by S. H. Jucha
In the meal room, Renée observed Alex and Tatia. The two were sitting across from each other. Plates of food sat untouched in front of them. Once she’d asked why he had chosen Tatia as First Mate. Alex had replied that everyone needed an Ace. She’d needed Julien to puzzle out his words for her. Now, watching the two stare into space, their food going cold, she was glad Alex had his Ace.
Alex laughed. he returned.
Neither Alex nor Julien heard a word from Renée. Alex swung his head around to locate her at the front of the meal room. She was staring off into space. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, which, after a moment, she covered with hers. Alex understood well the challenges of dealing with overwhelming changes, having experienced so many since meeting the Méridiens.
Renée relaxed and reopened her comm, responding to the anxious queries she’d received.
Terese, a couple of tables away, eyed the Captain looming protectively over Ser, his hand encompassing her shoulder. It appears the Captain’s therapy eclipses that of our medical solutions.
The crew jumped in their seats as the Captain’s explosive boom of laughter echoed throughout the meal room. He was still laughing as he left.
Before Alex could respond, Julien interrupted,
Renée sent Julien her vid of the Bellamonde wild cat cornering a frightened Méridien vermin. She could still hear Alex laughing down the corridor. He chimed in on their exchange, telling Julien he was free to respond as he wished.
Later Julien updated them.
He sent Renée’s cat-vermin vid back to her. Only the vermin morphed into a giant predator and ate the cat.
-38-
In the intervening time to their FTL exit point, the pilots joined Alex on the bridge. Julien projected scenarios on his holo-vid, connecting each pilot’s implant to the icon of his or her Dagger.
Alex studied the pilots’ responses as the scenarios changed. He ordered twin flight launches, single flight launches, and single Dagger launches, one after another. They gamed until Alex halted practice for a meal then resumed as soon as they were done, running increasingly complex scenarios.
Preparations got underway across the ship. The flight decks prepped the Daggers for launch, loading missiles and confirming flight readiness with Julien. This time, as the Rêveur passed the Oikos heliosphere, the transition to FTL was easier on the crew. Terese notified the vulnerable crew members to report to Medical, who were awakened moments after the transition with no ill effects.
For the next five days, the crew continued to train and practice drills. At night, the entire crew continued to play implant games. The fighter pilots proved especially adept at adopting their implants.
Julien brought them out of FTL at 0.71c, hours from the system’s outer edge and four degrees down from the system’s ecliptic. A gas giant, the furthest planet outward from Bellamonde’s star, approached an intercept point with their course. Viewed from above the ecliptic, its orbit was counter-clockwise.
Examination of the Confederation ships’ extensive records had revealed that the alien vessels on patrol never ventured far beyond a system’s last planet, which supported Julien’s theory that they used gravitational waves to drive their ships.
Alex and Tatia waited anxiously for Julien’s telemetry update. Both were hoping the silver ships stayed true to their patterns.
“Single contact, Captain,” said Julien and activated the holo-vid, populating the display with the near planets, the Rêveur, and the lone silver ship.
Alex studied the holo-vid. The gas giant loomed in their path. The silver ship was heading out toward the huge planet and had probably detected them at the same time they’d detected it. Soon, he suspected, it would change course to target them.
“Julien, I need a quick analysis of Confederation footage of encounters with the alien ships. I’m looking for tactical trends.”
“What are you thinking, Captain?” Tatia enquired.
“I’m wondering if this species has any intrinsic tactical habits. If they are a species…”
Alex was working on his sixth orbit around the bridge when Julien replied. “Captain, footage indicates a preference for maneuvers that remain within the ecliptic and port turns around planetary bodies.”
“Yes!” Alex shouted, his fist striking the air. “Well done, Julien. You are a stellar body unto yourself.”
“One is pleased to be of service and to be challenged to such a degree.”
Alex received a vid of Julien’s crystals and circuit boards framed in a halo of flames.
“Julien, advance your display’s time line, maintain our present course and velocity, until we are within one hour of the planet. Assume the silver ship has turned toward us and will maintain course and velocity.” Julien moved the holo-vid’s time line and Alex noticed they would be in line-of-sight. With his implant, he pinned a point in the holo-vid. “I want to be in this position, Julien, at that one hour mark. Make your course change now so that ship sees where we’re going. I want it to anticipate our position even as we disappear behind that gas giant.”
Tatia studied the holo-vid “Are we playing hide-and-seek, Captain?”
“Yes, First Mate, we are.”
* * *
Alex ordered Edouard, Andrea, and the Dagger pilots to the bridge to study the holo-vid with him.
When everyone was assembled, Alex indicated a tagged position on the holo-vid. “This was Point Alpha when I started the plot and
made a starboard turn with an inclination of a few degrees to gain the ecliptic. This silver ship,” Julien highlighted the craft, “was traveling outward when it made a turn to intercept us. In an hour, we’ll disappear from its view behind the planet, Point Beta.” And Julien tagged another point on the advancing timeline. “When the alien ship has picked up our course change, it will project our end point to a spot on the opposite side of this gas giant. They will be forced to circle one way or the other around the planet to attack us.”
“At Point Beta, we’ll launch Flight-2 to circle in front of the planet.” He could see Jase draw in breath to object, but his Squadron Leader’s glare was heated enough to stop him in his tracks.
Julien advanced the time line again and Alex marked another way point, “At Point Gamma, we’ll launch Flight-1 to circle behind the planet. Immediately afterward, we’ll release the shuttle.
“To make this plan work, Julien will preset your controllers. Don’t go to manual until contact with the enemy or unless necessary. Based on Julien’s research, these silver ships have habits we can use against them. They have a distinct preference for staying within the ecliptic and passing around planets on a port turn. Flight-1 should meet them head on.”
Jase’s posture straightened as he realized he would be on the front line after all.
“Flight-2,” Alex continued, “you aren’t there for insurance in the event they make a starboard turn around the planet.” He eyed his Squadron Leader. “Andrea, your path will be the longer one, so you will be under heavy acceleration and must use the planet’s gravity to accelerate even faster. My intention is to catch the silver ship in a pincer. Point Delta,” he said.
Julien advanced the holo-vid timeline, showing the ships and the gas giant moving in concert. Red trajectory lines traced the fighters’ paths as they circled the planet, the two flights pinching the silver ship between them.
“Julien, slow play from the start.”
The holo-vid reset and, in moments, they watched what would take hours to complete, Edouard, Andrea, and the Dagger pilots all nodding in comprehension of the Captain’s plan.
* * *
Julien monitored telemetry, ensuring the silver ship’s course and velocity held to Alex’s plan until the planet obstructed their view.
In the port bay, the Dagger pilots were arranged in a semi-circle in front of Alex. “You’ve seen the vids of these silver ships,” he said to them. “Don’t underestimate them. You face an incredible challenge, one I don’t envy…”
“Says the man who whipped his tug around a gas giant to snatch an alien ship zipping through the system,” Jase joked, and the pilots’ laughter filled the bay.
“He’s right, Captain,” Andrea said. “This is your fault. You’re the one who set the bar so high that we’re only trying to catch up.” The pilots broke out in laughter again.
Alex took their cue—they needed the banter to chase away the fear. His somber tone wasn’t helping. “Well, if you’re all so anxious to prove yourself, go bag me an alien.” They responded with wild cheers, and Jase and Robert left for the starboard bay.
While Sheila readied Dagger-4, Alex addressed Andrea. “You have the tough job, Lieutenant. That’s why I made you Squadron Leader. You can’t be late to the party and I’m counting on you to drive the tactical fight. We won’t be of any help. We’ll be blind at the interception point.”
“I won’t let you down, Captain.” She saluted him and walked over to her fighter.
Alex sent a message to the pilots.
They recognized their old Commander’s good luck message to his pilots and all of them sent back signals of thumbs up.
It had always been Alex’s intention to launch one pair of fighters, at a time, reserving the second flight for the next encounter. Catching the alien ship in a pincer movement, with the planet allowing them to play hide-and-seek, was fortunate. But then fortune had always been his friend.
In a curio shop, Duggan Racine had discovered a set of ancient playing cards. Hundreds of years ago, someone had carefully sealed each card. He bought them for the children, along with a download of the games that could be played. It became a family tradition to play cards after evening meal. Their favorite game was called poker and they played for ship’s duties. Christie, usually a loser due to her impetuous bets, claimed Alex, usually the winner, cheated. His father patiently explained to Christie that Alex could memorize the cards played and calculate the chance of new ones being received. While Alex knew this to be true, it didn’t explain why, when the odds favored him losing, he often received the cards he needed. To Alex, it was fortune.
Squadron Leader Andrea Bonnard settled into her cockpit seat and hooked up her flight suit’s maintenance lines, letting the cool air circulate over her body. She commed her pilots and repeated her caution,
Alex ordered the Outward Bound’s flight crew to board. He met them at the dorsal lift that was installed as part of the Rêveur’s repairs. Four of the five crew members arrived— Lyle Stamford and Zeke Krausman, the two engineering techs, Lt. Miko Tanaka, the co-pilot, and Edouard Manet, the Captain. They took the lift up after receiving Alex’s well wishes.
Alex still wrestled with his conscience. So many lives were at risk and now this decisive moment had arrived. Days ago, Tatia had cornered him during a strategy session to communicate her concern.
“I have one question, Captain,” Tatia had asked. “What are our priorities for our exit, if our fighters are unsuccessful?”
“You mean, what do we do if we lose our fighters? We grab the Outward Bound and run.”
“And what if the silver ship has significant velocity over us, how will we get clear of the system’s gravity well and jump to FTL before it catches us?”
This was why he’d made Tatia his First Mate. She asked the hard questions and kept asking them until she was satisfied with the answers.
So Alex, who had planned to release the Outward Bound early and keep its crew out of harm’s way, had changed their mandate. They would cruise abreast of the Rêveur and, if necessary, intercept the alien ship. And, while they were outfitted with two carousels of warhead missiles, they had nowhere near the maneuverability of a Dagger. If Captain Manet launched the warheads in a continuous stream, he might buy the Rêveur time to escape, before his ship succumbed to the alien’s weapon.
When Pia arrived at the lift, he stood still, unable to give voice to the emotions roiling in his mind and heart.
She embraced him in a long hug, whispering in his ear, “You are our people’s best hope, Captain. We believe in you.”
Alex watched her enter the lift and fought the temptation to call her back.
-39-
Alex commed the crew in priority mode.
The flight crew, kitted out in lightweight, Méridien environment suits, had sealed the pilots in their Daggers, depressurized the bays, and opened the giant bay doors to reveal the deep dark, lit only by distant stars. As the Chiefs received each pilot’s ready response, the fighters’ skids were released.
Alex ordered Flight-2’s launch when Julien signaled their arrival at Point Beta. Andrea’s and Sheila’s controllers eased their fighters out of the bay on maneuvering jets and pointed them toward the gas giant’s forward edge. Then, initiating their preset course, they fired their engines, hurtling the Daggers to maximum acceleration. Pressed into their seats, the inertia compensators reaching their limits, each pilot sat alone with her thoughts. Sheila replayed the crushing defeat of the Confederation ships, large and small, unable to imagine how they would succeed where so many others h
ad failed. Andrea was hoping Julien, the designer of their fighters, was as good as the Captain believed him to be.
The countdown reached Point Gamma and Flight-1 was launched, Jase and Robert on course for the planet’s trailing edge.
Alex commed his old ship.
On Alex’s command, Julien released the shoes holding the shuttle’s skids. With his maneuvering jets, Edouard eased the armed shuttle away from the hull before he engaged his primary engines. He headed for a position forward and port of the Rêveur, prepared to intercept the silver ship, if it got past Flight-1.
Alex, Tatia, and Julien monitored Flight-2 until Flight-2 curved around the planet’s front edge. Later, Flight-1 disappeared in the planet’s trailing haze.
* * *
Jase’s helmet displayed the diverging lines of their present trajectory from Julien’s preset course as they delved deeper into the planet’s gravity. He hadn’t been able to resist overriding his controller to gain the added velocity.
Robert, his wing, was biting his tongue, refraining from challenging Jase on their deviation from orders. He missed flying Sheila’s wing. She was a solid pilot and he knew what to expect from her. Jase was an unknown, a big question mark…perhaps even a liability.
The two pilots waited anxiously for enemy contact. According to Julien’s original projections, their target should be within 90K kilometers, coming at them through the gas giant’s infrared radiation, which was playing havoc with their telemetry. It didn’t dawn on either of them that Julien would know that the planet’s radiation, generated by frictional heating from raining liquid helium, would interfere with their telemetry and had programmed a wider circle for their course.