“No, I don’t suppose they will. Perhaps I should go and meet with him.”
“Are you telepathic?” Allison sighed and shook her head. “And you don’t know their spoken language. This is my responsibility.”
“You and your logic. I get so tired of you being right all the time.”
“I was wrong when you stopped me.”
Allison stared at him and then nodded.
“They’re on the way.”
Chris looked at the tactical monitor and saw a giant warship leaving the planet’s atmosphere. Allison smiled, “That’s something new. I think he’s trying to prove he has the biggest…”
“That’s enough. Boys will be boys.”
“They’re no longer boys when their toys are warships.”
“Yes they are. The only difference is that the playpen gets larger.”
Allison sighed and said, “MEN!”
Chris smiled, “This coming from the definition of competitive.” Allison’s head went back. “Don’t deny it. You know you are.”
“How do you know that?”
“Barbie, how long before they arrive?”
“I asked you how you know?”
Chris smiled and said, “You will take the lead Command Chair while I’m gone. Link your two computers to my chair.”
Allison snorted and began pushing buttons on her panel. Chris watched the huge ship move into normal space directly above him and he pressed the blue button on his steering wheel. The Barrier Pod emerged into normal space and flew toward the open landing bay door.
The Scan Officer looked at his panel, “Where did that ship come from?”
The Weapon’s Officer looked up with his eyes wide, “Its force field is stronger than any I’ve ever detected.”
The Commander looked over his shoulder, “What level is it?”
“It’s pegged the reading. How can a ship that small have a force field that strong?”
The Commander smiled. He was right about his assessment of the being he was meeting. He didn’t say anything that he didn’t believe to be true. His ship probably could destroy all his ships including the one he was on. Well, let’s see what steps out of that marvel, he thought.
Chris flew the Pod into the landing bay and left it hovering two feet off the deck. “The ship is yours.”
Allison moved next to the command chair, “Please be careful!”
Chris nodded, “Barbie, send my conversation to the speakers.” He turned to Allison, “This species is not telepathic. If you think of something I’m missing, send me a thought through Barbie.” Allison nodded and Chris activated his armor and stepped out of the chair. Allison took his place as he stepped off the small bridge and walked to the port. He opened it and stepped out. He walked through the force field and saw many different species standing away from his ship watching him. One of them stepped forward and bowed slightly, “If you will follow me.”
The bronze colored being turned and walked toward a large portal. Chris remembered the female that came to see him. This species was the same color but was very different. It stood about five feet tall but was four feet wide through its heavily muscled shoulders. Its head sat on top of the shoulders but it was flexible enough to turn around, even without a neck. Its eyes were completely black and deeply set. It had two heavily muscles arms that hung below its waist. Chris tried to count the number of fingers and finally saw three fingers and one opposable thumb. They were so thick, it was hard to distinguish them. For a being as big as it was, it moved quickly. This being had to evolve on a high gravity planet. The uniform it had on was loose but Chris knew the being’s entire body was just one big complex of muscles.
He followed the being through a long maze of corridors and finally arrived outside a door. The being opened it for him and motioned him inside. He entered and was stunned by what he saw. The being that stood up was at least seven feet tall and an exact duplicate of the being that led him to the room. Its power and strength was something to see.
“I imagine you’re confused by the difference in size?”
“I am.”
“I can reduce my height but I thought for my own ego I would be at my largest size.”
Chris smiled, “My ship is smaller than yours.”
“I think both of us know that size is not what makes the difference.”
“My crewmember might disagree with that.”
Allison turned red. She shouldn’t have used the analogy of who had the biggest one.
Chapter Twelve
Chad stood up from the simulator and shook his head. He looked at Stoney and yelled, “You have to be an octopus to fly this thing! I need at least six more arms and ten hands!”
Stoney laughed, “That’s not possible.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”
“No, I mean ten hands with just six arms.”
Chad sighed heavily, “You get the point, I hope.”
Stoney worried about Chad’s response. If he was having problems… Stoney looked at him, “Chad, you’re trying to do too much.”
“THERE’S TOO MUCH TO DO!!”
“You are going to have to ignore the targeting monitor and only focus on flying the ship.”
“How can I do that? I have to know if the targets have been eliminated before I fly the ship near them.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?”
“Just answer the question. What will change if they’re not eliminated?”
“They’ll be able to fire on my ship!”
“So?” Chad opened his mouth to respond and then closed it. Stoney saw him thinking and he smiled, “If any ship can defeat your force field and the silver coating…”
“Then I would already be dead.”
“Exactly.” Chad sat back down and Stoney said, “It only takes ten percent of the reactor’s power to operate the thrusters. Any more than that and you’d never be able to fly slowly enough to attack anything. The disruptors and the other weapons only use twenty percent of the reactor’s power. That leaves you seventy percent to power the force field and other defensive systems.”
“What other defensive systems?”
“The black cloud emitters and the barrier controls that will throw your ship into the barrier.”
Chad lowered his head and said, “I could always duck in the barrier and then come out after each attack.”
“That’s using your head.”
Chad looked at Stoney, “How am I going to fly this ship and command my fleet?”
“You could always allow one of your computers to fly the ship while the other controls the weapons.”
“But that would weaken the weapons.”
“So you only do it when you’re not actually attacking enemy ships?”
Chad nodded and pressed a button on his panel. The targeting monitor went dark. Stoney smiled as Chad said, “I need to focus on flying the ship on a path that offers the best route for my weapons to hit targets.”
“That’s the plan.”
Everyone in the room listened to the exchange and Chad said, “Let’s try this again.”
Stoney pressed his hand control and Chad’s screen appeared on the classroom’s central monitor. Chad flew through the simulated warship formations around him and ships began exploding at an incredible pace. Stoney moved to the back of the class and saw the other students turn off their targeting monitors. He smiled; now they were making progress. In another week, Chad turned on the targeting monitor and his score doubled. Stoney was learning how to train the classes that would follow this first one. Chad was right; these new ships were incredibly difficult to master. He was thankful their ships wouldn’t be ready soon; they needed the simulator time before they actually started flying them. He hoped Earth had enough time to get them ready.