“Commander Richardson lay to command deck immediately.”
“On my way.” Scarecrow tapped his comm tattoo to close the channel and offered an explanation to Cooper, then exited the classroom next to her office. Five minutes later, he was standing beside the rear admiral as he viewed sensor telemetry on the ARI display.
“Reporting as ordered, Sir.”
Reynolds continued to stare at the display, studying the data with an intent gaze. “We’ve had an incursion.” He never looked away as he spoke.
“What and where?”
“Two Leviathan class mother ships. In the Wolf system.” Reynolds motioned to Captain Carter, who punched his console, then looked up as the telemetry flashed on one of the larger monitors at the front of the command deck.
“How did it play out?”
“The two enemy vessels dropped out of FTL next to a sensor buoy, then proceeded to destroy it. At least that’s what we assume happened, since it stopped transmitting. But it managed to send enough of a signal to confirm the configuration of the two ships. It picked up their power signatures as they approached. They weren’t cloaked–probably arrogant enough they didn’t feel it was necessary.”
“Or they wanted us to see them,” Scarecrow replied.
“For what purpose?”
“Sleight of hand, remember?” Scarecrow knit his brow in concern. “We should be actively looking for something more surreptitious elsewhere. I would recommend that all of the EDF assets raise their threat level.”
“I’ve already contacted Command and made that recommendation.” He turned and started for the hatch. “Come with me, CAG. We need to relay this sensor data as well. They may want your input.”
“Is that your assessment as well, Admiral?” Admiral Maddox asked. He, Vice Admiral Gibson, and General Patrick were together on a conference call.
“I think you’ll all agree that Commander Richardson’s track record speaks for itself, Sirs. If you ask me, it’s sound advice,” Reynolds said.
“Don’t you think it would be prudent to send a carrier to the Wolf system to see if they’re still in the neighbourhood?” Patrick asked.
“As I said, General,” Scarecrow replied, “it may be a ruse. We could get there and find they’ve moved on. It’s a round trip of more than a day. A long time to have a carrier distracted from our preparations on Mars, not to mention our ongoing patrol of other sectors.”
“Then what do you suggest, Commander?”
“Attempt to ascertain from other sensor buoys in the system if they’re still in the area. If we can pick up even a slight energy signature, then go in armed and ready to deal with them. We might be able to replicate our attack plan from the Proxima campaign. Send in a cloaked division of TR-3Bs, armed with those photon torpedoes and eliminate them. We utilized a similar strategy in the Luhman system Sir, and Captain Nakamura was successful. They set up the pins, we knock ‘em down.”
“After your recent experience, do you think you’re up to leading an attack wing on a mission like you’ve just described, Commander?” Gibson asked, his tone somewhat pointed.
“Yes, Sir. I’m up to the task.”
“Jon?”
“I have every confidence in my CAG, Sir. He can get it done.”
“Tom, what do you think?” Gibson was looking for consensus.
“Jonathan said it earlier. Richardson’s track record speaks for itself. You’re currently at Neptune, so conduct your scans. If you feel there’s evidence enough to launch a strike, then you have a green light to plan a mission. In the meantime, we’ll keep the rest of the fleet informed, and make sure everybody stays frosty.”
“Roger that, Admiral.” Reynolds replied.
“Photon torpedoes, Commander?” General Patrick said, his tone curt. “What is Cooper teaching you up there?”
“Sir?”
“Learn the nomenclature, Commander,” Patrick replied. “Or I’ll order Jonathan to assign you another training officer.”
Before anyone could respond, the general cut his connection and his portion of the display went dark.
“I apologize for my colleague, Commander,” Admiral Maddox said with vicarious penitence. “He’s always been a little rough around the edges. He’ll offer an apology, in his own way.”
“Forgiven and forgotten, Admiral,” Scarecrow replied.
“Alright, gentlemen, better get to it. Maddox out.”
The display went black.
“One more thing, Commander,” Reynolds said as he turned to face his temporary CAG. “I’ve heard back from Captain Nakamura.”
“About his three stowaways?”
“Yes. It appears you were correct. There was a fluctuation in Parallax’s shields. Not enough to allow a transport, though. However, according to their logs, there were several enemy transport signals from a portion of the mother ship that survived the initial salvo. It appears they were attempting to send a number of assets to Parallax during the destruction of the LCMS. However, only one made it through. The shield team onboard Parallax believes the spy sent the enemy their shield frequency. They’ve since adjusted it.”
“They better find that spy, and fast. But it gives my idea legs …”
Two days later, Scarecrow entered the rear admiral’s office and saluted, standing at attention as he did. Admiral Maddox’ image was on Reynolds’ tablet display.
“At ease, CAG,” Reynolds said.
“Commander! I was just telling your CO that you must have a sixth sense,” Admiral Maddox said.
“How so, Admiral?” Scarecrow replied, his expression betraying his mild confusion.
“You were right about the sensors picking up an energy signal in the Wolf system. It’s possible that the enemy mother ships are still there. I’ve sent the telemetry to you already, so I suggest you analyze it, and if you feel it’s prudent to launch your strike force, then send me your target package and I’ll have my staff look it over. If it’s sound, we’ll give you a green light. Maddox out.”
Scarecrow shot a glance at Reynolds, who spun his tablet back around and turned to face his temporary CAG.
“I’ve got our sensor team looking over the telemetry as well. Assemble your strike force and brief them on the mission. Have your birds prepped and loaded with their ordnance, and be ready to launch when the Admiral gives you the go.
Scarecrow rapped on Macpherson’s hatch.
“Go away! I don’t want to see anybody right now!” the lieutenant shouted through the secure entrance.
“Lieutenant MacPherson! This is Commander Richardson! Open the hatch and present yourself! That’s an order!”
Scarecrow could hear frantic rustling within MacPherson’s stateroom. Then silence for a moment, as if MacPherson was hesitating before she opened to her superior. The hatch hissed open as MacPherson jumped back so Scarecrow could enter.
“Are you decent?” he asked before entering.
“Yes, Sir,” came a mousy reply.
Scarecrow ducked through the ingress and stood tall, staring at his SO with an angry air. She stood off to one side, her shoulders slumped, her head down.
“You are required to salute a senior officer when they address you, Lieutenant!” Scarecrow’s tone was forceful.
“I–Sir!” She straightened up and threw him a salute, but didn’t wait for him to return it. Instead she turned away and faced the corner of the room, staring at her toes as she did.
“What’s the matter with you, Lieutenant? I called a mission briefing, and you don’t show up. I come here and find you in your jim-jams, moping in your cabin like a teenager who’s just been told she can’t go to the high school bender. Explain yourself, Lieutenant MacPherson!”
“I … can’t go … I …”
“Snap out of it! I’m very quickly losing my patience!” As Scarecrow moved closer, she wilted further into the corner. “We have a mission to fly, and I need my SO! You haven’t gone through your preflight checklist, you’re not even suited up! All the other birds are powered up and ready! Their ordnance is loaded, and they’re on the pad waiting for me, their CAG–”
“You’re not the CAG …” Her voice was timid.
“What did you say?”
“I said you’re not the CAG!” She spun around and lashed out at him, her eyes flaring with her voice. “The CAG’s gonna die! Just like Edwards! And I can’t go, because I don’t wanna die too!” She threw her back to him once more and buried her face in the corner as she began to weep.
“I thought I was gonna die the last time,” she mumbled between sobs. She spun around again and screamed at Scarecrow, terror distorting her face, “I don’t wanna die! I don’t want to die!”
“Stacey–”
“I’m scared, okay! I thought you could protect me. But you can’t. No one can. I can’t go. I don’t want to die!”
Scarecrow lunged at her before she could withdraw and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and continued to weep.
“Stacey, what we do is dangerous, I won’t deny that. But that’s the job you signed up for. You went into it with your eyes wide open. I’m sorry you were traumatized by our last mission, but we made it through–”
“Edwards didn’t,” she said through her tears. “Hutch probably won’t. And Vince …”
“Hutch will be fine. So will Vince.” He reached down and took MacPherson’s face in both hands, turning it up to peer down into her tear-soaked eyes. “You’re the best SO in the fleet. I count on you. And you can count on me. I promise.”
MacPherson grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands away from her face. Then she moved back and walked slowly away from him.
“No … you can’t. I’m sorry Sir, but I just can’t …” She spun around and resumed her previous stance in the corner. Scarecrow stared at her back for a moment, then turned and ducked out the hatch.
“Lieutenant Cody Matheson reporting as ordered, Sir.” The young lieutenant saluted as he rushed up to stand at attention in front of Scarecrow, gasping for breath as a result of his dash from his quarters to the hangar bay.
“Lieutenant MacPherson is incapacitated at the moment,” Scarecrow said. “I need you to fill in for her. Go through your pre-flight checks as quickly as possible and inform me when we’re ready to lift off. I’ll brief you on the mission en-route.”
“No need to, Sir. I monitor all mission briefings, in case I’m called up at the last minute.”
“How do you do that?”
“Don’t ask, Sir!”
“Alright,” Scarecrow said with a chuckle. “Kick the tires and light the fires, Lieutenant.”
“Aye, Sir!” Matheson leapt past Scarecrow and dashed up into the hatch of his TR-3B. He was sure that Cody’s feet didn’t touch a single rung on the ladder.
The flight to Wolf 359 took 11 hours. Scarecrow’s attack wing, consisting of a division of TR-3Bs, flew the entire distance under cloak to avoid any enemy contacts.
Their plan was simple. If they found any mother ships as the sensor telemetry indicated, they would execute one of two operations. First, if the enemy vessel’s shields were down, they would power down to avoid detection by passive scans, drift up to the hull and attach their missiles with magnetic clamps, then accelerate to FTL while the detonator counted down a 30 second delay. Then they would scan the vicinity at a safe distance to determine mission success.
If the enemy mother ships were operating with their shields up, they would attempt to push through them as they had done on a previous mission, clamp the missiles onto the enemy hull in the same fashion as the first scenario, then push back through the shields and detonate the missiles by activating the 30 second countdown just before jumping to FTL. Both were extremely risky.
Scarecrow perused the intel on the Wolf system. The Wolf star, a red dwarf, had three planets, all of them terrestrial. Only one was close to Earth-sized, and it was nothing more than a huge ball of iron. No magnetic field, just a dead hulk of metal. The other two planets were planetoids–no bigger than large asteroids, and if captured by their companion, would have been classified as its moons rather than additional planets.
Scarecrow and his cloaked attack wing dropped out of FTL on the far side of the largest planet, opposite the energy signatures detected by the sensor buoys. They powered down all non-essential systems and went to silent-running, then swung around to approach the alleged enemy vessels.
Scarecrow felt out of sorts without his regular flight crew. He’d never flown with Matheson, a back-up SO for the air wing, and he had only met his interim WSO, Lieutenant Lance Hendricks, that morning. He was unsure of either officer’s abilities, even though they came highly recommended by Rear Admiral Reynolds.
Another reason Scarecrow felt uneasy was because of his last mission. He was still shaky about the fact it was a failure, the first he had suffered in 20 years as a combat pilot. MacPherson’s loss of confidence in him had also left him somewhat unnerved. What if she’s right? What if I have lost my touch? What if I get more officers killed, or myself this time as well?
If he did die, none of it would matter. He shook off his doubts and re-focused on the mission.
“Got ‘em,” Matheson said as they rounded the planet and headed back into open space. “There are two mother ships … Leviathan class. At station-keeping, dead ahead.”
“Shield status?” Scarecrow asked.
“Their shields are down, Sir.”
“Are they actively scanning? Have they detected us?”
“No, Sir. They’re dormant. No sensor activity at all.”
“Good,” Scarecrow said with a sigh. “I don’t know, Cody. This seems too easy. I’m not getting a good vibe about this. Can you scan the area for any other vessels?”
“I’m using an ultra-low frequency right now to detect those two Boats, Sir. If I switch to active scanning, they’ll pick us up for sure.”
“Alright.” Scarecrow switched to the squadron common frequency. “Nautilus Air Wing, Aurora Tactical One. Execute attack plan ‘Alpha.’ Confirm, over.”
The air wing sounded off, and in response the division split into two sections and approached their respective targets. Scarecrow crept up to the hull of the first mother ship and held his breath as he eased his bird down to hover only feet above the brightwork surface. His wingman approached the enormous enemy craft from the opposite direction, hovering on the far side of the massive saucer, mirroring his flight lead.
“Nautilus Air Wing, Aurora Tactical One. Attach your payload with a 30 second delay on my mark, over.”
The other birds acknowledged.
“Hold it Sir!” Cody almost shouted into the comm. “I’m picking up another power signature.”
“Nautilus Air Wing, Tactical One. Hold your position, over. Where, Cody?”
“Directly above us. And whatever it is, it’s big. Huge! Bigger than anything I’ve ever seen, Commander.”
Scarecrow focused on the scan display, and was shocked as he beheld the readout. Cody was right. Whatever was approaching them from overhead was colossal, more than 2,000 times the energy output of both the mother ships they were now targeting.
“Tactical One, Tactical Three. What are your orders, CAG, over?” The request came from Scarecrow’s section lead, Lieutenant Commander Anthony “Nutcracker” Gibbons. Scarecrow snapped out of his daze.
“Tactical Three, Tactical One. Charlie mike. On my mark, release your fish and jump to FTL, over.”
“Roger that Tactical One, over,” came three replies.
Scarecrow took one final look at the sensor readout, then switched back to tactical. “Cody, the second I give the order to execute, I want you to turn all of your scanning capabilities on that target now approaching us from above. You’ll only have a few seconds to scan it before I jump to FTL. I’m going to hang back after the others jump. Hopefully we can get some useful telemetry before we get outta Dodge.”
“Aye, Sir. I’m ready.”
“Lieutenant Hendricks, prepare to activate the detonator.”
“Aye, Sir.”
“Alright gentlemen, here we go. Nautilus Air Wing, Tactical One. Execute attack plan alpha on my mark. In … five, four, three, two, one … mark!”
Lieutenant Hendricks released the missiles and they dropped the few feet to attach to the mother ship’s hull. Anyone inside the enemy vessel–if they heard anything at all–would have heard nothing more than a slight “thunk.” As soon as the magnetic clamps made contact and adhered, the 30 second countdown began. At the precise moment Hendricks released their payload, Matheson initiated a full scan. Scarecrow counted 15 seconds, then jumped to FTL. His three pilots had gone as soon as their weapons were clamped onto their targets.
As they sped away at super-luminal speed, Cody continued the active scan of their targets.
“Sir, I can report mission success. The two mother ships have been destroyed.”
“What about the secondary target?”
“It’s still there– no wait. It just jumped to FTL.”
“Is it on a pursuit course?” Scarecrow held his breath.
Matheson was silent for a moment. “… No Sir. It’s headed away from us on a lateral course.”
“Continue scanning it as long as it remains within your sensor’s range, Lieutenant. Let’s try to gather as much data as we can.”