“Have there been very many wars in the past against the Confederation?”
Brenda shook her head. “We don’t know. Many things about the Confederation are not spoken about. They don’t offer much information, but they expect their subject races to offer everything.”
Andrew decided, when he made it to his quarters, he would see what was in the ship’s computer library about the Confederation, particularly the Druins. It was bound to be much more than what was available on Earth in the few secret books the Earth Imperials possessed.
-
The Destiny continued through hyperspace until it reached the edge of the Haven Nebula. Numerous star systems were in this region, and many were inhabited by Humans.
“We’re seventeen light-years from Tantalus Seven,” reported Viktor.
The viewscreens were covered in stars, and the main viewscreen showed the glowing nebula which this region of space was named after.
“Anything on the sensors?”
“Nothing,” reported Nower, as she checked her screens.
Derrick sat down in his command chair. It would be a little risky jumping into a heavily populated system, but they needed more information about the state of the Empire. Admiral Cleemorl had known about some worlds, but his knowledge had been severely limited. “Set a course for Tantalus Seven. Put us at the edge of the system. Lieutenant Commander Banora, make sure our stealth fields are active. I don’t want us to be detected.”
Everyone in the Command Center was tense as the Destiny made the transition back into hyperspace for the short trip to Tantalus Seven. Everyone was curious as to what they would find.
It didn’t take long, and the light cruiser dropped from hyperspace into the Tantalus System.
“Report,” ordered Derrick, as he leaned forward in his command chair.
“Picking up both standard and hyperlight communications,” reported Andrew.
“Sensors?”
“Quite a few ships are in the system. I’m also detecting what appears to be a Druin battlecruiser.”
“Damn,” uttered Lieutenant Commander Banora, sounding concerned. “Are they everywhere?”
Admiral Cleemorl studied the tactical display. Over one hundred icons were on the screen, representing ships. Only one was red. “Something must have happened. The Druins normally patrol in fleets, and it’s very seldom you see only one of their ships in a system.”
“Perhaps they’re hunting for the same people as the Druin fleet was in the Highland Station System,” suggested Banora.
“Lieutenant Nower. Are there any signs of orbital bombardment on Tantalus Seven?” Tantalus Seven was an Earth-size planet that orbited a large gas giant.
“Nothing recent,” replied Nower. “I am detecting signs of bombardment in the past.”
Derrick looked at Admiral Cleemorl for an explanation.
“Nearly all the worlds of the Empire have been hit at one time or another. The Druins don’t need much of an excuse to destroy a city or two.”
“Animals,” muttered Lieutenant Commander Banora in disgust. “For a supercivilized race, all they know how to do is kill!”
“Have we been detected?”
“No, Captain,” replied Nower. “Our stealth fields seem to be holding.”
That was what Derrick wanted to hear. “Lieutenant Viktor, take us deeper into the system, so we can get some reasonable scans of what’s been occurring in this system. Andrew, see if you can analyze some of those messages and see what you can find out.”
The Destiny activated its subspace drive and moved toward Tantalus Seven. Lieutenant Viktor was careful to steer well clear of all the other space traffic. It was strange watching the tactical display; for the most part it seemed as if all the other ships were ignoring the Druin warship, as if it wasn’t there.
“This is strange,” commented Dylan, looking concerned. “I wonder if Druin ships are in our other systems?”
The Destiny steadily moved closer toward Tantalus Seven, until Captain Masters felt they were close enough. They were also now much closer to the Druin vessel.
“Keep us here,” ordered Derrick. “We’ll stay in this location and run our scans, as well as monitor the communication bands. Andrew, I’m particularly interested in anything that mentions the Druin ship.”
-
For nearly two hours the Destiny stayed in its location, monitoring the planet and the ships moving about the system. They saw numerous ships transition into hyperspace, both leaving and entering the system.
“Captain!” called out Nower with concern. “The Druin ship is moving toward us.”
Derrick leaned forward in his chair, gazing at the viewscreen. “Is it moving straight toward us?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Lieutenant Viktor, take us back into hyperspace. Put us outside the cluster at twenty light-years. Lieutenant Breen, keep our weapons ready in case the Druin battlecruiser follows us.”
“But we can’t be tracked in hyperspace,” objected Banora.
“That we know of,” replied Derrick.
The Destiny turned away from the incoming Druin battlecruiser and quickly made the transition into hyperspace. The tension in the Command Center was intense, as they wondered if they were being followed.
“Lieutenant Breen, ready antimatter missiles in the tubes. If the Druin battlecruiser drops out of hyperspace in combat range, I want it destroyed.” Derrick knew the Druins would not be expecting to be hit by antimatter weapons. It just might allow the Destiny to destroy the enemy ship.
Time passed as the light cruiser moved through hyperspace, and then it was time to drop out into normal space once again. The Destiny appeared in a red giant star system, coming out very near the star. Lieutenant Viktor had done this intentionally, hoping the radiation from the star would shield the Destiny from the Druins.
Minutes passed slowly by as the crew of the ship stood at Condition One, watching for the Druin battlecruiser.
“Anything?” asked Derrick, looking toward Sensors.
Nower shook her head. “Nothing.” She had no sooner spoke those words when alarms went off on her sensor console. “Druin ship dropping from hyperspace inside engagement range.”
“Fire missiles!” Derrick didn’t want to give the battlecruiser time to get a weapons lock on the Destiny.
“Missiles launched,” replied Lieutenant Breen, as he gazed intently at his weapons console. “Locking on with fusion energy beams. I’ll time them with the strike of the missiles.”
“Prepare for evasive maneuvers,” ordered Derrick, leaning forward. With their stealth fields up, he wasn’t sure just how good a weapons lock the Druins could get on Destiny.
On the ship’s main viewscreen, the Druin battlecruiser was visible. Nearly 1400 meters of sheer power and destruction. The vessel was covered in weapon turrets and hatches covering missile tubes. Suddenly the ship vanished, as massive explosions struck its protective energy shield. The shield wavered, and several fusion energy beams penetrated, driving deep holes into the heart of the enemy vessel. Huge sections of hull material were blown away from the ship.
“Druin vessel is returning fire,” warned Nower.
“Evasive action now!” ordered Derrick, his hands clenching the armrests on his command chair.
The Destiny shook violently, and several red lights appeared on the damage control console.
On the viewscreen, the Druin vessel was struck by a second wave of antimatter missiles. The Druin screen wavered and even flickered as it struggled to stay up.
“We must have hit some of their power relays,” said Admiral Cleemorl.
Several more fusion energy beams flashed through the Druin energy screen, drilling holes into the engineering section. In a massive explosion, the rear one-third of the Druin battlecruiser blew apart. At the same time its energy shield vanished.
“We have them now!” shouted Banora excitedly.
“Hit that ship with two more antimatter missiles,” ordered Derr
ick. “I don’t want any piece of it to survive intact.” He didn’t want to leave behind any hint of what had destroyed the enemy vessel.
Moments later all that remained of the Druin battlecruiser was a field of glowing plasma and shattered pieces of wreckage.
“Lieutenant Viktor, get us out of here. Take us to an uninhabited system where we can plan our next move.”
Viktor’s hands played over his console, and soon the Destiny was back in hyperspace.
“We got lucky,” said Dylan. “We should never have been able to destroy that Druin battlecruiser. We took them by surprise with our antimatter and fusion weapons.”
Derrick nodded. He knew the admiral was right. “Lieutenant Commander Banora, what damage did we suffer?”
“A few blown circuits and probably some burn marks on our hull. Over all, we got away pretty cheaply. There is nothing to prevent us from carrying out our mission.”
Derrick was relieved to hear this. “Now we must figure out how the Druins spotted us to begin with and how they tracked us in hyperspace.”
Leaning back in his command chair, Derrick tried to relax. He had been ordered to avoid combat, and already he had been forced to destroy a Druin battlecruiser. He wondered what else would go wrong before this mission was over.
Chapter Twenty-Three
For two days the Destiny stayed in normal space, as the crew inspected the ship and tried to figure out how the Druins had detected the stealthed vessel.
“I have nothing,” reported Chief Engineer Alban Corrant, sounding frustrated. “The stealth fields are working fine, and I found no abnormalities anywhere on the ship, as far as power and communications go. I just don’t see how they detected us.”
Andrew was listening. They dared not go deeper into the Empire until they knew how the Druin ship had detected the Destiny. “What about our sensor scans? They were the only active system, beyond the stealth fields.”
“Sensors,” repeated Corrant, looking thoughtful. “I didn’t think about the sensors.”
“Is it possible?” asked Derrick. He would feel better about continuing if he knew his ship was undetectable.
Corrant slowly nodded his head. “If they were looking on the right frequency and in the correct direction. Even so, it would be difficult to pin down the exact location of a ship based on its sensors.”
“But these are Druins we’re talking about,” pointed out Admiral Cleemorl. “We don’t know what they may be capable of.”
Derrick had a concerned look on his face. “We use our sensors, even in hyperspace, to ensure we don’t collide with anything. Could the Druins have been using our sensors to track us?”
“It’s possible,” said Corrant. “Our long-range sensors have a far reach around the ship.”
-
Derrick let out a deep breath of frustration. “So, what do we do?”
“Assuming it’s the long-range sensors they’re detecting, I would suggest we use them in short bursts and then change position. When we transition into hyperspace, we can use the short-range sensors to help the ship evade any dangerous objects.”
Looking at Corrant, Derrick nodded. “We’ll make those changes immediately.” He hoped what Corrant believed was the problem was correct, or they could have more encounters with Druin warships in the future. “Lieutenant Commander Banora, prepare to get underway. It’s time we continued on our mission.”
-
An hour later the Destiny was back in hyperspace, with a course set for Lydol Four. On board, everyone was worried about being detected again by the Druins. During the two-day journey to Lydol Four, everyone would try to determine if the Druins could have used anything else to track the ship.
-
Two days later Captain Masters sat in his command chair as the Destiny dropped from hyperspace on the edge of the Lydol Four System. The ship was at Condition One, with the crew at their battlestations.
“Contacts,” reported Lieutenant Nower, as she checked her sensor screens. “Twenty-two vessels, which seem to be transports of some kind. No signs of any Druin vessels.”
Derrick breathed out a sigh of relief. “Take us in closer to Lydol Four, and we’ll try to communicate with General Creel.”
“No Druin vessels,” commented Admiral Cleemorl. “I thought there would be one or two, considering we’ve encountered them twice already.”
“Maybe since they already attacked Lydol Four, they don’t feel the need to station a ship here,” suggested Lieutenant Commander Banora.
Everyone watched expectantly, as the ship drew closer to the planet.
“Why is the planet’s atmosphere so dark?” asked Andrew, gazing at the viewscreen, which now showed the planet. The planet’s atmosphere had streaks of darker colors, and it wasn’t from clouds.
“Dust and ash from the Druin bombardment,” explained Dylan. “I expected much more. They must already be clearing it. In another year the planet will nearly be back to normal.”
-
Dylan gazed at the viewscreen, holding his growing rage inside him. Large craters were visible where magnificent cities once stood. Much of the countryside was burned, where antimatter energy had razed the land. This had been his homeworld and where his family had raised him. It hurt intensely to see what the Druins had done.
“Take us into orbit at sixty thousand kilometers,” ordered Derrick. “Lieutenant Nower, keep a watch for any indications of Druin vessels.”
Admiral Cleemorl stepped over to the comm station, as Andrew stood up and indicated for the admiral to take his seat. Dylan reached out and changed the comm system to a specific frequency. He inserted a computer chip and began transmitting. The computer chip was highly encrypted and would identify him, so General Creel would have no doubt as to who was trying to contact him.
After a minute Dylan stood and indicated for Andrew to sit back down. “It will take a few minutes. They should respond on the frequency I have set. The computer chip will unscramble their message, so we can understand it.”
“Then we wait,” said Derrick, as he leaned back in his command chair.
On the viewscreens, several of the ships orbiting Lydol Four were spraying some chemicals into the atmosphere. Other ships were landing in secluded regions, where smaller cities still existed.
“Every city with a population of over one hundred thousand was wiped out,” said Dylan, with sadness in his voice.
-
Nearly twenty minutes passed before a response came on the specified channel and frequency.
“All they transmitted was a set of planetary coordinates,” reported Andrew, looking confused.
Admiral Cleemorl nodded. “That’s all I expected. We need to take a shuttle to those coordinates. Once we’ve landed, we should be given additional instructions.”
“Get the shuttle ready,” ordered Derrick.
“Do you want an armed escort?” asked Banora. “I can call several of the Marines.”
Derrick shook his head. “No, that won’t be necessary. “Ensign Allert will accompany us. She will oversee our security.”
“What do we do if a Druin ship shows up?”
Derrick looked at Lieutenant Commander Banora. “Leave the system and only return after the Druins have left. Under no circumstances are you to reveal the presence of the Destiny.”
“Yes, Captain,” replied Banora. She didn’t like the idea of leaving the captain behind.
“Admiral Cleemorl, are you ready for this little venture?”
“More than ready.”
The two left the Command Center and made their way through the ship to the landing bay that held two small shuttles. Ensign Allert stood in the hatch of one, fully armed and wearing light battle armor.
“Ready when you are, sir.”
“Let’s go on board and head to the surface. Is the pilot on board?”
“Yes, sir. Corporal Bower and Private Jenkins will be piloting today.”
Derrick had to smile. Banora had arranged for both the
pilots to be Marines. “Well, let’s get this show on the road and see what happens.” Derrick was anxious to get to the surface and to meet General Creel. They had a lot to discuss, and Derrick wanted to get it done before any Druins showed up.
-
The small shuttle left the Destiny and headed toward the surface. In only a few minutes they had entered the planet’s atmosphere and were well on their way to the coordinates they had been sent.
Derrick looked out one of the small windows at all the damage the Druins had done to the planet. At close range, it looked much worse than from orbit.
“This is what the Druins do,” commented Admiral Cleemorl grimly. “Ever since the fall of the Empire, they have bombarded planets into submission anytime a world got out of line. Sometimes they would destroy a city for the slightest infraction. In most cases, the surrounding worlds would step in and help to rebuild. In time the world would recover, until the Druins returned and struck it again for another violation of their rules.”
The shuttle passed over what once must have been a major metroplex. A deep crater in the center signified where a fusion or antimatter missile had struck. Around the crater, the blast had shattered buildings and ruined infrastructure stretched for miles. Outside of that was a large burned-off region, where the heat from the explosion had burned off all the vegetation. Derrick knew that nothing or no one could have survived such a blast.
“We’ll be arriving at the coordinates shortly,” announced Corporal Bower.
A few moments later the shuttle sat down in some rolling hills surrounded by tall grasses. A small building was here, with several aircars parked in front of it. As the shuttle sat down, several men and women came out of the building and stood waiting. Two of them were obviously military, as they wore uniforms and were heavily armed.
“Do you know any of them?” asked Derrick, glancing at Admiral Cleemorl.
The Forgotten Empire: Banishment: Book One Page 30