“The protrusion at the lower, forward end of the ship, must be a weapons system of some kind, since that’s where the ‘green energy beams’, for wont of a better word; come from. The smaller triangular protrusion near the top of the vessel, must be another weapons system, since the white energy ‘bolts’ originate from there.”
The projection panned over to the rear of the ship once again, showing the bright blue strip.
“We think that this could be some sort of unknown propulsion system, similar to our own inter-system boosters and turning thrusters,” he took a short breath.
“However, whenever the vessel performs a maneuver, the engine seems to glow brighter. We have no ideas of the numbers of crew aboard, or even if it is unmanned. We do know however, from measurements taken of the vessel, that it is 140 meters long, by 60 meters high, at its widest point,” he said, pointing at the projection.
“The vessels maneuverability; as shown from the video; is astonishing, comparable to our own God-hammer bombers.”
Captain Wainwright replaced the engineer once again. “Our orders are to rendezvous with task force six, at 22:00 hundred hours, comprising of the Gandhi class destroyers Alberta and Yukon, the Mandela class light cruiser Endurance, and the Alexander class medium cruisers Invincible, and Europa. Fighter support will be supplied by the Montgomery class carrier; Furious,” Wainwright explained.
“The Ulysses will be acting as flagship for the task force. However the Furious will be delayed, as it is in the process of replacing one of its Peregrine fighter wings, with a bomber wing. So for around 12 hours we will be operating without fighter support; so everyone needs to be extra vigilant,” he allowed the crew time to reflect before making his next point.
“We all know the threat this new species represents, and I can vouch for everyone here that we will all perform our duties to the best of our abilities, and we will not rest until the safety of our territory is restored. We depart in one hour, Thank you gentlemen.”
And with that Captain Wainwright retrieved his book, and left the hall.
A young female Lieutenant quickly mounted the stage. “Lunch is available from the ships galley, which is open now.”
Finally a whistle blew, and again as one, the crowd stood to attention. The whistle blew a second time, and the men fell out.
“Well, what do you think of that?” Dylan asked turning to Michael.
“I think we are in deep shit,” Michael replied, “if those ships can slip in and do that to a carrier; then they can do it to any ship in the fleet.”
“And running without fighter cover makes me nervous. I suppose we are just going to have to blow them out of the sky before they get a shot off,” Dylan added.
“What makes you think we can?” Michael replied.
Chapter 4
On board the huge station known as Delta base, a throng of people had begun to crowd the viewports. Family members of crewmen; as well as their children were all gathered together, Jana and Theo were also there, and had managed to get a good spot; as they watched the Ulysses make ready to depart.
Lights gradually twinkled along the hull of the massive vessel, as its main power systems came online. Running lights began to flash along the sides of its sloping forward section, as well as on its navigation towers; located in the center of the ship. Its docking arm was still connected to the station like a giant metal proboscis.
Onboard the Ulysses it was a hive of activity, as hundreds of officers and crewmen hurried about their duties making final systems and pre-flight checks, and generally preparing the ship for departure.
With a slow metallic creak, the securing latches of the main docking arm slowly began to detach from the station, and then re-attach themselves to the docking arm itself. With a blast of pressurized air the main docking arm jettisoned from the airlock, and with a groan of metal on metal slowly retracted in upon itself. Finally with a metallic ‘thud’ the magnetic interlocks held the docking arm firm for travel.
Jana and Theo watched intently as the huge vessel slowly began to drift away from the station.
An announcement came over the stations internal communications system. “E.D.F. S Ulysses, has successfully un-docked from the station.”
A huge cheer went up around docking port twelve as the crowd watched; however Jana didn’t feel like cheering, she just wanted her husband to return safe.
When the Ulysses reached a safe distance, four bright white streams of super heated gas flared into life out of the frontal section of the ship. They counter-acted the ships vast weight and slowly the ship began to reverse.
Theo watched as the battleship grew steadily smaller, the front port side thrusters blinked out, and the rear ones fired instead. With the starboard forward and port rear thrusters firing simultaneously, the ship slowly began to turn.
“What is it doing mummy?” Theo asked.
“It’s turning,” Jana answered, with a smile.
As the ship slowly, gradually turned on what seemed like a huge arc, Jana and Theo truly experienced the sheer size of this behemoth of a ship. Michael had once told her just prior to him becoming a Lieutenant, that it was fully 3,810 meters long from the forward docking arm, to the rear boosters, and it bristled with some of the biggest weapons in the Navy.
The Danitza class battleships were truly a foe to be reckoned with.
On board that battleship, Michael paced, when he was made a deck officer he became responsible for the smooth running of his deck. And right now, he was nervous.
He was in charge of deck 18; which fate would have it, contained the targeting arrays for the primary port rail-cannons.
An Ensign walked up to him, “Here are the results on the targeting arrays sir; as requested.” The short stocky Ensign handed him a small device. It consisted of a large screen and three buttons; an on/off button, an escape button, and an access button. At the rear of the unit, a stylus was stored.
It was a touch screen system, similar in function to the older pocket P. C’s of the late twentieth and early 21 ^ st centuries, some of which still remain in circulation in the less developed, backwater areas of E.O.C. A today.
Michael scrolled down the information on the ‘data navigator’ as they were called, and studied it. It read a 98 % efficiency rating on the targeting arrays and a point 27 second lock on time.
I hope that 2 % efficiency doesn’t cost us in battle with those things, whatever they are, he thought. But he also knew that there was no way he could get the targeting systems any more efficient than that, so he approved the results anyway, signing the bottom of the screen that read deck officers’ signature with his stylus.
He handed back the data navigator to the Ensign, and said smiling. “That’s good work, maybe you’ll make Lieutenant some day too.” They both saluted, and the ensign replied. “Thank you sir, we’ll show these clowns, you’ll see.” And with that the Ensign turned on his heel and left whistling.
Smartass, Michael thought.
A huge roar began to reverberate throughout the ship, as the inter-system boosters fired up, which are designed to take the ship out of the system, before the plasma drive system hurtled them to their destination.
On board Delta base, Jana and Theo could see three bright yellow dots in the distance, which were the sight of the Ulysses’ inter-system boosters firing up.
Gradually they got more distant, until they became barely visible. And Jana came to the realization, with a mournful sigh, that she might not see her husband again.
“Bye my love, please come back safe,” she whispered to herself.
Finally the yellow dots disappeared altogether, as the Ulysses went out of sight.