by Charles Lamb
“What’s your name Marine?” Jake asked with a smile as he took the cube from her hands.
“Watts, Sir. Samantha Watts, but most just call me Sam,” she replied hesitantly.
“Well, Sam, I know what that is,” Jake said as he looked at the woman while tossing the cube in the air. He then handed her the cube back, still grinning.
“Good work, but don’t power up anything more until we get home,” Jake told the Marine as he slapped her hard on the back in congratulations, his excitement and relief overcoming his normal calm demeanor. The poor woman almost lost her seat as she grabbed the bench to steady herself.
Turning with a smile, Jake left the cargo hold to update what he was sure was a confused bridge crew.
Chapter 5
The Phantom’s sudden appearance at the edge of the solar system, took everyone by surprise. Kola was still just short of 2 days from the edge of the solar system and was the first to spot the missing ship and crew.
“Where the bloody hell have you been?” Banks asked after the initial announcement of arrival from the crewman monitoring the space around them, his normal composure abandoned. He happened to be on the bridge reviewing training results with the ship’s captain at the time.
“We had some challenges,” Jake replied with a smile that lit up the bridge display.
“I am directly transmitting our report now, not via the NeHaw link. I also have need of a special mission,” Jake added as others joined in on the conversation.
“What’s up Jake?” Linda asked as her image appeared. Next to her, Sara and Becky stood impatiently nearby.
“We need to run some tech to the Kortisht for analysis. I think we have found out how the NeHaw raiders have been interrupting the FTL of our ships,” he said as he waved a cube for all to see.
“You will need to hold position, then, until we can provide an FTL capable ship for the transport,” Linda replied as she motioned to someone off screen.
“Jake, what happened to you guys?’ Sara asked finally, unable to contain herself any longer.
“Well, let’s just say we discovered these things by accident,” he replied while tossing the cube from one hand to another, a broad smile crossing his face.
----*----
It would be several hours before a destroyer finally arrived to assume the responsibility of transporting the FTL blocking device to the Kortisht. While they waited, Jake held an impromptu conference call, being less concerned about using the NeHaw network for verbal communications versus transmitting the raid report data.
“So, the raid was a complete success?” Linda asked after listening to Jake’s synopsis of the activities there.
“Combat operations were 100%. The Intel losses, though, were significant. Whatever that was that we hit, it destroyed a lot of the equipment and all of the alien staff,” he replied.
“We grabbed anything we could scrounge from the wreckage, hoping it might contain data, but the analysts are going to have to figure out how to access the contents,” he finished.
“And the FTL failure?” Sara asked, her voice betraying her emotions.
“Yeah, that was interesting,” Jake replied with a grin.
“That’s not the word I would use,” Sara replied with a frown.
“Trust me, no one was more frustrated than I was,” Jake replied with a sigh.
“Ahem,” Jake heard from the SAS trooper sitting in the cockpit nearby.
“Oh, and Hannah,” Jake added with a smile.
As they talked, the two ships docked and the cube was transported to the ship ferrying it to Kortisht for analysis. It took no more than a few minutes and then the destroyer disappeared. Jake was relieved to see it on its way and happy to be beyond its influence and free of its effects, once and for all.
With the mystery device handed off for transport to the Kortisht, Jake ordered the Phantom home. At some point, early in the trip, they understood they would be passing Kola, thus giving them an opportunity to transfer any passengers on either ship.
With the increase in hostile activity, it was decided that Kola would take up station at the edge of the solar system, acting as a temporary space station until the modules arrived from the Wawobash. Her additional patrol ships would act as a small border protection fleet. While incapable of FTL, the sturdy ships had proven tough adversaries in battle.
Fortunately, Brian had reported that the first of seven separate sections would soon be ready for delivery. Jake had designed the space station to be made up of several smaller modules, all connected together with tubes. While strong enough to hold the sections together under normal conditions, the tubes were really needed to allow movement from one module to another.
Each section was actually its own ship, capable of FTL spaceflight as well as maneuvering inside a gravity well. Once all the sections were linked together, they could act as one, giving the station a combined capability of movement and holding station.
Each section was a saucer, made up of five concentric rings. There was a large central ring with two smaller above and below. Each ring represented two levels within, giving each module ten levels in all, containing compartments for living quarters, command center and all the other necessary spaces. Jake had emphasized the particular need for recreational facilities, as this was also intended as an R&R facility for the deep space crews.
The horizontal tubes connecting the saucers had two levels of passageways, while the vertical tubes contained multiple elevators, required due to the artificial gravity. Once assembled, ships could dock with any of the sections, allowing for resupply or crew access. The sections were not large enough to take anything bigger than a fighter inside, but external docking ports permitted direct access to all but the largest ships. Those would require tenders to ferry crew and supplies.
In addition, Jake had ordered all modules to be equipped with a sizable number of energy cannons, all to be installed by the Wawobash on the top and bottom of each ring section. With guns on top and bottom, they had an incredible amount of overlapping firepower. Once in Earth space, these turrets would be augmented with railguns, while the modules themselves would be fitted with shield generators.
Jake’s grand vision was a fortress at the edge of the solar system, capable of inflicting massive amounts of damage on any incoming NeHaw ships. It was intended to ravage an armada, like they had seen in the last engagement. It was his hope to never again draw from the weapons store in Georgia, where he kept hidden their darkest secrets hidden away.
In his opinion, it couldn’t get here fast enough.
----*----
Brian was watching from the bridge of ALICE-3 as the Wawobash were preparing to release the first three space station modules. The Wawobash project manager had explained that these three would be assembled vertically once on site, making the center hub of the station. There would be four more identical saucers that will be attached to the center saucer of the vertical hub later, spreading out horizontally. These would be connected at 90 degree intervals, balancing the configuration in three dimensions.
They had agreed that ALICE-3 would take control and guide the three pieces out to the edge of the system remotely, where their pre-programed flight plan would send the unmanned sections to an anxious Kola. Once they arrived in near Earth space, Kola could remotely maneuver the sections into position where the waiting humans and bots could assemble the connecting tubes from materials stored inside the three saucers.
From everything he was reading in his display, the three sections were fully functional, though combat limited without their enhanced shields or railguns. Jake was adamant that these items were Earth only technologies, not to be shared. Brian understood the position, but it did make for a ton of work for their limited workforce. Thank goodness for the ALICEs and the bots.
“Brian, I have received word from the Wawobash that I can guide the sections out of space dock,” he heard ALICE-3 announce.
“That’s great news. Let’s not tell Earth, yet, u
ntil they are safely out of here and on their way,” Brian mentioned as an afterthought. This was new to everyone, the Wawobash included. He wanted to be sure they were actually on their way before getting everyone excited.
“Agreed,” was the only reply from ALICE-3.
Looking around the bridge, he could see the entire bridge crew watching as the three saucers slowly pulled free of the skeletal structures surrounding each saucer. Apparently, the Wawobash had a modular system of manufacturing that expanded outward, as they assembled whatever they were contracted to build.
As each saucer emerged from the web like infrastructure, he watched the construction framework break apart, only to form up into smaller sections, ready to take on their next task. Soon, all three saucers were floating free and heading toward the battleship that hosted the human buyers.
Brian could see the bridge crew had suddenly become active, as ALICE-3 transferred tasks to each station. From his position in the command chair, he could tell that she was delegating system checks and other non-vital duties, while she maintained navigation and engineering functions.
Tracking their progress on his own display, he could see the three saucers pass below ALICE-3 on their way to the edge of the Wawobash system. From there he knew they would perform a final safety check before engaging the pre-programed flight plan, sending all three home to Earth via FTL.
With the wayward Phantom now home, ALICE-3 had resumed its position just off the shipyards and well inside the Wawobash system. When the three saucers reached the halfway point between ALICE-3 and the edge of the Wawobash system, the bridge suddenly came alive with alarms.
“We have incoming ships,” the tactical officer announced from her station.
“Brian, I make five NeHaw cruisers and a number of unidentified vessels with each, heading inbound,” ALICE-3 added.
Switching his display to a duplicate of the tactical station, he could see the ships ALICE-3 described. Slowly, several of the ships not initially tagged on the display, started showing type and origin. Brian frowned as he realized they were all warships from NeHaw aligned planets.
“Battle stations!” Brian announced as he started counting ships. While not as large as the armada that had attacked Earth, this was still a lot of firepower. From the approach vector, it was clear they were headed straight for the shipyards.
----*----
Ivan and Edwin had transferred to the Phantom as the two ships passed each other. Rather than attempting anything fancy, they had simply stopped Kola long enough to take the Phantom aboard and move the necessary personnel around. As it turned out, a majority of the Marines and SAS on board were scheduled for training on the combat patrol ships now housed in Kola’s hangars.
With little more than a skeleton crew left on board, Jake had guided the Phantom out of Kola’s hangar and watched in his display as the massive ship proceeded on its way.
“Steady as she goes sir?” Hannah asked as Jake got up from the pilot’s seat. She had requested to remain with the small ship, a request Jake was only too happy to grant. He gave her a crash course in the ship's operation, and he found her a quick study.
He was glad to have her stay, as it was always better to have someone he knew he could trust backing him up. The Marine analyst, Sam Watts, had also requested to stay aboard, to oversee the intelligence materials delivery. Jake was appreciative of that request as well. Other than those two, it was just him, Ivan and Edwin left to run things.
“Yes, thank you,” he replied with a smile as he turned away from her. He had almost made it to the hatch leading out of the bridge when he heard the alarm.
“Sir, we are receiving an urgent message from the Wawobash,” Hannah explained as she brought the text up on her monitor for both to read. Jake scanned the information and then brought up several still images provided in the message. It was the incoming NeHaw force.
With Kola still over a day’s travel from the edge of the system, and no other available fighting ships in the area, he was afraid that Brian and ALICE-3 were on their own.
“Let me know if we get any more messages as soon as they come in,” Jake said in frustration. He then turned to go find the others to brief them on the latest crisis.
----*----
GeSec sat in the command chair of his cruiser, assessing the situation before him. He had very specific instructions from General KaLob, ordering an attack on the Wawobash shipyards, destroying as much of the shipbuilding infrastructure as possible. These same orders specified he was not to attack the planet, just remove as much of the ship building capability as possible, thus removing the human’s source of combat vessels.
While they had expected some form of resistance to their efforts, what GeSec had before him was something else entirely. Since KaLob had taken power, the increase in available military intelligence had been overwhelming. GeSec now had access to all of the after-action reports and analysis of the human capabilities.
Because of that, he immediately recognized the battleship sitting between him and the shipyards as the one captured from the NeHaw and refitted for human use. Its presence alone gave him a reason to reconsider the pending attack. However, it was the addition of the three disk shapes between his ships and the battleship that created the greatest concern.
Although he had never seen such vessels before, he recognized the gun turrets flooding the superstructure. His tactical officer verified they were all powered up and appeared functional. To his relief, none sported the human projectile weapons the NeHaw had come to fear.
“Sir, we have more ships exiting the battleship,” his tactical officer announced.
Checking his own display, he got the identity of the newcomers, as the tactical systems verified them against the database.
“This is unfortunate,” GeSec said aloud as the system verified that several of the devil ships were exiting the hangar of the battleship. He had seen reports of these ships’ capabilities. How the humans had been able to transport that much ferrous metal in FTL was still a mystery to the NeHaw.
Their crude iron hulls and advanced energy shields made these ships a contradiction in technology. Their firepower was capable of battering any vessel unlucky enough to encounter one, while the sturdy iron hulls absorbed a pounding, far better than the advanced composites of the FTL ships.
Although the NeHaw had held a few to a stalemate, driving them off in the end, they had yet to destroy a single ship of this type.
Fortunately, General KaLob did not expect his commanders to sacrifice themselves needlessly, as had the previous leadership. GeSec was just expected to challenge the humans, creating as much destruction as possible, before retreating to fight another day.
The concept was a new one to GeSec and the other ship commanders, but it was one they all embraced with enthusiasm.
“Order all ships to execute formation Gama. Direct JaDos and RiFos to engage the disk ships while everyone else heads for the shipyards. We will distract the battleship,” GeSec ordered, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
----*----
Brian watched as the NeHaw ships grew larger in the bridge display. He had moved from his command chair to stand next to the tactical officer as she tracked the incoming vessels. He could see the indicators applied to each ship as its type and planet of origin was identified by ALICE-3.
“Brian, it appears that the NeHaw are splitting up and leading five clusters of ships, each headed by a NeHaw cruiser. The other vessels are warships from subjugated NeHaw worlds,” ALICE-3 explained.
“I think we can safely say they are more like allied planets now,” Brian replied, not convinced that you could force someone to fight for you unwillingly.
“Semantics,” ALICE-3 replied with a tinge of sarcasm, or so Brian interpreted.
“Sir, they are diverting course and breaking up their formations,” the tactical officer announced.
Brian could see that each NeHaw cruiser was indeed leading its cluster of ships in differing directions
. Some were still headed directly to the space station sections while others were swinging wide, as if attempting to go around the blockade they presented.
“What weapons are aboard those space station sections?” Brian asked, indicating the three disks.
“Each section has twelve gun turret's top and bottom, providing for a total of twenty four batteries. Unfortunately, they are only equipped with energy cannons at the moment, they were slated for railgun installation when they arrived home,” the tactical officer replied.
“Nothing else? No missile systems?” Brian asked.
“No sir, additional weapons systems were to be delivered from the Klinan after the sections were assembled back home,” she answered.
“The Klinan? Aren’t they artists?” Brian asked, distracted from the moment by the comment.
“The Klinan are artists. However, after the attack on their home world, they have taken up trading with other races, collecting war materials in an effort to repay Earth for turning back the NeHaw attack,” ALICE-3 replied.
“OK, well, I guess that leaves ALICE-3 fighting the three space station sections remotely while the patrol ships split up and challenge the groups doing the end run,” Brian explained as he indicated each group of ships as he spoke. They had changed the display to a 3D hologram at the tactical station to get a better sense of the pending battle. In that view, it became quite obvious what each cluster was doing.
Each NeHaw cruiser had a cluster of anywhere from six to ten additional vessels, all war craft and heavily armed. The four combat patrol ships ALICE-3 had in her hangars allowed for two each to break away and try and stop a superior number of alien vessels.
While the correlation of forces was undesirable, Brian had decided to sacrifice the three space station sections against the larger central force, rather than risking the possible loss of their creators, the Wawobash. As he watched the scene before him unfold, he couldn’t help but note the improvement in the NeHaw battle tactics from previous encounters.