Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace (31 page)

Greppun now ignored the compound reply expected of him as he fought down worry and made a brief reply. He was well aware that his skin colours were showing his distress.

‘Father your message will be relayed to Drannep if required. The hidden reason is holy to all Sspol and we will remember it.’

Frennen looked at his son with pride for several moments, for he was aware of his son’s anxiety. He ignored commenting on Greppun’s skin colour as he did not want him to be embarrassed on the bridge of his friend’s ship. The engineer instead took a different tack and asked Greppun how his new role was progressing.

The two Sspol had a quick conversation before Captain Hallime sent an interrupt request and the conversation ended. Greppun sought to calm his nerves and his skin finally changed back to a more neutral blue and grey colouring.

Captain Hallime ignored his friend’s son and gave the fateful orders.

‘All functional cruisers are to idle their drive engines and the colony platform is to increase all lift bags to maximum size.’

Greppun paid close attention as the four cruisers that were fully operational began the pre launch sequence by firing their drive engines. The massive colony platform slowly began to rise in the atmosphere and the patient Sspol knew they would be leaving Neptune in several hours.

                                                                     ***

Captain Mark Hammond sat forward in frustration as he took in the message from Administrator Pierre Monterey. He knew that the colony had over twenty thousand colonists and he felt desolate as he evaluated their likely fate.

‘Our fleet fled to defend Earth four hours ago and the bulk of the Jerecab armada is still at the hyper jump location. We are under attack by roughly thirty ships and our facilities in orbit have just been destroyed. Several civilian ships and corvettes have also been destroyed nearby. We are evacuating the dome however we can only fit about five thousand people into the tunnels. You are instructed to remain in the remote outer parts of the Tau Ceti system as you would only be destroyed…’

The bridge of his ship took in the message solemnly for they all knew that the Sanctuary colony did not have a breathable atmosphere if the dome was destroyed. Mark noted the status of Long Reach yet again, for the ship was only running a pair of smaller shields and their main weapons were not powered. He knew that even with the advanced scanning technology of the Jerecab, his ship would appear to be just a large mining craft.

Several of the much smaller corvettes had docked across the Long Reach’s hull at key points to mask the mass of the new guns, and the three robot prospectors were also docked and powered down. Three hours of silence followed before another message was received on the Long Reach. Pierre Monterey looked tired, was in a space suit, and was now speaking from the cockpit of a smaller freighter at the space port well outside the dome.

‘The main dome has just been destroyed after the shield generators were blown up, and the Jerecab are landing several small attack craft. My volunteer teams are all in space suits and preparing a last ditch defence. We have over five thousand survivors, mainly women and children, in the deep mine galleries and they have been sealed inside….’

Mark was hoping that Pierre would speak again, however there was just a brief yell and the sounds of an explosion before the screen went dead.

Pierre lumbered as fast as he could away from the small freighter after it had been attacked at the space port. A series of smaller explosions occurred around him as the colonists attempted to fight off the squads of Jerecab marines. Overhead a pair of enemy frigates made a high speed run at high altitude and strafed the human defences.

Pierre was an administrator, not a soldier, though he was adaptable and he had taken to the training moderately well. The administrator reached his nominated position and picked up a laser rifle resting in a corner. A storeman with a pair of binoculars and a laser pistol made a hurried report as they both ducked behind a wall to avoid laser fire.

‘Pierre, there are three squads in space suits east of us and they are just coming forward after first setting up defences at the edge of the space port. The marines are based in the maintenance sheds off the side access road.’

The administrator gave the storeman a wry grin that the younger man returned nervously before he replied.

‘Okay Alan, my great, great grand father was in the resistance in world war two and he knew a few tricks…’

Pierre shouldered his rifle, picked up three radio transmitters and quickly keyed their sequences in turn. Three loud explosions came from the eastern side of the space port as the deeply buried explosives detonated under the maintenance sheds. The attacks of the Jerecab marines slowed down for several minutes as they sent back teams to assist their wounded. A twin sonic boom heralded the arrival of two more enemy frigates high overhead, and both men lumbered back in their suits to their first fall back position. Other defenders covered their withdrawal as they found the cover of another stout wall.

The humans were nearly blown out of their cover as the four missiles from the frigates obliterated the first series of defences. Pierre watched in horror as one of the men next to Alan died in series of convulsions after his suit was torn open by shrapnel. The defenders waited until the first Jerecab marines appeared through the dust of the blasts and then they opened fire.

The marines took cover and a pair of Jerecab hovercraft came forward firing a turreted laser weapon. But Pierre’s team were up to the challenge and they responded with accurate RPG fire. Several smaller explosions occurred as the hovercraft brewed up and then exploded. The administrator noted that the ground several hundred metres away was now littered with a few dozen dead Jerecab marines.

The air above them was split by another pair of sonic booms and Pierre knew that the odds were not on the side of the defenders. He was attempting to disengage his team and fall back to yet another position, but Alan made an urgent report after talking briefly over the radio.

‘Sir the defences at the far side of the space port have already been destroyed and our fall back position is already under attack…’

Pierre made up his mind as he left the cover of the wall, and he set the firing rate of his laser rifle to fully automatic as he stumbled forward in the ungainly suit.

‘All defenders are to form up and we will attack their marines, for more missiles are due shortly…’

The colonists moved forward at an ungainly run and there was a brief lull as they crossed most of the distance towards the Jerecab marines. The missiles arrived behind them and they all dove to the ground as the air around them was split by four large explosions.

Pierre quickly got to his feet and was followed by Alan and four other defenders as they attacked the marines. He already knew that five other defenders closest to the missiles were already dead. His suit display was showing a visual alarm and he knew that the waist seal in the suit was compromised.

The concentrated attack by the six human defenders caught the Jerecab marines by surprise, and they took heavy casualties before they brought the humans down. Pierre was fighting back to back with Alan as the Jerecab marines pressed towards them. A lone defender nearby fired an RPG at another hovercraft and the vehicle detonated as he was cut down.

Pierre dropped to a crouch as he heard Alan scream and fall behind him. His laser rifle had killed several enemy marines, before several more marines attacked him from nearby cover. He only had a brief sensation of sharp pain in his trunk and legs, and an inability to breathe before darkness overtook him.

                                                                     ***

Admiral Baunrus took in the news of the destruction of the human colony with little interest. He knew that many colonists remained underground, but he had merely ensured that they remained entombed. The scattering of mining craft and corvettes across the far side of the system also did not interest him either. The Jerecab admiral was mainly worried about his overdue reinforcements and he voiced this concern, and two orders, across the bridge to his silent bridge crew.

‘Commander Neanres should be here within two days with another ninety ships and several supply ships, including two specially modified lifters. We will need to cover the supply ships and guard our backs, so the sixteen heavily damaged ships are to remain here, and the other damaged ships will be coming with us to attack the human home world.’

The admiral was aware that the other thirty damaged frigates had marginal capabilities, especially with their point defences. However, he cared little for the survival of their crews, as he knew that he was running out of options. Baunrus was hoping that at least these ships would occupy the humans long enough for his undamaged ships to cause them real problems. He watched impatiently as the Jerecab attack force began their journey back from the destroyed colony to the position of the armada.

                                                                     ***

Chapter 15

Gindane waited until the view screen went dead before she stretched out her long furred limbs. The other Barus on the bridge could detect both her confusion and irritability, and they kept their attention on their consoles. The captain now stood up and vented her exasperation to a pair of senior researchers a few metres away.

‘A couple of the human leaders are a real problem, as they seem to think that they can just talk to Admiral Baunrus nicely and he will stop his attacks and leave. They do not realise that the Red Jerecab have gone to a great deal of trouble to murder them on their home world….’

Gindane was about to comment further, but the Rupane’s tactical officer spoke loudly across the bridge.

‘Captain, the human fleet have arrived in the solar system just past the orbit of Saturn. The first ships to arrive were two destroyers and their transports, followed shortly afterwards by the rest of their destroyers. The human ships also show signs of being in a recent battle.’

Gindane sat back quietly in her command chair to read yet more reports, this time on earlier weapons drills among the ships in her own small fleet. She knew that the humans would be busy and so waited patiently for Admiral Neilson to get around to speaking with her. After five hours the view screen came alive, and Gindane stood to offer the Admiral a full bow of courtesy as the human spoke quickly.

‘Captain, sorry for the delay in my speaking with you. The authorities on my world needed a full rundown on what was happening and we are replenishing our ships as we head for Earth.’

Gindane could picture in her mind the activity around the fleet of destroyers, for several supply ships had earlier travelled out to the arrival point for the incoming destroyers. She knew that the humans would be refuelling and reloading missiles into their fighting ships as they headed for home. Mary spoke again in urgent tones and Gindane paid close attention to her, as the Barus tactical officer now keyed a time and distance calculation in the background.

‘We want you to take your small fleet and head across to guard Mars, as it is currently on the same side of the solar system as Earth. We will return to a position near our moon and continue to resupply from our ships.’

Gindane waited until Mary had finished speaking before she replied. The Barus captain knew that her message would take four hours to arrive, so she spoke at length not expecting an immediate reply.

‘My fleet is not far from Mars and we will arrive to join them in about six hours. Your leaders have been adamant in ships directly protecting Earth from high orbit, even after my tactical simulations were supplied to them. Two of your military officers seem to have a better grasp on what is required and we are in constant communications. Note that your fleet deployment should be flexible enough to take advantage of any changes the Jerecab admiral could make in his attack plans.’

Gindane felt some relief after voicing her concerns to Mary, and she now took the opportunity for a break. She was soon soundly asleep as the Rupane moved back to join the rest of her ships.

Mary could understand Gindane’s concerns too well after speaking with the members of the planetary council. The long delay associated with the position of her fleet frustrated the politicians, and Chancellor Hans Schmidt in particular had not wasted any time in making his feelings known.

‘Admiral Neilson, we have lost a quarter of the fleet sent to those worlds and to my mind we have not succeeded in our objectives. I am petitioning for you to be replaced as admiral of the fleet and we are attempting to negotiate with the Jerecab. Surely we can come to some arrangement with them whereby we retain our home world.’

Mary knew that the chancellor was very wrong, and she noted that he would not have had time to go through all her reports before he replied earlier. She was certain that if he had time to go through everything he would back her judgement. Unfortunately the German was very powerful in the council and used to getting his own way. The admiral looked around her bridge for only a few moments before she replied sternly.

‘Chancellor, I trust by the time this next message reaches you that you will be now ware of the threats of the Jerecab Admiral. I draw your attention to his repeatedly expressed desire to murder every human being on our planet. We are dealing with a madman and so I invoke the emergency martial law powers granted to me by the council earlier. All military forces in the solar system are now under my command and we will be making a concerted effort to defeat their armada. Note that that the Jerecab have suffered significant losses during our earlier battles.’

Mary knew that she risked getting the council members offside with her proclamation, however she also knew that at most of the senior military officers supported her views. She was especially relieved to see that Emma Stone and Robert Seville were now organising last minute defences on the moon. The admiral also took an opportunity for a break and headed off to her cabin for a shower and a meal. Later she was relieved to receive two brief audio messages from her family, first from her daughter, and then from her husband.