by Ben Winston
“So what do we have for air and space support then?” Taylor asked.
“Well, there is the fighter wings here, plus the Centurions. We should also be able to get more fighters here from either the ship or the moon base if you need them. Under full burn, they can get here in about fifteen minutes. I know that sounds like a long time, but considering it would take the enemy over an hour to get an assault force here, we should know ahead of time what they’re throwing at you and be able to counter it,” Ian said.
“Do they have cloaking devices like you are using?” Petrie asked.
Ian nodded. “They do have cloaking devices, but we haven’t seen them on anything smaller than one of their freighters. I grant you that we cannot assume that they don’t have them on their other craft as well, but we simply don’t have the numbers to cover every contingency as well as we would like to.”
Taylor nodded. “I keep forgetting that you have a limited number of fighters and pilots.”
Ian gave him a half-grin. “Major, we have a limited number of everything.”
“Which is a good place for me to jump in,” Janet said speaking for the first time. “Colonel Petrie, how would you feel about inviting your father-in-law here for a visit?”
The request threw the colonel for a moment. “How did you know about him?” he asked, finally.
“My job is personnel, Colonel. Part of my duties are to know at least the main people we speak to. I think the Admiral would be a good person to have on our side in this,” Janet explained.
“I don’t know if he would accept all of this without reporting it. He’s the Commander in Chief for Space for the United States. He was personally appointed by the President to his position,” Petrie said.
“He is just the person we need in order to make the overseas contacts we’re going to need to recruit a truly multi-national force. We do have a lot of people from other countries working with us as it is, but not that many of them are in the military branch,” Janet explained. “When it comes time for us to come out of the closet so to speak, having a diverse fighting force will go a long way to putting minds at ease in the UN and in the governments of the other countries, especially China and North Korea, although the North Koreans will be a problem no matter what.”
“The leader of North Korea was abused as a child.” Taylor replied, sarcastically. “Mrs. Laskar does have a point, Jim. If we can convince Admiral Hawkins of what they are doing here, he’d be willing to help as much as he could.”
“I can talk to him. We do have a pretty good relationship. But like I said, I think it’s a big risk. When do you want me to talk to him?” Petrie asked.
“Well, if you can get him out here, maybe we can convince him to keep the Air Force pilots back out of harm’s way so we don’t lose anymore. I know he’ll still have to look like he’s doing something, but at least he’ll know the truth about what’s really going on,” Ian said. “That alone might help save a few lives.”
Petrie nodded. “I’ll call him this evening when he gets home, the lines going into the mountain are all tapped recorded.”
“If you need transportation anywhere, feel free to ask. We might be able to give you a hand there,” Ty said, smiling.
“Say, where is Elias? I was hoping to say Hi to him before I had to head back.” Ian asked.
“He’s out front riding heard on the construction projects. I think the attack scared him a little more than he anticipated,” Luke said. “I know it sure as hell puckered my asshole!”
The group took a tour of the construction going on outside of the front gate, and Ian did find Elias out there. Ian managed to get Elias off to one side, and he asked his friend how he was holding up.
“I don’t know, Ian. When the first bombs started going off, I froze, I didn’t know what to do. I knew, intellectually that we could be attacked. Hell, I helped Ty set up some of the defenses! But when it came right down to it, I almost wet myself,” Elias admitted.
“The night before the ship arrived, I couldn’t sleep, and I had a very hard time not throwing up. I was convinced that I was going to get everyone killed. I knew I had set everything up and the Caldarians would see right through it, and everyone that was depending on me would die. I didn’t know what to do, and the fear was all but shutting me down.”
“What did you do?” Elias asked.
“Beth came out and talked to me. She made me see that I hadn’t been the one to bring the Caldarians here, but I had been the one to tell people, and give them a fighting chance to defend themselves. Because of what I had done, and what I had set up, people had a chance to survive what was coming. She told me she was proud of me, and she was sure that my parents would have been as well. She also told me that I needed to get my fear under control because I was the one that people looked to for their strength to get through what was coming.
“The point she made was that to fear what might happen was only natural, but to let it overcome me would only ensure that the enemy won. Elias, you have done more than anyone else here to make sure that people are safe, comfortable, and protected. Because of you and what you’ve done, the people here look to you as a source of strength and support in times of trouble.” Ian saw he wasn’t really reaching his friend, so he took another tack.
“Look at it this way, these assholes are coming here to destroy all these beautiful houses you’ve spent the last year building. They are coming here to destroy your community, the one you and your people have built with your own hands and sweat. How does that make you feel?”
“That pisses me off.” Elias said. “This project has been the greatest thing I’ve ever done. It really pisses me off to see it being destroyed.”
Ian nodded to him. “There! When you start feeling fear again, fine, that’s natural, but when it starts getting to be too much again, just think what those pricks are doing to your beautiful town!”
“That does help!” Elias said as his whole demeanor changed. “Those fuckers better stay the hell away from my town!”
“So, you’re feeling better?” Ian asked.
“Yes I am, thank you, Ian!” Elias said.
“Great, now, what the hell is that?” Ian asked as he pointed to what looked like a sideways air vent for something underground, mounted in the side of one of the open air trenches.
Elias chuckled. “Combat access for floating litters. The litters are programmed to fly in there and deliver their patient to the medical unit back in the base. There are four different access points and all of them are shielded to only allow a litter to enter. It’s kinda neat really.”
“As long as the Marine riding it isn’t claustrophobic!” Ian said.
“Naw, medical said they’ll be sedated during the ride, But I did suggest we simply put naked pictures of the opposite sex on the ceilings of the tunnels! Diane said then we’d have troops getting hurt just to ride through there,” Elias said laughing.
The rest of the tour was uneventful, with Elias and Ty showing him all the different stuff they were doing, and how things should work if they were attacked again.
When it was time for Ian to leave, he looked at Ty. “Be sure to stress to these new people that the Caldarians have no problem tossing nukes and antimatter around. I would mention it to the eggheads also, and see if they can come up with something to limit the fall out if that happens.”
“I’ll do that Sir,” Ty said seriously. “I really appreciate you coming down here. I know it couldn’t have been easy for you to get away.”
“You needed it, and I could do it, no thanks are necessary. I understand Janet is going to stay down here to meet with the Admiral. I’ll have to see if I can get free to come back for it myself, but he might have to settle for a hologram. Take care of our people, Ty, and be safe,” Ian said as he picked up his helmet.
“Same to you Sir. Kick their asses out of our system up there,” Ty replied by way of farewell. With that, Ian put his helmet on and walked out to the landing area where Talena was waiti
ng for him.
“Ready to go home, Talena?” Ian asked.
“Yes Sir, both shuttles will be returning with us; one is full of supplies, and the other is full of people. ESAR, Marines, a couple of extra pilots, and other crew members for the ship as I understand it,” Talena replied as she climbed into her seat in the fighter.
“Well, that’ll make a few of the department heads happy. Especially the SAR teams, I know the Bosun has been bitching about the lack of people he has,” Ian said.
Talena once again got her flight launched and on the way back to the ship. Ian said, “I need to talk to the ship for a bit, sweetheart, so forgive me if I don’t answer you right away.”
“No problem, Ian,” Talena said from the front cockpit.
When Ian called the ship, Jenny was happy to hear from him.
“You better not be calling to tell me your spending the night down there!” Jenny replied.
“No dear, I was actually calling to find out what happened to those other two hyperspace tracks we had?” Ian asked. “They should be here by now.”
“Nope, haven’t seen anything. Tracking lost them when they dropped out of hyperspace just inside the orbit of Neptune. None of our other sensors have picked them up either. We registered the hyperspace event, and so did the Caldarians, but after that, nothing,” Jenny replied.
“That’s not very comforting information, Jen,” Ian said. “We really need to know where they are, and what they’re up to. The last thing we need is for two more Caldarian ships to surprise us when we’re playing cat and mouse with that Super Nova.”
“I know, Ian, and they’re working it. But they have really good cloaking generators. Even with all the sensors we have in this system, they aren’t showing up on anything.” Jenny said.
“Okay, have Chloe set up a Shadow fighter patrol to try to locate and identify those two ships. But they’ll need to be quick about it. If the shit hits the fan here, we’ll need them back to fight.”
“Okay, I’ll get right on that,” Jenny said.
“Okay, we should be back in a little bit. The shuttle we’re escorting has a bunch of new people on it, so you should have something to do once we land, since I know how bored you get,” Ian teased.
“Wow, the planet is under attack, and you want to start a new career as a comedian!” Jenny replied. “Be safe, love.”
“You too,” Ian said and closed the channel.
Chapter 19
F.S.S. Star Dancer
Selene (Earth’s moon) Orbit
Sol Sector.
Combat location: Dark Palace
For the rest of that week, the Caldarian ship simply hung in space. It didn’t launch any ships, nor did it move. There was furious activity though, as the Centurion that was on picket close by reported.
Occasionally, one of the carriers would detach, move to the big bay doors and be taken inside for a while. Ian agreed with Major Eischens that they were repairing the Carriers, and rearming them with new fighters. The older carriers had no launch tubes and the fighters could be clearly seen mounted along the sides of the craft. So the truth of the rearming idea was upheld the first time one of the older carriers returned to its original position.
What was troubling, was that two new, older style carriers left the big bay and took the vacated positions of destroyed carriers just before the damaged ones started being taken inside. Were they able to produce those carriers? If so, how fast could they do it? If pressed, Star Dancer can replace her own fighters, but there was a limit to what could be done.
Nothing in the history files Star had indicated the Super Nova class ships carried, or utilized, an automated assembler of fighting ships. Caldarians did not have replicator technology. So how could they rebuild the destroyed ships so quickly?
The question remained unanswered as Ian and his people also took advantage of the break to reinforce their defenses. Ian had a bad feeling something big was about to happen, but he had no idea what.
One important thing that did happen during that week was the arrival, and introduction of Admiral Joshua Hawkins. USSPACECOM, Commanding. Ian ordered something special for the Admiral. When he arrived at Talos and was given his tour, the underground hanger was the last stop. At this point, he was put on a Centurion as a passenger and brought up to the ship.
Leaving Jenny in charge, he met the VIP in the hangar bay and once again gave the older gentleman a tour of his ship. The Admiral was impressed and stopped several times to speak to random people about what was going on, and how they felt about being a part of this. Ian even let him speak to people in private, so he knew that Ian wasn’t influencing their answers.
The final parts of the tour were the bridge and the operations area. In the makeshift CIC, Ian led the Admiral up to the big holographic tank and introduced him to the crew. He had Majors Brighton and Eischens give the man a briefing on the current situation.
The Admiral asked questions and got straight answers. When he felt he had a grasp of the current situation, he nodded and thanked the two officers.
He turned to Ian. “This is a very troubling situation, Commander. I thank you for giving me all this information, and for the tours and such, but I have to ask, why you went to all this trouble?”
“Well Admiral, during our last fight, we lost a lot of your pilots. My folks did try to warn them off, and for the most part, they did stay out of the battle, but their loss still hurts. We would like for you to know what’s really going on, so you can help to avoid that in the future.” Ian explained. “There is also the fact that those assholes aren’t finished with us yet. I don’t know what the future holds, but I can tell you that so far, their actions have not been following what little we do know about this race.
“They will hit us again. I don’t know if it’ll be the community on Earth, or if the fight will be up here and away from Earth. Yes, they hit our community on Earth because they figured out that the town is part of us. There is far more to this story than you know.
The Caldarians have been on the planet for some time. They have been stealing crude oil, and we think that they have been taking slaves, but we haven’t found any proof of that yet. During our investigations, mostly done by Alan Carlson whom you already met on Earth, we found a solid link between the Caldarian operations to the intelligence services of the United States. We can’t tell you how deeply they are involved there, but we do know that they are deep enough to authorize military operations against our community on Earth.
“We knew we had to let someone in Command know what was going on, and you checked out as clean. Of course we didn’t know that until we made the connection between Colonel Petrie and you, but when we did, we decided to ask if you would visit us.
“Firstly, we wanted to show you that we have no interest in invading anything, or taking over any governments. We have all sworn a duty to protect Earth from it enemies, and in some cases from itself. We will not let any of the advanced technology, especially the weapons technology, out of our control. Simply put, we don’t trust any of the governments down there to not use it against other nations. We like to consider ourselves as the planetary military, not one nation’s.
“Although most of the people up here are Americans, we do have some people from other countries as well. We would like to add more people from other countries, especially in the military. We know that you could help us with that, if you chose to. We hope that we have shown you enough to know our only purpose and motive is to help Earth as a whole.
“The function of the town on the surface is to develop repressed or available technology to make life easier, safer, and cleaner, at the same time to try to develop technologies to repair the damage that’s already been done to the planet.” Ian held up his hand. “I know that makes us sound like a bunch of tree-huggers and hippies, but I like to speak plainly, and everyone knows that there is a lot of pollution down there to clean up.
“But first, we have to deal with this situation,” Ian finished, grin
ning. “We’ve even discovered that we can create a colony in the Centauri system!”
The Admiral nodded his head. “Well, you’ve certainly given me a lot to think about. You’re right about the US wanting to take all this from you. Unfortunately, I can agree with what would happen if that came to pass.” He was thoughtful for a few minutes. “I’ve been in the military for some time. In that time, I’ve seen a lot of things change, and I’ve seen a lot of things that still don’t make any sense even to this day. The intelligence community has gradually altered into what it is today. By that I mean that most of the stuff coming out of that mess has little to do with National Security, and more to do with oil and power. Although it’s difficult to believe what you’ve told me about the intelligence community, the proof is there.” He snorted. “What am I saying? I’ve seen nothing today that is easy to believe!” He was thoughtful for a few minutes again, and glanced at his watch. “I need to be getting back soon, can we head back now?”
Ian nodded. “Certainly, Sir. I’ll walk you back to the landing bay.”
“Thank you, Son.” Admiral Hawkins replied and followed Ian to the door after nodding to the men and women in the CIC. As they walked to the maglev, he spoke again. “Are the ship and the community all the assets you have?”
“No Sir, there is a large base on the moon as well; it’s mostly a place for research, but there is a large military presence there. In the future we plan on having the Military Academy and flight school down there, as well as a few training facilities for our Marines,” Ian said. “The current population is almost five thousand people. Although, as I said, most of them are scientists and support personnel.”
The two men talked more and got to know one another better. When they arrived at the ready rooms on Alpha landing bay, Major Star Dancer met them there with a small package that she handed to Ian after saluting the two officers.