The Fight for Britannia V-Home Coming

by Saxon Andrew

  “Cami, how long is your telepathic range?”

  “Out here in open space, it’s about three days.”

  Charlie shook his head, “How old are you, Cami?”

  “I turned eleven on my last birthday.”

  Sweets smiled, “And she’s really smart to boot. She and I were in the same class in secondary school.”

  Charlie turned to Sweets, “The two of you were in the same class?”

  “Yes, we graduated four months ago.” Charlie blinked and Sweets saw his expression. “What’s bugging you?”

  “How old are you, Sweets?”

  “I turned nineteen three months ago.” Charlie rolled his eyes and shook his head. “What’s wrong?”

  “How did you get promoted to Senior Captain having never attended the Academy?”

  Cami smiled, “She and Linda Kay were assigned to command all the telepaths that were found on New Britannia. The highest-ranking telepath was a captain, so she was given the rank of Senior Captain. She needed that rank to insure they followed her orders.”

  “So, you never went to the Academy?”

  “No, I haven’t. Why are you acting surprised about this? I told you that my mother was pregnant with me during the final battle against the Core Aliens. That happened a little over nineteen years ago.”

  Charlie sighed, “Somehow, I didn’t make that connection.”

  Charlie turned back to the pilot’s console and Sweets didn’t like his expression. “So, you don’t think I’m qualified to be out here on this mission?!”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You don’t have to; your expression says it all. I’ve lived in the military my entire life and I suspect I know more about being in the Navy than any Academy graduate! Remember that it was me that showed you the shortcuts on your console and I have no doubt I know more about military protocols than most sailors in the fleet. The Academy would be a waste of time for me!”

  Charlie turned to Sweets and sighed, “I’m not challenging what you know. You’ve made suggestions during this voyage that genuinely surprised me. And you’re probably right about going to the Academy would be a waste of time for you. So relax, and let’s get this mission done.” Charlie stood up, “I’m going to take the first break. Call me if anything happens.”

  “How old are you, Charlie?”

  Charlie stopped and turned to her, “I’m twenty-five.” He turned and walked away.

  Sweets watched him disappear off the bridge and snorted, “He’s got a lot of nerve!” Sweets turned to Cami and said, “Right?!”

  Cami shook her head, “I don’t understand how someone as smart as you are can be so oblivious.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Charlie doesn’t have ill feelings toward you about being young.”

  “Then why did he act like that?”

  Cami nodded toward the pilot’s chair and Sweets sat down. “Charlie has spent his career in the Navy working hard for his promotions. He’s ranked the best pilot in Fleet and was promoted to Captain for that achievement. Now he’s suddenly placed with two members of his crew that are eleven and nineteen-years-old, and you outrank him. If the roles were reversed, how would you feel about that?” Sweets stared at Cami and remained silent. “In spite of that, he treated both of us as equals. He followed our suggestions without complaint and made some suggestions that saved us. You don’t look nineteen, Sweets. I’m certain he thought you were a recent graduate of the Academy and had your rank due to your expertise in operating a New Britannia Warship.”

  “Cami, I don’t look twenty-two!”

  “You do in your uniform! And you’ve missed all the clues this entire mission!”

  “What clues?!”

  “I think Charlie has developed some affection for you and you just rubbed his nose in how young you are. You put him in his place, and he’s taken a break to pull himself together.”

  “Cami, you’re being ridiculous!”

  “I’ve watched him closely, Sweets. He likes you…a lot. Now he sees that he was the one being ridiculous.”

  “Why is liking me ridiculous?”

  “Charlie thought you were older. And truth be told, you act a lot older than your age. You’re confident, self-assured, and keep your composure; most nineteen-year-old females can’t pull that off. Now he realizes he was being foolish even considering being attracted to you. The reason he insisted on being here with us was because he was going to make sure you were safe. That’s why he refused to take the other warship back. I think now he wished he had.”

  “He’s only six years older. When I’m thirty he’ll be thirty-six.”

  “Sweets, that’s the thinking of a nineteen-year-old. There is not much difference between thirty and thirty-six but there’s a huge difference between nineteen and twenty-five. What do you think your parents would say about you having a relationship with a twenty-five-year-old man?”

  “They would freak out!”

  “And they should. And Charlie realized it the moment he found out you were only nineteen.”

  “Did you look in his mind?”

  “I didn’t have to! All the clues were written clearly on his face to see. You missed all of them.” Cami paused and sighed, “Sweets, he now sees us as child prodigies and is ashamed that he allowed himself to feel affection for you. You won’t have to worry about it; I’m sure when he comes back to the bridge he’ll have reconciled his situation and be fine.”

  Sweets shook her head, “I never intended to cause him pain.”

  “He knows that. You just aren’t experienced enough to see what was happening. That will come with age.”

  “Just how are you able to see it; you’re only eleven!”

  “I’ve lived my entire life in older people’s minds. I’m only eleven, but I have far more wisdom than most people twice my age.” They were quiet for a few minutes and Cami lowered her eyes and smiled, “Do you know what I’m going to do?” Sweets shook her head. “I’m going to wait until I’m twenty and then I’m going to approach Charlie and see if he’s interested in a relationship.”

  “CAMI! HE’S FOURTEEN YEARS OLDER THAN YOU!!” Cami shrugged. “I would think you’d want to be with another telepath!” Sweets added.

  “Charlie is smart, brave, and isn’t ruled by his ego like most telepaths I know. He has a good heart and doesn’t have a deceptive bone in his body. He’s worth waiting for, Sweets.”

  “Taffy will never allow it!”

  “Yes she will. She’ll know that it’s the right thing for me.” Cami sighed and raised a shoulder, “I’ll probably lose out anyway.”

  “Why?”

  “Because someone else who sees him like I do will go after him before I get my chance. I doubt he’ll want to be alone for nine years and someone will snatch him up.”

  Sweets stared at Cami and shook her head, “You’ve been pulling my leg, haven’t you?” Cami giggled. “You wanted me to see past ages, experience, and other issues to look at Charlie for who he is.”

  “You do miss a lot.”

  “I wanted a relationship with Funny Man, but he chose Charlotte.”

  “Be thankful he did.”

  “Why?”

  “Do you think Funny Man would allow you to overrule his suggestions? And he would look in your mind to see how to get around your arguments. He can’t do that with Charlotte and I’m not certain she is going to be happy with him; he does have a rather large ego.”

  “Rushing back to Andromeda wasn’t good thinking,” Sweets remarked.

  “No, it wasn’t, and he didn’t hesitate to take Charlotte with him into that viper’s nest. Charlie would have insisted on your not going if he chose to go back. He puts those he cares about ahead of himself.”

  “I’ll think about it, Cami.”

  “Think about what?” Sweets smiled, stood up, and hugged Cami.

  • • •

  Charlie entered the bridge and Cami stood up, “My turn; call me if anything shows up.�
�

  Charlie smiled, “I suspect you’ll know before we do.” Cami giggled and left the bridge.

  Sweets stood up and went to the weapons console. Charlie took the pilot’s chair and stared out of the view port. He made a point of not looking at her. “Charlie, I’m sorry.” Charlie turned to her. “I got defensive before you went on break and there was no reason for me to act that way.”

  “I understand why you did.”

  “That still doesn’t make it right.” Sweets paused and continued, “Do you know why I chose to put you in command of this mission?” Charlie raised his left shoulder and didn’t respond. “I made that decision because I’m young. I don’t have your experience especially in flying this ship in combat. You’re the best pilot in fleet and though I know this ship like the back of my hand, you know how to use it; I don’t. You earned your rank through hard work and effort; mine was handed to me.”

  “Thank you for saying that Sweets.”

  “There’s more. At this moment in time, you are more experienced and knowledgeable than I am, but that won’t always be the case. Give me a few years and I’ll be your equal. All I lack is experience and that will come with time.” Charlie looked confused and Sweets added, “You’ve kept Cami and me safe during this mission and I thank you for that. And if war comes, then I choose to be on your ship fighting with you. I just ask that you give me the time to get ready.”

  Charlie stared at her and then smiled, “I think you’ll be worth it.”

  Sweets smiled and suddenly heard Cami as she rushed on the bridge, “I’m starting to detect alien thoughts. We need to move further out from our current position, the scouts are spread out on a large front.”

  Charlie stood up, “Take the pilot’s chair and move the ship where you think we should be!” Sweets turned to her console and smiled; Cami was right. Charlie didn’t have an overblown ego. He made the right decisions and didn’t take it personally. And Cami was right about twenty being the right age. There wasn’t as large a difference between twenty and twenty-six.

  • • •

  Charlie stared at the tactical monitor and started seeing red blips appear in the distance. Cami began talking, “They are in telepathic contact with a large number of alien warships following them. The lead scout just detected the vapor from the site of the battle.” Charlie looked at the monitor and saw all the scattered red blips were converging on the battle site. Cami sat up straight, “I’m going to say what I hear so you know what’s going on?” Her eyes narrowed slightly, “Fleet Grip…”

  • • •

  “Fleet Grip, I’m detecting a large vapor cloud filled with tiny pieces of debris. The analysis of it shows it was made from our warships.”

  “How large is the vapor cloud?”

  “It extends more than fifty-miles.”

  “FIFTY MILES?!”

  “Yes Fleet Grip. In order for the vapor cloud to be that large, most, or all, of our warships had to be destroyed to make it.”

  The Fleet Grip immediately thought, “All ships will come to full stop.” He focused on the Scout Leader and thought, “Are you suggesting that every warship was destroyed here?”

  “If there were any survivors, I believe they would have fled from the attackers to take back the information on what was destroying them. We have encountered no ships on the way to this location, so I’m led to believe that every ship that was pursuing that ship has been destroyed.” The Fleet Grip was silent as he digested that information and the Lead Scout added, “The temperature of the vapor cloud does not vary. It also appears all of our warships were destroyed at the same moment.”

  “How is that possible? Those were our best ships! How could they have been detected?”

  “I don’t have an answer for that. But it appears the ship they were pursuing led them into an ambush.”

  “Are you suggesting our stealth system doesn’t function as we believe?”

  “I believe they had to be able to detect our warships to do this. Weren’t those warships using their transponders?”

  Sweets said, “Uh oh!”

  “They were.”

  “The attacker must have been able to detect their transponders. Using them in future attacks should be avoided.”

  “What if it wasn’t the transponders?” The Fleet Grip asked.

  “We know our stealth warships can’t be detected. The only rational answer is that this enemy detected their transponders. We did steal that technology from the humans, and it appears they are able to detect transponder frequencies. We also know that our warships did not detect the enemy’s ships. They flew into an ambush and were destroyed in a short time.”

  “Put your findings into a report, have your scouts move back to the fleet, and move on board one of my ships. The majority of the warships we’ve converted to gravity drives were destroyed here. I suspect the attack will have to be delayed.”

  “Why is that, Fleet Grip?”

  “Our ships can’t match the speed of the human’s warships without it. I’ll take your report to the Prime Elder and you will go with me to deliver it in the event the Assembly has any questions. You should land your scout on my ship.”

  “I understand that the vote to launch our attack now was a close thing.”

  “It was. Most of the Council insisted that we should convert all of our warships to gravity drives before we launch an attack on the humans.”

  “But that could take several years.”

  “If just one member of the Council changes their vote, and I suspect this fiasco will make more than just one change their vote, then the attack will be delayed.”

  “There is always the Prime’s option.”

  “We won’t have that weapon ready for at least a year.”

  “The Prime is not going to like being delayed.”

  “Then that would probably be a compromise they’ll make. Either way, this is out of our hands. Get your scouts moving.”

  • • •

  “…your scouts moving, Cami finished.

  Sweets and Charlie were staring at Cami and Charlie asked, “What weapon were they talking about?”

  Cami’s expression showed her fear as she answered, “They’re building a long-range nuclear missile. It can be launched at a planet from more than a light-year out.”

  “Does it use stealth technology?” Cami turned to Sweets and nodded. “We can’t put this on a communication channel! Charlie, get us moving and take us back to New Britannia now! We have to tell Grady and my Father what’s going on.”

  “Not yet.” Sweets’ eyes narrowed and Charlie added, “They can detect our gravity drives and I’m not moving until that fleet moves beyond their detection range. Using the air thrusters would be wasted energy. We’ll make up the distance on our gravity drives in less than a minute if we just wait.”

  Sweets nodded and went to Cami and put her arms around her. She looked at Charlie and nodded, “You are right again. Thank you for keeping your head.”

  Charlie smiled, “You’ll do the same once you spend some time on a warship.” Sweets smiled and nodded.

  • • •

  An hour later, Charlie activated the gravity drives and pushed the thruster handle fully forward. The ship leapt ahead as they thought about what was coming.

  • • •

  Twelve hours out from New Britannia, Sweets activated her communicator. RJ appeared and she said, “Admiral, I request an urgent meeting with you and Admiral Henricks.”

  “What’s going on, Captain?”

  “Sir, I shouldn’t discuss it over an open frequency.”

  “Is it that serious?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Land at the spaceport and meet me in the conference room. I’m calling a meeting of all the Senior Admirals.”

  “Sir, I request you not do that until you hear what we’ve uncovered.”

  RJ stared at Sweets and said, “Land your ship at the spaceport and take a shuttle to Grady’s home. We’ll hold the meetin
g in his conference room.”

  “Thank you Sir. I think that is wise.” Sweets turned to Charlie and Cami, “Both of you will be attending the meeting.” Charlie started to protest, and Sweets said, “Don’t make me pull rank on you! You’re going to be there!”

  Charlie sat back in his chair and replied, “Yes Sir.”

  Sweets looked up, “Computer, did you record everything Cami said?”

  “Yes.”

  “Transfer it to a data cube now.”

  “Transfer commencing.”

  Charlie stood up, “I’m going to take a bath and put on a clean uniform.”

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Sweets said to his back. Sweets looked at Cami, “Everything is going to be ok. Our parents will find a way out of this.”

  “Can you think of anything to stop them?”

  Sweets stared into Cami’s eyes and shook her head, “No. But keep in mind that we don’t have their experience. Like Charlie says, we don’t have enough experience to know if this can be avoided.”

  “He didn’t say that!”

  “Ah-ha! You have been listening to our thoughts.”

  Cami tried not to giggle but couldn’t stop herself, “I’ll keep it to myself.”

  “See that you do,” Sweets replied as she hugged her.

  • • •

  Sweets showered and changed into a clean uniform and Charlie looked up from his console, “Admiral Henricks just contacted us and said he’ll have a shuttle waiting for us at the spaceport. He also said that the Prime Minister from New Melbourne and President DeChirico will be attending the meeting. It appears the Prime Minister and his Senior Admiral were attending a meeting on New Britannia.”

  “You’re still going!”

  “Why? You know everything I do.”

  Sweets shook her head, “You’re going for two reasons.”

  “What are they?”

  “One, you are the expert on flying our warships and might have something to offer I don’t know.”

  “What’s the other reason?”

  “I’m nineteen-years-old and scared out of my gourd. I need you there for emotional support. I expect you to save me if I lose it.”