“You know,” he said, “once again you have presented a very well-planned and well- conceived idea. If you keep it up people are going to start taking you seriously.”
“Thanks,” said Tanner. “But I really see no reason to insult me like that.”
“Yea,” said Jill. “Don’t compliment him. We’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Exactly,” said Nicole. “Tanner’s hard enough to deal with as it is. The last thing he needs is a big head.”
“I must say,” said Tanner, “I’m overwhelmed by the love I have received from my shipmates. It seems to be never ending. But it is an honor to serve with all of you.”
Ryan laughed. It was a good feeling to see his crew dealing with the tension of the situation and performing at an optimum level. They’d certainly come a long way in the last year.
“Captain,” said Jill. “We are in ship to ship communication range.”
“Contact my father,” said Ryan.
“Aye, sir,” replied Jill. “This is the United Earth Defense Fleet vessel the Churchill calling Fleet Admiral Thompson. Do you copy?”
It took a matter of seconds for the admiral’s harried voice to come across the com system loud and clear.
“Ryan?” responded his father. “Why am I not surprised? Listen to me and listen good. I don’t have time to explain. Our position has been compromised. We are preparing to fire our entire arsenal of weapons into the wormhole and retreat. I am ordering you to do the same. Do you copy?”
“Great minds think alike,” said Tanner.
Ryan glanced at Tanner. “Now is not the time,” he said. He was relieved to know that his father was okay. “Yes, sir,” he replied. “I do need a minute of your time.”
“Make it quick,” said the admiral. “Time is one thing we don’t have much of right now.”
“Sir,” said Ryan. “Remember the weapons we brought along with us when we were battling the Altarrans?”
There was a brief pause. Ryan was sure his father was going to explode. “Well I’ll be damned,” he said. “That’s great. Good thinking son—off the record, that is.”
“Thanks, sir,” said Ryan. “I thought you’d be upset about it.”
“Sometimes, you have to think outside the box,” said his father. “After all, I did leave specific orders that you could use them as a last resort. There’s a time and place when you have to do what’s necessary, even if it goes against the rules. On that note, we are preparing to fire our weapons. How long until you are in range?”
Ryan looked over to Tanner and saw the thumbs up. “We’re coming up on your six now,” said Ryan. “We have a firing solution.”
“Okay,” said his father. “As soon as the first set of Karang ships exits the wormhole, we’ll open fire on them. At that point you fire your weapons as planned. The minute you open fire we’ll drop some reconnaissance satellites and make an about face back to Pluto to restock our weapons. You got that?”
“Read you loud and clear, sir,” said Ryan. “Our weapons are armed and ready to fire.”
“Okay,” said his father. “Good luck.”
Ryan signaled Jill to cut the communication to his father.
“Jill,” said Ryan, “have all ships plot a course for Pluto. As soon as we fire our weapons all ships are to retreat and proceed there at full speed.”
“Aye, sir. Sending message to all ships now.”
Ryan checked the sensor readings and the display on the main screen. According to the data the first of the Karang ships would be exiting the wormhole in the next sixty seconds. His palms were sweaty as they always were in tense situations. And the tension on the bridge was obvious. The silence was almost surreal. Other than the sounds of the equipment surrounding him, you could hear a pin drop. Then all hell broke loose.
“Sir,” said Rawlings from the weapons console, “I’m picking up multiple targets exiting the wormhole. They are maneuvering and firing weapons. It appears that they know the positioning of the fleet!”
“Jill,” said Ryan, “contact my father.”
“Yes, Captain,” she replied. “I have him on the com.”
“Sir!” shouted Ryan. “They know your positioning. You need to fall back now.”
“I’m well aware,” said his father. “Fire your weapons and get the hell out of here. That’s a direct order, Captain.”
The next sound Ryan heard was that of a muffled explosion and his father shouting orders for damage teams. Then the com went silent.
“Ry,” yelled Tanner, “I’ve got a firing solution.”
Ryan fell back in his chair dazed and angry, but he knew what had to be done. He stood up and glared at the main view screen. “Fire all missiles.”
“Aye, sir,” said Tanner. “Firing now.”
As if on cue all ten ships in Ryan’s fleet fired the nuclear missiles into the wormhole. Ryan watched their trajectory. He could see the combined Earth and Altarran fleet trying to maneuver away from the attacking Karang ships. His father’s ship was venting oxygen. It was obvious they had taken a direct hit.
“Ry,” whispered Tanner. “Remember your father’s orders. We need to get out of here . . . now.”
Ryan glared at Tanner. He took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He knew his friend was right. His job was to get back to Earth, report the situation, and prepare to fight another day.
He slammed his fist on the arm of the chair. “Hard about, Nicole. Full speed. Set course for Pluto.”
“Aye, sir,” she said. “Course set and laid in.”
“Jill, said Ryan, “inform all ships to retreat. On our mark.”
“All ships have been notified and are awaiting your orders,” said Jill.
“Deploy surveillance drones now,” ordered Ryan.
“Deploying now,” came Rawlings’s strained reply.
Ryan took one last look at the main screen. The chaos among the combined Altarran and Earth ships was evident. They were retreating as best they could. He sat down and gave the order to retreat.
Tanner was beside him and put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Your dad’s gotten out of worse situations. He’ll get out of this one as well.”
Ryan didn’t say a word. He sat back and hoped that the nuclear weapons would cause a serious blow to the Karang fleet, and he also looked up and prayed that he would see his father again.
“Hard to port, Romano,” ordered Admiral Thompson. “Mister Diego, continue firing all weapons.”
“Aye, sir,” replied both officers.
“Ms. Barnes,” said Thompson, “have all ships prepare to retreat immediately. Inform—”
Before he could finish his command, the ship rocked violently and power flickered on and off.
“Sir,” said Barnes, “we have damage reports coming in on multiple decks. Engineering reports a hull breech on deck five. We are venting oxygen.”
“Ms. Barnes,” said Thompson, “initiate emergency protocols. Contact engineering and have them bring emergency backup power online. Have all ships break off attack patterns now and retreat.”
“Aye, sir,” said Barnes. “Sending retreat codes to all ships. I have confirmation from engineering that emergency systems have been activated.”
“Admiral,” said Romano, “with the hull breach our chances of surviving light-speed travel are severely compromised.”
“I’m well aware of the complications, Mister Romano,” said Thompson. “But if we stay here much longer we won’t have to worry about making any choices, as we will most certainly be dead.”
“Yes, sir,” said Romano. “A slight chance always beats no chance. Plotting course now.”
“Ms. Barnes,” said Thompson, “patch me through to engineering.”
“Patching you through now, Admiral,” said Barnes.
“I’m a little busy down here, Admiral,” said a familiar voice.
“Niles? I thought I left you in sick bay,” said Thompson.
“Well,” said Niles, “I heard that we
were down a chief engineer and you know I used to be in engineering when I first started, so I thought what the hell. Now would be a good time to jump back in.”
Thompson was glad to hear his friend’s voice. “What are our chances of surviving a light-speed jump with the current damage to our hull?”
“Lucky for you I anticipated we would be making a hasty retreat,” said Niles. “I sealed the damaged area and closed the blast doors. As long as the doors hold we should be fine.”
Thompson was damn glad he had been wrong about Niles. “Let’s hope those doors hold,” he said.
“I’m with you on that, sir,” said Niles.
“Sir,” said Diego, “we have a Karang battleship closing on us. They are preparing to fire.”
“Mister Romano,” said Thompson, “evasive maneuvers. Bring light-speed power online.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Romano.
The enemy ship was closing in fast. Thompson knew they wouldn’t have light-speed drive powered up in time. His crew was doing everything possible but it didn’t look like they would make it. Then as if by the grace of God the enemy ship exploded.
The crew erupted in cheers when Supreme Commander Granthaxe’s ship appeared on the screen along with three other Altarran battle cruisers.
“Sir,” said Barnes, “I have Supreme Commander Granthaxe on the com.”
“Supreme Commander, I owe you a debt of gratitude,” said Thompson.
“You owe me nothing, Admiral Benjamin Thompson,” said Granthaxe. “You would have reacted exactly the same way had the situation been reversed.”
“Nonetheless,” said Thompson, “thank you.”
“Enough of the gratuitous comments,” said Granthaxe, “as your kind would say. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Thompson smiled. “I couldn’t have said it any better. You heard the man, Mister Romano. Engage light speed.”
“Aye, sir,” said Romano. “Initiating light speed in three . . . two . . . one . . .
Thompson took a deep breath and waited for the engines to engage. With luck the blast doors would hold once they entered light speed. Otherwise the ship would disintegrate within seconds. At least if that did happen, it would be over quickly and they wouldn’t suffer.
The ship shuddered briefly and then settled down into it’ normal smooth flight.
“All systems normal,” said Romano.
“That’s a relief,” said Thompson. “Continue to monitor the power couplings. If they start to spike, drop us out of light speed immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” said Romano.
“Ms. Barnes, do we have a number for how many ships we lost?” asked Thompson.
“According to the distress calls, we lost four ships completely and another three are severely crippled,” said Barnes. “That leaves us with eight ships intact. According to the supreme commander they lost five ships and two others were evacuated, for a total of seven. That leaves us with sixteen operational ships combined.”
“Not a very daunting number,” said Thompson.
“No, sir,” said Barnes. “Not at all.”
The bridge doors opened. Thompson turned to see who it was. “Niles,” he said. “Welcome back to the bridge. Since we are still in one piece, let me commend you on a job well done.”
Niles smiled. “Save the congratulations until we get to Pluto in one piece, Admiral. And it is my pleasure to be back on the bridge. By the way, I heard that your son showed up with some interesting weapons.”
“I guess that old saying ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ holds some water,” said Thompson. “Not to change the subject, but why didn’t you tell me what was going on? You had me thinking you were the one behind all the deceit and treachery.”
Niles glanced towards Lieutenant Barnes. “When dealing with Internal Affairs, one does what’s asked of them. I knew you were in the clear, but it’s their game and I had to play by their rules.”
“That’s for sure,” said Thompson. “Honestly, I’m glad it wasn’t you. But I never thought it was Fowler . . . though considering the unusual accident that took out our entire fleet’s communications as well as the hidden signal that was sent to the Karang, perhaps I should have figured it out.”
“It’s not like you didn’t have a lot on your plate, sir,” said Niles. “Anyway, what’s our next plan?”
“We’re going to restock our depleted weapons supply at Pluto and meet up with Ryan and his fleet. Hopefully Amanda and her father have found the ancient weapon. And if we are really lucky, maybe we took out most of the Karang armada.”
“We sure could use some luck,” said Niles.
“We sure could,” said Thompson. “All we can do now is hope for a best-case scenario while we plan for the worst.”
Thompson sat back in his chair. They had a three-day trip to Pluto in front of them—three days to wonder which outcome awaited them.
Amanda was pacing back and forth. With all that was going on, it was very difficult to keep her emotions in check. On the plus side she had finally received word that Ryan and his fleet were safe and were just twelve hours away from their solar system. While they knew they had destroyed over half of the Karang armada, one hundred and twenty-five Karang ships survived and were a mere twelve hours behind them. That meant they were running out of time to get the ship operational. To make matters worse, they had received word that only sixteen combined UEDF and Altarran ships had survived the battle intact. There were others that were either dead in space or had lost their light-speed drive and were not going to be able to make it back home. The situation was critical and Amanda knew that they needed answers and needed them fast.
“What troubles you, Amanda Williamson?” asked Kyron.
Amanda slammed her fist on the console. “Where do I start? How about we’ve been on board this massive ship for two days now? And since we came to the surface, what have we learned?” Without giving Kyron a chance to speak she continued with her rant. “Not a damn thing,” she said. “That’s what we’ve learned.”
“Fear not, my child,” said Kyron. “The gods would not have put us through all of these trials and tribulations for naught. You must keep the faith.”
“I wish I could believe as easily as you do, but I’m not wired like that. I need to see results. I can’t rely on blind faith.”
The doors to the hatch above them opened. Amanda watched as her father, Commodore Laurent, and three others she didn’t recognize came down the stairs.
“Amanda,” said her father, “this is Defense Minister Legrande and Lieutenants Markem and Ollinger. They will be with us until our situation is resolved.”
Amanda didn’t care much for politicians, and the other two with the minister were obviously part of an internal security team, which she didn’t particularly find a necessity. The ship was surrounded by the Japanese navy as well as a division of UEDF marines and that was more than good enough.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of their company?” she asked.
“Good day to you as well, Miss Thompson,” said Legrande. “Obviously by the tone of your voice, it appears that your recent interactions with Admiral Thompson’s son seem to be rubbing off on you.”
Amanda stared at Legrande. If looks could kill, he’d have been a dead man. Then she looked to her father. He simply shook his head and maintained eye contact with her. Using all of her inner strength she regained her composure. “And,” she replied, “all the things I’ve heard about you and your contempt for the military appear to ring true as well, sir.”
“That will be enough,” said Admiral Williamson.
“She’s rather feisty, Admiral” said Legrande. “You may want to have a chat with her concerning ethics and protocol when addressing members of the government.”
Amanda’s blood was boiling. She took a step forward. The two officers stepped in front of the minister. At that point Kyron stepped in front of Amanda and bared her fangs menacingly at the two guards.
�
�Enough,” said the admiral. “In case everyone has forgotten, we’re all here for the same reason: to save our planet and the Altarran people.” He paused a moment. “All of us are all on the same team and I expect everyone to work towards a common goal. Is that clear?”
Amanda nodded but maintained her obvious dislike of the situation. “Of course, sir,” she said. “I understand.”
“Good,” said her father.
“Well said, Admiral Williamson,” said Legrande. “Personally I don’t understand why a child was put in charge of such a monumental task.”
Amanda had had enough. She started to move towards Legrande again, but this time she was beyond angry. Luckily for her, her father cut her off.
“That will be quite enough out of you, Legrande,” said the admiral. “In case you have forgotten, that child, along with hundreds of others, saved your bacon as well as the rest of humanity. You may be here on orders of the government, but in a military situation I call the shots.” He paused and let that sink in. “Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Amanda and Commodore Laurent.
“Understood, Admiral Jonas Williamson,” said Kyron.
“As you wish, Admiral,” said Legrande. “For now you are in command. If you will excuse me, I must report to the joint chiefs that I am here and we are monitoring the situation.”
The minister and the two officers made their way out of the room. As soon as the doors had closed behind them Amanda addressed her father.
“With all due respect, sir, I don’t like him one bit. There’s something about him that rubs me the wrong way. Even worse, I don’t trust him.”
Kyron hissed and bared her fangs. “I must agree with Amanda Williamson. I do not trust the political members of your world. They have deceived your people as well as mine.”
“It disgusts me to say that he is one of my fellow countrymen,” said Commodore Laurent. “Now I remember why I didn’t vote for him.”
“I’m not a fan of his either,” said the admiral. “But our orders are that he must observe what transpires here and keep the government in the loop. Now let’s do our jobs and get this ship up and running. The sooner we get things done around here the sooner we can get rid of Legrande and his team.”
Cadets: 2 The Ship of the Gods Page 16