48. Warships
1559 Words
I go up to the command room and Elek is in the captains seat. He's dropping us out of hyperspace. Everyone else is at the table. Alden is in his paperwork. I watch out the window as a planet comes closer. "Is there life on that planet?"
"No life forms detected."
"It's perfect. Stop here Elek. Thank you."
Tobias throws his hands up. "I want life."
"There's life in this system, it's not on this planet, Tobias." Elek shakes his head.
"Go ahead and scan the planet with life forms." Then I smile at everyone. "I need a few brave souls to test something. We currently have 1000 warships on board with the potential to house 500 more. I can either have them made or we could make something else to put in that area. I need to know if they're worth it. They can be controlled by either humans or AI."
"They can be controlled at the weapons stations here as well." 4 sitting stations light up green.
Victor jumps up so fast his chair goes flying. "YOU'RE GOING TO LET US FLY THE WAR SHIPS FOR REAL?"
"If you want to. I want to know their capabilities, limits, handling. I need to know if it's worth placing 500 more on my ship or if we should put something else in the area. I want your opinions."
"WARSHIP. WHERE THEY AT?" Victor, Collin, and Tobias run out the door.
"Ship bring them back."
"Yes sir." Brains carry them back in.
Elek stares at me. "What the hell is a warship?"
Tobias and Victor scream at him.
"STOP." I throw my hand up. "Ship, bring up a model warship. Then give a description and show it with instructions. And put them in seats."
We get through the presentation and Elek runs out the door with Alden.
I rub my eyes. "Bring them back too."
"They are getting the headsets, ma'am."
They come back laughing.
I smile at them. "Sorry I thought you boys were excited too."
"We are not quite that excited, baby. Who wants to go out on a warship? You need to get the headset on."
Victor, Tobias, Clark, Collin, Alkawn, Elek, Tera, Star, Jenny, and Alden get them on. Then he winks at me. "You'll be directing baby. We'll go down to the release area."
"Ok."
"When you talk in this," he hands me a different headset, "we can hear you and talk back to you. You'll have 10 ships out there. Keep an eye on everyone."
"Ok." The 10 of them leave. I look over at Tim and Elroy. "I guess we have to figure out this part."
They put headsets like mine on. "They should tell us when they're ready to open the doors."
Elroy laughs. "Yea, don't open them now, they'll go floating off. We'll have to collect them."
I crack up laughing. Then look at the brain, "Would it hurt anything if they shot the planet here?"
"No. There are no life forms present and rockets won't cause a planet to explode."
"Great."
"Everyone is locked in a warship. Opening doors in 120 seconds. Air locking now. Press the green button to speak to all of them."
I press the button. "Good afternoon. This is your command. We have a 120-second count-down on the air lock. So get comfortable." Tim motions at me. "And enjoy this message from Tim."
"We would like to remind you that you are sitting in a weapon of war. It is equipped with real rockets and lasers. You will be traveling at a high rate of speed. Always check your surroundings. Also note, the ship you are sitting in has AI capabilities. If, at any time, you feel confused or disorientated. You can ask the ship to take over controls or ask the ship to explain things. You should also know that we can take over your ship from the command room. If you stop responding, you will be returned."
I nod. "And a final few rules. This is not a war. Do not engage weapons. I will pull your ass out right now. Follow commands instruction, while you are out there. I will give you a mission. You will try to complete it. Now we are at 15 seconds. Enjoy the trip. 10 seconds."
The ship takes over the countdown. Then Elroy says, "Open weapons bay doors. Begin launching warships."
The lights flash red. Then I see ships outside.
Victor yells. "THIS IS AMAZING."
Someone flies by our front window and I nearly piss myself.
Tim yells, "TO CLOSE. GET AWAY FROM THIS SHIP. DON'T HIT US."
Tara says, "Sorry, I'm afraid of getting too far away."
"We'll bring you back if you get too far. You're all in green."
Elroy stands up, "Bring up the maps, so we can see them all."
A big laser map shows up, and we can see each ship and information about it. Speed, direction, we can even see how the pilot is doing.
"Everyone, please stop moving and try to hover." They do it. "Good job. Continue on. I was checking if they could do that."
The 3 of us watch them and answer questions they ask for 5 minutes. Then I hit the button again. "I would like you to line up 50 feet apart facing the planet and hover." It takes them a few minutes, but they get it figured out. "Lock missiles on to the planet."
We watch our screens and see each of the ships turn red.
Elroy nods. "Red indicates they are locked on. I think we can actually see what they're locked on to as well." He touches a ship and the ship's window shows up. We see it's locked on the planet. I nod. "Fire in 3...2...1" Every single ship fires a rocket.
I watch out the window as a bunch of explosions happen on the planet. "Good job everyone. Fire at will. But still do not shoot my ship or each other."
They shoot more rockets then start flying around again. They seem to have fun for a while. Then the scan comes back of the planet.
I hit the green button again. "Command will be taking over your ships 1 at a time. We are going to return them. I want you to feel how that would work. Please do not exit the warship once you are returned to the dock. Airlock will still be in effect. So, relax for a couple of minutes, and we will get you out of there."
Tim comes over. "Ai return all the ships except 3. We will bring the 3 in."
Clark says. "f**k that was sudden. All of a sudden, I had no control."
Alkawn says, "Same."
Me, Elroy, and Tim each grab a remaining ship and attempt to fly them back to our ship. We end up letting the AI do it. It's confusing.
"Thank you everyone for testing this. You are on a 30-second countdown. The dock is decompressing. Meet back in the command room when you get out of there. The scan came back on the planet with life. 10 seconds."
A few minutes later, everyone comes in and sits down. "Should we go for 500 more or wait for something else?"
Victor can barely sit still. "500 more. We can always move them out later if something better shows up. Those things pack a lot of power. Did you see those rockets hit the planet?"
"Yes we did. Did you all agree with that?" They nod. "Great. You'll need to learn the controls from this side as well. We actually couldn't drive your ships. We tried and it was horrible. But there are a lot of controls on this side. So next time we do that, some of you will be here. Now for the planet scans..." I point at the brain and sit.
A planet shows up floating above the conference table. "Plant and animal life is plentiful on this planet. The location of the sun and environment are perfect for life. There is also plenty of fresh water available."
"Have humans been found?"
"Yes. Population 500,000 all inside 1 continent."
Jenny scratches her head. "Why aren't they on the other 3?"
"It can be presumed they do not know how to travel there yet."
"Are there any alien parasites?"
"None detectable at this distance."
"How are they living?"
"By eating, breathing, drinking, reproducing."
"No." I shake my head.
Alden laughs. "Can you show us the inside of a town here?"
A laser village pops up on the table. There's a fire in the middle that a few people are cooking on. The houses look like huts. Some people seem to be sleeping in straw. Clothes are brown. Shoes don't exist.
"Any area's of any technology?"
"It does not appear so, sir."
Alden shrugs his shoulders and looks at Tobias.
"I could definitely help them. Give them shoes and tools."
"Do you have a plan for getting them to submit?"
He looks at the village on the table, "Flash our pretty lights at them?"
I crack up laughing. "That might actually work."
Alden leads us out. "Let's go make contact. You don't have to get out of the shuttles if you don't want to, but I want everyone riding with us. You may see something we don't."
- Writer
