Star Clusters: New Arrivals by Dalo Lorn

Author:Dalo Lorn
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Art Plus
Published: 2015-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The Gambit

D’fal Woren carefully monitored the status displays; sixteen hours before Poteran’s planned arrival, they had just reached the Petran system and were cleared to dock at the orbital shipyards near Hemreus. While the Ivory Eagle dropped out of hyperspace at Aphis, heading into the Arcamil’s trap, Woren nervously analyzed everything, trying to find a sign - anything that would tell him if their trick had worked. His ship, the light cruiser Klern, gently moved into position. The die was cast.

“No hostile activity, sir,” the Klern’s tactical officer reported. “If they’re on to us, they’re waiting for something.”

“I suppose we’ll have to wait, then. You all know your orders; carry them out, but don’t risk getting caught until the attack begins.”

The docking arms extended from the shipyard, grabbing the Klern and blending seamlessly with its hull. What damage it had taken during the battle for Lieproi started to regenerate more rapidly; instead of having to rely on cannibalizing less important sections and any usable matter that may have clung to the hull, the ship could draw upon the station’s reserves to repair itself until it was once again in perfect condition. The rest of Woren’s small group had already docked with other shipyards and were also being repaired and refueled in the small planet’s shadow. In the vicinity, the Petrans were already hard at work rebuilding their hyperspace disruptor, but as Woren had hoped, there was but a token defense force - similar to the Terran militias - protecting their homeworld from hostile forces. True, this fleet was also aided by the heavy weapons platforms orbiting Petra and Hemreus, but if the plan worked, those would not be a problem.

Everyone in the fleet would do their best to get into positions from where they could sabotage key military assets such as the larger warships, Petra’s weapon platforms, vital military bases throughout Petra, and most importantly, the defenses around Poteran’s primary targets: one of the broadcast towers for the Petran news network, and the High Council chambers themselves. If too many operations failed, Poteran would jump into a deathtrap.

Woren went into the nearest turbolift, heading towards one of the docking arms to disembark; once at the dock, he hoped to board one of the shuttles leaving for Petra. To his great relief, nobody tried to stop him, much less arrest him, and an hour later, his shuttle landed safely in the starport of Petra’s capital city, Melraas. A metropolis dwarfing even the largest cities on Earth, Melraas owed its size to the landscape as much as modern technology. Being situated on the largest island on the planet, the city had more space to expand before growing into the ocean, at which point the Petrans’ advanced construction methods took over. The greatest testament to their ability to build aquatic cities - both above and below the surface - was that Melraas’ aquatic section was larger than the land-based one.

As he disembarked from the shuttle, Woren was intercepted by a Petran lieutenant. “Captain Woren?” he inquired.

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