The Rockoid lasers worked best with fixed targets, but they would still hit anything in their path. Moving targets were more difficult to handle, especially smaller fighters that flew at the edge of the weapon’s firing range. The Rockoids depended on the maneuverability of their ships, rather than moving weapons turrets, for accuracy with larger targets. The giant ship-busting lasers could not be fired very often. Each time they were used, massive amounts of energy were drained from the ship. It took a while for the system to recharge sufficiently to allow regular weapons to be used. As a result, the giant lasers were only activated as a last resort, since the main weapons of the cruisers could function quite well in holding off enemy assaults and destroying enemy warships.
Once the Alliance learned of this weakness, they were able to dodge the lasers. Casualties were greatly reduced.
After failing to knock out the Alliance fleet with their bigger ships, the Rockoids decided to use smaller ships to overwhelm and destroy their adversaries. However, the Alliance was ready for them.
The smaller ships were far more maneuverable than their larger super cruiser counterparts. Although the Alliance fusillade was intense, the Rockoid cruisers were able to get out of the way before they were hit. Still, several of the enemy light cruisers exploded under the weight of heavy Alliance firepower.
As both sides began to learn each other’s tactics and weaknesses, the battles over Taucon, Terea, and Earth slowly moved into a stalemate.
The Rockoids, realizing their strategy needed a major revision, reluctantly started pulling back to their front lines around the colony worlds in these star systems.
* * *
Zanther grew extremely upset with the fleet’s mounting losses, particularly the deaths of so many of her subjects in a war that was supposed to inflict relatively light casualties. As she felt the death cries of her fellow beings in her mind, she grieved for each and every one, praying for a more peaceful existence in the afterlife. She felt the deaths so deeply, it was as if her parents had died all over again.
So when Xorax visited her in her private chamber, Zanther surrendered all semblance of calm. She didn’t wait for his customary greeting before confronting him with a harsh dose of reality. In fact, she practically screamed at the top of her lungs.
“You told me our victory was assured. How could you be so misguided?”
Xorax looked at her with a sneer. “Your Majesty, there are some things that happened that we did not, could not, predict! We did not estimate the extent of their ability to repel our invasion!”
Zanther broke in, “I do not care what you estimated! Thousands of our people are dying as we speak. We must take the battle directly to their capital worlds! I want ground troops immediately dispatched, starting with Earth itself. Inform our forces to abandon their attacks on other Alliance planets! We must force surrender before we suffer any more losses. We must not show the Alliance any mercy; we must destroy them!”
Xorax replied again with that same sneer. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
He turned to leave the room. As he walked away, Zanther quickly regretted her outburst. She wondered once again if perhaps there was another way to resolve this conflict at the bargaining table, maybe find a means for the Alliance to pay reparations for their original unprovoked assault and massacre against her people. Why was war the only answer? Why must more people die? What about the citizens of the Alliance who had nothing whatsoever to do with the business of war? Why should they suffer because of the acts of ruthless military commanders?
Is there no other way?
And those dreams…their vividness only intensified. Every night she imagined she was immersed in that strange desert battle, witnessing events she could not explain.
Even stranger was the dream she had earlier that day. The human male whose mind she’d tapped into, actually seemed to be trying to communicate with her, trying to convey an important message, a message that delivered a totally unexpected slant on this dreadful situation.
Zanther’s suspicions turned out to be correct. Day and night, Ray tried to visualize the truth about the Dorton battle and somehow beam it spaceward to Zanther.
If he could talk with her directly, show her the truth, produce the logs that indicted Commander Thompson as the true aggressor. Maybe then, this terrible war could end.
Was it already too late? Ray felt consumed with anger and frustration; he somehow had to take matters into his own hands.
For Zanther, the news was simply too incredible to believe. If the messages she received were true and not deceptions, it would mean the human commander who ordered the attack on Dorton did so in violation of Alliance doctrine. That commander was now a fugitive from justice.
Maybe it was just wishful thinking; could it be that this entire war was a gigantic, tragic mistake?
The idea was inconceivable!
Thousands of lives and untold amounts of property had been lost on both sides…it was all a waste!
And in the worst case scenario, what would happen if the Alliance defeated the Rockoids...what would be the consequences?
* * *
Returning to an Alliance base outside Brussels, Ray’s fighter quickly and deftly skirted the perimeter of the landing field, and set down. As soon as Ray exited his ship, a crew of officers escorted him to the Alliance’s command center, where he saw Dr. Johnson seated in front of his viewscreen, a wounded look on his creased face.
Johnson hastily greeted him with a brisk salute, which Ray returned.
“Captain Perkins, you were in pretty hot water back there!”
“Tell me about it. What happened to Thompson? You said she was a decorated war leader! I warned you all over and over again, but nobody would believe me!”
“Liz’s story is terribly complex,” Johnson said, with the sort of understanding that came from a father talking about his rebel daughter. He gave Ray the details of Thompson’s arrest and escape, speaking slowly, gravely. “I have to tell you putting her under arrest was one of the most painful things I’ve ever done. Damn it, her dad was a classmate of mine. He inherited his father’s business, RECOM Corporation. Rex Thompson died eighteen years ago in a freak accident while on vacation. I was godfather to his daughter.”
Johnson sighed, as tears filled his eyes. “She was never the same after Rex’s death. As heir to the RECOM fortune, she dove headlong into running that company. She was one of the youngest corporate executives in the Alliance, but soon got embroiled in corporate politics, and was finally ousted from its board of directors. She remained the largest single stockholder, though. She had the inside track on big contracts awarded to RECOM. Liz begged me to get her admitted into the Academy and adapted to the military life fast enough to attain a command rank at a much younger age than anyone expected.
“Liz was supposed to have severed her financial ties to RECOM when she joined the Alliance military. It’s a requirement. She even gave us a financial statement, signed by her accountants, to show the money had been placed in a special trust fund, a fund she couldn’t access. She lied to us, all of us…”
Johnson closed his eyes and breathed deeply, as if to calm himself.
“Liz retained control of that money and secretly ran RECOM as well, recently firing the executive who managed the company’s day-to-day affairs. She wouldn’t let him carry out his plan to turn RECOM’s core business from the production of war materials to civilian vehicles. She’d have none of that.”
Ray sat down and waited for a long, long story, eyes narrowed, trying hard to keep from interrupting.
“We’ve had decades of peace since the end of the Jintorian wars. The war machine was being scaled down. Contracts for RECOM were no longer something they could depend on. Despite their political connections, they began to lose money. Employees were laid off with little or no notice. Even the hefty profits being made at some of RECOM’s other divisions could not completely cover all the losses. When the Rockoids offered to defend the worlds from which T
hompson tried to get lucrative military contracts, that simply pushed her over the edge and so…”
“Thompson started a war. I guess some things never change. The old military-industrial complex is still alive and well,” Ray broke in.
Johnson took a few deep breaths and nodded, wiping tears from his eyes, “Our worst fears were confirmed when we discovered she gave the order to fire on the Rockoid ships, against the objections of her second-in-command, Colonel Jeff Grant. She later murdered Grant when he tried to relieve her of command for her actions.”
Colonel Jeff Grant! Jennifer’s husband!
With difficulty, Ray tried to quell his anger, think logically, reasonably. Thompson’s betrayal didn’t surprise him. Political corruption was a constant throughout history, and he never doubted more than a few twentieth century wars were started to enrich certain powerful industrialists. The commander’s escape was another matter entirely. What havoc could she cause if she wasn’t brought to justice?
As all the scattered pieces connected in Ray’s mind, he realized he couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. His voice croaked, as he tried to keep himself from screaming at Johnson. He pointed his finger angrily at the scientist.
“The only reason the Rockoids attacked the Alliance was out of self-defense. They believed we attacked them first! Damn it all! If you had listened to me, all this death, destruction; it wouldn’t have happened.”
Johnson ignored Ray’s insubordinate behavior. He knew Ray was right. All Johnson could do was sigh. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. After all this…well…after all this I can believe anything about Liz. I knew her when she was just a child. I held that little girl in my arms…cared for her when she was sick…this, well…”
“For God’s sake, Dr. Johnson, how can you let this war continue? It has to stop right now!”
“Ray, how can we turn back? It’s impossible! The Rockoids think of us as butchers, mass murderers. They’re right; we attacked them first! The die is cast.”
“There has to be a way…”
“What do you propose to do, whisper sweet nothings in your Rockoid girlfriend’s ear and everything’s gonna be all right…”
“Please sir…”
Ray wanted to say more; the conviction grew within him of what he could do, what he had to do, what he was meant to do. He began to believe he was brought to the twenty-third century for a reason. Perhaps fate existed after all, and this was his to achieve.
“Dr. Johnson, please listen to me,” Ray never sounded so sincere, so much in control of his emotions. “I have to speak with President Rogers. I think…I know...I have a plan.”
Johnson seemed about to respond. Instead, he looked directly at Ray’s determined blue eyes and nodded. It was crazy, foolhardy; he suspected just what Ray was about to suggest. It was outlandish, suicidal, but it may just work…
“Come with me, Ray. We don’t have any more time to lose.”
Contacting the President by viewscreen was too risky; the enemy had probably tapped into Alliance security systems.
With scarcely another word between them, they rushed out of the base and boarded a private hovercar for Stockholm, where the Alliance president was meeting with leaders of several other threatened Alliance planets.
Johnson and Ray caught Rogers moments before the session was to start. He waved them inside his office quickly, drumming his fingers on his desk as they came over to him. He seemed very tense, bags under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept in days. The ridges in his head seemed to throb.
Johnson quickly explained the situation.
The president seemed lost in thought. He stood up from his desk. “It’s all true, then, What in God’s name are we going to do now?”
Rogers’ reaction seemed rehearsed, as if he had prepared a statement like this all along. Ray, trying to concentrate on the situation, did not pick up on the suspicions lingering at the back of his mind.
Finally, he received his cue to speak. Without a moment’s hesitation, he announced, “I think I have an idea of how to stop this war.”
Johnson just smiled. The faith he’d put into this stranger from another century was about to bear fruit. Maybe there was a god after all.
“I have to go to the Rockoid command ship myself.” Rogers looked startled; Johnson began grinning from ear to ear.
“If I’ve somehow tapped into the mind of one of the beings there, maybe that same individual has tapped into my mind. I feel this person is a leader, maybe their ruler. Don’t ask me how I know this because I have no idea…I just feel in my heart that she isn’t really our enemy, that’s she an honorable person, and as much a victim of this tragedy as we are. Maybe I can reason with her. I’m sure my telepathic communication with this Rockoid would be enough to convince them of Thompson’s betrayal and end the war.”
Ray omitted the detail that he had already been trying to radiate his thoughts into space, hoping this alien would somehow answer him and put a stop to this carnage.
Rogers seemed to be weighing the pros and cons for a moment. He sighed, sat down, and put one hand on his head while he began drumming his fingers on his desk again, in what had become an irritation rather than an interruption. Johnson and Ray stared at him impatiently for a few minutes, waiting for him to say something.
The President finally lifted his head, leaned back in his chair, and said, “Listen, Captain Perkins, I want to tell you this mission of yours may be the equivalent of a death sentence. If you get aboard that Rockoid command ship, you could be captured and tortured to death. This woman may be trying to deceive you. You don’t have to go on this suicide mission; maybe we can find the road to peace some other way.”
Ray smiled at Rogers. “I know the danger, Mr. President. But I also have access to information you don’t have. If anyone has a chance to get in there safely, it’s me. It’s hard to express in words, but I feel she can somehow read my mind, and I can sense hers too. I know if I can meet her, I can show her what we say is true. There has to be a reason I got here in the first place. I can’t believe it’s a stupid accident.”
The Alliance president knew Ray was right. Whether by accident or design, he was the only person who could pull this fool stunt off and live to tell about it.
“Do you wish to have any of our special forces accompany you on this mission? We could spare a small shuttle to aid you…”
“Thanks, but no thanks, Mr. President. I feel the mission will only be successful if I go alone. It’s not as if I don’t appreciate any help I can get. It’s just...something in the back of my mind is telling me not to take anyone with me, something I can’t quite explain. Must be another one of my weird hunches, I guess.”
The president simply nodded. He wasn’t going to be the one to doubt Ray’s gut. His political instincts took over. If one person was lost, so be it. To him, Ray Perkins, as valuable as he might be to the Alliance, was expendable. He had no choice.
Why risk an entire crew if this turns out to be a fool’s errand?
He gave Ray a rushed briefing, to prepare him up for the mission that might save them all.
“I received word just before you arrived, that the battle was starting to break up, that both our fleet and the Rockoids were retreating to rearm and refuel. This will give you a little breathing room to rest a bit, and prepare for your journey.
“The Rockoids’ original ultimatum is going to expire in less than twenty-four hours, although skirmishes have continued. We have just intercepted a radio signal that indicates at least a dozen large transport-class ships are on their way to Earth for a ground assault. We are in for one hell of a fight!”
“Can’t we intercept them before they arrive?”
“No, hyperspace travel doesn’t work that way. Once a ship exceeds light speed, we can’t pinpoint its precise location. We can only detect the disturbances it creates in the fabric of space. You can’t fire weapons in hyperspace without destroying yourself.”
“What about the moment it retur
ns to normal space?” Ray knew the answer before Rogers reminded him of his brief lessons in faster-than-light travel. The point at which a vessel exited hyperspace couldn’t be predicted in advance. The Rockoids could use such uncertainties to their advantage, as would the Alliance in a similar situation.
“When will this battle start?”
“We don’t know exactly. It depends on how fast those transports are and how long they’ll take to get here. Maybe they need time to prepare their troops—we can only speculate. Yet I fear what we’ve experienced so far is just the beginning. Unless we find a way to stop this war now, many more lives will be lost. This could be the bloodiest war we’ve ever fought, worse than either of the Jintorian wars.”
Ray chimed in, “If I get my mad scheme to work, this could also turn out to be the greatest opportunity for peace the Alliance has ever had.”
Rogers nodded in agreement. “Okay, Captain Perkins, go get some rest and maybe enjoy yourself a little bit. We’ll meet together tomorrow morning, for your final briefing. Do whatever you want tonight. Between you, me and Dr. Johnson, go ahead and try to make contact; tell her you’re coming. Beg, plead for an audience, whatever it takes to convince her to see you. We’re depending on you now.”
Rogers had a broad grin on his face. He almost believed a miracle might happen.
“Thank you, sir.”
Ray’s emotions turned numb, as he began sensing the task to which he had committed himself. It had all come down to…this!
The door slid open, and Ray turned to leave. He wasn’t a bit surprised to see Jennifer and Gotlieb waiting by the door. Evidently they had been dispatched to Stockholm soon after Ray and Johnson departed.
“Hi, Ray,” Jennifer said.
Ray stared at her, shocked. She was clearly distraught. Her lovely face was marred with tears. He wanted to embrace her, comfort her. He realized Jennifer now knew the truth of her husband’s death.
“Nice to see you again, old man,” said Gotlieb. He tried to act casual, but he, too, clearly felt the impact of Jennifer’s grief.
Attack of the Rockoids Page 22