ALICE Space War

by Charles Lamb

  “Please call an emergency meeting of the Tactical Analysts. Include Colonel Banks and I’ll get Lt. Colonel Sullivan as well. Notify me as soon as it’s set,” Linda relayed as she left the command center in search of Sara. Some messages should be delivered personally.

  Chapter 3

  Patti and Daniel met Colonel Banks as they reached the conference room door, the two groups approaching from opposite directions. After a brief greeting, they entered the room, settling into three seats across from a wall monitor. Unlike the American facilities, the rooms in London still utilized flat panel displays instead of holographic projections for visual presentations.

  The men waited for Patti to sit before selecting their own places. Almost as soon as they seated themselves, the display came to life. In the monitor they could see several others in a room Patti recognized as her tactical center, lovingly referred to as Patti’s Pit, situated right off the command center in Nevada. Seated around an oval table were Linda, Sara, and Ivan. In a separate window on the display were Robert and Bonnie, presumably still in Texas.

  “Thanks for getting together on such short notice,” Linda began.

  “What's wrong?” Patti asked almost immediately.

  “Jake is missing,” Sara blurted, before Linda could reply.

  “The mission outline had them arriving at the edge of our system twenty four hours ago. Even allowing for delays in departing, the uninterrupted trip in faster than light should have them in friendly space by now,” ALICE offered to the group.

  “Can the NeHaw intercept a ship while traveling faster than light?” Colonel Banks asked.

  “Not that we are aware of,” ALICE replied, “and with the lack of other indicators, that probability rates low.”

  “Colonel Banks and I have spent considerable time on that vessel. It is difficult to imagine they had a failure of some kind?” Ivan offered from the Nevada location.

  “There may have been fighting near the ship, damaging it?” Patti suggested.

  “Such an occurrence might have damaged the faster than light drives, causing them to fail at any time during the voyage,” ALICE proposed.

  “And without a call home, we can’t pinpoint their location?” Sara offered as more of a question than a statement.

  “No. And there is a lot of space between where they were and home. Unfortunately, most of it belongs to the NeHaw,” Linda solemnly supplied.

  ----*----

  General KaLob had restored many of the ancient military traditions since taking power. One such activity was regular staff meetings with his sector commanders. At a pre-appointed time, all would halt whatever activities they had in progress, excluding battle, and connect into the network for a status briefing.

  It was in just such a briefing that the devastation on planet S-12653 was uncovered. When the commander of the base there had failed to check in, a scout ship was dispatched to determine the reason. They arrived to find the entire facility leveled from a single catastrophic blast. Initial reports passed it off as an accident, the center of the blast obvious when viewed from above. They determined that the energy reservoir for the main power distribution system had exploded due to a failed power regulator.

  However, further investigations, something the General had insisted upon, uncovered unexplained smaller blast points on the many spacecraft and buildings in the depression. It was one of those that had caused the power regulator to fail, providing the larger explosion. An expanded search beyond the crater found further evidence confirming the attack.

  Prints in the dirt, both in the crater and above on the rim, told a tale of stealth and guile. KaLob had no idea how the humans had managed to land undetected, but their execution and efficiency in the attack was to be admired. The best information his analysts had provided stated that the humans had not developed or acquired any technology that rendered them undetectable, but that presumption was now in question.

  He ordered an immediate search for the perpetrators, but held little hope of their discovery with so much lost time. The loss of those forces would be felt, as they had experienced some success with their unorthodox approach in fighting the humans. Pushing that aside, KaLob focused on their next target, one selected to put a stranglehold on the human supply chain.

  ----*----

  Jake had gone over every inch of both FTL drives as well as the entire upper surface of the ship looking for any clues to the failure. While he had no idea what he was looking for, he was sure he could detect something out of order. So far, all was as it should be.

  As he roved over the top of the ship, he caught occasional glimpses of Sergeant Carson and a mixed team of SAS troopers and Marines. They would disappear and reappear as they made their way through the dense growth surrounding the ship. Like him, he suspected they had no idea what they were looking for, but performed their duties diligently.

  The dense atmosphere was breathable, if not somewhat overly warm and muggy. It reminded Jake of a trip to the Florida Keys he had made one August, long ago. There had been so much moisture in the air; you could almost swim from place to place.

  Returning inside to the cool climate controlled interior, Jake went back to the bridge where its two occupants fell silent, watching him as he began resetting the drive power systems. Even though the FTL drive wouldn’t work inside the gravity well of the solar system they occupied, he knew what to look for on the control panel.

  When the humans first recovered the initial NeHaw exploration craft, the FTL drives had been a mystery. Nothing the scientists did could get the engines to operate and so they were ignored, presumed damaged in the crash.

  Fast forward to today, and the humans had been educated on the drive functionality and limitations. While inoperable inside a star’s gravitational influence, there were still indicators of proper installation and operation.

  The Wawobash, with assistance from the Kortisht drive builders, had long ago developed monitors and instrumentation to validate the proper installation and operation before taking the ship to space. If Jake was reading the output from his displays correctly, all systems were go, and ready for space.

  With one indicator red, showing they were under the current’s star’s influence, the green light next to it declared the FTL drive operable. When both were green, they were ready and outside the star’s effect on them. That was exactly the state they had found themselves in when they dropped from FTL the day before, green, green. Jake’s frustration was starting to mount when the woman at the tactical station spoke up.

  “Colonel, I am getting a reading from just outside this solar system. There are two NeHaw destroyers, and they appear to be headed this way,” she announced.

  “Pull everyone inside, I am going to engage the cloaking unit,” Jake replied as he checked the console. He was happy to see the Marine jump out of his seat and go get Carson and the others, rather than risk transmitting the recall signal.

  Once the console went green, indicating everyone was inside; Jake enabled the cloaking unit and stood next to the tactical station, watching the NeHaw ships approach.

  ----*----

  Brian had caught more than a few of the transmissions regarding the unknown whereabouts of Jake and his strike team. He and ALICE-3 discussed the issue at length as they floated just outside the Wawobash shipyards.

  “I have reached out to my sisters and the consensus with the highest degree of probability indicates they have lost FTL capability. Without more data on their location, any rescue mission would be impossible.”

  “The fact that they were able to transmit the success message means they could call for help?” Brian asked more than stated.

  “Yes, however, without FTL they would be unable to escape the NeHaw if detected. Were they to do so, we are likely to be the closest available resource to respond to the call. Other ships have been ordered to the edges of their systems, but they are not currently positioned to go to FTL in less than 24 hours. This all presumes the Phantom is in a position to safel
y call for assistance, which is not presumed to be the case.”

  As they were talking, Brian noted on his navigation screen that ALICE-3 was nudging the ship farther out to be in a position just inside the Wawobash gravity well, ensuring the ability for an almost instant FTL, should the need arise.

  ----*----

  Colonel Bo Chao sat in his Hong Kong headquarters, going over the mountain of paperwork before him. Assuming command after the death of General Ju Huang, something triggered by Huang’s mishandling of the American’s contact overtures, Bo had managed to salvage the situation.

  Now a member of Earth’s central command, representing the planet’s single largest global force, he had the misfortune of commanding the most dysfunctional organizations of all. Still reeling over the loss of General Ju, the ancestral leader of the Chinese military after the fall, many units were struggling with the change.

  It had taken a substantial amount of his time and effort to restructure the command into something stable and trustworthy. In so doing, Bo had been able to avoid the large-scale executions, historically necessary with this type of regime change.

  Instead, he had chosen to transfer select officers and senior NCO’s to America and England, where they were introduced to a new way of life. He had received word most had survived the transition.

  ----*----

  Jake was watching the display where the SAS female was tracking the inbound NeHaw ships when Sergeant Carson stuck his head into the bridge.

  “Colonel, we have a bit of an issue, I believe.”

  “Besides the inbound destroyers?” Jake asked dryly in reply.

  “Yes sir. I think you should come take a look at this,” Carson replied as he turned to lead Jake below. Winding through the passage and descending to the lower level of the ship, Jake could see Carson was heading to the exit ramp. Pausing long enough to drop the ramp, the sergeant stopped halfway down before pointing to one side.

  Jake was aware that dropping the ramp while the cloaking was engaged, would expose the underside of the ship. That, however wasn’t a concern as it wouldn’t be visible from someone looking down from above. Following the sergeant’s extended arm, Jake looked beneath the hull of the ship, finding one of the landing gear completely covered in insects. Turning, he found the other just as infested.

  “What are they doing?” Jake asked as he stepped off the ramp and approached the strut extending from the bay above that housed it when retracted. Flicking a few of the insects off the strut, he could see where they had been chewing on the metal, marring the surface in the process.

  The insects had only made it about half way up the leg on this side, and were almost as high on the others. Jake estimated that if they reached the ship, all hell would break loose as they chewed on the hull.

  Turning quickly, Jake ascended the ramp until he found a communications station. Hitting the activate button, he queried the bridge. By using the internal communications system he avoided any open broadcasts.

  “Bridge,” he shouted.

  “Bridge here,” he got in reply, the distinct English accent giving away the identity of the responder. Jake suddenly realized he didn’t know the SAS trooper's name. Turning to Carson, he motioned to the speaker, while covering the mike.

  “Hannah, sir,” Carson replied with a smile.

  “Hannah, didn’t you say you adjusted the sensors to alert on hazardous life forms?” Jake asked.

  “Why, yes sir. So far, we’ve had no indications of such,” she replied, the confusion clear in her voice.

  “Please remove the filter,” Jake asked calmly. The sudden beeping in the speaker came as no surprise to Jake.

  “Oh dear, it appears the ship itself is under attack. We are detecting multiple life forms attached to the landing gear, and they are consuming the metal alloy at an alarming rate,” Hannah reported.

  “Sir, if they reach the ship, we might not be able to leave. They seem particularly fond of the metal the ship’s drives are made of.”

  “Send some people down to help us clear the landing gear,” Jake replied.

  “Sir, I am detecting other locations on the exterior of the ship where the insects have already taken hold. I am afraid if we don’t leave soon, we shan’t be leaving at all.”

  “Are the NeHaw still there?” Jake asked, the frustration evident in his voice.

  “Yes sir, although they have stopped just outside the gravity well of this system. They appear to be, well, just sitting there, waiting.”

  ----*----

  Robert Jacobson had been acting as Jake’s Logistics’ Officer for quite a while, tirelessly performing his duties in the background. He was responsible for tracking down and delivering all the materials necessary for the ALICEs’ automated manufacturing facilities to maintain production.

  Outside of the Wawobash ships, the ALICEs provided the necessary manufactured goods needed to keep the Earth ahead of the tech curve in their fight with the NeHaw. The fighters and patrol ships with stasis shields and railguns all came from ALICE factories.

  And all those factories relied on his supply line. His scrounging activities had taken him from Canada to Mexico and across the oceans into Europe and Asia. He had encountered more people around the globe than any of the others in leadership roles and established relationships everywhere he went.

  He commanded the largest single transport force the Earth possessed, with over twenty air transport craft of various types and other ground vehicles and hundreds of people. He had pilots, loaders and security forces, all working together locating, collecting, and transporting whatever items the factories needed to continue their production. He had built much to be proud of.

  Even so, Robert was extremely frustrated. Having lived as a man of action his entire life, being a proud descendant of a Fort Hood soldier, he was tired of chasing down steel plate and copper wiring. He had recovered more platinum, gold, and silver than they could spend in several lifetimes, turning the precious metals storage hangar in Texas into Fort Knox on steroids.

  His current activity was chasing down steel plate for the Lanai ALICE. He had found a massive steel mill in Chelyabinsk, Russia and was in the process of taking several of the Lanai transports there to fill them. With all other stockpiles high, and inventory filling warehouses, Robert decided it was time to enhance his unit's capabilities.

  As the husband of the commander of the Texas ALICE, he was well aware of the coming war. It was time to expand the abilities of his operation one more time.

  ----*----

  Kola was on her way to the edge of the solar system. After the emergency meeting of the Tactical Analysts and other leaders, it was decided to position her at the edge of the gravity well. Without a specific search area to investigate, they could only place themselves in a position to act, should a call for help arrive.

  Just over a day’s travel from Earth, she still had several more to go before she could jump to FTL if asked. In the meantime, she had her human occupants training and learning all of her combat systems. With far less than a full complement on board, the opportunities for those crew members were limitless, and the possibility of combat was a reality.

  Her hangars had both of the attack squadrons, VMFA-314 Black Knights and the VMFA-112 Cowboys, aboard as well as three of the Lanai combat patrol craft. All ships were currently available for training while in transit to the edge of the solar system. Once they were asked to go to FTL, all would need to be masked under stasis bubbles to prevent their ferrous hulls from interfering with the FTL drive.

  Kola did find herself less than thrilled at the duo placed on board for this trip. Ivan and his Cossack followers had been selected as crew for the Lanai Patrol ships. The Russians had shown a particular fondness for the smaller ships and had a high degree of success in combat operations.

  Two of the ships had been operating at the edge of the solar system when several NeHaw destroyers appeared in what was suspected to be a probing attack. It was suggested that the NeHaw were te
sting the Earth’s defense network in the escalating war.

  The aggressive response from the Russians manning the two vessels, and their methodical annihilation of a couple of the NeHaw ships, insured no further probing would occur. The retreating ships were all savaged by the two Russian crews in some capacity. Video replay confirmed the Russian weapon's accuracy and tactical efficiency working in tandem had overwhelmed the enemy.

  The other half of the duo was Colonel Edwin Banks. While not the ship’s captain, as that position was assigned to one of Brian’s protégé’s, he was still the senior officer aboard. It was of no concern or slight to Banks as he admittedly did not have enough experience for such a position.

  He had gathered an SAS ground team and rushed them on board in the hours after the decision to go to the edge of the system and wait. Should they need to hasten to Jake’s aid on some distant planet, his team was ready to land and cover the retreat.

  The unfortunate part of all this was, while it was well known that Edwin and Ivan were best of friends, it was also a fact that the two rarely saw eye to eye on anything. So it was now as the two stood on the bridge, discussing the possible location of Jake and his wayward vessel.

  “I tell you Edwin. Jake is on the alien planet. He destroyed the raiders, but was unable to leave afterward.”

  “Ivan my friend, that is not possible. Think man! He wouldn’t send the success code until he had departed the planet’s surface. He must be dead in space, floating free, or on repulser drives with a damaged FTL drive.”

  “Nyet! You know that little ship as well as I. She is sturdy and would take considerable punishment.”

  “I must agree with you there; however, it is possible the ship was attacked as they departed, thus providing the instrument of failure,” Banks countered.

  “Possibly, however, I do not see Colonel Jake leaving anything behind that could do them harm. It would have to be a weapon in space, more likely something in orbit?” Ivan replied.