When Harmon’s Troopers completed the rescues, the Destroyer, Jumped again. As before, Captain Molchaoff demanded the Pirate’s surrender. This time, after a short delay, escape pods shot from the vessel as the Pirates abandoned ship. The delay was longer than earlier.
The Troopers retrieved the Pirates. With the Pirates in custody, Troopers searched and interrogated them. Dimitri wanted evidence of booby traps or anything else that presented a threat to the prize crew he wanted to place on the ship. By the time the Pirate ship was underway back to Cambridge, Dimitri had concluded his people needed to rest.
Next morning, Captain Molchaoff found his Sensor Techs had lost the fourth Pirate during the night. Dimitri simmered with anger over the setback. He was too good a Captain to abuse his staff. Dave and Keg had detected the problem on the ship’s Bridge. The Scan Techs messed with the settings when they shouldn’t. Dave and Keg had maintained a fix on the last Pirate.
Colin considered his options before deciding to suggest the Scan Techs ‘discover’ the Pirate again. Soon after, the Scan-Displays on the Bridge found the Pirate again. Dimitri suspected what happened but kept a straight face. Instead, he ordered Navigation to plot a Jump to the Pirate’s current location.
Once more, FNS Harmony Jumped to the Pirate’s position. This time, Captain Molchaoff’s message barely started when the Pirates abandoned ship. The Troopers retrieved the ship’s crew, searched and interrogated them. Dimitri found another prize crew and shuttled them over to the Pirate ship. Dimitri called Colin to invite him back to the Captain’s Ready-Room.
When Colin arrived, Dimitri said, “I consider FNS Harmon operational Commodore. We’re heading back to Cambridge Station now.”
“Yes, Captain Molchaoff, this ship is operational. She performed like a star.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
VENGEANCE SWORN
Brondar
Brondar was a Kislaran colony, populated by the delanot. The delanot is a mammalian, humanoid species with a fine fur covering their bodies from head to toe. A delanot’s head has mobile, pointy ears, and a muzzle resulting in a vaguely feline appearance. The eyes are round and vary in color between individuals.
A new colony, Brondar’s population was seven thousand. They worked hard to establish a new world for Kislara. Most colonists on Brondar were farmers. The rest comprised the minimum support professions a colony needed, like doctors, mechanics, and merchants. Food production supplied Brondar’s primary source of income. As the colony grew, it would diversify.
The weather was glorious. A bright blue sky studded with fluffy clouds arched overhead, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves in the trees surrounding the settlement. Cheval Phasal stared at the Sensor displays. Eight unidentified ships made their slow way from one of the three Jump-Points in this System toward his world. The colony had two days before they arrived. The incoming ships didn’t display an identification signal or respond to hails.
Kislara sent patrolling warships to the System at unpredictable intervals. Cheval concluded friendly ships wouldn’t come from that direction. His heart sank, the colony had no way to defend itself. People might hide, but Brondar was new. Even outdated Sensors could locate people from orbit.
If people from the ships attacked, the colonists would fight and die, but they had few options. Cheval called the colony’s Administrator, Dala Khalar, to give him the news. Khalar arrived at the Security Building minutes later.
Dala cared for the population and wanted to deny the evidence. If the incoming ships proved hostile, he didn’t know how to protect his people. Dala’s partner and three younglings lived here on Brondar. He didn’t know how to protect even them.
Khalar asked, “Is there any chance these ships are friendly?”
Cheval replied, “A chance, yes, but given where they’re coming from, it’s unlikely. Perhaps they’ll just come in and rob us blind.”
“Can we protect our people?”
“Not much. Ask our people to scatter and hide. It depends on how much our guests want the people. Sensors on those ships can see anyone on the ground. The only hope is for someone to find a deep cave or stays in water under trees.”
“It’s that bad. We must hope the visitors are friendly, or only want to take our food and the little equipment we’ve accumulated. Should I warn people to scatter and hide?”
“I see no other choice Administrator. They should take as much food and water as they can carry. We’ll explain where to hide, with luck some will survive. I’ll mobilize our security staff to lead small groups into the countryside. We have excellent woodsmen among our population, they can lead others. It’s important to scatter our people as far and wide as we can manage.”
“We’ll coordinate the effort then. Call your team in, and anyone else with the skills. If we reduce group sizes, they might take what they find and leave.”
“Yes, Sir. This is our best choice.”
Hathan
On board the Pirate ship Hathan, the commander, Sita Shaak watched his displays as his small Fleet entered orbit around Brondar. The defeat at Cambridge had decimated Pirate ranks. Since then, the Alliance struggled to survive. It took Sita too much time to convince the Captains of the other eight ships in his Fleet to join this venture.
They only agreed after he promised to avoid well-defended places hence this attack on a small third-rate colony. The Alliance stayed away from humans now. They were too deadly with Colin Gordon in the mix. That one man had survived several assassination attempts and defeated everyone he met in battle.
The Peschal Alliance needed time to rebuild its strength and wealth before they took on the humans. The raid on this colony was an early step in achieving that goal. This would help replenish the Alliances stocks of food and slaves.
Sita thought, ‘The settlement looks quiet.’
He said, “Send our demands. Let’s see what they will give us to leave them alone.”
The Pirates demanded the colony’s food, machine tools, electronics, weapons, and slaves. After transmitting their demands, the Pirates settled to wait for the reply. They didn’t expect much, and even if the colonists gave them everything, they would still destroy the settlement and take whoever they caught.
Five minutes later, a signal arrived from the colony saying, “We only have our harvest. There are no weapons or machine tools.”
Sita stared at the Comms unit for a moment before asking in a quiet voice, “Do we know the signal’s origin?”
The second in command, Tooral Bidah said, “Yes we do Sita. What are your wishes?”
“Kinetic rounds only, destroy the source of the signal, launch our soldiers and find the people. Capture as many as you can. If we can’t take food and weapons, slaves will do. If they resist, kill them. Load everything you can find in that accursed colony and send it back to our ships.”
“Yes Sita, shall I go as well?”
“Go, Tooral. Keep the troops focused. I have no wish to allow the Federation Navy to find us here because they don’t load our ships fast enough.”
“As you wish.”
Bidah left the Bridge to catch the next Shuttle to the surface.
Cheval watched from his concealed position, two kilometres from the transmitter installation. He’d scavenged cable from the settlement and used it to connect, to the transmitter from his remote location. In Cheval’s opinion, two kilometres wasn’t far enough.
Something, several somethings, streaked from the sky striking the transmitter and surrounding areas. The energy dissipated from the impacts was tremendous, vaporizing the transmitter building and destroying the surrounding structures. The ground heaved under the impacts bouncing Cheval around in his hole and causing the sides to collapse around him. Most structures in the settlement suffered damage.
After the KEWs finished raining from the sky, an eerie silence settled over the area for the next twenty minutes. Shuttles arrived disgorging Pirates to search for slaves and plunder. A few of the colonists didn’t evacuate when
ordered, choosing to hide in their cellars. The invading Pirates soon found them, hauling them from their holes then restraining them ready for transport to orbit. If a colonist showed any sign of resistance, they died. The Pirates left the bodies to rot.
Pirate soldiers soon found the stores where the colony kept the harvest and other materials. They divided into gangs to load everything onto the Shuttles. The effort took two days, then the troops fanned out into the countryside searching for the colonists hiding there.
The ships in orbit used instruments to find the hapless people on the ground. If they were too far for the troops to reach, a ship dropped KEWs on their heads, killing them. The Pirates captured others, including Dala Khalar and his family. Pirates found Cheval in his hole and dragged him out. When he tried to fight they murdered him, laughing as they cut him to ribbons with long knives.
Brondar System
Deason’s Pride exited Jump and coasted toward Brondar. This was a milk run, so Captain Sifras didn’t expect trouble.
Deason Sifras is a careful Captain, so he always checked his ship’s Sensors with great care when he entered a Star System. This wouldn’t help if Pirates sat on top of the Jump-Point, but if they weren’t, it gave him time to escape.
This time, Deason’s diligence saved his ship. As the Scanning computer populated the Sensor displays with everything the ship saw in Brondar System, he realized too many ships orbited the world. Sifras had seen the occasional ship on earlier visits here, but this place was too far out of the way to have eight ships present.
Alarm bells rang in his head as he considered the options. Continuing along the current course wasn’t a choice. Geometry prevented moving further into the System to slingshot around a planet. Sifras turned his ship around and brake hard then run back to the Jump-Point and safety. Sifras gave the orders, and his ship began its ponderous turn.
In space, a ship could turn 180 degrees while maintaining the original heading. The size of Deason’s Pride meant she took half an hour to complete her turn. With his ship pointing back toward the Jump-Point, Captain Sifras ordered the primary thrusters to full power. This was an expensive way to escape, but Sifras reasoned capture by Pirates worse than spending the credits.
Onboard Hathan, the Sensor Tech said, “Captain Shaak, we have a Freighter inbound. He’s seen us and is trying to escape.”
Sita Shaak said, “Define, trying to escape.”
“He’s pointed his Primaries toward us, and they’re on full power.”
Shaak cursed. If the Freighter escaped, they’d have to cut short the time allowed for stripping the colony.
Sita said, “Get Frano and Belas on Comms for me. They’re the fastest ships we have. They can handle a Freighter.”
Soon Frano and Belas broke orbit and booted out of the gravity well toward Deason’s Pride. On the Freighter, Deason Sifras noted ships leaving orbit. From this distance, he didn’t know how many yet, just that someone pursued him. Deason’s Pride slowed with each passing hour until she came to a stop. With the entire ship vibrating from the power of the primary drives, she moved toward the Jump-Point, she was a third of the way to Brondar.
At first, the ship moved too slow for Captain Sifras, but he couldn’t change the laws of physics. Their pursuers had a higher acceleration than his Freighter but remained far behind him.
Deason sat in his command chair watching the instruments. The off-duty crew came to the Bridge to ask about their progress. The Pirates continued to close the distance. Sifras realized they might fire at Deason’s Pride before she entered Jump.
Deason’s Pride had ten minutes till she Jumped when a signal came from the Pirates demanding the Freighter stop for Customs inspection. Sifras weighed his options while the Freighter continued toward the Jump-Point. The ship’s forward velocity was just above the minimum for a successful Jump. Sifras preferred the middle of the band. He ignored the demand. Deason’s Pride gained nothing with a reply.
The Freighter had committed to passing through the Jump-Point by then, so she continued. Sifras ordered his crew into vacuum suits. If they suffered a Hull puncture, the suits gave them time to repair or at least isolate it.
The first Laser shot hit Deason’s Pride near an engine nacelle three minutes before they reached the Jump-Point. That first Laser hit singed the paint. Two minutes later, just as Sifras shut down the primary drives to prepare for Jump, four rail-gun rounds struck the rear of Deason’s Pride. These caused more severe damage than earlier. These rounds tore one engine from its mounting, venting the engineering compartment to space. One engineering rating died, and another suffered injuries, but before Sifras knew what happened, Deason’s Pride entered Jump and safety.
Kislara
Kislara’s Government comprises a hereditary monarchy coupled with the Assembly of Advisers. Colleges of electors appoint members of the Assembly for a term of five years. The general population elects the colleges of electors. These same colleges can under certain circumstances, recall an Assemblyman. The reigning Monarch holds the ultimate power within the Kislaran constitution. This system is quite stable and, results in a benevolent Government.
At the same time as the attack on Brondar, Kislara’s Assembly of Advisers descended into turmoil over the latest budget. Opposition groups considered the military expenditures excessive and were vocal with their opinions. The Queen hadn’t interfered yet, preferring to let the Assembly resolve their differences if possible.
The opposition said, “The Pirates are far from here, why waste money on a military we don’t need,” or, “Why not negotiate peace with them?”
This was dross, but few people understood. Pirates don’t negotiate, they take whatever they want. The Federation and Kislara needed an active military to stop them. A few people become wedded to an idea and no matter what experience or evidence says, they hang onto it, no matter what.
The debates degenerated as elements of delanot society clashed with others who disagreed with their ideas. These conflicts became more heated as time passed. The Kislarans weren’t aware of the attack on Brondar then. The news, when it came shattered peoples cozy little ideas and proved a vindication for others.
Kislara’s Naval defenders watched events unfold with increasing concern. Their world simmered, only needing a spark to set it alight. The spark that ignited the violence were protests by opposing groups who met in the streets and clashed.
Within a day, police on the ground lost control of the streets. Looters came out in force, smashing doors on shops to gain access to the goods inside the buildings. After another day of lawlessness and violence, the Government begged the Navy for help.
Deason’s Pride barrelled into Kislara’s System screaming for help, just after the planet erupted. System Command sent four warships to intercept the Freighter, inspect her for damage, and offer support if needed. Fifteen capital ships and a smattering of smaller vessels remaining near the planet held personnel from which to draw staff. The need to keep adequate manning on the vessels to run them if needed complicated the problem further.
Command solved the problem by taking most of the Troopers from the ships and a few Navy personnel from the ground and orbital installations. These augmented the security services on the surface. Even the reinforcements, needed a week to restore order, and the destruction was extensive. The riots injured thousands of innocent civilians, and a few died. Most dead and wounded were unlucky, caught in the wrong place.
The hospitals overflowed, doctors and other medical staff became overworked, and the prisons filled. Police arrested several Assemblymen, members from both sides of the governing body. The police accused these Assemblymen of inciting violence with their inflammatory comments. Although the delanot people worshipped the Royal family, even the Queen couldn’t bring peace when the riots began. No one would listen.
After the rioting and looting subsided, an uneasy quiet descended over the planet. The authorities had arrested the main instigators of the violence and continued searching for
more. Police detained looters and rioters too, but Queen Taveli wanted the instigators. That was where she focused her attention because she intended making an example of these troublemakers.
For the Royal Family, this episode smelled of an attempt to overthrow Kislara’s Government by violent means. They judged these actions as treason which carries the death penalty on Kislara. Police charged the instigators with treason and courts remanded them in custody until their trials. Rioters and looters faced the ordinary criminal law so for most, they could expect a fine or in extreme cases, a jail term.
The police were meticulous gathering evidence against those charged with treason. They found recordings of inflammatory speeches, searched offices and homes and interviewed friends and acquaintances. Over time, the police pieced together a terrifying picture of a few, ambitious people losing sight of why they held their positions.
For many, the change was uncomfortable. The direction the Federation had taken in recent years concerned many people. A few believed the Federation was heading for a war nobody wanted. No sane person wants war, but it only takes one side to start one. It takes both sides to end a war unless one conquers the other.
With the problems on Kislara under control, Queen Taveli turned her attention to Deason’s Pride. She read through the reports and considered her options. Events on Brondar came at the worst time for Kislara. Although the recent problems were under control, the calm didn’t fool Taveli. Emotions still ran high, and she wondered which way her people would jump when news of Brondar leaked.
The Queen believed in a healthy debate but not when it escalated into violence in the streets. The indisputable choice was to send a Fleet to Brondar and give whatever aid possible, but how many ships could they afford? After discussing the issue with a few of her remaining Advisers, Queen Taveli summoned Admiral Kashir Zhavan and Deason’s Pride’s Captain Deason Sifras. She wanted their opinions.
Star Strike: Book 3 of the Star Man Series Page 24
