by Ricky Sides
“I won’t let anything happen to her, Dad. I don’t think she could bear being a captive again,” Evan said. “I’m sorry I made an issue of the order.”
“That’s all right, Son. Remember your training. If you go down, you stay with Lisa. I don’t care if she has to go to the bathroom in the woods; you stay by her side. You watch her back and keep her as safe as you can. You may need this,” Jim said as he opened his desk drawer. He drew out a knife in a sheath. It was a British Commando knife. “I was saving this for your sixteenth birthday, but I think under the circumstances, I’d feel better giving it to you now.”
“Thank you, Dad. I’ve wanted one of these for a long time. Pete carries one like it when he doesn’t want the bulk of the dragon dagger you gave him,” Evan explained.
Jim hugged Evan, and then he said, “You be careful, Son. Remember all of your lessons. They can save you and Lisa in a pinch should you ever need to utilize the skills.” Pausing, he looked his son in the eyes, and then he said, “I’m proud of you, Evan. You’ve grown into a fine young man. Now send Lisa in here. I have to break the news of the transfer to her. Oh, and Son, I see no need to trouble her with the details of our conversation. I believe you’re man enough to understand why I don’t want to upset her with all of the facts I revealed to you. All I plan to tell her is that she is needed at a drone station aboard the Constitution.”
“She won’t hear about it from me, Dad. That sort of stuff would give her nightmares,” Evan responded.
Lisa was easier to convince, probably because Pete and Maggie would be aboard the Constitution, and Evan was also being transferred to a drone console aboard that ship. Jim’s conversation with her lasted only a few minutes.
When it came time for him to summon Lina to the cabin, he received an unexpected reaction from her when he suggested that she would be transferring to the Constitution after the battle at sea. She said, “I’m sorry, Jim, but I have already volunteered to take Melissa Falker’s place as pilot and squadron leader. Maggie just found out she was pregnant and grounded her. The g-force accelerations during combat yesterday almost caused her have a miscarriage. I was on my way to see you about that matter when I was directed here by the intercom.”
“I can transfer one of the men to that duty, Lina,” Jim responded.
“They’ve all been reassigned. I’m needed there, Jim. You can’t let our relationship dictate otherwise. You know as well as I that your backup pilot can fly this crate as well as I can,” she stated adamantly.
“Alright, Lina, but I want you to be careful. I haven’t told you, but these pirates sell women into captivity,” he said.
Lina nodded her head and said, “That’s the rumor I’ve been hearing. Odds are, they gang rape them as well. That’s one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to get to pull the trigger on some of these guys. Don’t worry about me. I have no intentions of being shot down and taken captive. Hell, Jim, I can fly rings around some of the men who’ll be flying the same mission.”
Jim smiled because he knew she was telling the truth. Lina had turned out to be one of the hottest fighter pilots among the peacekeepers. “You also look a lot better in negligee,” Jim said.
“Scars and all?” she asked playfully. She had been relieved that Jim accepted her scars without feeling revulsion. She had come to be at peace with their presence.
“Want me to prove it?” Jim asked with a lascivious grin.
“I wish we had the time, but I need to get to my fighter and check it out before time to depart for the mission,” Lina said. She gave him a passionate kiss in parting, and a little bump and grind, which was a hint of things to come when next, they made love, and then she left to go to the Constitution.
Aboard the Arizona, Namid similarly rejected the reassignment after the coming battle at sea. “Captain, no other pilot in the fleet is as familiar with the special flight characteristics of the Arizona as I, and I’m still one of the best fighter pilots we have in the peacekeeper air force. I’ll be damned if I get sent to the rear because of my gender. As for the pirates taking and selling captives, hell, who doesn’t do that these days? As I see it, I’m taking no greater risk than normal.”
“I’m afraid that goes for me as well, Captain,” stated communications specialist Sharon Winters. “I’ve made dozens of modifications to the operating system aboard this ship. The relief operator can’t handle all of those functions with my efficiency. He hasn’t had the time for the necessary training yet.”
Aboard the Valiant, Teresa had just given Jim the same answer for the same reasons.
Chapter 16
Later that day, the Valiant and the rest of the peacekeeper air group met the pirates at sea again, but as they approached the fleet, the pirate ships began a strange set of maneuvers that opened up the center of their armada. “Camera operator, zoom in on that ship in the center of the new formation,” Jim ordered. He watched the monitor as the scene shifted and centered on the ship he had indicated. As he continued to watch, the camera zoomed in on the deck of the ship. “What is that thing? Gunner, target that ship,” he ordered, but before they could fire a shot, half the instrumentation in the control room went dead; including the gunner’s firing control board and the navigation system. Sparks flew from several control panels.
“Bring us about now!” shouted the engineer. Then he yelled, “Captain, warn the fleet off! You have to hurry!”
“Do it,” Jim ordered Teresa.
“She’s answering the helm, but we are flying blind, Captain,” the helmsman said.
“Damn, we lost a good ten drones, sir,” the gunner informed Jim. “They just dropped out of the sky. Oh, hell. There go two fighters as well.”
“Communications, all drones are to separate and hit that ship!” the captain ordered.
The engineer said, “Captain, they are firing an EMP gun of some sort. It’s frying the circuitry of our systems. We are partially shielded inside the hull of this ship, so with the Constitution multi-layered hull…”
“Understood. Communications, order the Constitution to sink that ship. Order all fighters to back off. The Arizona is to attempt a rescue of the downed fliers if she has full navigational controls,” Jim said.
“Tell the Arizona to keep their tail section between them and the enemy ship. The additional layers of shielding should prevent an attack from killing their forward circuitry,” advised the engineer.
“That will force them to use the smaller door to affect the rescue,” Jim observed. “Better that than losing the control system.”
“The Constitution is reporting that the gun emplacement has been destroyed, sir. They are saying an additional five fighters are down and we lost most of the drones as they moved in to attack,” Teresa stated, and then paused to listen to her headset attentively. “Now, they are saying the ship is sinking. The Constitution is being hit by multiple missile impacts, and the captain is bringing them about on a heading to rejoin the rest of the air group,” reported Teresa.
“Helmsman, bring us about so we can look for downed fliers,” Jim ordered. “Come to all stop near the first fighter you spot. Teresa, give me the intercom channel.”
“Done,” she replied succinctly.
“Sergeant Borden, get aft. I need you to prepare a rescue team and tell me if you can open the bay door from there. We lost that control panel in here. Doctor Barnes, report to the cargo bay with your medical kit. We have multiple downed fliers in need of rescue, and they may be in need of medical attention.”
“Sir, the Constitution reports that the fleet is attempting to close with our downed fliers and the Arizona. She is moving to block them. Captain Young says he is going to try to intimidate them for a few minutes with his shotgun,” Teresa reported.
“Understood,” replied Jim tersely, and then he asked, “Helmsman, do you see a fighter yet?”
“Sorry, Captain. Yes, I am coming to a stop near a fighter now,” the pilot responded.
“The cargo bay door is work
ing, sir. We can see the pilot and are affecting a rescue,” reported the sergeant.
“Inform me the moment the pilot is secured, so we can look for another,” Jim replied.
“Captain, the Constitution is reporting that they have driven the enemy ships away, at least for the moment. Apparently, they don’t quite know what to make of that shotgun laser weapon,” the communications specialist reported.
“The pilot is aboard, and appears to be in good condition, sir. Unfortunately, the fighter sank,” the sergeant reported.
“Is the cargo bay door secure? We can’t tell from here at the moment,” Jim informed the strike team leader.
“Yes, Captain. We are ready to get underway when you are, sir,” the man responded.
“Fighters have rescued the rest of the pilots, Captain. They are delivering them to the Arizona. Sir, they are reporting that three pilots went down with their fighters. They’ve marked the area with their GPS, but they are advising that the pilots have been under too long for much hope,” Teresa reported.
“Tell them to remain on station at the locations where they went down. One or more of them may make it to the surface. Direct all drones to the area to watch their backs and expand the search area. The current will have moved them by now,” Jim ordered.
While Teresa was relaying the orders, Jim directed the helmsman to look for the spot where the fighters were hovering and fly east of them where they would begin their own search. He then activated the intercom, informed the sergeant about the search, and ordered him to lower the bay door. He wanted to put a man with a safety harness on it to help in the search.
Five minutes later, one of the drone operators spotted a survivor adrift on the sea. A fighter pilot rushed to the scene and soon had the half-drowned survivor aboard the Valiant. Lina’s cocky voice reached Jim’s ears as she asked, “Is my pilot going to be alright?”
“The doc is working on him now,” Teresa responded with a smile.
In the captain’s chair, Jim smiled in relief, but that relief was short-lived because a moment later Teresa reported that the pilots had spotted what appeared to be the body of one of the missing pilots floating face down in the ocean. She further reported that the Arizona was en route to attempt a recovery, and that Doctor Smith was standing by to attempt resuscitation of the pilot.
However, ten minutes later, the Arizona communications officer informed them that the patient could not be resuscitated. It was at that time, when they received a message from the Constitution, stating that all of the ships of the pirate fleet had sailed past the main peacekeeper task force and were heading west toward the coast at top speed. They further reported that the faster ships were leaving the slower vessels behind, and that it was Captain Young’s opinion that they were trying to make it to Washington ahead of the peacekeeper task force.
Despite that dire warning, Jim refused to abandon the search for the missing pilot until they were certain that locating the downed flier was impossible. Ten minutes after the warning from the Constitution, a fighter pilot spotted the remaining body. He reported that the pilot was dead and that he could see sharks at the body. Jim heard the sound of a laser firing as the pilot made his report, and knew that the pilot was attempting to drive the sharks away, but that was a futile effort at best. The ocean would protect the sharks, unless one happened to be broaching when the laser hit it. As the Arizona maneuvered to attempt a recovery of the body, the pilot of the fighter reported that the sharks had dragged it beneath the surface.
“Tell the Arizona to take the lead. We’re flying blind, so we will follow her to the enemy fleet. All fighter pilots are to get back in battle formation. Drone operators, you are to follow at your best speed. Let’s go make the enemy pay for the peacekeeper lives they took today,” Jim said.
They caught up with the enemy armada while they were still well over a hundred miles from the east coast. For hours, the peacekeeper armada hammered the massive fleet of ships, but finally they had to break off their attack when their power ran low. Hampering their attack strategy was the loss of so many drones and fighters, not to mention the Valiant, which though still airborne, could not attack the enemy because the EMP had taken out the computer controlling the weaponry. The engineer had tried to jury rig a system utilizing another control board and computer only to discover that it too had been fried by the EMP. “It’s no use, Admiral. Frankly, I’m surprised we’re still airborne. The weapon must have been low powered, or it would have fried all our electronics. The Valiant was not designed with EMP shielding in mind,” said Max in frustration.
“Thank you for trying, Max. I guess the Valiant has fired her last shot in this war,” Jim stated. He turned to Teresa and said, “Tell the battle group it’s time to head for home. We’ll need a bit of reserve power for the next phase of this war. Tell the ships to stop and let the drones land on their hulls, once we are out of range of the enemy guns. We need to recharge the few drones we have left.”
“Yes, Captain,” replied Teresa, and then she began to transmit the commands on their secure channel.
During the short flight back to the mainland, Jim contacted Tim via radio and warned him about the EMP weapon they had encountered, and the disastrous results of that encounter.
***
The battle group was en route to Fort Jefferson to deal with the pirates when Tim got the call from Jim. After their discussion, Tim briefed Pol and the captains of the other ships on the developments with the EMP weapon. He showed them the video footage of the ship and the weapon.
Pol was especially interested in the close-up footage of the weapon. He stated that, having viewed the reconnaissance footage taken by the drones, he didn’t believe there was any such weapon based at the fort or aboard any of the ships anchored adjacent to it. He did advise the captains that should they ever encounter such a weapon, they should turn about and present their sterns to the weapon. Then, they could attack it with their rear-based weaponry. He pointed out that the metal walls between the cargo bay and the control rooms would aid in shielding the control room computers. He further advised the captains that the Peacekeeper battleship module would be the best shielded of any of the ships, with the exception of the Constitution. Therefore, he strongly advised that if they encountered such a weapon, then all drones, fighters, APCs, and patrol ships should leave it to the Peacekeeper and vacate the area until the menace was neutralized.
Nevertheless, the peacekeepers practiced an abundance of caution as they approached the pirate ships at their anchorage. Before the peacekeepers even came within view of the island fortress, Patricia began jamming their most commonly used radio frequencies.
First, Tim wanted to eliminate as many of the shoulder fired missiles that the enemy possessed as possible. In order to do this, he was sending in the drones, which would fly in just feet above the surface. They would encircle the island and then begin seeking out the guards with the missiles. The drones would use the wingman system, just as the fighters did on their missions. This would increase their chances of seeing the enemy missile defenses before they were fired.
When the drones arrived, and began to encircle the island, the guards responded by attempting to launch their missiles. A few succeeded in their launch attempts, but most of the drone operators managed to avoid the projectiles. More than one drone managed to shoot down airborne missiles, but it wasn’t a total victory for the peacekeepers who lost seven drones during that phase of the battle.
Next, Tim opted to try a tactic that the peacekeepers had originally attempted when they had battled the drug cartel in the Gulf. He sent in the drones from the fort en mass with orders to go directly to the ships, but this time they were not going to hover over the ships where gun crews could take pot shots at them. This time, the drone operators had orders to land atop the wheelhouses in such a position that they could target the decks of the ships. Once they were in those positions, they were to lock down their drones if possible and open fire at the deck guns within their sigh
t. Once they had disabled the deck guns, they were to fire down at the decks of the ships in an effort to punch through the hulls. That part of the plan unfolded successfully, since the gunners couldn’t target the drones, without hitting their own wheelhouses, but there were differences in the strategy that the peacekeepers implemented. This time, Tim did not intend to hold back the fighters and other peacekeeper aircraft until the drones had won or lost their battles. The ten heavily armored APCs went into action the moment the drones began to attach themselves to the wheelhouses. They came at the ships from the portside. As they approached, their task was to target as many of the deck guns as possible while the drones were doing the same from the wheelhouses. They were also targeting enemy personnel on deck. The forty-eight fighters followed a minute behind the APCs. They attempted to destroy any remaining deck guns, and they targeted personnel in their strafing runs. The patrol ships formed the last wave of the assault on the ships. They targeted ships that appeared seaworthy. Once it was clear to Tim that the ships had been rendered useless to the enemy in terms of escape, the real assault on the fort began.
***
Fort Jefferson was a six-sided fort situated on an island of approximately sixteen acres. The brick walls were forty-five feet high and eight feet thick. Short sea walls surrounded the island, forming a mote. The clear blue-green water of the Gulf of Mexico surrounded the island. Inside the walls of the fort were the remnants of a few old buildings, but they had collapsed at some point in the past. Though the walls of the fort were cracked in a few places, and the layer of brick facing had fallen away in several places, it was still a formidable obstacle to anyone attempting to take the men garrisoned there.