Jon walked down the hall passing one of the new engineers. The man had a panel off the wall and was half hidden from view. Jon smiled to himself; it was good to actually see people moving about the base.
"File six-a-three," the man said. "Think I got it now."
Jon stopped and chuckled.
"Atlanta, can you give me a reading on the power coupler on level four section twelve?" the man said.
"The readings have evened out, looks like you got the fluctuation taken care of," Atlanta's voice said. "Good morning Commander we need you in Command."
"I'm on my way Atlanta, Terri relayed your message to me when I woke up," Jon said.
A loud bang followed by some cussing came from the panel as the man slid out. He quickly got to his feet as he spoke, "Sorry Sir, I didn't know you were here." The man saluted Jon as he came to attention.
Jon saluted him back as he spoke, "At ease Ensign."
The Ensign relaxed.
"How is everything?" Jon asked.
"Well, the main power conduit..." the ensign started to say.
Jon held his hand up, "I mean with you, are you adjusting well? Have you had any problems?"
"Oh, no sir, everything is fine. Actually, it's better than fine. I used to have to wear glasses but the nanites corrected my vision. I woke up this morning and felt like a new man, the best I have felt in years," the Ensign said.
"Good, well if you need anything let me know. Oh, by the way, you can access the information in your head by just thinking about it," Jon said.
"Yes sir, I'm still getting used to that," the Ensign said.
"Well I have to get going, make sure you attend all classes so you can get certified. Just because you have the information in your head doesn't replace experience. You need hands on to learn the things the manuals can't tell you," Jon said.
"No sir, I'll make sure I'm at all my scheduled classes," the Ensign said.
Atlanta was holding classes for all divisions on the base. She had told him that they needed practical experience. He even had to take classes on tactics and strategy. He personally though it was a good idea, he had even people volunteering to teach classes to new recruits. Jon certainly hoped they would be around long enough to recruit more people.
Jon continued down the corridor and stepped into the transport tube to Command as he chuckled. He needed to contact the department heads and have them all tell their people to relax. He stepped lightly out of the tube on to the Command level.
Atlanta was standing at the planning table talking to Mike. They were looking over the incoming fleet and trying to come up with some type of plan.
"Commander on deck!" on of the marines shouted as he stepped off the lift.
Jon cringed as everyone stopped what they were doing and stood up. Jon gave the marine an evil stare as the man stood up straight a smile on his face.
"As you were," Jon said.
Everyone resumed their duties as Jon walked towards Atlanta and Mike. "Report," Jon said.
"Last of the shuttles have returned safely and is currently unloading," Traffic Control reported.
"We're still monitoring communication bands. However, it doesn't look like anyone knows this fleet is in bound sir," Communications reported.
"Shields are at 70% and climbing, about another three hours until they're fully charged. Offensive weaponry is still offline sir," Tactical reported.
Jon arched an eyebrow as he walked up next to Mike, "Engineering, how long until we get those weapons online?" Jon asked.
"We're still trying to trace the problem down, sir. We have most of the power fluctuations out of the system. The second secondary reactor is almost completely assembled it will be ready in two days. Those spider bots are amazing," Engineering reported.
"Get those weapons online, that's the priority. I want everything else but the secondary reactor shelved," Jon said.
"Yes sir," Engineering said.
"Nothing to report sir," Sciences said.
"Nothing to report sir," Medical said.
Jon studied the hologram, it showed the outer hull was patched and the flooded compartments had been purged.
"What are theses?" Jon asked. He pointed to five little objects floating around the base's exterior.
Mike smiled, "Those are the Sensor Drones. Brad and I finished the code for them last night and he's running tests on them now."
"Nice," Jon said. They were numbered one through five. Drone five shot straight up from the base as Jon watched it. "Where's that one going?"
"Which?" Mike said. He looked at the hologram, "Oh, five?"
"Yeah, it just took off like a bat out of hell," Jon said.
"We can follow them; you can do it by voice command. I haven't gotten the neural commands added yet. Follow five," Mike said.
The hologram shifted to the place the drone in the center.
"Cool," Jon said.
"The drone constantly updates the computer with any information it gathers. Even if you can't see it the computer sees what it sees. I still have a few things to do so it can recognize dangers and report them. Right now their just useful for observation purposes," Mike said.
The drone shot out of the Ocean and up into the air about thirty feet.
"They use the same engines as the shuttles, just on a smaller scale. We found the schematics on the engines in the database," Mike said.
"Those are going to be handy. What is their range?" Jon asked.
"About a mile out of the water, underwater well we don't know. We've had them out as far as ten miles. The water acts as an amplifier for their transmitters," Mike said.
"Nice stuff," Jon said. The table's hologram shifted back to the Invaru battle fleet.
"How long do we have before the fleet reaches Earth?" Jon asked.
"Four hours," Mike said.
Jonathan looked up at the display it now showed four ships. They were marked by class, two battleships and two heavy cruisers. Jonathan gave a low whistle as he looked over their weaponry, it was impressive.
"Can we hold out against that?" Jonathan asked.
"I estimate that our shields, if fully charged, will last twenty minutes," Atlanta said.
"That long huh?" Jon said.
Atlanta and Mike nodded in unison.
"There is however and idea on the table to reinforce the shields," Mike said.
"How?" Jon asked.
"We can route power from the operational secondary reactor," Mike said.
Atlanta crossed her arms, "And I've told you that would be useless."
"I know, but Brad and I think it's worth a try," Mike said.
"Why would it be useless?" Jon asked.
"If we routed power from the secondary reactor into the shield systems it would buy us minutes and that's all," Atlanta said. "Most likely it would overload the reactor and if we needed it we wouldn't have it available."
"They did it on their starship all the time," Mike said.
"Yes, and if you had bothered to research it you would have seen the systems on a starship are different than a base," Atlanta said.
"Oh," Mike said.
"The base uses a particle shield to protect itself. Most space to ground weapons are weak against this type of shield. Starships on the other hand use a particle, magnetic and thermal shield system," Atlanta said. She pulled up the schematics of the base's shield system and of a starship. "Not all ships routed their secondary reactors into their shield and weapon systems. It was done only for those ships that seen a lot of combat."
"I don't understand, you're saying reinforcing one shield is less effective than reinforcing three different shields?" Jonathan said.
"Ships had heavier duty shield relays and emitters because they had to be able to handle the extra load," Atlanta said. "There was also something about the way the shields reacted to each other they created less stress on the emitters."
"Oh, ok," Jon said. Even though he understood about half of what Atlanta had said. "Well, let's just hope they have a hard time locating us and we manage to get the weapons online so we can fight back if we need too."
"Well, on a positive note, Terri passed her shuttle exam," Atlanta said.
"I bet she's happier than a pig in shit," Jon said.
"No doubt, I ran in to her this morning and she talked me to death about going into fighter training," Mike said.
"Fighter training?" Jon said.
"Yes, the base carries four squadrons of fighters," Atlanta said. She pushed the hologram of the enemy fleet down the table as she pulled up the specifications of the fighters. "Daresen fighters, top of the line. Well, two thousand years ago that is. They're armed with four Polaron Gatling guns and twelve antimatter missiles. They can also be fitted with torpedoes for anti-capital combat. Their hull is composed of a Titanium Cardinium composite. Their shields are rated at class five and they are capable of Fold jumping."
The fighter itself looked like a large needle someone had hit with a hammer to flatten it out. Two small fins on the top of the vessel angled out from each other and the wings angled slightly down. The cockpit sat just where the back end of the ship flared out, slightly behind the mid point.
"Now that is a wicked looking ship," Mike said.
"Very nasty looking," Jon said.
"If we had the pilots we could probably stop the incoming fleet with out a problem," Atlanta said.
"How long would it take to train someone to fly one?" Jon asked.
"Not long, they are thought controlled through the nanites. The do have back up manual controls like the shuttles though," Atlanta said. "The problem isn't the training to fly. It's the training to fly it effectively and the tactics that go with it. You can't just toss someone into a fighter and then toss them into combat. We would lose every single person we sent up."
"Yeah, you're right. I didn't think about that," Jon said. "I guess I was just grasping at straws."
{Commander.} Marc said.
{Go ahead.} Jonathan replied.
{I have a situation in Security.}
Security was located mid-level and connected all the internal security in a central point; everything could be controlled from here. Bulkhead doors could be opened or closed, force fields raised or lowered. All personnel could be monitored on a large central hologram, very similar to the planning table in Command. The area also acted as a secondary command point and along the walls of the circular room was a copy of all stations in Main Command, they were manned at all times by security personnel in training. All weapons on the base were tied into the main computer systems and could be disarmed at the touch of a button; even the armor could be deactivated.
The room made a bank vault look shoddy. To even gain access you had to go through several check points in a long corridor. Voice print, biometrics and retinal scans had to match and there were no weapons allowed. Each access point had a force field that had to be deactivated to continue.
All personnel had to report to security before beginning their rounds. They checked out their weapons and any other equipment that they might need that was specialized. Armor was personal and they kept that with them at all times. Marc had made it mandatory that all personnel wear their armor at all times while on duty.
{What seems to be the problem?}
{Her name is Carla Taldage sir; she seems to think she is in command of the Security force.}
{Ensign Taldage report to Command immediately, First lieutenant Anders is in command of Security. We went over this already, you're Command Staff.}
{But sir... }
{But nothing, get your ass up here on the double and let him do his job.}
{Yes sir.}
{There it's taken care of Marc; I'll speak to her about it. She really wanted your posting.}
{Thank you, Anders out.}
Oojoung paced as he thought about what he was going to say. Things weren't going the way they should have. The hoomans brought more people and supplies to the base. He moaned as he thought about what Prasuh would do. The fleet would be here in less than two hours. He absently tapped the control circuit that was still in his pouch.
He stopped pacing and sat down in front of the communication screen. He tapped several buttons and called Prasuh.
"Report," Prasuh said.
"Great Master," Oojoung took a deep breath as he spoke.
"Well, what? Out with it you sniveling little thing!" Prasuh growled.
"The hoomans bring more hoomans," Oojoung said quickly.
Prasuh's face reddened, "WHAT! How many?"
Oojoung sighed as he spoke, "Many hoomans, hundred more maybe." Oojoung stopped calling him Great Master, he was tired of his slavery and if he got out of this he was going to disappear.
"Have they got the shields or weapons online?" Prasuh asked.
Oojoung nodded, "Hoomans fix shield things, but Oojoung outsmart hoomans and make many breakings to weapons."
"Well, at least there is that. We were going to demand their surrender. However, this changes that; we will just have to crush them as fast as possible. You are sure they haven't gotten the weapons online?" Prasuh said.
Oojoung nodded, "Yes, Oojoung sure."
"Make sure they don't. We're going to need something to home into. I want you to turn your stealth beacon on," Prasuh said.
Oojoung nodded, he knew what that meant, death.
"Don't fail me," Prasuh said as he faded out.
Oojoung sighed as he reached up and flipped the beacon on his small ship. Then sat back to await for the hand the fates had dealt him.
"Oojoung no want to die," Oojoung said to himself. He pulled the circuit out of his pouch and turned it over in his hand.
"Oojoung no die," Oojoung said. He stood up with a look of determination on his face.
Oojoung stepped up into the cockpit of his ship and tapped a few buttons. He then turned grabbed a few things and stepped back through the hole. He set his few belonging down and turned back and hit a few buttons.
The pressure door on the portable docking ring closed as he stepped back.
'Auto-pilot engaged, undocking. Detaching from docking ring.' a computer voice said through the watch on his wrist.
A dull thump issued through the wall as his ship detached.
'Warning, hull breech ... Warning hu... ' the computer suddenly became silent.
"No, no, no, Oojoung stupid. No close door on ship and now ship dead," Oojoung moaned.
He was right, the ship was laying ten feet from where it had detached from the side of the base. Inside the beacon continued to put out a steady pulse.
"Oojoung must fix breakings. So Oojoung can live," Oojoung said as he engaged his cloak and headed towards engineering. He just hoped he would be in time, the trip was very slow through all the short cuts and he couldn't take a chance of getting caught.
Two hours later Jon and everyone in Command watched the massive ships settle into orbit. Jon watched as one of the battleships settled in to orbit right over the base. He looked up at Atlanta and she shook her head.
By the time the Earth responded to the ships coming in it was too late. They tried communicating and the battleship sitting above the eastern seaboard of America shot a single gun decimating Washington D.C. The response was automatic America launched its missiles along with China and Russia. The nuclear warheads detonated harmlessly against the shields of the massive ships.
The ships started to rain terror down on the countries responsible for launching the missiles. In seconds, Moscow, Honk Kong, New York and countless other cities ceased to exist. No one else launched any missile or attempted an attack of any sort.
"Commander," Communications said.
"Yes Ensign," Jon said. He looked over at the young female sitting at the console.
"I have an incoming communication from one of the ships," she said.
Jon looked at Carla, Terri and Bill. Brad and Mike were in Engineering, Andie in Medical and Marc was preparing for war.
"Can't hurt," Carla said.
Terri and Bill nodded.
Jon looked at Atlanta, "What do you think?"
"I think either way, were going to be attacked. I think they're going to demand you surrender the base, which you can't do. They will offer to cease firing on Earth if you do and then they will go back on their word and enslave your race," Atlanta said. "Right now they're guessing where we are. You open that communication they will know where we are."
"Ignore it Ensign," Jon said. "Engineering what is the status of the weapon batteries?"
"No change sir. We still haven't been able to figure out where the problem is," the Ensign said.
"Keep on it, we need those batteries," Jon said.
Another beam came from one of the ships and vaporized Dallas as another beam hit Paris, France.
Suddenly the base shook as a beam hit a hundred yards from them. The lights in Command dimmed and took on a reddish glow as the base went into alert status.
"Point of impact one hundred yards east," Engineering reported.
"I think they know where we are," Jon said.
The base shook again.
"Direct hit, shields holding at 80%," Engineering reported.
"Sir they are still requesting to speak to you," Communications said.
"We don't have anything to lose now. Put them through Ensign," Jon said.
Prasuh's face sprung up on the main screen at the front of the room. He was seated on the bridge of his ship dressed in reddish-brown armor. He had his lower hands resting on the arms of his chair and his upper hands fingers interlaced above his chest.
When he saw Jon he spoke, "Commander Hunter."
"I'm sorry do I know you?" Jon said. He kept tight control of his surprise at being known. He would think about how this being had known his name and rank.
"Cease fire on the base," Prasuh said. He turned his attention back to Jon, "No, I would assume you didn't. But, I know who you are. I know many things about you and how you gathered your small crew."
"Yes, it seems you do. But, I have no idea who you are," Jon said. "Where I come from it's not polite to not introduce yourself. So, that being said, I will speak to you once you learn some manners. Kill the transm..."
"That Commander would be a bad idea," Prasuh said. He narrowed his eyes as he took in Jon and evaluated him. It was clear he was not dealing with an ordinary person. "I'm First Consec Prasuh Cahuc, Captain of the Marudas."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Commander Jonathan Hunter, Commander of Atlanta Base. My friends call me Jon; you can call me Commander or Jonathan. Now what can I do for you Consec Cahuc?" Jonathan said.
"You have a smart mouth on you Human," Prasuh said.
"Which human would that be? There are several standing here and I can't be sure who you're talking too," Jon said.
Prasuh motioned with his left lower arm to someone off screen, the base shook violently.
"Direct hit, shields holding," Engineering reported.
{70% sir} the Ensign said.
{Roger, try to divert power to them.} Jon replied.
{Already on it sir, Chief Anspach reports he has diverted as much power as he could.}
"Do that again and this discussion is over," Jon said. "You're not going to take pot shots at me while I'm speaking to you."
"Then I suggest you curb that smart mouth of yours. I have nothing to lose here and you have everything to lose," Prasuh said.
"You're wrong," Jon said.
"Oh?" Prasuh said.
"Yes, you have this base to lose. I'm sure you didn't come half way across the galaxy to destroy this base. Or, you would have done it already," Jon said.
"Either way, I get the base and you can walk away or I destroy the base and enslave your people. Either way I come away with something," Prasuh said.
"You mean if you get the base or not you enslave my people," Jon said.
"No, I mean walk away give us the base and you can walk away and I will leave your people in peace," Prasuh said.
"What are you just going to rip the base out of the ground and leave?" Jon asked.
"Something like that," Prasuh said.
"Why is this base so important to you?" Jon asked. "I mean we got it and it was run into the ground. We have managed to get some of the systems up and running. However, we have found anything here that you shouldn't have already."
"We're not interested in the base itself, we're more interested what it contains," Prasuh said.
Jon glanced back at Atlanta who just shrugged.
"No not the AI, they're more of a pain than a pleasure. Besides we already have those," Prasuh said. "Once we're done you can even have the base back, including the AI."
"I can just transmit you the entire database and that will solve everything. You'll be happy and we will be happy you have left," Jon said.
"Not interested in that," Prasuh said.
What was so important about the base? Jon couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew something was up.
"Some how I don't think anything I do will please you. I think even if I give you everything you want you will still enslave up or destroy us. I have read the Invaru history and have a pretty good grasp on how you work. Besides, I don't think the AI will let me even if I wanted too. I have a soft spot in my heart for beautiful women and just before you got here Atlanta said 'Help me Jon you're my only hope.'" Jon said. "Kill the transmission."
Just before the screen went blank, Prasuh's face twisted in rage.
"Think that was smart to upset him like that," Bill asked.
"I think there's something he's not telling me. I don't think it would have mattered he would have taken the base and killed us all. Then he would have enslaved Earth," Jon said. "What I would like to know is what he is keeping from us." Jon looked at Atlanta.
"Only thing on this base they could possible want would be the information," Atlanta said.
The base shook at the assault started again.
"They are targeting us with everything they have," Tactical reported.
"How long do we have until the shields fail?" Jon asked.
"At this rate minutes," Engineering said.
"Ok, order an evacu..." Jon started
'Shield breech emanate. Secondary protocols online, ' a bland computer voice said.
"What are secondary protocols?" Jon asked. But, Atlanta was gone. "Where did she go?"
"I don't know she just disappeared," Terri said.
Outside the hull of the base shuddered and started to move. Years of dust and debris slid off the top of the base as it moved. Slowly at first and gaining speed as they moved sections of the top pulled into the ground revealing a gleaming miniature replica of the base. Slowly the base tilted up and slid back towards the ground as the ground to the left and right of the standing base slid away from each other.
Back inside Jon felt a shift in gravity as he was trying to get answers to what was going on. A loud clang and a brief shudder stopped everyone in their tracks.
'Magnetic Coils online ... Weapons systems online ... Shields online ... Inertial stabilizers to maximum power ... Gravity Drives online... ' the voice said.
"Did it say weapons?" Jon asked.
"Yes sir, I have a green board!" Tactical said. The absently mutter to himself, "A bit too many green lights, what the hell is all this."
'Con stations deployed... ' the voice said again.
The floor slid open in front of the planning table as two new stations rose into position. Another section of the floor slid back on the opposite side of the planning table and a chair rose into position.
"Carla, Terri man those stations, whatever they are," Jon said.
'Launch sequence initiated ... Plotting exit vector... ' the voice said.
"What sequence? Atlanta where the hell are you get your ass back here," Jon yelled.
'Exit vector plotted ... Launching in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0' the voice said. 'Rigging for atmospheric flight... '
"Sir, we're moving," Carla said.
"Huh," Jon said. He looked over at the screen Prasuh had been on moments before now show water. You could just barely make out the Ocean floor as it passed by. Then suddenly there was blue sky.
"What the hell is going on? Someone get me some answers," Jon said.
"Space ship?" Bill said.
"You mean that base was a dock for a space ship?" Jon said.
A large explosion erupted behind them as the base exploded. Then bolts started raining around them as the ship started taking evasive maneuvers.
"I think I have some of this figured out," Tactical reported.
"Well what are you waiting for? Shoot back already," Jon said.
"Charging weapons now," Tactical said.
Suddenly an explosion rocked the ship hard. It tossed Jon and Bill to the floor.
"What the hell..." Jon started.
'Weapons systems offline ... Explosion on deck four section twenty-two ... Fire suppression system online ... Repair drones in route.' the computer said.
The ship turned nose up towards space as it weaved through the incoming fire.
"Center on ship," Jon said.
The table shifted view to show the ship as it weaved through the sky. The ship was incomplete, all over the hull you could see where the work hadn't been completed. The readings showed her as being 98% complete.
A bolt hit her on the nose and not even a slight shudder was felt inside the ship.
'Shields at 50% ... Inertial Stabilizers at 45%.' the computer said.
Jon watched as the ship entered space, passing between Prasuh battleship and one of the cruisers, as she picked up speed.
'Fold point in fifteen seconds.' the computer said.
Another beam found its mark as all of the Invaru ships took up the pursuit.
'Shields at 35% ... Inertial Stabilizers at 20%.' the computer said.
"Are we going to out run them?" Jon asked. The Invaru ships were actually falling behind.
"Looks like," Bill said. "Engineering, see if you can figure out how to get more power to the engines."
"Um, yes sir," the Ensign said.
'Fold drive charging, five seconds to fold.' the computer said.
Just as the ship folded a beam hit her causing an explosion. For a split second the ass end of the ship tilted up. Then a bright flash of light engulfed her and she was gone.
A flash of light lit the blackness of space as a ship appeared. The ship tumbled out of control, lights flickered through her windows. In her wake a cloud of smoke and debris followed.