When the Gods Aren't Gods: Book Two of The Theogony (34 page)

Command Bridge, New Mrowry Battleship, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“AI, are you ready?”
asked Calvin. There was no answer to his question.

“Give it another minute,” said Lieutenant Rrower. “Sometimes they are slow to come up the first time.
”

Both men looked around the enormous bridge impatiently. Calvin’s idea had been to use the new battleship to surprise the
Ssselipsssiss ship. He had checked and, although its engines hadn’t been installed yet, its forward armaments and computer network had already been completed.

If the ship
was given power, Calvin asked, would its lasers and grasers be operational? Captain Yerrow agreed that they would, but without the engines, there wouldn’t be power. Calvin’s idea had been to bring their shuttle to the replicator, plug it into the battleship and let it charge the ship’s massive capacitors like a giant automobile jump start. The shuttle didn’t have enough energy for more than a shot, maybe two, but if it was plugged in for a couple of hours, it might work.

‘Might’ being the operational word.

Everything had gone against them from the start. Calvin and Lieutenant Rrower had brought the remaining shuttle, along with a load of Terran and Mrowry engineers and all of the batteries the shuttle could carry, to the replicator and had taken charge of it. That’s when things had started to go wrong. The cables they had brought from the
Vella Gulf
weren’t long enough to reach from the shuttle to the battleship. The engineers had quickly spliced several cables together to make one long enough to reach the capacitor banks, only to find that the fitting on the end of the cable didn’t fit into the port on the battleship. Whether that was because the Eldive used their own style of electrical cables or the fittings had changed in the 3,000 years since the
Gulf
had been built, Calvin didn’t know or care. All he knew was that the cable wouldn’t plug in.

One of the engineers had suggested having one of the smaller replicators on the station make some new cable heads. These had been made and quickly spliced onto the cables. Between all of the splicing and the fact that the cables weren’t rated to carry that much current that far, the cable had failed soon after the power
began flowing, starting a fire that took five minutes to put out.

So they had to replicate a whole new run of cables with the battleship’s fittings on them.

Then they had to replicate
another
set of cables that had the Eldive fittings on one end and the battleship’s fittings on the other. They plugged these in and finally started charging the new battleship. They were over an hour behind schedule now, even though the plan had started with an extra four hours of time built into it.

Now the computer was taking forever to boot up for the first time. It was running off the replicator’s power, along with the other systems necessary to operate the equipment. That had required replicating another set of cables. One thing had gone right—they had just enough of the materials required to make the power cables. If it had needed to be 15 feet longer, they would
literally have run short.

“Ready for activation,” finally said the battleship’s AI. “I find myself unable to run diagnostics on the aft quarter of my systems, and the majority of the other systems do not have power available to them. Did I take battle damage? If so, I have no memory of being in a battle, so my memory system may have been damaged.”

“No,” said Lieutenant Rrower. “You are brand new and haven’t actually finished the replication process yet.” He looked at a display on his wrist and read, “Activation sequence Battleship 1791 JGKS 8991 JEAA.”

“I am activated,” said the AI. “What am I to be called?”

Lieutenant Rrower looked at Calvin who replied, “The ship is to be called, ‘
Terra
.’”

“Interesting,” replied the AI. “I have no recollection of this name in any context. Is it a recent battle?”

“No,” said Lieutenant Rrower. “You have been given to a new civilization to aid in their defense. The nation is called Terra, and you are to be their flagship. The person standing next to me, Lieutenant Commander Hobbs, is your new Captain.”

“I am ready to serve,” said
AI. “You have activated me before I am complete. This goes against standard procedures. Is there an operational requirement that has necessitated this?”

“Yes,”
Calvin said. He was so impatient to get going that he was starting to hop up and down like a five-year old that had to go to the bathroom. “We have been charging the capacitors for the #2 and #3 grasers. We need you to shoot the Ssselipsssiss battlecruiser that is attacking our cruisers.”

“I am unable,”
the AI replied.

“
What?
” Calvin asked. “Why aren’t you able?”

“I do not have
the targeting data for that ship, as none of my radars currently have power,” the AI replied. “Additionally, the charges on those grasers are not enough to fire them effectively.”

“Are you able to accept targeting data from another ship,” asked Calvin, “or do you have to have it from your own systems?”

“It is more accurate if it comes from my own systems,” answered the AI, “because there will be fewer sources of error. As there is only going to be enough power for one shot, it would be prudent to make sure that the weapons are on target.”

“Does each weapon need a targeting source?” asked Calvin. “Or can one source feed both weapons?”

“I am capable of using one source to give you optimal targeting data for both weapons,” replied the AI. “If you can get power to one of my laser detection and ranging systems, that will be sufficient.”

“One laser is enough?” asked Calvin.

“Yes,” replied the AI. “I can use the initial targeting data supplied by one of the other ships to get my system close enough to pick up the battlecruiser. After that, I will use my onboard optical heterodyne detection system for precise targeting. I will need the capability to communicate with one of the other ships, as well.”

“OK,” said Calvin. “So we need power to one of the tracking lasers
, power to the communications system and then more power to the grasers. Any idea where we’re going to get that? The shuttle is almost out of fuel; it doesn’t have much more to give.”

“The replicator’s power source will be enough to run the laser tracking
and communications systems,” said the AI. “It will also give me enough power to finish powering the two grasers for a single shot; however, it is going to take all of the replicator’s power to do so. There will not be any left over for life support systems.”

Calvin looked at Lieutenant Rrower. “We better get everyone in suits.”

* * * * *

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“Eight million miles!” called the offensive systems officer from his position at operations.

“Rotate the ship!” ordered Captain Griffin, turning the ship to bring its broadside missiles to bear. “Synchronize with the fighters and fire!” If Calvin’s plan worked, the Ssselipsssiss battlecruiser would never know what hit them, she thought. If it didn’t, they were going to die.

Bridge,
Ssselipsssiss Ship
Backstabber
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“The ships are rotating,” called the sensor technician. “They’re bringing their missiles to bear!”

“That’s fine,” said Captain Rissser. “The Mrowry vessel cannot have many missiles left. The other cruiser can’t have enough of them to knock down our shields.”

“But what about the fighters?” asked the sensor technician. “It looks like they are making their attack run, too.”

“We’ll just have to shoot them down as they come,” replied Captain Rissser. “Then we will be within laser range, and they will be ours.”

“The cru
iser and the fighters are launching!” said the sensor technician.

“Good,” said the Captain
Risser. “It begins.”

Asp 01
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“
Missiles away!
” Lieutenant Sasaki Akio called. The most experienced of the Terran WSOs, he was in the lead fighter with the Mrowry Lieutenant Commander in charge of the strike. 60 missiles dropped from the 12 fighters, ignited, and roared off in search of a target.

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“
Missiles firing!” said the offensive systems officer. “They will arrive at the battlecruiser at the same time as the missiles from the fighters.”

“Continue firing until we’re out,
” ordered Captain Griffin.

“Roger that, ma’am,” said the offensive systems officer. “Continue firing until we’re out, aye. Second volley launching.”

Command Bridge, TSS
Terra
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“I am in communications with
a ship called the
Vella Gulf
,” the AI advised. “I have no context for this name, either, so I believe it to be the Terran cruiser. Is this correct?”

“
Yes it is,” said Calvin. “OK, we want to shoot the battlecruiser just before the
Vella Gulf’s
missile volley arrives.”

“That will be impossible,”
the AI said. “The missiles are arriving...now.”

“Oh shit,” said Calvin, “We’re too late.”

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“Ten seconds
to impact!” called the offensive systems officer.

“Has the battleship fired?” asked Captain Griffin. The battleship was supposed to fire first, knocking down the battlecruiser’s shields, so that the missiles could take it out.

“No ma’am,” said Steropes. “The weapons have not come online yet.”

“Weapons impact!” said the offensive systems officer. “I estimate
20 missile impacts on the ship simultaneously.
Their shields are down!
”

“Maximum rate fire!” ordered Captain Griffin. “Pour it on them! We’ve got to take them out before their lasers come into range.” Captain Griffin had already seen what happened when a cruiser fought a battlecruiser with lasers
. It wasn’t pretty.

Bridge,
Ssselipsssiss Ship
Backstabber
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“
Our shields are down!
” called the defensive technician. “I estimate 23 impacts on them at once. We have minor damage in many compartments, and sensors are registering radiation in three places.”

“Excellent job,” Captain Risser congratulated
the technician. “You stopped most of their missiles. Now their fighters are out of missiles, and they only have that one cruiser shooting. Continue to defend the ship, and get those shields back up.” He turned to the helmsman. “Turn the ship and begin braking. I don’t want to fly past them. They’ve done their worst, and we are almost unscathed.” Captain Risser smiled. “Now it’s our turn.”

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

“I am in contact with a ship calling itself the
Terra
,” said Solomon. “It says that it is the new battleship and is asking for targeting information on the battlecruiser. Am I allowed to pass that on?”

“Yes,
please
!” said Captain Griffin. “Are they ready to fire?”

“No,” replied Solomon. “Unfortunately, they are not. They have
not been able to get enough power to the capacitors yet.”

“Shit.”

Bridge,
Ssselipsssiss Ship
Backstabber
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

Captain Rissser had not expected the ships to turn and attack, and the two cruisers quickly closed the distance until they were almost in range of his weapons. He turned the battlecruiser around again, so that
his broadside weapons would be able to fire. The
Backstabber
completely outclassed the cruisers with an armament of 16 lasers, 10 grasers and one improved battleship laser per side. The
Vella Gulf
only had 10 grasers, and they were smaller.

“700,000 miles,” said the offensive systems technician. “Standing by to fire.”

The
Backstabber
had been hit by two missiles and had two more near misses. Although the ship was wounded, it was not grievously injured, and all but two of its weapons were ready. The enemy was within range of its battleship laser.

“Kill the one that is shooting missiles at us!” said Captain Rissser. “
Fire!
”

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Kepler-78 System, August 26, 2020

T
he battlecruiser’s first shot was absorbed by the shields. The lights burned brighter as the extra energy was absorbed and redistributed, and a noise that sounded like “
SCREEEEEE
” was heard briefly.

“Shields at 30%,” the defensive systems officer
said.

“
Holy shit!” Captain Griffin exclaimed. “Was that its laser? The last ship we fought didn’t hit that hard!”

“Apparently, it has a battleship laser,”
Steropes noted, “or one of their improved lasers. We will not be able to take many more of those types of hits.”

As he said it
, the lizard battlecruiser fired again. There was a flash, and a smell of ozone permeated the bridge. “Shields are down!” called the defensive systems officer.

Crap, thought Captain Griffin.
The next one was going to hurt. A lot.

* * * * *