Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 1 - Purple Blood

by David Buck

  Omerio gave the younger lieutenant a wry grin that was nervously returned as he addressed them all.

  ‘Indeed we will cause frustration as we closely adhere to the edicts to protect the human world. However the edicts are there for a reason and you all have your orders.’

  The lieutenant gave both Omerio and Gindane a deep full bow of respect, far more than required by fleet protocol, and gave a response that was agreed to by all.

  ‘Honoured to serve, it will be all done as ordered and no further thought of personal safety will be considered. Indeed it will be privilege to frustrate and obscure the Jerecab.’

  Gindane and Omerio both gave polite nods of gratitude and the technical nature of the briefing resumed. Privately she considered how the civilian scientists in her fleet would react to the current situation once it was mentioned in their later general briefings.

  ***

  Admiral Mary Neilson looked over the data she had obtained when the Auckland had briefly refuelled at the Echelon base. The admiral felt that the report from Joel Everson was concise in both the technical and strategic sense, and she made a brief amendment to the commander’s personal records. Lieutenant Lara Samuels looked over and after the admiral nodded she spoke up.

  ‘The eight small missile frigates will be leaving to head back to Earth with the convoy shortly. The return convoy has increased in size to ten empty supply ships.’

  Mary looked down at Joel’s report for a moment as she replied.

  ‘Well unless we set them to guard Echelon base they are no use to us out here. They are slow, poorly protected and are best used as last ditch defences at home.’

  Lieutenant Samuels agreed with the admiral and turned back to her console as Mary returned to Joel’s interesting report. She noted that according to the detailed information gleamed by the stealth probes on the asteroid, the Jerecab frigate attack on the decoy site had been a textbook attack by a smaller lead strike force guarded by the rest of the Jerecab armada.

  Joel’s report had then highlighted the one for one match between the old Trader supplied technical reports of the Jerecab frigates, and the actual weapons used by the frigates in their attack. The photographic evidence could find very little differences in any of the Jerecab frigates. The tactical analysis in the report also highlighted how the tactics used were as described so long ago on Earth.

  Mary say back to think this conclusion further, as the Jerecab seemed to be constrained by a traditional warfare doctrine. However the admiral did not dare hope that this constraint would always apply in the coming battles with the armada. She knew that both an unexpected or unpredictable response from the Jerecab could lead to the destruction of her fleet, and that was before random luck was factored into the situation.

  The admiral did not have to think through her next orders for too long as she addressed the communications officer.

  ‘Lieutenant, open an encrypted channel to the Auckland please.’

  Mary was soon speaking again to Joel Everson, albeit with only a small time lag.

  ‘Commander, please pass the message for all ships to now enter phase two of the green four series of plans. You are also to provide fuel to any ships below sixty percent from your own reserve capacity. Good luck to you and your crew Joel.’

  Joel briefly confirmed the Auckland would return to their designated star systems to pass on the orders before the admiral ended the call. After two hours, Mary looked up from yet another report as the Auckland left the remote Echelon star system in a brief flash of light.

  ***

  Chapter 11

  Grant Stoneham stood and stretched as he looked around the small bridge of the Emerald Sky. Gayle was getting some much needed sleep, and Olav was engrossed in yet another scan of the Arranen system. The freighter had moved further out to inspect the outer part of the star system after recovering another harvest of ore bags from the mining robots. Grant was aware that the numbers of Maveen ships in the system had increased heavily over the last watch, but he did not as yet understand the reasons behind the increased presence of enigmatic machine race.

  Grant regained his seat in the command chair and noticed Olav stir at his console and begin to glance over at him. Grant quickly matched the feed of his own console to Olav’s console and took in the arrival of a new ship in the system, even as by habit Olav gave the race and eventually the identity of the new arrival.

  ‘Grant it is a Trader wing ship, one of their later ships but not the Illuria, which is still being rebuilt. Okay we have the designation by transponder…it is the Resuria.’

  Grant knew a few Trader captains personally and he was keying the database for the name of the Resuria’s captain, when the view screen came alive with a pleasant surprise for the Barede captain. He took in the picture of his friend and mentor, Captain Narindestat, flanked by a smiling Garendestat, standing on the larger bridge of the Illuria, and Grant quickly stood to offer a full bow of respect.

  The bow was returned by both Traders and now with a broad smile was given by Narindestat as he began speaking.

  ‘Grant it is good to see you again. We have just come five hundred light years direct from the Barede system. We are in a borrowed ship as we are on a mission further into the galaxy on behalf of the Maveen. I regret I cannot therefore stay in this system too long. Now with the adjacent system I understand you have setup a refining and refuelling station there. So can you advise on how much fuel you have available and if you have any tankers present?’

  Grant had the information available, and he replied with the figures as Narindestat slowly sat down in his command chair.

  ‘We have about three hundred thousand tonnes of hydrogen and one hundred thousand tonnes of oxygen. There are six Tower class tankers present, though only half are currently loaded.’

  Grant regained his own chair in the long moments it took his reply to reach the Resuria. He noted that Narindestat did seem well satisfied with the information as he spoke again.

  ‘This is better than I hoped as the new mining base has not been operating for very long. Now I am speaking with the Maveen shortly and they will have a request, really a set of instructions for you to later follow. Do not worry as you will be amply compensated. Now use my name if you must, but you need to get four more tankers from somewhere and ensure all ten tankers are loaded within three weeks. Note that the Maveen may likely send you and several of the tankers elsewhere before I return to this system.’

  Grant looked surprised at the instructions but wasted no time in his response.

  ‘Yes Narindestat it will be as you have instructed, though the use of so much fuel elsewhere will delay the mining operations here in the short term. I will also provision up the Emerald Sky after you leave this system. I assume we are travelling a long distance in remote areas of the galaxy?’

  Narindestat gave Grant a wry grin as he spoke again.

  ‘Well the Maveen will know after we return from the first mission into the galaxy. Now the Emerald Sky should do well as she is fast for a freighter and is also armed.’

  Grant thought that the Trader was being diplomatic, for while his ship was fast it was only a little stronger than a much smaller Trader sneak ship in fighting capabilities. He also noted that the Resuria had a full complement of sixteen sneak ships docked to both the flying wing and the large type two hyper drive module behind the main ship. Narindestat continued on speaking, even as Gayle now came onto the bridge and made her own bow of respect after being alerted by Olav.

  ‘Hello Gayle good to see you again as well. Now time is short as we have to be leaving shortly, so any information you have on your new mining venture would be well appreciated.’

  The Trader and human captains continued to talk easily between themselves for several minutes before conversation was ended. After another five minutes, Grant and his crew watched quietly as the Maveen formed a large gate way in space around the Trader ship. A brief globe of light enveloped the Resuria as she made the next jump furth
er into the galaxy. After Grant had discussed the new developments with both Gayle and Olav, he sat back in quiet contemplation as he considered the risks inherent in the area of space his mentor was taking the Trader ship.

  ***

  Omerio calmly followed Gindane down the rear ramp of the Barus shuttle and quickly looked around the small hangar bay of the human destroyer Linares as Gindane introduced him to the two human admirals.

  ‘Thomas, John this is my friend Omerio, a Flag Captain of the Barus fleet. He has command of sixteen full strength cruisers in star system nearby.’

  After the obligatory bows were exchanged, Omerio commented with approval on the Linares as they all strode over to a nearby large table surrounded by a handful of junior human officers.

  ‘The destroyer appears very similar to Trader sneak ships, not that I have ever been onboard one of those. The design changes appear to be very well considered and do lead to questions from us.’

  Thomas gave Omerio an approving glance as he took in the sleeveless white uniform that the Barus wore as he replied.

  ‘Well Omerio we have had considerable time to adjust the design to our liking. We sought to make improvements but keep the mass increase well down, and I think the designers got it right. Please ask away with your questions as we all know time is short.’

  Omerio calmly activated his data tablet and hauled up a schematic of a Barus destroyer and then placed it over a recent photo of the Linares.

  ‘Now I have seen the simulations on the Rupane and I am impressed by the way. I think you have set cruiser class spinal mount weapon into the long axis of your ship. The thickened hull and the extra in-line generators led us to initially think your shields were substandard, so can you confirm my question please?’

  Omerio noted the suddenly still and calculating nature of a couple of the junior human officers, and then watched in concern as one of the humans sneezed and rubbed his nose. Thomas calmly spoke again to defuse any tension.

  ‘Yes Omerio, the spinal mount weapon is a dual use particle beam and mass driver weapon. We aim to use the weapon on the shields of hostile ships and I can supply the weapons yields if required….’

  In moments Omerio was keying the supplied information into his data tablet for his own weapons simulations. Afterwards he sat back in quiet thought for several minutes as Gindane now spoke.

  ‘We only have this research fleet and the squadron of cruisers able to interdict these systems and later protect the Earth. The Cephrit are recovering from a protracted war with the Tilmud, and the Deltas Vass may possibly arrive here at a later stage. I have just sent ships elsewhere to the Jerecab to advise them to adhere to edicts and leave these systems. However I am not optimistic about their likely responses to my instructions, as we also run the risk of being destroyed by the Jerecab as well.’

  John now replied after a cautious nod from Thomas.

  ‘We understand that no assistance is coming from the other races and we have taken steps to protect ourselves if necessary. Of course we seek to avoid a full battle with the armada at all costs. The longer we delay the Jerecab here the better our options are in protecting Earth.’

  Gindane knew that the humans had been dealt a cruel roll of the dice by the presence of the Jerecab armada, but she was careful in her next comments.

  ‘The probability of your race surviving this attack is not good, however the only chance you have is to do what you have stated and hope that another vassal race comes to your assistance. Your ships appear to offer you a slim chance of survival, whereas other races at your stage of development would have no chance at all.’

  Omerio now spoke as he followed Gindane’s line of reasoning, and he again noted the evaluating glances from both human admirals.

  ‘So apart from these two ships, you must have an extensive support operation in other systems, and the rest of your fleet must be commanded by someone else as you two are here now.’

  Gindane gave start as she realised that she must have already met the hidden human admiral, and she now gave both Thomas and John a calculating smile they returned.

  ‘I briefly spoke with female officer much earlier, an Admiral Mary Neilson; she must be your best battle field commander from what we now understand of the scenario.’

  Thomas made to reassure both Gindane and Omerio as they looked across at one another in deep thought.

  ‘Well you are both correct and the rationale is both to adhere to our standing orders to offer diplomacy and to mislead the Jerecab. The fact that Mary is female is an added bonus from what we understand of the Red Jerecab.’

  Omerio gave a loud coughing laugh that had the humans looking around them in alarm before they detected his mirth.

  ‘Your plans have merit as you have though long and hard about how to deal with this scenario. The Jerecab may yet be brought undone by their aggression and arrogance. Now let us see what else we can do to assist you noting that shortly we will be moving our research ships away from this system.’

  The Barus and human officers now went over the information they had to hand and the combat scenarios were revised further. Omerio noted that the same human that had sneezed earlier had then coughed before excusing himself as one of the admirals glared at him. Gindane noted the silent exchange between the two humans but merely glanced thoughtfully at Omerio.

  The briefing continued for two more hours before Omerio and Gindane returned to the Rupane. A forlorn looking Gindane looked over at a still Omerio before she spoke a simple sad statement.

  ‘Those humans in the two destroyers are going to die to mislead the Jerecab and there is nothing we can do to protect them Omerio.’

  Omerio gave a resigned reply as he glanced out the side window at the Linares.

  ‘The humans have thought through the situation, but still the death toll could be very high with no guarantee of successfully protecting their home world. Also I am concerned that the humans might pose a biological threat as some of them may be ill.’

  Gindane was feeling tired, but she put it down to the pace of the last few days as she replied on the last point.

  ‘That may well be true, but even if all our crew become ill we are still expected to uphold the edicts and protect the humans.’

  The two Barus officers completed the trip back to their ship in stony silence as they thought about the resolute courage of their new friends.

  ***

  Joel Everson looked over the view screen that showed the four rapidly approaching Jerecab frigates and quickly checked the status of the two other destroyers undocking from either side of the Auckland. Both the Newport and the Madrid had completed their refuelling operations and the engineering officer reported back to the bridge.

  ‘Commander, the refuelling tank in the hold is near empty and is being de-pressurised and made safe. We are green across the board for either flight or combat, with our shields at full strength.’

  Joel thanked him and turned to speak to his bridge.

  ‘Communications officer, continue broadcasting non-aggression and neutrality clauses. Also give me the commanders of both the other ships. Tactical officer, select the right central, or lead frigate and pass the targeting information to the other ships, but do not attack.’

  Joel found himself speaking with Brigit Dawes and Rod Cordova, the two other commanders in moments.

  ‘Brigit, Rod, the Jerecab are on an attack vector and we will hold our fire and let them overrun us when we head in the opposite direction. Target the lead Jerecab frigate only on my orders to attack. The second target is the other central frigate. We will now stop broadcasting our peaceful intentions.’

  The three destroyers accelerated straight towards the Jerecab frigates and did not immediately fire their weapons. As the two groups of ships approached, the frigates opened fire with their forward batteries and attempted to change course to prevent the destroyers from extending a break and escaping. For three minutes a cascade of light weapons fire rained down on all three ships and thei
r shields started to edge down in strength. The Jerecab ships fired several missiles, but the human ships had point defences more than equal to the task, and the missiles exploded several kilometres distant from their targets.

  By now Joel considered he had given the Jerecab enough chances and he gave the fateful order.

  ‘All ships target the lead frigate and open fire with all beam weapons. Hold all missiles until we select the second target.’

  The tempo of the battle suddenly increased as more powerful beams of light, backed by pulses of force from the spinal mount weapons, lashed out from the three human destroyers at the lead Jerecab frigate. The Jerecab commander was conscious of three large blasts striking his ship in quick succession, and the shields beginning to dangerously weaken before the rest of the human weapons impacted.

  Suddenly the shield generators failed under the savage onslaught and the next burst of weapons fire tore into the unprotected hull of the frigate. In seconds the containment shields for the fusion reactor failed and a mini-sun blossomed inside the frigate. The remaining frigates were far enough away from the lead frigate so that the explosion caused no problems for them, even as the three destroyers switched to their secondary target.

  Joel watched with keen professional interest as the combined flight of twelve human missiles raced for the next target, even as he noted the timer counting down the five minutes needed to recharge the spinal mount weapon. He could see both that the missiles would take nearly a minute to cross the distance and that the distances between the two groups of ships were now already increasing. The Jerecab point defences effortlessly claimed nine of the twelve missiles, though the delayed auto destruct ensured that when four of the missiles exploded they did not cause any problems to other missiles.

  The proximity charges exploded within twenty metres of the rapidly evading frigate, and Joel noted that the engines of the second Jerecab ship now appeared to be offline. The weapons fire from the destroyers continued to lash at the second frigate and Joel thought it was likely to be destroyed in minutes if they continued. He gave the next order and a curt well done, as the two groups of ships continued to increase their range from one another.