Worlds at War (A Captain's Crucible Book 5)

by Isaac Hooke

  “Yes. It’s curious. We have continued to receive a few messages from members of the fleet stationed in all the neighboring systems up to and including Vega 951, but any incoming data tagged with an origin from the systems beyond, including Earth, ceased on the same day three months ago. It’s like everyone back home just suddenly stopped communicating. And by the way, the few messages we did get from the vessels in Raakarr-1 and Vega 951 are marked as classified, with senior officers as the destination. It looks like someone ordered a message embargo.”

  Jonathan sat up. “Well that’s disturbing. What do you make of it?” He double-checked his inbox in case he might have missed something. Nope: there definitely wasn’t anything marked classified, and he hadn’t received any messages from ships stationed in Raakarr-1 or Vega 951.

  I’ve been kept out of the loop.

  “Well, there’s obviously some bottleneck at Prius 3,” Connie said. “And if there really is a message embargo, whatever is causing the bottleneck can’t be good. Then again, I suppose it’s possible that it could be something as simple as the comm nodes malfunctioning.”

  “All three at once?” Jonathan told her. “An outage like that, and the fleet’s repair drones would have been all over it.”

  “An intense solar storm in one of the systems could definitely cause all three to go down,” Connie insisted.

  “Sure,” Jonathan told her. “But if it was a solar storm, I doubt the remaining ships in Raakarr-1 and Vega 951 would have issued a message embargo.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Connie said. “I’ve sent messages to colleagues stationed aboard ships in the neighboring systems, but I won’t be hearing from them until the embargo is lifted. I’ve also tried to send a few messages to more distant colleagues based in Beta Ursae Majoris and even Earth, but I’m doubtful I’ll hear from them at all, given our findings.”

  “Thank you for bringing this to me, Lieutenant,” Jonathan said. “Let me know if you discover anything else.”

  He tapped out. Since captains weren’t usually included in any communication embargoes, he sent a few quick messages of his own to colleagues stationed in adjacent systems. It would probably be eight to sixteen hours before he heard from them.

  Afterward he summoned the holograms of Robert and Miko to discuss theories with them, and included the Callaway’s AI, Maxwell, in the conversation.

  The first thing Robert said when he heard the news, was: “Looks like it’s time to pay the piper for what we’ve done.”

  The comment put a damper on the whole discussion.

  About ten minutes into the session the captain received an alert from Admiral Ford.

  “Well, men,” Jonathan told the holograms. “It looks like we’ll be finding out what’s going on shortly. I just got a notification from Admiral Ford that there will be an emergency captain’s conference in thirty minutes.”

  five

  Thirty minutes later Jonathan found himself seated around a virtual conference room table with the other seventy-five captains of the fleet.

  Admiral Ford stood at the head of the table.

  “As the more investigative among you may have noticed,” Admiral Ford said. “As of three months ago, all communications with any systems beyond Vega 951 were lost. I received the news shortly after it happened, via a one-way comm node dispatched here by the battle group in Raakarr-1, but decided it was best not to share the news and needlessly alarm the fleet. I assumed it was merely a solar storm of some kind, affecting the comm nodes somewhere along the InterGalNet route between Vega 951 and Earth. I assumed it would clear up in a few weeks, and that we would have reestablished contact by now. I was wrong. I’ve received the queued status updates sent by the battle groups stationed in Raakarr-1 and Vega 951 since then, and they paint a disturbing picture of what has happened.

  “Three months ago, the comm nodes stationed at Contessa Gate in Vega 951 ceased passing through the Slipstream into the adjacent system, Prius 3. The fleet stationed in Vega 951 thought it was a malfunction at first, but after some investigation they determined that the comm nodes had detected a change in gravimetric fluctuations.” That usually meant a return Gate no longer existed on the other side—failsafes aboard the comm nodes prevented traversal under such conditions.

  For existing Gates, any gravimetric changes could be detected almost immediately. But for brand new Gates, it could take up to a week to determine whether a return Gate existed as there was no baseline of gravimetric fluctuations to measure against. That was why the Builder with Task Group 72.5 had no time to detect a return Gate after constructing the original Contessa; enemy reinforcements had been bearing down on them, and Jonathan had given the order to pass through anyway, bringing the task group to the Elder galaxy.

  “The captain of the destroyer flotilla stationed at Contessa ordered the comm nodes sent through anyway,” Ford continued. “The devices did not come back. The captain launched more, along with some telemetry drones: again, nothing returned. It became fairly obvious that the gravimetric readings were accurate. The return Gate was gone.” She ran her gaze across the assembled captains. “As you all know, Gates don’t just disappear on their own. Either the guard units stationed at the endpoint saw a reason to move the Gate and for some reason chose not to warn us. Or the return Gate was destroyed.”

  “It’s also possible the Elder changed the endpoint on us again,” Jonathan said.

  “It is certainly possible,” Ford agreed. “Though I believe the chances are slim, given the events leading up to the disappearance of the Gate. You see, when the flotilla stationed at Contessa reviewed the comm node logs, they discovered the devices had picked up several anomalies before the event. Four hours earlier, while in Prius 3 to receive the latest data packets, the comm nodes recorded a heat signature moving away from the third, main sun, a heat signature that had up until that point gone unnoticed, hidden as it was in the thermal wash of the star. This coincides with a transmission sent by the Prius 3 fleet, whose commanding officer stated they were dispatching ships to investigate.

  “When the nodes passed into Prius 3 again two hours later, the heat signature was halfway to the incoming ships. More heat signatures had appeared, these ones apparently sourced from the original. One of those new signatures seemed to be on a direct course for the Gate to Vega 951, whose Slipstream happened to be passing near the third sun at the time. Also, more urgent communications were received by the Prius 3 fleet, stating that they were under attack.

  “The comm nodes departed back to Vega 951, and that was the last snapshot we have of the system before the event. We did get a visual of the craft associated with the heat signature that was headed toward the Gate. Have a look.”

  A cigar-shaped object floated in the center of the conference table, where it slowly rotated. Smaller rods of varying lengths extended from the flat front, giving it an industrial appearance.

  Jonathan spoke up. “I’ve seen this before.”

  “You have,” Admiral Ford agreed. “It matches the projectile recorded by the Callaway during its encounter with the unidentified ship in the Elder galaxy.”

  “Did we get a visual on the original object that emerged from the thermal wash of the star?” another captain asked.

  Ford nodded. Another object appeared. Blurry, because of the range. It was close to a United Systems corvette in appearance, though its hull seemed all dents and hard angles as if it had taken a good beating. The left and right wing shapes didn’t match exactly, giving the impression that it was put together from parts of different ships.

  “It’s the scavenger ship,” Jonathan said. That was what Jonathan and Robert had taken to calling the unidentified vessel that had destroyed the Builder in the Elder galaxy—it did look like it was scavenged from other ships, after all. Not that the overall shape really mattered in any way, of course: a sleek, aerodynamic craft would have the same acceleration graph as a square plane in space.

  “It appears to be the same ship, yes,”
Ford said. “When the heat signature and image are passed through our recognition database, we get a ninety-five percent probability that it is the very same ship the Callaway encountered, and a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that it is the same ship class.”

  “So we’ve got a rogue alien vessel run amok in our galaxy.” Jonathan tapped his lips. “You know that ship completely obliterated Task Group’s 72.5 Builder vessel in the Elder galaxy, right? And when I say completely obliterated, I mean it. That weapon disintegrated the Builder into its constituent hydrogen atoms.”

  “I know quite well,” Ford said. “I debriefed Commander Cray myself. The same obliteration is very likely what happened to our return Gate in Prius 3.”

  “The scavenger hasn’t been spotted by the fleets residing in Raakarr-1 or Vega 951?” Captain Rail asked. She looked her usual grumpy self. Though Jonathan supposed she was happy to be back in command of the Salvador. Not that she would ever show it.

  “There has been no sign of the vessel in Raakarr-1 or Vega 951 since communications were lost three months ago,” the admiral said. “Either it has been destroyed, or it is wreaking havoc in the adjacent systems.”

  “How could it have escaped unnoticed all that time?” Captain Bane said. The young captain who had performed well during the planet killer operation looked extremely tired. Like many of those present, he bore the outward signs of a conscience that didn’t take too well to what the battle group had done to the Raakarr homeworld. “Unless they have stealth measures beyond our ability, surely some of our sensors would have picked the craft up before it hid in the thermal wash of the Prius 3 sun?”

  “Not if it traveled to Prius 3 shortly after the Raakarr incursion,” the admiral said. “And sometime after Captain Dallas passed through the system when he first returned to our galaxy while aboard the Talon. Based on the date of the attack in the Elder galaxy as reported by Commander Cray, the timeframes do match. After moving into place, it simply lay in wait, hiding in the thermal wash of the third star, while our exploratory fleet arrived and began construction of the return Gate. It took a year and a half for that Gate to pass within its closest point of the third sun, and it was at that point they chose to strike.”

  Jonathan and Robert had once speculated that the scavenger may have been hiding in the thermal wash of the Vega 951 star. It seemed they had picked the wrong system.

  “For an object of that size to hide in the thermal wash of a star,” a captain said. “And still escape the gravitational pull... well, let’s just say it would require some efficient engines.”

  “It would,” Ford agreed. “They’re definitely more technologically advanced than the United Systems, and even the Raakarr.”

  “So what are we going to do?” Captain Rail asked.

  “We could wait,” Captain Bane said. “If the fleet drove off or destroyed the scavenger, they would have started reconstructing the return Gate. It should be ready in three or four months.”

  Ford nodded slowly. “We could wait, yes. But we have no reason to. We have completed our mission here. We will deploy the necessary ships in Raakarr-2 to enforce our treaty with the Elk, and the rest of us will return. If the scavenger has not been destroyed, it is our duty to render what assistance we can to the United Systems vessels in the region. Restoring communications with NAVCENT is our highest priority at the moment.”

  “Maybe we should get the Raakarr to loan us more ships,” Bane said. “Just in case.”

  “How many?” Ford asked. “Ten ships? Thirty? Do you really trust our newfound alien allies enough to allow them to outnumber us?” When Bane didn’t reply, she nodded. “I didn’t think so. At oh eight hundred tomorrow morning the fleet, in its existing form, will commence traversal through the Gate to Raakarr-1.”

  six

  At 0800 the battle group left behind twenty destroyers in Raakarr-2 to guard the return Gate as per the treaty agreement, and then its members proceeded through into Raakarr-1 four at a time.

  The Callaway accelerated into the gravitational distortion of the Gate when its turn came, passing into the neighboring system. ‘Neighboring’ might not be the best term, given that in actuality the systems were forty-eight light years apart. That was why when talking about Gates and Slipstreams, one usually said a given destination was one or more “jumps” away, because the involved vessels literally jumped between systems when they traversed a wormhole.

  Jonathan had the view from the forward camera piped into his aReal so he immediately saw the ring of destroyers waiting on the other side, guarding the destination Gate. According to the tactical display, several mines also resided there, in the form of smart nukes; the devices had been moved aside for the occasion. Hopefully someone had programmed them to ignore the thirty Raakarr vessels that were due to arrive or some unpleasantness would ensue. There shouldn’t be any issues, given that scouts in the form of alien fighters and dart ships had been passing back and forth between the two systems since the Gate construction began in Raakarr-2 six months ago.

  After the fifty-five ships of the main battle group arrived, the Raakarr vessels began to emerge. The Raptor was their de facto flagship, responsible for coordinating with the captains of the thirty Raakarr vessels to ensure the admiral’s orders were carried out. Or more precisely, Jonathan’s orders, as the Raptor was placed directly under his command, alongside the survivors of Task Group 72.5 that had been absorbed into the battle group.

  The Raptor belonged to the powerful pyramid class of alien warships. It was essentially a supercarrier, as it harbored forty alien fighters aboard. It also had four particle beam generators, placed at the ends of long stilts that extended from the bottom corners of the pyramid shape. The Raptor was commanded by the leader of the Zarafe, Valor; also aboard was the telepath Barrick and the United Systems liaison officer Wethersfield. At Valor’s request, the three of them had transferred from their old ship, the Talon, along with many of the alien crew, shortly after the destruction of the homeworld and the subsequent surrender of the Elk. Valor had desired a ship more “suiting” to his lofty station, while Admiral Ford simply wanted something that would afford greater protection to those individuals who currently provided the sole communications link between the United Systems and the Zarafe.

  The comm nodes that facilitated those communications were also transferred from the Talon, of course, along with the backup United Systems telemetry drones that Wethersfield could launch from the Raptor as necessary to boost signal range with the fleet.

  On the tactical display, the incoming alien craft were marked a lighter shade of blue than the other friendlies. The United Systems mines remained inactive. Good.

  Still, as he watched those Raakarr vessels emerge, Jonathan couldn’t help a lingering sense of unease. He wasn’t completely comfortable allowing so many alien ships into the battle group, especially those manned by the Elk. If any of those ships were to turn on them, while the United Systems vessels still outnumbered them almost two to one, casualties would be high, especially if the treachery occurred while the fleet was in the middle of repelling a different attack, say against the scavenger vessel. Of course, only five of the enemy craft were actually crewed by Elk, while the remainder were Zarafe. Given that the two factions hated each other, it was highly unlikely both would turn against the battle group at the same time. It would either be one or the other, with the Elk faction probably the more inclined to betrayal. Yes, it was very good they only had five ships.

  After rendezvousing with the United Systems fleet in Raakarr-1, the human ships spent some time restocking their non-renewable weapon inventories. The human portions of the battle group had already replenished their mortars and slug supplies in the previous system, but nukes and kinetic kill missiles were in short supply, as were some key elements needed for repairs.

  After partially remedying their weapon situation, the battle group proceeded toward the further Slipstream, crossing Raakarr-1. Jonathan supposed the system was going to need a new nam
e soon, given the intention of the United Systems to permanently annex that territory from the Raakarr.

  It took a week to reach the Gate. They further restocked their supplies via the waiting destroyers, and then passed through in fours into Vega 951, where the human and alien fleet was greeted by another ring of destroyers and currently inactive smart nukes. The ships in Vega 951 had no news to report.

  The battle group spent a week and a half crossing the system toward Contessa Gate. On the way, they passed near 3-Vega, which led to uncharted Raakarr space. It was still mined and guarded by United Systems warships. No Gate was being built there yet, Jonathan noted. According to the local fleet, no raiding parties had emerged from it since the Elk homeworld fell.

  When the battle group was nearing the closest point of flyby with 3-Vega, Ensign Lewis abruptly spoke up from her position at the Round Table.

  “The Raptor and the thirty ships under her have changed course,” Lewis said. “They’re breaking away from the fleet.”

  “What?” Jonathan glanced at his comm officer. “Lazur, get me the Raptor. Ensign, what’s their heading?”

  “They’re accelerating toward 3-Vega,” the ensign replied.

  Vice Admiral Levieson tapped in. “Jonathan, what’s going on?”

  “I didn’t order this,” Jonathan said. “I’m about to have a word with our liaison officer. I’ll get back to you momentarily, Vice Admiral.”

  Both Wethersfield and Barrick were on the line a few seconds later.

  “Hello Captain,” Wethersfield said. “I suppose you’re reaching out to me because of our unannounced break from formation?”

  “Good guess,” Jonathan said. “What the hell is Valor doing? I want him back in formation immediately.”

  “Barrick, would you be so kind...” Wethersfield transmitted.

  An audible sigh came over the line, followed by Barrick’s voice. “Apparently, the alien fighters Valor left in front of 3-Vega to function as the Zarafe equivalents of comm nodes have reported some rather unfortunate events in Raakarr space.”