Chapter 30: Unauthorized Mission

Captured Crytherian Space Dock

Captain Sammy O'Rourke-Anderson watched as the twenty spider bots continued to build the small ship. It was now over eighty percent completed. Walking to the door, she looked out into the hall and saw it was still clear. "Come on Kevin, get your ass back here," Sammy snarled as she heard a clang behind her. Shutting the hatch, she walked back to the dock and watched the spiders lift a section of the black hull up to the side of the ship and fasten it to the frame. A blue streak caught her attention and she looked up at the transparent dome. Outside the main hanger, the stars seemed like streaks of continuous light as the dock hurtled through hyperspace.

Lifting her data pad, she ordered the pad to replicate thirty of the small spider bots. The spider bots quickly started appearing on the replicator pad. Within seconds, they were inside the hull working on the internal compartments. To her left, the large replicator pad came online again and a new computer core appeared on the pad. It was quickly picked up and carried inside the ship to its armored room. A smaller spider followed its larger cousin, laying out a cable from the computer station to the inside of the ship.

"How's it going?" Kevin asked walking up behind his wife with ten hover sleds trailing behind.

"They are sure fast little buggers, I say two more hours and she will be ready for launch," Sammy replied as she turned around and kissed her husband.

"Good. I got the supplies we will need, and all of our stuff from the Oregon. I also picked up a chess board and some cards so we can pass the time," Kevin added as he watched the spiders work.

"Good, I don't know how much time we will have, or how far it is we have to go. But I'm sure our answers will be found when we get there," Sammy said.

"I understand, I just can't understand why Ted approved this mission before he was killed," Kevin replied as he looked at his beautiful wife.

"Ted understood what was happening to me, why I was having the dreams. Something is drawing us there, Kev. We must go to them, or I feel that all will be lost. And I mean everything we have built will be for naught," Sammy said as she started shaking as the vision came again.

The Vision

Earth Space

The T'Lari ships came out of hyperspace, a vast array of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, in all seventeen hundred warships. There were three large ships that were identical to the Vaskat and seemed to hang just outside the orbit of Pluto. Opposing the attackers were thousands of Federation fighters, bombers, and light assault boats. Arrayed behind them came the main Federation fleet, thirty battleships, three command battleships, fifteen carriers, ten battle cruisers, thirty heavy cruisers, forty assault cruisers, twelve anti-aircraft cruisers, and seventy destroyers. Leading the Federation fleet was a black battleship, the name Washington emblazoned across her bow. The former command battleship had been lengthened to ten miles long and now sprouted thousands of weapon stations.

As she watched, another wave of ships appeared, and was quickly revealed as the Crytherian Navy. They consisted of another three hundred heavy warships and nine hundred lighter ones along with hundreds of freighters. Around the system, shields powered up over bases as the defenses of SOL activated. To the galactic north, another fleet appeared and two hundred warships of the Tralcan Navy appeared, doing a quick fold to join the Federation fleet.

The combined Federation fleet slowly formed their ranks and waited for the T'Lari and the Crytherians to begin their attack. Twenty minutes after they appeared they made their move as every enemy ship turned and fired barrages of missiles at the Federation attack wings. When the aftermath of the explosions dissipated, the Federation fighter and bomber wings were decimated.

Of the ten thousand Federation attack craft, less than three hundred arrived within range and they were quickly swatted out of the sky.

On the Flag Bridge of the Washington, Fleet Admiral Kenneth Thompson watched as his attack wings were destroyed by the T'Lari shotgun missiles. "Launch the fleet craft, bring us around to port. I want the Atlanta's intermingled into the fleet. All destroyers are to concentrate on incoming missiles. Prepare the neutronic cannons for firing."

"Sir, the council had forbidden their use in the system," Commander Stella Salaneo said.

"The council can sit on it and rotate while I try and save their collective asses," Ken stated as he studied the CIC board.

"Hyper fold three contacts," Commander Jinnah Chin shouted.

"Location!" Ken shouted as he reached to adjust the holographic board.

Three humongous enemy warships appeared off the bow of the Washington and opened fire. Explosions danced across the ship's shields as antimatter warheads exploded with a vengeance. As the three ships targeted the Federation command ship, her shields flared to a bright white, as lightning danced along the invisible barriers. In seconds, her shields were down and the second barrage tore through the black hull of the Washington. The huge Federation ship started breaking up as the heavy pulse lasers ripped through the plasarmor and ruptured compartment after compartment.

The Vision

Aboard the Command Battleship USS Oregon

Admiral Ted White watched as the flagship blew up with all the fury of an exploding star. When the explosion dissipated only one of the giant battleships was left and she was a burning wreck. Turning he looked at Jenny who was sobbing and said, "Jenny, grieve later. Right now, we have a war to win. All batteries open fire on that Vaskat class battleship."

"Firing," Lisa said as she appeared by Jenny and took Jenny's hand in hers.

Every heavy pulse laser opened up on the enemy ship and her weakened shields blew apart as the combined navies turned her into a large chunk of metal Swiss cheese. While the Federation was concentrating on the enemy battleship, the rest of the fleet engaged and ships started dying on both sides. The Federation Navy's battleships were outnumbered five to one. The T'Lari ships concentrated on the Federation fleet while the Crytherian's sidestepped the main battle and headed for Terra.

Ted watched as the Crytherians tried an end run and he sent a message to the Federation Thanks. "Kala, take your fleet and intercept those Crytherians," Ted said to her sister-in-law.

"We got them Ted, don't ... Shit another Vaskat!" Kala said and the screen went blank.

Ted turned to the viewer and watched in horror as two more Vaskat's appeared. One was in the middle of the Tralcan fleet and the other was about to flank the Federation fleet. The one nearest Kala opened up on her captured Basilisk class battleship that was taken during the raid on Karsakini and ripped the huge ship apart. Within minutes, the ship exploded, as she was overwhelmed, and then the rest of the Tralcan fleet scattered as they began to take heavy fire.

Captured Crytherian Space Dock

"Sammy! Snap out of it," Kevin shouted as he shook his wife.

Sammy collapsed and Kevin caught her. Lowering her into the chair, he checked her over as she sat there gasping.

"Sam, are you ok?" Kevin asked as he wiped her face.

"Yes, that was the worst one yet," Sammy said, as she looked at Kevin with a haunting look.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked as he tossed the cloth on the replicator pad and it vanished.

"I saw more of the battle," she said looking at her husband and continued, "Kevin it was bad, they had eight of those super battleships. Ken and everyone on the Washington were killed when three of them attacked her. Then Kala was killed on the Federation Thanks. Yes, the one sitting over in the number two slip. I didn't see what happened with the other two battleships but the one that attacked the Tralcan fleet scattered them like sticks on a pond. We are..."

"We are going to win, my love. We will finish this mission; we will help bring victory for the free people of the universe. We must go to the planet you keep seeing and find out what we need to know," Kevin replied as he hugged his wife.

"Yo! Ell-Tee! Where you want this shit?" said Sergeant Ricardo "Rico" Billings as he came in leading ten more gravity carts piled high with more supplies.

"Put them next to the rest of them, and Rico, you didn't see shit. Got me?" Kevin said as he looked over at the NAT team sergeant.

"See what, you holding your beautiful wife, or the stars flashing by on this piece of shit?" Rico said with a grin.

"You're learning Rico, can you find out what's holding up the rest of the team for me? I have some shit to do out there," Kevin said as he pointed his thumb towards the dock.

"No problem. Be right back," Rico replied as he walked out of the room.

Turning back to Sammy, Kevin said, "Honey, I'm going to take the carts out. I want you to take a nap after you eat something. Ok!"

"Ok, love, I'm so tired lately. I didn't know being pregnant would take so much out of me," Sammy said as she lay down on the bench.

Kevin led the first ten carts over to the ship and up the ramp. Going deeper into the new hull, he walked past the spider bots working and entered the number one cargo hold. Stopping the carts, he started unloading them and depositing the weapons and supplies into the bins. Ten minutes later, he was sweating up a storm and he knew he was going to need the rest of the team's help.

Leading the empty carts out, he stopped when he came down the ramp and saw over one hundred full carts. Shaking his head he walked into the control room and saw that the team was eating pizza and drinking beer. "Ok, very funny. Now let's all get off our collective asses and get those missiles loaded into the magazines..." he stopped and looked around and asked, "Where's Sammy?"

"In the head, Ell-Tee," Private Susan Hollow said in her cockney accent as she stood up with a slice of pizza.

"Thanks Susan," Kevin said as he walked over to the doorway and down the hall. He was passing the dining area when he heard a noise. He looked in and saw Sammy eating. Going in, he leaned down and kissed her.

Sammy looked up, smiled at Kevin and then went back to eating her steak and baked potato. Reaching over, she grabbed the bottle of A-1 sauce and covered the two-inch thick steak. "Want some?" she asked.