Hart Of Vengeance Page 9

  As much as No'tok wanted to make their destruction complete, he knew that the Triumvirate wanted survivors. Well, survivor, in this case. He was supposed to have left one of the escort ships intact with survivors, but they both broke apart after weapons impact. Funny how that happens when you rupture a ship's engine core. Too bad. Still, the transport was able to dispatch a message stating that the V'drellians had attacked. No'tok felt certain that the Legion would use that information to have the Commonwealth and Protectorate blame the Dominion for the attack. Technically there was a survivor, though the escape pod was headed toward an empty region of Dominion space. The likelihood of anyone recovering it before the occupant perished was slim. "No, leave it. Whoever is there, they are dead already. They just haven't realized it yet. Stand down from battle conditions. Disengage camouflage system."

  "Very well, sir," the tactical officer replied. The disappointment was obvious in her tone. She pressed a button on her console and the camouflage system shut down. The Nightfury returned to her normal appearance. No'tok studied the screen for a moment, making sure that he didn't miss anything. After a few moments, he was satisfied that their mission was indeed a success.

  "Mak'naw, take us back to Zophitan, maximum cruise speed," No'tok ordered the navigation officer. "Krat'sa, engage full sensor camouflage. I want a quiet return trip." He sat and watched his bridge crew go about their duties. He had enjoyed taking this ship into a combat situation. He had witnessed his crew operate in battle conditions, and they had performed well. This has been a good trip.

  ***

  After the discovery of the Drah'jik, and the massacre that occurred on it, the Mur'daz had been ordered to return to its usual patrol route along the Dominion border with the Commonwealth. For Commander Ti'chak, routine patrol was boring compared to the manhunt they had been on for the last fifth of a cycle. He was seated in the command chair on the bridge going over routine reports from the various ship departments. He was just finishing up when his tactical officer interrupted his thoughts.

  "Commander!" The tactical officer almost fell out of his chair. "I'm picking up a small object approaching the border!"

  "Can you identify it, Yon'ga?" Ti'chak inquired.

  "No sir," Tactical Officer Yon'ga replied. "It appears to be drifting. I am reading no signs of weapons or propulsion. It's possible it is some type of debris from inside the Commonwealth."

  "Perhaps," Ti'chak pondered aloud, "but perhaps it is some type of weapon that we cannot scan. Let's not take chances. Sound War Quarters! All hands prepare for battle! Energy shields at maximum. And give me a targeting solution on that object. Hold fire until my order!"

  At the Commander's orders, a klaxon rang throughout the ship, and officers and servicemen began to scramble. The weapon crews on the lowest level of the ship began to prepare their ordinance in the launch tubes. The Engineering department was pushing the power core to full output and was charging the shields. A series of green lights began to appear on the tactical officer's console.

  "All sections reporting battle ready, sir," Yon'ga informed the Commander. "Weapons are ready and locked, shields are at maximum strength. Target has not changed course or speed."

  "Can we get a visual on it yet?" Ti'chak wanted to know what was approaching so he could decide if he was going to destroy it or not.

  "Affirmative, sir." Yon'ga worked at his console. "On primary screen now." The primary display showed a small object moving towards them. It was shaped like a cube with what appeared to be windows on four of the sides. The inside appeared dimly lit, and the shadow of a person could be seen floating inside the cube.

  "I think it is some kind of emergency pod," Yon'ga spoke aloud. "I am getting faint energy readings, probably from a life support system. I am also picking up what appears to be one lifeform aboard."

  "No weapon readings?" Ti'chak asked. His only concern at the moment was whether or not the object was a threat to his ship.

  "No sir," the tactical officer responded.

  "Lock on to it with the towing beam, and bring it aboard," ordered Ti'chak. "Have a security team meet me in the hangar deck. Also, send Officer Ral'goth. I believe he spent some time learning the Terran language with General K'oron's Terran friend before we left V'drell Prime. I'm going to see who or what just invaded Dominion space. Yon'ga, you have the bridge."

  Ti'chak met the security team just outside the hangar deck. The group slowly approached the cube that was now sitting stationary inside their ship. One of the security officers advanced on the cube and tried to see inside through one of the windows.

  "Commander, It's a Terran male," the security officer informed him. "The figure inside appears to be unconscious but breathing. Do you want us to attempt to open it?"

  Ti'chak thought about it for a moment. "Yes, he might need medical attention. We need him alive if we are going to gather any intelligence from him."

  The security team went to work on the cube. After a short while, they managed to open the door. The sudden influx of fresh air caused the man inside to begin to stir. The Mur'daz security officers leveled their weapons at the man. His eyes fluttered and slowly opened to a squint. His mouth looked like it was trying to form words, but no sound was being made. Finally, he began to make sounds, but they were unintelligible to Ti'chak. Ral'goth stepped forward and begin trying to speak to the man.

  "Your name?" Ral'goth asked the man.

  "Ridgeway," the man replied weakly. "Need Hart."

  "There is something wrong with your heart?" Ral'goth asked concerned.

  "No." Ridgeway shook his head. "I need Hart. Lt. Danielle Hart. She's here, isn't she?"

  Ral'goth turned to Ti'chak. "Commander, the man is requesting to speak to Major Danielle Hart of the V'drellz Stagizi. Would it be possible to reach out to her and see if she would be willing to help us interrogate him? He might open up more to a familiar face."

  "Agreed," Ti'chak nodded. "I'll send a message to V'drell Prime immediately. Hopefully, she can come quickly. In the meanwhile, take him to a holding cell, get him something to eat, and have medical check him out." Ti'chak turned and left the group in the hangar bay and started back toward the bridge. What an interesting find! I wonder why this man was floating by himself out here? What happened to his ship? Who is he, and how does he know Danielle Hart? I guess we will get those answers soon.

  ***

  Danielle and K'oron were still sitting in the galley when Br'dar returned. He had a look of urgency on his face. "General, Major, I hate to bother you. We just received a message from the Mur'daz. Commander Ti'chak is requesting your assistance, Major."

  They followed the Strak'zar's commanding officer back to the bridge. The primary display was showing the upper half of a V'drellian commander. Danielle assumed this was Commander Ti'chak. The man on the screen noticed her arrival.

  "Ah, Major Danielle Hart, I do appreciate your willingness to speak with me," the image spoke politely. "I am Commander Ti'chak of the Mur'daz. We just intercepted a Terran man in some kind of emergency pod that came over the border. Only one of my crew can speak Terran, and not very fluently at that, and he requested that I reach out to you to assist us in our interrogation."

  "I would be happy to assist you, Commander," Danielle replied. "Would you like for us to come to you, or we can do this now over the comms channel?"

  "The man is here now, Major," Ti'chak said. "One moment please." Ti'chak stepped out of frame, and a Terran man stepped in with a guard on each side.

  "Identify yourself," Danielle spoke to the man in the Terran language. The man seemed to perk up at hearing his own language being spoken by a Terran.

  "Zachary Ridgeway. Former Captain of the C. S. Dauntless," the man responded.

  "Former Captain?" Danielle asked. "Was your ship destroyed? Is that why you were in that pod?"

  "No," Ridgeway shook his head. "I was relieved of command and court-martialed. I was tricked into destroying a Rylan passenger ship. I was being transferred to Rylos t
o be sentenced."

  Danielle remembered an article she saw back on Krat'zic when she and K'oron were hunting Th'arn. "I recall reading about that. So, how did you end up in a life pod?"

  "I wasn't in a life pod," Ridgeway corrected her. "I was in a containment cell. I could hear the crew in the cargo hold talking about our convoy being attacked, and the two escort ships destroyed. Then the entire ship shook violently and started coming apart. I saw crewmen getting sucked into space as the hull began to tear apart. My cell was also jettisoned by the pressure change of the hull breaches. I was safe in the containment cell since it had its own life support system. As my cell began to clear the debris, I could see what looked like a V'drellian ship, but then something very odd happened. It flickered, and then looked like a different ship. Some class of ship I've never seen before. Then after a moment, it vanished. I was stuck tumbling through space in that cell, hoping someone would rescue me. I don't know what kind of ship attacked us, but I know it wasn't Terran or Rylan, and since I'm not dead, I'm assuming it isn't V'drellian either."

  Danielle couldn't believe what she was hearing. A ship that was capable of changing its appearance and then vanishing? That didn't sound like any ionic camouflage system she had ever heard of. She agreed with Ridgeway's assessment too. She didn't believe that it was Terran, Rylan, or V'drellian in origin. Which meant only one thing. The Legion! They've built their own ships!

  She turned to face K'oron. "What do you think?"

  K'oron's face made scowl. "I agree with this man. The Commonwealth and Protectorate are not known for attacking their own ships. While a few of our ships do possess camouflage abilities, none of them possess the ability to project a false sensor image. I think we should investigate it further."

  Danielle smiled at him. "I was hoping you were going to say that."

  "Commander Ti'chak, please hold your position until we arrive," K'oron instructed. "We will take charge of the prisoner upon arrival."

  "Understood, General," the image of Ti’chak saluted. The comm signal ended, and the primary screen returned to its usual display of star field directly in front of the ship.

  K'oron looked at the Strak'zar's commanding officer. "Commander Br'dar, set a course to rendezvous with the Mur'daz, maximum speed." Br'dar simply nodded to his navigation officer who began to plot the coordinates into the ship's navigation system.

  "Yes, sir," replied Br'dar with a smile.

  "Good," K'oron acknowledged. "Once we join the Mur'daz, we will transfer the prisoner onto the Strak'zar. Then we'll engage camouflage and cross into Commonwealth space. I want to investigate the wreckage from the attack. We may find some clue as to who is controlling this mysterious ship or at the least what kind of weapons it has."

  "Maybe it will lead us to No'tok," Danielle hoped aloud. "We know that he has turned against the Dominion and joined the Legion. This kind of attack seems to fit the Legion's tactic of misdirection."

  "Perhaps, but our first concern is to find out more about this phantom ship," K'oron reminded her. "If the Legion is behind this attack, as I suspect it is, they could just as easily use this ship to attack the Dominion, and we need to discover everything we can about it. We need to send a message to the Emperor informing him what has transpired, and what our plans are."

  "I can have a message sent immediately if you wish," interjected Br'dar. K'oron nodded his approval, and the Strak'zar's commanding officer walked over to the communication officer's station.

  "I do not like this new development, Danielle," K'oron spoke quietly. "This gives them a great advantage, one that I know that Gaelon will not squander."

  Danielle nodded her agreement. She knew that No'tok had to have a hand in this somehow if nothing but offering his advice as a military officer. I don't know whether No'tok is directly involved in this attack or not, but every piece of the Legion we tear apart brings me one step closer to finding him. The thoughts of what she might do to end the little V'drellian man's life brought a smile to her face.

  CHAPTER 8

  It had been a busy morning for Regent Zhang Zhi who was sitting in Fleet Command. Word of the attack on the prison transport convoy to Rylos had come in during the middle of the night, and he had been up since. He had known that the transport ships would be attacked, but had not known the exact time or place. Gaelon had assured him that it was all taken care of. They had received an emergency message from the prison transport ship stating that the V'drellians had attacked it, but then all communication with the ship had been lost. He had instructed that two Pathfinder-class ships be dispatched to investigate and offer aide if any of the ships survived. Now he, Fleet Admiral Capshaw, and several other flag rank officers were waiting for word from one of the Pathfinders.

  "Incoming message from the Nautilus," the on-duty comms officer shouted. The Nautilus was one of the dispatched Pathfinder-class ships. The entire room hushed as everyone turned to the comms station to hear the report.

  "Put it on the wall display," ordered Capshaw. The display flickered and soon they were all staring at the image of the Nautilus' commanding officer, Captain Kirk McAvoy.

  "Nautilus reporting in. We reached the coordinates that were relayed by the prison transport's emergency broadcast," McAvoy informed those listening in Fleet Command. "We found a debris field containing metallic signatures used by both Commonwealth and Protectorate. We can't say for certain, but based on the amount of wreckage we estimate that all three ships were destroyed."

  "So there are no survivors?" Zhi asked. Things didn't go exactly to plan, did they Gaelon? One ship was supposed to survive to provide us with witnesses.

  McAvoy shook his head. "We'll continue our search, but based on the size of the pieces of wreckage I'm seeing, I wouldn't hold out much hope, Your Grace."

  "Thank you, Captain. Continue your search." Admiral Capshaw said ending the conversation.

  Now to start the war. Zhi let his hang for a moment, took a deep breath and exhaled. Raising his head he looked directly at Capshaw. "Admiral set a high alert state throughout the entire fleet. This is the second time the Dominion has attacked the Commonwealth unprovoked. It is becoming obvious that they do not intend on letting us remain in peace. We have to be ready for the next attack."

  "As you command, Your Grace," Capshaw replied and turned to face the other officers. "Set a fleet-wide status of general quarters until further notice. Cancel all leave, and launch any ships in dock. I want the full fleet at the ready." The other flag officers in the room began to make calls and send messages relaying the orders throughout the fleet. Within an hour, every available ship in the Commonwealth Fleet would be battle ready.

  "Admiral, I'm going to leave things in your capable hands. Notify me immediately if our situation changes," Zhi instructed Capshaw as he walked towards the door. "I have to contact Prime Minister Gaelon and inform him of what has happened."

  The walk from Fleet Command back to the palace through the underground tunnel was short. Upon reaching the palace he went to his quarters so that he could speak to Gaelon in private. He sat down at his desk and activated the direct comms channel that had been installed years ago for emergency situations that involved both governments. He knew that only Gaelon or a trusted aide would answer it. Shortly the screen lit up and he was looking at the leader of the Rylan people. He could see several staff members in the background of the screen, so he decided to make this an official communication.

  "Prime Minister, I'm afraid I have some bad news," Zhi started. "It would appear that the Dominion once again launched an attack. This time not only targeting Commonwealth ships, but they have also attacked a Protectorate ship. It was the prison transport convoy transferring Ridgeway to Rylos. There were no survivors."

  "No survivors?" Gaelon momentarily appeared confused, but quickly regained his composure. "That is truly a tragedy. Our people have yet again lost a ship of innocent people. First through the barbarous acts of Ridgeway, and now the Dominion. At least there was some justice if t
he monster Ridgeway was killed in the attack, though his death was probably much too merciful. We cannot allow the Dominion to operate outside their borders with such impunity! We must work together to stop this menace!"

  "I wholeheartedly agree, Prime Minister," Zhi nodded. "Is it possible we could have the rest of this conversation privately? I do not know if the Dominion has spies in either of our governments, but from this point forward I would feel better if we spoke alone."

  The Valuvian on the screen seemed to ponder what he had just heard. "Agreed." Zhi watched as the other people on the screen left the room. Only after the door had shut behind them did Gaelon say anything else. Immediately Gaelon's demeanor changed from that of a concerned ruler to that of one of the leaders of the Legion. "What happened, Zhi? One ship was supposed to have survived. This... complicates things. The whole point of having survivors was to have individuals that we could parade in front of the media to invoke sympathy for our upcoming 'official' military action."

  "There was no mistake on our end, Gaelon," Zhi snapped back. "I waited until we received an emergency broadcast for one of the distressed ships, and then dispatched ships to investigate. The captain on site informed me that all three ships were destroyed. We are searching for survivors, but the likelihood is small."

  "That is a disappointment," Gaelon scowled. "No'tok was given explicit instructions to leave one ship disabled, but intact. However, what is done cannot be undone. Do you have an audio recording of the emergency message?"

  "We record all transmissions to and from Fleet Command," Zhi confirmed. "It should be enough to prove the need for our plan. I will make sure that our media gets a copy, and I will have a copy sent to Rylos for evaluation. I have also instructed our fleet to stay on high alert. This will no doubt be picked up by our media as a sign of 'imminent threat'."