The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict (30 page)

The
Informer’s
captain replied, “There was a corvette watching the entryway of the Opron – Hiricula hyperspace lane.  They had been there for many days without moving.  I suppose they were watching us watch them.”

She took a long breath and continued, “Suddenly, the passive scanners showed that a full fleet had appeared in the system and jumped minutes after arrival.  At first we weren’t concerned because we thought that they were merely going to Influenla.  However, they passed the Influenla hyperspace lane and continued to jump around the outskirts of the system.

She paused and waited for any questions.  There were none so she continued, “They jumped two more times, the last bringing them directly to the entry corridor of the Opron – Conron hyperspace lane.”

Admiral Wertak slumped slightly in apparent distress.   Not only had he managed to lose the
Sunflower
and all of the humans, but now it was clear that he had allowed them to jump into a waiting enemy fleet.

Wertak looked over at Admiral Solear.  He didn’t know what to say to the other admiral.  He considered saying “Sorry I lost your Humans”, but decided against it.  The words somehow seemed hollow.

Wertak noticed the lingering silence and responded, “Did they hail you or attack you?”

The
Informer’s
captain replied, “No, they just began lining up in single file for a jump to Opron.  We sent the message and jumped shortly thereafter.”

Wertak did some basic math.  The
Informer
left Opron three days ago.  The
Sunflower
left Conron two days ago.  At some point the two must have passed each other in hyperspace.  The
Informer
just arrived in Conron, meaning that the
Sunflower
would arrive in Opron about 20 hours from now.

Further, the
Sunflower
would more than likely exit hyperspace and find an entire enemy fleet waiting for them.  And there was nothing that he could do about it.  He couldn’t warn them because the message wouldn’t arrive in time.  He felt particularly angry and useless at the same time.

He said, “Thank you for the report Captain.”  He cut the connection with the
Informer
and turned to face Admiral Solear.  He technically outranked him, but he still wanted the other being’s advice.  He said, “Admiral what do you think?”

Solear responded, “The only decision left is whether or not we try to chase them.”

Wertak shook his head in agreement and said, “However, any decision I make is the wrong one.”

Solear answered, “Yes, if we chase them to Opron we will need to bring overwhelming numbers, at least 14 ships.”

Wertak nodded and said, “Correct.  However, if we send that many ships to Opron then Conron would be completely unprotected should the Hiriculan fleet actually come to Conron. 

Solear said, “That leaves the option of splitting the fleet.  Unfortunately, if we split the fleet, then it could get overwhelmed when it arrives at Opron.”

Solear continued, “And, as you already stated, the Hiriculans may have actually jumped here.  If we did split our fleet, then we would not have enough ships to defend Conron in that scenario.  Neither option is desirable I’m afraid.”

Wertak said, “The enemy fleet may already be in route here.  We won’t know for several more hours.”

Solear answered, “And if they didn’t immediately follow the
Informer
to Conron, then the
Sunflower
will be surrounded and captured when it arrives in Opron tomorrow.”

Wertak finished, “This fleet’s sole mission is to protect Conron from a possible invasion, so it is clear that we cannot send it, or even a portion of it, to Opron.”

Solear argued, “We have to do something.  At a minimum we need to send at least one ship to determine what happened.”

Wertak said, “And risk…”  He had wanted to say risk losing a good ship chasing a bad one.  He caught himself in time and said, “The Hiriculans capturing another ship.  We cannot in good conscience sacrifice a crew just to learn the fate of the Humans.  We already know what will happen if the
Sunflower
arrives in Opron and finds an enemy fleet blockading the entryway.”

“And what is that?” Solear asked.

Wertak smirked and responded, “Best case they can reverse course and jump back to Conron.  Worst case they will be forced to surrender and Hiricula will learn our little secret.”

Solear doubted that the humans would surrender.  This meant that they were already dead.  He was about to argue further when a proximity alert sounded.

Solear checked the scan and realized that there was another solution to the dilemma.

…………………….

The
Vista
and the
Jackal
completed their final micro-jump and exited hyperspace at the entry to the Conron – Opron hyperspace lane.  Crista activated the scanner and yelped when she saw the results.  Victor was about to say something in response, but they were hailed by traffic control.

Control: “Please state your destination.”

Jack replied, “The
Jackal
is headed to Hiricula.”

Victor replied, “The
Vista
has a contract to haul a cargo from Hiricula to Solaria.  We are in route to Hiricula at the moment to obtain it.”  Victor paused for a breath and continued, “What is going on?  Why are there so many warships at the entryway to the hyperspace lane?”  

Control: “I have to warn you that there may be a skirmish between the Alliance and Hiricula in the very near future.  You should consider postponing your trip until tensions have eased.”

Both Victor and Jack responded, “What happened?”

Control: “A Hiriculan fleet jumped from Netron and is now sitting at the entryway to the Conron – Opron hyperspace lane.  We don’t know yet whether or not they jumped here.”

Jack replied, “We are on a strict schedule.  We need to jump to Opron immediately.” However, on the plus side he now knew what to blame for being a week late.

Victor was about to respond when Control said, “Hold on, the Admirals want to speak with you.”

Once the connection was established, Admiral Solear said, “Victor, Crista, it is a pleasure to see you again.  And Jack, it is nice to finally meet you.  Ella spoke highly of you.”

Victor, Jack, and Crista each said “Hello” and “Thank you.”  Victor realized that after the wonderful compliment that they would probably be asked to do something.

Solear said, “Gentle beings, the
Sunflower
jumped to Opron about two days ago.  It is due to arrive tomorrow.  Unfortunately, there is a more than likely chance that a Hiriculan fleet is waiting for it when it arrives.”

Victor was wondering what it had to do with him.  He was starting to get a feeling that they were going to ask him and Jack to go get more humans.  “Great,” he whispered under his breath.  “We just got rid of the kitchenette.”

Solear concluded, “When you arrive in Opron, please perform a detailed scan of the immediate area.  Also, perform a passive scan of the entire system and try to determine where the Hiriculan fleet went and whether the
Sunflower
is with them.”

Admiral Wertak added, “Then send a detailed message back to Conron.  We really need this information.”

Jack responded, “The detailed scan will take several hours.  The added time will make us late.”

Admiral Wertak said, “Please it is important.  For you efforts on the Navy’s behalf, I can offer you a free reactor overhaul and engineering calibration for your plasma reactor.”

Both Jack and Victor both agreed.  Victor was surprised by the offer.  He would have done the scan for free without any thought of compensation. 

The two ships carefully weaved through the military blockade and entered the lane for the hyperspace corridor.  They set their speed at .002 light and got in a single file line spaced 10 minutes apart.  Traffic control contacted them and gave them a set of jump coordinates.

Crista entered the coordinates for Opron, double checked for accuracy, ran a computer simulation of the flight, performed a status check on the hyperdrive unit, and declared that they were ready to leave.

Victor said, “Engage the hyper drive.”  Crista could have easily just pressed the button after the status check, but somehow hearing the command to press the button still made sense to her.  Crista pressed the button and the
Vista
disappeared from Conron.  Ten minutes later Jack pressed his hyperspace button and the
Jackal
followed.

“They are ready for you,” stated the guard.

Admiral Lopeq’la didn’t like to be kept waiting, even by the High Council.  He especially didn’t like being summoned to personally deliver a report about his performance during the recent battle in Influenla.  And above all, he certainly didn’t like the fact that the summons came shortly after Admiral Fruid’la spoke to the council.

Admiral Lopeq’la entered the chamber and gave the traditional Hiriculan greeting.  He made each move cleanly and precisely, with military precision.  Once complete, he walked to the edge of the dais where the High Council was located and said, “How may I assist the High Council?”

“Can you tell us what happened in Influenla?”

Lopeq’la couldn’t see which of the 12 council members had spoken.  The raised dais that the High Council was sitting on made it nearly impossible for him to tell.  Further, there was a ray of light shining from an overhead skylight shining directly in his eyes.  He knew the effect was supposed to intimidate visitors, but he found it rather childish.

Lopeq’la replied, “Can you be more specific with your question?”

“Let’s start with when your fleet was supposed to reach Influenla.”

Lopeq’la: “The agreed rendezvous time was 14:00.  My fleet jumped into the system at 08:00 and set a course for the Spindle Station at a speed of .05 light.  Had we continued at that velocity, we would have reached the station at exactly 14:00.”

Lopeq’la retrieved the documents from his communication pad and forwarded them to the High Council.  There was a pause while they read the documents. 

“Please continue your report.”

Lopeq’la: “We were in the system for approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes when we saw the initial light of the asteroid being destroyed and spotted the Alliance cruiser.  I ordered our fleet to increase our speed to .16 light.  That is above the rated engine maximum of .15 light, but I felt the extra speed was worth the risk.”

He paused and waited for questions.  There were none, so he continued, “We arrived at the station 47 minutes later.  However, it was too late.  The prisoners had already escaped and the Alliance ships had already jumped to Opron.”

“Switching subjects, in your opinion how would you rate Admiral Fruid’la’s performance during the battle?”

Lopeq’la really didn’t want to answer this question.  It was one thing to tease another admiral in private, it was quite another to officially testify that he had failed horribly.

Lopeq’la responded, “I watched the battle play out in relatively real time.  I also reviewed the logs of the battle after it was over.  I do not believe that Fruid’la could have done anything differently to affect the outcome of the battle or that he could have foreseen the harshness of the attack.  However…”

Lopeq’la left the rest of the sentence unspoken.  He waited patiently for a response.

“However, you would have done something different?”

Lopeq’la: “Yes.  He was overconfident that he could defend the entire system with essentially just a frigate and an oversized battleship.  He should have anticipated that the Alliance would mount a rescue attempt.  His error was ordering the rest of his fleet to leave the system before the prisoners had been safely transferred.”

“So you think you could have succeeded where he failed?”

The statement was asked like a question, but Lopeq’la felt like it was more of a statement.  The High Council was trying to trap him or make him admit that he thought that Fruid’la had failed.  He knew that he had to be very cautious with his response.

Lopeq’la: “I don’t know.  I would like to believe that I would have, but I honestly don’t know the answer.”

“Theorize for us.”

Lopeq’la: “If the entire fleet had still been there, then I, or Admiral Fruid’la for that matter, would have easily won the battle.  However, we lost an asteroid base and a frigate in the first moments of the battle.  That left one cruiser against an unfinished, untested, and understaffed command carrier.”

“So you think you could have succeeded where he failed?”

Lopeq’la noted that the exact question had just been asked a second time.  He couldn’t remember the council pressing so hard for an answer.  He responded, “Yes, tactically.”

“Excellent, we have a two-part mission for you.  We have received intelligence that the
Sunflower
will be traveling alone to Opron in the near future.  The timing is very specific, so it requires you to leave immediately.  There is a fleet waiting for you in Netron.  It is currently under the command of Captain Floop’la.  Assume command and complete the mission.”

Lopeq’la: “Thank you for this opportunity.  I will succeed where others before me have failed.  I will bring the
Sunflower
to justice.”

“Perfect.  You are dismissed.”

Lopeq’la performed the traditional Hiriculan goodbye and left the High Council chamber.  It was a beautiful day in Hiricula’s capital, but he barely noticed.  He entered the ground car waiting for him and instructed the driver to take him back to the spaceport.  They chatted about the weather during the short trip to the mini-spaceport.

The pilot lifted off the surface of the planet and flew directly to the military’s space station.  The pilot landed on the 14
th
level.  Lopeq’la exited the transport and walked about 20 paces to a waiting corvette.  He walked up the gangway and entered the ship.  The pilot followed him up the ramp.

The pilot said, “Your personal effects have already been loaded on the corvette.  We are leaving immediately.”

The corvette jumped from Hiricula to Netron and then micro jumped to the entryway of the Netron – Neto hyperspace lane.  The corvette docked with the battleship
Reckoning
and Admiral Lopeq’la swam across the connector tube and onto his new command ship.

He looked around.  No one was waiting for him, so he walked a few paces down the main corridor to the bridge.  He was greeted upon entry by Captain Floop’la.  Floop’la then introduced the rest of the bridge crew to him.

He said, “Admiral, let me give you a brief tour of the ship while they transfer your belongings to your quarters.”

They walked down the main corridor until they reached the primary hangar bay, or at least what was supposed to be the primary hangar bay.  Well, the hangar bay was still there, but it was completely filled by a huge item.  The item just barely fit in the bay; leaving only enough room on each side to walk around it.  There was no room for anything else.

Floop’la continued the tour.  He guided the Admiral around the large object.  However, there was very little to see.  The object didn’t seem to have a propulsion system or any other identifiable features.  All that Lopeq’la could see was that the sides seemed to be made out of hull grade steel.  There may be features on the top or bottom, but the Admiral couldn’t see them.

Lopeq’la clearly recognized that the other being wanted to discuss the object.  However, he decided to assert his authority just a trifle by discussing a different subject.  Lopeq’la asked, “Have all of our fighters been moved to the secondary launch bay?”

Floop’la lowered his ear stalks just a little bit and replied, “Admiral, all of the fighters and their corresponding pilots were temporarily reassigned to other duties before this obelisk thing was loaded on board.”

Lopeq’la again avoided the question.  He asked, “How many beings are on board?”

Floop’la replied, “We are running a bit lean.  I was told it was due to operation security.  Apparently the fewer beings that know of this thing, the fewer that can talk about it.”

Lopeq’la repeated for emphasis, “How many beings are on board the battleship?”

Floop’la raised his fingers and ticked them off as he counted.  He said, “Six on the bridge, you, 5 engineers, 18 crew, and of course the officer who is a bit of a secret.”

Lopeq’la couldn’t believe it.  There was supposed to be 140 beings stationed on a battleship.  Accepting that the pilots were missing, there still should be 60 aboard.  If he understood the captain correctly there were only 30 total people aboard.  Well, there was 31 if he counted the mystery officer.

A Hiriculan battleship typically had 24 missiles launchers, 12 on each side.  There were supposed to be 2 beings stationed at every missile launcher at time of battle.  However, in a pinch he supposed that they could staff the missile tubes with only 1 being per launcher.

However, that still meant that they needed 24 beings.  They had 30.  Lopeq’la mentally subtracted the bridge crew, himself, and the secretive officer.  That left 22.  That wasn’t horrible, he supposed, they could fire nearly all of their missiles if required.

Lopeq’la asked, “Can we function with that few?”

Floop’la responded, “As long as we don’t have to fight, or possibly turn more than a bit.”

Lopeq’la asked, “What can you tell me about your remaining crew members.”

Floop’la shrugged and said, “Very little.  I transferred to this ship two days ago.  The item was already on board.  Everyone else transferred here the roughly the same day.  None of the crew is from the same ship or even knew each other before this mission.”

Floop’la pointed to the object and said, “The main hangar bay has been off-limits.  The only people that know this thing exists are us, the secret officer, and the 4 tug drivers.”

Lopeq’la finally turned to the subject the Captain clearly wanted to discuss.  He turned and ran his hand along the exterior.  He asked, “What is it?”

Floop’la responded, “Well, I was told that it is a bit of a secret weapon.”

‘A bit’, Lopeq’la mentally repeated.  How could it be a bit of a secret weapon?  It either was a secret weapon or was not.  Perhaps he meant that this was only one piece of the thing.  He asked, “Is this the whole thing?”

Floop’la: “Yes.  As far as I know anyway.”

Lopeq’la: “What does it do?”

Floop’la shrugged and replied, “I was hoping that you knew.”

Floop’la stopped walking and pointed to a section of the object near one of the well rounded corners.  Lopeq’la saw that there was a door with a palm pad.  He ran his hand along the door and touched the palm pad.  It didn’t open.

Lopeq’la said, “I know that we have a two-part mission.  The first is to do something with this …” He couldn’t think of a word to describe it, so finally finished, “Something.”

“The second?” Floop’la asked.

Lopeq’la smiled and raised his ear stalks.  He said, “The second is to capture the infamous Alliance ship
Sunflower
and bring its crew to justice.”

Floop’la: “Justice for that crew will be well deserved, even if it is a bit overdue.”

Floop’la received a buzz and checked his communication pad.  He said, “Admiral, your belongings have been transferred and we are now micro jumping to the Netron – Opron hyperspace lane.  Also, your orders are waiting for you.  They are marked private.”

Admiral Lopeq’la thanked the captain and rode the electro lift up to the highest level of the bridge; where his quarters were located.  He briefly inspected the area.  There was a flag bridge, a flag conference room, and his personal quarters.  The place seemed empty and rather lonely without any staff members.

He sat at the head of the conference room table and activated a privacy screen.  He verified that the screen was in place and there were no listening devices present.  Satisfied that he was alone, Lopeq’la said, “Computer play orders.”

The orders were fairly straightforward for the most part.  He was to rendezvous with the rest of his ships waiting for him in Netron.  Then the newly organized fleet was to sail to Opron.  Once there, they had to set the object at a specific set of coordinates. 

Then, according to naval intelligence, the
Sunflower
should exit hyperspace a day later.  The High Council preferred that the cruiser surrender and the entire crew be captured so that they could be tried for war crimes, but they were willing to accept less.  Specifically, they would be satisfied with destroying the ship and capturing just the captain and his bridge crew.

“Good,” he said aloud.  “That should make things a little easier.” 

The orders included one very strange command. Under no circumstances was he to allow anyone from the other ships in the fleet to transfer to the battleship.  The orders were very strict about this point.  He really didn’t know why, but he assumed that the High Council didn’t want any more people than absolutely necessary knowing about the object in the primary hold.

They exited hyperspace and Admiral Lopeq’la saw that there were 4 cruisers and 2 destroyers waiting for him.  Lopeq’la had a quick conference with all of the other captains.  Like Floop’la, none of them had any operational details of the mission.

Unlike Floop’la though, none of the other captains knew anything about either phase of the mission.  However, all of them were excited to learn that they were finally going to catch the
Sunflower
.

Lopeq’la summarized the meeting with, “Everyone get some rest, but if you cannot sleep then think about the best way to capture the ship, or at a minimum destroy the ship, but keep the bridge at least partially intact.”