by Bob Blanton
“We believe if we can convince them of the facts of the situation, that they will actively help us in our preparations for our defense. They are all familiar with the technology and would be an immense asset to our teams as we build our carriers,” Samantha said.
“Do you think you would be able to trust them?”
“We’ll see. We have technology that will allow us to monitor them, but only time will tell.”
The Oryx landed and Blake deplaned, followed by an officer dressed in cammo and a Paraxean prisoner. The prisoner was the xenoanthropologist since he was the only one besides Dr. Metra, who spoke English.
“Welcome back, Captain Blake,” Samantha said as Blake and the Paraxean joined her and Leslie.
“I’m glad to be back,” Blake said. “This is Cer Bartang, the leader of the Paraxean force we captured.”
“Captain Blake, I apologize but feel the need to correct you. I am the senior officer of the force you captured; our leader and his second in command were killed.”
“I stand corrected,” Blake said.
“You speak English,” Leslie said.
“We have been studying your language in order to assess the situation here on your planet,” Cer Bartang said.
“Why are you attacking us?” Leslie asked.
“We have been informed that it was you who attacked our colony ship,” Cer Bartang said. “We were told we had no other option but to take your world.”
“But that is a lie,” Leslie said.
“Captain Blake has informed me of that and offered proof. He says he has further proof to present. I will be shocked if it is true, to lie to our people in such a way is abhorrent to our values. It is a great evil to attack another world, and even with the destruction of our colony ship, many of our people fought against the move. If that was a lie, we will do everything in our power to correct the situation,” Cer Bartang said.
“Do you think you will be able to convince your people not to attack?” Leslie asked.
“If I could talk to them, possibly. But Commodore Warlmag has control of all communications, so I don’t think that will be possible,” Cer Bartang said.
“Thank you, Leslie,” Samantha said, “but we need to get Cer Bartang inside so we can show him our proof and continue the debrief.”
◆ ◆ ◆
The construction of the first carrier proceeded at a furious pace. The addition of the Paraxeans made a huge difference. They knew how to run the printers, as well as how to clean and repair them. They were surprised by the way the things were printed in segments and then assembled later. They immediately saw how this improved productivity, and spent much of their off-duty time studying the process and logistical plans.
After four weeks, two-thirds of the hull for the first carrier was completed, and the upper flight bay doors could be opened. They stopped printing long enough to open the doors and reset the printers, then continued the printing process with them open. This allowed access to the interior of the ship so they could start adding the ribs. In two weeks, the hull was almost complete, and the interior ribs were finished. They were now ready to insert the interior structures that had been built next to the ship hull.
During this time, the Paraxean crewmen had been freely sharing knowledge of the internal structure of the carriers and the various systems that needed to be installed, teaching the human technicians how to do the various jobs as well as how to best utilize the maintenance bots they had helping them.
After another eighteen days, the first carrier was mostly complete and ready for deployment. Captain Blake McCormack commanded the carrier, and newly minted Commander Elizabeth Farmer would take command of the carrier’s airwing. The first carrier and its twenty-four squadrons of Foxes would now move out to take up station at the edge of the solar system.
Chapter 23
The Sendoff
“Are you ready for this, Captain Blake?” Marc asked. He, Blake, and Catie were in the captain’s ready room aboard the newly christened DSS Enterprise, preparing to go to the deployment party that was being held in Flight Bay Four. At one hundred ninety by three hundred meters, the empty flight bay had more than enough room to host the six thousand guests for the party.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Blake replied. “I’ll let you know when we have the asteroids in place so you can send out the miners.”
“It’s not like we won’t be talking every day,” Marc said.
“I know, but being three billion miles away is going to feel strange.”
“That won’t be unusual for you.”
“If you weren’t my Commander and Chief,” Blake said, making a fist and shaking it at Marc.
“Come on, Uncle Blake, we’ll talk every day,” Catie said.
“That’s Captain McCormack to you, Lieutenant,” Blake said.
“Aye aye sir,” Catie said as she gave her uncle a sharp salute.
“You can still call me Uncle Blake in private.”
“It will be good to get most of these pilots and their crews out of here,” Marc said. “I don’t know how four thousand sailors can create so much stress.”
“They’re keyed up, their training for war and all that pent-up energy has to go somewhere,” Blake said. “I’m taking three thousand with me, so that should relieve the pressure some.”
“How are you going to cope with them?”
“They’ll be on ship discipline,” Blake said. “We’ll keep training them hard and finding other things to keep them busy. They’ll be working with the construction crew to finish the rest of the ship. I’ll keep them tired.”
“We’ll keep sending you squadrons as they finish their training. I don’t envy them that long flight.”
“It won’t be that bad,” Catie said. “We’ll send the Hyraxes on autopilot and the pilots in an Oryx. We’ve retrofitted a few of them with extra showers and couches so they can comfortably transport one hundred men each, that’s a full squadron between pilots and crew. It’ll take them two weeks to get there.”
“I hate it that I have to take Morgan and Liz away from you,” Blake said.
“Kal’s given me another bodyguard,” Catie said. “And Natalia’s still around, even if she’s running environmental. Besides, you have to have someone who’s prepped an asteroid before, and Liz can’t be doing that now that she the airwing commander.”
“How do you feel about your XO, Commander Desjardins?” Marc asked.
“He knows his stuff, the crew respects him, even the Americans,” Blake said.
“Good, are you getting along with him?”
“I think we have a good relationship. He’s a bit worried about my lack of experience, but he understands that there really isn’t anyone with experience in space warfare, and he knows I’ll let him run the ship.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Marc said.
There was a knock at the door, “Enter!”
“You guys ready for the party?” Liz asked as she poked her head into the room.
“On our way.”
◆ ◆ ◆
After the party, Liz asked Catie to accompany her to her quarters.
“Nice digs,” Catie said as she checked out Liz’s quarters. She had grabbed a couple of Catie’s Persian carpets for the floor of her ready room and her cabin. She even had a desk made out of hardwood that she’d gotten from Jason.
“Yes, they are,” Liz said. “You’ve seen your uncle’s quarters; he’s got a big dining room as well as a ready room.”
“I know, he hit me up for three carpets,” Catie said.
“I should have guessed,” Liz said. “You know you can call and talk to me anytime, right?”
“Sure, but we have to be careful since we’re keeping the quantum relays a secret,” Catie said.
“But, as you can see, I’ve got lots of privacy.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got Sam and Daddy to talk to, and Natalia’s still going to be around.”
“I know, I’m just going to miss my
roommate.”
“Me too. I guess we won’t be roommates again until this is all over.”
“Probably not. Are you going to come out on the next carrier?”
“No, I’ll wait and come out on the Sakira with Admiral Michaels,” Catie said. “I want to stay here until we get the last squadron ready.”
“I thought your dad was keeping the Sakira a secret still.”
“He is, he told the UN it was a derelict ship. We’ll sneak it out and take it to Jupiter when you guys head out to the edge of the solar system to get ready to meet the Paraxeans. We’ll use it as a base for the miners. I don’t know if Admiral Michaels will stay with her go out to you guys.”
“Well, his quarters are ready. If you think your Uncle Blake’s quarters are nice, you should see the admiral’s.”
“Yeah, well, he hit me up for four carpets.”
“Are you going to have any left?”
“Sure, I shipped about one hundred up to the station before the cargos got balanced, and it got too expensive to ship them.”
“Are you going to upgrade the captain’s quarters on the Sakira?”
“Yes, and we’re converting the guest quarters into the admiral’s suite.”
“I guess we wouldn’t want him roughing it.”
“He doesn’t know,” Catie said. “It’s a surprise. Fred and I are coordinating the work off the books.”
“Do you know what you’ll be doing when you come out?”
“I don’t know yet; Admiral Michaels wants me to join his staff. Of course, Daddy and Mommy are all for that, but I don’t know.”
“That’s not a bad place for you. You’ll get an overview of everything that’s happening, which will give you a chance to see any holes in our strategy.”
“Maybe.”
“You’ll figure it out. Now, give me a hug before you leave. I’ve got a lot of work to do tonight to get us ready to ship out tomorrow morning.”
The two hugged each other tightly; a few tears were shed, then Liz let Catie go. “I’m going to miss you.”
“Me too.”
“ADI, watch out for my girl, will you?” Liz said. “. . . ADI?”
“It’s MANDI when you’re on the Enterprise,” Catie reminded Liz. In order to keep the secret of the quantum couples, they had decided to have ADI addressed as MANDI on the Enterprise and as LADI on the other carrier; ANDI would be RANDI on the Enterprise and SANDI on the other carrier.
“Oh, right, but we’re still at the station.”
“Literal, she is.”
“Right, MANDI, take care of her for me.”
“I will, Commander,” ADI replied.
◆ ◆ ◆
The next day the Enterprise set sail toward the outer reaches of the solar system. Their acceleration was limited by what the human body could withstand. They would be able to sustain 2Gs until they reached Jupiter’s orbit, first using the gravity of the sun, then by combining it with the gravity of Jupiter. Once past Jupiter’s orbit, they would need to start decelerating as they would soon be starving for enough gravity to feed the grav drives as they left the sun and Jupiter behind in the distance. Unfortunately, Saturn was too far ahead in its orbit for them to take advantage of its gravity.
◆ ◆ ◆
The next few weeks flew by. The construction workers continued to work twelve-hour shifts six days a week. Fred continued to push pilots through the training course as fast as possible. Since they were all experienced aviators, training went quickly. The ones who volunteered but had medical issues to be taken care of first took longer to get through the process. Each week they sent another two hundred pilots and the associated crew on to the Enterprise.
Planetside, the news of the Paraxean fleet was finally released to the general public with grand statements from the leaders of the major powers. All said that the alliance they had formed would quickly deal with the invaders. The information release was accompanied by a video showing the DSS Enterprise leaving for the edge of the solar system.
On June 15th, the second carrier was christened the DSS Victory and started her final preparations for deployment. Captain Josiah Clements was appointed captain; he was an experienced captain from the American Navy, having recently commanded the USS Nimitz. The Wing Commander would be Commander Eli Frankham of the Australian RAF. The Victory would deploy with only four hundred of its fighters; the rest would follow her as they were made, and their pilots completed training.
Chapter 24
Is He Insane?
“Captain!”
“What is it, ADI?” Marc asked as he shook himself awake and looked at his clock, 3:30. “What the hell is going on?” he thought.
“Thirty of the new Hyraxes have broken off from their scheduled training and are heading toward Delphi Station,” ADI said.
“What does the training commander say about it?”
“Their departure is unauthorized, and they are not responding to comm request.”
“Alert the board. Where are the fighters now?”
“They are approximately two hours away at their current speed.”
“Thank you, ADI. Continue to monitor them. Are there any other unusual events happening?”
“Not that I’m aware of, Captain.”
“What’s going on?” Samantha asked.
“Get dressed, we’ll be meeting in the boardroom right away,” Marc said. “Some fighters are behaving unexpectedly.”
“Why can’t this stuff happen after I’ve had my coffee,” Samantha complained.
Marc quickly got dressed and made his way to the boardroom. Samantha was right behind him. When they reached the boardroom, which was directly across from them, Catie was already seated at the table.
“How did you beat us here?” Marc asked.
“Coffee will be here in a minute,” Catie said. “I was getting ready to run.”
“At three-thirty?” Samantha asked.
“I went to bed at nine.”
“Are you ever going to start behaving like a normal teenager?”
“I certainly hope not!” Marc said.
“Natalia is doing the early shift this week, so we’re set to run early,” Catie said.
“What’s up?” Kal asked as he entered the boardroom, followed by Admiral Michaels.
“We have a squadron of our fighters heading this way without permission,” Marc said. “ADI, any more details?”
“Yes, Captain. All of the fighters are being flown by American pilots. They are from three different squadrons of the eight that were involved in the training exercise,” ADI said.
“He couldn’t be?” Marc said.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Admiral Michaels said.
“What?” Kal asked as he looked between the two men. “Oh, you cannot be serious. In the middle of a war?”
“I assume we’re all talking about the American president,” Samantha said.
“Yes!” Marc said. “ADI, are any of our Foxes out of position?”
“No, Captain, all of the FX4s are where they’re supposed to be.”
“Kal, he has to be making a move on the station; that means they must have some force inside already,” Marc said. “ADI, any update on the fighters?”
“Captain, there is a jamming signal emanating from one of the fighters,” ADI said. “It is inconsistent with their designed equipment.”
“No surprise there,” Marc said. “ADI, can you disable their weapons without alerting the pilots?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Then do it; let us know when they are within weapons range.”
“Yes, Captain; their weapons are now disabled.”
“Wait! You mean you can do that?” Admiral Michaels asked.
“Yes, we can,” Marc said. “There is a way to disable that feature, but only a very few have the codes and the knowledge to do so.”
“So now what?” Samantha asked. “You’re saying we have an unknown force aboard the station with unknown weapons.�
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“Kal, how many people do you have up here?”
“I’ve got thirty security personnel inside the station,” Kal said.
“ADI, how many Americans are aboard Delphi Station at this time?” Marc asked.
“We have fifteen American pilots on the station for orientation; we also have thirty-two crew trainees aboard,” ADI said.
“So we could be outnumbered,” Kal said.
“Stop the station,” Catie said.
“What?”
“Stop the station’s rotation,” Catie said. “We’ve trained extensively for microgravity; they haven’t. It’ll give us an advantage.”
“ADI, please bring the station rotation to zero as quickly as safety allows,” Marc said.
“Yes, Captain. It will take three minutes to stop the station, engaging thrusters now.”
“Alert everyone to stay in their cabins or workplace,” Marc said. “Seal all the airlocks.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Halt all traffic to and from the station,” Marc said. “What’s the status of Delphi City?”
“There have been a few minor skirmishes in the city,” Kal said. “My people have taken care of it.”
“Captain, there is a carrier task force heading toward Delphi City,” ADI said.
“Distance?”
“They are twelve hours away,” ADI said. “They were making a port call in Australia, and have just diverted their course direction from Hawaii to approach the city instead.”
“The president is making an announcement,” Catie said. She turned the display on and had the newscast transferred to it.
“My fellow Americans and citizens of the world. As you know, these are terrible times for all of us. We are faced with an invasion by aliens who may have horrible intentions against us humans. Because of this, we have formed an alliance with the other nations of Earth and Delphi Nation. However, the megalomaniac in charge of Delphi has demanded that he and his people be placed in charge of our assembled forces. Because of this and the utter lack of any real experience by the leaders of Delphi, I have ordered all American forces to seize control of the military assets we have assembled and of Delphi Station and Delphi City. It will be the United States that will lead us to victory over these aliens, as it was the United States that led us to victory in the first two world wars. I call on the Delphi to surrender to the inevitable U.S. victory and avoid any delays in our leader taking control of the defense of Earth. I also call on the other nations of the alliance to join us in putting the experienced military of the United States in charge of our mutual defense. God bless Earth.”
