Ep.#1 - "Escalation" (The Frontiers Saga: Rogue Castes) (19 page)

Josh raised his mug of coffee. “Here’s to always looking forward, Cap’n.”

* * *

“Coming up on jump point,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar announced from the Aurora’s tactical station. “All anti-FTL jum
p missiles are running straight and true.”

“Cape Town confirms she is ready to jump on schedule,” Ensign deBanco reported from the comm station.

Captain Taylor looked around the Aurora’s bridge, its features tinged with the red lighting accents that signified her ship was at general quarters. It was the second time she would take the Aurora into combat in as many days. Up until the previous day, the Aurora had gone seven years without firing a single shot in anger. To many, it was a captain’s dream…going so many years without being put in harm’s way. To Cameron, it had been a relief. After two years of battling the Jung, she had welcomed the cease-fire. There was nothing glorious about war. It was nothing but death and suffering…and waste, so much waste.

At least now, both her ship and crew were properly equipped and trained. The Aurora was the oldest ship in the fleet, a distinction that had been passed to her upon the retirement of the last of the Earth’s early scout ships turned gunships. She had seen more than her share of combat, and her share of upgrades. She was so much more than she had been when Cameron had first set foot on her decks more than seven years earlier. More importantly, the Aurora was a legend…both in the Sol and the Pentaurus sectors, as was her previous captain.

“Jump point in ten seconds,” the tactical officer warned.

“Jump all missiles on schedule,” Cameron ordered.

“Aye, sir. Jumping all missiles in three……two……one……”

Cameron watched the Aurora’s main semi-spherical view screen as several dozen tiny flashes of blue-white light, laid out in a perfectly symmetrical pattern, appeared before them.

“Anti-FTL missiles are away.”

“Five degrees to starboard and ten up relative, Lieutenant,” Cameron instructed her helmsman.

“Turning five degrees to starboard and coming up ten relative,” the lieutenant replied in her usual, confident demeanor.

“Stand by to jump us ahead, five light minutes,” Cameron instructed.

“Five light minutes, aye,” the navigator confirmed.

“Anti-FTL missiles should have detonated,” the tactical officer reported.

“On new heading.”

“Jump us ahead five, Mister Bickle.”

“Jumping ahead five,” the navigator replied as the blue light from the Aurora’s jump emitters quickly poured out across the hull, then flashed in a brilliant blue-white as the ship jumped ahead five light minutes along her course. “Jump complete.”

“Launch the first wave of jump missiles, delayed jump,” Cameron ordered calmly. “Lieutenant Dinev, bring us about onto an overhead intercept course.”

“Launching jump missiles,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar replied.

“Coming about to intercept course,” the helmsman answered.

“Cape Town should be jumping in to engage the targets,” the lieutenant commander added. “Jump missiles away, delayed jump.”

Cameron glanced at the main view screen as six jump missiles, three from each side of the Aurora, streaked ahead of them. Once far past them, the missiles turned to port in a graceful arc, heading toward the Jung battle group five light minutes away. By now, their anti-matter charges on their anti-FTL jump missiles had spread out, detonated, and disrupted the mass-cancelling fields of the Jung ships, forcing them back to subluminal velocities. As they turned back toward the enemy battle group, the Alliance’s first Protector-class ship, the Cape Town, was jumping to a position directly in the Jung battle group’s path, engaging all seven ships with her massive plasma cannons.

“The Cape Town should be engaging the Jung battle group by now,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported.

“On intercept course,” Lieutenant Dinev reported from the helm.

“Hold course and speed,” Cameron instructed. “We’ll jump in ten seconds after our weapons jump away.”

“Holding course and speed, aye.”

Cameron continued watching the main view screen. By now, their jump missiles were too far ahead for her to see, but in a few seconds, their jump flashes would be visible.

They were about to kill hundreds of Jung, a fact that was always lingering in the back of any captain’s mind, and Cameron was no exception. But Admiral Galiardi’s orders were clear; there would be no warning hail this time. These Jung ships were too deep in Alliance space for their presence to be an ‘accident’, or a ‘navigational error’. It was a clear violation of the cease-fire agreement, one that required a decisive response. It was also an overt act of aggression, and was one the Alliance would meet with equal, if not superior force.

Six flashes of light appeared on the main view screen, so far ahead of them that, had she not been expecting them, they might have gone unnoticed.

“Weapons have jumped away,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported.

Cameron took a deep breath, letting it out in a slow and steady manner, giving their weapons a chance to do their jobs before taking her ship in to attack. “Jump us in, Mister Bickle.”

“Attack jump in three……two……one……jumping,” the navigator said as the blue-white light of the Aurora’s jump flash briefly illuminated the main view screen.

“Contacts,” Lieutenant Commander Kono announced. “Eight of them. Seven Jung warships, and the Cape Town, sir…”

“…The Cape Town is currently engaging all seven targets…” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar said, appearing impressed.

“…Jump flashes!” Lieutenant Commander Kono added. “Twelve Cobra gunships! They’re attacking the frigates!”

“Helm, bring us onto the nearest cruiser and hold steady,” Cameron ordered. “Tactical, prepare a full spread of plasma torpedoes. Full power triplets.”

“Steering toward the near cruiser…” Lieutenant Dinev replied as she altered the Aurora’s course slightly.

“…Both cruisers’ shields are down to fifty percent,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the sensor station. “Battleship’s shields are still at ninety-eight percent. Two of the four frigates have shield strengths of less than thirty percent!”

“All tubes show ready to fire, Captain…”

“…Battleship is bringing some of her main guns onto us,” Lieutenant Commander Kono added.

“Full power to forward and port shields,” the captain ordered. “Put the shield energy where it counts.”

“I have a firing solution on the near cruiser, Captain,” the lieutenant commander announced.

“Fire on all tubes.”

“Firing all tubes…”

“…The battleship is firing her guns,” the lieutenant commander reported, as the bridge lit up with the red-orange flashes of the plasma torpedoes leaving their tubes and racing toward the enemy cruiser.

“…Torpedoes away…”

“Rail gun impact!” the systems officer reported. “Forward and port shields!”

“Put our nose on the battleship, Miss Dinev,” Cameron ordered calmly.

“Torpedo impacts in ten seconds…”

“…Turning onto the battleship, aye…”

“Another full power spread of triplets, Mister Vidmar,” Cameron instructed. “This time on the battleship. Stand by on the escape jump.”

“Preparing another spread…”

“Missile launches!” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned. “All four frigates! Thirty missiles total in action! Plotting their courses now!”

“Be ready on that escape jump, Mister Bickle.”

“The Cobra pack just took out one of the frigates,” the lieutenant commander reported.

“All tubes are ready to fire,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar announced from the tactical station.

“I need to know where those missiles are going…”

“Yes, sir,” her sensor officer replied. “All missiles are headed… They’re headed for the Cape Town, sir! All of them! They’re engaging point defenses!”

“I have a firing solution on the battleship…”

“Fire all tubes,” Cameron ordered.

“Cape Town is knocking them down, one by one…”

“…Firing on all tubes…”

“…Cruiser two is locking her main guns on us,” the sensor officer warned.

“Torpedoes away!” the tactical officer reported.

“…Port and forward shields are down to eighty percent,” the systems officer announced.

“…Cruiser one’s shields are failing,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the sensor station. “She’s maneuvering, diving fast and turning to starboard. Cape Town’s guns are tracking her.”

“…Torpedo impacts in five seconds…”

“…Shields are down to seventy percent and falling…”

“Roll us over,” Cameron instructed. “Show them our dorsal and starboard sides. Sideslip us, Lieutenant. Don’t give them any more of our forward shields to shoot at than necessary.”

“Torpedo impacts!”

“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant replied, as she rolled the Aurora to starboard and swung their nose away from the approaching Jung battleship, so their forward shields would be at an oblique angle.

“Battleship’s topside shields are down to fifty-two percent!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported with surprise.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, sir. Now at fifty and dropping.”

“All plasma cannons on that battleship, Mister Vidmar.”

“Another frigate is down!”

“Another round of torpedoes will knock their…”

“Can’t do it,” the captain replied, cutting her tactical officer off. “We can’t afford to show them our weak shields. Let go another round of jump missiles: high arc, double jump, to apex and back to target. Let them go as we pass so the battleship won’t see them launch. Helm, pitch up forty-five degrees to help out with the launch angle. Systems, keep shifting power to the shields between us and that battleship.”

“Cruiser one is destroyed!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “The Cape Town took her out!”

“What about those missiles?”

“The Cape Town’s point defenses took them out as well!”

“Missiles programmed and ready,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported from the tactical console.

“Nose at forty-five up, Captain,” the helmsman reported.

“FTL fields are building! All ships!” the sensor officer reported.

“Firing plasma cannons!” the tactical officer announced.

Cameron called up the starboard ventral cameras on the main view screen. The Jung battleship appeared in the center of the screen, as if passing under them, while the Aurora’s four main quad-barreled plasma cannons pounded away at her surprisingly weakened topside shields.

“All targets are going to FTL!”

The captain continued watching as the image of the battleship began to elongate, her mass-cancelling fields reaching full power. The ship suddenly stretched forward like it was made of rubber, its aft end following, disappearing in the distance an instant later.

“All Jung ships have gone to FTL,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported.

“Cobra Leader is asking if you want them to pursue, Captain,” Ensign deBanco announced from the comm station.

“Was their departure course in the direction of Sol?” Cameron asked her sensor officer.

“Negative, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Kono replied. “Best guess would be Rho 1 Cancri, nearly forty-three light years away.”

“They could still turn toward Sol,” the captain thought out loud, “at least for a few weeks, assuming their top FTL speed hasn’t changed.” She turned her chair aft, toward her comm officer. “Instruct the Cobras to pursue and track. Notify if the targets turn towards Sol, or any other Alliance world, for that matter. Update command every hour.”

“Aye, sir,” the comm officer acknowledged.

Captain Taylor looked at her tactical officer, Lieutenant Commander Vidmar. “Damned odd, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes, sir, I would.”

“Cobras are jumping away,” the sensor officer reported.

“Threat board?”

“No threats in the area,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar replied.

“Stand down from general quarters,” Cameron instructed as she rose from her seat. “Have the XO and the Cheng report to me in my ready room in twenty minutes,” she added as she headed aft.

“Aye, sir,” the comm officer replied.

“You have the conn, Mister Vidmar.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“I do not understand why you are taking such a risk,” Rorik said to his father, as they finished loading the last of the partially filled
wine barrels int
o the back of the delivery truck.

“The Jung must be stopped,” Travon told his son. “You know that as well as anyone.”

“This isn’t stopping them,” his son protested. “Smuggling your friends out of Aitkenna and back here is not only going to put your life at risk, but it will put all of our lives at risk. Have you thought of that?”

“You know that I have, Rorik, but as I have already told you, doing nothing puts us
all
at risk.”

“But you don’t know that,” Rorik insisted, frustrated that his father would not see the reasoning behind his argument.

“Yes, I do.” Dumar turned to his son. “You do not know the Jung like I do. Few do. I have seen what they can do. And now that they have jump drives…” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Do you think I
like
risking my life this way? Do you think I enjoy knowing how much you, your mother, and your sister…how much you all worry? Believe me when I tell you that we must take action. All of us must do everything we possibly can to impede the Jung’s progress at every turn.”

“But will they not simply wipe us all out of existence if we become too much trouble? Isn’t that what you said they did to Tanna? Isn’t it better to be subjugated but alive, than free but dead?”

Travon looked down at the ground, sighing. He stared back up at his son’s troubled face. “That is a question each man, each woman, must answer for themselves. Do you not remember what it was like to live under the Ta’Akar Empire?”

“The empire that you served?” Rorik replied. “And without our knowledge, I might add.”

Dumar sighed again. He was not proud of that chapter in his life. “Caius was nothing compared to the Jung. Caius was an egomaniac, a buffoon dressed in royal robes. The Jung are cold, calculating, and without remorse. They will let us live only so long as they need us. Eventually, they will replace us with their own people. I have seen it on other worlds.”

“But you said that takes decades, sometimes even centuries,” Rorik argued. “Please, father, at least wait and see… Wait for things to calm down. Perhaps then…”

“No,” Dumar interrupted, “we cannot wait. The longer we wait, the more entrenched the Jung will become, and the more dangerous it will be.”

“Then let me come with you,” Rorik pleaded.

“Out of the question,” his father replied with a wave of his arm.

“I can fight as well as…”

“We do not go to fight, Rorik. And you do not have the training for such operations. If this were to be a stand-up fight, I would surely want you by my side. But for now, I need you here, with your mother and sister. You must prepare the rooms for our guests. You must act as if everything is as it should be.”

“And if you do not return?” Rorik asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Dumar looked his son in the eyes, putting his hands on the young man’s shoulders. “Then you must protect your mother and sister, and take care of your wife and child. You must pretend that I went into town for supplies, because we feared shortages due to the invasion. That is all that you know. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Dumar gave his son a slight shake. “Do you understand, Rorik?”

Rorik looked back into his father’s eyes. He had always known that his father was a strong man, but until this moment, he had not realized just how strong he truly was. “Yes, father, I understand.”

Dumar hugged his son, then turned and climbed up into the passenger side of the delivery truck to join his comrade.

* * *

“It’s really just a matter of wiping the system’s base navigational command priorities and replacing them with new ones,” Deliza explained as she tapped on her por
table console in the back of the combat jump shuttle. “The biggest problem is that this unit wasn’t really designed for such long trips. Its navigational database is rather limited.”

“But it
can
make it back to Sol, right?” Jessica asked.

“Assuming nothing abnormal happens, yes. But with its limited data storage capacity, it will only be able to follow the course I specify, and will not be able to improvise, should any anomaly occur during transit. That’s why I’m giving it the same course that’s in your boxcar’s database from when it was doing runs between Corinair and Earth,” Deliza continued. “Except that its starting point will be from here instead of Corinair. From here, it will jump to the Gaiperura system, which would normally be the first point along the route from Corinair to Sol. From that point, it will continue on to Sol. Since that was a well established route, it shouldn’t have any problems navigating.”

“Then why did you even bring it up?”

“Because, the limited data capacity means I can only include star data along a very narrow corridor… A tunnel with a radius of no more than ten light years in fact. That meansat some points along its journey, it is only going to have the bare minimum of three star fixes from which to calculate its position and course for the next jump.”

“I always assumed they just jumped a straight line from departure to destination,” Jessica said reluctantly, admitting her ignorance about jump navigation.

“The majority of the jumps are indeed along a straight line,” Deliza confirmed. “However, there are at least twenty-eight points along the route back to Sol that require a course change of at least five to eight degrees.” She looked at Jessica. “Space is not exactly empty, you know.” Deliza glanced back down at her console, as she continued explaining. “Granted, the odds of colliding with anything bigger than a grain of sand
are
astronomical. However, the likelihood of a collision increases with proximity to star systems, hence the need to steer
around
several systems along the way.”

“How much longer?” Sergeant Torwell asked.

“What are you worried about?” Lieutenant Latfee wondered. “There isn’t a Jung ship within twenty light years of this system.”

“I’m not worried,” the sergeant replied, “I’m hungry. It’s way past dinner time.”

“I’ve finished uploading the navigational database. I’m uploading the message for Sol Alliance Command now,” Deliza told them. “Just a quick systems check…”

“We’re coming up on the launch window in thirty seconds,” Lieutenant Latfee warned. “If we miss it, we’ll have to wait for the drone to make another lap around the planet.”

“I knew I should have brought some snacks,” the sergeant muttered.

“All systems are good,” Deliza announced. “The drone is ready to launch.”

Jessica reached into her pocket and pulled out an energy bar, handing it to the sergeant.

“Bless you, sir.”

“Ten seconds to launch window.”

“I’m transmitting the launch order now.”

“I get whiny when my blood sugar gets low,” the sergeant said as he took a bite of the energy bar.

“
Get?
” Jessica commented skeptically.

“Jump comm-drone is powering up its jump field emitters,” Deliza announced. The back of the jump shuttle momentarily filled with a blue-white light. “Drone is away.”

“How long will it take to get to Sol?” Jessica asked.

“Not more than twenty hours,” Deliza replied.

“I thought jump comm-drones routinely made the trip between the PC and Sol in six hours?”

“The ones that are
designed
for such trips, yes. I’ve instructed our drone to pause for several minutes at each jump point and get multiple navigational fixes, just to be safe.” She looked at Jessica. “I assumed that
getting
the message to Sol was more important than how long it took to get there. After all, even if they send help immediately, it will take them some time to reach us, depending on their jump capabilities.”

“No, you’re right,” Jessica agreed. “Good thinking.”

“Can we go home now?” Sergeant Torwell wondered. “We’ve been jumping around all damn day.”

“One bar wasn’t enough to shut you up, huh?” Jessica laughed.

* * *

“Captain on deck!” the guard at the door barked as Captain Taylor entered the Aurora’s command briefing room. The officers, gathered around the conference table, immediately moved to s
tand.

“As you were,” Cameron insisted as she walked to the head of the table. While she usually enjoyed the respect that came with her position, there were times when it was not needed. “Let’s get straight to it,” she said as she took her seat. She glanced around the room briefly, taking a quick head count. Other than her CAG, all of her command staff was present. “As of thirteen twenty-seven, Earth Mean Time, our gunships lost contact with the surviving ships from the Jung battle group that we engaged a few hours ago.” Cameron paused a moment, taking note of the looks of frustration and disappointment on the faces of her officers. “The report is the same as before. One moment, they had good tracks, and the next moment they were gone.”

“How is that even possible?” Commander Caro, the ship’s chief medical officer asked.

“I have to wonder the same thing,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar agreed. “The frigates I could understand. They don’t give off a lot of emissions, especially when they’re running cold. But Jung battleships are like Christmas trees on our sensors, Captain.”

“Even battleships can rig for cold running,” Commander Kaplan, the ship’s executive officer, commented.

“Maybe, but a Jung battleship is five kilometers long,” the lieutenant commander reminded her. “Even if they’re running cold at sublight speeds, they’ll light up if you are sweeping with actives.”

“The targets were slipping in and out of FTL, constantly changing course at random intervals and in random directions,” Lieutenant Commander Kono, the Aurora’s lead sensor officer, explained. She turned to her captain. “I briefly went over Cobra Two One Four’s sensor logs, Captain. The Jung were aggressively trying to shake our gunships.”

“What about old light?” Commander Caro asked. “Can’t they back off and try to catch it from further out?”

“I’m afraid not,” Cameron replied. “It’s not always that easy.”

“Especially when you’re trying to track FTL signatures,” Lieutenant Commander Kono added.

“But everything gives off
some
emissions,” the commander insisted.

“If they went cold as soon as they came out of FTL, then launched a decoy
back
into FTL, it would be easy for the gunships to miss,” Lieutenant Commander Kono explained. “And by the time you figure out you’ve been tricked, the original target has changed course and gone back into FTL in a different direction.” The sensor officer turned to address Captain Taylor. “That’s probably what happened, sir. And shortly after going to FTL, the decoys probably went back to sublight and shut down. And they’re small enough that they’d be hard to find.”

“Which would explain why the targets just
disappeared
,” the Aurora’s XO, Commander Kaplan, commented.

“Precisely what I was thinking,” Cameron replied.

“Still, shouldn’t we keep looking for their old light?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar, the Aurora’s senior tactical officer, suggested.

“The Cobras will continue searching,” Cameron replied. “But truth be told, by the time they pick up their trail, they will have already changed course and speed at least a dozen times.”

“Captain,” Vladimir began, “am I the only one who thinks the Jung are only making themselves detectable when they
wish
us to detect them?”

Cameron looked at her chief engineer. “Why would they
want
us to detect them?”

“To draw our ships out of position,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar suggested.

“To test our response,” Commander Kaplan added.

“Or to test their capabilities,” Vladimir chimed in.

“Are you suggesting the Jung have some sort of stealth capabilities that we aren’t aware of?” Cameron asked her chief engineer.

“Like some sort of cloaking technology?” the executive officer added.

Vladimir shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m only pointing out how odd it is that they were able to get so
deep
into Alliance space
without
being detected, and then, at a time of their choosing, they are able to vanish. What is that game? Cat and mouse?”

“We just destroyed four of their ships,” Lieutenant Dinev, the ship’s lead helmsman said, finally joining the debate. “That’s a really expensive way to play cat and mouse, don’t you think?”

“Four ships, and probably close to a thousand lives,” the XO added. “And that’s just from the battle at ACB. How many other ships were destroyed in the other engagements?”

“The number of ships and crew lost is irrelevant at this point,” Captain Taylor insisted, trying to maintain control of the meeting. “Regardless of what the Jung are up to, we are technically at a state of war once again.”

The room suddenly became quiet.

“Granted, none of our ships have suffered any damage, and no Alliance lives have been lost, either military or civilian,” Cameron continued. “However, by the letter of the cease-fire agreement, both unauthorized trespassing in Alliance space, and firing on Alliance ships, constitutes an act of war.”

“You don’t think Galiardi will launch the SKKVs, do you?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar wondered.

“It’s not the admiral’s call,” Cameron reminded him. “It’s the president’s.”

“Thank God for that,” Commander Kaplan muttered.

Cameron shot a disapproving glance at her executive officer. It wasn’t the first time Lara had voiced her disapproval of the admiral. And although Cameron didn’t much care for him, she had warned her second in command to keep such opinions to herself while in the presence of junior officers. “SKKV strikes would be warranted, at least legally,” Cameron continued. “However, I doubt that the president will approve any use of SKKVs unless Alliance assets are directly attacked.”

“Uh, we
were
fired upon, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reminded Cameron. “More than once I might add.”

“But in each instance, Alliance ships fired first,” Lieutenant Commander Kono pointed out.

“Because they were invading our territory,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar argued. “Hell, we even warned them!”