Fleet Action (wc-3) William Forstchen (fox in socks read aloud .txt) 📖

2778A on moon of nak'tara from primary strike list Accident has destroyed target, . . ." there were several lines untranslated . . . "shortage in antimatter weapons produced from 2778A expected, will update."

Jason looked back up at Vance.

"They took the bait. We broadcast the false message on a code we knew they had already cracked. Their listening post, most likely right in their embassy office picked it up and passed it back to Kilrah. Nak'tara means Earth. It means that whatever it is they're preparing out there in Hari is being aimed for an attack straight at Earth. Damn it, the bastards are getting ready to strike."

Jason leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes for a moment. He could understand the elation of Vance's crew. Their job was to get information and they had just pulled out a gold nugget of information unlike anything found in years. They had reason to celebrate. But it meant as well that the armistice was nothing more than a sham. Though he had assumed it to be so from the beginning, there had always been a small part of him that had hoped against hope that maybe the peace was real after all. This was a dark proof that shattered the dream.

Damn all of them, the Kilrathi, the political leaders back home that had led them into this fix, damn all of them.

"Think we should lift off and get the hell out of here?" Jason asked. "We could punch our way through the picket screen.

Vance shook his head.

"And bring back what? One partially decoded message as proof. The peace party crowd would say it was cooked up to restart the war. A lone burst signal does not an ironclad case make."

"They could be moving at any time now. We should be alerting ConFleet, they'll believe us."

"Son, ConFleet will believe us, but they're the only ones. You've got to remember this as well. We don't exist as far as the government is concerned. There aren't more than half a dozen people off this ship who even know we're out here. How do you think it'd be presented if we go rushing back home and stand up to announce that we parked this ship clear on the other side of the Empire in clear violation of the armistice? The real truth of what we found would be lost in the screaming and protests not only from the Kilrathi but from some of our own people as well. It'd also blow the cover on this D-5 system. That's one of the problems with intelligence. If we make public what we've found, the Kilrathi will figure out just how capable our surveillance is and change their procedures and it might be years before we can break it back down again."

Jason nodded. They'd need something hard, clearly recorded visuals, and even then some people would claim it was a fake out. Hell, the Kilrathi would most likely have to start kicking down the front door before anyone would act.

"So we just sit here and wait."

"Too bad this planet screens us from your friend Paladin. Maybe he might have something by now," Vance replied. "Hell, we're stuck here, unable to move and one ship out to scout. I doubt if he's even got within a hundred light years of their base."

* * *

Standing up to stretch, Prince Thrakhath growled softly as he continued to look at the screen which showed the latest intelligence report.

The intelligence report from Jukaga matched that of what his own military chain of command had stated. Jukaga most likely knew that Thrakhath had his own lines of communications, and since the incident took place within a military command district he would find out about it almost immediately.

Someone, almost undoubtedly from the Confederation, had penetrated right into the very system where the new fleet was being constructed. The translight radar sweep could only have been done by a very well outfitted spy ship, as no smuggler could afford to carry such equipment. Beyond that, the ship had been using Stealth masking. The fact that the humans had either learned the secret of Stealthing or captured such equipment was stunning. They were on to something. The question now was whether the information had gotten back to the Confederation and their fleet command. No burst signal could possibly cross such a distance. The spy ship had sent out three burst signals so far, all of them aimed towards the Paghk System, where a suspected ship was still being hunted. But no burst signal had come from that system to relay the message on.

No, Confleet did not yet know.

He turned to a holo projection, ordering up a map of the Paghk system, and then ordered a projection of jump lines and systems back to where the spy ship had been sighted. Next he ordered in a display of where the spy was now located, the position of ships in pursuit and where nearby ships might be located to move in to aid the chase. Finally he ordered a projection of jump lines from the Paghk system back towards the Confederation ship.

The holo field was a maze of blue lines, blinking lights representing ships, and steady yellow lights representing the array of stars which were terminus points for the jump lines.

He studied it intently, shifting, moving in the focus, calling up more data, formulating plans, then shifting the field yet again to examine another part, a side screen scrolling out data on the various ships available.

Yet this was no simple intercept operation. There was a political consideration as well, involving Jukaga, and just what he might be doing in regards to this new situation. As he studied the holo projection Thrakhath developed his plan.

He was interrupted by a paging call. It was the Emperor on an open line.

"It is time that we leave for the ceremony," the Emperor said and then clicked off.

CHAPTER EIGHT

"We've picked up a threefold increase in signal traffic within the last six hours, chief."

Vance