'Well?' asked Coop after taking a sip of his champagne.
Straus shook his head and said, 'Wow. That was amazing, but I'm sorry... some of it did come across as a big-budget sci-fi.'
They all laughed and Coop said, 'I did my best to tone it down.'
'I really respect the fact that you didn't pull any punches and didn't sugar coat anything. You just told it like it is. I'm not sure how you found out about Frenchy and Jean, but you handled it very tactfully. Excellent job,' said Tómas.
'Thank you. So what about that exclusive?'
'Let's see how well it's received planet-side. If the reviewers like it and it gets good market share, then we'll see,' said Tómas.
'You are one tough customer. I like that.'
'He's merciless, is what he is,' said Straus with a smile.
They all laughed and after an hour of celebrating and talking over the documentary and old times, they called it a night.
The next morning Straus was already preparing for the next game. It was his custom to take a close look at the team that they would be going up against next. Now that they were facing the Geek Squad it was their turn to face his scrutiny. He looked at each of the player's profiles and their performance. On the face of it they looked like a rag-tag collection of brainiacs that should have been eliminated in the first few rounds.
They didn't seem to have any real strengths and most of their runs were accomplished with fielding errors, rather than solid game play. He started to become suspicious and had the computer analyze the video for inconsistencies.
Almost immediately the computer found a dozen irregularities in the ball's flight path. When the Geek Squad batted the ball would travel twenty to fifty percent farther than the angle and speed at which the ball left the bat, would suggest. When the opposing team was up to bat, their hits would consistently be twenty to fifty percent shorter.
'Computer, what could account for that, given that a regulation ball was used?'
'The most likely explanation would be variable wind.'
'There is no wind in the dome.'
'If the ball itself, was not tampered with, then an outside force would have to interact with the ball, perhaps a graviton beam, or fluctuations in the gravity field.'
'Gravity field? Did they hack the gravity plating system? Check the logs and see if there was any tampering.'
'The logs show a consistent 0.9G's since being installed.'
'Hmmm... they could have been doctored. Check the DEP reactor's power utilization logs.'
If the gravity plating was running at a steady setting the power logs should reflect that since the majority of the power produced went to the gravity plating. The graph showed fluctuations every time the Geek Squad played where it showed steady for all the other games.
'Correlate those fluctuations with the game footage and give me your best guesstimate as to how much of a gravity fluctuation was initiated by the power drain.'
Once the computer was finished, Straus transferred the data to his device and called for an emergency meeting with Bernie who was in charge of the tournament, along with Tómas, and Darla.
'Why the emergency meeting? The monitoring networks and sensor webs are all quiet,' said Bernie.
'This is way more important than the Drones. I'm afraid that I have solid evidence that one of the teams has been cheating,' said Straus.
'Cheating?! Who? How?' asked Tómas.
'The Geek Squad.'
'What??!! That's impossible. Surely I'd know if there was any cheating going on,' exclaimed Darla.
'That's a serious allegation. What's this evidence of yours?' asked Bernie in his calm low-key manner.
'Its my practice to take a close look at the opposing team before a game to see who the strong players and weak players are. So I've been studying the Geeks and the more I looked the more I couldn't understand how they managed to be in first place.'
Straus went on to explain his video analysis and discovery of the power fluctuations. He then displayed an example on how the power levels changed depending on who was at bat, and that no fluctuations were seen in other games.
'Whoever is responsible knew enough to doctor the logs on the gravity plating system, but they overlooked the logs on the DEP reactor in that section. I haven't taken the time to track down the perpetrator, but I did go back and analyze all of the video footage including the practice games.'
'I wasn't able to make all of the practice games, but our first two sessions were pretty horrible,' said Darla.
'That's exactly what I found as well. By your third practice game however, there was a dramatic turnaround. The Geeks were hitting farther and running faster, whereas your opponents were hitting shorter and struggling to run in the outfield. The power fluctuations date back to then.'
Bernie cleared his throat and said, 'Computer, cross-reference the power fluctuations against all personnel present at the time, and give me a list of people that were there for all of them.'
The computer responded with a list that included three-quarters of the team, some associated family members, and coaching staff.
'There's your list of suspects,' said Bernie.
'That's a long list,' said Darla.
'Let's see if this works,' said Straus. 'Computer cross-reference that list with station network traffic and show us who was logged in and active during times of power fluctuations.'
Names started disappearing off of the list and when the computer was finished one named remained on the screen.
'Who's Darius Fleming?' asked Tómas.
'He's one of my technicians. He's acting as the team's official score keeper/statistics person. Actually, he's good at thinking outside the box.'
'Obviously,' said Tómas.
'I think we need to have a chat with Mr. Fleming,' said Straus.
Darla made the call to minimize any suspicion that he might have felt for being called into a meeting. He was simply told that he needed to explain some technical details.
Five minutes later a young man in his twenties that stood something under six feet, timidly walked through the door. He was wearing glasses and a lab coat, and Darla waved him over to take a seat next to her.
On the screen was the chart of power fluctuations. Bernie took the floor and said, 'What you see on the screen here Mr. Fleming is the power utilization log from the DEP reactor servicing the dome park. Those fluctuation exactly coincide with softball games where the Geek Squad played. Furthermore...'
'Ok, ok... you got me,' said Darius holding up a hand in surrender. 'You obviously traced it back to me, otherwise I wouldn't be here. I thought I had covered my tracks better than that, but yes, I did manipulate the gravity field. In my defense, however, there's nothing in the rules that forbids that. Gravity is just a force of nature, and if the wind blows in one direction to give an advantage to a batter and then shifts to be a disadvantage to the other team, nobody cries fowl.'
Bernie started laughing and Tómas shook his head in disbelief. Straus and Darla just stared at him wondering how he could think that was alright.
Finally Bernie stopped laughing and got a dead serious look on his face and said, 'There may not be a rule for every little contingency, but basic sportsmanship calls for a level playing field where everyone plays under the same conditions. Manipulating the gravity field to give your team an unfair advantage is not playing fair, and is not an example of good sportsmanship. Surely you can understand that.'
Darius dropped his head and stared at his lap and said, 'Yes... when you put it that way.'
'The question is, now what do we do about it?' asked Straus.
'Well if you eliminate the Geeks and examine the wins and losses for the other teams, it still would have come down to the Black Hats and Dragons. Since you just defeated them, then that makes the Black Hats the de facto winners,' said Darla.
'That's not good enough. I say that we still have that game tomorrow, but this time the gravity stays constant,' said Straus.
'But... it'll be a slaughter,' said Darius.
'Exactly,' said Bernie, 'And one more thing... Before the game starts, you're going to explain what you did wrong. Yes, you might have had good intentions of using technology to make up for your team's lack of talent on the field, but you'll explain how you now understand that fair play and sportsmanship is more important than winning.'
'Yes sir,' he said solemnly.
The meeting was called to an end and people made for the door. Straus intercepted Darius and extended his hand.
'Mr. Fleming, that was a brilliant plan and nearly flawlessly executed,' said Straus. 'Please keep thinking outside of the box, but apply those efforts against the Drones. We don't care if we play fair with them, in fact the dirtier the better.'
Darius got a big smile on is face, shook Straus's hand and said, 'Yes, Sir!'
The next day was the game, and Darius explained his wrong doing. Bernie explained that the Black Hats had legitimately taken second place and were the now the official winners, but by way of payback the game would go on. By time the ninth inning was over the Black Hats had won 35-to-0.
Chapter 13
X GAMES
Months of planning and preparation had come to an end. The time had come to set Plan X into motion before the Drones had a chance to launch their attack. It started with two captured, and reprogrammed Drone patrols that were set loose to return to base via their original patrol vectors. They were outfitted with a payload of anti-DEP and would coordinate their attack via quantum transceivers linked back to Corvus. Then, later that day, three specially constructed transports slipped out of the transport bay and disappeared into the darkness.
Darius had been involved in reprogramming the Drones, and came up with the idea and methodology to reprogram them on the fly in battle. The Drones had a weakness that while in and around their base, they were controlled remotely by a central command. Darius was able to exploit that capability by mimicking their command language.
That led to the birth of the Crypto Class fighter. The ship itself was a heavily modified Galleon that they took to calling the Hacker. It was able to take control of a Drone and command it to do whatever they wanted it to do.
There were, however, a few caveats. Only one Drone could be controlled at a time due to the tremendous amount of computer power necessary to override the Drone systems. Secondly, the hack only lasted between thirty and sixty seconds, before the Drone's internal systems regained control and locked out any further external inputs. Most importantly however, the Hacker had to get within weapons range in order to take over a Drone. That put the Hacker at risk, which was the reason for using the more heavily armored Galleon. The ship was outfitted with extra shield generators, and with enough weapons to defend itself. Only four ships were produced and one was assigned to each of the four squadrons going to X.
The three specially constructed transports were decoys that they referred to collectively as the ghost fleet. They were constructed so that they could each project the holographic images and power signatures of a carrier and two full squadrons. Each of the three transports were to fire on a capitol ship which would evoke a response. They would then retreat luring Drone forces away from the planet, hopefully too far away to become involved in the real attack.
The assault force made ready to get underway. It consisted of three transports carrying supplies, and two carriers, both of which were outfitted with two full squadrons. Normally only one full squadron would fit in the flight bay, however Tech Sergeant Abernathy came up with the idea of turning down the gravity plating in the flight bay and suspending a second squadron from the ceiling. That made for crowded conditions in the pilot's quarters, but put nearly fifty fighters at their disposal.
The three flights of the Black Hats had joined the three flights of Phoenix squadron aboard the Adamant which was acting as the flagship. Dragon and Tiger squadrons were assigned to the Suzaku.
It would take nearly thirty hours flying at lightspeed to reach Planet X. That put it out of range of the fighters, and just too far away to be able to call for reinforcements. They had to take everything with them that they could, and hope it was enough.
Darla had combed through the equipment that they stripped out of the derelict ship that they found in orbit around Eris. She was able to identify the Corvan's version of the quantum transceiver. Straus had the equipment moved to the lab aboard the Adamant. The thinking was that if it came down to it, they might be able to call for help... if there was anyone still listening on the other end.
Straus looked over to the communications officer and said, 'Bell, put me on fleet-wide intercom.'
She went to work on her console and gave Straus a nod. He cleared his throat and said, 'Attention all personnel. Our two squadrons of Trojan Drones report that that were picked up at Area X and are on their way to Planet X. They will be there in twelve hours and if all goes well then they will be able to carry out their mission. Our ghost fleet reports that they were able to lure away a total of five capital ships and nearly a hundred drone fighters. They are now too far away to be a factor. We'll be warping in tomorrow morning to mop up what's left. Tonight do what you can to get some rest. That is all.'
It was safe to say that there wasn't a lot of sleeping going on that night as they faced what might be their largest battle yet. In all likelihood many of them would not becoming home. Straus was back on the bridge early the next morning to oversee the operation. Tómas had insisted that he was going to be a part of the action this time. Against his better judgment Straus had him take his place in Black Hats Flight 1.
'One minute,' said Kyson the pilot.
'Signal the fleet, all stop and full power to shields,' said Straus.
The fleet slowed to a stop and hung there in the blackness of deep space, twenty-four light hours from earth and nearly twice as far from the sun as their mission to Eris.
'This is the farthest humanity has ever ventured into space,' said Darla via the comm screen. She was in the lab with Coop and his National Geographic crew which had returned to film the action.
Straus nodded and said, 'And yet it would take another year at this speed for us to be considered out of our own system. Space is just so stinkin' big, I just don't see how interstellar travel is possible. Yet the Corvans and the Drones seemed to have managed it.'
'Ten seconds,' said Kyson.
They waited quietly the last few seconds, then the ship was jolted by a passing gravity wave, marking the end of the Trojan Drone mission. If all went according to plan, then they were able to coordinate their attack and take advantage of constructive interference to maximize the destructive impact. Hopefully that meant that twelve Drone facilities buried in the interior of X were now history.
'No reports of damage within the fleet,' said Bell.
'Signal the fleet, alert status red. All pilots to their ships,' said Straus. He turned to the comm screen and said, 'How are we coming on that Corvan transceiver?'
'Its powered up and ready to go. I've got a series of graphics ready to loop showing our position and situation. If they're listening they should get the picture as soon as you give the order.'
'Pun intended?'
She smiled and said, 'Of course.'
He nodded approvingly, but it was the sparkle in his eye let her know how much he loved her.
She smiled all the more, breaking into a toothy grin and nodded in return.
Tómas agreed to fly Straus's two-man Ninja and had one of the Nat Geo cameramen strapped into the back. As a precaution he had been outfitted with an armored flight suit.
The fighters launched and formed into squadrons for the last leg of their flight. That way they would be able to attack immediately upon arrival. Straus signaled shields up and all ahead.
The Ninjas from each of the squadrons, cloaked and streaked away at full speed, while the rest of the fleet moved ahead at three quarters speed. The plan was for the Ninjas to warp in unseen, assess the situation, and map the enemy
positions. They would then use the new quantum torpedoes to eliminate the high-risk targets consisting of the capital ships and the super-drones, hopefully clearing an area for the rest of the fleet to warp into.
That last ten minutes seemed to drag on forever. Finally, Captain Burke said, 'They should be arriving now, Sir. Our ETA is twenty minutes.'
'Very good,' said Straus, then turning to the comm screen, he asked, 'This will be the first time we've hit gravity waves while at warp. How bad will it be?'
Darla got a pained expression, shrugged a little and said, 'Bad... but with shields up we should come through it.'
Corvus Prime: Escalation Page 17