The Arwen Book one: Defender

by Timothy Callahan

“Is that all the information we have?”

  “Yes. The message is a few hours old.”

  Marjorie would have been in the system by then. She would have been part of the defense. His mind tried not to think about it, it tried to focus on the battle at hand. He had no time to absorb this new information, no time to wonder why the Gyssyc would attack. “Did Earth get the message?”

  “Yes sir, I’m awaiting a reply.”

  There was large flash on one of his monitors. Payton walked over to it to see two enemy battle cruisers firing at him. “Concentrate all firepower on them,” Payton said.

  Payton watched as his ship battered and slowly destroyed the two battle cruisers. It seemed like an unfair fight, yet his pride at his ship’s firepower swelled up inside of him.

  The Valentine closed in on the enemy fleet. The main guns firing at anything large enough to be a threat. The closer it approached the more Payton saw the carnage his fleet was inflicting. The battle would be over soon, the Earth would be safe, and he could plan the counterattack against them. He swore they would know true destruction as their cities burned.

  His second gasped and in a shaky voice, yelled, “We’re detecting a very large wormhole!”

  Payton jumped into his chair and looked at the monitor. The wormhole was large and what he saw caused his heart to pound so hard he worried he would have a heart attack right then and there.

  The Gyssyc ship that passed through into real space was different. It was a large sphere, not an egg. Its surface was glossy, not reflective. It was very easy to see the surface was pimpled with cannon housings and missile launchers. This was a ship built to battle with the firepower equal to none.

  And Payton had to stop it.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chief McFerren maneuvered the shuttle around the Arwen. A light from the shuttle illuminated the battered hull. Marjorie saw layers of decks from exposed areas. Large and small chunks of ice drifted in random directions. Anything that wasn’t bolted down was lost and most things that were bolted down were damaged.

  The shuttle moved to the aft, the light playing off the reflective surface. It turned and Marjorie got a look at the engines. “They don’t look too badly damaged.”

  “We’ll know more when we get inside,” McFerren said.

  “All right, let’s check the inside then.”

  The shuttle banked once more and flew toward the hanger.

  Engine glow from the remaining fleet streaked across the backdrop of space. The Ulliam ships were now organizing themselves around the crippled Arwen. Rulla Plooma’s ship, also damaged from the attack, positioned itself closer to the Arwen than the other ships in the fleet. It seemed as if Rulla Plooma had taken it upon himself to guard the Arwen while she was being inspected. The truth was, if the Gyssyc ship returned there would be little he could do to save his ship much less the Arwen. Still, the gesture was appreciated.

  The shuttle approached the bay, the door broken, bent, and torn. Inside the bay looked lifeless and dark. “Looks like we’ll need to suit up,” Marjorie said.

  The shuttle gently landed. Marjorie felt the pull of artificial gravity and was thankful at least that was working. She walked to the back to see a dozen or so engineers getting themselves ready. They placed force field generators on their belts and turned them on. The shields hummed and shimmered. Marjorie felt a slight static discharge; the hair on her arms lifted toward the electrical field. From the wall she grabbed a generator and placed it on her belt and turned it on. The room around her waved as if she were looking through heat vapors that rose from the surface of a blacktop highway in the middle of a hot summer day. “All right,” Marjorie said, “let’s see what kind of damage we have.”

  The back opened and the crew walked out. Marjorie forgot how hard it was to walk with a force field surrounding her. The field covered every inch of her body, including the soles of her feet. She felt as if she had no contact with the ground. The field felt slick, like walking on ice with large plastic bags on her feet. The last thing she needed was to fall in front of her crew. It took all her concentration to keep her balance.

  “Captain, I’m going to send a team down to the engine room. Do you want me to come along with you to the bridge to see what we can do up there?”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Marjorie said. She placed her hand against the wall to prevent herself from falling.

  She and Chief McFerren walked to an elevator and pressed the button. Within moments the door opened. The inside of the elevator looked undamaged. “Well, that’s a good sign,” Marjorie said. The two walked in and she pressed a button for the bridge.

  The elevator creaked and moaned as is moved on the rails. Marjorie feared it would stop, but, after a few tense moments, it opened. The bridge was dark; half the computers had been left on, the other half turned off. Her command chair, raised three feet above the others, had all its monitors turned off.

  Chief McFerren moved the light he carried back and forth, examining the ceiling and the walls. “I won’t know until I get inside, but I don’t think there’s too much damage here. Probably need to replace most of the wiring. When the shields fell they took out a lot of electrical systems. Caused a few really bad fires which seem to have burnt themselves out.”

  She was thankful for McFerren’s words. He was encouraged her ship would be whole again, that he could fix it and she would be fighting.

  His communicator chirped and he answered it. “They checked out the generator and it’s intact. They’re charging it up now. We should be off emergency power in a few minutes. Life support should kick in after that.

  “Good, this force field is driving me nuts.” She walked over to her command chair and took a step up to look at the monitors.

  While Marjorie looked at her chair, the chief managed to get an access panel off the wall. He looked it over with his flashlight. “Ah, this is encouraging,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “None of the boards here are fried or damaged in any way. I didn’t expect that, it’ll make getting the bridge operational much easier.”

  Power returned to the bridge. All the computers turned on, the light flickered for a moment before to coming to life. Marjorie heard the soft hum of the life support system; within a few minutes the bridge would be full of breathable air and she could lower her force field.

  “Captain, I’m going to head to the engine room and then engineering where I want to meet with my team. We’ll figure out how long it’ll take for the Arwen to be back up and running after that meeting.”

  “Thank you, Chief,” Marjorie said. “I’m going to head back to the Peter Wiggins after I check things out on my own end.”

  Chief McFerren nodded and walked onto the elevator. Marjorie lowered her force field. The air was cold and dry, but breathable. She took a step up, sat in her command chair, and turned on her main computer, calling up the last scans of the attacking ship.

  The image of the new ship appeared and Marjorie was able to fully appreciate how lucky she had been to survive. The data was staggering. It was larger than the first Gyssyc ship by half. The first ship was maybe the size of Chiron, Pluto’s moon, and that ship had devastated two heavily armed forces. The scans the Arwen were able to make found powerful energy sources from deep within its bowels. She recalled the Gyssyc ship design and knew their generators were staggeringly large and could produce enough power to fire several dozen gamma lasers at the same time without showing any sign of powering down. Professor Ricter found that much power impossible to produce, yet even he couldn’t deny they were doing it. He suspected they somehow used their superior wormhole technology to produce that much power but when pressed he couldn’t give a good answer as to how.

  She made a request of the Peter Wiggins’s computer for the data it had of its own battle. She watched it carefully, trying to see a weakness, something she could use to do battle with this behemoth. Kel was right, they had procedures in place for another Gyssyc attac
k, and Captain Peet, whom she didn’t give permission to be the second captain because she knew of his unwillingness to change his combat strategy, didn’t follow them. She didn’t think it mattered. They would have only done minor damage to the ship while losing the fleet. The best action was what Kel did: retreat, regroup, and attack once they knew the scope of who they were fighting.

  She pulled current data. The new Gyssyc ship was still on its way to Ulliam and would be there in a few hours. The first Gyssyc ship was nowhere to be found. From what she could tell it had slipped away into wormholes space moments after the attack on the fleet began.

  The enemy seemed to move slower than its counterpart, probably because it was larger. They had some time, not much, but some and she planned on using that time to come up with some sort of plan.

  Her communicator chirped and she answered it. “Captain Cook.”

  It was Kel, he sounded almost excited. “Captain, the Rulla’s ship is meeting up with us. He told me he has a plan. He told me parts of it and it’s good.”

  “I’m on my way,” she replied. “Does the Peter Wiggins have a holographic room?”

  “No,” Kel replied. “We’re just an escort ship.”

  “We’ll do it the old-fashioned way. We’ll meet in your office. I’ll be there shortly.”

  ~*~*

  Rulla Plooma towered over everyone. Kel had forgotten how large of a being he was and how intimidating he could be. When he first met the Rulla they had almost come to blows, it was a match of dominance, and Kel knew backing down would have caused problems later. He was glad he didn’t back down because, moments after the Rulla saw him, he gave a toothy smile. “So, we are the same rank now.”

  Kel smiled. “Yes, that would seem to be right.”

  “It is a good thing I didn’t kill you the last time we met,” he said then gave a sharp, bark-like laugh. He grabbed Kel by his shoulders and shook him a few times. Kel grabbed the Rulla by the shoulders and returned the favor. “So, you’ve been studying my plan?”

  Kel nodded as the two walked away from the Rulla’s shuttle. “It’s good, very good. Dangerous, probably won’t work, but I don’t think the Gyssyc will see it coming.”

  “It is an idea we have used many times in the past. Times before force fields. Times when we fought hand to hand, not miles apart.”

  “Times when the only way to kill a man was to look him in the eye as you plunge your sword into his gut,” Kel said. “I would love to sit down with you one day to discuss our people’s history. I have a feeling we’re not that different.”

  The Rulla nodded. “Now that we have explored, we know more about other races besides our own, we are discovering most races are warriors at heart. It’s encouraging.”

  The two continued down a hallway until they reached a door. Kel opened it and they walked in. “Captain Cook will be here in a few minutes,” Kel said. “Would you like to set your demonstration up? I can help if you’re not familiar with our computer system.”

  Rulla Plooma walked over to the computer, looked it over, then started pushing sections of the computer screen. Icons danced around and programs ran. “We have some intelligence on your systems. Intelligence I have been studying for some time. I think I’ll be able to manage.”

  “How much intelligence?”

  “You’ll need to have your people figure that one out.” He barked another laugh then continued his work.

  Kel leaned back in his seat, folded his arms across his chest and put his feet up on the desk. “Well, if you need me just let me know.” Kel closed his eyes. This would be a good time to take a quick nap.

  ~*~*

  Marjorie’s shuttle landed and she walked out. Commander Pippleton met her in the hanger and the two walked toward the exit. “This is much smaller than our ship,” the commander said.

  “It’s a support ship,” Marjorie said. “Lightly armored with some heavy weapons. Get a few of support cruisers in a line and the fire power would equal that of the Arwen.”

  They arrived at the meeting room and stepped in. Kel and Rulla Plooma stood to greet them. Commander Pippleton’s salute was returned by Kel.

  “Captain,” Rulla Plooma said, “if you would please take a seat, we don’t have much time and we have much to get accomplished before this day is over.”

  “I agree,” Captain Cook said. “Kel, can you conference in the other captains?”

  “Of course,” Kel said and contacted his communications officer.

  One by one, the other captain’s said their names and ships. Marjorie did a count in her head as one after another passed their greetings onto her. It took a good five minutes and, in her unofficial count, she counted one hundred three ships. Most of the names were from smaller ships with one or two battle cruisers and only one carrier. “Thank you,” Captain Cook said. “I am going to let Rulla Plooma, our Regal representative, take over the meeting now.”

  Rulla Plooma stood and cast his eyes down to the screen in front of him. The faces of all the captains looked back at him, forming a strange human and Ulliam mosaic. The confidence he carried himself with was intense. It was impossible for anyone looking not be in awe. “Greetings, I am Rulla Plooma and I have a plan which will save Ulliam, Earth, and my own people.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Payton ordered the Valentine into a high-energy turn. The sudden and violent shift in gravity was too much for the gravity plates. They groaned in protest and pushed Payton deep into is chair. The turn was necessary and part of his plan. He knew the Gyssyc weakness; its guns had a hard time tracking moving targets so he had to keep his ship, and his fleet, moving.

  Payton ordered his bombers to target the gamma guns. A steady line of fighter-escorted bombers skimmed the surface, firing their rocket control payloads toward exposed targets. The explosions died in the vacuum of space but large plumes of black smoke signified the damage they were inflicting.

  The battle was going well, better than he ever thought possible. The armada retreated into wormhole space moments after the Gyssyc appeared, leading him to believe this was a coordinated attack. Payton felt foolish for believing they had showed all their cards. He should have guessed something else was going on. But, even in his wildest dreams, he never would have suspected they would align themselves with the Gyssyc, especially since he never suspected there would be more than those on Ulliam.

  His gamma gun fired. A black scar moved across the surface as the invisible beam carved a channel into the enemy.

  ~*~

  Rulla Plooma looked behind him as he floated toward the Gyssyc ship. His army, some three hundred strong, followed in a scattered formation. He and his men wore suits which made them invisible to any sensors. The only time the enemy would know something was wrong would be when they landed and started cutting through the hull. A battle charged personal force field protected him while he was in space and would protect him from all but the most powerful laser fire.

  His crew consisted of some of his best fighters as well as some of the best fighters the Ulliam and Earth fleets had. He knew from the records Ulliam and humans could handle themselves very well in battle. All three races were born to be warriors and to deny that was a shame.

  The surface of the Gyssyc ship was large so landing would not be an issue. The sheer size of it made this plan the only option. It would be impossible to destroy it from the outside with the meager force that survived. On his belt he carried the components for ten Star bombs. Ten bombs placed in just the right place would weaken the inside, giving the Arwen and her fleet a chance at victory.

  Soon, the Gyssyc ship was all he could see. With the help of a few thrusts from his pack he landed on the surface. All around him his people landed and awaited his word to start cutting. Without a word, he took his own torch gun out, pointed it toward the surface, and fired. A tightly focused laser beam sliced through the hull. He looked up to see others had taken to cutting through the skin. Soon the Gyssyc ship would be invaded and he was going to l
ead the charge.

  ~*~

  Smoke billowed from behind the Gyssyc ship as it continued on its way toward Earth. They had hurt it badly and they were on the verge of destroying it. The bombers had done their jobs. The cost of lives was in the thousands but it would be worth it.

  Ships destroyed in the battle drifted behind, caught in the Gyssyc ship’s gravity. Rescue craft moved in despite the heavy fire. Support craft did all they could to keep the battle cruisers and carriers going; most exposing their thin hulls and weakened shields to devastating fire.

  The battle was close to over; Payton felt it in his body. His fleet was thin but kept piling on the damage with each run. The continuous movement gave them the chance they needed. Each ship established its own erratic, hard to calculate orbit. Flashes of energy fire continued to miss their targets even as his fleet’s aim stayed true. Bomber squadrons made runs to destroy anything they could. The gamma lasers had all been destroyed, the Gyssyc ship no longer fired anything more deadly than high-energy lasers. Those were powerful enough to kill many but nothing like the massive firepower of the gamma laser. His ship, the flagship of the fleet, still had its massive gamma gun and fired it every time it was fully charged.

  “Our shields are down!” Payton’s second yelled. He looked back at Payton, fear in his eyes. The entire bridge stank of sweat. Payton had never smelled anything like it before. His crew performed like the highly trained professionals that they were but they were only human and the magnitude of what was at risk made even his normally authoritative demeanor hard to maintain.

  “Reroute power from the energy cannons to the shields,” Payton ordered.

  One of his officers called Commander Applegate came to his station. He looked at the readings. “Sir, sensors are detecting a crack in the surface.”

  “Aim the gamma gun at it,” Payton said with a strange calmness. “Point my main screen to the location. I want to see what happens.”

  Seconds after the camera aligned itself to the weak spot, the gamma gun fired. The beam hit the crack, splitting it even further. The gunner held the beam in place, letting the intense energy work on the crack, causing it to fracture. One second after the beam stopped there was an explosion. Atmosphere froze into a white mist as it escaped into space. Tiny, almost invisible dots floated out of the hole. It was hard for Payton to tell if it were Gyssyc soldiers or debris.