Free Escape 2: Fight the Aliens by T. Jackson King

her pleasure and in cooperation with you, Executive Officer MacCarthy,” the brown-haired man said as he locked his eyes onto the holo image of the two subs. “Not so easy seeing a black submarine against the blackness of space, is it?”
    “Not so easy,” Bill agreed, hoping the AI would keep its mouth shut. “However, this ship has multiple sensors. You can see those subs in infrared and in other modes.”
    “Really?” the stocky man said, his tone conversational. “The subs carry photonic masts in place of the old periscopes. Those masts provide normal light and infrared views of their surroundings. What does this ship see?”
    He blinked. “Star Traveler, provide an answer to the admiral.”
    “Complying,” the AI hummed. “Ship external sensors are able to sense x-rays, ultraviolet, infrared, far infrared, stellar wind, yellow light, ranging radar down to millimeter wavelength, beta and gamma rays, plasma sources, neutrinos, gamma rays and microwaves,” the AI hummed low. “In the realm of imagery, the ship possesses what you Humans refer to as electro-optical telescopes similar to your GEODSS system, speckle interferometry, high-resolution near infrared spectroscopy, radar pulse compression ranging, PAVE-PAWS phased array radar, and ultrawideband imaging radar.”
    “Impressive,” Richardson muttered. “Please display in my unassigned holo the most distinct image of the two subs which your sensors can provide. Make the image suitable for a person with yellow light sensitive eyesight,” he added.
    “Sensors adjusted. Imagery created in fourth holo.”
    Bill glanced to the left. The AI had chosen to image the subs in infrared light, which made sense considering the heat of their passage through Earth’s atmosphere. Which heat was now bleeding off in the near absolute zero coldness of space. Still, the two subs showed clearly in admiral’s holo. He tapped his Ship Weapons pillar to convert the true space image of Earth and space to infrared emissions. In less than a second he saw what the admiral was seeing.
    “Star Traveler,” Jane called. “Open an encrypted microwave communications link with the two submarines. Advise the receiving staff that I wish to speak with their captain.”
    “Complying. Microwave comlink established, with mutual encryption as determined by the Peterson facility link,” the AI hummed low.
    Bill’s comlink holo showed a full-body image of Jane. Whose posture was firmly upright. “Calling the captains of the USS Minnesota and USS Louisiana . This is Captain Jane Yamaguchi, U.S. Air Force, in command of the starship Blue Sky . Please respond.”
    Jane’s image moved to one side, to be joined by two men wearing sub officer uniforms. One was black while the other was Anglo. The black man spoke first.
    “Captain Yamaguchi, I am Captain Joshua Baraka of the USS Louisiana , SSGN-743.” The man’s image came from the CIC portion of the Trident missile sub, with other sailors in the background. “First, thank you very much for the gift of the Magfield spacedrive. Sailing the depths of space is an experience I and my crew welcome. What are your orders?”
    “Welcome Captain Baraka,” Jane said.
    The Anglo sub officer, who was bald and wore his uniform with no tie in his attack sub’s CIC, showed an easy smile. “Captain Yamaguchi, I am Captain Paul Leonard of the USS Minnesota , SSN-783. Let me add my thanks to Captain Baraka’s for the Magfield spacedrive engine. It is a wonder! Now, how can I and my crew help you defend America from these Collector bastards?”
    Jane’s image moved to formal command manner. “Captain Leonard, Captain Baraka, I am sending you the vidcam imagery of our several space battles that involved Collector ships. Study them.” She touched the top of the Library control pillar. “In the meantime, please move your ships to the underside of my vessel, with the Minnesota on the left and the Louisiana on the right. You will see green and yellow