Alpha One - Chris Burton [98]
“I will deploy a battle cruiser to ensure that the AUSWAS ship is kept out of harm’s way. You won’t see any trouble from him.”
“Thank you Admiral. That will make our lives easier. We will stand down until your report confirms that the threat from the sect has been alleviated.”
Shenke thanked Cameron and closed the comm link. He paused briefly before opening a new comm link.
“Commander Hoskins, I have a special job for you. I need you to locate the AUSWAS ship and prevent it from impacting on the mission. Use any force necessary.”
Hoskins was in his ready room. He was glad to take the opportunity to remove the Halo from the fleet. Fleet cohesion was stifling and you never felt in command of your own destiny. Even in battle, he felt controlled; he was briefly on his own and in command of his ship and its destiny once again. The AUSWAS ship didn’t present too much of an obstacle. Scanning revealed their weapons potential, but he thought it unlikely they would be used. They were political in their stance, and were here to use persuasion to prevent an action, not be active participants. He doubted whether any exchange of weaponry would even be required, but he remained cautious to the possibility of conflict.
His first officer entered the ready room, with a smile on his face. “The AUSWAS ship appears to be under the command of a Professor Winterburn, who is the founder of the Collective. The Collective are an antagonistic pressure group, whose sympathies lie deeply with the Betanica Sect. They want only to stop us from opening the wormhole; this should be a walk in the park. I would imagine that morale is good aboard the ship now that we have left the fleet.”
“It’s probably only temporary. You say, you would imagine; aren’t your ears close to the ground at present, Commander? Do you sources affirm your instinct?”
“No, not yet, but I am sure they will. I guess we are hoping that, by the time we rejoin the fleet, the Sect threat will be destroyed and, hopefully, Rose will have secured victory against the Sentinels.”
“Don’t be so sure, and don’t rule out any potential difficulties with the AUSWAS ship. These types of people can be just as awkward to deal with as our enemies.”
Shenke identified the whereabouts of all one hundred fifty Sect Ships and began to split his fleet tactically. He dispersed the Halo 7 to shadow the AUSWAS ship. He looked to spread his fleet as widely as possible, while still leaving a core element to assist the Odysseus project. He only had fifty ships, making this awkward. He decided he needed a core of ten vessels to help protect the project and about twenty-five to spread out and ensure complete coverage of the system. The others would remain on standby, pending further orders, to ensure the Sentinels didn’t try to attack from outside the system. He knew the Nexus ship could not commence its operation until he had secured the system, and it was with this thought that he opened another channel to Doctor Cameron.
“Dr. Cameron, I presume that you are in place, pending our advancements?“
“Yes, we need you active and neutralizing the Sect threat. What level of deterrent are you preparing to use?”
“We won’t be nuking them, if that’s what you mean. They will be more than a pushover, but we will use fairly conventional weaponry. I will advise you myself when I am certain that we have achieved our aim.” With that, he hung up and commenced his personal log.
* * * *
The AUSWAS ship knew it was being followed and Winterburn approved of the ship that Alpha had recruited to do the job. They are taking us seriously, he thought. He did, though, have no intention of allowing Alpha or anyone else to interrupt his personal position on this. The Collective would ensure they were placed in the right position to influence proceedings, and he would be the center of all that occurred. Winterburn ordered a direct course for the wormhole, and the AUSWAS vessel moved slowly forward. He knew Alpha would first clear a safe route to allow the Nexus scientists to do their job.
Chapter Forty-Three