Guardian Stone 2: Stone and the T-Raptors

by Don Koch

  Hank replied, "Harvey, these guys would just give you indigestion. Maybe next time you can play with them if they are dumb enough to stick around." He went on speaking to the captain of the ship. "You are to return to Saba. If you remain, we will come back and destroy you individually and then destroy the ship. I know that you are recording this. So know this. You are not permitted to have armed vessels in this galaxy. We will be visiting Saba soon and all weapons better be gone when we arrive. Harvey and his friends are hungry and I may just let them feast. All of your people in the hegemony have been dealt with, all 821 of them. You are next. You have 30 minutes to leave and return to Saba. We will be visiting there soon as well. Leave." As he said this, he grasped the Command chair armrest and squeezed. As he did, the plastic covered steel armrest compressed and collapsed. With that all returned to Station 141 and exited rapport. Hank said "Well that was interesting. Now lets have a chat with the kids."

  Gust spoke up, "General Stone, May I explain?"

  "Let's start with you young folks calling me Uncle Hank, but sure, I'd like to know what went on though I suspect I know. For starters you had one of those itchy, something is not what it should be feelings, right?"

  Gust was startled, "You knew?"

  "No, but I suspected. I have had too many of those not to recognize or suspect it when I see it. Tell me what happened."

  "When you started talking about destroying the Saban devices, Janey and I started getting one of those feelings you just described and then so did my sister and Chris. So we just kind of floated together and Kazia followed along. We could see into the Saban monitor ship and understand what they were saying. We also realized that they were getting close to discovering what was going on. We felt then that we had to let you know what was going on. I guess the surprise to us was that we understood what they were doing and that is a bit scary. Those are not nice people. We did not think you would like what we did but we felt we had to let you know and accept any consequences."

  "Wow! First off guys, I am not upset. That kind of event is something you must learn to not ignore. It can save your life and probably, in fact likely, those of others. As it happens this time, it probably has saved more lives than you can imagine. You have provided the means for us to garner the intelligence, rather than the Sabans. Given their penchant for mischief you did exactly the right thing. Secondly, you are now in tune with these characters so I suspect you will be getting more of these early warnings. Kazia will be watching and should be able to let us know and keep you safe. You did the right thing about reporting back to us rather than trying to deal with this yourselves. That shows you are using common sense in your approach. From that comes trust. We will keep you in the loop as to what is developing and let your talent work with us. I think we are going to have to expose you to the full range of T-Raptor training. I want you to be an auxiliary to Curt's team. Rian, if you and Eleanor check out the way I think you will, I would like you to be on that team as well. Keep it in the family, so to speak. What am I missing, oh yes, Kazia, what is that Saban ship up to?"

 

  "Yes, I do with full recordings."

  Kazia inquired,

  "Yes and no. We might do it as a precaution if the ship heading home were under pursuit or were crippled. We would try to provide an umbrella. I am not so sure we would do it with our top of the line ships. It would be more likely with sufficient firepower, speed and maneuverability. You are thinking that maybe Saba does not want this news getting back to Saba?"

 

  "Well I am inclined to agree with you. So lets figure out what we might want to do about it. One possible tactic would be to meet the dreadnaughts and tell them that they are in violation of our tenants that do not allow them to have offensive weapons in this galaxy. Sooner or later we will run into someone who wants to contest that. So I guess the question is are we ready and do we do it now? We also have to consider that we have just pretty much dismantled this hegemony's ability to adequately defend itself. You are right, I need to get on this pronto. Please place a call to Barana and ask her to bring Station One here."

  Kazia said,

  Hank looked thoughtful or a moment and then started chuckling, "You station ladies are pretty devious, I love it. Barana, how are you?"

 

  "Of course not, we are partners, remember. You must make the decisions that circumstances tell you are right."

 

  "Funny, I was thinking about both items earlier today. Thanks for doing that, it's a good move. Now we need to get down to brass tacks. Lets get everyone back on board and lets call a Command staff meeting. We have an issue to deal with. Bring in all station Commanders as well as my special auxiliary." He winked at the kids as he said this.

  A half hour later the meeting started with an introduction by Hank of the kids and a description of their role in the events of the past day. He explained what had occurred after his visit to the Saban monitor ship. He then asked for asked for a review of what Stations 14 and 180 had found so far. Joe Price of Station 14 asked AI Briana to make the report. Briana started,

  "Henry, this is Achilles Garbounoff on Station 20, can I throw in my two cents on this." Hank acknowledged and asked him to proceed. "Well this potential disparity in weapons capability is a concern and we do not want to lose lives if we assume or guess wrong. AI Juliana and I along with some of the crew here have been playing with an idea that we think gives us the tool we need. We have been modifying a warship so that it can be flown and fought remotely. This will work well within a range of about 2 light years of the controlling vessel. We have three such fully operational including weapon stations. It operates very much like a full sized simulator. The machine is just as responsive there as it would be if you were physically in it. We have also installed sensors to let us know of any damage sustained. I propose that we send in one or two of these to test the defenses and see what we are facing. The other method we have been wo
rking with is that we now have five T Raptor teams fully warship trained that can fly one of these things while in rapport and even if the ship is destroyed the team can return as with any T Raptor operation. I lean toward the first suggestion as an initial run. Those ships have also been rigged with a self destruct mechanism that would easily take out several of their big ships and Saba would never get its hands on the technology. As I said, this is ready to go now."

  "Achilles, that would certainly do the trick, I like it. Nice work by Juliana, you and the crew. Those three dreadnaughts from Saba will pass their two fleets in about another five hours. Lets set up an encounter when they are 100 lights from Saba. That would be about 11 hours from now at their current speed and heading. Send one ship fully shielded but uncloaked. Also send a cloaked squadron with that one ship. Make sure that they are not in the line of fire. When you encounter them, hail them and tell them they are to reverse course or suffer the consequences. That will likely aggravate them to the point that they will fire on the one ship they can see. I want the station close enough to evaluate the weapons. Let them take some shots at the solo-unmanned ship so we can evaluate their effectiveness. If they do any damage you can return fire. If they continue to fire after a minute, you can return fire on any weapons port that has fired on our ship. I want the squadron to observe but remain cloaked until the dreadnaughts offensive is disabled. At that point they can uncloak. They do not need to know how many ships are really there. If as I expect, your shields are superior to their weapons, you can do selective damage. Try not to hull them and do leave them with their drive intact. I want them to take the word back to Saba. The message I want hammered at them is that they have been told that their presence is not wanted here and that they are not permitted to carry their conflicts or attempts to conquer other races into space. The main goal here is to evaluate their weapons but I also want them convinced that they are up against more than they anticipated. Does anyone have any questions? OK lets do this. This station will hold at about one light year from the three dreadnaughts."

  Chapter 33: Saba

  On Station 20, 100 LY from Saba –

  December 10 – C Day 467

  Achilles Garbounoff said, "Well boys and girls, here we go. Everyone ready for an encounter with Saba? OK Major McGill, do your stuff, you know your script."

  Joe McGill said, "Aye sir, we are ready. OK guys and gals here we go. The ship is in position. Let's do this."

  McGill hailed the dreadnaughts, "Three Saban vessel approaching, you are ordered to reverse course and return to Saba. You have been previously warned to stay out of this sector of space with armed warships. Reverse course or suffer the consequences. Please respond." Joe was about to repeat the order when a huge bolt of energy hit the vessel followed by another and by a third. All three dreadnaughts had fired primary weapons at the ship with no effect. Joe's exec reported, the shields show no effect and the energy was such that the ship was able to transfer some of it to further power the shields. Twenty seconds went by and another salvo ensued, with the same effect.

  General Garbounoff said, "Well, that was better than we hoped." Thirty seconds after the second salvo, the ship was hit by a third round of enemy fire. "Notice how long it took them to recycle to fire again. Looks like they are not getting tired of shooting so I guess its time to see how they feel about being on the receiving end. Lets see if all that target practice you guys have been doing pays off. Major, you may fire at will."

  McGill said, "Ok shooters take out the weapon pods that have fired at us." The ship started deliberate fire at the weapons ports that had previously fired. The Saban shields fell after three hits and after that were totally incapable of halting the Antoran warship's weapons fire and each shot decimated a weapon. Shortly the three dreadnaughts commenced fire from other ports that were likewise destroyed. Major McGill commented that they sure were a persistent lot. McGill ordered that the remaining weapons also be taken out. After all of the weapon pods had been destroyed, McGill ordered that the rest of the squadron to uncloak, all 100 warships. McGill then hailed the ship once more and said, "You were told to return to Saba or suffer the consequences. You did not listen. Now, reverse course or we will see what more than one of our ships can do with your ships. You have one minute."

  It did not take a minute this time to get the message. The three ships turned about and left. Garbounoff said, "OK everyone, return to the station. I think we have what we came for and more. In spite of today's success we should not get complacent, but those ships looked to be pretty new. I suspect that the other two fleets will be more of the same. Anyway everybody did their job, the three ships have been turned with a message. Now we see if they learn from the experience."

  The three ships did get back to Saba in far worse condition than they had left. The Monitor ship was still on its way to Saba when Hank again paid them a visit. He played for them a vid of the single ship encounter along with the order from Major McGill. Hank then said to the Captain, "Captain, Saban machinations in this part of the galaxy are an extreme annoyance that will not be allowed to continue. When I boarded this vessel, I turned on all of your recording and transmission devices so everything I have shown you is being transmitted to all that can receive on your signal. You must ask yourselves a few questions. The first is why Saba would send three dreadnaughts out to meet you if not to prevent the message you received in the hegemony from reaching Saba and others in your fleet. We believe those three vessels were dispatched to eliminate the threat your message represents. Since that appears to be the case we are suggesting that you might want other company before you return home."

  "Next, we have told you and whoever that transmission was aimed at that we will not tolerate your belligerent attitude in space nor will we allow your warships. Since your leaders do not appear to believe us, it appears we will have to come and enforce that command. We intend to dismantle your fleet. You saw what one of our warships did to your three dreadnaughts, imagine what 300,000 of them will do and they will not be visible. You have now before you, what I would call, a limited time offer. That is, start demilitarization immediately or we will take it apart for you. Our way will be a lot less pleasant than if you did it yourselves. It is your choice. If I have to visit this ship again, I will be bringing my pet, Harvey with me. He is still hungry and so are his brothers and sisters. It could get messy."

  At the debriefing session a few hours later, Garbounoff reported that the monitor ship had shifted course slightly and appeared intent on going to one of the fleets at 50 light years from Saba. Brian Wilson Commander of Station 7 said that Nyx had something interesting to add to the mix. Nyx reported,

  Hank quickly responded, "Good thinking, do it. Most of them are currently at Felix and I have been fearful that they might find a way to escape. Lets totally avoid contact with them. Nyx, can you directly transfer them individually to a stasis unit."

 

  "Great, remove each directly from a cell to an operational stasis unit. The next time they wake up I want it to be on Saba. Good work Nyx. That is a relief."

  ### At Saba Fleet Command - 12 hours later ###

  Admiral Sass was debriefing the commander of the three dreadnaughts that he had sent out to destroy the monitor vessel. "Captain Jess, you are trying to tell me that one puny warship did the damag
e I see to your three dreadnaughts and you could not even scratch the enemy."

  Jess retorted indignantly, "Sir that is precisely what I am saying. I have never seen anything like it. The vessel before us ordered us to reverse course, I was irritated by the arrogance of the demand, so I ordered all three ships to blast it out of space with our primaries. When the primaries hit the ship, it was as though we strengthened it. I ordered a second and a third salvo and the ship just sat there. All shots were directly on target. All shots hit the target. Nothing happened. It was unbelievable. It was almost as though they wanted us to fire at them. Then this one little ship started firing back. By the third shot, our shields failed and it took out our primaries first and then it took out every emplacement that had fired, sometimes five or six at a time. Their recycle rate was almost nonexistent whereas you know ours is in the 20 to 40 second range. Finally it took out all of our remaining guns. It could easily have hulled us, cut us to pieces or destroyed our drive. It was distinctly playing with us as a youngling does with its food. Finally, it again ordered us to return to Saba. When it did, 100 more of these little monsters appeared. They had clearly been spectators by their positions. It was like they wanted to see what we could do against one. They were not detectable until they uncloaked. I then ordered our ships to reverse course. The new primaries did nothing. The old ones even less. I have everything recorded and I have ordered the crew to say nothing. Here is a copy of the vid we took of the whole affair. Admiral, what have we encountered? We had no inkling of the existence of these ships previously. How do we stop them?"