Talosian Chronicles 3: Talosian Alliance Page 22

  TDF Star Dancer

  Hyperspace Transit vector Beta Hydri

  Commander Jennifer Williams, Commanding

  "Jenny, when we come back, drop us at Pleiades One. We'll be putting in for a 'hot' refit," Ian said when she joined him for lunch. "I just got off the comm with Chief Dommer, Maia, and the design team at the station. They worked out a plan for our upgrades that will only take us off line for a few hours at a time. With the additions of the two other Talosian defense ships, it should be safe enough to start our upgrades."

  "I was going to ask you about that," Jenny said "With so many other ships in system, could we consider those upgrades. Are we going all the way to a battle cruiser, or will we just upgrade our existing configuration?"

  "We'll go all the way to a the battle cruiser configuration, although it'll take slight longer, depending on how often we'll have to leave the dock to put out a fire," Ian explained.

  Jenny nodded her understanding. "I'm recommending Chekhov for another promotion. He completed his doctorate last week."

  "That shouldn't be a problem, he's our most senior navigator anyway. I'm looking forward to the research results of his dissertation. Instantaneous travel over light years would be a hell of a strategic advantage," Ian replied before taking a bite of his sub sandwich.

  Jenny snorted. "Leave it to you to know all about his thesis! Personnel was part of my job, and I didn't even know!"

  Ian shrugged, smiling softly. "I try to keep aware of everything being researched, I do manage to remember most of them. You have to admit, a jump engine would keep my attention."

  Jenny sighed, "This promotion is going to take a lot of adjustment."

  "For all of us," Ian said. "How's John taking to his new duties?"

  "I think he's doing great. But, he's had a longer time to adjust to this, he knew he was going to be promoted soon. Have you and the Council figured out a final placement for him?"

  Since his mouth was full Ian nodded, he swallowed and spoke. "John will be temporarily assigned to Serena on the Prometheus as her XO. Her XO is being promoted to Commander and assigned to the Zephyr when it arrives. Former Admiral Belirus has offered his services as an administrator to 'atone' for his crimes. I was thinking about assigning him to the Carrier as a flag officer once we get it built. In the interim, he is on his way to Mars to assume control over the construction of the fighter assembly facility."

  "What about that Admiral friend of yours from Earth? I thought I saw that Janet had succeeded in recruiting his whole family?" Jenny asked.

  "Admiral and Mrs. Hawkins will be moving to the Pleiades Stations. He will assume command of all the stations, and she has agreed to manage the nonmilitary and military support aspects of the stations. I think they'll make a hell of a team. We just need to work out when the President will be releasing him from service. His wife will be arriving soon at Phoenix with their daughter-in-law and their children. The eldest boy needs immediate medical attention, so they will remain on Phoenix until he is clear for travel. By that time, Captain James Hawkins will have resigned his commission with the US Air Force and he, with his family, will proceed out to the Mars fighter research facility. James will be a test pilot working under Tinker. When 'Commodore' Hawkins is finally released by the President, he will join his wife on Pleiades One," Ian finished, took a drink of soda, and another bite of his sandwich.

  "The Summer Dawn has hove-to near the sixth planet in the system and is making repairs while awaiting our arrival. If we can get their hyperdrive back online, they'll jump back to Benesia. They wished to thank us for the offer of escort, but don't feel it'll be necessary in light of our missing ship," Jenny reported. "I told Beth she could stand down since the only injuries reported were minor bumps and scrapes. If you look at the damage done to the ship, this was an obvious attempt at capture. The question then becomes did they know that the High Priestess was on that ship, and if so, how?"

  Ian nodded. "My thoughts exactly. What was an Imperial light cruiser doing this deep into enemy territory unless it was on a capture mission?"

  "The information we've gotten from the Talosians say that the Empire uses light cruisers for scouting missions, too. Could it simply be a case of a scout happening on the transport and attacked it as a target of opportunity?" Jenny suggested.

  "It could, but that would mean that they allowed the liner to call for help; if it was a scout, it should have destroyed the ship as soon as it detected it," Ian said. "It also troubles me that if it was a scout, what are they scouting for? If the Empire jumped a fleet into Beta Hydri, they would be far too close to our space for my comfort." He paused. "Star, could you dim the lights in here and bring up an exaggerated hologram of our quadrant?"

  In response to his request, the lights dimmed, and the requested hologram appeared. "Okay, please circle the Beta Hydri system."

  A star very close to the middle of the room was circled.

  "Okay, mark all capitol worlds in the quadrant, including Earth, please."

  "What are you thinking, Ian?" Jenny asked. The only two places semi close to the Beta Hydri system was Sol Sector and the Benesian Home world.

  "I'm not sure," Ian said thoughtfully. "Star, assume that the Empire has no knowledge of Earth or the Sol system." The marked areas for Sol Sector dimmed back to normal. "If the Empire jumped a full battle fleet to Beta Hydri, they could take the core worlds of Benesia in relatively short order. That would give them a solid foothold in this quadrant. It would be an especially good time to do it with half the Talosian forces set to fight the other half."

  "Couldn't the Benesian forces stop them?" Jenny asked.

  Ian bit his lip. "No, Benesia doesn't have a navy. Their religion prohibits the taking of life except in the defense of self, and even then there are restrictions to it. Their spacial position was thought to ensure their safety, but it's starting to look like it's doomed them instead."

  "Ian how do you know all of this shit?" Jenny asked. "I'm starting to feel a little out of the loop here."

  Ian chuckled. "I asked Star to mix items in my education matrix. She's been giving me information on the other races as well as the Talosians." Ian looked back at the hologram thoughtfully. He touched his communit. "Mel, do you know if Admiral Goya is still busy with the UN?"

  "I haven't heard anything, Sir. Would you like me to find out?" the woman replied.

  "Please, I think there might be a problem brewing for the Benesians," Ian said. "They are far too close to us for their problems not to quickly become ours."

  "One moment, Sir, I'll call Brekka and see what his schedule is," Mel replied.

  "Save this hologram as well as my comments for later review please. Once finished, please return the room to normal illumination," Ian said to the air. He knew Star monitored his room, and it was she he was speaking too.

  Jenny cleaned up the remains of her meal. "We'll be arriving in Beta Hydri in about fifteen minutes. How much of this do I tell the Benesians?"

  "None of it for now," Ian said. "I would rather we wait until we have something concrete to tell them. While we're here, keep us on alert. Get the Shadows and the Centurions out and start looking for the Damocles as soon as you can. Keep the Wasps close in case there's something we don't know about."

  "Will do," Jenny said as she left.

  "Okay, Star, dim the lights again please. I'd like to see a hologram of the Beta Hydri system. Please plot all the events of this mess to the best of our knowledge," Ian asked.

  The lights dimmed, and Ian found himself with a god's eye view of the entire star system out to the seventh planet. Star's voice narrated the events as she placed them in the hologram. "The Summer Dawn dropped out of hyperspace on an inbound system vector. She stopped here for a navigational fix, and to receive and send any communications that might have been sent while they were in transit."

  The Benesians were an advanced species, but they did not have the ability to send or receive communications while in hyperspace. While they did
use computers for navigation as well as dozens of other things, they did not have any 'smart' systems that were capable of long range navigation, which resulted in hyperspace jumps of only about twenty light years at a time.

  Star continued with her briefing. "The Imperial light cruiser was already in system and intercepted the liner just outside of the orbit of the third planet. The Benesian pilot used the gravitational pull of the planet to sling-shot them on an outbound course toward home. The maneuver bought them a little over an hour. The Imperial caught up to the, and began firing ion weaponry designed to destroy propulsion systems and disrupt communications.

  "The engineer was able to reestablish a narrow band communication capability which was used to send out the distress signal. The pilot used every trick she could think of to give the Damocles time to get here. That event occurred here." Another area was highlighted. "Using sensor logs and the testimony of the officers aboard the Summer Dawn, the Damocles dropped out of hyperspace almost on top of the Imperial, certainly close enough for the gravimetric distortion to give them something else to think about. The Damocles must have also been firing her weapons as she emerged. The report from the Summer Dawn said the bow of the Imperial seemed to start to disintegrate before incredibly strong lasers cut the engineering section completely off the ship. At that point, the Imperial ship exploded. During the exchange between the Imperial and what we are assuming to be the Damocles, the Imperial did fire several ion cannons into the hyperspace event. If half of those weapons made contact with the armor of the Damocles, it would have overloaded her armor and destroyed the ship. However, no explosion was noted other than the Imperial. The hyperspace event closed as normal, and nothing else was seen from that area. At that point, the Summer Dawn limped to it's current location, and began emergency repairs." The hologram was marked with the events as Star told them. "At present, we will arrive in the outer system in four minutes, thirty nine seconds."

  Ian nodded. "Thank you. So the Imperial was already in the system before the Benesian ship arrived?"

  "That is what is assumed, Admiral. The Summer Dawn did not detect any hyperspace events until that of the Damocles' arrival," Star replied.

  "Is it possible the Summer Dawn could have missed the event if it had occurred behind the second or third planet?" Ian asked.

  "Negative. Both locations are well within Benesian detection radii. If the Imperial jumped in after the Summer Dawn, it would have been detected. The Imperial had to have been here prior to the arrival of the Benesian ship."

  "But was it waiting for the Benesian to arrive, or did they just try to take advantage of the situation?" Ian said mostly to himself.

  "Unknown, Admiral. However, if we consider the sensor logs taken from the Summer Dawn just after she arrived in system, up until the Imperial attacked them, it would seem that the Imperial was in a survey orbit that had brought them in from the outer system. While there certainly is no hard evidence either way, it would seem to me that if they had been waiting specifically for the Benesian, they would have hidden themselves in the magnetic field of one of the planets," Star replied.

  "So you think the Summer Dawn was simply a target of opportunity then?" Ian asked.

  "If I had been trying to capture the leader of a people, I would have sent something bigger than a light cruiser. I also would have tried to conceal my presence until the last moment," Star said. "No, I do not believe they were here just to take the liner. However, I cannot see what else they could have been up to."

  "How about a detailed survey of the system so they can jump an invasion fleet in here?" Ian asked.

  Chapter Sixteen

  TDF Assault ship, Raptor Damocles

  Mid-System Asteroid Belt, Beta Hydri System

  Benesian Federated Space

  Rataac Sector

  Major Cindy Williams-Swift, Commanding

  “Thanks for coming out to repair that sensor pod, Lissa. There is so much to get done out here.” Cindy said, as Lissa settled to the hull beside her.

  “No problem, Major. After all, you asked Sasha and me to fix the sensors.”

  “Still, it’s one less thing I have to worry about. Okay Ben, lift that first laser generator, then come up yourself so we can get it installed.”

  “Okay, here it comes.” Ben replied.

  Cindy caught the heavy cylinder and laid it down on the hull beside the access panel for the port side lasers. She had the panel almost removed by the time Ben settled softly beside her.

  “How ya doin’ Ben? Is this too much weight for you to lift?” Cindy asked.

  “I’ve a slight headache, but I’ll be fine in a minute. If we can take short breaks between the lifts, I should be okay."

  “Okay, let me know if you’re getting too tired to lift things.”

  “Will do.”

  Cindy had finished removing the access panel, and turned on a wrist light to look into the laser mount. “Gods! What a mess. Both generators are melted. That must have been some power surge! Well, lets get these out of here.”

  They had removed both generators, and had begun the installation of the first replacement when Lissa and Sasha reported the sensor repair was complete.

  “Good work you two. Lissa, could you begin the removal of the other laser generators on the starboard side? We should be done here soon and that will speed us up.”

  “Sure, but what about the hyperdrive? You want me to start on that after the lasers?”

  “Good idea. I just don’t want to strain Ben here, and that hyperdrive is gonna be heavy.”

  “I’ll be ready for it Major.” Ben said, smiling through his helmets visor.

  “Major? This is Sasha, I was testing the sensor array, and have detected a large jump point forming near this systems primary. We’re about to have company.”

  “Shit! For a deserted system, this place sure is busy today! Gimme an ID, and an ETA as soon as possible. Ben, lift the rest of those generators up here if you can. We’re on the clock now folks, let’s get busy.”

  “Major, one heavy cruiser. They seem to be launching multiple small craft I bet they are going to be searching,” Sasha replied. "If they do a standard search pattern, they will be here in about forty-five minutes."

  “Do we know whose ship? It could be friendly,” Cindy asked.

  “No way to know, yet. Major, IFF link is still off-line. I can tell they're there, but I can't tell you who it is. Can’t we hide here until they pass? I mean, we are invisible to their sensors,” Sasha asked.

  “Are you sure about that Sasha? If we are invisible to them, then what the hell did they hit us with when we attacked the light cruiser? No, I want to be gone from here before they get close enough to detect our heart beats from orbit. We lift in 35 minutes.”

  As Lissa disappeared over the curve of the hull, she asked; “But Major, the hyperdrive will take longer than that to repair. It takes an hour just to align the power couplers.”

  “We won’t be able to repair it yet. I would rather be up there where we stand a fighting chance then trapped on this gods-forsaken dust ball.”

  TDF Assault ship, Raptor Damocles

  Mid-System Asteroid Belt, Beta Hydri System

  Benesian Federated Space

  Rataac Sector

  Major Cindy Williams-Swift, Commanding

  “Cindy! Star Dancer is hailing us!” Sasha called, excitedly.

  “Sasha, the Star Dancer can't leave Earth unprotected. Why would she be hailing us?” Cindy asked.

  “Major, it is possible that they are hailing us from Earth, they could be trying to determine our position for a search party,” Lissa suggested.

  “Either way, we still can't answer the call yet. Back to work everyone, that’s an order,” Cindy said. “Let’s get this finished.”

  Jerry had come out to help them get the laser generators replaced, and was with Lissa on the other side of the fuselage.

  “We’re about done here. How are you and Jerry doing, Lissa?” Cindy asked. />
  “Just need to rewire connector, plug it in and we’ll be done, Major.” Lissa replied.

  “Good. Sasha how long until our visitors arrive?”

  “Eight minutes until your deadline, Major, eighteen minutes until the search pattern uncovers us,” Sasha reported.

  “Okay, Lissa; we’ll get this cover back on and head in. You should be getting close to being done yourself by then. Just holler when you want Ben to 'lift' you down," Cindy said.

  “We will.” Lissa replied as Cindy was refastening the cover.

  She nodded to Ben who was standing beside her and he nodded. She smoothly rose off the wing and settled to the ground behind the Raptor.

  “I’ll wait up here for them to finish, Major. By the way, when’s dinner?”

  “You keep confusing me for your mother. You know how to feed yourself.” Cindy replied.

  “Well the mistake is easy to make, she is beautiful too.” Ben replied.

  “Yes she is, and Sam tells me she's damn good in bed too!” Cindy replied grinning.

  “Oh, Ouch!” Ben answered to the chuckles on the comm.

  Cindy cycled through the airlock, and headed for the main cabin. She stopped by the replicator to get an energy bar and continued on to the bridge. She entered the bridge to see the hatch to the holographic weapons chamber open. Cindy stuck her head down through the hatch, and saw that Sasha was replaying the last few seconds before the Raptor was hit.

  “Whatcha doin’ Sash?” Cindy asked.

  Sasha jumped. “Major! You startled me! I am reviewing the last few moments before we were hit. I don’t think the Imperial ship actually saw us. See here; the Imperial ship didn’t actually fire until the first rounds from our guns hit it. There! You see this? Our rounds hit the bridge! Where the weapons control would be. I think the jump point was targeted, but the weapon wasn’t fired on purpose.”

  “That would mean the Imperials can’t detect us. But how sure can we be? If you’re wrong, we’re all dead,” Cindy replied.