“Are you going to contact Katie when we get to the spacedock?” Angela asked in a teasing voice. “You know she wants to hear from you.”
“Katie,” repeated Jeremy as he thought about what his parents must be going through.
He was glad that he was on the New Horizon and had managed to avoid seeing Katie, but in hindsight, he knew that he should probably contact the fifteen-year-old and check on her. After all, her parents had put up with him while he was attending school on Earth. The least he could do was speak to Katie.
“Give her a call, Jeremy,” Kelsey urged. She could well recall what it had been like to be a teenage girl. “It might do her a lot of good.”
“Alright,” replied Jeremy, knowing it was the right thing to do.
“Who is this Katie?” asked Kevin, curious to know who this girl was that they were talking about.
“It’s a long story,” Jeremy began, not really wanting to talk about it.
“We have time,” Kevin said as he took another bite of his hamburger.
“Yes,” Angela spoke with a big grin. “Tell Kevin about your fifteen-year-old girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” spoke Jeremy, throwing a warning glance at Angela. Then with a sigh, he looked over at Kevin. “It all began years ago. My family’s best friends are the Johnsons who live down on Earth.”
“Like Greg Johnson, who was with your father when they found the Avenger?” Kevin asked as his curiosity grew.
“Yes, Greg Johnson,” Jeremy replied. He then went on to explain his relationship with Katie and how he had spent much of his time on Earth living with the Johnsons and attending school.
Kelsey listened with a gentle smile on her face. She knew that Jeremy would be a good role model for Katie, even though it was obvious he hadn’t figured that one out yet. Kelsey had been impressed with the young teenager and was determined that Jeremy would be there to give her needed encouragement.
Angela continued to eat her stew and listen. She had met Katie briefly at the graduation party and had been extremely impressed by the teenager. For some reason, Angela had the feeling that Katie would have a big impact on all of their lives. Sometimes she got these feelings about people she had met. Angela hesitated for a moment and stopped eating her stew as she thought about what this could mean. She had no idea, but she suspected that sometime soon they would all find out.
Chapter Seven
Katie was feeling ecstatic. Jeremy had called her from the spacedock after the New Horizon had returned from its FTL trials. They had talked for nearly twenty minutes with Jeremy asking her how she was doing in her classes and how she liked living at the academy. For the first time in several years, their conversation had been very amiable. It made Katie realize that Jeremy was someone very special and always would be that to her. However, because of the age difference that’s all it ever would be.
Tossing her blonde hair back behind her shoulders, she gazed over at the vid screen and Ariel. The two of them talked daily about Katie’s experiences at the academy and what she was learning. One thing she had kept secret from Ariel were the special programs she had been working on. Katie was just about finished working on the last program, which was the centerpiece to her being able to sneak on board the New Horizon.
“I am glad that Jeremy called you,” Ariel began, her dark eyes watching Katie closely. She had noticed how happy the young teenager had become while she was speaking with Jeremy. Ariel knew that Jeremy could be a very positive influence on Katie if he would just accept the responsibility. She just wished there were someway she could communicate that to Jeremy.
Ariel had noticed that, for the past several weeks, Katie had been working extra hard on her handheld computer on some type of program or programs. Katie wouldn’t tell Ariel what she was working on other than it was a surprise and she wanted to keep it secret until it was ready. Ariel accepted this as many humans didn’t want to share secrets until they felt satisfied whatever they were working on would work. Ariel suspected it was to eliminate any possibility of embarrassment.
“I'm glad that he called too,” Katie replied with a pleased grin breaking out on her face. “It’s nice to know that he at least thinks about me every once in a while.”
“Jeremy has been busy on the New Horizon,” Ariel responded with a nod of her head. Her black hair was slightly curled and lying upon her shoulders. “This mission is extremely important to the Federation survivors as well as Earth. Jeremy and the other cadets are fortunate to be included on the initial exploration trip of the New Horizon.”
“Two new planets to colonize,” responded Katie, thinking about how exciting it would be to set foot on a new world. Ariel had told Katie all about the Tau Ceti system.
“Both perfectly safe to colonize,” Ariel added. “The Federation survivors have surveyed both planets, and they are both excellent colonization candidates.”
“Do you ever regret not getting to speak to Jeremy or Mathew like you do me?” Katie asked curiously.
From what she had learned from Ariel, she knew that her older brother was based on the Federation shipyard that orbited New Tellus. It was amazing to her all the secrets that were being kept.
“Yes, I do,” responded Ariel slowly. It was something she had always wanted to do. “There was so much that I could have helped them with, and I really would have enjoyed talking to them.”
Through the vid screens, she had watched all three children grow up whenever they were on the Moon. However, Jason and Greg had forbid her to speak to Mathew or Jeremy. Ariel understood why, she just wished things had been different. She could speak to Mathew now since he knew about the Federation survivors and what was in Earth’s future. However, Mathew had been assigned to the shipyard, and it would be a while before Ariel saw him again. When she did, she planned to have a long talk with the young man.
“I really miss Mathew,” commented Katie, wishing she could talk to him.
It had been months since he had started his new assignment. She was also still amazed at what all her parents had managed to keep secret from the two of them all these years. It explained why a lot of times when she or her brother had walked in on their parents, they had stopped talking or changed the subject.
“He is your brother,” Ariel replied in understanding. “You should miss him.”
Ariel had long conversations with Clarissa on occasion as they were still the only two functioning AIs on Federation ships. There had been some discussion amongst the Federation scientists about creating additional AIs, but nothing had been decided.
“Ariel?” asked Katie, looking over at the vid screen. “How often do shuttles go up to the spacedock?”
“Every day,” Ariel replied, mystified as to why Katie would ask this question. “If you want to visit the spacedock there are occasional tours scheduled for some of the students who are attending the summer session. As a matter of fact, I believe there is a special tour scheduled for the same time the New Horizon leaves for Tau Ceti.”
“I think Lisa mentioned something about that,” commented Katie, trying to sound only slightly interested. “I wonder if there is any chance that I could go up to the spacedock? I would love to see the New Horizon depart, especially since Jeremy and Kelsey are on board.”
Ariel was silent for a moment. She had kept her relationship with Katie a secret from Lisa and Jason. She knew they both would be highly upset with her if they knew she was talking to Katie and all she had told her.
“I don’t know,” replied Ariel, her eyes narrowing as she thought about it. “This special tour is by invitation only, and it is for seniors. The other tours wouldn’t be so hard for you to get on.”
“Can you talk to Lisa and mention the possibility of my being there?” Katie asked in a pleading voice. “I would really like to say goodbye to Jeremy and Kelsey.”
Ariel thought about the possibilities. She didn’t want to disappoint Katie. She also didn’t want to speak to Lisa about this; it might make her
suspicious. “I could add your name to the list of attendees at the last minute. You have to be recommended by one of your instructors. I could arrange it so it will look as if an instructor recommended you.”
“Ariel, that would be great!” Katie said, her eyes lighting up. “Can you do it, please?”
“We shall see,” replied Ariel, knowing this would be a little bit risky. If Lisa found out that the senior list had been manipulated to add Katie’s name, it wouldn’t take her long to figure out who had been responsible.
Later, Katie was lying on her bed with the lights out. She allowed a pleased smile to cross her face; so far, her plan was working. She only needed one more bit of information from Ariel, then she would be ready to sneak aboard the New Horizon. Letting out a deep breath, she wondered just how much trouble she would be in when she was finally discovered. Surely, with Jeremy and Kelsey on board it wouldn’t be too bad.
-
Colonel Sheen was sitting behind the command console in the Command Center of the WarStorm. Admiral Barnes was standing next to her, watching intently as the warship closed on its intended target.
“Twenty thousand kilometers to target,” Lieutenant Stalls called out as he watched his sensors and close in scanners.
“We have target lock with the forward laser batteries,” Lieutenant Mason reported from Tactical.
“How close do you have to get to be in effective range?” Admiral Barnes asked as she watched the main viewscreen, which showed a small asteroid in its center. The asteroid looked dark and gray and was pockmarked from numerous small meteor strikes.
“Minimal effective range is one thousand kilometers,” Amanda replied. “However, the closer we get the more damage the lasers can cause. There is some dispersion of the beams the farther away we are. The experts back on Ceres recommend an engagement range of two hundred kilometers or less against a heavily shielded opponent if we want the lasers to inflict the maximum amount of damage.”
“Admiral Anlon sent me the specs on the WarStorm,” continued Admiral Barnes, turning her head to look at Colonel Sheen. “I was amazed to find out that your energy screen is twice as powerful as the ones currently in use on our battle cruisers.”
“Yes,” replied Amanda, glancing over at the admiral with a nod. She was extremely pleased with some of the advances in technology that had been implemented on the WarStorm. “The WarStorm has an extra fusion generator that is used primarily to power the energy screen. It would take multiple nuclear strikes in the megaton range to knock it down.”
Admiral Barnes nodded her head and shifted her gaze back to the asteroid on the viewscreen. “The Hocklyn’s favorite weapons are nukes, even though they never deployed any that powerful in the war. It wasn’t necessary, but against a warship such as yours, they might.”
“Hopefully we won’t give them that chance,” replied Amanda, evenly. That was the one part of the mission that still made her feel nervous. Finding a Hocklyn ship and engaging it to see if there had been any technological advances could be extremely dangerous.
“One thousand kilometers,” Lieutenant Stalls called out as the WarStorm continued do close on its target.
“Standby to fire lasers,” ordered Amanda, looking over at Tactical. She was particularly interested in seeing how much damage the new lasers would cause to the asteroid.
“Ready to fire,” Tactical responded. The officer’s finger was hovering over the button that would initiate the firing of the lasers.
“Fire!” Amanda ordered, her eyes now focused on the main viewscreen.
Instantly, four orange-red lances of light speared forth from the WarStorm, striking the kilometer thick asteroid. Immediately upon impact, the surface of the asteroid erupted in bright explosions as its surface became superheated. Several moments later, the asteroid erupted in a bright explosion as it tore itself apart.
“Target destroyed,” Lieutenant Stalls reported as the asteroid changed from one target to several hundred smaller ones on his screens.
“Excellent,” Amanda replied satisfied with the performance of the lasers. “Helm, take us in closer and then turn us broadside to the smaller asteroids. Tactical, once we turn activate our point defense weapons and take out the remaining pieces of that asteroid.”
“Very impressive,” Admiral Barnes commented. She would have to speak to Admiral Anlon about upgrading the laser batteries on the shipyard as well as installing this new and more powerful energy screen that the WarStorm was equipped with.
For the next several hours, the WarStorm engaged and destroyed numerous small asteroids in the asteroid field as they tested the ship’s different weapon systems. At the end of the day’s tests there was only one weapon system that remained to be tested.
“Standby to launch Devastator missile,” ordered Amanda, taking a deep breath. She had saved this until last since it was the most powerful weapon the WarStorm was equipped with. As soon as she said those words, she could sense an increased aura of anticipation in the Command Center.
This was the test Amanda was most curious about. The new Devastator missile was armed with a ten-megaton nuclear warhead mounted on a special missile that had a miniature sublight drive installed. It was capable of reaching a top speed of one thousand kilometers per second five seconds after launch. To reach such a speed, the small drive unit and inertia dampening system would burn themselves out seven seconds after being activated.
On the main viewscreen, a large asteroid five kilometers in diameter was centered. Its dark gray surface seemed to be waiting for the inferno that was soon to come.
“Major Fields, will you please enter your code for the nuclear weapon’s release.”
Major Fields stepped over to the command console and entered his command code. As soon as he was finished, Amanda entered hers.
“Use of nuclear weapons has been authorized,” she communicated to Tactical.
Admiral Barnes was quite interested in this test. The shipyard was armed with Devastator missiles as offensive weapons, but none of the missiles on the shipyard had warheads in the megaton range or were equipped with a sublight drive. She was highly curious to see this new missile in operation.
“Nuclear weapons release has been authorized,” Lieutenant Mason repeated as he pressed several buttons on his weapons console. Two ensigns sat next to him in front of similar weapons consoles. Any of the three could control any of the weapon systems on the ship.
On the outside of the WarStorm, a small metal hatch slid open. Inside the Command Center, a warning alarm began sounding indicating that a nuclear weapon was about to be launched.
“Devastator missile is armed and ready to launch,” Mason reported as his finger hovered over the missile release button. “Missile is locked on target. Current range to target is five hundred kilometers.”
“Launch,” Amanda ordered, her eyes glued to the viewscreen. She was anxious to see the damage this warhead would cause. She could feel her heart racing, this weapon was their ace in the hole against the Hocklyns and the AIs.
“Missile launched,” reported Mason as he pressed the button.
On one of the large side viewscreens, the missile made a brief appearance as it erupted from its missile silo, then it seemed to vanish. Almost immediately, a brilliant explosion lit up the asteroid on the viewscreen. The entire asteroid vanished as nuclear fire seemed to consume the material the asteroid was comprised of.
“The missile seemed to vanish as it left its silo,” Admiral Barnes uttered amazed at how quickly the missile had struck the asteroid. “It would be almost impossible to shoot something like this down with defensive weapons.”
With a slight shudder, Admiral Barnes knew that a weapon like this would make the defensive batteries on the shipyard obsolete. One strike from a missile of this type would probably bring down the shipyard’s energy shield and leave the armored hull unprotected from attack. After seeing what this new weapon could do, Barnes felt it was even more important to upgrade the shipyard’s energy sc
reen to the same level as the WarStorm’s screen.
“Even the WarStorm could not shoot down a missile equipped with a sublight drive like the Devastator is,” replied Amanda, nodding her head in agreement. “These missiles are extremely expensive to build. The WarStorm only has four more remaining. Those we will save for the mission. We only had the one to practice with.”
“Hopefully, this is a technology the Hocklyns will never develop,” Barnes added as she continued to gaze at the screen and the burning asteroid. It was frightening to realize the destructive power of this missile.
After a few more minutes, the nuclear fire was gone, and all that was left was a smoldering asteroid with a huge kilometer deep hole blasted in its center.
“What are the plans for these missiles?” asked Admiral Barnes, turning to face Colonel Sheen. “They are obviously too expensive to build for general deployment to the fleet.”
“From what Admiral Anlon told me, they are to be used against the AIs,” replied Amanda, hoping she didn’t have to use one of the missiles on her mission. If she did, then they had run into some serious trouble. “It’s hoped that multiple hits from weapons like the Devastator will knock down their shields, allowing us to destroy their ships.”
“I’ve seen some of the vids from the war,” Admiral Barnes spoke in a more subdued voice. “Even from multiple nuclear strikes, the AI’s shields never wavered. It might take a weapon even more powerful than the Devastator to take them down.”
“Perhaps,” replied Amanda, knowing the admiral was correct. “But we still have a lot of time to develop weapons to do so. At least with the new Devastator warhead, we might have a chance if they find us earlier than anticipated.”
Or if your mission leads them back to us, Admiral Barnes thought worriedly. She knew this mission was important to check on the current movement of the Hocklyn fleet as well as to determine if they had deployed any new technology. However, there was some risk involved if the WarStorm were detected. She wanted to make sure the shipyard and New Tellus were as strongly defended as possible in case this scouting mission brought the Hocklyns down upon them.
Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars) Page 14