First Command (44 page)

      
She interrupted him to ask, “Which village were you born in and how were you raised?”

      
“I was born in Copernicus.
 
We were primarily an agricultural community, which I’m told was a hardscrabble existence initially.
 
There were no horses to use as plow animals because they were all being used as breeding stock.
 
It wasn’t until several years later that geldings became available for sale in the village markets.
 
Of course, by the time I was born, they had developed steam tractors and harvesters to increase farm size and yield.”

      
“I was the youngest of six children and not very good at farming.
 
My father saw to it that I was accepted by a guild.
 
None of the regular guilds were right for me, but he was determined I would learn a useful trade.
 
He eventually got me accepted into the Assassins Guild.”

      
Connie sat up and said, “The Assassins Guild?
 
That sounds rather ominous.”

      
“I guess it does sound rather ominous, but it was more of a military academy than a bunch of cutthroats.
 
We trained on all types of weapons and martial arts.
 
We advanced through the guild levels from novice to apprentice to master.
 
I had just achieved my Master status when we were discovered.”

      
“85 years after we landed, a survey ship looking for mineral-rich asteroids and new habitable worlds stumbled on us quite by accident.
 
We had no electronic signature and they assumed Archimedes was an uninhabited world.
 
When they first saw our villages, they thought they had discovered a new sentient species.
 
They were a bit disappointed when we answered them back in our heavily accented Galactic Standard.
 
We were quickly assimilated into the 22nd century, which caused any number of problems.
 
Duke Carl IV filed our application to join the Galactic Republic and it caused quite a stir.
 
We were the first second tier world.”

      
“Our world grew quickly and only a little of the old settlement is still there.
 
It was a large shift from the 19th century to the 22nd and some couldn’t or wouldn’t make the transition.
 
They set aside some of the villages as an enclave of the 19th century for those unable to make the transition.
 
Some people eventually left, but some people moved back in.
 
I guess that in about 50 years the enclave will be empty.
 
It will probably be made into a museum.”

      
“That’s the college notes version of my planet’s story.
 
Was it what you expected?”

      
She rolled over in her bunk and said, “How difficult was it for you to make the transition?”

      
“It wasn’t too difficult for me.
 
The Guild training made me able to quickly adapt to new situations.
 
I always knew the Galactic Republic was out there and that some day we would be discovered.
 
When Fleet Intel found out about the Assassins Guild, they heavily recruited us.
 
They taught us new modern skills and helped us to refine our old skills.
 
The transition was made quite easy for me.
 
I like being a reporting officer, although it does get lonely at times.
 
Fortunately, I have Rojo, my cat, to keep me company.”

      
He rolled over onto his side and said, “Now if there is nothing more, I’m going to sleep now.”

      
Connie stood up and stripped out of her coveralls and undergarments before crawling into her lower bunk.
 
Alistair rolled over onto his other side.
 
He lay there alone and did not go to sleep quite as quickly as he thought he would.

* * * * *

      
Fleet Commander J’Kalt called one last commander’s call before he moved into the star cluster.
 
He looked all of his captains in the eye and told them to remember what they had just practiced.
 
He told them to execute all orders with total commitment.
 
If they hesitated in an ambush situation, they would surely be destroyed.
 
It would be better to go down fighting than to suffer a hollow defeat.

      
He reminded them what was at stake if the Humans broke out into K’Rang space here between these two main worlds.
 
It could mean splitting the empire and its eventual destruction.
 
He could see in their eyes that they understood the seriousness of their situation, and knew they would all do their duty.
 
He ordered them back to their ships and gave them four hours to prepare their ships and crews for combat.
 
They would enter the star cluster in six hours.

      
He had requested reinforcements and had been promised at least a cruiser squadron to backstop him here at the entrance to the star cluster.
 
If he was met by a superior force and annihilated, they would have to hold the entrance against a possible Human attack.

      
He brought the captains to attention and said, ”Long live the Empire!”

      
They answered in unison, “Long live the Empire!”

* * * * *

      
      
Chief Johnson brought Kelly the news that the K’Rang Fleet was moving toward the star cluster from their exercise position behind the nearest main world.
 
Kelly passed that information to the Fleet.
 
Admiral Minacci ordered the Vigilant to move to a position to directly monitor the K’Rangs’ actions and report them to the Fleet.
 
Kelly acknowledged the order and moved out.
 
He gave orders to Chief Johnson to launch sensor pods to all pre-designated positions.
 
Seven sensors left the Vigilant, speeding to overwatch, chokepoints, and decision points in the star cluster.

      
The Vigilant moved out to the fringe of the star cluster and hid behind a larger than normal brown dwarf.
 
He monitored the K’Rang fleet movement into formation as it approached the entrance to the star cluster.
 
They held off the entrance for an hour then, with the two Shadow Force destroyers in the lead, moved ahead and into the star cluster.
 
Kelly passed this information to the reinforced 3rd ALG.
 
Everyone was in position and as ready as they could be.

* * * * *

      
Friedrich Debran was being briefed on third quarter profits, something he normally took high interest in, but not today.
 
Something was nagging at the back of his mind.
 
Irritated at not being able to focus on the subject, he threw the briefer out of his office.

      
Roger Delphant came in as the sacrificial lamb to find out what or who was putting the boss in a sour mood.
 
As he walked in, Debran was staring at a holographic display of the Pleiades.
 
Roger thought he understood.

      
“Are you worried about your investment, sir?”

      
Debran looked up, about to throw Delphant out too, when he softened and motioned for him to sit down.

      
“Damn right I’m worried.
 
I’m into them for 300 million credits and stand to lose it all if the K’Rang get in there and close off the star cluster.
 
I want my own eyes in there, Roger.
 
Get in touch with your Hooligans and have them assist in the defense of the planet.
 
Put them under the control of that admiral if we have to.”

      
“Yes, Mr. Debran.”

* * * * *

      
Kelly saw an opportunity to draw first blood.
 
He watched the K’Rang fleet move further into the cluster.
 
As the last of the trailing frigates moved into the cluster, the missile corvette moved up to the entrance.
 
Kelly concluded he must be their communications relay back to the main worlds.
 
Kelly couldn’t let that continue.
 
He gave the K’Rang fleet an hour to get into the first kill box, cut off from retreat, and then he would take this guy out.

      
Kelly called up the specs on this corvette and realized he had taken on a later model of this type before.
 
In fact, it was an engagement with three of these that got him kicked out of Fighter Force and allowed him to be where he was now.

      
Connie, sensing Kelly was lost in thought, asked him if something was wrong.

      
Kelly slipped out of his reverie and said, “See that guy out there?
 
I took three of them out once when I was still in fighters.
 
It saved my carrier, but got me booted out of Fighter Force.”

      
“How did that happen, sir?
 
I mean we’ve all heard rumors, but none of us know what really happened.”

      
Kelly checked his sensor feed to see where the lead destroyers were in the cluster, realized he still had about an hour before the first trap sprang, and started his tale.

      
“We had a general in the Fighter Force that thought she was a modern day Marshall Ney, Napoleon’s cavalry chief.
 
She kept looking up historical battles and drawing all the wrong conclusions.
 
She thought she was being innovative and classical at the same time.
 
No matter what she saw in these old battles, she always set up our operations in the most restrictive manner possible.
 
It was as if she didn’t trust us to think on our own.
 
She had a tendency to trust the technology more than the mind operating it.
 
Have you ever heard of the wall of fire tactic?”

      
“Yes, sir, we covered it in tactics training in the Academy, but that was obsolete over a decade ago.”

      
“Well General Bugarov thought of it as her master stroke.”

      
“Oh, Bugger Off!
 
Everyone on Antares Base has heard of her.”

      
Kelly frowned, then continued, “She called for a fleet-wide fighter defense exercise and set it up to run near the K’Rang frontier, to demonstrate our capabilities.
 
My carrier and two others were to play the blue force and two carriers were to play the red force.
 
I was a 2nd LT and had the temerity to ask if the wall of fire didn’t make us vulnerable to an enemy that would stack forces against one sector until they overpowered the defense and punched through.
 
I had my head handed to me.
 
She had my squadron commander personally remind me to keep in formation in our mission briefing.”

      
“Well, that was not to be my lucky day.
 
As we moved out to our squadron defensive position on the backside of the fleet, my damage simulator went offline as if I’d been shot down.
 
I drifted in space with my nav lights blinking and limited maneuver control.
 
I was told to wait for the recovery team to come out and get me.
 
That would have been an hour wait until the combat phase was competed.”

      
“I tried everything I could think of to get the damage sim to recycle, but nothing worked.
 
I even had Wanda reason with it.
 
That didn’t work, either.
 
That’s when I saw the K’Rang.
 
There were three missile corvettes like our friend over there.
 
All I saw was a star blink on and off as one moved in front of it.”

      
“Wanda was able to resolve what they were and how far off.
 
We convinced the damage sim to release the ship back to me if they crossed the border, which they did.
 
I took out the three corvettes, and my reward when I got back on board the Bolivar was to be read court martial charges by the General.
 
The Fleet Commander put a stop to that and awarded me the Space Medal for saving his flagship.”

      
“General Bugarov expelled me from Fighter Force and sent me to Antares in exile.
 
I ran into Captain Hasslerode, and he convinced me that Scout Force might be the place for me.
 
The rest is history.”

      
“Thank you, sir, that answers a lot of questions.”

* * * * *

      
The K’Rang fleet moved beyond the distance where they could turn back and support the corvette.
 
Kelly had the navigator make some calculations on what it would take to make an FTL run at the corvette and stop just amidships.
 
The navigator made some quick calculations and announced it could be done at FTL power 1.
 
Kelly instructed him to pass the course, speed and braking point to the helm.
 
The helm acknowledged.
 
Kelly told the gunner to get ready with all guns.
 
The gunner locked all guns forward and said he was ready.