Cadets

by Edward Miller

  “Status!” yelled Thompson.

  “We’re outgunned thirty-five to nine,” said Diego. “We’ve lost eighteen ships, sir.”

  “Hull breach to the rear of the ship,” said Thames. “Two torpedo bays damaged.”

  Thompson knew it was time to call it quits. Maybe he could buy some time for the ground forces.

  “Barnes,” he said, “have the remaining ships bug out fast. Raise the Altarran commander. Tell him we’re breaking off our attack. Tell him I wish to discuss terms for surrender.”

  Barnes, usually quick to reply, hesitated briefly. Thompson could feel the eyes of his bridge crew on him. “Yes, sir,” she finally said. “Hailing the Altarran commander now.” She turned to her controls to broadcast the disheartening message and then looked up. “I’ve told him we wish to surrender, sir.”

  There were a few moments of silence. The only sounds Thompson could hear were his own heartbeat and the breathing of the bridge crew. Finally, Barnes turned around to address him. “Sir, I have Commander Granthaxe on speaker.”

  Thompson stood up and addressed the alien. “Commander Granthaxe, I’ve ordered my fleet to stand down. I would like to discuss terms—”

  “Silence! There are no terms, Admiral Thompson. And it is Supreme Commander. I should destroy you and your ship for your crimes against the citizens of Altarra. But alas, perhaps terms, as you say, may yet save you. My terms are the same as they were upon our meeting. Produce my missing envoys.”

  “Forgive me, Supreme Commander,” said Thompson. “I know you don’t believe me. But we are trying to look into your claims. We can help you find them. You’ll have much more success with our help. But we need more time.”

  “Time,” Granthaxe said, as if he were contemplating what the word meant. “I will give you time. I have a fleet of troop carriers ten of your Earth days behind me. You have until then to find my envoys or get me the answers I seek. Once our troops arrive, by my word they will land on your planet and we will take control. If your people resist, it shall be the last action they ever take. I warn you, if you try to leave your orbit or attack us before my carriers arrive, we will launch an immediate attack, beginning with your most populated areas. Those are the terms of the cease-fire. Accept them . . . or not.”

  Despite the harsh terms, what Thompson needed was time, and that he got. He answered the commander calmly and deliberately. “Your terms are fair and generous. I am returning to Earth to forward your demands and start a formal investigation concerning your missing envoys. I will contact you every 24 hours with updates on our search.”

  “I will only warn you once, Admiral Thompson. Do not take me lightly. If you try anything foolish, we do have the power to incinerate the surface of your planet, city by city.”

  The line went dead. Thompson sat down and gathered his thoughts. He glanced over at Thames. “Niles,” he said, “get me all the data and film from the moment the Altarran ships lost power. I want to know exactly when it happened and how long it lasted. We need to get that information to the braniacs at R&D fast.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m compiling all the information as we speak. When I’m finished, I’ll download all of it and send it directly to Headquarters.”

  “Barnes,” said Thompson, “get a message to the president. Have him contact the outpost on Pluto and have any survivors or any of our ships there stay put and continue to stay dark.”

  “Yes, Admiral,” Barnes replied.

  “Romano, set a course for Headquarters. Let’s get on the ground and see what we can find out.”

  “Course already set. Preliminary landing procedure set and awaiting your orders, Admiral.”

  “Take us home, Romano. Nice and easy.” As the Constitution began her course change, she passed the front of the lead Altarran ship. The outer camera caught the insignia on its side. Thompson’s eyes went wide. “I don’t be—”

  “Niles, replay that shot of the insignia on the Altarran ship and enlarge it.”

  Thames pulled up the image and froze it on the screen. “Enlarging picture now, Admiral.”

  Thompson couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What is it, Admiral?” said Thames.

  “I’ll explain later, Niles. There’s something I need to confirm first. In the meantime, get that image along with all the information about the solar flares and have it on my desk as soon as we land.”

  “Yes, sir.” Thames seemed puzzled, but he knew better than to question him right now. He turned away and started gathering the information.

  Thompson sat back in his chair and wondered if it was too late. Maybe, just maybe, there was still a fighting chance. One thing was certain, though. This was going to be a hell of an interesting ten days if what he just saw was true.

  Chapter 17

  Uedf Nimitz, Test Flight

  Ryan entered the bridge of the UEDF Nimitz. He’d participated in countless simulations, as had the rest of the senior class. But this was different. This was real. You don’t get a chill down your spine entering the bridge of a simulation ship. Not like this, with lives depending on how successful you are.

  Adding to the stress was the news about the Lexington. Nicole was inconsolable after learning about her sister’s ship being destroyed. People said they could hear her screaming from outside the admiral’s office. Though it was doubtful there were any survivors, he and the others tried to convince her that there was still a chance her sister might somehow be alive, and that it was the courageous act of all onboard that had enabled the fleet to fight another day. In a way, this horrible situation brought his whole crew closer together, though he wished there’d been a less depressing way to have made that happen.

  Ryan walked to each station and looked at the controls. All cadets in command training had to know how to man all bridge stations in the event of emergencies. Funny, he’d been waiting for this day for years. But not like this. He’d never dreamed he’d have to lead in such dire circumstances.

  He could only hope that his father would pull off a miracle and find a way to beat these invaders. If there was ever a time he was rooting for his father, it was now. Good family man or not, there was no doubt he knew how to lead a fleet and keep his calm. At least that’s what everyone said about him.

  As Ryan thought about it, even though it drove him crazy being compared to his father, in reality it make him work that much harder. And, truth be told, his dad was the model for how he tried to act as a leader. In a way, it had always made him feel unstoppable. But now, with the whole planet in danger and everything turned upside down, he no longer felt invincible. Quite the opposite, he felt infinitely small and unimportant. It seemed that’s how everyone was feeling these days, like a bunch of ants scampering around while a giant shadow closes in on them. And, somehow, it was up to him to get them thinking otherwise.

  Hearing steps, he turned around to see Tanner and Paul heading his way. “Hey, guys,” he said. “Ready to see what this baby can do?”

  “Sure am,” said Paul. “Just don’t push her too hard at first. Let the old engines warm up a bit.”

  “Just what we need,” said Tanner, “a ship with arthritis.”

  “Don’t worry about the engines,” said Ryan. “We’ll take it slow and steady.”

  Tanner planted himself at the weapons console. “Yeah, like an old lady running from a mountain lion. By the way, I hear we have all practice torpedoes. I guess they’re afraid we’ll go rogue or something.”

  Ryan laughed. “I doubt that. More like they need to save them for when we really need them. We don’t have too many on this base.”

  “That’s comforting,” said Tanner. “Since you’re in the know, any news from the admiral about the fleet?”

  “Yeah, he wants us to head an armada to go help out the UEDF forces?”

  “You’re kidding,” said Paul. “Really?”

  Tanner looked genuinely shocked.

  “Of course not,” said Ryan. �
��He said for now we’re to continue as planned. To be honest, I don’t think they’d ever send us into battle under any circumstances. Truth is, we’ll be lucky if they ask us to pick up survivors.”

  “No,” said Paul, “we’ll be lucky if your dad finds a way to beat these assholes and they don’t need us as all.”

  “Damn right on that,” said Tanner.

  Ryan smiled and nodded. They had a point. This wasn’t about him or them, or who saves the day. It was about winning.

  Paul looked at his watch. “Well, guys, I’m off to engineering. Time to run a preflight check and start warming those engines.”

  After a few hours, when all the checks had been run and passed, everyone returned to their stations. Ryan looked around at his bridge crew, Tanner at weapons, Amanda at the exec console, Jill at communications, and Nicole at the helm. Paul was down in engineering. They all looked confident, but cautious. Finally, he gave the order to lift off. He was anxious to see how the ship would do, not to mention how the crew would work together. He was putting a lot of faith in Nicole as the pilot, especially knowing what she’d just been through with losing her sister. But she had an amazing reputation as a skilled pilot, and she did extremely well in the simulations. Another real test would be how well Amanda and Paul did in engineering to get the ship in running order. This was quite a challenge, even for crack engineers.

  He watched out the large circular window as the Nimitz rose from its platform. The takeoff was incredibly smooth, almost too good to be true. As they progressed outside the planetary atmosphere, a smiled formed on his face. He had no idea of the pride he would feel at the accomplishments of his crew. Damn it, they did it! They got this old thing running.

  Before he knew it, the Nimitz had entered orbit. And a perfect, beautiful orbit it was. They ran the ship through test after test. The engines performed to spec and the weapons systems were dead on. Despite all odds, this ship was ready for action. Satisfied that all tests had been passed, he gave the order to head back to base.

  It had been a perfect flight with an excellent takeoff. Upon an equally smooth landing, Ryan looked around at the team Admiral Williamson had assigned him. He was beginning to understand just what Williamson had meant. A team that works well together can accomplish amazing things.

  Ryan already knew that Tanner was great with weapons systems and Paul was a hotshot engineer, but what really impressed him was Nicole, who not only excelled, but had to put on a brave face doing it. It was hard to believe this was only the second time she’d flown a ship in a live test. While she’d spent many hours in the simulators, that wasn’t the same as the real thing. She made it look as if she’d been flying for years.

  Jill was also at the top of her game. She had all the different communication systems down pat. Plus she knew every single code they threw at her.

  Then there was Amanda. He was beginning to understand that she was more than just his old girlfriend and a competitor for the award. Yeah, she still did everything by the book, but she knew more about those old engines than even Paul did. And Paul was considered to be the best engineering cadet in the academy. Ryan glanced over at her and saw that she was making notes. Then she noticed him and looked down.

  It was time to give the bridge crew his assessment of the test. He was about to go through the flight data with them when they received a priority message from Admiral Williamson.

  “Attention, all cadets. You are all ordered to cease all duties and report to the main auditorium immediately. As of this minute, the academy is going dark. All cadets are to report to the auditorium for further details. Williamson out.”

  Ryan could almost feel everyone’s tension as he looked around. What now? Could it get any worse? As he saw the looks on his shipmates’ faces, he knew had to say something to lift their spirits. That’s what a good commanding officer is supposed to do. But what to say?

  As always, he decided to shoot from his gut.

  “Before we leave here,” he said, as everyone turned to face him. “I just wanted to say, this entire crew did an unbelievable job.” He looked around at his crew, and at Amanda, Nicole, and Jill to make sure they knew he meant them especially. “I know we may have started off on the wrong foot,” he continued. “That was my mistake. I can assure all of you, it won’t happen again.” He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. “We may be going dark now,” he added. “But inside, I know that each of us is ready to take on any mission, if and when we’re called to action. For now, we’ll do what they want, even if it means laying low. And we can hope that soon, they’ll want what I know we can do. It ain’t over yet, guys. Remember that, no matter what we hear today. And there’s no team I’d rather serve with than all of you. Now, let’s power down everything and get going.”

  He watched as everyone nodded in acceptance. And as they made their way out of the Nimitz and headed for the auditorium, none of them spoke a word. Ryan looked up to the sky and thought of his mother. He also wondered if his father and brothers were now with her. The fact that the admiral had ordered the academy to go dark meant one thing and one thing only. Earth’s Defense Fleet had been defeated and the academy was to close off all contact with the outside world.

  Chapter 18

  Final Report

  Amanda entered the main auditorium with the bridge crew of the Nimitz. Unlike the last time they’d made this trip, the six of them sat together. It felt kind of nice, and considering all that had taken place over the last six days, she needed all the togetherness she could get. This was one crew she never in her wildest dreams thought would form a bond.

  Even Ryan had changed. And in a way, so had she—or at least her perspective. A week ago, she wouldn’t have considered sitting next to him. Now, in light of everything going on, it hit home that none of us were really all that different, and that life was much deeper—and much more precious—than she had realized. And now that she knew the truth about Ryan’s horrifying experience, his attitudes made sense.

  Her thoughts were cut short when her father appeared onstage at the podium. She braced herself for the worst. Seeing the look on his face, she knew the news wasn’t going to be good. Her hands were sweaty and she felt dizzy just anticipating the thought of what the news might entail. Could the entire Earth be soon to come to an end? All her friends and family back home? She felt frozen in time as she watched her father standing there in silence, looking somber.

  “I wish I could be the bearer of better news,” began her father. “Unfortunately, at 2100 hours last night, the United Earth Defense Fleet surrendered.”

  Amanda couldn’t breathe, as cries of anger, fear, and disbelief came from all directions. She glanced over at Ryan, who looked like he was holding back tears. She wanted to reach out to him, to comfort him, but this wasn’t the time or place for that.

  “I have received orders from Admiral Thompson,” continued her father, “and I will go over these with all of you during the next 24 hours.”

  Voices started calling out. “How many ships were destroyed?” “Do we know anything about survivors?” “What about Earth?”

  Amanda was half in a daze. At least Ryan’s dad was still alive. Thank God for that.

  “Please,” said her father, holding up his hand. “All of you quiet down. I understand your concerns. And I am aware that many of you have family on board those ships. Data is still coming in. The minute we have answers, I can assure you that I will personally notify each and every one of you. For now, we are to continue with a full blackout. I know that’s difficult for you to accept; this is difficult for all of us. But these are our orders, and trust me when I say that it’s for the good of humankind. I should add that there’s a very real possibility that the future of the human race could lie with us. Before I dismiss you, I want you to understand that I am counting on your total cooperation. That’s all. Dismissed.”

  There was silence for a moment, but then the murmur of the crowd picked up. Everyone got up and started to leave. Amanda
was about to talk to Jill and Nicole when her father approached her. “Yes, Dad . . . um . . . Admiral?”

  “I want both of you in my office immediately,” he said, motioning to her and Ryan.

  “What’s this about?” she asked.

  “Not here,” he said.

  Amanda nodded and turned toward Ryan. She noticed a look on his face she’d never seen before. He looked lost. “Ryan? Are you okay? Did you hear my father?”

  “Yeah—I mean yes, sir. I’m ready. I’ll be right there.

  “Good,” replied the admiral. “I’ll see the two of you in a moment.” He turned and walked away.

  Amanda took a chance and grabbed Ryan’s arm softly.

  “Come on, Ry,” she said. “If it’s okay, I’ll walk with you. If you don’t need it, I do.”

  He gave her a slight smile and walked beside her.

  They left the auditorium in silence and made their way to her father’s office. Though neither of them said a word the entire way, it was the most they had communicated in years. Words didn’t need to be said. She was dying to know why her father wanted to see the two of them. What could this be about? She started to think of all the horrible possibilities. Were the aliens on their way here? Then she had an even darker thought. Was it Ryan’s dad? His brothers? Her brothers?

  When they arrived at her father’s office, Lieutenant Rhimes waved them right in. She was working on her Slider viewer and seemed to be overwhelmed. Her father motioned to them to take a seat.