Zed stood up from the command chair in the Chesapeake and shook Michael Flaherty’s shaking hand. “You did good, my friend. We survived our first major space battle.”
Mike snorted. “Yeah, with a little help from our friends. I was never so scared…”
“Don’t sell yourself short. We are the ones that beat the Dramul fleet. Us, in the Frigate Chesapeake. The arrival of the Rose of the Dawn just shortened the negotiations.” He sat back down in the command chair. “Is the Dramul fleet complying with the surrender order Lola?”
“Yes captain. All ships have powered down weapons and deactivated shields. Basically, they’ve rolled over and offered you their throat.”
“That’s nice.” He could feel the tiredness seeping into his bones. “Put me through to Admiral Bentax, please.”
“Before we begin to play politics, Admiral Bentax, let’s take care of your wounded first. Have your computer send us your tactical readouts, and we will know which ships have the most critical life support systems and have to be evacuated first.”
“Thank you, it is being done. You are taking a surprising attitude for a conqueror.”
Zed chuckled. “I never intended on getting into a fight. We didn’t know that your fleet was here. I transmitted an IFF code. Didn’t you receive it?”
The voice on the other end sounded chagrinned. “We received it all right. We just didn’t believe it. That code was obsolete tens of thousands of years ago.”
“Your mistake, Admiral.” Zed rubbed his eyes. “I’ll be in touch.” One of the remaining warships seemed to vomit a cloud of smaller craft. “Are those missiles, Lola?”
“No, captain. Lifeboats. There she goes…” In the screen he could see the aft half of the stricken ship dissolve in a glowing radiance. “Her reactor went. I believe they managed to evacuate most of the crew first.”
Zed felt sick. “How the blazes did we ever beat them? They outweighed us and out gunned us at least four to one.”
“Analysis of the Dramul fleet shows significantly degraded offensive and defensive weaponry. Shields that should have been running at one hundred percent were running at sixty or at best, seventy. The same applies to the weapons. Based upon their tactics, or lack thereof, I would say that the simulations we ran and the action we participated in while approaching Thal’ark Station, was more experience than this fleet has seen in the last hundred years.”
Zed looked out at the sorry collection of ships that floated in space beneath the Rose. “Could you, working through the computers on the ships, prevent their weapons from firing?”
“Yes, with a simple command override set to your key alone. Why are you asking this?” Lola’s voice sounded suspicious.
“Let me ask you this… is there sufficient room in the hangar bay for what remains of the Dramul fleet?”
“There is sufficient room only if we return the Chesapeake to the construction bay. The damage to the frigate is severe enough that I would have recommended this anyway. Luckily we have sufficient raw materials to affect repairs.”
Zed muttered something obscene. “Please put me through to Bentax.”
“Done.”
“Admiral, I’ve decided that it would take too long to evacuate all your ships, therefore, I’m going to disable your weapons and park what’s left of your fleet in my hanger. We will provide bedding, food and medical supplies if you wish to set up a triage in the hangar itself. Prepare to be tractored aboard. I’ll meet you in the hangar just as soon as I get my frigate docked.” He could hear the admiral sputtering. “Yates out.” He leaned back in his command chair and shut his eyes. “Lola, please bring us in.”
“Very good, Captain.” There was a pause. “I might suggest a shower and a clean uniform before you meet Bentax.
“Thank you. Lola.”
“You’re welcome.” He watched the Rose of the Dawn drift closer, hangar door open and welcoming. “Tell me why you did this. Tell me why you attacked the Dramul fleet when you could have just as easily run away, or had the Rose of the Dawn handle things.” Lola sounded concerned.
“There may come a time when I need to know the capabilities of these super warships. How far can they be pushed? How far can they push back? This was a very controlled engagement. We could have run or called for help at any time. Now I know how long I can stay and fight, and when I have to run. Help might not be quite so convenient next time, or the odds so favorable.” The Chesapeake bumped gently to the construction hangar deck, and still Lola remained silent.
The rest of the crew were waiting at the bottom of the boarding ramp when Zed and Mike exited the battered frigate. Kat was standing rigidly, arms crossed under her breasts, anger smoldering in her eyes. “I want you to…”
“Before you launch into a tirade, First Officer,” Lola interrupted smoothly. “I think you should know that I am aware of Zed’s reasons for attacking the Dramul fleet, and while he could have accomplished this a bit more tactfully, he was correct in his reasoning. He didn’t have time to discuss it in committee and he is, after all, the Captain.”
“All he is, is a glorified Flight Engineer.” Katherine was almost growling.
“He may have been so when he first came aboard, First Officer Johansen, but he is most certainly a Captain now. He endangered himself only slightly this day, and what he did may save your life, and the lives of the other crew members later. In addition, Weapons Officer Flaherty received valuable real-world experience in actual space battle techniques, which may also prove useful in the future.”
Katherine shut her jaw with a snap, turned and left. As he watched her retreating back Alina DeThomaso came up silently and wrapped her arms around the exhausted looking Mike Flaherty. She smiled shyly, and rested her head on his shoulder. Zed HAD seen that one coming, and he smiled. Dimitri came up to him and gave him a strangely formal bow, which Zed returned, raising one eyebrow in an unasked question.
“You have done well, Captain Yates, better than I ever could. I was jealous of you at first. I am jealous no longer.” He held out a huge hand which Zed took in a warm clasp. “You did good, capitalist dog.” He laughed gently.
“Russian swine.” Zed replied, laughing also. He slapped the man’s back. “I have to go shower and change. I need to meet the Admiral of the Dramul fleet.”
“Better you, my friend.”
“Lola, how is netting the Dramul fleet coming?”
“Slowly, Zed. There are hundreds of small lifeboats that have to be captured and recovered also.”
Zed frowned. “There should be a whole bunch of salvageable scrap floating around out there, Am I right?”
“Very good Captain. I’ll begin salvage operations immediately. Repairs to the Chesapeake should take a week, and travel time to the Dramul homeworld about three weeks.”
“Have we been cleared for independent action yet?” Zed crossed his fingers.
“No Captain. We have not reached QX’an tril Station yet. Only then will we be cleared.”
Zed let out a long and inventive curse. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dimitri raise an appreciative eyebrow. “I’ve got to go change and meet this Admiral. Maybe he knows where the station went to.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.” Lola was getting better and better at American idiom.
The main hangar smelled of ozone and burnt metal so thickly he could taste it on his tongue. An impromptu triage had been set up in one corner of the huge bay, and several dozen beds were filled with injured men and women. A short distance away he saw rows of covered cots that were obviously a morgue. On a battered corvette, several crewmen struggled to put out a fire in a torn section of hull.
Zed turned to find the admiral watching him closely.
“I’m beginning to believe your story, Captain Yates.” Admiral Bentax looked tired, his uniform was rumpled, and there were spots of spilled coffee on the leg of his black uniform pants. Both the short clipped hair on his head and the stubble on his face were gray. He gave the well dressed and freshly shaved young man in front of him a sour look. “It must be nice to finish a space battle looking so fresh.”
Zed chuckled. “I didn’t. I literally ran to my cabin after I landed and showered and changed. My hair is still wet, I think.”
“If you would like to shower and change, Admiral, we have some nice rooms in the Visiting Officers Quarters, with showers.”
The admiral even considered it, for about three seconds. “I would love to, but I must decline. If the people under my command can’t shower then I shouldn’t use my rank as privilege.”
Zed looked around the hangar, and located a long corridor he recognized. “But they can shower, Admiral.” He pointed to the corridor. “There are a half dozen showers down that hallway.”
Bentax glared at Zed for a moment, before he turned to an aide standing beside him. A few curt commands later, the man left at a run in the direction of the showers. The admiral sighed, looking down at his dirty uniform. “I believe I’ll take up your offer of a shower, Captain.”
Zed gave the man a thin smile. “This way, please.”
“It’s too bad you couldn’t have spared us a few of your doctors, Captain. We could really use trained medical personnel right now. That cute little nurse you sent is talented, but she isn’t enough.”
Startled, Zed looked at the triage area and sighted Jenniferia working among the wounded. It was a pleasant surprise. On the far side of the hanger he saw Helen Sutherland bending over a still figure. “We have one qualified Doctor, and Jenniferia is our only Medical Corpsman, Admiral. We are a little short staffed right now.”
“No more Doctors?” Zed shook his head. The grizzled admiral looked shocked. “Why not?”
“We didn’t have a significant choice when we left.”
“You’ve been more than fair with us, so maybe I can help you. I have a half dozen doctors aboard my flagship. They sit around all day and argue. It gets on my nerves. Take a couple, please. Do you have a preference for male or female doctor?”
Zed almost said male, then stopped. “I have more women aboard right now than I do men. I’ll take a woman, and a nurse if you have one you can spare.”
Admiral Bentax gave him a beatific smile as he gestured to one of his crewmen. “Go get Doctor Culchett and Nurse Chapman. Tell them to bring their things. They have been transferred to this vessel.” He glanced to Zed.
“Have them wait right here. They will be met by one of those silver robots, and shown to the Medical Bay. After that they will be assigned rooms and introduced to the crew. It’s been a long day, Admiral. I’ll show you to the VOQ and you can meet me in my room after you finish. A guide will show you the way.” A small glowing blue ball appeared in the air before them and proceeded off at a walking pace out of the hangar and down the long, blue painted corridor.
Zed collapsed onto his couch. “Lola, is there any way that you could appear as a physical person? I hate talking to thin air. It’s beginning to give me a complex.”
“After studying the computer records on the ships of the fleet, it appears that significant improvements have been made in holographic technology.”
“And that means…?”
“Yes, I believe so.” The air sparkled in front of the couch and a young woman appeared, swathed in blue fire. Of a medium height and build, Lola wore her straight hair in a shoulder length bob that emphasized her fair skin. All of her, skin, hair and eyes were sparkling blue. The swirling fire of her covering blurred things just enough so that Zed wasn’t quite sure if she was naked or not.
“Clothes, Lola.”
“But…”
“Clothes. That’s an order.” The blue flickered and a shimmering Lola was clothed in a slightly darker blue skintight single-piece garment, with provocative cutouts here and there. Her bare feet didn’t quite touch the floor. She reminded him of a computer persona in a very old video game. He thought her name might have been Cortana.
“Lola!” It was more of a shocked exclamation than anything else.
“I am clothed, Captain. Your pulse and respiration tell me that you like it.” He groaned. She looked down at herself, her gaze growing wistful. “The color leaves something to be desired, don’t you think?”
“How is the Admiral doing?” He had to do something to change the subject.
“He is on his way. At one point he tried to take a little side trip. I spoke to him rather sharply and that settled his curiosity.”
Zed rolled his eyes. “What did you tell him?”
“Simply that if he left the path one more time Security would be called and he would be spaced.”
“Oh god.” Zed held his aching head in his hands.
“Don’t let up now. After the Admiral is finished you really need to speak with the Princess. I think they’re about to come around. Then you need to meet our new doctor, and finally you have to deal with Kat.”
“Shit…” He said in a voice heavy with exhaustion.
“Captain, the Admiral is here.” The door to his quarters slid silently open and a much refreshed Admiral Bentax stepped in.
The sparkling in the air that had been Lola was just dissipating. “Did I catch you at a bad moment, captain?” His hard face was frowning at the empty air.
“No, come right in, Admiral. It has been a long day for both of us. Something to drink perhaps?”
“Just water, thanks.”
Zed smiled at the ceiling. “Lola, a water for the Admiral, and a coffee for me please.”
The two drinks appeared on the low coffee table. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Zed.”
Bentax sipped his water and gave Zed a curious look. “Someday I’d like to meet the person behind that voice.”
“Perhaps you will, Admiral.”
“You’ve been a very generous victor.” Bentax looked a little embarrassed. “I really do hate to beg a favor from you, but I don’t have enough room or food to handle all the crews from the evacuated ships. I was wondering…”
Zed’s smile was predatory. “Maybe we could help each other. Get your crews together and explain that this whole mess was simply a misunderstanding. We were using an older IFF signal, and your commanding Admiral ignored said signal and got trigger happy. My ships are short of crews, and rather than taking them by force, I’d much rather ask for volunteers. Good food, a strong warship, and good pay. What more could they want?”
The admiral set the empty glass down. “How many are you talking about?”
“Let’s say seven hundred to begin with.”
Bentax frowned. “How many eventually?”
“I’ve been told to recruit five thousand.”
The admiral’s jaw hung open. “Five thousand? What sort of a ship requires a crew of five thousand?”
Zed sipped his coffee. “Ever hear of Thal’ark Station?”
The gray haired man scoffed. “Thal’ark Station is just a myth, like heaven and hell. There’s no such place.”
“I’m sorry you think so. Lola, please replay our departure angle from Thal’ark Station a few weeks ago.” A scene showing the bridge of the Rose floated before their eyes.
“Departure angle on screen.” A shot of the gleaming station and the blue/white planet flickered into crystal clarity and then, after a heartbeat long pause, dwindled rapidly to insignificance. “View ahead, please.” The view shifted to the streaming stars forward.
“Could you please show that first shot again, Lola, and freeze the picture?” The imag
e flickered back to the planet and station. “Thank you.” Zed stood up and pointed to a small black line lying alongside the station. “Zoom in on that, Lola.” The picture obediently, zoomed. A ship floated in front of their eyes. “That is a General Blentau class tanker, Admiral. You might have heard of them.”
Bentax was standing, a stunned look on his face as he stared at the picture floating before his very eyes. “I’ve read about those tankers. They were bigger than anything ever built except…” His eyes took on a glazed look as he glanced at the room around him. “This is the Sword of Blandar. The greatest dreadnaught ever built.”
Zed gave the man a sympathetic look. “Correct, Admiral. And that station you see floating in front of you makes this ship look like a lifeboat. I control them both, and the planet below.” A tick had formed at the corner of the admiral’s bloodshot brown eye, but Zed went on relentlessly. “Let’s see…” He began ticking off on his fingers. “One Omega class armed and fully functioning Station, one General Bentau class tanker, one dreadnaught class battleship, four frigates, like the one you just fought, and one fast combat support ship. I’ve purposely left out mentioning the smaller ancillary craft, like cutters, tenders, patrol ships and fighters.” He twisted the knife further. “I hope to have a full half dozen frigates available before I tackle a really serious enemy.”
Admiral Bentax appeared to have the palsy. His hands were shaking and his face had turned gray. “I suppose you’ll conquer Dramul next?”
Zed glanced into his now-empty coffee cup, looked up. “Why would I want to do that? All I need from Dramul is information on what happened to QX’an tril Station.”
Bentax blinked. “I can tell you that. Someone stole it. In all the years we’ve been guarding it, no one has ever been able to get close enough to get in. It defends itself. We left three corvettes and a cruiser to guard it. They and the station vanished a month ago.” He shrugged. “The Chamdar must have figured out how to get in.”
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