Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 1 - Purple Blood (12 page)

Dreshe’ahal was expecting Temeroth to get aggressive again, but this time the Zronte Battle Lord merely poured through his massive one metre square data tablet reviewing what had occurred. The Vorinne attaché recognised that the Zronte was deep in thought as his four metre tail swished slowly around side to side for several minutes before it came to halt and Temeroth spoke again.

‘Very well, we will leave tomorrow for the Vorinne forward zone near Cephrit space, though we will speak to my father the high ambassador along the way. Ensure that the ‘Wrath of God’ is ready to leave in ten hours.’

Dreshe’ahal was not convinced by the sudden mellowing attitude of Temeroth and he wondered how the second envoy would fare if she met up with the Zronte battle lord soon. He now backed away from the Temeroth in a series of formal bows to show his servitude before he turned on his four rear legs and smoothly made his way to his quarters. Temeroth gave no sign of him leaving apart from studying his data tablet again in thought before five chimes from the atrium bell broke into his concentration.

The Zronte battle lord gave a snort, this time of expectation. Without ceremony he thrust his data tablet with one hand at the nearest Tilmud guard, who struggled under the unexpected weight, even as another Tilmud also grabbed the tablet. Temeroth eyed the still supine forms of his drone cohort leaders for a moment before he spoke in native Zronte to them.

‘Arise slaves and be at ease, for the bell chimes five on the fourth day and finally time to feast. You will all accompany me to the feeding pens and you are each permitted two Quixxe only.’

In seconds the five Zronte slaves had risen in a smooth flowing motion and all gave Temeroth a full bow. The senior cohort leader looked the battle lord in the eye and now received a nod of respect from his master as he spoke.

‘We as leaders of the greatest warriors salute you Lord and Master. We also thank you for your generosity.’

By convention the slave Zronte formed up along either side of Temeroth and they walked out of the atrium towards to feeding pens a distance down wind of the battle lord’s palace. Temeroth thought back momentarily about the limited information he had about the new race, these humans, including the fact they were roughly the size of a Quixxe. Idly he wondered if these humans were good to eat at all, as the six Zronte then each walked into their own feeding yards.

After a few moments pause, Quixxe mules were pushed through an opening into each feeding yard, and gave brief interrupted shrieks of terror that broke off as coarse crunching of avian bodies when each Zronte began to feed.

                                                                     ***

Omerio straightened his immaculate armless tunic as he reached the bridge of the flagship. He was nervous, but not surprised by recent news that Flag Captain Stiderio had come aboard the ship less that an hour previously in a long range shuttle. For Admiral Baredio had returned to the squadron several days earlier and had briefly mentioned that a senior Barus officer was due to arrive.

The captain was a senior member of the royal court as well as being a highly regarded and decorated fleet officer. Stiderio knew both Omerio and Gindane previously from the research work they had collaborated upon for the white demon hyper nova. Omerio was concerned at two levels about the presence of the senior captain, as apart from being superior in a professional sense, he could even pre-empt him in a social sense as well.

Specifically the captain was well within his rights to either forbid Omerio from courting Gindane, or even assume the mantle of her suitor himself if he chose to do so. Stiderio had the backing of the imperial court and Omerio knew that there was no getting around this fact, even if he knew and liked Stiderio. Omerio quickly went through the readiness of the ninth fleet in his mind and was reassured, so that left only his social concerns he evaluated carefully.

The Barus ninth cruiser squadron was the same squadron that had visited Earth one hundred and fifty years earlier and been driven away by the humans and their missiles. Even now none of the crew mentioned Earth or the humans in Admiral Baredio’s company, long after the cruisers had been repaired and upgraded. Omerio knew that there had been several serious fights over the years between usually placid Barus males when the subject of the battle was mentioned at various galactic space ports over the traditional evening drinks.

Omerio also knew that the admiral, also his uncle, had been exonerated of any blame in the incident, but the older Barus chafed badly whenever ‘Baredio’s folly’ was alluded to in public meetings. He walked across the bridge towards the meeting room and an ensign spoke up with ‘commander on the bridge’ before he was immediately admitted into the admiral’s private meeting room at the rear of the massive bridge.

Omerio favoured first Admiral Baredio then Captain Stiderio with both salutes and then full formal bows of respect, which both senior officers returned with casual ease. The admiral took his seat behind his desk and Omerio remained standing at attention. Captain Stiderio took one of the two solid armchairs in front of his desk before the admiral started speaking.

‘Commander Omerio, you remember Flag Captain Stiderio from your academy days no doubt?’

Omerio answered with a polite nod as the admiral looked him over in an evaluating manner and continued to speak again.

‘Good, as Captain Stiderio will be with us for a week before he returns on the long trip to the fleet base on Barus prime. Note that I will also be leaving the command of this squadron at that time for a new posting on Barus IV. I will now be working on our relocation requirements as a result of the hyper nova. The captain is a messenger and I am a witness for needs to be discussed between us today.’

Omerio kept perfectly still as he evaluated in seconds what the admiral was telling him. He knew he was the next most senior commander in the fleet, even if his lengthy sojourns in his latest small trading ship caused his peers in the squadron to shake their heads at his audacity. His evaluations were confirmed as he glanced momentarily at Captain Stiderio, who gave him another friendly and tooth covered smile. The admiral spoke again and handed Omerio a formal document he recognised with considerable excitement that he just managed to contain.

‘Commander Omerio, you are to be promoted to Captain immediately and raise your pennant on this ship. Your commission includes a squadron command ranking of Captain, though you will be junior to all other full fleet Captains elsewhere for ten years. Congratulations Captain, I personally think that the promotion is long overdue, but there you have it now.’

Omerio offered another bow, this time of both gratitude and respect as he took in the import of the Admiral’s words and the senior captain also slowly nodded in agreement. He had expected to have to gain further seniority as Commander and then just Captain with no squadron ranking. Effectively he was being heavily promoted and he knew it as he spoke cautiously to the two older Barus males.

‘Thank you both for the news of this promotion, I look forward to the duties in this part of space far from the Barus home territories. No doubt you both have a series of instructions for me regarding the Tilmud after we leave our forward deployment zone?’

Flag Captain Stiderio chuckled with mirth as he parsed Omerio’s focus and intent, and the Admiral fought back a tight grin as he spoke again.

‘Now please take a seat Omerio and be at ease, as I am well aware of your interest in this area of space. We have a series of instructions for you that we will discuss further along. For now Stiderio would like to talk to you in a social sense, and as your uncle and superior officer I am entitled to remain as a respected witness.’

‘Here it comes, a career win followed by a social defeat…’ thought Omerio dejectedly as he kept his broad face impassive and his powerful jaw closed so as not to show any teeth. He did however rub both his arms momentarily as he placed his cap under his arm and slowly took a seat in the last remaining armchair.

The gesture was not lost on Stiderio and he paused momentarily before he started to speak with both compassion and authority.

‘I will not delay any further on this at all Omerio, as I do not want to be misunderstood on this sensitive matter. By authority of the royal court, your court ship of Lady Gindane is both sanctioned and well respected. However the marriage ban from the Vorinne second envoy will remain in place for the foreseeable future. The formal announcement of this understanding is also being sent to Lady Gindane as well of course. Also I would request that you and Lady Gindane attend my own wedding to Lady Cendine well after the current set of fleet emergencies are dealt with by our forces.’

Omerio felt real sense of both relief and gratitude as he nervously replied to Stiderio.

‘Stiderio, I am honoured by your message to me and I thank you for your real courtesy and support. I am also honoured and privileged to attend your wedding and I look forward to it at a later stage.’

The admiral looked relieved at both seated officers and pressed a button on his desk to summon an ensign as he spoke again.

‘Stiderio, Omerio, we will take refreshments to celebrate both items of news. Indeed this will now keep our meeting informal as we devise our deployments for the squadron.’

The ensign soon placed beakers of alcohol and a large amount of food in platters on the admiral’s table, before she executed a stiff bow and backed out the room. Omerio felt his stomach softly growl in anticipation as Stiderio spoke again.

‘Excellent and of course, Admiral you have my thanks as I am looking forward to this meal after the weeks on that fast shuttle out to this forward zone. Now Omerio I understand you recently were away again in your small ship and I would like to know more about what you reported back to us…’

Omerio secured a glass of his favourite drink and a plateful of food as he sat back for a moment before speaking. Both Baredio and Stiderio leaned forward with interest and favoured him with a patience glance before he spoke.

‘Well with regards to the Tilmud I did speak with a Cephrit trading ship three weeks ago that stated……’

Omerio began to relax and enjoy himself as he carefully went through his latest report and the two senior Barus officers either kept silent or exchanged long and searching glances with one another. Afterwards the three officers started to plan the deployment of the squadron, and Omerio felt that any preconceived ideas the two flag officers had arrived at earlier were readily abandoned. He sat back and ate his meal as the finer points of the deployment were devised, and debated back and forth between Baredio and Stiderio.

                                                                     ***

The Tilmud lieutenant had the presence of mind to avoid looking at Commander Giruldesec as he anxiously gave his report across the bridge.

‘Commander, the sensors show well over two hundred Jerecab frigates and support ships coming from the entry point back towards the Posient systems.’

Commander Giruldesec did a quick calculation on the numbers of Jerecab ships listed in the report and swore softly. His bridge crew gave no sign of having heard him as they kept their powerful heads over the consoles they were each operating. Each of the large Tilmud males lay semi prone in their acceleration couches with restraint straps securing their powerful and spined bodies. The commander quickly looked at the overview of the system before he gave an order to the communications officer.

‘Lieutenant, place a call to the Jerecab formation immediately.’

The main view screen remained blank for several minutes as the message crossed the star system at light speed. Giruldesec paid attention as the view screen finally came online to show an older Jerecab officer sitting silently calmly in his command chair. Without further preamble, he now bowed low and intoned both a formal greeting and a warning to the Jerecab Admiral.

‘My greetings and admiration to you, great Jerecab Admiral Lord Baunrus, I am Commander Giruldesec. Your magnificent fleet is outside your territory and is now well inside the control zone for the former Dradfer colonies. As we are custodians of these star systems we order you to immediately withdraw your ships to your own areas of space.’

Giruldesec straightened slowly from his bow and looked the Jerecab Admiral in the eye as the message again crawled across to the system. He flinched inside as he calculated how long his squadron of twelve frigates would last in a fight with so many Jerecab ships. The screen eventually started to move as the Admiral’s response in an accented Tilmud language mixed with a series of wheezes and coughs, which Giruldesec recognised as desultory laughter that came clearly across the line.

‘Commander Giruldesec, at least you offer the correct form of respect and this has saved the lives of you and your squadron crew today. Now be gone from this star system while my good humour is still evident. The time of your race’s mastery of this region of space has passed and we will do as we see fit with these worlds.’

The screen went black and Giruldesec wasted no time in getting his meagre squadron as far from the Jerecab armada as possible. After two more hours, brief coronas of light engulfed the Tilmud frigate squadron as they made the hyper drive jump to the safety of the next system. He sat back in his command chair and considered how the state of their affairs had deteriorated to such an extent that the Jerecab could drive a Tilmud squadron away without a fight. He resolved to soon talk to his uncle, the senior squadron commander, who was commanding the remnants of three Tilmud squadrons in another star system nearby.

                                                                     ***

Chapter 4

Grant Stoneham crossed the bridge of his ship with casual ease as he glanced at the contents of the sensor report on his data tablet. He took a seat at his expansive command console and sat back to run his fingers through his jet black hair, a legacy of Chinese ancestors on both sides of his family. He remembered with pride his older relatives telling him of the founding of the Barede colony, and how one of the first Lieutenant Governors, Douglas Stoneham, had married a Chinese girl and started a dynasty of first merchants and later fleet officers. His large armed freighter, the Emerald Sky, was steadily moving further into the new star system after their last hyper drive jump and Grant looked across the bridge at his officers. He now gave a precautionary order and sought to verify what he could see.