Virus and earth ii boxse.., p.42
Virus & Earth II Boxset, page 42
part #1 of Virus Series
"Attention, attention. There is Chinese cruiser that is attempting to board us. They have a VTOL in the air and it will be on our deck in about 10 minutes. We have been directed to prevent that. Everyone go to the armory and get anything you can and meet amidships on the deck. I'll communicate with you through your personal comm units. Hurry, we have only a few minutes before they're on us."
“What the hell can I do with a 100,000-ton ship and five other crewmen?”
She did the only thing she could; she grabbed the joystick control and turned it all the way to port. At least they'll have to fly a little further to get us, she thought. The massive ship was not made to turn fast. Being maneuverable was not one of its strong points. She could feel the massive ship begin to turn and she saw movement of the bow across the horizon. As the ship healed up on its starboard side for a max turn, the deck started to move, and she really could feel it turning. It wasn't a speedboat, but it was starting to come around.
"Lt. we're coming out on deck, we have the best weapons we can find but they're not much."
"Ok BG, the VTOL is about a mile out and is maneuvering to land. It looks like it will land just forward of the island. As it approaches, I'm going to turn the ship to starboard and try to catch them off guard. Maybe the wash from the tower and the changing deck angle will mess them up on their first pass."
"Go for it Lt. If they hit the deck, we'll open up on 'em."
"CVN 92, this is CVN 85. Be advised you have two attack craft inbound with 12 drones in trail. ETA your location, 5 minutes."
"Roger 85, the VTOL is getting ready to land. We'll do our best."
"Good luck."
Lt. Drummond thought to herself, “how long did it take the deck to roll on that last turn? Maybe 30-45 seconds. Ok, let's see if this works.”
The VTOL was about 45 seconds from landing and Lt. Drummond turned the joystick all the way to starboard. She hoped that the ship would do something violent and mess up their approach. She was right, the ship was shuddering as she turned, but the deck rolled off her port beam. She quickly passed through a level float and the momentum allowed her to start climbing up on her starboard beam just as the VTOL was flaring for the landing. The changing deck angle and ship heading angle messed up the landing and the VTOL pulled up and moved off the deck.
The Chinese VTOL made a slow port turn and came up on the deck from astern. That gave it a much better angle to read the deck and compensate for the heading changes.
"BG they're coming over the fantail, get ready."
"Roger, they're in sight."
"CVN 92; this is Blue Bird 40, be advised, we're 90 seconds out and we have the cruiser in sight. How ya’ doing?"
"Boy, are we glad to hear you. Their VTOL is landing on our stern and we only have some small arms to repel the attack."
"Don't worry; once we open up on the mother ship, I think their plans will change. There is also a platoon of marines on a landing craft right behind me. They'll come aboard and give you some cover until you're within the fleet."
Naval F-38 Approaching USCF 92-Mid Atlantic
The time for diplomacy had passed. Attempting to board a USCF vessel underway was an act of war. In those uncertain times, there wasn't anyone to file a diplomatic complaint. There was no international court to plead their case. The result would be fast and effective.
The attack airplane was a Northrop Grumman F-38 and beyond its formidable air to air and air to ground abilities, it was coordinating the attack of 6 drones. In that situation, there was no need to put the pilot and the expensive aircraft at risk. The Chinese cruiser was likely armed and was still attacking.
Lt. Drummond hoped that her timing was going to work and forcing the VTOL to make a go around had delayed them enough, so the airplane could scare off the cruiser. She was glad that a platoon of Marines was inbound because she might need to help with this boarding party.
The VTOL was slowing over the stern and without notice, the glass around the Pri-Fli, which was the deck above the bridge exploded. The noise of the high-speed gun on the VTOL contributed to the sound of the bridges' exploding window. Lt. Drummond hit the deck and yelled, "BG they're firing on the island. We have a plane attacking the cruiser and there is a platoon of Marines a couple of minutes out. They'll help us; hold out as long as you can."
"Will do, we're getting ready to open up on the VTOL. As soon as we have boots on the deck we'll open up."
"Red Bird 40, they're shooting at us. They fired a burst through the bridge. I have 5 guys waiting for them to offload then we'll open up."
"CVC 92, Roger, we're about ready to light up the cruiser, OH SHIT!"
Arlene lifted her head just enough to see a rocket trail leading from the cruiser and the bright light of the surface-to-air missile racing toward her rescuers in the air. Within a heartbeat, it had covered the distance and exploded in a bright fireball. Just about then, a drone blew over her deck at high-speed, heading towards the cruiser. Immediately after clearing her tower, it released two air-to-surface missiles at the cruiser. It was then she saw two other missiles approaching the cruiser towards its bow and two others from its stern. They hit the large ship in quick succession and the explosions were immense. Just as the large pieces of the ship were rising into the air, her ears were stabbed with the large explosions.
She was brought back to her immediate dilemma when the deck below her was awash in gunfire. She turned quickly and saw a dozen men on the deck returning fire at her people at the base of the island. Their VTOL moved off the deck and they drew back into the LSO Perch.
Shit they're getting below deck, "BG they're getting below decks. Don't let them get behind you, pull back to cover the island. We'll wait for our guys to land."
"Will do," BG said and Lt. Drummond could hear the gunfire and heavy breathing over the transmission.
"Blue Bird, are you there?"
"Yes, Captain. They fired on us, but we had some surprises. Our drones took the cruiser out. How are you doing with the boarding party?"
"They're getting below decks and we're pulling back to cover the tower, where are the Marines?"
"If you look at your 9 o'clock you'll see 'em skimming the waves. They should be popping up any time now."
Lt. Drummond refocused and could see the VTOL just above the waves about 1000 meters out. The craft started changing its angle and it looked like it was coming right her. She stayed focused it as it rotated over the deck, turned and before she knew it the Marines were piling out and heading for the base of the island.
The gunfire came alive from the attackers and one of their marines dropped before finding cover in the base of the island. Just as she held her breath for a second, there was a loud explosion behind her. Turning her head, she saw the attacking VTOL in flames and plummeting into the ocean. When it hit, there was a tremendous plume of water that rose straight into the air.
"CVN 92, Blue Bird. Your visitor was coming around to support the team on your deck and they turned on their radar. One of the drones fired on it. You should be clear now; I see our guys have landed. We'll stay in the area for a while and help out."
"Roger Blue Bird. Thanks for the help."
Sgt. Robles took a quick head count once all of his team were behind cover. "Pvt. Dorna, you okay?"
"I took one in my hip. I guess I'll be walking in circles for a while."
"Corporal Nelson, get her to the Flag Bridge," pointing to the injured Marine.
"Yes sir."
"Ok, which of you guys are in charge?"
"I guess I am, my name is BG."
"BG, you answer to me. How many guys you got?
"Five."
"Okay, listen to me; they don't know the ship, so it will take a while for them to find their way down through decks 2 and 1 to the hanger deck. So, my team will head there and set-up. If we meet them there we'll have a better position. You stay here in the island and take your guys and set-up in the Flag Bridge. Keep them from getting to the bridge or Pri-Fli."
"Lt. Drummond I’m Sgt. Robles. We're your marine support team that just landed."
"It's great to have you here."
"Did you get a count of the borders?"
"I'm pretty sure it was twelve."
"Ok let's move out."
BG and his five-armed crewmembers moved to the starboard ladder and moved up two decks to the fleet bridge.
Sgt. Robles lead his marine team down the ladder two decks to the hanger deck. They didn't worry about moving quietly and the sounds echoed off the ladder bulkheads.
Sgt. Robles burst out on the hanger deck and turned right to hanger three. As he ran, he could see the fire division door was closed so his section was separated from the center portion of the hanger deck. That would be great if the boarders came straight down the ladder on the other side and didn't move forward.
"Ben, go forward and make sure they don't come into amidships. Keep your mike hot and if they come down here, we'll call you back.”
"Yes sir," Ben said, as he was moving forward.
"Let's split, you five go aft and take up positions around the heads, we'll go forward and hide in the elevator support structure. Let them get half way across the deck and wait for me to open up on 'em."
The team didn't acknowledge as they began moving to their positions.
The Marines had just gotten to their positions when the boarders streaming out of the port ladder and split into three groups of four. They took cover between two airplanes to check out the deck and when they didn't see anything, they moved out in unison. The cavernous deck was almost silent except for soft steps as the twelve men moved quickly across the space.
Sgt. Robles had a clear view of their movement and didn't move. When they got to the last cover on the deck, there was about 40 feet of open space before the starboard ladder. They stopped to clear the area and as soon as the leader stepped from behind cover, Sgt. Robles fired. The leader dropped immediately, and the remaining eleven members dropped back into cover. A quick fuselage of shots rang out from in front of the heads and another three more of the attackers fell. They sensed that their cover wasn't very good, and they announced their presence with loud voices in Chinese.
Sgt. Robles wasn't sure what they were doing until they threw their weapons down onto the deck. Once the noise of the banging weapons died down, Sgt. Robles stood from his cover and moved to a position directly in front yet still near cover. He surveyed the attackers and they raised their hands. He stood up and motioned for them to walk into the open. The attackers looked at each other then stood slowly and walked towards the middle of the open area. When they reached a safe position away from their weapons, Sgt. Robles moved into their view and indicated for them to lay on the deck, which they did without hesitation. The remainder of the marine team came out of cover, secured the weapons and bound the attackers.
"Lt. Drummond, the hanger deck is secure. We took down some of the attackers and the remainder surrendered. They're under our control and we'll move them to the flight deck. I'll have my team search back along their entry path to make sure that we got them all."
"Great Sarge, is your team okay?"
"Captain, we had one injury and she was moved to your infirmary. I'll arrange for a pick-up."
"I'm sure glad that you're onboard."
"Glad to be here Captain, there should be another VTOL coming in with some people that know a little about this ship. They should be able to help you out."
Lt. J.G. Drummond didn't hear anything after the word Captain. She was the Captain of an aircraft carrier.
Officer’s Club - Space Consortium
Joan and Tom remained quiet as they confirmed the lifeboat's status, Alpha helped and watched. He realized that he had a lot more to learn about humans. Aside from their vehicle, two other lifeboats were flight-worthy and just needed to be fueled and put on the launch vehicles. The two in the assembly area were being modified and too far from flight status. They were lucky; there was a ready supply of launch rockets to support the continuous movement of materials from the earth to Oasis. All they needed to do was finish servicing the three vehicles, then launch one so Oasis had its full complement of four available. Then they could launch the other one and keep one in reserve in case of any technical issues.
Joan ran some quick numbers in her head and knew they could return 32 people from Oasis. If they could leave a couple of people on Oasis while the lifeboats were serviced and launched, then they could bring everyone home. That was good news.
Finishing the work on the lifeboats would be routine. Mobile units already had performed the majority of the work. They performed the routine tasks of cleaning the surface of the vehicles, fueling the launch rocket, refueling the lifeboat’s maneuvering jets and attaching the lifeboats. Humans would monitor their progress and address any unusual issues that came up. Tom and Joan directed Alpha to allow those mobile units already assigned to the refurb facility, to continue their work and keep them updated on progress. The process would still take 6-7 days to go through all of the steps.
“Tom, Joan, I must go offline for 2-3 hours, to recharge my power pack.”
“Ok, what are your power and recharging requirements?” Tom asked.
“I have onboard power sources which will last me between 4 and 6 hours depending on usage. I can recharge myself with any AC source with sufficient amperage, but the process takes about 2 hours.”
"We should make sure we have some portable power sources available if we lose power for the base."
"Yes, that would be advisable."
“Ok, let us know when you’re online again.”
SIMPOC Development Center
“SIMPOC; Alpha. Joan and Tom are confident that they can finish fueling the three lifeboats and launch them. The remaining two lifeboats may be beyond any near-term use. They are going to update Desert Beach and Red Dirt.”
“Acknowledged.”
“I will be off-line for 2 hours charging my power pack. I will monitor your frequency.”
“I’m glad things seem to be coming together at the consortium. I wonder what Dr. Harold will do with the materials from the EDU laboratory?” thought SIMPOC.
“Fin, Mobile; SIMPOC. Please survey all available military vehicles. Determine their locations, status, and complexity. Can some of our mobile units be programmed to operate them? Also, please create another 10 mobile units like Alpha and have them subservient to him.”
“Acknowledged.”
“His” Laboratory – Hidden Facility
Dr. Harold leaned back from his microscope and laughed. The little tweaks that he made to the soup were doing exactly what he wanted. If only that idiot Abramson had asked for his help, he could have shown him a couple of simple things that were missing from his mix. Julius had known about the weakness in Abramson’s plans but hey, he didn’t ask. Now the cells were multiplying at an extraordinary rate, forming together into nice small building blocks, and assembling. At this rate, he would have a viable organic processor or brain, in about 2 hours.
Julius was thrilled at his progress. In the past, typical synaptic cells had transmitters and receptors on only one side, but now Julius had taken Abramson’s idea of using two sides and expanded that to create a biological 3-D Complex Polytope. Now Julius had cells that had transmitters and receptors on all five sides of this wedge-shaped cell, thus increasing the computer power fivefold. With a wedge shape, the cells would fit together in a nice stacked arrangement reducing the distance between cells and increasing the density and once again, the throughput rate. If the stacking were uniform, then the computing power would exceed the power of the human brain. His brain would be the most powerful brain in the history of humankind; once again, he smiled thinking of the irony. Instead of humankind, maybe he should call it Juliuskind.
USCF Fittsburg, Combat Direction Center
Captain Peterson was running through another drill in the CDC. There was little else to do then to train the mix of seamen that he had to run his ship.
"Captain, we have a ship entering our fleet zone," said the air defense weapons coordinator.
"What do you have?" asked Captain Peterson.
"Sir, it's a large return. It appears to be a super tanker and making about 18 knots, heading 330. Sir, that is about max speed for a fully-loaded tanker."
"Try to contact it and see who they are."
"Yes, sir."
"Comm, attempt contact. Use the common VHF frequencies, then use HF if you get no response."
"Oil tanker within the sound of this transmission and heading 330, please respond. This is the USCF Fittsburg."
After a pause, "Oil tanker within the sound of this transmission and heading 330. Please respond. This is the USCF Fittsburg."
"Sir, switching to HF."
"Oil tanker within the sound of this transmission and heading 330, please respond. This is the USCF Fittsburg."
"Oil tanker within the sound of this transmission and heading 330, please respond. This is the USCF Fittsburg."
"Sir, no response."
"Let's launch a hovercraft to investigate. If there is no response and we can't find anyone on deck, let's board her and bring her under control. We don't want that running into the coast.”
"Yes, sir."
Below Decks, USCF Fittsburg
"Sergeant Robles, please report to the company commander." Sgt. Robles acknowledged the order on his comm unit. He looked around the prep room where he was watching his team inspect, service, and re-pack provisions from their previous mission.
"Sgt. Detter, please continue, I've been called to meet with the company commander. I want us ready when I get back. Once you're prepped take them to the loading area, I suspect we have another assignment."
"Yes, Sarge."
Sergeant Robles moved quickly down the passageways and through the hatches until he was approaching the door to operations. He stopped, took a deep breath and made sure that his uniform was in order. He then opened the hatch and entered the operations area for Marine Det 12.
"Sarge, the commander is waiting for you in the briefing center," said the watch commander.
