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The morning of september 16, E.S.C. started
well enough....Finishing work was being done to the "New York's" re-fitted bows. Lord and Ossyrus were both on her
bridge, discussing the new weapons system with Daarell and Shareena...When the city's warning siren's sounded.
Above, the atmosphere seemed to explode with a massive
thunderstorm. Spider lightning flashed across the sky, all fireing from a single point...Where suddenly, the giant white
ghost ship of Dectra, joined our dimension. With it, came a sort of E.M.P. pulse...Knocking many of the "New York's" systems
off line. Lord could only guess, the effect this must have had on the city.
From the monster's underside, the terrible "Electric
Globes" again settled out from their ports. The city sat...There was no defensive fire. (The power centers were indeed knocked
out, before they could even think of striking back.) This would be a "Turkey Shoot" thought Lord.
"Look alive everyone! I want what ever systems we do
have, to target that thing from here!" Lord ordered. The rest of the bridge crew worked franticly to get everything up and
running again."It's not an E.M.P. pulse, it's a power drain!" Ossyrus exclaimed. "Hey, I'll take any good news, right now!
How long before we can target enemy?" Lord replyed. "It's going to take a few minutes to charge the energy generators...But
I can give you visuals, now!" Shareena answered from the post she had been working on. "That will have to do!" Lord
said with frustration.
The view screen lit up, There was the Dectran
machine, enlarged as to fill the screen. The glowing spheres were still hovering from the ship's underside... From the time
lapse, it was guessed that the Dectran's had spoken to the Tunisian govenment, and was waiting for a response.
As Lord and crew watched, the communication post came
alive. "I see our friends have beat us, to the party!" came a voice. Daarell ran to the com. " 'Fraid so, Cappy...'fraid so."
he replyed. Lord and Ossyrus looked over to Daarell...This was Mr. Specter on the other end! "How close are you, to having
that ship ready, Mr. Daarell?" Asked the voice of Specter. "Not close enough, sir" Daarell said, sadly. There was a pause."...Understood
then. We'll send a greeting card for them. Phantasmica, out." came the response. Around the bridge, there was a look of confusion
from the E.D.F. crew...But the Specter crew, only smiled.
"Keep an eyez on that monster." Daarell
said with a feeling of confidence. Lord hoped what-ever Mr. Specter had in mind, could be done before the Dectran's fired
on the city. Unfortunatly...It was too late, the electric globes opened fire. Explosions rocked the capitol.
"Whatever you're planning, you might want to hurry it along alittle!" Lord exclaimed, watching the assault commence. Large
buildings around the city crumbled after being struck by the Detran weapons. Fire lept from the touch of these "electric"
energy pulse spheres.
Suddenly,..Several objects "appeared" around the Dectran
vessel. They "phased in" as the sphere weapons fired...Said objects exploded as they came into contact with the beams.
These explosions were powerful enough to rock the entire Dectran ship. "What the hell?" exclaimed Lord, as he watched the
view screen. "Mines,.. from the Phantasmica!" answered Shareena excitedly. Lord and Ossyrus looked at one another. "How'd
they get here?" Ossyrus asked him, quietly. Lord didn't answer...He was too busy watching his control panel with concern.
As quick as it came, the Dectran ship vanished.
Mr. Specter had saved the day, it seemed... "Sir, The Dectran ship...It was damaged! Several of those globe weapons were destroyed!"
Exclaimed the tactical officer. "Then they CAN be hurt!" smiled Lord. "...My reguards to Mr. Specter." He added, looking
at Shareena and Daarell. "Sir, I just got a coded message from Tunisian Government... The president wants to know how quikly
we can be ready!" Said the worried com. officer. Lord thought for a moment, then replyed. "O.K....Request a meeting, then.
I'll give him a situation report." Daarell looked at the Admiral nervously. "I'll make sure it looks official." Lord added,
calming Mr. Specter's people. "Thank you, sir" answered Shareena.
After meeting with the heads of Tunisia, Lord
called a shipboard meeting of his own. He gathered up all department heads, as well as Mr. Specter's crew. This group was
now in the operations room. "O.k. folks... Here's what we know. The Dectrans are using borrowed technology. These ships, seem
to be able to jump dimensions, like we warp space. The Globe weapons they use, left a reading of "null" energy." There was
a pause, as everyone tried to grasp the idea of this kind of power. "However....We also know that they can be hit...Thanks
to Mr. Specter. I've also been informed, the Tunisian's are about to launch a battle force of their own. That said...What
can we expect in a tactical situation?"
"Wellz sir... Each time, Dectra attackz... Wez only seen
one ship. Cappy thinkz, they ain't got many of 'emz." Daarell said. "Small numbers would mean more careful attacks...They
wouldn't want to waste them. That might explain why they left so quick, after being hit by those mines, sir" Ossyrus added.
"And, because they didn't build them... any damage might be hard, if not impossible to fix!" Shareena said. Lord pondered
all of this. "Thank you...All of you have confirmed, what I was thinking as well." He answered. "So,..What about the technology.
How do they do, what they do?" He asked, switching the thought stream.
"Captain Specter believes that they use a non-traditional
energy force...Something like a Quantum Singularity or Nutron Source...But beyond. Extra-dimensional is how he puts it." explained
Shareena.
Again, silence...The Dectran Tech was hard to
imagine. "So,.. sounds like a numbers game. They may have better toys, but we got 'em outgunned." Lord said. "I'll pass that
along to the Tunisian High Council. Good work, everyone."
" Sir, as to a tactical battle plan....This ship of yours,
will be ready in two of our days." Shareena said. Lord and Ossyrus looked to the woman, and the rest of Mr. Specter's crew.
"Ahead of schedule? Nicely done, all of you." Lord said with satisfaction.
Tunisian days are different from those of Earth... The
planet is roughly twice the size, but rotates slightly faster. This said, One Tunisian cycle is about 32 hours long.
The next two days were frantic. Ossyrus worked with Specter's
crew to get "New York" ready... As they worked, Lord had another meeting with the High Council to formulate a plan of action.
At the meeting's end, He slipped a letter to Martrees.
Later, Martrees meet with Lord aboard the E.D.F. ship.
The plan was explained to her...Along with a message for Mr. Specter. ( Lord had guessed that Specter and Martrees were
an "item", after a few comments had slipped from Specter's crew.) The message was simple. " Request: you to keep an eye on
Tunisian interests... Please stand by to assist, if needed." Lord gave the message to Martress, as it might be taken more
seriously.
On day two, news of another Dectran attack came. A
group of six supply ships had been lost. (Tunisia has shipping routes around the twelve planets in it's system...Both
for supply and research.) This was another blow...But, Tunisia was ready. Her fleet of defense ships would launch early the
next morning.
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