Chapter 17

Edited by Steve

Tim sat in his seat and stared at the viewscreen. Sarha noticed he was merely sitting. “Tim, my previous Captain, used to sit and think about the things that had transpired. Are you doing the same thing?”

“No, I’m thinking about the skirmish to come. Hopefully, only the pirates will be hurt. I worry about the girls, and I’ve never cared more. Why would this be so different?”

“Tim, do you care for the girls? It may be that you have feelings for each.”

“I have only known them for a short time; how could I have feelings for every one of them?” Tim was still in the chair and seemed worried. He drummed his fingers on his chair’s arm. He tried to understand why this time things were so different.

“Tim, you have saved everyone and may think you need to protect them.” She could try making it sound like a fatherly thing, but since he has had sex with three of them already, that would make it even worse.

“Tim, you must trust the girls. Each one wants to help you, and they feel it best to do this in their way. You must remember if Tammy gets hurt, she’s just like you.”

Tim thought about Tammy and stopped tapping his fingers. “As far as Tammy goes, did Madlyn test Tabitha?” He turned to look towards Sarha, and she was not in her usual place.

She stood next to Tabitha’s seat, “I just asked Madlyn, and she said No. Did you want her to?” Sarha glided across the floor and moved closer to Tim’s chair.

“Tell her, she might try, just to see if there are any changes,” Tim thought about both girls having kept his balls empty and their stomachs full. Why should that have an impact on one rather than the other? If that’s the reason, Tammy heals faster.

Pauline exited the lift, approached Tim, and asked, “Tim, may I speak with you for a moment?” She was now standing next to Tim’s chair.

Tim replied, “Sure, let us move to the lounge. That way, it’s more comfortable.” When they got to the lounge, he and Pauline sat in comfortable chairs, and Tim asked if Pauline wanted something to drink.

Tim asked Millie to bring over two drinks. Tim turned towards Pauline, “OK, what do you want to talk about?” Millie brought the drinks, sat them down, and left.

Pauline sat facing Tim with hands folded. “I would like to change some plans for tomorrow’s fight.” She rubbed her hands in a manner of apprehension and feared Tim would not like her ideas.

“OK, what parts do you want to change, and why?” Tim sat back in his chair, sipped his drink, and listened to Pauline.

“First, as soon as the other ships appear in our scanners. I want to send the cloaked probes to those ships. Pauline remembered that each probe could hold up to thirty nano-bots and that a nano-bot could be programmed to be a high-power explosion. Slip them up to each incoming ship and attach them to the vessel.

“Second, can we send out cloaked probes with cameras attached? If we can, can we send out two probes for each ship? So, we have a probe on both sides of those ships. That way, we can see if they send out dropships.”

“I don’t think we should let them get away from their ships. If the dropship doors open, we can set off all probes. Also, Sarha can hack into one of their systems and see if she can find out where they have their base of operations.” Pauline stated.

“All right, I see where it would be better, but why?” Tim asked. He was now terribly interested in Pauline’s new thoughts; she had thought about the next fight and produced innovative ideas.

“Why take the risk that one of us may be injured? We don’t make any distress calls. In other words, only the pirates knew it was a trap.” Pauline states. Tim felt better about this plan now.

“OK, Everything’s taken, and it’s a better plan. That’s why you are the tactical officer.” Tim replied.

Pauline and Tim sat back in their chairs and felt better. Now Pauline could relax with the idea that she just had a better chance of a win.

Sarha was setting up the final probes Pauline and Tim wanted. Making sure all programs were working. Sarha appeared in the lounge next to Tim. “Tim, where are you going to operate from?”

Tim looked at Sarha and thought about a room somewhere on Deck 8 that she had mentioned. “Sarha, you said you could control everything from a room. Am I allowed to enter that room?”

“Yes, there is one control room. Yes, you can get into it. If you so desire, I’ll show you where it is.” Sarha replied.

“Thank you,” Tim said, “please show us the way.” He and Pauline stood up, followed Sarha to the lift, and took the lift to Deck 8. Arriving on deck eight and turning right, three doors down, Sarha stopped. Turned to Tim, “through these doors is a large combat room used by the former military personnel. I have had the cleaning bots working on getting it ready for you.” Tim stepped up to the doors, and they automatically opened, “Tim, they opened this time because I allowed it. Next time you must place your hand on the DNA scanner.” Sarha stated.

Pauline and Tim stepped into the room. A sign hung in the middle of the room, with bold red letters, ‘Tactical Operation Center.’ This room was three times the size of the bridge. Tim could see ten stations with approximately ten display screens, each fixed to the wall. There were another six stations with control panels, but only one viewscreen each. This control unit set was about ten feet back and almost a three-foot drop away from the other units. Still back and closer to where Tim stood were three more stations. Right in front of Tim was a table with four chairs, just waiting for someone to sit down on them. Each station had a number over the displays so the controller could call out a number, not a name.

“Sarha, what are all those monitors doing? What kind of operations were in here?” Tim asked, and he looked around with a flabbergasted look.

“Tim, what you see here, was the main battle operating system. From here, they controlled the fighting forces.” Sarha replied. She was now standing next to the nearest table.

“Sarha, are the guns controlled from inside here?” Asked Tim.

“Yes, if you wish to control them manually, it will be from here,” Sarha replied.

“The lady who controlled the heavy power pulse particle beam cannons likes to work from the station on the left there, and she also controlled the railgun,” Sarha said. “The one on the right was for the sixteen beam cannons for the defense grid. The second one on the right was the Mass Drivers, which launched their shells at Hyper Warp speed.”

“The stations against the wall controlled different probes, and they also controlled the fighters.”

“Sarha, could we have the girls come down here, so they may see what we will be working with?” Asked Tim.

“Tim, I have asked each girl to come down. They each will have to have a DNA scan done to enter.” Sarha replied.

Each girl was scanned into the room and looked at what was in front of them. Their eyes were wide open, never having seen anything like this before. They looked around, wondering what this place was and what they were doing there.

“Ladies, this will be your battle station for the ship-to-ship fighting,” Tim replied. He looked at the girls, moving his arm towards the seats and view screens. “Now you have seen it, and I’ll let Pauline take it from here.”

“We will not be doing any person-on-person combat tomorrow, Ladies,” Pauline said. She moved to stand in front of the girls; they were all there, even Jeanne.

“For the next hour or so, we will be training here. Sarha will set up different scenarios so you get used to your stations.” Pauline said.

“Tabitha, your station will be # 12. You will be the pilot from there. Tammy, your station will be # 2. You will have control of the cloaked probes. Madlyn, your station will be # 4. You will have control over cloaked camera probes. Jeanne, your station will be # 11. You will control the two heavy power pulse particle beam cannons.” Pauline stated.

After an hour of practice, the girls felt they knew what to do, feeling good about it and tomorrow. Everyone went to the lounge for lunch and agreed with the proposed changes.

Both Tabitha and Madlyn sat in the lounge after a filling meal. “Tabitha, Tim wants me to do a DNA test on you. To see if anything has changed. Is that OK with you?” Madlyn asked.

“Sure, it’s OK with me. When do you want to do it?” Tabitha turned to hand her plate to Millie for cleaning. Millie was now the friendliest bot around. She always was in the lounge to take care of each person coming in, getting them food or drinks.

“How about, when you leave here, you drop by.” Replied Madlyn. Getting up and heading for the doorway. She turned her head to watch Tabitha, “See you there.” She walked out the door and onto the lift.

The other girls started to stand up, going back to the various things they were doing. As they left the lounge, Millie said, “See you, ladies, at dinner time, have a good afternoon.” She cleaned up the lounge, waiting for the next time she was needed.

Madlyn entered the medical bay with Jeanne right beside her. They were talking about Tabitha coming down to be tested, “I need you to get the syringe for the blood draw ready. Also, we need to check on Jane Doe; To see if she has recovered from the shock.” Madlyn said.

Jeanne was walking over to Jane Doe’s unit. Seeing Doctor Marus standing there. “Doctor, how’s the patient doing?” Moving closer to the bed, she carefully picked up Jane Doe’s arm, careful not to move too close to her hand. Since she had seen the flames coming from those fingertips, she was shy about getting too close to the hands to avoid getting a hot hand.

“She has not moved since you, and Doctor Madlyn left.” Said Doctor Marus.

Jeanne gets ready to take Jane Doe’s pulse. She lifted her hand carefully, looking toward the hand. Saw the flames start to appear. She starts talking to the flames without thinking. “I am not going to hurt her. I need to take her pulse, and then I’ll lay her hand back down, OK?”

Jeanne found a steady pulse with a good strong beat. She laid the hand back down, “See, I said I wouldn’t hurt her.” She turned to write the information she just took on her chart. When she returned to Jane Doe’s, the flames were still there. They were getting bigger and were now about an inch tall. They look exactly like the fire flames of an open fire. Closer to the fingers, the bottoms are round, working up from the tops to a point. These points are moving from side to side like they are dancing.

The flames stayed at the fingertips for a bit longer, then disappeared. Jeanne was still looking at the fingers when Madlyn came in. “How’s the reading this time?” Madlyn asked.

Jeanne shook her head, coming back to reality. “I was just talking to the flames without realizing it,” She turned to face Madlyn with a stunning look.

“Well, did they say anything?” Asked Madlyn. She had a big smile but knew what it was like talking to something you know cannot talk back. She had done it several times herself, then thought she had to be foolish.

“No, nothing. The pulse and heartbeat are fine, and the flames are doing fine themselves.” Replied Jeanne.

“OK, so now we know both are doing simply fine. We’ll have to wait.” Madlyn said as she turned and walked back over to her station.

Jeanne sat down next to Madlyn. “What are we going to do now?”

“Did you get the syringe ready?” She reached into a drawer and pulled out a file folder with Tabitha’s name.

“Yes, it’s on the tray with the other things you need.” Replied Jeanne.

Tabitha walked through the medical bay doors, “I’m here. Where do you want me?” She looked down and saw a folder with her name on it. “Are you going to put my paw print in there? The schools used to keep records, but Tammy’s files were always more significant than mine. She spent a lot of time with the headmaster.”

“I need you to go to Unit 2 and sit on the chair, and I’ll be right there,” Madlyn said.

Tabitha turned around, heading to Unit 2. She trips, falling against the wall, and hitting her head. Both Madlyn and Jeanne jumped up and rushed to her side. Madlyn saw a small cut on her head and asked, “Are you OK?”

Jeanne headed to the counter to get a wipe. “Bring me a slide also,” Madlyn called out.

Jeanne handed Madlyn the slide first, watched her collect some blood on the slide, then took the slide back and gave her the wipe. Jeanne took the slide to the medicine cabinet for storage. Madlyn helped Tabitha up from the floor, then led her to a chair.

“That is a hard way to draw blood, but that’s all we need. I’ll put a bandage on your cut, and you can go.”

“If that is how you draw blood around here, what does repairing a wound take? Falling down the staircase?” Asked Tabitha.

All three females were now laughing.

Everyone got up early to get everything ready for the battle. They came to the lounge for breakfast. A minimal discussion took place around the table. “OK, ladies, this is the moment. Come on, let us go to the tactical room.” Tim said.

Remembering what Sarha said yesterday, Tim opened the doors with his DNA. Every girl checked in the same way. Each went to their station, sat down, and started up their control panels, “I need all stations to check in when they are operational.” Pauline said.

When all stations had checked in, Pauline turned toward Tim, “we’re all set to begin. I need to know when you want us to start?” Tim was sitting at the other end of the table, giving her the thumbs-up sign.

“Station # 2, Move your cloaked probes through the minefield to the other side. Let me know when you have finished.” Pauline said, and she was now looking toward Tammy and waiting for her signal.

Tammy was lighting up all probe’s lights, ensuring each probe was in working order, sending them through the pirate’s minefield. When all the probes were ready, she gave Pauline the signal.

“Station # 4, move your camera probes through the minefields placing them behind Tammy’s probes. Let me know when you have finished.” Pauline said.

Madlyn also lit up all her camera probes, taking them through the minefield. Seeing them completely through and in place, she gave Pauline her signal.

“Tabitha, are you ready to take your ship out?” Asked Pauline.

“Ready,” said Tabitha.

“Station # 11, are you ready?” Asked Pauline.

Jeanne was turning to give her the thumbs up also.

“Sarha, would you please blow up two sets of pirate’s mines,” Pauline asked.

Sarha set off two sets of ten mines each. Now was the time for waiting and watching.

Tabitha took her vessel out of the bay and toward the minefield area. She parked her ship there and transferred back to Sarha’s ship. She was then headed down to the control room.