by Ricky Sides
After the tour of the ship, Evan settled down to watch a brief tutorial video Pol had made, which explained several of the innovations to the ship. Captain Young had recommended several alterations. One of those modifications incorporated a sensor activated Huxley alloy panel that would slide over the windshield if the sensors picked up an incoming projectile at or above the size of a fifty caliber. There was also a panic button located at the pilot’s control panel. That button would manually close the shield barrier at the pilot’s discretion. A large screen monitor set on the control panel would permit the pilot to use video cameras for navigation when the shield was in place.
“Captain, we have the Damroyal in sight. I am decelerating to begin our approach,” the pilot reported.
“Thank you. Communications specialist, please signal the Damroyal that we are requesting permission to land on her flight deck to deliver passengers,” Evan requested.
“Aye, Captain,” Lisa stated. Although she would be going aboard the Damroyal, she had filled her role as communications officer during the maiden flight of the crew. One of the strike team members would assume the post, until she was ready to return to duty, but for this trip, she was the one on duty. A moment later, she said, “Captain, the Damroyal has granted clearance for us to land. They are sending us a video feed of the Athens on approach and say that the ship is a beauty.”
“Thank them for me,” Evan responded, and then he turned to stare at the large video screen, set just above the windshield. As he stared at the sleek lines of the giant ship, he had to agree with the sentiments expressed by the communications officer of the Damroyal. The Athens was indeed a beauty.
***
The Warlord stared at the map of known peacekeeper bases. He was trying to formulate an overall strategy that would work to misdirect the attention of the peacekeepers from the Montana region they had been investigating. The Nebraska raid had caused the peacekeepers to leave the state, but he knew that it had been close. Too close for comfort. The base wasn’t ready to take on a full-fledged attack by the enemy. According to reports from the guards at the mouth of the bowl, who had been watching the sky with powerful binoculars, they had spotted an incoming drone that had closed to within a few miles of the base, but then turned and left the area.
That had been a case of luck, and Banister knew that he couldn’t count on luck to save the base a second time. Thus, he was planning a series of raids that would lead the enemy to believe their base was much further to the east.
The air pirate leader understood that the manufacture of the Huxley alloy was the backbone of peacekeeper technology, and that any threat to that supply was a direct threat to their powerbase. He knew that the factory that made the alloy was located in Saginaw, Michigan. He had learned that from the captured computer, acquired in the raid on the Washington State Base. Therefore, he was determined to find a way to threaten that supplier. He was certain that doing so would cause the peacekeepers to redirect their attention to that region of the country.
He needed to acquire a platform that could power the additional lasers needed to defend the base. His spies in the region told him that the people in Saginaw were building massive platforms with what appeared to be buildings mounted on them. Such a platform would power several of the lasers. He just had to work out the details of how to acquire one. He finally settled on a novel approach. He would send emissaries to the city to purchase three of the structures. During the months of the absence of the peacekeepers, his group had stolen a considerable amount of trade goods. He was about to invest some of that booty in the future of the base.
The laser factory was now up and running. They were producing the little weapons as fast as the Warlord’s men could acquire the components. In a few weeks, the base would be all but impregnable. Then, he would be able to begin to arm the rest of his growing fleet of air pirate flying machines. Until then, he planned a series of small raids in the Eastern section of the American heartland in order to keep the peacekeepers busy and misdirected.
The Warlord did not intend to risk all six of the remaining fighters that they had captured during their raid on Salina, Kansas. He did plan to send one fighter on the decoy raiding expeditions because he knew that would ensure a peacekeeper response. However, he planned to keep the remaining five at the Montana base where they would practice and perfect their skills with the aircraft.
One of the pilots had figured out how to use the targeting system in his fighter during the long flight back to the base. Banister had made him the leader of the squadron as a reward for his discovery and tasked him with working out the means to train his pilots.
The Warlord addressed his men before leaving with those he had selected to accompany him on the raiding expeditions. He told them that he was proud of what they had achieved to date, because they had accomplished things that no one had ever accomplished in the past. They had stolen peacekeeper technology in the form of the fighters, and that technology would aid them in the future. He promised them that soon they would be able to take the fight to the peacekeepers, but for now, they needed to buy time for the base to be completed and the rest of their air assets to be armed with lasers. He then surprised them when he explained that by studying the way the lasers had been mounted, their armorer had been working to develop a targeting system for all of their vehicles, but that would take weeks, which was another reason that he had decided to shift into a different phase of the war for the time being.
The assembled men shouted excitedly at the prospect of being able to defeat the peacekeepers they all hated. For years, the men and women of that organization had been a constant thorn in their sides. Most knew people who had died as a result of their encounters with the group. All wanted them out of their way so that they could plunder America at will with little organized opposition.
Chapter 9
Rufus Hayes was flying approximately twenty miles northwest of the Arizona, which was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He was patrolling for any sign of the British task force of air assets that Ramon had warned the council might be preparing for a preemptive strike against the Saginaw, and Detroit, Michigan, manufacturing facilities.
Rufus was bored. He had been flying these reconnaissance missions for days, and had yet to spot a single vessel on the surface of the sea, or in the air. He had been flying for several hours that day and he was getting tired of staring at the empty sky. He turned his gaze toward the sea to relieve the tedium, if only for a few moments, and that was when he saw the ship.
The surface vessel was a giant cruise ship that was dead in the water. It looked small to Rufus when he first spotted the ship, but he knew that he was so far away that for the ship to be visible at all, it would have to be massive.
Changing his vector to an intercept course, he reported the sighting to the Arizona, and then shot the throttle forward to close the gap separating him from the ship. While keeping his eyes focused on the vessel he was approaching, it seemed to Rufus that it was coming toward him, but he knew that was an optical illusion that could and did occur when conditions were favorable. If the surface of the sea was calm enough, the flight over it was so smooth that there was no real sensation of movement, once the aircraft reached its top speed. Therefore, if the pilot’s eyes were fixed on a distant target it seemed that the object was approaching him.
Soon, it was time to back off the throttle and slow his airspeed to a crawl. Moments later, Rufus hovered off the port bow and filmed everything that he saw. He sent the investigation footage to the Arizona.
Aboard the Arizona, the captain and control room crew saw the bodies of the dead plague victims on the deck of the ship. “Order Rufus to use his external speaker to shout for survivors to come on deck,” Captain Wilcox ordered.
When the communications officer reported that there was no response to the pilots hails, Jack said, “Tell him I said to keep trying every five minutes. Let him know we are on our way to the area. We should be there soon.”
W
hen the Arizona reached the scene, they learned there had been no replies to the messages the escort pilot had been transmitting. Doctor Rex Smith studied the deceased victims on the monitor and confirmed that they had indeed died of the plague.
Captain Wilcox ordered the drones to inspect the ship to try to determine whether any of the lifeboats aboard had been launched, and then take a closer look at the ship. The drones soon confirmed that none of the lifeboats were missing, which led the doctor to speculate that within the close confines of the ship the passengers had all fallen ill at or about the same time.
“Pull your drones back from the ship,” Jack ordered. “There’s no sense in risking contamination. It looks to me as if these people have been dead for months.”
“I concur, sir,” Doctor Smith stated, giving his professional opinion.
“Doctor, am I wrong in assuming that there will always be a risk that this ship could spread the plague?” asked the captain.
“No, you’re not wrong. It could and probably would. Eventually, the bodies on the deck would decompose, and the salt air would sanitize the deck. It would take months, perhaps years in some areas where biological matter gets trapped in crevices, but the interior won’t be exposed to the open air. It will be like a tomb inside that vessel now. Sealed and waiting for some poor soul to open it and unleash hell on earth. Again.”
“Thank you, Doctor. That’s what I needed to know.”
Jack turned to his communications officer and said, “Use our external speakers to broadcast a warning that we will sink this derelict ship in one hour, so if there is anyone inside, they need to come out to let us know they are alive. Our system is louder and will penetrate deeper into the interior of the ship.”
“Yes, Captain,” replied the communications expert, Shelly Winters. She set the volume control to the maximum output, and then she delivered the message.
“It’s getting late. Navigation, take us a mile away from this ship so that Rufus can safely land and come aboard.”
“Aye, Captain,” Namid responded.
“Inform Lieutenant Hayes that he is to enter as quickly as possible,” Jack ordered Shelly.
“Lieutenant Farns, assist our pilot in entering.”
“I’m on it, sir,” the strike team leader stated. He rushed out of the room and down the hall to the fireman’s pole. He slid down the pole to the cargo bay below and prepared to help the pilot inside. That maneuver was dangerous because of the weight of the laminated body armor that Rufus wore. For that reason, Jack always sent someone outside to hand the pilot a tether line to hook to his flight harness. If he fell into the sea with all that weight, he would sink in moments.
Every fifteen minutes, Shelly repeated the warning, altering only the time remaining until the ship was sunk, but no one came out onto the deck. At the end of the allotted time, Jack ordered his gunner to target the stern waterline of the vessel. Minutes later, the bow of the ship disappeared beneath the surface of the sea.
***
“Bob, it’s good to see you again,” Jim stated as he welcomed the company president of Reager Industries aboard the Valiant.
“It’s always good to see you too, Jim,” Bob responded.
The two men went to the small Mess Hall of the Valiant and settled down to a lengthy meeting, during which Jim informed the company president of the intelligence the peacekeepers had gathered that indicated there was a possibility that the Royal Navy might try to destroy the manufacturing facilities in Saginaw and Detroit.
Bob was astonished and demanded to know why they would even be considering doing something of that nature. Jim then explained all about the flying vehicles that had made it to Europe and taken the plague with them.
“Yes, I can see where that would cause a lot of hatred, but bombing us out of existence won’t change anything,” Bob protested.
“Let me remind you that we have no confirmation that this is a credible threat. I’ve got the Arizona out in the Atlantic patrolling the normal approach route, and he has seen nothing to indicate that they are planning to do so.”
“It’s a big ocean. He could miss them by a few miles and never know they were even in the same geographical area,” Bob pointed out.
“Yes, but their relay buoys would need to be deployed in advance, and they haven’t been deployed,” Jim explained.
“I’m afraid you lost me,” Bob stated with a confused expression on his face.
“Our ships transmit information via a network. The system is similar to the old data network smart cell phones once used.”
“Yes, I remember those. So the relay buoys would capture information in the mid Atlantic and forward it to Europe, thus enabling the chain of command to remain unbroken?” asked Bob.
“Exactly, and we know where they would need to be deployed in order to be effective, but they aren’t there. Their absence leads me to believe one of two things is the case. Either the Royal Navy isn’t planning a reprisal at this point or they aren’t in charge of their ships anymore.”
“You’re that certain they wouldn’t attempt it without the relays?”
“If the Royal Navy is planning the operation, then it would be almost inconceivable for them to attempt it without a line of communication when one could be so readily established. The relay packages are simple to build, lightweight, and could be attached to a standard buoy in minutes. Delivering them would add only a few hours to the trip here, and they would easily fit in the cargo bay of a single ship.”
“I see. If it’s that simple, then yes, I imagine they would set them up, unless they were afraid your patrols would locate them.”
“There is always that possibility to consider,” Jim admitted. “I know I’d go without them, but I wasn’t Royal Navy trained. I’m considerably more flexible and open to the unorthodox than they are.”
“And if the Royal Navy isn’t in charge of the ships?” asked Bob.
“In that scenario, we’d be facing a mob that has taken over the ships. These vessels will be comparatively easy to fly and navigate, thanks to the great software that Patricia designed, but that’s only part of the problem. They’ll have to know how to fight with them as well, and that takes discipline, and a lot of knowledge. While the ship designs are very resistant to conventional weaponry, they aren’t resistant to lasers.”
“So they’ll be able to shoot your ships out of the sky?”
“If they can hit us, then yes. The same is true of our ability to take them out, but in this case, not all things will be equal, because our crews are highly trained in combat. We’ve had a lot of practice the past few years. Any mob that tries to go against us will have to muddle out how to target us, which won’t be easy because we also have Patricia,” Jim said with a grin.
“What can she do to prevent it?”
“A lot, because she designed the targeting software and the transponder packages. She knows them inside out,” Jim said with a grin.
Bob smiled and said, “Let me guess. Their weapons systems will read the transponder signals and assume they are dealing with allied vessels?”
“That’s an oversimplification, but accurate enough for the sake of this discussion,” Jim said nodding. “So in many ways, we’d be better off facing the mob scenario. The Royal Navy would be aware of the transponder problems and lock out any signals but those of their own air assets on the scene. Then it would come down to which side could win the battle.”
“Giving them all of your technology and battle footage may have been a mistake,” Bob pointed out.
“They were only given a certain amount of knowledge. Trust me, we can do things with our ships that they wouldn’t even dream possible.”
“Such as?” asked Bob curiously.
Jim then explained about the maneuvering capabilities and advancements that they were making. To illustrate what he had just referred to, he inserted a CD that contained the battle footage of Tim’s spectacular battle with the Peacekeeper as he finished off the remnants of the pira
te fleet. The footage impressed Bob so much that whistled in appreciation. “I see what you mean. Please compliment the pilot for me. That was some superb flying.”
“Tim was flying the ship that day,” Jim explained. “He has had years of experience and time to develop those techniques, as well as Patricia’s programming to assist him. I seriously doubt that the Royal Navy has had time to develop anything like that combat set. Trust me when I say that all of our pilots have been studying that footage for months and working to hone their skills to perfect the techniques.”
Jim also mentioned that the bounce maneuver, they had been using with increasing frequency and to great effect against naval vessels, could be employed against air assets.
“But how would that help win an air war?” asked Bob.
“You’ve seen the Damroyal in the past. Do you know what would happen if any ship passed under her hull and we dropped half the distance to that ship? It would drop the same distance, or be slammed into the ground with a great deal of force. Just how much depends upon how much further it would have dropped had it not crashed into the surface.”
“I remember enough of my college math classes to get the point. And if the lift field just hit one side of the enemy ship it could potentially roll it on its side,” observed Bob.
“Yes, it could do that, or even capsize it,” Jim concurred.
“Excellent. Then I’ll leave worrying about that threat to you,” Bob said.
They talked for a few more minutes, and then Bob stood up to leave. “By the way, how’s business these days? Is it as slow as you had feared?” Jim asked.
“Oh it’s slow, but not quite as bad as I had feared. It seems a lot of cities lost their vehicles during the plague and the few that survived intact are anxious to replace them. And, just yesterday we took an order for three of the flying homes we’ve been developing.”