Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace

by David Buck

  Grant stopped speaking as he realised that the four envoys were rocking back and forwards on their multiple legs, and that a rapid series of rasps and clicks were coming from them. The Maveen probe then made a matter of fact statement to reassure Grant.

  ‘The Huopheen are laughing at your description of my race, though I do not understand why this is so….’

  Grant felt relief as he took in the news before he hit a pair of punch lines.

  ‘A typical Maveen probe response in stating the obvious before it then falls silent for extended periods. We also respect and revere them of course, but we are not enslaved or beholden to the eternal helpers in any manner.’

  The Maveen Dradfer probe now felt put about by the two junior races and silently rose on thrusters to withdraw several hundred metres. The probe evaluated that the mission was still running acceptable parameters as Grant spoke again.

  ‘Maveen are often also not around when thinking or after being put about by lesser races they are friends with…’

  The Maveen probe considered it would never understand the humour of biological races as he watched the Huopheen continue to rock about in laughter on their armoured legs.

  Tomil kept silent for a long period after the humans had returned to their ship for the night. Brimel now walked over but stopped several metres away as dictated by protocol for clan envoys. The two other envoys watched the female envoy with guarded interest as she spoke.

  ‘The humans are both wise and gentle, and so they are similar in many respects to the Traders. They are no weaklings despite their puny bodies and I feel they can be trusted. Their words state that our clans should be as one and I agree with their logic.’

  Tomil replied at length after giving a deep bow of respect by placing his claws on the beach.

  ‘I now offer only peace and understanding from my clan in accordance with the wisdom of the three star races. I believe that a treaty between our four clans would be the start of a new beginning for the Huopheen.’

  Trifor and Privel kept silent as they looked at each other warily, but Brimel was quick on the uptake and gave her own answer.

  ‘I also now only offer the peace and understanding of my clan towards the other clans. I agree that a treaty between us is both wise and welcome, and my advice to my father will state this belief.’

  Trifor and Privel could see the way the current was swirling and also offered cautious approval of the new treaty. The next words of Brimel stunned Tomil, as she slowly came forward and placed her smaller claws underneath his larger ones.

  ‘I am heir to my clan and I will seek you as my mate Tomil, for we are both without mates. Our clans will be as one and we are the largest two clans. Our joining will be a symbol of the new beginnings for our race.’

  Tomil then slowly placed his own claws beneath Brimel’s and replied carefully.

  ‘I will advise my own father to accept the treaty, and I will ask your father for his permission for us to become life mates. A glorious future now beckons all our clans.’

  The Maveen probe considered the last developments with a new response he soon recognised as pride. The humans were really coming into their own as a species, for their first meeting with the Huopheen had accomplished something neither the Maveen nor the Traders had been able to do many centuries earlier. The probe was looking forward to the next alien races they would find, for no doubt the humans would act as further catalysts for change.

  ***

  Captain Narindestat looked up from his reports detailing damage to the Resuria as the bridge alarms went off. Lieutenant Garendestat was quick to provide the identity of the new ship to his father.

  ‘Captain, a Sspol cruiser has just entered the system and is on an intercept course with us. The Sspol are already passing 4 Gs in acceleration and they will be within firing range within thirty minutes.’

  Narindestat felt relief and then thought about the situation for several moments, before he issued several orders.

  ‘Well we should be thankful that it is not the Fenshilla hunting us down. All engineers are to continue with their repair efforts concentrating on the shields and weapons. We will leave all working shields online and ensure that our remaining weapons are offline. Also ensure we are sending out the non aggression clauses to the Sspol.’

  The Traders watched impassively as the Sspol cruiser eventually slowed to take up station off to one side. For several minutes the Sspol ignored the Trader ship, and Captain Narindestat was finding both their scrutiny and lack of communications to be a concern.

  The two ships continued on a parallel course together as the Traders finally received a terse audio signal from the little known Sspol.

  ‘Greetings to the Traders and your ship is badly damaged; for you flee the treachery of the vassals.’

  Captain Narindestat knew that the Sspol could be difficult to deal with, so he gave a measured reply as an explanation.

  ‘Greetings to the magnificent Sspol; we seek to flee the treachery of the Black Claw Fenshilla not the vassals. My ship is indeed heavily damaged and many of my crew are dead; we seek the safety of the outer galaxy from our attackers.’

  Outwardly Narindestat remained calm, but his mind was seething with the possible Sspol responses. He knew that his ship was in no condition to fight again quickly, and so he felt increasing anxiety as the Sspol took several moments to reply.

  ‘Trader Captain your news is unexpected and unwelcome; even if for many centuries the Black Claw have been a problem in the galaxy. The two major Fenshilla factions need to end their existence even if the vassals will not. Your ship should move three star systems further out and your allies will defend you there.’

  The view screen now came alive with information that the Trader Captain recognised instantly. The system was one of the four systems he had arranged to later meet with the Maveen after their current mission. He silently considered the implications of the Sspol knowing of this meeting, even as Lieutenant Garendestat shouted a warning across the bridge.

  ‘Captain, four of the Fenshilla cruisers have arrived behind us and are now following us across the star system. The ships used type two hyper drives to arrive here based on their energy signatures. The Fenshilla will be in range within ninety minutes and they are still showing moderate levels of battle damage.’

  Captain Narindestat was about to speak with the Sspol again, but the strange hydrogen based life forms beat him to it.

  ‘The four ships are too strong for even the both of our ships; so you must flee this area of space quickly. My ship will follow you to the meeting with the Maveen; for they are prepared for this event.’

  Narindestat pondered at length the revelation that the ancient enmity between the Sspol and the Maveen was now at an end. This was something he knew he would not share later with even the Cephrit, as he was seeking any future advantage he could after the devastating attack of the Fenshilla.

  The Trader ensured that the Resuria was well into her countdown for their next hyper jump and that their repair efforts were continuing. After several minutes the charge setting chimed for the type two hyper drive, and Narindestat ordered his ship into hyper space. The Sspol cruiser continued forward for half an hour to minimise the mass distortions in hype space, before it too made the jump towards the destination star system. The four Fenshilla cruisers analysed the two recent hyper jumps for an short period before they also followed their target into hyper space.

  ***

  Second ambush at Bessel’s star [61 Cygni]

  Binary star, 84AU separation, class K stars – 11 light years from Earth

  Admiral Mary Neilson strode onto her bridge in a determined manner after snatching only a few hours sleep in her quarters. Lieutenant Commander Griggs stood from his console to show his respect with the admiral returning his crisp salute, as a lieutenant called out the customary ‘Admiral on the bridge.’

  Mary noted with approval that none of the officers on the bridge of the Exeter lifted their eyes from the
ir consoles as she found her command chair. She noted that the main view screen was showing an overlay of the Bessel system with their current course projection. The admiral had earlier left orders for the destroyers to guard the rear and outer flanks of the transport ships and she zoomed into the screen by habit to verify relative positions of her fleet.

  Griggs handed her one of his data tablets and Mary noted something of interest relating to a sensor probe report from another star system.

  ‘Well this means that we now perform the most aggressive response to the Jerecab armada entering and later leaving this system. We wrong footed the Jerecab by arriving here as they are already searched other systems nearby for us. Unfortunately we will not get another chance at any smaller groupings of Jerecab frigates. Are you still awaiting further reports from our other sensor probes?’

  Griggs eyed his other tablet nervously as he replied and the admiral noted his caution.

  ‘Admiral it is almost like they are tempting us to go after their transports and I am awaiting reports from at least one other probe. We have mapped the surrounding systems at length, and the Jerecab seem to be placing their heads in the noose by their actions.’

  Mary Neilson looked over the simulation on the second tablet and felt that Grigg’s caution was well founded.

  ‘The second data tablet shows the outcome if we get intercepted while we attempt to destroy the Jerecab supply ships. Yet our local data shows several of their supply ships are huddled around an inner planet after using another hyper jump location to arrive here earlier. We obviously need further information, but for now I will send our own remaining transports back to Earth.’

  Mary waited impassively for a few moments as the view screen came alive with the multiple images of her commanders.

  ‘To all commanders, our destroyers will perform a sling shot around 61 Cygni B in five hours. We are heading for Jerecab transports around the far side of the system after receiving valuable intelligence and we only have a brief window to act. The supply ships are to make the three hyper jumps directly home to the solar system.’

  The admiral set a series of tasks for several of her commanders in turn before the brief meeting was concluded. After three hours another sensor probe report was received as the second probe returned to the Bessel system. Mary sat back in relief as she read through the new information, for it appeared that her female intuition had been correct.

  Griggs highlighted the distance and vector information of the Jerecab armada in the two other star systems, before he gave an analysis in hushed tones.

  ‘The Jerecab have brought their supply ships up under guard to possibly avoid the Barus cruisers in nearby systems. It sounds like Captain Omerio has had some successes in attacking the Jerecab ships and so their admiral has brought them well forward as a result. The decision to send our own supply ships home is vindicated as the armada cannot catch them now.’

  Mary fixed Griggs with a satisfied grin as she replied.

  ‘Your analysis is accurate but we still had only two choices based on the information. Either we left for home directly or we quickly counter attack, for if we waited in ambush here the Jerecab Admiral could have sprung a trap on the Barus in the meantime. We will roll the dice this time here and commit to a major attack.’

  Admiral Neilson now knew that the headlong flight of her ships since her last ambush had lulled the Jerecab admiral into a false sense of security. Though the Jerecab armada had then followed her ships through several systems rather than heading straight for the solar system. She settled back to watch her supply ships leave and was relieved that their mostly civilian crews would soon be safe.

  The Holman transfer took place without incident after another two hours, and the fleet was soon attacking two dozen supply ships, three larger lifters and six frigates. The brief encounter was savage as the two fleets of ships closed at high speed. The Jerecab supply ships were dispersing to minimise losses as their six frigates fought a delaying action. A series of explosions flared around the frigates before they detonated and their fragmented hulls spun wildly through space.

  The supply ships came into range several minutes later and a series of larger explosions occurred as over a dozen of them were destroyed. Admiral Neilson noted the recharge timers for the destroyer’s spinal mount weapons still showed four minutes as the lifters also came into range. She sealed the fate of the enemy lifters by issuing another brief order.

  ‘All ships are to launch two missiles each at one of the lifters by designation. Section one to attack tango one, section two, tango two, section three, tango three.’

  A swarm of missiles erupted from the human destroyers and raced for the three larger lifters. Two of them were destroyed over several minutes as the missiles found their targets and the spinal mount weapons fired after recharging. The third lifter was struck by several missiles and started to tumble wildly, and Mary was content to leave it alone.

  ‘All ships will now form up for the alternate hyper jump point and we will leave for a nearby star system we know to be empty of searching Jerecab ships. Well done to all officers and crew on this battle, and we are further delaying the Jerecab attack on Earth.’

  Mary stood as Griggs and the other junior officers came over to congratulate their commander. Behind a small asteroid, a Cephrit scout ship remained cloaked and hidden, as the young male Cephrit analysed the recent battle between the Jerecab and the humans. The few surviving Jerecab supply ships soon reformed and their commanders nervously watched for the human destroyers to return as they began salvage and repair operations. The destroyers reached the next transfer point and the human ships exited for the next star system in a series of flashes of light.

  ***

  Captain Narindestat looked over the sensor data cautiously as his ship entered their destination system. The Resuria could no longer cloak due to battle damage, and he was worried as they had remained well outside the system for a few hours to repair other battle damage. Narindestat was hoping that the four Fenshilla cruisers would charge headlong into the system and then be easily detected and avoided. The Traders had avoided using active scans as they did not want to alert their attackers of their presence.

  Behind an icy planetoid several hundred million kilometres away, the four Fenshilla ships remained cloaked and silent as their commanders watched the damaged Trader ship approach. However they were also aware of a complication, for the Sspol cruiser had now appeared again, and the Fenshilla adjutant gave a terse order to his commanders using a low power signal.

  ‘We will wait and then we take down both the Trader and the Sspol ships. We will leave no witnesses to our presence in this star system.’

  The adjutant sat back and held his head for several moments, as he recently had been struck with a bad headache.

  Narindestat felt an unfamiliar itching at the back of the neck that told him something was wrong. He watched as the Sspol cruiser rapidly closed the distance towards them before they received a terse message with instructions.

  ‘Captain, change over to the following course; the Fenshilla are hiding behind one of the planetoids to one side of your current course. We have detected them mentally and they are the four ships seeking your ship. Our friends are nearby and will interdict the Fenshilla; you will withdraw with us at that time.’

  The Fenshilla adjutant watched nervously as his headache began to fade, for the Trader ship was altering course away from him to meet the Sspol cruiser. He casually ordered his own cruisers to leave the cover of the planetoid and slowly follow.

  ‘All ships are to remain cloaked and follow the enemy ships, and we will attack shortly …’

  The adjutant did not finish his sentence as the tactical officer screamed a harsh warning across the bridge.

  ‘Six, no eight, wait I have ten very large Maveen ships uncloaking in front of us, and there is a swarm of smaller Maveen ships also present. I am sending non aggression and ceasefire clauses, including our false status as Silver Guards ships�
�.’

  The adjutant ordered all his ships to reverse course and uncloak, as his messages raced towards the dark menace of the Maveen fighting ships. He was not hopeful of fooling the Maveen, as one ship replied in a harsh metallic voice speaking his own language.

  ‘We are not fooled by imposters who are actually pirates and brigands Fenshilla. Your attacks on the Traders and the humans have been reported to us. The Black Claw brigade now forfeits their neutral status with us and you will be destroyed.’

  The adjutant was screaming in fear and panic as the Maveen ships began their attack. His begging for mercy went unheeded as his ships made a futile attempt to flee. The tactical officer was in turn screaming and crying in panic as he made his last reports.

  ‘Sir the Maveen ships are their battle cruisers powered by anti matter reactors and ship killer lasers. Any three blasts from their main weapons will destroy our ships within moments.’

  The adjutant watched in horror as intense beams of light erupted from the Maveen ships and struck the first of his own heavy cruisers. Another beam of light then struck the lead ship and he watched as the beam cleaved the ship diagonally. A series of smaller explosions erupted as smaller generators on the ship erupted, before yet another Maveen light beam hit the cruiser’s hyper drive module. The anti matter containment promptly failed for the module’s reactor and a massive explosion fragmented the lead cruiser.

  The Fenshilla were attempting to fight back even as they fled, and the adjutant watched in disbelief as their attacks merely bounced off the Maveen shields. He placed a final order as the Maveen attacked again.

  ‘All ships to launch all missiles now as a last effort to escape…’

  Another of his cruisers came under attack and it was soon destroyed, even as a swarm of missiles left the doomed ship. The adjutant watched as a storm of point defence fire erupted from the smaller Maveen ships surrounding their larger battle cruisers. He was then aware of his own ship coming under attack and a lieutenant shouting that the very first Maveen blast had taken down their shields. Suddenly he felt an intense blast of heat and radiation for a brief moment, as his cruiser was blown into a mini sun by the Maveen battle cruisers.