by T. R. Harris
“Sorry, Andy, I’m just really freaking out. I thought by getting here before the Kracori we’d have a good chance of mounting an effective defense. We have thousands of ships to their three hundred. I couldn’t imagine it would be like this.”
“Kind of makes you suspicious of the timing, doesn’t it.” Andy Tobias may be a good ol’ boy from the South, but he had spent twenty-two years as an officer in the SEAL’s. At one time he had been Adam’s lieutenant and direct senior officer in SEAL Team Six. Later, he had volunteered to join Adam and his band of renegades as they took to space again after the Juirean attack on the planet and spent the next three years roaming the edges of the Expansion as part of Adam’s seek-and-destroy unit behind enemy lines. He’d returned to Earth eight years ago and was awarded a meritorious promotion to Captain. A year ago he had put on his first star.
It seemed now his leisurely – and peaceful – retirement had in fact lasted only a total of seven months.
“Just get down here as soon as you can. Land in the VIP section of LZ-5 at Phoenix Command; I’ll have a car waiting. And don’t worry, Miss Sherri. We’ll put our heads together and come up with a plan. As soon as I hang up with you, I’ll start blowing up the cell towers letting everyone on the got-damn planet know what’s up. See you in a few minutes.”
Chapter 34
Adam left his escorts behind and blazed through the atmosphere at twice the legal speed limit, trailing a cloud of white condensation behind the Pegasus as he went. He blasted apart a section of the asphalt landing field with the powerful blasts of his chemical engines and set the ship down hard in a blinding maelstrom of exhaust and sand.
Even before the cloud had cleared, Sherri and Adam were out the side hatch, and with arms shielding their eyes, raced for the waiting military Humvee.
Earth’s military command was also located in the Phoenix complex of buildings. Adam had heard that Tobias chose to remain in the area after his retirement, content with the large home he owned on ten acres, as well as the abundant number of golf courses found throughout the area. Even though they had shared a fair number of rounds of golf together in a more innocent and simpler past, Adam still found it hard to imagine his LT – now admiral – riding a golf-cart with all the other wrinkled old retirees in Bermuda shorts through the hot desert sun, chasing a little white ball up and down the course.
As the car pulled up to the towering military headquarters building, Adam thought there would be no time for golf in the near future – if ever again.
A full-bird colonel escorted them to a ninth-floor conference room where Andy Tobias was already knee-deep in charts and schematics, along with half-a-dozen datapads all aglow with their electric light. There were eight other people crowding the room, with more being added every few seconds.
Tobias looked up when they entered. “Welcome, troublemakers,” he said with a smile, although his eyes sent a different message. Obviously, it hadn’t taken him long to realize just how deep the shit was that they were in.
General Jonathan Aronson entered the room next, followed closely by David Charlton and Aaron Johnson, two of the civilian leaders of the World Governing Authority. “Captain and Ms. Valentine,” the General said with enthusiasm. “You may not remember, but we met once before … in the desert outside Roswell, New Mexico. You and a ragtag band of refugees had just landed in a stolen Juirean shuttlecraft. That was just days before the Juireans attacked. And now I see you’ve returned with news of another impending alien attack. How reliable is your intel, Captain?”
“One hundred percent, General,” Adam said with confidence. “We were held captive briefly aboard the flagship of the Kracori fleet as their commander bragged about the plan of attack.”
“Briefly?” Tobias commented from the other side of the large conference table.
“Yeah, we managed to escape … and take out five of their 5’s on the way here.”
“In that little delta of yours?” Even though his voice expressed a question, Adam could see his former commanding officer beaming with pride.
“That’s a trick you’re going to have to fill us in on, Mr. Cain,” said General Aronson. “By my estimates all we’d need are sixty more like you and we’ll have this thing whipped.”
Adam moved to the table so he could get a look at the force estimates being frantically culled together from a variety of sources. “I’ll be happy to fill you in, General, but first let’s see what we have as far as defenders go.”
The General had expressed his comment rhetorically, so he had not been expecting Adam’s serious reply. He let it pass for now and joined his staff at the table. “Welcome back, Admiral. That retirement didn’t last long.”
“I plan on getting back to it in about three days, sir.” He picked up a remote control from the table and pointed it at a large screen on the wall. An inventory list appeared. “We’re beyond bare bones, General,” Tobias began. “I know I’ve been gone for a few months, but damn, how did this get through the chain of command? Nothing larger than an ‘A’ is left, and there are only forty-two of those.” He ruffled through the papers on the table and found the datapad he was looking for. “Twenty-two of those were in repair at the time the fleet deployed, and five are new off the line.”
He turned to another officer in the room. “I don’t suppose we have very many trained crews sitting around looking for something to do?”
“No sir,” The officer didn’t try to hide his frustration. His name was Richland, and he had just learned what this meeting was about, and now he was too mad – and scared – not to show his emotions. “We pulled every able-body we had to man the fleet. Now all we have left are trainees and civilian instructors. And that’s assuming we can even find ships for them to fly.”
“What about the yards?” Aronson asked to no one in particular. “Any ships operational – or operational enough?”
Another officer scanned a datapad. “We’ll have to check, sir, but there should always be about twenty to thirty just waiting for their final readiness inspections.”
“Screw the inspections, Major,” Aronson said. “Get them up and armed and manned by the construction crews if need be.” He turned to Adam and Sherri. “What’s their objective, Mr. Cain? How are they going to carry this out?”
“Nukes, General. They tried it before with only ten ships. Now they have thirty times that many … and one other thing: The Kracori commander knew the planet would be undefended, the timing of this attack is no accident. What exactly is this Jusepi thing I’ve heard about?”
David Charlton, one of the three leaders of the government – and commonly accepted as its titular head having been elected by the people – stepped forward. He offered his hand to Adam and Sherri. Typical politician, Adam thought.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Cain … and you too Ms. Valentine. I have heard a lot of your exploits throughout the years; very impressive.”
“Excuse me, sir, but we don’t have much time.” Adam caught the smile on Tobias’s face.
“Of course, sorry. The Jusepi are a member race of the Solar Alliance and have been for about five years. Recently they rebelled against the Alliance and destroyed a number of our military bases in the area, as well as the killing of hundreds of Human civilians.”
“Yeah, but did you have to send the whole damn fleet?”
Adam could tell Charlton was shocked that anyone would speak to him in such a manner, especially a mid-level military puke like him. He didn’t care. This was another example of politics trumping sound military judgment. Adam met Charlton’s steely glare with one of his own and watched the rush of emotions cross the politician’s face. To his credit, Charlton quickly regained his composure.
“It was a near-unanimous vote of the Council, Captain.” Adam’s rank suddenly took on the label of an expletive. “By the way, you are partially responsible for this. It was your man Henderson who brought us the McCarthy Coordinates, and your other team member – Riyad Tarazi – who is in th
e process of verifying those coordinates as we speak. It was decided that since the Kracori were not aware of our knowledge of these coordinates that there would be no harm in making short work of the Jusepi campaign. As General Blake pointed out at the Council meeting, we would then have a fully-trained fleet ready to send against Elision. At the time, we knew of no other threat in the area – other than the Jusepi. And then there are the Klin.”
“The Klin?” Adam turned to General Aronson. “They were with the Kracori and their new fleet, and now you say they’re also involved with these Jusepi characters?”
“It appears as though they have been supplying them with ships and other resources.”
Adam pulled a chair from the table and sat down. “Well, that explains it.”
“Explains what, Adam?” Andy Tobias asked.
“Why the Klin were with the Kracori fleet.” He looked around at the sea of eyes staring at him. “Do I have to spell it out for you? This has all been planned, the Kracori, the Klin, and even the Jusepi. They’re all working together. And the timing of all this tells me that the Kracori know we have the coordinates to Elision; that’s why this is all happening now.”
“The Jusepi revolt is a diversion … to draw the fleet away for the Kracori attack.”
“Exactly General, the Klin and the Kracori are partners again, and now they have a third ally. This has all been a set-up from the beginning, and we rushed head-first right into the trap.” This last sentence was directed at Councilmember David Charlton.
“The Kracori will know we have no real defenders to speak of,” Sherri said, her Kentucky accent cutting through the deep tones from the men in the room. “They’ll blast right in here with nothing to fear. So, smart guys, what are you going to do about it?”
Adam was surprised when no one spoke up. In a room full of confident and skilled professional soldiers, none could offer an equally confident and skilled response. What had been discussed earlier now paled in comparison in light of the full gravity of the situation. The Kracori knew the defensive stance of the planet, and they knew that anything the Humans could muster in the last minute would be insufficient to stop them.
Sherri looked down at Adam and raised her eyebrows. She nodded her head.
Adam nodded back. “General, Andy, can I speak with you in private?”
“Of course,” the General replied. “Please everyone, give us the room.”
“We will be staying,” Charlton said, referring to him and Councilmember Aaron Johnson.
Adam glared at the politician. The Kracori fleet commander Runor had said the Klin still had spies in the Human government; in fact they had helped steer the decision to send the fleet to the Jusepi. These men – and those they confided in – couldn’t be trusted, yet Aronson and Tobias didn’t have the authority to restrict them from hearing what Adam was about to tell them….
********
Once the room was clear, all attention focused on Adam. “I’ll get right to it. I have a device implanted in my body which allows me to tap into and control just about any microprocessor or other electronic device within a half-mile of my location.” He paused to let the impact of his statement to sink in.
To his amazement, no one even raised an eyebrow of their own or showed any sign of surprise or disbelief.
“Nobody has anything to say about that?”
“I’ve been out there with you, Captain,” Tobias said. “I’m not surprised by much of anything these days.”
“Is that how you escaped from the Kracori and destroyed their ships?” It was a statement from the General, rather than a question.
“Yes sir. And I’ve discovered a little trick that might help us in the coming battle – yet it’s not a complete solution by any stretch of the imagination.”
“Understood, Captain; go ahead.”
“Since my powers – if you will – are very limited in range, they’re not effective against ships in space, at least not directly. But I’ve found a way to tap into their CW-comm links and create a ghost device within the computer systems aboard their ships and then control them remotely.”
Charlton exploded with enthusiasm. “Then that’s our answer, gentlemen! Mr. Cain here can simply disable the Kracori ships … and the crisis will be averted.”
“Sir, it doesn’t work like that.”
“What doesn’t? You just said you can infiltrate their ships—”
“One at a time; I can only do it one at a time. And then that takes a lot of time and concentration. Then once I’m aboard, I have to follow dozens of electronic pathways just to find the right ones to disable the ship. There are three hundred ships coming; I won’t be able to stop them all.”
Tobias slapped the table. “Well at least we can cut their numbers down some, maybe enough so that our makeshift defense shield can do the rest.”
“That’s all I can promise, Andy. I’ll do what I can.”
“And what about the ship you came in?” the General asked. “I’ve been told it’s something special.”
“It has what’s called concentrated-array gravity-drive.”
“What the hell is that?” Aaron Johnson asked, speaking for the first time.
“It allows for eight focusing rings at a time, making it possible to achieve space-lane speeds while in normal, populated space. It’s why we were able to beat the Kracori here, even when they have Class 4’s and 5’s.”
“Any special weapons, too?” Johnson followed up.
“Unfortunately, no; it was built to shuttle me and my team around the Expansion in record time. That’s about all it’s good for.”
“But it does have some weapons, doesn’t it?” Tobias asked, already knowing the answer. He trained Adam, so he knew the former SEAL wouldn’t go anywhere with being armed.
“It has a complete bank of flash cannon … and we even put in a few gravity-assisted missiles. But we only have a dozen of the missiles onboard.”
“That’s better than nothing,” Tobias said. “So how do we exploit your … well, power … to its highest and best use?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. It’s a sure bet that the Kracori will be in constant CW communication with all their units. We need to set up a station where we can scan those transmissions, letting me hack into them. Then once I have control of a ship, I can shut down their weapons and defenses so that even our smallest ships can take them out.”
General Aronson took the remote control from the table and toggled through various screens on the big monitor until he found what he was looking for. “This is a summary of the last Kracori attack plan from nine years ago. It’s what I thought; they struck from multiple directions. If they do that again, we’ll need ships spread out all around the planet, and the further out we deploy – giving us more time to react and deploy our resources – means we’ll need a lot more ships to form the screen. With the defensive line closer in – fewer ships, yet less reaction time. Your recommendation, Mr. Cain, how fast can you disable one of the Kracori ships?”
“I wish I had a firm answer for you, General. I’m sure that as I gain entry to more and more of their ships, I’ll learn the pathways better, cutting down on the time. But it also depends on how fast they enter the system. If they come in on full gravity, we’ll only have an hour or so. If they take a cockier stance, and just waltz in thinking there’s nothing we can do to stop them, then we may have up to four hours.”
“There are three hundred of them!” David Charlton said, his voice now strained and near hysterics. “How can you possibly think you can stop them all?”
The three military men in the room turned to him with strong, fearless looks on their faces. “That’s not the question, Mr. Charlton,” Andy Tobias said, rising up from his seat. “The real question is: How can the Kracori possibly think they can attack our home – the home planet of the Humans – and get away with it? Now, gentlemen – and lady – we have a planet to save.”
Chapter 35
Major Paul Richland, the
officer most-intimate with the construction inventory of fresh-off-the-line starships, was placed in charge of securing every ship and crew he could find to help form the Human defense shield. The military command staff then debated whether or not to let the general population know of the impending attack, to help bolster the volunteer rank of starships from other sources – anything that a missile or 50-caliber cannon could be attached to within the next twenty-four hours.
It was decided they would stockpile the weapons and line up the install crews yet wait until they got an accurate count of the military and governmental craft available. The fear was that anyone with access to a spaceship would bolt away from the planet as fast as they could. Riots may even erupt, as a panicked population sought passage from the Earth in any vessel they could find, whether they were invited guests or not.
Once the bulk of the rag-tag fleet was assembled, then they would break the news to the rest of the planet and ask for volunteers.
Adam set up shop aboard the main orbiting communications station for the planet; however the room he claimed for an operations center was small – small for the seriousness of the activities that would take place therein. It measured sixty-feet deep by forty wide, and was already equipped with several banks of communication monitors capable of tracking thousands of CW-links simultaneously. The Continuous-Wormhole array on the station was the largest in the system, and was itself linked to hundreds of remote monitors placed beyond the Solar System and out to a distance of a light-year. They would see the Kracori coming; what the Humans could do to stop them still remained a question.
Adam was always amazed what can be accomplished when all parties work together for a common goal – it was one of the attributes he most-admired about the military – and within twelve hours of their arrival on Earth, General Aronson and his staff already had a mosquito fleet of nine hundred ships ready for deployment.
