Galaxy of War II Read online

  “Come in.”

  The door opened, Caraway, Barney, and Deneuve coming in.

  “You’re leaving,” Caraway said.

  “No,” Barney said, his eyes filled with pain.

  Deacon smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not going far. Captain Clarke asked me to take back my old job on the New Jersey. I knew that was coming eventually.”

  “But will we still see you?” Barney asked.

  “Of course,” Deacon said. “Caraway, I’m promoting you. You’ll take over for me on the Zephyrus, and you’ll train Barney and Deneuve for a similar position on an upcoming freighter.”

  “Wow, really?” Caraway asked. “Thank you so much, sir.”

  Deacon chuckled. “Sir? I’m still Deacon.”

  “Congrats, Caraway,” Deneuve said, “and you too, Deacon, of course.”

  Deacon noticed Barney’s nervous expression. “Don’t worry, my friend, we won’t separate you and Deneuve. Also keep in mind the future. There are more battleships coming.”

  Butch just contacted me. We’ve got a job to do before you go. All of us.

  We were born ready.

  Hahaha. For shame. We’re supposed to mess with our wards about that.

  Wards? Oh brother.

  What is it?

  Junior sent some data over from Fido.

  Hey!

  Sorry, habit. I’ll give you a dog biscuit later.

  Get to the point.

  We need to study some vibration data, and take a look at the Boron shielding in the cargo bay of the Zephyrus.

  Okay, I guess my move can wait. Let’s go to the lab, guys.

  They walked down the hall to the lab, going in.

  “Let’s put the AIs on speaker in here,” Deacon said.

  Thank you. I just sent the vibration levels to your visual cortexs.

  Whoa, you seeing this, Barney?

  “Yes,” Barney said. “What would cause this?”

  Dojo just sent us the explanation. They’re working the heat signature problem, to protect our ability to shuttle fuel up from Amberis.

  Deacon chuckled. “They’re going to use the shields to slow us to Q speed before entering the atmosphere.”

  “That will be enough to hide the heat?” Deneuve asked.

  Caraway nodded. “The heating is caused by the speed of the object hitting the atmosphere. This is a good idea, but these vibration numbers are significant.”

  “I’ve got to review my engineering for the radiation shielding,” Deacon said. “I over-built it, but we’d better check. We might want to add more structure just in case.”

  “We’ll be empty going down, right?” Deneuve asked.

  We don’t want to put fuel into a damaged containment area. That would be lethal.

  You need to educate your ward, Verne.

  Deacon chuckled, shaking his head. “Let’s stop with the ward business, shall we? We all know who’s boss. It’s not you assistants.”

  That you know of.

  “Make yourself useful, Curley. Match up the vibration and g-force loads in Dojo’s data to my engineering data. I shouldn’t have to do this manually.”

  Work work work. Done. You’re okay except for the section right by the door. I’ll suggest a design for the retrofit. Would you like me to check the entire ship? It’s all going to be shaken, and we’ve got other critical parts. It’ll take a little longer.

  “Please,” Deacon said. “How much longer? No sandbagging.”

  Distribute some of it to us.

  Yeah, we’re just here twiddling our thumbs.

  What thumbs?

  “I hope you’re all working during this needless banter,” Deacon said.

  Done. This ship is built like a battleship. We won’t have any problem.

  “It will shorten the life of the frame eventually,” Barney said.

  We can take care of that with periodic maintenance.

  Listen to Barney. He’s got a good idea.

  “What is it?” Deacon asked.

  “We should develop a set of lifters. We’d have to take them down via the Zephyrus periodically, but it would reduce the frequency of the damaging entries, and help us with another problem.”

  “What other problem?” Caraway asked.

  “Storage.”

  “What about cloaking?” Deneuve asked.

  No need, these are small, and our sensors can see enemy ships and enemy probes. This is actually a good idea, and it’ll save us on fuel. That’s the biggest down side to the whole thing. We’ll burn a lot of fuel slowing down to Q, even using the shields. That and the wear and tear to the Zephyrus’s frame are problematic over the long haul.

  “If we had unlimited time and raw materials, a speed loader would be the best way to go, and we could cloak that,” Barney said.

  “Speed loaders?” Deneuve asked.

  Like Aeon is using to shuttle storm troopers to the surfaces of planets. That’s another good idea.

  Deacon smiled. “That’s an excellent idea, but let’s not go there for now. I’ll move the idea up the chain, though. You’ve got some skills, Barney.”

  “Thank you,” Barney said, smiling proudly.

  “Curley, is the engineering for the shield fix ready yet?”

  It is. I’ll display it to the main screen. We’ve got everything we need, but some of it is on the New Jersey.

  “No problem, we’re on the New Jersey,” Caraway quipped.

  { 15 }

  Mines

  S tuart Cain left the Forestall bridge. Boeraton caught him in the hallway.

  “Looking for me?” Cain asked.

  “We need to chat,” Boeraton said. “Perhaps not on the bridge, and not in the conference room either.”

  “We’re in a jump.”

  Boeraton chuckled. “The surveillance system records conversation, and sends when we exit the jump.”

  “Do tell,” Cain said. “Fine, how about my stateroom? Assuming that’s not bugged too.”

  “It’s not,” Boeraton said, “yet.”

  “You’ve got plans for that?” Cain asked.

  Boeraton chuckled. “I’m not long for this position. Let’s go.”

  Cain led the way to his stateroom, standing aside for Boeraton to enter. “There’s a table and chairs in the back there.”

  “Lock the door.”

  Cain nodded, doing that, then joining Boeraton at the table. “What’s on your mind, boss?”

  “I’ve been going over and over the conversations I had with the Prime Minister while we were waiting for the five Razors,” Boeraton said. “I don’t think we should return to the Central Authority Zone.”

  Cain burst out laughing. “You’re just now figuring that out?”

  Boeraton ignored the laughter. “Aeon thinks we tipped off Trey Clarke about the spies in the Pentant Simtar Congress. He’ll execute us as soon as we get back.”

  “No he won’t,” Cain said.

  Boeraton eyed him, on the edge of rage.

  “He’ll torture us, then he’ll execute us. I suspect the torture will go on longer than either of us can imagine.”

  Boeraton leaned back in his chair, his eyebrows raised. “You tipped off Trey Clarke, didn’t you?”

  Cain stared back at him, not nervous at all. “Yes, I did.”

  Boeraton’s lips formed a thin smile. “Why?”

  “Do you want your family to live in a Central Authority Zone under Aeon?”

  Boeraton was silent for a long moment.

  “Are you going to report me?” Cain asked.

  Boeraton shook his head. “I’m glad you did it. You’re right, we can’t go back, unless we switch sides.”

  “So what now?”

  “We’ll have to be careful how we handle the five Razors
. Do you know the captains of those ships?”

  “We got a package on each when they came out of the jump. Standard operating procedure. It’s possible the data is bad, of course.”

  Boeraton nodded. “Let’s both review them. Does X22945 know what you did?”

  “No. Should I tell him?”

  “Not yet,” Boeraton said. “We might have to as things move along.”

  “He’s no fan of Aeon’s.”

  Boeraton laughed. “Yeah, he almost pisses himself at the thought of dealing with him.”

  Cain chuckled. “All kidding on the side, he’ll be valuable to us while we’re here. You know that, right?”

  “Yes, I understand,” Boeraton said.

  “What do you think of this plague stuff?”

  “Anything that makes it more difficult for us to be pulled back to the Central Authority Zone is helpful in my eyes.”

  Cain smiled. “Agreed.”

  “Let’s go review those packages,” Boeraton said.

  They left Cain’s stateroom.

  ***

  Trey Clarke woke up, spooned against JJ in his stateroom.

  “Hey,” JJ said, turning to face him. “Do we have to get up already?”

  “Those two pilotless flight suits will be in position within the hour,” Trey said. “I want to be on the bridge when that happens.”

  “That’s right, Cyrus launched those a couple days ago. Mind if I tag along?”

  Trey stood, bending down to pick up his nano suit. “No, of course not. Need to cleanse?”

  “I’m fine for another day,” she said, climbing out of bed. They put on their nano suits, then dressed in their uniforms. “You’ve heard the latest, right?”

  “Here comes some gossip,” Trey said.

  “Cyrus no longer has Sasha working under him,” JJ said.

  Trey laughed. “I suspect she’s still working under him, in a manner of speaking.”

  “Don’t be vulgar,” JJ said. “I knew that was coming. Sasha’s been after him for a while now.”

  “Well good for them. Does it bother you? He is your ex, after all.”

  “I want him to be happy, and Sasha is a good person, with a sharp enough edge to keep him interested.”

  “Breakfast?” Trey asked.

  “I’m good with stand-up food on the way.”

  “Ah, breakfast burritos,” Trey said. “Sounds perfect.”

  They left the stateroom, walking down the corridor, picking up a tin can at the transit station, stopping by the breakfast stand, wolfing down their burritos.

  “Let’s get our coffee on the bridge,” Trey said. “We’re running a little late.”

  JJ nodded, and they walked to the bridge. Nolan was there, with Skip and Sondra.

  “The flight suits just got into place,” Nolan said. “We’re monitoring them now.”

  Captain Clarke sat on his captain’s chair, JJ taking an observer seat nearby.

  “Oh, you want coffee?” JJ asked.

  “In a minute.”

  “I think I need some,” JJ said, getting up and going into the kitchen off the bridge.

  “Don’t be nervous, they can’t hurt us in this operation,” Sondra said.

  JJ nodded. “It’s what we might learn that makes me nervous.”

  “You said a mouthful there,” Skip said.

  Nolan focused on his station. “Central Authority Probe identified, near Carringolton.”

  “Cyrus is asking to join us,” Skip said.

  “Put him on screen, and bring Simone on if she’s available.”

  JJ came back in. “Here, got you one in a warmer.” She handed the coffee to Captain Clarke, who put it into the holder on his seat arm.

  “Thanks, good idea,” he said.

  The screen lit up, Cyrus on one half, Simone on the other.

  “Good morning,” Cyrus said.

  “Yes, good morning,” Simone said. “We ready to pull the trigger?”

  “Are we?” Cyrus asked.

  “Go for it,” Captain Clarke said.

  “Samson, tell Wayne they can fire at will.”

  Done.

  “Butch and the other AIs, on speaker please, no chatter,” Captain Clarke said.

  Thank you, Captain Clarke. I am set up to monitor mines should they appear. I have a way to gauge the frequency of their bursts, should they have that capability.

  You mean we have a way to gauge that.

  “Dojo, knock it off,” Nolan said.

  “Commander Klemperer’s team is ready,” Cyrus said. “Probe destroyed. Standing by.”

  “This might take a while,” JJ said. “The mines probably have to jump from someplace.”

  We can’t destroy all their mines with only one flight suit.

  “We’re not doing this to destroy their mines,” Cyrus said. “We want to see if their mines have plasma burst capability.”

  Nolan turned from his station. “Maybe we should have flight suits standing by to follow these mines home when they leave. We can track them, even while they’re in a jump.”

  “Thoughts?” Captain Clarke asked.

  The screen split a third way, Klemperer’s smiling face showing up. “I think we should go after them. We can do it, probably without losing a single flight suit.”

  “Good, I agree,” Captain Clarke said.

  “As do I,” Simone said.

  “So now we wait,” Cyrus said. “Could be hours, even days.”

  “They might mount a major surface assault, complete with battleships,” Skip said. “They’re looking for our fuel sources.

  Captain Clarke picked up his warmer cup, taking a sip of coffee. “That’s another possibility.”

  “I think they’ll do both,” Nolan said. “They’ll use their burst mode mines to remove any ships that might be guarding the area, and then they’ll attack the surface. They have to do it that way. They can’t beat our ships in a straight-up fight, and they know it.”

  Captain Clarke chuckled. “We’re doing a lot of speculation. We don’t even know if their mines have a plasma burst mode.”

  Nolan leaned back in his chair, then looked over at Captain Clarke. “You’re right about that, Trey, but it’s not bad for us to discuss the possibilities. That way we won’t have to study what to do on the fly. That said, I think we’ve beaten this to death. If they do send a ground assault team there, we’ll have several choices on response. One of the choices will be to do nothing. We don’t have anything to defend on Carringolton.”

  “We could wait till they have their pants around their ankles and then nail them,” Klemperer said. “With flight suits and Mark VI LBs.”

  “Yeah, I’d support that,” Cyrus said. “We’ve got that flight suit in disk mode, hunkered down, correct?”

  “Yes sir,” Klemperer said.

  “All right, nothing to do but wait,” Captain Clarke said.

  ***

  Elizabeth walked back into the lab, sitting next to Ecason. “How’s it going?”

  “The Clan’s signal jamming technology is good… but not good enough. I’m almost ready for a test message. How’s your team doing?”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “Happy, but still scared.”

  “Can’t blame them there. Wonder if XC22272 had his chat with the royals?”

  “They might screw up our little detente, you know.”

  Ecason nodded. “Yes, that thought has crossed my mind. We’re still captives, although we’re in better shape than we were.”

  “You look exhausted. Maybe you ought to relax for a little while.”

  Ecason smiled. “I’m okay, Elizabeth. How are you holding up? You’re under as much stress as I am.”

  “As long as I’m busy it’s fine,” she said.

  “You aren’t busy now.”

  Elizabeth chuckled. “My brain is racing. Remember that I think for a living.”

  “There is that, I guess. I could use a cup of coffee.”

 
They heard the lab door open. XC22272 walked in.

  “Good, you’re both here. How are you doing with the jamming issue?”

  “I’m close to having a testable device,” Ecason said. “How’d it go with the royals?”

  “They’re not only with us, they had ideas. They’re smart. Even the young ones.”

  “What kinds of ideas did they have?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Well, for one thing, they said we ought to send one craft out with our most senior royal family members, as soon as we are successful in getting a message out via the official channel. They want to go to S1133-C, since I’ve already got contacts there.”

  “You can communicate there, can you not?” Elizabeth asked. “Why can’t you just tell them about this?”

  “The rulers of that planet won’t accept such a message from me. It must come over the official royal channel, which includes a thread of encryption that they can read. That’s what tells them they have an official message from the government. That is what the creatures are jamming.”

  “Helps to reside inside your enemy’s head,” Ecason said. “Those creatures did the same types of things to take over my ship.”

  “So what happens after their senior members go there?” Elizabeth asked.

  “They send a few hundred ships here to evacuate the bunker. We’ll have everybody out of here in a few hours.”

  “Good,” Ecason said. “What else?”

  “They forbid us to send any more hardware to Prime Minister Aeon,” XC22272 said. “That was a hard decision for them. It’s a large financial hit at a time when they need funding.”

  “It’s the right decision,” Ecason said, “but it might draw a response from Aeon.”

  XC22272 chuckled. “We know how many Razor ships they have, and we have more than enough AVC22-3 battleships available to destroy their entire Centurion fleet. Of course we’ll leave the Samson Corporation ships alone.”

  “Didn’t think you guys liked them,” Ecason said.

  “The royals think they can make mutually beneficial treaties with the Samson Corporation. They will never try to invade us. They’d rather have us as customers.”

  “I’m glad they realize that,” Ecason said. “What’s next?”

  “Do you have a way to get a message to Chairman Vermillion?” XC22272 asked.

  Ecason sighed. “No, I don’t. Wish I did.”