“No,” said Captain Deutch, “I’m just looking at the view and contemplating the next few months. Although I am looking forward to our deployment, there is a lot to take care of before we go.” He paused for a moment and then asked the ship’s AI, “What about you, Solomon? Are you looking forward to going back out to the stars?”
“I am not programmed for emotion,” replied Solomon, “but if I were, I believe that I would say, “Yes.” I was created to be a warship, not just a base to operate a transporter beam from. It is good to have people back onboard again. There is an energy that they bring. It is also good to have a purpose again. Like the other ships of my class, I was built to serve the Eldive; however, I alone was not at their final battle. I have no wish to be destroyed, but the loss of the Eldive has taken away my purpose, my reason for being, leaving me somewhat...unfulfilled.” Captain Deutch couldn’t tell if the pause was a feature of Solomon’s programming or if the AI was actually searching for a word to describe something going on inside it.
The AI continued, “I am a warship, and I was meant to fight. It is good to be going out to accomplish my primary mission, even if it is no longer with the Eldive. I am...happy...to be going with you humans in their place. I believe the Eldive would have approved of you; you are more similar in nature than you might believe.”
“Well, thanks,” said Captain Deutch, “but we’re not supposed to fight. We’re supposed to explore and hopefully come back with a replicator that will allow us to build additional warships. If we get into a fight and are destroyed, it is likely that the human race will be destroyed, as well.”
“I am familiar with the parameters of the mission,” replied Solomon. “It is, however, unlikely that you will be able to avoid fighting. Your race is weak, and there are many predators in the galaxy. It is almost a statistical certainty that you will have to fight at some point.”
“Can we win a fight?” asked Captain Deutch.
There was a long pause while Solomon ran scenarios. Finally, he answered, “It depends on what race we meet, as well as the number and types of ships that they have when we meet them. One cruiser, no matter how good, is no match for an entire battle fleet. It is likely that we will be destroyed if we go out on deployment.”
“Well, that’s comforting,” replied Captain Deutch.
“While we will likely be destroyed if we deploy,” said Solomon, “if we do not deploy, the odds are even greater that this system will be found by an aggressive race within the next 20 years, and humanity will either be enslaved or completely wiped out. Our mission has a very small probability of success, but that is greater than no chance at all.”
Captain Deutch sighed. Damned if you do; even more damned if you don’t. And every day that passed increased the likelihood of an alien race finding Earth. All his life, he had always looked forward to Christmas and taking a break from work. For the first time in his life, he looked forward to Christmas being over, so he could get off vacation and get his crew back to work.
Viper 01, TSS Vella Gulf, ‘Dark Side’ of the Moon, December 12, 2018
It was the moment Calvin had waited for. He was finally going to fly one of the Vipers.
As he plugged his suit into the receptacle that connected him to the fighter’s oxygen and communications system, the ship’s display came on at the right side of his vision. This was just too damn cool, he thought. It was all green, undamaged and working normally. Next to the picture of the ship were indicators for all of the ship’s systems. Life support, power, offensive and defensive systems, and inertial compensators were all in the green.
“Welcome Calvin,” the ship’s AI said in a sultry female voice. The AI was not as capable as Solomon, but it also had far fewer systems to interact with and control. “What are we doing today?” asked the AI.
Calvin plugged the chip that held the mission profile into the computer. “We’re going to go out and get some familiarization on what this ship can do. I’ve tried it out in the simulator, but it’s time to do it for real. We’re going to go to Venus and Mercury; Venus because it has an atmosphere and Mercury because it doesn’t. Maybe we’ll do a few weapons passes on Mercury when we’re done.”
Calvin ran through all of the engine startup checklists with his weapon systems officer (WSO), Captain Imagawa Sadayo. The Japanese WSO was a hardworking officer who had more time in the simulators than any of the others and more flights, five.
It didn’t take Calvin long to get all of his systems turned on and ready. The AI gave him the green light that everything was ready to go. “All set?” he asked Sadayo.
Calvin had heard that, like the samurai of old, the young Japanese man often spoke in haikus or other forms of poetry. This time was no different. “Winter moon in front. Who can know what awaits us. Let us go find it.” There was a pause and then he continued, “I am ready. All systems operational.”
With no one yet in charge of the ship’s air/space operations, Captain Imagawa called Solomon for clearance to launch. If nothing else, Solomon would keep them clear of any other fighters ‘airborne’ at that time. “Solomon, Viper One is ready for launch.”
“You are cleared for launch,” Solomon replied. “There are no other fighters in the area. Viper Four and Viper Five are currently on the other side of the sun practicing combat maneuvering. Launch in five...four...three...two...one...launch!” Solomon released the ties to the Calvin’s fighter and gave it a compressed air push away from the Vella Gulf.
Once he saw that he had separation, Calvin took control and flew the fighter up and away from the moon’s surface. “Engage shields,” he said to Sadayo over the intercom.
“Engaged,” replied the WSO. “Earth cannot see us.”
Calvin looked down at the Vella Gulf, realizing that, despite his intentions on a couple of occasions, he had never actually seen it from the outside before. The ship was a little larger than the aircraft carriers that he previously flown from, with a length of 1,300 feet and a mass of 202,100 tons. It was not quite cylindrical, as it was 160 feet wide and only 130 feet tall. Its Helium-3 engines could accelerate it at 375 G’s.
He could see the nine closed hatches on each side of the ship that covered its 18 anti-ship missile tubes and knew that each had a magazine of 15 missiles, for 270 total missiles. He could also see the smaller hatches below these for its gamma-ray lasers (‘grasers’), its counter-missile tubes and its point defense laser clusters. There were mounting points for six of the Viper-class space fighters and one of the Reliable-class shuttles on both the front and the back of the ship, although it currently only had six space fighters and two shuttles onboard.
He also got his first good look at the fighters that were attached like parasites to the outer hull. Shaped like spades from a deck of cards, they massed 14,300 tons and were about 150 feet long, with about 75 feet sticking out beyond the Vella Gulf. The fighters were powered by an innovative (at the time when they were initially designed, anyway) fusion plant that could accelerate the little ships at 650 G’s. For armament, they each carried a large 2.2’ aperture graser and could mount four large anti-ship missiles, two under each wing. In addition to their offensive weapons, they also mounted a 4.7” defensive laser that could fire in any direction and carried a variety of counter-missile decoys.
Time to go find out what this one can do, he thought, as he accelerated toward the sun.
Viper 01, Mercury Orbit, December 12, 2018
Three hours later, Calvin had a much better feel for the Viper than he had with just the pilot implant download and simulator training. Although getting the ‘muscle memory’ of how to fly the spacecraft would take many more flights, he at least knew what the fighter could do now. He had flown it in both space and through Venus’ hellish atmosphere and was comfortable in both environments. Even though Venus had a surface pressure 90 times that of Earth, with clouds of sulfuric acid moving at 220 miles per hour, he had found the fighter to be nimble and full of power as he flew at low level along the seve
n mile high Maxwell mountain range. The only thing that he hadn’t done yet was use the fighter’s weapon systems, which was why he had come to Mercury.
Not only was Mercury close by, but also it was poorly surveyed, as only one spacecraft had ever been to it. That spacecraft had only mapped 45% of Mercury’s surface, giving him plenty of unsurveyed terrain to use for target practice. As he flew over the planet, he saw a large rock that projected from the middle of a relatively flat plain. The rock had several large craters in close proximity to it. “Do those craters look fresh to you?” he asked his WSO.
“It is hard to tell,” answered Sadayo, “but it looks like many of them occurred recently. Do you think someone else has been here?”
“It’s hard to tell, but it looks like it,” replied Calvin. “The ground around that rock kind of looks like the bombing ranges back home.”
Sadayo brought his targeting system online. “Someone has definitely been here before us,” he agreed, zooming in on it with his targeting optics. “There are laser burns on the rock, as well.”
“OK,” said Calvin, “mark that rock as our target, and we’ll use it to make some weapons runs. When we get back, make sure that everyone else knows about it, too. Rather than shoot up the entire planet, we’ll just use this area as our target range.”
After an hour spent in weapons practice, Calvin turned the fighter back toward the moon. He realized that Sadayo hadn’t said anything in a while and looked over at him. Sadayo seemed lost in thought.
“What’s your story, Sadayo?” asked Calvin.
Sadayo shook himself out of whatever thought he had been lost in. “What do you mean?”
“What I’m asking,” replied Calvin, “is why are you here? You seem to spend a lot of time thinking. I’m just wondering how or why you became part of this squadron.”
The Japanese man looked at Calvin intently. “Like the samurai of old, I believe that warriors should live by a code, whether you call that code bushido or some other name. I believe in loyalty and honor to the death.” He smiled. “It is my calling to be here,” said Sadayo. “My goal in life is to die a good death with my honor intact. That is the only thing that will keep my soul from suffering in the afterlife. I have a feeling that it is my destiny to die here.”
That is not the answer you hope to get from someone flying with you, Calvin thought. “Umm, you’re not planning on doing that today, I hope?”
“No,” said Sadayo with a chuckle, “today is not the day.”
“Good,” replied Calvin. “Please let me know when it is, so I can make sure someone else is on the flight schedule with you.”
* * * * *
Chapter Nine
Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington State, January 9, 2019
“We have a problem,” Top commed to Calvin.
“What’s the problem?” Calvin answered. He knew there was an exercise going on out in the woods, but didn’t have time to attend it. Night was the observer for it while Calvin got some of the backlogged paperwork completed. He was also supposed to have dinner with Sara tonight, which was the only thing keeping him going on the paperwork. She had called and said that she had something important to tell him.
“It seems like we have an intruder,” Top replied. “Yokaze was up in a tree and let the attacking force go past him. He was planning to come back down and pick them off from behind. Before he could climb down from his perch, he saw someone else moving through the woods. It appeared to be a woman dressed in a white camouflage suit. He said that he might not have seen her, except for the fact that he could see a little of her black hair showing inside her hood.”
Calvin opened the channel to the whole platoon. “Yokaze, Lieutenant Commander Hobbs. Can you capture the intruder without her seeing you?”
“Without doubt, sir! Yokaze replied.
“Please do so, then,” said Calvin, “and bring her to Master Chief’s cabin. I will meet you there. Night, please have everyone meet back there.”
“Roger that, sir,” Night replied. “We’ll see you there.”
Calvin looked at the pile of paperwork that was still on his desk and sighed. He hadn’t made much of a dent, and his flight tomorrow was in jeopardy if he didn’t get some more of it done. He might have to come back after his date tonight, damn it.
There was a fire going when Calvin got to the cabin, although it was almost out. He stoked it up and put on a new pot of coffee. It was cold outside, and there were about six inches of new snow on the ground. The walk in from the road had sucked. He didn’t have to wait long before the platoon arrived. Night carried the unconscious intruder into the cabin, accompanied by Ryan, Top, Yokaze, Staff Sergeant Jim Chang, Staff Sergeant Patrick Dantone, and Sergeant Jose Morales.
Night placed her in a chair, and Ryan provided some zip ties to secure her arms and legs to it. Calvin had Shuteye close the blinds on the windows so that the woman couldn’t see out. If she knew who they were, she could probably figure out where she was, but if not, there was no sense giving it away.
As Ryan stepped back from her, the woman woke up. “Wha..what’s going on? Where am I?”
“I’ve got this,” Night said to Calvin, stepping in front of the woman. He put two fingers under her chin and lifted it up so he could look into her eyes. “Who are you?”
“I’m Joyce Young,” she said, shaking slightly. “Where am I?”
“I’ll ask the questions for now,” said Night menacingly. “What were you doing out in the woods?”
“I was just hiking,” the woman replied. “It’s not illegal to walk in the woods, is it? I find a walk on a day like today to be very refreshing.”
“Hey sir,” said Sergeant Morales suddenly, “I recognize this woman. She’s been out at the bars a couple of times, talking to some of the troops.”
“Really?” Calvin asked.
Sergeant Morales nodded his head. “Yes sir, I’m sure of it. I was the designated driver a couple of times while she was there. I know it was her.”
“Well, yes, that’s true,” she replied. “Woody said he was doing some maneuvers out here in the woods, and I thought it would be fun to come and watch. He didn’t say I wasn’t allowed to watch. I thought since it was public land it would be OK.”
“Where do you live?” asked Night. “What is your address?”
“It’s 745 St. Helens Avenue in Tacoma,” the woman answered.
“Solomon, Calvin. Can you tell me what is at 745 St. Helens Avenue in Tacoma?” Calvin asked.
“Certainly, Calvin. Records indicate that there is a restaurant called the Amerawcan Bistro at that address. You could do worse if you are looking for a place to eat. The reviews for that establishment are very high.” Solomon replied.
“Thanks, Solomon. Calvin out.” Calvin cocked his head at Joyce Young. “So, I guess you eat well, then?”
She looked puzzled. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Well, I was just at that address yesterday, and it’s a little bistro,” Calvin replied. “Pretty good food, but not so great as a residence. Why don’t you tell us who you really are?”
“My name is Joyce Young,” the woman said, “and that’s where I live. You can look at my driver’s license if you’d like. It’s in my pocket.”
“No thanks,” said Calvin. He looked at Ryan. “Could you go get the foreigners and bring them in? We’ll see if any of them knows who she is.” Ryan started to go. “Oh yeah,” Calvin called, “please bring Woody too.”
Within a couple of minutes, Corporal Christian ‘Woody’ Woodard entered the cabin, accompanied by all of the foreign soldiers. “Hey, Corporal Woodard,” Calvin asked, “do you know this woman?”
Woody looked at the woman and blushed. “Yes sir,” he said. “I’ve seen her out at the bars a couple of times.” He looked at the floor. “I’ve talked to her a little bit. And...umm...other stuff, too.”
“Other stuff, like of a sexual nature?” asked Calvin.
“Umm...yeah, we’ve gone ou
t a couple of times,” Woody said. “She’s come back to my apartment a couple of times too.”
“Uh huh,” said Calvin. “Does anyone else recognize this woman?”
The foreign soldiers moved where they could see her face. Calvin was surprised by the reaction that he got from Wraith, who spit at her feet. “I recognize her,” Wraith said. “She is a Russian spy. I saw her once when the Chinese captured me. They brought her in to help question me. You should kill her now,” advised Wraith. Her face hardened further. “On second thought, give me a couple of minutes with her first. If she is still alive, then you can kill her.”
Night moved over to Wraith and put his arm around her. “Easy,” he said. “That’s over now.”
Wraith shuddered. Shrugging off Night’s arm, she walked toward the door. Reaching it, she stopped and looked back at the woman with hate in her eyes. “You should kill her now. If I ever see her again, I certainly will.” With that, she walked out.
“Well, Miss Young, you certainly have given us a bit of a problem,” commented Calvin with a sigh, “and I am afraid that you are going to make me miss my date tonight.”
“Well sir,” said Night, “if you wanted, you could just give her to me. We’ll make sure that her body is never found.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you would,” said Calvin. “I’m just trying to look at the bigger picture and see if there isn’t something better that we can do with her. Hmmm...” Calvin thought for a moment and then said to Night, “I’ve got an idea. Untie her from the chair and zip tie her hands behind her back, please. We’re going to take her to the Gulf.”
“Are you sure, sir?” Night asked. “Once she sees it, we will have to kill her.”
“Yeah,” replied Calvin, “I am. Let me have your pistol, please.” Night handed Calvin his laser pistol and started tying her hands behind her back.
Theogony 1: Janissaries Page 15
