Kelly Blake 3: Where the Stars Are Few and Far Between

by Rodney Smith

  Kelly watched the speed creep up past FTL power 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and then 5. Kelly still had power to spare, but could see a strain on the Angaerry commander’s face. Kelly suggested they drop down in speed so as not to strain his engines, as he had a long trip back to GR space. The Angaerry commander nonchalantly replied that he should slow down to a speed he was comfortable with and they would match speed. Kelly killed audio and ordered a speed of FTL power 4. As the Orion slowed down, Kelly could see a visible relaxation in the flagship’s crew in the background of the video feed.

  * * * * *

  Admiral Levi asked Lieutenant Commander Brown to dock the Virulent with his flagship and make a personal report of what he saw. A nervous helmsman made a flawless docking with the carrier Stefan Cel Mare. Lieutenant Commander Brown was met by a Marine captain and escorted to Flag country.

  They came to a door and the Marine captain knocked and was told to enter. Lieutenant Commander Brown entered while the captain closed the door behind him, remaining outside. Vice Admiral Levi came out from behind his desk, greeted Lieutenant Commander Brown, and moved to a small conference table, where a Fleet Captain sat.

  “Mike, sit down, this is my Ops chief, Dave Jimenez. Tell me what you saw and where.”

  The captain turned on the table’s built-in holographic projector and Brown plugged in a data device. He adjusted the scale so he showed the current position of the 2nd combined fleet and the K’Rang Grand Armada activity. The significance was immediately apparent. The K’Rang armada was lined up parallel with and pointing right at the 2nd Combined Fleet.

  Admiral Levi paced the room for a few minutes then turned back to the display.

  “Mike, how many ships did you count?”

  “Sir, I saw a total of 270 ships. 100 cruisers, 80 destroyers, and 90 frigates and corvettes.”

  “Could you tell what speed they were travelling?”

  “No, sir, they sort of surprised us. When they turned around and left, they were accelerating through FTL power 2.3 when I lost them on my sensors.”

  The admiral turned to his Ops chief. “Dave, do you see what they are preparing for?”

  Dave Jimenez answered, “I believe I do, sir. The only thing a line formation like that is good for is mass firing of every missile you have at one time. They plan to drop in on our flank, fire everything they have and saturate our defenses. It’s a rough calculation, but I count greater than 10,000 missiles in that formation. That’s if they don’t load all offensive missiles. If they go with a full load of offensive missiles, we’re talking 15,000.”

  Admiral Levi said, “Don’t forget our friend in the Eridanus sector. He's about the same size as this K’Rang Fleet. If they both come at either the 1st or us, they can wipe one of us out, reload, and then turn on the other. We need some way to bust this guy up. Thank you, gentlemen. Dave, I need to go see Admiral Chang with this data.”

  * * * * *

  Admiral Chang looked at Admiral Levi’s data and drew the same conclusion. Admiral Haddock-Halloway whistled when he saw it and said, “We’re screwed. One attack and we just lose combat effectiveness if we are lucky. If not, we lose it all. One would be bad enough, but if this fleet and the Eridanus guys hit us simultaneously, it’s all over. Our grandkids will be learning K’Rang standard.”

  Admiral Levi said, “We have to find some way to break this guy and the one in Eridanus up. Sir, can you have your guys bring that plot of Eridanus sector up? Good, now do you have their patrol plot?”

  The admirals looked at the plot and a plan began to germinate. The Eridanus sector looked somewhat like a hammer with a broken handle. The broken handle contained the four Human systems. The K’Rang fleet consisted of three battle fleets with roughly 100 ships per fleet. They patrolled in a split racetrack pattern. The top fleet, would patrol up from the handle’s middle to the head while the bottom fleet would patrol down the handle’s middle to the bottom. The middle fleet ran the complete length from bottom to top. The first two would meet in the middle, but be separated and unable to support each other at the ends. Every third lap by the third fleet would leave either the top or bottom with only one battle fleet. It was time to take advantage of that weakness.

  * * * * *

  Kelly, wearing his dress uniform, followed direction from the military spaceport as to vector and speed on approach. When they saw how large the Orion was, it caused a few panicked moments. They asked Orion to circle while they moved a group of small ships out of the way. Finally they were cleared to land. They were guided into a double parking space and waited while the sensor section checked the atmosphere. Sensors reported nitrogen gas in slightly higher concentrations then internal ship atmosphere, but breathable. Kelly had engineering assist the spaceport services personnel with fabricating adapters for water and sewage. Power was incompatible, so an auxiliary engine was run to maintain power.

  An official looking vehicle pulled up alongside the Orion. Kelly grabbed Ambassador Thorson and both their translators and went to start the diplomatic process. He left the ship in Connie’s hands, with strict orders not to admit any Angaerry. Their first live Angaerry approached them.

  Kelly decided to let the Ambassador take the lead.

  The Angaerry approached and spoke in fluent K’Rang, “Welcome, I am Kurin Dunit, First Secretary to the Minister of Diplomacy. Whom do I have the honor to address?”

  Kelly sized up the functionary in front of them. He (he assumed it was a he) was typical of the diplomatic class: officious, pretentious, and imminently proper. He stood a head shorter than Kelly or the ambassador. Ambassador Thorson introduced himself and Kelly to Kurin Dunit through his translator. Kelly bowed slightly when he heard his name in K’Rang. Kelly spoke a little K’Rang, which he had forced himself to learn on long patrols aboard the Vigilant, but he kept that to himself.

  Kurin Dunit invited the four to accompany him to the Palace of the Republic. He asked that they leave all weapons behind, even ceremonial ones. He also asked them if they would submit to a brief medical examination before leaving the confines of the spaceport. It would be conducted by medical scanner and would not be invasive in any way. The ambassador got consent from all before agreeing.

  They were taken to a small medical facility, where they each were asked to step on a raised platform for the test. Kelly volunteered to go first, stepped up on the platform, and ducked while they raised the top piece to accommodate his taller frame. When they ran the scan, a purple light surrounded him. Kelly assumed it was an ultraviolet beam to kill any bacteria on his uniform. The operator spoke rapidly to Kurin Dunit in Angaerry. Kurin Dunit congratulated Kelly on being disease free. Feeling no ill effects, he stood aside for the ambassador to go next.

  In just a few minutes they passed medical screening. Kurin Dunit directed them into a ground car. It was a tight fit, getting them all in a ground car designed for a smaller race, but they managed. Kurin Dunit apologized for the tight fit and promised to find a more spacious car for their further trips.

  They left the spaceport and turned onto a broad tree-lined avenue toward a series of multi-story buildings in the distance, taller than those surrounding them. The two to three-story commercial and residential buildings along the route were mostly neat brick and wooden structures, reflecting the easy availability of clay and wood from the surrounding verdant forests. They passed a harbor with numerous cargo and fishing vessels of unique Angaerry design moving in, out, and about. As they came closer to the tall buildings, broad fields of flowers in bold colors flanked the street. The Angaerry people walked along the streets shopping, going about their business, and some even sightseeing. They appeared to be happy.

  Kurin asked politely if Kelly and the ambassador were normal height for their species or were they taller than average. Thorson replied that they were about average for Human males. He also pointed out that the translators were females of the species and generally were shorter than males on average.

  Kelly told Kurin Dunit, “Humans we
re evolved from early ape-like creatures. Do you know from what species your people were evolved?”

  It took a bit of explaining by the translator, but Kurin Dunit finally comprehended Kelly’s question.

  “Our prehistoric ancestors were mammals that left the land for the sea, existed in the Great Ocean for eons and returned to the land. If you are truly interested, I could arrange a tour of the cultural museum, which has dioramas and fossils from our predecessors. It would be most enlightening.”

  He asked, “Do you have similar museums like that on your worlds.” Kelly answered, “We do. On our mother world, we have a creature similar to your predecessors, and it still lives in our great oceans. It is considered by many scientists to be the most intelligent sea creature.”

  Kurin Dunit practically beamed at Kelly’s statement, and was smiling that sharp inward-pointing toothy smile when they arrived at their destination.

  The Palace of the Republic was an enormous multi-storied glass and metal structure. It was shaped like a plus symbol and had a large central atrium, which could be seen through glass panels surrounding the doors. The ground car drove through a vehicle door that opened as they approached and closed immediately behind them. Kelly, the ambassador, and the two translators were let out and led through a side door in the vehicle passage way. They were led through a maze of stairwells, dimly lit back passages lined with stored chairs and unused tables, until they came to a guarded door. The guard opened the door for them and passed them through. They came into an unoccupied medium-size reception area.

  Kurin Dunit apologized for the long circuitous path, but they wished to keep details of their visit from the public until the High Minister had a chance to communicate with them. He led them to a table set with Angaerry drinks and food and offered for them to help themselves. This caused a moment of awkwardness, until Kelly requested that they be given samples of the food and drink to take back with them to test and ensure it would cause them no ill effects. Kurin Dunit was obviously embarrassed that something so obvious had not occurred to them. He promised to get them labeled packages for when they returned to their ship.

  Doors on the other side of the room opened and an obvious security man came to Kurin Dunit and spoke quietly to him. The two spoke quietly in Angaerry for a moment and the security man left. Kurin Dunit turned back to them, obviously discomfited, and apologized, but the High Minister had been momentarily delayed. He would be right with them.

  In a few moments, the doors opened again and an Angaerry in fancy robes walked into the room, followed by a large retinue. The robes were quite ornate, trimmed with brilliant blue and white embroidered views of waves crashing on a beach. The robes were more impressive than the creature wearing them. He was short, even by Angaerry standards, so much so that the robes dragged the ground.

  He walked slowly up to them and made a peculiar hand wave gesture that Kurin Dunit had explained was the Angaerry greeting and sign of respect. Kelly and Thorson made a clumsy attempt to emulate it, eliciting much appreciation by the minister’s retinue. Kurin Dunit handed the two human translators each a small electronic tablet. They contained a copy of a speech in K’Rang standard.

  The High Minister held a similar device and began to read from it. The translators read along and translated for the captain and ambassador.

  “Exalted visitors from far away, I greet you today on behalf of all the Angaerry race. Welcome to our home world of Gronir. We hope that your visit will be fruitful and will result in development of friendship and understanding between our two peoples. May our two people unite in fellowship, culture, economy, and mutual attitudes toward those who would wish us ill.”

  “May the great waves of life wash over us and provide their warmth and comfort. May we be prosperous in our common dealings. May our societies gain from a mutual sharing of our advances in technology and culture. May our foes fear and respect us.”

  “Allow me to introduce my Minister of Diplomacy, Hotaa Watal, who will be my representative in our mutual talks, which I hope will be mutually beneficial to both of our races.”

  The High Minister again made the wave. Kelly and the Ambassador made the wave in response and more closely matched him, eliciting applause from the Minister’s followers. The Minister whispered something in Ambassador Thorson’s translator’s ear. She whispered it to the Ambassador and he turned to Kelly.

  “Do you have any objections to being on the evening news? They want to bring in the media for a quick news conference. I recommend we keep mute for now.”

  Kelly nodded in agreement. The ambassador spoke to his translator and she spoke to Kurin Dunit. Kurin Dunit returned to the High Minister and spoke quietly to him. The High Minister bowed in their direction and motioned for the press to be let in.

  The press came in a rush to a short barrier that had been erected in the middle of the room, all jockeying to be in the front row. The High Minister called Kelly and the Ambassador over to stand next to him. Their translators stood behind. The High Minister made a shortened version of the earlier speech and turned to Kelly and the Ambassador and made the hand wave. Kelly and the Ambassador waved back to him and the press went wild, shouting question after question. The High Minister told the press they were not prepared to answer questions at this early stage of the process, but later, other press conferences would be called to cover progress in the talks. He thanked the press for being there and had them ushered out.

  The Minister passed them to his Minister of Diplomacy, and waved to them as he left the room with his entourage. Kelly made a note to research this hand wave to find out what it actually represented. A little voice in his head said there was a nuance there they were missing.

  * * * * *

  Admiral Thomas brought the Reserve 18th Battle Fleet into formation behind hers. Her scout ships were sitting far off her right flank, monitoring the top K’Rang fleet approaching the top of its patrol route. Soon it would be farthest from any support. She moved hers and the 18th’s ring ships to the left flank of both formations in preparation.

  When both rings were fully open and the K’Rang were just entering the kill zone, she launched all her A-76's and half her F-53's at the K’Rang fleet. The other half of her fighters stood CAP over and around the two formations.

  Two wings of A-100's exploded from each ring ship and flew as a second wave against the K’Rang fleet. A third wave of two wings each of A-120's came through the rings and headed down the handle toward the K’Rang fleet at the middle of the handle.

  The A-76's flew well into the defensive missile engagement range of the handle top fleet and launched. The K’Rang missiles switched from homing on the small attack ships to the incoming missiles when the attack ships turned away. The F-53's stood just out of missile range and provided CAP for the incoming A-100's.

  The A-100's flew well into the K’Rang’s defensive missile range and launched their missiles. As the A-100's withdrew, the F-53's followed to protect them, but there were no K’Rang fighters for them to fend off.

  The K’Rang fleet fought off the majority of the missiles from the A-76 strike, but some leakers still got through. They exhausted their defensive missiles against the first strike, but rapid reload drills practiced for days on end with the support ships resulted in half the cruisers reloaded in time for the second wave of missile. The missiles from four wings were just too many for the reloaded cruisers to stop. Leakers from the first wave and unopposed missiles from the second wave destroyed ship after ship, until only a few damaged ships were still able to make headway.

  Reloaded A-76's from the two battle fleets flew in and finished off the wounded K’Rang ships, while A-120's took out 19 leading ships of the middle K’Rang Fleet as they came to the rescue of their doomed companions. A third sortie by the A-76's reduced the remainder of the middle fleet by another two dozen ships.

  The Leonov ring suffered a breakdown and was unable to support further planned heavy and medium attack ship sorties from there. This reduced he
r attack ship support by half. A slightly disappointed Admiral Thomas pressed her advantage by reloading her fighters with anti-ship missiles and launching them against the remainder of the middle fleet. She directed the attack ships transiting her ring ship to follow the F-53 strikes. The F-53's were in and out before the arrival of the bottom fleet in support of the 14 remaining ships of the middle fleet, mostly frigates and support ships.

  Sue withdrew her force before the bottom fleet could organize and find her. She would call the A-100's and A-120's back tomorrow. She considered today was a job well done.

  * * * * *

  Kelly had his sensor section research into the Angaerry hand wave. It took some ingenuity and innovation, but they were able to hack into the library of a K’Rang institute of higher learning. They stumbled around trying to understand the Angaerry file structure for the better part of the night, before they found a text on Angaerry cultural gestures with an associated video.

  They found that the wave meant different things, depending on how it was answered. Answering it in the manner it was given signified subservience and a lower position. Kelly and Thorson practiced the hand wave for equality and one for superiority until they could do it without thinking about it. Thorson thanked Kelly for that catch. Kelly replied that when the entourage and press went all happy when they waved back, it didn’t seem right. He figured there was more to the wave than just a greeting.

  The sensor section also found a text on the K’Rang-Angaerry conflicts. The K’Rang found the Angaerry twenty years ago and came in with a large armada, demanding six Angaerry worlds on their common border. The Angaerry said no and the K’Rang occupied them and expanded their borders into Angaerry space, anyway. They gave the Angaerry three months to evacuate the population from two inhabited planets or they would start terraforming over them. The Angaerry deployed every ship in their inventory to evacuate the populations and barely made it before the automated terraforming equipment removed all trace of Angaerry civilization. Kelly thought the Angaerry might have the will, but not the capability to oppose the K’Rang.