by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Shelly saw that the Commander was being pushed too hard. He wasn’t taking care of himself and was being pulled in multiple directions constantly. But, he was hanging in there and she hoped he would be effective when the Tronan Warship arrived. She decided that the next time, she would not interrupt his sleep. He would just have to yell at her for not following his orders. She looked over at the Communication Leader and said, “Hold all the Commander’s calls.”
“President Dyget is calling him now.”
“Inform the President that Commander Oliver is resting and can his call wait for him to wake.”
“Are you serious?”
“Just do it and see what happens.”
The Communication Leader turned back to his console and began speaking. After a few minutes of silence, he turned to Shelly. “He asked that the Commander contact him when he awakens. I really didn’t expect that.”
Shelly shrugged, “I suspect he sees that the Commander is being pushed too hard. If we can see it, then he must know it as well.” The Communication Leader smiled and went back to his console. Everyone saw ten hours later that the Commander was more energetic and alert than the previous six days. He learned later that Shelly was the one that stopped his calls and he made a point of thanking her.
• • •
The next day Shelly came to his chair on the bridge and said, “The second probe has been destroyed. I’ve determined that the Tronan Warship will arrive at the intersection in another seven weeks.”
Sam nodded, “They’re moving faster than I anticipated. Thank you, Team Leader.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Sam looked at Jek, “Contact Commander Jeles and tell him to have his fleet in position in six weeks and to anticipate probes shortly after that.”
“Yes, Sir.” Sam pulled up a frequency and pressed the communicator button. Hardy appeared and Sam asked, “Will the two vessels be ready in seven weeks?”
“Sir, they should be ready in five. I’m taking a week to check out their systems before I release them to you. If you want, you can do it yourself but…”
Sam interrupted him, “You do it Hardy! Just make sure everything works!”
“Yes, Sir.” Sam sat back in his chair and saw Jek turn around and look at him. Sam stared at him and heard Jek in his mind, “If you think for one moment that you can send me…”
“You will follow your orders, Captain!”
“This is one time I will not, Fleet Commander. Would you do it if our roles were reversed?”
Sam leaned forward and stared at Jek with his eyes barely more than slits and Shelly watched them closely from across the bridge. Something was going on between them that was serious. After a few long moments, Sam sighed and fell back in his chair. “Jek, you have to do this.”
“No, I don’t. And it’s unfair for you to order me.”
“You will make sure my orders are followed?”
“I will.”
“Then let us pray that…”
“Either way, we will stay together.”
Sam nodded and turned to look at the main wall monitor showing the most recent image of the coming Tronan Warship. Shelly wondered what had just happened. The Commander was planning something and the Guyton was not going along with his plan. Whatever it was, it would soon reveal itself. She continued to wonder what it was.
The issue troubled her for two weeks and she finally forced herself to sit down in her quarters and try to put the pieces together. Why would the Guyton rebel at something the Commander was planning? They had that disagreement right after he spoke with Chief Engineer Hardy. What could the Captain do that would upset the Guyton that much? Ummm. They were inseparable. Where one went you would always find the other. Except for Government meetings. The Party Leaders didn’t like having a telepath present, although Jek’s father was one of the high leaders. She grabbed her head and said sternly, “Focus!”
Then it hit her. The Commander was going to order the Guyton to leave the ship. That had to be it! But why would he do that? Where would he be sending the Guyton off the ship? And why would he send the Guyton and no one else. Shelly’s eyes flew wide open. He was going to order the crew off the ship prior to the arrival of the Tronan Warship. He was going to use the Sword as a giant missile. She thought about it and then shook her head; this was crazy! She was out of her mind thinking he would do something like that. It had to be something else……But nothing else fit. She stood up from her bed, dressed and walked to the bridge. She went over to Rangel, and smiled, “I’ll bet you’re excited about the new boosters.”
Rangel’s smile was instant, “You better believe it! They’ve even routed remote controls to my panel allowing me to override the limits being used by the engineering sections. I can increase the ship’s speed without having to send messages to the booster team to increase thrust.”
“Wow! That’s amazing.”
“Oh yes! I can fly the Sword pretty much all by myself if it comes down to it.”
“Whose great idea was it to make those changes?” Shelly asked.
“The Fleet Commander ordered it to be included in the modifications.”
Shelly put her hand on Rangel’s arm, “Now I am impressed. Can you really fly this ship alone from your panel?”
“Absolutely.”
“How long will it take for you to get the ship to maximum speed?”
“That’s the good part, Shelly! With the overrides, I can accelerate instantly at a much higher speed that I could before the modifications. This lady now has a passing gear!”
Shelly smiled and walked to her console. She went into the ship’s database and queried the computer about the Fleet Commander’s former positions. His first job was ship’s pilot on the New Frontier. She leaned back in her chair and shook her head. She suddenly realized that the Commander was not like her father. He had thought this through and did everything that was needed to make it happen. He was putting the crew’s safety first and was not going to allow them to come to harm if he was forced to put this plan in to action. The Guyton must have heard his thoughts and told him what to do with his plan. She looked across the bridge and saw the Commander had lost weight. She stood up and walked across the bridge. She arrived at Sam’s command chair and said, “Permission to speak with you in private, Sir.”
“Can it wait, Team Leader?”
“No, Sir.”
Jek jerked his head around and stared at the blonde-haired Team Leader with his mouth open. Sam saw him and said, “What?”
“You need to ask her.”
“Is it something serious?”
Oh, yes!”
Sam stood up and said, “Come with me.” He walked toward his conference room and the bridge crew wondered what was going on. Jek stood up and followed them. Sam walked in and sat down, “What is it, Team Leader?”
Shelly remained standing and said, “Sir, I believe that you are going to need me to make your plan work.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Jek. He shrugged and said, “Hey, talk to her.”
Sam turned back to Shelly, “What do you mean?”
“I know that you are planning to send the crew off the ship and personally use the Sword as a missile to hit the Tronan Warship. You won’t be able to make that happen without my assistance.”
Sam’s eyes went wide and he said loudly, “HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?!”
“I saw you and Jek have a disagreement a few weeks back and I could see that it was serious. It took me a while to figure out that the only thing that would upset the Guyton as much as I saw was you planning to send him off the ship. I thought I was crazy but Rangel just confirmed that he can fly the Sword from his panel without any assistance. That capability was installed at your orders, Sir. However, you are going to need me to make it work.”
Sam stared at her and started slowly shaking his head, “You mean to tell me you figured this out just from watching Jek and I have a disagreement?”
Shelly raised her shoulders, “You must admit that the two of you don’t have many disagreements and certainly not one like I saw a few weeks ago.”
“You will keep this information to yourself and you will leave with the rest of the crew!”
“You need to hear her out, Sam!” Jek interrupted.
Sam looked at him and then turned back to Shelly, “Sit down and tell me why I need you to make this work.”
Shelly sat down next to Sam and started speaking, “You’re planning to use the passive probes to guide you to the Tronan ship.” Sam stared at her and then nodded. “What happens if the probe you’re using is destroyed by the Tronan Ship’s blasters?” Sam stared at her in silence and Shelly said before he could answer, “Don’t try to tell me that you can switch to another probe from the pilot’s panel; that can’t be done and, though I believe that Captain Jek is very capable in a lot of disciplines, I don’t believe he can operate the master panel that controls the scanning system.”
Sam looked at Jek, “Is that true?”
“She’s right.”
Sam turned back to Shelly, “Why would you want to do this? If I’m forced to put this plan in motion, you will certainly die.”
Shelly nodded, “I realize that. I’m assuming that this plan is a last resort type of thing to save Heaven and hope that it doesn’t come down to it…but if it does, I’m needed to make sure it works.”
Jek looked at Shelly and said, “You are just as brave as your father.”
Shelly looked at him and her eyes moistened, “It doesn’t take a hero to see when you’re needed, Sir.”
Jek smiled, “That’s true but it does take one to do it knowing the consequences.”
Shelly turned back to Sam, “Am I in, Sir?”
Sam sighed and looked at Jek who nodded. “You’re in. Just make sure no one else learns about this.”
Shelly stood up to leave and then turned around, “I’m curious about how you are going to get the crew to leave? I know they won’t go if they suspect your real reasons.”
“A week before the Tronan arrives, I’m sending them home to spend some time with their families.”
Shelly smiled, “That should do it. I suspect they are going to be one angry crew if we manage to survive this.”
“They’ll understand.”
“How can you say that, Sir?”
Sam shrugged, “A missile doesn’t need a crew.”
Shelly stared at him and tilted her head, “You make an excellent point. Thank you for allowing me to speak with you about this.” Sam nodded and Shelly left the room.
Sam looked at Jek and Jek raised his hands, “Hey, I just learned about this myself. It’s taken her several weeks to work this out in her head. Rangel is the one that pretty much allowed her to see it. However, she’s right. We need her if we have to do this.”
“Well, one week from now, we’ll send the crew home.”
Jek nodded, “You’ll need to make sure the shuttle pilots are clear on their orders to remain on Heaven unless you order them back.”
“That will be your responsibility.”
Jek smiled, “I think I can handle that one.”
“What do you think about her, Jek?”
“She is her father’s daughter and she honestly isn’t worried about dying. Her father was the same way.”
Sam nodded, “I think I can understand why my father was so mad at you for not telling him.”
Jek tilted his head, “Until this moment, I never really understood. Now, I think I do.”
“Let’s go back on the bridge.”
“After you, Commander.”
Chapter Four
Sam looked at the image of the Tronan Warship on his monitor and then pressed the intraship button on is panel, “Attention all crewmembers. I am sending all of you down to the planet to spend a few days with your families and friends before the Tronan Warship arrives. I want all of you to make them feel special and take some time off from the stress you’ve been under. The shuttles will start ferrying you down to the space port and will take those that are able to get packed the quickest first. Those of you that don’t have family or friends, go down and decompress. Start moving.”
The Bridge Crew all looked at Sam and he said, “Yes, this includes you! All except Team Leader Stevens, she will remain and handle communications.”
Shelly’s team looked at her and Jim said, “I’m sorry, Team Leader.”
Shelly nodded, “Don’t be, Jim. I deserve the punishment.” Jim blew out a breath and left with the rest of the crew to start packing. Three hours later, only Sam, Jek, and Shelly remained on the bridge. Jek looked around and said, “Sure is quiet!”
Sam smiled, “Why do you say that?”
“I’m not surrounded by all the thoughts that normally barrage me from all sides.”
Shelly chuckled and then heard a ping. She looked at her panel and looked up at Sam, “Sir, the President wishes to speak with you.”
“Put him on my panel. Dyget appeared and Sam said, “Good morning, Mr. President.”
“I’ve been notified by the space port that you’ve sent your crew home to visit.”
“Yes, Sir. It’s time.”
Dyget shook his head slightly, “Are you sure about this, Fleet Commander?”
“Sir, I am not going to order anyone else to do this. I can handle the ship without them present.”
“Are you of the opinion that our ships won’t be able to defeat this one ship?”
“Sir, I’ve been analyzing that ship’s weapon array and I don’t see any possible way for our ships to get close enough to fire on it before they are hit by the enemy’s blasters. They have nearly double our range and double our speed. They can just dance outside our attacks and kill us at will. This is the only way I see us being able to do it.”
“Are you doing this because you sent that Colony Ship here?”
Sam stared at Dyget for a long moment and then smiled slightly, “I can see why you were elected President. Yes, that has something to do with it but we would have still been attacked by the Tronan even if we didn’t send the ship to Heaven.”
“Why is that?”
“Because we would have scanned it as it passed either way. It would not allow us to do that without coming to remove us. So, I don’t really blame myself too much. This is still the best way to do it. Delilah’s Sword is just as fast as the Tronan ship and possibly faster. It won’t be able to run from us.”
Dyget’s mouth tightened into a line and he said, “I do hope it doesn’t come to your having to do this but I want you to know that the Party thanks you for your willingness to make this sacrifice.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
The monitor went dark and Jek looked at Sam, “What about Shelly and me? Don’t we get any consideration for this?”
Sam chuckled, “I’m sure they’ll name some schools after both of you.”
“Yeah, but you’ll have a statue! I want a statue, too!” Jek replied.
Shelly burst out laughing, “I’m fine with just a school.” She turned to Sam, “So how are we going to do this?”
“I’m having the Colony Ship anchored in normal space a short distance from where the filament passes it in Under Space. As the Tronan approaches, Pletal will fire up its boosters.”
Jek looked at Sam, “Why would you have it do that?”
“Because the Tronan will see our ships and it might choose to eliminate us first. If it goes after us, it will run the risk of the Colony Ship boosting out of here toward the filament intersection and the chase will be back on. They will have to believe the Colony Ship has been refueled and resupplied and they will have to chase it for another year if it manages to get by it. Once the Tronan detect the ship’s boosters being activated, they’ll ignore us until they eliminate it. They will enter normal space and move in cautiously making sure the Dojuit Ship can’t make a break around them on the filament. If they see the stardrive activate, they’ll immediately dr
op into Under Space and open fire on it when it attempts to pass them.
“That’s when you’re going to put your plan into motion.”
“Yes. I’m moving Delilah directly under the filament, power down, and hold our position there until it enters normal space. The Colony Ship will move toward the filament when the Tronan enters normal space and it will be forced to move toward it as well. Hopefully we’ll be directly under it in Under Space.”
“I notice there are two other ships currently holding station under the filament.”
“Yes. Those are our first and second shots at not having to do this ourselves. Let us hope they succeed.”
Jek nodded, “Amen to that.”
“Who is directing the other two ships?” Shelly asked.
“They are being controlled by two pilots on the Colony ship. They’ll launch once the missile attack commences,” Sam replied. “I want you to have one of the passive probes sending us the data on a direct path to the Tronan if we need it.”
Jek looked at Sam, “What are the chances of either of those two remote controlled ships getting through to the Tronan?”
“Unlike us, their scanners are located on the rear third of their hulls and shouldn’t be hit by the Tronan Blasters if the ships’ are hit on their bows. I’m hoping there will be enough of them remaining to impact the Tronan and take it out of action.”
Jek stared at Sam and tilted his head, “You know this plan wouldn’t work if there were more than one Tronan Warship?”
“I know. But we have to use what we can to survive this initial confrontation. We’ll worry about the future after this is over.” Sam looked at Shelly, “It’s not too late for you to leave. You can patch the pilot controls to one of the probes now.”
“I suspect that Tronan will be able to see the passive probes as close as it will be passing them. I’m sorely tempted to accept your offer but I’m needed here.”
Sam nodded and looked at Jek, “Are you able to work the master weapon panel?”
“I believe so. I was a weapon’s officer when I first paired up with your father. Why do you ask?”