by James McEwan
“It turns out that when you left the program and went into hiding Thorne ordered your DNA used to create a new child that would replace you.” Amanda led him back to the lift.
“Who is her mother?”
“Her mother was another one of the program’s creations. She was killed a few years back on a mission. Her code name was Gem.”
“I remember her! Number 42, if I remember right. Tough as nails and the only one that showed any hint of kindness to me. She comforted me after I killed number 7, even at the risk of her own life.” Thad paused as he remembered her. “I also remember the mission she died on. Her contact on Isis betrayed her and she was killed by a counter-sniper when she tried to carry out her mission.”
“I read the mission report, but it never mentioned whatever became of her target or the man who betrayed her.” Amanda said, as she pushed the lift button to take them back to her office.
Thad recalled the event. “That’s because there was no official mission to deal with it. I was tasked with the cleanup OP off the books. I terminated the target who was really not a nice man. He was a Rep Com senator who was up to his eyeballs in sex trafficking of young women of all races. His death was reported as heart failure in his sleep.”
“Yes, I think I remember a Senator Heck, or Hicks, or something like that.” Amanda said, as the doors opened.
They walked toward her office, as Thad continued. “Anyway, after I was finished with him, I found the man who betrayed Gem and ...” Thad hesitated “let’s just say that his life came to a slow and unkind end.”
“I understand.” Amanda did not want to push him for details she really didn’t need.
Once back at her office, she asked him quite a few questions and he did his best to answer them. His details really helped her understand the full spectrum of the operation. They were just about finished when she showed him what little security footage that had survived the erasing program. She showed him footage of Fiona and Freya in their cells and him carrying Fiona to the lift after she was wounded. “Who are these two? They seem to be twins and by the way, you handle this one, they must be very important to you.”
Thad blushed, not knowing how his mother would take the idea of him being married to twin sisters. “She is Fiona and that is Freya, and yes they are very important to me. They are my wives.”
She raised her eyebrow in the same manner that Thad would when he was about to ask a pointed question. “Wives?”
“It’s a long story” Thad replied.
“Then you will have to tell me on the trip to your home.” she said, as a matter of fact.
“My home?” Thad was not sure where she was going with that statement.
“Yes! It seems that I have daughters-in-law to meet, and besides if I’m going to trust you with my granddaughter I want to make sure that she will have a loving environment to grow up in.”
Thad was overwhelmed and his mind was racing. “Trust me?”
Amanda could see that Thad was having trouble processing everything. The lift doors opened and she led him back to her office. She decided to change subjects for now. Amanda asked him a series of questions about the operations. Thad did his best to answer, he gave her all the information that he could remember.
“Thank you, Thaddeus, for all your help. With your information, I will be able to wrap up this operation and get on with being a grandma.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“Now you go get to know your daughter while I see what ships we have in space dock.” She smiled at him, tapped the holo-keys and list of ships appeared in front her.
“Why would you want to know that?” Thad wondered aloud.
“One of the perks of being an admiral, I can commandeer a ship now and then for my personal use. In this case, a ride to your home.” she paused. “By the way, I don’t even know where you live.”
“Nome.” he replied.
“Nome? Never heard of it.” Amanda gave him a quizzical look.
“No reason you should have, it is on the very edgeof human-controlled space.” Thad crossed over to her side of the desk and used her display to pull up the coordinates.
“I see ...” she paused looking at the coordinates “well, we are in luck.”
“Oh?”
“Yes I have a Titan class destroyer in space dock which is about to ship out and they just happen to have the patrol area that includes Nome.” She pointed to the name on the list of ships. Thad smiled when he saw which ship she was pointing out. “Have you ever been on a Titan class destroyer before?” She asked.
“Yes, yes I have, in fact, I have been on that very ship.”
“You have been on the Damocles before?” (She was surprised.)
“Another long story.”
“I see ...” she paused again “I look forward to all your stories, but now get out of here. I will come collect you two when everything is ready.”
Thad nodded and walked to the door, then he stopped turned around. “You know, it is kind of nice to leave this office through the door.” Amanda smiled, and then waved him out.
Thad spent the rest of the afternoon playing with his daughter and the other children. At first, he felt awkward trying to relate to a child. However, Ruby seemed to understand his feelings and she showed him how to play. By the time, Admiral Hayes returned to collect them. Thad had a hand puppet and was entertaining the children with a silly voice.
“And what do we have here?” Amanda asked as she entered.
“Grandma!” Ruby yelled as she ran over to hug her. “Daddy is so funny” she said and pointed to the puppet.
“I see that you seem to be adapting to parenting.”
“Me? Nah, I had nothing to do with this.” Thad paused then pushed the puppet in front of him. “It was all Mr. Flibbles.” Thad paused again, and changed his voice “Hello I’m Mr. Flibbles.”
“Hello Mr. Flibbles.” playing along, Amanda said.
“Hello Admiral, would you like to play with us?” Mr. Fibbles asked.
“Oh, I am sorry Mr. Flibbles, but it is time for my son and granddaughter to leave. We have a flight to catch.” she said, with a smile.
Thad returned Mr. Flibbles to the shelf of toys and hand-in-hand with Ruby, Thad followed his mother out. They took the lift to the hangar bay. It was the same place from which Thorne had escaped. Everything was repaired and repainted. One would never have known that a battle was fought here.
A transport ship was waiting for them. The three boarded and within minutes, they were on their way. The flight was short and Ruby spent the whole time telling Thad about how she was not allowed to have toys until Grandma came and how now she has a large collection. She could name every one of her dolls, as well as all of her other toys.
Thad thought this kind of thing would have bored him to death. However, he found that he enjoyed every word that came out of this little person. Thad was fascinated by her story about one of the adventures she had with her dolls yesterday, when the transport landed on the ship that would take them home.
They exited the ramp to find a squad of Star Guard Marines in full dress uniform standing at attention. They flanked the ramp while the Captain stood at the bottom to greet them.
“Welcome Admiral.” Captain Wesson saluted, and the marines followed suit.
She returned his salute. “Good to see you again Daniel.”
“And it is good to see you, Admiral ...” he replied, and then extended his hand towards Thad “and it is a pleasure to see you alive.”
Thad took his hand. “It is good to be alive, Captain.”
“Please call me Daniel.” He then looked at Ruby. “And who do we have here?”
“I’m Ruby.” She smiled at the captain.
“Ruby is my Granddaughter, and it seems that you already know my son” Amanda said, putting her hand on Thad’s shoulder.
Her statement took Wesson by surprise. “Ah, you and Doctor Hammer? I would never have guessed.”
Amanda
blushed slightly at the implication. “It’s not what you think Daniel. I am his biological mother and Doctor Hammer was his adoptive father.” Thad was happily surprised that she kept his former life a secret.
“I see.” Captain Wesson paused. “That answers a few things for me. Anyway, I’m glad to have you on board as my guests.”
“We are glad that your ship was in the area. I’m not sure that I would trust just any captain to transport my family.” Amanda said.
“Thank you, Admiral, you are too kind” Captain Wesson said (knowing that the compliment was meant to placate him because most captains hate these kinds of missions). This was a warship,not a pleasure craft. However, even in this case, the compliment was unnecessary. He would have jumped at the chance to bring Thad home and get a chance to see Eve again.
Captain Wesson personally escorted them to their quarters. Amanda made the choice that Ruby would bunk with her father even though she really wanted to stay with her. Inside the room, Ruby found all her toys laid out for her. When she saw them she squealed, ran, and dove into the pile. Thad watched and laughed.
The Damocles got underway and Thad and Ruby settled in, while Amanda, who was supposed to be on leave, still spent a lot of time in the Captain’s office conducting operations by subspace communications.
They took their meals with the Captain in his private dining room. This was quite a change from Thad’s last trip on the Damocles. He found himself really getting to like Daniel Wesson and could see what Eve saw in him. Daniel did remind Thad of Doctor Hammer in some ways.
They were a week into the trip and Ruby was enjoying chicken nuggets and French fries, while Thad and his mother were busy enjoying French dip sandwiches and salads for lunch, when a steward interrupted. “Sorry Sir, but you are needed on the bridge, there is a distress call.”
Captain Wesson excused himself and left. Amanda set her napkin down next to her plate. “Would you two care to see the Star Guard in action?”
Thad was going to answer, but Ruby beat him to it. “Sure Grandma!”
“That’s my girl.” Amanda said, with a proud smile. “Thaddeus?”
“Sure, why not.”
On the bridge, they found Captain Wesson sitting in the command chair watching information on the large view screen. A security marine posted at the bridge door barked. “Attention, Admiral on the bridge!” The bridge crew jumped to attention. Everyone except the Captain.
“As you were” she said, and the bridge crew went back to their jobs. “What do you have Captain?”
“A distress call from a shipping freighter, they are reporting that they are under attack by a Ralnai heavy cruiser. We will be on station and ready to assist in two minutes, so no offense Admiral, but it could get messy. I’m not sure the bridge is the best place for your granddaughter right now.”
“Thank you for your concern Daniel, but she is a very astute young lady. I am sure she can handle it, and besides, if you have to bring this ship into combat she is just as safe on the bridge as she would be in her quarters” Amanda said kindly, but with an air of command in her voice.
“Yes Sir.”
Thad held Ruby’s hand as they stood at the back of the bridge trying to stay out of the way while still observing. Amanda stood next to them, ramrod straight, with an air of authority about her.
The Damocles dropped out of slip space just in time to witness the Ralnai ship maneuver into a position to board the Zealous, a cargo ship registered out of the Republic of Commerce. Her engines were damaged, and she was venting atmosphere from several large breaches in her hull. The only thing keeping her from spinning was the Ralnai tractor beam.
“Can you hail the Zealous?” Captain Wesson asked.
“Trying to raise them now, Sir.” the communications officer said.
There was a cracking of static over the monitor speakers, and then they heard a voice. “We hear you, Damocles. I’m George Smith, Captain of the Zealous and boy, am I glad to see you boys.”
“Captain Smith, I’m Captain Daniel Wesson and we are here to assist. Do you have any means of motion?”
“Our engines have been heavily damaged and most of our systems are offline, but I think we can manage maneuvering thrusters.” he replied to the question.
Static flashed across the main view screen before being replaced by a grainy unstable image of Captain Smith. His dark hair and beard made him look like the much-celebrated character from fiction Captain Nemo. Wesson addressed him directly. “Good! When we disable the tractor beam I want you to push your thrusters to the max and burn as long as you can. I need your ship to get as far away as you can.”
“I understand Captain, Smith, out.” The screen returned a view of the two ships.
“Hail the Ralnai ship and if they don’t reply, open fire and target the tractor beam only” Wesson commanded.
“Unless you have any objections, Admiral?” Wesson said over his shoulder.
“It’s your show Captain, I’m just here to watch the fireworks.” she replied.
Wesson turned around to face Amanda, he nodded, understanding her unspoken order. He turned back to the viewscreen. “No answer from the Ralnai ship, Sir” the comm officer said.
“Fire.” Wesson ordered.
The Damocles opened fire with two of the forward lasers. They hit the Ralnai ship’s screens and there was a brilliant flash of light as the screens flared under the power of the lasers. The lasers continued to fire, while a single HEX tube fired. The high explosive missile raced across the distance and with the screens flared by the lasers, the missile easily passed through and hit the target.
It exploded and the tractor beam went dead. “Now, Captain Smith.” Wesson commanded. The thrusters fired and slowly the Zealous began to move off.
“Captain, we are being hailed by the Ralani.” the comm officer called out.
“Put on screen.” Wesson replied.
The viewscreen blinked and the ugly, scaly face of a Ralani shipmaster appeared. Because Ralnai have no vocal cords they speak in a serious of growls and clicks. The ship’s AI who until now had been quiet, appeared. “Would you like me to translate?”
“Please.” Wesson said.
They watched the screen and listened to the guttural chattering while the AI translated. “Who dares fire on my ship!”
“Captain Daniel Wesson of the UTFS Damocles that’s who, and who are you!”
“I am shipmaster Kor Toruqe.” the Ralnai hissed.
“Shipmaster you are in direct violation of the Phonenice Accords and if you don’t power down your weapons and leave human controlled space I will be forced to destroy your ship and your crew with it!” Captain Wesson demanded.
The AI continued to translate. “The great clan no longer recognizes human laws or borders.”
Wesson waved his hand at the comm officer, who understood this to mean cut the audio. “Admiral, have you ever heard of the great clan?”
“The last time I heard a Ralnai use that term was during the second Starwar when Tor Roc Core united all the Ralnai clans. That was over twenty years ago.” she replied.
“Well, it sounds like someone has done it again. I hope that doesn’t mean we are on the brink of another war with the Ralnai.” Wesson said, giving the signal to turn on the audio again.
“The great clan demands slaves and resources. I have my orders.” the AI stopped translating, but the Ralnai was still talking.
“William?” Captain Wesson, asked the AI.
“Sorry Sir, but there is really no translation for what he is saying.” the AI replied.
“Well, what is your best guess?” Wesson was getting frustrated.
“I do believe that he just told you to piss off or that he wants to piss on you, I’m not quite sure, Sir.”
“Shipmaster, I’m done playing games. Power down and leave now or be destroyed!” Wesson knew that the Ralnai would try to fight; it was their way. He knew that a fight was coming, but he was trying to give the Zealous time to clear
the area. They were shot up bad enough and being caught in a ship-to-ship fight would mostly likely destroy her.
“Captain, when I defeat you I want you to know that I will make you my personal slave!” The shipmaster’s lips curled back to show some kind of toothy Ralnai smile.
Wesson was not amused. “I have never answered to, nor will I ever bow down to a piece of walking luggage!” Wesson ran his hand across his throat and the comm officer cut off the transmission.
Thad couldn’t help himself and let out a chuckle. Wesson turned to face him. “Find something funny do you, Mr. Hammer?”
“Sorry Captain, it was just your comment about walking luggage, given my last encounter with the Ralnai.” Thad said.
“The Boots.” Wesson remembered the twin’s boots and he laughed.
“Care to share with the rest of the class?” Amanda asked, but before anyone could answer, the ship shuddered heavily.
Wesson spun back forward. “Commander?”
“The Ralnai ship has opened fire on us, Sir. The screens are holding for now.” the officer replied.
Another officer cried out. “Sir, tracking several inbound missiles.”
“Charge the hull plates and brace for impact.” Wesson commanded.
The missiles passed through the screens and slammed into the Damocles. The resulting explosions rocked the ship and everyone on the bridge held on as everything pitched to the left. Thad held Ruby tight with one hand, with the other he held onto the handrail behind the captain’s chair.
“Damage?” Wesson asked.
“No Damage Sir, the hull plating is holding, however, several energy dissipaters were knocked offline. If we take another hit on the hull I can’t say that it will hold.” an officer answered.
“How long until they are back online?” Wesson asked.
“Thirty seconds to a minute, Sir!”
“Helm, turn us 90 degrees to port. If I have to take another hit to the chin let’s put us on the other side.” Wesson said, as more lasers slammed into the screens.
“Sir, they have flared our screens another hit and we will take damage.” the tactical officer said.
“Is the Zealous clear yet?” Wesson asked the officer at the helm.
