Kune slowly nodded, “I will. They’ll probably find a use for them.” He looked at Angel, “Admiral, I saw the specs on the new Jukeboxes and nothing in them indicated the abilities I’ve just witnessed.”
“That’s because no one really pushed them during their evaluations.”
“I see that they’re going to make the Rovers obsolete.”
“You’re probably right about their role in combat; however, I’m going to modify those my ships carry to perform a different role.”
Kune’s eyebrows came together, “Modify them in what way?”
“You know that the newest Advance Probes we’re using are about the size of a Rover?” Kune nodded. “We have confirmed that the Aliens that attacked us can’t detect them. The new fields around the probes are a new development and can’t be made larger than the one used to hide the probe; that new field will surround a Rover.”
Kune thought for a moment, “How would you use them?”
“You’ve seen the expansion blasters we use to send out a protective screen?”
“I have.”
Well, if our Rovers are invisible to the enemy, they can scout their forces prior to combat operations and also launch barrages to defend the Jukeboxes during fleet combat operations. Their barrages could blind the enemy’s ships long enough for a Jukebox to move in or escape if necessary. The ships could also be used to take our best infiltration troops into enemy territory and pick them up without being seen.”
Kune nodded, “They could also perform the function of a sensor probe.” Angel nodded. Kune sat down, “The Expansion Blaster would also allow the ship to escape if it’s discovered. Any missiles or beams fired at it would be stopped by the wave of the barrage.”
Angel nodded, “Their role as a combat weapon will change; they will become the scouts or defenders of the battleships in the fleets. They will unfortunately have to fend for themselves during combat operations…”
Kune finished Angel’s statement, “…they couldn’t keep up with the Jukeboxes.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Have you talked to your father and Admiral Gibbs about the new Jukeboxes’ capabilities?”
“I have, Sir.”
“And?”
“They agree with my recommendation.”
“You’ve recommended that every good pilot in the Rover Fleets be moved to pilot a Jukebox.”
Angel nodded, “It’s going to take a pilot accustomed to making radical maneuvers in the smaller ships to really get the most out of the new Jukeboxes, Sir.”
“Why haven’t they started making the change?”
Angel remained silent and lowered her eyes. Dizzy said, “I think they respect you too much to do that to what you’ve built, Sir.”
Kune nodded slowly and sighed, “They need to do it for the welfare of the Union.”
Dizzy nodded, “Yes Sir; they do.”
Kune slowly shook his head and said, “Admiral Arvolo, build something special here. I can see you’re on the right path to make it happen.” He turned to Dizzy, “Make me proud.”
Dizzy fought hard to prevent her tears but her eyes were moist, “You know I will, Sir.”
Kune walked toward the door and Angel said “Attennnshun!” The three officers stood and saluted. Kune returned their salute and left for his Rover in the landing bay.
Dizzy sat down and sighed, “I hated every moment.”
Angel put her hand on Dizzy’s shoulder, “It’s the only way to get him to see it, Commodore. Plan to meet with the entire Senior Staff in three hours.” Angel turned to Bret, “Leave immediately for Fleet Headquarters and get Commodore Banks copies of the personnel folders on the ships in her command.” Angel looked at the helmsman, “Plan to move the ship back to our formation as soon as Commodore Young jumps away and clears the area.”
“Yes Sir.”
Angel left the room and Dizzy looked at Bret, “I can see why you love her.” Bret’s eyes went wide. “Yes it’s obvious. You made an excellent choice, Bret.”
“Thanks Dizzy. I also made a good choice selecting our newest officer.” Bret left the room for a Rover and it took Dizzy a few moments to see that he was talking about her being selected to join Angel’s team. Dizzy smiled; Angel came out pretty good as well. Bret was a keeper.
• • •
The Lead Master looked at the other Masters, “I’m open to further suggestions on what we should do next.”
The Second Master looked at the Master that was third in line for the succession, “What were you able to determine from the data received?”
“Not much, unfortunately. It is clear that three of those new ship types were able to destroy six of our battleships.”
The Second nodded. He knew the Lead Master wanted him to lead the discussion. He had no desire to become the Lead Master; the current Leader was clearly the best for the position. “It is also clear that we were right about our ships being more powerful than the battleships they’ve been using.”
The Third nodded as well and said, “We have to know how many of those new ships they have in their inventory.”
The Eighth said, “Are you making any progress at getting probes in their space?”
The Third leaned forward, “I killed the last leader of our Seekers and replaced him with a new one. The new Leader is doing some inventive tactics but the probes are destroyed as soon as they arrive. I can’t fault the new Leader; he’s done things I wouldn’t have thought of trying. It appears they can see our probes and theirs are invisible to us.”
The Lead Master said, “Do any of you think they now have their probes here?” None of the Masters spoke. The Leader raised his head slightly, “Send a ship outside their galaxy and ask them if they’ve got them here.”
The Tenth Master leaned forward, “Do you think they’ll tell us truthfully?”
“Probably not; but you just never know.”
The Leader nodded to the Second and he looked at the Tenth, “You will go there now.”
The Tenth knew he was the newest member of the Elite Masters and he turned and left the room without protest. The Lead Master saw his bravery as well as the relief of several other Masters that they weren’t chosen to go. If the tenth survived the mission, he would need to be rewarded with a higher standing at the table. However, he would have to survive first.
• • •
Gibbs looked at Kune and saw his old friend was upset by his visit to Admiral Arvolo’s fleet. “You approved the promotion and transfer?” Gibbs nodded. “I want you to make another transfer.”
“What is that, Kunny?”
“I want a Jukebox Fleet to command.”
Gibb’s eyes widened, “What’s changed your mind?”
“You’ve seen those ships in operation; the Rovers are no longer relevant. I’m a warrior and I want to be fighting a ship, not leading scouts.”
Gibbs sighed, “Admiral Arvolo’s daughter told you her suggestion?”
“She did and she’s probably right about doing it. You should start that reorganization immediately.”
Gibbs slowly nodded and said, “Give me some time and let me see what I can do.” Kune nodded and left the room. Gibbs thought about what to do and called Lydia in, “I need to find Kune a Jukebox Command.”
“He’s finally seen the light?”
“He has, but I don’t have a fleet to give him.”
“If you had a fleet, wouldn’t you have given it to me?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Would that decision have hurt or helped us?”
“My job would have become a lot more difficult without you here.”
“Think about that and you’ll see what you need to do.”
“What do you mean?”
Lydia smiled, “We’re better together.” Lydia kissed Gibbs on the cheek and left the room. What did she mean, ‘Better together’? He looked at the Fleet Organization Chart and the officers commanding them. After a moment he smiled and pushed his communicator
.
Dat looked at his wrist unit and saw Gibbs, “Hello, Gibbs, I only have a moment.”
“What’s going on?”
“Admiral Hull has requested me to start breaking up the Rover Fleets. I’m calling Admiral Kune in momentarily. I don’t look forward to that conversation.”
“Admiral Kune has requested a Jukebox Fleet to command.”
“HE WHAT!??!”
“He made a trip to your daughter’s fleet to complain about interfering with one of his officers and was given a lesson in the new ship’s capabilities.”
“That is really good news.”
“What fleet are you going to give him?”
Dat stared at Gibbs and was struck silent at the question. After a moment he said, “We don’t have one at the moment. To break all the others up to create one would disrupt the training we’ve done to get them working as a unit.”
“I have a suggestion.”
Dat looked at Gibbs and said, “No, I need you commanding a fleet.”
Gibbs laughed, “That isn’t what I was going to suggest. I was going to suggest that you give him Gresha’s Fleet.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“Well, think about it for a moment, Dat. The two of you are incredible when you’re working together. Both of you are two of our best working separately as well but nowhere near what the two of you do when you’re working together. You’re about overloaded now with commanding a fleet and getting it ready for combat as well as being in overall command of all our fleets as well. Admit it, you could use her help. You wouldn’t weaken her fleet by putting Admiral Kune in command of it.” Dat stared at Gibbs and Gibbs said, “Just think about it.” Dat nodded and the screen went dark.
“You know he’s right.”
Dat turned around and saw Gresha standing behind him. “Why do you say that?”
“You’re tied down with the command of your fleet. You should be more flexible where you could work on improving all of our forces.”
Dat thought about what Gresha was saying and she nailed it down when she said, “I’ll assume the command of your fleet and you will make my ship your flagship. That way we will be together most of the time. I think I’d like that a lot more than having to leave and be with a different fleet during combat operations.”
Dat’s desk communicator beeped and he pushed a button on it, “Admiral Kune is here and requests a meeting.”
Dat looked at Gresha, “You have always been the wisest.”
“That’s why we’re at our best together. Now make Kune happy; he deserves it.”
Dat nodded and pressed the button, “Send him in.”
• • •
Dizzy sat in the room with the Command Team and couldn’t get over how young the Arvolo triplets were. She was also amazed at how different they were. If the three of them were placed on a continuum of behavior: Arve would be on the outrageous end of line; Grest would be at the conservative, strong, steady end of the line and Angel would be right in the middle of them. They balanced each other out. The combination of their personalities was something to watch. Their intelligence was off the scale and their practical use of it was startling. Bret just sat back and lobbed questions and statements in on them that caused them to react. He was the catalyst that made it work. She wasn’t sure how she was going to fit in. She knew she wanted a rematch with Angel; well, that would come later.
Arve sat in his chair and stared at the new member of the team. She was a striking woman. She was about five feet ten inches tall and her black hair was cut in a pixie style. He couldn’t really decide if her eyes were blue, hazel, or green; they seemed to change color when light hit them from different angles. Those eyes appeared to be constantly taking everything in around her and her expression was open and friendly. Where did Angel and Bret find her? He heard Angel speak and he turned his attention to his sister.
“Commodore Banks, how has the training of the Rovers been going?”
Dizzy looked at Angel and said, “Call me Dizzy. Most of them are adjusting quite well to the change. They appear to get much more out of the new Jukeboxes than the pilot’s they replaced.”
Arve’s eyes narrowed, “Dizzy?”
Elizabeth looked at Arve, “Yes; when I was in the Academy, one of the pilots trying to catch me during maneuvers said I made him very dizzy; the name stuck.”
Arve smiled, “Dizzy it is.”
Angel listened to the back and forth and shook her head, “They aren’t progressing fast enough. There has to be a way to get them ahead of the learning curve on the capabilities of the Jukeboxes.”
Dizzy tilted her head, “Is it true that the ship won’t do anything beyond its capabilities?”
Angel looked at Dizzy, “That’s what I’ve been told.”
“Then remove the crews from the Jukeboxes except for the engineering team and offer a challenge to every pilot to do something to make the ship fail. Offer a reward to any pilot that can come up with a maneuver that the ship can’t do.”
Arve smiled, “I like it! The crews can watch the competition and cheer their ships on.”
Grest shook his head, “What if they actually do damage their ship?”
Angel tilted her head to the left and said, “Then we repair it. However, this would really get them to push the ships to their absolute limits. This idea really has merit.” Angel looked at Dizzy, “How would we do it? If we had all our ships inside a small area, there could be collisions.”
Dizzy shook her head, “I’ve been thinking about the new ships and I’ve been wanting to try an experiment.”
Bret said, “What is that?”
“I don’t think the new ships could hit each other if they tried.”
Angel’s eyes narrowed, “Say what?”
“The new force fields don’t have the holes in them like the older ship’s fields; that means the polarity of the fields is much more stable. We know Dark Energy is a repulsive force.” Dizzy looked at Angel and then back at Bret, “What happens when you bring two identically charged objects together?”
Bret said, “If the objects were magnets and they had the same charge, they would push away from each other.”
Dizzy nodded, “Like charges repel each other; opposites attract. All of our force fields share the same charge.”
Bret got excited, “Extremely powerful magnets take tremendous force to bring them together, if they have the same charge. That’s how our high speed trains operate.”
Dizzy tilted her head and nodded, “And we all know the power of the new force fields. I really think the ships can’t hit each other. I’m not even sure you could make two ship’s force fields make contact.”
Angel looked at Arve, “Let’s find out. Go to your ship and get ready to trial this.”
Arve smiled and jumped up. He sprinted out of the room and Dizzy looked at Angel, “Is he always this energetic?”
Angel shook her head, “You have no idea.” She stood up and said, “Let’s adjourn this meeting for the moment and go to the bridge.” The four Union Officers stood and walked out of the conference room.
• • •
Arve arrived on the Bridge of the Melbourne and yelled at his Executive Officer, “Battle Stations!” The klaxons began wailing and he buckled into his chair and put on his combat helmet. He activated the visor and saw the Wellington had its force field at full power. It was using the standard field to cover the ship’s entire hull and he left the Melbourne’s force field in standard combat mode. He saw all decks had reported in and he looked at the microphone on his visor. A list appeared and he looked at the first one on the list, “Angel, we’re ready when you are.”
Angel saw all the other members of the team had buckled in to a chair on the bridge and said, “Let’s try this slowly. Pull your ship up beside the Wellington and use your thrusters to push it toward me.”
Arve looked at his helmsman, “I have the ship.”
“Yes Sir.”
Arve moved the Melb
ourne two hundred yards out from the Wellington and activated the side thrusters. The giant battleship began slowly moving toward its twin. The Helmsman began saying, “A hundred and fifty yards…a hundred and twenty…a hundred…seventy five…fifty…twenty five…”
Arve listened and said, “Distance?”
“Sir, it’s holding at twenty yards.”
“We’re not moving?”
“Yes Sir, we are; it’s just we’re pushing the other ship with us.”
“Angel…”
“I know. I’m activating my thrusters and start resisting your push. The two battleships stopped in space and moved to eighteen yards separating them. “Arve, I’m at ten percent thrust.”
“So am I, Sir.”
“Alright, I’m going to start increasing thrust and I want you to match me. I’ll call out the power level and a second later go to it. Try to move your level at the same moment.”
“Call it out.”
“Twenty…thirty…forty…fifty…” Angel felt the Wellington start to vibrate.
She looked at her Helmsman, “Fifteen feet, Sir.”
“Arve, are you getting vibration?”
“I am.”
“Attention all crewmembers, buckle in tightly.” The crew looked at each other and wondered what was going on. A Jukebox was just outside the ship’s force field. “Sixty…seventy…eighty…” Suddenly, the Wellington rolled over the top of the Melbourne and shot away at near maximum speed. Angel fought the controls and heard the gravity compensators whine; however, they weren’t close to being overloaded.
Arve stopped the Melbourne’s roll and brought the ship to a stop. “What happened, Admiral?”
Angel blew out a breath as Dizzy said, “What happens when two magnets with the same polarity are pushed together?”
Arve nodded, “They’ll try to slide away from each other.” Arve thought for a moment and said, “I’d like to try something, Admiral.”
Angel looked at Bret and Dizzy saw her roll her eyes, “What is that?”
“I want us to activate the cone force field and hit each other head on.” Angel started laughing and kept her microphone shut off so Arve wouldn’t hear her. Arve said, “Admiral.”
Bret kept his tone neutral and said, “Give us a moment; we’re discussing it.”
Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) Page 8