First Command

by Rodney Smith

  Connie also found out the ship’s name and its registry in her research. It was the Red Eagle (naturally), registered on Schirra to Cooper Shipping, Inc. Further research would reveal Cooper to be a shell company owned by a list of other shell companies. In the end, no one owned her, at least no one but the K’Rang.

  * * * * *

  H’Topa had never seen time pass so slowly. He monitored the local sensors to watch for any movement by security forces to advance on the ship. He watched for hours and saw nothing. The spaceport was shut down for the night and they meant it. The only activity he saw after four hours were two taxis dropping off drunken crewmembers at their ships. H’Topa turned the monitoring over to one of the crewmembers because he could no longer stand it. He retired to his cabin and paced the rest of the night.

  At 0600, the tower came up and the captain requested permission to take off. Permission was granted and the courier ship made a lazy departure. It wouldn’t do to invite local scrutiny by blasting out of the spaceport and breaking windows in the process. H’Topa favored the latter departure; the captain favored the former. The captain won.

  The courier ship passed the minimum safety distance and increased speed to FTL power 3. H’Topa waited for the scan report if any ships were following them. The report came back negative and H’Topa retired to his quarters and went to sleep almost immediately. The nervous tension of the past hours wore him out, and he slept for the next nine hours.

  * * * * *

  Alistair landed his ship at Geneva Main Spaceport. A CI team ground car met him at the gangplank and whisked him away to the Defense HQ. He walked in with the CI team chief and watched while the CI team placed the Colonel, Sergeant Major, yeoman and admin assistant under arrest. Protests by their subordinates were stopped when the CI team chief showed his badge and credentials. When they heard the four were arrested for espionage, all their former subordinates and office mates suddenly found better places to be.

  The other CI teams rounded up a total of 14 members of the network support cells. One of the transport specialists kept a record of all contacts he had ever made. Over the next two days, two more agents and 12 more support cell members would be arrested. Fleet Intel ran out of cells to put them all into and had to arrange for cell space for the remainder.

  The CI team on Gagarin received their go order from Alistair. The main team dropped in on Bart and Silke and removed them to a Fleet Intel holding facility. Bart could not believe he had been caught and thought this was only an exercise. After he’d spent 10 hours in an interview room reviewing the evidence they had against him, he realized he was in deep doodoo. They had video of him and Silke steaming open the envelopes, opening the safes, and photographing the design plans. They even had video of him and Silke celebrating afterwards on his apartment couch. He gave up and asked if he could get a deal. The investigator laughed and left him alone in the room, until he and Silke could be arraigned for espionage and other crimes.

  Other teams went after the support network and took almost all of them with no fuss and no bother. One of the dead drop servicers was armed and fired several shots at the team before pointing the gun at her temple and pulling the trigger.

  The teams on Shepard were staged and ready for the order, therefore were quickest to execute their raids. They had Cindy, in her signature lab coat, under arrest within minutes. Ron walked unaware into the lab and a set of handcuffs only a moment later.

  The ring factory janitor almost got away when the team arrested the wrong janitor. The right janitor came around the corner, saw the commotion, figured it for what it was and turned to run—right into the arms of a burly security man that had been sent out to the ground car for the identification photos he had left behind.

  Over the next three weeks, additional cell members were identified and gathered up. The only hole at the end of the investigation was the identity of the human that controlled Bart and Silke. Bart was willing to give him up, but had no useful information other than three phone numbers used to contact him. All three turned out to be out of service numbers.

  * * * * *

  Kelly followed the courier ship to its exfiltration point. He had to time his attack to ensure he identified his point of exit without letting him get through it. They were still several days to the frontier, but Kelly was pretty sure he knew where they were going. There was an area of few stars and no habitable planets in the Perseus sector. It was a backwater area and only lightly patrolled, even by the K’Rang.

  That was where he appeared to be making a straight line for and the most logical place to quietly cross the frontier. He would give him one more day, then attempt to get him to surrender or destroy him. Kelly’s experience with the K’Rang was that they preferred auto-destruct to surrender. In the two cases where he had K’Rang vessels stopped and ready to be boarded, they activated their self-destruct mechanisms rather than be boarded. He’d give it one more day to be certain of his destination and move in.

  * * * * *

  Alan Shepler wasn’t sure what had happened. He had tried to log into the cooking forum, but it was down. He used his last clean phone to call Bart Morton, but a stranger answered the phone. He immediately stripped the phone down to its major components and drove around, discarding them at various crossings over the Mercury River.

  Something bad must have happened and he didn’t want to be around for it. Claiming a problem at the main facility, he paid a premium price to contract for the son of the former owner to run the plant until his replacement arrived. He caught the next available transit to Fomalhaut. It wasn’t until the ship left the atmosphere that he relaxed. He had the flight attendant bring him two whiskeys and a glass of ice. First class was the only way to travel.

  * * * * *

  The extra day was up and the courier ship was still headed right for the spot Kelly thought he was heading. There was no other place he could be going. At its current speed, they would reach the frontier in two days. He ordered battle stations.

  Kelly ordered FTL Power 4 to close the distance quickly between Vigilant and the Red Eagle. The distance decreased slowly, too slowly for Kelly, so he ordered an increase to FTL power 5.

  As the Vigilant reached missile range, Kelly ordered the helm to match speed. Kelly came up on the communicator and hailed the courier ship. “Red Eagle, this is the Galactic Republic Scout Ship Vigilant. You are charged with espionage and of having received stolen Galactic Republic property. Come to a halt and power down your engines. Prepare to be boarded.”

  The Red Eagle did not stop. It did not power down its engines. It accelerated.

  Kelly instinctively shouted out, “Helm, emergency evasive, now!”

  The helmsman did not hesitate and hit the evasive maneuver button. The Vigilant automatically dove down, turned to starboard, and dove down again. These semi-random maneuvers were designed to accomplish two things. One was to throw off an enemy missile’s target lock, and the other was to put the Vigilant in a position to return fire quickly.

  Kelly gave the order to fire one of mini-missiles and take out the courier ships engines. As the gunners lined up and acquired missile lock, the Red Eagle also went into evasive maneuvers. The two ships, set for evasive maneuvers, moved around each other like dancers on a stage. The Red Eagle made a hard turn to starboard just as the Vigilant made a hard turn to port. The distance between them increased. Kelly ordered to secure from evasive and sent the Vigilant in pursuit.

  * * * * *

  H’Topa’s growing confidence crashed to the deck when the crewman announced a GR scout ship had just appeared astern and was closing on them. When it increased speed and hailed them, he felt it was the voice of doom. The captain, unfazed, stated, “I knew it was too easy. Our friend out there doesn’t know what he’s up against. This is no ordinary cargo ship. Helm, increase speed to FTL power 5.5.”

  The two ships traveling at FTL speed were unable to use their guns. The captain ordered the Red Eagle to evasive maneuvers as he saw the scout�
�s missile bay open. Both ships jinked across space dangerously close to each other. The chance of collision became too great and the courier ship captain ordered a sharp turn to port and down. He looked for anything to hide in or amongst and found nothing. This area had been chosen specifically for its lack of space objects. It left nowhere to hide, either. The nearest star system was 23 minutes away, an eternity against a faster opponent like the scout ship. Captain M’Toth ordered his ship into a sharp turn and ran headlong towards the Vigilant.

  * * * * *

  Kelly did not expect the courier to turn back toward him. He ordered a mini-missile aimed at the courier ship engines, to bring him to a halt. The missile left the pod, streaked past the Red Eagle, turned back, and lined up with the exhaust nacelles just as the Red Eagle made a hard turn to port. They didn’t hit the engines, but blew off part of the Red Eagle’s port atmospheric wing. The Red Eagle slowed to below FTL to be able to bring his gun turret to bear. Kelly slowed down to below FTL to keep him from getting too far behind and slipping away. The Red Eagle gunner, with a powerful particle beam cannon, got in a good shot and took out the camera and the dorsal or upper tail gun. Vigilant was now blind astern. If he had fired a little lower, he might have taken out the top engine. Kelly decided to end this deadly ballet and lined the Vigilant to bring all guns to bear amidships on the courier ship. He ordered a sharp turn to port and brought the Vigilant around to fire on the Red Eagle, probably cutting it in half.

  Kelly asked for damage reports as he awaited the firing solution to present itself. Engineering reported damage to the dorsal engine nacelle and rear camera. Gunnery reported the top rear gun was out of commission, but the other two were still functional. Engineering reported one man to sickbay for burns from an arcing relay.

  Yeoman Benitez came up on the shipboard communicator and announced, “Captain, I have a message from Admiral Craddock for you – let the K’Rang courier escape. I say again, let the K’Rang ship escape.”

  Kelly, confused, asked Benitez to confirm the order. She told him she already had. It was a genuine order.

  Kelly ordered his gunners to miss, but miss closely. The top turret gunner missed a little too closely and took out the K’Rang ship’s turret. Kelly ordered evasive to start the ship tumbling then cut power to the engines. The Vigilant passed beneath the courier ship and tumbled off through space.

  The K’Rang ship did not hesitate. It increased speed to FTL power 5.5 and left the Vigilant behind. Kelly kept the ship tumbling until the courier ship was off their short-range sensors.

  While the K’Rang ship sped away, he sent a message saying the order had been carried out and asked for clarification. The reply merely said return to base and job well done.

  Kelly ordered the helm to make course for Antares Base at FTL power 5. He was anxious to find out why he let a K’Rang espionage ship escape across the frontier with the secret to the Republic’s strategic advantage. His order didn’t make sense, but he checked the raw message file and it was sent from the Admiral. His release code was on the original message, confirmation, and subsequent order.

  Kelly secured from general quarters, turned the conn over to Chief B, and did a quick walk-thru inspection of his ship, occasionally mumbling to himself about strange orders and admirals.

  * * * * *

  H’Topa was overjoyed. The enemy scout was disabled, possibly with their top engine damaged, and they were able to slip away. Nothing stood between them and the frontier. H’Topa ordered M’Toth to increase speed to maximum and was told they were already at maximum. He fidgeted and paced across the bridge until M’Toth kicked him out, telling him to wait in his cabin if he was nervous. He was disturbing the bridge watch. M’Toth would let him know when they were safe.

  H’Topa went back to his cabin, opened the safe and inventoried the material that would even the odds for the K’Rang against the Humans. He decided to calm his nerves by going through the packages one-by-one, cataloguing the contents, checking for completeness, and duplicating the digital files on a master data device. As he finished securing the data back in the safe, he allowed his thoughts to wander. J’Kraul and he were safe. Against all odds, he had achieved total success. If the Analytical Cabal could translate the Blakes’ language, then they would have the transporter ring plans in the inventors’ own writing. H’Topa imagined this coup might even lead to promotion to the nobility. Even a minor noble lived quite comfortably. A baronet would suit H’Topa quite well. J’Kraul deserved a full barony for all the heat he had been taking from the Elders.

  Captain M’Toth came up on the communicator to announce they were about to cross the frontier and would H’Topa care to come forward to watch. H’Topa would and did. The burden of his mission lifted from H’Topa as soon as they passed through the gap in the Human sensors and mines and on through the deactivated K’Rang mine and sensor cluster. G’Durin was now only two weeks away. H’Topa was becoming ecstatic.

  * * * * *

  Kelly reviewed the video of the damage to the dorsal tail gun mount. Chief Miller sent a crawler robot out to get a look at the damage, assess it, and make sure it wasn’t getting worse. The video showed a black gash across the fairing around the dorsal tail gun. A view into the gash showed the rear view camera missing several pieces, including the lens. The rail gun’s top rail and several magnets were shot away. It wasn’t bad damage as battle damage went, but would require a few days in drydock when they returned. He pushed their speed up a half, in a hurry to solve this mystery.

  * * * * *

  The Red Eagle entered the G’Durin space traffic control zone and was escorted in by two K’Rang attack craft. As they landed at the main military spaceport, the two attack craft climbed and executed matching left and right rolls. Dignitaries were gathered around the Red Eagle as it landed and parked in a VIP parking position. Captain M’Toth changed quickly into his dress uniform. H’Topa gathered all the data and put it in a shoulder case. The captain marched down the gangplank alongside H’Topa.

  H’Topa looked around and saw the Imperial Analytical Cabal chief, the Collection Directorate chief, and his friend J’Kraul. The Collections chief met them at the bottom of the gangplank, took the case from H’Topa, and led them over to introduce them to Baron N’Gana, recently appointed Chief Secretary to the Elders. Baron N’Gana had lost a son during a courier ship mission and always met each returning courier ship. His status as Secretary to the Elders and a member of the Intelligence Coordinating Committee gave him special access to operational information.

  Baron N’Gana sniffed muzzles with H’Topa and said, “Shadow Lead Agent H’Topa, you have accomplished a great task for the Empire. The Council of Peers meets now to determine suitable rewards for your, J’Kraul’s, and Captain M’Toth’s service to the Empire. I cannot say what it is yet, as the council is still deliberating, but it will be commensurate with your service to the Empire. The Elders wished for me to congratulate you and express their thanks. They have directed that your names be entered into the scrolls of the M’Drella, honoring the Empire’s heroes.”

  H’Topa was overwhelmed. He had dreamed of a cape with a white lining, denoting nobility. It seemed this somewhat officious noble was suggesting such a dream might come true. All this ceremony and excitement was starting to get to H’Topa. He had not eaten or slept in the last 36 hours. He felt himself start to fade. He explained that he and Captain M’Toth were exhausted and asked if they could be released.

  His request was granted immediately and J’Kraul took him and M’Toth to the best restaurant he knew. They celebrated their mutual success and dreamed what their rewards might be.

  * * * * *

  Kelly ordered a standard approach to Antares Base after they unloaded their missile pod at the Antares Station ordnance dock. They were directed immediately to Drydock Six for evaluation and repair. Kelly gathered his logs and reported to CDR Timmons’ office. Edgar Timmons exploded from his chair as Kelly walked in. He gave Kelly a hearty handshake and ha
d him sit down. He called out to his admin assistant to bring in two coffees.

  He sat on the front of his desk and said, “Damn good job out there, Kelly. The admiral is quite pleased with you. No, I don’t know why the admiral had you let him go. I guess we’ll both find out when we go see him. I’m waiting for a call from Hasselrode telling us when to come over.”

  The admin assistant brought in two cups of coffee and left a tray of sweeteners and creamer. Kelly put in two sugars and stirred it, then sipped the coffee while he gave CDR Timmons his patrol report. As he finished, CDR Timmons’ communicator buzzed with a message from Captain Hasselrode, telling them to arrive in ten minutes.

  They walked to Scout Force HQ and Captain Hasselrode led them into Admiral Craddock’s office. Kelly was surprised to see his parents and CDR Johnson from Fleet Intel.

  The Admiral stood up, walked around his walnut desk, shook Kelly’s hand, and said, “I’m sure the uppermost question in your mind, Kelly, has to be why did we let them go. I’ll let your dad tell you.” Admiral Craddock motioned Kelly and Edgar to seats.

  Andrew said, “Remember that meeting in Tom’s den where we talked about the agent network working to steal the ring data? After you left Tom came up with an idea to really set the K’Rang back. We decided to provide them with bogus data. Everything they stole was bogus except the ring codes, but those are easily replaced.”

  “The K’Rang will spend the next five years trying to build a ring from the plans they have. They will be convinced that they must have mistranslated the full set. It will stymie them and hold them back from developing a ring. Meanwhile, they’ll be driving themselves crazy. We got their network, so they won’t be trying to steal another set of the plans for quite some time.”