Starship Vengeance

Chapter 33

I was busy studying Admiral Rodrigues' battle report for the third time. The changes the Zrynt were exhibiting were more than disturbing. My quiet solitude was intruded upon by Lt. Sanchez. "Admiral, we have received a priority one message from Dunamis."

"Send it to my office," I replied.

There was a hiss as my office door sealed and the lights dimmed. The report I was studying vanished. A quick retinal scan was taken and my computer began working on decrypting the message.

A still image of Lisa appeared as the recording waited for my input to begin. "Admiral Ryan," Lisa said in a very formal manner, "it has come to our attention that a sizable Zrynt force is making its way towards Dunamis. They will arrive within the week. All scans show no presence of a Zrynt Lord, but there are anomalies in the ship count that we can't explain. We are recalling your fleet effective immediately. We have a small contingency of ships that were completed after you left, but it isn't enough to take on a fleet of this magnitude. The Nyth'La'Kell and Tuleeriri have pledged what little support they have. All intel we were able to gather has been included, as well as the anticipated intercept area. Good luck Admiral Ryan."

The recording disappeared and left copious amounts of data in its place. I saved all the data and unsealed the room. "Lt. Sanchez," I said after connecting to the bridge.

"Yes admiral?"

"Cease all military activities and recall all ships. Prepare the ship for long haul jumps."

"Yes sir. What would you like me to tell the other fleets out here?"

"Tell them we have urgent business to attend to and will return to aid in the search as soon as possible. I'm sending our destination directly into the navigational computers. I want us underway within the hour."

The room sealed again as I accessed the saved files. The amount of secrecy involved baffled me, but I wasn't about to ignore protocol just because I didn't understand my orders. I compartmentalized the data and sent each group only what was necessary to do their jobs along with a strict need to know policy. By the time I had finished, we were already on our way.

Traveling was much quicker with just a single ship to worry about. The engine crew was up in arms, but we had made the trip in just less than two days. The system we arrived in had three first generation battle stations. They were placed in defensive positions around the subspace exit the Zrynt were supposedly going to appear out of. I had been question repeatedly why the Zrynt were going to attack here, but I was as clueless as anyone. We were just outside the effective area of the subspace inhibitor. One speculation was the Zrynt intended to use this location as a forward base to assault Dunamis. Something told me the reason for the target was more about what we weren't seeing.

A frigate and several smaller Tuleeririan craft arrived later that day, along with a mostly completed heavy destroyer and two battleships from the Nyth'La'Kell. I had sent briefings regarding the new Zrynt ships while in transit, so those were priority one. I didn't place much faith in the outdated battle stations, but they would help keep the fighter population down.

Since we had arrived earlier than planned, it gave me the opportunity to scout the system. Apparently, this system was unique, as it had two subspace entrances that joined just beyond the edge of the star system. I read a proposal to build a research facility in this system, but the idea was quickly rejected based on its location.

The scouts were on their way back to the ship when the found it. Several of the fighters got close enough to scratch the paint. The only thing that saved those pilots from slamming into the cloaked station was a warning that was sent out at the last moment. The station quickly vanished afterward. I had a feeling that the mysterious vanishing station had something to do with the Zrynt's sudden offense. There were definitely secrets being kept.