Probe Predators (15 page)

“My staff has arrived at the same conclusion.”

Rags stared at the ship on the monitor, “What is the diameter of those tubes?”

Kragon referred to his pad, “About forty feet.”

“That’s large enough to launch small attack craft as well.”

Jinx looked at Rags, “A needle would easily launch from that tube.”

Kragon read his notes and shook his head, “I don’t believe that would be the case.”

The two pilots turned their attention away from the monitor and Jinx said, “Why not?”

“You know the number of ships in a Family. If they carried small ships, the number necessary to make an impact on a Family Fleet would take up a massive amount of space inside that vessel. Remember, its main functions are to destroy and transport. If they have any extra space, it would be taken up with the ships needed to transfer their provisions from a planet’s surface or from a damaged enemy vessel. Missiles would just be stored in the tube’s racks; that is a much better use of their available space.”

Jinx nodded and turned back to the wall monitor. “Sir, do you have the number of blasters on the vessel’s hull?”

“We’ve counted two hundred on the upper and lower hulls on one side of the ship.”

Jinx looked at the vessel and shook his head. It looked like two Frisbees taped together with a wide band between them. It was circular in shape and was defended on the upper and lower hulls by an equal number of turret blasters. “What is the purpose of the band between the upper and lower hulls?”

“That entire band is made up of thrusters.” Jinx and Rags turned and stared at the Admiral. Kragon tilted his head, “It appears that ship can change direction rather quickly; it can apply thrust in any direction.”

“It won’t as efficiently when it moves vertically.”

“You’re right, Lt. Ragston. However, please notice that above and below each thruster is a circular shaped indentation. We believe those are by pass vents to divert the thrusters.”

Rags shook his head, “That is a murderous design, Sir.”

“It is.”

Jinx stared at the Monitor again, “I notice there are blasters evenly spaced close to the edge of the middle band to defend it against anything attempting to hit the thrusters.”

“It doesn’t appear to have many weaknesses.”

Jinx looked at Kragon, “Has your staff come up with any?”

“We wonder what would happen if a Peg hit the thrusters.”

“We won’t know if that will work until we get a measure of the power used in its force field. I suspect it’s weighted toward defending the thruster band.”

“We’ve come to the same conclusion. We have determined that all lines of approach are covered by at least one blaster.”

“Which means we’ll also have to determine if our force fields can hold up to one of their blasters.”

Kragon nodded, “I think it will have to hold up to more than one.”

Jinx smiled, “I suspect you’re right about that.”

Kragon looked back at the wall monitor, “How are you going to go after it?”

“I’m not initially.”

“Oh?”

“The most important thing we need to do is learn that warship’s capabilities. We’re going to attempt to get it to fire at us and possibly chase us. We need to determine the power of any missile they might use and just how maneuverable they are. If the answers don’t favor us; we need to withdraw before we reveal the strength of our weapons.”

“You realize a planet might be destroyed if you withdraw.”

“Killing two more ships won’t change that. I don’t like the idea but we have to take the long view on this. If we can’t stand up to them, we must not allow them to determine our strength.”

Kragon stared at Jinx, “Are you saying you don’t believe our ships will be able to take one of them out?”

“I’m saying we don’t have enough information to know. We’ll only be able to answer the critical issues when the party starts. I’m just letting you know that the best decision might be to withdraw to improve our future chances. If we fire on that ship and it isn’t killed, they will make changes to what we reveal to them. Many more planets will die if that happens.”

“Would you do this if it was a Union Planet being attacked?”

“No.”

“At least you’re honest.” Kragon turned to Rags, “Do you agree with Lt. Tollervar?”

“Sir, he’s the tactician of our twosome and he’s never been wrong. I’d hate doing it but I will follow his lead on this. Are you ordering us to attack no matter what we discover?”

“No, I just want to make sure you make a good decision. Billions of lives are in jeopardy.”

Jinx stared at Kragon and looked back at the monitor, “Do we have a green light to use the Pegs, Sir?” Kragon remained silent. “I don’t want to show that weapon to the enemy until it’s absolutely needed to defend the Union.” He turned back to Kragon, “I’ll take a shot at them if I can use the Pegs.”

“Did you assume you could not use them?”

“Yes Sir, I did.”

“Why?”

“It’s like a prize fight. If you throw your best punch in the first round, you darn sure better have something to back it up if it fails to take out your opponent. I would rather know what their capabilities are to determine if the Pegs will be effective against them before I fire one at them. I assumed you would feel the same way, Sir.”

“Do you think you could get a shot through their defenses?”

“I could.”

Kragon was surprised by the remark, “Just how would you make that happen?”

Jinx smiled, “Sir, FTL emitters have a distinctive shape; I don’t see any on that vessel.”

Kragon jerked his head back to the display and started paging through his notes. After a moment he looked up, “It appears you’re right.”

“Sir, we really don’t have to attack that ship to gather the information we need.”

“Why not?”

“The M87 Civilizations will attack that vessel first. We can simply watch what happens and collect all the information we need. The Orange Ship will expect active scans during its invasion and won’t know who is doing the scanning.” Jinx paused and sighed, “If you think the situation calls for it, we’ll come in FTL and launch before their blasters can target us. We’ll jump out immediately after we launch the Pegs; I don’t know of a targeting system that can hit a FTL ship fifty miles away.”

Kragon thought about Jinx’s suggestion and Rags said, “We also need to find one of their missiles before we do that.”

Jinx and Kragon looked at him, “Those tubes are huge for a reason. I suspect their missiles have a force field around them; we need to see if our blasters will be able to knock them out.”

Kragon looked back and forth between the two and blew out a breath he had been holding, “We will have a probe at the planet they choose to attack and will collect information on their defensive and offensive systems. I want the two of you close by in the event we decide to use you.”

Jinx looked at Rags and said, “Yes Sir, we’ll be there.”

Kragon left the meeting and shook his head. He contacted Drey and replayed a recording of the meeting. At the end, Kragon said, “I believe you have the one you need to be the Second-in-Command of your fleets.”

“He is remarkable.”

“He doesn’t make rash or emotional decisions; I would vote against sending him in to attack.”

“Why?”

“It would be like sending either of us; we need him too much in the coming fight.”

“I don’t know that I’m willing to just watch a planet being destroyed.”

Kragon smiled, “You’re right.”

Drey’s brow furrowed, “About what?”

“You’re not exactly like your ancestor; do you think he would hesitate to allow it to happen, if it impacted the Union negatively?”

“No, but we need to know if the Pegs will perform as advertised. I can’t think of anyone better to deliver that information. I believe him when he says he thinks they can escape after the launch.”

Kragon thought about it and then nodded.

• • •

The Command Claw arrived on his ship’s bridge and took his seat in the Central Chair, “Has anything shown up on our scanners?”

“No, Commander. However, our Inventory Claw has notified me that we only have seven more days of provisions before he’s forced to start rationing the crew’s meals.”

The Commander’s hard shell body expanded and he looked at his navigator, “Have you selected a planet?”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Notify the last Claw to arrive on station that he will take his ship and collect what provisions we need.”

“When do you want him to leave?”

“I want the other ships moved to adjust the coverage of our scanners to make sure nothing slips by us. How long will it take for you to assign the new coordinates?”

“We’ll assign the locations and move to them within a day.”

The Command Claw raised one of his arms and waved it in the air, dismissing the Navigator.

• • •

Katy stood in front of Kyle Montgomery and wished she was somewhere else. The winners of the Fleet Competition were recognized for their accomplishments and promoted to their new commands. Katy saw that the last twenty had been promoted to Admiral and she hoped she would not be following in their steps. She couldn’t take care of herself, much less a fleet. A Commodore came up to her and said, “Will you please come with me?”

Katy nodded and followed the officer to an office behind the stage. The Commodore opened the door and motioned her inside. She walked in and saw a young man and a woman that looked very familiar. She went to attention and the woman said, “At ease; take a seat.”

Katy sat down in a chair in front of a desk and the young woman said, “We’ve been discussing your actions during the competition and have some questions.” Katy nodded. “What happened to make you want to die?”

“Sir?”

“Come on, Lt. Kemper; you overrode your ship’s safety protocols during the competition and took risks that were extraordinarily dangerous. My staff counted more than sixty different events where you should have been killed. It’s clear to us that you no longer care if you live or die.”

The young woman stared at her and Katy somehow knew she would know if she wasn’t honest. “I betrayed someone I love and they will no longer have anything to do with me.”

“And that’s a good reason for you to throw your life away?”

“I refuse to throw it away, Sir; however, I don’t care if I die.”

“You must have loved him a lot.”

“I didn’t know it at the time; it was after my stupidity that I found I did.”

“You took some pretty stupid risks.”

“Not really.”

The young man started a recording on the wall monitor and Katy saw her ship fly through the eight ships, barely missing three of them, “You don’t call that stupid?”

“I would have been hit by the ship on my tail if I didn’t perform that maneuver. I saw a path and knew that the ships I was flying through would get out of my way.”

“How did you know that?”

“They wanted to live and took evasive action to avoid a collision.” Katy paused, “In all of the events you have questions about, I knew my opponents would not risk their lives to win the competition. My risks weren’t as large as you think.”

“And if you had run into someone else who didn’t care about living?”

Katy turned back to the woman, “Then both of us would have gotten our wish.”

“He must have been special.”

“He’s the best of us, Sir.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jinx Tollervar.”

The two looked at each other and the woman turned back to Katy, “Would you feel the same way if he came back into your life?”

“Probably not; however, that will never happen. My betrayal is something he’ll never forgive.”

“You could find someone else.”

Katy stared at the woman, “Have you ever truly loved someone?” The woman nodded. “Do you think there’s someone out there that could replace him?”

Dee smiled and shook her head. She turned to Cole, “Have you seen enough?”

“I have.”

Dee looked at Katy, “You may return to the stage, Lieutenant.” Katy stood and walked out of the room.

Cole said, “She is a bomb waiting to go off.”

“As long as she does it near an Orange Ship, I don’t have a problem.”

“She’s probably the only one that could command the group we’ve put together.”

Dee looked at the door Katy had exited and smiled, “She’s going to have her chance.”

• • •

Katy went back to the stage and saw that there were only two more waiting for their assignments. She thought furiously about where she had seen the woman before and couldn’t quite grasp it. Finally Admiral Montgomery said, “Katy Kemper, please come forward.” Katy walked over to the Admiral, standing in the center of the Stage. He smiled and said, “I wish to congratulate Lt. Kemper for her victory in the first Fleet Competition and let her know that the Union is proud of her achievement. Admiral Kemper will be assigned to command an elite unit called the Strikers that will be given the task of taking on the most difficult missions our fleet will face. I know her unit will perform at the exceptional level of their commander. Congratulations, Admiral Kemper.”

The huge hall burst out in cheers. Those pilots knew what it required to win the competition and Katy had their respect. She forced a smile and saluted Admiral Montgomery. Kyle pinned a medal to her uniform and stepped aside so Katy could receive the cheers of her fellow warriors. Katy smiled; taking on impossible missions was just what she needed to end her miserable existence. She raised her head and saw a portrait of the Four Heroes of the Realm hanging on the facility’s back wall. The young woman who questioned her was staring at her in the portrait. She forgot her misery and wondered what was going on.

D
rey sat at a conference table with the newly promoted Admirals and looked at Kragon. He nodded and Drey sounded a tone which brought the room to silence. He glanced at Dee and she had her eyes closed; something was bothering her. He’d ask her about it during the first break. “I want to welcome all of you to our Command Team. You earned your way here but I suspect many of you will not be present at our next meeting.” The room grew suddenly still. “You were promoted based on your piloting skills and while that is an important element in being an effective Commander; it’s not the most important. You are being charged to bring your commands up to combat proficiency and that is going to require leadership qualities that some of you might not possess. I will not accept failure in this endeavor and if you want to resign your rank, now is the time to do it.” Drey waited and no one moved. “Good, I was hoping you would accept the challenge. You have something most commanders don’t possess; you have the respect of those you command. They know how good you are at flying a Union Warship and that buys you their attention. What you do with them is now going to be up to you. You must transfer your skills to your pilots and organize them into fighting groups that work well together. I will accept nothing less and their lives depend on how good a job you do.”