All Enemies Foreign and Domestic (Kelly Blake series) (7 page)

      “Well, Klaus, we can go to sleep for three hours to help get us on G’Durin time or stay up and get breakfast when the cafeteria opens to feed the Marines.

      “Let’s stay up and have breakfast.
 
It will help us get over the space lag better.”

      “Klaus, stay here until I come back.
 
With the ring’s calibration problem, we are hours late from when we were scheduled to be here.
 
I need to check and see if my wife waited up.”

Kelly walked out into the hallway and down to the stairwell.
 
On the upper floor he turned right, went down three doors, and opened Candy’s office door. In the darkened office he heard a familiar snoring.
 
He turned on a lamp and kissed his wife awake.

      She smiled, stretched, and opened her eyes.
 
“I waited up for you, but the transport tech said it might be hours.
 
I finally gave up at one.
 
What time is it?”

      “It’s almost four.
 
Klaus is in his office.
 
We’re waiting for the cafeteria to open.”

      She stretched again, pulled out a mirror, and screamed.

      “God, I look horrible…and I’ve got drool on my chin.
 
I’ll meet you in Klaus’ office.
 
I have to freshen up first.”

      She padded out of the office, not even putting on her shoes, and headed down the hallway.

      Kelly watched her until she entered the women’s room and went back to Klaus’ office.

      As he sat talking over the project with Klaus, Alistair stuck his head in and said, “Hi, it’s about time you got here.
 
When you get a moment, come see me.”

      Kelly introduced Klaus to Alistair, and said the new embassy would arrive in a few days for Klaus’ people to assemble.

      Alistair beamed and said, “Great, anything I can do to help you do your job better, faster, cheaper, you just let me know.
 
I’m a little cramped in this place and looking forward to my facility in the new building.”

      Kelly asked what Alistair was doing up so early.

      “Oh, like you, I came through out of time cycle and can’t sleep when my body thinks it is 1000 hours.
 
So I’m in here making my night shift’s lives hell by asking weird questions.
 
Do you mind if I join you for breakfast?”

      “Of course you are welcome to join us.
 
Candy is making herself prettier.
 
She’ll be here in a moment and we can all go down together.”

* * * * *

      The next day, two other sentient queens that had spent the night with her in the colony pod learning what was required, joined the first sentient queen in the furry bipeds’ ship.
 
The three used the claws on their forelegs to manipulate tools found onboard to undo mountings, disconnect cables, and, with the help of several workers, remove the ship’s navigation system.
 
The workers carried the equipment to the pre-arranged pick up point, where a ship from the Civilization would arrive to take it back for extensive study.
 
As the three queens left, they gave instructions on clearing out the alien bodies and sending them to the three nearest burrows for food. The three queens touched antennae together and shared a ghoulish joke at the K’Rang crew’s expense, essentially conveying the message, “Meat is meat.”

      After the corpses had been cleared out, the insectoids evacuated the ship, having no further need of it until specialists arrived from the Civilization.
 
She assigned a group of soldiers to maintain around the clock guard of the exterior.

      The queen considered sending some soldiers down the furry bipeds’ trail while the scent was still lingering, but she had other things of higher importance to do, and what harm could three of the furry bipeds do?

* * * * *

      Captain Jim made the rounds of his ship.
 
He wasn’t technically a captain, nor was this his ship.
 
His job was caretaker of the Galactic Republic Reserve Ship Behemoth, lead ship in its class of six ships designed and built too late for employment in the Capricorn War, but capable of transporting an entire heavy division in one movement, deliver them from space to the battlefield, support them with bombardment and precision fires and logistics, plus hold off any space counterattack with her and her escorts’ organic weapons.
 
They were the largest class of ships ever built by man, more than half again as large as a fleet carrier.
 
Too slow initially to traverse distances in a timely manner, they were up-engined after twenty years and now could keep up with the maximum speed of their light cruiser and frigate escorts.
 
With the addition of the transport gates, they could be anywhere in GR space within a week.

      A fully equipped Behemoth could land the equipment of a heavy division, 200-300 hover tanks, 100 to 200 armed, armored hover transports, 50 hover guns, 30 hover recon, its 15,000 soldiers, an aviation brigade of 90 light attack/reconnaissance ships, 60 light transport ships, 30 medium transport ships, and 30 heavy transport ships in under a day with its heavy lighters.
 
In addition, she carried supplies for six months of heavy combat and, employing all cargo lighters, could deliver it to the surface in less than a week.

      Behemoth and her sister ships – Gargantuan, Giant, Leviathan, Gigantic, and Colossus – and escorts were able to land up to five divisions, plus the headquarters and support units of the 5th Mobile Corps, anywhere in GR space in less than three weeks.
 
The ships were taken out of storage above Gagarin and the capability tested every five years.
 
With minor exceptions due to odd dimensions on some new equipment, they were able to meet the standard every time.

      Captain Gibbons patted a bulkhead and said, “Don’t give up, girl, you still got it in you and you’ll be needed some day.
 
Mark my words.”

      He strolled down the dimly lit corridor, testing valves and looking into an empty compartment or two, before reaching a ladder and moving below.

* * * * *

      Alistair called Kelly into his secure office and handed him a mid-sized data pad. Kelly took a few moments to read the several pages of intercepts in chronological order, then asked Alistair, “So what?”

      Alistair always had a “so what.”
 
He always knew more than he would let on.

      “So what?
 
Ever since the top message in the queue came in, the K’Rang have been hopping like crazy.
 
The comms channels have been lit up like a mid-winter fest bonfire.
 
They have already formed a task force to go somewhere towards the galactic core and are already preparing a treaty notification message on its movement.
 
I expect you will be getting a visitor today late or tomorrow morning to brief you on the details.
 
Right now it appears to be a internal K’Rang matter, but we need to watch it just the same.”

      Kelly looked at the data pad and asked, “What is a T’Kab mentioned in the first message and do you know the consist of the task force?”

      Alistair shuffled the papers that always covered his desk and pulled up another data pad.
 
He referred to the data pad and in his rich baritone voice said, “Our linguists say T’Kab is a K’Rang word meaning more than two legs.
 
They don’t know the significance of it and think it might be a code word.
 
Oh, and two battlecruisers, two destroyers and two frigates make up the task force.
 
The battlecruisers are an old Shadow Force model and an old Regular fleet model.
 
Both are fairly old and were not part of the Grand Armada.
 
The destroyers and frigates are all new build and were in the Battle of G’Durin.”

      “Any idea why they are going that far in towards the galactic core?
 
That’s over 100 light years from their nearest world.
 
And why such a large force?”

      “Not a clue, Kelly, that’s what I’m hoping you’ll tell me after you meet with their Fleet representative who will come and brief you on this ship movement.
 
Get the real story out of him, not the diplomatic smoke they’re going to try and blow up your butt.

      “I understand you moved this confidence and stability building measure into the mandatory articles of the treaty, instead of the voluntary articles.
 
That was good work.”

      “Yes, as advisor to Jotil Lenkva, the Angaerry representative to the treaty talks, I was able to insert all sort of little hooks to snag the K’Rang if they tried to go back to their old ways.
 
Hey, wouldn’t it be a good idea to send some eyes along with the K’Rang?
 
I can probably get a scout ship or the Orion to tag along out of sight.”

      “Good idea.
 
You should ask, but I already requested the Orion to trail them.
 
It met some Fleet resistance, but Rear Admiral Hasselrode was all for it.
 
Maybe hearing from one of their own will tip the balance.”

      Kelly looked unhappy.
 
“Alistair, you’re supposed to ask me before you do things like that.
 
After all, I am the Defense Attaché.
 
We should at least pretend we have separate duties and responsibilities.”

      Alistair broke out laughing.
 
“Kelly, you know I want what I want when I want it.
 
You were busy on Antares putting it to the State Department security office, so I made some calls and greased the skids for you.
 
Go, call, get me the Orion to tail them.
 
As busy and as excited as they’ve been on this, you know it’s important.
 
I want to know why they’re so far out and what they’re up to.
 
Now go.
 
Get me the Orion.”

* * * * *

      An official-looking small box arrived from the message center and was placed on Candy’s desk.
 
It was a cube, white, and gaudily embossed with the K’Rang Foreign Affairs Office seal in relief.
 
She took a moment from arranging her law books – that had finally arrived – and opened the package.
 
It was an invitation to Candy, plus one, to a reception at the residence of Senior Elder J’Gon.
 
Candy had heard a rumor that Elder J’Gon had been the nearest K’Rang equivalent to a lawyer before his clan elected him to be an Elder.
 
As the acting Chief Counsel to the Ambassador, she was the senior lawyer in the embassy, at least until her boss got a personal matter sorted out and reported in.
 
Also in the box was a smaller box, containing a simple gold chain holding a flame stone pendant the size of a marble.
 
A note asked her to wear the pendant to the reception.
 
She put the date and time on her calendar, thought about what she would wear, and sent a message to Kelly informing him he was her “plus one.”
 
She contemplated the stone’s beautiful flickering luminescence and bemoaned the fact that she would have to turn it over to the embassy’s ethics officer – but not until after the reception.

* * * * *
 

      True to the customs of protocol, the K’Rang emissary didn’t show until the last possible minute.
 
Kelly received him in the first floor conference room (the one with known K’Rang listening devices) and asked him to sit down.

      He pulled up on his cape, one with a crimson lining identifying him as a shadow warrior, and took the proffered seat.
 
“Captain Blake, allow me to introduce myself,” he began in an oh-so-officious manner and with a slight lisp affected by some K’Rang nobility.
 
Kelly noticed the three-moon ring on his finger, signifying he was nobility and authorized to live on G’Durin.

       
“I am Shadow Leader G’Fin, military aide to the Director of Treaty Compliance.
 
I am here to brief you on the movement of six of our ships away from their base and outside their normal operating zone, in accordance with Article X, paragraph three of the Treaty of G’Durin.
 
A task force consisting of six ships will depart its base at J’Kom and transit to outside K’Rang space in the direction of the galactic core.
 
The mission of the task force is to conduct a search and rescue of one of our deep space research ships that has had engine trouble.
 
If you can bring up the display I will present you with a plot of the general course.”

      Kelly turned on the holographic projector and while the data from his device plotted, asked in his most sincere voice, “How may we help?
 
Space is a dangerous place and all spacefarers are duty bound to assist ships in danger.
 
We could send one of our fastest ships and they could get there and scout before your task force arrives, locate your ship, and either rescue the crew or pass their location on to you.
 
It is the least we can do.”