The Scalian Legacy
Chapter Twenty

Admiral Alterman was in his office reviewing the intelligence on the Scalian Sphere, trying to figure out if the latest discoveries provided any opening or weakness they could exploit. He hadn’t focused on the Scalian Sphere for over a year due to the peace treaty and now regretted not having invested more man power to the effort. Newer discoveries in phase matter disruption could have led to some kind of solution, but now it may be too late. In addition, they had no idea how much time they had and thus no guideline for developing a plan.

He was deep in thought, when the communicator sounded off. The admiral could see that it was a secure channel from his Pendoran counterpart, Admiral Bubliewere. Alterman accepted the call and the Pendoran appeared on the holographic display over his desk. His face was typical of Pendorans in that it was a translucent white and did not have a nose, and had three bright, mostly white, eyes rather than two. His mouth was fairly wide, with small sharp teeth inside, but he didn’t have anything that resembled lips.

Still, while those features were typical of Pendorans, Admiral Bubliewere also showed signs of age in that his face seemed somewhat dulled and even wrinkled. He also had some unique faded scars emblematic of his many conflicts over the years. Regardless, Pendorans were not good at hiding their emotions and Alterman could immediately tell without even having his counterpart speak, that he had some exciting news.

“Diuebawre,” The Pendoran bubbled in his native language, but it was automatically translated into English by the communication system, “Admiral, we have just received a request from a Scalian freighter to pick up needed supplies from outpost three. They will be crossing our checkpoint along the way.”

Admiral Alterman had worked with Bubliewere long enough that he immediately knew what his counterpart was thinking. The computer systems on Scalian freighters were tightly integrated with the main Scalian systems and yet their defense systems were minimal. In essence, an easy target. Attacking this ship may give them access to the Scalian plans, but it would also tip their hand and eliminate the element of surprise, which was the only thing they had going for them. Still, given that there did not appear to be a pattern to the schedule of Scalian freighters, this may be their only opportunity at this line of attack.

“Bubliewere, how much time do we have before we need to commit?” Alterman asked.

“The freighter is due past our position in about five hours.” The Pendoran answered.

“I’ll call for an emergency briefing. We all need to agree on this move as there would be no turning back.” Alterman said and the Pendoran nodded.

The next couple of hours were hectic as the senior teams discussed the options. Rivas explained that if they timed the attack after the freighter checked in with their central command, they would have a Scalian day or twenty-two human hours before the next check in. Once that next check-in was missed, the Scalians would be alerted to something being amiss.

Admiral Bubliewere reviewed the Scalian freighter capture plan that they had developed several years ago. The difficult part was not overpowering the weaker vessel, but doing it in such a way as to avoid them blowing themselves up per Scalian protocol. The key was incapacitation. They would need to demand inspection of the freighter, which was a common practice, and then plant devices in key areas that could later be remotely detonated to incapacitate the key members of the crew that were able to self-destruct the ship. After that, the ship could be safely captured.

Rivas then reviewed the method they had readied to break into the Scalian’s local computer system. They would only have access to local information that had been synchronized from the main Scalian system, but that should include most project files. Communications back to the main Scalian systems would need to be severed to ensure that no alarms were raised. In the end they should have a lot more information on “Project Redemption” than they do now.

The plan was certain to succeed. The concern was whether the success of this plan would help or hurt their current situation. Would it provide enough information to help them overcome this threat, given that it lay within the Scalian Sphere? If the threat was still weeks from being ready, then they could simply use a brute force attack. However, if the time horizon for the Scalian plan to attack Earth was brief, then they would just have sealed their own fate by alerting the Scalians with this act of aggression.

In the end, however, the question that kept the freighter capture idea moving forward was the lack of alternative options. With no other opportunities to pursue, the Pendoran plan was accepted. Two teams were formed. The Pendorans and Drumans readied to take over the Scalian freighter. Meanwhile another team led by Admiral Alterman began to develop a worst case scenario plan in case they discovered that they were dealing with a short time horizon.

Jack was chuckling as he watched a highly-rated, albeit nearly hundred-year-old show on the large holographic display in his room. Jack was in the mood for comedy after reading randomly about Scalians and war for well over an hour. The comedy was not too much unlike that of old Earth. Although he failed to understand many references, the reactions and expressions of the characters helped fill in the gaps enough for Jack to follow quite well.

Jack then heard a chime and a computer voice sounded off. “Permission to allow entry to Doctor Simon and Doctor Greenfield?”

Jack smiled. A side benefit of being in the computer system was that he now had the right to approve entry into his room. While it could be easily overridden, it did provide Jack with at least a little feeling of control. “Permission granted.” Jack replied to the computer.

Dr. Simon entered first with Horace not far behind. Horace seemed to be carrying a brown wooden box of some kind. Jack couldn’t tell what the giant was carrying as from his seated position he could only see the bottom and side of it.

“How are you feeling today, Jack?” Dr. Simon asked as he entered.

“Can’t you tell from the systems?” Jack looked back at the holographic display above his bed that was showing his vital signs.

“Son, don’t give me lip.” Dr. Simon replied “No one likes a smart-ass.”

“I’m good doc.” Jack had to chuckle. It was not hard to get a rise out of this doctor.

“Now that’s a good old show.” Dr. Simon commented as he looked upon the large holographic display in the front of Jack’s room. “Speaking of old.” Dr. Simon continued as he turned towards Horace, “Look who was wandering around outside with some ancient thing he wanted to show you?”

“It’s an antique chessboard.” Horace scoffed at his friend as he turned the box downward so that Jack could see it. The chessboard was about 18 inches wide and long with brown and white checkered squares throughout in the expected pattern.

“I read that you were a chess champion back in your day.” Horace commented to Jack.

“I had some success.” Jack was being modest. However, he hadn’t played in quite some time. He simply hadn’t had the desire since Ellen, but right now a game of chess sounded like a pretty good idea.

“It’s still played a bit on Earth,” Horace continued “although not nearly as much as in your day. Still, I’m pretty good at it and was wondering if you wanted to play with an old man.”

“I’d love too,” Jack replied.

“Well, I’ve been called to another dang emergency meeting,” Dr. Simon broke in. “So, I’ll leave you two to your fun. Enjoy!”

Dr. Simon turned and exited as Horace and Jack began preparing the pieces on the chessboard.

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