“Good enough.”
“Ok, one more question, maybe it is more of a statement, but I want your input” stated Inman. “Population over the last few years has started to grow at an increasing rate, and I suspect the population is going to grow even faster after our time here. We need to expand the fleet in anticipation of the additional space we will need, and we need to be able to construct and equip on the fly. I do not see why we could not put the asteroids we mine in tow, maybe build a barge to tow them as we traverse the galaxies. A traveling construction platform if you will” Inman theorized.
“Seems feasible to me but where are we going to get the time to work on all of this at the same time?” queried Cerro.
“We don’t” claimed Inman, “we select a team of tradesmen and scientists who can lead the effort, give them a timeline, the resources and the charter to do it right and put them to work! So the issue is, who will lead the team. It needs to be a visionary and someone we can trust to be fair and consistent” claimed Inman.
“I think it should be Terry” claimed Reeder.
“My brother!” exclaimed Inman.
“Why not, he is a natural leader and well respected by everyone, and he is loyal to you” agreed Bennett, Cerro, and Reeder.
Will Inman knows Terry is a skilled communicator, highly respected and a deep thinker who will not let go of a challenge until he has mastered it.
“Just never thought of him in that light but I agree he is very talented and respected in the trades and has the smarts to work with the science involved” resolved Inman, “I will talk to him.”
“How about if Reeder and I approach him, he might take it better coming from us, we will tell him it’s our idea, and you agree with it” expressed Cerro.
Later in the week after a short meeting, Terry gladly accepted the challenge. The need was becoming more obvious all the time as the fleets numbers were growing rapidly and the idea of leading a team of some of the most talented humans alive gave Terry a sense of accomplishment rivaling those of his over-achieving brother.
You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach
him all your art of war. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Chapter Five - Attack
T eams visited the planet every day as they studied, mapped and enjoyed this remote paradise they designated M1. Months had passed since they arrived and most of the command team had been cooped up on the Connie while others visited the planet. Inman, Reeder, and Bennett were understandably anxious to get their teams some R&R so as things settled down Inman ordered them to the surface.
A large camp had been set up in a beautiful canyon where large trees, boulders, waterfalls, and wildlife were abundant. By the time Inman and his team had arrived the camp had taken shape quite nicely. Tents, outhouses, makeshift showers and outdoor cooking facilities were set up by the first people to visit the planet.
Evelyn Reeder’s older sister Julie constructed a temporary community kitchen where she and other volunteers cooked for rotating groups of visitors. Running the remote diner gave her the opportunity to stay on the planet while her kitchen crews kept the coffee hot for her customers in her Diner on the Connie and the UB.
Julie was married to a brawny tradesman named Boris who everyone called Bo. Bo made sure everyone knew what their role was. He assigned everyone duties when they arrived. He made sure visitors kept up the camp and made sure everyone had everything they needed.
Their three young children played with the other kids as they came from and returned to their ships, the entire family seems very much at home in a camp, it was obvious they had something special going for them.
Inman was struck by how efficiently everything ran, like clockwork.
“Who has taken the reigns down here, this place runs like a watch,” Inman asked Reeder.
“It’s Julie and Boris Stockman; she has a way with people. Everyone loves her, and she is a naturally gifted leader with a soft touch and a stern composition. When she offers someone an opportunity to shine at a task, they will do anything to keep from disappointing her. She was a tough act to follow growing up. Boris is just a natural fit; he is single minded about getting things done, stays focused and has a kind heart” Reeder reported.
“Julie and Boris are the kind of leaders I need to keep an eye on” thought Inman.
The days stretched into weeks as Inman, and his team enjoyed the time off, it gave them all a chance to reconnect at a personal level. Reeder and Inman had not become an item, but the sparks flew at times. Just not something that was going to rage out of control.
It did not appear things could be any better. All the technology development Inman had asked for was either in development or test. Terry Inman had the UB ready to put an asteroid in tow, and it was time for teams to start making their way back to the ship to ready for departure.
The news was not easy to deliver or receive, no one wanted to leave, and the crew was refreshed yet somber as shuttle after shuttle of passengers and supplies returned to the ship.
Visitors
Fire alarms blasted Inman from his sleep as the intercom in his room blinked with a message.
“Yes, what is it” queried Inman, “is there a fire?”
“Worse” screamed Aaron Logan “the UB is under attack by an alien ship, they came out of nowhere and just started firing.”
“How are they holding up” queried Inman “I am on my way.”
“Not good “replied Logan “they are reporting heavy damage to the hull and Terry is sure there are casualties.”
“Terry!” Inman shouted into his visor link “Can you maneuver and go to warp.”
“Yes, most of the weapon fire is being absorbed by the shell at this point, but before we raised it we were hit, and the hull sustained some serious damage, we are still being banged up Newman still needs time to get things set up on the computer to depart.”
“Good enough, we will get between the two of you.”
“Perfect, just make sure your shell is in place before you do.”
“Newman, make sure the shell is up and move between the UB and the alien ship. And finish plotting a solution on the computer, link it to the UB and get us out of here at maximum warp as soon as we can.”
“Aye sir” Newman replied in a shaken voice.
The Connie lumbered into view of the alien ship as she moved to position herself in front of the UB. As soon as she was in sight of the alien ship the ship opened fire on her. The blunt force of the blows was dampened by the shell as it acted as a shield, but it still jarred things around a bit. As the full size of the Connie became apparent, the alien ship started backing off as if worried about being rammed but kept up the barrage of fire on both the Connie and the UB.
The gap the aliens left was quickly filled by the Connie as she put herself in harm’s way.
“Newman, where is our navigation solution, we need to get out of here!”
“Almost ready sir” Newman reported.
“Some of the aliens weapons are starting to penetrate the shell and are hitting the hull now, not much damage yet, but it is just a matter of time” warned Cerro.
“Bennett, can we fire anything at them, do anything to slow them down until we can get out of here” pleaded Inman.
“We have the Dimensional Transporter Portal working, we might be able to move some of their ships outer hull and eventually breach it” reported Bennett.
“Aim at their weapons and see if we can slow them down.”
Bennett engaged the unproven Transporter, and it caused an instant breach in the enemy ships hull. Instantly the weapon system that had been firing at them was aboard the Connie in her arrival bay.
Luminus bodies of alien creatures floated out of the ship in small numbers as the alien ship moved off without ceasing their barrage.
“Again Bennett, keep it up until they stop or leave” commanded Inman.
One after the other, the weapons appeared in the arrival bay until the Connie had six
of the twelve weapon systems in her belly. At once the alien ship belched another thirty or forty luminous figures into space.
“Cerro, get a security detail down in the arrival bay immediately.”
“Already here, and you are not going to believe it, their hull surrounds the weapon systems, but there is an exit area below each of them, and two of them have alien beings in them. We have blocked off the section, and we have weapons trained on them” exclaimed Cerro.
“Do not fire unless they fire on you first” commanded Inman.
“Their bodies appear to be heavily armored, and they glow from inside the armor. You have to see this Major” Cerro reported.
“I’ll be down as soon as I can be sure they are not going to fire on us again” chimed Inman.
The alien craft backed off and stayed about a quarter of a mile from the Connie as Inman, and the crews of both the UB and the Connie started assessing the damage.
“I have a course resolved for us Major,” said Newman.
“I think we need to stay right where we are, for now; I want to know who these beings are and what their capabilities are before we depart. I’ll be in the arrival bay; I have a couple of beings to get introductions to.”
Inman made his way to the arrival bay where he met Bennett, Reeder, and Cerro. Cerro had the two beings lying on the floor motionless and glowing in the poorly lit bay.
“They glow just like their spacecraft” commented Inman. “Are they dead?”
“Not sure sir, we just took some skin samples to analyze so we are not quite sure what we have” replied Cerro.
Newman hailed Inman through his visor link “Sir, I think the aliens are trying to hail us, it is in English, and they are asking for our commander.”
“I will be right there.”
“Join me” Inman motioned to Cerro, Reeder, and Bennett “make sure we keep weapons trained on these two in case they move and if they threaten you or anyone around you, don’t hesitate to put them out of their misery” coached Inman.
Inman led his team back to the command centers bridge where the team could get a firsthand look at the alien spacecraft and the floating members of its crew.
“Please put the conversation on the bridge com link” commanded Inman.
“This is Will Inman; I am the senior officer you requested to speak to” Inman announced.
“My name is Gratt of the Sliric Empire. It seems we have underestimated your development; we will not let that happen again. I demand the return of our weapon systems and the two members of our crew you have captive.”
“Before we begin any negotiations regarding us giving you anything back, I want some answers. Why did you fire on our ship without provocation?” queried Inman, “and how do you know we are humans and why did you attack us without any provocation?” queried Inman.
“We are your masters; we are those who have been visiting your planet for thousands of years. It is our intention to acquire you as servants to work for the empire.”
“These guys have absolutely no fear or moral compass,” thought Inman.
“Your demise is moments away” claimed the alien.
“Sir, we have an armada approaching us off of our starboard” reported Newman.
“Go to full warp” commanded Inman.
Instantly they were out of harm’s way and moving far away from M1 at warp nine.
“Good work” Inman congratulated his crew on the bridge. “Link me to all team leaders.”
“You are linked in sir.”
“We have just answered one of the important questions of mankind, and it appears we are not the only intelligent life in the universe” claimed Inman. “We have taken substantial damage, so I need reports from all segments of both the UB and the Connie” commanded Inman.
“Cerro, Bennett, Reeder, Terry Inman, and Boris Stockman, please meet me in the conference room immediately” commanded Inman.
Inman headed to the conference room, but his anxious mind drifted once again to the aliens in the arrival bay. He needed to know if they posed a threat if they were alive and how much danger were they in. Could they possibly contaminate the ship, could the aliens track and pursue them, how fast could they travel and what kind of weapons pierced fifty feet of titanium so quickly?
“Cerro” Inman barked upon arrival in the conference room. I never want us to be caught off guard again, check on the sensor arrays we are working on and find out why we did not see these aliens before they were on top of us. And from now on we need to be ready to retaliate when attacked. We will cause no harm unless we are in immediate danger, but we will protect ourselves.”
“We have a preliminary damage report sir” reported Newman from the bridge.
“Put it on the speaker in the conference room” commanded Inman.
“Not good news I am afraid,” Newman said with sullen voice. “We have forty dead and over one hundred wounded three critically. Most were in the direct vicinity of the hull breach. Two were blown out into space.”
“Where was the hull breach” queried Inman.
“It was in the crews quarters where men and women were resting” reported Newman.
Inman buried his face in his hands. “How could life go from such bliss to such loss in a matter of minutes,” he thought.
As he surveyed the room, Bennett was sullen and visibly upset. Reeder was tearing up, and the fury within Boris set his face ablaze.
Funerals
Inman sat on the bridge emotionless as he pondered the day’s upcoming services. Total dead from the Silirc attack was now at forty-five, twenty-five were women, and five were children. He knew the relaxed state of the crew, and the absence of weapons had almost killed more and enslaved the survivors; both were his responsibility and both preventable.
Inman set aside his frustration for the moment and headed to the biosphere for the memorial service. The day’s events included a speech from Inman and a message by the ships Chaplin Roy Spearman.
Will Inman stood on a makeshift platform overlooking a large contingent of family and friends of the deceased. Weeping accompanied by many tears could be heard as Inman began his solemn delivery.
“We have encountered a reckless enemy with no regard for life or the liberties we hold as both sacred and enduring. Our loved ones have paid the price of our naivety. But their sacrifice will not be forgotten, we will learn, we will be better, and our revenge will be swift.” Inman began.
“Ours will not be a revenge of rage, it will not be a revenge of thoughtless anger, and it cannot and will not take us to a place worse than our enemies for to do so would empower them. No, our revenge will be lived out in our freedom, in our self-determination, on the demands of greatness we set before each other, our children and our communities as we move forward. Our revenge will be to sharpen our resolve to be prepared, to stamp out the oppression in which others might try to bind us. Our revenge ladies and gentlemen will be in our ability to overcome and overcome we will.”
Through teary eyes, Inman’s voice broke as he finished a speech delivered from a place of passion buried deep inside, from the unwavering belief he has in his mission. From his belief in the unlimited capacity of man to achieve, to advance and to explore and most importantly his belief of the value of the human spirit driven by unselfish love.
The Chaplin’s message was polite and formal; he was careful not offend any religion (or the nonreligious for that matter.) Not particularly inspiring, but more importantly it was not the message of hope many were expecting. Instead, it was a message highlighting the wonders of life.
Reeder thought that he missed the point; the departed loved ones will never experience the wonders of which he spoke. She wished the minister from her Grandmothers old church was here. Her grandmother’s memorial service was a celebration of life with a sharp contrast drawn between the struggles of life and the joy of an afterlife. As a scientist her belief in an afterlife was not the issue, it was the hope which endeared her to the old preacher’s words
.
A week passed before Inman brought the fleet out of warp and positioned itself within a series of M-Type asteroids where they could hide, lick their wounds and begin mining and manufacturing materials to use in building a small fleet of shuttles.
The new shuttles, Inman reasoned, would be equipped with weapons, shell generators, warp technology and advanced navigation and sensor equipment which would allow them to man security patrols when they were either mining or exploring.
Body Armor
Battle Group Titan: Beyond Warp ((Battle Group Titan Series Vol 1)) Page 6