Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 2 - Hidden Menace by David Buck Read Free Book Online Page A

the Sspol attempt to patrol the Dradfer worlds, noting that we request you do not attack the humans.’
    Both the Maveen probes were conscious of several minutes of silence emanating from their massive former enemy, before the Sspol envoy gave an equally gracious reply.
    ‘Honoured we are to assist the Maveen and their world view has always been wise. The Barus are seen to follow the rule of law even as they attempt to save the humans. We seek to aid the humans to avoid extinction, for the possible destruction of a young and fallow race defiles us all.’
    The request now understood, the two races worked quickly to work out the final details, before Drannep’s cruiser summoned another nearby ship and both left the system to begin their patrols. The two Maveen probes returned to their nearby gate ship, for they were hopeful of meeting the Trader ship at a later stage.
     
                                                                         ***
     
    Joel Everson looked over the sensor reports with anticipation as his three ships entered the Topaz system. He quickly went through several emotions as the reports came in, with the local reports arriving first. He could see that four Jerecab frigates and four of their larger lifters were diagonally opposite the star system from his ships. The anticipation quickly changed to caution as he noted another thirty frigates right across the far side of the star system. Joel quickly gave his orders as he opened a new time and distance calculation in his command console.
    ‘All ships to form up on the Auckland and go flat out for those four frigates.’
    Joel ran the simulation three times to be absolutely confident, before he gave an overview to the bridge and further orders.
    ‘The thirty frigates are nine hours away as this is a large system. We will close the four frigates well within three hours as we are taking the diagonal across the system’s outskirts. I want full readiness reports in thirty minutes; we will then stand down for an hour for a crew break.’
    The destroyers arrowed across to the four frigates, who had started to move between the approaching human ships and the Jerecab lifters, and Joel quickly noted that none of the lifters had frigates docked to them, for he was aware that each cargo lifter could dock several frigates. As he waited for the intercept Joel was soon looking through the engineering reports for each of the destroyers, especially the still damaged Madrid, as the crew took the opportunity to eat and freshen up in split shifts.
    After another hour, the tactical officer’s console chimed a proximity alert, for the Jerecab frigates had begun to close his ships. Joel walked back onto the bridge and fastened the top of his clean tunic after handing his coffee to a nearby lieutenant. He calmly walked towards his command chair and looked around the bridge, noting that his crew appeared refreshed and ready for the coming battle. Joel placed his coffee in a drinks holder and remained standing as he spoke to the communications officer.
    ‘Communications, establish a line please to the Madrid and the Newport.’
    Joel waited patiently for several seconds as ship wide communications and links to the other two ships were established. He began to speak carefully as he again looked around at the young crew on his bridge.
    ‘We have done well over the last few days, and we will continue to do so as long as we keep to our training and duties with our orders in mind. The Jerecab are a powerful and unknown enemy, and while we have enjoyed early victories we must not become complacent. The four frigates and the lifters they are protecting must destroyed with no casualties amongst us. The larger force will be too far way to interfere, but we must be mindful of reinforcements arriving from outside the star system. Good luck and stay sharp people.’
    Joel now took his seat and recovered his coffee, as