by Saxon Andrew
“Have you tried to build a larger collector?”
Greg nodded, “We have, Gem. But there appears to be a limiting structural issue with dark matter that prevents it from being compressed beyond the small size we’re currently using in the collection tubes and tanks. We tried hundreds of ways to make it work and, so far, we’ve not been successful. We’ve not found a way around the limiting size.”
“How do you use dark matter as fuel?”
Greg smiled, “The fuel lines to the boosters are coated inside with dark matter and, if you haven’t noticed, the booster’s jets are small compared to a normal ship’s. The dark matter fuel is heated by having the two fuel lines go through the reactor, which excites it and it blows out of the two-small rear-boosters at high pressure.”
“Just how fast is that ship in space, Greg?” Ana asked.
Greg smiled, “Incredibly fast. I know the boosters are small but the ship’s mass is miniscule. The thing that makes this ship extraordinary is that it will not run out of air if it’s inside an atmosphere and it won’t run out of dark matter fuel in space if it is traveling the filaments or between galaxies. If the reactor functions, the ship is operational.”
Gem lowered his eyes, “Is it as fast as our warships?”
Greg shrugged, “It might be faster. It’s power to weight is better than the warships.”
“How do you change direction in open space?” Gem asked.
“The air nozzles are switched from the air tanks to the dark matter tanks. It the small dark matter thrusters won’t be operating at high temperatures but it can still change direction incredibly fast.”
“Gregory, did you consider that we might be able to use these ships as scouts?”
“The idea did cross my mind but there isn’t a large area on the ship to store enough food and other stores to keep it out very long. Short interstellar trips are all it has the capacity to make.”
Gem looked at Ana and said to Heather, “I want you to send ten of these to Bellingham for us to examine.”
Greg stared at Gem and said, “What about this, instead? I’ll have my best engineers devote their attention to the ship and try to come up with a military configuration. I think my scientists here can do a lot more here than you could on Bellingham. You might want to meet with them before you leave to tell them what you’re looking to accomplish.”
“What do you think you can do?” Gem asked.
“Well, there’s no way it will be able to carry missiles, there’s just not enough room, but we might be able to squeeze in another reactor that could power two blasters on the hull. We’ll have to mount them on the port and starboard sides and use recessed swivel mounts to make it work. That will, however, decrease the width of the cabin removing even more internal space.” Greg shrugged, “But it might be doable.”
“What about a military computer?” Ana asked.
Greg started shaking his head, “That will also take up some cabin space. You might end up with just two chairs and no space for sleeping accommodations.”
Ana smiled, “The chairs can be made to recline and provide a place to sleep, can’t they?”
Greg sighed, “We’re way ahead of ourselves. Give me the opportunity to work on it and I’ll keep you informed of our progress.”
Gem smiled, “Fair enough. Where to now?”
Heather smiled, “I have a dinner being prepared for us, are you hungry?”
Ana laughed, “You must have read my mind; I’m famished.”
Gem sat back and nodded as he thought about how this new ship could be used. He knew a force field would be far more powerful covering this tiny ship compared to protecting the huge warships. He was going to have Gregory send some of the ships to the Dragons to have a force field installed before he began working on them.
• • •
Gregor sat on his ship and stared at the monitor. He shook his head and his ship’s computer said, “What’s bothering you?”
“I’m supposed to come up with a way to remove the Tronan Drop Troops from a planet they invade. I’m beginning to think that’s not really doable.”
“Why do you believe that?”
“They have invasion down to a science. The Tronan aren’t big creatures but they’re fast and highly organized. Their drop ships are adept at covering their advances and if they encounter any real resistance, the troops are picked up, taken to another target, and the resistance is nuked from space. The troops are dropped at a new location and the process repeats itself. The armor their troops wear is really good; it can withstand a direct hit by a blaster.”
“Can it withstand a silver-metal tipped arrow?” the Computer asked.
Gregor looked up, “I’m reasonably certain it can’t. I don’t know any armor that could stop one of those.”
“Then that tells you what the weapon of choice will be if you have to confront them. I suspect their landing ships will not be able to withstand a heavy should blaster hitting them.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’ve examined all the recordings Pletal sent us and the landing craft does not have a blaster barrage surrounding it. It is vulnerable.”
“What about the nukes?”
“If they still have warships above the planet, I would hope you wouldn’t choose to drop.”
Gregor started nodding and smiled, “Have I ever told you how much I value your insights.”
“No, you haven’t. Most of the time you argue with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you remember how hard it was to convince you to take a bath?”
“That was years ago, and I did eventually do it.”
“Only after you stunk up the ship. What about when I told you to investigate the advanced humans at the Dragon’s Planet before you went running in to kill them? And let’s not forget when I warned you…”
Gregor interrupted the computer, “YOU’VE MADE YOUR POINT!” The computer was silent and Gregor said, “I’m hard-headed; I admit it. But you have kept me safe over the years and I’m truly thankful for having you with me. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
• • •
Gregor thought about it and said aloud, “If bows are the only weapons that we can use, then the bulk of the heavy lifting must be done by Bellingham Warriors.”
“Unless you can train others in using a bow.”
Gregor stared at the monitor and said softly, “That would take years to teach those skills. I wonder if there’s another way to fire a metal arrowhead.”
“I think you’re talking about a dart.”
Gregor looked up, “What?”
“Consider a small sliver of the metal with a small explosive attached to it. Ancient humans on Earth fired darts through long blowguns just using their breath,” the Computer mused.
“The range would have to be extremely short,” Gregor replied.
“Perhaps, but those ancient blowguns did have a range of fifty to seventy-five yards.”
Gregor thought about it, “The metal sliver would probably just fly through whatever it hit.”
“Well, have the explosive set to explode on contact. If the charge is shaped correctly it will blow into the hole the sliver makes.”
“These so-called darts you’re describing would be highly dangerous to handle and transport,” Gregor said with eyebrows raised.
“Now you’re just playing Devil’s Advocate. That’s just details. You could have a switch on the darts that is thrown when it passes through the barrel of the blowgun activating them or several other ways to make them safe to transport. There are engineers that can handle that issue, Gregor.”
“What’s going on?”
Gregor looked up and saw Kaylee enter the ship, “Hello, Love. Come over here and join us in talking about how to confront a Tronan Invasion force. The computer has come up with a brilliant idea. I’d like your opinion on whether it’s feasible.”
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Kaylee sat down beside Gregor and kissed him. She broke the kiss and smiled, “What have you got?”
Gregor smiled and said, “Computer, run the video I was just watching and then tell Kaylee what we’ve been discussing.”
Kaylee watched the video and was shaking her head until the computer began speaking. A few minutes later, she was smiling.
• • •
Heather and Greg were showing Gem and Ana the new construction taking place in the capital city on Romania, when Greg’s communicator vibrated. He almost turned it off but saw the call was coming from Gregor. He looked at Gem and Ana and said, “I need to take this call. I’ll put it on speaker so you can hear it.”
“Who is it?” Heather asked.
“Gregor McGregor.”
Gem smiled, “Put it on.”
Gregor saw Gregory appear on his communicator and heard Gregory say, “I have Gem and Ana here with me and I’ve put this call on speaker.”
Gregor smiled, “I have Kaylee with me and I’ve missed seeing Gem and Ana. The two of you should hurry home. You’ve been missed.”
Ana laughed, “We won’t be much longer. What do you have up your sleeve?”
“I’ve been examining many videos showing armor used by Tronan Warriors and have concluded that the only weapon that would be effective against it is a sliver-metal coated arrowhead. I wonder if it would be possible to develop a kind of dart with the arrowhead attached to a small explosive charge that would detonate on impact and send the blast forward. I would also like a device that could fire those darts.”
Gem looked at Gregor and said, “You don’t want to have to depend solely on the Bellingham Warriors.”
Gregor nodded, “No, I don’t.”
Ana nodded, “I don’t, either.” She looked at Greg with raised eyebrows, “Can you do it?”
Greg shrugged, “I’ll need some coated-arrowheads to experiment with.”
Gregor immediately interrupted, “I’ll ship you some within twenty-four hours.”
Gem’s eyes narrowed, “You really think this will work, Gregor?”
“It takes years for a Bellingham Warrior to learn how to accurately fire a bow and we don’t have anywhere near enough time to train enough troops before the Tronan invade. I want to develop a weapon that anyone can use effectively.”
Greg shrugged, “You know this dart weapon you’ve described will be short range.”
Gregor nodded, “I do. We’ll have to get in close to them any way to avoid any Tronan ships in orbit nuking us.”
Gem’s eyes narrowed, “You won’t drop on a planet if there are Tronan Warships in orbit, will you?”
“If we wait for all of them to be removed, the planet’s population could be consumed. The Tronan will have so many warships fighting against us that we can’t wait until they’re all removed.”
“How will you drop on a planet with Tronan Warships present?” Ana asked.
“We’re going to have to develop a drop ship that can withstand their blasters,” Gregor answered.
Kaylee interjected, “But that’s something for the future. We don’t need dropships unless we have the warriors to use them. First things-first.”
Greg shrugged, “Send me the arrowheads and I’ll designate some scientists and engineers to the project.”
Ana quickly said, “I’ll pay for it.”
Greg smiled, “That goes without saying. You need to spend some of your wealth and get it out into the economy.” Greg looked at Gregor on his communicator and said, “I’ll let you know how it goes and send you constant updates.”
Gregor smiled, “While you’re at it, it would also be good if you could develop a weapon for the Dragons to use as well.”
Greg shook his head, “It must be huge for them to be able to use their claws to fire it.”
Gregor nodded, “I guess. I’d rather see something small they can maneuver through the trees easily, while carrying it. See what you can come up with.”
Greg’s communicator went dark and he looked at Gem, “Wouldn’t a blaster accomplish the same thing?”
Gem smiled, “Blaster beams can be tracked back to the shooter. I don’t think these darts will be as easy to trace.”
Greg stared at Gem and after a moment said, “If the darts are really small, they might not be traceable at all.”
Ana smiled, “Now you’re talking.”
Gregory shrugged, “We’ll see.”
Chapter Three
Six months later, three small ships arrived on the filament where Embree’s Flagship, Heaven’s Gate, was holding station along with the rest of the Insectoid Warships in his fleet. The new class of scout ships were called Micro-scouts due to their tiny size compared to the other warships. They were less than a minute out when Captain Randolph Hummel activated his communicator, “Heaven’s Gate, this is Captain Hummel reporting in with my unit of three Micro-scouts. What are your orders?”
Felix Chandler heard the transmission and said, “How far out are your ships, Captain?”
“We’re less than six-miles from your vessel, Sir.”
Embree and Shelly were sitting on the bridge and Embree’s head jerked up toward the long-range scanner; nothing appeared on it. He punched his communicator, “Captain, have your unit activate their transponders.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Embree stared at the monitor and suddenly saw three bright signals appear on it next to his flagship. He stood up and said, “Captain, how are you able to avoid being detected by my scanners?”
“Sir, much of my ship’s hull is made of a special blend of hard polymers coated with an absorptive material the doesn’t reflect electronic beams uniformly. Extended covers surround the boosters to prevent the metal in them from being exposed. The ship also has four fins on the bow that prevent scanner signals from being bounced directly back to their source.”
Embree looked at Shelly as he said, “Bring your three ships into my landing bay. I want to examine them.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Felix quickly said as Embree and Shelly stood up to go to the landing bay, “Sir, the scanners picked them up when they were two miles out.”
Embree shook his head, “Do you know the range of their blasters, Felix?”
Felix began pressing the buttons on his console and shook his head, “No, Sir. That information is considered top secret and the computer will only allow you to access that data.”
Shelly looked up and said, “Computer, what is the range of the new ship’s blasters?”
“They have ninety-six percent of their full power at fifteen-miles, Commodore. They would have seventy percent at forty miles.”
Embree shook his head, “They would be able to hit us before we knew they were present.”
Shelly nodded and followed him off the bridge, “Leonidas wanted a ship developed that could move in close to the Tronan Fleets without being detected. It appears this new scout can do exactly that.”
• • •
Embree and Shelly arrived in the landing bay and saw the last of the three Micros settling down to the deck. The Scout’s air-thrusters were being used and the wind was quite strong close to the ship. Embree waited until the last scout landed and then walked toward the front vessel. He saw two people exit through a small port on the side of the ship and they both came to attention as he approached them.
They saluted as he arrived and the commanding officer said, “Sir, Captain Hummel and First Officer Kline reporting as ordered.”
Embree said, “At ease.” The two lowered their hands and put their arms behind their backs with their legs shoulder-width apart. “Captain, please explain to me why you waited until you were less than ten-miles from my ship before you notified my officer of your presence?”
“I was ordered by Senior Fleet Admiral Oliver to see how far out your ships would be able to detect our approach,” Captain Hummel replied.
“Did he tell you why h
e wanted you to do that?”
“He needed confirmation that our stealth systems were operational and effective, Sir. He told me to tell you that having us move in on your ships without them being detected was the final evidence needed to confirm their capabilities.”
“Did he say why he believed that?”
“He said that your fleet was at full combat stations and would give a better reading than just approaching stationary targets like we’ve done in our training.”
“And what would have happened if one of my blaster teams opened fire on you.”
“We would have detected the blaster being activated and turned on our transponders immediately.”
“If that’s the case, why did you report your position to my scanning officer, Captain?”
“Sir, when we moved inside eight miles, I believed we were pushing the boundary of good sense.”
Embree smiled, “I’ll contact Fleet Admiral Oliver and let him know what happened.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Shelly smiled, “Captain, I want you to give me an overview of your ship.”
Randy nodded, “Yes, Sir. If you’ll please follow me.” Randy pointed at the bow of the small ship where there were four large, wide fins in the shape of a thin cross, “The four fins you see on the front are used for steering when the ship is flying in a planet’s atmosphere. The fins coupled with the four air-thrusters on the front and rear of the ship allow it to turn on a dime at full speed while flying inside a planet’s atmosphere. The air-thrusters alone can propel the scout to Mach II. The fins can also be tilted in multiple directions in space to deflect any scanning beams the ship encounters away from the source.”
Shelly stared at the air-thrusters, “Why are the nozzles recessed into the hull.”
“To avoid an irregular surface on the hull. It’s the raised surfaces on a vessel’s hull that sends the largest return on scans. The two blasters are also recessed and, like the air-thrusters, are on swivel mounts. They can fire in multiple directions and track a moving target.”