by Ricky Sides
“Well, no wonder I couldn’t read it,” Pol said apologetically. He quickly reoriented the pad, but then frowned in consternation. Finally, he gave up and shrugged. “I’m afraid I can’t read the note,” he said.
“Well, you know what they say about doctor’s handwriting,” Maggie stated with a sheepish grin.
“My dear, Maggie, you are without a doubt the best doctor I’ve ever met. Your skill in medicine knows no bounds. But your handwriting is atrocious,” Pol said bluntly.
“Yeah, well you’re the best damned engineer on the planet, but you snore like a chainsaw. What can I say? Nobody’s perfect,” Maggie said grinning mischievously.
Trying to hide his smile, Jim said, “Pol, you act as secretary. Make note of the orders for the duration of this meeting.”
For the next two hours, the council made decisions regarding the response of the peacekeepers to the impending threat.
Pol pointed out that in his opinion, the council should consider opening contact with the British government, which was apparently in the hands of the monarchy once more. His logic was that if the British had been equipped with peacekeeper technology, then they would have been able to neutralize the threat that was soon to come to America.
After a lengthy discussion on the merits of that idea, it was decided that the Peacekeeper would journey to the British Isles, where they would attempt to consult with the rulers in the hopes of presenting them with the information they needed to begin construction of their own fleet of ships and fighters. They knew that the development of the British fleet would take years, but it was a start.
Large American flags were to be painted on the fuselage of the ship for identification purposes.
***
For the next two days, Base 1 became a beehive of activity as the peacekeepers scrambled to prepare for the impending threat.
The Constitution departed for Washington D.C. with an escort of six additional fighters. Three of the flying tractor-trailer rigs flew with them. Captain Bill Young was charged with a dual mission. He was to recover as many of the national treasures as possible and send them back to the base in the trucks with a fighter escort. Another dozen trucks would be sent to Washington in the coming days to facilitate the salvage operation. They estimated that he would have a period of four to five days to accomplish that mission. By then, the fleet would be near the coast, and when they arrived, he would have to stop the recovery effort and concentrate on defending the capital. He was then to guard the city and stop the pirates from reaching sensitive sites, even if that meant damaging other areas of the city.
The shipyard crew worked tirelessly to add another layer of the alloy to strategic areas of the hull of the Arizona. As they labored and Pol saw that they were ahead of schedule, he added less critical areas of the ship to the project. No one complained. They had been told what the ship would be facing. All of the construction crew remembered the beating the Constitution had taken during their last war with a naval fleet. The shipyard crew had been divided into two twelve hour shifts. When the first shift was replaced by the second, many of the first shift workers refused to leave. They had grabbed some food, and then returned to the task at hand. They knew all too well that every foot of the hull that could be reinforced would increase the likelihood that the ship would survive its mission.
Captain Wilcox and many of his crewmembers were awed by the devotion of the shipyard crew. They carried water to the tired construction workers who were drenched in sweat from the heat generated by the lamination process. When it became apparent to Namid that the construction crew did not intend to stop to eat, she took matters in her own hands. Gathering several of her fellow crewmen, she went to the base mess hall in a commandeered sled. They returned with tables, chairs, and mountains of sandwiches, potato salad, and coffee. They set up a chow line right beside the Arizona. Captain Wilcox and his strike force team began to force the workers to take a few minutes to eat. Pol thanked Jack for the concern he had shown for his construction crews, but was promptly made to join the chow line himself when Jack noted that he hadn’t eaten all day.
At the end of the twenty-four hours, almost every square foot of the Arizona had been reinforced. Another layer of the Huxley alloy had similarly reinforced her drones. Lifejackets had been issued for every crewmember. They had taken on extra stores of food, water, and ammunition for the conventional weaponry of the ship.
The Arizona departed Base 1 on schedule, and with little fanfare. Its escort fighter would fly with the ship until it reached the sea. At that point, Captain Wilcox would make a decision as to whether the fighter should return to base, or ride atop the Arizona until they engaged the fleet. Unlike the Peacekeeper and the Constitution, the Arizona couldn’t take fighters inside its cargo bay. The crew of the Constitution had the most experience in Washington, so they couldn’t take on the reconnaissance mission, and as Pol pointed out, Jack’s vision had clearly shown the Arizona taking on the task.
The Peacekeeper departed for London the moment that Pol completed his work at the shipyards. Tim made sure that the other council members knew the route he planned to take to reach London. He was planning to take a direct course. The distance from Base 1 to London was approximately four thousand two hundred miles. Tim filed a flight plan with an expected average flight speed of two hundred fifty miles per hour. He estimated the flight would take approximately seventeen hours.
The Peacekeeper had taken aboard several of the old style drones, which they would be presenting to the British people. They were also taking along a pair of the fighters, which would make the flight atop the battleship module. Like the drones, those fighters were a gift for the British people. Pol was taking along several computers that were loaded with the specifications on peacekeeper technology. It would take the British a few years, but with the information contained in those computers, they could jumpstart their own ship, drone, and fighter programs.
The California delivered the most precious cargo that would be taken to London. Eight British citizens who had worked at the consulate in Los Angeles had been contacted by Captain Cliff Barnes to see if they wanted to attempt the risky flight to London aboard the Peacekeeper. Those citizens had contacted the peacekeepers two years prior with a request for transport back to their homeland. Their request had been considered, but at that time, the council viewed such a flight as too risky. The council still viewed the flight as a dangerous option, but one that they now felt they must make. The British citizens were advised of the dangers of the flight, but they opted to take their chances.
The California arrived at Base 1 an hour and a half before the Peacekeeper departed for London. The British citizens were fed. They were also given an opportunity to reconsider their decision, but they were adamant in their determination to take the flight despite the risks.
As the passengers walked toward the Peacekeeper, they noted an honor guard standing at rigid attention. As they drew closer, a strong gust of wind caused the Union flag one honor guard member was holding to flutter in the breeze. At that precise moment, the base public address system began to play God Save the Queen. The British citizens stopped and stood transfixed. The five men and three women, already in an emotional state at the prospect of returning to their homeland, were overwhelmed by the refrains of music that meant so much to them on so many levels.
At the conclusion of the anthem, the honor guard detached the British flag from the flagstaff and folded it. That flag was presented to Deputy Consul-General, Robert Edwards, who was the highest-ranking member of the staff to survive. He thanked the assembled peacekeepers for the honors they had shown, and then they boarded the Peacekeeper.
Chapter 5
Captain Bran Lynch stared at the map of the continental United States that was laid out on the table. He was having second thoughts as to the best means to conduct the coming sacking of America’s coastal cities. His original plan had been for the fleet to disperse and head for numerous landing sites all along the eastern s
eaboard well before reaching the American coastline. Of course, he had planned for a large task force to sail south, enter the Gulf of Mexico, and seize all of the oil and fuel that they could locate. That part of the plan would remain unchanged. Now Bran had new information that he must take into consideration.
Months prior to the gathering of the pirate fleet, Bran had sent one of his most trusted captains to the United States in order to survey the coastline. That ship had just rejoined the fleet and the captain had spent hours briefing Bran on what he had discovered in America.
He reported that the Americans were maintaining oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, and that he had seen no evidence of any sort of naval force protecting the oilrigs. Therefore, there was nothing to stop them from just sailing up and forcing the crews to top off their tankers.
However, that wasn’t the biggest news the captain revealed. The disasters that had plagued America had altered sections of the country. Portions of the states of Maryland and Virginia bordering the Potomac River were now submerged. As a result, the river was now considerably larger than it had been in the pre-disaster years. Furthermore, the same earthquakes that had caused the land to become submerged had also deepened the channel. Soundings taken, as they had sailed up the river, indicated that it would now be possible to sail even their largest ships to within a few miles of the American capital city of Washington D.C. However, the best news was that the city had been abandoned intact.
That had deeply interested Lynch who had contact with several Arabs who would pay vast sums in the currency of Bran’s choice for some of the national treasures of the United States. He often sold captured European women to those Arabs, who resold them into sexual slavery in the Middle East. Those men viewed America as The Great Satan, and yearned for her national treasures as trophies.
“You’re certain the city was undefended and empty?” Bran asked his trusted captain.
“We sailed to within sight of the city and sat at anchor there for hours observing with binoculars and a small telescope. Not once, did we see any sign of a population in the city,” the captain responded with confidence. He then pointed out that it was possible that the inhabitants viewed the region as unsafe and had moved further inland.
One of Bran’s historical heroes was the Irish General Robert Ross who had led the British in the capture of Washington in 1814. Now Lynch saw an opportunity to surpass the deeds of the man he had admired for so many years. For the next four hours, Captain Bran Lynch altered his plans for the dispersal of the fleet. Some of the captains might not like the changes, but as far as he was concerned, that was their problem. They would follow him or risk being cut out of the riches to be had in America. His warships guaranteed that he could defeat any captain who disagreed too strenuously.
***
The admiral studied the map on his computer screen. He was sitting at his desk inside the small office that was maintained for him at Base 1. Jim was attempting to formulate a plan to contend with the pirate invasion fleet, but there were currently too many variables to make intelligent decisions. He needed relevant facts. At best, he was making an educated guess as to what he should do to counter the menace. He studied the screen for another few moments, making additional notes for future reference, and then he paged Pete to come to his office.
For the next hour, the two men discussed the orders that Jim felt they should issue. Finally, Pete said, “Issue the orders, Jim. They all make sense to me, based upon what we know at this point. Of course, things could change when we get some actionable intelligence, but the opening moves are just pre staging assets where they’ll do the most good.”
Smiling at his mentor, Jim replied, “Thank you for your support and for your help in the decision making process. With so much at stake, I wanted to run these decisions by you to get your input.” Then Jim frowned. He added, “We’ll be leaving the western peacekeepers pretty slim on assets.”
Pete shrugged, “That can’t be helped. We have to defend the natural resources, and permitting the invaders to take eastern American cities would be disastrous. That would give them a land based foothold in America.”
“I know, Pete. I just hope everything remains quiet west of the Mississippi for the next few weeks,” Jim said. Then he added, “I’ll be staying here in the Valiant until we get the first reports from the Arizona. Then I’ll decide whether to fly out to that fleet or go to another area to prepare to meet the invaders.”
Sighing, Jim added, “I just hope sending a single ship out to meet them wasn’t a mistake. Maybe I should have sent a task force of ships and fighters.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you made the right call. There’s no way that we could prevent the invasion fleet from reaching our waters. It’s just too big. Even if we’d sent every ship at our disposal we couldn’t have taken them all before they began to disperse and take multiple courses for American waters,” Pete observed.
“That’s what concerns me the most, Pete,” Jim admitted. “The Arizona will be facing a fleet that’s so massive, it will be impossible for Jack to keep them all under observation, especially after dark. That’s going to leave a lot of room for the pirates to disperse and take alternate courses.”
Nodding his understanding, Pete said, “I know. We’ll just have to hope our fighter and drone recons can give us some advance warning.”
***
In Washington, Captain Bill Young worked tirelessly, personally supervising the recovery of many national treasures. Art was given a priority, as were historical documents. He was well aware that one couldn’t just remove these items from a wall and load them in a truck. All of the items had to be crated and cataloged before they could be loaded for transportation.
It was a monumental task. Ten hours into the work, Bill took a break and returned to his ship. He communicated with Admiral Wilison and described the scope of the problem, informing Jim that it would take days just to clear the National Art Gallery. He privately advised Jim that it would be impossible to recover the national treasures in the time allotted.
Jim advised the captain that the council was aware that it wouldn’t be possible to save all of the items. He then suggested that Bill concentrate his efforts on items of historical significance. Jim also requested that Bill have several drones do a reconnaissance of the Potomac River, because that was the easiest means a ship could use to approach the vicinity of the city.
Bill informed Jim that he had already ordered just such a mission and promised to send a report to him as soon as that mission was accomplished.
When he completed his conversation with Admiral Wilison, Bill amended his orders to the recovery teams to reflect the new instructions. He then contacted the team that was attempting to penetrate the Whitehouse in order to recover as much as possible there.
Lieutenant Carter reported that they had finally managed to gain entry and that they were preparing to begin the recovery operation there.
***
Aboard the Peacekeeper, Tim settled in for a few hours of much needed sleep. The British citizens were all handling the trip well. They were in great spirits. The ship was performing well, despite the fact that it was heavily laden with extra drones and fighters.
They had already reached the halfway mark on their flight to London without incident, so Tim decided to have the control room crew relieved for a few hours rest before they approached the British Isles.
“Do you think we’ll get to meet the Royal Family?” Patricia asked as she snuggled next to Tim with her head on his chest.
“Since this is a surprise visit, I doubt it,” Tim responded. Then he confided in her when he added, “I just hope they don’t shoot at us. Let’s face it; they are bound to be a bit skittish when they see the ship.”
“I think Jim was concerned about that possibility as well. Why else would he want the flags painted on the hull?” she asked.
“He’s concerned. We all are,” Tim stated, meaning that the council was concerned.
; “Well once we get to the edge of their territorial waters, I can broadcast a message announcing our visit. By then it would be too late for any lingering pirates to do anything about it, should they intercept the message,” she explained.
“That’s what I had in mind,” Tim stated. Then he asked, “Have you wondered if they’ll let us leave without a fight?”
“Huh? Tim, are you concerned that they may try to take the ship?” asked Patricia.
“Aren’t you?” he responded.
“No, dear, that never even occurred to me,” Patricia admitted.
“Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t occur to them either,” Tim said.
“Really, Tim, I think they’ll be happy with what we are freely giving them. Pol’s still working on the video tutorials. Between the computers and those tutorials, they’ll be on the fast track to their own peacekeeper technology.”
“You’re probably right, Patricia, but it’s my job to consider all eventualities. Especially the unpleasant ones,” he countered.
“I know, love. I just hope you aren’t so concerned that you fail to enjoy the trip. This should be a cakewalk for us. The Arizona drew the hard job,” she explained.
“Yes, and they’ll reach the fleet within a few hours. We’d best get some sleep while we can. I’ll want to be awake when the Arizona begins its reconnaissance, just in case they call for help,” Tim said.
Patricia kissed him goodnight and the couple settled in for a few hours of much needed sleep. Tim lay awake long past the time when Patricia’s even breathing told him that his wife was fast asleep. He was concerned about the Arizona. Jack Wilcox was, without a doubt, the most skilled strike force leader the peacekeepers had ever produced. However, being a strike force leader wasn’t the same as being the captain of a ship. He was still pondering the matter when he drifted into a troubled sleep.