Talosian Chronicles 3: Talosian Alliance Read online

  "Yes and no, sir. They did jump out safely, but the Imperial ships had already begun arriving, so their departure was seen. I should mention that Star Dancer had escorted the liner out to its jump point. There is no place for them to hide," Brekka said.

  "Then I guess we're going to get to see just how good young Admiral Williams really is," Goya said. "I hope he survives; Imperial commanders are not as stupid as the Caldarians were."

  "Sir, if anyone can pull this off, I believe it will be him," Brekka replied.

  "Hm?" Goya asked turning to his aide. "What makes you think that?"

  "I've heard you commenting on it yourself, Sir," the woman answered. "There is a... feeling here. A power. Something that drives these people even when others would give up. It would be easy to say that Ian Williams created this in his people, and on the surface, it even looks that way, but it isn't. These people see him as a hero, and revere him, but he isn't the source of their strength. What he's done and accomplished has inspired it, perhaps reawakened would be a better description. These people have a type of hope we hadn't been aware that we had lost.

  "Of all the people here, Admiral Williams shows it the most. He is always thinking, analyzing, testing. He is always trying to see what would work better or for a way to improve or do better. He refuses to accept something simply because the odds are against it, or centuries old doctrine say this is the only way. I honestly believe that Admiral Ian Williams and his people here, are going to become the Emperor's worst nightmare," she finished.

  Goya was quiet a moment while he thought about his aide's words. Finally, he nodded. "I think you might very well be correct, Brekka. But I also cannot help but wonder what that will mean for all of us in the long run. Will he bring about changes that are for the good, or only appear to be?" He nodded slowly. "There is simply no way to know. The question facing us is do we try to help him, or stop him if we can."

  Brekka chuckled. "Sometimes it feels like all of this is a ride at a pleasure center. The only control we really have is to hold on, and try not to fall out."

  Goya snorted a laugh. "I think you might have a better grasp of the situation than I do! Come on, let's have dinner. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure out how to help them, and ourselves, at the same time."

  TDF Star Dancer

  Open space

  Rataac sector, Beta Hydri system

  Commander Jennifer Williams, Commanding

  "Sir, several of the ships are spinning up for another jump. I think we're going to have a problem very soon!" the excitable scanner tech in operations called.

  "I swear I'm going to get that man Prozac!" Ian said under his breath.

  Jenny heard him however, and laughed. "Yeah, unfortunately, he's right. A few of those heavies are going to jump out here and make life interesting for us. How do you want to play this?"

  "Give them a moving target. Let's tour the system. We need to come up with a way to keep an eye on these assholes that they won't be able to find, so we need to buy time. Avoid confrontation for now," Ian ordered, and stepped over to the empty console he'd used earlier. He opened a comm.

  "Engineering," a man's voice replied before his face appeared.

  "Is Chief Dommer available?" Ian asked.

  When he saw who was calling he straightened up. "I'll get him, Sir!"

  A moment or two later, the taciturn Engineer appeared on the screen. "What can we do for you, Admiral?"

  "Chief, I need you to create a miracle. I need an automated listening-slash-observation device that we can drop, that the Imperials can't detect. Think you can come up with something like that?" Ian asked.

  Chief Dommer looked down in thought for a moment. "I can rig up what you need, Sir, the trick is going to be hiding it from the Imps,"

  "Sir, why couldn't we build a few ground models to process data, but build the sensors into small drones that they can control? If we keep the power signature low, or better yet, use Enigma armor on them, it should give the Imps fits if they can find them?" a voice said from off to one side.

  "Show me," Dommer ordered. Ian could see him looking off to one side, and nodding occasionally. "Yeah, that might work. Include a small replicator in the main units so they can replace the drones on the fly. Before we leave, we could hurl a few drones in-system for closer looks. Yeah, we can make this work." He looked back at Ian. "I'll need a couple of hours and four teams of Marines and their shuttles."

  Ian nodded. "You can use the Marines, but you have thirty minutes. We're playing tag with an entire battle fleet up here, Chief. The longer you take, the worse chance we have of escaping the system."

  Dommer nodded. "Understood, but it'll still take at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Gonna take that long just to get the Marines out to where these need to be installed. If you could get us closer to an asteroid belt, that should help."

  "I'll see what I can do Chief. I'll let Major Reise know you need his folk's assistance," Ian said.

  "Yeah, send 'em down now, we could use their hands to get all this assembled. It'll teach em how to set them up too," Dommer replied.

  "Good luck Chief," Ian said and was about to close the channel.

  "Buy as much time as you can, Sir. We'll need every second of it," Dommer said and cut the channel.

  Ian immediately called the Marine commander and filled him in. He said he'd take care of it. In fact, as Ian cut the channel, he could hear the man yelling for his people.

  He walked back to Jenny in her chair. "Dommer is on it. He asked that we move closer to one of the asteroid belts. I think I know what he wants, so if you could get us in the middle one without getting us killed or trapped, that would be ideal."

  Jenny snickered. "Don't want much, do ya? Did I mention there are now four battleships hunting us?"

  "Ops to Command, three small jump points forming off our stern. I think they're trying to slow us down by sacrificing some light cruisers or destroyers," Chloe said.

  "We're not going to slow down, Chloe. Keep the fleas off us," Jenny said. "Master safety released! All weapons, targets to the rear, have fun kids!"

  "Major Dancer, would you be so kind as to pipe the feed down to engineering and enhance the video so the Chief may enjoy the use of his weapons," Ian asked.

  Jenny chuckled. "He does like those mass drivers, doesn't he?"

  "Two destroyers and one light cruiser have emerged from hyperspace. Target alpha has been destroyed, Gamma appears to be listing badly to port, Target bravo is taking serious damage, but is so far unaffected," someone reported. While they were talking, other reports were given;

  "Brace-two, missiles away! Five seconds to impact!"

  "Targets beta and gamma shields have failed! Target Gamma destroyed!"

  "Impact in three, two, one, Missile detonation! Target Beta is destroyed!"

  "That was a waste," Jenny said.

  "Nope, wait for it..." Ian said.

  Just as Jenny looked at him for more of an explanation, the tracking officer sounded off. "Jump point forming immediately astern! It's a big one!"

  "The first three were bait to get us to stop. This is the trap," Ian said. "At least one battleship."

  "Con! Ahead - Full emergency!" Jenny ordered. "Get us some distance. Weapons control, I want ten, full-yield, missiles on that target before she can raise shields!"

  "Missiles away, birds are in acquisition! Lock! Detonation in ten seconds!" the weapons control officer reported.

  "This could be a problem," Jenny said. "Damage control to stand-by. Chekhov, plot an in-system jump; put us on the far side of the system primary, about the orbit of the second planet. Execute when ready."

  "Aye, Sir! Jump in ten seconds; stand-by!"

  Jenny opened her ship-wide comm. "This is the Commander. We will be executing a series of in-systems jumps with little to no warning. We're in for a bumpy ride, folks."

  "Missiles detonated! Minimal damage detected. Battleship is firing! Twenty missiles inbound, impact in sixteen seco
..."

  "Jumping!" Chekhov called, just as the ship jumped into hyperspace.

  The gravimetric sheer of the jump point destroyed the inbound missiles, and caused minimal damage to the enemy ship. However, it did manage to get Star Dancer out of the battle area.

  "Sir, I have several more jumps plotted if we need them," Chekhov reported.

  "Well done, Chekhov. We just might," Jenny said. "Make sure one of them drops us near the middle asteroid belt, please."

  "Will do, Sir," Chekhov replied.

  Ian moved over near the navigator. "Chekhov, in addition to what the Commander has asked you, I'd like you to plot a series of jumps to get us out of here that will keep the Empire guessing as to our travel direction. We'll want to execute them after we do our thing in the asteroid belt."

  "I understand Sir, unless you want to seriously disrupt the asteroid belt, I'll have to drop us at least ten thousand klicks out. We'll have to be twice that distance when we jump away," the man reported.

  Ian nodded. "I thought as much. We might have to, but no, we don't want to disrupt them if we don't have to. We need to drop teams of Marines in the asteroids so they can install listening posts. We'll also have to recover them. Chief Dommer says they'll need a half hour on station to install the devices. I think he'll want them spaced evenly around the system for the best effect. Once we get those posts set, I want to get us out of here in such a way that the Empire can't track us."

  "Oh... Let me work on this, Sir, I think I can do this," Chekhov said. "Let me give the engineer a call, and I'll coordinate with the marines. Now that I know what you need, I'll make sure you get it, Sir."

  "Great, just don't leave anyone behind!" Ian said winking at the shocked looking man.

  TDF Star Dancer

  Open space

  Rataac sector, Beta Hydri system

  Commander Jennifer Williams, Commanding

  "Sir, we've got a plan worked out for this, but we'll need to remain on station after each jump for a minimum of ten minutes so the hyperdrives can cool down. Chief Dommer reminded me that the engines were not designed for this kind of abuse, and we are risking melting them down," Chekhov said after a few minutes.

  "We'll try, but it might not always be possible. Just do the best you can," Jenny replied.

  Chekhov nodded. "I thought that might be the case, Sir. Chief Dommer will do what he can to keep the hyperdrive initiators cool and try to minimize the damage. He asked me to pass on to you that he will be ready for the first team to head out in five minutes.

  "Our plan calls for us to jump in near one of the places where Dommer recommends planting a device. The Marines will depart, we will head back out, and jump to the next location to drop the next team. By the time we have dropped the last team, we will then jump to set point to retrieve the first team, and so forth. None of the positions are all that close to any other positions so it shouldn't raise suspicion."

  "Got time to show us?" Ian asked.

  Chekhov nodded, and typed on his keyboard. A map of the Beta Hydri system appeared on the main viewer. As he continued to type, He explained the series of jumps and cool downs he, the chief Engineer, and the Marine commander had worked out.

  "Finally, Sir, after the last team is back on board, we will make two more distraction jumps before we depart for home. The lead time on the final jump will be longer than the other because the Chief wants to make sure the drives are as cool as he can get them before we make the jump home," Chekhov finished.

  An alarm sounding on his terminal got his attention.

  "What's wrong?" Jenny asked.

  "That big honkin' shipyard just jumped to one of my pre-plotted points. The refinery ship has also jumped, but it shouldn't affect our plan, it's going to the outer most asteroid field," Chekhov reported.

  "Which point is disrupted?" Jenny asked.

  "The last one, the point I set for our jump home," the man replied.

  "Leave it there," Jenny ordered.

  "Uh, Commander, I don't mean to argue with you, but that monster has mass. Enough mass to affect my jump calculations," Chekhov replied.

  "Yeah, but it's a set quantity. Recalculate your jump, but include that mother. In fact, the closer to her you can put us when we jump, the happier I'll be," Jenny said.

  "Oh, you're a cruel, cruel woman!" Ian said, chuckling and shaking his head.

  Chekhov's eyes lit up as he realized what Jenny wanted to do; use the jump as a weapon to damage the enemy shipyard. "I'll do my best, Sir!" He said and got back to work. "Uh, we'll be jumping in two minutes, heading to our first drop point."

  "You have the helm, Lieutenant. Do what you need," Jenny said. She opened her comm. "Commander to Armory."

  "Congrats on the promotion, Commander!" Debbie replied. "What do you need?"

  "Thanks Debbie, I'm going to need the biggest, baddest, firecracker you can put together without using gravimetrics. It doesn't have to fit on a missile, but that would make delivery easier," Jenny said. "I want to leave a nice going-away present for our new friends out there."

  "What do you have in mind to destroy?" Debbie asked.

  "I'll send you what we have on it, but keep in mind, it's a one shot deal; like a fly-by bombing. This thing is huge in the extreme, so I doubt we could destroy it, but damage is always nice," Jenny said as she sent the specs on the Imperial shipyard to the Weapons Master.

  "Ho-ly-fuck!" Debbie said. "How much time do we have?"

  "About forty-five minutes, give or take. It's liable to be a bumpy ride, so try not to make it too volatile," Jenny finished.

  "Gotcha, I'll whip up something. Call ya back when we're ready," Debbie said and cut the channel.

  "Remind me not to piss you off," Ian said, grinning.

  "Stand by for jump!" Chekhov announced. "Three, two, one, Jumping!"

  Once again the great ship disappeared into hyperspace, this time to reappear just outside the mid-system asteroid field.

  "Setting course to drop point one; Marine shuttle one, stand by for launch," Chekhov said.

  "Brimstone is loaded and ready to rock," a male voice replied.

  "Brimstone?" Ian asked, looking at Jenny.

  "Ever since the Grave Digger incident, the Marine pilots have been altering their call signs to fit the unit assigned to them. In this case, Brimstone is assigned to the 'Helldivers'," she explained.

  "I wonder who comes up with these names," Ian asked.

  "The team leader, Lieutenant King named them to honor his grandfather who was a pioneer in combat jumps during World War II," she explained.

  Ian nodded. "I can't fault that. Just so we don't end up with units with names like 'bunny humpers', I'll be okay with it."

  Upon hearing the Admiral, one of the guards at the door had a sudden coughing fit, the other guard did manage to keep the smile from his face, but only barely. Ian got the guard a glass of water, and winked at him.

  "Flight control, this is Navigation, insertion point one reached, launch when ready," Chekhov said. "Altering course for jump point two."

  "Brimstone, you are clear to launch," Flight operations could be heard to say.

  "Roger that, Flight," the pilot replied. A few seconds later he added. "Brimstone is clear, leave a light on for us."

  "Increasing speed full, next jump now in four minutes, thirteen seconds...Mark!" Chekhov said.

  "Damn! At this rate, we'll make a Commander out of you yet, Chekhov!" Jenny teased.

  The man took a moment from his calculations to turn around and innocently ask, "Why do you hate me?"

  Jenny chuckled, and winked at a now smiling Chekhov, who turned around and got back to work.

  Ian went to the bridge replicator and got a bacon cheeseburger, onion rings, and a mint-chocolate shake for Jenny. He took it to her before turning to the Navigator. "Are you hungry, Cory?" for once using the navigator's real first name.

  "I am now! That burger smells fabulous, can I have one of those too, Sir?" Chekhov asked.

 
"Sure, what would you like for the milk shake?" Ian asked.

  "Butterscotch?" Chekhov asked.

  Ian got the food and took it to the man at his station before getting his own food.

  "Thank you, Sir," Chekhov said when Ian sat it down.

  "Not a problem, you're busy, I'm not. We're all getting hungry, so I thought I'd be nice to you for once!" Ian replied, grinning.

  While he was delivering the food to Chekhov, Mel left the ready room, and started helping to serve the crew.

  "Stand-by by for next jump. Ten seconds!" Chekhov said between bites. "..And three, two, one, jumping!"

  Chekhov's plan worked pretty well. The Imperial forces in the system kept trying to engage them, and even tried to anticipate a few of the jumps, but to no avail. The pattern was too random for them to figure out at this point. As the ship was moving to the next jump after dropping off the last seeding team, the first one reported mission complete and that it was in transit to the rendezvous. Chekhov's timing had been perfect.

  TDF Star Dancer

  Open space

  Rataac sector, Beta Hydri system

  Commander Jennifer Williams, Commanding

  It had been an interesting couple of hours, but now that Star Dancer had retrieved her last seeding team and was moving out to the next jump. Chief Dommer had warned Jenny that the hyperdrive initiator was not cooling as fast as it should, so she ordered Chekhov to slow their transit to the next jump point to give it and the engineering team more time.

  "Jump point nine ETA now fifteen minutes." Chekhov reported. "You know, Commander, we can just jump for home from here. I highly doubt they would be able to track us."

  "I'm considering that, but I really want to give these assholes a black-eye. They attacked an unarmed transport, and now they're trying to get set up to take over the quadrant. I'm not okay with that," Jenny said. "If we had a chance of pulling it off, I'd say we should stick around and blow these fuckers back to their own galaxy."