“Understood, Colonel.”
“Sir, our fleet is exiting the corridor,” the comm officer reported, “Three...six...now nine ships...all transponder codes confirmed. Everyone made it through, Sir.”
“Get word to the ship’s captains, Lieutenant. Let’s get to work, there’s no time to waste here.”
“Yes, Sir. The fleet has received instructions. The Jannali and his ships will jump to their first deployment sector in two minutes.”
“Keep me informed, Captain Martin,” Race said over his comm link.
“We will, Colonel. My fleet is formed up and we’re ready to depart, Sir.”
“Good luck, Captain.”
“Thank, you Sir. We’ll be ready, Sir. Jannali out.”
“Deploy the early warning system and missile station. Then prepare to jump to our first asteroid location.”
“Aye, Sir, deploying the alert system and payloads now, Sir.”
“Sir,” Race’s XO asked, “are we certain that the asteroids will keep us hidden from the Antarian’s scans?”
“Our Eridonian friends assure us that because of the metals and magnetic properties of the asteroids. Our ships cannot be seen unless they get too close.”
“Sir, the early warning system drones and payloads are launched and active. We’ll have several minutes after the alert sounds to confirm targets.”
“Excellent,” Race smiled, “Helm, set course to our first designated location. The sooner we get started, the sooner we’ll have our first auto launch tubes in place.”
“Course set, Sir. All ACE support ships have returned. Landing bay is secure. We can jump anytime.”
“Begin jump prep and station check.”
“Aye, Sir, beginning jump prep.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
________________________
Sigma Draconis
HMS Bristol
________________________
“Contacts!” Tactical officer Kabatski reported.
“Confirm targets!” Captain McCartney ordered.
“Targets confirmed, Captain. We’re getting eleven transponder codes. All confirmed; they’re ours, Sir.”
Commander Iverson looked over at their Eridonian, “Can you confirm they’re ours?”
“Yes, Commander Iverson. These are half of our Eridonian built ships and Admiral Fitz of the Rocinante. I am in communication with Malcom and the rest on each ship.”
“Secure from General Quarters and open a channel.”
“Aye, Sir, securing from General Quarters and channel open.”
“Admiral Fitz? Captain McCartney of HMS Bristol, welcome to Sigma Draconis.”
The ship’s distance distorted the Admiral’s voice over the comm link, “This is the Rock actual. On behalf of Earth’s Flagship, my crew, and myself, I want to commend you and Captain Shin on an outstanding job in securing this new alliance.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Captain McCartney answered, “We have the finest crew with us, Sir. Without them, we wouldn’t have made it.”
“I understand you’ve had some run-ins with the Antarians.”
“That would be an understatement, Sir.”
Captain Shin’s comm link broke in over McCartney, “Sir, the destruction we witnessed on the Centurion’s home world, well Sir, there are really no words to describe it.”
“Not to mention the devastation here at Draconis,” McCartney added.
Admiral Fitz stood at the command center of the Rock, proud at the performance of his officers, “We do have a bit of bad news.”
“Admiral?” McCartney asked over the comm link.
“The wormhole to our system has reopened.”
“Ah, right. Bertram and Hiram relayed that to us before your arrival. We’ve already been making preparations, Sir.”
“Sir?” Captain Shin asked, “We’re only detecting ten Eridonian built ships. We were told that there’d be fifty?”
Malcom stepped forward on the CSC command center to answer, “Do not be concerned, Captain Shin. We have fifty Eridonian ships that are currently gathering at the Betelgeuse entrance. These ten ships we gave to the Earth force. There are currently more under construction and will be added to the cause as well as ten that Colonel Race Jennings is commanding at Earth prime.”
“Admiral,” Captain McCartney began, “I’m a little concerned about assembling a mass of ships at Betelgeuse. Won’t that alert the Warlords? I don’t think they know about the wormhole with their current uprising at Antares.”
“Malcom has assured me that their ships are spread out around the wormhole and are within one jump to defend if needed.”
“Yes, Admiral Fitz,” Malcom agreed, “It is true that the Warlords currently do not know about the state of the wormhole. We shall do everything we can to prevent them from obtaining the knowledge. However, know that we cannot keep it from them indefinitely.”
“Hopefully just long enough for us to compile a response to the Warlord threat,” McCartney said.
“Yes, Captain McCartney, we do hope we are in time. Otherwise, Earth will face the same fate as these worlds have.”
“Notwithstanding, Captains,” Jed added, “We have a solid plan ready to put in place. I want all senior staff and officers to assemble on the Rock in an hour for a briefing and make sure we include our new alliance members as well.”
“Aye, Sir,” Captain McCartney acknowledged, “One hour.”
________________________
Serintin
Storm Keep
________________________
The bitter cold drove deep into Danielle’s bones. Small flakes of snow fell, covering their furs with a thin coat of ice crystals. The Boreshog continued to flap its wings, flying them to Storm Keep.
At long last, the two-hour flight came to an end. The female beast circled a mountainous outcropping. Flapping its wings for reverse lift, she gently set down on its hooved feet, and then came to a rest on all fours and folded its large wings behind its back.
Darnash hopped off the beast and then lowered the shivering Danielle to the rock base.
Danielle stepped up to the beast and rubbed her hand across its nose, “T-thank y-you f-for b-bringing us h-here.”
Under control...blood song...blood oath...remember...blood oath...
“Will you be alright here? You will wait for us here?”
Yes...wait here...Storm Keep too small...no entrance...no me to go...find adolescent...hibernation...you will find him...hibernation...
“Where inside this cave will we find the young creature?”
Deep...within...far back...you will see...subdued he will be...drink of blood spirit...replenish...strong you will become...
“I must get warm. I don’t know how much more of this cold I can endure, Darnash.”
“Come with me, my Lady. My provisions will come in handy. This creature can endure this cold?”
“She says she can. The adolescent is in some kind of hibernation state deep inside this cave.”
Darnash led the two to the edge of the outcropping. Locating an entrance to the cave, Darnash climbed through and then helped Danielle through.
He set his backpack on the ground and opened it. Removing a stick of shiny metal he laid it on the cave floor. Then he removed what appeared to be a flint stone. With a quick strike against the metal bar, sparks shot out and then settled on the rod making it glow a hot red color.
The warmth filled the cave and Danielle held her hands to the metal fire and warmed herself.
“This is much better, Darnash,” she managed to smile.
“You must get warm, my Lady. Then we’ll seek the young beast.”
“We don’t have a lot of time. Dumakas could be here any time.”
“The only way in to the creature is through that hole. The female is guarding us and my crossbow is ready to shoot anything else that comes through.”
“I was going to ask you about that weapon. For such a technological society, you still use primitiv
e weapons, why is that?”
“A primitive weapon this crossbow is not,” Darnash took his weapon and admired it in the dimly lit cave, “Perhaps centuries ago they were primitive. This one comes equipped with a computer tracking system and each arrow is equipped with a guidance system and an exploding tip. One hit would render the largest Boreshog beast headless with one shot.”
“Then I must say, Darnash, I am very glad you are on my side.”
“Yes, my Lady,” Darnash set the crossbow next to him and took Danielle by her arms with his large hands, “How are you feeling now, my Lady?”
“I’m feeling better. What is this thing anyway?”
“It is called a Magnesium Stone. When you strike the metal with the flint, the sparks ignite the rod. It will provide heat for many hours.”
“Too bad we can’t bring it with us.”
“Correct, my Lady. Once the Magnesium Stone is lit, it cannot be put out, and it is too hot to carry. Care must be used when igniting this as it could burn what you do not intend.”
“Understood,” Danielle smirked. “Come on. I think we should locate the creature.”
“You must have nourishment. Then we will seek the creature.”
“No, I’m fine, Darnash. Thank you,” Danielle said, patting him on the forearm.
“I insist, my Lady. I have been put in charge of your safety. You must have food to maintain your strength.” Darnash reached once more into his backpack and handed Danielle a large bar, “Take this. It will be all you need.”
Danielle smiled at her servant and took the bar, unwrapped it and took a large bite and began chewing, “Thank you, Darnash.”
“You will not thank me when aftertaste kicks in.”
Danielle continued to chew and then swallowed. Her face drew a wrinkled brow, and the flavor made her shudder, “You could have warned me.”
“Would you have eaten it if I had?”
“No, I suppose you did what you needed.”
“Yes, my Lady. It passes in a few minutes. However, to prevent the unpleasant effect from lingering longer than it should, eat it all at once.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, my Lady. I kid you not. The unpleasant taste will only worsen if you delay,” Darnash grinned, reached into his backpack and took one of the bars for himself. He unwrapped the bar and shoved it into his mouth. Closing his eyes he endured the bitterness.
Danielle giggled at his face, “Did I look as bad as you when I ate it?”
“No, my Lady, worse,” Darnash chuckled.
“Very funny, Darnash. I can see humor is creeping in. Am I that bad of an influence?”
“Yes, my Lady. I grow to enjoy humor; I like it...and it is entirely your fault. You brought that trait with you.”
The two gazed into each other’s eyes as they finished their bitter snack.
“Come on, then,” Danielle begged, “We must seek out the youth.”
Darnash slung the backpack over his shoulder after taking two light sticks. He handed Danielle one of them and picked up his crossbow, “Looks like it could be this way,” he pointed.
________________________
Sigma Draconis
The Rock
________________________
Commander Jameson addressed the assembled officers and alliance members from a dark brown, wooden podium, “The fleet status is as follows: We have assembled at Sigma Draconis, eleven Earth ships, one hundred Draconian, and three hundred Centurion warships. Ten ships are dispatched to meet the Jannali at Sol. Fifty Eridonian ships are monitoring the Betelgeuse corridor to date. Two hundred additional Centaurian ships and another one hundred and fifty Draconian ships are on their way.” Jameson held the sides of the podium and continued, “That gives us roughly seven hundred and sixty ships and their complements in this sector over the next few days. However, though we have plenty of fighters, we only have a total of two hundred pilots. That’s spreading us very thin. Fighters will be used, but no heroics. We need to preserve our fighters for ship defenses and a special task that I’ll get to in a moment. At our home world, progress is being made for enlisting new pilots to join the fight. There isn’t much time to prepare, but with the help of our Eridonian friends, training will go quickly. The Eridonians have given us a new weapon that will help combat enemy fighters. Fabrication has begun and we’ll have a few fighters outfitted for a test tomorrow. In essence we have what are called magnetic gel filled rounds. Since our current weapons are only marginally effective in taking out the Antarian fighters, we’re going to use their own weapons systems to take them out.”
“How does that work?” Captain Shin asked with a raise of his hand.
“I was about to get into that. The ACE support ships will provide our fighters the enemy targets as usual. Once you have a target lock, the first rounds fired are magnetic tracing sensors. The following squadron will come in behind and fire these gel filled rounds. They won’t do any damage upon contact and the Antarians will have no idea what’s about to happen. Once the gel is released from the round, it begins to form a magnetic barrier. This gel will cover their weapons ports in seconds. The next time they fire there will be a massive blowback, destroying the Antarian target; so I suggest once those rounds hit, break out of the firestorm and line up for another target.”
“Sssounds interesssting,” Chancellor Relegon nodded, “We would enjoy the benifitsss of our allianccce. Are you planning on sssharing this technology?”
“Yes, all alliance ships will be given full access to this technology. We will help with as much as we can. You will have to find the means to build it and adapt it to your own ships. As you know, resources are limited.”
“Agreed,” Relegon nodded.
“At this time, I would like to turn this over to Admiral Fitz for the rest of his battle plan.”
The room filled with applause as Admiral Fitz took to the front of the room. He held his hands in the air to gain control as Commander Jameson took a seat.
“Thank you...thank you...please...”
Commander Jameson stood and called the room to attention seeing the frustration on the Admiral’s face. The room settled and then Jed placed his hands on the sides of the podium, bracing himself, “This plan may seem a bit risky. I’m confident that after conversing with our Eridonian friends, and together using our new technology, we have an excellent chance to hold back the Warlord threat, keeping them from reaching Earth. There will be a lot of preparations, but we have some time as we wait for the remaining allied fleet ships to arrive. Once we are together, I will dispatch a fleet of two hundred and fifty ships to cross the corridor and join our eleven ships at Sol. That will leave approximately two more fleets of the same size. More logistics will be laid out during the next few days. However, the end result will be that I will take the Rock to Lebencha.”
The assembly gasped at Jedidiah’s words and began to murmur among themselves, “Do not worry. We will be jumping into a precise high altitude orbit safely hidden within the upper gasses of the planet. It will be another bumpy ride. However, it will not be as severe as when we jumped within the energy stream. Because of our last jump to Antares, our Navigation team has been able to plot the jump coordinates. This is a stealth mission. We will not be attacking; rather we will be conducting reconnaissance. From the Rock we will launch what drones we have left. The polycarbonate material they are made from will prevent the Antarians from detecting them. Those drones will identify all current fleet ships that have gathered at Antares surrounding the three moons. That data will be transmitted back to the Rock. Next, the drones will attach to the target ships and will activate a tracking beacon. Our ships computers will sound an alert if at any time one of these tagged ships comes into range. Tactical will take over and target the ship for a more precise missile strike. Once all the drones have been deployed, our goal is to lure some of the Antarian fleet ships to a neutral location where there will be a large force waiting. This tactic may only work once. We hope to take out
as many as we can the first time. Hit and run will be our strongest offensive for all maneuvers. We need to capitalize on that the best we can. Do not engage the enemy if you are outnumbered. Jump away, gather additional ships, and jump back before they’re gone.”
Captain Rothgarson raised a hand, “Have we calculated our predicted ship loss and casualty levels, Admiral Fitz?”
“If we face the enemy ships for any length of time, we can expect major losses. That’s why we need to hit and run, hit and run. That will lessen our loss ratio.”
“What about rumors of a rescue mission for your lost comrade?” Commander Valbrandrson asked, folding his arms across his chest.
Jed smiled and pointed at the Draconian, “Styr, I’m glad you asked. I want to settle any and all rumors about that right now. Colonel Jennings, perhaps better known as Race,” the Rock crew chuckled knowing full well what Jed meant, “I have put Colonel Jennings in charge of ten Eridonian built fleet ships. His main task is to set up Earth’s early warning and defense systems. He’s preparing Earth and all our bases for an imminent invasion. It’s no secret that Race blames himself for Private Cooper from being in the place she is in now. It is also no secret that Race did petition me and my crew to do a rescue which I denied. I did promise that if there was any way we could facilitate another rescue attempt, we would. Now is not the time. We cannot waste valuable resources in such an effort. You can put away all the rumors that we’re planning a secret covert op to recover her. We are not. However, I will say that if a situation does avail itself, and it has a reasonable chance of success while mitigating loss, I will take that chance.”
“Sssome sssay it would be better if ssshe was recovered,” Zetaal hissed.
“Yes, Captain,” Jed acknowledge, “I would agree to a point.”
Chancellor Relegon stood, “Exssplain?”
“Chancellor,” Jed motioned with his hands, “Please, there’s no need for a display of aggression. I agree to a point because Danielle does have sensitive intelligence on Earth. However, her information is limited.”
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