"What's plan B," asked Amanda.
"Why do we need a plan B?" asked Jackman.
"Because plan A usually flops," responded Aleesha. "And in this case, if it was that easy, your people would have done it already. Even if they couldn't stay in the air, they presumably have the maneuvering thrusters for keeping themselves out of the silt."
"Good point," said O'Neill.
"Plan B," I said, "involves us digging out the airlock, and collecting your people. When we have them safe, we can try to dig out the shuttle."
"In position," said George. "You can drop when ready."
"Dropping now," I said, and pushed the release.
The Mole dropped cleanly from Custer. A popup showed our short fall to the sea below, and the minor splash as we disappeared within.
Jane's plot showed our decent. Half way down, I had her start up the drill head. At the same time, I took the drop speed off us, so when we arrived at the top of the silt zone, we were barely moving. The drill head pressed into the silt with little resistance, and we continued on down.
"Now," said Jane, and I began to angle us towards the shuttle.
A short time later and we were easing into position a matter of centimeters under the shuttle. I rotated us slightly to bring the grav sled properly into position. Lastly, I opened a channel to the shuttle.
"Colonel."
He took the hint.
"This is O'Neill, standby for an attempt to pull you out."
"Colonel?" said a voice. "How?"
"Never mind, just buckle up."
"Aye sir."
He nodded to me.
I turned on the grav, while at the same time, throwing full thrust into the underside thrusters. We didn’t move. I kept it up for as long I thought would help, but no. The shuttle was not only buried, but stuck fast.
"So much for plan A," I muttered.
I thought quickly.
"Okay, let's try plan A, a different way."
I received puzzled looks, but no-one spoke.
I pushed full thrust into the main engines, pulling back once we were moving, and we dug our way forward. Once clear of the shuttle I angled down again, and continued around in a large circle, coming back up nose first under the center of the shuttle.
"Brace for impact," I said, knowing the shuttle crew could hear as well.
At the last second I eased off, so we kissed the shuttle with the nose of the drill head. The shuttle shuddered, but didn’t move. I slowly ramped up the thrust to full, and still the shuttle didn’t move. I killed the thrust, waiting a few seconds, and engaged reverse thrust, moving us back down the hole we'd made coming up.
"Fuck it," I said. "Plan B."
I took my hands off the controls.
"Jane, bring us in hatch to airlock please."
"Confirmed."
"Admiral?"
O'Neill seemed confused. I turned to look at him.
"Jane isn’t a combat pilot. But when it comes to complex precise maneuvers, there's no-one better. Laying us up to push upwards wasn’t very hard. Laying hatches next to each other takes more finesse. I could do it, but Jane can do it faster."
"Ah."
He understood more than I was saying. An Admiral was supposed to get the right person to do the job, and I was demonstrating it now.
In short order, Jane had us lined up. She made it look effortless, as if we were in space, and not underground.
The twins jumped up and headed back, followed by O'Neill and Jackman. Jane stayed where she was, and I went as far as the door.
The hatch was opened, and the twins held everyone else back.
"Jane, let's have the connector shield please."
Amanda was in command now.
"Confirmed."
"Connector shield?" I asked Jane.
"I devised a limited shield which extends out until it hits complex metal. Keeps everything out."
"Sounds dangerous."
"It is."
"Shuttle," called Amanda, "open your outer hatch please, but stand clear."
Jane popped up a monitor, so I could see what was going on. The shimmer of the shield surrounded the open hatch, about a meter away from it. The shuttle's hatch opened, and the twins manhandled a short walking plank into position across the gap.
"Everyone come across one by one please," said Amanda in her team leader voice. "Do NOT touch the shield around the hatches, it will take your hand off."
Six people came across one by one, and were warmly greeted by O'Neill and Jackman. The last one closed the airlock hatch behind him, and once over the gap, Amanda and Aleesha pulled the walking plank in, and closed our hatch. Jane killed the shield, and we heard the sound of silt hitting the hull, as what was above fell into the hole we'd made. Everyone resumed their seats, Amanda making sure the shuttle crew were strapped in, before strapping in herself.
I took the controls again. I nodded to Jane and the drill head started up. I eased the thrust upward.
Nothing happened.
We remained where we were.
I pushed the thrust to full.
We didn't move.
Eighteen
I killed the thrusters.
"Well plan B almost worked," said Amanda into the silence which followed.
No-one responded to the obvious attempt at humour.
"Jane, what's the odds of the silt here having glue like qualities?" I kept my tone neutral.
"Normally I’d say pretty low, but apparently they're a certainty here."
"Suggestion?"
"Shields," we said together.
"Can you dial them back so we don’t hurt the shuttle?" I asked her.
"Confirmed."
The shields came on, and I goosed the thrusters. We began to move forward. I stopped us again, and turned to Jane.
"Can we?"
"Don’t see why not."
"You want to do it?"
"I better, don’t you think?"
"DO WHAT?" came a roar from behind us. "What is it with you two?"
"Colonel," said Amanda, "they're a double act."
"They do a comedy routine on Tuesday and Thursday nights," added Aleesha.
"He's the straight man," said Jane.
Jackman exploded into laughter, more from the look on her husband's face than anything else.
"Colonel," I said, "plan C. We're going to roll the Mole around the shuttle, using the shields to remove a layer of the silt gluing it in. After that, we make a hole above it until we hit water. Then we go back to plan A."
"Sounds good to me."
I nodded to Jane, and she began the process. It took over an hour to carefully carry out the plan. At last, we came up underneath the shuttle again, engaged the grav sled, and hit the thrusters to go up.
This time, we started going up, lifting the shuttle out, although the higher we went, the heavier the load became, and the more thrust we needed. Once in the water above, I took control again, and we flew through the water normally, rising steadily until suddenly we breached the water-air barrier and flew out into a brilliant sunset. An enormous spray of silt and water followed us up, spraying in all directions.
Custer was waiting for us, already rotated, so I flew us slowly into her Cargo Bay, making sure the ninety degree gravity didn’t grab us. I lowered us down, sideways for the Mole, until the shuttle touched the deck, and turned off the grav, releasing a small mountain of silt and water. We had just enough room to rotate around so I could fly us out again, after which Jane docked us up inside Custer's Hanger Deck.
"Thankyou Admiral," said O'Neill. "The whole rescue was nicely done."
"Your welcome," I responded, nodding to him as I unbuckled. "You're welcome on the Bridge while we head back to BigMother. Amanda will show your people to the barracks. They can eat, drink, and use the facilities immediately if they need to."
"We need to!" floated in from the rear.
I led the way up to the Bridge, where George had the captain's chair. We were already
in the upper atmosphere. George looked askance at me, but I shook my head. He stayed where he was. I took a stance to one side of him, and the others took chairs, Jane moving to her usual one. Amanda came in last, as BigMother was coming into view.
"What in the hell kind of ship is that?" asked O'Neill.
"It started out as a Midway class Escort Carrier, which I captured from pirates. What you see on the underside is a Battleship hull, modified to be a drone carrier, and four Pocket Battleships, which were originally Midgard Missile Cruisers. The Carrier was extended to match the size of the Battleship. We have the firepower of a good sized fleet, all nicely tucked up into a single ship."
"Do you carry fighters as well?"
"Sure. Four squadrons of mixed heavy fighters, and a squadron of Heavy Privateers, led by three Heavy Corvettes. We also carry two medium freighters, four light freighters, and four high speed couriers."
"Hell's donkeys."
"That name was already taken, wasn’t it Jane?"
There was general laughter, and Jane didn’t bother answering.
I'd been thinking all the way back up.
"Colonel, can I see you in the Ready Room for a minute please?"
"Sure."
He followed me in, and I waved him to a lounge chair.
"I've changed my mind about where I want Homer."
"How so?"
"I figure the nearest shipyard for your repairs is Earth, so you're going to be with us for a few days until we get there. I'd rather have Homer firmly docked alongside one of the PB's, instead of our nose airlock. It means you'll need to bunk on BigMother for the duration. I can offer you and your wife a suite on Deck Two, with smaller suites for your officers. Your marines can bunk in with mine, and your crew can use the Crew Mess, which currently only has a few medicos we rescued in it. Bring over what you need."
"Sounds good to me. But how will you move Homer?"
"Salvage droids. We've had a lot of practice moving hulls around."
"Fine sir, when should we move?"
"Call me Jon. I only get military when an op is on. Annabelle's fault of cause. Her team don’t really use ranks at all."
"I'm Jack. I'm much the same between missions. How did they join you? Sounds like a story I'd like to hear. Smith isn’t someone who collects strays, and she doesn’t join someone she doesn’t respect."
"Better let them tell it to you. It’s a good story. There's some good war footage you can view in the theatre if you want as well. Again, let Annabelle show you."
"I will. If nothing else, we have two years of history to catch up on."
"Ten, but let's worry about why that is later."
"Fine."
"You and your exec are welcome on the Bridge anytime. Your officers can view anything from their quarters, or the Deck Two Rec Room. George is the only one who lives on Custer, since he's Captain of her when I'm not on board."
"I wondered why you left a Lieutenant Commander in the captain's chair. Wouldn’t a Frigate warrant a full Commander?"
"Normally yes. George started out as the second pilot for Annabelle's Moose. I pushed him into combat flying early in the war, and he distinguished himself saving American pilots in a huge furball. Later on he was flying my personal Heavy Corvette, while I was flying Custer or BigMother. He's become a damned good all round pilot. The Americans drafted us after the first few battles of the war, and promoted him to Lieutenant Commander before discharging him. He's too short in the grade for another promotion, but he has become a very good Assault Frigate commander. Annabelle is still in charge when on a mission, but he's the one in charge of the ship itself. He'll get the promotion in due course."
"Is Moose one of the ships on board?"
"Alas no. You better let Annabelle tell you that sad story as well."
"Coming up alongside for docking," said Jane through the coms.
"Change of plan Jane. Bring us alongside Homer, at whatever airlock is best."
"Confirmed."
I motioned Jack out onto the Bridge, and we watched Custer dock with a side airlock of Homer.
"Is she Actor class?" I asked Jack.
"No. Earlier than that. Comedian class. Before I purchased her from the USSF, she was named the 'Robin Williams'. The Actor class replaced them. You've seen the Actor class up close?"
"I have one of them. Only it's now a Pocket Battleship, being used as a base model for upgrading the American Actor class ships, which proved to be a disaster in the war. Admiral O'Neil has his flag on it, and is charged with the defense of the Midnight system, which is the first of four systems I own."
He gaped at me, as did Jackman.
"Systems you own?"
"Yes. Rewards of war. The British knighted me, and made me a Duke. The Australian and Sci-fi sectors ceded unused systems to me, with which I formed a Duchy. The Outback system seceded from the Australian sector and joined my Duchy."
"And the Americans?"
"Looked the other way while I appropriated a station and shipyard from Midgard."
They continued gaping at me, so I laughed and told them to go move their stuff aboard Custer.
The transfer of gear and people took an hour, and I waited out the time in the Ready Room, still wading through emails from days ago.
By lunch time, Custer was docked with BigMother, and after moving gear around again, everyone sat down to lunch.
While we ate, Jane moved Homer next to the left side Pocket Battleship. She stuck out a bit on the front, but was much more firmly docked this way. Once the move was complete, Jane set a course for the jump point, making sure we were well clear of the stress zones between the two primaries.
Before returning to the Bridge, I had a quick private word with Annabelle. Her eyes and grin lit up, and she strode away with a purpose. The theatre was going to get good use that afternoon.
Nineteen
Dinner that night had a strange vibe to it. The officers of Homer had an awed look about them, even their CO and exec.
Jane called me up to the Bridge via my PC while coffee was being served, so I excused myself with the comment I wasn’t a coffee drinker, and casually strolled out.
"What have you got Jane?" I said as I rushed onto the Bridge.
"It's what we haven’t got."
"Huh?"
"Our comnavsat is missing."
"How could that happen?"
"Unknown. We should be getting coms by now, but we aren't. Even without the comnavsat, we should be getting them. But no."
"Something changed in the system we didn’t notice?"
"I don’t think…"
Her voice drifted off, the last word lost.
"What is it?"
"The primaries have shifted position, and there is a definite matter stream between them. That’s impossible. Unless."
Her eyes met mine.
"Unless," I echoed. "But it explains the pattern of jolting on our way out of the null zone."
"It might."
"If so, I'm not sure how we made it out. Our shields couldn’t possibly have lasted through a matter stream like that."
"Not enough data."
"Enough data for some simulations?"
"Should be. I'll see what I can come up with."
"Fine. Jump us through to Enterprise as soon as we arrive."
I sat there, pondering the imponderable. A knot formed in my gut, slowly growing as we approached the jump point.
"O oh."
"What?"
"No scan data from the other side of the jump point."
"O oh."
We jumped through. There was no comnavsat on the other side either. Jane set course for the planet Enterprise. Maybe we would get some answers there.
An hour and a half later, we had our next shock.
"Enterprise isn’t there," said Jane.
"What do you mean, not there?"
"As I said, not there. We should have had her showing on the HUD a half hour ago. She's pretty big, she stands out like a
station. Look at the HUD."
I looked. There was nothing at all in orbit above the planet.
"What the hell is going on here?" I asked.
Jane shrugged, palms up.
A nerve wracking hour and a half later, we entered orbit around Enterprise, positioning to be directly above where we knew the main settlement and the memorial were.
"There's nothing there," said Jane.
"Nothing at all?"
"No people. Nothing man made."
"Removed? Or never there?"
She paused.
"Removed I think. Not in a flat screen show manner, by ripping the whole area out, if that’s what you're thinking."
I had been. The words "You will be assimilated" had crossed my mind.
"But simply removed," continued Jane, "as if someone picked it all up bit by careful bit, and took it."
"Umm, how does the position of the planet relate to when we were last here?"
"It…" She paused. "Doesn’t."
We locked eyes again.
"Run the simulations, I'll wait."
We both sat there for half an hour.
"Confirmed."
"Shit. How bad?"
She told me.
"FUCK!"
She showed me the simulations. Both totally different, they arrived at the same answer.
We sat there in silence some more, until Amanda and Aleesha ran onto the Bridge.
"Jon? What's wrong?" they both said together.
"Whatever that emotion you just went through," said Amanda, "we felt it."
I sighed heavily and waived them to their chairs.
"All senior officers to the bridge please, immediately," I said into ship coms.
We waited while everyone straggled up. It was after eleven at night now, and some of them looked like they'd been woken up. Dick was the last. He sat in his usual chair, looking like he was about to be given his idea of the worst possible assignment he could be given. Others just looked curious as to the summons. Oddly I thought, Carter looked like she was about to receive a revelation.
I stood, and walked forward to the console, where I turned and sat on it between Amanda and George, the latter being in the helmsman's chair. Grace was at the back of the Bridge standing, glowering at George. As I was figuring out what to say, a streak of white shot in the door, sped across the deck, and leapt onto the console on the other side of George, sliding across it to squash up against the front view screen. Angel picked herself up, stepped gingerly across to her cat pad, sat, and looked at me expectantly. I patted her idly for a moment.
Hunter Legacy 8: Hero to the Rescue Page 12