by Selby, Caleb
“Couldn’t agree more,” said Kebbs as the two men quickened their pace in an attempt to avert a global travesty.
13. Tarkin has the Bridge
“This is Kesler,” the voice sounded on Fedrin’s link. “I just got a report from engineering confirming that the secondary power relay grid is up and running. All primary systems have checked out and we are ready to make full speed again.”
“What was the total setback?” Fedrin asked, almost not wanting to know.
“We lost a little over two hours,” answered Kesler and then cringed, realizing it was not what Fedrin wanted to hear.
Fedrin shook his head. The plan that had taken so many hours to perfect and that involved his wife’s ultimate sacrifice, had been abruptly spoiled by Mick’s misguided treachery. They were now hopelessly behind the optimal schedule that would have been necessary for a victory in Sibid. Now all that was left for them to do was try and clean up the pieces afterwards.
“Thank you Lieutenant,” Fedrin finally said. “Would you also extend my appreciation to the mechanics that installed the grid. I know a job like that usually takes a day or more. Two hours is quite remarkable.”
“I’ll pass it along,” replied Kesler.
“And I hate to ask it, but if we can squeeze any extra thrust from the primary engine core, please see that it’s done,” Fedrin asked wearily. “We have a lot of distance to cover and not a lot of time.”
“I’ll see what can be done,” Kesler answered, knowing full well that the engines were already running well beyond their operating limits and that the chief engineer would never allow another increase.
“Are you sure about the Corinthia Kesler?” Fedrin asked. “By rights, she should be yours now. You are next in line for a commission based on ranked seniority.”
“I’m happy to stay here if that’s where you need me most,” Kesler said honestly, but wishing that Fedrin needed him most in the command chair aboard Mick’s vacated cruiser.
“I really appreciate that,” said Fedrin. “I know what having your own command would mean to you, but I would be at a loss without you as my executive officer. You run this ship with extreme proficiency and I would hate to lose you, especially now.”
Tarkin looked over and smiled at Kesler and offered six, enthusiastic thumbs-up in response to the Admiral's glowing remarks.
Kesler nodded less enthused. “My pleasure, Sir.”
“And as far as the Corinthia herself is concerned, I assume Tenith has already taking command then?”
“Aye, Sir,” answered Kesler, cringing at the thought of Tenith having a command before he did. “Commander Tenith arrived aboard the Corinthia half an hour ago with a new command crew hand picked by Commander Drezden per your orders.”
“And Mick’s old command crew?”
“The six leading officers actively involved in the conspiracy have been placed in the security brig aboard the Hornell. The rest of the unwitting officers were demoted as you ordered.”
“Fools,” Fedrin said under his breath.
“Sir?”
“Nothing Lieutenant,” Fedrin answered. “Thanks for the updates. I should be up there later tonight to see how things are going.”
“Actually my shift ends in a few minutes but I’ll be happy to come back whenever you come though,” Kesler answered. “Just drop me a quick link to let me know when you’re planning on being here.”
“No, no, no,” Fedrin said, well aware that Kesler had been assigned more than his fair share of active duty hours over the past several days. “You take your rest. You’ve earned it. I’m sure we’ll manage to find a way of getting along without you and Tenith for a little while.”
“I was actually planning on asking Tarkin to cover the shift, if that’s ok with you. The trip from here to the Guardian warp-point is a cake run...a perfect place for him to get a feel for things.”
Tarkin perked up and looked at Kesler with such gratitude and humility that he looked silly. Acting officer of the watch, if even for a few hours, was an honor he hadn’t dared to hope for anytime soon.
“You really think he’s ready?” Fedrin asked skeptically. “You’ve only been teaching him the systems for a few days.”
Tarkin’s demeanor dropped.
Kesler looked at Tarkin and smiled. “Honestly Admiral, there’s not much more I can teach him. He knows his way around these controls like he has been doing this all of his life.”
“Your good opinion is not easily earned,” Fedrin said. “If you really feel he’s ready for this, I have no problem with it. Just make sure he knows what to do if there are any issues.”
“Jonas and Gallo are both on tonight,” Kesler reassured. “They can help him if needed.”
“Sounds fine then,” Fedrin said. “Have a good night.”
“You too Admiral,” Kesler said and signed off.
Tarkin immediately walked over to Kesler’s post and stood at attention. Kesler looked up and was about to speak but was stopped short when three pairs of strong Branci arms lurched forward and embraced him tightly.
***
He was lost in thought, trying to figure out what he should do when Reesa entered the doorway to his office. She was wearing a black skirt and light blue blouse, both of which complimented her figure (not that it needed complimenting).
“Knock, knock,” she said with a flashy smile as she walked into the room holding a fresh pot of lor in one hand and a small platter of pastries and cookies in the other. Darion tried to smile as she filled his mug.
“It’s been awhile since you topped off your lor so I thought I’d make sure you were all set in here.”
“Thanks,” Darion said, as the soothing smell of the fresh lor wafted up from the mug and momentarily calmed his mind.
“And these were sent up by the Kumper Mining Firm to welcome you to the building,” she said, as she set the plate down. “I think they are on the twelfth floor or something.”
“Please thank them for us,” he said and sampled one of the cookies, more to be polite than anything.
“Already did,” Reesa said with a smile.
“Thanks,” Darion said and then looked down at his data pad.
“Everything alright?” Reesa asked, noticing the distracted countenance of the General.
Darion shrugged. “Not really sure.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
“Not really,” he answered with a sigh. “Just some issues going on with the arctic deployment that I need to figure out.”
Reesa shrugged and then started to walk toward the door. Suddenly she stopped and turned back to Darion, offering a timid smile. “I’m not sure how appropriate this is Darion, but I was thinking that maybe we could do dinner somewhere? Since I’m not actually military, I thought maybe it would be ok?”
Darion smiled, his multitude of worries momentarily forgotten. “I knew you’d come around sooner or later. I must admit though, I didn’t think it would be sooner. But sometimes even I underestimate the effects of my own charm.”
“So downstairs in the lobby in two hours then?” she asked, not commenting on Darion’s self-absorbed comments.
“Two hours in the lobby,” repeated Darion with a contented smile on his face that made him look rather silly.
“Sounds good,” said Reesa with a soft smile and then turned to walk out of the room, well aware that Darion’s eyes were following her.
Darion’s mind was momentarily taken off of his weightier issues with thoughts of Reesa’s beauty gladly taking the place of invasions and conspiracies. The distraction didn’t last. A beep on Darion’s desk transmitter sounded. He glanced at the sender ID tag and then swallowed hard. It was from Trivis’ office. Darion reluctantly activated the transmission, hoping it was Trivis and not his assistant Armid. He sat back in his chair and waited for the screen to show who the sender was.
“General!” Armid said loudly with a big smile. “How are you my friend?”
“Well...”
<
br /> “That’s great! Listen, I can’t talk long. I just wanted to give you a heads up that there’s some misinformation floating around about the missile defense system being offline and some other weird stuff. I just wanted you to know directly from me on behalf of the Senator, that it’s simply not true!”
“Really?” Darion said, sitting up and trying to act surprised. “This is the first I’m hearing of this.”
Armid nodded thoughtfully and then rolled his eyes. “It’s been quite a hassle getting ahold of this story. We’re still trying to find who has been starting the rumors but it’s proving more formidable then we thought.”
“So no truth at all to the rumors then?” Darion implored.
Armid reluctantly shook his head and then lowered his voice as if he were sharing a deep, dark secret. “Truth be told, there was a scheduled system core check the other day that took the system offline an hour or so longer than originally planned. Other than that, everything is and has been fine. So unless folks are taking that extra hour delay and letting rumors run rampant, we really don’t know where this info is coming from. In any case, we wanted you to know everything is ok and to once again thank you for your cooperation with the arctic deployment.”
“My pleasure,” said Darion aloud but hearing Kebbs’ passionate warning sound out in his head.
“Hey listen, I need to run,” Armid said. “Trivis has a whole list of people I need to contact for more damage control. But if you do hear anything about this, let me know as soon as possible. We want to stop these rumors in their tracks. With no ships overhead, the last thing we need is everyone here getting all hysterical that we have no defenses.”
Hearing the phrase ‘no defenses’ caused a chill to run up Darion’s spine. “We wouldn’t want that.”
“Have a good night General. We’ll be seeing you!”
“Night,” Darion said and then fell back in his chair and covered his face. Why did everything have to be so unbearably complicated?
***
Admiral Sherman looked dismally at Fedrin and then to Admiral Nidrid. He shook his head. “I understand that we’re all in a tough spot right now, but you must know we had no choice. My ships were running on fumes when I ordered the pull back last night.”
“But if the Clear Skies system is targeting our own vessels, you won’t get within deep orbit before they take you down,” remarked Nidrid.
Sherman raised his hands in a sign of helplessness. “Don’t you think I know that? I’m telling you, I have no choice! If we run out of fuel down here, we’re as good as dead anyhow!”
Nidrid shook his head, knowing Sherman was right. “Do you think you could make it to Asar IV?” he asked as his mind rapidly sought for alternatives to walking straight into the jaws of death. “Half my ships topped off there two days ago without any problems.”
Sherman shook his head. “We’ve already expended our reserves Nidrid. Getting to Namuh Prime is already a stretch. Asar is just too far away.”
Nidrid shrugged. “What if we shuttled fuel down to you? One of the Asar Corp tankers just finished a run to the outer colonies. We could commandeer it and escort her down to you?”
“One tanker wouldn’t be enough to fill us up,” Sherman commented. “Not by a long shot.”
“But it would give you enough to hit a different supply station on your own steam,” Nidrid countered.
Sherman slowly nodded. “True. It is better then nothing I suppose and it beats getting shot down by Clear Skies. What do you think Fedrin?”
Fedrin looked apprehensive. “With your fleet off the Zelin warp-point the Krohns are now free to cross over into our territory. Your ships are no good to us without fuel but I hate surrendering territory to the Krohns that we have fought so hard for so many years.”
Sherman nodded regrettably, himself burdened with a feeling of defeat.
“Did you leave EM decoy beacons behind?” Nidrid asked.
“We did,” answered Sherman. “But I’m not sure how much good it will do. The Krohns challenge the warp-point daily. Once they realize we aren’t there, they’ll come across full force.”
“Is there any danger of them overtaking you?” asked Nidrid.
Sherman shifted his weight before answering. “There is a very real chance that they could jump through and catch up with us. Their ships are faster than ours after all.”
Fedrin looked uneasy.
“Reckon it wouldn’t do much even if they stayed,” Nidrid said grimly. “If The Second fleet can blink out of existence without firing a shot, I’d say the Third wouldn’t stand much of a chance either.”
“Speaking of the Second,” Sherman spoke up. “Are you sure you want to bring your fleet that way Fedrin? You’ll be flying right past where they all went down. How do you know you won’t have the same thing happen to you?”
Fedrin shrugged. “I don’t deny that it’s crossed my mind. But the way I see it, we really don’t have any other options. We need to set foot on Namuh Prime in order to set things in order, and we can’t do that until we fix Clear Skies.”
“And this Professor Jabel guy seems legitimate?” Sherman asked skeptically. “Sounds kind of sketchy if you ask me.”
“Yeah, how do you know that this isn’t just another elaborate setup to kill you and finish off the Sixth Fleet?” asked Nidrid.
“The simple truth is, I don’t know for sure,” Fedrin said. “But from what I could tell, Jabel seems like the real deal. Everything he has said has checked out. So unless you gentlemen have another idea, I see no choice but to head to Voigt as fast as we can.”
“Nothing here,” Nidrid said shrugging.
Sherman shook his head.
Fedrin nodded. “Then we’ll continue with my plan then.”
“And you just want us to hang tight in the meantime?” Nidrid asked.
Fedrin nodded. “After the Third has refueled and restocked with supplies, just stay ready and out of sight. My ships should be heading back this way in about a week. After you receive the signal from us giving the all clear, we’ll converge on Namuh Prime and sort out the mess together.”
“Think there’ll be fighting?” asked Sherman.
Fedrin nodded. “These creatures have entrenched themselves in our ranks. They want something from us...something badly. They aren’t going to just roll over and give up when we get back.”
“It could get real messy,” Nidrid said solemnly. “Lots of people could die.”
Sherman nodded in agreement.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Fedrin remarked seemingly indifferent although he too had been tormented by the thoughts of the civilian lives in peril. “Now take care of yourselves and your ships,” added Fedrin. “Once we cross into the Guardian System, we won’t be able to communicate for fear of the transmission streams being monitored on the relay grid. So just stay safe and alive. Ok?”
Both admirals nodded and then terminated their respective transmissions.
Fedrin was just going to grab his data pad when a chime sounded on his wrist. “This is Fedrin,” he said as he sat back in his chair.
“We’re coming up on the warp-point,” Tarkin’s voice sounded out. “Less then an hour to go.”
Fedrin glanced at the clock on his wall, keeping a mental countdown of his wife’s encounter with the Krohn fleet. “And how’s the fleet fairing?”
“All scanners and monitors are showing normal readings except on the Hornell,” Tarkin answered.
“Oh?”
“Lieutenant Catrin reported elevated engine thermal readings about two hours ago. She said it’s due to the coolant systems being overworked, undoubtedly due to our high and relentless speed.”
Fedrin had been waiting for this, but he had hoped it could be postponed until after the fleet had warped into the Guardian System. “Can she hold out for the jump?” Fedrin asked.
“Not really my area of expertise,” Tarkin answered. “I’ve sent a message to Commander Kendrick asking him
his opinion but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”
Fedrin shook his head. “Even if Kendrick says no, I don’t see how we have much of a choice here. We need the Hornell with us. She’s our backbone. We’re nothing without her and her fighters.”
“I’ll keep a close eye on her status window and inform you at once if anything changes,” said Tarkin in a capable and assuring tone.
“Very good Tarkin,” Fedrin said. “Thank you.”
Tarkin signed off with Fedrin and then brought up the Hornell monitoring window and sat back in the command chair. He glanced about the Iovara Bridge and made sure all was as it should be. Navigation was calm. Tactical was quiet. Engineering was busy but under control. Communications seemed to be running smoothly. Everything was perfect. As he finished looking at the various stations he caught a glimpse of himself in a reflection on a nearby instrument panel. He paused and looked at himself, intrigued with the sight. He, Tarkin, a Branci, was sitting in the command chair of the flagship of the entire Namuh Protective Federation Navy. He smiled.
“This is for you Nebod,” he said quietly as the mighty vessel sped full ahead into the night.
14. The Larep Crown
“What should we drink to?” Reesa asked with a gleaming smile as their waiter placed tall glasses of sparkling cava in front of them.
Darion reached for his glass, glanced up at Reesa and smiled. “To the future?” he said and raised his glass.
“To the future,” said Reesa. “May it be a hundred times better than the present,” she finished and brought the glass to her lips.
The Larep Crown was situated atop of the Asar Enterprises Building in the affluent western edge of the city. It was distinguished as the most luxurious restaurant in the entire Federation, edging out even the renowned Empress on the primary dome on the Asar II colony, and rightly so.
The Crown’s rounded, reinforced glass walls facilitated a grand view overlooking the finer parts of the sprawling metropolis as well as the legendary Tharah River winding through the city. The once proud and mighty river that had, in days passed, been the life vein for a fledging community of settlers, now looked small and insignificant, besieged by the mammoth buildings and industry that she had spawned. Yet she was still beautiful and in the moonlight of that evening, she was nearly enchanting.
