Chapter 591

Jeff was lying in his favorite recliner in the living room staring out the big window, worrying, when his Clan Queen walked in. “Sweetheart, sit up a bit so I can sit in your lap.” When he complied, she added, “I know that look. So, what’s troubling you?”

He let out a sigh as she positioned herself just so in his lap, wiggling her butt a little to tease his dick. “I know you aren’t in the mood for sex, My Husband,” she quietly said as he hugged her to him.

“I suppose I’m not very good company just now, but it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with you, Baby. It’s just something I have to decide...”

“Nonsense. If it bothers you, then it bothers me. Tell me so we can worry together.”

“I’m not that worried,” he lied. “It’s just that ... Oh, hell, it’s the same old thing. I can’t enhance everyone, but it just isn’t right not to enhance the interceptor pilots and gunners. To survive, they need every edge I can give them. But ... if I enhance them, what about Security? They have, and will probably continue from time to time, to put their lives on the line to protect my family, and an edge might save their lives as well. What about my team? They’ve trained for years, always trying to be just a little bit better. Even to be considered for the team, they had to beat out everyone else. They’ve risked their lives in combat over and over. Then ... what about their spouses or girlfriends/boyfriends? The ones that are enhanced won’t age, but their unenhanced spouses and significant others will. Where does it stop? I’ve pretty much just enhanced the people I wanted to or needed to at the time. Do I keep on doing it that way, or should I set some other criteria?

“I can’t see not enhancing the pilots and gunners,” he continued. “Hell, they’re going into this battle outnumbered, and not just by the number of Paladins that they will go up against, but each Paladin will have several weapons, and I presume, gunners. I’ve tried my best to evaluate our interceptor crews’ chances, but there simply isn’t any real way to do that short of combat. Arlene and Ann have been enhanced, of course, and they can best any team out there – on the simulator. Did the enhancement make the difference?

“But, simulation only goes so far. Troops that have been only mediocre have sometimes shown brilliance when things got real in combat. Sometimes, simulators don’t tell the tale; although, Ship’s simulators are lightyears ahead of our military simulators. But simulators can’t tell us everything. The person who excels in a simulator might well freeze up in actual combat. The bottom line is that I’ve put it off as long as I can. I have to do everything I can to give my crews every edge possible. I don’t want to be sitting here after the battle wondering if somebody would have survived if I had given them a little more training or somehow given them a bit more of an edge. However, it doesn’t end with them being given only an edge – the enhancement also gives them a greatly extended life. And ... that isn’t generally known outside those of us who have been enhanced, but as time goes on, others will notice that they aren’t ageing. If the public ever finds out, or worse yet, a high-level politician or twenty ... Well, we might as well leave Earth, because we’ll be besieged, to put it in its mildest terms.”

“I know, Baby. We’ve talked about this many times...”

“But I have to act now. I can’t put it off any longer. The pilots and gunners need to be comfortable with their enhanced bodies before they go into combat. And dammit, I’ll be sitting on Ship’s bridge safe while two of my wives and the other crews fight it out with those damn Paladins.”

“While you go toe-to-toe with the monster alien ship, you mean,” Diana growled.

“Ship says she can take the alien ship.”

“Yes, but we both know that’s just supposition. Ship might well be fighting for her life during that battle.”

Jeff motioned for his wife to stand so he could. When she did, he came to his feet. “Should you hear from Joe and Olivia, please ask if they’re nearby. I need to get them enhanced ASAP.”

When Jeff stepped through the hatch, he asked Ship where the interceptor squadron was.

“They are all on the couches in the training room working on various combat scenarios to protect Earth. Shall I awaken them?”

Jeff made the mental connection and told Ship to look into his mind. A millisecond later, she knew his plans. “Presently, much of my capacity is involved with making weapon platforms; therefore, I can offer only one healing chamber for enhancement. With Little One, that will provide two enhancements every half-hour unless you want me to reduce my efforts in the production of the platforms.”

Jeff was hesitant for fear he would hurt Little One’s feelings, but she, of course, knew his mind. {{{ That would be expedient. Should I do it one by one, there would be numerous hours wasted. }}}

“Very well. Ship, at your convenience, please wake the interceptor teams and ask them to meet me in the lounge.”

A couple of minutes later, Arlene and Ann came hurrying in. “What’s up, Husband? Has something happened?”Ann asked before Arlene could.

“No. No. Nothing like that,” he returned as he kissed his wives. “I think it’s time to enhance everyone in the squadron so that they can become accustomed to their enhanced bodies before all of you have to go against those damn Paladins. I had hoped to enhance everyone at the same time, but Ship is putting forth a maximum effort toward producing as many weapon platforms as she possibly can – my orders. The platforms are involved and quite large. Consequently, they take time and resources to produce. She has volunteered to assist with the enhancements, but, at present, she can offer only one chamber.

“Arlene, since you are the Squadron Commander, I’m going to leave it to you to explain what is about to happen, and to set up the schedule. After each person is enhanced, I would suggest giving them thirty minutes or so to get somewhat accustomed to their augmented body before having them begin working through some basic combat maneuvers. Oh, and don’t forget to warn them about increased appetites and the other things that they’ll have to get used to because of the enhancement. I would suggest having food readily available for everyone for the next few days.”

“Yeah, good points. What about Joe and Olivia?”

“They said that they would not go far, but if they don’t call in soon, I’ll call them and ask them to stop by. When they do, I’ll have them see you. It’s up to you whether to cut their honeymoon short or not. My gut feeling is that we still have time for everyone to become accustomed to their enhancements before the aliens arrive. But... on the other hand, I damn sure don’t want to risk their lives because they didn’t train as many hours as the other teams. Your call, though.”

He knew that Arlene had some hard decisions to make, but he was also aware that she was capable of it, or he would never have made her

Squadron Commander.

The teenager was deep in thought when Jeff kissed her on the cheek and left Ship to go back to the Retreat.

Diana frowned as she addressed her husband. “She’s just turned seventeen, Jeff, yet you’re letting her make decisions as well as letting her lead the squadron. Darnit, Baby, some of those pilots are twice her age. Aren’t you afraid that she’ll be accused of having the job because she’s Daddy’s little girl?”

“Nepotism. Yeah, I know. I know. But ... as I’ve said, I have walked in on several occasions when there was a group of them gathered around Arlene and Ann asking them, particularly Arlene, how to do something. She has kicked their asses over and over in the simulators. Once they found out that she would share her tricks with them, everyone – and I do mean every one of the pilots seemed to want her to teach them her maneuvers. If she said something, it was golden.

“I asked a few subtle questions, then just sucked it up and appointed her temporary Squadron Commander. I have to have one. Was I to appoint someone just because of rank, only to see her and others clean their clock in fake combat? The only flack I caught was from her. She was actually very reluctant to take the job because she was afraid that it would look like favoritism. She can outgun and outfly every one of them, and they know it. Also, their squadron leader needs to be one of them. I can’t fly with them and be the overall commander, too. It scares me even to think of that. Also, Ship absolutely will not allow it.

“During the battle, Arlene will have to think about the overall picture as well as flying her interceptor while in combat against a foe that outnumbers her squadron at least three to one, and that doesn’t even take into account the firepower of each of those damn Paladins. And... I also have to worry about her being too aggressive when she goes up against the enemy.

“You can’t be a great combat pilot and be reserved, yet you can’t be cocky and survive very long, either. Making her Squadron Leader means that she has to consider the overall picture while she’s flying her own combat mission. Shit, have I overloaded my daughter/wife and possibly cause both her death as well as Ann’s?”

Diana let out a sigh. “If she weren’t your daughter and was thirty years old, what would your decision have been?” Diana asked, reasonably.

“Her, without a doubt. The crews respect her skills, and both she and Ann have shared those skills and tricks with the others. But...”

“What about the other crews? Are there any indications that anyone else wants the Squadron Leader job? It seems to me to be a very prestigious title, at least to the ones who even know about the squadron.”

“What? Uh ... I don’t know. No one has said anything to me, and they know that they can talk to me anytime.”

“Talk to you about your daughter/wife? Suurrrre they do,” his Clan Queen said sarcastically. “So, why don’t you ask Ship if there are any dissenters? She sees and hears everything while the crews are aboard her, and she monitors their radio transmissions when they aren’t. If everyone is truly satisfied with her as their temporary Squadron Commander, then you’ll know. And if someone is pissed that they didn’t get the job, you’ll know that too.”

“Hell, Babe, that’s setting the bar pretty high. Given most any group, there are always dissenters, at least to a certain degree. It would be an invasion of privacy to ask Ship to do that, and I strongly suspect that there are those who question my decisions. Hell, sometimes I question my decisions. But, occasionally, I have to make a decision based on insufficient or faulty data. I’ve been fortunate that my guesses have been right most of the time, or else I’ve had time to modify my decisions before it was too late. Perhaps I should have had Ship build more interceptors and fewer weapon platforms. Maybe I should have placed the platforms farther out. On and on. Wrong or right, those decisions are mine to make until the General replaces me with someone else. But... I have to live with the results of those decisions. And ... those decisions could very well cost lives if I screw up.

“Will the aliens sweep through our interceptors with hardly a pause – killing all my crews? Will they slip past or destroy all my weapon platforms? That would leave Earth wide open to the alien guns. I doubt that Earth-based aircraft will stand a chance against those Paladins, if the Paladins should ever go low enough for Earth’s aircraft to engage them.”

The Clan Queen hugged her husband as he now stood staring out the big window again. “There will be a lot more in that fight than our interceptors. Don’t forget that Ship spent eons building the best battleship she could imagine, and she started out with all the data her race could give her. Didn’t you tell me that she said the interceptors were superior to the Paladins?”

“In maneuverability, our interceptors are far superior, and our weapons are basically on a par with the Paladins, I think, but damnit, the Paladins have more guns, and must undoubtedly have sufficient personnel to control them. What that will wind up meaning in combat is still a big unknown, but for sure those Paladins don’t have a blind side. Keep in mind; however, that basically all our knowledge comes from our scout watching the Paladins as they blew up rocks in the asteroid area where we first discovered the aliens, and also when their ship stopped and disgorged the Paladins, seemingly, to locate and destroy our scout.

“Were they using full power when they were firing? What kind of dispersal do their weapons have over distance? And the same basic question reworded: what about effective range? How quickly will the alien weapons recharge? Are their weapons systems computer-enhanced? If so, how good is the enhancement system? If they do have enhanced firing systems on the Paladins, could we jam them? Should their weapons lock onto one of our interceptors, will our maneuverability or instant inertialess acceleration to high speed be enough to break the lock?

“And there’s that monstrous ship. Will it bombard Earth? How near do they have to be for their weapons to be effective? We haven’t seen anything that would cause us to think so, but what if the aliens are friendly? What if, after all this, they just want to trade, or ignore us and go on by? Everything points to aggression, so we have to be ready while hoping against hope that we won’t have to fight that monster ship.”