Chapter 8: Space Dock One

Space Dock One

Captured Space Docks

Admiral Farragut froze when the round blew the com unit apart, which was built into his desk. He looked at his assailant. Before he could say anything or move, a dart slammed into his chest, and he flew out of his chair and crashed to the floor.

Walking over to the man, the figure knelt beside him, and bound his hands and feet. Pulling out a scanner, the person scanned the man and found his locator beacon. With a quick tapping of keys, the scanner shut the beacon down. Gripping the Admirals wrists, the person lifted the Admiral until he was hanging over the persons shoulder with his head near their ass. Grabbing the Admirals feet, the person walked to an open section of the wall, and they stepped in.

"You have a date that you must attend, Admiral. I know you are not going to like the outcome of the meeting," the person said as the hidden door closed.

Earth

It was snowing outside of Camp David. Already, three inches had fallen in the last four hours. Another six or seven inches were due in the next twenty-four hours. Marines and Secret Service Agents were patrolling the grounds. While further out on the perimeter, ten Bengal Mechs were watching the night sky looking for any airborne threat.

President Thomas Kincaide lifted up the new report. His eyes quickly scanned the report, and he looked up at Brigadier General Anthony Halls.

"General, I want you to get that rioting under control in Los Angeles. You have twenty-four hours."

"Sir, my men are doing the best they can, but it's a disaster out there. They are taking up arms all up and down the West Coast due to the laws you're passing, the..."

Thomas sat back and looked at the picture of President Lincoln, and said, "So be it, General. Your men have blanket immunity. If you must kill a few of them, then so be it. This insurrection of theirs is over. You either get the job done, or I will find someone who will."

"Yes, Sir. The 82nd airborne should be landing at LAX in the next twenty minutes. Elements of the 3rd armored division that have been retrained in mechs are heading for the city as well. Travis AFB is still out of commission. That rogue A-10 pilot cratered both main runways with Paveway bombs. Then she shot up every cargo plane on the tarmac and destroyed the radar station along with dropping a bomb on the munitions depot destroying the target. After landing the plane on highway 80, she was last seen in a SUV heading north to the ruins of Reno. We are still looking for her."

"When you find her, put a bullet in her head. As to Travis, screw it. Take over San Francisco International. That's should take care of Northern and Southern California, what about Portland and Seattle?" Thomas said.

"Seattle is almost under our control. Casualties are heavy, but we will have control. As to Portland, we are sending armored units to the city, now. But we are having to use the ferries because the bastards blew the bridges."

"Just get it done! Now, Admiral Hernandez, what of the fleet? What about Mars and the Moon?"

Admiral Richard Hernandez looked at the President and then with a quick glance at the papers in front of himself.

"Sir, the Abraham Lincoln has joined the rest of the fleet. We now have six battleships, fourteen destroyers and three thousand fighters and bombers ready to go. By the time the Federation fleet gets here on the twenty-first, we should have four heavy cruisers as well. We also have another three battleships and ten destroyers under construction. We have three of our carriers being decommissioned right now and their crews are under training now to man the three new battleships under construction."

"Good, when that scum gets back, there will be no prisoners taken. I am tired of dealing..."

The com unit blinking on his desk interrupted Thomas, and he reached over and pressed it, and snarled at it.

"This better be damn important!"

"Sir, we just received a message from Space Dock One. Admiral Farragut has been kidnapped."

"By who?"

"Sir, they have no idea. Commander Showman went into the Admiral's office to deliver a report, and found the Admiral's com unit shattered by a needler round. The surveillance cameras in his office had been placed in a loop of the Admiral filling out paperwork."

"Damn it! Tell them they have five hours to find him. If you have to start executing prisoners to get him released, then do it."

"Yes, Sir. I will send your orders, now," replied the voice.

Shutting off the com, Thomas looked at Admiral Hernandez.

"Go ahead Admiral and finish your report."

"Yes, Sir. As I was saying, our assault on Mars was a failure. Every unit we sent there has surrendered or been destroyed. The assault on their moon base was a failure as well. We have no assets on either target. The enemy fleet over Mars is consolidating their position. They have literality surrounded Mars with thousands of weapon platforms. When we go in, it's going to be a major battle, there."

"Very well then get another assault ready for the moon. As to Mars, that is what anti-matter missiles are for. Good day, gentleman. I have another meeting with several of our supposed friends, over in Europe."

The three men got up and walked out the door, as the Ambassadors for France, Great Britain, and Germany walk into the room.

Federation Battleship Yamato

The Yamato appeared near Jupiter and dropped down into the thick gasses. In medical, the rescued families were brought into the bay. They were examined and put in medical beds, to heal from their ordeal.

Nancy cried as she looked at the bruises on Anya's daughters. As the medical scanners scanned them, she cried even harder when the scans came back. She saw that they had been raped. Bringing the medical beds fully online, she started healing them. The nanobots were ordered to restore their hymens, and repair the tears in their rectums. As the nanobots did that, she used the training disks to erase all memory of the attacks. Thus she gave them back their childhoods, which had been so brutally destroyed.

"Sleep, my godchildren. Sleep, and forget," Nancy said as she looked at the two twins sleeping in beds beside each other.

Walking through the medical ward, she checked each bed. Finally, she stopped to look at Anya. Sitting on the bed, Nancy adjusted her spectral gown, and lay down next to her friend. She held her tightly as she cried on her friends shoulder.

Anya wrapped her good arm around her friend and whispered, "Thank you for saving them. Now sleep, my friend."

With those words, Nancy fell asleep, as the ship came to a stop in the middle of one of Jupiter's storms.

Federation Carrier Ark Royal

Judy McGregor was standing watch at the main hatch, which was sealed from the dock. Looking out the view port, she watched the American marines approach the hatch. Activating the laser cannon, she knelt behind the blast shield, and slapped the panel to open the door.

"Surprise, mother fuckers," she said as the door slid up and she pulled the trigger of the cannon.

The energy burst slammed into the first three men and incinerated them where they stood and then the beam sliced through the rest of the men on the gantry. Aiming the beam at the base of the gantry, she sliced it in half. Ten seconds later, it twisted and fell to the bottom of the dock.

Activating her com, she said, "Gantry one: destroyed."

"Gantry two: destroyed," Alexis McGregor said on the com unit.

"Close both hatches, and get up here on the bridge," Ian said.

"On my way, love," Judy replied as she shut the hatch.

Turning she ran down the passageway and stepped into the open transport tube. Before she could say anything, the doors snapped shut, and it was flying across the huge ship. Thirty seconds later the doors opened, and she stepped out onto the command deck. Walking down the hall, another tube door opened, and her cousin stepped out.

"Good job, Alexis," Judy said as she fell in beside her.

"Thanks, cousin, now let's get this ship out of here."

"I agree."

Walking up to the command doors, they opened as they neared them and they stepped onto the bridge to see their husband Ian talking with Elisabeth Howler, the ships AI/Interface.

"Judy, you have flight ops. Alexis, you have navigation. As soon as we clear the docks, we will fold for Pluto, and join our forces there," Ian said as he sat down in the captain's chair.

"Yes, dear," both women said, as they took their places.

Judy brought up the flight controls, and started issuing orders.

"Reactors on, thrusters at full power, umbilical connections severed. All gantries destroyed. We are ready to go Ian," Judy said.

"Navigation is ready, fold destination has been inputted," Alexis said as she typed on her holographic board.

"Ian, all weapons are online, railguns are loaded with canister shot. Laser batteries are on automatic," Beth said to her husband as she started targeting the enemy defense satellites.

"Okay, bring us up to one third power. Judy, you may take us out. Beth, blow those weapon platforms up before they can target us."

The huge carrier started moving as the main weapons started firing. The first barrage of light defense lasers blew thirty-nine weapon platforms up before they could turn. As the stern left the dock the rear defense stations opened up and another ninety platforms blow up.

The ship heeled to starboard as the thrusters fired and two destroyers came around the station. Their shields were up and they opened fired with their railguns.

"Shield up. Full power from engines. Get us away from the dock," Ian shouted.

"Shields up, Captain," Elizabeth said as she brought them up just in time to stop the incoming antimatter rounds. The four-mile long ship rocked as she started pulling away.

Ian activated the intercom and said, "Okay everyone, we are away from the dock. I know you're all scared, but trust us a little more, and we will soon be safe."

Down in medical, over two hundred survivors of the attack huddled together. Most were the children of family members with the fleet. Ten of the survivors never heard a word, because they were in the medical capsules, healing. An explosion burst from the number two hanger as three-antimatter warheads punch through the shield and slam into the hull.

"Ten seconds until fold point," Beth shouted over the alarms that were sounding.

"Shut those damn alarms off. Return fire on those destroyers," Ian shouted.

Elizabeth shut the bridge alarms off, as she dispatched repair spiders to the damaged hanger to begin repairs. At the same time, she shut down the force fields in the area to flush the air out, and put the plasma fires out. She then targeted every weapon she had on the lead destroyer.

"Two seconds until fold point," Alexis said as the first destroyer blew up as every railgun and laser mount fired at the enemy ship.

"FOLD," Ian shouted.

The ship vanished, and five minutes later appeared fifty thousand miles from Pluto.

Captain John Wilkes of the USS America had gotten up and walked over to the miniatures CIC and stood there. He watched as the repeater for the main CIC showed a fold gate opening, and was surprised when the Ark Royal came out.

"Launch all planes," John shouted. Around the bridge the crew jumped and started following their orders as the alarms sounded throughout the massive ship.

"Launching," came the reply from the fighter control station.

On the main screen, the USS America had turned and started launching her fighters and bombers.

Elizabeth activated the ship-to-ship com and said, "This is the USS Ark Royal, joining the fleet. She is under the command of Sergeant Ian McGregor, Federation Marines."

Cori Macintyre turned her holographic head and looked at Captain Wilkes.

"Sir, I am receiving a communication from the Ark Royal. It's Elizabeth Howler, the ships AI/Interface."

"On screen," John said.

A beautiful blond girl around fifteen years of age appeared on the main screen and said, "This is the USS Ark Royal joining the fleet. She is under the command of Sergeant Ian McGregor, Federation Marines."

"How do we know you have not been compromised Miss Howler?" John asked as he watched the girl.

Before she could respond, Cori Macintyre did.

"Sir, it's authentic, I am receiving her logs. She has over two hundred children onboard that were rescued," Cori said as she looked at her captain.

"Very well, keep the birds up, dispatch marines and naval personal to help them. Let's get that ship near the docks after we check her out."

"Yes, Sir, dispatching boarding crew to the Ark Royal, she has damage to her number two hanger from antimatter hits. Also one American destroyer destroyed during their escape."

"Hmmm, okay. Get me some information on this Ian fellow."

"Already have it, Sir. He was critically wounded on the Vaskat, escaped capture with five young women that he married as soon as he was healed. By the time they regrew his arm, the Washington had left for Karsakini, so he was assigned to Space Dock 2, until his ship returned. For his gallantry and bravery, he was promoted from corporal to sergeant," Cori said.

"Well, if he doesn't get a promotion out of this, then I am a monkey's uncle. I want to meet this man and his wives, as soon as I can."

"I will send the invite to Elizabeth."

Earth

Deep in the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park, the ruins of a T'Lari assault torpedo lay where it landed. After five weeks of moving south, the squad of warrior that had never been seen on Earth were moving towards the small village of Pemberton Canada. On a small ridge, that over looked the valley. Val-Nand moved the tree branch and looked down at the small town below. Strange machines were going back and forth on a black substance. Lifting his plasma rifle he watched through the view scope as their hated enemy walked in the town. Behind him, the rest of his squad was busy devouring the strange creatures they had run down. One his warriors had broken off the bone like material on the head and was using it to clean his mandibles.