Retribution (21 page)

Dave nodded. Aubrey regained her composure. “I better get going then.” She stepped towards Dave and hugged him. “Take care” she said softly, turned and walked back to the Phantom.

“We better get out of the way Sir” said Li. He had withdrawn back to the Lightning earlier while Dave and Aubrey were in heated discussion. Now he came forward. “She’s starting up.”

They withdrew back towards the Lightning. The Phantom rose above the apron and manoeuvred onto the runway where it engaged its main thrusters. It powered down above the runway for a kilometre before climbing in a graceful arc. Dave smiled as it reminding him of the bird of prey he saw here yesterday.

“Will we be heading back now?” asked Li.

“Shortly, but I want to speak with Dr Govinda first. Let’s get in out of this sun.”

Dave met Mani up in his office. After a few words Dave said. “You said yesterday that the Resolute wouldn’t be ready till the 20
^th
.”

“Yes that’s right” said Mani.

“What I’m about to say to you cannot be repeated to anyone. Is that understood.”

“Yes.”

“This facility could come under attack within 2 weeks.”

Mani was shocked but he could see that Dave was deadly serious, so he let him continue.

“We need to review defences.”

“You don’t mean a ground attack? Oh you do. Really?”

“It’s possible. The Admiral will be deploying ground troops here. They’ll need accommodation. Look into it for us will you.”

Mani nodded. Then a thought occurred to him. “Is Nova Vista likely to be hit? My wife and family are there.”

“We don’t know. We suspect the rogan want to destroy the Resolute and maybe the facilities here so we can’t build anymore. Regardless Mani, you can’t tell your wife or family. No one, OK.”

“But…but why shouldn’t they be evacuated…somewhere safe?”

“Mass evacuations will tell the enemy we know they are going to attack.”

“You want them to attack…and we are the bait.”

Dave nodded and then added “Make sure the Resolute is ready by the 20
^th
. Earlier if possible.”

“Yes, right, will do” said Mani though his mind was distracted. Finally he looked at Dave earnestly and said “Is there no way my family can be moved?”

“Let me know how to contact your wife and I’ll see what I can do.”

“What about the families of everyone else here? It’s not fair to leave them in harm’s way.”

“No it’s not fair Mani but that’s war. I’m sorry. I have to get back. I’ll be in touch.”

Mani sat there pondering.

Dave left in a roar. Li had him on the ground at the fighter base in Nova Vista before midday. When Dave walked back into Phil’s office, Alex was on the phone doing what he did best marshalling human resources. Rihan was drawing up orders for the ground forces that Alex had secured. He gave Rihan a smile and she pointed to Phil’s office.

Dave walked right in. Phil was studying the schematics for the Deathly Hollows. “Dave” said Phil as he entered. “All good?” Dave nodded. “Enjoy your ride” said Phil with a grin.

“Yes I did actually” said Dave.

“How many troops do you reckon we need to defend Deathly Hollows? How many warriors do you reckon they had over Beta Phi?”

“Felis said it was a full legion – around 10,000.”

“Gee that’s a lot. Our problem is they could hit anywhere. We can’t defend everything. We need to keep a strong reserve and only preposition forces at our vital facilities. I’ve been discussing this with the others. Admiral Holland’s staff are going to work up an op plan for the planet as a whole. We’re responsible for Deathly Hollows.”

“What about Butros Alia?” asked Dave.

“They won’t even know it exists. It’ll be safe.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“Brennon will be fine.”

“I’d feel better if there was a company of marines there.”

“Wouldn’t we all Dave. But remember if shit hits the fan there we can press-gang the droids there to defend the place.”

“You’re assuming that they will be operational. It’s a manufacturing facility. Only a small number are finished each day and we’ve been shipping them out as fast as they become available.”

“True. How many troops do we require at Deathly Hollows to hold it for 24 hours?”

“It’s a big place Sir. A full battalion I’d say.”

“That’s what I thought too” said Phil with a frustrated expression.

“We haven’t got a battalion have we?”

Phil shook his head. “So far Alex has scraped up two companies of Marines, half of which are green, fresh out of Sandford.”

“What about battlewagons and fire support?”

“I’ve agreed with Rudi and General Xian that these should be kept with our mobile reserve for the counterattack.”

“We could deploy our droids from the Resolute.”

“Yeah we could but that would only leave you a reduced marine company for any boarding operations.”

“I thought we were…oh I see, Alex has diverted our marine replacements to make up your two companies.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m still not sure how the droids are going to perform in boarding ops anyway. Let’s commit the HQ and two companies to help defend Deathly Hollows. I’ll hold one platoon on board and can we commit the rest of the third company to Butros Alia.”

Phil looked at Dave with his eyes raised.

“We can move them to Tumos in half an hour if required. We’ll just leave their pod there.”

“All right” said Phil. “Let Rihan know and have her update the plan.” Dave nodded. “Boy, am I hungry. I could eat a horse.”

“I heard that Sir” called out Alex from outside “and I ain’t getting a horse.”

“Well that last sandwich you got me was crap” said Phil raising his voice to make sure Alex heard him.  “I’m off to the cafeteria then. Come on everyone my shout.”

“My cup runneth over” said Alex.

Chapter 9. Argonaut in Outer Polaris 1400, 11 June

“I don’t believe it” said Staff Sgt Geena Hoffen “Look at this!”

1
^st
Lt Wes Yvanovitch leaned closer to read the text on the screen. “No shit.”

“We need to let HQ know asap.”

“Can’t we’re on comms lockdown remember?” Geena looked up at Wes, his face a picture of concentration. “Right then” he added “Pilot, buster us back to base.”

Pilots always loved to hear the word ‘buster’ and this one was no exception. It gave him permission to burn whatever fuel was required to get them to their objective at maximum speed while leaving enough fuel to be able to cruise back to base. In this case the objective was their base, so the pilot could burn the lot.

FFS Argonaut was a Hermes class frigate, up until the Resolute and Phantom, it was the fastest class of ship in the Fleet. The pilot announced “We’re warping back to Polaris folks and then immediately bustering to base. Hold onto your seats ladies and gentlemen and enjoy the ride.”

Chapter 10. Phantom to Beta Phi 1800, 11 June

Evie Plentun made quite an entrance alongside Aubrey as they came into the small officer’s mess. Only Aubrey had ever seen a rogan up close before.

Evie was wearing a flight suit she had been given on the Resolute. It was the smallest size they had. At only 150cm tall Evie had had to alter the leg length of the suit. The torso section of the suit tended to balloon out around her slender body.

But all eyes were on her head and face. Her big dark green almond shaped eyes sloped down towards her nose at an angle of around 15 degrees. She had a broad nose, lips that would have passed for human and very pale complexion. Her ears were hidden behind long, straight, strong black hair that fell onto her shoulders. Her head tapered at the top and her skull extended back much further than a human’s.

Aubrey introduced her as one of the leaders of the Rogan resistance. That helped eased the tension. When Evie spoke in perfect English, jaws dropped.

“Thank you for extending this hospitality” she said. “On behalf of my fellow rogan who seek to overthrow the imperial system I thank you for your support.” Evie looked at each pair of eyes now focussed on her. She saw apprehension, uncertainty, surprise and yes fear. ‘All understandable’ she thought to herself. She smiled and extended her four fingered hand to each of the officers in turn as they were introduced to her. To her pleasant surprise no one refused her hand.

The big long dining table was laid out with Aubrey at the head. Evie sat on Aubrey’s right. Manuel felt initially uncomfortable being on Aubrey’s left and directly opposite Evie. His discomfort was noted by Aubrey and she looked at him tilting her head ever so slightly. He got the hint and summoned up his own discipline to start speaking. “So how have you found Polaris Ms Plentun?”

“A very nice planet Lieutenant Commander” replied Evie “It reminds me of Slorus, where I spent some time as a young child.”

“Really?” asked Manuel.

“Yes Slorus then was largely undeveloped – before the mass migration. I’m afraid it is now too crowded for my liking.”

“Are all rogan planets overcrowded?” asked Tola who was sitting on Evie’s right.

“Many but there are also many very beautiful worlds” replied Evie.

“So why do you want to take over ours?” asked Alice. Aubrey gave her a foul look. “Sorry I didn’t…”

“That’s all right. You are justified to ask that. But let me reassure you, many rogan do not want this war, do not want endless conquests and expansion. We were, until relatively recently, content to coexist with our neighbours. But a darkness has descended upon us. Our period of enlightenment has been superseded by those bent on war and lured by the folly of empire and glory.”

“And you are going to overthrow them?” asked Phil.

“With your support.”

That response evoked Aubrey’s officers to ponder. They were yet to be told the nature of their mission. All they knew was they were headed for Beta Phi. Though Martin had drawn his own conclusions based on the rations he had been asked to requisition.

“Perhaps I have said too much” said Evie to Aubrey. “Please forgive me.”

“No that’s all right” said Aubrey. “The full extent of our mission will be known tomorrow after we pick up Commodore Pious.”

That tit bit of information only fuelled more silent speculation.

Chapter 11. Nova Vista 1900, 11 June

Phil was about to leave his office and grab some dinner. He felt satisfied that he and his now expanded team had done about as much as they could today. It had been a long and tiring, brain draining day. He needed to wind down. Hence why he frowned as he was hailed by Cmdr Lena Janko.

“Sir, the Argonaut had just landed with some critical information. Can I see you now?” she said.

“Oh very well, but hurry.”

“I’ll be there directly.”

True to her word Lena arrived three minutes later, a littler short of breath. “So what’s so critical about this information Commander?” asked Phil.

Lena pulled out her console and laid it on the desk in front of Phil. She came and stood behind him and pointed to the highlighted text.

At first Phil had felt like he had been thumped in the head. “So the rogan have kept this from us?”

“Yes Sir. But there’s more. Look here” and Lena scrolled down.

“My god we’ve been played for fools” said Phil. He was annoyed, more at himself than anyone else. But then he remembered who had done this and now he was extremely annoyed at the rogan.

“Sir we should shut this down now” recommended Lena.

Phil thought for a few moments. “No Commander we won’t do that, well not yet anyway.”

Lena looked puzzled. “Why not Sir.”

“Revenge” said Phil with a wicked smile. Lena just stared at Phil without saying anything. “Revenge and retribution, commander” Phil added. “Every dog has his day.”

Chapter 12. Phantom to Beta Phi 1930, 11 June

Cpl Serge Arsenhault shouldered Cpl Madge Soderberg as he overtook her in the main corridor on B deck as they headed out from the OR’s mess after dinner. He had tried to make it look like an accident but Madge knew otherwise. She was about to abuse Serge verbally when a voice of authority beat her to it. It was her team leader.

“Corporal” barked out Sgt Jules Meyer. Serge pretended as though it was for someone else. “Corporal, yes you the tall one” called out Jules.

Reluctantly Serge stopped and slowly turned with his best ‘I know nothing’ expression on his face. “Who me?” he asked.

Jules Meyer was not the tallest man by a long shot. He was a good half head shorter than Serge. He walked right up to Serge without a hint that he was intimidated by his size. He looked up at Serge. “Explain yourself?”

“Explain what Sarge?”

“Don’t come all the innocent with me. I saw you shoulder Cpl Soderberg just then.”

“You must be mistaken Sarge.”

Jules looked intently into Serge’s eyes. Serge tried to match his stare but he was never that good at doing so. “No, I’m not mistaken Corporal…Arsenhault” said Jules as he read Serge’s nametag. Turning to Madge he asked “Are you alright?”

“Yeah I’ll live” said Madge and she looked back up at Serge like she was shooting daggers at him.

“You know each other then?” asked Jules. Serge remained silent but looked malevolently at Madge.

“Yeah I know him” answered Madge. “Wish I didn’t.”

“What team are you in Corporal?” he asked Serge.

“Alpha” he replied reluctantly.

“Your team leader, Sgt Bruel, is a friend of mine. I’m going to have a word with him about you. From here on we’ll be keeping a close eye on you. Another incident like this and you’ll be on report. Is that clear?”

“Yes” said Serge reluctantly.

“Yes what?”

“Yes Sergeant.”

“Right get out of here.”

Serge was only too happy to oblige. ‘What a wanker!’ he said to himself as he made his way to his cabin.

“What’s going on between you two?” asked Jules.

“He’s a bully. All through our corporals course he’s been giving me a hard time. There’s really no need for you to…”

“Yes there is. I don’t like bullies especially those that get physical. If he tries that again, let me know.”