“I think we have all we’re going to get here. Call the guards in and close us up. Sly, make us invisible.”
Tavia perked up at that. “We can become invisible?”
Alaya responded, “Yes, it’s what the serpents do. They have a cloaking device.” Alaya then said to no one in particular, “Has Tavia been briefed what happens if she tells about the serpents?”
“I’ve been told,” Tavia said, a little downcast. “Sly will eat me.”
Alaya could hardly contain a chuckle. She wondered who came up with that one, but it is a good way to keep a teenager in line. Alaya went on to the bridge and sat next to Allen Farnsworth. As soon as everything was battened down and all external evidence of their visit was removed, Sly made the ship invisible and they took off. They had to use the engines to reach escape velocity and this would show up both visually and electronically, but once they were out of the atmosphere and in space, they cut the engines and drifted past the guard ships. As soon as they were beyond the picket line of ships, they began to relax.
“How long to the outgoing slipstream?”
Paul McMann answered, “We will enter the slipstream in 10 hours, 34 minutes.”
“Ok set a watch and keep us invisible until we enter. Set course for the fleet rendezvous. How long to reach it?” Alaya inquired.
“About ten days.”
“Good we will still be within our month deadline.” Slone piped in.
Alaya responded, “Warn us about an hour before entry. Tom, have you had a chance to examine the information we obtained. I’m afraid we lost the tap node.”
“Ok just sent a self destruct to the node. Quite a burn if someone is holding it. As far as the information is concerned, we have all of the ship movements and dispositions of the Petrov fleet. With this information, we will know how to deal with the enemy fleet, but not their ground troops. There is something strange in the information though.”
“Ok, don’t keep us in suspense,” Alaya said.
“There is a report of a plague among the Petrov systems bordering on Balin space. They felt it was the Balin Corp that released the plague on them.”
“Didn’t the Balin CEO give us a similar story with Petrov as the villain?” Slone asked.
“I believe he did,” Alaya said. “I wonder if there’s a third party involved here. We’ll let the Romani techs mull that one over.”
All non-essential personnel went to their bunks for some rest, Farnsworth deployed the sails, and they smoothly glided through the system to the outbound slipstream.
Chapter 7 - Armada
After ten days of travel, the Draco was about an hour from entering the Cassiopeia 83325 system. This system was just inside the Nova Romae space and was uninhabited. It was chosen as the rally point for the full assembly of the tenth legion under the command of Consul Juan Lorenzo. During the travel time, Alaya and Slone had a chance to heal from their ordeal in captivity. They both realized it could have been a much worse outcome if not for Sly. Once they entered the first slipstream after leaving the New Wales system, Sly left his post and they all commended him on his rescue of the Slones. She was always amazed at the human need to party. However, she went along with her ally’s silly customs and even tried to look grateful when they sang ‘for he’s a jolly good fellow.’ Sadly, some day she will have to teach them how to tell serpent genders apart. Sly thanked them all and they patted her scaly back as she moved towards her carpet to sleep through the slipstream transit. She would only be needed to maintain their invisibility, when in a system within Balin space. She was close to her bed when Tavia came over to her. Meeting Tavia was her first encounter with a human adolescent and the girl seemed genuinely glad to be with her. This was unexpected. Sly knew her appearance was frightening to humans, so she always attempted to be calm in their presence. She was also used to none of the humans wanting to spend any time with her. However, this was a different experience. Tavia seemed to enjoy talking with Sly, even when Sly did not respond. Apparently, teenage humans did not have an ‘off’ switch.
“Sly,” Tavia started. “Are you really a boy serpent? I have asked the others and they are not sure but think you are a boy”
This was new. Never had a human asked this question. How to answer? The truth should always be told. “Sly is a girl.”
Tavia’s face lit up. “I knew it. The way you went after the Slones was like a mother hen. Did you know this is my first space trip? And, I get to take it with an alien. How exciting.”
“Sly must rest now,” She said and continued to her carpet.
“Oh, ok. Sleep well. I like you, Sly.”
Sly did not know how to respond, since no human had ever said that to her before. Respect and friendship, yes, but like is on the path to love, and humans don’t love serpents.
Tavia went back into the conference room and happily told the others they had been calling poor Sly by the wrong gender all this time. They were all surprised at the news and at themselves, since none had the courage to ask. The voyage settled down to the usual routine. Now they were finally here. In an hour, they would be back among friends. Alaya hoped the information they obtained proved helpful. It would be dated and she was sure their incursion caused changes, but the main question was how large and spread out was the invasion force. There was also the matter of the plague. Arthur Balin stated the invasion started with Petrov Corp releasing a plaque on the Balin border systems. The information obtained from Petrov Corp believed Balin released the plague on them. To Alaya it seemed likely a third party may have wanted this war. As she was mulling over these points, the bridge equipment signaled they had arrived at the system border. The bridge crew went to their stations and Sly continued to rest, since they were now in Romani space. Fifteen minutes after the signal, they depolarized the sails and the Draco dropped out of the slipstream. Before them was a vast, empty system consisting of three stars orbiting a center of gravity with large numbers of asteroids that never congealed into planets. The galaxy was full of these types of systems, but they were far outnumbered by planetary systems. In a system like Cassiopeia 83325, all of the dust cloud went to form the stars and there was nothing left for planets.
“Any sign of the fleet?” Slone asked.
“There are a large number of signals coming from near the outbound slipstream,” Roger Umgabe answered.
Just then, the communication console lit up and Tom Gardner stated, “Incoming message from the Dreadnought Longinus, Captain Lorenzo sends his regards and welcomes us back. He also hopes our mission was successful.”
“Send back an acknowledgement with our compliments and attach the full recording of our mission as well as all of the information from the tap node. They can get to work right away on the intelligence.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Paul, how long till we reach the fleet?”
Paul McMann looked at his console and did some calculations. “14 hours. It’s a big, empty system. I detect only one small automated early warning station on an asteroid, but that is it.”
“Ok, set a watch and everyone else get some rest. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”
They all heeded the advice and retired to their bunks. As usual, the Romani soldiers first saw to the status of their weapons, a ritual repeated with every new system entry. The Romani had also taken upon them to train Tavia in the Romani ways, and how to use their weapons. She was a quick learner and the entire squad liked her. Thirteen and a half hours into the transit, the entire crew was up along with the Romani. They were still too far from the fleet to see anything but as they approached the rendezvous point, they began to see more and more of the fleet and it was impressive. When the Romani go to war, they do not fool around. There were the ten dreadnoughts that make up the full complement of the tenth legion. From the military manuals, Slone read while getting to learn about the Romani, he also knew that each dreadnought was accompanied by an auxiliary cruiser and two destroyers. A full legionary fleet consisted of 40 sh
ips of all classes. The largest force Slone had ever seen. Yet, Slone was not sure it would be enough. A big corporation like Petrov Corp could field larger fleets if needed. The Romani hoped to force a peace on Petrov Corp after expelling them from Balin space. If not then they would have to mobilize more legions to deal with Petrov and even more if they allied with any other corporations. Slone had to admit, he was interested in seeing what a huge fleet battle looked like, but he also knew he could lose friends, and that part frightened him more than he was willing to admit.
As they neared the fleet, they saw each dreadnought with its escorts keeping a good distance from its fellows. Romani dreadnoughts were larger than the standard corporate vessel, though there were many variations among the corporations. The larger size was due to the double row of cannons along the sides. A standard dreadnought had 12 cannons per side on one gun deck. The Romani vessels had two gun decks and carried 12 cannons on each deck for 24 per side. This required a higher ship than standard. Of course, the greater firepower also meant the ship was a bigger target. However, Slone had to admit, seeing an entire legion of these vessels in one place was a majestic site. As the Draco passed through the picket destroyers, a message was received from the Longinus.
“Captain, the Longinus asks us to dock on her hangar deck,” Tom reported.
“Acknowledge the message. Paul, set a course for the Longinus,” Slone ordered.
They moved through the fleet and saw the Longinus in the center. Alaya brought her ship to the side of the dreadnought and smoothly passed through the force field and into the hangar bay. She was directed to a landing pad and made a perfect landing. She opened the large cargo doors and the Romani squad was the first to move out. They were followed by the ship crew along with Tavia and Sly. Alaya was amazed at how Tavia and Sly acted towards each other. She accepted the serpent without question and Sly seemed truly fond of her. The Romani also liked her and made her an honorary member of their squad. She spent most of the trip out from New Wales, learning the ways of the Romani and Alaya had a suspicion she would not be returning to live on the Balin world. The Romani returned to their cohort as Decanus Marshal left with them after saying goodbye to Tavia and the others. No one knew what the future held or how the Draco would be used in the upcoming attempt to liberate Balin space from the Petrov corp. Captain Rand also left them in the hangar bay, since he had no rank or duties aboard the ship.
A ship’s messenger came up to Christopher and Alaya. “Captain Lorenzo sends his compliments and asks that you all accompany me to the conference room.”
“We have a civilian with us, who needs to be billeted,” Alaya responded.
“If it is Tavia MacDougal, the captain would like to meet her.”
Alaya, Slone and her crew followed the messenger to the conference room on the bridge level. Tavia was in awe at the size of the ship and looked more like a tourist than a resistance fighter who shot down a transport. They entered the large room and sat down at the conference table. All but Tavia had been there a month before as they set out on their reconnaissance mission. Now they were full circle and about to begin a new adventure. The door slid open and Captain Lorenzo came in with some of his staff and a new female officer Slone had not met before.
“Welcome back,” were the captain’s first words accompanied by a big smile. He greeted each one of the Andromeda 7 individually and then he came to Tavia. “And you must be the brave young lady who stood up for her people and had the courage to attack the Petrov convoy. I am truly glad to meet you.” As usual, Lorenzo took Tavia’s hand and kissed it.
Tavia was both honored and flustered by the greeting from the captain. She was yet to find out that Juan Lorenzo was also the second Consul of Nova Romae. “Th-thank you, sir. I never knew that starships were so large.”
“I will have someone give you a tour, later. We have a long journey to free your world.” Captain Lorenzo then turned to the others. “I have examined your mission data recordings and your reports. Quite the adventure, wish I had been along.” Lorenzo then rubbed his chin in thought. “According to the information from the tap node, the governor’s computer contained all of the Petrov troop and ship dispositions. I think it is safe to say that those have changed by now. At the time of your reconnaissance, the Petrov Corp had 8,000 troops with air cover in the capital. I think we can safely assume they have increased that number since your incursion; it is what I would do. We are going to have to split our attack. It is preferable first to regain New Wales by ground attack. To do so, we will have to clear the system of their ships. When you were there, they had a minimal space presence and they were holding political prisoners on two freighters in orbit. Since all those who knew your identities were killed, they will assume the deaths were the work of local resistance, especially coming on the heels of this young woman’s convoy attack. That works in our favor. They will have increased the ground presence but I am willing to bet they will not increase the space presence.”
At this point Slone spoke up, “We can’t be sure they haven’t increased their space presence.”
“No, we cannot, but I suspect Petrov will fall into the same trap that all the corporations are prone to. Corporations hate to waste money and resources. Since your ship was invisible in space, they have no idea there was an incursion. I doubt they would waste space resources on what appears to be a planetary problem with resistance. We will come in as a smaller fleet and deal with any space forces present. I am willing to bet they will come out to fight at our arrival and will not recall their ground forces. At that time we will take back the planet.”
Alaya then spoke up, “What if some of them escape and bring back the Petrov fleet?”
“That is what we are hoping, and therefore plan to let them escape. You see, Alaya, the Romani find it much better to let the enemy come to us then to chase them. We also don’t want the planet in enemy hands, so our vessels have a place to evacuate to, if they have to. This will also guarantee the enemy has no place to run.” Lorenzo then turned to Tavia, “That is where your resistance comes in; they will have to help us with intelligence on the enemy before the battle and hold their world against any counter invasion. Do you think your people can help us with that?”
Tavia was both honored and overwhelmed at the confidence placed on her as the liaison between the Romani and her people. Nevertheless, she gulped and responded, “I will make sure that my uncle and his people do what is needed.”
Lorenzo smiled at her, “Spoken like a true warrior. We will make sure your people have what they need if we can rendezvous with them.”
“What will we be doing during the battle?” Slone asked.
“Consul Strabo wants you to become versed in our military ways, since you are still new to our civilization. For the ground combat, you will be attached to the command unit of the tenth legion. With them, you can learn our dispositions and tactics. In space I want you and your people aboard the Longinus with the Draco ready to launch at a moment’s notice if we need you to.” Lorenzo then indicated an officer sitting next to him, “This is Legatus Victoria Edmonton, she is the overall commander of the ground forces of the tenth legion, and you will be attached to her command. She is as good as it gets when it comes to a commander.” The Legatus acknowledged the compliment with a slight nod of the head.
Slone looked at the Legatus. She is a trim woman who looks to be in her 50’s with gray hair, cut short. She had an old scar at the left base of her neck. Her expression was severe and it was obvious she was not used to being questioned by anyone.
Captain Lorenzo then added, “On the ground, no one has a higher rank than the Legatus, except for a Consul. Her political rank is Praetor, and she is a planetary leader in her own system. Are there any more questions?”
There was none. Captain Lorenzo then had an aide pass out envelopes. “These contain your official orders and assignments. You will have a week of transit time to become thoroughly familiar with them. We will have a few more meetings as we ge
t information from spy ships, heading to the New Wales system as we speak. They will meet us at various times along our trip to keep us informed. That will be all, you are dismissed.”
Slone’s people would be staying aboard their ship, the Draco, since the dreadnought had no available bunk space. Tavia would also remain with them. Sly had gone off to be with her counterpart on the Longinus, and Slone was sure she was glad to get some time away from Tavia and her constant questions. As the Andromeda 7 were about to leave the conference, the Legatus signal them over.
“I have not had a chance to meet you before, but I have read your reports, not only from New Wales but also the incident with the Hayden and Sinclair Corp,” she said. “Many of us have been looking for a reason to punish the corporations for their dealings with our ancestors, a rejection of intellectuals that continues to this day. That any corporation could do what they did to the Hayden is beyond me, but Petrov finally gave us the excuse to intervene when Balin asked for asylum. I would like you and your group to accompany me for a review of the first cohort. They are in the hangar bay going over drills.”
The Legatus led the way and the Andromeda 7 plus one followed. Slone could tell Tavia was impressed that the entire military force was under the control of a woman. Again, he had the sense that Tavia would not be returning to her home world when this was over. They walked back down to the hangar deck. The Draco was there as were a few shuttles. Along one wall of the bay, there were multiple landing decks, like deep shelves, containing rapid deployment craft. Unlike the cruisers, which used boarding sleds for boarding actions, the dreadnoughts used landing craft that could function in both space and atmosphere. This allowed boarding as well as land invasion. There were ten total and they could each hold a pilot, copilot and 100 troops. This meant the cohort and any support personnel could all land at the same time. As they walked farther into the hangar, they came to the exercise area where the cohort was going through its paces. As soon as one of them saw the Legatus, there was a shout of ‘attention’, and the cohort stopped in their tracks and stood straight and at attention. The Legatus went over to a trooper in a uniform Slone had not yet seen. He knew from his studies of the Romani military that this was a Centurion. He was wearing a black bodysuit with red body armor and a red helmet. There were six per cohort, and each controlled one hundred men. The hundred man unit was called a century and the second in command of the unit was called an Optio. Each century was divided into ten man squads headed by a Decanus. Decanus Marshal was part of the first cohort. After a short chat, the Legatus returned and the Centurion put the cohort through its paces. These soldiers were fanatics when it came to discipline. He saw how they fought on the cruiser in the Border Worlds system and he looked forward to seeing what an army of them could do. After basic maneuvers, they pulled their swords and formed a wall of shields, as they had in the cruiser battle. Now they formed up into an oblong, one hundred men wide and six men deep. This must be how they fight in formation.
Nova Romae (The Adventures of Christopher Slone Book 2) Page 12