Star Strike Read online

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE CAMBRIDGE BURNING

  CHAPTER TWO SECURITY DUTY

  CHAPTER THREE KIDNAPPED

  CHAPTER FOUR PEOPLE POWER

  CHAPTER FIVE TARGETED

  CHAPTER SIX REWARDS

  CHAPTER SEVEN RECOVERY

  CHAPTER EIGHT ATTACKS

  CHAPTER NINE REPAIRS

  CHAPTER TEN DESTROYER

  CHAPTER ELEVEN COUP

  CHAPTER TWELVE ISSUES

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN POLITICS

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN DESIGN COMPLETE

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHANGES

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN LAUNCH

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN FIRST BLOOD

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN VENGEANCE SWORN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN COMMAND

  CHAPTER TWENTY THE CHOICE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE SANKARAH BOUND

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO DEFEATED

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE NEWS FLASH

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR HANGELORE BOUND

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE THE SECOND BATTLE FOR HANGELORE PHASE 1

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX THE SECOND BATTLE FOR HANGELORE PHASE 2

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN HANGELORE FALLS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CAMBRIDGE BURNING

  Cambridge System (FNS Theseus)

  Colin sat in Theseus' CCC watching the sensors as the remaining Pirate ships ran for one the Jump-Points. He was exhausted, they all were. The Cambridge System Defence ships, not to mention the two Destroyers Colin brought from Cotoni had nothing left to give. No Missiles, or Rail-Gun ammunition remained, and all ships were damaged to one degree or another. The Federation Reserve Fleet under the personal command of Admiral Soolak Dalkasan arrived in the nick of time though not before Cambridge's Cruisers, Cobras, and Taipans imposed a heavy toll on the invading Pirates. When the reinforcements arrived all the local forces had left, was to physically ram the Pirates with their remaining ships. That was no longer necessary.

  Colin watched FNS Samurai begin the long loop that would return her to Cambridge Station. Commodore Nicholson and Captain Lister were both critically injured and in Stasis-Pods till they reached a proper hospital. The situation on the ground was still fluid, with roving bands of Pirate ground troops causing havoc. Many Pirates on the ground seemed to lose interest in fighting after the Pirate ships left orbit, so the Troopers made significant headway rounding them up. Some even shot their commanders and surrendered when it became apparent their masters no longer held the orbitals. The Comms Panel lit up with a call from Admiral Dalkasan. Colin accepted the call and found himself looking at the Admiral in near real time.

  Dalkasan asked, "What's your fleet status Commander?"

  "We're out of ammunition and don't have a single undamaged vessel, Sir. Some of our ships look like they're still in one piece, but they’re dead in space, following a ballistic course. We're unable to contact them, and they're traveling too fast for our Station Tugs to catch, we'll have to try to slow them down first so we can bring them back. I hope, the crews are okay."

  "Perhaps we can help you there. We have Tugs that are configured to dock at a standard docking port. You should be able to dock them to a couple of your faster ships, then use the Tugs to catch the runaways and bring them under control. You'll need to drop your shuttles though so you can take the Tugs on."

  "Thank you, Sir, I'll detail two of our remaining Taipans for the job, our Cobras are barely holding together."

  "Good, we're inbound to Cambridge Station. There is no way we can catch those fleeing Pirates, so I've ordered two Destroyers to guard each of the Jump-Points for now. I’ll need to talk to Commodore Fraser and Commodore Nicholson when I'm close enough."

  "Commodore Nicholson is in a Stasis-Pod Sir, but I'll see if I can raise Commodore Fraser for you. Communications with the surface have been spotty at best."

  "What about your shipyard and Cambridge Station, are they badly damaged?"

  "No Sir, they're intact. I think the Pirates were busy trying to pacify the planet itself first and couldn't board either of the facilities because we'd mounted obscenely powerful shields on them. They only fired a few weapons at them, mainly to test the strength of the defenses I think."

  Cambridge Naval Command Bunker

  Henry’s frustration grew each time he was unable to establish contact with an asset in space. He was the Senior Commander in the system and responsible for its defense, but communications were line of sight. Henry could only contact his assets when they were overhead. The only option was to keep trying, maybe a ship would pass overhead and report. Otherwise the Station or Shipyard should suffice once they cleared the horizon. Henry considered it a shame neither Cambridge Station nor the Shipyard was in synchronous orbit. The Pirates had crippled large sections of the Communications network by wrecking all the Comms Satellites. Only relays onboard the Station and Shipyard, or orbiting ships remained. That wouldn't change until they launched new Satellites.

  Some time later, Henry managed to contact Cambridge Station. As it rose above the horizon, the signal steadily grew stronger. The news was better than Henry dared hope. Cambridge still had most of the System Defense Ships operational although there wasn't any ammunition left for them, and all were damaged during the battle. Even better, was news that a sizeable Federation Fleet was in Cambridge System chasing the remaining Pirates off. The Orbital Station and Shipyard held a few spare Satellites which would provide improved Comms capability. They intended to deploy those Satellites now the Pirates were no longer in control of the high orbitals, and the System was secure. It was unfortunate, but it would still take a year or more to fully restore the Comms capability Cambridge enjoyed before the attack.

  As the situation in the System grew clearer, Henry’s confidence improved enough to order his ground forces to step up assaults on the remaining Pirate troops. It was time to end this invasion. Henry issued orders to begin attacking Pirate holdouts. Now, the forces on the ground intended to catch or kill all the Pirate troops left on Cambridge by their fleeing ships.

  Once Henry activated the ground forces, he started looking through the information backlog on his Secure Terminal. One report caught his attention. He read how Dave Bach and his friend saved President Constantin from an infiltrator. Henry realized Colin's instincts were right, again. Dave and his friend Keg were credited with foiling an attempt by an Alliance agent to assassinate or perhaps capture President Constantin. The Presidents security detail confirmed the details. Mr. Bach was severely wounded during the rescue, and the President was demanding he receive the best possible medical attention. This was one demand Henry intended to endorse. Even though Dave Bach lived under a cloud of suspicion, he performed his duties better than anyone hoped and deserved no less.

  Henry smiled and wondered how Julia was faring. If the girl followed their instructions, she retreated into the little bolt hole under Colin's house. Henry thought Julia was safe enough for the present. Besides, he wanted Colin there when they extracted her. Colin told Henry the safe room had enough supplies to keep ten people going for a month. It was only two weeks since the Pirates entered the System so she wasn’t hungry yet.

  God knew, the bastards inflicted enough damage during their invasion. Now the time for recovery had arrived. By any measure, the humans in Cambridge did well defending their homes against overwhelming odds. In fact, they did far better than Henry considered possible. The cities suffered superficial damage apparently. Other damaged infrastructure would be repaired or rebuilt during the coming months and years. Somehow, Henry suspected he wouldn't have much trouble getting money to build and man the planned Warships in the near future.

  DNI Headquarters Bunker

  Agent James Hamilton looked through the glass at the prisoner in the interview room, idly wonder
ing how his older brother was fairing. James' brother was a Destroyer Captain for the Federation Navy. Although James didn’t know it, even then, his brother was deployed in Cambridge System commanding his battered but undefeated Destroyer, trying to look after his crew while they made their slow way toward the planet.

  With a struggle, James pulled his mind back to the prisoner. This one thought he was a hard-ass and didn’t want to talk. James didn’t care, it didn't matter what the prisoner thought of himself, DNI understood how to break these scum. James expected to have this Pirate singing for anyone who’d listen within a few short days. This prisoner was one of the troop leaders. The Troopers caught him after his subordinates turned on him and handed him over to the Federation forces when they surrendered. His men hoped handing him over would earn them better treatment. So much for loyalty in Pirate ranks.

  Previous prisoners hinted there was an Alliance Special Forces Group on the planet. So far, nobody admitted knowing why they were in Cambridge or where they were based. If these people were specialists, James considered it likely someone was in their cross-hairs. DNI needed to identify the target before they attacked. Analysts considered President Constantin one obvious possibility, so was Commodore Fraser and a few others on the world. The agent hoped this prisoner gave him the information he wanted.

  James sighed and opened the door to enter the interview room. It was time to break this Pirate. Most of the time, James didn't enjoy interrogations. He was willing to make an exception with these people. After entering the room, Hamilton walked casually to a chair before sitting, facing the prisoner. He stared quietly at the prisoner for several minutes. On the other side, the prisoner faced him staring defiantly back.

  James calmly asked, "Do you know what the equipment we’ve attached to you is?"

  The Pirate looked away from James, choosing not to answer.

  "Don’t care? I'll explain anyway. Some of it is harmless enough. We use it to tell us if you're lying, or not. The rest is much more fun, even fascinating, for me at least. It isn't usually much fun for you though. It allows us to induce the most intense pain, or pleasure, you will ever experience. I can achieve so much by pressing a button on this remote control here. We've yet to find the prisoner we weren't able to break, sooner or later. I have to admit, some of our prisoners were insane by the time we'd finished, but we extracted the information we wanted regardless, then executed them before they harmed anyone else. Will you tell us what you know? It'll be much easier for you in the long run, and much less painful."

  James saw the Pirate clamp his jaws shut. There was no need to say more, James pressed the red button, and the Pirate stiffened, screaming in pain. This pain was more intense than the prisoner ever experienced in the past. It felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. The Pirate felt like the agent had poured something flammable over his body and lit it, burning him alive. Although the pain only lasted for three seconds, to the prisoner, it felt like three hours. James could smell the odour of the prisoner soiling himself. When the prisoner regained awareness of his surroundings some minutes later, blood was running from his mouth where he'd bitten through his lip. Even after this first experience, he still refused to speak to the Federation agent.

  James observed the Pirate for a few minutes more, then asked, "Did you enjoy that? Would you like me to demonstrate the pleasure sensation? For our purposes, it’s almost as good as the pain. You might even consider this part fun. I warn you, this sensation is addictive."

  He pressed a blue button, and the Pirate’s eyes rolled up in his head as the most intense, overwhelming pleasure he could ever hope to experience flooded through his body. Again, the sensation stopped after only three seconds, and the Pirate slowly regained awareness of his surroundings.

  After watching the Pirate for a few more seconds, James’ voice hardened as he said, "Now tell me what you know about the Operators your fleet landed. Why are they here? Who are their targets? Where are they?"

  Again, the prisoner voiced his defiance, but James picked up the tone of the reply and pushed the red button. This time it took the Pirate much longer to come around. After the second round, the prisoner started to understand, there was little mercy in this man’s heart. If he was lucky, they might kill him painlessly when they were ready, that would only happen after he divulged the information they wanted. The Pirate realized DNI would continue this for as long as necessary. He was far too stubborn to talk this early, breaking his conditioning would take a while longer. The one thing James didn't explain to him was the equipment possessed a third capability. It could stun him at the press of a button. James stunned the Prisoner while somebody came in to clean the blood away and repair the damage the Pirate inflicted on himself.

  Over the next few days, James extracted the information he wanted from his prisoner. The Operators were on Cambridge to kill four priority targets, the President, the two Commodores, and Commander Gordon. Commander Gordon was given the highest priority for their efforts. Existing security procedures protected Constantin, Fraser and Nicholson, and Commander Gordon was safely out of reach for now. When the Commander came dirt-side, they needed to give him security. James put that thought aside for future consideration. In the short term, James needed to put the prisoner out of his misery.

  Flag Bridge FNS Sundara

  Admiral Soolak Dalkasan watched as the damage Cambridge suffered during the attack became plain on his Optical-Scans. Both Cambridge Station, and the Shipyard were still intact and undamaged but all the Communications Satellites were gone and some places on the surface had been smashed. Dalkasan widened the Scans seeing lifeless hulks drifting in several places around the System. It appeared most of the Pirate ships were gone by then but there were certainly at least a few hiding somewhere nearby. To mere mortals, a Star System was a big place, and the Scanner Technology available to the Reserve Fleet had its limitations. Dalkasan was aware the new Patrol ships had better Scanning Suites than the Reserve Fleet.

  The Admiral pondered the news Commander Gordon gave him. Every Cambridge System Defense ship was damaged except for the two that arrived with the Reserve Fleet. The battle here was brutal, even the tough little Taipans and Cobras didn’t escape unscathed.

  Dalkasan turned to his aide, saying, "We’ll be here for a while. After recent events, all Destroyers shall travel with another Warship in future. We should send a pair back to Cotoni. Admiral Hanadon must be informed of the events here and and forward the report to Sankarah. With luck, Lady Conti will still be in Cotoni, she had business to complete there when we departed. If she is, Conti can carry the news home to Sankarah. We'll wait for a few days though, till the situation becomes clearer. By the Deity, these people almost fought sixty enemy ships to a standstill, and nearly all those enemy ships were bigger than anything Cambridge had to defend itself."

  "I think this battle will be remembered as one of the greatest in Federation history, Sir. I thank the Deity these people are on our side. They make devastating enemies."

  "Yes, you're right. We need to keep a closer eye on their home world. They call it Earth, don’t they? We must convince people on Earth to accept us as friends. I wonder if anyone has visited the Earth System since FNS Destiny picked up Commander Gordon."

  The aide understood the subtle hint and busied himself checking the available records for the required information. Even if he couldn't find the data in this ship's data storage, or somewhere else within the fleet, it didn't mean Earth hadn't been visited since FNS Destiny's was there. Cambridge may even hold current data. Communications with the surface were still unreliable so a data link was unlikely to work until they repaired the Comms channels.

  Dalkasan checked the status of his Fleet. Four Destroyers were almost in place near the Jump-Points. The remaining fleet assets continued heading for Cambridge, or spreading out looking for lurking Pirates around the System. Either way, although the situation remained fluid, it was becoming more controlled. Dalkasan realized how much he missed undertaki
ng a vital mission like this. This was far more stimulating than sitting behind his desk doing administrative work on Sankarah.

  Two of the less damaged Taipans picked up the Tugs Dalkasan agreed to loan to Colin and sped out to catch and return the Patrol ships following ballistic trajectories out of the System. The Comms panel lit up, and the Tech accepted the call before passing it to the Admiral.

  As he passed the call on, the Tech said, Commander Gordon has set up a relay between Cambridge and us, Sir."

  "Dalkasan here, who am I speaking to?"

  "Hello, Admiral. It's Commodore Fraser Sir. Commander Gordon said you wanted to speak to me."

  "Yes, I did. Can you give me a situation report? Do you have enough Troopers? We can send reinforcements if you want them."

  "We have enough Troopers, Sir. The militia mobilized when the Pirates entered Cambridge, and we evacuated most of the civilian population to secure locations. We missed a few, you always do. At last count, we have about thirty thousand missing people. We hope most are hiding somewhere, but we'll see as our troops clean up the remaining Pirates. Many of the Pirate troops are surrendering Sir, but DNI tells me they landed a team of Alliance Special Forces people here somewhere. Intelligence has information about who their targets are so we can take adequate precautions."

  "Very well, keep me informed if you need anything from us. It's yours if we have it. When we reach orbit, I'd like to meet face to face. Is that possible?"

  "Yes Sir, it should be by then. We plan to clear a path, so Shuttle Pilots needn't worry about ground fired High-Velocity Missiles. Expect us to complete that task by the time you make orbit. I think I should come to you for this first meeting Sir. I don't want your safety risked unnecessarily. Somebody tried to assassinate our President while we were locked down. The attempt was unsuccessful because the Presidents team killed the perpetrator. The attacker killed one of President Constantin's security people and another two were wounded. A successful attack would've caused us a lot of problems."