Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace

by David Buck

  The view screen changed to show the human that Gindane knew as Admiral Mary Neilson, who offered a bow and began to speak in a series of accurate short sentences.

  ‘Captain Gindane, it is nice to see you again and hopefully your fleet has suffered little at the hands of the Jerecab. We have lost two more destroyers and too many supply ships recently, so we are making an orderly withdrawal back to our home systems. We are planning to delay the Jerecab as much as we can without risking too many ships.’

  Gindane gave a deep bow of respect as she replied, for she genuinely liked the humans.

  ‘Admiral it is good to see you again as well. The Jerecab are searching the former colonies from one end to the other in an attempt to bring your main fleet to battle. Omerio is operating his fleet as we discussed earlier and he begins his next move shortly.’

  Mary looked over at the impassive face of the taller Barus female and knew that she could not establish whether or not the truth was being told. However she knew that the actions of the Barus were important and hopefully they would follow her to Earth. The admiral gave another series of explanations of her own plans as she thought furiously ahead.

  ‘Most of the transports will only be carrying fuel and the un-used troop transports are being sent directly back to Earth after they move across their food stores. I am ordering this as there is no point in sacrificing the lives of our marines unless it is a high value target.’

  Gindane evaluated the comment with approval, for even if they had lost transports earlier, she knew that the humans had a rationale in their methods. Her next comments acknowledged this fact and also seized on Mary’s concerns about her transports.

  ‘Admiral, I can escort your supply ships and transports back to Earth and this will free up your destroyers from escort duty. We can point out to the senior vassal races that we are attempting to defuse the conflict by escorting some of your ships from the war zone. Also I can advise your authorities on how the final battle should be planned to allow for the best possibility of victory.’

  Mary felt relief as she quickly considered and accepted the offer. For escorting the civilian ships home had been a big concern, and now she had at least some of the Barus forces protecting Earth as well.

  ‘Thank you Captain Gindane for your most generous offer and I accept. Note that I have already sent a few ships home with wounded and they carry my reports of your helpful actions at the colonies. I will send further reports with our supply ships about the next stages of our plans.’

  Gindane waited patiently as Mary allocated all her troop transports and several fuel tankers across to the care of the Barus research fleet. After several more hours her research cruiser was leading her new charges back to the rest of her fleet. The Barus waited at the hyper drive point for human fleet of destroyers to arrive before the mass of ships departed on the long journey to Earth. The eternal calm of the remote star system returned, as dim light reflected inside deep craters of several of the ice asteroids near the Echelon base to highlight several landed supply ships now devoid of their crews.

  ***

  Captain Narindestat was quietly going through the fortunately small lists of damage reports to his sneak ships when the bridge alarm loudly gave the first a series of three loud screeches. He swore volubly as he turned off the alarm and the main view screen updated with dire news he had not predicted. The screen showed the symbols of eight large cruisers had appeared within two hundred thousand kilometres of his position and they were heading towards the Resuria.

  Lieutenant Garendestat kept outwardly calm, but inside his mind and two stomachs was roiling in uncertainty, as he automatically keyed maximum thrust from the Resuria’s massive ion engines. Lieutenant Marenkestat loudly announced the configuration of the new arrivals, not that anyone had any doubts as the first pictures came of the unknown ships.

  ‘Captain the new arrivals are an older design of Zronte heavy cruisers and they appear to have been re-engineered, so their offensive capability could be very high. They will be in range in half an hour, and they all have the rear mounted type two hyper drive system like we do with the Resuria.’

  Captain Narindestat was aware that his ship had accelerated heavily and he silently gave thanks for the training of his bridge crew as he took in the strength of the cruisers and their course. The attackers seemed to have pulled off a text box ambush using their advanced hyper drives to enter the system will inside the standard transfer point. He also gave thanks that all but two of his sneak ships were now on their pylons and safe for the moment. He keyed a series of time and distance calculations and gave several urgent orders after first getting a video channel to the humans nearby.

  ‘Narindestat to sneak ships six and eight, you are to go with your cousins to their home world as we are withdrawing immediately to the outskirts of the galaxy. All docked sneak ships are to go to emergency thrust but remain docked on their pylons at all costs. Prepare the main batteries to open fire and ensure all shields are set to fast recharge rates.’

  Narindestat was just about to speak with Joel Everson when the main view screen came online and he flinched as he took in the identity of the race facing him. The Fenshilla commandant was sitting in his raised command chair and at his feet a pair of chained and naked humans stared out defiantly. The Fenshilla wasted no time in giving the Trader an ultimatum.

  ‘Surrender Trader and you will avoid many deaths amongst your crew. We are the Fenshilla black claw brigade and we are under the authority of Lord Temeroth.’

  Narindestat quickly discarded the option of surrender for he had no doubt his entire crew would be summarily murdered. He did try to delay the Fenshilla commandant by bargaining in high Trader, though he was not hopeful of escaping by negotiation. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the speed of the Resuria was rapidly increasing and the intelligent simulation in his data tablet had now changed from red to orange.

  ‘Greetings to you Commandant and I urge you to employ caution in dealing with the humans, for they have powerful friends in the Maveen, and are also resourceful in their own right. You should know we have traded for many years with the other factions of your race, especially the Silver Guards and the Enin Oligarchy. Surely we can come to a beneficial arrangement if you come forward in only one ship.’

  Joel looked at the two humans on the bridge of the Fenshilla ship and recognised the tall blonde woman as Freya Paulson, the commander of the Buenos Aires. The commander had immediately given up on following the conversation in Trader between the two alien races. He was appalled at the plight of the captives as he realised that Freya was signalling four and three with the digits of her right hand. Lieutenant Chandra briefly spoke up with the identity of the second human on the alien cruiser.

  ‘Commander, that is Engineer Steve Rickers of the Tokyo with Commander Paulson, as I studied with him at the Luna academy.’

  Joel knew now the ultimate fate of two of Mary Neilson’s ships as he realised that Steve Rickers was signalling a ‘d’ and the hull numbers of Tokyo and the Buenos Aires. He screamed a threat at the Fenshilla commander as the alien now struck out savagely at both humans with a two foot long electric prod.

  ‘Leave them alone! We will find you and your race and we will kill the lot of you for your attacks on our people.’

  The Fenshilla commandant gave no sign of understanding him and Joel simmered in rage at the futility of the whole situation. Narindestat looked on with concern and he ordered Garendestat to start translating on another video channel. The Trader had a stock of precious goods in his hold, but he knew that greed meant everything with the black claw brigade. He also knew that the brigade only survived because the two dominant factions would not combine to defeat them. The snarling answer from the commandant after he finished hitting the humans proved his point.

  ‘I will not bargain for something I can take by force, and you and your ship and these pathetic humans now belong to me.’

  Narindestat looked over at the time and
distance calculations, and he ordered a course change that he knew he would regret. The time and distance calculator stopped flashing orange and again started indicating red as he now spoke to Joel Everson.

  ‘Commander, you must leave this system immediately and do not even attempt to recover the crew from the crippled transports. You must just leave and good luck with your mission. I will attempt to hold off these cruisers for as long as I can with my ship.’

  Joel hesitated for several seconds before he noticed that sneak ships six and eight were already aborting their approach to the stricken transports. Rick now spoke urgently to Joel in frustration for he was aware of the dire threat of the Fenshilla.

  ‘Joel, we are abandoning our fourteen rescue crew members and Commander Burgess has ordered me to flee with your ships and assist you with your mission.’

  Joel now gave a series of curt orders as he adjusted to the situation, for the probable loss of the rescue crews and also the remaining crew of the transports was bothering him greatly.

  ‘Rick, form up with my three destroyers and we will keep ourselves between the transports and the cruisers. All ships are to use flank speed to leave this system for the Gold system immediately. Commander Burgess, good luck to you and your crew, you are in command of the survivors on our transports.’

  Joel watched on the view screen as the several transport ships moved at speed towards their next hyper space jump. He knew that it was fortunate that the transports they had brought with them had a reasonable turn of speed for civilian ships. The screen now changed as Commander Burgess spoke to him for the first and last time.

  ‘Commander Paul Burgess to the fleet, we are preparing a defence on both ships to delay or prevent our capture. There are thirty four people from Earth on both ships, and several of your marines will fight alongside our SEF. We hope to hurt them real bad as they take us. Good bye and good luck to you all in your mission, Burgess out.’

  Joel now noted that the Fenshilla cruisers were all changing course to match the recent course change of the Resuria. He could see that the wing ship was accelerating heavily though she must surely be inside the weapons range of the Fenshilla cruisers.

  The Trader ship suddenly banked and a series of blinding laser blasts shot from the rear of the ship to strike one of the leading Fenshilla ships.

  Captain Narindestat disregarded the withdrawal of the smaller human ships; for he knew that he had done all he could to help them flee. The Resuria concentrated her main laser weapons on what he hoped was the commandant’s flagship, for he knew that the Fenshilla could be averse to risk when it involved their own moulting skins. The Trader battle cruiser attacked with her main batteries as the ship again banked to throw off the aim of the Fenshilla.

  Garendestat reported calmly on the effect of their second salvo.

  ‘The first enemy ship has lost half her shields and the point defences appear to be badly damaged. We will hit her a third time before we switch targets.’

  The Trader ship again lashed out with her heavy lasers and flares of secondary explosions now blossomed on the Fenshilla cruiser. Garendestat again reported the results as Narindestat noted that the Resuria now had a speed advantage on the enemy ships.

  ‘The enemy ship has lost most of her shields and is altering her course out of range. The point defences and the hyper drive module of the cruiser also appear to be heavily damaged. I am switching weapons fire to another of the central ships, though they will be in their own weapons range in two minutes.’

  Narindestat now sent Lieutenant Marenkestat on an urgent mission to the cargo hold with several volunteers, before he keyed a further simulation into one of his data tablets.

  Joel sat back in the command chair of the Auckland and watched in suspense as the battle unfolded between the larger alien ships. He knew that the combined firepower of the five human fighting ships would have no impact on the battle. Rick started up with a commentary as the five smaller ships trailed the transports to the hyper jump location.

  ‘The Resuria has the longer range lasers and also heavy disruptors for closer combat, and the Fenshilla will have to fight hard to take her. We also have a surprise or two on the Resuria that we hope will help even out the battle. However the Fenshilla will have to come closer to the Resuria before Captain Narindestat releases his surprise.’

  Joel could not help but think of the helpless plight of their shipmates that had been abandoned on the two crippled transport ships. He knew from the still body language of his bridge crew that they were also very concerned with their losses to the Fenshilla. Rick was also worried about their plight as his next comment was very subdued.

  ‘Joel the Resuria should escape and will brief our leaders at the Barede Federation. You can be assured that we will remember the viscous nature of the Fenshilla for centuries. When the time comes, we will stand alongside our home world against them, but first we will help you in your defence against the Jerecab.’

  Joel and Rick spoke quietly at length as their ships escaped the pitched battle erupting behind their small ships. They noted that the Fenshilla cruisers had finally opened fire and that heavy blasts of laser fire were hitting the Resuria.

  Captain Narindestat quickly scanned across several screens showing the levels of their shields around the ship. He was already concerned with the shields over his main weapons and two of the pylons holding his sneak ships, for the enemy cruisers were repeatedly striking the rear of the Resuria with their own powerful weapons. The captain kept his calm as he gave two other lieutenants control of their shorter range disruptor weapons. Garendestat gave another update as he clinically continued his attack of the second Fenshilla cruiser.

  ‘Captain, our third broadside has driven away the second ship and she is altering course away from both the humans and us. The cruiser’s shields and main batteries are adversely affected, plus her advanced hyper drive module is also damaged. I am now concentrating our fire on the third Fenshilla cruiser.’

  Narindestat noted the distances of the enemy cruisers and keyed another course change for the Resuria. He watched in satisfaction as the last attack from the Fenshilla completely missed striking his ship as he gave three orders of his own.

  ‘Concentrate all our defensive shields over our own hyper drive module and Marenkestat you need to be ready in four minutes to release the cargo modules. All crew are to brace for a sudden course change in five minutes.’

  Marenkestat hit the quick release points on the weapons pods from the Barede humans and quickly pulled the now slack cables away from the pods. He raised his right arm and the two pods quickly rolled back on the cargo handling belt towards the rear doors. The lieutenant keyed the override for the hold shields and noted that they had already moved several metres away from the rear doors.

  Marenkestat now hit the override on the shields and the air in the hold billowed around his space suit as it shot out of the ship before stopping at the extended shields. He noted that his volunteers were all fastened to either the front wall or the decking, and he yelled an order to the engineer standing by the hold controls.

  ‘Beronestat, over pressure the hold immediately to four atmospheres and everyone hang on to something.’

  Lieutenant Marenkestat keyed the ready signal in his suit radio and dove for a nearby fixture in the hold.

  Captain Narindestat noted the hold ready signal with quiet relief even as Garendestat gave another battle account.

  ‘Our second broadside has only partly impacted the third cruiser as they altered course. I am firing two more broadsides as I think we have attacked their flagship.’

  Narindestat watched as the two cruisers they had driven away earlier were now taking position towards the rear of the Fenshilla formation. He watched in concern as he realised that the enemy ship’s shields had largely recovered even if the other types of damage would take considerably longer to fix. The Trader captain noted that their own shorter range weapons were now in play, and were being operated by the two lieutena
nts he had delegated the role to earlier.

  Garendestat continued firing the main lasers and this time kept quiet before releasing another broadside a minute later. He looked at the results of the fourth broadside on the Fenshilla flag ship and gave a curt report.

  ‘The remaining cruisers are now passing in front of the third cruiser, and she has lost most of her shields and the advanced drive section is also heavily damaged.’

  Narindestat keyed his course change as the fifth minute elapsed and hit the bridge overrides on both their rear shields and the rear hold doors. The bridge crew held onto their consoles tightly as the Resuria inverted at high g force and took a course directly across the front of the Fenshilla cruisers.

  The Trader captain could see that the violent course change had again confused the Fenshilla as the two human weapons pods tumbled from the back of his ship. He had an anxious moment as the heavy shields on the pods activated and clashed with the drive module’s own heavy shields, but then the positioning rockets for the two pods fired and they moved to one side of his ship.

  Narindestat then keyed the ship back to her earlier course, even as the Fenshilla opened fire again, this time with both laser and missile weapons. The captain frantically keyed their point defences and also flinched, as he realised that the rear of his ship would now be struck heavily. He noted that the three lieutenants were now vigorously fighting the approaching enemy ships as the damage reports for his ship started to appear at his console.

  Joel Everson watched with relief as the two weapons pods tumbled from the Resuria before she made her second course change, for he had been quickly briefed by Rick in what to expect. His relief turned to alarm as a series of large explosions tore into the back of the Resuria.

  Narindestat sent two of his engineering response teams racing towards the mid-wing bulkheads on each side of the Resuria. He looked over the damage reports with mixed feelings for while the ship still flew, two of their four main batteries had been destroyed by the onslaught. The two triple gun batteries had each been controlled by six Traders and he knew that they had all been killed. Also the ship had lost two of her sneak ships on the nearby top wing surface after the weapons fire blew them off their pylons. Garendestat was quick on to update on the status of the two ships.