Vortex incursion, p.40
Vortex Incursion, page 40
Cordelia gazed at her commanders and advisors, waiting for those who must have considered a gamut of strategies.
Cordelia’s mouth quirked at the reference to Alex’s games and his manner of speaking.
Cordelia considered the advice she’d received. By her estimation, the outpost fleets that were coming were still nearly six to nine months away. That was too much time to give the Krackus fleet at Helgart.
31: Choices Offered
KRACKUS WORMHOLE
KILMER-HELGART SPACE
Cordelia requested the presence of Z and Miranda for a private conference. In typical SADE fashion, the trio stood facing one another, while they communicated via their comms.
Cordelia replied.
Z and Miranda briefly communed. They’d detected the subtle shifts in Cordelia’s persona that indicated a different path from that of her partner. Or, better said, Cordelia had reverted to a hierarchical organization that had made her an effective admiral.
As a rear admiral, Cordelia had been responsible for the massive city-ship, Freedom, and the multitude of humans who serviced the vessel. In addition, the freighters that accompanied the fleet were under her protection. To accomplish the task, the city-ship’s multilevel bays were filled with travelers and piloted by combat-experienced officers. Finally, the city-ship’s mid-level was surrounded by powerful twin retractable beam weapons.
As ticks of time passed, Cordelia became hopeful that the protectors would join her efforts.
Immediately, Cordelia wiped that option from her list. It had been her first choice. Miranda’s response also eliminated other active fleet positions. She was left with two opportunities.
Cordelia laughed. Her duties had taken her deep into the outpost’s administrative work, and she’d missed the opportunities to be part of the protectors’ worlds.
The protectors loosed twin blaring horns.
Cordelia grinned at her companions. Then she sent,
Cordelia had reservations about the suited figures being involved in dangerous ground encounters, but two thoughts kept her from voicing her concerns. First, Z and Miranda had acquiesced to becoming her advisors, which was a win in itself. Second, the protectors were known to have the more accurate views of the future when it related to long-term dangers.
Cordelia couldn’t help but be reminded of the time Z and Miranda had sacrificed their existence to prevent an assassination of Alex, Renée, and Julien on Méridien. Backup copies stashed aboard the Freedom and a relay of their kernels’ statuses until the moment of destruction had restored them.
The protectors received two org charts. The first had the present captains and senior commanders with their ship assignments. The second chart had reorganized the fleet.
When no comment was forthcoming from the protectors, Cordelia realized that, as the admiral, it was her duty to request opinions from her advisors.
Within less than a minute, Cordelia received her second chart. Individuals were coded as red, yellow, or blue. The applied legend told her that red designated a poor choice. The yellow meant the candidate was marginally acceptable, and blue approved the change.
Unfortunately, for Cordelia, most of her chart was red or yellow.
Immediately, Cordelia received a chart update. The majority of the individuals were blue. Yellow occupied a significant section, and the red was minimalized.
Miranda understood the unasked question. She replied,
Miranda and Z chuckled.
Z added Senior Captain Mendes to their conference.
Captain Mendes observed the Vivian’s Reflection detect the launch of a huge missile barrage. He could see the extent of the Krackus numerous battleships. Shock rippled through him, as he watched the scout ship hurtle toward the oncoming destruction. That the scouts chose to evade the missiles to sweep within meters of a battleship perplexed him.
Cordelia noticed that the captain was quiet when the vids finished playing.
Mendes replied,
The approach for subsequent calls was modified. The opening dialog and the vid presentation were the same. However, when the commander, who Z and Miranda had coded red, volunteered a subordinate, Cordelia asked the commander how the change in positions should be presented. By and large, the commanders volunteered to make the announcements themselves.
As one commander explained,
When Cordelia finished the calls, she entered the changes in the ship’s database. Then she crafted a message with the new org chart attached and sent it fleetwide. The message included her announcement about her new advisors and a link to Z’s shortened vids of the scouts’ encounter with the Krackus battleships.
Miranda eyed her partner, who grinned at her.
Cordelia smiled at the pair. Their bond was as strong as that of Julien and hers.
Miranda added.
Cordelia mused.
Cordelia surmised.
Cordelia finalized the fleet’s reorganization and met several times with her new commanders.
As for Kilmer, she spoke frequently with Captain Dorsa mya Jaknas. With Captain Gistamia assigned to the Freedom, Dorsa was solely in charge of Kilmer.
Dorsa’s request mirrored those of Cordelia’s new advisors. Many times, in the past few days, the protectors’ advice had proven invaluable, and she’d thanked the stars for their presence.
On Cordelia’s command, the Quadrants, except for the Nyslara, the carriers, and the freighters exited the fleet and headed for stations high above Kilmer.
This was the part of the incursion that Cordelia had disliked considering. She’d envisioned a single line of fleet ships exiting the Krackus anomaly, only to be destroyed by multiple barrages of missiles launched by rows of peacekeepers guarding the anomaly.
Once again, Cordelia was volunteered several means by which the fleet would be ensured easier, if not safer, passage through the anomaly into the Helgart space. The source had been the protectors. She’d come to think that Z and Miranda were channeling Alex.
The Nyslara was the only nonfighting ship to remain with the fleet. It was the first ship in the line. Behind it, the Tridents stretched out in single file.
The Nyslara’s bridge was crowded with the operational crew, Nira Racine, Cordelia, the protectors, and the Tritiums, who had insisted on watching the event unfold.
Z stood like a tree, with his avatar locked. His upper arms were extended to the sides and parallel to the deck. The forearms reached upward like branches. Sitting comfortably on each branch were the Tritium triplets. From their perches, they had excellent views of the proceedings.
On Nira’s command, the Nyslara shot forward, accelerating quickly. There was time to gain significant velocity before the clamshell doors closed over the engines and the ship disappeared into the anomaly.
Behind the Nyslara, the Tridents’ engines were already online, and Cordelia’s master chronometer counted down each launch.
On the Helgart side, Korvath spotted the vortex’s energy pulse before his telemetry officer, who, bored stiff, had nodded off at his post.
“Vortex flare,” Korvath announced loudly, intending to inform his imperator and wake his bridge officers.
Moments later, a smooth-shelled ship leapt from the vortex mouth.
“Estimate of the ship type, Declinator,” Gretren demanded.
Korvath replied, “Imperator, this one is similar to the first alien ship we saw. Although, it’s larger than that one. No telling if this ship has an energy weapon like the small ship.”
“The alien ship isn’t decelerating,” the telemetry officer announced.
Gretren’s fleet comm tweeted, and he touched the panel on his command chair.
Cordelia and the protectors had chosen to launch during the Krackus fleet’s first duty rotations. They wanted the primary commanders on station.
“What’s happening, Imperator Gretren?” Fleet Imperator Deckus asked. “The inquisitor had been told of the vortex’s energy spike.”
“A sizable alien vessel has exited the vortex,” Gretren reported. “It isn’t halting.”
“Give chase,” Deckus ordered.
Gretren caught Korvath’s surprised look, and he held up a hand to forestall his declinator’s comment. “Imperator Deckus, is that wise? This could be a provocation, and we don’t understand the strategy.”
