Talosian Chronicles 3: Talosian Alliance (30 page)

"Good luck! I'm telling the Centurions to just watch and wait for now. They'll see us and the Summer Dawn when she jumps, but it'll take them some time to get to us out here," Jenny replied.

"Actually, tell the Centurions to jump back. I want us to get the hell out of here as fast as we can," Ian said. "Thank Bob for your intuition!"

"Well, while you're thanking him, tell him to get our asses out of this!" Jenny said.

"Do we have any readings on what's come a-callin'?" Ian asked. "I'm sure the powers that be will want to know."

"Oh yeah, we've got readings that'll give you nightmares for a month. Four battleships, two carriers, nine heavy cruisers, over twenty light cruisers and destroyers, a shipyard, and another massive monster that scans as a really big ore refinery and processing facility. There's still more jumping in. It looks like you were right, they're going to turn this into a supply/support base. They certainly have the firepower to support it," Jenny said. "I'll make sure the data feed is available to you."

"Thanks Jen." Ian switched channels. "Mel, I need to speak to someone in Operations at the Alliance of Races High Command. Priority Immediate."

"Yes Sir, I'll see who I can get," Mel replied.

"When you’re finished, you might want to come in here for a bit. Things are going to get a little hairy," Ian said.

Mel nodded, and cut the call. Ian knew she was already placing the call to Alliance Command. Moments later, Mel walked in the room. "Sir, I have Fleet Commander Alisair ip Ree on the comm for you." She moved to his conference table and began setting herself up to carry out his orders.

Ian opened the channel to see a dark skinned humanoid with a big nose and bark like skin. Remembering his manners, Ian bowed. "Greetings Force Commander, thank you for taking my call."

The being also bowed. "I return greetings of my own to you, Admiral. What can the Alliance do you for this day?"

"I must apologize, but I am calling with grave information for the Alliance. An Imperial task force has arrived in the Beta Hydri System of the Rataac Sector. I am forwarding a data feed to you for your analysis," Ian replied.

The being bobbed his head. "We had heard you had responded to the distress of the Benesian liner. This is most troubling information, Admiral. If possible, could we trouble you to remain on station long enough to record everything that arrives? In this way would be better informed in our response,"

Ian nodded. "We'll remain as long as possible, Fleet Commander. If possible, we will also leave monitors in this system."

"That would be very much appreciated, Admiral. For information purposes only, can you confirm that you are armed with gravimetric weapons?" the being asked, shocking Ian. Across the room, even Mel looked up from her work to stare at Ian.

"Yes, Fleet Commander, we do carry those weapons. However, we are very loath to use them. I would have to do some checking, but, considering the proximity of several inhabited systems, I believe the use of one of those weapons would be, at best, inadvisable," Ian replied.

The being made a face that Ian could assume was a smile. "It is never good to use one of those weapons, Admiral. I asked so I could get a feel for the type of person you are. I apologize if I have offended you."

Ian sighed inwardly. "I understand, no offense was taken."

"I will alert the appropriate commands as to this move by the Empire. May we call on you again if more information is needed?" Alisair ip Ree asked.

"I will assist as I can, Fleet Commander. This is very close to my own home system," Ian replied.

"Agreed, the proximity to yours as well as the Benesian home systems is very troubling," the being said. "We will act on this shortly, you may expect to hear from us on this in short order, Admiral. On behalf of the Alliance, I thank you for bringing this to us."

"It is my duty, Fleet Commander. I'll look forward to the call," Ian replied.

The being again bowed and ended the call.

"That was interesting," Ian replied.

"Not as interesting as it is going to get if we have to stick around here much longer," Mel said. "I think they need you on the bridge, Sir."

––––––––

––––––––

G
oya answered the door to a very agitated Brekka.

"Is there a problem, Captain?" he asked.

"Sir, I'm sorry to bother you, but it looks like Admiral Williams was correct.  A huge fleet has just dropped out of hyperspace in the Beta Hydri System. The Star Dancer is seriously outnumbered," the young woman replied. Using her tablet, she made the data she was getting come up on the big monitor in the living room.

"Oh shit!" Goya exclaimed. "One of these days, I'm going to learn to listen to that man!"

"He has followed protocol and informed ARC of the situation. They are acting on it," Brekka replied. "Mel is sending this to us."

Goya nodded. "Where are the Pegasus and the Zephyr?"

She accessed something else on her tablet, and answered him. "Twenty nine hours from the sector boundary, thirty-one hours from arrival here."

"Would it help Ian at all if we diverted them to Beta Hydri?" Goya asked, talking mostly to himself.

"Sir, Alliance Command asked Admiral Williams to stay in-system as long as possible to monitor what arrives. As soon as it gets too hot for him, he will be leaving," Brekka replied.

Goya nodded. "Okay, so we'll leave the Pegasus and Zephyr on course for now then, is there anything else we can do to assist?" He put his chin in one hand as was his habit when thinking. "Damn, the only forces we have that could move to support him are house ships. Did the Summer Dawn get out of there before the fleet arrived?"

"Yes and no, sir. They did jump out safely, but the Imperial ships had already begun arriving, so their departure was seen. I should mention that Star Dancer had escorted the liner out to its jump point. There is no place for them to hide," Brekka said.

"Then I guess we're going to get to see just how good young Admiral Williams really is," Goya said. "I hope he survives; Imperial commanders are not as stupid as the Caldarians were." 

"Sir, if anyone can pull this off, I believe it will be him," Brekka replied.

"Hm?" Goya asked turning to his aide. "What makes you think that?"

"I've heard you commenting on it yourself, Sir," the woman answered. "There is a... feeling here. A power. Something that drives these people even when others would give up. It would be easy to say that Ian Williams created this in his people, and on the surface, it even looks that way, but it isn't. These people see him as a hero, and revere him, but he isn't the source of their strength. What he's done and accomplished has inspired it, perhaps reawakened would be a better description. These people have a type of hope we hadn't been aware that we had lost.

"Of all the people here, Admiral Williams shows it the most. He is always thinking, analyzing, testing. He is always trying to see what would work better or for a way to improve or do better. He refuses to accept something simply because the odds are against it, or centuries old doctrine say this is the only way. I honestly believe that Admiral Ian Williams and his people here, are going to become the Emperor's worst nightmare," she finished.

Goya was quiet a moment while he thought about his aide's words. Finally, he nodded. "I think you might very well be correct, Brekka. But I also cannot help but wonder what that will mean for all of us in the long run. Will he bring about changes that are for the good, or only appear to be?" He nodded slowly. "There is simply no way to know. The question facing us is do we try to help him, or stop him if we can."

Brekka chuckled. "Sometimes it feels like all of this is a ride at a pleasure center. The only control we really have is to hold on, and try not to fall out."

Goya snorted a laugh. "I think you might have a better grasp of the situation than I do! Come on, let's have dinner. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure out how to help them, and ourselves, at the same time."

––––––––

––––––––

"S
ir, several of the ships are spinning up for another jump. I think we're going to have a problem very soon!" the excitable scanner tech in operations called.

"I swear I'm going to get that man Prozac!" Ian said under his breath.

Jenny heard him however, and laughed. "Yeah, unfortunately, he's right. A few of those heavies are going to jump out here and make life interesting for us. How do you want to play this?"

"Give them a moving target. Let's tour the system. We need to come up with a way to keep an eye on these assholes that they won't be able to find, so we need to buy time. Avoid confrontation for now," Ian ordered, and stepped over to the empty console he'd used earlier. He opened a comm.

"Engineering," a man's voice replied before his face appeared.

"Is Chief Dommer available?" Ian asked.

When he saw who was calling he straightened up. "I'll get him, Sir!"

A moment or two later, the taciturn Engineer appeared on the screen. "What can we do for you, Admiral?"

"Chief, I need you to create a miracle. I need an automated listening-slash-observation device that we can drop, that the Imperials can't detect. Think you can come up with something like that?" Ian asked.

Chief Dommer looked down in thought for a moment. "I can rig up what you need, Sir, the trick is going to be hiding it from the Imps,"

"Sir, why couldn't we build a few ground models to process data, but build the sensors into small drones that they can control? If we keep the power signature low, or better yet, use Enigma armor on them, it should give the Imps fits if they can find them?" a voice said from off to one side.

"Show me," Dommer ordered. Ian could see him looking off to one side, and nodding occasionally. "Yeah, that might work. Include a small replicator in the main units so they can replace the drones on the fly. Before we leave, we could hurl a few drones in-system for closer looks. Yeah, we can make this work." He looked back at Ian. "I'll need a couple of hours and four teams of Marines and their shuttles."

Ian nodded. "You can use the Marines, but you have thirty minutes. We're playing tag with an entire battle fleet up here, Chief. The longer you take, the worse chance we have of escaping the system."

Dommer nodded. "Understood, but it'll still take at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Gonna take that long just to get the Marines out to where these need to be installed. If you could get us closer to an asteroid belt, that should help."

"I'll see what I can do Chief. I'll let Major Reise know you need his folk's assistance," Ian said.

"Yeah, send 'em down now, we could use their hands to get all this assembled. It'll teach em how to set them up too," Dommer replied.

"Good luck Chief," Ian said and was about to close the channel.

"Buy as much time as you can, Sir. We'll need every second of it," Dommer said and cut the channel.

Ian immediately called the Marine commander and filled him in. He said he'd take care of it. In fact, as Ian cut the channel, he could hear the man yelling for his people.

He walked back to Jenny in her chair. "Dommer is on it. He asked that we move closer to one of the asteroid belts. I think I know what he wants, so if you could get us in the middle one without getting us killed or trapped, that would be ideal."

Jenny snickered. "Don't want much, do ya? Did I mention there are now four battleships hunting us?"

"Ops to Command, three small jump points forming off our stern. I think they're trying to slow us down by sacrificing some light cruisers or destroyers," Chloe said.

"We're not going to slow down, Chloe. Keep the fleas off us," Jenny said. "Master safety released! All weapons, targets to the rear, have fun kids!"

"Major Dancer, would you be so kind as to pipe the feed down to engineering and enhance the video so the Chief may enjoy the use of his weapons," Ian asked.

Jenny chuckled. "He does like those mass drivers, doesn't he?"

"Two destroyers and one light cruiser have emerged from hyperspace. Target alpha has been destroyed, Gamma appears to be listing badly to port, Target bravo is taking serious damage, but is so far unaffected," someone reported. While they were talking, other reports were given;

"Brace-two, missiles away! Five seconds to impact!"

"Targets beta and gamma shields have failed! Target Gamma destroyed!"

"Impact in three, two, one, Missile detonation! Target Beta is destroyed!"

"That was a waste," Jenny said.

"Nope, wait for it..." Ian said.

Just as Jenny looked at him for more of an explanation, the tracking officer sounded off. "Jump point forming immediately astern! It's a big one!"

"The first three were bait to get us to stop. This is the trap," Ian said. "At least one battleship."

"Con! Ahead - Full emergency!" Jenny ordered. "Get us some distance. Weapons control, I want ten, full-yield, missiles on that target before she can raise shields!"

"Missiles away, birds are in acquisition! Lock! Detonation in ten seconds!" the weapons control officer reported.

"This could be a problem," Jenny said. "Damage control to stand-by. Chekhov, plot an in-system jump; put us on the far side of the system primary, about the orbit of the second planet. Execute when ready."

"Aye, Sir! Jump in ten seconds; stand-by!"

Jenny opened her ship-wide comm. "This is the Commander. We will be executing a series of in-systems jumps with little to no warning. We're in for a bumpy ride, folks."

"Missiles detonated! Minimal damage detected. Battleship is firing! Twenty missiles inbound, impact in sixteen seco..."

"Jumping!" Chekhov called, just as the ship jumped into hyperspace.

The gravimetric sheer of the jump point destroyed the inbound missiles, and caused minimal damage to the enemy ship. However, it did manage to get Star Dancer out of the battle area.