The Santana Nexus (Junkyard Dogs Book 3)

by Nolte, Phillip

  "Ah, Captain, Kassab," began the Sheik, as he stood up but did not come out from behind his desk. "Do come in. Please, have a seat."

  "Peace be onto you, my Sheik," replied Kassab.

  The Sheik acknowledged the greeting with a nod, "and to you, Captain Kassab."

  The two men sat down.

  "I am having some coffee sent in. I hope you like New Ceylon Arabica?"

  "Some coffee will be fine," said Kassab.

  The two men made small talk about the burdens of command and the challenges of boredom setting in while their men waited for something to happen. A server came in with a tray that had a small urn of coffee, two cups, cream, sugar and a plate of very fine cookies. The server poured them each a cup and bowed before he left. The two men each added the ingredients they preferred to their respective cups.

  "You must try these cookies, Captain, two of my soldiers found them at a small import shop up on the third ring of the Station. They are from Jasmine and are simply divine!"

  Kassab selected one of the cookies and took a bite. They were indeed delicious. He followed that with a generous sip of the coffee which turned out to be exquisite as well.

  "You are probably wondering why I asked you to a private audience with me," began the Sheik.

  Kassab could think of a number of reasons why the old fool would want and need to talk to him but he decided it was probably best to allow the Sheik to reveal his own thoughts in his own good time.

  "It is an honor, my Sheik, but I confess that your invitation did catch me a little off guard," was his careful reply.

  "Excellent," said the Sheik, "I see that you are a man of caution."

  Kassab did not reply but merely gave the Sheik a short nod of affirmation. The Sheik's next statement caught him by surprise.

  "I needed to talk to you to ask you if I can count on your support for the next phase of my Glorious Revolution."

  "I assume you are referring to a confrontation with the current government of Jasmine?" said Kassab.

  "Yes, of course, but Jasmine is nearly ours already. The Commander of the Navy has secretly pledged to support our cause. When the time is right, we just need to show up there with a fleet of our ships and, with the might of the Jasmine Navy behind us, the opposition will be so intimidated that our victory will be quick and almost bloodless." He paused to let that sink in before continuing, "Jasmine is only the beginning, however. I have my sights set on a much greater prize...I am talking about assuming control of the entire Islamic Alliance. I will need your support for the far more challenging conquests posed by Meridian and New Saudi Arabia."

  Kassab had heard rumblings about the Sheik's plans but the rumors tended to be so audacious that he had failed to take them seriously. The revelation that Sheik's ambitions actually did go way beyond Jasmine caught the Captain totally off guard and he hoped that his shock wasn't too obvious as he sought to assimilate at least some of the implications during the short time it took him to formulate what he hoped was an appropriate response.

  "Umm...What did you have in mind for me, my Sheik?" he replied, finally.

  "I think perhaps command of the Bahamut would be a just reward for your loyalty."

  The Bahamut was one of only two genuine, full-blown battleships in the Jasmine Navy. Though she was currently decommissioned and would have to be returned to operational status, command of such a ship would indeed be a promotion and an honor of no mean stature! A genuine battleship would be vital to the success of any campaign that sought to prevail against the Naval might of Meridian and New Saudi Arabia. If this offer was legitimate, Kassab would be elevated to the status of being one of the most powerful figures in the Sheik's hierarchy!

  "I am humbled by such an honor, my Sheik," replied Kassab, shocked all over again at the enormity of the offer. He had come to the meeting hoping for a modest expansion of his responsibilities. He had no idea that this Sheik had intended to offer him command of one of the mightiest battleships in all of human space!

  "I had thought you would be favorably impressed. I'm afraid the Hercules will need to remain where she is for the foreseeable future, as she is keeping the Federation from meddling in our business. Perhaps we shall open the hyperlink zone once we have consolidated our power in this Quadrant, when it will be too late for them to do anything about it. In the meantime, you should stay here on the Nexus Station for a while. If we are to be running an empire together, I would like to get to know you better. That and we are having a meeting to officially announce the start of our Glorious Revolution in two days' time. My ships and my men are gathering here from all over the quadrant. You will sit at my right side during the meetings."

  "I am honored, my Sheik," replied Kassab, still coming to grips with the enormity of what had just transpired between him and the overall leader of the Revolution.

  The Sheik stood up, indicating that the meeting had come to an end. He ushered Kassab out and called to the Captain of his guard. The Captain came into the office and closed the door behind him.

  "I am at your service, Sire."

  "Guard that fool well, Akif, he is too ambitious for his own good and will bear watching. When the time is right he must be...removed as a threat. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

  The guard captain remained silent and nodded as he drew his finger across his throat.

  The Sheik nodded in return.

  In the meantime, Captain Gazwhan Kassab, currently making his way back to his temporary quarters, was coming to the conclusion that the Sheik's offer was indeed too good to be true. Way too good!

  He would do well to watch his back.

  Chapter 47.

  UTFN Reclamation Center, onboard Federation Auxiliary ship Greyhound, January 11, 2599.

  It was shortly after lunchtime on the Greyhound and the two youngest members of the Junkyard Dogs, Amanda and Faiza, had indeed been interested in the news about the Prince of Jasmine that Carlisle had shared with them. They had spent perhaps a half hour discussing the importance of the old video logs before Carlisle excused herself, telling them truthfully that she needed to go and get some rest.

  Having spent most of the morning working on their military studies, the two young women decided to dedicate a portion of the afternoon working on their literature assignments. Kresge hadn't told them what he wanted them to read, instead, he had provided them with an extensive list of authors and titles from all sorts of literary genres and the two apprentice cadets were being allowed to make their own choices. Amanda was looking at the genre that Kresge had suggested that they start with, a category of literature had flourished throughout the 1900's and continued to be popular in some form even in the present day: Science Fiction. What had caught her eye was a familiar name: Asimov, the same name as the destroyer that had just recently joined the Junkyard Dogs at the Scrapyard.

  "Faiza," she said, "you should see this. Did you know there was a famous author named 'Asimov,' the same as the destroyer outside. I wonder if that's where the name for the ship came from?"

  "I'd say that was probably a pretty good bet," replied Faiza. "I think there's also a ship called the H.G. Wells and another one called the Jules Verne. After you build enough ships, you start running out of names for them. I can certainly think of a worse way to name a starship!"

  "I wonder what else is in this database?" said Amanda as she scrolled down a list of ancient science fiction stories. "War of the Worlds, From the Earth to the Moon, The Foundation Series...," her voice tapered off and she continued to read silently until finally..."Oh, look at this, it's Barsoom, just like the sheik of Barsoom."

  "Really?" said Faiza. "That's interesting. Show me."

  "Right here, John Carter of Mars, which was called Barsoom by the make-believe Martians who were the natives of the planet."

  Faiza's face turned to a look of pure astonishment. Shaking her head in disbelief, she said, "My goodness...you don't suppose...no, even he wouldn't be so bold!"

  "Whatever are you talking
about Faiza?"

  "The suspected to be long-dead Prince Merrikh of Jasmine, the same one that Carlisle was just talking about! He was reported to be bold and reckless but who would have ever dreamed?"

  "I'll ask again," said a now totally confused Amanda, "Whatever are you talking about,"

  "It's been right under our noses the entire time. The Sheik of Barsoom. It's that made-up word Barsoom, Amanda!"

  "Barsoom? Mars? Why are they so important?"

  "Because Merrikh is the Arabic word for Mars!"

  "Then that means...," said Amanda. She stopped with her mouth open as the implications struck home.

  "...That the Sheik of Barsoom is almost certainly the long lost Prince Merrikh!" exclaimed Faiza,"This is some of the best evidence yet that he is still alive. We must tell my father and Commander Kresge at once. The Prince of Jasmine is trying to start the Succession War all over again!"

  "And I thought we'd never get anything useful out of these reading assignments," said Amanda but she found she was talking to herself as her friend had already left the room in rush. She closed down her wrist computer display with a wave of her hand and got up to go after Faiza. If nothing else, the conversation with Kresge should prove to be interesting!

  ***

  Kresge called a napping Carlisle and told her come back to his office as soon as he had listened to and grasped the importance of the information that the two young women had stumbled upon.

  "This may be the information we've been looking for, Ensign. With your videos suggesting that the Prince survived the war and our two cadets making the connection that Barsoom and Mars and Merrikh are all the same name, I'm ready to declare that the Sheik of Barsoom is the long lost Prince Merrikh!"

  Ambassador Saladin was initially skeptical but when they showed him all of the evidence, he was forced to agree with them. One problem was that recent photographs or videos of the Sheik were difficult if not impossible to find. Merrikh was probably very wisely avoiding situations where he could be captured on any kind of video in order to protect his identity. The few videos they had of the Sheik, when compared to images of the young Prince Merrikh, didn't rule out that he was the same man but they didn't do much to confirm his identity either. Though such devices were really no longer needed, it was a long-standing tradition among Islamic leaders to wear a type of darkened eyewear, called "starshades" or "sunglasses" when they appeared in public. All of the recent videos of the Sheik -- and there weren't many of them -- showed him wearing an elaborate pair of wrap-around starshades. His full beard and mustache didn't help the situation either.

  "If Barsoom really is Merrikh then we have to conclude that all of this terrorist activity has really just been the prelimary action of something far bigger," said Kresge, "What do you want to bet that he wants to rekindle the Succession War!"

  "And he's having a big meeting at the Santana Nexus in a couple of days to kick it all off!" added Carlisle.

  "With the Quadrant cut off from the Federation," said Kresge, "he has a very good chance of pulling this off!"

  "It appears as though we have no choice, Commander," said the Ambassador, "Our attack on the Santana Nexus Station must go forward at once. These people must be stopped at all costs!"

  Chapter 48.

  UTFN Reclamation Center, onboard Federation Auxiliary ship Greyhound, January 12, 2599.

  The two mining ships with delegations from Patagonia and Piedmont arrived in the middle of the following day. With them was the City of Darwin, also laden with supplies and the Aladdin, captured at Piedmont and now manned by a contingent of personnel from the mining station including Security Chief Chris Hartmann and Governor Fitzhugh. The Aladdin was also carrying all of the supplies she could hold.

  Kresge set up a meeting to plan strategy and decided to convene the meeting in the front hold of the Greyhound. It would be crowded with all of those who would be attending but none of them, even the Ambassador, was completely sure that they had ferreted out all of the informants on the Istanbul. The integrity of the next plan of action for the Junkyard Dogs was far too important to risk any possible compromise.

  Kresge called the meeting to order.

  "Thank you all for coming," he began, "As you know, the Santana Quadrant is currently being threatened by the Sheik of Barsoom and his allies. They have knocked out communications and terrorized a great many of the most remote colonies. They are occupying the Santana Nexus station and we have good evidence that they have also somehow acquired a device that stops any ships from coming in through the Sol-Terra hyperlink zone."

  He paused briefly before changing the subject.

  "Not all of the news is bad, though. You will all be pleased to know that the Sheik no longer has any influence in the Heard's World system nor in Catskill-Soroyan. The fact that these fools have destroyed so many of the long range communications consoles actually works to our advantage because now their own people are having a hard time keeping track of things out this far. This current situation is not likely to last, however, and we must make whatever move we're going to make while there is still a good chance of success."

  Kresge looked around the crowded room, "Any questions up to this point?"

  Everyone was looking back at him expectantly.

  "What I am about to tell you all is still somewhat speculative but I think it is important enough that it must be shared with you."

  He took a deep breath before continuing. "We have retrieved evidence from the abandoned opposition cruiser in the Heard's World system indicating that the ship was deliberately damaged in a desperate plan to smuggle an individual away from the final battle of the Succession War. This individual was referred to as a 'prince' by some of his handlers. It has also been brought to our attention that 'Barsoom,' 'Mars' and Merrikh are all the same word. With this in mind, we have come to the tentative conclusion that the Sheik of Barsoom is actually the long lost Prince Merrikh of Jasmine!"

  There was a stunned silence in the room as the information sunk in.

  "But that means...," someone had made the connection.

  Kresge finished the thought for them.

  "...Yes, it means that all this terrorist activity is probably just the opening shots in what could very well wind up being a rekindling of the Succession War! I think it goes without saying that we must do everything in our power to stop them at the Santana Nexus!"

  Kresge, knowing that this new information would be both shocking and disruptive, allowed the interchange to play itself out for a while. It was a good fifteen minutes before everyone had settled down enough after the stunning announcement for the planning session to go forward.

  "Okay everyone, time to get back to business. We will outline the plan that I have been discussing with my two tacticians..." he gave a nod towards Carlisle and Sukamoto who were sitting next to each other in the front row of chairs, "...regarding the liberation of the Nexus Station. First, we need to infiltrate the Station. To do that we have the Nasr, a Meridian Imperial Navy Destroyer that the enemy believes to be in his camp. We have also been able to capture an armed freighter, the Aladdin and another freighter, the Pride of Persia. These two ships were also considered to be part of the Sheik's forces as of just a few days ago. As far as we know, the enemy still believes that all three of these ships are his. With all of the forces that are supposed to be streaming into the Santana Nexus over the next few days, we propose to use these three ships to jump into the Nexus system, make it past the security screen and get to the station itself, hopefully without attracting too much attention."

  "That's fine, Commander," said someone in the audience, "but what about the fleet of eight destroyers that the Sheik still has and that big Jasmine cruiser?"

  "Excellent question," replied Kresge. "I won't try to minimize the danger posed by all of those ships, but with the Sheik's big summit meeting scheduled over the next few days, we don't expect the crews on any of those ships to be particularly alert. With all of their strength concentrated in the
Nexus System, the Sol-Terra hyperlink blocked and their belief that they have subdued all of the opposition in the Quadrant, they will not be expecting any kind of action on our part. In addition, the bulk of the leadership, including the command staffs of all of their ships, will be at the Sheik's big meeting. If we hit them by surprise, hard and fast, we should be able to even the odds considerably.

  For offense we have the Asimov, the Nasr, the newly repaired Perseus and the Foul Beastie, a formidable prototype cruiser. As far as we have been able to determine, their cruiser remains parked out near the hyperlink zone. Our best guess is that she is not only there to guard the zone but that she also has the so-called 'hyperlink damper' device onboard. All reports indicate that she is the only ship stationed near the hyperlink zone. If we successfully neutralize or destroy that ship, we open up the hyperlink zone and we can get reinforcements from Sol-Terra."

  Here he stopped as the next phase of the plan was a bold one.

  "To do that, I propose attacking that cruiser with all four of our warships at once. We approach her with the Nasr and the Beastie first and while they're in the process of trying to figure out who we are, we bring the Perseus and the Asimov in through the hyperlink zone. Our first shots will be aimed at the cruiser's communications dishes. Then we take her out. A surprise attack from four ships at point blank range should allow us to do enough damage to overcome her. Nasr and Perseus each have a few missiles left and the Beastie and the Asimov are both equipped with some very powerful pulse weapons.

  "What about all those destroyers?"

  "That may not be as bad as it looks at first glance. From our intel, we expect the destroyers to be posted near the Nexus station but no more than two or three of them will have been kept on alert. After we take out the cruiser we jump in system to take on the active destroyers, again with all four of our warships. With the cruiser out of the fight, they might have an advantage in ship numbers but we should be at least their equal in firepower. If we take them by surprise we should have a decisive advantage by the time they can get any of their remaining ships into the fight.