“As long as I don’t ground myself to anything witch my gloves and suit’s help, I should not follow your example but I may be wrong. But I don’t have to worry about being killed if I am wrong do I Human?”
“Aaa. Ya as long as you don’t barbecue yourself Custern. I did not know that damn thing came apart. My hands are smaller than yours, let me try putting it back in now the switch is not in place to arc.”
Custern looked down at the hole as disappointment flooded his mind.
“Tell you what Custern. You seem to know what you are doing so I will just butt out.” Jack pulled himself down the small passageway across the chair and into the pilot’s seat as the screen showed the Godship streaking past the Destroyer trying to block the passageway. The destroyer then having to dodge as the Godship tried to place its Blackhole’s from its drive engine close enough to the destroyer for them to suck the destroyer into the string of black holes or at least close enough for the explosion from the collapsing Blackhole at the end to damage or even kill the destroyer.
Jack gasped as he thought the Godship had succeeded in catching the destroyer with its engine. Closing his eyes with relief when the Destroyer turned and started shooting up the Godships ass while it followed at a safe distance.
The destroyer’s guns hitting the Blackhole’s started collapsing the fields that were supposed to hold them together until they were far enough away from the ship to prevent the explosion when they collapsed from damaging the ship. The resulting explosions that included the energy added from the gun fire engulfed the stern of the ship.
Jack had to smile as Blackhole’s started exploding as soon as they came out of the engine. Only thing was after tearing off the last hundred feet of the ship’s hull from around the casing of the engine, the exploding Blackholes stopped damaging the ship while not seeming to hurt the engine or slow it down as it exited the last passageway out of the cloud.
Not waiting around for anything else to happen the Godship started accelerating up out of the valley directly toward Jack and the bomber.
Jack turned around to see Custern with his hand stuffed inside the hole. Peering through the narrow space between his hand and the switch frame as he worked with Jack’s small hand light clenched in his teeth. Jack started to say something but thought better of it. The last thing his needed to do was upset the Gronk again simply because he said something wrong. They had a few minutes yet. He hoped.
Jack started strapping himself back down suddenly wishing he had not given in to sentimentality and done the job himself. He was going to have to work on letting the feelings of others influence his decisions. But then feeling other’s feelings or moods was still a bit shocking to him. Then remembering getting knocked across the cockpit several times simply because he did not know what the hell he was doing probably meant that letting Custer do the job was the smart thing and not so much sympathy or so he hoped.
Turning around to look over his shoulder he saw Custern just floating there looking into the hole with the frame in it while holding the handle of the knife edge busbar. “Damn it Custern. The Godship is out the gate and headed this way. We need to fire the torpedoes. Get it done already.”
Custern turned to look at Jack with a strange expression on his face as apprehension and even hope percolating from him. “I can’t guaranty it will hold long sir. They are only clamped together as best as I could without tools.”
“As long as we can launch our torpedoes I don’t care how long the switch holds Mr. Custern. Just get me power.”
Custern took a deep breath and plunged the switch assembly into the bracket and then turned the handle clockwise to seat it and power flooded into the systems bringing the Bomber back to life. The Gravity coils came on slamming Custern down onto the deck in a pile as Jack started punching in targeting information for the torpedoes.
Custern pulled himself up back into his seat and started helping. “I don’t understand how a torpedo designed to kill a city by dropping a hundred thousand projectiles across some 10 square miles can be used to destroy a ship sir. Even if each projectile hit creating a massive explosion from kinetic force alone. Most the projectiles won’t even hit the ship.” The Gronk continued to work as he puzzled over the problem. “What if I programmed the torpedo to concentrate the projectiles into one central mass a thousand feet across Captain? That way at least most of the projectiles would hit the ship if the torpedoes are accurate enough.”
Jack’s mind suddenly flashed with the specks of the torpedo warhead. He had taken it for granted that the torpedoes were the Neutron bombs he had seen on the top of the list for taking out the populations of whole cities. His mind racing trying to figure out why they would use a cluster bomb with a hundred thousand inert projectiles across a city and then it dawned on him. A Neutron bomb would still destroying part of the city covering some of the metal in that area of the city with radioactive fallout while leaving any protected bunkers and their solders and weapons inside unharmed. The mass of inert projectiles spread evenly across the city every few yards would destroy every living thing with concussion, penetrating all the hard targets including deep bunkers destroying the defenses and start the demolition of buildings and equipment while leaving all metals basically intact and easy to scoop up and salvage. Smart thinking but then they had been doing it for 10,000 years.
“Ya Custern, cluster the projectiles together please. But not too tight. We don’t know how close we are going to be able to get with them yet.”
Custern smiled as he looked up at the back of Jacks helmet as he thought for a few seconds. “I think I can program the warhead to vary the pattern of projectiles depending on where the target is when it detonates, deploying the projectiles. Insuring that as many projectiles as possible hit the ship sir.”
Jack started to say no, but then a hundred battles flashed through his mind that were lost because Commanders refused to us the best weapons available to them to their full capabilities for fear they would not work or had not understood those capabilities. In this case Jack understood what the possibility was for increasing the number of hits but he feared that Custer could not program the change effectively. Swallowing as another beat of his heart thumped he said. “Ya sure Custer, just make sure it works.” Realizing he had stuck his foot in his mouth yet again. “And no I am not going to execute you if it doesn’t work like we think it should. Just get the torpedoes up to as high a velocity as possible before they fragment.”
Jack left programming the warhead to Custern while he went back to figuring out the attack profile needed to assure the best chance of a hit. He was able to calculate the acceleration of the ship at only a hundred Gee’s which was slow but figured the ship would be using its full capabilities trying to escape the Destroyer and the horde of fighters he could now see coming out of the passageway behind it. So he wasn’t worried about it suddenly jumping its acceleration. Evidentially they had done some damage to the engine.
“Fighters coming behind the Godship?” Custern just looking up thought they might be from the Godship itself until the IFF’s started coming back as friendlies.
Jack studied the IFF just to make sure he was right about the fighters and one of them even jumped out at him as being the Ensign bringing a smile to his face. They must have left the ship long before he did to make it here by now and he knew that was impossible.
“Torpedo’s ready to launch Captain.” Came Custern’s voice interrupting Jack trying to figure out how the fighters had gotten there so fast. Jack looked down at his attack profile with the estimated warhead deployment added. The Destroyer and fighters would be right in the middle of the swarm of projectiles that missed the ship. His finger hovered in front of the firing trigger on his stick.
Then saying a prayer with his eyes closed Jack took a fast breath. The instruments flickered threatening to go out completely as Jack pulled the trigger before the whole bomber lost power again. The surge of power launching the torpedo blowing the switch.
The
n hitting his comm. “All unites I am attacking get the hell out from around the target now. Retreat!” Jack yelled the last into a dead dark cockpit as the two torpedoes rushed away. Their exhausts bucking the ship around as they picked up speed headed down toward the target. Both torpedoes spreading out to attack on different vectors to insure that at least one of them scored hits. Though Jack was sure that if the Godship could not increase its acceleration above 100 gee’s the majority of both torpedo’s projectiles would hit the ship. How much damage they would do was another story that was up in the air with no written ending yet.
The emergency screens came back on showing the torpedoes streaking toward the approaching Godship with the squadron of fighters and the Destroyer swarming around the ship making constant attacks. Not seaming to have heard his orders to flee and run for their lives.
Turning around careening his neck. “Custern, get me power damn it! NOW!”
Custern was out of his seat and upside down in seconds as he twisted the handle and pulled. The whole unit coming out in his hand instead of just the switch followed by a cloud of smoke. A whole section was burnt and melted. “I don’t think there is much I can do with this Captain.” Shaking his head sadly. “Fixing this switch is what got me slaved in the first place Sir.” Looking from the switch to Jack. “Only techs are allowed to fix anything.” Taking a deep breath. “My bomber was flying over a planet on patrol and I heard a pop as we lost power. A little smoke came out from around the switch as the bomber started to fall out of the sky. Not an uncommon occurrence that had sparked much debate across the squadrons as to why since no one was ever able to communicate during or survived the plunge. It did not take much to realize what the problem probably was but the maintenance Officers said that was impossible.”
Custern took a deep breath and sighed. “I had watched maintenance Dwarfs change that switch several times when it had failed in orbit. So I took the switch out and managed to plug the wire back in a few seconds before we hit the ground and of course the pilot reported me. The next thing I knew I was being dragged in and out of the pods for battle practice not expecting to live each time I came out again yet not dying and then you came along.” Climbing back into his chair. “When I thought you were testing me Captain I just could not accept the possibility of knowing that I could die at any moment for no reason again. I just could not live like that again.”
“That is ok Custern, I could not live like that either.” Jack watched the torpedoes racing toward the target that was so busy with the fighters and the destroyer that it did not even notice the torpedoes coming at it. Did not look like they were even going to try to avoid them. Jack had to force himself to breath as the torpedoes closed with the Godship gaining velocity. With the God Ship not even maneuvering but trying to out run the attacking fighters and Destroyer that did not seem able to do any serious damage to it as the stray turret occasionally come back to life to send streaks of gun fire back at the attackers before being knocked out again, Jack knew that the torpedoes attacking from two sharply different angles would cut a swath through half the fighters and even take out the destroyer if it was in the right place at the wrong time in its attacks. He even stood a good chance of losing the Ensign because of his launching the torpedoes since she seemed to be making twice the number of attacks as anyone else. But he knew if he hadn’t, the ship would have certainly gotten away, dooming the rest of humanity. Not that it was a sure thing the torpedoes could take out the Godship even if they hit but they were their only chance at stopping it now.
Jack started to curse Custern for taking out the damn main power switch but knew it would only result in the Gronk taking his own life for something that was entirely Jack’s fault. Jack suddenly wondered how many of the dozen ex-slave suicides over the last few months were from humans making innocent comments that were taken the wrong way. He was going to have to have a few talks with a few people and figure out how to nip that problem before they lost anyone else or God Forbid one of them did something that took half the ship with them in their despair.
Jack tried not to think as the torpedoes streaked their last few miles toward the Godship and suddenly detonated spreading their load of projectiles toward the Godship at a fraction of the speed of light. Then as the two clouds of projectiles reached the Godship, Jack saw the fighters suddenly appear streaking away from the target with the destroyer well clear going in the same direction as the God ship but far out ahead headed directly for the little Bomber.
The Godship simply stopped existing. No explosion. No big bang. It just was not there any longer. The only thing left as the clouds of projectiles continued on their way was a new cloud of debris drifting slowly apart still going in the direction the ship had been going.
Forty five minutes later the Ensign was canopy to canopy to Jack’s bomber with the short range Comms coming in loud and clear. The destroyer only another couple hours from joining them to strap the bomber to its belly and getting Jack and Custern out before heading back to the Battleship.
The Ensign smiled across the few feet separating them. “What’s your problem Captain Jack? Your ship looks undamaged except for some burning on your leading armor. You taking a vacation?”
“Yap quite a view if you ask me. It’s going to be the hot spot for vacations in a few years. Everyone will want to come.” The Ensign chuckled with shocked looks from Custern as Jack continued. “No we had a problem with a power coupling. You had me worried that my torpedoes’ would catch you all as close as you guys were staying to that damn Godship.”
“Well Cap, we had to make sure he didn’t see your torpedoes in time to get out of their way. They certainly did a number on that ship. Never saw a warhead like that used against a ship before. Fact is I expected a big bang. Talking about a disappointment.”
“Ya I was looking forward to the fireworks too. What’s a vacation spot with no fireworks? You can pick the vacation spot next time but it better have better fireworks.”
“Only if you are there love.”
“Hey watch it. We are on an open channel. But I have to admit not having you here with me made this one a drag. Though I have to admit it was rather educational.”
“Well don’t go running off without me next time. I am still mad at you for running off this time.” Jack gave her his finger as she continued. “Which brings up another topic. How did you get here so fast anyway?”
Jack smiled shaking his head. “We figured out how to use the fighters Buzzard coils to clear a path through the clouds. When you get back to base I will fill you in.”
“Ok then. Where did the rest of your squadron get off to?”
“Well when we figured out how to us the Buzzard coils they were already in their ionized come dead zones. Hopefully 3 of them will show up in another hour and the rest in another 5 or six. I came on ahead luckily.”
“Why you damn… Here I thought you at least had a squadron around you and you go and leave them behind?” Shaking her head. “I can’t leave you alone for one second can I? Does your Gronk fly?”
“What?” Jack stared at the silent Ensign staring back at him through their canopies. Shaking his head as he rolled his eyes Jack turned to Custern. “You ever fly one of these things or a fighter?”
Custern looked around trying to figure out if it was a trap or something. Fear washing across the Gronk’s mind as he stared at the Jack. Jack shook his head and smiled. “You aren’t in any trouble but I have never heard of maintenance and weapons crews not spending time in the ships simms flying and even a few piloting when patrols get really bored depending on the pilot. So have you at least spent time in the simulator flying?”
“Grrrr.” Custern had to force himself to answer truthfully instead of simply not saying anything. “Yes Sir. I have hundreds of hours in the Simms flying both bombers and fighters. I really have not kept track of it. But I have never flown for real.”
“Good, seal your helmet up. You can fly the Ensign’s fighter back to the Battleship.”
The ensign already had her canopy popped when Jack popped his allowing the Ensign to take Custern over and get him buckled in properly and checked out to make sure he knew the controls before turning him lose.
The Ensign’s shadow Gronk sliding his fighter up to see what was going on.
The Ensign hit her comm. “Wing Commander Klink, you did a wonderful job with me. See if you can do as well with one of your own. We need pilots and I would bet that most of your weapons officers have had a lot of time in your Simms. It is easier to train weapons officers than pilots so figure out how to get them up to speed as quickly as possible. And we will talk about recruiting new weapons officers when we get back to the ship.” The Ensign turned to Jack and smiled as she climbed into the cockpit of the Bomber. “By your Command Captain.” The Ensign said as the canopy closed and air started rushing in.
Wing Commander Klink growled deep in his throat as he looked from the Ensign to the lowly weapons officer now sitting in the cockpit of one of his fighters. He had sent more than one weapons officer to the slaves after finding them in the pilot’s seat or in a Sim. Now after being a slave himself, the ensign was forcing him to look at what he had done thousands of years before and up until that instant had not thought twice about it. Still not trusting himself to answer the Ensign or the Captain when he said, “Carry on.” Wing Commander Klink took a deep breath and said. “Well trainee if you scratch my ship I will skin you alive. Let’s start with a nice and gentle push with reverse thrusters to get you away from the Bomber and then we will see what you know.” Turning to Captain Turner. “Captain Sir. With your permission we will stop by one of the support transports serving as operational basses to practice dockings and landings before heading for the ship. Which actually is a good idea. I will spend the rest some time training this one and the other recruits with some easy practice operations from the forward basses before returning to the ship.”
Battleship Destroyer 2 (Battleship Destoryer) Page 20