"If Admiral Jedburgh and I are correct, Avon is the primary target and you won't need to worry. If the shit really hits the fan, we could have two fleets to deal with, and I'll be on the wrong end of the jump points to help you. I'm sorry, but Admiral Jedburgh is, I fear, correct, and if the worst comes true, I'll need to be at Avon to stop them. If the timing works out, I'll move the fleet back to Cobol, moving to intercept. If it doesn't, I'll stand before the shipyards, with whatever we can complete in time, and whatever ships the Sci-Fi sector bring to the party."
"Hunter out."
I viewed it, since I'd never made such a long vid before.
"Shit," I said.
I reopened the vid to add more.
"Ah, sirs. Apologies for appearing to be giving you orders. Suggestions, sirs, suggestions." I gave them a big grin, and closed the vid.
I made up emails for both of them, and sent them off.
Next, I emailed Bob with those suggestions that concerned him, assuring him I thought I had a solid bite on buying a number of Camels, so building another one now would only be a short term cost. I outlined what I wanted to do with each class of ship I had, including the Talons, added the designs I'd already done with Jane, and asked him if he could have specifications back to me in twelve hours. The priority was Tyr's first, Talon Drones second, Actor class Cruiser third, and the Frigate last.
I suddenly felt ravenous, and so went into my living room for breakfast. Angel was running amok on her kitty castle.
Twenty One
The email from Bob came in as I finished breakfast. I'd eaten the full porky for once. I guess it takes a good war to make you hungry.
I went back to the Bridge and threw Bob onto a side screen.
"Young Jon. Thank you for the early morning wake up call. The General got me out of bed with news of the situation you face and your requirements. Your email came in while I was talking to him."
"The first Camel is half complete. I'll speed up the work on it. I'll have it in Midnight as fast as possible, if I have to carry it there myself. The Excalibur is complete. I've already had it provisioned, filled with ordinance and sent to rendezvous with Squadron Leader Lacey. I can have a second Camel ready in about two to three days."
"The Corvette is complete. Should I send that to Midnight as well? I can have it provisioned and full of ordinance in several hours. Let me know."
"What about the Carrier? I can complete the power plant and engine replacements in a week. At the same time, I can convert the launch tubes as you asked for, and add the Point Defense, missile launchers and their power plants. The internals will still be the mess she is now, but as a fighting ship, she might be the difference between a victory and defeat in Midnight. If they give us enough time to get it there. If you say yes, I'll speed that work up as much as I can. I'll offload all your cargo, the freighters and yachts, so she has maximum space for ordinance and those Talon Drones you mentioned."
"Talking of the drones, I like you're thinking, as long as your AI is up to it. I've never seen an AI take on so much. It's never been done before. I'll have the design specifications you want as soon as I can. Find out who at Avon Shipyards will be liaising with you, so I can send them direct as well. The more time they have to prepare for your arrival, the better."
"You do manage to get yourself in the damnedest situations my boy. Take care."
I thought for a few minutes, and opened a vid for Annette.
"Annette. I want you to leave immediately for the Midnight system. You are to meet Squadron Leader Lacey at the Cobol jump point. The Colonel has a summary of the current situation and my battle data. Review it all on your way to Midnight. If Nightshade isn’t ready to fly, take whatever will get you there fastest. You won't be needing Nightshade once your there."
"You will wait at the jump point for the Corvette Unthinkable. Dock in her hanger and assume command of the ship. She will perform much like Nightshade does if the refit was done how I asked. She has substantially more shielding and weaponry than Nightshade carries. Lacey is in command at the jump point unless General Harriman has sent someone more senior. You've one primary task. If Missile Cruisers from Midgard show up, you are to ignore everything except punching a hole in their hulls. Watch how I did it and do it the same way if you can. You only need one hole to kill the crews, unless they've adapted now. As the biggest ship there until a Camel can join you, you will be the primary target, so watch yourself. Hopefully Unthinkable has enough Point Defense to punch a hole in the missile barrages and keep you safe enough to get the Cruisers."
"Jane will be flying Unthinkable there. If you want to use your own AI from Nightshade, go ahead. But make sure it can handle the new Point Defense. If not, or you have any doubts, use Jane. Whichever AI you go with, give it the battle data and tell it to assimilate what Jane was doing with Point Defense."
"You will be the main target there, but Unthinkable is the best ship to go after the Cruisers. The Camels will be faster, but they don’t have as much Point Defense. You will free up the Centurions, Camels and Excalibur for joint Point Defense duties and to go after the Talons. Discuss with Lacey how they can give you extra protection as you go in, without compromising their own safety."
"Tell Lacey to position someone in Cobol to watch for approaching fleets. Whoever that is should not be suicidal in nature, and should jump back to let you prepare a proper ambush. Do not engage in the Cobol system, let them come to you."
"I hate to dump this on you like this, but there is no-one else I can give Unthinkable to. Lacey will get the Camel when it arrives. Let me know when you get these orders, and when you arrive in Midnight. When you see Lacey, find out why I haven’t received any emails from him."
"Good luck. Hunter out."
I included an epaulette change with the email, giving her Lieutenant Commander rank. Only fitting with a Corvette command.
I sent Bob an email with just one word in it. Yes.
Jane and I spent the time before arrival at Cobol Orbital going over the designs we had previously done. I sent the updated material to Bob.
Shortly before arriving, I had Jane quietly get George up. He came on to the Bridge looking like someone who has slept too much and been abruptly woken. I knew the feeling, I still looked the same.
"What's up Jon?" He looked out at the view. "Where are we?"
"Cobol Orbital. Military got me up at one, and again at three. I'm meeting some people here to discuss the Midgard situation. The station is on its way to Avon, where we'll be going next. I wanted you up, to take charge of the ship. Word is, these people are shit scared. I wouldn’t put it past someone to try and take the ship while I'm there, so they've something that can defend them better. I want you on the Bridge until I get back. I'll leave the combat droids on high alert, just in case."
"Fine with me."
"Don’t let anyone on board. As soon as I'm off, close the airlocks."
"Understood. When do I get the girls up?"
"No need really. Let them wake up naturally, unless you think something bad is going down."
"Lucky them. Me, you wake up."
"Burdon's of higher rank, George. You outrank them now."
"I do too, don’t I? I never thought of it that way, since we don’t use rank much within the team."
In my office, I tooled up for the first time since we'd taken the station. It was my first time since then on a civilian station, and I wasn’t taking any chances. I told Jane to also tool up, as she was coming with me.
Back on the Bridge, I watched as Jane docked us with the station. I nodded to Jane, and turned to George.
"Mind the store. I'll be back." I said the last in a deep voice. I left him wondering about hidden meanings he didn’t get.
Down in the Cargo Bay, we picked our way around the pallets of ordinance. I called Jarvis, the doorman butler droid, and made it quite clear no-one came onboard for any reason. He was to close the airlock after us and not open it again without a command from George.
The airlocks opened and we stepped out.
It rained laser bolts at me.
Jane and I had guns up and were shooting within seconds. We stood there next to each other, raining stunner fire back at the dozen or so shooting at us.
There was no cover for anyone in the docking area. One by one, the attackers went down. The last one took multiple shots from both of us and cartwheeled backwards.
"Jane, perimeter please. Have all the weapons collected."
"Confirmed."
The eleven security droids came out the airlock in their human disguises, and they took up positions outside the area where the gunmen had fallen. Jane went around the fallen, moving guns into one pile, and fifteen bodies into another. The security droids fell back to surround the airlock and both piles.
I waited a minute, before sending Jane out to look for anyone who was supposed to be meeting me. It didn't take her long to find a scared Ensign hiding behind a potted plant out on the public walkway. She marched him over to me.
He looked at me as if he'd seen a ghost. His already pale face went completely white. I looked at him like an Admiral would look at an Ensign who had just messed up. He fainted.
"What?" I said to Jane.
Jarvis came down the ramp, waved something under the Ensign's nose, and he regained awareness, if not composure. He picked himself up and saluted.
"Sir. I'm ordered to bring you to the conference, sir."
"We'll wait for security," I said. "Can you ping them to find out where they are?"
"Ah, yes sir." He glazed over. "Ah, sir? They're on their way. The surveillance monitors are all down in this area of the station and they weren't aware anything had happened."
I had a most intense feeling of déjà vu.
Yet another ambush where I didn’t even know I was going to be. Monitors sabotaged, again. No security response, again.
Not a good start to go into a meeting completely pissed off, when I needed tact and diplomacy for it.
Suddenly aware I was still holding both guns, I changed their charges and holstered them.
Belatedly, a security squad turned up. The officer took one look at both piles, and sent for transport. I made it quite clear to him that I wanted two things. I wanted the guns adjudicated to me, and delivered before I left. And I wanted to know how they knew I was going to be here. I also told him that if he didn’t elicit a satisfactory response to the question, he could inform the prisoners that I would personally interrogate them on their way out an airlock. He looked at me strangely, saw I was dead serious, nodded, and supervised the removal of the prisoners.
When they were gone, the security droids returned to Gunbus, the airlocks were sealed, and I allowed the Ensign to lead us to the conference.
Twenty Two
The conference room was large, and full. The central table had a single empty chair. A two star General had the head, and the empty chair was at the foot, closest to the door.
I stopped inside the door, while the Ensign trotted along the length of the table, and whispered into the General's ear. His eyes widened.
"Admiral Hunter, welcome," said the General.
Admiral? I checked my shoulders. Yes, I was wearing Captain's insignia.
He indicated the empty chair and I sat. Jane moved to a corner where she could watch everyone.
The General looked around the room, and addressed it generally.
"Admiral Hunter is on loan from the Australian Militia, and American Space Force. He is here to brief us on the situation in Midgard. Anyone here who in anyway comments on his apparent age will feel my boot. Do I make myself clear?"
A number of people frowned, notably several civilians. Six military officers with ranks of Major and above, nodded gravely.
After the American accent I'd been listening to recently, his Indian accent was a pleasant change, even if I had to concentrate on it harder. The people in the room represented a large proportion of the races of man. A planet dedicated to technical research attracted all kinds.
"Admiral Hunter…" emphasis on Admiral I noted, "…has the most experience in the Midgard system, and to date, has proved to have the only ship capable of defeating the Midgard forces. We'll hear from him in a moment, but first, I want you to see something."
He nodded to the Ensign, now standing behind me at the door. A wall hollo popped up. We watched an airlock open and two people step out. Both of them took multiple hits from lasers, before they brought up two guns each and systematically gunned down their attackers. The hollo ended.
"Is anyone unsure about what they just saw?" asked the General. Several hands moved upward. "You saw the impossible, ladies and gentlemen. The two people in that vid are now in this room, after taking laser fire. Not stunner fire, but laser fire, repeatedly, and not suffering any injury. What does that you tell you?"
"Don’t mess with them?" It came from a timid voice along one of the walls.
"Yes Lieutenant, that’s exactly what it means."
He looked at me. The jaw was firm, but the twinkle in his eye said it all.
"Admiral," he went on, looking at me, "we appreciate that you've had a difficult few days and you've been up half the night already. The indignity you suffered will be investigated." I nodded to him. "Allow me to introduce those at the table. I'm General Chandra, the ranking officer on Cobol at this time. It has fallen to me to defend this system."
He went on around the table, introducing everyone. I stored names with faces, but didn’t otherwise remember any of them. I assumed those not at the table were aides and underlings.
"Admiral," went on the General, "we'll display the battle feeds you sent us and discuss the salient points as we go."
The hollo screen lit up again, and the scene in front of Gunbus as she jumped into the Midgard system and almost collided with the destroyed Cruiser, showed on it. Almost everyone in the room flinched as the sound of the hull coming into contact with debris echoed through the room. The general froze the image.
"Do we have any ships that would have survived that down jump?" he asked.
"No sir," came from several people.
He unfroze the image.
The hours went by. Periodically the General would stop and ask the same question, with the same answer. He also asked me for clarification on what I'd done, and why, a number of times.
Eventually, Gunbus jumped into Azgard and the room gave a collective sigh of relief.
"So," said the General, "what do we know from all this?"
"We're fucked," said one of the civilians, sounding very morose. It wasn’t a question.
There was a titter of laughter around the room, breaking the tension.
"Sir, they have a major advantage over us, but they also have weaknesses."
"Thank you Major. Exactly so. Admiral, what do you think they'll do if they get past the Azgard jump point?" He was looking at me.
"I expect them to head for the Azgard Orbital station. It’s a minor target for them, but I think the overall game plan is to eradicate space travel down the spine. To do this, they need to do three things. Destroy ships, destroy the stations that support them, and destroy the shipyards that make them."
"So you believe that when they enter Cobol, they'll come here?"
"Yes sir. It’s the logical next step."
"But why?" asked one of the civilians. "We've never done anything to them. We've nothing they want. We design computers, that’s our main ex…" Her voice died.
"Yes," I said. "They are anti-technology. You advance technology. You’re an enemy. Not the main one, but definitely not to be ignored."
"Will they bomb the planet?" asked another of the civilians.
"Unknown. Until we see what happens when they advance through Azgard, we'll not know what they'll do. It's all guesswork at this point in time."
"However," said the General, "we'll plan for the worst. All non-essential people will be evacuated from this station. A one hundred mile radius around each of our t
echnology centers will be evacuated. Admiral, what else can we do?"
"What ships do you have?"
"None. All we had went to the Midgard jump point. I've not been told if we're being sent anymore."
"Do you have any arms manufacturing capability?"
"We have various companies that make fighter weapons, missile launchers and small ordinance."
"Get it all up here and bolted on the outside of the station. If you can put out enough Point Defense, the station may survive. If you can fire enough heavier missiles at them, you may prevail. You've some time, use it to mount as much defense as you can."
"How much time will we have?" asked a Colonel.
"Unknown. If you keep in constant contact with your forces in Azgard, you will know when they come through from Midgard. When you lose all contact with Azgard and anyone still in there, you will know they are about to jump into Cobol."
"Why is that?" asked a Lieutenant.
"Midgard is a blackout zone. They destroyed all the coms satellites. When the last satellite at the Cobol jump point stops, they'll be massing ready to come through."
Send in the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 3) Page 15
