Ep.#6 - "Head of the Dragon" (The Frontiers Saga) (6 page)

“I never did care for them much,” the captain responded dryly. “Now, before we begin, would it be possible to move to another room? The smell of my officers’ excrement is becoming a bit overwhelming.”

“Guard!” Jessica called out.

Tug shook his head at the captain’s explanation and at his indifference to the well being of his officers.

“Take him to the next room,” Jessica ordered. “We’ll be there shortly.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard responded as he began to undo the captain’s restraints.

“Nobles,” Dumar mumbled, shaking his head as the guard led the prisoner out of the room.

“I will get even with both of you assholes,” Jessica assured them. “You know that, don’t you?”

“I am sure you will,” Tug stated.

* * *

“The Campaglia was the first ship in the imperial fleet to be fitted with a zero-point energy device,” Mister Dumar explained to Captain Scott in his ready room. “Her original mission was to conduct field tests of the device’s performance under various conditions. However, when the empire learned of the location of the rebel base in the Taroa system, the Campaglia was dispatched to strike quickly before the Karuzari had a chance to move again. They had originally intended to refit their three main battleships with ZPEDs, believing that, once completed, they would be invincible. The Avendahl was the next to begin her refit, which is still in progress.”

“How long until the Avendahl’s refit is finished?” Nathan asked, concern showing on his face.

“Based on the time it took the Campaglia to complete her refit, I would guess a few weeks,” Mister Dumar stated.

“Captain, we may have even less time than that,” Cameron said. “The second time around is usually faster than the first.”

“True,” Nathan agreed.

“I would concur as well,” Dumar said. “The Yamaro would have been the next ship to be refitted, followed by the Wallach.”

“I thought you said they wanted to refit their battleships first?” Nathan wondered.

“Yes, but after the destruction of the Campaglia, Caius became enraged. Rumor has it he has become increasingly unpredictable as of the mysterious disappearing ship continue to plague him.”

“The next message should really push him over the edge,” Jessica quipped.

“There is more truth to that statement than you know,” Dumar warned. “According to the Loranoi’s captain, many of the nobles are worried about the security of their own holdings. There has even been some discreet discussion amongst the nobles, mostly contemplation mind you, that it might be possible to overthrow Caius and allow the empire to fracture into many separate entities, with each noble ruling over their own lands.”

“Wouldn’t that be convenient,” Nathan said.

“Do not put too much stock in such discussions,” Tug warned. “The nobles have been talking in private about such ideas for more than a decade, ever since the empire was forced to abandon its outer worlds in order to maintain control over the original worlds of the Pentaurus cluster.”

“This is true,” Mister Dumar agreed, “but the main thing that prevented such a revolution has always been the presence of battleships commanded by the highest of the nobles, the Lords of Ta’Akar.”

“The Lords of Ta’Akar?” Nathan repeated. “These people really like their titles, don’t they?”

“Indeed they do,” Dumar agreed. “The Lords of Ta’Akar are the rulers of the four main worlds of the Takaran system.”

“Four? You mean there are four inhabited planets in the Takaran system?” Nathan asked, somewhat in shock.

“Including inhabited moons, there are actually eight,” Tug explained, “three planets and five moons.”

“You’re telling me that one system has that many hospitable worlds?”

“Actually, there were originally only two,” Dumar stated, “the planet Takara and the moon Liko. The others were reformed to better support human life early on, perhaps seven or eight hundred years ago.”

“How many people live in the Takara system?” Cameron wondered.

“Over forty billion,” Tug stated.

“Captain, the situation does present an interesting opportunity,” Dumar said. “With both the Campaglia and the Wallach destroyed, if you were able to somehow destroy the Avendahl as well, the lesser nobles might see it as the perfect opportunity to fulfill their dreams and overthrow Caius.”

“That could work in our favor,” Nathan observed.

“Or it could lead to even more chaos, death, and destruction, as the nobles battle it out amongst themselves,” Dumar added. “But those battles would likely take place in the Takaran system, and not here in the Darvano system. And it could take years for the dust to settle, during which time the Corinari might be able to produce adequate defenses of their own, especially now that they have the jump drive technology.”

“Definitely something to think about,” Nathan concluded. “Thank you.”

“If there are no objections, I would like to continue my discussions with the Loranoi’s captain,” Mister Dumar announced. “I believe there is much more information I can obtain from him.”

“Very well, continue your discussions,” Nathan ordered. Mister Dumar bowed his head, turned, and exited the ready room.

“We’re going to need to verify the intel he’s giving us,” Jessica warned Nathan.

“Agreed,” Nathan answered, “at least as much as is possible.”

“Shall I fly a recon mission through the Takaran system?” Tug asked.

“Do you think that’s wise?” Nathan asked.

“No, but it is necessary,” Tug admitted. “Besides, I believe that, if I keep my emissions low and stay cold, I can drift through the system without being seen.”

“Very well, but play it safe,” Nathan urged.

“Of course,” Tug agreed, also exiting the ready room.

Nathan looked down at the interrogation report on his data pad. “Jesus, Jess. Did he really make them shit themselves?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty,” Jessica commented.

“And he had you fooled as well?” Nathan asked.

“Yup,” she admitted. “He’s good.”

“But Tug knew what was going on.”

“Yup.”

Nathan could tell that Jessica was still a bit angry about being played along with the prisoners. “I’m glad I’m not Tug or Dumar,” he mumbled.

“Damn right you are,” Jessica responded.

A small laugh escaped his lips. “I’ve got another job for you, Jess,” he began. “We need to reestablish contact with Corinari command. From what Naralena picks up through comm traffic, things are pretty chaotic on Corinair right now, even worse than after the Yamaro’s attack. Put together a team and see what the hell is happening down there. We need to be able to speak to whoever is in charge at the moment.”

“Yes, sir.”

Chapter Two

“I’ll be waiting for you, Mister Tugwell,” Jessica stated as they walked across the hangar deck. She was in full combat field gear, and Tug was in his flight suit.

“I may just go straight to Karuzara upon my return,” Tug joked.

“Chicken?” Jessica asked as they parted and she headed away toward her shuttle.

“Quite,” he chuckled as he ascended his boarding ladder. Tug dropped himself into his seat and began to fasten himself in. He reached to his left to receive his flight suit helmet from the deck technician, only to find that it was Marcus handing it to him.

“I’m fairly certain senior chiefs aren’t usually the ones to tuck pilots into their cockpits,” Tug stated as he donned his helmet.

“And I’m fairly certain leaders of newly born nations don’t go off on dangerous recon missions deep into enemy territory,” Marcus countered. “Besides, last time, I brought you luck. I figure it’s best not to break tradition.”

“Last time, you brought me good advice,” Tug corrected. “I’d welcome any you might have to offer this time around.”

“How about keep cold and quiet, and keep your finger on the jump button at all times.”

“I’ll try to remember to do just that.”

“See ya soon,” Marcus told him as the canopy closed. Tug nodded his acknowledgment as he began firing up his interceptor. Marcus climbed down the ladder and rolled it away, and a few moments later, the interceptor began to move slowly toward the transfer airlock at the aft end of the hangar.

“That is one crazy, old coot,” Marcus mumbled.

“Crazier than you?” Master Chief Montrose asked from behind him.

“Much.”

* * *

The small Corinari tactical shuttle flew low over the city of Aitkenna. Between the Yamaro’s attack a few months ago and the Wallach’s massive bombardment only a few hours ago, there was not much left of the city.

Jessica leaned out the open starboard hatch, holding onto the hand rail above while she gazed at the devastation below. “Anything yet?” she asked over the comms.

“No, sir,” the copilot answered, “nothing but civilian traffic and some local security band stuff. No high-powered Corinari signals yet, but we’re still too far away from the command center to pick them up if they are using local comms only.”

“Copy that,” Jessica answered. She looked out at the horizon. Two of the six fighters that had escorted her flight of three tactical shuttles were flying cover for them. The other two pairs covered the other shuttles as they all searched for signs of an organized Corinari presence. Aitkenna was the fifth city her shuttle had searched. It was the most likely one to have a Corinari presence since it was not only the capital but also close to the Corinari command center on the far side of the city.

“I don’t understand,” Jessica stated in frustration. “There should be somebody in uniform down there. They’ve got to see us flying overhead.”

“Sir,” the copilot began, “our shuttles look just like theirs. After all, they did come from the Ta’Akar. From below, they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

“But you’re squawking Corinari ID codes, right?”

“If by squawking you mean transmitting, then yes, we are. But if they don’t have working comms, they will not hear us. If you’d just gotten the hell bombed out of you, you’d be lying low as well.”

“How long until we get in comm range of Corinari Command?”

“Two minutes, sir.”

Jessica continued to scan the city below. They were flying low enough that she could make out small groups of people here and there as they moved about, so she knew there were survivors. Although the Wallach had been able to bombard the surface of Corinair from orbit for over half an hour, there was no way she could exterminate the entire population in such a short time, not without using nukes, and if Tug were right and the Ta’Akar intended to colonize this world for themselves, nuclear strikes against the surface would be unlikely.

Still, the amount of devastation from a single orbit was immense. The Wallach had undoubtedly used orbital launched cruise missiles that were able to steer themselves to various targets within range of the Wallach’s orbital path. With such weapons, she might have been able to level the planet within a few orbits.

“We’re in radio range now,” the shuttle’s copilot announced over the comms. “Continuing to transmit Corinari ID codes.”

Jessica shifted her position in order to get a better view as the shuttle cleared the edge of the city and descended slightly now that they were clear of the taller structures. There was a smoke plume directly ahead of them, a few kilometers yet distant.

“Uh oh,” she mumbled. “Is that where the…”

“Yes, sir, it is,” the copilot responded.

The smoke plume continued to grow in circumference as they flew toward it until, finally, it became clear that it was not a single plume, but several. In the middle of the plumes was a massive blast crater at least fifty meters deep and a few hundred meters in diameter. There were pieces of debris thrown out past the crater’s edges, many of which had landed in the surrounding forest, setting it ablaze in several spots.

“Jesus,” she exclaimed as the shuttle turned to starboard and began to circle what used to be the Corinari command center.

“I’ve got movement in the tree line,” the copilot announced. The ship banked hard to the left and began to climb, putting distance between the tree line and the shuttle.

“Are they friendlies?” Jessica wondered aloud. With the Corinari command center down and the national security services barely functioning, there was a good chance there could be armed loyalists or even Ta’Akar operatives below them in the trees, and the pilot wasn’t taking any chances.

“I’m getting hails. Issuing challenge,” the copilot reported. The shuttle rolled back to the right as it continued climbing hard. Jessica looked back inside at the ten heavily armed Corinari troops sitting patiently inside.

“ID confirmed, sir,” the copilot reported. “They’re survivors from command.”

“Put us down,” Jessica ordered. “I want to talk to them.”

* * *

“This will work,” Cameron insisted.

“How can you be sure of that?” Major Prechitt asked.

Cameron felt herself getting annoyed in much the same fashion as Nathan used to annoy her when they first started working together in the flight simulators. “Look, it was designed to be able to function as an open deck,” she explained. “We’re just taking it one step further.”

“But that one step is a rather big one,” Master Chief Montrose reminded her. “Three-quarters of our deck crew will be operating in a vacuum. That’s a lot of potential mistakes just waiting to be made.”

“We’ll have to beef up the deck monitoring,” she suggested. “We can set up teams to keep an eye on everyone working the open decks. We can monitor their life support systems, bio-telemetry, the works. And we can keep extra guys on cameras to keep people from making mistakes.”

“I suggest we have designated gear bosses to maintain all the pressure suits used by the deck crews, as well as having suit-techs to help people on and off with their gear and to check them over before they hit the airlock.”

“What about the cargo shuttles?” Major Prechitt asked.

“They’ll have to be loaded on the open deck,” Cameron told him. “They’re too big to fit through the inner airlocks.”

“That’s fine for cargo,” Master Chief Montrose said, “but it’s not going to work for passengers.”