Ep.#15 - That Which Other Men Cannot Do (The Frontiers Saga)

by Ryk Brown

  “Is it Jung?” Nathan asked.

  “No, sir. I believe it’s civilian.”

  “Put it up.”

  “They’re sending video as well, sir.”

  “Fine. Put it on the main view screen.”

  The screen switched images, revealing an adult male, in his forties, with perfect features. Standing behind him and to his left were two more men who looked exactly like him. Behind and to his right were three women, each of whom appeared to be exact replicas of one another.

  “What the hell?” Jessica exclaimed.

  “This is Captain Nathan Scott, of the Alliance ship, Aurora,” Nathan greeted. “To whom am I speaking?”

  “I am Emel number twelve-twenty, seventy-five, Chief of Security for Nifelm,” the man replied quickly, as if panicked.

  “I take it you received our…”

  “Yes, yes,” the man replied, interrupting the captain. “We received your message, Captain. Please, attack without haste, I beg of you!”

  “Sir, you do understand, that attacking the Jung assets on your world will result in significant collateral…”

  “We are aware,” the man replied impatiently. “We can rebuild. Please…”

  “Lives will be lost,” Nathan warned. He turned to Jessica.

  “Thousands, at least,” she clarified.

  “Thousands, possibly tens of thousands,” Nathan said to the man on the view screen.

  “Physical bodies can be replaced,” the man insisted. “Souls can be transferred. Please, Captain. The Jung are already entering our cities in an attempt to evade destruction. If you do not attack now, the destruction will be much worse, believe me. I’m begging you, Captain. Destroy the Jung bases, immediately!”

  “Very well,” Nathan replied. “Tell your people to take cover. We will attack in five…”

  “You must attack now!” Emel begged. “Please! You must trust me!”

  Nathan took a deep breath. “As you wish.” He turned to Naralena, signaling for her to end the link. “Fire when ready, Lieutenant Commander.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jessica replied.

  “Miss Avakian, relay the order to begin immediate bombardment of all Jung surface assets to the Celestia.”

  “Yes, sir,” Naralena replied.

  “Weapons locked on first target,” Jessica announced. “Initiating firing sequence.” She pressed the firing button, then looked at Nathan. “Clones?”

  “I’m guessing, yes,” Nathan replied.

  “That would explain why the admiral didn’t seem concerned with the Jung trying to hide among the locals.”

  “Yes, it would.”

  “Captain,” Mister Navashee interrupted. “I’m picking up energy spikes, explosions, and a lot of radiation from the battle platform’s last position.”

  “What about the Jar-Benakh?” Nathan wondered.

  “She’s still there, sir.”

  Nathan smiled. “Nice to have a battleship on our side again.”

  “Sure as hell is,” Jessica agreed. “First target destroyed. Second target will be in range in fifteen seconds.”

  “Comms, dispatch a jump comm-drone to Sol,” Nathan instructed. “Let Commander Telles know that he will be cleared to begin cleanup of Nifelm within the hour.”

  * * *

  Every afternoon, Captain Dubnyk had gotten into the habit of taking his afternoon tea and pabva cakes in the gazebo at the far corner of his back garden. Built by one of his students in exchange for teachings, it was just big enough for two or three people. However, today, as was the case on most days, he took his tea alone.

  It was a ritual he quite enjoyed, actually, as it gave him time to reflect on the teachings of the morning while his midday meal settled. The process left him energized, and ready for the afternoon lessons.

  Fayla stepped out of the kitchen door and down the steps into the back garden, weaving her way through the vegetable garden to join her employer. “How was your tea?” she asked as she approached.

  “Lovely, as usual, my dear,” the captain replied. “In fact, I could be convinced to partake in a second cup, if a lovely young lady were to insist.”

  Fayla smiled as she bent over to pick up the captain’s empty cup and saucer. She spied the empty plate that had contained two pabva cakes. “Your appetite improves,” she said, relieved. “You rarely ask for a second cup, let alone finish both cakes.”

  “I believe the treatments are working,” Captain Dubnyk told her, “much to my surprise, I must admit.”

  “I told you,” Fayla said as she sat across from him. “Do not question the healing powers of Tannan herbs and teas. Without them, our people would not have survived the dark ages that followed the great plague.”

  “How did you know of such things?” he asked. “You are far too young to know anything of the dark ages.”

  “Stories handed down by the elder women of my tribe,” she explained.

  “Ah, yes, the tribes of Tanna.”

  “I know you must find the notion of tribes somewhat antiquated in this day and age. But to many, our past is more of who we are than our present.”

  “On the contrary, tribes were quite common after the plague,” the captain said. “It was the only way to survive. Strength in numbers, and all that. They existed on Earth, as well as many of the core worlds that I visited before fleeing the sector.”

  She scrutinized him closely, looking into the whites of his eyes, and examining the color and texture of the wrinkled skin on his face. “You do look better,” she admitted. “Your eyes are much clearer, and your skin color has improved.” She grinned. “You may even have fewer wrinkles than before.”

  “One can dream,” the old captain replied.

  “Another cup, then,” she said, rising from her seat. “And maybe another pabva cake as well?”

  “Yes, I think,” he replied, smiling.

  She bent over and placed his teacup and saucer on top of the empty pabva plate. She stood up straight again and turned back toward the house. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she said, reaching into her apron pocket. “Brill’s younger brother, Tylor, delivered this for you a few minutes ago,” she said as she handed the captain a small envelope.

  “Will you?” he asked. “My fingers are still not what they once were.”

  Fayla carefully opened the elaborately folded envelope until it was no longer an envelope, but a note. She attempted to hand it to him again.

  “Nor are my eyes, I’m afraid,” the captain said.

  “It is from Brill. He has been accepted into the Alliance Marines. He leaves this evening for Earth.”

  “How wonderful for young Mister Daymon,” Captain Dubnyk said happily.

  Fayla looked at the old man, a puzzled look on her face. “I thought you did not approve of the Alliance?”

  “I neither approve nor disapprove of them,” he explained. “I am, however, happy for Brill. He will learn much, see much. And someday, he will return and share what he has learned with all of us. He will add his knowledge and experiences to our own, and we shall all be the richer for it.”

  “If he survives,” Fayla reminded him. “There is a war being fought, do not forget.”

  “Of course, of course,” Captain Dubnyk agreed. “We shall send him our positive thoughts.”

  Fayla handed the paper to her employer and departed.

  Captain Dubnyk folded the paper in half, then half again, and then held it in the candle’s flame. The paper quickly caught fire, and he held it in front of him for as long as he could. Finally, he set it next to the candle and allowed it to burn into ashes, which were carried away by the afternoon breeze.

  He smiled at his good fortune.

  * * *

  “He is always ragging on me,” Josh complained as they walked across what had once been the Aurora’s main cargo bay, and was now her main hangar deck.

  “It just seems that way because you avoid talking to him,” Loki insisted.

  “Because he’s always ragging on
me.”

  “Well, maybe if you weren’t always breaking procedure…”

  “I wouldn’t always be breaking procedure, if so many of the procedures weren’t stupid.”

  “Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean they are stupid, Josh.”

  “Yeah, it pretty much does, Lok,” Josh argued, “at least in my eyes, it does.”

  “You’d make a terrible transport pilot.”

  “Please, those guys aren’t even pilots,” Josh scoffed, stopping to watch the final converted Super Falcon pull off the elevator pad and roll toward its parking spot in one of the starboard alcoves. “All they do is push buttons all day. Auto-flight take me here, auto-flight take me there. Oh, and don’t forget the seatbelt sign. That’s a tricky one.”

  Loki tuned his partner out, as usual, instead choosing to watch the crew of the eighth and final Super Falcon open their side canopy windows and climb out of their ship and down to the deck. “Come on,” he told his friend as he headed toward the Super Falcon.

  Loki walked up to the Super Falcon crew. “Hi, I’m Loki Sheehan,” he greeted offering his hand. “This is my partner, Josh Hayes.”

  “Dorrel Lasan,” the first man replied, shaking Loki’s hand. “This is Gannon Parkin.”

  “A pleasure,” the second man greeted in a thick brogue.

  “You’re Corinairan?” Josh asked.

  “What gave it away?” Gannon asked with a smile. “Me dashin’ good looks, was it?”

  “Something like that,” Josh replied, shaking the man’s hand.

  “You’re not Corinairan,” Loki said to the first man.

  “Palean,” he replied.

  “Really?” Loki said, shocked. “I think you’re the first Palean we’ve had on board.”

  “No, there’s a guy in environmental… Yarik something,” Josh said.

  “Are you two our welcoming committee, then?” Gannon wondered.

  “Flight ops asked us to show you guys around, help you find your quarters, the mess…you know. All the important stuff.”

  “Shouldn’t we check in first?” Dorrel asked.

  “CAG’s in a meeting right now. He said to have you report to his office after dinner.”

  Gannon looked sidelong at Loki, eyeing him suspiciously. “You wouldn’t be trying to pull a fast one on us, now would ya? Trying to get us in the dutch with the boss on our first day?”

  “In the dutch,” Josh laughed. “You’re definitely Corinairan.”

  “If it was Josh offering, then yes, I’d be suspicious,” Loki admitted. “I can take you to the CAG, if you’d prefer?”

  Gannon looked Josh up and down, then looked at Loki. “I see your point. He does look a might untrustworthy.”

  “What? Me?” Josh said innocently.

  “You, on the other hand, have a face like a choir boy,” Gannon joked. “I suppose I can trust you.” He turned to Dorrel. “Whattaya think, Lasan?”

  Dorrel nodded his approval. “Lead the way, gentlemen.”

  * * *

  Admiral Dumar entered the mission briefing room on Karuzara and headed straight for the podium.

  “Admiral on deck!” the guard at the door barked.

  Everyone in the room rose to their feet and came to attention.

  “As you were,” the admiral instructed as he stepped up to the podium. The large view screen on the wall behind him came to life, displaying the chart of a star system. “Tomorrow’s mission will be Mu Cassiopeiae, both A and B elements.”

  Nathan quickly glanced at Jessica, checking to see if she was as shocked as well. A turn of his head to the left revealed that Cameron had the same reaction.

  “With the success of the attack on Beta Hydri, and the way the Jar-Benakh was able to handle the damaged battle platform, we expect this mission to be one of our easiest to date. First, there are no local inhabitants in either system, other than the Jung.”

  “Why are the Jung even there?” Commander Kovacic asked.

  “Mu Cassiopeiae is a stepping stone of sorts. It serves as a communication hub for that area of the Sol sector, as well as a convenient refueling point for ships traveling between Eta Cassiopeiae and the fringe worlds of Iota and Theta Persei, as well as Iota Pegasi, HR 51, and Capella.”

  “Then it has a propellant depot?” Cameron surmised.

  “Yes, but that’s not why we’re taking it out. In fact, we don’t plan on trying to capture the processing facilities intact, as they are fairly well protected against landing parties. If we are able to capture the system with the propellant storage fields intact, so be it, but I do not intend to put anyone at undue risk to that end.”

  “So, we’re just hitting it because of the Jung ships that are stationed there?” Commander Willard commented skeptically.

  “Partly, yes,” Admiral Dumar admitted. “At twenty-four point seven light years from Sol, the presence of those ships is a significant threat to Earth. More importantly, however, is the fact that it is a centrally located, major distribution hub. Intelligence indicates numerous visits from supply and troop ships, with more ships arriving full than departing.”

  “Then it’s a logistics staging point,” Commander Kovacic realized.

  “That is our conclusion as well,” the admiral concurred. “One that is very well situated, with at least three worlds less than fifteen light years away, and five more less than twenty-five…including Earth. From Mu Cassiopeiae, the Jung can bring a sizable force to any of those worlds in less than, or a little over one year.”

  The admiral paused for a moment, letting the strategic value of the next day’s target sink into the minds of his officers. “We will initiate the attack as usual, taking out the platform and battleship first with jump KKVs. However, this time, we will not be jumping in to verify their destruction before pressing the attack to other ships. Experience has shown us that with our current spread of twelve to sixteen jump KKVs, the odds of completely missing either target is extremely slim. So, at the very least, the targets will be damaged, and therefore will be unlikely to interfere with our attack on the remaining assets in the system. We will press the attack, with the Jar-Benakh taking out the two cruisers, and the Cobra gunships taking out the frigates. Meanwhile, the Aurora will target the supply base on Pallendale, and the Celestia will take care of the troop base on Darmath.”

  “What about the fuel plant?” Nathan asked.

  “Super Falcons should be able to handle both the processing plant and the propellant depot defenses.”

  “You indicated that there would be an attack on both systems,” Nathan reminded the admiral.

  “Indeed,” the admiral replied. “Mu Cassiopeiae B has no planets, but it does have a rather large asteroid field. One of them, an asteroid about twice the size of this base, is believed to have a spaceport inside of it. On one of Scout One’s flybys, long-range passive sensors detected several ships that appeared to approach the asteroid, but did not depart. We sent a Super Falcon with an advanced sensor package on it, and were able to verify entrances into the asteroid, as well as detect several ships arriving and departing.”

  “What size ships?” Nathan wondered.

  “So far, we’ve seen nothing bigger than a frigate enter the base, but considering the asteroid’s size, I suspect it could accommodate larger ships as well.”

  “How are we going to capture that thing?” Captain Roselle wondered. “They’ve got to have an awful lot of defenses, and maybe even a few cruisers in there… Or worse.”

  “Which is why we aren’t going to bother trying to capture it,” Admiral Dumar said, surprising everyone in the room.

  “Admiral,” Nathan started to question.

  “The plan is to hit it with jump KKVs at the same time. The asteroid’s orbit is quite predictable, so it should be easy to hit. We calculate that at least four JKKVs should do the trick. The Aurora will launch the B group first, then the A group. A jump shuttle will initiate launch of the B group, at zero hour like all the rest.”

>   “If that is a shipyard, it’s a hell of an asset to just throw away,” Captain Roselle objected.

  “Perhaps,” Admiral Dumar replied, “but the potential cost of capturing that asset is too great. It would require significant human resources in the form of boarding parties. Furthermore, we have no data on her internal defenses. The only option would be the use of the Ghatazhak, and Commander Telles agrees that without further intelligence about their internal defenses, we cannot even guess at a probability of success. It is just too risky.”

  “Could we wait?” Cameron wondered. “Pass it by for now, and come back later in the hopes of having additional manpower?”

  “Not an option,” the admiral said, shaking his head. “We don’t know how long we can continue to expand our Jung-free zone around Sol. Because of that, we must work outward, evenly, all the way around us. Leaving a logistical strong point like Mu Cassiopeiae untouched is too much of a risk. It must be destroyed.”

  “Then that’s what we’re going to do,” Captain Roselle agreed confidently.

  * * *

  Captain Poc entered the admiral’s office, pausing at the doorway. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

  “Captain, yes,” Admiral Dumar greeted him, gesturing to an empty chair. “Please, come in. Have a seat.”

  Captain Poc entered the admiral’s office and sat down.

  “When did you get in?” the admiral asked, more out of courtesy than genuine interest.

  “About half an hour ago,” the captain replied.

  “It must be nice to get out and stretch your legs a bit. I know we’ve been keeping you and your ship pretty busy these past few months.”

  “Completely understandable, Admiral.”

  “Well, the intelligence that your ship has provided has been invaluable. You and your men should be proud of that fact.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’ll pass that on to my crew.” Captain Poc cocked his head to one side. “Sir, if I might ask a question?”

  “Of course.”

  “Usually, when we come into port for turn around, we already have an idea of what our next mission will be. However, this time, we were simply instructed to make port, and for me to report to your office.”

  “More of a statement than a question,” the admiral observed. “I speak with most of my ship captains on a regular basis. However, due to the constant demands on your ship, I rarely get to speak with you.”