Lens of Time (9 page)

Chris and Jillian started laughing and took Phil to his quarters. Chris looked at Jillian and they could feel each other’s excitement. They made themselves calm down. They didn’t want to get their hopes up needlessly, only to end up facing huge disappointment.

• • •

Arvolo looked at Beth and Riebbe and said, “At ease. Take a chair.”

They sat down and wondered why they were called into Arvolo’s office. RV said, “I’m going to play a video for you. I want your take on what you see.”

RV started the video of Mikal’s attack on the two Nexu ships. They watched the destruction of the first ship and they briefly looked at each other. When the pilot jumped away without destroying the second ship they looked at each other again. The video ended with the destruction of the three damaged battleships.

RV looked at them and said, “Tell me what you think.”

Beth looked at RV and said, “Just like the ship we tested, all of the ship’s power is being used by the force field.”

“That is correct.”

“That’s why it’s only using missiles.”

“That is also true.”

Riebbe asked, “We’ve seen that ship penetrate our force fields?”

“It can.”

Rieb whistled, “That is one powerful little ship, Sir.”

“It could be a difference maker.”

Riebbe looked at Beth and RV saw a non-verbal message. “Ok, what’s going on?”

Riebbe looked at Beth and said, ““Why no beam?”

“Didn’t you hear me say all the power is being used by the force field?”

“And what happens to that power if the force field is not being used?”

RV thought a moment and said, “And when would the force field be turned off?”

“It might happen during a moment when the ship is not being hit by an attacker’s beam. I think it’s important to remember that our relays can be switched between different systems faster than you can imagine.”

RV thought about it and said, “So if you want to use a beam…”

“You simply press the button and the system will automatically fire it when the force field is not being hit. An ultrabeam can be fired in less than a millisecond and have the force field back up in another millisecond.”

“The ship could be hit during that time.”

“The probability is small, especially if a good pilot is really scanning the ship’s weapons he’s attacking. If he’s flying really close to the ship, he can find an area to avoid being hit.”

RV smiled and knew these two knew the small ships better than anyone in the fleet. RV punched his console and said, “Boden, I need you to include an ultrabeam on the new attack craft.”

“We’ve already done that, as well as including a switching mechanism to use it.”

RV slowly shook his head, “Well, perhaps there were more people than we thought that understood the small ships.” He looked at the two wing commanders and said, “Both of you are promoted to Rear Admiral and you will take the responsibility of developing the tactics to be used by these attack craft. You will report to Admiral Roman who has just been promoted to Rear Admiral in command of the Eight Fleet. When the Ninth Fleet is completed, Rear Admiral Barber will command it. You will work with those two admirals to develop the tactics needed to make these new ships into a formidable weapon. The fleets will be responsible for delivering your attack craft where they can be most effective. The ones in command will be the fleet admirals. They are responsible for the safety of the battleships as well as your ships. Are you clear on your assignments?”

“Would it be possible to take our wings with us?”

“Why do you want to do that?”

“They will be in the leadership positions in the new fleets. We need them to build around.”

RV thought a moment and said, “Recommend another wing to take your places here on the Havana.”

Riebbe smiled, “There will be some very unhappy people if you take their veterans.”

“I don’t think it will be as bad as you think. They know the importance of this ship. I won’t have to ask; they’ll insist on sending their best once they know we sent our pilots on an important assignment to protect them.”

Beth smiled, “You’re right. And those pilots that are sent here will come highly motivated to perform.”

“Choose two of your teams to remain behind to take command of the new wings.”

Riebbe winced and Beth slowly shook her head, “We’ll leave our best, Sir.” She looked at Riebbe and then turned back to RV, “We also know how important this ship is to the fleet.”

RV smiled, “Go build us a weapon.”

The two turned and left RV’s office.

• • •

Mikal and Loree looked across the table at Beth and Riebbe. Mikal said, “I understand that you will be in command of the new attack craft. I’m not at all certain I’m comfortable with the blurring of the lines of authority.”

“That’s because you think of the new ships as ships.”

Mikal stared at Riebbe and slowly shook his head, “Well, duh; what are they if they aren’t ships?”

Beth said, “You’ve studied Earth’s history and all the wars that happened, right?”

Mikal shrugged, “We both have.”

“What role did the Marines have in the United States Navy?”

“They were the ones that took the beaches in advance of a major attack. They were the elite soldiers that were used as shock troops.”

“And what was the Navy’s role as regards the Marines?”

“They had the responsibility of getting them on shore and taking out enemy fortifications defending the beach with direct and indirect fire.”

“Think of the new ships as marines. Our ships will take a section of space in a battle so that the heavy ships can exploit the position. We will be the assault ships that will go in and force a weakness in our enemy’s ranks.”

Loree said, “We’re caught up in thinking these new ships are there to support the battleships. The most effective use of them will be if the battleships are used to support them.”

Mikal thought a moment and said, “How do you see us making your ships as effective as possible?”

“You’ve got to launch our ships as close as possible to the ships they will be attacking.”

Mikal nodded, “They can take several hits but distance will kill them if they’re hit more than ten times moving in on their target.”

“You saw that in your attack?”

“I did. The force field was barely able to penetrate the first ship after it was hit three times by the Nexu’s beams. We can’t launch the new attack craft too far away or they will be weakened to the point where they’ll not be effective.”

Mikal thought a moment, “How fast can the attack craft launch?”

“The first ones can be out of the tubes in less than a second. It takes another two seconds for the next one to be moved up to the launcher.”

“That’s too long. The main ship could be hit hundreds of times in those two seconds.”

Loree leaned back and closed her eyes. Beth looked at her and said, “Didn’t get enough sleep?”

Loree opened her eyes and said, “I’m visualizing a space battle like we had with the Majors involving millions of ships. Join me in this and see if you can visualize what I’m saying.”

Mikal smiled, “Try it; she’s good at this.”

Riebbe shrugged and they closed their eyes.

Loree began, “There are millions of ship forming ranks so tight that there is less than a mile between them. The line of ships is more than a thousand ships high and two million miles wide. The depth is more than ten thousand miles. Can you see it?”

“Yes.”

“Where can we launch our ships into that mass? Keep the picture in your mind. Where can they be launched?”

Riebbe kept his eyes closed, “Our main battle ships will not be able to penetrate that wall of ships. The spacing is too tight.”

Mikal said, “And you can’t come over the top or bottom because that line is advancing towards our fleets. It would leave the ships behind as it moved forward. The ships must be launched in front of the enemy ships.”

Loree opened her eyes and said, “Alright, now we can get to work. We know what we’re going to be facing and we need to determine how to get your ships into their ranks.”

Beth said, “Whatever technique we develop, it can’t be based on surprise. That will only work once. We need a way that will work even if they know we’re coming.”

Mikal smiled, “However, one good surprise might be appropriate the first time we use them.”

Riebbe laughed, “I like the way you think.”

Mikal said, “I’m not worried about our lines of command. We’ll get you in and then it’s up to you.”

Beth smiled, “Oh, we’ll take them out. Just get us close.”

• • •

The Dark Creature looked at his aide, “How are the ships coming along?”

“We have more than six thousand modified to the new technology.”

“Have the Nexu learned of our theft?”

“They have.”

“What!?!”

“They didn’t care.”

“Why not?”

“They say that ship is one of their older models and would have been destroyed anyway.”

The creature stared at the aide and finally said, “That ship is more powerful than any ship in our fleet.”

“So now we’re more powerful than many others but nowhere close to the Nexu.”

“If they’re being honest about it being an older ship.”

“What do you think they would do if it wasn’t? Do you think they would allow us to keep it?”

“Probably not; is there any progress on what’s going to happen with the rebellious Minors?”

“There is talk of combining forces but no one trusts anyone to make it happen. The talks fall apart as soon as several civilizations say they are not going to participate.”

“So we do nothing?”

“Some have discussed simply having every planet send ten ships.”

“There’re more than twenty million planets in this sector.”

“Yes and some of the civilizations have more than others. They complain that they’re doing more than the others.”

“I guess things never change and the mutinous Minors sit back and watch us frozen into doing nothing.”

“I don’t think this situation will continue much longer.”

The large creature jerked his hand away from the door control, “Why not?”

“Because more and more Minors are refusing to fight the civilizations on their borders; they’ve come to the realization that we’ve been manipulating them into killing each other and they’ve seen that some of them have stopped and have not been destroyed. There is a good possibility that these new rebelling Minors may join the first ones. That will cause the other Majors to act.”

“Even the advanced civilizations?”

“Probably, but no one knows if the Nexu will participate. I suspect the others will.”

He reached for the door control and said, “Keep me informed if you find out anything.”

The aide lowered to the floor and crawled away.

Chapter Seven

“C
hris, I’m really nervous about going back and seeing Earth’s destruction.”

“I don’t like it either but if we are going to know the order of the blasts, it’s got to be done.”

Captain Phillips pushed the ice bag tighter to his head and said, “You don’t have to go back to make that determination.”

Chris and Jillian turned and looked at the ailing Captain, “We don’t?”

Phillips said, “Don’t talk so loud. What was in those bottles, liquid pain?”

Jillian said, “What do…” and she saw Phillips wince. She spoke softer, “What do you mean we don’t have to go back.”

“If the first blast happened thirty miles from the command center, you’ll see the rubble of the buildings blown from their foundations toward the command center and if the command center was first, the rubble will be blown away from it.”

Chris looked at Jillian and said, “Couldn’t the second blast have changed the orientation of the rubble?”

“Only on those structures that were still above ground level. You can have the computer analyze the pattern and tell you which happened first.” Chris looked at Jillian and shrugged. Phillips changed ice bags and said, “If the first blast was the one thirty miles away, you’ll have to go back and look at the explosions.”

Chris said, “Because we’ll have to know how much time it took for the shock wave to reach the command center.”

“Exactly, and you’ll also have to lock in your entry point.” Phillips put his head on the table and said, “It might all still be a waste of time.”

Jillian said, “Why!”

Phillips winced again and raised his head, “Dolly and the command team were in a reinforced building. It was made to stop radiation from nuclear blasts. Let’s say you have two and a half minutes before the shock wave arrives. How are you going to get into the building and then persuade her to leave?”

Jillian looked at Chris and Phillips continued, “Don’t think you can just call her on the communication system and tell her you’re coming. That system would have been heavily damaged by the electromagnetic pulse. Remember the picture from her system went to static.”

Jillian turned and looked at Phil, “You seem to know a lot about what we’re thinking about doing.”

“I’ve thought about this since I joined you on the Ninja viewing the light from the past. I just haven’t thought of a way to get them out in the time between the first blast and arrival of the shock wave.”

Chris said, “It would take ten minutes to enter the building and run to the command center.”

Phil added, “You won’t be able to enter normally. The armored doors to the center would have activated when the attack warning was received. They could only be opened from the inside.”

Jillian slowly shook her head, “You really have thought about this.”

Phil sat up and sighed, “She was what bound us together. I’ve kinda worshiped her memory. She was incredibly brilliant and beautiful as well. I just don’t see any way to make it happen.”

Chris narrowed his eyes and said, “Did you consider blasting your way in?”

Phil turned his head around quickly and winced, “No, I don’t want to kill the ones in that room.”

Chris looked up, “Dolly, have you been listening to this conversation?”

“I have.”

“Is there any way to make an opening into the main room of the command center without killing those in the room?”