by Chris Hechtl
“Someone fought a battle here,” Captain Yu reported. “We've checked the ion trail, the decay ratio gives us a mix of five ships, four on one, and gives us a rough time estimate,” she reported. “Based on those findings, the battle was recent, in the past two years give or take a month,” she stated.
“Any idea on what the destroyed ship was? Was it Puglia?” Shelby asked.
“No. Based on what we've been able to determine like its approximate mass and some choice pieces of debris my engineer has determined it was a Cutlass class,” Janice said. “It was on a heading for the jump point like us when it was destroyed,” she said.
“Well, that's certainly a relief. If there is debris there, then there might be more elsewhere. I'll have the recon drones spread out and look for more. Can you send me what you've got? Getting an idea on how the ship blew up with a sim could tell our people where to look for the other ship or ships,” Shelby said.
“Will do, ma'am,” Janice replied with a nod.
Shelby cut the signal and sat back in her office. She had to consider who blew the ship up. It was something of a relief to know it wasn't Puglia, but the light cruiser may not be out of the woods just yet. The ship could have been critically damaged in the fight. Given the odds … she frowned and pulled up Janice's report. She fed them into a sim and backtracked the debris and probable direction of weapons fire.
Based on what she was seeing, four ships had been on final approach to the center of the jump point. One ship had jumped in almost on top of them, and a battle had broken out. Had the other ship been Puglia? Could it have been a Tauren pirate who mistook the newcomers as hostile? Or an independent and as yet unnamed player she didn't know about? Anything was possible, she reminded herself as she sat back and used her left foot to rock her chair back and forth as she thought about the various scenarios.
Thinking them over made her wonder if one hadn't gotten away … if there were other ships lurking in void. That made her sit up straight and press a button to call the bridge.
“Bridge,” the officer of the watch said. She was pretty certain it was Lieutenant Z'k'th'ss'Th. “A thought occurred to me as I was going over what Captain Zlanka just sent me,” she began and then paused.
“I was going over the data as well, ma'am,” the Naga replied. “If what Captain Zlanka's people believe is true on the destroyed ship and the four ion trails, it might, I stress might, be one of the Fourth Fleet ships. I checked our Horathian war book. If it was indeed a Cutlass, than that would make the destroyed ship the Cytheria. But that is currently only supposition I admit, ma'am.”
“Good. I was thinking; we have no proof that either side jumped out of the star system. One or more of them could be wounded, or they could be chasing each other in the nebula. This is the perfect place for an ambush actually. Make certain our people are on high alert.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
“It's now or never, Skipper,” the sensor rating said. The chimera captain scratched at his beard a bit, still unsure of what they were looking at. It was a big movement of ships; their neutrino detectors had confirmed that much. That his CIC watch had even bothered to power up the neutrino detector had been surprising. Obviously, they had missed the ships arrival, which he'd not been happy about. Such an energy discharge should have been highly noticeable.
Give them a break, Ed, they've been through hell. Trapped on this ship this long with little hope of survival is no picnic, he reminded himself.
“Set course for the group but keep the speed under our max sustainable stealth profile. We'll keep our distance just in case they are hostile,” the captain said.
“Aye aye, sir,” the helm rating said with infinite relief in her voice. Captain Loggins smiled ever so briefly at that slight buck up of morale. It was a risk, but one he had to take he knew if they were going to get out of the mess they were in. The crew had almost given up hope of rescue.
“Sir, we're getting a better look at them. They are charging their hyperdrives,” Ensign Apulia warned.
“Damn it … so close!” a rating breathed.
“They aren't gone yet,” the captain said.
“We're picking up active sensors nearby. It looks like … it's a recon fighter, sir,” CIC reported. “They are swinging our way.”
“Damn it …”
“Easy,” the captain murmured. He settled himself; there was only one way to be sure. “Comm, break silent running. Ping our IFF. Helm, once that ping is out, I want a sharp change in our base course. Random,” he said.
“Aye aye, sir,” both ratings replied.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
“IFF detected! It's Puglia!” a rating reported, clearly excited at the news.
“Confirm that!” the XO said as he called the captain to the bridge. Captain Contenov arrived at a trot. By the time he arrived, they had received confirmation and had uploaded the news to the flagship.
“It's confirmed? The captain said as he took the Conn.
“Aye sir. It's Puglia. She's a bit worse for wear though,” the XO replied.
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“Knife Dancer has received and confirmed our IFF, sir. We've been welcomed. We're receiving IFFs from the other ships now,” the communication's rating said. “It is the Prometheus convoy, sir.”
“Thank the gods,” a rating murmured.
“Agreed,” Captain Loggins said as he settled himself in his chair. His gamble had paid off. “Drop the stealth. Apulia, all hands,” he said. When the A.I. nodded to him, he looked up. “All hands, this is the captain speaking. By now the scuttlebutt grapevine has probably said something about the ships out there. We've just confirmed it is the Prometheus convoy. We're joining them now,” he said. “Captain clear,” he said.
He smiled slightly when he heard a muted cheer from the nearby compartments.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
Puglia joined the convoy and nuzzled up to the flagship. Data flowed between the ships as the captain sent over his logs and reports of the battle and his chief engineer sent over a list of critically-needed parts. The light cruiser's damage had been made as right as possible by the crew with the limited resources available. Still, she was in bad enough shape to warrant the fleet stalling on the jump point to wait out her repairs and a long overdue overhaul of her systems.
“We've managed to use our bussard ram scoops to get fuel and maintain life support. It's been hell though, ma'am,” Captain Loggins said when he reported aboard.
“I see that,” Shelby replied with a nod. “I've been reading up on your report of the engagement. Short and brutal. You did well,” she said. “Do you have anything to add?” she asked lightly.
Captain Loggins looked a bit chagrined about discussing the subject but nodded dutifully. “It was one of those rare things we train for but never really expect to happen until it does. We got our asses handed to us, ma'am.”
“Nonsense. Three against one? And you were out-massed, and they had surprise on their side? Yet you still managed to destroy one of them and get away, if not unscathed, but away at all? I think you did just fine,” Shelby said with a wave of her hand.
“Thank you, ma'am.”
“About your ship … we're obviously repairing it. Ship packets are being sent over any moment. I know my replicators are busy making replacement parts and stores are digging out what parts they can. What about your crew?”
“I think they are tired, ma'am,” the captain said slowly.
“I have some replacement personnel on the transports. Do you think we should swap some of them out? Give them some downtime to decompress?” she asked carefully. She studied him.
“I … think that might be wise in one or two cases. I'll ask; I'm not going to turn anyone out. A few are brittle. We have had two suicides on board,” he said with a dark look. She could tell that haunted him, not only having it on his watch but not seeing the signs and being able to do something about them.
“Okay.
Work on that. Float it past your bosun and XO and let my people know. Do you have anything to add about the engagement or things here? Did you find anything?”
“Just soup, ma'am,” Ed said with a shake of his head. “My tactical department did confirm those ships were from Fourth Fleet. Both of the heavy cruisers were Admiral Hipper class and that fits neatly with them. How we got ahead of them though …”
“Remember, you are faster than they are.”
“Yes, ma’am. I suppose we passed them and never knew it. But that far?” he asked, shaking his head.
“Count your blessings.”
“Any word on Belfast?” the captain asked.
“No, nothing yet. We stripped the beacon you left when you two split up. After that nothing obviously,” Shelby replied.
“So, she didn't get back to Trajin cluster …” the captain frowned thoughtfully. “Ma'am, I think we might need to go after her,” he said, seemingly reluctant to put the idea forward. “Captain S'th is a bit gung ho; she might have bitten off more than she could chew like I did.”
Shelby nodded. She knew he wanted to volunteer his ship and crew but they were on the fragile edge psychologically after such a long ordeal. “We'll send someone to go hunting for them once we have the base established. I admit; I spent a bit more time on your engagement report than your overall log. Did you confirm a plague on Alpha and Beta? What about elsewhere?” she asked.
“It had just started on both planets when we arrived, ma'am,” Captain Loggins said grimly. “We couldn't do anything; they refused us permission to land. We did get confirmation that those ships had passed through just before the outbreak each time.”
“A connection there,” Shelby murmured.
“Yes, ma’am. They hit one of the planets in the cluster next door and one other agro world. The space colonies were quiet, hammered, or refused to do business with us,” the captain said with a shake of his head.
“Okay. So, we need to find those ships.”
“I'll volunteer Puglia for that, if you don't have someone going after Belfast that is,” the captain said. “I'd love to get a piece of the bastards who tore my ship up, but I'm afraid that I'd be biting off more than I could chew,” he said.
“Two heavy cruisers against a light cruiser? I'd say yes,” Shelby replied dryly. “I think for the moment you'll sit tight with us and work on fixing and replenishing your ship. We'll deal with both situations when and if we have the time.”
“Aye aye, ma’am.” He paused and then squared his shoulders. “Ma'am, did you get the package we sent? The chips on Cog? I hand delivered them to the captain. I didn't see any mention of them when I downloaded the log. I saw the notation that you've been stripping our beacons …”
“We did that. Chips though?” Shelby asked. She shook her head after a moment then keyed up the ONI information. “I'll ask Ensign Slatterly but … no, no chips. It was all word of mouth,” she said, looking up.
“Damn them,” the captain muttered darkly, face working in a brief bleak expression of anger. “I think you got most of what we sent in the buoy we left in the Trajin cluster. I'll have my people send over what was missed.”
“Okay,” Shelby said with a nod as she made a note. “They were encrypted, right?” the captain nodded. “So they are useless to the civilians except as paperweights.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, ONI will deal with them when they show up again,” Shelby said as she rose from her chair and extended her hand. “Welcome back. Get some rest. Try to get some downtime and definitely get some fresh food, what we have of it,” she said.
“Thank you, ma'am. And if I didn't say it before, congratulations on the promotion,” he said as they shook hands. He came to attention, and she nodded once.
“Dismissed, Commander,” she said. He nodded and left the compartment.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
Shelby considered sending scouts out ahead; it was sorely tempting after what had happened to Puglia. She didn't want to be caught in a battle directly on the jump point. However, after reading the report from Puglia she had grave concerns that a single ship or even a division would be outnumbered or outclassed. She also had some concerns for Belfast.
After a few hours of toying with the problem she decided that the Fourth Fleet ships were most likely already gone from the next series of star systems. She also decided it was best to move as a unit when Puglia was ready to go.
Chapter 25
Airea 3
Six months after departing the Trajin cluster an explosion of energy and light announced the arrival of the courier ship Dancer at the heliopause of Airea 3. The little ship's crew broadcast her IFF. When she was cleared by the two frigates and defenses picketing the jump point, she moved into the star system, transmitting her clearances to Airea 3's government and sending a stream of data to the ansible.
Two days later the ship was close enough to the ansible platform to fully upload her report to it. The ansible platform had been transmitting the information as it came in, but with the full logs, its buffers were full.
With their duty complete, the Veraxin captain requested liberty on the planet for her weary crew. “We have been in this tiny ship for twenty standard months, six days, and nine hours. That has to be something of a record. Can we please, pretty please get off now?”
A shuttle was dispatched from the small but growing trade station in orbit of the planet to take the crew off for some well-deserved liberty.
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Antigua:
An emergency cabinet meeting was called when the news reached Antigua through the ansible. For once Admiral Irons didn't allow the staff to attend virtually from wherever they were in the star system. It meant a delay as they rearranged their schedules and flew to the Executive Station also known as White Station, but so be it. The delay allowed more of Dancer's log to be uploaded anyway; he transmitted the relevant portions to the cabinet secretaries in a series of highly encrypted and classified transmissions. Only Admiral Sienkov got the full and raw data as it streamed in. Admiral Irons also knew that a lot of questions would be raised in the media as they took note of the unusual call for attendance. For the moment, he had slapped a high security classification on everything. Let them speculate about the war front and spin it however they please. Liobat would just rightfully deny it and leave them guessing.
“It's got to be them. It has got to be,” Yorgi said as the cabinet settled down in the wardroom around the large table. “It's the only thing that fits. A ship that is clean? A carrier of this plague? But it spreads the disease that widespread across species? But it doesn't affect humans? There are just too many coincidences. This is enemy action,” he said with a snarl as he stabbed his index finger into the tabletop meaningfully.
“Do we have anything to confirm that with intelligence?” Broken Antenna asked, looking at the admiral.
“I can check,” Yorgi said as a soft sound made him stop. He turned to the secretary of state. She was still a bit stunned by the news but rallying.
“Oh my gods,” Moira said, shaking her head, eyes sick with dread. “This has been confirmed?”
“Like the courier would lie?” Broken Antenna demanded, waggling her one good antenna and mandibles. She blinked, then her eyes narrowed at that sarcastic response from the T'clock. It was the final tonic she needed to wake her out of the nightmare her mind had been trapped in. “Sorry, but you had that coming. Yes, it has been confirmed.”
The secretary of state opened her mouth with her own tart rejoinder but closed it after a moment. She nodded once, then turned to look expectantly at the doctor.
“We've sent everything to the medics in ET and Pyrax,” Doctor Kraft stated. “I'd like the courier to go to ET with the full download. I understand Doctor Taylor couldn't get samples, but I'd still like them to get the details direct from the courier's databases.”
“Bastards,” Yorgi snarled, clenching his fists, still furious over the situati
on.
“To do this … they aren't human. I'm sorry …,” George Custard shook his head. “They deserve no mercy.”
“Not even their children?” T'rel'n, the Veraxin treasurer demanded. “Surely they haven't had a chance to do this and shouldn't be punished for the sins of their parents, right?”
“You know what I mean,” the agriculture secretary said crossly.
“We saw a taste of this in ET so technically we shouldn't be surprised,” Doctor Kraft said slowly. All eyes turned to him. “It is appalling and horrifying that anyone would consider it though.”
“Prometheus's tactical officer is correct though; it is a cheap and effective method to conquer a region. at the least destabilize it. It makes you wonder about the timing. Did they do it to throw us off? Or because they lack the resources to conquer those areas?” Yorgi asked, turning a significant look to Admiral Irons.
“They are stymied by us. They aren't so much interested in conquest now as destroying everything. Burning it all down just like the Xenos,” George said.
“I'll take exception to that, we've confirmed that this plague, whatever it is, hasn't targeted humans specifically,” Doctor Kraft warned.
“So?” George demanded.
Yorgi put his hand out to cut them off. “If this is in all of Tau sector … do we have anything about it being in Pi or the other sectors?” he asked, turning to Doctor Kraft.
“No. Nothing,” the doctor said, shaking his head. “I checked with the listed symptoms with the outbreaks on Syntia's World, they don't match there either. I thought I'd head that off before someone asked,” he said, looking around the room.