by Saxon Andrew
“Ten, Sir.”
Jeremy nodded and continued his instruction. He wanted to dislike Dorman but the anger and hatred he had for him was beginning to disappear. Dorman was a sharp officer and intelligent to boot. This was an issue between Dorman and his sister. Jee turned to Lt. Higginson, “Did you just stop your training with the new communication data in the manual?”
Dan smiled, “No, Sir.”
Jeremy chuckled, “What else did you cover?”
“Pretty much everything there is to know about this ship, Sir. I’ve had lots of free time while the Captain was avoiding combat.”
“How slow can an Epy fly, Lieutenant?”
“One mile-per-hour, Sir. And the manual is wrong about how many times a pulse cannon can fire in one rotation.”
Dorman jerked his head up from his panel, “It says right here that the pulse cannon can only fire ten-times-per-rotation.”
Dan smiled, “If you’ll look in the manual at the overview section on your console, Dorman, you’ll see that the firing button can be locked down, so the pulse cannons will fire in automatic mode. They can fire twenty-times-per-revolution in that mode.”
Jeremy and Dorman stared at Dan and Jeremy smiled slightly, “Is there anything about my console I might have missed?”
“Actually. I believe there is, Sir.”
“Pray tell, what could it possibly be?” Jeremy felt there was nothing he didn’t know about the pilot’s console.
“Have you noticed that when you pull fully back on the thrust handle, the button on the right side of the handle clicks into place preventing you from going any further back?”
“Yes. That shuts down all forward motion,” Jeremy answered.
“Look in the back of the manual in the definitions section at the definition of the thrust handle, Sir.”
Jeremy went to his console, pulled up the manual, scrolled to the definitions section, and began reading. After a moment, he looked up at Dan, “The handle is defined as the forward and reverse thrust handle.”
Dan shrugged, “I suspect the manual was put together haphazardly to get it out before we left on this mission. That’s the only place in the manual where reverse on the thruster handle is mentioned. I really suspect that if you press the button and pull back on the thrust handle, the ship will fly in reverse and the view from the rear of the ship will appear on the monitor. I’ve not been able to confirm the monitor will switch but it only makes sense that anyone who designed it would make that happen.”
Jeremy turned around and gripped the thruster handle, pressed the button, and pulled slightly back on it. The Americas accelerated in reverse at high speed and the front monitor changed to a view from the rear of the ship. Jeremy pushed the thruster handle forward and the monitor changed back to the forward view as the ship stopped. Jeremy looked at Dan, “You knew the entire time that your ship could have attacked the alien warships.”
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell the Admiral?”
“I figured the Admiral would investigate and she might finally get what she’s deserved for a long time, Sir.” Dan turned to Gorman, “Sorry, but she did deserve it.”
“No apologies necessary, Dan. I’d have done the same thing.”
Dan shook his head slightly, “I thought you and she were connected at the hip.”
“It was a forced operation, Dan. I couldn’t get away from her without getting thrown out of the Navy. You were in the same situation.”
Dan tilted his head slightly before replying, “I’ve tried but the one time I asked for a transfer, I was almost thrown in the brig on a trumped-up charge. I guess we’ve both sat back hoping she would get her come-uppance one day.”
“You not getting her to look at the right manuals made it happen. Thank you, Dan.”
“No thanks needed. It’s good to be free.”
Jeremy listened to them and knew he had to tell Jan what he just learned. “Lieutenant, please send a copy of this conversation to the Admiral.” Dan’s eyes, narrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Sir, I might have to report to Lt. Meadows again one day and her hearing what we’ve just discussed could be an issue.”
“Send the message classified as secret and Meadows will not see it.” Dan hesitated, and Jeremy smiled, “Follow your orders.” Dan exhaled sharply and turned to his console.”
• • •
Jan called Tal over the intercom, “We’ll arrive at Captain Ward’s location in twenty minutes, Sir.”
“I’ll be right up.”
Jan noticed Rachael activating her console. Rachael saw her looking at her and smiled, “We’re moving into enemy territory. Better to be safe than sorry.”
Tal entered the bridge and took his chair. Jan moved to her console and said to Tal, “I have a message from Captain Stevens on the Americas, Sir.”
Tal activated the message and saw the secret-designation on top. He put on his helmet, plugged it into the console, and began listening. Son-of-a-gun! The ShaKa could fly backwards. He glanced at Jan, “Did you read this message?” Jan’s guilty expression gave her away. Tal smiled, “Good. Keep up the good work.”
Rachael sat at her console and wondered what Jan had read. She knew Tal’s remark could go either way.
• • •
Three minutes later, Jan activated the long-range scanners. Her eyes flew open, “TAL, I HAVE HUNDREDS OF LARGE PHASE FIELDS MOVING IN ON US IN A GLOBULAR FORMATION! THEY HAVE US SURROUNDED AND THE GLOBE IS SHRINKING AROUND US!!”
Tal looked up at the monitor and saw that the trap had been laid perfectly. The ShaKa was surrounded and the huge warships were closing in at high speed. He pulled back on the steering wheel and saw hundreds of additional warships were moving in outside the globe to fill in the gaps.”
Rachael yelled, “ADMIRAL! PICK A SHIP AND FLY DIRECTLY TOWARD IT NOW!!” Tal hesitated and saw that the ShaKa’s superior speed wouldn’t be enough to get out between the gaps. “DO IT, NOW, ADMIRAL!!” Rachael screamed.
Tal turned the steering wheel and flew at maximum speed toward the closest alien warship. He bore down on it and saw eight alien warships move in to close his escape route. He saw a huge cloud of energy pulses leave the ShaKa directly toward the giant closing in on him. He felt the vibrations of multiple missiles being launched and saw their phase fields activating as they left the launch tubes. “FOLLOW THE CLOUD OF PULSES IN AND TURN ABOVE THEM WHEN YOU’RE FIVE MILES FROM THE WARSHIP!!” Tal fell in behind the cloud of energy pulses and used the joystick to avoid overrunning them. The eight alien-warships surrounding the warship were knocked out of their phase fields by the missiles and instantly fell back. Tal stayed behind the energy pulses and saw the warship growing at an incredible speed. The ship attempted to avoid the pulses by diving under them, but the alien ship’s phase field was knocked out and fifty-energy-pulses hit the ship’s upper hull causing a massive explosion. Tal pulled back on the steering wheel and the ShaKa roared over the top of the stricken warship in an instant. The second globe formation wasn’t completely formed, and he flew through a large gap in their formation, as hundreds of blaster bolts were fired at the ShaKa as it passed. Rachael had the force field activated and it shrugged off the long-range blaster strikes. The ShaKa disappeared as it went to maximum speed beyond the alien’s formation before they could turn to give chase. Rachael immediately shut down the force field and said loudly, “Change course, Admiral!”
Tal whipped the ShaKa hard left and jerked his head around to Jan, “HOW DID THEY PULL THIS OFF?!”
“They had to be tracking our transmissions, Tal. They shut down their drives and waited for us to enter their formation.”
Tal forced his heart to slow down and said, “Warn Captain Ward!”
“I’ve sent him a recording and he’s moving away.”
“If they are tracking our communications, how are we going to be able to communicate with him?”
“Tal, I’m routing through the receiver out in interstellar
space. They might get a line on it, but we’ll only use it for short bursts. I’ve sent instructions for the receiver to start changing locations randomly.”
Tal turned to Rachael, “That was fast thinking, Lieutenant.” Rachael nodded, and Tal saw she was calm and composed. He still felt his elevated heart rate. “I owe you.”
“Save it for something that’s important, Sir. I was only doing my job, Sir.”
“Well, you did an outstanding job in getting us out of that trap.”
“I did waste eight missiles, Sir.”
“They weren’t wasted, Rachael.” Tal turned to Jan, “How can we avoid falling into this trap again?”
“I’m going to be forced to make an active scan any time we enter unknown space, Sir. The passive scanners didn’t detect them at the range they were closing in. I would have picked them up on an active scan.”
“We’ll give our location away.”
“We’ll change course immediately after I do it, Sir. We should be OK.”
“Put Captain Ward’s position on the monitor.” Jan sent the information and Tal turned the ShaKa toward the flashing red-dot on the monitor.
• • •
The Supreme Fleet Commander watched his display and saw the tiny ship evade his trap. He slammed an arm on his chair and glowered at the monitor. The Fleet Leader commanding his vessel said with a tentative voice, “Supremacy, we can’t match their speed and their weapons have a longer range. Our ships are no match to them.
The Supreme Commander sat back in his chair and harshly replied, “The leaders will listen to me this time or they’ll have to call this entire mission off.” He turned to the Admiral, “Get the Elder Governor on my console. He’ll give me the ships I need, or he can find someone else to take my command. The pitiful few he sent won’t do the job.”
• • •
Four days later, Tal flew back to the Americas’ location and contacted Jeremy on the short-range communicator, “How are things going?”
“We started attacking the aliens soon after you left, Sir, we’ve damaged six warships while you’ve been away. We are running low on missiles, Sir.”
“How has your crew performed?”
‘’Both are ready to command their own ships. Dan has amazed me with his complete understanding of the Epy’s engineering and there’s nothing left for me to teach Lt. Smythe.”
“Stand by for new orders. I’ll get back to you shortly.”
“Standing by, Sir.”
• • •
Tal turned the ShaKa and flew away from the LMC at maximum speed. He turned to Jan after ten hours and asked, “Do you think our communications can be tracked this far out?”
“I highly doubt it. We couldn’t do it and I believe our scanners are superior to the aliens’.”
“Send a message to Duncan to contact me and request that Ka be present.”
Jan’s eyes narrowed instantly, before she turned and started speaking into her microphone. Tal sat back and waited. He had no idea how this was going to turn out.
• • •
Fifteen minutes later, Duncan and Ka appeared on the front monitor, “Hi, Ka, I hope all is going well.”
Ka was concerned but she managed to smile, “I’m doing fine. Why did you want me here?”
“Before I break a promise, I’ll want your approval.” Ka’s eyes tightened, and her entire body tensed up. “Before you start yelling at me, Ka, please listen to what I have to say to Duncan and then you will have the final word on what happens.”
“Go ahead, Tal,” Duncan said softly.
“I’ve thought long and hard about who should command the new Epys you’re sending to join me, and I’m greatly concerned about their learning curve. The aliens have developed tactics that make attacking them extremely dangerous and sending me nine inexperienced commanders worries me. I’ve decided to promote crewmembers on the three ships here to command four of the new vessels.”
“Who are they?” Duncan asked.
“Lt. Dorman Smythe, Lt. Dan Higginson, Lt. Margaret Orlando, and Captain Jeremy Stevens.” Tal kept his eyes on Ka and was surprised she managed to remain silent, but he saw her demeanor was dangerous. Tal continued, “That will require an extra communications officer and three additional weapons officers.”
“That shouldn’t pose an issue. It actually makes it easier; I have a surplus of weapon officers and I’ll only have to find one more commander.”
“Actually, you have to find two.”
“Why is that?”
“I busted Captain Meadows back to lieutenant and Jeremy replaced her on the Americas.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll explain it to you later, Duncan.” Duncan nodded for Tal to continue. “I will need you to promote Captain Greg Ward, Jeremy Stevens, and Jan Stevens to one-star, Sir. Captains Ward and Jeremy Stevens will take command of four Epys and operate as a unit. Jan will be in overall command of my task force’s communications and insure we’re not surprised by the aliens. I’ll command four Epys and be in overall command of the twelve warships.”
“I don’t see a problem, Tal. However…” Duncan turned to Ka.
“Why do you need to promote Jeremy?!” Ka asked with tight lips.
“Because I don’t have anyone else ready to command a unit. He’s as good as I am and so is Jan…however, I’m not allowing both of them to leave my ship. It is my hope that one of the other Epy Commanders will progress to the point where I can bring Jeremy back to the ShaKa and replace him.”
Ka’s eyes widened, “ShaKa?”
Tal shrugged, “That’s the name of my ship.” Ka stared at Tal in silence and Tal raised his hands, “Ka, my ship was caught in a surprise attack a week ago and we were nearly destroyed. I think having Jeremy and Jan on different ships improves the chances of one of them surviving.”
“Are you telling me they’re in danger out there?” Ka said in a low menacing tone.
“Ka! You’re not that stupid!” Duncan said to her. “They’re fighting a war, and no one is safe. If you think otherwise, you’re fooling yourself!”
Ka glared at Duncan for a very long moment before turning back to Tal, “Tell me again why we came to Earth?”
Tal sighed, “We came to Earth to defend humanity against extinction and to protect your daughter. I failed in keeping Sha safe.”
“What’s going to happen when you take the fight to the alien’s planets?”
“I don’t know, Ka. I’m hoping that task will fall to our Alpha Warships.”
“Do you think when that happens my children won’t be placed in command of an Alpha?”
Tal shook his head slowly, “No. They’re too good, Ka.”
“So, I allow them to find their destiny or I hold them back trying to keep them safe with you. It’s only a matter of time until they will stand on their own without you nursing them along. My question to you is…ARE THEY READY NOW?”
“They’re the best officers out here, Ka. Jeremy is probably better than I am, and Jan is at least as good.”
“If you and I weren’t in this picture, what do you think Ste would want done?”
Tal kept his eyes on Ka as he raised his hands, “Ste was a naval officer willing to die to defend the colonies. He’d look at them with pride at what they’ve become and insist they never slow down.”
Ka looked off to the side as she thought about the situation. She brought her eyes back to him, “I believe you’re right about not having them on the same ship. I understand that the most recent reports from your ships is that a newer, more powerful, alien warship has been seen.” Ka’s remark surprised him. He had just learned about the new warship in his meeting with Captain Ward. “I need to step back and allow you to do your task without interference. Just do what you can to keep all your sailors safe, Tal.”
Tal’s eyes showed his emotion and Duncan interjected, “I’ll make the promotions.”
“Sir, we’re running low on missiles and could use some provisions.
I’m moving the ships back to the receiver and need you to send the new ships as quickly as possible.”
“I’ll get them on the way in four days. I suggest you delay leaving so the aliens won’t wonder why we’ve stopped attacking them.”
“That’s a good idea, Sir.”
The monitor turned dark and Ka turned to Duncan, “I want to go on that freighter.”
“Ka…”
“Duncan, it may be the last time I see my children!”
Duncan saw her determination, shook his head slightly, then agreed. “However, I will be sending a ship to pick you up when they go back into combat!”
Ka nodded and hugged him, as she rushed out to pack a bag and get ready. In the time she had remaining before she left, she would make sure the jobs in the lab were left in good shape.
Chapter Fourteen
The first thing Tee saw when he turned on the cameras was a large group of assassins moving through the pipes with a scanner raised toward the ceiling. He sighed heavily and heard Mer take a sudden breath behind him. “Well, I guess it’s time to start doing some house cleaning.” Tee activated the speaker system in the pipes and lifted the microphone, “I wanted to avoid this but you’re leaving me no choice.” Every assassin in the pipes froze in place and heard him continue. “I’ve turned off my cameras and you’re still attempting to find my location. All of you have seen the details of what I’ve built here, and do you honestly think I don’t have a means of defending myself from intruders? So far, I’ve allowed you to remain and to your credit you’ve learned how to play nice with each other. I know what’s going on outside the pipes and you’re safe here. However, if you continue in your efforts to find me, I will make the pipes uninhabitable. Do not continue to search for me; or I promise you, you’ll regret it.”
Tee stayed tuned in to the assassins with the scanner and heard, “Do you think he’s being honest?”
“No! If he could do it, he would have done it. Keep following the wires.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“GIVE ME THAT SCANNER!”
Tee switched the cameras back on and watched the leader rip the scanner out of the assassin’s hands holding it and start moving through the pipe. Several of the assassins in the group turned and ran away. “What are you going to do?” Mer asked.