Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 3 - Fleet Action (18 page)

‘Their search craft fly covertly and monitor all our positions, and the humans had also placed soldiers on the ground. They approach slowly and openly as if they are not seeking battle.’

Teanros thought about the scenario for several moments before he wearily replied.

‘They may later treat us as criminals after we destroyed some of their cities. However, they could have merely attacked us at long range with missiles of rockets from those unusual helicopter vehicles they possess. I suspect they are attempting to capture us alive and I admit that surrender is something we should consider.’

Teanros was expecting one of the other lieutenants to violently disagree and possibly shoot him. None of the other lieutenants spoke up, and none of them would meet his eyes either when he glanced along the moonlit clearing at them. The engineer whimpered in agony and then died badly, and the surviving Jerecab gave long low hisses of grief and shock at the nature of his death.

Teanros issued only two terse orders and ensured he collected all the laser pistols.

‘All scouts are to fade back to join us here in the clearing. No one is to move, let alone attack, when a human finally arrives to speak with us.’

Teanros cleared out one of their few backpacks and ensured all the laser pistols were disassembled as he then placed them inside the pack. To the east of the mangroves, the sky began to lighten as the local star approached sunrise from below the horizon.

                                                                     ***

Lieutenant John Ayers listened stoically as Kapten Ahmad Nasu spoke over the radio.

‘Well the situation in space is still progressing, so that just leaves those survivors. Anytime you are ready John…’

John was relieved at the news, but now he concentrated on reaching the survivors as the rest of his team took up defensive positions along the sides of the mangrove creek. The Aussie officer left his scuba tank and integrated helmet alongside his assault rifle as one of his team members handed him two clear bottles of water. John had considered but disregarded a white flag, as the symbolism would not mean anything to the Jerecab. The lieutenant checked his fins once he returned to water and ensured that the smaller radio headset was secure. He cradled the two large bottles of water in one arm and set off for the location of the Jerecab survivors.

John knew that his own forces were also tracking him as he slowly approached, and after several minutes, he got a terse order to halt. He glanced skyward and waited ten minutes as the first light strengthened before he again set of slowly forward up the creek. A nervous chattering noise mixed with low hisses sounded from in front of him and John knew that the Jerecab were close.

John picked out to his left a short beach backed by several taller trees and he slowly swam into the nearest end of the beach. Two Jerecab crept out from the trees and stood not ten metres from him as he slowly took off his swim fins. He noted that their eyes were both vertically slitted and a light salmon colour as he then in turn slowly stood up. The two Jerecab curtly bowed to him and he gave them a measured half bow in reply.

John was then amazed as the remaining Jerecab survivors slowly followed the two officers onto the small beach. He noted that several of them eyed greedily the two bottles of water he held. One of the first two Jerecab slowly came forward and offered a backpack filled with weapons, before bowing again and backing away.

John gave another half bow in reply as he noted the furtive and desperate nature of the Jerecab. He was also was surprised as the alien lieutenant spoke halting English.

‘I am Teanros, I speak for all of us and we totally surrender.’

John had the presence of mind to bow again as he replied.

‘I am Lieutenant John Ayres and we accept your surrender. Now your crew can be given water and aid.’

John handed over the two bottles of water and reported on his radio as he noted a wave of relief sweep through the Jerecab.

‘Sir they have surrendered and I will get three more of my team to come slowly forward with more supplies.’

Kapten Ahmad Nasu replied after several moments with an update, even as John spoke to other members of his team.

‘Sorry for the delay John, and a job well done. Now we got advice from space that the green stuff on the Jerecab’s fur is poisonous, so be careful making close physical contact with them. I will send in several inflatable boats to remove your teams and the Jerecab prisoners in about and hour. There has been more momentous news from space…’

John listened quietly to the news for a moment, but he gave no reaction and did not take his eyes from his Jerecab prisoners.

Teanros gratefully took the first water bottle, and after a moment’s inspection, he unscrewed the lid and took a long drink. He then handed the opened bottle to another survivor and allowed himself to feel quiet satisfaction at the turn of events. The lieutenant still had faith in Admiral Baunrus and the rest of the armada as his next comment to John Ayres illustrated.

‘We in turn will accept your surrender later when your fleet is destroyed. You will become slaves of the Jerecab, which is better than extinction.’

John knew that this comment was not worth replying to in any verbal manner, so he merely offered the Jerecab a large toothy grin, which must be a threat in any species. He noted that Teanros had glared back at him, before he turned his back on the Jerecab officer to look over the creek. The three other team members slowly approached with further supplies for the prisoners as a glorious day began around them.

                                                                     ***

Kapten Ahmad Nasu was having a spirited conversation with his superiors back in Djakarta over the radio. The pilot had early landed on a beach several kilometres north of the present emergency to preserve fuel, and Ahmad now paced the beach in the early morning light. He had heard of the estimated death toll from the attacks on Earth by the three frigates, and he knew that the greater international community was outraged by the attack and the loss of life. He ensured that he kept his tone polite as he laboured his point.

‘Leo, Aravinda, it is not just that they are enemy combatants, they are also alien combatants. We should insist that the galactic races try to sentence the survivors for their attacks on our civilians. Any attempts by us to impose justice on alien troops could be extremely foolhardy. Remember when the Barus and Traders were here long ago they said that galactic laws supersede local laws when in a galactic context and the invasion by the Jerecab armada is a military attack by an alien race.’

Ahmad paused for several moments as his two superior officers had already largely agreed with his views. It also helped that Ahmad’s father was the president of the south east trade federation, an organisation roughly equivalent to the much older EEC in standing. He knew that the loss of nearly eight million people in the three cities was tragic, but he was sure that the course of action he was recommending was correct.

The Indonesia captain looked out over the beach again and noted the old navy lifter settling into the water south of his position. The space ship unloaded smaller runabouts and the inflatable crafter were soon lost from sight as they entered the mangrove creek. His radio crackled again as the authorities in Djakarta came to a decision and issued him further orders. Ahmad allowed himself feelings of satisfaction and relief as he strode back to the waiting helicopter.

                                                                     ***

Chapter 9

Admiral Mary Neilson clenched her teeth and thought ‘this is finally it…’ as the Exeter’s hull again shook and then rang from several explosions well outside the hull. The lights flickered, but stayed on, and several members of the crew now composed themselves at their stations. Lieutenant Rick Gordon keyed through several data screens and spoke quickly but accurately.

‘Admiral, that was several small corvettes and two of the missile frigates exploding in front of us, but they seem to have taken care of most of the Jerecab missiles. Our second flight of missiles is now arriving at the location of the enemy.’

Mary activated the main view screen after technicians brought it back online, and she immediately established something about the huge space battle.

‘All remaining ships from the wing sections are to form up in front of the Exeter. The armada is wavering and there are gaps in their outer formations. I want all destroyers to attack the central ships with everything we have left. There are about forty frigates holding a tight formation and I want them taken apart. Instruct the large guns on the moon to also attack that formation.’

Mary knew that the last grouping of Long Lance missiles was still several minutes away and that they were targeting the central part of the armada. The ravaged human fleet closed ranks and the admiral noted that she had twelve destroyers left versus at least sixty Jerecab frigates. She watched critically as the second smaller flight of Long Lance missiles tore into the battle after staging only minutes earlier from their carrier missiles. The swarm of missiles raced in at top speed and tracked straight for the frigates, which were either still attacking the larger missile carriers or firing at the remaining destroyers.

The carnage of the battle appalled Mary, for she knew that her fleet had lost thousands of crew, and she guessed that the Jerecab losses must be horrific. The admiral considered that the area of space near the moon would be littered with wreckage from the fierce battle. Several of the Jerecab frigates now exploded from Long Lance missile strikes, and acting on hunch Mary broadcast a video message to the Jerecab admiral.

‘Admiral Baunrus, your armada is experiencing heavy losses and the losses will continue to climb further as our remaining allies and further missiles arrive. I call on you to surrender to save your race from further heavy losses. We will accept your unconditional surrender and will guarantee your safe return to your own worlds.’

The view screen changed to show the bridge of Admiral Baunrus’s flagship and a very surprised admiral. The Jerecab admiral merely snarled and made a curt cutting motion before the video connection deactivated. Mary merely gave another pair of orders around the bridge as her crew frantically operated their console stations.

‘All small ships with marines are to attack selected Jerecab ships and attempt to board them. All other ships are to continue their own attacks.’

The admiral then noted that two of the four Sspol cruisers and the Barus research fleet were renewing their attacks after merely defending themselves for several minutes from Jerecab missiles. Lieutenant Gordon pointed out that armada continued to reel about from the counter attacks and Mary still felt that they were in with a real chance of victory. She then turned her attention to the Vesta mining ships now attacking the two missile lifters and their guarding ships.

                                                                     ***

Tom Paulson spoke quickly over the radio to Jacques Monterey as the eight large mining ships lumbered in to attack the Jerecab formation. Their earlier plans had been altered after the identified the role of the two Jerecab lifters. The mining ships, M6 to M14 inclusive, each massed nearly twice the weight of a fifty thousand ton destroyer, but each of the lifters were at least double that again.

‘Jacques, we all go straight for the lifters and attempt to at least damage them. Our updated forward shields will increase the time it takes for their frigates to gun us down. We will launch our mining drones in two minutes to optimise the attack.’

Jacques was mater of fact about their chances as he replied.

‘As you say my friend, and at least their missiles are not attacking Earth or the destroyers. The Barus research fleet is pulling away to clear our attack vector.’

The Vesta miners had watched the battle unfold as they arrived and the mounting death toll appalled all of them. The sombre news of a nuclear attack on Earth had fired up the resolve of the miners after long hours in space. Tom had earlier also seen at two of the Sspol cruisers from close range and he had watched amazed as they had made yet another strafing attack on the armada. The amount of return laser fire the Sspol had taken was incredible, and he had noted that the two other Sspol cruisers must be damaged as they hung back from the battle.

The timer on Tom’s console chimed and he launched his three large mining drones. The Vesta miners now split into two groups of four and each group went after a Jerecab lifter. The two large targets loomed ahead of the mining ships as concentrated burst of laser fire from the frigates stuck their shields. The Jerecab frigates each launched missiles, but Tom was relieved to note that they were attempting to target the drones now racing ahead of the larger mining ships.

Jacques in M11 spoke again as the first of the drones exploded.

‘We need another thirty seconds get in range with our cutting lasers and the lifters are already attempting to avoid us. The drones will impact within ninety seconds.’

Tom counted down the time and distance in his head as the shields on his ship took more punishment from the nearby frigates. He now knew that if he had stayed with the standard shields then M6 would have already been destroyed.

The mining ships fired their lasers as one and the beams raced out to bracket the Jerecab lifters. The enemy ships were launching missiles again and a cutting laser must have detonated one of the missiles. Tom felt exasperation as the explosion was unfortunately not nuclear. He turned his attention back to their mining drones as the enemy frigates continued to defend the two lifters.

Suddenly a brilliant explosion flared over to Tom’s right and the signal for M12 died on his console. Jacques had seen what happened and yelled out the news.

‘Ben’s ship hit one of the frigates dead one and both blew up.’