Chapter 17: Space

05:30 Pluto, Base Station Elysian, 1-14-05

Ken watched the fleet approach the huge dry dock. The ships were spreading out for the docking arms as he turned and looked at his wife Tammy who was giving her fleet orders.

"Helm. All ahead, slow. Starboard thrusters, minimum fire, in three ... two ... one ... engage," Tammy said as she sat in the command chair.

"Firing thrusters, Ma'am," replied Commander Stella Salaneo.

The huge ship slowly slid down the length of the gantry until it was almost aligned with the boarding tubes.

"Fire bow thrusters, one hundred percent. Engage," Tammy said.

"Firing thrusters, Admiral," Stella said as she pressed the icon on the board.

Up near the bow, dozens of ports opened on each side of the bow, and they fired. Twelve-foot long blasts of flames shot out from the nose and the ship slid to a halt as her starboard thrusters nudged her against the dock.

"All thrusters stop," Tammy said.

"All stop, Ma'am," Stella replied.

The gantry locking arms reached out and locked onto the huge ship. Around the base, the destroyers patrolled space watching for any sudden attack.

Ken turned and walked down the ramp to Tammy.

"Admiral, are we ready?"

"Yes, we are, Mr. President. Let's go meet your captains."

The two of them walked off the bridge and down the hallway to the transport tube. Amy and Jessica joined them as they neared the doors, and they opened.

"Ken, my love ... Good luck. I wish I was going with you, but someone has to mind the house while you're all away," Jessica said.

"I agree, Jess. I wish you were coming, as well. Keep me appraised of anything that you think is important. Transfer all wounded to the base hospital. Let's start getting them the best medical care we can."

"I will, Ken. I'd better get back to doing what I do best," Jessica said with a grin and vanished.

"That's my sister ... going to go kick ass," Amy said as they all stepped into the transport tube.

The tube doors closed, and they were off through the ship to the nearest docking tube. Stepping out on Omega Deck, they started walking towards the boarding ramp. They descended down into the station, to a waiting crowd of officers who came to attention.

"Commander Strike, your station looks pretty good from the outside. How is she holding up on the inside?" Ken asked as he shook Commander John Strike's hand.

"Admiral..."

"Admiral Thompson is no more," Ken interrupted. "I have taken upon myself the seat of President; until we have elections, or I can hand this job off to someone else," Ken said as he released Commander Strike's hand.

"Yes, Mr. President, I understand. I remember from your broadcast. Welcome to Elysian base, Mr. President."

"Elysian as in the Elysian Fields?" Ken asked.

"Yes, Sir. We couldn't think of a name, and my nephew suggested it."

"Then let's keep it as that. I will be stripping you of some of your fighters and bombers. I will leave you three destroyers and a carrier, but the rest I will be taking with me to Earth. Any news on that situation?"

"I understand, Sir. I can resupply the fleet with fighters and bombers. As to what is going on, on Earth ... we have no idea. Nothing is being passed along to us. I do know Commodore White is raising hell on SPD1, and that Admiral Farragut is missing. Mars is still ours. All American forces involved in the invasion have surrendered. Moon Base Alpha is still ours, and nothing has landed on the surface, but the American government has surrounded the planet and the space docks with over a million defense satellites."

"What do you mean, 'he is missing'? I want to know where that son of a bitching traitor is," Ken snarled in anger.

"We don't know much, Sir. All we know is he was kidnapped from his office. We are not getting much information from the docks. Most of our people are gone except for the ones in hiding."

"Do we know where they are?"

"We have word that the American government has set up some concentration camps deep in the Alaska wilderness. They are being tortured and murdered there and we cannot do anything about it."

Ken went silent as he thought of the people who joined them and now were being hurt.

As they were talking, they were walking through the long base. Medical teams were rushing the wounded off the ships, while repair crews rushed onboard with thousands of spider bots to begin repairs. Turning a corner, they started down another passageway that was divided in half with a force field. On the other side of the field was a long line of men and woman who were wearing the uniform of the United States Navy. At the beginning of the line, were forty or so officers who were slowly going through a door to a large barracks that had been set up for them.

"How many?" Ken asked.

"Sir, we have just under thirty thousand prisoners. I have broken them down into their ships, and I have separated the higher-ranking officers from them. This group is the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln."

"The American flagship, interesting, I am just glad I didn't have to kill too many of them, to get them to surrender," Ken said.

He looked at the soldiers and continued, "Commander, I want you to start them on tours of the Vaskat. I want them to see the horror of that ship. Then once they digest what the future holds in store for their families, if we lose, and they have thought about it ... I want you to ask for volunteers to help stop it from happing in the future."

"Yes, Sir! I will get on it now."

Entering the conference room, he saw the officers of the fleet waiting for him. Taking a deep breath, he walked down the aisle until he got to the head of the sixty-foot table. Pulling his chair out he sat down and looked at his friends, as Tammy sat to his right. Amy sat to his left, and Kayla and Aiko stood behind him.

"Ladies and Gentleman, it is time to end this war with the United States of America and get on towards the real threat," he said, as he looked at Captain Jenna Meadows and Captain Jimmy Watts, and then continued with what he was saying, "I have a special mission for you Captain Meadows, and Captain Watts. Captain Meadows, you will take the Orca and take the American POW camps as soon as we find out where they are. Captain Watts, you will take the Grizzly and take Washington D.C. I want Kincaid's ass in chains, and I want him alive! Each of your ships will be escorted by two destroyers."

Ken looked over at Captain John Wilkes of the USS America, and he said, "Captain Wilkes, your mission is going to be more dangerous. I want you to use your fighters and bombers and start taking out the American's satellite system that they have installed around the planet and the docks. Can do?"

"Can do, Mister President. Can I tap the returning ships to arm the Ark Royal with aircrews?"

"Yes, you may. Use whatever fighters you want. I am assigning Apocalypse Squadron to you, along with my wife Kayla. She will be in overall charge of all the fighters and bombers as Fleet CAG. Each battleship will retain two squadrons of fighters for defense. The rest are yours."

"Thank you, Sir. May I ask what will you be doing, while the fleet is engaged with the United States Fleet?"

Ken rubbed his chin as he gave his answer, saying, "The fleet is first going to fold to Mars, and get a situation report from General Polk. After that we will then form up with the Mars fleet and advance on the docks, and take them back."

"I understand Sir. I assume you will be staying on Mars?" John asked.

"No. I am going with the fleet," Ken said with a determination in his voice.

"No, Sir. You will stay on Mars," John replied.

Ken looked at John in confusion, and shook his head, "No! I'm going in on the Washington."

"No, Sir. If I have to, I will have you escorted off the ship, as well," Tammy said as she realized where John was going with his question.

Ken whipped his head around and looked at his wife, and snapped, "I am going, Tammy."

"No, Sir! I will not allow you to endanger your life by going into combat, MISTER PRESIDENT!"

Ken stood up, and snarled out, "I am fucking going."

Tammy stood up, fixed her blouse and then walked around the table and stopped in front of her husband, and replied, "Then, MISTER PRESIDENT, I fucking resign."

"Tammy, I have to," Ken said as his turned to fists and started shaking, as his voice started to break up as he was speaking.

John Wilkes watched the argument going. He could hear the tears in Ken's voice as it cracked up as he spoke, so he stood up. He walked down the length of the table, and came to a stop in front of him, and spoke.

"Sir, you not going, is not going to make you look like a coward in front of the troops. You are not an Admiral any more, Sir. You are our President. If you go, you will be endangering the mission, because the fleet will try to defend the Washington, and will not be able to do their jobs properly."

"But... " Ken started to say, and was interrupted once more.

"Ken, Tammy and John are right. You being on the ship will be a danger for all of us. Please stay behind," Amy begged.

"You expect me to sit by and watch all my wives go into danger?" Ken snapped.

"Sometimes we have to make sacrifices that we don't want to make. With you on Mars, I will be able to do my job better. I will know you are safe. Aiko will be staying with you. I will be transferring our unborn child to an incubator, as will Tammy. If something happens to us. Our children will live," Amy said softly.

"Say what?" Tammy blurted out.

"It's the only way you will be able to go, Tammy. I am sorry."

Ken sat down in his chair, as Tammy and Amy started arguing. The yelling got louder and louder and he noticed the rest of the captain's wince at some of the threats.

Standing up, Ken shouted, "ENOUGH!"

Both women stopped their yelling, and looked at Ken, and then blushed.

"Okay, I am going to say this one time, and one time only. Start acting as officers or I will have you both removed. Now sit down, shut up, and listen to me," Ken snapped out at them.

Amy and Tammy's mouths snapped closed and they sat down.

Ken stood there, and looked at his wives and then started pacing. An idea was already forming in the back of his mind. Stopping he looked down the length of the table and started dictating orders.

"First, I am going on my flagship and this is how," he said as he held up his hand and pointed his middle finger at Amy as she started to say something.

"DON'T AMY!" he said and watched her mouth snap closed again, and he continued; "The Washington and the two assault cruisers will stay at the rear. The remaining battleships will go in under AI/interface control. With the Mars fleet, and the remaining destroyers, they will clear a path to the space docks. They will be carrying as many Marines as we can cram into them. I want those docks, and I want Admiral Farragut in my brig. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, I will follow those orders on one condition. If it starts going bad, you will fall back to Mars base, and wait for the rest of the fleet," Captain Wilkes said.

"Agreed. But once those docks are back in our control, I will shift my flag to them."

"No, Sir, you will stay on the Washington, right where you are safe. It will take several days to search those stations for any explosives that could destroy them."

Ken nodded his head, and replied, "I didn't think of that. Very well, I agree. I will stay on the flagship."

Federation Base Mars Defense base, 1-14-05 02:02 AM

General Richard Polk stood in the main CIC, and watched the American destroyers head for the Space Docks. They were redlining their engines as they went. Several of them were trailing debris from battle damage.

"Sue, anything from the Washington?" Richard asked.

Captain Sue Blake-Thompson looked up from her sensors and replied, "Nothing since the announcement from the President. Brigadier General Anthon says he has two thirds of his men ready to go. Of the fifty-four hundred we captured, over seven hundred have refused to join us. With another eight hundred and nine undecided, we have separated them from each other so they could think on what they want to do. The rest I just don't know what to do with."

"Load them up on the Relief. We will send them to Pluto so they can see the insides of the Vaskat. Maybe that will change their minds. If not we will return them to their homes, and let them see what their idiot president has been doing. Tell General Anthon I want his Mechs ready to go for hot deployment, as soon as the fleet arrives. Also, notify Lieutenant Mitchell Young I want his WASPS ready to deploy to the Space Docks. They are to go in and disabled the station's defenses, and the Mech units."

"Yes, Sir. I will notify them," Sue said.

She pressed her hand to her belly as she felt the babies move, and she gasped at a very sharp kick.

"You okay, Sue?" Richard said as he heard her gasp.

"Yes, Sir. Just a kick. I'm still a month away from the due date," Sue said as her fingers flew over the console.

Space Dock One, 1-14-05 04:02 AM

The door slowly slid open. Admiral Farragut lifted his head and watched. When it was open, the man whom he thought he had killed came into the room.

"Hello, Admiral. I hear you have been giving my daughter a hard time. I wouldn't do that if I were you. She so wants to kill you for what you have done to her mother," said Commodore John Michael Thompson. He walked over to cage and continued, "You know, I personally want to rip your head off, and shit down your throat. But, you have more to answer for than what you have done to me and my family. You will get a fair trial, and then we will execute you. I hope they all hit you in the balls."

"You have no right to try me. I am an American Naval Officer," Kevin Farragut snarled.

"You took an oath when you joined the Federation. Now you will pay the piper his dues. You really should have made sure I was dead, before you tried jettison me like your fucking bastards did with my wife and friends."

"I was under orders by my government. The legal government of the United States of America, so you can call me a spy if you want but damn if I will be called a fucking traitor to a bunch of traitors. You even took the oath."

"I don't care what you call it. You murdered a bunch of civilians and military personal of my Government. For that you will stand trial," John snapped back at the admiral.

"You can never win. It's better to surrender now. You're what two hundred thousand against three hundred million. We will overwhelm you with numbers along with the fighting spirit of the American people... " Kevin stopped talking as John started laughing at him and he snapped out, "What's so funny?"

"You are such a moron. The United States is in rebellion! As for numbers, we have five million people from three races on the way here to join us." Seeing the shock on his face, he continued, "Yes! The fleet is back, and my son who is now the Federation President is 'royally' pissed."

"Our fleet will beat him. My six battleships..."

"Have surrendered!" John said with a laugh and continued, "They caused some minor damage. But Ken captured every one of them in fighting condition."

"I don't believe you. There is no way two battleships could take out six."

"You're right, Ken didn't, the ships surrendered."