No one on Earth knew the correct names for the enemy ships so they were given code names based on Earth land vehicles. A tank was a battle cruiser, a space ship the size of a football field where every yard line had offensive armaments with the ability to fire in any direction. LAV’s were Light Armor Vehicles. They would be like the fighter jets of the past, quick, agile and well armed though with nowhere near the offensive capabilities of the tanks. As a single fighter, they were typically easy enough to deal with. As a swarm, they were quite terrifying.
“You want the facts, James? Here they are,” Mona said. “This is less than we dealt with in the war but we’re getting massive readings from beyond the outer radiation belt. I have no doubt there are more of these things coming in behind this cluster. Even if I’m wrong about that, if our forces in space really are gone, we don’t have the numbers to deal with this group. Worse, we don’t know what other kinds of new weapons systems they have.”
“You seem to have new weapons systems.” Hill said.
“Tested on our older models,” Benjamin replied. “I’m less worried about the Catters new weapons and more worried about their new defenses. At the end of the day, a gun is a gun. Laser, bullet, water, they’re all the same. A projectile flies out and destroys something. Only the type and caliber determine how much destruction is caused. But a shield is meant to withstand a bullet. And we don’t know what kind of shields they have.”
“So we’re supposed to test that?” Lindsay asked.
“You see this map?” Mona pointed at the holo-display. “We don’t have time for testing. We have a few new ships from Wartech but we don’t know if they can do the job.”
“All that money for nothing,” Durham said.
Irons took a good, long look at the map, watching the cluster move closer to Earth. He stroked the stubble on his chin and lowered his gaze to Mona. “I guess you really will be wanting us to call you Admiral again.”
“I need you, James. The Earth needs you. It’s all hands on deck.”
Lindsay couldn’t help but smile at the words. Durham couldn’t help but notice her smile.
“There’s just one problem,” Irons said.
The words instantly killed Lindsay’s hopes of getting back in to the field.
“You took all the Lucky Liberty’s guns,” Irons said flatly.
Five
The Secret Defense
“Sir,” Lindsay spoke up. “The main cannon of the Lucky Liberty is still attached to the ship.”
Irons nodded. “She has a point, Mona. My girl only has one gun. The one you ordered as not worth the cost to dismantle.”
“I can see that was the right call.”
“So what does that leave us with? A bunch of new Wartech designed fighters and a few mining boats?”
“Close,” Benjamin said. “A bunch of new Wartech fighters and one mining boat.”
“One!?” Syracuse asked.
“Yours was the only one planet side. All others are off on meteors and moons.” Mona swiped her hand over the table, changing the image of the Catter Queen back to the map. She tapped on the hologram, highlighting the other mining vessels. All of them were too far from Earth to arrive in time.
“How much more of a difference would they really make, Boss?” Durham asked.
“They still outnumber us a hundred to one, sir,” Lindsay quickly surveyed the display.
“I can see that.” Irons stepped closer to the map and looked it over. The red Catter fleet was moving closer while blue dots representing Earth forces were disappearing from the map.
“You know this isn’t a request, James,” Mona said. “This is—”
“Recruiting. I get it. So we come back in with full rank and benefits?”
“Without question.”
“I’ll expect full ceremonial burials, too.” Irons words were matter of fact.
“Let’s stay optimistic, eh?” Benjamin said, trying to force a smile. It was unnerving for him to see his idol so quick to lose hope.
“This is optimistic,” Syracuse replied with a smile. “We’ll be lucky if there’s anything left to actually bury.”
“You leading this thing?” Irons asked Mona.
“I’ll be running tactical commands from here. I’ve assigned field command duties to Captain Roy Allen.”
“Who?” Irons asked.
“Me.” The voice was sudden and came from behind Irons.
Irons and his crew turned to watch a man swagger toward them. Roy Allen was the type of individual in a bar or restaurant who thought himself too good for the rest of the room. He was so self assured that he’d hit the bullseye on the dart board or sink four balls off the break on the pool table. Roy Allen was the man who bought a drink for a lady even though hers was still three-fourths full.
“Mom always said to listen to the wisdom of my elders. But old things break so easily, I always end up carving my own path.” Roy stopped next to Irons.
Both Irons and Syracuse clenched their fists till their knuckles turned white. Who did this ego-maniac think he was?
“James Irons, this is Roy Allen. Captain of the USS Drastic Nova,” Mona introduced them.
Roy couldn’t have been much older than Durham and he was going to command the forces in the field? That was the question on the minds of the crew of the Lucky Liberty.
“When were you born, son?” Syracuse asked.
“I’ve found age has little to do with ability.” Roy smirked.
“You cocky little—”
“Roy has beaten every consecutive high score and has the best Field Victory Efficiency multiplier in every sim-room from the last ten years.”
“FVE’s are a joke, Mona. And you know it,” Irons said. “This snot nose hasn’t seen a real battle in his life and he’s gonna lead one based off of simulation scores? I’d rather follow Durham’s orders. At least he’s been in a conflict.”
“Aww, thanks, Boss.”
“Shut it, Durham.”
“All of you shut it!” Mona ordered. “You are all enlisted in the Earth Fleet Defense Force. As of this moment you take your orders directly from me until you are out in the field where Captain Allen will take over. His orders may be vetoed only by my own. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir!” Lindsay replied.
“I appreciate your enthusiasm, Private Brooks, but I’ll need the same from the rest of your crew.” Mona stared dead at Irons.
The others saluted except for Irons. His gaze went from the Admiral to Benjamin. “We gonna get fancy guns, too?”
“As soon as you arrived here, Wartech engineers began retrofitting the USS Lucky Liberty’s turrets to hold the new weapon systems during the conference.”
“Of course they did.” Irons looked back at Mona. “Sir, yes, sir.” He finally saluted.
“Outstanding,” Mona said. “Now, everyone report to your ships. Allen, take the fleet out. And take out as many of those Catters as you can. Irons, as soon as the new guns are connected and operational, I want the Lucky Liberty in that fight. Bring us victory, ladies and gentlemen.”
“Yes, sir!” they all said at once.
A massive explosion rocked the Star Predator and red lights and alarms blared from all over the war room.
Admiral Collins’s eyes darted up to the map only to see the cluster of Catter ships right on top of the Earth. “How did they get here so fast?”
“Send up the ICBM’s before they get too close!” Irons shouted. “The fleet will never get off the ground fast enough.”
“You don’t know my ships, Irons,” Allen accused. “And you’re not giving the orders,”
“Enough. All of you, get out there!” Mona ordered.
Irons jabbed a finger at the map. “We can’t have a sky battle with boats this size in Earth atmosphere, Mona, you know that!”
“I gave you an order, Captain!”
“You stubborn woman. Just like—”
“There’s no time for this, kids,” Syracuse reasoned
. “We need those boats in the air before there’s no fleet and no Earth.”
“See you in space, Irons. Try to stay out of my way.” Allen turned and raced out of the room.
Another explosion rocked the ship. Only Irons and Lindsay managed to stay on their feet.
“Double time it, people,” Irons ordered.
“Wait,” Mona said. Her eyes were fixed to the holographic display as it flickered in an out. She raised a fist to the display and spread out her fingers. The map zoomed in for a closer look.
The whole group watched as Catter LAV’s zipped around on the map. Earth jets were blown up from alien rounds that tore through them before they could even lift off the ground.
“They’ll never take off in time,” Syracuse said.
“Wartech’s new engine designs make lift off a thing of the past. Instant Anti-Gravity Propulsion Drives. Launch sequences aren’t even necessary anymore.”
True to Benjamin’s word, the new battle cruisers launched into the air and immediately started maneuvering in ways nothing that size should have been able to move in atmosphere. Irons watched the strange dance as the Earth Fleet ships stopped mid-air then spontaneously darted off in another direction, guns firing at the Catter warships.
Hannah stared with great interest. “They have Null Inertia Drives, too?”
“I’m proud to say we cracked the inertia problem five years ago. It was a simple matter of—”
“Fat lotta good it’s doing. We just lost one.” Irons pointed at the blue light flickering out. “We’re still outnumbered. All the out maneuvering in the world ain’t gonna help win this.”
“They must have heat seekers,” Mona said. She placed her hand to her ear and lightly pushed inward. “This is Admiral Mona Collins. Access Delta Ray Epsilon. Ordering launch of—”
Irons grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from her ear. “Are you nuts?”
“Unhand me, Captain!”
“We missed that window. You launch ICBMs now and you’ll take out the whole fleet.”
“Ma’am!” Lindsay barked. “The Captain is right. And we’ll still have to deal with at least a quarter of the Catters left. But with no fleet to continue a defense.”
“I trust that one,” Irons said.
Mona glared at Irons. “At this rate, we’ll lose the fleet anyway.”
The Admiral tapped the table and the image of Allen appeared. The young Captain looked confused.
“Captain Allen, I need an eyes on report.”
“Admiral, they’ve stopped firing. And we have controls unresponsive.”
“Say again,” Mona ordered.
“Propulsion drives and weapons systems all offline. We can’t even switch to manual.”
“How is that even possible?” Mona asked.
Benjamin swallowed. “It shouldn’t be, Admiral. The manual systems are all hydraulic. There’s no electricity that drives them—Unless…”
“I would say greetings but that would imply we are friends.” The holographic display switched to a new image and Irons found himself staring into the slit pupils of the Catter Queen, J. And this time it was no recording. “You’re, no doubt wondering why your entire fleet has been rendered useless. This is the power of the Ka’traxis Brood Armada. We don’t even need to fire our weapons.”
“Tractor technology,” Benjamin whispered.
“I wish to play a game, humans. To the winner goes the universe.”
Though a planet of warriors and agile combatants, the Catters were also notorious for teasing their prey. Much like a house cat with a mouse or any toy of its choice.
“The rules are simple. You need save only one of your ships and we leave your planet alone forever. But if none are left by the time you arrive on our homeworld, we will return and decimate your population before taking over your sad planet. I will know of your compliance should you pass or fail.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Durham said.
“You are a clever species and so, of course, I cannot let this game be too easy,” J continued.
The display switched to a planet surrounded by an array of battle platforms across both X and Y axes.
“Each station houses fifteen mineral rods. Should you get through those, you will have to face the full force of the entire Ka’traxis Brood Fleet,” J said. “It will be a pleasure to wipe your planet clean in the coming days.”
“Is she gonna take our ships, Captain?” Lindsay asked.
Irons ran out of the war room, outside to the upper deck of the Predator Star. The loud hum of Catter fleet engines filled the open air.
He looked high in the sky at the giant war ships of the Earth Fleet hanging, frozen while even larger Catter ships hovered higher still. The smaller attack ships continued to fly around, firing at the surface to air gun platforms resting in the water. Irons quickly surveyed the rest of the area. A few ships had crashed in the water, fires still raging on them. Even the few Catter attackers that had been taken out were barely enough to put a dent in the entire alien force.
He reached for his eye-patch, knowing the laser could take out at least one of the ‘tanks’. But he dropped his arm, realizing it wouldn’t be worth the headache to take out only one. And the retaliation would just get him and everyone else on the Predator Star killed.
A dark light suddenly opened up behind each Catter ship. A purple swirl moved around the edges of the dark light and the Catters started moving toward the oval shaped portals.
Irons could only watch as the Earth Fleet ships still battle able were pulled into the portals. As each ship was swallowed up, the portals closed, one by one until the sky was once again empty and all that was left of the attack were the burning wrecks in the water.
* * *
Captain Irons burst back into the war room.
“James, what just happened?” Mona asked.
“Damn Catters got wormhole tech,” he said. “Took the whole fleet with them to the other side of the damn universe.”
“They didn’t take all of them,” Benjamin said, staring at the display. “We’ve still got a few mining vessels.”
“You think you can fix those wrecks in time?” Syracuse asked, already knowing the answer.
“What is our timeline?” Irons looked at Mona.
“J is giving us three days.”
“Three days?! Even if we had light speed, we couldn’t make it in time.” Irons slammed his fist on the table, making the display disappear. “Stevens, does Wartech have any Light Speed Drives laying around?”
“Even if we did, there’s no way your ship could handle that kind of velocity. The old battle cruisers were never meant for that.”
“Speaking of, why didn’t they take our ship or the Admiral’s?” Syracuse asked.
“They probably hit this ship first. No need to take it when it can’t even fight. Just like the others sitting dead in the water,” Irons crossed his arms.
“But that doesn’t explain the Lucky Liberty,” Syracuse replied. He tapped the table to bring back up the display. “Look.” He zoomed in on a top down view of the Lucky Liberty. “She’s untouched. Not a scratch. Why?”
“Perceived threat,” Hannah chimed in. “The lucky Liberty has only the one gun and right now it’s underwater. As far as the Catters are concerned, it’s just another freight ship. Not worth their time.”
“Then why attack the miners in space?” Mona asked.
“Maybe they tried to fight,” Hannah reasoned.
“Or maybe it’s part of the game,” Durham said.
Mona’s eyes flicked to Durham. “Explain.”
“J said we have to save one of the ships to win. But even she knows we need a ship to do that. It’s possible she looked at the Lucky Liberty and left it alone, forcing it to be the ship to play. I mean, no offense, I love the girl as much as everyone else but she’s not exactly cutting edge. Just getting her into orbit is gonna burn up more fuel than we can spare. Unless you’ve got a Slipstream Regulator around, there’s
no way LL is gonna make it to the Catter homeworld.”
A cheesy smile crossed Benjamin’s face.
“You have a Slipstream Regulator?” Irons asked. “Of course you do.”
“I guess this means you’re our only hope, Captain Irons,” Mona said with a sly smile.
Benjamin clasped his hands together. “It’s Radial IV all over again.”
Six
The Tao of Tech
Hannah Xuyen was like a child on Christmas morning, bounding into her parents’ room and jumping on the bed, eager to rip into the festive and colorfully wrapped boxes under a tree. Her face stretched in a permanent smile as she watched Wartech employees attach the new device to the engines. It was the same reaction every time she got her hands on a piece of technology she had little experience with.
The youngest crewman of the Lucky Liberty tensed with anticipation at seeing the Slipstream Regulator being mounted to the fuel pumps. She desperately wanted to get her hands on it but bureaucratic red tape citing corporate liability had rendered her a mere spectator as it was installed. An entire planet at risk of annihilation and Wartech was still concerned with its bottom line and a potential lawsuit.
Irons watched the young woman looking positively ready to burst. Hopefully being this close to the device would be enough to sate her.
In the later, more advanced days of Earth’s space travel, NOSO—the National Orbit Space Operations— had met the limits of its own research. Having no other means of funding, NOSO sold all of its vehicles, notes and infrastructure to Wartech Industries whose own rocket scientists figured out a new propulsion system that was backwards compatible with older engines. Thus was born the Slipstream Regulator, a modification device designed to output more engine power while consuming less fuel. This meant that any ignition driven vehicle the regulator was attached to would have a thinner jet flame that produced more push from a surface. The narrower the channel, the greater the pressure with a decrease in fuel consumption.
The older model battle cruisers were not designed with the regulators due to their long durations in space. After initial Earth take-off, they usually didn’t need much thrust to get moving in zero gravity. Eventually, Wartech ceased the manufacture of the device and moved on to ignitionless drives, most recently the Instant Anti-Gravity Propulsion Drives.
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