Chapter 21: Minefields

Federation Fleet

The Washington led her fleet towards the captured Space Docks where they circled the Earth, at five hundred thousand miles. Ken stood on the flag bridge with his wives and watched the American ships maneuvering in front of them.

"Admiral, the American fleet is joining up. They have fifteen destroyers and four light cruisers," Lieutenant Jinnah Chin reported.

"Thank you lieutenant, we will stick with the plan," Admiral Tammy Thompson said.

"Yes, Ma'am. I am sending the orders now," Jinnah said.

"Admiral, something twitchy is going on," Jessica the Ai/interface reported.

"Twitchy? What do you mean?" Tammy asked as she glanced over at her sister wife.

"I cannot scan behind the enemy fleet, they are jamming us with heavy ECM," Jessica replied.

"Contact Moon base Alpha. See if you can get a report from them," Tammy said as she turned back to the screen, and continued watching the American fleet.

"Sending now," Jessica replied.

"Washington to Moon base Alpha, Come in."

"This is Alpha, go ahead Washington, " Colonel Susan Whitman said into the Com system.

"Susan, this is Tammy, can you get a scan of what's behind the American fleet? They are jamming us. Something is behind them, but we cannot scan it."

"Give me a minute Admiral, and I will get back to you," Susan replied.

"Thank you," Tammy replied.

Susan looked over at the sensor station and said, "Tony, can you get a scan, behind the American fleet?"

"I am scanning now Ma'am, but I need to launch sensor probes," replied Captain Tony Hawkins in his thick English accent.

"Do so, and thanks, Tony," Susan said as she turned back to her Com unit and pressed it as she started issuing her orders, "This is Colonel Whitman. All hands, man your battle stations, all civilians to the bunkers. Close all main medical bulkheads and bring all weapon stations online. Ready all fighters for launch. All mech and armor units move out to your defense stations. That is all."

Tony shook his head at Susan's final comment and then his eyes went wide as the sensor probes reported that there were three ships behind the main fleet. After performing a short series of verification scans, that all came back as unknown. He said, "Ma'am, trailing the fleet are three unknown ships."

"What do you mean, unknown?" Susan asked.

"I mean that I have no ID on them Ma'am, they are not in our system and they are just as big as a State class battleship," Tony reported and then snarled, "Shit!"

"Tony? What's wrong?"

"They just took out my five probes," Tony snapped.

"What? Those probes have the latest stealth technology." Susan said in surprise.

"I know, but here's what they look like," Tony said as he brought up the image on the ships main screen.

The black ship appeared on the screen, she was two and a half miles long. Sensors dishes, weapon pits and shield generators covered her hull. She had a tower like a submarine, positioned in the center of the hull and it stood three hundred feet high. The scan came back showing, one hundred heavy pulse lasers and seventy railgun emplacements, on her starboard side. The bow and stern had thirty pulse lasers, and forty-four railgun mounts on each of them. Blazed across the bow of the closest one was the name USS Constitution along with an American flag. As the probe dipped in closer, the ship opened fired and the screen went to static.

"Shit, she's as deadly as a State," Susan said as she read the weapons layout.

"I know, that's what I was saying," Tony said as he looked over at Susan, "Ma'am, shouldn't you let the Admiral know?"

"Yes, I should," Susan replied and activated the Com system, "Admiral..."

On the bridge of the USS Washington, Susan's response came back over the Com speakers.

"Admiral, there are three ships behind the American fleet. They are easily a match for any of our State class."

"Send us your scan information," Ken said as he stood beside Tammy.

"Sending the scans now. Admiral, I wish..."

"Susan, I am not an Admiral anymore, I am the President of the Federation," Ken said as he cut her off.

"Sorry, Sir, I didn't know."

"That's okay, finish your report," Ken said as he sat down on the stool that Aiko had brought out for him.

"Sir, yesterday, troops from the Arizona base rescued twenty-nine thousand four hundred and twelve survivors from the American POW camps in Alaska. We also captured the base Commander, his records and sixty percent of the guards alive. They have been transferred to the base, where we have been caring for the ex-prisoners and also, the bastards who raped and murdered our own."

Ken knew, he didn't want to know, but he had to ask, "How many did they kill?"

"Sir, they murdered almost five thousand people. Most of the young cadets that they captured on SPD2 are dead. As well, over a thousand kids are missing, taken from their mothers arms and sent somewhere in the United States. Most of them are under the age of three."

"Oh my God," Jessica said in shock.

"Any word on Ashley Granger Thompson?" Ken asked.

"Let me check the master list, Sir."

"I will wait," Ken said as Aiko came over and slipped her hand into his.

"Ken, what has happened to your great country?" Aiko asked as she squeezed Ken's hand.

"I don't know. Its like insanity has moved in..."

"Mister President, she's not on the list."

Ken let out the breath he was holding and whispered, "Thank God."

"I told you she would get to the hideout," Amy said as she appeared, "and I have a match for those three ships."

"You do?" Ken and Susan said at the same time.

"They are Phoenix Class Battlecruisers. They are very deadly, and very nasty. They were the next line of ship to be built, but we didn't have time."

"How come they didn't show up in the database?" Asked Susan.

"Susan, they were still on the drawing board, the information is there. The only reason I recognize them is Jessica's father designed them."

"He did?" Jessica asked in surprise.

"Yes, just before we shipped out for Alpha Centauri, he submitted them for approval along with the model. They will be a nasty ship to fight," Amy stated.

"Why?" Ken asked.

"They don't have AI/Interfaces..."

"Then that should be no problem, we will blow them to bits," Ken said as he interrupted Amy.

"No Ken, we won't," Amy replied.

"But? You said all the larger ships in the Federation needed, the interface to fight correctly," Ken blurted out.

"And they do. Except for that class, you see she has four AI's, one for port and starboard weapons, one for main ship functions and one for defense. So she doesn't need the Interfaces."

"Why didn't I know about them?" Ken swore as he stared at the image of the ship.

"Ken they were not in the database of ships, in fact there are several new designs mentioned, but they were never implemented because we didn't have time to build them. If you remember, I stated that the State class battleship was the most advanced warship that we had built. You never asked about new classes, except if we had a carrier," Amy said as she admired the ship on the screen.

"So how do we beat them?" Ken snapped, in frustration at his own stupidity.

"Overwhelming fire power. That's the only way," Amy said as she received a report from Cori, on the USS America. "Admiral Thompson, Cori reports the America is requesting permission to launch all her planes."

"Thank you Amy," Tammy said as she activated her ships Com unit, "This is the Admiral. Launch all planes, I repeat, Launch all planes."

Ken turned, walked into his cabin and sat down at his desk. Reaching over he contacted four of his battleships and begun issuing his orders. And those orders were to the renamed California, Bismarck, Queen Elizabeth, and the Leonardo Da Vinci. Closing the Com, he walked back out onto the Flag Bridge.

Aboard the USS America, the fight deck was crowded with over a thousand fighters and bombers. They were being prepped for the largest, single, air strike since World War Two. Ninety one year old, Commander Richard Jenny, climbed up into the cockpit of his Lightning class fighter. He looked over at the rest of Eagle Squadron, snapping a salute to them before he sat down in the seat. Strapping himself in, he pulled his helmet on and looked over at his great-granddaughter. Her fighter was moving into launch position. Sitting there, he watched as the plane leapt forward, and flew down the launch tube. The rest of her squadron quickly followed.

"Your next Commander, and good luck," replied the flight deck technician as he unhooked, his data pad from the fighter's data jack.

Waving his hand, Richard checked his NAV computer. He saw everything was uploaded to his onboard computer system, as his plane was maneuvered into the launch position.

Up on the bridge, Captain John Wilkes watched the CIC plot as the mines were detected.

"This is Eagle one, with seven chicks for launch," said a voice over the launch Com.

"Roger Eagle one, you are cleared for launch," Commander Sue Devon said.

"Launching," came the voice again.

John listened to the voice of the unit launching as he said, "I hope those pilots don't start up World War Two, again like they did in the lounge last night. I swear they were going to kill each other and then they started laughing. We have enough shit on our plate. We don't need veterans, from six armies, fighting each other. It freaked me out. We have a Japanese, a German, a Greek, two English chaps an American, a Russian and an Italian. Who all fought each other in previous war and now we have put them all in the same squadron. What a crazy war this could make now."

"They won't, Sir; they may get passionate about their exploits in the Second World War. But they are professionals, and they do have quite a kill record from that war. Between all of them, they have over five hundred kills," Sue said as she listened to the bombers being launched on her earpiece.

"I know, and the German, damn what's his name? Herman I think it is, he has two hundred and seventy of them. But shooting down untrained Russian pilots, doesn't count," John said as he walked over to his chair and sat down.

On the main viewer, fighter after fighter, burst from their launch tubes and started forming up into attack waves. While their counterparts, did the same over on the American side.

Ken looked over to Lieutenant Maria Kessler over at Communications and said, "Maria, please raise the American fleet."

"Yes, Mister President," she said and turned on her Com unit. "This is the Federation battleship USS Washington to the American fleet. Please respond."

American Fleet

Aboard the American battlecruiser USS America, Admiral James Watson watched the Federation fleet in CIC and he was worried. They had seven battleships, two carriers, two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, three assault cruisers and seventeen destroyers.

"Shit!" James said as he looked at the odds.

"Something wrong Admiral?" President Kincaide asked.

James looked over his shoulder at the President and said, "Yes Sir. We are royally fucked."

"That's defeatist talk Admiral and I won't have any of it around me," Thomas said as he leaned back in the chair.

"Sir, we are very badly out numbered, they have four times the tonnage that we have in heavy ships. They have two carriers we have none. They have two heavy cruisers we have none. They have three light cruisers, while we have four and we have fifteen destroyers to their seventeen as well as three assault cruisers. So as I said, we are royally fucked," James said as he turned back to the CIC map and started to issue his orders.

"Sir, the Commander of their flagship, the Washington, wishes to speak with us," Lieutenant Thomas Aikido said from his communications station.

"Really?" Asked James as he walked over and sat down in his command chair. "On screen," he said.

The screen changed, showing the command bridge of the Washington and the young woman wearing the uniform of a Federation Admiral. Beside her stood two other women, both of them, shimmered as they stood there.

"Ladies, what may I do for you?" James said as he looked at the women.

"Admiral?"

"Sorry, yes, I am Admiral Watson, United States Navy," James said.

"Admiral Watson, I'm Admiral Thompson of the USS Washington, Terran Federation. I advise you to surrender, you're seriously out numbered."

"Admiral Thompson, I am sorry. I cannot do that," James replied.

Ken stepped up, so he was in the viewer and looked at the American Admiral, then said, "Admiral Watson, you cannot win. I seriously advise you to surrender."

"Admiral Thompson? I thought you were dead," Admiral Watson replied in surprise.

"Not likely, although President Kincaide's assassin did try. But we now have all of his spies in custody and they will be tried for treason, against the Terran Federation. Also I am no longer an Admiral. As accorded by Federation law, I have taken the seat as President of the Federation."

"Whatever, I have my duty. As--"

"We are not your enemies, the T'Lari are. As are the Crytherians," Ken said as he interrupted him.

"--As, I was telling your wife. I cannot surrender. I have a duty to defend the United States, against all enemies, domestic and foreign."

"Damn it! Listen to me. We are not your enemy. But we will destroy your fleet and kill a lot of your people, if you continue with this. So I am telling you that if you don't surrender, you will all die. A lot of people we all need to defeat Terra's enemies will die with you."

As Ken was talking the view screen went black, the communication was cut. "What the hell?" Ken asked.

"Sir, communications have been shut off on their end," replied Lieutenant Maria Kessler.

"Get them back. I have to get them see reason," Ken said.

"Yes, Sir," turning back to her Com panel, Maria started talking.

"That stupid idiot!" Ken said as he started pacing.

"Sir, no response to communications," Maria reported.

"Very well," Ken replied as he looked at his wife and said, "Tam, take out their minefield."

"Yes, Mister President," Tammy replied and then started giving the orders, "Put me through to all our units."

"Yes, Ma'am," Maria said as her fingers flew over the board, "You're on Ma'am."

"This is Admiral Thompson to all ships. Take out the American mines. Do not engage the American ships unless you have to. We want them, to surrender."

Commander Richard Jenny watched the American fighters coming in. He activated his Com system for the squadron, and said, "Eagle one to all chicks. Form up on me, let's take these guys out."

"Roger, Commander, I have your wing," Lieutenant Commander William Watterson said as he fell into position, beside and a little behind him.

Richard checked the sensors and saw the rest of the squadron was flanking them, as they flew towards the American spacecraft.

Flipping his Com on to the enemy frequency, he said, "Tally Ho! Huns in the sun," then started arming his missiles.

American Fleet

Commander Suzanna Helm looked at her Com in confusion and snapped, "Who is this?"

"Why, it's a woman!" Commander Richard Jenny said in shock.

"Yes, I am female, and I ask once again. Who are you?"

"Sorry ma'am. My name is Commander Richard Jenny, Royal Air Force. I advise you to surrender," Richard said as he finished his weapons check.

"Royal Air Force? What the hell are you talking about?" Suzanna said.

"Sorry, Ma'am, habit. I served in Her Majesties Royal Air Force, for forty years. I should have said Federation Navy. Now again, I advise you to surrender. Your people do not have my squadron experience, we are going to cut through you, like a hot knife through butter."

"I don't care how much experience you have in some two bit Air Force. We will beat..."

"Ma'am, let me tell you something. We have over seven hundred years of experience in combat. We fought in the Great War, against each other. So I advise you to surrender now, before a lot of your people are killed."