"Wait a minute. Gandy hasn't voted."
"Gandy isn't here."
"Well that's not fair. Are we a democracy or a dictatorship?"
Harris chuckled. "We're neither. And if you don't want to participate you are welcome to sit aside until we can take you back to Domicile."
"You're kicking me out?"
Tawn stood. "Hold on. Nobody is kicking anyone out. We're all valuable members of a team here."
"Not according to Idiot, we aren't. And I'm not talking about the robot."
Harris chuckled again as he raised his hand. "OK. I may have been a little hasty. We all love and respect each other here. Trish, we want you aboard on this. You and Sharvie can be our conscience. Maybe we can figure out a way to stop the mining with a minimal loss of life."
"Or no loss."
Harris nodded. "Or no loss. I don't have any issue with pursuing that so long as it doesn't put us or any other Domers at risk. That would include the freighter crews the colonel will be sending our way."
The discussion continued for just over an hour before Gandy returned.
As he walked into the bunker, Harris threw up his arms. "Finally. What'd you see?"
"It was weird. There was only one warship parked there. The mines were all flooded with people. Scan says close to forty thousand. I saw two ore haulers leaving just in the short time I was there. They are really accelerating the mining down there."
Trish said, "I call for a re-vote now that he's here."
Harris frowned. "Gandy," Harris said, "your crazy sister says we shouldn't attack Eden."
"Why not? They are pulling out that ore and using it to build ships."
"But they aren't directly threatening us. The emperor said they weren't planning to either. I can't see slaughtering all those people just because we fear the risk."
"I get the argument, but this is the Earthers. They hate us now. They hated us before. And they'll hate us in the future. I have to go with Mr. Gruberg on this."
Harris nodded. "Sound reasoning, Gandy. And the lack of ships makes it all the easier. This might be the perfect time to move. With a single warship we don't need the freighters or the colonel's crews. We could take out that ship, Fireburg, and most of those mines in ten or fifteen minutes. Certainly before they could jump any ships in and stop us."
"You're wanting to move on it right now?" Tawn said.
"I think we should."
Trish huffed. "We haven't discussed how we would limit casualties."
"We limit casualties by moving while there's only a single ship protecting it." Harris looked up. "What do you bots think? Idiot?"
"I would have to ask one question."
"And what is that?"
"Why have the Earthers moved their ships away from this all important location?"
Harris sighed. "Easy. They don't think we're a threat after we talked to the emperor. Works perfectly in our favor."
Tawn held up a hand. "Hold on. I'd like to get a better confirmation on the reason myself. What if the Denzee are back?"
Harris shook his head as he scoffed. "They just left. That makes no sense. At 60 percent light speed they would hardly be out of our boson space. They couldn't have gone home, wherever that is, and come back already."
"Who says they went home. Maybe they had a big fleet sitting just out of our space?"
"That's ridiculous. Why would they do that and not attack with the full fleet when they were so easily beating the Earthers? They could have overrun every colony, New Earth, and Domicile given the amount of time they've supposedly been here."
Tawn nodded. "Just the same. I think it would be wise to check."
Harris turned to his bot. "Thanks Idiot."
The bot smiled. "You're welcome, sir."
"I suppose it won't hurt to first jump to Rumanta. But if it's clear, we come back and hit Eden. Agreed?"
Tawn nodded. "Agreed."
"Trish?"
"Sure. Not like my say matters."
Gandy?"
"I'm good with that."
"And Sharvie?"
"I abstain."
Trish scowled. Harris chuckled.
— Chapter 10 —
* * *
The holo-projector was shut down. The Bangor was checked for supplies and boarded by all.
Harris grinned as he strapped himself in. "I can't believe we're finally going to get this done."
"You know they'll just rebuild once we destroy it." Trish said.
"True, but we at least stop production for that time."
The discussion continued as the Bangor zipped out to free space, a journey that now took under fifteen minutes as compared to the usual forty. The Denzee drive technology had made it so. A jump to Rumanta space and a short flight had a scan running.
"Nothing on the nav," Harris said.
Tawn nodded. "Let's move in for a bio scan. Looks like you're right though."
Gandy stood behind the Biomarines, looking over the display. "You think they might have gone straight to Barrier? If they attacked?"
"Harris?" Tawn questioned. "Will only add a half hour to our trip. Eden will still be sitting there."
"And it might have two dozen ships parked there by then."
Tawn nodded. "If so, we go back and evaluate."
"Thought we had a deal?"
"Why are you so set on attacking this instant?"
"Opportunity," said Harris. "We have it. We wait and we could easily lose it."
"Should we vote?"
Harris rolled his eyes. "We voted. What's wrong with you people? We have this."
Tawn stared at her partner.
"Fine. We'll do Barrier first."
A run back to free space was followed by a jump. Ten minutes later, the nav screen was full of ships.
"Whoa," Harris said, "that looks like half the Earther fleet."
Gandy pointed. "Counter says three hundred twenty-two Earther ships. This is an all out war!"
Tawn shook her head. "Forty-four of those Denzee warships. And I count debris from ten new Earth destroyers already. A couple of those may even be cruisers."
Harris took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I owe you all an apology. You were right. And we need Eden producing titanium for the Earthers. Shutting it down would have been a big mistake."
Trish stood beside her brother, with Sharvie looking around her shoulder. "Shouldn't we go and warn the colonel or somebody back home?"
"We will. But first I think you three should strap yourselves in."
"What are you planning?" Tawn asked.
"See that closest warship? I'm taking us in to see if we can disable it's main gun."
"That's one of forty-four."
"I realize that. If we can disable it, I'm hoping it gives them pause and they break off their attack. Would give us time to alert the colonel and maybe get the freighters out here. If we don't do something to try to stop this, it's gonna be a slaughter."
Gandy sat, pulling the strap on his lap belt tight. "We should open a comm portal to the Retreat while we're still here in free space."
Harris nodded. "Good point."
"On it," Tawn said.
Several seconds later, an image of the colonel appeared before them. "Good. Was hoping you'd check in. The new ships are ready for delivery."
"We've got huge problems, Colonel. The Denzee have returned."
"At Rumanta?"
Harris replied, "This time Barrier is under attack. And they've brought more ships. I'm forwarding the nav data to you now."
"I'll alert the crews. They have the minimum of training, but I think they're capable of putting up a good fight."
"We're taking the Bangor in now. I plan to knock out one of those big guns. Hoping in turn they'll pull back to evaluate, giving us time."
"Stand down until we get there, Mr. Gruberg. We have the Hailstorm and the two new ships. All fully up to date. Let us help."
"Can't wait, Colonel. The Earthers are getting slaughtered.
And from the looks of it they brought half their fleet. They lose here it only gets that much harder to stop the Denzee."
"We can be there in forty minutes. Just hold on."
"Too late. I'll keep the comm open and the data streaming so you know what to expect when you get here."
Harris muted his mic. "We go in and draw that near ship out. For the rest of you, make sure those straps are tight. This will get rough. And if we can dodge that main weapon we just might survive."
The Bangor raced forward. As hoped, the near Denzee warship turned out to intercept. Five of the rattle-shape ships followed.
Tawn said, "You going straight in?"
"Monitor the sensors for any indication of those lights going out. I'll make the move to avoid them then. We have the red line on the display we used last time. We're faster now. This should be easier."
A barrage of plasma rounds came their way. The ship jerked and rumbled as some made contact. As they continued forward, the minimal shakes and bumps turned increasingly violent. Five plasma rounds impacted within a fraction of a second of each other. The small craft rocked hard up and down.
Gandy grabbed his jaw. "Gah! Just bit my tongue!"
Sharvie's knuckles turned white as she gripped the armrest beside her. Trish gave a defiant look. She was determined to see the fight through, unfettered by fear.
Tawn said, "Lights are dimming!"
Harris waited several seconds before turning the ship hard right. The disc on the front of the Denzee warship glowed blue-white for several seconds before going dark.
Harris scowled as he looked at the display. "Too soon. We can't make that gap."
He continued the hard turn, bringing the Bangor full circle while maintaining a secure distance. Tawn fired several tungsten rounds in the direction of the Denzee. All were easily dodged given the several seconds of warning provided by their sensors. Two minutes passed before the lights on the warship again went dim.
Harris pushed down on the stick and then hard left. "We got 'em." The disc glowed blue-white for several seconds as Harris again corrected course.
"Hit them with everything you've got, Miss Freely."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Gruberg."
The Bangor closed to within inescapable range before Tawn opened up. Four rounds per second emerged from the twin rails. The hull shielding around and including that of the disc buckled and pushed in. Again no sign of a hull breach was sensed.
Harris flipped the control stick left, aligning the rails with one of the rattle ships. A short burst of rounds from Tawn saw the tube between the spheres ripped in half, the remaining ends slowly spinning off out of control.
A second rattle ship was targeted. Impacts were seen on the forward sphere. Debris filled the space going out from the other side. A second burst ripped away a quarter of the aft sphere. Explosions followed as the Denzee ship fell into a slow flat spin. A third rattle was targeted and destroyed before the remaining two turned back toward their fleet.
Tawn sat back in her chair. "Wasn't so bad."
Harris looked over the display. Let's add a few more dents to that warship."
As the Bangor turned to head in for another shot, the lights on the warship dimmed. Harris cut hard right as the main weapon fired with it's blue-white glow. For several seconds, the underside of the Zwicker class ship heated to nearly a thousand degrees. Alarms sounded. The cockpit had light wisps of smoke floating about before the environmental filters stripped it from the air.
Harris turned the Bangor hard again toward the disc section of the Denzee warship. A spray of tungsten pellets battered the target, pushing the outer hull plating in by several meters in some areas. The warship began to turn in an attempt to flee.
"Two more coming toward us."
Harris turned the Bangor away as Tawn powered off the rails. The throttle was run to full. The marauding ship powered through free space.
Harris sighed. "We can't handle two at once."
Tawn nodded. "This new drive is incredible. We're opening up a gap between us and them. Had we had this during the Great War we would have finished the job."
The warships halted their pursuit. A wormhole to Midelon opened with the Bangor passing through.
"What are you doing?" Tawn asked.
Taking them back. They don't need to be here for this. Would rather have them safe on Midelon. You three, talk to Alex. Figure something out that we can try or take advantage of."
Ten minutes of flight had the ship pulling to a stop at the bunker. Trish, Gandy and Sharvie hopped out to the ground. The Bangor moved up and away before rocketing skyward. A jump had the Biomarine piloted ship again in Barrier space.
Harris pulled the Bangor to a stop. "Not what I was hoping for. Those other two are going right back at it."
Tawn replied, "Uh, no. They're coming back this way. And I count eight this time. They trying to intimidate us?"
Harris watched the display for several seconds before turning the Bangor away and again moving to full throttle. "How far you suppose those invisible beams are good for?"
"Couldn't say."
"Exactly. My guess is we're about to see them fire eight of those at once. All in our direction, but in a spread pattern. Tell me the moment you see any of those lights dimming."
"Two can play at that game. Spin us around. I'll send a couple dozen rounds their way. These don't slow over distance in free space either. If we can make them scatter it defeats what they may be attempting to do."
Harris twisted the control stick. The Bangor maintained it's speed and direction while turning to face the aggressors. Six seconds of autofeed had two dozen tungsten rounds heading their way. As the first ship had it's exterior lights dim, three others turned away. The four other remaining warships fired their weapons in tandem.
Harris pushed the control stick hard left, taking a 90 degree angle to the incoming beams of energy. Though not visible to the naked eye, five blue streaks stretched out from the Denzee warships on the nav display.
Tawn said, "Keep this heading for another three seconds. One will be close, but we should be far enough out."
As Harris turned the ship, two hull temperature sensors reported a rise of nearly a hundred degrees. Not enough to warrant concern.
"One near miss," Tawn said. "Other four weren't close."
"Still. See if you can program an alert for every time one of those is fired in our direction. I want to know when they're coming our way so we aren't caught off-guard."
"Will see what I can do."
The five Denzee warships returned their focus to the fight at hand. Within minutes, another Earther destroyer was obliterated by similar long range firing by multiple ships. As it turned away, half the port side was incinerated.
A wormhole opened with the Hailstorm and the two other freighters slipping through from the Retreat.
The colonel came over the comm. "What's the action?"
Harris replied, "We took out the main gun of one, but got chased off by a group that came after us."
Tawn added. "As a group they've also tried to fire that weapon from multiple ships at once from a distance, hoping to catch us as we turned away from a beam."
"Colonel, I think we go in with all four of us. Attack the closest warship. Give it a pounding and then run."
"Should we coordinate an assault with the Earthers? More targets means less chance of us taking a hit."
"Good idea," Tawn replied. "That strategy would let us all stay in the fight, moving from one ship to the next."
"Colonel?" Harris asked. "Your teams on board with that?"
"We are."
The newly commissioned Thunder and Lightning joined their sister ship, Hailstorm, as they began to move forward with the Bangor. The four ships fell in line behind one another as Harris opened a comm to the Earther fleet's admiral.
"Sir, we're going in. If you were looking for a time to perform an all out assault, this may be it. We'll focus on those disc weapons if you can keep them occupi
ed."
The admiral replied, "We were hoping you would show, Mr. Gruberg. The Emperor has given direction that we follow any lead you provide."
"Keep your efforts focused on those warships. If you see us take out a main gun move as many of your ships in to work them over as you can. We have to make our stand here at Barrier, Admiral. Otherwise it becomes a food source for the Denzee."
The admiral nodded. "Consider your order carried out."
"And Admiral, if you see our small fleet leaving, it would be a good time for you to leave as well. No sense in needlessly sacrificing ships here when there will be more battles to be waged."
As the first warship turned toward the Domer ships, the lights on it's exterior dimmed. Each ship in the stream of four diverted, taking a different direction, turning back once the threat had passed. At the same time, the Earther fleet moved to engage the Denzee. Two Earther destroyers were annihilated by the first barrage from the ultrapowerful weapon of the Denzee warships.
"Colonel, give us one of your ships to take on this first beast. The other two should go past, taking on the second."
"The Thunder is now coordinating with your efforts, Mr. Gruberg. Good hunting."
Just over three hundred Earther ships converged on the Denzee fleet. The Bangor was the first to reach a warship, drawing a burst from it's main gun before slipping past and hurdling in with it's railguns blazing. Tawn squeezed the trigger continuously as they closed.
After a dozen tungsten rounds pounded the same hull plate, it split, quickly opening a hole that widened as time continued. The Thunder moved in to capitalize on the breach. Six rail cannons fired in a continuous stream until internal explosions were seen on the exterior.
Harris gave the order. "Leave it for the Earthers to clean up. Move forward."
The Hailstorm and the Lightning took their fight to the second Denzee warship. After a near miss for the colonel on the Hailstorm, the two ships administered a severe beating to their alien enemy. The crippled warship turned for the back of the Denzee fleet.
In the first several minutes of battle, two Denzee Ratoons, three Dulons, and nine Earther destroyers had fought their last fights. Harris, flying the Bangor, followed by the Thunder, moved to the third Ratoon ship. A grueling game of cat and mouse ensued, only broken by the full-on assault and sacrifice of an Earther destroyer and her crew.
ARMS Eden Lost: (Book 4) Page 9