Tipping Point in the Alliance War (5 page)

***

“Launches
are positioned,” announces Major Dawkins.
“Fire when ready.”

The
‘cover fire’ has been programmed into the computer, and resembles an enormous 4
^th
of July fireworks display combined with a weapons assault.  Explosions
from rockets, flares and plasma canons light up local space.  The weapons
fire is directed primarily at the damaged ship, but there is also some plasma
canon fire directed at the healthy ship, which is partially hidden from view.

***

(Plasma
is one of the four fundamental states of matter.  The other three
fundamental states are solid, liquid, and gas.  Plasma is created when a
gas is heated and the molecules in the gas ionize – meaning that the particles
have a negative or positive charge.  The Plasma Canons impel beams of
actuated plasma gases, which ignite on contact, and subsequently radiate
incredible amounts of heat into the targeted object. 

As
the plasma assault begins, the unshielded hull of the burning ship lights up
from the heat, and produces a cloud of luminous radiation, which emanates
perpendicularly to the plasma beam.  The cloud seems to morph, flow, and
spread, in a way that is similar to the Northern Lights, on planet Earth -
except with a blinding white light.  The associated electromagnetic
interference renders useless any sensors or piece of electronics in the
vicinity.  The sensors will remain useless for the duration of the
‘cloud’.)

***

The
Marine launches take a straight path, until they reach the burning wreckage.
Then Major Dawkins leads her assault launches around the burning ship and takes
a slow circuitous route toward the target vessel, hiding so that the enemy
sailors won’t see them as they approach the open hangar bay. 

The
ruse works.  None of the launches is fired upon.  Major Dawkins is in
the lead and makes a dash for the open hangar door, while the other launches
head for their assigned entry points.

***

There
is a tense 16 minute wait on the Courageous Bridge, before they receive news
from the Marines. 

“The
Marines have landed,” announces Major Dawkins, over the comm system.  “Two
launches entered through the open hangar doors, and 5 launches are attached to
the hull. 
Mission proceeding.
 
Dawkins out.”

The
Bridge Crew on the Courageous erupts in cheering and celebration.  The
Captain, who is cheering as well, quickly regains his composure and chastens
the Bridge Crew.  “It’s not ‘game over,’ yet,” he says. 
“Return to your stations, and concentrate on finishing this battle
- with as little loss of life, as possible.”

The
crew is appropriately contrite and murmur “Aye sir” comments, as they resume
their duties.

***

The
Brutus

There
is another kind of celebration going on aboard the Confederation ship Brutus.
The Alliance Space Marines have, at last, been unleashed with instructions to
kill and maim – the two things that they do best.

The
two Marine launches, which landed on the hangar deck of the Brutus, arrived as
a complete surprise to the Confederation crew.  That surprise quickly
turned to dismay and panic.  No one has used boarding parties, in space
battles, for hundreds of years.  There is no armed resistance to stand in
the way of the Marines.

Major
Dawkins is on the first launch to hit the deck of the Brutus, and immediately
realizes that there will be little - or no - opposition to their
onslaught.  As the 20 Marines exit the two launches and quickly take
control of the area, Major Dawkins orders the other launches to abort their
‘hull breach entry’, and to follow the Major onto the hangar deck.

The
first operational goal for the mission is to disable the enemy ship.  That
goal is clearly in sight.  Nothing can stop the Marine invasion
.

The
second operational goal is to capture the ship and its crew, so that the
advanced technologies on the vessel can be reverse engineered for use on
Alliance Navy vessels.  That goal is clearly possible.  The only
obstacle is the certainty that the Brutus’ officers will self-destruct the
ship, when they realize that there is no hope of controlling the boarders.

It is
a race for the life of the Brutus, the Brutus’ crew, and the lives of all the
Alliance Navy Marines who are part of the assault team.  Major Dawkins
reminds her Marines of the importance of their mission and tells them that it
is ‘do or die’ time.

Major
Dawkins moves quickly to sever the command and control leadership, which will
implement the self-destruct sequence.  She takes her 9 marines and makes a
dash for the Command Bridge, where the self-destruct decision will be made, and
where the computer instructions will be entered.  9 marines from the
second launch are sent to Engineering, where the self-destruct sequence will be
implemented.  One marine is left on the flight deck, to make sure that the
hangar door stays open, for the entry of the other Marine launches.

So
far, the only armed Confederation forces encountered by the Marines are the
ships security forces, which carry light
phaser
weapons -
phasers
are useless against Armored Space
Marines.  

The
Marines know approximately where the Command Bridge and Engineering sections
are located, but they will need specific directions.  The obvious
technique for obtaining information will be to capture enemy crew members and
to ‘encourage’ them to act as guides. ……. ……. … It turns out that
interrogations will not be necessary, because the directions are clearly marked
at every hallway intersection, using universal icons.  Both teams made
good time – ‘like a hot knife cutting through butter’.

The
teams advance at a run.  Armed security guards, encountered along the way,
are summarily shot.  Most of the crew members are in a blind panic to get
out of the way and just press themselves against the corridor walls, while the
Marines hurtle by. 

(The
enemy crew is not killed because they are not a threat to the Marines, and it
is more efficient to go past them, rather than to climb over their dead
bodies.)

At
last there is some resistance - the Command Bridge doors are guarded and
locked.  The lightly armored security forces are equipped with low-power
laser rifles, which are not a threat to the Alliance forces –the Marines
dispatch the panicked guards in seconds. 

The sergeant who is ‘point’ on Major Dawkins’
group pulls out a package of explosive LC9 putty, and pastes it onto the door.
 
The Marines scurry back around the corner and trigger the explosion, which
leaves a gaping hole where the doors had been.

Major
Dawkins rushes onto the bridge and orders everyone away from their
stations.  Members of the Bridge Crew who are too slow, or make a
suspicious move, are instantly killed. 

It is
possible that the senior officers are connected to the ship’s computer via
brain implants, so Major Dawkins orders her Marines to inject the Bridge
officers with drugs, in order to quickly render them unconscious. 

(These
are drugs which the Marines routinely carry for use on themselves and each
other - for pain relief - in case of catastrophic injury.)

A
similar scene plays out in the Engineering section, except there is no need to
drug the Engineering crew, because they can’t initiate the self-destruct
sequence.  That is fortunate, since the Marines may need some of these
sailors to help run the ship.

Major
Dawkins reports the situation to Captain Niles, and requests more Marines to
secure the prisoners, and for computer experts to insure that the self-destruct
feature is disabled.

***

Courageous
Bridge

Captain
Niles orders the Marines to shuttle over to the Brutus but keeps a contingent
of 50 Marines, along with some assault-launches, aboard the Courageous. 
He knows that the fighting is not over yet - the Confederation Navy will come
looking for these ships.

Captain
Niles orders Chief Science Officer
Basisht
to the
Brutus, and assigns him the task of removing the self-destruct sequence from
the Confederation ship’s computer.

He
calls for Courageous’ 2
^nd
Shift Bridge Crew to come on duty and to
begin a one hour transition, in order to debrief and to relieve the 1
^st
Shift Bridge Crew - which is exhausted.  Fresh minds will be needed, if a
surprise attack were to occur.

He
orders Courageous’ 3
^rd
Shift Bridge and Engineering crews to board
the Brutus, and he instructs them to “learn how to fly it”.  They are to
be the new Alliance crew for the captured vessel.

He
decides that he and First Officer
Znnu
will take
turns, as the Bridge Captain on the Courageous, until they are safely
back
in Alliance Space.  He is going to take the first
shift but wants to make one comm call, first.

“You have
the Bridge Lieutenant
Znnu
,” says the Captain. 
“I’ll be in the Command Conference Room.”

“Aye Sir.
  I have the
Bridge,” responds the First Officer.

***

Courageous
Command Conference Room

The
Captain collapses into a chair, and finally allows himself to face his fear
about the fate of Doctor Mei Kei.  There was heavy damage and loss of
life, at the Medical Facility where she works, and Roger Niles is sick with
worry.  There is no one that he loves as much as Mei.  There is
nothing to do but find out how she is.  If she is well, he will be a happy
man.  If she is dead or critically injured, he will be an unhappy man -
for the foreseeable future.

He
punches her PID number and waits.  He lets it continue to
tone, …… ……… ……… …..
 
but
there is no answer. …… …… …… He hangs up and slumps down into his chair, as he
feels the nausea begin to take over. 

(It
wouldn’t do, for anyone to see the ship’s Captain like this - he has secluded
himself, for just that reason.)

He
sits alone for about 5 minutes …… …… waiting ……… and deciding what to do
next.  The next step, he decides, will be to contact Emergency Management
and check on her status.  As he is about to do that, his PID unit
sounds.  His heart leaps.

“Hello,”
he says. 

“Oh,
Roger,” Mei says.  “I was working on a patient and couldn’t answer. 
I am so glad to hear that you are OK.  I was so worried.”

The
Captain
feels
relief wash over him, starting in his
head and flowing downward.  And tears of joy fall from his eyes, as the
fear and dread begin to fade away.  He is a happy man today and he says a
silent “Thank You,” to the God he sometimes talks to.

***

Courageous
Bridge

Captain
Niles is still on duty following the space battle.  He issues orders to
the officers, on the Courageous and the Brutus, listing tasks and establishing
priorities. 

Priority
number 1
– by a long shot – is to get warp drives working, on both
ships.  The Confederation is going to figure out that their ships are
missing and they will come looking for them.  As soon as the ships have
warp drives, they will get out of this neighborhood.

Now
that the Confederation has developed the technology, which allows them to
follow ships in warp space, the need to move quickly becomes even more
urgent.  Without knowing the limits of that new technology, the Captain is
not going to know when the ships will be safe from detection.

Priority
number 2
is to disable the self-destruct circuitry on the
Brutus.  Then they can awaken the Brutus’ Senior Officers, who have been
put into a drug induced coma.  The Confederation Officers will know about
the limits to the new technology, and Captain Niles is sure that they will
cooperate.  They will be given the same choice that the captured sailors were
given. 

Major
Dawkins, of the Alliance Marines, told the captured crew members that, if they
cooperate, they will be well treated as prisoners-of-war, and will eventually
be set free on a planet that will be safe for them. 

If
they don’t cooperate, they will be returned to the Confederation
Government.  Since the Confederation’s penalty for surrender is death –
and usually a painful death – the captured crew is making every effort to
cooperate.  Captain Niles is sure that, when the Brutus’ Officers are
given that same choice, they will reach the same conclusion.

***

The
self-destruct switch has been disabled, and the warp drives are
functional.  The warp
drive’s
on both ships had
overheated, because of their over-use during the battle.  The warp drive
on the Courageous has cooled off and now passes all self-test
diagnostics.  The warp drive on the Brutus has suffered more damage and is
minimally functional.

That
is good enough for Captain Niles to make the decision to ‘get out of
Dodge’.  Things, in this vicinity, are going to get very ugly, very
quickly.  The Confederation Navy can arrive at any moment.

The
Brutus’ crew has cooperated in answering question from the new Alliance
crew.  The Alliance crew now feels that they know enough to enter and exit
warp-space and to pilot the ship in real-space.  The two ships have been
programmed to take a short 15 minute warp-space trip, as a shakedown cruise.

The
Alliance Marines, on both vessels, are wearing their space armor.  Captain
Niles calls both ships to alert Level 4 – one step away from Battle
Stations.  The Captain says “engage” and the Courageous fades into
warp-space.  A moment later Officer
Quinnlin
,
who is acting ship’s Captain on the Brutus, says “engage” ……… and nothing
happens – except in Engineering, where circuit breakers and alarm bells are
making loud noises.

The
Courageous waits at the destination coordinates for about 20 minutes, and then
returns to the starting position - that was the contingency plan in case things
went awry.  By the time they return, the Brutus engineering team from the
Courageous, along with volunteers from the captured crew, are running
diagnostic self-checks.  It appears that the ‘warp drive interface module’
is the problem.  There is a spare, but the warp drive must be disassembled
in order to make the repair.  The time estimate is 3 days.

There
is nothing to do but do it, so Captain Niles orders the Brutus’ crew to begin
the repair.  More engineers are sent to the Brutus to assist, and to
document the warp drive disassembly.  The captured crew members are doing
most of the repair work – voluntarily.  Their lives now depend on the
Alliance forces being successful. 

In the
mean time, the Captain orders Chief Scientist
Basisht
to copy the Brutus’ computer core, so that the Alliance will have information
on the new technology, even if the Courageous is forced to abandon the Brutus.

Captain
Niles orders both vessels to get under way in real-space at the fastest safe
speed, away from the
Capernic
System battle-space. 
It can’t hurt to get farther away, and it’s a good shakedown-cruise experience
for the untried Alliance crew, onboard the Brutus. 

Another
thing that can be done, without time or cost, is cloaking.  Both ships
have ‘stealth’ capabilities.  Captain Niles orders both ships to cloak -
it can’t hurt.

Communications
is a problem while in Stealth Mode, so Chief Scientist
Basisht
rigs a focused-line-of-sight laser system, which will be undetectable to anyone
who is not in that line-of-sight.  This requires that both ships travel in
the same direction and at the same speed, but that is not a problem. 

(Later
revisions to this technology enable the cloaked ships’ laser-comm-system to
‘track’, as the vessels move independently.) 

Captain
Niles speaks with Major Dawkins, about the possibility of training some of the
Alliance Marines, so that they can ‘man’ the weapons on the Brutus.  There
are simulators on the Brutus, with programs for Weapons Officers and for Bridge
Officers.  Captain Niles orders the Alliance bridge crew, stationed on the
Brutus, to begin battle simulation training in the Brutus’ simulators. 
Likewise, Major Dawkins orders her Marines to begin simulation training on the
weapons system.

If the
two ships are going to make it home, there needs to be at least two bridge and
two engineering crews on each ship.  Even then, it will require 12 hour
shifts with no breaks, for these sailors.  Captain Niles sends auxiliary
engineering and bridge crew officers to the Brutus, to serve as the 2
^nd
shift.  These people don’t actually serve as engineers or bridge crew
members on the Courageous, but they are trained, certified and capable.  A
warship needs to have layers of backup personnel who can multitask, because
entire groups can be lost in an instant of battle.  There must be trained
people ready to step in.

Captain
Niles has to be sure that he keeps enough trained personnel on the Courageous,
in order to cope with battle losses or emergencies.  He contacts his
Logistics Officer, Lieutenant
Strass
, and orders him
to immediately begin re-training personnel for service in engineering, bridge
and weapons positions.  These are the second layer of backup auxiliary
personnel who have previously qualified for these positions.  Captain
Niles orders that they be refreshed on simulators, and begin on-the-job
training.  He wants them to be current in those skills.

In
addition to retraining those people, Captain Niles orders Lieutenant
Strass
to begin training new personnel for those same skill
sets.  He suggests that simulator testing might be a good way to identify
possible candidates.

***

 Two
days into the warp drive repair the passive sensors detect probes. 
Captain Niles orders both ships to shut down their engines and ‘run silent’ -
except for the group working on the Brutus’ warp drive.  He already has
the ships running 50,000 klicks apart, so that their gravity will not be
additive.  ‘Running silent’ means that they will shut down all engines and
equipment, which are not absolutely necessary.  It is just another level
of ‘stealth’.

Science
Officer
Basisht
has learned, from the Confederation
prisoners, that the probes are used to form an ‘antennae array’, which can
detect warp drive activation and location.  In addition, the Confederation
software can plot the direction of warp travel, through analysis of data
extracted from the ‘warp signature’.  That ‘warp signature’ is unique for
each warp drive and has the direction information, for the individual trip,
wrapped around it. 

The
Confederation warships can then enter warp-space, headed for the same
coordinates, and if they are close enough to the fleeing ship, they can detect
the coordinates where the ship drops out of warp.

The
arrival of the Confederation ‘antennae array’ means that, once the Alliance
forces power UP a warp drive, it will be impossible to hide. 
Confederation ships anywhere within 100,000,000 klicks will immediately know
that a warp drive has powered-up, and can follow them in warp-space.  What
to do?

The Captain makes his contingency
plan:

First
of all
, they need to get the information, about the new
Confederation technology, to the Alliance Navy.  Most of that information
is on the Brutus’ computer, and has been copied onto spare computer cores by
Science Officer
Basisht
.  The computer core
copy, along with copious notes that the Science Officer has made, are more
essential to the Alliance Navy than is the survival of the Courageous or the
Brutus.  Captain Niles’ first priority will be to get that information to
the Alliance Navy.

He
orders that two sets of the information package, which include the computer
core copy; the Science Officer’s notes; and the record of Courageous’ voyage,
be prepared and loaded into faster-than-light probes.

Captain
Niles is going to wait to launch the information probe until after the
Courageous is out of range of the ‘antennae array’.  That way, the enemy
can’t follow the probe and destroy it.

The
second highest priority
is to get the Courageous, and the
surviving crew members safely back to Alliance space. 

Everything
is going to go ‘to hell in a hand basket’ the instant the warp drives are
powered-up.  That means that there will be no time to run diagnostics, or
to test the repaired Brutus warp drive.  Perhaps it will explode. 
Or, perhaps it won’t work.  There is no end to the things that can go
wrong, so it’s only prudent for the Captain to ‘hope for the best, but ‘prepare
for the worst’.

It’s
essential that the risk to the Courageous, and her crew, be reduced to a
minimum.  The Captain’s plan is to bring most of the Alliance Marines and
Sailors back aboard the Courageous, before the power-up of the ships’ warp
drives.  A skeleton Alliance crew will be aboard the Brutus for the
initial warp trip.  Both ships will power their warp drives UP, and as
soon as the Ready light goes green, the Brutus will engage its warp drive for a
destination outside of the range of the ‘antennae array’.  If the Brutus
enters warp-space, the Courageous will immediately follow.

If the Brutus’ warp drive doesn’t
work, then the Alliance personnel aboard the Brutus will immediately board
their launches and return to the Courageous - which will have, by then, moved
closer to the Brutus.  As soon as the last launch lands on the hangar deck
of the Courageous, and the hangar door is closed, the warp drive will engage
and the Courageous will be gone into warp-space. 

When
the Courageous - and hopefully the Brutus - arrive at the first warp
coordinates, one of the information probes will be launched for Alliance space.

As
soon as the warp drives have cooled off, the Brutus - if available - will
launch for the second set of coordinates.  The Courageous will quickly
follow, but not before leaving a nuclear warhead behind, which will be set to
explode after the Courageous enters warp.  Captain Niles thinks that the
nuclear radiation might make it more difficult for their ‘warp signatures’ to
be traced – it’s worth a try.

Next,
they will make one
more quick
jump.  Once again,
they will be leaving behind a nuclear warhead to mess up any sensor
readings.  This time they will head for a system with planets and
asteroids.  Upon arrival, they will launch the second information probe
and then hide.  Stealth systems will be activated and the duo will ‘run
silent’.  Hiding for a few days will give the enemy time to search the
sector and then move on.

If it is safe, they can make
the long jump towards home.  If they have the Brutus, they will need to
exit warp outside of Alliance space and send a probe ahead to announce their
pending arrival.  It wouldn’t be good to show up in a Confederation
warship, without prior notice.

***

Captain
Niles marks the contingency plan as SECRET and sends it to the Bridge and
Engineering officers, on the Courageous and Brutus, as well as to Major Dawkins
and her Second-in-Command, Captain
Baarg
.  The
attached note says:  “For your review and suggested revisions - ASAP”.

***

Well,
it is the third day.

There
have not been many changes to the contingency plan, which the Captain sent
out.  The only real surprise is that Major Dawkins has chosen to stay on
the Brutus, and has sent her Second-in-Command to the Courageous.  There
is risk of an explosion when the Brutus tries to enter warp for the first time
and Captain Niles would prefer that the Major be safely aboard the
Courageous.  Perhaps her decision was made because it is the Marine ethic
for the commander to lead the way into danger, or perhaps she made this
decision because Major Dawkins is beginning to like having her own ship. 
Either way, Captain Niles decides to allow her decision to stand.

Today
is the big day.  Repair work on the Brutus’ warp drive is complete. 
They have run as many diagnostics checks as possible, without powering the
drive UP.  “Preparations have been made and we have contingency
plans.  Nothing to do, but do it,” Captain Niles thinks.

Captain
Niles has placed Major Dawkins in command of the Brutus.  She is the
highest ranking officer on board and she has been getting on-the-job training
as a Navy Captain.  He spoke with the Major, about some contingency plans
for the upcoming battle - a battle which the Captain thinks will probably
happen.

“Major,
when you come out of warp-space, make it your practice to ‘hit the ground
running’.  The Courageous Navigator has forwarded a list of coordinates
for warp-space jumps.  Along with the coordinates, are instructions
concerning the flight-plan, which you should follow after you drop into real-
space.
  You should immediately proceed in the direction
listed, at your fastest safe speed.  The Courageous will follow you on
that same course.

The
reason for this running
start,
is that it will give us
a velocity advantage against Confederation projectiles, which are likely to be
chasing after us.  If we get our velocity high enough, before the enemy
emerges from warp, we can outrun the missiles and rail guns.  Even if we
are not able to outrun the ballistics, the velocity of their approach will be
relatively slower, and therefore, they will be easier to shoot down.”

“Yes
sir.  Sounds like a good plan.  I will speak with my Navigation, Helm
and Tactical Officers, so that we all have the same understanding.”

Major
Dawkins has the Brutus ready to go to
warp
. 
Both ships power their warp drives UP.  Major Dawkins says “Engage” and
the Helm Officer pushes the button.