“Aye, Skipper. It’s now armed.”
“Okay, Ving, you say when.”
Freedom’s Child caught up with the Denubbewa ship and entered through the stern. When it reached amidship, the helmsman said, “Drop.”
“It’s away,” the tac officer said.
The helmsman applied power and Freedom’s Child cleared the bow of the ship a second later. The tac officer changed the view on the front monitor to a view from the stern, and the bridge crew was able to watch the Denubbewa ship blow apart like a balloon filled with too much air.
“Gotcha,” Harford said. “You’ll never kill another innocent freighter crew.”
“What now, Skipper?” Lieutenant (jg) Ving Villobo asked.
“We found the freighter and destroyed the Denubbewa ship that did the deed. I guess we should head back to G.A. space.”
“Aren’t we going to investigate further?” the tac officer asked. “We still don’t know why they brought the freight section back.”
“And maybe we never will,” Harford said. “Our orders are not to drop our envelope unless it’s an emergency.”
“How about if we fly though and just kinda stop?” the helmsman asked.
“Well, that doesn’t violate our orders. Okay, take us back to the freighter.”
A few minutes later, they were sitting next to the freighter.
“I’m just going to slide us in slowly when you give the word, Skipper,” Villobo said.
“Tac, all cameras should be running,” Harford said.
“Aye, Skipper, all cameras are running.”
“Okay, Ving, take us through.”
As the ship emerged from the other side, Harford said, “It was too dark for me to see anything.”
“Give me a few seconds to check the footage with different filters.”
About ten seconds later, the tac officer said, “Holy moly!”
“What is it, Tac?” Harford asked.
“I’ll put it up on the front monitor.” All eyes on the bridge watched the front monitor as the image appeared. It was a bit dark, but there was no disguising the fact that the containers were filled with Denubbewa cyborgs.
“It looks like they’re hoping to infiltrate a port somewhere,” Harford said. “The freight containers get taken down to a planet and out pop hundreds of cyborgs.”
“But why?” Villobo asked. “They could just land and take over.”
“Perhaps they wanted to ensure the fight was over quickly— with limited damage.”
“Yeah, well, what are we going to do about it?” Villobo asked.
“Well, while we have standing orders to destroy any Denubbewa ship we find, we don’t have permission to destroy Gondusan freighters.”
“Well, technically,” the tac officer said, “the freight containers are now owned by the Denubbewa since they’re filled with Denubbewa cyborgs and there are no other lifeforms aboard.”
Harford looked around the bridge. The navigator, com chief, and Villobo all nodded in agreement as his eyes stopped on them.
“If we destroy the freighter, the Gondusans might think we killed the freighter crew and started all this.”
“We have a few non-WOLaR bombs,” the tac officer said. “We don’t have to destroy the entire freighter.”
“Could we open up enough containers so that anyone investigating would see the cyborgs?”
“Sure. We could scatter pieces of them all over this area while leaving some containers almost intact so they can figure out what the Denubbewa intended.”
“Okay, let’s do it.”
“It’ll just take a few minutes to get the light ordnance loaded.”
Five minutes later, the tac officer said, “All set, Skipper. If you can get us near the cargo section, say within a meter or two, I’ll drop a bomb. If one doesn’t do it, we have nineteen more.”
“Okay. Helm, take us over near the cargo section.”
When the ship was close enough so the explosive effect should rip open a few of the cargo containers, the tac officer said, “Bombs away.”
“Bombs away?”
“It’s what they used to say in those old Earth war movies from several centuries ago. I’m only ejecting one. It should explode at one meter from the containers.”
As the bomb moved out of the double envelope, it continued to drop slowly and exploded within a meter of a cargo container. Since there was no atmosphere, the force of the explosion was minimal, but it was enough to rip open two of the containers.
“Maybe I should have used a WOLaR,” the tac officer said.
“I think that should be enough,” Harford said. “There are a few Denubbewa bodies floating out through the openings. In fact, take us away from here, Helm, before they try to climb aboard Freedom’s Child.”
When the ship was away from the freighter, Harford said, “Tac, use the exterior camera to check the hull. See if there’re any stowaways on board.”
“The exterior cameras can only see about twenty-eight percent of the hull area, Skipper.”
“So let’s look at that twenty-eight percent.”
“Aye, Skipper.”
* * *
Chapter Nineteen
~ September 14th, 2292 ~
“All stop,” Captain Caldwell said from his command chair on the bridge of the Miami as they approached the planet Husteus. “Maintain the envelope. What does that look like to you, XO?”
“It looks like three Denubbewa warships in orbit around the planet, sir,” Commander Isaacs replied.
“That’s what it looks like to me. Helm, turn us around and get us away from here.”
“We’re leaving, sir?” XO Isaacs asked.
“Of course not, XO. We’re going to prepare for battle. But first, I’ve got a message to prepare. Halt the ship when we’re about five hundred trillion kilometers away from the planet.”
“Yes, sir. About one-point-three seconds at Marc-One should give us that.”
Caldwell nodded, stood up, and walked to his office. As the doors closed behind him, the Miami accelerated back the way it had come for one-point-three seconds.
Caldwell sat at his desk and said to his computer, “Priority-One message to Admiral Brian Holt, Quesann Command. Message to be routed through Ellask SCB. Begin message. Admiral, we’ve just reached Husteus and found three Denubbewa warships in orbit around the planet. We’ve pulled back so we can launch our CPS-14s. As soon as they’re ready, I’m going to send them in to destroy the three warships. Following that, I’ll have them overfly the planet at low altitude while cloaked in a double envelope. I’m not sure how you’d want me to handle this whole engagement, but standing orders call for us to immediately destroy every Denubbewa ship we encounter. I promise these three won’t get away. I wish we had one of those new com systems now because it will take days for this message to arrive at Ellask and then more days for the reply to reach us here.
“Captain Arthur Benjamin Caldwell, Captain of the destroyer Miami, GSC-D1369 near the planet Husteus in Region Three. End of message.”
He appended a note that it was to be held for transmission until the attack on the Denubbewa had been completed and sent the message to the com chief on the bridge. He then sat back as he thought about the situation. He couldn’t know what was happening down on the planet, but he knew that if there were any Denubbewa down there, they wouldn’t be happy about his destroying their transportation. Of course he didn’t actually know if they were ever happy or sad. Some species caught in this situation might take it out on their prisoners, but he couldn’t know if there were any prisoners still alive.
After initiating a CT carrier signal, he said, “XO Isaacs, come to my office.” He closed the connection by saying, “Caldwell out.”
“You wanted to see me, sir,” Isaacs said as he entered the captain’s office.
“Yes. Launch three of our CPS-14s armed with a habitat container of WOLaR bombs. Then send them in to destroy those three Denubbewa warships.”
; “Aye, sir, right away,” Isaacs said. “Is that all?”
“For now.”
“Yes, sir,” Isaacs said and then turned and headed back out to the bridge.
While traveling, the CPS-14s were housed in a bay inside the ship so maintenance could be performed more easily. Habitat containers with ordnance were always attached to the keel of the destroyer. Each of the three CPS-14s would launch and then wait as small cargo tenders attached weapons containers to each craft. When all were ready, the three small ships would build their double envelopes and head to the planet Husteus where their coordinated attack on the Denubbewa warships would see all three destroyed at almost the same instant. The Denubbewa cyborgs in the ships would never know what hit them.
Ten minutes after departing the vicinity of the Miami, the senior-most officer of the three CPS-14s reported that the three Denubbewa ships had been destroyed. Caldwell issued orders to take the Miami back to the planet Husteus.
“We’re orbiting the planet, sir,” Caldwell heard in his CT a couple of minutes later.
“Acknowledged,” Caldwell said. “Caldwell out.”
As Captain Caldwell stepped out of his office, he could see the remains of one of the Denubbewa ships on the bridge’s front monitor. “Good job, everyone. XO, extend my compliments to the crews of the three 14s and send them down to check out the planet. They are not to land. I just want them to have a look around and report back. They should pay close attention to any signs of life.” Caldwell then took his seat in the command chair.
“Aye, Captain.”
After XO Isaacs had completed his task, he sat down in the First Officer’s chair next to Caldwell’s command chair and said, “I’m not holding out much hope for survivors, sir. We have no idea how long the Denubbewa were on the planet, and this planet was pretty backward to begin with.”
“I agree. But the people of Husteus chose to remain a non-aligned planet, so our contact with them was sporadic. I understand the desire for independence, but sometimes it’s better to work with your neighbors instead of ignoring them. It’s true they would have had to pay taxes to the G.A., but they would have gotten so much in return in the way of protection and the ability to trade with other aligned planets. And they would still have had their independence. Quesann is very adamant in that regard. Even with aligned planets, our powers end at their sensible atmosphere unless they request help with a problem they can’t handle and the G.A. Charter allows us to lend a hand.”
~ ~ ~
“We see no obvious evidence of sentient life at all, sir,” Lieutenant Mikura of the lead CPS-14 said several hours later. “We performed a full scan of the planet’s temperate zones using a standard search pattern for three ships. If there’s any life left down there, they’re staying undercover. Our charts don’t indicate large-scale underground bunkers, but they could easily be hiding indoors in one of the cities.”
“Very well, Lieutenant. All three ships should return to the Miami for now. I need permission from Quesann before we perform precision thermal flyovers or land anyone on the planet.”
“Aye, sir. We’ll head home.”
~ ~ ~
“Admiral,” Jenetta’s aide said via the com connection in their respective offices, “the CPS-16 dispatched by Captain Gavin to deliver the representative from Ruwalchu, the annexation petition, and the cyborg has landed. The Ruwalchu representative, Rero Dakinti, is demanding that you be brought to him immediately.”
“What? Why?”
“He won’t say. He says he will only talk to you and demands that you be brought to him immediately.”
“Tell him my calendar is full and I’ll see him in three days as scheduled.”
“He’s already been told that. He says that if you don’t see him immediately, he’s going home.”
Jenetta took a deep breath and released it slowly before saying, “Tell him I wish him well and hope he has a relaxing trip. Tell him you’ll arrange for passage on a freighter. It should get him to the border in about three years. He’ll have to arrange for his own transportation from there.”
Ten minutes later, her aide called again. “He demands that the same ship that brought him here return him.”
“Tell him he’s welcome to make his own arrangements if what we proposed isn’t adequate.”
“He says that if he goes, he takes the cyborg with him.”
“Tell him the cyborg was handed over to us as a gift for destroying the Denubbewa ships in their territory and ceased to be Ruwalchu property at that point.”
“Aye, Admiral. I’ll tell him.”
When her aided called again, Jenetta groaned and then put on a pleasant expression before answering the com.
“Admiral, I’m sorry. He insists on seeing you immediately and won’t say why.”
“Tell him I’m busy. He can either wait until the scheduled time or begin his trip back home. I don’t want to be disturbed again on this matter.”
“Aye, Admiral. I’ll tell him. What do I do if he refuses both options?”
“Tell him that if he makes any more demands, we’ll reschedule his meeting for an additional ninety days from the original date. And if he starts trouble, have him locked up.”
“Lock up an ambassador?”
“No, lock up a troublemaker who refuses to be either cooperative or to leave as he’s promised he would.”
“Aye, Admiral.”
~ ~ ~
“This is the way we found the freighter, Senior Commander Sylqucosta,” the Gondusan Junior Commander said.
“With all those cyborg bodies floating around in space out there?”
“Yes, sir. We fired no missiles at the freighter or the destroyed Denubbewa warship we found nearby.”
“Then who attacked the freighter?”
“We believe it was the Denubbewa warship.”
“And then they cleaned out the freight containers and filled them with cyborgs before someone destroyed their warship?”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. We know from the manifests that those containers were filled with mined ore.”
“Then who destroyed the warship? The freighter was unarmed.”
“Judging from the degree of the damage, it had to be Space Command.”
“Traveling in our territory without permission?”
“We’re speculating that they might have spotted the Denubbewa ship traveling through their own territory and decided to follow it to see where it was headed. When they saw it destroy the freighter, they held back to see what it would do next. After they saw what it was doing, they destroyed the warship and fired on some of the cargo containers so we’d know what was inside before we simply took the cargo containers in tow and delivered them to a freight depot.”
“You’re saying you think Space Command did all this for us?”
“It’s the only scenario that makes sense.”
“It doesn’t make sense at all. We are enemies of the G.A. and Space Command. They took part of our territory.”
“That was only after we declared war on the G.A. and tried to seize their territory.”
“You’re talking treason, Junior Commander.”
“No, sir, I’m talking common knowledge. Our government made a deal with the devil and we lost. We’re very lucky the G.A. didn’t seize all of our territory, as they did with our partners, the Tsgardi and the Uthlaro. The Denubbewa is our common enemy.”
“The G.A. is the only enemy you need be concerned with.”
“As a loyal Gondusan Military Officer, I will follow all orders given to me by a senior officer, but as a free Gondusan citizen, my thoughts are not subject to being changed to agree with political propaganda when we know the truth.”
“I didn’t hear that, Junior Commander.”
“Yes, sir. But we still owe Space Command thanks for this action.”
~ ~ ~
“Admiral Carver, I spent three days in a jail cell because you ordered it,” the Ruwalchu citizen, Rero Dakinti, screa
med when he was brought into the A.B. hall to attend an executive session of the Board.
“I ordered that we arrange transportation so you could return to Ruwalch if you wished. You were locked up because you were irrational and refused to wait until this scheduled meeting time.”
“I am the official representative of my country. I deserved the immediate attention of some minor military drone when I arrived.”
“You’ve done nothing to deserve special considerations not extended to anyone else. Now, either calm down and present whatever you wish to present, or you’ll be escorted out.”
“I represent the Ruwalchu people. You can’t talk to me like that.”
“Do you have something to present to this Board or not?”
“I demand you return the petition to me and give me transportation back to Ruwalch. We will not be annexing our territory with the G.A. And I demand a ship with the same speed as the one that brought me here.”
“I see. You claim to speak for all of the Ruwalchu people and that you are the only one authorized to speak for your people?”
“I do and I am.”
Jenetta looked over at the head clerk and nodded.
“I expected that to be your position. Our clerk made a recording from the moment you entered these chambers. It has just been sent to one of our ships in orbit around Ruwalch where the P.M. is standing by.”
“And I’m supposed to wait for four months for that communication to travel to Ruwalch and a response to come back?”
“No, not at all. Our communication system is a bit faster than the ones in your nation. The response will be here very shortly.”
“How shortly? Two months?”
“Our system is quite a bit faster than that. Since you claim to represent the Ruwalchu people, I’m surprised you haven’t been told about it. P.M. Pemillisa knows.”
When the clerk cleared her throat, Jenetta looked in her direction. The clerk nodded.
“The response from P.M. Pemillisa has arrived. Let’s view it, shall we?”
The large monitors around the walls of the hall all lit up with an image of P.M. Pemillisa.
“Admiral Carver,” the image said, “I apologize most sincerely. The individual we sent does not represent our government. His only role was to answer questions about our form of government and our history. Please ignore any demands he makes. He’ll be dealt with severely when he returns.”
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