Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace (32 page)

‘Mum, it’s Jane, we are glad to hear you have arrived back in the solar system. Every thing is well at our end and we wish you luck in the coming battle. We love you.’

‘Sweet heart, this is Mark, the kids are all okay and we are all proud of you and love you very much. The members of the council are all in uproar after the threats from the Jerecab were broadcast, and this is despite your proclamation of martial law for the solar system. I think that you are on safe ground with your efforts. Good luck and I love you.’

 Mary knew that Mark was taking a risk in speaking about the council, as their own charter restricted their members from speaking about internal meetings. The admiral settled back to replay the messages and now also wished she had visuals as well, for she was really missing her family. Mary turned into her bed and looked at the two pictures of her family nearby for several seconds before she turned out the lights. Sleep soon overtook her as in space nearby the complex task of replenishing the destroyers with missiles continued.

                                                                     ***

Tom Paulson fought back his grief and anxiety as he quickly walked into the meeting room. He had earlier received the news about Freya and her crew after landing M6 back on Vesta. The Buenos Aires had not turned up with the rest of the fleet, and his worst fears had been confirmed by a terse message broadcast by Admiral Neilson.

‘The following ships are confirmed as destroyed by enemy action and their crews are all presumed dead; the Linares, the Cannes, the Buenos Aires, the Tokyo, the Belfast, the Perth and the Houston. The Auckland, the Newport and the Madrid are still on forward deployment and will be overdue in three days time.’

As Tom entered the room, Nicole and Sam Peters quickly crossed to him and gave their condolences, and Tom fought back tears as he replied.

‘Thank you for your wishes, the girls are both well and with their grand parents, and they will be told when I get back home.’

He was about to speak to his friends again, but the Vesta Mining Consortium chairman, Jacques Monterey, stood and called the urgent meeting to attention.

Tom knew that Jacques’s brother Pierre was in command of the Tau Ceti colony, and that it would have come under heavy attack by the aliens after the destroyers had been forced to flee. The chairman wasted no time in steering the meeting in the direction he wanted it to go.

‘We are strengthening selected mining ships for possible combat against the Jerecab, so this will be a quick meeting. The ones we have selected are the latest pod built ships, M6 through to M14 inclusive. Tom will command M6, Sam keeps M8 and I will take M11.’

Several voices called out across the room as Tom followed Sam Peters to stand alongside Jacques. The chairman looked around the room with satisfaction as the remaining command and crew slots on the other mining craft were quickly filled with volunteers. The chairman waited until the noise had ebbed before he spoke again.

‘Glad to hear we are not short of volunteers. Now remember that we are gong up against alien fighting ships and our chances of success let alone survival are slim. Hopefully we can make a difference as we are adding shields especially and our cutting lasers should be useful at close range. The real problem we have is that we lack defences against Jerecab missiles, so we will time our arrival for later in the final battle.’

Silence followed his comments before Tom spoke up quietly.

‘We are all well aware of the risks Jacques, but we are mindful of protecting Earth. Now if that means we are destroyed by missiles meant for one of our destroyers or the planet then so be it….’

A rousing cheer went up in agreement at this sentiment and Jacques gave Tom a long look of sadness mixed with respect. The crowd of miners settled back to listen as Sam Peters, a former fleet navigator made his own recommendations.

‘If we leave in ten hours and swing by Mars to accelerate then we can choose to protect either the moon or Earth. I think we should head for the Earth first as we can slingshot back out to the moon easily enough if required.’

Several voices agreed with Sam’s views and Jacques quickly steered the meeting into what was needed for the launch time.

‘Well all ships can launch and their mining drones are attached. We need to jury rig several extra shields onto the miners and drones, and this means taking them off ships remaining behind on Vesta. Do we have any volunteers to donate and fit the extra shields?’

The chairman looked in satisfaction as a sea of hands went up and in minutes he had several teams organised. Tom was thoughtful as he looked over the power requirements of the shields and he made a final observation.

‘The added shields will drain a lot of power and be easily detected by the Jerecab. We should only quickly test the extra shields and ensure they are on separate power conduits before we power them down again. Fortunately the drones have onboard generators that easily can power additional shields when the battle is finally commenced. Mark Hammond in the Tau Ceti system sent me his plans earlier, but we do not have time to fit military turrets or anything, even if we could obtain them.’

The captains and engineers of the eight mining craft now went forward towards Jacques as he dismissed the rest of the meeting.

‘We are in agreement and I want most of you moving the shields across to the selected ships. Now if we stick with the contingency plan made earlier then we will be fine. Get going everyone as our ships could become important in the final battle.’

Tom soon had the plans up on the view screen and the other mining captains were soon taking notes as they discussed what was required. He was conscious of the strain beneath the camaraderie of the miners, and he wondered how many would be lost in the next few days.

                                                                     ***

Grant Stoneham looked worried as he looked around at Gayle and Olav after the Emerald Sky entered high orbit around the unknown planet of the Kilin system. He had earlier left his tankers on the outskirts of the system with instructions to remain silent. The Maveen Dradfer probe was in space nearby, and had remained silent for an extended period as the two ships moved inside the remote star system. Olav was now analysing the planet surface and he spoke calmly across the bridge.

‘There is a civilisation below us and they are well hidden in trees and caves. The level of technology is roughly equivalent to our industrial age two hundred years ago. They appear to have electricity and a variety of powered craft, but there is no nuclear technology present.’

Grant voiced what was worrying him as he replied.

‘Yet they are almost invisible from the edge of their star system and they could be easily missed. Also there is very little radio or television traffic leaking into space compared to other inhabited systems we know about.’

He was about to offer a further opinion, but the Dradfer probe spoke up in a metallic tone full of authority.

‘Captain Stoneham, you will go alone and take only a shuttle down to the planet observing radio silence. For your own safety I will go with you after I first refuel. You are to adhere to all my guidelines as I need to confirm something about the race below. Note that the meeting cannot be too long as we have other star systems to explore. The Emerald Sky will remain in high orbit, your crew will power down all unnecessary generators and the ship will remain radio silent.’

Grant quickly reassured Gayle that everything would be fine before he made his way to one of his shuttle craft. He started the pre flight checks and watched as the Maveen probe docked onto one of the standard docking ports. He then noted that the probe was quickly taking onboard tonnes of oxygen and hydrogen.

Grant waited until the Maveen Dradfer probe had undocked from the Emerald Sky, before he undocked the shuttle and trailed it into the atmosphere. Apart from ensuring his radio was set to low power, he had an uneventful trip as he kept pace several kilometres behind the probe. The probe made for a large clearing in amongst several trees, and Grant waited until it had landed before he began his own cautious approach.

The Barede freighter captain also ensured the weaker shields of the small shuttle were fully functional. A party of aliens first approached the landed Maveen probe, and Grant looked in polite interest at the new race. He felt these new aliens looked impressive, as he noted their fine white feathers and several differences between them. The aliens appeared to consist of a variety of shapes and sizes, with several of the larger three metre tall individuals obviously armed.

The Maveen probe spoke after several further minutes and Grant paid close attention.

‘We will leave another message for the Trader ship when they follow us here at a later stage. This world needs to remain a close secret as it is populated by a hidden colony of Quixxe. From the accounts of the colonists, both the Cephrit and Deltas Vass established this colony several thousand years ago.’

Grant was amazed by this news and he had a few quick questions for the Maveen.

‘But this race is supposed to be slaves in the centre of the galaxy. Are they not a food source for other galactic races, especially the Zronte and the Tilmud? So why are they out here? - and how are we to become friends with them?’

The Maveen Dradfer probe remained silent at this point for several moments, for he was hoping that Captain Stoneham would make his own decisions. The mechanical life form was not disappointed as Grant spoke again.

‘I will go outside dressed only in shorts and unarmed. So do they also speak Trader and what can I use to trade with them?’

The probe was ready with answers and in short order Grant was walking down the rear ramp of his shuttle craft. He kept his movements deliberate and slow as the probe introduced him in Trader language to the waiting Quixxe.

‘This is Captain Grant Stoneham, a human of the Barede federation in the outer arm of the galaxy. The captain’s home world is Sol three in the Orion arm not far from Cephrit space.’

Grant gave a deep bow of respect to the most ornate warrior standing directly in front of him. He noted the obvious strength of the alien, the red head coomb and the yellow crest on the three metre high Quixxe. The armed warrior returned his bow and spoke in a rich voice to him.

‘Welcome to our world Captain, and we trust your intentions are peaceful. I am warrior commander Berrinal, and we seek to remain hidden from the Zronte and Tilmud. You will pledge to keep our existence secret, for even the Cephrit and Deltas Vass who seeded us here are mindful of our rights.’

The surrounding warriors now gave an air of menace that Grant quietly noted, as he slowly bowed again before speaking.

‘Warrior Commander Berrinal, I pledge to keep your race’s existence secret and I will instruct my race to mark this star system as off limits under quarantine. I also pledge neutrality and non aggression to your race for we are a race that seeks to trade.’

Berrinal slowly placed his automatic weapon on the ground and walked closer to Grant. The Barede colonist kept his teeth covered in case he was seen to be a threat as the Quixxe warrior looked him over from his greater height. After establishing he was harmless, near naked and unarmed, Berrinal spoke softly to one side.

‘Please come forward your majesty, for the human is unarmed and I sense no malice in him.’

The line of warriors parted and a female Quixxe came slowly forward. Grant noted her obvious age as he remained silent to allow her to speak first. Berrinal moved to one side and introduced his ruler.

‘Captain Grant Stoneham, it is my privilege to introduce to you Queen Lorrinel who is also my mother.’

Grant gave another deep bow and then politely greeted the queen.

‘I am honoured to meet you Queen Lorrinel and I trust I may of great service to you people today and always.’

The queen gave a nod of welcome, and Grant noted that her eyes hinted at both great wisdom and compassion. Lorrinel spoke softly and Grant had to listen carefully as he tried to follow her words.

‘Since ancient history when the living ships were overthrown we have lived in fear. The Vorinne themselves were nearly defeated long ago by our race, and but for the savagery of the Zronte we would be still a star faring race. Our race is now livestock on Tilmud and Zronte worlds while we hidden here dream of regaining our rightful place in the galaxy.’

The Maveen probe caught the reference to the ancients, but he kept quiet for the time of their renewal was still to be yet reached.

The queen spoke again and Grant listened closely to the message behind her words.

‘The Cephrit and the Deltas Vass placed us here on Kilin in secret many centuries ago and are trusted by us despite being vassals. The other vassals have proven to be devious in their dealings with each other let alone other races. Of the independent races only the Maveen, Traders and Sspol are regarded with any degree of trust by us. The other independent races, especially the Altoran and the Fenshilla, are highly distrusted.’

Grant knew what he wanted to say, even as he wondered to himself what a living ship or an Altoran was, but he waited to ensure the queen had finished speaking before he replied.

‘We seek to deal with all races with honour and we forbid the conquest and enslavement of other races. I personally find the treatment of the Quixxe by other races to be repellent to our core beliefs. This world is many thousands of light years from the centre of the galaxy, and so you should be safe from interference by the senior galactic races.’

Queen Lorrinel looked at Grant sadly as she softly replied, and her words shocked him.

‘The Traders and the Maveen are not the only races capable of easily crossing the complete galaxy. The Vorinne were once capable but are now forbidden, and the Zronte have always been capable but are too lazy.’

Grant knew that he would have to report this conversation to both senior humans and senior Traders back on Barede. For the Barede colony administrators had often speculated about the Trader type two hyper drive and if any of the other races had the same abilities. Once again he wished that Captain Narindestat was present, and this gave him his next items of conversation.