Scrapyard Ship 3 Space Vengeance (24 page)

Stalls, now somewhat composed, was back seated in his command chair.

“
Pike, have my shuttle prepped and ready for flight in ten minutes. Load up coordinates for a location called San Bernardino, California,” Stalls commanded.

He looked down at his shirt and pants and huffed in disgust. “These certainly won’t do.” With that he was out of his chair and heading off the bridge. “I’ll be in my cabin changing. As you were, everyone.”

Bristol looked to Pike and then at the others. “You all know he’s lost his fucking mind, right? It’s not just me; he’s totally gone off the deep end, right?”

Although the bridge crew kept silent, they all nodded in agreement.

* * *

In actuality, from start to finish, it took Teardrop close to seven days to complete the construction of the house. As much as Mollie loved the new digs, she protested spending the night there before her father returned.

“
Fine, stay in the old house. Let me know how you like the cold shower in the morning. Oh, and try to keep yourself entertained tonight. I’ll be in front of the big-screen watching—”

“
Okay, okay, I got the point, Mom.”

Nan smiled and continued turning strips of bacon in a large frying pan. She loved the new kitchen. She loved the house. She only hoped Jason would, too. He was sentimental in his own way so new was not always better as far as he was concerned.

The sun was setting and an amber glow filtered through windows into the back of the house. A shadow crossed by the large rear windows and both Nan and Mollie looked up.

“
What’s it doing now?” Mollie asked.

“
It never stops. Um, I think Teardrop mentioned something about spraying the external walls with some kind of nanite.”

“
What’s that for?”

“
Protective something or other. I don’t really know, but it was fairly adamant about getting it completed as soon as possible.”

The sliding glass door opened and Teardrop entered.

Mollie turned and smiled. “Well?”

“
Hello, Mollie. Hello, Nan.”

“
Are you finally done?” Nan asked.

“
Yes.”

“
We’d offer you a BLT, but I don’t think you eat,” Mollie said.

Before Teardrop could answer, the house shook. Immediately, the kitchen and the open family room darkened.

“
What’s going on, Teardrop?” Nan asked, fear in her voice.

“
Security shutters have been engaged.”

Sure enough, a metal shutter unrolled, obscuring the outside world.

“
We have security shutters?” Mollie asked.

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Jason and Perkins stood together watching as the Craing fleet moved into position.

“
Truth is, we don’t know how much The Lilly’s shields can withstand. Hell, they were damn near impenetrable before,” Jason said.

“
Still, it’s two thousand warships, including three Dreadnaughts, against three ships,” Perkins replied.

“
Well, if we stick to our plan, we’ll be out of sight most of the time.”

“
And that’ll leave the Mau’s ships out in the open, like lambs led to the slaughter,” Perkins replied.

“
That’s why we’ll need to mix things up a little,” Jason said. “We’ll have to alter our strategy some. For sure, I could use Ricket’s assistance about now.”

They continued to look up, turning around to take it all in. Like others on the bridge, Jason was overwhelmed at the sight. Their upgraded wraparound display provided ultra-realism to the scene, as though the top-third of The Lilly’s bridge had been opened to space, offering them a 360-degree view of everything around them. The ability to zoom in and out was as simple as making the appropriate hand gesture.

“
Change to virtual view,” Jason ordered.

The display changed and a logistical representation of symbols and icons took the place of the sun and planets, and a multitude of warships. If possible, it presented an even more daunting viewpoint.

The three approaching Craing formations were a mixture of heavy and light cruisers, a Dreadnaught, and the Mau warships.

“
Why didn’t I think of it before?”

“
What’s that?” Perkins asked.

“
The Craing fleet. We know the little bastards force other species to do their fighting for them, like the Serapin-Terplins and those nasty pill bugs we encountered on Halimar that shot shit from their bellies, and the captured rhino-warriors. There must be a thousand more of them on board those ships.”

“
Probably, and a bunch of other beasts we haven’t even encountered yet.”

“
What if we could turn them?”

“
The rhinos?” Perkins asked, not understanding.

“
Yes. Turn all those prisoner rhinos against the Craing. But I really need Ricket for this.”

“
I am here.”

Jason and Perkins spun on their heels and turned toward the entrance of the bridge. Dira, leaning against the bulkhead with her arms crossed over her chest, was beaming. Her ear-to-ear smile momentarily stopped Jason’s heart. But it was Ricket at her side who’d caught his full attention. Or was it really Ricket? He was the same height, and had more or less the same features, but the mechanical aspects of his visage were gone: he was a cyborg no more! And he was younger, handsome in a Craing-sort of way. And, unlike the modern day Craing and more like the Craing they’d encountered on HAB 12, Ricket had a full head of hair.

“
It’s about time you got back to work,” Jason said, doing his best to keep a straight face.

“
Do you have my baseball cap, Captain?”

“
Next door, on my desk.”

Ricket darted away. Jason met Dira’s eyes and mouthed the words thank you! She mouthed back you’re welcome and left, but not before blowing him a silent kiss. Chuckles erupted from around the bridge.

Ricket rushed back in, now wearing his cap. Seeing him again, back with the crew caused several on the bridge, including Jason, to blink away moist eyes. As if on cue, everyone turned their attention back to their stations.

“
Are you up to speed on current events?”

“
Yes, Captain. I have the same, if not more capabilities than I had before. I’ve been monitoring communications with the admiral.”

“
Do you have any idea how we can track down Granger?”

“
Granger does not wish to be found, it seems. What is evident is that we never had real control over the installed interface communications devices. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied I would have—”

“
Let’s stay focused on the here and now, Ricket. How do we get the outpost fleet where they’re supposed to be?”

“
Only by working directly with the interface, I’m assuming.”

“
Can you contact him, or it?”

“
No, but I think you can.”

“
Me?”

“
The Zoo, Captain.”

“
The Drapple.”

“
Incoming! Multiple groupings … mixture of nukes and fusion-tipped missiles,” Orion exclaimed.

“
You know what to do, Gunny. Take them out.”

“
Aye, Cap.”

“
Ricket, is there a way to maybe open a channel or something that can go ship-wide? Go out to every Craing ship—Dreadnaughts, light and heavy cruisers, all of them?—and do so simultaneously?”

Ricket contemplated the question, actually chewing on his lip while thinking. “We could get away with it once, Captain; after that, they’d be wise to it.”

“
Once is all we need. I need to talk to Traveler.” Holding two fingers to his ear, Jason hailed the rhino, hoping he’d figured out how to use his comms by now.

“
This is Traveler.”

“
This is the captain, Traveler. I need to ask you a very important question.”

“
Yes, ask your question.”

“
On your home planet, Trumach, I saw the Reds communicating from miles away.”

“
Yes, Reds and Greys alike do this. It’s called—”

Jason cut him off. “I need you now to communicate the same way to all the rhinos on the other ships. The ones held hostage.”

“
My horn-call will not travel in space, Captain. That is a stupid idea.”

Jason almost laughed. “Your NanoCom will be tied to their ships’ PA, or public address system.”

There was quiet for a moment and then Traveler grunted. “I like this idea. I need to think of what to say.”

“
Yes,” Jason said. “It must be something that will make them revolt against the Craing. That will cause them to join with our forces. You understand?”

“
Of course I understand. I know what to say,” Traveler replied.

“
Let them, Reds and Greys alike, know we’re coming. Let them know they will be fighting for their own freedom and the freedom of their home worlds,” Jason added.

“
Yes, I know what to say, Captain.”

Jason looked at Ricket. “Are you set? Can you hook us up, connect us to their ships’ PA systems?”

“
One moment, Captain.” Ricket, working away at the Comms station, added a few more keystrokes and nodded. “I’ve tied Traveler’s NanoCom into multiple channels. As I said, we will only get this opportunity once.”

“
Okay, Traveler. Do it. Do your horn-call now.”

Jason’s eyes widened and he put both hands to his ears as the loudest sounds he’d ever heard filled his head. Ricket too held his ears. The horn-like bursts continued and got even louder as Traveler conveyed his message.

When Traveler stopped calling, Jason continued to hear echoes for several moments.

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The Lilly’s three rail-guns continued their onslaught, only pausing for cooling at separate and select intervals. With an unlimited supply of JIT rail ordnances, the guns kept up with whatever the Craing threw at them. The Craing fleet, in its current formation, was utilizing only a fraction of their combined firepower and had yet to bring into the fray their three Dreadnaughts. But as Jason watched, the three enormous ships were slowly maneuvering toward the front of the fleet’s formation.

Traveler’s horn-call didn’t seem to have much of an effect. Not at first. It was only when several ships started to fall out of formation that it became evident rhinos were indeed on board a significant number of those vessels, and they were taking Traveler’s call to rebel in earnest.

“
Cap, at least fifty Craing warships have left the fight,” Orion said.

“
And with Craing bridge crews killed or in hiding, they’ve got multiple ships adrift. Several have actually crashed into each other out there,” Perkins added.

All this was good news to Jason, but they were playing defense. They needed more ships.

The Lilly’s bridge went quiet as Ti’s face appeared on the display. Even Jason, who had gotten somewhat accustomed to the Mau, figured he would never fully get used to their unusual appearance.

Jason said, “We’ve relinquished control back to your helm. The Red rhinos you’re transporting should be a reminder that you’re only safe as long as you keep to your agreement to fight for the Alliance.”

“
No need to threaten me. I’ve already given you my commitment.”

“
Good. One more thing I need to ask of you, Ti. It’s time to let the other Mau within the Craing fleet know what you’re doing.”