"Send the attack code. The changes will not affect Dwillaak's operation. Send the other prepared message to the four ships that will create our diversion. They must commence their attack fifteen solars before the attack on Stewart is set to begin."
"Very good, my Lord. Is there anything else?"
"I've been lying here thinking about the attack. Our spies report that operations at Stewart are normal. There's been no flurry of activity to suggest they know about the invasion. Carver is observed daily, walking through the concourse without a care on her face. It appears our arrival will be a complete surprise. There are less than a dozen warships in the port, and half of those are loading supplies in preparation for their patrol activities. This is going to be so easy that it wasn't necessary to send those extra two hundred ships. When I close my eyes, I can already see Carver's mounted head decorating my wall. I think I'll place it over the door facing my desk, so I can relish our victory every time I look up."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Things are going so well it's beginning to feel almost anti-climatic already. I hope that the meager forces at Stewart are able to put up at least token resistance. The next engagement will be more difficult because we'll have lost the element of surprise, but after we wipe out Stewart so easily, their morale is sure to have suffered, and they won't have the number of ships that Stewart has. Where do you suppose the ships on patrol in Stewart's sectors will head?"
"I would say that they'll immediately head for one of the two bases on Stewart's flanks, so the next battle may be more difficult than originally projected. We expected a much greater concentration of ships at Stewart, believing that our invasion forces would be spotted in time for them to gather for its defense."
"Yes, I suppose you're right. It's good that we did send all the ships we could spare."
"Yes, my Lord. It's better to have too many than too few. Is there anything else, my Lord?"
"No, that's all, Berquyth. Send the messages."
"Yes, my Lord."
* * *
"What do we know?" Mikel Arneu asked rhetorically of the four security people assembled in the conference room, his anger somewhat under control, but obvious by his demeanor. "We know that a miner calling himself Jason Brown took a job in the mine and worked here for only a very short time before breeching our security and making it from the processing facility into the base. He accomplished this by having two attractive female confederates lure a couple of fools back to a shuttle where they were drugged and had their ID's stolen. Brown looked enough like one of the fools that he was able to pass visual inspection by a guard. This intruder then passed from the processing plant into the base through an access tunnel that's supposed to be secure, and for which the drugged technician didn't even have an access card, so someone else must have allowed him into the tunnel. Then we loose track of him until a guard found him in the lab complex and demanded an explanation. He overpowered the guard and made his way out of the base through the processing plant, up the shaft, and out of the compound. The questions are, who let him into the access tunnel, what was he after, what did he do while he was in here, and where did he go afterwards? Anyone wish to offer any ideas?" he asked angrily.
"We've deduced it wasn't necessary for anyone to actually let him into the access tunnel," Captain Whittle of the Guard Force said. "The doors remain open for seven seconds after someone passes, so he may have just waited until someone exited, and stepped through."
"Why do you suspect it happened when someone exited?"
"Because someone would have noticed him following them into the tunnel. Traffic is very light and the tunnel is quite long. His tan coveralls would have alerted them to his unauthorized entry."
"Okay, how do we prevent it from happening again?"
"We've adjusted the time from seven seconds to two seconds. The person opening the door has to move quickly to get through before the doors start to close, and is still near the door when it closes. We also require a valid ID now to exit the tunnel. He'd be stuck in the tunnel until someone opened the doors the next time."
"Okay, what was he after?"
"There's nothing of any real value in the section where he was found, so maybe he was just exploring, hoping to find where the refined platinum and palladium is stored."
"Simple theft?"
"It's the most likely reason."
"Or maybe he was a spy, searching for information about the base?"
"We can't be sure until we find him and question him, sir."
"Which brings us to the next question, where is he, and where are his confederates?"
"We've searched every city and town on the planet," Sergeant Sadar said, "without success. We must have interviewed ten thousand miners but no one knows any Jason Brown, nor could anyone identify him from his picture. He's disappeared completely."
"Since he had two shuttles, it's reasonable to assume he had a ship," Arneu said. "Has anyone checked to see if there were any ship departures in the twenty-four hours after the break-in?"
"Checked with whom, sir? Planetary arrivals and departures aren't recorded anywhere, and since he had shuttles, he might have had a ship in orbit."
"So what you're telling me is that someone can just break in here any time and we can't stop them?"
"The only way to stop them is to control the work force better," Captain Whittle said. "We should stop hiring outsiders and use only our own people inside the compound."
"Impossible. Mining is such a miserable job that our people don't want to do it. Would you?"
"Uh, no sir. Perhaps we should close off the access tunnel between the processing facility and the base. We make everyone go to the surface and pass an examination each time to access each area. And we can put everyone going into Shaft Two or Three through a more extensive screening process such as handprint or retinal scanning."
"If we close off the access tunnel we'll have to take our refined ore to the surface and bring it back down again for shipment. That's too much effort. Instead, lets restrict tunnel use to just ore shipments. All personnel traveling between those points will have to go up and then down. It will make things more difficult, but do it. And I don't want anyone allowed into Shaft Three unless the guard is one hundred percent sure of their identity. Tell your guards that I'll have the ears of anyone who passes another unauthorized intruder through. And I mean that literally."
"Yes sir," Captain Whittle said. He had no doubt Arneu meant what he said.
"All right, get out of here," Arneu said.
The guard officers were more than happy to vacate the room. They knew just how dangerous Arneu could be when he was in this kind of mood.
Arneu sat at the table after they had left, thinking about the break-in. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in the many weeks since it had occurred. "What was he after?" he said aloud in the empty room.
* * *
Vertap Aloyandro knocked lightly and then entered the royal chambers. Walking to where the king was working at his desk, he said, "You sent for me, your majesty?"
"Yes, Vertap. I haven't read anything in your reports regarding the situation with the Galactic Alliance. Brief me please."
"Our agents report that all is quiet at Stewart. Admiral Carver is conducting business as usual, and is seemingly unconcerned that the Milori will be arriving soon. Only a handful of ships are in the port and one would think that Space Command is completely oblivious to the imminent arrival of the invasion force. It's most peculiar."
"Yet you have considerable confidence in this Terran?"
"Oh yes, your majesty, I do. She has demonstrated her abilities time and again. I would not like to launch an attack against her. She's brilliant, unpredictable, and her tactics are unlike any that I've studied. Just when you think you have her beaten, she does something so fantastic and incredible that you swear she's a conjurer. Upon later examination, the tactic seems logical, almost simplistic, but not at the time she sets it in motion. You later find yourself shaking your h
ead and wondering how you could have failed to think of it yourself. By keeping her enemies constantly off-balance, she gains an incredible advantage."
"Then you believe the Galactic Alliance will prevail?"
"Even if Admiral Carver does not personally survive against the overwhelming superiority of the Milori invasion fleet, I believe the Galactic Alliance will prevail. I don't know how, but she will destroy enough of the Milori fleet to tip the balance in their favor."
"Then you feel we should send our forces out?"
"That's not up to me, but if it were I would say no. At the very least, we know the remaining Milori forces are very spread out, so this appears to be the best time to re-take our territory. But if the Milori are successful, they could come after us with renewed vengeance when their fight with the Galactic Alliance is over. It could be argued it's prudent to wait until our forces are stronger. If we don't swat at the giant, perhaps he'll leave us alone for a little longer."
"But each year we wait, the Milori produce more ships. We can't possibly keep up with their war production and we can't continue to hide the number of ships we're accumulating."
"It's a difficult decision, Sire."
"Yes, Vertap. When will the attack on Stewart begin?"
"We expect the Milori to arrive at Stewart in about fifteen Earth days. That's a little over two weeks of their time."
"Thank you, Vertap. That will be all."
"It was my pleasure, sire."
* * *
Brenda snuggled in the crook of Vyx's arm and twisted her head to see what he was reading. He wrapped his arm around her and turned his head to plant a long, slow kiss on her lips.
"Ummm," she said when he pulled away. "Now this is the kind of duty I enjoy. And to think we're doing it all for the Galactic Alliance."
"Well, maybe not all," he responded. "I'm doing a little of it for myself."
She giggled, then pinched his side gently.
"Ouch!"
"Oh stop it. That didn't hurt."
"Yes it…"
His sentence was cut off by an alarm from the automatic sensors. In a second, they were both on their feet and racing for the bridge. The proximity sensors were flashing wildly.
"What is it?" she asked excitedly, as he stared at the monitor.
"It's a group of ships. They'll pass about a hundred-thousand kilometers off our larboard side. They're heading towards Stewart."
"Milori?"
"It appears so. They're traveling at Light-375 so they're not freighters, and we know they're not Space Command."
"Can they see us?"
"No. We're not under power, in their path, or actively scanning."
"We'd better send a message to Stewart immediately and advise them that we've spotted the fleet."
"In a few minutes, after they've passed us by. We don't want to alert them that they've been spotted."
"What's going on?" Byers asked from the doorway of the bridge.
"A fleet of Milori ships is passing," Brenda said.
"Have we told Stewart?"
"Not yet," Vyx said. "We'll wait until the ships have passed us so they don't know they've been spotted. Even at Light-375, we're two weeks from Stewart. And it isn't a fleet, it's only eight ships."
"Eight? That's all?"
"The admiral said that she expected the Milori to travel in small groups this time to hide their numbers. It looks like she was right again."
Vyx waited five minutes before sending the encrypted report to Stewart. By then Nelligen and Kathryn had joined the three already on the bridge. "Well, the excitement's over. We've done our duty. We can return to whatever we were doing before the alarms sounded."
"Aren't we going to follow them to Stewart?" Byers asked.
"Follow them?" Vyx said. "They're traveling at Light-375. The best we can do is Light-300. The battle will be over long before we could get there."
"We're not doing any good out here," Nelligen said. "Not now that the Milori fleet has passed us."
Vyx looked at the anxious faces. "Oh, all right. We might as well. Perhaps we'll be able to help with something."
* * *
Chapter Seventeen
~ April 27th, 2280 ~
Jenetta was having dinner alone in her dining room when she received the call from Captain Wavala, the officer in charge of the Communications and Computing section at Stewart, who was on duty in the CIC. Not having a com unit at the table, she received the message on her CT.
Pressing her SC ring, she said, "This is Admiral Carver."
"Admiral, I'm sorry to disturb you during dinner but we've just received a message from Scruscotto. Four Milori ships have begun attacking the planet. They've destroyed a number of ships in orbit and are bombing mining colonies in the southern hemisphere."
"Immediately recall all personnel to their ships using the base's PA system. Issue orders to the ships in port to get underway within two hours. Destination Scruscotto."
"But Admiral, the only ships in port are the five warships remaining here for the protection of the base."
"I'm aware of that, Captain."
"But Admiral, shouldn't you send some ships from the staging areas instead?"
"No, Captain. Carry out your orders, please."
"Yes ma'am. Will do, Admiral."
"Carver, out."
Jenetta picked up her fork and continued her meal. A few seconds later an announcement came over the little used public address system. "Attention. All Space Command personnel assigned to warships in port should immediately report to their ships and prepare for deployment. I repeat, all Space Command personnel assigned to warships in port should immediately report to their ships and prepare for deployment." Jenetta knew the same message was being heard throughout the station, especially in the concourse area where speakers were located liberally throughout the restaurants, retail stores, and walkways. Additionally, every room in the housing section had at least one speaker.
In one hour, any personnel who had not reported aboard their ship would be summoned again, using their CT if they were an officer or their ID if they were a NCO or crewman.
Within two hours, the five warships were backing away from their docking piers and leaving the port. Reporters had begun besieging Jenetta's office with calls so she had scheduled a press conference for later in the evening. She waited until twenty minutes after the last ship had exited the port and then walked to the CIC.
"Captain Wavala, please send an encrypted message to the captains of all five ships that just left the port. Tell them to execute special order 86-3."
"86-3 ma'am?"
"That's correct, Captain."
"Uh, if you don't mind my asking, what is 86-3?"
"It's a recall. But they will not return here. They will proceed to their designated staging area."
Captain Wavala grinned. "Yes ma'am."
After Wavala issued the recall, Jenetta left to prepare for her press conference.
Jenetta stepped up to the rostrum after a quick introduction by the station's public relations officer. Reporters and news people representing newspapers and media stations around the Galactic Alliance packed the small hall. Stewart, standing at the gateway to the center of the galaxy and being a key element in the defense of the Alliance, had become a magnet for every news service.
"Good evening and thank you for coming. I've called this press conference to announce that tonight, four Milori ships attacked the mining planet Scruscotto located just inside the Frontier Zone. I have no information yet regarding casualties or damage, other than there are reports that ships in orbit have been destroyed and towns on the surface in the southern hemisphere have come under direct assault.
"Since we only have two ships on patrol routes which would enable them to respond within thirty days, I've dispatched the five ships that we had in port. Scruscotto is twenty light-years from here, so I'm afraid the attackers will have time to do all the damage they intend before our ships reach the planet, but we will eng
age the Milori ships whenever and wherever encountered. Questions?"
Nearly every reporter in the crowd raised their hand, and Jenetta spent the next hour answering questions. She limited questions to topics regarding the Milori because the reporters tried to direct the questioning away to other topics of special interest after Jenetta had covered the issue of the Milori attack on Scruscotto thoroughly.
Analyzing the reports received from spotters allowed Jenetta's staff to estimate almost to the minute when the Milori would first arrive at the station. Several days before their arrival she gave orders to bring most of the confiscated ships in from the farms and tether them in the now almost empty port. Stewart, being a transportation hub, had a large number of shipping containers in various farms awaiting pick up by freight companies. They used confiscated freighters to haul containers away, and the ships in transit would be a half light year from Stewart by the time the Milori arrived. Although the preceding actions might have escaped the attention of the news media, Jenetta's announcement to all freighter captains advising them to get their vessels away from Stewart would not. Newsies again besieged her office with calls about the evacuation. The station's public relations officer held a special press conference and read a prepared statement about a possible threat from the Milori. It was the usual rhetoric about reports suggesting a few Milori ships had been observed heading towards Stewart and that the Station's command was taking the reports seriously given the verified attacks on Scruscotto.
The lower half of the station, off limits to unescorted, non-military personnel, was already in war mode. The CIC had established encrypted video links to each of the ships in the staging areas, both so the ships would be in constant contact and so the officers on the bridge would be able to observe everything that occurred in the CIC. Likewise, the Center could see the bridge of every ship and talk with the captain, although only the bridges of the battle group leaders were displayed constantly.
In the hours before the expected attack, 'pool' reporters were escorted to a special room not far from the CIC. Most had been roused from their beds and received no briefing of any kind. They were just assigned seats and told to watch the two monitors at the front of the room. One showed the image that was displaying on the large monitor in the CIC, while the other would show any open broadcasts originating from the CIC.
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