Talosian Chronicles 2: Star Dancer by Ben Winston Page B

attitude could be helpful in the upcoming fights,” Ty replied.
    “I’ll leave that up to you and the recruiters,” Ian said. “Now, Lieutenant Johns and his team have designed a new fighter and are trying to get it built and tested so we can build more. If it works, and we can get them built, they will greatly help our defenses. They have also developed a retro-fit kit for our existing Hornet fighters that will give them stronger armor and weapons, while retaining the fighter’s agile performance profile. Again, that is still in testing. Those are the projects I was asking him about when discussing the shuttles.
    “I believe that Chief Brighton and Chief Eischens may have a few more ideas, but I also encourage each and every one of you to think of ideas as well. Even if we decide not to use them, we still need them,” Glancing around the table, he saw Janet and the middle-eastern man sitting next to her.
    Ian slapped his own forehead. “Where are my manners? Everyone, please welcome Ash Borhiem, he will be the military liaison officer on the moon base. It will be his responsibility to see that the weapons that are designed get built in an orderly and timely fashion. Basically, he will be taking over the job Kyle is performing for us at the moment.”
    Amid the welcomes and personal introductions, Kyle, who was grinning, said. “Sir, you can’t get down here soon enough for me. I feel way out of my league here, and I’m scared I’ll overlook something.”
    “I am sure you have been doing a wonderful job, Lieutenant. But I can understand you wanting to get back to your other duties. I may still need your help from time to time, and I hope you don’t mind if I call on you for that,” Ash said with a heavy accent.
    “I would be honored to assist you, Sir,” Kyle replied.
    Very quickly the meeting got back underway. Chief Eischens stood and Ian nodded to him to proceed.
    “As per our last conversation, Commander, my section and I have been working to come up with plans to implement the doctrine of misdirection you suggested. I believe the name for this, although somewhat misleading is called low intensity conflict. Our older people might remember it as being called guerrilla tactics.
    “Part of our mission is to identify enemy targets and assign a value to each based on our knowledge of the enemy. We feel that the enemy may only be coming here to evaluate reports of our activity as observed by the freighter crews and the Caldarian agents on Earth. Based on what we know of Caldarian mentality, and honor, we feel that when the ship gets here, the commander will want to return home covered in glory; he could easily do that be simply subduing the planet once and for all.
    “That would certainly explain the vision Mrs. Laskar had of the coming battle. Regardless of why the ship is coming here, we have identified one thing above all else as its primary mission. That is to verify the true status of this vessel. When it gets here, the first thing it will do is make sure Olympus is still a crumbling hulk left on the lunar surface. We need to ensure that is exactly what they find when they arrive,” he finished.
    “How will they explain the sensor readings and other proof that the freighters had to have on our existence?” Chief Dommer asked.
    “Not for us to worry about, Chief. We’ll let the Caldarians worry about answering that,” Eischens grinned. “Besides, if all goes well, it won’t be the only mystery to occupy their time.”
    “What did you have in mind for other mysteries Chief?” Ian asked, liking what he was hearing.
    “Well Sir, mostly small actions. Create several small drones that do nothing but jump around the system. Each one would have different mass signatures, or could give false readings randomly, so they never appear to be the same ones.
    “Create other drones that can emulate Star Dancer on sensors, but equip them with cloaking generators so they disappear when something gets too