Two Ships
The bridge of the Merciless was already darkened. The entire fleet was at a heightened state of readiness, and the final arrangements were being made for the long-awaited siege. Admiral Rice, commanding a large portion of the defence either had a strong gut feeling, or knew something that Jake wasn't privy to.
"The Clever Dream has arrived in-system," Huun reported, looking up from his tactical station. "They are in perfect condition and report mission success."
Jake knew he was happiest that his daughter and her crew were back but hearing that she'd actually found and retrieved a working Echo Corporation communications system made him grin. The chances of that mission being successful were less than fifty percent. A few people in intelligence theorized that the section of Iora they were visiting was most likely covered in Edxi who were down to the last food sources. They were ready to start fighting and feeding on each other, possibly the most dangerous time to encounter one. Alice went on her mission with that knowledge in mind. It was one of the riskiest ones SOCU undertook yet. "Signal them to deliver their cargo to the War Forge, then to carry on to our location."
"Aye, Sir," Liara said, passing the task to the three team members behind her.
"Sir," Captain Neel Moore, the third watch commander of the Merciless said from over Jake's shoulder as he approached.
Commodore Valent turned his seat so he was face to face with the towering Nafalli. He was one of the few of his people to have ancestral lines that crossed between the burrower and tree tribes. "Yes, Captain."
"I wanted to thank you for everything before I left for the Rassaaga. I will carry the knowledge you shared with me to my new command." He bowed low for a moment before straightening and extending his hand.
Jake stood and reached up to shake it. "I can't wait to see what you do over there. I believe you're about to make you and your crew legendary." The sister ship to the Merciless, the Rassaaga, was manned by hundreds of Nafalli with Mergillians taking positions at the helm, as gunners and fighter pilots. He hoped that he would get a chance to tour the ship once it was fully crewed before the invasion started, but it didn't look like he would get the chance. "Good hunting, Captain."
"And to you, Commodore," Captain Neel Moore said with a final bow of his head before releasing his hand and taking his leave of the bridge.
"Sir, the Sky Queen is in-system, transmitting on an encoded emergency channel," Liara announced, bringing it up on the main hologram projector in the middle of the bridge.
Alaka's head and shoulders appeared. "The swarm ships holding position outside the Haven System entered a dimension window nineteen minutes ago. My science officer is telling me that they're on their way here. He's ninety-four percent certain."
"Thank you. You'll be given a course that will take you into our patrol pattern. We're watching planet Carole," Jake said as he signalled Liara and her team to pass the news up the chain of command. "I'm also happy to report that the Clever Dream is back in-system, all souls accounted for. Their mission was a success."
"Thank you, Commodore," Alaka's relief was visible in his eyes, which softened for a moment before he acknowledged his orders. "The Sky Queen will be in position in little more than six minutes."
"Here we go," Jake said to the bridge crew as the oversized image of Alaka's head and shoulders faded.
"Are you sure this is where we ought to be?" Huun asked from the tactical station. "Carole is absent all but the simplest forms of life, not ready for any oxygen-based habitation and of little immediate tactical significance."
Jake knew he was only half right. Carole and its moons had water in abundance and other basic compounds that could be easily mined. There were also key points where an enemy could hide while they fortified their positions. The Merciless, its fighter squadron and SOCU ships could have been more useful elsewhere, especially since he suspected that the enemy might risk emerging closer to Kambis and Tamber, but there were heavy defences there already. "You worry about minding your station and directing your team, Lieutenant Commander. I'll make sure we're where the Admiralty needs us and contemplate our role in the big picture."
"Yes, Sir. I offer my apologies, Sir," Huun said, his nose pointing up in the air, covered by both hands for a moment. It was an expression of deep shame.
"Accepted. Don't worry about it," Jake reassured. He looked to his tactical overview and created a sub-image where he could focus on the Clever Dream. The relatively small, familiar vessel was running at full thrust, acting under orders that told them that speed was more important than stealth. A fleet-wide order to go to red alert was given, and the lighting on the bridge changed accordingly. He took a moment to send his hopes to his daughter before focusing on the task at hand. There was an attacker in system. It wasn't in the zone they were protecting. He waited for the details, shifting to the edge of his seat.
Within the most heavily shielded section of the War Forge was a secret known only to one hundred forty-four special crewmembers. It was born in the first moments of the station's design, the brain-child of Merin Lerner, a designer who was a relatively unknown member of the then new design team. Ayan noticed her when she saw the idea for the HF Prometheus, a ship that would provide an escape option for everyone in the core of the War Forge.
The concept behind the ship became more intricate and impressive as the War Forge was being built. Instead of sitting in a secure hangar, it had its own construction bay that made improvements and alterations as better technologies were developed. Testing was also a constant, with a core crew that made sure that the kinks were worked out before the ship had to be put to use. The last version of the Clever Class Corvettes, Haven Destroyer Class, the final build of the Merciless and its sisters, and several future ships wouldn't have been developed nearly as quickly as they were if it weren't for the accelerated testing aboard the Prometheus.
The simple escape ship had become something no one initially intended. It became an instrument of war unlike anything Ayan could have dreamt of. There was room for everyone who worked in the middle of the station. They would be well protected, and if the worst were to happen, and the War Forge was about to be destroyed, the Prometheus would break free, become exposed and either join the fight or escape. It was the first Cruiser Class ship in the fleet. The fighter pilots and most of the crew had no idea they were on board. The hallways leading from the War Forge to the Prometheus were disguised so the transition between them was seamless, and as far as Ayan knew, no one guessed that most of the station's secure section was actually aboard a heavy cruiser buried in the core of the structure.
As Ayan took her place in the middle of the command centre, a dimly lit circular room with rings and rings of people working at stations, assisting with the coordination of the fleet and serving as a backup central command for defence of the Haven System, she knew that the last of the modifications to the ship were being performed. All development would be halted until the emergency was over.
There was an important analysis alcove aboard the ship that waited for the Echo Corporation communications system to be installed. Engineers waited to find out how the programming inside could be adapted to the quad drives installed across the fleet, and used for instantaneous communication. Ayan watched a small holographic display of Alice handing the case with the Echo Corporation device to a crewmember in a red and white uniform. The Lieutenant saluted her then ran to an Ensign from the Prometheus crew who waited in an express car that would take him to the hangar in the middle of the station.
"Thank you for picking that up, Alice," Ayan said through her comm. "Be careful out there, but good hunting."
"Thanks. Here's hoping the War Forge doesn't have to join the fight, but good hunting just the same," Alice replied as she turned and ran back to the mooring the Clever Dream was affixed to. She had to join the other SOCU ships near planet Carole.
The channel closed and Ayan focused on the matters at hand. To her right was Leon, the aide she'd chosen and trusted more by the minute. To her left was Admiral Lamonthe. He represented a few dozen intelligence analysts who were busy going through reports and incoming information, using several artificial intelligences to assist them in providing options for her and everyone else who commanded a section of the defence. Leon was already speaking to her. "Tamber Defence reports that the moon's shield has one hundred percent coverage, but the cannons are only at ninety-two percent. They couldn't get all of them installed in time."
"How long will it take to install the last eight percent? Those gaps will be easy to spot if enough ships get close to Tamber," said Ayan.
"They estimate just over thirty minutes," Leon replied.
It was a problem that started with the Haven Council. They were happy to agree with the military building a shield but wanted a voice as soon as they heard that Haven Fleet was about to put heavy cannons in orbit. The Council petitioned to have a say in how or even if they were deployed and arguing that point cost them two days while the Solar Forge turned out turret satellites that were warehoused instead of installed. Ayan knew that her father, Carl Anderson, could have denied the Haven Council any say in where military defences went while he was the Defence Minister, and she hated to fault him for not doing so, but his inaction was a mistake, and she was seeing the problem it created. "Move Solar Forge's One, Two and Three into the largest gaps and call destroyers into the rest. We can't give them an opening."
"Our intelligence still indicates that this will be a conventional attack," Lamonthe said. "The enemy will emerge somewhere just inside the edge of the solar system and push towards Tamber from there. If that's the case, then you'll face criticism for pulling some of our resources back for a close defence."
"Politics don't seem too important right now, Admiral," Ayan sighed.
"Good." Lamonthe nodded with a tight-lipped smile.
"You don't think the intelligence is right, either, do you?"
"I think they're completely wrong. It's wishful thinking," he said in agreement. "They're going to try to drop right on top of us. The outer incursion near Planet Zelas is a distraction. The Excalibur and the rest of the defence group there have that under control." His eyes went wide at something he was reading on his wrist. "My analysts just finished checking a data stream that's coming from the Sector Jumper. We weren't sure if a conclusion Shamus Frost came to was correct, but we've verified it."
"What conclusion?" Ayan asked as she looked at the map of the Solar System. Planet Zelas had a red rectangle beside it where the Excalibur along with six destroyers were engaging a small swarm of insect ships along with a cruiser of some kind. They were winning and providing more data on their enemy by the second.
"I'll let him explain it himself, he recorded his conclusions clearly."
The head and shoulders of Shamus Frost appeared in one of the main holographic displays in the middle of the command centre. "To Haven Fleet Command. I'm bringing back a lot of information that you'll find worthwhile, but the most important bit is this revelation I found in a secure data vault. In these old Lorander accounting records the Sector Jumper's computer managed to decrypt I found an invasion map of a part of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy that shows solar systems that are off limits because they've been overrun by Edxi. Another part of the map shows several galaxies and sections of the Milky Way that Lorander marked as safe along with records of who was resettled there. There are dates attached to all the worlds, and after some digging, I discovered references to several other documents that look like treaties. I'm not some legal genius, my record can confirm that, but I swear they're treaties with those Edxi bastards. I decided to start sending you everything I've managed to decode instead of waiting until I have it all figured out here with Hal, who was the one who figured half this stuff out before I knew what was going on. Good luck and tell Stephanie I'll be home soon."
The image faded and Lamonthe took over, his tone flat and face expressionless. "From the data he sent, we have been able to confirm that the Lorander Corporation has been tracking the expansion of the Edxi and sub-species for over twenty years. Their colonization program seeds this and other galaxies with humans away from their areas of encroachment."
"The program they've been running for years, where you give them a whole pile of credits or platinum and in return they settle you on a nice hospitable world with a pre-vetted bunch of colonists? That program?" Leon asked.
"That's the one," Admiral Lamonthe said. "There were a few treaties on record, but they were made by the Order of Eden, not by Lorander. The Lorander Corporation still uses them to their advantage, however, by using the secured worlds as a sort of staging area before pushing further out from the galaxy with colony ships. Using the records of transfers from the accounting data and destinations for clients, my analysts have determined that Lorander has known about the Edxi for years, decades. They're working their own plan to ensure that humanity survives outside of this galaxy because they see a day when it may be overrun. The invasion map of Sagittarius confirms something I've feared. The Edxi breed and expand exponentially approximately every thirty-three years. It has been thirty-four years since the last surge in that galaxy, and they're setting up broods that will mature in about three decades in the Milky Way. We don't know how extensive the broods are, but seeing this old Lorander data, I expect they'd be the ones who could tell us."
"Where is Councillor Goven Malsen?" Ayan asked, looking the information up for herself at the same time.
"About to leave the station," Leon replied.
"Detain her and her entourage. Lock the mooring points to their ship and send soldiers aboard to secure the vessel." Ayan was so angry that she was seeing stars, so she took a deep breath before continuing, trying to clear her head. "Enable psionic dampeners station wide and lock every Lorander citizen up in the brig. Not the station's brig, but the interior cells aboard the Prometheus."
She opened a secure channel to Lorander Command as she watched her orders pass from Admiral Lamonthe to the security staff aboard the War Forge. She sent the Intelligence report that was just summarized for her and followed it with a message of her own. "This is Haven Defence to all Lorander ships. I will only give you a chance to explain yourselves and fully become our allies going forward if you stand with us and defend the Haven System. If you don't fully pledge to assist us, your ships will be seized and boarded. I know you are withholding information that will assist in the defence of this system, and I will have it."
For the first time Lamonthe regarded her with open surprise. It only kept him from his duties for a moment before he refocused but getting a reaction from him was something she'd remember. The next step Ayan had to take was clear. With a gesture at her command unit she opened a channel to Commodore McPatrick, who was back on the bridge of the Triton. "Oz, cloak your battlegroup. You're going to be enforcing that threat."
He nodded at her solemnly. "I just saw the report from Intelligence. Battlegroup Seven will be in position when the time runs out for our Lorander guests."
Ayan knew the Triton would be leading the rest of the Seventh Battlegroup away from its orbit around Kambis to the sector of space where five modest Lorander ships had watched them for months. She hoped they wouldn't have to use force on the people who had provided them with the building blocks they needed to form the foundation of their civilization, but she wouldn't flinch if it came to that. Leon was visibly shaken, watching the security feeds near the railing in front of him as the Lorander Councillor and her entourage of four were put into restraints and led towards the brig. "If they knew that the Edxi were coming," Ayan started to explain in hushed tones. "Then they probably fought them, or at least studied them. They know their biology, their culture, and at least some of their history. All that could have helped us prepare, given us some advantage. It might have even gotten us out of this emergency without firing a shot."
"So, withholding is as bad as lying under these circumstances," Leon said, nodding. "But if they got close to them before, then why didn't they figure out the dimension drive technology for themselves?"
"Everything we've seen has shown us that the Lorander people will always avoid a fight," Lamonthe said. "As we use the War Forge to build more weapons and fighting ships, their volunteers have come less and less. They've even voiced their disapproval several times. I don't know what they expected us to do, we have enemies on all sides here, but they don't like a fight."
The Lorander ships in the Haven System were highlighted on the large holographic tactical map, and Ayan watched as they all opened wormholes and departed, leaving several shuttles and volunteers stranded. "Lock anyone left behind in temporary quarters," Admiral Lamonthe said. "Strip them, take everything they own so they can't destroy or delete the contents of hidden data devices, then put them in standard vacsuits. Do it quickly, don't injure a single one. They'll get their things back after they've been thoroughly scanned and have determined that they're not carrying anything that can harm themselves or our people."
The Intelligence Officer behind him nodded then sent the orders across the fleet.
"The Seventh Battlegroup confirms that all the Lorander ships have departed the system using wormholes that stretch over fifty light years," one of the Tactical Commanders in the middle of the large chamber announced.
"I don't think I've ever been more disappointed," Leon muttered as he returned to his work.
Ayan shared his feeling, staring at the empty space where there were once ships containing who she thought were wise, advanced people. "It's the British Alliance and us, then," she said with a nod. "That'll do."