COMMODORE HENRY GALLANT

  H. Peter Alesso

  THE HENRY GALLANT SAGA

  Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space © 2013

  Lieutenant Henry Gallant © 2014

  Henry Gallant and the Warrior © 2015

  Commander Henry Gallant © 2016

  Captain Henry Gallant © 2019

  Commodore Henry Gallant © 2020

  Henry Gallant and the Great Ship © 2020

  Other Novels by H. Peter Alesso

  Captain Hawkins © 2016

  Dark Genius © 2017

  Youngblood © 2018

  COMMODORE HENRY GALLANT

  H. Peter Alesso

  hpeteralesso.com

  © 2020 H. Peter Alesso

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, dialog, and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from:

  VSL Publications

  Pleasanton, CA 94566

  videosoftwarelab.com

  Edition 1.00

  ISBN-13: 9781704389165

  ∞

  It’s the detours a warrior takes

  that make his struggle remarkable.

  Stars Surrounding the Solar System

  United Planets—Task Force 34

  Captain Henry Gallant

  2 Spacecraft Carriers – Constellation, Courageous

  Starfighter Space Wing

  72 Viper I

  96 Viper II

  12 Hawkeye

  2 Battlecruisers – Indefatigable, Indomitable,

  12 Cruisers

  48 Destroyers

  2 Stealth Recon – Warrior, Invidia

  12 Auxiliary Support Ships

  Marines

  Major James Steward

  1st Marine Raider Battalion

  Chameleon

  The Great Ship

  Titan—Home Fleet

  Admiral Zzey

  6 Spacecraft Carriers – Vampiri,

  Starfighter Space Wing

  216 Fighters

  216 Bombers

  24 Search

  6 Dreadnought

  6 Battlecruisers

  96 Cruisers

  288 Destroyers

  288 Auxiliary Support Ships

  Titan Gliese-Beta Planetary Defenses

  24 Orbiting Battle Stations

  120 Ground Missile Bases

  444 Fighters

  Asteroid Fighter Base

  Fighter Command & Control Center

  216 Fighters

  24 Search

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1 Unidentified Flying Object

  Chapter 2 The Matryoshka Doll

  Chapter 3 The Great Ship

  Chapter 4 Portrait

  Chapter 5 Persuasion

  Chapter 6 Treasure Map

  Chapter 7 Liberty

  Chapter 8 Constellation

  Chapter 9 Everyone Lies

  Chapter 10 President-Elect

  Chapter 11 Hell Week

  Chapter 12 Lord Protector

  Chapter 13 Lucky 7

  Chapter 14 Treaty

  Chapter 15 Diary

  Chapter 16 Secrets

  Chapter 17 Cruel Business

  Chapter 18 Operation Damocles

  Chapter 19 Trojan Horse

  Chapter 20 Hawkeye

  Chapter 21 Gotcha

  Chapter 22 Launch

  Chapter 23 Renege

  Chapter 24 Gung Ho

  Chapter 25 What If

  Chapter 26 Thunder and Lightning

  Chapter 27 Over the Top

  Chapter 28 Decoy

  Chapter 29 Missile Lock

  Chapter 30 Raining Fire

  Chapter 31 Engage

  Chapter 32 Tethered

  Chapter 33 Better Late

  Chapter 34 Homeport

  Chapter 35 Home

  From the Author

  Chapter 1

  Unidentified Flying Object

  Lieutenant Rob Ryan was bored.

  He hated the mundane tasks of being a squadron leader. He liked ‘fast’—the faster, the better. But that wasn’t happening today as he cruised over Earth in his Viper.

  He was stuck with the tedious job of training his new wingman, Glenn Holman, in strafing maneuvers against the Antarctic target range.

  As he executed a simple wingover in his starfighter, he was about to comment on the poor performance of his novice companion when out of nowhere, the world changed, shifting with shocking suddenness.

  That’s not possible!

  He instinctively flung an arm across his face to ward off the seemingly endless wall of steel that had materialized in front of him.

  I must be hallucinating!

  Heart-throbbing fear gripped him.

  But there is something delicious about fear. It starts with bitter panic and grows into sour excitement—until, at last, comes sweet courage.

  Ryan pulled his arm down, tightened his grip on the thruster, and yelled, “Hard to port! Max thrust! Flip gyros!”

  Over the next several seconds, he concentrated on avoiding a collision with the mountain of metal.

  In the first second, he felt the chest-crushing weight of 14 g’s as his Viper began the pivot.

  In the next second, he fought down the blackness of his vision, narrowing into a tunnel as 20 g’s tested the limitations of his pressure suit.

  By the third second, he felt as if he was being squashed like a ripe tomato—right before he blacked out.

  Several seconds later, he came to, blinking against the glare of the sun. Even as he aimed his ship toward it, he heard Holman gasp, “I can’t . . . make it . . .”

  Almost immediately, Ryan saw the brilliant red-white explosion of Holman’s Viper as it went splat against the steel wall.

  He sighed with relief when he saw an escape pod spiral toward Earth.

  ◆◆◆

  The July blizzard howled across the high plateau of the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Antarctic Station, leaving a record snowfall of crystalline ice in its wake, and blustering so hard that the Earth defense sensor arrays were blanketed under the full fury of the whiteout. So powerful was the blizzard that sharp flecks of ice pierced the multilayered protective gear of the technician sent to investigate some minor static interference. As the man crawled toward the besieged sensors, his hands lost feeling despite the well-insulated flex-gloves. A large scavenger Skuas bird dive-bombed him, causing him to grab hold of the lifeline tether to keep from falling off the sheer rock cliff.

  “Damn!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Against the howling of the wind, he could barely hear the question. During the six-month southern hemisphere ‘night,’ the wind blew at 160 km/h, and the temperature dropped to minus 89 °C. Despite the harsh conditions, the dry atmosphere and extended darkness made the station the Earth’s best location for astronomical observations. It had every conceivable type of sensor from microwave telescopes to neutrino detectors. The sensors were so accurate and dependable that the people of Earth rested reassured of their absolute safety.

  The man gripped the taut cable as he spoke into the mic, “Why do I always get the crap jobs?”

  “Just do it. And better hurry. Something big is brewing.”

  Inside the station’s geodesic dome, a sensor operator screamed, “Contact! Contact over Melbourne. It’s massive!”

  The duty officer came over to the operator’s station. “What’s the problem?”

  The operator pointed, his finger trembling in shock at the image that filled his screen.

  Flabbergasted, the duty officer asked, “Where did that come from? No unidentified contacts have been reported!”

  “It just popped up out of nowhere.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “I’m telling you. Everything was normal, nothing but standard traffic patterns, and then WHAM! There it was.”

  “Have you run a diagnostic on your equipment?”

  “Look at the other sensors. They all show the same thing. We have a man outside checking some minor glitches, but nothing that would explain this.”

  “It isn’t a colossal malfunction? Do you think this is a bona fide contact?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  In the stunned silence, the senior chief operator said, “Designate contact as Tango 101, in geosynchronous orbit over Melbourne.”

  Still unable to grasp the situation, the duty officer asked again, “Why didn’t you spot this earlier?”

  “I’m telling you; it wasn’t there before. It came out of nowhere. As if it dropped out of cloak.”

  The dark eyes of the duty officer met the senior chief’s gaze. “That’s impossible. Even in a blizzard, our active sensors can penetrate any cloaking device within a million kilometers of Earth.”

  As he shook his head, the chief’s white hair fell across his grizzled face, but his eyes stayed steady. “Until now.”

  The officer asked, “What type of craft is it?”

  “Nothing in our databases even comes close. Visual images are starting to come in now. Man, it’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  The officer’s eyes bugged out. “Oh, my Gawd! That’s incredible. It’s enormous. What the hell is it?”

  His hand smacked the red alert button, and his voice e
choed over the base-wide intercom. “Activate planet defenses. Scramble standby fighters.”

  A second later, he said into the emergency radio, “Put me through to Admiral Devens, immediately.”

  When Admiral Devens responded, the duty officer said, “We have an unidentified flying object over the capital.”

  “Notify all missile and laser batteries to target the contact, but hold fire until further notice,” said the admiral, unruffled. “Have fighter command scramble all fighters and intercept the UFO.”

  ◆◆◆

  “Fighter command, this is Lieutenant Ryan flying Constellation’s Viper 607. I have Tango 101 in sight.”

  Like a minnow swimming next to a blue whale, Ryan flew alongside the alien craft examining its features.

  He said, “Tango 101 is a monster ship that looks like a giant squid. It has an ellipsoid body thirty kilometers in diameter with protruding spikes seventy kilometers long. This Great Ship is beyond the combined resources of all the planets.”

  “Is it broadcasting?” asked the command center.

  “Negative, according to my sensors. It has not responded to radio communications, and I can detect no emissions at all, hostile or otherwise.”

  “Shadow it, but do not engage.”

  ◆◆◆

  Twelve hours later, President Kent addressed the nation. “My fellow citizens, what you have heard is true. We have detected an alien vessel over Earth, but there is no immediate cause for alarm. Planetary defenses are on full alert. Our space fleet and fighters have surrounded the unknown spaceship. We do not know who these beings are, but they are not our Titan enemy. And though victory against that enemy may still seem a long way off, we are prepared to face any challenge they set against us. This new arrival has so far taken no hostile action, and our hope is that they will prove to be a benefactor rather than an adversary.

  “So, we must be patient until our visitor decides to speak. Until then, I am certain that you will all remain as brave and resolute as our proud space navy that stands guard protecting us at this moment.”

  Over the next several hours, news stations maintained uninterrupted coverage around the world. Opinions were divided over accepting the president’s optimism. Some listened to the vitriolic counterargument made by presidential candidate Gerome Neumann. He advised swift and total annihilation of the aliens who had violated Earth’s space.

  When it seemed that the tension couldn’t get any greater, an astounding event occurred. A shuttlecraft departed the Great Ship and landed at the Melbourne spaceport.

  The Great Ship

  Chapter 2

  The Matryoshka Doll

  Henry Gallant frowned as he entered the Solar Intelligence Agency. It held some of his most unpleasant memories. The facility reserved one underground location for its ultra-secret investigations where conspiracy, mystery, and suspicion were layered like a security protocol onion.

  A guard scanned his comm pin and led him to a small side conference room. As he settled into an uncomfortable steel chair, a familiar voice said, “Hello, Henry.”

  He looked up to see Julie Anne McCall walk into the room and take the seat across from him. Immaculate as always, she had an impressive presence. Although only a captain, her accomplishments had already made her a legendary figure. Her name was known throughout the fleet and within the highest levels of political circles. She lived in the center of a web of intrigue and secrecy.

  Even after knowing her for years, Julie Ann remained an enigma to Gallant. At times she had rescued him from certain disaster—only to turn around and send him into a ruinous adventure.

  He wondered which side she would show today.

  “Why did it take so long to grant me access?” demanded Gallant. He was seething with frustration after being excluded from one of the most significant events in his lifetime. The SIA had clamped down on the media and kept the most basic information hidden—even from the military.

  “Do you deny the widespread military implications of this event?” he asked as an image of his ship flashed into his mind.

  “Of course not,” said McCall pursing her lips.

  “My ship needs to know,” he said, pressing his hands against the top of the table. “I need to know what’s happening.”

  She avoided his eyes. “High-profile events take some finesse.”

  Her grin only served to irritate him further. Bristling at her nonchalant manner, he demanded, “Tell me about that ship.”

  “Don’t be so impatient. We’ll get to that in good time.” She sat up straight, her spine never touching the back of her chair. She opened her tablet, scrolling through the screens while Gallant tapped his fingers.

  As he watched her, he realized she was surreptitiously watching him. She was like a doctor examining a patient to search out all his innermost secrets.

  She’s testing my reaction.

  He crossed his arms.

  When the information she sought was displayed, she became intent and pressed her lips tight.

  She said, “The Chameleon have initiated a dialog. It turns out that that name is particularly appropriate. They are not only great at building stealth ships, but their bodies are stealthy as well.”

  Gallant brought his brows together.

  Her face was pale and earnest as she spoke. “The Chameleons can alter their appearance by stimulating changes in the spaces between chemical crystals in their skin. The process shifts the wavelength of reflected light to alter their skin color and texture. It’s natural, built-in camouflage, sophisticated enough that they can transform before your eyes.”

  “Such a natural talent must have motivated their interest in stealth technology,” suggested Gallant.

  “And if their ship is any indication, they’re great at it.”

  “You’ve spoken with them?”

  “A low-level delegate landed in a shuttle at Melbourne. I was fortunate enough to be one of those who interrogated him. He was not very forthcoming, and we learned little.”

  Gallant heard the strain in her voice, something he had never heard before.

  She’s upset. Worried, even.

  Although McCall’s face was pale, her words were quick and sharp. “He greeted us warmly but was guarded about their technology and the current status of their war against the Titans. Their ambassador has so far refused to meet with us. We’re also having trouble with their language. We can catch all their words but somehow never quite grasp the meaning. It’s as if we can’t listen fast enough to capture their full intent.”

  “You can’t understand them?”

  “Oh, they speak perfect English.”

  “What then?”

  “I can’t believe a single word they say.”

  “Why not?”

  “They are playing a multilayered game of intrigue beyond anything I’ve ever encountered. Even while we were in discussion with their representative, they attempted to access the SIA AI system. Fortunately, our firewall alerted us. We weren’t able to block penetration, but we could track it.”

  “You’re sure it was them?”

  She sighed. “I’d better start with what we do know. Their Great Ship, as intelligence is calling it, has such incredible stealth that they penetrated every one of our planetary defenses without detection.”

  “I’ve seen those reports. Quite a feat.”

  “It was. After all,” she grimaced, “the ship is a hundred kilometers long,”

  “Are they cooperating?”

  “Not so much. After the first few days of their visit, we uncovered some disturbing information.”

  “Which was . . .?”

  “From our earlier collection of alien artifacts, we already knew the Chameleons have an AI chip implanted in their brain. Their representative was open about their special abilities. That’s why we sent for you. We’re hoping, with your AI talent, that you might be better at understanding their meaning.”

  Gallant kept his expression neutral, though an electric thrill ran up his spine.

  “They speak with a normal voice, but we’ve become convinced that they use their AI chip to communicate telepathically among themselves. The AI chip also gives them access to encyclopedic knowledge—data updates, background information, who knows what else. By using a neural interface, we were able to pick up on a little of their communication process.” She gave a grim smile. “They didn’t tell us this, of course. Meticulous surveillance has its benefits.”