Alpha One: The Kronan (9 page)

“Oh come of it Steve. We used to be best mates. We need to talk and sort out our differences.”

“Or we could just sit in silence, or we could fight it out!”

“Is that really what you want?”

“Okay. Tell me what really happened.”

“I told you. It happened after you and Carla split up. I seem to remember that you were out gallivanting every night, quite often with a different woman to wake up to the next morning. Be honest, how much of this is you responding because you feel you have to, rather than outright jealousy. You didn’t love her. She was just a convenience.”

“Don’t try and turn this round on me!”

“Why not? Neither Carla nor I are to blame for the end of your relationship. You did that yourself. You treated her badly, you were unfaithful, and you were bloody rude to her most of the time.”

“No, I loved her! Maybe not in a conventional way. That’s just me. She accepted me for it to begin with, but now for some reason she doesn’t.”

“That’s because you have gone off the rails. You need to pull yourself together and fast. This is all going to be a bit academic soon anyway. In a few weeks, we could be in different parts of the galaxy. You are not going to be interested in a long term, distance relationship. Not when you’ll have the pick of the female jump pilots.”

“You will not be with her either.”

“No, probably not. I do love her and I will stay with her, no matter how far distant our lives take us.”

“How does Carla feel about this?”

“She feels the same way. We are going to stay together.”

“And me?”

Jake could tell that Steve was taking a more conciliatory tone. He gave up the fight...for now at least.

“You will remain good friends with both of us, across galaxies if we have to. If you want to that is?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it anymore. It all feels a little too fresh. I guess in time...”

Suddenly, bright light lit up the cockpit simulator as the door opened and a technician poked his head through the doorway. “I trust you guys are still okay in here!”

“Yes,” said Jake. “I think we probably are now.”

Jonathan Hoskins spent a passionate night with Lieutenant Obeya Temsouri. She left early to start her CAG shift and he stayed in bed until 8:00 a.m. to catch up on some much needed sleep.

The pre-recorded comm. link message from his wife was brief, but had made him leap out of bed with concern, when he heard it. His son had been admitted to the medical facility for tests. The tests were inconclusive and they returned home, but the medics were concerned enough to request they attend again next week to meet with a specialist.

He knew he should have been with his son and be supportive to his wife. But he could not contact her, at least not until he reached communicable range with a sub-station. The thing that bothered him the most was his near total disrespect for his wife, his marriage and his child, with whom he had spent so little time. He spent the night, once again making love to his mistress.

But this is the life I’ve chosen. As much as I want to be, we are ordered to pursue the Kryl ship. This is war and I am not allowed home. Not now.

And that damn Kryl ship has disappeared.

He had to find time to get a message to his wife, to find out about his son.
This is my ship, dammit and it’s about time I put my interests and not the ships first.

Commander Shen Knui joined Hoskins in his ready room, ten minutes later.

“Jonathan. We are two days short of the Tri-star System at current velocity and there is no sign of the Kryl ship. I suggest that we give up our search and increase our speed. We can be with the fleet, within a matter of hours if we increase to SD6.”

“Agreed. Make it so. I shall be putting in a request for emergency personal leave to return to Alpha One. I believe I can leave the ship in your capable hands for a few weeks?”

Shen Knui expressed surprise. “Anything I should know about? It must be serious. Even with a fast shuttle, it will take six or seven weeks there and back. I would think it unlikely that Admiral Shenke will grant personal leave unless it is absolutely necessary.”

“It’s none of your damned business and yes, he will grant leave!”

Hoskins put his head in his hands, sighed and looked again at his first officer.

“I am sorry, Shen Knui. My son is ill and I can’t do anything about it here. I don’t know how serious it is and I know damn well Shenke, will not want me to leave. I was just sounding off. I will be requesting a direct comm. link though, that is probably the least he can do, if he refuses my leave request.”

Shen Knui smiled. She was getting used to her new commanding officer. Like most humans, he had his good moods and his bad ones, his strengths and his weaknesses. The human’s emotional side was always a difficult one. She could only comprehend so much.

“I will take us in directly alongside the Viceroy. I am sure your son will be okay, but I understand your need to verify.”

Shen Knui was getting better at understanding human emotions,
thought Hoskins
. We will make a human of her yet.

* * * *

Within two hours, the Halo 7, pulled alongside the Viceroy, Admiral Shenke’s new A class Star Ship and Hoskins sat on one of the ample sofas in the Admirals state room.

“Jonathan. The loss of your fleet is unfortunate, but it is no reflection on you. What have we learned about our missing Kryl ship? Clearly she is not a standard cruiser.”

Hoskins outlined his theory on the Kryl vessel and its commander and Shenke nodded without commenting until Hoskins had finished.

“It’s a good theory but we must not rely on it. We need more Intel from fleet before we can commit to a specific strategy for dealing with this. Okay, I suggest you stand the Halo 7 down and assume a tactical position within the fleet.”

Hoskins acknowledged Shenke’s response and then took a deep breath before requesting his shore leave.

“I sympathize but it is totally out of the question. We need you here. I would normally say ‘no’ to the direct comm. link too but I can see how important this is. I need my senior commanders at their best. Take a shuttle out of the system and communicate there but make sure you are clear of any other vessel. I don’t want to start a precedent and I don’t want the Kryl intercepting our discussions with Earth.”

Hoskins thanked Shenke and headed straight for the main hangar bay. He had no wish to wait for a shuttle launch to be coordinated. That would take too long and he wanted to speak to Sarah, the urgency of the situation here demanded that he addressed his personal issues as quickly as possible. He headed for the Jump Ship bays and approached an assistant CAG, who he hoped would accept his authority and quickly arrange a Rapier for flight.

“We don’t usually release Jump Ships to just anyone. Sir. Not without official orders.”

“I am not just anyone, I am a four star commander and I have a priority mission which requires some discretion on the part of those involved. I need you to take this in good faith and verify my flight orders with fleet command after and I repeat after, I have departed.”

The Assistant CAG looked puzzled for a moment before responding.

“I need this to be ratified immediately on your departure. We would still bring you back if your orders do not correspond.”

“Fine. These processes are in place to prevent the misuse of Alpha vessels. Which of your vessels are ready for immediate departure?”

“Sub Bay 65. I’ll have the ship ready for departure in five minutes. You need to get suited up.”

Six minutes later, Jonathan Hoskins expertly piloted the Rapier 6 out of the exit shoot and headed away from the fleet and the wormholes at maximum acceleration. By now, they would be verifying his orders and within a minute or two, they would attempt to recall him. Too late, by then he would be out of range.

Fifteen minutes later, he brought the Rapier to standstill. He was in deep space, some distance from the wormholes, but still within the system. Here, he was out of range of either Alpha or Kryl detection. He opened a clear channel to Alpha One and used his priority command status to redirect the comm. link to Sarah. She answered almost immediately.

“Oh, my God, Jonathan, I thought I would never get a chance to speak to you.”

“How is Oliver?”

Sarah sighed before answering. “He is okay. The hospital have run some more tests, they think it’s an immune system problem. They say he is going to be fine but it’s very difficult, I am getting mixed signals from different medics. I need you here!”

“I have tried. They won’t release me. Things are getting a bit hairy around here. Even securing this communication needed verification from the highest level. Do you want me to get some Alpha medics on the case?”

“No! You have enough to worry about. How bad is the situation there?”

“I can’t talk about it Sarah. This is a open link. Look, I am in a Jump Ship. At high velocity I could be with you in less than two weeks.”

“No Jonathan. You will get into serious trouble and as much as I need you, you are needed there. I will deal with any problems. Oliver seems fine at the moment, just a few cold symptoms.”

“Okay...I am not happy about this. As soon as you have any news, let me know. I will get it, when the latest messages are downloaded, about twice a week. As soon as our position changes, then I should be able to contact you again.”

Hoskins hung up and set a heading back to the main fleet. Before he engaged, he hesitated. His son was ill. Surely, that was his main priority?

He did not have to think about it for much longer, he looked up as he contemplated his position and a familiar feeling overcame him. The space around him tinged with red with a blue hue cascading from the twin wormholes, having all but diminished. The Kryl had just broken through.

“Rapier Jump Ship A235, you are instructed to return to the Viceroy, Sub Bay 65.”

“I need to return to the Halo 7, which should be alongside the Viceroy, please verify.”

“Negative, your flight was unauthorized and you need to report to the CAG.”

“I am Commander of the Halo 7 and I need to be on board ASAP. Investigations can be carried out later.”

“Negative Commander, You must return to the Viceroy.”

Hoskins decided enough was enough and terminated the comm.link. He was nearing the fleet and any attempt by the Viceroy Recovery team would fail, not least, because he had instructed his NAVCOM to link with the Halo 7 recovery guidance systems and the Halo 7 as expected, still stood in front of the Viceroy. He had not heard the end of this but it was hardly important in the scheme of things.

* * * *

“We were ordered to lead the far left flank, Commander. Fleet have just instructed...”

“Move us into position, Number One. Charge up all weaponry banks and frontal shields to maximum.”

Hoskins had put down in the main Halo 7 Hanger deck and much to his CAG’s surprise, he had instructed her to enter the Rapier to the ships compliment, rather than set her aside for a return to the Viceroy. He headed straight for the bridge and to his ready room, where Shen Knui was waiting for him.

“You are going to be in trouble for taking the Rapier, Jonathan. The fleet CAG is not happy and we have not even returned it!”

“Thank you for your concern Commander. But I think we have bigger problems right now. Are we in position and ready?”

“Yes, but I don’t think we stand a chance do you? There are thousands of them!

“We were here before commander and successfully. We need to keep a steady hand and be ready for everything. For now, take the con, and I will join you shortly.”

Shen Knui left the ready room and Hoskins took a deep breath.
Here we go again,
he thought. He opened a comm. link to Admiral Shenke.

“Ah Hoskins. Nice of you to rejoin the fleet. I believe you have one of our Rapiers!”

“I am sorry, Sir. I tried to get back to fleet as soon as possible and the Rapier looked like the best solution.”

“Well, you are going to have to explain that to my CAG. That is not important right now. You have your orders?”

“Just seeking to clarify. I presume we plan to attack and flood them with Jump Ships again?”

“Yes, but we will pull back half of this fleet to outside the Tri-star Region, where they will be joined by the rest of the fleet, the Sentinels, and the Betanica Sect.”

“Isn’t it better to take them on here to stop them from getting into the galaxy proper?”

“It’s too restrictive. The area is too confined. We can’t use PBA, we can’t spread our tactical solutions,and we can’t even use sub-space weaponry effectively. Add to that, our quest to close the wormholes and you will understand why here is not the best place for a full on battle.”

“So, who will command the remainder?”

“Admiral Haines initially and then one of the Four Stars. You are in the driving seat Jonathan. With the fastest ship, the control of the remaining-Star fleet may well fall to you.”

“That’s good to know, Sir.”

“Make sure, you don’t jeopardize that, by flouting the rule book. Stealing Jump Ships, however well-intentioned, is a disciplinary matter. Keep it clean.”

“I understand, Sir. I will see to it that the Rapier in question is returned to the Viceroy and that a full apology is issued to the CAG.”

“Make it so. But concentrate on the battle right now!”

The comm. link closed and Hoskins reflected for a moment. This would be tough, but assuming they came out the other side, he could advance his Alpha position considerably. His positive thoughts dissipated briefly, as his mind turned back to his son, his wife and Obeya, before a huge explosion, echoed across the bow of the ship, rattling the ceiling and sending his comms device plunging to the floor. A sure sign that the battle had started.

Hoskins left his ready room and took his place at the command station on the bridge.

“Shield status?”

The Halo 7 had yet to be hit, but it was surely just a matter of time and it was imperative that shield protection was at its maximum and deployed accurately.

“Maximum shields deployed to forward and command decks. Auxiliary shielding to frontal weaponry bays.”

“Keep it tight everyone.”

“Command has just requested two Rapier and one Sabre Battle group, shall I confirm?”

“Yes, Number One. Brief the CAG and let her know I am on my way down. You have the Con, Number One, hold us steady and keep us clear of any direct weapons fire.”

* * * *

Over a thousand Kryl vessels entered the Tri-star System. The area surrounding the wormholes was protected by the mass of the growing Kryl fleet, the red tinge from their undercarriages, cascading across the cosmos blending into purple hues, mixing with the colors of the blue wormhole.

The majority of the fleet was composed of the smaller Kryl fighters, interspersed with cruisers and larger vessels. All with the same underlying red tinge to their underbelly. The blue wormhole was now some ten thousand meters in diameter, allowing the larger vessels to come through side by side. As each entered the system, they moved purposefully to pre-determined fleet positions.

The Kryl fleet assumed a crescent shape with the majority of the smaller vessels protecting the cruisers and these, in turn, protecting the biggest vessels. Only the front Kryl fighters were deployed into action but the sheer number made their effectiveness devastating.

Unseen, Morvalt’s cruiser joined them at the back of the fleet. He was waiting for his Queen.