Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) (7 page)

The Lead Master looked at the others, “It appears they have been rather sneaky.”

The Second Maser said, “Do tell. How many of those ships do you think they have?”

The Leader raised his head, “How many could we build in eighteen years?”

“That is not good.”

“Perhaps we should communicate with them now.”

“Do you think they’ll talk?”

“Does it matter? I’d like to delay any retaliation they might plan until we can determine their strength.”

The Masters looked at their Leader. The Second said, “You still intend to remove them?”

“Now more than before. You’ve seen the danger they represent.”

“They did promise to stay away and have appeared to keep their word.”

“Yes, but that’s wind over the wall; what we’ve done can’t be undone. They will take action against us.”

The Masters looked at each other and didn’t like what they had just observed.

• • •

Gibbs felt the small bump as the front tubes on the Wellington launched six of the new Dark Energy Penetrators. Gibbs grabbed the arms of his chair as Angel pulled back on the steering controls and turned the ship into a violent 180 degree turn. Gibbs gritted his teeth as Angel said, “Our barrages have stopped and we’re outside the range of their beams. We’ll come back around for another run once we’re inside fifty miles.”

Stone said, “It won’t be necessary, Sir.”

Angel completed the circle and looked at her visor. The six alien ships were hanging in space. Three of them were blown apart and the other three were on fire. Angel looked at the microphone on her visor and said, “Grest, Arve, move your ships between those derelicts and Earth. Be prepared to fire a barrage if they launch nuclear missiles at the planet.”

Gibbs watched the tactical display on his visor and saw the other two Jukeboxes come screaming in at an incredible velocity and take station twenty miles on each side of the Wellington. A few moments later, two of the three alien ships launched a massive missile barrage before they self-destructed. The three new Jukeboxes fired a barrage in the path of the incoming missiles and they were all blasted before they moved ten miles. The barrages continued past the missiles and hit the burning enemy warships and disintegrated them.

Angel listened to the Fleet’s Command Frequency and said to Arve and Grest, “There are incoming Jukeboxes moving at light speed; please take up station above the planet until we’re relieved. Admiral Gibbs will be giving instructions momentarily.”

Gibbs looked at Angel as she said, “We have a hundred new Jukeboxes moving in, Sir. They request instructions on where to go.”

Gibbs stared at Angel and said, “Divide them into three groups and have one of the groups form up on each of your ships. You may decide where the best place is to go to defend the planet.”

Angel was shocked at Gibb’s statement and then she began giving instructions. Gibbs watched how she built a layer of ships from above the planet out to the moon and was impressed. It appeared Arvolo’s children might just be as good as he was…maybe better.

• • •

The Senior Admirals watched the battle from the feed generated by four probes strategically placed around Earth. They all remained in their chairs knowing they had no chance to get off the planet if those six ships broke through Earth’s defenses and they would have been forced to reveal the planetary force field. Katherine guessed they would find out how good the planetary force field really was if it came down to it. She watched the first six Jukeboxes destroyed and shook her head, “Those ships have been modified.” She looked at Belwen, “It appears the old model won’t stand up to those Alien’s ships.”

Belwen looked up from his panel and smiled, “The issue is power. Adding more powerful fuel to an old reactor isn’t as good as replacing it with a newer model. Now that the new ships are here, you can send the old ones to be retrofit with the new reactor. They won’t take the hull stresses of the new model but if we add the modifications those three children made to their ships; I think they might be able to hold their own.”

Dat looked at Belwen, “What changes did you see?”

“They’ve found a way to get the new blaster to build up energy and release it in a pulse. They’ve also managed to manipulate the shape of the force field so that it assumes the shape of a cone. According to my measurements, it increased the power fivefold.”

Gresha nodded, “They used that new blaster to prevent an attack from the open end of the cone.”

Belwen nodded, “Yes they did.”

Katherine looked at Belwen, “Could they have stopped those invaders without the modifications they did?”

Belwen tilted his head and shook it slightly, “I doubt they would have stopped them all. One would have probably made it through.”

Katherine looked at Brad, “Please collect the information on what they did and start modifying all our new ships.”

“I’ll get on it right away.”

Katherine looked at Dat, “Whatever they did to make those changes, their ships didn’t have to be rebuilt; the other ships should be modified rather easily. What are you going to do with them?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re certainly not going to punish them for something that saved our lives and allowed us to keep the planetary force field secret. They’ve also demonstrated remarkable command skills during this encounter.”

Dat looked at Gresha and saw her slowly shake her head and turned back to Katherine, “Sir, They’re only eighteen years old; putting them in a command role would cause resentment among senior ship commanders ordered to report to them; there are many officers with more seniority that would also take offense at being passed over for promotion by them.”

Katherine stared at Dat and said, “How do their crews feel about them?”

Dat shook his head, “I honestly don’t know. I’ve done my best not to show any partiality toward them.”

“I do.”

Everyone looked at Kelli, “I was with the fleets prior to them coming here and I was curious about how Dat’s children were being received by their ship’s crews. I had my Executive Officer accidentally show up at a bar that Angelica’s crew frequented. He says they were suspicious at first but now they’d fight anyone that shows her disrespect. It appears they believe she takes keeping them safe quite seriously. That’s why no one heard about the modifications. Their crews won’t do anything that would cause their Captains issues. These changes weren’t mentioned to anyone outside of the three Arvolo’s crews.” Kelli paused, “You know how difficult it is to keep that sort of information off the grapevine.”

Katherine looked at Brad, “Issue promotion papers for those three. Make them Commodores and give them three thousand Jukeboxes to command. Assign all three groups to a planet with a spaceport and give them sixty days to train their commands.”

Dat stared at Katherine, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Katherine smiled, “How old were you when you were secretly promoted to Fleet Admiral?”

“That’s different.”

“How old, Dat?”

Dat sighed, “Nineteen.”

“I suspect they’ll do quite well. You’re more concerned about frivolous issues that revolve around your reputation instead of strengthening our fleet. They could add to our strength.”

“Playing favorites is not frivolous.”

“You saw the battle. Do you not think the rest of our fleets won’t be shown this recording; they’ll see how they piloted their ships? I suspect if you ask for volunteers to join their units, you’ll be overwhelmed with requests.” Katherine thought for a moment and said, “That is exactly how we’re going to do it. Brad, send the recording of this battle out to all our ships along with a request for ships to volunteer to form three elite units that will be used to carry out our most difficult missions. Let them know the three Arvolos will be commanding them.”

Gibbs entered the room, sat down, and listened to Katherine. He shook his head, “You can do whatever you want with them but they
will
stay in my fleet.”

Shane leaned back, “Why?”

Gibbs shook his head and looked at Dat, “I think they just might be better than you are. That is one fine officer I just flew with. Her crew loves her.”

Dat smiled and leaned back in his chair, reached over, and took Gresha’s hand, as the other three Fleet Admirals argued about who was going to get one of the three Arvolo triplets. Gresha ended the argument when she said, “You’ve seen how they work together. They almost read each other’s mind. I would think you would want them to become exactly what Admiral Hull suggested.”

Gibbs said, “What is that?”

“An elite unit any of you could call on to assist your fleets when needed.”

Gibbs looked at Shane and Matt. They shrugged and Gibbs said, “Which of the three will command their unit?”

Gresha and Dat both said at the same moment, “Angelica.”

Katherine looked at them and smiled, “Why do you say that?”

Gresha smiled, “She’s the glue that holds them together. Grest is the strong one that will not bend and Arve is the risk taker. They both depend on her to find consensus among them. I think if you review the fight you’ll see that it was Angel that made the decisions and her brothers followed her without a second thought.”

Dat said, “She won’t accept the position.”

Kat’s eyebrows came together, “Oh, why not?”

“She’ll feel like her bothers are being slighted. If you want her to command the unit you are going to have to interview the brothers first and see what they say about being in command over her.”

Katherine looked at Gibbs and said, “Call them in and conduct the interviews.”

Gibbs looked at his executive officer and he left the room to make the calls.

• • •

Angel sat at a table in the Ship’s cafeteria and pushed her food around her plate. Captain Stone saw her sitting alone as he picked up his tray and walked over to her table, “Do you mind if I join you, Sir?”

Angel looked up and nodded to the chair across from her. Stone sat down and started eating. Angel smiled, “Captain, you did a remarkable job coordinating the ship’s weapon’s today; I was highly impressed with what you accomplished in our first combat.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Angel nodded and looked at her plate. Stone sat back and stared at her, “Do you know what Fleet is going to do about the modifications we made?”

Angel looked up, sighed, and shook her head, “My brothers and I have been ordered to report to Fleet Headquarters to be interviewed; they will be questioned first and I’ll go last.”

Stone looked into Angelica’s eyes and said, “The crew has signed a petition requesting Fleet to not change our current Captain, Sir. We’ve sent the request directly to Admiral Hull’s attention.”

Angel was surprised at the statement, “Whose idea was that?”

Stone shrugged, “Mine, Sir.”

“But this would give you command of a ship if I’m removed?”

“Some things aren’t as important as seeing that the right thing is done, Sir. We’re better with you in command; I’m nowhere close to being as good as you are.”

Angel blew out a breath and her wrist communicator beeped. She looked at it and shook her head, “They want me to report now.”

She stood up and Stone reached over and pulled her tray over to him, “I’ll take care of this.” Angel nodded and left the cafeteria. As soon as she left the room, every sailor in the cafeteria ran over and asked Stone what was going to happen. He told them he didn’t know but to be prepared to request Fleet to come to their ship and discuss the issue with them if Angel was removed from command. He saw the crew was determined to resist accepting anyone else. Stone hoped his Commander was going to be ok.

• • •

Angel entered Fleet Headquarters and was taken to an office. She found Admirals Gibbs, Matthews, and McCagg sitting at a table. She went to attention and saluted. Gibbs returned her salute and said, “Take a Chair, Captain.” Angel sat down across from the three Fleet Admirals and wondered if she was going to be sent to prison or kicked out of the service. Gibbs looked at her and said, “Captain Arvolo that was one of the finest jobs of using your ships that I’ve ever seen today. You and you brothers did a remarkable job of defending Earth and I saw that your success was due in large part to the modifications you made on your ship.”

Angel nodded, “They did improve our chances.”

“The Senior Admirals have discussed what happened and Admiral Hull has issued orders that all of our new Jukeboxes will be modified to use the new systems you and your brothers developed. There will be no disciplinary action taken regarding the unauthorized tampering to Fleet Weapon Systems.”

Angel blew out a breath she had been holding and said, “Thank you, Sir.”

“There will be one thing changed regarding your current post in the Navy.”

Angel looked at Gibbs and shook her head, “Please don’t take my ship, Sir.”

“I’m sorry, Admiral; that’s going to happen.”

Angel lowered her head for a moment and then jerked her head up, “What do you mean Admiral?”

“You’ve been promoted to Rear Admiral and will take command of three strike groups that will be used on our most difficult missions. Your brothers will be promoted to Commodore and will command one of them. I need you to select the third Commander to take the other unit.”

“Sir, I appreciate your confidence in me but…”

“Your brothers said they would not accept the command. They insist that you are best qualified to lead the new Fleet.”

Angel stared at the three Admirals and said, “Don’t you think my brothers and I are a little too young to do this? I don’t think most ship commanders would want to report to a teenager.”

“We’re sent the recording of your battle out to the fleets and asked for volunteers to join your unit. We need nine thousand and have had twenty thousand requests come in during the first hour; they’re still coming in as we speak.”

Angel’s eyes widened; she opened her mouth and then closed it. She didn’t know what to say. Admiral Matthews said, “Do you have someone in mind to command the third unit?”

“Captain Stone would be my first choice; he knows as much about the new systems as my brothers and I.”