The Commander (28 page)

“Theodora!” Camila said loudly. “Wake up.”

“Teddy!” The Captain grabbed her leg and shook it.

“Leave me alone!”

“Come on, Miss Smith!” Solomon shouted. “
Sadie
is acting up again.”

Annie gazed blearily at Solomon, squatting next to her bedroll. “She’s a computer! Computer’s don’t
act up
.”

Camila stooped down and glared at Annie. “You know what we’re talking about. Please, girl! I understand how tired you are but Millie’s got it figured out. Now get up and help. Or do you want me to tell seven thousand people it’s your fault they have to live off supplements another week.”

“Uhhhh!” Annie put her face under the dirty blanket.

Camila stood up, taking Solomon’s hand. “Okay. Let’s go,
cariño
, she’s not coming.” Camila dragged Solomon outside the tent’s entrance flap and shouted, “Forget it everyone. Teddy’s too tired. She would rather sleep.”

“Look out!” Solomon caught Annie’s boot just before it smashed Camila in the back. He tossed the boot back. “Thanks, Theodora,” he said, grinning.

Annie watched her tormentors walk away. She knew life wasn’t fair, but this was beyond the pale. Ten minutes later she boarded
Sadie
.

“You’re making me a wanted woman,
Sadie
. And not in a nice way.”

“I apologize, Miss Daniels. The Commander would never forgive me if I allowed you to come to harm.”

Annie let it drop. She’d already had this conversation. After the disaster,
Sadie
had apparently come to the conclusion that she was Annie’s bodyguard and would not go into space unless Annie was onboard. To
Sadie
, it made no difference that Annie was much safer on the ground.

Because the shuttles were running back and forth non-stop, Annie’s life had turned into one of unending exhaustion. The colonists were salvaging as much as possible from the disintegrating vessel.

In the meantime, people still needed three meals a day. All of the great plans for the creation of the new colony had been destroyed with the
Marco Polo
. The colonist’s trades and skills that would have ensured a cultured existence with a high quality of life were of little use. Instead, the community worked like scavengers to provide food.

Without basic implements, simple nutrition became touch and go. Each shuttle had a small replicator on board, but even combined, they were not up to the task of feeding seven thousand people. Instead they produced piles of nutritional supplements between trips. At best it was a short-term solution. If they could move one of the ship’s large replicators to the surface, they might have a chance at survival.

“Where’s Millie?” Annie asked.

“She is on the
Marco Polo
.”

“Let’s go then.”

Moments later
Sadie
parked next to the larger piece of the
Marco Polo
’s wreckage. A wide hole had been painstakingly cut through the hull into the engineering section. Millie’s crew had jury-rigged dozens of LED lights along the walls to illuminate the interior.

Annie pulled on a pair of gravity gloves and launched herself into the derelict. Near the core she spotted Millie looking very excited.

“Whatcha got?” Annie asked once she touched down.

Millie looked at the medium sized replicator. It measured a hundred feet square. “This is the one we’re going with. It’s small enough for us to handle and of the four onboard, it has the least damage.”

“Does it work?”

“I can’t tell without power. I had
Vincent
make a small hand generator to power the control panel. The panel looks okay when I apply voltage, but who knows about the main unit? From what I understand, it was the
Marco Polo
that had the database with the replicator inventory.
Vincent
has a limited one for basic ops, but nothing that we need on the surface.”

“That’s not good,” Annie agreed.

“These shuttles are just not that smart. Except
Sadie
. She won’t come out and say it, but I get the feeling that she has a more complete product list.”

“I know,” Annie sympathized. “She was the commander’s very first shuttle and helped create the initial database. She’s become a weird duck lately. Hang on.”

Annie looked back through the wreckage at her shuttle floating next to the wide opening.
Sadie, answer me yes or no. Do you have a more comprehensive replicator inventory that can help the people on the planet?

Yes, Miss Daniels.

Can you make food and tools?

Affirmative.

Annie looked back at Millie. “She said she does.”

Millie gave Annie one of her suspicious looks. Annie had gotten a lot of those lately.

“How do you do that?” Millie asked.

“I’ll tell you later. What do you want to do now?”

“I’d like to try it out before we move it to the surface, but at this point I’m not sure how.”

Sadie, get in here, please.

The shimmer of a force field appeared around her hull and the shuttle reluctantly inched forward. The opening was three times what she needed, so Annie wasn’t sure why the hesitation.

Are you scared of this place?
Annie asked.

A little bit
, the small shuttle replied.
Marco wasn’t that friendly but he didn’t deserve this. And I don’t want to get trapped inside.

Annie had been having more of these personal conversations with
Sadie
lately. It was getting harder not to attribute true feelings to the little spacecraft. But they had been together for a long time.

George once explained that the more time people spent with their AIs, presumably no matter what level of the device, the closer the bond between human and computer. The AIs were programmed to process their counterpart’s feelings into a feedback loop to enhance the relationship. Annie had concluded that her feedback loop with
Sadie
would eventually drive one of them into a nervous breakdown.

The small spacecraft came to a stop next to the two women.

“How can I help?” the shuttle asked. Her voice was clear inside the boundary of her force field.

“
Sadie
, do whatever you have to, to make this replicator produce five tons of vegetables,” Annie ordered.

For this size replicator it was the simplest of instructions but would make the most difference to the colonists tonight. Annie thought she heard a mechanical sigh.

“Find a type forty-three power cable. Run it from the external power socket below my console to the JX-101 plug under the replicator’s control panel. It’s the one with twenty-eight prongs.”

It took almost an hour to find the necessary cable on level four of the other hulk. Fifteen minutes later the replicator shimmer faded away.

In the center of the replicator pad sat a cluster of forty pallets. Each pallet was five feet high and every single one was filled with individually wrapped salads.

Millie squealed and launched herself at the closest pallet. She tore out one of the packages and shrieked again. “It’s from Safeway!” She glanced back at Annie, a wide grin plastered across her face. “Look! It’s a chicken Caesar salad. That’s my favorite. It even has dressing!”

It was Annie’s favorite too. In fact, she remembered when she scanned it during the early days on one of her trips to Earth. Luke had scanned hundreds of foods into the replicator database to get Moonbase started, but for the most part, he neglected vegetables and salads. Annie chalked it up to typical male mentality and compensated with scans of her own.
Sadie
obviously remembered the incident too.

Millie drifted over to
Sadie
and planted a wet kiss on the front of the shuttle.

Sadie
was affronted. “Miss Parish, restrain yourself. The biological residue from that smudge can develop a hotspot on my forward exterior during reentry.”

“Ha!” Millie responded sarcastically. “I am very familiar with the extended force field used for atmospheric flight. Nice try.” She swiped her tongue across the hull.

“Augh!”

“Stop it, you two,” Annie barked. She couldn’t help smiling. Sometimes dealing with the pair was like babysitting a couple of little sisters.

“Miss, Daniels,”
Sadie
announced primly. “I have notified
Vincent
to bring some volunteers. They will retrieve the vegetables for transport to the planet. Afterward they will return and assist with moving the replicator.”

Luke studied the information coming in from the latest probe. They were fifteen minutes out of the J97 star system and coming in hot.

“It looks very much like the Jigu system, doesn’t it?” he observed to no one in particular.

Carrie wanted more specifics. “What are we seeing, George?” she asked.

“You are essentially correct, Commander. System J97 has three gas giants in its outer orbit and one Earth-type planet second from the sun. It appears that the enemy is engaged in a bombardment of the planet.”

“Is that coincidence or something else?” Luke wondered aloud.

“Impossible to say at this point,” George responded.

The tactical display looked much like the last system. Hundreds of yellow diamond icons surrounded the inhabited planet.

“What are the odds there are Bakkui hiding behind the first gas giant?” Luke speculated.

As if in answer, a new diamond popped up on the far edge of the Jupiter-like planet.

“Hold it here, George.” Luke commanded.

“
Braking
terminated,” he replied.

“George, launch two flights of warships. Have them drop back five AUs into a high low cover.”

“Acknowledged, Commander. Warships launching. Lieutenants Mercado and Bonner commanding Alpha and Bravo Flight.”

“Got it. Resume gravity drive operations, George.” Luke said.

“
Braking
applied, Commander.”

“What are you thinking, Commander?” Carrie asked.

Luke glanced at his first officer. Her expression was expectant, as though waiting for him to divulge a grand scheme.

“I’m not sure,” Luke replied. “The Bakkui we’ve seen are automatons. Perhaps they execute the exact same battle plan in every system. Make it easy for us if they did.”

“But?”

“But I don’t believe in luck, not when we’re going into battle. Let’s see what happens. “George, resume our battle plan as intended, except hold on the guided missiles.
Turning
combat control over to you.”

“Acknowledged, Captain. I have the hammer.”

Moments later George spoke again. “Gravity drives to zero, now. Warships launching.” There was five-second pause. “All warships launched. Fighters launching.” Another pause, slightly longer. “All fighters launched. Tactical displays updating.”

Luke examined the displays. The tactical display showed the God’s-eye view of the system centered on
Lulubelle
. Just like before, a line of white ovals spread out, indicating the warships in line abreast formation. Far in trail, and falling further behind, were the ten warships he had launched previously. The fighter symbols in their appropriate color markings began to appear as they assumed their assigned positions.

“Recon drones launched. Self-defense drones launched,” George said, in a word-for-word repetition of the last combat encounter.

“George,” Luke barked. “I have the hammer.”

“Acknowledged, Commander. You have control.”

“Fire twenty guided missiles.”

“Guided missiles fired,” George replied.

“
Bring
all ships to an emergency stop!”

“Acknowledged, Commander.”

For the first time since Luke started flying the various spacecraft that were now commonplace in his life, he felt
Lulubelle
straining against the forces being applied. She groaned with the effort of going from faster than light to zero.

Luke glanced at Carrie. “I really worry about these gravity drives,” he said loudly over
Lulubelle
’s painful creaks. “If George hiccups, there’s nothing left of us but strawberry jam.”

“Please do not worry, Commander,” George said drily. “We are well within safety tolerances.”

“Have all ships maintain position in line abreast.”

“Acknowledged, Commander.”

A moment later there was dead silence on the bridge. George spoke again quietly. “All stop.”

The display showed all of Luke’s fleet spread out in a wide thin line, motionless, just inside the edge of the solar system.

“You mimicked our actions from the last engagement,” Carrie said. “You hoped that would spring a trap?”

Luke nodded. “It seemed like a good idea.”

“But you gave our position to the enemy.”

“I think they already know we’re here. But that’s another problem.”

“What if all those ships start heading our way?”

“Depends,” Luke said. “We might stand and fight, we might get out of Dodge.”

“Really? You would run?”

“Absolutely, Lieutenant Faulkner. What’s our mission?”

“To create alliances?”

“That’s secondary. First is to survive. And at this point, I doubt we’re going to find much of an alliance on that planet unless they have magic shields too.”

“What will decide your choice, Commander?” Carrie asked.

“I’m willing to engage with them from a distance so long as they don’t surprise me with countermeasures.”

“How do you mean?”

“If they’re doing what I think they’re doing, they learned a lot from us in one engagement. I’m hoping that doesn’t include new a self-defense that can stop our weapons. If they have, we’re outta here.”

Carrie nodded. “Understood. That makes a lot of sense.”

“Don’t forget, Lieutenant. In training simulations, we always fight to the end. But we’re not under any obligation to engage in this or any other system. As long as we have an advantage, we’ll use it. If we don’t, we can’t afford a Pyrrhic victory. Not even once.”

Luke waited, playing a guessing game with the Bakkui force. “How long until those missiles reach their target?”

“The guided missiles arrived two minutes ago, Commander,” George replied.

“Distance from our location to target?”

“Seven point three light minutes, Commander.”

“It’ll be another five minutes before we know if they’re coming our way. Set course toward the outermost gas giant.”

“Course set, Commander.”

“Now fire one hundred missiles to orbit the planet and target on anything on the other side.”

“Missiles fired.”

“Let’s see how this works out,” Luke suggested. “I’ll bet we see some action in less than two minutes. Maybe less if they…”

“Shields. Activated,”
Belle
’s voice warned.

“Commander, multiple targets inbound,” George said.

“How many?” Luke asked. He could not tell because the display had diamonds overlapping diamonds. There were several hundred at least.

“Over a thousand, Commander. Unable to get a firm count.”

“All ships fire. Start backing up, George.”

“
Lulubelle
, this is Mercado. We are detecting several large targets coming from above. They appear to be similar to the Bakkui we found hiding in J64.
Engaging
.”

“Same here, Commander. This is Bonner. About twenty ships coming out of the ecliptic from below.
Firing
now.”

“What’s our effectiveness, George?” Luke demanded. “Are we getting through?”

“Affirmative, Commander. There appears to be no difference from last time.”

“Thank God for that. I think we’ll be okay, then. Full ahead and engage the enemy. Green Squadron, assist Mercado. Blue Squadron, assist Bonner. Fire all missiles. You’ve got the hammer, George!”

“I have the hammer, Commander.
Engaging
.”

Lulubelle
’s nose began swerving to and fro, a continuous vibration shaking the deck as her nose guns fired without pause. Luke felt another rhythmic staccato coming through the walls; it was the anti-aircraft guns mounted along
Lulubelle'
s fuselage.

Carrie touched his arm and pointed at the tactical display. “Red Squadron,” she said.

Red Squadron had gotten too far to the left of the main fleet and was in danger of being englobed by the Bakkui. “George? Can you do something about Red Squadron?” Luke said.

Lulubelle
’s nose swerved violently to the left and fifty guided missiles launched to support the endangered Red Squadron. Suddenly, Bakkui ships were all around them. White streaks glanced off
Lulubelle
's shields, leaving smears of white phosphorus-like residue behind. A blinding white flash exploded to the left of
Lulubelle
’s nose. The view screens went blank and gravity went to zero. The command bridge shook violently.

Luke grabbed the arms of the captain’s seat to stay in place; Carrie did the same, but several bridge officers were caught off guard. The tactical officer was flung across the room. He gesticulated wildly, trying to grab hold of something. The communication office snagged his pants leg and pulled just as gravity came back on, slamming the fellow hard onto the deck. He lay unmoving.

Carrie barked out orders to the crew. “Finch, take his place!” She moved to take over Finch’s engineering position while he moved into the tactical officer’s chair.

“Status?” Luke shouted.

“All systems normal,” Carrie and George both answered at once.

“One report is all I need,” Luke said.

“Sorry, sir,” Carrie responded.

Lulubelle
’s nose swung sharply several more times right and left, then suddenly did an about face, pointed back the way they had come. One final vibration shook the deck and the bridge fell silent. The quiet was magnified by the cessation of all battle activity.

“Engagement terminated,” George announced. “Time of engagement, six minutes. Enemy killed, one thousand eight hundred thirty-two. Alliance warships lost, three. Fighters destroyed, seventeen.”

“All ships, report!” Luke said.

“Mercado. All present, sir.”

“Bonner here, I lost
Higgs
and
Beamer
, Commander.”

The remaining flight commanders reported in, except one.

“Red Squadron, report.” Luke ordered again.

There was further silence. Then a young man’s voice. “This is Ensign Farmer, Commander, Red Squadron. My flight lead is gone. I think we lost fifteen, sir. Maybe more. I’m not sure.”

“Understood, Farmer. George, bring Red Squadron home. Send Orange Squadron to our intended destination and set up a combat air patrol.
Bring
Bonner’s flight back and replace it with another one. Establish crew rotations for follow-on CAPs.” Luke looked at this bridge crew. “What did I miss?”

He got several blank stares. They were still too new at this.

Carrie moved back to the first officer’s chair. “
Engineering
, coordinate with George and give us a report,” she ordered. “Medical, give us an update about the rest of the crew when you can. All departments begin recovery operations. George, send the record of today’s events to J64 and Moonbase One. Deploy reconnaissance probes to star systems K18 and K39.”

“Recordings sent, Lieutenant Faulkner. Probes deployed.”

Luke slumped back in his seat. He felt no thrill from the victory. Only relief that the battle was over. The number of Bakkui warships had shocked him. He had a feeling it was a trap, and like an idiot he’d attacked instead of withdrawing. He could not justify his command to engage the enemy so recklessly. It was irresponsible, especially after lecturing Carrie about using caution.

It was too late now. He had to concentrate on the next step, which was finding out if anyone was still alive on the planet. He had one more thing to do today, however.

“George, from here on, refer to Lieutenant Faulkner as Captain Faulkner.”

“Promotion noted, Commander. Congratulations, Captain Faulkner.”

Carrie’s eyes grew wide at the announcement and a muted but authentic cheer came from the other bridge officers.

“You’ve got the con, Captain,” Luke told her. He lurched to his feet and headed toward his quarters. As he walked down the corridor he heard the bridge officers giving Carrie more congratulations. The news had energized all of them. It left him feeling more exhausted than ever.