Ep.#6 - "Head of the Dragon" (The Frontiers Saga) (32 page)

“Comms, inform flight ops they have a green deck.”

“Yes, sir,” Naralena answered.

“Tactical, give me a two window overlay, aft flight apron camera and full tactical map.”

“Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered.

A moment later, Nathan could see the tactical map of the area as well as the view from the aft facing camera located just above the number two transfer airlock. The camera gave him a clear view of the entire flight apron as well as the aft topside section of the Aurora. There were four heavy cargo shuttles parked so closely together that a good quarter of their aft ends protruded beyond the aft edge of the flight apron. Even then, the four massive shuttles, each of which were too large to fit into the Aurora’s largest transfer airlock, filled the entire apron. “I guess the extra emitters did the trick, Doc,” Nathan said to Abby, who was again sitting at her console at the aft station on the starboard side of the bridge. “Looks like all the shuttles are in one piece.”

“Jump mass and geometry are unchanged,” Abby reported, “although we did use a bit more power for the jump than expected.”

“How much more?”

“Point zero four two percent.”

“That much, huh?”

“It may not seem significant, Captain, and in our current application it may not be, but if we were attempting the same technique in order to tandem jump a significantly larger additional mass, it would need to be considered.”

“I’ll try to remember that, Doctor. Good work.”

“Thank you, Captain. Engineering reports all reactors at one hundred percent,” Abby reported. “All available power is being diverted to recharge the jump drive’s energy banks.”

“Very good,” Nathan answered as he watched the camera window on the forward wrap-around view screen. The first of the massive cargo shuttles, the one furthest to port, began to slowly lift off the flight deck. She rose more slowly than one would imagine as she began to slide sideways to port at the same time to avoid drifting to starboard and contacting the shuttle parked so closely beside her. The maneuver was performed perfectly, and within two minutes the bulky shuttle, loaded down with two Kalibri airships and various supplies to support the ground assault, was thrusting away from the Aurora at a more normal rate. The maneuver was performed two more times by the next two shuttles in line, each thrusting slightly to port as soon as their wheels left the Aurora’s deck. Finally, the last cargo shuttle lifted straight off the deck and followed the first three to their staging point a few hundred meters off the Aurora’s port side. On the main view screen, poking out from behind the two overlays, Nathan could also see the escort fighters being launched forward through the ship’s starboard launch tubes. The six deep space fighters would be of little defense if even the smallest of imperial warships had shown up during the Aurora’s impending ten hour absence. However, they might have been able to hold an enemy at bay long enough for the jump shuttle that was also being left behind with the cargo shuttles to jump back to Darvano with a distress message.

“Flight ops reports all cargo shuttles are away, Captain,” Naralena reported. “Escorts have all launched, and Jumper one is lifting off the port elevator now. Recon flight is prepping for launch and will take off in one minute.”

“Very well,” Nathan answered. “Mister Riley, plot a jump to the first KKV platform’s staging coordinates.”

“Aye, sir, plotting jump.”

Nathan watched the view screen as Josh and Loki lifted off the flight apron in the jump interceptor that Nathan had nicknamed the Falcon. As usual, Josh’s launch style was somewhat aggressive. As soon as the Falcon turned and headed away from the ship, she disappeared in a flash of blue-white light as she jumped to her entry point to begin another long recon coast through the Takaran system. Josh had complained about having to perform yet another long and boring flight, but Nathan figured since it was going to take them nearly a day to get all the pieces in place and get the Aurora’s jump drive fully charged and ready, they might as well get one last recon of the enemy’s resources and ship deployments.

“Jump plot for first KKV platform’s staging point is plotted and locked in, sir,” the navigator answered.

“Very well, make course for the jump point and jump when ready,” Nathan ordered. “Tactical, replace the aft camera window with a 3D flight plot.”

“Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered, immediately switching screens for the captain.

* * *

“What does your contact propose?” Tug asked Dumar as they walked the dimly lit corridors of the Karuzari asteroid base.

“He will temporarily interrupt the power, perhaps for as long as five minutes, at a time of our choosing.”

“He can do this?” Tug questioned, finding it difficult to believe.

“He is a senior programmer for the palace facilities management department. He can make it look like a minor software problem, easily corrected.”

“But it will be happening shortly after the Ta’Akar receive our ultimatum. Surely they will go to some sort of increased security level.”

“Yes, and he will make it look like that is the cause of the problem. He says that it has been some time since there has been such an alert within the palace, and there have been several software upgrades applied since then. It would not be beyond belief.”

“It still sounds risky.”

“He assures me it will work,” Dumar insisted.

“And if they do become suspicious, he realizes that he may be putting himself at grave risk?”

“He does,” Dumar assured Tug. “He is not the type of man to accept such risk lightly. If he feels it is possible, I assure you he also believes he can accomplish this task and still escape with his life.”

“So after thirty years of fighting Caius and the empire, I must now place the safety of my people, and quite possibly that of all the Alliance as well, in the hands of someone I do not know.” Tug shook his head. “I am not sure I can do so.”

“Then put your trust in me, not in him,” Dumar pleaded.

Tug stopped in his tracks, looking at his old friend. The years, and the battles that had come with them, had been kind to neither of them. Tug could see the pain in Dumar’s eyes. The pain of failure and the pain of remorse. However, he could also see the fire of hope in his friend’s eyes. It was not burning as brightly as he once remembered those many years ago, but it was still there nonetheless. It was the hope that he might finally set things right. “Of course, my old friend,” Tug promised, his hands on Dumar’s shoulders, “Of course.”

“Thank you, sir…”

“Get cleaned up and get some rest,” Tug interrupted. “You shall accompany us into the dragon’s lair.”

Dumar smiled more broadly than Tug had seen since they had been reunited only weeks ago. As Dumar left him to prepare, Tug tried to imagine the pain and guilt that Dumar must have felt for what he must have perceived as his own personal failure all those years ago. It had been Dumar’s job to protect Tug on that fateful day more than three decades ago, and over all those years, Dumar had believed Tug dead and gone. Try as he might to understand the torture that must have beset his old friend’s sole, he could not. All he could do was to give him the opportunity to redeem himself in his own mind and heart.

Tug turned and continued walking toward the Karuzari command center. There was still much planning to be done before the mission. He had to continue studying the plans of the palace, the layout of the grounds, the command structure, the defensive emplacements, and the guard posts. They had to all be committed to memory once again.

“Sir,” Jalea called out to him from his left as he passed through an intersection. “May I have a word with you in private?” she asked, running to catch up with him.

“Of course,” Tug agreed, looking about and gesturing toward an open door. They entered a small break area just off one of the machine shops where several Karuzari workers were discussing a project over a cup of tea. “Please, gentlemen, give us the room for a minute,” Tug begged them politely.

“Of course, sir,” one of the men agreed as he eagerly led the others out of the room, the last man closing the hatch behind him.

“You still have one spot left on the mission roster,” Jalea began. “I wish to be on that mission.”

“It is much too dangerous,” Tug told her.

“Have I not proven my abilities time and again?”

“Of course, but I have…”

“Have I not sacrificed more than others? Have I not given all that I am to our cause?”

“Yes, Jalea, you have,” Tug assured her, “but I have already promised the spot to Dumar.”

“Dumar?” Jalea was shocked. “The old friend that suddenly appeared from nowhere? How can you be sure he has the skills to perform such a mission?”

“I am well aware of his training,” Tug assured her. “I was there.”

“Thirty or so years past, perhaps. But how can you be sure he still has those skills?”

“Some training never leaves you.”

“You know of my training as well,” Jalea reminded him, “for you were the one who trained me. You were also the one who called on me to perform dangerous assignments again and again. Did I ever once disappoint? Did I not always deliver that which you sought?”

“What if this does not work?” Tug asked her. “What if we are all lost? Who will carry on as the leader of the Karuzari?”

“By that logic, you should not be going yourself,” she argued.

“This is something that I must do,” Tug insisted.

“Which is how I feel as well. You cannot deny me this moment of victory. I have suffered and bled for too long.”

“No, I cannot…”

“We both know that this mission is an all-or-nothing proposition,” Jalea told him. “If this fails, the rebellion is over. I would rather die on the final battlefield than be left behind to serve as the leader of a lost cause.”

Tug understood her desire as she had lost much at the hands of the Ta’Akar: her mother, her father, and finally her husband. Few carried more hatred for the empire than Jalea, but Tug feared at times that very hatred clouded her judgment, making it impossible for her to see the bigger picture. “It has already been decided,” he stated firmly, turning to head for the exit.

“I can tell him, you know,” Jalea called after him.

Tug stopped dead in his tracks. “Tell who?” Tug asked, his back still to her.

“Your mighty Captain Scott,” she stated indignantly. “I can tell him how you ordered me to orchestrate the rise of Na-Tan on Corinair. I can tell him how you had me send word to the Ta’Akar of his presence in Darvano. How do you think he will feel about you after he knows that you caused the deaths of thousands, perhaps millions of innocent people on Corinair?”

“I never gave such orders,” Tug stated as he turned to face her.

“Can you afford to allow such doubt to enter his mind at such a crucial juncture?” Jalea asked coyly. “Maybe he will not believe you capable of such treachery, such disregard for life. Maybe he will even continue with the mission. Or maybe, he just might dump his crew of Corinari and start jumping his way back to Earth, feeling he was played by a terrorist.”

Tug stared at her, his eyes burning with anger. He had made the mistake many years ago of letting Jalea get under his skin. Her grief at the loss of her husband had sucked him into her sights, and her passion had kept him there for several years. During that time, he had come to realize that she was a cold, calculating beauty that would use any and all means to attain her goals. He had put up with her for the last twenty years because she had been so good at her job. However, in doing so, he had been forced to conveniently overlook her many transgressions, convincing himself each time that the ends justified the means. Now it was coming back to haunt him one last time.

“Very well, Jalea,” Tug agreed. He took a step closer, grabbing her face forcefully with his right hand as he stared deeply into her mysterious green eyes. “But be warned; should you so much as disobey or ignore a single utterance from my lips, I shall kill you myself without hesitation.” Tug let go of her face, his hand continuing to hover in front of her.

Jalea’s face only hinted at the slightest sign of satisfaction as she stepped to one side and walked past him into the corridor.

Tug closed his eyes and balled his still hovering right hand into a tight fist for several seconds before relaxing it once again. One way or another, this would be the last time Jalea would be able to manipulate him.

* * *

Nathan watched the view from the aft facing camera on the main view screen. The view showed the cluster of five cargo containers, each of them lined up side by side and connected together by a Corinari breaching box. In order to reduce the stress on the breaching boxes, Senior Chief Taggart had assigned a few teams to weld four steel I-beams across the top and bottom of the cargo pods, thus making them permanently into one unit. Another brilliant idea of the Senior Chief’s had been to have the Corinari attach a maneuvering rig to the hastily assembled staging platform. The system, which was normally used to control and maneuver damaged spacecraft during recovery operations, consisted of four maneuvering pods connected to each corner of the staging platform. Using it, a space tug could sit atop the entire platform and maneuver the ungainly-looking assembly as if it were part of his own tug. That simple idea had made the staging platform into a spaceship—a slow spaceship to be sure, but one capable of flight nonetheless.

“That is the oddest thing I have ever seen on our flight deck,” Commander Taylor stated as she stepped up next to Nathan’s command chair at the center of the Aurora’s bridge.

“No doubt,” Nathan agreed. “It’s pretty slick, though. A few cargo pods, some I-beams, and some breach boxes and you have a staging platform. They’ve even got power, gravity, and environmental. I hear the senior chief even installed a few portable toilets.”

“It’s still going to be pretty cramped in there,” Cameron commented. “They weren’t really made to hold fifteen hundred men.”

“Fortunately, they won’t be in there for very long,” Nathan said.

“We won’t load the men until the last minute,” Cameron explained. “Senior Chief Taggart’s team made sure the platform can mate up nicely with the docking collars on our boarding hatches.”