Kelly Blake 3: Where the Stars Are Few and Far Between (30 page)

Jotil Lenkva made sure they all knew she would be back and would transport them off the worlds if they did not arrange for their own. Kelly contacted Jotil Lenkva on a captain-to-captain circuit and asked how they were to arrange transport when she had just destroyed all their FTL ships and communications? Jotil Lenkva answered that the Angaerry would send a message to the K’Rang, after the Human-K’Rang conflict was resolved, to evacuate their people or they would clear them for them. Kelly laughed and said, “You’d best make sure we win first.”

Jotil Lenkva said, “Of course you’ll win. I have every faith in you.”

* * * * *

Tammy read the report on their last mission. They had lost two A-100's, 18 A-120's, all from one squadron, and over two squadrons of A-76's. Tammy recoiled at these numbers. Those were 138 crewmembers and pilots that will never see their families again. How could they keep this up? Yes, they did take out 50 K’Rang ships, but the ugly math of war was almost too much for her. These feelings she had been keeping to herself, but they weighed on her.

She heard a knock, looked up to see Commander Tanaka, and sprang to attention. He waved her down and asked if she had a moment.

“Of course, sir, as much time as you need.”

He closed the door behind him and said, “Tammy, you look like shit.”

This knocked her back in her seat.

He continued, “You’re letting the losses get to you. You can’t do that. Yes, mourn your losses, but move on. You have a mission to accomplish.”

“Tammy, I feel your loss and those of two other squadrons, as well. In total we’ve lost five ships and 60 crewmen. I knew all of them.”

“Talk to me. Get it out. Get it off your chest. You have it all bottled up inside and it has to come out. Talk to me.”

Tammy sat in her chair looking down. Commander Tanaka was about to ask her again, when he saw tears drop from her eyes and hit the floor.

“Go ahead. Cry it out. You’re not alone. There are others doing the same thing. The A-120 wing commander just did while I was with him a few moments ago. Let it all out.”

He searched her desk for tissues and found a partial box and handed it to her. She dabbed her eyes and blew her nose.

“I feel so weak. Crying, just like a woman.”

“The 2nd Medium Attack Ship wing commander is a two meter tall male and he was just shedding more tears than you 40 minutes ago. You aren’t crying like a woman. You’re crying like a human.”

Tammy dried her eyes again and blew her nose. She felt much better.

“Thank you, sir. I’ve had that bottled up for days. Just couldn’t let it out. I was afraid if I started I might not stop.”

“You’re tougher than that, Tammy. When we raise our hands and swear our officers’ oath to the Republic, we do so with an unwritten line that we may have to sacrifice our own life or others’ lives in the defense of the Republic. Our own life is easy to sacrifice. It’s others’ that is the hardest. Now, we have another mission to fly tomorrow. We’re not going to be as predictable as we were today.”

* * * * *

The word of the second raid upon the stolen worlds hit the capital city like as storm. Angaerry by the hundreds were in the streets dancing and celebrating. The national dishonor was now avenged. Jotil Lenkva was a global champion, having vanquished a superior foe and forced the surrender of the K’Rang occupiers of the Stolen Worlds.

The power of a major victory can sway the populace. Kelly and the ambassador were called to the office of the Military Minister, Jakah Burin. Jotil Lenkva showed up with her large van. Kelly, Ambassador Thorson, and their two translators piled in and rode over to the ministry.

Jotil Lenkva escorted them up to the ministry front door. An honor guard of Angaerry Marines flanked the left side. Jakah Burin met Kelly and the ambassador at the van and asked if Kelly would care to inspect the honor guard. Kelly couldn’t turn him down. He walked up one rank and down the next, then stood in front of them and saluted, saying he was very impressed. He would stand beside them in combat any day. They stood a little taller as he dropped his salute.

The minister led them up to his office and through to his conference room again. He brought up his holographic projector and oriented them on K’Rang space.

“Gentlemen, it appears your two fleets have vanished. Sometime yesterday, both fleets slipped away from their K’Rang scout shadows and have disappeared. This has caused some consternation among the K’Rang military as you might suspect. They had expected to deliver a master stroke in a few days, but now are in total disarray.”

Kelly sat up very straight and asked, “Minister, how do you know all this?”

The Minister smiled that peculiar Angaerry smile and said, “I know because the K’Rang tell us. We have FTL communication links within what remains of their secure fleet communications system. Please keep this to yourselves. It is a most fruitful source of intelligence for us.”

Kelly and the ambassador both had amazed looks on their faces. The Minister smiled that smile again. Ambassador Thorson asked the Minister, “Is this why you brought us here?”

The minister said, “No, we would like to thank you, Captain Blake, for showing great skill and courage against the K’Rang. You led us to within a few weeks of pushing the K’Rang off of our worlds. We would like to induct you into our Circle of Honor. It is a great honor. We have never offered this to a non-Angaerry before. The High Minister would like to present you the award tomorrow afternoon at the Palace of the Republic. If you agree, Jotil Lenkva will pick you both up at 1400 and deliver you to the Palace. The ceremony will be at 1500 hours. Please wear your dress uniform.”

Ambassador Thorson said, “Of course we will accept this award. It will be a singular honor for all of the Galactic Republic to have the first non-Angaerry member of the Circle of Honor. We are most grateful.”

Minister Jakah Burin then led them in a discussion of what Admiral Chang’s strategy might be. The minister correctly guessed that the fleets were speeding to G’Durin for a final showdown with the K’Rang. He offered up studies of G’Durin’s defenses that Admiral Chang might find useful. Kelly skimmed them as the strategy discussion continued.

As many had suspected, the K’Rang nobility eschewed military facilities or soldiers on their capital world. The defenses consisted of moon-based defensive systems and layered fleets around G’Durin. The Shadow Force with the newest and best forces was the inner shell. The regular fleet with older ships was the outer shell. Kelly thought that no longer applied, because the K’Rang had stripped their fleet to make up the fleet in the Eridanus sector and the massive grand armada. With the exception of the lunar defensive systems, G’Durin was wide open. He had to get this information to Admiral Chang. The Angaerry had complete diagrams, weapons loads, manning, location, and blind spots – a treasure trove of data.

The discussion went on long into the night, until finally the minister thanked them for having this discussion with him, but he was old and needed his sleep. He bid them farewell and had Jotil Lenkva return them to the ship. Kelly suspected the sole purpose of the award and the discussion was to get him the documents in his lap. He hand-delivered them to Admiral Chang as soon as he returned to the ship.

* * * * *

It was a rainy day on Victory Base, one of those rainy windy days where wet weather gear does no good at keeping the rain out. In fact, one wound up being wetter on the inside than the outside. Mary finally gave up and stripped out of her wet weather gear, threw it into her ground car, grabbed her binoculars, and marched over to the southeast corner bunker. She climbed up into the tower and scanned off to the southeast, from whence all K’Rang incursions had come. The company commander, Captain Jan Wayne, appeared behind her.

“See anything, ma’am?”

“Not yet, Jan, but those buggers are out there. If they come, this is where they will probably strike first.”

She looked closer in and saw brush that should have been cleared when they built the berm. She would have to get a dozer here to clear it back. She could see over it from the tower, but the gunners at the gun ports below would be blind to anything behind them. No use giving the enemy concealment so close to the berm.

Mary thought she saw the bushes move. She pulled Captain Wayne over and told him to have one of his gunners fire up that bush. In a few seconds, the gunner fired a burst into the bush. The bush fell over and two K’Rang ran forward toward the bunker. The gunner cut them in half with a narrow beam and the explosives they were carrying went off, blowing them into mist. Mary recommended he fire up every bush out there. Every gun in the bunker opened up on the nearby flora, but no more K’Rang appeared. She recommended he clear the brush back; she would arrange for a dozer as soon as the ground dried.

 
Chapter Sixteen
 

 Kelly looked very impressive in his dress uniform, with his gaudier decorations pinned on or hung from sashes. The ceremony inducting him into the Circle of Honor had complete press coverage: print, video, and radio (at least their Angaerry equivalents). The Palace of the Republic was lit by the filtered sunlight shining through the upper glass roof panels.

Kelly stood out from the crowd, a head taller than the tallest Angaerry. His uniform also made him unique, because Angaerry preferred robes for formal occasions. Kelly and the ambassador stood just below the platform for the official party, which had yet to arrive.

Jotil Lenkva arrived and took position next to Kelly. It seems she was also to be inducted. The Angaerry press had started referring to the two as the Liberators of the Stolen Worlds. Kelly understood that the decision caused some consternation in the High Minister’s staff, because there was only one medallion on hand. It required an overnight trip to the manufacturer to obtain a second medallion and a longer neck ribbon for Kelly’s.

Jotil Lenkva was dressed in a dark blue robe, with highly stylized scenes of space battles embroidered in metallic threads. The effect was quite striking. Kelly would love to get a tapestry done of the Orion using the same technique, but had long ago learned not to wish out loud near an Angaerry. Things had a way of showing up, like a processor chip fabricator.

There was a change in the music playing over the speakers. All rose as the official party arrived and solemnly marched down the center aisle. Kelly was already standing, so he came to attention. As Jakah Burin marched by, he winked at the two of them.

The High Minister mounted the podium as the others in the party took seats on the raised platform. The High Minister directed all to sit, then started his prepared remarks by introducing Jotil Lenkva, who stood and made a slight bow to the Minister then sat back down. Kelly was introduced next and he stood and made a similar slight bow and sat down.

The speech went on for an hour. Kelly understood parts of it. He spoke of the destruction of the K’Rang shipbuilding capability, of Orion’s defeat of the K’Rang cruiser, of Jotil Lenkva’s vanquishing of the K’Rang task force, and her subjugation of the stolen worlds. He spoke of the technology and fighting spirit brought by the Humans and how it turned the tide in the Angaerry’s favor. He spoke of a new dawn for the Angaerry people, where they would no longer be under threat of K’Rang domination. He spoke of the sacrifice they might have to make in the near future, to ensure the K’Rang no longer threatened them again.

Kelly detected a new current in the speech. He sensed a drum beat preparing the Angaerry for a coming conflict. He heard the High Minister draw from history how tyrants needed to be challenged early and whenever opportunities presented themselves. He stated the need to ensure the Angaerry live their lives as they choose, unimpeded by the expansionist desires of a hostile neighbor.

Kelly noticed a messenger appear behind the platform and hand a slip of paper to Jakah Burin. He stood up and walked over behind the High Minister and interrupted him, handing him the note. The Minister took the note and read it. He looked over at Kelly and Jotil Lenkva and asked them to come up. They marched over to the platform and stood in front of it.

A functionary took the High Minister’s place at the podium. The Minister stood in front of Kelly and Jotil Lenkva. Another functionary stood to one side, carrying a tray with two decorations. The High Minister stood in front of Kelly and the functionary at the podium read the citation. As he ended, the fellow with the tray handed the award with the longer neck ribbon to the High Minister, who placed it around Kelly’s neck. The minister moved in front of Jotil Lenkva and the steps were followed again. Cheers broke out from the assembled audience.

Once the medals were awarded, the High Minister stood again at the podium and apologized for the shortening of the ceremony, but a K’Rang flotilla of ships was heading toward the capital, and the awardees must go and greet the uninvited guests. Jotil Lenkva asked Kelly to march beside her out of the palace. The two formed up and marched out of the palace. Kelly had to shorten his stride, but kept in step as they marched outside to the waiting ground car.

Kelly was dropped off at the Orion and ordered immediate preparations for take off. The Orion lifted up and headed for space fifteen minutes later. The first joint Human-Angaerry combat action was about to take place.

* * * * *

Major Chen knew the K’Rang were out to the southeast, but she still hadn’t found their hideout. She had an idea how to flush them out. She just needed a day with the wind blowing toward the southeast. Today was forecast to be that day.

She lined up the smoke generators perpendicular to the path of the wind. At a designated time, she had them fired up and added a special chemical to their smoke generation chamber. Her own Marines were wearing protective masks. She hoped the K’Rang were not so well equipped. She watched the ground hugging fog roll across the landscape, creeping into each crack and crevice. If they were out there, and she thought they were, they would soon be very uncomfortable. Two of the heavy companies from her old unit were stationed parallel to and just outside the cloud of advancing acrid smoke. Now it was up to the discipline (or lack) of the hidden K’Rang.