Frontiers Saga 12: Rise of the Alliance (3 page)

“
Ah, Nathan, it is good to see you, so to speak,
” Prince Casimir began.

Nathan’s head jerked back in surprise, not expecting the image to react to his voice. “Tug?”

“
I wish I could be there in person,
” the image of Prince Casimir continued, paying no attention to Nathan, “
to fight side by side once again. I still believe that my people, the people of the Pentaurus sector, and I, all owe you and your crew more than we can ever repay. Unfortunately, times are difficult in the cluster. We are under great pressure to protect the worlds that the empire had stripped of their own defenses against raiders and pirates from outside the region. With only a few warships left, and even fewer of them equipped with jump drives, the task is difficult. The Avendahl is forced to jump regularly from system to system in order to maintain enough of a presence to discourage such attacks. Furthermore, the nobles that make up the new Takaran Parliament are less than pleased with the challenging new economic environment in which their own profits are no longer guaranteed. They are uncomfortable with the idea of funneling precious resources away from Takara toward Earth, for fear of being left with too little to fill their own coffers.
” Prince Casimir looked down at the floor and sighed, then looked up again. “
It is of my own doing, I suppose. Had I not moved so hastily and broken up the empire, the nobles might have been more cooperative. I am quite sure that their reluctance is driven more by their desire to punish me than to protect themselves. If they truly wished to protect themselves, they would pick up a weapon and join the fight. I truly regret that in my haste to prove to the families of all the fallen Karuzari that their sacrifices were not in vain, that I have now put the welfare of those that gave us our freedom at risk. Unfortunately, freedom for all worlds was the only end game that made sense, and to accomplish that goal, I had to step down as the sole leader of the Takar system. For the difficulties that this decision has caused you, I offer my sincerest apologies. Furthermore, I swear to you that I will do everything within my power to support you and your efforts to not only free your world, but also to rid the galaxy of the Jung threat.
”

Casimir’s image appeared to turn and walk several steps to the left, although his image remained in the same position within the captain’s ready room. He stopped beside a large view screen that came to life as he came beside it. “
Despite the restrictions placed upon me by the Takaran Parliament, I have devised a way to provide support for you and your cause. My old friend, Maxwell Dumar, has resigned his commission in the Takaran military. As per Takaran custom, he has been given a substantial retirement in the form of a lump sum payment. In addition, I have liquidated the majority of my family’s holdings in order to provide him with additional funding. I have also convinced the Corinairan government to return the Karuzara asteroid base to the Karuzari Nation, which, according to the Alliance treaty, still existed. Maxwell Dumar is now the president of the Karuzari Nation, and is the commander of the Karuzara asteroid base. He has purchased many four zero two deep space interceptors from the Palee spacecraft scrap yards, as well as a few dozen of the old interplanetary utility freighters commonly known as ‘boxcars’. If you are watching this recording, then you already know of the first group of twenty four zero twos. I promise, many more are soon to follow. The plan is this…
” Prince Casimir pointed to the image on the view screen next to him. “
This is the Darvano system. I have determined that in just over two months, a window of opportunity will appear that will not come about again for quite some time.”
The image of the Darvano system began to shrink as Casimir continued to speak. “
At that point in time, the Karuzara asteroid’s orbit around the Darvano star will put it on the perfect trajectory for the Palamor system, just over forty-seven light years away. The plan is to install a massive emitter array around the Karuzara asteroid and jump her, in ten light year increments, to the Palamor system. There, she will intercept the orbit of one of Palamor’s super massive gas giants and use it to alter the Karuzara asteroid’s trajectory onto a course for its next gravity assist maneuver in the Jenalaya system, one hundred and twenty-six light years away.”
Casimir turned to face the camera again. “
You see, Captain, I intend, through a series of carefully plotted jumps and gravity assist maneuvers, to bring the asteroid base, with all of its considerable resources, directly to you. It should provide you with a substantial base of operations. Furthermore, Commander Dumar has acquired additional resources in the form of consumables, medical supplies, and personnel of all disciplines—the majority of which are from Corinair, I might add—to both staff the asteroid base and supplement your own crews as well. Assuming that our rather ambitious plan to jump the Karuzara asteroid base all the way to Sol succeeds, it should provide all the resources needed to survive until such time as I can send more substantial aid, hopefully in the form of jump-equipped warships.
”

The view screen went dark and Prince Casimir moved back to his right, as if returning to the point in the room at which he had started his message. “
Stored on the data bank of this device are detailed reports, personnel rosters, resource inventories, fabrication capabilities, and time frames. This should help you to understand exactly what the Karuzara facility is capable of so that you can plan how best to utilize it. I urge you to include Commander Dumar in your planning, as he is most skilled in matters of combat strategy and intelligence. More importantly, besides yourself, he is the one person in this universe that I trust completely. He is, for all intents and purposes, an extension of myself, speaking and acting on my behalf, with full authority.
”

Casimir took in a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. “
I do so wish I was there with you now, Nathan. Soon, using the technology used in the enhanced jump shuttle that brought the data cores to Takara, we shall create a network of jump-equipped comm drones that will give us near real-time communications capabilities. Until then, I wish you the best of luck. Just hold on a little longer, Captain. Help is on the way.
”

The hologram faded away, and the device shut off. Nathan, who had been leaning against the front of his desk during Casimir’s speech, stepped forward and picked up the device and looked at it. He smiled, then moved back behind his desk and activated the intercom. “Comms, get me President Scott at NAU Command.”

* * *

“Jump complete,” Mister Bryant reported.

Commander Dumar looked up at the massive view screen that covere
d the front bulkhead of the Karuzara’s main control room. The screen had gone black as it waited for new sensor input from which to redraw its map representing the asteroid’s current position.

“Position report!” Mister Bryant ordered.

“Arrays are coming up now!” the navigation controller answered.

“Emitters at zero energy,” the array controller reported.

“Energy banks also show zero,” the next controller added.

“Reactors are normal,” the power systems controller followed.

“All stations appear normal, sir,” Mister Bryant reported. “Sensors are coming online now.”

Dumar watched as the main view screen began to display computer-generated images as data from the asteroid’s many sensor arrays began to pour into the navigational computers. First, an icon representing the star Palamor, then the super massive gas giant they were rapidly approaching. One by one, symbols for the rest of the planets in the system began to appear.

“Position verified,” the navigation controller announced. “On course for counter orbit around Palomar Three. Expect gravity assist maneuver to begin in three hours and forty-seven minutes.”

“We’re right on course,” Mister Bryant said with obvious satisfaction.

“That was only our fifth jump, Mister Bryant,” Commander Dumar said. “We still have one hundred and eight jumps to go.”

“Yes, sir.”

“How long until the scout ship is ready to launch?”

“Two more days, I believe.”

“We’ll be well beyond Takaran charted space by then,” Dumar said. “I’d feel a lot more comfortable if we had someone clearing our arrival points before we jump into them. I don’t want to discover another budding singularity like the Aurora did.”

“No sir,” Mister Bryant agreed. “That would definitely ruin our day. Still, you have to admit, it’s starting to look like this crazy plan might actually work.”

“Perhaps,” Dumar said, “but I’ll be more confident after we get the maneuvering systems installed and working.”

“Mister Delaney assures me that his crews will complete the task on schedule,” Mister Bryant told the commander, “and his opinion is certainly a well-qualified one.”

“His experience is in fitting asteroids with single-use deceleration thrusters for the purpose of transferring them to orbits around Corinair. This is quite a different task altogether.”

“I have faith in the old man,” Mister Bryant stated with confidence.

“Let’s hope your faith is not misplaced,” Commander Dumar said as he turned to exit the control center.

* * *

Loki peered in through the doorway to the starboard pilot’s briefing room prior to entering. The room was like a sm
all auditorium, with progressively elevated rows of comfortable high-backed seats that formed an arc around the room so that all the seats pointed directly at the podium. Behind the primary seating there was another level known as the gallery. It had four rows with ten seats in each row. Normally, it was covered by a retractable wall. Today, the wall was gone and half the gallery was filled with the additional flight crews from the sixteen four zero twos that had arrived the day before.

“What the hell are you waiting for?” Josh called from behind.

“We don’t usually attend these briefings,” Loki said under his breath.

“What are you talking about? We’ve been to several of them.”

“Not with this many people,” Loki said.

Josh peered into the room from behind Loki. “Damn, there are a lot of people in here, aren’t there.” Josh pushed Loki forward. “Come on, let’s find a seat.”

Josh stepped around Loki and started heading for a pair of seats in the back row of the main section of the briefing room.

“Where are you going?” Loki asked, seeming slightly panicked.

“There’s two seats over there, Loki.”

“In the middle of everyone? Maybe we should sit in the back?”

“Why?”

“Humor me.”

“Okay.” Josh turned and followed his friend up the steps on the side of the room and up to the second to the last row in the gallery, taking two of the empty seats near a cluster of Corinari pilots who had been on board the Aurora since they had first left the Pentaurus cluster. “Kind of far back, isn’t it?” he asked as they sat.

Loki looked across the rows of seats below. “Most of the four zero two crews are down front.”

“You know, it is better back here,” Josh realized. “We can make smart comments and the CAG can’t hear us.”

“Just be quiet, Josh,” Loki warned. “There’s got to be a reason that Major Prechitt asked us to come to this briefing.”

“Yeah, it did seem kind of strange,” Josh agreed, “seeing as how we don’t have a ship, and all.”

Loki continued to scan the room. His brow furrowed slightly. He leaned toward Josh. “Why is everyone looking at us?”

“Because we’re famous, remember?” Josh waved at the some of the four zero two crews that were looking back toward them. “How’s it going, guys?”

“Oh, jeez, Josh,” Loki exclaimed. “You don’t even know them.”

“Hey, they’re looking at us, remember.”

“Remain seated!” Major Prechitt ordered as he entered the room with Major McCullum following close behind. Major Prechitt stepped up to the podium and immediately began to speak. “To those of you who have recently joined us, first I’d like to welcome you aboard. Second, I’d like to warn you that you might as well forget most of the combat tactics that you learned in the Corinari, as ninety percent of it won’t work in the Sol sector. The Jung are a completely different type of pilot. They fight to the death, they don’t believe in surrender, and they don’t believe in mercy. Luckily, the Jung seem to believe in quantity over quality, as most of the pilots that we’ve faced thus far were not that skilled. In addition, their ships, while fairly effective in space, are poorly designed for atmospheric flight. If you do run into a good pilot, get him to chase you down into the atmosphere and you’ll be able to fly circles around him. Of course, none of that really matters to those of you flying the four zero twos, as you’re better off using the jump and shoot approach rather than straightforward dogfighting. Do not let your instincts to engage the enemy in the traditional sense take over. You’ve been blessed with jump drives. In combat, I strongly suggest you use them. I urge you four zero two crews to review the flight data from all of the Falcon’s engagements. You’ll learn quite a bit.”

“Oh, don’t let your head start swelling up,” Loki said under his breath. He looked at Josh next to him, noticing the change in his posture and expression. “Too late.”

“Incidentally,” Major Prechitt continued, “the four zero twos will now be referred to as ‘J-F-Four-Zero-Two Falcon’, or ‘Falcon’ for short. We will be forming a second air wing specifically for the Falcons. This wing will be under the command of Major McCullum.”

“That sucks,” Josh mumbled as the major continued his briefing. “There can only be one ‘Falcon’.”

“I don’t know,” Loki disagreed, “I think it’s pretty cool. Sort of an homage.”

Josh looked at him. “A what?”

“A sign of respect.”

“Yeah, right. None of those four zero twos will ever be
the
Falcon.”

“I know, but I still think it’s cool.”

“What do you know? You think
math
is cool.”

“That concludes my portion of this briefing,” Major Prechitt said. “The Falcon crews will remain for their flight assignments from Major McCullum. The rest of you are dismissed.”