by Saxon Andrew
Jan smiled brightly, “I do! I’m sending it to your panel now.” Tal looked at his display and noticed a white blip appear. He pushed down on the steering wheel and the ShaKa dove toward the huge alien warship far below.
• • •
The alien fleets were spread out on a line moving into the heart of the Large Magellanic Cloud with a half-light-year separating their ships. Tal flew in behind the targeted ships and switched to the joystick controller. He turned to Jeremy, “Hit their phase field with a pulse cannon. Once it degrades, fire a salvo of pulses at the rear of the ship and target a missile on the ship’s thrusters.” Tal paused and said with a deliberate tone, “You’re going to have to do this quickly. The ships on either side of that vessel will be on us like sand on a beach in an instant.”
Jeremy put his targeting helmet on and kept his eyes on his panel. Tal roared in a hundred miles behind the giant warship and matched its speed. When the ShaKa was fifty miles from the target, Jeremy announced, “I’m firing a missile at the target, Tal. That ship will outrun any energy pulses fired at it. The missile’s phase field will allow it to get close enough to fire its pulse cannon directly into their phase field; it should drop into normal space instantly. I’ll use the pulse cannons to hit the thrusters and the ship’s rear hull. In three…two…one…fire!”
Tal pulled back on the joystick slowing the ShaKa down as the missile ejected from the forward missile tube and accelerated away inside its small phase field. It went close to the rear of the unsuspecting ship and fired three energy-pulses into the ship’ phase field. The field immediately dropped, and the missile flew in on the rear of the ship and hit the thrusters dead-center.
Tal pulled back on the joystick and slowed the ShaKa before passing the giant and Jeremy fired four energy-pulses from each of the four pulse cannons. Tal shutoff the joy stick, pulled back on the steering wheel, and pushed the gravity thruster fully forward. The rear of the giant exploded across a four-hundred-yard section of the hull, a moment before the ShaKa disappeared.
• • •
Jan kept her passive scanners focused on the stricken vessel and shook her head, “You were right, Tal. Forty alien warships rushed in on the ship we attacked in less than ten seconds. They’re now spreading out searching for the ship’s attacker.”
“I thought they would arrive even faster than that, Jan.” Tal replied.
Jan shook her head, “When that ship was knocked out of its phase field, the other ships in the line blew past it. They had to turn around and come back which took eight seconds.” Jan looked at Tal, “I suspect they’re going to change the organization of their line after this.”
“They will.” Tal replied. “But they can’t avoid having ships behind the others. We’ll find a way to hit them.”
“You were right about slowing them down,” Jeremy added. “The entire line has come to a stop to close the hole in their line and the fires in the ship we hit are spreading. They’re going to have to evacuate the crew if it continues.”
Tal whipped the ShaKa to the left and ordered, “Jan find me another target!”
Jan acknowledged the order and quickly sent another blip to Tal’s display, “They’re out of their phase fields, now, and we won’t have to attack a phase field this time.”
Tal smiled, “I’m going in fast and hit them from outside the range of their weapons. Save the missiles, Jeremy; we don’t have any to waste.” Jeremy nodded and focused on his targeting system.
• • •
Tee was continually shaking his head as he switched between the cameras. The pipes were full of assassins wearing their night vision goggles and many of them had found his cutouts to get to the surface. He was furious about their intrusion into his domain but there was little he could do about it. He finally figured out how they were finding their way in. There had been several ambushes outside the three pipes near the surface and the assassins’ communicators that died there were still operational. Fortunately, none of them knew the location of his lair, but that didn’t change his anger at their presence.
Now…it appeared many of the assassins had reached a sort of truce not to attack each other. Groups would gather at the cutouts and set up shop under them. He saw no way to remove them. One thing he did discover from the microphones located at the cutouts was that most of them were there trying to survive the carnage taking place above ground. Once they agreed to not attack each other, they settled in to wait it out. At least they agreed to not allow any others to enter the pipes. Mer rolled over on the bed with a big sigh, “Tee, there’s nothing we can do about this.”
“I know! I just hate it!” Tee leaned forward studying his computer screen. Mer sat up on the bed, “You’re thinking about something…what is it?”
“Am I that transparent?”
“No, you’re not but I can tell when that mind of yours is working at high-speed.”
Tee turned to her with a mischievous smirk on his face, “There is a way to remove them, but it will kill everyone in the pipes and block all the exits.”
“Every exit?”
Tee nodded, “Every one of them!”
“Then how will we get out?” Tee was silent, and Mer repeated, “Tee, how will we get out?”
“There is one exit that comes out in the parking garage above us. But it’s so small that taking anything with us won’t be possible; the rifles are too long to negotiate some of the turns. I put it there as an emergency escape if things got really bad. If we use it, we’ll have nowhere to go.”
“Then we’ll stay here and wait it out, right?” Mer asked. He agreed but was getting cabin fever and needed to get out and move around. But, that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.
• • •
Two weeks later, Tee was doing pushups when the remote scan of the cameras picked up an assassin saying, “…there are cameras…” Then the scan moved to another camera. Tee jumped up off the floor and stopped the scan. He began backing up and heard on the previous camera, “…they appear to be everywhere.”
Another voice asked, “Are you’re sure they’re operational.”
“They have a live current running to them.”
“Who do you think put them there?”
“Probably the same one that built all those sophisticated exits to the surface.”
There was a pause and then Tee heard, “If this person is still alive, we need to find him and take him out.”
“Why? He hasn’t done anything to harm us.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t. How can we find his location?”
“If someone has a good scanner, we can follow the electrical current through the pipes.”
“We need to find someone that has a scanner.”
Tee slammed his hand on the table and Mer came running in from the bathroom, “What’s going on?”
“It appears the squatters have found one of my cameras and intend to find us by using a scanner to trace the wiring.” Mer put her hand to her throat and Tee shook his head, “Don’t worry just yet. I’m shutting down the power to the cameras and only use them randomly.”
“Will that work?”
“Mer, they better hope it does.”
• • •
The AL looked up from his monitor, “Commander, our ships in that small galaxy are under attack.”
The Commander rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air, “That isn’t good! These civilized planets we’ve targeted are going to have time to develop weapons against us. Are the attacks successful?”
“We’ve lost five warships so far, Commander. Four of them were severely damaged and one burned down to the substructure. It’s slowing down the search for the alien’s home worlds.”
“How much longer is it going to take for the refined metals to be ready for pickup?”
“Another month or two, at the most.”
“Have the Commanders of the other five planets under attack made a deal with them like we have?”
“No, Sir, not yet.”
“Why not?”
“They attacked weeks after we arrived and haven’t suffered the loss of their landing forces like we did,” the Al replied with a shrug.
“I suspect that it’s only a matter of time until they start losing their ground forces.”
“They’re feeling the pressure as we speak, Commander. They don’t want to lose the rights to come back to the planets they invaded.”
“I’m surprised the armistice hasn’t been broken,” the Commander muttered.
“Your offer of a trillion credits was possibly too high. However, we’ll make a huge profit and there are still more than forty planets open for invasion.”
“AL, this is the last time I want to see one of these cursed planets. The others have been preparing for an invasion and it will be a nightmare. I’ll probably retire after this invasion ends.”
“I doubt the Prince Royal will allow you to retire, Commander. You’re the only one that’s made him a profit.”
“He’ll allow me to retire or pay me more than he’d ever want to do.”
“He’ll pay you, Commander. I don’t think he’ll care how much you demand.”
The Commander thought about what the AL was saying and turned to face him, “I find it suspicious that the alien civilization scouting us just happened to show up when we launched our invasion.”
The AL smiled, “I wondered if you noticed that.”
“The Supreme Commander is convinced that it must be a different civilization because the ships being used have not been seen on any of these planets.”
“The original attack didn’t happen anywhere near the planets we’ve invaded, Commander. It happened near the planet the planets here call Earth. That planet doesn’t possess a stardrive.” The Commander kept his eyes on the AL, as he added, “The ship that destroyed one of our warships looks nothing like any vessel we’ve seen near that planet.”
“Perhaps we need to send a fleet in to take a close look.”
“Good luck making that happen,” the AL said testily. “We don’t have a fleet available to do it; all of them are in that small galaxy searching for an advanced civilization.”
“Maybe you could suggest to the Supreme Commander that he send a fleet to check it out, AL.”
“And tell him he’s making a mistake! No thanks, you can do the honors on that front.”
The Commander vigorously shook his head, “No, that might lead to my being demoted and replaced!” The Commander began to walk away and then turned back to the AL, “I’ll make a wager with you.”
“Go on.”
“I’ll wager that those ships attacking our fleets in that small galaxy came from that planet we’ve been scouting.”
“No deal!” the AL emphatically answered.
“Then if both of us believe that’s where they’re coming from, why don’t we tell someone in command?” the Commander wondered out loud.
“Because we’d just look stupid, Commander. In this instance, the messenger will probably be killed.” The Commander shrugged and walked off shaking his head.
Chapter Twelve
Tal turned to Jan, “Contact Captain Ward and Captain Meadows and get a count on the number of alien ships they’ve destroyed or damaged.” Jan nodded and immediately turned to her console. A few minutes later, she looked up at Tal with a troubled expression. Tal saw her discomfort and asked, “Did you get the totals?”
“The Blue has damaged twenty-three alien warships and destroyed three, Sir.”
“And Captain Meadows?”
“She had no kills or ships damaged, Sir.” Jan hesitantly replied.
Tal’s expression showed his initial shock and then it turned angry, “Contact Captain Meadows and tell her to move away from the alien’s line and be prepared to meet me above the LMC!”
“Yes, Sir.” Tal moved the ShaKa vertical and went to full speed. He arrived high over the LMC where he heard Jan say, “I’ve put the Americas’ location on your panel, Sir.” Tal saw the red-dot appear on his panel and turned the ShaKa toward it. He fought hard to control his temper and hoped there was some logical reason for the Americas’ failure. He seriously doubted there would be.
• • •
The ShaKa arrived at the Americas two days later and Tal roared in on the ship at full-speed. He stopped the ShaKa two hundred yards out from the Epy Ship and turned to Jan, “Open a short-range channel to Captain Meadows.” Jan pressed a button on her panel, turned back to Tal, and nodded.
Tal looked at the front monitor and saw Captain Meadows and her crew appear on it. Forcing himself to be calm, Tal leaned back in his chair, and grabbed his chin with his right hand, “Captain Meadows, it has been brought to my attention that your ship has not damaged or destroyed any alien warships. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Sir, it is,” Rachael answered.
“Would you care to tell me why?”
“I’ve been following your orders, Sir.”
Tal closed his eyes, opened them, then asked in as neutral a tone as he could muster, “Exactly which orders are you referencing, Captain?”
“You ordered that I not put my ship in danger of being captured. I’ve initiated multiple attacks but there was no way to complete them without moving inside the range of the alien’s weapons, which forced me to back off.”
Tal had his index finger over his lips, as he kept his chin on his hand. He moved the finger and ordered, “Send me the recordings of your attacks, Captain and stand by for me to get back to you.”
“Yes, Sir.” Rachael turned to Dan and nodded. Her monitor went dark and she immediately said, “Dan! Contact Captain Ward and find out how many ships he’s attacked.”
Rachael waited, until Dan turned back to her in a few moments later, “He’s damaged twenty-three alien warships and destroyed three. Joe tells me that the Admiral’s ship has damaged forty-six alien warships and destroyed eight.”
Rachael’s eye flew wide open, “How?”
“I don’t know, Sir. I suspect the Admiral is going to tell you shortly.”
Rachael sat nervously in her chair and knew she was in trouble. After thirty minutes passed, Tal appeared on her monitor, “Captain, what is the range of your pulse cannons?”
“Fifteen miles, Sir.”
“And the effective range of your missiles?”
“The manual says they shouldn’t be launched outside ten miles, Sir.”
“Pull up the manual with the pulse cannon’s stats and read to me what it says,” Tal ordered.
Rachael began scrolling down the files in her computer and pulled up the data on the pulse cannon, “I have it, Sir.”
“Read it to me.”
Rachael looked at the computer screen and read, “The maximum-effective range of the fifth-generation pulse cannon is fifteen miles.”
Tal was leaning back in his chair with his hands folded on his lap, as he stared at Rachael on his monitor. He leaned forward and commanded, “Read the summary page of the data to me, Captain.”
Rachael scrolled down and began reading, “Summary. The fifth-generation pulse cannon is the most powerful weapon carried by the Alpha Class Major Warship…” Rachael stopped reading and forced herself to look up at Tal.
“Captain, are you currently commanding an Alpha Warship?”
Rachael’s face was deep red as she answered, “No, Sir.”
Tal’s expression was dangerous as he ordered, “Captain, now look up the capabilities of the missiles on your ship!”
Sir, I…”
“FOLLOW MY ORDER, CAPTAIN!!” Tal shouted.
Rachael turned to her computer and began scrolling through files. Jan and Jeremy felt uneasy witnessing Rachael’s distress. Rachael found the file and began reading, “The Mark IX missile is incredibly powerful but can be shot down if launched too far out from a target. The minimum range it should be used is within ten miles and should not be used against a target with an active phase field.”
“Go to the summary, Captain!”
Rachael scrolled down and read, “Summary: The Alpha Class of Warship is formidable but must be used keeping the limitations in mind.”
Rachael looked up from the screen at Tal and saw him resting his head on his hand again with his index finger over his mouth. He continued to stare at Rachael and moved his finger to order, “Captain Stevens, contact Captain Ward and ask him if he delivered the manuals on the Epy Class Warship to Captain Meadows. Patch his response in on the wall-speaker.”
Tal kept his eyes trained on Rachael and a minute later, Rachael heard, “Yes, Admiral. I contacted her before we left Earth and told her that I had the manuals for her ship and I was prepared to transfer them to her.”
Tal continued to glare at Rachael as he asked, “What was her response?”
“She told me that Admiral Montana had given her the manuals and she didn’t need them.”
“Did you send them anyway, Captain?”
“Yes, Sir. I told her you ordered me to do it before leaving Earth and I was going to carry out my orders.”
“Thank you, Captain Ward.” Jan ended the contact and saw Tal still staring at Rachael. Tal moved his eyes to Dorman, “Lieutenant, what is the actual range of the pulse cannon?”
“Sir, I was told the maximum range was fifteen miles.”
“Why didn’t you look it up in the manuals to confirm that information?”
“Sir, the manuals weren’t given to me to study.” Dorman glanced at Jan on the monitor and expected to see her gloating, but she wasn’t. However, she did have a troubled, expression.
Tal turned his attention to Lt. Higginson, “I’ve noticed that you’ve been using your communications properly. Please explain how you’ve managed to do that?”
“Captain Ward sent the proper manuals through my panel, Sir. I opened them and reviewed the data on my systems, Sir.”
“Did you not see the manuals were different from the ones being used by Captain Meadows?”
“I did.”
“Is there a reason you didn’t point that out to her?”
“Captain Meadows doesn’t take being corrected well and after attempting to discuss it with her, I decided that I should keep my mouth shut.”