Probe Predators (19 page)

• • •

Three days later, Rolf called Jinx in and said, “I believe we have the information you want.” Jinx stared at Rolf and nodded for him to go ahead. “The main Thresher Fleet is waiting to be notified of the arrival of a family. It appears that Grandfather was right; the Threshers see the Family as a rare delicacy. They will wait here for them no matter how long it takes.”

Jinx nodded, “Did you learn anything else?”

“They will come after any galaxy that threatens them with a higher level of technology. I suspect the damaging of one of their ships may cause a larger presence to come to determine if M87 is a threat.”

“Did they give any clue as to how long they think it’s going to take a Family to show up?”

Glenda tilted her head, “They say that they once came immediately but now they’ve taken as long as a year to arrive.”

Jinx nodded, “Are you done with them?”

Rolf glanced over Jinx’s shoulder and said in an emotionless voice, “I don’t think they have anything else to tell us. They were talking as fast as possible at the end.”

Jinx nodded and said, “Thanks, you may return to your assignments.”

The two Striker Pilots saluted and Jinx returned it. They turned and casually strolled up the long hall discussing what they were going to have for supper. Jinx looked over his shoulder at the blood stained room and shook his head.

• • •

Drey was in Central Fleet Headquarters when he saw Jinx enter the room. There was a large gathering around a conference table and Drey said, “Welcome back, Admiral. Your reports are being examined by us at this very minute.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Drey looked around the conference room and said, “Admiral Tollervar collected the intelligence we’ve been going over.”

“Actually, Sir; it was two Striker Pilots that collected the information.”

“How on earth were they able to get them to talk?” Jinx looked around the table and Drey said, “You may speak openly; everyone here has the highest security rating.”

“The two Strikers chose one of the Thresher Pilots and spend the better part of a day determining which part of their anatomy hurt the most having it slowly cut off. One would do the cutting while the other took notes. They did this to six of them and then told the others that they would be spared if they would answer a few questions.”

Drey stared at Jinx for a long minute and finally said, “And?”

“It took eight more but they all began giving information almost too fast to capture on a recorder.”

Drey saw Jinx’s expression and said, “Admiral, those creatures killed thousands of innocent civilians just for the fun of it.”

“I know, Sir. They should be punished for their crimes.”

Drey waited and when Jinx said nothing he said, “But..”

“It was the cold blooded indifferent way those two strikers went about the task. I think that is what broke the Threshers. They appeared to be…I don’t know…dead inside.”

“All of Admiral Kemper’s Command have a death wish.”

“I know that, Sir. It’s just that those two seemed to have already died…they were walking dead.”

“I suspect when you know your death is certain, it can change you.”

Jinx shook his head, “I guess; I just never saw such Zombie like behavior in Union Personnel.”

Drey nodded and said, “I would have done the same thing to them without a second thought. They’re coming to attack the Union; they deserve what they got and worse. What do you think about the information you sent in.”

“The information about their weapon systems was the most important data collected.”

The conference continued but the name was shared among those that attended and made its way to all the other fleets in the Union. They began calling Katy’s fleet the Zombies. One would have thought they would have taken umbrage at the name; but they didn’t. They embraced it and began calling themselves Zombies. Soon, a small patch was sewn on their uniforms with a misshaped head bleeding from several places. The Union’s sailors learned quickly to stay out of the way of anyone wearing that patch.

• • •

The Striker Pilot stood at the bar and ordered a stiff drink. He didn’t take liberty very often but tonight he needed to get wasted and try to forget the family he lost because of his drunken behavior. He finally managed to get his addictions under control but his former family members flinched whenever he lifted a hand or said anything in a stern voice. He knew he had lost them and winning back their affection was a lost cause. He learned this morning that his former wife had remarried and was happy again. He needed release and tonight was for their memory. He ordered a second drink and felt a finger on his shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a large sailor standing behind him. He said, “Go away.”

“I understand that you’re in some hotshot unit that thinks they’re all that. Well, we don’t think you’re much at all.” Jackson ignored him and paid for his second drink. “Hey! I’m talking to you.” Jackson turned and looked the sailor in the eyes with an emotionless, dead expression and remained silent. The large sailor didn’t know what to make of Jackson’s expression. He pushed Jackson on the shoulder and the smaller Zombie just looked at the shoulder he had pushed. “That Admiral of yours is also a heaping pile of Donkey Dung.”

Jackson hit the sailor so fast he never saw it coming. One moment he was speaking and the next he was knocked over four tables unconscious. Five of the sailor’s ship mates rushed in and began pummeling Jackson. They knocked him on to a table that collapsed under his weight. They laughed and high fived until they saw Jackson stand up with one of the table legs in his hand. Jackson killed four of the five attackers before everyone in the bar piled on. Jackson stood in the center and took their measure. The smile on his face was macabre and many chose to stay out of the fight. Jackson used the table leg, his teeth, and his steel toed boots to inflict damage on his attackers and still they charged in.

A Fleet Security Team arrived and tried to end the mayhem but Jackson laid in to them as well. He continued kicking and hitting those on the floor without relenting. He moved across the bar and used the table leg to crush skull of the sailor that initiated the fight. Finally, a Security Captain hit Jackson with a stunner. Jackson staggered through the beam and hit the Captain in the face with a fist. He dropped to the floor faster than a bad habit. The Captain went down and Jackson turned back to his task at hand. A Security Corporal reset his hand weapon and blasted Jackson’s head off his shoulders.

The Ambulances began arriving and thirty minutes later a Zombie Group Commander arrived. The Security Colonel came to attention, “What happened here, Colonel?”

Colonel Ventura looked around the bar, “Sir, it appears a sailor tried to pick a fight with a member of the Strikers. The Striker ignored it at first but reacted when the sailor insulted his Admiral.”

“Why did you find it necessary to kill the Striker if he did not initiate the fight?”

“Sir, he wouldn’t stand down. He sent two of my security team to the hospital and was systematically killing everyone lying injured on the floor. We stunned him but he walked through the beam and gave my Captain a concussion. We had no choice but to use deadly force to stop him.” The Colonel looked around the bar at the bodies with blankets over them and shook his head, “Sir, all he had to do was stand down.”

The Group Commander looked around the bar and asked, “How many did he kill?”

The Colonel looked at the Striker Group Commander and said, “Nineteen.”

The Group Commander stared at the Colonel and then looked around the room. He turned to leave and said, “I don’t expect many will insult our Admiral after this gets out.”

The Colonel watched the huge Striker walk out the door and thought, “No, I don’t expect many will.”

• • •

Katy learned of the new name and didn’t like it. However, Rolf convinced her that it was an accurate description of who they were. She finally relented and after six months, even the Senior Command Team referred to them as Zombies. The walking dead were given a wide berth by any they approached. For their part, the Zombies didn’t want contact with anyone but their fellow Striker Pilots. They were, by and large, granted their wish.

• • •

Jinx saw his panel illuminate and saw Rags on the display, “Rags, it’s really good to see you!”

“It has been far too long. How are things going?”

“We’re getting up to speed. I think our fleets can compete with yours effectively now.”

“That’s why I’m contacting you.”

“Oh?”

“Fleet Admiral Kragon and ordered me to let you know that he will no longer allow any of his fleets to maneuver with the Zombies.”

Jinx shook his head, “What happened?”

“Jinx, those pilots are dangerous.”

“That’s what we’re hoping, Rags.”

“They’re not just dangerous to an enemy. During the last exercise, all of them turned and flew head on toward one of our ships. They refused to turn away and two ships were destroyed when they called the Zombies bluff; they learned it wasn’t a bluff. We will not endanger our crews to them anymore.”

Jinx blew out a breath, “I understand. How is your fleet shaping up?”

Rags smiled, “We’ll be ready.”

Jinx nodded, “I know you will. Good luck, Rags.”

“Same to you, my old friend.”

Jinx thought about the issue and decided a call had to be made. He punched up Katy’s communicator and saw her appear on is screen, “Admiral Kemper, we need to discuss an issue that has arisen.”

Katy kept her face neutral, “What is that Admiral Tollervar?”

“The Kilper have informed us that they will no longer conduct maneuvers with your fleet.” Katy was shocked at the revelation and it showed in her expression. “It appears that one of the maneuvers used by your wings is for all your ships to turn head on to their opponent and dare them to not break away. Two Kilper Pilots were killed in the last exercise when they refused to give way. If your fleet is not disciplined enough to not endanger their fellow warriors, we will not allow you to take part in any fleet exercise.”

“Thank you for letting me know about this, Admiral. I assure you it won’t be a problem in the future.” And it wasn’t; after Katy dressed her pilots down for their stupidity. Her disappointment in them was enough to make them change their behavior.

• • •

The Fleet Admirals were in a conference room watching a video of the Orange Ship’s combat capabilities. Moe gave a running dialogue as the recording ran. “Their force fields are layered with an intricate energy weave that makes them extremely powerful. As you can see by the impacts of the old heavy penetrators and energy beams used by the ships in M87, it can hold up to tremendous loads. I don’t think our fields would do as well under the same conditions.”

Drey’s eyes narrowed, “Moe, that field did fail when it was hit by the ripple fired penetrators.”

“Actually, the field didn’t fail; it was the emitters they were anchored to that broke down. The emitters received such a heavy load in less than a tenth of a second that the ship’s hull buckled and shut them off. I don’t think we can count on getting close enough to ripple fire anything if several of those ships are defending each other with a crossfire pattern.”

“What about the Pegs?”

“They are much more powerful than the old heavy penetrators. However, I don’t think they’re fifty times more powerful. It’s going to take multiple hits by Pegs to get through their force fields.”

“And our String Blasters?”

“Will have to be fired from close range to be effective.”

“How close?”

“Way inside the range of their blasters.”

“This is not good news.”

“No, but at least they’re not completely invulnerable. We can hit them if we can get close enough to do it.”

Drey looked at Kragon, “What do you think our next step should be?”

“We’re going to have to take them on the next time.” Drey sighed and nodded. Kragon shook his head, “I don’t think it’s going to be very long before that happens.”

Drey nodded again, “You noticed that.”

“They send two hundred shuttles to the planet to collect stores. They have two hundred ships here; do the math. Fifty ships didn’t have their stores replenished.” Kragon looked at Drey, “If you were in their place, what would you do?”

“Their possible actions range from sending the fifty ships that didn’t get stores to take what they need or send five ships to collect ten shuttles. Their choice will be dictated by what they believe the locals know about them.” Kragon nodded.

Katy said, “I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying, Sir.”

Drey looked around the huge table and saw she wasn’t alone. She just possessed enough courage to ask. Drey leaned back in his chair, “If they believe the local civilizations in M87 don’t know who they are or why they’re present, they’ll want to maintain that posture. If they believe the locals know why they’re there, then they lose nothing to send fifty ships to collect what they need.”

Jinx said, “And since the local fleets took more than ten hours to arrive at the first site…”

Katy nodded, “They believe they can get in and out without being confronted again.” Jinx nodded.

Drey looked up, “Moe, how are we going to arrive in time?”

“I’ve reprogrammed the probes watching their ships.”

“In what way?”

“We’ve determined that we can get a jump track if we run an active scan within two seconds of their departure. The probes will do that next time.”

Kragon nodded, “And since the ship will be gone, the active scan will not be seen by the Threshers letting them know we’re watching them.”

“All of their scanners are aimed at the galaxy. Our scan will be tightly focused and will not be seen by the Thresher Warships to either side of it.”

Katy leaned forward and said, “There is one other possibility.”

Drey and Kragon turned and looked at her. Drey said, “What is that?”

“I believe the safest way for them to go unnoticed is to send five ships to one planet and collect what they need. They’ll just go to five cities and collect ten shuttles from each. If the time they used during their first attack remains the same, they’ll be in and out in less than thirty minutes.”