Battle in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 4) Page 3

Gregor took back the meeting. “Let’s get back on track. Doctor, you’ve weaponized a bunch of asteroids. Let’s pick up with the freighters withdrawing from Corrinar. Lieutenant Clark?”

  “As I was saying, we see no reason to believe that the aliens have changed tactics. They use their smaller ships as cannon fodder and send in the increasingly larger ships as more space is taken. Our goal in Corrinar is to strip off the attack ships and, in the best scenario, destroy the alien frigate wave. If the aliens stay true to form, this leaves the destroyers, the cruisers and super dreadnaughts.”

  “And our fleet still intact. Nice. But I am concerned about the coating the Heimdallr reported. Captain Forsythe. How is Gazelle?”

  “Ready to go, Mr. Gregor. We have mounted a mid-sized X-cannon, upped the armor plating and lowered the albedo to almost zero. Same with the Stingers. Oh, and each of us are carrying two of the heavier missiles.”

  “Stingers?”

  “Yes, Vice-Admiral. Counting Gazelle, we have sixteen fast movers. Small human transporters. All privately owned. They can achieve point six SOL. We figure on using them as quick hitters.”

  “They won’t last against the alien weapons.”

  “We’re aware of that, Vice-Admiral. We plan on coming in hot, burning holes, dropping missiles and bugging out, hiding back in the asteroids.”

  “I’ll need to take command of those Stingers. Incorporate them into the overall defense plan.”

  “Well, Sir. With all due respect, that won’t work.” Jean Forsythe injected herself into the conversation.

  “And you are?”

  “Captain Forsythe. Of Gazelle. And Commander of Mr. Gregor’s fleet.”

  “Well, Commander,” Weiskoff’s sarcasm came through in his voice. “As I said, they need to be under my command.”

  “That will never happen, Vice-Admiral.” It was tough enough to get them to follow me. They’re all free-flyers. That’s why they live out here, on the fringe. They won’t accept blind authority. They won’t accept your orders, Sir.”

  “They better. We can’t have a rogue fleet flying around.”

  “They won’t, Sir. Just tell me what you need. I’ll get them to do it.”

  “Why you? What are your qualifications?”

  “Twenty years navy, Sir. Last eight as Flight Commander aboard Vali.”

  “Sorry to hear about her going down. She was a good ship. Good crew.”

  “The best, Vice-Admiral.”

  “Ex-Navy. Then you know about the importance of rank. And authority.”

  “Yes, sir. I do. I also know about leading civilians.

  “Well, now you report to me.”

  “Like I said, Vice-Admiral. We’re all free-flyers. And I report to Mr. Gregor.”

  “Mr. Gregor has said that I am in charge of Humanity’s defense. That means I am in charge of you and your stingers.”

  “In charge, yes. In control, no. You try that, you will have sixteen stingers heading for the deep dark. You let us know what needs to be done, we will figure out how to do it.”

  “Gregor?”

  “She’s not treating you any differently than she treats me, Weiskoff.” Since the Vice-Admiral dropped the honorifics, so did Gregor.

  “I tell her what I need, she gets it done. Captain Forsythe has never let me down. Neither has Doctor McCauley.”

  Vice-Admiral Weiskoff and Mr. Gregor locked eyes for a long moment. Weiskoff blinked first.

  “Ok, Gregor. We do it your way. But you, Forsythe, you keep your stingers in line.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  “Is Gazelle ready for an extended flight?”

  “Yes, Mr. Gregor.”

  “We need a recon. We need you to sneak into Bridgelen. See what’s happening with the alien fleet.”

  “Can do, Sir.”

  “Heimdallr should do that, Mr. Gregor. You don’t have the security codes or encryption if you receive any messages.”

  “Give them to us.”

  “Send Heimdallr.”

  “We send both. That way, if one gets in trouble, the other can get back.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Captain, get Gazelle prepared. You’re leaving immediately after this meeting.”

  “Yes, Sir. But I’m going to need extra crew for that long of a haul.”

  “How many?”

  “Just two. An engineer. And, since you aren’t going to be my copilot, a copilot. We’ll need one trained on the new weapons.”

  “Doctor, do you have an engineer for me?”

  “I wish Mack was here. But, I’ve got someone. She’ll fit right in. Jesse. Jesse Brown. Works for Ian. She’s ex-military. And she’s a good mechanic. Also, she did all of the testing and fine-tuning on the X-cannon. She’ll get the job done.”

  “Send her over. Let Jean interview her.”

  “I’ll contact Ian immediately. Ian will be rightly pissed. He leans on her a lot. She’s one of his best.”

  That freighter, Fairstar. Captain Adams. I’ll ask that old pirate if he has someone ready to move up. He might have someone for us. That takes care of the copilot and engineer. Anyone or anything else?”

  “Not until I find something we’ve forgotten, Mr. Gregor.”

  “Ok, Hank. Get Mz Brown over to Gazelle. I’ll contact Captain Adams and see if he has a copilot.

  “Mr. Clark, please contact Heimdallr actual. Have him prepare for another scout mission.”

  “Aye, aye, Admiral.” Lieutenant Clark began mumbling into his throat mic, ordering Heimdallr’s crew to be ready for lift off.

  “Back to Arium. Lieutenant Clark has walked us through the Corrinar actions. Our freighters have hit the Arium gate. Doctor, now what?”

  “Again, this will be ready in the two week window. We have mounted the boosters and are currently maneuvering the asteroids into a static formation.”

  “No weaponry?”

  “No, Vice-Admiral. The asteroids are kinetic weapons, all by themselves. As I said, we will place them in a static formation of my design. There will be one clear path through, on the bias. As the last ship clears, the boosters are fired and a random acceleration pattern will be activated. Our goal is to pile up as much debris as possible, making it an obstacle course for the aliens. Pack it as close to the gate as possible. Any contacts between the aliens and the rocks should be terminal. And they will add to the debris field. As the aliens work through this debris field, the large and jumbo freighters turn and fire. The small and mid-sized freighters continue to flee as they fire their rear-guard weapons. The Stingers dart through, using the debris as protection, dropping missiles and returning to the ordinance ship for reloads and refueling. We keep doing this until the aliens clear the field. Our goal is to get into their destroyers and cruisers, leaving the dreadnaughts. That’s the goal, anyway.”

  “Vice-Admiral?”

  “I have to admit. It is a doable plan, Doctor. Did you think this up?”

  “With Captain, um, Commander Forsythe’s guidance. Putting boosters on the asteroids was her idea. I had originally thought of tugs.”

  I’m thinking we put Odin in the mix. We can get in a few good shots at the super dreadnaughts as they clear the gate and debris field. Soften them up.”

  “Anything will help, Vice-Admiral.” McCauley made a point of using Weiskoff’s title as much as possible, a salve for the military man’s ego.

  “Captain Brewer. You’ve been quiet. Any thoughts?”

  “Just churning on fleet coordination with the freighters. What about the ore barges and mining ships? Those have to be tough, well armored assets.”

  “They’re all too slow. Easily picked off. We have all of them hiding at their mines, staying as invisible as possible.”

  “Also, I was thinking about the positioning of Odin in relationship to the moving asteroids. That will be a problem.”

  “I’ll work it out, Captain. Run some numbers, scenarios.”

  “Thank you, Doctor.”

  “What are the
plans for Latina? The shipyard?” Weiskoff asked.

  “Latina, in space, not much,” Gregor answered. “We don’t have anything that will stop the occupation. I think you see that. Governor Moreno is organizing a resistance. He’s got a planet full of hard people. And a lot of weapons. They should put up a good fight.”

  “The shipyard?”

  “When the first freighter comes through, we button it up. Go dark.”

  “Will that be enough?”

  “We’ve hid from the Federacy for almost thirty years, Vice-Admiral, no disrespect. We can hide from the aliens for a few more.”

  “There’re enough supplies?”

  “And then some.” Gregor wasn’t about to reveal the sister asteroid, Sanctuary. Or the newly created supply asteroid. Just letting the Federacy know about the shipyard gave him enough of a nervous stomach.

  “Your idea is to just give the aliens Arium.”

  “I don’t think we have a choice. From what we’ve seen, to stay is to die. Anything they find, they destroy. Any people they find, they eat or enslave. It’s a matter of survival, not victory.”

  “Then all remaining ships flee to Tolimar.”

  “Yes, Admiral. If we can keep our fleet intact and only the two super dreadnaughts come through, we should be able to make a good showing.”

  You haven’t addressed the carriers.”

  “Vice-Admiral, may I?”

  “Of course, Mr. Clark.”

  “In both Yeni Persia and Dorogon, the carriers only arrived after the systems were subdued. Those ships carry the landing craft, the attack troops and the planet-side processing. They aren’t combat ships. And they never come into a battle zone. From a combat standpoint, the carriers are non-entities.”

  “Yeah. Same with the flagship. Cowards.”

  “Plans for Tolimar?”

  “Don’t have any. Too many variables.”

  “Well, we’ve gone through the overview. Now to the details. Let’s have lunch, collect our thoughts then get back to it.”

  Everyone liked Vice-Admiral Weiskoff’s suggestion.

  Herman Cox’s Private Hanger

  “What are we doing here, Theodore?”

  “I’m getting you and your children off planet, Jenny.”

  “But we are not on the list, Theo.”

  “I know, Laura. But, I will not have you, my wife, dying here while I run away. And Junior is out there. I couldn’t face him knowing that I left his wife and children behind. So you all are getting on this yacht.”

  “But, what about the owners?”

  “No ‘buts’. The owners are in jail for sedition. They will never use this ship. It is fully prepped and fully supplied.

  “They tried to sneak off?”

  “That’s why they and Senator Campbell are incarcerated.”

  ‘Who will fly it?”

  Weiskoff signaled to a stocky woman standing with two muscular men.

  “Beamon is a good pilot. She will get you to Pantea.” The determined woman in civilian clothing marched forward.

  “Beverly, this is Laura, my wife. That is Jennifer, my son’s wife. His two children, my grandchildren, Theodore the Fourth and Franklin. All, this is Lieutenant Beverly Beamon.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant.”

  “Just ‘Beverly’, Mrs. Weiskoff.”

  “Then it’s ‘Laura’ for you, Beverly. You heard the tyrant. Let’s get this show on the road.” She smiled at her husband as she said this.

  ‘You also get two guards.” Weiskoff signaled to the two armed and armored men standing off to one side.

  The two steel-eyed men marched forward. Laura saw that they also dressed in civilian clothing and armor.

  “These two have been conscripted from our Special Security unit, as has Beverly. Drake and Vance.” Weiskoff pointed to each man in turn.

  “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Drake.”

  “Just ‘Drake’, Ma’am.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Drake. And you, Vance. Come on, Jenny. Let’s get the boys settled in and get going while the going is good.”

  “After you, Mom.”

  “We’ve secured the ship, Mrs. Weiskoff. It is safe to board.”

  “For Gods’ sakes, Drake. It’s Laura. We’re going to be cooped up in this can for a long time. It’s Laura.”

  “Of course, ma’am.”

  Fleet-Admiral Theodore Millhouse Weiskoff the Second stayed groundside and watched until all that he held dear had boarded, lifted off, streaked through the sky and disappeared into the dark of space.

  Trotzig Cave System

  Seven a.m. the next day. The determined spelunkers all arrived on time. An eighth member joined.

  “Evert. Quite a little quest you’ve got going here.”

  “Hey, Randy. Just caving. Mapping. Exploring. Fun stuff for a change.”

  “I see you drafted Lanzo. I wondered where Trotzig’s best surveyor ran off to.”

  “I didn’t do it. He kind of latched on. That’s Telly. Telly Grimes. My mining foreman.”

  Randy Roth shook Telly’s hand.

  “Those three lay-abouts, Bernie, Hagen, Merle.”

  “Howdy.”

  “Harriet rope you into this?”

  “Nah. The clinic is running smoothly. No real patients. Yet. Knock on wood. So I thought I’d see what my girlfriend was up to.”

  “Girlfriend? Really? What are we? Sixteen?”

  “And a sweet sixteen it is, tenderfoot.”

  “See what I have to put up with? He never got out of high school. I’ll bet he was the quarterback.”

  “Tight end, actually, Mz. Gregor.”

  “Oh for God’s sake. One man treats me like a teenager. The other like a school teacher. It’s Harriet, Evert. Harriet.”

  The other five watched, enjoying the side play. Randy saw an attractive, powerful woman coming out of her shell. He liked it. He liked her.

  “Yes, ma’am. Harriet. Let’s map some caves.”

  The morning passed. The intrepid spelunkers mapped multiple caves, of different sizes, all linked by well-dug tunnels. Eight dusty, footsore explorers trudged back to the entrance.

  “I’ll say one thing, Mr. Keller. Whoever dug this system knew what they were doing.”

  “Yes they did, Telly. Question. Do we have electric carts small enough to traverse these tunnels?”

  “Easy. Our two-person inspection carts will drive right through any of the tunnels we found.”

  “Then, for tomorrow, we need four.”

  “I’ll have them charged and ready, Mr. Keller. Bernie, Hagen, Merle. Each of you grab a cart. I’ll bring one.”

  “Sure thing, Boss.” Bernie answered for all three.”

  “Tomorrow. Same time. You going to be here, Randy?”

  “What do you think?”

  Evert looked at Harriet then back at Randy.

  “No comment.”

  * * * * *

  For six more mornings Evert led his spelunker group down tunnels, into caverns and deeper into Tolimar’s crust. The intrepid eight rode their narrow, battery-powered carts, ducking down in the tunnels, keeping their limbs in as they navigated corners and turns. Lanzo kept his drones flying and scouting, developing a completely detailed map of this complex underground structure. Come the afternoons, everyone dispersed, returning to their areas of responsibility and labor.

  On morning eight, having arrived at yet another cavern, everyone climbed out of their carts, stretched and worked out the kinks.

  “Hey, Mr. Keller. This cave is loaded with a lot of uniform holes in all the walls. Some threaded. Like things were mounted.”

  “Yeah, Telly. I see that. Looks like someone lived here then just pulled up stakes and left.”

  “Wonder why.”

  “Couldn’t have been too bad. Nothing torn down or broken. All the walls are slick smooth. No gouges or pock marks. Nothing left behind.”

  “Maybe they didn’t find what they were looking for. Or ran out of what
ever they wanted.”

  “Could be. Don’t know.”

  “Are we done yet?”

  “Lanzo. Clue Randy in. He’s getting bored.”

  “I don’t see any exit tunnels, Mr. Keller, Mr. Roth. And this tunnel we just came in on dead-ends here. So I’d guess that this is the end.”

  “Finally!”

  “What, you don’t like crawling around in caves, Mr. Wrangler?”

  “Not a bit, City. Give me my sky and plains any day.”

  “And a bath. You’re a little ripe.”

  “Speak for yourself, girl.”

  “Uh, Mr. Keller?”

  Looking around, Evert found Hagen at the far back of the large cavern.

  Using his personal com, he answered, “Yeah, Hagen?”

  “Found something. You all may want to take a look.”

  The remaining six loaded into their three carts and headed across the expansive cavern floor. Arriving, they all piled out and stared at what Hagen pointed to as Bernie watched.

  “A door, Mr. Keller.”

  “That it is, Hagen. Lanzo, what have we got? Any electronics?”

  “Let me put a drone on it. See what it senses.”

  They all waited while Lanzo went to work, activated a drone and collected its readings.

  “Nothing electronic. Made of some metal alloy. Nothing like I’ve seen before.”

  “Merle. You’re the door man. Can you get it opened?”

  Merle stepped forward and carefully inspected the entire, rectangular slab of metal.

  “Nothing, Mr. Keller. No way to open it.”

  “Now what?”

  “We drill, Mr. Keller.”

  “Is that a good idea, Telly?”

  “Maybe not a big hole. Something small. Snake in a camera. See what’s on the other side.”

  “What if it’s filled with poisonous gas?”

  “We wear gear. We’ve done this before. No problem.”

  “Well, we don’t have any of that gear here, now.”

  “So we come back tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow it is.”

  * * * * *

  All seven arrived at the door, completely sealed in hazardous material suits. The sounds of the re-breathing apparatus recycling the entrapped air bespoke of all of them breathing clean, bottled air.

  Telly, having worn this suit thousands of times in the past, had no problem moving around and approaching the strange, probably alien, door. Using a laser measurement tool, he found the exact center and marked the spot with an ‘X’.