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

the efficient and enthusiastic crew continued their duties. He noted again the distant forces of the Jerecab and keyed up reports of the stealth robots he had hidden much earlier in the star system. The two interesting things he noted about these reports were quickly discussed around the bridge.
    ‘Well the two larger ships are Barus destroyers and it looks like the Jerecab forces on the other side of the system chased them away. There is also a report of a smaller ship, of a very different design, that skirts around the other ships at a distance.’
    The tactical officer, Lieutenant Chandra, was up to the challenge of identifying the small ship.
    ‘Commander the smaller ship appears to be a Cephrit scout ship, noting that the information dates back to our initial briefing from the Traders back on Earth.’
    Joel quietly acknowledged the lieutenant’s efforts as he brought the bridge back to their immediate tasks.
    ‘Thank you lieutenant and you are as accurate as always. Now we will target the lead ship as it is the closest, also I want a one hundred mile buffer between us and the enemy at all times. After reading further about the Newport’s recent battle I consider the Jerecab may attempt to ram our ships.’
    Joel settled back to overview the tactical simulation now on the secondary screen, and he noted the probable outcome with satisfaction. He put aside his concerns as the range alert came on for the main spinal mount weapon.
    ‘All ships open fire on the lead enemy frigate. We then hold our course and attempt to get between them and their lifters.’
    The weapons console flashed the brief overcharge buzzer for the main particle cannon before a slight shudder ran through the ship as the weapon fired. Joel noted that all three shots raced across the intervening space and impacted on the lead Jerecab frigate.
    The sensor readouts for the enemy ship went wild for several moments as the reserve energy discharged through the now dangerously weakened shields. A blaze of turret weapons fire raced out from the destroyers and hit the now tumbling frigate. Joel noted that a secondary alarm sounded as they then came within range of the Jerecab frigates.
    The recharge timer for the spinal mount weapons slowly counted out the five minutes needed, as Lieutenant Chandra gave a curt report.
    ‘Commander, the three undamaged frigates have launched several missiles at extreme distance. The missiles appear to be targeting all our ships instead of just one ship.’
    Joel gave a silent prayer of thanks as he followed the flight of the fifteen missiles, for he knew that any of his ships alone would find that number of missiles to be a real threat. The missiles raced out at long range for the human ships, before the spinal mount weapons on each destroyer again concentrated their firepower on the damaged frigate.
    The frigate’s shields again discharged the force of the weapons, and even at a range of several thousand kilometres, Joel got the impression that the ship shivered for several seconds. The force of the attack increased the tumbling of the frigate, before it soundlessly exploding in a cascade of light and heat. The recharge timers again began their countdown as a storm of point defensive laser fire from the human destroyers reached out for the approaching missiles.
    For several minutes the bridge echoed with calls of vectors and fire control solutions, before the lasers destroyed all the incoming missiles. Joel anxiously scanned the status of the Newport and the Madrid and he was relieved to find that the other two ships were also unscathed. He then ordered each of the three ships to now concentrate their eight turreted lasers on the second frigate, and watched critically as salvos of weapons fire lashed the enemy ship. The two outer Jerecab frigates responded by both attacking the Newport, which happened to be the nearest human ship to them. The second frigate also joined in the attack and Joel had no hesitation in giving his