“What’s up, Admiral?” Hutch asked as he and Scarecrow entered Reynolds’ office. He motioned to the keypad beside the hatch, his face as pale as it was stern. Hutch complied and activated the dampening field. Reynolds stood in silence for a moment. He reached up and rubbed his face with both hands, sighing before he spoke.
“Sir?”
“It’s the White Whale.” Reynolds’ tone was strained. “It’s struck again.”
“How bad?” Scarecrow asked.
“As you know, Deep Space Platform Five was located on the outer edge of the Oort cloud. Platform Six was in orbit around Neptune.”
“Was?”
“I received the intel only an hour ago. Platform Six is gone. So is Platform Four. The White Whale has entered our solar system and is targeting our assets.”
“What?” Hutch said as he looked at Scarecrow, then back to Reynolds.
“It’s also launched thousands of TR saucers, all of which have formed into wolf packs consisting of 50 or more bandits, sweeping through the solar system searching for targets.
“As of now, all Solar Warden assets are on lockdown. No spacecraft are allowed to travel anywhere, including TR-3Bs. It’s too dangerous.
“Gentlemen, we’re under siege.”
The silence in the room was telling. Reynolds stared at his pilots. “Have you two come up with a strategy to deal with the White Whale?”
They glanced at each other, hoping neither would give away their plan. Hutch spoke for the pair, “Not yet. We’re still working on it.”
“Do you have any theories?”
“Sorry. No.”
“You better hurry and come up with something. Command has called for the fleet to assemble. We’re on our way to a rendezvous point between the asteroid belt and Jupiter. I know I’m stating the obvious when I say our 11 carriers are no match for a vessel the size of the White Whale, but we have to do something to try and stop the enemy’s advance. Command believes that once it has eliminated all of our deep space platforms, it will move against the Mars Base, then Lunar Operations Command.”
“Then Earth itself,” Scarecrow said.
“Yes. We have to forestall its march on Earth somehow, before it destroys Solar Warden entirely.”
“When do we rendezvous?”
“In four hours. All 11 carriers will be assembled by then. We’re pulling out all the stops, gentlemen. We’re going to throw everything we have at it, in one massive frontal assault.
“God help us if we fail.”
“We have to make this work, Hutch,” Scarecrow said as they marched down the passageway. Nautilus was alive with activity while every crew member was preparing for the coming engagement.
“You’re right about that,” Hutch replied. “Our task is a forlorn hope. The fleet is not the only thing that won’t survive. We’re nothing more than targets for the enemy to destroy. I’ll give all the carrier air wings about five minutes once the shooting starts. After that, we’ll be nothing more than space dust.”
Scarecrow swallowed hard at the thought.
“We’ll have to recruit a couple of strong backs to help the Chief load that warhead. We’ll be getting our six’s blown out of the sky while he delivers the bomb. You’re right. For all of our sakes, this has to succeed.”
As the Nautilus air wing went through their pre-flight checks, the ship-wide intercom reported on the status of the enemy advance into the solar system.
“Now hear this. With the exception of Platform One, all of our deep space platforms have been destroyed by the White Whale. Wolf packs are systematically eliminating our sensor buoy network. As a result, we’re losing our ability to track the enemy’s movements within the solar system in real time. We’ll arrive at our rendezvous point in 30 minutes. Oleander has been destroyed en-route. All remaining carriers, regardless of the damage they received during the Mars campaign have been ordered to join the line. The air wings from the Mars base and Lunar Operations Command will be joining us. All departments report readiness. That is all.”
Scarecrow settled into his seat and donned his VRI helmet. The displays leapt to life as he pondered their plan. If they were unsuccessful, by the end of the day, Solar Warden would no longer exist. They had to make it work. Somehow, they had to succeed.
Somehow.