Ep.#5 - "Rise of the Corinari" (36 page)

“Our intelligence also indicated that the Loranoi was traveling to Savoy from the Norwitt system,” Nathan said. “If this information is accurate, we should be able to locate the Loranoi along the route from Norwitt to Savoy.”

“And the Wallach?” Mister Briden asked. “Can you locate her as well?”

“That may not be possible,” Tug admitted. “We have no information as to her last port of call; therefore, we will have to search every imaginable route.”

“Surely the mighty Aurora can handle a single frigate,” a translator for one of the Corinari generals stated. “After all, did she not defeat the Yamaro?”

“The Yamaro was of an older design and was known to be underpowered,” Tug asserted. “No offense to Captain Scott, but the Aurora did not defeat the Yamaro; the mutineers surrendered her.”

“But the Campaglia,” another translator spouted, “she was a battleship as well, and a formidable one at that.”

“Yes,” Nathan agreed, “but we were lucky. We had jumped inside her shields by accident. There was no time to take evasive action, and we were forced to ram her.”

“But you also filled her with torpedoes, did you not?” the translator argued. “Were not they the cause of her ultimate destruction?”

“Yes, but…”

“The point is, Captain, that the mighty Campaglia was destroyed and the Aurora survived…”

“Barely!” Nathan interrupted. “The Campaglia was a powerful ship, yes, but she was caught by surprise by an unknown enemy. I’m not so sure we’ll have the same advantage this time.”

“Why not?” Mister Briden inquired indignantly.

“We have reason to believe that the Ta’Akar have already begun using the zero-point energy device in their comm-drones,” Tug explained, “resulting in increased speeds, possibly as fast as one thousand times the speed of light.”

Again the room filled with chatter as generals quickly recalculated the message transfer times resulting from comm-drones traveling a thousand times the speed of light. The looks on their faces revealed the depth of their concern.

“We believe this is why the Loranoi is to rendezvous with the Wallach, in order to exchange the Wallach’s older, slower comm-drones for the newer, faster versions,” Tug added.

“We also have cause to believe that they may have started to upgrade their warships, refitting them with the zero-point energy devices.”

The reaction was explosive this time, and it took several minutes for the room to settle down to the point where discussion could continue.

Cameron watched in silence as she had since the beginning of the meeting. After witnessing the Corinairans argue and debate amongst themselves for several minutes, she finally had enough. “Nathan,” she said, leaning closer to him in order to be heard. Tug also leaned in from Nathan’s opposite side in order to hear her. “These people are never going to come to any consensus.”

“How do you know?” Nathan wondered. “You can’t even understand what they’re saying.”

“I don’t need to,” she insisted. “Just look at them; look at their body language. I doubt there are two people amongst the lot of them that are in agreement over anything you’ve presented.”

“She is correct,” Tug added. “The generals are screaming for action. The politicians are worried about global panic and the collapse of their governments. The industrialists are counting the profits to be made. And the civil security authority is worried about a resurgence of the anarchy that occurred after the Yamaro’s attack.”

“You have to say something,” Cameron told him. “You have to pull them together somehow.”

Nathan looked at her with surprise.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “I can’t believe I said that either. But the fact is, it’s time for Na-Tan to speak. These people need to act, not react.”

Nathan looked at the men in the room. Their faces were reddened with anger as they shouted at one another about what to do, about what was to become of them. He surveyed those in attendance. There were numerous politicians, each representing either a major nation of Corinair or a minor world within the Darvano system. There were also several of the most influential industrialists, two Corinari generals, and the chief of civil security for all of Corinair. He was unsure how things would go if matters called for any kind of a vote, but he had little choice. The Aurora and the Karuzari could not defend the Darvano system against two warships without the help of the Corinairans, and the Corinairans were practically helpless without the Aurora.

“Gentlemen,” Nathan stated, but was not heard above the din. “Gentlemen! Please!” he shouted, standing up in the hopes of drawing their attention. He raised his hands and shouted again, but still it was of no use. “EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!” Nathan roared, demanding their attention. He kicked his chair back and climbed over the top of the table, landing inside the circle of conference tables at which the attendees were arguing. He was not going to stand for any more mindless discourse. These people were going to listen.

“Gentlemen, now is not the time for debate. Now is the time for action. We have thirty days to prepare a defense.”

“And what do we do if we are successful in defending ourselves?” Mister Briden asked. “The Ta’Akar will return, and most assuredly in greater numbers. Can you defend against an invasion as well?”

Nathan looked around the room, noting that each of the translators had communicated Mister Briden’s words to their superiors, most of whom were nodding their agreement with Mister Briden’s concerns. “We attack,” Nathan stated calmly. “We take the fight to them. We hit them where they are most vulnerable.”

“And where might such vulnerabilities be, Captain?” Mister Briden challenged. “The Ta’Akar are everywhere.”

“They are?” Nathan asked. “I don’t see them here now. Nor did I see them when we first arrived.”

“They appear randomly, usually when you least expect them,” Mister Briden warned.

“The Ta’Akar are not everywhere, sir,” Tug stated emphatically. “They only wish you to believe as much. They control all interstellar travel and communications within the Pentaurus cluster, therefore they control all information as well. The Karuzari have weakened them over the decades, reduced their numbers by more than half. Because of this, they have abandoned the worlds they once held that lay beyond the cluster. They have gathered half their remaining fleet around their home system to protect themselves, while they shuffle the other half amongst their remaining systems.”

“And what is the size of their remaining fleet?” Mister Briden asked.

“Our last estimates showed three battle groups, two of which are stationed in the Takaran home system. The third battle group is unaccounted for and is presumably roaming the cluster as we speak. In addition, there are seven more unattached vessels patrolling the cluster. Two cruisers and five frigates.”

“That is eighteen ships,” one of the general’s translators declared. “We cannot possibly take on eighteen ships.”

“We don’t plan to,” Nathan insisted. “We thin the herd. A series of strikes against isolated targets, combined with a series of comm-drones sent to deliver deceptive information to the enemy. If we can get the Ta’Akar to dispatch at least one of her two battle groups from the Takaran system, we could then conduct a surgical strike against their command and control, perhaps even against Caius himself.”

“You are proposing that we attack the Royal Palace of the Ta’Akar?” Mister Briden sputtered. “Are you mad?”

“It is not the dragon’s claws you must fear,” one of the general’s translators began, “nor is it his tail…”

“It is the fire in his eyes and mouth,” Tug finished.

“Gentlemen,” Nathan stated calmly, “I propose we cut off the head of the dragon.”

* * *

“I’ll need you to represent our interests at the planning table with the Corinari generals,” Nathan told Cameron as they walked quickly through the hospital corridors.

“I need to be back on the ship,” Cameron protested. “We’ve got a new crew that needs to be trained, and in a really short amount of time I might add.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Commander?” Nathan said. “You’re still a patient in this hospital.”

“Oh, I can fix that real quick,” Cameron insisted, stopping at the nearest nursing station. “Get me a doctor, now!” she ordered a nurse. The young woman behind the counter stared at her blankly, not understanding a word she was saying. “A doctor! Do you understand?”

Another woman, older than the first, stepped up. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, I need to speak with a doctor right away.”

“Commander…” Nathan began.

“Don’t even try, Nathan.”

“I can order you, if you’d like.”

“And I can ignore you, if I’d like.”

“Cameron, I need you completely well and at full strength when the Ta’Akar come.”

“And I will be, but you also need a crew that’s as ready as they can be, and for that you also need me.”

“Cam…”

“I’m fine, Nathan. I’m at full strength, I’m telling you. I don’t even know why I’m still here.”

“I’m sure that if the doctors thought…”

“Look, if the doctors say I can go, will that be good enough for you?”

“Of course, but…”

“Great.” Cameron looked around. “Where the hell is a doctor when you need one?”

“Can I help you, miss?” the older woman in medical attire asked.

“I don’t know; are you a doctor?”

“Yes, I am Doctor Marcella. What seems to be the problem?”

“I need someone to tell my captain here that I’m cleared to check out,” Cameron insisted.

“You are the young woman from the Earth ship?”

“Yes.”

“Your case was presented in conference the other day. Quite interesting.”

“Great, I have an interesting case. Can I go back to my ship?”

“You should probably speak to your doctor about that,” Doctor Marcella advised.

“Look, Doc,” Cameron pleaded, “I just need to know if it’s possible for me to return to my ship. I have work to do there, and I feel fine."

“It is my understanding that you still have nanites working inside you. If that is the case, then you still require periodic monitoring to ensure their proper operation, as well as their discharge from your body when their work is complete.”

“Yeah, I know. I have to relieve myself in metal trays. Don’t remind me,” Cameron said, rolling her eyes. “Can’t I do all that on the ship?”

“Well, there are portable nanite monitoring devices, but they are not routinely used as they…”

“Ah hah!” Cameron interrupted. “That’s it! Get me a portable monitor!”

“Excuse me, Doctor, but is it at all possible that Commander Taylor could return to the ship using some kind of portable monitor setup?”

“It is possible,” the doctor admitted hesitantly, “but you would need a doctor familiar with nanite therapy, as well as a nanite technician on board as well.”

“Great,” Cameron explained. “We’re heading for combat in a month anyway. Seems to me having a few nanite specialists on board might be a good thing, right?”

“All right, I’ll look into it.”

“You’ll look into it?” Cameron asked, not satisfied with his answer.

“I’ll request it,” Nathan promised, “but only if Doc Chen agrees. Meanwhile, you get busy with the Corinari generals and light a fire under their butts. We’ve got a month, tops.”

* * *

“Good morning, everyone,” Nathan greeted as he sat down for his morning briefing. “As you can see, we have a new member joining us. For those of you who have not met Major Prechitt, he will be joining us as the commander of the Corinari Aerospace Group being assigned to us. In other words, the major is our new CAG.”

A round of, "Welcome aboard,” greetings were tossed about the room.

“Excuse me, sir,” Major Prechitt asked, “CAG?”

“Commander Air Group,” Nathan explained. “It’s the acronym we use to describe your position. It’s left over from the days of surface navies back on Earth. I guess in your case, however, CAG would stand for ‘Commander Aerospace Group.’”

“Yes, of course,” Major Prechitt said. “Like Master Chief Montrose’s title. ‘Chief of the Boat’ was it?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Nathan agreed. “How are things shaping up with our new air group, Major?”

“The first group of twenty-four interceptors will be ready to begin flight operations from the Aurora within two weeks, Captain. In light of the new threat, efforts to get the second wing ready have been doubled. However, there is an additional problem in that the second wing is being formed using interceptors from multiple nations, so there will be some compatibility issues to be worked out, as well as some procedural ones.”

“I can make it easy for you,” Nathan said. “Normally, on an Earth ship, whatever the CAG says goes, at least in regards to the operation of the air group.”

“It may not be that easy, sir. There are some cultural issues to deal with as well. However, I feel confident that they will not present too much of a problem. My biggest concern is the amount of time available for launch and recovery training. Ours crews are trained for ground operations.”

“We’ll be able to provide some assistance in that area, Major. Both the XO and I are pilots rated for deck-ops, so we have some experience in that area. Plus, we have quite extensive policies and procedures manuals available in the mainframe for your people. If you like, we can have them translated into Corinairan as well.”

“That will not be necessary,” Major Prechitt assured him. “At least half of my pilots already speak Angla, and the rest are going through intensive language training as we speak. I would rather not give them an excuse to ignore their studies.”

“Very well,” Nathan responded.

“Sir, do you have any idea when we can begin training?”

“Both fighter alleys are clear and ready,” Vladimir stated. “And the entire forward section is at least habitable now. There are still things to work on, but your people can move in whenever you are ready, Major.”

“Excellent,” Major Prechitt exclaimed. “We will begin setting up shop immediately. That way, I can get the ground, I mean, deck crews trained and ready before we fill your bays with fighters.”

“I believe I like the sound of that,” Jessica stated.