Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores by David Buck Read Free Book Online Page A

satellite phone from his back pack and immediately left a message for Commander Jane Walker to call him. Jane called him back within two minutes and he quickly brought her up to speed on the Maveen deployment.
    ‘Jane, I do not know if you have seen any media or fleet information over the last few hours, but a great many Maveen ships are arriving through a gate ship off the West Australia coast shortly. The ships will disperse around the world and are not to be attacked as there is now a non aggression pact in place between humanity and the Maveen.’
    Steve listened to Jane’s reply after a moments silence with relief and satisfaction.
    ‘Steve, we copy that message and we are broadcasting that information on all satellite channels we have available to international military installations. We have seen Dan’s media report a couple of hours ago and I would like to congratulate you and your team on your success. Fleet West have asked us to provide you with every bit of assistance.’
    Steve talked to Jane for several more minutes and outlaid what he was seeking. Ian Ridge was standing next to Steve and asked to also speak with the Commander.
    ‘Commander, Ï thank you for your continued assistance and I have no problems with any of the requests that Steve has made.’
    Jane replied that it would all take time to arrange and she foresaw no problems in getting the requests through. Ian handed back the satellite phone to Steve as additional Maveen ships began to arrive through the gate.
     
                                                                ***
     
    Gindane had ordered her crew to red alert status as they had detected the gate ship deploy in the Earth’s atmosphere near the landing site. As they continued to monitor the site, the electronics officer had yelled out from his console scant seconds before the data reached her own command chair.
    ‘Commander, a large number of Maveen ships have come through the gate, though I see no military ships, only additional gate ships and a great many probes!’
    Gindane did not need to think about the decision she now ordered.
    ‘Break orbit, full emergency speed, but leave all weapons powered down. Send a message to the Traders in English stating we are making a peaceful withdrawal. We will attempt to leave before they take an interest in us. Navigator, chart us the shortest possible course to a location we can use the hyper drive, preferably to immediately rejoin the research fleet at the former Dradfer colonies.’
    Gindane sat back in her chair and anxiously perused the data coming from Earth. Apparently none of the Maveen probes had left the lower atmosphere, but she was under no illusions as to the speed and the fire power of even the smaller Maveen ships versus her own research destroyer. She knew that several of the larger Maveen gate ships could easily overhaul her ship and hammer it to pieces in minutes.
    After her ship had crossed the orbit of the Earth’s moon she started to relax a little, as it was obvious that the Maveen ships were not leaving the atmosphere in pursuit. Gindane evaluated that the haven status of Earth had actually prevented the Maveen from destroying the Barus ship, for which she was feeling very relieved. Once again she found herself considering the conversation she had earlier with Emeria, the Trader medical officer.
    Gindane respected the convention that Emeria had used in both seeking and providing medical information, and indeed the Traders had supplied medical information about the Voorde that was intriguing. However she now felt that the Traders were hiding something, as they had not released all of the information that the Barus research team were seeking. Gindane watched from the safety of several thousand kilometres as her ship raced out of the human system and a torrent of Maveen ships spread around the Earth.
    Gindane knew that it would take at least three days to get back