by Saxon Andrew
Tee pressed a button on his computer and every speaker in the pipes played the assassin’s conversation over them, “Do you think he’s being honest…”
At the end of the recording, Tee picked up the microphone and added, “I warned you.” Mer sat back and watched him walk to the wall and opened a cabinet. Inside the cabinet were ten rows of buttons. He went to the third row from the left and pressed the tenth-button from the top. Mer watched him and looked at the computer’s display. Something fell out of a small pipe above the searchers, hit the floor, and exploded. Flames rushed through the pipe in both directions and the screams were horrific. After a minute, the screams ended, and the blackened corpses left testimony to their stupidity. He lifted the microphone, “This is your last warning!”
“Tee, you’ve shown them your defense.”
“No, I haven’t, Mer. Anyone that saw that canister is now deceased. But even if they did, they couldn’t do anything about it.”
“Why not?”
“I had those canisters installed in those small pipes by robots. They have no way to get to them and even firing at them with rifles won’t damage them. They’re located behind a ninety-degree turn in the pipe and have an ejector that shoots them into the pipe. If they get lucky and hit one with a ricochet, it will burn anyone under the pipe as it fans out.”
“What happens if they wear flame retardant clothing?”
“Then I’ll be forced to use the system that will kill everything in the pipes. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Tee, you’ve made them fearful. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.”
“It isn’t. But they left me no other option. Now, I need to search and see if there are other scanners in the pipes.” Mer nodded and stood behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. Tee smiled, as he switched between the cameras.
• • •
Tal had the three Epy crews on his monitor as they flew toward the distant receiver. It was a two-week voyage and Greg was playing a recording of a new alien warship he attacked prior to leaving. Greg was narrating the video and said, “I’ve slowed the recording down, so you can see what happens when our missiles attacked this ship. Notice that the missile knocks out the phase field with its pulse cannon but it’s back in place before the missile arrives at the ship and passes through it. It appears they can reactivate the phase field in less than a second.” All three crews were shocked as they watched their monitors showing the giant warship was unfazed by the missiles attacking it. Greg continued, “The blasters on this new vessel are now dangerous sixty or seventy miles out from the ship. Their missiles are also proximity activated and will explode before hitting our ships. The only thing that saved us in this encounter was that Mo had the force field activated. The explosions rocked the ship but didn’t penetrate to our hull. I suspect if more than ten hit our ship, they would have demolished the force field.”
“Why didn’t you use your pulse cannons to take them out before they came close?” Jeremy asked.
“We’ve not had to do that in the past; we’ve basically ignored their missile attacks,” Greg answered with a shrug. “We can no longer afford to do that.”
“You can outrun them,” Tal suggested.
“Sir, they’re firing large clouds of those missiles at us and getting through that cloud is difficult at best and impossible in most instances.”
“There is a way to avoid them.”
Everyone turned to Rachael, “How can we do that?” Tal inquired.
“There’s two ways, actually,” Rachael replied. “We now know the Epys can fly in reverse at full-speed. Simply hit reverse thruster and fly away before they arrive.”
“What’s the other way?” Jeremy asked.
Rachael smiled, “Attack them flying backwards. That would be the best way in my opinion.”
“Why is that?” Tal asked.
“The aliens have become quite good at getting their ships to the scene of an attack. By flying backwards, you leave the two-forward missile launchers available to fight our way out if needed. We can use the rear-missile-tube to launch on our target.”
“This is all a moot point if our missiles can’t hit their ships,” Greg interjected.
The crews were silent, and Tal turned to Jeremy, “Do you see anything we can do about this?”
Jeremy shrugged, “Well, there are a couple of things that I can change in the missile’s software.”
“Like?” Tal prodded.
“Fight fire with fire, Sir; I’ll change the missiles’ attack profile. I’ll have the missile stay inside it’s phase field until it detects the target and is on top of the target’s phase field. It will immediately start firing its pulse cannon and keep firing until it hits the alien warship. That will prevent the alien vessel from reactivating its phase field. However, it will only be a hunk of metal when it hits the target. Its pulse cannons will have exhausted the energy needed to fire it.”
“How fast will it be moving, Jeremy?”
Jeremy turned to his panel and made some calculations. He turned back around and announced, “If we use full thrust inside the missile’s phase field, it will be moving close to 200,000 miles an hour after the field degrades.”
Tal smiled slightly, “That’s about fifty-five miles a second.”
Jeremy smiled, “It didn’t take you long to figure that out.”
“I’ve run the numbers before we ever came out here. That missile weighs a ton. I suspect it will cause more damage than the explosive we’ve been using.”
“The pulse cannons’ energy pulses the missile will be following in to the target should also take out the blaster beams being fired at the missile from the alien ship,” Rachael added.
“Can you make this change in the software before we arrive at the freighter?” Jeremy shrugged and then shook his head. “We can’t come back out here with the missiles as they’re currently configured, Jeremy. How long do you need?”
“At least three weeks, Admiral.”
“Then get cracking on it. We’ll start training the new crews when we arrive at the freighter, so do your best to get this done by the end of training.”
“I was hoping I could train the new weapons officers.”
“Rachael will have to do that. Mo and I will assist her, and you can join in if you finish the programming in time.”
“Yes, Sir.” Jeremy turned to Dan, “You’re going to have to take over the piloting duties.”
“No problem, Sir.”
Tal looked at the three crews on the monitor and said, “Get some rest; you’re going to need it.”
The monitor went dark and Rachael turned to Tal with a dour expression, “Sir?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not a very good trainer.” Tal tilted his head and Rachael quickly continued, “I don’t have the patience. I’ll only end up insulting them and making them hate me.”
Tal rolled his eyes and pursed his lips before replying, “Rachael, you are going to have to come back into the land of the living and learn how to play well with others. Look at this as a challenge.”
“Excuse me!”
“Think of these new weapons officers as the pieces you’re going to have to use in a game. The better they are, the greater the chance you’re going to win the game. Can you understand that?”
“I guess. What’s the game?”
“To see if you can train one of them to be better than yourself. If you can pull that off, then you’ll start to prove to me you can command subordinates. Wouldn’t you consider that a win?”
Rachel’s tilted her head and her eyes lowered, as she thought about it. “I doubt anyone can match my talents, Sir.”
“Then that makes the game worth playing, Rachael. If it were too easy, you’d lose interest.”
Rachael started nodding and Jan added, “And just the one you think can’t do it, will end up being the best.”
Rachael grinned, “I’ll give it a go, Sir.”<
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Tal turned to Jan, “Connect me with Admiral Montana, then go and get some sleep.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Tal waited, and Duncan appeared on his console’s small display, “Duncan, did you get the recording of the new alien warship?”
“I did, Tal. That ship is a game changer.”
“The aliens didn’t just build that ship yesterday, Duncan. They must keep it inside their home space for defense and send their older models out for invasions. We’ve been kicking their backsides and I suspect they’ve decided to bring in the heavy artillery. That ship is a monster.”
“Are you saying you won’t be able to attack it?”
“Duncan, the range of the blasters on that ship is slightly longer than the range of our new pulse cannons, and they have more than a hundred blasters on their hull. We’ll be out-gunned, and our pulse cannons won’t be effective against that ship if we’re forced to stay outside the range of their weapons.”
“Tal, the nine Epys I’m sending out have the new generators installed in them.”
“New generators?”
“Yes. The generators we installed in the first-three-Epys were hand built to get the ships out. The new generators are the same size as the ones installed in your Epy but have twice the power. The new energy pulses are effective from ninety miles.”
“But can they hit a randomly moving target effectively from that Range Duncan?”
“That will depend on the how effectively your weapons officers can fire a spread of them at the target, Tal.”
“Well, at least we can hold them off. However, using the pulse cannons as our main assault weapon against them isn’t viable with this new ship. We’re going to be forced to use our missiles and they won’t function as they’re currently programmed.”
“Why not?”
“The new alien warship can reactivate its phase field in a second. Before the missile can hit it, the target’s phase field will be operational, and the missile will just pass through it. I have Jeremy working on modifying the missile’s software as we speak.”
“There’s been a change in the missiles, as well, Tal.”
Tal’s brow furrowed, “What changes?”
“We’ve reduced their size by one-third.”
Tal rolled his eyes, “I wish you hadn’t done that, Duncan.”
“Why?”
“The programming Jeremy is working on is designed to get the missile through the alien’s defenses before it can reactivate its phase field. It’s basically going to be just a large rock we’re throwing at the alien ship by the time it hits. Reducing the weight will reduce the force of the impact.”
“Who said anything about reducing the weight?”
“You said it’s one-third smaller!”
“That doesn’t make it lighter, Tal.”
“What are you saying, Duncan.”
“We’ve removed the old shells and the missiles are now covered with a chronide covering.” Tal’s head went up slightly at Duncan’s comment. “The chronide shells will make them more resistant to the alien’s blasters. However, their weight is being increased by fourteen hundred pounds, because of the chronide. Another benefit from reducing the size is that your ships can now carry sixty missiles instead of forty.”
“Duncan, send Jeremy the data on the new missile to the Americas; he’s going to need it to reprogram them.”
“I’ll have it sent immediately. Be careful and let me know when you arrive at the freighter.”
“Duncan, if we have to depend on the new missiles to attack the alien warships, we’re going to need to be frequently resupplied.
“Tal, I’m moving the freighter far above the LMC, where it will shut down its external systems. It will maintain communication silence and an alien would have to move to within a hundred miles to detect it. It won’t take you nearly as long to get to it.”
“Is it coated in the new phasemetal.”
“No, but the one coming to replace it will be. The freighter you’re going to now has more than three thousand of the new missiles on board.”
“That should keep us fighting for a while.”
“Have Jeremy send the new software to me when he has it completed.”
“Will do, Duncan. Thank you for all you’re doing to keep us safe.” Duncan nodded, and the display went dark. Tal immediately sent a copy of his conversation with Duncan to Jeremy. He needed this information now!
The three Epys arrived at the receiver and rendezvoused with the freighter. Tal, Jeremy, and Greg landed in the freighter’s giant landing bay and exited their ship to find Ka waiting for them. Jeremy and Jan rushed to her arms and hugged her tightly. Tal walked down to her, “It’s good to see you,” he said with a soft smile
Ka looked at him a bit surprised by his comment, “It’s good to see you, too.” She turned back to Jeremy and Jan and walked out of the landing bay with them. She spilt time with them for the remainder of their stay on the freighter. When they weren’t available, she sat in Tal’s classes with the new ships’ commanders. She was impressed with the progress Tal had made learning how to command warships. After all, his was a new arena for him. She determined quickly that her presence made Tal nervous. After the second class, she told him, “I’m not going to attend any more of your classes.”
“Am I that bad, Ka.”
“Quite the contrary, I think you’re quite extraordinary. However, you can’t relax if I’m present. Do your job and I’ll find a way to entertain myself if the kids are busy.”
“I’m sorry, Ka.”
Ka turned to walk away and then stopped. She turned back to Tal and, with sad eyes, said, “Tal, I don’t blame you anymore for Sha’s death. It was just too many things going wrong all at once that killed her. It wasn’t your fault and I understand that now. However, even though I’ve been able to forgive you, I don’t think you will ever forgive yourself.” Tal kept his eyes on Ka, as she turned and walked away. She disappeared at the end of the passage and, as he lowered his eyes, he knew…she was right.
• • •
Rachael sat at the front of a classroom on the freighter looking at the eleven weapon-officers and twelve communication-officers sitting in the classroom. Jan was seated with the communication officers in the two rows behind the weapons officers. They were present to hear the class because they would have to operate the weapons when the weapons officers weren’t on the bridge. They were instructed to hold their questions and not interrupt the instructor during the class.
Rachael was past being nervous; she knew she was going to mess up and lose her temper. She glanced over the weapons officers and knew that most of them out-ranked her because of seniority. She took a deep breath and then had a thought. She needed to treat this class as a briefing she used to give to the Colony Admirals. She never got out of line with them. She focused on the idea for a moment and then turned to the expectant class.
“Good morning, I’m Lieutenant Meadows and the weapons officer on the task force’s flagship, ShaKa. I want to welcome the communication officers to this briefing and if you have a question, forget about not interrupting the class and raise your hand. It’s better to clear things up in here than to have to confront an issue for the first time during combat.”
Rachael turned to the front-two-rows of weapon officers, “Please, introduce yourself by your rank and surname and where you live.” She nodded to the woman sitting in the front left desk.
The woman stood up and smiled, “Lt. Mamani, Sioux Falls.
The man seated next to her stood up, “Lt. Baker, New York.”
“Lt. Crandon, Tampa.”
“Lt. Anand, Liverpool.”
Rachael quickly asked, “Isn’t Anand a middle eastern name.”
The woman smiled, “It is. However, there are more than six million middle easterners living in and around Liverpool.”
“Please forgive my ignorance. I’m from the colonies and still have much to learn about Earth.” Rachael nodded to the next of
ficer.
“Lt. Delham, Johannesburg.”
“Lt. Earoth, Buenos Aires.”
“Lt. Franklin, Moscow.”
Rachael’s eyebrows went up, but the next officer was already standing, “Lt. Hashura, Nagasaki.”
Rachael nodded to the woman, “Doesn’t Hashura mean support?”
“Close, it actually means pillar, but support is a synonym.”
• • •
Jan sat in the rear of the class and was amazed at Rachel’s familiarity with Earth names.
“Lt. Gagnier, Paris.
“Lt. Hasham. Tel Aviv.”
“Lt. Kassem, New Delhi.
Rachael stood up and walked around to the front of her desk and sat back down on it, “Admiral Talent has briefed me this morning and I know that all of you have been trained on the Epy Class Warship’s weapons. I understand that the nine new Epys’ that just arrived have new pulse cannons with an effective range of ninety miles, right?” The officers all nodded. “Admiral Talent has informed me that the original three Epys will be the lead warship in three groups of four-ships. The Lead Ships will command and direct the three new-Epys during combat missions and only enter the fight if absolutely necessary. The older ships aren’t as good as the new ones and would be in greater danger if they are forced to fight against the new alien-warship. They do not have the range of the new ship’s weapons.”
Rachael turned to one of the officers and smiled, “Lt. Mamani, you will be assigned to Admiral Sevens-Albritton’s Americas. Lt. Hashura, you will be assigned to Admiral Ward’s Blue. I’ll need you to stay after class to bring you up to speed on the weapons on board those ships.”
The two officers acknowledged her instructions, and Rachael continued. “There have been some developments that have taken place since you completed your weapons training. Someone tell me the maximum range of the alien warship’s blasters?”
An officer held up their hand, “Yes, Lt. Earoth.”
“Forty-six miles.”
“That is no longer the case, Lt. Earoth. Don’t feel bad for getting it wrong, it changed while you were coming here in the freighter. The aliens have started sending a new warship into the LMC and the range of its blasters has increased to seventy or eighty miles.” Everyone in the room, except Jan and Joe, were surprised by what they heard. Rachael smiled and added, “This new ship is also capable of reactivating its phase field in about one second.”