The Adventures of Tim Bodge Ch. 28

The Adventures of Tim Bodge

This story has been amended with Adult content.

Edited by Steve (2 ^nd pass)

By T Hodge

Chapter 28

Tim sat down at the TOC table and monitored the situation. He wanted to see how the forces of the United Federation performed, and he knew different tactical officers would alter the plans based on their reading of the opponents. Knowing Pauline could handle this fight gave him the time to observe, and he was sitting at the end of the same table if she needed him.

At first, he thought there was a problem with how Targkeleax's forces fought. There were missile ships, but the only missiles came from the Dreadnoughts. In addition, they had carriers, but he hadn't seen a single fighter launched.

Some of those destroyers were sitting there as if they were expecting reinforcements. Tim began to watch the battle in its entirety.

Some corvettes only fired once and waited long before shooting again. Most sat on the front line and remained where they were.

"Shanae, can you give me a minute?" asked Tim.

"Sure, Tim, what is it?"

"Does this battle feel different, or is it just me?"

"No, I was under the impression that something was not right. I don't think they're in a combative mood."

"Shanae, give me a minute; I'll talk with Commander Jackson."

"OK."

"Commander, why aren't the Targkeleax fighting?"

"If I were to guess. These are the other members of the invasion force, and they're probably at a low level of ammunition; some could be completely out."

"Thank you."

"Pauline, I need to count the enemy ships."

"Tim, I shall have it in a moment."

Tim thought that if that were the case, perhaps those who remained would stop fighting. This could end with no more casualties.

"Tim, out of the hundred ninety-eight, they began with. Only seventy of them are left."

Tim turned to Pauline and said, "Stop firing. Now! Open a channel to all vessels."

"Sir, the channels are open."

"All ships, cease firing at once. To every single one of the Targkeleax ships, you have 70 ships left and barely any ammunition. I'll give you thirty minutes to surrender."

"Why are you calling off this battle? We could finish now and not worry about them later." Commander Jackson protested.

"This is not a battle; it's a massacre. I will not allow that to happen. If any of your ships fire another shot, we will take them out. I hope I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir. What shall become of the Targkeleaxs if they surrender?"

"We will wait and see whether they surrender. Then it's up to them to make that decision."

"To whoever offers to end this fight. We have no commanding officer, and we only have ship captains, and we want to talk and not fight."

"Lower your shields and have the top three ship captains meet our corvette. We will bring them aboard our ship to talk. Again you will have thirty minutes to be on our ship." Tim now smiled, hoping to end this quickly and quietly.

"Commander Jackson, I need your ships to return to their previous locations and wait." Tim snapped with a voice of authority.

"What the hell is going on? I need to know!"

"Commander, you are in our system without our permission. If you wish to continue with this kind of action, I will consider it impolite."

"We will return to our previous positions, but I would like to be kept abreast of what is happening."

"We will inform you when the time comes."

Tim turned to Pauline, "I want a scan of each vessel; I also wish to have cloaked mines moved into place near each of the ship's engines."

"Shanae, have twenty of your soldiers moved to your ship. You will move forward and pick up their captains. Scan them for weapons, then MTS them to me."

***

"Teams one and two, report to the MTS for transfer to Corvette 3," Shanae said.

Teams one and two were on deck ten bay 50. When Shanae called them, they moved inside the shuttle and MTS to Corvette 3.

Coming out, they saw Shanae standing there pointing to the right side of the bay and moving quickly so as not to block the MTS exit.

She then instructed each team, on what she wanted them to do. Team 1 was to scan the first captain for weapons, and then move them to the MTS. Two of the soldiers would go through first and guard the exit as the Captain came through. Then two others would follow, and all four would escort that Captain to the meeting room. They were not to stop or delay for any reason.

Half of team 2 would do the same for the second captain and the rest for the third. Tim and the others would enter once all were in the meeting room, and the soldiers would not leave that room.

"Shanae, a small shuttlecraft, is moving between ships," Pauline said, dead seriously.

"Let me know when it starts to the meeting point."

"It is on the way to the second ship."

Shanae moved to the pilot. "OK, let's head out, slowly."

Pauline directed the shuttle to the pick-up point as the Targkeleax's shuttle approached. Pauline told the Targkeleax to stop and that their shuttle would do the docking.

The soldiers stood in a semi-circle around the door; weapons at the ready on stun. Shanae checked the connection of the airlock; she opened the door of their craft and waited.

The first captain came through, stopping as he entered. Shanae saw a seven-foot-tall individual with his hands out front of him. But he was making a motion with his eyes, and it seemed like he wanted her to look behind him.

Shanae motioned for him to follow the four soldiers that had stepped forward. He did as instructed. The second captain came through, following the same procedures as the first.

Again she instructed him to do the same. As the third captain came through, Shanae looked into his eyes, and all three captains had done the same thing with their eyes. Shanae stepped back away from the door and moved to the side.

She pointed to two of her soldiers and then outside, then placed her hands into the stop position. Both soldiers nodded their heads in understanding. Shanae stood against the wall. From this point, anyone entering the ship through these doors could not see her.

Once the others escorted the captains out of the room, Shanae just waited and the wait wasn't long. A different Targkeleax came sneaking out of the shuttle. Letting him move to the center of the room, she said, "Stop right there."

The Targkeleax heard a sound, paused, turned back, and saw Shanae in the doorway.

He pulled the trigger, instinctively shooting.

A shot to the stomach threw Shanae back onto his shuttle.

He stood there for a minute, then he saw a movement through the door, and Shanae returned to the doorway.

With a smile on her face and a three-inch round hole through her belly, she just stood there looking at him.

He was in a state of complete shock; his eyes grew larger. He thought, 'I killed her, how could this human be alive? While he stood there, dumbfounded, not believing his own eyes.

Using a roundhouse leg kick, she used her embedded speed to kick the weapon out of his hands. Then returned to her guard position.

She immediately followed with a blow to the head. But, since he was seven feet tall, she used a butterfly twist to reach his head with the back of her foot. This, in turn, cracked his jaw.

She landed on her feet. While he was still wobbling, a low roundhouse kick targeted his calf, knocking him to the floor, flat on his back.

She did not want to kill him, so she leaped into the air and brought her fist down into his solar plexus with as much force as she could. This caused a momentary paralysis of his diaphragm. Shanae got up from his body and summoned the soldiers.

The soldiers entered the room and saw a Targkeleax lying on the floor and their instructor/leader standing over his body with a bleeding hole in her stomach.

They just stood there, accepting everything. The tricky part was the hole in her stomach.

One soldier asked, "Shanae, are you alright?" Pointing to Shanae's stomach.

Shanae looked down and smiled, "I'll be alright in about two hours. Why don't you take our friend here to a nice cell?"

They would now believe anything she said about females taking down bigger people was possible.

***

Tim walked into the room where the three captains waited. He handed each a translator and pointed to his chest.

Each did as instructed. "Welcome to my ship, and I am Tim Bodge, the captain."

One Captain said, "But, you are human, why are you not killing us?"

"Not all humans are cold-blooded killers. Could I have your names?"

The Captain that had just spoken, "I am sorry. Our names are not translatable and cannot be pronounced in your mouth."

"Is it OK if I call you by names of some of the greatest individuals ever to grace our world?"

They all nodded their heads. Tim pointed to the first captain, "I will refer to you as Captain Larry."

He now pointed to the second one, "I will refer to you as Captain Moa. And pointing to last, with the utmost respect, you are Captain Kurly."

All three nodded with acknowledgment.

***

Shanae was standing outside of the room where the meeting was taking place. The soldiers kept looking at her. She turned and asked, "OK, What are you looking at?"

"Sorry, Shanae, it's weird to see a woman with a three-inch hole in her belly, and she's continually moving about like nothing ever occurred.

"Would you prefer that I cover it up?"

"Yes, that way, you will look natural again."

"Sarha, could you send a bot to my room? It seems I need a shirt to cover this hole."

"Shanae, is that a new hole for Tim to use?" As Sarha appeared next to Shanae, she smiled and thought it was funny.

"Sarha, that isn't funny at all. You know Tim likes a deep one." At the same time, Shanae pushed her finger into the hole. "See, it's not deep at all."

"A bot is on the way with a new shirt, and sorry about trying to make a joke." Sarha lowered her head, trying to look contrite.

A bot appears with a shirt. The problem was that it had stopped at the Alions clothing repair and had a large patch placed on the shirt's front. It handed Shanae the shirt, turned around, and left very quickly.

Shanae held the shirt up. On the patch, a note read. 'Hole's under here.' She put it on and turned toward the soldiers. "Does this look better?"

The soldiers looked at the shirt and laughed. One of them said, "Well, Tim already knows where the other hole is."

"OK, everyone had their fun. Now let's get back to work."

***

"Now, gentlemen, there will be no lying about your situation. You have 70 ships and very little ammo. With no Commanding Officer, it is up to you to decide what happens to all aboard those ships.

"I will tell you, the Commander of the Federation forces wants to wipe you and your ships out. I would prefer not to allow that to happen. But that depends on what you three decide."

"Sir, what are our options?" Captain Kurly asked.

"I can see only two options. The first is your unconditional surrender, the second, you return to your ships and head back into Federation territory."

"That would be suicide!" Captain Larry said. The other two Captains looked at him. Knowing he was right. "Tim, may we have some time to talk about this?" He asked.

"Sure, take your time, just as long as nothing happens on your ships while we are talking."

Tim got up and stepped out of the room, leaving the soldiers. As he left the room, he saw Shanae, and he immediately saw her shirt and wondered what it meant.

Shanae saw the look on Tim's face, and she raised her shirt and showed him the hole.

He stopped in his tracks. A worried look appeared on his face while he walked in her direction.

Shanae still saw that worried look and said, "Tim, it is all right. It's only a small hole and will be repaired in about two hours."

Tim walked over and hugged her. "Are you sure everything will be OK?" His hand lowered her shirt back in place.

Shanae leaned against Tim and whispered, "Sarha, remarked about this being a new hole for you." She let out a pleasant laugh.

"You don't need a new hole, and you do fine with the three you have."

A soldier stepped to the door, "Sir, the three are asking for you."

Tim turned Shanae loose and returned to the room.

"Tim, we have questions, they are not demands, just questions."

"Yes, I understand, what are your questions?"

"First, the best the three of us can figure, there are over 100,000 sailors aboard our 70 ships. How will they get us back into their territory?"

"I have been in this problem before. Your people will be located on one deck, and a few will help run the ship."

Some of us have families on board our ships. Is there a possibility that the families might stay together?" Captain Larry asked.

"Is there a way to figure out how many people we're talking about?"

"Yes, we know of one hundred and sixty thousand total sailors and families."

"While there are problems will having this many of your people together?"

"Tim, we cannot and will not cause any problems. It would be nice if we could stay together."

"What would happen if you were offered sanctuary aboard a ship?"

"To be offered sanctuary at this time would be a lifesaver. But who would offer such a thing, and the cost would be what?"

"The cost would be doing your part to help keep the peace at the same time working with the crew in maintaining the ship."

"Are you offering this to us?" Asked Kurly.

"And if I was?"

"Why would you do something like that? We have killed millions of your people, and that's why we are hated so much. You are now offering to save ours and our family's lives, and that makes no sense."

"This may make sense. I have killed many by being myself, and I'm not proud of that, and I now have a way of making up for some of it. Your group will be housed along with the others, and you will have work assignments, housing, and entertaining areas. If anyone causes a problem, that individual will be dropped off and sent back to the Federation. Those are the only rules, and it applies to everyone."

"If we say yes, how will you protect us from the other soldiers?"

"You must be able to do this without telling anyone. No one knows that I am human. As far as who I am, I am the Commander. You three will help by having each ship pick a cooperative crew while the others are restricted to your assigned area. In terms of your families, they will be transferred to a family ship."

"Once all this is in place, then I will notify the Commander of the Federation Forces that your group has surrendered and is ready to be boarded. At that time, the families will be transported to a waiting ship."