“What type of ship is it?” asked John.
“Readings indicate it’s the same raider-type vessel used in previous recorded attacks,” reported Alex'sis. Her fear was momentarily replaced with confusion. “Strange that they would send the same ship type to attack EXODUS.”
“Either their sensors can't specifically discern ships trying to leave the solar system or they believe their fighter can easily destroy any human vessel,” theorized Julie.
“We’ll worry about that later,” said John who had managed to get a handle on his fear. “Activate targeting scanners and lock on the vessel with our pulsar beams.”
“Shall we fire once it’s in range?” asked Julie.
“No, I want the ship to fire on us first.”
“Commander, if our weapons will be in range of the ship first it would give us a tactical edge that we should take advantage of,” said Alex'sis.
“We need to know if this ship can withstand a Screen attack,” explained John. “A good offense won’t do us any good if we have no defense against Screen weaponry.” Julie wasn’t buying it. This was the first time a human ship had the possibility to perform an initial strike against the Screen and they should jump on the opportunity.
“Destroying a Screen ship will have a huge impact on the public,” said Julie. “People would rally around the idea of fighting back. Destroying that ship is more important than testing EXODUS’ shields.” John just shook his head.
“Hold weapons fire until I give the order.”
“The time for debate is over,” said Alex’sis, interrupting the two from arguing any further. “Enemy ship has entered into firing range.”
“Shields to maximum. All hands, prepare for weapons impact,” announced John. Julie looked at him disapprovingly. It was one thing to gamble against TERRA, but John was now putting all their lives on the line to confirm the EXODUS' effectiveness against the Screen. Julie would never have chosen this course of action. She wanted to destroy the fighter and collect the debris for analysis. But she knew there was no time to change his mind. If EXODUS had the fighter in weapons range then they probably only had seconds before the Screen ship had the EXODUS in range to fire.
The screeching sound reached a high pitch, a clear indication the ship was getting closer. The sound piercing through the crew's ears was almost too painful to bear.
“Shields are at maximum,” reported Julie. Even though the shields held up to the Mars planetary cannon it did little to ease her worries that they wouldn’t stand up against Screen weaponry. Yes, she had read about the shield specifications constructed around the sensor data TERRA collected on the Screen, but the fact remained that no ship had ever withstood an attack.
“Enemy vessel is firing,” announced Alex’sis almost excitedly. Unlike Julie, the tactical officer had no worries about their chances. She was still in the grip of anxiety, but in the back of her mind she was confident the ship would prevail. The EXODUS was far bigger and more powerful than the scout size alien vessel flying towards them. To her, it was no contest.
The Screen fighter opened fire with the familiar white beam at EXODUS. The beam struck the upper front starboard hull area. The crew never felt so much of a shudder from the blast. The shields easily absorbed the energy beam, exactly what it was designed to do.
“Shields held,” reported Alex’sis quickly, trying to contain her excitement as she realized their defense worked. “Power has been absorbed into the ship’s power system.”
Julie checked Alex’sis’ readings. She couldn’t believe it. It worked. The shields actually held. Yet another so-called fact the Academy taught cadets had been shattered. They had developed effective countermeasures against the Screen.
John's heart slowly ceased its rapid beating pace as he realized they would not be obliterated by the enemy craft. This was their biggest gamble and it paid off. They proved that EXODUS could go toe to toe against the Screen. There was nothing that could stop them now from escaping into deep space.
The Screen vessel outside fired on EXODUS several more times as it passed by the ship. None of its attacks could breach the shields. After passing by the ship once it turned and started to head back out of the solar system on the same path it arrived.
“The Screen vessel is trying to retreat,” reported Alex’sis. Oh no, John wasn’t about to let the ship get away from them. For years the Screen showed no sympathy to the human ships they destroyed. Now John was going to show them what it felt like to be the victim. He was going to exact revenge on behalf of those killed by the Screen.
“Lieutenant, activate forward pulse cannons. Destroy the target.”
“With pleasure, sir,” replied Alex’sis. She had already locked on to the fleeing ship. With a press of a few buttons the EXODUS fired on its target, the cannons hitting their mark perfectly. The Screen ship was destroyed in less than three shots. John looked at the monitor as debris from the ship flew out in all directions.
“Screen vessel has been destroyed,” reported Alex’sis. Everyone on the command deck looked at one another in disbelief. EXODUS was the first human ship to survive a Screen attack and was now the first human ship to destroy a Screen vessel. Crew members weren't sure whether to celebrate or keep quiet. They chose to remain silent, but all felt jubilation.
John assumed his relief and confidence wouldn't waiver, but now that they had destroyed a Screen ship he was deeply concerned. In fact, he felt almost in a panic. He never thought much about what to do after this point as it was almost inconceivable. They may be flying out of the solar system after successfully defeating their enemy, but John's mind remained focused on the tactical situation and he didn't like what he was coming up with.
“Commander,” said Julie. “We should proceed full speed out of the system.”
“No,” replied John. Julie was taken aback by the intensity of his response. “Lieutenant Jacobson, increase speed to one-half until we reach Neptune, then drop to one quarter speed. Lieutenant Brandus, I want our scientists to analyze all sensor data from our Screen encounter. Make sure our defenses were full proof. Private Michaels, go over the communications monitors. See if that ship sent out any sort of transmission. We’re to maintain tactical alert until we leave the system.”
John headed out of the pit. Julie quickly followed on his heels and stopped him on the catwalk. “Why are you so worried? We won. We should go to full speed and jump out of here as quick as possible.”
“We’ve finally destroyed one of their ships. Don’t you think they’re going to send reinforcements to find out what happened?”
“All the more reason for us to move quickly. We only need to worry if the fighter sent out a distress call before we destroyed it. Otherwise, they’ll probably wait a few days when it fails to return to wherever it came from.”
“That’s what humans would do. We don’t know how the Screen operates.” John stopped at the door to the lift and paused for a moment. “A lot can happen between here and Pluto.”
“You sound like that’s going to be a challenge.”
“It may be. That’s where the HORIZON was destroyed by the Screen back in 2073, the first encounter humans had with them was near that planet.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Impossible,” said Donalds.
“I'm afraid it’s true,” replied Vice Admiral Rollins meekly over the DAT. “That experimental ship withstood a Screen attack and subsequently destroyed the alien fighter. It's continuing a course out of the solar system.”
Donalds sat back in his chair. The reports Admiral Johnson submitted over the years on the EXODUS Project did not indicate it had any of the capabilities it displayed against both TERRA and the Screen. It appeared that Johnson had been planning the EXODUS' departure for quite some time and doctored the project's progress reports to hide what they were doing. Donalds was incensed that this had happened under his watch. But he could not do anything about that now. He had to focus on controlling the fallout he was sure was going to c
ome from all of this.
“Who there knows about the ship’s status?” asked Donalds.
“My senior staff and the bridge officers of the capital ships. I restricted monitoring of the EXODUS. I’ve initiated a planetary sensor blackout. None of the civilians should be aware of what’s currently going on.”
The door chime rang to the admiral’s office. He quickly checked his outside door camera to see Admiral Vespia and Superintendent Mortino outside.
“Continue monitoring the ship. Do not talk to the media. I’ll be issuing a cover statement to them shortly.”
“What about the government? I’ve been receiving requests for updates from President Butu’s office.”
“Ignore them. I’ll deal with Butu in due time.” Rollins nodded and the DAT shut off. Donalds wasn't happy about losing control of the EXODUS. He needed to focus on maintaining TERRA's image to the public that they were still in control.
Donalds wasted no time in hitting the button to open his office door. Both Vespia and Mortino walked in together.
“Linda, Paul. I hope you have information that I can use.” He buried the frustration he exhibited towards Rollins, not wanting his visitors to see how jaded he was that the situation developed contrary to his expectations. A good leader had to maintain a civil demeanor to instill confidence in his subordinates.
“We’ve apprehended several members of the EXODUS Project on Earth,” reported Vespia. “Most have not cooperated with us. But we were able to encourage a few of them to disclose some pertinent information.” Linda never used the word torture; however, Donalds knew exactly what she meant. Admiral Vespia was quite skilled in the art of interrogations.
“You’re not going to believe this,” she said, handing him a folder. “But Oliver gave command of that ship to those missing cadets.”
“That can't be,” said Donalds. "No one with any common sense would give command of a capital ship to cadets." When Rollins mentioned that they had identified John Roberts issuing communications from EXODUS he assumed he was performing his duty as a communication officer. He never considered that a cadet would be the one commanding the ship. He flipped through the folder and quickly glanced at the dossiers of both John Roberts and Julie Olson while trying to determine what the hell Johnson was thinking.
“I verified the information about the cadets with several project members we’ve apprehended,” confirmed Vespia.
“Johnson must have been desperate if he resorted to cadets commanding the ship,” remarked Donalds. It made it all the more embarrassing that a ship commanded by cadets broke through the fleet. “Do we have any idea why these cadets chose to throw away their careers doing this?”
“Cadet Roberts has always been a problematic individual,” explained Mortino. “He’s is the worst cadet to go through the Academy. His combative behavior made it impossible for him to serve in the fleet and was selected to enter the reserve program as a means of barring him from service.”
“And the girl?”
“Cadet Olson has an excellent record. I can only believe that Cadet Roberts somehow coerced her, perhaps forcibly, into going on that ship. They were roommates.”
“According to what I was able to glean from our captives, she was a willing participant in this plot,” said Vespia, countering Mortino's statement, but the superintendent shook his head.
“Cadet Roberts can be quite persuasive and Cadet Olson's file indicates she has a high regard to following TERRA rules.”
“According to her file,” said Donalds, holding up Julie’s dossier. “She was assigned to be a tour guide at the museum.”
“She wanted to serve as an officer on a TERRA capital ship, but those assignments are restricted,” explained Mortino. Cadets whose family had influence in the fleet were given priority to ship assignments.
“Nevertheless, it seems that she may have felt betrayed being given such an assignment and also had little to loose.” Donalds tossed the files on his desk. “Is there any chance that Cadet Roberts can be reasoned with?”
“No. Cadet Roberts has always put his personal needs above TERRA. Once he has made up his mind no one can change it and he has nothing to come back to now except prison.”
“Do we have information on the ship’s weaknesses to disable it?” asked Vespia.
“That has already been explored. Admiral Johnson was quite thorough in providing us with misinformation about the EXODUS’ capabilities,” replied Donalds. “At this point we cannot stop the ship from leaving the system.”
“So we’re just going to give up?”
“Our goal at this point is to provide information to the public that keeps TERRA in a favorable light and protect our worlds from any retaliation from the Screen," explained Donalds. “Superintendent, you will return to the Academy and await delivery of new dossiers on these cadets to replace their existing ones. We need to portray both as less than desirable characters.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Thank you. Dismissed.” Mortino was taken aback how quickly Donalds was dismissing him. He looked at Vespia who only cracked a half-hearted smile at him. When Mortino left the office the two continued their conversation.
“I had my people board the STAR PRINCESS,” explained Vespia. “To determine why it strayed into the blackout zone during the supposed thruster test.” She pulled a computer chip out of her pocket and tossed it on Donalds desk. He examined it closely as she continued. “We pulled that out of the ship’s navigational computer. It altered the ship’s course but displayed false readings to the helmsman making him think the ship was maintaining its original established course. In essence, they were tricked into flying towards EXODUS.”
“Have you determined who planted the device?”
“No, my people are still interviewing the crew and passengers. I doubt we’ll find the perpetrator among them. The device has a transmitter component to it. It could have been installed while the ship was docked and activated remotely from either Earth or Luna.”
Donalds handed the device back to Vespia. “Check our satellites to see if they picked up any unusual transmission heading to the STAR PRINCESS.” The security chief nodded. “I also want every member of the EXODUS Project still on Earth found and taken into custody,” instructed Donalds. “Use whatever means necessary to get information from those you currently have caught.”
“Regarding that, we had an incident on Earth pursuing a shuttle assigned to the EXODUS Project. My people followed a shuttle to a civilian residence in the city of La Habra, California. Security entered the residence, where it subsequently exploded, killing all of them."
"A trap?" said Donalds.
"So it would appear. The security shuttle was destroyed and the project shuttle departed."
"Any idea of who did this?"
"No, but I looked up the address of the residence. It's owned by Cadet John Roberts."
The information caught the Admiral's curiosity. "Was anyone living at the home?"
"It doesn't appear so. Cadet Roberts parents are deceased and he has a sister who has not lived there for years. We are trying to track her down but it appears she's living off the grid. There's no current record of her anywhere on Earth or the colonies."
"I want that shuttle found," said Donalds. He suspected that Admiral Johnson was the individual who entrapped and killed the security detail. As Cadet Roberts was given command of EXODUS and it would only be fitting for him to offer his home to the admiral to hide from TERRA. “And I want to know how Johnson was able to get the EXODUS off Earth without tipping off security who should have known about this.” Vespia didn’t like the tone of that statement.
“Are you implying this is my fault?”
“You’re in charge of security. If someone is going to take the fall for this, I can assure you it will not be me.”
"I won't be the scapegoat for you Jeremy. If you try to pin this on me I will make sure you go down with me.”
Her threats meant nothing to him. There
were plenty of her subordinates willing to betray and kill her in order to take her place. Donalds was clever and had his own pawns in all the right positions in case a council member proved difficult. “Then Linda, I’d suggest you get to the bottom of why this happened.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“What’s the crew’s status?” John asked Chief Sandoval as they both walked down the corridor. The chief was armed to the hilt with guns and protective gear and made no attempt to conceal his armaments. The attire was a little over the top for John's taste. They defeated one sole Screen fighter and Sandoval appeared ready to take on the entire Screen race.
“All non-essential personnel are either in their quarters or holding up in one of the Central shops,” replied the chief in his gruff tone. “Many still refuse to emerge from hiding. Hell, it was only one measly ship!” John looked over at Sandoval and found his statement amusing. Yes, it was one ship, but the chief was the one walking around as a one man army.
“What’s the next step?” asked Sandoval.
“The ship is heading full speed to Pluto. I want to try and make it to the outer rim before we encounter another Screen ship. Hopefully, TERRA has gone to tactical alert to prepare for a potential invasion.”
“I don’t think they’ll need to worry about that,” commented Sandoval.
“Why do you say that?”
“The Screen would be at a tactical disadvantage to invade. Doesn’t matter how long they’ve been observing us, no Screen ship has ever engaged a capital ship in an actual fight, just small fighters or commercial crafts. They’d be foolish to attempt a large scale engagement against an enemy they’ve never fought in battle before.”
“Even if the enemy is supposedly inferior?”
“Especially if you think the enemy is weaker.”
“Point taken,” said John as they arrived to the doors outside the medical bay. “I want you to keep your men on full security alert. All sensitive areas are to be guarded 24 hours.”
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