“When do we start the offensive?”
“In a just a few hours, Captain Perkins; if these ships work as hoped, we could end this war within a few months instead of a few years…perhaps sooner!”
Ray wanted to agree with him, but he didn’t feel optimistic. Something about those newly arrived ships triggered the memory of the dream he had last night…
Those ships were of the same class as the ones destroyed at Dorton! He wondered if there could be a design flaw that might cripple those super battleships?
“Dr. Johnson, forgive me for speaking up, but something’s wrong!”
“What do you mean, Captain Perkins?”
“I…er…two ships, similar to the ones before us now, were destroyed at the battle of Dorton. It appeared the Rockoids only fired a few shots at them.”
Johnson nodded, but said nothing.
“I think there may be a serious problem with those ships.”
Johnson suppressed a laugh and sounded almost patronizing, “That’s impossible, Ray, just impossible! These ships were built by the finest engineers in the galaxy, by the Tereaean mega-corporation RECOM. Did you know Commander Thompson’s late father, Rex, was the chief executive of that company?”
Ray nodded as Johnson continued, but alarm bells went off in his mind. So that’s it! He finally had some clues about what was really going on.
“RECOM is famous for building the finest ships in the galaxy. They are the number one military contractor for the Alliance government. Over ninety percent of our warships and fighters are built by RECOM and its subsidiaries.”
He sighed. Ray needed to do some fast investigating here, to confirm his suspicions.
“Dr. Johnson, in all due respect, we shouldn’t take any chances. We should recheck the designs, make sure there are no flaws that could show up under the stress of battle.”
“Captain Perkins, that is out of the question! Even if I wanted to have the ships rechecked, we simply don’t have time. We’ll be going into battle in less than six hours! If you knew exactly what this flaw might be, we might be able to examine it more carefully.”
“I wish I did…I don’t have the faintest idea what the flaw could be. It might be a defect in the battleships’ shielding systems….”
Johnson cut him off by shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Ray, but a ‘feeling’ won’t convince the Alliance to delay our next attack. Unless you can come up with some evidence…”
“Aren’t his dreams enough? I mean, everything else in them has turned out to be true so far.”
Johnson and Ray looked behind them to see Gotlieb coming toward them. Johnson groaned as he came forward, “Captain Gotlieb, we really don’t have time for this….”
Gotlieb glared at him. “We have to find the time, sir. If there really are flaws in those super battleships, then we could be in for a hell of a time when they engage the Rockoids. We really should recheck those designs, like the old man here recommended.”
Ray rolled his eyes at hearing his nickname. Johnson shook his head. “No, Captain Gotlieb, we just don’t have the time. Captain Perkins doesn’t know where the flaw is or what it is. I’m very sorry. There’s no way to know those dreams are accurate in every respect. RECOM assures us this design has been thoroughly tested under the most severe conditions. There’s no time for more testing. A renewed enemy offensive may occur at any moment. We need to get going.”
They followed Johnson down the hall to one of the briefing rooms where hundreds of cadets were given the battle plans at one time.
They entered just as a session began. Ray seated himself next to Gotlieb. This time Dr. Johnson himself gave the briefing, standing calmly before a large podium. Instead of showing images on a viewscreen, he described the battle plans verbally. He kept everything simple and basic.
Ray was used to Johnson’s long-winded dissertations. He found it hard to realize this loquacious scientist was a battle-hardened veteran, one used to communicating the most complex strategies to his troops clearly and succinctly.
Johnson said the Alliance would have the majority of its battle cruisers surround the Rockoid super cruisers and keep them at bay, while the rest of the Alliance war fleet dispatched the remaining Rockoid ships. When most of the smaller resistance was overcome, they would pull forces together and then pound the Rockoids with a massive show of firepower to defeat them.
The briefing ended in minutes. There were a few questions, but everyone seemed to accept the new plan. Thompson stood there and scowled.
It took another five hours to complete battle preparations. The base overflowed with Alliance troops, all requiring thorough if concise briefings about strategy before being dispatched to their ships. During this time, Ray tried to recall the nagging problem with the newly arrived super battleships, the ships the Alliance counted on to turn the tide of battle in their favor. Somewhere, there was a deadly design flaw that could doom the entire fleet if it was not dealt with in time.
When the entire Alliance fleet departed, Ray began to believe what he thought was a winning plan would turn to disaster if he didn’t remember the key details Johnson needed to act. It was clear the super battleships were the key to a successful campaign.
Ray was so deep in thought when he took off in his fighter craft he didn’t even notice the autopilot had been activated. Space travel was far less intrusive upon one’s consciousness in this century. One could often take off into space and barely notice that he or she was traveling at all, unless that person was in a real hurry to attain faster-than-light speeds.
The power of the little ship amazed him. Accommodations were simple and comfortable. Instrumentation seemed sparse for such a complex vehicle. In fact, many of the controls were computer-generated. The sensation differed little from flying in an old twenty-first century airplane. In his own time, he had never had a chance to fly into space, but he also knew those who did had to deal with weightlessness as an overriding factor. He was securely strapped into the diminutive fighter, so weightlessness wouldn’t be very noticeable even if there was no antigravity capability.
Ray looked at the near three-dimensional image displayed by his little viewscreen. There he was, surrounded by hundreds of Alliance ships. He traveled via a pre-programmed route.
The autopilot did its job efficiently, without protest. Ray needed to take over manual control only when making his own runs against the Rockoid ships.
Within minutes, the Alliance fleet closed in on six enemy super cruisers floating only a few hundred thousand kilometers from Earth. It was certain the Rockoids knew about the advancing Alliance fleet, but they didn’t make any defensive maneuvers. They waited, as a large beast awaits its prey.
Thompson’s voice boomed on the radio. The transmission was encrypted, to prevent enemy detection. Ray noted the return of that stern authority she had exhibited when he first met her.
“Attention fleet commanders. I’m sending our battleships ahead to surround the Rockoid cruisers. The enemy should be dispatching their smaller ships, so be prepared to carry out your specific battle plan.”
Ray knew he had to speak. Although he doubted Thompson would actually listen to him, he had to take the risk. Rather than hesitate, he turned on the trans-space radio and stated the frequency that would connect him directly to Thompson.
With a trace of nervousness in his voice, he announced, “Commander Thompson, Captain Perkins here. I have to tell you something. My dreams reveal there is a possible design flaw on our battleships!”
Thompson’s voice was laced with anger. “What are you talking about, Captain? That’s impossible! These ships are among the best in the fleet. RECOM engineers tested them thoroughly, using the best tools available. Nothing could possibly go wrong with them!”
“In all due respect, Commander,” Ray exuded a calm, rational posture, “my dreams clearly show something is definitely wrong, something about the way the weapons or shielding systems are designed.”
“That’s preposterous,
Captain Perkins! We can’t change the battle plan now; we’re about to engage the enemy! It would be too dangerous to hold back our trump card. Those bloody Rockoids know what’s going on. They’ve probably intercepted some of our radio signals. Secured channels aren’t one hundred percent secure; you know that. In fact, we really shouldn’t be spending this long talking. Now think very carefully about what you are saying. I know you have faith in your dreams, but that’s all they are, not perfect viewscreen logs. This is reality…not fiction. I’m going to tell the super battleships to lead the fleet into battle. Do not bother me again with your dreams. Is that understood?”
Ray sighed heavily, but didn’t betray his feelings.
“Yes, sir.”
“Over and out.”
“Over and out,” Ray responded as he switched off the radio communicator.
His skin prickled at Thompson’s stubbornness. He recalled the lessons drilled into him by the teaching machines about Alliance history. Rex Thompson had been a famous industrialist and a philanthropist, giving huge donations from his vast wealth to the right causes. He had also been active in the political world, an outspoken, charismatic supporter of rearming the Alliance.
Before he realized his dreams, he died in a freak accident at the peak of his power. At the time he was considered a potential candidate for president.
What is his daughter’s connection to all this? Ray wondered.
Ray looked out from one of his fighter’s portholes as he saw the large super battleships speeding up, readying themselves to engage the enemy in battle. He observed the smaller Rockoid cruisers and fighters emerging from behind the flagship super cruisers.
As he stared at the Alliance’s super battleships, he enlarged the image on his viewscreen to pick out details of the weapon turrets. They were withdrawn into the craft and would only be extended when the ships were ready to fire. By then they’d be engulfed by the intense beams from the Rockoid weaponry and become hard to examine. The answer seemed to be right in his grasp, yet he couldn’t recall any of the crucial details.
Ray began to relax, despite the fact he was about to go into battle and perhaps to his death. He struggled, trying to remember…
Suddenly an image flashed in his mind, an image likely received from the Rockoid vantage point, but a significant one.
He realized what he had perceived in his dreams wasn’t quite -correct!
At the battle of Dorton, the two super battleships he had seen, the Acclaim and the Reliant, spun out of control and burned up in the planet’s atmosphere as soon as their weapons fired while under direct attack. If the battleships tried to attack the Rockoids with weapons at full power with maximum defense shields activated, the gyrosystems aboard the ships became unstable. Thompson wouldn’t like what he had to tell her. He knew he had to notify her immediately about his discovery.
Before she could voice more than a simple greeting, Ray screamed into the radio at the top of his lungs, “Commander Thompson, you gotta send back the battleships right now! I know what the flaw is. If we don’t act on it, we’re screwed!”
“Captain Perkins, do not shout at me like that. You forget to whom you are speaking. Now tell me what the flaw is,” said Thompson, barely suppressed anger in her voice.
“When the battleships are going at full speed, everything works…until they fire their weapons with shields at maximum…”
“Are you sure of this, Captain?” She couldn’t conceal her disbelief; in fact there was an obvious air of sarcasm in her response.
“It’s in the weapons control systems.” His voice seemed to get louder and louder by the second. “Something the engineers cooked up to make the ships maneuver faster, right?”
There was no response.
“It wouldn’t show up under stress testing because real weapons weren’t actually fired, not under a simulator. That’s why the Ilsad never discovered this problem; they probably didn’t…couldn’t subject these ships to actual battle conditions. When the weapons are at maximum...with shields also fully activated, the circuits can’t handle the load and the ships spin out of control!”
Thompson remained the unbeliever. She wanted to show Ray he was wrong; she had an intimate knowledge of the ship’s engineering; she had been educated as an engineer before she joined the military and could identify every single part of those vessels, as if she had designed them herself. In fact, many modern RECOM designs incorporated key enhancements that she originated. Ray didn’t know a damn thing about engineering…how dare he try to make himself sound like he did?
Instead of arguing with him, Thompson simply shouted, “Captain Perkins, the readings on those ships are absolutely perfect. Our condition is green. You forget I am an engineer, and you are not. I will not tolerate any further interruptions. We must start the attack now.”
Thompson didn’t wait for Ray’s response. She pretended he didn’t exist as she barked, “General, tell the super battleships to fire their ultralaser batteries at full power!”
There was static….
Ray could see the super battleships’ turrets warming up, getting ready to fire.
For a moment all proceeded as planned. A confident smile appeared on Thompson’s lips. That primitive bastard from the past was wrong.
Suddenly the large weapons atop the super battleships exploded with an elaborate display of multicolored fire. Before the shocked eyes of the Alliance fleet, the huge spaceships started to spin wildly, falling out of control back into Earth’s atmosphere.
As the ships began to plummet toward Earth, they found themselves directly in the path of a contingent of Rockoid heavy cruisers. Despite attempts to take evasive action, there was a massive collision. Every other ship in the vicinity felt the impact, as shards of fiery metal shot forth. In seconds, a massive explosion not only took out the affected Alliance ships, but a number of enemy craft as well.
Hundreds of tons of wreckage burned up in the atmosphere, but some fragments managed to strike the surface, hitting homes, office buildings, and in a few instances, people as well.
Ray stared on with frustration. He couldn’t tell Thompson “I told you so”—there wasn’t time. Before he had a moment to think of the consequences of the disaster he witnessed, he was ordered aboard Thompson’s command ship.
He hoped they would at least thank him for the warning, even if it had come too late. He directed his ship’s computer to change course and reach the Alliance’s flagship as soon as possible. He reached the ship’s docking bay and was safely parked inside within minutes.
In his mind, he could see the image of Zanther. For a brief second, he sensed she was reaching out to him, to talk to him, but the image faded as quickly as it appeared…
Ray remained in a dark mood as he exited his ship. A contingent of troops greeted him and rushed him briskly to the ship’s command center, adjacent to its bridge, where he saw Thompson standing, her teeth gritted, face taut.
She screamed, “This is all your fault! You knew and you didn’t tell us until it was too late to verify the information.”
“My fault?” Ray’s face revealed his shock. He had never seen Thompson so angry. “I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Yes, it’s your fault! If you’d remembered some of this information sooner, we might have saved those ships, and done some real damage to the Rockoids! We could have delayed the attack for a few hours to fix the problem. More than likely, it’s a simple redesign of a processor circuit that isn’t managing power properly and overloading.”
Thompson conveyed absolute confidence that the problem could be easily solved, but in truth, the superstructures of the vessels required some heavy-duty reengineering and reinforcement before they would withstand the rigors of battle.
“But I…” Ray tried to explain. “Everyone is telling me the dreams aren’t true. I begged you folks to listen.”
“No more excuses, Perkins. If I could get my hands on you…”
Thompson tried to keep
the conversation between Ray and her private. They were all alone in the small command room. One of the crew members, a security officer who had no great love for Thompson, overheard her piercing voice and relayed it to the communications officer. Soon the rest of the Alliance fleet knew what was going on.
They had thought of Ray as a hero, one who had used his knowledge of the Rockoids to help them. Most shocked were Ray’s two closest friends, Jennifer Grant and David Gotlieb. Grant was too angry to say anything, but Gotlieb was ready to defend his friend. He contacted Thompson on his fighter’s viewscreen. His anger seethed through every word.
Thompson accepted the call, but clearly didn’t welcome the intrusion.
“All right, Commander Thompson. This is enough! Leave Captain Perkins alone! These dreams are as strange to him as to the rest of us. It’s a no-win situation. We gotta use his information as best as we can. We gotta work together to deal with the Rockoid threat…not tear each other apart!”
“What? Are you arguing with me again? This is the third time this week! I demand an explanation!” shouted Thompson.
“I’m not arguing! I’m just trying to…” Gotlieb attempted to explain, but ended up stammering as he tried to reason with his superior officer.
“Shut up, Gotlieb! I have had enough of you as well. I warned you. You are hereby reassigned to desk duty in the information-processing center. You may not participate in any war-related activities! Return to your base immediately!” exclaimed Thompson angrily, a little bit calmer than she had been a few minutes earlier…though just barely.
“Commander, you’re not listening….”
“Be quiet! Or would you rather face a court-martial?”
“Very well, sir,” grumbled Gotlieb.
Ray looked outside a window displaying the scene of the battle in space. He saw Gotlieb’s fighter plane breaking away from its formation and heading back to Earth. His anger boiled over. Thompson’s bizarre behavior stunned him to the core. He could barely control his own temper.
Attack of the Rockoids Page 20