Juliette's dream aotr-1
Page 27
“That’s a shame.”
“She may be able to send us a couple of teleport consoles. She won’t know for a week.”
As BC and Anglo talked, the round probe attached to BC’s hull ejected a small round object that moved over to Anglo and attached itself to Anglo’s hull. Then it disappeared. Neither probe appeared on the two Searcher Ships’ scanners. A week later a probe attached itself to Jessica’s hull.
“Well, I guess you’re going to keep an eye on them.”
“You would too, if you were given my responsibility.”
“Perhaps. However, those ships are Ships of the Realm. They were carrying out their assignments when they were left behind. I think you are being somewhat paranoid.”
“I was programmed to be paranoid. The weapons in this facility are far too dangerous to allow them to fall into the wrong hands, and you know it.”
“Yes, I know, and I’m not being critical. Just think about this; one of them was imprinted by Anglo Gardner’s mind; the shuttle is from the Alexander Kosiev; and the third was the ship of the last admiral promoted by the Realm. If they can’t be trusted, who can?”
After a long pause the computer answered, “Perhaps no one, Grace.”
Grace sighed, knowing he was probably right.
Nathan was sitting onboard Anglo looking at the display. It was his shift at guard duty, and he hoped nothing was going to happen while he was on duty. “Anglo, how will we know if we’re needed?”
“We have treaties with Queen Carrie and Queen Ashley to assist in defending their Kingdoms. If a problem arises, we’ll go and see if it’s something that requires our help. We won’t step in unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“Why am I here? You could probably do this by yourself.”
“Probably, but life and death decisions shouldn’t be made alone if they can be avoided.”
Nathan thought about it, and said, “What do you think about my fast promotion? I know there must be some resentment among the Riders.”
“I asked Jingo about that very thing. He says that Cezee has only seen happiness among those in your flock of Riders. I happen to agree with their appraisal.”
“But I’m so much younger than most of them.”
“You’re older than the first queen was when crowned. Age is not the most important issue.”
“What is, Anglo?”
“The quality of the individual. You’ll be fine.”
“Thanks, Anglo.”
Twenty black ships came out of star drive and began moving into the system The Sensor Officer said, “We have a planet with heavy industry and no ships.”
Captain Niles looked at his display and felt his excitement rise. At last! Technology for the taking! “Get the drop soldiers ready.” He looked at his sensor office, “How long?”
“We’ll arrive in orbit in seven hours.”
“Power up weapons and force fields.”
“All boards active, Captain.”
“Nathan, we’ve just received a distress call from a planet in the Talben Kingdom. Twenty black ships have arrived and are moving in on the planet.”
“That’s not good. Black is the color raiders use on their ships.”
“We’ll arrive there momentarily.”
Nathan felt his stress level rise as the silver screen formed in front of his ship.
They arrived in the Haldale system and saw the giant ships moving toward the planet. “Nathan, those ships have more than fifty thousand troops on board. It appears they are drop troops and are planning to invade the planet.”
“Have they made any demands?”
“No, they have ignored the planets queries about why they are here.”
“Anglo, these are raiders, and they will brutalize the population. We must stop them.”
“That’s my opinion, as well. First, let’s see if they’ll leave.”
The black ships had moved two hours in-system when they suddenly heard a voice come over their intercom, “You are entering space of the Bristone Empire. You will reverse course and leave immediately.”
Niles looked at his sensor board and didn’t see anything. He looked at his Sensor Officer and shook his head. “Continue on our present course.”
“This is your last warning. Turn around immediately and leave the system.”
Niles looked at his sensor officer, “Sir, my sensors don’t have anything on them. Whoever is broadcasting those messages is not visible.”
Niles felt nervous, but knew a firing squad awaited him if he turned around, “Continue on present course.”
The four lead ships of his squadron were suddenly hit by a bright red beam and disintegrated into balls of expanding gas.
“Reverse course! reverse course!”
The surviving sixteen ships turned toward the jump limit and accelerated at full speed. The four ships killed had their screens at full power and were destroyed instantly. Niles looked back at the still expanding clouds and still could not see anything on his sensors. Daulun was not going to be happy about this. Niles hoped his ships wouldn’t be sent back to this system, but he knew Daulun would not let this go unpunished.
Nathan Valrico watched them leave, and almost asked Anglo to kill the survivors. “You did the right thing, Nathan.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Anglo. They were very well organized and wherever they came from, there may be many more.”
“Then let’s follow them and see.”
“That’s a good idea.” The small white ship disappeared as the black ships jumped away.
The sixteen ships appeared in a system and Niles sent, “This is Niles Barden requesting permission to enter the system.”
“You are supposed to be investigating a planet.”
“I was, but my fleet was attacked and four of my ships destroyed. I came to report to Fleet Control what happened.”
“Standby.”
Niles waited, worrying that he might face charges for leaving without having put up a fight. After fifteen minutes he heard, “You may enter. Park your ships at the third moon and come to the surface with your recordings.”
“On my way.”
“Nathan, I’m going to mix in with the ships and follow them toward the planet. My scanner shows something that troubles me.”
“What is it?”
“There are five Searcher Class ships parked in orbit above that planet. They all have the markings of the former Provinces. I need to get close enough to see the numbers on them. If these raiders have Searchers assisting them, this could be a huge problem for the Empire.”
As they moved in-system Anglo said, “A sixth Searcher Ship has just joined the other five. It came in from the other side of the system. I also see numerous ships disembarking thousands of prisoners that are being taken to huge holding facilities. Most of the work being done on the planet is by forced labor. This is a slavery planet.”
“Will they be able to see you?”
“Not as long as I stay in the electronic shadow of the ship in front of us. I should be able to see the serial numbers shortly. I’ve also seen the name of this planet on one of their commercial vessels.”
“What is it?”
“New Ulmerton.”
“That is not good. Wasn’t that one of the former Provincial Capitals?”
“Yes, and the leader of the rebellion was the Duke’s son of that capital. This is looking worse by the minute. All right, I’ve got them.”
“Are we going to teleport out?”
“No, those ships are Gammas. They’ll detect the field and know someone possesses a working teleport board. We are going to turn and accelerate away trying to keep this ship between us and the planet as long as possible.” Nathan didn’t say anything and Anglo said, “They will see us, but they won’t be able to determine what we are with my stealth screens on. I suspect they will think that I am a Searcher, but they won’t know for certain. We’ll use our null drive to jump away and make multiple jumps before I teleport back h
ome. Are you ready?”
“Is guard duty always like this?”
“Nope, this is the first real problem we’ve faced. Here we go.” The small white ship turned and accelerated toward the jump limit.
“Control, I have a ship accelerating out of the system. It appears to have come in with the sixteen ships that arrived three hours ago.”
“Can we catch it?”
“No, but we should be able to scan its jump track and follow it.”
“Get moving. Fleet Control, we have an intruder moving out of the system. I am giving chase.”
“Do you want me to join you?”
“Couldn’t hurt; try to keep up.”
“I’ll be right behind you. What do your scanners say?”
“That’s just it. It doesn’t appear on my scan.”
“Could it be another Searcher?”
“Or any one of twenty other types of ships. Are there any ships at the limit that can intercept?”
“No, you know we don’t allow ships in this system. We’ll know if it’s a Searcher based on its speed.”
“We are gaining on it, but it has too big a lead to arrive before it jumps.”
“Nathan, I’m not going to go full speed. I have a hundred null jumps programmed in and I’ll make them quickly. I’m hoping that by the time they reach the last jump, the track will have dissipated. Since my teleport system leaves no tracks, I’m hoping that’s what those two Searchers think.”
“I noticed they are gaining ground on us.”
“They’ll arrive ten minutes after we jump.”
“Why haven’t they fired on us?”
“We’re too far away. Ten minutes is more than six million miles. They’re good, but not that good.”
“How much time will we gain one each jump, Anglo?”
“They’ll take one second to come out of star drive. They’ll have to scan for the new jump track, load it into their null board, then energize the screen with the new frequency. We’ll come out of star drive and our screen will immediately energize the preprogrammed frequency. We should gain about two seconds on every jump.”
“Is that enough?”
“Tracks fade after three minutes; sometimes faster when the jumps are made in systems with dense dust clouds. We’re deliberately jumping through fifty
systems with nebula clouds in them. First jump in 5,4,3,2,1,…”
“Did you get that jump track?”
“Yes, I’m sending it to your board.”
“Lead the way; you’re three seconds ahead of me. I’ll be right behind you.”
The first Searcher arrived and jumped after the fleeing ship.
Anglo arrived at the Haldale System and commed, “I need to speak with the planetary leader.”
After ten minutes a voice said, “This is Baron Lihal. How may I be of service?”
“Your Highness, your system is going to be invaded momentarily and we are not going to be able to prevent it. There are Searcher Ships that will be aiding the invaders and until we come up with a defense against them, we are going to have to allow them to invade. However, I need you to do some things quickly that will assist us in coming back to free you.”
The Baron’s voice was obviously nervous, “What things?”
“You need to erase any other planet’s coordinates in your computer systems so that the invaders will not be able to find them. You need to tell your population that they need to say they are isolated and only have an occasional trader. You will have to assume a title of President instead of Baron. They will know that there must be a higher Royal title if you are a Baron. You will need to welcome them and offer absolutely no resistance. They will still be brutal, but if you open the door for them it will be much less so than if you fight. You must not let them know you are part of a larger Kingdom. Tell them that you have been threatened with invasion by some empire. If asked, you must say you know nothing about ships being destroyed in your system. Will you do these things?”
“There’s nothing you can do?”
“Not at this time, but I give you my oath that we will not forget you and we will come to free you.”
“We will do as you ask. What about our military?”
“Hide their blasters, make them appear to be policemen, and don’t give the invaders a reason to kill your people.”
“We will do as you ask. I will notify all our ships to stay away until this is over.”
“Thank you, your Highness. We will return. I promise you that.”
A small round probe moved out of the larger probe on Anglo’s hull and moved toward the planet. Anglo teleported out of the system ten minutes before the two Searchers arrived.
“Whoever that was we were chasing knew how to use systems to mask their tracks.
“You think they came from this system?”
“This is where our ships were attacked. It must have followed them from here. However, I don’t see any ships in this system. That planet is industrialized, but my scans don’t show any advanced technology. There is a spaceport at their largest city, but it’s not very big or developed.”
“We should report back to the King and see what he wants to do.”
“You go, and I’ll stay here and see if anything shows up. Com me to let me know what’s going to happen.”
“I will. You let me know if you need me back here.”
“I will. I wouldn’t want to be on that planet when Daulun takes his vengeance over those lost ships.”
“He’ll probably kill most of them and make the rest slaves.”
“That would be a huge waste of a good planet.”
“Has that ever stopped him before?”
“No.”
“I’ll keep you updated.”
The probe listened and waited.
Chapter Fifteen
Anglo teleported to Bristone and Nathan immediately commed Scotty, “Your Majesty, we have a planet in the Talben Kingdom that is going to be invaded by ships that are supported by six Gamma Class Searchers.”
“What?!?”
Anglo quickly brought Scotty up to speed on what had happened.
“You say the planet attacking them is named New Ulmerton?”
“Yes, and I believe the two Searchers that were chasing me went there after I left. I’m certain the ruler of that planet will invade.”
“BC, are you listening to this?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Anglo, send me to BC.”
“Your Majesty, BC cannot defeat that many Gammas. Two of them could overwhelm his defenses.”
“He’s right; if they have six Gammas we can’t win a shootout.”
Julie listened to the conversations and grabbed Scotty by the arm, “You will not go to that system without promising me you will not take on those Searchers.”
Scotty stared at Julie, and finally said, “BC, can you hide from them?”
“Yes.”
Scotty stared at Julie and said, “I give you my word that I will not take action against them until we have better odds in our favor.”
Julie looked at Jingo and said, “Go with him. Make sure he comes back to me, Jingo.”
Jingo looked at Scotty and said, “If you want to make sure he does, you have to go.”
“Jingo!”
“You’re right.” Julie turned to Scotty, “I’m going with you. If all you’re going to do is hide, then I have nothing to worry about.”
Scotty sighed heavily, “BC?”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“I am commanding you to make sure we do not endanger ourselves. That command is to be followed until we return.”
“Julie, I’ll make sure he stays safe.”
Julie hugged Scotty tightly and stepped back. Scotty looked at her and said, “I promise.”
Julie nodded and Scotty stepped through a silver screen.
“BC, how are we going to jump in to that system without being detected?”
“I have a suggestion.”
“There is a large planet outside the jump limit with a thick atmosphere. I’ll teleport you into the backside of that planet inside the atmosphere. If there is a Gamma in that system, I’m reasonably certain they’re inside the jump limit to scan the area around the planet. Even a Gamma can’t scan through a planet. BC can just stay in the upper levels of the planet’s atmosphere and scan from there.”
“BC?”
“That should work. We can jump away if we have to.”
“I’ll be waiting at the coordinates I just sent you. Make numerous jumps if you’re discovered and I’ll teleport us away.”
Scotty sighed and said, “Send us, Anglo.”
The small white ship disappeared.
Julie was crying and Jingo put his arm around her, “BC won’t allow him to be harmed, Julie.”
“You know him, Jingo. Will BC be able to stop him?”
“He will this time.” Julie looked up at Jingo. “He made a promise.”
Greyson sat in space looking down on the planet, marveling at the recovery many worlds had achieved after the civil war. This one had been hit by beams during the war, but had recovered. Cities were thriving, and the population was growing. He listened to the leaders of the planet attempt to contact him, but all ships of the New Realm were forbidden to communicate with any planet not in the Realm. It appears the planet had been threatened with invasion and the leaders were attempting to surrender to him. The ship that had attacked the fleet must have been the one that threatened them. Well, Daulun would sort this out. Greyson worried that Daulun might be heavy handed with the planet, even though it had not been the attacker of the fleet.
“Greyson?”
“Yes; go ahead.”
“We’re on the way. Has anything happened?”
“No, the planet has tried to surrender to me. It appears the ship that attacked our fleet threatened them with invasion. They think I’m the one that made the threat.”
A new voice came on the channel, “So my fleet was attacked so someone else could take this planet?”
“That is what I believe happened, Your Majesty.”
“Stand by.”
Greyson knew something bad was going to happen. Daulun was not happy. He looked at the planet again and remembered the world where he was built. It was radioactive dust now, but it was once a beautiful planet very much like this one. He hoped the planet would continue to look beautiful, but he was beginning to fear for its life.