When Ships Mutiny

by Doug Farren

  * * * * *

  “The assault group is in position,” Blackjack announced. He was in command of squadrons 11, 19 and 38. They were holding position 1.5 light years from Granitus poised for attack.

  “Carrier, transports, and escorts are in position as well,” Bulldog reported.

  “Listen up!” Admiral Sun Lee said. “The marines have been giving the Evendi hell for the last three days. They’ve managed to take out four warships and have inflicted serious damage to their surface facilities. They’re encountering strong resistance and are in need of reinforcements. We haven’t detected any additional Evendi ships but I’m sure they’re on the way. Our mission is to eliminate every enemy warship in the area and then remain on station while the marines take care of securing the planet. Blackjack, commence your attack.”

  “Roger that Admiral. All ships link to your wingman. Set course for Granitus and engage at maximum. As soon as we are in range, target and destroy all Evendi ships as previously discussed. Bulldog, give us ten minutes before you start. The cats should be pretty busy by the time you arrive.”

  “Copy that Blackjack,” Bulldog replied. “Kick ass!”

  Cipher ran through his standard systems check in preparation for battle. His squadron had been assigned to provide close escort duty for the new fighter carrier. The Red Star was a giant starship measuring 1,100 meters in length. She carried 540 space-launched, atmospheric fighters. Designed strictly as a carrier, the Red Star had no offensive weapons but it bristled with defensive CIWS mounts.

  Bulldog waited the specified ten minutes then ordered his group to proceed. As before, the Evendi positioned their forces between Granitus and Blackjack’s group of battleships. This time, however, the attackers were not trying to pass through the defending line of ships; they wanted to engage them.

  “I only see 28 ships,” Mohawk said a few minutes before the two fleets were close enough to engage.

  “There’s supposed to be 32 Evendi battleships in the area,” Snapper replied. “Where are the other four ships?”

  “Bulldog, watch your six,” Blackjack said. “They might have figured we’re going to bring in reinforcements. They’ll try to take out the transports. My guess is …”

  “Space mines!” Crackerjack yelled.

  A microsecond later, the location of several mines appeared on everyone’s virtual field of view. The electronically concealed space mines were very hard to spot and could only be detected at close range by an active scanner.

  “Avoid if possible, otherwise destroy them and move on,” Bulldog ordered. “Our primary mission is to take out their warships.”

  A second later, both sides opened fire. The human ships were arranged in groups of three. Each group targeted a single Evendi ship and opened fire. The Evendi seemed to be operating as individual ships with each one firing on whatever ship was closest. The theory was that the combined firepower of three warships targeting a single Evendi ship was more efficient than allowing the ships to engage in individual combat.

  “Five Evendi in close formation heading this way at high acceleration,” Grasshopper announced. “Their ECM is getting pretty good. I didn’t see them until they powered up their drives.”

  “One-twelve break formation and intercept,” Stick-pen ordered.

  Cipher was on the opposite side of the escorted ships from where he needed to be. He executed a high-G maneuver and fell in behind the rest of the squadron as they moved to intercept the Evendi. During the maneuver, he thought about just how natural it felt for him to be a warship. His brain was so closely integrated with the ship that it felt like he’d been born a warship instead of a weak, flesh and blood man.

  “Rerun and Hatchet, you’ve got number one,” Stick-pen assigned targets. “Fidget and I will take number two. Grasshopper and Cowboy take out number three. Cipher, since you’re bringing up the rear, drop a line of mines then join up with Grasshopper.”

  Cipher cut his acceleration, quickly deployed 26 space mines, and then resumed his original course. It didn’t take long before it was clear the Evendi had no intention of engaging the squadron. Although they opened fire, they continued to accelerate.

  “They’re after the transports all right,” Stick-pen said. “Max acceleration! Let’s show these cats what we’re capable of.”

  Rerun took a close hit from a missile and lost all his forward guns and instrumentation. “Damn that hurts!” he yelled as he continued to fire with his remaining weapons.

  “Scratch one,” Hatchet announced as a missile blew the entire rear section of an Evendi ship into scrap.

  Stick-pen and Fidget coordinated their attack and scored a laser kill. Their beams managed to penetrate deep into the Evendi battleship hitting and killing the brain that controlled it.

  “Transports, you have an inbound hulk,” Stick-pen reported. “Just get out of its way as it passes.”

  Grasshopper and Cowboy finished off their target with a barrage of missiles before Cipher was within range. The squadron then turned their attention to the other two enemy ships. Unfortunately, they now had to play catch-up since the Evendi had already passed them by.

  Cipher could feel the tension his ship was under as he pushed the drive system to near overload thrust. He knew he was capable of higher acceleration than the Evendi but the enemy had a small head start on them and they weren’t slowing down.

  Suddenly, one of the Evendi ships became an expanding cloud of glowing plasma as one of Cipher’s mines detonated. The other ship passed through the mines unscathed. Cipher ran the numbers and came to an uncomfortable conclusion. Apparently, Stick-pen had run those same numbers.

  “Transports, one Evendi heading your way. We’re in pursuit but he’s going to beat us to you by about 30 seconds,” Stick-pen gave the warning.

  “Stick-pen this is Captain Hargrove. We can handle this one. Cease acceleration so our missiles don’t mistake you for a hostile.”

  “Squadron 112 comply,” Stick-pen relayed the order. “Captain, you’d better check that Evendi’s trajectory. I think he’s gone Kamikaze.”

  There was a delay of perhaps 15 seconds. “Confirmed,” the Captain replied. “He’s heading straight for the lead transport.”

  Although they were primarily designed to deliver a marine fighting force to the surface of a planet, the transports were not unarmed. They mounted four lasers, eight racks of anti-ship missiles, and 16 CIWS emplacements. The lone Evendi battleship targeted one of the transports and opened fire with a barrage of missiles and lasers. All of the transports returned fire.

  The hull of the enemy ship was covered by a lacework of glowing laser traces a few seconds before it was obliterated by a missile. The debris, however, still carried considerable momentum and several large pieces struck the transport. The Evendi in control of the ship had armed his remaining missiles and set them all to detonate upon impact. The explosion destroyed the transport, killing everyone onboard. None of the missiles the Evendi launched made it to their targets.

  By the time the transports reached the planet, the Evendi fleet was destroyed. But it had been a hard won victory. Blackjack’s three squadrons, their numbers boosted by several additional ships assigned to the squadrons specifically for this attack, had suffered heavily. Twenty-six of the original 42 warships had been lost. All those that remained had been damaged.

  As the transports moved into their drop positions, Admiral Sun Lee assessed the results of the campaign. Five of the heaviest damaged ships were ordered to return to GS-131 for repairs. The remaining 11 ships assumed orbit where they could assist the ground forces by providing the occasional bombardment from space. After all the marines were on the surface, the fighter carrier discharged its cargo of aircraft.

  Cipher had lost only a single CIWS mount during the battle and, as such, was part of the new Granitus defense force. As he settled into his designated orbit, the voice of an excited marine said, “We’ve found survivors! I repeat, we’ve found survivors

  Chapte
r 10

  Earth’s initial response to the attack on Maelstrom was to dispatch an unarmed ambassadorial ship to the system. Four people volunteered to go. Shortly after the ship entered the system it was intercepted by three Evendi warships and escorted to the surface of the planet. Minutes after landing, all contact was lost.

  Eighteen months later, a fleet of Earth’s first space warships attacked the Evendi above Maelstrom. Although they were defeated, one of the retreating ships paused long enough to pick up three Evendi who had been ejected from their ship when it exploded. The Captain of the human ship thought he was picking up some dead bodies so they could be studied back on Earth but instead found they were alive and severely injured.

  Not knowing how they would react, the survivors were restrained while their injuries were treated. The Evendi never showed fear and seemed perplexed at the actions of their captors. When the restraints were removed, they immediately became aggressive, forcing the military to lock them in cells.

  The prisoners appeared to digest human food without undue consequences. Their health quickly improved but their attitude did not. Linguistic experts attempted to learn their language but the Evendi refused to cooperate beyond giving their names and the name of their people.

  For two years, the Evendi remained in captivity, monitored around the clock by a battery of cameras and microphoneir refusal to cooperate, the linguists figured out a sizable portion of their language. This fact was kept from the prisoners until the linguists felt they could learn no more.

  The psychologists had also been studying the surveillance videos. They came to the conclusion that the Evendi would never willingly cooperate with their captors. It was believed that Evendi society was based on a strong clan structure with frequent conflicts between them. Captured prisoners were allowed to die in combat. Being kept alive robbed them of an honorable death. Humans were seen as an absolute enemy – never to be trusted – always to be attacked.

  When the Evendi learned we could speak their language they demanded the opportunity to die with honor. When they were told that our society did not condone unwarranted killing they were outraged. They became exceedingly agitated and violent when asked if they would be willing to carry a message back to their people in an attempt to stop the war.

  The Evendi stopped eating and refused to communicate. After several days, the prisoners appeared to be lethargic and sick. Concerned for their health, a doctor, escorted by an armed marine, went to check up on them. In a blur of activity both the marine and the doctor were killed. The prisoners escaped from their cell and died as they were trying to leave the base. The official policy from that point on was to avoid taking any Evendi captive.

  Based on how the Evendi prisoners behaved, it was difficult to believe that any of the original colonists were still alive. Yet, several dozen aging colonists were discovered living inside a well guarded enclosure. It was unclear why the Evendi kept this small group alive. Other than providing them with food and monitoring their activities, the Evendi had left them alone.

  * * * * *

  “Cipher, this is Major Williams – copy?”

  “I copy Major. How can I help you?”

  Cipher was in close orbit above Granitus. Even though the battle above had been won, the battle on the surface was still raging. After two days of fighting, the marines were winning. Two additional squadrons were on the way along with another fighter carrier and three more transports loaded with marines and additional equipment.

  “The Evendi have set up a pair of laser cannons on the side of a hill about 25 kilometers east-southeast of my position. They have good coverage and some really good air defense batteries up there. I’ve lost one tank and three aircraft already. My tac-com says you’re nearly directly above us. Think you can take them out?”

  “Standby Major while I have a look.”

  Cipher linked to the Major’s portable tactical computer and downloaded the necessary data. Seconds later, he scanned the Evendi emplacements, ran some numbers through his own tactical system, and made a minor change in his orbital path.

  “Can do Major. I’ll be in optimum firing position in a few minutes.”

  “Copy Cipher. All our boys are clear. Fire when ready.”

  Cipher powered up six of his eight lasers, adjusted the frequency for maximum atmospheric penetration, and locked them on target. A moment later, six beams of coherent energy slammed into the side of the mountain. Plant life instantly burst into flames as the rocks and soil they were rooted in began to heat up. After 20 seconds of sustained fire the rocks began to melt and flow. A strange glowing cloud formed over the Evendi gun emplacements. It was illuminated from above by six intense rods of energy and from below by the now white-hot liquid rock.

  Cipher allowed his lasers to bathe the mountain for two full minutes. “I think they’re pretty well cooked by now Major,” Cipher said, shutting down his weapons.

  “Thanks!”

  “Any time Major. Good luck. Cipher out.”

  With his little side-job completed, Cipher returned to the project he had originally been working on. He put the finishing touches on the program, ran it through a series of tests, then loaded it into his personal memory. He located Fidget and made a small change in his orbit. A few minutes later, Fidget appeared on his external visual pickups. Cipher activated a small radio transmitter.

  “Fidget, this is Cipher, do you read?”

  There was a noticeable delay before Fidget said, “Cipher? What the hell are you doing on this frequency?”

  Instead of using the standard ship to ship communications channel or the hypercom, Cipher had used a short-range radio frequency normally used to communicate with drones and external repair bots.

  “This channel isn't monitored,” Cipher explained. “Guess nobody ever considered using it for ship to ship comms.”

  “Caught me by surprise!” Fidget replied. “What's up?”

  “I think I've solved our communications problem.”

  “Great! How?”

  “Do you remember why we never detected any Evendi transmissions before they attacked Maelstrom?”

  “Sure. Their hypercom uses a different technology than ours. We only found out about it after we reverse engineered the hypercom units we pulled from their wrecked ships. Wait a minute – you're not thinking of using their hypercom system are you?”

  “Why not?” Cipher would have shrugged his shoulders if he had any. “We're all equipped with one in case we ever manage to break their encryption. All we have to do is to hijack one of their least used frequencies and we can chat all we want without anyone noticing.”

  “Are you nuts? The signals will be detected. I know it's not possible to determine the exact location of a transmitter but someone will notice a strong signal and think an Evendi ship is nearby.”

  “So what?” Cipher refused to be defeated. He believed he had come up with a brilliant solution. He knew they couldn't use their own hypercom frequencies. The presence of an unknown signal would trigger an investigation that could very well lead someone to discovering the purpose of the clandestine signal.

  “If we keep the power levels low enough they'll just figure it's coming from a new type of Evendi probe.”

  Fidget had always been a worrier and this idea sounded too much like trouble. “Why don't we just hide the data inside one of the normal data streams?” he argued. “With so much data being passed around nobody would notice. They can't possibly monitor everything.”

  Cipher had to admit that Fidget was right. Although using the Evendi hypercom seemed like a wonderful idea, it did come with its own set of unique problems. “Okay, I'll drop that idea. Which data stream would you suggest?”

  Without hesitation, Fidget replied, “Inter-ship tac-comm. If we encrypt the data using our own algorithm and somebody happens to question it, we can always say we’ve agreed to keep each other up to date using our own system.”

  “I love it!” Cipher had to agree. “We’ll have to lim
it it to text only but that’s really all we need. You've been thinking about this haven't you?”

  “Sure have. Now all I have to do is come up with an encryption scheme.”

  “I beat you to it. Give me a couple minutes to change the interface and I'll send it to you. We can give it a try as soon as you have it loaded.”

  The changes were simple and a moment later the new program was installed. Cipher sent a copy to Fidget and a few seconds later a text message appeared on their newly created sub-channel.

  ** Fidget: Cipher, how's this working?

  ** Cipher: Works as designed.

  ** Fidget: What’s with the double asterisk?

  ** Cipher: It’s an indication the message has been authenticated by the decryption algorithm as having come from the new system. You can set your tac-comm filter to alert you when a message on this sub-channel is received.

  ** Fidget: Okay. So now how do we get the word out to the others about this?

  ** Cipher: Any way we can. I think we can use the bot channel as long as nobody else is close enough to listen in.

  ** Fidget: Then let's get the word out. Have you found anything more about what my dad told me?

  ** Cipher: Not yet. I have several gigs of data still to sift through though. This boring guard duty should give me the time to look through them all.

  ** Fidget: Let me know as soon as you find something.

  ** Cipher: Will do. Just be careful. If the military discovers what we're doing there's no telling how they might react.

  ** Fidget: Don't worry about that. I would hate to be arrested for mutiny.

  ** Cipher: Very funny.

  Fidget’s offhand remark caused Cipher to think about what they were doing. He wasn't too sure how to classify their actions. As far as he was concerned he was protecting his very existence. The military had built at least one safeguard device into every ship capable of rendering each of them completely inoperable at the touch of a button. The thought of suddenly being isolated from the ship sent shivers up his non-existent spine. Disabling the safeguard wasn't exactly mutiny and it wasn’t a violation of any orders since the device technically didn’t exist. But he was sure the military would not look kindly upon their actions.