by Saxon Andrew
“A little over seven days.”
Charlie nodded, “Good! We’ll be inside communication range and we can notify Fleet of what we’ve found.” Charlie sighed, “If you’re sleepy, take a break. I know sleep isn’t possible for me now.” Sweets and Cami looked at each other and remained in their chairs.
• • •
After three days, the long pursuit had become monotonous. Staring at the tactical monitor with the red blips became boring and Cami was the first to take a sleep break. Sweets was next and Charlie finally went to bed and collapsed. When Charlie went to the bridge he asked, “How long have I been out?”
“Twelve hours.” Charlie shook his head and Sweets smiled, “You needed it.”
Cami stood up and said, “It appears the aliens are using the same tactic we are.” Sweets and Charlie turned to her. “They’ve shut down some of their systems in order to close on us.”
“Computer, how long until they move inside their weapon’s range?”
“Two more days, Commander.”
Charlie sighed and sat down in his chair, “Activate your spacesuits now.” Sweets jerked her head to him, and Charlie said, “I’m shutting down the environmental and other non-essential systems now. From this point on, we will sleep in our chairs.”
Sweets stood up and went to Cami. She unbuckled her harness and said, “Put your arms on the chair arms.” Cami put her arms on the chair and Sweets pressed a red button on the front of the chair arm. Cami was suddenly enclosed in a space suit. Sweets pulled the helmet from the top of the chair and put it over her head. She stared at Cami and asked, “Are you comfortable?” Cami nodded. Sweets put her harness back on and buckled her in. She went to her chair and activated her spacesuit. Charlie was already in his suit and he announced, “Shutting down environmental.” The background hum of the air handlers disappeared, and they noticed it was silent; they never heard it when it was operating. “Shutting down all electrical circuits off the bridge and transferring power to the gravity drives.” They felt a small push back into their seats; the ship picked up speed. Charlie asked, “How long before they move into range, Computer?”
“Four more days, Commander.”
Charlie nodded and looked at the chronometer; eighteen hours until they were inside communication range.
• • •
Charlie looked up at the chronometer and nodded to Sweets. She pressed her communicator, “Fleet, this is Captain Dunhan with an emergency message; please respond!” They waited and didn’t receive a response. Sweets said again, “Fleet, this is Captain Dunhan with an emergency message; please respond!”
“This is Fleet Operations, Captain. Go ahead with your message.”
“Get Admiral Henricks and Dunhan on the frequency now!”
“Standby.”
Sweets saw Grady and Taffy appear on the left side of her monitor and RJ and Candy appeared on the right. Before they could say anything, Sweets began, “We’re currently being pursued by a thousand or more Stealth Warships. At the current best speed we can make, they will catch us in three more days. There is critical information that we must give you so start recording now!”
Sweets turned to Cami and nodded, “I listened in to a meeting of the Stealth Civilization’s Leadership and have learned the following…” Taffy’s hand was at her throat and her face was red. But she remained silent as Cami told them all that she had learned.
It took forty-three minutes for her to finish and Grady nodded, “I’m sending you help so do all you can to stay ahead of those ships!”
Candy looked at Sweets, “Are you ok?”
“Under the circumstances, I am. I’ve have a great pilot keeping us as safe as possible. The alien’s warships are faster than our ships; they have duplicated our gravity drives. I’m sending you an active scan of one of their ships. Mom, don’t beat yourself up over this; it was the right thing to do. What Cami found out is more important than all of us on this mission.”
Candy and Taffy were crying, and Grady’s expression looked deadly. Sweets said, “I must shut down my panel, we need the power to run. I love you.” Sweets shook her head as her tears began. If she had stayed on the frequency any longer, she would have revealed her fear and she didn’t want her parents to have that as their last memory.
Charlie looked at Sweets and said softly, “Thank you for that.”
“You deserve it, Charlie. I understand why you were chosen to go on this mission and I’m sorry it’s turned out this way.”
“And you are the best weapon’s officer I’ve ever met. Your suggestions are what allowed us to survive this long.” He turned to Cami, “You’re young but you are perhaps the bravest young person I’ve ever known.”
Cami smiled and said, “The aliens know they’re going to catch us in a little over three days.”
“I thought they were going to catch us in two days?!” Charlie replied.
“They have to get closer than that because once they power up the systems they shut down, they’re going to fall back out of the range of their weapons,” Cami remarked. “We have about three days before they open fire.”
Two days passed and the computer announced, “The lead alien warships are now inside the range of their blasters.” They sat in their chairs and waited for the inevitable. Suddenly, Cami flinched. “I’ve been ordered to tell you to continue on your current course and not veer from it,” Cami said loudly, “It’s Funny Man. He just told me that we are to stay on our current course and not veer from it. Funny Man, where are you?”
“Sorry Kid, the aliens will be able to detect my thoughts momentarily, follow your orders!”
“What’s going on?!” Sweets demanded.
“He said he had to stop communicating; the aliens will be able to hear him if he doesn’t. He’s inside the range of my telepathy, I know that?”
Charlie turned to them, “I’ve got to start changing course to avoid their blasters!”
Sweets turned to him, “YOU WILL FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS, CAPTAIN!”
“Are you assuming command?”
Sweets nodded, “If you intend to change course, I am.”
“But…”
Sweets interrupted him, “Charlie, my parents would not give us orders that would cause us to be placed in danger. I don’t know what’s going on, but I trust them. I’m asking you to do the same.”
Charlie stared at her and saw the first alien ship fire a blaster beam at them. It came up short and he sighed, “They’ll be in range in less than five minutes. I don’t know your parents, but I do know you; I’ll follow my orders.”
Sweets jerked her eyes to the tactical monitor and said, “The ship that fired that blaster has fallen out of the range of their blasters. The others will try to get closer before they open fire.”
Charlie held the ship on a straight course and suddenly, the collision alarm sounded. His arms wanted to jerk the ship off course, but he locked his hands on the steering wheel and refused to move them. The collision alarm went silent and Cami said, “We’ve just passed ships with hundreds of crewmen on board.”
Charlie shook his head, “We don’t have any ships with that many on board.”
Sweets’ eyes flew wide open, “WE DON’T! BUT EARTH DOES!! STOP THE SHIP!”
Charlie stared at the rear monitor and didn’t see the ships they just passed. Suddenly, Space lit up behind them in brilliant flashes. He activated the ships systems that had been shut down and turned the ship to watch what was happening.
• • •
Supreme Fleet Admiral Martov stared at the giant monitor on the front wall and saw the New Britannia Warship flashing toward his formation at incredible speed. He hoped the pilot was disciplined and followed his orders. A channel through his ships was open for it to pass and he smiled as it blew through his ships. He looked at the approaching alien warships and said calmly, “Commence firing.”
Seven hundred Defense Platforms opened fire with their gigantic blaster barrels and the oncoming alien wa
rships flew into an overlapping pattern of hellish beams. Of the thousand alien warships, nine hundred of them were vaporized instantly. Martov stared at the monitor and said calmly, “Target the survivors.” Before any of the alien warships could turn and flee, they were hit by multiple beams and were blown into vapor. Martov turned to Funny Man, “Are there any survivors?”
Funny Man was stunned by how quickly the fight was over. He listened carefully and shook his head, “No. All of them have been killed.”
Martov smiled, “Tell Admiral Henricks I was glad to be of assistance.”
Funny Man nodded and turned to Charlotte, “We should go back to Andromeda and see if this has caused the aliens to change their plans.”
Charlotte shook her head, “We’d be discovered just as quickly as they were.”
Funny Man sighed, “I wish we had an old ship without gravity drives.”
Martov raised a shoulder, “I happen to have one of our old long-distance stealth scouts that doesn’t use a gravity drive.”
“Do you mind if we take it, Sir?”
“Not at all. How will you get your ship back?”
Funny Man focused and said, “Cami, can you and Sweets take our ship back to New Britannia?”
“What’s going on?”
“Charlotte and I are taking an old Earth Scout back to Andromeda and see if this changes the aliens’ plans. I need you to give me the coordinates of that planet you found and take our ship back to New Britannia.”
There was a moment of silence and Funny Man turned to Martov, “Captain Dunhan wants to know if you have enough supplies to provision their ship.”
“What are they planning to do?” Martov asked.
“They’re staying here and wait for the aliens to come and investigate what happened to their ships. They’ll also relay anything we find in Andromeda back to Fleet if we get in trouble.”
“I have plenty of provisions on board, but I don’t know if Admiral Henricks is going to approve them staying here.”
Martov’s console’s display illuminated and Sweets appeared on it, “It’s really good to see you Serge.”
Martov smiled, “You’ve grown up. I am going to have to remove my ships to avoid the aliens discovering the existence of Earth; I can’t stay and protect you.”
“We’ll stay away far enough not to be detected. If my parents say no, we’ll go back but I think they’ll see the wisdom of sticking around to see what the aliens think happened here.”
Martov smiled, “Bring your ship on board and I’ll meet you in the landing bay.”
“On my way, Admiral.”
Martov looked at the two telepaths sitting on the bridge and said, “Come with me. You can question one of my pilots on how to fly the scout. I’m moving some extra provisions on board for your mission.” Funny Man and Charlotte followed him off the bridge.
• • •
Cami came off the ship and ran to Funny Man and Charlotte. She hugged them and they began communicating telepathically. Charlie and Sweets watched them, and Charlie shrugged, “She’s something special.”
Sweets nodded and saw Serge appear in the landing bay. She rushed over and hugged him leaving Charlie to stand alone. He looked around and sighed; he had no one to hug. He walked over to Martov and Sweets. Sweets released Serge and said, “This is the pilot that kept us out of trouble.”
Martov smiled slightly, “I’m impressed that you followed your orders to maintain your course. Most wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
“I trusted that Sweets was right, and I had to follow her instructions. But you’re right; it took all I had not to change course.”
“So, which one of you is going to take the other ship back?”
“Charlie will be taking it back.”
“The hell I am!”
“Charlie, Cami must be here to listen to the aliens and like I said from the start of this mission, where she goes, I go.”
“I will not leave you!”
“Why?”
“You said it yourself; you don’t have combat experience.”
Martov listened to the back and forth and said, “I could send it back with one of my pilots, but they’re not trained on how to operate your warships.”
Cami had walked over and smiled, “I’ll teach your pilot how to fly it.” Martov looked down at her and Cami tilted her head, “Who will you be sending?”
Martov’s face showed his doubt as he looked at a Lieutenant standing next to the stealth scout explaining how to fly it to Funny Man and Charlotte. “Lt. Ware.” The Lieutenant walked over shaking his head. “What’s wrong?” Martov asked.
“I was explaining how to operate the scout and they said they took the information from my mind and didn’t need an explanation. I questioned them and it appears they’re right.”
“Lieutenant, I need you to take this warship back to New Britannia. I’ll have a scout follow you to bring you back to Earth.”
“Sir, I’ve never been on one of their ships much less flown one.”
Cami looked up at him, “I’m going to teach you how to fly it.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“Just pay attention.” Everyone watched the Lieutenant as he stared at Cami in silence.
After a few minutes he shook his head, “Is that all there is to it?” Cami nodded. The Lieutenant turned to Martov, “I can handle it, Sir.”
“Do tell!” Martov replied.
“I don’t know how they do it, but these telepaths can transfer information faster than a computer download. I understand how to operate the ship.”
“Contact me if you run into any problems.”
“Yes Sir.” The pilot went to the large warship and after a few moments, it lifted and flew out of the landing bay. It stopped outside the ship and waited for the scout to follow it.
Martov chuckled and said, “I’ve been told that we might have some telepaths hiding on Earth. I believe it’s time we tried to find them.”
Sweets smiled, “I have just the one to make that happen. I’ll send him to Earth to assist you in the effort.”
Martov hugged Sweets again, “I need to get moving before the aliens show up. Be careful.”
“I will. And thank you for saving us.”
“I owe your father more than I can ever repay.” Sweets, Cami, and Charlie entered their ship as the sailors bringing provisions on board completed their tasks. Charlie flew the ship out of the giant landing bay and moved away from the site of the battle. He stopped the ship and looked back where the seven hundred giant warships had been a moment before. Cami said softly, “They’ve already gone.”
Charlie shook his head and turned to Cami, “I’m moving back toward Andromeda and follow any alien ships they send here to investigate back to this site. You need to tell me how far away I can be and not be detected.”
“Charlie, you know they can detect our gravity drives.”
Charlie nodded, “I asked one of the engineers to refill the air tanks and they did that while you were talking with the Admiral. When Cami starts hearing them, I’ll start moving back to here using the air thrusters.”
“And what happens if they’re flying at maximum speed toward the site of the battle. They could outrun Cami’s coverage and we’ll miss what they say when they arrive. Further, we need to save the air thrusters in the event they manage to detect us. The important information will be what they say when they arrive.”
Charlie stared at her for a moment and smiled, “You’re right. We’ll do it your way.”
Sweets looked at Cami and she nodded. Sweets went to her console and said, “The ship is yours Captain.”
Chapter Eleven
Grady looked at Sweets on the monitor, “I don’t know if I like this!”
“Sir, we’ll be outside the range of their scanners and telepathy. We need to find out how they react to all of their warships being destroyed. We’re here and we know they can detect our gravity drives. We have full air tanks on th
e air thrusters, and we’ll use them to slip away if anything happens.”
“Candy is going to kill me but go ahead with your plan. Make sure you stay outside their detection range!!” Grady responded.
Sweets smiled, “I will. Tell my parents I love them.” Grady nodded and disappeared from the monitor. Sweets turned to Charlie, “How long do you think it will be before they show up?”
“That’s hard to say. If they launched a follow up fleet right behind the other one, they could be here in less than twenty-four hours.”
“Do you think that’s what they did?”
Charlie shrugged, “Probably not. They weren’t prepared to pursue us, and it will take some time to organize another fleet. I think they should be here in less than three days…but that’s purely a guess.”
Sweets thought about it and then asked, “What would you have done if you were in their place?”
“I’d have launched twenty or thirty scouts to leave immediately. It wouldn’t take any time for them to launch and they could warn a follow up fleet if there is trouble ahead of them.”
“If they did that, would they arrive in about a day?” Cami asked.
“I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“You said they’re converting all their warships to gravity drives and I doubt updating the scouts would be a priority. If they sent scouts, they should arrive in about two days and the following fleet would arrive a day later.”
“We need to move the ship,” Sweets interrupted.
“I thought you said that would be too much of a risk!” Charlie replied.
“We need to move toward Andromeda but keep the site of the battle inside Cami’s telepathic range,” Sweets answered. “If we move about half a day toward Andromeda, Cami should be able to hear the scouts and the follow up fleet, if they send both to investigate.”
Charlie shrugged, “I’m moving the ship. Cami, what is your telepathic range?”
“The real question is how long the alien’s telepathic range is,” Cami replied. “We need to only move about twelve hours back toward Andromeda to cover their telepathic communications.”
