Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores (32 page)

Omerio now spoke briefly in Barus to the admiral and Gindane, before the admiral nodded his head and Omerio now spoke in English to Trader ship.

‘The Tilmud were responsible for the Voorde infestation as they seeded many marginal worlds with modified Voorde as a biological warfare experiment. I will transmit the list to you in return to the earlier information you supplied to Gindane, as there is a risk of the infestation being spread otherwise.’

The Trader captain looked at the list and must have noted something of interest as he spoke again.

‘Omerio, so it is all the work of the foul Tilmud, and many of the star systems listed are under Cephrit control. Now the list also includes two star systems with haven worlds known to us. So were these haven worlds also infested with Voorde?’

Omerio received another nod from the admiral and continued.

‘Fortunately they are not as I disabled the atmospheric and seeding capabilities of the modified lifter they were using. However the smaller planets listed, similar to Mars in this system in size, are all now seeded with the Voorde.’

Captain Narindestat considered the news as he formed his own question directly at Admiral Baredio.

‘Admiral, you mentioned a fine for our home base facility. As an alternative you could pass on my counter offer of considerable assistance under a temporary amnesty for Trader ships to assist in the location and destruction of the Voorde. We would be also interested in trade of course, and would make all our agreements in accordance with edicts and your local laws.’

Gindane translated again for the admiral’s benefit and he gave a hearty laugh. Before he replied at length in Barus that Captain Narindestat understood well enough, but Gindane translated as part of the conversation.

‘Trader, you are a credit in your endeavours to your species. I am relieved that your tattoos are intact and you have left the human world, even if I preferred you surrendered your ship to my fleet. No matter, now I cannot give an answer on your offer as that is now in the hands of the Cephrit. However I see the merit in your proposal and will report the offer to the Cephrit even as we report the presence of the Maveen. You understand that we will be some months returning to our home systems as the new Cephrit – Tilmud war lies across our most direct way home.’

Steve now took an interest in the last sentence and asked another question.

‘With the war you mentioned are the Tilmud likely to attack us at any stage?’

Gindane answered this question directly and Omerio in turn translated the question for the admiral.

‘No as their smaller ships are at even more of a risk from your missiles than our cruisers. Also they are very literal about the restrictions on haven worlds due to past transgressions. We will advise them to patrol only in the outskirts of your solar system for their own safety.’

Steve then thought that both the Barus crew on the cruiser and the Traders present shared a brief laugh at expense of the Tilmud from the flash of grins he could see. Captain Narindestat forestalled his next comment by adding a criticism of his own.

‘The treacherous Tilmud have brought more misfortune all on themselves, and they will be finding our former mentors hard to crack. So admiral, can I ask you how the war proceeds?’

Gindane paused and translated the request before the admiral gave a nod to Omerio who directly replied in English.

‘Our intelligence reports indicate it is as you have suggested captain. The Tilmud have suspended their extensive sector patrol duties to attack the Cephrit and I assume a Vorinne envoy will make an appearance soon. The Cephrit are hard pressed though due to the sheer numbers of frigates the Tilmud operate.’

Captain Narindestat looked thoughtful as he evaluated the news. He considered that he would have to get this information, along with his own reports and the trade amnesty offer to a Trader star facility as soon as possible. He looked around at Steve and the other humans to summon more questions, but Gindane now spoke at length instead.

‘The admiral advises that we have been speaking long enough and that we are to continue our withdrawal from this system. Trader, we wish you well in your journeys and hopefully there will be again full peace between us one day. Governor, we both wish your home planet well and your new colony well despite our recent confrontation. I will return in my research destroyer in as early as in ten years time unless the Cephrit – Tilmud war delays our return. My ship will approach uncloaked and will signal from Mars orbit. I would be grateful if you do not attack us at that time.’

Steve had already considered this return occurring after earlier discussions with his mission team and he replied carefully.

‘We consider the presence of two patrolling Tilmud frigates out past the eighth planet Neptune to be lawful. We consider the presence of your own research ship at the fourth planet Mars to be lawful, unless we advise you to leave for your own safety. All ships that enter our system are to adhere to galactic laws and edicts as relating to our haven world status.’

Gindane advised Admiral Baredio of Steve’s reply and the admiral studied Steve critically before he briefly replied and was translated by Gindane.

‘We accept your conditions and will advise the relevant galactic authorities of the clauses. Good bye and good luck Governor Greene.’

The conversation ended and the Barus fleet continued out of the solar system. Steve watched the screen for several minutes as Garendestat began the process to align the Trader ship to dock with the hyper drive section. Captain Narindestat organised a rotation of bridge crew, and the humans and Traders aboard took the opportunity for a quick meal.

                                                            ***

Ian Ridge sat comfortably in a large tent on Rat Island and rested with a cool drink as he continued to take in the recent tense confrontation a few hours ago in outer space. Almost against the odds the Barus fleet had misjudged the potency of the weapons released by the three main space capable nations of Earth and had paid a heavy price in the process. Ian had then listened closely to the subsequent communications between the Trader ship and the departing fleet. He turned to the lieutenant seated at the satellite communication link and made a request.

‘Please get me the US, Russian, Chinese, European and Indian leaders in an urgent conference. I am expecting Governor Greene to call us as well and he will have to be joined into our discussion.’

Ian then stood up and strode slowly out of his tent onto the small island. Directly in front of him there was a massive pile of sandbags surrounding a portable missile installation that was aimed skywards and crewed by efficient looking Australian and US troops. To his left the two damaged Trader sneak ships were being poured over by members of the mission team and several military engineers. To his right a series of large tents covered the other trade items supplied by the Traders.

Ian could hear another transport plane now landing to bring supplies and medical personnel to maintain the quarantine. After another half hour the lieutenant walked out to advise him that the video conference was commencing and that Governor Greene was present in the meeting. Ian walked back to his seat in front of a camera and the conference began with the US president James Whiting first speaking.

‘Governor Greene, we would like to congratulate you and your team on your efforts on our behalf. The victory was unexpected, but welcome, and we would invite any comments you can make on the battle itself, and the subsequent conversation with the Barus Admiral and his officers.’

There was a pause of several seconds due to the increasing distance of the Trader ship before they heard Steve report on the specifics of the battle.

‘Mr President, I thank you on behalf of my mission team and I will have to be brief here as we are leaving shortly. I understand that you received full video copies of the battle and afterwards the subsequent conversation with the Barus. Note that our mission team included two former contractors to your missile industry. The earlier rapid withdrawal of the Barus research ship indicated that their ships might be vulnerable to nuclear strikes and especially kinetic weapons. The results of the initial conflict between the 5
^th
fleet and the Trader sneak ships reinforced this opinion, and it was borne out especially by the success of our kinetic weapons against the Barus cruisers. The first attempt failed due to the limited numbers of missiles and the refusal of the small Barus destroyer to get near them. This was not a problem with the Barus cruisers as they were attempting to get past the missiles to attack the Traders. I consider the option to develop our capabilities in this area to be well recommended. I also politely recommend that you reclaim and fortify the moon as soon as possible as we could use it as an orbiting missile carrier.’

There was a pause as one of the US military officers in stated a brief question that Steve had no problem in replying to satisfactorily.

‘I do not expect the Barus fleet to return as they have made a decent attempt according to the governing edicts and taken heavy damage as a result. Fortunately they attempted to take us front on rather than waiting for the Traders to leave and then punishing Earth itself. This punishment is now unlikely from the Barus or other reputable races like the Cephrit or Deltas Vass from what our discussions can tell us. There are other races we should mistrust from what I can gather as they can and do interpret the edicts to their own advantage. If there is any lesson today I would suggest that the Barus will follow the rule of law even to their own detriment as this battle proved.’

Ian Ridge now took a turn to ask a question and he sought to obtain clarification on a key point.

‘Governor Greene, you are suggesting that the Barus are not intrinsically hostile to us but other races may well turn out to be so? And if so can you please supply examples of what we have to look out for as a warning?’

After a wait of several seconds Ian heard Steve’s reply.

‘Prime Minister, there are key words used by the Traders to describe the various races, the Cephrit are wise and measured, I consider their protégés the Traders themselves to be similar, the Barus are duty bound but fair, the Deltas Vass are pacifists unless they are on a crusade, the Tilmud are firmly bound by past mistakes, the Jerecab are….’

Ian listened as Steve went through all the races that had been described by the Traders. He did admit to himself that he found the Vorinne, and especially the Zronte overlords to be terrifying after going through their earlier notes. After several more minutes of hurried communications, Captain Narindestat signalled the ship was now ready to move further out into the solar system. The conference came to an end with Steve given the honour of a hurried last statement.

‘To the people of Earth, I promise that our colony on Barede will not forget our legacy and heritage and we will keep the memory of our home world alive. Hopefully one day our descendants will be again in contact with each other, good bye and good luck to you all.’

The combined Trader ship and hyper drive module was well past the orbit of the moon, and had headed north at high speed for several hours out of the elliptic. A massive corona of light suddenly surrounded the huge star ship and it made a hyper jump to further outside the galaxy.  Steve noted that Captain Narindestat was in a quiet conversation in his command chair using his native Trader tongue to talk to the Maveen Earth probe. He sat silently with Samantha in one of the couches, as Garendestat looked at the seated humans before he commented.

‘Well Steve, we are on our way and we started with a small type two hyper jump as we were still well inside your solar system. We will check our systems further before we go and make a large jump further out of the galaxy.’

Steve only felt relief that they were now finally on their way, and he rested and listened patiently, as both Ian and Sanjay asked a series of highly technical questions of the ever patient Garendestat. He observed that Captain Narindestat finished his own conversation with an air of satisfaction.

                                                            ***

Steve patiently accessed the Trader data table and continued to learn the Trader language as he sat in Captain Narindestat’s huge command chair. Samantha sat on one of the couches behind the command chair and was using a similar data tablet to look at pictures of Trader culture. It had been two months since they had left Earth and the ship had settled into a routine.

Steve had been concerned that Captain Narindestat had taken a detour and would be stopping off at a remote location. However he had quickly voiced his support of the stop-over based on the excellent logic the captain had then presented. Steve had attached himself to Captain Narindestat and Garendestat during the day watch and was always grateful for any insights the Traders could supply. He had been introduced to Lieutenant Damofestat and his crew once the doors barring the two sections were opened after the ship left the solar system.

Steve and Samantha had been given a cabin with a window that overlooked the star field, and they would often just sit in the evening to watch and look at the stars together as they talked. The Traders had fashioned sets of coveralls for them that Samantha would alter for better fit in the evenings as they had come away from Earth with few clothes. Samantha had enjoyed the trip and was spending a lot of time with Steve, and they both joked about being on their actual honeymoon.

Steve thought there was more to it than just a joke based on the lingering glances she was giving him. Samantha was now a volunteer in the ships’ sick back and also spent long hours talking to Emeria as she assisted her. The four other members of the mission team had paired off and been given their own cabins. The team joined Steve and Samantha for evening meals to eagerly report in their latest discoveries they had made via the Trader engineers.

Three days after the Trader crew were re-united Lieutenant Damofestat and his crew had fallen ill, before an extended series of treatments perfected earlier had seen them in turn healed. The pressure treatment was assessed as being more beneficial the quicker it was implemented, and Emeria was well satisfied with the results.