Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 17:55:27 +0000
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Boys of the Lady Lex Chapter 65

The Battle of the Wormhole is over. The Battle of Earth is over. Will the
Battle of the Odessa Sector end it and end the dominance of the Kriton
Empire?  The answers are in this chapter as Admiral Whitaker watches his
plans go awry in this chapter written by Ben. <Ben and Douglas>


The Boys of the Lady Lex
Chapter 65
"The Final Out"
Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin T. C.


	Admiral Natter sat on the bridge of the flag ship that was headed
toward the battle Admiral Whitaker was fighting against the Kritons. He was
going over the reports coming in from the battle.
	"Admiral, the captain says we will be on target in thirty minutes,"
said one of his aides.
	"We're not too late, are we?" asked Natter.
	"No, Sir. The SFA Fleet is holding its own, but we did lose a few
ships. The ,Ronald Reagan', ,Shenandoah', and `Frontier' were lost along
with several fighters. The `Roddenberry' "Lucas'. and `Arthur C. Clarke'
are incapacitated. The "Mariner", the `Ranger', the `Pirate', and the
`Rushmore' have taken heavy damage but they are still fighting. The other
ships in the fleet have undergone minor damage."
	"And the Kriton fleet?"
	"We have destroyed three of their ships, and wreaked havoc on a few
others, but they are standing strong."
	"Very well."
	"Excuse me, Admiral," said the Executive Officer, Commander
St. James. "I have an incoming message for you. But the message is coded
and can only be opened by you." He was standing in the doorway, almost half
afraid to enter the Admiral's bridge.
	"Who's it from?"
	"Dorian Foxx."
	This caught the Admiral's attention. Although Dorian Foxx was an
urban legend, a myth, a story that was told to scare young children, he had
heard the name frequently over the past few months. Dorian Foxx was better
known then the Jackal or James Bond had been over three hundered years
ago. And the thing was, no one had ever seen his face. And now this icon of
the underworld was sending him an encrypted message.
	"Patch it through." Natter was overcome by his curiosity, wondering
what Dorian Foxx had to do with the battles being fought.
	The aide sat at his station. "Captain, I am getting reports from
the `Orion'. They are in a battle with the Kritons at...at that point
Captain Hatcher told you about."
	"Shit, all hell is breaking lose. What's the `Bon Homme Richard's'
Battle Group Status? Get me Captain Watson on the screen."
	"I can't Sir. I was just informed that the `Bon Homme Richard' was
destroyed and that two Kriton warships and a science vessel just entered
into a wormhole, presumably headed towards Earth."
	Admiral Natter sat silently in his chair. A look of shock and
surprise was on his face. But deep down, he knew what to expect in the
message in front of him. He managed to decode the message from Dorian Foxx.
	"Admiral, are you ok?" asked Commander St. James.
	"Admiral, the wormhole closed. Only eight shuttles from the
`Lexington' managed to make it in," said the aide.
	Natter still sat there in silence.
	"I am receiving reports that the `Monitor' has been destroyed,"
said the aide.
	Natter wanted to break some ships off from his fleet and send them
to Earth. But he knew that they wouldn't make it time. All they would be
able to do is pick up any pieces that might have been spared by the
Kritons. He knew he had to concentrate his fleet on the battle at hand.
	"Matthew," said Natter finally coming out of his silence.
	"Yes Sir," said the aide.
	"Captain Ouellette is the Commanding Officer for the `Ticonderoga',
right?"
	"Yes Sir." The aide knew that the "Ticonderoga" was Admiral
Whitaker's flag ship.
	"I don't think I will be able to count on him then. He's too deep
into Whitaker's pocket. Who's the XO?"
	The aide quickly looked up the information. "Commander Christine
Nicosia, Sir."
	Natter let out a long thinking sigh. He had heard the name, but
didn't know too much about her. He wasn't sure if he could trust her or
not. But there was only one way to find out.
	"Set up a communication link with her. Make sure it's on a secured
channel and she is by herself."
	"Yes, sir," said the Aide. "And sir, reports are coming in that the
Battle at the wormhole is over." There was a long pause. "We won."
	"We haven't won anything yet. We still have this battle at hand,
plus the Battle for Earth. Commander St. James?"
	"Yes Admiral."
	"According to my monitor we will be entering the battle in fifteen
minutes. Hold course and fire at will."
	"Aye sir." Commander St. James departed.
	"Sir, communications are established."
	"Commander Nicosia?"
	"Yes Admiral."
	"Are you alone?"
	"Yes, I am in my quarters. This better be important, sir, we are in
the middle of a fight here."
	Natter immediately liked her. Just from her mouthing off to him
made an impression.  Most officers wouldn't say something like that
directly to the Admiral.
	"Commander, I need to know if I can trust you. I need to know if I
can count on you to do something even if it goes against everything you
learned in your years with SFA."
	"Depends on what it is Admiral. Now what is this?"
	"High treason," said Admiral Natter. His aide turned around and
stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth open. Natter figured that
Nicosia had the same expression on her face as well.

  *****

	TJ, Scooter, Jeff, and the other three crewmembers of the "Buford"
watched as one of the Kriton vessels made its way towards the "Savoy
Special". "The Buford's" systems were failing.
	"Oh my God, the second Kriton vessel just shot the `D'Artagnon' out
of the sky. They are moving in on us now," said Scooter.
	"Jeff, evasive maneuvers," ordered TJ.
	But it was too late. The "Buford" took a hit.

  *****

	Nipper fought back tears, but wasn't succeeding. He was sure he was
going to die. The Kriton ship was firing up their weapons to swat them out
of the sky like a fly swatter whacking an annoying insect.
	"Ben, do something," yelled Douglas out of desperation.
	Ben tried every trick that Kalon taught him, but the Savoy Special
was dead in space. There was nothing he could do but pray.
	"Douglas, I picking up ten more ships headed our way," sniffled
Nipper.
	"SFA ships?" asked Douglas with a hopeful gleam in his eye.
	"No, Geldon Raiders."
	"And the punches keep on coming," said Scottie.

  *****

	Trevor watched what was happening from the "Raptor". The only thing
that kept coming to his mind was the trick he pulled during the capture the
flag games. If the "Savoy Special" was destroyed, then two Collins brothers
would perish. But if...only one perished?
	"Take us in between the `Savoy Special' and the warship," ordered
Trevor.
	All eyes were on him.
	"You mad?" said Spencer.
	"We are the only hope for their survival. Now do it."
	Kyle obeyed and headed to the spot where the "Raptor" would become
a barrier between the "Savoy Special" and the Kriton Warship.

  *****

	"Douglas, the `Raptor' is getting in between us and the
warship. The Geldon Raiders are powering up weapons too," reported Nipper.
	"I bet they'd just love to get their hands on the Special," said
Ben. "But they're not going to if I have anything to say about it."
	"The Kriton ship is firing," said Andrew.
	Ben peered out the window to see how badly the "Raptor" was
hit. But she seemed unharmed.
	"The Geldon Raiders are firing back at the Warship," said
Andrew. "The Geldon Raiders broke off into two groups. The second group is
attacking the second Kriton Ship."
	"Why are they attacking the Kritons?" asked Scottie. "Geldon
Raiders don't attack warships. Only passenger and freight ships. This isn't
their style, their MO."
	"The second vessel just got destroyed," said Andrew with a yippee
in his voice. "The other one who was about to attack us is disabled and
badly crippled. The Geldon Raiders are hitting it hard and not giving up."
	Then Ben saw the explosion. The Kritons not only were defeated, but
destroyed on the Earth battleground.
	"Nipper, try to contact the Geldon Raiders. I know they don't
negotiate, but there is no way we can out fight them. Talk is our only
hope," said Douglas.
	Nipper tried to start communication. "They're not responding," said
Nipper.
	"The Geldon Raiders are leaving," said Andrew.
	"What? Why?" asked Douglas.
	"How would we know," said Nipper, who knew his brother just had a
big brother moment for asking why.
	The crews of the "Savoy Special", "Holden Caulfield", "Porthos",
"Aramis", and "Athos" watched as the Geldon Raiders left as quickly as they
came. The "Savoy Special", "D'Artagnon", and "Athos" were critically
damaged. As they watched the Geldon Raiders disappear among the stars, each
boy breathed a silent thank you.

  *****

	General Elihu sat tall and firm in his command chair. He was a
warrior in his glory right now. They had lost a few ships, but soon he
would get the news that Earth was no more. He heard that some of his ships
were destroyed at the source of the wormhole, but two of his warships and
the science vessel made it. None of the academy ships made it through. So
Earth was as good as theirs.
	"Any word from Earth yet?" demanded Elihu.
	"No General," said Meska, Elihu's number one man.
	"They should have taken Earth by now. What is the hold up?"
	"General, we are now getting imagery from the battle at Earth."
	Elihu grinned. Now he got to see the fall of Earth. "On screen."
Elihu's grin turned into bewilderment and then anger. The imagery wasn't
taken from one of his warships. No, it was taken from what appeared to be a
Geldon Raider. Elihu stood up after seeing his last two warships at Earth
destroyed. He screamed in rage. His plan had failed and Kriton, instead of
ruling this sector of the galaxy, had been humiliated.

  *****

	Brandon Jarvis carefully attached the ambulance shuttle to the
"Buford". Some rescue shuttles that were stationed on Earth were launched
after SFA Headquarters in Chicago were contacted by Mike the Donkey,
requesting help.
	"We have a green light on the hatch," said Jarvis.
	The two EMTs on Jarvis's shuttle opened the hatch. They crawled
into the smoke filled cabin of the "Buford".
	"Any life signs?" asked Jarvis from his pilot seat.
	"Yes, but very faint," said Maria Jacobs, one of the EMT's. She and
her partner, Blake Bellamy, started to look at the crew. The first two boys
they came to were dead.  Maria thought instantly that they were too young
to die.
	"I have a live one over here," said Bellamy. He immediately started
performing first aid to get ready for transfer to the shuttle.
	Maria went to the three remaining boys. She shook her head. There
was nothing she could do. She then went over to Bellamy and helped him
prepare the injured and unconscious boy for transport. Once they got him on
board the ambulance shuttle, they quickly retrieved the bodies of the five
victims. Once all aboard, Jarvis headed back to Earth, hopefully to make it
in time so they didn't add another number to their body count.

  *****

	General Elihu was furious. He might have lost the Earth Battle and
the Wormhole Battle, but no way would the Kritons lose the Oddessa Sector
battle. Elihu started acting like a mad man, shouting out orders and
starting to control everyone else's stations. He wasn't going to
lose. Kritons can't lose. There is no honor in losing. Only in dying. He
took his ship, the Bah'a'Kosk, and went deeper into the battlefield. If he
was going to lose or die, he wanted to make sure that a certain Admiral
wouldn't be around to see it.

  *****

	"Captain, the `Ticonderoga'," is under attack," said Commander
St. James.
	"Targets on the Bah'a'Kosk and fire at will," ordered the Captain
of Natter's Flag ship.
	The Bah'a'Kosk started to take on heavy fire from both Natter's and
Whitaker's flag ships.

  *****

	Admiral Natter watched on his view screen as the Bah'a'Kosk was
destroyed. He could tell the nerve center of the Kriton Armanda has been
destroyed. He watched as the remaining Kritons ships were either destroyed
or retreated. Something told him that those ships that did retreat wouldn't
be returning back to Kriton. If they did, they would suffer a punishment
far worse then death itself. Kritons don't take kindly to those who retreat
in battle.
	"Matthew, get me a team of security men and have them meet me at my
shuttle. I'm going to the `Ticonderoga'.
	"Aye Sir."

  *****

	"Feels good to be on the winning side, doesn't it Christine?" said
Captain Ouellette as the two of them walked into his ready room.
	"Captain, I have something urgent to talk to you about."
	"What is that?"
	"There is evidence that Admiral Whitaker has committed high treason
against Earth and SFA. We are to place him under arrest."
	Captain Ouellette was appalled. "Who was the blundering fool that
gave you those orders?"
	"Admiral Natter."
	"He doesn't know what he is talking about. I've known Admiral
Whitaker for many years and he is the most loyal servant to SFA in SFA's
history. He is decorated and the Chief of SFA Operations, the highest
ranking officer in SFA. I am not going to go to him and place him under
arrest for something like treason. Not on my ship; not on my watch; and not
when I am around."
	"Then Captain, I'm afraid I will have to relieve you of your
command and place you under arrest as well for obstruction of justice."
	"For being a woman, Commander, you have balls. And I hope you
realize that your unblemished career has just become tarnished."
	Commander Nicosia opened the door of his quarters. Standing outside
were two security guards. She tapped her communicator on her wrist and
ordered the bridge to deny all access to ship's functions and
communications from the Captain's ready room. She then told the two
security guards to ensure that Captain Ouellette didn't leave his ready
room. They had permission to use any force necessary to keep him from
leaving.

  *****

	Admiral Whitaker sat on his flag bridge smiling. The battle hadn't
gone exactly as he had planned. He now saw that he was deceived by General
Elihu, but even with the wormhole battle and the Earth Battle, they still
won. He knew he could arrange it to look like he was behind victory all the
time. Thus in two years, he would be elected as the new President of
Earth. He might have some minor setbacks, but nothing from which he
couldn't recover. Now he knew, regardless of what happened, he would come
out smelling like a rose.
	He turned and saw Commander Nicosia walk on the flag
bridge. Whitaker smiled. "Ahhh Commander Nicosia, you and your ship did a
fine job today. You're captain should be proud. Now if you please, tell
your captain to join me in my quarters for a celebration drink."
	Two Security guards walked onto the bridge.
	"Sorry Admiral, the Captain won't be joining you for any
drinks. Admiral Whitaker, I am placing you under arrest for High Treason
against Earth and SFA."
	Whitaker laughed as if Nicosia just said the funniest joke ever
told. "Commander, you do have the gumption to make rank, but arresting me
for nonsense like that will do nothing for your career. With false
accusations like that, it will land you in the brig for life. Do you
realize what you are accusing me of?"
	"Yes Admiral I do. And with the evidence that was presented to me,
I have no choice in the matter."
	"Evidence? What evidence?"
	"This evidence," said Admiral Natter as he came onto the bridge. He
was holding out some printouts from the encoded message he got from Dorian
Foxx.
	"Paul, is this some sort of joke?" asked Whitaker looking at the
papers trying hard not to show any panic in his eyes and wondering how
these documents got into Natter's hands.
	"I wish it was Peter. I wish it was." Natter nodded to the security
guards that came with him from his ship. The walked over to Whitaker and
cuffed him. Whitaker was calm, cool and collected. As far as he was
concerned, he would still come out smelling like a rose.

To Be Continued...