Annihilation: A Rose Grows In Weeds (23 page)

A picture appeared on the rooms display and it had an image of one of the new Plant Ships. “Notice along the hull of this ship that it is covered with missile and beam ports. We measured and found that there was only fifty feet of separation between those ports.” Cade said. “The reason we had hornets in the penetrators in the first place was so that they could attack the ship’s hull in the hopes it would cause enough damage to the ship and force it out of action or hit a missile magazine and destroy the ship entirely. We no longer have to do that. All we have to do is get a beam thru their screens and move it 70 feet along the hull and it should hit a weapons magazine.”

Suddenly it seemed that lights went on in the officer’s minds. “You’re right,” Mikado said, “and a beam is easier to penetrate a screen than a penetrator.”

“Exactly,” Anita said. “But keep in mind that without the load of hornets that a pulse penetrator has had to carry before, it becomes twice as fast. We can also make them three stages instead of two with each stage having three times the penetrating energy of the old two stage penetrator without being any longer. Once it designates a target, it accelerates and separates into three sections that will impact 25 feet apart insuring a weapon port should be hit by one of them.

Tag looked at them and said, “Then why should we get close enough to use those three foot beams when we can just stand off and hit them with penetrators.”

‘Because the Plant ships are fast enough now to out run them if launched further out than 300 miles. That means that their ships may get close enough to launch a missile attack at you and the beams can save you if their ships get close or their missiles come at you.”

“How can they save us?” Chen asked.

The new modifications we’re going to use against the plants have had their Coronado Power Cells reprogrammed to work with their sensor. Each cell on the surface of the Megaship will target any object coming at it that does not have a Coronado screen and it can hit an object up to 200 miles away. Let’s say 500 anti-matter missiles are coming at you, the 750 power cells on the surface of the Mega will each target one of those 500 and begin firing 500 beams sequentially every tenth of a second. The three foot beam is actually five times hotter on the surface it hits than the full primary beam and it moves 70 feet across whatever it hits. It would cut a missile in half and we feel certain that the Plants new five screens won’t slow it down.”

“What if they launch twenty thousand missiles at each ship,” Dorg asked.

“That’s where the new hornet comes in,” Cade said.

Tag said, “This sounds interesting.”

Remember that the Plant missiles do not have a screen to protect them. To add additional reactors or screens would make them so big that they would not be fast enough to catch our ships. To stop one, all you have to do is hit it hard enough to rupture its hull; thus, the new hornet. It is only three feet long and is basically a power cell with holes in it to direct its energy to accelerate and change direction. A magazine on a mega can hold 200 of them which allow a Mega to launch 200,000 of them if it used all its ports. We have rotating magazines that can switch between penetrators and hornets.”

“What happens if they use their old ships in combination with the new ones?” Chen asked.

Cade looked at the group of naval officers and asked, “Don’t we have more than 100,000 old ultra and empire ships that match up well with their old design. We can use the new hornets with them to offer some protection against the anti-matter missiles and make sure that they fight the Plants in an area where they can jump to safety if necessary. Using the new weapon mix, you can arm your Mega ships anyway you choose. If some of their old ships are being used, then arm your fleet accordingly.”

Tag said, “Have you tried any of these new designs in the field yet?”

“As a matter of fact, we have, sir. We had developed the new hornet a year ago but did not see how it would be effective in the close ship to ship combat that we were doing at that time especially since our screens were strong enough to handle missile impacts and the hornets could not penetrate an enemy’s screen unless it was inside a penetrator. The new penetrator is just a modification of the two-stage and the change in the screen is basically a software change. We modified a mega last night and took it out to see if the modifications would work. The ship is in orbit overhead if you would like a demonstration.”

Dorg said, “Lead the way, I want to see.”

Tag watched as a mega ship launched 600 penetrators targeted at the modified Mega. “Launch hornets,” McAllister ordered. He watched his display and did not see the hornets as they left the missile ports because they were very small and moving so fast. Suddenly all of the incoming penetrators began exploding until none were left.”

Mikado saw the display and said, “This might be the answer for our forts. They could hold millions of these hornets and probably keep any missile from hitting them.”

“The hornets are only effective against objects that do not have a screen. Ships would not be affected by them,” Anita said.

“Maybe so,” Mikado answered, “but the forts have their own beams to handle ships with screens.”

“What about the new penetrators?” Chen asked. “Do you have anything to demonstrate them against?”

“We have a mega that was damaged in the last battle with the Plants. Its star drive system failed when it tried to jump after its third programmed escape jump and several of its missile ports were severely damaged during the battle. Its screen however, is fully functional and is stronger than the five screens of the new Algean ships. We are going to launch just one of our new three stage penetrators at it and see if it will penetrate its screen and also what kind of damage it does.”

“Where is the target?” Kelly asked.

“It is 200 miles away. We’ve had to override the protocols of the penetrator so it would hit a ship with a Coronado screen.” McAllister looked at his weapons officer and said, “Execute Launch.”

The penetrator left at a velocity almost too fast to follow. Less than a half a second later the sensor display showed the target mega explode in three places with huge flashes. “Take us out to the target,” Tag ordered.

The Stars Realm Naval Officers were amazed at the damage. There were three holes 50 feet wide in the hull of the Mega ship and it was obvious that at least one weapons port on the new Plant Ship would have been hit. “Cade, you and your team have outdone yourself. How long will it take for you to convert our ships to the new weapons?”

Cade looked at his team and said, “The modifications are simple. We don’t have the new penetrators or hornets available to arm them.”

Tag said, “Com the specifications to Sten and also to Ross. We are not currently building new ships so their entire industrial capacity is available for weapon manufacture. I want five ships armed as quickly as possible to go and harass the plant Fleet attacking the new planet. They will be used to begin harassing the Plants whenever we find an opportunity. We will add to that number as the munitions come on line.” Tag then turned to Mikado and Chen and said, “Do you two see any obvious strategies for these new weapons?”

Mikado looked at Chen and said, “These ships are perfect for hit and run tactics outside the jump limit. They can also go toe to toe with the Plant ships and survive in a hostile environment with anti-matter missiles.” Then he looked at Cade and said, “Have we come up with an answer to their dampening frequency?”

Cade shrugged and said, “Not yet. I think that it will require a technological breakthrough to defeat and breakthroughs cannot be scheduled. We are working on it.”

Tag looked around the group and said, “I think you and your team have helped us tremendously. Everyone go back to work and develop a plan to use these new weapons.” Everyone shook hands and left with excitement at their prospects against the Algeans. Tag could see in his mind numerous uses for the new weapons. He smiled as he thought about revenging the loss of his friend. “Oh Kosiev, I miss you and your popcorn,” he thought and then ate a handful as he reflected on all that had happened.

Ron-Dar was sitting in the front row at his graduation from the Kosiev Naval Academy. His chair was much larger than those around him. He was big even for a Glod. He stood eight feet tall and weighed five hundred and forty pounds. His orange hair was tied in a braid down to his waist and he wore the two ceremonial swords to his graduation. He had spoken briefly to Tgon-Gee who had come to see his graduation and he felt a sense of pride for being number one in his class. He thought about how the last four years had changed him and his view of the universe. He had come to understand that working together will always win over individuals working alone. He knew his fellow Glod warriors at home did not understand that concept and were thus weaker as a result. The President of the Academy was speaking and his mind drifted back to the day of the challenge when he was forced to choose for his race whether or not to accept Queen Danielle as their ruler. He could still see the determination in her eyes and her fear for his safety if he had to fight that demon husband of hers. He did not fear death and he knew he would die if he fought Thomas Gardner but her fear for him changed him. He saw the greatness of her spirit and it made him feel small. It was that feeling that brought him to this academy to try and become more than he was. He had worked hard during his studies and being first in his class helped him begin to feel whole again. Then he heard his name and noticed all his class mates were staring at him. Then the President said, “Ron-Dar is number one in this graduating class and he has been ordered to his first assignment; standup Ron-Dar.” He stood and the President lifted a sheet of paper and began reading, “Ron-Dar is hereby promoted to the rank of captain and will report to the Megaship Retribution immediately after this celebration to assume the command of that ship.”

His classmates jumped up and began cheering his good fortune. No one had graduated from the academy with that high a rank. He was being pounded on the back and hugged but then he heard over the noise the President calling for order. The graduates finally quieted down and the President said, “There’s more to this assignment that we all need to hear.” Ron-Dar was numb from the news but then he heard, “Retribution is the Flagship of Thomas Gardner and it will be leading our war against the Algeans. One of our own will be in the forefront of that fight.”

Whatever was said after that was never heard, his classmates hoisted all 540 pounds of the stunned Glod and began parading around the campus. Ron-Dar had finally found what he was seeking and for the first time since the day of the challenge he felt whole again.

Tgon-Gee stood at the rear of the crowd and felt his pride swell for the Glod Champion that had just been promoted. His success at the academy would cause other Glod Warriors to enter now that they knew they could compete head to head with the humans. Ron-Dar’s example would be the first small step for his culture to become greater than it had ever been. He moved into the crowd to assist the graduates in lifting the heavy Glod classmate. Somehow, he felt much lighter than he should have.

Misty Nicole sat at her desk with the top scientist from the Directorate’s Labs. “I need you to drop what you’re working on and try to find a way around this dampening frequency that the Algeans are using to prevent our ships from jumping inside the star drive limit.”

Gerald Nelson looked at the Director and said, “We have looked at the problem and unfortunately we have come up empty handed. The stars gravity already makes the resonance of the drive field difficult inside the limit and it’s only those ships with the most powerful Coronado screens that can overcome it. It only barely overcomes that gravity and it only takes a small disturbance to prevent the drive from being able to hold a resonance. That dampening frequency doesn’t even have to be strong to stop the drive from working. Outside the limit the frequency has no effect.”

Misty looked at Gerald and said, “Explain to me so that I can understand how that is a problem.”

“Director, Douglas discovered accidently that every place in the known universe has a certain resonance frequency.” He pointed at a cup on her desk and said, “That cup resonates at a frequency that no other place in the universe resonates and that frequency is the coordinates of that cup’s location.” He reached forward and moved the cup a tiny bit then said, “Now the frequency has changed with its new location. Douglas discovered that if you surround an object with a field resonating with the same frequency of another location, then that object instantly moves, or as we say, jumps to the location of the matching resonance and it doesn’t matter if its six inches away or six light years.”

Misty had her head tilted and said, “Where does it go when it jumps?”

“We honestly don’t know. Some scientists have speculated that the resonance field is actually no larger than the size of the universe just before the big bang which was the size of a small atom; so the distance traveled between jumps is actually too small to measure which is why the jumps are instantaneous. That concept however, is conjecture. We do know that using the field reader one can read the resonance frequency of any point in the universe and strangely, the field is instant and is not bound by the speed of light.”

Misty then asked a question that would change the course of the war, “Well what is the frequency of the space you go thru to make a jump?”