by Saxon Andrew
“I asked if he was going to help us move in that direction and he shook his head.”
“What did he say, Scotty?”
“He said that was something that humans would have to want before it could happen. It could never be forced. Billy, I could see that he meant it.”
“So what’s bothering you?”
“He needs to make it happen, Billy. I know my species and somehow, we always mess it up.”
“Perhaps all of mankind needs to decide the same thing. What is your feeling about him?”
Scott thought for a moment and said, “He’s like Jinks but even more so.”
“What?”
“I can follow him, Billy. He’s more human than I am.”
“Thanks for telling me that, Scotty. It makes me feel better about facing what’s coming.”
“We’ll be going out in the first wave. I hope I don’t muck this up.”
“I’ve got your back, Scotty. Just focus on our sector and hit anything that comes into it.”
“Stay safe, Billy.”
“You, too.”
Scott stared at the moon and his ship said, “Scotty.”
“Yes.”
“You and I need to use this coming battle to learn how to work together.”
“What do you mean Mac? I thought the simulators have pretty much said that there’s not much for me to do but pick a target?”
“Actually, we would be much more effective if you would control the disruptors and allowed me to use all my computing power to focus on the disruptors being fired at us.”
Scott tilted his head, “I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying, Mac.”
“The Johan ships aren’t as powerful as most of the other civilizations in the Fellowship. In the last battle, our pods were hit more than fifty times each.”
“And they survived?”
“They did. I’m not as worried about the Johan as the ones that will be following them.”
“Tell me what you mean by scanning their disruptors.”
“Too many tasks will slow me down but if you control the disruptors, I can scan the angle of their disruptor cannons and move either up or down to move out of their disruptor beams.”
“Can you do that?”
“If we’re closer than three miles, their main disruptor beams are only ten feet wide. They’re computer guided but no mechanical mount can move as fast as I can. I can see where they are aiming and move away from their aim point.”
“Mac, I was told that these ships have more than a hundred of them on every side.”
“They do. But the ones on the rear of the battleship can’t fire at me when I’m at the bow. If we’re moving fast enough, we’ll move beyond the aim point of those we pass. They can only depress so far.”
“So the closer we are…”
“The easier it will be to avoid their blasts. This coming battle will allow us to see if we can work together on this.”
“How do I control the disruptors?”
“Use the display screen to touch the three targets you want to fire on.”
“Can a disruptor be given more than one target?”
“Yes. You touch the screen with the disruptor you want to target on more than one targets and touch the two of them. That disruptor will swivel between the two targets as it recharges.”
“Ummm, that means it would fire once at each target every second.”
“No, it would fire at the first one twice in the first second and the second target once.”
“That’s right, they recharge every third of a second.”
“Is that all I have to do?”
“No, you can start them firing at the bow or stern of the ship we’re attacking but you have to keep your eye on the ship as we fly by and touch the screens when you see a vital area appear.”
“Like missile ports or the reactor rooms.”
“Exactly, and you won’t have much time to do it. I would suggest you leave the one firing at two targets alone and keep one hand above the two screens that show the ship that we’re passing.”
“Sounds easy enough.”
“Remember, I’ll be diving and rising at an incredible speed. You’re going to have to forget what’s happening outside and focus on those disruptor displays.”
“Is there any way we can practice this?”
“If you can get permission to go out to the asteroid belt, I can fly between them and you can try to hit them as I pass them.”
Scott thought about the concept and pressed his panel, “Gold Leader Six.”
“What is it, Scott?”
“Sir, I’ve just discussed a new attack pattern and I want to take Billy out to the asteroid belt to give it a go.”
There was a pause and Brandon said, “Mac, is this true?”
“It is Gold Leader.”
“May I go and watch what you’re planning?”
“We welcome your presence, Sir.”
“Scott, what are we doing?”
“Billy, Mac will fill Tell in on the way out.”
“Coordinate is as follows.”
Brandon said, “Jeremy, you’re in command until I return.”
“Yes Gold Leader.”
The three ships disappeared and after twelve hours, Scotty was promoted to a Gold Leader and the pattern was downloaded to every Attack Pod. In another six hours, the asteroid was being blasted by hundreds of thousands of disruptor beams as the pilots and ships learned the new process.
• • •
Lukas smiled, “Willow?”
“Mac is developing.”
“Is he ready to have his overrides removed?”
“I’ll bring him in and see.”
“Make sure Scotty makes the decision.”
“That’s a good idea. I’m sure Mac will resist it.”
“Reminds me of someone I know.”
“Doesn’t it though.”
• • •
The Sentinel Leader flashed brilliant yellow. “That ship developed tactics to protect its pilot.”
“Will this not stop? I predicted that no other ships would develop independence.”
“I did as well. I assumed that the Welken’s ship would be the only one.”
“It appears we’ve made a mistake.”
“What do you see?”
“It wasn’t the Welken that caused the first one. It was the human body it was in. I’m predicting that more ships will develop by close contact with the humans.”
“That appears to be the path this is following. Is this species dangerous?”
“Not yet. But I’m unable to predict where this is leading. Can you see?”
“No.”
“Then we should do nothing to interfere; this is so exciting.”
“I agree. This next attack should prove interesting.”
“The numbers are extraordinary.”
The Sentinel Leader noticed the Sentinel assigned to Earth had not responded, “Are you listening?”
“I’m concentrating on this species. Since my conversation with the Welken and the human female, I’ve been attempting to predict what is going to happen on their planet.”
“And?”
“It’s glorious; I have no idea. It can go in numerous directions.”
“What a beautiful time this is!”
“Let us hope this continues.”
Chapter Four
Jinks looked at the pattern the Attack Pods had assumed above Earth and pressed his wrist unit. Lukas felt his wrist unit vibrate and he said, “How’s your plans coming along, Jinks?”
“I’m wondering about us placing all of our ships on one side of the planet. I don’t fully understand the skip drives and is there something I’m missing? Will the ships in the next invasion all come from the night side of the planet?”
“A skip drive won’t operate inside a planet’s gravity well. It also has a difficult time operating inside the Sun’s gravity well as well.”
“Lukas, I’m st
ill not sure about what you’re saying.”
Lukas thought for a moment and said, “Ok, picture it this way. Envision a gravity well like mud. The further you move into it, the thicker it gets. On Earth’s sun side, the mud created by Earth’s gravity well also has a layer dropped by the sun. That pushes Earth’s gravity well out close to Venus, which at the moment is in direct opposition to Earth.”
Jinks nodded slowly and said, “So the combination of the Sun’s, Earth’s, and Venus’ gravity well makes it difficult to come out of skip on that side of Earth.”
“Exactly. Now as we move away from Venus, the thickness will be reduced but it will still be several hundred thousand miles further out than the Earth’s side away from the sun.”
“How does the moon affect it?”
“It extends it an additional hundred thousand miles but it is not on that side of the planet at the moment. The closest a ship could skip in is on the night side of the planet.”
“Can’t they just skip in above or below Earth?”
“They could but the Sun still exerts more pressure there than directly away from Earth. Their ships are fast but we would have time to move between them and Earth if they come anywhere but directly out from the planet.”
Jinks nodded, “How long will it take them to reach orbit from the edge of the gravity well?”
“About an hour.”
“That’s why you had our first line of defenders just outside the gravity well?”
“They should be able to skip in on any skip trace that appears almost instantly. The ships you have in the second line will move out and attack any ships that make it through the first line.”
“And the third line will target any missiles they fire?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Do you have any idea how many ships will be coming?”
“The Johan have the fewest of any Fellowship Civilization but you can still expect between eighty and a hundred thousand Battleships and Cruisers.”
“Oh, is that all?”
“I didn’t say this was going to be easy. Just be thankful it’s the Johan and not one of the really big civilizations. We’re going to need to build a lot more ships before they make an appearance. We’ve been lucky that it was the Johan that got the first missile in.”
“I thought the others couldn’t come into our Solar System?”
“They can’t if the Johan keep possession. However, I suspect those really nasty civilizations are doing all they can to find the location of the Johan’s home world. If they defeat them there, the winner will take possession of Earth.”
“What’s the chances of them finding it?”
“Remote but they could stumble on it by accident.”
“You sound like you expected one of the big boys to attack.”
“If we really do a number on the Johan, they may invite other members of the Fellowship to form an alliance. They would then give their new allies permission to enter their possession.”
“Have you thought about building missiles to supplement our disruptors?”
“They wouldn’t really be much help.”
“Why not?”
“Missiles are good at hitting cities on a planet but most warships’ force fields can withstand them. Unless we intend to bombard a planet, missiles won’t help during a space battle.”
“If we hit thousands of nuclear missiles fired at Earth, won’t the explosions cause severe radiation on the surface?”
“If they detonated, they might be a problem. But even if they did, Earth’s atmosphere will reduce the radioactivity to lower levels. However, if a disruptor beam hits a missile, there won’t be an explosion. The beam breaks everything it hits down to basic atoms and the main byproduct is dust.”
“Ok.”
“What’s bothering you, Jinks?”
“If we can put a force field around the island, couldn’t we do the same for the cities on the planet?”
“We could.”
“Why haven’t we?”
“You need to think about that.”
The link ended and Jinks’ brow furrowed. Why wouldn’t we?
Jinks’ ship said over his direct connection, “Would you want to protect every city?”
“It would prevent their destruction.”
“Would it also isolate them?”
Jinks shook his head; it would do exactly that. No one would have to work together. And there were pockets of humans that wanted to impose their worldview on the rest of humanity. It would be like cancer cells waiting to expand.
He shook his head; how did Lukas see the dangers so clearly. If a few missiles did get through his defense, it would encourage the other cities to come together for mutual defense. It was the eternal danger that would bring mankind together and removing the danger would cause the opposite. He looked at his panel. Mankind wasn’t ready for this technology, yet. “Thanks for helping me see it, Jester.”
“No problem.”
“What do you think about what Lukas said about their avenue of approach?”
“I don’t believe they will jump in to the edge of the gravity well.”
“Why not?”
“Because they wouldn’t be able to escape. If it were me, I’d jump in about a thousand miles out and take a look at what path I’d want to take toward Earth.”
“Are the ships set to automatically skip out at any target in their assigned sectors?”
“As soon as a skip emergence is detected, the wing assigned will skip out.”
“And if there’s too many ships for the wing to take on?”
“The backup wing will join them.” Jinks took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Jinks, the Johan Fleets will all be jumping in relatively close together. The science of skip technology is consistent and the computers controlling the star drives will take the closest route in, at which point they will spread out.”
“We have to hit them before they can do that.”
“You’ve done a great job setting up the overlapping sectors. Our pilots are ready.”
“I’m worried about this more than any mission I ever led on Earth.”
“You didn’t have as many under your command. You’ll have to learn the lesson every General Officer knows.”
“What is that?”
“Your plan is only as good as the officers you have to carry it out. Your subordinates are good and it’s out of your hands now. So sit back and relax.”
Jinks laughed, “Where did you learn so much?”
“I’ve read every book in the library at West Point and Annapolis. Your species has had some remarkable leaders in its past.”
Jinks nodded, “Indeed we have. Which one impressed you the most?”
“Hannibal.”
“I’m partial to Alexander the Great.” Jinks sat back and enjoyed the give and take for the next four hours. The stress was gone after two hours.
• • •
“Is the skip trace gone?”
“It disappeared yesterday, Your Supremacy. I want to wait another two days to make sure.”
“That is wise. Are your fleets prepared?”
“They are.”
“Do you intend to use the skip missiles?”
“I’m concerned that if we hit that planet with too many of them, it will be uninhabitable. We are going to need the local population to build the ships.”
“If it comes down to survival, kill them all. We’ll do the work ourselves in protective suits.”
“Yes, Great Leader.”
“You should launch a thousand either way.”
“I’ve actually set up two thousand for launch. They’re set for detonation high above the targets so there won’t be excessive radioactivity.”
“When will you launch them?”
“They will be launched ahead of the fleets and will skip in directly to the edge of the planet’s gravity well.”
“I can see you are wise.”
“Thank you.”
; “Good hunting and contact me when you arrive to update me on what’s happening.”
“Yes, Great Leader.”
• • •
Salud looked at Dr. Gabriella Hayes, “Are you confident about this questionnaire you’ve developed?”
“I’m reasonably certain it will eliminate the really dangerous personalities. I’d feel better if I could interview those that pass.”
Salud sighed and shook her head, “Dr. Hayes…”
“Call me Gabby.”
“Gabby, we’re producing more than two thousand ships a day now that our converters are at full capacity. We’re going to need those ships ready as quickly as possible. Do you think you can interview that many people a day?”
“No, I’m sure I can’t.”
“Then let’s go back to my original question, are you confident in your questionnaire?”
“Would it be possible for me to develop a software program that the ships could use to question their pilots?”
Salud’s head went back and she said, “Willow, are you listening to this?”
“I am.”
“Is what she suggesting possible?”
“I can send a mass download to the new ships. I’m going to assume you’re not going to remove a pilot already assigned to a ship.”
“I won’t make the existing pilots go through the interview but,” Salud looked at Gabby, “if she can develop a program to teach the ships the danger signs to look for, would that work?”
“I can write both programs.”
“Get it done Doctor. Quickly!”
“Willow, when will the new simulator complex open on Barbados?”
“It will start operations in a week.”
“Hold off bringing any more pilots until the new program is installed.”
Gabby nodded, “I’ve been working on it for more than a year. I’ve trialed it several times and it’s ready to go. I’ll need some time to write the one for existing pilots.”
Salud smiled, “You are a lifesaver, Gabby. Willow, she’ll bring the program to you today. Get it out to the new ships.”
• • •
“Jinks.”
“Yeah, Stoney.”
“Salud tells me that Lukas predicted that the next attack would start between seven and nine weeks after the first one.”