Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars)

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Not good,” answered Jason, coming over to stand next to her. Lisa was still sitting down. “Greg is going to catch a shuttle and come up to the Moon. He wants to talk to Ariel.”

  Ariel face blanched at hearing Jason’s words. Greg was coming to speak to her. It was only now beginning to dawn on her just how much trouble she was in. What if they decided to wipe her program because of this? Her actions had endangered one of their children. As she was thinking about what could happen to her, she received a message from Clarissa. Clarissa was the AI on the Vindication, which was still docked in one of the large bays on Ceres.

  “I just received a message from Clarissa, and she reports that the StarFury has jumped to Tau Ceti. The New Horizon is already inbound toward the liquid water zone. The ship seems to be functioning normally, and they are proceeding on their mission.”

  Jason stared at Ariel for a moment without answering. He didn’t know what to do with Ariel. The mere fact that she could disobey his orders or ignore them had come as a major shock. It made him wonder just what else she was capable of. Were there other things she had done over the years that he wasn’t aware of?

  “That’s good, Ariel,” Jason responded in a voice still tinged with agitation. “Keep us informed. You also had better start thinking about how you’re going to explain your actions to Greg and what’s been going on between you and Katie. The fact that you revealed classified information to a fifteen-year-old is not going to go over very well either.”

  Lisa looked up at Ariel, still finding it hard to accept what had happened. She was surprised to see what looked like tears in Ariel’s eyes. “Why did you do it?” she asked, trying to understand the AI’s reasoning. She thought she had known Ariel and what the AI was capable of.”

  Ariel looked at Lisa; she had modified her program over the years so it better reflected her innermost thoughts or feelings. She had wanted to look more human, to feel more human. “I wanted a close friend, someone I could confide in,” confessed Ariel, looking down and away from Lisa. “I was never allowed to speak to Mathew or Jeremy, and I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to become friends with Katie.”

  Lisa and Jason were silent as they looked at each other. Perhaps it had been a mistake to keep Ariel away from Mathew and Jeremy. Now look at what it had led to.

  “You can speak to them now,” Lisa reminded Ariel. “Mathew knows the truth, and soon so will Jeremy.”

  “But it won’t be the same,” Ariel spoke with sadness in her voice. “I wanted to experience them growing up, to be a part of their lives. I guess I was just lonely.”

  Jason nodded his head, knowing that part of the guilt for what had happened also lay upon him. Sometimes it was difficult to remember just how advanced Ariel’s AI program was. Even the scientists on Ceres were amazed at how human Ariel and even Clarissa seemed at times.

  “When all of this is over Ariel, we will have a long talk. Perhaps we were wrong to keep you out of our children’s lives, but that still doesn’t excuse you for what has happened with Katie.”

  “I understand, Jason,” replied Ariel, raising her dark eyes and using her Avatar’s hand to wipe the tears from her eyes.

  Lisa gazed at Ariel, her mind a turmoil of conflicting emotions. What Ariel was displaying and what she had done clearly demonstrated that the AI on the Avenger had evolved into a real life form. She wasn’t a computer program any longer. Lisa couldn’t believe that she hadn’t realized what was happening over the years. Perhaps she had been so wrapped up in studying and working with Ariel that she hadn’t realized that the AI was still evolving and becoming more human every day.

  -

  Jeremy entered the Command Center and saw that Lieutenant Nelson was already there. Commander Tellson and Major Maher had already left to go get some rest. The other members of the duty shift that normally worked with Lieutenant Nelson were also reporting for duty.

  “Lieutenant Strong, take the executive officer’s post at the plotting table,” Nelson ordered. He had dropped the cadet part of Jeremy’s rank once he was satisfied the young man could perform all the jobs in the Command Center with a reasonable amount of competence.

  Nelson waited until the duty shift had been changed and his people were all at their stations before continuing. “As all of you know, we have successfully jumped into the Tau Ceti system. We are currently 300 million kilometers from the system’s primary, and we are moving in system at thirty percent power on our sublight drive. Tau Ceti Five is 142 million kilometers from our current position and will be the first world we investigate. At our current speed, we will arrive in extreme sensor range in 2.4 hours.”

  Everyone was paying attention to Lieutenant Nelson. The crew knew that long-range observations of Tau Ceti had indicated that there were five planets in the system. All of the planets were orbiting within 205 million kilometers of the star. Tau Ceti Four and Tau Ceti Five were both in the liquid water zone. Tau Ceti Four was over four times the mass of Earth and Tau Ceti Five was nearly seven times the mass of the Earth. There was speculation that more planets lay farther out from the star, but Earth and space based telescopes had not been able to detect any.

  Jeremy gazed speculatively at the plotting table. It showed the New Horizon’s current position as a green icon and the five known planets in the Tau Ceti system as blue circles. The smallest was Tau Ceti One, which orbited extremely close to the star at a little less than 16 million kilometers. However, planets four and five were what held Jeremy’s attention. While they were both much larger than Earth, they could potentially have liquid water and a breathable atmosphere. However, Jeremy couldn’t see how someone could live on either because of the higher gravity.

  Time passed as the New Horizon moved farther in system. Occasionally a wayward asteroid or what might be a comet would show up on Ensign Robert’s long-range sensors. These Ensign Roberts carefully logged and put into the ship’s records. While the system might not be suitable for colonizing, it might be rich in natural resources.

  At last, the long-range sensors began picking up Tau Ceti Five. Lieutenant Nelson had the sensor scans put up on the main viewscreen so everyone could see what Ensign Roberts was recording.

  Kelsey looked up at the viewscreen and smiled. Tau Ceti Five had a large number of moons in orbit. Several of them seemed to be quite large.

  Jeremy looked in surprise at the sensor screen as more detailed information started to come in from the scans. “Are those moons that are showing up?” he asked looking over at Ensign Roberts. There must be a dozen or more.

  “Yeah, and several are quite large,” Roberts replied as he entered more commands on his console. After several moments of intensely scrutinizing the data, he turned around to face Lieutenant Nelson. “Sir, two of those moons in orbit of Tau Ceti Five are nearly Earth size.”

  “Earth size,” said Lieutenant Nelson, standing up and walking around the command console to come and stand behind Ensign Roberts. “What are their orbits?”

  “The closest one to Tau Ceti Five is 1.2 million kilometers from the planet; the second one is nearly 2 million kilometers away.”

  “Are you sure they are orbiting the planet?” asked Nelson gazing intently at Ensign Roberts.

  “Yes, sir, and because they are both orbiting Tau Ceti Five, they are in the liquid water zone.”

  Nelson could feel the excitement suddenly rising in the Command Center. “Calm down, people,” he ordered in an even voice. “We don’t know yet if they are capable of supporting life. All we know at the moment is that we have two Earth size planets in the liquid water zone.”

  “But they could be habitable,” Angela burst out, feeling the excitement. “If they have a suitable atmosphere we could colonize them.”

  Lieutenant Nelson shook his head. “Perhaps,” he replied not wanting anyone jumping to conclusions before they had more conclusive data. “But let’s not jump to any conclusions. We will know what we have as we get closer to Tau Ceti Five.”

  J
eremy watched for the next hour as the New Horizon moved closer to Tau Ceti Five. The closer they got the more promising the two orbiting planets looked. Everyone was watching Ensign Roberts as the latest sensor scans were analyzed.

  “Well?” asked Lieutenant Nelson, waiting for Ensign Roberts to report the latest findings.

  “Sensor scans are showing large amounts of liquid water on both planets,” Roberts confirmed with excitement in his voice. “If there is liquid water, there has to be oxygen as well.”

  Nelson leaned back in the command chair and smiled. “I think it’s time we called Commander Tellson to come to the Command Center. He will want to see this.”

  A few minutes later, Commander Tellson was in the Command Center, staring with stunned amazement at what the long-range sensors were showing. He spent some time reviewing the data and then looked over at Lieutenant Nelson, allowing a huge grin to break out across his face.

  “If these readings are correct, we have two possible Earth type planets on our sensors.”

  “Yes, sir,” replied Nelson, nodding his head in agreement. Looking over at the commander, he added. “We will soon be entering Tau Ceti Five’s gravity well. Should we reduce speed?”

  “Yes. Reduce speed to ten percent sublight. Let’s take our time and do this right. I want the entire space around Tau Ceti five scanned thoroughly. This is too important to screw up.”

  For the next hour, the ship moved closer to Tau Ceti Five at a reduced speed. Major Maher came to the Command Center and watched quietly as the ship neared scanner range. Everyone waited tensely as the first close in scans of the two Earth size planets were run and analyzed.

  Several scientists had appeared in the Command Center and were looking excitedly at the data as the information appeared on the computer screens. “This is amazing,” Marcus Lynch commented as he gazed at the data. “Both planets are very Earth like. The planet nearest Tau Ceti Five is comprised of forty percent water with an atmosphere very similar to Earth. There are obvious signs of plant life on its surface. The second planet has a larger amount of liquid water. Nearly sixty percent of its surface seems to be covered with it. Its atmosphere is also similar to Earth. I don’t see any reason why people couldn’t live on either planet. We will have to run some more tests, but these two planets are exactly what we were looking for!”

  Several crewmembers broke out in cheers. A quick, irritated glance from Major Maher calmed them back down.

  Commander Tellson nodded his head in satisfaction. “Major Maher, recall the first duty shift. They should be rested enough by now. We will go into orbit around the outer Earth type planet first and begin taking more thorough readings. If they are satisfactory, we will send down some atmospheric probes for further tests.” Looking around the Command Center, he smiled at the crew. He couldn’t blame some of them for cheering earlier. This was a fantastic discovery. “You have all done an excellent job. Go get some rest and we will keep you informed over the vid screens as more information becomes available.”

  Major Maher came over to the plotting table and gestured for Jeremy to leave. A few minutes later, the entire duty shift that normally worked with Lieutenant Nelson had been replaced.

  “I told you!” Angela spoke jubilantly, gazing at Jeremy with an I told you so look as they walked down the corridor toward their quarters. “We did find Earth type planets.”

  “So you did,” Jeremy responded, also feeling Angela’s excitement. This was one time he didn’t mind her teasing.

  “Two new worlds,” Kevin continued, his eyes wide feeling the thrill of discovery. “Do you think Commander Tellson will allow any of us to go down to the planets on the exploratory missions?”

  “I doubt it,” responded Kelsey, shaking her head negatively. “The scientists will be handling that. We will be here in the ship monitoring everything.”

  “Let’s go get something to eat,” suggested Kevin, feeling some hunger pangs. “After all the excitement, I could use a good meal.”

  “You mean a hamburger and fries,” teased Angela, knowing that was Kevin’s favorite shipboard meal.

  “Hey, they make excellent hamburgers on this ship,” spoke Kevin, defending his favorite food and patting his stomach.

  “I’m hungry also,” ventured Kelsey, smiling. “Let’s eat a quick meal and then go to our quarters so we can see what’s going on over the vid screen.”

  -

  Lieutenant Sandusky, Adam Bates, and Trace Rafferty were all in the small storage room that held the weapons Major Maher had brought up from Earth. Over the last few minutes, they had been handing out pistols to selected crewmembers to use in the takeover. More time passed as weapons were passed out to the rest of the conspirators. There were eighteen members of the crew and four of the civilians that had come on board that were part of the plan to take over the New Horizon. Most of the weapons being passed out were pistols, since they could be hidden rather easily.

  As time passed, the entire group was armed. Sandusky had chosen six that were to accompany him to the Command Center. Four of them were armed with pistols and two others with assault rifles. Sandusky had chosen a pistol for his own use. Reaching back into the large box, Sandusky pocketed several stun grenades.

  He looked around his group of fellow conspirators who were waiting for his orders. “We need to move quickly,” he stated in an even voice. “If anyone gets in our way, kill them! I don’t want to see any hesitation or you will answer to me. Is that understood?”

  Bates smiled and nodded. “Let’s go take over the ship.”

  Sandusky indicated for everyone to follow him as he glanced at his watch. They had fifteen minutes to reach the Command Center before the other members of their group began taking action in other areas of the ship. There were twelve officers that would be targeted. All had to be eliminated quickly. In addition, another fifteen crewmembers would be taken into custody as they could be expected to cause problems later on.

  “We’ll take the smaller corridors as few people should be in them,” Sandusky commented as he opened a hatch to an auxiliary access corridor.

  The small group moved quickly through the ship taking small access corridors, which took them around most of the heavy traffic areas. They finally reached the main corridor that led to the Command Center. It was in this corridor that they could expect to possibly encounter a few crewmembers. Opening the hatch carefully, Sandusky glanced down the large corridor that led to the Command Center. He could see two civilian scientists going into the open hatch, but other than that, the corridor seemed clear.

  “Let’s go,” ordered Sandusky, flinging the hatch open and running toward the open hatch to the Command Center.

  Looking down at his watch, he saw that he had less than five minutes before others in the group took action across the ship. Coming to a stop just outside the hatch, he reached into his pocket and took out one of the two stun grenades he was carrying. Looking at the others, he nodded his head, pulled the pin, and tossed the stun grenade into the Command Center.

  Inside the Command Center, both Major Maher and Lieutenant Barr had been expecting this. They were both standing behind the plotting table, and as soon as they saw the stun grenade, they ducked behind the table, using it to give them some protection. There was a loud bang and a brilliant flash of light. Maher could hear screams and people falling to the floor. Standing back up he reached under the plotting table and pulled out two pistols, one of which he handed to Barr. He had hidden these earlier hoping no one would discover them.

  “Let’s make this quick,” he ordered as the ventilation system struggled to clear the smoke in the room from the stun grenade. Looking at the hatch to the Command Center, he saw Sandusky and the others come into the room. “Eliminate your targets!”

  Maher walked over to the command console. Commander Tellson was struggling to stand up, and there was a large cut that was bleeding profusely across his forehead. He had struck the command console when the stun grenade had gone off, knocking hi
m off his feet.

  “What’s going on?” Tellson managed to mumble weakly, looking at Maher in confusion. He was still suffering from the blow to the head and the after effects of the stun grenade.

  “We’re taking over the ship,” Maher replied as he pointed his pistol at the commander’s head and calmly pulled the trigger.

  He felt the pistol buck in his hand and watched with satisfaction as Commander Tellson fell to the floor, dead. There were screams and other shots now ringing out in the Command Center as his people carried out their orders.

  In moments, it was over. Looking around, he saw that all the intended targets were down. The entire command crew had been eliminated except for two frightened women who were under guard by one of Maher’s men.

  “Get these bodies out of here,” Maher ordered as he reached down and dragged the commander’s body away from the command console. He then returned and sat down, gazing across the Command Center as his orders were rapidly carried out. Reaching up, he activated the mini-com in his right ear so he could hear what was going on in the rest of the ship. He sent four of his people to help with the takeover in other areas of the ship. Over the next few minutes, his fellow conspirators reported in as each section of the ship was taken over. Twenty-three crewmembers, including the command crew, were reported killed. That was a few more than Maher had expected, but within twenty minutes the ship was fully under his control.

  “What the hell’s going on here?” a loud voice spoke from the hatch to the Command Center as Lieutenant Nelson strolled in, looking about in confusion.

  Rafferty and Barr instantly pointed their pistols at the lieutenant. Nelson was the only surviving officer that was not a member of Maher’s group.

  “Take it easy, Lieutenant,” warned Maher, standing up and striding over to stand in front of the stunned officer. “The ship is mine now, if you do exactly as I say your life will be spared. He had left Lieutenant Nelson alone because he was the best navigator on the ship and might be needed in order for the New Horizon to make it to its ultimate destination.