Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 6: Conscripts and Recruits

   David lay in bed tossing in his sleep; He chose to spend the night
sleeping instead of using the training chamber at Dr.  Jones's Request. 
The doctor felt it would be best to let Spaz's and his minds concentrate on
recovery after the procedure to repair his shoulder and Spaz's legs and
spine, than on training.  He woke suddenly to the sounds of alarms; He
quickly sat up in his bed and looked around the room.  It took him a few
minutes to get his bearings and determine where he was.  "Lanvy Silence the
alarms in my quarters."

   There was no response from the Lanvy and the alarms continued to sound.
Suddenly David found himself sitting on the bridge of the Lanvy in his bed
cloths.  "What the hell...?" He started.

   Riu turned from the console she was using.  "I am sorry sir, but the
Lanvy is having major malfunctions all over the ship.  I had to transport
you out of your quarters as all power to life support and communications in
that section has failed."

   "Wait, all power to life support?  Spaz and Dr.  Jones's quarters are in
that section." David replied

   Riu held up her hand to calm him.  "Sir, it is ok, they were transported
to the Excalibur along with the others." She stated as she came to stand
next to David.  "The Excalibur however was having issues locking onto you,
so I had to use the last of the Lanvy's energy reserves to bring you to the
bridge.  As of this moment the bridge is the only section of the Lanvy with
life support functioning."

   David looked down to Riu as she handed him a transport beacon.  "What
now then, we abandon the Lanvy?"

   Riu frowned up at David.  "No Sir, we simply have to leave him for a
while, we will need to regroup on another ship and the Excalibur is in the
best condition.  The Lanvy used most of its systems to locate you while the
RIU and Excalibur spent most of their time at minimum power being towed by
the Lanvy.  Once we have sufficient personnel to repair him we can
reestablish command on board.  The Excalibur has agreed to tow the Lanvy to
a safe location near Mars until we can get him repaired."

   David took the beacon and shook his head.  "Sounds like you have a
plan?"

   Riu smiled up at him as the two of them appeared on the much smaller
bridge of the EDS Excalibur.  "Yes Sir, when you put me in command of the
Lanvy you made me the ranking officer, all military decisions concerning
the ships and their crew, are my responsibility now.  Unless, that is, you
do not want me to do my Job?"

   David grinned at Riu.  "No, most certainly do your Job Captain."

   David turned to the assembled crew of the new EDF Flagship the EDS
Excalibur.  Standing among them was a young man in his early twenties, with
short cut blond hair and very bright blue eyes, wearing a Kreg'ar Military
uniform with no rank insignia.  He stepped forward and crisply saluted
David.  "Welcome aboard the EDS Excalibur Sir, I am the ships AI, how may I
serve you?"

   David returned the salute and then leaned down to Riu and whispered
through the side of his mouth "Why does this one look so young?"

   The AI dropped from his position of attention and stood at parade rest,
with his feet shoulder width apart and his hands clasped behind his back.
"Sir every ship in the fleet has a unique AI, for ease of identification.
The AI's are also programmed to appear and react differently depending on
their functions.  Carriers like the Lanvy are programmed with the
personalities and knowledge of old Kreg'ar Generals and Admirals, they
guide the fleet.  Battleships like the RIU are programmed with the
personalities of Female ship's Captains and Den mothers.  They are the
protectors of the fleet.  The cruisers and destroyers like myself are
programmed with the personalities of a Kreg'ar Weapons officers or fighter
pilots, we are the assault vessels of the fleet, and the frigates, when we
get some, will be programmed with the personalities of merchant captains,
they control the supply chains of the fleet and perform troop transport.

   Riu once again smiled up at David and gave him a wink.  "The Frigates
also tend to be the most argumentative and opinionated of the ships, which
is probably why one was not sent in the search party.

   "Actually Captain, there were two frigates assigned to the Lanvy's
convoy, they were most stubborn in their opinions on the mission, they were
of the belief that this was a fools errand and that there was no purpose
for them in the fleet.  The Lanvy agreed, and left them in the construction
yard."

   David shook his head in wonder and turned to the rest of the crew. 
"Well it looks like we ran out of time.  Excalibur I am naming Riu Emtoo as
Captain of the Excalibur until..." David started to say

   "My apologies for interrupting you sir, but Riu Emtoo is currently
listed as the Captain of the Lanvy, She can not command two vessels." The
AI interrupted him.

   David looked at Riu who simply shrugged.  "It is true sir, and I will
need to remain in command of the Lanvy in order to properly oversee the
repairs."

   David gave an audible sigh.  "Fine," He said as he looked at the rest of
the gathered personnel.

   Spaz simply shook his head and held up his hands as soon as David looked
his way.  "I am sorry my friend but you are the only one with any command
experience.  Excalibur, until further notice General Chris Walker is
Captain of the Excalibur, with all rights and responsibilities."

   Spaz shook his head and frowned slightly.  "As you command sir, I don't
know how good of a ships captain I'll be, but I will give it my best sir."

   Riu looked towards Spaz with a grin "Well Captain Walker our first order
of business will be to get command and ship functions and protocol added to
tonight's training session.  Welcome to the EDF Navy, Captain."

   Spaz walked past Riu and pointedly sat down in the command chair.  "I
believe Captain Emtoo that you are a guest on board MY ship which makes me
the ranking officer."

   Riu nodded her head to Spaz and took a deep theatrical bow.  "I concede
to your logic, Captain Walker, however as Captain of the Lanvy, once I am
onboard him, I, am the ranking Captain.

   Spaz nodded to her "Agreed."

   Everyone started to laugh at the antics of the two Captains.  "Now that
the two of you are finished posturing and maneuvering, can we get back to
business?" David said with a smile.  "We have one ship completely out of
commission, another almost there and this one is in need of repairs as
well. Currently our crew roster consists of two ships Captains, a
Navigational officer, a rookie pilot and two medical doctors.  We are sadly
in need of a large number of crewmembers, preferably with engineering,
electrical and mechanical experience to work with.  Does anyone have any
suggestions?"

   Dr.  Jones sat down at the communications station and then looked up
towards David.  "Well whenever any of the Earths militaries needed recruits
quickly and in large numbers they would conscript from the general
populace."

   David shook his head as he leaned against the side of the navigation
console with his arms crossed.  "Unfortunately, we can't do that, we have
no general population from which to recruit from, unless we wish to kidnap
people off the street..."

   "Why stop now, isn't that pretty much how you recruited us?" Stated
Julia with a smirk.

   "Lt Jimenez that will be quite enough!" Growled Spaz.  "You are my
responsibility and I will not have a Jr.  Officer talk to her superior in
that manor!"

   David raised his hand and paced around the navigation console to stare
at the view screen to the Earth below.  "It's ok Spaz she has a point, she
might have stepped out of line with how she delivered it, but she does have
a point.  Most of you were brought here against your will, even though it
was your decision to stay.  However I do not wish to continue to take
people against their will, especially since we deal with such advanced
technology.  We need to make sure our training does not fall into the wrong
hands.  The first phase of that is that anyone who joins us understands
that it is a lifetime commitment."

   Lt.  Jimenez nodded to David, "I apologize sir for my choice of words;
however there was a purpose behind them.  I am sure that there are plenty
of people on earth who if given the choice, even after the fact, would
choose to stay like we did.  People who have nothing to return to, or what
they would be returning to would be worse than what we are offering."

   David turned away from the screen.  "How would we find these people in
the numbers we need, and how would we ensure that we would not still be
viewed by the governments of Earth as kidnappers of their citizens?"

   "Excalibur, how extensive are your scanning capabilities?" Lt.  Jimenez
asked.

   "Lt.  I have highly detailed scanning and mentoring capabilities.  From
orbit I am capable of scanning a single individual to the molecular level."
Excalibur replied.

   "How many people can you monitor and scan at one time?  Also how many
are you capable of transporting to the ship and placing into stasis?"

   "Ma'am I can track and monitor the movements of thousands of individuals
at one time, I can simultaneously transport thirty people at one time from
multiple locations, hold them in the buffers and then move them to stasis
chambers."

   David looked towards Lt.  Jimenez with interest.  "Lt.  what exactly are
you thinking?"

   "Sir, I think, Riu or Excalibur please correct me if I am wrong, but I
think it would be possible for the RIU and Excalibur to monitor people
across the globe shifting from person to person, looking for people
performing acts of heroism or actions intended to save another persons
life. If this act would lead to the death of the person attempting it, and
the body would not be able to be recovered, have the person transported
here and placed into stasis, once we have enough say a few hundred. 
Orientate them and give them the choice of staying or returning and dealing
with questions on what happened.  I think many of them would choose to
stay, given that as far as the world is concerned they are dead, Like Dr.
Jones and Dr.  Debbin."

   Riu looked at Lt.  Jimenez with a smile.  "That could work.  We would
have to program a set of parameters so that the ships would not grab
anyone, minimum and maximum ages, types of people, whether to grab groups
if there are more than one individual involved, or more than one person
looking at death."

   David nodded at Lt.  Jimenez "Good idea Lt." He then turned towards Riu
"Captain please work on the program and get it initiated as soon as
possible.  Anyone have any suggestions for the parameters.  Personally I
don't think we should recruit anyone under the age of 14 or over 40."

   "Unless they are with someone else we are recruiting and in the same
life or death situation.  It would be bad to save a mother and father just
to tell them we let their kids die." Dr.  Debbin added.

   Spaz nodded his agreement "And no one from any terrorist group or who is
performing a terrorist act.  We definitely do not want to give their type
access to our technology."

   "Agreed." David replied.

   Riu walked over and sat at one of the side consoles.  "I will start
immediately."

   David nodded and then turned to the rest of the crew.  "Now for the
recruitment program.  I am sure all of you know people who would make good
recruits.  Dr.  Jones, Captain Walker and Lt.  Jimenez I need you to head
to Earth and contact them; there are a few stipulations however.  First
they can not be committed to any military or government organization.  They
can not have any family commitments either.  This is a lifetime commitment
they are signing up for.  Also we can not give them any details until they
get here.  We don't need people running around with knowledge about us
yet."

   Turning back to look at the display screen, "Lt.  Dale, Dr.  Debbin, the
two of you and I will be heading down to Oodnadatta, to see what we can
find there.  Lt.  Dale and Lt Jimenez, I am sure the two of you have taken
basic shuttle control courses?"

   "Yes Sir." Both replied on unison.

   "Good, then you will get your first in flight hours.  The rest of you
will add flight controls and shuttle operations to your training as well.
We will be using shuttles from this point forward until the repairs and
recruitment drives are completed."

   Spaz stood up from the command chair and approached David.  "Sir, I mean
no disrespect when I say this, but.  This is not Star Trek.  Your place is
on the ship, not on the planet doing away missions."

   David turned to Spaz "Spaz my friend, I understand your reference and
your concern.  However right now we do not have enough personnel, nor do we
have experts.  All of us will have to participate and do our parts until we
gather more personnel."

   Spaz nodded "As you say sir."

   ...

   Eleric Drakehold stood with his sister Elise and their friend Yuri Saito
in the center of the dead town.  He stood there floating a few inches off
the ground as energies flowed from his body out to the town towards small
piles of ash and dust.  As the energies encountered the small piles they
took on shapes of light, People, animals, plants or even small insects. 
The lights flashed for a second then continued on to another pile.  Elise
and Yuri each held a hand onto Eleric's leg and channeled energy into him.
"Brother, I am being strained too far.  There is not enough latent energy
around here, please we need to stop." Elise stated through gritted teeth.

   Eleric let out an audible sigh and slowly drifted to the ground.  As
soon as his feet touched down the energy surrounding him flashed out and
the two girls released his legs and staggered back away from him, each one
dropping to their knees.  Eleric looked down at them, whatever he was about
to say however was interrupted by a sudden roar and gust of wind.  The
three quickly held their arms up to shield their eyes as a small craft
descended to the ground twenty yards from where the three stood.  "What the
hell." Eleric hollered as the dust flew around them.  "Crap they just
scattered everything.  Now I won't be able to sort any of this shit out."

   Elise grabbed her brother's arm as the dust began to settle and pulled
him over to a pile of rubble.  "Eleric, move, we need to get out of site."

   As the three ducked behind the rubble, Yuri glanced over the top and
then ducked back down.  "Who are they?  I have never seen anything like
that before."

   "I don't know, but we are going to find out," Eleric stated.

   The three quickly rose from the ruble to a crouched position and then
bolted from one pile of rubble to another, keeping something between
themselves and the craft.

   ...

   Karen Dale looked down at the controls in frustration.  "Sir we are on
the ground, but the cloaking system went off line as we landed.  Anyone
looking will have seen us."

   David took a quick glance at the controls and nodded.  He had not yet
had an opportunity to learn the flight systems so it did not mean much to
him.  "That's okay, Lt.  Dale, I don't think there was anyone out there to
see us." He replied.

   Dr.  Debbin turned from her monitor.  "Sir there was an unusual energy
reading coming form the landing area as we landed.  It did not last long
enough for me to attempt identification, but it defiantly was biological in
nature."

   "Can you scan the area for biological readings?"

   Dr.  Debbin shook her head and lifted her arms in frustration. 
"Negative sir, according to Kreg'ar records the only known race to use the
Biometrics that create energy signature similar to what I saw are the
Morgalons.  However there is too much dust in the air, most of which was
originally biological in nature, it is confusing the scanners."

   Karen spun around in the pilot's chair.  "Hey I tried to bring us down
with minimal atmospheric effects, if you think..."

   "I am not criticizing your piloting Lieutenant.  I am just reporting the
facts."

   David shook his head at the two women and quickly grabbed the few pieces
of equipment he recognized from the little training he had received.  "Can
the two of you please cut the bickering and concentrate on the mission. 
Dr. Debbin I need you to get the medical equipment and portable sensors, I
want you to collect what you can of the remains that are left.  Lt.  Dale
please gather what equipment you know how to use and grab a blaster, you
will have to watch our backs in case something is out there, both of you
put on environmental body armor." He ordered as he began to strap on pieces
of one of the Body Armor suits.

   The two women rose from their chairs and started gathering supplies and
equipment from various drawers and cabinets throughout the craft.  "Yes
sir."

   ...

   Eleric crouched down among one of the piles of rubble.  With a flick of
his fingers and a few mumbled words the dust and debris in the air around
them suddenly disappeared as the three were enveloped in a zone of clean
air.  The three continued to watch the craft as a side door opened up and a
ramp lowered to the ground.  Three humanoid figures emerged from the craft;
they wore what appeared to be green environmental body armor complete with
an opaque face shield and breathing masks.  The lead figure was slightly
taller than the other two.  The smaller two walked with a feminine grace
and held some sort of sensor device in front of them.  The smallest of the
three also carried what appeared to be a gun in her right hand and was
looking around for threats.  Suddenly the larger of the two females stopped
and pointed her device in the direction of Eleric and his companions.

   The leader of the trio drew a weapon from his side as the smaller female
crouched down and pointed her weapon in their direction.  "Whoever you are,
step out from behind the rubble with your hands up." The leader stated, his
voice distorted by his breathing apparatus and mechanical sounding.

   Before Eleric or either of the other two could react, the larger female
was turning around and grabbing for her gun as a portal opened up behind
them "Biometric energy reading behind us sir, it's a trap." She yelled as
bolts of energy shot trough the portal and struck the lead figure.

   As the lead figure went down covered in electrical energy Josh Rayne
Yuri's Master emerged from the portal followed by the head of the circle
Zoe Long.  Zoe let loose with a blast of energy at the smaller of the
females as she yelled for Eleric and his companions to run for the portal.

   As the three youths made a dash across the clearing, the taller female
returned fire with her weapon at Josh.  The beam flashed off his energy
shield and dissipated in the air.  However the impact caused josh to
stagger back and broke his concentration of energy on the leader of the
trio.

   The Leader of the trio rolled onto his feet and ducked behind a pillar.
"Excalibur we are under attack get us out of here now."

   Eleric watched in astonishment as the three individuals and the craft
that brought them suddenly vanished in a flash of light.  To Whom it May
Concern

   7