Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace (6 page)

Joel now took his seat and recovered his coffee, as the efficient and enthusiastic crew continued their duties. He noted again the distant forces of the Jerecab and keyed up reports of the stealth robots he had hidden much earlier in the star system. The two interesting things he noted about these reports were quickly discussed around the bridge.

‘Well the two larger ships are Barus destroyers and it looks like the Jerecab forces on the other side of the system chased them away. There is also a report of a smaller ship, of a very different design, that skirts around the other ships at a distance.’

The tactical officer, Lieutenant Chandra, was up to the challenge of identifying the small ship.

‘Commander the smaller ship appears to be a Cephrit scout ship, noting that the information dates back to our initial briefing from the Traders back on Earth.’

Joel quietly acknowledged the lieutenant’s efforts as he brought the bridge back to their immediate tasks.

‘Thank you lieutenant and you are as accurate as always. Now we will target the lead ship as it is the closest, also I want a one hundred mile buffer between us and the enemy at all times. After reading further about the Newport’s recent battle I consider the Jerecab may attempt to ram our ships.’

Joel settled back to overview the tactical simulation now on the secondary screen, and he noted the probable outcome with satisfaction. He put aside his concerns as the range alert came on for the main spinal mount weapon.

‘All ships open fire on the lead enemy frigate. We then hold our course and attempt to get between them and their lifters.’

The weapons console flashed the brief overcharge buzzer for the main particle cannon before a slight shudder ran through the ship as the weapon fired. Joel noted that all three shots raced across the intervening space and impacted on the lead Jerecab frigate.

The sensor readouts for the enemy ship went wild for several moments as the reserve energy discharged through the now dangerously weakened shields. A blaze of turret weapons fire raced out from the destroyers and hit the now tumbling frigate. Joel noted that a secondary alarm sounded as they then came within range of the Jerecab frigates.

The recharge timer for the spinal mount weapons slowly counted out the five minutes needed, as Lieutenant Chandra gave a curt report.

‘Commander, the three undamaged frigates have launched several missiles at extreme distance. The missiles appear to be targeting all our ships instead of just one ship.’

Joel gave a silent prayer of thanks as he followed the flight of the fifteen missiles, for he knew that any of his ships alone would find that number of missiles to be a real threat. The missiles raced out at long range for the human ships, before the spinal mount weapons on each destroyer again concentrated their firepower on the damaged frigate.

The frigate’s shields again discharged the force of the weapons, and even at a range of several thousand kilometres, Joel got the impression that the ship shivered for several seconds. The force of the attack increased the tumbling of the frigate, before it soundlessly exploding in a cascade of light and heat. The recharge timers again began their countdown as a storm of point defensive laser fire from the human destroyers reached out for the approaching missiles.

For several minutes the bridge echoed with calls of vectors and fire control solutions, before the lasers destroyed all the incoming missiles. Joel anxiously scanned the status of the Newport and the Madrid and he was relieved to find that the other two ships were also unscathed. He then ordered each of the three ships to now concentrate their eight turreted lasers on the second frigate, and watched critically as salvos of weapons fire lashed the enemy ship. The two outer Jerecab frigates responded by both attacking the Newport, which happened to be the nearest human ship to them. The second frigate also joined in the attack and Joel had no hesitation in giving his next orders.

‘Bridget, fire the spinal mount weapon at the second ship in three minutes. I then want you to change course and take the Newport at full speed towards the lifters as that will force the frigates to turn to follow you.’

The particle cannon timers counted down for a third time and once again the combined firepower of the destroyers lashed out at a frigate. Joel noted that the second frigate was also a tumbling ruin, even if the enemy ship’s shields were still operating at half strength. Lieutenant Chandra called out a warning, even as the Newport began her turn and accelerated.

‘Commander, the two remaining frigates have each launched six missiles at the Newport and impact is in two minutes.’

Joel did not waste any time with his next order.

‘All ships are to target those missiles with all weapons.’

The destroyers open fire with all the point defences and the turreted weapons on the twelve missiles, and Joel noted that one of the turrets on the Madrid destroyed three missiles in quick succession. The point defences easily claimed the remaining missiles as Joel now complimented the Madrid’s crew.

‘Commander Everson to the commander of the Madrid - that was good shooting by your dorsal turret crew to down those missiles. Now the Madrid is to target the frigate at red 50 with four missiles and the Newport can do the same to the other frigate at red 70. The Auckland will take down the damaged frigate at the rear with two missiles.’

Laser fire from the turrets of the destroyers was being answered by lessening amounts of weapons fire from the remaining undamaged Jerecab frigates, as Joel watched the three sets of missiles track towards their targets. In minutes the damaged frigate was blown to fragments by both missiles from the Auckland. Joel then watched as both surviving Jerecab frigates went into violent evasive manoeuvres in a vain attempt to avoid the missiles. At least one missile was downed by each frigate before a pair of explosions erupted across each frigate. The commander noted that only large fragments of one frigate remained before they too detonated in secondary explosions.

Joel next turned his attention onto the lifters with only a single instruction needed.

‘Okay, so that is the frigates done, now I want no missiles used for these lifters…’

The three destroyers now opened fire again with their special ship killer weapon, the spinal mount particle cannon that Joel knew had taken a great deal of research to develop. He tried to ignore the masses of bodies that erupted from the first lifter after it broke into several smaller pieces. The bridge crew surmised that the large alien ship was a troop transport as Joel turned to the next phase of his mission.

After another half an hour, the remaining three lifters had exploded into atoms and the human ships now fled the Topaz star system before they were intercepted. Joel looked over his orders with concern as he evaluated how he would deploy the masses of equipment and men crammed inside the three destroyer’s small cargo holds. He was hopeful that he setup a tech lab and refuelling station on an asteroid in the next system as they had earlier identified a suitable location. The commander knew that the other destroyers scattered around the former Dradfer colonies would be facing similar problems.

                                                                     ***

Gindane looked over the information of the recent battles with deep cynicism, also in part because the Jerecab Admiral had not been present when she arrived with her ships. The Jerecab were currently being badly beaten by the humans, but she knew that this could change very quickly. The Barus research captain also knew that the Jerecab commanders distrusted her, as she ordered the Rupane to lead two other cruisers and several destroyers further into the system. She could see that several frigates in obviously damaged condition guarded a patchwork of lifters and smaller transports around the habitable planet.

Gindane stood from her command chair, and swivelled aside the console, before she then rubbed her upper arms in frustration. She motioned to the obviously unwell communications officer to open a video channel and she began to speak slowly.

‘Captain Gindane of the Barus Research Institute to Jerecab Commander, I was hoping to find your admiral at this location, as I am continuing my efforts to end this war. I once again ask you to past on my requests to the admiral for his attacks on the humans to end.’

Several minutes went by as the message crawled at the speed of light towards the Jerecab ships. Gindane was almost about to repeat her message when the terse reply from the Jerecab commander arrived.

‘Commander Neanres to Barus Captain Gindane, once again we speak again Professor. The Admiral has taken the rest of the fleet with him to deal with the humans after they inflicted a series of defeats upon our glorious armada. We are in no mood to consider peace with the humans, and you will now leave this system.’

Gindane gritted her teeth in frustration, but she was also relieved that the Jerecab were not inclined to attack her ships. She laboured the point with the Jerecab commander even as she ordered her ships to change course to leave.

‘Gindane to Neanres, Commander we will comply with your instructions to leave this system. But note we protest both our scout destroyers being driven away and the refusal of your admiral to listen to my instructions. Remember that both of our races are driven by edicts, and I fear the justice of both the Zronte and the Vorinne will be merciless.’

After several minutes another reply came in from Commander Neanres.

‘Captain Gindane I have my orders and they do not include listening to the edicts at this stage from a Barus interloper. Your requests are meaningless without the presence of significant forces to make us change our plans.’

Gindane sat back sombrely in her command chair and remained silent, for the tactical display now came online showing the Jerecab frigates were forming up to come after her own ships. The research commander now made plans to try again in the next star system. She then noted that the Jerecab ships were still a great distance away, before again ensuring that her ships were broadcasting the neutrality and non-aggression clauses.

                                                                     ***

Several star systems away, Omerio was now having problems of his own pressuring a Jerecab freighter pilot to obey his instructions.

‘Look pilot, I command a full squadron of cruisers and we are legally instructed to patrol these sectors by the Vorinne second envoy. I require you to alter course and retrace your journey back towards your rear deployment zones.’

Omerio struggled to remain patient as the message crossed the millions of kilometres to the Jerecab lifter. He was feeling unwell and his fur itched incessantly from the human virus, nearby on the bridge one of his lieutenants gave a series of self conscious sniffs. He had raced his fleet across several star systems to be at this system in a particular point in time. A reply soon came back from the Jerecab, even as he instructed three of his cruisers to cut off the lifter.

‘Captain, I regret I am unable to comply with your instructions, and I would advise you to leave my ship alone. We are expecting the arrival of significant numbers of our frigates within two hours.’

As the screen went dead, Omerio cancelled the recent order to the three cruisers to intercept the lifter. Tamerio glanced at him and Omerio knew that his friend was also unwell. Omerio then looked at the time and distance calculations to the nearest jump location point before giving a series of orders.

‘We can be well on the way to the nearest jump point in two hours, so we will alter course to leave immediately. Ensure we continue to broadcast the non-violence clauses as we leave.

Omerio sat back with an air of accomplishment, for the scenario he had devised earlier was relying upon the Jerecab being drawn to this system. Patiently he discussed the options with Commander Tamerio, and they both quietly looked in satisfaction at the simulation unfolding on one of the smaller console screens.

                                                                     ***

Admiral Baunrus raged as he read a series of combat reports from the sectors his armada supposedly controlled. He considered executing the commanders involved until he realised that the humans had saved him the trouble. Apart from the two destroyers his ships had destroyed several days ago, the humans had not suffered any further losses, whereas he was already down over thirty frigates and sixteen lifters. The losses were not yet critical, but he was forming a grudging respect for the capabilities of the human space fleet. The part that galled him the most was that he had lost four large troop transports with a total of six thousand Jerecab marines killed. He looked over the reports and he now noted that a pattern was developing based on his own previous orders to his commanders.

The admirals’ rage cooled and he made a pithy observation to his silent bridge crew.

‘Well we will change our plans and attempt to catch the humans on the wrong foot. We can afford several mistakes but they cannot afford to make any.’

Two other reports came in, the first one of a sighting of enemy ships well away from the combat zones, and the second one of the presence of a Sspol cruiser at one of the colonies. The admiral sat back to review this new information for several moments before he began issuing orders.

‘We will split the armada into five sections of fifty frigates and we will cover the return points for the area of space the humans’ control. The damaged ships will stay at Dradfer three and guard the transports. We will be mindful of the presence of the Sspol for they may have a colony world nearby. Also I want all junior commanders to start driving away the Barus research fleet.’

The massive armada formed into sections and split up as they headed for the jump location points out of the system. On an asteroid in the outer asteroid belt, a stealth robot made a series of observations before crawling back under an overhang. A small rocket was soon launched and raced for a location in deep space, before it went dormant to await the human destroyers.