“Hold your fire, Deadeye,” Alaya said. “Put me through to the general.”
When Raul indicated the line was open, Alaya said, “General Golov, the enemy has surrendered. How do you want us to handle this?”
“We will send a squad down to round them up. Please hold your position to protect the squad in case of treachery.”
“Holding position.”
There was no treachery. The Sinclair mercenaries still had no idea where the shots and missiles came from and sheepishly laid down their weapons and the resistance took their communicators. Then General Golov did something unusual, she told them to take off their shoes and socks and let them go. When Alaya was back in the camp and with General Golov, she had to remark, “An interesting way you handled the mercenaries.”
The general smiled, “I thought to myself, they never really had a chance to hurt us and we can’t stay here, so what to do with them? It will take them a while to walk to where they can get help, and the lava rocks are sharp. They will learn their lesson. Now we have to evacuate, if you are still willing to help us.”
“Of course. What is the total complement of troops here and what equipment do you need?”
The general and the colonel conferred for several minutes and then the general turned to Alaya, “We have a total of just over 1400 troops and techs here. We have only small arms and the housing and computers will be destroyed when we leave. I hate to lose it all, but we have no transports. All our raids were on foot.”
Alaya did some calculations in her head, “If we pack you tight in the common room and the main living quarters, we can carry 50 of you at a time, with weapons and combat gear. It will be tight but it will be fast. We can cover the 100 kilometers in about twenty minutes without doing too much atmospheric disturbance and giving away the ship. General, I suggest you come with us to contact the other base. I don’t think they’re ready for invisible ships landing in their camp.”
“Quite right, Alaya. I hadn’t even thought of that.”
“It will take a full 24 hour Earth day to do this so we best get started. Those troops you released may be walking slowly, but they will eventually be found. No telling how long we have.”
Evacuation started immediately. The first to leave were the fighters with every third group consisting of techs. The last to leave would be the guards on the rim of the volcano. As long as the Gladius was available, they did not fear a fight, since any force climbing the mountain could be dealt with. Thus, the rim guards were reduced to a watch of 50. The evacuation took 24 round trips. The tech flights included equipment that could be moved. All the rest was set for demolition as the last flight left. It was a long, full day, but it was accomplished without further problems and all breathed a sigh of relief as the last group watched their old camp blow up. The evacuees were able to sleep a full cycle under the protection of the existing camp troops. General Golov now had a force numbering close to three thousand fighters with the combined camps. The Romani and serpents slept aboard their ship and the serpents had remained in the cockpit area when transporting troops, so only the general and the colonel knew of them.
After a short rest period, the Romani left the ship and went to the command tent. They had been quickly introduced, the day before, to the commander of the new camp, Lt. Colonel Larisa Teplov. She was an attractive young blonde-haired woman, slender and of medium height. She was young for her rank, but the war had removed most of those above her and officers were needed. Both General Golov and Colonel Ivanov spoke highly of her. Alaya and Tavia were ready to discuss the enemy dispositions on the planet. Alaya also needed to know where the resistance was and of what they were capable. Alaya soon realized these were not the civilian resistance fighters from New Wales. They were the remaining ground troops they defeated on that planet. They were hardened and veteran warriors fighting for their homes. In the event of a weakness with Sinclair Corp’s occupation, they had a rally point from which to organize the re-conquest of their home world.
Tavia asked the next important question, “How many troops can you muster to support any attack we make?”
General Golov shot a questioning look at the camp commanders. Colonel Ivanov was the first to respond. As the next highest-ranking officer, it was his job to know the answer. General Golov had not been on the home world for almost four years. “We can muster just over eight thousand fighters once the rally order is sent out.”
Alaya then asked, “What is the estimate of Sinclair mercenaries and other troops on planet?”
“Our spies tell us there are 20,000 Sinclair forces, ninety percent of which are hired guns. Sinclair pulled almost all of their first line troops off a year after the conquest. Rumor has it they are needed elsewhere, but for what we have no idea.”
“So, twenty thousand against eight thousand. General, if we landed a cohort of serpents on the planet to help your troops, they could tip the scales in your favor. But we would not be able to do that until we engaged the Sinclair Mobile Fleet.”
This time Lt. Colonel Teplov responded, “How many troops are we talking about and what are serpents?”
Alaya responded to this question, “The serpent cohort would number about one thousand. We would also add to that any troops we could after the boarding actions. The Sinclair Mobile Fleet is very large and I am sure it will be a tough fight. As to what serpents are, that is another matter. They are a reptilian, alien race who is part of our republic. They are the ones who make our ships invisible and they are unbelievable fighters.”
Alaya could tell from the expression on the face of Lt. Colonel Teplov that she was in disbelief about the aliens. Alaya was glad the serpents were finally becoming common knowledge, but until then, these constant explanations were necessary.
“Are you telling me you have aliens fighting along with your troops?”
“Yes, would you care to meet them?”
“They are here?”
“Only they can make the ship invisible. We have to return to our ship and meet up with the fleet. We are awaiting orders from the Senate if we are to intervene in this war. Since Sinclair was foolish enough to destroy one of our ships, I have no doubt that the answer will be yes. We will then return with a fleet and get the Sinclair fleet out of your hair.” Alaya told those present. They then returned to the ship and Lt. Colonel Teplov met her first aliens. She took it quite well and one look at the claws and teeth, as well as the general appearance, and she could see why the mercenaries did not want to tangle with them. General Golov decided to stay with the resistance and coordinate with the Romani when the time came. She ordered Lt. Colonel Teplov to accompany the Romani in her place and act as liaison between them and the resistance. She filled her in on Captain Abramov’s mission and she was shocked that the Romani would give away ten dreadnoughts to anyone, much less a corporation they had so recently fought. After all were settled in the ship, Hatch made them invisible and they lifted off the planet and moved through the blockading fleet. After a transit of seven hours fifty-four minutes, they entered the slipstream and finally relaxed.
Chapter 11 – Preparations
The reconnaissance fleet arrived in the P-038 system without any further interruptions. The fleet was invisible but the Rising Star could not be cloaked. Since it was supposed to be touring anyway, it would appear to be the only ship moving in the system. The P-038 system was chosen by Slone as the place to await the Senate response, since it was near the Border Worlds where they form a buffer between Petrov and Nova Romae space. Any fleet from the Republic would come across this area as the most direct route. There were two incoming slipstreams and three outgoing. One of the incoming was direct from the Border Worlds. It was from that direction that messages and help would come. The system was a single star system consisting of a very hot, dark blue main sequence star of spectral class O. The system contained 18 planets; four rocky near the star and 14 gas giants with a large number of moons. Slone was surprised there were no mining facilities with all the celestial objects present,
but Petrov Corp was always marginal and had little money to do large scale exploration and mining.
“Paul, move us into orbit around the gas giant nearest the inbound slipstream from the Border Worlds,” Slone ordered.
“Yes, Captain. Transit time will be 8 hours 12 minutes.”
“Send orders to the fleet to enter formation Xi.”
After a short pause, Tom Gardner reported, “All ships acknowledge formation Xi.”
This formation was three lines abreast, destroyers first, then dreadnoughts followed by the single cruiser. Slone decided to keep the main bridge crew at their stations for the duration of the transit. After the passage of 8 hours, the fleet went into orbit around the gas giant. Now the wait began for the return of their scout as well as instructions from the high command. Before either of these events came around, Slone had to decide what to do about the starliner. The coming battle, if it got that far, would be a tough one and the Q-Ship was a formidable ship of war. Once the fleet was in orbit, Slone ordered a reduced watch schedule and sent messages to the captains of the ships and the primary centurions of the cohorts to meet in the Invicta conference room in two hours time. When all were assembled, Slone started the meeting.
“I have called all of you here to discuss what to do with the Rising Star. She is a very powerful combat ship and I would like to take her into combat with us, if we are ordered to engage the Sinclair fleet.” Some of the captains were about to speak, when Slone raised his hand to stop them. “I know what you are about to say, it would be suicide to attack the Sinclair Mobile Fleet. I agree, if this is all we have. I assume if the Senate orders us to attack that we will be reinforced. I would like to have a use for the Rising Star to present to the fleet commander. I want to use her for her intended purpose. As far as the Mobile Fleet is concerned, their Q-Ship is doing exactly what it is supposed to do out here. There is no way they would know it has been captured. We interrogated and verified the identity of the passengers we let leave. None of them have any association with the Sinclair military nor do they have any idea the ship belongs to Sinclair Corp. I also expect they will be hesitant to discuss what they saw, for fear of being branded lunatics who see aliens around every corner.” This last resulted in some chuckles. The serpents present did not get the joke.
Slone pressed a button on the console before him, “Commander Gardner, please come to the conference room.” While they waited, Slone had some refreshments brought in and continued with the discussion. “Commander Price, you have been commanding the Rising Star, how does she appear to you?”
Commander Elaine Price stood up to give her report. “She is a fine ship, Captain. For a ship her size, she handles more like a cruiser then a dreadnought. I think she is very advanced, but I am sure Commander Gardner would be the best judge of that.”
As if on cue, Commander Diana Gardner entered the conference room and saluted the captains and centurions sitting at the table. “Have a seat, Commander, Slone said, maintaining formalities for the official recordings.”
After Diana was seated and given some refreshment, Slone began, “Commander, what is the combat readiness of the Q-Ship? We know she can ambush an unsuspecting prey, but can she hold up in a straight up fight?”
Diana stood up to deliver her assessment. “The Rising Star is in excellent condition. Very little damage was done during our takeover and what was damaged has been repaired. Mostly internal lines were damaged. Externally there is no damage. The ship also has a large amount of standard cannon ammo and missiles, though the missiles are all ship killers. She is designed to take on capital ships. Point defenses are top of the line. I think this may be a prototype for some kind of super dreadnought. If I’m right, there may already be some of these ships in the Sinclair home fleet.”
The ship captains at the table all looked at each other. “If you are right, then Sinclair has decided to greatly upset the balance of power in corporate space. This also threatens us. We will have to await our scout ship’s return to know if the Mobile Fleet has any of these monsters. What would be the minimum we need aboard her for crew?”
“Captain, do you plan to just fight with the ship or is boarding also needed.”
“Just to operate and fight the ship. The crew can repel borders. I know there was a very large crew aboard.”
Diana gave it some thought. “We have been flying her with a skeleton crew of one hundred. That would take care of all the basic functions but would not allow for damage control and we have no weapons manned. That beast has 84 guns. They alone require a crew of 168 to manage them. The missiles are automated so they require only a weapons tech. If we want the ship to last more than a single volley, we will need a standard dreadnought crew of 400, and that is pushing it with the extra guns. It will also leave no reserves. Don’t forget, we use our marines as backup gunners.”
“Commander Gardner, could your techs train a crew in a month, I think it will be that long before we do anything?”
“The basics of gunnery are not a problem, but the engineering portion and damage control, not sure about that.”
Slone now looked at his serpent ground commander, “Centurion Ash, do you feel four hundred of your troops could train in basic ship systems, damage control and cannon control in a month?”
Centurion Ash began to quiver her lips and then spoke, “Sss. Captain Artok has insisted we cross train in the way we did when our ships were small. We already know the basics and are ready to learn more.”
“Captain Artok, with your permission, I would like to borrow 400 of your legionaries to crew the Rising Star and take her into battle.”
“Sss. Captain Slone, we would be honored. We are ready to train immediately.”
“Excellent, Commander Gardner, please see to the training after the meeting.”
“Yes Captain.”
Several days transpired as the training moved along. Serpents were very fast learners and it did not take long for them to know how to handle the ship and perform the all-important damage control. If the Romani followed Slone’s plan, the Rising Star would be the first to engage the enemy and that meant damage was a given. Slone was sitting on the bridge feeling increasingly bored with the lack of action. Waiting was always the worst part of any operation. Since the system was uninhabited, Slone felt the fleet could remain visible. There would be time to deal with any enemy ships that entered the system. From what General Golov had told him, the main danger in this part of space was pirates. He remembered the pirate crew from the Mary Rose who he had to execute and he really didn’t want to repeat that. As he was mulling all this over, Roger Umgabe interrupted his reverie.
“Captain, mass readings indicate a ship coming out of the slipstream in the direction of Petrovian space.”
“What is the mass reading?”
“Just a little larger than a scout ship.”
“Order the fleet invisible. That could be an enemy scout.”
Tom Gardner passed the order to the fleet and all ships went invisible except for the starliner. The unknown vessel entered system space and in time, telemetry reached the fleet. “Captain, telemetry indicates the Gladius. There are no mass readings following her in the slipstream.”
“Tom, order the fleet visible again and send a transmission to the Gladius and welcome them back.
“Aye, Captain.”
“Paul, what is their transit time?”
“Five hours and twelve minutes, Captain,” Paul McMann reported.
Slone was happy he would have his wife back. As much as he was once a loner, he now felt incomplete without her. He would make sure he had Olivia brought to the hangar to greet her mom, assuming all is well. There had been no message yet. The thought had just entered his mind when Tom Gardner spoke up.
“Income message from the Gladius.”
“Put it through, Tom,” Slone ordered.
“Gladius reporting for duty. Mission successful. Transit time just over 5 hours. I will see you then, Captain Slone.”
Slone replied, “Good to hear of your success. I will expect a report as soon as you arrive, Captain Slone.” Christopher had to smile at two captains Slone talking with each other. He called down to the children’s area and told them to bring Olivia to the hangar when the Gladius landed. The time passed slowly, but pass it did and Slone went down to the hangar deck to welcome his wife home. He had his daughter by the hand, was down on one knee with her as they watched the Gladius glide through the force field, and slowly lower to the deck. Once they were down, the engines shut off and a ladder was brought to the wing for the humans. The side of the ship opened and Alaya exited with her crew and passenger. As soon as Alaya touched the deck, all she could here was “Mommy, Mommy, over here.” Alaya looked in the direction of her daughter as Christopher let Olivia go, and she ran as fast as her little legs would allow her to reach her mother. Alaya stooped down and picked up Olivia as the little girl kissed her mom and welcomed her back. When Christopher came over, Alaya and the rest of the crew snapped to attention and saluted the captain of the ship. Christopher saluted back and welcomed them each home. Slone then saw that General Golov had been replaced with a young woman.
“Alaya, who is our newcomer and where is General Golov?”
“This is Lt. Colonel Larisa Teplov. General Golov felt she could better serve on the ground with organizing the resistance to strike when we do. Lt. Col. Teplov will be our liaison.”
Slone looked at the young officer. How quickly war brushes the old officers aside and brings the young to the fore, Slone thought to himself. “Welcome aboard the Invicta, Lt. Col. Teplov.”
Larisa Teplov saluted sharply and Slone returned the salute. She had been watching the cohort going through its morning practices. They never seemed to rest as far as Slone was concerned. She could see how they fought with their swords and shields. A technique no one, other than the Petrovians ever had to deal with. To her surprise, they also had a group of the fearsome aliens fighting as part of their force. Though she had just spent a week aboard their strange ship with several of them, she was still overwhelmed that humans were not alone. She had also traveled with the strange young woman named Tavia MacDougal whom the serpents treated with great deference. As they walked out on the wing and the serpents saw Tavia, they performed a ritual that the humans were powerless to stop. As soon as they saw Tavia, they all stopped what they were doing, faced her, dropped to one knee and bowed. They then went right back to what they were doing. Larisa had no idea how this teenager could have such an effect on this fierce reptilian race.
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