Chapter 6: Another Battle!

Paul woke up and shook his head trying to clear it. His eyes were unfocused, but he swore he was looking at a giant carp looking back at him.

“Sir, is that a fish?” Lieutenant Sam asked.

“Yes, Check the Major.” Paul checked the Lieutenant to his right, found a pulse, “Tom you still with us?”

“Dam, that truck came back. Wait, are we in a fish tank?” Tom asked, rubbing his eyes.

“My guess is we are in the Ocmulgee River in Macon Georgia,” Paul said.

“What are the procedures for abandoning ship?” Major Boyd asked eyeing the fish.

“Let me see if we can get the AI working again.” Paul reached down and with both hands pushed the master to OFF. He then moved it back to ON. It kicked off again. “Come on baby.” He reset it to OFF then tried ON again. It stayed on! He and Tom both started hitting buttons on. A lot less of them than on a 775.

“Major, forgive me for delaying my answer to your question. I only know of transporting everybody home or to God. Let’s see if we can get our AI back and run a full diagnostic. If we have a working ship, then I would rather be in the fight than sitting someplace drinking coffee and have some spiders walk in wanting to eat my friends and family.” Paul said.

“There is no way a jet plane could be under water and ever be expected to fly again without a major overhaul.” Major Boyd said.

“Sir, this ship is not built on the Wright Brothers concept. This ship has thousands of years of Alien Development.”

“Hello” The AI had awakened.

“Jonas, we need you to run a full diagnostic. We were hit again by an energy weapon and are now at the bottom of the Ocmulgee River.” Paul directed.

The American ships come together:

“Calling all ships, this is the Commandant. Go straight up from this point. Stay in your units.” The 18 ships I have of the 4th will stay with me for the duration.

“Watcher One, a total number of ships please?”

“1,943 Sir. All divisions are represented. 10/4”

The trip to the area just above the Van Allen Belts was quiet. Everyone taking the time to learn their ships. Going over the lessons of restart in case of an energy weapon hit.

Each division had a backchannel that was encrypted. Rowland had the raw Air Force Guys stay together in the heavies. The eight 335s plus ships he put WO Jerry Taylor in charge of the squadron. They primarily were to go after the Escapee Ships. They were heading east. General Frank Taylor had the same idea and had 16 of the 335s plus ships. He used the wingman concept and told them to go after the black boxes. The 885s were to take on the moon-sized ship first then the super command ships then the stadium-size ships. The 995s were to attack the stadium ships first. Rowland took a moment to wonder where his brother Paul was in his 335.

The twenty-four 335s all aimed at different Escapee ships. There were around fifty of them. The black fleet appeared to be at rest, uncloaked with no one paying attention.

Frank came on, “On three, one, two, three, FIRE.” 950 of the thousand ships of the Zankels got hit with anti-matter rounds in that first volley. The death star or whatever it was, got hit 23 times and in the first minute almost 100 times. Large chunks of it were falling towards the Van Allen Belt.

The seventy super command ships were also taking 10 to 15 hits. The stadium-size ships there were many hundreds of those, and they too were being hit 3 to 9 times every few seconds. The 335s were finding more of the escapee size ships and were blowing them up. Jerry would alternate between Joy and Clair as they moved around. Jerry had learned his lesson by moving the ship up or down 10 meters after each round fired.

“Rowland, this is Paul. Can we join the fight?”

“Good to hear from you. Go after the black boxes.”

“10/4,” Paul said.

Jerry’s ship had just gotten two more black boxes when a stadium-size ship almost ran them over, “Everybody fire at that ship.” Jerry was backing up but then saw six of the black boxes following the big ship. “Clair and Joy hit those six ships.” The girls were up to the task and blew all six ships into millions of pieces.

“How many rounds do you have left?” Jerry asked.

“I have 2,” Clair said.

“Where do I look for a number?” Joy asked.

“There is a little screen on the dash to your left,” Clair said.

Over the speaker, “Who shot that stadium ship that was trying to escape?” Sounded like Rowland.

“SH@T, it shows zero.” Joy said.

“Clair there are two just ahead.”

Clair fired twice and got both ships. “I’m at zero,” Clair said.

“This is Jerry Smith, my team put 8 rounds from the rail guns into it and the Laser was on during its passing of us and my Particle beam was also full-on.”

“Calling Watcher One, we are out of rounds. This is Watcher One-B.” Over.

“How many did you get One-B? Watcher One out.”

“Hal, how many did we hit with the Rail Guns?”

“Sir, 42 black ships and 8 into that big one. It appears this ship damaged it sufficiently so it cannot fly.” Hal reported.

“Watcher One we had no misses today. We can cancel that gun practice. We don’t need any. We got 42 of those black boxes and we put 8 rounds and an 8” laser and particle beam from stem to stern on that Stadium size ship.”

“One-B move off about five miles and make some popcorn.”

“10/4”

Jerry was reading through the 335 manuals. “It says here we have five extra rounds for each Rail gun.” Jerry looked around, “And they are in those little closets.”

Fifteen minutes later. Both rail guns have been loaded with the reserve rounds.

Jerry and the girls sat and ate popcorn, “Jerry checked the scanner, something doesn’t look right. Clair, get ready. Tell me when you are.”

“Ready now!” Jerry hit the radar, “Fire!” Two hundred yards in front of them was the action of an anti-matter round blowing the 200-ton black ship into a million pieces.

“Joy, get ready.” Jerry spun the ship around. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Jerry again turned the knob for the radar, “Fire.” The black ship showed bigger than life. The round hit and a million pieces went in a million directions, “Clair, your turn.” Jerry turned the ship 180 degrees around, turning the radar button on. There was another black ship sneaking up from behind them, “Fire.” A repeat of the first.

“One B move NOW!” Sounded like Rowland.

Jerry took a left back towards the battle. Hundreds of pieces rained down on them as another ship was blown up, “Hal, are we all right?”

“All systems check out. Cabin pressure is holding.” Hal reported.

“One B, what are your Rail Rounds count?”

“Is this Watcher One?”

“Jerry this is Rowland.”

“Sir, we have seven rounds left. We found ten reserves and figured out how to load them. It needs to be included in the tests before someone flies these things. The 335 Plus is the best ship in the fleet, Sir.”

“So, you would come to a level 5 Recon alarm again?” Rowland asked.

“Yes, Sir, where else am I to get pretty ribbons for my chest. I need all the help I can get with the ladies Sir.” Jerry laughed. Rowland did too, “Boss, I’d like the same crew if possible.”

“On a somber note, we may have killed more today than with the little Greys,” Rowland said.

“Those four that attack us, I have the feeling they came from another division.” Jerry shook his head, “I recommend we uncloak and turn on our radar as we leave. Circle the Earth just above the Van Allen Belt just in case.”

“Rowland, and Jerry. This is Frank, I apologize for eavesdropping on your conversation. Rowland, I agree with Jerry. As I look at Father John and General Franks, they are both nodding their heads. It would be a sorry day on Earth if we left an attacking force up here.”

The fleet of ships almost two thousand ships of the Earth’s forces circled the planet just above the Van Allen Belt. Jerry was out almost three hundred miles from the primary formation with his radar on. He had his ship cloaked. Sally was watching the scanner with both gunners on the rail guns ready to fire. Jerry had the hair on the back of his neck standing up.

“Calling Watcher one.” Jerry said, “This is One-B.”

“One-B, this is Watcher One.”

“Sir, it sure feels like we are being watched.”

“Understood. 10/4.”

“Cadets, what are you sensing?” Jerry asked.

“My neighbor was filming me. I marked it on my calendar when I felt it. He got caught with another little girl in our neighborhood. The detective had the dates of when he was doing his thing. It matched my calendar perfectly. I agree with you Captain Jerry something is watching us.” Joy shared.

“Captain, something is following us,” Maggie warned.

“Paul, did you hear.” The fleet was moving at 25,000 miles per hour. Whatever it was it wasn’t being affected by radar.

“10/4”

Paul eased his ship up three feet. He then lowered his ship down fifteen feet. “There see that, Billy?’

“Yes, Sir.”

“Hal, is that one of ours or not?” Paul asked.

“It is not ours, sir,” Hal said.

“Jerry, move your ship to the right fifteen to twenty feet. Now up about twenty feet.” Paul looked around, “Did you turn your transponder off?”

“Yes!”

Lieutenant Sam motioned to Paul to look at the scanner.

“Jerry, we have at least two Escapees behind us.”

Jerry dropped down, hit the brakes then back up behind two visible black ships, he hit the radar and yelled, “Fire.”

Joy hit the first one, Clair hit the second one, “Paul you have one right above you.”

The ship Heidy aimed and fired just as Jerry moved to the right several hundred yards and Paul hit the brakes and lowered by a hundred yards then pointed up.

“Paul, Jerry are you guys and your crews all right?” Rowland asked sounding like his brother Paul.

“Thank you, sir? We are fine.” Paul with his Southern Accent in One-A said.

“It’s a pleasure working with you sir.” Jerry in One-B said, “We are fine also.”

“Woohoo.” The Major said just above a whisper.

“Is everything all right Major?” Paul asked.

“Why did you ask Captain Jerry to make those identifying maneuvers Captain?”

“Knowing the enemy Major. I don’t believe they could have built a new ship yet, or by themselves built one that is not affected by radar.”

“Captain, I would have blown One-B to bits.” Major Boyd said.

“Who else would have shot at One-B?”

Everyone except Captain Tom raised their hands, “What would you have done Captain Tom?”

“I don’t know if all of the police departments around the country are doing this, but we are taught to verify twice from two different angels if possible before ending a life. I liked what you did there. I will certainly use that in the future.”

“The problem with that is what if Sam is ahead of me?” Paul asked.

“What are the chances of Sam turning his transponder off? Jerry is one of the original Cadets. Those guys break all the rules.” Lieutenant Sam helped everyone laugh.

Behind them just out of view was what we would call a spider battalion. We had seen it a couple of times already. Eight Stadium size ships and a Super-size ship. Just behind them was a task force of fifteen heavies led by the 775-ship called Freedom. President Tripp sat in the number two seat next to his son General Brien Tripp, “Seen enough?”

“Yes General.” The President wore a smile. The President wondered how often a dad gets to say that.

General Brien Tripp picked up the mic, “Foxes, go for the action. Weapons Hot.”

“It was no contest. Fifteen heavies against nine enemy ships. There were four of the new 335s plus ships there too.

“Do you think this will end this confrontation?” President Tripp asked his son.

“Time will tell dad. How many times did you throw money down a dark hole?” Brien asked his father.

“It took a while to learn that lesson. Hopefully, these spiders are smarter than that.”

“Father John gets the sense; they have an IQ of around 83.” Brien laughed, “Father John any new feelings or insights?”

“None. Someday I am going to take a task force from Funston to end their presence in the Milky Way Galaxy.” John was sitting in two seats over from President Trip with Jenny and Mrs. Tripp in between.

“So, we will get to see them again?” The President asked, “John, I would authorize a group of Heavies and as many of those 335s Plus ships joining in that fight.”

“I see a world where the humans are hunted for sport.” John said, “I also get the sense we are completely clear on this planet. I believe they are third-dimensional creatures and cannot tolerate the fourth dimension at least not for a long time.

“The Naval computer program said that was also an 86% possibility.” Brien said, “That’s why so few humans were killed.”