Jesse's Starship 3: Joshua's Walls (8 page)

Alex smiled and was thankful Josh had gone to visit. This made it worth it, “Yes Sir. Thank you.”

“What are you doing about the jump difficulties with your warriors?”

Josh said, “I shared the latest video of my First Brigade’s jump efforts, Sir. He saw pretty quickly we’re not anywhere near where we should be to go into battle.”

Alex sighed. He was troubled by this as well and was glad he had someone to discuss the issue with, “Sir, it appears humans just don’t have the reflexes to all jump simultaneously. The messages from our eyes and ears are not equal to the Gracken. The method they use to escape won’t work with us, especially with large numbers.”

Mike nodded, “I called the Alliance’s Senior Engineers together as soon as Josh showed me the exercise and”, Mike looked at Josh, “Why don’t you tell him what you told us?”

Josh nodded, “Sir, I’m sorry about surprising you with this.” Alex waved his hand in dismissal. “I suggested to the engineers that we have to take the jump out of the control of our warriors.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed, “You suggested what?”

“Sir, we’re not physically capable of all jumping together. I asked if there is a way where our warriors could be pulled out technologically. I don’t know how it could be done but if the carriers that drop them on a Weg planet could pull them out automatically when a signal is sent…or something like that?”

Alex tilted his head, “Is that possible?”

Mike looked at one of the attendees at the table, “Our Senior Engineer thinks it is?”

Jek looked at Alex and said, “We think so. We have made significant advances in the use of magnetic fields over the last decade. We’ve managed to manipulate them to the point where we can use hundreds of thousands of different magnetic frequencies in close proximity to each other. We think we can put magnetic devices on a carrier such that each warrior on the ground is linked to a single device. Once the device on the carrier is activated, it will pull the warrior off the ground to the device.”

“How fast would they be pulled up to the carrier?”

“We don’t know.”

“How can you pull them up in large numbers and avoid them hitting each other?”

“Again, Commandant, we won’t be able to answer those questions until we actually start building them. “However, your Officer here with us has also requested other items that need to be part of this new carrier design.”

Alex looked at Josh, “Such as?”

Josh took a deep breath and said, “Pricilla and I have discussed the way the Weg can evolve a new species of warrior in a short time. The Jumper they currently are using against the Gracken is not working so we believe that species will be allowed to just die out.” Josh looked at Alex, “Sir, what would be the easiest way to attack warriors jumping off the surface?”

Alex’s eyes narrowed as he ran through several possibilities in his mind. Then he saw it, “They’ll evolve a species that can fly.” Alex stared at Josh, “Do you have anything to support this fear?”

“I contacted Rumel and asked him if he had any probes at the Weg’s home worlds.”

“And?”

“He said he did and I asked him if there were any flying creatures on it. He told me he would get back to me and, an hour after I left the meeting with him, he contacted me and told me that there are. He also said that they were not visible in any recording they had made prior to the Gracken jumping to escape.” Josh paused and said, “I think we know that the Weg are somehow able to communicate with their colonies and if a flying warrior has been evolved on the home world, that piece of information has gone out to the colonies and they are now cooking them up on the invaded planets. Sir, the new carriers will have to have air defenses to hold off any of those flying nightmares.”

Alex looked at Josh and knew he was blessed to have him. He slowly nodded and said, “Why did you go over my head to the Alliance?”

Josh stared at Alex for a moment, looked at Mike briefly, and then said, “To save my division from being eaten alive by those monsters. Going through normal channels would delay us too long. Someone had to do it, Sir.”

Alex smiled as Mike looked at Josh, “You just ruined a great alibi.” Mike looked at Alex, “You have to admit it was a good one.”

Alex laughed, “Yes it was, Sir. However, I know my Officer would not lie to me. Josh, in the future, do what you think needs doing and just let me know. I won’t slow you down. This was the right thing to do.”

Josh smiled, “Thank you, Sir. I felt really bad doing it.”

Mike looked around the table, “We need to come up with a design quickly. The training of Spartan and Earth troops will have to stop until this delivery system is developed.”

Jek looked at Josh, “Do you have any idea how many of those flying creatures might be attacking the carriers?”

Josh looked at Alex on the monitor and then turned back to Jek, “It could be in the millions.”

Jek’s shock was obvious. After a moment he shrugged and looked at the other engineers sitting at the table, “Then we need to design them to escape that number. A carrier will not have the size or power to carry Q ship caliber weapons.”

Alex said, “How long will it take to develop a working model?”

Jek looked at the other engineers at the table and watched them hold up fingers or limbs. Alex saw most of them were holding up three or four. He didn’t think the Gracken could wait three of four years for them to join the effort. He was stunned when Jek said, “We should have a working model in about three weeks.”

“WHAT?”

“We might do it faster. It all depends on whether or not the new small reactors can produce enough power to operate the magnetic recall system as well as the blasters. I suspect they will do either but not both.”

Alex shook his head, “Josh, please stay there until the model is ready. When they have it ready you can use your division to trial it on Sparta. Who do you want to command your division in your absence?”

“Col. Yokawo, Sir.”

Alex smiled, “That’s a good choice.”

“She’s ready for her own command, Sir.”

“I’ll look into it but first the Carrier.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

Rumel looked at the recordings from the Weg Home World and said over his shoulder, “Can you bring those flying creatures in closer?”

“I’ll try, the probe is a long way out, Group Commander.”

Rumel watched the monitor closely and the image was grainy at best. Suddenly, a clear image appeared of a large flock of the creatures and then it was gone. “Stop and roll the recording back.”

The images on the monitor froze and then began moving slowly in reverse. After a few moments, the clear image appeared and froze on the monitor. Rumel walked forward and looked at the creatures. “It appears there are several different species on this image.”

The Scan Commander nodded, “Yes, Commander, my computer tells me there are six different creatures. However, it appears that one of them outnumbers the others by eight to one.”

“Show me a close up of that one.” A green and orange colored creature began growing on the monitor and Rumel said, “Freeze it there.” Rumel walked up closer to the monitor and immediately felt fear. The huge flying Weg had two arms with one of them having the glowing claws. The other one also had ten claws but they didn’t glow. He wondered why but then he looked at the body of the creature and saw a flap of skin on its chest. He said, “Bring that flap of skin on its chest closer.” The view moved in and he knew trouble lay ahead. Sticking out of the skin fold was the handle of what had to be a blaster.

Rumel looked at his Scan Commander, “How many probes do we have scanning that planet?”

“Twenty.”

“I want the records of all of them examined and I want to know when those flying creatures first appeared.” Rumel went to his command chair, sat down, and waited impatiently for the answer to come in. Ten hours later, his communication panel lit up, “What did you find out!?!”

“Commander, it appears the flying creature you are asking about appeared six weeks ago. The first species began appearing a month after we started using the human’s jump boots but the one with the skin fold was first seen six weeks ago.”

Rumel jumped up and said, “Has the attack on Nogon started!?”

“They dropped on the planet forty minutes ago, Commander.”

Rumel pushed his panel and said, “Commander, recall your warriors from the planet. They’re dropping into a dangerous situation.”

The Gracken Commander looked at Rumel on his display and said, “Since when has danger ever slowed us down?”

Rumel stood up, “If you don’t want to watch all of your warriors killed, RECALL THEM NOW!!”

The Gracken Commander stared at Rumel for a moment and turned back to his board. Rumel watched him and suddenly saw shock on the Commander’s face. Rumel slowly sat down in his command chair and knew he had taken too long.

• • •

The Ground Commander of the Gracken Brigade looked at his ranks and saw his brigade and the Second Brigade were performing at their normal high standards. The charging Weg were being blasted at a rate that was better than he ever expected. He watched his nine-foot tall warriors handling their huge weapons with a dexterity that was simply beautiful to watch. He looked out from the wall of the mountain his forces were lined up against and looked up at a clear sky that was a fitting backdrop for the engagement. He suddenly felt that too much time had passed since the attack started. Usually, by this time, the Weg would have arrived under their positions and they would have jumped to the carriers. Something was wrong.

He fell back as the air around his warriors was suddenly filled with a giant mass of creatures boiling up out of the ground in front of his positions. He ordered his warriors to jump and as he rose toward his carriers he saw them covered with flying creatures. He felt a huge pull on his back as one of the flying monsters landed on his backpack and ripped through his force field with ten glowing claws. He reached over his back and grabbed the Weg with an armored fist and pulled it in front of him. He grabbed it by the head and twisted savagely. He tossed the dead creature away as three more came flying in and grabbed his armor. The last thing he saw was his entire command falling from the sky toward the ground below where their self-destruct circuits activated and blew up their armor and weapons in massive blasts.

Immediately after the Gracken Warriors fell, the carriers above them were ripped by blaster fire and they also exploded in huge explosions that killed thousands of the flying creatures on and around them. As the last one detonated, the sky was filled with flying Weg as hundreds of thousands emerged from the soil and took to the air.

The Gracken Commander looked at Rumel on his display and said, “I will send you a recording of what happened.”

Rumel’s display went dark and he knew he didn’t have to view the recording to know that the Commander had suffered a devastating defeat. The war had undergone a new change and the Weg were, once again, ahead of the Gracken Military. He shook his head and knew that now his forces were totally defensive. He took a deep breath and, before he viewed the recording, he sent a copy of it to the Human General named Adams. The only weapon he had to use against them were the fleet’s warships that would keep them contained to the invaded planets. Sending warriors down to the surface was a death sentence. Now the only option was to destroy the planets and that saddened him more than he wanted to admit.

• • •

Josh received a transmission from Rumel and watched it on his combat helmet. He sat down in a chair and the engineers working around him saw his expression. They stopped what they were doing and grew silent as they saw tears on his face. Josh transferred the recording to the wall monitor and replayed it. The Alliance Engineers watched the recording in silence and at the end Jek looked around and said, “They are dying fighting those creatures. Now we know what we’re up against. It’s up to us to give them something to save them.”

Josh sent the recording to Alex and left the room to grieve for the lost Gracken Brigade. That could have been his command and he knew there was nothing in his inventory to survive the new flying Weg. He felt like the person who gave his seat up on a plane that then crashes killed everyone on board. The adrenaline entering his system made him feel shaky and he called Pricilla. She brought the Q ship assigned to them and joined him on the planet. He was thankful she was there. Her comfort settled him down where he could think clearly. Both of them agreed that they hated being right about flying Weg. However, her presence would prove to be the pivotal event in the new carrier’s development.

• • •

The Queen watched the destruction of the Metal Monsters and felt her joy surge. The Male saw her normal orange color glow brightly and she said, “Cease all standard eggs and change the new ones to the flying warriors.”

“They are not as capable at digging our structures.”

“We have more than enough diggers to accomplish what we need. This new warrior will win this conflict for us. Now we can build as many starships as we choose without interference. They will never be able to stop all of them now. Do as I say.” The Male lowered himself to the ground and backed out of the Queen’s chamber. She watched him go and thought about when she was going to devour him. It was getting close to the time when she would need to feed again to fertilize the billions of eggs just now developing in her giant abdomen. She watched him go and felt her hunger.

• • •

The second platoon in Delta Company watched the new video of the failed Gracken attack and Private Yung said, “Why did I ever join the army?”

Cpl. Shumoud looked at him, “That’s easy, Yung. Where else would you get such good food?”

Sgt. Krusiev looked at them, “This does look dangerous.”

The platoon gathered around Krusiev and Yung said, “Sarge, we wouldn’t last a minute against them. Getting our jumps together just became a moot point. They’d be on us before we could get ten feet off the ground.”

Krusiev looked at Yung and then at the other members of his platoon and though he didn’t want to say it, he did. “You’re right.”