Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 1 - Purple Blood (37 page)

BOOK: Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 1 - Purple Blood

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‘Sorry for dropping your line, our scout ship has just returned to ED base two I had just obtained footage of the attack on the alien ship. Unfortunately we have no other footage available as our other ships responded at the time to another alarm near the moon.’

Robert watched in critical silence as the footage was replayed across his video link. The scenes were zoomed in and he noted several key points relating to the alien ship. He was sure that the ship had tumbled and a late braking manoeuvre had been attempted as the initial entrance velocity had fallen away. But he then noted that the ship had bounced across the outer atmosphere in series of heavy impacts before apparently tumbling from the sky in pieces. The professor was now convinced as he spoke to Emma again.

‘Well the footage pretty much supports my views, as the alien ship has repeatedly impacted the upper atmosphere with such force that then any crew would have been killed several times over. At one point over the central Indian Ocean the ship appears to suffer major structural failure. Fortunately the wreckage trail is over the ocean and well away from any populated areas. I recommend that the aerial search be done soon as otherwise it could take years to find any wreckage.’

Emma waited quietly for several more seconds to ensure Robert had stopped speaking before she replied, for she knew from previous experience that he liked to think things through carefully.

‘Thanks for the critical opinion Robert, we are in agreement here about your evaluation and will recommend the aerial search by earth side authorities. Now I understand you are coming out to base two on the way to the moon next month after some leave. Please let me know what time you are arriving and we will arrange a briefing for you. Also I would like to know more about your latest research efforts.’

The last sentence was given with a demure smile, and Robert gave a good natured and lengthy reply to Emma, as he discretely started keying a series of searches into his desktop.

‘Well a local film crew want a scientific advisor out at the original Trader landing site next week for yet another re-enactment. I will take out my own notes so I do not lose too much research time, but I also could do with a break. The latest research progresses steadily since our latest Eureka moment and that will be the main reason for my trip later to the fleet production base on the moon. We are planning further surprises for the Jerecab and I will be reviewing the progress of these surprises.’

Emma remained silent for several moments as the reply crossed to her own office on the orbiting defence base. Robert continued to key further information into his desktop before Emma’s own well natured comments arrived back to him.

‘Well Robert, I would suggest you make the most of the fresh air and the sunshine as we do not know how the deep-space expedition is now progressing. The Abrolhos Islands are quite pleasant this time of year, and I will keep you advised if anything eventuates from the air search for the wreckage. Good luck with the review process on the moon, from all accounts we are doing the best we can to defend ourselves.’

Robert politely thanked Emma for both her call and the invitation to join her with an agreement to stay in touch before the video call finished. The professor found himself looking forward to seeing Emma again, even if it did bring up old memories. He then replayed the intercept footage from their scout ship several times, but he could glean very little additional information from his efforts. Also there was no additional footage available from other military resources in space as they had already been concentrating on the false alarm closer to the moon.

Robert then evaluated if the timing of this earlier alarm was either by design, or merely just coincidence. His interest was heightened as a quick scan of the incidence logs over the last month showed only the two alarms one after another to be significant. The professor was worried about these alarms, but he was concerned he might be missing something vital elsewhere.

Robert now looked over at the map of the complete Indian Ocean displayed on his large wall screen. The one hundred year old marine sanctuaries founded in the Southern Oceans by the famed Professor Andre Seli were briefly prominent at the bottom of the map, before he zoomed into the area of interest in the Northern Indian Ocean. In moments he had overlaid the estimated course of the destroyed alien ship and he sat back to think aloud on what it all could mean.

‘So after one hundred and fifty years another alien ship arrives at Earth over the Indian Ocean. The ship is cloaked obviously and it is small, so what could possibly be the objectives of the pilot?’

Robert sat back now with a pen and several pieces of paper. From time to time he would place a page to one side and keep writing after lengthy periods of brooding silence. By habit, he had set the electronic do not disturb notice for his office, as he again took in the wreckage path plotted across the large view screen.

***

The story continues in part two, hidden menace …

Table of Contents

Admiral’s Fury