Invasion

by Donald Nicklas

  There was a mixture of shock and disbelief on the faces of the Highline people. “I would certainly like to see how that works,” the VP of Military Affairs, Nancy Jurevic, said to no one in particular.

  “If we have your permission to enter orbit with our ships, I would be glad to give you a tour and show you the invisibility equipment.”

  “Surely that must be classified.”

  “Actually, it is not, since only the serpents can operate it and they are Romani.”

  This time CEO DiSanto spoke up, “Aren’t you afraid someone will lure your serpents away and they would give them the secret?”

  “When you meet the serpents, you can ask them yourself. With your permission, I will tell the ships to enter orbit.”

  Permission was granted and the Highline ships were also ordered to enter orbit. Tugs were sent out to tow the disabled vessels and the enemy vessels to the spaceport. This process still took close to four hours until all of the vessels were finally in orbit and the tugs were on their way to get the enemy vessels. As the Tempestas was moving towards the planet, Chief Engineer Diana Gardner came up from her damage control duties to speak with the captain. Slone met with her in the conference room below the bridge deck. “Ok, Diana, what did you want to see me about?”

  “Chris, the Saltic have changed the nature of their energy bolts. I noticed that they did a lot more damage to our hull than before and I understand they actually took out destroyers with one or two barrages. They are adding explosive, energy shielded capsules that enter the breach made by the energy bolt and then detonate inside. They must have analyzed our cannon shells. I know when our hull was breached by the fragments from the destroyed harvester ship in the Saltic system near Heimat; some of our ordinance was lost to space. They must have found them.”

  “Ok, Diana, then you’re telling me they are learning. Not a surprise, but they do not have missiles, so we still have an edge up and they cannot make their ships invisible. Now if we can strike a deal with Highline, we may get a handle on this invasion. I just hope they don’t bring the entire Andromeda galaxy down on us.”

  “You know, Chris, I have been wondering why they don’t have missiles. The copycat ships of the Methane Breathers had them as well as exploding shells.”

  “I have given that a lot of thought over the last five years. I can only assume they gave the Methane Breathers orders to build copies of our ships, but never actually studied them themselves. All knowledge of how we fought died with the ship copies and the harvester ship in Andromeda, along with the Hayden”

  “That may be it then.”

  Slone returned to the bridge and Diana went back to damage control, as the Tempestas slid into orbit where directed, along with the Avenging Talon. Admiral Holt, CEO DiSanto, VP Harris and VP Jurevic requested permission to come aboard the Tempestas, which was granted. Alaya and Tavia would be joining them. Alaya called down to Hatch, still in the yacht, Unicorn, to bring the yacht back to the battleship. There was some measure of surprise as the Unicorn lifted off the ground and flew into orbit. The Highline spaceport guards had gone through the yacht when it first landed and found it to be empty, yet now it took off with no one aboard. The space station was warned about the unauthorized departure, but ground control was notified that all was in order and the CEO had allowed it. The Unicorn docked aboard the Tempestas before the Highline leaders arrived, and Hatch joined the welcoming committee consisting of the bridge officers and Captain Slone. The shuttle, carrying the Highline officials, passed through the force field shielding the hangar from outside space and it was directed to land on an open area of the deck. The CEO and VPs exited first with a small bodyguard contingent. They had seen the size of the battleship as they approached it and had no illusions that, if things went sour, a few bodyguards would do very little. They were mainly there for psychological comfort. Andrea DiSanto just hoped she could trust these newcomers. They had been true to their word and helped defeat invaders her ships were powerless to stop. They also had the gift of invisibility, and that was something her spies may have to discover for the corporation. First, she had to deal with them diplomatically. When the Highline dignitaries exited the ship and stood outside their shuttle, they froze. At the other side of the cavernous hangar bay, there was a large army drilling. What made them freeze was seeing humans and serpents drilling side by side. They also saw the humans using shields and swords. The serpents used some kind of spear. The Highline leaders had trouble looking at the serpents, since they were like something out of a nightmare. They were the size of a human, but looked like an earth dinosaur. There were also tall ones who wore armor and carried massive Gatling guns. They were twice the height and three times the bulk of the smaller serpents.

  Alaya and Tavia now exited the shuttle. Alaya had been doing all of the talking with the Highline leaders and the CEO was not sure what to make of the young woman in her mid twenties named Tavia Marshal. But she seemed harmless enough and was presumed to be Alaya’s pilot. That impression was soon dispelled when Tavia came out last and suddenly there was a high pitch whistle and all of the serpents in the hangar suddenly stopped what they were doing, turned in the direction of Tavia and dropped to one knee with bowed head. Tavia gave a slight nod of recognition and the serpents got up and immediately returned to what they were doing.

  “What did we just witness?” Andrea DiSanto asked as she turned in the direction of Alaya.

  “Tavia is very dear to the entire serpent race. She was once the leader of all serpents for part of a day and is now recognized as a World Mother, the title of their leader. All of the serpents who run things are female. Only those big ones over there are male and the females do not think much of them as anything but fighters and fertilizers for their eggs.”

  “Then, Tavia, could control all of these fearsome beings?”

  “Any one of them would gladly lay down their life for her. She is a force to be reckoned with.”

  Just then, Tavia came over to the rest of the group. “Alaya, the Unicorn is back aboard.”

  CEO DiSanto looked at Tavia with much more appreciation than she had before. Once the group was clear of the landing area, Slone came over with the command staff. He saluted the CEO and then extended his hand, which she took. “Welcome aboard the Tempestas, allow me to introduce my bridge crew.” Slone introduced the primary bridge crew and Andrea DiSanto introduced the Highline leadership. As this was going on, a serpent ship entered the hangar and again the Highline dignitaries’ attention was drawn to it, especially Admiral Holt’s. The serpent ship landed and Captain Artok exited along with Centurion Ash of the first serpent cohort.

  The serpent leaders came over to the group, and as soon as they saw Tavia, they bowed to her and Captain Artok said, “Lady Tavia, you honor us with your presence.”

  “As always, it is I who am honored,” Tavia said in her finest diplomatic style. She was now thoroughly accepting of the honor bestowed on her by the serpents.

  Slone could tell that the Highline leadership was impressed that the serpents spoke human language. The usual soothing effect was also seen on their faces. “Please join us in the conference room, we have much to discuss.”

  As Slone led the group through the battle ship to the conference room in the old, starliner dining hall, the Highline people were constantly seen gawking at the sheer immensity of the vessel. When they were finally settled in the conference room, the usual high quality Romani meal was served with refreshments.

  “This food is excellent. You and your officers live well,” Nancy Jurevic, VP of Military Affairs, was compelled to remark.

  Alaya responded to this immediately, “What you just ate was one of the meal choices on the ship’s menu today. This was available to all members of the crew as were three other choices.”

  To say the Highline folks were stunned would be an understatement. It was clear they had not expected such a level of civilization from the Romani. “We have always been told you are a bunch of pirates. Apparentl
y, that is a lie.”

  This time Slone responded, “Others call us pirates. We are actually the descendants of the exiles the corporations sent into space when they purged their intellectuals and free thinkers.”

  “Really. We have long wondered what happened to them,” Jurevic continued. “Highline Corporation did not send their intellectuals away. We felt they could help us better as part of our corporation.”

  “That is one of the reasons we came to you. Brandenburger Corporation is also under attack and our Senate had no interest in reaching out to them. They sent their intellectuals into perilous seas. Ironically, their actions in that distant past have led directly to the current situation.” Slone now went into the real reason they were there. “Let me tell you what exactly we are facing here. The enemies we are fighting are called the Saltic. We have several of their bodies in sickbay for study and feel free to take any you like off the ships you towed in. The ships are yours for study. We relinquish all claims as prizes.”

  There was some disbelief on the part of the Highline group, since that meant they would also get the technology to study. Captured Naval prizes were an important part of the military structure of the corporations. The Highline CEO expressed her thanks and then said, “Do these Saltic live coreward of human space, since they attacked Coreward Industries first?”

  Slone filled them in on what the Romani knew about the Saltic. He liked the Highline executives and their military. They reminded him a lot of the Romani and knew they would be an excellent ally if they could convince them of the need for unity. As the discussions continued, Admiral Holt suddenly spoke up. “Madame Chairwoman, I request permission to take the fleet back to where we were attacked. We still have disabled ships there that will be helpless if there is another attack on them.”

  “Admiral, those ships are at the border with Coreward Industries, over a month’s journey away. By the time you get there, their situation will long be resolved. I also can’t release what is left of your fleet until we can bring more ships here in case of another attack.”

  “I know that, Madame, but if we don’t try, what does that say about us?”

  At this point Slone decided to interrupt the conversation. “We may be able to help you with this situation. We can check out your remaining fleet and bring back those that can move.”

  “How do you plan to do that? Are you faster in the slipstreams than we are?” VP Jurevic asked.

  “No, we are not, but you’ll recall we have been dealing with the Saltic and their technology for a while now and have had the luxury of reverse engineering their drives. As a result, our capital ships are all equipped with wormhole drives. We can instantly move to the system your fleet is in.”

  The Highline Corp officials at the table looked at each other. Before they could respond, Slone continued, “Admiral, if you have someone who could take over the defense of the home system, we could use your help to convince your ships we are friendly, especially when we suddenly drop in on them.”

  “Madame Chairwoman, with your permission?”

  “If the Romani are willing to help get our ships back here, I will gladly accept their help. Is there any way we could induce your government to give us the secret of invisibility and the wormhole drive?” CEO DiSanto asked in all seriousness.

  “Invisibility comes from the serpents; we do not know how to control that. As far as the wormhole drive is concerned, the captured Saltic ships all have them, so your engineers should be able to reverse engineer them, just as we did.”

  “Fair enough. We will return to the planet and prepare defenses in case of another attack. Admiral, you have my permission to retrieve the rest of your fleet.”

  Chapter 5 – Border System 13

  The destroyer HC Calhoun was dead in space and drifting. She had taken a hit to the engine room from the strange ships that attacked them without warning. The acting captain of the vessel still had no idea where they had come from or where they went with the remaining fleet following them into some kind of energy field. Now the field was gone as were the rest of the fleet and the enemy. All that was left in Border System 13 were the remnants of the battle, two dreadnoughts and three destroyers in various states of damage.

  “Captain, the Bradley is requesting our status,” the communications tech reported to acting Captain Christopher Morel.

  “Tell them we are still dead in space with no ETA on the engines.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Christopher Morel was the first officer of the Calhoun. In the opening barrage of the battle, the ship took a hit to the bridge with one of the energy weapons the enemy used. Commander Morel was at his battle station near the hangar deck to help repel boarders, when the bridge was hit. The bolt went right through the bridge armor and killed the captain and several of the bridge crew. He was called to the bridge and had to take over fighting command. As the energy field resealed the bridge, the night crew took up the open bridge positions and the fight continued. It was a short fight. The opening barrage had not only hit the bridge but engineering as well and all engine power was lost. Morel had time to fire all missiles facing an enemy ship and followed with a few cannon shots as the battle left them behind. That was several hours ago and since then the survivors had been hard at work salvaging what they could of the fleet in case of another attack. Morel also wondered where the enemy had gone and where the rest of the fleet was. His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden return of ship-wide power.

  “Engineering, do we have our engine’s back?”

  “No, Captain. We have the generator going and are off batteries. That should help restoring things to normal. Still no ETA on the engines. They took a pretty bad hit,” the engineering tech reported.

  “Sparks, any word on the condition of the rest of the fleet?”

  “Of the dreadnoughts, the Bradley is the least damaged and can maneuver. The Incubus is down with no communication yet. Not sure if anyone is still alive on her. The other destroyers are gone. They both took fuel bunker hits and vaporized with all hands lost.”

  “Captain, we have tactical back.”

  The sensor tech projected the tactical view of surrounding space onto the front of the bridge bubble. Morel could see the dreadnoughts and marks where the last known positions of the lost destroyers were. Until the Calhoun could get her engines going, they were down to only one ship capable of putting up a fight. Considering what five enemy vessels did to their reconnaissance fleet in the first battle, he was hoping there would not be a return of those strange vessels. Since the Calhoun and the Bradley had taken engine hits early in the combat, they were left behind with relatively little damage. Once the Calhoun got her engines repaired they could check on the Incubus and get out of this system. As Commander Morel sat in the captain’s chair and waited the seemingly endless time it took to fix the engines, he thought about the last several years and how they had transpired.

  Eleven years ago, Christopher Morel was a cadet in the Highline Naval Academy. His mother had been against his joining the military, but, for some reason, he found himself drawn to space. His father had been in the navy but was killed when his ship was lost and his stepfather adopted him and tried to turn him into a science nerd. Unfortunately, that did not work and as soon as he was of age, he joined the academy. That was 13 years ago. Three years into his training, disaster struck. His parents were working at a Highline Corp experimental weapons base when it was destroyed by a nuclear missile sent by the Brandenburger Corporation. In one second he lost his entire family, his parents and his little sister. Things happened fast after that. The academy classes were fast tracked to graduation and he was assigned to the destroyer HC Calhoun as an ensign. As the war progressed he worked his way up to first officer. Just as the war was reaching a conclusion in Highline Corp’s favor, his government sued for peace and gave some concessions. He later learned this was related to the conquest of the Highline protectorate, Coreward Industries, by enemies unknown. The reconnaissance fleet was sent t
o investigate the nature of this enemy and that led to this disaster.

  “Captain, I’m picking up an energy surge nearby. It is similar to the one that the fleet entered,” the sensor tech reported.

  “Engineering do I have my engines yet?”

  “Captain, we have one engine at 50%. We can maneuver but only at half speed.”

  “That will have to do, sound general quarters. Did anything come out of that energy field?”

  As the klaxon signaled general quarters, the sensor tech continued to stare at the readouts. She suddenly looked up and said, “Captain, there are two vessels coming out of the energy field. One appears to be a dreadnought class ship and the other is much larger. It is larger than an automated cargo hauler.”

  “Any identification?”

  “They are transmitting Highline transponder codes. Apparently they are ours.”

  Morel asked for magnification of the ships and could see they were much larger and different from the ones he knew of in the Highline navy. His examination was interrupted by the communications tech.

  “Captain, there is an incoming message from the arriving vessels. It is in the clear.”

  “Put it on the speakers.”

  “Attention Highline fleet, this is Admiral Holt requesting a status report.”

  Morel looked in the direction of the communications console, “Sparks, does the computer recognize that as the admiral?”

  “Yes sir, it is confirmed, that is the admiral and the header codes are correct for a flag transmission. The Bentley just acknowledged and reported in.”

  “Send our status and damage readouts to the admiral.”

  The sensor tech now reported in, “Captain, the energy field has just closed.”

  “Who even opened it?” Morel said, to no one in particular.