by David Buck
‘Bridget, fire the spinal mount weapon at the second ship in three minutes. I then want you to change course and take the Newport at full speed towards the lifters as that will force the frigates to turn to follow you.’
The particle cannon timers counted down for a third time and once again the combined firepower of the destroyers lashed out at a frigate. Joel noted that the second frigate was also a tumbling ruin, even if the enemy ship’s shields were still operating at half strength. Lieutenant Chandra called out a warning, even as the Newport began her turn and accelerated.
‘Commander, the two remaining frigates have each launched six missiles at the Newport and impact is in two minutes.’
Joel did not waste any time with his next order.
‘All ships are to target those missiles with all weapons.’
The destroyers open fire with all the point defences and the turreted weapons on the twelve missiles, and Joel noted that one of the turrets on the Madrid destroyed three missiles in quick succession. The point defences easily claimed the remaining missiles as Joel now complimented the Madrid’s crew.
‘Commander Everson to the commander of the Madrid - that was good shooting by your dorsal turret crew to down those missiles. Now the Madrid is to target the frigate at red 50 with four missiles and the Newport can do the same to the other frigate at red 70. The Auckland will take down the damaged frigate at the rear with two missiles.’
Laser fire from the turrets of the destroyers was being answered by lessening amounts of weapons fire from the remaining undamaged Jerecab frigates, as Joel watched the three sets of missiles track towards their targets. In minutes the damaged frigate was blown to fragments by both missiles from the Auckland. Joel then watched as both surviving Jerecab frigates went into violent evasive manoeuvres in a vain attempt to avoid the missiles. At least one missile was downed by each frigate before a pair of explosions erupted across each frigate. The commander noted that only large fragments of one frigate remained before they too detonated in secondary explosions.
Joel next turned his attention onto the lifters with only a single instruction needed.
‘Okay, so that is the frigates done, now I want no missiles used for these lifters…’
The three destroyers now opened fire again with their special ship killer weapon, the spinal mount particle cannon that Joel knew had taken a great deal of research to develop. He tried to ignore the masses of bodies that erupted from the first lifter after it broke into several smaller pieces. The bridge crew surmised that the large alien ship was a troop transport as Joel turned to the next phase of his mission.
After another half an hour, the remaining three lifters had exploded into atoms and the human ships now fled the Topaz star system before they were intercepted. Joel looked over his orders with concern as he evaluated how he would deploy the masses of equipment and men crammed inside the three destroyer’s small cargo holds. He was hopeful that he setup a tech lab and refuelling station on an asteroid in the next system as they had earlier identified a suitable location. The commander knew that the other destroyers scattered around the former Dradfer colonies would be facing similar problems.
***
Gindane looked over the information of the recent battles with deep cynicism, also in part because the Jerecab Admiral had not been present when she arrived with her ships. The Jerecab were currently being badly beaten by the humans, but she knew that this could change very quickly. The Barus research captain also knew that the Jerecab commanders distrusted her, as she ordered the Rupane to lead two other cruisers and several destroyers further into the system. She could see that several frigates in obviously damaged condition guarded a patchwork of lifters and smaller transports around the habitable planet.
Gindane stood from her command chair, and swivelled aside the console, before she then rubbed her upper arms in frustration. She motioned to the obviously unwell communications officer to open a video channel and she began to speak slowly.
‘Captain Gindane of the Barus Research Institute to Jerecab Commander, I was hoping to find your admiral at this location, as I am continuing my efforts to end this war. I once again ask you to past on my requests to the admiral for his attacks on the humans to end.’
Several minutes went by as the message crawled at the speed of light towards the Jerecab ships. Gindane was almost about to repeat her message when the terse reply from the Jerecab commander arrived.
‘Commander Neanres to Barus Captain Gindane, once again we speak again Professor. The Admiral has taken the rest of the fleet with him to deal with the humans after they inflicted a series of defeats upon our glorious armada. We are in no mood to consider peace with the humans, and you will now leave this system.’
Gindane gritted her teeth in frustration, but she was also relieved that the Jerecab were not inclined to attack her ships. She laboured the point with the Jerecab commander even as she ordered her ships to change course to leave.
‘Gindane to Neanres, Commander we will comply with your instructions to leave this system. But note we protest both our scout destroyers being driven away and the refusal of your admiral to listen to my instructions. Remember that both of our races are driven by edicts, and I fear the justice of both the Zronte and the Vorinne will be merciless.’
After several minutes another reply came in from Commander Neanres.
‘Captain Gindane I have my orders and they do not include listening to the edicts at this stage from a Barus interloper. Your requests are meaningless without the presence of significant forces to make us change our plans.’
Gindane sat back sombrely in her command chair and remained silent, for the tactical display now came online showing the Jerecab frigates were forming up to come after her own ships. The research commander now made plans to try again in the next star system. She then noted that the Jerecab ships were still a great distance away, before again ensuring that her ships were broadcasting the neutrality and non-aggression clauses.
***
Several star systems away, Omerio was now having problems of his own pressuring a Jerecab freighter pilot to obey his instructions.
‘Look pilot, I command a full squadron of cruisers and we are legally instructed to patrol these sectors by the Vorinne second envoy. I require you to alter course and retrace your journey back towards your rear deployment zones.’
Omerio struggled to remain patient as the message crossed the millions of kilometres to the Jerecab lifter. He was feeling unwell and his fur itched incessantly from the human virus, nearby on the bridge one of his lieutenants gave a series of self conscious sniffs. He had raced his fleet across several star systems to be at this system in a particular point in time. A reply soon came back from the Jerecab, even as he instructed three of his cruisers to cut off the lifter.
‘Captain, I regret I am unable to comply with your instructions, and I would advise you to leave my ship alone. We are expecting the arrival of significant numbers of our frigates within two hours.’
As the screen went dead, Omerio cancelled the recent order to the three cruisers to intercept the lifter. Tamerio glanced at him and Omerio knew that his friend was also unwell. Omerio then looked at the time and distance calculations to the nearest jump location point before giving a series of orders.
‘We can be well on the way to the nearest jump point in two hours, so we will alter course to leave immediately. Ensure we continue to broadcast the non-violence clauses as we leave.
Omerio sat back with an air of accomplishment, for the scenario he had devised earlier was relying upon the Jerecab being drawn to this system. Patiently he discussed the options with Commander Tamerio, and they both quietly looked in satisfaction at the simulation unfolding on one of the smaller console screens.
***
Admiral Baunrus raged as he read a series of combat reports from the sectors his armada supposedly controlled. He considered executing the commanders involved until he realised that the humans had saved him the troub
le. Apart from the two destroyers his ships had destroyed several days ago, the humans had not suffered any further losses, whereas he was already down over thirty frigates and sixteen lifters. The losses were not yet critical, but he was forming a grudging respect for the capabilities of the human space fleet. The part that galled him the most was that he had lost four large troop transports with a total of six thousand Jerecab marines killed. He looked over the reports and he now noted that a pattern was developing based on his own previous orders to his commanders.
The admirals’ rage cooled and he made a pithy observation to his silent bridge crew.
‘Well we will change our plans and attempt to catch the humans on the wrong foot. We can afford several mistakes but they cannot afford to make any.’
Two other reports came in, the first one of a sighting of enemy ships well away from the combat zones, and the second one of the presence of a Sspol cruiser at one of the colonies. The admiral sat back to review this new information for several moments before he began issuing orders.
‘We will split the armada into five sections of fifty frigates and we will cover the return points for the area of space the humans’ control. The damaged ships will stay at Dradfer three and guard the transports. We will be mindful of the presence of the Sspol for they may have a colony world nearby. Also I want all junior commanders to start driving away the Barus research fleet.’
The massive armada formed into sections and split up as they headed for the jump location points out of the system. On an asteroid in the outer asteroid belt, a stealth robot made a series of observations before crawling back under an overhang. A small rocket was soon launched and raced for a location in deep space, before it went dormant to await the human destroyers.
***
Apinal stopped and slowly looked around her to check if any Deltas Vass drones were in earshot. The drones had earlier taken Apinal and her children to a smaller clearing some distance away from the matriarch’s own larger clearing, and the Quixxe had been supplied with food, water and basic shelter. Apinal reflected for a moment that their open air lifestyle was not unlike that of the countless millions of Quixxe mules on the inner Zronte worlds. She now suppressed a shiver and gave silent thanks that they were now over five thousand light years from the threat of being eaten by a Zronte. Shafinal gave her the all clear song call from the edge of the clearing, so she again moved forward to seek further information.
Apinal had walked up to and given a full formal bow to a Blue Jerecab acolyte that had then rubbed her whiskers for several moments, before giving a polite half bow back in reply. Apinal noted the braided hairpiece that framed the female Jerecab’s face, for she had found an apologist, and she now knew that she was in the right place. The Quixxe female remained silent as the acolyte looked her over before speaking quietly in accented high Barus.
‘You must understand that the Zronte treatment of your race has only ever been sanctioned by the Vorinne, and that is the only thing interesting the overlords as the Vorinne are the most powerful race in this sector after the Zronte themselves. So how can I help you today female of the Quixxe race?’
Apinal offered another bow before she slowly replied.
‘My name is Apinal and we seek sanctuary and a new home in this part of the galaxy. We would like to know of the major events that have occurred, and also what Vorinne forces are likely to be in the area.’
The acolyte regarded Apinal critically for several seconds, before she gestured and both females took a seat in the centre of the clearing as the Jerecab spoke again.
‘The matriarch has already told me of plans she is implementing to soon take you and your offspring much further away from the centre of the galaxy. She will advise you of these plans when the time is right. Most especially she is keen to spirit your daughter Deshinal away to a place of hiding due to her obvious nature. The scout ship you stole has more than paid for her obligation to help you all escape. Now there has been a war that recently ended between the Cephrit and the Tilmud. Our red faction, led by a particularly roguish admiral seeks to take advantage of this fact….’
Apinal relaxed and made sure she paid close attention, and so she came to learn of the recent war, the Tilmud defeat, the former Dradfer colonies, and of a new race called the humans from a planet called Earth. Apinal also learnt with considerable unease that the Vorinne second envoy Thatak’siema and her former master Lord Malang’troh led a small contingent of Vorinne cruisers near Cephrit space.
After Apinal had left with her daughter, a senior drone slowly walked over to the acolyte and asked her a series of polite questions, before giving thanks to the acolyte for her assistance.
‘You have been most patient and helpful in revealing this information to the Quixxe. Your assistance will be highly prized by the matriarch. For now please keep yourself available in case the Quixxe ask any further questions.’
Apinal noted that her youngest daughter was sitting down and well back in the shadows as she returned to their living area with Shafinal. She knew that her daughters’ reclusive habits were something that could still yet save her life. The Quixxe quietly discussed at length what had been learnt as the local star moved slowly towards sunset.
***
Captain Narindestat looked over with exasperation the navigation data that Garendestat had provided. He was aware that the strain of their headlong journey into the galaxy was starting to grate on the nerves of his usually stoic crew. His son kept quiet as he aware of the captain’s recent annoyances. Narindestat called up a larger map and made a series of course changes, before forcing a genial smile and offering an explanation.
‘We will make two longer hyper jumps in quick succession and this will take us to the launch point for the sneak ship within a day. I have used these exact same two jumps before, when the Illuria was infested with Voorde, and they are reasonably safe. Lieutenant, you will take sneak ship eight to the pre-arranged message point and contact the Cephrit. You are only to await a message from the fleet master for four days.’
Garendestat wisely with-held any critical assessments of the two risky hyper jumps, and instead only offered a relieved comment.
‘Well how could we forget that fraught mission when we battled the Voorde, for many good Traders were lost. Now sneak ship eight is already well prepared and I will take Marenkestat and two others with me to the rendezvous with the Cephrit.’
Garendestat fell silent for several moments as he could see his father was in deep thought remembering their dead crew mates. He knew his father still felt the loss of Emeria’s father, First Lieutenant Kureldestat, especially as Narindestat had been preparing the first lieutenant for a ship of his own.
Narindestat shook himself back to the present and straightened himself to his impressive four metre height as he spoke again.
‘Well that journey was in the fine traditions of our race and the fallen crew will be fondly remembered for many hundreds of years. Now can you please ensure the Barede humans are kept on the Resuria and especially away from sneak ship eight. During the last watch we found several of them in supposedly secure areas of the ship running yet another one of their annoying combat exercises.’
Garendestat reassured his father that he would speak again with the human commander, as they both again checked their next two hyper drive jump coordinates. The cloaked Trader wing, almost invisible at great distances, raced at speed towards the next hyper drive jump point. On a nearby small asteroid, a cloaked robot of unknown design discretely observed the passing massive ship with specialised instruments capable of penetrating a cloaking mechanism.
***
Chapter 4
Gindane looked anxiously at the sensor readings after just arriving in the Gold system. She noted that several large groupings of Jerecab frigates were heading for the different hyper space jump locations around the system. What concerned her most was that over forty frigates were now approaching her own fleet’s position. She had ensured the standard non-aggression
clauses were being provided even as the view screen came with a harsh message from another Jerecab commander.
‘The time for talk has ended Barus; you will leave this system now and make no further efforts to end our battles with the humans. This is your final warning and we will attack your ships at any stage from now on.’
Gindane ensured that the message was recorded and available for use at a later inquiry, should they all survive this mission. She gave a deep bow and a distinctly cool answer as she replied.
‘You ignore the forms of diplomacy and you threaten my fleet as they go about their legitimate duties. A protest will be lodged with the senior races at a later stage. I wish to remain neutral and to preserve my ships and their crew, and so I elect to leave this system.’
Now satisfied that her own part of the secret earlier plan was now a success, Gindane ordered her ships to take a diagonal course across the system, as if they were heading for the jump points back to Cephrit space. Twice her fleet came with the range of larger numbers of ships, and twice the Jerecab had then fired warning shots at her ships before sheering away back onto their own course.
Gindane knew that this was a trait of the Jerecab as pack hunters, intimidate and harass their solitary prey before attacking in overwhelming force. She was aware that for the Jerecab, smaller numbers of larger ships attacking their own frigates and defeating them wholesale was a real problem. The Barus captain knew now that the humans were using a sound strategy in dealing with the Jerecab. But would it help them enough given the overwhelming numbers of ships the Jerecab possessed?