Scrapyard Ship 3 Space Vengeance (21 page)

“
Let me guess, you intervened.”

“
Again, no choice. I’m on my way back to Trumach now,” Jason replied. “There’s a temporary truce between the Reds and the Greys, but it’s tenuous at best. I’d like to get the Reds to switch sides. We’ll see.”

“
Certainly sounds like you’ve been busy,” the admiral said, his brow furrowed. “On my end, things are far less exciting, but good progress has been made. The outpost fleet has assembled and currently sits in space above the moon. Much of the original Craing crew is back on board their ships, but concessions needed to be made.”

“
Concessions?”

“
Namely, they want to migrate. When Overlord Glenn was alive he’d promised them they’d be able to migrate to a small Craing settlement. We need to make good on that promise once we’ve dealt with the Craing fleet.”

“
And you’ve agreed?”

“
Of course, what else could I do? I’ve packed as many Alliance military personnel onto those ships as possible; basically, it’s on-the-job training—so we’re not left crewless once this is over.”

“
Sounds only fair,” Jason answered back.

“
Yeah, well, we didn’t have much of a choice. Now for the Dreadnaught, or, I should say, the Independence: her repairs are complete. Even the drives are now operational, although they haven’t been fully tested.”

“
And a crew?” Jason asked.

“
That was the tricky part. We don’t have nearly the Craing crew complement to run all the ship’s systems. It’s a skeleton crew at best. With that said, we do have three thousand-plus U.S. Army, Marines and Naval troops on board. The military brass in Washington insisted, and I can’t really blame them.”

Jason didn’t respond, but felt a pang of guilt knowing that those boys most likely wouldn’t be going home again. The Craing would target that big ship from the get-go.

Jason and his father continued talking strategy and fleet logistics for the upcoming engagement. It was clear to both of them that their efforts would still come up short.

“
I’ve reestablished connections, relationships, with many of the Allied leaders. Not all are willing to join forces again, preferring to keep a low profile and hope the Craing pass them by. Latest estimates have us at close to eight hundred-fifty warships, including the Independence. Jason, needless to say, The Lilly will have to be the deciding factor here. We’ll need the kind of out-of-the-box thinking and good luck that you saw at the edge of our solar system. For that reason, I’m giving you as much leeway as necessary.”

“
Understood. How much time will you need once you’ve arrived in Allied space?”

“
You’ll need to keep the fleet busy for at least another day. You’ll also have to stay in one piece so you can help us to hold the line there,” the admiral said.

“
When are you leaving?”

“
As soon as I get off the line with you. We’re ready to go.”

“
Good luck, Dad.”

“
You too, son.”

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Nan and Mollie walked through the double front doors of the now completed pre-manufactured home. Both of their jaws dropped at what Teardrop had managed to accomplish in the time span of less than a week. Teardrop, hovering in front of them, was there to greet them and handed Nan several sets of keys.

“
Would you like a review of the home’s features and capabilities?” Teardrop asked.

Nan nodded, but was surprised by the drone’s use of the word capabilities.

“
Before we begin, please provide a name for these premises.”

“
What?” Nan asked.

“
Oh, let me! I’ll do it,” Mollie said.

Nan and Teardrop turned toward Mollie.

“
How about Bag End? You know, Bilbo’s house. Come on, Mom … Bag End from the Hobbit movie?”

“
Oh. Okay, I guess. Bag End it is,” Nan said, sounding somewhat indifferent.

What first caught Nan’s eye upon entering the home’s expansive great room were the stunning furnishings. She had not specified the furniture and was looking forward to handling that aspect herself.

“
How did you decide what furniture to buy?”

“
The Architectural Digest and other home magazines in your bathroom. You had made notes and circled numerous items,” Teardrop replied, gliding further into the house.

Nan and Mollie looked at each other and smiled. Nan had to admit it: she couldn’t have done a better job furnishing the room herself. Not just the modern, yet classic, pieces Teardrop had selected, but the design treatments as well. There were an abundance of natural elements seamlessly incorporated into the open-concept plan. Wide-plank hardwood flooring was laid throughout. Across the room was a fireplace, surrounded in thousands of inlaid river rocks that reached up toward the forty-foot-tall ceiling. To the right and left were cherry wood shelves lined with hundreds of books, old classics to the latest best sellers. On the ceiling were massive-looking wood beams. Nan guessed they couldn’t be real timber. Crisscrossed at the apex of the pitched ceiling, they gave the home an earthy, yet elegant, barn-style feel. Not so unlike Tolkien’s Bag End, funnily enough.

Mollie ran, leaping onto a large sectional overly-stuffed leather couch, but her eyes never strayed from what was mounted above the fireplace.

The drone came closer and handed Mollie a complex-looking TV control.

“
This is an eighty-four inch, ultra high definition 3D television. The surround sound system and subwoofer have been integrated into the walls and ceiling.”

“
What’s that?” Mollie asked, pointing at the bottom shelf of one of the bookshelves.

“
Those are game devices. A PlayStation 4 and an Xbox One … and those are the most popular games for each,” Teardrop said, pointing to the two shelves above the consoles.

Nan was quickly losing her euphoria. “I didn’t authorize a budget for any of this extra stuff.”

Mollie scowled at her mother and crossed her arms.

“
These items, and others we have not talked about yet, were donated.”

“
What are you talking about? Why on earth would anyone donate thousands of dollars of electronics?”

“
Viewing the respective company’s records, I discovered other persons, usually in high management positions, have procured devices without making any payment. I also mentioned their own internal policies, which precluded using that type of activity.”

“
In other words, you blackmailed them.”

“
The term blackmail would not be appropriate, since there was no threat, actual or implied. I simply brought the issue to the forefront of their attention.”

“
Uh huh. Well, let’s move on with the tour for now.”

Mollie was all smiles again and back at Nan’s side.

“
Before we move into the kitchen, I’d like to talk about some of the security capabilities.”

There was that word again, Nan thought.

Teardrop continued: “Although not easily discernible, you’ll notice the small wall panels throughout the house.”

Nan hadn’t noticed them at all. Only several inches wide each, they matched the wall color. But now that she knew what to look for, she could see dozens of them—some high up, others down near the floor.

“
This is one area where it was necessary to utilize Caldurian technology,” Teardrop said. “I would like to demonstrate.”

Nan shrugged, not sure what he was talking about.

Teardrop moved to the center of the room and said, “Bag End, Intruder alert.”

Each of the small panels slid open, their little doors disappearing into recesses in the walls. Small gun barrels appeared, each one moving and tracking Nan, Molly and Teardrop’s every movement.

A female voice, emanating from all around, said: “No intruder detected. Property perimeters have not been breached. Returning to nominal mode.”

“
What was that?” Nan asked, looking up and turning around.

“
That is the artificial intelligence, the one you have named Bag End,” Teardrop said.

“
Seriously, this house has an AI?”

“
Yes.”

“
She sounds like the one we had on The Lilly,” Mollie said. “My dad didn’t like her much. She annoyed him.”

For some reason that made Nan laugh. She thought of Jason hearing that same bitchy voice the first time he walked in the door and laughed even harder.

“
It’s not funny, Mom.”

“
No, you’re right, it’s not.” She stifled her grin and followed them into the adjoining kitchen.

The kitchen was large, with thick wood cutting-board counters, all the best stainless appliances, and several things Nan recognized from The Lilly.

“
Okay, this is crazy. A food replicator too?” Nan asked with exasperation.

“
Yes.”

“
Oh my God!” Mollie loudly exclaimed.

Nan spun on her heels, fists clenched and ready to fend off an attack. Mollie stood at the floor-to-ceiling rear windows pointing outside.

Relieved, Nan actually wasn’t surprised. She’d watched Teardrop’s construction frenzy in the backyard the previous day. Wanting it to be a surprise for Mollie, she wasn’t disappointed in her daughter’s over-the-top response. Nan opened the sliding glass door and they walked out onto the back porch. The pool was big and blue and inviting. At its far end the zero-horizon edge gave way to the San Bernardino foothills in the distance. Although much of the scrapyard was still visible from this angle, it wasn’t too bad. Either that or she was just getting used to it. Then something else caught her eye.

“
What’s that Teardrop, at the edge of the property?” Nan pointed at a metallic structure ten feet high—she was sure she hadn’t seen it before.

“
That is a turret-mounted plasma cannon.”

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The Lilly was back on Trumach and parked alongside the three large Mau warships.

Jason, still wearing his captain’s jumpsuit, made his way down the forward gangway and noticed several thousand Red rhinos had set up makeshift campsites across the green, open prairie landscape in the distance. It amazed him how similar this planet was to Earth. Billy and Traveler greeted Jason, both agitated.

“
All right, what’s all the commotion?” Jason asked.

Traveler was the first to speak up. “We must be free to fight the Red beasts and restore honor to our kind. Again, our mates have been raped, our offspring massacred.”

Billy held up a hand. “We got here pretty early on and we didn’t see much of that sort of thing. But I guess it’s possible. On your orders we got a truce going, but they’ve been chafing at the bit to kill each other ever since.”

Jason noticed a large purple bruise under Billy’s right eye. “What the hell happened to your face? How on Earth could you get a shiner like that wearing a combat helmet?”

“
Removed my helmet for a while, then got between a Grey and a Red. It wasn’t pretty,” Billy said, lighting up a cigar and letting the smoke envelop his head.

“
Let me guess, you took off your helmet in order to light up one of those stink bombs.”

Jason turned his attention back to Traveler. “Where are your warriors? I don’t see them out there.”

Traveler turned and pointed in the opposite direction. “There, we do not mix with the other kind.”

Sure enough, a smaller campsite had been erected several hundred yards away.

“
The Grey rhinos are uneasy, ready to return home to their mates and offspring. They do not understand why they must wait here.”

“
That wasn’t our agreement. The Craing fleet will be here in less than a day,” Jason said.