Talosian Chronicles 3: Talosian Alliance Read online

  “Further, I think you should take a hard look at a few of my former command staff. Commander Tomakin had to have known the truth, as did his first officer. I would look at the operations and intelligence officers as well. As for the rest, your guess is as good as mine. I didn’t get to know any of the others very well, so I don’t think I can be of much more help.”

  Scotty nodded. “We have already identified seventeen former officers and crew as being involved in the conspiracy, Sir. The Commander and First Officer were two of the first to be identified. They have already been charged. However, we have also cleared almost a hundred more. I can assure you that none of them are all too happy with the situation."

  “I think I should warn Councilor Noren and the Admirals that Aramaliss and his aide are dirty too. I don’t know when it’s supposed to happen, but Landress was supposed to make an attempt to either sabotage or take over the Star Dancer AI,” Belirus said.

  “Landress was apprehended yesterday when he attempted to gain access to the AI vault. Under interrogation, he implicated his boss, and Amaraliss was immediately arrested. They were the first two arrested in this. It’s also why we were ordered to take the ship."

  “Excuse me Sir,” Adonis asked. “If Commander Tomakin has been relieved of Command, who is my current Commander? Also there is an unidentified ship attached to my hull at the command access way.”

  “Adonis, you are currently docked to an allied facility. At this moment, you do not have a permanent commander. Allow temporary command to Major Jene Grimm of the Terran defense force. Admiral Goya and Admiral Pan are also in system. They will get your command status figured out before you are released from the dock,” Belirus said. “It’s been a pleasure serving aboard you, Adonis.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  TDF Star Dancer

  High Orbit, Planet Earth

  Sol System, Sol Sector

  Commander Ian Williams, Commanding

  “I don’t understand how your Raptor Commander can say with such certainty that Belirus is innocent. I know the man; I know he’s guilty!" Goya said.

  “Admiral, do you remember my mentioning that certain people in our society have special gifts?” Ian asked.

  “Of course, but what does that have to do with this?” Goya asked.

  “Major Grimm is one of those people. She is a walking, talking, lie detector. If she says that Belirus is innocent, then he is,” Ian explained. “I do have to agree with her after reviewing the evidence she’s gathered. I just wish I could have said the same thing about the remainder of the Adonis’ crew.”

  Goya sighed. “Okay Ian. I’ll accept the Major’s judgement on this and stand for the man against the Council. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about removing those charges. They are independent of our judicial system.”

  Ian nodded. “We’re the same way. But as long as he gets a fair hearing, he should be fine. It’s none of my business, but he doesn't seem like the type of person that should be an Admiral. He’s abrasive in the extreme and definitely not a physically imposing man.”

  “No, on the surface, he would be one of the last people I would have wanted to lead a fleet. However, he has an uncanny tactical mind. Honestly, it’s almost like he has his own gift. He can look at a situation and lay out a plan that will have the highest probability of success. He's an ass, but he’s a smart ass!”

  Chloe had been taking a drink of her tea when Goya had said that, and she snorted, blowing tea out of her nose. The rest of the crew in the CIC burst out laughing at both the comment, as well as their boss’ discomfiture.

  Goya touched one of the operators on the shoulder, as he blushed. “What did I just say?”

  As the operator explained the reference to the two Admirals, Ian received a call from Cindy.

  “Star Com, this is Damocles. In light of the Raptor Io report, how does Guardian want us to handle this mission?”

  “Stand by, Damocles, I’ll find out for you,” Chloe said as soon as she could speak.

  Ian grinned at Chloe, who was scowling at him for laughing. “I heard her, Major. Gimme a sec, I’ll talk it over with the Admirals once they stop laughing.”

  Chloe nodded and opened the comm to Cindy. “Damocles, he wants to consult with the Talosian representatives.”

  “Understood, Star Comm,” Cindy replied.

  Shortly after speaking to Reaper, Goya requested Noren join them in the CIC. She, Luke, and Laura entered the already crowded room.

  “Did you need to see me, Admiral?” Noren asked Goya.

  Goya nodded to her. “My apologies for not coming to you, Councilor, but I believe information you will need to see is here as well.” Goya quickly and accurately filled her in on the situation with the Adonis and the actions that had been taken already. He made sure to stress to her that Major Grimm had cleared Admiral Belirus of all wrong doing.

  Noren listened closely and nodded when he finished. “I know you don’t like the man, Goya, so I will trust you when you tell me he is innocent. Currently, it appears that these remarkable people are more trustworthy than our own Council in its current state. Treaty or not, I do not believe they will do anything counter to us or our people. I feel strongly, mind you, that we should trust these folks completely in these matters.

  “I do not, and cannot, speak for the entire Ruling Council. However, this is a very delicate and unusual situation. I feel that once we return to Talos, we will have a civil war in some form. I have already requested that we be allowed to take Amaraliss and Landress back to Talos to stand trial for their crimes. They have been charged by the Terran Council with espionage and attempted sabotage. Because of the nature of the crimes themselves, they would be executed if convicted.

  “I know that they will receive a full pardon by the High Council when we return because of the disease we have allowed to grow. Because of all the evidence I’ve seen as the presiding chairperson of the Ruling Council, I am declaring a state of national emergency. Basically, Goya, I'm dropping the whole thing back in your lap. I trust you to get us out of this mess we have found ourselves in. You know who you can trust and who you can’t. Councilors Belden and Johnson assure me that they will help as much as they can, even without a treaty between us.”

  Luke nodded. “The reason we were resistant to a treaty to begin with is because of the issues you’ve been having in the Ruling Council. We are all human, which really makes us all family. We need to help you fix your problem if we can, without putting ourselves at risk." He turned to Ian. “For the time being, please consider Goya and Pan as part of your command structure. Not as commanders, you will still have the final say, but think of them more as advisors since you will all share the same rank; that of Admiral.”

  “I’m not an Admiral, Luke, you know that,” Ian said. “Are you and the Council pushing this again?”

  Luke nodded. “No, we are ordering it. Agreement was unanimous on the Council, but, we also knew you probably wouldn’t accept it, so we arranged for a special meeting of the UN Security Council later today. While Admirals Goya and Pan as well as Councilor Noren will testify there, both myself and Laura will be there as well. We are going to give them the opportunity to have a say in this. However, the fact remains that you have been ordered to assume the rank of Admiral by your civilian leaders, are you going to disobey your orders Admiral?”

  “Luke,” Ian began, but at the look on Luke’s face, he rephrased his response. “Councilor, It’s not that I am refusing the order. I explained my feelings on this the last time you tried to promote me. I do not want to be promoted based on gratitude. I made a massive mistake with the Talos battle and people died. I do not feel I am qualified to hold that rank.”

  “Ian, we argued this just a couple of days ago, and you agreed to accept the rank,” Goya said. “Besides, Councilor Belden is correct; if they have made it an official order, you either have to accept it or resign your commission.”

  “Commander Williams,” Noren spoke. “I do not know y
ou as well as I would like to, but I have had the opportunity to review the events you mentioned, as have my most trusted military advisors. It is their opinion, and officially reported as such, that the Caldarian attack on this system was handled in the absolute best possible way.

  “Our intelligence service, which by the way is controlled by the opposition, was so impressed by your actions they used words like brilliant tactics, inspired actions, and said you had an ‘uncanny grasp of enemy tactics and the ability to turn them to your advantage',” Noren explained. “Granted, they immediately killed that report, to discredit you, but that was obviously the actions of the opposition setting up the situation we found ourselves in that sent us here. Ian, accept the Council's orders. You have to, if for no other reason than that there is no one else that can replace you.”

  Ian held up his hands in surrender, but was grinning. “Okay! Okay! I accept! If for no other reason than to get all of you to leave me alone about it! But what are you going to do if the UN disagrees with you?”

  “That won’t matter at this point. Instead of asking their opinion, we will simply be informing them of the action and the reasons for it,” Luke replied. "Major Dancer, please?”

  Star took form in the room, although her lower half was hidden in a computer terminal because of the lack of room. “You asked for me, Councilor?”

  “Yes I did. On this day and at this time, acting on the decisions of the Terran Ruling Council, and in my capacity as the Chairman for that body, I am ordering you to officially record the promotion of Commander Ian Williams to that of Fleet Admiral of the Terran Defense Forces. I am further ordering you to officially record the Promotion of Colonel Jennifer Laskar-Williams to the rank of Commander and assign her to the TDF Star Dancer as Master and Commander. Colonel Tyler Anders is promoted to the rank of General, and is to continue in his current duties. Major John Harris, Major Chloe Brighton, and Major Bethany Ann Hayes-Williams are hereby promoted to the rank of Colonel; duty assignments are still pending. Official promotion ceremonies will be scheduled and held at a later time, but date of rank is immediate,” Luke finished.

  Star nodded to him and turned to Laura. “Councilor Johnson, as the only other member of the Ruling Council present, do you testify that these official orders are correct?”

  Laura nodded. “I do.”

  The holographic rank insignia on Ian’s Armor changed to that of Admiral, and Chloe’s changed to Colonel. The operators in the room stood and clapped, congratulating the two on their promotions.

  “Okay folks, as much as we both appreciate it, we are still on the clock here,” Chloe said, and chuckled. “Back to work my slaves!"

  “Okay, so what time is the meeting with the UN?” Ian asked.

  Luke looked at his watch. “Not for a few hours yet.”

  “Message received on Alliance of Races Emergency channels,” Star reported.

  Star put it on the room speakers, and translated it. “Attention! Anyone on this channel! This is the Benesian ship Summer Dawn. We are declaring an emergency! We are under attack by an unknown warship. We are requesting immediate assistance!

  “Star Com, Damocles is reporting a change of mission. We are responding to a Benesian distress call. Computer puts them twenty-two minutes away. Ship directory says the Summer Dawn is a civilian passenger liner,” Cindy reported. “Gemini and Apache are continuing mission."

  “Wait!” Goya said. “It could be a trap. The Empire has used this ploy to lure our ships into an ambush!”

  “I heard him, Star Com. Request verification and status update of Benesian ‘Summer Dawn’,” Cindy replied.

  “Gimme a few minutes on that, Damocles,” Chloe replied.

  “Take all the time you need, Star Com, but in twenty-one minutes it won’t matter as much,” Cindy replied.

  “Let me talk to the Alliance of Races, Colonel,” Noren said. “They know me.”

  Chloe nodded and motioned toward one of her operators. “Thank you, Councilor. I’m sure that will greatly speed up the process.”

  Noren moved over to the operator Chloe had indicated, and they got busy.

  Ian was studying a star chart of ‘local’ space, since the Raptor group wasn’t that far away. The chart put the Damocles location near the Beta Hydri system, and her current course would drop them in that system.

  If that ‘unknown’ warship turned out to be an Imperial Cruiser, that would mean that Imperial forces were operating less than twenty-five light years away. Ian did not like the looks of that at all. If they were that close, then they might very well know about the Sol System, and an attack by them would overwhelm his paltry defenses.

  “If that’s an Imperial ship, they are far too close to us for my comfort,” Ian said.

  “We’ve never had any reports of them this deep into our galaxy. In fact, this ship would be almost a hundred light years from any known concentration of enemy forces,” Goya said. “Very troubling.”

  “Oh my Goddess!” Noren replied. “Admiral, you must rescue that ship at all costs!”

  “What’s wrong?” Ian asked.

  “That ship is the main transport for the Benesian ruling council. Their Ambassador almost fainted when I asked her about it. There is a high probability that the ship and the distress call are real!”

  “Damocles, this is Star Com, ship verification complete. High confidence that mission is real, VIP is present on Summer Dawn. Securing the safety of the Summer Dawn is a high priority,” Chloe ordered.

  “Message understood, Star Com, should I pull the other two Raptors in as well?” Cindy asked.

  Chloe looked at Ian for the answer.

  Ian shook his head. “No, we’ll respond. If that ship is so important, they may need heavier firepower than a Raptor or the three we can bring to bear.” He activated his own comm. "Jenny, get the ship ready to go; set course for Beta Hydri, fastest possible speed.” He turned to the Admirals and Councilors. “I’m going to leave you folks on the moon base for now. Prometheus will jump back from Centauri to protect Earth. Chloe, get all of our fighters and recon ships back on board ASAP.”

  Just as Noren was about to protest, Goya interrupted her. “He has to go, Noren. If I were in command here, I would do the exact same thing. Civilian emergencies of this type have to have a maximum response, and Ian’s fleet is the closest. His Raptor team can do what they can until he gets there.”

  “I understand, I was only going to question the decision not to send the other two Raptors,” Noren said.

  “A Raptor is very poorly equipped for this type of rescue mission, Councilor,” Ian said. “If it were to free hostages or rescue the VIP from enemy custody, yes, they would be perfect, but in this situation, they are little more than an assault shuttle with improved guns.”

  “Oh!” Noren said. “Come on, Admirals, let’s get out of here so he can get moving!”

  Luke gave Ian a nod as he followed the others out of the room. Their guards had already begun to lead them to the maglev. Ian grinned and nodded to Chloe as he left for the bridge.

  TDF Assault ship, Raptor Damocles

  Deceleration vector, Beta Hydri system

  Benesian Federated Space

  Rataac Sector

  Major Cindy Williams-Swift, Commanding

  “Summer Dawn, this is Terran Raptor Damocles. What is your situation?”

  “Blessed Goddess! Thank you! We are being pursued by what we think is an Imperial warship. We’ve been ordered to halt and be boarded. We’ve taken missile hits to the engines and are losing power. Please hurry!” A panicked voice replied.

  “Hold it together, Summer Dawn, we’ll be there shortly. We have notified Alliance command of your position and situation. Help is on the way.” Cindy said.

  “Thank you, Damocles. We’ll hold.” Cindy thought that she could hear a note of relief in the voice.

  Cindy got up and headed back to the Common Area to face her sleepy team. She noticed that they had gotten into their armor but hadn’t put
the helmets on. She smiled in approval. “Okay campers we have a Benesian civilian liner under attack by an unknown hostile. It’s most likely an Imperial Light Cruiser. Thankfully the damn thing is only about a third the size of Star Dancer or we’d be in a world of shit. We still could be. This is what we’ve been training for, campers.

  “Imperial shielding isn’t like ours. They have a weak EM field and a very thick hull. I want to drop out of hyperspace right in front of them, let’s open both cannons to hammer the fuck out of them. If we can open another portal behind them but turn away so they think we jumped back out, that would be good.” As she explained a holographic depiction of what she was describing appeared over the table. It was a little slower than her description as the computer was trying to display what she was saying.

  “If they have as much trouble seeing us as the Caldarians did, how are we supposed to distract them? We can’t present a viable target for them to see.” Jerry asked.

  “Good question. If we need to, we can unshield our engine emissions. That should get their attention. If that doesn’t work, well I guess we’ll have to slap them in the face with a dead fish,” Cindy replied.

  They all chuckled over that. “Okay, so what do you want the rest of us to do?” Sam asked.

  Shrugging, Cindy said, “Hold on. Watch the fight from your bunk via the monitors and make suggestions for the rest of us. Other than that, praying might help. Now we have about ten minutes before dropping out of hyperspace, let’s get set," she said, making for her locker to get her armor on.

  She walked through the ship, quickly checking that everything was secure. She got ‘thumbs up’ signals from the three men, now safely strapped into their bunks with their helmets on. She quickly returned to the cockpit; Sasha was below them in the gunner's position, and Lissa was sitting at the navigators/co-pilot station. Cindy put her own helmet on and sat down to strap herself in.