by David Buck
‘Lieutenant, the ship is yours; please lift off from the island on the specified course.’
Steve and his mission team quickly found their way to the couches behind the command chair and nervously sat down. Garendestat looked his console to again verify the full launch status before warning the crew of takeoff and asking a brief question of Steve.
‘Garendestat to crew we are immediately launching the ship. Steve, how much G forces your race can tolerate?’
Samantha neatly fielded the question due to her medical background.
‘We are not wearing special suits so you need to keep it under 3 g’s, preferably under 2 g’s of acceleration.’
Garendestat gave a quick reply even as he triggered the short launch sequence.
‘No problem as we have inertial dampeners in any case.’
Steve just had time to ensure he was fully reclined in the large couch with Samantha before the thrusters fired and he felt the massive ship take off. He noted with surprise the sudden increase in weight before it slowly tapered down to a steady pressure.
Ian Ridge stood on Rat Island with the soldiers, and the few members of the mission team left behind and they all watched as the Trader ship took off from twenty kilometres away. The dozens of thrusters around the ship came to life and a cloud of steam erupted as their exhausts hit the water around Middle Island.
The massive ship slowly climbed several hundred metres in the air in an enormous roar of sound and flame, before it turned without banking and started to fly North East. Ian watched now through binoculars as the ship steadily gained acceleration and altitude, and as two tongues of flame now grew from the rear of the idling aero spike engines. After five minutes the ship had disappeared into the distance and Ian now turned to a nearby screen to watch what he could from elsewhere in the world.
***
Chapter 13
Steve lay back in the couch and held hands with Samantha. They both watched the course the Illuria was taking on a map of Earth that now appeared on the main screen as they flew over the north-west of Australia. Nearby he see that Ian was now sharing a couch with Mei, and Sanjay and Helen occupied the last couch together. Helen gave Sanjay a gentle smile that he returned nervously.
All the humans now looked at the map, though they did not understand the rapidly changing numbers. Garendestat began calling the flight details out to the humans after several minutes as the ship continued to accelerate.
‘We are five thousand metres and we are travelling at twice the speed of sound. We will accelerate until we climb to twenty thousand metres and we can transition to hyper sonic flight.’
Steve knew that the details were also being transmitted back to Earth, for by prior arrangement the Traders were broadcasting the operations of their bridge back to several mainstream media stations. The massive Trader ship soon passed across eastern New Guinea as it headed on a curved course for the western Pacific, and the humans seated behind the command chair found they were enjoying the ride.
***
Admiral Baredio looked at the latest reports from his cruisers as he sought a simple answer from his tactical officer.
‘Lieutenant, can we verify independently what we are seeing here?’
The Lieutenant had to the presence of mind to accord the admiral proper respect by looking up momentarily from his sensor data as he replied.
‘Sir, we cannot use active scans so I will not be in a position to verify this information for some time. There definitely appears to be two Maveen gate ships docked to pylons on the main Trader ship, I recommend extreme caution.’
The admiral noted the recommendation as he dryly spoke again.
‘Recommendation noted Lieutenant. I want four scout ships sent forward from the research fleet with us as they are faster. The rest of the fleet will reduce speed and we will not move closer than the orbit of their moon. Also have Omerio and Gindane brought to the bridge please.’
***
Captain Narindestat considered the launch status with satisfaction as the lifting thrusters had operated successfully well beyond their stated performance specifications before being shut down. The Illuria now flew on her powerful aero spike engines as the drives on the sneak ships continued to provide additional thrust. The ship continued accelerating as it flew out over the Pacific Ocean and he now gave orders to transition to hyper sonic flight.
‘Extend the leading edge shields forward and trailing shields aft to lower our wing form factor. Then ramp up the engines and sneak ships in sixty seconds. I want a status on the compressed fuel tanks and if they drop to fifteen percent capacity we will have to abort and land again.’
Ian Mitchin decided on a question as he continued to watch the main screen.
‘Captain, I understand the ship mass will drop appreciatively as the shielded tanks empty their compressed contents. Is there a break even point in acceleration well before the fifteen percent capacity due to the mass loss?’
The captain appreciated the intellect behind the question even as he gave a reply as simple as he could make it.
‘Usually we have enough fuel reserves to easily leave a terrestrial planet. However your planet is quite massive for a home world and the escape velocity is ten percent higher than most other home worlds. The extra escape velocity is important after losing two sneak ships and we have reduced margins for error. We also need to catch the drive module as quickly as possible. I estimate we will have about twenty percent fuel capacity as we leave and that is low enough for me.’
Narindestat stopped speaking as Garendestat now spoke again.
‘We are at twenty thousand meters and five times the speed of sound and I am triggering the flight transition now.’
The bridge became a hive of quiet activity as reports across the ship were called in as the ship now accelerated heavily. The Illuria dove down at a slight angle as the transition had momentarily robbed the wings of lift, a fact that Ian quietly explained to the others.
‘They are committed at transition from atmospheric to hypersonic flight with less lift by using the relevant shields to alter wing dynamics. If they do it right they get to escape velocity of above eleven kilometers per second over several minutes.’
Garendestat slowly brought the nose of the ship up and now counted out their speed slowly in kilometers per second every minute, starting with two kilometers per second.
‘Two kilometers per second and all is green, thrust is at one hundred and ten percent on the sneak ships.’
Captain Narindestat calmly looked around the bridge as he keyed a message to the Maveen probes.
‘Captain to Maveen gate ships, please power your engines to twenty percent immediately as we need a speed reserve in case we lose an engine.’
Garendestat paid full attention to his sensors as the Illuria continued her journey towards space.
‘Three kilometers per second and fuel reserves are at sixty percent. I am starting the turn on the escape vector.’
Captain Narindestat now looked around the bridge with rising concern, as the thrust from the Maveen probes had not materialized.
‘Maveen Earth Probe, please respond as your ships need to add your thrust to our launch efforts.’
The Trader captain repeated twice more his urgent requests and silence from the Maveen probes only greeted his efforts.
***
Colonel Bill Ackerton wiped the side of his head out of stress and fatigue before he again looked over the missile status reports. Since the earlier unsuccessful missile attack on the lone Barus ship he had led his team in concerted around the clock effort for nearly a fortnight. While the world had been engrossed in the deal with the aliens that had yielded technology and a new colony, his team had quietly modified further missiles.
In addition, his team had been expanded to include teams of air force and NASA engineers who were working on missiles not in silos. Bill had even talked on two occasions to his counterparts in Russia and China, as they coordinated their efforts. He
was quietly optimistic this time as the mission parameters had been changed to allow the possibility of success. This time humanity was again attacking the Barus aliens, and they were going to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at them. The launch director for the pad based missiles walked briskly over to the colonel and saluted.
‘Sir, we need two hours to fix the last glitch at Vandenberg on the final missile, and as I think it is terminal anyway we will not launch the missile.’
Bill replied without conveying any signs of apprehension.
‘Lieutenant that will be fine and you may remove the missile from the mission roster.’
Bill looked at both the traditional wall clock and the frozen electronic counter in launch control room briefly before he spoke again.
‘We are holding at T minus three minutes, and we pass our all green status to the Russians and the Chinese.’
The electronic counter began counting down to zero again and Bill now stood and placed himself over behind the launch controller’s desk. Outwardly he was calm, but inwardly he was as nervous as he had ever been. The colonel knew his team were taking a big leap into the unknown by launching another attack.
***
Omerio trailed Gindane as they followed the ensign and rapidly made their way to the bridge of the fleet flagship. As they entered the bridge they both kept silent and gave Admiral Baredio a respectful bow, which he carefully returned. Without preamble the admiral spoke.
‘You will both later stay behind my command chair and remain silent unless I speak to you when we contact the Traders to ask their surrender. For your information we detected the launch of the Trader ship several minutes earlier, and they are passing behind the planet from us so the intercept will take longer. But before we go into any more specifics, first I want the details of any further information you may have identified from your additional research.’
Omerio looked at Gindane before he replied, as by agreement between them if it was a military issue then Omerio was to speak.
‘Admiral, our further reviews of the reports have indicated that the situation is complex and we could inadvertently breech the edicts in a serious manner. For example Earth is a haven world that attacked Gindane’s destroyer, yet the three attacking nations apparently do not speak for their entire race.’
Admiral Baredio stifled a snort of outrage as he evaluated the nuances of Omerio’s opinion. He considered that the unpredictability of the new race could be a concern even if their weapons technology posed no risk to his fleet. He voiced his sentiments to the two younger Barus with an admonishment.
‘They are unpredictable, but I can see no sense in them attacking us again, as they must know they cannot destroy any of our ships. I consider any further attacks to invite a massive response from my fleet.’
Gindane was waiting for the admiral’s views to be fully expressed as she now stepped into the conversation. She was being careful to remain calm and polite.
‘Admiral, the humans may attack us again either due to their unpredictable natures or due to a simple reason of some type, or both. My reports clearly indicated that the humans are no strangers to war. I also reviewed the edicts relating to battling haven worlds, and the legal precedent in the Cephrit and the Vorinne courts seems to be now based on the first contact with the Jerecab.’
Admiral Baredio now broke into a light sheen of sweat as he considered the underlying message before he gave each of them a sharp glance. He was well aware of the Jerecab precedent that involved several Vorinne cruisers visiting the home world of the Jerecab and being attacked. The cruisers had then responded with massive force and killed millions of civilians on the Jerecab home world.
An inquiry had eventually condemned and executed the Vorinne admiral, as a subsequent Barus research mission had revealed that the Vorinne were attacked only by the red or war faction of the Jerecab. The blue Jerecab academics and engineers had been against attacking the Vorinne but had been over-ruled. The resulting schism in the Jerecab had later led to the race sundering into the Red enclaves ruled by warriors and merchants, and Blue enclaves ruled by academics and engineers. The admiral now looked around the bridge for a moment before he spoke again.
‘The Trader ship is my main concern, and if we stay in a high orbit then the humans with their limited technology are no longer involved.’
Omerio now spoke again as he had an additional point to highlight.
‘Sir, if the interdiction just involved the Trader ship then I would consider we would have a chance of success. However the humans may fire further missiles and the Maveen are aboard the Trader ship. Also the Traders have never surrendered without a fight to my knowledge and it is common knowledge that they go down fighting hard.’
Admiral Baredio was waiting for this point to be raised and he answered it as best he could.
‘I have the fighting strength of the forces as roughly even with the Maveen ships factored into the calculations. But the main ship is one of their latest, so her firepower alone could easily account for six or more of my cruisers before we bring her down. I will not shy away from fighting them, but I want suggestions on what would make them surrender.’
Gindane had actually considered the role of that great unknown earlier in her quarters and she now answered him.
‘Admiral, the presence of the Maveen on their ship near a haven world will ensure that the Traders do not surrender. Remember that they must have traded equipment and technology to the humans, and then been party to the Maveen transferring significant numbers of the humans to a colony off world.’
The admiral was critical of the last sentence that Gindane had spoken, though he quickly acknowledged his agreement on what the Traders would now do.
‘Gindane, I agree you have a valid point with presence of the Maveen here influencing a Trader decision. However I do not think that we can prove yet that the Maveen have given the humans a colony world.’
Omerio now spoke again and he was careful to be educational in his tone.
‘Admiral, we both now can speak English and we have been following their news reports. There is specific mention of a new colony called Barede about twelve thousand light years away at the edge of the galaxy. Indeed their broadcasters have been advised not to show sky shots of the colony just in case the information should find its way to us.’
Admiral Baredio stifled his disbelief, though he did begin to pace his command deck briefly again before giving an order to the communications officer.
‘Lieutenant, I want a human broadcast channel placed on the main viewer, and both Gindane and Omerio will aid in the selection of the channel.’
In moments the main viewer was showing the news channel that both the younger Barus had found to be the most helpful. Gindane now carefully gave a translation as the Barus admiral listened in consternation.
‘… and most of the second set of colony gate ways were closed several hours earlier, before the Maveen gate ships and probes flew back to the Trader landing site and the last marine gate way. …now just to repeat the news that the last of the marine gate ways have been closed, before the Maveen on Earth left via the last marine gate way…. An hour later the Trader ship lifted off in an impressive launch and is now flying over the central Pacific into space. Note that a news lockdown is in place due to the unwanted presence of the Barus invasion fleet and we will have further news at 10pm. Later tonight our panel of experts will discuss what we know of the new Barede colony and the risks the estimated 12 million new colonists will face.’
Admiral Baredio felt considerable unease as he started to digest the facts of the news report, and this unease showed in his next urgent comment.
‘So the Maveen did take care to be seen to leave this world to protect the humans. But 12 million colonists went through to what? Then why did they have the wait on the launch of the Trader ship? Also I feel the humans are hiding something as well due to this lockdown business. Finally Gindane, surely you would have mentioned earlier that we are vassals
not invaders and we police parts of the galaxy?’
Gindane and Omerio were just starting to reply and add additional information to their earlier statements when the tactical officer yelled out across the bridge.
‘Admiral, the humans have launched swarms of missiles from the northern hemisphere and they are heading directly for our fleet.’
The admiral looked at both Gindane and Omerio with a new appreciation as he began issuing a series of urgent commands to his fleet. The Barus fleet turned and sought to change course, and the leading Barus scouts frantically began evasive maneuvers to place themselves to one side of the projected flight paths of the masses of missiles.
***
Colonel Bill Ackerton viewed the status of the launched missiles and considered they had done well. The three teams in each country had not enough time to alter smaller submarine based missiles, but instead had just worked with the land based missiles, leaving each country’s nuclear deterrent largely in place. The US had managed to launch forty nine assorted missiles, the Chinese had launched twenty six missiles, and the Russians had launched forty one missiles. So the combined assault was only nine missiles short of the one hundred and twenty five missiles allocated in secret joint military meetings.
The teams of engineers in each country had ensured that their missiles could make the deep space intercept by further reducing the payload weight carried aloft. The teams first removed the reentry vehicle and warheads on each missile before mounting back a sole warhead on a jury rigged alloy adaptor plate for most of the missiles. This change effectively made the missiles faster and light enough to give the last stage escape velocity. All the last stages were already capable of engine restarts, so in theory they could perform space intercepts. The software on the missiles was then revised to allow for the deep space intercepts and was only slightly modified from their previous attempt on the sole Barus ship.