by G J Moses
“Actually Zeke, that would not affect our plans for attacking the camps any. It should be a small enough change to get everyone loaded and shipped to the cruiser. Will we have room for the shuttles and fighters let alone the living space for the Marines?” questioned Khalessi.
“Jax, can we clamp the shuttles, pinnacles and extra fighters on the cruisers skin?”
“Under normal circumstances, I would normally tell you no. The new skin is too tough for a secure connection without a shipyard. But with all the battle damage, we should have enough openings to allow connecting to the inner frame. Yes, I think I can rig something up. Refueling and rearming now, that is a different matter. I will have to think on that.”
“Ok, we work it out somehow. Let’s make it part of the plan. People will have to double bunk if necessary. Sorry for the imposition. Continue on, Zeke out”.
Looking at Isolde thoughtfully, Zeke explained. “I wasn’t going to bring the Marines along with us without knowing what was waiting for us at Nocuous or at least a good chance of contacting whoever is still alive. Better to leave them here to assist in defending Niflhel. But this changes everything. I expect, make that know if I am right in my assumptions, they will have some ships around Nocuous. Thanks Isolde, this is awesome. Now I need your assistance on few others.”
With a thoughtful expression, Zeke turned and centered the map on Nocuous. He shrunk it until Niflhel was at the far end, but Nocuous was still centered. He ran a dotted trace from one to the other. He added one for the asteroid Khalessi planned to use. Then he added another one to an asteroid field more than fourteen light years further out.
“Hmm… I was thinking of trying to send a shuttle out there if we could get close enough to drop them off. But you have given me another idea. Can you check and see what asteroids or meteors are moving in that direction? I am looking for an asteroid large enough to host a communication relay and a shuttle. But one that would be in the area for several weeks. Do you have one?”
“Hmm… let me check.” Working the controls, Isolde eliminated all asteroids not going in the proper direction.
This was one thing Zeke never got tired watching. The way her fingers moved so swiftly across the control pad as she worked the computer. In a short time, the display had three asteroids showing.
“There, that one may do. It may be just what you need.” Standing up and rearranging the display to center on one of the three asteroids. “That asteroid is our best bet. It is the only one large enough to hold the shuttle. Do you mind me asking for what end?”
With a smile, Zeke replied “I sent Lance an encrypted message when he was leaving to go there when he completed his warning. It is very dangerous to do a slipstream directly there as the asteroids and debris there are constantly moving. It is rarely used, if ever, hence, why I do not believe the Chohish are monitoring it. But with someone there to supply a current status map… it will be difficult, but not impossible. Too dangerous to come back in anywhere else alone.”
Magnifying the asteroid Isolde pointed out, Zeke continued. “I was thinking if we put a shuttle in there ahead of time, they could assist along with updating Lance what has occurred upon his return. You may want to get with Jeanne or Jan as they have some maps of that area that we may find useful.”
“And working off that, I would like to check a couple other slipstreams in the system. I need to get scanners there unobserved.”
Frowning, she looked with puzzlement at Zeke as she could not see any reason for doing that.
Still grinning, Zeke asked her “Where did the Chohish come from? They may not use the slipstream the same as we do, but I will bet it is similar. How did they know how to monitor ours? I am betting that their entry point is one of the two other remote slipstreams that are never used as there are no planets in the connecting systems.”
Wide eyed, Isolde looked at Zeke in astonishment before shaking her head in agreement.
“Of course, that makes sense. The Chohish would not have come from any of the other slipstreams as these are connected to human settled words where they would have been detected.” interjected Isolde.
With frenzied activity, Isolde now started zeroing in on asteroids that would go to the two slipstream points in question. Pausing for a second, she stared at Zeke before asking “When did you come to realize this?”
Zeke shrugged and answered nonchalantly, “When we were first attacked. It was the only thing that made sense. I have been trying to figure out a method of getting some scanners out there undetected, but… until you brilliantly showed me how, I could not come up with an acceptable method.”
Chuckling, Isolde shook her head and sighed. “Zeke, it is a pleasure watching you in action. You remind of my father so very much. He always seemed to know what I was going to do before I did it. Pissed me off to no end. Now…”
“Ok, our options there are very limited.” Isolde refreshed the display.
Putting several more asteroids up with the path they would follow highlighted with dotted lines up on the display, Isolde turned to face Zeke. “No asteroids are going directly to the locations we want, but there is some swinging by from other directions. What we could do, and it is very risky, is put a shuttle with scanner and communication units on the ones highlighted.”
Isolde, using the pointer controls that were embedded in her finger, highlighted one of the asteroids. “This asteroid is near us and traveling in the general direction, but it would not get close enough before swinging away from where you need the scanner. But this second asteroid” with that Isolde highlighted the second asteroid’s path and where it intersected the path of the first asteroid, “does go in the direction we want”.
Twirling the image and enlarging the display, Isolde showed a simulation of a shuttle flying from the first asteroid to the second. “What do think? The short trip from one asteroid to the other should be undetectable. We could do something similar to the other one. You do understand that it will take some time to reach their destinations, right?”
With careful deliberation, Zeke examined the simulations. “Yes, I figured that. But what you suggested will work just fine. Isolde, this is good, really good! You are amazing. Remind me to promote you at the first opportunity.”
Blushing, Isolde quietly said with humor in her voice “Sir, is this too soon to remind you?” At the same time, she diligently started inputting additional commands into the AI.
With a full-throated laugh, Zeke responded “Yes, but I will not forget. My only concern is the people on the shuttles. I do not like sending people out on more than likely one-way trips.”
After refreshing the display, which now showed several additional asteroids, Isolde responded. “Depending on where we are, we may have a way of picking the shuttles up. The shuttles do not need to make the full trip with the scanners and communication equipment. Just set it up and let an AI manage it from then on. Once done, they can rendezvous with us, if we are in the area.” Isolde looked at Zeke with raised eyebrows.
“Well then, we need to figure out how to make that happen. Damn Isolde, that is some good work. See about getting that set up ASAP. We want the scanner to be passive and not be detected. Same for the communications. Make it point to point.”
“Oh”, Zeke said as he made his way out the door while looking at Isolde with a serious expression on his face, “I only want volunteers for the shuttles. And you are not allowed to volunteer. That is not up for discussion.”
Based on the disappointed expression on Isolde’s face and the sudden dropping of her shoulders, he had guessed correctly that Isolde had planned to be on one of the shuttles herself.
Niflhel
The Bridge mood was tense as it was getting close to when the ground offensive would kick off. The plan called for Will, Jamie, Gunner and Isolde stay on board the Lucky Strike while Zeke, Hawke, Jeanne and Jan would take a shuttle to the ground. Everyone’s eyes followed the group as they made their way off the bridge.
It was w
hile they were walking to the shuttle, that Hawke asked Jan how long he and Jeanne knew each other. Straightening his jacket, Jan looked at Hawke with a rare smile. “Since Jeanne was a little lass. I served under her uncle, the President, when I first joined the Navy.”
With a sigh, Jan rubbed the back of his neck amazing Hawke that Jan’s arms could get to the back of his wide neck with all the muscles in the way. “But as far as being her nanny, well that is another story. I was invited by her uncle to a family event where this little lass was celebrating her sixteenth birthday. Her uncle asked me to watch over her as she was… well… let’s just go with ‘unpredictable’. Hell, I said sure, why not? What harm can a little girl get into, right?”
“Where others would have enjoyed the limelight of her special birthday coming into womanhood with her friends, Jeanne took advantage of it for other purposes. It took some quick thinking on my part to explain why a sixteen-year-old was at the controls of a Verdon XXVI fighter. How she ever talked me into that is beyond me to this day. Her uncle, after hearing about it, made guarding her my permanent task as my punishment. Again, what did I do to deserve this? Really, huh?”
Looking back at Jan with a smirk on her face, Jeanne gestured rudely with her finger. “Oh hogwash! I talked him into it my ass! What he did not tell you was, it was Jan who snuck us on the airfield along with supplying the access codes for the fighter. I had only responded to his question on what I wanted for my birthday. I simply said I wished I could take a flight in the new fighter and away we went.”
As she had turned around, Hawke could barely hear her chuckle before finishing with “It was awesome though.”
Stone faced; Jan shrugged his shoulders. “See, she admitted it. It was all her idea.”
Silently, Zeke stepped over to his side. “Excuse me for interrupting, but Hawke, you should go get your fighting leathers now before we reach the shuttle bay. We may have use of them on the ground.”
“Already had them sent to the shuttle.” replied Hawke. “I figured that I would need them based on your earlier comment. When are you going to let me know what you need? I know you well enough to know that you have something devious cooking in the diabolical mind of yours.”
“I want to make sure my plans do not affect any of Khaleesi’s plans. Let’s wait till we get with her, OK?” answered Zeke.
In a short time, they reached the lift that would take them to the shuttle bay. These lifts had antigrav and magnetic tracks where the lifts were not limited to go just go up or down as in the olden days. Gone were the cables. They could now move between floors as well as from end to end of the ship.
As they were getting on, Jeanne pulled her hat off and held it snuggled against her side. One of the long feathers tickled the right side of Zeke’s face in passing. Once they were all on and moving, it was obvious that the air purifiers were not up to removing all traces of Jeanne’s perfume. In the small space, her perfume was very strong. And from the smile on Zeke’s face, it was obvious he was not averse to it.
When they stepped off the lift into the bay, their senses were assailed by noise and the smell of lubricant. The area was organized chaos with people and robots running around emptying the arriving shuttles while getting others ready for departure.
The group hurried over to the shuttle that had been prepped for them. Having put her hat back on when they got off the lift, Jeanne got quite a few stares as they jogged to the shuttle. As they boarded, Jeanne repeated the process of removing her hat. Again, one of the long feathers tickled the right side of Zeke’s face. Based on the small smile that appeared on Jeanne’s face, Zeke knew this was being done on purpose.
In short order, the shuttle exited the cruiser. Waiting for them were at least a half dozen fighters with a few more running screens. Gratefully, they did not encounter any opposition in their trip to the ground.
As they approached the ground, a large section of the shattered earth started rising from the ground. It was obvious to everyone aboard that the whole area as far as the eye could see had been heavily hammered by missiles and lasers. Deep pockmarks and uprooted trees along with massive boulders were everywhere. They were amazed the lift still worked until they saw how deep it was.
The lift came up and up until almost a half mile was raised before he saw the deep cavern that must contain the Aerodrome. What an amazing piece of work. From what they could see, it was solid bedrock. It must have taken many years to build something of this magnitude.
The fighter escort left them to circle the area, ensuring it stayed clear of enemy fighters.
Fingering his leather fighting outfit, Hawke was curious what Zeke had in mind for him. He grew up wearing outfits like this one. On his home world, he, like the rest of his race, spent a good amount of time flying above or through the valleys on thermal updrafts dressed in outfits like these to hunt wild game. How that would be useful here, he had no idea.
Landing with only a soft bump, it was only a few more seconds before the rear shuttle door dropped to the ground with a loud clang. It came as no surprise to anyone that Jeanne was the first one to get off the shuttle, not with Jan standing by the door, glaring at everyone daring to try and get in front of her.
As they exited, they saw several people waiting for them at the end of the distant runway. In front, dressed in her Marine armor, stood Khaleesi. Her dark skin, along with her long dark curly black hair tied up in a bun that rested on the back of her head, while carrying her combat helmet tucked up under her arm was immediately recognizable. Her features belied her occupation. You would never know that this beautiful woman was a Marine Major that was tough as nails.
“Well, you sure took your time. I was not sure you were going to make it” Khaleesi said with humor in her voice and a smile on her face. “Good to see you, sir. This is Governor Titus.” indicating the thin man next to her.
“Governor, it is good to meet you. I wish it was under better conditions. As I am sure Khaleesi has told you, we cannot stay. We would not last long against what is on the way here.” Zeke notified Governor Titus while shaking his hand.
Still shaking Zeke’s hand, he nodded his head towards Khaleesi. “Major Richards has. I am very appreciative of what you and your crew have gone through for us. I am sorry to hear about your losses. I hope it has not all been in vain.”
Khaleesi walked forward and held out her hand to Jeanne while nodding to Jan. “And you must be Captain Jeanne de Clisson and Sergeant Jan de Bouff. I thank you for your ground camera’s, they are going to save a lot of lives. Well thought out and placed. I was a bit surprised at the thoroughness knowing how little time you had.”
Giving Khaleesi a firm handshake, Jeanne replied. “Well, I hope you have a better plan than we came up with. We could not devise a plan to get past their force fields. They have overlapping fields that bolster the shield strength several times over. It is something we have tried but have been unsuccessful so far.”
“Actually, we have duplicated it and decided against it as it has a major weakness” replied Khaleesi with a smile. “And if they do it similar as to how we did it, I hope we can take full advantage of that weakness.”
Jeanne turned at Hawke’s chuckle. “I am looking forward to what Khaleesi has in mind.” Hawke commented as he walked past the group. “I will be putting my leathers on so if you all will excuse me.” Hawke spoke out loud over his shoulder as he spied a small office just by the one of the many service elevators.
“Well, shall we get to the conference room and see what that impressive Marine Major of yours has devised?” Titus asked.
Pointing down the hall, Khaleesi led the group to the nearest lift. “How much time do we have Zeke?” queried Khaleesi as she led them all into a spacious personnel lift. She turned to face Zeke as she spoke “163” in the air. The elevator silently started racing downwards.
“I am guessing we have about four hours before we need to leave. The Chohish do not seem to be in a rush to get here. They did not immediately co
me after us like I expected. All three groups met up as we expected, but it was several hours before they started after us. They are coming but not at the speed I would do if I was in their place. But I want to leave enough time for us to reach Nocuous and have time to help there, if possible.” Zeke paused before turning his head to look at Titus.
“Governor, I am impressed. Your underground construction is just amazing and very fortunate. Did I see correctly that a whole side of a mountain came down to allow Jeanne’s fighters out?” asked Zeke.
“Yes, it was not constructed that way at first. This was our living habitat for the first several hundred years until the terraforming took hold. It was vicious out there until about a hundred and sixty years ago. Being on the edge of civilization, we decided that we needed to continue to improve on this as you never knew who would be stopping by.” answered Titus who looked directly at Jeanne and Jan when he finished the sentence.
The expressions on Jeanne and Jan never changed and looked on with indifference like they had no idea what Titus was insinuating. Chuckling softly, while he warmly put his hand on Jeanne’s shoulders, he finished with. “You could say that fear is why we are still alive.”
The elevator silently and smoothly stopped before softly speaking “163rd floor” where the doors opened quietly.
Leading the way, Titus continued with “We did not have enough resources for everything, so we started with building a fortress that had some defensive capabilities. No use having state of the art fighters and ground forces if you had nowhere you could house them safely. We planned to build those forces up down the road.”
With that, Tutus turned right and entered a medium size conference room. It could hold around fifty people. There were already several dozen people already seated and quietly waiting. The silence indicated how serious those already in the room thought of their current situation.