Alpha One: The Kronan

by Chris Burton

  “Fair comment. Yes, the Antibes sounds the best for me right now.”

  “Okay, I have selected and confirmed. The other roles will come off your reserve list and that’s it. Your placement is complete and you will now serve your first tour as a Jump Ship pilot aboard the Antibes. I have forwarded your orders to your palmtop.”

  “When do I leave and how do I get to the Antibes?”

  “Your shuttle leaves for the fleet at 1400 hours tomorrow. You will probably be ferried from a central point to the Antibes. It will take about three weeks though; not much fun in a shuttle and not the most glamorous of starts to your career...and certainly not as exciting as the last time you visited the Tri-star System!”

  Having thanked his tutor, Jake left his office. Carla was not going to like this.

  * * * *

  “So, where are you going then...and when?”

  Steve got the question out first

  “Fleet frontline. The Antibes, a C class battle cruiser. But the bad news is the shuttle leaves at two, tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Ah God, Jake. That leaves us just one day together!” This time it was Carla who responded and she was clearly not happy.

  “I know. We will just have to make the most of it.”

  Carla, Jake and Steve met five hours later at the Refectory. All three had agreed their postings and this would be their last drink together.

  Steve was offered one of two posts with the SED, based on Alpha Two and he was scheduled to report for duty, Moon side at 9:00 a.m. the next day. Carla was also Moon bound. She accepted a junior communications officer post for the Galactic Senate, an influential and far-reaching division which sat as part of Alpha’s diplomatic Core on Alpha Two. This was an excellent post for a new graduate and reflected her high graduation mark and her language skills. She had forty-eight hours before she was due to report to the Senate.

  “So, this is it guys. We will all be at our posts by the end of tomorrow night. I guess this is goodbye and good luck!”

  Steve was in his element. He was secretly delighted that both he and Carla would be stationed on the moon. They could and would meet up, while Jake was left to clean up the galaxy from some distance away. This was the perfect opportunity to win her back. He had quickly overcome his disappointment of not being offered a front line JS post. He would make the best of it and move up through the ranks by reputation.

  “There’s a good chance I will make Squadron Leader before you do Jake. I think I got the best posting, bearing in mind your flight ban.”

  “It’s not a competition Steve. I am pleased with my posting, but frustrated with my combat ban. I can still fly though, just not in combat yet and actually, that’s not very different from your position. Alpha Two is a long way from the front line.”

  “Boys, Boys. Let’s not postulate. Personally I am pleased that neither of you will be going straight into the firing line. We are at war again and the Kryl won’t take prisoners. I hope you both get your Jump Ship obsessions out of your systems as quickly as possible and we can both meet up in a year’s time, safe in the knowledge that you guys will be saluting me!”

  It was Carla’s time to join in the fun. She was delighted to accept one of the most prestigious graduate roles available. This was fast track and she could be heading up a Comms team on a star ship within two or three years. It was Jake though she was thinking about. This was their last night together. Would she ever see him again?

  “If we all keep our heads down, we could all meet up in a year with our careers progressing nicely. Let’s just all keep safe though. No heroics Steve. You do not have to emulate your father and grandfather. They would be proud of you for just being here. And Jake, just get yourself back to me as quickly and as safely as you can. I will be waiting.”

  “As will I!” piped up Steve. He could not miss the opportunity to remind Jake that he would be based just a few blocks away from Carla on Alpha Two.

  The three new Alpha officers continued their celebrations. They each had different reasons for rejoicing, but at the back of their minds lay the possibility that this could be it. There may never be a repeat of this evening. They may never meet together again, on Earth, Alpha Two, or anywhere.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The Kryl Queen

  The Sanctuary was vast. It consisted of six small chambers with a central hall into which they interconnected. The hall was the Queen’s thrown room and spanned more than three hundred meters across. Each chamber peaked in the center with a dome shape ceiling, which was five or six stories high. There was very little light, with the solitary source a large cylindrical tube that ran down the center of the thrown rooms dome and each of the smaller chambers. Light poured down over the thrown, leaving the surrounding areas in the darkness.

  Morvalt stood in the shadows of the main hall and waited patiently to be summoned. He was here many times before, but somehow he did not think his Queen would be quite as accommodating as she had in the past.

  “Come forward my Kronan.”

  Morvalt moved into the light and stood before his Queen. The matriarch paused before speaking again.

  “The defeated Kronan comes out from his hiding place now that his Queen has come to protect him.”

  “My Queen. I was taken from the fleet to protect me.”

  “From defeat! How did an entire division lose a battle? They should have won. You do not deserve to live, let alone lead another division.”

  “They were much stronger than we anticipated. The humans were joined by the others and...”

  “Enough! I have your battle analysis. You are fortunate your drones followed their instincts to protect you. Then when the battle was over, you lay in hiding. Why did you not come out and prepare for my arrival?”

  “We could not be sure when the hole would reopen. With just one small ship, there was not much we could do.”

  “And so you did nothing! Your predecessor in this galaxy did not hide. He took the battle to the enemy and created an opportunity for the Kryl to take, even though he knew his life would be taken.”

  “Navalion had many years to prepare...”

  “And he did so on his own!”

  The pause in dialogue, gave Morvalt the opportunity to change tack.

  “Now you are here and with a whole fleet at our disposal we can defeat the humans and their supporters and take control of the galaxy. I am ready to assume control of the fleet.”

  “No! You will not. I will not trust you again with such things. I will defeat the humans. I will give you a battalion when we are ready to take Earth.”

  “What would you have me do in the meantime?”

  “Navalion’s killer is still alive and he is here in this system. You will find him and bring him to me, alive.”

  Morvalt saw that to protest would be futile. He needed to re-earn his Queen’s respect.

  “What will you do with him?”

  “That is not your concern. I understand you have taken a human?”

  “Yes. Our dialogue has been most productive.”

  “What does he know of us? Does he know of our weaknesses?”

  “We have talked at length, about his people and ours. He is no risk to us. He is contained and is all too aware of what will happen if he...”

  “You fool! It only takes a moment of chance and he could be free. Free to spread the word of the fragility of our existence. Kill him now!”

  He knew he had to obey her. It was pointless to argue.

  “He is quite safe and he has been very useful. However, his existence is meaningless. I will terminate him today.”

  “See that you do Morvalt and bring Navalion’s killer to me. Prove yourself again to me and I will give you back your fleet.”

  Alpha One

  The Kronan

  Part Two

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The Escape

  Roberto Samos was in a quandary. Something was different. The ship had powered down and all was quiet. Had the
ship been abandoned and if so, was life support still functioning?

  The containment field had gone and he was free to move to the lock down room that ran along the side of each of the cells. This was the free space that the Kryl guards gave him access to several times a day, for exercise. There were still the power locks to deal with, but would they still be operating?

  He started to think more clearly now. He needed to gain access to his comm. device. His comm. pad, uniform and other personal possessions were stored in a compartment at the end of the lock down room. He saw the guards store each of his crew’s equipment and personal effects there on the first day of their incarceration. Could they still be there?

  The compartment was locked, but Samos was able to force the lock to break and the door opened.

  Oh, my God. He thought, it is all still here. The uniforms and personal effects of each of his now long dead colleagues. He reflected briefly, but quickly cast aside his sadness and sifted through the apparel, searching for a comm. pad. Moments later, he had his prize. It was powered down, but still had sufficient reserves.

  Now to establish his bearings and gain access to the main part of the ship. The detention section of the ship was his home for so long but he knew the other parts of the ship well. His visits to Morvalt in his Sanctuary and to various other parts of the ship had become part of his daily life.

  The door to the lock down room was shut, but as expected offline. He positioned himself to the left of the door and attempted to pull the door back into its recess. It was heavy, but it began to move. The hydraulic system on the door prevented a quick escape, with the momentum to force the door back into its closed state the natural predisposition. Gradually, Samos was able to force the door past its half-way point and then the door opened freely, the hydraulics having moved to create an open rather than a closed state. He was free to move around the ship.

  Samos headed for the upper deck. He needed to gain access to a window or external viewer, to determine what other ships lay around him. He was not sure at this point, what he would do. He just knew he had to keep going. He saw that the ship was in a sleep mode as the corridor was partially lit. Good. It looks like life support is still functioning. He headed for the Sanctuary and to the viewing window he had gazed through with his captor on many occasions. As he approached the window, it was clear his escape from the ship would not be easy. Literally hundreds of Kryl vessels surrounded the ship. I am in the middle of the goddamn Kryl fleet!

  Samos tried to remain calm. He looked more closely and realized the ship was quite close to the outer perimeter of the fleet. That was a positive. He looked again and strained his eyes. Was that Alpha’s fleet sitting out there beyond the extremities of the Kryl fleet? His eyes adjusted and yes, Alpha was here. Somehow he had to make contact with them and get them to come and get him. Easy...but not, because he could not just send an unsecure message to Alpha from the middle of the Kryl fleet. His communication would be traced and all manner of Kryl would suddenly descend on him. He could send a message to one of the outer communication portals, with the hope it would bounce back to Alpha. But this could take too long and would again be traceable by the Kryl, albeit that they would not have immediate visibility to its starting point.

  In the end, the simplest of solutions were often the best ones. He would send a short-range binary coded message. This was a basic programmer’s language adapted for battlefield usage. It was loosely based on Morse code, but allowed for a greater level of detail. He had never used it in practice, but it was required learning in the academies and right now, that stance made perfect sense. It needed to be a one-off and one-way secure message that advised his status, his position, and critically that he had valuable Intel. Without the Intel, he doubted Alpha would risk sending a team in to rescue him. To be clear, he did have a lot to tell and he was valuable. He just needed to convince Alpha.

  Samos activated his comm. pad and opened a message page. He carefully drafted his message in words, before translating to code and then set out the message for relaying. The process was long-winded and arduous, but he would only get one chance. It was critical that Alpha received it, decoded it and they did not respond. A response back to the point of origin would almost certainly alert the Kryl to his existence. How long he had before the Kryl realized he was still on board this ship was anyone’s guess. He tried not to think about it and concentrated on the matter in hand. Finally, the message was complete and Samos powered up the comm. link facility on his comm. pad. He drew breath and then pressed the send button.

  * * * *

  “Non-standard encrypted short-range binary message coming in, Sir. Encryption verified. It is coming from within the Kryl fleet.”

  “Binary? Let’s have the message up on screen.” Commander Piper was the Fleet Operations Coordinator.

  Stop. SOS. Trapped aboard Kryl Cruiser. Lieutenant Samos, commander and sole survivor of Alpha patrol AV7. No Kryl on board and ship is offline. Position 54 mark 302 mark 15. Important Intel. Urgent recovery required. Important do not respond to message. Stop

  “Location is here, Sir.” The comms specialist pointed to a representation of a cluster of Kryl vessels on the holographic grid display in front of him.

  “Give me some background. What do we know of the patrol vessel?”

  “AV7 lost some weeks ago in the Jandas System, Sir. She was reported destroyed by a Kryl Cruiser.”

  “Looks like they took Lieutenant Samos on board. Arrange for the Recovery CAG to look at this one. If he has been on-board a Kryl cruiser, his Intel may well be very useful.”

  * * * *

  The recovery team consisted of four Rapiers and one Sabre. The Sabre was the Recovery vessel and the plan was for the team to merge into the current fracas and then disengage ahead of the coordinates given, to penetrate the outer rim of the Kryl fleet. Two Rapiers were downed already but the Sabre located the target vessel and entered the mass of the Kryl fleet. She took heavy fire. With only limited protection, this would be a tough recovery.

  “Kryl cruiser located. I am assuming final preparation for set down in the cruisers landing bay. It looks like the shields are still down.”

  * * * *

  Samos was overwhelmed with relief as he strapped himself into the Sabre’s copilot seat.

  “This is going to be tricky Lieutenant. I am afraid your ordeal is not over yet!”

  The Sabre launched and hovered within the landing bay. The Sabre pilot was seeking a clear path away from the Kryl ship and the fleet and was waiting for support. After thirty seconds, the pilot knew he had to make a move.

  “Looks like we are on our own. My support units have all been downed. Prepare yourself for a rough ride!”

  The Sabre 4 lurched out from the protection of the cruisers landing bay and received oncoming fire from two different directions almost immediately before a Rapier appeared from above to take out the nearest threat.

  “Sorry guys. I was hiding over the front wing of the cruiser in silent mode. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  The two Jump Ships cleared the remaining Kryl vessels and accelerated out into free space. They were clear but immediately surrounded by three Kryl fighters.

  “I’ll take two up. You take the other down.”

  The Rapier pilot in open space felt the odds were now back in his favor and quickly managed to take both Kryl fighters out while the Sabre was still engaging the third. The remaining Kryl fighter disintegrated as the Sabre made a further pass. They were clear and free to return to the Viceroy.

  Samos was silent. His long incarceration was finally over.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The Front Line

  “I am sorry Thomas, I just don’t agree with you on this occasion. We need you in the most active position, which means here, in the Tri-star System. You should join the main fleet when the Kryl have moved on.”

  Thomas Shenke and Maurice Haines were in Shenke’s Stateroom, aboard the Viceroy. They were meeting to discus
s final operational maneuvers and moved onto the structural command situation.

  “There is little point me commanding less than fifty ships. We should both move with the main fleet and appoint one of the high ranking commanders to control the residual fleet in this system.”

  Haines took his time to respond.

  “Did you have anyone in mind?”

  “Jonathan Hoskins has a good ship and experience with the Kryl. He is ideal. However, we cannot push him into a position of commanding a small fleet, if the Kryl do not take the bait and follow us out of the system. This brings me back to our earlier discussion about staggering the transfer of ships from one point to another.”

  “The Kryl will not want to stay in this system any longer than they have to. We are seeing signs that they are finalizing their formation and we should do the same. We should commence a wide spread advance to our new coordinates within the hour. I will back off from operational command, as I have stated already, but we need these structural lines defined first and indeed now.”

  “Do you agree with Hoskins as commander of the residual fleet?”

  “He is a little inexperienced. What about Reece or Yusuf? They are both experienced five star commanders?”

  “I agree, but neither has any combat experience with the Kryl and Reece is a Yes Man. Jonathan Hoskins maybe four star, but he is a good strategist. Maybe we should consider a field commission to five stars?”

  “You seem to have made your mind up already. Very well, I will agree to Hoskins and to his commission, but with Reece as second in command. We may yet need the influence of a ‘yes man’ that we can rely on especially if it comes down to the deployment of sub space charges. We must start to move out within the hour so I suggest you move on this quickly.”

  “All ships are ready for redeployment. We can start moving in about twenty minutes. I presume that you will stay aboard the Viceroy for the time being?”