Later than afternoon I held a Council meeting to discuss the impending Milgari problem. What would we do with the free Milgari after the cure had been administered? The Council was quick to decide, Glemak would get his training.
With several weeks left before the cruiser would be ready for a test I hopped in the Wren for a ride to the Grid. I was curious as to how our plan to identify spies and to then round them up was going. Doris met me at the Alpha Bay docks.
As I stepped onto the deck and began to speak she raised her finger to her lips, “Not now Sir, please wait until we are secure.” We continued to walk quietly to Doris��� office. I sat in the chair in front of her desk.
When the door closed and the green light came on I knew it was safe to speak, “So, I just came out to check on the progress and to tell you of the exciting news back home.” Doris sat in her chair and sighed, “Sorry Sir, it has just been hectic around here. People are starting to get suspicious and questions are being asked that indicate we may need to move on this sooner rather than later.”
“The Colonel���s intel team is doing a bang-up job of identifying those who are listed and then setting up the trees of the people they are in contact with. So far, I believe they have something like 450 direct threats and around 6,000 indirect or undecided. Frankly Sir, if the team was bigger I think they would just uncover more. If you walk in their office it���s like an organized mayhem in there.”
I replied, “Is there any word of the SCore agents and Ashley?” Doris responded, “Yes, the four agents she enlisted are now working for the third-in-command Jeff Norberg. He formed a team to supposedly investigate Martool Mining. Of course we are cooperating fully.” Doris smiled.
Doris continued, “The buzz amongst the politicians is that they want to know more about your company. Jeff���s team is slow rolling that information out to them. I have been typing up their reports so everything is watered down. I have also been pre-releasing those reports to our press operatives so any information released can be spun in a positive way. So far, that strategy appears to be working.”
“But we are seeing a lot of questions being asked that give the appearance of people getting nervous. Several of our direct threats have been pressing the news people for their sources on some of the stories that put them in a less than favorable light. Threats are being made Sir. We are trying to stay one step ahead, but as time goes on those tasks become ever more difficult.”
I wanted to see Ashley, but Doris thought it was a bad idea. Any association that could be made between her and me would only bring scrutiny onto both of us. When I finished my status briefing with Doris I was taken on a quick tour of the Colonel���s intel headquarters. Doris was right, it was controlled mayhem.
With the Grid operations in full swing I walked back towards the Wren to head home. There was planning to be done. When I arrived in Alpha Bay C Michael Felix was waiting for me, “Don Grange. I should have known you would show up here again. Congratulations on your success with Martool. When I heard that was you it was quite unexpected.”
“I would like to discuss a few things with you if you have a moment.” I replied, “Sure, tell you what, my ship is right down here how about we go for a quick ride?” Michael Felix looked at me suspiciously, “You are not still harboring ill will against me are you Don? It was my office that pushed through the information that got your warrant lifted. I���m sure you view that as a hollow gesture that was somehow to my benefit, but it was something that needed to be done.”
I sighed and responded, “Look Felix, if you want to talk we take a ride. I have things to do so either come with me or go away.” Felix raised his hand, “No need to be testy Don. We are on the same side now.”
We walked to the Wren and stepped aboard. When the door closed I filed a quick flight plan and was given taxi directions to the launch pad, within a minute we were in the darkness of space. I spoke, “OK Felix, what���s on your mind?”
Felix replied, “I just wanted to bury the hatchet so to speak. I have had extensive talks with the Admiral and I will have to say Don, as much as I loathed you before, I now have a different opinion. What you have managed to accomplish is stellar. I would not have taken you for a patriot.”
I squinted one eye, “Well, I would have taken you for a politician. You have wanted to control everything since the day we first met. First the Messenger service, which was a brilliant move if you wanted to control the flow of information on and off the Grid. And now as a politician on several of the most powerful committees. The Sad thing is, I knew you were capable of working your way up like this, I just hoped it wouldn���t happen.”
“You see Felix, I never liked you because you always bent the rules to fit your purpose. Anyone who got in your way was pushed to the side or rolled over. You always played by the rules, you just didn���t play fair.”
Our discussion went on for nearly an hour before I landed back in Alpha Bay C. The door of the Wren opened and Michael Felix stood to exit. He held out his hand for an expected shake. I looked at it and spoke, “Felix, I���m not going to shake your hand or slap you on the back or pat your rump. I still don���t like you. And until that changes please just stay out of my way.”
With that Michael Felix nodded and stepped out onto the deck. The door of the Wren closed and I again filed my flight plan for home. Two minutes later I blasted out into space and turned for Jarhead.
Upon arrival back on the Suppressor I immediately did a walk around for status. The cruiser modifications were nearing completion and Frig was preparing for his first test. I spoke, “How���s it looking? Have you given her a name and will Doc���s apparatus deliver the goods?” Frig replied, “I believe it will Sir. I am hoping to do a test of the system tomorrow. We will only have 40% of the generators online, but it should yield measurable results. I have selected the name of the ship, it will be called the Injector.”
After meeting with the others I made my way back to my office. The afternoon was long and uneventful. My thoughts were consumed with anticipation of the coming test, it had me on edge. The Colonel then barged through the door. The look on his face told that something was wrong.
The Colonel spoke, “Grange! The Milgari are on the move. We have reports coming in that they are massing ships at a point that can only mean there next target is the Grid. Our reports from both the Prassi and the Dakar say that a large number of ships that were parked on their borders have been pulled away. I���ve given my teams orders to prepare to fly out at short notice. I also sent a team to the grid with orders to make sure the gravity drive is held safe.”
“This may be the big push we always thought would come. If that happens we will only have a short time to fight before hopping on the Grid for the ride out. As always, anyone who misses the boat is out of luck. There is no turning around to pick up stragglers.”
Preparations were made, ships were packed and any needed repairs were patched and pushed through without testing. We had 126 new Hawks coming off the line that would have pilots that had only flown in simulation. We were not yet going to war, but it looked like all-out war was inevitable.
The following day Frig performed his test of the wormhole generator. At 40% generation capacity the cavity that developed was not sufficiently broad enough to accommodate the aerosol spray George had created. Gy would not have the full test ready for another week.
The following day we set out with our fleet towards the point where the Milgari ships were massing. We loaded the Swift into the docking bay of the newly commissioned cruiser aptly named the Injector. I would ride out with Frig until such time as the Injector could be fully tested. When we arrived near the Milgari position I would take the Swift forward to a point where our sensors could pinpoint a delivery location for the wormhole. Once established the aerosol would be forced through.
I sat on the bridge with Frig, he continued his work on the antenna array as we talked, “Just a couple more
weeks and we could have fully tested this thing out. If this doesn���t work we are kind of screwed. Jarhead, the Suppressor, all the work we have done back there will have to be destroyed.”
“And if this is the final big attack we will not have time to hop on the Grid. We have to clean up what is still out there. That means we get left behind. Of course the good news is that we should be able to travel the ten years to the new jump location. The bad news is that we may not know where that is exactly. We may have to roam around for a while.”
Frig looked up from his console, “You are just full of delight this morning Sir. I don���t know how I ever got along without you.” It took the good old verbal slap on the face from my best friend to break me out of my funk. He was right. I was not adding conversation that would lead to our success.
I left the bridge and went to sit in the Swift. I plopped myself down in my chair and kicked my feet up on the console. I talked to the Swift as I looked around, “Well old friend, this may be it. It has been one wild ride hasn���t it? Attacked by pirates, left stranded on a moon��� a moon outside of the ion wall mind you, and repeatedly almost killed in battle. It���s almost too much for one man and his ship to take in.”
“But if I had to do it all over again I would do it with you. You are my Swift, my fury, my ship���” A voice came over the comm, “That ship is half mine Sir. We had a deal.” I had to chuckle as I reached up and turned the comm off.
It was a five day ride to the rally point and then another day out to where the Milgari were camped. When we arrived I hopped into the Swift and rode out to perform a scan of the Milgari fleet. From that initial distant scan a target would be selected and I would isolate its position and orientation. That information would then be used by Frig to deliver the first injection of the aerosol cure.
When the first scan was complete I beamed back the data to Frig, “Pick me out a target there my friend and I will move in for the heavy data. I���ll be keeping my fingers crossed.” Frig replied, Fingers crossed Sir?” I responded, “It���s just an old Human expression from back when I was a kid. It���s supposed to bring good luck.”
Frig evaluated the data and the sent back a target, “I have selected the battleship at location 1044.2062.337 Sir, it should be selected on your screen.” I replied, “Got it, moving in for a heavy now.” I moved the Swift to within 50 million kilometers and began the deep scan of the battleship. The Swifts signature remained extremely small from that distance and the image projector only served to make it more so.
When the scan was complete I passed the data back to Frig, “Here you go. Let me know if it worked and I will scan another target.” The comm was silent for several minutes. Frig then replied, “Sir, it appears to have worked. We cannot be certain of its outcome until that battleship makes a move with the others… or doesn���t. I���m sending the coordinates of the next scan your way.”
When the second scan was complete Frig again started the wormhole generator with new coordinates. The second test ship was injected with George���s aerosol, we quickly moved on to the third. After the ninth ship I began to get the idea that it was going to be a long painstaking process. We were averaging two ships per minute. At more than 20,000 our efforts would take just over a week of non-stop injections. So long as the Milgari stayed put, our plan had a chance of succeeding. With no new ships arriving I was convinced they would move before we would be done.”
Chapter 20
As the morning progressed I set up my end with a macro that allowed Frig to select and send which ship to scan. Once complete the data would be routed back for the injection. I had little to do to occupy my time. So I fell back on my old friend, a game of Bollox.
I started up a scenario and was soon enthralled with an impossible mission such as the one set before us. A base had to be defended from a superior fleet. After several attempts at flanking the enemy I decided my only option was to go around. I would instead attack their base, hopefully drawing them away from mine until I gained more time.
I had only put my bypass strategy into play when the first of the Milgari ships began to move. We had only had the chance to inject 122. The ships were moving towards the Grid.
“Frig! The Milgari are moving! Send the word out to the Colonel and Admiral. It looks like they are heading for the Grid!”
Frig replied, “Sir, have any of the injected ships moved?” I responded, “They have not moved yet, but that whole section has not started off yet so I cannot tell. I���m thinking you just bring that cruiser in here and do your own scans and injections while you can. If they spot you, you will just have to leave. I have an idea I need to run by the Colonel!”
I turned and moved slowly unitl I was out of the Milgari���s sensor range I then pushed the throttle to full. When I arrived back at our fleet the Colonel was preparing to intercept the Milgari. His voice came over the comm, “this looks like the big push. Remember the tactics that we practiced after that last encounter!”
I got on the comm to tell him of a new strategy, “Colonel, hold your command. I think we should try something different, something that might just throw them off and buy us some time. We are going after Torrus Colonel. Attack their base before they attack ours. Worst case is they continue on and the Grid jumps. But I don���t think the Milgari will abandon their precious Torrians. I think they will try to follow us back.”
“Send a ship to the Prassi and a ship to the Dakar and tell them that the time to assault Torrus is now! With our speed advantage we should have two full days of assault on Torrus before the Milgari arrive. I did a little scouting of the star maps and there is a small nebula similar in type to the Fasture about 2.5 light-years from Torrus. If we are unable to eliminate the Torrians before they arrive we can run to it to fight it out there. Fighting in that negative field may be the only way we have a chance against those Milgari ships.”
“One last thing, we need to take a path where we are easily detected by them as we go by. If we want them to follow we need their attention. And Colonel, start pulling up the latest data we have on Torrus and its defenses, we are going to want some type of plan to pass off to the Prassi and Dakar when they arrive.”
The orders soon went out to every ship with waypoints charted and defense data to study. The trip to Torrus would take twelve days. I landed the Swift in the hold of the Slaughter and made my way to the bridge. The Colonel was busy barking out orders.
I sat down in a chair near the Colonel and waited for him to finish with his men. I then walked to the console beside him and placed my hand on the edge for support, “Colonel, this is probably our last chance at keeping the Grid in this sector. We have to beat the Torrians or at least severely damage their planet. At a minimum we need more time.”
The Colonel replied, “I have a good feeling about this Don. We are going to make this work. We always do. How did the injections go?”
I responded, “We had 122 done when the fleet started to move. Frig was going to continue to see if he could get a few more. We had nothing to report by the time I left. The data all pointed to it working, but we had no physical evidence. Doc said it did not work at the same speed on every Milgari. Some took an hour while others took most of a day. I guess that now we may never have the chance to know if it would have worked.”
As we cruised along at 320 SOL I took the time to study the Torrus defenses. Our last scouting mission revealed three distinct layers. The outer layer consisted of Milgari ships. The latest data showed 1186 battleships and cruisers. The second level was 46 armed space stations. Each station had at least a dozen battle cannons, the stations were heavily armored. The third level was 408 floating defensive platforms in orbit around the planet. During our last scouting mission the platforms supported another 1650 battle cannons.
The attack of Torrus would be no easy task. Our fleet consisted of 3,412 Hawks of which 120 of them had the latest shielding updates, six battleships, 14 cruise
rs, 28 destroyers and 112 frigates from the Admiral’s fleet, 97 Raiders and 8 Defenders. In addition we had five converted Milgari frigates and 11 converted Milgari cruisers. If the Torrians had the same grade of armor and weapons as the prior Milgari fleet we had tangled with we would have a difficult time.
As we flew past the Milgari position we slowed and closed to a point where we would easily be detected, but not fired upon. Once the Milgari ships began to turn we accelerated back to our top speed. I was looking forward to the fight even though I was apprehensive about not having Frig by my side. I had a borrowed engineer named Garland Harr.
Garland was a recent retiree from the Grid military and he was eager to prove his worth. I sat with him over a cup of coffee in the mess hall. Garland spoke, “I served in the last war, but I never saw combat. I was back on the Grid in the construction docks as an engineer, buying off on the ships as they were being built. I’m not saying I am eager to go into battle Sir, but you do only live once and I would just like to feel like I made a difference.”
I replied, “I know what you mean. I’ve had the same thoughts and feelings. But you can’t let those be the ones that guide you or you will charge in where you should not go. Believe me, I’ve done just that and I am lucky to be here today. If you let your heart guide you along with your experience and intuition, you will do OK. Just don’t get it in your mind that you need to impress anyone else, that will just get you and others killed.”
As we talked I took note of the red shirt beneath Garland���s combat suit. I spoke, “Tell me that is not a red shirt you are wearing?” Garland replied, “You don���t buy into that mumbo-jumbo do you Sir?” I responded, “Wearing a red shirt in space combat is bad luck, you are just begging to get killed.” Garland chuckled, “I read those same passages in the archives Sir. It���s all fiction. I���m not worried about it.”
I talked to Garland for several hours. He listed off his duty stations in the military and I gave him a short history of the building of our force. When we left the mess hall Garland had a new appreciation for Defiant and for all those who had joined. It was a cause worthy of fighting for and he was now a fighter for the cause.
AMP Blitzkrieg Page 21
