Johnny nodded. “Noted, Mr. Rolic.”
Mace asked, “When could we get started with the planning of this, Commodore?”
Rolic replied, “Whenever you like. We are your subjects, Mr. Hardy. You only need give us the order to do so.”
Mace stood. “Jordan, round up the senior staff while I escort the commodore to another room. When everyone is here we’ll discuss and make a decision.”
Five minutes later the last of the senior staff entered. Mace began, “OK. We have a new decision to make. As you all know, Jasper Collins managed to get aboard the Muhatha, it’s called the Revelation. Anyway, Jasper took control of that ship and we now have a Targarian commodore here as a captive. This Targarian believes he can convince his command to make an alliance with us, just as the Dellus were going to do. With that alliance, we would use the resources we have, and those the Targarians would provide, to take control of all the Muhatha ships in the Galactic Union.
“Now, on the surface, this sounds like a monumental task. But Jasper Collins just took that Muhatha by himself. There are twenty more of these massive ships out there, We’d like to take them all at once.”
Liam raised a hand. “Aren’t these ships scattered throughout the Union?”
Mace replied, “They are. And we plan to make use of the wormhole generator on the Revelation to get us to each one of those. The Targarians will provide us with intel on the location of each of the Muhatha. We’ll sweep in with an assault shuttle, and a crew will cut their way aboard, just like we did with the Petunia.
“I’m thinking two man teams. And the objective will be to take the bridge. The aliens that inhabit these ships are all small. And they don’t seem interested in taking on a Human in combat. Whoever goes will have an AR-15 with them, as well as a plasma rifle. According to the Targarian commodore, the crews will all be using their swords.”
Liam nodded. “I would like to participate, Mr. Hardy.”
Mace smiled. “Before we take any volunteers, I’d like us to vote on this.”
Humphrey Mallot asked, “What do you see as the downsides to this?”
Mace replied, “Potentially? Several.”
He began to pace as he talked. “We could fail to secure all of the Muhatha. Meaning the remainder of the Galactic Union, including Stark’s people, would be at war with us. At the moment, we’re probably only seen as a minor nuisance. We attack and that all changes. Or we could be successful, and then have Stark refuse to cooperate. As before, I don’t want to be killing Humans.
“I’d also like to add that the Revelation gives us options. We could go after Stark here and now in an attempt to topple him. Between that ship and the Rogers, we have the firepower.
“My concern with that option is the Union. If he has signed anything with them, they would use that as an excuse to come to his aid. And there is a third option. One that I’m certain most of you would reject. We could take the Rogers and the Revelation and jump far away. We could find ourselves a new home and just live peaceably.”
Johnny chuckled. “Peaceably until the food runs out, or the equipment breaks down. Besides, I think I’d prefer the Earth.”
Several heads nodded. The discussion continued for most of an hour until the same thoughts were being recycled.
Mace held up a hand. “OK. So let’s have a vote. Who here would be in favor of leaving for a new world?”
No hands were raised. “Looks like option three is off the table.”
Mace leaned forward, placing his fists knuckles down on the end of the table. “Who’s for staying here and toppling Stark first?”
Again, no hands were raised.
Mace smiled. “I do like a unanimous vote. And just to make it official, who thinks we should take out the Galactic Union?”
The personnel in the room all raised their hands.
“I’ll inform the commodore of our decision. Expect plans for this to move ahead rapidly.”
Chapter 4
*
The shuttle was moved into the repair bay of the Revelation. The fuselage was widened and another four reactors installed. On the exterior, thirty-two transducers would provide a dampening field more than powerful enough to protect the shuttle from a full-power plasma round. On the rear of the shuttle, a second gravity drive was added. It was expected the upgrades would allow the shuttle to move forward at 56% light speed, outpacing the Muhatha titan.
Mace stood in the repair bay. “How long until it’s ready?”
Jeff replied, “Three days and we can give it a test. And for the record, I think your decision to delay our talk with the Targarians is a wise one. I’d like to know we have the means to pull this off before agreeing to anything with them. I’m still suspicious about their motives.”
Mace sighed. “You and me both. I’m half wondering when another of these founders is going to pop through a wormhole and try to strike a deal with us.”
Jeff put his hand on Mace’s shoulder, leaning in. “You know, I bet we could make contact with each founder and strike a separate deal with each of them. They all seem eager to take full control for themselves. What’s to say that we don’t just dump the Targarians and take all the Muhatha ships for ourselves. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?”
Mace shook his head as he laughed. “And the conspiracies continue to grow. You know, this tells me that we’re just as bad as the rest of them. Everybody wants full control. And not just of themselves. They want it over everyone else too.”
Jeff shrugged, “I’m just saying, if we’re the muscle of the galaxy, maybe we should be in full control. I know that, at least from this group, justice would be served to all. So far, we haven’t shown ourselves to be greedy. That at least says something good about us.”
Mace walked over to the shuttle, looking over the welds surrounding a transducer. “I still think our primary focus should be to save the Earth from the likes of Stark. We do that, and we can then discuss saving the galaxy.”
Jenny Taub walked up behind them. “Saving the galaxy? Not getting ahead of ourselves, are we?”
Mace replied, “That’s what I was just saying. We need to focus on Earth first.”
Jenny said, “I came over to ask a question. If we do go on these ship raids, have you thought about pairings? Who would you put with whom?”
Mace smiled, “Looking for a partner?”
Jenny replied, “While I’m sure we could kick ass together, I was thinking more along the lines of pairing those with combat experience with those who have none. I think we’ve got a couple dozen who’ve had training or deployment. The rest are noobs who ran a grocery store or piddled in spreadsheets. Dropping a pair of them onto one of these ships could spell disaster. They have to be willing to kill without hesitation, if so called for.”
Mace thought for a moment. “Good points. Tell you what. I’m putting you in charge of making up the teams. We need eighteen of them. You can interview all who volunteer and make the teamings from there. I’ll be bringing Jasper, along with Mr. Crawford, Johnny and Jane, to plan out the assaults. Having this ship for practice will take a lot of the variables out of a raid. All the Muhatha are identical, so whatever we come up with should apply to them all. After that, we’ll practice until we feel everyone is ready.”
Jenny sighed. “So I have to pick the teams. Well, I opened my mouth. I guess I deserve the task. I’ll pass the word around to see who’s up for the fight.”
Jenny turned to leave.
Jeff said, “I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for one of those slots.”
“Hmm. Not sure about that, Doc. You’re a hugely valuable asset to us. We need you to help us survive.”
Jeff said, “OK, then, I guess that means you’ll be staying as well. We can’t risk losing our leader if there are others willing to step up.”
Mace chuckled. “We have any number of people on this ship who could lead just as well as I do.”
“And they will all likely be volunteering for this. Look, I can handle
it. We’re all in this together, and I can’t keep letting others do the heavy lifting while I sit back in safety. It’s not that I’m looking forward to doing something like this, but I want to feel like I’m carrying my share of the load.”
Mace replied, “Fine. We’ll take it under consideration. How we coming with the cannons? I thought those were supposed to be ready to test by now.”
Jeff opened a comm to Gnaga. “We still looking good for this afternoon?”
“We’ll be ready.”
Mace gave a short laugh. “I wanna crack up every time I hear something like ‘afternoon’. The time of day is irrelevant out here.”
Jeff agreed. “It is, but we still keep to a twenty-four hour clock. We have to have something to base our schedules on. Might as well be something we all know and understand.”
Mace nodded. “I know what you’re saying. I just find it funny.”
Jasper came into the bay. “How long until she’s ready?”
Mace replied, “Two days maybe. How’s life as the Supreme Emperor going?”
Jasper grinned. “As well as I could expect. You know, I’m actually growing fond of the flounder-heads. I might actually start calling them by their names.”
Mace laughed. “Well, that doesn’t sound like you.”
Jasper shrugged as he took a bite of a food bar. “The more I talk to them the more I like the way they think. They’re good folk.”
Jasper turned and walked away as he continued to have his lunch.
Jeff looked back at the shuttle. “What do you say we see if we can lend a hand?”
Mace nodded. “Sounds good.”
After several hours had passed, Mace found himself standing in gun turret four on the Rogers. “How are we coming?”
Gnaga loaded several lines of code into the console computer for the turret. “We are ready for our first low power test. I would suggest we all leave this turret and close off the blast door.”
Mace turned to the door along with Jeff and Gnaga. “That doesn’t sound promising.”
Gnaga replied, “We are dealing with physics, Mr. Hardy. We’ve run countless simulations, but the real world has a way of showing flaws in a design that were otherwise unseen.”
The blast door was closed and sealed. Power was supplied to the charge well and the gun head enabled. Gnaga pressed a button on his arm pad, and a low power plasma round exited the cannon tip.
Jeff said, “All readings are nominal. Let’s crank her up and see what she’ll do.”
Seconds later, a bright flash on the display told of a plasma round being emitted. Gnaga smiled as Jeff looked up from a display.
“Everything looks good. An excellent first test.”
Mace said, “How do we know if it actually worked, though?”
Jeff said, “We have to shoot something and then measure the results.”
Mace asked, “If we set the power back to low and fired it, would you be able to tell if the combination is working?”
Jeff nodded. “You have something in mind?”
Mace gestured toward a far wall. “We have that Muhatha sitting out there with a dampener field that can handle it, and sensors that can give us all the feedback we need.”
Jeff rubbed his chin in thought. “I suppose that would offer the most accurate results. Would you like to comm Jasper to set that up?”
Mace opened a comm. “Mr. Collins, we’d like to use the Revelation for target practice. We’re ready to test our cannon upgrades and that ship offers the perfect target.”
Jasper scowled. “What? I think that’s a bad idea.”
Mace replied, “How so? It will be a low power test and the field on that ship can easily handle it. What’s your issue?”
Jasper leaned in. I don’t want you shooting at my ship, that’s why.”
Mace pulled back. “Your ship?”
Jasper crossed his arms. “That’s right. My ship. I captured it while the rest of you scurried away. And I would rather not put my people in danger with your experiments.”
Mace tilted his head. “I can’t really tell if you’re joking or not. This test is important.”
Jasper closed the comm.
Jeff shook his head. “What’s got into him?”
Mace replied, “Not sure. But we need those results. Mr. Klept, target the Revelation with a low power round. The old man will just have to grumble about it.”
Gnaga pressed several buttons on his arm pad. “Turret four is ready to fire, Mr. Hardy. Are you certain you want to do this?”
Mace nodded. “I am. Fire when ready.”
A low power round left the cannon tip, instantly striking the Revelation. No damage was done.
Jeff looked up from a display. “Power on our sensors showed as 196 percent standard. I’d call that a huge success.”
Mace asked, “With full power, would we be able to penetrate the field on one of those Muhatha?”
Jeff replied, “If our calculations are correct, no. But we could add a third cannon head. At that point, I would have to say yes. The dampening field on a Muhatha would be overwhelmed.”
Mace attempted to open a comm to Jasper. The comm was refused.
Mace sighed. “Great. He’s being a hard head about this for some reason. I’m heading over. Keep poring through the data we have. I’ll see about getting us another cannon head from that ship.”
Mace walked onto the bridge of the Revelation. Jasper sat in the captain’s chair with several Targarians standing around him. The scowl on his face told of his unhappiness with the prior test.
Mace asked, “Are you OK?”
Jasper replied, “OK? You took a shot at my ship! What’s gotten into you?”
Mace stood and stared. “Into me? What’s with you? That was a valid test. We need to know if the cannon update works.”
Jasper looked away. “By shooting at me and my people?”
Mace frowned as he shook his head. “What’s this ‘my people’ business? We are your people.”
Jasper turned back. “We might be Humans, but you aren’t my people. You’re just Humans. The Targarians are my people, my subjects.”
Mace thought for a moment. “Where have you been getting your food?”
Jasper replied, “I eat with my people. Their nutrition bars have a better taste.”
Mace shook his head. “And they might be tainted. Which would explain why you’re acting like this.”
Jasper returned an uncharacteristic stare of hatred. “Mr. Hardy. It’s time you left. I won’t be insulted on my own ship. Guards!”
A dozen Targarian soldiers ran to Jasper’s side, pulling their short swords. “Take this man back to the airlock. And round up all Human or Mawga personnel on this ship. It’s time for a housecleaning. I want them all gone within the hour. And make use of your plasma rifles if they give you any guff.”
Mace asked, “You sure you want to do this?”
Jasper leaned forward. “I’m sure. Now, get out of my sight. Guards, escort this Human to the airlock.”
Five minutes later Mace was standing in bay three of the Rogers with Johnny at his side. “Let me talk to him.”
Mace shook his head. “Won’t make a difference. They have him on the drugged food. I’m sure of it.”
Johnny said, “Well, then, we have to go over there and get him.”
“I agree. But we need to find a way to do that without having to fight our way to him. And without also having to fight him.”
Humphrey came over a comm. “Mr. Hardy. The docking bay on the Revelation is opening. Looks like the shuttle is being pushed out.”
Mace replied, “Pushed out?”
Humphrey nodded. “Yes, sir. Scan doesn’t show any bios on it.”
Johnny walked toward the airlock door.
Mace said, “Where are you going?”
Johnny looked over his shoulder as he walked. “Going to get that shuttle.”
Mace attempted to hail Jasper. Every attempt was refused.
Humphrey said, “Detecting a wormhole! The Revelation is moving!”
Mace stood still, frozen as to what to do.
Liam yelled, “Do we follow?”
Mace replied as Jane walked up behind him. “No. We go through and we may not have a way back.”
The Targarian Muhatha, with Jasper aboard, silently slipped through the wide portal. The wormhole closed behind it.
Jane asked, “What just happened?”
Mace rubbed his forehead. “Jasper just took the ship. I think the Targarians have him drugged. He was acting all bizarre and defensive.”
Jane stood with her hands on her hips. “What? How’d we let this happen?”
Mace shook his head. “Don’t know. He was acting a bit strange earlier and I just didn’t really pick up on it.”
Jane asked, “Well, what do we do now?”
Mace shrugged. “We wait here.”
Johnny came over the comm. “Clear out the bay for me, if you would. I’m bringing in the shuttle.”
Chapter 5
*
Jeff came out of the shuttle. “Probably only need a day to have this thing flying. The reactors are all in and the conduits have all been run throughout. The second drive needs a few tweaks. Other than that, it should be ready to go.”
Mace rubbed his temples. “This whole thing is my fault. I should have made him come back over here. We could have had a half dozen people over there to watch the bridge.”
Jeff replied, “Don’t waste your time on thoughts like that. What’s done is done. Spend your time on what we need to do going forward. Jasper’s tough. He’ll manage.”
Two days following, the shuttle was ready for a test. Jenny asked for the honor, and was soon sitting in the pilot’s chair. The modified shuttle would have a crew of two, with enough seating to carry eight passengers and a modest amount of cargo. After running through a handful of checklists, Jenny piloted the fast ship out into open space.
“Drives all check as green. As do the reactors.”
Mace replied, “Take her to half speed, see how she runs. If everything checks out you can push her to the top.”
HADRON Revelation Page 4
