by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Essay shook his head, “I was afraid of this. I should have waited.”
Kamela nodded, “Well, learn from it and don’t make another mistake. We have time to build to meet this threat, don’t waste it by giving them more information.”
Essay nodded and went back to listening to the Grengen.
• • •
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Choose the brightest and best we have to work on this problem and get my brother out harassing the Spearan and Langloh fleets. It’s hard to attack when you’re forced to defend. I’ve also got to get our warships working on using their small ships more effectively.”
“I have a list of the highest ranking scientists.”
“I don’t want them. I want the list of the most intelligent scientists. I’ve never trusted the ranking of anyone that received the ranking from a relative or as a favor.”
“I’ll go into the main database and do a search for what you want. I’ll let you know when I’ve got it done.”
“That would be good.”
• • •
“We need to go back to the Admiralty and bring Admiral Connor up to speed on what’s happened.”
“I agree, Essay. However, I will not be staying with you.”
Essay and Erica looked at Kamela, “What do you mean?”
“That new Flasher Leader was sincere when he said that it would probably take eight to ten years for him to prepare to go back to our galaxy. I am going to drop you off at the Colony and take the Prophet’s Eyes back to Kindred with me.”
“Why? I thought you had a destiny to fulfill?”
“I do, Essay. However, there is a Kindred Male that I am going to go and convince him to start my family with, while we’re waiting for the Flashers to prepare to invade. I will send Poul into the Flasher Galaxy to keep track on what’s going on and before they start invading, we will come back and let you know it’s time to go to war. Poul will keep you updated on what he sees.”
“You don’t think we need to keep our carriers out here?”
“That Leader was serious. He’s not sending warships into our space unless he’s reasonably certain they can stand up to us. The earliest that will happen is about seven years. Once he develops new technology for his warships, he’ll probably send some to see if they can survive against the former slaves and then he’ll see how they do against our warships. You should be ready to take them on by that time. I will have Poul let you know if he hears anything important is happening.”
“I don’t want you to leave, Kamela. I feel like you are part of my family,” Erica quickly interjected into the conversation.
Kamela softly smiled, “I know you don’t, Erica. However, when are you and Essay going to start your family?”
Erica’s eyes went wide and she looked at Essay. He looked at her and then turned to Kamela, “So…we’re entering a time out period.”
“Yes, we are. And you must use this time to get ready for what’s coming. Don’t waste it.”
“Poul, I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m sure Kamela will allow me to come and visit, Erica. Besides, I will keep you updated on everything that’s happening in Flasher Space.”
Essay looked at Kamela and she nodded. “Well, take us home, Poul.” The Prophet’s Eyes’ stardrive spooled up and went to a high frequency sound. A few moments later, the Flasher Galaxy disappeared. They stopped by the two groups of Carriers and ordered them to return to the Colonies; then it was maximum speed to the Admiralty. Kamela stayed for the subsequent meetings and a week later left for her home world.
Jak was there waiting for her return. He smiled when the Eyes landed outside his home and Kamela walked out of the port, “I was wondering how much longer you were going to be gone.”
“Somethings just can’t be rushed.”
“Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready since the day you asked me. I just had another commitment to handle first.”
“Is it handled?”
“For the moment.”
“Does that mean you’re going to leave me again?”
“No, you will come with me next time.”
“And our family?”
“Will stay with our parents until we return.”
Jak stared at her and then opened his arms. Kamela went into them and he held her close, “How long?”
“Eight to ten years.”
Jak held her tighter, “That’s good enough.”
• • •
Steve looked at Amy and Gabe, “Well, it appears we are back in the hurry up and wait mode we used with the Builders.”
“Steve, are we going to be around in ten years?”
Steve started laughing, “Gabe, as long as this Griffet likes hanging around me, I think I’ll be around for a lot longer than ten years. So will you and Amy.”
Gabe looked down at his Griffet and sighed, “I guess you’re right. So what do we do now?”
“You are going to go and make sure the Missile Frigates are built correctly and Amy is going to see about getting the ground forces trained.”
“Do you honestly think we’re going to need a ground assault, Steve?”
“We’re not going to limit it to the ground, Amy. I intend to also see if we can capture some of those giant Flasher Warships?” Gabe and Amy’s mouths fell open. “Imagine if we can get our marines on board one of those giants and take it. It would be a vessel we could use to carry a huge number of carriers and Frigates.”
“But it must have a self-destruct circuit. If we threaten to take it, they’ll just blow it up,” Gabe responded.
Steve shrugged, “Remember that we scanned that ship when it was in the Milky Way looking at those scouts we destroyed.” Amy and Gabe nodded. “Well, we got a complete blueprint on how that self-destruct circuit operates. We’ll develop a ship that can lock onto that giant’s hull and cut into the area where the self-destruct explosives are located. We’ll train our warriors to hold off the enemy while they disable the circuit on the bridge. That’s when the other ships that are attached to the hull will break in and start taking control of the vessel.”
“Steve, there’s probably more than several hundred thousand crew members on those ships. That’s a battle larger than many fought on Earth during the two world wars. And I suspect that the ship’s interior will be heavily damaged in attempting to take control of it.”
“There’s probably more crewmembers that that, Gabe. There are at least six hundred thousand small ship pilots on board besides the crew that operates the ship. However, can you imagine gaining control of one of those warships and converting it to dark energy technology? One of those ships could transport our entire fleet inside it. And Dark Matter Blasters on its hull would be devastating.”
Amy stared at Steve and then looked at Gabe, “He makes a good point. We could use one of those ships.”
Gabe shook his head, “There’s no way we can get that many landing craft on the hull of one of those monsters undetected to deliver the forces needed to take it.”
Steve nodded, “That’s true. However, you know that Timmy ran an active scan of one of those ships and we’ve learned something that might help make it happen.”
“What is that?”
“Those ships have an anti-intruder defense system that is controlled from the bridge. I had Georg Luge Senior take a close look at the scans and he determined something of interest.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed, “Go on.”
“You know the Flashers have extreme population pressures on their planets and it appears they don’t do a lot to protect their crews.”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Steve,” Gabe said.
“I sent one of our Hart Battleships to the debris field outside Andromeda’s Black Hole and had it look for one of their small ships that may have survived intact. The Utah found one and brought it on board. The pilot was still on board but was dead from a seve
re dose of radiation poisoning. He wasn’t wearing armor or a spacesuit.”
“What?”
“He didn’t have on armor or any sort of space suit to protect him in the event his ship’s hull integrity was compromised. George has already looked throughout the ship for armor or space suits on board and couldn’t find any.”
Gabe looked at Amy and then turned back to Steve, “That’s crazy!”
“It is to those of us that put a value on life. But it is in keeping with their philosophy of having to contend with an extreme birthrate. I guess they figure that if their small ship’s hulls were penetrated, they would be useless in a fight. If they don’t put protection on their pilots, what would that say about the rest of the crew?”
“No one has a suit.”
Steve smiled, “So if we were able to take control of the bridge and open all the external ports on that monster along with the interior portals…?”
Amy smiled, “The crew would die from explosive decompression.” Steve nodded. “But how do you open all those ports simultaneously?”
“The controls are on the bridge to make it happen. We just have to get on the bridge and hold the response off long enough to activate them. Once that’s done, we’ll open the landing bay doors and the forces needed to clean up could be landed inside the landing bay without opposition.”
“But they surely have the landing bay crews in space suits!”
“George has looked at every scan we’ve made of those ships and on several of them he saw crewmembers walking around in the landing bay without space suits. It appears they totally depend on the force fields to keep the atmosphere inside the bay. And hey, if an accident happens, it’s not like they don’t have plenty of others on board to take their place.”
Gabe started shaking his head as he said, “How many of them are on the bridge?”
Steve’s smile disappeared, “Now that might be an issue.”
“How large of an issue?”
“George says there are about fifteen hundred on the bridge at any moment.”
“FIFTEEN HUNDRED!?!”
“The bridge is about a mile long.”
“And that ship has intruder defenses? Eliminating that many will require the use of blasters and the damage done to the bridge will cause massive damage to the systems!”
“It won’t if you go in and remove the atmosphere. A vacuum will also kill everyone on the bridge.”
“You’ve seen the armor around the bridge. The only place to attack that warship is directly behind the bridge where the power conduits go in.”
“And that is where our forces will have to go in and blow a hole into the bridge.”
“And what about the self-destruct mechanism?”
“Gabe, I didn’t say it was going to be easy. I’m just saying that capturing some of those warships will be worth the effort. And we need to capture one or two as quickly as possible to modify them to use in in the coming war.”
Gabe looked at Amy, “What do you think about this?”
“We know the Hart’s Major Beam will penetrate the hull. It sounds dangerous but I can see where we could use those ships. If we could convert some of them to Dark Energy…”
Gabe sighed, “Who is going to lead this plan?”
Amy sighed, “I am the Commander of our Ground Forces.”
“Amy!”
“Let me work on it. Give me a few months to look at the feasibility of doing this. We won’t really know if this is doable until we devise a plan to make it happen.” Amy looked at Steve, “We can’t fire a major beam into the bridge. It would destroy everything.”
Steve nodded, “I know. The beam will have to be precisely placed so that it won’t cut the power conduits either or we’ll be unable to open all the portals and ports.”
“What about the individual rooms where the crew lives?” Gabe questioned.
“Gabe, that’s the reason why we’re going to have to land our forces on the ship and go in to clean up any survivors. However, the survivors hiding in their rooms won’t be able to open their doors without suffering explosive decompression. They’ll be trapped inside their quarters.”
“This will be pure murder.”
Steve nodded, “If we destroy the ship, they’d be dead anyway.” Steve looked at Amy, “Why don’t you get with George and the two of you determine how many rooms will have to be attacked and get back to me. How long do you need to decide if this is doable?”
“Give me four months to really take a close look at the scans.”
“Let me know as quickly as you decide.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Steve turned and walked away. Gabe looked at Amy and she held up her hands, “Let’s see what we’re up against and see if this is possible.”
“You will not go in with the landing forces.”
Amy frowned, “And you will not go into battle with your ships, Gabe.”
“But, that’s different, Amy. I can always run. Once you’re on board, you’re trapped.”
“Think about that for a while and you’ll see there’s not much difference. You above all should know that survival is never free. A price has to be paid.”
Gabe blew out a breath and shook his head, “Will Jolly be going in with you?”
Amy looked down at the Griffet leaning against her boot and rolled her eyes. Both of them could see the round eye was staring up at Amy as it shook slightly. “I don’t know how I could stop her. She would have to know something serious was happening and would not remain behind. However, I don’t think she would be harmed by anything the Flashers could use against us.”
Gabe looked at Dakota and saw it staring up at him. “I think you’re right. I just don’t like subjecting them to war.”
“They’ve been attacked by the Flashers for a very long time. I suspect they know what’s happening.”
“Even so.” Amy shrugged and then nodded.
Chapter Sixteen
Private Hite Solan looked at Sgt. Anez, “Sir, I’m just not good at keeping my balance on these things.”
“Private, you will shut your mouth and start the course now!” Hite leaned forward and Sgt. Anez yelled, “GO!”
The Marines had been training for four months and Hite was frustrated at controlling his new armor. Hite bit the accelerator pad in his mouth and the skates activated. He leaned forward as the frictionless wheels began turning at an ever increasing speed. He shot down the Carrier’s long corridor and saw the end approaching at high speed. This is where he always lost it and crashed into the wall; he just couldn’t get the slide down properly. He turned sideways and slid toward the fast approaching wall and made the turn. He leaned forward and was shocked. This was the first time he had done it. He screamed, “YAHOOO0!” and accelerated down the narrow corridor toward the distant bridge on the giant carrier. He saw the next turn approaching and turned again. He almost lost his feet but managed to stumble around the corner as he accelerated again. He glanced quickly at the chronometer on his visor and saw he was ten seconds ahead of his best time. He leaned forward and went to full power down the four mile long corridor. He was doing eighty miles an hour and applied the brakes to the small wheels under his feet and leaned back into the deceleration. The open port to the next corridor was open in front of him and he managed to stoop and barely jump through it without catching his wheels on the lip. He landed in a tuck position and went to full power again. He slid into the next turn and then headed down the corridor leading from the port side of the giant carrier toward starboard corridor. He finally had the slide under control and reveled at the speed he was moving. He had to jump through four more portals to reach the far side of the carrier in less than a minute and reduced power as he slid to a stop in the ninety degree narrow turn. He went into another tuck and pressed button on his wrist to max the power settings.
He knew he would kill himself if he lost it at the speed he was moving even with armor but his frustrations with mastering this new technology had taken him an
d he was lost in the moment. The small wheels were turning at an incredible speed and Hite saw the portal in the middle of the corridor growing at an incredible pace. He tucked and prepared to leap through the portal when the switchover happened.
The carrier’s gravity generators shutdown and he lost contact with the floor. He bit down on the accelerator pad twice and his boots changed to jets. He sprung out of his tuck just as the soles of his boots released high pressure jets through the small nozzles recessed in the soles. Now he was flying down the corridor at more than two hundred miles an hour and he was shocked to see Cpl. McAfee a hundred yards in front of him. He held out his arms and turned his palms in the direction he was traveling, felt the jets activate, and jerk him hard. He would have been forced to let his arms hit him in the sides if it weren’t for the strength and power of his armor. He came roaring up on Corporal McAfee and spun around him in an instant.
Hite had constantly struggled with the skates but no one could match his skills with the armor’s maneuvering jets in zero gravity. He flashed through the next portal and smiled broadly until the gravity came back on and he hit the deck and slid a hundred yards on his chest before he could get the skates back under him. He slid into another turn and then flashed by the end of the route. Sgt. Anez watched him as he flashed past and couldn’t believe what the timer showed, “Hite, you’re going to get yourself killed!”
“Sir, yes, Sir!”
Anez looked at Hite’s time and laughed, “It looks like you’ve finally mastered the slide. You just set a new course record. Congratulations, Corporal. Now do it again faster!”
Hite turned and rolled up to the starting line. Whoever held the record at any moment was promoted one grade. He looked back at Anez, “Sargent, why are we doing this?”
“Because you’re going to have to move down corridors more than three hundred miles long when you get inside a Flasher Warship. It’ll be too late to learn how to do it there. Ready…GO!”
Anez watched Hite disappear down the corridor and took a deep breath. Doing this was going to be a lot more difficult with doors opening in front of you on each side of the corridor, but training for that would start after the Marines mastered the basics of moving around in a warship as large as a moon.
