by James Edward
“Zn2091 hasn’t caused any problems to us. We got reports from the executive at Great Ursa that they were cutting into the profits. As you know, Mr. President, the plan was to remove them once we thought they had developed the gas siphoning system enough to produce viable gas and fuels. Unfortunately, Ursa bungled that job when they sent that pirate force in. They were the ones that told us that the entrance was mined. It was believed that the mines were their only serious level of protection until they sent in that spy ship disguised as a freighter and saw the size of that platform. They no doubt repaired those pirate ships and presented a stiffer opposition when our Fleet entered. If that damn Noble had followed the plan, we would be holding a system that is rich in fuel,” Fugs retorted.
“Well, we lost big time. So we will leave them alone for now,” the president stated. “The rebel systems must be brought under control before we start fighting the nonaligned systems. The loss of those ships has hurt us, but I would imagine that you have more ships. Pull the ships in from the rim and from the free worlds. Let those worlds stew in their own juices for a while. Perhaps that will make them more willing to join us when they don’t have our protection and are raided regularly. Either way, we won’t need them for a few years, and it saves us costs and ships. Let the pirates have them. In the meantime, I suggest that you start to train your people to take orders better. Maybe an execution or two would snap them into compliance
“Now, Brickland, I think the plan is to mop up on Omicron 2 and move to start on Darelet. Maybe by the time you have finished subduing Omicron 2, Fuggoret will have his fleet in order.”
“Yes, the tank farms at both Sempter and Omicron 2 are well situated to supply us with ready fuels. Ursa has promised fuel on demand at those tank farms,” Fugs said.
“We will have the resistance on Omicron 2 under control in a couple of weeks. Already their standing armies have fragmented into factions. We will let those factions fight themselves, thereby killing some of their better fighters, and then we will drop a couple of Kews on their resistance bases,” Senator Brickland said. “We have already started on Sempter. Our agitators are doing well to fracture the population there as well. They should be ripe for picking in a month.”
“Excellent,” President Avis Garthman beamed. “And, Admiral Fuggoret, how is the consolidation of the fleet progressing? One hopes that the setback in Conrad hasn’t diminished morale.”
“We have fought six skirmishes with rebel ships, with four victories, resulting in the complete capture of the rebel ships and two that had the rebels retreat badly mauled. These rebels were sent to Doust, but it is becoming more onerous for us to continue to resupply Doust. My suggestion that I tabled a month ago was to stop supplying them. I believe that we could send down implements to make them self-sufficient and leave them on their own. The supplies should be cut from the criminal camps to relieve the pressures that will come when we pacify each world. There would be a major die off at these camps, and we can reintroduce inmates at the criminal camps once they are purged.
“Noble’s incompetence resulted in that Fleet loss, Excellency. We are attacking on a two-to-one basis, and whenever we discover a rebel ship, we chase it to ground and engage it. I predict that within six to eight months we will be in complete control of the space lanes. The rebels will have either made their way to their systems or will be on the run from us and the pirates that work for us, and Freebooters will chase them and destroy or enslave them when they run out of ordinates and fuel.”
“Doust is a good dumping ground. I don’t care one wit for the criminal elements that are in resident there. As far as I am concerned, we should leave them to their own devices as soon as they are dropped. Water is a problem, and we don’t want to be seen as putting them on a planet to die of thirst. Fuggoret, I agree with your plan to drop supplies and implements at these existing camps. Add seeds and something like rabbits, along with spare parts for the water pumps and leave them on their own. If they survive, fine. If they die, so what.” President Avis Garthman sniffed. “Natural selection as far as I am concerned.”
“We must ensure that we promote an image of doing our best,” Senator Brickland stated. “I suggest we maintain a camp for propaganda purposes. Pick a select group of inmates and have them live in a camp that is clean and with lots of water and nice buildings. If the public is concerned, we can televise that camp.”
“Excellent. Make that a plan.” Garthman laughed. “Pick people that we can control and ensure that they look happy in the videos. Make it with families so that they look happy with their camp. That will mollify the whiners and bleeding hearts. Tell the camp that we will continue to maintain the camp as long as they cooperate and that we will resupply every six months.
“I don’t think we need to have anyone on station around Doust anymore. Just put up that automatic monitoring satellite; it will record everything that goes on and will notify our guard ship if there is a ship that comes within orbit range.
“Now, General Greggsen, how is the pacification of Primus going ground wise? I understand that we have completed the occupation of the major cities but are running into resistance in the rural areas?”
“The going on Primus is slow, but with the Fleet overhead, as soon as we push enough of the resistance into a tight bunch, we get them to send in a Kew to remove the problem. Again, we were surprised that there was so much resistance; our informants said that it would be a cakewalk. I expect that we will have control of all vital areas in a couple of weeks. We can expect weak resistance after that, mostly locals that don’t like us. Our policy of eradicating a town near where the resistance is most prevalent is beginning to work. The locals are getting to the point of turning in some of the rebel ground troops now. By the beginning of next month we can have enough troops freed up to go to Silva and start pacifying there.”
CHAPTER 14
Getting Jeb Julliard
“SIR, WE ARE APPROACHING CARVER. No signs of any hot ships,” the sensor operator said to Captain Bruce Duely. “Carver base is still hot but quiet.”
“Thanks, Charlene,” Bruce replied. “Com’s put out a call for the junkman, to see if he’s home.”
“Tactical, we’re getting activity on the station. The corvette has just scrambled and is moving away from the station,” the tactical operator stated.
“I see that. Thank you, tactical,” Bruce acknowledged. “Coms, is there a reply yet?”
“Negative, sir.”
“Right, we will just wait to see what this corvette is up to,” Bruce said.
Bruce watched the corvette move away from the station and start a search pattern looking for the source of the communication to the station. The corvette moved away from the station and stopped about ten thousand kilometers off. From there they could try to triangulate with the station to pinpoint the signal.
“Coms. Incoming signal, sir,” the communication operator stated. “Putting communication on speaker now.”
“Unidentified vessel, this is acting Commander Julian Colburn. Please identify yourself and your location.”
“Well that is interesting. I wonder what happened to Jeb Julliard,” Bruce said to his crew. “Helm, move us as soon as I reply. Coms, can we bounce a signal off the satellite to mask our position?”
“Ah, wait one,” came the reply. A minute later, the communications operator reported that there was a way and started setting it up. “We can relay off the satellite. They will know that it’s a relay but won’t be able to find where the signal originated.”
“Okay, set it up and ask what happened to the junkman, our nickname for someone that looks after all this junk. Helm, move us in behind the corvette as close as possible. I want to put a laser into his engines if required,” Bruce ordered
“Reply from the station, sir,” Coms reported. “Putting it on speaker.”
“Unidentified ship, this is acting Commander Julian Colbu
rn. This is a military base and under the protection of the PRC. Any incursion will be dealt with, with extreme force. You are now ordered to exit the system. A signal has been sent to our long-range ships that will be here shortly.”
“So the PRC has taken over the site. Sensors, do a very long-range scan to see what they have in this system. Yeah, I know that the derelict ships are screwing up the sweeps but look for anything that is under their own power. Helm, how long before we are in position behind the corvette?”
“Five more minutes, sir.”
“Hmm. Okay. Tactical, can you rig up a countermeasure missile to take out that communication array on the top of that station?”
“I will ask the armory to fit one with the guidance chip.”
“Open the channel again, coms.”
“This is the captain of the CSWS Wolf Fang. Any hostile action will be countered with deadly force. You have five minutes to order your corvette to return to its dock or I will destroy it. You have no weapons on that station that can cause my ship harm, so I suggest that you drop your attitude. I do not need a response. I just need to see your complying,” Bruce snarled.
Five minutes later:
“Is the corvette moving yet?”
“Negative, sir.”
“Nav, are we in position?”
“Yes, sir, directly behind the corvette.”
“Tactical, take out their engines and fire on that communication array.”
Bruce watched as the laser sliced through the metal at the back of the ship. Pieces of armor and plating started to fly off, and the engine glow flared and then went dark. Over the communication channel, he heard the corvette calling for help and the station responding that they couldn’t do anything. At the same time, he watched as the small missile impacted on the communication array at the top of the station.
Bruce looked over at marine Commander Dob Fahlen. “Dob, you best get your crew ready for a little boarding action.”
“CSWS Wolf Fang, you have made a mistake by firing on a PRC installation and disabling a PRC warship. This will be reported to the central committee, and you will feel the full wrath of the empire!”
“Acting Commander Colburn, I am sending over a squad of top marines to secure the station. Any resistance to my marines will result in many of your people dead, and we will secure the station anyway. You are ordered to stand down and assemble all personnel in the cargo bay of the station. Again, any resistance will be dealt with by deadly force,” Bruce stated.
“Commander Fahlen is en route to the station, sir,” the tactical operator stated. “No indication of defensive action from the station.”
Ten minutes later, Bruce got the all clear, and they proceeded to dock with the station. When he walked inside, the marine commander was holding a small, skinny, very agitated Commander Colburn by the arm. Bruce took the report from marine Commander Fahlen that the station was clear and that junkman was incarcerated in the holding area of the station. Bruce had the marines sent down to release him as he turned to Julian Colburn.
“Perhaps you can bring me up to date as to what transpired here, Commander.”
“I will tell you rebels nothing,” he snarled back. “The PRC will track you all down and eradicate you and your kind from the empire.”
“Ah, a fanatic. I love you guys. It’s easy to justify misery for the glory of the empire, especially when it’s happening to someone else. I wonder how your glorious superiors will think of you when they discover that you were responsible for the loss of a station and the damage to a warship—oh and the escape of a prisoner.” Bruce glared at him. Julian Copland glared back but said nothing.
Bruce ordered the computer’s database downloaded. All supplies and spare equipment were stripped from the station. After Bruce and Jeb returned to the Wolf Fang, he had the personnel of the station put on a shuttle and sent over to the damaged corvette. With the return of the shuttle, the Wolf Fang moved into the bone yard.
“Jeb, it’s good to see you again. Help yourself to a drink and have a seat. How did you manage to get yourself locked up?” Bruce asked as he shook Jeb’s hand.
“Good to see you too, Bruce,” Jeb said. “The PRC came to visit; I believe that you know the commander, Julian Colburn. Well, he had orders to activate twenty ships for removal from the bone yard to be moved to the space yards at Cappa Tauri. He also wanted all the access codes for the ships. I asked for authorization and told him that we would need at least two weeks to get the ships up to operability. Well apparently that wasn’t a good enough answer. He insisted that we start warming them up, as crews would be arriving within the week to take control of the ships and the yard. I was also placed on restricted duties due to my resistance to work with the PRC, probably due to my refusal to sell Ray Hunter down the river. I was banished here as a result of that, by the way. Anyway, when I tried to delay the startup of those ships, he arrested me and threw me into a holding area. Thankfully you all arrived the next day.”
“Good timing then. If the PRC is after more ships, then they must be taking enough damage in the war to need more replacement ships or parts. I think we can prevent them from getting these ships here, but I bet Reno will be picked clean. We were going to pick up some ships for us today, but I think we better make sure the PRC can’t take any usable ships from here. Especially those two dreadnoughts—they are the only thing big enough to cause us damage. Those dreads could be used to smash our guard stations or just fill them with explosives and send them in to ram the stations,” Bruce said. He ordered his engineer to prepare some scuttling charges so that they could destroy the big ships that were left behind.
Different crews were shuttled over to the ships they had picked out, thanks to Sinclair again with her activation codes. Ten more ships were brought back to life. This time the ships were cruisers and heavy cruisers and another old battleship, the Constantinople, a fifty-five-year-old warrior that had seen service in a few rim battles. After the ships were hot and on their way to the gate, Bruce ordered the scuttling charges activated on the two dreadnoughts that were there and the half a dozen other major warships. These were set to detonate a few hours after they had gone. They passed by the station, and Bruce fired a missile into the power plant, exploding the station. He then told the acting commander that he was on his own and passed through the system. He guessed it would take a few days for the PRC to figure out who had just pirated the bone yard and had blown up the station.
Two hours after they had gated out, the bone yard erupted in a dozen of explosions. Pieces of destroyed ships were propelled into whole ships, causing damage, and they all bounced around, banging and smashing into each other. It would take a concerted effort to recover any damaged ships, as they were going to be in motion, banging into each other for a long time. The dreadnoughts had broken up and were now totally useless. The only things that were recoverable were frigates and some support ships. Bruce hoped to be in Conrad in a week, barring any breakdowns or trouble. There were three shipyards and two repair ships waiting there for the eleven ships.
When to the PRC arrived with their engineers and support crews to reactivate the battleships, dreadnoughts, and heavy cruisers, they found that they were either stolen or destroyed. The Fleet commander was beside himself with fury. When he recovered Colburn and the rest of the demoralized station crew, he had him interrogated while they did a survey to see what was recoverable. Even as they were trying to take stock, they lost a shuttle to a collision with a piece of a scuttled ship.
“So, Colburn, you said that they were from the CSWS Wolf Fang? Who are the CSWS?” Commodore Walter Zeron asked the frightened commander. “What was their ship?”
“I … I … don’t know, Commodore,” Julian Colburn stammered. “They boarded with a shuttle, and when they captured us, we were blindfolded and shuttled to the corvette. The corvette was without power, so we couldn’t do any scanning.”
“Are you saying that this ship took out the corvette and then boarded the station without being seen?” Commodore Zeron snarled. “Did you offer any resistance or just cower in the corner until they grabbed you?”
“I … I … didn’t have much choice, sir.” Colburn was desperate to explain. He was terrified of this powerful man and what he could do to him. He already had a feeling that his career was heading downhill fast. “They boarded the station with fully equipped, heavily armed marines. We weren’t armed except for side arms. They picked up the station chief, one Jeb Juliard, and took him away. After they finished with the station, they put a missile into her.”
“Juliard … hmmm. I don’t know him, but I will pass on his name to the Information Collectorate. Since you are better at pushing a stylus than fighting, you can take all the reports from my shuttle crews and give me a report when they are finished as to what is salvageable in this system. Leave my sight until then,” Commodore Zeron growled.
It took eight days to get all the ships through Conrad’s gate and into the system. The ships went immediately into the shipyards. The tally was one battleship, three more heavy cruisers, three cruisers, and four light cruisers. The light cruisers were sent into the yard, as they would be the fastest to turn around. The repair ship began to strip the old armor off the heavies and sent them to the solar forge to reconstitute into nano metal armor. There was a large celebration on Darcy the night of their arrival to celebrate the recovery of the ships.
Ray met Bruce and Jeb at the debriefing. He was surprised that the PRC was trying to grab the ships at the bone yard, as they would take months to refit at their yards, but it showed that either they had more manpower than ships or they were running short on ships.