Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores

by David Buck

  Ian then stood up and strode slowly out of his tent onto the small island. Directly in front of him there was a massive pile of sandbags surrounding a portable missile installation that was aimed skywards and crewed by efficient looking Australian and US troops. To his left the two damaged Trader sneak ships were being poured over by members of the mission team and several military engineers. To his right a series of large tents covered the other trade items supplied by the Traders.

  Ian could hear another transport plane now landing to bring supplies and medical personnel to maintain the quarantine. After another half hour the lieutenant walked out to advise him that the video conference was commencing and that Governor Greene was present in the meeting. Ian walked back to his seat in front of a camera and the conference began with the US president James Whiting first speaking.

  ‘Governor Greene, we would like to congratulate you and your team on your efforts on our behalf. The victory was unexpected, but welcome, and we would invite any comments you can make on the battle itself, and the subsequent conversation with the Barus Admiral and his officers.’

  There was a pause of several seconds due to the increasing distance of the Trader ship before they heard Steve report on the specifics of the battle.

  ‘Mr President, I thank you on behalf of my mission team and I will have to be brief here as we are leaving shortly. I understand that you received full video copies of the battle and afterwards the subsequent conversation with the Barus. Note that our mission team included two former contractors to your missile industry. The earlier rapid withdrawal of the Barus research ship indicated that their ships might be vulnerable to nuclear strikes and especially kinetic weapons. The results of the initial conflict between the 5th fleet and the Trader sneak ships reinforced this opinion, and it was borne out especially by the success of our kinetic weapons against the Barus cruisers. The first attempt failed due to the limited numbers of missiles and the refusal of the small Barus destroyer to get near them. This was not a problem with the Barus cruisers as they were attempting to get past the missiles to attack the Traders. I consider the option to develop our capabilities in this area to be well recommended. I also politely recommend that you reclaim and fortify the moon as soon as possible as we could use it as an orbiting missile carrier.’

  There was a pause as one of the US military officers in stated a brief question that Steve had no problem in replying to satisfactorily.

  ‘I do not expect the Barus fleet to return as they have made a decent attempt according to the governing edicts and taken heavy damage as a result. Fortunately they attempted to take us front on rather than waiting for the Traders to leave and then punishing Earth itself. This punishment is now unlikely from the Barus or other reputable races like the Cephrit or Deltas Vass from what our discussions can tell us. There are other races we should mistrust from what I can gather as they can and do interpret the edicts to their own advantage. If there is any lesson today I would suggest that the Barus will follow the rule of law even to their own detriment as this battle proved.’

  Ian Ridge now took a turn to ask a question and he sought to obtain clarification on a key point.

  ‘Governor Greene, you are suggesting that the Barus are not intrinsically hostile to us but other races may well turn out to be so? And if so can you please supply examples of what we have to look out for as a warning?’

  After a wait of several seconds Ian heard Steve’s reply.

  ‘Prime Minister, there are key words used by the Traders to describe the various races, the Cephrit are wise and measured, I consider their protégés the Traders themselves to be similar, the Barus are duty bound but fair, the Deltas Vass are pacifists unless they are on a crusade, the Tilmud are firmly bound by past mistakes, the Jerecab are….’

  Ian listened as Steve went through all the races that had been described by the Traders. He did admit to himself that he found the Vorinne, and especially the Zronte overlords to be terrifying after going through their earlier notes. After several more minutes of hurried communications, Captain Narindestat signalled the ship was now ready to move further out into the solar system. The conference came to an end with Steve given the honour of a hurried last statement.

  ‘To the people of Earth, I promise that our colony on Barede will not forget our legacy and heritage and we will keep the memory of our home world alive. Hopefully one day our descendants will be again in contact with each other, good bye and good luck to you all.’

  The combined Trader ship and hyper drive module was well past the orbit of the moon, and had headed north at high speed for several hours out of the elliptic. A massive corona of light suddenly surrounded the huge star ship and it made a hyper jump to further outside the galaxy. Steve noted that Captain Narindestat was in a quiet conversation in his command chair using his native Trader tongue to talk to the Maveen Earth probe. He sat silently with Samantha in one of the couches, as Garendestat looked at the seated humans before he commented.

  ‘Well Steve, we are on our way and we started with a small type two hyper jump as we were still well inside your solar system. We will check our systems further before we go and make a large jump further out of the galaxy.’

  Steve only felt relief that they were now finally on their way, and he rested and listened patiently, as both Ian and Sanjay asked a series of highly technical questions of the ever patient Garendestat. He observed that Captain Narindestat finished his own conversation with an air of satisfaction.

  ***

  Steve patiently accessed the Trader data table and continued to learn the Trader language as he sat in Captain Narindestat’s huge command chair. Samantha sat on one of the couches behind the command chair and was using a similar data tablet to look at pictures of Trader culture. It had been two months since they had left Earth and the ship had settled into a routine.

  Steve had been concerned that Captain Narindestat had taken a detour and would be stopping off at a remote location. However he had quickly voiced his support of the stop-over based on the excellent logic the captain had then presented. Steve had attached himself to Captain Narindestat and Garendestat during the day watch and was always grateful for any insights the Traders could supply. He had been introduced to Lieutenant Damofestat and his crew once the doors barring the two sections were opened after the ship left the solar system.

  Steve and Samantha had been given a cabin with a window that overlooked the star field, and they would often just sit in the evening to watch and look at the stars together as they talked. The Traders had fashioned sets of coveralls for them that Samantha would alter for better fit in the evenings as they had come away from Earth with few clothes. Samantha had enjoyed the trip and was spending a lot of time with Steve, and they both joked about being on their actual honeymoon.

  Steve thought there was more to it than just a joke based on the lingering glances she was giving him. Samantha was now a volunteer in the ships’ sick back and also spent long hours talking to Emeria as she assisted her. The four other members of the mission team had paired off and been given their own cabins. The team joined Steve and Samantha for evening meals to eagerly report in their latest discoveries they had made via the Trader engineers.

  Three days after the Trader crew were re-united Lieutenant Damofestat and his crew had fallen ill, before an extended series of treatments perfected earlier had seen them in turn healed. The pressure treatment was assessed as being more beneficial the quicker it was implemented, and Emeria was well satisfied with the results.

  Steve had witnessed a couple of yelling matches between Traders on the mess deck, yet next day they would be working alongside one another without a care in the world. He considered that they were not unlike humans in that respect. The humans had also watched the Traders pair off though there were not enough female Traders to go around. There was talk of marriage ceremonies taking place as they got closer to the colony.

  Steve was still practising his Trader language skills on the bridge crew and
getting the occasional joke at his expense, when Captain Narindestat walked onto the bridge and gave a start as he spotted Steve sitting in his command chair. His deep Trader voice boomed out in good humour at the discovery, even as Steve hastily exited the chair and gave a polite bow that was returned.

  ‘So I let a few humans aboard my ship and they are now taking over with you in my command chair. Mind you I think you are personally well suited to captain a star ship from what I have seen of you. Now we are at our detour destination and we will have to be about our business as a special Maveen ship is to arrive shortly.’

  Steve stood to one side and then joined Samantha on a couch. The Trader ship further decelerated from the slow speed it had come down to, as it approached a massive space facility in interstellar space that appeared on the main view screen. The facility consisted of spindly black and metallic arms that easily dwarfed the approaching Trader ship. Steve could see of the area of space around the facility, with myriads of smaller Maveen probes and ships circling on patrol. He then looked further along the edge of the screen and could see nearby a dimly lit and large ice planet ringed by more Maveen ships.

  The Trader captain had taken an interest himself in the ice planet, and in moments he had zoomed in the main view screen to a closer look of the world. He followed this action by then viewing a series of moons apparently associated with the ice planet before he gave a quick comment.

  ‘The world looks like one of their special projects they embark upon, not for nothing is the Maveen known as the makers of worlds.’

  The captain’s interest was now taken by an approaching large Maveen ship and the view screen again displayed the Maveen space facility. The Trader ship now hung stationary in space and the Maveen probes in the main hold were undocked to be replaced by two new probes, and two slightly different ships with round hulls that had made the short trip across from the larger ship. One of the new probes released a mini probe that made its way to the bridge of the Trader ship and was soon speaking with the captain.

  ‘Captain, I represent the sector delegate and we are ready to deploy our micro probes to remove any last Voorde infestation on your ship. Do you have any damage we can assist you in repairing?’

  Captain Narindestat looked around at Steve and Samantha sitting in their couch and he pointed to them as he replied.

  ‘You obviously know about Traders, but those two beings are humans and they are my allies, guests and friends. Others of their species are on my ship and I do not want them harmed by accident.’

  The mini probe answered immediately as it in turn looked at the humans.

  ‘Captain, the humans are now known to us and we would never mistake any of them for Voorde. However I do suggest the humans stay on the bridge before we begin our decontamination process.’

  After several more minutes all six humans were on the bridge, and a swarm of miniature Maveen micro probes then unloaded from the Maveen cargo lighters and cascaded through the ship. The all clear was given after several hours and the humans joined the Traders in surveying the fragmentary results of the search in the cargo hold as the mini probe gave a brief report.

  ‘Captain, the Maveen eggs were all long dead and the remains are desiccated and show signs of significant biological decay. The human world seems to be dangerous to the Voorde to some extent. We have also identified areas of your ship damaged by the salt water and we recommend that these areas be repaired.’

  Steve interrupted at this point and asked about the significance of the ice world in space nearby. The mini probe merely paused for a significant moment, before it buzzed in annoyance and ignored him as Captain Narindestat authorised the repairs. The captain then dismissed the crew and the humans before setting about talking to the sector delegate directly. He had important information that he had obtained and he wanted the details forwarded on to others of his race.

  After two hours a special long range Maveen scout with powerful engines and an enhanced cloaking device was making its way to a Trader facility a considerable distance away across the sector. After four more days of repairs the Trader ship left the Maveen facility and continued on towards the edge of the galaxy.

  ***

  Gindane and Omerio both strode in Admiral Baredio’s office and gave the customary bows before they were seated with the admiral. The encounter at the human planet had led to a series of urgent repairs conducted on several cruisers, and at times they had to stop for an extra day or so while the engineers' jury rigged further repairs. Omerio thought that at least of the three cruisers had a burnt and chewed look about them after assisting in repairs, and he knew the ships would be naval star docks for possibly years as they were repaired. He now waited patiently as the admiral began to speak.

  ‘I would like to thank you for your efforts both at the human planet and afterwards as we have repaired our ships. I have made commendations that will be appended to your each of your records. Gindane, I hope this will be of assistance to you in the long term and of course Omerio your records will remain sealed and top secret.’

  Omerio and Gindane both thanked the admiral at this news and he then continued.

  ‘We are shortly arriving at the rendezvous site for the Deltas Vass fleet and then we will leave from the Dradfer colonies for our home systems. Note that the journey will be long as we have to skirt away from both Cephrit and Tilmud territories.’

  The Barus fleet had arrived at former Dradfer lead colony, and after meeting with the Deltas Vass fleet the decision to abandon any further research until the war was ended was easily reached. The Barus research ships left the system with the other ships two days later. Omerio had earlier voiced some residual concerns about the Tilmud, but this was brushed aside over one the dinners he and Gindane were now enjoying again as guests of the admiral and his officers.

  ‘Omerio, we number thirty two cruisers and we also have the research fleet of a dozen assorted cruisers and destroyers, so I think we are reasonably safe.’

  However after only another three weeks of travel, the combined Barus and Deltas Vass fleets were involved in skirmish with over ninety Tilmud frigates. The Tilmud fleet commander had insisted that the combined fleet had been attacking Tilmud forces as three of the Barus cruisers appeared to be heavily damaged. Admiral Baredio swallowed his pride and insisted that his fleet had been mauled by humans at their home world. The impatient and arrogant Tilmud commander had only listened for mere moments and then replied.

  ‘Admiral, you are telling me that you were driven off from the Trader ship you were sent to capture by mere humans from a haven world? You cannot possibly be serious that their primitive weapons, these missiles of theirs are so capable. Now the only ships out here that can damage your ships are Tilmud ships, so you can stop your lies. I consider I have caught you aiding the Cephrit and I will be advising the Tilmud high command of your actions. All frigates are to attack the enemy.’

  The admiral ordered the research fleet to guard the three worst affected cruisers, before he led the combined fleet of twenty nine cruisers against the Tilmud frigates and annihilated the attackers. Admiral Baredio gave Omerio a baleful look and mentioned something about adding another commendation, before he sent the both of them off to do further urgent repairs to the cruisers.

  The combined fleet continued on to other star systems and managed to avoid further conflict before they arrived at their own star systems after two more months. During this time Admiral Baredio prepared a series of reports for the Barus military on the latest developments his fleet had discovered at Earth.

  ***

  Steve and Samantha strode around their quarters and ensured that they had packed everything they would be taking with them down to the colony. The Trader ship had entered high orbit over the colony earlier and even now the full story of their victory at Earth was being broadcast around the colony.

  Captain Narindestat had wished them well and promised he would land at the colony a later stage before he sent them off to their quarters to p
ack. Now satisfied that they had their belongings under control Samantha stopped by the window and Steve moved to stand behind her as they again took in the view of the Barede colony. He tenderly rested his right hand on her belly and she laid one of her one hands on top.

  Together they admired both the new world they would call home and the incredible view they had of the Milky Way galaxy to one side. The sun light streamed over the large continent, with the sun due to set, and Steve pointed out roughly were they would be shortly landing on the mid-west coast of the largest continent near the equator. Samantha now lent back into him and spoke softly.

  ‘The planet is so new and beautiful from space, and we will have much to do when we arrive.’

  Steve gave her a gentle cuddle as he softly replied.

  ‘You should only be doing what no one else can do until the twins are born.’

  Samantha turned in his arms and gave him a kiss, before she replied as she smoothed an imaginary crease in his meticulously cleaned naval uniform.

  ‘Well we have a lifetime to get things right in the colony and hopefully the following generations will improve on things. Now how do you like Garen and Narin, after our two favourite Traders, as names for our boys?’

  The couple enjoyed their final minutes on the ship looking at the colony planet, before they quietly gathered their belongings. They then left to join the rest of the mission team at the base of the docking pylon holding sneak ship five.

  Garendestat was already onboard checking the sneak ship out for the landing and Steve noted his relaxed manner, certainly apparent after his formal marriage ceremony last week. Emeria also joined them and politely inquired on Samantha’s pregnancy before she stowed a large bag as they all filed onboard the smaller ship. Garendestat first helped the humans to get secured onboard in the too large Trader seats and then also informed Steve of the latest decision that Captain Narindestat had made.