Ian said, “We are going to take possession of the new Sigma Ships and go find the locations of the Slaver’s farm planets. We’re going to leave a scanning device at everyone we find.”
Doc said, “Dee, get back here so we can go to work.”
“On our way.”
Ian looked at Doc, “You mentioned needles.”
Doc looked around the room and said, “I’ve only seen a limited number of the FTL destroyers at the Slaver’s main planets. What do you think the Slavers are doing with those ships?”
Violet said, “They’re being modified.”
Gary said, “Those ships have failed to stop our FTL escapes so they no longer serve the purpose for which they were built. They must be changing them to take on our ships.”
Doc nodded, “They’re doing something with them and I noticed when the Slaver’s Main Computer said that it had called in a needle ship, that a FTL Destroyer was moving in system from outside disrupted space. I think those ships are going to be a real problem.”
Ian thought a moment and said, “If they can fire those needles accurately, they won’t need the massive number of warships around a planet to defend it.”
Cole nodded, “I also suspect the force fields will be strengthened and the huge number of wide firing beams will be replaced with the Ship Destroyer’s beams.”
Doc nodded, “We have to find a means of taking them out. I’m not at all sure we have the ability to do that right now.”
Moe said, “I’ll work on that.”
Doc nodded as Dee, Dom, and Becky reentered the room.
D
om looked at Becky and said, “I’m worried about Dee.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“She’s doing the really dangerous work placing scanners in the Slaver’s systems.” Dom looked at Becky and saw her expression, “What?”
“How can you say that? We’re about to go into combat and you think she’s in more danger?”
Dom stared at her and said, “I guess that’s a good point. But we’re only going to have to take out a single ship.”
“And the planetary headquarters of the Slavers.” Dom shrugged. “And don’t forget the commercial ships around the planet.”
Dom said, “Ok, you’re right. Are you ready?”
Becky put on her tactical helmet and said, “B, do you have your system locked in?”
A female voice said, “I do. I’m going to fire on the ship with three missiles and simultaneously hit the building on the planet.”
Dom said, “B, have you plotted a course through the commercial vessels?”
“I have.”
“D, do you have it entered?”
“I do.”
Dom was impressed the way the two computers worked together on the new Sigma Ship, “Show me.” Dom looked at the plot and said, “You’re not going to get in range of the sixty ships above the North Pole.”
“They will have time to jump before we can eliminate the warship and the other commercial vessels.”
Dom thought a moment and said, “The commercial vessels are more of a priority than the warship. What if we target them first and take on the warship when it comes after us?”
There was a pause and they heard, “I’ve run a simulation and B agrees that we could disable the sixty ships above the planet in less than two seconds and then go after the commercial vessels at the equator. The building on the surface isn’t going anywhere so we could handle it last.”
Dom said, “Becky, what can you determine about the warship’s armament?”
“It has twenty main beams but only two on the bow. If it chases us it can only bring those two to bear on us.” Becky paused and said, “Something about that ship’s shape is different. It doesn’t match the Ship Destroyers in our database.”
“D?”
“If it chooses to give chase, my rear missile launchers should be able to hit it. But Becky is right, it does have a different shape.”
“D, I want you to focus in on those beams on the bow and tell me what you see.”
There was a lengthy pause and D said, “Those beams are different from any in our database on their ships.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The barrel is much smaller in diameter than any saved in our records.”
“D, could those be the needle beams Doc was talking about earlier?”
“They could very well be that beam. I suspect it’s difficult to target that small a beam so it would work best in pursuit where the ship can line up on its target.”
Dom thought a moment, “Then we can’t allow them to give chase from our rear.”
Becky said, “We also need to confirm if they are a needle.”
Dom thought a moment, “How far away is it from the commercial ships at the equator?”
“It’s holding station above the headquarters building on the planet. It will be a hundred miles from us when we hit the last commercial ships.”
Dom looked at Becky and said, “Doc said that beam had a range of a hundred and fifty miles. D, break off the attack two hundred miles from that ship and head away from the planet. If it gives chase, start a sharp turn so it can’t bring its bow to bear. I want you to come out of the turn and straighten our course. Once that ship moves in behind us, drop into other space and let it fly by. We’ll go after it from behind.”
Becky said, “I’ll leave an antenna in normal space and if it fires on us we’ll get a reading on its energy.”
Dom nodded and said, “You’ve got to time this well, D.”
“I’ll allow it to close to within a hundred miles before I straighten our course.”
“That would be good.”
Dom looked at the face plate on his helmet and saw the new route. “We will initiate the first jump to the sixty ships and then jump to the vessels holding station at the equator. Jump in ten seconds.”
Becky watched the countdown and was amazed at the Sigma Ship’s capabilities. D was flying the ship and B was controlling the weapons. She watched the enemy ship’s positions and then they were among them.
• • •
The sixty commercial ships holding station above the planet waited for the ships at the equator to be loaded before they moved above the space port. Suddenly, an emerald colored ship appeared and all sixty had their hulls penetrated by a bright beam. The Green Ship disappeared and the survivors in the commercial vessels watched as the long line of transports at the equator began exploding. They began running to their lifeboats and evacuating the ships that could no longer escape.
Dom flew the ship on the designated course and heard Becky say, “The warship has powered up and is moving toward us. It will arrive faster than we anticipated. It is faster that the ships we’ve recorded in the past.”
Dom and D were sharing the controls and Dom saw the warship in his face plate and he turned the Sigma into a sharp turn and moved away from the planet. The surviving commercial vessels began jumping away. Dom shook his head but knew that information on this new Slaver Ship was now the main priority. He watched the ship as it turned to pursue them and he started a sharp turn away from its path. The warship accelerated and Dom applied more power to the thrusters.
Becky said, “It’s gaining on us. Two hundred fifty miles…two twenty five…two hundred…the beams on the front of that ship are drawing power…one fifty…one hundred.”
Dom straightened the course and suddenly normal space disappeared for an instant and then they reemerged and were directly behind the Slaver Warship. It tried to dive and twist away but D launched a FTL Missile and it hit the warship in the rear thrusters and exploded it.
Dom watched as Becky hit the jump controls and the Sigma appeared above the planet and fired a massive beam at the surface. The huge building located next to the space port exploded taking out the giant cranes and heavy haulers. The shock wave rolled away from the center of the explosion and burned all the handling vehicles and shuttles parked on the tarmac. Dom saw that the fifty commercial vessels he had broken away from had jumped away. He turned the ship and jumped back to the sixty ships above the planet and blew the rear of the ships into debris. He moved the Sigma away and watched the life boats that had left the ships and headed toward the planet.
Becky said, “There are only three crew members on each lifeboat.”
“Is anyone left on board the ships?”
“No.”
B said, “That means that the only ones that fly their commercial vessels are Slavers. They don’t carry a slave crew.”
Dom stared at the life boats and knew the escaping crews could be used to fly other ships. He glanced up at the main display and saw the millions of inhabitants working in the giant fields on the surface and he said, “Hit the life boats, D.”
The life boats were vaporized by brilliant beams and nothing remained between the Sigma and the planet.
Becky looked at Dom and said, “Was that necessary?”
“Those crews could be used to fly another vessel. They would also cause misery to the population on the surface until they were taken to another ship. If we’re going to win this, we have to destroy their means of feeding themselves.”
Becky nodded and wondered if she was strong enough to do what Dom had just done. She looked up at the display showing one of the huge fields and saw a Slaver Soldier fire a hand laser and kill three of the workers that had collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. Her expression hardened and she knew he had made the right choice. She stared at her display and replayed the attack. At the end she thought, “Did you get it?”
Moe answered, “I have it.”
Becky said, “B, send D the coordinates of the next planet.”
B said, “That ship fired two high intensity beams just after we went into other space. Either one of them would have blown through our force field.” B illuminated the jump light on the wall and D said, “Jumping now.”
The green ship disappeared and ten seconds later a giant FTL Destroyer appeared. The scanning device left behind began recording it. An hour later it took an active scan and jumped to another location. The giant ship spent two days searching for it and finally gave up and jumped away. The device sent its information in a microburst.
• • •
Cole studied the scan of the giant ship and saw that the force field was twice as strong as their Ship Destroyers. What really concerned him was both sides of the entire length of the warship had two rows of their main beams and another row of the small beams that were fired at Dom’s ship. He rotated the view and watched as the bottom of the ship became visible. He stopped the image and moved the view in close to a large circle on the bottom of the ship. What is that? He moved in closer and said, “Computer, do you have anything in your records on Slaver Ships that matches that large circle?”
An image appeared on his display and Cole fell back in his chair. The computer was right. That circle was the bore of the huge cannon used to disrupt space. This ship could force every ship out of other space into normal space where they could be hit. This was not good.
• • •
The High Council was screaming at each other and the Admiral stayed in his chair and watched the politicians posture for the newscasters. This was ridiculous. Nothing was going to be released; the First would see to that. He looked up at the First and Second Councilors as they watched the Councilors yell at each other. Why were they not stopping this charade? Then he knew. They were watching which ones were accusing the Councils leadership of failing to handle the crisis. They were marking their next targets. The Admiral saw the First look at him and after a moment he had a small smile. He had determined that the Admiral knew what he was doing and didn’t care if he knew. The Admiral nodded and looked back out at the screaming Councilors. He noticed that the Sixth was strangely silent. He looked back at the First who was leaning forward and speaking to the Second who turned and looked at the Sixth. The Admiral saw a slight frown on the Second’s face and knew they were bothered more by the Sixth’s silence than the screaming of the others. The Admiral thought a moment and decided that the Sixth must know something. This should prove interesting.
• • •
The First finally sounded a tone and the room slowly grew silent. He looked out at the gathering and said, “It appears our enemy is more widespread than we thought.” The Sixth Councilor stood and the First said, “You have not been given permission to speak.”
The Sixth looked at the First and said, “I don’t need permission when I call for a vote on succession.”
The room exploded and the First stared at the Sixth and knew there was going to be trouble. He sounded the tone again and said, “Now is not the time for a succession challenge.”
The Sixth looked out at the gathered Councilors, “If the Council is going to continue to exist, now is the necessary time for the challenge.”
The rules Councilor stood and said, “The Council bylaws say that any challenge must be heard when the challenge is given.”
The huge chamber was deathly silent. Most of them knew that the Sixth Councilor would be charged with treason if he failed to offer information that justified his challenge. The First leaned back in his chair and said nothing. The Sixth turned and faced the room, “I am going to play a message that was sent to me. I will then have several questions that should clarify why I’m making this challenge.” The giant display on the front wall came on and they saw the Councilor from Aeredom on it.
“I’ve just arrived home and have discovered that all the ships defending my planet have been sent away. I’ve contacted the First and he tells me that they’re being sent to search for the enemy. I’ve demanded they be brought back but he says that other planets are also sending their ships. My planet is defenseless and if the enemy is watching our planets, we’re wide open to attack. Please send some of your warships here until I can find out what’s going on.”
The display went dark and the Sixth stared at the first. The Eighth Councilor stood and said, “First Councilor, you told us that the Councilor from Aeredom volunteered to send his ships to search.”
The Sixth said, “The Third Councilor was the First’s major opposition on the Council. This disposed of him. He only had to kill eighty billion of our citizens to do it.” The Sixth turned to the Admiral and said, “Why was the Sub-Admiral of the fleet protecting Aeredom executed?”