The Evolution of F.O.R.C.E.
Chapter 20 – Tactics

“Report,” Harrier muttered as he reviewed the notes on conversion of the Royal Suite into a fusion reactor compartment.

“Scanners do not detect any power sources within ten light minutes of our current position.”

“Maintain alert status on the weapons computer. Continue RFP.”

Vultura could sense the General was worried. To continue the Random Fire Protocol longer than one hour was most unusual. It was defensive in nature and involved random 365-degree weapon bursts designed to ward off enemy infiltration. The enemy never knew when the weapons would fire. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time meant instant destruction.

The problem with the protocol was re-energizing the weapon capacitors. It took one minute for the fusion reactors to recharge the capacitors providing power to the new white energy beam. Continuous high output operation of the fusion reactors led to early exhaustion of their fuel source. Under normal operation, a fusion reactor would provide routine operating power for 100 years. Under the protocol, every four hours of RFP decreased the reactor life by twenty years and increased maintenance by ten percent. The RFP had been in effect for 12 hours.

Vultura’s thoughts were interrupted.

“Earth spacecraft detected. Vector 186, Negative Angle 35. Ten light minutes and closing.”

“Ready weapons and lock on target,” Harrier ordered.

“Target will be in range at current speed in eight minutes.”

“What do you mean eight minutes?”

“Target is approaching at lightspeed. They will not be within range of our weapons until then.”

“Move toward them. Full speed,” Harrier ordered. “I’ll take the battle to them.”

Thorncutter leaped toward the Destinnee. Harrier gritted his teeth as Weapons Control began a countdown. It was now five minutes to engagement.

“Something has emboldened the Humans. I recommend caution,” Vultura said.

“You still harbor doubts after our last encounter?”

“I don’t trust the Humans. We already demonstrated their shielding is useless against my white ray. Yet they speed toward us as if they have no fear of destruction.”

“Two minutes to intercept,” the Weapons Officer said.

“Humans have made a mockery of Asiddian military prowess. I will not miss this opportunity to end their upstart existence. Ready all weapons. Instruct the Weapons Computer to fire the instant they are in effective range.”

***

“The real question is can we get within 1,000 miles and stay there long enough to project the force field?” Tom asked.

“We don’t have a choice. It’s a thousand miles or no shield,” McPherson replied.

“The Asiddians have detected our approach and are coming for us,” Jason muttered. “They’re not content to wait.”

“How long before they’re in range?” Tom asked.

“If we FLIT, time and distance are meaningless. At our present lightspeed coupled with their coming for us, we have approximately 4 minutes to engagement.”

“Lloyd, can you dodge the Asiddian ray?”

“From a distance of 10,000 miles, I will have enough milliseconds to dodge. The only flaw in my assertion is the Asiddian computer making an unpredictable move. You should not make the assumption it will hold fire until our position is known. Firing at random would increase the probability I might FLIT into a targeted location. The correlation of my destination and point of weapon impact would lead to our total destruction.”

“Calculate the odds of correlation.”

“.000030 or 1 in 30 million.”

“Yer aff yer heid!” McPherson exclaimed.

“I’ll take those odds,” Tom smiled. “How close are we to the target?”

“Approaching one light minute.”

“Can you provide I-FLIT coordinates while randomly FLITing?”

“No. I have to maintain a fixed position in order to accurately calculate the destination and return bearings. Any change would require a one second delay for establishing FLR contact with the I-FLIT Operator. Any delay could result in death.”

“I think we need a diversion. The Asiddians should be focusing on their own safety rather than destroying us.”

Hesitating a moment, Tom said, “Lloyd, FLIT us to a position behind the flight path of the Asiddian battleship and maintain a minimum 10 light minute distance from it. I want enough space so you don’t have to be constantly evading it. McPherson, I want Whatsit, Chellsee and you to equip with FINGER Guns and I-FLITs.”

“Yes, Sir.”

***

“All weapons are prepared to fire, General.”

“Excellent. Navigation, maintain course and speed.”

“Sir, sensors have lost the target.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sir, one moment the ship was within 20 seconds of firing range, then it was no longer detectable.”

“Find it!” Harrier demanded.

“Sir, I have it located,” the Science Officer replied, and the awe in his voice sent shivers down Harrier’s spine. “It’s now 5 light minutes outside the orbit of Chrysalis on a vector opposite our current flight path. Distance from us is 11 light minutes.”

“Impossible. It would have to fly past us to reach that position.”

“I agree, Sir. Something must be wrong with our equipment. Computer, damage report!”

“Nothing is malfunctioning,” the mechanical voice of the Master Computer replied. “My logs indicate the Human ship disappeared from its original flight path and reappeared at its current location one second later. Time and distance from the ship’s last known position to its current coordinates indicate a top speed of 7,500 times the speed of light.”

Harrier’s fright wig blossomed with his anger, “Impossible! Reverse course. Get within firing range.”

A breeze wafted by Harrier’s face. The Navigator screamed as she bolted from her flight chair and pointed.

“Your murder of innocents ends here and now.”

Turning toward the voice, Harrier’s eyes grew wide. The red-haired Human stood no more than 10 feet away, frowning with his arms crossed. Next to him were two figures. The taller one was wearing a long, dark green coat and brown leather wide-brimmed hat. The other was clad in a sleek, black outfit and black wide-brimmed hat.

Guards leaped at the intruders, but what happened next shocked Harrier and his Bridge crew. The red-haired Human pointed his finger and a white beam of swirling, sparkling light emerged to burn a hole through one of the guards. A sword of the same dazzling light blazed into existence, and the black-clad figure whirled. Slicing the forearm from one guard, it pirouetted toward Harrier.

In a split second, Harrier remembered the cave video of the attack on the Chrysallaman Underground hideout. This was the shadow wraith lunging toward him. Dodging as fast as he could, Harrier watched in dismay as the blade sliced off the back of his command chair. It clattered to the deck in a smoking heap. The remaining guards fired their disintegrators, but the rays met a bubble shield protecting the intruders.

As if waiting for the guards’ attention to be riveted on the whirling dervish, the specter wearing the green coat pointed its finger at the Weapons Control panel. The Asiddian manning it leaped away just as a swirling, sparkling beam blossomed from the specter’s finger and destroyed the console. An intruder alarm began a belated howling only adding to the chaos.

The main hatch slid aside, and Vultura stood pointing a tube-shaped weapon at the intruders. Just as a white beam of destruction lanced at them, they disappeared with muted, popping sounds.

Vultura’s eyes narrowed, and he said, “My instruments detected the intrusion. How did they get aboard?”

Instead of answering, Harrier said, “Computer, confirm you can respond to my orders for weapon fire without input from the control panel.”

“Yes, General.”

“Everyone return to your stations. Turn the damned alarm off. Navigator, time to intercept.”

“Unknown, Sir. Every time we come within five light minutes of the target, it moves to another random point 10 light-minutes away. It’s like chasing a pet that doesn’t want to be caught.”

“Continue pursuit for now.”

“You realize catching the Humans is impossible,” Vultura said. “They have demonstrated the ability to cover light-year distances instantaneously.”

“Yes, and because of your incompetence, their secret to faster than light travel remains a secret. I will not tolerate failure,” Harrier muttered.

Vultura was visibly angry, but he remained silent. With Corvus gone, he was the only senior scientific adviser available. Being indispensable had its value.

Unnoticed in the excitement, a surviving guard slipped away. The story of the specters with magical powers was about to spread like wild-fire.

***

“What happened?” Tom asked.

“A wee bit of mayhem followed by running for our lives,” McPherson replied. “Chellsee is a real badass.”

“What?” Chellsee screamed and twisted around.

“No, no,” Whatsit said. “It’s a compliment. It means you’re a formidable warrior.”

“What does a less than perfect rearend have to do with my ability on the battlefield?” she huffed while giving McPherson the evil eye.

“I can see we need a little more education about Human jargon,” Whatsit sighed.

Shaking his head at Whatsit’s attempt to explain his compliment, McPherson was about to detail the results of their foray when the intercom buzzed.

“General, Dr. Roemer has established FLR contact. He urgently wants to speak with you.”

“Put him through.”

“General Blunt, I cobbled together an FLR from the remains of the Salteer. Caroline, I mean Princess Peregrine, wants to turn over planetary control to the Chrysallamans. She is here with me now.”

“Hold on, Miguel. Lloyd, can you determine Dr. Roemer’s location and I-FLIT Doug and Becky to him?”

“Yes, General. I have his exact coordinates.”

“Excellent. Miguel, Doug and Becky will be with you momentarily. They will transport you to me.”

“General, Caroline will order all her ground units to stand down, but it might be dangerous to land a scout saucer on the palace grounds. Someone may take a potshot at it.”

“Prepare for some more Heinbaum magic,” Tom said as he heard Peregrine scream. “I think Doug and Becky just arrived?”

***

Harrier was reviewing Vultura’s report on equipping all his troops with handheld white ray weapons, when the Master Computer said, “General Harrier, there is an incoming transmission on the Alpha frequency. Before I broadcast it ship-wide, I need you to approve its release.”

“Play it on my private channel,” Harrier said with a worried expression as he plugged in his earpiece.

“To all personnel on the battleship Thorncutter. This is General Hannah Wren. Cease all hostilities toward the Humans and Chrysallamans. Lay down your weapons. Prepare to be peacefully boarded. Repeat. To all personnel on the battleship Thorncutter. This is General Hannah Wren. Cease all hostilities toward the Humans and Chrysallamans. Lay down your weapons. Prepare to be peacefully boarded.”

Harrier’s eyes narrowed. Then they grew wide as the next voice spoke.

Princess Peregrine said, “I confirm the orders of my new General Hannah Wren. Montrose Harrier is hereby stripped of all rank and confined to the brig. I have negotiated a truce with the Humans and Chrysallamans. An era of forgiveness, peace and prosperity begins now. All my loyal subjects will share in our new future. I command you to cease all hostility at once.”

A hollow feeling began growing in Harrier’s gut. For the first time in his life, he felt faint. Licking dry lips, he thought furiously. A twisted half-sneer half-smile formed on his lips.

“Delete the transmission, but confirm its receipt,” he ordered the Master Computer. “I believe we’ve been given an unexpected bit of luck.”

“Receipt of transmission confirmed. Shall I log your demotion and request an escort to the brig?”

Frowning, Harrier replied, “Delete all logs of the transmission and my demotion. Wipe all temporary RAM and clear History data. Confirm.”

“Confirmed,” the Master Computer acknowledged, but Harrier felt he detected an odd undertone in the response. Blaming his perceptions as just a reaction to the stress of being demoted and imprisoned, he directed his attention back to the Bridge personnel.

“Navigator, the Computer just intercepted a coded radio transmission. Determine the source coordinates and lay in an intercept course. Weapons Officer, keep all the new beam weapons fully charged and ready to fire on my command.”

Harrier’s wicked smile grew larger as the time to intercept began to click downward.

***

“Will Harrier follow your orders?” Tom asked. “He’s a cold-blooded killer. I don’t trust him.”

“In the past, I would have answered with an unqualified yes,” Caroline replied, “After his reaction to my negotiations with Miguel, I’m not so sure.”

Miguel and Caroline had been inseparable since Doug and Becky had transported them to the Destinnee. Tom could only imagine what she meant by negotiations, but the topic would have to wait. The safety of his ship and crew came first.

GooYee had reworked Peregrine’s bracelet, boosting its power and range. There was no doubt her orders had been received by the Thorncutter because Lloyd had delivery confirmation from the ship’s computer.

Harrier’s cooperation was questionable. Tom’s humanity nudged him toward trust, but his gut was roiling. He decided he needed some Human and non-Human advice.

***

Taking his seat at the conference table, Tom marveled at the diversity of the assemblage.

To his left sat Whatsit, Chellsee and General Zeck. To his right were Princess Peregrine, Miguel, Hannah Wren and Dr. Corvus. At the end of the table sat Heinbaum, McPherson and GooYee. A real Hatfield and McCoy assembly.

The Asiddians wore headsets with built-in microphones enabling them to speak and be understood by the Chrysallamans. The meeting didn’t start well.

“What are they doing here?” Zeck asked as he motioned at the Asiddians. “They’re common murderers and should be in manacles begging for their lives.”

“For once I agree with General Zeck,” GooYee said. “Just looking at them brings the foul taste of bile to my mouth.”

“Don’t forget why you’re still breathin’,” McPherson said to Zeck. “It was only a few months ago you led an invading armada whose sole purpose was killing Humans and taking over Earth. You should be pushing up daisies.”

Twisting to eye GooYee, he continued, “And for all your talk about Marrylynne during your time on Cuddlur, I would expect more tolerance. Wasn’t it Tuurket Axxdo who murdered her?”

A mist formed in GooYee’s eyes, and he looked away.

“I suppose there might be some vague comparison in your description of my visit to Earth; however, you’ll never find me gardening, especially with flowers,” Zeck said.

Caroline was looking incensed until Miguel burst out laughing at Zeck’s response. Even McPherson grinned and shook his head.

Without knowing why, Caroline began smiling which prompted Hannah to smile. The more confused Zeck looked as the room erupted in laughter, the louder the laughter became.

Tom finally raised a hand and the meeting came back to order. “Dr. Heinbaum, what is the status of the new shield?”

“It is ready; however, the effective range is still within the thousand-mile parameter. Gooey and I have not had time to work out a modification.”

“One thing I learned about General Harrier. He is relentless and focused. He will take any action he deems necessary to accomplish his goals,” Hannah said. “Forgive me for saying this, Princess, but I do not expect him to follow your orders. He will act as if he is obeying you in order to get close enough to destroy this ship.”

“He would have to have complete agreement from all crew members. I find it hard to believe they would follow him after hearing my explicit command.”

“It’s obvious you haven’t watched Human movies,” Whatsit said. “Don’t assume your order was heard by anyone except Harrier.”

The puzzled look on Caroline’s face turned to anger, “He wouldn’t dare withhold my order from the crew.”

“Why not?” Chellsee asked. “Allowing the crew to hear the order would result in his losing command and the opportunity to kill the only people who know about it.”

After a little thought, Caroline looked at Miguel and squeezed his hand, “I suppose you may be right. I’m still finding it hard to believe my commands aren’t followed to the letter all the time.”

“You’ll find some relationships are stronger if both sides have some independence,” Chellsee replied as she looked at Whatsit.

“Okay, let’s end the soap opera talk and make a decision,” Tom said. “Can we all agree Harrier will fire on us despite the Princess’ orders?”

“No doubt.”

“Hell yes.”

“Without question.”

Dr. Corvus, what is the effective range of the white ray?”

“I want you to understand I have agreed to answer your questions only because I have been ordered to do so by my Princess. Otherwise, you would get no information from me.”

McPherson tapped his wrist on the table and his Microtec Halo OTF knife slid into his palm. He pushed the release and the snick of the tanto blade was loud in the quiet room. Using the tip, he began cleaning one of his fingernails while staring at Corvus.

“I wouldn’t bluster. My friend has a short temper,” Heinbaum said.

Corvus’ fright wig began to blossom, but he got it under control and nervously smoothed it back down.

“The ray is finite. My answer must be couched with unknowns. While Dr. Vultura is no match for my intellect, I assume he has the fusion reactors keeping the weapon capacitors at full charge. Anything over 5,000 miles will simply vibrate on an atomic level. Any target within 1,500 to 4,000 miles will heat deform. Anything within 1,000 miles will be destroyed.”

“That’s not even a razor’s edge of safety,” Tom said. “How quickly can the reactors recharge the capacitors?”

Still watching McPherson clean his fingernails with exaggerated knife moves, Corvus replied, “It takes one minute; however, there are numerous capacitors. He will always have some ready to fire.”

“Lloyd, can you FLIT us out of the path of a white ray from a distance of 1,000 miles?” Tom asked.

“A ray traveling at the speed of light from 1,000 miles away will give me less than 5 milliseconds to respond. The beam will be next to impossible to avoid.”

“I think I may be able to provide an answer,” Heinbaum said. “Gooey and I need some lab time. Dr. Corvus is welcome to join us if he’ll stop admiring McPherson’s attempt to give himself a manicure.”

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