Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores (5 page)

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Queen Angwene regarded the now empty cradle and turned to regard probe three, now engrossed in conversation with probe two. Probe two had just arrived after a high speed underwater run over several hundred kilometers to the production facility. The shields of the Maveen probe were still hot from the journey from what her sensors could tell her. Angwene got the gist of the conversation after probe three spoke to her while probe six carefully shepherded the immobilized Dradfer lead probe into deep open water. A jury rigged Maveen power pack was firmly attached to one side of the stricken probe and it now did not respond to any of her hails.

‘Probe three; I thank you for your update about the three conditions the humans attached, as this is most interesting. Indeed I want my commendations to be passed over to the sector leaders you will undoubtedly encounter when you take the Dradfer lead probe off world. The last request I have is that you provide a dormant navigation beacon under cover of your deployment here, for the lead probe to deliver if possible. Now time is short and you must leave.’

The two Maveen probes took their leave of probe three and the ancients, and carefully carried the Dradfer probe north to the underwater point the lead probe had specified earlier. The Ancient queen settled back to advise her daughters of the latest developments with a real sense of victory. At least one potential future problem had been un-expectedly addressed by the humans.

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Steve stood with Ian Ridge and several members of the mission team under the awning after the tour. They listened carefully to what Halbindestat, the Trader chief engineer, was telling the team as he highlighted several parts of a ship shown on the hologram.

‘The Tilmud frigates are slow but powerfully armed with moderate shields. They usually patrol the more remote systems in pairs and are on deployment for months at a time. They also use larger frigate squadrons if they are patrolling core systems or actively searching for a ship.’

Steve’s military interest took over at this point, and he asked another question as he ensured that Dan Edwards was filming the conversation.

‘So if we build a ship or two with those guns and shields you supplied us and attacked the two frigates then we should defeat them easily enough?’

Captain Narindestat looked at the fixed expressions coming from the engineer and other Traders nearby, before he answered the question.

‘Steve, you certainly could defeat or drive off the first pair of Tilmud ships, but then they would send a squadron of six to nine ships to your world and you would be overrun. The Tilmud could then use your attack to subjugate your world. Remember that under galactic edicts they are lawfully entitled to patrol your system while you have haven status.’

Ian Ridge looked at the team members in thought, before he in turn ventured his own questions.

‘So Captain from what you were saying earlier, we could keep the Tilmud away by specifying that they not patrol the inner part of our solar system? Also what would we do if another galactic race turns up in force un-announced? Surely our so-called haven status means more than this to the vassal races?’

Captain Narindestat and Halbindestat both looked at the Australian prime minister with evident approval as the Trader captain spoke again.

‘Ian, yes you certainly can ask the Tilmud to stay in the outer reaches of your system, and this would allow them to save face by doing so. Remember that the Tilmud are sticklers for pomp and protocols. Now if another race turns up here in force then it depends if they claim jurisdiction under edicts or not. If they lack a mandate provided by the edicts then you are entitled to defend yourselves. Note that your haven status would not save you from an un-mandated operation or attack.’

Steve now looked over at Ian who nodded in agreement as Steve commented.

‘Sir, this is critical information as it amounts to rules of engagement for the human race over the coming centuries. We should ensure that this information is distributed.’

Halbindestat looked over at the new pictures he now brought up on the hologram as he spoke again.

‘The next race you will encounter in this part of space is the Jerecab who operate several smaller ship classes and one large ship class. The first one is a landing frigate filled with Jerecab marines. The next one is a standard fleet frigate, and the larger ship is a Jerecab lifter not unlike our own main ship. Typically the lifters use six to eight frigates as their equivalent of our sneak ships; however their frigates and lifters are inferior in every respect to our Trader ships they are modeled on.’

Steve looked with interest at the key points of the Jerecab frigates as he spoke again.

‘The Jerecab frigates seem weaker than the Tilmud frigates from what I understand of the weapons and shields listed. Surely they are of a lesser threat?’

Captain Narindestat noted the exasperated look on both Garendestat’s and the chief engineer’s face as he again chose to answer.

‘Steve, the Tilmud are constrained by edicts and are further from your system. They also currently have diplomatic and territorial problems with the Cephrit who are a more senior galactic race. The Jerecab are closer to your world, especially the militant red faction, and what they lack in quality of ships they make up for in numbers. The possibly of encountering them as you research and colonize nearby systems would be high and they are notorious for bending the rules. They practice non-aggression unless they encounter a weaker race then they could attack, though their adherence to Deltas Vass edicts means that your haven status should protect you for awhile.’

Ian looked over at Steve and the mission team as he spoke again.

‘So we are moving into an interstellar cold war were one wrong step could be lethal. I assume we will have to arm ourselves to the best of our abilities to mitigate the risks?’

Captain Narindestat somberly replied as he looked towards the rear of the main ship, as he estimated that it would not take long now.

‘Ian, a solid layered defense is the best strategy here and you have every right to defend your home system under galactic edicts. But remember that even the best defenses would be of little value if a superior number of ships entered your system and drove hard for your home world. I estimate that this is the main threat to your race.’

Ian Ridge looked around at the nervous expressions on the faces of Steve and the other members of the mission team, as the Trader Captain paused before speaking again.

‘The Maveen deal was offered in light of the present cold war status of the galaxy to give your race an additional chance to survive. At this point I would caution your race on ever confronting galactic races too far away from your home system at a later stage. Basically only your home system ships should be armed unless you have strong resources to ensure the security of any colonies you settle.’

Ian spoke quietly to Steve after thanking Captain Narindestat, who was now silently looking over the humans under the awning. Both men quietly discussed several of the finer points of the Traders captain’s advice.

The captain then noted that the Maveen lead probe was finally leading the larger ship out of the hold. He was aware that the larger Maveen ship would take time to become operational. He had factored that consideration into his earlier tour and the recent overview as he spoke again.

‘Ian, Steve, the first part of the Maveen deal is starting. The larger Maveen ship you see is a gate ship and it can create a small gate way to another world or region of space anywhere in our galaxy.’

The two Maveen ships came forward, and the lead probe spoke to both humans and Traders as the amazed humans looked over at the larger Maveen ship.

‘The gate ship will first establish a gate way to a Maveen logistics point and many Maveen ships will come through the gate way. The ships will either be probes like me or additional gate ships and none will be fighting ships. Note that this is not an invasion by our race of your world.’

Captain Narindestat looked over the humans again as he spoke.

‘Ian, Steve, do you have references to the locations of the marshalling points that we can supply to the lead probe?’

Steve was already prepared for this question and pulled his data tablet from the back pack on one of the long benches, with Ian Ridge fetching several pages of notes from his leather folder. As Ian called the names of the marshalling points, Steve located them on an electronic map of Earth for both the Traders and the lead probe.

‘Perth Airport is the first launching point for scouting teams. The other cities also involved are Sydney, Wellington, Tokyo, San Francisco, Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, New Delhi, St Petersburg, Kiev, Berlin and Hong Kong …’

Ian Ridge broke off reading the list as the Maveen gate ship lifted off silently, and flew out over the ocean a kilometer past Steve’s ship, now moored to the east of the island. The gate ship slowed and a light glow surrounded the ship as two large antennae extended along the ship and were slowly raised in a smooth arc. Within moments a swirling cloud a hundred meters across appeared above the gate ship and stabilized into a swirling opaque oval three hundred meters above the ocean. The gate ship hovered silently as three Maveen ships appeared from the west and slowly flew over the island.

Steve could see that one of the Maveen ships appeared to be discolored and was being supported by the other Maveen ships, and he turned to question the Maveen lead probe.

‘Is one of your ships damaged from being on this world? And where are the other ships taking it?’

The lead probe already was prepared for these questions and it gave a general reply.

‘An unforeseen hazard with being too long in your oceans, the probe will be repaired off word.’

Steve watched as the three Maveen probes entered the opaque oval and silently disappeared from view. He wondered just exactly in the galaxy the three Maveen probes had arrived as Captain Narindestat drew his attention back to the list of marshalling points.

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Chapter 3

Steve had led Ian and his mission team from under the awning to get a better view of the deployed gate ship. Shortly after the three linked Maveen probes had gone through the gate, two probes had come through from the other side and stood guard to either side of the gate ship. As he looked the probes had flanked the gate ship for several seconds and message beams had briefly flashed between the Maveen, before the probes established a patrolled perimeter around the gate ship.

Steve grabbed his satellite phone from his back pack and immediately left a message for Commander Jane Walker to call him. Jane called him back within two minutes and he quickly brought her up to speed on the Maveen deployment.

‘Jane, I do not know if you have seen any media or fleet information over the last few hours, but a great many Maveen ships are arriving through a gate ship off the West Australia coast shortly. The ships will disperse around the world and are not to be attacked as there is now a non aggression pact in place between humanity and the Maveen.’

Steve listened to Jane’s reply after a moments silence with relief and satisfaction.

‘Steve, we copy that message and we are broadcasting that information on all satellite channels we have available to international military installations. We have seen Dan’s media report a couple of hours ago and I would like to congratulate you and your team on your success. Fleet West have asked us to provide you with every bit of assistance.’

Steve talked to Jane for several more minutes and outlaid what he was seeking. Ian Ridge was standing next to Steve and asked to also speak with the Commander.

‘Commander, Ï thank you for your continued assistance and I have no problems with any of the requests that Steve has made.’

Jane replied that it would all take time to arrange and she foresaw no problems in getting the requests through. Ian handed back the satellite phone to Steve as additional Maveen ships began to arrive through the gate.

                                                            ***

Gindane had ordered her crew to red alert status as they had detected the gate ship deploy in the Earth’s atmosphere near the landing site. As they continued to monitor the site, the electronics officer had yelled out from his console scant seconds before the data reached her own command chair.

‘Commander, a large number of Maveen ships have come through the gate, though I see no military ships, only additional gate ships and a great many probes!’

Gindane did not need to think about the decision she now ordered.

‘Break orbit, full emergency speed, but leave all weapons powered down. Send a message to the Traders in English stating we are making a peaceful withdrawal. We will attempt to leave before they take an interest in us. Navigator, chart us the shortest possible course to a location we can use the hyper drive, preferably to immediately rejoin the research fleet at the former Dradfer colonies.’

Gindane sat back in her chair and anxiously perused the data coming from Earth. Apparently none of the Maveen probes had left the lower atmosphere, but she was under no illusions as to the speed and the fire power of even the smaller Maveen ships versus her own research destroyer. She knew that several of the larger Maveen gate ships could easily overhaul her ship and hammer it to pieces in minutes.

After her ship had crossed the orbit of the Earth’s moon she started to relax a little, as it was obvious that the Maveen ships were not leaving the atmosphere in pursuit. Gindane evaluated that the haven status of Earth had actually prevented the Maveen from destroying the Barus ship, for which she was feeling very relieved. Once again she found herself considering the conversation she had earlier with Emeria, the Trader medical officer.