The Earth Conundrum: Book 1 of the Alliance Conflict Read online

  Ella yelled, “Course set. Ready to jump.”

  Solear then yelled, “Fighters.”

  Arean yelled in reply, “All fighters report on board.”

  That was impossible, but at this point Solear didn’t care. He activated the secret program on his com pad just in case, watched the clock tick down the final second.

  When it hit zero, he yelled, “Jump.”

  Chapter 17

  Supreme Imperious Ultimate Leader Fruid’la the Peerless* slammed his fist down on the bulkhead. He was, quite frankly, frustrated and looked around the bridge of the Hiriculan battleship Avenger looking for someone to yell at.

  *That wasn’t actually his title. However, if he had thought of it, he would probably change it.

  His eyes finally settled on his navigation officer Loid’la. He gave him his sternest look and his ear stalks rose to their highest point. He said, “Tell me something.”

  Loid’la was a sniveling suck-up of a carbon based life-form, but he wasn’t a fool. He said, “Admiral Fruid’la, the Alliance cruiser jumped just before our missiles impacted it, but I was too busy plotting our next jump to track their course. Anyway, that should have been duty of the weapons officer.”

  The weapons officer Clap’la realized that he had been thrown under the proverbial personnel hauler and quickly said, “It wasn’t my responsibility. I was firing a full broadside of missiles and preparing our defenses for a potential counterattack. The communications officer clearly should have been tracking them.”

  The communications officer was not going to get blamed for this either. He quickly responded, “I was ordered not to communicate with them, so my board was down. Without an active board, there is no way I could have obtained that information. The failure was with the weapons officer. He should have anticipated the cruiser would jump and tracked it.”

  Clap’la, the weapons officer, was determined deflect the blame. He quickly said, “The cruiser blew up two destroyers. There is no possible way they could have done that without some form of new technology. I was too busy trying to find this new weapon technology. The task rightfully belongs to the person who plots hyperspace jumps.”

  Loid’la was cornered, so he tried a different tactic. He hoped that getting the Admiral to answer a question would make him forget, at least temporarily, about who was to blame. He said, “Admiral Fruid’la, the cruiser almost certainly jumped back to Netron. Shall I plot a course to follow them or do you want to try to chase the light?”

  Because the battleship had jumped into the system late, it only had a scan of a single point in time that showed the enemy cruiser performing a rapid turn and two destroyers moving to intercept. Based on that information, they had jumped to their present location to help intercept the cruiser. However, when they arrived and performed another scan, they saw only the cruiser and the dust cloud that consisted of their destroyers and fighters.

  Chasing the light was a method of trying to jump farther out of the system; then record the light coming from the system. They could make a series of jumps and try to piece together what had happened. Chasing the light was technically feasible, but very difficult, painstaking, and time consuming. They could gather some information, but would probably not get a complete picture of the battle.

  Admiral Fruid’la thought for a moment and said, “What do we know?”

  Clap’la answered this question just before Loid’la could. He looked over and saw Loid’la give him a rude hand gesture under the panel. He smiled and said, “It appears from the dust cloud that the enemy cruiser, the Sunflower, completely disintegrated two destroyers and shot down all 48 fighters.”

  Loid’la volunteered, “Our fighters are in chunks, typical of being destroyed by missiles. This fact, combined with the fact that we saw the enemy dock fighters, means that there must have been a traditional fighter battle.” It wasn’t much compared the information that the weapons officer had given, but it should earn him a little recognition.

  Clap’la said, “I don’t think it was a traditional battle if we lost 48 fighters and they had at least 4 live. Unless something has dramatically changed, we should have outnumbered them 2.4 to 1.” Clap’la looked over to Loid’la and duplicated the hand gesture.

  Admiral Fruid’la lowered his ear stalks ever so slightly. He lost himself in thought for a moment. His anger from the failure had dissipated and been replaced by his curiosity. He asked, “How could they have succeeded so well in the fighter battle? The fact that any of them lived seems preposterous.”

  Chap’la answered, “Yes, there must have been extenuating circumstances. Perhaps the destroyers were disintegrated just after the fighters launched; leaving the fighters alone and unprotected. The fighters could then have run out of energy and just been hit like stationary targets.

  Admiral Fruid’la nodded his head, appearing to accept the description. He looked back up and said, “Switching back to the ship battle, do you think that the cruiser’s ion cannon could do that to a destroyer?”

  Loid’la answered first this time. His voice was overly nasal and sounded something like sand paper rubbing on an orange. He said in his most ingratiating manner, “Admiral, I honestly doubt it. Well, I mean a really big and powerful ion cannon might have done that, but not the little one on their cruiser.

  Clap’la saw his opportunity and took it. He said, “Unless, that is their new weapons technology. Perhaps they have found a way to get incredibly more power out of their ion cannon.”

  Admiral Fruid’la said, “We could spend hours or even days chasing the light to see what – that a cruiser fired an incredibly powerful ion cannon and killed two destroyers. We already know that. Chasing the light would only confirm that they can do it, not how they did it. We need to capture the ship intact and discover this technology for ourselves.”

  Loid’la said, “Excellent point Admiral Fruid’la. Shall I set course to Netron?”

  Admiral Fruid’la answered, “Yes. Jump immediately when ready. Perhaps they took a roundabout course back to the hyperspace lane and we can beat them back to Netron.”

  Loid’la said, “That is an astute observation Admiral.” He hoped the Admiral would remember that compliment and forget the earlier failure.

  Loid’la lay in the coordinates, double checked his calculations, ran a simulation, and got a green light in return. He pressed the button and sent the Avenger reeling into hyperspace. Loid’la waited for a moment to see if the Admiral would notice the brilliance of his navigational maneuver.

  The moment came and went without the Admiral’s notice. Loid’la could wait no longer, so he said, “Admiral Fruid’la, I created a course that should cut several minutes off of our jump. I plotted a course directly to Netron instead of first micro-jumping to the start of the hyperspace lane. This will save us at least 20 minutes.” He had intentionally repeated the time saving.

  …………………………………..

  The lone remaining ship buster missile continued upon its solitary path for many long minutes. Eventually it reached its pre-assigned coordinates, gently contacted the mystery object, and blew it to smithereens.

  …………………………………..

  The Sunflower exited hyperspace exactly 6 minutes (shipboard time) later on the far side of the system, relatively close to the hyperspace lane that leads to Dunron. Ella had intentionally chosen this location. Captain Solear could now make a decision, jump back to the hyperspace lane leading to Netron (and eventually home) or continue on to Dunron.

  Solear said, “Scan the area. Where is the battleship?”

  Ella conducted a passive scan of the area. Unfortunately, instead of chasing the light, they had actually outrun the light. The image she received showed the Sunflower racing toward the hyperspace limit – the two enemy destroyers had just been turned into a dust cloud, but the battleship had yet to arrive.

  Ella said, “Passive scan is negative. We will have to actively scan the area to obtain any useful data.” She perfo
rmed a quick calculation and said, “Estimate two hours for the scan to complete.”

  Solear said, “I don’t want to take the time to find out. Jump back to our original location.” Ella plugged in the coordinates and began another jump.

  Arean stood and cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. He scanned the room to ensure everyone was looking at him. Then he said, “I have the final numbers. We launched 20 brave souls who fought a heroic battle, outnumbered 2.4 to 1. They didn’t hesitate or complain; they simply did their duty and fought the enemy. I can now say conclusively that our fighters had 48 confirmed enemy kills. Ten pilots had 3 kills each. Eight pilots had 2 kills each, and finally 2 pilots each registered one kill.”

  There was a whoosh throughout the room as everyone digested the information. Solear knew that the humans had fought well, but he didn’t until that moment realize how thoroughly they had beaten the enemy.

  Arean continued, “The Sunflower engaged two destroyers. It is credited with killing both of them. The Sunflower is now the most decorated ship in Alliance history.” Arean paused for a moment to let everyone process that information.

  Lexxi asked, “The fighters reprogrammed the missiles and blew up the destroyers. Why does the Sunflower get credit for the kills?”

  Arean answered, “Good question Lexxi. The answer is that the missiles that ultimately killed the destroyers were fired from the Sunflower, so this ship gets the credit for the kill.” Arean hadn’t known either. He had had the computer find it in the Alliance Naval manual.

  Solear knew what came next – the bill. Unbelievably, the Sunflower had only suffered minor damage, and that had been inflicted by the fighter’s rough landing. The enemy hadn’t touched his ship.

  Arean continued, “The Sunflower killed 2 enemy destroyers and sustained no damage in return. The ship launched 20 fighters. These fighters killed 48 enemy fighters. The number of fighters that returned to the ship was…” Arean intentionally paused for effect.

  Arean finished, “The number of returning fighters was 20.”

  Solear was stunned. Happy, but stunned. The humans had performed way beyond expectations. Solear said, “Arean, everyone, congratulations on a battle well fought. Know this – our history has not yet been written. We may be written as heroes or we may be written as villians, but I want you all to know that I am very proud of your accomplishments today.”

  Everyone replied thank you. Solear looked over at Arean and waved for him to approach. Solear spoke to him in a very soft voice so that no one else could hear. He said, “I think it is time that we get some answers from the humans. Their performance defied explanation.”

  The Sunflower completed the second 6 minute (shipboard time) hyperspace jump. Immediately after exiting, Ella began a new active scan. She quickly reviewed the data and said, “The battleship isn’t here. It must have jumped to hyperspace.”

  Arean said, “They probably thought that we jumped to Netron. I am guessing that they jumped to Netron immediately after we jumped.”

  Ella said, “That means they will arrive in Netron at least two hours before us.”

  Solear said, “More than likely, they will have the Netron system blockaded.

  Arean said, “Well, we could go to Dunron and hide there for a while. However, we need to go home as soon as possible. We can’t let the Hiriculans manufacture a story about what happened.”

  Clowy said, “Why?”

  Solear laughed and said, “Well, because it will interfere with the story that we are going to manufacture.” This got the bridge crew to laugh.

  Solear knew that only 12 minutes had passed in shipboard time, but two hours had passed in real time. He smiled as he thought that the last two hours were certainly calmer than the previous two hours.

  Ella said, “I have an update from the scan. Do you remember the 5th ship buster missile?”

  Solear answered, “Yes.” It had in fact completely slipped his mind.

  Ella continued, “The humans must have programmed it to hit the unknown object. Now that it exploded, I am getting a clear scan of the remains of the object.”

  Arean asked, “Well, what is it? Er, I guess I should say what was it?”

  Ella said, “The scan shows that it was two extremely large pieces of steel welded together at a 45 degree angle.”

  Solear said, “That’s it.”

  Arean said, “They must have been using signal distorters to hide its true composition from the scans.

  Solear said, “Yes, they intentionally created something that they knew the Alliance would see on a scan and simply have to investigate.”

  Arean said, “So, I was right. It was a trap.”

  Solear said, “Well, I suppose that mystery is solved. There are many more mysteries we now need to address.”

  Ella said, “Yes, like how to get home.”

  Solear said, “I believe I have an answer to that one. I know a shortcut.”

  Everyone looked at Solear, so he continued, “Computer, Display the star map of Netron showing hyperspace lanes.”

  Solear went to the monitor and traced a path around the outskirts of the system. He said, “We are going to Netron using the hyperspace lane. However, set course to exit the hyperspace lane 7 minutes before our normal arrival time. Then, jump to the 7 minute mark of the Netron – Opron hyperspace lane.”

  Ella asked, “Will that work?”

  Solear answered, “Yes. There is nothing in that region of space. I have jumped this particular path before. There is nothing to worry about.”

  Arean asked, “Do you think the Hiriculans will spot us?”

  Solear answered, “Yes. I am certain they will be actively scanning the entire area around the Netron – Hepitila hyperspace lane. However, we will only be there for a minute before we jump again. The odds are they will not be monitoring the Netron – Opron lane, so they will see us for a moment, but won’t be able to respond yntil after we have left.”

  The cruiser completed a micro jump to the entryway of the hyperspace lane back to Netron. Ella then programmed the jump back to Netron. She hit the button and hit execute. The ship began the 5 hour and 53 minute hour jump back to far outskirts of Netron.

  Solear watched everyone slump in their chairs when the ship jumped. He realized that the bridge crew must be mentally and physically exhausted, so he ordered everyone to take a break for the next 5+ hours. There was nothing pressing that needed done.

  Ella, Clowy, and Lexxi departed the bridge. When they had left Arean said, “Captain, I have an idea. I know what we can do to start evaluating the human fighters.”

  Solear looked up. He was clearly interested. Solear said, “Please tell.”

  Arean said, “We have a flight simulator aboard. Let’s have one of the humans take the final examination. Then we will have a clear comparison of their performance to the baseline.”

  Solear and Arean left the bridge and hurried down the main corridor to the hangar. The caribou painted on the walls were leaping to keep up with them. They noticed the force field on the main hallway was down. They walked through into the fighter bay to find every single person from maintenance and engineering scrambling over the fighters.

  Arean caught one by the arm and asked her what they were doing.

  She said, “The humans nearly wrecked the fighters. I don’t know how some of these things made it back.”

  Solear asked, “Were they hit by enemy missiles?”

  She answered, “As far as we can tell, no. Most of the damage occurred from performing maneuvers and the rest from their horrendous landing.’

  Arean asked, “How bad is it?”

  She said, “We have the spare parts to fix all of them. Mostly though we just need time to repair, recalibrate, and in two cases resuscitate these fighters.”

  Solear said, “Resuscitate?”

  She said, “Two of the fighters have burned out their ion power generators. The whole generator will have to be replaced.”

  Solear asked
, “How long?”

  She answered, “Two days. Three days at the most. Please don’t fight any more battles like that one for a few days.”

  Solear and Arean politely chuckled and thanked her for the information. They proceeded to the humans’ living quarters. Solear lowered the force field, walked through, and reanimated it after Arean had stepped through. Solear took a deep breath and steeled himself for what was going to happen.

  Just like the other times, one of the humans noticed they had entered, immediately yelled, and all of them came running toward them. The stopped in two straight lines and held their right arms to their heads. Solear noted that the humans running toward him made him scared, but he was now somewhat accustomed to the two lines of motionless beings. He looked over at Arean and noticed that he had backed all the way to the force field when the humans had started running.

  Solear yelled, “At ease.” He waited for a moment for the humans to switch to the other position. He still had no idea why they stood there like that. However, he supposed, at least the humans notice me when I enter the room.

  Solear said, “I would like to thank each and every one of you for your outstanding performance in the recent battle. You saved the ship and everyone aboard.” He paused for a moment to allow them to say something. No one did, so Solear said, “Again, thank you. Return to your duties.”

  All of the humans save one left the area. Jim Donovan walked over to the two officers. He said, “Thank your for the recognition.” He waited a moment and then said, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

  Solear responded, “Yes. As a matter of fact, there is something. Please come with us.”

  Solear turned and disabled the force field long enough for the threesome to exit the quarters. They walked across the hangar to the main hallway. Solear noted that his crew was paying attention to him now. He could feel all of the maintenance personnel staring at him – or more likely staring at the human walking next to him.