The Spindle Station: Book 2 of the Alliance Conflict (28 page)

While this sounds like a great distance, it really isn’t. Light travels at the rate of roughly 300,000 kilometers per second, so light would only take 3 seconds to travel from the asteroid to the station. A ship traveling at a stately speed of .05 light would take 1 minute to complete the journey.

So far, there had been no movement in the station. The secret doors remained closed and the enemy fleet apparently remained hidden inside. The lone frigate had turned and decelerated and was now stationary on the opposite of the station well outside of missile and ion cannon range.

Dolen turned to his staff and said, “Well, this was certainly unexpected. Every scenario we rehearsed had the enemy coming out of the station and meeting us. Suggestions?”

The conversation went back and forth for several minutes. Captain Koner, the captain of the
Guardian
and his bridge crew came up to the flag bridge and joined the conversation.

Olova eventually summarized, “Admiral, you are going to have to contact the station and tell them that they are in violation of the treaty.”

Dolen contacted traffic control at the station. A Hiriculan answered and immediately put him on hold for 6 minutes. When the Hiriculan finally returned, he appeared to be chewing on something.

The Hiriculan spoke in his native language, forcing the computer to translate. He said, “Sorry for the delay, you called during our lunch break. What can I do for you?”

Dolen replied, “We are here to force the Hiriculan naval presence located aboard the station to surrender. According to our jointly signed and ratified treaty, any naval presence stationed here is illegal.”

The Hiriculan replied, “There are no military ships inside the station.”

Dolen temporarily cut the connection. He looked at his team and said, “Now what do we do. Traffic control is denying that their navy is here.”

Chief: “We could threaten to blow up the station.”

Dolen: “And kill civilians. This is a military action, not a slaughter. Other ideas?”

Koner: “We could land troops on the station and investigate. We have a detailed map. We know exactly where they are.”

Dolen reestablished the connection and said, “We are going to land troops on the station to verify the veracity of your statement.”

The Hiriculan responded, “If you land troops on this station, you will be in clear violation of the treaty. I will report this lapse of ethics and downright common decency to the Hiriculan government. I imagine they will issue a strongly worded response to this breach of protocol.”

Dolen wondered if the Hiriculan’s speech was rehearsed. Either way, the Hiriculan made a valid point. If the Alliance landed troops on the station, they would violate the same section of the treaty they were trying to catch the Hiriculans violating. However, if they don’t verify, then the Alliance navy just went on a 4 week cruise for no reason.

Dolen again cut the connection and said, “I need an update. Has the active scan been able to penetrate the station?”

The communications officer replied, “The scan is inconclusive. There appear to be ships on the other side of the door, but we cannot positively identify them as Hiriculan warships. They may very well be freighters or even sensor echoes.”

Dolen said, “Everyone, computer included. Scan the treaty. Find something in some sub paragraph that we can exploit to allow us to legally enter the station.”

“Here’s something,” Captain Koner said a few minutes later. “Look at section 47.9.11 sub-paragraph 4. We may be able to use this. Computer.”

Dolen remarked, “It’s possible. That section would certainly allow us to legally board the station. So, how do we make the space station need our assistance?”

The communications officer said, “Great news. There is actually an Alliance vessel docked at the space station. We could say that it privately contacted us and accused the Hiriculans of unfair taxes, improper negotiations, piracy, illegal seizure, or unlawful detainment.”

Dolen: “What vessel is it?”

Chief: “The scan shows it a Solarian registered mini-freighter. It is called the
Jackal
and is registered to one Jack Dogbarks.”

Dolen said, “Unbelievable. I have actually met that gentle being. I suppose it is a small galaxy. Contact him and see if he will help us.”

Jack wasn’t very happy when a hail awoke him from a deep slumber. He mindlessly allowed the computer to complete the connection and was surprised to see the Advranki faces staring at him on his communication pad. Jack stumbled out of bed, hastily organized himself, and looked at the com pad.

Admiral Dolen said, “Jack, it is great to see you again. I was wondering if you could help us. Were you wronged on the station in any way?”

Jack replied, “Well, I was rudely awoken a minute ago.”

Dolen said, “A thousand apologies. However, it is imperative that you answer the question.”

Jack replied, “Honestly, I have been treated with nothing but dignity and respect here. One could argue that the rent on the warehouses is a little high, but I don’t think that is worth military intervention.”

Admiral Dolen tried again, “Something stolen perhaps? Is there anything on the station that you would like us to investigate?”

Jack replied, “Well, the station master did shortchange me for two pallets of Advranki sea moss. My manifest clearly shows one number, but the Hiriculan station shows two fewer.”

Dolen said, “Hmmm, so the Hiriculans stole two pallets from you?”

Jack replied, “I don’t know. They showed me the video of the workers unloading the pallets. The number unloaded exactly matches the number they say they received. I checked my primary and secondary holds and they are both empty. It is a mystery, but probably not theft.”

Jack really wanted to see a scan of the area, but that station was blocking his sensors. He had a strange feeling though that it was time to leave, even if it meant paying an extra week’s rent on a storage unit.

Jack continued, “Besides, even though my freighter is registered in the Alliance, I am hauling cargo on a contract for Hiricula. I am not sure how maritime law works in this situation.”

Dolen thanked Jack for his input and cut the connection. He said, “Computer, research maritime law for military intervention. What is our legal position?”

…Researching. The short answer is the legal contract trumps the Alliance maritime law…

Chief said, “I am guessing that we don’t want the long answer.”

Senator Figur had volunteered to go on this mission, but Admiral Dolen had politely declined the offer. At this point he was thinking that was a bad decision. He desperately wanted a civilian in a position of authority who could legally enter the station and ascertain the truth – about the missing ships, not the missing sea moss.

The communications officer suddenly announced, “I have something. This may work. Computer, recite section 48.8.84 sub-paragraph 7.

…An off-duty member of either military may enter a civilian structure in a neutral location for commercial transactions provided s/he is unarmed and has prior approval from said structure…

Admiral Dolen contacted the station’s traffic control again and asked, “May I and my staff visit the station to have dinner and go shopping?”

The Hiriculan responded, “Control here. Your request is approved. Welcome to Spindle Station. Feel free to take a shuttle to shuttle docking bay u-1B.”

The battleship was too big to dock to the station, but they could have technically docked any of the cruisers or destroyers. However, docking a warship to go shopping seemed excessive and possibly in violation of the treaty.

Admiral Dolen wanted to go, but was finally convinced that it was best that he remain on the battleship. In the end, Chief decided to lead the mission with three others – the flag communications officer, the battleship’s weapons officer, and Dekow, a crewmember that specialized in repairing ductwork.

The foursome boarded a transport shuttle and the weapons officer shakily flew the transport the short distance to the space station. The terrible flight made Chief queasy and extremely nervous. He wasn’t entirely sure why he had deemed a weapons officer more important than a pilot.

The station’s shuttle bay doors opened and the weapons officer switched to computer override for the final landing. They lightly bumped to a landing in the hangar bay and the station’s doors closed. They exited the shuttle landing area at the bottom tip of the top spindle.

They walked down (for lack of a better term) the moving sidewalk to the point where the spies had earlier located the hidden entryway to the secret navy base. Chief verified that there was no one near them or in either adjacent corridor.

Each member of the team took out a sensor enhancer and placed it as inconspicuously as possible on the wall. The enhancers broadcast their fixed position in space, giving
Guardian’s
scanner four additional points for reference. The enhancer can also directionally scan a small distance and report its findings. These two abilities combined dramatically boosted the
Guardian’s
scanning capability and accuracy.

After activating the enhancers, they continued to the main part of the station. Their mission was essentially complete at this point; the enhancers would give the
Guardian
the information that it needed. However, they felt it would be rude to simply leave immediately after placing them. Besides, they had gained access to the station on the pretense of going shopping and decided that they should at least buy something before returning.

They continued past the apparent body scanners, switched gravitational directions and entered the main part of the station. They wandered around the main thoroughfare for quite a while and eventually purchased some souvenirs.

The lone remaining member of Dolen’s staff still on the ship said, “Admiral, the enhancers are now in place. I am initiating a new scan of the station now. We should have the results in less than a minute.”

A minute later the communications officer said, “The scan is complete. There are no Hiriculan warships on the station. The secret hold inside the station is completely empty.”

Dolen responded, “Perhaps they received advanced notice that we were coming and fled the station.”

Captain Koner replied, “We didn’t see any evidence of a ship or other form of hyperspace communication in Opron. I don’t see how they could have been informed.”

Dolen slapped the palm of his hand on his chair in frustration. He regretted it almost immediately when he felt a stab of pain radiate up his arm. Dolen said, “Contact the crew on the station to complete their transaction and return. We leave the system as soon as they are back aboard the battleship.”

Koner replied, “That’s it then? We just flew halfway across the galaxy just to send some people shopping for a couple of hours?”

Dolen nodded his head in resignation. It appeared that the mission would end in a stalemate or at worst a political disaster. However, something in the captain’s statement triggered a buried thought or idea. He couldn’t quite grasp its relevance, so he said, “Captain, repeat your last sentence.”

Koner responded, “I said that we flew a long way just to go shopping. The mission now seems pointless.”

Dolen said, “No, no, that’s not it. Computer, replay the second to last statement that Captain Koner made.”

…That’s it then? We just flew halfway across the galaxy just to send some people shopping for a couple of hours…

Dolen either had a sudden burst of intuition or perhaps he realized what had been struggling for recognition in his unconscious mind. Either way, he said, “Computer, how long have we been in this system?”

…We have been in the system for 2 hours and 5 minutes, or 125 minutes total…

Dolen thought to himself, if I wanted to spring a trap on my enemy, I would hide my fleet just outside the 6 minute hyperspace mark to avoid enemy detection. When the enemy arrived, I would then send a signal to my hidden ships. Let’s see, the initial signal would take 60 minutes, then 5 minutes to coordinate the ships, and finally another 60 minutes for the ships to jump. That is a total of 125 minutes.

“Admiral,” the communications officer yelled, “We have a problem.”

Dolen: “Yes.”

She said, “Something big is happening, multiple ships just exited hyperspace.”

Both Dolen and Koner raced to the monitor. Dolen said, “Computer, activate both passive and active scans and display the updated chart.

…Displaying now. There are three new hyperspace signatures indicating the arrival of ships and an anomaly on or very near the asteroid…

The main monitor updated and showed that the station’s missing Hiriculan fleet had indeed jumped back into the system. A second, apparently independent fleet had also jumped into a different area. A possible third fleet had just appeared from behind or possibly inside the asteroid. Finally, the Alliance repair ship
Exemplar
exited hyperspace and came to a full stop at the entryway to the hyperspace lane.

Dolen looked carefully at the plot. To his left was a full 7 ship flotilla, to his right was another full 7 ship flotilla. Directly in front of him was the asteroid and beside it was a single, massive ship. The
Guardian’s
sensors had originally incorrectly identified it as an entire flotilla.

Dolen double checked the scan of the monstrosity. It may as well have been a flotilla. The massive ship was approximately 3 times larger than a battleship and boasted heavy armor, twin ion cannons, missile launchers, and multiple redundant shield and power generation systems. It was identified as the
Retribution
.