Talosian Chronicles 2: Star Dancer (11 page)

“I believe that Chief Brighton and Chief Eischens may have a few more ideas, but I also encourage each and every one of you to think of ideas as well. Even if we decide not to use them, we still need them,” Glancing around the table, he saw Janet and the middle-eastern man sitting next to her.

Ian slapped his own forehead. “Where are my manners? Everyone, please welcome Ash Borhiem, he will be the military liaison officer on the moon base. It will be his responsibility to see that the weapons that are designed get built in an orderly and timely fashion. Basically, he will be taking over the job Kyle is performing for us at the moment.”

Amid the welcomes and personal introductions, Kyle, who was grinning, said. “Sir, you can’t get down here soon enough for me. I feel way out of my league here, and I’m scared I’ll overlook something.”

“I am sure you have been doing a wonderful job, Lieutenant. But I can understand you wanting to get back to your other duties. I may still need your help from time to time, and I hope you don’t mind if I call on you for that,” Ash said with a heavy accent.

“I would be honored to assist you, Sir,” Kyle replied.

Very quickly the meeting got back underway. Chief Eischens stood and Ian nodded to him to proceed.

“As per our last conversation, Commander, my section and I have been working to come up with plans to implement the doctrine of misdirection you suggested. I believe the name for this, although somewhat misleading is called low intensity conflict. Our older people might remember it as being called guerrilla tactics.

“Part of our mission is to identify enemy targets and assign a value to each based on our knowledge of the enemy. We feel that the enemy may only be coming here to evaluate reports of our activity as observed by the freighter crews and the Caldarian agents on Earth. Based on what we know of Caldarian mentality, and honor, we feel that when the ship gets here, the commander will want to return home covered in glory; he could easily do that be simply subduing the planet once and for all.

“That would certainly explain the vision Mrs. Laskar had of the coming battle. Regardless of why the ship is coming here, we have identified one thing above all else as its primary mission. That is to verify the true status of this vessel. When it gets here, the first thing it will do is make sure
Olympus
is still a crumbling hulk left on the lunar surface. We need to ensure that is exactly what they find when they arrive,” he finished.

“How will they explain the sensor readings and other proof that the freighters had to have on our existence?” Chief Dommer asked.

“Not for us to worry about, Chief. We’ll let the Caldarians worry about answering that,” Eischens grinned. “Besides, if all goes well, it won’t be the only mystery to occupy their time.”

“What did you have in mind for other mysteries Chief?” Ian asked, liking what he was hearing.

“Well Sir, mostly small actions. Create several small drones that do nothing but jump around the system. Each one would have different mass signatures, or could give false readings randomly, so they never appear to be the same ones.

“Create other drones that can emulate
Star Dancer
on sensors, but equip them with cloaking generators so they disappear when something gets too close. Drop construction drones at different places around the system with instructions to build something, but do it as ‘noisily’ as possible so it looks like a small colony.

“Even though each of these devices should have self-destructs in them, they should be large demolition charges. When the Super Nova sends someone out to check these readings, our forces can ambush them. Not to destroy them outright, but mostly to keep them guessing. Hit them and fade, hit them somewhere else and fade again.

“What about the Super Nova herself?” Jenny asked.

Eischens shook his head. “We leave her strictly alone. That will keep them thinking they are the superior force here, and as long as they believe they are, they will be less likely to do something really rash like blow up the star.”

Chief Dommer was nodding his head. “Aye, I think we can do all that, but we’ll need to draft some help from time to time. A couple of fighter techs with propulsion experience, and maybe one or two sensor techs as well as a computer tech to program the drones.”

“I have a few pilots that are qualified, and will have little to do until the fighting starts, will they help?”  Chief Harris asked.

Chief Dommer nodded. “Yes they would. Could you send them down right after the meeting? We’ll need to get going on this right away, and I’m a bit short handed with that experimental upgrade.”

“We have a few folks that could be of help as well, Chief. I’ll round a bunch of them up and send them to you,” Kyle said.

“Don’t cut your own throat, lad,” Dommer replied. ”You’ve got a lot cut out for yourself as well.”

“No Sir, I won’t,” Kyle replied, grinning.

“Instead of them coming up here, why don’t you share the designs with them? They can stay down there and use their own equipment. That way we won’t be crowded up here?” Jenny suggested.

Again Dommer nodded. “That could work. I’ll give Serin a call and get it set up.”

Ian spoke up, “Chief Harris, please make sure the shuttle and centurion pilots are available to deliver these drones as they get finished.”

John Harris nodded. “Will do, Sir.”

“Okay folks, we have a lot of work to get done and little time to do it. Talk to each other, encourage each other, but most of all, support each other. We will do this, and the ghosts of the Caldarians will be all that is left!” Ian said.

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T
alos, New Mexico

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L
uke, Ty and Elias were sitting in Luke’s office, shortly after the meeting ended, generating ideas about what to do about the impending attacks.

“I think if we installed a few more shield generators, here,” Ty touched a place on the hologram of the Talos property. “And here, we should be able to boast shield strength enough to give us an advantage against a heavy bombardment.”

“What are we going to do about the ground attack? From what I’ve read, there are special tanks that are designed specifically for shield penetration,” Luke asked reasonably.

“That’s why I asked Ian about the mines. During the next few nights, my teams and I will be sneaking out past our boarders and planting anti-armor mines as well as a few other surprises that should make life difficult for anyone attacking our shield. The problem is guessing which way they’ll come at us from; we don’t have enough time to cover the whole perimeter,” Ty explained.

“What about the civilians? I mean we’ll run for the shelter at the first hint of trouble, but I don’t think running across a battlefield will be all that safe,” Elias asked.

“No, it won’t be, especially with all the lasers and other energy weapons that are likely to be used. Tonight, I would get the drones busy building a wall around the residence and recreation areas. If they get through the main shield, it won’t last long, but it should protect your folks against an errant laser shot or stray bullet,” Ty suggested. “The main shield should protect you from the air.”

“The shield is transparent, how does that stop a laser?” Elias asked.

Ty shook his head. “It isn’t actually transparent. Do you notice that slight distortion in the air when the shield is up?”

“Yeah, it’s a little wavy, but I can still see through it.” Elias said.

“It seems that way, yes. I don’t understand all the physics behind it, but when something very intense, like a laser beam, hits the shield, it spreads some of the energy out over its surface, and some of the light gets attenuated and redirected back in such a way that it cancels out the incoming beam. The guy that explained it to me used a lot of big words, and he wasn’t talking very slowly,” Ty explained and laughed with the other two.

“So how does the shield get breached?” Luke asked.

Ty shrugged. “I guess there is only a certain amount of energy it can handle at a time. If you hit it with enough power in a small area, it will create a hole through the shield inversely proportional to the amount of energy applied. Also, there is the angle of incidence. In order to bring the maximum amount of energy against the shield, it has to be close to a ninety degree angle, otherwise it just bounces off.”

“Okay, okay,” Elias said waving his hand in surrender. “I’m getting a headache. If you tell me we should be protected, then I’ll trust you. How tall do you want that wall?”

“Better make it at least ten feet. Any shorter and you might start getting some of the higher stuff, or grenades,” Ty replied, smiling.

“Okay, so we get everyone to the shelter, and down to the base. Do you need anything built to help you defend us?” Luke asked.

Ty shrugged. “Fighting positions would be great, but again, we don’t know which way these assholes will be coming from, so we’re going to have to stay mobile.”

“Maybe we can have them produce a few dozen more of those land rail dune buggies you are so fond of?” Luke suggested.

“Yeah, you could, only make them the hovercraft version, as we can mount more weapons in it, and they move a lot faster. We’ll have to keep them under wraps for now, but I think we might have a way keep them from being easily seen,” Ty said. “We’ll build them, then bring a few of them up at night, park them in our motor pool, and simply cover them with tarps. Put a normal land rail on each end, and no one will know the difference.”

Luke had made a note on a tablet. “Okay, can either of you think of anything else?”

“If we’re going to get attacked from the sky, do we have enough ground to air weapons?” Elias asked. “Could you use more?”

“Elias, I could always use more, but the more we install, the more we’ll have to rip out if we ever have to leave. Remember, Ian warned us that the Feds were on to us,” Ty replied. “After we get done with the big blue fuckers, we’re going to have the whole Smith and Jones’ families here going over everything with a fine-tooth comb! Personally, I would really like to not have to explain to them how the shield works or a ground to space missile battery.”

“What about the kids? Will they be out fighting?” Luke asked.

Ty shrugged. “Probably, that’s what they’ve been training for, and the reason they’re stationed here.”

“That’s going to be a problem for some of the parents, especially of the younger ones,” Luke said.

“Oh! No, not all the kids, Luke. No one under either fourteen or sixteen will be allowed to launch. Talosian doctrine allows for fourteen year olds to fly combat fighters, but I thought I heard Ian once say that he wouldn’t allow anyone under the age of sixteen to fly in combat. No, I think the plan is for the young ones to be placed on shuttle duty if the shit hits the fan.”

“Okay, so how are we set for manpower? Do you have enough fighters?” Luke asked.

“I think so. A good portion of them are still in training, but if push comes to shove, they will still be helpful. Janet and her folks recruited this batch as ex-military.” Ty took a drink of his coffee. “Even without our specific type of training, they know which end of a rifle the bullet comes out of.”

“I’m actually kind of surprised that more people didn’t object to everyone taking a premonition seriously. We have a lot of folks that don’t believe in that sort of thing,” Elias said.

Luke nodded. “I think Janet knew what she was doing when she selected the command staff. None of them are closed minded fools, but I do have to admit that I was surprised Chief Dommer accepted it without saying something. That man just seems entirely too... uh, focused to be that open minded.”

Elias shrugged. “I don’t know, I never really got a chance to get to know him. From what I can tell though, Ian thinks the world of him as the Chief Engineer, so he must be good at his job.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Ian would keep him around if he wasn’t. But you know, Ian can be pretty focused, too,” Ty added.

“Isn’t that the truth! But, at least his focus is our protection. I’m scared as hell that the Caldarians are coming, but I think I would be a lot worse off if it were someone other than Ian up there,” Elias said. “Something about him makes me trust him completely. I’ve known Ian longer than the two you, and he’s always had an aura of confidence about it him, but it’s really come out since Olympus found him.”

Luke nodded. “I tend to forget how young he actually is. He seems so much older and far more mature than a man his age. He’s what, seventeen? Eighteen?”

“About to turn nineteen, I think,” Ty replied. “Being in the military, I saw a lot of young men on their first tours or even a few just out of boot camp. Not one of them, even those that had taken their duties seriously, had the maturity I see in Ian. He is a natural commander and a good leader. Following his orders is as natural to me as it would be to follow the orders of an Admiral or a ship’s Captain.”

“Well, since we all agree that Ian is a great leader, maybe we should get busy on getting our defenses upgraded,” Luke said grinning. “Ty, I’ll make sure the armory down-side is available to you if you want to get new armor or weapons replicated. Just ask for what you need, and we’ll get them built for you.

“Elias, please get with the architects and get the plans for that wall hammered out and loaded into the drones. I’ll get with the community leaders and get everyone briefed on what’s about to happen so we won’t have the amount of hysteria we’d have if the attack came without warning.”

The other two men agreed and left to get busy on their tasks. Sighing, Luke used the comm to ask Lara to call an emergency town meeting for later that day in the Community Center.

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C
aldarian Super Nova

Hyperspace Transit Vector

Indeterminate Location

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“W
hat is our status?” Dren answered as it entered the large bridge once again.

The same small being that always reported to it cringed since it hadn’t heard the much larger Dren enter the room. “Master! The ground assault commander reports an increase of six percent! It conscripted new fighters from all areas of the ship that had been over strength. It reports training is going very well, and that it will be ready for whatever action you order them to undertake upon arrival in the human system.”