Ep.#15 - "That Which Other Men Cannot Do" (The Frontiers Saga) (55 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“General Bacca?” the ship’s pilot called from the doorway to the general’s quarters.

“Commander,” the general replied, looking up from his data pad.

“I hope I am not disturbing you, sir.”

“Not at all,” the general said, setting his data pad down on the table beside him. “In fact, you are a welcome distraction. I have been studying these signals from Earth too much. It is refreshing to speak Jung with someone. English is such a boring, utilitarian language, nowhere near as rich as our native tongue.”

“Of course.”

“What’s on your mind, Commander?”

“You asked me to inform you when we are only a few days out from Sol.”

“Indeed I did.”

“We are currently two point five Earth days from our planned drop-out point.”

“Excellent. Please, take the ship out of FTL long enough to put the high-speed comm-drone that we intercepted
back
on its way to Sol.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, General, to what end?”

“I wish the leaders of this
Alliance
to receive our leader’s so-called ‘call for peace’ prior to our arrival.”

“I was under the impression that you wished to deliver the message yourself,” the commander said.

“I had considered doing so, yes,” the general admitted. “However, considering the situation, and our recent history with the Terrans, they are more likely to, as they say, ‘shoot first and ask questions later.’ Not a very good way to start off a peace negotiation, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Indeed, sir,” the commander agreed. “What speed would you like the comm-drone to travel at?”

“Whatever speed gets it there at least a full day ahead of us, Commander.”

“Of course. I will see to it immediately.” The commander turned to depart, then stopped. “Pardon me, General. If I might make another inquiry?”

“Please.”

“You spoke of a ‘call for peace’? Does this mean that Jung Command is accepting defeat at the hands of the Terrans?”

“Doubtful,” the general replied. “It is more likely a ruse, a ploy intended to buy time so that Command can move more ships into the area so we can put these annoying people in their place, once and for all.”

“Then, there is still a chance?”

“A chance?” the general wondered.

“For us to save face, to avoid bringing shame to our caste.”

“You view failure as something to be ashamed of, Commander?”

“Of course.”

“Shame is cast by failure, only if those who failed did not learn from their mistakes, brush themselves off, and try again. You see, one can either accept defeat, or reject it and continue to try. While the latter does
not
guarantee honor, the former
does
guarantee disgrace.”

“But, I was taught that the Jung never surrender, that we fight to the death. We either succeed, or we die in the attempt.”

“Who is to say that the
attempt
is over, Commander?” the general said, a small smile on his weathered face.

The commander thought about the general’s words for a moment before leaving. “I will dispatch the comm-drone immediately, General.”

General Bacca picked up his data pad again. “Thank you, Commander.”

* * *

Nathan sat in his ready room doing nothing. His morning staff meeting was complete, his inspections of the post-battle repairs still in progress had been conducted, and the daily intelligence briefing from Karuzara had been read. He literally had nothing to do.

Or at least, nothing that he
wanted
to do.

It had been four days since they had attacked the Jung home system, and while it had been heralded as a major victory by all the worlds of the Alliance, the cost had been far greater than anticipated. Two ships had been lost, and a third badly damaged. Countless friends had died, including two of Nathan’s oldest and dearest.

He felt guilty for dwelling on the loss of two close friends, when several hundred members of the Alliance had also been lost. But it was the loss of Luis and Devyn that had hit him the hardest. Cameron would survive. She would be in the hospital for a few weeks, and would face at least a month of rehabilitation, but she would be back to her old self again. He only hoped that she would agree to be his executive officer again, now that she no longer had a ship, and since Commander Willard would soon be given command of the refurbished Scout One, to be called ‘Recon One’ instead.

Another thought had crossed his mind as well. Resignation. Once Cameron returned to duty, he could tender his resignation. He could leave the service and return to Earth. His grandfather’s home was still intact, for the most part. Even his old plane was there. It, like the house, was in need of repair, but it would be therapeutic for him. The fresh air, the hard work. And the idea of flying again…real ‘stick and rudder’ flying. That appealed to Nathan as well.

But it was still not over. It was true, they had dealt a devastating blow to the Jung, but no one yet knew what the Jung’s response to their attack would be. And until they knew, until he could be sure, he could not find peace.

The intercom panel in his desk beeped. “
Flash traffic from Command,
” Naralena said, a sense of urgency in her voice. “
Long-range sensors have detected an object headed for Earth at eighty percent light. It just dropped out of FTL. Command suspects it could be a Jung weapon. They are requesting that we jump out to intercept.
”

“General quarters. Break orbit and prepare an intercept jump,” Nathan ordered as he stood. “I’m on my way.”

“
Aye, sir.
”

Nathan moved quickly out of his ready room and onto the Aurora’s bridge. “Status,” he queried as he moved quickly from the back of the bridge toward his command chair located at the center.

“Breaking orbit now,” Miser Chiles reported from the helm.

“Jump point to intercept in twenty seconds,” Mister Riley added.

“Anything more on the object, Mister Navashee?” Nathan asked.

“No, sir. I’ve got the feed from the Karuzara’s long-range sensor array, but the object is so small, and so distant…”

“How distant?”

“About eighteen billion kilometers, sir,” Mister Navashee clarified. “It came out of FTL just inside the heliopause.”

“Could it be a weapon?” Nathan wondered.

“If it is, whoever sent it doesn’t know how to use it very well,” Jessica said as she entered the bridge and went straight to her usual station at the tactical console.

“On course and speed for intercept jump,” the helmsman reported.

“All departments report general quarters,” Naralena announced. “XO is in combat, chief of the boat is in damage control.”

“All weapons systems are charged and ready,” Jessica added.

“Very well,” Nathan said. “Mister Riley, jump us out there.”

“Aye, sir,” Mister Riley replied. “Jumping in three……two……one……jumping.”

Nathan slowly took his seat as the jump flash briefly illuminated the interior of the Aurora’s bridge.

“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.

“Contact,” Mister Navashee said. “I’ve got the object. One million kilometers and closing fast. It appears to be a Jung comm-drone.”

“Is it on a collision course with Earth?” Nathan wondered.

“No, sir,” Mister Navashee replied. “Captain, it’s changing its attitude. It’s flipping end over.”

“I’ve got locks on it with both forward plasma cannons, Captain,” Jessica reported.

“It’s firing its main engines,” Mister Navashee added. He turned to look at the captain. “I think it’s decelerating, sir.”

“Captain,” Naralena called from the comm station at the back of the bridge. “The object is transmitting. Omnidirectional, all frequencies… It’s in Jung.”

Nathan stood again, turning around to look at Naralena as she listened to the message. After a few seconds, he grew impatient. “Well?”

“I believe the message is from the Jung High Command… It could be ‘council’, the words are very similar. They are asking to begin negotiations… Captain, I think they’re offering a cease-fire.”

“Of course they are,” Jessica said. “We just kicked their ass.”

“No,” Nathan disagreed. “Their top comm-drone speed is one hundred times light. There’s no way in hell that thing was launched
after
we attacked them. This thing must’ve been in flight for…” Nathan snapped his fingers several times. “Help me out with the math, here, Mister Riley.”

“Two hundred and forty-seven days, sir.”

“Like I said, it was sent before we attacked their homeworld.
Long
before we attacked.” Nathan thought about it for a moment. “Double that number for a round trip… This call for a cease-fire is probably in response to our retaking of Earth.”

“How the hell do we know if they still mean it?” Jessica wondered.

“There’s more,” Naralena interrupted. “They say they’ve already sent an envoy to begin negotiations, and that they will arrive shortly.”

“Did they say
how
soon?” Nathan asked.

“No, sir,” Naralena replied. “They also say that the probe is programmed to enter into a stable orbit around Earth, so that we may use it to send a message back to the Jung, if we wish.”

“No way in hell we’re letting that thing anywhere near Earth,” Jessica insisted.

“Agreed,” Nathan said. “Is that it?” he asked Naralena. “Nothing more?”

“No, sir. They clearly announced the end of the message.”

“Take it out,” Nathan ordered, stepping up to the front of the tactical console.

“Gladly,” Jessica replied. “Firing forward plasma turrets.”

“Comm-drone is destroyed,” Mister Navashee confirmed.

“Conduct a full sweep of the area,” Nathan ordered. “I want to be damned sure that drone wasn’t some kind of a Trojan horse.”

“A what?” Mister Navashee inquired, unfamiliar with the term.

“It’s a history thing,” Nathan replied. “Comms, load that message into one of our jump comm-drones and send it back to Command. Let them know we’re sweeping the area before we return.”

“You know what this means,” Nathan said to Jessica.

Jessica just looked at him and shrugged.

“It means we didn’t
need
to attack the Jung home system. All those people… All of
our
people… None of them needed to die.” Nathan turned and headed for his ready room without saying another word, his face pale.

“Nathan,” Jessica said, wanting to reassure him, to comfort him.

He did not respond. He just disappeared into his ready room without another word.

* * *

Nathan entered the bridge through the port entrance, as he pulled on his uniform jacket.

“When the message said an envoy will arrive shortly, I didn’t think they meant the next day,” he said to Naralena as he entered.

“Ship is at general quarters,” Naralena replied as Nathan passed. “XO is in combat, chief of the boat is in damage control.”

“All weapons are charged and ready,” Jessica reported.

“Intercept jump is plotted and ready,” Mister Riley added. “The ship is on course and speed.”

“What is it?” Nathan asked. “Another comm-drone?”

“No, sir,” Mister Navashee replied. “Too big for a comm-drone. It’s a bit bigger than a Jung gunship. It did, however, come out of FTL at the same location as the comm-drone, only at a greatly reduced speed.”

“No other contacts?”

“No, sir.”

Nathan sighed. “Well, let’s go say hello, shall we? But keep your finger on the escape jump button, Mister Riley.”

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

Nathan moved to his command chair as the jump flash washed over the bridge. His eyes stayed fixed on the main view screen.

“Jump complete.”

“Target reacquired,” Mister Navashee reported. “Eight million kilometers and closing. They’ll pass on our port side, about six thousand kilometers out, twelve degrees down relative.”

“Green deck,” Nathan ordered. “Launch the ready birds.”

“Green deck, aye,” Naralena replied.

“Target is indeed a ship,” Mister Navashee continued. “Her only weapons appear to be mini-rail gun turrets, one top, one bottom. My guess is that she’s some kind of long-range FTL shuttle, Captain.”

“That’s it, though? Just mini-rail guns. No antimatter reactor, no nuclear warheads, nothing like that?”

“No, sir.”

“Does she have shields?”

“Unknown,” Mister Navashee replied. “But if she does, they aren’t raised.”

“Flight ops reports four Super Eagles away,” Naralena announced. “Time to intercept is two minutes.”

“Relay your sensor readings to those fighters,” Nathan instructed.

“Already on their way, sir.”

“How long until she reaches us?” Nathan wondered.

“At present closure, about ten minutes,” Mister Navashee replied. “But the target is decelerating, just like the comm-drone did.”

“Then she means to make orbit as well,” Nathan surmised.

“Mister Chiles, come about, nice and easy, and come in behind the target on a standard intercept.”

“Standard intercept, aye,” the helmsman acknowledged.

“One minute to fighter intercept.”

“Receiving transmission,” Naralena reported.

“From the fighters?” Nathan asked.

“No, sir. From the Jung ship.”

“Put it up,” Nathan instructed.

“The transmission has video as well,” Naralena warned.

“Fine,” Nathan replied. “Might as well see who we’re talking to.”

A moment later, an elderly, yet distinguished looking man, wearing a perfectly pressed Jung uniform, appeared on the main view screen.

Nathan had to control his surprise at the identity of the Jung officer. “General Bacca.”

The general smiled. “
Captain Scott. Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I see you’re looking well.
”

“Apparently Jung Command has a sense of humor, sending the same man I ran out of the system as a peace envoy.”

“
Well, it just so happened that I was still in the neighborhood, and, what with travel between distant stars being so time-consuming for those of us without jump drives, I guess our leaders chose expedience over decorum. Apologies if my presence offends you.
”

“Your
presence
has precious little
effect
on me,” Nathan assured the general. “State your intentions, General. My patience is in short supply these days.”

“
I humbly request an audience with your leaders in order to negotiate a cease-fire, so that both our worlds can live in peace.
”

“Don’t you mean,
all
our worlds?”