Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 3 - Fleet Action by David Buck Page A

considered advice to back up his own earlier judgement. He intoned new instructions before again striking his staff of office onto the hangar deck.
    ‘We await the arrival of the Trader ship and further information from the human devices. We will curtail our own exploration until we can establish the limits of human space and secure a non aggression pact with both them and the Traders.’
    The counsel leader felt comfortable in making the decision, and he listened quietly as the cruiser commander set about organising the required four scout ships to guide the humans. He was grateful that his life did not include nerve wracking negotiations with either humourless vassals like the Deltas Vass or treacherous independents like the Fenshilla. The lead counsel also thought for several moments about what the legendary Dradfer would make of these humans.
     
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    Omerio stood nervously on the bridge of his flag ship as the Barus cruiser led the rest of the squadron out of hyper space. The captain noted with unease the first reports of the sensors, with the Jerecab armada obviously regrouping only two hundred million kilometres away. Commander Tamerio gave him a nervous glance before turning back to view his sensor screen, and Omerio wasted no more time as he issued orders.
    ‘The squadron is to immediately come around to this outgoing vector and we will retreat several million kilometres before entering the solar system at another point. We will not release any active scans here into this haven system case in a senior vassal race later arrives. Broadcast the non aggression and neutrality clauses to the more distant Sspol cruisers.’
    Omerio then noted additional information before speaking again.
    ‘The Jerecab have obviously had a fierce battle recently and are regrouping. We will shadow them when they later head for Earth. Send a message to Captain Gindane with this information.’
    The Barus on the bridge gave curt acknowledgements as they complied with Omerio’s orders, and Omerio noted that three of them were still unwell with the human virus. Tamerio looked around again as he finally gave his report and then a question.
    ‘The human fleet is returning to guard their home world, and the research fleet and the Sspol cruisers are following them back to Earth. The Jerecab have mined the direct line from both the jump points towards Earth, so how did you know they would do this?’
    A pair of active scans from the Jerecab ships raced over to the squadron causing alerts to sound and the bridge lights to flicker. Omerio grunted sourly as he replied for he still felt at times unwell.
    ‘The Jerecab admiral must be worried about the senior vassal races arriving and seeks to delay a battle with them until he can murder the humans and escape elsewhere. I would do a similar action in his position for sure. You will note that the predictable Jerecab are forming up a defensive line with several of their ships. I expect a curt voice discussion with their admiral shortly.’
    Omerio helped Tamerio and the rest of the crew locate the Jerecab mines, and he found several of them were just inside the range of the squadron’s weapons. Powerful beams of light now raced out from several of the cruisers to intersect and destroy the Jerecab mines. The Barus were still destroying the mines as the view screens lit up with the whiskered face of Admiral Baunrus, who glared and spat in rage for several moments before speaking harshly.
    ‘Leave or be destroyed Captain Omerio, for we now know you have destroyed our ships in other star systems. The threat and blight of the humans will be removed permanently and their world will soon belong to the Jerecab.’
    Omerio glanced at his console and noted that they already had a significant speed advantage over the Jerecab. He crossed his arms and then gave a bared