Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 3 - Fleet Action (29 page)

After several long minutes, Neanres and his data tablet had crossed to the rival faction’s flagship in a small shuttle. He was escorted into the presence of the Blue Jerecab leaders, and he ensured he kept his gaze down and his manner submissive. He faced the group of five female Jerecab, and gave them a full formal bow, but remained silent in respect. The oldest acolyte and he thought that she must be the leading female stonily glared at him. Neanres knew he might only have moments to live as his memory furnished him a name, Teanrus, the Blue Jerecab chancellor of acolytes, and a distant cousin of the late Admiral Baunrus. Teanrus snickered at his discomfort and the four other senior acolytes grinned wickedly.

‘So, one of our dead and despised cousin’s officers has returned to surrender with his tail literally between his legs. Well what will we do with him my sisters?’

Neanres looked at the mean looking long knives that were in the sashes of the females, and he forced himself to remain calm as then he dropped to his knees in supplication.

‘Dear cousins, we were led astray by a madman and the frigates you see are all that remain of our military might. We are finished as a military power and rather than waste more lives we surrender to your authority and mercy. I expect no mercy as their commanding officer but please spare my crew.’

One of the younger acolytes, about his own age, now moved forward and Neanres took in the thoughtful way she was studying him. The other acolytes gave ground as she spoke and the captain was very surprised by what she revealed.

‘Teanrus is the chancellor, but I am Gaimros, the President of the Blue Jerecab federation. I am surprised that you display no bluster or arrogance that we came to know so well from Baunrus and his late civilian lackeys. So Neanres, formerly of the Red Jerecab, stand up and submit your reports of the destruction of your armada.’

Neanres stood hurriedly and offered another full bow that was again met with stony silence by the five females. He spent several hours presenting his reports, and ensured that he remained courteous as he stepped his way through their lists of questions. He noted quietly that six questions and their variations formed the brunt of the senior acolytes concerns.

‘Baunrus murdered those first pair of human admirals even as they sought to negotiate with him?’

‘You were promoted after you undertook a risky mission to bring reinforcements and supplies forward to join the armada?’

‘So Baunrus lost nearly all the armada and you saved what you could once he was killed?’

‘The humans offered Baunrus reasonable surrender terms repeatedly to save countless lives yet he refused?’

 ‘You believed that Baunrus would kill you for questioning his orders during the final battles?’

‘What are your views on the non aggression pact with the humans?’

Neanres was later shown to small room, and he was given fresh food and refreshments, as he tried to ignore the pair of armed guards by the door. After two hours, he was escorted back into the presence of the five senior acolytes. President Gaimros held an ornate blue and gold sash, and she specified what she wanted of him after giving him a brief but warm smile.

‘Captain Neanres, you will kneel again and agree with all I ask you if you want to leave this meeting alive. This part of the meeting is being broadcast over to your ships and we will expect the unconditional loyalty of all your crew. You will remain as captain of these ships, although the frigate crews will be heavily diluted with crewmembers from our own ships, call it assimilation. All of your military plans and secrets will be supplied for our use as we see fit. Your role in rescuing the few survivors of the battle is well respected, as is your personal courage in meeting with us today. Therefore, you will also become one of my husbands and obey all my orders utterly.’

Neanres was taken aback by the last sentence, for he had been expecting to be at least imprisoned or even executed. Gaimros eyed him with a challenge in her eyes, and he noted that she looked both very desirable and fiery in nature. He had forgotten the finer points of Blue Jerecab society and the standing of their males, but he quickly stammered out a reply before the fiery nature of the president had a chance to show itself.

‘My President, I thank you for your mercy and I agreed to all that you ask of me. I would be honoured to serve you.’

President Gaimros calmly placed the blue and gold sash over his neck and quietly whispered to him, as he vainly struggled with his embarrassment at his last sentence to her.

‘Well Neanres you will serve me vigorously and you will well serve the new Jerecab nation. You may now stand again.’

The other senior acolytes grinned knowingly, and they then offered Neanres half bows he was careful to return as he regained his feet. President Gaimros had the video feed broken to his ships, and wasted no time calling in her other senior officers and acolytes, many of whom had also earlier listened to Neanres’s reports.

Gaimros nodded and technician started up a hologram of the Posient bulge with the nearby territories of the new Jerecab nation, and those of the Tilmud listed in different colours. She gave him a hooded but seductive glance as she spoke.

‘So Captain Neanres, we have a potential problem with the Tilmud, as the former Red Jerecab was a powerful deterrent upon them. So how would you address any threats they will likely offer us despite their own misfortunes in war?’

Neanres nodded politely to his president and new mate, and was soon making telling points as he started his new life as captain of a united Jerecab nation. Days later after the formal ceremonies were concluded, Gaimros showed him into her luxurious quarters as her youngest and junior husband, but the preferred father of her offspring.

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Omerio lead Gindane into the most ornate and largest meeting room at star base 31, before heading over to stand on the far side of the imperial seal from the waiting Cephrit. By courtesy, both Barus had offered full bows of respect to the fleet master, the station master and the large assault leader. The three Cephrit had offered the polite half bows and chirrs of formal greeting, but they lacked their usual warmth towards the Barus.

The Cephrit court proctor walked over and addressed both groups of vassals after standing on the imperial seal.

‘Her Grace, the second envoy Thatak’siema, has been delayed for two hours and you are now free to converse, as the restriction she set no longer applies due to the monitoring equipment in this formal court room.’

Both the Barus and the senior Cephrit knew that the recording devices would be following their every word and action, so both groups slowly approached each other and they talked for several moments about mundane matters. The several weeks it took to return to the star base made for polite conversation before an expectant pause occurred. Finally, the tension was too much for the station master and he requested a simple explanation.

‘Omerio, you once survived an attack by Tilmud frigates after a Sspol cruiser came to your aid, yet there is still concerns about the truth of the matter despite it having occurred one hundred and fifty years ago, So please step us all through the events that took place?’

Omerio restrained himself from rubbing his brown furred arms as that would convey nervousness to the suspicious Cephrit looming to one side of him. He glanced at Gindane, who he knew would remain silent, as he replied.

‘Well I attacked and severely damaged a modified lifter that was seeding unexplored worlds with Voorde eggs that would lead in time to the Scourge infesting these worlds. However, two frigates damaged my scout ship and I fled across back to this star base with them attempting to finish my ship off. While still in remote parts of the sector, a Sspol cruiser intervened and destroyed the frigates, as they had discovered themselves that the Tilmud were seeding worlds with ‘anti-life’ as the Sspol called it.’

The station master pulled no punches in his next questions.

‘So you saw no Maveen or any strange small ships in your travels? The Tilmud have since provided military intelligence that they long ago attacked two small Kariqua or ancient males in a star system not far from where you specified the battle took place.’

Omerio was not giving up the ancients for any reason, and he found that the even the way the Cephrit pronounced the proper species name of Kariqua, now a forbidden race, was almost offensive. He knew that the Cephrit were anxious and in ill humour, as the three of them grated their hind scales at the mention of the old race name of the ancients.

Omerio defused the situation by feinting surprise in his answer as he evaluated what else the Tilmud records could tell the Cephrit. He knew that the Cephrit themselves would want to avoid giving any inadvertent information regarding their infrequent contacts with the Traders.

‘What would two of the living ships, and small ones at that, be doing so close to vassal territory? I have seen no evidence of their presence in many years of surveying that part of the sector. So are there records of any other races in the vicinity during the time of the battle? What about the presence of the Sspol also reported by the Tilmud?’

The fleet master had also seen the reports and he provided the answer that Omerio expected he would make to divert the direction of the inquiry.

‘A Tilmud half squadron, actually one commanded by the current senior Tilmud military commander, was chased away by a patrolling Sspol cruiser as they followed the two Kariqua males through several systems. The Sspol cruiser was believed to patrol the surrounding systems for several years and the Tilmud were content to leave it alone.’

Omerio gave a nod of respect to the fleet master that was returned with a warm chirr of friendship from the Cephrit. The Barus captain bowed to the still anxious station master as the assault leader impassively followed the logic of the conversation. Omerio replied with more confidence than he felt as continued to think furiously.

‘Well a Sspol heavy cruiser is much more likely to fight off Tilmud frigates compared to those Kariqua males, if what I recall of their lack of fighting strength is correct.’

The assault leader now spoke for the first time and Omerio could understand why, as she would likely stay very silent in the later presence of the second envoy.

‘Captain Omerio, with all due respect, your alibis are consistently faultless, as if the explanations are to be held up and critically analysed for thousands of years. They reek of your duplicity and I question what you really have been up to all these years.’

Omerio knew that he would have to defuse the situation fast, for even the usually friendly fleet master now looked like he wanted to take Omerio’s head before too long. Omerio now spoke to fleet master directly.

‘Fleet master remember by original explanation on how the sector was stranger in fact compared to hurried research performed across hundred of light years of space. Out in the secluded depths of space a fleet of Tilmud ships is death to so many on the other side of the deal when there are no witnesses around. Fortunately, the Sspol recognised the problem for both my ship and many other races, and they elected to drive away or attack the Tilmud.’

The fleet master grated his hide scales in anxiety and Omerio knew that there was a possibility of the Cephrit losing his temper. The grating noise stopped and Omerio listened intently as the fleet master now asked the station master two direct questions.

‘As for the later event where the Sspol cruiser chased down Omerio’s ship, does the scout ship pilot’s report of the standoff with the Maveen agreed with the one from Omerio? Also you will notice my own report done separately from the two Barus, does the three reports largely agreed on the latest demands of the Sspol upon Omerio?’

The fleet master waited impatiently as his subordinate accessed the series of reports and of course agreed that this was the case. However, he still repeated his concerns to the others again.

‘Captain Omerio has been spotted on worlds were smugglers and undesirables operate, and I am concerned that his actions are possibly seditious. There is already a circumstantial case for weapons smuggling and consorting with undesirables such as the Sspol and the Kariqua.’

Omerio was feeling very annoyed with the station master and wondered how the lower ranking Cephrit could justify his comments, especially as Omerio knew what the three Cephrit had also been up to recently. ‘That is it….’ Omerio decided, as the Cephrit looked him over. Obviously, they wanted to find out if he would sell them out to save his own furry skin, and if that was the case, he could not reciprocate with threats of his own.

Omerio then laughed as he replied for he had a genial and reassuring answer at hand.

‘Well you and the second envoy already are aware of my role in Barus military intelligence, thanks to the second envoy’s direct assumption in Gindane’s trial so long ago. It is very hard to hide my role in the smaller colonies that I visit, so I keep moving to stay alive. Obviously I cannot be a very good secret agent if other races know about me and I have to be rescued by the Sspol.’

The fleet master chirred in good humour as the junior station master contemplated Omerio silently.

‘Indeed Omerio, we should label your scout ship as a spy ship when you go off alone.’

Omerio noticed that Gindane suppressed a smirk at the Cephrit’s dry wit as he spoke again.

‘I assure you that my reports are as they happened and written accurately. I now draw your attention to the Sspol report on the destruction of the Fenshilla cruisers.’

The Cephrit eyed the report critically for an extended period and Omerio could see that they were now calming down. He knew that he had defused their concerns for the time being but the greater risk of the second envoy’s wrath remained. The five of them continued to discuss various reports in a civil manner for another hour before the second envoy arrived.

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