Ep.#8 - "Celestia: CV-02" (10 page)

Sergeant Surbeck pulled on his body armor and cinched it up tightly around his torso. He then donned his helmet and slung his combat weapon over his shoulder, so it hung in front of his chest at the ready. He looked up at the sky. The beautiful sunset had gone, replaced by the city lights. Rain was coming later in the night. He only hoped that rain would be the worst of what came their way.

* * *

“Mister President,” Agent Hanson said in a low voice as he leaned in close to the president.

President Scott opened his eyes, turned his head, and looked up to his trusted, lead protection agent. “Yes, Mark?”

“Sir, I’m afraid we have a situation,” the agent began.

President Scott noticed the two additional agents standing behind Agent Hanson, each carrying heavier weapons than usual. They were also wearing military issue comm-sets instead of the more discreet earpieces they usually wore. “What is it?”

“EDF has detected a group of Jung cruisers on their way to Earth. They’ve set condition two throughout the fleet.”

“How many ships?” President Scott wondered as he straightened up in his seat.

“I don’t know, sir,” Mark said. “I’ve been instructed to move you to the communications compartment, sir.”

“Of course,” the president agreed, rising from his seat to follow the agent.

Agent Hanson led the president to the stairwell at the aft end of the compartment, the other two agents following behind them. President Scott followed Agent Hanson up the narrow staircase, to the upper deck of the large presidential shuttle, and into the communications compartment just aft of the cockpit.

“William,” the president said, greeting his military liaison. “What do we know?”

“EDF reports that six Jung cruisers dropped out of FTL here,” William explained, pointing at a three-dimensional map of the Sol system displayed on one of the consoles along the side of the compartment. “They were detected a little over an hour ago by the Reliant, who was here. They immediately moved to intercept.” William looked at the wall clock. “They should be in range of the Jung ships shortly.”

“Any word on their intent?” the president asked.

“No, sir. As far as we know, there has been no communication with the Jung ships. EDF is playing it safe and assuming the worst for now. They’ve called in the Volkov and the Zhang-Ti to back up the Reliant, and they’ve ordered the Intrepid at the OAP to spin up her reactors and prepare to get under way.”

“Then they believe this is an attack,” the president surmised.

“As I said, they’re preparing for the worst. However, the EDF knows better than to fire the first shot.”

“Of course,” the president said with a grimace.

“The UER is placing their ground forces on full alert,” William added. “They’re recommending that all nations do the same.”

“Agreed,” the president stated. “Let’s get our people ready. Contact the joint military chiefs and order them to go to full readiness.”

“Yes, sir,” William agreed.

“And pass the word to the backup shuttle,” the president added. “Eli is on board. He should be made aware of the situation.”

“Yes, sir.”

The president turned to Agent Hanson. “My wife…”

“She’s already being secured, sir,” Agent Hanson promised. “We’ll secure your children and their families as well.”

“Thank you, Mark.”

* * *

Eli looked at his watch, then rose from his seat in the backup presidential shuttle. He pulled out his secure comm-unit and tapped some keys as he headed aft, climbing the stairs to the communications compartment above.

“Sir,” the communications technician began when he saw Mister Scott enter the compartment, “we just received word that all forces are going on alert.”

“Yes, I’m aware of the situation,” Eli told the technician, holding up his comm-unit to indicate he had already received a message to that effect. “Our plans have changed. Tell the pilot to drop to the deck, go stealth, and immediately return to the UER compound in Geneva at best possible speed.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Orders from the president,” Eli interrupted, holding up his comm-unit just long enough for the technician to see that there was a text message displayed. “I am to act as his direct advisor to the Republic during this crisis.”

“Yes, sir,” the technician responded. “I’ll notify the pilot immediately.”

“Thank you.” Eli placed his comm-unit back in his pocket and calmly made his way back down the staircase. He offered no sign of emotion as he returned to his seat and fastened his seatbelt. He waited patiently for several moments. Then, without warning, the ‘Fasten seat belts’ sign lit up. A moment later, the large shuttle began to descend rapidly. Eli smiled. His greatest role was soon to begin.

* * *

“
Captain, Comms. Message from Fleet Command,
” the voice called over the comm-panel in the captain’s ready room.

Captain Christopoulos, commanding officer of the Intrepid, the Earth Defense Force’s second-oldest Defender-class warship, pressed the button on his comm-panel. “Go ahead.”

“
Action orders, sir. Message reads,
‘
All fleet personnel, set condition two. Reliant reports Jung ships inbound. Intrepid is ordered to spin up her reactors and prepare to get under way. Details to follow.
’
The message has been authenticated, sir.
”

“Very well. Contact engineering. Tell them to spin up the reactors, and call the XO to the bridge. I’m on my way.”

“
Aye, sir.
”

Captain Christopoulos clicked off his comm-panel and ran his fingers through his thick, gray hair. He stood slowly, allowing his old body to stretch out completely as he stood. Over the last twenty years, the majority of his career in the fleet had been spent serving on Defender-class ships, first as an engineer, then a bridge officer, and finally as an executive officer. Now, he was wrapping up a two-year assignment as the Intrepid’s commanding officer. In all those years, he had never been called into action. He had seen many drills, as well as several space combat exercises, but never had a ship of the line been called upon to perform that for which she had been built.

He had seen action on several occasions. During his previous ten years in the European Navy, he had served on several submarines, eventually ending up in command. He had fired his weapons in anger more than once. He had seen men suffer from horrendous wounds, and he had seen men die. And they were always young. He was in his last year as captain of the Intrepid. In fact, he was expecting to hand over command to his executive officer after the next patrol. He had planned on retiring to a nice, little place in the Greek Isles where he and his wife could enjoy the fresh fish and the Mediterranean sun. He figured that, even if the Jung came, they were unlikely to ever show interest in his tiny island in the sea. Now it appeared that his retirement plans might have to be put on hold.

“Captain on the bridge!” the officer of the deck announced as Captain Christopoulos emerged from his ready room.

“Engineering reports they’ve begun the reactor startup sequence, sir,” Lieutenant Allison reported from the engineering station. “Both reactors should be at full power within twenty minutes.”

“Very well,” the captain answered as he made his way toward the center of the bridge. “Lieutenant Chara,” he called to his left as he took his place in the command chair, “any more details?”

“Fleet reports the Reliant is about to intercept six Jung cruisers headed for Earth,” the comm officer reported as he rotated away from his console to face the captain. “They’re just under six AUs out. Fleet is sending us the tactical data now.”

“Where’s the XO?” the captain asked.

“Right here, sir,” Commander Nasser answered as he entered the bridge and went straight to the comm station to look over the communiqués. “Guess we’re leaving early.”

“Maybe,” the captain said. “What’s our current crew complement?”

“Three hundred forty-seven,” Commander Nasser said. “Another hundred and sixty are supposed to report today—mostly scrub-ensigns straight out of the academy who have been cooling their heels while we finished our refit.”

“Any reason we need to wait for them?”

“No, sir. They probably won’t know which way to run when the shooting starts anyway,” the XO said. “Are we getting under way, sir?”

“Not yet,” the captain said. “But I have a feeling that order is coming soon.”

“Suggest we go to general quarters now, sir,” the commander said. “We haven’t held a drill in months, and we’ve got two-thirds of our crew on board. I’d rather find out ahead of time if we’ve got any positions that need a warm body in them.”

“Good idea,” the captain agreed. “Sound general quarters.”

“General quarters, aye,” the commander acknowledged. “Tactical, sound general quarters. All hands to battle stations.”

“Battle stations, aye,” Lieutenant Calloway answered from the tactical station as he activated the alarm.

The bridge lighting dimmed by half, and a red glow came up around the deck and the overheads. An alarm klaxon sounded from the corridors beyond the bridge, echoing throughout the massive warship as the prerecorded call to battle stations was broadcast.

Captain Christopoulos could imagine his crew falling from their bunks and chairs at the sound of the alarm klaxon. After two months in port, those who had stayed aboard had been working half shifts at best. He knew that a sudden call to battle stations would cause some amount of confusion among an otherwise well-trained crew. His executive officer’s recommendation to call general quarters early had been a good one. It was one of the many reasons that Captain Christopoulos was confident that Commander Nasser would be an excellent captain for the Intrepid.

“Tactical map coming up now, Captain,” the tactical officer reported.

“Put it on the main view screen,” Captain Christopoulos ordered.

A map of the Sol system appeared on the center panel of the row of view screens that wrapped around the front quarter of the bridge. A cluster of red triangles could be seen heading into the Sol system from just beyond the orbit of Jupiter. A blue triangle representing the Reliant was rapidly approaching the Jung battle group. Off to the sides of the system were two more blue triangles representing the Volkov and the Zhang-Ti.

“Look at that,” the captain mumbled. “They came in right when our ships were farthest away from their entry point. There’s no way anyone can back up the Reliant in time, not even at full burn.”

“You think they’ve got spies?” Commander Nasser asked.

“Wouldn’t you?”

“You think they know we’re ready to leave port?”

“Doubtful,” the captain said. “We should’ve been out on patrol already, doing a long burn in the opposite direction to reach our first patrol corridor.”

“I thought they would’ve come in from the Centauri side,” Commander Nasser said.

“Probably why they didn’t.” The captain turned toward his tactical officer. “Project their previous track based on course and speed, as well as time of contact.” A red line appeared, leading from the group of red triangles back the way they had come. “You see that?” the captain asked. “We only recon that sector every third pass.”

“Recon Three is overdue to report in,” the comm officer reported. “I saw it on the last Fleet status report.”

“She’s not overdue,” the captain said. “She’s gone.”

“They would’ve taken it out on the way in, so she couldn’t give enough warning for the rest of the fleet to move in to intercept,” Commander Nasser added. “Clever.”

“Not that clever,” the captain corrected. “We’re still between them and the Earth, or at least we will be as soon as Fleet clears us to get under way. Let’s make sure we’re ready when the call comes, Commander.”

* * *

“Mrs. Scott,” the agent began calmly, “I need you to come with me, ma’am.”

The urgent tone of his voice caught Marlene Scott by surprise. “But I’m not quite done…”

“I’m sorry, but I need you to come now, ma’am,” he insisted, gently taking her arm to lead her away from the box she was packing. “I’ll have someone finish this up for you. I promise. But we need to leave.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

The agent touched his ear. “Moving out now. South lawn in two.”

Two more agents suddenly appeared from the hallway, taking positions on either side of the confused Mrs. Scott.

“I demand to know what’s going on,” Marlene insisted.

“We have a situation, ma’am,” the agent said as they wound down the hallway and across the great house.

“What kind of situation?” Marlene asked as they approached the big glass doors that opened up to the top of the south stairs.

“It’s the Jung, ma’am,” the agent said as they approached the doors.

Marlene stopped in her tracks, her face turning pale. “What?”

An NAU military shuttle dropped in from above, engines screaming just beyond the great glass doors. The noise startled the president’s wife as the shuttle descended to the lawn, disappearing below the top of the great stairs. Four more agents suddenly appeared outside the doors, taking up positions on either side.

The agent touched his ear again. “Coming out,” he said in a soft tone. “Let’s go,” he told the other agents more loudly.

The glass doors swung open, and the agent led Mrs. Scott outside and down the stairs that led to the sprawling south lawn of the Scott estate. In the middle of the lawn, the military shuttle had just touched down, its engines still screaming as their exhaust scorched the perfectly manicured lawn. Several soldiers in NAU uniforms and dressed in full combat gear had already exited the shuttle and taken up defensive positions around it, their weapons held high and pointed outward away from the shuttle and the house itself.

Marlene followed the agent leading her down the stairs, her heart pounding. She could see his lips moving but could not hear his words over the roar of the shuttle’s engines. A million thoughts flashed through her mind as the men led her to the waiting shuttle: her husband, her children, her grandchildren, Nathan. Something terrible was about to happen.

Mrs. Scott was helped into the shuttle and led to her seat where a lieutenant quickly fastened her seatbelt. She looked at him, confused, as he placed a headset over her ears and began to speak.

“
We may have to do a bit of maneuvering, ma’am,
” the lieutenant explained. “
Just stay in your seat and hold onto the armrests and you’ll be fine. I’ll be right here if you need anything.
”