by Saxon Andrew
Glennon looked at his Senior Staff, “Do any of you want to add anything to this conversation?”
Admiral Roland shrugged and replied, “It sounds like a good plan.”
“Admiral Kennedy?”
“I’m bothered about the vulnerability of this new scout.”
Wozniak spoke up, “Don’t be. The new scout will have a force field that will probably be stronger than the ones used on the Terminators.”
“How is that possible?” Kennedy asked.
“The force field will be reduced in size to surround the small scout and its strength will be greatly increased because of its small size. Strength increases with the smaller size of a ship a force field covers. A ship half the size of the Terminators would have a force field four times as strong. This ship will be a hundredth the size of the Terminators and I suspect its force field cannot be penetrated by any of our most powerful blasters.”
“Admiral Wozniak, would it be possible to move the computer from my current ship’s shuttle into one of them?”
Wozniak turned to Jingle, “Why would you want that?”
Jingle smiled, “I always like having the best technology available on board my ship.”
“I could just install a new computer, Admiral.”
“No, I’m partial to the one on my current shuttle.”
“Send me the shuttle and I’ll have it installed. I’ll also update its core data system during the installation.”
“Thank you.”
Glennon stared at Jingle and then turned to Wozniak, “I think all of our Terminators should have one of these scouts on board. Once you build enough to scout the LMC, start production to add them to our fleets.”
“Yes Sir.”
• • •
The meeting ended and Alex turned to Jingle, “You expected Mike to order those scouts to be on the Terminators.”
“I was hoping he would see the benefit of doing it.”
“What benefit do you see?”
“It would be a perfect ship to attack the flagship of any alien fleet and remove the commander before a battle breaks out.”
“But it only carries a few missiles!”
“How many is a few?” Alex was silent as he thought about the question and Jingle smiled, “Compared to six hundred on a Triple Warship, would sixty be a few?” Alex chuckled and Jingle added, “And I suspect that Wozniak will also add a blaster just because he can. Not one that could take on a large warship but would be effective against ground forces on a planet; these new scouts can serve many purposes.”
“You were right about not attacking the LMC. I couldn’t help but see them as a huge danger.”
“They aren’t now but one day there will be a reckoning with them,” Jingle responded. “They are an aggressive civilization and they won’t quit once they get slapped down. But the longer we can delay that happening, the better.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because they must be weakened by crashing against the shores of the Milky Way before we go and take them on. The long supply lines and getting supplies to their fleets will be their undoing. When we eventually take them on, it will have to be completed quickly.”
Alex nodded and moved the ship out of orbit. Jingle linked with Jangle and asked, “Are those creatures organic?”
“I don’t know?”
“Make a guess.”
“Well, they’re not space creatures and the colors of their body indicate they’re organic. Why do you ask?”
“You know why I’m asking, and I want this kept just between you and me.”
“I hate keeping this from Brooks.”
“Then erase it from your data banks.”
“Done.”
Jingle sighed and glanced at Alex. She couldn’t tell him what she suspected, he’d do something brash and dumb. It would have to wait until the right time…and place.
Alex flew the ship down to the spaceport and said absently, “I wonder what those creatures eat.” Jingle didn’t reply; she already made a guess and didn’t like it.
Chapter Five
Alex and Jingle decided to mix business with pleasure and went to take Ringie to be transferred into one of the new scouts. They dropped the shuttle off and then went to visit their parents. After ten days, they stopped by New York, where a shuttle took them down to Fleet Operations from the Rapids.
The shuttle landed next to a huge construction hangar where they were greeted by Admiral Wozniak, “Welcome back; it’s good to see you.”
Jingle hugged Wozniak and smiled, “It’s good to see you as well, Rich. How’s our smallest ship coming along?”
“Well, it may not actually be your smallest ship.”
“Oh?” Alex commented.
“It’s actually larger than the ship the computer came out of, but that was necessary to provide accommodations for the two crewmen.”
“How much larger?” Jingle inquired.
“About five yards longer and three yards wider.”
“Are you saying it’s larger than the old warships?” Alex asked.
“When we started looking into the requirements the ship would need to carry out long-range scouting missions, it required some things that took up more space than we anticipated.”
“Such as?” Jingle remarked.
Wozniak raised a shoulder, “For one thing, it has to carry enough provisions to feed the crew over an extended period of time; we won’t be sending a ship out to provision it. It also had to be fast in order to escape an enemy if it’s detected.”
“I thought it was undetectable.”
“It is the stealthiest vessel we’ve ever built but one never knows how technology can find a way around any invention. Plus, it may be necessary for it to be able to follow an enemy warship traveling at maximum speed.”
“That makes sense.” Jingle replied. “How fast is it?”
“A Terminator can’t catch it.”
“Get out of here!!” Alex replied.
“Another reason for the additional size was it required four of the new small reactors and it’s power to weight ratio puts the Terminator’s ratio to shame; it’s quite fast.”
“What about its defenses?”
Rich turned to Jingle, “It’s force field just may be impenetrable. When three reactors are used to power it, nothing we have can break through it. I don’t want to find out, but I believe the ship could survive a DD missile’s detonation.”
“What about the radiation?”
“Again, I don’t want to detonate a DD to find out but nothing, and I do mean nothing we’ve thrown at it has gotten through and that’s after subjecting it to the hardest radiation we can produce outside of a nuclear explosion.”
Alex smiled and asked, “Does it have a blaster?”
His smile vanished when Rich replied, “As a matter of fact, it does. We had some space to install one and decided there was no reason not to do it. There’s only one on the ship but it carries quite a punch.”
Jingle smiled and asked, “What do you mean by quite a punch?”
“The pilot has the option to power it with one or up to three of the reactors. The blasters on a Terminator are only powered by one reactor for two of them. Oh, it carries a punch alright.”
“Then why don’t we make this ship our main warship?”
Rich shrugged and turned to Alex, “The scout only carries twenty defense missiles. Our main warship needs to carry far more than that in a battle with a large enemy fleet. However, the defense missiles on the scout are different from those carried on the Terminators.”
“In what way?”
“These missiles carry a small nuclear charge instead of high-explosives.”
Alex stared at Wozniak and asked, “Why can’t the Terminators use them?”
“The nuclear material in the missile isn’t that large but storing a large number of them close to each other would produce a highly radioactive environment. My chief physicist says that they might even cause a
chain reaction and cause an explosion. The Terminators are required to carry large numbers of defense missiles which precludes putting these missiles on them.”
Jingle listened to Rich and said, “You’ve been thinking about building this ship for a long time, haven’t you?”
Rich’s eyes narrowed, “How do you know that?”
“I can tell by how much pride you’re showing in the new scout. Your tone changes when you talk about the Terminators. You don’t like them do you?”
“I told Admiral Glennon that building the Terminators was a mistake, but he wouldn’t listen. He wanted a large battleship and he built one.”
“The Terminators are incredibly powerful, Rich.”
“I know that Alex. But for every Terminator we’re building we could build five-hundred of these small ships at a faster rate.” Rich paused and asked, “If you were having to face-off against fifty-thousand enemy warships, which would you rather have to do it; fifty-thousand Terminators or fifty thousand of these scouts.”
Jingle interrupted, “That’s a no brainer. I’d take the scouts.”
“Why, for God’s sake?!” Alex asked.
“It’s impossible to detect, it has more powerful missiles and blaster, and it’s faster.”
“But it only carries twenty missiles!”
“Who needs more than that when just one of them will destroy a large battleship?” Jingle replied to Alex. She turned to Rich, “Where’s our scout?” Rich smiled and lifted a remote; he pressed a button and a small ship suddenly appeared twenty feet in front of them. Jingle gasped and shook her head, “It’s beautiful!”
The pointed bow moved smoothly back into the body of the ship and its lines were perfect. “Where’re the missile tubes?” Alex asked. Jingle punched him on the arm. “What was that for?”
“It’s like looking at a beautiful woman and asking how much she weighs! Ringie is beautiful and all you think to say is ‘where are the missile tubes! Men!!”
Rich laughed and managed to reply, “A missile tube is located under the wings. They can only launch forward but the missiles can be programmed to turn and attack an enemy behind the ship.”
Jingle turned to Wozniak, “I want another one. How many computers does it take to operate the ship?”
“One.”
“Can one person operate the ship?”
“Yes, but they will have to sleep sometime.”
Jingle giggled, “Come on Wozniak, you know Glennon demanding the ship have two crewmen was utter nonsense. Why didn’t you fight him on it?”
“Why is it nonsense?” Alex asked.
“Because our computers can operate the ship while the pilot is sleeping and wake them up if needed.” Jingle turned back to Rich, “Why didn’t you protest having two on board.”
“You won’t like it.”
“Try me!”
“We have a huge number of volunteers to join the service from planets in the Wilds. I think Admiral Glennon wants every ship to have at least two crewmen with one of them always being from the Union. I would have lost that fight.”
Jingle stared at Rich and Alex commented, “Old suspicions die hard.”
Rich sighed, “Yes, they do.”
Jingle lowered her eyes, “And the computer would always be imprinted to the officer from the Union.”
“They will always have seniority over any recruit from the Forbidden Wilds,” Rich replied.
“Does anyone know Glennon feels this way?”
“No, Jingle. He’s never come out and stated it, but I can see it in his instructions on determining the crews to fly the Terminators. No Terminator has two officers from the Wilds on board.”
“You’re leaving something out, Rich.”
Rich stared at Jingle for a long moment and then looked around. He turned back to them and said, “I will deny telling you this if you mention it to anyone. It could cost me my career.”
“Go on,” Alex prodded.
“Do you remember the self-destruct circuit on your old warship that could be triggered by someone outside your ship?”
“Oh God, please don’t tell me those are back on board our ships?”
“Yes they are Jingle.”
“Is there one on my new scout?”
“No, Jingle. I removed the antenna from it.”
Alex and Jingle looked at each other and Rich added, “There’s a reason Glennon is doing this.” They turned back to Rich and he continued, “An officer from the Wilds had an emergency appendectomy and while he was under sedation, he began talking about his assignment to take control of his warship and take it to the Wilds.”
“That could have been a fake dream!” Jingle replied quickly.
“Yes, that’s possible. But you have to be aware that the Union is not loved by many planets in the Forbidden Wilds. Right now humanity is united but what happens when all the wars are over? There is a lot of jealousy in the Wilds over how the Union is so far advanced technologically than they are. I didn’t fight putting two chairs on these ships because they would be the perfect ship for carrying out assassinations. Can either of you say with certainty that the ill will in the Wilds is now gone?” Alex looked at Jingle and she sighed before shaking her head. “Consider what just one rogue Terminator could do to the Union’s center of government.”
“What Planet did that Wilds’ officer come from?” Alex asked.
Rich hesitated and then replied, “Overland and the highest number of volunteers are coming from there.”
“Overland was one of the original planets ruled by Rage Kahn.”
“Yes, it was Jingle. And if we refuse to accept volunteers from there, all the good will and trust that’s been built up since the war against the Styx Nebula will disappear. We have no choice but to process them.”
Jingle stared at Rich and then turned to Alex, “We must stop this in its tracks.”
“And just how do you think we can do that?”
“We go rogue.”
“What?”
Jingle turned to Rich, “Find out when the next ship carrying volunteers from Overland is due to launch.”
“What are you going to do?”
“You don’t want to know. Just get me that information!” Rich stared at her and then nodded.
“One more thing, Rich.”
“What is that?”
“I want my second ship to have the DD missile tube operational.”
Rich stared at her and then raised his shoulders, “It will be ready in three weeks.”
• • •
They flew Ringie up to the Rapids and Jingle said, “I’m going ahead to Bucket.”
“Why?”
“I need to set something up. I’ll discuss it with you when you arrive.” Alex’s eyes narrowed and Jingle added, “Alex don’t Admiral Thorton me. I’ll answer your questions when you arrive.” Alex frowned and then hugged her. He left the scout and headed toward the bridge. He arrived and Jangle said, “Whooo Wheee! That ship flew away at a speed that’s impossible. I wonder what it has under the hood!”
Alex laughed and said, “Brooks, get us back to Bucket at maximum speed.”
“We aren’t going to catch that ship!”
“I know, Jangle. What’s going on?”
“How would I know?”
“Aren’t you linked to Jingle?”
“Yes, but she flew out of the range of our link in less than two seconds.”
Alex sighed, “We’ll find out when we arrive on Bucket.”
• • •
Alex arrived at Bucket and Jingle appeared on the monitor, “Land the ship next to the construction hangar.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you when you land.” Alex landed the Rapids on the tarmac outside the construction hangar and a crew of technicians came running out to the ship. Alex watched them pass by him and saw Jingle walking toward him, “Jingle!!”
“We’re making a few changes on the Rapids before we leave.”
Leave?!”
“Yes, Rich contacted me and says the next shuttle with new recruits is leaving Overland tomorrow. We’re going to intercept that shuttle and have a discussion with the passengers.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“Alex, if we have to destroy that shuttle and blame it on a reactor malfunction, we’ll do it. We’re going to get to the bottom of this now before this epidemic becomes a plague threatening all of humanity. Now come with me and get sized.”
“For what?”
“Wait and see. I’ve had the techs working on something for a while and they’ve completed it; come on, time is short.” Alex walked beside Jingle into the hangar as she told him what she was planning. He started shaking his head all the way into the hangar.
• • •
Three hours later, Alex and Jingle boarded the Rapids and Alex saw Malph and Reggie waiting at the boarding ramp. His eyes narrowed and Jingle smiled, “They’re coming to assist us.”
Malph stuck out his hand and Alex shook it, “It’s good to see you Malph.”
“You don’t mean it, but I understand. Jingle tells me she needs some muscle.”
Alex shrugged, “I guess she does.”
Reggie laughed, “I’m looking forward to this.”
They boarded and Jingle shouted, “Brooks get the ship to the following coordinates.” Jingle entered them in the navigation system and the large warship lifted from the tarmac.
• • •
They arrived in the Overland Star System and Jingle announced, “I’m looking for a Union shuttle with the following transponder code. Jangle, can you do an active scan of the shuttle to see and hear what’s being said on board?”
“That shuttle, according to Fleet’s registry doesn’t have any defenses. I can easily scan it and transmit what is being said. I’ll also break into the link on the shuttle’s video camera and show the images from on board.”
“Brooks, keep us hidden and I want you to designate those on board as I point them out.” Jingle turned to Alex, “Are you ready for this.”
“I suppose.”
“Alex grow a spine! You went into the Wilds to kidnap those that were a danger to peace, and you didn’t hesitate! What’s the problem now?!”