Fear God and Dread Naught (41 page)

“None,” Paula said.  “Really, she was too busy riding herd on Potter.  The boy is a complete spoiled arse.”

“No doubt,” James said.

He cleared his throat.  “I’ll expect your full report by the end of the week,” he added.  “Until then, dismissed.”

Paula saluted, then left the room.  James watched the hidden hatch slide back into place, then keyed his console.  If there was nothing wrong with
Vanguard
and her crew, it was time to start planning for offensive operations of his own.

The hatch opened.  Commodore John Naiser and Captain Juliet Watson-Stewart stepped into the compartment.  James rose to his feet to greet them, accepting their salutes before shaking their hands.  The man who had built
Vanguard
- and the woman who had revolutionised tramline theory - deserved more than a little respect.

“John,” he said, as he motioned for them to sit.  “How’s the husband?”

“We’re doing fine,” Naiser said.  “Philip is currently looking for a tutoring post, after we were called back to Earth.”

“I may know someone in need of a tutor,” James said, as his aide brought a tray of tea and biscuits.  “I’ll put in a good word for him, if you like.

He accepted a cup of tea, then waited for his aide to leave before continuing.  “I assume you’ve read the reports from Unity and Tadpole-45?”

“Yes, sir,” Naiser said.  “They were very detailed.”

“We may have a theory to account for their FTL communications,” Juliet said.  Her voice was very quiet, even though married life had given her more self-confidence.  “We know that it’s possible to vibrate the tramlines.  They may have a way to cause them to resonate at a distance.”

James frowned.  “How is that even
possible
?”

“The tramlines do react to gravity wells,” Juliet said.  “And we know it is possible to generate a pseudo-gravity field.  They may have a way to use one to send messages down a tramline.”

“But we don’t know how,” Naiser said, quickly.

“Not yet,” Juliet said.  “We can and we will unlock the secret, Admiral.”

“Glad to hear it,” James said.  “It so happens that we might have a way to give the aliens a good hard kick up the arse.  If, of course, we can get political clearance to proceed.  But it will require some new hardware from you.

“And if Prince Henry is right,” he added, “one good hard kick up the arse is all we will need.”

End of Book Two

HMS
Vanguard
will return in:

We Lead

Coming Soon

Appendix: Glossary of UK Terms and Slang

[Author’s Note: I’ve tried to define every incident of specifically UK slang in this glossary, but I can’t promise to have spotted everything.  If you spot something I’ve missed, please let me know and it will be included.]

Aggro - slang term for aggression or trouble, as in ‘I don’t want any aggro.’

Beasting/Beasted - military slang for anything from a chewing out by one’s commander to outright corporal punishment or hazing.  The latter two are now officially banned.

Binned - SAS slang for a prospective recruit being kicked from the course, then returned to unit (RTU).

Boffin - Scientist

Bootnecks - slang for Royal Marines.  Loosely comparable to ‘Jarhead.’

Bottle - slang for nerve, as in ‘lost his bottle.’

Borstal - a school/prison for young offenders.

Donkey Wallopers - slang for the Royal Horse Artillery.

Fortnight - two weeks.  (Hence the terrible pun, courtesy of the
Goon Show
, that Fort Knight cannot possibly last three weeks.)

‘Get stuck into’ - ‘start fighting.’

‘I should coco’ - ‘you’re damned right.’

Kip - sleep.

Levies - native troops.  The Ghurkhas are the last remnants of native troops from British India.

Lorries - trucks.

MOD - Ministry of Defence.  (The UK’s Pentagon.)

Panda Cola - Coke as supplied by the British Army to the troops. 

RFA - Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Rumbled - discovered/spotted.

SAS - Special Air Service.

SBS - Special Boat Service

Spotted Dick - a traditional fruity sponge pudding with suet, citrus zest and currants served in thick slices with hot custard.  The name always caused a snigger.

Squaddies - slang for British soldiers.

Stag - guard duty.

TAB (tab/tabbing) - Tactical Advance to Battle.

Tearaway - boisterous/badly behaved child, normally a teenager.

Walt - Poser, i.e. someone who claims to have served in the military and/or a very famous regiment.  There’s a joke about 22 SAS being the largest regiment in the British Army - it must be, because of all the people who claim to have served in it.

Wanker - Masturbator (jerk-off).  Commonly used as an insult.

Wanking - Masturbating. 

Yank/Yankee - Americans

Coming Soon From Chris Kennedy!

The Dark Star War Cover Blurb

The war with the Shaitans continues, and Lieutenant Commander Shawn ‘Calvin’ Hobbs has stayed behind to help the reptilian Ssselipsssiss race fight the Shaitans while his ship, the TSS
Vella Gulf
, has gone for aid. Formerly enemies, Calvin now finds himself supporting the Ssselipsssiss in their war against the Shaitans in a “must-win” situation. If the Ssselipsssiss fall, Terra is next!

Able to operate in two universes and armed with unavoidable time-based weapons, the Shaitans have proven unstoppable. Although Calvin has experience fighting the Shaitans, the Ssselipsssiss are down to their last three planets, and Calvin’s assistance may very well be too little, too late.

The only ship with any success against the Shaitans is the
Vella Gulf,
which can jump to the Shaitans’ universe and fight them on their own turf. But time is short; will the crew of the
Vella Gulf
be able to find the mysterious “Dark Star” system of the Shaitans and stop them before they destroy Terra?

Faced with an implacable foe, the Terrans have been forced into an alliance where the enemy of their enemy
might
be their friend…or might not. The crew of the
Vella Gulf
will have to choose their allies wisely as the stakes are the highest possible—only one race will survive the Dark Star War!

The Dark Star War

Chapter One

Bridge,
Harvest of Flesh
, Sssellississ System, December 12, 2021

All eyes turned toward Calvin as he strode onto the bridge of the Ssselipsssiss ship. Although he’d been onboard for over a week, Terran time, it was the first time he’d been allowed on the bridge. Or pretty much anywhere else. Considering the lizard-like creatures had invited, no, demanded Calvin come with them, they really weren’t making him feel very welcome. None of the Ssselipsssiss said a word; the only sound was a hiss from the lizard sitting in the central chair.

Calvin’s only companion during the journey had been the Aesir Farhome, with infrequent visits from Ssselipsssiss Ambassador Gresss. The elf-like Farhome was only partly sane, on a good day; he was not the best traveling companion. After a week, Calvin was starting to doubt his own sanity.

Lieutenant Commander Shawn Hobbs, or ‘Calvin’ to his friends, still wasn’t sure why he was even
on
the disgustingly-named battleship. Certainly, he was a hostage the Ssselipsssiss were using to make sure the crew of Calvin’s ship, the Terran Space Ship (TSS)
Vella Gulf
, didn’t bring a Mrowry invasion force with them when they returned. The lizards had already lost most of their territory in the current war, including their capital, and they were desperately clinging to their last few systems. A Mrowry invasion would have wiped them out.

Based on what Calvin had seen so far, though, it didn’t look like the Ssselipsssiss would be able to hold their remaining systems without outside help. Given that they’d fired on the Terrans unprovoked the first time the two races met, Calvin wasn’t sure that their annihilation was such a bad idea.

Unless their enemy was worse and, in this case, it looked like it was.

Based on the enemy’s tactics, it appeared the Ssselipsssiss were fighting the same alien race, the Shaitans, that the Terrans were. If so, the Ssselipsssiss could almost be seen as Terra’s friends. Well, probably not ‘friends,’ but maybe they could be considered allies…at least until their war with the Shaitans ended.

The Terrans and the Ssselipsssiss would probably have to redefine their relationship after the war, assuming they were both still around. That appeared unlikely, as no one had been able to stop the Shaitans’ advance; so far, the best the Terrans had been able to achieve was a stalemate with them in the Aesir’s home system.

The Shaitan race lived in another universe and only jumped into the Terran universe to fight. The ability to jump back to their own universe made them hard to fight, because the Shaitans could determine where and when to accept battle. The fact that they had weapons which distorted time also caused…issues.

“I think what Captain Skrelleth meant,” Ambassador Gresss said, “was, ‘Welcome to the bridge.’” At seven and a half feet tall, the ambassador was an impressive sight. Maroon in color, the bipedal lizard wore a red velvet robe with black trim, along with what looked like black stretch pants. The robe had a small golden patch on the left side that announced his ambassadorial rank, as well as a large amount of gold jewelry around his neck and wrists.

The ship’s captain turned to glare at Calvin, his eyes glowing like the ends of two lit cigarettes. He hissed again and said, “What the captain really meant was, ‘Your presence pollutes the sanctity of my vessel and is an affront to everything I feel is good and holy.’”

“Out of curiosity, Captain Skrelleth, how many times have you fought the enemy?” Calvin asked.

“I have fought them twice,” the captain replied.

“I see,” Calvin said. “And how many of their ships did you destroy in those encounters?”

“We haven’t been able to destroy any of them,” Captain Skrelleth admitted, “although we did get a couple of laser hits on one last time. We were close to destroying it, but then it disappeared.”

Calvin nodded his head. “And during those two battles, how many ships did you lose?’

“We lost nine ships, including four battleships,” the captain said.

“And your capital planet?”

“Yesss. It fell in the last battle. Its loss was unavoidable.”

“So let me get this straight, captain. You’ve lost nine ships in two battles, your capital planet has been captured by the enemy and you have only succeeded in
hitting
an enemy ship twice. You didn’t destroy two ships; you just scored two hits on a single enemy ship. Is that correct?”

Captain Skrelleth hissed. “Yesss, that is correct, but that is because they are able to vanish. We can’t get them to fight us.”

“You want the enemy to fight on your terms, when theirs are working so well?” Calvin asked. He turned to the ambassador. “I think I’ve found your problem.”

“Careful, Terran,” the captain warned, jumping from his seat. He was even larger than the ambassador, standing nearly eight feet high. He pointed a claw at Calvin, his tail twitching. “Another word about me, and I will be forced to kill you, despite what protection the ambassador offers you. Be
very
careful about what you say next.”

Calvin turned back to the ship’s commanding officer. “I do not mean to be disrespectful, but my point is, so far, your race is losing this war. Badly. Not only are you losing, you are being systematically eliminated as a race. At the moment, the only way you can stay alive is to run from them; every time you fight you lose.”

“What do you expect?” Captain Skrelleth asked. “They can disappear at will and pop up and hit us with weapons we can’t defend against. I suppose
you
can do better against them?”

“Absolutely,” Calvin said. “I have fought them twice, and I have destroyed two of their ships. The second time, we boarded the ship and fought them hand-to-hand, prior to setting explosive charges which we detonated once we were clear. Can we do better?
We already
have
.”

“
You
boarded one of their ships?” the CO asked. “I do not see how this is possible.”

“Yes, I led a team that boarded one of their vessels. If we are fighting the same enemy, which I think we are, I have not only been aboard one of their ships, but I have fought them up close. I tell you this not to brag, but so you will see me as an asset to use in your fight against the Shaitans and, hopefully, treat me with a little more respect. I can help you, if you will let me.”

Captain Skrelleth shook his head, retreated to his command chair and sat down. He turned his gaze to the view screen, which showed a chart of the system. After a few moments, the twitching of his tail slowed. When he spoke, his voice was calm and under control. “I do not like you, nor do I want you onboard my ship,” he said; “however, if you have information on how to defeat the enemy, I am willing to listen.”

“We could fight them better if my ship were here,” Calvin said, “but there
are
some things I would recommend to help defend this system.” He paused to look at the view screen. “Is that status correct?”

“Yesss, that is everything we have in the system, and where it currently is positioned.”

Damn; the lizards were even worse off than he had thought. “Is there any reason why all your ships are around the planet?” Calvin asked.

“The enemy could appear anywhere, and we must protect the planet,” Captain Skrelleth answered. “We only have three planets left; we cannot afford to lose this one.”

“The enemy’s forces can’t appear anywhere,” Calvin corrected; “they have to use the stargate to come into the system. If you position your ships around the stargate, and mine it with everything you’ve got, you will stand a better chance of keeping them out. If nothing else, at least you will get a chance to shoot at them before they can jump to their own universe.”

“Do you
know
that to be truth, or are you just guessing?” the captain asked. “You are asking me to leave the planet undefended. We
cannot
lose it.”

Calvin paused a few seconds, debating whether to tell his enemies everything he knew. Giving away your own capabilities to a culture that would rather eat you than talk to you was…complicated. He sighed. In for a penny; in for a pound.

“I know this to be true. I have been to their universe; they do not have stargates there.”

Captain Skrelleth’s eyes snapped around to glare at the ambassador. “The Terran has been to their universe? Why I was not made aware of this?”

Ambassador Gresss made a shooing motion with his hands. “I have told you several times that the Terran had information on the enemy and urged you to talk to him. We would be better prepared right now if you had listened to me.”

“You talk too much,” Captain Skrelleth replied. “You politicians always talk too much. How was I to know that this time you actually had something useful to say?”

“What’s important is I
have
been to the other universe,” Calvin said. “I know they don’t have stargates, so they have to use the ones in our universe. When they come through, there will be a few moments while their systems stabilize when you can shoot them. System entry is your best, and probably your only, chance to defeat them. Once they get loose and can jump to their own universe they are very hard to bring to battle…as you have already found out.”

The captain scratched a scar on his shoulder while he looked at the display. “Sometime, you will have to tell me how you were able to travel to the universe of the enemy,” he said. “I would dearly like to fight there and have the wreckage of their ships fall onto
their
planets.” He turned back to Calvin. “I take it we cannot do it without some sort of equipment that is only aboard your ship?”

“Unfortunately, that is true,” Calvin admitted. “I wish we could jump this ship to their universe, but it isn’t possible. We will have to fight them here.”

“If that is the case, do you have any other suggestions for how to fight them?”

“You have to fight them at the stargate. Move every ship you have to the gate and put every mine you have in front of it, set to detonate automatically when a ship comes within range. You
have
to stop them there; if you don’t, I don’t think you can hold this universe against a massed assault.”

“Perhaps you are more than just prey, after all,” Captain Skrelleth said, his gaze returning to the status display. “I will do as you suggest, Terran, but you better not have lied to me. If I find out you have, I will kill you myself, before the enemy has a chance.”

“It’s in my own best interest for you to be victorious,” said Calvin. “Here are some other things you can do…”

Visitor’s Quarters,
Harvest of Flesh
, Sssellississ System, December 12, 2021

“So you finally met our host?” Esdren Farhome asked. The Aesir had the dark hair and pale blue skin typical of a Drow, the belowground-dwelling Aesir. Tall and thin, he also had the pointed ears typical of the elven race.

That was his normal appearance, anyway. Farhome was also an Eco Warrior, an elite soldier who could manipulate matter at the microscopic level using nanobots. His specialty was life, and he could use his nanobots to change a living being’s size and shape, including his own.

Although Farhome’s sanity was questionable most days, today seemed to be a good day. “Yeah, he’s every bit the fun-loving Ssselipsssiss you would expect him to be,” Calvin replied. “After he decided he wasn’t going to kill me and eat me, he actually listened to some of my advice. They are going to move to the stargate and try to hold there.”

“Well, you do have more experience fighting the Shaitans than anyone else,” Farhome replied. He cocked his head and added, “On second thought, the Ssselipsssiss may have more experience
fighting
them, but you have more experience actually beating them.”

“I’m happy Skrelleth listened to me,” Calvin said, “but that doesn’t mean we have a chance. I saw their status board. In addition to this battleship, there are only four more ships in the system. They have two battleships, two battlecruisers and a cruiser. That’s it.”