Star Dancer
Chapter 11
 
 
            “All stations: stand by to launch.” Ian said into the comm as he studied the tactical plot on the main screen. “Why aren’t they launching missiles?” He didn’t expect an answer to the rhetorical question. Something just didn’t feel right.
            Ian thumbed the intercom. “Command to Engineering. Do not: I repeat, do NOT activate the decoys.”
            “Aye, sir.” Was the response.
            “Columbia to Command. The carriers are cloaking.”
            “Roger Columbia. Did you get course and speed?” Jenny replied.
“Affirmative Command. We’ll have them on our screens for a few minutes yet.” Columbia replied. Talosian science had come up with an accurate method of tracking a cloaked ship; unfortunately, it only worked at distances of 100,000 kilometers or less.
            “Sir, tracking analysis indicates the carriers are on widely different courses. This looks more like a probe mission then an attack. Is it possible they have no idea where we are?” Jenny asked, but her tone of voice made the question rhetorical.
Ian sat deep in thought for a moment, slowly shaking his head to Jenny’s question, then turned to the intercom, “Computer Science, this is the Captain. I want you and Star to hack into the Enemy communications net, but you are not to do anything to let them know we are here, got it?”
            “Yes sir.”
            Ian watched as the separate ships headed cautiously in different directions. Could it be true the Enemy didn’t know where Star Dancer was? Since they were cloaked, Ian would have to rely on ‘best guess’ for tracking unless someone got close to them. He watched their projected progress through the solar system for about half an hour and came up with a plan.
            Ian activated the comm. “Ghost squadron, this is the Captain. I want you to lift off and head out for the suspected position of carrier 15. Seek and destroy. However, if there is any acknowledgment of your presence, I want you to get your butts back here as fast as possible.”
            “Ghost Leader, Roger. We’re hunting.”
            “Good luck, Ghost Leader. Come home safe.” Ian changed channels, “Captain to Talos; stand down to yellow alert, it looks like you’ll be left alone, at least from this threat.” As Talos control acknowledged the message, Ian turned back to watching the screen, and his thoughts.
            Carrier 15 should be on course for the outer planets, as were four of the other carriers. Ian intended to have Ghost squadron take them all out, but wanted to make sure the new fighters couldn’t be detected first. He was counting on the fact that if he took those out, then the Enemy commander would concentrate his search on the outer planets.
            Ian did expect the Enemy to send at least one ship here to see if Star was still on the moon. In fact, two carriers should soon be close enough to do just that. He had ordered modifications to the holo-field that covered the moon base; it now projected an image of an old and broken down Star Dancer. His goal was not to convince the Enemy that they didn’t exist, but to confuse him as much as possible. Something had brought the Enemy here. Ian knew those freighters would definitely report the presence of Talosian fighters in this system. His guts told him the Enemy was looking for them, and knew they were here.
            “Ghost Leader to Command: Data feed follows. I think we’re safe.” A voice crackled from the speakers.
            The tactical display on the main screen was overlaid with the data from ghost Leader. All ten of Ghost squadron’s ships where within 500 meters of the carrier!
            “Oh my god!” Jenny exclaimed.
            “Okay show offs, enough playing around. I have a change of mission for you. I want you to send five ships to carrier 12 and stage a simultaneous strike with carrier 15: Destroy those two ships. Then I want you to do the same thing with carriers 13 and 14. Once you’ve completed your mission return to base. Think you can handle that?” Ian ordered.
            “Affirmative, Command. Estimate 25 minutes to party time.”
            Ian looked at the clock; it had taken them a little over ten minutes to get to the ship. A Hornet or Centurion would have taken three hours. Ian wondered that no hyperspace points had been formed; at least, none had been detected.
            “Computer lab to Command, I think we’ve gotten into the enemy’s database, but we’re still working on the communications. The data isn’t even fire-walled! But it sure is structured strange; it’ll take awhile to translate.”
            “Good work, but we need those comms! You’ve got 24 minutes!” Ian said.
            “Yes, Sir!” a shocked and surprised Bill replied.
            “Ghost Leader to Captain, private channel.” Ian heard.
            He wondered why he needed a private channel, but after getting the pilot’s call sign, opened it. “Go ahead Corvis, what’s up?” Ian asked.
            “Sir, close analysis of the Enemy shield has revealed a bad weakness in the shielding. Sending the data now. I think we could easily take all four of these out at the exact same time without them even knowing what hit them.”
            Ian keyed the data on his terminal, it showed that the Enemy carrier’s shield generator was placed just above the engine rooms and that it left a hole, albeit a small one, directly above the generator. The hole was in line with where the main reactor for the craft was surmised to be.
            “I think I see your idea, Corvis. How close do you think you’ll need to be to pull this off?” Ian asked.
            “I’m pretty confident we could do it from a kilometer out. Any farther away and I don’t think it would be feasible.”
            “That’s damn close. Can you get away fast enough to avoid the explosion?” Ian asked.
            “We’ll have a shockwave chasing us, but these ships can move when they need to. I’m not in the mood to die today Captain.” Came the droll reply.
            “Okay, if you think you can pull it off, go with it. But if anyone is uncomfortable doing this, don’t. A nervous pilot is a dead pilot.”
            “Roger, we’ll see what we can do.”
            Ian had to applaud the tenacity of the Talosian pilots, they might be kids, but they sure didn’t lack in the courage department.
            Ian watched as the tactical display showed Ghost squadron splitting into four groups: three groups of two, and one of four.
            “Computer lab to Captain. We’ve got the comms, but the best I can do is record it: we can’t unscramble or translate it yet.”
            “You can take a few more minutes, we’re changing strategy here.”
            “I’m afraid that won’t be of much help, sir. This is gonna take weeks. Also, one odd thing, I can’t tell which carrier is transmitting. Any communication seems to come from all of them. It’s like if one ship needs to talk to another, they all get to listen.”
            “That’s… interesting. Lt. Sims, get with computer science. They just found a way to pinpoint the enemy ships for us.” Ian told him. Lt. Sims grinned, and turned back to his console. “Chief, do you think there is a way to do some localized jamming?” Ian asked, thinking about the impending attacks.
            “We’re working with your communications people and it might be possible, but it’ll still take more time then we have right now. In addition, there is a continuous data feed present, a ship dropping out of the net would be noticed.” Bill answered.
            “Good work Do what you can. Captain, out.”
            Ian watched each group of fighters: one fighter stopped at a distance of 30 kilometers, the other ship kept going. The group farthest away had the extra two fighters: three holding at 30 ‘klicks’ out.
            “Command, we’re ready here. Everyone knows what do. Just give the word.” Corvis reported.
            “Ghost Squadron, good luck. Execute in: three, two, one, mark!” Ian ordered.
            He watched the tactical as the fighters closest to the carriers all started moving simultaneously back toward their wingmates at top speed. They had barely reached three kilometers when the carriers exploded. Ian held his breath as he continued to watch the deadly race. The other ships in the four groups also began to move away as the fighters neared their wingmen. When they were 150 kilometers from the attack site, Ian began to breathe again.
            “Command, this is Ghost Leader, all wings are safe and sound.”
            “Well done, Ghost Squadron. Regroup, and hold position until we figure out what the enemy is going to do.” Ian replied.
            Ian watched his fighters regroup. The ‘battle’, if one could call it that, had taken place near the asteroid belt. He watched the screen for any change of the enemy’s position.
            The remaining 21 Carriers showed that they had launched fighters as an escort. This showed up clearly on the tactical display and confirmed the position of the carriers. Three changed course for the area that the four ships had been destroyed in. The rest seemed to pair up, though they remained at least 500 kilometers apart.
            Ian quickly came up with a strategy that he hoped would work.
            “Ghost Leader, this is Command. You have three more carriers, and 120 fighters coming to see what happened. There’s no way we’re gonna be able to keep them from screaming for help this time. So, I want you to stalk them, since they obviously can’t see you, pull random strikes on them. Haunt them. Destroy 8 fighters in the middle, then two or three on the one side. Keep them confused.” Ian explained.
            “Roger command, I think I know what you want.”
            “Again if it looks like they might have detected you, beat feet back here on the double.” Ian said, then as an after thought; “And no missiles. They can track those.”
            “Affirmative, Command.”
            “Sir, what about the two carriers coming this way?” Jenny asked him. She indicated the two groups of targets on the tactical display that were passing the orbit of Venus, but on this side of the sun.
Ian looked at them for a minute, “Helm, move us away. I still want to be able to cover the moon base, but I don’t want to be right on top of them either. Make your altitude 5000 meters, and take us 2000 meters to one side. Do it slowly, I don’t want any easily detectable emissions. If they can’t see us, I don’t want to send up a flare.”
“Aye Sir, maneuvering thrusters only. Main reactor at 50%.” Checkov said.
“Weapons control, Flight control, this is the Captain, stand by. I don’t want to attack until it’s obvious they’re attacking the base. Otherwise, I want them to go right on by. Missiles, passive targeting only, do not lock on.” Ian ordered. “Master safety is still engaged.”
Ian and crew watched, and waited. It appeared that Ghost squadron was doing what Ian had asked, and with the result Ian wanted. Enemy fighters were buzzing around like angry bees whose nest had been disturbed. The counter beside the screen indicated that Ghost squadron had almost cut the Enemy fighters in half. ‘I guess, I’d be a little pissed myself,’ Ian thought.
As Ian watched, Ghost squadron, pulled back to 50 kilometers. Ian watched as a pair of fighters swept in, and destroyed a carrier. The explosion took out ten more Enemy fighters, and left quite a few heavily damaged.
The two carriers closing in on them, passed earth, and headed for the moon. Ian knew they were coming to check on the Talosian ship they believed to be crashed there. As they got closer, a full squadron of Enemy fighters shot out ahead of the group, and swung around the moon on a low, high speed trajectory. The tactical display had them moving at 1/3 light speed. The thing that made Ian’s hair stand on end was the fact that they were only 150 meters off the surface. Those pilots were either very good, or they had exceptionally good guidance computers. The squadron skimmed the surface of the moon until they neared where Star should have been, and began to climb. They climbed to 1000 meters, but didn’t slow. They shot past the huge hologram, dropped back to the deck, and finally disappeared past the horizon of the moon.
The display showed that the two carriers were changing course: turning in what looked like an intercept with the two remaining carriers that Ghost squadron was harassing.
Ian thought that was enough. “Ghost Squadron, this is Command. Two more carriers are coming towards your party. Try to finish up before they get there.”
Ian watched the display as the carriers started to land their fighters. The only reasons they would do that would be to preserve fuel, and because they would be moving faster then the fighters.
“Roger, Command. Be done in a sec.” Corvis’ voice assured him.
Ian glanced at the icons for Ghost squadron, the two remaining carriers and 27 Enemy fighters. As he watched four Shadows broke from the rest of his squadron, and two each headed for a carrier. The remaining Ghost’s started a mop up, of the damaged fighters.
Soon there was no more Enemy, only Ghost squadron fighters in formation, heading back. “Ghost Squadron, this is Command. Well done! You’ve only got two more to get rid of, then, come home. I want to warn you though, they’re moving pretty fast. Try to get them before they launch.” Ian said.
“Damn, don’t want much do ya command?” Corvis’ voice said, teasing.
Laughing, Ian replied; “Well, that’s what you get for being so good at what you do.”
Ian watched the whole thing on the tactical screen. This seemed far too easy, but he knew if he launched even one hornet fighter, or did anything to announce his presence, the Enemy would attack with everything they had left. The loss of five carriers, had hurt them. Even with the two more about to be destroyed, The Enemy was still stronger then Ian’s forces.
Ian needed a lot more of the new fighters, and he needed them fast. Even a cloaked centurion couldn’t get that close to an Enemy ship without being detected. The weakness discovered by that close inspection also proved to be a boon. Ian couldn’t help but think they had been lucky in the extreme, He also couldn’t help but think there was something else going on here he didn’t know about.
He watched as the remaining carriers landed most of their fighters, leaving only a few still in flight. He would have liked to send Ghost squadron after them as well, but they had already been in flight for a couple of hours, and had been doing all the fighting so far.
“Helm, return us to our previous position above the base, again do it slowly.” Ian said.
“Yes sir.”
“Commander, lets alter the base holo-field; remove the ship, leave it looking like the ship had never been there.”
“Yes sir.” Jenny said, smiling at him.
Ian sat in his chair, staring at the tactical display; thinking. He wasn’t coming up with any answers. “Okay folks, something here isn’t right. This was far too easy, we’re missing something, and if we don’t figure it out soon, it’s gonna bite us. We just destroyed five Enemy carriers, not to mention the 200 fighter craft they carried, and we haven’t lost one single pilot. To make this puzzle even stranger, we did it with only ten of our own craft.” Ian spoke his thoughts aloud.
“Sir, perhaps the Enemy just doesn’t see us? How can you fight an enemy you can’t see?” Ensign Shostokovitch suggested.
“I could accept that, Mr. Chekov, if the data base hadn’t said that The Enemy can detect us even with our cloaking technology.” Ian replied.
“I think the ensign has a point, sir.” Jenny began, “We didn’t move, or do anything that could be tracked. All our engines have been shielded, and our reactor wasn’t at full power. In order for us to track The Enemy ships, they have to be moving and we have to be semi-close to them. Other then the new fighters, none of there ships have been close enough to ours to detect anything.”
“That could help explain it; personally I just think we’ve been damn lucky. Commander, either you or I need to get back down to the base, and authorize a lot more of those fighters. We also need to modify Star to handle them.”
“Our big friend out there isn’t going to be patient forever. Let’s stand down to yellow alert, and get to work. When Ghost squadron returns, get them debriefed, fed, and rested. I think they’ll be working harder then the rest of us for the time being.” Ian said, and nodding to Jenny, walked to his ready room.
 
A long way away, in a specially built room, two beings of light watched the reports sent via subspace by several probes just outside the Sol system. They had sent a report to the counsel of the Alliance when the wrecked Talosian warship had suddenly came to life. Planetary monitors indicated that it was not one of the barbaric governments that had done it. They had detected the shuttles moving back and forth to the planet and the moon for centuries, and thought nothing more then the A.I. unit had decided the humans were close enough to it’s own race, and was attempting to watch over them. In the last Solar year however, it was surmised that The A.I unit had actually brought humans aboard and was training them. To what ends? The counsel was curious enough to allow more sensors to be placed, and that was when it was discovered that surviving members of the Caldarian race had been looting the planet for years.
Since the planet was in no immediate danger, and the actions of the A.I. unit seemed to be linked to this activity, the counsel decided to wait, and not intervene. Earth was not ready for the knowledge of other races.
Recent developments however have caused great concern to the counsel. The arrival of a Caldarian ship, believed to have been destroyed a millenia ago, prompted them to request the dispatch of a small fleet of warships capable of handling this situation. An additional request was issued; great harm would come to the planet if the fleet were discovered. But the fleet would arrive late.
The two watching the report where in direct mental communication with the counsel, allowing them to see the report as well, the counsel of the Alliance watched the events of the battle unfold.
The counsel watched, with no small amount of admiration as the newly developed craft were tested against their enemy. The Caldarian ships hadn’t stood a chance. The new craft were made of a substance the Counsil had never seen before. It was only because of the Talosian IFF modules they carried, that the counsel could see them. The counsel asked the fleet to stop just short of the Sol system. These humans were worth studying. Not only had they figured out how to awaken the great warship, they had gotten it ready to fight, and even greatly improved on the existing weapons. They didn’t run when the Caldarian ship entered their system, instead, they faced it! The Alliance stood ready to assist, but honor dictated, that they allow these brave, if somewhat misguided, humans, to make their own defense. Besides, if one of those huge, Caldarian warships escaped destruction, how many more had?
 
The Preator was furious. 287 of its ships had been destroyed by something, and it had no idea what! The Talosian warship was still dead on the moon, and no other presence was detected at all anywhere else in this system. If it truly had been the Talosians that had attacked, they would have detected Talosian ships. Now it had to report its losses to the high counsel. It expected that the report simply wouldn’t be believed. It didn’t believe it! It stopped its pacing, and resumes its position at its desk to prepare the report.
It hadn’t gotten very far into the report, when a message was delivered: The High counsel had received reports form the freighter pilots, of Talosian fighter craft, and frigates in that system. Utmost caution must be used when probing. Identify the Talosian threat, and report, defense was acceptable, but attacking was not authorized at this time. Depending on what it found, however, that may change. You are directed to contact the agents on the planet for more information. The last report indicated use of Talosian technology on the planet as well. Again no assault is authorized until all information has been examined. The inhabitants of the planet must not find out of our presence at this time.
Defend? Defend against what? It had detected no Talosian presence! The fools! However, if they were here, and had developed a new cloaking technology, it would explain the loss of the ships. It calmed itself, having come to an acceptable conclusion to offer the high counsel, and went back to work on its report.
 
Ian was nervous. The Enemy hadn’t seen them, but had to know they were here someplace. Would they call for reinforcements to scour the system looking for Ian’s ship? Why didn’t they attack Earth?
Ian thumbed his intercom, “Captain to Flight Control.”
“Flight here.” John’s voice said.
“How are our pilots doing?”
“They’re grumbling about being left out of the fight sir.”
“Are they all still in the ready rooms?” Ian asked
“Yes sir.”
“Good, I’ll talk to them, and let them know what’s going on.” Ian said. “I’ll be down there in a few minutes.”
“Yes sir.”
Ian got up, and returned to the bridge. “Commander, I’m gonna go down to the moon base and get work started down there. I’m also gonna talk to our pilots while I’m down there. I don’t think they’re too happy about being left out of this so far.”
“Do you think it’s wise for you to leave the ship right now, sir?” she said, indicating the Enemy ships still probing the system.
“They’re all hours away from us, and since they don’t know were we are, we need to take advantage of this, to get ourselves better prepared. Call me if anything changes.” Ian said, and left the bridge.
He checked his watch, 1241hrs; 12:41pm. Just a bit past lunchtime, Ian was suddenly very hungry. It had been a busy morning, and he had forgotten to eat.
Ian decided to visit the Beta ready room first, on his way down he called Flight control again, and asked them to get a shuttle ready for launch to the moon base. John asked to accompany him to Beta, Ian agreed.
They met outside the ready room entrance. “How you holding up?” Ian asked, the big man.
“Good, I wish we could have had more to do though, I hate sitting on my hands during a fight.”
“I know, but I did what I did for a very good reason. Be thankful I didn’t have to call on you and your people; I think we’d probably be in big trouble if I had. I’m gonna explain that to our pilots in here. I know it isn’t usual, a Captain explaining his actions, but in this case, I feel like it’s the right thing to do.” Ian explained.
“I knew you probably had a damn good reason, I was hoping you’d share.” He grinned, and opened the door to the ready room.
“CAP’N ON DECK!” he called as he preceded Ian into the room.
To the sound of hastily standing pilots, Ian called, “AS YOU WERE” He watched the people sitting back down. But it was clear that the conversations had not been resumed.
            Ian looked around the crowded room; he felt a mixture of emotions coming from the assembled pilots. Ian thought betrayal might be one of the foremost. They felt he had betrayed them, by not letting them fight.
            “People, I know you probably think I’ve betrayed you, by making you train so hard, then not letting you fight.” He noticed a few nodding their heads. “I’m here to explain to you why I’ve done this. As you know an Enemy SuperNova Capitol ship arrived in system this morning. I don’t know if you realize exactly what that means from a combat point of view.
A SuperNova carried 25 fighter carriers, each with 40 fighters on board. That’s 1000 Enemy fighters. Each carrier also carries missiles, and laser turrets. The SuperNova herself boasts 500 missile tubes, and over 1000 long range laser cannons as well as an additional 200 fighters as her own escort. That’s according to the warbook we’re using that is 2500 years old; the same one that tells us that the Enemy has no cloaking technology.” Ian paused, he felt he was reaching them; most didn’t stop to realize the sheer destructive power of the Enemy vessel.
“Upon entering this system, the enemy launched its carriers, all of them. It didn’t launch its own compliment of fighters nor did it come after us. The carriers split up, as if they were probing the system. That lead us to believe that they might know we are here, but had no idea where.
If I had launched an all out assault on the Enemy Capitol ship, we would all most likely be dead right now. We were out gunned by over 100 to 1. I don’t meant to impinge on your fighting prowess, but those are really bad odds, no matter how you look at it, and that doesn’t even figure in the SuperNova itself.
I used the new fighter craft developed on the moon base to destroy 7 carriers and their fighter compliment. Those craft were completely ignored by the Enemy, even during the attacks. Right now the remaining carriers are continuing the probing mission they were on, but I have re-called the new fighters.
I am on my way down to the moon base, right after this briefing, to order the construction of more of these new fighter craft. I’ll be sending some of you down to the moon to get re-trained and up to speed with the new ships. Also a way of retro fitting our existing fighters is being worked on. However for now, the only weapon we have that won’t get us killed is the new fighter. Now, are there any questions?” Ian finished.
            Several pilots stood, and John pointed to one and said, “Fitz.” He was obviously using the pilot’s call sign, as them man he pointed to had his helmet next to him with the “Fitz” across the top.
            The man stood with his hands behind his back, “Sir, How many, who, and how soon?” several other people chuckled as he sat back down.
            Ian grinned, “The base has 20 smaller assembly bays, and each craft has two seats, like an F-14 tomcat. I intend to have all bays producing new fighters, I would like to get you all eventually trained for both positions on the new craft, but for now, I’ll be sending two squadrons at a time. As to how soon, the first batch will most likely go down later today. I will also be issuing orders to modify Star Dancer to handle these new fighters as well.” Ian said.
            More people stood, and again John picked one. “Cadisfly.”
            Ian grinned as he remembered the youth from the graduation ceremony. He also remembered that Cadisfly was in Talena’s squadron.
            “Sir, I’m sure you can tell we are all anxious to get our hands on the new ships, so can you tell us if you know, what order the rotation will be?” The young man then sat down.
            Ian seen right through that question, however, and chuckling, said; “You really want to know if Gold Squadron is going to be first. I honestly don’t know yet. However, as you know, Gold is designated the escort squadron for Star Dancer. If I have to commit this ship to a fight, the extra firepower would be of a great help. But if I have to commit this ship that soon, it won’t matter. We’d still lose. So the best answer I can give you is, Gold will most likely be last, I do plan on switching you over permanently to those fighters, when we do.”
Ian held up his hands to forestall anyone standing. “Folks, I would love to stay and answer more of your questions, but I need to brief Alphas pilots yet too, and get the new ships going, so, if you’ll excuse me, I do need to go.” One pilot stood anyway, and Ian nodded to him.
“Sir, on behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank you for coming down here and talking to us. I don’t think we even stopped to consider that you might just be trying to keep us alive. I’d like to apologize for the grumbling.”
Ian nodded, and smiled at him as the rest of the room stood and clapped its agreement with his words. He waited for the noise to die down a bit then held up his hand for silence. “I want you all to know, I’d never betray you, or your trust. I said at each graduation that I wouldn’t let any of you down. You are our protectors, but I won’t through your lives away needlessly either.”
Again, the room broke into applause, as Ian and John turned and left the room.
They walked over to the other ready room, and found that Star had broadcast Ian’s speech to them as well. They arrived to room of pilots already on their feet and clapping. Ian noticed Talena, and Cindy standing near the back of the room. They smiled at him, and Cindy winked. Ian answered a couple of questions, and then walked out into the launch bay to board a shuttle for the 15 minute ride down to the moon base.
Once there, Ian noticed more people running around then on his last visit only a week before. He looked over to see the shuttle he had asked to be built had been moved out of the assembly bay, and was being worked on out on the huge floor. It was raised up off its belly, and drones where working on the underside.
Ian proceeded to the lab where he had last seen Kyle and Dr. Benson.
“Captain!” Kyle said, as he heard the lift door open. “I thought I’d heard a shuttle land. I assume you’re here to either have us build more fighters, or chew me out for something.” He said, cheerfully.
Ian smiled, and shook his head. “More ships, and fast. I also need to discuss some other things with your other team members.”
“I’ll call them.” He lifted his communit to his face.
Once he was done, he said; “I was analyzing the performance profiles from the shadow fighters. Since those fighters passed by, and no other ships where in the area, I placed the defenses in a full power stand-by mode and began analyzing the data. Forte, and Benson are doing the same in two smaller, unoccupied labs.”
Ian nodded, “So, how’d they do? Any serious problems?”
“No, actually, they performed a lot better then expected.”
“One thing that is nagging at me, how did they get out to the carriers so damn quick?” Ian asked.
“Sir, I’m surprised at you! Basic navigation! They used the moon to slingshot out there. That’s why it’s taking them so long to get back, nothing to slingshot around, and jumping would be like turning on a flashlight in a dark room. The Enemy would’ve spotted that easily.” He explained, as Lt. Forte, and Dr. Benson entered the room.
After greeting them, he explained why he was there, and what he wanted done. They gave the computer authorization to build 40 new shadow class fighters, with the special instructions to use all 20 bays. Once that was done, Ian then explained his other needs.
“Folks, I need a redesign of the Star Dancers landing, and launching facilities to accommodate the new fighters. This is what I had in mind; Computer: display 3D image of Alpha bay aboard the Star Dancer.” Ian ordered, and the image appeared above the table. “Now, remove the outer hull to show the internal schematic.” The image shifted while he was talking. “Good, now remove the top three rows of launch tubes, and give us an outline of where the hull is.” Ian turned to the three designers. “How many Shadow fighters can you berth in that amount of room? I was thinking that they can launch straight out the side.”
Kyle and Forte walked around the other side of the table, their eyes never leaving the image. Finally, Kyle started to type on one of the keyboards, Forte stood next to him looking past his shoulder. They had a few quiet discussions, and Kyle typed more into the computer. Dr. Benson wandered around to peek at the ideas they had going. She lightly tapped Kyle on the shoulder, and told him; “Remember, Kyle, they have to be stored in total darkness or they recharge too fast.”
Kyle winced, “You’re right, thanks.” He went back to muttering and typing. Dr. Benson stepped sideways to another terminal, and began to type as well. “In addition to launching them, Captain, I assume you would like them to be able to land safely as well?” She said.
“Well, that would be good, yes.” Ian said, sarcastically.
“Computer: Display current landing configuration of Alpha bay.” The image appeared on the table in front of her, without disturbing the other image. She began typing furiously, and stopped to study the image, frowned a little, cocked her head to one side, and began typing again. Finally, she came up with a “Yesssss!” but then frowned, “No, Dammit, that wouldn’t work either, not feasible. Well, maybe…” She turned to Lt. Forte, “Tom, a moment please?” he moved over to her and they started talking quietly. He bit his lower lip, and thought for a moment, and slowly started to nod his head.
“That would work for the Star Dancer, but what if… Damn! I should have studied propulsion design more!” Tom Forte said, with frustration.
“Engines?” Kyle said, and stepped over to them.
Ian got the distinct impression they had completely forgotten about him. He turned and looked around the room, he seen a small lounge off to one side, and he made for it, hoping there was a replicator in it. There was. He got himself a sandwich and a soda, and sat down to eat. Soon Tara and Stephanie came walking into the lab. Tara was immediately pulled into the group around the table, but Steph, seeing Ian, came over to him.
“May I join you?” she asked, when Ian nodded, (his mouth was full), she smiled and got herself a sandwich, and a glass of milk from the replicator.
“They start ignoring you?” she asked as she sat.
Ian chuckled, “I asked them a question, and they kinda faded away into that place only designers know”
“I know what you mean. I finally put my foot down, and told them they have to leave work in the lab. I had a hard time getting all of them to eat some nights.”
“All?” Ian asked.
She smiled, “Brittney and Tom have been living with us since we moved. It was pretty much love at first site for all of us, Tom and Kyle are still trying to figure out their relationship.”
“I’m sure your folks are happy for you, are you planning a bonding ceremony?” Ian asked
“Well, not yet, we’ve all agreed, but there is something Brittney wants to take care of first.” She smiled enigmatically.
Ian got the impression it was something personal, so he let it drop. “How is your work coming?”
“Pretty good, actually. I had two of the neuro-specialists take a look at my ideas, and they think I’m onto something. They would like to see a working prototype as soon as I get one built. The one problem I’m having is not with the receiver unit, but the interface. Since everyone thinks in a different way, I have to ‘tune’ the interface for a specific user. The process takes about three hours, and once done, only that person can use the interface.” She said.
Ian looked at her with a little awe. “You’ve come up with that all on your own?”
She nodded, “I had some help with the computer hardware, but yeah, the rest I did.”
“That’s amazing! You’re what, 15 now? I would think the doctors you sent that too would nominate you for the new doctorate program.”
“Well, they did, but I haven’t heard anything yet. Besides, I still need to build this, and get it to work on anyone.” She said shyly.
“You know, having a fighter tuned to one specific brain pattern has its advantages and draw backs. First off, I’d be willing to use the device anyway, even if it meant that we had to assign specific fighters to specific pilots. Besides, couldn’t we just get a profile stored in the computers for all our pilots, and upload it to the craft before use?”
“Damn! I didn’t think of that! Yeah, that would work really well!” she said, “Thank you, Captain! That solves one big problem.”
“Well, you know what they say, sometimes it just takes a new point of view to solve a problem.” Ian said, and finished off his sandwich.
She finished eating as well, then stood, and got a plate of sandwiches from the replicator, and took them out to the design team. Ian went with her, and she slid the plate right into the middle of the table. Without even looking, people started grabbing food, and eating. Steph looked at Ian and winked. Ian shook his head, and looked at the images hovering above the table. He noticed the three empty decks of the image he called up had been filled, and the image Dr. Benson had called up had been joined to it.
Ian interrupted the design team; “I see you’ve filled this in, want to tell me with what?”
Kyle blinked and looked at Ian, “I’m really sorry, sir. We got talking and …” He sounded just like a teenager coming home late Ian thought.
“It’s okay, Kyle. I understand, now please explain what you’ve all come up with. However try to keep it brief, I need to get back to the ship.”
“Yes sir. We can mount 45, um, platforms, for a lack of a better term, in each landing bay. The problem however is with the landing and servicing facilities.” Ian looked at Dr. Benson.
“The problem was with the discharge of the energy created by the craft while in flight. Once one lands it has to be immediately discharged or it could seriously harm or even kill anyone getting close to it. This power needs to go somewhere. We’ve come up with a few ideas as to what use to put this energy to and have decided on a reserve for the force shield around Star Dancer. Basically, cargo hold 13 would become a big battery, we would also have to reconfigure the shield generator to use the energy. A few modifications to the landing area, and we’d have it.” She glanced at Kyle, “We think it would take a week to do all this, but it might take a little longer. It is also the first step to being able to safely use the new armor on the hornets as well.”
“Good, co-ordinate with main engineering, and get to work on it right away. I need it done yesterday.” Ian said. Keep me informed, and let me know if you need anything. I will be sending down two squadrons for training later today too, so please ask Dr. Punjab for quarters, until these new bays are done, and we can take them back on board. Let me know when you need the next batch, and I’ll send them down.” He finished.
“Sir, what are you going to do with the 60 hornets we’re displacing?” Lt. Forte asked.
“Good question, I was thinking about shipping them down here, so you can do the retro-fits to them; armor, weapons systems, and,” he grinned at Stephanie. “flight computers.” She grinned back at him, and nodded. “then swapping them out after you get done with the modifications to Star Dancer.”
Ian looked at the design team, when no one else seemed to have a question, Ian suggested they authorize the computer to build 60 more of the new fighters, for a total of 100; 10 for Talos, 10 for the moon base, and 90 for Star Dancer. Then he excused himself, to return to his ship. He noticed Dr. Benson smiling thoughtfully at him as he left. He wondered what that was all about.
Ian got back to the ship and gave the orders he needed to give to send the pilots down to the base. Then got the chief engineer, and Flight control officer involved with the re-fit project.
He got back to the bridge, and had Jenny brief him on the Enemy’s position. He briefed her on the retro fit about to begin on the launch bays and the rotation of the pilots down to be trained on the new fighters.
He retired to his ready room and sent a message to Janet Lasker. After recovering from shock, she went down to Talos to help Ty with his friend. He told her he needed at least 100 new pilots, and could she please get her people working on that.
Ian checked his email, and saw he had a couple hundred in the account set up for the contest. He left it alone because it still had a week left to run.
Though it was still early in the day, Ian was tired, the stress of the day catching up to him. He told Jenny he was going to go down to med bay and check on the kids, then head back to their quarters for a nap.
“Remember, you still owe me a half day off!” She said, grinning. He winked at her, and left the bridge.
After he played with all the children for a while, he headed back to his quarters; he was surprised by Cindy and Talena, nude, and waiting for him. He was about to ask them what they where doing there, when Cindy pressed her fingers over his lips.
“The XO had a special mission for us.” She said.
“And we are certainly not going to contest her orders.” Talena said, as she took Ian’s hand and led him to the bedroom.
When Ian walked in he saw what looked like hundreds of candles all over the room. Soft, relaxing jazz music was playing. The girls slowly undressed him, and led him to the bed. They lay him down, and started to give him a massage, Cindy started at his shoulders, Talena, at his feet. Ian was sound asleep long before they met at the middle.
 
The more it learned the less it liked its mission here. It had sent a cloaked shuttle to act as a communications relay to the planet. The agents on the planet reported that though nothing has interfered with their operations yet, there is a ‘research’ community in the desert of the North American continent that is calling itself Talos. In addition to the name, which could be written off to coincidence, attempts to infiltrate the community to find out just what kind of research have shown the use of Talosian technology for defense. Well, if nothing else, it had proof of a Talosian presence in the system. Research community? Doing weapons research maybe? Clearly, this was a direct threat to their mission in this system. The Preator got maps, and laid out the plans for a strike against this ‘community’. It had also not detected any Alliance presence in this system. It foresaw no reason not to attack and destroy this base. It was authorized to defend itself after all, and this base was a threat wasn’t it? Perhaps attacking it would draw the rest of the forces in the system into revealing themselves.
 
The Enemy, after a thorough patrol of the system recalled all but a few of the carriers. The six that where left were in positions to scan most of the system.
When the first 20 of the new fighters were finished and the pilots where trained, Ian reassigned the Ghost squadron back to Talos. However before they could take their new ships with them, modifications to the landing facilities there had to be done. In addition, Ian wanted proof that no one on the planet, except Talos, could track the new craft. Corvis and his wingman volunteered for a test flight. Ian was almost leery of granting the young man’s request. After the carrier incident, Corvis would probably buzz the Whitehouse or something.
Modification were quickly done to the facility on the planet and Ian granted the pilots’ request, with the promise not to take too much of a risk.
A laughing Corvis told his Captain; “Sir, a little risk makes life interesting. Besides, I was going to look for a couple of F-14’s or something patrolling in international territory, and close to within 10 miles. If no response, then close to 1 mile. If they still don’t see us, then the acid test will be to close to visual. If we pass all of those, then I’m pretty sure it’ll be safe to land at Talos.”
Ian shook his head, but approved the plan. Corvis and his wingman launched from the moon. During the test, Star monitored the communications from the 2 craft, as well as the ‘targets’ once they had been selected.
“Ghost two, this is Ghost one. I have two F-14 Tomcats bearing one-four-two, angels one-five, One-six-seven miles downrange. Speed mach zero-point-niner.”
“Ghost two; I see ‘em.”
“Roger Ghost Two, lets see if they can see us. Close too one-zero miles, angels one-five. And match speed.”
Ian watched the screen as the two Talosian craft closed with the two advanced tactical fighters of the U.S. Navy.
“Control, this is Ghost flight. No response, proceeding with mission.”
“Roger, Ghost flight, They’ve not seen you.”
“Closing to zero-one miles.”
Ian watch them close rapidly on the two aircraft, the screen zoomed in to accommodate the smaller area.
“Control, Ghost flight is at zero-one miles from target; negative response.”
“Affirmative, Ghost flight.”
“Ghost flight to control, Ghost two is off my port side, and I can actually see her, just the canopy really, but we are still visible. I would like to not give those poor pilots heart failure unless you really want me too.” Corvis’ voice said.
“Ghost flight, this is Command.” Ian cut in, “Drop below ghost two, and see if she’s still visible.”
“Roger, from the underside, it looks like a distorted mirror. Ghost two; hold position, I’m dropping some to see what it looks like.” A short pause, “Command, at 1000 feet distance, she is no longer visible from below.”
“Roger Ghost flight. Good job, head for home.” Ian said. “Flight control, send the rest of Ghost squadron down, their definitely safe.”
 
The rest of the week went by without too much excitement. The retrofit to Star Dancer was almost totally complete. Ian now had 90 shadow fighters, and 60 hornets. However, he only had 86 trained pilots, of which only 40 were trained on the new craft. Janet’s recruiters were working on the problem however, and had started to send up more pilot trainee’s.
One pilot candidate was a small, attractive, dark-haired female fighter pilot from Russia. She had a sharp temper, but held it firmly in check. As a result, her tongue was even sharper, and when teased, she gave as good as she got. John gave her the call sign ‘Firefox’ before she ever started the training program. He was a big fan of the Clint Eastwood movie, and claimed that name fit her to a tee. Her name was Sasha Gorski, she claimed that her father had wanted a boy, hence the male name. She had been discharged from the Russian air force for striking a superior officer. Janet’s people, with some help from Star, learned she broke both of the commander’s legs, several ribs, and given him a concussion during an attempted rape. He was still in a coma when they kicked her out.
The end of the second week of the contest for the name of the new moon base finally arrived. Ian took the 334 entries and split them into thirds, sending a third each to Luke Belden, and Dr. Punjab. He then began reading the remaining 112. It took him the better part of two days to get all of them read, he noticed a lot of them had actually come up with the same name, including his favorite email. It was from a young man at Talos. A 13 year old named Victor Stavros. The name sounded familure to Ian, but he couldn’t place it.
Dear Sir,
           We recently studied myths and legends for school. I was thinking that the Phoenix was a lot like what happened with Star Dancer. It crashed just like a phoenix does when it dies, only to be reborn from the ashes of its past life. Since the Moon Base was built on the site of Star Dancers crash, I thought that name would be a good one for the Base.
            So my entry for the contest is Phoenix Base.
 
Victor Stavros,
Talos, NM.
 
Ian contacted Luke Belden, and asked if he had gotten time to look through the entries.
“Just finished them Ian. You know, I had a lot of the same name from the entries. The teachers tell me that they had recently done a segment on Greek and Roman mythology. So I assume that’s were it came from.”
“Let me guess; Phoenix Base or Phoenix station right?” Ian asked.
Luke chuckled, and nodding, said; “I take it that you had a lot of the same? It’s hard for me to choose since I know most of these kids. However, a lot of these were just an entry, with no explanation.”
“Well, try to pick one. I’m about to call Dr. Punjab, and see what he’s come up with. Then we can all compare notes.”
“You want me to hang on?” Luke asked.
“If you’ve time, this shouldn’t take long. I’ll pull him into this conversation.” Ian said.
Luke nodded, and Ian asked star to included Dr. Punjab in the conversation.
“Captain Ian, Mr. Belden, it is good to be seeing you once again. I assume you are calling about the naming of the station?”
Ian, grinning, nodded. No matter how many times he heard the Indian accent of the Doctor, it always made him smile.
“It seems the children want to name the place either Phoenix Base, or Phoenix Station, Doctor.” Luke stated.
“Yes, it is obvious that the name will be Phoenix Base. But with so many of them giving us the same name, how do we choose?” Dr. Punjab asked.
“I’ve picked one based on how he wrote the letter. I’ll forward it on to both of you, however, if you’ve one that is better, please let me know.” Ian said, quickly typing the command into the computer.
Both men briefly glanced away to open the letter and read it.
“I must say, that is better then most of the letters I’ve seen.” Dr. Punjab said.
“I’ll agree with that.” Luke agreed.
“Very well. Star? Please record the new name of the Moon Base as Phoenix Base.
Luke, would you be so kind as to inform the editor of ‘The New Talosian’ of our decision, and include a copy of the winning letter? Unfortunately the prize is going to have to wait until the current crisis is over.” Ian said.
            “I’ll take care of that. Would you like me to talk to the winner as well?” Luke asked.
            “I think perhaps Captain Ian should be the one to do that. Since we have to delay the promised tour, it might be better if he call the young man.” Dr. Punjab said.
            “He’s right, I’ll give him a call tonight. Could you ask the Editor, to keep it under wraps until after I call?” Ian asked.
            “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” Luke said.
            “Well, gentlemen. That’s settled. I won’t take up anymore of your time. Good afternoon.” Ian said.
            Both men bid Ian a good afternoon as well, and signed off.
            Ian reviewed the status of the retrofit being done to Star Dancer and decided to call it a day. Before going back to his quarters though, he had a duty to perform.
            “Star, please connect me to the Stavros residence in Talos.”
            Ian watched the big screen on the wall, and waited for a few moments. Shortly a cute 6 year old’s face appeared on the screen. “Stavros residence, can I help you?”
            Ian smiled as he remembered the little girl from a year ago. ”Good evening Andreya. Could I please speak to your brother, Victor?”
            “Sure, I’ll get him.”
            Ian watched her turn away from the screen, and trotted off yelling, “VICTOR! VICTOR! CAPTAIN WILLIAMS WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!”
            A few moments later, a slightly out of breath young man sat down in front of the screen. “I’m Victor sir.”
            “You can call me Ian. I called to congratulate you. We picked you as the winner of the naming contest for the moon base. It is already officially been named Pheonix Base.”
            “Wow! Really? That’s awesome! Thank you si…er, Ian.” The excited youth said.
Ian’s smile broadened at his exuberance. During the exchange Ian seen a woman come up behind Victor, and pat him on the back.
            “However, I’m afraid the tour of the facility will have to wait until the current crisis is over. It might not be safe to bring you and your family up right now. I’m sorry.” Ian told him.
            “That’s okay sir, I can understand that.” The young man said, he was still smiling.
            An excited little girl jumping into Victor’s lap interrupted the conversation. “You won! I knew you would! We get to meet Star! We get to meet the Captain!” Little Andreya shouted.
            Victor hugged her to him, saying “Hush sweetheart! I’m trying to talk to the Captain.” He turned back to Ian, “Sorry sir.”
            “It’s quite alright Victor. I’ll call you again once it’s safe to take that tour.” A chuckling Ian replied.
            “Thank you sir. We all look forward to it.”
            “Congratulations again, Victor.”
            “Thanks, good night sir.” Victor said.
            “Good night, Victor. Good night Andreya” Ian said.
            “G’night Captain.” The little girl tried to salute as the connection ended.
            Ian returned to his quarters to his own family.
 
            Later that night, Ian was awakened by the red alert klaxon. They all scrambled out of bed and into their clothes. Ian and Jenny ran for the bridge as Talena and Cindy ran for the maglev. Beth stayed with the now crying children until Julie got there to watch them.
            “What’s going on?” he demanded as soon as he walked in.
            Lt. Andres had the watch. “Sir, Talos is under attack. They activated the alert five minutes ago. They’re preparing to launch fighters.”
            Ian dropped into his chair, as he flipped the switch on the comm. “Talos control, this is Captain Williams. What’s your situation?”
            “Talos control here. We are under attack by a large ground force. I have no report as to its origin. Scanners indicate multiple inbound spacecraft. Computer ID says they are Caldarian fighters, and frigate class bombers. I am launching Ghost squadron.”
            “Talos, If everyone isn’t already underground, get them there now!” Ian shouted into the comm. He toggled the intercom, “Flight Control, this is the Captain. Scramble Silver squadron. Destination; Talos. Maximum speed. Eliminate all enemy presence with extreme prejudice. Gold squadron to standby.” Ian quickly added.
            “Star Dancer, this is Talos. Ty identified the ground force to be Caldarian, at least 50 of them. He also reports five hover tanks moving into attack position. We’re activating primary base weaponry.”
            “Sir, the U.S. is scrambling fighters to intercept.” Jenny reported.
            “Oh great!” Ian said sarcastically, “Star, transfer the IFF signatures of all U.S. military aircraft to our ships. List them as friendly. Ignorant, but friendly.”
            “Who’s gonna get there first, Jen?” Ian asked.
            She looked at her screens for a second. “Ghost Squadron, but not by much. I hope the F-16’s know when to run.”
            “Hardly. What’s the E.T.A. on Silver squadron?”
            “Still at least fifteen minutes out. Sir, they’re gonna hit the atmosphere at about mach 20. People in China are gonna hear them, and they’ll light up the sky.” She warned him.
            “It can’t be helped. We need them to be there as fast as possible.” Ian said. “Star, give us a tactical display.”
            The big main screen lit up with a picture of the western United States. Enemy units appeared as red dots over Colorado and Wyoming. His fighters showed up as green dots moving rapidly toward the group of red over Colorado. The F-16’s were yellow dots moving painfully slow in comparison.
            Ian studied the indicators beside each red dot. Six bombers were being escorted to their target by 20 fighters. The group over Wyoming was the same. At present speed, the farthest enemy ship would reach Talos in 15 minutes.
            “Star Dancer, this is Talos control. The enemy has knocked the shield down, and is advancing. We need help here!”
            “Talos control, this is Command. E.T.A. on help is four minutes. Relay to your security force, that an air strike is inbound.” Jenny told them.
            “Roger Command.”
            “Talos control this is the Captain. Have you gotten everyone to safety yet?” Ian asked
            “Negative Captain. We still have people unaccounted for.”
            Ian swore under his breath. “Talos control, you better get those people underground as fast as possible. If those Enemy bombers get in range…”
            “Understood, Captain, we’re doing our best.”
            “Silver squadron is on station and attacking the ground units.” Jenny reported.
            “Good.” Ian said, “Good.”
            “Ian,” Jenny said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “The power plant is destroyed, so is Factory One, and the houses are burning. The Construction drones are trying to contain the fires, but they report at least three people dead. The wounded have been taken into the underground.”
            Ian closed his eyes for a brief moment. “Captain to CMO. Prep an emergency team to assist the survivors at Talos. Report to Flight control when you’re ready.”
            “Affirmative, Captain.” Beth replied.
            Ian looked at the main screen again. The Enemy was a lot closer to Talos now. The two remaining bombers would be in range soon. Some of the remaining enemy fighters were strafing the town.
            Ian watched helplessly as the remaining enemy fighters closed in on what was left of the town. He saw with grim satisfaction that the two remaining bombers had been destroyed, and that four of the F-16’s were still on the board.
            Ghost and Silver squadrons made quick work of the remaining enemy. However, the damage was considerable.
            As the sun came up over the desert, video was relayed by one of the construction drones. The shield generator was gone, as was the power and waste plant. Factory One had been leveled, and Factory Two had sustained heavy damage. Eight square blocks of houses had burned to the ground. The administration building was gone, as were the arcade, and general store.
            Most of the people had made it to the underground facilities. Of the 32 that didn’t make it immediately, six were wounded, two were in critical condition. 19 died before they could reach safety. Two died defending the town against the ground assault.
            Eight F-16’s had been scrambled, four had been destroyed in the fight, and one crashed during an emergency landing at Los Alamos, killing the pilot.
            Elias Johnson and the six-year-old girl he carried had been killed 20 feet from the blast door in the community center. The little girl’s name was Andreya Stavros.