the agent network on Shepard. Alistair turned over his report and the detailed information on the suspects. The team spent an hour on Alistair’s ship, reviewing the data and planning their raids.
Alistair asked the team leader not to start the raids until they received the go signal from him personally. That would signify that the courier ship had launched from Earth and was out of contact with a network node.
The Vigilant would track the courier ship until it showed them the exfiltration route into K’Rang space. At that time, the Vigilant would destroy the courier ship before it could escape across the frontier.
Concluding the briefing, Alistair hurried them off and fired up his ship to pursue the courier ship to Gagarin.
H’Topa reviewed procedures for collection on Gagarin. The landings were at one of five minor spaceports, chosen at random. He reviewed info on the spaceports, saw no difference between them, and picked the last one according to the Human alphabet. He was heartened to hear from the captain that no ships left orbit behind them. He also did a 360-degree maximum range scan and found nothing but routine intrastellar traffic.
H’Topa liked this captain. His quiet assurance calmed H’Topa’s nerves. Yes, the scout ship yesterday was probably just a coincidence, but the stakes here were too high to trust to luck. Their successful return to G’Durin would ensure the security of the K’Rang Empire and take away a significant Human advantage, not to mention keeping a certain two Shadow Warriors alive.
Kelly conferred with Chief Johnson in the sensor section on the best way to close on Gagarin without the K’Rang ship detecting them. After their close pass at Shepard, the K’Rang would spook if they showed up again. Chief Johnson recommended lying off 300,000 km as they were now and letting Alistair do the orbital surveillance.
“Nothing says the K’Rang can’t tap into the planet arrival registry and pull us up if we get close enough to be interrogated and registered, even if we just go to Gagarin Station.”
Kelly saw the logic and agreed to hang back, keeping the ship in sensor range, but moving them laterally so they were parallel to the flight path to Gagarin. “Just because we assume he’ll make a collection run to Earth next doesn’t mean the K’Rang have agreed with us,” he thought.
Kelly returned to the bridge and tracked the courier ship. After some time of very little going on, he zoned out, and started back to the present when Connie leaned over his shoulder and said, “Captain, you should get some rest. It’s going to be three days to Gagarin, tagging along at this courier ship’s speed.”
Kelly agreed, turned the conn over to her, and turned in.
Alistair pushed the throttle forward and made a broad sweep around the courier ship on its port side, maneuvering to stay out of sensor range, and reach Gagarin before them. He had to confer with the special CI team before the courier ship arrived. He needed them to be very careful not to divulge their presence or be seen by the chief security officer before taking down the Gagarin network. They would not be able to advise the security office, as the special team would be arresting their boss and receptionist. This should have been obvious from the report, but Alistair liked being sure everyone understood what was expected.
Alistair’s status as a Fleet Reporting Officer gave him certain privileges and authorities. One privilege was a special code that allowed his ship to have unimpeded access to any world in the Galactic Republic with no questions, no entry or landing fees and no record of his arrival or departure. He also had a nominal equivalent rank of brigadier general and special authority to task any Fleet or Fleet Intelligence or counterintelligence unit he needed to help accomplish his mission. Alistair normally never needed these authorities and he used them sparingly. He knew from experience that the more people involved, the harder operational security became.
Alistair pushed past the courier ship some 350,000 km to his starboard and arrived in Gagarin two days before it. He conferred with the special CI team chief and ensured he understood not to spring the trap until the courier ship left Earth and they had been given the go signal from Alistair. The team chief acknowledged his instructions and left the meeting to coordinate support from the local CI office and the Special Ops School. They would be trying to arrest 12 people in ten locations, eleven if Bart and Silke weren’t together.
Coordination completed, Alistair positioned his ship in geosynchronous orbit above the Gagarin Research Facility and waited.
H’Topa sent the signal for the transport specialist to deliver his package to the ship at the Whispering Pines Spaceport on the northwest side of Star City. He gave the transporter a simple code phrase to use to identify him. The transport specialist was told to be prompt, as they would not remain on the ground for more than an hour.
The transporter acknowledged receipt of his instructions and put his material in proper order for the transfer. He filled out a shipping receipt, listing all the included packages by code name and sequence number. He had quite a bundle to pass. He was also hoping they would pass back a larger than normal package his way. His wife’s brother was spending his credits almost faster than he could earn it. If the bum didn’t get a job soon he was getting thrown out the door, no matter what his wife said. She could follow her brother out the door, if she objected this time.
At the appointed hour, after the cloak of darkness had settled over the spaceport, H’Topa ordered the ship down to the surface. He thought that this delivery would provide him the complete data on the rings he had been seeking. This Gagarin delivery should be a complete copy of the plans from the Blake’s safe, in their special language. The earlier acquired second segment of the design plan received on Shepard, written in galactic standard language, should give the Imperial Analytical Cabal a key to translate the other two segments. H’Topa just had to collect this package and one more on Earth, and he would have all the info necessary to construct a transporter ring.
The courier ship descended through the night sky and was directed to a parking space on the operations apron. The transporter met them promptly at the assigned time, gave the code phrase, and passed the package over. A package was handed back to the transporter and the gangplank started coming up as the engines wound up. The transporter quickly moved away as the crimson ship leapt back into the sky.
H’Topa opened the package and verified the contents. An entire copy of the plans, in the Blakes’ special language, was in there and as described. He locked the packages in the ship’s safe and ordered the ship to their final pick up on Earth.
Alistair watched the courier ship start its flight up through the atmosphere as he boosted out of orbit toward Earth, ahead of the courier ship. He headed off at an angle away from Gagarin for 400,000 km before increasing speed and heading straight for Earth. That should be sufficient to not appear suspicious on the courier ship’s sensor, if they could pick him up at all. The Vigilant was on a parallel course and slightly behind the K’Rang ship. If the K’Rang ship did not go to Earth as predicted, they were in position to intercept and destroy. The K’Rang courier ship must not be allowed to enter K’Rang space.
Kelly watched the courier ship on his monitor. It was making a beeline for Earth. He wasn’t letting down his guard, but he was confident that was the K’Rang’s current destination. Kelly turned the conn over to Chief B and turned in for a few hours.
As he laid on his bunk waiting for sleep, his thoughts drifted back to his last day on Earth, his graduation from the Academy. He wore his Summer White Defense Academy uniform with a forest green stripe down the leg, signifying accession into Fighter Force. He had flight wings on his chest, showing he had qualified on the F-11 Atmospheric Fighter Trainer. He was fulfilling his dream of joining Fighter Force.
He sat through the speeches and the interminable roll call to receive his diploma and another long wait to receive his commission. He stood with his classmates as they all swore the oath to defend the Constitution of the Galactic Republic. At the final word of the oath, they were officially dismissed from the Academy and their hats soared high into the air.
He was a brand new second lieutenant in Fighter Force. His classmates shook his hand, hugged him, and a few females kissed him. He had only a short time to meet with his parents, then at 1900 hours would board a shuttle to the transport ship leaving for Gagarin. His parents were disappointed that they didn’t get much of a visit with him, but the ship had to leave that evening, to deliver them all to their branch courses on time.
The Galactic Republic Transport Ship Admiral Donald B. Hanson was a purpose-built ship, specifically designed to carry ground force troops from home station to where they were needed. It was one of five such ships
