by Danny Brown
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Yes, and I appreciate that help. But until I know for sure that the nightmares are gone, I will be keeping my drugs! Next topic!
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Will you stop?!
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Not earning points here.
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What?! How do you know he’s coming?
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Did you hack the Nemesis?
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Now, wait. Did you hack the central computer? That’s using the best security inside the Federation!
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Yes. No.
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No. Not now. Tell me only if it becomes an issue! And regarding Commander Amori, I will decide if or when to act. YES, I have feelings for him. I’m just not sure if I can live with myself for loving someone else.
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STOP IT! I’m not a baby factory!
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What, that I’m obviously a baby factory?
Just then, the door opened, and Rick walked in. He was in his work out clothes, and Jackie could not help but suddenly notice his bulging muscles.
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Shut up.
“Hello, your majesty! Fancy meeting you here!”
“Call me that again, and I’ll break your legs,” Jackie said with a mean look in her eyes.
Rick smiled, “well, let’s just say the teasing will not stop anytime soon. Have you eaten?”
“I thought you were here to work out,” she responded as her stomach growled at the mention of food.
“Ha, looks like I’ve got a job to do! Someone has to feed you, High Queen!”
“Close, Rick. You are really close to losing that life of yours.”
He nodded her towards the lift, and she followed. Once in the lift, Rick apprised her.
“Listen, you’ve been under incredible stress. I cannot say I understand everything that I’ve seen and heard on this trip, but I want you to know I’m still here and I’m unafraid. I’m not going anywhere.”
She looked over at him and said “thank you, and I mean that. I feel…I feel so far out of my depth.”
“Where you go, I will follow,” he quipped with a smirk as the lift doors opened to the officer’s mess.
“You know, the marines have their own gym,” Jackie pointed out.
“Yeah, I’ve already worked out. I just wanted to come check on you.”
She did not respond to his comment, but she was beginning to feel not so alone in this life. Years of bitterness and hatred had driven her, but that was changing. Not that those feelings disappeared, but she felt a new era of her life was beginning. After what happened on Wellington, she would believe almost anything is possible.
Meanwhile, Pari sat back in the recesses of her mind, in his quantum, multidimensional computer pondering the meaning of it all. His agenda was clear, his purpose was clear. But human emotions were complex, and Jackie’s past traumas made them more so. If his plan were to succeed, it would require a lot of careful planning.
##
“Commodore Tabitha Summers, meet Commodore Charles Eikel.”
Before her was a man, not tall, perhaps a meter and a half. He had brown hair and sharp features, slightly muscular build.
“Thank you, prime minister. Commodore Eikel, it is my pleasure!” responded Tabitha. She was on board the Commonwealth dreadnought Bojovník.
The ship was impressive. At ten kilometers in length, it dwarfed the Nemesis. It was far larger than the even the Federations dreadnoughts and even held more squadrons of fighters than the Nemesis.
Tabitha had decided on a small party. It was just her and Jackie. While taking her flag captain was the norm, everyone wanted to meet Jackie.
“And this would be the lovely Commander Campo I’ve heard so much about?” asked the Commonwealth officer.
“Yes sir, Jacqueline Campo of the Federation navy,” she said evenly.
“The whole of the Commonwealth is clamoring for you, and you call me sir!” he laughed. “It is a real honor to meet the last of the Askirti, and someone whom so many have placed their hopes on,” he added somberly. “Allow me to introduce you to Captain Camila Garcia of the Bojovník.”
Jackie stiffened at the mention of her heritage, at the reminder she was the last. It was a sad fact that haunted her daily. Looking to the commodore’s right, she saw the woman commanding this powerful warship. Captain Garcia was a strikingly attractive woman, and taller than her commodore at about a meter and three-quarters. She had olive skin, deep green eyes and shoulder length, straight black hair pulled into a ponytail similar to the ones kept by Federation women such as Jackie.
“Captain Garcia, it is a pleasure to meet you,” responded Jackie.
“The pleasure is mine, Commander. We would be most pleased to give you a tour of the Bojovník, and afterward, we can talk business.”
I like these characters better than Yusif and his henchman Maron from the Nemesis.
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Jackie was thankful that Charles and Camila were more military minded than social. It seemed that the Commonwealth had the type of military she would have expected, that is, competent officers who worked their way through the ranks rather than political appointees.
The Bojovník was truly an impressive ship. It had been in service for five years. It had been named after a famous general who sacrificed his fleet to protect a world during the second dynasty wars. The Bojovník name was much revered inside the Commonwealth. When this dreadnought was being planned out it was not just their state of the art, but their centerpiece for the home fleet. The name seemed fitting as both the class and the ship name.
The tour ended with the group standing in a most impressive flag bridge, much larger and more advanced than the one on the brand-new Nemesis.
“Commodore,” Jackie began, “this ship is everything an enemy should fear, it is a true war machine. But I must ask, where is the rest of your fleet? This ship and its escorts cannot be what the Commonwealth defends its home planet with.”
The Commonwealth home fleet had only a handful of ships in orbit. The Bojovník dreadnought, three battleships, six heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers, twenty-five destroyers and an overabundance of corvettes, every ship more capable than their Federation counterparts, but still it only seemed to be a partial fleet.
“You are quite right, Commander,” Commodore Eikel responded, with a slight bit of disgust. “Over two-thirds of our fleet were called away on Commonwealth business. They are expected back in a few weeks.”
Neither Jackie nor Tabitha could help the look of shock on their faces.
“I had the same reaction,” he said. “I asked for verification of the orders. We are supposed to have a significantly larger force here at all times. We have two dozen battleships, three dozen heavy cruisers, four dozen light cruisers with an assortment of smaller vessels that are assigned to the home fleet, a supposedly formidable fleet. I don’t like it at all. And while I know your business on the planet is mostly wrapped up, I’ve been pushing for you to remain. It is my job to worry about the security of the home system, and I am worried.”
“We have not received any such requests,” stated Tabitha. “But, we have not received any orders from the Federation, either. I
propose we plan out some wargames it is part of our new treaty,” she added with a wryly smile.
“An excellent idea, and a significant relief, Commodore!” Charles said as he and Camila exchanged looks. “While the Gatekeepers are formidable, if they were defeated, this mighty ship, as impressive as she is, would not stand a chance against a real fleet. Over here is our command hub, come, I’ll show you some of the scenarios we’ve been toying with.”
The group moved over to what looked very recognizable from the Nemesis flag bridge, only nicer! It was a large table with a holographic display. Here the fleet could be commanded, but also, wargames could be executed against real ships or even virtual opponents.
The commodore pressed a few buttons, “here’s our standard blockage grouping. While I’m not entirely familiar with Federation tactics,” he said tongue-in-cheek, “the captain and I have come up with a defense scenario based on your ships being added to our tiny fleet.”
Instantly, a beautifully detailed hologram appeared on the table, far more accurate than the holograms the Federation was able to generation. There were miniature versions of all the ships replicating rvery detail. The Commonwealth on one side of the formation, and the Federation on the other. The commodore pressed another button, and a series of red ships appeared on the opposite side of the table. The force seemed evenly matched against the allied forces of the Commonwealth and the Federation, and the simulation ran in a fast-forward motion of a battle lasting perhaps hours into a few minutes.
“As you see, we can take a fleet about our combined size, but with heavy losses. Most smaller ships would be heavily damaged or destroyed, and depending on circumstances, a few of the capital ships may receive heavy damage. While it is doubtful such a scenario would exist, it is better to plan ahead. Anything you would care to add?”
Tabitha looked over at Jackie. “Commodore Eikel, Commander Campo is an expert tactician and is more intimately familiar with Federation technology than I am. If you would allow, we will update the Federation-based specifications, and perhaps the commander can make recommendations as to how the algorithms for the scenarios can operate.”
Jackie was astonished! She had no idea Tabitha took any of her prior suggestions seriously, and here she was putting her front and center with the Commonwealth on the planning of a mutual defensive network as an expert tactician. Not only that but freely giving away their technical specifications and capabilities! She was relieved to know that Tabitha was adhering to the spirit of the treaty.
“Yes, sir. Commodore, may I?” Jackie motioned to the table controls, face impassive.
“Yes, by all means,” Charles responded excitedly.
She updated the specifications for the Federation ships with a blur of motion through her fingers, then updated the scenario the commodore just ran.
“Here’s how the same scenario would run, given everyone does their job,” Jackie said quietly.
The formation looked very different. Not like the Commonwealth had envisioned a multinational task force would look. Then Charles saw it. The ships were not grouped by nationality, but by function. The communications did not take place through two flag bridges operating independently, there was only one control all the ships of both fleets. Right off, this Federation officer was laying out a scene that required an incredible amount of trust between former adversaries.
As the scenario played out, the virtual enemy came in. The response by the allied forces was different. The ships did not hold back in a defensive posture but took an aggressive stance against the enemy.
The allied force danced a carefully choreographed routine, jinking, turning. None of the ships operated independently. The losses were minimal, a few light cruisers were lost with two dozen corvettes, while the larger ships had varying amounts of damage but nothing catastrophic.
“Th-that’s impossible!” Captain Garcia exclaimed.
“No, that’s reality,” Jackie responded evenly. Both commodores smirked. “Your ships were too defensive, and grouping the ships by nationality rather than function reduces the capabilities further. And lastly, in a fleet action, multinational or otherwise, there can be only one leader. By linking the networks, all ships of the fleet can be far more useful. And lastly, the maneuvers of individual ships seemed…wrong. I understand the classical sense of fleet formations, and so does the enemy. Given time, an enemy may adopt similar tactics, but if the boogeyman drops in on us, I believe this would be an effective plan.”
“Let’s up the stakes,” Commodore Eikel said. “I want a larger invasion fleet.”
They spoke at length for hours, running various simulations, and over the next few days, they commenced in wargames exercising those same strategies to involve all fleet personnel.
##
Camila met with Charles in the commodore’s ready room.
“What’s your take on the Federation?” asked Commodore Eikel.
“I think it will put a lot of minds at ease that we are a team now and not competition,” answered his captain.
“I feel that way too. The United Planets Alliance has been giving me chills as of late, and well, the Zikar’s. They are always a cause for concern!”
“Do you think our treaty with the Federation will make either of them trigger happy?” asked Camila.
“Probably. Hopefully, it will lead to more treaties, and not more war. The longer our guns stay silent, the happier I think everyone would be. What’s your opinion of Commander Campo?”
“You mean High Queen?” she asked, only half-jokingly. “She terrifies me. Did you see how fast she reengineered our scenario’s? Tactical genius doesn’t even start to describe her.”
“I know. I’m glad we’re not in a shooting war with them,” Charles responded nervously.
“And did you read the reports her involvement in the hand-to-hand combat?”
“No, what of them?” he asked.
“Our mole provided detailed reports, sir. For fun, she took out almost an entire company of elite marines on the opposing team in a training exercise on Anderson Station. An exercise her team was supposed to lose. Not sometimes. Every time.”
Charles whistled.
“And,” Captain Garcia continued, “the marines let her come along when they were taking a pirate base of operations in some mining system. Their reports of her in action are, and I quote, ‘cold and decisive.' She even took out three PAUs while dressed only in standard armor! Who does that? Do you know what they call her? The Ice Queen. So yes, she scares me!”
“Camila, we live in interesting times. I’ll admit I find her intimidating too. The tactical changes she made to our scenario planner are startling, some of them even revolutionary! Just thank the stars it appears we’ve made an alliance that will benefit us!”
Chapter 23
Dennaway Star System
In orbit above the planet Wellington
“Captain,” Marko said, “we are receiving an urgent message from Commonwealth High Command!”
“Put it on the main screen, Lieutenant,” responded De Vitis.
“…I repeat, urgent message to all ships gathered in orbit above Tyre! A fleet of unknown origins has passed through the Gate! They’ve destroyed the Gatekeepers and are believed to be en route to Wellington!”
“Take us to Condition One! All hands, battle stations!” the captain yelled.
Klaxons began to sound throughout the Nemesis.
“XO, out of here!”
“Aye sir!” responded Jackie as she left the bridge, running to the flag bridge while her augmented bridge staff was simultaneously summoned to go there.
As she entered the flag bridge a few minutes later, she saw Commodore Summers talking the prime minister and Commodore Eikel.
“Are you sure you know nothing about this?” asked the prime minister.
“Why would I? We’ve just obtained a treaty we’ve wanted for decades! Why do you ask me this?” said Tabitha, feeling quite overwhelmed.
He sighed heavily
, “many of the ships are Federation in design. Here are the scans we’ve taken of the ships just before they destroyed the Gatekeepers. Ah, Commander Campo! I am relieved you are here!”
Like I can do anything about this.
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She was annoyed with her extra passenger. Having it see through her eyes and hear her every thought was not something for which she would have volunteered.
She looked at the scans with Commodore Summers. It appeared most the ships were indeed Federation. Very old Federation. Other ships were Commonwealth and seemed to be old designs as well.
“Sir, many of the pirates we’ve come across as of late have been using decommissioned Federation ships that were supposed to either still be in mothballs or melted down!” Tabitha said.
“We’ve had similar issues with piracy. Old Commonwealth military ships. Most are outdated, but a few have been somewhat modernized. You know, we did feel that the piracy was organized. This is a difficult way to come to that definitive knowledge,” Charles said.
“Any way we can call for reinforcements?” Tabitha asked.
The Commonwealth commodore responded “No, shortly after the video and scans were forward our way, they completed the destruction of the communication satellites assigned to the Gate. Even the stealth satellites were taken out. Eventually, our other fleets will take notice as traffic is usually continuous, but it may be hours before they decide there is a problem. That means it could be days before organized help reaches us.”
Tabitha said “they will be on us in less than twenty minutes. In that time, we should organize our fleets and sync our battle networks.”
“The incoming fleet outnumbers us,” said Commodore Eikel. “They have two hundred and thirty-three ships, rating more capital ships than we have. Five old dreadnoughts are still dreadnoughts. Almost a dozen battleships, dozens of cruisers, more than fifty destroyers, and six heavy troop transports and other frigates. What I see is a conqueror’s fleet, and I doubt it is sized only to oppose us. They knew you were here and a factor to be involved in with this fight.”