The Commander

by CJ Williams

  Day 565—Arriving J97

  Luke studied the information coming in from the latest probe. They were fifteen minutes out of the J97 star system and coming in hot.

  “It looks very much like the Jigu system, doesn’t it?” he observed to no one in particular.

  Carrie wanted more specifics. “What are we seeing, George?” she asked.

  “You are essentially correct, Commander. System J97 has three gas giants in its outer orbit and one Earth-type planet second from the sun. It appears that the enemy is engaged in a bombardment of the planet.”

  “Is that coincidence or something else?” Luke wondered aloud.

  “Impossible to say at this point,” George responded.

  The tactical display looked much like the last system. Hundreds of yellow diamond icons surrounded the inhabited planet.

  “What are the odds there are Bakkui hiding behind the first gas giant?” Luke speculated.

  As if in answer, a new diamond popped up on the far edge of the Jupiter-like planet.

  “Hold it here, George.” Luke commanded.

  “Braking terminated,” he replied.

  “George, launch two flights of warships. Have them drop back five AUs into a high low cover.”

  “Acknowledged, Commander. Warships launching. Lieutenants Mercado and Bonner commanding Alpha and Bravo Flight.”

  “Got it. Resume gravity drive operations, George.” Luke said.

  “Braking applied, Commander.”

  “What are you thinking, Commander?” Carrie asked.

  Luke glanced at his first officer. Her expression was expectant, as though waiting for him to divulge a grand scheme.

  “I’m not sure,” Luke replied. “The Bakkui we’ve seen are automatons. Perhaps they execute the exact same battle plan in every system. Make it easy for us if they did.”

  “But?”

  “But I don’t believe in luck, not when we’re going into battle. Let’s see what happens. “George, resume our battle plan as intended, except hold on the guided missiles. Turning combat control over to you.”

  “Acknowledged, Captain. I have the hammer.”

  Moments later George spoke again. “Gravity drives to zero, now. Warships launching.” There was five-second pause. “All warships launched. Fighters launching.” Another pause, slightly longer. “All fighters launched. Tactical displays updating.”

  Luke examined the displays. The tactical display showed the God’s-eye view of the system centered on Lulubelle. Just like before, a line of white ovals spread out, indicating the warships in line abreast formation. Far in trail, and falling further behind, were the ten warships he had launched previously. The fighter symbols in their appropriate color markings began to appear as they assumed their assigned positions.

  “Recon drones launched. Self-defense drones launched,” George said, in a word-for-word repetition of the last combat encounter.

  “George,” Luke barked. “I have the hammer.”

  “Acknowledged, Commander. You have control.”

  “Fire twenty guided missiles.”

  “Guided missiles fired,” George replied.

  “Bring all ships to an emergency stop!”

  “Acknowledged, Commander.”

  For the first time since Luke started flying the various spacecraft that were now commonplace in his life, he felt Lulubelle straining against the forces being applied. She groaned with the effort of going from faster than light to zero.

  Luke glanced at Carrie. “I really worry about these gravity drives,” he said loudly over Lulubelle’s painful creaks. “If George hiccups, there’s nothing left of us but strawberry jam.”

  “Please do not worry, Commander,” George said drily. “We are well within safety tolerances.”

  “Have all ships maintain position in line abreast.”

  “Acknowledged, Commander.”

  A moment later there was dead silence on the bridge. George spoke again quietly. “All stop.”

  The display showed all of Luke’s fleet spread out in a wide thin line, motionless, just inside the edge of the solar system.

  “You mimicked our actions from the last engagement,” Carrie said. “You hoped that would spring a trap?”

  Luke nodded. “It seemed like a good idea.”

  “But you gave our position to the enemy.”

  “I think they already know we’re here. But that’s another problem.”

  “What if all those ships start heading our way?”

  “Depends,” Luke said. “We might stand and fight, we might get out of Dodge.”

  “Really? You would run?”

  “Absolutely, Lieutenant Faulkner. What’s our mission?”

  “To create alliances?”

  “That’s secondary. First is to survive. And at this point, I doubt we’re going to find much of an alliance on that planet unless they have magic shields too.”

  “What will decide your choice, Commander?” Carrie asked.

  “I’m willing to engage with them from a distance so long as they don’t surprise me with countermeasures.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “If they’re doing what I think they’re doing, they learned a lot from us in one engagement. I’m hoping that doesn’t include new a self-defense that can stop our weapons. If they have, we’re outta here.”

  Carrie nodded. “Understood. That makes a lot of sense.”

  “Don’t forget, Lieutenant. In training simulations, we always fight to the end. But we’re not under any obligation to engage in this or any other system. As long as we have an advantage, we’ll use it. If we don’t, we can’t afford a Pyrrhic victory. Not even once.”

  Luke waited, playing a guessing game with the Bakkui force. “How long until those missiles reach their target?”

  “The guided missiles arrived two minutes ago, Commander,” George replied.

  “Distance from our location to target?”

  “Seven point three light minutes, Commander.”

  “It’ll be another five minutes before we know if they’re coming our way. Set course toward the outermost gas giant.”

  “Course set, Commander.”

  “Now fire one hundred missiles to orbit the planet and target on anything on the other side.”

  “Missiles fired.”

  “Let’s see how this works out,” Luke suggested. “I’ll bet we see some action in less than two minutes. Maybe less if they…”

  “Shields. Activated,” Belle’s voice warned.

  “Commander, multiple targets inbound,” George said.

  “How many?” Luke asked. He could not tell because the display had diamonds overlapping diamonds. There were several hundred at least.

  “Over a thousand, Commander. Unable to get a firm count.”

  “All ships fire. Start backing up, George.”

  “Lulubelle, this is Mercado. We are detecting several large targets coming from above. They appear to be similar to the Bakkui we found hiding in J64. Engaging.”

  “Same here, Commander. This is Bonner. About twenty ships coming out of the ecliptic from below. Firing now.”

  “What’s our effectiveness, George?” Luke demanded. “Are we getting through?”

  “Affirmative, Commander. There appears to be no difference from last time.”

  “Thank God for that. I think we’ll be okay, then. Full ahead and engage the enemy. Green Squadron, assist Mercado. Blue Squadron, assist Bonner. Fire all missiles. You’ve got the hammer, George!”

  “I have the hammer, Commander. Engaging.”

  Lulubelle’s nose began swerving to and fro, a continuous vibration shaking the deck as her nose guns fired without pause. Luke felt another rhythmic staccato coming through the walls; it was the anti-aircraft guns mounted along Lulubelle's fuselage.

  Carrie touched his arm and pointed at the tactical display. “Red Squadron,” she said.

  Red Squadron had gotten too far to the left of the main fleet and was in danger o
f being englobed by the Bakkui. “George? Can you do something about Red Squadron?” Luke said.

  Lulubelle’s nose swerved violently to the left and fifty guided missiles launched to support the endangered Red Squadron. Suddenly, Bakkui ships were all around them. White streaks glanced off Lulubelle's shields, leaving smears of white phosphorus-like residue behind. A blinding white flash exploded to the left of Lulubelle’s nose. The view screens went blank and gravity went to zero. The command bridge shook violently.

  Luke grabbed the arms of the captain’s seat to stay in place; Carrie did the same, but several bridge officers were caught off guard. The tactical officer was flung across the room. He gesticulated wildly, trying to grab hold of something. The communication office snagged his pants leg and pulled just as gravity came back on, slamming the fellow hard onto the deck. He lay unmoving.

  Carrie barked out orders to the crew. “Finch, take his place!” She moved to take over Finch’s engineering position while he moved into the tactical officer’s chair.

  “Status?” Luke shouted.

  “All systems normal,” Carrie and George both answered at once.

  “One report is all I need,” Luke said.

  “Sorry, sir,” Carrie responded.

  Lulubelle’s nose swung sharply several more times right and left, then suddenly did an about face, pointed back the way they had come. One final vibration shook the deck and the bridge fell silent. The quiet was magnified by the cessation of all battle activity.

  “Engagement terminated,” George announced. “Time of engagement, six minutes. Enemy killed, one thousand eight hundred thirty-two. Alliance warships lost, three. Fighters destroyed, seventeen.”

  “All ships, report!” Luke said.

  “Mercado. All present, sir.”

  “Bonner here, I lost Higgs and Beamer, Commander.”

  The remaining flight commanders reported in, except one.

  “Red Squadron, report.” Luke ordered again.

  There was further silence. Then a young man’s voice. “This is Ensign Farmer, Commander, Red Squadron. My flight lead is gone. I think we lost fifteen, sir. Maybe more. I’m not sure.”

  “Understood, Farmer. George, bring Red Squadron home. Send Orange Squadron to our intended destination and set up a combat air patrol. Bring Bonner’s flight back and replace it with another one. Establish crew rotations for follow-on CAPs.” Luke looked at this bridge crew. “What did I miss?”

  He got several blank stares. They were still too new at this.

  Carrie moved back to the first officer’s chair. “Engineering, coordinate with George and give us a report,” she ordered. “Medical, give us an update about the rest of the crew when you can. All departments begin recovery operations. George, send the record of today’s events to J64 and Moonbase One. Deploy reconnaissance probes to star systems K18 and K39.”

  “Recordings sent, Lieutenant Faulkner. Probes deployed.”

  Luke slumped back in his seat. He felt no thrill from the victory. Only relief that the battle was over. The number of Bakkui warships had shocked him. He had a feeling it was a trap, and like an idiot he’d attacked instead of withdrawing. He could not justify his command to engage the enemy so recklessly. It was irresponsible, especially after lecturing Carrie about using caution.

  It was too late now. He had to concentrate on the next step, which was finding out if anyone was still alive on the planet. He had one more thing to do today, however.

  “George, from here on, refer to Lieutenant Faulkner as Captain Faulkner.”

  “Promotion noted, Commander. Congratulations, Captain Faulkner.”

  Carrie’s eyes grew wide at the announcement and a muted but authentic cheer came from the other bridge officers.

  “You’ve got the con, Captain,” Luke told her. He lurched to his feet and headed toward his quarters. As he walked down the corridor he heard the bridge officers giving Carrie more congratulations. The news had energized all of them. It left him feeling more exhausted than ever.

  Same Day—New Hope

  How long have we been here? Annie wondered as she looked across the valley. Has it only been a month? A lot had changed since their arrival. It was a settlement now, not a refugee center.

  Annie carried her tray around the tables that filled New Hope’s center plaza to join Solomon and Camila for lunch. In the distance, shuttles were either taking off or landing from the airport.

  “You did a good job on the permanent replicator pad,” she said to Solomon. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks,” he replied modestly. “That was all Josh Howell. He and Lauren were responsible for the design work. Did a lot of downtown planning, too. As long as the river doesn’t dry up, we’ll be okay.”

  Camila wouldn’t accept any conditions on their achievements. “If that happens they can just extend the pipeline another mile to the sea. I don’t think that’s going away anytime soon.”

  “True.” Solomon smiled at his girl. The affection between the two was obvious to all.

  “When are you going to tie the knot?” Annie asked. “We could use a good party.”

  Camila smiled sheepishly. “Few weeks.”

  “Really?” Annie was delighted with the decision. “Congratulations! You kids need to start pumping out babies.”

  It was Solomon’s turn to look embarrassed. “Well, that’s why we’re rushing it a bit. We’re kinda already down the road on that one.”

  Annie burst into laughter. “That’s fantastic. I’m so proud of both of you. You’re a good example for the community.”

  “If it’s a girl, we’ll name her after you,” Camila promised.

  Annie blushed at Camila’s statement. “I am so honored,” she said sincerely. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Well, you could start by telling us your real name,” Solomon said drily.

  Annie blanched at his question. “I…”

  “Oh, come on,” Solomon wheedled. “Everybody knows it. We just go along since you seem so intent on keeping it a secret, but you’re not fooling anyone.”

  Annie sighed. “It was Sadie, wasn’t it?”

  Camila rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. “Duh! She’s never once called you Theodora or Teddy. And of course, Millie went around asking everyone if they knew Annie Daniels before.”

  Annie shook her head. “Drat that girl.”

  “Don’t blame her,” Solomon said. “Sadie’s always called you by name. At least fifty other people heard it and most of them have asked me about it. It’s no big deal. To everyone here you’re Theodora. It’s not like anyone here knew the commander or cares that you’re his woman. Is that what drove you away?”

  “Solomon!” Camila chastised her lover. “Not fair.”

  “Sorry,” he said, clearly not so. “Slipped out.”

  “No,” Annie said. “It’s okay. I suppose there’s no reason to keep it a secret anymore. I loved being his ‘woman,’ as you say, although the title was a bit irksome; kind of a fifties throwback.”

  “No kidding!” Camila exclaimed.

  Solomon wisely kept quiet.

  “We were crazy about each other. But I was a danger for him. You ever hear about the bomb-in-the-head story?”

  Camila and Solomon both replied with a blank stare.

  Annie shrugged. “I guess not. Well, the short version is that I was a danger to Luke, especially with the way we felt about each other. I was afraid that one day I’d distract him once too often and George would kill him.”

  “That’s insane!” Camila was incredulous and angry at the idea.

  “I agree,” Annie said. “But I think I was the one who went insane. I can’t explain it. But I made a big mistake leaving him.”

  “Then go back,” Camila said. She took Solomon’s hand. “I can’t imagine being away from this guy now. I haven’t known him that long, but I would die before letting him go; that would kill me. From everything I heard you two were the same way.”


  Tears ran down Annie’s cheeks and Camila apologized.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Annie wiped her face. “It’s okay. To be honest, I’ve thought about returning to Moonbase. But I can’t depart just yet. I already ran away once so I’m not in a hurry to abandon you guys.” She looked around the town square. “We’ve got a few things left to do before I would be comfortable leaving. But this place is already night and day from when we got here.”

  It was true. The most important achievement was getting the replicator transported to the planet’s surface; that took two days. The next task was to reposition one of Marco Polo’s massive generators to power the final installation. When the replicator produced the first batch of goods, a combination of foodstuffs and tools, the colony transformed overnight.

  Brought together by adversity, the colonists were reborn, dedicated to a shared goal. Instead of simply struggling to survive, everyone’s new philosophy was to build the greatest community ever.

  Day 579—System J97

  “What’s your recommendation, Colonel?” Luke asked.

  Colonel Brad Lindsey was the senior Army officer onboard Lulubelle. With him was the 4th Battalion CO. They sat facing Luke under an open, chalet-like, canvas tent. The briefing area was part of the bivouac set up by Colonel Lindsey’s troops. The three men were clustered around an old-fashioned briefing board made of cork on a wood backing. A dozen maps and charts were pinned to it, ranging in scale from the entire planet to the local area.

  Luke had tasked Colonel Lindsey to survey the planet and develop a proposal to keep the few members of the surviving population alive. After analyzing the data gathered from reconnaissance flights and Lulubelle’s electronic scans, they had identified around five hundred thousand humans in small clusters around the planet. They were all that remained of the one billion people who had populated this world. The Bakkui objective to annihilate a planetary population was terribly effective. Over ninety-nine percent of the population had died.