by Gray Lanter
DEADLY SQUAD II
(Logan Ryvenbark's Saga - Book 4)
Gray Lanter
Blue Shelf Bookstore
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Deadly Squad II
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Deadly Squad II (Logan Ryvenbark's Saga, #4)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
For you convenience, this is a link to the next book on the Logan Ryvenbark’s Saga and the Discounted Box Set
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Chapter 1
Astrid picked up the dagger and looked around the table. The lights overhead flashed on the blade and made it sparkle. As did Astrid’s blond hair. The lights created almost a blond aura around her head. She raised the dagger.
“As military men and women, we knew the dangers of battle and usually we try to avoid conflict, because we know firsthand about blood and casualties and about losing a beloved colleague and friend. But we have no choice here. We must strike our opponents before they launch their invasion and their planned genocide of the human race.”
She looked around the table again.
“I cast one vote for war!”
She slammed the dagger into the wood. It twanged as she let loose of it, the sound echoing through the room. Her action produced an immediate response from Captain Anson.
“I disagree! Totally, absolutely. I think such a course of action, while sincerely believed, would be disastrous. We would be damaging the Federation if we went off on such a hysterical crusade. Our first priority is to return as quickly as possible and alert our superiors to the danger. Then all the Federation knowledge and power can be used against the potential invaders. If the odds were 50-50, I might have a different opinion. But the odds, as Major Ryvenbark has noted, are stacked against us. We gain the Federation nothing if we die in a fruitless attack. We will be defeated and will have achieved nothing. We may have gained only a little information in our battle with the Destroyers, but we have gained some knowledge. It is imperative we turn the information over to Federation scientists and military leaders. Then we can design an intelligent and hopefully impregnable defense against our metallic, or whatever they, enemies. An attack by a single ship is not wise.”
He grabbed the dagger and turned it around, with the blade pointed toward the circle.
“One vote for an attack. One vote for a strategic retreat,” I said. “It seems to me both have made valid points.”
Rab didn’t look happy when he cleared his throat. It sounded like cement being pulverized. He lifted his dagger.
“I don’t like this. We have just survived an attack where we should have died. After a tough scrap you don’t want another one, and I’m not looking forward to another battle. Plus, it really doesn’t make sense for one ship to take on a planet. I’m assuming it’s a well-armed planet. If the Destroyers, whoever or whatever they might be, are planning on eliminating the human race, we better believe they have created the armaments to do just that. Which means one ship probably doesn’t have the firepower to take them out. However, the element of complete surprise does have its advantages. Our enemy can’t believe we would attack them because it would so foolhardy and dangerous. To put it bluntly, no one would be that stupid. But if we can wreck destruction on them and cripple their invasion fleet, it seems to be we have to take that choice. So I, reluctantly, vote to attack.”
He grabbed the dagger and stuck it into the desk. Then raised his finger.
“I want to say I don’t discount Captain Anson’s point that we need to provide all information to the Federation. But our communications can be sent back. Granted, our commanders and scientists might like to question us on this matter. They always like to have additional details, but verbally we can give them little but our opinions, not scientific facts. I assume the information we have about the Destroyers is being transmitted as we speak.”
“It is,” I said.
“There is a possibility that we could add a degree of knowledge to our transmissions by returning to headquarters. But that small degree of knowledge is overshadowed by the good we can do in an attack,” Rab said.
“If we don’t get killed long before we reach our target,” Anson said.
Rab smiled. “There’s always that possibility. They could hit us before we hit them. We also face the possibility of the unexpected, which tends to be very high in space. Very high indeed.”
Captain Martinek didn’t hesitate. He just turned his dagger around.
“Attack is a rash course of action. It cannot be justified by facts and evidence. You never attack an opponent unless you have some understanding of his size and power. Custer learned that at the Little Big Horn. He thought there were a lot fewer Indians than there actually were. As you all know, he got wiped out. Our enemy must have vast resources and, even if we surprise our opponents, our weapons would be akin to a pinprick against the armaments. I’m guessing it would take our opponents about a minute or less to get over their surprise and then every ship and every gun they have will be trained on us. An attack would be akin to a rowboat challenging a 1,000-ship Navy. An attack would be an exercise in arrogance, not in military intelligence.”
“Even a minute might give us time to release our planet buster bomb,” Astrid said.
“May I point out that we are basing all our hopes on that bomb, but we do not know it will work? Ms. Morganthal’s scientists did not give it their seal of approval. It was being developed, but it has never been tested. After all, where could you test a planet buster bomb? It can’t be a planet with any inhabitants. And the Federation would take a dim view of a private corporation blowing up a planet. This weapon has not been tested and the scientists wanted more time for research. We may release the bomb and find out it’s a dud. We will have risked our lives for nothing. If we are going to risk our lives, we need a sure scientific thing, not reckless speculation.”
“There’s rarely a sure thing in battle,” Admiral Nikanawa said. “As Rab pointed out, there’s always the unexpected. Our latest battle proves that. If you recall, we came out here on a rescue mission. We had to find a few missing explorers and we ran into the Destroyers. Space is always unpredictable. We have discovered that basic truth once again. We can’t wait for a sure thing. If we do, we’ll wait forever. Besides, we have faced long odds before.”
“Not odds this long,” Anson said. “This is one ship against an army. Somewhere, perhaps on the planet we have in our sight, there is a huge armada gearing up to invade our little area of space. The Destroyers – whoever they may be – figured they have enough firepower to defeat every race and every army they find. And we have one ship.”
“With a very big bomb,” Rab said.
“But we are going on speculation. We assume the Destroyers have no concern that they will be attacked so have not bothered with defenses. If that’s the case, they
won’t pick up our small ship as we go whizzing on our suicide mission. We assume they will be vulnerable as the United States was when the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl Harbor. But, as science officer, let me point out that those are only assumptions. They are opinions, guesses. They have no scientific foundation. It is just as likely that our opponents, knowing they are building an invasion fleet, established a defense network, just in case. Would they leave their military fleet vulnerable? Isn’t that a guess based on logic? I ask you, Major; if you were building an invasion fleet, wouldn’t you set up a defense too?”
I flinched. “Yes, that’s what I would do,” I said. “Just in case, as you said. If I were in an isolated section of space with very little possibility of an attack I’d make it a very limited defense network, but I would install one.”
“Case closed.”
“But these are androids, or robots, or whatever, and we have seen a degree of confidence if not complacency from them. They don’t appear to be at all concerned with the military capacities of their opponents. They appear to be underestimating their enemies. That can be a fatal flaw,” I continued.
“That is an assumption you are making with no scientific underlining. You have made that assumption through the observance of your opponents. You have watched them in action and have drawn some, perhaps legitimate, opinions about them. But it’s only conjectural. There could be hundreds of explanations for their actions. Underestimating their human opponents is only one such explanation.”
The admiral shook his head. “Again, this is not a realm of scientific certainty. We’re analyzing an enemy we have never seen before. We have never seen anything like the gold guys before. We have to make our best guesses on what limited experience and knowledge we have.” He picked up his dagger. “But I am with Sgt. Rab, although I also share his reluctance. My vote is not cast with any enthusiasm. I am aware of the great odds we face. But Lt. Astrid has made a persuasive case. I have a daughter now on a ship patrolling in space. If the Destroyers are preparing to unleash their attack, we must do everything we can to cripple their forces and weaken them. If we do, then soldiers and sailors such as my daughter – and the Federation – will have a better chance of survival.”
“If we had a legitimate chance to do damage to the enemy, I’d vote for the attack,” Anson said. “There’s simply too much we don’t know. We’re heading into the unknown and that’s not a path to victory.”
The admiral raised the dagger and jammed it into the wood. “The odds are high against us. And as Captain Anson said, we are heading into the unknown. Who knows what awaits us on the planet? There may be even more surprises that, right now, we could not imagine.” He looked around the table. “In the history of the human race, many civilizations have rotted and decayed because, for some reason, they had lost their courage. The same is true for many crumbled civilizations in space. They will not say that about humans. In the face of overwhelming odds, we must maintain our values and our courage and our debt to our fellow humans. I say we attack.”
James Christie had stayed silent. I couldn’t tell from his face if he favored attack or retreat. Which was odd. Jim was usually a gregarious man. His emotions showed. This time his faced looked like stone.
“Mr. Christie, you’ve said nothing during this discussion. What is your opinion?”
He reached out, took the dagger, and raised it. The table shook as he slammed the blade into the wood.
“That being said, let me also say we may be the dumbest people in space,” Christie said.
“I suppose we will find out soon.” I said.
“Does that mean you’re ordering an attack?” Astrid said.
“We have not named the planet we are heading for. So let’s call it Zanzibar. I had to spend a weekend on Zanzibar back on Earth and never liked it. It was hot and didn’t have enough decent urban planning.”
“I’ve been there and I never liked it either,” Rab said.
I picked up the dagger. “We will set a course for Zanzibar and when we arrive we will do as much damage to our enemy as we can. We will release the planet buster bomb and then zoom into hyperspace. If a planet blows up I’m guessing it might take a great deal of the solar system with it. Which is to our benefit. If there are other planets in the system, they must also be controlled by the Destroyers. If we take out half the system, it might infinitely delay their invasion plans. So we will call this Operation Annihilation.”
“Being a bit optimistic there, sir?” Rab said.
“Maybe a bit, but let’s hope not,” I said. I stuck the knife into the desk. “Ladies and gentlemen, return to your posts and prepare for battle. We are now on Red Alert. As noted, we are facing tremendous odds. We will win this battle or we will die. In case of the latter, it’s been nice knowing all of you.” I looked around the table. “We have lived admirable lives. We have risked our lives to protect others. If we... depart, we do so with honor.” I smiled. “And if we live, we have a great tale to tell our grandkids.”
“How long before we get to our destination?” Rab said.
“A week if we start now,” the admiral said.
“Moderate speed,” I said. “Admiral, rig for silent running.”
He frowned. “Beg your pardon, sir?”
“I’m a history buff. I enjoy the old World War II films from Earth. Always wanted to say that.”
The admiral laughed. “Then rig for silent running it is, sir.”
He saluted. I returned the salute. Men and women stood up and exited. Astrid stayed beside me.
“Logan, I think you did the right thing, regardless of the outcome.”
“Thank you. My dear, you are a Christian. We’ll going to find out just how powerful your prayers are.”
I walked with Astrid back to our cabin. When we closed the door she jumped up, hugged and kissed me.
“I’m so proud of you. You did the right thing,” she said.
“I hope so. The vote was close,” I said.
“You’re the commander. You can’t go by votes. The military, even the private military is not a democracy. Soldiers can only hope for a good commander; and they have one.”
“Thanks. Now we have to come up with a plan to defeat an armada of ships. I’ll try to work on that.”
“The English did it. Back in... what was the year? 1588?
“Close enough. But the English ships and soldiers didn’t stop the Armada. A storm did. At least a storm stopped most of the Spanish ships. There were some flaws in the design too that helped out the English. Either way, the Spanish lost and lost rather badly. Now the question is: how do we get the Destroyers to lose badly?”
Chapter 2
That evening I ran some computer simulations. Which was not easy given the conditions. For the simulations to be accurate, you have to feed in a lot of data. When you don’t have enough data, then the simulations are, of course, worthless. But I wasted some time anyway. However, it did start me thinking.
Creativity. That might be the key. One of the weaknesses of androids, robots, AIs or a combination thereof is there’s no creativity. They “think” based on their programming. They can’t take great leaps of imagination. Even the most advanced are limited in that sense. The AIs may be able to think. Scientists still argue on that point, but they don’t have any imagination. There’s something about the human brain that can’t be duplicated. Humans can be very creative. What they can imagine they can build. If they can conceive of it, they can achieve it.
So...
A robotic race, for whatever reason, wants to annihilate the human race. Why? They had to have been ordered to. But by who? And again the question is “why”. There are always exceptions and maybe this would be one, but such a robotic race would not suddenly desire to commit genocide against humans. Perhaps the Creagers might conceive of such a plan. They would not have warm feelings against anything flesh and blood. But if they decided on genocide, it would be horrific but understandable from the Creagers’ point of v
iew. They would wipe out the race who had defeated them twice.
But gold robotic men had not fought wars with humans. Neither did they act on emotion. The Creagers wanted to take over a few planets based on a lust for power. But gold robotic men are not motivated by power. Power means nothing to them. So who programmed them? Ralph was given his orders by his robotic superior who no doubt received his commands from his robotic superior and onward up the line. A dead end.
But the invasion fleet full of gold men would go by their precise battle plan. They wouldn’t deviate from it. Which gave a small advantage to the defenders.
Humans can suffer from this defect too. Gen. Burnside at Fredericksburg during the Civil War. From all reports he was a nice enough guy but was a terrible general, totally incompetent in any military task. The Confederates were safely dug in on the hills around the city. Burnside foolishly charged them and kept charging, as if expecting the third charge would do better than the first charge. It didn’t. The Union lost more than nine thousand troops that day. Brave men killed more by their foolish commander than by rebels’ bullets. That’s one of the problems with the military. A great many brave, kind and noble soldiers died to the stupidity of their officers. Officers who were rarely evil, but often incompetent.
I didn’t particularly like the analogy, since I had just ordered what many men on this ship would consider to be a suicide mission. But unlike Burnside, we had a chance. Or so I thought.
I could release the light-speed drones. They could do some surveillance and provide us some badly needed information. But it was a huge risk. We were counting on the element of surprise. If the Destroyers spied a drone, they would realize an enemy was in the area and start beefing up their defenses. The drones were not large. They could possibly slip in under any defensive shields. But if they were spotted, our element of surprise was lost.
I thought no. We’d have to go in blind. The risk was too great. We had long-range sensors. We’d have to use those. Beef up the defenses on the ship. Make sure our weapons were ready to fire. We couldn’t afford a malfunction.