The Battle of the Wormhole is over. The Battle of Earth is over. Will the Battle of the Odessa Sector end it and end the dominance of the Kriton Empire? The answers are in this chapter as Admiral Whitaker watches his plans go awry in this chapter written by Ben.
The Boys of the Lady Lex Chapter 65 "The Final Out" Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin T. C.
Admiral Natter sat on the bridge of the flag ship that was headed toward the battle Admiral Whitaker was fighting against the Kritons. He was going over the reports coming in from the battle.
"Admiral, the captain says we will be on target in thirty minutes," said one of his aides.
"We're not too late, are we?" asked Natter.
"No, Sir. The SFA Fleet is holding its own, but we did lose a few ships. The ,Ronald Reagan', ,Shenandoah', and Frontier' were lost along with several fighters. The Roddenberry' "Lucas'. and Arthur C. Clarke' are incapacitated. The "Mariner", the Ranger', the Pirate', and the Rushmore' have taken heavy damage but they are still fighting. The other ships in the fleet have undergone minor damage."
"And the Kriton fleet?"
"We have destroyed three of their ships, and wreaked havoc on a few others, but they are standing strong."
"Very well."
"Excuse me, Admiral," said the Executive Officer, Commander St. James. "I have an incoming message for you. But the message is coded and can only be opened by you." He was standing in the doorway, almost half afraid to enter the Admiral's bridge.
"Who's it from?"
"Dorian Foxx."
This caught the Admiral's attention. Although Dorian Foxx was an urban legend, a myth, a story that was told to scare young children, he had heard the name frequently over the past few months. Dorian Foxx was better known then the Jackal or James Bond had been over three hundered years ago. And the thing was, no one had ever seen his face. And now this icon of the underworld was sending him an encrypted message.
"Patch it through." Natter was overcome by his curiosity, wondering what Dorian Foxx had to do with the battles being fought.
The aide sat at his station. "Captain, I am getting reports from the `Orion'. They are in a battle with the Kritons at...at that point Captain Hatcher told you about."
"Shit, all hell is breaking lose. What's the `Bon Homme Richard's' Battle Group Status? Get me Captain Watson on the screen."
"I can't Sir. I was just informed that the `Bon Homme Richard' was destroyed and that two Kriton warships and a science vessel just entered into a wormhole, presumably headed towards Earth."
Admiral Natter sat silently in his chair. A look of shock and surprise was on his face. But deep down, he knew what to expect in the message in front of him. He managed to decode the message from Dorian Foxx.
"Admiral, are you ok?" asked Commander St. James.
"Admiral, the wormhole closed. Only eight shuttles from the `Lexington' managed to make it in," said the aide.
Natter still sat there in silence.
"I am receiving reports that the `Monitor' has been destroyed," said the aide.
Natter wanted to break some ships off from his fleet and send them to Earth. But he knew that they wouldn't make it time. All they would be able to do is pick up any pieces that might have been spared by the Kritons. He knew he had to concentrate his fleet on the battle at hand.
"Matthew," said Natter finally coming out of his silence.
"Yes Sir," said the aide.
"Captain Ouellette is the Commanding Officer for the `Ticonderoga', right?"
"Yes Sir." The aide knew that the "Ticonderoga" was Admiral Whitaker's flag ship.
"I don't think I will be able to count on him then. He's too deep into Whitaker's pocket. Who's the XO?"
The aide quickly looked up the information. "Commander Christine Nicosia, Sir."
Natter let out a long thinking sigh. He had heard the name, but didn't know too much about her. He wasn't sure if he could trust her or not. But there was only one way to find out.
"Set up a communication link with her. Make sure it's on a secured channel and she is by herself."
"Yes, sir," said the Aide. "And sir, reports are coming in that the Battle at the wormhole is over." There was a long pause. "We won."
"We haven't won anything yet. We still have this battle at hand, plus the Battle for Earth. Commander St. James?"
"Yes Admiral."
"According to my monitor we will be entering the battle in fifteen minutes. Hold course and fire at will."
"Aye sir." Commander St. James departed.
"Sir, communications are established."
"Commander Nicosia?"
"Yes Admiral."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes, I am in my quarters. This better be important, sir, we are in the middle of a fight here."
Natter immediately liked her. Just from her mouthing off to him made an impression. Most officers wouldn't say something like that directly to the Admiral.
"Commander, I need to know if I can trust you. I need to know if I can count on you to do something even if it goes against everything you learned in your years with SFA."
"Depends on what it is Admiral. Now what is this?"
"High treason," said Admiral Natter. His aide turned around and stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth open. Natter figured that Nicosia had the same expression on her face as well.
TJ, Scooter, Jeff, and the other three crewmembers of the "Buford" watched as one of the Kriton vessels made its way towards the "Savoy Special". "The Buford's" systems were failing.
"Oh my God, the second Kriton vessel just shot the `D'Artagnon' out of the sky. They are moving in on us now," said Scooter.
"Jeff, evasive maneuvers," ordered TJ.
But it was too late. The "Buford" took a hit.
Nipper fought back tears, but wasn't succeeding. He was sure he was going to die. The Kriton ship was firing up their weapons to swat them out of the sky like a fly swatter whacking an annoying insect.
"Ben, do something," yelled Douglas out of desperation.
Ben tried every trick that Kalon taught him, but the Savoy Special was dead in space. There was nothing he could do but pray.
"Douglas, I picking up ten more ships headed our way," sniffled Nipper.
"SFA ships?" asked Douglas with a hopeful gleam in his eye.
"No, Geldon Raiders."
"And the punches keep on coming," said Scottie.
Trevor watched what was happening from the "Raptor". The only thing that kept coming to his mind was the trick he pulled during the capture the flag games. If the "Savoy Special" was destroyed, then two Collins brothers would perish. But if...only one perished?
"Take us in between the `Savoy Special' and the warship," ordered Trevor.
All eyes were on him.
"You mad?" said Spencer.
"We are the only hope for their survival. Now do it."
Kyle obeyed and headed to the spot where the "Raptor" would become a barrier between the "Savoy Special" and the Kriton Warship.
"Douglas, the `Raptor' is getting in between us and the warship. The Geldon Raiders are powering up weapons too," reported Nipper.
"I bet they'd just love to get their hands on the Special," said Ben. "But they're not going to if I have anything to say about it."
"The Kriton ship is firing," said Andrew.
Ben peered out the window to see how badly the "Raptor" was hit. But she seemed unharmed.
"The Geldon Raiders are firing back at the Warship," said Andrew. "The Geldon Raiders broke off into two groups. The second group is attacking the second Kriton Ship."
"Why are they attacking the Kritons?" asked Scottie. "Geldon Raiders don't attack warships. Only passenger and freight ships. This isn't their style, their MO."
"The second vessel just got destroyed," said Andrew with a yippee in his voice. "The other one who was about to attack us is disabled and badly crippled. The Geldon Raiders are hitting it hard and not giving up."
Then Ben saw the explosion. The Kritons not only were defeated, but destroyed on the Earth battleground.
"Nipper, try to contact the Geldon Raiders. I know they don't negotiate, but there is no way we can out fight them. Talk is our only hope," said Douglas.
Nipper tried to start communication. "They're not responding," said Nipper.
"The Geldon Raiders are leaving," said Andrew.
"What? Why?" asked Douglas.
"How would we know," said Nipper, who knew his brother just had a big brother moment for asking why.
The crews of the "Savoy Special", "Holden Caulfield", "Porthos", "Aramis", and "Athos" watched as the Geldon Raiders left as quickly as they came. The "Savoy Special", "D'Artagnon", and "Athos" were critically damaged. As they watched the Geldon Raiders disappear among the stars, each boy breathed a silent thank you.
General Elihu sat tall and firm in his command chair. He was a warrior in his glory right now. They had lost a few ships, but soon he would get the news that Earth was no more. He heard that some of his ships were destroyed at the source of the wormhole, but two of his warships and the science vessel made it. None of the academy ships made it through. So Earth was as good as theirs.
"Any word from Earth yet?" demanded Elihu.
"No General," said Meska, Elihu's number one man.
"They should have taken Earth by now. What is the hold up?"
"General, we are now getting imagery from the battle at Earth."
Elihu grinned. Now he got to see the fall of Earth. "On screen." Elihu's grin turned into bewilderment and then anger. The imagery wasn't taken from one of his warships. No, it was taken from what appeared to be a Geldon Raider. Elihu stood up after seeing his last two warships at Earth destroyed. He screamed in rage. His plan had failed and Kriton, instead of ruling this sector of the galaxy, had been humiliated.
Brandon Jarvis carefully attached the ambulance shuttle to the "Buford". Some rescue shuttles that were stationed on Earth were launched after SFA Headquarters in Chicago were contacted by Mike the Donkey, requesting help.
"We have a green light on the hatch," said Jarvis.
The two EMTs on Jarvis's shuttle opened the hatch. They crawled into the smoke filled cabin of the "Buford".
"Any life signs?" asked Jarvis from his pilot seat.
"Yes, but very faint," said Maria Jacobs, one of the EMT's. She and her partner, Blake Bellamy, started to look at the crew. The first two boys they came to were dead. Maria thought instantly that they were too young to die.
"I have a live one over here," said Bellamy. He immediately started performing first aid to get ready for transfer to the shuttle.
Maria went to the three remaining boys. She shook her head. There was nothing she could do. She then went over to Bellamy and helped him prepare the injured and unconscious boy for transport. Once they got him on board the ambulance shuttle, they quickly retrieved the bodies of the five victims. Once all aboard, Jarvis headed back to Earth, hopefully to make it in time so they didn't add another number to their body count.
General Elihu was furious. He might have lost the Earth Battle and the Wormhole Battle, but no way would the Kritons lose the Oddessa Sector battle. Elihu started acting like a mad man, shouting out orders and starting to control everyone else's stations. He wasn't going to lose. Kritons can't lose. There is no honor in losing. Only in dying. He took his ship, the Bah'a'Kosk, and went deeper into the battlefield. If he was going to lose or die, he wanted to make sure that a certain Admiral wouldn't be around to see it.
"Captain, the `Ticonderoga'," is under attack," said Commander St. James.
"Targets on the Bah'a'Kosk and fire at will," ordered the Captain of Natter's Flag ship.
The Bah'a'Kosk started to take on heavy fire from both Natter's and Whitaker's flag ships.
Admiral Natter watched on his view screen as the Bah'a'Kosk was destroyed. He could tell the nerve center of the Kriton Armanda has been destroyed. He watched as the remaining Kritons ships were either destroyed or retreated. Something told him that those ships that did retreat wouldn't be returning back to Kriton. If they did, they would suffer a punishment far worse then death itself. Kritons don't take kindly to those who retreat in battle.
"Matthew, get me a team of security men and have them meet me at my shuttle. I'm going to the `Ticonderoga'.
"Aye Sir."
"Feels good to be on the winning side, doesn't it Christine?" said Captain Ouellette as the two of them walked into his ready room.
"Captain, I have something urgent to talk to you about."
"What is that?"
"There is evidence that Admiral Whitaker has committed high treason against Earth and SFA. We are to place him under arrest."
Captain Ouellette was appalled. "Who was the blundering fool that gave you those orders?"
"Admiral Natter."
"He doesn't know what he is talking about. I've known Admiral Whitaker for many years and he is the most loyal servant to SFA in SFA's history. He is decorated and the Chief of SFA Operations, the highest ranking officer in SFA. I am not going to go to him and place him under arrest for something like treason. Not on my ship; not on my watch; and not when I am around."
"Then Captain, I'm afraid I will have to relieve you of your command and place you under arrest as well for obstruction of justice."
"For being a woman, Commander, you have balls. And I hope you realize that your unblemished career has just become tarnished."
Commander Nicosia opened the door of his quarters. Standing outside were two security guards. She tapped her communicator on her wrist and ordered the bridge to deny all access to ship's functions and communications from the Captain's ready room. She then told the two security guards to ensure that Captain Ouellette didn't leave his ready room. They had permission to use any force necessary to keep him from leaving.
Admiral Whitaker sat on his flag bridge smiling. The battle hadn't gone exactly as he had planned. He now saw that he was deceived by General Elihu, but even with the wormhole battle and the Earth Battle, they still won. He knew he could arrange it to look like he was behind victory all the time. Thus in two years, he would be elected as the new President of Earth. He might have some minor setbacks, but nothing from which he couldn't recover. Now he knew, regardless of what happened, he would come out smelling like a rose.
He turned and saw Commander Nicosia walk on the flag bridge. Whitaker smiled. "Ahhh Commander Nicosia, you and your ship did a fine job today. You're captain should be proud. Now if you please, tell your captain to join me in my quarters for a celebration drink."
Two Security guards walked onto the bridge.
"Sorry Admiral, the Captain won't be joining you for any drinks. Admiral Whitaker, I am placing you under arrest for High Treason against Earth and SFA."
Whitaker laughed as if Nicosia just said the funniest joke ever told. "Commander, you do have the gumption to make rank, but arresting me for nonsense like that will do nothing for your career. With false accusations like that, it will land you in the brig for life. Do you realize what you are accusing me of?"
"Yes Admiral I do. And with the evidence that was presented to me, I have no choice in the matter."
"Evidence? What evidence?"
"This evidence," said Admiral Natter as he came onto the bridge. He was holding out some printouts from the encoded message he got from Dorian Foxx.
"Paul, is this some sort of joke?" asked Whitaker looking at the papers trying hard not to show any panic in his eyes and wondering how these documents got into Natter's hands.
"I wish it was Peter. I wish it was." Natter nodded to the security guards that came with him from his ship. The walked over to Whitaker and cuffed him. Whitaker was calm, cool and collected. As far as he was concerned, he would still come out smelling like a rose.
To Be Continued...