Empty Casket Conspiracy (Terran Patrol Book 1)

by Lewis Dually

  “Coming up Sir.”

  In less than twenty seconds Leland appeared on the monitor. “What do you think about Lloyd?” He asked.

  “I think he’s great and I’m stealing him from you. I also want to transfer a platoon of your Marines over.”

  “I’ll trade them for my trophy cup provided you’ve have washed it out.” Leland admonished me.

  “Deal.” I agreed. “I’ll get it cleaned, polished and gift wrapped for you. Now listen, we got the subspace coms working and Joydeus made contact with his people. We’re sending you a full schematic and operations manual on the thing. There are supposedly fifty of them in a storage container on the U E One. As soon as you get the manuals I want you to jump back to the station, find the storage container and get those units distributed to the fleet. Hopefully we can have most of the fleet talking in twenty four hours. You also need to give the designs for our new shells to the arms works and inform them of the armor plate we expect to find on the Krueg ships. Also I’m sending back a couple of coded messages for Admiral Albright and Dr. Shaw if he’s awake.”

  “Sounds like a busy night for me. What are you going to do?” Leland asked.

  “We’re going out to Neptune to test Lloyd’s EMP shield and then we’re going to the Croiddan outpost. You should have everything in two hours or so. As soon as you get it, head for U E One. Oh, and I almost forgot, get the boys at stellar observation to starting scanning for the Krueg fleet. Maybe we can get a look at them before we meet. You got everything?”

  “Yes Sir. I’ll send the marines over and have Seaman Lloyd’s personal effects sent as well. Maybe you could trade me Walters for Lloyd?”

  “Not a snowball’s chance!” I replied.

  Leland shook his head. “Why is it every time I get something nice you end up with it?”

  “Because my oak leaves are silver.” I said with a mile wide grin.

  I signed off and went to my ready room. I started to take a dip but thought better of it as I needed to make an official report to the Admiral. He knew I dipped but he would likely show it to others and I didn’t want to come off as the hillbilly I was. Sitting back in my chair I studied on my position. We had been warned about the evil Krueg and their terrible acts of destruction and slavery. Warnings that came from only one source. We had no way of confirming any of it. Every story has two sides and I sure would like to hear the other side of this one. As I considered the appropriate wording for Albright’s message, I ran my hand over my chin. Beard, I thought. I should probably get rid of it. Ten minutes later I sat back down freshly shaven and looking like a Navy officer should. Positioning myself in front of the monitor’s view camera I hit the record icon and took a deep breath.

  “Admiral Albright, Good afternoon Sir. We have accomplished our objective for operation Shade. We have in our custody a fully operational subspace radio unit. We have also made contact with the Black whom we now know call themselves Croiddan from the planet Croid. We currently have six Croiddan on board and I have talked with their leader, Antwon Adolphus, extensively. He says they fled to Earth a hundred and sixty years ago after their home world was invaded by a race they call the Krueg. They say the Krueg destroyed the cities and enslaved their people. About three thousand Croiddan currently reside in our system. One thousand on Earth and two thousand on their outpost in sector six. They also say there are about two hundred thousand Croiddan on a moon called Trito orbiting a planet around Alpha Orionis and maybe two million plus enslaved on Croid. Now let me get to the important part. The Croiddan claim the Krueg have sent a scout group to our system and they came out of warp two days ago. They gave me the coordinates of 305 mark 327 mark 95 BM. They tell us it will take the Krueg six days to reach Earth. We need to get eyes in that sector and see what’s there. As for the radios, Antwon’s son, Joydeus, is a radio tech and he helped us get the subspace unit working. He also told us where to find fifty radios in a storage container on United Earth One. Fox has all the information needed to install and operate those radios. Once you have one working I will be able to communicate with you directly. Joydeus also says the Krueg have an EMP cannon and what sounds like a plasma cannon. I am going to Neptune observatory number two to test an EMP shield that we have designed to protect us from the EMP cannon. I will test it by forcing a reactor breach on Neptune observatory two. Sorry, but it’s the only way I know to create an EMP pulse in the time frame I have. After we test the shield I will jump to the Croid outpost and talk with a Croiddan named Ohven. Believe it or not he graduated from MIT. Apparently the Croiddan have been living among us in plain sight. He is supposed to be an expert on Krueg weapons. Speaking of weapons, Fox has with him a new shell design for the railguns that we think will penetrate Krueg armor. At this point I don’t see the Croiddan as enemies but more as refugees. They claim to be pacifist although that sentiment is not held by the younger generation. The younger generation see themselves as Earthlings and want to stand and fight the Krueg rather than turn tail and run as their grandparents did. I have not brought up the subject of the human abductions just yet. The timing just didn’t feel right and honestly I don’t think they are involved. I want you to know that I understand the position I am in. All the information I have about the Krueg comes from the Croiddan and I know there are two sides to every story. Right now I only have one side of that story. I’m not eager to get in a shooting match over some turf dispute or tribal feud. I will not fire unless fired upon. My goal is to make contact with the Krueg, determine their intentions and let them know this is our territory. If I feel they are a threat I will use my best judgement. As for our current condition, the reactor breach you monitored two days ago came from the Wade. She fired on us as we tried to board her for an inspection. We returned fire and hit a hold full of compressed gas. Her reactor went critical and we jumped to escape the EMP but it followed us through the warp bubble and knocked out all our systems. We have one casualty, Petty Officer Alex Blair. Once we got our systems restored we found ourselves two point nine trillion miles from Earth. After reviewing sensor logs dumped into the protected archives we found a shuttle that had escaped the Wade during our fight. Ensign Walters and Dr. Shaw made that discovery. We jumped back to the Wade and linked up with the Shasta. We then started searching for and found the shuttle adrift. The EMP that took us out hit it as well. Inside, we found the Croiddan and the subspace radio. At this time it is my opinion that the Croiddan should be viewed as allies but we should be suspect of anything they tell us. I will leave you with one final thought. I am remembering Teddy Roosevelt’s ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’ philosophy. I can think of no bigger stick than the two GUTM-A war heads the United Space Alliance has in its coffers. It might be time to assemble those. Commander Allen Paul, UES 178 Dawn Rising signing off.”

  I tapped the save recording icon and sat back in my chair. I wanted to erase and rerecord the thing but I learned some time ago to stop second guessing myself. Now for a message to Dr. Shaw.

  “Dr. Shaw. I hope this finds you in good health. We found the shuttle and recovered six very cold but living Aliens. They call themselves Croiddan from the planet Croid. They claim to be here as refugees hiding from a race called the Krueg. We recovered a subspace radio and with the help of one of the Croiddan we got it working and installed on the Dawn Rising. The Croiddan who helped us is called Joydeus. He and his brothers built the ship you recovered in Peru. He would like to have it back and he wants his car too. I need his help so I’m hoping you can pull some strings and get that done for me. The Krueg have sent a scout group to Earth and will arrive in six days. The Shasta has all the information needed to get the fifty subspace radios stored on United Earth One operational. They also have plans for a new shell design that we think will penetrate Krueg armor. I am going to Neptune to test an EMP shield design we think will protect us from a Krueg EMP weapon. After that I’m heading to sector six to meet the Croiddan and gain more information about the enemy. At this point I have a one sided story conce
rning the Krueg. I hope it is greatly exaggerated but we can’t afford to take any chances. I hope to talk with you soon. Commander Allen Paul UES 178 Dawn Rising.”

  I sat back in my chair again and took a deep breath. Now it was time for a dip I thought, then on second thought I’m going to quit. I’ve been dancing around this long enough. I slid open by desk drawer, dropped the can in and slid the drawer closed. Out of sight, out of mind. We’ll see how long that lasts. Looking at the opps monitor I watched as the Marines disembarked from the shuttle port and realized just how crowded it was going to get in here. The Shasta was designed as a personnel carrier and could accommodate four hundred passengers plus her crew of forty six. We on the other hand were only designed for a total of seventy. Right now we had our forty six, well forty five not counting Blair plus the six Croiddan and the forty six Marines that just came aboard. A grand total of ninety seven. I would have taken Leland’s entire Marine Company if we’d had room. The door from the bridge opened and Ensign Walters walked in.

  “You did a good job preparing for the Croiddan interviews.” I said.

  “I’m glad it went well.” She replied. “I was so nervous. What if they were vegetarians and I was serving ham and turkey. Or maybe it was a holiday for them and they were supposed to abstain from something. I didn’t want to cause an intergalactic screw up.”

  “I know exactly what you mean. For future reference they prefer fry bread over loaf bread and they dip snuff. Well at least Joydeus does. Wintergreen is his flavor.”

  Her eyebrows hitched up a notch and she scrunched up her nose. “Wintergreen flavor? I didn’t know that stuff had flavors.”

  “Oh sure. They have Wintergreen, Mint, Peach, Cherry, Black, which is Bourbon flavored, and natural flavor. I use the natural flavor myself. There are different cuts to. Snuff, long cut, fine cut and Pouches. Do you know why it’s called snuff?”

  She thought for a second and said. “No. I guess not.”

  “My great, great, great granny had a little silver can full of snuff and a tiny silver spoon. She would take a scoop of snuff on the spoon and snuff it up her nose. The original nose candy!”

  “YUCK.” She grimaced.

  “Yeah” I agreed and changed the subject. “I just recorded messages for Albright and Shaw. Can you send them to the Shasta for me? And feel free to include your own message for Shaw if you want.” I hesitated for a second and then asked. “Are the two of you…?”

  Walters didn’t answer for a moment and I wished I hadn’t brought it up but finally she said.

  “Maybe? I don’t know.”

  “What don’t you know? Either you like him or you don’t. It’s not that difficult.”

  “I like him but it’s the logistics I’m worried about. I’m not sure I want to get into a long distance relationship. He can’t handle warp jumps and I want deep space duty. When you get the Constellation and if I’m still assigned to you then we’re looking at a four year mission. Most people can’t make a relationship work between Chicago and New York. How’s a hundred trillion miles going to work?”

  “It won’t.” I said and changed the subject again. “We’re coming up on the watch change. Let’s get all the team leaders and command personnel in the briefing room for a powwow in ten minutes.”

  “Yes Sir. Do you want the Shasta tuned in on this?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m on it.” She said. “And by the way. You look younger without the beard.”

  She turned and headed for the bridge and thirty seconds later I heard her voice over the ship’s coms.

  “Now hear this. All hands to duty stations. All team leaders and command personnel report to the briefing room in ten minutes.”

  Ten minutes later I walked into the briefing room and found a full house. The only ones missing were Lieutenant Barnes and Helmsmen Chaffey who were manning the bridge. Major Yukawa was there with two of his Marines and Sprite with Master Chief Hill. Even Doctor Hirsch had graced us with his presence.

  “Is the Shasta on line with us?” I asked Petty Officer Warren.

  “Yes Sir, and the bridge crew also. Sir we have the radio manuals finished as well as an installation and operating video.”

  “Good work. Have it sent to the Shasta as soon as we finish here.”

  Then I stepped to the podium and addressed the room.

  “I called this briefing to set new operational guidelines. We think the Krueg have a weapon that fires a directed EMP. We are about to test an EMP shield to see if it works. However, we need to set protocol in the event it doesn’t work and we are disabled by the enemy. It is my opinion that the Krueg will most likely use their EMP to disable the ship and then board us. If that happens we can’t afford the confusion we experienced after the Wade. I want every crewman on both ships to carry a spare coms badge with them at all times. The badges are to be carried in their protective cases which will shield them from an EMP. If we are hit and the ship goes dark you will switch to your spare coms badges and report to your assigned battle stations. All crewmen will also wear their mag boots, pressure suits and assigned weapons until further notice. The Krueg ship will probably doc with us to execute a boarding. When they do we will attack and board them. Marines and Seals, be ready for combat condition vessel breach. Engineering, you will be responsible for getting power restored. Everyone else will attack the Krueg with extreme prejudice. If you are captured, name rank and serial number, nothing else. Remember your run dark training. If I think it’s an advantage I won’t hesitate to go dead in space. Helmsmen, this is just for you. Your training and the command structure for flight opps on our ships are based on sea going vessels that take a half mile and two minutes to turn around. Our ships fly more like fighter jets. Steering them like a battleship doesn’t make much sense. I am ordering close danger protocol. If you see a threat you don’t wait for an action command. You act. Fly like a fighter pilot. I know that’s what you guys live for so here’s your chance. Any Questions?”

  There was a brief moment of silence as several of the officers looked at one another and then all eyes went forward again.

  “No questions? Good. Dismissed.” Dang. I done good I thought.

  I waited as the room cleared and then stepped out into the corridor where I found Gale collecting one hundred dollar bills from everyone leaving the briefing.

  “Were you charging admission?” I asked.

  “No Sir. I won the pool.” She replied.

  “What pool?”

  “We had a pool going on when you would shave off your beard. I won. I said you would shave it when you had to report to the Admiral.”

  “And how much did you win?”

  “Almost two thousand dollars. Thanks Sir.”

  “You bet.” I said. “Now quit counting your winnings and get to the bridge. We got work to do.”

  Twenty minutes later we were underway and I watched the Shasta disappear from the aft viewer as she entered her warp bubble and then so did we. We reached Neptune in three minutes braking the old record by nearly a half hour. Chaffey was getting better and he brought us out of warp just six miles from the observation satellite.

  “Did you plan this or was it an accident?” I asked him.

  “Well Sir, I was aiming for a spot about four miles off her outer orbit so I missed by two miles.” he replied.

  A week ago he would have used a one thousand mile variance and now he’s aiming for a two mile window. He was getting very good.

  “You keep this up and we’ll be able to warp jump into a space dock.” I assured him.

  I opened a channel to shuttle bay one. “Engineer Owens, we’re on station. How long before you can deploy?”

  “About twenty minutes Sir. I need the access codes for the satellite to initiate a reactor breach.”

  I looked at Lieutenant Barnes who was looking up the codes in the computer.

  “1-7-7-2 Bravo Charlie, Sir.” He read out.

  “Did you get that Chief?”

  “Yes
Sir.”

  Stepping over to the sensor station I watched Gale as she scanned the area for other ships. After a minute she turned to me and said. “Sir the area is clear of ships but there are two other satellites in line of site with number two.”

  “Yes I know.” I said. “One and Three. Can you access their command control systems and reposition them out of the pulses path?”

  “I think so. It will take maybe an hour to get them clear.”

  “Ok. Let’s do it. I’m going down to look at this contraption they built in the shuttle bay. Barnes you have the bridge.”

  Gale started the process of repositioning the satellites so they would be protected from the EMP by Neptune’s mass and I headed off to the shuttle bay. On the way I stopped by my quarters and slipped on my pressure suit and retrieved my Berretta from the gun locker. Sense I had given orders for all crew to carry their assigned weapons and wear their pressure suits I figured I should do the same. I strapped on the gun belt and checked the magazine. The double stack feeder was fully loaded with fifteen forty caliber wad cutters. Then I went on to the shuttle bay and got my first look at Lloyd’s contraption. It looked like a rock. The shuttle was covered in the spray-on space foam used for external ship insulation. The foam was usually black but this had Quartz dust and Metallic Hydrogen mixed in which gave it a sparkly finish. Except for the forward and aft mounted antenna array it looked just like one of the millions of rocks floating in the asteroid belt.

  “What is this, a camouflaged shuttle or a giant space turd?” I called out.

  Engineer Owens grinned at me and said. “Space turd Sir.”

  Standing next to him was Master Chief Logan and I reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

  “Good to see you out of the rack Cob. How are the ribs?”

  “They’re a bit sore but I’ll be fine. I wouldn’t miss this. I want to see this turd do its thing.”

  Seaman Lloyd walked over and began to explain in laymen’s terms how the test would work. “Sir we have the shuttle systems working and will be using the auto pilot to fly the shuttle out. We have rigged an auto disconnect for the sensor and antenna array and that should protect the rest of the systems. The auto disconnect is programed to activate fifteen milliseconds before the EMP hits the shuttle. After the EMP the computer will reconnect the antenna. The electronics in the external portion of the sensor array will be fried so there is no reason to reconnect it.”