by Saxon Andrew
“Does that mean the other two working on the simulators are also in line for command?” Cam hesitated and nodded. “I don’t like the one named Alexandra.”
“Why not?”
“A little too much ego for my taste, Sir. I could see her reaction when I finished ahead of her. She also asked me a lot of questions about you.” Lyla stared at Cam looking for a reaction and saw his eyes narrow, “Do you and her have a history?
“You might say that.”
“Now I know I don’t like her.”
“Why?”
“By the expression on your face.”
Cam sighed, “Well, Commodore, you, just like me, are going to have to put personal feelings behind and work to try and make sure she’s capable of commanding a Prophet Carrier and I expect you to help me make that happen.”
“Yes, Sir.” Lyla hesitated and said, “What happens if she doesn’t complete the attack simulations?”
“She’ll complete them.”
“How do you know?”
“She’s incredibly smart and will learn as she goes. It’s not skills that she lacks.”
“What does she lack, Sir?”
Cam looked at Lyla and laughed, “Me. The ship is yours, Commodore.”
Cam turned around and walked off the bridge. Lyla watched him go and decided that she was going to have to make sure that didn’t change.
• • •
At the end of the next day, Lyla sat in Cam’s conference room and felt miserable. She felt she had failed miserably and had done little more than run from the attacking Battleships. “Sir, they were on me in moments every time I jumped the ship.”
“Lyla, stop and think for a minute. How could they have done that?”
Lyla stared at Cam and then her eyes had a distant look. “Those cheating bas…”
“No, they did what the rules allowed them to do.”
“The Builders and Families don’t have them.”
“How do you know?”
“They’ve not been seen using them.”
“That still doesn’t answer the question. If the Essays are challenged, they’ll ask the same question. Now, I want you to come up with a strategy to use against them now that we suspect they’re using a tracker probe.” Lyla’s expression changed and Cam said, “Do you need some help developing a strategy?”
“I can use your feedback once I develop a plan.”
“Let me know when you have it ready. You are in command again tomorrow.”
They heard a knock on the door and Cam said, “Enter!”
“Lt. Daniels stuck his head in the conference room and said, “Captain Bell and Jennings have arrived and are asking to meet with you, Sir.”
Cam frowned and nodded, “Send them in.” He looked at Lyla and said, “I want you to stay here and help cover them on everything that’s happened so far. Tomorrow, they will be observers and the following day, I’m going to put one of them in command. You need to have a good day tomorrow, Lyla.”
Lyla nodded quickly as the two arrivals entered the room and saluted, “At ease, take a seat.”
Lyla saw Captain Bell staring at Cam with a look in her eyes and it didn’t take a genius to see what her intentions were. However, she outranked Alexandra and intended to make sure she was kept aware of it.
After the meeting wound down, Cam looked at Alexandra and Jenny, “I’ve asked Commodore O’Hara to come up with a plan to defeat the use of a tracker probe. Each of you will also come up with a plan and we’ll discuss it at the conclusion of the exercise tomorrow. Take the rest of today to develop your plan and get your quarters set up.”
Alexandra looked at Cam and said, “Sir, may I speak to you privately?”
Lyla said, “If you have any issues, Captain, I’ll handle them.”
Alexandra stared at Lyla and after taking Lyla’s measure, she smiled, “That’s alright, Sir. I’m sure I can handle them.”
Cam stood up and said, “You have your orders. Carry them out.” He walked out of the room and Alexandra watched him leave. She looked at Lyla and smiled sweetly, “Sir, where are our quarters located?”
“They’re at the end of the tubes on the left side of the hull. I suggest you walk to your quarters to familiarize yourselves with the vessel.”
Jenny looked at Alexandra and then at Lyla, “Yes, Sir.”
Lyla left the room and Jenny turned to Alexandra, “I don’t know what’s going on here but in the future make sure I’m out of the room before you start making requests.”
“Why?”
“Because if you haven’t picked up on it, they’re not welcomed.” Jenny picked up her duffle bag and walked out of the conference room and started the mile long walk to the end of the tubes. Alexandra decided she was going to have to be careful. Her time to be alone with Cam would come and she would just have to be patient.
She picked up her bag and followed Jenny down the long corridor. Jenny stopped along the way to talk with the crewmembers and learn what their duties were. Alexandra walked past her and continued until she reached her quarters. Jenny arrived at her quarters more than ninety minutes later, but she now knew how long it took for the Tombstone to launch all of its Attack Fighters as well as the range of the heavy blasters. It helped her knowing these things in developing a plan to overcome a tracker probe.
Chapter Six
Lyla sat in the Tombstone’s Command Chair and waited for what she knew was coming. She leaned over and pressed a button on the communication panel, “Captain Mitchell, is your wing ready?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Don’t waste any time and follow your orders.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Cam looked at Lyla from the Commander’s Chair and wondered what she had come up with to counter the Tracker Probe that he was certain had arrived at their location without being detected. He lifted his headphones and put one of them his right ear. The sonic scanner was detecting the approach of a large number of vessels that were still outside the range of the long-range scanners. He was reasonably certain they wouldn’t move into range until they received the signal from the tracker that it had locked on the largest vessel in its scanning range. It shouldn’t be long now.
Lt. Busciglio looked up from her panel, “Sir, I’m receiving a return on the long range scanners. A large number of ships are moving toward us at high speed.”
“How long until they arrive?”
“Five minutes, Sir.”
“Captain Mitchell, launch your wing.” Lyla looked up and saw the Attack Fighters leaving the giant ship too fast to count. All ten thousand flew out and formed up in a defensive formation around the Tombstone. Lyla looked at the tactical monitor and saw more than five hundred Essay Class Battleships were bearing down on the Tombstone and she turned to Lt. Busciglio, “Monica, have they launched their Hawks?”
“No, Sir.”
“Lt. Daniels, enter the first coordinate and prepare to jump.”
“Coordinate entered, Sir.”
“On my command…jump!” The Tombstone disappeared and Lyla looked at Monica, “I want the exact distance those Essays arrive from our entry point.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
John watched the giant vessel disappear and looked quickly at his tactical monitor, “Enter the coordinate and follow them.” John saw the thousands of Attack Fighters disappear and knew they had followed the Tombstone to its jump point. He looked at the tactical again and saw the other Essays were energizing their stardrives to give chase to the Fleeing Carrier.
• • •
Lyla arrived at the new coordinate and saw Captain Levette’s Wing was there waiting for the Tombstone to arrive. “Go to full flank speed.” Lt. Daniels pushed the thrusters fully forward and the giant vessel accelerated away from the breakout point. A few moments later, the Essays arrived and she looked quickly at Busciglio. Monica pressed a button and nodded. Jump to the next coordinate?” The Essays came roaring at them as the Tombstone disap
peared again. A moment later the ten thousand Attack Fighters disappeared and the Essays jumped ten seconds later.
The process repeated itself six times and Cam looked at Lyla, “Are you just going to run from them?”
Lyla looked at Monica, “Is there a consistency to their arrival?”
“Fifty point six miles give or take a tenth or two.”
Lyla nodded and smiled, “Send the information to Captain Mitchell.”
“Sending.”
Lyla looked at Lt. Daniels, “Take us back to our starting coordinate.”
The Tombstone’s stardrive activated and it disappeared as the Essay’s charged in.
• • •
“John, I don’t like this.”
“We’re gaining on it with each jump, Tim. What are you thinking?”
“They’re not stupid. There has to be a reason they’re doing this.”
“Can you think of anything that would be a threat to us?”
Tim’s eyes narrowed and John pressed a button on his panel, “Commodore McTremble, Can you see anything they’re doing that would represent a threat?”
“I don’t like that they’re only running. They could just jump out of the competition and accomplish the same thing.”
John nodded, “I suspect they would but they have to land their Attack Fighters before they do that. They don’t have time to do that.”
John said, “Jumping now.” Tim nodded and kept his ship in place without going with the other Essays.
His pilot looked at him, “Are we not joining the others, Sir?”
“No, we’ll jump in once the battle starts.” Tim sat in his chair and wondered what Holiday was doing. He looked at his Communication’s Officer, “Put any communications on the wall speakers.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
The Tombstone came out of its stardrive and Lyla yelled, “Wings three and four launch. Captain Mitchell, open fire. Turn the ship broadside to the Essay’s entry point and open fire!”
Captain Mitchell pressed his Wing Frequency, “FIRE AND MOVE TO THE SIDES OUT OF THE TOMBSTONE’S FIRE ZONE!!”
Cam stared at the tactical monitor and saw Mitchell’s Attack Fighters launch ten training missiles each and move to the side of the area of space they had fired on. The other Attack fighters arrived and launched another barrage ten seconds behind Mitchell’s missiles. Lyla sat in her chair and calmly said, “Open fire…now!”
The Tombstones blasters fired a withering wall of blaster fire into empty space in front of the ship just as the Essays came out of their stardrives. Mitchell’s missiles arrived at that moment and Essays began disappearing as the computer controlling the exercise counted them destroyed and out of the fight.
• • •
The Crystal River emerged into normal space and his Scanning Officer yelled, “THOUSANDS OF MISSILES ARE ARRIVING!!”
John looked at his monitor and yelled, “JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!” A moment later, the Crystal River disappeared, knocked out of the competition. Of the five hundred Essays that entered normal space, only seventy survived the ambush and that was because they were behind other ships that prevented their being hit.
Lyla smiled when suddenly she heard, “ATTACKER MOVING IN AT HIGH SPEED!!”
Lyla jerked her head up at the tactical monitor and saw an Essay Flash in and open fire with its Major Beam. A thousand Attack Fighters immediately attacked it and it disappeared. Lyla shook her head and heard the computer announce, “There is major damage to the port side and the vessel is no longer combat worthy. Flight is the only option.”
Lyla looked up and rolled her eyes as Cam said, “What mistake did you make, Commodore?”
Lyla sighed and said, “I made the mistake of using the Tombstone as a weapon instead of defending her. They knew my location, which allowed them to jump in too close to stop them before they opened fire. I should have jumped the ship away as soon as my Attack Ships were launched.”
Cam smiled and nodded, “I believe this is a lesson you’ll remember.”
Lyla lowered her head, “Yes, Sir.”
“You have nothing to beat yourself up over, Commodore. You just took out one third of our major battleships with one ship and even it wasn’t destroyed. It could be repaired and back in the fight. Those Essays won’t be fighting again.”
Cam looked at Alexandra and Jenny sitting in temporary chairs watching the action. “Be in my conference room to present your plan in an hour.” They stood up and left the bridge. Cam looked at Lyla, “You should be there as well.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
“Timmy, you were right. At least you prevented us from suffering complete defeat.”
“Have we learned anything, John?”
“What do you mean?”
“They had to know we were using a tracker to follow them. They used that against us.”
John took a deep slow breath “You’re right. I’m going to request Mom to remove me from commanding the exercises. Besides, Jock outranks me.”
“He won’t do it. He knows Fleet is going to need Commodores to assist the Admirals and they’re looking to find the right people to do it. Did you learn anything?”
“It’s a death sentence to emerge the same distance every time we jump. It’s also important to distinguish the different Attack Fighters being used against us. I should have seen that the Attack Fighters around the Tombstone after the first jump were different.”
• • •
“Anything else?”
“Well…” John smiled, “Once we have a definitive location we can jump in close enough to attack.”
“Exactly. Next time we won’t be chasing them with all our ships. If they stop to fight, we’ll send the ships chasing them away and jump in at close range with the others.”
“Tim, maybe you should be in command.”
“Nope, I’m going to request to take the test to Command one of those Carriers.”
“WHAT!?”
“John, that ship is a monster and the damage it can do to an enemy is far beyond what an Essay can do. I’ve watched Holiday and I understand that ship’s strengths and limitations.”
“Tim, I need you out here with me.”
“I will be. You just won’t know where.”
“Good luck, Tim.” The display went dark and John thought about the defeat. He learned a lot. Let’s see how they do next time.
• • •
Amy looked at her monitor and saw Tim, “Rough day, Son.”
“Yes but we’re learning from each loss. I suspect John is going to make them pay for what happened today.”
“I was considering putting you in Command, Timmy.”
“That would destroy John’s self-confidence, Mom. I would have made the same mistake and there were some good lessons from what happened.”
Amy leaned back in her chair, “Such as?”
“You don’t pursue with all your ships. You hold some back to jump in on a definitive location. I knocked that ship out of action with only one ship. John is getting better.”
“Why are you calling?”
“Can’t I just call to say hello?”
Amy smiled and shrugged, “You wouldn’t do it after getting spanked in a maneuver.”
Timmy laughed, “You’re right. I want to take the tests for command of a Prophet.”
Amy leaned forward so quickly she almost knocked her coffee over, “WHAT?”
“Mom, I’ve been fighting against that monster day after day and I see things I initially missed.”
“But…”
“I know its limitations; it has to avoid head on confrontations but it can be the most deadly vessel in our Fleet. I want to take the tests to see if I’ve learned anything during these maneuvers.”
“Tim, are you sure about this?”
“You think I want to do this because Jenny is going to command one of them.”
Amy’s eyes narrowed, “Just how do you know that!?�
��
“You told me.”
“I DID NOT!”
“You said that only three officers passed the tests and Jenny was immediately sent out to the Tombstone to be a pilot. That makes it certain that she is one of those that passed. Am I wrong?”
“Well…no. But doing this just to be with Jenny is the wrong motivation.”
“Mom, Jenny and I will not be serving on the same ship. I’m doing this because I really think I can come up with attack plans that are amazing. Let me take the tests and if I fail, I won’t bring it up again.”
“What does John say about this?”
“What you’d expect, but this isn’t about John. This is what I feel driven to do. I’ve never asked you for special treatment but I want you to approve my taking the tests.”
Amy stared at Timmy and sighed, “Take a shuttle to the Learning Center. I’ll have Lt. Patel prepared to administer them.”
Timmy smiled, “Thanks, Mom.”
The display went dark and Amy remained in her office until she received a communication from the Learning Center. She pressed the button and said, “Yes.”
“Sir, he scored the highest score on the simulations. He only took one attempt to complete each one.”
“How does his scores compare to Admiral Holiday’s?”
“Admiral Holiday is now number two, Sir.”
“Thank you.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Amy sighed and pressed another button. Admiral Connor appeared on her display and she said, “We have an issue.”
“What is that?”
“It appears we have an officer who has beaten Admiral Holiday’s scores.”
“What.”
“I understand it isn’t close.”
“That’s wonderful news. We have the Commander for the fourth Prophet.”
“Steve, its Timmy.” Steve’s face showed his shock. “He’s been fighting against the Prophet Carrier for a week and he’s fallen in love with what it can do. I need you to make this call; I’m too biased.”
“Send him out to the Tombstone, immediately. He’ll report as an Admiral and I want that promotion done tonight before anyone else can be promoted ahead of him.”
“Will you notify Admiral Holiday?”
“I’ll do it immediately. You also need to let him know that his crew will be the seeds we use to get the new ships prepared. I need his recommendations on which ones should be promoted.”