The Swarm

1 The Cosmos Fleet

The loss of the Cosmos Odyssey had been a significant shock to Joe but the fact that all the abandon ship practices he had insisted on resulted in the entire Odyssey crew having survived made his soul soar.

He had lost a jewel of a ship but he had not lost one person in the battle that they had been unwillingly thrust into. The three Cosmos Ships had suffered from an unexpected, unprovoked attack by a sentry spaceship that proved to be almost indestructible but the two remaining Cosmos ships had prevailed.

The endless hours of flight maneuver practices had provided the edge to the remaining two ships to evade the destructive alien vaporization ray while focusing the Hole generation beam on the almost impervious alien shielding until it broke through and the Hole generation beams eliminated half of the alien sentry spaceship.

Joe had his team salvage all of the technical equipment from what remained of the alien sentry ship. He hoped that the brilliant engineers on Earth would be able to reverse engineer the shielding and reapply it to the Cosmos ships.

He wanted such a shield on his ships.

There was no doubt in Joe’s mind that losing the Cosmos Odyssey was a significant loss but once again the commitment of dedicated engineers and space assemblers had worked a small miracle and he had been able to do an inspection walk through of the USS Cosmos Odyssey II.

It was almost a spitting image of the Odyssey.

Yara the captain of the Odyssey had made a significant contribution by locating the parts that would replace the ship she and her crew had lost. She had made its replacement her primary objective. She had been the Captain on the Odyssey, and she planned on being the Captain of its replacement.

She had become an ardent believer in Joe’s penchant for practicing because she knew that his insistent requirement of being able to abandon ship in less than three minutes had saved her entire crew.

Joe was now sitting by himself in the updated control room of the USS Cosmos Voyager as he took in the modifications that had been done on all of the Cosmos ships. He was contemplating how he should lead the three ships that once again would transit through the Hole to some far off location in the Universe.

He had become sensitized to the fact that the arrival of his three ships was not an event that was embraced by the beings that they might find on the other side of the Hole.

The commissioning ceremony for the Odyssey II would be held at the Lakland Base. President Lebak would be the lead speaker. Captain Yara Zepfly would follow and welcome her crew and have her executive officer raise the USS Cosmos Odyssey II colors at the number one position in the newly formed Cosmos Fleet Park.

The US Flag was located on to the left and the Cosmos Fleet Flag was to the right of the Cosmos Park entry. The Odyssey II’s flag would fly above the Odyssey flag on the lead pole to symbolize that it had ascended above it but not replaced it.

The Odyssey colors flew on the first pole because the Odyssey had been the first of the Cosmos fleet to have been commissioned. Then in a vee layout each flag of the Cosmos fleet followed. The flag of the USS Cosmos Voyager was to the right and the flag of the Cosmos Endeavor was to the left of the lead flag. The remaining three ship flags followed. He knew that from above the layout took the V form that geese always flew in. He noted that it would take another ship before he was leading a perfect V formation.

The Cosmos Voyager was where he, the Admiral of the Cosmos Fleet had his command and since his wife, Captain Lydia Tabada was in command he had no plans to change his location to the lead ship, the Cosmos Odyssey II. He knew that where he sat had little meaning since the three ships operated in a unified, synchronized fashion.

The first three flags were the flags of the three explorer ships that would soon be returning to the galaxy where the Odyssey had been destroyed.

Once in that far distant solar system, Joe would confront the population of the planet that had without provocation used an overwhelmingly powerful sentry guard ship to destroy the Odyssey.

It had attacked without warning but in the battle that followed the remaining two Cosmos ships had vanquished it. There had been no action from the planet so he figured they had counted on the sentry guard ship as their protection.

Joe was sitting and recalling that battle, the heroic performance of everyone on all three of the Cosmos ships and the fact that the intensive practice he had taken them through had saved all of them. He believed fervently that practice did not necessarily make perfect but it provided the basis for being able to survive and the survival of his people was where his mind always centered.

He had used the construction of the Odyssey II to put more armor, more armament, and the almost impregnable shielding on the three vessels.

He realized that the discovery of intelligent beings seemed to consistently result in battles that he did not instigate but needed to ensure that he won.

He would soon return to confront the people of the world that had destroyed the Odyssey and he would return with his three ships in a new state of readiness.

A readiness that he would bring to a new height by once again practicing with all the new tools that were now part of the ships.

He had returned with two battered ships, the entire crew of the Odyssey and the components salvaged from what had remained of the alien sentry ship.

The engineering support group had reverse engineered the alien shielding that had almost defeated an all-out bombardment of the Hole cannons from the two remaining Cosmos ships. The shield had been tough enough to withstand more than ten rounds of the Hole cannons. He knew of nothing that had ever withstood such power. He had never expected to face such a challenge.

The shields had been installed on the three ships that he would return to that galaxy with. The shields turned out to be almost impregnable but they only extended out in a circular pattern for about six feet. So, the shield generator and the overall shielding of each ship turned out to be similar to the overlapping scales of a fish. Placing them around the hull of the ships had been a challenge. He had inspected each of the mountings and had been reassured they could withstand three times the maximum force that a ship’s acceleration could exert on them.

That had not impressed him. He had commented that it was not the ships forces that he was concerned about but the impact of high powered missiles hitting and tearing the shield from its mounting. He had insisted that the mounts withstand a direct missile hit on a shield.

The subsequent tests exposed the fact that the mounting was indeed weaker than thought. After the tests all of the mounts were dramatically reinforced. Once that was done Joe felt that he was ready to hold battle practices.

He held as many practices as it took to have everyone know how to use the shielding in conjunction with the additional fire power that each ship now had. He also insisted that every individual know how to interact with all the automation that had been added with the additional weaponry.

He practiced until the Captains complained and then he practiced some more.

Lydia, Yara and Samantha knew that they were in for a round of practices the likes that they had so far not experienced. They had discussed Joe’s current mindset about how to direct the three ships in a manner that gave them a superior offensive and defensive proficiency as compared to any enemy no matter what their number. They knew he wanted them to be able to move the three ships as if they were dancing in a three dimensional ballroom.

Yara commented that she had complained about the number of times he had made them practice the abandon ship drill and his insistence that they do it in less than three minutes. She went on to say that his challenge had caused them to put in a second Door module on each ship.

Those practices and the additional Doors had saved the crew of the Odyssey. When she was faced with the reality of abandoning ship her crew had performed as if their lives counted on it and had broken the three minute barrier and had done in two which was barely fast enough for them to all get out. She had watched as the Door unit she had stepped into was dissolving as she went through as the last person to leave the Odyssey.

She shouted out that she was now willing to practice until her hair turned white if that was how long it took to meet the requirements that Joe set before them.

Samantha said she was in agreement because she knew that Joe had demonstrated an intuitive sense that had over and over conditioned all of them to be able to react in the right way without needing to think. She went on to say that under duress all the practice guided each of them to react by their intuition. He conditioned them to act in such a manner that they would not only survive but win.

Lydia added that not only was Joe focused on getting the crew ready. He had also brought on several times the amount of ammunition the ships were capable of carrying. She had been approached to see if she would see about reducing the number of missiles and the amount of fuel for the Hole cannon that Joe had ordered because there was not enough storage capacity on the ships. Her reply had been that they should enlarged the ships to fulfill Joe’s request.

She added that their two Rear Admirals had both supported her when they were asked the same thing. They said that they had great confidence that their Five Star Admiral knew what he was doing.

She smiled and said that the three of them had just finished inspecting the additional storage containers that had been added on the back of each wheel section, and they were aware that each of their ships were now double in size.

Samantha nodded and said that now their three fat ladies needed to learn to be as agile as when they were thin and light. She got agreement from Yara and Lydia.

Joe had called a three ship personnel meeting while still berthed on Earth and started out by praising everyone for volunteering to stay on board their ships. He let them know how pleased he was with the staffing changes that had taken place between the three ships. He smiled and said that he was also pleased that the top three interstellar Chefs had adopted a daily rotation schedule so that each of the ships could regularly enjoy their skills.

He paused while everyone shouted out “Voya, Voya, Voya” several times and clapped vigorously at that announcement. He was well aware how much everyone enjoyed having great meals and a dining area where they could converse and relax. He followed his personal belief that a Cosmos person with a full stomach led to a happy Cosmos person.

He then announced the they would practice with all the capabilities of their greatly improved ships until the Captains were satisfied, then they would practice some more until Commodores Tom, Linda, H Cubed and Darian were satisfied and finally they would practice until he was satisfied.

That got a spontaneous series of, “Voya…Voya…Voya” shouted out by the people in the meeting.

It was clear to Joe that the crew of the Cosmos Odyssey II were the loudest. They all realized that they were alive because they had practiced the abandon ship drill to the point they thought he had over done it. Then when it counted that practice had saved all of them.

He pointed at Jorge and Jerry and said that Rear Admirals Martinez and Delaney had reserved the Officers club for the rest of the afternoon and evening as the lead-in exercise to prepare for the upcoming practices.

He let them know everything would be free and maybe they should consider it the last time they would be able to have enough energy to enjoy anything more than sleep. He went on to say that the following day would be a no duty day but everyone was expected to be in their assigned bunks on their ships when taps was sounded.

After the meeting Joe let Jorge and Jerry know that he would make the rounds at the Officer’s club to meet everyone there but he would then leave early and fly to the ranch to spend the evening.

Uncle Ted and Trey had been privileged to have a visual and audio feed of the meeting and laughed when Joe laid out the practice session completion criteria.

Trey commented that Joe would practice until everyone was so tired that they would want to take back their willingness to do as he asked but later when it saved their butts they would all thank him.

Uncle Ted smiled and asked where Joe might have inherited such a personality.

Trey nodded and said that he had something to with it but he was sure it was his mother that had passed on those genes to Joe.

Uncle Ted nodded and said that was probably true. He then asked if he should get anything ready for the evening.

Trey shook his head and said that whatever they had available would most likely do. He added that Lydia would maybe want a light meal but for sure she would be thinking about dessert.

Joe made a point of engaging everyone at the Officer’s club and when he was done he signaled Lydia who was standing with her fourteen member crew who were all smiles as they chatted and joked. He liked how all the personnel on each ship had a tight relationship with each other and how the three teams had a camaraderie that he constantly tried to ensure was strong.

Lydia gave a toast to the best crew in the fleet, finished her drink and came over to where Joe was standing in the uniform that he had once sworn that he would never wear. She smiled because he had now worn it several times and he had also been promoted to the highest rank possible in any military. She knew that before they left the base, he would be in his jeans and a casual shirt that he preferred to be in. She would do the same and get out of her uniform into her ranch outfit. She realized that Joe had become adept at making his public persona the picture of what was expected by the people he interfaced with but she also knew that Joe had remained the Joe she had fallen in love with.

He was the Joe who had waited for her on the very first time any person had gone through the Door. She had been that person and his presence when she successfully transited through the Door had sealed their romance. She had fallen asleep the night before when he had put a blanket over her on the couch in the reading room and knew that was the night she had dreamt of a life spent with him.

The flight to the ranch was smooth and gave the two of them time to talk. Lydia reminded Joe that she had arranged a video chat that evening with her parents.

Joe nodded and said that he knew that Uncle Ted and her parents had set up a monthly chat session so for them it was normal to meet that way. He smiled and said that the two of them were the ones disrupting their parents.

Lydia agreed and added that not only had her parents formed a bond with Uncle Ted and his father but her brother had become a regular ranch hand during his summer breaks. She went on to say that his experiences had so far made a huge difference in his maturity.

Lydia said that she was going to check with Tom and Linda to see when they would figure out how to set up an Intergalactic connection so they could call home from wherever they happened to be in the galaxy so they could join the regular monthly calls.

That got a chuckle from Joe as he wished her “good luck.”

Later when they joined in the family chat, after both he and Lydia said hello, the evening turned out to be one where the two groups of parents had a great conversation and Joe and Lydia listened quietly.

Joe whispered to Lydia that they should relax and that the two of them should enjoy themselves during the following day practicing with their cross bows, then a swim in the pond and end with a special Uncle Ted lunch before flying back to Lakland.

Lydia nodded and said that it was hard not to think about getting to the Voyager and taking it through its paces. She wondered how it would handle with its doubling in size and weight.

Joe smiled and said that the extra weight should be almost negligible because they were in space. He added that he wanted the three ships to be able to fly in a tight configuration where he would be able to reach out and touch each of the other two ships.

Lydia shook her head and said that doing loops and changing directions would cause structural stresses on the ships that she wanted to get a handle on. She said speed would not be greatly affected as long as the ships were strong enough. She liked the idea of being able to fly the three ships as if they were one.

Joe nodded and said that he had several surprises that would test everyone’s ability to concentrate on their duties. He also had a test of the shields that would be very realistic and would be the most dangerous of all the practices.

He smiled as he thought about the one new weapon that he had designed based on a comment that Fabio had made about using his compound bow. He would try it out to see if it worked as well as he thought it might. The staffing he had suggested had been put into effect so the new weapons would have the necessary personnel to use them.

It was time to see how it would all work together. It was time for his three swans to practice, practice, practice.

2 Practice

Joe kept the Odyssey, Voyager and Endeavor going through all the maneuvers and formation exercises that Lydia, Samantha, and Yara had scheduled for several weeks. He was impressed with the abilities of all the crews.

Lydia synchronized the practices with the music of classical waltzes that seemed to make the entire exercise a virtual dance through the space. The crews seemed to like having the music and commented that it made it seem that they were actually dancing through space.

Yara congratulated her and said that she was now convinced that their three fat ladies could dance like young ballerinas. And she was honored to be flying on the newest ballerina.

Samamtha reported that her crew was humming along with the music as they went through the exercise sessions and that she had personally heard them in the mess doing so as they ate their meals. It seemed that the music had made a huge difference in the attitude of everyone, including herself.

Joe congratulated everyone on having honed their skills and in preforming flawlessly.

He asked his three captains what else they might have in mind.

Yara commented that she was now confident that the three Cosmos ships could do synchronized dancing but she was wondering why she had two people assigned to their new weapons that had not so far been used.

She said that the weapons were a simple looking affair and she wondered what of significance they would add. She had watched her two weapons specialists go through several exercises that included them getting into space suits and going out to the weapons and manually manipulating them but when she asked them about the weapons they said they were under the Admiral’s orders not to say anything

Joe smiled, nodded, and admitted that those were his orders. He added that he was sure that the new weapons would add a new, very powerful self-defense and significant attack capability that would surprise everyone.

He then said that he had one more practice to test the weapons that the entire fleet would participate in. He pointed out the locations of the other three Cosmos ships and said that they would be launching hundreds of thousands of bombs at them that if any of them got through their defenses the bombs could destroy all three of their ships.

He said that they would pretend that they had only one weapon that was left functioning and they had to do the best they could with that weapon. He added that weapon was what Yara was asking about and was mounted on all three Cosmos ships.

He called for a meeting of all six captains. Once they were all on line, he explained that the row of thirty new weapons mounted on the Odyssey, Voyager and Endeavor were his version of using a bow and arrow that had been modernized for space warfare.

Each of the weapons on the ships was computer controlled but had a manual over ride if power to a weapon was lost.

The manual override required a person to be at the weapon to reload and fire it.

Each weapon fired an arrow that had an explosive head that exploded on contact and then a second projectile that was inside the arrow with a steel jacketed head would ignite and accelerate through the initial explosion until it contacted a hard surface and exploded. The design was intended to have the first head open the object it had hit and the second projectile was intended to go in and hit the next surface inside the vessel that had been penetrated and then explode. This double action projectile was designed to rapidly degrade the hull of any vessel it was used against.

Samantha asked if the weapon had been tested.

He nodded and said that he had the ninety weapons installed and had recruited the people to fire them and wanted to make sure that the system functioned as intended.

He added that he had done the testing and had taken the six new personnel through their training and had qualified them on its use. He now wanted the six to get live training against bombs that would come at them in overwhelming numbers. He then said that it was the responsibility of the three Captains to ensure that none of the bombs reached their ships.

He added that he had recruited the Captains of the Endeavor, Empowerer and the Optimizer to participate by launching more than four hundred thousand bombs capable of doing serious damage if they hit any of the ships.

The Captains of the Odyssey, Voyager and Endeavor would be responsible to keep their ships from being hit as their ships took synchronized evasive action and eliminated all the incoming bombs. He said that he expected them to personally use the weapons and have their new weapons personnel provide backup support as might be needed.

He then made a point that any hits they took would not only indicate a need for more practice but would put egg on their faces. He asked if the three of them were ready.

He watched as Lydia, Samantha and Yara all nodded their heads and vocally said, “Ready.”

He then announced that the exercise would begin in five minutes and it was their responsibility to keep their ships safe. He then ordered everyone to battle stations.

Lydia called general quarters, put her second in command in charge of the Voyager and ordered computer controlled evasive actions.

She pulled up the control module for the new weapons and activated them. She asked the new weapons operators to back her up. She looked over the controls and selected the auto aim and fire mode. She hoped that the auto aim controls were accurate and her personal intervention would be minimal.

The three ships had no sooner started their evasive maneuver when the area radar picked up a cloud of objects swarming in from all around. Lydia activated the new weapon and watched in wonder as it fired continuously and seemed to create a cloudy mist that the objects behind it came through only to be hit by the next barrage of projectiles being fired by the new weapon.

It was an amazing and captivating sight that had to be ignored as the bomblets kept approaching. Lydia called for backup from her two new weapons personnel and watched as they improved the aim of the projectile weapons. She knew that Joe might ding her for putting the two operators in control but she was not going to take the chance of any of the bomblets hitting the Voyager.

Yara and Samantha were having a similar experience and followed an almost a duplicate approach to utilizing the new weapons and were just as amazed at its effectiveness.

All three of them wondered how Joe had thought up such a weapon. It was simple, effective, and very accurate as demonstrated by being able to hit the incoming bomblets that were about the size of golf balls.

The exercise had gone on less than three minutes when all three realized that there were so many incoming projectiles that they would soon be hitting the ships. All three seemed to come to the same conclusion at the same time and had all of their laser operators join in to eliminate the incoming objects.

The space around them became a haze created by the destruction of the incoming bomblets that flew at them as they continued to battle what seemed to be an endless stream of the bomblets.

The exercise suddenly ended when there were only a few stray incoming bomblets that were individually picked off by the laser operators.

The entire ship’s crew let out the shout of, “Voya, Voya, Voya,” as the exercise ended.

A few moments after it all ended, Joe again called a meeting of all the captains. He congratulated them on a great exercise. He then asked what should be done to improve the system.

Yara said that having all the weapons in one location caused an imbalance of her ship. Her acting captain had to keep making adjustments to keep the wheel spinning in the plane that it was suppose stay in.

Lydia and Samantha agreed.

Lydia suggested that they mount the weapons around on each of the sections of the wheel. That would provide a more even distribution of their weapons.

Samantha said she was in agreement but she would like to have more of the weapons. Maybe thirty per each wheel section.

Joe smiled and said that he was in agreement with her and he had ordered every weapon that was available before the next trip through the Hole. He had waited to have them mounted until the new weapons proved themselves during the exercise. He said that each of their ships would get sixty more.

They would be mounted in a balanced fashion around the inside surface of the wheel and the ammunition would be mounted directly behind them. They would each have a thousand shots before needing to be reloaded. Reloading would mean that the ammunition cannister would automatically rotate and another thousand shots would be available. Each weapon had three rounds of one thousand explosive arrows. The it would take ten minutes for the ammunition cannisters to be once again be filled and prepared for use.

Samantha asked if he was also loading up on the amazingly small and very explosive little bomblets that they had targeted.

Joe nodded and said indeed each of the ships had loaded the maximum number of bomblets possible and that she should check with Fabio to see how many pallets of eggs he had brought on board. He then added that the three ships had destroyed close to four hundred thousand of those great tasting little bomblets.

There was total silence as what he had said sank in. Then everyone burst out laughing and shouted, “Voya, Voya, Voya.”

Samantha laughed and said that she would not be able to sit down at breakfast and enjoy a soft-boiled egg without laughing. She had been under the impression that an egg in space would freeze solid within a few minutes but she saw the ones she hit explode and spread out like a strutting peacock spreading its tail feathers.

Joe nodded and said that it took several minutes for an egg to freeze in space but the eggs hurdling towards them did not last that long. He added that he had his space egg tester, Chef Van Dijk, test the eggs multiple times before he had let the eggs be part of the exercise. Joe figured he had not scored high on that joke when he only got a courtesy chuckle out of the group.

He went on to announce that everyone had a four day pass plus the weekend while the additional Sparrow Systems were mounted and integrated into the controls on the ships. It would then be time that the three ships would return to where they had lost the Odyssey to confront the people on that planet.

That got a “ Voya, Voya, Voya,” shout out of everyone as the meeting ended.

It was then that Lydia remembered the time that Fabio had said that Joe should take his bow out to the ship so that if the other weapons broke down, he could go out and shoot the enemy with his arrows. She smiled as she realized that Joe had come up with a weapon that did exactly that. It did not look anything like his crossbow but it shot arrows that were as accurate and deadly as Joe shot with his crossbow.

Jerry got the request to have the additional space arrow weapons mounted. He only had enough to put another sixty units on each of the ships and the resources to put them on. He was making sure that all the ships would remain balanced and the weapons would be mounted in a fashion that when necessary a person could be at the unit and operate it manually as Joe had requested.

He felt that Joe had once again come up with an improvement that provided a new, simple but very powerful weapon.

He also felt very good about having been able to deliver the new shielding for all three wheels and now he was adding a new weapon. He shared his jubilation with Jorge who replied that he was just lucky to have made the grade of Vice Admiral and that he could see that delivering such easy improvements was the reason for his joy.

A week later, Joe and the captain of each ship inspected and tried out every one of the weapons. After the physical inspections they did the same with the automated controls and made sure that everyone was capable of operating the weapons. And as always, everyone meant every individual on each ship including the kitchen crew got qualified on the new weapon.

Fabio made it a point to let everyone know that he had been the one that had suggested Joe take his cross bow to space and even though he never envisioned the weapon that was now mounted on each of the ships he felt that his suggestion had resulted in a new weapon.

Once everyone had qualified on the new weapon, Joe called for one more practice. Once again the three ships took evasive maneuvering action that was again done to music. As the ships rotated and the new weapons repeatedly fired to eliminate the incoming bomblets the entire crew rotated positions and were able to eliminated all incoming bomblets.

Joe insisted on the three ships traveling a random pattern through space but holding a formation that enabled them to control the three dimensional space around them. He had them hone this capability until the exercise was second nature to everyone involved and was accepted as a natural way the ships coordinated with each other.

The new projectile system functioned very smoothly. Having dedicated people at the controls of the new weapon removed the strain on the Captains and seemed to improve overall performance as indicated by not needing to activate any of the lasers.

Jorge, Jerry, and everyone watching commented that the three ships looked like space flying gatling guns capable of continuous very accurate firing as they created a cloud of what everyone now knew was what was left of the eggs that were pulverized into a pale mist. They also agreed that the three ships seemed to be ballerinas in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

After the qualification test, Joe congratulated everyone and formally thanked Rear Admiral Jerald Delaney and his team for having delivered the new shields and the Space arrow systems (Sparrow).

He added that he was sure that though the weapon was comparatively small it would be a key weapon that like the bird he was naming the weapon after, the weapon would eat its enemy’s lunch and help in destroying multiple opponents.

Joe then said that it was time. He then ordered the ships to return to the location where they had lost the USS Cosmos Odyssey. He had plans to confront the people on that planet to find out why they had reacted so violently without provocation.

The transfer through the Hole was always disorienting. The instantaneous nature of the move always caught everyone by surprise. Even after multiple times it affected everyone.

Lydia had learned to take the Voyager through with everyone at battle stations. This time it was not needed but the memory of losing the Odyssey was still fresh in her mind and it took her a few moments to give the stand down order.

The Voyager was to the left of the Odyssey II and the Endeavor to its right and all three had the second planet in their focus. They were ready for anything that might be thrown at them.

Those on the planet realized that the aliens had once again returned and this time they were totally helpless.