Chapter 15: Do You Have a Plan?

The two hundred Cadets were stunned. They were looking at possibly over 400,000 ships coming at them.

“General Delaney, I was in a confrontation with ten black boxes just above the Van Allen Belt a few days ago when coming back on one of our trips. I hit the Radar settings and we fired at three of them, blowing them to pieces. The other seven were slowly falling into the Van Allen Belt. I called a halt to our actions so we could watch. We checked below the Van Allen Belt, they all burned up.”

“General Ceca, thank you, that gives us another tool. Do you have a plan?” Bob asked.

“Yes. I asked Lord Heat and he agreed with me. He said we line up fifty 885s perpendiculars to their convoys and put the 885s on their un-numbered listing and we fire ten times into that convoy. We have three or four thousand 885s and saturate the Spider Convoy with anti-matter. We have all our 336s, 446s and 556s clean up the leftovers. One fifty thousand in convoys were sent to Hell. We pick off the closest one then, take a day to reload. We ask the Chinese and Russians to assist on the bigger convoys that are further away.” Ceca got a standing applause for her words.

“General Ceca, and Rowland, do we have interpreters?” Bob asked.

“Lieutenant Bo and Captain Sal Jacobson. Please step forward.” Two people who both wore the yellow ties of Funston Cadets stood at the lectern with Ceca. “These are two of six we have here on Earth. There are another six on Funston. We have these TDA until our Operations Command returns.”

“Bob looked around then said about twenty words in Madeiran Chinese.”

“Lieutenant Bo lit up the room with her beautiful voice responding along with more.”

Bob conveyed the meaning, “You love your parents and have three brothers and a sister. Bo is the oldest and her parents are engineers working at Funston. She likes the new 775s but prefers to fight in the 336s. Lieutenant Bo hates spiders of any kind.”

General Bob rattled off something in Russian?

Captain Sal Jacobson replied in English, “My parents are also engineers and work with the clearing of land of the White Sand. I too have a brother and a sister. I was raised in Russia; my father met my mother in Moscow. I too like the new 775s, but I have a bias on the 555/556s as the ship of choice to fight in.” Sal looked around, “Did you know Lord Heat has put up a big building and many little buildings. A month ago, they have built twenty 556s and ten 336s. They were in the testing phase this last month.

“Thank you two for answering my questions.” General Bob said. He looked in the direction of Ceca, “General Ceca, I did not get formally introduced to you. May I hear your sir name again, please?

“Yellow Hair Sir. Why do you ask?”

“I had a Gunnery Sergeant that saved my Daughter Susan’s life. The Command where I was CO of was in an area with poisonous snakes. At five she picked up one and got bit. Staff Sergeant Yellow Hair knew exactly what to do. The people at the hospital certainly believed he saved Susan’s life. A short time later I gave a luncheon where I was going to promote the man to E-8. I went to where he worked to pick him up and was told that his wife was in the hospital with an unexpected early delivery of his son. I went to the hospital and found the man with his daughter in the waiting room. After getting permission from his five-year-old daughter, I commanded the man to go be with his wife, no matter how long it took. I sat with the daughter so the husband could be with his wife. The little girl promised to call me Uncle Bob. I believe the baby boy was named Jimmy.”

“UNCLE BOB!” Ceca moved quickly until she could hug the man that played with her, feed her, then held her for two more hours as she took a nap. Her daddy was helping her mom have a baby and she was so scared. He had two stars on his collars. As she hugged the man, she repeated over and again, “Thank You!” Ceca was surprised when she saw Jimmy give General Bob a fist bump and a thank you after a salute.

Ceca took General Delaney’s hand and dragged him back to the lectern. He ended up in front of the mic, “It is always wonderful to meet old friends.” There was much applause that agreed with the General, “General Ceca is correct in the knowledge that we need to do something. Maybe not for apparent reasons. We need to get as many countries as possible to get involved. If we win a decisive battle, then we don’t have to tell the world anything. They will hear it from their people. It won’t be just you and me, it will be us. Not the United States US, but the world US against the 80 or 90% that are left out there.”

Every one of the more than two hundred came to their feet, with the noise blowing the roof off.

Tom and Jacob moved towards the lectern. When they got there, Rowland was there also, “Generals I suggest we move to the Command Headquarters at the Amarillo Airport.” Tom announced in a loud voice. Rowland looked at his watch and realized it was just after 8:30 PM Central time. That would make it 5:30 AM in Moscow and Beijing was five hours different at 10:30 AM.

“Communications up and running?” Rowland asked.

“Sure Boss,” Jacob said. Rowland rolled his eyes. He had been warned about Warrant Officers having their code of ethics. Tom was nodding his head to the affirmative. General Bob was also smiling.

“I need to call Moscow and Beijing on a party call,” Rowland stated.

“No problem, boss.” Jacob smiled.

“Ladies and Gentlemen let’s move to the new headquarters at Amarillo. Ten PM is an ideal time to talk to both Moscow and Beijing. Rumor is we have phones that can accomplish such a feat.” Rowland shook his head. Rowland handed Henry his Mastercard having no idea what this was going to cost. Henry walked out with it and put $222.22 on the card and had Rowland sign it. Rowland signed it then stopped, what is this?”

“A tip for my staff,” Henry said. “When you defeat the spiders, come back, I’ll pay for that meal too. That room will hold a maximum of 360 people.”

“What should the cost be for a meal like that for two hundred people?” Rowland asked.

“My restaurant is doing very well. I have had 40 or more young people asking me how they can join the Cadets. Tonight, my wife and I learned a great deal about the cadets. Next time I see you please drop off some applications.”

Joe Brown (12) had been talked to by his friend and brother Jeffrey during dinner. Joe ran to the ship and brought back a stack of a hundred applications. Joe and his sister Karen (10) were taking over for Paul and Jeffrey. Joe handed the applications to Henry, “The food was fantastic. Thank you!” Henry smiled as he read the application for US Space Cadets.

Joe ran from the restaurant making the ship in time to board. His sister was piloting the ship as he sat down beside her, “I forgot, we’re not in a 775, I’m glad you can fly a 995.”

“You need to get that Cert big brother.”

“Who are you two?” Delilah asked.

“Colonel, General Rowland is our big brother.” Karen said, “We are Joe and Karen Brown. It should be Taylor.”

“Okay! How did you get here?” Delilah asked.

“Major Jeffrey asked us if we were willing to replace him. Lieutenant Karen has a Cert to fly the 995 Sir.” Joe said, “We both have certs for 775s, 445s, and 336s. I have an 885 and Karen has a 995. We both are working on 555s and 665s.”

“Enough said. Welcome aboard.” Delilah left giggling.

“What’s the story?” Rowland asked.

“Jeffrey! They have 5 certs between them and are your brother and sister. Joe and Karen Brown.”

“Oh!” Rowland said, “He’s still taking care of us. I’m so please for both Jeffrey and Paul. What a day.” Rowland gave Delilah a big smile.

“Not over with yet,” Delilah said as she felt her Lieutenant Colonel pins on her collar.

The trip to Amarillo was quick and easy. Karen and the “Hal” AI got into the ship’s spot marked for General Rowland. There was room for thirty ships the size of 775s then another seventy spots that would accommodate 555s or smaller.

As Rowland and his team stepped through the doors the stairway had changed. No longer were there two turned-off escalators with a set of steps between them, but in their place was a twelve-foot-wide set of oak steps with a beautiful white oak handrail and sideboards. Rowland and Delilah ran up the steps together holding hands giggling. When they got to the top, they both froze with wonder. The lights automatically came on showing them a super modern office for a thousand people.

Jacob and Tom were right behind them. The two men watched as Rowland and Delilah slowly approached their new office. Rowland turned, “Will the stairs hold our friends Lord Heat and Lady Ada?”

“We had four thousand pounds in the middle of them. Yes, they will hold!” Jacob said.

“Good, is the ceiling over twelve feet high?”

“Twelve feet six inches.”

“Good.”

“Is Lord Heat a good friend that may come here often?” Jacob asked, “How big is he?”

“Twelve feet tall. Five to six hundred pounds. His great-grandpa could have been Paul Bunyan. His wife is ten feet tall and is very trim at 300 to 400 pounds. Plus, I think they have five or six children or will soon, so they will have a dozen or more nannies to help with the little ones.” Rowland laughed, “Lord Heat and Lady Ada will defiantly come and see General Ceca if she is here.” Rowland chuckled.

“Who is coming to see me?” Ceca asked.

“Lord Heat and his Lady Ada and how many children do they have now?

“Just four. Wait, let me find our interpreters.” They had just entered one of the meeting rooms, Ceca left the secure room. She was back again in less than 3 minutes with Bo and Sal, “Have you heard anything about Lady Ada having her babies?”

“Yes, they have three more boys. Big boys and mom and boys are all healthy. Two in the 9 pounds plus range and one just over 10 pounds.” Bo smiled as she shared. Sal was indifferent. Typical boy.

“Seven children, two are four and two are two and now three new babies. Those two are so much fun to be around. They very much love each other.” Ceca said, “Just like Papa John and Mama Jenny.”

“I just got a TEXT. Tomorrow, call us at 7:00 AM, we have three hundred 556s, one thousand six hundred fifty 885s, thirteen hundred 336’s & four hundred 446s. Where to deliver.”

“Do we have pilots for the 336s? And 446s? And 556s? And what can we do about the two thousand 885s?”

“I have alone enough pilots to fill the lights,” Shellie said.

“Susan, any idea?” General Bob asked his daughter.

“I’ll be in LA at 5:30 AM.” Susan said, “I’ll find out then.”

“Tom, Jacob?” Rowland asked.

“We can be here with one hundred and fifty 885 pilots by 7:30 AM,” Jacob said.

“What if we commit to five hundred 885s and a thousand 336s?” Tom said, “I called them during dinner to start bringing all of the applicants in by 7:00 AM.”

Rowland, you said we had 4,000 applications in the First Regiment?”

“Yes. The First needs ships.” Rowland said.

“So does the Third Division.” Tom said, “All of the ships that had Rail guns of the Third Division went to fight the spiders at their homeworld.”

“They have 10,000 Cadets enough for all the ships...” Rowland was going to continue his thought.

“Rowland sir, they have five hundred 885s that are available because we shut down transporting passengers to Funston today. The Second Division has over two hundred and there must be another two hundred at Lewis/McCord. I bet the transport battalion has a thousand 885s and seven hundred 995s.”

“We have 100 at Guymon,” Jacob said.

“Sir, are you going to call up India?” Shellie asked.

“It would be nice to have Two thousand 995s there in case things go awry,” Rowland said as he scratched his chin.

“Amen to that.” General Bob chuckled.

“WHAT, Plans don’t always work out?” Susan was the one that loved to hear the war stories.

“Plans are good precise and accurate right up to the first shot. Then it is usually best to through them in the garbage out of your way so you can fight.”

“John Taylor has written, ‘We play by the rules until the first shot then we fight for survival.’” Ceca said, “I’ll be back in the morning. I’ll see if I can bring another one hundred teachers for the 885s.”

“Good night, Ceca. Sweat dreams.”

“Good night, all. Good night, Uncle Bob.”

“Good night, Ceca.” General Bob said, “It’s a very small world.”

“It’s almost Ten O’clock. Heidy, please call the headquarters for the Russian and Chinese Space Cadets.”

“Hello is this General Taylor of the US Space Cadets, Watcher Division.” A young-sounding Lady said, “I am Colonel Lee Yong of the Chinese Watcher Division.”

“Colonel Yong, I am General Taylor. We are waiting for the Russian Cadets.”

“It is late at night there, right?” Colonel Yong asked.

“It is just after 10:00 PM here,” Rowland said.

“Hello, this is Lieutenant Colonel Mesha Moscow of the Russian Cadets, Heavy Division.”

“Hello, this is General Rowland Taylor of the US Watchers Division. With us is Colonel Lee Yong of the Chinese Watchers Division.” It is 10:05 PM in Amarillo, Texas, United States, please tell us your time please.”

“It is 11:06 AM in Beijing, China.”

“It is 7:06 AM in Moscow, Russia.”

“Thank you, we have three convoys of the Spiders on their way here. The closest one is estimated to be about 45,000 ships. The second one is estimated at 60,000 ships. The third one is estimated at 160,000 ships.” Rowland laid it all out, “God says there is also a fourth Convoy but is weeks away.”

“So, we get to learn as we go. When do you want to go after #1?” Mesha Moscow asked. There must be an interesting story there. His English was better than some Americans.

“To make this work the best, we need to meet 48 hours from now at 10:00 PM Amarillo time Central Standard Time in the US. Can both of you make it and how many ships can you bring? Then for Spider Convoy #2, we need to meet in 96 hours and for #3 we meet 144 hours. I’m suggesting we meet for all three battles on the right side of the moon.”

“I would think we can send 6,000 ships with 885s and 556s being the majority of them.” Colonel Moscow said.

“Yes, we too will send 885s with 336s. Four Thousand 885s and eight thousand 336s.” Colonel Yong said.

“We will have at least ten thousand ships many of the 885s and the rest 336s, 446s, and 556s. I will follow this up with e-mails. Please verify all that is in the e-mail and send it back.”

The three verified their e-mails with what was on record. Rowland signed off, “Heidy let’s call up Space Cadets in India, A General Mihir Parekh please.” India refused to send Cadets away from Earth. They did say they would assist in a battle near Earth.

“Hello, is this the US Space Cadets?”

“This is General Rowland Taylor of the Watcher Division of the US Space Cadets.”

“General Rowland Taylor. I am Major Seyer the XO of the India Watcher Division. General Parekh is out getting all prepared. We go to God every night and he advised us we needed to join you on your campaign.”

“Wonderful, what time is it there?” Rowland asked.

“It is 9:48 AM. Sir.” Seyer answered.

“I hope to meet with you on the right side of the moon in 48 hours from 9:30 AM,” Rowland advised.

“Yes, two days. We have much to do. We plan on bringing ten thousand ships. We have modified it since we built the 996 for you. Like the 885s our new 997s carry two 336s with them. We will have one thousand of the 995s and one thousand of the new 997s with two thousand 885s and six thousand of the 336s. We would like to be held in reserve to only be called upon if something unexpected happens.”

“Major Seyer, my heart sings with pleasure to hear you will join us. As reserves are acceptable.

“God said we have three battles coming?” Major Seyer asked.

“Yes. First battle is 45,000 ships, battle #2 is 60,000 ships and Battle #3 is 160,000 spider ships. The third battle may take two days to complete.”

“When?”

“48 hours, 96 hours, then 144 hours.” Rowland shared, “You transport to God every day?” Rowland felt a shift and realized General Parekh was listening in. “General Parekh, my heart sings with joy for you to be with us.”