Tomorrow's Paradise World: Colonize (15 page)

The fleet surrounding the mothership had started to concentrate their attack on the moon base. This action indicated that it was now time for phase three of the battle. He ordered the other two squadrons to follow them, until they were about a thousand meters out of range of the base’s pulse devices. One squadron would guard one hundred and eighty degrees of the base while the other one guarded the other half.

The ships in their squadrons changed configuration. They lined up side by side facing the base, still within the safety of their group shields. They were to take care of any battleships that came into range allowing none to escape. Hopefully, these battleships would not do fly-by’s at high speeds with dangerous trajectories, or they would suffer the same outcome as the first ship that crashed into the hill. Taerg urged them to be careful as possible and to trigger the pulse only when it offered the occupants enough time to use their manual ejection devices. Understandably, this was a difficult thing to discern. In an atmosphere, the parachute could also be manually deployed so that the three occupants would safely land outside the perimeter of the shields. When the battle was over, they would all have to be captured and held until it was decided what would be done with them.

*              *              *

“Well, it looks like most of the focus has been switched back to us,” said Victor, “just as we surmised it would.

“Yes. I wonder how long it will take for us to neutralize them all.” Ylil said thoughtfully.

“I guess that depends on them. How aggressive they are or how cautious they are. They seem to be for the moment, more cautious. I think viewing the wreckage of the first ship has made an impression on them. Hopefully, this will mean less people foolishly dying in flaming wreckage.”

Victor and Ylil were not worried about their welfare at all. They knew that there was no chance that the battleships could penetrate their defenses. Not even if there were ten thousand of them. What Captain Anderson did not realize, is that this is where all the shielding devices were stored. In a situation like this, all of them automatically became active. They were all linked together so that when they were shut off to activate the pulse devices, all of them were shut off. Only to be automatically turned back on, when the pulse devices finished their firing sequence before the shields started to dissipate.

Additionally, there were fifty people trained in the use of these pulse devices under the capable command of Lieutenant Julia Dixon. They were targeting the battleships and firing during the window made available every minute, but not exactly every minute. The time was staggered randomly to keep the battleships in the dark. The result being, they could not predict exactly when the pulses would be fired. Each operator had a countdown indicator on their computer screens. Failsafe’s had been programmed into them, so that they could not be accidentally activated while the shields were up. There was no chance at all that these two hundred or so battleships, could succeed in bringing down their shields. It was only a matter of time.

When the three ships attacked them at the outset, their powerful moon base feigned only feeble abilities, with only one pulse device. They allowed some of the missiles to hit their shields. This strategy of false limitations was all planned. However, this was phase three, the final phase of this battle. Now, there would be no pretending. There would only be decisive action. This phase of the battle would be completed rather quickly. Probably, before it was time to have dinner.

Despite the fact that many missiles and lasers were now hitting the shields during the time in between firing the pulse, everyone was very confident, without any fear. There was only concern for the individuals in the battleships. All these battleships would crash, unless they were recalled to the mothership. There would be an extensive cleanup operation after this battle.

*              *              *

Taerg could see that there were only six battleships left, evasively circling his squadron. He said to everyone, “Okay, this is it, these are the best pilots left in this group. So, I think it is appropriate that they have two of our pulse devices firing at each of them. You all have your preassigned targets. Lock on to them now, as our shields deactivate, in three-two-one. Fire!”

As the shields automatically reactivated, Taerg could see that all of the battleships were neutralized. “That probably surprised them. Let’s join the effort below and help them finish this off more quickly.”

When they arrived on the scene, they joined the squadrons already there. Taerg looked at the battle. From what he could see, he estimated that there were one hundred battleships left. He looked around the base and it was shocking, to see so many destroyed ships scattered all around. He was hoping that there were no more casualties, but sadly the situation did not look favorable. He could see people staggering around, taking cover from the battle raging above their heads. He would never forget this scene. Such scenes of terror and desperation were not what he was accustomed to.

He forced his mind to concentrate on the mission at hand. Neutralize without loss of life. This was a noble objective, but he was starting to understand Victor’s frustration. Given their present circumstances, it was simply impossible to achieve this goal. One factor stood out from the rest, as to why they failed in this aspect of their mission. There was no control over their opponent’s actions. These people were getting themselves killed, because they were taking risks that they ought not to. If a battleship flew towards the ground or a mountain, how could they prevent the crash? It was pilot error or foolishness that was causing all the tragedy. After all this was over they would have to examine the recordings carefully. They would search for ways, to improve their chances of fulfilling their noble objective for the next confrontation. Taerg knew there would be more of this to come, as the years flew by.

*              *              *

Captain Anderson’s heart sank, as he watched the fruitless efforts of the battleships attacking the moon base. He could tell that the pilots left were highly skilled pilots. Nevertheless, it was only a matter of time, before there would be no battleships left. “Mister Lewis how many battleships left?”

“Seventy three sir.”

“Recall them. Tell them to return at top speed. We need them to retreat to a safe distance, while we think up another plan of action for them.”

“Will we return to Homeworld?”

“Yes, it is critical that we inform them of the technology that these people have. We need to make plans to obtain it for them. It is unfortunate that our mission here has not been accomplished. It is more crucial though, that the authorities on Homeworld, see for themselves the recordings of this battle.”

After a few minutes the communications officer said, “Sir, only forty three ships made it back to Mothership without being neutralized. However, the enemy has followed them all the way deactivating many of the original seventy three. The remaining forty three are still under attack.

“Put me through to the moon base.”

“Yes sir.”

When Captain Anderson saw the smiling face of Victor, he could barely restrain himself from yelling insults at him. However, he managed to summon the strength to say, “Please, Mister Marcus, call off your fleet. We need to take the remaining battleships and this mothership back to Homeworld.”

“Call off the fleet. Why would we do that? Why would we let anyone return to Homeworld? You must know Captain, that it would not be prudent for us to allow you to report your findings to Homeworld. This will enable them to mount another unwarranted attack, on these blameless people. No, you had your chance of returning at the outset and you did not take advantage of that gracious offer. I am afraid, it is much too late for that now. You must surrender to our terms and live with them, for the rest of your lives.”

“Mister Marcus, that is not acceptable. There are twenty four thousand people here on this ship that would disagree. How could you take all those innocent people as prisoners? You know that would not be right. They need to be free, to return to their home world.”

“Please be assured Captain, that we will not be taking them as prisoners of war. I admit that the option of returning home, is not available to them, as a choice. However, given the circumstances, they will have some rather unexpected, but very pleasant choices before them. That is, once you agree to the terms of surrender.”

“Out of curiosity, what are your terms of surrender?”

“You will first shut down your engines and bring them offline. Then you will command what is left of your fleet, to land on your ship in the appropriate docking bays. When everyone is on board, you must simply wait Captain. You wait, while we tow all of your neutralized battleships, back to your mothership. Each of the occupants, will have to put on their EV suits to access the air locks on the outside of your mothership. All these derelict ships will be gathered, then towed to your mothership. They will be stored there until further decisions have been made as to what to do with them. This will take days. We will inform you then, of any further directions.”

“What if we do not agree?”

“Then the engines on your illustrious mothership, will be the next target for neutralization. I think that I do not need to elaborate, any more than that.”

“May I have a moment to confer with my command crew?”

“Sure, but I expect their opinions will be to surrender.”

“Thank you.” Captain Anderson said as he switched off communications. He turned to look at his command crew. He was not going to confer with them. His plan was already in motion. He simply said, “Proceed with mission B.”  Then turning to the pilot he said: “Retreat and return.”

*              *              *

Victor and Ylil were waiting for Captain Anderson’s response for about three minutes. Up until the moment when Ylil looked at her computer screen and said, “Oh no!”

“What’s wrong?”

“A ship just entered hyperspace from about five hundred thousand kilometers away.”

“Really? How did we miss it?”

“It came from the other side of a small asteroid, before it began accelerating to high velocity. They must have been hiding and upon realizing there was no hope with the battle, they escaped.”

“They… I wonder who they are.”

Then it all made sense to him, though to make sure he tried to hail the mothership. As he suspected, the normal response from Captain Anderson, was not there. It took a few moments and a woman’s face, appeared on the screen. She looked to be approximately the same age as Victor. She was dressed in some sort of uniform, but it did not appear to be a military uniform. At first, she appeared confused when she saw Victor and Ylil. She gazed more closely at her view screen. An expression of startled recognition appeared on her face and she smiled and said, “Victor Marcus, is that really you? You look different. What is happening? Our hails have gone unanswered, for about five hours. Part of our ship was hit with some sort of pulse that deactivated all systems in section sixteen. For the last few hours, we have been watching a battle raging around us. Can you explain any of this?”

“Andrea Harvey, it is such a pleasant surprise to meet you here, of all places. I promise to explain everything to you, but first I need to ask you some questions. Is that okay?”

“Of course. I’ll try to be as accurate as possible.”

“Andrea, are there any military personnel on board?”

“No, Mister Marcus. This is a ship that is dedicated to colonization efforts alone. We only have weapons, supplies and colonization equipment stored here.”

“Are you in command?”

“Yes.”

“That is wonderful, Andrea. Congratulations on your achievements. I always knew you would do well with command. Your selection and trials at the academy certainly proved that.”

“Thank You. That means something, coming from you.”

Ylil looked over at her husband. He was happily smiling away at this woman that seemed very well acquainted with him. She noticed that when this woman spoke to Victor, her tone of voice indicated that she had a great deal of respect for Victor. Almost an adoration of him. She seemed to be even a little nervous, speaking to him. Ylil was not the jealous sort. However, she thought that she should get involved with the conversation. “It is amazing, that you two actually know each other. What are the odds of that?”

Victor looked at Ylil and said, “It does seem very unusual, doesn’t it? Andrea, please meet my wife Ylil, the most brilliant scientist I have ever met.” Both women smiled at each other and nodded their heads in greeting. Victor continued, “Andrea, it appears that we have a lot of catching up to do. I think it would be best to meet here, on the base. Would you be willing to take a shuttle to the office section of the hangar on the moon base, so we can do that and make plans to handle the current situation?”

“I think that would be a good idea.”

“First though, do you see all those disabled ships and the few that are not disabled surrounding you?”

“Yes.”

“Could you please, instruct those that are not disabled, to land in one of your docking bays? Initiating rescue efforts for those disabled ships, would be very helpful. Additionally, and this is very important, could you put the occupants of each battleship, temporarily in the the brig?”