by David Buck
The commander looked over the engineering reports and a wry grin lit his beared features as he replied.
‘Well sir, the conduit will require us to stop the engines and I will not do that at all. The point defences are being looked over and I will head over there myself in a moment. We lost two shield generators so the recharge of the shields is down but we should have fifty percent shields in two hours.’
Thomas wasted no time in talking further and let the commander leave even as he continued to monitor the repairs to the rest of the ship. After twenty minutes he felt crestfallen, as the latest reports confirmed that the Jerecab frigates had since arrived and were thirty thousand kilometres away and slowly overhauling the Linares. The admiral did permit himself some hope as he noted that the message probes had just left for the Platinum system and the possible location of the rest of the fleet.
***
Chapter 12
Admiral Mary Neilson looked impatiently over the transmitted contents of the message probe from the Linares. She had brought thirty destroyers with her after an advance scout ship had reported the bulk of the armada had withdrawn after the Barus left the central star system. Even as they were now moving forward in the Platinum system, another scout ship had detected the outer twenty Jerecab frigates and she had recognised the opportunity.
Mary now fretted inside over the time it was taking to enter the Jade star system, but wisely did not comment to her crew. The admiral knew that if they could destroy twenty Jerecab frigates in one operation, then that would be a good start to the combat phase of the mission. However she seethed at the loss of the Cannes and her crew, and the probable loss of the Linares, unless they could enter the next star system within the next four hours.
***
After three more hours Commander Ferguson had returned to the bridge and gave a better than expected update on the battle damage.
‘Sir, the shields are at seventy percent though we could not fix one of the generators. The engine conduit should be okay as long as we can protect the area. The point defences are now only at fifty percent strength, although I think it likely that the Jerecab are running low on missiles.’
Admiral Stanford felt some relief at the news, and gave a quiet but informal reply, as the commander tiredly took a seat behind the vacant navigation console.
‘Well there is some welcome news Stuart, and thank you for your tireless efforts. Do we have an accurate loss of crew members at this stage?’
Stuart Ferguson grimaced as he considered the deaths amongst the crew and equally as quietly replied.
‘Well sir, we have lost nine of the point defences crew, six in engineering, and another twenty for the main weapons. I think the shielding and protection for our weapons needs to be improved, though we have taken heavy fire.’
Thomas sat back in contemplation on the deaths of the crew members before he spoke again.
‘Yes I have seen those reports on the depleted shields that then allow enough energy through to flash fry the crew in their suits, and so we only have a handful of wounded. The earlier Trader descriptions of space battles now seem very accurate. So we have thirty five dead on the Linares, and the two hundred and fifty dead from the loss of the Cannes.’
Stuart now went silent for several minutes as he did his own time and distance calculations at the navigation console. He commented on the toll among the Jerecab to the patiently waiting admiral, before he concurred with Thomas’s time and distance calculations.
‘Sir, the Jerecab frigates have about one hundred crew on board, and they have lost another four ships with five others badly damaged. I think we will be overtaken by the Jerecab frigates before we can escape in just over an hour, as we needed another thirty minutes to enter the next hyper jump point.’
Thomas looked around at the tired and game bridge crew as he knew that they had been on duty for the last ten hours. He stood and smiled at the crew before he turned to the navigation officer to place a quick pair of orders.
‘Please give me a line to the full crew, and also arrange the best of the food to be made available to all the crew immediately.’
After a few moments Thomas found himself speaking to the crew of the Linares, who listened to his words solemnly.
‘Officers and crew of the Linares, in an hour we will be overtaken by the Jerecab frigates and destroyed. I would like to thank all of the crew for your self less devotion to duty and the last message probes will soon launch with our final battle report and commendations for all of you. It has been my honour to serve with each and every one of you.’
Two minutes silence could be heard around the bridge as the crew took in the admiral’s personal message. Stuart Ferguson now spoke loudly as he in turn addressed the crew.
‘You have all done very well today and I am very proud to be your commander. Please give three cheers for your crew mates, the admiral, and the fallen crew of the Cannes.’
Not long after the three cheers had fallen silent, Thomas handed Stuart a beer and they each grabbed a fresh roll to quietly eat as the timer for the Jerecab attack counted down. After fifty minutes Thomas confirmed he was happy with their last messages and the message probes left the Linares and raced towards the hyper jump location.
***
Mary Neilson suppressed the urge to yet again pace her bridge in impatience as the Exeter led the other destroyers into the hyper jump point. After several minutes the fleet of thirty ships entered hyper space and soon arrived in the Jade star system. Flashes of light from a fierce, but one sided nearby battle lit the view screen and she had no difficulty in indentifying the Linares. The tactical officer gave a brief rundown the battle as the diagnostics from the Linares crossed the distance to the Exeter.
‘Admiral, she is just about gone, the shields are at ten percent and falling and the engines have just shut down. We are just outside weapons range and we cannot open fire for another four minutes.’
Mary gave an urgent order regardless of this fact.
‘All ships are to immediately open fire as we need to force the Jerecab to flee to save the Linares.’
Pulses of light from the human destroyers flashed out at the eleven frigates and Mary felt a brief sense of disappointment as she realised that the only these ships were present. She also noted that one of the frigates was trailing the others and that it had immediately altered course to flee. In minutes the focus of the Jerecab commanders changed as they attempted to flee the star system. The tactical officer made another report as the destroyers came into actual range for combat.
‘Admiral, the Jerecab have launched six missiles at the Linares and impact is in just over a minute.’
The view screen came alive to show the smoke filled bridge of Linares and Commander Ferguson supporting Admiral Stanford, who gave a gasping order.
‘The Jerecab are not invincible Mary, so keep at them. The Emerald system holds only another twenty frigates, but you need to watch your time and distance calculations…’
Mary felt he was about to add something else before the view screen flashed and the Exeter’s tactical officer had then made a solemn report.
‘Admiral, five of the six missiles impacted and destroyed the Linares, they are gone…’
Mary slumped back in her command chair as the battle raged around her, and she briefly felt despair as she personally took on the full cost of the loss of the two destroyers. After several long seconds she turned her attention to the battle at hand and gave further orders.
‘No missiles are headed our way, so the Jerecab have used too many against the Cannes and the Linares. Press past the lead frigates and attempt to run down the most distant Jerecab frigate.’
The admiral now felt quiet satisfaction as each of the ten Jerecab frigates were quickly overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the destroyers. Each time a frigate was hit by multiple strikes of the spinal mount weapons, the Jerecab ships would spin wildly out of formation in a series of powerful explosions.
After tw
o hours the distance towards the last obviously damaged and fleeing Jerecab frigate was falling considerably and Mary felt that she should attempt to capture the ship. She dispatched Joel Everson in the Auckland to attempt to board the frigate even as her destroyers now came into range. The Auckland moved in after a brief fight and Joel soon reported that his crew had captured the ship.
The admiral left the Auckland to take the frigate back to the Platinum system as they approached the next hyper jump point. After another hour the remaining twenty nine destroyers entered the Emerald star system, the site of the recent loss of the Cannes. The ever vigilant tactical officer soon made his first report.
‘Admiral we have five frigates within a million kilometres and they must be the picket line. Another twenty frigates and several transports are over at the far side of the system.’
Mary had no hesitation in her next orders.
‘Take down the five closest frigates and drive hard across the system. I expect the most distant frigates to flee and once they do so we will leave this system in the other direction.’
The five frigates were promptly engaged and destroyed by the human destroyers and Mary did not bother this time to take prisoners. The rest of the Jerecab ships did as she had expected and soon fled the star system, and Mary wasted no time in taking her ships back to the Platinum system. The fleet paused along the way, both to allow the recovery of the message probes and allow the Auckland to rejoin them with the captured frigate.
***
Gindane was feeling unwell, and she resisted the urge to berate the anxious Jerecab commander as the Barus research ships crossed towards the hyper jump point for the Emerald system. Clearly the Jerecab had reasons to flee as if pursued by the forsaken legions. She had no doubt the humans had finally tired of the Jerecab, and had vigorously defended themselves. She still held slim hopes that the two human admirals had survived, but this dream was dashed when the Jerecab commander finally spoke.
‘Captain Gindane, I have my orders and we attacked the two human lead ships. We destroyed one in the central system, and the second ship we destroyed at the far side of the next system. The humans then intervened with most of their ships and destroyed over twenty or so of our frigates. I cannot imagine Great Admiral Baunrus will enjoy that news.’
Gindane again resisted the urge to shout at the commander, as she was aware that this would be futile. The Barus captain considered that already the death toll from this war must be hundreds of humans and thousands of Jerecab. However she did repeat her entreaty for a ceasefire.
‘Commander, please pass on my respects the Admiral Baunrus. Note that we insist that the Jerecab armada refrain from further conflict with the humans. We are constrained by galactic edicts as your forces attack a world with haven status.’
The Jerecab commander quietly ran his paws over his long whiskers in a mix of agitation and deep thought that Gindane recognised readily enough. He appeared to be distracted for a moment before he offered a curt reply.
‘Captain, I have my orders and we are to continue our war of conquest on the humans. We project that we will win once we can corner their smaller fleet. Now if you excuse me I have further problems that need my attention.’
Gindane fought in vain to suppress a growl of grief, frustration and rage, as the communications officer now ensured the video link was not transmitting. A very quiet Omerio ensured that the fleet was heading for the next hyper jump point as Gindane wordlessly left the bridge for her quarters.
***
The Deltas Vass senior drone bowed low again before Thatak’siema, the Vorinne second envoy. The Deltas Vass might also be a senior vassal race, but the drone knew that the Vorinne envoy stood only a step below the imperial authority of the Zronte. The female Vorinne shifted uncomfortably in impatience at the place of honour, and the drone now hurried through with the final part of his urgent message from his matriarch.
‘Your grace the senior matriarch was quiet specific in her warnings about the anger of Battle Lord Temeroth. It appears that your intervention in the Tilmud-Cephrit war has attracted his ire.’
The drone refrained from stating anything beyond what his mistress had instructed him to say. Specifically he would not identify her as the life chapter matriarch, though she did give latitude to mention any recent news.
Thatak’siema picked up his hesitant manner in a way that the drone felt was eerie, as there were always rumours of high powers amongst the senior races. She slyly looked over at her liege lord, Malang’troh, who picked up her interest and rapped his staff of office twice onto the deck. The Deltas Vass drone feel silent and remained at stiff attention as the Vorinne second envoy started to speak.
‘So we have a high level drone on an urgent mission and yet a message probe would have been quicker. Now tell what other news is there that should be brought to my attention?’
The Deltas Vass drone was incapable of sweat, yet his body was capable of preparing itself to die and it automatically shut down all pain receptors, even as his neck flushed red to signify this was occurring. The Vorinne were well aware of this Deltas Vass ability, but made no reaction as the drone spoke again.
‘Your Grace, my scout ship encountered a strange fleet at a distance from our core worlds on our journey here. The ships appear to be controlled by Fenshilla yet they have type two hyper drive units docked behind each vessel. There was also a Zronte squadron in another system we then had to pass through to reach you. I have an official report that I can file with you over the presence of the Fenshilla.’
Thatak’siema accepted the report and noted the interest of her serf lord in the projected hologram. She now asked that the drone was to await her further orders in the lobby after instructing that her gratitude be conveyed to the matriarch. As the drone backed away in a series of bows she coolly turned to the still engrossed Malang’troh.
‘Well Lord Malang’troh the report interests you more than the risk of Temeroth’s anger? I am troubled by this news of his rage, as he is feared even amongst his own race.’
Malang’troh knocked his staff on the floor again, but this time only once as he quietly replied in a dialect known only between each other.
‘Your Grace, we already knew of the risks after your cousin’s arrival earlier, and I think the warning was deliberately leaked to the Deltas Vass. The Fenshilla ships are another matter and I consider they are performing more dark work for Temeroth.’
Thatak’siema now reviewed the details of the Deltas Vass report and made her own observations, as Malang’troh activated another hologram of the surrounding star systems.
‘Well my lord I consider your council wise as always, the Fenshilla would appear to scout out past the Posient bulge. However we have to consider the reason for their interest and how we will respond to their involvement.’
Malang’troh gave her a lingering glance she enjoyed as he spoke again.
‘I think the Fenshilla are on a long range search and destroy mission, and that you yourself could be a target of opportunity if they can get hold of you. Now looking at the star map of the outer regions, as well as earlier reports, I consider they are searching for the Traders or even the Maveen.’
Thatak’siema activated her ornate data tablet and wordlessly looked through a series of both old and new reports. She handed the tablet to Malang’troh who voiced his opinion at what he was now seeing, before offering final pithy advice.
‘The Dradfer colonies again from your information, and we know from recent reports the Jerecab are likely to be fighting with the new race, the humans, at these worlds. Also I recommend that you should seek out Temeroth under the accords and not await any of his surprises.’
Thatak’siema was in quiet agreement with his words as her next comments indicated.
‘A dangerous scenario is underway and it does not just involve the humans. Now I can forestall the Battle Lord and rightfully deflect his anger under the accords. I will also later save myself a long journey towards the Zronte wor
lds.’
Thatak’siema had then summoned back the Deltas Vass drone, and he was dispatched back to his home world with both gratitude and an express series of requests from the second envoy. After the drone had left, Thatak’siema had then summoned her younger cousin from her quarters, and within an hour had her leaving for the distant Cephrit star systems. She ignored the cold attitude of her serf lord, as he no doubt was brooding over her future close meeting with Lord Temeroth.
***
The Resuria again exited the globe of light generated by the Maveen gate ships and gradually gained speed as it flew across the latest star system. Captain Narindestat noted the increase in tension in his bridge crew as he spoke softly.
‘Well we are well inside the Orion arm of the galaxy and now things will become interesting very quickly. Process all your searches according to our training drills and we will be fine. The Maveen will either hide nearby or proceed with their plans for this part of the galaxy. Prepare the type two hyper drive for operation within three hours as I confirm the destination star system coordinates.’
The Trader crew obeyed their new orders as the communications officer announced that the Maveen sector delegate was present with another Maveen probe in deep space alongside their space. Narindestat tuned out the activity around him and was soon speaking with the Earth lead probe. Garendestat returned from elsewhere on the ship, and the Trader captain again made the double handed Trader gesture to remain quiet and in contemplation.
‘Captain Narindestat, we urge you to proceed directly towards Cephrit space using your powerful jump drive module. We estimate you can be near Cephrit star base 31 and back again in about fifteen days. We will await your return here and we confirm all the special instructions you required earlier are now being carried out.’