The Black Planet

by J W Murison

  There was silence for a while. The head of the organisation seemed deep in thought. ‘I will put every resource I can at your disposal Captain Gordon, would you look into the problem for us and try and find a solution?’

  ‘I will try sir. Will that be all for the moment?’

  ‘Yes captain, thank you.’

  For the next few weeks Steven attended meeting after meeting, but seemed to be getting nowhere fast. One Sunday he was sitting with his own military men discussing the situation.

  Steven was rubbing the back of his neck. ‘It’s the biggest known invasion force ever assembled.’ His eyes flicked up, ‘even bigger than D Day Sarge.’

  Kelly normally felt out of place in these meetings as they talked about things well above his pay grade, but if there was one thing Kelly did know about it was invasions. ‘Cup of Joe sir?’

  ‘Thanks Sarge I would appreciate that.’

  Howe flicked through his tablet, ‘Even if we could build enough factories sir, we still don’t have the time to build enough ships.’

  Steven took the offered cup, ‘thank you. I know colonel. They have had the resources of a dozen planets going at it for years and we have the resources of one and no time.’

  ‘We have the guns sir, just not the ships to mount them on.’

  Steven agreed, ‘I know. We are so far ahead we need to wind that part of the operation down. Maybe we can convert the factories into making something else. Any suggestions?’

  The silence stretched. It was Kelly who eventually broke it. ‘I think you fellas are over thinking it all. There’s too much brains at this table.’

  Steven found himself grinning as did Tapper and Howe, ‘go on the Sarge, help us out here,’ Steven encouraged.

  Kelly shoved his boots up on the table and took a mouthful of coffee with a sigh. ‘By the end of the second world war our combined air forces had bombed the shit out of industrial Germany, but still the shits managed to put men and machines onto the battlefield. What the Krauts were really good at was improvising, making do with whatever they could get their hands on. When they ran out of steel they saved time and expense by mounting guns on motorised carriages and aimed them by steering the damn things, effective too. You ain’t ever seen anything as terrifying as a German Panzer regiment coming at you with all their guns blazing. Blitzkrieg they called it. We learned how to stop them though.

  What I can see from all this is that you are playing the enemy’s game sir. Looks to me like ships of the line pounding on each other until one ships sinks. Forget all your fancy fighter squadron tactics at the moment sir. Strip all that off and you’re going at it like an old naval type battle, right?’

  Steven shrugged, ‘I suppose I can see where you are coming from Sarge, go on.’

  ‘Seems to me that there are lots of examples in human naval history where outnumbered fleets have won the day. Let’s shove all that to the side for the moment sir. Right now we got Navy, Air force and infantry all going into battle. Where’s our tanks sir, where’s our artillery? It’s how we stopped the Panzers sir, sheer fire power. You don’t need a thousand battle cruisers or ten thousand Destroyers when you got a hundred thousand tanks or artillery pieces. Why not mount a gun on a chassis like a tank, give it some form of propulsion. We got millions of tankie’s and artillery boys just howling to get in on this act, hell I hear they are trying to join the infantry to get in on the fight. You don’t need bloody big Destroyers or Battleships sir, get some artillery, get some tanks. Hell my nine year old great nephew could probably fly something like that, I seen him and his friends on those game machines shooting the shit out of things.’

  Steven blinked rapidly as he communicated with Babes. ‘It is something that has never been done before.’

  Kelly shrugged, ‘all the better sir, the buggers won’t know what’s hit them until it’s too late. We got thousands of cargo ships now sir, you could transport them to the battlefield that way then deploy them just out of range. Take them into battle in large formations of a thousand guns at a time, like the krauts did.’

  ‘Slow moving targets like those could easily be avoided Sarge, or become easy prey to fighters,’ Tapper pointed out the obvious.

  ‘Get them into their set piece battle then deploy the tanks sir. You guys ain’t sure if this is an air force battle or a naval battle yet. Well it ain’t, it’s a battle for our goddamn existence and we got to use every advantage we got, and anything they ain’t got in their training manuals is a goddamn advantage sir. Yeah, sure, it won’t take them long to figure out these things are easy prey. Hell it didn’t take our boys long to discover that their Sherman’s weren’t any good against a kraut Tiger, hell the brass knew before they set foot in Europe that our boys wouldn’t stand a chance going toe to toe against a German Tiger Tank. What they did was outnumber them about ten or twenty to one.’ Kelly took his feet down from the table and sat forward, ‘let me tell you something else, knowing they were outclassed didn’t stop our boys either. They found a way of dealing with the Tigers just as we will find a way to defeat these beasts, simply because we have no other choice. Lay a trap, lead them into a set piece battle then kill them.’

  Stevens mind opened up to the possibilities, ‘at this moment in time we have ten thousand heavy guns waiting for ships and another twenty thousand lighter ones, not including those for close defence against fighters. Sarge you may well have saved the day. I’m going to go and see if I can wrap a small ship round a gun,’ he stood, ‘if you will excuse me gentlemen.’

  The two special service men regarded Kelly with admiration, it was Howe who voiced what he was thinking, ‘well done Sarge.’

  Kelly shoved his feet back up onto the table, ‘hell you boys are just kiddies in this game.’

  The two men laughed until their sides hurt.

  Chapter 46

  The new gunships went into full production. Every second of every minute of every day was cherished on Earth. The whole world turned its attention to the impending invasion. New tactics were hurriedly introduced to accommodate the new weapons. Every tank man and artillery gunner on the planet volunteered as did many naval gunners. The youth of the World stood forward and volunteered for service. Millions of men now lived off world and trained daily in a zero gravity. The huge mountains of rubbish on the Earth were slowly gobbled up. Many of the dumps the crews salvaged materials from were now large empty craters.

  A large Imperial fleet had caught up with the Albany fleet and was now escorting it towards the great barrier. As a result the humans now had detailed scans of the fleet, its resources and defences. A large portion of the ships were troop carriers. It relieved some of the pressure however none of the ships were defenceless. The Albany City Ship was a hive of activity as hundreds of cargo vessels arrived and left every day. It took three months longer than expected to reach the great barrier. The giant fleet split up and slid through. On reaching the other side safety they regrouped before two thirds of the fleet began a dash for the Black Planet.

  For the first few weeks Steven shadowed the fleet. Tension was high as they waited to be detected but nothing happened. He didn’t dare scan the ships but within a few days he began to slip in between the vessels and took high definition pictures. He then travelled back to the city ship. When they detected no shields, he did a thorough reconnaissance of the city ship. With their reconnaissance completed, they raced at top speed to get ahead of the assault fleet. He rendezvoused with Earths Battle Fleet a few weeks before the Albany Battle reached the Black planet.

  Chapter 47

  Commander John Logan sat in the seat of his fighter in the all-consuming darkness of the freighters hull. He knew Alfie was just a few meters away to his right but could see nothing of him, his ship or the other members of the squadron. Now the cold was beginning to bite and he wanted to puke. They had been inside the freighters hull for hours now and had powered down with the approach of the enemy fleet. A violent bought of shivering racked his frame but they dare not
switch on even their suits heating unit.

  The freighter was now abandoned and he knew it would never be recovered. It had been returned to its exact position on the Black Planet; the grasses so hastily dumped before had been picked up and disposed of. For weeks, months now teams had been on the planet preparing a surprise for the enemy. The Burning Wind had also returned to her spot on the planet but was now manned by a human crew apart from the tenacious chief engineer who refused to die, despite having being hit many times by the suns deadly neutrons.

  He stood beside the new captain of The Burning Wind and watched as an Albany probe headed straight for them. He rarely dwelt on his luck, assuming correctly that the heavy gravity of his home world, a colony world, gave his body the density he needed to survive the deadly neutrons of the human’s sun. His world produced some of the best engineers in the Empire and yet his people were always being ridiculed by the rest of his race for their smaller stature. For the first time in his life he felt like a giant. Few humans could reach even his diminutive height and with them he finally began to receive the respect and recognition many from his home world craved.

  ‘The probe is trying to scan us sir.’ An operator announced. The captain looked towards his weird looking chief engineer who shook his head.

  ‘Ignore it and let the ships automatic defences deal with it. Once they have destroyed it I will bring the ship up to full power sir.’

  The captain frowned, ‘won’t they be suspicious?’

  ‘No, they will expect it. The Albany tried to gain access to The Burning Winds access codes on the black-market but they were fed false ones. Don’t worry about it though.’

  ‘You mean they will suspect the codes were false?’

  ‘That’s right sir. I think you humans have a saying for it.’

  ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’

  The engineer grunted his agreement. ‘The Burning Wind would have been a great asset to them, it was worth the risk.’

  ‘The probe is attempting a link sir,’ the same operator reported. The automatic defences of The Burning Wind swung into operation and blasted the probe from the dark sky. ‘It’s down sir and the ships following behind have turned away.’

  ‘You were right,’ grinned the Captain.

  ‘I have played this game many times sir. It’s time to bring The Burning Wind up to full power, no one will approach us now.’

  The captain agreed, ‘do it.’

  The engineer growled out commands to his team and The Burning Wind seemed to spring to life as all of its systems came online. ‘They will expect the automatic defences to stay alert for six hours before winding down again.’

  ‘Do you think they will approach again?’

  ‘Not within that six hour period sir. If they have more than one set of codes they would return but by then the battle should be over.’

  ‘Here’s hoping.’

  ‘You have two thirds of the enemy fleet here, more than we anticipated. If you can kill all of them then you will be left with even numbers.’

  ‘Yes apart from a bloody great city ship seventy miles in circumference.’

  ‘The city ship only has light defences sir. Enough to take out any amount of those ballistic missiles you humans are so fond of, but those guns will barely scratch The Burning Wind.’

  ‘No, but formidable enough to destroy landing craft.’

  ‘That is true sir. If I was you sir I would worry about this battle and not the one to come.’

  ‘You make a good point, let’s do just that. Do you think they will actually land?’

  The chief engineer did something to his tablet and a big screen appeared, he zoomed in on one particular craft. ‘Do you see the strange shape of this vessel sir?’

  ‘Yes it seems to have a big hole cut out of it.’

  He zoomed in on the side of the ship, ‘those markings on the ship state that it is a hospital ship, immune from harm. It isn’t though. Our ships managed to do an in-depth scan of the ship. It is a medical ship, but it’s also a factory ship.’

  ‘I see it, it’s for making serum, and I have no doubt that its shape will slip right over the top of their facility.’

  ‘That’s right sir,’ the engineer zoomed in on some strange looking pipes that ran up and down the side of the ship. ‘Those look like tethers. You can pass anything you want through them from ship to ship.’

  ‘Like inline refuelling.’

  ‘I understand the concept sir and yes that is quite a good analogy. Only I think they are there to pass the serum from ship to ship. The structure is on a flat plane of almost a hundred of your Earth miles square. All ships have the ability to tether together like that. You could easily land a whole battle group and link them up.’

  The captain sat forward, ‘oh my god that is brilliant. Once the serum is ready you could dose whole squadrons at the same time.’

  ‘I think that is exactly the reason for this sir. Time; every minute they live unprotected can cause a death. I think they will land, link up and then wait for the serum to be made. Make a batch deliver it. Transfer to the ships will only take a few minutes. They move off the next battle group lands, lands, links up. By the time they have linked up the next batch is ready.’

  ‘Simple but very effective.’

  ‘Yes sir and the little accident we staged at the facility door should delay the medical ship landing.’

  The captain nodded, ‘which should give more ships a chance of landing. That was a brilliant idea, whose was it?’

  The chief engineer shrugged but his 2ic leaned over, ‘I think it was Admiral Baxter’s sir. He wanted as many ships in as small a space as possible for their big surprise and thought a small delaying tactic would concentrate them nicely.’

  ‘It my well work to, I just wish I could see what the hell was happening now.’

  Chapter 48

  Commander Gee Ran To’ Nach, felt himself swell with pride at his achievements. His father had set up this base many years before and his sacrifice had helped propel his sons to greater heights. Somewhere down below his father’s corpse lay with those of his companions. The bodies would be retrieved with great pomp and ceremony. The ceremony would be broadcast live as was every step of this adventure. News crews were already aboard the medical ship and would go in with the first element.

  His command ship hung high above the planet. All of his crew and the leadership element had already been inoculated. Below there was just enough serum for the invasion fleet which would travel straight to the planet Earth. They would begin by destroying the planets nuclear capability. He knew their primitive weapons could not destroy a shielded warship, but he didn’t put it past the disgusting meat eaters to try and irradiate their own planet. The second part of the plan was to eradicate much of the population and the wildlife. The third was to effect a landing and gather up as many survivors as they needed to complete their plans and finally they would eradicate every other living thing on the face of the planet. The creatures in the seas would be harvested at a later day to provide a fertiliser for the great savannahs that they would create.

  The city ship was full of agricultural workers ready to go to work on this new planet. Things would be hard on all of them to begin with due to the Earth’s gravity, but in time they would adapt and future generations would be able to cope much easier and build a natural resistance to this sun’s harmful rays. He already loathed the meat eaters of this planet. Like many other species of meat eaters they had been content to sit upon their own world and kill one another.

  When he was appointed commander he had been taken to one of the secret facilities that had bred captive humans. The stink of these animals had shocked him and to make matters worse a special display had been set up for him. They had let loose a dozen males on half a dozen females. The males had literally torn each other to shreds with hands and teeth for possession of the females. Those that had been able after the fight had then forced themselves on the females. The sight of them fornicati
ng in their own filth had turned his third stomach. He was happy there was no longer a single animal left alive on his home world.

  A subordinate walked up and saluted, ‘sir if I may disturb you?’

  ‘You have a progress report?’

  ‘Yes sir. The medical ship may well be delayed in taking up its position.’

  ‘Why what has gone wrong?’

  ‘It would seem one of the scientists craft crashed into the facility. Our engineers have cleared it away along with all the others but there is damage to the facility.’

  The commander felt a chill run through him, ‘has the integrity of the facility been compromised.’

  The subordinate looked at his pad, ‘they were able to see inside sir. The outer door is badly damaged and twisted and will have to be cut away, however they believe the interior door is secure. Would you like the engineers to return to fix the problem before the medical ship lands?’

  ‘Did they say if the medical ship could land the way the door is now?’

  ‘They did sir and they could.’

  ‘Then send a team of engineers cross deck to the medical ship. Tell the medical ship as soon as it is safe to do so to land and the fleet as well.’

  As soon as the medical ship landed a small shuttle of engineers slid into its docking bay. The leading battle group began to land and the ships began to connect to each other.

  Another aid approached, ‘if I may disturb you sir?’ He flicked a hand at the aid as he watched the live footage from the medical ship. The engineers were now beginning to cut through the thick door and he felt the suspense begin to mount within him.’

  ‘The codes we procured for The Burning Wind failed sir and the ships automatic defences took down our probe.’

  ‘No surprises there then, were our hails answered?’

  ‘No sir.’

  ‘Then the crew must be dead.’

  ‘We have also found a discrepancy amongst the ships that were reported to be here sir.’