Nemesis: The Search for Orion Read online

  “That’s how we see it. Contact us if you find a unit for us to replace.”

  “I will.”

  • • •

  Grant stared at the monitor and shook his head, “Ana, take us to the star on the point of the sword.” The monitor changed to subspace and then back to normal space. “Ana, how many planets does this star have?”

  “Eight.”

  Grant sighed, “Take us to each of them and hold position for a few minutes above them.”

  Cinny shook her head, “How can you be certain it will reveal itself just by getting close to it?”

  “I’m not sure but can you think of anything else we should do?”

  “Not really. This just seems like…”

  Grant closed his eyes and said, “Like a complete waste of time.”

  Cinny sighed and nodded, “Grant, there’s just too many stars to search.”

  Grant nodded and watched normal space change to subspace and back again.

  • • •

  Two weeks passed and Grant sighed, “You’re right, there are too many stars. We need a definite clue to find the specific area of space where it’s hidden.” Cinny nodded and they heard Ana announce, “We’ve found a unit and the Spiders have the ship to use as bait.”

  Grant picked up his communicator, “We’ll arrive in an hour.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  “No, there’s just too many stars to search. If we spent just ten minutes at each star it would take us a hundred years just to search the sword. Get the other ships ready to join us.”

  “They’re above the planet waiting for your arrival.”

  Grant looked at Cinny and she punched the jump drive.

  • • •

  “Commodore, I have a return on the subspace scanner’s outer edge.”

  “I see it.” Commodore Ward stared at the blip on the display and shook his head, “It appears it is not moving but staying in subspace.”

  Captain Lenovitch nodded, “That it does, Sir.”

  Ward looked at Leno, “What could be doing that?”

  “Sir, the only ships able to remain in subspace are ours. Either that return is one of our ships or someone else has the capability.”

  Ward pushed a button on his console, “All ships, go to battle stations. We’re changing course to investigate a return on our subspace scanner. Jump to my location and form up on my ship.” The three other ships jumped in from their assigned courses and moved into tight formation. “We’ll be jumping close in subspace and see what we’ve got.” Ward turned a dial on his panel and said, “Fleet Control, I have detected an object in subspace that is not moving. My wing is going to investigate.”

  “Keep us informed. Do you require additional assistance?”

  “I’ll contact you if we do.”

  “Message received.”

  Ward turned the dial again, “Captain Suzuri, take your ship in when we arrive and send a feed on what you find.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  Ward took a deep breath and slowly released it. It was unusual for the Commanders of Scout Ships to have a rank higher than Lieutenant. However, being a free scout was a reward for outstanding service. Higher ranks went with being chosen. All the ship commanders in his wing were captains. He was a commodore, who usually commanded more than three thousand ships. Commanding four was a big come down. However, he didn’t have the headaches associated with commanding that large a force. He loved the freedom to go where he wanted, when he wanted, and do as he pleased. This was a real gem of a job. “Jump in three, two, one…”

  The four ships jumped in on the subspace anomaly and Captain Suzuri moved forward. Ward watched the two objects move closer on his display and heard, “Sir, it appears to be a Cruiser.”

  Ward knew seeing an object in subspace was difficult and the feed he was receiving from Suzuri was little more than intermittent flashes. “What can you detect?”

  “Sir, I don’t scan much of anything but my life form scan comes back zero.”

  Ward thought about it for a moment and said, “I’m entering normal space with the rest of the Wing. Bump it as soon as we leave subspace.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  • • •

  Grant looked at Cinny and smiled; none of them were remaining in subspace. He looked at Whippet on his display and saw him fall back in his chair and breathe a sigh of relief.

  • • •

  The two ships suddenly appeared in normal space and Ward stared at the glowing vessel, “Computer, track that ship’s designation and tell me where it came from.”

  “It was originally assigned to Commodore Mueller’s squadron during the last battle at the Raider’s planets. It is highly radioactive!”

  “Move a mile out from the cruiser!” Ward shook his head as he scanned the dead ship and saw the bodies of the crew scattered around the vessel. He looked at his scanner and saw the radioactivity was off the scale. “Move your ships another mile away from this derelict.” Ward turned the dial, “Fleet, we have found a ship that is highly radioactive. It was originally assigned to Admiral Nelson’s fleet when he attacked the last Raider Planet.”

  “How do you account for it being there?”

  “They must have entered random jump numbers into their jump drive to escape the radioactive cloud. They died from the radiation as they arrived here.”

  “Destroy the ship.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  Ward said, “Lock on the ship and fire on my command.”

  • • •

  Grant listened in on Ward’s conversation and said, “Slippy, NOW!”

  The derelict suddenly erupted into a hundred bright beams that targeted each of the Earth ships with twenty-five beams each. The four Scout Cruisers blew up in an instant and nothing remained but four large vapor clouds.

  Grant shook his head, “It never ceases to amaze me at how powerful your beams are.”

  “We’ve been collecting energy for quite a while.”

  “Send the ship away and I’m going to need those of you on our hulls to paint over the old numbers and add our new designations.”

  “Are you certain you don’t need it? Your squadron is supposed to have four ships.”

  “You’re right. But I need a ship where we can install Ana. That one is too radioactive.”

  “Well, it will have to go back to our planet then, that’s where the key is.”

  “Select another ship that has her installed and jump it out to our location. You can move on board it and assume command.”

  “Does that mean I get a rank?”

  Grant smiled, “Yes, you are now…Captain Lenovitch.”

  “All right! I’m a captain. Tricky is going to be so jealous.” Slippy sent the instructions to the spiders on the derelict and it disappeared.

  Whippet looked at Grant on his display, “What now?”

  “We wait for the fourth ship to appear and leave it here on call with you in the event we need it. The two of you would never pass muster if you’re seen on another ship’s display. The Spiders will change our ship’s numbers and then Cinny and I will jump to the Earth Fleet holding station above Lovely and request supplies.”

  Cinny and Whippet stared at Grant and finally Whippet said, “Are you serious?”

  “According to the fleet regulations associated with this squadron, we can go and request supplies from any of Earth’s fleets. While we’re being loaded, Ana will attempt to send the video of Avalon’s destruction to that Admiral’s communicator.”

  Cinny shook her head, “If we do that, our new cover will be blown.”

  Grant shrugged, “It will be up to Ana to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “Do what?”

  Grant smiled, “You’re going to have to deliver that video without it being traced back to us.”

  “Just how am I going to do that?”

  “I have confidence you can do it.”

  “Easy for you to say; you don’t have to do it.”
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br />   Grant shrugged.

  • • •

  Commodore Chen’s Communication’s Officer looked at his panel and saw Grant’s image, “How can I be of service, Commodore?”

  “I need to be resupplied; we’re running low on perishables and basic food supplies. I’ve left two ships on patrol so if you could give us enough for all four ships, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

  “Stand by.” Grant kept his hand on the jump drive and began to sweat that he had missed something. He looked at Cinny on his secondary display and saw she was also keeping a hand on the jump controls. “I’ve designated the Tripoli supply ship to take care of your needs. I’m sending you her location and frequency. Sorry about the delay, I’m not familiar with the regulations regarding your ships.”

  Grant forced a smile and hoped his sweat wasn’t showing, “Don’t give it a second thought. Thank you for your assistance.” The Officer nodded and disappeared from the display. Another face appeared and said, “This is Captain Gomez commanding the Tripoli. If you’ll dock your vessels at port seven and eight, I have the supplies waiting for your arrival.”

  “Thank you, Captain. We’re moving to your ship now.” The display went dark and Grant looked at Cinny, “Keep a blaster at hand.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Ana is ready to jump us out at the first sign of trouble.”

  “You might also wear armor.”

  “Why?”

  “They have photos of the crews of these ships.”

  “What reason will I use for wearing it?”

  “You’ll come up with something.”

  Cinny shook her head, “You don’t ask for much, do you?”

  Grant smiled and shrugged. He knew the former commander of the ship Cinny took the call letters from was female. However, it never paid to be too careful.

  • • •

  Cinny docked the cruiser to dock eight and waited until the light turned green. She pressed the activate button and the door slid up in the hull. Forklifts began running into the empty landing bay and dropping pallets of materials. The Warrant Officer said, “Boy, you were low.”

  “We moved what little we had to the two ships still on patrol.”

  The Warrant Officer stared at Cinny, “Why the armor?”

  Cinny smiled, “Have you ever been in a landing bay and had the seal rupture?”

  The Warrant Officer winced, “No and I hope I never do.”

  “Well, I can tell you it changes your view of safety.”

  The Warrant Officer looked at the last two loads being dropped and said, “That’s about it. Be safe.”

  “I’ll do my best.” The Warrant Officer walked out of the landing bay and Cinny lowered the door. She leaned against it and blew out a breath. She went to the bridge and collapsed in her command chair.

  Grant sat in his command chair and used the loudspeaker in the landing bay, “Organize your loads according to type. I’m sorry I can’t join you but I’m having an issue with one of my subordinates.”

  The Warrant Officer said, “We can take care of it, Sir.” He blew out a quick breath. Thank God he wasn’t going to have to deal with a senior officer. They meant nothing but trouble. He made his forklifts move quickly and get off the Commodore’s ship. He walked off and the landing bay door closed behind him. That one sounded tough. He shook his head and joined his team.

  “Ana.”

  “Give me a moment.”

  “We need to be going.”

  “Give me a moment!”

  Grant raised his head and saw Captain Gomez appear on his display, “You are free to leave, Sir.”

  “I’m sorry. I was tied up with a subordinate and I want to take a quick look at what was delivered.”

  “I’ll send you a list.”

  “That would be good, Captain.” Grant said it with his eyebrows lowered and Gomez saw he had irritated a Commodore. He disappeared from the display.

  “ANA!”

  “Done.”

  Grant moved the Nemesis away from the giant supply ship and Cinny joined him. They moved three miles away and jumped away.

  Grant fell back in his command chair, “What took you so long?”

  “I sent one fifth of the message to more than eight hundred ships.”

  “WHAT?”

  “Those pieces will be looking for the others and when two of them find another piece, they’ll combine and look for the other three. Once all five come together, the Admiral’s personal frequency will be complete and it will send itself to his communicator.”

  “What happens to all the other pieces still out?”

  “The final message will transmit a destruct frequency through the transmitter it used to send itself and they’ll disappear.”

  “What happens if they’re noticed before the message completes?”

  “Oh well. That’s the best I can do.” Grant started shaking his head and Ana said, “Don’t worry. The likelihood of that happening is very low”

  Grant nodded and looked at Cinny. He thought, “We’ll jump back to the Animal’s planet.” Cinny nodded and Grant pressed his console, “Whippet, Slippy, we’re jumping back home. We’ll see you on the surface.” They nodded and set their jump drives. The two cruisers disappeared.

  Chapter Five

  Grant and Cinny arrived at nighttime and found a fire burning in the clearing next to the lagoon. They stepped off their scooters and saw Whippet coming down with Slippy clinging to his shoulder. The spider had reduced his size and appeared to be extremely excited; he kept flashing bright blue all the way down to the planet’s surface. They landed and Iggy said, “Now, I guess everyone is present.”

  Grant looked at Iggy, “What’s on your mind?”

  “We’ve been discussing this invincible warship called Orion. Why are the two of you against going out to find it?”

  Grant sighed, “Iggy, we can feel it but we have no idea where it is.”

  “Couldn’t we send all our ships out to search for it?”

  “You’re assuming the Orion can be detected in subspace.”

  “Are you saying it can’t?”

  “The Scientists on Avalon built the ships Earth is using now and those ships are capable of remaining in subspace. Do you not think the next development would a ship that could remain in subspace and not be detected? I’m pretty certain an invincible warship would have to possess a high level of stealth. That means it won’t be detected in subspace.”

  Iggy shook his head and Slick said, “And you have no idea where it might be hidden?”

  Grant took his communicator out of his pocket and turned on the external speaker, “Ana.”

  “Yes Grant.”

  “You told us that your partner was tasked with taking the Orion and hiding it.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why were you and she chosen to hide the Orion and us?”

  “Our Commanders on Earth told us that Avalon had selected us and to report to their Lead Scientist. They told us that they were going to use a subterfuge about an invincible warship to try and get the Raiders to back off on their planned attack.”

  “How did they know an attack was imminent?”

  “A Raider Scout had appeared and jumped away.”

  “Now this is important, why was your partner chosen to hide a ship that didn’t exist?”

  “I don’t really know? I guess I assumed they wanted her to take a standard transport to where it was built and leave with it.”

  “But you said she took her own ship to the Orion.”

  Ana paused and said, “She did; she commanded a transport.” Another pause and Ana said, “I have no idea why she was brought there if there was no ship to hide.”

  “Ana, was your partner loyal to Earth or Avalon?”

  “She was born on Avalon and went to Fleet Academy on Earth. I guess her heart was with Avalon. What are you trying to say, Grant?”

  “If you were brought to Avalon to hide Cinny and me as babies, is it possible there act
ually was an Orion that Earth didn’t know about. And if the Avalon Scientists showed your partner evidence that Earth attacked and destroyed a Raider Colony on their planet, what do you think her reaction would have been?”

  “Lydia would have been enraged if she knew what Earth had done.”

  “So she would have kept the Orion’s existence a secret; even from you to make sure Earth would never find out.”

  There was a long moment of silence and then they heard, “Yes.”

  “Yes, what, Ana.”

  “She wouldn’t have told me. She knew I was proud of my position in Earth’s Navy and she wouldn’t have told me.”

  Iggy said, “I’m curious. Why would Avalon allow someone loyal to Earth to take the two of you into hiding?”

  Cinny snorted, “That place of hiding had already been chosen by Earth. I’m sure the Scientists relented and allowed them to send an officer chosen by them to take part in the exercise. She couldn’t hide what they already knew.”

  “Lydia was the stronger of us.”

  Grant nodded, “Ana, think carefully. Did she say anything to you before she left for the Orion?”

  “You mean did she say anything that would offer a clue as to where she was taking it?”

  “Exactly.”

  “No, and she wouldn’t have done it.”

  Cinny said, “Why not?”

  Ana’s voice almost broke, “She wouldn’t have trusted me to keep it from Earth.”

  Grant could feel the Hologram’s distress, “Thanks, Ana.” Grant turned to Iggy and Slick and pointed at the sky, “It’s a large universe out there. Where would you start looking?”

  Iggy and Slick looked at each other and Iggy shrugged, “You’re right. We’re going to have to do this with what we have.”

  Cinny smiled, “What we have is considerable. We can slug it out with their ships if it comes down to it.”

  Grant nodded, “And Iggy, we’re going to need you and your children to take on the troops on the surface.”

  Iggy smiled, “Sounds like a plan.”

  “Where do we start?”

  “I’d really like to say hello to a certain Dragon Unit.” Grant looked at Cinny and leaned back. “You know sadists can’t wait to sow their poison. They’ll demand another opportunity to kill again.”

  Cinny nodded, “Ana.”