The Aurora (Aurora Saga, Book 1) (21 page)
Londuo stopped.
‘It means that we’re going to attack their base on Dagnamk, aren’t we, James?’ she said quietly.
‘You mustn’t say anything to anyone else,’ James said, looking around the room. ‘You’re not supposed to know yet.’
‘I won’t, James,’ Londuo replied. ‘What do you think of the food?’
‘It’s a bit different to what I’m used to, but I like it,’ he replied.
‘Wait until you’ve had it for a while,’ Londuo remarked.
James smiled and watched Londuo for a moment.
‘Your tattoo…’ James paused, thinking how to translate into Qinant what he was about to say. ‘It’s very pretty. It suits you.’
‘Tattoo?’ Londuo replied, looking puzzled.
‘I don’t know what the correct translation into Qinant is,’ James said.
He pointed to Londuo’s face.
‘The claw.’
‘Oh, you mean the symoi.’ Londuo replied. ‘It’s an Oilop claw. It’s very fashionable in the military. We used to have extravagant hair styles, but they’re not very practical, so the symois have become very popular.’
‘I noticed a lot of people have symu… Symois… on their face and hands.’
Londuo nodded and smiled.
‘That sounded close enough.’
‘How long have you had it?’
‘Let me think. It must be eight… No nine sykals. Why don’t you have one?’
‘I’m not so sure. On Earth it’s called tattooing. You can have them anywhere on your body.’
‘Really!’ Londuo replied. ‘That’s weird.’
‘I assumed if you symoied your face and hands, then you’d have no reservations in decorating the rest of your body.’
‘Any symoi must be visible.’
‘Why?’
‘To hide it would mean your soul has something to hide.’
‘How would anyone know, though?’
‘Your soul would know. That would be enough.’
‘Most of the ones I’ve seen have been mystical beasts or animals.’
‘They’re the most popular, but you can have whatever you want. If you don’t like it, then you can have it changed or removed.’
‘It’s not permanent, then?’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Oh,’ James replied.
He finished eating, and referring to the food he commented,
‘That was very good!’
‘Let’s go outside,’ Londuo said.
They walked out and around the side of the balcony.
‘I often stand up here and just watch people,’ Londuo said, stopping and leaning on the handrail.
James looked over the edge.
‘You can forget sometimes that you’re on a ship,’ Londuo said. ‘The buzz of people and everyone looking relaxed. Listen…’
James listened.
‘You can’t even hear the drives from here,’ Londuo said.
A man and a woman passing below said hello. Londuo acknowledged them.
‘It’s a wonderful place,’ James said.
Suddenly a constant bleep began. Londuo pressed a flashing symbol on the komkey attached to her belt.
‘It’s time for me to get back to engineering,’ Londuo said, standing upright.
James half smiled.
‘I’ll show you some more of the ship tomorrow if you’d like?’ Londuo said.
‘Sounds an excellent idea,’ James replied.
They moved towards a pojin lift nearby. Londuo moved her left hand over the red symbol adjacent to the door, to activate the lift.
‘I’m on call, but they shouldn’t need me after fourteen hours,’ she said, waiting for the lift door to open. ‘I’ll meet you on the
Aurora
then.’
‘Captain Brasdoi, is that you,’ a voice called from behind them.
James and Londuo looked around at the approaching person.
‘Antaio, I didn’t expect to see you here,’ James said in surprise. ‘Gulino said you were stationed onboard the
Rellopila
?’
‘They needed me over here as extra security for this mission. Not that I know much about it,’ he said, with a smile.
They all entered the lift.
‘Engineering,’ Londuo said to the lift. ‘
Aurora
bridge. Antaio?’ she said, prompting him.
‘Oh,
Rellota
bridge,’ Antaio said, as it moved smoothly away. ‘What do you think of the old ship then?’ Antaio said. ‘It’s a bit bigger than the
Aurora
.’
‘You can say that again. I’ve never seen a structure so big,’ James replied. ‘Londuo’s been—’
Suddenly there was the sound of a distant explosion. The lift shuddered, and then the lights flickered. Londuo looked at Antaio.
‘We’re stopping,’ Antaio said.
‘EMERGENCY LIFT OVERRIDES ACIVATED’ echoed within the lift. The door opened.
‘What happened?’ James asked.
Kalrea
, he thought.
‘The lift overrides have been activated,’ Antaio said, looking worried. ‘The shaft blast doors must have closed.’
‘WARNING! DECOMPRESSION IN SECTION 28, LEVEL 14.’
‘WARNING! DECOMPRESSION IN SECTION 28, LEVEL 15.’
James there’s been an explosion in a defence battery near you,
Kalrea said.
‘There’s been a hull breach,’ Antaio said with urgency. ‘Londuo, can you check where we are!’
Londuo ran down the corridor to a junction, while Antaio accessed a nearby security terminal. There were loud bangs in the distance and the sound of creaking metal.
‘Section twenty-eight, level seventeen, corridor seven,’ Londuo said, as she returned.
Antaio quickly pressed three symbols.
James, you must get out of there!
Kalrea said with concern in her voice.
‘WARNING! DECOMPRESSION IN SECTION 28, LEVEL 16.’
Antaio looked down the corridor.
‘Quick, we don’t have much time. This way,’ he said.
They rushed along the corridor and rounded a corner.
‘We’re nearly there,’ Antaio said.
Ahead was a closed blast door. The floor behind them twisted and buckled.
‘WARNING! DECOMPRESSION IN SECTION 28, LEVEL 17.’
*****
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the
Lonori
, Isistia ordered,
‘Tell me what’s happening, Commander!’
‘We’ve just dropped from light speed, Captain,’ Adonti said, listening into his headset. ‘There’s been an explosion in the port defence matrix… battery thirty-four.’
Isistia put on her headset and looked at the holographic image of the
Lonori
. Section twenty-eight was flashing blue.
‘Blast doors activated in sections twenty-seven, twenty-eight and twenty-nine,’ Adonti continued.
‘All stop,’ Isistia ordered. ‘Scan the area for any ships.’
‘Repair crews are en route,’ a lieutenant said.
‘Lieutenant, how many people were in that section?’ Isistia asked.
‘Sixty-eight,’ he replied.
‘Captain Treno reports that the
Yemolopila
has severe damage to her starboard,’ Adonti said. ‘The full force of the explosion hit their lead fighter bays.’
‘Damn,’ Isistia said angrily. ‘At that speed we could have lost half the fleet.’
She shook her head.
‘I want to know what happened, commander. Get us underway as soon as the repair crews have sealed the hull breaches.’
*****
In section twenty-eight the lights flickered again before going out.
‘What now?’ James asked, staring into darkness.
Londuo grabbed hold of his hand.
Kalrea, we could do with some help here
.
‘Come on,’ Antaio said, looking impatiently at the blast door. ‘They should have opened by now.’
There was a faint crack and a line of light appeared between the doors. As soon as the doors had opened enough, they quickly squeezed through. There was a loud boom behind them from a bulkhead collapsing. Their section was now open to space, and they were at risk of being blown out.
I can only save you,
Kalrea said. The face of the telementor turned white, ready to protect him.
Antaio lunged for an air vent.
‘Grab something!’ he shouted.
James and Londuo held onto a small rail on an access panel, as the rush of air intensified.
James looked at Londuo. She looked terrified.
I’m scared, too, Londuo. Kalrea, you must be able to do something. I want you to save Londuo and Antaio.
‘We’ve got to get that… blast door closed,’ Antaio said, gasping for air. ‘The manual lever is… over there.’
I’ll do what I can,
Kalrea replied to James.
On the other side of the corridor, adjacent to the door, was a blue lever.
Kalrea
, James thought, struggling to look at the large letters, alongside the lever. He was finding it difficult to breath.
We’ve got to close blast door… two-eight-one-seven-seven delta. Can you—
I’m on it already
, she replied.
‘Hold on,’ James said. ‘Kalrea’s… accessing the… control…’
While he spoke the doors slammed shut, stopping the shrieking whistle of air. They all fell to the floor.
James entered the Atenol room for the mission briefing. Nine captains were already seated on chairs, arranged in a horseshoe shape around a Kimlo holographic table. Some of the captains were chatting to one another. James sat in one of the empty seats and watched four more people enter the room.
A young man sitting adjacent to him turned.
‘You must be James Brasdoi. I’m Regyio Keivom.’
James acknowledged him.
‘That’s some ship you’ve got there. I wish I had someone like Kalrea to take care of mine.’
‘Which ship is yours?’
‘Oh, she’s the destroyer
Thardopila,
one of the quickest ships in the fleet,’ he said, with a broad smile.
‘One of the slowest you mean, Regyio,’ a captain sitting nearby commented. ‘Don’t listen to him, James, he’ll want you to do a swap next,’ he said in jest.
‘That’s Lonil Gurlio,’ Regyio said. ‘He commands the
Horopila.
The last ship to reach the Lomj belt, as I recall,’ he said loudly.
‘Yes, but that was before the new drives—’
Captain Gurlio stopped abruptly when Milonri and Executive Captain Isistia Hirniol entered the room. They all stood to attention, James followed suit.
‘As you were,’ Isistia said. ‘Please sit.’
Isistia went to the far end of the Kimlo table to activate it, while Milonri looked quickly around the room. Then, he said,
‘Before we start the briefing I have some sad news. The current death toll from the explosion is forty-three from the
Lonori
and thirty-seven from the
Yemolopila.
There are five people still on the critical list.’
Milonri paced slowly around the room while continuing,
‘I’m sure you’re all aware an accident like that should never have happened.’
An image of the
Lonori
and
Yemolopila
appeared over the holographic table.
‘This is the recording from a monitoring eye onboard the
Rellopila,
which captured the explosion.’
James watched the image, which played through slowly, showing the two ships travelling alongside each other. It zoomed in on the laser turret.
‘The defence matrix records show that the laser turret was activated for a simulation firing two minutes before it exploded and charged to maximum.’
The image zoomed out from the turret, which exploded outwards from the
Lonori,
engulfing the side of the
Yemolopila
and tearing into its hull
.
The holes left from the explosion widened and tore as the ships decelerated rapidly.
‘As you can see from the size of the explosion, it couldn’t have just been the laser turret that caused this. The remains found inside the
Yemolopila
have been analysed. We found traces of a plutonic element. This wasn’t an accident; it was a deliberate act of sabotage.’
There was a solemn pause. James glanced at the other captains. Some looked at each other in astonishment; others shook their heads.
Milonri continued,
‘The Telqintre have known for the last two days that a Dreh agent has been operating on Brinoli, which is why we took the precaution of deactivating the long-range communication systems. That Dreh agent is now most definitely onboard the
Lonori
. Security will be doubled in all key areas. I want this agent found before he or she can cause any more damage.’
‘Sir, what about the
Lonori’s
security scanners?’ Captain Keivom said. ‘They must have recorded whoever entered that turret.’
‘Yes, they should have, but whoever did it knew the
Lonori’s
systems,’ Milonri replied. ‘The security scanners and their backups were shut down ten minutes before the explosion.’
‘Sir, if we double the security, the crews will wonder why,’ Captain Lemix commented. ‘What do we tell them?’
‘I’ve already considered that.’ Milonri paused. ‘I must tell you that the mission target is Dagnamk.’
At that moment, James saw an image of Dagnamk appear over the holographic table.
So that’s where the Treitans come from
, he thought.
‘There’ll be rumours floating about the increased security, but the crews will stop questioning it once we inform them about this mission.’
Milonri paused once more to look at each of the captains in turn.
‘We may not get another opportunity like this again. Our objective is to discover any weaknesses the Treitan have and if possible destroy their command centre. I’m going to give you details of your assignments.’
Another planet appeared next to the image of Dagnamk.
‘
Jomi,’
James read.
‘The destroyers,
Yemolopila
and
Vinzot
, supported by the frigates,
Rellota
and
Satiota,
are to attack the Treitan supply base at Jomi. This attack force will be led by Captain Treno of the
Yemolopila—
’
Captain Treno nodded her head.
‘Your mission will be a decoy for the main assault on Dagnamk,’ Milonri continued, pointing to the image of Dagnamk and Jomi. ‘You will attack Jomi on two fronts and send communications indicating that you are only the first wave in the attack. We are counting on the Treitans sending cruisers from Dagnamk to repel our offensive. You must strike quickly and ensure you can escape, without compromising any of your ships.’
‘These will be given to each of you, detailing your objectives.’ Isistia handed four small devices to Captain Treno.
Kalrea, what are they? They look like mobile phones.
Holographic notepads,
she replied.
Milonri walked around behind the chairs.
‘Executive Captain Hirniol will command the Dagnamk attack fleet. Your objective is to get as close to Dagnamk as you can, to give the
Aurora
the best chance of making it into the Dagnamk atmosphere. This is Captain Brasdoi of the
Aurora
.’
Milonri touched him on the shoulder.
‘Captain Brasdoi, you will not engage the enemy, no matter what is happening around you. You will get to Dagnamk as quickly as possible and will locate the Treitan command centre. Kalrea must access their main computer systems. We have to discover their weaknesses. You will assess the situation on Dagnamk and destroy as much of the base as you can, but you must get the data back to Brinoli, no matter what the cost.’
Isistia handed James a holographic notepad. He took a long lingering look at it, while Milonri continued,
‘The notepads contain details of the Dagnamk attack plan,’ Milonri added. ‘Your crews will be briefed tomorrow at seven hours.’
He nodded to Isistia.
Each of the captains looked at their notepads.
James was slightly frustrated and tried to see how the other captains were using them.
How did they turn them on,
he thought, while running this fingers around the edge.
I can’t find any buttons.
Press the face firmly,
Kalrea said.
James pressed the face and a menu of symbol was displayed.
Great! Now what? What do the symbols mean?
‘Thank you, Milonri,’ Isistia said. ‘You’ll be going up against their best cruisers.’
While Isistia spoke, the Kimlo table displayed a tactical image of Dagnamk and Qinant ships.
‘The
Lonori, Rellopila
and
Horopila
will lead the attack. Captains Lemix and Gurlio, you will move ahead and below the flight vector of the
Lonori
. Captains Lexu, Keivom and Gani, the
Beruopila
,
Thardopila
and
Atenopila
will provide additional firepower if required.’
Kalrea said,
Do you want me to download the contents of the notepad and give you a run through later on our Kimlo table?
Yes, please, Kalrea. Thank you.
‘Are there any questions?’ Isistia said.
‘Captain, why is our attack speed much faster than normal?’ Captain Lemix asked, reading his notepad.
‘Because we need to get close to Dagnamk, before the Treitans have a chance to intercept us,’ Isistia replied.
‘What about our fighters? We’ve never launched them at that speed before,’ Captain Lemix added.
‘I know, but I’m afraid I have no choice,’ Isistia replied. ‘To slow down would waste precious time.’
‘Captain, that also means that the frigates and fighters will barely have time to attack ahead of the main fleet,’ Captain Keivom said.
‘Yes, I know, but this will give us an advantage against the Treitan fighters. Because of our unpredictable speed, they will very likely misjudge the point of engagement and overshoot our ships. This will mean they will have to turn and catch us up before attacking again,’ Isistia said.
‘But what about the Treitan cruisers around Dagnamk? We’ll be on top of them too quickly,’ Captain Keivom said.
‘The plan is not to engage those cruisers. Once the
Aurora
is launched we’ll turn and withdraw,’ Isistia said. ‘Are there any more questions?’
She looked at each of the captains.
‘Good. Prepare your ships. Dismissed.’
As James got up to go, Isistia gestured to him.
‘James, we need to speak to you.’
James walked over to where Isistia and Milonri were standing, while the other captains left the room.
‘We understand you were caught up in the explosion,’ Milonri said.
‘Yes, it all happened very quickly. If it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of Antaio—’
‘Antaio?’ Milonri repeated.
‘Lieutenant Antaio Woip,’ Isistia said.
Milonri nodded.
‘—we wouldn’t have made it out of there,’ James said. ‘He managed to open a blast door for us to escape.’
‘Antaio’s in security,’ Isistia said to Milonri.
‘Then you were very lucky that he was with you at the time,’ Milonri said.
‘You don’t think the Dreh agent was trying to kill me?’ James said, feeling worried.
‘No, there’s no gain from it,’ Milonri replied. ‘If they kill you, then we’d be able to replace you with someone more experienced. No, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were trying to destroy the fleet or slow us down.’
‘Fortunately, they failed on both,’ Isistia said. ‘We can make up the time we lost over the next few days, but we’re concerned they may try again. The Dreh agent may already know our plan.’
‘They will certainly know tomorrow after the crew briefing,’ Milonri said. ‘James, we have a task for Kalrea. We want her to monitor the fleet. We’re looking for anything unusual: communications; access to restricted areas of the fleet; anything that could point to the Dreh agent.’
Did you get all that, Kalrea?
James thought.
I’ll start monitoring immediately.
‘Kalrea’s started.’
‘Excellent,’ Milonri said.
Isistia looked surprised.
‘I did tell you Kalrea’s very special, Isistia,’ Milonri said, with a grin on his face.
‘James, you’ll be in situations on this mission that you haven’t faced before,’ Isistia said. ‘Kalrea is very capable, but I’d like you to listen to Gulino and Londuo. They both have extensive combat experience, which could be valuable to you.’
‘Thanks, Isistia, I’ll remember that.’
