Fatal flaws gate ghosts.., p.31
Fatal Flaws (Gate Ghosts Book 13), page 31
As the palladon’s conference got started, Urgurth and his flagship captain hatched their plan.
“This operation depends on how many captains we can recruit,” Urgurth pointed out.
“I know that I can convince the two first officers I worked with planetside,” the captain said. “Beyond that, I’m not sure who else we can trust.”
“That’s why the story has to be solid,” Urgurth argued. “You and I know our careers are at an end and worse waits for us if we have to face the council. We must convince the other captains that the supreme commander is in danger and we’re sailing to free him.”
“There’s only the one conclave tri-hull,” the captain said. “If we can get two other ships to join us, I think we can destroy it. However, we’d need the other three warships to stand down.”
“That’s only half the job,” Urgurth said. “We have to make sure that Ugurter can’t return to his warship. The only choice he’ll have will be to force him to take a shuttle to my ship.”
“So, we’re taking out one tri-hull and one Utilimat warship?” the captain inquired, hoping he may have heard wrong.
“That’s the only way that this works,” Urgurth emphasized.
“Then we need all six of our ships,” the captain declared. “That’s how to ensure we’re successful.”
“I know two captains who’ll be dubious of anything we propose,” Urgurth reasoned. “We must find a way to accomplish our intentions with fewer ships.”
“What about intercepting the conclave shuttle?” the captain asked.
“A highly maneuverable fighter? That will be impossible,” Urgurth replied.
“How much time do you think we have until a decision is reached planetside?” the captain asked.
“That’s if they can come to a decision,” Urgurth retorted. “With fortune, the Freiots will insult Commander Ugurter, and he’ll return to his ship.”
In the Freiot conference room, Ugurter said, “We received two conflicting messages. One was from you, Palladon Guelmer. The other was from Commander Urgurth. We’d like to hear from you.”
“It’s best you hear from the agent who uncovered the collusion,” Guelmer said, indicating Vextra.
“So much for maintaining a low profile,” Julien commented softly to Vextra, who thought it was humorous.
As Vextra spoke, Julien located her data files on the ministries’ servers, and he augmented her narrative with visuals.
The first time Vextra saw an image sprout from Julien’s hand, she regarded him for a few seconds. “There doesn’t seem to be much that your avatar doesn’t do,” she remarked, to which Julien shrugged.
By the time Vextra finished, Guelmer was gazing at Ugurter, inviting him to speak.
“I’ve already spoken to Commander Urgurth, who admitted what he did,” Ugurter said. “I think he believed I would have thought him a clever manipulator who merely got caught.”
“Are those your thoughts, Commander?” Soiter asked.
“No,” Ugurter replied. “The commander is in breach of Utilimat protocols, which forbids any officer from entering into agreements with Freiot citizens to exchange information, without proper notification of the legal Freiot departments.”
“Now what happens?” Fetler asked.
“That’s why my associates and I are here,” Ugurter replied. “With Councilor Ohmjess, my two command officers, and me, you’re looking at nearly half the Utilimat council.”
It took a moment for the Freiots to recognize Ugurter’s implication.
“The council can’t act in your absence, as it can’t field a quorum,” Carthal volunteered.
“That’s correct,” Ugurter replied.
“So, you have an ulterior motive for coming here with three other councilors,” Vextra said, leaning her forearms on the table and gazing at Ugurter.
“Perceptive of you, Agent,” Ugurter said. “Yes, I do have a secondary motive for our presence. Julien began this meeting with a story about the Tekstria. Before I sailed to the Yeret planet, I visited the Monkfred worlds, and I was properly educated by a SADE named Lesling.”
“Ouch,” Fetler interjected. “I bet that hurt.”
“Only my pride, but I recovered,” Ugurter replied, chuckling at the memory. “By the time I arrived at the Yeret world, I’d adopted an entirely different attitude about the nature of Utilimat relationships with the other three local races and the conclave.”
“What is your new attitude, Commander?” Guelmer asked.
“That the Utilimat council has steered a course for our race that can’t be maintained,” Ugurter replied.
“And what would you suggest should be the Utilimats’ new course?” Soiter inquired.
“I can’t describe a direct path to the goals I’d like,” Ugurter replied. “In my estimation, it’ll be a tortuous path. However, one of the goals would see the defense agreements retracted. We would work with the conclave to support the Freiots and the Yerets and manage the Monkfreds toward whatever technological lifestyle they might wish to adopt.”
“Is that all?” Guelmer asked incredulously.
Ugurter chuckled. “Admittedly, that future won’t be easy to obtain,” he replied. “I can think of one other item to add to my list. We would need a new defense agreement.” When he saw the Freiots express dubiousness, he quickly added, “An encompassing agreement that states we would come to the aid of our allies if anyone of us encountered aggressive forces.”
“An impressive list of goals,” Fetler acknowledged. “How do you intend to go about achieving it?”
“I think we’ve a start right here,” Ugurter replied.
Vextra hissed in anticipation, which drew her audience’s attention. “The local Utilimat commander has violated the defense agreement,” she reasoned. “The supreme councilor requested you sail here to sort this out. He is of the opinion that you will smooth things over and solidify the agreement. But that’s not what you intend.”
The Utilimats, except for Ugurter, eyed Vextra and then swung their heads toward the supreme commander. Seeing the commander smiling, they knew the Freiot’s analysis had been correct.
“And your title is merely independent agent?” Ohmjess queried Vextra.
“That’s all that’s necessary,” Vextra replied.
“Palladon, you should hire her,” a Utilimat command officer commented.
“We tried unsuccessfully to do just that,” Guelmer admitted.
“Ugurter, we’re prepared to deal with the Freiots who violated the agreement,” Guelmer said. “How do you propose to manage your local commander and his three officers?”
“Trouble,” Julien said clearly, which silenced the conversation. He produced a wire diagram of the local space around the home world. “From the time we arrived, the six Utilimat warships remained on station. That’s no longer true.”
“What do you know, Julien?” Ugurter quickly queried.
“Articus reports that three warships are underway,” Julien replied.
More questions came Julien’s way, but he held up a hand and pointed toward the wire diagram. It was a reminder to his audience that they must be patient because they would be observers.
“Commander Ugurter, Articus requests that you make an appeal to your captains to sail their ships away from the home world to indicate that they’re willing to follow your orders,” Julien said.
Having worked closely with SADEs, Ugurter immediately responded. “This is Supreme Commander Ugurter. I need to identify captains who will be loyal to my directives. If you are one of those captains, then make for clear areas far away from the Freiot home world. Do it now.”
Articus received Julien’s transmission of Ugurter’s statements. He broadcast the transmission through the warship adjacent to his Trident to the other ships. The message was repeated a total of three times.
On the planet, the audience watched the Utilimat warships take different courses. Three ships maneuvered and made to place distance between themselves and the inhabited planet.
Three other warships closed on Ugurter’s warship and the Trident.
“It appears that Commander Urgurth has made his decision,” Julien quietly commented.
“This is frustrating,” Ugurter remarked.
“What’s the plan, Articus?” Captain Ulkfay queried, as he felt the throb of his warship’s engines. His pilot had pointed at his panel, indicating that their ship was turning and rising above the planet.
“Targeting the single warship might be in our favor,” Ulkfay pointed out.
Ulkfay’s bridge officers regarded him with frowns. “A few more details might make everyone on the bridge feel more comfortable,” he replied.
Articus explained.
“Do you need our calculations about a safe distance?” Ulkfay queried.
When Articus realized he’d confused Ulkfay, he relayed the question to Julien, who inquired of Ugurter. The answer was that the local forces wouldn’t carry the dangerous armament.
Articus sent the twin ships arcing out of the planet’s orbit and headed across the face of the attacking warship’s approach. When the adversary came within missile distance, the expected barrage was launched. Immediately, Articus separated from Ulkfay’s ship and made for the lower elliptic.
Having been forewarned, Ulkfay had ordered carousels on his ship to be readied with antimissile defenses. His crews raced to obey the order, but it was a mammoth task to change out the carousels.
Ulkfay’s bridge officers watched the tri-hull desert them. The only thing that gave them hope, as the missiles actively hunted them, was their captain’s calm expression. Little did they know the many anxious thoughts that swept through Ulkfay’s mind.
After clearing the majority of the system’s gravitational pull, Articus executed two quick transits. With a velocity much higher than that of the adversarial warship, the Trident entered the system again and closed on the target’s aft end.
By the time the attacking warship’s first officer was aware of the enemy streaking toward his ship, it was too late. Suddenly, the ship’s systems weren’t under control of the bridge officers.
Articus locked the officers out of their panels, shut down the ship’s main engines, and triggered the destruct signal for the missiles they’d launched.
Ulkfay was seconds away from ordering the launch of his antimissile ordinance when his telemetry officer called out, “Missiles self-destructed.”
Immediately afterward, the pilot said, “Captain, the Trident is closing fast.”
“That won’t work for the pair that’s approaching me,” Ulkfay noted. “The commander and the individual commanding the other ship will separate to approach this ship on different tangents.”
“It’s my opinion that a captain wasn’t in command of the ship you neutralized,” Ulkfay explained. “The officer-in-command lost track of your ship and made no accommodation for your reentry. A captain would have launched his aft missiles in a wide spread and let you return into them.”
“It would explain how Commander Urgurth recruited two other Utilimat warships to assist him,” Ulkfay offered.
“Where am I headed now, Articus?” Ulkfay inquired, as his course changed again.
Ulkfay saw the chronometer appear on the main monitor, and it began to count down. He chuckled because the numerals were in the Utilimat language.
The comm channel went dead, and the bridge officers motioned that they had control.
“You heard our protector,” Ulkfay said. “Make for the dark. Exit soon after entering and reverse course.”
“A formidable strategist,” Soiter commented to his audience when he saw the initial confrontation play out so neatly in the SADE’s favor.
Those in the conference room saw Articus again make for the dark.
The attacking pair discovered they were soon without adversaries.
Urgurth ordered the first officer commanding the other ship to reverse orientation and prepare for a frontal attack.
Articus had anticipated that Commander Urgurth would use his two ships to prevent the same treatment the first warship had received. This was why he chose to make three transits after leaving the system. When he exited the dark for the final time, he came at the pair from on high.
Swiftly identifying Urgurth’s ship, Articus adjusted his Trident’s course to target the other ship. A swift pass at the ship’s aft end destroyed many of the huge warship’s engines.
During the ticks of time that the pass took, Articus interrupted most systems on Urgurth’s ship.
Effectively, Articus had neutralized two warships in a single action.
“That’s it?” Guelmer asked Julien when he saw the three aggressors effectively shut down.
“If we’re forced to fight, we try to end the encounter as quickly as possible and with as few lives lost as possible,” Julien replied.
“Thank you for preserving my crews, Julien,” Ugurter said humbly, which was a comment that Julien relayed to Articus.
Turning to Guelmer, Ugurter said, “I’d like to end this conference and resume it later. At this time, I have to see to whoever was responsible for the attack of these three ships.”
“Certainly, Commander Ugurter,” Guelmer responded.
“Julien, could I request your help in restoring order to the local forces?” Ugurter inquired. When he received Julien’s assent, he turned toward his associates. “Councilor Ohmjess, would you be so kind as to remain here? I’ll require the assistance of my officers.”
“That works for me. I would like to get to know these individuals better,” Ohmjess replied, gesturing toward the Freiots.
With that, Julien, Ugurter, Ojaftah, and the pair of command officers left the conference room and headed for Opal’s traveler.
Vextra regarded Ohmjess and said, “I guess if we had doubts about Commander Ugurter’s sincerity, he certainly proved us wrong.”
“I’ve always known the supreme commander to be a tough and opinionated individual,” Ohmjess replied, laughing softly. “I appreciate that he’s come to his senses about the council’s egregious decisions, and I believe he won’t deviate from his newfound perspective.”
As Ugurter and his officers made their way to Opal’s traveler, the commander inquired, “Julien, may I communicate to the three captains who heeded my request to vacate the combat zone?”
“Stand by,” Julien replied. He relayed the request through the traveler to Articus, who signaled the three warships. When Articus established the conference, Julien said, “Begin, Commander.”
“My thanks to you, the three captains who responded to my request,” Ugurter said. “Three rogue warships have been disabled, one way or the other. We’ve crew to remove from the damaged ship. Sail your vessels there. However, do not board until I arrive and remove the traitor who commanded the ship.”
The traveler made directly for the damaged warship, where the Trident waited.
Julien relayed the message and linked Ugurter to the bridge comm system.
“This is Supreme Commander Ugurter. I require the captain answer my call.”
Julien and Ugurter heard someone coughing, probably from smoke inhalation. “The captain is locked in his cabin,” the voice said. “The first officer commanded us to attack.”
“Where is the first officer?” Ugurter demanded.
“He’s on the deck, Commander, unconscious,” the voice replied.
“State your rank,” Ugurter ordered.
“Pilot,” the voice replied, coughing harshly again.
“Free the captain, Pilot,” Ugurter ordered.
“We’re trying, Commander, but his door panel was destroyed by the first officer,” the pilot replied. “The tools we need are in the engineering space, which is unavailable to us.”
“Pardon me, Ugurter,” Julien said. Then he sent,
“But our captain,” the pilot objected.
“You promise?” the pilot queried.
Ugurter drew breath to chastise the pilot for asking a SADE to promise what he’d just declared.
However, Julien held up a hand to quiet Ugurter, as he replied to the pilot,
When the first two shuttles cleared the warship’s bay, Opal neatly landed the traveler aboard.
