Michael smiled, “Does that answer your concern, Jay?”
“It does. So how do you want to handle it, if we manage to find them?”
“I’ll take the lead and you’ll cover my stern.”
“And if my stern happens to become an issue?”
“We will do a scissor move and turn it on your pursuers.”
“You know about that maneuver?”
“I’ve done a little flying.”
“We’ll keep your stern clear, Sir.”
Angelo announced, “Twenty minutes to clear the disruption.”
“Commander?”
“Yes, Josey?”
“Are you planning to use the heavy rounds in this mission?”
“If I find myself in a situation that calls for it, I am. Why do you ask?”
“I just think that we’re going to have to face millions of those new Legend Warships and I wonder if we’re going to be able to build enough in time. I’m reluctant to waste them.”
Michael looked at Jan and she shook her head. “Josey, we need to see how launching one of those rounds affects our ship’s ability to maneuver. Let our manufacturers worry about having enough rounds when we need them. If a heavy round is indicated, fire it. Remember, this is the initial field trial for this class of ship and we need to put it through its paces and use every system if we can.”
“I didn’t think about that, Sir. Thank you for clearing this up.”
“Once we clear the disruption, we’re going into the barrier and skip directly to the Pandora Cluster. Once we arrive at the disruption in that cluster, we will turn around and move back toward our cluster and try to find those ships moving towards us.”
“We’re locked in on your drive field, Sir. We’ll release our ships once you call for battle stations.”
Michael turned his chair around and activated his armor. Jan activated hers and did a quick diagnostic check on her weapon console. The barrier sensor turned blue and Michael activated the barrier field and skipped directly toward the Pandora Cluster.
Ten seconds before they arrived Langley said, “You can stop. We just passed them.” Michael applied the brakes and turned the ship in a wide turn and then moved back on the course it had flown from the Virgo Cluster. He kept the speed down to avoid overrunning the Legend Ships.
“Langley, you heard them while we were moving at full speed?”
“Yes, Jan. There are a lot of them to hear.”
Michael jerked his head around, “What do you mean, ‘a lot’?”
“There are at least fifty warships in that group.”
Michael said into his helmet’s interface, “Shutting down all external systems. Reduce power on the reactor.” Jay heard the orders and began shutting down the systems. “Langley, we’re going to try to get close enough for you to hear them. I need to know how that many ships could make it into the middle of our cluster without being detected before I initiate an attack.”
“Would it make a difference if I told you one of those telepaths is on board one of those ships?”
“Langley, let’s do this like we did the first time. We’ll put our gloves on our console and you can tell us what’s going on.”
“Slow down, we’re getting closer.” Michael put his armored glove on his console and Langley played the thoughts he considered important.
“These idiots aren’t worth living. I should just eat them and good riddance.” There was a pause and they heard another thought, “My ship could have detonated the weapon. We didn’t need this mind reader to do something this simple.”
“Watch your thoughts, Commander! I had to match the thought pattern of more than fifty of their sentries and blind them to my presence going in and going out.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t eat them!”
“You will be my next meal if you don’t start showing the proper respect. I wanted to consume them but I had to get away before the device was exploded. I will consume them next time!”
Michael looked at Jan and nodded. He knew the other warships waited outside the Virgo Cluster for the telepath to return. If it encountered trouble, they would skip in to save it. The small Legend Fleet passed below them and Michael said, “On my command, we will activate all systems and move out of the barrier directly behind those two lines of ships. Jay, hold position next to my ship and we’ll fire at the two lines as we pass between them. That Telepath is flying directly in the middle of the two lines and I want both of us to designate a forward disruptor on that ship as soon as we enter the void. Fire as soon as it moves into range. Jan, I’ll operate the forward disruptors, you have the others.”
“Commander.”
“Yes Jay.”
“The odds of hitting all of them in one pass is remote. They’re going to scatter alike a rack of pools balls as soon as we open fire.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“We come out of the barrier directly behind that Telepath and take it out first while our partners are firing at the ships on either side. We’ll continue down the line and turn to come back at those we missed.”
“Thanks, Jay. That’s an excellent suggestion. Are you ready to do this?”
“I’ll come out of the barrier in sync with your ship and break the connection as soon as we move on that Telepath.”
“On my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!”
Michael roared in on the enemy formation and saw the forward disruptor’s aiming point on his helmet’s heads up display move on top of the ship flying in the middle of the formation. He pulled the trigger on his steering wheel and saw the small ship cut into three pieces as two disruptor dark energy beams hit it. He ignored the other ships as he flew at high speed toward the front of the enemy formation. Twelve ships in each line of the Enemy formation were cut through the middle as the two Attackships blew past them. Michael flew out beyond the front of the formation and whipped the ship around as the twenty-four Legend Warships in the rear of the formation opened fire. Michael poured on the speed and moved to the side of the formation as the surviving enemy ships began to scatter.
Michael saw in his visor that Jay was flying slightly to the right and slightly behind the rear of his ship. He flashed back in on the formation and saw the forward disruptor had another ship in its sights. He pulled the trigger and pulled it again as the disruptor immediately locked on another target. They blew past the formation and Michael pulled back on the steering wheel and went vertical over the remaining ships. Of the twenty-four that survived the initial attack, only six remained. He wondered how his two ships had killed so many so quickly but he put the thought out of his mind. Two of the six survivors tried to move in behind the two Attackships and Jan killed one with a rear disruptor and Josey bagged the other.
“Break off and chase the survivors.”
Jay broke away and flashed by an enemy battleship and it was hit by four disruptor beams as he passed. He dove and took out another ship as it ran away at maximum speed.
Michael saw the two ships to his side of the formation had moved in opposite directions. “I’m going after the one on the right. Target a missile on the other.” Michael saw on his visor’s tactical display that the missile left almost before he had finished giving the order. Jan was good! He blew the ship he was chasing into a huge disruption in the void as the dark energy beam hit the huge ship’s reactors and exploded them.
“I heard the Commander of that small fleet calling for help. It appears that help is moving out here at a remarkable speed.”
“What are you saying, Langley?”
“They aren’t the Monster but they are larger than any Legend Warship I’ve seen in my databanks.”
“Can you see how many?”
“Four hundred.”
“Commander, if those ships are the newer model being built for the Legends, we should be careful attempting to take that many on with just two ships.”