Escape to Earth-Living Legends (19 page)

Josh shook his head, “One or more of those disruptors could have targeted your ship as you moved in.”

“I just didn’t see that happening. I believe each of those disruptors was already assigned a target as the sequence started. Remember, this is playing in slow motion. I only had a second to arrive and move down to the hull. When the sequence began again, I probably could have been targeted. But if I could get down between those two lines just as the sequence started, only the disruptors in front of them could target me and I was hoping my ship would be moving so fast that only one or two might hit me.”

Jinks looked at Omny and then looked at Luke, “He saw this pattern in the middle of a space battle and we haven’t seen this yet?” Jinks looked at Omni, “Would you be interested in a job in Intelligence?”

Omny smiled, “Thank you but no. I belong in a ship. Part of my background was being a building engineer. I see patterns naturally.”

Jay said, “Omny, just how did you intend to stop once you arrived? That distance at the speed you must have been traveling looks impossible.”

Omny shrugged, “Granny and I decided that the risk of stopping was less than attacking that ship from a distance. I steered the ship and Granny hit our bow thrusters with ninety percent of our reactor’s energy.”

Jay smiled, “I see it worked.”

“Wellll, not really.”

Everyone stared at him for a moment and Michael said, “What do you mean by that?”

“I did hit the disruptor tower at the end of the two lines with the tip of my left wing. But the silver coating held up and I was able to maintain control enough to stop the ship before the end of the next two lines of disruptors.”

Shelia listened to Omny and felt her heart beat faster. She knew he was brave but now she understood just how brave he was and her pride of being with him grew leaps and bounds.

Laney smiled, “What did you do then?”

“Well, I took about a minute to check and see if I messed up my uniform.” The gathering laughed out loud. “Hey, I’m not kidding!”

That only made everyone laugh harder and Omny waited until Michael managed to say, “I think we can understand.”

“Granny and I decided that we were on an enemy warship with a perfectly good Battle Pod and we decided to do some urban renewal.” There were some more chuckles and Omny continued, “We angled the bottom disruptors thirty, or was it forty…I don’t remember. But anyway, they were angled to cut into the hull of the Monster as we flew above it. We angled all the side and upper disruptors to the sides of the ship and turned off the force field and directed ninety eight percent of the reactor into them. I then started flying between the lines of disruptors cutting them down as we passed. I worked on cutting out a giant square on the hull so that the other Battle Pods could move in and attack without being fired on by so many beams. I really lost sense of how long we continued firing but I heard…Michael’s command to get out. I had to wait until the heavy actually fired before I could make a run. I was too close to the lines of disruptors that were still operational to leave before then.”

Michael stared at Omny and was amazed at the bravery and intelligence he had displayed in the heat of combat. He said, “You probably think it was the heavy that destroyed that ship.”

Omny looked at him, “It was, wasn’t it?”

Michael nodded to Jinks and said, “I want you to watch this closely.” The image on the monitor changed and it showed the heavy moving in at high speed. It fired its heavy round and just as it penetrated the hull, a giant section of the Monster’s hull went up in a massive blast. Michael said, “The round didn’t have time to penetrate into the center of the ship before that blast went off.”

Omny’s eyes narrowed and Jinks said, “You showed us something else, Omny. It appears large numbers of their disruptors share cooling conduits. It appears the beams you were firing into the Monster’s hull were cutting them as you flew above the hull. That blast came from disruptors that were still operational along with many of those you cut down. We’ve examined the blast pattern and we now know where those cooling conduits are located.”

Omny went to his chair and sat down. He was shaking his head and finally managed to say, “That’s how my ship was hit by shrapnel?” Michael and Jinks nodded. “We were lucky!”

Katy clapped, “Indeed you were. But you’ve given us information that we’d never have without your actions.”

Michael nodded and Omny shook his head, “How can this be used? I should have died on the approach. I can see so many things that could have, and probably should have, gone wrong.”

Budge smiled, “You were right earlier.”

Omny looked at him, “About what?”

“Our current level of technology being inadequate.” Omny nodded. “However, in order to use this technique, what would you need?”

Omny laughed, “That’s easy. A ship that could withstand those giant disruptors.”

Nudge said, “How would that help?”

“A pilot wouldn’t have to make an almost suicidal flight to get down to the Monster’s hull.”

Jan saw Michael smiling and she suddenly knew. Her insight was then proven when Michael said, “I want everyone to go with me out to the spaceport. We’re going to Hanger X.” Omny and Shelia stood up but the others knew that hanger was Trevor and Amanda’s personal laboratory. They stood and quickly followed Michael out of the conference room.

• • •

The large Fleet Surface Transport arrived at the hanger and the group walked up to the giant hanger door. There were ten armored warriors standing guard and they would not allow them to pass without proper identification. Jan was shocked by their unwillingness to accept that the man in front of them was Michael Stone. It was clear there were no exceptions to their security protocols. The guards stepped back and the giant hanger door began going up. It moved to head level and Jan saw two ships just inside the entrance that only remotely looked like a Battle Pod. It was larger, obviously larger. Budge said, “I know what you’re thinking and yes, it will still fit in the barrier.”

Katy looked at him, “What is it?”

“It’s not complete, yet. The disruptors aren’t installed or any of the other systems that we use on our ships. However, what you’re looking at is a ship with a six foot thick silver coated hull.”

Audrey looked at Budge with her eyes wide, “The Silver Ships’ hull is only three feet thick.”

Budge smiled, “We have given them the technology we used to build this vessel and they are modifying their vessels as we speak.”

Katy looked puzzled, “What does this extra thickness do?”

Budge looked at her, “We’re not certain about how much it can handle but we’ve simultaneously fired more than a thousand Dark Energy Beams at it without breaking through the hull.”

Omny looked at Michael, “This ship can withstand the Monster’s disruptors long enough to get down to the hull.”

Michael smiled and looked at Luke, “Am I right, or what?” Luke handed Michael a twenty credit. Michael accepted it and looked at Omny, “You attacked that warship when it was stationary. Using that technique with a moving ship would be…”

Omny said, “Impossible.”

Michael nodded, “You showed us how to kill it. This is what we’ll use to do it.” Omny smiled and pulled Shelia under his arm. He looked at Michael, “Will I be given one?”

Michael looked at Averel and she sighed out loud, “I know, I know, I need to keep my big mouth shut.”

Omny looked at the Goran and Michael said, “We are going to have to build an entirely new class of warship and we won’t have large numbers before the Legends in the Pandora Cluster start receiving their ships. We are going to build them as quickly as possible and the first commander of the initial squadron will be a Commodore until we have enough to constitute a fleet.”

Omny looked at Michael and nodded as he stared at the warship. Then Shelia elbowed him in the ribs and he looked at her. Then he remembered Averel had called him Commodore. He snapped his head around and saw Michael smiling, “I expect you to make your squadron something special Commodore.”

“BUT…”

“Who among us is better qualified to train the pilots that will be flying this ship? Your squadron will remain with Fifth Fleet until the numbers justify making it an independent fleet.”

Omny slowly shook his head and Michael said, “You do have to make two decisions immediately. Omny stared at him and Michael said, “First, you have to select your Second-in-Command and second, what squadron will be used to learn how to fly these new ships.”

Omny stared at Michael still in shock and Michael said, “These ships will require two pilots. The systems are designed so that one will have to fly and the other operate the weapon systems to prioritize targets.”

Omny shook his head and said, “You need look no further than who is under my left arm for my Second.” Michael nodded and Averel handed him some papers. He handed Omny a stack and Shelia another, “I need both of you to sign these to make the promotions official.”

Averel walked forward and handed each of them a pen, “Just sign the bottom line on the last page. Initial each page before it on the bottom right corner.”

Shelia looked at Michael, “Does this mean we will be flying together?” Michael nodded and Shelia signed quickly. She elbowed Omny again and he began signing.

Michael waited and then Omny handed him the forms and said, “I think Eighth Squadron had demonstrated their strength and determination by holding those heavy blasters at Present Arms for hours.” He looked at Katy, “If that meets with your approval, Sir.”

Katy’s smile was huge and she knew the healing was complete, “I agree with your selection. They have something to prove to their new C.O.”

Omny looked at Michael, “When do we start?”

Michael looked at Budge, who said, “You will start simulator training at the conclusion of this meeting. I’ll send someone to pick up your pods so we can move your computers into your new ship.”

Michael looked at Omny, “One more thing, Commodore; all of the new ships will be telepathic so they can link during combat. You’re going to have to work on perfecting using that system during your initial field training.” Omny smiled as the Admirals gathered around him and congratulated him.

• • •

Jay, Josey, and Jan walked over to Michael and he smiled, “Yes, we will be using the new ship and no, I’ve not decided who will be flying together. However, you will start working on the simulators after this meeting as well.”

Josey smiled, “Will you be joining us in the training?”

“No, I helped the twins design the training and I’ve already completed it. Do well!”

Michael turned and went over to Audrey. Josey looked at them and raised her eyebrows. Jay said, “The Commander is not so easy to understand.”

Josey nodded, “I thought that decision would be a no brainer.”

She looked at Jan, who shrugged. Jay smiled, “Perhaps he wants to fly with a real pilot.” Both Josey and Jan punched him on the arm. Jay faked severe pain as the three laughed and ran toward the training center. Jan sprinted ahead of them and wondered why the Commander had not told them who would be with him. They arrived at the center and Josey and Jay bent over and grabbed their knees. Jay said, “I think I’m going to barf.” He looked at Jan who wasn’t even sweating, “How do you do that?”

Jan smiled brightly, “Clean and cheerful living. You two ought to try it.”

Josey fought for breath and shook her head, “I’d slap you if I could stand up!”

Jan smiled, “I find it odd that you two overachievers are bent over just outside the door that has air conditioning inside it.”

Jay started shaking his head, “I’ll hold her; you tickle her.”

“Deal!”

“On no!”

Jan rushed in the door as Jay said, “Maybe a little later. I think we need to start running in the evenings.”

“You think?” They finally caught their breath and went inside to find Jan sitting at a terminal with a pair of headphones on as three instructors were offering her their assistance. Josey looked at Jay, “Oh, she is so going to be tickled.”

Jay nodded, “We’ll start with her feet and save the ribs for last.”

Michael listened to them telepathically without violating their private thoughts. It was pretty clear which of the three overachievers was ‘The Overachiever. He thought about it and asked Averel to send him Jan’s personnel file. He received it immediately and he thought, “You must have had it already loaded for download?”

“I knew it was just a matter of time. Enjoy!”

Michael’s head went back and he wondered what she meant. He started reading and knew what she was saying.”

• • •

Hengel sat in the barrier in interstellar space outside the Legends’ planetary system that ordered the ships to be built in another galaxy and was getting frustrated. The Legends had obviously built a communications system that blocked telepathy. He wondered how that could happen. If they were using telepathy, he should be able to hear it. He thought about the issue and then said, “Computer, use your passive scanners to see if you can detect any electronic emissions originating at the Legends’ Planet.”

“Working.”

Hengel thought about why the Goran Scouts didn’t want their computers to be as advanced as the ones used by the humans. He reflected on the issue and finally decided that the Goran didn’t want another being having access to their thoughts. Privacy was impossible with a telepathic species and sitting alone in open space without another’s thoughts was sheer bliss. However, there were some decisions that should be examined in greater detail before making them. He thought about it more and then a thought entered his mind. The pilot of that Monster Ship that came here and left had a telepath on board. He ignited the thrusters and fled away from the planet at an incredible speed that only the barrier provided. He heard the computer say, “The barrier at our former location has just been disrupted.”

“All Scouts, get out of this cluster! Flee immediately!” Hengel listened and heard the scouts questioning his order but two of them didn’t respond. Averel was going to kill him for this. Keeping tabs on the Legends just ended.