The Battlestar Glory Ch. 06

(This is not a sexy story. It is a space war thriller.)

Chapter 6: Loss of Vision

From the Log of War Admiral Norman North, 2.5 years after Vitalics:

We have continued our search for Monumental civilizations but haven't come up with anything promising. We've found several more monuments, but nothing substantial, like a Monumental city or derelict warship. I have to be realistic about things--it may take years, even decades for us to find anything useful.

The only piece of good news is that we've finally eluded the Insects. We haven't seen even a sign of them in over a year, and I now think we're too far out to be caught by their pursuing fleets, if there are any. Conversely, of course, the farther out we go, the longer it will take us to get back; if we find useful technology 5 or 10 years down the line, it will take us an additional five or ten years to return. I'm not sure many of the crew here have thought that far ahead.

Morale is low, mostly from lack of action and boredom, so I've staged a series of war games to keep the fleet occupied. The only ones excused are Captain Took, Lieutenant Obe, and the Blue Luna, who are reconnoitering a binary system not far from our present trajectory. We expect to link up with them in a few hours.

***********

The human deep space cruiser loomed large on the screen of the Insect flat top. Admiral Torss stared at the image of the cruiser as he waited for the visiting shuttle to dock with his carrier.

This is not what she had in mind when she had called for reinforcements. Her fleet--two flat tops, two battlecruisers, and eight destroyers, was small by any standard, and certainly not capable of taking on the human fleet. When Torss had been sent out to locate the human fleet, she had been promised reinforcements before being called to go into battle. Well, she had located the humans, had even located them without being detected (so she thought), and this solitary ship was all the reinforcements she had received!

One, solitary ship. A human ship, one of their deep space cruisers.

The Captain of the ship, designated SStosss, came onto the bridge.

"Report," said Admiral Torss. "Where is the rest of our reinforcements?"

Sstosss pointed to the human ship on the screen.

"I don't find that amusing," said Torss. "We do not have a force strong enough to defeat the humans, even with you and your crew."

"You do now," said Sstosss. "And I don't even have a crew."

"No crew..." Suddenly, it all made sense. "A trap?"

Sstosss nodded. "The ship is loaded with special explosives."

"Won't the humans detect it?"

"No," said Sstosss. "All has been taken care of."

"Are the explosives enough to destroy their entire fleet?" Torss asked skeptically.

"If detonated at close range, this ship can destroy the Glory and any nearby vessels."

"Our sensors show the humans have approximately 50 or 60 combat vessels. Will that be enough to ensure our victory against them?"

"Yes," said Sstosss. "Remember I said these were a special kind of explosives. Exploding them creates a special byproduct, a brilliant white light which will blind them all."

"Blinding them," said Torss, suddenly understanding the significance. "Then it won't matter how many ships they have! They won't be able to see or function!"

"Exactly," said Sstosss. "It is all part of Admiral Stay's plan. Once the Glory and its immediate escorts are destroyed, and the rest of the enemy is blinded, you can go in and finish them off."

"Launch the ship at once!"

********

"It's a conspiracy, Obe," said Took, sitting in the mess hall of the Blue Luna.

"You always say that," said Obe.

"Because it always is!" said Took.

"Lower your voice," Obe whispered, looking away from the other diners.

"It always is," said Took. "Think about it. We're having global war games, and the War Admiral has everyone participate, except his two best pilots. Why?"

"You tell me," said Obe.

"He's grooming someone to replace us," said Took.

"To replace both of us?"

"Ok, just me," said Took.

"That's what you thought when the Ken Pilot came aboard."

"Ok, so I admit I was wrong about K."

"I'm glad to hear you admit you were wrong about something."

It had been like this for the past two days. They had been sent out to reconnoiter some planetary bodies around a binary star at the edge of sensor range. What they found when they got close was nothing--not even a habitable atmosphere. And now they were returning to the fleet, empty handed.

"What a waste of time," said Took.

"What's really bothering you?" Obe asked.

"Oh, I wanted to participate in the war games," said Took.

"They'll be other war games," said Obe. "Besides, they're probably all over by now; everyone's back on board, just trying to get through another boring day."

*******

On the Glory, Lieutenant Shishman said, "Sir, I'm picking up a blip on sensors."

"Identity?" Captain Dulin asked. "Is it the Blue Luna?" If so, they were returning a few hours ahead of schedule.

"No..." said Shishman. "It's coming from a different direction." He tapped a few keys, and an IDENT code appeared on the holographic display by the blip. "A deep space cruiser."

"We don't have any deep space cruisers out on patrol," said Dulin.

Shishman tapped a few keys. "Sir, it isn't one of ours!"

Dulin pressed a button. "War Admiral, to the bridge!"

The War Admiral came out of his office a moment later. "Yes, Captain?"

"Sir, we're being approached by a DSC; but it's not one from our fleet."

The War Admiral raised an eyebrow, turning to the holographic display, and studied the readings. "Has anyone tried hailing it?"

"Sir, they are hailing us now," said Lieutenant Shishman.

"On open comm," said North, sitting back in his chair. This would be interesting.

A holographic image of a captain sitting on a cruiser's bridge appeared before them. "My name is Captain Thomas Smith of the Deep Space Cruiser Sharon. I would like to speak to your commander."

North stood up again, trying to restrain the feeling of excitement. "This is War Admiral Norman North of the combined fleet-"

"North? War Admiral North? Is that really you? You survived, sir?" said Smith.

"Yes, as well as a few others," said North.

Smith looked almost speechless. "Sir, I'm honored. You've been a living legend all my life!"

North held up a restraining hand. "That's quite all right, Captain Smith. Tell me, how do you find yourself this far out here? Were you at Vitalics?"

"Yes, we were at Vitalics," said Smith, looking subdued.

"What happened there?"

"We were attacked by some kind of special weapon."

"What kind of weapon?"

"We don't know, we were on the very edges of it," said Smith. "We were lucky to escape."

"Did you see any other ship escape?"

"No," said Smith. "We fled deeper into Alliance space as the Insects advanced, broadcasting warnings where we could. When we reached Orotis, we heard that the remnants of our fleet had just been there, and started after you."

"And so you've been following after us, these past two and a half years," said North.

"Yes," said Smith.

"Space is vast. It's very lucky that you've found us," said North, not letting his tone or expression change.

"Well, yes, we've been searching a long time."

"How is your crew?" North asked.

"They're fine, Admiral," said Smith.

North could see some of Smith's crew in their chairs in the background shot of Smith's bridge, attending to their consoles.

"What do you suggest?" said the War Admiral.

"A meeting," said Smith. "We can trade information we've gathered. We've also got a lot of supplies you might be able to use--we've stocked up on a lot of extra food we can't eat ourselves."

"We have a perennial shortage of food, that would be most welcome," said the War Admiral.

"I think the best way to distribute it is by docking and making the transfer directly," said Smith. "It would take too many transport flights to ship it over to you."

"Just one moment, Captain," said North. He gave a tight smile. "We'll have to clear this with our logistics department. Can I put you on hold for a few minutes?"

"Certainly," said Smith. "It will take us almost an hour to get in range anyway."

"Fine," said North. "We'll talk with you soon." He gestured to Shishman, and the image faded.

North turned to the other officers. "Opinions?"

"He looks just like what he seems to be," said Dulin slowly.

"I think it's nothing short of fantastic that he managed to locate us," said Commander Wren. She added, "He does look and sound human."

"Yes, he does," said the War Admiral. He closed his eyes, seeming to think for a moment. Then, opening them, he said to Lieutenant Shishman, "Get me Captain Tens Zender of the Fast Attack Destroyer Suny Blue."

North turned to Wren. "Check to see whether the Sharon was attached to the Vitalics battlegroup."

"I just did," said Wren. "It was. The ship's transponder code also matches the Sharon's."

The hologram of a destroyer captain appeared on the bridge. "War Admiral?"

"I thought your ship was the only one to survive the disaster at Vitalics," said the War Admiral. "It seems I was wrong. Was your ship positioned anywhere near the Deep Space Cruiser Sharon?"

Zender frowned, thinking. "No, I don't think so."

"Do you have any telemetry footage of the Sharon, as you departed the battle, either showing it intact, damaged, or destroyed?"

"I'd have to check," said Zender, nodding to one of his officers.

"Check quickly," said North. He checked the sensor scan of the Sharon. It showed a standard Deep Space Cruiser. Maybe he was being too suspicious. He had also been suspicious when Zender's ship had shown up, and Zender had really been what he appeared to be.

But Zender had shown up before they had left Alliance space, not lost among thousands of cubed lightyears of uncharted space. This encounter was much less likely. But not impossible.

"No sir, we have no footage of the Sharon," Zender reported.

"Thank you, Captain," said North. Then, almost as an afterthought. "Captain?"

"Sir?"

"One more thing. Tell me again about this special weapon that attacked you at Vitalics."

"It wasn't so much a weapon as a dampening field, some sort of mist that drained the energy in our ship's systems."

"You had no problems detecting this mist?"

"Detecting, no, we could see it visually," said Zender, looking puzzled.

"I see," said North. "Thank you, Captain." He nodded, and Shishman terminated the signal.

"Admiral?" said Dulin.

"Why couldn't Smith better describe what kind of weapon they used at Vitalics?" North asked.

"Maybe he couldn't see from where his ship was located," said Dulin. "It could be anything. That's not reason enough to doubt his story."

"You think Smith is being coerced, or operating under some kind of mind control?" Commander Wren asked.

"Coerced?" North shook his head. "Possibly, but not very likely. I don't want to believe that any fleet captain could be coerced by the enemy to betray his own. Mind control? Also possible, but does that mean he's been under mind control for several years, while they hunted for us? No, if they were going to do something like that, they wouldn't rely on him being under their control for so long. There would have to be other Insects aboard, to monitor his behavior, and I don't think that's the case here."

"Then... perhaps he is exactly what he seems to be," said Wren.

"Perhaps," said North, suddenly thinking of another possibility, one that made a lot more sense. He nodded to Shishman. "Get him back." He turned to the bridge crew. "Whatever I say, or do, don't react.. It's very important you act as if everything is normal."

In a moment Captain's Smith hologram filled the bridge.

"Have you sorted things out with your logistics department, War Admiral?" Smith asked pleasantly.

"Yes, we're looking forward to meeting you in person," said the War Admiral.

"We're scheduled to dock in 45 minutes," said Smith, checking a readout.

"Yes," said the War Admiral. "By the way, what kind of missiles are you carrying?"

"Standard 44-J warheads," said Smith.

"What colors are roses?"

"Red," said Smith.

"If you stand outside in a rain, what happens?"

"You get wet," said Smith, smiling.

"What do you do when your boots start losing their color?"

"They need to be polished," Smith said.

"When you walk one mile north of your home, what's the most direct route back?"

"One mile south," said Smith, smiling gently.

The entire bridge crew of the Glory worked hard at maintaining a normal expression.

"You must miss your family," said North.

"Yes, it's very sad to think I won't see them again," said Smith, looking unhappy.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Red!" said Smith, smiling again.

"Thank you, Captain.'

'Thank you, War Admiral," he said, smiling again.

North pressed a button, and the image faded. "The better they make them, the stupider they get."

"Sir?" said Dulin, uncertain as to what had just transpired.

"A computer, Captain," said North. "Programmed to answer my questions, to look happy when certain subjects are discussed, sad at others, and generally content about minor matters. Commander! Turn the fleet around, top speed!"

"Sir?"

"I'll bet you your commission that our friendly deep space cruiser is packed from stem to stern with high energy explosives. Do it!"

Shortly after the fleet turned around, their sensors readings of the deep space cruiser changed.

"Now I'm reading a non-standard configuration," said Shishman. "Heavily shielded. And it's catching up to us."

"How much time do we gain by flying away from it?" North asked tightly.

"It will reach the slowest merchant ships-"

"It's after bigger game," North said, interrupting. "How long before it reaches us?"

"One hundred and fifteen minutes."

"I've done a scan of its shielding; it seems to have a very strong configuration; the entire ship seems to be covered in force screens and armor," said Dulin, pointing to a schematic.

"And explosives," said North.

"We could send our battlecruiser squadron out to engage it," said Dulin.

"And what would happen to our squadron when it detonated?" North asked, studying the schematic intently.

"It depends on how much explosives were onboard, and at what distance they were," said Dulin.

"Got it," said North, referring to something else entirely, as he studied a close scan on the corner of the schematic. "Get me your best demolitions expert." He paused, considering. "And get me the Ken Pilot."

*******

"Is this really going to work?" said Zetho Arkasian, as he let himself be strapped to the underside of the Ken Pilot's scarred Wildcat 5 hull.

The Ken Pilot gave no answer, but continued to tie the straps around Zetho's spacesuit.

"Zetho, who talked you into this crazy mission, flying on the outside of this fighter?" This was from his burly brother Yurgi, the Glory's chief engineer. Not many knew the two were even related, though there was some resemblance.

"The War Admiral," said Zetho.

"Hold this," said the Ken Pilot, giving Zetho an equipment satchel, as he secured a harness around Zetho and attached it to a ring on the tip of his ship. "You have all your other equipment?"

"Yes," said Zetho. "Right below the thruster pack. But I've never flown on the outside of a ship before! Any advice?"

The Ken Pilot considered for a moment. "Hang on."

"You take care of yourself, Zetho!" said Yurgi. He watched as the Ken Pilot jumped from a wing into the cockpit in one easy motion. He immediately prepped his fighter for takeoff.

*******

"This had better work," said Dulin, watching the fighter launch from the landing bay.

"We're sending the best," said the War Admiral.

"Don't let Captain Took hear you say that," said Dulin dryly.

"Time to impact?" the War Admiral asked.

"If the cruiser is seeking a near point-blank range detonation, seventy three minutes" said Dulin.

"Disperse the fleet," said the War Admiral. "There's no sense in letting any other ship get harmed."

"Admiral, are you sure you don't want a screen of battlecruisers as a last minute defense?" Dulin asked.

The War Admiral shook his head.

Half Commander Stacy Wren bit her lower lip.

*******

The Ken Pilot maneuvered his Wildcat 5 to the cruiser quickly; the DSC had no external weapons, so there was no worry about coming under attack. Zetho felt the great sensation of acceleration, but kept his eyes tightly shut.

The Ken Pilot shot past the cruiser, then turned around, giving chase, matching velocities and quickly closing in. When he was a few hundred feet behind the aft section, he matched velocities perfectly, and started studying his scanner very, very closely.

"What's happening?" said Zetho, over his suit radio.

The Ken Pilot gave no answer. He studied the sensor readings very closely as he minutely turned the ship slightly to the left or slightly to the right, his hand poised over a button and his eyes also glancing at a targeting site.

And then, in a split second, his hand jerked and pressed the fire button, and a grappler shot out from the Wildcat-5, heading straight for the cruiser. It narrowly shot through the nineteen inch gap between the ship's lateral and port shields, and stuck firmly to the ship's hull.

"Ready," said the Ken Pilot. And then, uncharacteristically, he added, "Good luck."

Zetho opened his eyes and unstrapped himself, and pulled on the line connecting him to the tether. He activated his suitpack and started accelerating slowly towards the cruiser.

"I'd pick up the pace if I were you," said the Ken Pilot, monitoring his progress. "You have at most 37 minutes."

"If I go too fast I could hit the shielding," Zetho snapped. But he went a bit faster, all the same.

The Ken Pilot said nothing.

Zetho slowed down rapidly as he approached the ship. The glare from the cruiser's engines made it difficult to see clearly. He set the polarizer on his suit to half maximum. He still had to see enough to see... there! Flickering on the edges.

Breathing heavily, Zetho twisted around so he was on the side of the rope farthest from the nearest force screen. One instant of contact would be enough to breach his suit....

He slowly pulled his way through, and didn't breath easily until he was at the hull. Lying down against it, he started to crawl under the force screens around the ship towards the portside airlock. Slowly he made his way there.

"I'm at the airlock," he reported, eyeing it warily. "I'm going to check for traps-"

"No time," came an unexpected voice over the command circuit. It was the War Admiral. "It's not likely they anticipated boarding."

"Not likely," Zetho muttered. Taking a deep breath, he entered the airlock and triggered the cycling mechanism. The ship didn't detonate, much to his relief.

There was a thin atmosphere inside the ship, though Zetho didn't bother to check the readings or see what kind. Still in his spacesuit, he was racing, on the run, to the bridge. Someone had left the lights on in the ship; either they had forgotten to turn them off, or someone was actually on board! Zetho had a blaster with him, but he hadn't fired a weapon, even on the practice range, for some time.

The bridge was at the other end of the ship, and Zetho wasted precious time hobbling there in his bulky suit. But that was the logical location to go to, the nerve center of any ship. He scrambled as fast as he could.

"Arkasian, you have thirty minutes," said the War Admiral's calm voice. "What is your situation?"

Puffing as he moved rapidly, Zetho entered the bridge. He stepped through the door and-

found himself in an empty room. A completely empty room.

"I'm on the bridge," said Zetho, trying to catch a breath and recover from the surprise at the same time.

"Can you deactivate the ship?" said the War Admiral.

"No," said Zetho.

"Are you sure?" said the War Admiral, thinking the answer came too quickly.

"War Admiral, there are no controls on the bridge."

The War Admiral thought quickly. "They could be anywhere."

"And you have twenty eight minutes," came the Ken Pilot's dry voice.

"Get to engineering," said the War Admiral. The engines, at least, had to be located in one set place.

So Zetho started running back the way he had come.

On the bridge the War Admiral muttered, "I don't like it."

"Sir?" said Wren.

"We only have 28 minutes, if it's set to point blank detonation; if it's set to detonate at a farther range, we may have even less time."

Zetho realized that he was really out of shape. He gasped for air, and, despite himself, had to stop for a rest in a corridor.

"What are you doing?" said the Ken Pilot. "Why have you stopped?"

"What?" said Zetho. The ship was shielded from intensive scans; how could the Ken Pilot know that he had stopped?

"I hear your breathing slowing," said the Ken Pilot. Odd, that he would have such good hearing.

"Arkasian?" came the War Admiral's voice.

"I'm moving again, sir," Zetho puffed, starting to run again.

He reached engineering, or where engineering should be, only to find a sealed bulkhead in his way.

Zetho explained the situation quickly. "--it will take too long to cut through."

The War Admiral frowned. Well, that ruled out the possibility of shutting down the power or turning the ship around. There was only one choice left, then. He cleared his throat, and said, "Proceed with the last contingency plan we discussed. Are you sufficiently near the explosives?"

Zetho slowly walked down the corridors, opening the door to one room, and then another, and then another. His helmet lamp showed that each were tightly packed with brown boxes. "I don't think that's a problem, sir."

"Then proceed."

Zetho gingerly opened the satchel the Ken Pilot had given him. The explosives had a shiny exterior that reflected the light from his helmet lamp.

"You have fourteen minutes until point blank detonation," said Captain Dulin. "If indeed we even have that much time." The deep space cruiser loomed large on the screen, closing rapidly on the Glory's stern.

"Set it for a five minutes," said the War Admiral quietly.

"Sir?" said Zetho, a bit startled. Then, understanding, he said, "Yes sir." Then, a few seconds later. "Explosives set."

"Get out of there NOW!" That surprising exclamation came from the Ken Pilot.

Zetho, not really sure what he planned to do, was jolted into action by the Ken Pilot's words.

He started running heavily. "Don't... wait.... for me...."

"You now have four minutes and thirty seconds before detonation," said the Ken Pilot. "I would recommend more speed, and fewer words."

Zetho ran until he thought his lungs were about to burst, and then he ran a bit more. He reached the airlock, entered, and pressed the cycle button.

Nothing happened.

"You now have two minutes, and thirty seconds," said the Ken Pilot dryly.

Zetho hit the controls again. The air started to spill out of the lock. Then an eternity later the external doors slowly opened. Zetho started crawling frantically across the hull. "I won't make it... with enough time to escape," he rasped.

"You now have one minute, twenty seconds" said the Ken Pilot.

On the bridge of the Glory, everyone watched the Deep Space Cruiser approach. "All hands, brace yourselves for detonation," said the War Admiral, his finger depressing the comm. Wren grabbed a railing; Dulin sat down in his chair and grabbed the armrests securely. The War Admiral grabbed a console. There were no seatbelts; no one ever expected a ship as large as the Glory to encounter rough sailing.

Zetho crawled along the outer hull. "I can't see the line!"

"You now have fifty five seconds," said the Ken Pilot, adding "I'm getting impatient."

Then Zetho crawled some more, and saw the line around the curve of the ship. He grabbed it, started pulling, and....

The Ken Pilot was observing closely. "Forty five seconds." The second that Zetho cleared the shield, or at the least the second the Ken Pilot thought he cleared the shield, he turned the ship around in one smooth maneuver and headed away at full velocity. "Hang on," said the Ken Pilot dryly.

The end of the rope attached to the cruiser's hull snapped, and Zetho was yanked away. He held on for dear life as the battered Wildcat-5 accelerated to full speed. Zetho started to lose his grip with one hand as the rope pulled away, and he tried to hold on harder with the other hand.

On the Glory, Shishman was monitoring the countdown as the cruiser loomed closer "... Seven... six... five... four... three... two... one....".

There was a giant explosion, and the cruiser detonated two hundred and twelve miles astern of the Glory. The ship shook with the vibrations of the explosion, but then, in the body of the explosion, a white light formed, spreading outwards. Everyone instinctively closed their eyes and covered them with their hands, but the light penetrated everywhere; through the hull of the ship, through bulkhead after bulkhead, and even through their hands and closed eyes. The light spread outwards, encompassing the other ships of the fleet, even those that had already put some distance between themselves and the Glory. The force of the light only started to dissipate over a distance of hundreds of thousands of miles, and even then, those who saw it had to cringe at the white flash.

*******

"What was that?" said Captain Harkness of the Blue Luna, blinking at the spots in his eyes from whatever had just passed them.

"Some kind of bright white light, sir," said an officer.

"I know that," Harkness snapped. "Tell me something I don't know."

"It seems to have come from an explosion in the vicinity of the fleet."

"This far out?" said Harkness, stunned. It must have been some explosion. "Get me the Glory."

His comm officer signaled the Glory.

"No response, sir."

"No response?" said Harkness. "Try the rest of the fleet."

Patience. One minute, then two, then three, then

"Again, no response."

Harkness refused to consider the obvious. Had a massive explosion destroyed the fleet? "Long range scan," he barked.

To his relief, the images of the fleet's ships were intact. "All there," he muttered. "They're just not answering. Could it be some kind of EM dampening field?"

"Negative, sir," said the comm officers. "Our signals are being received and bounced back."

"Then something is very, very wrong with the fleet," muttered Harkness. "Engines, all stop! Get me Captain Took and Lieutenant Obe, on the double."

*******

The pair of Wildcat 150-B's streaked towards the now silent fleet.

"I love it whenever someone else decides I'm expendable," said Took. "I just wish they'd come out and say it."

"The Captain didn't want to risk the Luna until he finds out what's going on," said Obe.

"Maybe it's a comm failure."

"On every ship in the fleet?" said Obe.

"We'll find out soon enough," said Took nervously, as they maneuvered into the body of the fleet. From the outside, everything looked normal.

They tried to raise the Glory again, but got no response.

"Glory, this is Idaho Took, requesting landing clearance," said Took. There was no response. "Glory, this is Captain Took, requesting landing clearance." Again, there was no response.

"This is really spooky," said Took, as he flew over the mammoth ship. "All right, Glory, this is Captain Took, and I am designating Bay 1 the Command Captain Idaho J. Took Memorial Landing Bay. You'd better not have anything launching where I'm landing."

They landed in the bay, and almost from the instant they exited their ships, they knew something was wrong.

The bay crew were all there, but they were crying, or yelling, or wandering around aimlessly.

"What's wrong?" said Took, to one of them; but the tech simply walked right by him, as if he didn't see him, crying about something.

Another tech said, "Took? Took, is that you?"

"Casey?" said Took, looking at the technician.

"Took, it's you!" she said.

"Of course it's me," said Took. "Can't you tell? And why are you looking so oddly at me?"

"I'm not looking at anything," she said. "Took, I'm BLIND!"

Suddenly, everything became apparent.

They made their way to the bridge, past the confused and upset crewers.

But when they stepped onto the bridge they saw the crew, calmly sitting at their controls. Good. Maybe they hadn't been affected.

"Who's there?" said Captain Dulin, sitting in his chair.

Oh oh. "Captain Took and Lieutenant Obe," said Took.

"Can you see?" the War Admiral asked them.

Oh no, not him too. Took walked right in front of the War Admiral. He stared right through them.

"Yes, we can," said Took.

"The Blue Luna?"

"We're all fine."

"The rest of the fleet?" said the War Admiral.

"We don't know, but... we can't raise any of them," said Took

"They're all blind," said the War Admiral. "I should've foreseen this," he said, without the slightest hint of irony.

*******

"-and that's the situation, sir," said Took, speaking into the comm to Captain Harkness. "Some kind of explosives trap."

"Are there any sign of hostiles?" came Harkness's craggy voice.

"No, but I imagine it will only be a matter of time before they show up," said Took.

"One moment," said the War Admiral, interrupting. "Captain Harkness."

"Sir?"

"I am giving you operational command of the fleet during this crisis. You will follow my instructions directly."

"Sir, yes sir."

The War Admiral said, "Your crew complement is, I believe, 82 officers and 397 men, if I remember correctly?"

"Sir, yes sir."

"I recommend you disperse them so that at least a half dozen men are on every ship, with a few more for the Glory."

"Sir, with only six men per ship, we'll be vulnerable to-"

"Captain, our immediate priority is for the care of the crews. We cannot even eat or drink, much less man our stations, without assistance."

"Yes sir," said Harkness.

"Captain Idaho Took," said the War Admiral.

"Sir?"

"I am putting you in operation command of the Command Carrier Glory."

"Sir, I'm not a naval captain, I'm a space force pilot, wouldn't one of Captain Harkness's senior officers-"

"You are the sighted officer with the most experience on the Glory," said the War Admiral. "Your first task is to try the best you can to tend to the crew. When the crew from the Blue Luna arrive, set up group mess hall and sleeping arrangements."

Six people, to help 3,000 blind crewmembers?

"Sir-"

"Do the best you can," said the War Admiral. "Lieutenant Obe."

"Sir?"

"Daniel Norman's fighter was near the area of the blast. See if you can locate it on sensors."

Obe checked the sensors logs. There was a tense moment, then he said, "No sir. Nowhere on sensors."

The War Admiral swallowed heavily. "Very well."

Took looked at the officers, still sitting calmly in their chairs. He went over to Commander Wren. "How come when we came in you guys weren't groping around, like the others?"

"The War Admiral told us not to touch anything," she whispered. "Who knows what a blind person could do accidentally with the controls?"

"Well that's smart," said Took.

*******

Took went to the comm, and activated it. "Attention all hands, attention all hands, this is acting Captain Idaho J. Took," said Took, speaking over the comm. "I mean, when I say "acting", I mean it's not like I merely play one on holostories. I'm a real captain, but I mean I'm just a space fighter captain; the acting part is a reference to the naval role I now find myself in-"

"Took," said Dulin warningly.

"Ah, yes, well, Glory crewmembers, let's just say, there's some good news, and there's some bad news. As there often is." Should he deliver the good news first, or the bad news? Took always liked delivering the good news first. "The good news is that I and Obe and the ten crewers who landed from the Blue Luna have our sight," said Took. Now comes the bad part. "The bad news is that no one else on the ship does. So we're setting up group assembly points on decks four, eight, twelve, and fifteen. Try to feel your way there by touch. We have a doc coming up from the Blue Luna, he's going to check you all out, and everything should be fine," said Took reassuringly. One doctor. For 3,000 patients. It was truly mind boggling. What else was there to say? "Ah, I'll be back with more news, later. Now be cheerful. Like me. If you can. Took, out." He closed the channel.

The War Admiral, in his office, heard a buzz. "Come," he said.

The door slid open, someone came in, and the door slid close. "Have a seat, Commander. There should be one about five feet from the door, if I recall."

Wren was incredulous. "How did you know it was me?"

"I smelled your perfume."

"I don't wear any," said Wren.

"I recognized the sounds of your footsteps."

"On carpeting? I don't make any, Admiral."

"It's just a lucky guess, then," said the War Admiral, smiling to no one in particular. He knew it had to be her. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing really," said Wren. "I just wanted to talk."

"Talk is about all I'm capable of right now," said the War Admiral, spreading out his hands, to no one in particular. "For once in my life, I have plenty of time."

"What if... what if it's permanent?" said Wren, feeling her way to a chair.

"Our blindness?" said the War Admiral.

"I've been a soldier most of my life. I can't bear the thought of spending the rest of it as a cripple, taken care of, coddled like a child."

"It won't come to that," said the War Admiral grimly.

"What do you mean?"

"Do the math, Stacy," said the War Admiral gently. "We have approximately 20,000 crewmen blind, with only 500 crewmen to tend the rest of the fleet. How do they run and maintain a fleet of this size, while at the same time caring for all of us?"

"They can't," said Wren.

"Exactly," said the War Admiral. "I've put Captains Took and Harkness only in operational command. Why do you think I've retained ultimate command for myself?"

Wren didn't answer.

"If there's no prospect of recovery, I'll order the Blue Luna to recall its crew and head off on its own," said the War Admiral. He left the obvious unsaid.

Wren started trembling. "I've never been afraid to die... but to go like this....." She looked at the direction where she thought the War Admiral might be sitting. "Aren't you scared?"

The War Admiral raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

"Where is that doctor?" said Colonel Dey. "He should have been here some time ago."

"The doctor will come," said the War Admiral, entering the bridge slowly from his office, walking the route he knew so well from memory. Commander Wren followed close behind, feeling for the railing around her.

Suddenly, they heard someone enter the bridge. "The Doctor was delayed," said a familiar voice that all could recognize by sound. It was impossible to believe... but it was the Ken Pilot!

"Daniel!" said the War Admiral. "You're alive!"

Took looked over at the Ken Pilot, who was in the company of the doctor. K had some mild burns on his face.

"What happened to you?" said Took.

"Radiation," said the Ken Pilot. "From the explosion. I had to borrow the doctor to treat Arkasian."

"Arkasian is alive too?" said Wren.

"I yanked him out just in time," said the Ken Pilot. "But his radiation burns were worse than mine."

"Wait a minute," said Colonel Dey. "Are you blind?"

"Apparently," said the Ken Pilot, refusing to concede anything.

"You were closer to the detonation in your fighter."

"Yes," said the Ken Pilot.

"Did one of the Blue Luna's crew rescue you?"

"No," said the Ken Pilot.

"Then how did you get back to the Glory?"

"I flew into Bay Two," said the Ken Pilot.

"And you can't see a thing."

"No," admitted the Ken Pilot.

"How did you-"

"Can this wait?" said the doctor. "My name is Doctor Gurn, Captain. I'd like to take you to sickbay and examine you."

"Take Commander Wren," said Dulin. "My place is on the bridge."

"You should both go," said Took.

"No, I'd rather stay-"

"Don't make me give you an order, Captain," said Took.

Dulin opened his mouth, considered, and then turned to where he thought the War Admiral might be. "War Admiral-"

"He's in charge," said the War Admiral. "You might as well go, Captain. There isn't much any of us can do here."

"You should go too, War Admiral," said Took.

The War Admiral acted as if he didn't hear Took. "I'll be in my office. Alert me if anything arises."

As soon as they had filed out, Took looked around him, at the majesty of the being in command of the largest ship in the fleet. Only a handful of senior captains had ever been put in charge of a command carrier. The bridge was huge, two stories tall, with crew members sitting by panels on both levels. The power of the Glory to launch starfighters, deliver laser batteries, and launch destructive missiles was awesome. And he, a lowly starfighter captain, was in charge of it all.

"I never thought I'd be in charge of all this," Took muttered. "But then, I also never thought I'd be in charge of a ship full of blind people, either."

Suddenly, an officer shifted position, and one of his consoles bleeped. "Hey, watch where you put your elbow, Shishman," said Took.

*******

Managing the ship was a nightmare. Crewmembers tried to make their way to the gathering points, only to find that navigating by touch and memory sometimes had unpredictable results; several of the crewmembers heading towards the mess hall on Deck 16 found themselves lost in the engineering section, and couldn't find their way out. Others who did make it there found themselves on the ends of very long lines waiting to be served by the single crewman assigned to that collection point. Obviously, the crew couldn't survive very long like this.

Took stayed on the bridge, partially because there was nothing he could do, but mostly because the sight of all those blind crewmembers lining the hallways depressed him too much. He tried to issue positive announcements to keep everyone's spirits up, but then he got some discouraging feedback from Obe, who had been trying to help guide lost crewmen below decks.

"How is the crew holding up?" said Took.

"Not well," said Obe. "I've been spending the last two hours helping lost crewmembers make their way to the collection points."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes," said Obe. He hesitated. "A small thing."

"Name it," said Took, eager to help.

"Some people want you to stop making announcements."

"Some people?"

"More like everyone," said Obe. "Well, everyone I've encountered."

"What?" said Took. Then, "Oh."

"It's nothing personal, Iday," said Obe. "It's just that when you're facing permanent blindness and you're scared and you're hungry, unabashed cheerfulness tends to cut through you like a vibroblade."

"Oh," said Took. "All right." But he looked sad.

*******

Sometime later, there was a ping of an incoming signal. Lieutenant Shishman instinctively tried to activate the controls, but he only succeeded in expanding the size of the holographic map.

"That's ok, I got it," said Took, pressing the appropriate button.

"I received your message that you wanted to talk to me," came the holographic image of Captain Harkness. "Report."

"The doc has just delivered some good news," said Took. "The blindness is probably temporary."

"Probably?"

"Well, it doesn't look like anything vital was destroyed, their optic nerves were just paralyzed, or something," said Took, trying to remember what Gurn said. "Sorry, but I'm not very good with this medical stuff."

"Did he say when their vision might return?"

"The Doc thinks maybe a few hours, maybe a few days, that it will vary from person to person" said Took.

"Well, that's really great," said Harkness. "Have you taken a look at your long range sensors lately?"

"Uh...."

"Check them now. We just picked them up a few minutes ago."

Took expanded the sensor range. There, just on the edge of detection, was an Insect fleet. It was relatively small--two flat tops, a few battlecruisers, and some destroyers, but against a fleet of the blind, it was more than enough.

"Trouble," said Took. "I wonder why they haven't attacked?" Suddenly he heard another pinging. "Just a moment." He checked the source. "Sir, we're getting an incoming signal, from the Insect fleet!"

*******

Sstosss was livid. They should have attacked hours ago. But Torss, the ever cautious one, wanted to be certain the enemy was blinded.

"Look," she had said, right after the attack. On extreme sensor range, they saw the human fleet. "All their ships are intact, including the Glory. Your plan failed."

Sstosss checked the scanner readout. "The Glory may be crippled; at this range we can't get a good reading on it. In any event I detect debris from our ship; it definitely detonated."

"Perhaps, it detonated too far away to do any good," said Torss.

"The range of the white light-"

"So you say," said Torss. "I propose we wait on the edge of sensor range for a short time and see how they react."

"How they react?"

"If they move to attack, we will know they aren't blinded, and we will be able to retreat."

And so they had waited, and waited, and nothing had happened. They were so close to the edge of their sensor range that it wasn't even clear the humans could detect their ships. Finally, Torss agreed to approach, and prepare for attack, but Torss wanted one more test. "We will contact the humans, and see for ourselves what their condition is."

*******

"On screen," said the War Admiral.

The flat two dimensional image of the Insect bridge appeared on their screen. The Insects had selected this mode of communication on purpose, so they could see more of the Glory's personnel.

"I am War Admiral Norman North," said the War Admiral. "Perhaps you've heard of me."

"Yes," hissed Torss through her translation device. "I have been sent to destroy you."

"An admirable goal," said the War Admiral. "Have you checked with your predecessors to see how they've fared against me?"

"I am calling about surrender...."

The War Admiral blinked. "I'm sorry, but we're not taking on any prisoners at this time." Lieutenant Obe chose this moment to walk over to the Admiral with a pad, and handed it to him, which he promptly signed. "Thank you," he said, looking up at Obe, who returned to his post.

"We are calling for your surrender!" Torss hissed angrily.

"Sorry, we're not in the market for that either," said the War Admiral. "The way I see it," and he put no special emphasis on his words, "we have you outgunned. Captain?"

Took, standing at the holographic map, pointed to the images of the Insect fleet. "Two carriers, a few heavies, some destroyers... an easy job." He turned and directly faced the War Admiral. "Please, War Admiral, let me launch an attack against them, please?"

"I'm having trouble restraining my men," said the War Admiral. "You understand, I'm sure. If you want to live, you'd better retreat now."

"We do not retreat!" Torss hissed again.

"Think of it as a strategic withdrawal, then," said the War Admiral. "End communications," he nodded to what he thought was Shishman, though it was Obe who was at his console.

*******

"Well?" said Torss.

"It was quite obviously an act!" said Sstosss. "They made a point of showing that they had vision, which proves they do not!"

"How can they pretend to have what they do not have?"

"We saw a crewman walk forward. That could have been rehearsed. Even a blind being can walk rehearsed steps. We saw the War Admiral sign something in his hands. That is not difficult either. I am more convinced than ever that they are all blind--and I can prove it." Sstosss ordered the comm being to pull up the record of the most recent communication. "Scan the Admiral's eyes; what was he looking at during the conversation?"

The communications being looked to Torss for permission; Torss nodded.

In a moment the analysis was complete. "Run, with overlay," Sstosss ordered.

On the screen they could see themselves, with Admiral Torss speaking to the War Admiral. A red arrow appeared on the screen, just to the right of Admiral Torss. There it stayed throughout much of the conversation.

"Just as I thought!" said Sstosss triumphantly. "Don't you think it a little odd that during your communication the War Admiral was always looking past you?" Sstosss said.

"This is merely a projection," snapped Torss. "We don't know exactly how our image appeared on his screen, or precisely from what angle he was looking."

"If you will not attack, permit me the honor!" said Sstosss.

Torss considered. If word of her hesitancy got back to the Queen, she would surely be relieved of command, and probably worse. But to attack without certainty...

"All right," said Torss finally. "I will order an attack. A probing attack. Two squadrons."

"Only two squadrons!"

"If the humans are blind, we shouldn't have any losses, should we?" said Torss. "If this attack is successful, then we will launch our remaining squadrons."

*******

"They're launching," said Took. "Looks like two standard Insect squadrons, G class fighters, 19 ships each."

The War Admiral nodded. "You'll have to take Wildcat "A" to intercept them."

"Uh, sir," said Took. "I don't want to be too sarcastic, but you have to know that Wildcat "A" is not exactly up to full strength right now. In fact, we're a bit less than full strength. In fact, you might say it's just me, and Obe-."

"Take the pilots you need from the Blue Luna," said the War Admiral.

"The Blue doesn't have any fighter pilots right now," said Took. "Oh... I see what you mean."

"Shuttle pilots, transport pilots, anyone who's ever had experience flying anything outside of an atmosphere," said the War Admiral. "Find ten warm bodies."

"Me and Obe and ten amateurs, against 38 Insect fighters? How can we defeat them?"

"I can," said the Ken Pilot, appearing on the bridge. "I'm joining you."

"Ah, have you regained your site, K?" said Took, hoping against hope.

"No."

"So you're blind."

"Just get me to my ship, I'll do the rest," said the Ken Pilot.

"So you're saying you're too blind to get to your ship, but once there, you won't have any trouble flying, or fighting?" said Took.

"Correct," said the Ken Pilot.

Took turned to Obe. "Is it just me?"

"You're running out of time," said the War Admiral. "You'd better call Harkness on a scrambled channel and make the arrangements. Hurry."

It wasn't just a matter of getting pilots from the Blue Luna; with the Luna's crew dispersed among the fleet, a more urgent problem was finding pilots on ships which had Wildcats stationed on them.

But, twenty minutes later, they were in Bay One, almost ready to launch. "I still don't think this is a good idea," said Took, standing next to the Ken Pilot.

"Just point me to my ship."

Took did so, and the Ken Pilot climbed up on the wing and into the cockpit. It was only when Took saw what the Ken Pilot was doing inside the cockpit that he began to understand. "What's that you're putting in your ear?"

"My audio sensor," said the Ken Pilot.

"Audio sensor?"

"It makes a different sound, depending on where the enemy ship is in relation to mine. When I hear this sound, for example" the Ken Pilot pressed a button, and Took heard a small sound. "I know an enemy is directly in line with my rear turret, and I can fire."

So that was how the Ken Pilot managed to fire both in front and in back at the same time!

"But how do you-"

"No time," said the Ken Pilot, closing his cockpit.

Took ran to his own ship.

As soon as they had launched, and he had linked up with the other Wildcat pilots, Took activated the special scrambled circuit he had set up with the squadron.

"Took here," he said, as soon as he launched. "Ok, I know a lot of you are new to fighters, they're just like shuttles and transporters, only much nimbler and with a lot of firepower. I want everyone except for Obe and the Ken Pilot to hang back while we handle the Insects."

"Three of you, against 38 of them?" said one of the new pilots.

"Obe and I are actually just going to watch," said Took. "The Ken Pilot has handled 40 enemies before on his own, haven't you, K?"

"41 enemy fighters," corrected the Ken Pilot. "But of course, I wasn't blind at the time."

Obe, flying parallel to Took, gave him a worried glance.

Would the Ken Pilot be able to literally fly blind? Was there a danger he might shoot one of them by accident? "K, are you going to be ok?" said Took.

"Yes," said the Ken Pilot. "I can handle all 38. It just may take a few minutes longer than usual."

"Don't worry, Obe and I will take one or two of them while you handle the other 38," said Took. Without a trace of irony, he added, "That should make it easier."

"Here they come!" said one of the pilots.

The battle began. The inexperienced pilots scuttled to get out of the way, and the Insect ships split off to give chase.

Took lined up one in his sights and fired. "Well, that's one down." Suddenly, laser fire burst around him as he was targeted by three different ships coming from three separate directions. He broke furiously, turning this way and that, but only managed to lose one of them. The laser fire burst closer to his ship.

"Obe, I'm in a bit of trouble here," said Took.

"I'm a bit busy right now," said Obe, and Took heard laser fire over the comm. So they were overwhelming him too.

Took twisted left and then hard right, but the two Insect G fighters still stayed with him, and their laser fire came closer. Then, all of a sudden, both ships exploded into debris.

"Sorry, I was delayed," came the Ken Pilot's voice.

Took did a quick glance at his short range scanner. Nine Insect ships had been destroyed.

Momentarily free from pursuit, Took went on the attack, destroying one of Obe's pursuers and a moment later destroying another. In a matter of minutes, the battle had had turned into a rout, and the remaining Insect ships, some fifteen in all, turned tail and retreated. But not before they destroyed two of the Wildcats with the inexperienced pilots. These shuttle pilots simply had no knowledge of sophisticated turns and rolls, and were easy pickings for the Insects, at least until the Ken Pilot had been able to turn his attention to them.

"All right, form up on my wing and let's head back to the Glory," said Took. "K, can you land with that hearing aid system of yours?"

"Yes," came the stolid reply.

And then Took realized that he must have done it once before, when he had brought Arkasian in.

*******

"Our squadrons were defeated!" Torss raged.

"Once again, you draw the wrong conclusion!" said Sstosss. "They sent out only one squadron to meet our two."

"And defeated us handily."

"Yes, because you didn't send overwhelming force, as I recommended," said Sstosss.

"What difference would it have made?"

Sstosss had a sneaking suspicion. "Give me some time to analyze the combat footage and I will show you."

*******

Two hours later Sstosss had her answer. She brought her findings to a now thoroughly skeptical Sstosss. "Look at the footage now". Each of the Wildcats were painted pink, except for three Wildcats which were painted blue.

"Notice how erratically the pink ones are flying?"

"So?"

"Do you notice how all our losses were attributable to the three blue pilots?"

"Is that true?" said Torss, showing interest for the first time.

"Yes," said Sstosss. "In fact, only one of the blue fighters accounted for most of our losses."

"How is this possible?"

"The other ships must have been flown remotely, or by incompetent pilots. I was wrong when I said that everyone has been blinded--but I would suggest that most of their fleet has been blinded. That's why they weren't able to muster more than three fighters to attack us."

"And the War Admiral?"

"He was obviously blind. The other crewmen must have been among the few who weren't blinded. Perhaps they were on a long range patrol when the explosion occurred, or on the far side of the fleet. Either way, this is conclusive evidence that they are blind. If we attack with overwhelming force, we can win!"

"I'm not certain."

"Think!" said Sstosss. "We're still at extreme range, and we're a smaller force. Why has the War Admiral not yet attacked us?"

Torss considered. Sstosss' analysis was still speculation, but it made sense. And if Torss didn't attack, Sstosss's report and Torss's failure would still probably be enough to get her removed from command. That left one choice.

"Launch a full-scale attack."

*******

Seven full squadrons launched from the flat tops, and the small fleet moved forward behind the advancing fighter screen. At first the humans didn't launch any fighters to intercept them. In fact, their fleet stayed perfectly still.

"You see?" said Sstosss. "It was all a bluff!"

But then, when the fighters and the fleet got closer, many things happened at once.

The Glory launched five of its eight squadrons. The Amory Til launched two fighter squadrons, and other capital ships launched several fighters as well. Fast attack destroyers and battlecruiser suddenly powered up, heading directly towards their small fleet.

In moments, the humans were engaging their fighters. Soon after, the Insect G fighters started to be blown out of the sky. Obviously, blind people were not at the controls of all those ships.

"What's happening?" said Torss. "This is no deception! You were wrong! The humans weren't blinded! Retreat!"

The fleet started to turn about, but the enemy fast attack destroyers were on them too quickly, firing torpedoes. Torss's ship was rocked by several explosions amid ships.

"Damage report!" shouted Torss.

"We're getting a transmission!" yelled a comm officer over the sounds of explosions.

The image of the War Admiral appeared on the screen.

"You!" said Torss. "It was all a trick!"

"No," said the War Admiral. "We were blind when you thought we weren't, but we were no longer blind when you thought we were. You were simply a victim of poor timing," said the War Admiral. "Would you care to surrender?"

Several more torpedoes slammed into the flat top, hitting the munitions deck. Suddenly, North's image of Torss's bridge was cut off as the flat top exploded.

On the bridge of the Glory, the War Admiral remarked, "I guess my timing was poor too."

*******

The small Insect fleet was quickly overwhelmed and destroyed, although there were some Wildcat losses as well. Not all the combat pilots were sufficiently recovered enough to fly, and some of those who did had suffered double vision and blurriness, which reduced their efficiency in combat. But they had secured a victory, while keeping casualties to a minimum.

Captain Roger Dulin appeared on the bridge. He walked over to his chair, where Took was sitting, watching the repair reports coming in after the end of the battle. "Good work, Took," he said. "I relieve you."

Took looked at the War Admiral. "Can he really do that, sir?"

The War Admiral hooked a thumb towards the bridge's starboard exit, but couldn't resist smiling.

"Oh, all right," said Took, grumbling as he got out of the chair. "It was fun while it lasted."

Dulin sat down in the chair.

Took turned back to the Captain. "Listen, Captain, if you ever need a substitute again-"

Dulin gave him a withering look.

"-I'm sure you'll find someone else," said Took, his voice trailing off.

The laughter on the bridge was as welcome as it was unexpected.

*******

"Hmmmm....." came the sound from the Ken Pilot's cockpit. "That's the sound of someone 170 degrees, behind me."

"And what if it's directly behind you?" said Took.

The Ken Pilot pressed a button in the cockpit. "Hmmm....." they heard.

"Sounds the same to me," said Took.

"No, it's different," said the Ken Pilot.

"A different sound for each set of trajectories," said Took. "How many different sounds are there?"

"Currently about 20," said the Ken Pilot.

"And how do you know if the sound represents an enemy or a friend?"

"The hum makes a slighter higher pitch at the beginning if it's an ally," said the Ken Pilot. "Listen." He played two examples, both of which sound identical. "Hear the difference?"

"No," said Took. "But I know one thing; we're lucky you're not tone deaf, or else we'd all be dead."

Zetho Arkasian, supported by Yurgi, hobbled over to the ship.

"Hey, I heard you made it," said Took. "You really saved us, pal."

"And the Ken Pilot saved me," Zetho rasped.

"He shouldn't be out of bed, but he insisted on thanking the Ken Pilot personally," said Yurgi.

"Thank you," said Zetho.

"You're welcome," said the Ken Pilot, without any overt display of emotion.

"Just one thing... I must know," said Zetho.

The Ken Pilot said nothing.

"When you pulled me out on the rope, it was attached at one end on your ship, and on the other to the cruiser. When you pulled me out, how did you know it would snap on the end attached to the cruiser, and not on the end attached to your ship?" Zetho looked quizzically, expecting an explanation of how the magnetic grapple worked and how the Ken Pilot had deactivated it.

"I didn't know," said the Ken Pilot.

"You didn't?"

"I couldn't deactivate the grapple, that's one of the parts of my ship I've been meaning to repair, and there wasn't time. I figured that if I pulled on the line, it could snap on either end, and that maybe you had a 50-50 chance of getting lucky," said the Ken Pilot. "It seemed like a reasonable risk to take, given the alternative."

Zetho, looking a bit shocked, nodded.

"I'd better get him back to bed," said Yurgi, giving the Ken Pilot a stern glance.

Took, grinning, shook his head. "K, promise me you'll never change."

"I don't make promises," said the Ken Pilot.