one of the moons of the sixth planet. There is a space station in orbit of that moon. There is also a Human vessel in the same vicinity. It appears to be one of the largest ships that they have.”
Akdon nodded.
“Order our scout ships to launch a squad of fighters. I want the squad to execute a space-fold into the vicinity of the station and that ship within range of their primitive detection technology. The fighters are not to engage the station or the vessel, I merely want to see how the Humans respond so we can get an idea of their capabilities. Have communications link us up by Ansible to the scout ships. I want to monitor the entire operation myself.”
“Yes, sir.”
In orbit around Pluto, five Zidian fighters launched from one of the two battle cruisers that were serving as the scout ships for the main Zidian fleet. Though the fighter craft lacked the ability to generate their own jump gates, Zidian battle cruisers were perfectly capable of opening multiple fighter sized vortexes so that they could dispatch the smaller ships anywhere in a star system within a matter of minutes.
The five fighters moved into a reverse V formation. The lead pilot signaled the others.
“Squad Leader Brel, to all craft. Stand by for hyperspace deployment to combat zone.” He then signaled their home ship. “We are ready to deploy.”
Moments later five fighter sized jump gates opened directly in the flight path of each ship. Brel flew straight into the vortex. The star studded black of regular space was replaced by the glowing hazy blue of the hyperspace corridor that had been produced by folding two points of regular space together. He readied his transmitter. He wouldn’t be able to communicate with his squad until they had each traversed their respective hyperspace corridors but he intended to issue orders the moment they cleared their jump gates. After only a few short minutes he reentered normal space. As his ship erupted out of the small swirling vortex he immediately signaled the others.
“Fall back into formation. Make your course 371 mark 4.” He brought his own fighter around. The view from his cockpit was then filled with the massive sight of a large gas giant that had one of the largest and most magnificent ring systems he had ever seen. “Go to full throttle. Scanners to maximum. This time we want them to detect us.”
Brel and his squad had spent the past several weeks surveying the Sol system and its inhabitants. They’d managed to remain undetected and had gathered a great deal of intelligence which had already been relayed to the fleet by Ansible. Now they were finally going to reveal themselves to their enemies.
On the bridge of the Saratoga the officer manning the scanners was caught off guard to see two unidentified blips on her screen.
“Commander Kelly.”
“What is it, Ensign?”
“Mam, I read five unidentified blips. They are in the Saturn zone and heading straight for Titan base.”
“Who could they be? There hasn’t been a pirate attack in nearly a year.”
“Well they aren’t broadcasting transponder ID signals.”
“Open a channel.”
“Yes, mam.” The ensign tied her console into the com system. “You’re live Commander.”
“Unidentified ships, this is the USS Saratoga. Please identify yourself.” She waited a minute for the message to reach the ships and gave them a full two minutes to respond. They were too distant for instantaneous communication.
“They’re not responding, Commander.”
April Kelly nodded.
“What flight is flying point right now?”
The ensign checked her computer readout.
“Commander Knight’s. He’s out there with that gorgeous new fighter jock.”
April Kelly’s face hardened.
“Ensign, if you can possibly get control of your hormones for a brief moment, kindly patch me through to Commander Knight. Then launch another flight and call Captain Doran to the bridge…”
“I’m telling you, Jack, there’s this cute
Akdon nodded.
“Order our scout ships to launch a squad of fighters. I want the squad to execute a space-fold into the vicinity of the station and that ship within range of their primitive detection technology. The fighters are not to engage the station or the vessel, I merely want to see how the Humans respond so we can get an idea of their capabilities. Have communications link us up by Ansible to the scout ships. I want to monitor the entire operation myself.”
“Yes, sir.”
In orbit around Pluto, five Zidian fighters launched from one of the two battle cruisers that were serving as the scout ships for the main Zidian fleet. Though the fighter craft lacked the ability to generate their own jump gates, Zidian battle cruisers were perfectly capable of opening multiple fighter sized vortexes so that they could dispatch the smaller ships anywhere in a star system within a matter of minutes.
The five fighters moved into a reverse V formation. The lead pilot signaled the others.
“Squad Leader Brel, to all craft. Stand by for hyperspace deployment to combat zone.” He then signaled their home ship. “We are ready to deploy.”
Moments later five fighter sized jump gates opened directly in the flight path of each ship. Brel flew straight into the vortex. The star studded black of regular space was replaced by the glowing hazy blue of the hyperspace corridor that had been produced by folding two points of regular space together. He readied his transmitter. He wouldn’t be able to communicate with his squad until they had each traversed their respective hyperspace corridors but he intended to issue orders the moment they cleared their jump gates. After only a few short minutes he reentered normal space. As his ship erupted out of the small swirling vortex he immediately signaled the others.
“Fall back into formation. Make your course 371 mark 4.” He brought his own fighter around. The view from his cockpit was then filled with the massive sight of a large gas giant that had one of the largest and most magnificent ring systems he had ever seen. “Go to full throttle. Scanners to maximum. This time we want them to detect us.”
Brel and his squad had spent the past several weeks surveying the Sol system and its inhabitants. They’d managed to remain undetected and had gathered a great deal of intelligence which had already been relayed to the fleet by Ansible. Now they were finally going to reveal themselves to their enemies.
On the bridge of the Saratoga the officer manning the scanners was caught off guard to see two unidentified blips on her screen.
“Commander Kelly.”
“What is it, Ensign?”
“Mam, I read five unidentified blips. They are in the Saturn zone and heading straight for Titan base.”
“Who could they be? There hasn’t been a pirate attack in nearly a year.”
“Well they aren’t broadcasting transponder ID signals.”
“Open a channel.”
“Yes, mam.” The ensign tied her console into the com system. “You’re live Commander.”
“Unidentified ships, this is the USS Saratoga. Please identify yourself.” She waited a minute for the message to reach the ships and gave them a full two minutes to respond. They were too distant for instantaneous communication.
“They’re not responding, Commander.”
April Kelly nodded.
“What flight is flying point right now?”
The ensign checked her computer readout.
“Commander Knight’s. He’s out there with that gorgeous new fighter jock.”
April Kelly’s face hardened.
“Ensign, if you can possibly get control of your hormones for a brief moment, kindly patch me through to Commander Knight. Then launch another flight and call Captain Doran to the bridge…”
“I’m telling you, Jack, there’s this cute
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