by Saxon Andrew
Chapter Five
Dean sat in the Cafeteria on Babylon and liked the new smell of the recently commissioned Carrier. He was now a Scout Captain and commanded a Wing of Scouts assigned to the new Carrier. Captain Kuchen was a good Commander and the huge ship was getting into ship-shape quickly. He took a bite of fish and heard behind him, “I thought you were dead!”
He turned around and saw Megan standing behind him. “I thought you were as well.”
“Why haven’t you tried to call me?”
Dean looked at Megan and said, “Sit down, Lieutenant!”
Megan’s eyes widened slightly and she sat down in the chair next to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Lieutenant, you and I are over! You got that!”
“But, Sir.”
“I’ve tried to spare your feelings but you just don’t get it. You and I are nothing alike and you need to move on with your life and find someone just like you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Someone who enjoys killing just as much as you do, Lieutenant. I’m not that person and I never will be.”
Megan’s eyes narrowed, “I’ve not killed anyone!”
“You need to go to your Attack Sled and count the alien lifeforms you’ve painted on it. I know that’s your job and you take great pleasure in doing it. You’d make a great hunter, Megan. Killing defenseless animals is also something I don’t enjoy.
“I should report you for this?”
“Go ahead. I told the Fleet Psychiatrists when I originally joined the service about my feelings and they made me a Scout. You need to report something they don’t know. However, the fact you would threaten me to continue a shallow relationship tells me more about you than anything else you could say. Take your hard-heart and find another just like it. You got that!”
Megan stood up, “Yes, Sir!”
Dean stared at her and sneered, “Maybe if we can survive against these Aliens, you can go back to killing unarmed intelligent species and get your jollies. We all follow our orders, Lieutenant. But some of us don’t enjoy it as much as you do.”
Dean turned around and Megan walked away. Two-hours later, she was transferred and ordered to report to the Troy. She was furious and, for a week, she fumed about the way Dean treated her. Just before the Fleet launched, she painted over the lifeforms on her Attack Sled. She remembered her puppy as a five-year old and the neighbor that killed it with a pistol for barking. Now she was killing beings that were much more than her puppy.
Jerry Morgan walked over and watched her painting her Attack Sled, “Hey, just a few more of those and you’ll have the lead in our wing.” Megan looked at him and Jerry shook his head, “Your artwork is the best I’ve seen. Would you mind painting my Sled after we go back to normal operations.”
Megan stared at him and asked, “Did you keep track of how many were children?”
“As much as I could.” Megan turned around and continued painting her ship’s hull. Jerry smiled, “Think about it. I’ll pay you to do it.” He walked away and Megan saw what Dean saw in her. She didn’t like what she saw. She knew Dean would suggest that Jerry would make a good companion for her. She hated that he was probably right.
She survived the attack on the Alien Ships by only going in after someone else had damage them enough to get close enough to take a shot. She followed directly behind many of the braver Sled Pilots and fired only after they were vaporized. Her recordings showed her attacks and no one noticed her cowardice. She was best at killing those that couldn’t fire back. She finished the job and Anthony Lengo said behind her, “Why are you doing that?”
Megan turned around and shrugged, “Perhaps another image is called for now.”
“Like?”
“An Alien Warship.”
Anthony smiled, “I like the way you think.” He walked away and Megan smiled; she liked the way he thought as well.
• • •
Rory watched the Fleet start moving away from Earth and hoped he was ready. His bridge crew had gotten his Flagship in order quickly and the New York was ready for combat. He didn’t know about the other ships. Rear-Admiral Donovan had gotten the California ready but the majority of his command was made up of warships that had replaced the ones lost in the first battle. At least the survivors knew what to expect and Donovan had paired many of the new-comers with a veteran warship. The Alexandria was still being repaired and Kuchen was given command of a brand-new Carrier. Rory wouldn’t have to worry about the Babylon. One good thing was he wouldn’t be going out to kill defenseless Alien Species.
His new Captain of the New York, Captain Meredith Legion turned to him, “Sir, I’ll be ordering Captain Hamlin’s Scout Wing out before we arrive at the gap between the two-spiral arms.”
“That would be good, Captain.” Donovan almost pitched a fit when Rory took his pilot. But Command had its privileges and he would just have to deal with it. It appeared Donovan had another pilot just about as good, so he didn’t protest too long. Admiral Bentley’s Squadron wasn’t as good as his and he wasn’t open to accepting advice from anyone Bentley had seniority over Admiral Donovan but Rory was not going to allow that to have any impact. He kept the two Squadrons separated and knew which of the two he’d send in first. Donovan would clean up the mess Bentley made.
A hundred and two-warships made up his fleet. He hoped it would be enough. But he was not going to take on an equal force if he could avoid it. That would be a losing proposition and he was going out to discover what Earth was up against, not pick a fight. He was going to move across the gap between the Orion Spur and Perseus arms and then move to the Norma-Outer Spiral Arm. Perhaps if things got dicey, he could make those Aliens believe they originated in that spiral arm. It was up to the Scouts to make sure the course was clear before they made the run to Norma.
• • •
Dean was holding a final meeting with his Scout Wing’s Commanders and issuing direct orders they must follow. His Wing had been given a new model of Scout that had a polymer hull that absorbed scanner radiation and made it extremely difficult to detect. An enemy vessel would have to be close, very close, to detect the new Scout with electronic scans. The polymer absorbed scanner radiation and the Scout’s hull reflected most of the scan away from the scanner’s source. But they weren’t invisible; they could be detected if they moved too close to an Alien Warship.
“I’ve taught all of you how to only use enough power to operate your drive-fields. The drive-fields are our biggest weakness and you have to shut it down, along with all your systems if an enemy warship is approaching your position at high speed. Don’t get cute and try to be a hero; it won’t work. Your job is to collect information and live long enough to report it!”
“Sir, I’m not clear on what you mean by coasting to a position?”
Dean shook his head, “Lt. O’Malley, you will not go out with the wing.”
“BUT, SIR!”
“I’m not going to teach you on the fly. You should have picked up how it works before now.” Dean looked around, “If you’re using partial power on your drive-field and you go to full engine power, your scout will coast inside the field for several light years. You can shut down the power to your secondary systems and then shut down your drive field as you approach anything that might be dangerous. You should have practiced this enough to be comfortable with it, Lieutenant. I’m not going to risk exposing my Wing because you aren’t proficient. Any other questions?”
The Scout Pilots were silent and Dean said, “Go to your ships. We’ll be launching at the gap.”
• • •
Dean arrived in the Babylon’s landing bay and found Captain Kuchen waiting for him. Dean came to attention and saluted. “At Ease, Capitan. Your wing is ready, Da?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I know you have been given orders but I want you to understand that you will not flee back to the fleet, Da?”
“Yes, Sir. Where do you want us to go?”
&nbs
p; “I think the Norma Arm is a good place to die, if one must.”
“Yes, Sir. I’ll inform my pilots after we launch.”
“That is good time, Capitan.” Kuchen turned and left the landing bay. Dean wondered if the Captain had his Wing’s best interests at heart but after thinking about it, they would be moving toward the Norma Arm and it would be easier to just continue moving that way if trouble arrived. If a pursuing enemy warship could be lost, then it would be possible to return to the fleet. He looked at his portable pad and saw the Aliens should be located further out on the Perseus arm but that was just a good guess. Maybe they’d not run into trouble where they were crossing the arms. At least he could hope they wouldn’t.
• • •
The Fleet went to their drive-fields and spread out on a wide front. Rory looked at the map of the Milky Way and saw they were making good time toward the edge of the Orion Spur. He looked at Captain Legion and she said, “The Scouts have launched from the Babylon, Sir.”
“Keep me informed on what they find.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Order all ships to stop before arriving at the edge.”
The Communications Officer nodded, “Captain Legion issued the order thirty-minutes ago, Sir.” Rory smiled. He had a good crew.
• • •
Rear-Admiral Bentley was sitting on his command-chair rocking back and forth, “What is Mankin doing. We’re out here to do some killing!”
Captain Jim Logan said, “Sir, he’s making sure there is not an overwhelming enemy force ahead of us.”
“Cowardice is what he’s putting on display, Captain.”
Logan shook his head. All conversations were recorded on the bridge had Bentley had better hope Admiral Mankin didn’t hear what he just said. He was paired with an idiot. Didn’t Bentley watch the recordings of the battle? Probably not. Bentley was a political promotion and was assigned to the fleet by General Thorpe. Logan thought a moment and wondered if Mankin knew it.
• • •
The Fleet came to a stop and Bentley sneered, “The Admiral should be replaced. He has no courage.”
• • •
Lisa Cambridge looked up from her console and nodded to Meredith. She turned to Rory and said, “Sir, I think you should hear something.”
“What is that?”
“A recording made on the London’s bridge.”
“Have you ordered their conversations to be monitored, Captain?”
“I have, Sir.”
Rory stared at Meredith and said, “Send it to my panel.” Rory listened to Bentley and his eyes narrowed. He looked at Meredith, “Contact Colonel Maywell and see this situation is resolved.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
Bentley continued to talk about Admiral Mankin and looked up as a Marine Colonel walked on the bridge, raised a hand disruptor, and fired it into his chest. Bentley’s expression showed shock and he was too stunned to move. His lifeless body fell out of the chair and the Colonel turned to Captain Logan. Admiral Mankin has promoted you to command his Second Squadron. Do you think you can do that without sewing sedition?”
“Yes, Colonel.”
“I don’t think I messed up your chair; I only used low power to remove the traitor.” The Colonel turned and walked off the bridge.
Logan looked at Bentley’s dead body and said, “Get a cleaning crew up here to remove this garbage.” Logan looked at Lt. Jennings, “You are promoted to command the London. Get things organized for combat.”
“Yes, Sir.” The bridge crew cheered.
• • •
Rory listened to the cheer and knew there would be some repercussions but he had the recording. He’d allow Admiral Nelson to sort it out after his return…if he returned.
• • •
Dean’s Scout Wing flew into the gap between the two-spiral arms and went to full speed until they were two-light years out from the Perseus Arm. All fifty-scouts shut down their engines and reduced the power of their drive-fields. Dean thought about calling the gap a void but there were numerous stars scattered in it. The density was far below the numbers of stars in the two-spiral arms but there were enough to make calling the gap a void inaccurate.
He kept any star he passed directly behind him to make the signature of his scout difficult to detect. He made it across the gap and turned on his passive scanner. He searched for anything remotely resembling a drive-field or an energy source and came up empty. He wondered if any of his Scouts had detected anything but there was no way for him to know. They were ordered to follow communication silence to prevent their presence from being detected. He arrived halfway across the Perseus Arm and nothing had shown up. He fired his engines briefly and then shut them down again as he coasted at super-light speed. He arrived on the edge of the spiral arm and pressed a button on his panel. A tiny device ejected from his Scout and activated its tiny drive-field. It disappeared an instant later and Dean turned around and started moving back along the path he had taken through the arm. He arrived halfway back and detected the Fleet moving at maximum speed toward him. He landed on the Babylon and refueled his Scout. Only one Scout had detected the presence of Alien Vessels far out to the portside but the lane through the middle of the Scouts was clear. The Scouts refueled and launched again before the Fleet arrived at the gap between the Perseus and Noma Spiral Arms.
• • •
Dean was approaching the Norma Arm at high-speed and heard alarms go off at high-volume. He dropped his drive-field and hit the front thrusters on his Scout. He slowed to a hundred-thousand-miles per second and saw eight-bright lights on his monitor. He queried his computer and heard, “The source of those emissions is identical to the energy of the Alien Warships.”
He punched the probe button and another communication-probe ejected from his hull. Good! Now the Fleet would know what lied ahead. He activated his drive-filed slowly and began moving toward the closest energy source. He coasted in to a planetary system and saw that the energy was coming from a planet close to the central star. He turned up the gain on his passive scanner and saw thirty-small lights several-million miles out directly in line with the planet. He used the bow thrusters to slow and shut down power to all systems but his scanner. He said, “Activate the optical system and take images of the energy sources we’re approaching.”
Dean looked at the monitor and began seeing the Giant Alien Warships start scrolling across the monitor. He hit the starboard bow thruster and turned the scout away from the distant warships. He turned the bow thrusters toward the rear of the Scout and flew at a tangent to their location. An hour later, he turned the bow toward the Fleet’s last known location and fired the engines briefly. The Scout accelerated as Dean added slightly more power to the drive-field as he left the Norma Arm.
• • •
Rory heard the alarms go off and saw his crew go to Battlestations. “What do you have?”
Lisa looked up, “Sir, I’ve received a communication probe from four Scouts that have encountered multiple stars with those Alien Vessels. There is a high concentration of their forces in the Norma Spiral Arm.”
“Did any of them get a scan of their strength?”
“Captain Hamlin scanned thirty-warships holding position three-million-miles out from the planet where their energy signature was detected.”
“How many stars showed that energy?”
“Captain Hamlin’s scan showed eight within a small area of space in the Norma Arm, Sir.”
Rory looked at Meredith, “It appears we were wrong about where they are located.”
“There was one reading in the Perseus Arm, Admiral.”
Rory lifted his short-range communicator, “All ships will stop and turn around! Maintain formation back to the edge of the Perseus arm.” The Fleet began turning and Rory sat back in his chair. Those twenty-warships that went to reinforce the Aliens at the colonized planet had not come from this direction. That must mean there is one of their plane
ts in the Perseus Arm. “Let me know when all the scouts have returned.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
Six-hours later, Lt. Mark Anderson left the Babylon and accelerated toward the location where a scout had scanned an Alien Energy Source. Dean was ordered to send his best scout and Captain Kuchen refused to allow him to go. Dean prayed Mark had learned enough to survive. He’d soon know.
Rory looked at his two Squadron Admirals and said, “What I’ve been able to determine from information our Scouts just brought back is that at least Thirty of their Warships are assigned to defend their planets. That’s not cast in stone; that’s all they were able to scan holding position out from their planets. There could possibly be more at the planets. However, seven of their Warships attacked us and twenty-one more were moving to reinforce them. That might mean they left two at the planet. I’ve sent a scout out to determine if more than one of their planets are in the Perseus Arm. If there’s only one, we will launch an attack on it. The power spikes are our best bet to do severe damage and we need to use them wisely. Make sure the Destroyers keep a full dart cloud between your ships and the Aliens. It’s the only thing that will stop their trident barrages; they’re unaffected by our magnetic-deflectors. We’ll be moving slowly toward that contact and will wait to see what our scout finds out.”
“What if there’s more than one planet, Sir?”
“Admiral Logan, we cannot defeat sixty of those ships. Thirty is going to be a real challenge but if I don’t attack, all of us will be punished when we return. Just be prepared to run if necessary.”
“Which way?” Dan asked.
“Further out the Perseus Arm. We’ll only turn back if we lose them.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
Rory ended the contact and thought about what was happening. What were those seven Alien Warships doing in the Orion Spur? That planet is a long way off from their position. He looked at Lt. Cambridge, “Lieutenant, play the recording from the Scout that first detected those seven warships that attacked at the colony planet.”
Rory looked up at the main-monitor and saw the seven vessels moving at maximum speed. He pressed a button on his panel and the images stopped. He stood up from his chair and walked under the giant wall monitor. He stared at it and turned around, “Lieutenant, what is that?”