Death Never Leaves a Calling Card (Stories From the Filaments Book 5)

by Saxon Andrew

  They were silent and Embree said, “Look at the difference between what we’re currently doing and what this new formation would do. Currently we’re punching about two holes in every Tronan Warship that hits our Phalanxes, right?”

  Desiree nodded and Leonidas said, “If you say so.”

  Embree smiled, “I do say so. That is the current spacing we’re using. However, if we have scouts lined up with one every hundred feet…”

  Desiree nodded, “Instead of just two holes puncturing them, more than a hundred holes will be punched in them.”

  Embree nodded, “A hundred and fifty-eight to be exact and remember, the lines are separated by a mile and the Tronan Warships are two-miles high.”

  Leo got it, “They’ll have more than three-hundred of our scouts cutting through them.”

  Embree nodded. “I’m glad you used the term cutting; it’s entirely possible their ships could be cut into three, long pieces starting at the bow to the stern.”

  “I don’t see a stardrive surviving that, Embree.”

  “I agree, Desiree. And the good thing is, none of the warships that get cutup will be operational, when they get kicked into normal space. They also won’t be repairable.”

  “So, this actually is better than using the Eggs, like Admiral Hummel is suggesting.”

  Desiree nodded, “Yes, Leo. The Eggs are a necessity fighting in normal space but attempting to use them in the filaments poses too great of a danger.”

  Embree smiled, “Neither of you have mentioned another thing about this process.”

  Both looked at him and Desiree said, “Ok, I give up; what is it?”

  “We will no longer have to fall away from the Tronan Formations as they approach to reduce the closing speed to launch Eggs. We can go to full-boosters and thrusters and move through them at maximum speed against the filament flow.”

  Desiree smiled, “I don’t know where that brain of yours evolved but it wasn’t on the same evolutionary-chain as the rest of us.”

  “HEY, are you saying my husband isn’t human!!” Shelly yelled from her console.

  Desiree nodded, “Yeah!”

  Shelly tilted her head, “Ok, just checking.”

  Embree looked at them and turned to Leo. Leo blew out a breath and shook his head, “I think they just gave you a complement but I’m really not certain. Shelly, get this information out to the fleets and tell them to get cracking.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Shelly turned back to her console and began speaking.”

  Leonidas looked at Desiree, “We need a short name for this formation so our scouts can be ordered into it quickly.”

  Embree was at Shelly’s console and he yelled over his shoulder, “Call it Ronco!”

  Leo’s head jerked around, “Ronco, what in the heck is that.”

  Embree went to his panel and began pressing buttons, “Back when we were fighting with the pirates, I had a lot of time to fill traveling in deep space. I found a file in our computer’s data base that is ancient, and I do mean ancient. It had advertisements from far back in Earth’s history that used to be broadcast on Earth’s airwaves. Here look at this.”

  The wall monitor activated and they saw a woman using a device to cut vegetables, meats, and other foods. All the while a voice was saying, “That’s right! It slices, it dices, it cuts through the toughest foods. The Ronco slicer and dicer will make cooking a joy…”

  Desiree started shaking her head, “Where do you come up with these wild ideas?”

  Leo smiled, “I like it!”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

  “Hey, Desiree, it’s short, one word, it’s simple, and easy to remember. All that has to be said is, RONCO!” Leo looked at Embree, “Send a recording of that with the formation’s description to all of the scouts’ Senior Officers.”

  “Will do.”

  • • •

  Randy looked at Emily, “RONCO?!”

  “Hey, you know Embree and you need to look at the video he sent with the suggestion.”

  “Put it on my panel.” Randy watched the commercial and started laughing, “That’s pretty much what this new formation will do. The term fits.” Emily nodded. Randy looked up at the ceiling, “I wonder where I could get one of those?”

  “Get real. That video was done thousands of years ago; none of those exist now.”

  “I’ll bet Gregory could manufacture one just by watching the video.” Emily’s eyes opened slightly wider and she began pressing buttons on her panel. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m sending a copy of this video to Heather and have her register a patent on it.” Randy’s head went back and Emily said in a serious tone, “Anything that gets you interested about anything that involves cooking will have to be a hit. This war will be over one day and this could be what supports us afterwards.”

  Randy rolled his eyes and stared at the long-range monitor showing the Survivors of Walt’s battle approaching the intersection. They’ll start turning in another hour.

  • • •

  The Senior Fleet Director was slightly perturbed as his fleets approached the intersection at high-speed. He had the same rank as the senior but not the seniority. He was the only one of the ten Senior Fleet Directors that could be addressed with the term ‘Senior’. He blew out a breath. This was being petty at a ridiculous time. He looked at the former Science Director and nodded, “Order all ships to half-speed; we’ll be making the turn in twenty-minutes.”

  The Fleet Director promoted his Science Officer to his Second-in-Command and sent his former Second to command the Battery Crews. He complained at the reduction in rank but the Fleet Director shut him down, “I should have you executed for your incompetence! You offered no suggestions while my fleets were being destroyed. If not for the Science Director, I would have lost all of my command.”

  The Second was escorted off the bridge and the new Second watched him leave. Once he was off the bridge, he turned to the Fleet Director, “What are you going to do now?”

  “I think I’ve done pretty good. My fleets will be at the end of the invasion force. That is better than being out front.”

  “Do you think any of us are going to survive this invasion?” the Second asked. The Fleet Director stared at him and the Second continued talking quietly where none of the bridge crew could hear, “We are helpless against their technology. No force that’s been sent here has even gotten a message through to warn the Empire of what’s happening! Those forces that have thrown us back to the filament don’t appear to be in the least bit concerned about us.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Fleet Director, they are capable of flying at double our fastest speed. Those thousands of ships behind us could have caught us anytime they chose.”

  The Fleet Director stared at the Second and asked, “Why have you not been given a command?”

  “I promised your father I would make sure you were safe. I turned them down.”

  The Fleet Director nodded slowly and said, “Open a direct channel to the Senior.” The Second’s eyes narrowed and the Fleet Director smiled, “I’ve learned a few things over the years. Watch and learn.”

  The Fleet Director saw the Senior appear on his console and he assumed a serious expression, “Senior, I have a grave concern about our inability to get a message through to the Empire.”

  “That is being worked on.”

  “Has one gotten through?” The Senior stared at him and he quickly said, “I ask because I’m concerned about your safety.”

  “WHAT?”

  “If we don’t take positive action to open the line of communications, the Prime Director will make sure someone pays the price for the delay.” The Senior’s eyes widened slightly and the Fleet Director thought, “Got him!”

  “What are you saying?”

  “My fleets have fought a battle in normal space against those small ships and have also fought them in the filament. I am moving into the reverse flow and I can take my s
urviving fleets and go to the place where the enemy is preventing us from communicating and remove them. Once your messages start flowing through, I’ll turn and come back to the Invasion Forces.”

  “It will take you two or three months to arrive at that break!”

  “Yes, but this invasion will not be over quickly; it’s going to take a very long time to win. The Prime Director does not know about your ordering our fleets into the other filaments. That falls outside our attack plan and the Prime Director must be informed about what we’ve been forced to do. Sending my force to take out the vessels preventing us from communicating will show your intent to keep him informed.”

  “Sending your entire force is excessive.”

  “Yes, but it will show him your firm commitment to keeping him up to date on what’s happening. Sending even more fleets will make it clearer.”

  “I will not send any additional fleets! Take yours and remove those ships.”

  “I will move through the intersection and go to maximum speed. It will shorten the time necessary to get there.”

  The Senior disappeared from the monitor and the Second said, “I’m impressed.”

  “I’ve been played by the best during my career. I’ve learned what fears can be used against me. The Senior has allowed himself to ignore the break in communications but it remains in his subconscious tickling his fears. He’ll have second thoughts about sending my entire force later. But for the moment, he’s focused on ramming the ships chasing us. By the time he thinks about it, we’ll be too far away for him to recall us. Also, he’ll be frightened that if we fail to open the communication lines and he recalled some of my fleets…”

  “The Prime Director will execute him once that bit of information becomes known,” the Second replied.

  “Exactly.” The Second smiled and the Fleet Director said, “I’m slowing down soon after we move away from the Invasion Forces.”

  The Second’s eyes narrowed, “How are you going to justify that?”

  “I’ll simply tell him I don’t want to overrun five-million message-probes and destroy them as my fleets pass through them. If the message probes don’t make it through, I’ll fight my way past the enemy ships and then turn and take them on once one of my ships is able to communicate with the Prime Director.”

  The Second smiled, “You are very much like your father.”

  “Thanks, I miss him.”

  The Second nodded, “There’s been too much war.” The Second went to his console and sat down. The Fleet Director knew he was right.

  • • •

  Thirty minutes after his fleets turned on the reverse flow, he heard, “Fleet Director.”

  “Yes.”

  “I think you should hear this.”

  He nodded and heard the Senior over the speakers, “WHY ARE THOSE SHIPS STOPPING!!”

  “I don’t know, Senior. They stopped just short of the intersection.”

  “How could they know the plan to ram them?”

  “It is possible they are intercepting our communications.”

  “Are we intercepting theirs?”

  “Senior, we are not hearing any communications coming from them on any frequency.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “That’s enough.” The speakers suddenly went silent and he thought about what he just heard. Where could he use this information? He looked at the Communicator and said, “Notify the Commander of the Communication lines that I am taking my fleets to attack the ships stopping our communications. Have him write an order to all of his ships not to mention anything about my moving toward them. You should probably write this communication out as well.”

  The Director nodded and turned to his console. The Second sat at his panel and knew the wrong Senior Fleet Director was chosen to lead the invasion. Two-months later, they began hearing screams over the communication system.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sam was on Dahlia’s Sword at Heaven’s intersection and looked at Jek on his monitor, “So far, Embree and Desiree’s plan is moving on schedule.”

  “Um-huh.”

  “We should be moving into the next phase shortly.”

  “Yep.”

  Sam lowered his eyes, “Jek, what are you not telling me?”

  “What makes you think I’m not telling you something.”

  “You always answer my statements with one word answers when you don’t agree with me.”

  Jek’s head went back, “Is that true?”

  “It is! What are you holding back?”

  Jek shook his head, “I’ve told them that your plan has gone amazingly well but they keep saying things that make me look foolish.”

  “Who is they?”

  Jek shook his head and pursed his mouth, “I’m not going to keep defending something I don’t believe in! The ‘They’ are the Tronan Commanders of my scout-fleets.”

  “Well what are ‘They’ saying?” Sam asked sarcastically.

  “They say we’re fighting like we’re more afraid of losing than winning.”

  “What?”

  “Hold on, Sam and let me finish. They all agree that our scouts can easily defeat a Tronan Warship. But we use them in stupid ways. We fight them in the filaments where our scouts are the least effective and the Eggs are out right dangerous. They say the scouts are at their best in normal space taking on the Tronan Fleets. They point out that Admiral Mooney’s fleets destroyed more than sixty-percent of the massive Tronan Forces they took on in less than two hours. They also say that you’ve needlessly endangered close to about 140,000 warriors trying to prevent information about our technology from getting back to the Tronan Empire. You’ve justified it by hoping they will continue to send fleets to our sector where we can destroy them and reduce their numbers. They say that will only lead to further fights in the filaments where our ships are at their worst.” Sam stared at Jek and he said, “Or something like that.”

  Sam was silent and was starting to have a slow burn. The plan had been worked on for weeks and it was successful so far. “And just what do these military geniuses say we should be doing?”

  “Sam, the Tronan have been fighting wars longer than our species has been civilized. They’ve made the mistakes we’re making now.” Sam’s eyes narrowed and Jek quickly asked, “Why are you so determined to stop them learning about our technology?”

  Sam took a breath and said, “So they will send more fleets here before we have to take them on in their space.”

  “Sam, if we destroy a thousand of their fleets, do you think they’re going to come back without knowing what they’re up against. And you know they had great difficulty provisioning those fleets. It will take a very long time to send a larger fleet here. And during that time, according to my Commanders, they will be building warships as fast as possible to replace the ones they’ve lost. All the benefits of removing their fleets here will be lost.”

  Sam stared at Jek in silence and he said, “And consider this. If we are attacking in their space, where do you think we’ll be taking on their forces?” Jek paused and said, “We’ll go to their planets and enter normal space. My commanders estimate that in less than a third of the time this fight has gone on more than three times the numbers of Tronan Warships would have been destroyed in their space.” Jek paused and said, “I ask you again, why are you so afraid of letting the Tronan learn about our technology.”

  “They could build a defense against it.”

  “Like what?”

  “They could build more powerful blasters!”

  “And we’d heat the hulls of our scouts in them and continue what we’re doing.”

  “They could find a substance to stop the Bellingham coating.”

  “Sam, do you really think that’s possible? Bellingham is unique in having that metal. However, let’s say you’re right. That new substance will not be developed overnight and the longer you wait to go and take them on gives them time to develop it.”

  The corner of Sam’s
mouth went up, “They have a compelling argument.”

  Jek nodded, “They say that they would want the Tronan to know about our technology. They say that they will act like we did on Heaven when we knew more Tronan Warships were going to show up and we had nothing to stop them; you remember our fear. My Commanders say they would have ensured the Tronan learned about it even if they had to send the information themselves. They insist fear is good in an enemy; it keeps them pinned down.”

  “Jek, I’m curious, what would they have done?”

  “Acreb and I discussed what he would do if he were going to have to face this invasion and he was adamant he would have taken the war to them while we built up our numbers. He knows our scouts are too fast for them to pin-down and most of the fights would take place in normal space where we could use our advantages.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

  Jek shrugged, “The plan was already done and well on the way to implementation. And you don’t really like being told you or those under you are wrong.”

  Sam’s mouth flew open but then he closed it. “You’re right. Sometimes I forget I don’t know it all.”

  “For the most part, you do. However, when it comes to war, the Tronan have no equal. We’re blessed to have our technology to destroy them.”

  “You’ve given me a lot to think about, Jek, thanks for being honest with me.”

  “I’d never be deceptive, Sam.”

  “No, you’d just answer me with one word.” Jek laughed and the monitor went dark. Sam thought about the conversation and said, “Lydia, give me the current disposition of our forces on the monitor.”

  Sam saw the map of the massive conflict appear with colors and numbers. He leaned back and stared at it but kept looking at the red blip far away from home on a distant filament.