Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 3 - Fleet Action (25 page)

                                                                     ***

Chapter 12

Omerio was feeling subdued as he took in the ramifications of the human victory over the Jerecab. A vassal race, admittedly the weakest one in the Jerecab, had just been defeated, albeit narrowly, by a supposed primitive race from a haven system. The fleet master had just spoken with him and he was setting up the requested meeting aboard his flagship. He was soon sending a series of important messages and he wondered what the humans would make of the actual meeting.

The message alarm softly chimed again for the view screen, and Omerio was totally un-prepared for who next spoke to him.

‘Captain Omerio, I am Captain Hallime of the Sspol; I request a private conversation with you.’

Omerio ignored the arched eyebrows of surprise that Tamerio was giving him as he quickly made his way into the meeting room at the rear of the cruiser’s bridge. In moments, he was speaking with the Sspol captain after ensuring no recording devices were active.

‘Captain, we seek to ensure peace in this system; the edicts must be adhered to by the humans, and here is what we suggest….’

Omerio listened avidly as the Sspol laid out his suggestions, and he found that he had no problems with any of them. By mutual unspoken agreement, neither made mention of the ancients even now hiding on nearby Earth. Omerio noted the message board now stated the arrival of shuttlecraft and he replied to the Sspol’s suggestions.

‘Captain Hallime, we will do as you suggest; a meeting commences and you are requested to stay online and merely request compliance to edicts. I will steer the other vassals towards your suggestions….’

The Sspol and Barus captains were in quick agreement and Omerio walked back onto the bridge of his flag ship with two orders.

‘Commander Tamerio, patch the Sspol captain through to the hangar deck and also broadcast the meeting to the humans on both their moon and their home world.’

Omerio headed for an elevator and was soon in his hangar deck as two shuttles came to rest. He recognised first a human shuttle and then the shuttle of Gindane’s ship, the Rupane, which he had sent off earlier on a side mission. The earth shuttle opened first and he was soon striding over to meet Admiral Mary Neilson. Omerio paused several metres from the human and gave a genuine bow of respect as he spoke.

‘Admiral Neilson, welcome onboard my flagship and once again congratulations on your race’s magnificent victory. The Sspol commander is also present remotely and we are televising this meeting as requested by the Cephrit. Captain Gindane has already been across to fetch the Jerecab commander and they are inside the nearby shuttle. The fleet master will be here within a few minutes.’

Mary squared her shoulders and returned the bow of Omerio as she replied.

‘Well for one thing I want to find out more of why the Jerecab attacked Earth. But we best await the arrival of the Cephrit before I speak to our former adversaries.’

Mary was about to speak again, but the hangar chimed as another shuttle arrived and Mary followed Omerio behind a shielded enclave in the wall as the latest shuttle landed. The shield deactivated as the strange looking shuttle came to rest, and after a few minutes, Mary watched apprehensively as the unknown Cephrit walked over to both her and Omerio.

The admiral noted that the insect like male Cephrit was over two metres tall and strode confidently forward on his six legs. Behind the fleet master a pair of his massive female marines, menacing with their mass, black armour and wicked looking rifles, accompanied him as his honour guard. The black chitin of the Cephrit highlighted just how alien this race was and Mary forced herself to remain calm. Several metres from her, the fleet master chirred and the two guards stayed back to critically watch over the other races.

The Cephrit then chirred a greeting and offered a single bow to both Mary and Omerio, and they both returned his bow with ones of their own, as Omerio bade the fleet master welcome.

‘Greetings fleet master of the great and noble race Cephrit. As the senior race present we welcome your council and are honoured by your presence. Captain Gindane, you may now bring the Jerecab commander forward please.’

The Barus shuttle opened a side door and Gindane led an unarmed Neanres over to join them, trailed by two of her armed lieutenants. The Jerecab commander eyed the two massive Cephrit marines anxiously as he walked over, for he knew that the Cephrit fleet master was within his rights to order his summary execution. The necessary bows and introductions were exchanged, and the fleet master quickly brought the meeting to order.

‘Under the edicts of the Zronte overlords let no falsehood be uttered during this meeting. Now Admiral Neilson, I understand you seek clarification on a number of points, but of course you first wish to understand why the Jerecab attacked your world?’

Mary knew that this would be an ideal place to start, but first she gave the fleet master another bow and then thanked her allies.

‘Now before we begin in earnest I would like to formally once again thank our allies for coming to the aid of my world. We are forever grateful for the courage and sacrifice of the Cephrit, the Sspol, and the Barus and of course the Maveen.’

Mary thought that both the Barus and the Cephrit seemed uncomfortable for a moment at the brief mention of the robotic race. She then listened critically as Captain Neanres now made a long reply to the fleet master’s earlier question.

‘Admiral Neilson, to explain our attacks on your race, you must know that Admiral Baunrus, with all his absolute authority, was both a religious bigot and an amateur historian of limited intellect. He often stated that he had no cause with the peaceful blue faction Jerecab. Yet members of his extended family still are powerful members of the blue faction, a faction he in public highly despised to maintain his credibility. As a result he was in total conflict with any sense of moderation within our own Red Jerecab, and he wanted to build a greater Jerecab empire in this area of space. Baunrus was aware of your race’s earlier involvement with both the Traders and the Maveen, and he considered that at later stage the humans would be aided by both these races in any conflict, likely with the Jerecab. He launched a pre-emptive strike across the galaxy to mitigate any future potential threats from your race and to seize your excellent planet. I am very sorry for the death toll and I request my parole and the parole of my surviving ships in atonement. We wish to return home at the earliest opportunity, such as these homes still may exist.’

Mary glared at the Jerecab commander and struggled to keep her emotions under check, for she felt that Neanres had merely highlighted the nasty and opportunistic nature of his race. She then shrugged her tense shoulders as if to dislodge the negativity of it all as she curtly replied.

‘So the massive death toll and misery all comes down to the wilful nature of an alien madman. I understand that your act of requesting parole now limits my race’s responses to your race, and that we need to be in accordance with the edicts that we have to comply with even as a haven species. Very well, we grudgingly accept your parole request and your ships are now required to avoid battle until after you return home. We also insist that the Jerecab, Blue or Red, now agree to a non aggression pact with the human race.’

Mary detected the unease of the other galactic races at her last request, and the Cephrit fleet master rasped his scales in consternation as Omerio smoothly interjected.

‘Admiral Neilson, Captain Neanres cannot speak with authority for the Blue Jerecab. So we will ensure he speaks with them after giving only provisional agreement as a junior captain in the newly reunited Jerecab race. Unless I am mistaken the Blue Jerecab are now the dominant faction and they will soon assume power in a bloodless coup.’

The fleet master now chirred in amusement, as the Red Jerecab would finally disappear and a more reasonable and united Jerecab race would emerge. Neanres thought it all through for several moments, and then offered a full bow of respect to Omerio as he replied.

‘It will be as Captain Omerio suggests, avoiding further war, I will surrender my ships to the Blue Jerecab and comply with their authority. I will also provisionally accept Admiral Neilson’s request for a non aggression pact.’

The fleet master chirred even louder in agreement, as he thought quickly on how the Deltas Vass life chapter matriarch would view the development. The other races present kept silent and looked over at him as he exerted his authority on the meeting.

‘The news of the pact is welcome and hopefully it will lead to peace in this part of the galaxy. The parole is agreed to by me and the Jerecab will be escorted to their home systems to surrender to the blue Jerecab faction. The act of parole is now in place to prevent the mass slaughter of the Jerecab on their own worlds, for they are dangerously weakened by this war.’

The meeting now turned to general matters relating to the edicts, as Neanres now stood well back and remained silent. Mary asked for clarification after she made a telling observation by repeating an earlier statement.

‘Fleet master we lack the resources at the moment to strip the command sections from the destroyed alien ships. The task involves dozens of ships and that is why we made the request of our allies. So is there room in the edicts for us to request that the vassals secure the command sections of the destroyed ships?’

Omerio knew that this question was now one of the sticking points of the negotiation, for all the alien races just wanted to leave for their home systems. He took a deep breath and boldly stated the position of the Sspol as if they were his own, and he was conscious of Gindane’s wide eyed stare at him as he spoke.

‘Fleet master, there is also the question of those four remaining human cruiser hulls and I think we can address these problems together. The removed command sections can be secured by cables to these cruisers, they can have their engines reattached, and finally they all can placed on a one way trip into their Sun. Note that this response will minimise both the disposal time of the forbidden technology and it will strongly address the problem of those illicit cruisers.’

Omerio wondered if he had gone too far as he knew that this meeting would be replayed to the second envoy at a later stage. He knew that he could likely protect the humans and by extension the ancients today, but his actions could yet cost him his life for sedition and espionage. The Cephrit fleet master now remained silent for an extended period and Omerio knew that was never a good sign, as he glanced warily from the corner of his eyes at the patiently waiting but menacing Cephrit marines.

The Sspol, Captain Hallime, must have detected mentally the rising tension in the meeting, and his remote presence soon sounded over the large hangar deck.

‘Noble fleet master, we the Sspol agree with the logic of the young Barus captain and suggest the remedy be implemented.’

The fleet master now chirred in a good natured way that Omerio felt was partly forced as he finally replied.

‘Captain Omerio, your plans have merit as the edict compliance will now take several days rather than several weeks.’

The fleet master was about to go on, but Mary hurriedly interjected him as she sought to protect her remaining assets. The fleet master rasped his hind scales in agitation as he listened to the human.

‘Fleet master the four remaining ships represent a sizeable part of our remaining defences and their weapons would be useful located on our moon.’

The Cephrit male took a step forward and loomed over the human female as he curtly spoke again.

‘Do not get into the habit of talking over a senior vassal let alone an overlord. A Zronte or Vorinne would execute your for your impertinence, but I happen to like what I see of your race, so you are forgiven this time. Your weapons will be permitted to be relocated but the four cruisers will be destroyed as just described.’

Mary had the sense to remain calm and offer a full bow of respect as she accepted his rebuke and apologized.

‘Fleet master, I am sorry for any breach in protocol and I accept on behalf of my race your authority. The matter of complying with edicts will be as you have instructed. Now I seek to clarify your other rulings relating to permitted technology and us founding colonies. As I understand it we will be limited to a set number of fighting ships and we are allowed to colonise only as far as the former Dradfer colonies?’

Mary noted that the tension on the hangar deck quickly receded as the fleet master spoke at length again in a more genial manner.

‘The edicts are in place to limit the offensive capacity of haven or independent races. The human race is permitted five squadrons, and only five squadrons, of combat ready destroyers or smaller frigates. Each squadron is defined as only consisting of sixteen fighting ships and only four auxiliary ships may accompany each squadron at any one time. There is no restriction on the weapons installed on the destroyers, but they are restricted to fifty thousand tonnes each in mass. You may also install destroyer class orbital defences, but are restricted to fifty defence bases across all worlds you occupy. There are no restrictions on ships not in space, civilian or unarmed ships. Note that if your race breaks these rules then the penalties can be very unpleasant.’

Mary bowed and nodded her understanding to the fleet master and he continued to speak.

‘Now with the former Dradfer colonies you may colonise these remote worlds unless the Vorinne second envoy countermands my authority and interpretation of the edicts governing these worlds. We will confirm the colony status to you at a later stage via our pair of patrolling cruisers. You must not colonise beyond the former Dradfer colonies as this would then place you in dispute with us and other vassal races. The current status of your race changes to that of an independent race the moment you enter a central vassal star system and begin a serious dispute or war with a vassal race.’