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“Dee and I are going to get the attack ships organized and work on their tactics. Their numbers are going to explode now that the ship has passed its trials; it doesn’t take near as long to build one of those ships as a Theta. We need to find the leaders for the new fleets coming online.”

“Let’s plan to get together soon. We all need to be on the same page when hostilities start.”

“I want to know what new developments Euclid had come up with; just let me know and we’ll be there.” Ian nodded and ended the call.

***

Kregen looked at Marissa on his display, “I really wish you had not taken this new assignment.”

“Kre, you’ve found your place in the Navy. I really think this new ship is a gift from God.”

“Why?”

“Because these ships are called Attack Ships and I’m at my best when I’ve been given a target. These are the ones that will go out and pick a fight; you know that’s my nature.”

Kregen stared at her shaking his head, “Things just won’t be the same without you here.”

Marissa smiled, “What are you saying?”

“I’ll miss you.”

“Come on, Kregen; you know I’m a pain in the neck most of the time.”

“That might have been true at first, but not anymore. You know we work well together.”

Marissa stared at the large Kilper Warrior and smiled, “We wouldn’t be together much longer anyway; the new Thetas only require one pilot; we would have been separated.”

“Is that why you left?”

Marissa sighed, “That’s part of it.”

“What’s the other part?”

“Kregen, you need to find a good Kilper female and have a family.”

“Are you saying you were starting to have feelings for me?”

“Just let it go, Kre. We’re where we belong and I know we’ll make a difference in the coming conflict.”

Kregen stared at her, “What’s your position in the new fleet of attack ships?”

“Actually, I’ve been promoted from Captain to Rear Admiral. I’ll be taking the first fleet and will work with whoever is given the second and third fleets.”

“How many ships will you command?”

“About a hundred thousand initially; that number will grow once the other two fleets are built.”

“I know you’ll do a great job.”

“Thanks, Kre. That means a lot.”

***

Marissa spent the next two weeks getting her officers organized and was seeing progress in their working together. She leaned back in her chair and watched as the squadrons went through maneuvers looking for the pilots that possessed enough talent to lead others. “Marissa, I think you need to change my name.”

“Why is that, Kregen?”

The computer put an announcement on her screen and she read it. She immediately contacted Kregen, “What is this!?”

Kregen looked at her and smiled, “You can run but you can’t hide. I’ll not let you get away that easy.”

“But it says you will be in overall command of the new Attack Fleets.”

“I was forced to take a promotion to join. It appears the Prince thinks highly of my skills.”

“Kregen, this is just not going to work.”

“You really need to look in your heart, Rissa. You are the only one I want in my life and you need to get used to it. Take as much time as you need, but I refuse to let you run from what I know is right.”

The display went dark and Marissa stared at the dark display for several minutes. She shook her head and smiled, “Your new name is Marty.”

“New name accepted.”

“Now find out where Kregen’s located and take me there.”

“Why?”

“I don’t need as much time as he thinks I do.”

“I’ve located him.”

Marissa punched her panel, “Captain Bengel, take command of the fleet and make them do it again. I expect them to get it perfect next time.”

“Yes Sir. When will you be returning?”

Marissa smiled, “I’ll let you know.” The small Attack Ship disappeared. Captain Bengel conducted eight new maneuvers before Marissa returned.

***

Drey and Dee sat in a bar on the planet Rigel and watched the attack pilots causing major damage to the establishment. The bar fight had started slowly with two drunk pilots duking it out but soon others piled in. Dee lifted her glass as a pilot flew across their table scattering their meal to the floor. She took a drink as Drey stood and grabbed a pilot, stumbling toward them and guided him in another direction. Rigel was the main liberty planet of the newly formed Attack Fleets and every bar in the commercial area was experiencing the same turmoil. Dee looked at Drey, “Your pilots appear to be somewhat…undisciplined.” Drey nodded and hit a pilot between the eyes as he rushed up to their table. The pilot fell to the floor and Drey sat back down. Dee took another sip and tripped a pilot rushing by their table, “How long are you going to allow this behavior to continue?”

Drey looked at her and shouted above the turmoil, “They’re just letting off a little steam. It appears the qualities we need in an attack pilot do have some drawbacks in other behavior. Their aggression comes out rather easily.”

Dee shrugged, “You know they’re going to soil your reputation as being in control of your subordinates. Everyone will say you’re losing your touch.”

Drey looked at her with a frown, raised his wrist unit, and said, “Do it now.”

Dee stared at him, “Do what?”

“I happen to agree with you; this has to be stopped. After all, my reputation must be defended properly.” Dee turned around as she heard a noise at the door of the restaurant.

Fifty armored Marines entered the bar and lifted their blasters. The high frequency hum of the blasters being activated permeated the room and the mayhem ended instantly with the fighting pilots staring down the barrels of the Marines’ blasters. The pilots were marched out of the bar and gathered in the middle of the street. They looked around and saw Attack Pilots were being forced to march out of all the other establishments in the business section and forced to stand together in the middle of the square. It took another fifteen minutes but finally, more than a thousand pilots were rounded up in the center of the street and surrounded by blaster carrying marines. A Marine Colonel entered the bar and went to attention, “Sir, we have them outside.”

Drey returned the Colonel’s salute as he stood and offered Dee his hand, “Please come with me, Darling.” Dee smiled, picked up her drink, and followed him out the door. The pilots gathered in the middle of the street were extremely nervous. The Marines surrounding them had their blasters energized. They were all trying to determine what was going on when one of them shouted. “It’s the Dark Officer.” Silence descended on them. Even the hundreds of restaurants, saloons, and bars had turned off their music and silence descended around the gathered pilots. They watched Drey exit the bar and leisurely walk out on the elevated front walk way. This was not good! Everyone had heard about his execution of a pilot for insubordination.

Drey looked at the thousands of pilots and they saw his expression was flat and unemotional. After a long moment, he looked at the Colonel standing at the rear of the gathering and yelled, “If you burn every one of them, how long will it take to clean up the mess?”

The Colonel paused and yelled back, “About thirty six hours, Sir.”

Drey nodded slowly. “Couldn’t you do it any faster than that? I don’t want these businesses to suffer loss of income.”

The Colonel thought about it and shook his head, “Not without calling in another battalion, Sir. Just eliminating the smell will require twenty four hours.”

Drey nodded slowly and scratched his chin. “How long would it take to get them here?”

“About ten hours, Sir.”

The pilots listened to the discussion and felt immense fear. The Marines had their blasters raised and most of them thought they were going to die. Drey looked at the closest pilot to him and said, “Pilot, if I burn every one of you, do you think the others in your fleet might know the behavior you idiots have just been exhibiting here is not acceptable?”

The pilot stared at Drey, took a deep breath and blew it out, “Yes Sir, I think they would.”

The pilot standing next to the one that spoke said, “Please don’t burn us, Sir!”

Drey raised his arm faster than the eye could follow and a blaster appeared. He shot the pilot who had pleaded for mercy in the arm, watched it fall to the ground, and said, “I don’t like to be interrupted. I wasn’t talking to you.” The pilot fell to the street screaming and Drey waited as two marines ran forward and carried him away. He looked at his blaster and said, “My aim is getting bad; I was aiming at his head.” He raised the blaster, sighted down the barrel, shook his head and put it away. He turned back to the pilot and said, “Where were we? Oh yeah, can you think of another way to get that message out?”

The pilot looked at the screaming pilot being carried away and turned back to Drey, “I suspect you just delivered it in a fashion that everyone in Fleet will understand, Sir.”

Drey stared at the pilot with raised eye brows, “You really think so?”

“I do, Sir.”

Drey looked out at the thousand pilots shaking his head, “You know; I like to take my wife out for an enjoyable evening and you idiots make that impossible.” He looked at the Colonel, started to say something, and then turned back to the pilots, “You have thirty six hours to clean up the mess you’ve made here. You will report back here at that time and, depending on how good a job you do cleaning up, I will consider allowing you poor excuses of a Union Warrior to live. If you don’t conduct yourselves as an officer and a gentleman in the future, we will not be discussing this issue again.” Drey looked down at the pilot and said, “Do you think your friends here understand what I’m telling them?”

“I think you’ve been quite clear, Sir.”

Drey looked at the huge gathering, “You will clean up the mess you’ve made and, at the conclusion of that, all of you will be given an opportunity to resign from the Navy. Should you choose to stay, your future transgressions will be treated quite severely.” Drey stared at them and said quietly, “Now go!”

The thousands of pilots disappeared faster than a piece of meat in front of a pit bull. Dee took another drink of her beer as the pilots sprinted away and tilted her head, “Did you really have to shoot that pilot?”

Drey nodded as he watched them sprint away, “We’ve had fifteen pilots a week killed or injured severely enough in fights here to never be able to fly. The lesson had to be one that they would not reject. I think injuring one was enough to get the message across.”

Dee shrugged, “I see you had a good reason.”

***

Thirty six hours later, Drey toured the establishments and saw most of them had new furniture; the pilots had paid for it. He went to the street and saw the thousand pilots standing at attention waiting for him. He looked at the Colonel and said, “How many resigned?”

“Fifty six, Sir.”

Drey looked out at the gathering and yelled, “Where is the one I spoke with?” The pilot walked forward and came to attention. Drey looked at him, “Have you inspected the businesses?”

“Most of them, Sir.”

“And?”

“We’ve left them better than we found them, Sir.”

Drey nodded, “What’s your name?”

“Ryan Fox, Sir.”

Drey looked out at the pilots; they saw his expression was dangerous, “All of you are being assigned to the same squadron. Mr. Fox here is promoted to Captain and he will be your commanding officer. I am going to hold him personally responsible for your future behavior.” Drey turned to Ryan, “I trust you understand what that means, Captain?”

“Yes Sir, I do.”

“Your squadron’s name will be Fox’s Freaks. It’ll be easy to get you back together if you’re all in the same outfit to prevent any further exhibitions of unacceptable behavior. Mr. Fox, I expect your wing to be a role model for the rest of my fleets.” Drey stared at the group and after a long moment said, “Is there any question about my expectations?”

The group roared, “No Sir!!”

Drey nodded, “Return to your ships, inform your former commanders that you will no longer be allowed to mingle with real pilots, and then tell them why. Make sure they understand my expectations and they will not be given the courtesy of living past their misbehavior. The coordinates you are to report are being sent to your ships now; dismissed.” Drey looked down, “One Moment, Captain.” Ryan turned around and Drey said, “Your computer has all of their names. I expect you to make something special of this group.”

Fox stared at Drey, “We share a common experience, Sir; that’s what will bind us.” Drey smiled as Ryan said, “We have something to prove now, Sir.” He saluted and Drey returned his salute. This was one smart officer. He knew what Drey had done in killing the pilot.

D
ee looked at Ian and the Kilper Admiral and listened as they talked about what action the Union should take if M87 was invaded. Drey, Violet, Cole, and Argel were just listening in and leaving most of the discussion to the two highest ranking military leaders. After thirty minutes she interrupted them, “So both of you are inclined to just let M87 take care of itself while we just sit on the sidelines?”

Ian looked at Dee and rolled his eyes, “What now?”

“Both of you think we won’t be attacked until they finish with M87?”

Ian looked at the Admiral and then turned back to Dee, “Do you see it differently?”

“How many galaxies are those creatures currently attacking?”

The Admiral looked at Ian and turned back to Dee, “We know of nine.”

“And what will those other fleets do when they finish with the galaxy they’re currently invading?”

The Admiral closed his eyes and, after a moment, shook his head, “I didn’t see that.”

Ian looked at him, “See what?”

“They had a probe here so they know our galaxy has intelligent life. They also know M87 invaded here. That alone would tell them there has to be an abundance of civilized plaents; one of those other fleets will come here.”

Ian looked at Dee and she nodded. “Do you know how long before they arrive?”

Dee sighed, “I suspect it will be less than two years.”