Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace (20 page)

‘Uh probe eleven; we are filming a re-enactment of your race’s landing here so long ago. Robert Seville here is a civilian specialist on alien space technology, and he would be the best qualified to speak with you on our behalf.’

Robert Seville still felt his earlier surprise and awe as he self consciously bowed to the Maveen scout probe and spoke in turn.

‘I will speak with you probe eleven, but note that our authorities may over rule my decisions if they are in disagreement with them. I am a research professor and I also hold a reserve captain’s commission in our space navy. Are you still damaged and can you leave this world quickly? I am worried that other galactic races could arrive here to capture you.’

The Maveen kept quiet for several moments as it silently approved the economy and the logic in Robert’s words. He knew that humans still did not present themselves as a unified race and this could be a problem later on. The probe was actually relieved to contact Robert on his first attempt, but he could not be seen to be interested or already knowledgeable regarding Robert in any way. The probe therefore decided that a few questions to Robert were now in order.

‘Robert Seville, I need to ensure that your race does not attack me again and do you have the authority to prevent this occurring? Could you explain about your research of alien technology and which institute is involved? Finally I would like to know about your race’s defence preparations so I can better advise you on how to survive the Jerecab onslaught.’

Robert urgently called the two lifters now circling to the east of the islands, and in minutes he had them implementing quarantine around the islands. He also noted that the civilian surface vessels to either side of the islands were slowly withdrawing back to the mainland. Sam and his film crew had moved back several metres and now quietly filmed both him and the Maveen probe. Robert gave the probe another bow and finally replied.

‘The two ships nearby are enforcing a quarantine and civilians are leaving these islands, also an attack upon you is unlikely as we remember the earlier agreement. The research of the Trader ships is still going well as we recently accessed the full engineering manuals for their ships at the Fremantle Institute. I will require authorisation from our leaders before I can discuss our defence preparations with you.’

The Maveen probe was not actually worried about the research institute until it heard the part about the Trader manuals. The probe kept quiet for several moments as it evaluated that there was now an additional reason for it to covertly return to Queen Angwene at a later stage.

Robert felt unease as he took in the alien silence and menace in the Maveen probe, even if his training had indicated that the Maveen could be obscure. Surely the Maveen could understand the need for military secrecy that human authorities would be concerned about? Robert then looked over the sled holding the Maveen and for the first time he addressed the issue of damage to the Maveen.

‘Probe eleven, you mentioned you are damaged and could we be assistance in helping you with your repairs? We can assist you at these islands like we did with the Trader ship in the past.’

The Maveen probe now decided to ignore the outstanding question of access to human military information as he replied.

‘I have repaired most of the damage underwater and now seek to seal up the sled before I leave your world. I will need one to two days on dry land to complete my repairs.’

The probe knew he could repair the sled much quicker if required, but he was now seeking information from the humans. Robert soon had the film crew clearing a suitable space off to one side of the landing strip, and the Maveen probe placed the sled in the cleared space before dismounting and landing alongside. Sam organised one of his own supply lifters to move across and hook up the sled with a side crane. As the sled was held by the crane, the Maveen probe began to reattach the first bottom panel.

Robert noted the internal structure of the sled and was soon asking technical questions. The Maveen probe would answer two questions of his on Maveen technology, before asking just one question relating to their defences. Robert was happy with volunteering basic information on their defences for he knew that the defenders would benefit from the involvement of the Maveen probe.

The Maveen probe slowly attached the first bottom panel and performed spurious diagnostics of the sled as it evaluated the answers. The intelligence relayed by Altarebe was proving to be very accurate, as was the earlier computer espionage performed by Seliandre. However the probe quietly noted a few key areas of concerns about the human defences that it would raise at a later stage. The probe continued in his repairs using the laser welder to slowly stitch up the panels along the bottom of the sled.

                                                                     ***

Admiral Baunrus initially felt relief as he reviewed the latest intelligence reports, as it appeared his armada had successfully driven the humans from the colonies. He was hoping to take the female human admiral alive at a later stage, for her goading still irked him. However he was concerned that one of his main deployment zones had not reported in for several days. The toll amongst his frigates was also another concern for he had lost over sixty frigates in the weeks since hostilities had begun.

The tactical officer, a lieutenant that Baunrus had already marked for further promotion, wordlessly handed across another data tablet. The admiral noted the information with unease before giving vent to his frustrations.

‘So we have the humans with a supply convoy which may or may not have been destroyed, plus the presence of Traders, Sspol and a grouping of large ships operated by yet another race. Also we do not know the whereabouts of the two Barus squadrons and they could heavy damage our supply lines. Basically this means we will now have to consolidate here first before we can go after the humans and their home world.’

Baunrus handed the data tablet back to the lieutenant with a small nod to convey his approval of the junior officer. For several moments he sat back to consider the likely locations of the Jerecab ships before issuing another pair of curt orders.

‘We will split the Armada into three sections of eighty frigates and progressively sweep through the human deployment zones. If we are fortunate then we may also corner a Barus squadron. Now I want all three sections to take two star systems each and then overlap adjoining star systems with each other.’

The admiral then quietly thought about how Neanres was getting along in his own slow mission to Dradfer three.

Commander Neanres had taken his damaged ships back towards their main deployment point via an indirect route outside the colony zones. Apart from a pair of Cephrit scouts that quickly fled at his squadron’s approach, his damaged ships had sighted nothing of interest. He reviewed the reports for three of the more heavily damaged frigates before he made a quick decision.

‘We will stay here for four days and perform additional repairs for the system is unlikely to hold human ships. We will then make the three required hyper space jumps to reach Dradfer three, or the Gold system as the humans now call it.’

Neanres knew that his caution was well founded for he had sent a series of probes to the central colonies and they had not returned as expected. The commander sat back to worry at length what conflict with the humans would do to his damaged ships.

                                                                     ***

Chapter 10

Commander Paul Burgess carefully moved from one area of cover to another and continued laying down covering fire. He knew that the Fenshilla had experienced a rude shock after attempting to storm the Bowman. He fired his laser blaster again and a thin alien shriek told him that he had struck down yet another attacker. The decks ahead of him were littered with dead Fenshilla after his team had sprung their second ambush.

Paul checked the energy storage levels on his weapon before firing another controlled burst of weapons fire. The heavily built commander had served for many years in the SAS before being seconded for the mission to the former Dradfer colonies, and his experience now told him that the alien commander was not unduly worried about his own casualties.

‘Very well then – we will oblige him if he wants a big butcher’s bill…’ Paul thought darkly to himself, as covering fire from his team let him fall back several metres back through a bulkhead door. The defenders had set a series of satchel charges throughout the ship as they were forced slowly back by the Fenshilla. Paul knew that the outside of the transport was on the other side of the rooms that they had been forced away from, and a series of loud detonations now shook the ship.

The commander had earlier set explosive charges on both the doors and the reinforced portholes serving as windows. He looked on with grim satisfaction as the nearest view screen now showed several dimly lit Fenshilla being dragged out into space. For some reason the aliens were wearing only respirators and face masks and the cold vacuum of space soon claimed them. Paul now led his team back to the central corridors some distance from the bulkhead door.

Paul Burgess tried not to think of his young family as he fought to protect the lives of his team and the other humans. The joy of meeting their cousins from Earth had been quickly subdued with the appearance of the Fenshilla, and he noted that one of his team members lay dead alongside an engineer from Earth. The torrid defence had been unusual for two reasons, as the attackers seemed to be able to easily identify female humans and did not use deadly force against them, plus there was the matter of the disabled scuttling charges. The commander now addressed the several humans still alive in the two central passageways.

‘Our suits are well down on air and our weapons will last only a little longer. Our explosive charges elsewhere in the ship have been disabled by methods unknown. We can continue to fight or we can now surrender as there is nowhere to go from here….’

Paul’s observations were broken by a message from his third in command, Rebecca Dalton, onboard the second transport, the Achilles.

‘Paul, we have inflicted heavy casualties on the Fenshilla, but the explosive charges we set against the reactor were disabled by their soldiers in armoured suits. We are electing to fight until we are taken…’

A series of laser blasts came over the voice link and Paul knew that Rebecca’s own team were in their final battle. The link went dead as he looked around at his own team and spoke quietly.

‘The Fenshilla must have used armoured suits to disable our main series of explosive charges as well. Now Rebecca and her team fight on and I suggest we do the same.’

There was only time for a hoarse chorus of voices to agree with him, before the bulkhead door exploded and a torrent of Fenshilla soldiers poured up the corridors towards the human defenders.

                                                                     ***

The Fenshilla commandant gave a snarl of rage as the heavy toll amongst his soldiers was relayed onto his bridge. He was not in a good mood as the human male at his feet had attacked him and his officers several minutes earlier. The male had been in deadly fury after the commandant had kicked the human female in the head. The commandant’s long snout was broken in two places, and he also now limped badly as well. He knew now that the human defenders on the transports consisted of a mixture of Earth and Barede humans, and they had fought hard before being taken.

Fortunately his platoon commanders had listened to his earlier briefings and both the damaged transports were still intact due to their actions. The commandant was also now aware that his earlier easy successes in capturing the survivors of the first two human destroyers would not be easily repeated.

The total number of humans was quickly calculated and the Fenshilla commandant formed a grudging respect for the human defenders. For less than twenty defenders per transport had each cost over ninety elite soldiers per ship. He knew that the breeding farms would soon replace the soldiers tenfold, but he had a significant investment in these elites. The Fenshilla by habit shook his loose pelt and a torrent of loose skin cascaded onto the deck around him.

The naked pair of humans still cowered at the commandant’s feet and they retched loudly as his odour engulfed them. He gave another snarl with a cruel mouth filled with sharp teeth, but now did not strike them, since they had been selected as prime breeding stock, and the human female now always seemed to be in the way after the recent attack. The Fenshilla then noted the next reports from his soldiers with satisfaction, as the newly captured humans consisted of several young females.

Freya Paulson had listened with alarm as the last radio message between the two transports had been replayed onto the bridge. Her head and her left hip hurt and she was a mass of bruises, but she was focusing coldly on what was occurring around her. Apparently Barede colonists had earlier arrived with a Trader ship and had come to the aid of the transports.

The Traders had then fought the Fenshilla in a ferocious battle, before fleeing with several human ships, and Freya fervently hoped they would get the story of the Fenshilla attacks back to Earth. She soon stopped retching, and again slowly placed herself between her Fenshilla jailer and the battered form of Steve Rickers. Freya then remembered the details of Steve’s frenzied attack that had led to his beating.

Nearby lay two dead Fenshilla bridge officers that Steve had killed with his fists and feet despite being chained around the waist. The Fenshilla commandant had defended himself with his short club during the attack, and had kicked her to subdue her, but now he was reluctant to strike her again. Freya kept still and took in the events unfolding around her with hooded eyes filled with rage. The Fenshilla had weaknesses, and she would await a time to exploit them and enact a savage toll on her jailers.