The Spindle Station: Book 2 of the Alliance Conflict (40 page)

Jack was boring of the speech. He hoped the Hiriculan would come to the point in short order. When Clap’la paused for breath, Jack said, “What is my part in this grand gesture?”

Clap’la responded, “We would like to release the two Solarians. They would be free to return to Solaria with you. Further, there will be no stipulations placed upon their return.”

“So, you basically want me to haul two passengers halfway across the galaxy.” Jack realized this was now a negotiation. “Will I be allowed to leave immediately if I agree?”

Clap’la said, “Unfortunately no. All ships will be released in approximately three more days.”

Jack repeated the word unfortunately and placed particular emphasis on it. “Well, unfortunately, I don’t have the spare resources to feed two additional beings for what could stretch into weeks.”

Clap’la looked away for a moment; then looked back at the screen. He said, “The station manager just informed me that you have an account here. If you agree to accept the two Solarians, we will credit your account with double the commercial rate for two passengers.”

Jack replied, “Please, send them to the
Jackal
. I would be thrilled to deliver your message of goodwill to the Solarian government.”

Moments later the hatch detection system chimed, indicating that someone was requesting access to the ship. Jack activated the external camera and noted that there were two Solarians standing on the other side. Jack couldn’t believe how quickly they had arrived; they must have been waiting in the main corridor during the conversation.

Jack activated the locking release mechanism, allowing them to enter his freighter. He left the control room and stood waiting for them in the main hallway. They swam across the inflatable corridor linking the ship’s passenger entry to the station. If he had known they were coming so quickly, Jack could have opened the hatch to the main cargo hold and let them walk from the station to the ship.

Either way, they were here now. Jack said, “Hello, I am Jack Dogbarks. You two are?”

“Robert Eaglefly” said the male. “Anna Foxprowl” said the female.

Jack asked, “What happened?”

Robert responded, “As a part of the diversity program, we were assigned to cruisers in the Advranki fleet. Our ships were chosen to participate on this mission.”

Anna continued, “We were supposed to force the Hiriculans to surrender and admit that they were using this station for military purposes. Instead, they hid their fleet and surprised us. A battle ensued. We damaged 4 of their ships. They severely damaged one of our cruisers and completely destroyed one of our battleships. They surrounded us and forced us to surrender.”

Jack nodded during all of the appropriate spots in the story. She had a nice speaking voice and Jack enjoyed hearing the story. However, he really didn’t want to spend the next three weeks listening to this pair whine about the... the…well whatever they were probably going to whine about.

Jack said, “I am a freighter captain and I have a contract hauling cargo from here to Solaria for the new office building.”

Both officers nodded.

Jack continued, “I suppose you two are in luck that the Hiriculan government doesn’t want to upset Solaria during the construction project. As you know, the Hiriculan government is releasing you without any stipulations or requests for compensation. I had to agree to one condition though before they released you.”

Anna asked, “What was the condition?”

Jack pointed to the two cryostasis tubes aboard the ship and replied, “To secure your release, I was forced to agree to put you two in stasis. I have to keep you there until we are in Solaria’s orbit. They do not want you leaking information or taking any action before you are debriefed by the Solarian government.”

Jack opened the two stasis chambers and Robert and Anna stepped in. Jack secured the strap on each and promised to wake them as soon as they reached Solaria. Jack said, “Don’t worry, the chambers have been fully tested and calibrated.”

Finally, Jack activated the chambers and put the two soldiers to sleep. He pulled a curtain over them to give them some privacy during their frozen slumber.

Jack said aloud, “Great, nothing like having a couple of stiffs aboard.”

……………….

Admiral Dolen was depressed. It had been 3 days since they had been forced to surrender. Dolen figured that the
Exemplar
would soon return to Opron and broadcast the news of their abject failure. He felt certain that he would soon become the butt of jokes and the answer to several trivia questions under the heading of worst military blunder ever.

They were prisoners, but the Hiriculans insisted upon calling them guests. When they entered the station, they were locked them in a large, open chamber. The chamber was relatively pleasant. There was adequate seating and accommodations. Further, there were adjoining bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. Dolen thought it felt more like they were locked inside a hotel than a prison. The Hiriculans even let them keep their communication pads.

There were six full time guards stationed throughout the area. Two always stood by the exit and the other 4 walked randomly throughout the chamber. Each guard wore a Hiriculan Armored Suits (HAS). The guards looked intimidating, but they left all of the prisoners alone.

In fact, Dolen hadn’t even been questioned. They had ignored him and every member of his team. Either the Hiriculans already knew everything or they didn’t care to know anything.

Captain Arean and Chief of Staff Olova approached Dolen. Arean said, “Admiral, The Chief and I have compiled the final personnel status report.”

Dolen had organized a headcount immediately after they were incarcerated. However, it he had been delayed the request for a couple of days so that everyone could get settled into their new surroundings.

Dolen: “Go ahead.”

Arean continued, “There are 151 beings missing; 148 were confirmed killed on the battleship
Defender
and 1 was confirmed killed on the cruiser
Attendant
.”

Dolen replied, “You said 151. Who is missing?”

Arean checked his communication pad and said, “We are missing one communications officer and one pilot – their names are Anna Foxprowl and Robert Eaglefly.”

“Both Solarians,” Dolen said it as both a statement and a question.

Chief: “Yes. They were the only two Solarians in the armada.”

Arean continued, “We have witnesses who saw them debark from their respective ships. In fact, Anna served aboard my cruiser, the
Dandelion
. I watched her leave the ship with everyone else.”

Chief: “Then somewhere in the confusion both Solarians disappeared. That seems odd.”

Dolen: “Well, there is little we can do with the information at the moment.”

Admiral Dolen checked his communication pad. He still couldn’t believe that the Hiriculans hadn’t confiscated it. Although his pad looked like everyone else’s, his pad contained a special feature. His pad had an extended range chip that would allow him to send and receive external signals. All that he had to was connect it to an antenna. Fortunately, the exterior hull of the station made a perfect signal enhancer.

Dolen debated trying to contact the two Solarians. If he did, what message would he send them? Further, once he activated the device, the Hiriculans would more than likely detect the signal and track it back to its source.

Dolen decided to wait for a more opportune time.

………………..

Jim Donovan’s anger had now turned to rock solid determination. He, Colin, and Paul walked through the entryway to the bridge. They noted the lone remaining force field snapped in place upon their entry. They crossed the now empty bridge and took the electro lift up one level to the conference room. Jim looked over at Paul; the marine looked ready to fight.

All five bridge crew were seated around the table. Captain Solear was seated at his normal spot and Clowy, Lexxi, and Putat were on the opposite side. Ella was in the seat facing the captain. She would have to move if they decided to use the monitor. The three seats closest to the door were unoccupied.

They entered and Jim acknowledged everyone by nodding and saying their name. He went in order, “Captain, Clowy, Lexxi.” He paused when he reached Putat and said, “I don’t believe we have met.”

Putat was sitting in his chair trying hard not to visibly shake. This was the first time that he had actually been close to the humans. They were far taller, stronger, and just bigger than he imagined. Putat wanted to push his chair away from the table.

Solear noted the silence and said, “This is Putat, our new communications officer.”

Jim bowed his head slightly and responded, “A pleasure. I have to admit though that you are the first non-talkative communications officer I have met.” The head bow was something he was trying in place of shaking hands. So far it had little effect.

Finally, Jim said, “Ella, I didn’t realize that you were back on the ship.”

Ella stood and shook hands with each of the humans. She again felt like a child when her tiny hand was engulfed by the massive paws of the three men. She responded, “Putat and I came on board when the
Sunflower
stopped at supply depot. My apologies that my duties prevented me from visiting you before you left for the
Exemplar
.”

Jim sat closest to Solear. Colin sat in the middle, leaving Paul on the far end near Ella. Jim showed the other two how to adjust their chairs. Each fiddled with the settings for a moment and finally sat down.

Jim recapped the mission to Influenla and the corresponding battle. He tried to be as objective as possible and keep his lingering anger out of his voice.

Solear concluded, “Well, we are thankful that you were not captured.” He continued, “I called everyone here for a meeting because, quite frankly, I am not sure how we should proceed.”

Putat was the first to respond. He said, “Captain, I think it prudent that we return immediately to Conron. The..” Putat stopped and restarted, “Although the crew did an excellent job repairing the ship, we desperately need to return to a space station and have a professional maintenance staff review all systems to ensure the ship is space-worthy.”

Solear already knew what the results of that inspection would be. The Navy technicians would take one look at the
Sunflower’s
hull, cobbled together wiring, crisscross flooring, and a Hiriculan power generator and determine it permanently out of commission. Possibly, Putat knew that as well, which was why he was suggesting it.

Jim stood up, slammed his hands on the desk, and shouted, “NO!”

Putat slid his chair back this time. Lexxi also slid back, ducked, and attempted to get behind Clowy. Solear stood and said, “Please, everyone sit back at the table. Jim, continue.”

Solear knew that he was close to losing control of the situation. He could tell that the humans seemed very upset. He briefly reconsidered the logic of having three of them present for this meeting. They could easily overwhelm them if they tried. However, both he and Clowy were armed with stun guns, so they should be okay if the humans became violent.

Jim collected himself and said as softly and slowly as possible, “We have a ship, here, now. We are here, now. We are the only ones that can save them. In our culture, we don’t leave people behind.”

Paul stood up and said, “I would rather die trying to rescue them then live with the knowledge that I left them behind!”

Colin forced Paul to sit back down, but now he was standing. Colin said, “Captain, this ship is intact and ready for battle. “We must go save them.”

Solear thought that perhaps he was now seeing another side to humanity. Apparently they value more than just victory. They clearly wanted to risk their lives in a hopeless cause to save their fellow military members. However, the humans didn’t seem irrational, well any more so than normal.

Solear responded, “We have one ship. They have a frigate and a command carrier, two new ships that we have never heard of before. Plus, they have a lethal asteroid. Further, we have no way of getting on the station. Then, if our rescue attempt takes longer than 70 minutes, they have a fleet ready to come to their aid.”

Colin said, “We have the element of surprise. They certainly won’t be expecting us.”

Solear desperately tried to stifle a laugh until he noticed that both Jim and Paul were laughing. Solear and the others had a brief chuckle, then he said, “Well, we certainly have that. Suppose that we decide to rescue them, how do you suggest we do it?”

Clowy said, “We should have a plan.”

Solear looked strangely at Clowy. She smiled back brightly at him. Solear said, “I agree, we should indeed have a plan. Does anyone have one?”

Jim said, “We need to solve one problem at a time. How do we get rid of the asteroid?”

Paul suggested, “Let’s blow it up.”

“A solid plan. How do we do that?” asked Solear.

Paul said, “Well, let’s smash it with an even bigger asteroid.”

Solear laughed and said, “Actually, you don’t need a very big asteroid. A small one will do just as well if it is moving fast enough. Oddly enough, I have experience smashing asteroids together. However, there aren’t any spare asteroids near our target.”

Jim replied, “Fine, we will just bring one with us.”

Clowy said, “Great. We still have the asteroid from Waylon. Let’s just use that one.”

Solear again looked at Clowy and received a smile in return. Chucking that tiny rock at the asteroid would be like launching a handful sea moss at the side of a building. You might hit it, but you wouldn’t hurt it.

Solear remembered his diversity training and said, “Good idea. However, the top of that one was cut off by the marines. We need a different one.”

Colin said, “Next problem. How do we get past the frigate guarding the entrance? We can’t launch fighters before they can target us.”