Chapter 5

“Well gentlemen, what do you think?”

Charles sat in the command centre with the local commanders.

“I believe they will come through here, use Haraday 6’s gravity well and sling shot into the system before we could detect them.” Captain Parnell stated, using his data pad to project his ideas onto the screen.

“You may be on to something there. Tell me how many grade 8 proximity mines do we have here? What do you think would happen to a fleet who charged into a system straight into a minefield?”

“Surely their sensors would detect them. They would know they were there.”

“You are correct Captain. However, if they were masked by something, say a string of small asteroids from a disabled ore carrying pod, well, who could tell what was a rock and what was a mine? Especially if we reported the unfortunate accident, along with some grieving widows and children. I’m sure you have a drama school that would love to put on an impromptu performance for a new holo drama that is about to be made. I mean, if the trailer were broadcast and unfortunately the fact that it was a drama omitted, it would be an over-site with the program’s director now wouldn’t it?”

“They’d never fall for that! It would be too obvious!”

“Yes, I know, but it would cause them to think. Even if they didn’t fall for it, what would it cost us? An old condemned ore pod and a dodgy drama on a data stick. It would also prevent them from attacking from that direction. If they did come in that way, then the damage to their ships would be considerable. Now then, with that way closed, where next?”

“Sir, have you seen our micro mines?” Captain Kholmire of the Banished ship Turpiz asked.

“No, no I haven’t. Tell me about them.”

“Well Sir, they are very small, maybe a metre across. They carry a two kiloton warhead. If we seed the area around where we think they will enter the system then they will receive a nasty shock. These things are almost undetectable. They’re too small to show up on most sensors.”

“How many of these do you have?”

“Oh we have tens of thousands of them.” he smiled.

“Excellent. Gentlemen, what’s next?”

The meeting went on for several hours. As it did, plans were put in place for an old mining ship to be towed out to Haraday 6 and blown up. The drama was recorded and then broadcast as a news item. Mines were strewn all throughout the wreckage. Plans were made and the crews were continuously trained.

“It has to be a trap.” Commander Akiado expounded as he stood at the table in front of his Admiral.

The other officers sat around the table and looked at him.

“Tell me, why would you think that?”

“It’s just too fortuitous. An ore carrying ship explodes just across the route we intended taking in to the system, effectively masking any mines they made have laid there. We also have some unconfirmed reports of ships arriving in system. We know they have the Dominator coming, but that old thing is so slow we can just fly around it. From what I hear they struggle just to keep life support going on it. I would humbly recommend that we should consider coming in from the delta vector, arriving at the edge of the system, outside any gravity wells. It would allow us to scan the system properly and decide how to proceed from there.”

The Admiral looked at the man for a long minute. He nodded his head. “Commander Akiado. You are a young man who seems to me to be particularly cautious in your outlook. You credit your enemies with much more intelligence than they actually possess. Do you remember how we destroyed them at Josper 6? They attacked in such a foolish manner that we had no trouble defeating them. Do you think that in just a few months they would have found and promoted a competent commander? We know how their military works. It works on nepotism and corruption. That is why we will beat them. That is why they cannot win. It is indeed fortuitous, for us that is, as it will mask our approach from their sensors. We will continue with our original plan. We will enter the system in two weeks. We will run reduced shields to minimise our sensor footprint. Instruct our people to be ready.”

The commander bowed his head. “It will be as you command, Sir.”

The Admiral nodded. The meeting broke up. Each captain returning to his own ship.

“I’m sure it’s a trap. I can smell it.” Commander Akiado fumed at his first lieutenant.

“The Admiral has ordered the plan to go ahead despite your reservations then?”

“Yes. Unfortunately we are the vanguard. If there is trouble we’re the ones who will see it first. I want every man in full combat suits. I’ll flog the first man to disobey.”

“The men won’t like it.”

“They’ll like breathing vacuum even less!”

It was time. The sensors they had buried in the debris/minefield had picked up the approaching ships. Akiado’s ship, the Naka, was one of the first through. Two mines exploded simultaneously at point blank range, overwhelming her shields. The residual debris from the cargo ship punched through her hull causing multiple breaches. She suffered serious systems failures. Many of the following ships faired no better. Sixteen ships came into the system, but only eight made it through the debris field in any state to fight.

“Report, Number One!” Akiado screamed as explosions rocked his ship.

“Shields gone Sir. Hull breaches on decks two through to ten. We’ve lost comms, navigation and the forward battery. Sensors down to thirty percent. We have fires in the two starboard missile stations and have had to jettison three missile pods. We have power from the engines and damage repair crews had already started work. We were lucky only to have twenty dead and thirty injured. If we weren’t suited up it would have been much worse.”

On the Admirals flag ship things were much worse.

“It seems that Akiado’s fears were well founded. Well Captain, tell me the news. How are we doing?”

“Not well Sir. We’ve lost the Nada, the Kaya, the Ayoba, the Takeo the Izumo, the Usho, the Sagiri and the Aki.”

“Are they destroyed?”

“Not all Sir, but they are out of the fight. The Ikoma, Asama, Nagara and the Loshima are damaged but able to continue. The Yoshino, Akai and Tango are yet to report in. We have suffered some damage. We have hull breaches in pods eight and twelve. Reports are forty dead and the main sensor array is damaged. We’re down to forty percent there. Three anti missile batteries are out. Shields down to thirty percent. Damage control teams are doing what they can. They estimate five hours to effect repairs.”

“Very well, do what you can.” Admiral Yakatomto stood contemplating the scale of the catastrophe. He was supposed to be the hero of the hour, charging in to save their oppressed and imprisoned citizens. As it was he had led his men to disaster.

“Sir, Admiral, Sir, sensors are picking up multiple contacts heading this way. Their signatures are not something we recognise.”

“What do you have and how many?”

“We have over twenty ships. Some of them quite large.”

The Comms officer spoke next. “Sir, we’re receiving a message. We’re being hailed.”

“Put it through.”

“Calling the unidentified ships in the Haraday system. You have entered restricted space. You are within a military exclusion zone. Identify yourselves then power down your shields and prepare to be boarded. If you do not comply we will be forced to open fire.”

Admiral Yakatomoto nodded to his men, straightened himself up and spoke. “This is Admiral Yakatomoto of His Imperial Majesty’s Navy. We are here at the request of our citizens being held hostage on Haraday 5. I demand you allow us safe passage to assist out beleaguered comrades. Now, to whom am I speaking?”

“This is Commodore Charles Holstock. Commander-in-Chief of the Harady defence forces. Sir, I’m a soldier, not a politician; Let’s cut the bullshit. We both know why you are here. Let me tell you now that the fate of your men rests in your hands. We have both had to send many a condolence holo to the relatives of the fallen. You will have to send some for your men and women today because of what has happened here. Do you wish for your commanders to have to send them for everyone? Know this, Sir, what happens today will decide whether there is war or peace between our peoples. How many will die if it comes to war? How many will survive the orbital bombardments, the battles, or the hardships that invariably follow? Think what is at stake today. If you decide that you wish for war, then I will give ten minutes to make your peace with your gods, for then you and all your men will surely meet him. You have ten minutes.”

The men looked at each other and then at the Admiral. What were they to do?

“Admiral? Sir, what are your orders?”

The Admiral stood there pondering. He knew that his enemy was right. The real question was this. Was this man his real enemy? This man was a soldier. He had them dead to rights. He could simply have blown each and everyone of them to whatever hell their particular deity had prepared for them. He hadn’t. They were still alive. This man knew that war would be a disaster for both sides. Yakatomoto knew this as well. This commander was looking for an excuse not to go to war. Perhaps, just maybe, there was a way out of this debacle yet.

“Order the fleet to surrender. We do not need to die, today.”

“Sir, are you certain?”

“Yes, Captain, I am certain. This man does not want war. If he had, we would already be dead. Give the order, Captain. Give the order.”

“Yes, Sir, at once.”

The order was given and one by one the ships surrendered.

“Well, Admiral. I’m glad to see you saw sense and avoided the need for further bloodshed.”

“I didn’t have much choice did I?”

“No, but I know some who would not have surrendered and thereby condemned themselves and their men to death.”

They were seated in the Commodores’s day room. The events outside being displayed on view screens. They watched as one after another the surviving ships were brought in, many displaying the massive damage the mines had inflicted on them. He was horrified as he saw the extent of the destruction wrought.

“Tell me, Admiral, what do we do now? How do we prevent this from becoming all out war?”

“Sorry, Commodore, I do not understand your meaning?”

“It’s very simple. How do we spin this so you and your people keep your honour? The last thing I want is to start an all out war. I’ve seen war. I know what it can do to people. I know what pain it can cause. As I said, what can we do to make sure no one else has to die?”

The Admiral looked hard at the man before him. He saw that this man understood that to his people honour was everything. He was giving him a way to salvage not only his honour, but that of his men as well.

“I will consult with my officers. Between us all we should be able to come up with something.”

“That would be great. I’ll talk to my people. We still have to sort out the thorny question of those on Haladay 6.”