Battle in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 4)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “Go on, Krag. Do it.”

  “Ok. Damn! Lord Kaporine. Please get your people to Wisdom Seeker. Igaklay. How long will it take for you to build the giant jump drive and get it ready for flight?”

  “Close to a month, Captain.”

  “Get started. Buster, Vidhee. I want you with Igaklay every second of everyday until the jump drive ship is finished.”

  “We will set up independent logic modules and memory crystals for that purpose, Captain Marston.”

  “Thank you, Vidhee. I also want you two to work slowly and perfectly to create the absolutely most perfect holding crystals for Buster’s backup. I want you two one hundred percent sure that his backup will be safe.”

  “As you command, Captain Marston.”

  “Igaklay. How does this affect the work on Griffin?”

  “Not at all, Captain. I am a small moon of processing power, after all.”

  “More Mack. Speaking of which, Mack. You and Master Varrini. I want you two all over this project. Hands on. Physically checking everything.”

  “Will do, Cap. Vinnie and me. We got it.”

  “Does this meet your approval, Lord Kaporine?”

  “You need to ask my daughter that, Ambassador Suzume. We are now just heavy packs on your backs.”

  “Princess?”

  “I very much approve of this, Ambassador Suzume. More than that, I give great honor and respect to you and, specifically, Buster for the risks that you are willing to take for me and my family. We are forever in your debt.”

  Chapter 15

  Nuevo Aires

  Shelly, Emilio, Reuben and Javier watched their monitors, seeing the different, more armored alien ships smash into the earth. They saw the tanks charge down the dropped ramps.

  “Javier. We need to get our people away from those tanks.”

  “Si, Governor.”

  The head of the United Transportation Worker’s Union put a finger against his jaw and mumbled into his throat mic. After some mumbling and listening, he dropped his hand and turned to Moreno.

  “I’ve got everyone pulling back to the second ring of defense. If the tanks keep coming, we’ll keep pulling back.”

  “Emilio, have we got anything that can stop those tanks?”

  “We have more rocket launchers. Since they did the job on the bug ships, I don’t see why they wouldn’t on the tanks. But they’re at the second ring. We’ll have to wait until the tanks get into range.”

  “Good. Javier, pull our people back. Fast. I want them to set up for another counter-thrust.”

  “They’re already moving, Governor. And they’re pissed. From what my crews tell me, everyone wants another bite of that alien ass.”

  “They’ll get it. Reuben, how is the triage going?”

  “Not bad, this round. We took the bugs by surprise. So we don’t have a lot of injured. They’re all out, just reaching the back lines. I suspect when the bugs hit our second ring there will be more. I’ve got all of the medical units massing there.”

  The four turned back to watch the destruction of their city.

  The alien tanks began firing massive particle beams that ionized the air, creating blue-white beams of heat so hot that it liquefied stone. The alien gunners didn’t aim high. They sheared everything off at ground level, causing the structures to collapse, killing everything inside.

  “The bugs aren’t trying to capture anyone, like on Sasania. They’re just killing everything.”

  “I think we pissed them off, Governor.”

  “We did that. Javier, are we getting our people out?”

  “Si, Governor.”

  “Emilio. I want to see if we can hurt those things. Do we have any land mines?”

  “Yeah, Jefe. We’ve set up funnels that will filter the aliens into certain corridors. Those, we have mined. But we didn’t plan on tanks.”

  “Let’s see what they can do. Also, could you put together a two-man team? Someone who can run fast?”

  “I can do that. What do you want?”

  “I want them to fire a rocket into one of those tanks and run like hell. See what kind of armor those alien machines have.”

  “Maybe stick it up a tailpipe.”

  “Nasty. I like it. But, I don’t want them to get caught. In, fire, out. Got it?”

  “Got it, Jefe.”

  Emilio went through the same mumble and listen which Javier had just done and turned back to Moreno.

  “Done and done, Jefe. Also, just in case, I’m having our people double up on the mines in the middle third of the roads. Then, if single mines don’t do the job, we’ll see if double will.”

  “Whatever will stop those four-legged bastards.”

  The four turned back and again watched their city being destroyed.

  Trotzig

  The control center of Trotzig stood as a granite tribute to the efforts of the Tolimar people and the refugees from Novius. Pressed up against the mountain, it protected the eastern side of the gigantic, reidite doors which protected the thousands of people finding refuge within the mountain. But, to anyone or anything looking on, it only saw the granite, one-story building, not the impassable, massive doors

  The builders of these doors had coated the outside surface with rocks, crevices and even plants, making this giant barrier look as though it was nothing more than a part of the mountain, another rock face.

  Another granite building, this time multi-storied, stood guard on the western side of the only safety barrier standing between the aliens and the people inside. The Trotzig Medical Center. And there the majestic buildings stopped.

  Attached to the medical center, stood a modest wooden building with an overhang, swinging doors and a heavily worn sign, boasting ‘Shar’s Bar’. Harriet and Tolimar’s Senior Corpsman, Lieutenant Roth, pushed through the swinging doors and looked over the room. The original, metal-topped bar, with its foot rail, adorned the same place as the original bar. The racks of liqueur filled the back wall. They saw the old tables with the scratches and gouges from generations of use scattered around the room. Walking over, they sat at the one new item not shipped from the old ‘Shar’s Bar’. New and more comfortable meeting table and chairs.

  “I like what you’ve done with the place, Shar,” Harriet commented as Shar wandered over to take more orders.

  “I couldn’t start over. Just changed locations. What will you and the long drink of water have?”

  “Me, beer. The Wrangler? Ask him.”

  “Well, Randy Wrangler?” Shar laughed.

  “Same as City, Shar,” Randy answered with a smile.”

  The others sitting at the conference table enjoyed the moment of lightness, knowing that the conversation would now turn heavy.

  “Ready, Patricia?”

  Patricia Grey, as well as the rest of the Gregor contingent hadn’t quite gotten used to this change in the Gregor daughter. This change from rigid authoritarian to accessible leader.

  “Yes, Harriet. I took the intel which Heimdallr collected during their trip from Cencore to here and created a relief map.”

  Patricia worked her console and a three-dimensional image of Cencore popped up in the center of the table.

  “Cencore. There are about two million people on their way to Old Earth. The Federacy research center is shut down, closed up. Olympia invaded by the aliens. The assumption is that what happened to Sasania and Nyu Nippon is happening there.”

  Tragic silence marked the room as red images of the alien ships popped onto the Cencore portion of the map.

  “We now know their standard fleet size. Two super dreadnaughts, six cruisers, fifteen destroyers, sixty frigates. And two hundred attack ships, about the size of our patrol ships.”

  A side window popped up, showing the configuration and quantities of the alien ships.

  Apparently, Thor and the rest of the Cencore fleet were able to destroy the patrol ships and the sixty frigates. But none of the destroyers, cruisers and dreadnaughts. Those are still
in Cencore.”

  Patricia paused to allow the group to digest this information and study the Cencore map. As everyone studied the map, with the alien ships shining red, she took a sip and prepared for the next image. Once she saw everyone accept what they saw, she touched an icon and a new image replaced the old.

  “Bridgelen. Only half of an alien fleet is here. Without any attack ships. It appears to be standing guard, maybe support.”

  The red images appeared, floating in empty space. The six gates encircled the fleet, marking the territory which the aliens had claimed.

  “Nothing going on here. Same with Corrinar. There is one super dreadnaught there. Under minimal power, obviously damaged. A quarter of the Bridgelen alien fleet is stationed here. The aliens, after breaking through, kept advancing and pushed into Arium.”

  Patricia quickly flashed through the Corrinar image and brought up Arium.

  “When the fleet that attacked Corrinar broke into Arium, we whittled it down to three cruisers and one dreadnaught.”

  With some of their spirits raised, everyone studied Arium.

  “This is where the last quarter of the Bridgelen fleet went.”

  “So, we are looking at a quarter of a fleet, not a full alien fleet.”

  “Plus three cruisers and a super dreadnaught, Mr. Roth. But, we have nothing in space to fight it.”

  “What’s it doing now?”

  “Invading Latinia.”

  “If they stick to their current mode of operations, the bugs will conquer Latinia before they come here. Six months?”

  “That’s what the intel says. Something funny happened on Latinia. For Sasania, Nyu Nippon and Cencore, the alien carrier launched only one wave of assault craft. In Latinia, it launched three.”

  “Uncle Shelly,” Harriet mumbled.

  “What?” Rosser asked.

  “Uncle Shelly. Latinia is a rough place. Everyone owns guns. Many grew up on the mean streets. That’s where Father grew up. I’ll bet Uncle Shelly got things organized and had a party waiting.”

  “I know him. Known him for years. I wouldn’t want to be around when he got his back up.”

  “From what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t either, Governor.”

  “So, there’s more culling occurring. This time on those bugs that planned on landing here.”

  “It would seem so, Kevin.”

  “Good. Less for us to deal with.”

  Harriet took over. “Let’s put this all together. The aliens have seized the backbone of the Federacy, from Cencore, through Bridgelen, ending in Arium. They’ve conquered and destroyed one arm, Yeni Persia and Dorogon. Does that sum it up?”

  “In terms of territory. And it seems that we’ve done a fair amount of fight-back. From those pop-ups, it looks like five alien fleets have been whittled down to about one plus a super dreadnaught and three cruisers. With zero attack ships. Right?” Roth looked at Patricia.

  “That is correct, Mr. Roth. For us, the real danger is the second carrier. The one still in Bridgelen. If Latinia destroys enough of the alien assault force, then the aliens will probably bring in that last carrier, with a full complement of troops. That’s probably why it’s holding position in Bridgelen. Waiting to see where it is needed.”

  “Well. We got our update. Nothing’s changed. The bugs are coming. We’re almost ready.”

  “Sorry for the bad news, Mz. Brandt.”

  “It wasn’t bad news, Dear. Just the truth. A tough pill to swallow. Shar! Can we all get a fresh round. I don’t know about the rest of you, but, I need a drink.”

  “We all do.”

  Sanctuary

  The tight-beam communication link could only be detected if a sensor sat directly in its path. Flybys, sensor readings or any means of registering the beam all would come back negative. Secure in this knowledge, Lawrence Gregor, with his people, and Hank McCauley, with his people, worked the problem of the asteroid strike on Sanctuary.

  “Did you come up with something, Hank?”

  “Yes, Boss. But you aren’t going to like it.”

  “What won’t I like?”

  “We can deflect the rock. Enough so that it will miss Sanctuary. With rockets.”

  “Ok. We fire rockets at it.”

  “Well, you can’t fire them from Sanctuary. The Aliens will be able to track them back to you.”

  “So, we launch them from space.”

  “That’s the part you aren’t going to like, Boss.”

  “Why?”

  “We need to use the stingers to launch the rockets.”

  “And then the Aliens will know that they are hiding in the asteroids.”

  “The aliens probably already think that. There’s been heavy patrolling. Those bugs are looking for something. The stingers.

  “If we leave things be, those alien patrols won’t find them. Those stingers, and their supply ship are dug in deep, dead on asteroids. What happens if we let the asteroid hit Sanctuary?”

  “From my calculations, it’s a glancing blow. But a big blow nevertheless. Sanctuary will be damaged.”

  “Breached?”

  “Could be.”

  “Then that’s out. Maybe Jean and her ships can sneak in, fire and get out.”

  “That’s best case, Boss. The problem is that, since Heimdallr came through here and killed a couple of alien ships, like I said, the aliens have been running scout missions. We need to time it for when they aren’t here.”

  “Any suggestions?”

  “I have one, Mr. Gregor.”

  “What is it, Ian?”

  “What if we don’t use rockets?”

  “Where are you going with this?”

  “We have extra platforms. Without the X-cannons or fission reactors. We load one up with the needed explosives. Ram it into the asteroid at the right spot, then explode it.”

  “Hank?”

  “I like that idea better than mine. I should have talked to you an hour ago, Ian.”

  “So you think that will work?”

  “I know it will. It’s just numbers and material. Ian. Since it’s your idea, you get to put it in motion. I’ll do the calculations and figure out what you’ll need on the platform.”

  “Ok, Hank. I’ll get the lads on it, right away. Wish Jesse was here. She’d get it right.”

  “That’s the plan, then? Use the platform?’

  “Yes, Boss. That’s the plan.”

  Ballison Pyramid

  “True to your word, Igaklay. Just less than a month. That is one big jump drive.”

  Krag stared up at the jump drive, a giant cylinder as large as Griffin.

  “Buster, Vidhee. Does it check out?”

  “Vidhee and I agree, Captain. It’s ready.”

  “You can take off, now, Buster!”

  “Don’t get all wound up, Iggy. We’ll get going.”

  “Mack. The engine mounted? The control room?”

  “All set for Tinman, Cap. Ready to go.”

  “Master Varrini. Would you please contact the Princess and have her meet us in the conference room? We want her to call her father. Let him know that the drive is coming.”

  The two engineers, three synthetics and one captain strolled back to the pyramid and into the conference room. Princess Analyn and Keiko sat in their spots. Everyone else took theirs. Buster and Vidhee, strangely, took seats, also. Next to each other.

  Everyone noticed. No one commented.

  “Ready, Princess?”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  Igaklay?”

  “Go ahead, Princess Analyn.”

  “Father? Lord Kaporine?”

  “He’s not her, My Lady.”

  “Did anything happen? Is Father alright?”

  “No. nothing has happened. Your father is fine. I will get him for you.”

  As they waited, Vidhee asked, “Now is the time that you will launch the jump drive? With Buster?”

  “Yes, Vidhee.”

  “Then now is the time to begin Buster�
�s download.”

  “You get the cylinder up to your specs, Syn-Gal? Ya got Buster’s box all nice and comfy?”

  “Yes, Mack. Buster can, what do you say? Rest easily. No harm will come to him.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “We’ve already begun, Captain. About one half of a day.”

  “Hear that, Iggy? We launch this evening.”

  “Great! Then I will have more friends!”

  “Lots, Iggy.”

  “Little Fire? Are you there?”

  “Yes, Father. How are you? Is everything alright?”

  “Yes, Anyl. Everything is fine. We’re cutting it close, but almost all of our immediate family is on Wisdom Seeker, as well as our staff and keepsakes.”

  “What about you and Mother? When are you going up?”

  “Very soon, Anyl. We’re are doing final checks. Making sure that everyone who needs to go up have left.”

  “What about the warrant? Has it been issued?”

  “Yesterday. We’ll be gone before the Senatorial Guard arrives to serve it. Don’t you worry, Little Fire. Your mother and I will be fine.”

  “GRRRRRR.”

  “Watch that temper, young lady.”

  “I know. Daruke just makes me so mad.”

  “Look on the bright side. We get to visit Ballison.”

  “More like move to Ballison. Now. Why I contacted you. Buster is ready to fly the jump drive out to Wisdom Seeker. He’s leaving this evening. Since he doesn’t need any rests in between jumps, he should arrive sometime around tomorrow evening or the next morning.”

  “All the way from Ballison in less than two days. That is astounding, Little fire.”

  “You are taking the Quant-Com up with you, correct?”

  “Yes, Anyl. Johi has already disassembled my chair and boxed up the communicator. I just need to close the lid and take it with me.”

  “Buster, Igaklay. How long should it take to install the jump drive and get Wisdom Seeker here?”

  All three synthetics froze for less than two seconds.

  “After I arrive, two weeks to install the drive. And multiple small jumps to get to Ballison. Since no one on Wisdom Seeker will have the nanite injections, they will be prone to unconsciousness and possible injury. Therefore the trip in will be fairly long. Another one to two weeks. We project that Wisdom Seeker should be over Ballison within a month.”