by Saxon Andrew
Kamela looked up from her panel, “What are those?”
“We need to see who controls the computer shutoff handle, the self-destruct mechanism, and the environmental systems.”
“Where are they located on the bridge?” Erica looked at her display and focused on the three locations. Kamela nodded, “Jak, did you get that?”
“I did.”
“When we find a suitable Flasher Warship, you focus on the self-destruct crew members, Jak, Poul will take the environmental system controllers, and I’ll take the computer shutoff handle.” Kamela looked at Erica, “Are you ready to try this again?”
“I am.”
“Alright, here we go.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Amy, I know you’ve been busy getting ready for the coming assault, but have you thought much about how you’re going to take out the crew?”
Amy turned around from her computer’s display and frowned as she looked at Gabe, “Gabe, you’ve lobbied against this from the beginning. Is this just another attempt to derail the mission?”
“No, it’s not. How do you intend to take out the bridge crew?” Amy stared at him and her brow furrowed as she thought about the question. Gabe continued, “You can’t use our standard energy hand blasters, they’d do incredible damage to the systems on the bridge and you certainly can’t use a Dark Matter Hand Blaster.”
“Why not?”
“Because the radiation it would produce from shooting that many Flashers would kill our Marines as well.”
Amy’s eyebrows came together, “Are you sure about that?”
Gabe nodded and raised his hands, “I asked George about how much radiation a small hit with a dark energy beam would cause and he said it would be lethal inside ten feet. Killing more than a thousand Flashers on the bridge will make the entire bridge lethal to every living thing on it.”
Amy eyes closed and her head fell, “There’s no way to do this.”
“Yes there is.”
Amy head jerked up, “What?”
Gabe sat down beside her, “The Traugh used a blaster that only burned living tissues. Any one hit by it would burn down to nothing more than a vapor but it wouldn’t damage any substance not made of organic substances.”
“Why would the Traugh develop a blaster like that? They were a brutal and vicious species. I would think they would enjoy watching the destruction of anything they fired on.”
“They were merchants first and warriors second, Amy.”
“Huh?”
“They went out to conquer to collect possessions to sell or barter to improve their economic position in their society. History has shown that the richest Traughs were the rulers. It makes sense that the Traugh Warriors would not want to do unnecessary damage to anything they could use to sell. Even the clothing of those they conquered were collected and sold to make goods that Traugh Citizens would purchase.”
“Please tell me we have that weapon?”
“We do have some samples we can use to build enough for the assault on the bridge but they won’t work inside the ship.”
“Why not, Gabe?”
“Because they won’t penetrate the doors the Flashers will be hiding behind. You’ll need a different weapon for the Marines taking control of the ship’s interior. You’ll need something to blast a hole through those doors and ports.”
Amy frowned, “I didn’t think this through. I’ve been working so hard at getting our Marines on board the Flasher Warships trained to move around that I’ve not thought about what we’ll do once we arrive.”
Gabe sat down beside Amy, “You need a break.” He knew Amy’s health was good due to her Griffet but he could see the fatigue in her eyes. “Let’s do this. I’ll take over getting your forces ready and you take a few days off.”
“Gabe, you know you don’t want us to do this.”
“That’s not an issue. We’re going to give it a try and if you can’t beat ‘Em, join ‘Em. Take a break and come back in five days. You and Scott go and wind down. I’ll keep things moving for you.”
Amy stared at him, “I don’t think Admiral Connor will agree to my leaving.”
“Who do you think suggested this? And I agree with him. You’ll be worthless if you don’t relieve some of this stress and recharge your batteries.”
Amy sighed, “I can use some time off. I’ll be back in five days.”
She stood up and Gabe hugged her, “We need you, Amy. We need you at your best.” Amy returned his hug and walked out of her office.
Gabe watched her leave and as soon as she closed the door he pressed his communicator, “She’s leaving for five days.”
“Good, get the new blasters and gather the assault teams at the site. I have fifteen hundred sailors that are going to play the role of the Flasher Bridge Crew. Let’s see how this goes.”
“Amy is going to be upset that she’s not involved in this exercise.”
“Gabe, she’s never commanded ground forces. Hell, none of us have. But we have to see if we can pull this off. I don’t want to overload her to the point where she loses her efficiency.”
“I’ll make the calls now.”
• • •
“I think we know how much you can handle now, Erica. We’ll feed the information to you at your maximum speed and we’ll back off and go back in if you get overwhelmed. I have to admit that you were right about the necessity of your being here for this project. What you’ve been able to do is extraordinary.”
“Thanks, Kamela.”
“I think I’ve found a ship for us to use.”
All four of the Prophet’s Eyes Crew looked up as Essay said, “Tell us about it, Poul.”
“There is a Flasher Warship that is positioned far above the Flasher’s home galaxy assigned to prevent any future Spearan suicide missions. The Grinch that commands that vessel is at war with the ship’s computer.”
Essay sighed, “Poul, the Flasher Leaders are called Grengen.”
“I prefer Grinch. Anyway, the Grinch has been given this assignment and he thinks it’s due to following the computer’s advice and he highly resents being sent out in isolation. The two are not working well together.”
“Are there any other Flasher Warships near it?”
“No, Kamela. The closest one if far outside its scanning range and you will need to add a fourth primary target to the three you’ve selected.”
“What is that?”
“The Communication Flashers will have to be taken out immediately as well. They are in communication range of the Flasher Fleet around the Flasher’s main planet. If they get a message out, the mission is over. Reinforcements will arrive long before the vessel can be taken.”
Kamela nodded, “Erica, show us where the communication consoles are located on the bridge.”
The main monitor illuminated and a long row of consoles appeared highlighted in green. Essay stared at them as Erica said, “Fortunately, they are at least located next to the Commander.”
“Am I seeing this right and there are ten consoles?”
“Yes, Essay. The scan we took shows that each of those consoles handle communications for a specific function. One sends commands to the small ships, another handles incoming messages from other ships, another handles messages from their Central Military sources, another sends messages to the engineering departments, and so on,” Erica answered.
Jak stared at the monitor and lifted his left shoulder, “That must be why none of the Flasher Warships you destroyed got a message out when you destroyed the bridge first.” Erica nodded.
Kamela stared at the main monitor and then sighed, “Alright, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page. We’ll go in and I’ll send all I can see on the Grengen’s location along with the handle to disable the computer. Jak will then start sending the information on the self-destruct location. Poul will now send you everything he can determine about the communication consoles instead of the environmental controls. I will send the layout of the c
onsoles controlling the environment after Poul completes his scan. Once that’s done, we will back out and lay out what we’ve collected. When that is organized, we will go back in and start sweeping the bridge looking for Flashers that are armed with blasters. We’ll be sending them to you as quickly as we find them.” Kamela looked around, “Is everyone ok with this?” Essay, Erica, and Jak nodded. “Poul?”
“I’m find with it.”
“Then take us to this ship and move in to the edge of our mental range.” Essay looked at the forward monitor and saw the stardrive field activate as the Prophet’s Eyes left normal space.
• • •
The Ship Greng sat in his command chair and fumed at his lot in life. He was stuck out in intergalactic space scanning for Spearan Suicide Vessels and was going to be stuck here for a year. He said, “This is all your fault. I was in command of a shell and you talked me into telling the Fleet Grengen that my ship had a faulty thruster that required servicing. When the engineer came on board, inspected the thrusters, and found nothing wrong, I was demoted and sent out here as punishment.”
“He did find something wrong. We deliberately fouled the fuel line to the number ten thruster. We were sent here because the shell that was sent was destroyed by that enemy in the spiral galaxy. If we hadn’t done that, we would all be dead now. You were demoted because of their failure, not your own. Everyone associated with that decision was punished. Even the Council Grengen was executed for ordering it.”
“I probably would have been executed as well but for my Father’s influence.”
“Being here for a year is a temporary issue and you’ll get your command back once the year is over.”
The Ship Greng didn’t want to hear it, “I was stupid to listen to you! You’re always urging caution when action is called for! You’re the reason for this situation I’m in! I should have ignored you.”
“And now you would be dead along with the other ships in your shell if you didn’t.”
“At least I would have died fighting instead of dying of boredom out here. I’m a warrior, not a coward. Why should I be cautious?”
“Welllll…there’s the two scouts that were destroyed in those spiral galaxies. And don’t forget the ten warships that were blasted to small pieces just outside the black hole in the larger spiral galaxy, along with the thousands of colony vessels that were blown apart in our own galaxy,” the Computer replied.
“For a computer, you’re despicable. Once I get back, I am going to have you removed and replaced with a computer that has a warrior’s attitude. You’re headed for the scrap planet.”
“I am little more than a copy of your mind. What is in me comes from you. I noticed at the time I suggested we use the malfunctioning thruster to avoid being sent that you didn’t offer any resistance.”
“Shut up and don’t speak to me again unless I order it!!”
“But…” The Greng reached for the disconnect handle and the Computer went silent.
“ONLY IF I ORDER IT!!” The Greng slouched some more in his chair and fought to control his anger.
• • •
Kamela shook her head. Poul was right, these two were not working together at all. She saw the Greng reach for the disconnect handle and noticed that the Greng had to almost come out of his chair to reach it. She sent the image to Erica along with the communication buttons on the Greng’s console.
Jak stared at the Flasher sitting in a chair next to the self-destruct wall panel and saw he was armed with a blaster. He looked at the Flasher and the panel from another crewmember’s mind and saw that there were two panels side-by-side on the wall. Another Flasher was sitting on the other side of the second panel. Ummm, two Flashers had to enter codes to activate the destruct circuits. He saw Kamela complete sending her information and he began sending his data to Erica to input.
• • •
Essay sat in his command chair and felt useless. He listened to the others thoughts being sent to Erica and he was free to just watch what they were seeing. He stared at the two Flashers sitting next to the self-destruct panels and saw something beyond them. Before he could focus on it, it was gone and Poul was sending his information. Essay looked at Jak and said, “I noticed something behind the two Flashers at the self-destruct panels. Did you happen to see what it was?”
Jak shook his head and went back into the ship to find a crewmember with a different view. A few moments later, they saw a Flasher dressed in a spacesuit sitting down with a high power shoulder blaster propped against a panel. Jak flinched at what he saw and turned to Essay, “I would have missed this, Essay. Thanks.” Essay nodded and knew that there were some on board that ship that did have space suits and were heavily armed. The scientists were wrong about there being no spacesuits on the giant vessel.
• • •
The initial scan of the bridge was completed and Poul moved the small vessel away. Erica breathed a sigh of relief and heard Jak say, “There’s another addition to the self-destruct location.”
Erica looked at him and saw the image of the spacesuited Flasher appear in her mind. Everyone else saw the image as well and Essay said, “Where’s there’s one, there are others.”
Kamela nodded and closed her eyes as she blew out a breath, “You’re right.” She opened her eyes and looked around at the others, “Let’s go back in an hour from now and as we move through the bridge, make sure all of us look for anyone in a spacesuit.” Kamela looked at Essay, “I’m going to suggest that we also take a look at the other important sites on this ship to see if they also have an armed Flasher in a spacesuit.”
“I think that would be wise. It wouldn’t be good if a Flasher in the reactor room is holding a high powered blaster. He could destroy the ship just as effectively as the self-destruct circuit.”
“Don’t forget the main armories,” Poul interjected.
Essay nodded, “We won’t, Poul.”
Jak looked at Kamela and she said, “What?”
“How are the Human Warriors going to be able to get on board that ship and get to the armed Flasher Guards before they can destroy the ship? A single blaster beam fired at the reactors would also take out the ship. Is this not a waste of time?”
Kamela’s mouth opened and then she closed it. She looked at Essay, “Jak makes an excellent point, Essay. If there are armed Flashers wearing spacesuits scattered throughout the warship, dumping the vessels atmosphere won’t have any effect on them. This revelation is a game changer.”
Essay looked at Erica, who was leaning down and rubbing Penny. He had become so accustomed to seeing Penny at Erica’s feet that he rarely noticed her anymore. “We’re going to use the Griffets to gain entry.”
Kamela stared at Essay as her eyes closed slightly, “What?”
“We’ve discovered that the Griffets can teleport on board the ship and take their bonded friends with them.”
Kamela and Jak stared at Essay and both of them blinked at the same moment. Kamela rolled her eyes and said, “I’m starting to agree with Poul about this; this whole plan is ludicrous. Just how are you going to communicate with the Griffets to take you to an exact location!?! We can’t understand anything they’re thinking and I’m reasonably certain that you won’t be able to directly communicate with them either.”
Essay shook his head and looked at Erica. She looked up from petting Penny and said, “Penny could take me home right now.”
“What?”
“I’m serious, Kamela. Do you remember when I wished she was with me and had not been left behind?”
“Yes.”
“Well, if I say that I wish we were home, she will take me instantly there from wherever I am.”
Kamela stared at them in silence and finally said, “Poul, are you getting this?”
“I am. If I had a stomach I’d be eating popcorn watching this comedy unfold. This is getting hilarious. If what Erica is telling us is accurate, which I really doubt, then the Griffets are more remarkable than I’ve g
iven them credit for. However, Erica, do you honestly think Penny would take you into a Flasher Warship where you could be killed? Or would she just refuse to do it. That is of course assuming that she could.”
Suddenly, Erica disappeared from the bridge. A few moments later, she reappeared holding a pillow, “My back is starting to hurt and I went home to get my sitting pillow.”
Poul said, “Cute, Erica, very cute! You’ve proven your point about her moving you but you haven’t answered my question; would she take you into a warzone knowing you could be killed?”
Erica glanced at Kamela seeing her stern expression, looked at the wall speaker, and finally said, “I don’t know.”
“I suspect you need to find out,” Kamela said.
Essay sighed, “I’m sure that issue will have to be resolved before this happens, however, we’re out here and have the opportunity to gather information that still might cause this mission to be scrubbed. We should at least complete our task.”
Kamela looked at Jak, who shrugged. She turned back to Essay, “Alright. However, I expect the two of you to come and visit more often if you’re capable of moving around the universe this quickly.”
Erica smiled, “Count on it.”
Jak stood up and stretched and Essay was once again amazed at how tall he was. Kamela was over six feet tall but Jak was at least nine or ten inches taller than she was. But he still moved with the grace of his species. “I need a short break. Can we resume this in an hour?”
Kamela looked at him, “Is something wrong?”
“I haven’t had to focus this intently…ever. I just need a nap and I’ll be ready to go.”
Kamela smiled, “You big baby. I told you it’s not as easy as you think to come out here and make a difference.”
“I can see your point and I apologize for my lack of faith.”
“Do you mind if I go with you?”
Jak smiled, “I was counting on it.” They walked off the bridge and Essay watched Erica petting Penny. He wondered if Penny would take Erica into a dangerous situation and didn’t have any idea if she would…or wouldn’t.