Prominence - Retribution
Page 7
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Relv sat at the small desk in his commander's quarters on board the Abarath and wiped the sweat from his brow. The fleet had just come out of the jump and he was still feeling bilious.
The Fleet Admiral had intentionally jumped the fleet to the outer edge of the solar system to allow them time to assess the enemy defences in detail. Landing this far out should have been safe from any realistic attack from Egra, but the Fleet Admiral was taking no chances and had all ships ordered to stand on high alert and move directly into a defensive formation. The command node of his ship smelled of vomit, but Relv had not let any of his crew leave their stations until the Abarath was in good order and on station.
Now that the Abarath was battle ready he had to report in. He grabbed the holographic emersion glasses from the shelf above his desk. As he did so he had to swallow back the rising bile in his throat and gagged momentarily. He forced it back down with a determined gulp, it would not do for the ships commander to bring up his lunch and he knew that the feeling would pass soon enough.
He hesitated in putting on the emersion glasses. Holographic emersion was disorienting for the first few moments at the best of times and always made his stomach churn so he was not keen on the experience given his current state. Resolutely he clenched his jaw hard and put on the glasses.
The situation room of the Prominence suddenly materialised around him as though he were actually there. If not for the lack of smell or touch it would have been impossible to tell reality from simulation. He pushed his teeth together, so hard that he thought he may shatter them, in order to keep the vomit at bay once again. The instant nausea and dizziness passed quickly however and he was left with the slowly fading queasiness from the jump.
He stood at holographic attention around the large table. The majority of the other officers were also present in holographic form. The senior officers were seated and the junior officers, like him, stood in a row behind them. The Fleet Admiral sat at the head of the table and was about to address his fellow commanders and captains. He tapped at a control on the table and a huge holographic tactical display materialised out of the table's centre.
"Time is of the essence men so I will dispense with pleasantries and get straight to the point. As you know we had scout ships jump twelve hours in advance to provide initial intelligence on the defence situation around Egra. To ensure they were not ambushed or captured their jump in point was made at the limits of their sensor arrays. We have just received the first signals from the scout ships and they have thus far detected nothing..."
There was a sudden outbreak of questions and various concerned private conversation amongst the other officers.
"Excuse me Fleet Admiral," said Captain Arten, one of the heavy carrier Captains. His voice carried loudly above the din and brought about silence to the group. "What exactly do you mean by nothing?"
"They have detected nothing. No defences and no signs of any advanced civilization."
"Then they are either dead or they evacuated," said another more junior commander. "That means we have already won doesn't it?"
"Or it means they are expecting us and are intentionally trying to look as harmless as possible," interjected Relv seriously.
"Are you suggesting they can hide what is happening on an entire planet? This is no time for wild speculation," countered the Captain Arten.
"It means we don't know what we are up against and I don't like that one bit," interrupted the Fleet Admiral sternly. "However we have a job to do and we are going to do it."
"Excuse me Fleet Admiral, but are you suggesting we go in blind?" asked Relv. "Shouldn't we send the scouts to the planet to check for sure?"
The Fleet Admiral looked at him angrily.
"Right now we have the best chance at surprise and I do not want to risk losing that by sending scouts that close. However since you appear so concerned about the well being of the rest of the fleet your wing will lead the attack in. You will be jumping in 15 minutes ahead of the rest of the fleet so I want live and accurate intelligence as soon as we land. If they are planning a trap I want you to spring it."
Relv pulled off the emersion glasses and cursed loudly.
Ibek tapped on the bulkhead and Relv pulled back the privacy screen angrily.
"Is there a problem Commander?" he asked.
"Nothing out of the ordinary... it's just the Fleet Admiral giving us another suicide mission!"