Gray Panthers: Earths Revenge (29 page)

Republic Warship Mut, Lunar Orbit

16 October 2128

Capt. Kriss noted the shuttle from Earth was exactly on time for docking with the Mut. The officers getting off were obviously junior. They maintained their professional decorum but seemed interested in everything. First officer Hiss was responsible for the tour and demonstration.

“Gentlemen, if you would follow me please—” Hiss invited before being cut off.

“I’m sorry, Admiral. Would it be ok to take your picture? This is our first time with a species other than our own,” a young officer asked. First officer Hiss was amused by the sincerity and innocence of the young man.

“I do not see any problem with that,” Hiss replied. He was then surprised when the others grouped around him to have their picture taken with him. He continued the tour feeling the admiration of the group. When they entered the forward weapons array the young officer asked if he could have another picture of him sitting at the weapons console. The enthusiasms and admiration of the junior officers was very refreshing. When he showed them the actual weapons bay he did not wait to be asked and posed in all the different crew positions for the young officers. When a five minute warning was announced for the weapons firing half of the young officers stayed with the weapon as the other half expressed interest in seeing “Admiral Hiss” in action.

The shuttles around the wrecked cruiser had marked target areas for the demonstration. What was not disclosed was that additional armor was mounted behind those spots. All sensor equipment was running and the permission to fire was given to the Mut.

First Officer Hiss was actually nervous with the crowd around him cheering him on. He was surprised when targets had been marked on the cruiser. He heard the young officers wagering on his prowess and decided to show off. He enabled a sensor that performed all targeting calculations including needed power strength. The first shot was dead on but failed to penetrate the armor. Disgusted and embarrassed, Hiss set the power strength to maximum. He would not be embarrassed again. The new shot fired for almost a second and when the target was clear there was an obvious hole with a four inch circumference that had penetrated the ship's armor and every interior bulkhead and exited out the reverse side’s armored hull. The cheering of the young officers had an effect on the entire weapons crew. Some even managed to blush in the admiration and praise heaped on them. The entire crew was sad to see the young eager and impressionable alien officers leaving their ship. They did not see the dozens of faeries that had been monitoring all ship's functions leave with them.

Two hours later Grub had reviewed all material including the input from the faeries. The data was sent to a fabrication unit that showed the heavy laser was in fact a Flem industrial laser that had been modified. Abby looked at what they had found out and was furious at what they had found. “Grub, please come to me for a minute.”

“Yes, Abby, how may I help you today?” Grub asked.

“You can tell me why we’ve been sending people up to fight and die with an inferior weapon. Why did I have to find a laser we have the specs for from another species damn it? I even asked you about other specie's weapons!” Abby shouted as sweat poured down over his face.

“Abby, when I crashed on Earth that laser had not been enhanced by the Flem. The modifications the Republic did to the laser is something I did not know of. I am intelligent but I am not omnipotent. Do you want me to modify our existing ships beamers to the new specs?” Grub asked angrily.

“Damn it, just get it done. Can you look at the other weapons and see if there are any others we can give a significant improvement to from what we found? Abby asked less loudly no longer sounding mad.

“The modification of how the beam is projected will take twenty minutes. The optics and power interface are both made to be replaced in the field if necessary. I have the technical order change already completed. The new parts are already being made by different fabricators. With the improved power output I suggest we look at adding it to all shuttle weapon packages,” Grub recommended

“Thanks, Grub, just get it done please,” Abby said as he turned to leave. Dan received the reports of the laser and decided he would not pay for the design. But did have half of the payment for the design and decided he would give a peace offering.

“Grub, please get me connected to First Officer Plat,” Dan asked.

“This is First Officer Plat.”

“Greeting, First Officer Plat. I wanted to thank you for the impressive display of your laser today. More to the point, I am not interested in it. What I am willing to do though as a sign of good faith between our societies is make a token deposit in the Central Bank as a sign of good faith. Would you be able to open an account for Gray Panther Enterprises in gold for three million, three hundred, fifty thousand Bs? Perhaps ask a few of your weapon manufacturers if they would be interested in doing business,” Dan asked smiling to himself knowing the answer.

“Yes, Dan, that would be most acceptable proposition. As a matter of fact we must return soon. I can send a shuttle to pick up the deposit if you wish,” the excited Plat offered.

“I will send it in a few hours. As a customer of the bank I will expect certain professional courtesies. Whenever you hear of anything you think might be of interest to us, I would expect you to notify us. I will give you the directions how to communicate with us. We have setup a FTL transmission station here on Earth with a booster unit half way between our worlds to ensure there is no message degradation. I will provide you with a unit to receive and send messages to us. That is a proprietary system so please make sure no one tries to copy it please. We may plan to sell them to the Republic at a later date,” Dan explained trying hard not to laugh.

“Yes, Dan, we will try to keep you informed of anything we hear. I will ensure the FTL transmission station is kept safe. When you are ready to sell to the Republic, I have business acquaintances that could take care of distribution and marketing.”

“Thanks again, First Officer Plat. The gold will be there in one earth hour. Communications ended.” Dan smiled while he called to have the gold delivered from the lunar base to the Republic ship. The Republic had given them good intel as well as helped them significantly improve their weapons. For what they had received, he would have gladly given the gold to the Republic.

Two hours later the Republic ship announced its departure and then transitioned to its FTL drive. Dan wondered when they would see these new aliens again.

Arizona Space Ship Beater, League of Planets Space

20 October 2128

Captain Johnson was in his command chair and was anxious to drop to normal space. The ship was at high alert and all stations were manned. “OK ladies and gentlemen let's see what's waiting for us,” Johnson said as they entered normal space. The immediate area was clear of any vessels. “Lt. Horton, please start scanning for any targets in all directions. Commander Poland, let's mosey nice and slowly towards that anchorage. I don’t want to receive any surprises,” Johnson said fighting the urge to whisper.

“Capt. Johnson, there are no warships in orbit. Local communications traffic appears normal. There appears to be two warships in space dock that are under repair, and a dozen shuttle size ships in the vicinity,” Beater reported.

“Looks like we get a freebie. We will go in and destroy the two ships in the space docks then attack any military targets on the planet surface. Beater, notify the fleet to our actions and that we recommend they do not proceed here since we do not know where the fleet is. Suggest they return to Earth ASAP. Johnson to crew, we are going in to attack. Launch all Darts when we are ten minutes out. Launch shuttles when we are five minutes out. In 35 minutes from the launch of the darts we regroup at the same location we launched the darts from. If we need to regroup earlier the recall word is 'Indian' Good hunting, everyone.”

The approach was uneventful and the Darts were launched. Five minutes later the shuttles on the hull launched. The Darts preceded the Beater with a pair of four ship formations flying protective cover. The Shuttles brought up the rear in ten two ship formations. The warship in the space dock was beginning to power up as the other stayed dead.

“Be alert, we have a live one. Darts go in for one pass and we will clean up behind you. Shuttles, after we attack the ship you continue to engage the ship.” The tension was palpable on the bridge as Johnson gripped his seats arms.

Matt felt the loss of his two friends as he decided how to attack the ship with only eight darts instead of ten.

“Let’s do this right. Everyone center your fire on the forward top of the ship. Form on me and let's peel this banana!” Matt ordered as he dived towards the front top center of the ship. The buffeting from the 40 mm cannon was reassuring as he continued with short burst in conjunction from the beamers on each wing. Small pieces of the ship already appeared to be floating away as the target area started to glow red while Matt continued on his strafing run.

“Dart One, break right. You have a missile inbound,” Shorty hollered through the radio.

Matt hollered, “damn damn damn” as he melted into the seat by the g-forces. “Dart flight anyone see where that bastard came from?” Matt asked as the missile lost its track on him and proceeded towards the planet.

“Dart One I think it came from the space dock itself,” Dart four replied

“Dart Flight, that’s good enough for me. New target is the space dock. Form back in pairs and watch your six and your wingman. Use your discretion for target and approach. Beater, Dart One, we are returning fire from the space dock.”

“Commander Johnson we have numerous missile launches from the planet surface. Seven hundred inbound missiles they are ignoring the fighters and shuttles, we are their target. ETA ninety seconds,” Beater announced.

“Dart flight, recall order 'Indian,' repeat, 'Indian,' return to rendezvous location ASAP. All shuttles form on Dart Flight. Pilot get us as close as we can to the space dock. All gunners pick your targets and fire at will. Pilot prepare to use the FTL drive to get us to the rendezvous on my order,” Johnson ordered as he wiped the sweat from his hands on his pants leg.

“Captain thirty seconds from missiles,” Beater announced.

Johnson counted down ten seconds then quietly ordered, “Pilot let's jump to the rendezvous.” Poland engaged the drive and was surprised at how calm he felt as the ship jumped. The missiles continued on towards the space port or lost their lock and stayed in a straight path as they tried to find a new target to lock on to.

“Dart Flight, it looks like we still have our ride home. Enemy spaceport and two Destroyer size war ships seem to be good for scrap metal only. Strike up two more for the good guys. Now let's get home so we can get out of here,” Matt chatted happily.

“Dart Flight and shuttles are instructed to land as soon as possible. We will be leaving as soon as you are on board,” Capt. Johnson ordered as he felt giddy from destroying the target and cheating death. “Good job everybody, especially you commander Poland. You were an artist on the stick back there. After our birds are all onboard set course for the border area with the Republic. We are going duck hunting. Beater, when we get to the border area I need you to find us targets. We don’t need to accidentally take out a League of Planets ship by mistake or a Republic ship.”

Matt led the darts home and was spent. As the canopy rose he was already disconnecting his leads to the Dart when he felt the Beater engage the FTL drive. Weakly pushing himself from the flight deck he saw Short Blade carrying a tub of bottles in ice. Matt reached into the tub with both hands and scooped the ice to his face before he let the ice fall down the neck of his suit bringing both relief and a chill. He grabbed a beer and began to chug it as the rest of the flight followed his example. “Good job, everyone. Did I miss a threat warning when I had that missile on my ass? I don’t remember hearing anything until I got the call. Short Blade, can you check my avionics? I had a missile on my ass and didn’t get any warning. Everyone fill out your 781 forms then you can have a second beer. I started my forms en route to the ship and am now done and will be napping until we drop into normal space.

Arizona Space Ship Nike, League of Planets Space

20 October 2128

Admiral Bad took in the message from Arizona Space Ship Beater. The possibility that the enemy fleet had already left for Earth was too real a possibility to dismiss. He practically punched the transmit button on his console. “Nike to fleet, it looks like we missed the enemy and they could be headed for Earth. We are going to return now. Prepare for using your FTLs in ten minutes. Nike out.”

“Gray Panther Command, this is Nike. We believe the enemy fleet is either en route to Earth or soon will be. We are returning as quickly as possible.”

New Richmond, Dixie

20 Oct 2128

Scotty was sitting out on the veranda of a plantation house drinking a fresh glass of orange juice as he smelled the orange blossom in the air. The last month had been the best in his life. Sam had been released from duty to be his guide and it was her family’s plantation they were at now. Sam was sprawled out on the swing bench wearing only a light dress. She was napping with her feet in his lap. The sounds of birds flying through the orchards got his attention as he tried to see what birds they were. His attention was drawn back to Sam as her dress slipped up leg exposing her. He reached over to cover her up when he saw her eyes were open.

“What are you trying to do to a poor defenseless maiden?” Sam asked as she succeeded in making Scotty blush. “Well ma’am ah’m tryin to make it look like you have some modesty.” Sam jumped up and was in his lap facing him as she smiled and then kissed him deeply.

“OK farm boy, what's the problem?” Sam asked perturbed and worried.

Scotty wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and looked her in the eyes as he seemed to collect his thoughts.

“We should have heard something back by now. If the Beater didn’t make it back to Earth, we need to send a ship, or perhaps it’s too late then we can’t risk Dixie being discovered,” Scotty said visibly upset.

“I tell ya what, sugah, I’ll check in with a friend in intel and see if she’s heard anything,” Sam promised as she jumped from his lap and picked up her personal device. Scotty watched as the conversation went from light hearted to quiet and tense.

“Scotty, our people picked up a FTL transmission from Libra space to Earth. Earth has sent their entire fleet to destroy a Libra Fleet before it could attack Earth. The enemy fleet has already left for Earth. The Earth fleet can’t get back for ten days. By the time they get back there will not be anything left. Our military is ready to mutiny unless they are allowed to go defend Earth. This has all started in the last half hour.”

“Get me to Dixie Command immediately,” Scotty ordered as he jumped to his feet. “We need to go now!”

“There’s a transport already en route. You might want to put on your uniform or a suite. Just shorts might set the wrong tone.”

Scotty ran into the plantation taking the steps three at a time. As he began to get his flight suit on he heard the transport land in the back yard. He stuffed his feet into his boots and pushed his socks in his pockets as he jumped on the stairwell banister and slid the entire length to the first floor. Running towards the howling transport a crewmember guided him to a seat as the vehicle pulled pitch and immediately was pulling high Gs. Scotty could not stop from shaking as the transport landed as numerous emotions ran threw his head. Scotty was led through a door and as it closed he felt the ground drop from under him as he realized he was in a high speed elevator going down fast. He noticed the number 30 as he got out. After going through a blast door, he found himself in the Dixie Defense Command Post. A group of officers broke off from the rest and rushed to him.

“You need to push for a rescue fleet to be dispatched to save Earth. You have to hurry before it’s too late!” the different members of the group nearly shouted at him.

Scotty walked up to the President and Defense ministers and a gaggle of Generals. He sadly looked each of them in the eyes as he followed his conscience.

“Mr. President, as the sole representative of Earth it is my place to remind you that there is no treaty between our worlds and as the representative from Earth I demand you stand down this militaristic display. Earth refuses your assistance. Can I make myself any clearer?" Scotty said as his voice seemed to fill with steel. The junior officers that had grabbed him earlier stood in shock with his words. Then the mob of junior officers got ugly as some hollered obscenities as they were forced from the command post.

“Thank you Ambassador Scholl. You saved some lives today,” the president gushed.

“No, Mr. President. I just doomed my world. You owe me big and the cost of that bill is you stay the hell away from Earth. This is the last bastion of humanity. I could not risk both being destroyed.” Scotty began to picture his farm and friends. The books he had read the historic monuments, his comrades seemed to push forward in his thoughts. The months since he had joined the Gray Panthers had been some of the best in his life, now he had to turn his back on them all. He pushed his way through the crowded command post as he tried to find some place he could be alone. Finally he found the head and just sat as the room started to shake around him. The realization hit him at once. “NO! DON’T DO IT!” he screamed as he rushed back to the command post. The president himself was the one who stopped Scotty.

“Scotty you shamed us into coming to your aid. If you are the product of such a world we cannot let such brave men die. Those men are our cousins.” A monitor showed space ship after space ship departing from a huge underground spaceport that Scotty never knew existed.

“Scotty, we are sending three dozen of our most powerful ships. Up till now we never even tested our ships in our own space for fear of discovery. Today we will join our cousins. Do not worry we still have two dozen ships to protect our world.”