Free Nu Trilogy 1: The Esss Advance by Charles E. Waugh

Lockheed Lunar compound, his mind went back to the incident with the pirates hired by the Chinese to steal UAMC’s ore barges. Based upon the trajectory of the barges when they were discovered, Captain Landsted surmised that their destination was the L4 Lagrange point in Earth’s solar orbit. Since the Chinese had established a major colony at L4 to bleed off population pressure on Earth, it was a good bet that the mined ore was headed directly into Chinese hands.
     
    Because the ore being hijacked was from the platinum group, it was obvious to everyone aboard the USpN Charger that the Chinese were back up to their old tricks of flaunting the C8 and building warships at a shipyard hidden amongst the many peaceful population platforms at L4. There was probably no better place to hide a shipyard and all the personnel required to operate it than right within a high-density space colony.
     
    When Captain Landsted submitted his preliminary report to Space Navy headquarters on the C8 platform orbiting Earth, he was directed to continue the investigation at the L4 source. The Admiralty promised a backup force would be dispatched directly in support of this mission in case trouble arose with the Chinese colony. Meanwhile, naval intelligence was tasked with uncovering anomalies in the delivery of all materiel to the colony over the past twenty-four months. What they found was eye-opening. Their intelligence report back to the USpN Charger set the stage for the upcoming encounter.
     
    Sted remembered the day of inspection like it was yesterday.
     
    “ Northern Song , this is USpN Charger inbound for an unscheduled inspection of your facilities. Please acknowledge and prepare for a shuttle inspection party to dock at cargo bay three in fifteen minutes,” Captain Mark Landsted said. “Lieutenant Adams, open a line to Shuttle I. ”
     
    “ USpN Charger , this is Northern Song acknowledging receipt of your request for docking in cargo bay three. Please note that cargo bay three is not available. The bay doors are currently inoperable and under reconstruction after failing maintenance check. Please have your shuttle routed to passenger bay seven, where we will have a team waiting to assist you in your inspection.”
     
    “Commander Richardson, that intelligence report was very specific that the last shipment of control components arrived at cargo bay three. How would you suggest we gain access to that area?” Landsted asked.
     
    “Sir, we should send the shuttle to passenger bay seven but drop a squad of marines over cargo bay three as we transit the colony,” Sted replied. “Their full battle gear won’t show up on the Chinese radar, so the first indication we have arrived will be when we knock ever so gently on their door with a thermite breaching ring. We can have the squad into the bay and contain the breach in less than three minutes, according to Lieutenant Gomez.”
     
    “Very good, Commander. Shuttle I, you are cleared for docking at passenger bay seven. Keep your squad of marines on board until the general alarm sounds aboard the colony. That will mean we have breached the cargo bay. At that point, deploy the marines to protect the inspection party and to keep the passenger bay clear for your departure.”
     
    He pressed another button on his console. “ Northern Song , this is Captain Mark Landsted. We acknowledge cargo bay three is unavailable. Our shuttle will be directed to passenger bay seven. Commander Kim Cho will be leading the six-man inspection team.”
     
    He turned to Sted and motioned him over for a private conference. Sted pushed off from his station and caught hold of the back of the captain’s chair with practiced precision. He hooked his belt tie-down to the tie-down ring on the chair and looked at Captain Landsted in anticipation of further orders.
     
    “Sted, I want you to suit up and follow Gomez’s squad down to the cargo bay. Coordinate with Gomez so you arrive just after the breach.