Alpha One: The Kronan (6 page)

The Duke was ready and as Jake pushed his Jump Ship to its absolute limit, he fired his afterburners and swerved left and then right to create a wall through which Jake could not pass. These were legitimate, but dangerous tactics. However, Jake was ready for him. He had already boiled up his Ion drive. He drew in close again and prepared to engage his off-world engines. The Duke pulled left and created a tempting passage for Jake to pass through. Jake took the bait.

The Hunter RS4, slammed into the side of the cave at high velocity, as the Duke brought his ship back into line, with his own burst of Ion drive power. The impact caused Jake to lose consciousness and his Jump Ship veered up, smashing against the roof of the cave, before bottoming and coming to rest on the cave surface several thousand meters from where the incident started.

* * * *

Jake came round in the medical facility. He realized he was badly hurt and placed in a stasis chamber to allow his broken bones to rejuvenate. He drifted in and out of sleep for the next few hours, until a meal was served
.
It seemed like weeks since he had last eaten.

* * * *

“Good to see you conscious, Enson.”

“Commander Golding. I did not know you had travelled to the TG final?”

“The Chancellor and I travelled separately. How are you feeling?”

“A little groggy, Sir, but I guess I must be on the mend.”

“You were lucky. The Hunter was totally wiped out. The surgeons removed a blood clot from your skull and cleared up significant internal bleeding. You were lucky. But your injuries were not life threatening and the surgeons and stasis chamber have done a good job. I am told you should be fit to return to Earth later today and if it’s okay with you I will accompany you on the medical ship.”

“Of course, Sir. I presume I lost my position in the final standings?”

Golding smiled. “Yes, you finished sixteenth, but frankly you could have finished first. Tom Duke managed to get away with this stunt. His maneuver was deemed legal, which I disagree with. He won the TG of course.”

“I am not sure I would have won outright. Even if I had got passed Duke, I still would have been in second and then there was the other time trial heat.”

“Your heat was the fastest and I am sure if you had got past Duke, you could have passed the man in first place. He was suffering intermix problems and eventually finished the time trial in eighth place. We are very proud of your achievement Mister Carter. You could and probably should have won and we are contesting the result. It will fail, of course, but we want to register our objection to the result. I will let you rest now. The medical technician will be here in due course, to get you set up for the journey home.”

So, he had done well after all. The field was very competitive but Tom Duke had come through in the end. Thank God, Steve missed the competition. A clash between Steve and Duke would have been bad.

He was pleased the Chancellor and the South Downs Academies TG Supremo had witnessed the competition. Without their acknowledgement, it would have been difficult to justify how he had managed to return to the Academy in a stasis chamber.

The mini-fleet, under the command of Jonathan Hoskins had left the Jandas System two weeks ago, in pursuit of the rogue Kryl vessel, now believed to be heading to the Tri-star System. They were travelling at maximum fleet velocity. There was no prospect of locating the enemy vessel in the light years of space that lay between the two systems. The Halo 7 completed her post refit trials and deposited the outgoing first officer, Commander Jacques at Alpha Two before rendezvousing with the mini-fleet. The new first officer Commander Shen Knui then boarded and they headed straight to the Jandas System. When their search proved unsuccessful Hoskins was relieved when fleet command ordered them to head directly to the Tri-star System.

Hoskins was in his quarters, his mistress, and the ships CAG, Lieutenant Obeya Temsouri lay by his side on his bed, completely naked, sleeping. He had just answered a comm. link.

“Commander, we are picking up some unusual readings.”

The voice was that of his new first officer. He was getting used to her. She could be quite forthright, but was pleasant enough and knew her job, albeit a bit too much ‘by the book’.

“What kind of readings Number One?”

“Vented plasma from a hyper drive core. The plasma is unusual, not Alpha, or any other usual source. This could be the rogue ship. Do you want to join me on the bridge?”

This was Shen Knui, going by the book, but Hoskins did not feel compelled to join her.

“You do not need my help to investigate this matter. Proceed and let me know who or what is venting when you have the information. I will join you on the bridge in a few hours.”

“Very well, Sir, but as we are not certain of the plasma origins, I am taking us to alert status and raising shields.”

“That’s a sensible precaution. Keep me informed.”

The communication ended as Obeya began to stir. She would be late for her shift again. But her staff knew what was going on and no one would say anything.

“You let me oversleep again. This does not look good to the outside world. My staff are already talking.”

“Let them. I am in command of the fleet and not just this ship now. I am entitled to a few perks.”

“Is that what your wife thinks too?”

“Oh come on, Obeya. Let’s not start that again. I have to support my wife. She is the mother of my son!”

“So, that’s it then. No further discussions regarding our future because you now have a son. I will just continue to be your sordid little affair...your mistress.”

“Sweetheart, you know I love you. I am trying to look for the best of both worlds.”

“Well, it’s not working. You need to make a decision soon. It’s your wife or me!”

“I know, I know. I need to work out how I am going to tell her.”

Or whether I will tell her,
he thought. He could not let go of his wife or Obeya.

Obeya said nothing, but stared at Hoskins briefly before standing and heading off towards the shower. Hoskins was left to contemplate Obeya’s latest ultimatum.
They were becoming more frequent now. He did not want to lose her, but he did not want to lose Sarah either and as for his son?

Hoskins’s label badge flashed.

“Commander, we think we have traced the plasma identity. The ship is almost certainly Kryl.”

“Then we may be in business Number One. I am on my way.”

* * * *

“How close is the plasma trail?”

“We are closing to within ten kilometers. Shall I send a probe?”

“No. Spread the fleet out. Get me Commander Little on the ship to ship.”

Hoskins waited patiently, as the comms request was made. He needed quick responses from his executive officers.

“Little here. Is that Kryl plasma we are following?”

“Yes, it would seem so. Commander, I want you to take the Clipper ahead of us by say, ten thousand kilometers and then run a discrete barium scan. I gather that the Mauritius commander located the Kryl vessel, using the same technique.”

“Won’t that leave us rather vulnerable, Sir?”

“Potentially, yes, but if she is directly in front of us and she is venting plasma, now may be a good time to drawer her out.”

* * * *

Twenty minutes passed before Little came back to Hoskins.

“The barium scan has completed. The plasma was vented in the last two to three hours, so she is not too far ahead. Of course we do not know how fast she is travelling.”

“Take your ship to one hundred thousand kilometers ahead and run the scan again. We will monitor your progress and if there is any sign of her, we will be right with you.”

Commander Shen Knui joined Hoskins in his ready room.

“I have been theorizing as to why she might be venting plasma. Her main hyper drive is not her only power source. If they are aware she is venting, they would power down the drive and use a different one. I think this is a trap.”

“I think you may be right. Nevertheless, we cannot take any action until we are certain. Putting the Clipper in her current position is risky but may encourage a response.”

* * * *

Three hours passed before Hoskins patience ran out.
She must know we are looking for her.

“Number One, issue the order to fleet to spread and launch Rapiers. We need to show intent and at the same time broaden our search. Let’s carry out intensive barium sweeps covering the entire sector. That way, if, she is still here, we will find her.”

The five-ship mini-fleet spread out and launched a squadron of Rapiers, each casting their own net, in the form of a barium sweep. Two hours later, the lead Rapier ran straight into a barrage of plasma fire. The Kryl ship had de-cloaked, turned about and was stationery, waiting for the Alpha fleet to engage.

Roslyn sat at his desk and stared at his view screen. The figures were appalling. Half of the shield grid was running below fifty percent effectiveness and the rest was severely weakened. How had his defense department allowed this to happen?

He was alarmed by Koenig’s assertion that the shields were not working correctly. On returning from his ‘summit’ in Lugano, he had called for the latest set of shield figures and reassurance from his secretary of defense. The figures came back, much as they had in the years that Roslyn held office. The shields were running at near normal optimal efficiency. Roslyn had learned to be cynical and asked his defense supremo to carry out a review of the report’s findings. That report was in front of him.

The Defense Secretary, Charles de Voort, sat on the armchair facing the operational plasma screen. A copy of the report was displayed and he could barely bring himself to look at it.

“Haven’t we carried out audits of the operational figures? How could our reports be so wrong?”

“I am investigating the issue. It does appear there was a cover up at the Area Command level. I am told the individual Station Chiefs were asked to disconnect the warning parameters so that faltering shields would not trigger alarms. It sounds incredible, I know, but fundamentally, this looks like a cascading maintenance issue which has gone out of control. Years of neglect resulted in almost complete failure. It is a disaster.”

“You are quite right, Charles. It is a monumental cock-up! We need to have these shields brought back to where they should be immediately.”

“That is going to be problematic.”

“Why?”

“Because the whole grid needs an overhaul. Each section will need to be shut down, serviced, re-networked and restarted. There are hundreds of sections and the downtime for each would be two to three days at least. This could take weeks, or even months!”

“How many sections could we carry out in one go?”

“Two maybe, three, on opposing sides of the planet, so as not to affect the grid integrity. This is also a resource problem. We do not have sufficient technicians to run a multi-centered repair.”

“Don’t the section grid managers have the capability?”

“Barely. Over the years, they seem to have become more of an administrative function, rather than hands on. I hate to say it, but only Alpha have that kind of widespread expertise. The only way we are going to fix this quickly, is by asking for their help!”

“Not acceptable. I am not handing over control of the shields to Alpha.”

“I don’t see what choice we have. If invasion looks likely, the shields will not hold. Beyond the fleet and SED, we have no effective defense against invasion...and you know my opinions on SED, they remain an enigma themselves.”

Roslyn was angry now. “Charles, I will not entertain the thought of handing over the control of SED to Alpha. As for the shields...we need them operational now. I presume you have had some discrete conversations with Alpha?”

“Yes, I have. According to their shield guru, Commander Westwood, they had similar problems on Mars, a few years back. The overhaul was completed within a matter of weeks. This is a greater problem, but they have the resources. We would have to give them complete control of course.”

Roslyn, held his head in his hands. This was all going in the wrong direction.

“Complete your investigation Charles and come back to me by the end of tomorrow at the latest. Do not let on to Alpha what we are considering and find me a head or heads to role!”

Morvalt stood in quiet contemplation in his Sanctuary. He knew this latest challenge should be a tough one. Alpha would send their finest ships to do battle and in a straight fight, his vessel could be defeated. He was not looking to play fair. His power gave him the overwhelming advantage. He would squeeze the life out of each and every human; but not yet.

He would let them come to him, let them see him, and let them think that they were winning. Then he would strike. He would even let them communicate his position to their fleet commanders. He was not at risk any more. They were close to the wormhole and then his fleet would soon give him overwhelming advantage.

* * * *

The small Alpha flotilla was now visible but Morvalt waited. He left his Sanctuary and stood at the center of his vessels command deck
.
He had complete control, over his ship, its crew, and very soon, the powerless humans who would succumb to crushing and deadly defeat.

“Fire, main artillery cannons and target each Alpha vessel individually. We will sustain the attack until we have weakened their shields and then deploy plasma warheads.”

Without comment or acknowledgement, the Kryl drones carried out the Kronan’s commands. The result was immediate, with all five Alpha vessels peppered with powerful plasma bursts from the Kryl ships main weaponry systems. Alpha responded immediately with their own plasma weaponry banks. They launched two squadrons of Jump Ships which immediately sought to surround the Kryl vessels, intent on rendering the enemy vessel powerless, by targeting the Kryl weaponry arrays.

The battle scene was reminiscent of many of his favorite encounters with enemy vessels and Morvalt’s expressionless face, lifted as he smiled. He had called his human advisor, Samos to his side, to witness the destruction of the Alpha vessels. This would be a lesson to his captive and one from which they would both benefit in time.

“As you can see, they are trying to surround us. They think they have the advantage, but we will not deploy full shields and make them think that they have us beaten. They will then move in for the kill and then I will destroy them. Does this distress you Samos?”

“Of course it does. These are my people. Do not be too sure you will win this Morvalt. They do have numerical advantage. Their ships are powerful and they will be tactically astute. These are front line ships, with skilled commanders. They will not be easy to defeat.”

“They will, when I take control of their ship’s systems.”

“How?”

“You have yet to witness the full extent of my powers, Samos. As you will see the Alpha vessels will be soon be under my control.”

Morvalt closed his eyes. At first nothing happened, but then the nearest Alpha ship lurched to port and turned to face the nearest of the four other vessels. The Alpha ship then opened fire.

Morvalt moved to target the second Alpha vessel. This time, it was clear what he had done. He had coerced the Alpha commanders into powering down their shield systems. The first ship targeted the second ships weaponry banks and their command center. It did not take long before the second ship was all but destroyed.

Morvalt targeted the next ship. He had allowed the Alpha ships to get closer still, giving him greater and greater control. Only the lead vessel, held back. Somehow, their commander was wise enough to keep his distance. A second Alpha ship was destroyed, powerless without its shields and the last of the four Alpha cruisers, began to take fire from the weaponry of the Kryl controlled Alpha vessel.