The Destroyers Book 3 Civil WarChapter 23 Space Docks
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The Battle for the Space Docks
Federation Fleet
Captain John Wilkes walked onto the bridge of the USS America and looked at the main screen. The news he had just received about the takeover had him nervous about possible saboteurs or traitors on board his command.
Pressing the intercom, he started to address the crew, "This is the Captain speaking. All hands man your battlestations. This is not a drill. Units of the United States Military have engaged our bases on the moon and the Arizona base. Both space docks have fallen to the enemy and our people are now prisoners. We have been ordered to proceed to Pluto base and protect our assets there..." releasing the intercom, he turned towards the com station saying, "Send the orders to Bismarck Sea, and the Caspian Sea to join on us and proceed to Pluto base."
"Messages sent sir, both destroyers are moving up to flank us," Lieutenant Jamie Esquire said from her com station.
"Good, now notify Commander Dubuque that we are proceeding to Pluto base where we will take up station to watch over the bases there, and that he is to proceed with all haste to the repairs of the medical ship Relief. I want an estimate when repairs will be completed."
Turning, John looked at his Chief of Security, Major Samantha O'Neil.
"Major O'Neil, I want you to deploy your Marines around the ship in pairs for possible signs of sabotage."
"Yes, Sir," replied Sam as she turned to her security board and started enacting her orders.
Pluto
The three ships turned and headed for a rendezvous with their outer most defense stations and repair docks. After a small fold, the three ships pulled in beside the new space station. Over in the repair docks the remains of the Vaskat and the USS Relief were docked. Repair spiders were swarming all over the Relief, trying to get her back into operations. While Federation Naval intelligence was going through the Vaskat trying to dig up all the clues of the T'Lari they could, they were mostly concentrating on her new weapon systems and her multi-phased shield generators that had protected her bridge and her rear defense towers.
Space Dock Two
Aboard Space Dock Two, seventeen-year-old Judy McGregor watched the United States Marines outside of the window of their quarters. They were herding the defense forces into a large pen. Behind her, her sisters were replicating needlers and explosives. She looked to the door when it opened and smiled as her husband of two weeks entered the room.
Ian McGregor walked over to his wives and kissed all five of them. Once prisoners of the T'Lari, he had fallen in love with them when they escaped after he was caught.
"Judy, are we ready to go?"
"Almost. Charity is replicating some ghost camosuits for us, while Alexis and Abigail get the weapons and explosives. Beth is watching the back," Judy said as she looked back out the window.
"Okay, let's get the suits on, I checked and the maintenance tunnel is empty right now. First we need to turn off our locator beacons so we cannot be found."
"I've got that taken care of, Ian," Charity said as she came over with a med scanner and ran the small box along his skull, and then continued, "We're all shut down."
"Okay first targets are those two destroyers that are almost finished. I figure we can take out their support pylons, it should crash them to the bottom of the dock, hopefully wrenching them out of alignment."
"Sounds good Ian," said fifteen-year-old Beth as she came out of the backroom.
Ian leaned over, gave Beth a kiss, then sealed his suit, and activated it.
The six of them left the apartment together and ran to the transport shaft that Ian had pried open. Activating their antigravity belts, they started descending.
Ian watched his wives descend, and then stepped in to the tube and hovered. Pulling the crowbar out, the doors snapped shut, he followed his lovers down to the bottom of the transit shaft, and they stepped out into the maintenance passageways.
"What now, Ian," Alexis asked as she readied her plasma rifle.
"We head for the docks. They are three miles north from us. I am just glad Space Dock Two is larger than one. It means more territory for the Americans to cover."
Pulling up the portable scanner, he scanned for life forms and only detected the ones up above.
"Let's get going. I have point, you follow at fifteen foot intervals," Ian said as he started jogging down the tunnel. His wives were right behind them, lugging their two hundred pound packs as if they weighed twenty pounds.
Passing through several cross tunnels, they reached the bottom of the gantries for the destroyers, and Ian looked out the air vent at the bottom of the USS Matt Wilson and the USS James Sanders.
"Hate to do this to two destroyers named after our own dead. But it's got to be done," Ian said as he looked at the destroyers.
"I know, Ian, but we can't let them have the ships," Beth said as she knelt beside him.
"Yep. Okay, we will split into three teams. Beth, you and Charity take the Sanders. Alexis and Abigail you're on guard duty ... you're have to keep us covered. Judy, you and I have the Wilson. Now Beth, go for the forward pylons, there are four of them, we will take the stern ones of the Wilson. When they blow, I am hoping they will wrench out of alignment and damage both ships beyond salvage."
"Okay, let's go," Beth said as she removed the grate and climbed out.
Dropping to the cross beam sixty feet below. Charity followed her sister then the rest of them were out of the vent and dropping to the beams. Using the belts they skipped along the main support beams and started planting their explosives. Around them, spider bots were trying to finish painting the hull as they worked. Twenty minutes later, they were finished, and were climbing back into the vents. Two hours later and one replicator later, they were ten miles away and were looking at the bottom of the USS Ark Royal.
Lieutenant Commander Samuel Higgins, United States Navy, walked onto the bridge of the USS George Herbert Walker Bush, the former USS Matt Wilson, and looked around at the stations that were manned.
"How long until we can launch?" he asked.
"About three minutes, Sir, we are bringing the fusion plants online, now."
"Good. I just wish I could have had the carrier. Damn it, I am a naval aviator, not a greyhound driver."
"Well, Sir, right now you are ... and we now have power," Ensign Jeff Whale said as the power came up on the main screens.
"You're right ensign, prepare..."
The explosives detonated, and the alarm sounded throughout the ship as the stern dropped, and twisted as she crashed down on the main deck of the dock. Explosions detonated as the massive two hundred pound charge ruptured the keel and she snapped in half. In the forward part of the dock, the bow of the USS James Sanders snapped off. It dropped down onto the bottom dock, and exploded into twisted scrap.
A containment field of one of the antimatter warheads exploded and a tenth of the huge dock disappeared into oblivion, along with six thousand United States Naval personnel.
"Shit, Ian, you have to be kidding?" Judy said as she looked at the huge ship.
"Nope, we have to get onboard her and blow her engines. It's the only way we can keep her out of the fight. We do not have enough explosives to crack her keel as we plan to do with the destroyers. So it's the only way we can keep her out of..."
The explosion caused the dock to actually shift her orbit and knocked everyone to the deck. Alarms sounded throughout the dock as parts of the station were sheered off.
"Fuck! What was that?" Charity said as she got to her feet.
Ian checked his watched and grinned, "that's two tin cans down, and a flattop to go."
"You mean?" Judy started to ask.
"Yep, the destroyers just blew up."
Adjusting his pack, Ian looked around and signaled for everyone to come out onto the beam. Moving quickly, they stopped under one of the maintenance hatches, and activated their antigravity belts and flew up to hull of the ship.
Entering the standard opening code, the hatch opened and they went inside.
Elizabeth Howler watched what she assumed were six United States Marines entering her hull. Activating her internal com system, she eavesdropped on them. Capturing their facial images, she ran them through the New Federation database and quickly came up with a match of one of the Washington's Marines who was on medical leave due to severe wounds suffered aboard the T'Lari battleship and his five wives.
"Ian, which way is the engine room?"
"I think it's this way Beth, this ship is way different from the Washington."
"Good as soon as we get there we can plant the explosives and get the hell out of here and back into the warrens of the dock."
Making her decision after listening to their conversation Elizabeth appeared behind the six humans, and said, "I am sorry, I cannot allow you to blow my engines up. I may need them."
Ian dropped and rolled, coming up with his plasma rifle and fired. Liquid plasma flew through the image of a young woman and smashed into the wall behind her, bursting into flames.
Elizabeth looked over her shoulder and a force field came on and smothered the plasma fire before it could spread.
"I will not hurt you Sergeant McGregor nor will I hurt your wives. Welcome aboard the USS Ark Royal, CV 1 of the Terran Navy, if you like you may come to the bridge to see what is going on."
"Who are you? Ian asked as he kept his rifle on the hologram.
"I am Elizabeth Howler and I am the ship's AI/Interface, I have locked down all the access ports for this ship. I had forgotten about the maintenance hatches but that oversight has been corrected."
"Can you tell us what else is going on?" Judy asked as she removed the pack full of explosives.
"Well, Judy, it seems that your destruction of the two destroyers has upset their plans, they are airlifting all prisoners off of the station and taking them to Terra, I am tracking them to a remote part of Alaska."
"What about SPD1? Any word on what's happing over there?" Ian asked as they walked to one of the transport tubes.
"I know Commodore Thompson, his wife and fifty of our highest ranking officers are dead including Captain Takia Tanaka, his wife and the executive officer of the Yamato. Scanners detected the explosion on the far side of Kuiper belt right after she folded away from the dock, the size of the detonation suggest it was a scuttling charge that blew."
"Damn it, why would she do that?" Ian asked as the transport tubes opened and they stepped inside.
"I can only assume that their troops were trying to take over and Nancy Dwight, the ships interface, blew the ship to prevent it."
"Well hopefully she took a lot of the bastards with her," Ian said grimly as the transport tube came to a stop and they walked out on to the command deck.
Sergeant Anthony Belleview led his squad down the maintenance passageways. They were looking for more of the terrorists who were hiding down there.
Activating his throat mike, he said, "They have to be here somewhere. Pickens, switch places with Jones."
"Yes, Sir," replied the big Marine as he moved up with his M-60 light machine gun clutched in one hand.
Richie watched the Marines getting closer, the little needler in his hand was pointing at the leader of the squad. The thirteen-year-old's knees were literally knocking in fear and he gulped as the huge man in the lead walked past their hidden location, behind him twelve other kids laid huddled in fear when one of the babies suddenly whimpered.
Mike Pickens enhanced ears picked up the cry and he turned the weapon to his left, and shouted, "Ambush," as he opened fire with the machinegun.
The bullets flew through the hologram, and smashed into Richie little body and hurled him back onto the kids. One of the other Marines yanked a grenade from his combat harness pulling the pin he tossed the fragmentation grenade where Corporal Pickens was firing his machinegun at. The grenade landed next to ten-year-old Loraine Grey and exploded, killing the blond haired girl her six-year-old sister, and the baby she was holding, instantly while wounding the remaining children.
Screaming in pain and fear, the remaining nine children laid there crying for their mothers and fathers as they bled out on to the deck.
Sergeant Belleview heard the children crying and shouted out, "Cease fire."
As quick as the Marines opened fired, they stopped and the sounds of the children's crying came to them.
Anthony stepped through the hologram and into a nightmare as he looked at the bloody scene from hell as he shouted, "MEDIC." Ripping his medkit from his belt, he dropped his M-16, and knelt next to the nearest child and started administrating first aid as his men came through the hologram and started checking the rest of the children as tears started coming to the sergeant's eyes.
American Fleet The Abraham Lincoln turned and started firing into the weakened shields of the Washington. Suddenly the shields failed and explosions detonated from the side of the massive ship. Admiral Callaghan grinned as he watched the ship heave as a dozen antimatter rounds slammed into the side of the battleship and half her weapons went down. "Keep hitting them. Blow those bastards away!" Mathew said with glee in his voice. "I am sir, do you want me to pull their teeth so we can...
05:30 Pluto, Base Station Elysian, 1-14-05 Ken watched the fleet approach the huge dry dock. The ships were spreading out for the docking arms as he turned and looked at his wife Tammy who was giving her fleet orders. "Helm. All ahead, slow. Starboard thrusters, minimum fire, in three ... two ... one ... engage," Tammy said as she sat in the command chair. "Firing thrusters, Ma'am," replied Commander Stella Salaneo. The huge ship slowly slid down the length of the gantry until it was...
Captured Space Docks Admiral Farragut froze when the round blew the com unit apart, which was built into his desk. He looked at his assailant. Before he could say anything or move, a dart slammed into his chest, and he flew out of his chair and crashed to the floor. Walking over to the man, the figure knelt beside him, and bound his hands and feet. Pulling out a scanner, the person scanned the man and found his locator beacon. With a quick tapping of keys, the scanner shut the beacon down....
Mars Base: Federation Side Thirteen-year-old Mitchell Young sat back from his computer screen, looked at the final design of the APES, and watched the simulation run. Within seconds, they had devastated a unit of T'Lari warriors. Reaching over to the keypad, he typed in a few commands and watched the T'Lari change to battle Mechs and it took a little bit longer but they were able to wipe out the twenty Mechs for the loss of only five of the APES. With a grin, he said, "It's going to...
Philadelphia: 11:50 A.M. Tim let Amy cry in his arms as he held the woman who brought hope to a lot of people of this world. So she went overboard and took justice in her hands. He thought it was worth it as far as he was concerned. He felt Amy gently push on him so he released her. "Feeling better?" he asked. "Yeah, I am. Thank you, Tim," Amy replied. "Good, what are your orders?" Tim asked. Amy laughed and replied, "Tim you out rank me. I'm only a commander while...
The shuttle gently set down next to the airlock. A small gantry extended from the ship to the airlock, and gently locked onto the side of the huge station. Down on the assault deck, Chief Engineer Cory Hill got up, and went to the airlock. He checked the hatch, and seeing the seal showed a tight fit he waited for the air to build up and the lights to come on. Activating his com unit, he called the captain. "Captain, I have a green light on the hatch, and airlock is pressurizing...
Federation Fleet The Washington led her fleet towards the captured Space Docks where they circled the Earth, at five hundred thousand miles. Ken stood on the flag bridge with his wives and watched the American ships maneuvering in front of them. "Admiral, the American fleet is joining up. They have fifteen destroyers and four light cruisers," Lieutenant Jinnah Chin reported. "Thank you lieutenant, we will stick with the plan," Admiral Tammy Thompson said. "Yes, Ma'am. I am sending...
Captured Crytherian Space Dock Captain Sammy O'Rourke-Anderson watched as the twenty spider bots continued to build the small ship. It was now over eighty percent completed. Walking to the door, she looked out into the hall and saw it was still clear. "Come on Kevin, get your ass back here," Sammy snarled as she heard a clang behind her. Shutting the hatch, she walked back to the dock and watched the spiders lift a section of the black hull up to the side of the ship and fasten it to the...
Mars Base: Brigadier General Mark Anthon was a beaten man. He stood with his men in the giant hanger. Guards stood around the nine hundred officers and men. As force fields kept them in the enclosure, he looked over at his second in command who was glaring daggers at him. "Colonel Wright, I had no choice but to surrender. They were wiping us out," Mark said as he sipped his coffee. "Sir, with all due respect, my infantry could have taken this base. You have failed..." "Colonel James...
Court "Commander Amy Thompson, by a count of 7 to 0 we, the court, find you guilty of all charges. You are sentenced to death and the destruction of your capsule and your ship," Sandi said as she looked at the woman. Amy's knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor, and muttered quietly, "my baby. Don't kill my baby, oh God please don't let them kill my baby." "This court will reform inside the capsule room of the USS Washington's primary interface and initiate the destruction...
Ken stood on the flag bridge of the Washington, and looked at the holomap. The Oregon was five hundred miles to his portside. The destroyers Bulldog, Boxer and Doberman were in an arrow formation directly ahead of the two battleships. Behind the flagship, the remaining ships of the fleet stretched out to their individual time drops. The last ones were the hospital ships, while directly behind him were the assault cruisers. Worried about what was going to happen, Ken chewed on his cigar. So...
Amy appeared on the bridge deck, and quickly reacted to the damage. Activating the tractor beams, she reached out and latched onto the crew. Only two were sucked out, as internal forcefields she had installed snapped on and covered the openings. Activating her communications system, she issued her orders. "This is Amy, I need medical teams to the main bridge we have casualties." Walking around the room, she checked each crewmember and finally knelt by her sister-wife. "Tammy, please...
Ted staggered to his feet, smoke pouring from several consoles around the bridge, sitting down into his chair he snapped out orders, "Damage report!" "Sir, we have a fire in landing bay delta, damage to port side weaponry, shields down to forty percent. I'm estimating ten minutes to full recharge, minor damage to secondary engine four. Hull is intact, no breaches. Casualty report coming in now, thirty-nine dead, sixteen wounded." "Status report on the Crytherian battleship?" Ensign...
The Federation battleship USS Washington: 1:50 P.M. Jessica handled the ship as though she was born to do it. The ship was shrugging off the enemy fire and her weapons were firing at the Washington D.C. shield trying to take it down. Turning her head she smiled at her husband and wife as the status reports came in from the fleet. "Enemy shield down to 36% power," reported Lieutenant Akiko Fujimoto. "Thanks, Akiko. Keep up the pressure," Tammy said just as Jessica screamed and the ship...
Washington DC Twenty-four hours before the attack on the docks, several congressional representatives and senators were having a small poker party at one of the member's houses. Tony Garcia, a Representative from the State of New Mexico was just reaching for the next card when the front door was kicked in. Standing in the doorway was a man in a camouflage uniform that seemed to shimmer as he stood there. "What..." is all he got out when he was flipped out of the chair by the needler...
Ken jerked his head around to the main tactical screen. "To all ships! Red alert! All hands man your battlestations!" Ken ordered. He turned and walked quickly to the main CIC panel. He looked at the hyper wake coming in. "Estimated time of arrival?" "Six minutes, Sir," replied the sensor officer. "Stack us up. I want a full broadside of weapons to bear on the targets. Launch all fighters." "Yes, Sir! Launching all fighters, stacking the ships." "Dispatch the rest of...
Ted sat there looking at the woman who had just given him a blowjob. His eyes kept wandering to her scantly clad body as she crawled up his body kissing his bare flesh as she went which caused him to moan. "You are so handsome looking! I just had to come and thank you personally for saving me and my Angel," Augusta said as she licked his nipples. She straddled his waist, and raised her green eyes to look into Ted's brown ones that were wide, as if he was a deer caught in the lights of a...
Sammy heard the girl cry out, and her eyes locked on the falling container. Her eyes followed the rope up over the beam, and down to the floor. She saw the man being jerked up. Whipping her battle-axe up and over her shoulder, she hurled the flaming blade, and watched it spin as the man began to fly up into the air. The blade spun through the air, twirling over and over. It hit the rope, and the titanium blade sliced through its weaves like butter. The battle-axe then slammed into the wall,...
"Show me this ship," snarled Captain Tal. The screen changed and a ship that was five times larger than their own appeared on the screen. Her white hull was gleaming and her navigational lights were lit up. She was less then five miles away from his command. Tal stood there, and looked at the huge ship; he then turned to his weapons officer, and said, "Fire on that ship! Turn us hard starboard, full speed ahead. Launch countermeasures." The Dancer opened fire with her pitiful weapons...
USS Oregon Ted ran onto the bridge and dropped into his command chair as he was shouting his orders, "Full power to weapons. Cut speed by twenty percent. Bring shields to full power, double the energy to the stern shields." "Yes, Sir, cutting speed and raising shields to full power," Lieutenant Joan Greenville at the helm station said as her fingers flew over the console in front of her. Lieutenant Betty Jenson over at the port weapons station shouted, "Portside weapons online and...
DMZ, Korean Peninsula: 1-17-05, 05:19 A.M. Sojang (Major-General) Hyun Li raised his binoculars and looked across the DMZ at the American and South Korean forces, as the sun slowly rose over the landscape. Picking up the phone, he gave the order he had been waiting for thirty years, to give. "Fire." Up and down the DMZ, eight thousand artillery pieces and twenty-four hundred multiple missile launchers raised their barrels from hidden weapon emplacements while three thousand aircraft...
Taiwan Straits 1-16-05 21:30 PM Admiral Fu Kwan raised his glasses, looked out into the darkness, and waited. Zhoushan was several hours behind them. He took a quick look around his ship; the invasion fleet of over one hundred warships of the Peoples Liberation Navy was heading for the main Port of Taichung. They were carrying over thirty thousand troops to invade the island of Taiwan and settle this foolishness of joining this so called Federation. The missile destroyer Guangzhou turned a...
Federation side Lisa started hurling Crytherian warriors around the ship as she directed the Marines to their positions. Several had broken into one of the dormitories she had set up for the evacuees from Tau Ceti and were now holding ninety hostages. Ted's body still lay under the huge Crytherian warrior as the ships Marines having seen Ted go down, had gone ballistic, sacrificing their own lives to stem the flow of the invaders as more tried to get in. At last count, three hundred of them...
Captain John Stratton was fuming; ever since they had been brought onboard, they have been ignored. Walking back and forth in front of his men, he went over to the door and pounded on it some more. "Hey out there, I want to talk to whoever is in charge." Lieutenant Michael McCall sat in one of the chairs, watching his commanding officer pace. He called to him, "John!" Getting no response, he tried again, "Hey Iceman, calm down, they will get to us when they can. You heard the intercom....
President Thomas Kincaide was sitting down to his breakfast with his wife, when his chief of staff came into the dining room. "Mr. President, we have a situation out in Las Vegas, it seems a large ship was sighted taking off from somewhere in Northern Arizona. Nellis AFB dispatched five F-16s to investigate it. The tower was in contact with the planes when suddenly all communications was cut off. Nellis dispatched an additional ten more planes to the area, but nothing has been found of the...
POW CAMP 2 1-14-05 Thirty-nine year old Sergeant Sandra MacEwen looked out at the barbed wire as the five men digging the grave for Captain Vickie Tamping, the young Canadian woman who was taken on Space Dock Two leading a small unit of guerrillas against the American forces. She had been wounded when she was brought in and they never gave her any of the advanced medical they had captured. Sandra's eyes floated over the three thousand wooden crosses and cringed as she remembered the first...
"Fuck! The Admiral is going to be pissed," Captain Mike Bonnet of the USS Badger said. "I know, and I am going to have to tell him. It's my responsibility. As to your Mechs and Marines, the ship has been cleared of all Crytherians. Anyone left alive is outside and fair game. If you can get your Mechs to create a safe zone for us, I will get all my spiders initiating emergency repairs to get us back into space," turning he looked at Lisa and asked, "Lisa, how long until we get repairs...
10:20 Central LA, California, 1-14-05 Mark 'Hoover' Mathews looked up from his bunker behind two wrecked tractor-trailers. In the distance, the AH-1 Cobra still burned from where his stinger had taken the Marine helicopter down. Around him were the rest of his brothers from the local Blood gang. "Hey Hoover, did you hear what the man in power did to those cities up the state?" asked Vince 'Snakeman' Anderson. "Ya, I heard Snakeman, but we shall kick whities ass out of LA and then we...
Richard snarled in anger as he stood up, shaking his hand he looked at the woman. "I'm going to rip your head off," he said as he charged the woman. Jerri dodged the man's clumsy attack and grasped his wounded hand. Turning she slammed him into the wall where he bounced off. Moving quickly, Richard jumped on the woman and grasped her in a bear hug. "Got you now bitch," he growled out. Laughing, Jerri replied, "You think so? Do your worst." Suddenly she screamed out in agony and...
Molly dropped to her knees beside Ken as the rest of her medical staff arrived, checking the wound she saw the blade had cut deeply in to the stomach between the esophagus and the duodenum. "Crap, this wound is bad, Nancy how about the side." Nancy Ortiz was examining the stab wound in Ken's side; it was a clean in and out. Grabbing her medical pad, she started scanning him. "I think his lung has been nicked, but I am not sure. Yet!" Nancy waited for the scanner to finish the scan,...
Fold Space, the USS HOPE Sammy grunted as she landed on her back. Rolling over, she scrambled to her feet as Kevin came in low, the knife blade held along his right forearm. His arm came in, and her arm came up with her blade. They clanged together as the palm of her hand slammed into his chest, and Kevin flew back from her. "Got yeah!" Sammy said as she turned and kicked with her left foot. She felt her foot being grabbed, and she went flying as Kevin spun her around, and she hit the mat...
Ken sat and listened to Amy, and then turned to the others. "First, I think we need to catch this psychopath before he kills his next victim. We have to do it. Then, we should get the Washington back up into space. After that, we need to recruit a crew," turning back to Amy he added, "I just thought of something. Do you have to be at the asteroid belt for your spider bots to build? And if not, is there a way we can get the spider bots there, quickly?" "Yes, we could use a shuttle and...
Presidential One 2:20 pm Tina looked at the scanners of the ship as American fighters came in from all angles and opened fired on her. With her com open she screamed, "FUCK! I'M UNDER ATTACK!" as she started banking the craft trying to avoid the enemy fighters. The shields sensors screamed out their warnings as they were plastered from thirty different points of attack. Tina reacted quickly and fired her main weapons and blew two Lightning class fighters to shreds. Doing a quick loop,...
Onboard the Ex-Crytherian mining freighter Hathor, William Odessa led his party of former escapees down the narrow hallway he had found. The air smelled of stale sweat and death, water dripped from one of the overhead pipes in at least a dozen places. One of the electrical panels buzzed as if it had a short and they stayed away from it. Looking at the map he had made, he knew they were getting close as they turned the corner. Up ahead, he could see the bulkhead door. Going up to it, he...
"I was critically injured when I came to Ashley's rescue. A squad of American's was in the process of raping her. I killed them all, but they injured me badly. I woke up in a capsule. It seems Commander Sandi O'Donald heard Ashley crying and arrived in time. Her husband, Doctor Marcus Wild, was summoned. She had the replicators form a capsule for me. Doctor Marcus arrived just as the bed was finished, and got me up inside it. I have spent the last three weeks healing, inside, while my...
Flag Bridge, USS Washington 15:10 hours, 2-05-05 Ken felt the grief building up in his body when a hand gently gripped his shoulder. Looking up into the eyes of Kalaria he smiled sadly as he thought of his best friend. They had grown up together, did everything together; they even dated and married each other's sister. "Commander Chu, please send us your mission logs for review, and welcome home. At this time, I want you to assume command of the Oregon as her captain," Tammy said as she...
Sol System USS Washington Ken stood there looking at the young woman who bowed her head to him. Walking towards her, his mind raced with what she had done to Amy and the other interfaces. But, after reading their mandate that was initiated when they were created, he now knew more of what she was talking about. Once they became an interface they were under the jurisdiction of the Interface council. Sandy, being the oldest, became the highest judge of the council. Stopping in front of the...
Governor Kailnis watched the strange ships come down. Before he could activate his defenses, the weapons on the freighter blew them away. "Order up the guard! We need to stop these invaders, send orders to the fleet to get us help..." an explosion stopped what he was saying and he turned his head and saw one of the armored hover cars explode as a giant war machine came in sight, and he continued, "Destroy that thing." Heavy laser cannons opened up from the top of the defense wall and...
Six weeks later, Ken sat at his desk going through Captain Windsor's logs. He was looking for the clues he suspected were there. "Tammy, it says here, that the Washington was split in half at the battle of Tallis. When she was rebuilt, she was two hundred feet longer than before. I think that is where Jessica is; I think she is in that area. We have been over everything else. Amy, please bring up a pair of holograms of the ship as she used to look and as how she looks now." The image...
The sounds of Sonny Rollins drifted though the room as Lisa sat at the table, reading her medical books. Sitting beside her was a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of milk. Cheri was playing with her squeaky toy. Lisa rubbed her head trying to get rid of her headache that has been bothering her for three days. Suddenly she snapped at the dachshund, "Cheri! Stop squeaking that damned thing." Under the coffee table, Cheri dropped her toy and whimpered. Turning around, her...
She stood there and watched the four friends hug each other, and talk. She moved around the room and sat in one of the chairs. She studied each one, and listened as they talked about the fall. The one she had saved, Ken, was tall and handsome. He projected an aura of possible command material. The other male, jumped right in, and took over. He showed confidence and determination, a possible recruit as a Marine. The one, who carried her sensor crystal, had a quick mind, and a sharp eye. She...
Amy paced through the medical ward aboard the ship, while the spiders continued their maintenance. Down in the main cavern, the spiders scurried about the cavern, and over two gantries as they worked. Amy did a quick check and saw all systems were a go. She walked over to Ken and looked down at his peaceful face. She leaned down through the force field and kissed him, and tapped into Ken's nanobots. She was regretting what she had to do, but knew that she must. For they all needed to learn...
Commodore Thompson stood there issuing orders to the crew of the Oregon. "Lieutenant I want to know what is going on. Who authorized the launching of those mech lifters?" On the screen, lifter after lifter was dropping out of the bay and heading north. "How many mechs?" Lieutenant Commander Shawn Edwards looked at the Commodore and replied, "Sir, I don't know. All I know is that the red alert went off in the mech bay, and then three wings of mechs or thirty mechs loaded up and left...
After talking for an hour, everyone turned in and got some sleep. While they slept, Amy watched over them, by making an image of herself appear in each room. Sitting in a chair, she watched them sleep, and sighed with contentment. A crew, at last! It had been so long since she'd had anyone on board that she could talk with. She then went back to examining their plans about using the mech warriors as ground assault vehicles. She took what information she could find on the computer game (and...
specton - 2 1/2 minutes Toton - 2 1/2 hours minton - 2 1/2 days daycon - 2 1/2 weeks Malant - 2 1/2 months quant - 2 1/2 years galant - 2 1/2 centuries Metson - 2 1/2 inches maclon - 2 1/2 feet heckson - 2 1/2 miles tetson - 2 1/2 acres Bill Axor (AKA Ambrose) - Lion clan King Tomco Traxor - Bill's dead father, Lion clan King Tobias Traxor - Bill's dead brother, Lion clan Queen Trianna Axor - Bill's dead mother, Lion clan of Mandria Queen Niaco...
Ken stood in his office. With the forward wall pulled back, he could look out over the bow of the great ship. In the distance, the Oregon, along with three destroyers, blasted chunks out of Io - one of Jupiter's larger moons - scaring the landscape as he watched the target practice taking place. Walking over to his desk, he sat down, and went over the last report from the Dachshund. They had found a strange signal emanating from the planet Pluto, and how they were trying to track it down...
Luis Fajardo looked out the picture window of downtown Bogotá Columbia. Picking up the paper, he read the article again. Slamming the paper down, he turned and looked at his companions. "Damn it! We have to stop these people from distributing these serums. They are going to give this miracle drug away free, and our product won't affect the people who use it. That will prevent them from buying from us. We need to stop them, but how? Already sales are down fifteen percent, because the...
Ken sat up on the medical bed and swung his legs over the side as Tina hugged him around the waist. Looking down at the young girl, he kissed her forehead, and said, "Thank you for saving me." Seeing the blush on her face he chuckled, and said, "And that goes for you too, Amy, wherever you are." "Right here, Sir. I was going over the logs to see what I had missed," she said as she appeared. Ken let Tina go, looking over his shoulder at Amy, and said, "Anything important, that I...
Around the system, ships started hypering out. The ships destined to stay, started recovering the injured and helpless from the explosions on Terra; while Commodore White, along with his wife Maria, begin dealing with the UN. Two weeks later, the ships dropped out of fold and reformed into their attack wings. Ken stood on the Flag Bridge, facing the main viewer. On the screen were Captain Nickolas Johansson of the Hope, and Captain Jenny Mai-ling of the Freedom Train. "Captains, good...
Molly watched her new friends drive away. When they were out of sight, she turned back to her mother. She stepped back in to her mother's arms and gave her a hug. Stopping the hug, she looked her mom in the face. "Mom, how about pizza tonight?" Kathleen looked at her baby, and she felt complete again as she realized the hole in her heart was once again filled. "What ever you want sweetie, the number for Pizza Hut is on the fridge like always." Shaking her head, she replied, "No mom,...
Night Skies Hotel VI: Destroyers of Worlds By Solari Author's note: "Destroyers of Worlds" is the third story in the three-part "Foundations" trilogy that shines a light on the wider Night Skies Hotel universe. The other stories in the "Foundations" trilogy are "Night Skies Hotel IV: The Lost Worlds," and "Night Skies Hotel V: Shadows on the Sun." It is recommended that the stories be read in order, or the reader risks not understanding the events that unfold. "What you consider...
Ted walked down the hallway, passing people who were being guided out of the medical bays, and were being lead back down to the shuttles. Passing a side passageway, he started to head into medical when he heard the crying. Turning around, he saw a brown haired girl sitting against the wall. Her dress was slightly dirty, and her knees were pressed tightly to her chest as she rocked. Walking over, he saw she was about eight years old. Kneeling beside her, he said, "Hi, I'm Ted. Are you...
tinton - 2 1/2 seconds specton - 2 1/2 minutes Toton - 2 1/2 hours minton - 2 1/2 days daycon - 2 1/2 weeks Malant - 2 1/2 months quant - 2 1/2 years galant - 2 1/2 centuries Metson - 2 1/2 inches maclon - 2 1/2 feet heckson - 2 1/2 miles tetson - 2 1/2 acres Bill Axor (AKA Ambrose) - Lion clan King Tomco Traxor - Bill’s dead father, Lion clan King Tobias Traxor - Bill’s dead brother, Lion clan Queen Trianna Axor - Bill’s dead mother, Lion clan of Mandria Queen Niaco Traxor - Tiger clan,...
Jason arrived at Charassa before the invading fleets. He informed his own Generals and Admirals about what he had been doing and why, so that they could convey this to the most senior Admiral and General directing the battle. “I can’t get over this, Jason! You constantly seem to manage to surprise me,” said Ouma Chatzke. “We now have a second extremely ancient race on our side, and their unique defense against planet and star system missiles is a true blessing. “These are trying times for...
After dinner Jason changed into cockroach form, dressed in his armor and wrote to Lauren. He spoke briefly with Yoyo, Cassius, Jacques, Marduk and several other leaders. Philippa decided to stay with Jason and Valsam. Zafa joined her fleet. Jason went to look outside. Tens of thousands of troops, tanks and gunships surrounded the palace. Jason spoke to Andrea and Linda. Razza and Julia returned to their rooms. Finally, Ooryphyon did so as well. Jason meditated and spoke to Porquenta and the...
Deep in the hull of the T'Lari battleship, Ka'Nisk walked into the secondary bridge. He looked around as his crew gathered at their stations. "Are we ready?" he asked. Tb'Nar turned from his command turrets. "Sir, power is coming online. I have weapons status on three hundred of the missile bays, and thirty of the laser cannons. Engines are at forty percent power. Anti-gravity generators are online and ready to go. Shield generators are reading thirty percent. We can lift off...
Ted sat in the vehicle holding the cake, as the car shot through the hallways. It came to a dead stop in front of a familiar conference room. Ted led everyone into the room, and they saw Amy standing there. Setting the cake on the table, he turned to the others. "Go ahead and pick a spot. James break out the food, I will get dishes." Going over to the replicator, Ted issued some commands. "Computer fifteen plates, fifteen coffee cups, and flatware settings for fifteen, please." The...
Va'Talki walked into the probe room. In his arms he held a struggling child that he tossed in the corner. "Don't you move," he said as he shut the door. Going over to a console built into the wall, he powered it up. The holographic board came up on the panel, and he started programming the automatic probe launcher. Pressing another control, he looked to his right, and watched as the probe launcher moved and a heavy laser battery moved into the tubes position as the iris...