Star Man 2: Star Rise

by I. G. Roberts

  Upgrades were still being made to both the shipyard and the Orbital Station, increasing shield strength further and adding Point-Defense. There were still no plans to place any offensive weapons on either of those two facilities. The hope was that an invasion force, even a Pirate one would see those two facilities as worth capturing rather than destroying. There was some continuing debate about adding some offensive missiles to the facilities to use as a last resort. So far, Henry and Sonya had been vetoing that suggestion because if such systems were in place, the temptation to use them was likely to be too great. Besides, if they did shoot down Starships that were above the planet the risk of sizeable pieces falling onto the globe below and causing significant environmental degradation was too great. The other problem with damaging ships in orbit was that it would result in a lot of orbiting space junk that was likely to pose a significant hazard to navigation for a long time, at least until they could bring specialty ships in to clean the mess up.

  FNS Magni

  Two days after making the decision that Magni and Kurama should leave soon and report to Cotoni, they realized the Pirate fleet was dividing into two fleets of thirty plus half the Fleet Train. Wolf and Camon decided to see which way the two fleets were heading. Hours later, the two fleets headed away from each other bound for two separate Jump-Points. The two Federation Captains debated their next course of action then decided to take down the last ship to exit the System via the Jump-Point leading away from Cotoni. Magni and Kurama raced across the System to the Jump-Point and sat in wait, ready to ambush the Tail End Charlie. Timing would be everything for this attack, if the Federation ships hit him too early, they would need to run like hell or the others might come after them, if they attacked too late, he would have slipped into Jump, and the result would have been a waste of ordnance.

  When the two Federation Warships were in position, they went dark and waited. The Peschal Alliance always had a couple of fighting ships that were last out of the System, leaving after the fleet train had passed into Jump. This occasion was no exception. Just after the last Freighter entered Jump and the first of the two remaining fighting ships was lining up to make its Jump, Magni and Kurama began to creep closer. They had to time it, so they went to full acceleration just as the first of the two Pirates entered the Jump-Point event horizon. Suddenly, both Federation Cobras leapt forward just as one of the two target ships entered Jump and exited the System. Magni and Kurama closed the range rapidly and when they reached what was effectively point blank range, they each fired a salvo of missiles at the remaining Pirates engines.

  The Pirate never saw it coming, and the stern of his ship was obliterated. Soon, he began shedding escape pods as the survivors tried to leave their stricken ship while Magni and Kurama pulled away to give them some room. As it happened, only five escape pods exited the stricken ship before it exploded, destroying two of the five pods and damaging one other. After some debate, Wolf and Camon decided to pick up the remaining pods. Conditions in the brigs of the Cobras would be cramped, but they might be able to obtain some useful intelligence from the prisoners. Shuttles were launched and the three surviving pods retrieved over the next few hours. The surviving Pirates were all in shock still, so teams of Troopers began immediate interrogations of as many of the prisoners as possible, not giving them any time to recover from the ordeal. As soon as the last Escape Pod was recovered, Magni and Kurama raced away from the scene on their way to the Jump-Point that ultimately would set them on the path to Cotoni. If someone from the departing fleet came back to find their missing ship, all they would find was debris and nobody to tell them what happened.

  Twelve hours later, both Wolf and Camon knew at least some of the Pirate plan. It was a bold plan, and one that may very well succeed. Now it became urgent for the Cobras to run for Cotoni as fast as they could go to warn the Admiral there about what was about to happen. Wolf found himself hoping Cotoni had something to help fight these Pirates with.

  FNS Vasta

  In the end, Captain Cadapon concluded FNS Vasta only had one viable choice, and even that wasn’t a good one in his opinion. FNS Vasta had to fight her way back to the Jump-Point she’d entered the System through. Of course, Cadapon was assuming there were still at least four Pirate ships near the Jump-Point. Now he’d finally made his decision, it was time to make an attempt, so Captain Cadapon began issuing his orders. Gone was the Officer who was unsure about what he should do next. The Commanders training kicked in, and the crew could see the change. This was the Captain they all knew and trusted.

  Several hours later, FNS Vasta began accelerating toward the System Primary he had considered, then discarded the option of Micro-Jumping to a location near any waiting Pirate ships. The Pirates would have plenty of notice that Vasta was on her way, but it gave him more time to see what he was up against. When FNS Vasta came within Scanner range, there was only one Pirate ship on this side of the Jump-Point. Vasta’s Scanner Suite was much more sensitive than the Pirates, so the Prate Captain took some time to react after Captain Cadapon knew what he was up against. When the Pirate did react, his reaction was to make an immediate Jump out of the System.

  Captain was not going to be caught flat-footed again, not the way he was when FNS Vasta entered this System initially. Still, he had three days after FNS Vasta entered the Jump Corridor before he had to worry too much. Finally, FNS Vasta reached the Jump-Point, dropped her Shields, and entered Jump.

  Three days later, with the ship at Alert One, FNS Vasta exited the Jump at the other end. Nobody was waiting for them there, but they could see the Pirate running as hard as he could for another Jump-Point. It was not the Jump-Point Cadapon wanted to head for, but he wanted the Pirate scalp, so he ordered FNS Vasta to take up a course in pursuit of the Pirate while his Jump Engines recharged. Besides, if they could take some useful intelligence about the Pirates intentions back to Cotoni, Cadapon thought the Admiral might be a little less angry with him.

  Two hours later, when the Jump Engines had recharged sufficiently, FNS Vasta Micro-Jumped to a location about 1000 kilometres off the Pirate’s port beam. As soon as she re-entered normal space, Vasta fired off a spread of missiles aimed at the Pirate’s engines. The Pirate never had a chance as his Shields were battered down and the main engines demolished by Vasta’s weapons. As he tumbled through space, Captain Cadapon launched his Trooper contingent to capture the enemy ship. As it turned out, these Pirates had no more stomach for a fight and abandoned ship. Cadapon redirected the Trooper Shuttles to retrieve the escape pods and return them to FNS Vasta. The Destroyer had much more extensive prisoner accommodations than a Cobra, and the Troopers to guard them so all the Pirates could be accommodated. Just as Captain Wolf had done, as many of the prisoners as possible were directed straight to interrogation while they were still in shock.

  The interrogations revealed that something big was about to go down. None of these people knew exactly what it was, only that ninety fighting ships had been gathered together for the job. Thirty had been sent off to sow confusion in the Cotoni Sector, but the other sixty were doing something else. The prisoners didn’t seem to know what the rest of the ships were doing, or if they did, nothing would convince them to tell, not even threats to throw them out an airlock. Two hours after destroying the Pirates engines, the escape pods had all been recovered, and Troopers embarked a shuttle to board the ship. The shuttle was about half way to the Pirate ship when it exploded. The shock wave was even felt on FNS Vasta. The shuttle was picked up and hurled back the way it had come, the pilot desperately trying to bring it back under control. In the end, the shuttle missed FNS Vasta by only a couple of metres. Even then, it destroyed a Comms mast as it was tossed past the Destroyer by the blast. The shuttle did suffer some quite extensive damage that was caused by shrapnel from the exploding ship and the second shuttle had to be sent out to recover it and the Troopers on board. Except for the shuttle crew, everyone was encased in light armour and the shuttle crew was securely strapped in
to their seats, so injuries were relatively light, being restricted to some bruising, a couple of broken bones and one concussion. After the shuttle was recovered, FNS Vasta turned and continued her journey back to Cotoni.

  Cambridge

  It was summer in Harmon where the training base is located. The weather was glorious, with clear blue skies and only the occasional wispy cloud to make things interesting. Dave and Keg were becoming thoroughly bored with their current posting. They both wanted a little more excitement in their lives but knew they would need to wait for that till Commander Gordon returned. In the meantime, the one upside of the current posting was that they were given most weekends off and could go home regularly. For Keg, that meant he could see his family regularly. Dave didn’t have a home here in Cambridge, but he could stay with Julia when he was off duty, at least when Commander Gordon wasn’t home. Dave just hoped the Commander wouldn’t object when he found out. The stories about the Commander were doing the rounds within the Navy ranks here in Cambridge. The man was notorious, capable of swift and violent action, and willing to carry it out if somebody pissed him off.

  One thing Dave appreciated was that he wasn’t being treated like a criminal since being drafted into the Federation Navy. He expected he was being watched, and he was but had no idea by whom or how closely. Dave wouldn’t have minded if he knew who and how he was being monitored, he had nothing at all to hide. There was a yearning in Dave’s heart to escape the Peschal Alliance long before Commander Gordon captured him and now it was almost like he was in a dream. Command even allowed Dave to keep up his hand to hand combat and shooting skills. The Troopers on the base were happy to spar with him, so he managed as much training as he wanted. Dave’s boss didn’t even mind provided his work was done on time. Dave and the Troopers would often learn something from each other. While Dave didn’t know it, there was even some talk among Command Staff to draft him as an instructor teaching hand to hand combat and shooting skills. Those discussions inevitably came to nothing, partly because of Dave's background, and partly because Commander Gordon wanted him on the crew.

  Dave was moving stores about, mostly just to keep busy, but also to make some things a little easier to find when he was called to his supervisor's office. When Dave arrived, his supervisor waved him to a chair. That was a good sign, it probably wouldn’t have happened if Dave was in trouble for something. As far as Dave knew, he hadn’t done anything wrong, but sometimes you couldn’t tell.

  Dave's supervisor asked, “What have you been up to? Why would you have come to Commodore Fraser's attention?”

  “I don’t know, Sir. Since I finished Basic, I’ve tried to behave myself and do my work. On the weekends, I go and stay with my girlfriend, but we’ve been leading a very sedate life together. We don’t see each other often enough to go looking for trouble, we’re too busy enjoying each other’s company.”

  “Fair enough Dave. You’ve been summoned to Headquarters. Apparently, Commodore Fraser wants a word with you. Take Keg with you. Obviously, the Commodore wants you both. Take the spare ground car for transport.”

  “Yes, Sir. When does he want to see me?”

  “Urgently, as soon as you can get there. Now go on, git.”

  Dave left to find Keg. When he found him, Keg was just wandering in from outside, as usual looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He had a look that sent so many of the Officers nuts. Dave was waiting for Keg to cause one of the Officers to have a nervous breakdown. When Dave found his friend, he told him they were required at Headquarters and Keg followed along as Dave signed out the ground car.

  When they arrived at Headquarters, they had to wait for some time before being shown into the Commodore’s office. An Ensign and a Lieutenant were already there when they entered, so they merely saluted then waited to be told why they were there. Dave noticed that Keg seemed to be on his best behaviour with the Commodore, looking as alert and interested as Dave had ever seen him. A lot of Officers and noncoms for that matter simply didn’t impress Keg, and while he never disobeyed a legal direct order, he would usually follow it to the letter and not do an iota more than he was told. Seeing the look on Keg’s face, Dave thought that Keg would do anything the Commodore asked him to do properly.

  Commodore Henry Fraser told his two new arrivals to relax before introducing them to the other two Officers in the room, Lieutenant Kelly Downer, and Ensign Harold Wheeler. Dave thought Wheeler was very young and found his curiosity piqued by the meeting.

  The Commodore said, “Mr. Bach, Mr. Gibson, I can’t give you a reason for the orders I’m about to give you, but I want you to follow them anyway. I can assure you, these orders are legal and they are imperative for the long-term security of Cambridge. Outside of giving a copy of the orders to your Supervisor, you are not to speak about what you’re doing to anyone. Is that understood?”

  Dave and Keg replied immediately, “Yes, Sir. We understand.”

  Keg continued, “Sir, could you make sure that part is in the orders as well, or at least contact our Supervisor and tell him that we have been ordered not to discuss this with him or anyone else, please?”

  “I can do that Mr. Gibson, in fact, I’ll do it shortly. Now the Lieutenant and Ensign here, along with a couple of other Ensigns are running a critical project for us. I will not tell you precisely what the project is but the upshot is that there is a need to move a lot of stores around, most going to the shuttle port. I want you two to make sure the store's movement is given the highest priority, at least over the next week or so. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Very well then, most of your contact will be via Ensign Wheeler here, he’s basically running the ground side of the operation. Now your bosses already know he will be based out with you at the depot so could you give him a lift out there when you return please.”

  “Of course, Sir.”

  “Very well, you three are dismissed. Oh, Ensign Wheeler get it done, Mr. Bach, Mr. Gibson, here are your orders.”

  Dave took the orders from the Commodore, and the two young men saluted then turned and left with the Ensign following close behind. When they reached the ground car, Keg opened the door and held it for the Ensign, his face a study in keen service. Dave almost felt a need to do a double take. He couldn’t work out if Keg were making fun of the Ensign or whether there was something else there. For his part, Wheeler flashed Keg a brilliant smile as he climbed into the back seat of the ground car and thanked Keg for holding the door. Dave and Keg both climbed into the front seat, and Dave started the drive back to the store's depot.

  On the way, Ensign Wheeler said, “Gentlemen, I know I’m a lot less experienced than you, and I know you don’t have much reason to trust me, but I would like to build a good working relationship with you. We don’t need to be best friends, but I think we do need to respect each other. So how do you want me to address you, Mr. Bach and Mr. Gibson like Commodore Fraser did, or do you have another preference?”

  Dave and Keg looked at each other with the realization that they needed to find a middle ground and work with this young Ensign. Wheeler was at least trying to make an effort, so they decided to work with him, at least for a while and see how things went.

  Dave said, “I’m Dave, this lug next to me, well this is Jon, but everyone calls him Keg. We’ll continue to call you Ensign, or Sir, or Mr. Wheeler, at least when we’re at work.”

  “That’s fine Dave, I’d be happy for you to call me by my first name, which is Harold, or Harry by the way, but if you did that and I allowed it, someone more senior is likely to take umbrage, and we’d all be in trouble.”

  They all laughed and then settled into a companionable silence as the journey continued.

  When they arrived, Dave and Keg, with Ensign Wheeler trailing behind, went straight over to the supervisor's office where they handed over a copy of their new orders. The supervisor read them, looked at Dave and then asked what exactly what they were going to be doing. Dave a
nd Keg looked at each other then turned to look at Ensign Wheeler.

  Wheeler stepped forward and said, “They’ll be working under my supervision for the next few weeks, Sir. Unfortunately, I’m not able to give you much more detail than that other than to tell you their work is critical to the security of Cambridge. This requirement comes from both Commodores in the System.”

  “Very well Ensign, I understand. From my understanding of the orders, we’re to give you whatever you want, so what do you need from us.”

  “Three desks, a computer each and a lockable office is all we need, Sir. I know that even that is a lot to ask for on such short notice, but I was led to believe somebody out here had already been notified of all this.”

  “Quite possibly the notification is sitting in somebody’s In-Tray waiting for them to get around to looking at it. Look, it’s nearing the end of the day anyway, can you give me tonight to get things organized and we should have things ready for you in the morning.”

  “That’s okay, Sir. Look, we can help if you like, run errands for you that sort of thing.”

  “Okay, Mr. Gibson, you go over to the Commandants office and see if they have the notification. If they do, ask them what they planned to do about it. Dave, there are a couple of spare offices next door in Building E27. Unfortunately, they’ve been used as storerooms for a while, so they’re probably full of junk. Take Ensign Wheeler to have a look and see if one of them will be suitable. While you’re doing that, I’ll see if I can find furniture and computers for your little project.”

  “Yes, Sir. C’mon Ensign, let’s go look at these offices. The sooner we can find a home, the sooner we can get to work.”

  With that, Dave turned and left the office with the Ensign following him through the door. When they went to the building in question. The rooms were locked, which they both saw as a positive, so Dave went to obtain the keys. When he opened the first office, it was jam packed with discarded items. It wasn’t an empty room, it was a junk heap. So many of the contents were broken that Dave wondered why the broken things hadn’t been either repaired or disposed of. He left the door unlocked and moved on to the next office. This one also had a lot of junk in it but nowhere near as much as the first. It was also quite a large room, with more than enough space for the three of them, so they marked it as a possible. The third and fourth rooms they inspected were too small, and the fifth would’ve been perfect except it was already occupied. They decided the second room would be the one they would use so Dave took a note of the office number and moved on to lock the doors to all the rooms they had looked at before going back to the supervisor to let him know where they would be basing themselves.