“XO, for your information, the freeing of the nine captives on board the Seafloat, your conversation with them and your return here have all been broadcast live to Peterson, at the order of General Poindexter,” Jane said firmly, her manner command serious. “The Chief of the Air Force now joins us by holo.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The image of General Harriet Poindexter filled the middle of the comlink holo, with Jane’s image moved to the right side of the holo. The middle-aged black woman wore the command ceremonial uniform limited to her rank and to the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. Her tight black curls were topped by a formal blue officer’s hat with silver braid on the bill of the hat. Below that she wore the Dress Blue three-button Hap Arnold-style coat with silver-lined shoulder tabs and silver buttons above a silver-lined belt. Her four silver stars shone brightly. Below the coat she wore a blue skirt. Whatever shoes and hose she wore were below the edge of the display table behind which she now stood. To her right stood General Paul J. McAuley, chairman of the JCS, who wore his Marine Blue Dress A uniform and white hat. Like Poindexter, his uniform showed four stars on his shoulder tabs, four silver coat buttons and seven lines of service bars on his left breast. A blue belt cinched his waist. Poindexter’s coat, contrary to usual command uniform practice, showed her five lines of service bars, with four service medals hanging below the bars. Above her bars were the silver Expert Rifleman insignia and the parachute insignia that showed her as jump qualified. The right chest side of both uniforms carried small name tags. Behind her there stood other command level officers of the colonel and major rank, with a small bevy of captains on the distant edges of the flatscreen-filled room where satellite monitoring was done in Building One at Peterson. The woman looked straight at them.
“Captain Jane Yamaguchi, I speak for the entire Air Force community in congratulating you, your XO, the CNO, your crew and the boarding teams for the magnificent job you all did in capturing the six Alien ships that killed our space station and bombarded the CONUS,” she said, her tone formal, professional and command serious. “General McAuley also has something to say on the matter.”
The massive form of the Marine whose face too often went red when he was angry or upset carried a formality that made Bill wonder at the stand up, formal dress of the two JCS chiefs. Someone else must be watching them even as they watched the Command Bridge imagery on their display table and nearby flatscreens. McAuley fixed gray eyes on them.
“Captain Jane Yamaguchi, I second what General Poindexter just said.” The man’s thick jaw clenched, then eased into a bemused expression. “You were right. I was wrong. Your retention of the control of your ship Blue Sky was vital to the defense of the Constitution, the United States itself and the entire Earth. And your two stage plan for first fighting, then infiltrating these Collector starships was both strategically and tactically inspired.” The big man licked his lips. “If you ever wish to retire from roaming space, there is room for you on the staff of the JCS.”
Jane’s right side image looked briefly shocked at the confession made by the JCS chairman. Then she stood up from her seat on top of the six foot high command pedestal, locked her heels in attention stance and saluted the man. “General McAuley, thank you! Your offer is much appreciated.” His wife shifted her stance slightly, looking to the right. “General Poindexter, thank you also for your remarks. I must point out that the capture of the six Alien starships was entirely due to the bravery and innovation of the six teams we sent to board those ships. I commend the team leaders, who are Jake Slowzenski of the Tangi Valley, Janice Watanabe of the Takur Ghar, Mack Hodson of the Rolling Thunder, Alicia Hoffman of the Pointe Du Hoc, Frank Wurtzman of the Chapultepec Castle and Stefano Cordova of the Seafloat.” Jane paused, put both hands behind her back in a change to parade rest stance and continued. “Do you have further orders for me, my ship and our six new American starships?”
Poindexter also moved to parade rest stance, though she put both hands on the edge of the display table. The woman’s command presence manner became slightly relaxed. “Captain, for your information, our communications with you, and your sharing of the release of the captives on the Seafloat, are being watched live by President Melody Hartman at the White House. She will have something to say momentarily.” The black woman looked aside, her gaze fixing on Bill. “I see that your Executive Officer carries a left arm wound. How many of the boarding members were injured in the ship capture efforts? Did any make the ultimate sacrifice?”
Jane remained standing, her parade rest stance being the best choice for a video conference that had the president of the United States as a silent observer. “General, all boarders survived the boardings. My XO caught a laser beam in his left arm. It’s been repaired. On the Seafloat, Marine Special Operations veteran Bob Milley also took a laser beam in his left shoulder. On the Tangi Valley, Green Beret member Francis Ginsburg took a laser through his leg that severed the bone. Francis is unconscious in the clamshell healer unit of his ship. The device will fully repair his wound.” She blinked, looked around the front of the bridge, then spoke. “On the Rolling Thunder, Apsara Mukherjee was tasered while Andre Helushka suffered a left arm laser wound. He is functional and is now piloting that ship’s transport as it returns captives to their homes. On the Chapultepec Castle, Ranger veteran Chris Selva was tasered and is recovering. Uh, on the Seafloat, Cassandra Welsh, a vet of Air Force Special Tactics, has fully recovered from being knocked out by an explosive blast.”
The black woman who commanded the 21st Space Wing, the 1st Space Brigade, the Space Command and the entire Air Force nodded slowly. “Good to hear the injuries were modest. Though I share Vice Admiral Richardson’s sadness at the loss of five good sailors on the Louisiana and the Minnesota.” She paused, ignoring a colonel who had come close to her with an iPad he wanted her to see. “Captain Yamaguchi, once before you reported most effectively on the enemy and how we might defeat them. That defeat has now happened. America now controls seven star-going spaceships with incredible weaponry. What are your post-action recommendations?”
Ahhh. Bill had been wondering why the Air Force general was leading this vid-conference, rather than the JCS chairman. It seemed Poindexter was still exercising her assigned duty as commander of all American operations in space. To his right, the comlink holo showed Jane stiffening as she moved to formal attention stance.
“General, I recommend that you and the JCS and DOD retain the six team leaders as captains of the starships they captured. While three of them are retired from service, I gather DOD reactivated them to active duty status.” She paused, looked Bill’s way, then turned intent. “Second, in view of the quality efforts of the people you provided from MacDill, I recommend you seek more MacDill volunteers who are willing to serve as crew on these six ships. Each Collector ship is designed to operate with a captain and four crew. At present there is a captain and two crew. Which means we need twelve more people to serve as Command Bridge crew on board those ships.” Bill looked her way and gave an ASL hand sign. Her thin black eyebrows lifted. “I believe my XO has a recommendation to add to recommendations. Bill?”
“Thank you Captain Yamaguchi,” he said, standing up from his station as the attention of Poindexter, McAuley and other Air Force officers all fixed on him. Along with the unseen gaze of the president. “During my assistance to fellow SEAL Jake Slowzenski in the takeover of the Seafloat, I promised its captain, a walking cockroach by the name of Diligent Taskmaster, that I would see it, its crew and the Alien crews of the other ships deposited in a dome on the surface of Mars, there to live out their years.” He paused as the black woman’s face showed curiosity. “When Jane and I first took over this ship, we allowed its captain and his crew to leave it and to settle on the Market world in HD 128311, a star system located just over 50 light years from Earth. The . . . cockroach repaid our mercy by coming here at the head of a fleet with the aim of knocking humanity out of space and capturing hundreds of humans for
sale on this interstellar Market of theirs. Allowing any Alien from these ships to return home would create a danger to the security of America and of humanity.”
Poindexter frowned. “Your recommendation is sound, based on the history of this Alien and his crew. But there is no human base on Mars. How can this be done?”
Bill put his hands behind his back, assuming parade rest stance as the best he could do for the big cheeses. “General, Chairman McAuley, this ship contains an automated Factory Chamber. It can fabricate a glass dome of whatever size is needed to house the Alien crews. I suggest it be placed in the deepest canyon system on Mars, the Valles Marineris, which is located on the planet’s equator.” He paused, noticed how several captains in the back of the room had suddenly become busy at their flatscreens. He hoped his wearing of NWU Type 1 blue camos did not tick off some micromanager. “Captain Yamaguchi is the amateur astronomer on this ship. She’s told me about that place. Its deep canyon nature will protect the dome from small asteroids, while the sunlight will be sufficient for the Aliens to grow crops and small meat animals like guinea pigs. If some expert from DOD wishes to interview them, have at it.”
The Air Force chief nodded slow agreement. “Sounds fine with me. I’m sure your ship can do as you say. Uh, what is the status of the Alien crew on the six ships right now?”
Jane gestured to him an ASL sign saying Sit down. He sat at his Weapons station seat as she leaned forward. “General Poindexter, all Alien ship crews now occupy containment cells on their ships. Those are very secure cells that once held me and my XO. Believe me, they cannot escape. Once the dome is built, we will taser zap them, transport their unconscious forms into the dome, and allow the 30 or so of them to sort things out among themselves. Do you approve of this disposition?”
“I approve,” Poindexter said, still standing next to McAuley, both of them now at parade rest stance. The woman glanced down at her display table where an iPad was blinking a notice. She looked up, her manner now very official. “I am advised that President Melody Hartman wishes to speak directly with you, Captain Yamaguchi. We are piggy-backing her White House vidsignal on our encrypted link to you.”
The comlink holo flickered again, with the two generals moving to the left side of the holo, with Jane at the right side. In the middle there now appeared an image of a fiftyish Anglo woman sitting behind a gleaming wooden desk in the Oval Office of the White House. The woman wore a brown and yellow suit dress. Her shoulder length brown hair showed plenty of curls. Her pale pink lips were pursed. But it was the expression in the woman’s blue eyes that made Bill stand up and snap to attention. He gave her a quick offhand salute. Richardson did the same. So did Jane, who had also gone to attention.
“Captain Yamaguchi, you did a good job taking over those Alien spaceships,” the woman said in a low soprano voice. Her eyes looked right and left, no doubt viewing the six Alien crew who shared the bridge with Bill and Jane. “Fascinating the shapes of intelligence you have encountered.” The woman’s manner grew suddenly formal. “Crew people Bright Sparkle, Time Marker, Long Walker, Wind Swift, Lofty Flyer and Learned Escape, on behalf of America and humanity, I thank you for volunteering to serve as crew on the Blue Sky. I represent 320 million Americans, out of seven billion humans on our world of Earth. I am the leader in charge of these military people you have worked with now and earlier.” Hartman smiled a political campaign smile. “Any of you are welcome to visit Earth and to be my guest in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House. Or to spend time on the South Lawn of my residence, which may appeal to the four-legged among you.” Bill saw the yellow electrical nimbus that surrounded Time Marker grow, then shrink as the walking snake reacted to the reference to him. Long Walker’s two mobile black eyes moved atop his fleshy head, first looking Bill’s way, then fixing on Hartman. His friend’s body language said he was pleased. As were Wind Swift the scaly kangaroo, Lofty Flyer the flying squirrel and the two Megun, Sparkle and Learned, whose skin color bands flowed like several rainbows. They must have muted their shoulder speaker/vidcam units as no words came from them. The president surely noticed the electrical nimbus, as her brown eyebrows lifted slightly. Her gaze moved to focus on his wife. “Captain Yamaguchi, I am pleased with how General Poindexter, assisted by General McAuley and Vice Admiral Richardson, have supported your efforts. They have my confidence.” The two generals made no move in the comlink holo. Clearly they were used to dealing with presidents who could bite in addition to giving compliments. “Tell me, captain, is America still threatened by these Collector ship Aliens and their Market worlds and Buyer system of interstellar commerce?”
Bill swallowed hard. Talk about asking a leading question! The one thing he was certain of after being kidnapped was that the universe was a wild, strange and dangerous place. Anyone who thought Earth and humanity might now be safe was fooling themselves. In the comlink holo, Jane put her arms at her side, still in attention stance. The muscles in her pale face tightened.
“President Hartman, yes, America and Earth are still threatened by the Buyer society,” she said, her tone emphatic.
The woman who had led America for the last five years did not seem surprised by the answer. “Tell me how America is threatened.”
Jane gave a quick nod. “First, although America now has satellites able to detect moving neutrino sources, an ability that usually causes Collector ships to avoid a world, this attack says things have changed on the Alien side,” she said. “Earth could face a future slave-capturing effort by a Collector ship. Or ships. Second, and most seriously, the nearest Market world with hundreds of Buyers lies just two days travel from Earth, by way of our ship’s faster-than-light stardrive. That system is HD 128311. Its star is a K0V orange star with six planets. A moon that orbits planet four is the Market world. A Traffic Control station controls access to the world. On it are thousands of people, including hundreds of Buyers of captured Aliens.” She paused as the president lifted an eyebrow. “You surely have this information at hand thanks to Space Command. In short, so long as there is an operational Market world just two days travel from Earth, humanity will face the threat of future multi-ship attacks like what just happened.”
The president blinked, then sat back in her chair. “So this Market world is a threat to America and humanity. What should we do about it?”
Jane took a deep breath. “I can take the Blue Sky to HD 128311, pretend to be Diligent Taskmaster returning with captives, then attack the Traffic Control station and the Buyer compounds on the moon’s surface.”
Hartman’s expression became tensely serious. “Exactly what I have been thinking ever since you arrived beyond Pluto’s orbit and transmitted your incredible records and vidcam imagery to the JCS. Which is why I asked Congress to declare a state of war exists between America and the Buyer society.” She gestured at the empty Oval Office. “Lots of people come in here. Very few understand the burden of this office. I do. You surely do, given your insistence at retaining command of the Blue Sky. Tell me, would your attack on this Market world have a better chance of succeeding if you had other Collector ships assisting you?”
Now Bill understood why the woman who had led her Nativist party to victory in the last election, with control of the Senate passing to the Nativist legislators, was spending so much time with Jane. She saw herself as a new FDR. Which could well be the case given the interstellar scope of the threat faced by Earth and America. It was clear to him that their recent victory in taking over the six Collector ships was just the beginning of a long combat campaign. How far it would go remained to be seen.
Jane reached up, pushed back the helmet of her vacsuit and wiped sweat off her brow. She undid the loop holding her hair in a ponytail and shook her head. “Madame president, yes, attacking this Traffic Control station would be safer and more efficient with more than one ship.”
“Good.” The woman who was leader of the Free World gave a quick nod, her expression still intensely serious. “Tell me what ships you nee
d to ensure a successful attack.”
Jane glanced his way, then looked back to the president. “I recommend attacking the Market world station with four Collector ships, including the Blue Sky. That would leave three ships in Sol system for the defense of America and Earth against any future attacks.” She gestured toward Bill. “My XO convinced nine of his drinking buddies, all of whom are special forces veterans, to sign onto our recent effort. They formed three boarding crews. I would welcome the assistance of ships Seafloat, Chapultepec Castle and Pointe Du Hoc, and captains Cordova, Wurtzman and Hoffman.”
Hartman gave her a quick smile. “Captain Yamaguchi, I direct you to attack the Market world in system HD 128311, to destroy this Traffic Control station, and to destroy all facilities which support this slave-taking enterprise! Use the ships you just named.” In the holo, the two JCS generals looked briefly surprised, then shut down their expressions as their commander in chief made battle policy. “Coordinate with General Poindexter on the additional crew you will need, see to any refueling of your ship that is needed, deposit the Alien crews on Mars as you outlined to my generals, then hightail it to this star system with your allied ships.” The woman paused, then grinned big. “But first, bring your starship to the White House! I insist on meeting you, your XO and your Alien crewmates!”
Escape 2: Fight the Aliens Page 18
