“Blue set the drive to the coordinates for the Munich system and open the wormhole.”
“Sss. Yes, Captain.”
Blue pressed some buttons and whistled into the console and the ship was filled with a low hum. Within thirty seconds the space in front of the Mary Rose began to distort in a swirling pattern and a pale green wormhole began to form as a spiral in front of the ship. “Hatch, keep us invisible, Tavia take us in.”
Tavia moved the ship slowly forward. All aboard were medicate to prevent the effects of wormhole travel and they were used to the visual distortion that made it appear the ship was being stretched into the wormhole. The Mary Rose passed in and almost immediately was expelled into the Munich system.
“Blue, close the wormhole.”
“Sss. Yes Captain, the wormhole is closed and the drive is secured.”
“Olivia, give me a readout of this system.”
“Yes, Captain,” Olivia Slone said and again concentrated on her sensor board. “There are no ships in the system, but I am picking up telemetry from the seventh planet, which is an airless world. The telemetry indicates a settlement.”
“Blue, take us to the seventh planet,” Alaya ordered.
“Sss. Yes Captain. Transit time is 6 hours, 23 minutes human time.”
“Ok let’s keep a full watch all the way,” Alaya ordered. She then activated the ship wide intercom, “Captain Neumann to the bridge, please.”
A few minutes later, Captain Neumann entered the bridge. “Captain, we are in the Munich system and telemetry from the mining base is coming in and appears normal. Before we drop invisibility, I would like you to contact the base and make sure we are cleared to approach.”
“Gladly, Captain Slone.”
Alaya told Olivia to open a channel to the mining base in Brandenburger code. “Captain, when you are ready,” Olivia said.
“Commandant Schneider, this is Captain Neumann requesting permission to approach the mining base and requesting a landing slot.” He then asked, “How long is the lag?”
“Signal round trip is two hours ten minutes.”
“Then there is nothing to do but wait. I will return to the mess hall with the others,” Captain Neumann said as he left the bridge. The Slones could hear the relief in his voice that the colony had no signs of peril yet, but he still would feel better when they actually responded to the hail.
The Mary Rose continued to move towards the mining colony as they awaited the response. When it finally came, they called Captain Neumann to the bridge.
“Captain Neumann, the computer has decrypted the return message and it is ready when you are,” Olivia Slone reported.
“Thank you put it through please.”
The speakers on the bridge came on and the message came through. “Captain Neumann, this is Commandant Schneider, you are cleared to land on pad three, but we do not detect any ships in the system. And what kind of a ship do you have that can land here? Last I heard you were in command of a dreadnought.”
“I will tell you when I land,” Captain Neumann responded and it was sent.
Alaya then turned to Hatch, “Hatch, make us visible.”
“Sss. Yes Captain,” Hatch said and then a few seconds later, “Sss. Ship is visible.”
After a lag of an hour, since they were now closer to the colony a message came in that they could now pick up the ship and confirmed that it would fit on landing pad three. The Mary Rose reached the base without incident and landed in the spot designated in the hangar by of the colony. The bay was a standard structure of its kind with a force field to keep the atmosphere in the structure. As the bridge crew could see from their vantage, the commandant was standing there with an armed party.
“Captain Neumann, do they usually greet you with weapons when you land?” Alaya asked.
“I suspect it is due to the fact that they can’t identify your ship and could not pick up transponder codes. It’s a cinch they never saw any aliens, Saltic or Serpent.”
Outside, Commandant Schneider stood with a squad of base security personnel watching as the strange ship entered the cavernous hangar and landed on pad three. The base had an oversized hangar, since it was a very old base which was built at a time when freighters were smaller and would land to off-load their cargos. Some of the tramp freighters piloted by humans were still small enough to enter the hangar, but most, especially the large automated ones, had to be off loaded in orbit. The ship that came through the hanger was unusual. It was jet back with the ship name, Mary Rose in red letters across the bow. Below the name was a designation they did not understand. It read ‘LEGIO I CELERIS EXPLORATORUM’. If he could understand Latin he would have known it meant ‘First Rapid Legion Scout’. After the ship was down on its landing gear and the engines were powered down, a short period of time passed and the airlock at the bottom of the ship opened. Captain Neumann exited along with the Slones and Captain Morel. The commandant told the guards to return to their normal duties and went over to Captain Neumann.
“Well, Emil, where is your dreadnought and who are these people?”
“Gerhardt, this is Captain Alaya Slone, Captain Christopher Slone and Captain Christopher Morel. We bring grave news about the home world.”
“Come with me to my office then,” the commandant said. As they were walking, the commandant chatted with Captain Neumann, “Gerhardt, I recognize that Captain Morel is an officer in the Highline Corporation navy, but I do not recognize either the uniforms or the rank insignias of the others.”
Emil Neumann responded by reminding the commandant of a discussion they had a few years before. “Gerhardt, do you recall a conversation we had when the war started with Highline Corp and Sinclair was engaged in taking over Petrov?”
“Vaguely, something about who came in and defeated the Sinclair fleet and then saved Alexi Petrov’s corporation. I recall we decided there was someone else in the game but had only rumors about more than pirates in the Matsua Rim.”
“Well, I am here to tell you that you have a ship from those players in your hangar and they are here to warn us and help us if they can. The Slones are part of the military of a Republic known as Nova Romae that occupies the Matsua rim. Their ship is a scout vessel from that Republic.”
“Emil, are you telling me they exist without the support of a corporation? How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know the details, but it is possible. They are proof of it.”
Their discussion ended when they arrived at the commandant’s office. The group entered a small conference room just off the office. There was just enough room for ten and they were six, so the commandant also invited the commander of the guard regiment assigned to the base for protection and policing. If there was a danger, as these people believed, then it was wise to bring the military aboard. In truth, the commandant did not know what to make of this visit.
When the commander of the ground troops came in the commandant introduced him as Major Koch. He was a muscular, large boned giant of a man who looked like he could acquit himself well in a scuffle. When all were introduced and seated, the commandant asked the question that was on his mind.
“Emil, you indicated there was a threat but we have seen nothing out here to concern us.”
“I am truly glad the threat has not yet reached here, but it is coming and I have seen it. Brandenburg has been overrun and for all I know New Berlin is now in rubble.”
The Slones could see how the Brandenburger people gave a start when they heard that.
“What do you mean, overrun?” Commandant Schneider asked.
“We just came from Brandenburg and rescued our CEO, who was being held captive by aliens who call themselves the Saltic and look like giant worms. They used a ruse to appear to be allies of our corporation but then turned on us to use our citizens and remove their brains to act as computer control nodes.”
The Slones could see the disbelief in the eyes of the commandant and other members of the colony. “Neumann, a
re you insane. Now we are talking about aliens? There are no aliens.”
“I am afraid they are all too real. We have one of their bodies aboard the ship in a stasis chamber, just in case you would not believe us.”
This shocked the commandant and the major. “I would like to see what these aliens look like,” the commandant said.
Since Captain Neumann could not bring anyone aboard the Mary Rose without Alaya Slones permission, he looked in her direction and deferred to her wishes in this matter.
“Commandant, I would be happy to show you the body aboard my ship, but there is something you need to know before you come aboard. Our republic is made up of a large number of star systems and large territories. One of these territories is occupied by an alien race that has been part of our military for the past three centuries and is now part of our government. We call them Serpents and they are fearsome to look at. They have the appearance of an earth dinosaur,” Alaya pointed out.
“Ok. Now we are going from worms to dinosaurs. I think I may just have to pack you all on your ship and order you to leave, since it is obvious you are all drunk or insane. But I will humor you and come aboard your ship to meet your aliens and see the body of those we are to fear.”
The Romani group, the commandant and the major left the commandant’s office and headed to the hangar. They came to the bottom airlock of the Mary Rose and Alaya went over to the keypad and punched in her code. The airlock opened and a ladder came down, which they all climbed. They were then in an airlock, but since they were in an atmosphere, the inner hatch of the airlock was open. Alaya lead the way into the ship and they went to the sickbay area. They passed a few of the Special Forces who snapped to attention when the Slones passed them and the Slones saluted back. They took a stair up one deck and down a gangway to the sickbay. There were both serpent and human medical personnel stationed there who were still tending to the wounded from the reconnaissance mission to New Berlin. As the commandant entered the sickbay, he and the major froze when they saw their first Serpent.
“Captain Slone, are these animals or aliens?”
“Commandant, these are the Serpents I told you about. They are as intelligent as we are and they are the best fighters you will ever come across.”
“Is he a medic taking care of human casualties?”
“He is a she and yes, serpent and human medics take care of both species. All of the serpents you will see on this vessel are female. The males are huge and wear armor. They carry big Gatling guns, but the females run the show. I do not want to disturb her, let me introduce you to a serpent who speaks our language well.” Alaya pressed her com implant, “Tavia, come to sickbay and bring Hatch with you.”
“On our way, Captain.”
A few minutes later, Tavia and Hatch came into the sickbay. As soon as the serpent medic saw Tavia, she dropped to one knee and bowed to her. Tavia nodded and the serpent got up and went back to her patient. This small incident did not escape the colony personnel.
“Commandant Schneider, this is Tavia Marshall, she is my second in command aboard this vessel. She is also revered by the Serpents as a former leader of their entire species and this is Hatch, Tavia’s bodyguard and a member of the bridge crew,” Alaya indicated Hatch standing next to Tavia.
“Pleased to meet you, Commandant Schneider,” Tavia said.
“Sss. Hatch is also pleased to meet with Commandant Schneider.”
Alaya could tell that the newcomers were shocked that Hatch could speak human language but the soothing speech of the serpent worked wonders to calm their fears. Alaya had another reason to call Tavia down to the sickbay. “Tavia, would you ask the medic to bring out the body of the Saltic we have in the morgue.”
The commandant was wondering why Alaya could not just tell her herself, when to his surprise Tavia began to converse with the serpent medic in their language. The speed of the conversation also told him that she spoke the language fluently. The serpent went into the next room, which doubled as a morgue and an examination room. The group followed her in and the serpent went to the refrigeration unit and brought out the body of the Saltic and laid it on the exam table.
“This is the alien you are dealing with and they have no empathy for any species other than their own. We exist to supply them with whatever they need. In this case, they need our brains for their computers. This is how they think.”
The mining colony personnel closely examined the body of the Saltic and were shocked that such a primitive species could have evolved into sentience.
“They are more than sentient,” Slone told them. “They are masters of an entire galaxy and now want to conquer ours. I can only assume that the Andromeda galaxy is far less advanced than ours since we are a match for them.”
“But are WE a match for them?” the Commandant asked, referring to his own corporation.
“Not if we don’t hold together and it is my hope the Senate will agree to bring the corporations to a better footing as far as military capability. A lot will depend on our report to them. And that means we have to get back to our home world,” Slone said.
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a call from the bridge over the intercom, “Captain Slone, the mining base just went on alert and they are calling for the commandant to come to tactical,” the Slones recognized Olivia’s voice.
“Tell them he is on his way,” Alaya said and followed the rest of the group off the ship after telling Tavia and Hatch to return to the bridge and prep the ship for departure if necessary.
The commandant led the way to the tactical room and asked for a report. The sensor tech looked up from her console, “Commandant, we detected three ships coming out of the inbound slipstream from the coreward areas. They are not transmitting any transponder codes.”
“Do we know what ship classes they are?”
“There masses did not fit anything we recognized coming out of the slipstream but the monitor beacon on the slipstream sent us a scan and identified them as two corvettes and one frigate.”
“Corvettes and a Frigate? Those ships have not been used by the Corporations for centuries. Those are pirates,” Slone said.
“Gutsy of pirates to come into a system with a mining base with defensive weapons.”
“Sir, there is an incoming message,” the communications tech reported.
“Put it on speaker.”
“Yes, sir.” The communications tech pushed a button and the speakers in the room came to life.
“Attention Brandenburger mining base, this is Captain Melissa Bogarde aboard the frigate Hermine, requesting protection for myself and my people. Our base was attacked by unknown forces in an unidentifiable ship that came out of an energy field. We have women and children aboard, all we could cram into these antiques before the base decompressed.”
Everyone in the tactical room looked at each other. Slone finally said, “Pirates or not, if there are indeed women and children aboard, then we can’t just fire on them. How far out are they?”
The sensor tech responded, “Transit time for them is still just less than seven hours.”
“Commandant, may I suggest we question their origins further,” Slone said.
“Quite right, we have time to destroy them if we have to. Open a channel to them.”
“Yes, Commandant. The channel is open.”
“Attention unknown vessels. Identify your origin and which corporation you are from. If you are pirates, be warned this base is armed.” The commandant then asked, “How long is the round trip time for the messages?”
“About three hours if they respond as soon as they receive the message,” the communications tech responded.
Slone pressed the comlink implant, “Olivia, what is the readout on those ships that entered the system?”
“Captain, they read as two corvettes and one frigate, both must be very old since their engine signatures suggest old technology and they have not been well maintained, from the exhausts being given off. The corvettes
have the standard turrets, similar to the Mary Rose, but with cannons of course. Armament of the frigate cannot be determined since they have their gun ports closed, but the computer indicates they should have four cannons per side with one forward and one aft. Missiles are two per side and one forward and one aft. Mass is normal for the corvettes and the frigate has a mass between a destroyer and a cruiser. According to the computer that is the correct mass. None of the ships appear to be modified. There is some minor damage to each of them but no idea if it is battle damage or just poor maintenance.”
“Ok, keep monitoring them and let me know if anything changes.”
“Yes, captain.”
There was nothing more to do now but wait. By the time the return message came back, the unknown ships were three hours closer to the base. When the message came in, it was as follows: “We are not pirates. We live off the grid in Brandenburg Corporation space in a small, agricultural facility that sells its produce and meat to the Brandenburger home world. We do not claim any corporate affiliation and just like to be left alone to ply our trade. We have never been attacked. We have only these antique ships and they are in great need of maintenance and we have no ammunition for our weapons. Please help us.”
Slone looked at the Brandenburger citizens present, “Do you have small communities who live off the grid in your space?”
“Space is vast, as you well know Captain Slone. We do trade occasionally with some tramp freighters who come in from parts unknown. We never ask questions and just make the deal,” the Commandant replied.
“Then if they are correct, you should not care who they are, since your corporation does business with them. With your permission, I would like to take the Mary Rose to meet them and keep an eye on them.”
“If they are not what they claim, they could overwhelm your ship,” the Commandant pointed out.
“Come to the hangar and you will see why we are not concerned about that,” Slone said and the Romani returned to the Mary Rose. The colony personnel also followed as they entered the Mary Rose. Slone had told Captain Neumann to have his family ready to travel when they returned. As soon as the Slones were aboard they made their way up to the bridge with Slone’s son joining them.
Invasion Page 16
