The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict (36 page)

Jack said, “So you are one of the 6 council members from the 3
rd
district.”

Stane replied, “Excellent memory.  Finally, there is another level, called Sub-Council; that focuses on local issues.  There are 10-12 Sub-Councils in each geographical district.”

Stane paused for a question.  None came so he continued, “The sub-councils are filled via a general election and everyone in that district is eligible to run for election.  However, in order to be eligible for a lower council, one must first serve on one of the sub councils.  And, only lower council members are eligible to run for the High Council.”

Luna summarized, “That means that Stane has a 1 in 24 chance of becoming a member of the High Council at the next election.”

They finished lunch and looked at a few more exhibits in the gallery.  Stane’s communication pad beeped.  He checked it and said, “I just received an update.  They have finished loading your mini-freighters.”

The oversized ground car was again double parked and waiting for them.  They got back in the car and returned to the spaceport.  The vehicle parked on the actual landing pad, only two steps from their ships.

Jack was impressed.  He could get used to this level of service.

…………………….

The timer hit zero and the cryostasis chamber reanimated the occupant inside.  The computer monitored all of the occupant’s vital signs during the process.  When the computer decided that the occupant was sufficiently awake, the tube door slid open.

Prued’mo wasn’t expecting the suddenness of the waking process.  She fell out of the chamber and grabbed the curtain for support.  She was disoriented in the darkness and couldn’t find her way out of the curtain.  She wanted to scream, but wasn’t sure if she was alone.

She gave up struggling after a minute and forced herself to relax and think.  She calmed down and said to her communication pad, “Computer, turn on the reading light.”

That helped, she thought.  She looked around.  The curtain was still in place and she could now see the exit.  The other cryostasis chamber still held her large bag.  She said, “Computer, connect to the ship’s computer.  Are we in Solaria?”

…No, we are on the surface of Hiricula…

Prued’mo felt fear rising up again.  The owner of the vessel must have discovered her and brought her back to the authorities in Hiricula.  She really wanted to scream now.  Instead, she forced herself to be calm and said, “Computer, why are we in Hiricula?”

…This mini-freighter is obtaining a load in Hiricula and then returning to Solaria…

Prued’mo calculated a new time of 180 hours and input it into the cyrostasis chamber.  She hoped that there were no nasty side effects from getting freeze dried so quickly after getting de-thawed.  She entered the chamber, activated it, and again fell into a chilly sleep. 

…………………….

The team waited for the ground car to leave the landing zone.  Once clear, they split into two teams and went to work.  The first team only contained two beings.  They entered the
Jackal
and briefly searched each hold.

The first reported, “Primary hold clear.”

The second reported, “Secondary hold clear.  Let’s get this done as quickly as possible.”

The first took a laser drill and cut a small square in the inner hull wall.  The second then fed a camera through and looked into the hull.  It looked normal.  He then fed a sophisticated piece of electronics through the hole and attached it to the other side of the inner hull. 

He activated the device and checked that it was working.  He placed two more devices next to it and verified that the entire system was functioning correctly.  The first replaced the square and welded it back in place.  The weld was perfect.  One could not see a seam.

They then moved to a different spot in the main hold and repeated the process.  They exited the mini-freighter and they ran a final test on the system.

The first said, “The astronomical positioning unit is working.  The data logger is functioning.  The micro transmitter is active.  The system is functioning correctly.”

The second asked, “And the backup?”

The first checked the secondary unit and said, “It is functioning properly.”

The second concluded, “Every hyperspace jump this mini-freighter makes will be independently verified, recorded, and sent to Ambassador Bline.”

They indicated to the second team that they could begin loading the mini-freighter.  The second team hauled an object into the hold that just barely fit.  There was only enough room to walk around it.  The object was seamless all around.  The only break was a door and corresponding palm pad in one of the rounded corners.  The object was identified on the bill of lading as a precision air conditioning unit. 

There were two really old workers on the team.  Actually, calling them ‘worker’ was being polite.  In reality, they just stood there the entire time and watched the team load the object into the hold.  Neither tried to coach or supervise.  They just watched like interested on-lookers.

Once the object was safely loaded into the
Jackal’s
hull, one of the old workers walked into the hull, found the door, and pressed the palm pad.  The door opened and the old man entered.  The door slid closed behind him.  A few minutes later another worker pressed the palm pad.  The door didn’t open.

The first team exited the
Jackal
and walked over to the
Vista
.  The cut a square in the inner hull and fed the camera through.  The first said the Hiriculan version of crap.  Meanwhile, the other team began loading the secondary hold with decorative trim pieces.

He calmed down and said, “We have a problem.  There is a garden between the inner and outer hulls of this mini-freighter.  The owners will certainly notice the equipment if we place it there.”

The second pulled out a schematic and started reviewing it while the first welded the square back in place.  Finally, the second said, “I found a couple of good spots.  They aren’t quite as good as the first one, but they will work and the owner shouldn’t notice the hardware.”

They cut a hole between the main and the tertiary holds and placed both the primary and secondary electronics packages there.  They verified that the equipment was working and resealed the hull.

The second team took over and loaded an object into the Vista’s main hold.  It was identified on the bill of lading as a control unit for the window solar panels.

Once complete, the other old man hobbled over to the door, pressed the palm pad, and entered the object.  Another worker tested the palm pad a few minutes later.  It didn’t open.

Finally, they filled the secondary hold with exquisite porcelain sinks.  The leader closed all 4 hold doors.  He then contacted the lower council member and told him that everything was done.

…………………….

They exited the ground car.  Jack did his interpretation of the traditional Hiriculan goodbye.  Stane again congratulated him on the effort.

Luna hugged everyone goodbye and gave both men a small kiss on the cheek.  She made both Victor and Jack promise that if they were ever on Hiricula again to make sure to stop by and visit her. 

Crista extended the same offer, “Luna, the next time you are back on Solaria, please stop by our archery booth.  I will have a quiver of arrows waiting just for you.”

They climbed back aboard the respective mini-freighters and began the 186 hour (19 day in real time) journey back to Solaria.

Admiral Wertak noticed that his communication pad was buzzing non-stop.  He also noted that a staff member was running toward him.  Wertak reached for his com pad, but the staff member arrived at the exact same time.  Wertak hesitated, he wasn’t sure what the proper etiquette was – should he check his com pad or listen to the staffer.

Wertak looked at the staffer and said, “Yes.  What is it?”

The staffer replied, “Admiral, you need to answer your com pad!”

Wertak grabbed his com pad and activated it.  Traffic control said, “Admiral, there is an unscheduled ship exiting hyperspace.”

Wertak raced to from his quarters down the short hallway to the
Sentry’s
flag bridge.  His staff was already assembled.  Admiral Solear exited the electro lift and joined him.

Wertak said, “The timing cannot be a coincidence.”

Exactly 166 hours (almost 7 days) had passed since the
Sunflower
left Conron.  Solear had spent the last 7 helping Wertak organize the fleet and prepare for battle should the Hiriculans decide to attack Conron.

Solear and Wertak had discussed several scenarios after it became clear that the enemy fleet was not following the corvette
Informer
. 

The best case scenario was that the Hiriculans waited for the
Sunflower
to arrive and captured it.  Then they would realize that they caught a bunch of humans on a joyride instead of who they were actually seeking.

If their luck held further, the humans would act dumb(er) and not reveal that they could manually fly fighters with such skill and precision.  And, the Hiriculans would be taken aback by the humans extremely aggressive and anti-social nature and decide that they didn’t want them.  They would send a corvette with diplomatic immunity to discuss terms for their release.

The worst case scenario was that the Hiriculans would give the humans a test or two, find them to be unbelievable pilots, and realize that the Alliance Navy was secretly training them.  Hiricula would be forced into starting an all-out war to prevent the Alliance from securing Earth.

Solear answered after a long pause, “No. It isn’t.”

Wertak said, “Open a channel to Traffic Control and display on monitor number 4.”

Less than a minute later a ship appeared.  Traffic Control said, “Admiral, a cruiser just appeared.  We are running a scan now.”  He paused for an update and said, “It is the
Sunflower
.  They are hailing us.”

Solear couldn’t believe the audacity of the Hiriculans.  It seemed to be in very poor taste to send the
Sunflower
back to perform the negotiation.

Admiral Wertak said, “There is no reason for privacy at this point.  Accept the hail.  Put it on the main monitor.”

Solear was stunned.  Jim Donovan was sitting in the captain’s chair. 

Jim said, “Greetings admirals.  I regret to report that our mission was unsuccessful.  There was no informant waiting for us in Opron with information about Neto breeding.  It appears that our intelligence report was incorrect.”

Wertak looked confused and asked, “Was there an enemy fleet blockading the hyperspace lane?”

Jim replied, “Yes, as a matter of fact of there was one.”

Wertak waited a moment for Jim to continue.  He didn’t.  Wertak said, “How did you escape?”

Jim replied, “We had a small battle.  I will transfer to the
Sentry
and give a full report.”  He paused for a moment and continued, “Oh, I almost forgot.  A Hiriculan battleship will appear in a few minutes.  Please do not fire on it.” 

Jim boarded the transport and flew the short distance to the flag battleship.  He performed a quick scan noted that there were now 20 ships in the Conron fleet.  He saw that one of the new ships was the
Dandelion
.

Jim said to himself, “In a few minutes they will have another battleship and can make 3 full sub-fleets.”

He landed in the battleship’s main hangar bay and walked in relative silence to the main briefing area.  Admiral Solear, Captain Arean, Admiral Wertak, Wertak’s command staff, and the captain of the
Sentry
and his bridge officers were present.  Jim counted 11 in total.  Everyone in the room except him was an Advranki.

Jim walked to the podium.  He desperately wanted to salute, but refrained.  Instead he said, “Respected admirals, fellow officers.”

Wertak responded, “Captain.  We are pleased, no thrilled that you were able to escape.  Please give your full report.”

Jim replied, “It was fairly straightforward.  We exited hyperspace in Opron and found that we were surrounded by an enemy fleet.  The enemy fired an ion cannon at us, but missed.  Also, they fired gravity missiles throughout the entire area to keep us from jumping.”

Jim continued, “We launched our fighters and destroyed their 4 cruisers.  Then the two destroyers were maneuvering to leave to leave the gravity field so we chased them.  We fired our ion cannon and annihilated both of them.  Then the battleship surrendered.”

Jim thought for a moment and said, “Correction, the entire crew of the battleship requested political asylum.”

Jim put a flashdrive cube in the main monitor and showed the reconstructed version of the battle.  Jim let the entire sequence play.  No one interrupted with questions.

Wertak watched the
Sunflower
exit hyperspace and get battered around for a few moments.  Immediately afterward the ship’s fighters launched.  He knew that they were carrying two extra squadrons of ships, but he couldn’t believe that they had actually launched them. 

He then watched as the fighters attacked the enemy cruisers.  A minute later all 4 cruisers exploded.  Then the
Sunflower
started chasing two much larger destroyers. 

The fighter battle was almost overlooked, but again the humans defeated two entire squadrons without a single loss.  The
Sunflower
made a course change and struck the destroyer with an ion cannon just as it was transitioning into hyperspace.  Finally, one destroyer devoured the second.

Wertak was overwhelmed by the scale and scope of the battle.  The humans with only one little cruiser had destroyed an entire enemy fleet.  Further, they won by converting two of the ships into antimatter.  He wondered if there was an accord against that.   They destroyed 6 ships in less than 20 minutes and managed to capture a 7
th
.  The carnage was indescribable.

Wertak said, “I … we … the.”

Solear interrupted him and said, “Captain, I believe that Admiral Wertak would like more information about the ion cannon shot.”

Jim replied, “We were chasing the first destroyer, but it was making random course corrections.  As a result, weren’t going to be able to hit it until we were at point blank range.  Unfortunately, the destroyer was going to clear the gravity field before we had a clear shot.  I noticed that the other destroyer wasn’t moving randomly.  So, we adjusted course and fired just before it went into hyperspace.

Wertak was shaking.  He hoped that no one noticed.  This battle was as bad, if not worse, than the battle at the Spindle Station.  The humans just attacked and killed everything in sight. 

Wertak said, “They were essentially moving away from the battle and you fired upon them.  You effectively killed two ships with one shot.”

Jim replied, “Thank you.  It was an impressive shot.”

Wertak dismissed everyone except Solear and Arean.  Once they had the room to themselves, Wertak said, “This battle is similar to yours in Influenla.  What is your assessment?”

Solear said, “Computer, locate my briefing when I returned from the battle in Influenla and play minutes 8.9 to 9.2. 

…This battle is an accurate representation of how Humans think and act.  They fight no matter the odds or circumstances, even when it seems hopeless.  If they have to kill the enemy and destroy everything in their path to attain their goals, then they do so without hesitation.  To them, the end result justifies the means…

Wertak sighed and responded, “I guess your assessment is as true today as it was a couple of months ago.  However, we cannot release this battle.  It is far too … too gory for general consumption.”

Solear said, “I have an idea.  Captain Arean, perhaps you could work on this video and create a new version that is a little more palatable.”

…………………….

The timer hit zero and the cryostasis chamber reanimated the occupant inside.  The computer monitored all of the occupant’s vital signs during the process.  When the computer decided that the occupant was sufficiently awake, the tube door slid open.

Prued’mo wasn’t expecting the suddenness of the waking process.  She fell out of the chamber and grabbed the curtain for support.  She was disoriented in the darkness and banged into the now open chamber.  She almost fell back inside, but she extended her arms and caught the sides of the chamber.  She continued holding the sides until she was fully awake.

This time she knew what to do.  She said to her communication pad, “Computer, turn on the reading light.”

That helped, she thought.  She looked around.  The curtain was still in place and she could now see the exit.  The other cryostasis chamber still held her large bag.  She said, “Computer, connect to the ship’s computer.  Are we in Solaria?”

…We are in hyperspace between Conron and Solaria.  We have 2 hours remaining in hyperspace and approximately 4 hours to travel from the hyperspace lane to the planet Solaria…

Prued’mo briefly considered going back into the chamber.  However, she doubted her body could take a third freezing.  Besides, the owner of the vessel had almost certainly been informed that a stasis pod just activated.

She opened her bag and rooted around for her laser scalpel.  She looked through the bag for anything else that she might need.  She didn’t immediately see anything, so she closed the bag and put it back in the chamber.

She realized that she was starving.  She couldn’t remember the last meal she had.  Further, she hadn’t thought to pack anything.  She wondered why she didn’t steal some of the fruit from the hold.  She took another step and her foot banged into something.

“Aha,” She said.  She couldn’t believe her luck.  There was an unopened case of fried Advranki sea moss sticks.  She bent down, grabbed three of them, and pulled back the curtain.

…………………….

Jack was resting in his bedroom when he heard a loud clunk.  That was very disconcerting, because when one heard a loud clunk on a spaceship it was generally accompanied by something important breaking.

Jack exited the bedroom and walked to
Jackal’s
control room.  He made it about 3 steps and came to a complete stop.  He couldn’t believe his eyes.  There was a Hiriculan female standing in front of him with a laser scalpel in one hand and a fried Advranki sea moss stick in the other.

Jack tried to process all four things – Hiriculan female, weapon, sea moss, and not again. 

The female sent Jack a link request.  Jack pressed his tongue to the side of his mouth and accepted.

She said, “Don’t hurt me.  She casually waved the laser scalpel weapon for emphasis and took another bite of sea moss.

Jack’s brain reached a tipping point; one of the four items finally won.  Well, two of them basically tied.  Jack couldn’t believe that for the second time in 3 months he was surprised by an uninvited passenger on his own ship.

Jack responded, “You have a weapon of sorts pointed at me.  How am I supposed to hurt you while you are holding the scalpel?”

Prued’mo took another bite and started chewing.  He certainly had a point.  However, she decided to press the issue.  She said, “Do you promise not to harm me?”

Jack thought for a moment.  He thought that if he attacked her, then she would more than likely cut his hand off.  Then he would have to put his hand in cryostasis.  Once they landed, he would have to go to the hospital and have it reattached.

Further, he had heard that reattaching limbs isn’t always foolproof.  He could lose part of the function of his fingers or loose the feeling in his hand.  Besides, he figured that the cost of such an operation would be astronomical.  It certainly made financial sense not to attack her.

Jack responded, “I can promise you that I will not attack you as long as you are holding the laser scalpel.”

She thought for a moment and responded, “Are you going to attack me if I put the scalpel down?”

Jack said, “Are you going to keep it close enough that you could reach it before I could reach you?”

Prued’mo: “Yes

Jack: “Then no.”

That settled, Prued’mo said, “I need you to take me to Solaria.”

Jack looked at her for a few long moments.  He said, “You somehow managed to sneak aboard a Solarian freighter and remain hidden for the last 7 days.  I am sure that you already knew that this vessel was bound for Solaria before you boarded it.”

Prued’mo: “Yes.  I knew this vessel was headed to Solaria when I hid on it.”