Tommy looked at Cassandra and saw that she was letting him come up with the strategy for the battle but Tommy was just not certain if what he was planning would work. “If we just jump in and start shooting, we will be barraged by millions of those energy balls that can destroy our ships. We have to come up with a strategy that allows our ships to escape those barrages.”
The door to the map room opened and Admiral Kosiev and Cade McAllister entered. “I hope you don’t mind if we join you,” Kosiev said. “I understand you are working on the battle plans for the upcoming campaign against the Captors.”
Rose stood and went to meet Kosiev and said, “We are and you’re certainly welcome to join us. We just thought that you needed some time to get up to speed.” She then hugged him and indicated two chairs at the end of the table. “Hello, Colonel McAllister, I thought you were retired.”
“I am your Majesty, but Admiral Kosiev contacted me and asked me some questions that generated my interest.”
Tag looked at his two old friends and said, “Uh oh, you have that look on your faces.”
Kosiev smiled and said, “Some things never change.” He then set a bag of popcorn on the table with a drink and said, “You’re stuck on how to attack without losing ships.”
Tommy did a double take and said, “As a matter of fact we are. How did you know that?”
“It’s obvious. However, I want to discuss an idea I have about getting the numbers even before we take them on ship to ship.”
Tommy cocked his head to the side and said, “I’m all ears.”
Kosiev looked at McAllister and he stepped out of the room and came back in holding a white ball about four feet in diameter. Kosiev leaned back and said, “This is a ball made of Coronado Power Cells. I learned that we are now able to mold the cells into any shape we need.”
Tommy looked at the ball and said, “Is this something significant?”
McAllister said, “What would happen if we pushed this ball into the skin of the Kosiev?”
Cassandra immediately said, “It would take on the characteristics of the skin.”
“Exactly, and if it were put in next to the dark matter inside that skin,” Kosiev asked?
Cassandra thought a moment and said, “It would probably absorb some of the dark matter into it and then float back to the surface.”
Kosiev smiled and said, “That’s what I thought. Right now you fire the penetrators through the skin of the Kosiev and send a piece of dark matter at the target. It’s similar to firing a projectile weapon in that the dark matter cannot change direction once it leaves the skin. If you fire it too far away, the Captors just move away which means you have to close to use it effectively.” Kosiev took a handful of popcorn and put it in his mouth and began chewing it.
Tommy watched him and said, “Is there a point here?”
Kosiev smiled and said, “I checked on the penetrators we used in our last battle with the Algeans and found out that we still have two million in our stockpile.”
Rose said, “Those weapons have no affect on the Captors. Their screens stop them with no damage.”
Kosiev said, “What would happen if each of those penetrators had one of these balls in it instead of hornets and that ball fired the dark matter into the Captor upon impact?”
The room was silent. Everyone thought about what Kosiev said and Tag said, “Then the dark matter would be pushed into the Captors screens,”
“Exactly,” said Kosiev. “You use the old two screen penetrators and jump them less than a mile from the Captor. The penetrator will accelerate before it jumps so it should come out of its jump at full speed and cover that distance in less than a hundredth of a second.”
Tommy thought furiously and said, “But you have to know the exact location of the ships you target in order to jump it in that close and there are millions of them that are constantly moving. It would be next to impossible to target them on individual ships.”
Kosiev looked at McAllister again and he went back to the door, opened it, and nodded. Twig and Sprig entered and Kosiev said, “Tell them what you’ve seen in the Captor’s system.”
Sprig looked around the room and said, “I guess you wonder how we would target the penetrators?” He looked around the room and saw everyone looking at him so he continued, “Normally the Captors are moving around their system but I’ve seen Cassandra’s view of their system and they have changed their tactics anticipating our attack.” Sprig punched a button on his com and a picture of the Captor’s system appeared on the room’s maid display. Everyone saw row upon row of Captor ships arranged in bands surrounding the planet. The ships were not moving and were arranged in globes around the planet. Twig said, “We have the coordinates of every ship in the system. We should be able to program the old penetrators so that one is assigned to the ships located in the two outer bands.”
Tommy looked at Kosiev and said, “How do you make the balls release their dark matter on impact?”
Kosiev looked at McAllister again and Cade stood and said, “We put a miniature penetrator firing mechanism on the ball and have it fire when the penetrator hits the Captor’s screen. The sudden impact will actuate the firing assembly.”
Tgon-Gee said, “Have you tried this yet?”
Kosiev smiled and said, “As a matter of fact we have.” The display came on again and a small asteroid more than four miles across appeared on the screen. “Of course this asteroid does not have a screen but for the sake of seeing if the impact will cause the ball to fire, it will give you an idea of what would happen.” The display began moving and suddenly a bright flash appeared close to the asteroid and the asteroid blew up in a huge explosion. Nothing was left. “I’ve had this recording slowed down to one thousandth speed but I think you can see what would happen.”
Everyone in the room was amazed. Tommy said, “How long before those penetrators can be ready?”
McAllister said, “If we start manufacturing the balls immediately and our two Algean friends here can begin designating their targeting systems, about four weeks. We will need the Kosiev at the penetrator’s location along with all the other megaships that have had their skins converted to process the balls.”
Tommy smiled and said, “This will only work once. They won’t remain in a stationary position if this works.”
Rose said, “Can we produce more of the penetrators in time?”
McAllister shrugged and said, “No, we disassembled the facilities that manufactured them years ago. It would take more than three months to start producing them again.”
Cassandra said, “We don’t have that long. Four weeks is cutting it close as it is.”
Rose stood and said, “Welcome back Admiral Kosiev. You will assume your position as Fleet Admiral again and move your flag to the Alexander Kosiev. You and Tommy will be responsible for the actions against the Captors.”
Everyone in the room stood and began applauding. Kosiev felt his spirits soar; he was back and there was a battle to be fought. He felt like he was home again.
Tag looked at his old friend and for a moment was jealous. Then he looked at Tommy and Cassandra and knew that they were better qualified to handle the campaign. He looked at Rose and said, “Permission to be aboard, Your Majesty?”
Danielle stood up and looked at Tag with consternation on her face but then she heard Rose say, “Permission denied; I am not going to put all of our eggs in one basket. If something happens to the Kosiev, the Realm will need you to lead us.”
Tag took a deep breath then said, “You’re right.” Then he looked at Kosiev, shook his head, and said, “You always have the most fun; give em torg, Alex.”
“Kosiev smiled and nodded.
The Old Watcher thought about the nexus and decided to contact the First Male. “Do you have a moment?”
The First Male turned his attention from observing the system defenses and said, “I always have time for you.”