by Wilson Harp
“Think they are lying?” asked Williams as he poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Kyle.
“I don’t think it’s their style to outright lie. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”
“I have some news, sir, but I don’t think you will like it. I know I sure didn’t,” Williams said as he sat at his desk.
“About the weapon?”
“Yes sir. Seems that I found out who has been looking at gravitational weapons technology. The Hedali.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yes sir. Talked to some of their engineers and it’s something they were working on for a while. They really didn’t understand the concept that it could be used as a weapon like this. They were developing it to assist in their mining and engineering development, but yes, they were pretty far along when the Iltia’cor invaded.”
Kyle shook his head and stared into his coffee.
“It gets worse, sir. Seems that a few Hedali were granted access to some of our computer systems. It was to help with our engine redesigns, but someone in that facility accessed our logistics system without authorization.”
Kyle stood up and walked across the room to look out of the window. “If you are saying that one of the Hedali let the Iltia’cor know where we were going to strike, you had better be absolutely sure.”
“More than sure, sir. We know exactly who it was. He sent them the coordinates of our drop point and the time we would start the operation.”
“Do we have him in custody?”
“Ramirez thought it would be better not to let him know that we are aware of his activities,” Williams said
“Counter-intel?”
“Yes sir, we have an idea, and if it works, it will take care of their new toy.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“The Geneva,” Williams said.
“The Geneva? What about it? They just started dismantling it.” Kyle was clearly confused.
“I know, and it’s the perfect choice.” Williams smiled a smug little smile and waited for Kyle.
“I’ll bite. Why is the Geneva the perfect choice?” Kyle asked. He was not in the mood to play these games.
“Two of the central support spars have cracks in them. If we tried to put the craft in service, there would be no knowing when the central gravity system would collapse the damaged spars. And what would that do, sir?” Williams asked.
“It would cause an internal collapse and the ship would implode,” Kyle responded. He saw an idea forming at the edge of his mind.
“What if instead of a central gravity system there was a very strong sudden external gravitational force?” Williams was on his feet now and starting to speak quicker.
“It would fall apart, like a pile of sticks!” said Kyle, joining Williams in standing.
“So we load up a lot of debris, like say forty or fifty high energy fusion bombs…” Williams said, spreading his hands.
“And their weapon pulls in a bunch of explosives set to detonate at a certain time.” Kyle was grinning.
“Yes. Actually we set gravitational triggers on them so they explode in sequence. Each one sets the next off, we figure the force of the explosion and the pull of their singularity should send the last several into a semi-stable orbit around the central gravitation point long enough to detonate on the other side.” Williams was grinning as well.
“What are the chances this could work?” Kyle asked.
“Depends on if they scan the Geneva before they activate their weapon. If they do, we will be handing them a good look at our cruiser design and several dozen fusions bombs. If they don’t, I would say we have a fifty-fifty shot at getting them.”
“We set the first bomb to have a time delay to detonate five minutes after we drop it off. If they scan and don’t activate their weapon, they may pull up to the Geneva and the delayed bombs might get them. If they don’t, we destroy any use they may get out of our ruse.”
“Excellent. Do you want me to move forward with the operation?” Williams asked as he sat back down.
“Yes, tell them to stop scrapping the Geneva and secure the rest of the materials needed. Ranke’s idea?” Kyle asked.
Williams nodded.
Kyle grunted. “I thought it sounded like something he would come up with.”
“He knows booby-traps better than anyone. I was going to put him as lead engineer on this.”
“That should keep him happy and busy,” Kyle said. “Good job, Carl. Let me know if you need to cut through any red tape, I want this as top priority.”
Kyle walked over and poured another cup of coffee. “Now how are we going to pull them in?”
“We only have a few systems left, so we pick one and go for it. We can put in that we are sending eight cruisers and twenty scooters in the first wave, make them think they can nab twelve of our sleds at one blow. That should get their attention,” Williams said.
“Sounds like a plan. Call Kitch, have her look over the proposal.” Kyle’s com unit began beeping.
“Martin. Go,” he said.
“Sir, Commander Salazar has a report about the Otina Strike Force. Can you talk to him now?” Kyle’s secretary asked.
“Let me get back to the office, Karen. I’m just down the hall,” Kyle said as he switched his unit off. “Keep me in the loop, Carl, but sounds like we have a great idea.”
Kyle quickly walked down the hall to his office. Too many windows for his taste, but he was able to keep the decorations austere.
“General, Commander Salazar is on line two, full video,” Karen Crane said as Kyle hurried past her station.
“Thank you Karen, call Sara and let her know I will be home by six tonight if she still wants to grill steaks,” Kyle said as he closed the door to his office. His daughter was living at home again and he was thrilled to have her around the house.
Kyle sat in his chair and adjusted his video screen. He hit line two and the image of Commander Ramon Salazar popped up. “Ramon, good to see you, I guess you have something?”
“Yes sir, we took an Otina messenger ship warping in around Jupiter yesterday. Caught them with their engines cold and boarded after a short chase. They injured two of ours and we had to put four of them down, but we captured six. We found navigational co-ordinates for three bases in the asteroid belt once we got into their systems. Long range scans confirm the presence of high energy at those sites,” Salazar said with a smile.
“Outstanding Commander! Excellent,” Kyle said. The Otina were an ongoing problem. While the war against the Iltia’cor was going well, it felt like a yapping dog was always nipping at his heels whenever Kyle got a new report of an Otina raid.
“Thank you, sir. Preliminary reports estimate that there are between two and three hundred Otina at each site, and they have a few heavy weapons in hardened positions. I would like to request more men before seriously considering assaulting their bases,” Salazar said.
“I’ll pass it by General Kitch and make sure that she approves, but I don’t think it will be a problem,” Kyle answered.
“General Kitch?” Salazar looked pleasantly surprised.
Kyle laughed. “I forgot you were out. Rider put her in for the star the day before he passed away. Things move fast in wartime, I guess. The Earth Council and the Pentagon approved it two days ago, and she pinned it on yesterday.”
“Have they made a decision on who will be the Supreme Commander?”
Kyle shifted uncomfortably. The U.S., China and Russia all supported him taking Rider’s position, but France and India were firmly set against it. “Not yet, Ramon, but they have a few more days to decide.”
Turning to his tablet, Kyle opened up the folder marked ‘Otina Strike Force’.
“Looks like you have eighty-six personnel and three scooters. I’m going to assign the Berlin and two more scooters to you. Those will be modified troop transports. I’m thinking the Orinoco and the Nile. I would also like you to take an extra sixty ground pounders. Ki
skaliski will be your first when dealing with the ground assaults.”
Salazar nodded “That’s what I would have recommended. The Berlin can be used to take out the hardened heavy weapons from a distance. We will be glad to have her.”
“Any other equipment or personnel you think you might need?”
“Wouldn’t hurt to have a med team, we haven’t needed one yet, but with ground assaults in the planning, wouldn’t mind having a Nightingale,” Salazar requested.
“Let’s see if I have a Nightingale for you.” Kyle searched his listings for a scooter that had been equipped as a mobile medical station. “The Danube can probably be reassigned; I’ll clear that with McKendree.”
“Thank you sir, I think that would be everything we need.”
“I’ll send it all up to Kitch and she can break down the details. But if we can get the Otina off our backs, that will be a great relief,” Kyle said.
“Yes sir, we will drive them out of the system.” Salazar smiled broadly. “Salazar out.”
The screen went black and Kyle slumped in his chair for a minute. He was thinking of his conversation with Williams and something was bothering him.
He pressed the intercom button on his desk phone. “Karen, could you get Sergeant Major Williams on the line?”
“Of course, sir.”
A few seconds later, Kyle saw line one light up and hit the button to pick up. “Carl, do you have a second?”
“Absolutely, sir. What do you need?” Williams asked.
“When we take the Geneva in, what will happen to the sled that drops her off?”
There was a long awkward silence. “I’m not sure, sir. From the data we got from the Hemingway, it’s lucky she wasn’t torn to pieces. I had thought that maybe we could automate the drop, but we would lose a sled, and I sure don’t want to do that.”
Kyle thought for a few seconds. “How many men are absolutely needed to fly a sled in and bring it back out?”
“Well, let’s see. You need a pilot, you need a navigator and you need at least five technicians to release the clamps. That is… unless you wanted to release them one at a time. That would surely get the crew killed, though. So, I would say seven bare minimum,” Williams replied.
“Can we blow the clamps?” Kyle asked.
“Maybe. If we set the explosives before we warped in, that would work, but I will have to check with Ranke to see if charges set that way would be stable enough in a warp field.”
“Get with him and see if it is possible. I want as few men as possible at risk on this assignment. If we have to repair a sled afterwards, that’s a small price to pay.”
“Yes sir. Anything else?”
“No, that’s it for now. I’ll let you get back to it,” Kyle said as he hung up.
If the Iltia’cor’s new weapon was destroyed, it might be enough of a shock to send them to the negotiating table. They have already lost six of the eleven planets they had once controlled outside the Iltia system. Another major defeat might be painful enough that they wouldn’t want to lose any more.
Kyle hoped and prayed that would be the result.
Now which system to pick for the trap? The Do’yar’on system was out of the question, they might sense a trap and not show up. That left…
Kyle snapped his fingers. Helku was a binary star system with three asteroid belts and a lot of radiation. When they examined the system, it was so complicated that it was put on the back burner. The system itself was poor on resources and the population of Heltani was under four million. And it was a mere fifteen light-years from the Iltia system.
If they could indicate that it would be secured as a staging area for an invasion of Iltia itself, it might provide extra incentive for the Iltia’cor to send their weapon.
He felt like things were finally clicking into place. They had the means of taking the gravitational weapon out and he now had the location where it would happen. They could figure out how to plant the information so that the Iltia’cor received it in the correct way. Now he just had to assign the men who would undertake this dangerous mission.
He needed a pilot, an engineer and someone who could navigate the sled. And he needed to know he could trust them with the highest level of secrecy.
He picked up his phone and punched in a number.
“This is Ramirez,” said Alex after a single ring.
“Alex, you certified as a navigator on the sleds, right?” Kyle asked. “How would you like to take a trip with Williams and me?”
“What trip?” asked Alex.
Chapter 16
27 June 2044
“It’s all set,” Sergeant Ranke said over the com channel. “That’s as stable as I can make them and still make sure they blow when you hit the switch.”
The Ellison Station dry-dock was in orbit around Jupiter. It was from there that this operation would launch. The Fitzgerald Warp-Field Tug, more commonly referred to as a sled, would tow the Geneva into the Helku system. There the Iltia’cor would be waiting with their gravitational weapon. Once the Iltia’cor activated their weapon, the Geneva would break apart and it’s payload of fusion bombs would destroy the enemy weapon. If all went as planned.
The Helku system was 127 light-years away from Earth. Kyle still needed a calculator to figure out how long the warp engines would take to get there, but for the last three weeks, he had checked the figures every few hours it seemed. It was three days, twelve hours and forty minutes, no matter how many times he checked. That’s how long they would be in a stable warp field with enough explosive power to destroy a small moon. That thought did not calm Kyle’s nerves.
Alex fidgeted beside him. “Are you sure we can’t automate this thing?”
The Fitzgerald hung there waiting for an answer. “No,” said Kyle “We can’t afford to lose a sled, not when we can bring it home again.”
“Just thought I would ask in case no one considered it,” Alex sighed wistfully. “I guess I’ve been through worse things than being stuck with the two of you for three straight days.”
Alex turned and walked away from the observation deck.
“What do you think, Carl?” Kyle asked
“I trust Ranke. If he says the charges are stable, they are stable. Everything will go fine, sir. Like Ramirez said, the hardest part will be living with you two,” Williams said. His voice sounded as light as his words, but his eyes carried the heaviness of worry and concern.
Kyle looked up at the chains holding the massive structure. From a distance, it looked like a fragile vessel, so easily snapped or broken. But when you were here, just a few hundred feet away from it, the size was over whelming. At over 400 meters high and close to 2200 meters long, it dwarfed any ship that Earth had ever put on her oceans.
The crew of the Fitzgerald was normally twenty four, so there would be plenty of space and supplies, although Kyle assumed they would probably stay on the bridge for most of the voyage. After they dropped the Geneva off, they would rendezvous with another sled and be relieved of command.
“I have never been more anxious to be done and over with a mission as I am right now,” Alex said.
Kyle turned and saw Alex had walked back out onto the observation deck.
“We have twenty minutes until the Geneva gets in position. I guess we need to board the Fitzgerald,” said Alex as he motioned back to the briefing room.
Kyle and Williams took one last look at the Fitzgerald before turning and walking back into the room. A few seconds later, the alarms in the dock area started ringing. Yellow lights started flashing, letting anyone in the area around the ship know that they were going to decompress in ten minutes.
At the two minute mark Kyle, Alex and Williams started walking across the sealed causeway to the bridge of the Fitzgerald. Just seconds after they secured their hatch, the lights in the dock area turned red and the huge vents started slowing sucking the precious air into the compression tanks. Kyle and his team had already started all systems and were settling
into their seats on the bridge when the large doors below them began to open and the vacuum of space finished the decompression.
“We are clear to drop, sir,” said Williams as he set the system to release from the dock.
“Fitzgerald to Ellison, permission to undock,” Kyle said.
“This is Ellison, you have clearance. Good luck crew of the Fitzgerald,” replied the Dockmaster.
Kyle nodded and Williams released the clamps that secured the sled to the dock. Kyle fired the top side thrusters at 10% until they were clear of the station’s rotation, and then pointed the ship towards the pickup location.
“Looks like the Chaucer is right on schedule,” Kyle said as their sensors picked up the other Sled slowing into the drop zone.
“Fitzgerald, she is all yours. Let me unlock this hot potato and you can take her and shove her down the throat of those SOBs,” Colonel “Cowboy” Jackson said.
“Thanks Cowboy. We will take good care of her.”
“Still wish you had let me fly the mission, sir. Feel I owe it to Nestor, Jennings and Donovan,” Cowboy said.
Kyle looked over at Williams. Alex had read the casualty list, but he knew that Williams sometimes skipped it. He didn’t blame him; sometimes you don’t want to see a friend’s name on the list.
“We will make sure the Iltia’cor pay the full butcher’s bill, Cowboy,” Kyle replied.
“Thank you sir, and good luck.”
“Donovan was at Do’yar’on?” Williams asked rhetorically. “I wasn’t aware. I knew Jennings had command of the DeGaul and Nestor was XO of the Belisarius. But I didn’t know about Neal.”
Kyle watched his sensors until he saw that the Chaucer was clear of the approach path. “Starting thrusters forward, matching vectors for the Geneva.”
A few minutes later they watched the visuals from the structural cameras as the Geneva locked into place on the five clamp assemblies. Just centimeters separated the powerful explosives and the locking mechanism. One cracked part and Jupiter would have a new orbiting debris field as the Geneva, the Fitzgerald and even the Ellison Space Station would be destroyed from the chain reaction of the fusion bombs held in the Geneva’s superstructure.
