Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace (3 page)

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Robert Seville sat at the engineering console of the older frigate and looked over the latest search reports with frustration. He was briefly aware of the age of their space ship and how the Earth authorities had not used surface ships for many years. The researcher watched with detached interest as they flew over a larger commercial surface ship, increasingly rare these days, as it heading towards Fremantle.

The four searching space ships had recovered two large fragments from a frigate sized space ship that seemed different than the ship that had been recently destroyed. He noted that the reports stated the fragments had recent temperature scouring from passing through the atmosphere at speed. However the team’s initial searches of the Trader information and also their own now outdated data had only increased the confusion Robert was experiencing.

‘The fragments are from a larger ship, most likely a Tilmud frigate, or even two frigates as the metals vary slightly between the fragments. The fragments each weigh about thirty tons and are in poor condition. Yet a frigate is several times larger than the ship we detected in space….’

Robert had a suspicion or inkling that humanity was being misled, but he was unsure as to both the intention and the scale of the misdirection. The search for wreckage was being wound down and was due to finish shortly, even if they did find smaller fragments of the ship. He now plugged in the details of the wreckage, plus added another twenty tons of smaller wreckage, into a beta program he had just developed.

He then added the recent intercept vectors and ran a simulation based on the results he copied across from the beta program.

Robert ensured that the two pilots were busy flying the ship back to Perth as he viewed the simulation in amazement. He knew now what he was looking for and in moments had a confirmation from the Trader information on his data tablet.

One of the pilots broke into his concentration as he discretely shutdown the data tablet.

‘Sir, the search has just finished for the day and only two smaller fragments have been recovered by two other ships. Are we continuing to search further tomorrow based on these new discoveries?’

Robert forced himself to give a genial answer as his mind continued to race in the background with the possibilities.

‘No Mick, we will close off the search for now and back to the institute as I am satisfied with the results. I am looking over the fragments for a few days before heading off to space. We are expecting uninvited guests before long and I have been seconded to space duty as a commander.’

The answer interested both of the pilots, and Robert endured a good natured lobbying for assignment to combat patrols from both of the older men. He gave them both a polite smile as replied and casually stowed his data tablet in his back pack.

‘Okay Mick and Bob, I will speak with my contacts and get you up into space. However this slow old crate may not be of much good in an actual battle, even if we have plenty of crew and weapons.’

The two pilots seemed happy with Robert’s answer and an easy silence followed as the old ship made the short journey back to the research institute. As they began the landing approach, Robert considered the ramifications of actually knowing which race had just landed on Earth.

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Chapter 2

Altarebe kept perfectly calm as he was introduced to the middle daughters, Helisphan and Isphara. The two youngest females, Cliade and Armuen, had already swum off to fetch the Maveen probe. Seliandre had swum off a short distance under the massive suppression field, which had impressed him from the moment he entered the facility. Nearby he see the slumbering form of the oldest sister, Gementer, now braced against movement on a flat section of the seafloor.

Altarebe watched as Seliandre then placed the damaged sled carefully in a docking cradle and connecting diagnostic lines through the service ports. He was now distracted and knew that the middle two daughters were still young, but that did stop them from taking an interest in him. Isphara stopped circling him closely and swam back a distance before she asked a question.

‘So Altarebe, you have been travelling in the galaxy for many centuries, and you must have seen many an amazing sight? You will already be aware that we have never left this planet.’

Isphara was about to speak again, but Angwene quietly instructed her and her sister to remain silent as she then addressed Altarebe.

‘Isphara and Helisphan please remain quiet, as the probe and I need to speak at length with Altarebe. Surely you both have not finished your assigned tasks for this watch period. Altarebe, we need to go through all your information again, especially any briefings you have from the Maveen.’

Angwene was about to continue again, but paused for a moment as Seliandre returned to take close station next to him. Her possessiveness was not lost on her mother, who now remained silent. She now decided that this aspect of Altarebe’s arrival would have to be dealt with after the briefings. The Maveen probe now arrived trailed by the two youngest ancient females. After brief introductions, Altarebe repeated his earlier reports that he had given Queen Angwene.

‘Probe three, the Earth probe, the Dradfer probe, and the sector delegate probe have instructed me to pass on this information to you. The damaged sled over in that cradle is for your use and this is what the senior probes would like you to do …’

Probe three looked over at the nearby sled and established a blue laser communications line to the forward console of the device. He then interrogated the damaged sled as Altarebe continued to speak at length. The probe soon established that the sled was heavily damaged and would take concerted repairs to get it functional. He placed the repair times against the most likely future time he would need the sled and decided to interrupt Altarebe.

‘Excuse me Altarebe, but I will move closer to the sled and commence repairs of the device immediately. Please follow me over to the cradle and continue speaking.’

Angwene gave a soft subsonic call of irritation, but they all slowly followed the Maveen the two hundred metres or so over to the cradle. A soft blue light bathed the sled as probe three set to work on the damaged underside. Altarebe ignored the soft calls of distress from the females as he told the story of the surprise Tilmud attack long ago that had injured both his father and himself.

Angwene interrupted Altarebe with two questions as the Maveen probe quietly worked on the sled.

‘So your father, Delprebe, is still alive and hiding on a remote asteroid? Yet you state you both were academics before you reached this galaxy so long ago?

Altarebe was about to reply when the Maveen probe gave an answer of his own.

‘Your majesty, Altarebe and his father were originally brought to this part of the galaxy by my team many centuries ago. After we lost touch with them we arranged to search for them with the assistance of the Traders. So now you finally know of my original mission.’

Queen Angwene sat back in thought as she took in the significance of the Maveen probe’s answer. Probe three ignored the soft subsonic calls of amazement that the daughters made as he continued to work on the sled. Seliandre make an observation of her own as Altarebe also remained silent.

‘The Maveen are up to something else and the probe just stated what I had worked out earlier. I think we still do not know all of their plans, but I think it is something to do with their role as makers of worlds.’

The Maveen probe was listening in but gave no acknowledgements as Altarebe spoke again.

‘Well I did travel with a Sspol cruiser many years ago to a remote part of the galaxy and a massive nearby Maveen facility was preparing for something…’

Angwene listened with heightened interest as she took in this information. Surely the Maveen would not act until she had fled this world with her daughters, and she wasted no time worrying about this later concern as she steered Altarebe back to her immediate fears.

‘Well we are definitely leaving in one hundred and fifty years time so the Maveen will have to postpone their plans for this star system until then. Now Altarebe we need to go through the report on the humans and their journey to the former Dradfer colonies. For all our future plans are invalid unless the humans survive the onslaught of the Jerecab.’

Angwene was aware that the Maveen probe had stopped working on the sled and regarding Altarebe through his blue vision strip. Altarebe remained silent as probe spoke to the ancients in a soft sub-sonic whisper.

‘Your majesty, my limited tactical data supports the human decision to confront the Jerecab well way from this planet. Altarebe, the queen earlier predicted that the Jerecab would be the most dangerous race to confront the humans. We know now that the humans are building ten addition ships to add to the forty they took with them on their mission.’

Altarebe was trying to establish how the ancients had discovered this information as Seliandre modestly spoke.

‘The human struggle for survival against the Jerecab is not as futile as it might seem. Many years ago probe three assisted me in hacking into the human’s primitive telecommunications systems. For many years my sisters and I have maintained a series of online identities, and we seek to covertly aid the humans in this manner.’

Altarebe could already see the benefits of this information and he struggled to remain still as he spoke.

‘The humans are badly outnumbered and our reports tell us that the vassals will not interdict with enough force in time. The Sspol colony and your covert interface are the two factors the Jerecab cannot know about. I should think that human technology would have received hidden assistance by this method.’

The Maveen probe regarded Altarebe with approval as he spoke again, for the ancient male had truly made his further duties much easier.

‘Hopefully the humans can keep the Jerecab under control long enough for the vassals to interdict at the former Dradfer worlds. Now if the Jerecab arrive here then the humans are not necessarily lost. Note that even if Seliandre, Helisphan and Isphara went into space with me I could not guarantee that we would win. Also the Vorinne would not waste anytime invading this system as a result, dooming Queen Angwene and the other daughters.’

Queen Angwene felt exasperated with the Maveen probe’s comment, as her two youngest daughters now crowded alongside her massive flanks for reassurance. She softly warbled a subsonic call to reassure them both, as Altarebe spoke again.

‘Well underestimating the humans can be real problem, and I hope the Jerecab are having a heavy toll taken from them. Please continue working probe three, as I now report about the colonists that went through to Barede before the Trader ship left this world…’

Seliandre had been reviewing data from their wire tap into the human internet system to try and find out what the humans actually knew about Altarebe’s landing. She felt a cold knot of fear pass through her large body as she took in the latest human media reports and wasted no time reporting to her mother.

‘A small human fleet is now searching the northern Indian Ocean for wreckage and has uncovered two large pieces and several smaller pieces. The search will last for another two or three days and involves shielded ships searching the seafloor.’

Angwene felt great anxiety as she activated a series of small long range scanners in the middle of the Indian Ocean. For long minutes she noted that the human activity appeared to be focused up near the equator, well away from the scanners and thousands of miles from their own location. Now relieved, she brought the gathering back to her other concerns by first reassuring them all.

‘We have not mined the search area for thousands of years, so the sediment cover should mask our traces very well. Now I understand that apart from the human destroyers only a handful of Barus and Sspol cruisers stand between humans and extinction?’

Probe three was running a simulation in the background as he continued to scan through the damaged sled. He then sent his report to Seliandre, Altarebe and Queen Angwene, who all remained silent as they processed the information. After several minutes Altarebe was the first to speak and he did not hide his dejection.

‘Even allowing for the most unlikely attrition rates the humans and their allies are still handily beaten by the Jerecab armada. The Barus lose three quarters of their squadrons and the Sspol lose over half their numbers if they become involved. The Cephrit and Deltas Vass are unlikely to arrive in time if at all.’

Seliandre wanted to remain silent as she went through the background equations of the simulation, for she felt that an omission had been made, but her mother gave a terse but confident opinion of her own.

‘Well the probe has been very conservative in his estimates of the strengths of the human destroyers, admittedly as it deviates from standard combat models, though I think that this will not greatly change the result. Probe three; we will add in the heavy weapon for the destroyers, also we should only specify forty destroyers as I expect the humans will have losses at the colonies.’

Seliandre noted bleakly that the fewer destroyers plus the allocation for the spinal mount weapon did not alter the simulation much in the human’s favor. She began keying in the details of the solar system, when a key set of facts got her attention and she passed on the information to the probe.

‘Your standard model has other omissions and we should calculate out a varied simulation based on allowing for these factors. I know that the possibilities of control errors will increase both that would hold true for the Jerecab let alone the humans. The additional parameters are as follows….’

The Maveen probe remained silent as it processed the added instructions, before relaying the new results out to the patient ancients. Angwene took in the revisions and now felt a small glimmer of hope as she considered the altered simulation’s results. Seliandre spoke softly to Altarebe, and she highlighting key parameters that he then appreciated in silence.