Ambush

by G J Moses

  “What are you up to Zeke.” asked Will as they entered the lift.

  “Gathering information. I will update everyone once we are underway.” answered Zeke, who held on to the wall railing as the lift shot upwards faster than he expected. “Whew… they should have signs on the elevators to give warning to their guests.”

  “Actually, there is one, just above your head.” laughed Isolde.

  Having regained his balance, he swung his head around to look up as a glowing warning sign. Laughing, Zeke uttered “Oooppps… I guess I should have paid more attention when I got on board.”

  All three stopped their conversation as the lift continued to pick up speed until they were flashing past each floor. They all looked at each other in amazement.

  “Good thing I have not eaten in the last several hours.” an amused Isolde informed the other two when the lift finally started slowing down. All were gripping the secure rails tightly.

  “Anybody remember the elevators being this fast before?” a puzzled Will asked.

  “They removed all the safety’s knowing time was critical. But I kinda like it. Gives you a cheap thrill.” a laughing Isolde responded.

  Finally, the lift stopped with a jolt. All three exited the lift carefully as their balance was a little off and were unsteady on their feet.

  The area around them was bustling with activity. Missiles, ammunition, food concentrates, water containers, fuel and more were all being loaded onto shuttles that were in a cycle of takeoff and landing. As each shuttle landed, it was swarmed with loading robots until filled where it would then take off in less than a few moments. All normal safety procedures had been suspended. There were more than a few robots that had been damaged along with several human techs that were being attended to by medics.

  A woman with a Lucky Strikes pilot’s uniform walked up to Zeke. “Hi Captain, I am lieutenant Makey Trotter, your pilot. Shuttle 672 at bay 8 is waiting for you. Captain, once you are ready, we can leave at any time.”

  “Lieutenant, we are ready. Lead on.” answered Zeke.

  All three walked quickly to the designated shuttle where another pilot was waiting in the door frame. “Ah, you are Lieutenant Brent Fitzsimmons if my memory serves me right. You were with me on my first deployment.” greeted Zeke to the second pilot.

  The pilot, his smile showing through his red beard, saluted smartly. “Captain, it is good to see you again. Danger sure does seem to follow you around, doesn’t it? This is my third tour with you and each time gets it gets a little more exciting. Do you think next time we could just have a quiet tour?”

  Laughing while shaking Brent’s hand “That would be nice wouldn’t it? Once we get through this, if we do, I will have to put in an official request just for that.”

  All made their way inside where the two pilots left them and went forward. Just as they sat down and the automatic harness settled over them, the ship, started moving without delay, a tractor beam placing them in the queue for departure.

  It was only several minutes before they were flying out the hangar door and rising into the upper atmosphere. There were shuttles, all around them going in the both directions.

  “Will, I am going to need you to plot the quickest course to Nocuous.”

  “That would require going through the asteroid field. And if the Chohish have stationed any ships there, which I am sure they have, we would be at a serious disadvantage.” Will replied with concern in his voice. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

  “No option, going around would increase our travel time and give the Chohish time to catch up. We cannot afford that. We will have to take our chances going through the asteroid field and hope that the addition of the Fox gives us an advantage they are not counting on.”

  “OK, I will start laying out course flight plans using the data supplied by Titus and see which one our best option would be.” replied Will.

  “I agree with you that they probably have a ship or two in the asteroid field. I would. If it was me, based on the maps I have seen, I would station the ships where the asteroids are thickest and funnel all the traffic to a small area in comparison to the rest of the tunnel. What if, we launched all the fighters just prior to getting there, and then had them following us cloaked. Our footprint would be visible, but being behind us, the fighters should be invisible to enemy tracking.”

  “Hmm… you know Zeke… that may just work… all depends on what we are facing… I will start thinking about that immediately.” a thoughtful Will replied.

  The shuttle shuddered as it left the atmosphere. Moving closer to the shuttle wall, Zeke looked out the port window. It was a sight that brought warmth to his heart. His ship, the Lucky Strike, battered as she was, surrounded by a throng of shuttles. Next to her, was another ship, no doubt the Fox. It was majestic but just not to the same degree as his ship, not even close, no other ship could hold that place with him.

  Their shuttle was given priority, and, in a few moments, they were entering the landing bay. As they landed, Lieutenant Brent poked his head out. “Hope you all enjoyed your ride with the Lucky Strike shuttle service, please watch your step on your way out. We hope you will fly with us again soon.” a smiling Brent told them on the way out.

  “Excellent ride, but the service could be improved on, where were the drinks and snacks?” joked Isolde.

  “Talk to the captain, haven’t had any since the budget cuts he implemented.” laughed Brent before he disappeared back into the cockpit.

  No sooner had they stepped off when the shuttle was already being moved to the out queue to go pick another load.

  “See you on the bridge in thirty to forty-five minutes. I want to be underway shortly afterwards.” Zeke commented.

  Contact

  “Hello Jeanne, now that you are settled, what is the status on the Fox?” asked Zeke from his command chair. They had left Niflhel over an hour ago.

  “They did a good job doing the upgrades. Not as good as the Black Doubloon, few ships are, but not bad. There are a few areas that we are working on like the point defense. We believe we can double the effectiveness of the point defense in a few hours with the software copied from the Black Doubloon and the limited hardware upgrades that can be done using what available parts are on board. There are a few more we are doing on the offensive capabilities but do not expect to complete all of those before we reach Nocuous. But all in all, the Fox is a good ship.” replied Jeanne from her conference room.

  “That is good news, the Fox is integral in my new plans. Just make sure that no defensive or offensive weapons are marginalized during your upgrades. We will need everything if we are to get through the next day or two.”

  “No problem, all the upgrades will have minimal impact until we turn them on. I believe the advantages will outweigh the risks of the short downtime required to make them effective. Trust me on this, Zeke, we will be ready when you need us.”

  “OK, but please let me know when the upgrades are complete.”

  “Will do, do you have anything more for me?”

  “Just one. I have been working with Gunner and Will on the deployment of the fighters when we reach the asteroid fields. Can you get in touch with either of them?”

  Just then, Isolde, seated in the command center, called out.

  “Captain, I am starting to get communication signals from Nocuous through the relay on the asteroid. One sec… trying to fine tune it… have to change the position of the relay just a bit… a little more… aahh much better.”

  “Disconnect from the Fox, I do not want them on the call.” ordered Zeke quickly.

  Signaling she heard, Isolde continued playing with her controls.

  “Nocuous, this is Lieutenant Isolde Iverson from the Lucky Strike of the Royal Galactic Navy. Please respond.”

  zzzzrttt… zzzzrttt… zzzzrtttt…

  “Nocuous, this is Lieutenant Isolde Iverson from the Lucky Strike of the Royal Galactic Navy. Please respond.”

  zzzzrttt…
zzzzrttt… zzzzrtttt… wh… ple…

  “Isolde?” asked Zeke

  “One second, I need to fine tune the array some more…”

  “Zzz… repeat… this is Corporal Algernon of Nocuous, please confirm again who you are. Who is in command?”

  “Captain Zeke Kinsley of the Royal Galactic Navy cruiser Lucky Strike here corporal. We are en route to you from Niflhel. What can you tell us about your situation?”

  Zzz…”Wow, are we glad to hear from you. We have been attacked by an unknown force. But I will leave that to Governor Rayna Reynolds to update you. She has been notified and should be online in a few moments.”

  “Corporal, we are headed your way, but we do not know what we will meet on our way, what we will find if we make it, nor will we be able to stay. The situation is fluid and we are not in control of the system.”

  Zzz…”That bad, huh? It has not been pleasant here, but I will leave that to… matter of fact, one second, Governor Rayna Reynolds is joining the call.”

  Zzzttt…”Governor Rayna Reynolds here, sorry to be late to the call, but can someone let me know who is on the call?”

  “No problem, I am Captain Zeke Kinsley of the Royal Galactic Navy cruiser Lucky Strike. We just left Niflhel over an hour ago. They were under siege and we were able to temporarily assist in removing a besieging force. We engaged a large enemy force before reaching Niflhel and sustained severe damage and loss of life. We expect that force to resume the siege at Niflhel in a few hours.”

  “Governor Titus?”

  “Governor Titus is alive and well, for the moment anyway. Said to tell you hi.”

  “Good, he is a good man and an inspiration to both planets. To give a quick summary, we were attacked without warning. We took massive casualties.” replied Governor Rayna.

  “Governor Reynolds, Hawke here, can you tell us about your situation?”

  “Please call me Rayna, no time for titles. We know there is a good size force on the surface, but they have not made any attempt to break into our living quarters. Can someone tell me why we were attacked and who they are? We do not recognize their race nor have had any contact with them.”

  “They are known as the Chohish. Sending you a copy now of the records we have on our encounters. Why they attacked, we have no idea. They are a race that humans have not met before now. But the Sorath’s, Hawke’s people, encountered them several thousand years ago. They were also attacked without warning those many years ago.” replied Isolde.

  “Governor Rayna, our communication is through a relay on an asteroid that will be out of range soon. We are hopeful it will not be detected by the ground forces deployed against you. Any recommendations for traveling to Nocuous? Are you aware of any ships in orbit?” asked Zeke.

  “The most direct route is through the asteroid field, if the space buoys have not been taken out. If they have, it would be faster to go around. That would add up to twenty-four hours or more, but without buoys, it is too dangerous.” answered Corporal Algernon.

  “Thanks Corporal, that is what we thought. We will have to take our chances though with the asteroid field. That is the only option open to us if we want to get to Nocuous ahead of the Chohish. But I wanted to check with you to see if there was another option, as recommended by Titus, prior to making that commitment.” said Zeke while reviewing space charts.

  “Governor, do you have any information on the forces deployed against you?”

  “A little, but not sure how much it will help you. I will have it sent to you. We lost all our satellites early so cannot tell if there are any ships further out from the planet. There were many coming and going at one time, not sure how many are there currently. We are setting up some equipment now to get a status on any ships in orbit and close by. Some, but very few, ground cameras near our main mining operations are still operational. The initial bombardment took out most of our ground defenses, along with whatever mining ships and shuttles we had in the air, although they have not destroyed any of the mining equipment as far as we can tell. We are puzzled on that one though.” answered Rayna.

  “Captain Khaleesi Richards here. Who is managing your defenses? It would be helpful to coordinate our arrival with your forces.”

  “Corporal Algernon is the one you should speak with. He has been doing a tremendous job since General Yong was killed leading the defense when we were attacked. One of many good people we lost.” a sorrowful sounding Rayna replied.

  “Governor, we share your pain. Hate to ask this, but just out of curiosity, what do you actually mine on Nocuous?” asked Zeke.

  “Nocuous is rich in many rare minerals. Our main exports are different types of minerals and jewels that are prized throughout the Empire. Some are used in manufacturing, we have a lot of rare elements, while others are unique jewels not found elsewhere. We also have one of the largest deposits of Lendolium in this sector, but we have only just started to tap into that. We supply the local ship traffic and only began supplying a minor amount of several adjoining systems, but had plans to expand that operation in the next several years. Why? You think they want the jewels?” responded Rayna.

  “No idea why at this time. Still trying to put all the puzzle pieces together.” answered Zeke.

  “How are you in regard to protection from the Chohish? Supplies situation?” asked Will.

  “We are deeper underground than Niflhel is. We did not have the same offensive capabilities, but our underground facilities are better protected. We store all the processed minerals here, so it has been a target for raiders in the past. Supply wise, we are good for several years. You never know when we would be blockaded, or our supply ships had issues.” updated Rayna.

  Zeke and Hawke turned towards each other with expressions of ‘this should be interesting’ before replying.

  “Hawke here governor, just so you know. We… ah… are traveling with Irracan citizens of New Providence. They were responsible for an early warning of the invaders to Niflhel, which saved countless lives at a cost of hundreds of their own along with several of their ships.”

  Zzztttt…”Whew, and here I thought I had seen everything by now. Things are sure getting interesting aren’t they.” a surprised sounding Rayna replied.

  “Governor, Corporal, Major Khaleesi Richards here, can one of you tell us what type of defenses you have available?” asked Khaleesi.

  “We lost our space platform along with most of our fighters and troops during the initial contact. Those brave souls gave their lives to buy time for the civilians to get underground. They were massively outmatched. We only have a dozen fighters or so left out of over a hundred. And half of those are nonfunctional. We have two under strength battalions left out of the original three over strength regiments. We lost over twenty-three thousand people in the first day and fourteen thousand on the second day. It would have been a lot worse if not for the delay provided by the military.” responded Rayna.

  “Governor, we are very sorry to hear that. You must have had many injuries, how are you situated there?” asked Will.

  “We have excellent medical facilities and staff due to the planetary conditions, even so, we were stretched beyond our capabilities. We lost another four to five hundred before we finished the triage of the worst cases.” a very soft voiced Governor Rayna replied with a noticeable choke. “My teenage daughter was one of them.”

  “Oh Governor, that is tragic to hear. Is there anything that you need from us if we make it through? Anything immediate?” asked Zeke.

  “Revenge? Justice? Open to either as long as you kill them all.” answered both Rayna and Algernon at once.

  “Hawke here. I cannot respond for the RGN, but I and my race will do everything we can to make that happen in the near future. We still, after two thousand years, remember their cowardly attack. We have not forgotten. We will be avenged.” Hawke said with vehemence in his voice.

  “Hawke, you can count on Nocuous to assist, wherever we can. And knowing Titus, you can count on Niflh
el too.” a somber Rayna responded.

  “Thank you, Governor, I will relay that to my people. They will be taking you up on that, I am so very sure.”

  “Well, Governor, we need to make our way to the asteroid field so I must leave you to Isolde and her team. I look forward to meeting you, if we make it, once we get to Nocuous.” said Zeke.

  With that, Zeke signaled Isolde to mute the transmission for the moment.

  “Hawke, Will, Gunner and Khaleesi, if you will join me in my conference room. Can someone please ask Jax to join us? Isolde, please reach out to the Fox and have Jeanne and Jan shuttle over. Have them sent to my conference room immediately upon arrival.” asked Zeke as he stood up from his command chair “Oh, and Isolde, join us once you’re done here. Caspian stay on the call and get whatever data you can. Corporal Algernon looks to be the one you want to work with.”

  Making his way out the door, Zeke saw that the hallway was packed with supplies strapped in every available spot. Chuckling, Zeke spoke over his shoulder to Will “I know I said it in jest, but is there a fighter in my bed?”

  Walking just behind Zeke, Will choked while laughing at the same… cough… cough. “Well, not exactly a fighter, more like a pilot. A pair in fact, since you have a queen size bed. I was out of living quarters, so I annexed your bedroom. And yes, they are comfortable with that before you ask. They are from the Black Doubloon where they were stuffing two pilots to a twin bunk bed, so they were quite agreeable to the new accommodations. I figured you would not have time to sleep, but if you did, it would be in your command chair, couch or conference room like you normally do during maneuvers. Oh, and now that you reminded me, they asked if you have any more cocoa mix. They used all you had.”

  The sound of laughter from all, except for Zeke, who just hung his head, echoed down the hall.

  Plans

  As everyone settled in around the conference table, Isolde walked in to report Jan, Jeanne and one of her officers had docked and should be in the conference room in just a few moments.