by Tori Harris
Right. Just as we “helped” their damaged vessels? Freyda wondered.
“Commodore, I have Captain Ditanu Yagani of the battleship Baldev at our original Rally point,” the comm officer reported triumphantly.
“Nicely done, Lieutenant. I had every confidence that you would make it so,” he smiled. “On-screen, please.”
There was a momentary pause while a window opened on the bridge display screen to reveal Captain Yagani, a look of what might be described as surprised anguish on his face.
“Hello Captain. I am Commodore Naveen Sarafi aboard the Pelaran Resistance flagship Gunov. I regret not having the opportunity to speak with you before now and apologize in advance if I seem abrupt and direct. Our forces are under attack from the Terrans at the secondary rally point just as you appear to be at the first. I am unable to offer you any assistance at this time, but we will be departing for our attack on Terra momentarily. Is the Baldev still capable of hyperspace flight?”
“Commodore,” Yagani said, inclining his head respectfully. “No, unfortunately, we are unable to transition to hyperspace. We have taken heavy damage to our propulsion section, and many of our engineering and power generation spaces are unpressurized at the moment. All but one of our reactors jettisoned their containment units once our aft shields collapsed, so we have only minimal power available. Most of our engineering staff is missing and presumed killed, but the ones we have remaining tell me that we may lose power altogether. Captain Prescott of the Human vessel Theseus is offering to assist us, and I fear that I may have little choice but to accept.”
“I assume you have heard nothing from the other two Baldev-class battleships, Zhelov and Serapion?”
“I have not, although even their late arrival would be most welcome.”
“Alright, Captain Yagani, I need you to listen carefully to what I require of you, then I must depart for Terra with the remainder of our task force. Unfortunately, I believe we must assume that your ship will be under the control of the Humans by the time the Zhelov and Serapion arrive. Accordingly, I want you to launch a communications buoy that will relay the instructions I am about to transmit to your ship’s AI. Once the task force at the secondary Rally point transitions to hyperspace, the Terran ships here might well be sent to your location to assist the Theseus. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to risk the loss of any additional ships until we begin the attack on Terra itself.”
“So are saying that you intend to order the Zhelov and Serapion to depart for Terra as soon as they arrive without engaging enemy forces here?” Yagani asked evenly.
“I am afraid we have little choice at this point, Captain. The Baldev-class ships are twice as fast as the older Rusalovs we will be traveling with, so as long as they arrive within the next twenty-four hours, they should have little difficulty rendezvousing with the remainder of our forces at Terra in time to participate in our attack.”
“Understood,” Yagani replied with a scowl that clearly portrayed how he felt about the current situation.
In the already chaotic background noise aboard the Baldev, a new and urgent-sounding alarm sounded and immediately drew Captain Yagani’s attention to something not visible on Sarafi’s screen.
“I wish I could be of more assistance, Captain,” the commodore continued, “but perhaps the best thing I can do for you right now is let you get back to attending to your ship. Ah yes, one more thing before you go … what can you tell me of the BD cruiser Hadeon? She looks relatively undamaged, but I have been unable to contact Commander Miah.”
“The Hadeon has be … Com … at …” After a few additional seconds of sporadic, choppy video with no sound, the vidcon window on Gunov’s bridge display screen closed.
“The transmission was terminated at the source, sir,” the comm officer reported. “Shall I try establishing contact again?”
Sarafi thought about what he had just seen and heard, attempting to formulate some sort of logical explanation for how the Baldev and three other warships had been very nearly destroyed while the Hadeon — which was still in the immediate area — had suffered little if any damage. No scenario that came to mind seemed to fit the facts as he knew them at the moment, which was as frustrating as it was disturbing.
“Your thoughts, Commander Freyda?” he asked.
“Anything I might offer would be wild speculation at best, sir,” she replied, “and most likely wrong anyway. As you saw, however, Captain Yagani has his hands full trying to hold his ship together. Since we have nothing additional to offer him, I recommend we immediately depart for Terra before we come under renewed attack.”
“Contacts!” the tactical officer announced. “Eight of the Terran ships just transitioned back into the area, sir. It looks like they intend to remain in a single group this time.”
“Their range to the closest Rusalov?” Sarafi asked.
“Just over five hundred thousand kilometers.”
“Humph,” Sarafi grunted. “Perhaps they have learned to respect the Rusalovs’ main batteries. No missile launches detected?”
“No, sir. Stand by … all eight are launching fighters.”
“As you said, Commander Freyda, it is time we made our exit. Comm, please provide all warships with a thirty second transition warning and specifically remind the Rusalovs that the AI will need to disengage their supplemental shields before aligning them with our departure vector.”
“Aye, sir. Signaling now.”
Seconds later, with their twelve massive sublight engines now unencumbered by additional shielding, all six Rusalov battleships rotated smartly on their vertical axes and accelerated under maximum power at a rate that seemed to defy their tremendous size. Unable to resist the opportunity, each of the eight Terran warships immediately fired four anti-ship missiles in the direction of the nearest battleship. Just as the missiles tipped their noses over in the direction of their target and prepared to execute their C-Jump, however, the starfield around each of the Resistance ships blurred momentarily before the entire remaining task force disappeared in eight simultaneous flashes of gray light.
F-373 “Gamble 22,” Location Crossbow
(In hyperspace - 5.93x1011 km from Location Dagger)
“Outbound hyperspace transition signatures detected!” the fighter’s AI reported excitedly, causing its pilot to jump involuntarily.
“Wow, seriously? What was wrong with just saying ‘contacts’ like everyone else aboard every other ship since — forever?”
“That’s fine. But when I just say ‘contacts,’ I’m not providing you with any information about what I’m referring to. That forces you to say things like ‘clarify,’ or ‘classify,’ or else you get all nautical on me and say things like ‘where away?’”
“Alright, alright — I get it, whatever,” the pilot replied, quickly running through the series of tasks required for what he assumed would be an immediate departure. “It just seems a little weird to me that you would get so excited about it this time. We’ve been sitting here this whole time watching everything that’s been happening with Captain Abrams’ task force, so it’s not like it was a surprise or anything. You saw the Resistance ships transition just like I did.”
“True, but are you aware that this is the first time one of our ships has actually been able to actively gather data from hyperspace during a transition event? This could literally lead to our gaining a better understanding of —”
“Of how our own C-Drives work? Awesome. But as fascinating as that truly is, I’m pretty sure we’re about to get very busy again very quickly. Show me your ‘outbound hyperspace transition signatures,’ please.”
“Designated. You should see them now to port.”
“Yeah, I got ‘em,” the lieutenant replied, looking off to his left and noting the now-familiar grouping of red ovals pulsing urgently within his field of view. “Why are there no course indicator lines this time?”
“I’m still working on that. I should have initial departure vectors for you sh
ortly. When the ships first transition, it creates a fairly intense burst of the same particles we followed to find the secondary rally point. At first, it looks like nothing more than a bunch of noise, but that dies down pretty quickly. Once the smoke clears, so to speak, there’s a fairly distinct indication of the direction of flight.”
“Uh huh, well I don’t see any smoke, but we both know that’s going to be the first question we get asked, so —”
“Got it,” the AI interrupted as a series of red lines extended from the points of transition displayed within the lieutenant’s field of view. All eight lines pointed at a conspicuously bright yellowish-white star — the fourth brightest in the sky at this distance.
Although not surprised by this result, the pilot nevertheless experienced a sudden and unexpected feeling of anxiety at the thought of powerful enemy warships heading in the direction of everything and everyone he had ever known.
“Get me Admiral Patterson, please.”
Chapter 11
TFS Theseus, Location Dagger
(3.3 light years from Earth)
“I’m not entirely sure I follow what you’re telling me, Commander Takkar,” Prescott said, astonished by what he thought his new Wek ally was attempting to explain. “Captain Yagani is responding to your hails — while still ignoring mine — all while denying our offer to render assistance? It’s possible we’re losing something in the translation here, so please allow me to explain to you in simple, direct terms exactly what I want you to pass along to the good captain of the Baldev. Our offer to assist is not optional. It was presented as such as a matter of tradition and courtesy, but in fact, it’s really not an ‘offer’ so much as a demand. Furthermore, we extended this courtesy based on our previous understanding that Captain Yagani wished to surrender his vessel and avoid further loss of life. We respect, honor, and wholeheartedly agree with his decision to do so, but his surrender must be complete and unconditional.”
“My apologies, Captain Prescott,” Takkar replied, clearly uncomfortable with being placed in the role of mediator. “I will endeavor to make your position very clear to Captain Yagani when I speak with him again momentarily.”
“Thank you, Commander. While it truly is my intention to be as helpful as possible, this is still an active combat zone, and we obviously have other, urgent matters demanding our immediate attention. Based on what you have told me regarding the imminent arrival of two additional Resistance battleships, I hope that it is not his intention to simply delay until they arrive and then withdraw his offer to surrender. If that happens —”
“Yes, sir, I understand. Although I had not met Captain Yagani before today, I do not believe that is his intention. Other than preferring to communicate through me, he has been generally cooperative thus far. In fact, as strange as this sounds, he has asked me to inform you that he has been ordered by Commodore Sarafi, our task force commander, to launch a communications buoy.”
“Wait … ordered by your task force commander? You mean just now?”
It seemed to Takkar that every action he took and every word that came out of his mouth — regardless of the forethought involved or the intent in his heart — moved him inexorably closer to outright treason against his people. As he paused to consider how much detail he should offer, however, his mind continually returned to the same thought: Gracafürst trusts these Humans. Who am I to doubt his judgment? Intellectually, he knew that such rationalizations in no way relieved him of his own personal responsibilities. At the same time, however, he firmly believed himself to be doing the right thing — and with a moral clarity that he had not experienced for many months.
“Yes, Captain,” Takkar continued. “Sarafi’s flagship, the Gunov, apparently has access to a new type of long-range communications technology. I am sorry, but I have no additional details to offer, other than the fact that he was aware of what was taking place here and, in response, issued this order to Captain Yagani.”
“And what is to be the purpose of this communications buoy? Is it part of this new long-range system?”
“No, sir, not to my knowledge. These buoys are not particularly sophisticated and have been in use within the Sajeth Collective fleet for a hundred years or more. They are often prepositioned to transmit orders to ships that have been traveling in hyperspace for extended periods. In this case, the intent is to transmit revised orders to the two battleships I mentioned, the Zhelov and the Serapion. The buoys are far too small to generate the power required to communicate via our deep space network. Typically, they are programmed to detect the electronic signature of specific vessels in the immediate area, then establish an encrypted communications channel to deliver their message.”
“It’s interesting that Commodore Sarafi didn’t choose to utilize a buoy of this type when he moved the bulk of his task force to the second rally point,” Prescott remarked. “Did Captain Yagani have any idea what message is to be delivered to the two battleships?”
“Yes, sir, and I made precisely the same observation at the time. I suspect, however, that the commodore’s decision to leave four vessels behind at the original rally point was made for him well in advance,” Takkar said with a disgusted tone. “There was clearly no military advantage to be gained by doing so. Frankly, I suspect we were left there as a means of enticing any Terran vessels that came looking for their missing scout ships to attack.”
“He was using you as bait?” Reynolds asked, incredulous. “With no intention of sending reinforcements to assist you when we showed up? I’m thinking the Resistance movement might start having a little trouble with their recruiting efforts if word of that ever gets out.”
“Indeed,” he replied, the hint of a smile forming at the corners of his mouth for the first time. Takkar had to admit that he was beginning to understand some of what Admiral Naftur had seen in these Terrans. They were obviously determined, quick-thinking adversaries on the battlefield, but there was also an openness about them — a willingness to find humor even in the midst of a stressful situation — that he rather liked. “As to the actual encoded message,” he continued, “Captain Yagani was not provided access, but he was told that the two battleships were being ordered to avoid contact with enemy forces here and depart immediately for Terra.”
“Holy cow,” Reynolds remarked, shaking her head in disbelief, “this just keeps getting better and better. No wonder Yagani was willing to come clean about the comm buoy. It sounds like Commodore Sarafi totally hung you guys out to dry.”
For the next several seconds, Takkar furrowed his brow while struggling to make sense of his AI’s attempt at translating Commander Reynolds’ last remark. “I believe we have experienced a bit of a translation problem,” he finally said, chuckling to himself at the imagery brought to mind by the AI’s rather imaginative interpretation. “But yes, while not normally one to question his superiors’ orders, Captain Yagani is beginning to have his doubts about the legitimacy of the entire Resistance movement. Intentionally placing our military forces in a position where they are likely to be destroyed — almost certainly to advance a cynical political agenda — is a degree of corruption unlikely to be tolerated by Wek officers. This should be true regardless of the underlying cause or the motivation of those issuing such orders.”
“Commander Takkar, please excuse us for just a moment,” Prescott said, nodding to Lieutenant Dubashi at the Comm/Nav console. Although Takkar’s image remained in place on the view screen, symbols appeared indicating that the audio and video feeds from Theseus’ side had been temporarily suspended.
“What do you think?” Prescott asked.
“Well, I guess the obvious question at this point is — given that we have no way of knowing precisely what information Sarafi placed aboard the comm buoy — should we even allow it to be launched?” Reynolds said. “For all we know, he issued orders for the Zhelov and the Serapion to attack and destroy our forces before they set off for Earth.”
“That was my first thought as well,” Pr
escott replied. “But my gut tells me we should allow Yagani to press on with the launch. Even if the battleships receive orders to attack us, we’re really in no worse shape than we would have been otherwise. Besides, they may attack even if we don’t allow them to get the message. In fact, if the situation were reversed, I’m pretty confident that’s exactly what we would do — although figuring out precisely what had been taking place immediately before our arrival might have posed a challenge. The truth of the matter is that we would be heavily outgunned in a battle against two of the Baldev’s sister ships. So if Sarafi really is sending them on their way without a confrontation, that might be the best possible scenario for us at this point.”
“That assumes, of course, that Admiral Patterson doesn’t order us to hold them here at all costs.”
“I guess we’ll have an answer to that question shortly, but I don’t think he will ask us to hold the line here unless he can reinforce us. If he does end up with additional ships he can send our way, however, I’m sure he would prefer that we attempt to prevent those two Baldevs from ever reaching Earth. I took a quick look at what’s been taking place at the other rally point and, although it looks like the combat is over for now, they took some pretty heavy losses. If we’re going to get reinforcements at this point, that’s where they will have to come from, and I really don’t see that happening in the near term. Is there anything else you need to say in confidence before we bring Takkar back in?”
“No, sir, but if you think he’s trustworthy, I like the idea of his babysitting Captain Yagani and the Baldev while we finish recovering our damaged fighters and find out what Admiral Patterson expects us to do next.”
“Right, well — as to his being trustworthy — I have absolutely no idea. But I also don’t see where he had anything to gain by siding with us against the Baldev other than a desire to follow Admiral Naftur. Tell me if you think I’m missing something, but at the moment I’m inclined to proceed under the assumption that we can take him at his word. I don’t believe Commander Takkar and the Hadeon have the option of rejoining the Resistance at this point, even if they wanted to, so I think it’s unlikely he will suddenly attempt to side with the Zhelov and the Serapion when they arrive. The Baldev, on the other hand … although she isn’t much of a threat at this point, I honestly have no idea what we should do with her.”
