Behemoth: Rise Of Mankind Book 1 (3 page)

              “The enemy has yet to send a ship like this against any Alliance planet that I’m aware of.” Clea tilted her head, studying the signature. “Unfortunately, without more data everything we come up with will be conjecture.”

              “Do you think it’s one of your people?” Adam asked. “An Alliance ship of some kind?”

              “It’s possible,” Clea nodded. “They may have built something like it since I’ve been here. News does travel rather slowly but I somehow doubt it. This may well be something completely new. But again, without being there, I’m just guessing.”

              “Alright,” Gray said, standing up. “Let’s get out there and investigate. Adam, order the alert thirty. Redding, have navigation plot an intercept course just ahead of our guest and engage full speed. Everyone else, prepare your departments for a fight. If they’re peaceful, it won’t be a hardship to shut down the gun batteries but if not…well, I won’t get caught with my pants down.”

              “Quite the vulgar term, Captain,” Clea said.

              Gray grinned. “Not as bad as it could be. You have your orders everyone. Send your ready reports to the bridge. I want everyone on operational standby in less than thirty minutes. Dismissed.”

              That’s why Adam liked Gray and why he accepted the post on the Behemoth. The man knew how to be prepared. He erred on the side of caution and gave history the value it deserved. When some unidentified ship came crashing into their solar system before, they weren’t ready. In some ways, they still weren’t. Many systems had yet to be fully tested and the crew itself never fought with the tools at their disposal.

              But Gray would ensure they had every advantage available. The Behemoth may not be a seasoned veteran of many battles since its Christening but she sure came a long way since surviving the attack. Everyone on board knew the stakes of another fight with the enemy and all of them were as well trained as any soldier hoped to be.

              Their maiden operation may well be against some unknown threat but that just gave the mission a higher value. No one learned from the easy stuff. Mankind needed challenges to grow. Adam wondered just how great an opportunity this thing presented. He looked forward to seeing his people in action either way.

              The time for idleness was over.

             
Thank God.

              Gray and Clea stayed behind as the others left to prepare. She stood nearby, hands behind her back as she watched him request a connection to Commodore Billings. While the screen flickered, he turned his attention to the woman and shrugged, inviting her to speak before prompting.

              “Okay, what’s on your mind?”

              “I assume you’re contacting high command to inform them of what we’re about to do.”

              Gray nodded. “And?”

              “They can be…conservative with the use of this vessel,” Clea replied. “Remember when they denied your request to intervene with the pirates hitting the mining operations out near Neptune?”

              “Yes, but that was different,” Gray said, “and I agreed with them. The pirates returned to their little base off the coast of Africa and conventional forces apprehended them. Whatever’s out there, that’s our job. They’re going to let us deal with it.”

              “Providing we’re the ones to deal with it.” Clea gestured to the terminal. “I have no complaints.”

              Gray started to reply but paused as the call connected. “Meet me on the bridge. We’ll talk more soon.”

              Gray got used to her silver eyes years before but occasionally, she could stare at him with such an odd expression, it reminded him of her origin. As human as she behaved, as much as they wore off on her, she still came from a very different place and when she felt a conversation had not ended, she made it clear with her unique scowl.

              She spun on her heel and left without another word. He figured they’d definitely pick
that
conversation up later.

              Commodore Billings appeared on the screen, sitting at his posh desk in the Miami headquarters. Palm trees swayed out the window behind him and beyond those, the white caps covered the sea. Clea’s opinion of high command came from their surroundings. Their tropical paradise location made it hard to take their opinion too seriously. After all, how much could they really know about hot situations?

              “What can I do for you, Gray?”

              “Thanks for taking the call, Sam,” Gray sat down. “I’m sending you a report we picked up on long range scanners. You can read it if you want but we don’t have a lot of time. A large object, possibly a ship, has entered our solar system. It’s on a direct course for Earth. It’ll be here in less than ten hours.”

              Sam’s expression turned grave. “I see what you’re talking about. Does your team have any idea what it is?”

              Gray shook his head. “Not yet, but we intend to find out. We’re prepping to intercept.”

              Billings narrowed his eyes. “Do you believe this might be another attack?”

              “I don’t want to speculate. Could be anything but one thing I do know is it’s bigger than us and just as fast. Clea didn’t recognize the design and we have no matches on any database.”

              “Understood.” Billings sighed. “Listen, Gray. I can’t authorize you to take the Behemoth that far away from Earth. Not when this could be…well, it could be anything. A ruse for another attack for example. You’re the only thing keeping this place safe.”

              “Sam, it’s coming here. Would you rather me let it get to our backyard?”

              “If you’re five hours away from here with only an untested hyperjump as your method of return, what good are you going to be doing us? No. You need to stay close.’

              Gray sighed, looking away. “We’re at least going to break orbit and meet it in open space, far enough away from inhabited areas to avoid any damage.”

              “That I
can
authorize. Just remember, you’re our shield, Gray. Not an arrow.”

              “We really have to consider the future,” Gray said. “You may not think so now, but eventually this ship’s going to have to go abroad.”

              “It’s not that we don’t trust you, but you should understand our caution. We’re in the midst of building another ship and when we do, we’ll have the luxury of traveling around the solar system. Right now, the conventional fleet can handle internal security. Your purpose is to
protect
. Is that clear?”

              Gray nodded, doing his best not to look away. “Perfectly.”

              “Just…be careful with this thing. We can’t afford to lose you guys. It would really trash morale.”

              Gray chuckled. “That’ll be our biggest concern. I’ll keep you up to date on what we find. We’ll break orbit shortly and get into position…shield you guys from whatever this is.”

              “Sounds good.”

              “Hey, don’t forget to wear sun screen before you hit that beach.” Gray tried to lighten the mood. “I don’t think you can afford a serious sunburn.”

              “Don’t give me a hard time about this post. You know I’m from Alaska. This tropical heat’s killing me.”

              “Yeah,” Gray shook his head. “Things are tough all over, buddy. Behemoth out.”

***

              Captain Atwell took his seat on the bridge as Adam prepped the bridge for departure. Ensign Agatha White worked with orbital command to clear the area. Various civilian and police vessels crowded Lunar space as people went about their daily activities. The academy contributed to the majority of this congestion and Gray knew they practiced fleet maneuvers during every shift.

              Weapon tests near the moon made sense and that’s why the Behemoth berthed there.

              “Commander,” Agatha turned in her seat to address the room, “space lanes are cleared. We are free to depart for the next thirty minutes.”

              “You heard her, Redding,” Adam said. “Initiate protective field and get us underway. Thrusters only. Let’s keep this as clean as possible.”

              “Aye, sir.” Redding turned to the navigator, Tim Collins. “Give me a guide to open space please.”

              Tim ran his fingers along the smooth console, his eyes flitting left and right as he performed his tasks. “It’s…up now.”

              Redding nodded. “Got it. Protective field engaged. Thrusters are…active. ETA to open space, five minutes.”

              “Give us plenty of room to engage the pulse engines,” Adam said. “Let’s not mess up school maneuvers with a sub-light wake.”

              “Academy vessels are well outside of our range, sir,” Olly announced. “They’ll for sure see us though.”

              Gray grinned. What he wouldn’t have given as a young cadet to see a war vessel like the Behemoth leave dock. He imagined the distraction and the instructors cursing about it before reprimanding their students back to the task at hand. Hopefully, if all went as planned those young men and women would pilot a sister ship to the Behemoth. A little excitement might go a long way toward improving morale.

             
Might not be a victory but we take what we can get.

             
Far off in the bowels of the ship, the pulse reactor fired up. Containment kept the ship from vibrating but the raw power fired up his soul, giving him a brief adrenalized rush of excitement. They participated in only a few police engagements since entering active duty but nothing compared to embarking on a real mission, one with unknown variables and real danger.

              Clea took the seat to his left. Adam sat on the right. She watched the view port impassively, legs crossed with her hands resting on her knee. Gray wondered what she thought of the mission and whether or not getting into action fired up her blood. Kielans seemed to be reserved by nature but their chess games occasionally annoyed her out of her disciplined shell. They weren’t emotionless, just controlled.

              “We have cleared Lunar orbit,” Redding announced. “Heading into deep space. ETA three minutes, twenty-five seconds.”

              “Steady as she goes,” Adam replied. “Olly, are we still clear on scans?”

              “Aye, sir,” Olly said. “There’s no way anyone wants to get in our way but we do have an audience.”

              Adam smirked. “Try not to wave at them as you go by, Redding.”

              “The thought never crossed my mind, sir.” Redding chuckled. “But there was that time…”

              “Yes, we all know,” Tim interrupted. “And I don’t think anyone wants to hear about it again.”

              “It was only garbage,” Redding replied. “Not like I made them dump a cargo full of medical supplies or anything.”

              “Let’s focus on the task at hand, people,” Adam said. “Past glories…or otherwise…can wait for the mess hall.”

              Gray leaned toward Clea, keeping his voice down. “What’re you thinking about?”

              “Working through the variables,” Clea replied. “Since we have no idea what we’re walking into, I figured I’d at least contemplate the problem. Maybe I’ll think of questions we’ll need to ask.”

              “Are you leaning toward anything? Any theories at all?”

              Clea nodded. “A few but they’re meaningless. The weapon idea makes sense to me, mostly because if they were friendly, they would’ve communicated by now. With our satellites, we’d easily pick up any message they wanted to send. The fact they’re running silent makes them all the more suspicious.”

              “True.” Gray sighed. “They seem to be intent on Earth too, ignoring our outposts and mining operations.”

              “If they are an attack force, cutting off the head of the snake makes more sense than wasting time on outliers. However,” Clea glanced in his direction, “they may not be counting on us. If their data is old, from before the attack, then we’ll have a distinct advantage.”

              “What do you mean?”

              “Undoubtedly their scans have shown them a massive warship standing guard. Watching Lieutenant Darnell’s scans over there on monitor three, I’ve noticed they haven’t deviated course nor made any sort of adjustment at all. For whatever reason, they don’t care about us and that could mean they’re unconcerned or uninformed. Either way, advantage.”

              “What would your military do in this situation?”

              Clea drew a deep breath and let it out before replying. “We used to be a peaceful culture. One that would give anyone the benefit of the doubt. If a spaceship like that came to our doorstep, we’d send out diplomatic vessels and attempt to make contact. We wanted to share our technology and advancements with others. Suspicion came slowly to our minds.”

              “But now?” Gray prompted.

              “Now, we’re more like you. Assume the worst, hope for the best. I can’t say we would’ve destroyed the thing outright but there is something to your saying
better to be safe than sorry
.”

              Gray nodded. His people may have developed the phrase but they only recently embraced it as totally as Clea suggested. In a little less than ten hours, they’d know the appropriate response.

              He turned to his tablet and scanned reports from all sections. Each department reported ready for action well ahead of schedule. Third shift was about to end so they must’ve pulled in their relief. By the time the ship arrived, the next hands would be on staff and they’d be the ones to get them through their mission.

              Gray made an adjustment to the schedules, cutting fourth shift short. This would ensure fresh bodies would be running things when the foreign vessel arrived. He’d address the ship and let them know what was happening and how he expected it to go down.

              “We have cleared Lunar traffic,” Redding announced. “Entering open space.”

              “Tim, plot a course to sector six-seven,” Gray said.

              “Course plotted, sir,” Timothy said. “That’s…roughly ten minutes away by pulse drive.”

              Clea turned to Gray. “We’re not intercepting them?”

              “We’re the shield, not the arrow,” Gray quoted. “We’re going to meet them…just not all the way out there, away from our charge.”

              “They didn’t give you authorization to leave.” Clea clenched her fist.

              “No, and I understand their reasons.” Gray turned to Everly. “Get us into position. Darnell, keep your scans going and let me know if anything changes.”

              “Engage engines, Redding,” Adam said.

              “Aye sir.” Redding got the ship moving.

              “Ensign White,” Gray said, “patch me through to ship wide communications.”

              “Aye, Captain.” Agatha focused on her console for a moment before speaking. “You’re live, sir.”

              “This is the captain speaking. So far, all we’ve really done involves training. Even the minor engagements we’ve seen are little more than stress tests on our hardware. As with most weapons like the Behemoth, sane people hope they never need to use them. Under rational situations, such a vessel would be called a deterrent.