Talosian Chronicles 2: Star Dancer

by Ben Winston

  “Admiral, may I introduce you to the oldest, and probably most important member of my crew, Major Star Dancer,” Ian said introducing the AI Avatar.

  “She has the same name as the ship?” Hawkins asked.

  Ian grinned, “In all the ways that matter, she is the ship, Sir. Major Dancer is the holographic Avatar of the resident Artificial Intelligence of the ship.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you Admiral,” Star replied. “Welcome aboard.”

  “You are an impressive vessel, Major. You should be very proud,” Hawkins said without missing a beat.

  “Thank you, Sir, but I cannot take the credit, I have an excellent crew,” Star replied, blushing.

  “For what it’s worth, Son, you have my support. It would be kinda dumb of me not to offer it. I don’t know what I can do for you that you can’t already do for yourselves, but I’ll do what I can,” Hawkins said, getting ready to leave.

  Ian handed the Admiral the small communicator Star had given him. “This is a communit, Sir. When you want to get in touch with me, simply put this in your ear, press the button, and ask for me. You’ll most likely get Star first, but she will put you through to me.”

  “Thank you. I’ll make sure to keep it hidden,” Admiral Hawkins replied.

  “It won’t matter if you do, Sir. First off, I made sure it looks and functions just like a standard cell phone ear piece, and second, if they did try to open it to see how it works, it would simply melt down into a puddle of plastic,” Star replied smiling.

  “It works just like my current ear piece? I’ll just replace the one I normally use then, smart thinking Major,” Hawkins took the other ear piece out of his pocket and handed it over to Star. “I don’t imagine the cells work up here anyway.”

  “On the contrary, Sir. They work just fine. The locator function will register as being at Talos, though,” Star said. “The Centurion is ready to take you back now, Admiral. Have a safe flight, Sir.”

  The older man nodded at her. “Thank you Major. I hope we’ll see each other again, but if not, it’s been a real pleasure for me to make your acquaintance.”

  “It has been a pleasure for me as well, Sir. The last Admiral I had on my decks was four thousand, seven hundred and ninety two years ago. I hope that this time, it won’t be as long until the next visit,” Star said, smiling.

  Hawkins grinned and turned to Ian. “I don’t envy you your job, Son. I know that what you carefully didn’t tell me was that you are out gunned in this. I can only wish you good luck, and offer my hopes and prayers for your success.”

  “If we fail Sir, I would recommend getting your family and finding a nice sheltered place to hide. Caldarians are not nice conquerors, they’ll nuke the cities, destroy all the military, and take the survivors as slaves. All the oil will be taken off planet, and it will be mined into a dead hulk,” Ian said. “I can assure you, that if that were to happen, every one of us will be gone, because we will fight to the last man to defend our home.”

  Centurion Odin

  Combat Location Briar Patch

  Picket Duty near Planet Venus,

  Sol System.

  “Star Dancer, this is the Odin on Picket,” the young man called.

  “Star Dancer here, go ahead Odin.”

  “You better wake up the Boss. Something’s happening out here,” he replied. “They’re launching all of the carriers, and the bay doors are opening. I’d say that they are going to launch some assault carriers too.”

  “What heading are the carriers taking, Odin?” Major Chloe Brighton asked, letting the man know that Operations was now online as well.

  “They haven’t left the area, they have launched, but seem to be waiting for the rest of the ships.”

  “That’s not good. Are you still safe?” Major Brighton asked.

  “Well, we’re still here, so I would say that, yes, we are still safe and undiscovered,” the man chuckled. “We’re well within their weapons range.”

  “Yeah, we know,” Major Brighton said dryly. “Never mind. I want you to do everything you can, without getting discovered, to get the hell out of there in a hurry if you need to.”

  “Don’t worry, Major. This buggy has been ready to scoot since before the neighbors moved in next door. If the compost interacts with the rotary turbine, we’ll be out of here before you can finish giving us the order,” the young man replied. “Stand by, Operations, something’s going on out there. Stand by for a data feed.”

  The man watched the scanners, and typed in the commands to forward all the data to Star Dancer Operations Command. While he had been talking to Major Brighton, the Super Nova had indeed launched assault carriers as well as more fighter carriers. In addition to that, several fighters also dropped out of the belly of the beast, and took up formation as escorts to the larger ships.

  “Odin, Guardian One orders you to drop a spy sat, and get the hell out of there. You are to report back to Talos and rearm for fighter suppression and interdiction duty,” Major Brighton ordered. “He wants you out of there ten minutes ago, understand?”

  “Understood. I have your orders. We’ll be jumping in five minutes, Odin out.”

  F.S.S. Star Dancer

  Selene (Earth’s moon) Orbit

  Sol Sector.

  Combat location: Dark Palace

  The report from Odin was very troubling. After a week of total inactivity, The Super Nova appeared to be launching almost all of its parasitic compliment. But for what purpose, Ian couldn’t guess. The fact that there were assault carriers said they were going for a target on Earth, but the simple size of the force seemed to rule out a small target like Talos. Even after all the losses they had taken during the initial skirmishes, the Caldarians still outnumbered Ian’s force by almost three to one, not counting the big ship itself.

  The satellite Odin left behind had the small armada heading straight for Earth, or at least Earth orbit. The big ship herself didn’t move, at least not yet; sensors were registering a buildup of power in her reactors that could be a sign she was getting ready to move.

  “This does not look good,” Ian said as he took in all the information displayed in the large hologram on the bridge. “Okay, this is it everyone! Sound General Quarters and set us at Yellow alert. Operations, wake up the folks down on the moon and get the pilots ready to launch. Comms, get me Ty at Talos and see if you can locate Admiral Hawkins.”

  Ty’s image came up on one of Ian’s monitors followed shortly by Admiral Hawkins’ who was using the video mode on his phone.

  “Sorry to bother you, Admiral, Colonel Anders, The Caldarians are launching an attack. This time, they are using just about everything they have. Although it has not started moving, we are detecting a power build-up in the Super Nova’s reactors consistent with preparations to move. Currently, there are sixteen fighter carriers, six assault carriers, and an additional twenty fighters on course for Earth. ETA is...” He glanced up at the hologram. “One hour, fifty-seven minutes. I have ordered all the forces up here to yellow alert, and brought the ship to General Quarters.”

  “That much fire-power? We should feel flattered!” Ty replied.

  Hawkins snorted and nodded. “Are we certain that Talos is the target again, son?”

  “No, Sir. At this point, we can only assume that’s where they are heading. However, with that much firepower, they can pretty much attack an entire hemisphere. If the big ship gets involved, the whole planet could be attacked at once,” Ian explained. “Either way, we can provide air support, but we really don’t have that much for ground troops. We’ll do our best though.”

  “Good, all they really needed was the chance to get used to using the equipment, and a couple of quick courses in vehicle and ship identification. I think most of them fell in love this the armor, though. We’re going to have a hard time getting them to give it back if they ever get pulled away!”

  “I think it’s safe to say they’ll be staying right where they are, Colonel. I had that unit t
ransferred to my command three days ago. They are yours to use. What would you like from USSPACECOM, Commander?” Hawkins asked.

  “Right now, Sir, I’m simply informing you of what’s about to happen. I’ll feed you more information as we have it. For now, you can help with pilot recovery if anyone needs to eject in the atmosphere. Crash recovery would also help. I won’t ask you to destroy what we can’t recover since that could get you in hot water. Would you like us to make sure you can see our units in the mountain?” Ian asked.

  Hawkins chuckled. “That would be great, but I don’t know how I would explain it.”

  “I think we can handle that too, Sir. As soon as you get to the mountain this morning, we’ll get the fun started,” Ian replied. “We’ll make it so that when you have to make your report, all the eye witnesses in the mountain will be able to corroborate you.”

  “I appreciate that, son. Good luck to you and your people, Commander. If you need anything else from us, just ask,” Hawkins said, before hanging up.

  “He sounded a little pissed,” Ty said.

  “He’s worried. He knows what we’re facing, and how utterly unprepared his forces are to combat it. His only hope rests with us, and we’re all people he only just met. I don’t think I can blame him for being either pissed or worried. How would you feel if you were in his position, and someone just told you that your nation was about to be attacked by aliens?” Ian explained.

  Ty nodded, “I hadn’t thought about it that way. He’s going to have to basically stand back and let someone else defend his nation for him. The US is used to doing that for third world countries. Now they get to feel it from the other side.”

  “That can’t be a pleasant experience for him. Get your folks suited up and ready to go. You should probably be ready to send troops out if you need to. Just because we can’t repel a wide scale attack, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” Ian ordered.

  “We’ll do what we can, Sir,” Ty replied. “I’ll get my troops scrambled. Stay safe up there, Commander.”

  “You too, Ty,” Ian replied, and closed the comm.

  “Status?” Ian asked.

  “We are at General Quarters, all weapons systems are manned and operational. All missile tubes are loaded and ready to fire. Flight reports ready to launch fighters. Phoenix Base reports they are at Yellow alert, and their weapons systems are armed and at standby, their fighters are ready,” Jenny reported. “Enemy is still on course for Earth. Enemy Super Nova has still not moved, but her power systems are fully spun up. She’s ready for action.”

  Ian looked at her. “Phoenix Base?”

  “That’s the name that won the contest. The Stavros’ boy won. He’ll get a tour of the base after everything’s over,” Jenny explained.

  Ian nodded thoughtfully. “Good for him.” He sat looking at the hologram for a few moments. “The attack on Earth is bait. The Super Nova is the trap.”

  The CIC had been listening over the comm, which was becoming the norm during combat operations. Major Eischens unmuted his comm. “What was that, Sir?”

  “I said, the attack on the planet is a lure to get us to expose ourselves. When we do, the Super Nova will jump on us with both feet.” Ian explained. “The problem is, I don’t know how we cannot expose ourselves this time.”

  “We still have the decoy drones, Sir.” Chloe suggested, entering the conversation. “We can use those, can’t we?”

  Ian nodded even though Chloe couldn’t see him. “Yeah, we could, but we will still be the closest target to them, so the chances are that they will hit us first before checking out the other signatures.”

  “Sir, if I may make a suggestion?” the young Eischens said.

  “Please do, Lieutenant, we can use all the help we can get right now,” Ian replied.

  “When the attack on the planet is about to begin, activate one of the more distant decoys, do draw off the Super Nova. That should let us help the planet without then focusing on us,” the man said.

  “Not a bad idea, it won’t help much, but it’ll help. Thank you, Lieutenant,” Ian replied. “We’re going to take damage this time, no way around it.” He thumbed his comm. “Command to missile armory.”

  “Armory, what can we do for you Sir?” came a familiar voice. Major Debbie Reynolds was one of the women Ian and family recruited and rescued shortly after Olympus had made contact with Ian.

  “Hey Debbie, do you still have those modified hyper missiles I asked for a while ago?” Ian asked.

  “Yes Sir, I have them parked off in a corner. You want me to pull them out and dust them off?” Debbie asked.

  “Yeah, but I want them loaded with full-yield anti-matter warheads. See if that makes them hungry for a Super Nova.” Ian ordered.

  “That’s a really big firecracker, Sir. If that doesn’t make them hungry, nothing will, I’ll get them set up right now. What do you want for a trigger, proximity?” the woman asked.

  Ian thought for a moment. “No, impact. I’m gonna ram those fuckers right down that big bitch’s throat.”

  “We’re on it Sir!” Debbie said, excitedly.

  Ian looked up at the navigator. “Call for an assistant, Mr. Chekov. Things are going to get complicated for you very quickly if we launch those.”

  “Aye Sir.” Chekov replied without even looking away from his calculations.

  “Chloe, can you come out here for a moment? I have a task for you and Star,” Ian asked.

  “I’ll be right there Sir.” The young woman replied.

  Star looked at him curiously. Ian just winked at her. “You’ll like this, it involves hacking into the US National Defense network.”

  “Sir, I’m an AI. There is nothing to ‘hack’, as you call it,” Star replied haughtily, making Jenny laugh.

  When Chloe walked up to his raised chair, he waved Star over. “Okay, here’s what I want you to set-up.” He quickly explained how he wanted them to ‘port’ the tactical display out to SkyRAD in Cheyenne Mountain. Chloe grinned and nodded, and Star just shook her head.

  When Chloe and Star walked off a short way to work out how to accomplish the task, Ian turned to Jenny. “Did those Shadow fighters ever find anything on those two ghost ships?”

  “Yes and no, Sir. When they arrived at the Hyperspace entry point, they found confirmation that two ships indeed reentered normal space there. There was a huge ion signature, but it didn’t lead anywhere. Major Eischens suggested that the ships reentered normal space, then used a single burst from their engines to accelerate, then coasted into the system. There was no ion trail to follow, and no way to track them. Sir, if these were Caldarian ships, they would not be as stealthy as these two are acting,” Jenny replied.

  “No, they’re not Caldarian, but that doesn’t automatically make them friendly. We could be in the middle of this battle, and get our asses handed to us by an enemy we can’t even see. I want everything we have on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. Any anomalies are to be reported immediately,” Ian ordered.

  “Yes Sir,” Jenny replied and began entering orders on her keyboard. Ian used his own terminal to compose and send an email to Admiral Hawkins about the two ships. He explained about how they had detected them and how they had disappeared. He apologized for not telling him about them at the briefing, but noted that their current situation had been monopolizing his time and attention.

  Chapter 20

  SkyRAD Command Bunker

  Cheyenne Mountain

  Colorado Springs, Colorado.

  Combat Location: Stone Fort

  “Sir, we are receiving a signal from an unknown extra-planetary source,” one of the techs reported to his supervisor.

  “What kind of signal?” the man asked.

  “It looks like a data feed, Sir, the same as we get from our own sources, but this one is being sent directly to us!” the man reported.

  “Well, let’s see what E.T. wants to show us, Corporal,” the man ordered.

  On one of the man’s monit
ors, he loaded the new data feed for display. It had an exaggerated view of the solar system, and on it, there were several targets marked as friendly and several as hostile. The ‘hostile’ ones were moving toward the planet. While the ‘friendly’ targets moved around slightly to get themselves in position to protect the planet. A small notice popped up on the screen indicating a message to Admiral Joshua Hawkins, USSPACECOM, Commanding.

  “Try to either verify this data, or find the kid that’s fucking with us. I’m gonna call the Admiral down here,” the officer told the young man.

  “We’re working on tracking it, Sir. The signal identifies the signal source as this... ship, in orbit of the moon. I’ll get some help and make sure this isn’t a hoax, Sir.”

  The officer was already walking away, and the young man rolled his eyes. The man was a bit of an idiot. The signal had already been verified or he wouldn’t have said anything. What troubled the man the most was the approaching armada of ‘hostile’ targets. The last time there was an attack like this, they had lost an entire flight of Raptors to the aliens, and that attack had been much smaller than this one looked to be.

  Admiral Hawkins had just gotten his coffee and settled in his office when the OIC on the ‘floor’ called him. He answered the phone. “Hawkins.”

  “Good Morning, Sir. I’m very sorry to trouble you this morning, but there is something down here you need to see. Corporal Hastings is receiving a signal from an extra-terrestrial source. There is a message addressed to you by name, Sir.”

  “I’ll be right down,” Hawkins replied, and hung up the phone. “Damn it Ian, I thought you said you’d keep it low key!” he muttered softly to himself.

  When he got down to the floor where all the tracking and command for Space Command was handled. Hawkins walked over to the officer standing over a nervous looking corporal.

  “What have you got for me, Hastings?” Hawkins asked kindly.

  “This signal showed up about a half hour ago Sir, we verified it, and I brought it to the Major’s attention, he called you, Sir. The data feed is coming from an unknown source near lunar orbit. It appears to be formatted and set up specifically for us to see Sir. Whoever is sending this, sent it to us, and only us. There is also a message addressed to you, as commander of USSPACECOM, Sir,” Hastings finished.