Beyond the Veil

by Hamish Spiers

  Calendres gave him a puzzled look. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “It’s a question,” Roth explained. “I would have thought that was clear. Does this include acting, Lord Admiral?”

  “Well, of course, but I’m somewhat confused as to the relevance of the question.”

  “I ask it, Lord Admiral,” Roth told him, “because I think you are acting now. And I am starting to tire of it.”

  “Well, I am sorry,” Calendres replied, matching his gaze but keeping his tone polite. “But I cannot help it if that is what you choose to believe.”

  “Have you ever seen a Levarc shipyard, my Lord Admiral?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “It’s another question,” Roth said. “You may wish to familiarize yourself with the concept. Have you ever seen a Levarc shipyard?”

  “No,” Calendres said. “This is my first time.”

  “Well, I have, my Lord Admiral. During the Levarc War, I saw several. And do you know what each of those shipyards had in common?”

  “I couldn’t tell, Admiral,” Calendres replied. “As I believe I just told you, this is the first time I have seen one myself.”

  “It isn’t your first time, Lord Admiral,” Admiral Roth told him, “because the thing that each of those shipyards had in common was that they were entirely dissimilar to what you, Lord Ilian and Lady Valinski have constructed over there.”

  “I -”

  “And,” Roth said, raising a hand to forestall any denial, “this facility appears to be designed along rather different lines from a construction yard, which is most interesting. You and your friends have been towing large vessels in here and performing some types of upgrades on them. How am I going so far?”

  “I do not know what you are talking about,” Calendres said. “I thought it was a Levarc facility because this is one of the worlds that we offered to them but perhaps I was wrong.”

  “This is your own quadrant, Lord Admiral,” Roth said, raising his voice. “And you are the commander of its entire naval forces. There is no possible way that you could convince me that there is a major shipyard within its borders that you were unaware of.”

  He paused just long enough to give Major Henli a tight lipped smile. “Do you wish to embarrass yourself further, Lord Admiral, or are you satisfied for the moment?”

  The subtle exchange with the major was not lost on Calendres, nor was it supposed to have been.

  “I don’t believe that you would kill me in my own quadrant, Admiral,” he said, a defiant note in his voice. “The Empress would be most displeased.”

  “I don’t believe I said I would,” Admiral Roth replied. “However, I could say that you overwhelmed my guards. You took one of their guns, you were endangering the lives of members of my crew... We can act too, my Lord Admiral.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Calendres said but he didn’t sound anywhere near so certain this time. “When the tables turn on you, Admiral - and they will, you mark my words - I will be your only hope of survival.”

  Admiral Roth raised his eyebrows in an imitation of mild surprise. “Well, this is very interesting. Why don’t you tell me more about these metaphorical tables of yours?”

  “Why would I do that?” Calendres replied, all attempts at remaining civil abandoned.

  “Because I switched the ID markings on these ships,” Roth told him. “We no longer appear as the Sentinel. So when the tables turn, it won’t be this ship that will be spared.”

  Those watching the scene, and there were a few by now, had the mild satisfaction of seeing Calendres turn pale. And unlike his earlier performance, his fear was now genuine.

  “You’ll die too,” he said.

  “I’ll take my chances,” Roth replied, not taking his eyes off the lord admiral. “Now, would you like to stop playing charades with me and start cooperating?”

  Lord Admiral Calendres squared his shoulders and gave the admiral a look of unveiled contempt. “I’ll take my chances too.”

  “Charming human being,” Captain Merrick muttered as Henli and his men escorted Calendres off the bridge.

  “Yes,” Admiral Roth agreed. “He’s a bit much. Still, that was very informative.”

  “If you say so, sir,” Merrick replied.

  “Oh, it was, Captain. We know that Lord Ilian and his lord admiral are still playing with us. They’ve tried to draw us away from Minstrah so they could carry out their coup, and now that that’s failed, they’re going to try to get rid of us outright.”

  “A trap? But with all due respect, sir, whatever they’ve been working on out here wasn’t set up yesterday.”

  “No doubt,” Roth agreed. “Whatever this is, it is part of their original scheme. However, as both you and I know, these people are very adaptive. They have a plan, yes, but they have been changing it every step of the way. Every time we’ve stepped in, they’ve altered it.”

  “All right. But if this is a trap, why haven’t they sprung it yet?”

  “Good question,” Roth said. “I suspect we’ll have an answer shortly.”

  “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

  Roth shrugged. “I don’t much like it myself, Captain, but there’s little we can do about it. What we can do in preparation however is send a shuttle to Minstrah to warn General Kellahav that the dissidents will be attacking again. And they will not be using Minstrahn cruisers this time.”

  “No?”

  “Observe that orbital facility, Captain,” Roth explained. “Look carefully at where the ships would dock. You may think on a brief examination that a number of Minstrahn patrol and assault cruisers could dock there, but if you look more carefully, you’d see that they couldn’t fit in those slots. Not unless they were spaced very far apart. But then, what would be the point of all that extra space? It’d be a waste of construction materials.”

  Captain Merrick frowned. He saw what Admiral Roth meant after it had been pointed out to him but he didn’t understand how the admiral had worked it all out so quickly. “Then what is the reason behind that layout?”

  “The reason is, Captain, that they’re upgrading very large ships.”

  “How large?”

  “Dreadnought sized,” Roth said. “And judging by the design of that facility, they could have had six of them docked there.”

  “Six Dreadnoughts?” Merrick exclaimed. “Where did they get six Dreadnoughts?”

  “Another good question,” Roth replied. “However, if you look back at that facility, you may notice something else. There are several ships there that look like small frigates but they’re not.”

  Captain Merrick looked for the ships that Admiral Roth was referring to and found them gathered down at one end of the facility, tethered to a large wing. “They’re towing vessels. Big ones.”

  “Big towing vessels for big ships,” Roth said, “capable of hauling even a Dreadnought.”

  “None of this makes any sense.”

  “Actually, it all makes perfect sense. However, we’re missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.”

  “Where they got these ships from?”

  “Exactly, Captain.”

  “And are they Levarc Dreadnoughts?” Merrick asked.

  “They are, Captain,” Roth told him. “That is certain. Now, send a shuttle to Minstrah to alert General Kellahav of the danger. I expect that our enemy will send three or four of these ships there, depending on how many they think they’ll need to deal with us. Once the shuttle has delivered that message, it is to return to the Federation and update Corsida on the situation.”

  Captain Merrick turned to carry out the order, and stopped. “Sir, if they haven’t laid the trap yet, it may be that they intend for us to return to Minstrah, and in that case, we’d be fighting alongside General Kellahav against six Dreadnoughts.”

  “It’s possible,” Roth conceded. “Although, they could have laid that trap on us already. No, they wanted to draw us away so they could deal with us separately.”
<
br />   “Then why are we playing into their hands?”

  “Because knowing our enemies and the way they use our instincts against us, I believe we won’t have a choice.”

  “They’ll attack somewhere else and we’ll be forced to come after them?”

  “Exactly, Captain,” Roth replied. “You have your orders.”

  “One question if I may, Admiral.”

  Roth gave him a nod. “Of course.”

  “Where would they attack then?”

  “Our next destination,” the admiral replied. “Where we will head as soon as that shuttle has left. Felarias.”

  18. A Fight on Two Fronts

  It was eerie stepping out onto the deck of yet another Levarc fighter carrier, Epcar thought. This was the third ship they’d checked out and he still had to fight the sensation that a hundred armed Levarc soldiers were going to burst into the hangar and open fire on him. Even though the hangar was dark. Even though according to what Admiral Roth had told them about the renegade Levarc who had broken away from the main Kingdom, these ships had most likely been sitting here abandoned for around three hundred years.

  “Get that portable light down here,” he said, glancing around. Not that there was much to see. Khalin followed him down the ramp with the light and flicked it on. Epcar had to shield his eyes for a moment until he got accustomed to the new level of brightness in the hangar.

  “See? This one’s half empty too,” Khalin told him.

  “Yeah,” Epcar replied. “And they’ve left the fighters again.”

  Khalin nodded. “And they’ve taken all the shuttles. Again.”

  “But where did they go?” Epcar asked. “That planet down there? According to the readings, it’s practically lifeless.”

  “I’d like to have a look at that planet,” Khalin said. “We’re not getting any answers up here.”

  They located a large encampment without too much difficulty and this was where they landed.

  “This looks like the place the Basilisks found,” Khalin said as they walked about. “Although I don’t know how they deluded themselves into thinking these buildings were still occupied. They’re all buried in dirt and dust.”

  “Hey, over here!” Epcar called out.

  Khalin followed him.

  “This looks like what they opened up,” Epcar told her, indicating scorch marks in the door latch.

  “Let’s look inside then,” Khalin said and they pushed it open.

  It was a large storage shed, with weapons laid about the place and other bits and pieces. There was a lot of empty space where items had been removed.

  “It looks like the Basilisks took things from over there,” Epcar said, pointing to it.

  “Yeah,” Khalin agreed. “And do you notice anything else?”

  “What’s that?”

  “This stuff doesn’t look like it was arranged according to any particular system. It looks like it was just dumped here. And it doesn’t look as though it’s heavy arsenal or anything like that. It looks like whoever put this here was just unloading some weight.”

  Epcar nodded. “Like they came down in the shuttles, camped here for a while and figured out what they wanted to do, lightened their load and took off for wherever they went.”

  “Leaving behind the weapons from their shuttles,” Khalin said, shaking her head, “and abandoning a fleet of warships with enough firepower to obliterate whole worlds. It’s a far cry from the Levarc we know and love.”

  “Do you want to look around here a little longer?” Epcar asked. “For historical interest?”

  “I’d love to,” Khalin said, “but I think we’d better get back and let Admiral Roth know about this place. Also, I’ve just figured out something and it’s not good.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, I was thinking about the way those ships were arranged up there,” she said as they stepped out of the storage shed into the sunlight. “It looks as though they were all left in a diamond formation.”

  Epcar shrugged. “Okay. So?”

  “Well, the thing is if that’s the case, then the formation is broken,” Khalin explained. “If there were six more ships, it’d be perfect. So I’d say that that’s how many are missing.”

  The sound of battle alarms had Lord Erama and the others running to the bridge.

  “Situation?” he asked.

  “Three Levarc Dreadnoughts incoming, dead ahead,” someone reported from the radar station.

  For a moment, the entire bridge was silent. For most of the crew, the only time they had ever seen a Levarc Dreadnought was in archival footage taken during the war.

  The incoming ships were huge, giant cylinders with rings of giant blades around them, running the length of the hulls. Lord Erama knew these ‘blades’ were massive weapons emplacements and they were also layered so they protected one another. And if one blade was badly damaged, it could be detached from the main ring and replaced. From all accounts, Levarc Dreadnoughts were extremely difficult to disable or destroy, and that had been during a time when the Federation had had many Dreadnoughts of their own.

  With the ending of the war, no more Federation Dreadnoughts had been built and fourteen years later, the last of them had been decommissioned. The Annihilator was the first Dreadnought to have been constructed since then, and now that Corinthe and his dangerous ego had been removed from power, there weren’t likely to be any more. As for the Frontier nations, they had never built ships to rival these in size.

  However, Lord Erama and the others defending Felarias weren’t relying on the size of their vessels if it came to a confrontation.

  “All right,” he said, taking control. “Switch off those alarms and bring up the main guns. Relay to the other ships, then prepare the fighters.”

  “I’ll get to the Harpy,” Selina volunteered, turning to leave.

  “That ship’s not capable of handling combat conditions with the minimal crew you’ve got,” Lord Erama warned his daughter. “Take Maia and Zak with you, and get back to Felarias and warn everyone. Then see if you can raise anyone on the Frontier. Hie’shi, Koratav, anyone you can.”

  “Got it,” Selina nodded. “Come on, Maia.”

  “Right.”

  “I’ll take Sigma Squadron and do a reconnaissance run,” Zak offered, following them. “Maybe we can strafe some of those guns.” Although, he’d have to borrow one of his pilots’ fighters as Drackson still had his Cortek.

  “Wait until I give the order though,” Lord Erama told him. “These may be Levarc Dreadnoughts but we still have to follow the rules of engagement. We must determine their intentions.”

  Zak nodded. “Right. Well, my squadron and I will be standing by then.”

  “Thank you. And be careful. All of you.” Lord Erama turned back to the approaching warships and glanced at Chief Commander Cyraes. “Well, now’s as good a chance as any to test out these weapons of yours.”

  “Yes,” Cyraes replied. “However, as you said, let’s wait until we know what they’re up to first.”

  “Lord Erama,” the communications officer called out. “There are about a dozen cruisers coming in from astern, irregular. One of them is the Deliverance. And we’re being hailed by the Maiden’s Virtue.”

  “That’s Admiral Garam,” Lord Erama said, striding to his command chair and switching on the communicator. “Admiral Garam, this is Lord Erama. It’s been a long time, old friend.”

  “Good to know we’re not alone out here,” said the former leader of the resistance movement against Corinthe.

  “Likewise,” Erama replied. “How did you get here so fast?”

  “Ms. Casdan picked up the Levarc ships on her way in to Laonist and extrapolated from their last projectory that they’d be showing up around here. Anyway, she contacted Admiral Kalae en route and she contacted the rest of us so here we are. Now, any idea what the Levarc are doing here?”

  “Felarias would make a valuable outpost for forays into the Frontier and the Federa
tion,” Erama said.

  “All right then,” Garam replied. “How do you want to do this? Joint command?”

  Erama shrugged. “It worked over Phalamki and we’ve got pretty much the same core group here. Is Admiral Draedon with you?”

  “I’m here,” Draedon chimed in. “Admiral Kalae’s here. We’re all here. You just tell us where you want us.”

  Erama looked at the approaching Levarc vessels. According to the radar readings, they were still far out but they wouldn’t be for long. “We’ll set up two rows of defensive lines. Damaged ships can hold back and replenish their shields while ships from the second row can move forward and fill the gaps. And keep the rows well spaced. We don’t want to give the Levarc convenient clusters of targets if we can avoid it.”

  “Right,” Garam replied. “By the way, do you have any tricks up your sleeve?”

  “One,” Erama said. “But to use it, I’ll have to put my ships in range of their weapons. If we can create a gap in their defenses, we might have a shot. But we’ll see. However, I mustn’t forget to hail these ships first.”

  “We’ll wait,” Garam said wryly.

  Lord Erama shared Garam’s feelings on the incoming ships. Yes, he would them but they were still warships. They were large, they had arrived unannounced and they were moving straight towards an independent world.

  “Incoming Levarc vessels,” he announced over the communicator. “This is Lord Erama, acting on the behalf of the Felariam Defense Network. Your current trajectory is in direct line with the Felarias system. Please state your intentions.”

  There was no reply.

  Lord Erama took a breath and tried again. “I repeat. This is Lord Erama, acting on the behalf of the Felariam Defense Network.”

  “What a demeaning task that must be,” came a reply. “And is this rabble of ships also acting on the behalf of this Defense Network?”

  “This task force is the effective acting Defense Network, yes,” Lord Erama said, ignoring the insult. “And we must insist that you change your trajectory. If you proceed toward the Felarias system, it will be interpreted as an act of aggression and we will be forced to respond.”

  “You dare place demands on the Levarc?” the speaker on the other ship asked, his voice low and animalistic but somehow wrong. “The Levarc do not bow to demands. This conversation is over, puny human. Prepare to be destroyed.”