“There appears to be an animal in the ducting,” the operator replied. “The wire to the shield generator had been chewed through.”
“And this creature also disabled the first robot you sent?”
“No sir. That failure seems to be due to stray voltage. The robot didn’t show any signs of life forms on its scanners before it stopped working. The second robot brought it back and it is undamaged except for a scorch mark on its side. Whatever is chewing through the wires must have damaged another wire that came in contact with the robot.”
A light began flashing on his console, and he spun around and began pushing buttons.
“Is there another problem?” the captain asked.
“I’m not sure…” the operator replied. “A small vessel appeared at the stargate to the next system in our advance, but immediately vanished.”
“Was it one of the Shaitan cruisers?”
“No sir; it was a different shape entirely. This ship appeared to have smaller craft mounted on both ends.”
Calvin’s head snapped up. That could only be the Vella Gulf!
“If it wasn’t the Shaitans, where did it go?” asked Captain Magnusson. “Unless it immediately jumped back through the stargate, it either had to go into stealth or jump to the other universe. Which was it?”
“Sir, I don’t know.”
Calvin slid back from the grate to where the Ssselipsssiss were waiting and motioned to Syrusss.
“Quickly!” he ordered. “I need you to cut the second shield cable. Make it look like an animal did it again if you can…but do it quickly. My ship is here!”
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Kepler-186 System, December 18, 2021
Captain Sheppard watched the Vella Gulf transit into the new system then immediately jump into the Jinn Universe.
“Stable in the anti-Kepler-186 system,” the helmsman noted. “No course or speed given.”
“We are stealthed,” the duty engineer added.
“As indicated on the chart the Ssselipsssiss gave us, the system has an M-class dwarf star with about 4% of Sol’s luminosity. There are five planets in the system. The only habitable one is the furthest from the star; it has an orbital period of 129.9 days and orbits at about the same distance as Mercury does from your star. Even that close to the star, Kepler-186e only receives about as much energy as Mars does.”
The CO nodded. “We need to find out what the Shaitans are up to and look for Calvin, even though the ambassador said it’s a lost cause. Full speed toward the planet that’s inhabited in our universe,” the CO ordered. “You said that’s the fifth one, right?”
“Yes sir,” Steropes replied. “The fifth planet is inhabited in our universe and in this one as well. It’s too early to identify the civilization, but there are signs of habitation.”
“Were there any enemy ships in our universe when we transited through?”
Steropes nodded. “I am still analyzing the data, but there were at least two Shaitan vessels and one I identified as a Jotunn battlecruiser. There may be more, but that is what I have so far.”
“That explains how they’ve been able to kick the Ssselipsssiss’ asses so thoroughly,” Night said. “Just like when we fought them at Golirion, the Jotunn hold the Ssselipsssiss in place while the Shaitans pick them off with their time-based weapons. It worked well against the Aesir.”
“It also worked well against our fleet,” Captain Sheppard added. A predator’s grin spread across his face. “But we’ve got them this time. The Mrowry fleet is bigger than the Jotunn’s, and I don’t think Admiral Krrower will tie us to the fleet like we were at Golirion.”
“He will not, if you think it best,” Lieutenant Rrower said.
“How can you be sure?”
“You are now brothers of the brood,” Lieutenant Rrower replied. “For all matters except succession, you are now a member of my family. He will listen to you as his equal…and in most facets of our law, you now have similar status.”
“What? Are you saying I’m now Mrowry royalty?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Lieutenant Rrower replied. “Didn’t you know?”
“No, I didn’t know,” Captain Sheppard replied. “I’m not familiar with your customs; I didn’t know any of that. I just thought it was some kind of bonding ritual.”
“It’s more than that, sir…far more. In our society, that ritual is not only bonding, but adoption. It only happens when a senior elevates someone of lower class to their status. It is usually only done in the peerage, though; it is almost never used by the royal family. There are only a pawful of people who have been adopted into my family throughout all of our recorded history…and none from outside our race. You obviously impressed my father.”
Captain Sheppard slumped back into his chair. Royalty? He had only done it as a spur of the moment thing. If he’d known the consequences, he wouldn’t…yes, he would. It’s good to be king. Apparently, he couldn’t be king, but now he was royalty. If only his friends from the ghetto could see him now. He would dwell on it later, but for now he had business to attend to. Energized, he straightened in his chair.
“As I was saying, the Mrowry fleet is bigger than the Jotunn’s and we’re not going to be tied to the fleet. We can go and hunt the bastards…and this time, we’re going to kill them!”
Overhead the Bridge, Jotunn Ship Falcon, Kepler-186, December 18, 2021
“The port forward shield just failed,” the defensive systems operator said.
“Odin’s beard!” Captain Magnusson swore. “Get it fixed now!” He stood up and started pacing. “The ship that entered this system is obviously here to spy, probably in preparation for an invasion.”
“My system has analyzed the ship, and there is nothing in the current database which equates to the ship. The only thing that comes close is a 3,000-year-old model from an extinct race.”
“Send the info to the Shaitans and see if they can identify it. If the ship has gone to their universe, they will have to be the ones to hunt it down and kill it. If it is here and stealthed, they could take advantage of our shield being down. While a ship that size probably wouldn’t be able to critically damage us before we destroyed them, they might damage some of our systems, which would be inconvenient.”
“Sir!” the communications operator exclaimed. “The Shaitans have identified the interloper; they say it’s the Terran ship Vella Gulf, sir. The Shaitans are bringing their ships closer to ours for mutual defense and are sending a shuttle over to discuss the destruction of the Terran ship. Apparently, their ruler has put out an order to destroy it on sight.”
Calvin slid back from the grate and crawled over to Paxton.
“Go contact the bugs,” Calvin said. “The Shaitans are sending over a delegation. See if they know where a conference is likely to be held and ask them to take me there as soon as possible!”
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Kepler-186 System, December 18, 2021
“It appears the civilization is another Sila outpost,” Steropes said. “The buildings look similar to architecture we have seen them use in the past, anyway.”
“Understood,” the CO replied. “Probably friendly-ish, but we would have to do some diplomacy with them first. If we end up having time, I would like to go down and see if we can round up some of the unobtanium metal needed to make jump modules. Emperor Yazhak was nice enough to restock us with missiles, but without the metal we can’t make them jump like the Shaitans’ missiles do.”
“The Shaitans may be doing the same thing,” Steropes said. “There is a destroyer in orbit and a shuttle on the surface.”
“Why would they be doing that?”
“The Ssselipsssiss ambassador mentioned there had been several battles since we left; perhaps the Shaitans need to resupply their ships.”
“Do you suppose they have replicators that can make replacement missiles?”
“Probably not on the destroyer,” Steropes said. “We barely have room for ours, and it can’t ma
ke missiles. I don’t know if the Shaitans have replicator technology, but even if they do, I doubt the destroyer would have one.”
“Do you suppose the Jotunn could make missiles for the Shaitans?” Lieutenant Rrower asked.
“Unknown,” Steropes replied; “however, it is unlikely the Shaitans would give the Jotunn the unobtanium necessary to make their jumping missiles. If anything, they would probably add it later.”
“True,” Captain Sheppard agreed. “They haven’t given the Jotunn the ability to jump to their universe; giving them the metal would get them one step closer to being able to do it on their own.” He thought for a second, then asked, “So, you think they are resupplying?”
“I believe that to be a near certainty,” Steropes replied. “In addition to the shuttle, there is also a blast crater in the center of the nearest city to where they landed. It looks like the Shaitans dropped an orbital bombardment round on the city.”
“They sure know how to win friends and influence people,” Night said. “Hey, sir, if you’d like to take care of the destroyer, I’d be happy to go down to the surface and kick their butts. Maybe the locals would be so thankful they’d give us whatever the Shaitans were stealing.”
“While I might want to have whatever the Shaitans are collecting, it would expose us to a lot of unnecessary risk,” Captain Sheppard replied. “With most of our weapons ports blocked with stealth modules, we can’t be sure we’d destroy it in the first volley.”
“True,” Night agreed, “but couldn’t you bring the ship to point-blank range, like right behind the destroyer, and blast its motors? That way, they couldn’t escape. If you had to hit them again, you could.”
“Okay, say we disable the destroyer. Then what?”
“While you check out the other universe, we fly down in a shuttle, steal their stuff and wait for you to get back.”
“So you’re going to steal what they’re already stealing? I’m not sure that will endear us to the locals.”
“Well, we’ll ask nicely,” Night said with a grin. “I can be very persuasive when I want to; maybe the Sila would just give it to us if I asked nicely. Even if they don’t, that’s one less destroyer we have to fight and fewer troopers. In fact, with the shuttle on the planet, the destroyer is probably undermanned at the moment. Besides, there’s no way they’d be expecting an attack; they’re probably not even at their battle stations.”
“Solomon, if we moved behind the Shaitan destroyer, what are the odds you could hit the ship’s engines with the first volley of graser fire?”
“If we match their course and speed, I forecast an 87.8 percent probability of hitting their engineering spaces,” the AI replied, “with a 63.6 percent chance of totally disabling the destroyer.”
“If we do this,” Captain Sheppard said, “we may be on the run when we come back. You’ll need to get down and back fast.”
“I understand, sir,” Night replied. “I think it’s a necessary risk; having some unobtanium gives us a big advantage against the Jotunn, and an even bigger edge when we fight the Shaitans.”
The captain paused a moment, considering. “Okay,” he said finally; “get the platoon ready. We’ll send the shuttle down to see what you can forage while we go check out the other system. No delays are to be tolerated, though. I need you to get down there and back ASAP.”
“Yes, sir,” Night said. “They’ll never know we were there.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ducting, Jotunn Ship Falcon, Kepler-186, December 18, 2021
“Their leader says this is where they usually bring visitors when they come,” Paxton whispered, nodding at the bug that had led them to the vent they were peering through. Calvin had no idea if it actually was Zeeelbit; he couldn’t tell them apart and had no idea how the Ssselipsssiss could. The room below them certainly looked like a conference room; it held an oversized table and enormous chairs along one side of it.
“Can you record what they say?” Calvin asked.
“Yes sir,” Paxton replied. “The quality won’t be very good, though.”
“That’s fine.”
Regardless of the position the bug held in its society, Calvin saw it had been correct; two Shaitans were led into the room, followed by Captain Magnusson. This was Calvin’s first opportunity to study live Shaitans, and he was struck by how much the epithet ‘cowtaur,’ fit them. The aliens looked like a cross between a cow and a centaur, with the body of a full-grown bull and an upper half that was somewhat humanoid in appearance, except that they had four arms to go with their four legs. They also had four eyes, with two of them on stalks that protruded from their heads.
Both of the Shaitans wore sashes covered with silvery emblems; one was a pale blue and the other red. The Shaitan in blue introduced himself in Jotunn as Captain Tectamus of the Shaitan ship Tarachos; he also introduced the Shaitan in red as Fleet Admiral Zeontes.
“Welcome to the Falcon,” Captain Magnusson said. “What is so important you needed to come here yourselves?”
“We recognized the pictures of the enemy ship you sent us,” Captain Tectamus replied. “We have come to make sure you know how important it is for that ship to be destroyed.”
“Why is that?”
“The ship is called the Vella Gulf,” Captain Tectamus said. “As you are aware, it is a Terran vessel, and our high lord has decreed all Terran vessels must be destroyed. This ship, however, must be destroyed immediately, due to crimes its crew committed.”
“What crimes are those?”
“That ship can jump between the universes and is responsible for the destruction of several of our ships,” Captain Tectamus replied. “I believe it was involved in the destruction of several Jotunn vessels, as well.”
“So, it is true,” the Jotunn captain said. “There are rumors in our fleet that another race had acquired the ability to jump between universes like you can…an ability that is still denied us.”
“Yes, they can,” Captain Tectamus said, “and we are unable to determine where it is now. We have a destroyer in the other universe on a resupply mission; it has not seen the ship.”
“Then the Terrans also must have the ability to cloak themselves.”
“How does a ship cloak itself?”
“With great difficulty,” Captain Magnusson replied. “I’m sure we could tell you more if you were to explain to us the secret behind jumping between the two universes.”
“The high lord has decreed that technology will not be shared. If you give us the secret of cloaking, however, I will send back to ask for permission to give you the secrets of our jump modules.”
“I will consider it,” the Jotunn replied, “but my leader has forbidden the transfer of any additional technology until you give us the secret of your jump modules.”
“I see,” Captain Tectamus said, his eye stalks twitching. “This reluctance to share your knowledge with us will not sit well with the high lord. I suspect several of your planets will suffer because of it.”
“If that happens again, there will be war between our civilizations,” Captain Magnusson warned. “My leaders will dissolve our alliance.”
“That is for our leaders to discuss, I suppose,” Captain Tectamus said. “At the moment, I am more worried about finding and destroying the Vella Gulf. If we do not, our lives will be forfeit.”
“Whose lives?” Captain Magnusson asked.
“If the ship is not destroyed, it will cost the lives of everyone in this system, yours as well as ours. You are now aware of the requirement to destroy the Terran ship; if you fail to do so, the high lord will order your destruction too.”
“And how exactly would he be able to carry out such a decree?”
“If you do not assist us, you can be sure that we will destroy your ships ourselves.”
“Your three little ships are going to destroy our two battlecruisers?” The Jotunn captain began laughing. When he stopped, he added, “I do not think you have the ability. We are well aware of how y
ou fight.”
“Do not test us, Jotunn.”
“And do not threaten me, Shaitan.”
“You are both missing the point,” Admiral Zeontes said, speaking for the first time. “There is an enemy in this system. Regardless of any potential consequences, that enemy must be destroyed. Are you able to find the Vella Gulf while it is cloaked?”
“Probably not,” Captain Magnusson admitted, “but I will go tell my crew to be on the lookout for it.” The Jotunn CO left.
The door shut, and Calvin watched as the two Shaitans turned to face each other and began communicating in a far more animated way than they had previously with the Jotunn officer. Whatever they were saying seemed incredibly important.
Unfortunately, they switched back to their own language, and Calvin couldn’t understand a thing.
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Kepler-186 System, December 18, 2021
“Stand by to fire,” Captain Sheppard said. It had taken time to maneuver into position, but the Vella Gulf was finally ready, and the Shaitans had given no indication they knew the Terrans were there. “Let me know when all available weapons are locked onto the destroyer’s engineering spaces.”
“All available weapons are locked,” the Offensive Systems Officer (OSO) announced.
“De-cloak!” the CO ordered. “Fire all weapons!”
“De-cloaking!” the duty engineer replied.
“Firing!” the OSO added.
Coherent light and missiles leapt from the Vella Gulf to lash the smaller ship. Over half of the Gulf’s missile and graser ports were blocked by the stealth modules, but it was enough. Three of the ship’s grasers drilled eight-foot-wide holes through the destroyer’s aft section, followed by four anti-ship missile strikes moments later.
“The Shaitan destroyer has been disabled,” Solomon noted.
“Thank you,” Captain Sheppard said. “Launch the shuttle while we finish it off.”
The Dark Star War (Codex Regius Book 3) Page 11