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

by David Buck

  Captain Narindestat watched solemnly as the last Fenshilla cruiser blew apart in the hopelessly one sided battle. The Maveen sector delegate was signalling him from nearby and he wasted no time in stating his own observations to the probe.

  ‘I was hoping to capture them and bargain for the freedom of the humans, and this is something you should have considered when you attacked. Also your attack could bring the attention of the Zronte battle lord to this area of space…’

  The probe kept silent as the Trader captain repeated his earlier observations, before he deflected the captain’s views by briefly asking for a detailed report of what had actually occurred. The sector delegate listened in silence as Narindestat informed him that several human ships had been attacked by the Fenshilla and their crews had been captured. The senior Maveen probe responded to the Trader in what he hoped was a diplomatic manner as he gave orders via a blue laser to a nearby gate ship.

  ‘Captain Narindestat, the capture of the humans by the opportunistic Fenshilla is regrettable. We will have to devise a way of assisting both independent races and junior vassals to address this new threat. But now we are journeying to a remote part of the outer galaxy and the Sspol cruiser is coming with us back to the Arranen system. You will have assistance to repair your ship as we travel, and note that further combat is highly unlikely.’

  Narindestat busied his crew with further repairs to his ship as the coalition of galactic races moved across the star system. At a suitable location, several gate ships undocked their probes before forming a large hyper gate. Three larger Maveen ships entered first followed by both the Trader and the Sspol ships. The remaining Maveen battle cruisers followed next before the hyper gate shut down.

  The Maveen gate ships unhooked from each other and a smaller hyper gate powered by a single gate ship formed. The gate ships and their probes streamed through in an orderly procession before the second gate way closed down. The remaining gate ship now set a course for the solar system, home of the human race.

  The Maveen Earth probe, designated contact for the human race, remained docked on the gate ship with his junior probes. The gate ship, herself a veteran of the last Earth visit with him, now asked the Earth probe a brief question.

  ‘So if everything is going to plan for probe three, designation ancient protector, he should be in the outskirts of the solar system in his advanced sled?’

  The Earth probe gave a brief answer as he evaluated the urgent mission the sector delegate had just assigned to him.

  ‘Our new actions are to enhance the original plan; for we had measures already in place just to receive probe three’s reports. Now we have to get information back to probe three and so to Queen Angwene.’

  The gate ship now remained silent as she raced across the remote star system. The Maveen ships all had advanced tactical simulation capabilities as part of their software builds, and the gate ship knew that the new and unexpected parts of their mission were potentially deadly.

  ***

  Chapter 13

  Gindane stood quietly on the bridge of the Rupane as the Barus research fleet entered the solar system. She noted that the several human transports accompanying them had also emerged unscathed from hyper space. The captain spoke firmly at her junior officers across her bridge as she looked at the navigation charts.

  ‘Remember that no active scans are permitted in the human system and we will adhere to the edicts. We will transmit the standard non aggression and neutrality clauses, despite our nominal allied status with the humans. All ships are to maintain formation and we will head further in system to the orbit of Mars.’

  Gindane repeated the last order in English for the benefit of the human ships, before she calculated a navigation time for arrival at Earth. The Barus captain was once again impressed by the scale of the solar system, especially with the presence of two ice giants and two gas giants in the outer parts of the system. She knew that this factor aided the humans in the defence of their world.

  After four hours, the mixed fleet of Barus and human ships arrived in deep space just outside the orbit of Saturn. Gindane left her research fleet with orders to maintain position as she ordered the Rupane to follow the human ships towards Earth. Another two hours went past and Gindane, mindful of her last visit to Earth, ordered her ship to halt once the cruiser reached the orbit of Mars. The Rupane had just completed the heavy deceleration manoeuvre, when the view screen in front of Gindane activated.

  ‘This is Captain Emma Stone of Earth defence base two, attention Barus ship; you are to remain outside the orbit of Mars as per our earlier agreement. Note that we have just been in discussions with the commanders of the transports you escorted home, and we thank you for your assistance.’

  Gindane waited to ensure that the human captain had finished speaking before she replied cautiously.

  ‘I am Captain Gindane, the Barus researcher who was last present in your star system one hundred and fifty years ago. I remember our earlier agreement and I will remain at a distance from your home world. My research fleet is waiting further out in space, but note that my ships are not capable of defeating the Jerecab armada. Our forces are roughly equivalent to six of your destroyers so we do not add much to your own abilities. Your Admiral Mary Neilson has won several skirmishes with the Jerecab and her ships should arrive within five days. Unfortunately the Jerecab armada is still largely intact and they will arrive here within seven days.’

  Gindane avoided mentioning Omerio’s cruiser squadron for now as he might well not arrive at the solar system in time. The Barus captain patiently waited for the distant human captain to speak again, though she felt some disquiet as she remembered their earlier journeys to Earth. She knew that two incidents, first the tragic pandemic, and ten years later the one sided battle with the humans and Traders, could still be a factor in any relationships with the humans.

  Emma Stone began to speak again as she received the message after several minutes and Gindane felt relief as she took in her words.

  ‘Captain Gindane, we thank you for coming to our assistance in our defence of our planet. We have just reviewed our own instructions sent ahead by Admiral Neilson. Please understand that we do not have your own species’ long life spans, so our first tragic interactions are now ancient history by our standards. But note you must remain well away from Earth unless you are instructed to defend our home world directly. Admiral Neilson’s instructions are quite clear in this matter as you would expect. We are now also prepared to share limited combat data with you as per the admiral’s instructions.’

  Gindane was soon quickly scanning several screens of military data from the Earth defence base. The communications line between them was later disconnected and Gindane again went over what they had just received. One of her researchers placed his own data tablet in front of her and Gindane took note of his summary. The section regarding the moon took her interest, she stood to nervously pace her bridge as the importance of the intelligence hit home, and she summarised the researcher’s findings.

  ‘So the humans have been industrious in their defence preparations, even to the extent of building new and larger ships on the moon. Now this could mean that they break their haven status even if they are successful in driving off the Jerecab.’

  Gindane then called up a commercial television frequency, much like her last visit one hundred and fifty years ago. The Barus research captain sat back in stunned silence, as she learnt that a Maveen long range scout probe had arrived several days earlier on the human home world.

  ***

  Captain Emma Stone looked over at Robert Seville as the professor went through one of her lieutenant’s reports. She was now quietly optimistic of their chances after speaking with Gindane, though she knew that Robert, in his usual meticulous manner was not as convinced.

  Emma remembered wistfully that this same manner had grated on her at times when they had dated five years ago. They had rekindled their relationship occasionally when he came up from Ear
th periodically. However, their deployment into space had ended all that despite their separate command chains, and nowadays Robert was strictly business with her.

  The Maveen probe had followed Robert into space three long days ago and now stood off from her base in space nearby. Emma watched critically as Robert now spoke to the Maveen scout probe at length.

  ‘The Barus maintain that well over forty Jerecab ships have been destroyed by the efforts of our fleet at the former colonies. Surely this is significant and we now have a fighting chance? Also we have lost only five of our ships and we have built several more destroyers before we factor our other defences into the equation. Finally can you speak with the Barus captain and establish if any other galactic races are coming to our aid?’

  The Maveen probe remained silent for several minutes and Robert suppressed the urge to get flustered with the alien, as he was now well aware of the obdurate nature of the strange mechanical race. He was idly hoping that a squadron of Maveen fighting ships would arrive, for he now knew of their power after an extended period questioning the probe earlier. Robert’s hopes were dashed with the probe’s curt metallic reply.

  ‘Professor Seville, the Maveen cannot intervene and if other galactic races were coming to your species aid then they would already be here. There is still a faint possibility of the Cephrit arriving, however they are still most likely at the former Dradfer colonies.’

  Emma kept herself busy by reading yet another status report of the moon’s defences, as Robert made a general observation out of pique after the Maveen broke off the connection.

  ‘The Maveen still labours the point about adherence to edicts, yet we understand that the vassals could destroy him in quick order if they arrive here in force. I cannot see why our new and larger ship classes are a concern.’

  Emma now looked over data tablet detailing the outstanding work needed on the new cruisers before she replied.

  ‘Well the Traders stated long ago that we should not build any single fighting ship or cruiser approaching fifty thousand tonnes. The situation is not unlike the long forgotten Washington naval treaties so long ago. However the risk of losing our haven status is a very dangerous proposition if we survive the Jerecab. Possibly we can highlight they are not full cruisers as they lack advanced scanning technology and hyper drive capacity.’

  Robert now gave her a warm smile that reminded her that he had always respected her intelligence. The aliens still remained silent at this point and Emma now spoke quietly to Robert.

  ‘We are still reviewing the data from Admiral Neilson, but my initial assessment is that we need these cruisers operational. The galactic races make an argument that we could later lose out because of these new ships. However we have to use all our resources based on the size of the armada listed in the admiral’s reports.’

  Robert gave her another warm smile as he replied equally as quietly.

  ‘We are in a catch 22 situation for sure with our defences and I fear we will have to take their advice. The new crews of the cruisers are also only partly trained as well. The moon now holds other surprises we have prepared and hopefully that will tip the balance. Finally we can state we are adhering to the edicts and hope this is enough…’

  He was about to continue speaking, when the view screen came online and Captain Gindane started to speak curtly to them both.

  ‘I have been speaking with the Maveen scout probe and he makes several telling observations that our own research backs up. You now possess larger and more powerful ships and this could cause the other vassal races to interdict your home system at a later stage. The vassals could possibly enslave your race if you wilfully ignore our advice. We recommend that you remove the engines of these cruisers and use them as static defences.’

  Robert was speechless for several moments, but Emma was quick enough to reply with her own response.

  ‘Captain Gindane, we have recently identified the advanced technology the more senior races possess, but we do not possess. Note that the eight cruisers do not possess the powerful scanners and have no hyper drive capability. So surely this would allow us to remain inside the edicts?’

  Gindane was quiet at this point and the Maveen probe spoke again in his metallic tones.

  ‘Your race has recently obtained advanced scanning knowledge and should be capable of implementing it quickly. The cruisers already have powerful ion drives and so could also be furnished with larger hyper drives well within your own life spans. Note that this is a quick increase in skills and capabilities by galactic standards. Your race would be well advised to listen to our instructions and later destroy these ships should you survive the Jerecab onslaught.’

  Robert had been reviewing his design of the cruisers, and he gave a resigned reply as now placed the schematic onscreen.

  ‘Fortunately the cruisers were quickly built in sections and so we can remove their engines before we dock them back to back. Most of their weapons and shields will deploy correctly and they should still be formidable. Of course the next step is to agree on whereabouts they should be located.’

  Gindane had her own views on this subject and she soon had cautious agreement from both Robert and Emma. The conversation continued at length as further details were discussed, with Gindane repeating something that Omerio had mentioned earlier.

  ‘Captain Omerio, who might still arrive in time with his cruiser squadron, mentioned that your own solar system offers advantages in defence that you should be mindful of using…’

  Robert and Emma listened critically as Gindane made her point, for both knew that senior leaders on Earth could overrule any decisions that they would make. Gindane finished up, and the Maveen was now silent, and Emma now noted how tired Robert looked.

  ‘Well the launch sequence for the cruisers is coming along and we will go to the moon in two days time to watch. Now we can go through our new strategy over dinner in my quarters if that is acceptable Robert?’

  The professor now gave her a bemused but warm smile, as he followed her from the command centre. The two of them enjoyed a meal together and Emma found herself enjoying Robert’s company again, though their discussions centred on the dry aspects of the latest Maveen and Barus advice. A long silence fell between them, before Emma put her arms around him and gave him a lingering kiss. Much later Robert slept against her back in her bed, and Emma thought at length on how she would change her life providing they survived this emergency.

  ***

  The Cephrit station master felt harried as he personally supervised the mandatory welcome ceremony for the Vorinne second envoy. The Vorinne were due shortly so he ensured the imperial seal was set correctly and the marine honour guard formed up. He was relieved that the fleet master and the assault leader were not present, for at least if the second envoy became upset then only his own life would be lost. The station master activated the safety shields around his entourage as the shuttle slowed to enter the hangar. A brief pop of air meant that the outer main shield was down and the Vorinne landed their shuttle shortly afterwards.

  The station master stood to one side of the lowering rear ramp and prostrated himself on all his six legs. He watched from one of his side eyes as the familiar forms of Lord Malang’troh and then Lady Thatak’siema slowly walked down to the hangar floor. The ritual Vorinne hunting horn sounded and the station master loudly chirred his greeting.

  ‘Second Envoy Thatak’siema and Lord Malang’troh, welcome once again to Cephrit star base 31 and it is my honour to serve.’

  Malang’troh halted several metres and remained silent for several moments before he struck his staff once in acknowledgement on the decking. The Cephrit all remained still and silent, as they ensured that they were not looking into the eyes of the Vorinne. After several more moments the Vorinne lord spoke in measured tones full of authority.

  ‘We thank you for the ritual greeting and courtesy shown to us by not challenging us with eye contact. Her Grace, the Lady Thatak’siema is unwell and needs to rest
quietly for an extended period. Also I wish to speak with the fleet master at the earliest opportunity as I am seeking explanations on several matters.’

  The Cephrit station master forced himself to remain calm as he slowly stood up again, and he also ensured the Vorinne lord had finished speaking before he spoke.

  ‘Lord Malang’troh, I regret to inform you that the fleet master has taken four squadrons of our cruisers and is interdicting the former Dradfer colonies.’

  The station master resisted the urge to explain too much and risk baiting the Vorinne’s renowned temper. He now remained silent as the second envoy slowly walked over to stand behind Malang’troh. The Cephrit averted his gaze after he took in the extensive injuries that must be causing Thatak’siema much discomfort. Malang’troh now radiated annoyance at what he felt was presumption by the Cephrit, however he remained still and silent.

  Thatak’siema gave a resigned sigh and spoke softly to all assembled in the hangar.

  ‘It has been a long trip and we will discuss the finer points of the fleet master’s absence at a later stage. Unless there is key information that I need to address immediately then I wish to be shown to my apartments.’

  The station master had been evaluating the injuries to the second envoy, especially the teeth marks across her shoulders. He now understood what had happened and in a leap of intuition he set his own plans in motion.

  ‘Your grace, it is my honour to serve and I wish you a speedy recovery. Two other Vorinne are present on this star base after fleeing assassins, I understand that one of them is your younger cousin.’

  Thatak’siema gave a start of surprise and she gave Malang’troh a measured look mixed with tiredness that he picked up on immediately. The Vorinne lord knocked his staff on the deck twice and all the Cephrit went rigid again in anticipation as he slowly spoke again with his ruling.