by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Admiral Glennon had to forcefully restrain Alex and Jingle from rushing out to check on Belle and what finally stopped them was him telling them she would be eliminated from the competition if they refused to listen. They knew Belle would never forgive them for causing her to be eliminated. They demanded to speak to her and Glennon refused but said he had the authority to check on the health of the participants. He told them they could listen in but if they said one word, she was out!
• • •
Belle sat in her command chair and fought to stand. She knew that she’d never make it to her quarters. Admiral Glennon appeared on her monitor, “Captain Berringer, are you medically able to continue the competition?”
Belle forced a smile, “Absolutely, Admiral.”
“You should exit your ship and return to your quarters.”
“Admiral, I’m staying on board my ship until the next exercise. It’ll give me more time to prepare for the next maneuver.”
Glennon stared at Belle, “Are you sure you’re OK?”
“Yes Admiral. I’m fine.”
Mike ended the contact and Jingle was crying, “She’s hurting!”
Alex took her in his arms and held her close. Mike sighed, “It’s up to her to decide if she can do this; I admire her determination.”
“But what if she really needs medical attention?!”
Alex lifted Jingle’s chin, “If she does, Ringie will demand she get it.” Jingle stared at him and then nodded.
• • •
Ringie almost called it off but Belle persuaded him to wait until the next day. She struggled to get to her feet and take her first step. She fell back in her chair and then stood up again. She slowly reached over her head and took deep breaths. She always hated doing yoga with her mother when she was a child but that is what saved her from Ringie calling in a doctor. She slowly went through her churns working her body from her head to her toes. She took deep breaths and by the end of the next day, she was able to walk and move her arms and legs without falling. By the next day, she was able to eat and work on her strength. She had to be ready the next morning and she continued her yoga and exercises.
• • •
Barry learned about what happened; every officer in the maneuvers was told about the rules’ violations and was shown the two ships ganging up on one ship. Barry saw Ringie written on the ship’s bow and knew that it was Belle they ganged up on. The maneuver she used to escape was terribly dangerous and he knew she must have been injured. But he was forbidden from communicating with anyone in the competition and he spent a sleepless night worrying about her. “Please, Lord, let her be all right!”
Chapter Seventeen
The Round of Four was the easiest exercise Belle faced to date and she was thankful for it. Her reputation had gotten out and every participant in the round avoided her. Belle spent the ten hours recovering and was still spent at the end of the round…but she was a survivor. She had a day to rest until the Round of Two and she stayed on Ringie. Now it got tougher. The last two units in each bracket were next and the pilots that made it this far were savvy and dangerous; there were no easy targets in this one. And all of the Terminators were eliminated removing one of her escape maneuvers.
Belle shook her head and worried. After a few hours, Ringie said, “I’m noticing over our link that you’re worried about the coming exercise.”
“I am.”
“I have an idea that might be of use.”
“What is that?”
“I’ve contacted Fleet Ordinance and requested them to load one of the missile tubes with the missiles facing backward.”
“What?”
“I figure if we just eject a backward missile and have it activate its thruster after it’s ejected that it could be on a pursuer in an instant; the missile won’t have to make a turn to go back after the pursuer giving them time to evade.”
“Can we do that?”
“I can program the missiles to activate their thrusters after they’re ejected out of the missile tube. They’ll already have the targeting data on the ship chasing us.”
“Will fleet allow us to do it?”
“I’ve asked Commodore Martinez and he says that’s exactly what the maneuvers are designed to do, to bring out the talents of the participating pilots.”
“Then do it, Ringie!”
“Should we wait until the final round to do this?”
“No Ringie! We’ll do it when we must and try to make sure no one is close enough to see what we’ve done.”
“Someone is bound to see us do it.”
“Let them. It’ll happen so fast that I doubt they’ll understand what we’ve done. By the time they do, it will be too late for them to make the change before the next exercise.”
“I’ve asked Commodore Martinez to load the missiles after dark. He’s agreed and really wants to see what happens.”
“Are you sure you can do the programming?”
“Absolutely!”
“Then you will make the decision when to use them. I’ll focus on the blaster and forward missiles. Like always, keep us out of trouble.”
“That’s what I’m best at doing; tomorrow should be interesting.”
• • •
The Round of Two was going to be a real test of the participants’ skills. Alex and Jingle sat in Mike’s war room staring at the wall monitors. Jingle blew out a breath and turned to Mike, “This is probably a waste of time.”
“Why do you say that?” Mike asked.
“There’s less than three-hundred pilots remaining in each unit and they’ll just avoid each other to make the finals.” Mike smiled and Jingle asked, “Won’t they?”
“There’s a small change in the finals for each bracket.”
“Do tell,” Jingle responded.
“The fifty pilots with the most kills in the Bracket Finals will be allowed to remain outside the boundary for three hours before entering the Final. It gives them an incentive to be aggressive and if the past is any reflection, they won’t be avoiding each other. Three hours out of the final is more important than just making the final.”
Jingle stared at Mike and said, “Cute.”
Mike laughed, “I think so.”
Jingle looked at Alex, “Did you have to go through this?”
Mike answered, “Yes, he did, and he made it to the Bracket Final.”
“What happened?” Jingle inquired.
Alex shrugged, “My luck ran out. We didn’t have defense missiles back then and had to depend on blasters. I ran into a blaster beam fired at another ship.”
Jingle smiled, “Oh well.” Alex pushed her slightly and Jingle laughed.
• • •
Belle sat in her command chair waiting for the exercise to start and had a sudden thought, “Ringie, do we have to hit a ship with a training blaster powerful enough to destroy the ship?”
“I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“If we reduce the size of the blaster beam to the point where it would not penetrate the ship’s hull, would the ship be knocked out if it hit?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how the computers controlling the exercise have been programmed.”
“What if they’re programmed to eliminate a ship if it’s merely hit by a blaster beam?”
Ringie paused and said, “If we reduce the blaster beam to its smallest diameter, it will have a much longer range.”
“How much more?”
“About a third more range than normal.”
Belle thought about it and smiled, “Reduce the diameter. If a ship we hit isn’t removed, change it back to normal.”
“When do you intend to do this?”
“Why do you ask?”
“If we do it too early, the other participants may use the same tactic.”
Belle nodded, “Ok, we’ll wait six hours before we use it and make sure we stay further away from the survivors afterwards.”
“
Good deal, McNeal!” Belle laughed and a few moments later, the alarm sounded.
• • •
Belle flew away from her starting position and saw that any ship she turned toward instantly flew away. “OH, SO YOU’RE ALL TRYING TO SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST!”
“Be patient, Belle. You also need to save the best of them for last.”
Belle sighed and replied, “You’re right. Don’t let them surprise us?”
“I’ve got that covered. Just find targets of opportunity and get away.”
“You’re the boss, Ringie.”
• • •
Belle flew the ship and would pounce on another participant attacking a survivor and hit it with a blaster before turning and running away. At the end of six hours, she had five kills but knew she was far out of the leader’s totals. She looked at the clock and said, “Time to find out. Ringie move us inside the range of the small diameter blaster beam. Pick out some targets and let’s start seeing if we’re right.”
Belle hit a distant ship and saw it immediately turn red on the monitor. “RINGIE, GET US IN RANGE OF AS MANY AS POSSIBLE BEFORE THEY CATCH ON TO WHAT WE’RE DOING!”
Belle knocked out twenty-five more survivors before other ships started firing small blaster beams. “Keep us out of their range, Ringie!”
“They appear to be ticked off.”
“Can’t they take a joke?”
“I have one of them flying in behind us to get a shot off at us.”
“Increasing speed. Give me a course keeping us out of the range of the small blasters.”
Belle followed the course on the monitor and her frequent course changes allowed the pursuing ship to move closer. “Time for the missile!”
“Ejecting now!” Belle flew on a straight line and saw the ship chasing her maintain its course. Then it turned red and was eliminated from the competition. Belle spent the rest of the time enticing other ships to attack her from the rear. When the alarm sounded ending the exercise, Belle had fifty confirmed kills. She was number one and would avoid the first hours of the finals.
“Ringie, what about Barry?”
“He survived but he wasn’t one of the top fifty in kills.”
“That means he will be in the exercise from the start.”
“That’s right,” Ringie responded.
Belle’s eyes narrowed, “I wonder if he intentionally avoided having the most kills.”
“Why would he do that?”
Belle shook her head and started giggling, “He knows that entering a competition cold could be a real issue. I should have thought of that.”
“It’s too late now.”
“When we go in we go in running until we get up to speed, Ringie.”
“That’s the other thing we didn’t consider.”
“What is that?”
“We can’t choose where we go in,” Ringie answered. “We’re assigned a position and must enter the boundary at that location. Barry was probably lucky he didn’t make the top fifty.”
“Lucky like a fox; he’s ahead of us in his planning. Can we find out which ship is his?”
“No, all ship markings are covered.”
“Ummmm…contact the Rules Chairman and ask if we’re forced to stay out the entire three hours.”
Belle waited for a few minutes and Ringie finally replied, “I’ve just received an answer from the Rules Chairman.”
“And?”
“He says we can enter the exercise at the time of our choosing, but we have no choice about entering at the three-hour mark.” Belle was silent and Ringie said, “I can see that you’re thinking about what you’d do if you weren’t one of those allowed to stay out.”
“I’d be waiting loaded for bear at the three-hour mark for the others to enter the competition.”
“I suspect that is what will happen.”
“After two hours, I want you to start looking for a good place to enter the competition.”
“We may have to go in earlier.”
“Why do you say that?” Belle asked.
Ringie paused before answering, “The one’s involved in the exercise will know that the really good pilots are waiting just outside the boundary and they’ll start setting up to take them out as they enter; they won’t wait until the last minute to do that.”
Well, let’s see what happens.”
• • •
The alarm sounded the next morning and Belle watched the six-hundred plus warships start going after each other. The entire space set aside for the final competition was filled with warships attacking and evading. After an hour, Belle noticed that many of the participants were moving away from the center of the competition. “Ringie, we need to go in now! Give me a course to follow.”
“Hang on a moment!” Ringie responded. Belle stared at the monitor and it took twenty minutes before the area in front of them cleared. “GO!”
Belle accelerated inside the boundary and immediately flew to the middle of the area used for the competition. She looked at her monitor and saw there weren’t any warships around her; all of them had moved out close to the boundaries surrounding the competition. Many of the combatants saw Belle enter the competition early and they ignored her and focused on the ninety-nine pilots still outside the boundary. Getting in now was going to be fraught with danger.
• • •
Jingle turned to Mike, “Aren’t those ships ganging up on the winners from the last competition?”
“No, they’re all targeting a single ship and that is allowed. They’re also out side the range of the weapons of the ships around them.”
“So winning and being allowed to not enter the competition was not really a reward, was it?” Alex asked.
“One should always choose to fight,” Mike answered with a smile. “I don’t know how your daughter figured out she could go in early, but it was a good decision.”
“She probably asked someone,” Jingle remarked. She shook her head slightly, “Isn’t this punishing your better pilots?”
“Taking part in the Finals is reward enough and it will go into their records. We’re looking for pilots that can see the big picture and avoid the pitfalls of not thinking things through. If any winners from yesterday survive, then we’ll know just how good they are.”
“But you don’t expect any of them to do it?” Alex asked.
“Well, your daughter made it through. I don’t give the others much of a chance to break through.”
• • •
Belle watched the monitor and glanced at the clock seeing that the ships outside the boundary would be forced to enter in five minutes, “They’re going to be forced to enter shortly.”
“Now would be a good time to take out some of the ships focused on the victors.”
“Great idea, Ringie. I’m taking a course behind them and will move in and open fire with the blaster as we pass. Have a defense missile ready in the event any of them turn our way.”
• • •
Belle flew at high-speed just inside the range of the ships gathered at the boundary. The ships were all facing toward the boundary and couldn’t turn fast enough to escape or open fire on her. She weaved her way up and down and the blaster was firing fast enough that it looked like a strobe light. There was no possible way for her to attack all the ships gathered at the boundary but in the five minutes before time ran out on the ships outside the boundary, she knocked a hundred and fifteen ships out of the competition.
“That was easy.”
“They refused to focus on us, Belle. The victors from the last competition represent a far larger threat to them than we do. Do you feel guilty at taking advantage of them; one of the ships you knocked out could have been Barry.”
“Barry will have to take care of himself! I love him but I intend to win this!”
• • •
Belle nearly did knock Barry out of the competition, but he kept one of his monitors focused on her; he knew the ship that entered the competition early had
to be her. When she started her attack, he moved out of position and avoided being hit by her blaster. Barry smiled, she figured out that staying outside the boundary wasn’t a reward; she was a very smart woman. First the others and, if he survived, then Belle.
• • •
More than six-hundred warships started the finals and less than two hundred remained. By the time the alarm sounded, only a hundred and twenty-five remained. They would now enter the Masters Round the next morning and only one would emerge the overall champion.
• • •
“Well, Barry’s in the Masters’ Round with us.”
“I’m really surprised he made it this far, Ringie. He was piloting a new ship and his link to his new computer had to be a liability.”
“Everyone had the same issue; all the participants were flying new ships.”
“But we were lucky numerous times; you know how close we barely missed being knocked out of the competition. Is something going on?”
“After tomorrow, you can ask him.”
“Let’s focus on tomorrow first. It appears no one has caught us using the backward missiles.”
“That’s true but fleet has updated the software on our Blasters, and we can no longer reduce them to extend the range.”
“Well, it was good while it lasted. I think that change benefits us.”
“Why do you think that?”
“You’re the best at keeping us outside the firing range of ships around us. I think we’ll be fine.”
“Get some rest. Tomorrow is the last day of Fall Maneuvers.”
“I’m sleeping here. You take a look at the ships in the Masters; let me know if you see anything.”
Belle went to the small kitchen and ate a good meal before returning to her chair. She had no difficulty falling asleep.
• • •
The finalists listened to speeches from the President of the Union and Admiral Glennon before the competition began. The Masters started at eight AM due to there being no ending time. The alarm sounded and the remaining hundred and twenty-five ships began moving at high speed.
Every participant had proven themselves many times in the competitions leading up to the Masters, and they were excellent at evading and attacking their adversaries. This was not going to end fast.