Masoul (Harmony War Series Book 2) (17 page)

              “Ahh, Madame Sisola, we will have to continue our conversation at another time. Twelve percent is my final offer,” Nivad said, giving her a smile that never reached his cold eyes.

              He cut the channel and gave Dalia a very different look.

              With a command the door locked and sealed behind her. There was only one ‘them’ that would make her burst into his video-meeting. He did love to see CEO’s squirm.

              Dalia didn’t wait for him to prompt her to talk.

              “They’re going for the gas planet. They didn’t mention how long that they’ve been planning this and they’ve only given a rough timeline just in case the informations leaked. Though it looks like they will be using both freighters for the job.” Dalia stood in front of his desk as his mind worked.

              “How many can they fit on the freighters?” He asked, looking to the fake wall of his office, seeing the system on his implants.

              “About five million. They also aren’t running right into battle, they’re training them up before going,” Dalia’s voice tight as Nivad’s lips pressed together and he let out a slow, angry, exhale.

              “There is a silver lining,” Dalia said, getting a nod from Nivad to continue.

              “It looks like they don’t know about the status of
Reclaimer
, or that it’s on it’s way. With the proposed timeline both
Reclaimer
and
Fearless
will get to the system either while Harmony’s fighters are in transit, or when they have just reached the gas planet,” Dalia said, Nivad looked to her, nodding in appreciation.

              “Our operative is also of the belief that this, ‘Harper’ is not originally from Masoul. His accent is a little off and his history is nearly nonexistent. It also seems that he is too perfect for the job to be spontaneous,” Dalia said.

              Nivad interlaced all of his fingers except his forefingers which made a peak for him to rest his face against.

              He felt a small smile grow on his lips. It had been ages since he had a good real game against a worthy opponent. It looked like there was a new player lurking out in the industrial sphere.

              He needed information and quickly.

              “Activate our other lead agents in the various spheres, have them go looking for Harmony and information on this Harper. If Harper is from a different system, then they might be doing the same to a new system already,” Nivad said. Dalia looked to her surface tapping away.

              “Yes sir, I’ll see to it,” she said turning around, never stopping her tapping as she walked out of his office.

Chapter 16

             
Freighter Righteous

             
Gas planet, Masoul System

             
9/3240

               “Sir, I’m seeing something on the scanners,” an aide said.

              “Well what is it?” Moretti growled, clearly angry. The crew might think it was because they had taken such severe casualties as they moved through the orbital facilities, various collectors, and refiners. No that made him pretty damned happy.

              It was the fact that they had even got to the Gas Planet that pissed him off. He had timed his journey to meet up with
Reclaimer
as it continued its flight to Masoul. Though it seemed that the timing had been off and he had spent three months watching as Harmony moved through the stations.

              “A power signature,” the aide said. Moretti stood from his chair and marched over to the console, pushing the aide out of the way as he looked over the information.

             
Fearless must have survived.
His anger from a moment before change to excitement and then dread in the space of seconds.

             
I need to get the fuck off of this ship and get as many Harmony fuckers in space for their cannons.

              The dread did him good to make his reaction seem realistic.

              “Recall all of our fighters and prep for immediate departure for Masoul actual.” People looked at him in askance.

              “Do it!” He barked, the ingrained fear of going against Harmony pushing them to work.

              He sent a message to Harper, detailing that he believed the EMF had arrived and that there looked to be a single carrier. He hid it in the message logs and sent it on a route that would take days instead of hours.

              “You three,” he pointed to three guards on the bridge. “You’re with me, we’re going to get our people back. The rest of you focus on getting this ship ready to go as fast as damned possible.”

              “What’s going on?” Someone asked, a blonde man with scars on his face.

              “The fucking EMF are here,” Moretti said.

              “We can fight them, show them the power of Harmony!” The blonde said. A shot rang out, Moretti’s E-12 smoking as he walked over to the now dead blonde.

              “Don’t you ever fucking question my orders or my faith in Harmony,” Moretti spat on the man, raising his hand over the man.

              “For Harmony,” he said, others echoing the words.

              “I want every pilot out there bringing our people back, now!” He marched out of the room, the three guards following him.

              It wasn’t long until he got to a fueled inner-system freighter clamped and attached by airlock to the hull of the ship.

              He pulled his mask on, the others following suit, his rough spacesuit held as the airlock depressurized.

              He jumped, gravity turning to microgravity as he dragged himself through the airlock and into the freighter.

              “You three make sure everything’s locked up,” Moretti continued to the cockpit. He typed out a message, changed the transcoder in a way that no one but those on a very specific band would recognize and that many didn’t know existed.

              He slotted a data chip into the freighter’s computer adding its contents to the file and sending it. He keyed the cube to destruct. It smelt of ozone and heat fizzing slightly. Some melted substance fell out from it as he threw it under the opposite console.

              “How are we looking?” Moretti asked the three that were still messing around in the cargo bay of the ship.

              “Good sir, the airlock isn’t disengaging,” one of them said.

              Moretti input some commands and the freighter sagged slightly.

             
Idiots unclamped the landing feet before the airlock.

              He was half a mind to shoot the morons. Instead he checked fuel levels and pushed power to his engines.

              “Hold onto your lunches, this is going to be one hell of a ride.” Moretti pushed away from the freighter and aimed his bow straight at the gas planet. He needed a cover story and simply running away when the freighters were still warming up was not an option.

              “Got to risk it for the biscuit,” Moretti said, pushing the power higher as adrenaline and fear drove his mind.

Chapter 17

             
EMFC Reclaimer

             
Moving to Gas Planet, Masoul System

             
9/3240

              “Captain it looks like the intelligence was right. The Harmony freighters are powering their engines from full stop. The transports are racing down to the planet in order to gather their forces and pull out,” Lieutenant Denaski said from her position at tactical.

              Captain Leonard Conti, hid his smile at Lieutenant Denaski’s obvious excitement. An Earth’s Military Forces Carrier had not been in direct engagement in five hundred years after the rim-ward fiasco.

              He knew that General Wai would want to recover those Freighters no matter what, their worth was more than Conti could count on his and his crews fingers and toes.

              “Captain, what do you want us to do?” Denaski asked. Conti held up a hand asking for patience.

              “We have twenty minutes until we’re in engagement distance Leanne,” he said with a weathered smile.

              He stroked his beard in contemplation.

              The target coordinates had done well to make sure that the EMFC’s would be behind the planet as they crept into the system.

              Otherwise they would have never got so close.

              “Captain Ozols, would you and your crew be able to keep this track, coming in along the freighters and destroying any ships trying to reach them?” He said, on a channel to
Fearless
’ captain of the watch.

              “Certainly sir, what will you be doing?” Ozols asked respectfully. She was a new Captain but a solid one.

              “I will use the planet’s gravity to swing around, destroying any ships coming up from the planet’s surface and join your little shooting exercise closer to the planet’s atmosphere,” Conti said, drawing out his idea on a holographic model and sending it to the other captain. After the maneuver they would both be shooting into the direct path to the freighters. Hopefully they’d catch any ships trying to pull out Harmony members to the massive ships.

              “I agree with the plan, but if I may suggest using the EMP warheads against the freighters as soon as their engines start working? Don’t want them getting away,” Ozols said with a wicked edge to her voice. She had become captain after the other watch crew had been killed and replacements were needed.

              “I believe that would be a fine addition. I will also be sending word to my medical staff to begin the revival process immediately. I don’t want anyone trying to board my ship,” Conti said, sending his rough drawings to the navigator who would turn the idea into truth.

              “Having a few hundred thousand troopers running around might not be a bad idea at all,” Ozols said, her voice dark. She was probably seeing the same images of Harmony’s vessels clamping on to the surfaces of the carriers. The heat signatures told of the breaches they’d opened up in the freighters hull to gain entry. If they could do it to a freighter, then they could to it to a carrier.

              “I will have my communications officer make sure that our battlenet is secured. Let’s see about hunting some Harmony bastards,” Conti said.

              “Damn right sir,” Ozols replied.

              “Lieutenant Neves, make sure the medical staff are working to revive the troopers and make sure the armories are opened,” he said, pausing.

              For the flight crew it had been three and a half years since they left
Fearless
, to the rest of the universe it would be four years. For the troopers, it would be minutes.

              Conti sometimes wondered just why in the hell he’d applied to be a carrier captain.

              “Understood,” Neves said.

              “Also, make sure no one starts pressurizing areas of the ship we don’t want pressurized, don’t need a blow out,” Conti said.

              “Yes sir,” Neves said, waiting a few seconds longer than necessary to make sure the Captain had nothing else to say.

              Conti found Denaski looking at him with a strained expression, he smiled, drawing the moment out longer.

              “Very well Lieutenant Denaski, power weapons and prepare for combat. I want reports on all systems.”

              “Yes sir!” She practically yelled a bright smile cracking through her dark skin.

              “Lieutenant Tamm, how are we looking on our course adjustments?” He asked his navigator.

              “Already input the commands to the controls.
Reclaimer
is making adjustments as we go, time to engagement pushed back six minutes,” he checked his console briefly, “to twenty-four minutes.” He looked up to the Captain.

              “Very good Lieutenant,” Conti said, rewarding the young man with a nod.

              “Thank you sir,” Tamm admonished.

              Conti looked to where the windows had been. Well they were still there, but they now had armor plates covering them both inside and out, with an extra band of armor on top. After seeing what had happened to
Fearless
, the captains of
Reclaimer
had agreed that not armoring the windows was just a bad idea.

              Projectors showed more information than the windows anyway. They could also show the outside if needed. Right now they showed the mass of Gas Planet in front of the ship and their course around that bulk.

              The carriers were based off of freighter designs. It was easier to keep the bridge in the same place than remake the whole ship with the bridge in the center. So they got windows instead of view screens. It also made them vulnerable as hell.