by Saxon Andrew
“Most of the farm worlds have cities that weren’t damaged when we conquered them. Our engineers can get them running and up to speed quickly. We’ll protect the cities by putting an energy field around it where the local inhabitants can’t attack them if a rebellion should happen.”
“How is it possible to move that many?”
“It will only take ten commercial transports to move a million citizens. A thousand trips will move a billion. Or, a hundred ships would only take a hundred trips to move a billion.”
“How many commercial ships operate at each of the farm worlds?”
“Five hundred.”
The First thought about it and said, “So it is doable?”
The Hub Computer said, “It is but do you think our citizens will be willing to leave their life of leisure to go build a new world?”
The First looked at the Admiral and said, “They won’t go willingly.” The Admiral nodded, “But they will go out of fear.”
“How do you make them afraid?”
“You tell a lie that happens to be true.”
The Admiral’s eyebrows came together and the First smiled.
• • •
Doc looked at the planet and saw one of the giant Ship Killers in orbit. “Drey, do you sense anything unusual?”
“The other space is disrupted around that planet.”
Dee said, “I have a message coming in from Ian.” Nise played it on the speaker, “Doc, we’ve encountered an issue at the planet we just arrived to attack.”
“What is it?”
“Space is disrupted and one of those huge ships is hanging broadside above the handling facility on the planet.”
“We have the same thing here. It looks like the easy part of this plan is over.”
“We could jump in above the facility, be forced out into normal space, fire some missiles at the facility, and escape FTL.”
Doc shook his head, “That ship has more than two hundred needles that are reading active on my scanners. They’ll fire at the first thing that appears in normal space around that planet. We’re good but not that good.”
“So it looks like we’ll have to go after the commercial ships as they’re leaving the planet.”
“That’s the only option we have, Ian. The commercial ships can jump in close to the planet under that ship’s protection but they will have to fly out to the edge of the disrupted space to jump away. If the Ship Killer follows them out, we’ll hit the handling facility. If it stays, we’ll hit their commercial ships.”
Dee interrupted, “I have three hundred commercial vessels appearing above the planet.”
“Stand by Ian. We have something going on here.”
“So do I; I’ll get back to you.”
Doc watched the giant commercial vessels enter orbit and then six of them left orbit and headed toward the planet. Six more moved a hundred miles away and began moving out of orbit.
“What are they doing, Nice?”
“I can’t tell. I’ll have to wait until those ships land before I can determine what’s happening.”
Suddenly, eight more Ship Killers appeared and took station above the planet. Doc shook his head, “It looks like we won’t be hitting their commercial ships.”
Dee nodded, “They’re going to be escorted out.”
“Doc.”
“I know, Ian; we have the same thing happening here. I’ll contact you as soon as I determine what they’re doing.”
Dee watched the ships as they entered the planet’s atmosphere and she watched their trajectories. After a moment she said, “They’re moving populations.”
“What!”
“That’s what they must be doing. Those ships are going to land at some of the cities that the local population built before they were invaded. The only thing they can be doing is moving their people to live there.”
Doc moved the view in closer and an hour later saw the doors on one of the huge vessels open its main cargo doors and thousands of slavers began exiting. Dee said, “Nise, how many are exiting each ship?”
“It looks like a hundred thousand plus are on that vessel.”
Ian came on the loud speaker, “Looks like an exodus.”
Doc took a breath and blew it out, “It is and we can’t destroy these planets.”
“Why not?”
“They don’t have reactors for us to hit. We’d have to do it with beams and missiles and we’d kill the local population of slaves if we attempt to do it that way. Personally, I don’t have a problem doing it but I suspect you might not go along with me.”
“It’s a moot point. We won’t be able to get into orbit to make it happen even if we decided to do it, which you’re right about; I can’t go along with that plan. Those slaves don’t deserve destruction.”
“If it comes down to them or us, I choose us.”
“We’ve got to find another way before we resort to that.”
“It won’t do us any good to hit the handling facilities either.”
Ian paused and said, “Why not?”
“They’ll just land the ships on the planet and use the moving equipment on the ships. I’m sure they’re going to have the stores at multiple locations to be picked up. It looks like we’re going to have to hit them another way.” Doc shook his head, “We’ve got to find a counter to those needles. As long as we’re vulnerable to them, we can’t act decisively against them.”
• • •
The First looked at the Admiral on his display and said, “How is the transfer going?”
“So far it’s moving quite well. That was a brilliant idea you had about the virus.”
The First smiled, “The Hub Computer helped sell it.”
“Yes, but sunlight killing it was brilliant. Our citizens know that they never see sunlight and the only way to save themselves was to move away from the major cities.”
“I was surprised that the High Council decided to move to one of those planets but in hindsight, I understand why.”
“I think the additional information about food shortages is what helped them decide.”
The First thought about what was happening and said, “Have any of the enemy ships been spotted at our major ship building planets?”
“No and I suspect they don’t know of their existence. They’re on the far rim of the black hole and they don’t normally communicate with us. Now that they’ve been ordered into a blackout of all communications, they should be hidden.”
Chapter Nine
Six months had passed and more than a thousand ships had been commissioned in the Union Navy. New trainers for the fleet had been found and Gary was at the main space port on Euclid staring at his Sigma Ship that was parked in the huge hangar next to the former model. The Sigma looked small compared to the fifteen hundred foot wingspan of the boomerang shaped warship. The Sigma was emerald colored instead of white with a wingspan of only three hundred feet. It was two hundred yards long but its oval shaped body made it appear much shorter. It was deadly.
The computer directed blasters could fire in any direction around the vessel and the missile ports located at the middle of the top and bottom of the ship could launch at an incredible rate. The launchers could rotate and fire at anything around the ship. It was blazingly fast and the thrusters on the front, sides, bottom, and top of the green ship could turn it faster than any ship the Union had manufactured. Gary stared at his ship and shook his head. A Slaver Needle Beam would penetrate its force field and blow through the ship. The needle also had a greater range than the Higgs blasters.
He heard an explosion and looked out at the firing range located a mile away. He saw a small Higgs beam being fired at something and he turned and walked out to see what was happening. As he came closer to the scientists firing the Higgs hand blaster he saw one of them aim at a block of steel surrounded by a force field and fire the small blaster at it. The beam struck the force field but instead of hitting the block of steel it was deflected into the atmospher
e.
“Darn it, that force field’s base gave way again.”
“Well go straighten it up.”
Gary heard them and said, “I thought a Higgs Beam would penetrate any force field?”
The scientist turned around and said, “It will but the force field generator has a bad stand and keeps tilting at an angle. The beam hits and is deflected.”
Gary looked at the scientist and said, “It does?” The scientist nodded. Gary yelled at the other scientist that was arriving at the force field generator and yelled, “Don’t move it just yet.”
“What?”
“Leave it like it is.” The scientist shrugged and started walking back. Gary opened his hand and a heavy blaster appeared. He waited until the scientist joined them and he turned and aimed at the block of steel. He fired the blaster and the beam was deflected into the atmosphere. “How strong is that force field?”
“It’s just a force two. We wanted to measure the speed of penetration so we really didn’t need a stronger one to get our readings.”
Gary activated his communicator and said, “Cole, get out to the firing range next to the space port.”
“Why?”
“Just do it! Now!”
Three hours later a transport brought in a heavy ship blaster and lowered it to the ground. Cole aimed the blaster at the block of steel and started to fire it when Gary said, “Do you think we need to clear the airspace above us?”
Cole looked up and saw hundreds of vehicles overhead, “Do you really think this will work?”
“No but if by some miracle it does…”
Cole spoke into his communicator and after thirty minutes the area above the firing range was clear. Gary said, “Is this our strongest blaster?”
“It is.” Gary shrugged and turned to watch what happened.
Cole set the sights and pulled the firing mechanism. A brilliant beam shot out at the block of steel and was instantly deflected into the upper atmosphere. Cole’s mouth fell open and the scientists had a dumbfounded expression.
Gary said, “How is this possible?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, you need to get one.”
Cole stared at the block of steel and smiled, “I guess I do.” Cole thought a moment and said, “Let’s try one more thing. I’m going to fire multiple blasts and see what happens.”
“You might want to get the angle of the force field before you do that.”
Cole looked at Gary and shook his head. He turned to the scientists and said, “Go and take readings on that force field. I want every possible angle and position it currently has based on our current location. Now get moving.”
• • •
“Allie, do we have a clear path to hit the handling facility?”
“The Slaver Warship is holding station above it but we can jump in and fire missiles from an angle. I believe we can make it happen.”
Gene Amet stared at the plot and said, “G, what do you see?”
“There aren’t any commercial vessels around the planet which is out of the ordinary. Something is going on but I don’t see anything that looks dangerous.”
“What about the satellite above the warship?”
“It’s rather large but I don’t see any weapons on it.”
Gene thought about it and said, “Launch a scanner and load ten missiles. When we enter normal space, fire two missiles at the satellite, two at the war ship, and six at the handling facility.”
“Scanner launched.”
“Gene, I’m not sure about this.”
“Allie, we need to find out what they’re doing.”
Allie said, “G, how long will it take you to do this?”
“About two seconds.”
Allie looked at Gene and nodded. The fifteen hundred foot long ship lowered its antenna and Gene pressed the jump button.
The large White Ship emerged into normal space and just as it launched four missiles, the satellite had eight beam barrels emerge from its surface and fire four intensely bright beams and two wide beams at the Union Ship. The four beams hit the Union Ship and blew through its hull. One of the beams penetrated two reactors and the White Ship disintegrated into a giant explosion. The two wide beams burned the missiles streaking at it and exploded them fifty miles away. The Slaver Warship wasn’t so lucky. Two missiles hit it and blew it into pieces that were blown away from the center of the blast.
The scanner recorded the event and sent it to the Obelisk on Euclid. It immediately sent the recording to every Union Ship operating in the Slaver Civilization. The Slavers had built a computer that was fast enough to fire before being hit. The war had taken on a new intensity and the Slavers were getting the initiative moving in their favor.
• • •
Doc watched the recording and contacted Ian, “Did you see that new satellite?”
“I just saw the recording.”
“I’ve got something I want you to see; I’ll send it to you through the Obelisk.”
The recording arrived and Ian watched it and said, “Where did you get this?”
“I asked Moe to send me anything that the scanners had sent that was out of the ordinary. This is what Moe sent me.”
Ian stared at the ships placing satellites in orbit above one of their major planets and said, “Those satellites are being constructed somewhere else.”
Doc smiled, “I’m surprised you saw that so quickly. Yes they are. Those ships being used to place those satellites did not come from any of their main planets. They came from somewhere else. That led me to ask another question.”
“Where are the FTL Destroyers being modified?”
“Exactly; none of them are being built or modified on the main planets. That means their main ship building facilities are not located on the planets we’ve discovered. They have to have a massive facility somewhere else.”
Ian looked at Violet and she said, “That satellite fired faster than anything they’ve used to date. That must mean they’ve improved their combat computers and miniaturized them.”
Dee said, “Then it would also make sense that the new Giant Ship Killers also have that new computer.”
Doc said, “I’ve asked Drey and Nise to scan all the information that has been sent to the Union from our scanners and here is something that might not have been noticed. The new Ship Killers have been jumping away for a few weeks and then returning. Not all of them at one time but they are systematically leaving and then returning. I suspect it’s to have their computers replaced with the new model in that satellite.”
Ian sighed, “That means they have resolved their problem with aiming the needles. This will make all their ships dangerous.”
“I’m going to attempt to take out that satellite.”
Ian shook his head, “No! I won’t run the risk of losing you.”
“Ian, if we continue to avoid combat with them, they are going to find us faster than you can believe. Nise timed the satellite’s response to the older model and it was about a half a second. The Sigma’s can emerge the top of its hull into normal space and get off a beam or missile in less than a tenth of a second. We need to fire a Higgs Beam at that satellite and see if we can hit it before it can respond. Otherwise we might as well all go home and wait for them to show up.”
“We should let someone else try it. You are too important to risk.”
“Well, let me see. You have a Sigma. Umm, I have a Sigma. Dom has one but he’s back getting his ship serviced on Euclid. Gary is also on Euclid. I guess that means that it’s either you or me. I think that eliminates you for the very reason you just used to prevent me going.”
Ian looked at Violet and she nodded. Ian said, “How can you target that satellite and get off a beam in a tenth of a second?”
“That satellite is in a geostationary orbit. I don’t need to target it. I’ll have its coordinates already entered in the firing computer. I just have to get in, fire, and get out.”
“What if that s
atellite can disrupt space?”
“Then we emerge with the Skinner Field active and leave in a big way.”
“Do you think the Higgs Beam will arrive before the satellite can fire?”
“If half a second is its fastest time, as long as we are inside half a light second, we should be able to hit it.”
Ian shook his head and said, “I’m going to be there when you do it.”
“No, that isn’t a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“We don’t know if they have any other sneaky tricks up their sleeves. Just get Moe to send you a live feed from the Scanner.”
Ian signed and said, “I’m going to trust your judgment on this. Contact me afterward.”
“Will do.” Doc looked at Dee, “Have you decided how you want to go in?”
“I have but it’s not going to be the standard attack pattern.”
“Do tell.”
“I’m going to jettison a FTL Missile and jump to the opposite side of the satellite from the place the missile will appear in normal space. We’ll fire from that location just as the missile enters normal space.”
“Why are you doing it that way?”
“I’m not buying into the half second limit.”
Doc looked at the recording of the destroyed Union Warship and said, “You think it deliberately waited to give it time to fire.”
“I think it deliberately waited for it to completely enter normal space. I may be wrong but I’d rather make a mistake being cautious.”
“Drey, are you ready?”
“I am.”
Doc looked at Dee, “Once we jump, we’re going to need to be in direct mental contact with our computers. I’ll do the jumps; you need to handle the firing.”
“I’ll be in your mind as well, Doc. We’ll be operating together on this one.”
Doc smiled and said, “Jump in five, four, three, two, one, and now!”
• • •
The FTL Missile emerged into normal space and energized its Skinner Field just as two beams vaporized it. Drey brought his forward Higgs Projector into normal space and fired on the satellite as the ship left normal space. The Higgs Beam hit the satellite and collapsed a hundred foot hole all the way through the center of the huge structure. The reactors overloaded and a massive nuclear blast erupted and the shockwave moved out at one third of the speed of light. It blew into the planet’s atmosphere, vaporizing the handling facility and two hundred square miles around it.