Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores (2 page)

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Altarebe watched the Barus ship alter course as he rapidly closed the two frigates from the rear and to one side. He knew exactly what he would do as he a significant tactical advantage on the two Tilmud ships. As he dove between both ships he opened fire at close range with all his weapons on the communications arrays of both ships. He quickly then made a dramatic course change. The combat lasers struck both frigates at the same time and did moderate damage, as he now moved close behind the second ship and continued to fire on the lead ship. The Tilmud frigates returned fire immediately and a significant amount of weapons fire from the lead frigate struck the second frigate.

There was a screech of outrage and consternation broadcast from the second frigate, and in moments a reduced amount of laser weapons fire lashed back at the lead Tilmud ship. Altarebe left the two Tilmud frigates to fight it out for a moment as he checked the status of the Barus scout ship. Obviously the pilot was seeking to gain maximum advantage from this unexpected encounter, and the Barus ship was now disappearing into the distance. He sent another tight beam message with further rendezvous instructions, and he noted that the Barus ship complied readily with his message.

Altarebe scanned the two Tilmud frigates, now in the midst of a pitched battle with one another. He detected that the lead frigate was stronger and promptly made a strafing attack on the lead frigate with all his weapons. He noted with satisfaction the explosions flaring around the rear of the frigate as it suddenly lost engine power under the combined assault from the second frigate and his own weapons. Altarebe was hopeful he could get them to destroy each other, when suddenly the second ship attacked his position with all remaining weapons. Several beams of laser fire struck him and caused the shield power levels to drain badly, even worse the cloaking device flickered momentarily and then failed.

Altarebe turned to follow the Barus scout as his automated repair systems came online and he received the first damage reports. Altarebe knew that he was not badly damaged but he could not risk further attacks. The now crippled second frigate broke off pursuing him and turned to go to the aid of the lead frigate, or so he thought. The second frigate instead opened fire with all remaining weapons on the disabled frigate and in moments the lead frigate had exploded. Altarebe knew about the reputation of the Tilmud, but he was still shocked by the mercenary and opportunistic nature of the attack.

                                                            ***

Omerio watched with avid interest what little of the battle he could see at rapidly increasing range. He had first seen a series of bright flashes around both frigates and could not understand them apparently fighting each other. He had a moment of satisfaction as the lead ship went dead in space after being heavily damaged. The second frigate had than fired at something it had detected, and Omerio could only stare at the strange form of his unknown benefactor, as the cloaking device around the unknown ship was disabled.

Omerio piloted his way to the meeting point and noted with consternation that the first Tilmud ship was destroyed by the second Tilmud ship. Omerio was quick to identify the change in circumstances, and he watched the remaining Tilmud frigate slowly move towards the outskirts of the star system. He quickly hailed the approaching ship.

‘Thank you for saving me from the Tilmud ships. I do not know about you, but I would prefer that the second ship be destroyed as well. I will be compromised in my role if the Tilmud fleet learns of my part against their efforts.’

Omerio watched as the strange ship turned and now trailed the Tilmud frigate. As he turned his ship to also follow, he was conscious of the remaining powerful weapons on board the Tilmud frigate.

                                                            ***

The Cephrit station master called the meeting to order after Admiral Baredio had excused himself and quickly walked from the large room on the Deltas Vass flagship. The Cephrit admiral seated to his left had paused momentarily in his conversation with the Deltas Vass envoy to glare and chirr in annoyance at his interruption. The Cephrit station master, despite his greater status, gave an answering chirr to convey his apologies then continued to speak.

‘We will await the return of Admiral Baredio and then the formal disposition of the fleet will be hopefully agreed to by all.’

The Deltas Vass envoy politely waited to ensure the Cephrit would not speak again before replying.

‘Station master, we will not be taking our forces to this new world of Earth and will stage our ships here at the former Dradfer colonies instead. The Matriarch’s new instructions have been concise about this matter and we will instead defend key Cephrit bases from expected Tilmud attacks. Our view is that if we take overwhelming force to Earth then the temptation will be to use force against the Trader ship in contravention to the edicts relating to haven worlds.’

The Cephrit admiral gave another chirr of annoyance at this information and in turn offered a cutting comment.

‘Well we are not going for the same reason, and you can hardly expect Admiral Baredio to deal with the Trader ship and possibly the Maveen with just his cruiser squadron. While I respect the Admiral’s abilities and those of his ships and crews as well, there is little margin for victory, especially if the Maveen are found to be involved.’

The room fell silent as Admiral Baredio now re-entered the room and strode boldly to the head of the table, before he addressed the assembled vassal races.

‘Admiral, thank you for the vote of confidence in myself and my fleet, and I assure you we will not come short in your expectations. I also think the Cephrit intelligence about the Maveen is not correct.’

The Barus Admiral stopped and gave a formal bow of acknowledgement towards the others seated at the table. The other races gave short nods of response and waited for the admiral to speak again. Admiral Baredio fixed long glances at both the Cephrit Admiral and the Deltas Vass envoy before he again spoke.

‘For the record, I agree with the earlier tactical evaluations of the Tilmud we discussed before I left the room. The Cephrit forces are over extended in this part of their range and the Tilmud admiral seeks to take advantage.’

The Barus admiral stopped speaking for several seconds as he used a remote control to highlight areas of concern in the hologram of Cephrit star systems.

‘Now I have no authorization to protect Cephrit star bases, whereas the Deltas Vass are entitled to offer protection to star bases where they have merchant interests, and this is of course all the star bases on the hologram.’

Polite laughter and chirrs of amusement issued momentarily from those assembled in the room. The Deltas Vass store keeper was a very common occurrence throughout known space, and they were usually allowed to trade without hindrance, even if other vassal races were embroiled in a full scale war.

Admiral Baredio gave a tight grin and then spoke again.

‘We will gather up the nearby Barus research fleet when we leave in three days and they can be part of our fleet when we reach Earth. We obviously hope to resolve this matter peacefully and we will later return to this former colony world.’

Baredio strode from the meeting room after another formal bow. As he left he considered the news he had received earlier, and he promised himself that he would have a very direct discussion with Omerio if he was with the research fleet.

                                                            ***

Ian Ridge held tightly onto the handset as he spoke with other leaders in yet another phone conference. The UK prime minister was speaking with the US president and the Chinese premier in turn. Ian paced the smaller penthouse room in the Geraldton hotel and sought to both retain calm and not interrupt the other speakers. The Chinese premier was adamant that no agreement would be made unless he could hold lengthy deliberations with his co-rulers, and that no allowances would be made for an alien timeframe.

The UK prime minister and James Whiting, the US president were in agreement, they would agree to the Maveen deal and had already specified marshalling points, which Ian copied down on his notepad. The European leaders were wavering in support of the deal, as were the Russians and Indians, and Ian knew that something would have to give to allow consensus. After the Russian premier expressed yet further concerns and hedges, Ian spotted the opportunity he had been seeking with the benefit of his foreign affairs background.

‘I understand your concerns premier Bulyanko, we still know so little of the Traders let alone the Maveen. However the deal does seem an excellent way to gain a second world to use as a sanctuary for humanity. The timescale is very tight indeed and you would lose nothing by specifying your own marshalling points. Also we should attach two or three points of our own to the deal.’

The phone line remained silent for several seconds before the UK prime minister spoke again.

‘Ian, you obviously have some ideas of the points we should consider adding to the deal. I for one would like a non aggression pact signed with both the Maveen and the Traders to come into effect after they leave our world. Now what else should we be adding to our requirements of the deal?’

A clamor erupted down the phone line as several world leaders tried to speak at once. For several minutes the leaders discussed the points they would like to add.

Ian thought it most interesting that the Chinese premier warmed to the non aggression pact immediately, but he considered this in light of Chinese policies over the last one hundred years and found no surprises. Ian then seized on a point that both the Chinese premier and the Indian prime minister had agreed to support.

‘As there is a residual concern about a second epidemic we could mitigate the risk by sending through the mission team to the new world. We will need some of the mission team to remain here as we need them to explain what they have learnt from the Traders. We could use a larger island on the Abrolhos group as a quarantine station for the people that remain behind.’

James Whiting readily supported and then expanded on Ian’s comment.

‘The mission team that leaves could form the beginnings of the leadership team that the colonists would need on the new world. I would also support that point and recommend that it be agreed to by all of us.’

Several acknowledgements came down the phone line and the UK prime minister now spoke to Ian Ridge directly.

‘Ian, can you meet with these Traders as the senior Earth representative? You will have to go into quarantine afterwards with the mission team members that remain behind.’

Ian considered the request and had no problem with his answer.

‘Well I am already preparing to go out there shortly, so the answer is yes. Now I think that as a final point we should just add a generic request for unspecified aid in the future as the first point does not commit either the Maveen or the Traders to actually assist us. ‘

Premier Bulyanko picked up on the comment and he ventured the reasons for his own agreement.

‘Prime Minister Ridge, I see your point and it is a valid one as we need to open the door to allied status with these two alien races. Now I would like to add additional points but I feel your generic request would cover them in the future. Basically we could spend the rest of the day adding points for every eventually and we cannot go down this path in the present circumstances.’

The US president now took charge of the discussion as the leaders of China and India gave their cautious agreement to the three new points.

‘Ian, please convey the personal assurances of all the leaders in this meeting that there will be no attacks by human forces on either the Maveen or the Traders. Also specify the three points but accept the Maveen deal regardless.’

Several mutters of concern came down the line, but James Whiting ignored them before continuing again.

‘We do not have the luxury of protracted discussions on this matter and I see no reason why the alien races would not provide these assurances. I suggest we all issue a joint media release after Ian advises that the Maveen deal is in place.’

The same voices acknowledged the impeccable logic of the US president and now the UK prime minister spoke again.

‘We each need to contact our neighbors and advise them in confidence of this deal. For example with Ian that is Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand. For James that is Canada, Mexico and the South American nations. I will speak to the Middle East countries with the assistance of the Indian Prime Minister, plus Japan and Korea. And the Russian and Chinese leaders can talk to other countries including Vietnam, Ukraine and Poland.’

The phone conference ended shortly afterwards and Ian spent another two hours making phone calls to the leaders in neighboring countries. He checked with his communications manager that a suitable aircraft was arranged for first light and then proceeded to get a few hours sleep. As Ian closed his tired eyes, he admitted to himself that he did feel a real sense of anticipation towards meeting the aliens.

                                                            ***

Omerio cautiously piloted his scout ship in pursuit of the remaining Tilmud frigate. The strange alien ship had rapidly closed the frigate and made series of strafing runs to keep the pressure on the fleeing ship. Omerio looked at the course of the frigate with real concern. It was quite possible that the frigate could reach Tilmud space several systems away and summon reinforcements before he repaired his ship. He considered the remaining probes in his cargo hold and realized that one of the larger probes was possibly helpful in this situation.

Omerio again raised the unknown ship in a tight beam transmission and advised on what he was considering. In moments he had agreement and he rapidly made the required remote changes to his last message probe before launching the probe at the Tilmud frigate. The strange alien ship immediately broke off another strafing run and attempted to place real distance between itself and the Tilmud ship.