“Thank you, Sir.”
The connection cut, Edward turned to find his wife standing behind him. She reached out to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
She said, “What can I do to help, this is going to need all of us working if we’re going to come out of this at the other end.”
“You’re right of course Teri. Let me start waking my staff then we’ll all start waking the people we need. I fear a few of them will be upset with us, with me, but it can’t be helped.”
Turning to his aide, Edward said, “Raf, would you be so kind as to begin rousing our staff. We’re going to need everybody on deck for this.”
“Yes Mr. President, I’ll begin immediately.”
The aide turned and departed for his own office.
Edward turned back to Teri and said, “Caffeine is in order I think. I need to wake up a little, then we start making calls.”
Cambridge Parliament House
Two hours later, everyone who was needed, met in a committee room in Cambridge’s parliament building. Edward explained to a shocked group and then Henry showed the Scan-Data to them, explaining precisely what it meant. The vote to declare a state of emergency was unanimous. The only debate was whether the available Naval presence in the System was enough to defeat the incoming invasion force. Henry explained they could, and would, but he simply did not have the ships or munitions to stop the invaders reaching the planet first. The civilian population needed to be evacuated to emergency shelters as quickly as possible. He also explained, a request for help was already on its way to Cotoni, and Colin Gordon should be on his way back to bolster the defenses by then.
A large proportion of Cambridge’s population had served in the Federation Military at one time or another, or they were related to someone who had, so they all knew better than to indulge in recriminations. They all knew, arguing about what they should have done wasn’t going to get them through this. For now, they wanted to make sure the Pirates were going to pay a steep price to capture Cambridge. Recriminations would come later of course when different political groups attempted to use the situation for their own political capital.
Once the decision was made to declare a state of emergency, the committee, which included key members of the Opposition from the Cambridge Parliament, Government Ministers and members of the Military became the de-facto government of the entire System. Carl had been very close with his estimate of how long it would take to get things rolling, but once the decision was made, the media were brought into the loop under emergency measures so the general population could be informed of what was happening and what they should be doing. The Reserves were mobilized, and shuttles began transporting all nonessential personnel from the Shipyard and the Orbital Station down to the planet below. A small number of shipyard workers volunteered to stay behind to act as damage control and keep working on an almost completed Cobra that was only days from being ready to launch. The thought was that they might be able to get it ready quickly enough for it to be able to participate in the defence of the planet.
Cambridge
On Cambridge itself, people began moving from the towns and cities, such as they were, to shelters hidden under forests and mountains. The Government was supposed to be among the first to be evacuated, but Edward refused to go before the enemy ships had even entered the System. He made sure he was seen by the public whenever possible clearly out there helping the public. Of course, most of the politicians were doing the same, it was what people expected. The few who ran to hide would struggle at the next elections.
Dave was woken from his slumber by the emergency alarm. Because of the urgency of his work, Dave and Keg had been sleeping in barracks for the previous few weeks. The latest shipment of spare parts was almost ready to lift. Wheeler had told them that the effort would probably be going on for a few months yet. Dave looked over at his clock, seeing it was still only 0400 hrs. Clearly, this was an emergency, so Dave quickly rose, dressed and hurried to his assembly point. When he arrived Keg, and a few others were all there, milling around and Sergeant Dickenson was pacing back and forth.
Dave asked Keg, “What’s happening?”
“Pirates on the way Dave. A lot of Pirates.”
Then Dickenson shouted, “Attention!”
They all immediately braced to attention as the Commandant walked onto the assembly area.
She faced the assembled personnel, and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my sad duty to inform you that an overwhelming Pirate force has entered the next System and is on its way to Cambridge. We are all members of the Federation Navy. As such, it is our duty to defend the people of Cambridge in whatever way we can. Some of you are not suitable for combat, others are. We will work through any problems with your assignments as we go. Sergeant Dickenson will give you your initial assignments after we’ve finished here. People, I want to be able to see every one of you here when we’re this emergency is over. We all need to do our duty but do not take any stupid risks. Good luck.”
After that, she turned and left. Dickenson began handing out assignments, but he seemed to be purposely avoiding Dave and Keg. Finally, when the last of the assembled people had gone Dickenson beckoned to Dave and Keg.
He said, “Gentlemen I have a very special job for you two. I’m trusting you with one of the most important jobs we have. But more importantly, it is imperative that nobody knows what you are doing till after you’ve done it, do you understand.”
They both replied, “Yes, Sergeant.”
“Right, Dave, you can fly, correct?”
“Yes, Sergeant, I am an excellent pilot and navigator, even if I do say so myself.”
“Good, your job, and Keg’s are to make sure the President is not captured by the Pirates. There is a small ship capable of taking off from the surface and running. It has the same drive system as the Cobras and is capable of Jump. The ship has excellent stealth capability, and you should use it. If there are no options left, you are to get the President and his wife to Cotoni. There are a few Troopers who know about this, they are part of his guard detail and will help you. Right now, the President does not know about this plan. If necessary, you will stun and abduct him. Your orders will be given to you in writing. Dave, the required information is available to you via your terminal. You won’t be needed till after the Pirates enter Cambridge System.”
Dave replied, “Yes Sergeant.”
Dave and Keg went to their office to find Ensign Wheeler waiting when they arrived.
Wheeler said, “Gentlemen, we have one shuttle load of materiel to dispatch then I’m sure you have other duties that you’ve been assigned to. Once we’ve done that, I have to go back to Headquarters.”
The three of them made the necessary arrangements then Wheeler left for Headquarters. When he’d gone, Dave and Keg found their written orders, took copies to carry with them and then finished shutting down their office before going to find the Trooper contingent they were attached to.
Cambridge Naval Headquarters
Henry’s aide, Sarah came into his office and said, “Sir, Tyr, and Hiln have just Jumped back into the System. There are more Pirates on the way to the other Jump-Point. Sir, it looks like they’re going to try to attack through both Jump-Points simultaneously, or nearly so.”
“Very well Sarah, get the President on the line for me please, he needs to know about this. And let Commodore Nicholson know if she doesn’t already.”
Peschal Alliance Flagship Duplinda
Hazilsor was feeling quite pleased with himself. He’d managed to bring his fleet this far without being seen, or so he thought. Now he just needed to give the other fleet time to get into position, and at the right moment, he would begin sending his fleet through the Jump-Point to Cambridge. He knew it was important for them to attack nearly simultaneously because that would divide the enemy fleet and make it harder for them to coordinate attacks on his force. His biggest problem would be getting enough ships through the two Jump-Points quickly eno
ugh so he could maintain the initiative. For this Jump, Hazilsor intended pushing his ships through the Jump-Point two at a time, and only two minutes apart so his force on the other side would, he hoped, grow rapidly.
FNS Forseti
FNS Forseti exited her latest Jump into a System that was four days’ travel from Cambridge. As she exited Jump, she immediately went to maximum acceleration as her Scanners began probing the System for other ships. Captain Tobin saw that they were not alone in this System before his Scanner Tech did. As he watched, the system began to populate the displays with ship identification for the other ships. Tobin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Theseus and Loki accompanied by what looked to be two Freighters and two Destroyers.
Captain Tobin said, “Forseti, establish a secure link with Theseus please.”
When the connection was established, Tobin was facing Colin Gordon.
Colin said, “Captain Tobin, what’s happened? Why are you coming by here and traveling away from Cambridge?”
“Sir, I’m heading to Cotoni, looking for reinforcements. A lot of Pirates, more than twenty-five at last count, arrived at our front door and Captain Fraser sent me this way while he went back to warn our defenses.”
“Very well Captain. Keep going to Cotoni. The Reserve Fleet was there when we left so they may be able to come back to Cambridge with you. We’ll continue on and see if we can do something to upset the Pirate’s plans.”
“Go on Captain Tobin, the sooner you make it to Cotoni, the sooner we can expect help.”
After the call, Forseti Micro-Jumped to a point about an hour out from the Jump-Point and continued speeding toward the Jump-Point, waiting for his Jump-Drive to recharge.
Cambridge System
Commodore Sonya Nicholson watched as the first Pirate ships began flooding into the System. They were coming in as pairs, but the pairs were only two minutes apart. The missile batteries began firing at the invading ships, but there were simply too many ships coming too fast for the weapons to destroy or even damage all of them. As each pair of ships entered the System, both would accelerate hard to clear the Jump Lane for the next pair. Of course, the invaders didn’t have everything go their way. By the time, the Pirates stopped sending more ships through the Jump-Point, thirty had made the transit, and twenty-six remained.
Sonya was just beginning to open her mouth to order all available ships to attack the invaders when even more ships began entering the System via the other Jump-Point. This second Jump-Point had both missiles and mines helping to guard it, but in the end, the result was inevitable. Again, thirty enemy ships made the transit, but twenty-three remained to attack the System. This left them with forty-nine Peschal Alliance ships to deal with, against five Cobras, eight Taipans, and three Cruisers. They were severely outnumbered. Worse, there were two almost complete Cobras and four Taipans in the Shipyard. Those ships could not be allowed to fall into Pirate hands under any circumstances.
The evacuation of the cities on the planet was proceeding, but at a pace, that was too slow for comfort. Inevitably, some people would be left behind and ran the risk of being captured or killed by the Pirates. To Sonya’s eyes, this didn’t look like a simple hit and run raid. This looked like the Pirates planned to take the System, and to keep it. Sonya decided her forces should try to whittle the Pirate strength down a little and issued the appropriate orders. The Taipans would all stage hit and run attacks on the smaller of the two fleets, harassing them all the way in to the planet. The three Cruisers and the Cobras would do the same for the larger fleet. Sonya knew that ultimately, there were nowhere near enough munitions in Cambridge for them to win this. She just hoped that Colin was coming with something to replenish them soon. She realized she could use his tactical abilities as well right about then.
On the planet, Julia heard the evacuation orders, but there was no transport available to get everybody in this area to the shelters quickly enough. She left the house and made her way down to the Gibson’s home. When Julia arrived there, Meg Gibson was trying to find transport for her children.
Julia pulled her aside and said, ‘Ma’am, I’ll take the children somewhere safe. At least they’ll be somewhere as safe as anywhere can be on this planet. Mr. Gordon and I have it set up. We can keep up to ten people there for a month, and we have some weapons to defend ourselves if it comes down to that.”
Meg looked at her for a minute and said, “Would you be able to take some others up to your maximum? I assume that will include you.”
“Yes, ma’am. The only limitation Mr. Gordon put on me was that I was not to tell anyone precisely where we were going unless they were coming with us. He said if anybody knew, they might tell the Pirates.”
Meg searched Julia’s beautiful face for a long minute looking for any possible sign of duplicity but found only a determined young woman trying to help.
She turned to Lisa and said, “Lisa, go round up six people from among the neighbours. Tell them we have somewhere safe for them to go. Tell them to bring as much non-perishable food, clothing, and bedding as they can carry. I’ll tell them what they need to know when they arrive.”
Lisa hurried off to find the six. She had heard Julia tell her mother there was room for ten, but with Sean and Teri, that meant there were only nine. Then Lisa realized, her mother intended for her to be going into the shelter as well. Lisa wasn’t happy about that, but there wasn’t much time, and she knew better than to argue. In the end, Lisa found seven people among the neighbours who didn’t have anywhere to go. She led them all back to her home.
Meg took in the numbers at a glance, raised one eyebrow and asked, “Julia, it seems that Lisa found one too many, will this be a problem?”
“No, ma’am, it won’t be a problem, especially if they’ve all brought some food. It’ll just be a little more cramped than we’d prefer.”
“Good. Now listen up people, Julia here has a secure place you can all go to for the duration of the emergency. Understand this. You are being invited there by Julia. What she says is law. Lisa, I know you want to be out here with us, but I need you with Julia, giving her the support she needs. “
“Yes mother, I understand.”
Everyone gathered up their belongings, and the small parade made its way up to Colin’s house. By then it was night, and a lot of people had left the area, so nobody saw them going, or entering the home. Julia led them all down into the basement and ushered them through the entrance to the bunker. When the last of them was inside, she and Lisa did a scan of the route from the front door to the entrance before going in themselves, closing the opening and locking it. They made their way into the main compartment where Julia began helping everyone to settle in.
Harmon
Dave and Keg found the Troopers they were meant to be working with and were equipped with light armour and weapons for ground combat, then they were loaded aboard the transport and headed for the Presidential Residence. It was time for the President to be moved to a safer location, by force if necessary. When they arrived, President Constantin didn’t argue just climbed into a vehicle after helping his wife enter first and sat back for the ride. Edward had done all he could to ensure the safety of his people and knew he too needed to be safe so he could continue to lead.
The Convoy made its way out of the city and towards one of several Government Bunkers. The Parliament was scattered widely, able to communicate via secure, hardened, buried Comms lines. The founders of Cambridge had seen what an attack on a planet could do so they put measures in place to minimize the human cost. Till now, those steps had never been used in anger, now it was time to see how good they were.
Cambridge System
The three Cruisers and five Cobras formed up ready to drive toward the incoming Pirate force. The Cobras had the top speed and agility to be able to dodge around or even to run away from the Pirate’s Weapons, but the Cruisers would have to slug it out for a while then, Jump clear before the Shields collapsed. Sonya knew this engag
ement was going to be brutal. In the meantime, all the Taipans were driving hard to the other Jump-Point, ready to strike at the invaders.
The Cobras raced ahead of her three Cruisers, preparing to land a few punches as quickly as possible. For now, they were running dark. The Captains of the Cobras had decided they would operate as one three-ship formation and a second two-ship formation. Sonya hoped the three-ship formation would live up to its promise because if it did, it would be more powerful than a Destroyer while the two-ship formation was seen to be at least as powerful as a Destroyer.
The Taipans were all intending to operate as two-ship formations, so basically, in that direction, she had the equivalent of four Destroyers fighting twenty-three Pirate ships, not good odds but it was what they had. Three hours later, the Cobras launched their first weapons at the invaders. Sonya watched to assess the effectiveness of this first strike. The Pirate Point-Defense was excellent, with impressive fire discipline and Sonya knew then they were in trouble when only a few weapons survived to impact the Pirate’s, Shields. To penetrate the defenses, she was going to need all the Cobras, and the Cruisers firing missiles that were timed to arrive on target near simultaneously.
Two hours later, the Cruisers reached a point where they started launching missiles that were intended to coast most of the way to their targets before firing their engines when they received a signal from the Cruisers. The Cobras did something similar but dropped their missiles to one side of the Pirates projected trajectory. The Cruisers slowed a little so by the time they were in range of the Pirate ships, the coasting weapons would be about ready to enter terminal attack mode. When that happened, all the coasting missiles could be triggered just as all the ships began firing as many weapons as possible at the Pirates. Sonya found herself hoping that Gordon’s toys, as she thought of them, would live up to expectation.
Finally, all the Cobras and Cambridge Cruisers began firing their weapons as fast as they could cycle them in the hope they could overload the enemy Point Defence and do at least some damage. This time, the Federation Navy had a lot more success, overwhelming the Peschal Alliance Point Defence and causing damage to three of the Pirate ships which began to drop out of formation with engine problems. The bulk of the Alliance formation didn’t slow down at all, which Sonya thought was a mistake. Losing those ships also meant the Alliance Point Defence was degraded by that much. As the Cruisers passed the stragglers, they unloaded several salvos of missiles at them. One exploded, apparently with no survivors, one began shedding escape pods, and the final one kept struggling on, trying desperately not to lag too far behind their allies. All the Federation ships had nearly shot themselves dry by then so Sonya ordered they head out for replenishment. The Cruisers did not have anywhere near the agility of the Cobras, so they had to make a long loop around the System Primary to reach a resupply point. By the time they did that and re-entered the fray, The Pirates would be close to the planet. She only expected to manage one more engagement before the Alliance held the orbitals. After that, she could only pray for reinforcements.
Star Man 2: Star Rise Page 39