“The key to taking the ship will be getting the assault party into the ship as soon as possible after the EMP hits them. We need to hit them while they are confused and spread apart in the ship. If they get organized or band together, it will be more difficult and our chances of capturing them all alive will be reduced.”
The Colonel said, “Ed, you’ll need to have your best helmsman at the controls for this. You’ll need to come in fast, employ the EMP, and come up on the port side, just above the winglets there, to line up with the best spot for breaching the hull. It will be tight, but our simulations show it won’t be that hard. The simulator at Antares Base will be announced as down for maintenance for a few days so your helmsmen can practice.”
Timmons looked at Kelly and said, “Kelly, that will be your task. Pick our best helmsman and train them to the task.”
“Aye aye, Captain. Our best helmsman is Petty Officer Samson. She’s not the flashiest, but she is the most consistent.”
“Excellent, work with her in the simulator. Colonel, I think we’ve got the approach and docking covered.”
“Good, now if you will watch the monitors. We have cameras in the ship and on the platoon leader.”
The monitor on the inside camera showed five persons in various locations in the ship. The lights were out and the camera's night vision features were operating, giving the scene a green tint.
A circle on the port side interior glowed white hot then turned to vapor. The light was so bright it momentarily blanked out the cameras. The Marines rushed into the cabin and all five persons fell to the deck, stunned by disabling energy charges. The Marines expertly secured the five individuals and moved them out of the ship into the assault pod. The assault collar was disconnected and the loose contents of the cabin flew out of the hole into the notional space.
At this point the assault pod moved away, the lights in the chamber came up, and the Marines disembarked from the assault pod.
“The colonel said, “What do you think, Captain?”
“Well, Colonel, it’s quite impressive. I noticed that the occupants of the ship made no attempt to fight back. What happens if they aren’t so cooperative?”
A voice from the back of the room said calmly, “We don’t require their cooperation. They're coming with us, no matter what they do.”
Col Kumar motioned the woman in the assault suit to come over and join them.
“Gentlemen, allow me to introduce 1LT Mary Chen.”
Kelly swallowed hard. 1LT Chen was gorgeous. She stood about 5’7” and filled out her assault coveralls very well. LCDR Timmons looked over at him with a bemused look on his face. Kelly looked back and just shrugged his shoulders.
The Colonel said, “1LT Chen is one of our best special operators. I can’t give you any details, but this won’t be her first boarding party action.”
1LT Chen said, “Gentlemen, I am very good at this type of action. My platoon are all hand-picked and volunteers. I've worked with almost all of them before.”
Timmons said, “1LT Chen, I wasn’t questioning your competence. I only wanted to know what you would do if the K’Rang decided to put up a fight.”
“Sir, I and my platoon have trained against every possibility. It makes no difference if the K’Rang resist or not. In fact, if they do it makes our job that much easier. If they resist, we stun them all and bring them back onto your ship. I assure you that if you employ the EMP weapon and quickly move the assault pod into place, we will snatch the courier onto your ship.”
Timmons and Kelly returned to the spaceport to catch the return flight to Armstrong. 1LT Chen and her platoon would join them at Antares Station in a week’s time. Tammy met them at the top of the ramp and talked to them while the other passengers boarded. Being the senior passengers they boarded last and were off. They both quickly fell asleep and woke up only when wheels touched down on Antares Base. Upon debarking, they realized it was past closing time for the messhall and they hadn’t eaten. They retired to the Officer’s Club and had dinner in the main dining room. They ordered quickly and sipped on their wine while waiting for their meal.
“Kelly, I know you are going to be sharing your cabin with 1LT Chen, but I wouldn’t recommend making a move on this one. She could probably put you in sick bay real easy.”
Kelly shook his head. “I knew that was what you were smiling about after she walked into the conference room.”
The captain was still chuckling when their salads were delivered. They launched into their meals and conversation dried up. They finished up and made their way back to the Vigilant, checked on the ship and crew and turned in for the night.
The next few days went by quickly. Kelly spent most of it in the simulator with Chief Blankenship, running the helmsmen through their paces. Petty Officer Samson was clearly the most consistent, but Kelly trained all of them on the task. By the end of the week, only seconds separated the best from the worst. They were as ready as Kelly and Chief B could make them.
At the end of the week, the ship was loaded and ready for patrol. They lifted off from Antares Base on a dreary, rainy day and quickly punched up through the clouds into the sunlight. They were docking at the station within the hour and were met at the airlock by Captain Hasselrode.
“Ed, Kelly, come on. The admiral wants to see you while the yard is fitting the two modules.”
Kelly and Timmons followed Hasselrode through the ever more familiar inner corridors to the admiral’s office in space.
Captain Hasselrode had them wait while he went in first. In a few seconds, he opened the door and motioned them in. 1LT Chen and her Platoon Sergeant, Gunny Smith, were already there.
The admiral motioned them into chairs. “Glad you're all here now. You’ve all been briefed and trained and ready to go. I just want to impress on you how important your mission is. The K’Rang are up to something. We need to know what it is. The information this courier is supposed to be carrying should let us know what that is. Close the trap quickly. The courier must not be allowed to destroy what he is carrying. Be quick, be accurate, and leave no evidence behind. It is critical that you leave very little trace of the K’Rang ship behind. 1LT Chen, make sure the antimatter explosive charges are set before you break loose.”
“Aye aye, sir. We’ll get it done.”
They left the admiral’s office to return to the Vigilant. On the way they learned that 1LT Chen was in her third year in the Corps and recently returned from a two-year combat tour with the 1st Assault Landing Group. She had been the Midshipman Captain at the Fleet Academy. Her father had been a career Marine NCO and won the Galactic Medal of Honor at the Battle of Taurus, posthumously. Mary Chen was impressive.
They went on board the Vigilant. Gunny Smith and Chief Watson took off to billet the platoon. Kelly took 1LT Chen to show her where she’d bed down.
Kelly grabbed one of her bags and told her to follow him into his cabin. “Come on in. That’s your bunk up there. There is stowage here in this cabinet and in the fold down bunk. If you’re shy, privacy won’t be an issue. I’m supposed to be on watch every other six hours. My watches usually go on for longer than that. You’ll have all the privacy you’ll need whenever I’m on watch.”
“That won’t be a problem for me, sir. In two years in the 1st ALG I got over any notions of modesty.”
“Great, when I’m not on watch, I sleep. Don’t make a lot of noise and we’ll get along fine. I’ll let Wanda know to set you up on the terminal.”
“Who is Wanda?”
Kelly said, “Introduce yourself, Wanda.”