Different Paths (32 page)

Athena added, “We can make the jump to the edge of
Terran controlled space, emerging approximately ninety-three kilometers from
Starbase Alpha, with a margin of error of five kilometers, plus or minus of
course.”

“Okay. We can make it to Earth but what about the
planetary defense systems?” DJ asked, “Won’t they start blasting the minute we
emerge from hyperspace?”

Iaido rotated his command chair till he was facing
his crew. “Jay, how long after we exit hyperspace will you be able to cloak the
ship?”

“We have to let the residual energies from transit
dissipate and our velocity drop below the threshold before I can engage the
cloaking device.” Jay rubbed his chin. “I would say at least sixty seconds,
give or take a few.”

“Less would be preferable,” Iaido said as he
turned back to his console. “Pax when you have the course plotted engage jump
engines.” 

“Aye, aye sir.”

“Jay, download the IFF codes for the Romulus and
modify ours to broadcast on their frequency.”

“Roger.”

“DJ, move all the scrap metal and bodies into the
airlock; add a few barrels of oil and some sort of incendiary device.”

DJ rubbed his hands together and grinned, “You got
it.”

“Athena, pull up the transmissions from the
Romulus. Splice their may-day with a bit more static and be prepared to
broadcast as soon as we emerge.”

“Aye captain.”

Iaido turned back to his friends. “Make no
mistakes, this is risky. We are outnumbered and outgunned. If this becomes a
shooting match we will lose. But if we can trick the Terran Planetary Defense
Systems into believing we are the Romulus then we have a chance, a slim chance
but a chance none the less.”

Talia sheepishly raised her hand. “I don’t
understand. How can we make the Nemesis seem to be the Romulus? It is at least
twice our size.”

Iaido nodded his head. The rest of the crew had
all served in the military and knew that it was an informal means of dismissal
before he turned his attention back to Talia. “In combat it sometimes isn’t
what is true or not but what you can make your opponent believe is true.”

Shaking her head, Talia frowned. “I don’t
understand.”

“All nav-systems work on data. One of the easiest
and most reliable data is gleaned from the electromagnetic field given off by a
starship’s engines. This field can be identified and tracked by a device called
the IFF or Identify Friend or Foe transponder. Traveling in space is more about
collating and interpreting data than using your senses. For the most part, only
fighter jocks use line of sight, while ships of the line and planetary defense
systems rely on proper use of the IFF systems.”

Iaido could tell that she still didn’t understand,
so he continued. “In the ancient days of Earth’s navies, when man sailed the
seas in wooden ships, long before electricity and long range communication
devices, all ships looked basically the same from a distance. Sure a sailor
could tell the difference between a three-masted galleon and a two-masted
schooner but was the approaching ship a friend or foe? No one could tell. So
ships were identified by their country’s flags. Even then, there were a few men
that understood that misdirection is a tool of war. These were the original
pirates. They would fly a neutral or allied country’s flag until they closed
within cannon range of their target before striking the false colors and
running up their own flag, commonly known as the Jolly Rogers, thereby showing
their true colors.”

“I see. We are going to disguise our IFF
signature, in effect pretending to be the Romulus, which as a registered ship
of the Galactic Marshals is an ally of the Terran military.”

“Yes.”

Talia asked, “But what about the rest of the stuff…the
bombs, bodies and scrap metal?”

“Smoke and mirrors Talia, smoke and mirrors.”

Shaking her head, “I don’t understand.”

“Watch and see. A good magician doesn’t reveal his
tricks.” With a grin Iaido turned back to his panel.

Chapter 27

Ensign Virginia Evans paced the small deck of the
CIC which was located deep in the heart of the Terran Planetary Defense System.
Moving around helped keep herself awake and to ensure the enlisted personnel
assigned to the graveyard watch were also awake. Since it was nearly zero-three-thirty
hours, there was very little traffic incoming or exiting the starbase and the
night was dragging.

Being one of the few females serving at the TPDS
and the senior ranking officer on duty that night was a huge responsibility for
the young ensign and she was determined to make a good impression on her
commanding officer.

Petty Officer Gilbert called out. “Ma’am! I’m
getting a strange reading on the radar.”

Moving to the radar station, Ensign Evans looked
over the Petty Officer’s shoulder. “What is it?”

Petty Officer Gilbert said, “If I didn’t know
better, I would say it was the beginning of a hyperspace portal.”

“But that’s impossible this close to Earth.”

“That’s what I was taught also,” the Petty Officer
added. “It could be a glitch.”

“Have you run your nightly diagnostic on your
station?”

“Aye, aye ma’am. All systems were green.”

“If your system checks good, then there must be an
anomaly.” Turning her attention back to the screen, they watched as the small
fluctuations on the screen grew larger and larger.

Suddenly, proximity alarms all across the starbase
began sounding.

Petty Officer Gilbert jabbed at the screen. “A
large object has emerged from hyperspace ninety-one hundred meters off the port
bow, bearing one-sixty degrees by negative zero-five-three.”

This was her worst nightmare. An unidentified
object has somehow seemingly appeared right outside Starbase Alpha, well within
attack range. Even though the beginning stages of fear ran through her body,
Ensign Evans reacted out of years of training. Sprinting the ten meters to the
command console she slammed her fist down on the ‘panic button.’ All throughout
the Starbase alarms were blaring; all non-essential hatches were sliding shut
to seal off certain areas of the base, while fighter jocks were being roused
from their sleep as they scrambled to get to their Dragons and all aspects of
the Planetary Defensive Systems began powering up.

At almost the same time, the comm panel lit up
with a priority message from her Commanding Officer. Tapping the receive
button, Ensign Evans began her report even before her superior could say a
word.

“Captain, at approximately zero-three twenty-three
hours radar registered a sub-space anomaly off our port bow. Thirty-five
seconds later a large object was detected. I have signaled red alert.”

Captain Cline was pulling on his uniform even as
he replied, “Good work Ensign. I’m on my…”

The captain’s response was interrupted by a call
from the comm officer. “Incoming message from the UFO!”

“Put it on the squawk and patch it through to the
captain,” commanded Ensign Evans.

“Aye, aye ma’am.”

With the tapping of a few buttons, the message
sounded through the command deck and on the captain’s console.

Static…. “May-Day! May-Day!” Static…. “This is…”
Static… “GMSS Romulus…” Static… “we are heavily damaged….” Static…

“Get them back!”

“Sorry ma’am, only static.”

Petty Officer Gilbert called out from his station.
“Ma’am! I’m reading several large explosions from the area!”

Ensign Evans rushed to the radar console, totally
ignoring her senior officer. “Scan the area! Any energy readings?”

Petty Officer Gilbert’s fingers flew across the
panel. “Negative ma’am. No energy readings of any kind, just a scattering of
debris and several bodies.”

“Ensign Evans! Report!” came the captain’s voice
over the active command circuit on her console.

Crossing the few meters, Ensign Evans straightened
her uniform and brushed a few stray locks of her shoulder length blonde hair
behind her ears.

“Sir, radar reports several explosions in the area
of the disturbance and they are not receiving echoes from any large objects.” She
paused to glance at one of her monitors. “The IFF transponder signal matches a
battlecruiser registered to the Galactic Marshals operating out of Mars.”

“Ensign Evans,” Captain Cline asked, “how could
you walk away from me while in the middle of a report?”

Unconsciously fidgeting a bit, she chewed on her
lip for a second before answering. “Sir, I am the Night Duty Officer on watch.
My responsibility is to the safety of this entire station and her personnel.
While a situation is underway, I don’t have the time or the luxury for
pleasantries...sir.”

Captain Cline ran a hand through his graying hair
and readjusted his horned-rimmed glasses before looking his subordinate up and
down. “I see. And what would you recommend next?”

“Standard operating procedures would dictate that
we recall all fighters, stand down from red alert and launch a salvage tug to
investigate the area and recover any evidence.”

Nodding his agreement, Captain Cline sat back
down. “Make sure you add a note in your log and good work lieutenant.”

“Its ensign sir.”

Shaking his head, Captain Cline grinned. “Not
anymore, I expect a full report of this incident on my desk by zero-eight
hundred hours and congratulations lieutenant.”

Snapping to attention, Lt.. Evans saluted her
commanding officer. “Thank you sir. But I would be remiss in my duties if I
didn’t mention the staff on duty with me tonight. It was their skills which
enabled our quick and timely response.”

Captain Cline nodded. “So noted. Forward their
names with your report so letters of recommendation can be added to their files.”

“Aye, aye sir.” As her commanding officer
disconnected, she punched up the station’s intercom system. “All hands stand
down from Red Alert. Resume normal operations.” She turned to her staff and said,
“Recall all fighters, power down all systems and launch a salvage tug to
investigate.”

Maybe it was her imagination but the replies of
‘aye, aye ma’am’ seemed to carry a bit more respect than those of earlier in
the shift.

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido studied the display panel on his console.
“Did they buy it?”

“Scanning with passive systems only…” Pax
answered. “All weapon systems are powering down and a recall order has been
issued to all fighters.”

“It seems we are in the clear captain,” Athena
added.

Talia, Jay and DJ all let out a heavy sigh of
relief. Only Xerxes seemed unaffected by the stress of their possible
destruction.

“How did you know to bring along those bodies and
scrap metal?” asked Talia.

With a shrug Iaido replied, “I didn’t. They were
just available and seemed to be an asset I might be able to exploit.”

“Captain,” Athena said, “we have a lone Dragon
making his way slowly through the wreckage.”

“Damn Murphy!”

“Murphy?” Talia asked, “Who’s Murphy?”

It was Jay who answered. “Murphy’s Law states
whatever can go wrong…will go wrong. It is the bane of soldiers everywhere.”

Talia shook her head. “I don’t understand. You
Terrans have a law about something going wrong?”

Jay snickered. “It’s not a law placed on the books
of any country in the Coalition or the Confederacy but nearly everyone has
heard of it; call it a life lesson if you will. But when planning for a mission,
a good commander has to take into account that Murphy will surface sometime
during that operation.”

Talia turned toward Iaido and asked, “And did
you?”

Ignoring her question, Iaido manipulated the
controls of his command console. A 3D holographic image of the debris field and
the lone Dragon starfighter filled the air above his chair.

“Pax, where is his wingman?”

Talia asked, “His what?”

“Fighter jocks always travel in pairs,” DJ responded.
“His partner is referred to as a wingman.”

“You Terrans are a strange race. No wonder the
Empire feels threatened by your success.” She slapped her hands over her mouth
as if she had let slip a great secret.

Without taking his eyes off the images Iaido said,
“Don’t worry about it Talia. Even during the war we heard rumors about
dissention within the Empire. Human history has been rife with espionage
between supposed allies. It’s par for the course.”

“Par for the course?”

Jay rolled his eyes at her incessant questions but
answered anyway. “Another human analogy meaning that it’s normal.”

Pax said, “Alpha Dragon is approaching the center
of the debris field. His wingman, Beta Dragon, is four hundred meters off his
six o’clock and at the very edge of the zone.”

“Can you tap into their comms?”

“Affirmative.”

Seconds later, the voice of Alpha Dragon whose
call sign was ‘Dirtman’ came over the bridge speakers.

“Tiger, something doesn’t seem right.”

“Roger Dirtman I have the same feeling,”
replied Tiger.

“If this was a Harbinger class battlecruiser
wouldn’t there be more debris?”

“I would think so. Dirtman, should we alert
CIC?”

Iaido asked, “Pax are we clear of the blast zone?”

“Affirmative Captain.”

“Then activate the Betties.”

Iaido saw the look on Talia’s face and knew she
was dying to ask another question, so he launched into a brief explanation.

“Betties are a type of cluster bombs used during
the war. Originally designed as anti-personnel devices back in the early 1900s,
they were commonly called ‘Bouncing Betties’ due to the fact that once trigged
the bombs wouldn’t explode right away. But launch a series of smaller bombs
into the air which then exploded blanketing a whole area in death and
destruction.” Iaido pointed at the 3D holographic image of the debris field.
“These are the same type of bombs but adapted to space combat. However, Jay has
modified these to only disable ships instead of destroying them. Watch and
see.”