Destroyer (Expansion Wars Trilogy, Book 3) Page 4

  After exhaustive testing, Tsuyo Corporation's scientists discovered that the issue stemmed from the way the distortion rings collapsed with the new style of emitters. There was no real danger to the ship or crew, nor was there any available solution. Anxious to get the new ship into service, Fleet R&S deemed the new warp drive safe and modified the standard operating procedure to include mandatory crew restraints during transitions. Since Jackson wasn't qualified to dispute the findings regarding the drive's safety, he could only accept the conclusions and order that a collision alert be sounded ten minutes prior to transition to allow the crew time to get into restraints.

  "Engineering has cleared the Nemesis for maneuvering, sir," Lieutenant Hori said. "Commander Walsh also asked me to tell you—and I'm quoting—he'll bet you a case of proper whiskey that the Nemesis will be within ten thousand kilometers of her target next transition."

  "Coms, please send an open-channel message to the fleet identifying us and asking them where we'll be permitted to fly," Jackson ordered, deciding to ignore the semi-inappropriate message from his colorful new Chief Engineer. While the man had come with mixed recommendations, the issue was moot: He was one of only three engineers of sufficient rank that was qualified on the Valkyrie-class. Skilled or not, the man's lack of decorum when communicating to the bridge—especially via a junior officer—grated on Jackson's nerves.

  "I don't want us bumbling down into the investigation area."

  "Aye, sir."

  "Helm, let's clear the jump point," Jackson said. "All ahead one-third, take us down outside the orbit of the tenth planet."

  "All ahead one-third, aye," the helmsman said. "Coming about forty degrees to starboard, twelve degrees declination."

  "Nav, verify our flightpath is clear," Jackson said.

  "Nav radar is active, clearing the flightpath now, sir," the chief said.

  Without having anything particular to do at that moment, Lieutenant Commander Accari took it upon himself to bring up the Nemesis's passive tactical sensor array and began scanning the area where the station wreckage was, forwarding the data stream to the OPS officer so she could decide what to put up on the main display. Jackson appreciated the initiative and watched as the long-range optics began to "stare" at the same spot in space, allowing the limited light to filter in so the computers could begin building a complete picture of the devastation.

  Even the grainy, computer-enhanced images were enough to set the crew's blood to boiling. The hull was peppered with gaping holes from where Darshik plasma lances had pierced the station at what appeared to be at least half a dozen places. At such a close range, the weapon was able to completely punch through the thinly armored research platform and the humans aboard it wouldn't have stood a chance.

  Jackson's thoughts briefly flitted to Admiral Marcum's daughter and what the man must be going through. The two of them were only barely civil with each other, certainly not friends, but as a father himself Jackson could sympathize with Marcum's difficult situation he found himself in. It must be even more frustrating since he'd just been removed from a position where he had had the power to take action after his daughter had been killed … or at least Jackson assumed she was dead. They'd yet to recover more than a few of the bodies and the Darshik had never showed any interest before in taking prisoners.

  "Message coming in from one of the Prowlers, Captain," Lieutenant Makers said. "From the time stamp it seems it was sent thirty seconds after our beacon signal would have reached the salvage fleet."

  "Send it to my station," Jackson said and pressed the button on his armrest to activate the holographic monitor that would project from above his headrest. It would follow his head movements and obey hand signals to move out of the way if needed.

  TFS Nemesis,

  Welcome to the Cassandra System, Captain Wolfe. Please remain outside the orbit of the seventh planet to ensure your RDS fields do not interfere with the recovery operation. I am assuming you are here in connection to your track and kill mission … there are some developments on that front that I think we need to discuss over a secure channel. I will send further details shortly.

  Agent Uba

  "Why does that name sound familiar?" Jackson mused aloud.

  "Sir?" Commander Chambliss asked.

  "There's a full agent aboard one of those Prowlers … goes by the name of Uba," Jackson said. "It's ringing a bell in my head for some reason."

  "Agent Uba was the CIS asset on scene when the Icarus first encountered the Darshik in the Xi'an System, sir," Accari offered over his shoulder.

  "Nobody likes an eavesdropper, Lieutenant Commander," Chambliss said. "But thank you for the insight. What can you tell us about him?"

  "We've just exhausted all I know about the man, sir," Accari said.

  "I remember now," Jackson said, manipulating the holographic display so he could access his private files on the secure servers. "I read his report on the Xi'an incident. I was forwarded a copy as a courtesy since the Darshik felt the need to heap further insult upon injury by blowing up the Ares as a declaration of war."

  "Accari? You were there for that incident aboard the Icarus … anything to add?" Chambliss asked.

  "Nothing that isn't likely in the official record, sir," Accari said. "I was serving as the OPS officer aboard the Icarus, and as far as any of us know the Darshik we're after wasn't in the system at the time. Agent Uba remained aboard the CIS Prowler during the engagement and did not directly involve himself."

  "Coms, send a message back to the Prowler asking if Agent Uba would be willing to rendezvous with the Nemesis so we can meet in person," Jackson said.

  "Sending message now, sir."

  "Why have them come to us?" Chambliss asked, leaning in and speaking just above a whisper.

  "I've had more than a few dealings with agents," Jackson said. "I'd rather not do this over a com channel that can be intercepted or recorded. If he's wanting to talk about developments, we can be assured that it isn't anything good and possibly not anything legal."

  "Understood, sir," Chambliss said, although Jackson noted the man looked startled at that last part.

  "No response from Agent Uba, but the Prowler is sending us course data," Lieutenant Makers said after half an hour had passed.

  "Its navigation beacon just changed too, sir," Lieutenant Hori said. "It's now squawking rendezvous data along with the normal ident broadcast."

  "Nav!"

  "Aye, sir, plotting course now," the nav operator called out. "Estimated time to contact taking into account the Prowler's course change … thirty-nine hours."

  "Helm, all ahead full when you get the new course," Jackson said. "Nav, you're responsible for any course updates so make sure you're getting tracking information from OPS on the Prowler."

  "Aye, sir."

  "Engines answering all ahead full, aye!"

  "Commander Chambliss, you have the bridge." Jackson stood and pulled his coffee mug free of its magnetic holder. "Maintain normal watches and alert posture … I think we're relatively safe given all the CIS assets scanning the system. Take the time to conduct any training you feel might be helpful."

  "I have the bridge, aye," Commander Chambliss said, also standing and walking among the bridge stations.

  Jackson left the bridge intent on making another round of impromptu visits—he avoided the word inspection—of the lower decks before tackling the growing pile of reports that needed to be signed off on as part of the routine business of running a starship. As new as the crew and ship were to him, and they to each other, he wanted to make his presence felt as much as possible. When the shit inevitably hit the fan and the Nemesis was tested in combat, he wanted the crew to have a firm idea of who was running the show when orders started flowing down from the bridge.

  Being below deck in combat could be a terrifying thing. Unless you were in the CIC you often didn't have any idea what was happening. The ship would begin taking fire and you had to have faith in your captain and that he was
doing his job so you could keep doing yours. Early in his career, right after receiving command of the Blue Jacket, Jackson had largely ignored anything that didn't happen on the bridge or in Engineering, an oversight that had wrought terrible consequences when some of his crew mutinied and seized control of the ship in the middle of battle. It wasn't something he was proud of, but tried to learn from.

  "Any particular destination, Captain?" his Marine escort asked. He recognized him as one of Barton's friends: Sergeant Castillo. He was another of the expeditionary Marines that had been on Juwel that requested to serve aboard his next ship.

  "No place in particular, Sergeant," Jackson said. "Just wanting to meet as much as the crew in person as possible before we're all too busy for such things."

  "Understood, sir."

  "Prowler is coming up off the port flank, ten thousand meters and holding there," Lieutenant Hori said.

  "We're received a message via the short-range com laser," Lieutenant Makers said. "Agent Uba is coming over via one of the tenders and requests we throttle back our main drive to make the approach easier."

  "Acknowledge the request, Coms," Jackson said. "Helm, main drive to standby … reactive attitude jets only to maintain course."

  "RDS to standby, aye," the helmsman said. "Bringing the auxiliary maneuvering system online."

  "Coms, inform Flight OPS to open the hangar bay and prepare to receive a standard fleet tender and inform Major Baer we have an inbound ship with visitors," Jackson ordered.

  After the Prowler had come fully alongside the Nemesis and stabilized its course and speed, Jackson saw a bubble-canopied tender zip out of the CIS ship's tiny hangar bay. A CIS Prowler wasn't a large ship, quite a bit smaller than a frigate and dwarfed by the new Valkyrie-class destroyer. It was designed for stealthy interdictions and intelligence gathering, not combat. The crew complement was only sixty-two people, whereas the Nemesis carried a complement of over two thousand spacers and Marines.

  "Flight OPS is ready to accept the incoming tender and Major Baer reports he already has sentries posted at the airlock," Makers said.

  "Commander Chambliss, you have the bridge," Jackson said. "I'm going down to meet our guest and escort him up to the observation lounge."

  "I have the bridge, aye."

  The Valkyrie-class ship continued the trend among the later classes of Terran starships of moving the bridge down off the top of the superstructure to protect it. They all utilized large, semi-domed main displays and there was no logical reason to perch the ship's command center atop a tower, if there even ever was a good reason other than nostalgia for waterborne naval vessels. The Nemesis had a truncated superstructure that housed a pair of tender berths, officer's mess, and bridge crew life boats. It also had an observation lounge that doubled as a meeting room that gave three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views of the ship's dorsal surface.

  Jackson took the lift outside the bridge hatchway down to a cross-corridor that linked both the starboard and port main access tubes. Each tube was an arching tunnel fifteen meters wide that ran three-quarters of the length of the ship. When they weren't being used to move bulky parts and equipment, they were a quick way to traverse the ship without having to climb through dozens of compartments. Since he was going aft, Jackson jogged across to the port tube before turning aft, his Marine escort trailing silently behind him.

  "I didn't expect such a large welcoming party," a man whose ethnic ancestry was impossible to determine said with a sardonic smile. "How are you, Captain Wolfe? It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

  "Just SOP, Agent Uba," Jackson said, shaking the proffered hand. "Besides the Darshik, the damned ESA have made certain we need to take internal security seriously, even while underway."

  "Understood," Uba said.

  "If you'll follow me, we can go to the upper observation lounge. It's a secure room since I'm assuming what you're about to tell me isn't for everyone's ears," Jackson said, gesturing towards the open pressure hatch leading out of the airlock bay.

  "You would be correct, Captain. You may also gather your senior staff, if you wish. It might save time if I just briefed everyone at once."

  "Very well," Jackson said, pulling his personal comlink and pressing the hotkey that would open a channel with the Nemesis's OPS officer. He gave a vague order on the personnel he wanted to meet them in the lounge and left it up to Commander Chambliss to work out the details. He, the agent, and his Marine escort made the trip back to a lift that ran all the way to the command deck in silence. The ball of ice in Jackson's gut was now starting to spin the closer they got to the lounge. A full agent sure as shit didn't make the trip all the way over to tell him he was being promoted or had won the Columbiana cash lottery.

  "Grab a seat and we'll get started," Jackson said as Commander Chambliss and Lieutenant Commander Accari walked into the observation lounge. Major Baer and Lieutenant Commander Hawkins, the CIC department head, were already there.

  "This is Agent Uba—as in an actual CIS agent—and he's here to brief us quickly on a topic I've yet to be privy to."

  "As you likely saw, we brought a full com carrier with us on this recovery operation," Uba began without greeting. "It's helped to keep me in the loop on all my backchannel sources of information within CENTCOM and the United Terran Federation government. I received word from an associate that Admiral Wright was called to Fleet Admiral Pitt's office recently and told to draft stand down orders for the Nemesis."

  "They think we need more training or shakedown time?" Commander Chambliss asked.

  "No … your mission is being scrubbed," Uba said. "The civilian government is now reconsidering the wisdom of a prolonged hot war with a species of indeterminate strength while Starfleet is just now getting back on solid footing.

  "You'll likely receive official orders the next time this ship flies through an established system. I was sent a heads up on the off-chance you came out here first to try and pick up the Specter's trail. From what I understand, Starfleet is being tasked with pulling back and assuming a completely defensive posture while the Ushin and Darshik work things out."

  "I'm still not sure I understand why all the special effort to tell us," Jackson said. "You could have included this in your initial message about navigation hazards … or not at all and just let us find out once we flew out of here. What's really going on?"

  "There are ears everywhere, Captain," Uba said, looking as if he was struggling to figure out how to say what he wanted without exposing himself. "Certain parties that frequent the upper decks of the New Sierra Platform thought you might appreciate a warning that along with the order to abort your current mission it's entirely likely you'll be recalled to DeLonges or Arcadia."

  "Ah," Jackson said, now understanding. "And these parties would prefer that the Nemesis was either still flying between Terran and Darshik space or perhaps even just ignoring our orders altogether and continuing on with the original mission. Am I close?"

  "I couldn't say, Captain," Uba said. "I was simply asked to pass on a message, and now I have."

  "Is there anything else that we should know?" Jackson said, raising a hand to quiet his crew as they reacted to the news of being pulled off mission.

  "Logistical support is also being pulled back," Uba said. "The normal combat patrols we've been operating will be reduced in favor of reconnaissance routes. Unofficially, the thought is that even if a few colonies fell before the Ushin could negotiate a peace it would save lives in the long run."

  "Is there anything to indicate that the Ushin are even willing, or capable, of negotiating an end to hostilities?" Major Baer spoke up. "From everything I've seen, the whole reason we were dragged into this conflict was because the Ushin are all but powerless to stop Darshik aggression."

  "That's the flip side of the coin," Uba said. "It's also entirely possible the Darshik will complete their conquest of the Ushin and then—"

  "And then they'll be able to fully concentrate on us," Jackson interrupted.
"The Darshik aren't going to be satisfied with just suppressing or eliminating the Ushin worlds. I would have thought the invasion of Juwel would drive that point home."

  "The last thing I have—and the main reason for all the secrecy—is that sometime within the next ten months, an Ushin delegation is supposed to be coming to DeLonges," Uba said. "It's there that they will be told the Federation is withdrawing its support, but the negotiations could go the other way. The Ushin may convince the government to continue on with the Darshik campaign."

  "That is something," Jackson said. "If word of that got out, you could potentially be fighting off the Darshik and the ESA."

  "The ESA?" Chambliss asked.

  "They're all cleared, there just wasn't a need-to-know before," Jackson said at Uba's unspoken question.

  "The ESA's intelligence gathering has been far more effective than we would like to admit," the agent said. "Through various counter-intelligence operations we've learned that they know about our reciprocal agreement with the Ushin to trade planets and technology for military assistance. It makes them very nervous as they were already at a technological disadvantage thanks to the Federation retaining New America and Britannia during the restructuring."

  "Not to mention a fully intact Tsuyo Corporation," Chambliss said with a nod. "That makes sense."

  "That's pretty much all I have for you, Captain," Uba finished. "This was just a friendly heads up and a favor to someone on the off-chance you brought the Nemesis out here first. I know I don't need to, but I'm going to remind all of you anyway: Some of the things discussed in here are classified at the absolute highest levels. If there's a leak we will know where it came from. Any questions for me before I get back to the excitement of watching Fleet techs comb through the charred wreckage of that station?"