Battle Group Titan: Beyond Warp ((Battle Group Titan Series Vol 1))

by Michael Adams

  The group settled down a little at the announcement but continued the constant background conversations among themselves.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to escort you all on a tour of the most powerful ship ever built by mankind, please follow me” requested Inman.

  “Very well” responded President Shelton.

  Will Inman and his team set out to escort their guests for a detailed tour of the Titan. The leaders began to be more and more convinced as the tour progressed being most impressed with the railgun launching mechanisms used to deploy the fleet of shuttle fighters.

  The tour ended back on the observation deck where the scene had changed from familiar earth to the unfamiliar sight of hundreds of ships in tight formation. In the background UB’s busy building ships and mining ships harvesting materials to support their efforts.

  “The fleet has been in battle” queried General Lockman, “this is an enormous fleet Commander Inman!”

  “Yes sir, we engaged the Silirc many light years from here for a little over five minutes. Our casualties were fairly high, no civilians were killed or wounded, but we had more than two hundred and fifty dead, and the count keeps rising” responded Inman.

  “How did the Silirc fleet fair” Lockman queried.

  “We destroyed over one thousand Silirc ships, we do not have an accurate death toll, but we believe they lost over one hundred thousand troops.”

  “How many ships to they have!” countered a confused Lockman.

  “We were able to get an exact count in our encounter with them; they have over one million ships in their fleet, about half of them are battleships” Inman responded.

  “Why did they attack you” queried Lockman.

  “We attacked them sir” replied Cerro, “our mission dealt with coordinating our time with their time. We need to build a fleet capable of fighting them off when they arrive at earth.”

  “How long do we have” asked President Shelton.

  “A little over two years” responded Cerro.

  “How can you hope to fight off such a large fleet” queried Lockman.

  “When we left earth orbit, we synchronized with Earth time; this is why hundreds of years have passed for us and only days for you. Inside the shell, time stands still. On earth, no one even knew we were gone until we were well into outer space. Now after synchronizing with the Silirc race time is standing still for them as we build a fleet capable of defeating them” replied Leo Bennett.

  “How are you Dr. Bennett” replied Lockman, “It is good to see you alive, we did not know what to believe about what the orbiter crews told us, now it is all starting to make since.”

  “You knew about this” President Shelton asked Lockman.

  “We thought it was a big hoax, just as I reported to you, it just sounded to fanciful to be true” explained Lockman.

  “I agree with you” Shelton replied.

  “I wanted you all to observe the size and condition of our fleet, so you would have a chance to process what you are experiencing before I tell you the reason for our visit” interrupted Inman. “But first we are going to take you to a place in space no human outside our crews have ever seen, it is worth the trip and the time and I think you will agree it is worth protecting. Our trip will take a couple of days, so in the meantime, I have arranged for one of our science officers to take you step by step through the science and the logistics of where we are today. Let me introduce Doctor Bo Stockman Jr.”

  The Titan spent two days in dry dock in the mechanical arms of a UB to repair her damage and replace destroyed equipment. Upon completion of repairs, Inman ordered Newman to set a course to an observation point overlooking the Milky Way. Will was sure the inspiration of seeing the galaxy in this way would help him convince earth’s leadership to turn over the resources needed to accomplish their mission.

  Will Inman and Bo Stockman Sr. walked arm in arm into Terry’s Diner to a warm welcome from friends and fellow workers surprised to see President Shelton and two other national leaders already having breakfast.

  “Good morning President Shelton” Inman offered as he walked up to the most powerful man on earth, “how are things coming with young Bo and his team?”

  “Very well, I have to tell you; it is delightful to be able to enjoy breakfast with friends without secret service hovering or worrying about what is up next on the world stage. It is like college days, go to class, study, eat and talk to friends” replied Sheldon.

  “Today is a big day Mr. President. We will view something spectacular which I think will give us all perspective relative to our task” stated Inman.

  “We all look forward to it” replied Sheldon.

  Will and Bo sat at a table out of hearing range of the world leaders and began to discuss the events of the last week and the reality lying before them.

  Decisions

  “Crew members did a great job of setting up the observation deck for our guests,” thought Inman as he entered the room.

  Within minutes leaders from all the world’s most powerful nations were standing in awe of the magnificent sight stretched out before them. The Milky Way is always impressive from earth, however, seen from far above it in deep space gave its admirer’s a completely different perspective, a humbling experience to say the least.

  Inman allowed the thrill of what they were beholding to sink in for five minutes before breaking the silence, “Please be seated ladies and gentlemen.”

  “What is this all about Will” queried President Sheldon.

  “President Sheldon” Inman began, “We wanted you to get a glimpse of what is at stake. As we sit, entire civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy are under the total domination of the Silirc race. They are a vicious people without care or concern for the lives of their enemy or their people. Slaves are treated as machines, fed like cattle and forced into labor in the worst of circumstances. If we are to remain a free race, we must build a force capable of defeating them, and we must build a defense on earth capable of protecting humans and the resources of the earth.”

  “What are you proposing young man,” asked one of the delegates.

  “We need earth’s brightest and best to join us, and we need earth’s resources made available to us in the development of the technology and to build out the fleet in numbers needed to defeat the Silirc” replied Inman.

  “Again Will, please be more specific” replied Shelton.

  “In front of each of you is a dossier containing documents which detail our needs” replied Cerro.

  Will gave the group time to digest his request. Within five minutes and after consultation among themselves, President Sheldon motioned he was ready with a response.

  “What you have asked for will drain the financial reserves of every major country on earth; it will deplete our best military forces and endanger the security of the Alliance. I am afraid we have to decline your request” replied Shelton.

  “Do you realize you are condemning the people of earth to slavery, you will wipe out human culture as we know it?” responded Inman.

  “There is an old saying in our culture” replied the European Union Delegate, “better off red than dead.”

  “Ok gentlemen is this your final decision, would you please take some time to discuss this” pleaded Evelyn Reeder.

  “We do have one demand” President Shelton began, “we demand you turn over the fleet and all of its resources to the Alliance.”

  Will Inman had bugged all the conversations between the delegates. He knew they wanted the fleet to provide security for themselves. The power it gave them over the human race was unparalleled in human history.

  “Port them all to the brig” commanded Inman.

  Instantly the entire delegation was locked up deep in the bowels of the Titan.

  “Everything is at risk, and these worthless tyrants are willing to betray the entire human race” Inman shouted.

  “Newman, get us back to earth in a hurry!” Inman commanded.

&nbs
p; Within a few days, the Titan was back in orbit.

  “John Cerro, please report to the observation deck” commanded Inman over his comlink.

  “What can I do for you Commander?” queried Cerro.

  “I want to port the delegation back to earth” replied Inman, “but I am at a loss for how to get the cooperation of the world governments” Inman responded.

  “The same way you got us all to go with you in the first place Will. We need about ten thousand Special Forces soldiers and about two hundred of the world’s best scientists. Let’s port them right into the shuttle docking bay where we can address them. The future of the human race is at stake here. Let them make their decision; this is what the best of them will want to do” Cerro replied.

  “Cerro, have Bo Jr. port the leadership back to where they were, no one will even know they went missing” commanded Inman.

  “And the others, shall we port them into the shuttle docking bay?”

  “Yes, let’s give it a try, give me an hour to let everyone else know, it will take an hour to locate and ready the docking bay anyway” responded Inman.

  “Aye aye, sir” Cerro exclaimed.

  Will Inman walked five steps up the stairway leading to the crow’s nest overlooking the shuttle docking bay and began to address the group.

  “I understand our science officer Dr. John Cerro has brought you all up to speed. It has fallen on me to address you all as to why you are here and to ask you to serve in a new capacity.”

  As Will started to speak the group turned toward him and came to attention as he spoke.

  “Let me be the first to assure you; we are not alone in the universe. In fact, there is life everywhere in our galaxy alone. Most of the alien races we have met are friendly enough. However, it seems every race has one great enemy. They call themselves the Silirc. They are a luminous race bent on the subjugation of every race they contact. They are a force of over one million ships traveling together at this very moment headed for earth” Inman began.

  As Will looked over the crowd, he could sense his words were stirring the primal instincts within this group, unlike the Alliance Delegation these were warriors.

  “Can we stop them? How can we stop such an enormous force? When will they arrive?” questioned the group.

  “They will be here in about two Earth years” Inman explained to his wild-eyed audience, “We have superior weapons and vastly more advanced technology. Their numbers are our problem; we have roughly three hundred ships in our fleet plus the shuttle fighters you see in the shuttle launching docks before you, half of our fleet consists of civilian and support ships, the other half are battleships like the one you are aboard now.”

  “How can you have over one hundred battleships in space?” shouted Dr. Andrew Wilson, a colleague Inman had worked with hundreds of years ago.

  “Newman, have we arrived yet?” Inman queried over his comlink.

  “Yes sir” Newman replied.

  “Put the live images of the fleet on the monitors around the shuttle docking bay” commanded Inman.

  “We have arrived back at our fleet’s location, and as you can see by the images on the monitors, we indeed do have a substantial fleet. Of course, the math is all wrong Dr. Wilson. The Silirc vastly outnumber us. However, we have time on our side. As our science officer Dr. Cerro informed you, we are not on the same timeline as earth, and from the moment you stepped foot on this deck, neither are you, and this brings me to the reason you are all here” Inman explained.

  “We want to recruit you to fight alongside us against the Silirc. We need pilots, engineers, tradesmen, and soldiers to assist us in preparing an armada with the numbers and firepower to take on the Silirc when they arrive in our Solar System” Inman explained.

  Will Inman continued for forty-five minutes until he was ready to pose the question, “I need everyone who wants out to step over to the other side of the damaged shuttle on my right.”

  Will Inman and Dr. John Cerro waited through two tense moments as a few soldiers and scientists made their way to the other side of the docking area. “Commander, I have a wife dying of cancer, and I am sorry, but my duty is to her right now” responded a soldier as he headed for the other side.

  “Soldier, all of your families will join you and live with the rest of our civilian fleet. And there is a high probability she will go into remission onboard one of our ships” responded Inman.

  As quickly as they had stepped to one side the small group moved back toward the volunteer group, Inman and Cerro were astounded.

  “Very well then, we will have each of you ported down to your homes where you can gather your family and the things you need” responded Cerro.

  Two thousand grew to over four thousand as families, and additional recruits joined the fleet.

  Will Inman stepped onto the bridge of the Titan and gave the order to return to the asteroid belt and join up with the rest of the fleet.

  The observation deck became a favorite with passengers on their first ride in a spacecraft as they stared out into space at the Earth and her moon quickly becoming harder to see.

  The Titan joined up with the rest of the fleet stationed at the asteroid belt after an uneventful flight from earth with thousands of new military and civilian crew ready to settle into their new homes.

  Military families are used to the give and take of relocation and separation from loved ones for long periods of time. It takes lots of time to acclimate to life on a spacecraft, and it’s not for everyone. It’s one thing to know your loved ones fight an enemy on a foreign battlefield, quite another to think about engaging an alien enemy.

  Meeting and getting to know other alien species in their midst was a little unnerving at first, but soon children were playing, adults were engaging, and thoughts turned toward making a new life working and playing in a new and exciting adventure.

  The fleet stayed within the asteroid belt and mined asteroids for building materials and fresh drinking water as the UB’s built ships and shuttle fighters, completed repairs. Five months after their arrival the fleet was ready as they set out on an intercept course to engage the Silirc.

  Engagement would be simple this time as the Silirc were sitting ducks, frozen in time. Inman’s science teams accompanied by Special Forces soldiers would board ship after ship, cataloging technology, porting what they thought would be useful to the fleet and finally, destroy the ship.

  Will Inman paged his executive team to the conference room for one last session before their final encounter with the Silirc.

  Almost everyone's instinct is to be overconfident and

  read way too much into a hot or cold streak. ~ Nate Silver

  Chapter Fifteen – Encounter at Listor

  W ill Inman walked into a conference room full of laughter and good cheer as he sat down at the head of the table and listened in to the light-hearted conversation taking place among his executive team. Evidently, Bo and Terry Stockman had spent quite a bit of time planning an elaborate prank on their son and daughter in law. However, they had found out about the prank and engineered a plan of their own which caught both of their parent’s right in the middle of their mischievous prank. Everyone was quite amused by the whole thing with the exception maybe of Bo Senior; he was a little put out with the whole thing.

  Will brought the meeting to order after the air had cleared a little and began to lay out the strategy.

  “Cerro” Will Inman began, “the Alliance delegation members were all sent back to where we ported them from?”

  “Yes, equipped with plastic toy side arms and other relics from their visit with us. Something they could use to convince everyone they had been aboard a spaceship with humans and aliens who took them to see the Milky Way and tried to talk them into fighting aliens who glow” Cerro replied as he and the others chuckled.

  “Well, maybe a clever ruse will help dethrone those power hungry creeps” Evelyn Reeder Inman quipped.

  “We have gone over the plan seve
ral times; this should be a low-risk mission. We synchronized with their time zone, so boarding, disarming and destroying their battle groups should be carried out without incident” replied Inman, “The question is what to do with the civilian population and their ships?”

  “I think we leave them alone” replied Elizabeth Murphy Stockman, “we can’t just kill the women and children.”

  “They kill and enslave other populations, and we know it is their nature to do so. The two captives we had after our first encounter betrayed our kindness by setting us up time after time. We cannot leave them alive; they will just attack again” countered John Cerro.

  “Why not destroy the military ships and watch what they do, we could plant some tracking devices in their ships. If they do not turn back, then we can take control of their ships, take them to a planet supporting life and offload the whole lot of them. Then we can glean what technology they have and destroy the rest of their fleet” replied Evelyn Reeder Inman to the approval of the rest of the executive staff.

  “Ok, we destroy the battle groups, capture the civilians, move them to a planet they can thrive and destroy their ability to travel in space. I have one caveat to the plan. Let’s drop them off in Andromeda; they do not have the technology to traverse galaxies” replied Inman.

  “Perfect!” shouted Bo Sr.

  “Let’s get everyone ready” commanded Inman as he got up to leave, “we treat this like any other battle, we keep the civilian population at a distance and approach the Silirc like we always have, guns blazing!”

  The rendezvous point with the Silirc was about an hour away when Will Inman ordered the Civilian Fleet into orbit around a Terran Class planet the crew named “Listor,” and set off to engage the Silirc fleet.

  “Evelyn and the kids will be safe here while we destroy the Silirc fleet,” thought Inman.