“And our damage?” Doc asked.
“Trivial. We took five or six laser hits, but our shields held. One of our stealth transducers will have to be repaired, but my bots can do that.”
I listened to all that was said and made my next decision.
“Amini. Put us on a course to catch up with our retreating flotilla. Once it’s in sight, let’s play tail-end Charlie to protect their rear. And make contact with Dreng and let them know we are OK.”
“How long to get to Base 1 with this gaggle of ships, Wizzy?”
“At least ten Earth hours. You can all go watch on, watch off and get some sleep. You will want to be at your chimpanzee best when we descend on Base 1.”
There he goes again with those insults. Maybe someday we’ll get used to them. Just not right now.
Chapter 23
As Argos and the Resistance ships approached Base 1, we sent out another drone to assess it before we all showed up surrounding the place. To our delight, the recon drone reported no activity, and no attempt had been made to repair the communications center. The storage hulk was still there in space, but no lights or other signs of life could be seen. I briefed the other captains on the nature of the facilities below the surface, and when the first shuttle landed, they sent in two armed teams to check the prison area and the crew’s facilities. They found nothing. The best guess from the inspection teams was that nobody had been there for months.
Wizzy noted that the powered storage hulk brought from Fort Apache could be linked to the existing hulk, plus one of the damaged ships captured earlier in the same triangle design as before, making a staging area for ship conversions and maintenance. Plus, the underground facility would provide great areas for small scale construction and fabrication as well as sleeping and eating areas. In some ways, it was better than Fort Apache. We decided to call it Fort Apache II.
The fact that an asteroid provided a significant portion of the new fort made it easier to set up defenses, and more of them now that everyone knew how important that was.
The next thing to address was what to do with the hostages who had been rescued. I decided to leave that up to them. Of the four, one was not part of the leadership and elected to go home. The leader Zanta decided to stay on at Fort Apache II. The remaining two were compelled to return to Tye, which had been left temporarily leaderless. They would reconstitute the leadership of the Resistance and also promote the building of the fighting force that would ultimately be needed. I was fine with that. After all, it’s their fight and their world at risk. Unfortunately, the remainder of the hostages which were left behind had disappeared like so many of Tye’s people in the past.
After the three hostages were on their way back to Tye, I was surprised by Zanta and Tiana asking to speak privately. I had no objection but was curious. We found an empty room in the area below the surface of the asteroid.
Taking a seat at the lone table in the room, Zanta spoke.
“Captain Nick, I won’t embarrass you by asking who you are. What is obvious, however, is that you are not traders. Your crew and your ship possess capabilities far in advance of anything we have seen. Argos is not a common cargo ship by any means, and you have an AI, not the norm for a cargo ship. To say nothing of the fact that it is almost sentient.”
I was hoping and praying that Wizzy wouldn’t jump in and say something like, “What do you mean ALMOST sentient, you bunch of mush heads.” Fortunately, he was silent for once. Zanta continued.
“Regardless of who you are, we are most grateful for what you have done for us without any requests or even demand for favors. I believe you can be trusted with what we are about to tell you. We also have some secrets.”
That they had secrets was not a surprise, but this conversation was leading up to something interesting. They had my full attention.
“Over the past several years, a few of us in the leadership have been secretly sponsoring a ship development program. We have a number of shipyards around Tye, and mostly they build space-capable cargo ships and small auxiliaries for atmospheric commerce. Gurko would not knowingly let us build anything else. However, we have managed to run this secret program to build a few small ships capable of space flight, which are armed and shielded like their larger siblings. It has been difficult to keep this project from Gurko, but it has worked. Like Argos, they look innocent but have offensive power. They have never been used as offensive weapons, but we now believe the time has come to put them to use. Tiana can give you some of the details.”
This was getting better and better.
“As Zanta has said, Nick, we do have some fighting ships. They are about the size of Gurko’s gunboats, perhaps a little bigger. They are shielded and have the same stealth capability as our larger cargo ships. They are FTL capable by design, but we seldom have the opportunity or need to use it or even test it regularly. They are armed with the same basic laser capabilities as our armed cargo ships and have a crude, by your standards, missile capability.”
I was fascinated. This could be a game changer when it came time to confront Gurko where he lives.
“How many do you have?” I asked. Curiosity was killing me.
“We have twelve operational and three more in the final assembly process. More have started building. But we have a request.”
“What is it?”
“We would like you and Mr. Wizzy to upgrade them like you have done for the cargo ships, especially with the plasma cannons. Can that be done?”
Before I could answer, Wizzy broke in. He couldn’t contain himself any longer.
“Of course, it can. Just a small challenge to my amazing capabilities. When can we start? More importantly, where will the parts come from? Our stockpile is rather low, you know.”
“Thank you, Wizzy, for answering a question addressed to me.”
“No problemo, Captain Nick. Always happy to help.”
I shook my head as I began to realize that Wizzy would not likely change his ways anytime soon.
“You heard what Wizzy said. If he says it can be done, it can. However, I have to agree with him on parts. We can fabricate much of what we need, but the parts that came with those three cargo ships that we captured went a long way in accelerating the pace of conversion. Any ideas on how we can get more?”
Both Zanta and Tiana slumped a little in their chairs. They hadn’t thought about this. Zanta’s brows furrowed as he mindlessly stroked his chin with one hand. He was thinking. Then he stopped.
“I think we can get most or all of the parts you need. There will be a price, however.”
Here it comes. There is always a price to pay.
“What price?” I asked.
“We would have to stop or delay production on all ships of every type, then take the parts in ready storage to give to you.”
“Does that include parts for the three ships in final assembly?”
“I don’t think so. I will have to ask that question of the yards.”
“Then, as soon as the parts and the gunboats get here, we can start. We will give them priority over the larger conversions we have planned. Will that do?” I used the term gunboats without thinking, and the name seemed to catch on over time.
Smiles broke out on the faces of both our guests.
“Yes, of course.”
I stopped for a moment as a potential problem raised its ugly head.
“Does Larona know about these ships?”
“No,” Zanta replied tersely. “She was never involved in the discussions or the execution. If you don’t mind, Tiana would like to leave for Tye right away to get things started.”
“Fine by me.” Things were looking up.
Four days later, Tiana returned with Dreng’s cargo bay filled with parts and four gunboats in trail. To me, they looked like ducklings following their mother. Though obviously, they weren’t as help
less. During the five days, Wizzy did what he could without parts, which included the fabrication of the cannon assemblies using raw materials mined from the asteroid. He probably could have done the complete job by fabricating all the required parts from raw material, but it would have taken more time than I believed we had and might have even slowed down cargo ship conversions. To his credit, Wizzy designed a dropdown turret for the gunboats so that when retracted, they would still have the same innocent appearance they had before the refit. We repeated the same refit cycle three times until all the gunboats were finished. Half returned to Tye while the other half remained at Fort Apache. Oh yeah, we dropped the II designation because it was just awkward, and nobody used it anyway. The three ships in the assembly process would be taken care of one at a time when they were ready.
Sif cornered me on day six as I was taking a break in the galley of the Argos.
“You know, Captain Nick, that spaceships alone will not be enough.”
“What?” I was confused. “What are you talking about?”
“To defeat Gurko and know that he is dead or to capture him, we will have to land troops on Krona and seek him out. It is always that way in war. Victory requires it. I believe your people call it ‘boots on the ground’.”
“And we don’t have enough of those, right?’
“That is correct. The people of Tye have heart and will fight. I have seen it. But without training, they will not win against the professional troops I believe Gurko has on Krona.”
“And I take it you have a plan to change that?”
“A plan, yes. Time, however, is our enemy. It would take an Arkon several sub-cycles (months) to become what we call warriors. These Tye people might take a cycle (year) or more.”
“You make it sound impossible.”
“To become true warriors, yes. To become trained fighters, no. I believe that Tiana and I can train a force on Tye to become much better than they are now. With your permission, of course.”
“I hate being without you Sif, but I think you’re right. Have you talked with Tiana?”
“Yes, and she agrees.”
“And you two can get along?”
“For this, I believe we can.”
“How long to train the force?” This was all taking more time than I thought.
“If we press them and we accept less than perfection, three of your months.”
Three months? Wizzy’s best guess was one month for the destroyer to be ready. The optimal time for the attack would be before the destroyer was on line again. However, I couldn’t see Gurko coming out without it. Based on what Sif was asking and my assessment of the progress of our small Navy, we needed more time, but not three months.
“You have two months and no more. They have already had some training. Do the best you can.”
By the stern stare Sif gave me, I could see he wasn’t happy. Then he straightened his posture.
“We will do it,” came the Arkon’s reply. We both stood. “Tiana and I will depart for Tye later today. We will take one of the gunboats as transportation since they still look like small cargo ships.” The Red warrior nodded and left to make his arrangements.
I turned to go to the bridge and ran straight into Doc.
“Oof! I didn’t see you there, Doc. Sorry.”
“That is alright. I was waiting for my turn to talk with you.”
Had someone posted a sign nearby telling the world it was Talk to Nick Day?
“What’s on your mind?” I asked.
“Nothing as heavy as Sif’s request. I have been approached by the Resistance to conduct some medical training and perhaps use our learning chair. OK?”
“You plan to do that here, correct? We can’t afford to be without another crew member.”
“Oh, yes. It will all be done here or on the asteroid.”
“Fine. Do it.”
Doc said thanks and left. I waited a moment to see who was standing in the wings to ask something else. But nobody was there. I was pleased the Argos crew had embraced what we were doing and had chosen to lend a voluntary hand. We were going to need it. Since Gurko wouldn’t come out and face us, the only choice left was to go to him. That would be a dangerous fight when it came.
A little larger than Earth, Tye had a bigger land mass than Earth with only three continents and smaller oceans. Of the three continents, two were in the extreme south or north and were frigid, inhospitable places to survive. The third continent was, therefore, where the vast majority of the planet’s inhabitants lived. It was a big continent, covering most of the circumference of the planet. Imagine a landmass larger than the combined area of China, the United States, Canada, and all of Europe. Then imagine trying to find a relatively small armed force conducting training, likely in densely forested territory.
Tiana and Sif didn’t help detection matters any. The two picked the most remote spot in the most rugged and treed part of the continent to plant themselves and train. The only way in or out was by stealth shuttle. They used no generators or powered equipment. They counted on solar power for the basic necessities, and limited communications to low-power laser radios and hand signals. Actual weapons training and firing was done in a series of caves lining the base of a high ridge. Combat training was done with a tactical engagement simulation system. Sensors placed strategically around the body of a fighter changed color and even beeped when struck by a laser strapped to an opponent’s weapon. Quiet and effective. The same goes for larger and more diverse weapons and targets. Once the red light goes on and/or the beeping starts, the player is dead and can no longer participate. You might think these simulators were something Wizzy cooked up, but he didn’t. The resistance developed them on their own. Smart people if left to themselves.
Tiana and Sif sat on a log cut to be a seat in the training camp. They were coated with dust, grime, and sweat after a particularly challenging session on breaching blocked pathways and passageways. Tiana took a drink of water from a container and passed it to Sif.
“What do you think about their progress so far, Sif?”
“Better than when we started, but there is still much for them to learn. What about you?”
“My observation is that they are starting to see themselves as teams that are responsible for one another. They have been working non-stop. That, to me, is a big step.”
“It is, but tactical thinking, accuracy of fire, and stealthy movement still need work. They are not ready yet to go against trained troops. Yes, they have improved. Perhaps we can give them more time on the firing ranges to improve accuracy. Then we can increase the platoon against platoon action and then jump it to company on company — no interference from us. Let them figure it out. We can debrief them afterward, showing mistakes and successes. What do you think?”
Tiana thought about that for a few moments, then nodded.
“That sounds good. Plan for it. Nick is pushing these troops to be ready within two months which will end with a real attack on Larona and her forces. I wouldn’t count on all that time, however.” Sif nodded in agreement.
“Have you heard anything on Larona’s location and force size yet?” Tiana asked.
In the time they had worked together, Tiana had come to notice that when Sif thought of Larona, he couldn’t help but roll out an Arkon growl… like a really big skusik (similar to a Doberman Pinscher on Tye) — scary, she thought.
The growl came as expected.
“Not so far. My best guess is that it would have to be near one of the major cities, but it’s only a guess. Don’t you have to leave to join the ships for their training maneuvers?”
Tiana didn’t respond right away. She stared at the ground and scooped up a handful of dirt and watched it slowly sift through her fingers. She didn’t want to leave and throw all the responsibility onto Sif. Finally, she shook her hand free of the clinging dirt fragments and
looked up at Sif. It couldn’t be helped.
“Yes, I leave this afternoon. I feel like I’m running out on you.”
“No, you are not. You have made my work here easier and me acceptable to your people. I can take it from here. We will need you and your ships before these troops are needed against Gurko. If we fail in space, it will be over.”
Chapter 24
When Tiana arrived at Fort Apache a day later, she was impressed. In the time she had been gone, there had been great progress in the creation of a fleet. In orbit over the new Resistance base were too many ships to easily count, especially through the small viewscreen of the fast shuttle, which flew into Argos’ lower cargo bay. When the pressure was equalized and the ramp lowered, she saw Amini and me waiting for her.
“Welcome back. You got here just in time,” I told her. “We start our maneuvers to train the cargo ship captains and crews in space combat a day from now.” If we were going to be successful in defeating Gurko’s force in space, these civilian crews needed to have as much preparation as possible to face real warships and armed cargo ships led by people with more experience than the Resistance. “You’ll just have time to get settled before we start. How are Sif and the troops getting along?”
“Because Sif is an Arkon Red, it was tense for a while, but when they saw what he could do for them, they started to fall in line. It would be untrue to say they worship him, but they respect him. That’s more important.”
“Excellent. Leave your things in the shuttle, and we’ll ferry you over to Dreng when we’ve had a chance to talk. Are you hungry?”
“No, mostly tired. Living and training in a military camp for weeks doesn’t allow much rest.”
I could appreciate that. When I was in Iraq, I spent most of my time in the field, collecting intelligence and constantly on the move. I would have killed for just one night in a real bed — and air conditioning.
We had a table and some chairs set up in the Argos’ cargo bay with cold water and some snacks from the galley just in case. Mindful of the rest Tiana wanted, we kept things short.
Crucible: Records of the Argos Page 23