"Admiral, sir.” Qui Shi calls out, asking, "May I have a moment of your time?"
Caleb sighs, as he knows the direction of the conversation, saying, "Sure Dr. Qui Shi, my quarters, or med-bay?"
"Med-bay please," Qui Shi sternly replies,
Caleb follows Qui Shi to her office, and they both sit down. Carla sits on her father’s lap.
Qui Shi begins, "Caleb, I have some issues with Carla, and I want you to be aware of them. Do you want her to be aware of them as well, or should I have one of my staff watch her while we talk?"
"No, Doctor.” Caleb replies, "She can hear my thoughts as clearly as I can hear hers, there is no point in trying to hide anything from her."
"I see.” Qui Shi clears her throat, then continues, "Well, her changes from what I have been able to discover so far seem to be happening positively. I have seen no negative physical effects. However, her increased strength and speed is making it very difficult for us to monitor her, and I just heard about what she did in the hangar bay to Colonel Benton."
Caleb grimaces as he replies, "Well, Doctor, I’m in mental contact with her at all times, you could say I’m like a dog leash to her new powers. She will, eventually, be able to block me from her mind when she grows up, but until then I’m able to keep her from hurting anyone." Actually, she can block me now, but I don’t want to let on about that just yet.
Qui Shi asks, "You hear our conversations when she is in my office for her daily counseling."
"Yes Doctor, I have told you this before, but I hear that through my connection to Paladin.” Caleb replies.
Qui Shi opens her eyes wide disturbed she continues, "So what happened to the Colonel then?" Obviously disturbed by Caleb’s recent comment she does her best to conceal her wonder about Caleb’s ability to see, and hear everything on the ship.
"Well.” Caleb smirks, "She can still surprise me from time to time. When she screamed in public, the scream in my mind was disorienting. It won’t happen again.” She is on edge; did I say something?
"Ok Caleb, well, I have one more thing.” Qui Shi continues.
"She carries a part of Paladin in her. A part of this transmogvirus that changed you and I have been monitoring it, as it has changed every cell in her body just as it has done to you, but you say it is a stronger bond than with you. I have examined the tests, and I can see no differences."
Caleb replies, "The Paladin virus was originally designed to be encoded into a developing being, and to grow with it, to become a natural part of that being. That didn’t happen with me, as I am obviously all grown. Therefore, when I get older the Paladin virus will die off, perhaps in the next eight hundred years or so. However, in my daughter it is a natural growth so we are looking at three to four thousand years, and any children she will have, will live longer still."
Qui Shi asks, "You created this ship with that power in the virus will that happen to Carla as well? Will she create another ship like Paladin?"
Caleb, smiles answering, "Bach gave you all the medical information on our physiology Doctor, and you already know the answer to that question." What is she thinking? Where is she heading with this conversation?
Qui Shi replies, "Yes Caleb, I know she will, but have you thought of the curse it has attached to it. The poor child deserves to have a normal life."
Caleb answers with a question, "You mean the time limit I have off this ship, or the symbiotic relation I have with Paladin?"
"Either one Caleb, she is so young to have her sacrifice her life this way. It is just wrong.” Qui Shi exclaims.
Caleb replies, "She cannot create a ship for decades Doctor, and when she does, it will not be Paladin, it will be whatever her symbiot takes as a name. It is developing different from Paladin, just like any child will grow different from their parents. The symbiotic transmogvirus she has will grow differently from Paladin. She will have a different symbiotic relation to it than me. She may not be able to heal. She should not have the two-hour time limit; we just don’t know yet." I’m sure of that, I hope.
Qui Shi says, "Well, Caleb, with the knowledge Bach has bestowed on me, I believe I can remove the symbiot, and without damaging your daughter, but I will have to do it soon."
Caleb stands up with a serious look on his face and says, "Doctor, I appreciate your concern and I understand it, but our answer is no.” My daughter has a chance to affect our world in a positive way for thousands of years, and she wants to reverse it.
Qui Shi says, "Are you sure this is what’s best for her? She is a child, think about what’s best for her."
"Doctor, look at the world," Caleb answers, "It has changed. Our civilization is forever more changed, and no one will ever have a normal life. You can be prepared to be the sheep or the ram. My daughter isn’t going to be a sheep, she has my blood in her veins, and she is a leader."
"Caleb, think about what I’m offering you, you only have a few days before it’s irreversible.” Qui Shi says. "You may be right about the changes in the world, but does your daughter’s life need to be sacrificed to ensure the peace of our world?"
Caleb smiles as he picks up Carla, saying, "The future is a scary place Doctor for most, but it will be a lot less scary with my daughter and her gift's." Damn that woman can really push my buttons.
Two hours remain, until Paladin intercepts the approaching fleet. Klaus and Anders are preparing an attack plan, going over different tactics.
Klaus asks, "Scott, you feel Caleb's plan will work?"
Anders snickers, saying, "Don’t know, and I don’t really care."
Klaus confused asks, "Why is that?"
Anders replies, "We’re the same Klaus, we have nothing back home so if we die no one will miss us, so caring if we succeed Klaus that doesn’t really matter to me. Just as long as I can kill as many T-Challa as I can before I die. That’s all I care about now."
Anders then runs his hand along the notches he has made in his chair. Each one marks the destruction of a T-Challa ship, and hundreds of their crews.
Klaus frowns, saying, "Perhaps Scott that is true, but I would hope that someone in the world would remember us."
Anders turns to Klaus, and says, "Being remembered isn’t enough Klaus, not for me."
Down in the engine room Onatof, Bach, and Val, go over the shield modifications, and power distribution system.
Val says, "Ok Professor, try it now, please."
Energy begins to pulse through the conduits leading out to the shield emitters. The shields go online at one hundred and ninety percent, efficiency.
Onatof, excited yells, "Excellent Val! It is holding wonderfully at one hundred and ninety percent!"
Bach comments, "Yes, but the emitters are being strained even with the pulse incorporated into the power stream. The shield emitters can only hold the increased shields for a few minutes at most. Any longer and they will burn out the emitter, and then your cloak may become compromised."
Val, feeling uncertain replies, "Cale only needs it long enough for the initial shock wave of the blast, so only a few minutes is all we need."
Bach says, "Caleb pushes himself, and this ship to its limit. Outside he appears very sure of himself."
Val curious, asks, "You can read our thoughts, are you saying he is full of doubt inside?"
Bach glows and says, "Not doubt Val, but I believe his personal thoughts should be just that. My temporary connection to Paladin has given me a much deeper perspective of your brother-in-law. He is a very complex human."
Elsewhere on the ship, Jackson is with Caleb in his ready room with Kitanna, Cooley, and Commander White.
White asks, "Admiral, how sure are we that this plan will work and do we have a backup plan."
Caleb replies asking Commander White, "If it doesn’t work Commander, do you have an alternative plan?" Smart man, we should have a backup plan.
White answers, "No sir, I don’t, but shouldn’t we have some sort of backup plan?"
Jackson annoyed, says, "Yes, Reggi
e, we should have a backup plan. We should have a lot of things, and if you really think about it, according to all the statistics we should all be dead now.” Come on Reggie don’t go getting cold feet now. You were the one playing bumper tag with a minefield a few days ago, and now you want to be cautious?
Caleb says, "Kitanna, I need energy readings of the blast the moment it starts. I will need a breakdown on its dispersions second by second. Cooley, the moment we cloak, you need to shut down the jammer. We can’t pretend to be dead if we are still jamming them."
Jackson asks, "We have one hour until we are in combat range. Is the jammer still blocking their communications?"
"Yes, Colonel," Cooley replies, "I have been able to focus it on one of the ships with that unworthy word that upsets them so much."
White amazed, says, "That will get them angry."
Jackson sighs, saying, "Ok, everyone to stations, I’ll address the crew momentarily."
They leave Caleb’s ready room.
Jackson stops himself before leaving. He turns to Caleb and asks, "You know our luck is going to run out eventually, you sure you want to do this?" I’m just starting to figure you out Caleb. It would suck if we screw this up.
Caleb replies, "We haven’t lost a single person on this ship so far, and through its ancient history it survived a war without a single casualty. I’m hoping we can continue that tradition, but I’m not foolish enough to believe it will happen." Although there’s nothing wrong about hoping for it.
Jackson replies, "No Caleb, but it is something noble to hope for."
CHAPTER SEVEN
X’ENABLANCA
"Colonel!” Kitanna announces, "We have the three Dreadnoughts circling to our flanks. Two are circling to our starboard, the other to our port. The big one is stationary directly ahead."
Jackson says, "Seems like they had this plan of attack set long before we jammed them. Ok then, Klaus point us at that single Dreadnought to our port side." Let’s hope our luck holds out.
Klaus turns the ship hard to port moving at flank speed.
"Anders," Jackson says, "Don’t wait for my command, fire as soon as we are in range."
Kitanna calls out, "The other two Dreadnoughts are now closing in our stern. The big one is still in a holding position."
Anders locks all weapons on the Dreadnought dead ahead,
Klaus moves in at flank speed. The moment Anders targeting sensors tells him he is in range, he fires without hesitation, six Heavy, and twelve Medium plasma charges arc true towards the Dreadnought, followed by all twenty torpedoes.
The Dreadnoughts as usually noted on their previous encounters turns too slowly to avoid the charges. They all hit with tremendous results. Of the twenty torpedoes, seven are able to make it through their light defense grid.
Kitanna calls out, "Their shields are only down to fifty-three percent! It looks like they have made some improvements, or there is something different on this particular Dreadnought. They’re locking weapons."
Paladin responds, "They have transferred additional power from their life support and weapons systems, to increase the effectiveness of their shields."
Anders yells, "We're too far out for torpedoes to be effective. They're shooting down too many. We need to get in closer."
Anders readies another volley, locking all cannons and twelve torpedoes on the Dreadnought. Jackson maneuver’s the cloaked support fighter Cavalier remotely to the stern of the Dreadnought.
Anders fires his second volley. The plasma charges once again hit their mark, but the Dreadnought shoots down all but three of the torpedoes,
Kitanna calls out, "Dreadnought shields down to twenty percent. We're in its effective firing range now. The other two Dreadnoughts are closing into firing range in two minutes, and sir, that Super Dreadnought is now powering up weapons. It’s maneuvering itself into a firing solution."
The first Dreadnought returns fire with over twenty plasma charges, and thirty torpedoes. They arc towards Paladin.
Klaus quickly pulls Paladin hard to starboard, avoiding eleven of their plasma cannons. While Anders uses the ship’s Light cannons to shoot down all but five torpedoes.
Kitanna calls out, "Our shields are down to seventy-two percent."
Caleb unphased, orders, "Anders, load the last volley of torpedoes now. Power down the cannons, and shut down the torpedo loaders. You will hold your fire until we are within one thousand yards."
Anders turns, surprised, and says, "At that range we’ll take a lot of collateral damage."
Caleb calls down to Val over the ship's com system, "Val, get ready for the power boost to the shields."
Caleb then looks up at Jackson, asking, "Colonel, are you ready?"
Jackson says, "Cavalier is in position. Shame, it was a good ship." I wonder if that A.I. feels it's alive like Paladin does.
The Dreadnought fires again. Klaus keeps on target closing at flank speed as the shield modifications come online just before the blast. The impact shakes Paladin slightly.
Kitanna calls out, "Our shields are holding at…” She pauses, then turns to Caleb, and says, smiling, "One hundred and eighty percent."
Caleb, simply smiles.
Klaus quickly closes, as the Dreadnought fires again, and again, shaking Paladin.
Kitanna calls out, "Shields are down to one hundred and sixty-four percent, but they are recharging quickly."
Val calls out over the com, "Cale, were pushing the emitters too hard! I can’t hold this level of power too much longer. Not without compromising the cloak."
Caleb asks, "Kitanna range?"
Kitanna replies, "Five thousand yards, and closing fast."
Caleb looks to Jackson, and shakes his head, saying, "Mr. Anders fire! Colonel, send in Cavalier."
Twelve torpedoes launch at almost point-blank range, and at that exact moment, Cavalier rams the stern of the Dreadnought. The explosion is tremendous, completely enveloping Paladin in the blast.
Kitanna calls out, "Shields are holding at thirty percent, blast energy is dissipating at twelve percent every second."
Val calls out frantically, "Cale! Whatever you’re going to do, you better do it soon, or we’re going to start losing emitters!"
Caleb speaks telepathically to Paladin, "How much damage will we take at this point."
Paladin replies, "I can switch us automatically, I am monitoring the emitters, and the damage yield. I can switch us at the exact moment."
Caleb yells out to Anders, "Anders! I’m turning shield control over to Paladin."
Jackson turns and says, "You sure about this."
Caleb smiles looking over at White and says, "Call it my back up plan." Damn this is gonna hurt more than the last time, I can already tell.
Paladin begins his countdown announcing, "Cloak in four, three, two."
The shields drop, and the cloak engages. The ship is rocked hard, as it rolls over on its side. The force of the blast, then carries it sixteen thousand yards and out of the blast zone.
Crewmembers are hurled hard across the ship as the inertial dampers are pushed far beyond their limits.
Paladin announces, as Caleb slumps over in pain, "We have hull breaches on several decks. I’m erecting emergency force fields. Total shipwide damage is at eighteen percent."
Caleb is holding the railing around the command section as he drops to a knee in agony. He grits his teeth as his side splits open again, bleeding out once more. Damn, that hurt a hell of a lot more than I thought it would.
Jackson seeing Caleb yells, "Cale! Are you alright?" Ah, crap, I forgot he feels pain from the damage to this ship. Let’s hope when the ship is fixed he’ll heal this time.
Caleb stands weakly says, "Yeah, I’ll be fine." Damn, this really hurts.
Cooley regains her bearings, and then announces over the com, "Doctor Qui Shi, we have reports of injuries on several decks."
Qui Shi replies, "I have my staff heading to the damaged areas now."
Jackson
stands back up. He looks over to Kitanna, who was strapped securely in her seat, and says, "Where are the T-Challa?"
Kitanna regains her senses and quickly glances over her sensors replying, "They're heading to the blast zone. We seem to be undetected so far.” She gasps quickly, yelling, "Sir! That Super Dreadnought, it’s on a collision course, impact in ten seconds!"
Klaus, still slightly dazed jumps up to his seat, activating the ships thrusters, and rights the ship quickly, diving Paladin downward, and then brings Paladin right up under the Super Dreadnought's keel. Klaus does this all in one swift, easy motion and virtually effortlessly.
White looks over to Klaus surprised, saying, "Good job Klaus, excellent flying. You handle yourself better than any wheel man I have ever seen."
Val call’s over the com, "Bridge, this is Val. We have wounded people down here, and we have damage to the engines. I can’t get hyperdrive up for an hour at least,"
Jackson looks to Caleb and says, "Let’s hope they don’t leave without us." Damn it Val! Get those engines up.
Caleb calls out on the com, "Onatof, Bach, report to the engine room to assist Val."
Qui Shi calls up to the Bridge, "Caleb, if you can come down here, we have two critically wounded crewmembers. We could use your help."
Jackson looks at Caleb and his bleeding side, asking, "You sure you can do this, you look pretty banged up yourself." Why am I asking? He’s going to do it anyways, dumb ass.
Caleb, smiles, saying, "You have the Bridge Colonel, I’ll be in med-bay."
Caleb moves quickly down through the gangways to med-bay, and in less than a minute he is there."
Qui Shi looks up, seeing Caleb, she says, "We have a punctured lung and massive internal bleeding here, I could save him, but it would take too much time from my other patients."
Caleb quickly grabs the crewmember’s head and shoulder, and they both are engulfed in a blue glow. One-minute passes, and Caleb gasps for air, he bends over the patient for a moment, catching his breath. He stands up straight. Damn that hurt more than before, must have something to do with the damage to the ship.
The Ocoda Chronicles Book 1 Paladin Page 22
