Seeker of Moons (Cassidy's Command Book 1)

by Geoff Workman

  “Did Apek tell you where the Boneheads fit in to the alien’s battle plans?”

  “The Kyandians are the empire’s strong arm in this sector; they subjugate other conquered races like the Minoxians and press them into the service of the empire. The jumping technology is a Bonehead invention and not deemed a worthy weapon by the Kyandians but they see a benefit in the inferior Boneheads having it and using it with their paralysis weapon. The Kyandians will not let the Boneheads have any other ship carried energy weapon, other than the short range ion discharger because they do not fully trust them. It would be my guess that the Boneheads will deploy their ships in the vanguard, they will appear from nowhere and stun as many of our craft as possible, disappear then leave the Kyandian warships to complete the destruction.”

  Patches had been listening intently, “Lieutenant I don’t know whether it’s important and you may have forgotten but Bambi and I were working on a ‘dirty warhead’ using depleted fission material from the reactor and plasma reservoirs from the plasma cannon.”

  “I am ashamed to say that with everything else I had forgotten and I am really pleased that you have reminded me. Can you and Boots get it fitted to a missile?”

  She smiled, “It already is and it’s fitted to a launcher and ready to go, it has a double warhead as we had planned.”

  Kyle, pleased with this update, drained the last few drops of Kaffoo from his mug and turned to leave but before he did put his arm around his colleagues, “Thanks both of you for what you’ve achieved, the drinks are on me if we get back to UW territory.”

  It seemed strange to Kyle as there were senior officers from the Chamtofi military travelling with the fleet, but everybody seemed prepared to let him call the shots, or perhaps nobody else wanted the responsibility as the journey to the intended cloud gate could end up as a massacre.

  Eventually he finished up back on the bridge where the crew seemed grim faced.

  “Bad news?” asked Kyle.

  “Yes though it is what we expected,” said a saddened Trilby, “A vanguard of the alien ships peeled off for Chamtofi and without even trying to communicate to those on the planet, blew the whole lot, it’s still there as a lump of space rock but our sensors indicate there is not a vestige of organic life remaining. It’s so sad I just keep thinking about all those people and what there last minutes must have been like.”

  Kang looked at Trilby with a fixed stare and seemed to be more detached now and somehow less human than when Kyle had first met him, “They are gone and cannot suffer any more, you must leave your thoughts there. From now on we all have to focus on our own jobs and think only about working in the best way we can, if you don’t you are putting all of us in danger.”

  Kyle thought that he was a little harsh even though the sentiment was correct and it was something that perhaps he should build on. “Kang can you advise all warships in the fleet that we will practise battle stations at 14.00 hours. After clearing decks I want them to launch target drones and to test all guns. If there is no alien contact by 15.00 hours we will practice again.”

  “Aye aye skipper, a good idea and I should have thought of it!”

  Kyle smiled to himself as Kang had organised most things on the ship brilliantly and this was a rare opportunity for him to show his leadership. “Trilby I want you to contact all ships in the commercial fleet, tell them what is happening and that it is just a practice, I don’t want any more panic than necessary.”

  Taking Kang’s lead, Trilby too greeted the instruction with, “Aye aye skipper.” Speedy turned round in her seat, “Any orders for me skipper?”

  “Just be ready Speedy, your time will come.”

  At the appointed hour the ship’s siren blared ‘Battle Stations’, everybody ran to their positions and soon the craft was shaking from the discharge of the cannons superchargers.

  Kyle announced over the comms, “That was good but not brilliant. We will do this again shortly, I need you to be quicker to your places, faster bringing your guns on-line and more importantly you need to achieve more first time hits, so be ready”!

  After the first test, Kyle had an exec meeting, it was strange that there was no Bambi, instead representing the engine room was Patches.

  “Ladies and gentlemen you have followed me so far and accomplished more than anyone could have asked but I must demand more of you. I need you Shiner to form a damage limitation team, the surviving Lillindians and Corporal Willox will report to you, I suggest that you organise a quick training session with the extinguishers, hoses and fire door usage.”

  As was becoming the norm, “Aye aye skipper,” was the reply.

  “Buzz, I need you to be on top of your game with the systems and scanners and especially the Boneheads early warning system which should now be integrated in your scanner array.”

  “I’m all over it skipper.”

  “You had better be.”

  “Kang your mandroid gunners are central to our defence strategy, let them know that, their targets will be the alien ships bridges along with any external gun and missile batteries. I also need you to liaise with all other warships in our fleet, be merciless with your instructions as we need each person on every ship following orders.”

  “Aye, aye Sir.”

  “Speedy we are going to be attack minded rather than defensive, I have a plan but it depends on the alien disposition, you will need to be at your best, don’t let me down, there is too much at stake.”

  “Just tell me what you need Skipper.”

  “Patches keep everything running as long as you can and when we need full speed make sure we have it in hand. Secondly, brief Boots to be ready with the Boneheads device, I will supply co-ordinates at the appropriate time. I need him to have access to your special weapon’s launch sequence too, let him have them before we depart.

  I want you all to stand, we will protect the fleet, and we will prevail, dismiss!"

  Kang was asked to stay behind to help with the battle plan and organise the fleeing fleet’s disposition and tactics.

  Two more action station tests took place and each time there was an improvement on the last, then came the announcement Kyle was dreading….

  “Skipper, the sensors show six Bonehead warships about to materialize, vector R48,” was calmly announced by Buzz.

  “Trilby sound battle stations for the fleet,” commanded Kyle and the incessant klaxon echoed through all the corridors on Seeker of Moons, people moved rapidly towards their positions.

  “Kang execute plan ‘D’.”

  Kang sent the message to the fleet and the first warship on each wing peeled off and fell into line behind SOM, with Pretender and Spotted Canary dropping into line behind them. The phalanx of ships sped towards the vector specified by Buzz. The Bonehead ships were materializing in three rows of two and their captains must have been aghast to see the arrowhead of warships targeting them. The human ships had powered their weapons and Kyle was about to order the opening salvo when the back two alien ships extended their tentacles firing their stunning beams at their own ships in front of them.

  The four front Bonehead ships were frozen in time, their electronics disabled and crews stupefied. As soon as they had arrived, the rear two ships melted away and disappeared again.

  Kyle looked at Kang, “What do you think?”

  “I think we have Apek and his rebels to thank.”

  “In which case we will hold fire and execute plan ‘C’.”

  Five ships in Kyle’s battle group manoeuvred carefully into the gaps between the alien ships and hove to, their power systems temporarily shut down. Outbound communications were silenced and the rest of the fleet maintained its course, but everyone had a sense of expectation for the main event and there was not long to wait. On Seeker of Moons the bridge window shield had been lowered and the crew peering out spotted what they were looking for. A group of fifteen bright stars moving at great speed towards them, then three of them dropped from formation to head towards Kyl
e’s hidden group whilst the other 12 continued on a course to head off the fleeing mass of humanity.

  Kyle had no idea when the right time would be but he knew that he could not wait forever, so he nodded to Kang and as the comms rang with ‘Go, Go, Go’ the five ships re-started their reactors, systems and weapons charging. Seeker of Moons moved first and raced away from their hiding place, causing the three approaching alien ships to fall in line behind and give chase. The rear plasma cannon of SOM gave rapid fire and the alien captains directed their energy fields to deflect the accurate fire from the mandroids.

  This was exactly what Kyle had hoped, the line of alien ships had ignored the other hiding craft until too late then the Pretender, Spotted Canary and two government cutters opened up using their main armaments at short range. The alien craft were less than frigate size, their bridges and external weapons pods were not as well protected as a capital ship. Remorseless and accurate plasma, ion streams and missiles impacted on their targets. Some shots were returned but these gradually petered out as fire spread through the inside of the ships, then the first in line burst open radiating a sickly green aura. The second followed suit but the third just drifted out of control.

  With their first task completed the remaining four hidden ships set off to support SOM as it headed for combat with the main alien battle group.

  *********************

  On board the Kreznan, Lord Burzot issued commands to attack, it was the only way the Kyandians knew and it usually brought victory. It was unusual that the craft of his allies were disabled but at that point he was not overly concerned. When he was informed that his three scouts were being attacked and that there were unrecognised forces to his rear he became more cautious. The commander of the Kreznan informed his leader that they were almost in range of the refugee fleet and their escorts were forming a thin screen of protection, he then began to regain his composure, “Commander press on your attack, their ships are unable to hurt us but despatch the ‘Kodun’ and its escorts to deal with the situation to our rear.”

  ***********************

  Kyle had told Buzz to be alert for any movement in the alien fleet and when the capital ship Kodun turned out of line with its frigate escorts, the gap that the Lieutenant had prayed for appeared. “Buzz we are running with plan ‘A’, give the co-ordinates to Boots now!”

  Kang gave the order to all gunners to be ready and for the first time the Bonehead’s time and space accelerator was activated. The crew of Kyle’s ship experienced various reactions, their heads ached, their vision blurred and they all experienced nausea but it was over so quickly and looking at the view screens throughout the ship they saw an incredible sight. The Seeker of Moons was now running alongside the most massive spacecraft that any of them had ever seen, the multiple gun turrets hardly blurred the sleek lines of this majestic leviathan.

  Kyle knew that time was of the essence and as his ship was still materializing, he issued floods of orders. Buzz was the main recipient, he was given a new location to insert in the boneheads device but told to wait before hitting the red button. He was also instructed to target the dirty warhead at the bridge of the Kreznan.

  Seeker of Moons was now visible electronically and visually to the alien fleet but before they could react Kang got the first salvo away and all batteries launched their plasma, ion streams and missiles. The Kreznan was on the port side and Kang’s gunners carefully selected their targets for areas that might be vulnerable and although some damage was inflicted the mighty battleship cruised on unimpeded. On the starboard side the gunners engaged the two nearest escort vessels, again causing some damage but not enough to hurt.

  Kyle ordered all screens raised and all side deflectors to maximum, as fire was returned from the surrounding vessels in the fleet. Seeker of Moons shook with massive impacts and the Damage Assessment Team were immediately in action to dampen fires and remove wreckage.

  “OK Buzz, ready to fire, fire!”

  The enhanced missile sped at great speed towards the Kreznan.

  “Buzz, hit that button now!”

  The crew and passengers of SOM experienced the same feelings as their ship was snatched by some mysterious force, out of the melting pot and into the void. The human ship had disappeared quickly and the gunners on the alien craft were still letting loose with everything they had, there was nothing to stop the fire and they were now actually hitting their own ships.

  There was panic in the centre of the fleet as lights flashed, internal fires broke out and in one case a frigate blew apart, as an energy vault took a hit slicing straight through the crafts defences before impacting on the vulnerable infrastructure.

  All of this was small fry compared to what was happening in the Kreznan. The first thermo nuclear warhead smashed into the centre of the great ship and shorted the defensive force field. The second missile was slightly off target striking near the rear hangar but the giant vessel convulsed spectacularly before erupting and spilling its contents out into the vastness of space.

  *************************

  On the bridge of the Kreznan there was disbelief and panic. This could not be happening.

  “Lord Burzot you must take an escape pod now, the ship will be destroyed when the fires reach the AG drives,” the panicky ship commander pleaded. The haughty nobleman needed no second invitation, he was concussed and had to be helped towards the pods by his bodyguard. The solo escape craft were positioned at several points in the capital ship and a number had already ejected. They had been auto programmed to speed away to a pre-set location where they could be picked up. He could not remember the launch due to the pain in his head but he regained his senses when the pod window lit up as his flagship became a brief artificial star taking most of the fleet with it.

  The captain of the Kodun now had no option but to mount a fighting retreat and to locate the Grand Commander. This probably saved the lives of all those on the quartet of human ships he was about to engage. The Kyandian's retreat was harried by the humans but Esther managed to get the Spotted Canary severely shot up as it ventured too close to the Kodun though Freeman on the Pretender managed to disable one of the escort frigates using a combination of missile warheads before they were recalled to the refugee fleet.

  **************************************

  There were cheers throughout the human fleet as Lieutenant Freeman announced that the aliens had disengaged and the route to the Pillinger cloud gate was now clear.

  The four warships that engaged the Kodun now returned to join the rest of their fleet , Spotted Canary still managed to keep up speed whilst its crew attended to the damage and all took up their protective positions ready to meet further threats.

  The last ship to return was Seeker of Moons, it materialized from the void at the head of the rag tag fleet, which it proudly led towards the cloud refuge.

  **************************************

  Somewhere in the void dozens of Kyandian escape pods linked up like a giant ring of sausages.

  Lord Burzot’s head hurt but he knew what he would do next, destroy mankind they must pay for his humiliation.

  Epilogue

  The refugee fleet reached the final cloud gate with only one minor incident, a Kyandian patrol boat started tailing the fleet as they headed towards the gate and although it was against Kyle’s principles to attack a near defenceless ship, he did not want their course and speed monitoring as they entered the cloud. Using the bonehead time and space accelerator again, Seeker of Moons came up behind the small alien ship. At first he was just going to order it’s destruction but instead asked his gunners to disable the ship and to put the one energy weapon it sported out of action. Reversing his ship's forcefield in a controlled way Buzz drew the alien ship towards the cargo airlock on Seeker of Moons and the craft was pulled inside by the cargo crane.

  Getting the Kyandian crew out was a different problem as they did not want to surrender and the quickest solution was to pump sleeping gas into the
ship by way of the AG exhaust vents.

  Kyle left the Mandriods to remove the Kyandians and for the rest of the journey they were kept trussed up in the tiny brig.

  As the fleet neared the cloud gate a satellite probe appeared from the swirling dust, it introduced itself as United Worlds Sentry ‘Ajax 211’, apologised for the delay while it checked the fleet, then downloaded the course and entry details of all craft and occupants. Ajax 211 warned that all exits from the cloud were stealth mined and protected by defensive drones. All ships must not deviate from the route provided, otherwise certain death would follow.

  As soon as the details received were analysed and course co-ordinates set, Seeker of Moons lead the rag tag fleet into the cloud but what sort of welcome would they receive?

  Ajax was correct as far as the drones were concerned and there must have been fifty or so spread out in front of the cloud waiting to attack.

  Trilby started to receive open communications, one of the first being from Admiral Ng who spoke directly to Kyle, thanking him and his crew for their efforts and sacrifices made. When it was confirmed that Prince Morgan was on board the Admiral was ecstatic, though he did say it was a pity that the Prince’s lady was not present. He told Kyle that they would be received at his new forward Headquarters, a mobile space station. Co-ordinates were not being broadcast for security reasons and they should follow one of the drones detailed as guide. Kyle, Kang and all the crew of Seeker of Moons were thanked again and assured of a warm reception in two days’ time when the fleet reached Forward Fleet Headquarters.

  In the two days following, there was at last some time for relaxation, Kyle made up for lost time with his Uncle Chico. It was him who had managed to get Kyle selected for the service for sentence programme, thinking it preferable to jail but it was at a cost. Chico had been put in touch with the Berengian Secret Service and thought that he may be able to cut a deal with the authorities to get Kyle out of prison. The deal it turned out was for him to go to Chamtofi and work undercover, with his criminal past he easily fitted in and was able to send back reports to Admiral Ng.