Solbidyum Wars Saga 5: Desolation (28 page)

“Alright, but what if you want to move ships through gates?  You need to have known entrance and exit points for them, and you can’t very well pass a starship through a central hub like you’re describing.” A’Lappe pointed out.

“Right,” I said.  “For those, we will need special ships to serve as the nodes for the frame, as you pointed out to me when you first told me of your discovery.  Three ships on each side of each gate spaced as you described.  Each hub ship needs to be cloaked and shielded.  They would be in or near the systems we need to move ships to the most often, and then would be moved about the system every few days so only those aboard the ships would know their exact locations.  Once again, we would need a central hub area in space just for ships.  That will be tricky, because we will need it to be someplace that ships passing through it won’t be able to determine the hub’s location.  The central hub for the starships to pass through will have to be extremely large with many gates nearby.  It will be impossible to have it inside anything, and therefore, it will be easy to locate and difficult to move.  Anyone have any ideas how we might be able to do this?” I asked.  The room was deadly silent.  After a brief pause, Cantolla spoke up.

“We might be able to hide it inside a nebula.”

“Wouldn’t work,” A’Lappe said.  “Each nebula is too unique and has its own unique radio frequency signal.  Any ship passing through that gate would know immediately which nebula they were in.”

“Yes, but nebulae are so large, that the transfer point inside it would be impossible to find even if you knew which one it was in,” Cantolla replied.

“It’s too risky,” A’Lappe responded.  “Sooner or later, they would be able to locate it.”

“We don’t need to come up with the answer right now,” I said.  “Think about it.  In the meantime, I need the two of you to work out the plans for transfer hubs large enough to send people and equipment through; items up to the size of surface transports.  These facilities will need to have quarters on them and a permanent crew.  However, we need that fixed staff to be as small as possible with other workers on it using the Cantolla gates to travel to and from the stations daily.  See what you two can come up with.  Take into consideration that we will need this facility as soon as possible, so factor that into your design.”

Just then my com link beeped, and I answered, “Tibby here.”

“Admiral, this is Kerabac.  We have a message from Captain Wanoll requesting you to return to the
DUSTEN
immediately, there is an urgent message coming in from Rear Admiral Regeny.”

I left quickly with my parade of security forces and Marranalis in tow; I was amazed to find the two Federation Security guards waiting at the Cantolla gate to take over their duties from the
NEW ORLEANS
security team.  “I alerted them while we were on the way here, sir,” Marranalis said when he saw my look.  I nodded, “Quick thinking Marranalis.”

As soon as we were back aboard the
DUSTEN
we were directed to a small conference room near the bridge.  As we stepped into the room, I was startled to see Admiral Regeny standing there with Captain Wanoll.  “I keep forgetting how easy it is to get here now,” I said to Regeny.  He smiled briefly and then replied.

“Under the circumstances, I felt it best if I came here and talk to you in person.  Security is tighter here, and I am less concerned about spies than I am back on Megelleon.

“We’ve just received word that the Brotherhood is attacking the planets Kendrop and Gochian with the
HAPRIN
and attacking with heavy ground forces on the planets as well.  Both planets are located on the Federation’s rim, but are in this sector.  We do not currently have any starships in their vicinity.  The only protection the planet has is two frigates, the
GINWUNT
and the
AYRPRE,
three corvettes and about three hundred fighters.  The Brotherhood is attacking with the
HAPRIN,
eight corvettes and several hundred patrol ships and mirage fighters.  All the ships appeared to have arrived aboard the
HAPRIN
.  They are shuttling troops to the ground with patrol ships and attacking the smaller towns, taking them over completely and either killing or enslaving the inhabitants.”

“Is there a Cantolla gate on either planet or on any of the Frigates?” I asked.

“Negative, we haven’t gotten that far out yet with the materials to make them there and have been focusing on starships first and the planets and then down to the frigates,” eny replied.

“So the only thing we can do is fly there ourselves as quickly as we can.”  I stated.

Regeny nodded and said, “I’ve already issued the orders to Captain Wanoll, and we’re headed that direction now with half the first fleet with us.”

“How long will it take us to get there, Captain?”  I asked as I turned to Wanoll.

“We’ll be lucky to make it in a week at highest possible speed," he said.  “We’re lucky that we were already half way out from Megelleon when we got the message, otherwise we would be looking at two to three weeks.”

“What can you tell me about these two planets?” I asked.

“From what I know,” Regeny began, “Kendrop is a mining and industrial planet with lots of heavy equipment and machinery along with factories.  Gochian is mostly an aquatic planet rich in sea foods, which are its main exports, and it does a nice tourist trade as well.  There is very little area on Kendrop suitable for crops because of all the mountains and rocks, so my guess is that the Brotherhood is interested in the machinery and metals there and possibly more slaves. Gochian I’m not sure about; most likely the Brotherhood will take a lot of slaves and eat well while they are there; they may hold wealthier tourists for ransom, but there is no telling with that bunch.  Like Kendrop, there isn’t a lot of area for growing crops, so I doubt they want either of these planets for growing and producing God’s Sweat.

“I also have another bit of news from Wabussie.  His FSO agents have evidence that the Brotherhood may be planning a large-scale offensive against the planet Weccies.  As you all know, Weccies is the major banking facility outside of the Federation, and while it is not a part of the Federation, its falling into the hands of the Brotherhood would be devastating for everyone.  If the Brotherhood were to gain control over that wealth, there is no telling what they might be able to do.  I’d like your thoughts on it, Tibby.”

“How soon does the FSO project the attack there might occur?” I asked.

Regeny responded, “At the moment the FSO is projecting possibly sometime next year.  It will take a very concentrated effort to get past the Weccies’ defenses and there is no way they can do a sneak attack, unless the Brotherhood has a lot of cloaked ships.”  

“I imagine we could provide a defensive fleet of ships around Weccies to help protect them, but we would be leaving many of our own worlds in danger to do so.”  I replied.  “That would be exactly what the Brotherhood would want.  It could all be a trap to get us to move ships nearer to Weccies, leaving more of our planets at risk,” I said.

“The Weccies would never agree with that plan anyway, having a fleet of war ships in their area would appear as a threat to them.  They would no more trust us than they would the Brotherhood.”

“There might be another way,” I said, “The Cantolla gates A’Lappe and Cantolla are working on, if large enough to pass star ships through, could enable us to respond to that area quickly if we have one near-by.  These gates would have the ability to be cloaked and shielded, unless in use.  If we can get them built and operational in time we might be able to hide a gate in the Weccies vicinity, and if the Brotherhood attacks there we could respond instantly,” I said.

Regeny tugged the skin under his chin as he considered my comments, “It might work.  How close are they to having a system operational on that scale?”

“It could happen very quickly.  It only would require six small ships to accomplish, and they would not need to be anything special.  I think we might be able to have them in four or five weeks, but then we need to get three of them to Weccies, and that will add some time,” I said.

“Well, keep working on it Tibby, I know I always have you running at top speed, but we needed it yesterday again,” the Admiral said, “Now back to this matter at Kendrop and Gochian.  What strategy do you think we should employ?”

“I’m afraid by the time we get there the battle will be over, and the Brotherhood will have plundered both worlds and left,” I answered.  “Most likely they will take an exit route across the border and away from the Federation, so we are unlikely to have any contact with them.  Admiral, correct me if I’m wrong, but so far the Brotherhood’s main focus on the worlds they have attacked is gaining resources and stealing military ships, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that and taking slaves,” Regeny replied.

“Well then I suggest we let them have the larger ships.  Abandon them on the surface or in orbit and let them have them,” I said.

“Have you lost your mind?” Regeny exclaimed and then he paused a second and got a quizzical look on his face.  “Or do you have something devious in mind?”

“You said that we only have two frigates and a hand full of corvettes there.  If we have our troops abandon the ships, what do you think the Brotherhood will do?”

“Ah, well… they will take them aboard the
HAPRIN
and crew them with their own men and use them in the next battle against us.”  Regeny replied.

“What if we booby trap those ships so they explode all at the same time, say a few hours AFTER the Brotherhood captures them?”  I asked.

“Well, if they have them aboard the
HAPRIN
at the time, and in the hangar bay, the explosion would destroy just about everything in the hangar, “Regeny smiled,  “It wouldn’t destroy the
HAPRIN
; the blast walls are too well constructed for that, but the ship would be severely damaged, and it would take some time for them to repair.  Heck, Tibby, there are hundreds of fighters and patrol ships usually in those hangars, and if they are about to leave the sector, you can bet nearly all the smaller ships will be crammed in there.  By the stars, Tibby, you would inflict a major blow to the Brotherhoods forces!”

“Marranalis,” I said turning to him, “What could we do to our ships there that would cause the greatest explosion of those ships?”

“A fusion reactor malfunction,” he answered.  “If both frigates and just two or three corvettes exploded at the same time, inside the hangar, it’s possible it could breach the explosion bulkheads in the hangar as well.  The damage could be quite extensive.”

“Get in contact with our troops at Kendrop and Gochian, tell their commanding officers to sabotage the reactors on the frigates and corvettes and then to abandon the ships.  Make sure to tell them to only let those involved in doing the sabotage to know it is happening.  Have them all coordinate detonation times, so they will all occur at once in about five hours and then have the crews all abandon ships and get to hiding places on the planets where they won’t be captured.  I’m betting the Brotherhood is so arrogant with their past conquests, they won’t even suspect the possibility of sabotage to the ships and will simply park them in the hangar.”

“Right, Tibby,” Marranalis said, “I know just how to tell them to do it so it won’t be obvious.  There is a way the computer can be programed to activate the reactor overload without setting off any alarms, and until the program activates, the Brotherhood will be completely oblivious to what is about to happen. The only way the Brotherhood could stop it is to disable the computer before it initiates the program.”

“Perfect.  Get it done,” I answered.  I turned back to Regeny as Marranalis left the room.  “Well, Admiral, I think this should buy us some time and slow down the aggression of the Brotherhood for a little bit anyway.  They still may be at Kendrop and Gochian when we arrive, trying to get the
HAPRIN
operational again.”

It was hours later before we had any reports back from Kendrop and Gochian, and when the reports came in it was not from the ships' captains, but from a base on the surface of Kendrop.  The report said that the only conflicts going on anymore were on the surface with Brotherhood troops who had set down earlier.  The ground bases had observed what looked to be an explosion on the
HAPRIN
shortly after the attacking ships had been recalled.  Since the explosion, there had been no ships seen coming from or going to the
HAPRIN
, and the ship was motionless.  The report also mentioned that all but one of the crews of the Federation frigates and corvettes had safely escaped to the planet’s surface; the other corvette crew appeared to have been destroyed by a Brotherhood fighter as they abandoned their ship in life pods.

“By the stars,” Regeny cursed, “they have no mercy at all.  Even during the Solbidyum Wars 600 years ago, men in lifeboats were not fired on by either side.  These Brotherhood goons have no respect for life.  I wonder just how bad the damage is on the
HAPRIN
?”  I hope it killed that Korgian blood sucker, Roritat, and his cohort Ming.”

“I doubt we are that lucky,” I said.  “Knowing Ming he will remove himself far from any real conflict.  He and Roritat are probably secreted away on some remote planet living in decadent luxury while plotting their next attacks.  Until we get rid of those two, this conflict will go on.”