They were literally in Jack’s sights, even if a half million below him.
“Good damn shooting, Friend.”
‘COUNT TWENTY-ONE, UR NUMBERS… FOUR REMOVED.’
Jack’s wing sliced through the silent, long cylinders, sparking destruction as they went, and the Zephroan seemed to be asleep! No return fire! Four more down. He called, “No reaction to our fire, to Friend’s fire. Something’s wrong.”
‘COUNT SEVENTEEN ZEPHROAN, UR NUMBERS. WAIT… WAIT… COUNT SEVEN DIRECTLY AFT RESOLUTE POSITION…ONE MILLION UR MILES AND CLOSING UR PLANE…UR BEARING. THEY WAIT UR FIRE TO FIND U. U FIRE AFT LASER NOW!’
“Aft lasers, left, wait fifteen seconds, then right… and alternate every fifteen seconds until clear!” Angela commanded. This was for the benefit of Radar and the weapons stations. Chips would already have accepted the new information, and would probably time the alternate shots to the half second.
Behind them, but evidenced in the aft vid, a huge bolt of bright green light lanced out in a rapidly expanding wave. It was picking up the faint exhaust debris of the isotope engines. It was easily twice as bright, twice as wide over the old bolts. Could it keep up with the photons?
Radar now had the enemy on vid screen, but the vid indicated bright flashes of light as several Zephroan craft went to dust. The second laser followed, fifteen seconds later and more bright flashes. Then, fifteen seconds later, a single flash and it was done.
One backward glance with hard radar proved space completely empty for the range they could see.
‘GOOD… VERY… GOOD… DAMN… SHOOTING!’ Friend wrote, parroting Jack’s comments. “NO ZEPHROAN BEHIND. SEE U POWER LEVEL… WAIT… WAIT… INDICATOR.’
“Lasers full up, Captain, both! That is impossible for the amount of firepower we just put out!” Nance declared. “They should be down fifty percent! Those were in the four trillion joule category, ten times stronger than our own! But that was measured light out the lens. The power input was exactly the same!... uhhh, Captain!”
‘LITTLE POWER NEED. LENS… WAIT… WAIT… AMPLIFY? YES.’
Jack risked another run among the remaining enemy and was helplessly in rage as he paid for it with two of his wingmen gone to dust in bright flashes of blue!
Goddam Zephroan had come alive now. They were once again fast, and their laser was quick and set in a wide swath. Too damned wide. He ordered a much larger spread, coming in from the outside of the formation, and there were four more Zephroan down.
This time he and his wing stayed the course, going straight up above the enemy, at an angle the Tochipa apparently could not see.
‘THREE POINT FIVE MILLION UR MILES… U TO FIRE… FRONT LASER. ALTERNATE.’
Angela ordered the firing blind. Too far to see, to late to look for them, she could only hope.
This time it was the forward vid that went to bright green, and on the vid screen that suddenly indicated too damned many bogeys, the red blips dropped by a third, the middle chewed out of the scrambling formation.
“Shields on standby!” commanded Angela, knowing that the shot had given them away. But if she put the shields up, the next phase would be useless. “Drop down ten thousand miles, now!”
The shove down made everyone suddenly feel like they had stepped onto a fast moving elevator headed down. It stopped.
Another huge bolt from high above Resolute. The Zephroan had broken up into three flights, separating quickly, but the wide swath of green light found one enemy formation easily.
But the Zephroan, only eight strong, were well awakened, now, and hellbent for the Resolute, even if they could not actually see the ship. But they were zeroing in on the source of that powerful laser. At least, where it had been. And it was a wonderful trap, because as they sailed in closer and closer, it should be an easy process to eliminate every one. But they, as were the fighters and Resolute, on stealth, and almost impossible to see.
Then came another bright green flash from above them, and three more blips momentarily flashed and disappeared. Then their second laser fired in that same general direction, and again, those momentary blips as they lost stealth, fading fast. Three more.
Friend followed with another and space was empty, even under forward hard x-band radar. That, of course, was a quick shot, not willing to harm their own fighter pilots. None except those represented by white dots, their own craft.
Jack checked in, his voice quiet, “Chips, I lost two birds. Returning to position, Captain.”
‘RESOLUTE CHECK U INDICATES… YES… INDICATORS.’
“All laser indicators show one hundred twelve percent, Captain! That is… simply impossible. It is warping physics! They are absorbing more than they put out!” Nance declared, stunned. Nothing in her training ever allowed for this.
‘U BREAK LENS AT ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO PERCENT. USE UR SMALL … WAIT… WAIT… I SEE…PHOTONS, SMALLER LASERS IN CLOSE. LEARN REDIS… WAIT.. REDISTRIBUTE EXCESS. USE POWER OTHER SMALL LASERS.’
Angela quickly relayed the information to the engineers. If there is one thing engineers love, it is excess power. Their worst nightmares were about blackouts.
“Friend, we make a good team,” Angela said, firmly, and she meant it. They had cleared space of nearly thirty Zephroan and it only cost them two fighters. Tragic, but this was space.
‘NO UNNRSTAN… TEAM… WAIT…. WAIT… NO UNNRSTAN.’
“A team is when people and their friends work together to accomplish something, like winning a battle. We did good, you and I!”
‘WE DID GOOD. BUT U IN DANGER. ZEPHROAN COME BACK TWICE MANY. THEY DO NOT GIVE UP. I KILL … WAIT … HUNDREDS. THEY BE HUNDREDS MORE.’
“How many are you, Friend?”
‘I NO KNOW. I ALONE MOSTLY NOW. NO… TEAM. DUTY TO PATROL.’
“Can you communicate with other Tal’Ken vessels?”
‘I NO COMMUNICATIONS LONG TIME. U COME AND GO. ALL DIE BEHIND U.’
Jack strode onto the bridge. “I think he means that all those that helped us were removed. Is that it, Friend?”
‘CAPTAIN MORGAN. U FAMOUS HUMAN.’
No one even asked how Friend recognized him. Probably the same way it had first portrayed Commander Rogers.
“Friend, thank you. But, I am a man, only.” Angela’s eyebrow rose on the left side. Humility? Jack? She almost chuckled aloud.
‘ZEPHROAN AFRAID U. IS GOOD. THEY RUN FROM U, I KILL. THEY RUN FROM ME… U KILL.’
“He is getting good at this, isn’t he?” Angela asked, softly.
‘I SEE U NEED… WAIT… BACK… YES… BACKUP SEE LENS. I DELIVER. I MAKE NEW LENS UR SMALL … WAIT… FIGHTERS… YES. ONE HUNDRED UR COUNT UNITS…YES. ALSO MAKE NEW LENS UR RESOLUTE OPTICS. U HAVE SIX. ONE MAIN OPTIC, FIVE SMAL… WAIT… YES… SMALLER… YES.’
Angela’s heart was in her mouth. This was… simply astonishing. She managed, “We thank you much, Friend. This is a great gift!”
‘GIFT… WAIT… GIFT… NOT IN DATABASE. NO UNNERSTN GIFT.’
“A gift is something you give to a friend to make them happy or safe. Your lenses are a good example of a gift,” she said, carefully.
‘I SEE. NOT MUCH GIFT… TRADE U SAFETY AND MINE. U KILL ZEPHROAN, I … WAIT… WAIT… THANK YOU.’
Yes, he was growing up fast.
CHAPTER 10
It was barely thirty minutes later that Friend suggested the rar second cargo bay be evacuated. Angela so ordered, the verified, and a few minutes later, advised, “Friend. The bay is ampty of fragile humans!”
“I SEE… FRAGILE… HAHA!”
Suddenly, as if out on thin air, packages arrived into that empty cargo bay. All were stacked neatly, and seemed to be a kit for every fighter and their own optics. All cut to specs, and all just a shade different in the inner glass. Whatever this was, it was like magic. It was, certainly, very, very quick.
“Friend, they are here, and they are… done so fast. How do you make things to such close… specifications in such a short time? And so many?�
��
“IF NO SEE ENEMY, FREE… WAIT… FREE TIME.”
Well, that was not the answer she expected, but she could wait. “Friend, thank you. We are installing the lenses. How far will we see?”
‘U SYSTEM SEE EIGHTEEN MILLION UR MILES CLEAR. U SEE TEN MILLION MILES OPTICS, CLEAR. BOTH CAN SEE FIVE MILLION MORE… NOT CLEAR.’
“We are very thankful… err, thank you, Friend. You have helped us very much.”
Now for the next plan. She motioned for Jack to speak up.
“We must find another planet, Friend. Do you know of other planets like where you sent Resolute, last time?” Jack asked.
‘I SEE… ZEPHROAN NO STOP. I NO KNOW… NOW. SEARCH DATA. MILL… YES… MILLIONS OF POSSIBLES. I SEARCH.’
“Thank you Friend. This is good.” Angela kept it simple. She was afraid to upset the delicate balance.
An hour went by, but as they knew, Friend did not worry about time. He had been known to be quiet for months.
Then, more letters appeared, and not at all what they expected, ‘I GIVE POWER ENGINE NEW ROCK NOW. ADVISE ENGINE ROOM. ROCK KILL ORG…WAIT… WAIT… ORGANIC LIFE FORMS. USE PROTECTS. INSIDE HEAVY SHIELD ROOMS TWO FLOORS. I MAKE UR SPECS. WAIT… WAIT…’
Angela called down to the nuclear control station, midpoint, several decks below the bridge, but over the six units. “Clear the nuke access rooms. You got new rods coming. I will share what I have, soon as Friend talks to me. New stuff!”
Moments after the first, “Yes, ma’am,” came the confirmation. “Okay. We are out of the cages.” Engineers of any type are always ecstatic to play with new toys…
“Friend, there is a control room with humans in it. Then there is an access and clean room, then the nuclear plants. Please do not put the radioactive material in the control room.”
‘I SEE. I PUT IN WAIT… WAIT… NEW FUEL ROD STORAGE.’
She sent the message to the nuke boys.
Not ten minutes later, one of the nuclear service stations called up to the bridge. “Holy shit… uhhh, Captain! Radioactivity is off the charts, what is this stuff, Captain!”
In reply, before Angela could ask, Friend sent, ‘DO NOT STAY NEAR. PROTECT SELF. IS KILL ROCK. CHANGE IN NUKE… WAIT… NUCLEAR? YES. CHANGE OUT NUCLEAR FUEL RODS. HURRY. VERY DANGER ROCK!’
When repeated by Angela, the engineer listened carefully. “Got it,” he yelled, and he hung up. They knew what to do with radioactive fuel rods, or rocks, according to Friend. Even if they needed double shielding.
‘HEAVY … WAIT… HEAVY PARTS… NO… WAIT. HEAVY PAR..TI… CLES. YES, PARTICLES. MUCH SPEED. U GO FROM HERE… FAST. ZEPHROAN COME SOON. TOO MANY!’
She forwarded that note, too. Then asked, “Friend, how far away?”
‘COMING FROM THIRTY-ONE AND HALF UR LIGHT YEAR. TIME TO FIX ENGINES AND GO. GO SOON. I GO TO FIGHT THEM.’
“Friend, wait! Why not pick us up and carry us a long, long way. Stay with us. Your team is gone. You have done your work. Come with us.”
‘HUMANS FRAGILE…NO… FUN… WAIT… FUNNY YES. HAHA. CANNOT GO… WAIT… YES. I GO… I CANNOT STAY. I SEARCH DATA FOR PLANET. I HAVE FIVE. FAR ONE IS MOST LIKE UR SPECIFIES… I CARRY U UR PORT? YES, PORT SIDE EIGHTY-THREE POINT TWO ONE DEGREES OFF YOUR BOW, SEVEN DEGREES DOWN PLANE. ONE HALF UR MONTH AT SEVEN LIGHT SPEED. FIX ENGINES WHILE I CARRY. THEN GO WHEN I LEAVE U.’
“Done, friend. If you want to stay with us, you are very welcome.” Rogers was furiously calculating the distance.
“Better that one point eight trillion miles, Captain! In fourteen days!” he announced, albeit quietly.
‘NO UNNRSTAN… WELCOME… WAIT… WAIT… NO IN UR SYSTEM WELCOME.’
“It is a phrase we use for friends. We would like you to come with us, and stay with us. You are our friend.”
‘I CAN HELP U FOURTEEN UR DAYS TRAVEL. I BEGIN SOON. BE IN SECURE.’
Angela had the Commander sound the acceleration warning, and everyone that was not still strapped in, hurried to find a place. Hopefully, even the not so hurry up engineers.
Then came the soft bump, under them, and with it, new information from Friend.
“PUT SMALL FIGHTERS MATCH … WAIT… WAIT… YES…. PLANE UR BOTTOM, ONE HALF MILE FORM. PUT… WAIT… YES… KEELS TO TOUCH ME.”
Jack gave the message and the fighters came in, made the approach, matched speed and settled, very, very gently, cutting all propulsion as they slipped slowly down to rest.
No sooner had the entire flight verified they were in position, when came the sudden, fierce acceleration. Radar, in the person of a young, baby faced young man, called out the light year points as they accelerated. Finally, he was trying to hang onto his chair and his lunch, and Chips seemed to recognize his discomfort.
The system soon reported holding seven point nine light speed. For the first time, he seemed to be… well, surprised. They all were. Friend had capabilities so far above their own… how fast could he really go?
They slid away from the searching Zephroan. No more contact. For fourteen days, they traveled at nearly eight times the speed of light. Once at speed, the people were free to get out of their chairs and work, so the engines were quickly finished. They dare not test them until Friend had pulled away, however.
In the meantime, with suggestions by Friend, they made conversions to their scanner. It was not lenses, or power, it was programming. In an intricate fashion probably no man would see for another few hundred years.
In addition, they installed all the new lenses for all the craft, tickled that they now could see much farther than the largest telescope ever made, and clearly. Even stars and planet millions of light years away were discernible spheres and patterns, which before had been merely fuzzy dots.
On the fourteenth day, after nearly five days of quiet, one simple message. ‘FIND NEW HOME. RESOLUTE. WASHINGTON. MORGAN. CAPTAINS. FRAGILE HUMANS. I WILL REMEMBER ALL OF U. GOOD… WAIT… GOODBYE.’
Angela, standing solemnly, saluted the forward vid, saying, “Friend, we will remember you for hundreds of years in our future by our songs and our books. Be well, be a hunter, and know that we welcome you, anytime.”
There was no answer. Far off in the distance, behind them, came a single green flash. Friend saying goodbye.
-----
In space, family, loved ones, superiors and yes, friends, come and go. The longer the ride, the truer it becomes. Though some friends will be sorely missed…
CHAPTER 11
As soon as they were sure they were clear, they were ready to test the engines. Friend did not reply to repeated warnings and they knew he was headed to his patrol.
Jack protested, “Frankly, Friend has dropped us off at seven point eight light speed. The fighters, too, and there is no way the little ones will reach this speed again. I think it is best that we simply continue the course and the speed, a free gift. As they say, we do not know where we are going, but we are going to get there damned fast!”
Some laughter around the bridge on that one, but Angela knew he was right. If they all dropped out to try the engines, the fighters could maybe get to five on a long run.
The destination would then be a much longer trip. Or, they had to leave the fighters to catch up later.
Of course, that could not work, as they had to provide services and swap the pilots out regularly. They could do that at nearly eight times light speed, and seriously gain ground… errr, space.
On duty as Radar, Nance asked a good question, “What if we drift apart. I mean, not all the fighters are directly parallel on our bearing.”
Angela offered, “They may not be pointing our bearing, some of them off by a degree or more, but it does not matter. Even sailing sideways, they all have the same ‘travel’ bearing. That was assured by Friend. No resistance to broadside, even, so we will stay in the position Friend put us for a long, long time, barring some interfering object or species.”
Jack held up a hand, correcting her, just a little, “Not exactly so. The fighters will
use side thrusters only to spread out and up, and give us that envelope of protection. They will realign on the exact bearing. But they cannot get ahead of us, as they have no ability to go faster. Nor should we let them get behind us. If they slowed to slide back, they have no ability to regain the lost speed. We cannot change speed in any way without loss of this high light speed, permanently. We would lose them.”
They did light up the isotope engines to see if they would perform, though. When Radar reported twenty percent of the old max level, at five percent the power, they knew they had a winner. Four times the previous power.
“Save it for when we need it, Captain,” offered Jack.
She nodded. “We will. Engines idle, Commander.” At no time could a nuclear powered engine be turned off. It would take hours to bring it up, and increase the chances that something, somewhere, would kill them all.
Angela sent the orders to the engineers. They needed new indicators on the bridge. No point in burning up the old ones over max range.
Jack took his outriders into position, though merely sliding sideways, using steering thrusters, as he had discussed. The new formation gave Resolute a degree of safety, traveling in a ring of fighters over two million miles in diameter.
Especially now that their new scanners could stretch their vid out near ten million miles. It could go farther, but once again, the system had to extrapolate the data to make a good guess. And do it damned fast.
However, it was Resolute who had the extreme optics. After all, ten million miles is nothing in space. She could now see nearly twenty million miles, the tunnel almost three million miles across. The system governed it, carefully, ready to help Resolute and any of the fighters dodge what may come their way. When all you needed was a thousandth of a degree off the bearing, the system could do that almost unnoticed.
“Well, Captain. We are off to find that home… again, aren’t we? Except where the hell are we?” Jack asked from remote.
Angela grinned, and came right back at him, “Yes, we are, Captain, and where we are or are going does not matter, right? We are like the Zephroan. We just keep coming. We are, after all, The Resolute! We never quit. Right team?”
The Resolute Page 38