Starstorm (Starstorm Saga)

by Bennett, Billy

  “Travis, you old fox!” yelled Doran as he clasped the Colonel’s hand.

  “I told you I’d meet you here, Morton.” said Colonel Travis.

  “Colonel may I present my officers. Commander April Kelley, Lt Commander Trey Knight, and Lieutenant Jack Thunder.” Travis shook each of their hands in turn then turned back to Doran.

  “Let’s head inside.”

  Doran and Travis headed up the steps toward the entrance of City Hall. Jack, Trey and April followed behind them. Half way up, Doran stopped to catch his breath. He was still just a little weak from being weightless so long.

  “Not getting old are you, Morton?” asked Travis.

  “I’m in better shape than you, you old fossil,” countered Doran. The fifty year old marine seriously doubted that, but decided not to press the issue. Doran was a year younger than Travis and neither of them were really that old by modern standards. After all, the average life expectancy for Americans at that time was one hundred years.

  As they reached the top of the stairs, another officer greeted them. It was Captain Hudson of the Essex.

  “Captain,” he said as he shook Doran’s hand. “The Admiral and his staff are upstairs in the Governor’s office.”

  They entered the building and started up the stairs.

  “Commander Kelley here is going to brief the Admiral on the specifics and highlights of our operations thus far,” stated Doran. “The enemy craft you have on your ship will be of considerable interest.”

  “Your boy there did an excellent job catching that Zidian ship,” said Hudson to Doran. Trey gave Jack a grin.

  “I have to tell you Hudson, I’m looking forward to examining that alien ship.” “Yes, it could provide crucial intelligence on the enemy. Considering we suffered two defeats. I’m glad we got away with that at least.”

  Doran frowned. “They’re probably going to lay it into me for losing two battles.” said Doran.

  Neither Jack, nor Trey, nor April thought it was Captain Doran‘s fault that the Space Force had suffered massive casualties. They knew perfectly well that it was the Zidian’s superior technology.

  “You did everything you could, Doran.” said Hudson.

  “That’s right, Morton,” said Travis.

  “Besides, what do these paper pushers know about waging war up there. You probably caused the enemy more harm than anyone else ever could have.”

  “I’m still responsible for the loss of those two battles, and for the lives lost in waging them.”

  They continued up the stairs until they reached two large double doors which led to the Governor’s office. They all straightened their uniforms a little, then passed into the office to face the Admiral.

  It was a large office. Behind a large desk, sat the Governor of Mars. Behind him stood Admiral Eric Shirley. Also in the room was Captain Slobodik of the U.S.S. Exeter as well as a few members of the Admiral’s staff.

  “At ease everyone,” stated the Admiral. “The Governor here has given us permission to use the conference room which adjoins this office.”

  The Governor then led them all into the conference room.

  Inside was a long conference table. Admiral Shirley sat at the head of the table. “First of all...” began the Admiral, “...on behalf of your country, your planet, and the entire human race I want to commend all of you for your gallant efforts to hold back this alien menace.” The Admiral turned to Doran. “I’ve read your initial field reports. What I need now is a thorough account what has transpired from those who witnessed it first hand so that we can better prepare the next phase of our defense strategy.”

  “Sir, my Executive Officer has prepared a full presentation.”

  “Very well.” The Admiral motioned to April. “Proceed, Commander.”

  April stood and walked to the screen on the wall behind the Admiral. He spun his chair around so that he could view it. She inserted a disk into the control panel next to the monitor and a map of the Neptune region appeared.

  “As you can see, sir, our attack force approached the enemy fleet from grid quadrant 43112...” Kelley gave a full account of the battle of Neptune from a strategic point of view. She included the details of the battle as well as the estimated number of kills suffered by the enemy as well as the casualties suffered by the Space Force. Jack knew his best friend had been among those casualties. He had been in that battle-flying at thousands of miles an hour through a hail of enemy fire. Now here it was represented by shapes that represented ships and whole squadrons—all on a digital map.

  “It was at this point that the Battleship Constitution exploded.”

  April then went on to describe the fighting that had taken place around Saturn. Every detail of that battle was also shown as data on a digital map. She also expanded on how the Essex had managed to capture a Zidian fighter. She then detailed their retreat and the detonation of Titan base.

  “Thank you, Commander Kelley. You may sit down.” April took her seat next to Captain Doran and the Admiral spun around to face the table.

  “I must say when I heard an enemy ship had been captured I was overwhelmed with curiosity. Tell me Hudson, what is the ships status?”

  “Well, Admiral its weapons and engines have suffered damage, but the rest of it is in good condition.”

  “It’s a shame that the pilot could not be captured alive,” said the Admiral, fixing Hudson with an accusing stare.

  “My men were on edge, Admiral. We were in the middle of an enormous battle and the pilot drew something which may have been a weapon.”

  “What have you learned so far?”

  “My people have gone over the entire craft, but we have limited resources. We‘ll have to get it into more appropriate hands if we are going to figure out any of its technology.”

  The Admiral nodded in understanding. “I’ll make arrangements to have it sent to Earth. I wonder what its capabilities are?”

  “I’ve brought just the men to answer that for you, Admiral,” interjected Doran while motioning at Jack and Trey.

  “This is Lt. Commander Trey Knight, the commander of the Saratoga’s fighter wing. And this is his wingman Lieutenant Jack Thunder. They are the best combat pilots I’ve seen in my thirty years of service, but most importantly they know our enemy better than anyone else. They’ve been closer to the enemy than anyone else. They know how the enemy reacts and how he flies.”

  The Admiral turned to face them.

  “Mr. Knight, how would you describe the way the enemy fights?”

  “Sir, at first the enemy facing us was ruthless, aggressive, and fearless. They were reckless and came straight at us. But they’ve learned that we can hurt them. In the last engagement they were much more cautious. Those of us who fought in the Pirate Wars were used to fighting smaller, faster, more maneuverable ships that would rather run than fight. We therefore trained all the new pilots accordingly. But as I said, sir, these things do not run. They attack. We are up against larger more powerful ships. They out gun us. Our only advantage is our maneuverability.”

  “Hopefully we will gain new advantages with the examination of the captured alien ship,” said the Admiral.

  “We have Mr. Thunder to thank for that, sir,” said Captain Hudson.

  Captain Hudson then told the full story of how Jack had captured the Zidian ship.” In the end the Admiral agreed with Doran and Hudson. It was the most amazing thing he had ever heard.

  Much of the rest of the meeting was spent with Jack and Trey regaling the Admiral with accounts of their battles with the Zidians. The Admiral and all the other officers listened with great interest. Finally, the meeting winded down.

  “Assuming the enemy doesn’t decide to get on the move in the next twenty four hours, I want you two to reprogram the fighter simulators to mimic fighting Zidians instead of pirates. We’ve got over two hundred pilots with no combat experience. Most have only half the requisite flight time to be a fully certified Star Sword pilot. Some have even less. You’r
e right when you say we’ve never trained for anything like this. I suggest we break for now. Commander Kelley, Lt Commander Knight, and Lieutenant Thunder are finished here for now and may go.” He then turned to Doran and the others.

  “Gentlemen we will reconvene in this room in half an hour and begin planning the defense of Mars.”

  They all exited, and Doran followed his people outside.

  “They’ve arranged for us to stay at the Olympic hotel. We’ll be staying here at least for tonight. I’ll probably be here at city hall for hours. The Admiral has asked me to tell you that the car we came here in is at your disposal. Just try and stay out of trouble.

  “Aye sir,” said April. “Come along gentlemen, I’m driving.”

  She turned around but Trey and Jack had beaten her to the punch. Trey was in the driver’s seat and Jack was leaned back in the passenger side seat with his arm slung over the door and a sly grin on his face. She laughed. They looked like a couple of teenage boys ready to go on a joy ride.

  “Need a lift?” asked Jack jokingly. She jumped into the back seat and sat in the middle. “Okay boys, let’s go and don’t get too carried away.”

  “Yes, Mam.” said Trey and floored it. Unfortunately the car didn’t budge.

  “Uh Trey...” said Jack. “It’s still on auto.” Jack reached over and switched the controls to manual and they took off like a rocket.

  The hotel was right down the street, so it did not take long to reach it. Trey parked in the parking area and the three of them entered the main lobby of the hotel. It wasn’t very busy. Not many people were visiting Mars these days. They approached the clerk’s desk.

  “Not more pilots,” said the man.

  “What do you mean ‘not more pilots?’” asked Jack.

  “The Space Force is keeping all their new pilots here.”

  “Where are they?” asked Trey.

  “They’re out doing what young pilots do best. Causing trouble.”

  “Great,” stated Jack.

  “We’re stuck here while everyone else is out on the town.” said Trey.

  April cleared her throat. “I’ll remind you two that this is not shore leave.”

  After getting their keys all three of them went up to their separate rooms.

  Jack’s room was much larger than his cabin back on the Saratoga which was quite plain and crude by comparison. Space Force ships were not designed with creature comforts in mind.

  He found his mind drifting to April. That she was attracted to him he had no doubt. Deep down he had to admit that he was attracted to her as well. The common sense side of his brain screamed that she was out of his reach and to even think of having a relationship with her was playing with fire at best, and setting himself up for another heartbreak at worst. Nonetheless, he couldn’t get her off of his mind.

  Taking a deep breath, Jack pushed her to the back of his mind and crashed on top of the bed. He rolled over, sat up and leaned back against the headboard. There was an old view screen on the wall in front of the bed for watching old style entertainment programs as well as a projector for the newer holographic movies. He decided he could use a little entertainment.

  Jack got up and went over to the controls of the projector which was on the wall. He typed in the name of an adventure show he had enjoyed in his childhood and still liked to see from time to time. He hit the search key and moments later the show title came up on the screen and beneath it a list of episodes. He picked one at random and returned to the bed. The lights in the room went out and the projector came on. A holographic back ground appeared which obscured the view screen and most of the far wall. The fast paced action show came alive before him in all three dimensions.

  After twenty minutes, a knock came at the door.

  “Come in,” said Jack. Trey entered the room.

  “Well, Jack, I don’t know about you, but I’m headed out to find some of our fellow pilots and maybe join in some of that trouble that the clerk seemed so worried about”

  “Let’s go,” said Jack hopping up. He was eager to see more of the colony and to have a little fun. They started down the hall, but halted when they heard Commander Kelley’s voice calling from behind them.

  “And just where do you two think you are going?”

  “Well, Commander...” said Trey,“We were just going out to....find some of our fellow pilots.”

  “You two aren’t going anywhere...” said April, “…without me.” She cracked a smile on the last part and they headed out. This time she reached the driver’s seat first and Trey was remanded to the back seat.

  “I know this town a lot better than you two so hold on.” She then pulled out of the parking area at a speed that put Trey’s speeding to shame.

  There was a fantastic club many times larger than the Saratoga’s Recreation Room. Inside were games, music, food, and all sorts of entertainment. Not surprisingly, they found a large number of Space Force pilots there. Most were very young Ensigns or Junior Grade Lieutenants. They were being rather rowdy, much to the proprietor’s dissatisfaction. The music was loud, but except for the pilots there weren’t many people there. The three of them sat at a table and ordered their drinks. They arrived minutes later. A live band was playing a Galactic Cats rock song called Denver and the Falling Star. Many people were playing the various games around the place. Trey lifted his drink.

  “To our friends who couldn’t be here.”

  Jack and April both drank to that.

  Suddenly another group entered the place. They were also pilots, but they wore the black uniforms of the Martian Colonial Defense Force not the dark blue uniforms of the Space Force. Trey recognized one of them as an old friend.

  “Well look what the cat dragged in,” said Trey and went over to greet him leaving Jack and April alone at the table.

  There was an awkward moment of silence. Both were thinking the same thoughts, though neither one had courage to express the feelings they’d begun to have for one another. April had resigned herself to the fact that she really liked him.

  “So Jack why did you join up anyway?”

  Jack smiled.

  “I wanted to fly. At first I wanted a nice civilian job. I thought I’d fly a nice liner through friendly space. But there’s not many openings for non-military space pilots. And then of course there was Red. He made it seem like life out here was a constant adventure. Apparently he was right.”

  “I know what you mean about there not being much besides the Space Force,” said April. “When I was a child, I dreamed of being an explorer. I never had any notions about the military. I studied to be a scientist. But the number of qualified scientists wanting to go on space expeditions is a lot larger than the actual number of expeditions sent out. I wanted to get into space. The Space Force offered the best choice. So here I am, helping that old war horse direct fleet operations when I’d much rather be exploring a moon or something.”

  They both sipped their drinks for a few more silent moments. Summoning his courage, he turned to her.

  “I’ve heard that the Martian surface is beautiful when seen in person.”

  “It is,” she said, “I’ve been out there several times.”

  “How about we take a walk out there, together.” At first he thought he’d gone too far. But she smiled.

  “We’ll see if you can keep up with me.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Akdon walked down the main corridor of the Krusha on his way to the simulator room where Kaydan was busy training Red to fly the Tortalus. Everywhere his crew was still steadfastly making repairs. He had just inspected the reactor room which was finally back in working order. Much of the ship’s exterior damage would require a space dock to repair. As far as he could tell, that would be a while. He had still not accomplished his mission of capturing the Earth. Once the planet was secure, he would transmit news of his success to headquarters. They in turn would dispatch permanent occupation forces. Those, however, would take months to arrive. Until they
did, he and his forces would have to hold the Earth.

  The more information Akdon got about the human home planet, the less optimistic he was about taking it. It was much more advanced than he had been led to believe when he was ordered to undertake this mission. He was starting to think that the forces he carried in his fifty massive transport ships would be insufficient to capture the Earth. Kaydan was convinced of that, and had insisted on sending for re enforcements. Akdon, however, still refused. Although asking for help was not admitting failure, it would still be viewed by his superiors as a sign of weakness on his part. Akdon was very close to becoming the next member of the Junta, the military council that governed the entire Zidian Empire.

  I will conquer Earth with the forces I have available. Even if I have to bombard the surface of the planet to oblivion from orbit! Akdon told himself he would conquer Earth. But first he had to deal with the remnants of the Human fleet.

  Akdon entered the simulator room to find Kaydan observing a battle between several holographic ships flying around the high ceiling. The ceiling itself was covered by a holographic projection of space. Next to Kaydan, Red Styler was wired up in a large metal chair. A large helmet was strapped to his head.

  “Greetings, Commander,” said Kaydan. “As you can see, the human is proving quite promising in our Tortalus system test.”

  Akdon raised his head high to better observe the battle going on above. A holographic image of the Tortalus fighter was engaged in a heated battle against several holographic Star Swords.

  “He’s piloting the hologram with his mind. It is no different than if he were piloting the real thing,” said Kaydan.

  “Are you sure you can keep his loyalties suppressed.”

  “As I said, Commander, I doubt I can suppress them indefinitely. I am confident, however, that I can keep a tight hold on him for the time being.” Akdon watched as Red ruthlessly destroyed the holographic Star Swords. This seemed to reassure him that Red would perform as required.