Rising Star

by Donald Nicklas

  All acknowledged and wound their way back to the scout ship. Tavia piloted the ship back to the Invicta and passed the salvage ships on the way to the Hangar bay. After landing the entire scout crew went up to the conference room for debriefing. Slone met them there and Tavia handed over the tap node containing the video log. Slone put the tap node into the computer built into the conference table and suddenly the table was covered with a hologram of NW Broken Arrow on patrol along the Petrov Corp border. Slone then said, “Computer, fast forward to arrival in system P-332.”

  The hologram flashed and suddenly they had a view of the system they were in. Audio began with Captain Elwood issuing orders to the bridge crew of the Broken Arrow. “Anything on sensors?”

  The report came back, “Sensors show telemetry coming from the area of the third planet.”

  “Take us there and hail them.”

  “Message coming in from the starliner. It is an automated distress signal. Roundtrip time for messages will be over an hour until we move closer.”

  “Set course for the third planet and send a hail to the ship.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Computer move forward three hours,” Slone said and the hologram flashed to a view of the starliner. The destroyer was still an hour out and the ship was on maximum magnification. It was still too small to make out details. From the audio log it was apparent that no response came from the hails to the ship. “Computer move forward to the last 10 minutes of the log.” Again, the flash and now the starliner filled the screen. “Computer, freeze.” The image was frozen on the table.

  The humans in the room now looked closely at the starliner. Nothing looked out of place. They all knew the ship was huge compared to the size of a destroyer, but as a civilian ship, it was designed for luxury. That still did not explain what it was doing in an area still unstable from the Sinclair Corp takeover of Petrov space. Alaya had seen these large cruise ships before, but this was the first one Slone every saw. He deferred to his wife, “Alaya, does that look like a normal starliner to you?”

  Alaya looked closely at the hologram, “Other than the fact that there appear to be no lights on, yes. I have been on one or two in my life and this is a big one. It reminds me of one of the larger Sinclair liners.”

  “Could this be one of them?”

  “It could be, but I would have to go aboard to make sure. Starliners all follow a similar design.”

  “Computer, continue.” The log continued. Most of the next nine minutes were involved in attempts to contact the liner. It was obvious that the destroyer kept moving in since the liner was soon larger than the area of the hologram. The last thirty seconds of the log were what mattered. There was a sudden commotion on the bridge of the Broken Arrow. Slone had turned down the volume as they watched the approach and things were routine. He now ordered the volume back to normal. They could hear the sensor tech reporting as they watched the side of the liner.

  “Captain, I am picking up activity on the liner.”

  “Any idea what’s going on over there?”

  “No sir, wait, parts of the side of the vessel are opening.”

  As they watched the hologram, they could see openings appearing on three decks in the middle of the side of the starliner. Slone counted 36 openings. Then he realized what he was seeing. “Those are gun ports. That liner’s a Q-Ship.”

  As they watched, pandemonium broke out on the destroyer bridge as the captain ordered the crew to battle stations. However, it was too late. Before the Klaxon could sound three times, thirty-six cannons fired from the side of the starliner, which was now starting to come to life. Destroyers have trouble standing up to a cruiser with six cannons on the side. Corporate dreadnoughts have twelve and Romani dreadnoughts have 24 cannons on a side. Either type of dreadnought would shred a destroyer at the distance Captain Elwood moved his ship to the liner. Had he survived, he would have been court-martialed. In an unknown situation, he should have kept his distance and gone to general quarters. All close examination should have been done with boarding sleds. Both he and his crew paid for his stupidity. Those in the conference room watched silently as the bridge of the destroyer came apart and views of the ship from interior cameras all showed the same story. The cannon shots passed through the thin walls of the destroyer and shredded it. There was no need for them to explode on their own. The kinetic energy of the shots caused massive explosions in the engine room and the fuel bunkers, tearing the aft fourth of the ship apart. Missiles detonated on their racks and not a single shot was fired in return. It was all over in less than five seconds and the log stopped when the power went out.

  The group in the conference room was stunned. The distress was a ruse and the Rising Star was a Q-Ship, also known as a commerce raider. Usually a freighter but they could be other ships, as in this case. They were used in war to trick enemy ships by appearing innocent and luring in a ship then destroying it. They were usually used to take out freighters and disrupt supply lines. That one would take out a warship, was very unusual. The serpents in the room were not used to this type of deceit, but they were learning that humans were masters at this activity. Christopher was the first to speak.

  “I have only one question here, and that is why? Why take out one of our destroyers? These were not pirates; they did not salvage their kill. This was intentional.”

  “But was it meant for us?” Alaya asked. “That destroyer was one of those we captured from Petrov Corporation and gave to New Wales. This could have been retribution against New Wales for the destruction of the Petrov fleet.”

  “The answer will have to wait. Our mandate was to find out what happened to our destroyer and report. That is what we will do.” Slone reached over to the com unit on the table and contacted the bridge. “Paul, come to the conference room,” Slone said and shortly Paul McMann entered from the bridge.

  “Yes, captain,” he said as he took a seat.

  They showed him the pertinent parts of the video log. “Paul, what is the next system we have to enter before returning to New Wales space?”

  Paul activated the navigation function of the computer and projected a star map on the table. “We are here,” he pointed to system P-332. “The only slipstream we can use to leave here and return to our space is to system P-031,” and he pointed to an adjacent system.”

  “Are there also outbound slipstreams in that system leading deeper into Petrov space?”

  “Yes, captain. There are three outbound slipstreams, one back the way we came and two deeper into Petrov space.”

  “Good, have Tom send a copy of the log back to Nova Romae and New Wales. Round trip should be close to three weeks to Nova Romae. Report we will retrieve the dead and secure what is left of value in the destroyer. We will then await a response from the Senate in system P-031.”

  Paul McMann acknowledged and left the room. Slone then turned to those in the room. “We’ll finish up here and then head to P-031. We will enter invisible and await the Senate’s response. That will be all.”

  The meeting broke up and they returned to their duties.

  Chapter 3 – The Resistance

  It took two days to recover and cremate the dead and list the missing. The ashes were placed in urns and stored in the Chamber of the Honored Dead, next to the children’s section and the sickbay. While the dead were recovered, the ordinance department removed all of the intact missiles and cannon shells. There was little else worth recovering, but there was always the danger something could be left behind that would lead an enemy to Nova Romae. Therefore, after everyone was done, Slone contacted Captain Artok and told her to give her crew some target practice and destroy what was left of the Broken Arrow. One volley was all they needed to turn the ship into space dust. The larger pieces would gradually fall into the gas giant or become part of her ring system. The reconnaissance fleet moved towards the outbound slipstream. The message capsule had been on its way for two days and would still take more than two weeks to return with an answer. Th
ey relaxed in the slipstream and entered system P-031 invisible.

  Slone was in the captain’s chair and turned to Roger Umgabe, “Are there any emissions or ships in the system?”

  Since telemetry emissions were constant, those in a system were detected immediately, while those entering the system were dependent on their distance for detection. Roger looked at his sensor boards and reported, “The system reads as uninhabited. There are two stars, one a main sequence, light blue spectral class A. The other is a white dwarf, spectral class D. There are 12 planets, five rocky with one of those having an ammonia atmosphere and five gas giants with rings and large numbers of moons. The last two are covered in ice with liquid water beneath and rocky cores. There are also four defined asteroid clusters.”

  “In other words, a lot of gravity with plenty of places to hide. Order all ship captains to keep a close watch for anything out of the ordinary. We will be here a while, and I would prefer it remain uninhabited. Order the fleet to the nearest asteroid belt and make sure they have reserve serpents aboard for round the clock invisibility. We will park near the asteroids until we get a response.”

  The fleet did as they were ordered and the wait began. Just over one week in the system, Christopher and Alaya were in their quarters when the battle stations klaxon began to ring throughout the ship and the intercom shouted, “Captain to the bridge”. No one asked any questions, when that klaxon blared, they ran to their stations. It could mean only one thing, danger. Christopher ran to the bridge and Alaya headed down to the children’s area and deposited Olivia with the personnel. She ran into Diana Gardner who was dropping off little Allen on her way to engineering. There was no time to chat. Alaya continued to her ship in the hangar, which was her battle station in case she was needed as a scout.

  While little Olivia was being dropped off, Christopher Slone arrived on the bridge, which was a beehive of activity. The primary bridge crew was just arriving and taking over from the rest period crew. The primary crew was being briefed by the rest crew about what was happening. The same was taking place on all parts of the ship and all ships in the fleet. The night shift captain, Commander Price, snapped to attention as soon as she saw Captain Slone enter the bridge.

  Slone walked up to the captain’s chair and looked at the commander, “At ease, commander, give me a report.” Slone did not question the legitimacy of the general quarters, since the crew was well trained and they knew when there might be need for action.

  Commander Price stood next to the captain’s chair as Slone took his seat. She then began her report as a threat board came up on the front screen showing the approximate position of the invisible ships of the fleet and three red blips near the edge of the system.

  “Approximately twenty minutes ago we picked up a mass indication of a ship incoming on the inbound slipstream from Petrov space,” Commander Price began. “Mass measurements indicated a star cruiser sized ship was inbound. Since we are just under seven hours from the inbound Petrov slipstream, it took three and a half hours for the mass signature to reach us. They are now in system and ten minutes after they entered, two other cruisers followed them and we detected weapons fire. That is when I called general quarters.”

  “Good call, commander,” Slone said. “You are relieved. You and your crew can report to your battle stations.”

  “Yes sir,” Commander Price reported and gave a crisp salute, which Slone returned. She and the off time bridge crew then left for their assigned battle stations.

  Slone now turned to Roger Umgabe at the sensor station, “Roger, anything else on the intruders?”

  “Captain, identification codes are coming in now. The first vessel through is transmitting a Petrov Corporation transponder code.”

  “We are in Petrov space. I guess we didn’t capture all of their ships. What about the ones chasing it?”

  “Those should reach us in about five minutes.”

  “Let me know when you get them. Tom, any communication from the ships?”

  “None has reached us yet, captain.”

  At this point Roger interrupted, “Captain, IDs coming in on the other ships now. Transponders identify them as Sinclair Corporation cruisers.”

  “So, Sinclair Corp’s hostile takeover is not a done deal,” Slone said. “Tom, send a tight beam transmission to the Petrov ship, use the military codes we captured from them in New Wales. Give them our location and tell them to head towards us.”

  Paul McMann looked back at his captain, but said nothing. He knew how Slone felt about Sinclair Corp. “Message sent, round trip is still two and a half hours.”

  “Order the fleet into motion. Have them follow formation Iota, with the destroyers in the rear.”

  After a few seconds, “Message sent and acknowledged.”

  The formation put the ships in the order, Invicta, Avenging Talon, the cruiser and the destroyers. “Tom, put me through to the Gladius.”

  Paul pushed a button, “Channel open.”

  “Captain Slone, take the Gladius and pass the incoming ships and keep post on the incoming slipstream they used. If any further incursions, keep an eye on them and be ready to confuse them if needed.”

  “We are on our way, sir.”

  The Gladius went invisible in the hangar and left the ship heading to the slipstream. Two hours into her flight, she approached the Petrov cruiser and could make out considerable battle damage. When she came abreast of the Sinclair ships, she also saw that the Petrov navy had acquitted themselves well. While the Gladius was still passing the incoming ships, Slone received a response to his hail.

  “Captain, response coming in from the Petrov vessel. The computer is decrypting it now.”

  “Put it up on speaker,” Slone ordered.

  “This is Captain Peter Abramov of the cruiser PC Kiev. We have no vessels in this area yet you use one of our codes. Identify yourself before we move to your position.”

  “This is Captain Christopher Slone of the Nova Romae dreadnought NR Invicta. Do you need some assistance with the Sinclair ships on your tail?” Though they had not yet heard from the Senate, Slone was now Romani enough to know he would be given full authority to investigate the destruction of the NW Broken Arrow. To do that he would need to know who the players were. For now, the Petrov forces were in distress and fighting a losing battle against Sinclair Corp. That made former enemies possible allies. Slone knew it was important to help them.

  After the ever-decreasing lag time, the response came back. “Captain Slone, I remember you when you crushed our fleets. We now find ourselves in a crisis, which began when our CEO was killed by Horatio Sinclair. Seems they conspired to get us into the disaster in New Wales and we have been fighting a losing battle for the last five years. I would welcome any assistance, and then perhaps you can tell me what you are doing in our space.” There was a slight pause. “I have ordered a change of course but we do not detect any ships in that direction.”

  “You will shortly,” Slone moved his hand across the front of his neck in the universal signal to cut the transmission. “Tom, order the fleet to drop invisibility and then open a channel to the Sinclair ships in the clear.”

  “Yes captain.”

  Suddenly the reconnaissance fleet appeared as it was travelling at full speed in the direction of the three ships. Slone then sent his message to the Sinclair ships, using an old alias. “Attention Sinclair cruisers. This is Captain David Christopher of the Nova Romae dreadnought NR Invicta. The Petrov cruiser you are pursuing is under our protection. Break off your chase and move to the outbound slipstream and we will allow you to leave.”

  When the Romani ships suddenly appeared, pandemonium broke out on the bridges of the Sinclair cruisers. Up to this point, it had been a routine search and destroy mission. Four years ago, the Sinclair Mobile Fleet had attacked and defeated what was left of the Petrov Corporation military after they were soundly defeated by the forces of New Wales helped by a previously unknown group who called themselves the Romani
. The only Romani known to the corporations were pirates living in the Matsua Rim. The cruisers had been patrolling the border with New Wales when Sinclair intelligence was informed of a cruiser carrying what was left of the Petrov resistance leadership. They had finally picked up their quarry a few jumps back and now they were closing in. There had been a short exchange of shots that left the Petrov ship damaged and they were catching up ever since. They knew this was the system where the end game would take place. Now, unexpectedly, there is a strong fleet offering the enemy protection. The lead cruiser was in charge and her captain, Alfred Jamison, was a veteran of the Mobile Fleet. Perhaps he could bluff his way through. They were still several hours away from weapons range. He turned to his communications tech. “Open a channel to the Nova Romae fleet.”

  “Yes, sir. The channel is open.”

  “This is Captain Alfred Jamison of the Sinclair cruiser, SS Florien, you are trespassing in Petrov Corporation space, which now falls under the Sinclair Corporation umbrella. We demand that you withdraw or face the consequences.”

  While Slone was waiting for the response to his hail, he sent a message to the Gladius, which by this time had passed the Sinclair cruisers and was scanning the space they came through. Their response reached Slone about the same time the response from Captain Jamison did and indicated there were no hidden or electronically shielded ships hiding in the system.

  Slone was ready to respond and attempt to diffuse the situation. He knew the Sinclair captains were in a bind. If they turned tail and ran, they could lose their rank. Corporations did not deal well with failure. “Tom, open a channel.”

  Tom Gardner signified the channel was open and lag time was down to 15 minutes. “Captain Jamison, I realize you have to save face but to attack us is to invite destruction. We outgun you by a considerable amount and I am sure the Petrov cruiser would love to join the fray. I suggest you change course immediately and tell no one you gave chase. This way we all go our way and no one loses anything.” Again, Slone signaled to cut the transmission. The Sinclair response was quick in coming, the cruisers suddenly changed course for the outbound slipstream and no further communication was had. Slone ordered the Gladius to tail the Sinclair ships until they were out of the system. Slone ordered the fleet to secure from general quarters and stop all forward movement but remain visible. There was no more need for deception. “Tom, open a channel to the Kiev using the Petrov codes.”