Chapter 25: Repairs

"Fuck! The Admiral is going to be pissed," Captain Mike Bonnet of the USS Badger said.

"I know, and I am going to have to tell him. It's my responsibility. As to your Mechs and Marines, the ship has been cleared of all Crytherians. Anyone left alive is outside and fair game. If you can get your Mechs to create a safe zone for us, I will get all my spiders initiating emergency repairs to get us back into space," turning he looked at Lisa and asked, "Lisa, how long until we get repairs done?"

"Ten hours for the hull and to get the antigravity generators back online. Internal repairs can be completed as we travel home. The biggest damage is where we were rammed and the engines were damaged. I have a thousand spiders working on that area alone. Excuse me I must see to my sister-in-law," Lisa suddenly said and vanished.

"Commander Chu, I am deploying my Mechs, now!" Mike said.

On the screen, thirty Mech landers belched from the landing bays of the Badger and started deploying their cargo of death along the main deck of the downed battleship. The Mechs turned and started firing into the survivors of the Crytherian battleship. Unleashing hoards of missiles, machineguns', railguns, and plasma bolts into their positions, two hours after they were deployed a handful of survivors surrendered after tossing their weapons aside. Of the crew of fourteen thousand Crytherians, only six hundred and twelve surrendered. The survivors were herded into several cargo holds of the Badger. Then the grim task of burying the remains was begun, while the Federation dead were bagged and carried aboard the Oregon to be taken to Moonbase Alpha to be buried.

Augusta had returned to hers and Ted's cabin after the attack, because the medical beds were needed for the critically wounded. She had just arrived in the room when it was announced that Ted was dead. She had grabbed her daughter and sat on the bed, holding her daughter Angel. Tears were running down her face as she rocked where she sat. She was staring at the picture of Ted and Jennifer on the wall.

"It's not fair. I met someone and now I lost him," Augusta cried out.

"Mommy, who did you lose? I am still here. Daddy Ted said he would be here for us. I don't understand," Angel said as she turned her head and kissed her mother on the cheek.

Looking down at her daughter, tears continued to flow down her cheeks as she hugged her tighter as she replied, "We lost Daddy Ted, he..."

Her crying took over as she saw the tears burst out of her baby's eyes and she pressed her face into her shoulder.

Angel looked at her mother as she processed what she said and then the tears started flowing as she blurted out between the sobs, "Not Daddy ... not again..."

"I'm so sorry baby, I get you a new father and you loose him so fast because of the skull domes that you never get to know him. If it wasn't for you my little one, I would just kill myself. I lose all the ones I love," Augusta cried out as she rocked her daughter.

Angel looked up at her mother and touched her cheek with her fingers, "You still have me mommy!"

Lisa appeared in the room and knelt beside her new sister in law. Intensifying her projectors she wrapped her arms around her, she hugged her tightly as she cried. "I'm so sorry, Sis, I tried to save him. The damage was too bad, but he took his murderer with him," Lisa whispered.

"I don't care, I want him back. Why did it happen? Why did he go fight them? He was the captain, it was his job to send the troops, not lead them."

Augusta cried out in agony.

She looked up at Lisa and cried out, "Oh, God! Just kill me and take me away."

Lisa turned her mind to the computer and the replicator came on with a cylinder of the sleeping gas they use in medical. Shutting the air vents, she had the canister discharge the gas into the room. Within seconds, Augusta and Angel were sleeping peacefully on the bed. She reached over and covered them with a blanket. The gas continued to fill the room, keeping them asleep until Lisa could deal with them.

"No, sister, you will live. You will live for Angel and you will live for your unborn child that Ted has given you," she said as she leaned down kissed both of them on their cheeks. Standing up she reached out with her mind once more, and sent a command to the spider bots to converge on the damaged engine room. Two thousand spider bots flowed towards the stern and started repairing the hull and the interior parts of the ship's engine room.

Around the ship, everyone stood there in confusion as the spiderbots refused to obey their orders. Following them, they get to the damaged stern where they watch as the giant rent in the side, her shattered bulkheads and compartments are swiftly repaired.

Down in the main engineering section, Chief Engineer Patrick O'Reilly stood there cursing as he tried to get the remotes to work on the spiders. "God Damn it! Get back to where you're supposed to be," he snarled at the control remote and then shouted, "Lisa!"

"Yes Chief?" Lisa said as she appeared in the engine room.

"Did you do this?" as he waved his hand at the hundreds of spiderbots.

"Yes. I am prioritizing the repairs of the ship," Lisa said as she watched the main fold engine come back online.

"I need to repair other parts of the ship," Patrick snapped at the young girl.

"We need the engines and the hull fixed yesterday, the rest can be fixed as we travel, I'm taking us home and since I out rank you. I will determine what is fixed first. Do I make myself clear chief?" Lisa said as she started glowing in anger.

"No. By regulation, fourteen subsection twenty-six, of the code of conduct, I'm in charge of all spider bots onboard ship. Being head of engineering, they fall under my authority.

"Ahhh but under section one subsection three, my rank gives me the authority to prioritize all ship assets so I will see your Chief Engineering to my two silver bars of a lieutenant. Now I have work to do."

"Damn, Lisa! Please let me have six bots, my daughter and granddaughter are trapped in section nine, gamma deck, room seventy-four..."

Lisa interrupted him and blurted out, "That's your quarters, I'm sorry, I'll release you a dozen bots to get the interior repaired so you can get them out."

"Thank you Lisa, we have hundreds trapped in their rooms because of the air being released through the hull. We need to free them," Patrick said as he watched twelve spiders scurry away."

"Main outer hull breach sealed, all exterior spiders are moving down the hull to initiate remaining hull breach repair," Lisa replied as she felt energy pouring into the main fold engine. "We are lifting off," Lisa said with a smile.

The Oregon initiated her antigravity engines and she slowly lifted off the dead planet. Climbing towards three hundred feet above the surface, the spiderbots attacked the bottom of the ship's massive damages, while dozens of larger spiders attacked the shattered pieces of the Crytherian battleship, to remove as much of the ship from the surface of the planet as possible. Mech haulers flew over the battlefield and lifted the damaged Mechs off the battlefield. They carried both the Oregon and the Badger's Mechs back to the Badger to be stored until the Mech bays could be repaired on the crippled battleship.

Commander Thomas Chu sat in the command chair and watched the altimeter climb on the wall. "Level off at three hundred feet. Let's get the bottom of the ship sealed up before we enter orbit.

"Sir, Captain Bonnet reports all damaged and undamaged Mechs have been recovered," reported Lieutenant Commander Shawn Edwards.

"Thank you. Shawn, ask him about destroyed Mechs. I don't want to leave anything useable on the surface," Thomas asked as he turned and looked at Lisa standing in the corner, and said, "Lisa, the spiders on the surface. Have them burrow underground and build a base for us. Once underground and the base built, I want them to construct more spiders. They are then to build dozens of construction docks. The docks are to build ships for the fleet. I want all types of ships that we have in the fleet, if possible I would like to have two war fleets built. That's eight hundred ships, and I want three hundred of them as battleships with supporting elements. For defensive weapons, have them do what we did in Arizona for the Canyon base. I want Mechs, fighters, bombers all built to staff the ships and to where we just have to name them and bring in the crews. Can do?"

Lisa listened to Commander Chu and nodded her head, "Can do, Commander. I'm sending down a dozen AI computers to be used for the base and for the construction of the fleet. Estimated time for completion for all projects, seven months."

"Good. Commander Daniels, how long until we have full hull integrity restored and we can get out of here and head home?" Thomas asked as he looked over at the bridge engineering officer.

Commander Mike Daniels looked up from his engineering station and replied, "Sir, thirty minutes at the rate the bots are going on the hull. Ten minutes after that we should have the long-range fold sensors back online and we can fold again.

"Thank you, Mike. Lisa, I have a question for you. Is there any way to get the spiders to fight? They would be perfect weapons in this war."

"Commander Chu, they have been programmed not to fight and to honor all life, for one reason. If they could kill, they could turn on us. How do you fight something that can replicate its self into billions of them? It would be like the replicators on Star Gate. We would be overrun in days if they turned on us. The council limited their abilities for this reason."

"Okay. I can understand that.

Lisa continued talking not even acknowledging Commander Chu, "That's how I was able to get them to carry the shield and holographic emitters, I was using them to defend the crew. I tried attaching miniature plasma cannons on them and they just shut down until they were removed."

"Oh. I see. Thank you, Lisa. Get me a survivor count as soon as you can. I need to get the ship up into space," Thomas replied as he turned his chair and said, "Joan, take us up. I want us in orbit around the planet, while we finish the repairs to the hull. Then plot a course for home."

Lieutenant Joan Greenville's fingers flew over the helm control as she brought up the navigational computer. "Sir, inputting coordinates now. I am taking us up, and heading out of the system so we can safely fold for home."

"Thank you Joan, but once we break orbit, bring us to a complete stop. We will finish all exterior repairs before we fold."

Turning in the Captain's chair, he got up and walked over to his old station. Leaning over the ensign's shoulder who was manning the station, he said, "Ensign Garland. Has the ship been thoroughly searched for anymore Crytherians?"

Ensign James Garland looked up at his boss, and replied, "Sir, Marines are still searching. They have recovered thirty-one wounded Crytherians and have transferred them to medical, six others tried to fight and had to be killed, we lost nine Marines trying to help them."

"Very well. New orders to all Marines are as follows. Give the Crytherians one chance to surrender. If they don't, terminate them. I won't sacrifice any more humans for the scum. Also get me a casualty report of our own forces," Thomas said as he walked back to the command chair and sat down.

"Yes, Sir," James said as he turned back to his internal sensors and started issuing Commander Chu's orders.

Two hours later, the Oregon turned. Her main engines flared and she vanished into fold space. Two hours after entering fold, they passed the rescue fleet and came out of fold.

"Engage hyper engines and bring us up to speed. Let the fleet catch up to us, and we will be 'point'. Have the Badger fall to our port and take up station there," Chu said as he activated his datapad and started going over the damage control report.

"Yes, Sir. Engaging hyper engines," Joan said.

Aboard the Swiftwind, Lieutenant Cynthia Farmer sat in the command chair of the captured Crytherian passenger yacht that was leading the fleet from Tau-Ceti towards their home. The little ship was having a hard time with all the passengers, every bunk was taken, and there were escapees in the passageways and even in the main hanger.

"Dradis! Contacts! Directly ahead," Corporal Adrian Henderson said from the sensor station.

Cynthia set her cup down and walked over to the sensor station. Looking at the screen, she watched as two targets appeared, and issued her orders, "All hands man your battlestations. I say again, all hands, man your battlestations, all civilians clear all internal blast doors. We are sealing the ship, Farmer out."

Around the ship, giant doors slid out of the wall and slammed shut. The hatches created pockets inside the ship in case they lost hull integrity and to protect the passengers from sudden depressurization. Around the ship, Marines manned the pitiful defensive weapons of the ship. Her ten lasers turned, and pointed at the new ships as her sensors and scanners tried to figure out who they were.

"Who are they?" Cynthia asked.

"Ma'am no idea, I'm waiting for the sensors to report back," Adrian reported and watched the screen come back as unknown. "Ma'am, sensors report they are unknown."

"Shit, contact the fleet..."

Cynthia was interrupted as the com frequency squealed. A voice came over the com.