The Return of the Manhattan by Lee Ecker Read Free Book Online Page B

and they will not be up to speed. That is the standard defensive stance for all the battle cruisers and it has been highly successful in the past.”
    “That would be sufficient if our mission weren’t so critical and our total force so vulnerable.” Marie protested.
    “You wanted my opinion. That’s it and I’m sure that would be sufficient, but we will not be satisfied with that alone. The most critical time for the Excalibur will be during the launch of the shuttle and the starfighters when our doors are open. After the launch, nothing can penetrate our shields. David, I think we should keep the Excalibur moving above cloaking speed until after we launch the shuttle. After the launch, you can decelerate below cloaking speed, cloak, and then move to a new position. We will continue to orbit your vacated position as a decoy while keeping surveillance on your new position. You can orbit Juliet below cloaking speed and they won’t find you. Of course, you need to maintain a precise timed orbit and position. We don’t want any collisions between our own forces and the Excalibur. Marie, before you leave the ship, we will launch our remaining starfighters which will not return to the ship. They will remain with us until after you have made a high speed rejoin.
    David had a premonition that something wasn’t quite right, but it escaped him. He held Marie even closer until his fears subsided.

CHAPTER 9
    The interceptors had been in formation for twenty four hours when Kevin and three other pilots relieved the four who had been on station the previous four hours. While several thousand miles from Juliet, Commander and Mrs. White joined Marie in the shuttle craft ready, waiting until the remaining starfighters were launched. The shuttle was pushed out through the airlock and moved several hundred feet from the Excalibur using the powerful tractor beam most often used for the launches especially when underway at their speed. As Marie was given the all clear, she pushed the throttles forward moving the shuttle rapidly toward the rendezvous with Juliet.
    As Marie began to slow the shuttle for docking, she changed her radio frequency and called, “Space Station Juliet, Shuttle One ready for docking.”
    The controller’s voice bordered on hysteria as she shrieked her response, “Shuttle One! Break now! You have an unidentified fighter on your six.”
    Without hesitation, Marie shoved the throttles full forward while adding maximum input for a hard descending right turn. It was too late as the pirate fired his weapons at the first sound of warning, vaporizing a gaping hole in the side of the shuttle causing an explosive decompression. Marie and her passengers died instantly as trapped gases in their lungs and other body cavities expanded more rapidly than the gases could escape causing massive internal hemorrhaging followed by ruptures through the walls of their chest cavities. It wouldn’t have mattered as the remainder of the shuttle vaporized as the renegade held his finger on the trigger.
    Kevin was one second late as his Laser beam made contact with the renegade ship which was followed by an even stronger avenging blast from the Excalibur. The remaining renegade fleet of almost fifty fighters emerged from their cloaking and began to attack the Excalibur like swarming killer bees. The ensuing battle was fierce although short as the pirate forces made a major error in judgment attacking an impregnable vessel with its protective shield in place and within the deadly range of the Excalibur’s Lasers. The renegade forces were disorganized with their leader gone and unable to regroup before being utterly decimated. Those pirates lucky enough to fly out of range of the Excalibur were systematically hunted and destroyed by the technologically superior forces under Kevin Haugen’s command.
    Another shuttle was launched to retrieve the passengers before the Excalibur and her crew pulled away from Space Station Juliet without her