A Galaxy Unknown 10: Azula Carver (37 page)

Admiral Brian Holt was working at his desk when the Priority-One vidMail arrived from Captain Dellzon. He leaned in to prove his identity and then watched the message. When it was over, he leaned back and grimaced. He hoped the intelligence data they had gotten from that Denubbewa mothership was worth the two lives it had cost. There was nothing to be done about it, so he went back to work.

An hour later he received a second message. This one informed him the WOLaR bombs wouldn't detonate. He tapped the com spot that would connect him directly with the Second Fleet HQ via his CT. When the call was answered, he said, "This is Admiral Holt. We have a Stage-One emergency in the Crondezzo system. That damn, nearly-complete mothership has been overrun by Denubbewa cyborgs and the bombs planted inside as a safeguard won't detonate. I want a destroyer and four SDBs sent there immediately to blow that thing apart before they can get it working and take off with it."

"Aye, sir. We'll dispatch the ships immediately."

"I want to know as soon as they report back following their attack."

"Yes, sir, Admiral."

"Holt, out."

Holt leaned back in his chair and grimaced.

~     ~     ~

Jenetta was sad to see Hugh leave— again, and knew they'd have a better chance of getting together occasionally if she were in Region Two, even if she wasn't in the service. She was thinking over her options when her mother said, "I know that look."

"What look, Mama?"

"That how-can-I-make-things-happen-the-way-I-want-them-to-happen look."

Jenetta smiled. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Only to your mother, dear."

"Well, you're right. I was examining my options."

"About babies?"

"I'm not having any more babies— at least not for a while."

Annette smiled. Actually most people would have referred to it as a knowing smile. "I'm sure there will be more babies. Both Jumaka and— Terran."

"Not by me."

"Of course not, dear. I never said you would. I know Regina and Marisa would like to have at least one more child."

~     ~     ~

At Light-9790, the Crondezzo system was just a bit under nineteen hours from Quesann, and it had taken the five ships chosen for the attack a bit over an hour to recall all hands on leave and prepare for departure. So twenty hours after Admiral Holt issued the orders, the GSC Destroyer
Calcutta
, and the SDBs
Ganges
,
Sepik
,
Nelson
, and
Atrato
arrived at the Crondezzo system and stopped some twenty billion kilometers from where the motherships had been placed. Captain Ronna Boyd, as senior officer among the small task force, was in command.

"We have a fix on the last known position of the target," Captain Boyd said. "The
Nelson
will target with the
Sepik
as the bomber. The other pairing will be
Atrato
as the targeting ship and the
Ganges
as the bomber. Form up, people. The
Nelson
/
Sepik
will kick off in five minutes from— now, and the
Atrato
/
Ganges
will follow five minutes later. Then we'll assess the damage and see if more strikes are necessary. Any questions?"

Boyd waited for ten seconds, and when no one spoke up, she said, "Okay, let's do this."

Aboard the
Nelson
and
Sepik
, the tac officers and helm officers were telemetrically linking their systems. It was a required part of their regular training, and they ran simulations all the time to remain ready for this moment.

All preparations were made and the ships were ready a full minute before they were to begin their run. At exactly five minutes, the helmsman of the
Nelson
assumed control of both the
Nelson
and
Sepik
and commenced the attack. The computer had the coordinates and would drop the five WOLaR bombs at just the precise instant.

All seemed to be going smoothly until the two ships arrived at their drop point. The mothership was gone. The tac officer immediately cancelled the drop and Commander Derek Thakett contacted the
Calcutta
using the five-way conference connection so the captains of the
Sepik
,
Atrato
and
Ganges
were made aware of what was happening.

"Captain, the target is gone. I repeat, the target is gone."

"Do you mean you destroyed it in just your first run?"

"Negative. We never dropped our bombs. The almost-completed mothership is not here. The other two are still here, but not the one we were sent to destroy."

"Damn," Captain Boyd said.

"I can't believe they got that partially completed ship FTL," Commander Moodigon of the
Atrato
said.

"Well, it was towed here FTL," Commander Oster of the
Ganges
said, "so we know an envelope could form around it. They only had to get the temporal envelope generator operational."

"That should have been removed or destroyed so this couldn't happen," Commander Thakett of the
Nelson
said.

"We have to begin a search immediately," Captain Boyd said. "We have to find that ship and destroy it. At most, it's had twenty hours to escape. The top speed of a Denubbewa mothership is supposed to be in the range of Light-450. That means we have twenty times their speed. Assuming they could even get that mothership up to top speed, they're only one hour away at our top speed. We'll begin a standard grid search out to 90 minutes from the previous location of the ship. We have five ships, so let's get busy and find that mother-loving ship. My navigator will transmit the search area where each ship should concentrate its efforts. Good hunting."

~     ~     ~

"Sir," the Priority-One message opened by Admiral Holt said, "Within five minutes of arriving at the spot from which we would launch our bomber runs, the
Nelson
and
Sepik
began their run. Upon arriving seconds later at the shipyard, they discovered that the mostly complete Denubbewa mothership was gone. We've begun a grid search of the surrounding area but could use some help if there are any ships available."

"Ronna Boyd, Captain, GSC
Calcutta
in the Crondezzo system."

Admiral Holt closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and breathed deeply. He wasn't angry at Boyd or the
Calcutta
crew, but he
was
greatly upset. What he wanted to know most was if the partially completed mothership was a decoy of sorts designed to draw off the fleet forces from Quesann to search for a mothership that had no warships in it and by all accounts had been empty of Denubbewa until a few days ago when they suddenly came to life. Was the ship a modern-day Trojan Horse designed to be brought in close to Quesann and then distract the attention of the fleet? Was a large force of Denubbewa warships waiting to attack Quesann when he recklessly sent a large force in search of the mothership?

Holt touched the spot on his com unit that would connect him with Second Fleet HQ via his CT.

"HQ. Captain Rakich."

"This is Admiral Holt, Captain."

"Yes, sir, Admiral. How can I help you?"

"That Denubbewa mothership in the Crondezzo system has slipped away. The
Calcutta
and SDBs are searching for it, but I'm worried it might have all been a planned diversion."

"You think the Denubbewa plan to attack us here, sir?"

"It's not outside the realm of possibility. If that's their plan, I want to be ready for them. Cancel all leaves and put the fleet on alert. See that all SDBs are loaded with WOLaR bombs and ready for action. And triple the patrols around Quesann to a distance of ten light-years."

"Aye, Admiral."

"I want to be notified immediately if anything suspicious is spotted by our patrols."

"Aye, Admiral."

"Holt, out."

Admiral Holt then sent a message to Captain Boyd informing her of his suspicions so she'd understand why he wasn't sending any ships in support of her search effort. The Crondezzo system, at just twenty light-years away, was too close to Quesann for comfort.

~ November 23
^rd
, 2289 ~

Jenetta was working at her desk when a message arrived from the Royal Palace on Nordakia. The message had no subject listed, so she opened it right away, learning only then that it was a private message from King Tpalsh.

"Your Grace, it's urgent that I see you as soon as possible regarding a matter of national security. I can't mention more than that in this message in case it's intercepted. Can you come to Nordakia? I'm assuming you still have use of your barge. If not, I'll send a warship from the Home Guard unit to pick you up.

"Kink Tpalsh, the Nordakian Royal Palace, Nordakia. Message complete."

Jenetta couldn't imagine what could be so urgent that the King would ask her to drop everything and rush to Nordakia, but she knew he never made frivolous requests. She checked her appearance and prepared to respond to his message.

"Message to King Tpalsh, Nordakian Royal palace, Nordakia. Begin message.

"Your Majesty, I shall leave today and arrive at Nordakia sometime tomorrow.

"Azula Carver, the Family Carver Estate, Obotymot. Message complete."

~

Jenetta had no idea how long she'd be away, so she packed enough clothes for a two-week trip. She alerted her barge crew and gave them one hour's notice that she needed to go to Nordakia. Then she told her family she was going away. The twins would remain at the palace.

"What's so urgent you have to leave right away?" Annette asked.

"The King says it's urgent, so it's urgent. I'll find out what the issue is when I arrive."

"Tayna and I will go with you, Jenetta," Cayla said.

"Are you sure you can leave your babies?"

"You are leaving your babies."

"Uh, that's true. But you're busy with their training."

"Thor and Nicky can train them while we're gone. Is time to learn hunting anyway, and Thor and Nicky are good at that."

"Okay, girls. We'll be leaving within the hour."

~

Less than an hour later the barge lifted off on its way to Nordakia. On all previous occasions when she was aboard, Jenetta had spent all her time in a jump seat next to the tac station, but this time she didn't even enter the bridge. Instead, she went directly to the VIP suite in the residence container that hung beneath the main ship. It was as spacious and well appointed as the Admiral's suite aboard the
Ares
.
If you had to travel extensively on business, this was the way to do it
, she thought.

She still had some correspondence to catch up on, so she sat at the desk and went to work. Traveling at FTL in a temporal envelope, there was absolutely no sensation of movement, so the ship might just as well have been parked outside the palace walls.

The trip to Nordakia would take less than a day at Marc-1, and the ship would arrive mid-afternoon at the Royal Palace. After completing her work, Jenetta fed Cayla and Tayna, prepared a meal for herself in the suite's kitchen, and turned in to get some sleep.

~

In the morning, Jenetta bathed and had breakfast, then dressed appropriately for the Royal Court. The ship was still several hours from Nordakia, so she sat down to read a number of reports from the various farm managers on her estate.

As the barge set down on the Royal Palace shuttle pad—a significantly larger pad than the one at the Family Carver Estate—Jenetta put her work away and checked her appearance, then moved to the hatchway as the ramp extended down to the ground.

The chief of protocol for their Royal Majesties King Tpalsh and Queen Ckuhah, Minister Dtaple Gkibuke, was waiting to greet Jenetta as she stepped off the shuttle ramp. Cayla and Tayna were, as usual, at her sides.

"Your Grace," Gkibuke said in his usual style as he bowed his head, "it's wonderful to have you back on Nordakia."

"Thank you, Minister, and it's wonderful to be back."

"His Majesty is most anxious to meet with you, so if you're quite ready, we should go."

"Of course, Minister. We mustn't keep His Majesty waiting."

Compared to previous visits where the pace was sedate, it seemed like Jenetta was almost running to keep up with Gkibuke. Whatever it was, the matter had to be most urgent for the minister to hurry like this. Jenetta was glad she had worn a gown that gave her absolute freedom of movement.

Upon reaching the door to the king's study, the minister knocked once and then opened the door just slightly. Listening for just a second and hearing no voices, he opened it wide enough to enter, then announced Jenetta and waved her in. Stepping quickly outside, he pulled the door closed behind him. His behavior was most unusual, reinforcing the idea something highly important was in the works.

After walking to where the king was standing, Jenetta stopped the appropriate ten paces away and bowed her head. The king said almost immediately, "Raise your head, Your Grace, and come join me."

Jenetta looked up and smiled, pointed to the floor with both hands so Tayna and Cayla would know they were to stay where they were, and walked to where the king was standing. The room was empty but for them.

Usually the king or queen would offer a beverage and something to munch on when Jenetta visited, but the king got right down to business.

"Your Grace, I would very much like to hear your opinion of this document." He held out a viewpad to Jenetta. "Can you read this?"

The document being displayed on the viewpad was in what Jenetta usually referred to as Ancient Dakis. While similar phonetically to present day Dakis, the written form was considerably different because the leaders who took their followers away from Dakistee in search of a new home had intentionally altered the written form.

"Yes, Your Majesty. It's been awhile, so it may take me a bit longer than it would have in the past."

"Take your time. I don't want to read it to you because my inflection might give away my sentiments, and I want your unbiased opinion."

Jenetta began scanning through the pages quickly just to get an idea of the length. When she reached page twenty, she stopped. "How long is this document, Your Majesty?"