrounded the ship. It was dubbed The Cooper Effect, but not by him.

  The pilot, using trigger-buttons mounted to the yoke, could fire any weapon. Not as accurately as the co-pilots joy sticks, but effective. More importantly, his helm controls were more responsive, and he had an aspect stick at his left hip. He could quickly put the fighter where he wanted. He could use the lack of gravity, lift, drag or friction in space to make impossible spins, turns, pivots, and any maneuver he decided to try. He could also shift power plants, turning the ship into a mono-wing aircraft, or landing shuttle. The primary engine could propel Angel 7 up to 250,000 mph in outer space.

  And he had space-fold. The laser-crystal array power plant fired a number of laser beams into a multi-faceted crystal kept in a faraday cage. The crystal’s released energy created a ‘bubble’ around the ship, causing space-time to fold in the direction the ship was heading. Navigation computers could calculate how much time they needed to remain in a fold to reach an exact location, whether it was a hundred star systems away, or only a thousand miles.

  Cooper checked his heads-up tech for all systems. When he was satisfied with piloting and display systems, he checked his weapons.

  Laser cannons replenished themselves. But they could overheat. He set the wing cannons to fire on an alternating pattern. He could change to a single cannon firing repeatedly, but the alternating pattern was the best to start, allowing for slower heat build up. Once a cannon over-heated, it could take from minutes to hours for it to recover.

  The railgun fired kinetic projectiles (rods) of hybrid composite metals, or it could operate with NNEMP shells, called nymphs. The rails, made of ceramic-alloy composites, produced less friction, resulting in less heat. The gun lowered from the hull, and the cold of space helped prevent super-heating. It would fire until the rods and nymphs ran out.

  Projectiles from the railgun traveled at Mach 10 (7,672.69 mph), and without friction to slow them down, they might travel forever. A ship far enough away could avoid the projectiles, if they saw them. The hybrid-rods surprisingly compact, but dense, and deadly at the extreme velocity they traveled.

  Nymphs are shells with micro-generators inside. These generators created an electro-magnetic pulse, or EMP. When a nymph hit, the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) would temporarily interfere with electrical, and magnetic equipment, and fields.

  Space Fleet ships created a sonic force field with their sub-light engines, but it appeared the rest of the known galaxy created protective force fields using electro-magnetic dynamos. Nymphs could dampen, or completely disrupt a forcefield created by electrical, or magnetic generators.

  In order to penetrate Angel 7’s sonic force field, a weapon would need to match the exact pitch of the field at the moment of impact. This was nearly impossible, because the pitch changed as the engine rpm’s changed. The concussion, depending on the size, and strength of the weapon, was more likely to cause internal, rather than external damage. Injuries were usually the result of objects, or people not locked down, being thrown about the ship.

  Angel was ready. He hoped he would not need her.

  Chapter 25

  Coop met Sky and Storm in their cabin. He brought dinner: protein bars and a secret stash of venison jerky.

  Storm momentarily caught between anger he had been holding out, and ecstatic they had more jerky.

  Sky was too tired to show any emotion. The cramped confines where she needed to work to access Star Gazer’s systems, plus the hours it took to upgrade everything (she eventually even tweaked the video feeds), left her dirty, and with muscle kinks — understanding the meaning of the term better now. She ate her protein bars and jerky in silence, sipping water from a bottle.

  While they were quietly eating, enjoying the down time, and the easy silence between them, Sky reached into her satchel. She pushed two translator rings across the table. She gave one to Coop and one to Storm.

  “They do everything your current one does,” she explained. “I added a private com-link so the three of us can talk. No one else can listen in. It will work across great distances, when boosted through a ship’s communication system. I set them to automatically seek the strongest power source to allow minimal time between what is said, and how quickly the other one hears. Of course, the longer the distance, the longer the lapse.”

  “How do I use it to reach you, or Storm, or the two of you?” Cooper asked, unclasping the one around his neck, and placing it on the table.

  “Nicknames,” Sky replied smiling. “If I say Coop, it goes to you. It continues in private mode until I say my nickname and out.”

  “Saying Coop, Sky, or Storm is enough to open private communications?”

  “Just remember to say your nickname, and out to close the channel. If you do not it will remain open, and others able to hear your further conversations. At times, possibly a good thing, and others, perhaps embarrassing.”


  “That is so smart,” Storm said, replacing her ring with the improved version. “Hey, it is also lighter!”

  “I have been working with alloys I discovered aboard the Star Gazer. It is lighter, clamps, and unclamps with a touch, and is nearly impossible to break or bend.”

  “When did you find the time?” Storm asked.

  “Well, reconfiguring and updating the scan systems meant a lot of downtime while I ran diagnostics. Without anything better to do, I worked on the translators.”

  “All I did while running diagnostics was watch the Zenge ships on the wall display. Everyone kept watching, and waiting, and nothing ever happened.”

  “They are sending out active scans,” Sky said. “At least the four-day lead means any ion trails from our engines have dissipated. By now they will have blended with naturally occurring gases.”

  “Why did they wait four days?” Cooper asked. He was not expecting an answer. “You said three ships dropped in on the Star Gazer after she picked you up at the multi-channel. Three to one are pretty good odds. Why wait?”

  “Good odds are not great odds, and the Zenge prefer great odds” Sky said. “There is also the size of the Star Gazer. If they took life-form readings, and realized they had over 240,000 potential captives, maybe they wanted more soldiers to control that many captives. Remember, too, ships travel at different speeds within wormhole channels. We have no clue as to when they launched the chase. Or where they originated.”