Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace (12 page)

Narindestat had taken the Resuria back towards the Dradfer zone with a long distance hyper space jump. Fortunately the type two jump drive module would allow him to immediately make another three longer jumps if they were attacked by a senior vassal race. He looked at the recharge rate for the module and noted that it would be fully recharged within ten hours.

Garendestat looked over and offered both an analysis and a pithy opinion.

‘Captain, we will enter the Gold star system in two hours using the standard hyper drive to lower further the chances of discovery. We will need six hours to cross to the fourth planet and the likely concentration of Jerecab ships. Unless we run headlong into the armada itself we should be fine.’

Narindestat gave his son a measured glance that spoke volumes as he replied.

‘Well Lieutenant, we know the Barus fleet is nearby and if they are in the Gold system we will have to abort the attack. We also could run into the Vorinne from what the fleet master is telling me and the outcome of that meeting will depend on the number of their ships.’

The Jerecab frigate was picketing the outskirts of the Gold system, next to a known hyper drive point to Cephrit space, when a massive flash of light erupted in space several hundred kilometres away. The Jerecab commander had only time to scream an urgent warning as he took in the massive size of on the intruder.

‘Send an urgent message to deployment zone, a Trader wing has entered the system at high speed and is on an attack vector. Activate emergency evasion manoeuvres …’

The commander watched in horror as powerful blasts of light flashed from the Trader battle cruiser and tore across space towards his ship. He only had time to key half a sequence on his own puny weapons, before his frigate was blown to atoms.

Narindestat looked around at his tense crew on their bridge and offered a curt evaluation, before calmly adding further instructions.

‘Weapons officer, that was good shooting, now send the three active scan pulses. Lieutenant Garendestat I want you get those two pods in standby mode for quick release if required. We also will not bother with a cloak as I want the Jerecab to bunch up in a defensive formation….’

He was about to offer a further comment when the weapons officer, Lieutenant Marenkestat, spoke urgently across the bridge.

‘Captain, a large ship has been detected further across the system from our position. Also there are two Jerecab frigates at other hyper drive points that are now fleeing.’

Narindestat waited quietly as further sensor readings were taken, but he did note the time and distance equations for both the Jerecab ships and their own entry point into the system. Marenkestat soon updated the bridge on what he had discovered and the captain noted the wonder in his voice.

‘Sspol cruiser detected Captain, and they are broadcasting both non aggression and neutrality clauses. The cruiser is heading across the far side of the system and will not be a factor in our attack. The Jerecab civilian ships are already in a defensive formation and the ships are only protected by a handful of frigates. Only two of their large lifters are present and they have no other ships docked to them at this stage.’

Narindestat was grateful on the Lieutenant’s attention to detail as he confirmed their existing orders.

‘Concise report Lieutenant and I see you also evaluated the risks of there being docked ships on those lifters. We will again check all weapons and shields before we attack, and the sneak ships will remain docked.’

Narindestat later found the actual attack on the massed Jerecab ships to be an anti-climax. The Resuria had swept in at high speed from deep space as they had in the ancient raids of his race against their enemies so long ago. The Trader battle cruiser had used her long range beam weapons to decimate the Jerecab supply ships as the few frigates present attempted a feeble defence. As the ship continued inwards on her highly elliptic trajectory, Garendestat made a surprising report.

‘Captain, several of the smaller ships are landing on the planet itself in an attempt to evade us. Their landing site is on the opposite side of the planet from our own course.’

Narindestat watched as the last Jerecab frigate blew in a soundless flash of light, and gave his son a grim nod of appreciation before he answered.

‘Well this means that the Jerecab admiral will have to expend fuel and time to get those ships back into space before he can use them. This is also a good development for the humans as it buys them more time.’

The attack soon ended as the Resuria performed a gravitation slingshot manoeuvre around the planet and raced back into deep space. A small number of broken Jerecab ships tumbled in orbit where only a few hours earlier an orderly supply fleet had existed.

Narindestat looked over the combat performance of the ship with satisfaction, for despite using their traditional older weapons, the ship and her crew had exceeded his expectations. He quietly gave orders for them to leave for the next Dradfer system, as he was hoping at least to send a message to the beleaguered humans. Specifically he made sure his smaller ships were ready for immediate launch should they be required.

The Barede expedition force in the Resuria’s cargo hold quietly evaluated the one sided battle, before the three commanders conferred in short whispers about their next moves. Nearby several armed Traders looked over at the humans and tried not to give the impression that they were guarding their guests. Further out in the outer asteroid belt, a robot probe launched a small message rocket that quickly raced off towards yet another hyper drive point.

                                                                     ***

Commander Joel Everson ran his right hand through his short dark hair and had the presence of mind to otherwise appear calm. He had taken his three ships across the Emerald system, not far from the location of the loss of Admiral Stanford and his crew onboard the Linares. Six transport ships had arrived directly from the Echelon base and he had them assisting his destroyers in setting up a second tech lab and small supply base. Joel was concerned that their efforts had been discovered as a sensor probe had raced from the system after the transports arrived.

The commander had left his transports behind to follow him at their best speed as the three destroyers later ran down a smaller Jerecab convoy. The mission was becoming more complicated by his ships also detecting a Sspol cruiser. Lieutenant Chandra seemed as relaxed as when their patrol had begun two days earlier, and he now furnished a series of reports on the Jerecab convoy.

‘Commander, the Sspol cruiser is leaving for our rear deployment zones. The six supply ships and their two frigates will be in range in fifteen minutes. The supply ships appear to have extra accommodation modules on board and I suggest they might be troop transports.’

Joel decided that the scenario was safe enough and he instructed his officers to continue with one order change and a caution to his marines.

‘We will attempt to disable the transports before we board one and attempt to capture a senior officer. I have been given my discretion in our ships reaching the Gold system and we can send back the tanker Pearl Sky with prisoners. Now all troops are to be in gas masks, as last time we lost three men to that green dander that covers the fur of the Jerecab.’

The three Earth destroyers easily overpowered the two Jerecab frigates at long range. Joel watched both enemy ships detonate even as they now began moving in on the troop transports. He withheld the use of their spinal mount weapons on the transports as these ships only had basic shielding. After several minutes the Jerecab transports were slowly spinning ruins with no shields or engines and minimal life support. Each of the three destroyers now docked with a smaller transport and fierce hand to hand fighting ensured as several squads of human marines stormed the transports.

Joel was just about ready to order his own troop transports to board the Jerecab ships when in quick succession the ships all surrendered. The humans proceeded to remove the officers from the first three ships before the boarding operation was again attempted on the last three ships. His marines were even quicker to get inside the enemy ships this time around. Joel knew that this was due to the marines having created a new strategy after quickly inspecting their first captures. The sounds of fighting inside the last three supply ships died away, and the Pearl Sky came forward to await her cargo of prisoners under marine guard.

Three hours later, Joel was sitting back reviewing a minimal damage report, when the alarm claxon on the bridge sounded. Lieutenant Chandra quickly advised the commander on the new arrivals.

‘Commander, twelve Jerecab frigates have arrived from the Topaz system and are heading this way.’

Joel kept quiet as he evaluated the time and distance calculations in his own console. He also noted the confirmation message that the Pearl Sky now had onboard three dozen Jerecab prisoners under the guard of a dozen marines. The calculations did not look promising for his destroyers were heavily outnumbered, and he knew that he now risked heavy losses with his slower troop transports. With limited options available he quickly gave orders for what he knew could be their last battle.

                                                                     ***

Admiral Baunrus snarled in fury as he took in the dire reports of the attack on the Gold system. He read again in shock and anger about how a Trader ship had attacked and destroyed dozens of supply ships. The death toll was over eight thousand, and that statistic had him ranting. He had earlier sent a dozen ships ahead in an advance patrol into the Emerald system and was just about to follow them with most of his armada when his rage finally cooled. He looked over his previous orders to his patrolling commanders and a new understanding came to him.

‘The fools in the Gold star system can await rescue from reinforcements due from our home colonies in four days. Today we change our plans and play the humans at their own game. The armada is to set course for the nearest jump point for the Aquamarine system.’

Baunrus sat back to consider the decision and he found further cause to now trust his many years of instinct. The reports had stated first the presence of the Sspol and later the Traders, even if the Traders had only conducted the attack. He voiced his main concerns to his silent bridge crew, who by habit ignored his deliberations.

‘So the Traders would use violence against a vassal race and they must be worried about the humans to directly react. I cannot see the other races tolerating their presence in this area of the galaxy for long. Also the presence of the Sspol concerns me as the independent races could be colluding in protecting the humans.’

The Jerecab admiral stood and paced his bridge for an extended period, with his feet occasionally dislodging small clouds of fresh dander from the deck. He moved to retake his command chair after making a series of decisions he shared with his command crew.

‘All ships are to engage all vassal races and all independent races, including the Sspol on sight. We will attempt to drive the humans from these colonies by first destroying their supply links. Finally we will pursue the humans back to their home world and destroy them.’

The admiral was sure that the changes to his strategy were sound, and he set about implementing the new plans, starting with a full assault on the Aquamarine system.

                                                                     ***

Admiral Mary Neilson came onto the bridge at a dead run and picked up one of her data tablets from the flashing docking cradle. Nearby in space, the green super earth that gave this star system its name gleamed in silhouette as it was highlighted by the distant local star. Lieutenant Commander Griggs was at another console going through the reports from yet another sentry robot, and he spoke hurriedly as he could see the admiral was thinking furiously.

‘Admiral, I think our ruse has been discovered and the armada are coming this way. They obviously did not take the bait and enter either the Topaz or the Ivory star systems. We need four hours to get our latest arrivals clear and the armada will arrive in the system well before this occurs.’

A quick check of the reports on the data tablet had Mary shaking her head and issuing a string of orders.

‘All destroyers are to immediately abort their escort duties of the incoming transports and form up on the Exeter. The fleet will leave for the Echelon base to refuel as soon as possible. We will soon lose most of our supplies and fuel, also there is no way we can protect the outlying supply and troop ships.’

Mary had reluctantly agreed to use marines in the colonies; even as she pointed out that she did not have the strength in fighting ships to defend the transports. The rational from the Earth Council had been that the marines would allow them to tie up the Jerecab for years in the colonies. She noted that the Exeter was accelerating to flee the star system at the front of the fleet. Now looking again at her data tablet, she vented her frustration, for the numbers of marines on the transports had hit home.

‘We lose three thousand marines and six troop transports, plus several supply ships, and if I commit my forces now to protect them we lose our home world today. The death toll will be close to four thousand of our best and bravest people.’

Lieutenant Commander Griggs sombrely replied as he took the import of her complaint.

‘Admiral, the attempt at a ground war in the colonies was always regarded as futile. The high value Jerecab resources in the Gold system are the only possible exception to this view….’

Mary raised a hand in appeal and Griggs had the discipline to immediately fall silent. For several minutes the two senior officers checked over their information and made further plans. The first frigates of the Jerecab armada arrived at the opposite corner of the Aquamarine system and Mary checked over the time and distance calculations with only faint hope. The admiral could see that the majority of the lumbering transports would be destroyed within two hours as their escorting destroyers fled to her position. She knew that they needed an edge and she quietly announced an order she had been dreading.