by G J Moses
Copyright © 2019 by G. J. Moses
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
ISBN 978-1-7341152-0-8 (Digital)
ISBN 978-1-7341152-1-5 (Hardcopy)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition 2019
Front cover image by Damonza.com
Book design by Damonza.com
Contents
Preface
The Chohish
Action
Surprise
Introductions
Niflhel
Hawke is in the Air
Preparations
Contact
Plans
Asteroid Field
Captives
Planning
Dinner
Change of Plans
Charge
Regrouping
End of the Tunnel
Battle Beyond the Tunnel Exit
A Marine’s Marine
Operation Sovereign
Nocuous
Despair
Goodbye
Conspiracy
Puzzle
LS1
Showdown
Epilogue
“It has been several millennia since Earth reached the stars where they discovered they were not alone. Peace reigns between the known races, for the moment anyway, but vigilance can never be taken for granted. That is what the Royal Galactic Navy was created for. Protect the innocent.”
Signed:
Admiral Charita Muttini
Year 4257
Preface
The Destroyer moved further into the system. The ship and its two sister Destroyers had entered the system several days ago.
“Status?” queried the Captain.
“All quiet so far. The large freighter that passed us yesterday is still heading to the slipstream. Should be there in another few hours.” responded the large man bent over a workstation.
Engaging the interface, he made some quick changes. “The traffic around Niflhel is busy but it all looks normal. I detect no presence of the Royal Galactic Navy nor any network traffic suggesting they are in the system. But they could be sitting still somewhere and waiting on us.”
“We will continue running silent until we reach the Niflhel spaceport. No communications between ships until we are at our destination. We have a big order waiting on us and I mean to get it.” ordered the Captain. The stress from running silent for so long after the hell they had just been through was making all on the ship edgy but there was no help for it.
Standing, she stretched her back hoping to relieve the ache on her lower spine that had been bothering her for several days now. Medication was not something she wanted to take until she had picked up her packages and was out of this system.
As she stretched, she studied the crew to see how they were holding up. They, like herself, were anxious with nerves frayed from no rest. Unlike most Captains though, she knew these people personally, most she had grown up with. She would trust any of them with her life. In a situation like they now found themselves in, no better crew could be had in her opinion.
“You know, it is odd that I have not picked up any ship traffic nor communications from Nocuous. Probes should have been in range by now. Maybe they are waiting for us there?” the man questioned.
Even with the cool air of the air conditioning, she could feel several drops of sweat rolling down the back of her neck. Rubbing the area, she was startled when the lights changed suddenly to red strobing lights. No sound since they were still in silent mode. “Blimey, what the hell?”
“Probes have picked up a large force of ships. Unidentified make and model. Not RGN. They must have been just sitting there, but now they look to be heading towards the transport. Picking up speed fast.”
Moving to another adjacent workstation, he peered at something on his screen before he pushed back with surprise on his face. “Damn, they just fired on the transport.”
Turning, he looked at the Captain with concern quite evident in his expression. “Captain, that transport does not stand a chance. They are going to be boarded. They are too slow to get to the slipstream before those missiles arrive. I did not pick up any communications, none at all. Makes no sense. I cannot identify their ships, no transponders, nor can the AI. The design of the ships is not something we have in our database.”
Walking to stand by the man reporting, the Captain put her hand on his shoulder to reassure him before she leaned over to look closely at the monitors herself. The man stood to give her some room.
After a moment or two, she raised up a bit with worry lines creasing her forehead. “We cannot help the transport; we are too far away. But I am not sure we could do much if we were closer, that is an awful large fleet. I thought I knew all ship models, those are unique.”
Sitting down in the chair just vacated, she played with the controls. Peering at the new fleet’s makeup, she tapped the screen several times before standing.
“We need to head to Niflhel with all haste. I hope my suspicions are wrong, but I doubt it. That fleet is going to destroy that transport, not disable it. Look at the number of missiles, they have no intentions of boarding it. I am afraid we have come into a hell of a mess.”
Walking back to her Captains chair, she picked up her large tricorn captain’s hat where she stroked the attached pair of long red and black feathers before placing it carefully on her head.
“Ok, me mateys, looks like it is time to heave ho. We have some people to warn. I want the pinnacles, all but one, loaded with all the children, all mind you, with at least one parent present. Load whatever supplies will fit. The pinnacles are to run silent. They’re to exit this system through the slipstream inside the asteroid field. Make sure the pilots know where they need to go. Copies of all the data we have on these unidentified ships are to be sent to the pinnacle AI’s. I will add my observations and suspicions, before they leave.”
All eyes were on her as she rattled off the orders. “Update the other two ships on what needs to be done with direct to direct communications only. Make sure we have room on the pinnacles for their children and parents. Use tractor beams on the pinnacles to get them from ship to ship until they are ready to depart. I do not want our position given away until the very last minute. Send out the fighters to mask their departure. I want those pinnacles on their way within the hour. Make it happen!”
The Bridge erupted in a flurry of action. The Captain sat down in her chair, rubbing her hands over the upper part of her legs. She was scared, really scared, of what she had just seen. If, as she believed to be happening was accurate, it did not bode well for her and her people, nor for anyone in this system. The planets had to be warned, at all costs. Although, if she was right, it may be too late for one planet already.
The Chohish
The pair of ships slipped into normal space at the extreme edge of the Pandora star system. Two planets circling the yellow dwarf star registered on their long-range scanners, but the local ship traffic was still too far away to be tracked yet.
Captain Zeke Kinsley, sitting ramrod straight in the captain’s chair, glanced around the bridge on the Royal Galactic Navy (RGN) cruiser, The Lucky Strike.
“Lieutenant Iverson, notify the destroyer RGN-Jackal to follow normal slipstream hostile emergent security protocols until otherwise notified. Will, bring up our shields to full strength.” ordered Zeke. “Send out a full suite of probes. Let’s make sure we know what is in this system.”
“Well, no fire upon us yet, so that is good news. Time to see what awaits us.” Zeke mused.
“Probes away…” reported Will.
“Captain, Captain Lance Henry has responded. Captain Henry has confirmed that the Jackal has raised their shields and gone silent. They will follow us cloaked to electronic measures discretely behind us as pre-planned” Isolde voiced out loud. Isolde looked over at Captain Kinsley to see if he had something else for her.
With a nod, Zeke, turned towards Lieutenant Isolde Iverson, who, while keeping her eyes on him, had her head tilted to one side while listening to the earpiece in her left ear. Zeke tapped the side of his head in acknowledgement.
It was still hard to believe that he was the captain of this grand ship, the Lucky Strike. Zeke will never forget the day he stepped off the shuttle in the Ragrara shipyard to see his ship the day prior to it being commissioned into the Royal Galactic Navy. He was excited and nervous at the same time. As the naval architect escorted him to his ship, Zeke was quietly following with his gaze centered on the back of the man in front of him. Zeke had wanted his first gaze of the Lucky Strike to be when he stood right in front of it and not from a distance.
Smiling, he remembered the moment he stopped walking when he was finally there. The walk must have taken ten to fifteen minutes, but he felt like only a few seconds had passed. Raising his eyes, he beheld a glorious sight that will be imprinted in his mind for the rest of his life. A brand-new shiny cruiser nestled in its huge orbital docking bay, his cruiser, the Lucky Strike.
This ship was very different from the other cruisers he had served on. The ship’s highly polished silver exterior skin glistened and sparkled reflecting the light from the distant stars. The Lucky Strike had the new triangle configuration, versus the old rectangle shape, that lowered the ship’s profile dramatically.
It was immediately obvious the changes made to support the ship’s Lendolium powered laser weapons, their heaviest energy weapon. Each of these huge lasers, were now mounted in a swivel gun turret containing their own Lendolium reactor. Only recently, had they been able to reduce the size of a Lendolium reactor enough to enable this type of configuration. Prior to this, capital ships would house the huge Lendolium reactors in the center of a ship with power feeds running to each gun. Damage to these power feeds knocked out operational guns too many times.
The new mounts, along with the ships reduced profile, enabled their main energy weapons to now be used jointly in most situations versus the old broadside style of fighting just a few years prior. Three lasers on each side of the V with two more in the rear situated between the four huge engines. Only when firing directly towards the front we’re they unable to use the two mounted in the rear.
And then there were the other weapons and upgraded features that came with this ship. Twenty-four secondaries with the fast firing fusion powered lasers, upgraded missiles and firing platforms, sensors, engines, and so much more that was not available yet to the majority of the RGN Naval ships.
When he first stepped on the bridge, he was struck by its soft colors of blue and white intermingled in with the silver metal alloy that was lit by soft recessed lighting. It was obvious that a major effort had been put in to make the ship comfortable for people who spent a good portion of their lives living within it. Much better than the dull gunmetal gray and harsh lighting that had been the standard for so many centuries.
It was a beautiful ship; it was his ship.
But as proud of the ship as Zeke was, he was even more proud of his crew. Zeke watched as the crew went about their business with great efficiency. He had worked with the vast majority of the crew before and was glad they had signed again up for this excursion, even though it was on a very short notice from their last action.
One that came to his mind immediately, was Hawke, who was assigned to his ship as a representative for the Sorath race. The Sorath’s have been allied with the RGN for the last half millennium. Hawke, a name fitting his physical description, had been Zeke’s roommate at the Naval Academy and was his close friend.
Not to be outdone, was his communications officer, Lieutenant Isolde Iverson. She was a waif of a woman that barely topped five feet with curly brown hair, but one you did not want to tangle with. Her martial fighting skills were renowned throughout the fleet. But those skills were matched by her command of the communication and scanning suites available to the RGN. These skills were reflected in the expertise shown by Lieutenant Junior Grade Selena Bonilla, Ensigns Caspian Raske and Juan Nichols who reported to her. But she was just one of the crew he was lucky to have.
Then there was Lieutenant Commander William Farren. Will, as he preferred to be called, was his second in command and had been with Zeke since he had been assigned the Lucky Strike. They had prior knowledge of each other as they had been lieutenants serving on the same fighter carrier together and had great respect for each other. Zeke could not ask for anyone better.
And then there was Gunner, but, enough time spent reminiscing. It was time to check out what is happening. Turning in his seat, he gazed over the huge main monitor along with the two smaller, but still very large monitors, centered in the forward section of the bridge.
A deep dark background with stars showed up on main screen. In the center showed their destination, the planet Niflhel. It looked tiny compared to its actual size. Niflhel was a huge planet, that required multiple centuries to terraform the surface enough to allow the population the option to move out of their emergency quarters underground while the terraforming continued on. A second, much smaller planet, Nocuous, showed very far away in the corner of the screen.
Staring at the planet, Zeke wondered what they would find there. Each new planet always brought out his curiosity and desire to explore the native fauna.
Watching Zeke as he stares at the screen, Isolde smiled as she had a good idea of what he was thinking. Redirecting her attention back to what the scanners and communications were picking up, she did a quick check to see if there was anything being flagged that required her immediate attention. Seeing nothing, she decided it best to check on the status of the Jackal.
With confidence in her team, Isolde pinged Caspian, currently on duty handling the sensor platforms, to send her Jackals latest position. While she went back to her duties, Isolde could not help but think of her ship and its commander.
Zeke’s reputation as a brilliant strategist in the just ended war against the Irracan enclave was well earned. The battle in the Irracan home system, New Providence, had been short in duration, though it had been a hard-fought battle, especially there at the end. The Lucky Strike was a major reason the battle had ended so decisively.
Which is why the cruiser and destroyer were now here. Their current mission was to search out the stragglers of the Irracan enclave that had refused to surrender when the war ended. Most called the people from the Irracan region ‘Pirates’ due to the way they talked along with the style of clothing they wore. Their ancestors took it as something fun to do while hunkered down in their caves and underground living areas through the centuries while the planets were being terraformed. Their descendants then took it to a new level when they started large scale raiding of shipping in the last decade or so.
They silently made their way closer to the larger of the two planets in the system. The silence on the bridge was palpable. A good many were still recovering physically and mentally from the transit through the slipstream. Most feeling various levels of dizziness while others were suffering with a severe upset stomach. Luckily though, being attacked when they exited was very rare as the exit area encompassed such a wide volume of space that trying to catch a ship as they came through was near impossible. And if the arriving ship ended up behind you, without the time necessary to gather speed, it could be disastrous.
Zeke looked at Caspian, then Isolde, with raised eyebrows. They should have come within sensor range to spot the local mining ship traffic that normally would be swarming around the two planets alon
g with the huge stations orbiting each planet.
The distant, remote planet was rich with rare elements that were sought after by the rest of the Galactic Empire. The sulfurous atmosphere and volcanic surface made it a dangerous extraction process, but the rewards were great enough to pay for the exorbitant costs associated with terraforming the primary and largest planet close to earth standards.
Both were staring at their screens in consternation. Isolde, with concern plainly written on her face, stood up and went to another screen next to Caspian.
“There is something wrong here Captain. We are starting to get some data from the probes, but the lack of some data has me concerned. We are unable to intercept any communication or find the orbital stations let alone any ship traffic. We are picking up a lot of areas, though, that look to be debris fields. No electronic signals from either planet, we should see something, anything. It is like they have gone silent or, more likely, destroyed.” Isolde looked over at Zeke after her update with deep concern on her face.
“The Irracans?” asked Will.
“Possible, but until we know for sure…” responded Zeke.
Their eyes meeting across the bridge, both Zeke and Will nodded in agreement whereupon Zeke pushed the red alert button on the arm of his chair.
A loud klaxon gong rang out accompanied by red flashing lights followed by a “General quarters. General quarters. All hands, man your battle stations.” announcement. This was repeated several times.
He did not know what was going on but he sure was not going to take any chances. Signaling Isolde to cut the klaxons and red flashing lights on the bridge as the crew had already been on alert status as part of the emergent protocol. He just did not want anyone standing down in the rest of the ship.
“Please contact the planet and see if you can raise anyone to find out what happened.”
As she had already been setting that up, no sooner said, than done. Before the command had finished being said, Isolde sent the normal hail from an RGN military vessel when approaching a planet.