by Saxon Andrew
Sparky smiled, “Hundreds. And there had to be many more than that on the facility that died to our beams.”
“Isn’t it wonderful?”
“It is. Now let’s finish up and move back to that planet’s atmosphere.”
“Why?”
“We need to see how long it takes the Traugh to respond to our attack.”
Pam nodded as the remaining undamaged Traugh Warships were blasted into vapor clouds. Pam suddenly heard the sonic scanner getting louder, “Time to go!” She turned the ship and disappeared in an instant. She arrived at the gas giant planet and entered its outer atmosphere. She locked the optical scope on the huge burning depot and sat back to see what happened. She glanced at Sparky, “I didn’t notice but were we hit by any of the depot’s disintegrators?”
“Six of them hit us. It appears the disintegrators do have a small arc of movement. They didn’t all hit simultaneously but I think they wouldn’t have harmed us if they did. Our force field is stronger than we’ve been told.”
Pam turned back to the monitor, “That’s good to know.” Her eyes narrowed, “That didn’t take long.” Sparky nodded as more than four hundred Traugh Warships began coming out of their stardrives into normal space around the devastated depot and warships. “I suspect they aren’t very happy right now.”
Sparky laughed, “You think?” Pam laughed with him and felt the deep satisfaction of what they had done.
• • •
The Minor-Fleet Leader looked at the destruction and it took every ounce of self-control to not rip the arms of his command chair with his claws. He looked at his panel and yelled, “REPORT!”
“The scan taken of the attack shows one of our vessels firing on the refueling depot. I’ve received confirmation that the ship that did it is the one that’s been missing.”
“Attention all ships, spread out and scan for the ship that did this. It can’t be too far from here.” The four hundred warships instantly scattered as another eight hundred warships arrived and joined the hunt. None of them moved toward the planetary system but moved out into open space. Sparky looked at Pam and shook his head, “Take us deeper into the planet’s atmosphere.”
“Why?”
“I’d sent the first ships out into open space and then send the late arrivals to search inside the planetary system.”
Pam saw another four hundred warships appear and she turned the bow into the planet’s atmosphere, “Do you think they’ll be able to detect us?”
“I couldn’t see the planet with our scanners and we have a more powerful system. We can use the time to rest up and think about what we’ve learned from this experience.” Pam moved deeper into the giant planet’s atmosphere and fought the high winds. She arrived two hundred miles from the planets core and locked the ship into position. The strong winds would move it but she didn’t worry about their position above the planet. The computer automatically kept the ship at a constant altitude. She looked at Sparky, “I didn’t sleep much last night anticipating this. I’m going to go to sleep.”
“I’ll mind the store. I’ll see you later.” Pam nodded and left the bridge. Sparky moved to the pilot’s chair and turned on the communications system. He listened and smiled. Pam was right. There were some very unhappy Traugh running around above the planet. He looked at the console and pulled up a readout on the conditions outside the force field. He was surprised at the temperature. It was more than six hundred degrees. He was thankful for the force field. Detecting the ship in that heat would be extremely difficult. It was taking the field’s full power to keep it out. No Traugh ship could survive it very long. He leaned back and listened. This was a good time to see how the Traugh handled attackers. He suddenly wondered how the communicator’s waves penetrated the planet’s atmosphere but the scanners couldn’t. It had to be due to a different wavelength but he didn’t know the technology involved. The communication waves moved faster than light speed and the scanners didn’t. That had to be part of the reason. Oh well, he’d ask the computer about it later. He was enjoying the Traugh’s frustration too much to worry about it now.
• • •
“Supreme Leader, the facility had no warning.”
“What were the warships doing while this was happening? Sitting on their claws?” The Fleet Leader almost responded but kept his mouth shut. The Supreme Leader was in no mood to be questioned. After a moment, the Supreme Leader said, “I suppose all the crews were on the depot?”
“They were.”
“That will have to stop immediately.”
“Do you want all crews to be ordered to remain on their ships when refueling?”
“OF COURSE NOT! HOW WILL I MAKE A PROFIT ON THEIR GAMBLING?”
“Yes, Supreme Leader. How do you want it done?”
“I want every depot assigned a defense force of a hundred warships to protect them.”
“I will issue the orders immediately.”
“See that you do!”
“Supreme Leader, I have one question.”
“What is that?”
“The ships I assign to the depots will want to know how they will be paid.”
There was a long silence and the Fleet Leader feared he had gone too far. He lowered his head into his shoulders and then heard, “I almost ordered your execution but you’re right to ask. The defense force will be lowered to fifty warships and they will be paid from the depot’s gambling profits.”
“Thank you for your mercy, Great Leader. I’ll issue the orders.”
“Have you found that ship?”
“No, it had too much of a lead. After two hours, the gaps between our ships were too large to have much of a chance of finding it. You know how a short lead of twenty seconds is too long to find the fleeing vessel. This attacker had a minute or more.”
The Supreme Leader swore and said, “I want the planet that being came from destroyed!”
• • •
Sparky sat up in his chair.
• • •
“Great Leader, I would beg that you reconsider that.”
“Are you challenging me!?”
“No, Great Leader but that being’s home world is the only bargaining chip we have to use against him. We can threaten to kill his species if he doesn’t turn himself over to us. If we go ahead and kill them, we’ll lost them as hostages.”
There was a pause and then, “You are wise, Fleet Leader. We can always kill them. Your wisdom makes me reluctant to kill you but don’t push your luck.”
“No Great Leader. I only try to be your willing servant trying to do what’s best for your interests. I would make one other suggestion.”
“WHAT?!”
“Please be merciful, Great Leader. But if you have seventy five warships at the depots with twenty five of them allowed to go to the gambling rooms, you will have the price you have to pay them reduced.”
“Now that is an excellent idea! You are promoted to full Fleet Leader. You may go and execute the current Fleet Leader. He should have thought of this.”
“Thank you. I will go immediately.”
• • •
Sparky shook his head. He loved violence but this species took it to an entirely new level. He wanted to kill but he was not in the same league as the Traugh. He wondered if he might someday be like them. He thought about that until Pam arrived on the bridge. He set the recorder to replay what he heard as he left the bridge to take a shower. Somehow, he didn’t feel very clean after he dried off.
• • •
A week passed before Pam moved the ship to the edge of the planet’s atmosphere. They listened to the sonic scanners and came up empty. Pam took a breath and looked at Sparky, “If you were in their place, what would you do?”
Sparky thought about the question and shook his head, “I’d know the scanning capability of our ship and I’d do my best to hide a vessel from being detected. I’d also have a large fleet close enough to call in if I detect the attacker returning to the scene.”
“So where would you hide a ship where we wouldn’t see it?”
“I’d put an unpowered ship in the wreckage of the ships around the depot.” Pam pursed her lips and nodded. “Here’s how we’ll make our escape. We’ll move to the other side of this planet and line it up with the depot just like we did when we moved here. We’ll go to full speed and I do mean full speed toward the star at the center of this system and move away with it between us and the depot.”
“You don’t think they’d have ships scattered around the system?”
“No. The Traugh have to believe that we need the refueling materials on the depot and will come back to collect some from the wreckage. They have no idea that we have additional fuel on board. They have to think we’re desperate and that’s why we attacked the depot.”
Pam shook her head. “I am constantly amazed by your power of reason. What do we do if you’re wrong?”
“We’ll go vertical and make them chase us until they get close enough. That’s when we’ll use the manual stop on the stardrive and take a different course until we lose them.” Pam nodded and moved back into the planet’s atmosphere. She moved around the planet and moved up until the bow was at the outer edge of the atmosphere. She looked at him as she activated the stardrive and pushed the thruster handle full forward. The huge grey warship disappeared leaving whirling gas behind them. Twenty seconds later they passed the central star and moved around it. The sonic scanner was silent. No one saw their departure.
“Where to?”
“Take us to the first hide out on that moon. We need to think about what we’re going to do next. If you don’t mind, I’m going to take a nap. Call me if anything turns up.” Pam nodded and Sparky walked off the bridge.
• • •
The old Kindred watched the Traugh Warships blasting off the spaceport. Hundreds of warships were being boarded by Traugh Warriors as the exodus continued. A young mother looked at him, “What’s going on?”
“It appears the Traugh that own our planet have been informed that it will be destroyed without warning.”
“Why?”
“We’ve wondered what happened to Kam. We believed that he was killed by the master he was serving but it appears he managed to steal one of their ships.”
“What?”
“I don’t know how he did it but everyone else that served the Traugh close to their community is accounted for. It had to be Kam that took their ship. They intend to hold us hostage against his turning himself in to their Supreme Leader.”
“He should know that once he does that, they will kill us anyway.”
“I know, child. But it gladdens my heart that he is causing them pain.”
The young female nodded, “Has he hurt them much?”
The old Kindred smiled, “You have no idea. If that Traugh’s thoughts I heard are accurate, he has caused them much consternation.”
The Female smiled, “Then our deaths will be worth it.” The old Kindred nodded as more Traugh Warships fled the planet. “What do we do now?”
“Enjoy the brief moments of peace.”
• • •
They remained in the cave for more than three weeks trying to come up with another attack plan and weren’t successful. The risks were too high to risk another attack. Sparky walked on the bridge and saw Pam staring at her console. It was clear she was troubled, “What’s wrong?”
“I looked in the computer’s database for information about the torture rooms. There is video of what happens in them. Will you take a look at what I saw?”
“Computer, send the video on the torture rooms to my panel.” Sparky leaned back and started watching the images on his helmet’s display. After a few minutes he began shaking his head and stopped the recording.
He looked at Pam and she said, “Do you remember that both of us felt that the Traugh had come up with a good idea to meet their need to kill?” Sparky’s expression was dark as he nodded. “Sparky, will we ever be like that?”
Sparky lowered his head and slowly blew out a breath, “If we feed our demons enough, we could.”
“I don’t want to be like that, Sparky.” Sparky kept his head down as Pam said, “They kill infants because they can scream loud enough to win their bet.”
“I know, I saw it. This is something we’re going to have to think about, Pam. For the moment, we need to focus on making another attack on the Traugh.”
Pam stared at her panel and sighed, “I guess it’s safe to say that attacking another depot is out of the question.” Pam looked at him as Sparky shrugged and nodded. “If that’s true, then almost every other critical target will be heavily defended as well.”
“It’s what I’d do in their place.”
“Do you know how much faster we are than their ships?”
Sparky tilted his head, “I was told six times faster by Admiral Whitehall. But we can find out easily enough.” Sparky pressed a button on his panel, “Query. What is our top speed compared to a typical Traugh Warship?”
“Not enough information to answer.”
Sparky’s eyes narrowed, “What information do you need?”
“Do you mean in a straight line or curving course.”
“Straight line.”
“If the force field is reduced to minimum power and the power routed to the thrusters, ten times the speed of a Traugh Warship in a straight line.”
Pam’s eyes went wide and Sparky immediately said, “Weaving course?”
“Under the same conditions, seven times faster.”
Sparky thought about the information and said, “Query, how long will it take to open a twenty second lead on a pursuing Traugh Warship?”
“A second lead will be produced with every two seconds being pursued in a straight line.”
Sparky looked at Pam and said, “You are brilliant!”
“I am?”
“Take the ship out of the cave.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“How long does it take you to activate the stardrive and move the bow of the ship in the direction you want to travel?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well let’s go see.” Pam activated the ship’s systems and lifted it off the cave’s floor. She exited the cave and moved above the moon. She stopped the ship and started to press the buttons on her panel. “Wait a moment. Lean back in your chair and look at the central monitor.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to guess that most ship’s pilots aren’t sitting around with their hands on the controls.” Pam tilted her head and leaned back in her chair. Sparky lifted his watch and pressed the buttons until the stopwatch function appeared. “Alright, when I shout, activate the stardrive and move the ship vertical to the moon’s surface.” Sparky put his finger on the watch’s button and hesitated. Suddenly, he said, “GO!” He pressed the button and Pam raised the ship’s bow and hit the stardrive button. She pushed the thrusters and the ship disappeared from above the moon. Sparky pressed the stop button and looked at the watch. He smiled, “Five seconds.”
“No way! I was faster than that!”
“Do it again.” Pam brought the ship to a stop and looked at Sparky. “This time, I’m going to yell the direction I want you to go.”
Pam shook her head, “Go ahead.”
Sparky reset the watch and saw her leaning slightly forward. “You’re cheating!” Pam blew out a breath and leaned back in her chair as Sparky said, “REVERSE COURSE!” Pam hit the thrusters and spun the ship. She hit the stardrive and thrusters as Sparky hit the button, “Seven seconds.”
Pam stared at him and after a moment nodded, “Getting the ship oriented on the proper course takes time.”
“What if you hit the stardrive and then tried to turn to pursue.”
“I’d have a much longer distance to make up. It would take a lot longer.”
“So if five seconds is the minimum time needed to start a pursuit, we’d only need another ten seconds to move further tha
n twenty seconds from them.”
“How do you come up with that? I thought we’d only gain a second every two seconds they’re chasing us?”
“But they’re not chasing us that first five seconds. The distance is more than tripled if they’re not in pursuit.”
Pam stared at him and leaned back in her chair. “Does that mean we’ll be outside their scanner range in ten seconds?”
“Yes, if they’re able to respond as fast as you did anticipating it. I really suspect their time will be slower.”
“How does this help us?”
“If we flash in and hit them with all disintegrators blazing, then immediately go to full speed, we should be able to get away.”
“But they’ll see us coming.”
“But we’ll be on them so fast that if they do activate their stardrives, all we have to do is open fire and take a path that would be difficult for them to orient their ships on. Would you be able to turn and chase a ship if the stardrive were active?”
“If it was directly away from the bow, I could.”
“And if it isn’t.”
“I’d probably have to turn off the stardrive to orient the ship on the escape route. Maneuvering the ship with an active stardrive is next to impossible to do quickly.”
“Which means it will take longer.” Pam tilted her head and then nodded. “So how fast can we move in on a depot and come to a stop above it?”
“We’d be on them in five seconds.”
“We can’t manually stop from full speed. It would kill us.”
“I’m taking that into consideration. I’m arriving at one third speed when we stop.”
Sparky thought about it, “Would they be able to hit us with their disintegrators as we move in?”
“Could you hit a ship traveling faster than light speed if you were sitting still?”
Sparky shook his head, “No, that would be impossible. But they could fire on us the moment we entered normal space above the chosen target.”
Pam smiled, “I think they’d be reluctant to fire on a ship above their depot. But even if they did, our force field could handle the initial salvo. They would have to call out a shoot order for them to all fire together. By the time that happened, we’d be gone. How long will you need to fire and damage the target?”