"The Battle Singers have returned," Falla Shum whispered.
"The what?" Luke asked trying to understand what he was seeing and how it was being done.
"The ancient Battle Singers," Falla Shum said. "They were not destroyed by the Tal in the Great War."
"You've mentioned them before," Luke said. "Explain."
"Many hundreds of thousands of years ago the Pral fought with the Saln, also called the Battle Singers, they used weapons like this to cause terror, to destroy their enemies will to fight."
"How did anyone survive?" Pavlis asked.
"Many did not," Shum said. "But many did. Like the Tal, the Battle Singers did not use such genocidal weapons lightly. They are not cold heartless killers, they do not enjoy death. They use such weapons to cause fear and to force their enemy to fight harder or to join them."
"Join them?" Luke asked.
Shum nodded. "They believe they are still evolving, they will not allow the weak or cowardly to join them. To join them, you must fight them and prove your worth and then they may accept you if you have fought well enough."
Everyone stared at the screen, watching the planet and the people that lived there die. An InnerBuddy display showed Luke the population of the planet named Pririe was ninety-eight million, about half of them were Bronkaw, with a large population of Brazat, and Dren.
"All Conglomerate ships are being called to Krisali to destroy the planet killer," Halsey said.
"What do we have on Conglomerate forces here, in Krisali and Hatnschen?" Luke asked.
Halsey accessed the data the Tigress had cached from the Conglomerate military datanet.
"There are ten patrol cruisers here in Bronkaw Prime, sixteen in Krisali and four in Hatnschen since it is a dead-end system with only one wormhole," Halsey said. "Forces in Krisali appear to be facing a battleship group of three battleships, about six destroyers and four cruisers guarding a slow-moving ship, maybe ten kilometers long and four kilometers wide. None of these ships are identifiable by the Conglomerate. Conglomerate forces call that ship a planet killer and that is their target.
"I'm also detecting a Bronkaw response," Halsey said. "All available Bronkaw warships are accelerating for the Krisali gate, including our escort. I don't know what their intent is. They may cluster at the wormhole or make transition."
"It would take us six days to get to that wormhole," Brita said. "It is almost on the other side of the system."
"I want the fighters first," Luke said. "Maximum speed to the Nalee shipyards. I want to know what the Bronkaw have and what they can throw at that planet killer. I don't like the timing, especially with the Bronkaw fleets off who knows where."
An overview of the Bronkaw prime showed Luke's fleet would be going close to the Mari wormhole and Luke wondered if the forces in Mari would be notified so they could join the assault, or at least reinforce the Bronkaw here. They had an FTL communication relay and had hopefully been notified.
"Who is the Conglomerate senior officer?" Luke asked Falla Shum.
"That would be Tal Bris," Falla Shum said.
"Contact him and see if we can offer our help. Let him know what we have and ask where we could do the most good."
"Aye, aye Commander," Falla Shum said and tried to contact the Tal.
"Brita," Luke said. "I want a work up on likely Conglomerate and Bronkaw responses. See if they are coordinating and at what level. Jeremy and Amanda will help you."
"Aye, aye, Commander," Brita said leaning back and bringing up displays.
"Lieutenant Commander Ferraro and Commander Pavlis," Luke said turning to them. "I need a workup from you on Conglomerate and Bronkaw ship strengths. See if you can figure out if they have time and resources to pull reinforcements from nearby systems. Get your data to Brita and me, estimates now, details later."
"Commodore Morals," Luke said looking at the little intelligence officer. "I would like you to get me a list of who is who in the chains of command for the Bronkaw and Conglomerate. See if you can get me a personality analysis. Are they aggressive, cautious, cowardly, a brainless political appointee, etc."
"Aye, aye Commander," Morals said and turned to access his screens.
Luke opened a link with Bruce on the Crusader.
"You saw the transmissions?" Luke asked.
Bruce looked grim.
"Yes, Commander," Bruce said. "What are your plans?"
"Still trying to find out," Luke said. "Shum is trying to contact the Tal in charge of the system. I expect we will be assigned to sit on the Krisali wormhole and kill anything hostile that comes through. We might end up visiting Krisali to crush that planet killer. Until we know for sure we will go to the Nalee ship yards and get the rest of the fighters which should be ready. Maybe pick up all the missiles they have."
"Perhaps I should just boost for the Krisali wormhole?" Bruce asked.
"Not until we know for sure," Luke said. "I want to stay together, keep our firepower concentrated for now."
"Aye Commander," Bruce said. "What is the range of that planet killer?"
"Good question," Luke said. "Find out for me. Have your people find out everything they can about the attackers. You should have as much access to Conglomerate military data nets as I do."
"Aye, aye, Commander," Bruce said.
"Tigress out," Luke said.
"Crusader out," Bruce replied.
* * * * *
"Let me talk to him," Luke said.
"He has disconnected," Falla Shum said with a scowl. "He said he does not have time to talk to non-military personnel and is refusing additional contact."
"Are we flying around in a rowboat?" Luke asked nobody in particular.
"He does not feel we are capable of fighting on the wall with other warships," Shum said.
"We are the only battleship in the system," Luke said.
"I suspect he believes the Bronkaw battle wagons will be the deciding factor," Falla Shum said. "There are two per gate. That is a lot of firepower."
"They are stationary targets," Luke said. "I'm willing to bet those attackers have a damned good idea what they are doing and why. They will have good intelligence and a working plan."
Luke stared at Falla Shum. Was Tal Bris a moron? Did he think he could handle the force coming at them? Maybe he knew something Luke didn't, but considering the piss poor deployment so far Luke wasn't impressed. Why had Topa Suresh allowed Conglomerate military access if Luke couldn't coordinate and work with the Conglomerate military?
It made little sense. What had Topa Suresh seen? What did he know? Luke couldn't help but think maybe Topa Suresh didn't. Perhaps the Topa had been caught by surprise as well. Was there some other hidden agenda?
"Let's see how this ship handles higher level acceleration," Luke said to Halsey. "Accelerate as fast as you can, no more than 2 gravities internal for twelve hours. We will go down to one gee for twelve hours and then back at two. That will get us to the Nalee shipyard in two days.
"Aye, aye, Admiral," Halsey said.
Seconds later everyone got a notification that gravity would increase in thirty minutes.
"Is this necessary I wonder?" Luke heard Shum ask Leonessa.
"It will hoover, but I've dealt with much worse for longer," she said.
* * * * *
Over the next two days Luke watched all the Bronkaw ships assembled at the Krisali wormhole and Conglomerate ships entered it as they arrived. Luke could only imagine that the enemy was waiting for them as they came out the far side, destroying them as they arrived.
No new ships arrived from any of the other wormholes either as the Tigress and Crusader approached the Nalee shipyards.
Acceleration ceased earlier than expected.
"What's going on?" Luke transmitted to Halsey when the secure from gravity maneuvers siren sounded.
"Nalee station control is ordering us to stand out beyond five light seconds for security reasons," Halsey replied.
"What about our fighters and su
pplies?" Luke asked heading to the CIC.
"They will dispatch cargo vessels," Halsey said. "They say they are halfway loaded."
"I'm not paying extra," Luke said. This would delay things although the fighters could fly to the bays.
"They said no charge," Halsey said. "They will fly the fighters here under their control and pass over control to us when they get past the five light second mark. The missiles, hydroponics gear and ships stores will have to be delivered by shuttle."
"Keep me informed of times, Luke, out," Luke said.
"Aye, aye, CIC out," Halsey said and Luke sent out a message, letting everyone know.
The lag with the Conglomerate datanet wasn't good, but it was workable and they had not yet locked Tigress and her crew out of it. Luke wondered if it had even occurred to them to do so. At least the Nalee were being cautious and taking precautions.
* * * * *
An hour later Luke and the rest of the crew assembled in the conference room going over Brita's assessment when everyone got a priority alert on the Conglomerate military data net.
"The battle wagons at the Marin wormhole are under attack by an incoming force," Halsey reported. "Getting more details now. . . One battlewagon was just destroyed. Looks like unknown destroyer class vessels are entering the system."
The main screen in the conference room came on, showing the distant battle.
Another destroyer was transitioning in. That made two and they were now concentrating their fire on the last battle wagon. It wouldn't last long.
"Shit," Luke said. A quick calculation showed that all the Bronkaw forces clustered around the Krisali wormhole were four days out.
"The last fighter is aboard," Halsey said.
"How many missiles can you get aboard in the next hour?" Luke asked. They had missiles aboard but not enough for an extended expedition.
"Most of them if I use the troop bays for temporary storage," Halsey said.
"Do it," Luke said. Everyone looked at Luke. "We will come back for the rest. I want to know what is coming through that gate."
The Mari wormhole was twenty-three hours away if they accelerated at three gravities.
A link came in from Bruce and Luke transferred it to the public system so everyone could hear and talk.
"You heard the news?" Bruce transmitted.
"Yes," Luke sent. "Waiting to see what comes out and where they go."
"Copy that," Bruce said. "Why didn't we get any warning?"
Luke's blood ran cold.
"The Bronkaw have been set up," Luke said.
"Fiddle sticks," Leonessa said staring at Luke. The realization took hold throughout the room.
"Mari is in enemy hands," Luke said. "It has two wormholes to dark space. It means they had agents in place to block anyone from warning us."
"And they have taken out the FTL communication system in Mari," Bruce sent. "Which would mean they have active saboteurs and accurate intel."
"I have large object coming out of the wormhole," Halsey said. "It looks like that planet killer. Two battleships and four destroyers have come out already."
"And it didn't come from Krisali," Luke said. "Which means they have two of them."
"Whoever they are, they want to eradicate the Bronkaw," Bruce said.
"There is nobody near the Bronkaw home world that can stop them," Pavlis said.
"Except us," Luke said.
"I don't think our chances are that good," Pavlis said. "They have planet killers, what makes you think we can stand up to their battleships and destroyers?"
"We have to try," Luke said.
"Aye," Bruce said over the link. "If we don't then the Bronkaw could be rendered extinct."
"I'm sure there are plenty of Bronkaw throughout the Conglomerate," Morals said.
Luke shook his head. "They will die as a culture, if not a species."
"Not our problem," Morals said. "We should defend Earth. This isn't our war."
"We were hired to do a job," Luke said.
"Can't do it if the Bronkaw are extinct, can we?" Morals said. "Topa Suresh is gone. Probably dead, and the Bronkaw are not ally. We gain nothing by saving them and they are too far from home to be worth creating an alliance with them. You are a smart man, incredibly smart. I'm sure you know this and will do the right thing. For the greater good."
Luke laughed at Morals, but it wasn't a humorous laugh.
"Get out of here before I throw your stupid ass out an airlock," Luke said.
Morals scowled at Luke.
"Maybe you think I'm joking," Luke said, the ice in his voice chilling Morals' blood.
Morals got up and walked out, his legs stiff, his hands fists. Pavlis remained silent, watching Luke. When Morals was gone Luke turned to Pavlis.
"Do you want to counsel cowardice and betrayal?" Luke asked.
A half smile came to Pavlis's face.
"I was a fleet officer and a ship's captain before I was an Intelligence Officer," Pavlis said. "I do however expect you to do what you can, and not waste our lives, or this ship, fighting a lost cause."
Luke nodded.
"If that planet killer heads toward the Bronkaw home world we will chase it down and kill it," Luke said. "Allies or not I won't stand by and watch a home world be destroyed."
"Same plan as before," Luke said. "I want options. I want to know what we are up against."
Everyone nodded.
"It looks like all Bronkaw vessels are setting course for their home world," Halsey reported. "Based on current intercepts, most of them will be too late."
* * * * *
"FTL Message for Duncan Idaho," a Nalee AI sent linking with Duncan.
"Accept," Duncan sent.
"Message as follows. 'The mother of Leonessa Ferraro has migrated to New Alamo and has been provided with a job and is under our protection. If Leonessa Ferraro would like to immigrate, it is approved. While I do not have any open positions in the New Alamo Mercenary Cadre, I can offer her a commission in the New Alamo Defense force as a Captain. When she returns, I may have a ship available for her. She will be listed as being on temporary leave for now. I'm sorry I don't think I can pay her yet, but there is a commission bonus. If she wants a commission in the Marines, she will have to try out for it and get certified. If there is anything else, let me know. Message from her mom for Lieutenant Commander Leonessa Ferraro attached along with authorizations and orders if needed. I have authorized immigration and commissions for anyone Admiral Kishi considers worthy. Thank you. -Prime Minister Mark Harrison.'"
Duncan smiled and filed the message away and requested a link with Leonessa.
"Yes?" Leonessa sent.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you," Duncan sent. "But I was just going through some messages from New Alamo and since the information was relevant to you I thought I would share."
Leonessa remained silent and Duncan's smile was unseen.
"Your mother has immigrated to New Alamo," Duncan sent. "She is also under the protection of the Prime Minister."
"My mother has immigrated?" Leonessa asked.
Duncan replayed his buffer, yes, that is what he said. He brought up an InnerBuddy view of the conference room so he could see her physically.
"Was there a glitch in my transmission? I did not see any interruptions," Duncan said, oh, he realized, this was typical of humans. Sometimes when they needed time to digest news and evaluate the statement for flaws and hidden meaning so they stalled for time by asking a redundant question.
"No," Leonessa said. "There was no glitch. Why did she immigrate?"
"Because I asked the Prime Minister to ask her to immigrate," Duncan sent. "Musashi told me of your predicament and asked that I find a solution. I believe this has resolved one problem. The Prime Minister also mentioned that if you were to immigrate you would receive a commission in the New Alamo Defense Force. It is my understanding that the Prime Minister is less than enamored with the JAI and may enjoy poking them in the eye from time to time
."
"Seriously?" Leonessa out loud, almost standing but sitting back down. Luke and Brita looked up from their work stations nearby.
"Seriously?" Leonessa transmitted, nodding her head in apology for disturbing the two.
"I would not joke about something like this," Duncan said. "There is one problem, but that is likely temporary."
"What?" Leonessa said, wondering how bad it could be. Would it take months or years to process? Some swearing in oath?
"The Prime Minister must apologize but he has no openings in the New Alamo Mercenary Cadre, so you have been assigned to second Fleet pending your return. Until then you have been placed on administrative leave and asked to return to New Alamo at your earliest convenience for a more permanent assignment."
"What?" Leonessa asked aloud, then repeated herself transmitting. Again, Luke and Brita looked up at her.
"Is everything okay?" Luke asked. Duncan evaluated Leonessa's body language which showed she was happy and trying to suppress her smile as her eyes lost their focus on the room.
"Yes!" Leonessa said glancing at Luke. "This is great!"
"What have you found?" Luke asked, sounding excited, Brita was also watching. "Reinforcements arriving?"
"Um, no," Leonessa said returning to the here and now.
"Are you going to share?" Brita asked raising an eyebrow.
"In a few," Leonessa said shooting to her feet and giving a Luke a radiant smile. "This is personal. I'll be right back."
Luke glanced at Brita who shrugged her shoulders and they went back to their screens.
"Did you really not understand me?" Duncan asked. He was standing outside in the corridor with Musashi.
The door closed behind her.
"I won't have an official role on this ship? I won't answer to Jupiter Alliance Intelligence?" Leonessa asked trying to think it through. "I'll be a passenger again."
"No," Musashi said understanding. "You will be a student according to Topa Suresh. I doubt that Luke will send you to your room to sit and stare at a wall. There is a lot of leeway as a student. Fewer regulations."
The Darkness: The Conglomerate Trilogy (Volume 2) Page 34
