by Saxon Andrew
Netty pressed it and heard Lynch say softly, “Are you ok?”
“Why do you ask?”
“We were told you stormed on the bridge demanding to know where the Admiral was. We’re worried about you.”
“Don’t be. The Admiral has explained what’s happening and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“It took that long to tell you?”
“How long has it been?”
“Five hours.”
“Just call it a day and I’ll meet with you in the morning.”
She ended the contact and Tommy smiled, “They were worried.”
“Yes, Sir, they were. They’re a good team.”
Tommy nodded, “With a good team-leader. See you later.” Netty smiled and exited the room. She started to rush back in after she realized she had not come to attention and saluted but shook it off. There was plenty of time to do that later. She left and went to her quarters and found her team sitting outside her door. She rolled her eyes and said, “Come on in.” They lept to their feet and followed her into her living room.
Chapter Nine
Tommy and Roger sat in the conference room going over the assault plan with Netty and her team. The Dragon’s Maw was moving at maximum speed and Roger had to admit he was impressed with the team’s ideas. The wall monitor illuminated and Captain Montgomery appeared, “Sir, you ordered me to report in when I detected the Tronan Fleets.”
“What’s your status, Captain?” Tommy asked.
“The leading edge of the Tronan Fleets are two hours behind me, Sir. The Maw is just outside their scanning range but is increasing the distance.”
“Go to full speed and get back on board. We’re not going to slow down.”
“I’ll arrive in eight hours, Sir.”
“Your Ghosts have done an outstanding job, Captain. Please tell them I appreciate it.”
Travis smiled, “I will, Sir. And thank you.”
The monitor went dark and Oscar said, “We cut that pretty close.”
Tommy smiled and Netty said, “He knew when to start moving.”
Jenell looked at Tommy, “Why didn’t we just leave the Ghost behind. They wouldn’t be seen.”
Netty answered, “We’re going to have to wait for a year before the communication ships arrive at a point where we can launch our attack on them. Tell me how we could keep the Ghosts provisioned.”
“The Ghosts taking them provisions wouldn’t be seen in the reverse flow of the filament, Sir,” Jenell offered.
“And eventually, all of them would end up in the Sand Civilization’s filament hiding from the passing Tronan Warships. More Ghosts there would require more ships to provision them. None of our other ships could be sent with provisions.” Janell stared at her and Netty sighed, “We have to look at the big picture! What purpose would the Ghosts serve by remaining behind?”
“They would stop any Tronan Warships from going to the fleets at the Sand Planet,” Oscar suggested.”
“And just what do you think those ships will be telling them if we’ve not launched our assault?” The team looked at each other and Netty said, “Or…should we wait to send them back just prior to our assault fully provisioned and armed to stop the warships going there then?”
Oscar shook his head, “You’re right, Sir. I didn’t think it through.”
Netty nodded, “And you’ve also not considered that if the Death Filament is filled from one edge to the other with Tronan Warships, there would be no room for them to come back should they be needed.”
Roger saw Tommy smiling at Netty and shaking his head. She was preventing her team from being embarrassed by the Senior Admiral having to point out their mistakes. It made it easier for them to endure. Roger said, “Once we arrive at our jumping off point and move far enough away from the filament to be outside the Tronan scanning range, you are going to start maneuvers with your units. Have you prioritized the maneuvers you want them to learn?”
Netty looked at Roger, “We have divided the maneuvers into those used to attack a formation and others that will be used after they scatter.”
Roger looked at Tommy and saw he was staring at him with a frown and shaking his head. Roger decided to follow Tommy’s lead, “You should get them in order on what maneuvers you will start with.”
Netty nodded and said, “We’ll make that happen before we leave the filament.”
Tommy stood up and the group came to attention. He left the conference room and Roger went with him. They heard Netty say, “At ease,” as they left the room.
“You’ve not going to discuss the formations they’re going to use in the assault?” Roger asked.
“No, we have a year, Roger. They’ll need to learn how to execute those formations when they get back home.” Roger stared at him and Tommy chuckled, “I’ll start the training on the real maneuvers six-months before the assault.”
“Is that enough time?”
“More than enough, Roger, getting on and off the ship is what’s going to take the bulk of their training. The formations are relatively simple. At the end, they won’t be landing.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“I’m really glad the Maw has all the recreation rooms and entertainment facilities. The crews are going to need them.”
Roger smiled, “Oh, I think you’ll come up with something to keep them occupied.”
Tommy smiled, “You know me too well.”
• • •
Sam looked at Embree and was glad he was back with the Leadership Team, “I’m not clear on what you’re saying, Admiral.”
Embree looked at Leonidas before talking about his data and smiled, “I never thought I’d see the day when I’d outrank you.”
Desiree smiled, “That’s because Leo has refused to give up the rank of Captain, he still fancies himself a pirate. However, pull up the chain of Command in the database and you’ll see a small star in front of his title.”
Embree’s smile vanished, “What does that mean?”
“He’s Third-in-Command to Fleet Admiral Oliver and Ground Forces Commander Gregor McGregor.”
Embree looked at Sam, “Is that true?”
“I’m afraid it is. He does hold a higher rank.”
• • •
Leonidas smiled and turned his head to whisper to Desiree, “Fancies…being a pirate?”
Desiree leaned over and whispered in his ear while Sam was talking to Embree, “Why the long-hair? Why the long boots? Why do you carry two swords? Why…”
“Enough!” Leo looked at her and shrugged.
• • •
Embree laughed, “Good! I prefer it that way. Anyway, to answer your question, Admiral, we have to determine how we are going to meet the Tronan Fleets moving this way and there will be a major issue.”
“Explain it to me in simple terms, Admiral. You lost me reading your written proposal.”
Embree blew out a breath and said, “All right, try to imagine a river in space leading all the way back to Tronan Territory.”
Desiree interrupted, “You’re talking about the filaments.”
Embree said, “Commodore, I tried to explain it that way and struck out. Allow me to try it this way, ok?” Desiree nodded.
“Ok, imagine a long fast moving river that stretches a hundred miles from shore to shore. You’ll be traveling on that river for close to ten months at your fastest possible speed. Everyone got it so far?” Embree looked around and everyone nodded. “Now, the Tronan are sending ten-million warships out on that fast-moving river. How much space on that river will the Tronan be occupying as they travel toward us?” Embree smiled as the attendees looked at each other, “It’s a rhetorical question, I don’t expect you to be able to answer it. It took more than three-hours of computer time to figure it out”
Embree smiled, “Now, Tronan space is a billion light years from our space. Now imagine each light year has 8,760 markers evenly spaced on the banks of that river; that’s how many light hours th
ere are in a light year.” Embree paused and said, “Got it?” He saw Sam nod. “That means there are eight-trillion-seven-hundred and sixty billion of those markers for them to pass before they arrive here.”
Sam shook his head, “I’m having difficulty imagining that distance.”
Leo said, “Get in line. What are you trying to say, Embree?”
“How much space on the river will those ten-million Tronan Warships occupy?” The officers gathered in the meeting looked at each other again and Embree said, “Their entire force will fit within one of those markers and they’ll be traveling at close to 1,300 of those light-hour markers a second.”
The attendees didn’t get it; it was clear in their expressions. “Ok, let’s do it in simple math. Ten-million Tronan Warships that are five-miles long. Four-thousand of them will fit inside the two-hundred mile wide Death Filament from top to bottom; ok?” Everyone nodded. “That means that if you allow a fifty-mile spacing between those warship units, their entire line will be more than 125,000 miles long, are we still ok?” Everyone nodded. “Now light travels at 186,000 miles per second. That means that each light hour is six-hundred and sixty-nine-million miles long. The entire Tronan invasion force will easily fit inside a light-second.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed and Ana said, “You’re starting to lose me.”
Embree’s eyebrows came together and he said, “Ana, have you ever stood next to a highway and watched vehicles pass you at high-speed?” Ana nodded. “Imagine a vehicle moving towards you at a hundred-miles an hour. What would you see as it passes?”
Ana shrugged. “Not much. It’d zoom by so fast it would be hard to see any details.”
Embree nodded “Very good; now imagine a car moving toward you at a thousand miles an hour.”
Ana shook her head, “I probably wouldn’t much more than a blur.”
“Now imagine it passing at more than a billion-miles an hour.”
Sam sighed, “You’ve made your point.”
Leo looked at Sam, “What point is that? I’ve not seen anything I understand.”
“Leo, if we have our ships waiting in normal space for the Tronan Fleets to arrive, they will be past us before we could react in time to meet it. Our fleets will have to be in the filament before it arrives anywhere near our fleet’s positions.”
Embree nodded, “Fortunately, our scanners will give us enough warning to move in the filament before they arrive.”
Leo looked at Sam, “Don’t we normally fight in normal space?”
“Yes, but they are determined to arrive at Heaven’s intersection and they won’t leave the filament until they arrive there; we have to meet them in the filament and attempt to force them out into normal space.”
“How is that a problem?” Leo asked.
Sam looked at Leo, “Just how are we going to drop an egg in a warship when it’s moving more than a thousand-times the speed of light as it passes?” Leo started shaking his head.
Embree smiled, “You do understand the issue, Admiral Oliver. What must be done is to allow our ships in the filament to drift in the flow ahead of the approaching Tronan Fleets.”
Ana asked, “How would that help?”
“Go back to the road you are standing beside watching vehicles pass you, Ana.”
“Ok.”
“Now, instead of standing beside the road, you’re in a vehicle traveling at seventy-miles an hour on the inside lane and that car traveling a hundred-miles an hour is coming up on you in the outside lane…can you see it?”
“Ana nodded, “It would only be moving thirty-miles an hour faster. I’d see it easily.”
“Could you toss a water balloon out of a window and hit it?” Ana hesitated and then nodded. “That’s the situation we’re up against in meeting the Tronan Fleets inside the filaments. We’ll need to be moving in the filament’s flow they’re approaching on with our scouts facing them. The Tronan Fleets will be using their boosters, so they’ll still be moving a lot faster than our ships. We may have to use the scout’s side thrusters to speed them up in the filament so that that the perceived approach of the Tronan Fleets isn’t too fast. It is necessary to slow down their perceived approach speed to where we can launch our eggs. This is like the example of you traveling seventy-miles an hour with the other vessel moving toward you at a hundred-miles an hour. We need to have them moving at an approach speed where our scouts have time to launch their Eggs as they move past us.”
Embree shrugged, “This wouldn’t be an issue if we could take them out with blasters but this is a new world in space warfare. And while you’re thinking about this, you have to consider one other thing.”
“What is that?” Gem asked.
“How many of our scouts can fit in the filament in front of them? The Death Filament is 200 miles wide and a hundred-miles high but the Tronan have to leave it and start moving on smaller filaments to arrive at the filament moving toward Heaven. The filament they’ll take to go to Heaven’s intersection is only sixty-miles wide but the flow they’ll be on is only thirty-miles wide. We’ll have close to 800,000 scouts to use against them but only 2,640 scouts can form a line in the filament. And if you’re thinking about having multiple lines behind each other, the explosions and debris the Tronan Warships will produce as they blow through the first line will be highly dangerous to any lines close behind them. The debris will be spinning and moving at acute angles and could hit our next line of scouts in the sides of their vessels killing the crews before they exit the filament into normal space.”
Embree paused and Sam asked, “If they’re going to move their forces off the Death Filament, what will that do to the length of their forces in the smaller filament?”
“They will all still easily fit inside one light-hour. Their lines will, however be extended to eight and a third million miles long.”
“WHY?” Gregor asked.
“Because on the Death Filament, twenty lines of four-thousand of their warships can fly together. On the filament leading to Heaven, only thirty of their warships can fly in each unit. They will also have to separate their ships more because the thrust from the ships in front will be more concentrated behind them. And that is what poses the biggest problem we’re going to have to face.” Embree looked at Sam and saw him sigh. “You see it don’t you, Sam?”
Everyone turned to Sam and he said, “There is no way our scouts can hold their positions in the filaments flow and wait for the Tronan Formations to hit them. They are going to have to be moving faster than the flow in order for the Tronan Warships that come rushing in on them to only be moving at a speed where they can release their Eggs. That means our initial contact with them must take place close to the intersection they’ll enter to move toward Heaven’s intersection.”
“Why is that an issue?” Kaylee asked.
“Our scouts will be forced to move away from the oncoming wave of Tronan Warships to be able to lay their eggs. That means they will start their initial attack close to the intersection they’ll come off to go to Heaven’s intersection. The moment their lead elements start going up in massive blasts, millions of their ships will still not have moved on that intersection and that will cause a massive bak up. It’s possible they could decide to blow through that intersection and take any of the other nine filaments leading out of it. They would then scatter into our sector and begin their invasion in earnest attacking any inhabited planet they encounter,” Sam replied. Sam paused and said, “There is even a possibility that millions of them could move into the reverse flow and go back to another intersection and spread out using it.”
Embree smiled, “Now you see it.”
The room was deathly silent until Desiree said, “Ok. So, what are we going to do about it?”
Sam looked at her for a long moment and then said, “That’s the easy part.”
“Oh? What is that?” she asked.
“You and Embree are going to develop the plan to stop them.” Desiree’s mouth fell open and Sam smiled, “Y
ou are the two best strategists and tacticians on our team. You will develop a plan and get our forces in position to carry it out.”
Sam leaned back and said, “One thing Embree said is inaccurate.” Embree looked at Sam and he said, “What happens to matter in Under Space when it is no longer surrounded by a stardrive?” Embree closed his eyes and shook his head, “It is immediately thrown out of Under Space into Normal Space.”
Sam nodded, “So debris won’t be an issue for more than a millisecond or less. That’s still a long distance and you’ll need to see how far it will move before it’s kicked out.”
Desiree looked at Embree and saw him rolling his eyes, “I should have kept my big mouth shut.”
Leo chuckled, “That’s not possible.” Embree jerked his head toward Leo as the rest of the attendees laughed.
• • •
The meeting ended and Sam saw Randy and Walt stand up and start walking toward him, “Admiral, have you come up with a solution to our issue?” Randy asked.
“I’m working on it.”
“Sir, I intend no disrespect, but we’re running out of time.”
“I’ll get back to you!” The two Scout Admirals looked at him and then walked away. Sam sat in his chair and shook his head. He finally sighed and pressed a button on the console. A few moments later, Jek appeared on the monitor, “Jek, do you have a moment?”
“I’ll make time for you, Sam. What’s up.”
Sam was silent and Jek started laughing, “Sam, my telepathy does not extend from here to wherever you’re located. You’re going to have to talk.”
Sam started, “I’m accustomed to you hearing my thoughts. Where are you?”
“I’m in the control center on New Heaven.”
“New Heaven?”
“Yes, Sam. The Tronan voted to name their new planet after the world they destroyed. They chose the name to honor Heaven and to never allow them to forget what they were.”
Sam smiled, “It’s a perfect name.”
“What’s the reason you’ve called?”
“Have you chosen the crews to bring the Tronan Warships to Romania?”