Escape to Earth-Living Legends (25 page)

Jan stood up and smiled, “Josey got to kiss you first but you just gave me your first kiss. I think that means something.” She walked across the bridge and sat down in her chair. She looked at him and lowered her eyes, “And for your information, there is no such thing as a bad kiss between two people who care about each other.”

Michael smiled, “Are you telling me you’re attracted to me, too?” Jan smiled and nodded. Michael continued to smile as he turned to his console, “Why don’t we see what this ship can do?”

“Lead the way, Sir.”

Michael turned around, “You can use my first name, Jan.”

“Not in professional situations. You are in command and it’s vitally important that you and I know that. If I hesitate to follow your orders, we could die. We should both follow standard protocols that rank dictates.”

Michael thought about her comment and nodded, “I do hope we find times where we’re not in professional situations.”

“I’ll make sure we do, Sir.”

“Angelo, have you and Langley decided on the division of responsibilities?”

“We have. I will work with you and Langley will work with Commodore Keller. Langley will be responsible for detecting thoughts from outside the ship. He has demonstrated a remarkable ability of seeing those telepaths.”

“Everyone should understand that my order to wear thought blockers also applies to this ship. I expect your thought broadcasting modules to be inactive.”

“Already done, Sir.”

Michael put the band around his head and winced. “Are you all right, Sir?”

Michael looked at Jan and saw her concern, “It’s a minor shock for a telepath to lose the ability. I’ll be ok once I get used to it.”

Jan smiled, “Does that mean you can’t hear my thoughts? now” Michael nodded. “Good!”

“Why is that?”

“A lady’s thoughts should not be seen. It might cause her embarrassment.”

Michael smiled, “I’m taking the ship into orbit.”

Jan turned her chair around and began activating her systems, “Where are we going, Sir?”

“I’m going after the Legend Ships that detonated the explosive in our cluster.”

Jan’s expression showed her surprise, “How are you going to be able to find them?”

“Simple geometry, Jan. The ones that did it are not flying the newer model. I know where the device was detonated. Draw a straight line from that point toward the Pandora Cluster and we should run up on them.”

“But that was more than a week ago?”

“There’s an added benefit to these new hulls that Budge just told me about.” Jan tilted her head. “You know the Silver Ships have explored a lot of the Universe?” Jan nodded. “Their speed is far beyond what our lightly coated ships could do. Now that our hulls are larger than theirs, our speed has been greatly increased; we will make the attempt. Contact Jay and Josey and tell them to stay close.”

“Yes Sir.”

Jan sent the message and heard Jay say, “ALLLLL RIIIGHHT!” Jan smiled. Everything was back to normal.

Michael looked out of the main viewport and saw M-87 moving quickly toward them. “Angelo, how does our speed match up with the Battle Pods?”

“I find it hard to fathom how this substance our hull is made of can cause such a wide variance. We’re going to be out of the cluster in about another hour.” Michael shook his head.

Langley’s voice came over the loud speaker, “I’ve given some thought about that.”

Michael looked at the speaker, “And?”

“I believe this substance shouldn’t exist in normal space. I genuinely think it is a substance that should be in the void.”

Jan’s eyebrows went up, “Why do you say that?”

“Because you only find it near a giant black hole. We know that the void is inside a black hole, that’s how we discovered it. I think the really giant black holes suck this material out of the void and it collects in a close orbit around the black hole.”

Michael nodded, “The fact that ships coated with it can fly faster than the speed of light in normal space pretty much tells us that it isn’t restricted by the normal laws of physics.” Michael paused and his eyes narrowed, “Langley, do you know if any of the substance has been found circling the black hole in M-87?”

“I suspect that if there is, we will not be able to use it.”

“Why is that?”

“You know how difficult it was to go in close to the black hole in Andromeda. Imagine getting close to the monster lurking at the center of M-87. Scientists are convinced that it might be the largest black hole in the universe. At our current level of technology, I don’t think we can build a gravity compensator that would allow ships to get close to search for it.” Langley paused and said, “Jay is attempting to communicate with you.”

“Put him on the wall speaker.”

“Uhhh, First Commander, Josey and I have been talking about what we’re doing and we thought we should mention a possible concern.”

Michael looked at Jan and saw her smiling. “What is it Jay?”

“Well, you know, uhhhh.”

“Come on, Jay!”

“Well, you know the battle your father directed to defeat the Legends in M-87 is required reading at the Academy.”

“Yes.”

“Well, the Alliance Leaders made it clear to him that they did not want him participating in combat operations because of his importance. We were kinda wondering if that restriction also applied to you…Sir?” Michael was silent and Jay quickly said, “Josey and I can go in after the ships we’re chasing and you can stay out of it.”

“Jay, before we get into that, you need to understand that I have to depend on all of you to make sure I see everything that might concern you. Do not hesitate to bring any concern to my attention; I need you to be open and honest with me.”

“Ok, then, why are we chasing those ships instead of you sending others to do it?”

Michael looked at Jan and saw she wondered the same thing. “There are several reasons, Jay. My father had fought in numerous battles before he was chosen to be the Alliance’s designated conqueror. He knew the capabilities of the ships used by our forces and what their limitations and strengths were. That knowledge, in large part, is what allowed him to assign the right fleets to the right targets in that final battle. He fought in those ships and it prepared him for command responsibility. I have not done the same. The battle with the Monster Warship outside the Bullet Cluster was the first combat I’ve been involved in and I must say that I am much better prepared to use the Battle Pods in fleet actions. But I need to fight this new ship or I’m going to be guessing about its strengths and limitations. I also need to fight this ship and experience what our pilots are going to face.”

“And what happens if you don’t survive the fight?”

“Then they’ll make Talel the new First Commander and continue without missing a beat.”

Jan said, “Talel?”

“Jan, he is incredibly talented. I’ve seen his mind at work and he can do the job.”

Jan shrugged, “Maybe so, but he’s not you!”

Michael smiled, “Does that answer your concern, Jay?”

“It does. So how do you want to handle it, if we manage to find them?”

“I’ll take the lead and you’ll cover my stern.”

“And if my stern happens to become an issue?”

“We will do a scissor move and turn it on your pursuers.”

“You know about that maneuver?”

“I’ve done a little flying.”

“We’ll keep your stern clear, Sir.”

Angelo announced, “Twenty minutes to clear the disruption.”

“Commander?”

“Yes, Josey?”

“Are you planning to use the heavy rounds in this mission?”

“If I find myself in a situation that calls for it, I am. Why do you ask?”

“I just think that we’re going to have to face millions of those new Legend Warships and I wonder if we’re going to be able to build enough in time. I’m reluctant to waste them.”

Michael looked at Jan and she shook her head. “Josey, we need to see how launching one of those rounds affects our ship’s ability to maneuver. Let our manufacturers worry about having enough rounds when we need them. If a heavy round is indicated, fire it. Remember, this is the initial field trial for this class of ship and we need to put it through its paces and use every system if we can.”

“I didn’t think about that, Sir. Thank you for clearing this up.”

“Once we clear the disruption, we’re going into the barrier and skip directly to the Pandora Cluster. Once we arrive at the disruption in that cluster, we will turn around and move back toward our cluster and try to find those ships moving towards us.”

“We’re locked in on your drive field, Sir. We’ll release our ships once you call for battle stations.”

Michael turned his chair around and activated his armor. Jan activated hers and did a quick diagnostic check on her weapon console. The barrier sensor turned blue and Michael activated the barrier field and skipped directly toward the Pandora Cluster.

Ten seconds before they arrived Langley said, “You can stop. We just passed them.” Michael applied the brakes and turned the ship in a wide turn and then moved back on the course it had flown from the Virgo Cluster. He kept the speed down to avoid overrunning the Legend Ships.

“Langley, you heard them while we were moving at full speed?”

“Yes, Jan. There are a lot of them to hear.”

Michael jerked his head around, “What do you mean, ‘a lot’?”

“There are at least fifty warships in that group.”

Michael said into his helmet’s interface, “Shutting down all external systems. Reduce power on the reactor.” Jay heard the orders and began shutting down the systems. “Langley, we’re going to try to get close enough for you to hear them. I need to know how that many ships could make it into the middle of our cluster without being detected before I initiate an attack.”

“Would it make a difference if I told you one of those telepaths is on board one of those ships?”

“Langley, let’s do this like we did the first time. We’ll put our gloves on our console and you can tell us what’s going on.”

“Slow down, we’re getting closer.” Michael put his armored glove on his console and Langley played the thoughts he considered important.

“These idiots aren’t worth living. I should just eat them and good riddance.” There was a pause and they heard another thought, “My ship could have detonated the weapon. We didn’t need this mind reader to do something this simple.”

“Watch your thoughts, Commander! I had to match the thought pattern of more than fifty of their sentries and blind them to my presence going in and going out.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t eat them!”

“You will be my next meal if you don’t start showing the proper respect. I wanted to consume them but I had to get away before the device was exploded. I will consume them next time!”

Michael looked at Jan and nodded. He knew the other warships waited outside the Virgo Cluster for the telepath to return. If it encountered trouble, they would skip in to save it. The small Legend Fleet passed below them and Michael said, “On my command, we will activate all systems and move out of the barrier directly behind those two lines of ships. Jay, hold position next to my ship and we’ll fire at the two lines as we pass between them. That Telepath is flying directly in the middle of the two lines and I want both of us to designate a forward disruptor on that ship as soon as we enter the void. Fire as soon as it moves into range. Jan, I’ll operate the forward disruptors, you have the others.”

“Commander.”

“Yes Jay.”

“The odds of hitting all of them in one pass is remote. They’re going to scatter alike a rack of pools balls as soon as we open fire.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“We come out of the barrier directly behind that Telepath and take it out first while our partners are firing at the ships on either side. We’ll continue down the line and turn to come back at those we missed.”

“Thanks, Jay. That’s an excellent suggestion. Are you ready to do this?”

“I’ll come out of the barrier in sync with your ship and break the connection as soon as we move on that Telepath.”

“On my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!”

Michael roared in on the enemy formation and saw the forward disruptor’s aiming point on his helmet’s heads up display move on top of the ship flying in the middle of the formation. He pulled the trigger on his steering wheel and saw the small ship cut into three pieces as two disruptor dark energy beams hit it. He ignored the other ships as he flew at high speed toward the front of the enemy formation. Twelve ships in each line of the Enemy formation were cut through the middle as the two Attackships blew past them. Michael flew out beyond the front of the formation and whipped the ship around as the twenty-four Legend Warships in the rear of the formation opened fire. Michael poured on the speed and moved to the side of the formation as the surviving enemy ships began to scatter.

Michael saw in his visor that Jay was flying slightly to the right and slightly behind the rear of his ship. He flashed back in on the formation and saw the forward disruptor had another ship in its sights. He pulled the trigger and pulled it again as the disruptor immediately locked on another target. They blew past the formation and Michael pulled back on the steering wheel and went vertical over the remaining ships. Of the twenty-four that survived the initial attack, only six remained. He wondered how his two ships had killed so many so quickly but he put the thought out of his mind. Two of the six survivors tried to move in behind the two Attackships and Jan killed one with a rear disruptor and Josey bagged the other.

“Break off and chase the survivors.”

Jay broke away and flashed by an enemy battleship and it was hit by four disruptor beams as he passed. He dove and took out another ship as it ran away at maximum speed.

Michael saw the two ships to his side of the formation had moved in opposite directions. “I’m going after the one on the right. Target a missile on the other.” Michael saw on his visor’s tactical display that the missile left almost before he had finished giving the order. Jan was good! He blew the ship he was chasing into a huge disruption in the void as the dark energy beam hit the huge ship’s reactors and exploded them.