Mike's War: Sequel to Jesse's Starship

by Saxon Andrew

  The Celean nodded, “That’s exactly how we find them.”

  “It’s my understanding that the Gracken are slightly more advanced technologically than the Alliance.”

  “That is true.”

  “If you could track those particles…”

  The Celean’s eyes opened wider, “We haven’t thought of that. You’re suggesting the Gracken saw the particles and tracked them back to the violent planets we destroyed.”

  Mike stared at the Celean and said, “How long ago was the first planet destroyed?”

  “About seven thousand years ago.”

  Mike nodded, “What took them so long to get here?”

  The Celean tilted his head back, “I don’t know what you mean?”

  “Well, if you could track those particles seven thousand years ago, and the Gracken are more advanced than your civilization; it’s pretty certain that they also saw those particles seven thousand years ago. What took them so long to get here?”

  The Celean leaned back in his chair, started rocking, and thought about the question. As he thought about it, Mike started making statements, “Why didn’t they invade when the first signal was detected? If they’re advanced now, they were probably more advanced than the Alliance then. Why did they show up a little over a year ago? Why did they delay?”

  The Celean stopped rocking when Mike said, “The Gracken have not shown that they possess patience.”

  “They didn’t delay?” The Celean stared at Mike and shook his head, “When did you figure this out?”

  “About ten minutes ago when my wife made an observation about Sparta being in a different galaxy. She said the Gracken probably were as well.”

  “She’s a smart woman.”

  “Indeed she is. What I need your help with is to look at the star maps the Alliance has produced.”

  “What do you need?”

  “I suspect you already know. I want you to draw a line from the first nuclear explosion seven thousand years ago to where those particles would be a year ago.”

  “That is an incredible distance.”

  “I know. Once you have the line drawn, I want you to use that as a radius of a sphere and tell me how many galaxies are touching that sphere.”

  The Celean began entering data into his panel and Mike was stunned by how fast he typed on his panel. His six fingers moved faster than Mike could follow. They were a blur. Tilly watched and could only shake her head. After thirty minutes the Celean stopped entering data and pushed his chair back so he could look at the wall display in his room. Mike couldn’t see the display and wondered what was on it. “There were forty three galaxies touching that sphere between one and two years ago.”

  “Will you mark those galaxies on a star map and send it to me?”

  The Celean looked a Mike for a moment and then said, “Is this frequency a good one to send it?”

  Mike looked over his shoulder, “Hot Shot?”

  “I can receive it and process it on this frequency.”

  Mike looked back at the Celean, “Send it!”

  The Celean pressed a button and his eyes narrowed, “What are you going to do with this map?”

  “I’m not sure at the moment but I want you to keep this just between us.”

  “The Alliance would really want this information.”

  “And they’ll have it at the right moment; now isn’t the time.”

  “Bowen probably told you that I don’t communicate with the Assembly.”

  “He did, but you wouldn’t have to communicate to just send them this map.”

  The Celean smiled, “I’ll leave it up to you to deliver this at the appropriate time.”

  Mike shook his head, “I must say that I wonder why you even go to the Assembly if you’re not going to communicate.”

  The Celean smiled, “Most would have to pay big bucks for that degree of comedy anywhere else. It’s great for laughs.”

  Mike smiled, “I imagine it is. Thanks for your help.” The Celean nodded and the display went dark.

  “What are you going to do with this information, Mike?”

  “I’m not sure, Tilly. There’s something that’s bothering me about the Gracken but I can’t wrap my mind around it. It…just…eludes me.”

  Tilly shrugged, “Don’t think about it. It’ll come to you.”

  “Is that what you do, Tilly?”

  “Absolutely, give it a try.”

  Mike nodded and looked at the countdown on his panel. Thinking about other things was not going to be a problem. The invasion was thirty nine hours away. They were going back to Fippen. This time, it was going to be the Gracken on the wrong end of the barrel. He began running through the pre-invasion reports and queried the database for information on the A 10s. He read a paragraph and sat straight up in his chair. He pressed a button and Colonel Long appeared on his panel, “What is this about changing out ten Warthog’s guns out with sliver rounds?”

  “Sir, the Gracken have placed a Beamship on the tallest building in every city. It will be that ship that will kill the civilians if things go bad. It will also kill every Flier that drops in on the city if it’s not taken out. We’re going to drop a Warthog in on them from orbit. It will fire the guided sliver rounds at the ship.”

  “Why slivers?”

  “If the Warthog is taken out, the rounds will continue to the target that the Hog has targeted with its spotting laser.”

  “I notice that Josh Adams is the pilot assigned to take out the first one.”

  Long blew out a breath, “Sir, he is ranked number one in his flight tests. Do you want me to choose someone else?” Mike stared at Long and after a moment Long said, “The fliers will be dropped and coming into the city immediately following the attack on that Beamship. Our drop warriors deserve having the best we have taking the shot.”

  Mike nodded, “You’re right. I hope you’re sending in back up in case he doesn’t make it.”

  “Pricilla will be his second.” Mike’s eyebrows went up and Colonel Long said, “She is number two.”

  Mike slowly nodded and sighed, “I suspect she would fight anyone that tried to take her place.” Long nodded. Mike knew Jeanette and Adams were under a huge load of stress. He could feel their pain but he couldn’t treat their son differently. He was sure they knew it. He ended the call and shook his head.

  • • •

  Josh sat in the transport’s cafeteria waiting on Pricilla. She should have been back by now. He took a bite of his salad and heard, “It’s been a long time.”

  Josh looked behind him and saw Brent wearing a Spartan Flier’s uniform. He also saw he wore Lt. Bars on the shoulder, “BRENT!”

  Brent grabbed Josh and lifted him off the floor in a bear hug. He put him back down and smiled, “It really is good to see you. I’ve never thanked you for saving my life.”

  “This makes it worth it, Brent. How were you able to join the infantry?”

  “It took three months of constantly harassing Sgt. Slade to get him to allow me to go to FT. Rome to clean the latrines. After another six weeks, Colonel Aman came and talked with me about why I was enduring the work. I told him about you saving my life and telling me to make it worth it. I told him that if cleaning latrines was the only way to pay it back, I would clean them to the best of my ability.”

  Brent smiled and sat down beside Josh, “A week later he came and enlisted me into his regiment.”

  Josh smiled, “That is a great regiment, Brent.”

  “And it has a great commander, Josh.”

  Pricilla walked up smiling, “Well look at this. Who would have thunk it?”

  Brent stood and offered his hand to Pricilla. She ignored it and gave him a hug, “Congratulations. I always thought you had it in you.”

  Brent smiled and stepped back, “Maybe I can catch you after the drop. I have to go join my platoon and get racked in.” He looked at Josh, “Thanks again; I owe you.”

  Josh shook his head, “No you don’t. You’ve p
aid that debt by being here with us.” Brent smiled and jogged away. Josh looked at Prissy, “I was worried.”

  “It took slightly longer than I thought.”

  “What happened?”

  “He was leery of me at first. It took three days before he decided to make his move.”

  “I suspect you pretended to be afraid?”

  “Of course.”

  “What happened?”

  “Jesse’s ship recorded everything. His remarks about what he was going to do to me and then making the first move.”

  “And?”

  “The Enforcers took him to the hospital at Delphi and he’ll be released into the population there once he regains control of his arms and legs. I also suspect the concussion might be an issue.”

  “What about your family?”

  “I saw my sister and brother smile for the first time. Mom is also coming around. I’m sending them my pay to support them.”

  Josh looked into Prissy’s eyes, “Are you alright?”

  Prissy smiled, “I really am. I love you, Josh. I just had to do this.”

  Josh nodded and held her hands.

  The intercom system announced, “Jump in one hour. Move to your duty stations.”

  Josh looked at Pricilla, “You need to get something to eat.”

  “I ate on the way here. We need to go and do the final systems check.” Josh nodded and they walked out of the cafeteria holding hands.

  • • •

  Mike looked at Hetzel and said, “Have you notified the Alliance ships to join Admiral Adams in orbit?”

  “I have; they’ll be arriving momentarily.”

  “I want you to be close to a communication panel in the event I need to contact you.” Hetzel nodded. Mike pressed another button and saw Adams appear, “The Alliance Q ships will be arriving momentarily.”

  “I’ll issue their assignments and move them out from the planet.”

  Mike stared at Adams and started to speak but Adams said, “Mike, don’t worry about Josh. We’re proud of him and know this is part of being parents of a soldier. You’re doing the right thing.”

  Mike slowly shook his head, “I’m praying he makes it out safely.”

  Adams smiled, “Get in line; so are we.”

  • • •

  Josh and Prissy slid down the tubes into the cockpits of their A 10s. They started their systems check and Josh heard Prissy say, “You know if you don’t make it I’m going to kick your butt.”

  Josh looked up and said, “Prissy, if I don’t make it, there won’t be a butt left around to kick.”

  “Now there you go getting all logical on me. You know that’s stupid…especially at a moment like this.”

  Josh sighed, “I’ll do my best to avoid the butt kicking.”

  There were several minutes of silence and then Josh heard, “If you don’t make it and I can’t hit that ship with the slivers…”

  Josh looked up and saw Prissy on his display staring at him. He knew she expected him to try and talk her out of it but he sighed and smiled softly at her, “I would do the same, my love. The fliers don’t stand a chance against that ship.”

  Prissy smiled softly at Josh and then her eyebrows came together, “So don’t make me do it; YOU GOT THAT!?!”

  Josh smiled and nodded. He went back to checking his Hog’s electronic systems. Time seemed to move faster than he thought it would.

  • • •

  Bent rushed into the ranks of Spartan Fliers and took his position in line. His platoon Sergeant smiled, “I was wondering if you were going to make it.”

  Brent smiled, “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

  A hundred Fliers would step up on a platform and a line of racks would move up behind them and lock them in. The racks would them move up and back over the top of the mechanism and another hundred warriors would be locked in and lifted. There were two sets of racks operating on the giant transport and when the last line of each regiment was lifted, the first line was back at the front. The racks would launch the Spartan Warriors out of the giant transports at fifty miles an hour. All two thousand would exit the ship in less than a minute. They would then fall seventy miles from orbit into the planet’s lower atmosphere.

  • • •

  Mike looked at the countdown and saw it move to ten seconds. He had a bright yellow button on his panel and the Spartan Warriors would be ejected from their transports when he pressed it. The countdown hit zero and the huge Alliance armada disappeared from above Sparta. It reappeared above Fippen and Mike was stunned at the giant Gracken transports hanging in low orbit above the planet. One moment they were there and the next all of them disappeared. Mike said, “What were they doing, Hot Shot?”

  “It appears they were on loading huge loads of metal ore.”

  “What kind?”

  “Iron and aluminum.”

  Mike’s eyes narrowed; why would they be doing that? “Do you detect any Gracken Warships?”

  “There are none in this planetary system.”

  Mike watched the Q ships move out into high orbit and form above the transports. He looked at the city directly below him on the planet’s surface and wondered what the Gracken were thinking. He looked at Tilly and saw she had her hand at her neck. She was worried. He blew out a breath and pressed the yellow button. He watched the two thousand Fliers shoot out and start their long drop through the planet’s atmosphere.

  • • •

  Josh and Prissy’s A 10s were released from their brackets on the side of the transport and Josh pulled up the feed from the Q ships. He moved the view of the city in closer until he found the Beamship on top of the highest building in the city. He touched the display and a red x appeared on the Beamship. He touched his helmet and said, “Move us to a position directly above that designated target.” The thrusters in the wings and fuselage ignited and the small warplane moved fifty feet and stopped. The nose and tail thrusters activated slightly and the nose of the plane turned directly toward the planet below. Josh was impressed with the transport’s pilot. He was directly above the target.

  Josh looked up at the new countdown on his panel. The Fliers were going to take ten minutes to fall into the planet’s atmosphere where their personal force fields could assume a foil shape and start them flying. The force fields foils would activate about twenty five thousand feet above the surface and about a hundred miles out from the city. The Fliers would be coming toward the city from all directions at four hundred miles an hour. It would take them fifteen minutes to arrive and Josh was going to drop fifteen seconds before they arrived. Prissy would begin her drop seven seconds behind Josh. That Beamship had to be removed before the Fliers moved above the city. That ship’s beams would blow through the Fliers’ personal force fields.

  He stared at the Gracken ship on his combat display and saw it was turned up on its side. The Beamship had two beams; one on top and one on the bottom. In order for the Gracken to use both beams, the ship had to be tilted on its side so that both beams could be used to fire down on the city or at anything moving above it. The only thing that made this mission even slightly possible was that the two beams could not be fired directly above it. Their mounts wouldn’t allow that much rotation. There was a small area between the beams that could be attacked. At least the Alliance Engineers had thought there was. He’d soon find out. If he was slightly off-vertical, he was going to die.

  Josh looked at the small tactical display in his visor and saw the silver X’s of the Fliers moving toward the city were really moving fast. He looked at the main display and saw the countdown reach five, “I love you, Prissy.”

  “I love you, too, Josh.”

  Josh gripped the two red paddles on the steering wheel with his index fingers and pulled them fully back when his visor reached zero. The two Alliance thrusters on the Warthog ignited and he was slammed back into his chair. The Fliers took ten minutes to reach the lower atmosphere; Josh was going to be there in ten seconds. He gripped t
he wheel and kept the paddles pulled fully back. The targeting laser was active and he would have to wait for it to illuminate the Gracken ship before he could fire. The planet was getting larger and closer by the second.

  • • •

  The Beamship’s Scanning Leader yelled, “We have a small ship dropping in on us from directly above!”

  The Ship Commander yelled, “Fire on it with both beams!”

  The Gunner fired and yelled, “Commander, that ship is coming in between the beams. We can’t move them enough to hit it!”

  The Commander screamed, “All of you but the Gunner get out and rock the ship back and forth in its mounts!”

  Six huge Gracken exited the ship at an incredible speed and pushed on the hull. It wobbled slightly and moved back on its mounts.

  Josh saw the Gracken on his display pushing the ship and the two Gracken beams moved slightly toward him and then away. One of the beams only missed his cockpit by inches. He pulled the paddles in a death grip and screamed at the laser, “COME ON!!!”

  The red X on the display turned green and Josh pulled the rotary cannon’s button back with his left pinky finger. One of the giant beams began moving toward him and suddenly jerked away. The Beamship exploded as two hundred guided sliver rounds twisted in flight and slammed into the large ship. The ship’s explosion blew away the top of the tall skyscraper as Josh saw the building moving toward him at an incredible speed; he released the paddles and used his middle fingers to activate the thrusters in the nose of the Warthog. He pulled back as hard as he could on the steering wheel but the building was now filling his display. He pressed the thrusters on the front edge of the wings with his ring fingers and the nose began moving slightly up. He screamed as the plane shot at the top of the building barely missing the ragged roof’s edge. If the top eight floors hadn’t been blown away, he would have hit it.

  He barely missed the top and saw another building directly in his path. He twisted the wings and the Hog fought hard but managed to turn and scream down toward the street running between the buildings. He pulled back with all his strength as the plane roared down on the thousands of civilians in the street below. The sonic boom arrived and blew out glass in the tops of the buildings.