Evolution of F.O.R.C.E. (The Origin of F.O.R.C.E. Book 3)

by Sam B Miller II

  ***

  "What happened?" Tom asked.

  "A wee bit of mayhem followed by running for our lives," McPherson replied. "Chellsee is a real bad ass."

  "What?" Chellsee screamed and twisted around.

  "No, no," Whatsit said. "It's a compliment. It means you're a formidable warrior."

  "What does a less than perfect rear have to do with my ability on the battlefield?" she huffed while giving McPherson the evil eye.

  "I can see we need a little more education about Human jargon," Whatsit sighed.

  Shaking his head at Whatsit's attempt to explain his compliment, McPherson was about to detail the results of their foray when the intercom buzzed.

  "General, Dr. Roemer has established FLR contact. He urgently wants to speak with you."

  "Put him through."

  "General Blunt, I have cobbled together an FLR from the remains of the Salteer. Caroline, I mean Princess Peregrine, wants to turn over planetary control to the Chrysallamans. She is here with me now."

  "Hold on, Miguel. Lloyd, can you determine Dr. Roemer's location and I-FLIT Doug and Becky to him?"

  "Yes, General. I have his exact coordinates."

  "Excellent. Miguel, Doug and Becky will be with you momentarily. They will transport you to me."

  "General, Caroline will order all her ground units to stand down, but it might be dangerous to land a scout saucer on the palace grounds. Someone may take a pot shot at it."

  "Prepare for some more Heinbaum magic," Tom said as he heard Peregrine scream. "I think Doug and Becky just arrived?"

  ***

  Harrier was reviewing Vultura's report on equipping all his troops with handheld white ray weapons, when the Master Computer said, "General Harrier, there is an incoming transmission on the Alpha frequency. Before I broadcast it ship-wide, I need you to approve its release."

  "Play it on my private channel," Harrier said with a worried expression as he plugged in his earpiece.

  "To all personnel on the battleship Thorncutter. This is General Hannah Wren. Cease all hostilities toward the Humans and Chrysallamans. Lay down your weapons. Prepare to be peacefully boarded. Repeat. To all personnel on the battleship Thorncutter. This is General Hannah Wren. Cease all hostilities toward the Humans and Chrysallamans. Lay down your weapons. Prepare to be peacefully boarded."

  Harrier's eyes narrowed. Then they grew wide as the next voice spoke.

  Princess Peregrine said, "I confirm the orders of my new General Hannah Wren. Montrose Harrier is hereby stripped of all rank and confined to the brig. I have negotiated a truce with the Humans and Chrysallamans. An era of forgiveness, peace and prosperity begins now. All my loyal subjects will share in our new future. I command you to cease all hostility at once."

  A hollow feeling began growing in Harrier's gut. For the first time in his life he felt faint. Licking his dry lips, he thought furiously. A twisted half sneer half smile formed.

  "Delete the transmission, but confirm its receipt. I believe we've been given an unexpected bit of luck."

  "Receipt of transmission confirmed. Shall I log your demotion and request an escort to the brig?"

  Frowning, Harrier replied, "Delete all logs of the transmission and my demotion. Wipe all temporary RAM to a clear status. Confirm."

  "Confirmed," the Master Computer said but Harrier felt he detected an odd tone in the response. Ignoring his perceptions, he directed his attention back to the Bridge personnel.

  "Navigator, the Computer just intercepted a coded radio transmission. Determine the source coordinates and lay in an intercept course. Weapons Officer, keep all the new beam weapons fully charged and ready to fire on my command."

  Harrier’s wicked smile grew larger as the time to intercept began to click downward.

  ***

  "Will Harrier follow your orders?" Tom asked. "He's a cold-blooded killer. I don't trust him."

  "In the past I would have answered with an unqualified yes," Caroline replied, "After his reaction to my negotiations with Miguel, I'm not so sure."

  Miguel and Caroline had been inseparable since Doug and Becky had transported them to the Destinnee. Tom could only imagine what she meant by negotiations, but the topic would have to wait. The safety of his ship and crew came first.

  GooYee had reworked Peregrine's bracelet, boosting its power and range. There was no doubt her orders had been received by the Thorncutter because Lloyd had delivery confirmation from the ship's computer.

  Harrier's cooperation was questionable. Tom's humanity nudged him toward trust, but his gut was roiling. He decided he needed some Human and non-Human advice.

  ***

  Taking his seat at the conference table, Tom marveled at the diversity of the assemblage.

  To his left sat Whatsit, Chellsee and General Zeck. To his right sat Princess Peregrine, Miguel, Hannah Wren and Dr. Corvus. At the end of the table sat Heinbaum, McPherson and GooYee. A real Hatfield and McCoy reunion.

  The Asiddians wore headsets with built-in microphones enabling them to speak and be understood by the Chrysallamans. The meeting didn't start well.

  "What are they doing here?" Zeck asked as he motioned at the Asiddians. "They're common murderers and should be in manacles begging for their lives."

  "For once I agree with General Zeck," GooYee said. "Just looking at them brings the foul taste of bile to my mouth."

  "Don't forget why you're still breathin'," McPherson said to Zeck. "It was only a few months ago you led an invading armada whose sole purpose was killing Humans and taking over Earth. You should be pushing up daisies."

  Twisting to eye GooYee, he continued, "And for all your talk about Marrylynne during your time on Cuddlur, I would expect some tolerance. Wasn't it Tuurket Axxdo who murdered her?"

  A mist formed in GooYee's eyes, and he looked away.

  Zeck said, "I suppose there might be some minute similarity; however, you'll never find me gardening, especially with flowers."

  Caroline was looking incensed until Miguel burst out laughing at Zeck's response. Even McPherson grinned and shook his head.

  Without knowing why, Caroline began smiling which prompted Hannah to smile. The more confused Zeck looked as the room erupted in laughter, the louder the laughter became.

  Tom finally raised a hand and the meeting came back to order. "Dr. Heinbaum, what is the status of the new shield?"

  "It is ready; however, the effective range is still within the thousand mile parameter. Gooey and I have not had time to work out a modification."

  "One thing I learned about General Harrier. He is relentless and focused. He will take any action he deems necessary to accomplish his goals," Hannah said. "Forgive me for saying this, Princess, but I do not expect him to follow your orders. He will use them to get close and then destroy this ship."

  "He would have to have complete agreement from all crew members. I find it hard to believe they would follow him after hearing my explicit command."

  "It's obvious you haven't watched Human movies," Whatsit said. "Don't assume your order was heard by anyone except Harrier."

  The questioning look on Caroline's face turned to anger, "He wouldn't dare withhold my order from the crew."

  "Why not?" Chellsee asked. "Allowing the crew to hear the order would result in his losing command and the opportunity to kill the only people who know about it."

  After a little thought, Caroline looked at Miguel and squeezed his hand, "I suppose you may be correct. I'm still finding it hard to believe my commands aren't followed to the letter all the time."

  "You'll find some relationships are stronger if both sides have some independence," Chellsee replied as she looked as Whatsit.

  "Okay, let's end the soap opera talk and make a decision," Tom said. "Can we all agree Harrier will fire on us despite the Princess' orders?"

  "No doubt." "Hell yes." "Without question."

  Dr. Corvus, what is the effective range of the white ray?"

  "I want you to understand I
have agreed to answer your questions only because I have been ordered to do so by my Princess. Otherwise, you would get no information from me."

  McPherson tapped his wrist on the table and his Microtec Halo OTF knife slid into his palm. He pushed the release and the snick of the tanto blade was loud in the quiet room. Using the tip, he began cleaning one of his fingernails.

  Heinbaum responded, "I wouldn't bluster. My friend has a short temper."

  Corvus' fright wig began to blossom, but he got it under control and nervously smoothed it back down.

  "The ray is finite. My answer must be couched with unknowns. While Dr. Vultura is no match for my intellect, I assume he has the fusion reactors keeping the weapon capacitors at full charge. Anything over 5,000 miles will simply vibrate on an atomic level. Any target within 1,500 to 4,000 miles will heat deform. Anything within 1,000 miles will be destroyed."

  "That's not even a razor's edge of safety," Tom said. "How quickly can the reactors recharge the capacitors?"

  Still watching McPherson clean his fingernails with exaggerated knife moves, Corvus replied, "It takes one minute; however, there are numerous capacitors. He will always have some ready to fire."

  "Lloyd, can you FLIT us out of the path of a white ray from a distance of 1,000 miles?" Tom asked.

  "A ray traveling at the speed of light from 1,000 miles away will give me less than 5 milliseconds to respond. The beam will be next to impossible to avoid."

  "I think I may be able to provide an answer," Heinbaum said. "Gooey and I need some lab time. Dr. Corvus is welcome to join us if he'll stop admiring McPherson's attempt at a manicure."

  Chapter 21 – Shuttle

  "I'm telling you they have powers beyond comprehension," the guard whispered. "They simply appeared in the control room out of nowhere."

  "What do you mean nowhere? They couldn't get from the landing bays to the control room without being spotted."

  "No, you don't understand," the guard hissed. "There was a puff of wind, and they appeared from nowhere! The entry hatch never opened. They had no space craft, no spacesuit, no armor."

  A crowd began gathering, and the frightened guard spoke louder.

  "There were three. The red haired giant had the stature and powers of Wrathor, God of War. He pointed at Sergeant Dunnock, and lightning flew from his fingers. Dunnock died with a hole burned through his chest. The black clad Angel of Death sliced away the command chair with her Sword of Extinction, and General Harrier cowered. The Green Demon of Discontent destroyed the Weapons Control panel with a single glance."

  "Surely someone fired at them," a voice from the crowd muttered.

  "Yes, we fired at them point blank. Our disintegrator rays had no effect, and they laughed!"

  With a nervous lick, the guard continued, "At the last moment, Dr. Vultura pointed his new white ray at them, and they vanished. Vanished into thin air!"

  Someone in the crowd said, "The Winged Goddess has turned against us."

  ***

  "Slow to half light speed. Continue approach," Harrier said.

  "Aye, Sir. Half light speed. Target remains fixed."

  "Excellent. Communications. Broadcast the following message on all channels."

  Reading from prepared notes, Harrier said, "This is General Montrose Harrier. I understand Princess Peregrine is aboard your ship. She may be under duress or otherwise mentally incapacitated. As a show of good faith, I demand you release her from your custody. I will maintain a buffer zone of 1,000 miles and send an unarmed shuttle to transport her to me. Once I know she is safe and unharmed, I will follow her orders. Harrier out."

  A wicked sneer distorted Harrier's face as he walked to his ready room.

  ***

  Vultura was looking more pasty than usual as Harrier closed the hatch.

  "Have you finished loading the Pile-Driving Booby?"

  "Yes. Here is the detonation control. Push the green button to arm. The red one to begin the timer."

  "Excellent. You set the delay for 30 minutes?"

  Nodding, Vultura said, "At light speed, 30 minutes will allow us time to be out of the kill zone."

  "You appear nervous, Vultura. Why?"

  "The Booby bomb is a system destroyer. We'll need 30 minutes of light speed distance as a margin of safety. It is too close for comfort."

  "They'll assume we sent the shuttle as a diversion. We'll confirm their suspicion by firing at them the moment the shuttle is cleared to dock with their ship. If our first shot doesn't disable them, I'll activate the detonation sequence and flee."

  "But they can outrun us. Their speed is unfathomable."

  "Precisely. They'll see no reason to chase us because they can catch us with no effort. I'm betting by the time a decision is made to chase us, the bomb will go off."

  "But the Princess. . ."

  "She was tortured by the Humans and their Chrysallaman allies after her kidnapping. Once the Emperor hears my tale of her demise, my valiant attempts to rescue her and my heroic escape, he'll not stop until he finds the Humans' home planet and destroys it."

  Admiring himself in a nearby mirror, Harrier imagined wearing his new rank insignia - Admiral of the Emperor's Fleet.

  Behind him, Vultura said, "The Emperor is smart. He'll question us separately about what happened. If our stories differ in some small way, he may become suspicious."

  "Don't be concerned," Harrier said as he turned. "The stories will match."

  Vultura's eyes widened, but any response died with him. It's hard to speak when your body has been sliced in half by a disintegrator beam.

  Placing a pistol in Vultura's dead hand, Harrier called for his guards. When they learned Vultura had tried to murder their General, they weren't gentle with his remains.

  ***

  "They want to send a shuttle for the Princess," Doug said. "So far, they seem to be cooperating with the truce."

  "I don't like it," Becky said. "They're too cooperative."

  "It is strange he wants to maintain a 1,000 mile buffer zone when everyone knows that's the killing range of the white ray."

  "Yes, but he won't dare endanger the Princess. As long as she's with us, he can't fire."

  "Don't be so confident," Zeck counseled. "You're dealing with the alien mind of a killer. All he has to do is engineer her death. We have put him in a position where he can eliminate anyone he chooses and blame us."

  "Let's just hope Dr. Heinbaum's idea works. Are we approaching the rendezvous point?" Tom asked.

  "Yes," Becky replied. "Everyone's ready."

  ***

  The Human spaceship Destinnee hovered 1,000 miles from Thorncutter. Blast damage from their previous encounter was evident as the craft rotated. One of the FORCE Logos was dark where the white ray had speared through it, and the structure in that area was twisted and mangled. Even damaged, Destinnee dwarfed the Asiddian battleship.

  Tearing his gaze away from the view screen, Harrier said, "Release the shuttle. I want the Princess back in Asiddian protection."

  The pilots and guards manning the transport were volunteers hand-picked for their fanatic loyalty to the Princess. They had no idea the craft carried the rocket-shaped Pile-Driving Booby. Vultura had made sure the bomb was concealed in a padlocked lower hold. An enterprising pilot might have noticed the increased mass caused by the hidden payload, but the shuttle was designed for short hops ferrying troops and supplies. It was large and powerful enough to handle the bomb without noticeably affecting its flight characteristics.

  "Approaching the enemy spacecraft. Am requesting docking coordinates."

  Radio transmissions from the Destinnee sounded routine.

  "Asiddian shuttle, please proceed to Docking Bay 60. Confirm."

  "Confirmed. Docking Bay 60."

  "Remain aboard your ship. We will escort the Princess to you. Any attempt to debark will be met with deadly force."

  "Understood. Approaching designated docking coordinates."

  According to pre-flight ins
tructions, the shuttle pilot kept a running video of his approach and docking maneuvers. All was routine until the ship tried to enter the bay.

  The video feed began to get fuzzy.

  "Wait a minute! Something's wrong. We're encountering electronic interference. Our cameras are being jammed."

  Per Harrier's plan and Vultura's execution, the computer cut the video feed and played a pre-recorded message into the Bridge speakers sounding like it came from the shuttle.

  "It's a trap! We're being boarded!"

  Weapon fire could be heard along with shouted warnings.