Triumphant

by Jack Campbell

  “I know,” he said. “Someone once told me that if it’s worth doing, what matters is that it gets done. She was right. I think this needs to get done.”

  “She?” Freya raised an eyebrow at him. “Was it that Carmen girl? Or Brigit?”

  “Mele Darcy. The Marine.”

  “You know some very interesting women, Lochan.”

  “I certainly do. I’m going to make that call to Derian. Do you want to listen in on it openly, or would you prefer covertly tapping into it?”

  Freya grinned. “Oh, maybe do it in the open just this once.”

  * * *

  • • •

  “Ten minutes to intercept,” Lieutenant Cameron reported.

  Rob Geary nodded, his eyes on the display at Saber’s command seat. The light cruiser and destroyer had continued to flee, the destroyer tucked in fairly close to the cruiser to protect it. The four new destroyers were coming in at them from well on the port side and just slightly below, aiming to hit the enemy almost on their beams. Saber, just to port and above the enemy ships, would cross their paths at almost the same moment as the allied destroyers, but coming in from behind and crossing ahead.

  “Sir,” Cameron added, “on current vectors Saber will engage the enemy almost a second after the four allied warships do.”

  “Captain Sori did that on purpose,” Lieutenant Commander Shen said, sitting in the seat next to Rob’s. “She’s trying to ensure that her undamaged ships take fire from the enemy before we do.”

  “They’ll have to go bow on toward Sori’s force to face the stronger threat. That’ll give us shots at their beams and sterns.” Rob fought down a tremor of anxiety, the results of the last engagement haunting him. He didn’t want another success purchased at that kind of price. “Did you find out anything that would indicate we can’t trust our new allies?”

  “Nothing,” Shen said. “What was that message you were sent by them half an hour ago?”

  “A copy of a message sent to the government,” Rob said. “Inviting Glenlyon to participate in follow-on operations at stars like Scatha and Hesta to clear out threats to trade.”

  “You’re kidding.” Shen looked intrigued and alarmed. “Immediate follow-on operations? But Saber . . .”

  “That’s what I told the government. We can’t. It’s not an option given the damage to this ship and the low state of our fuel cells.” He turned a wry smile on her. “The government will probably be grateful to hear that. It gives them a graceful way to decline to participate without turning down the offer to help get trade going in this region again.”

  “And yet . . .”

  “Yeah,” Rob said. “And yet. How crazy are we that it’s a disappointment that we can’t assist in that operation?”

  “All sailors are crazy, Captain. All departments report ready for action,” Shen said.

  “You have to give the captain of that enemy destroyer credit,” Rob said. “He could’ve run and gotten to the jump point before we caught him, but he stayed with the light cruiser.”

  “I doubt he was given a choice. The overall commander on the cruiser probably ordered him to stay. If he’d run he’d have been court-martialed as soon as he got back.”

  “Five minutes to inter—” Lieutenant Cameron’s voice broke off abruptly. “What the hell?”

  “What’s that, Lieutenant?” Shen snapped.

  “I’m sorry, I just—the light cruiser is dropping his shields. He’s—here go the shields on the destroyer. Captain, both enemy ships are dropping their shields fast toward minimum strength.”

  “Are you sure of the sensor readings?” Lieutenant Commander Shen demanded.

  “Everything looks clean on our end,” Cameron said. “The enemy ships are dropping their shields.”

  “We haven’t received any surrender messages,” Shen said. “If they intended surrendering, they’d have sent those before dropping their shields.”

  Rob laughed, drawing surprised looks. “I think my wife just sent us a present. Using the codes our Marines captured, she managed to hack the enemy defensive systems and set their shields to drop just before we caught them.”

  “I’ve always liked your wife,” Lieutenant Commander Shen said.

  “Message from Captain Sori on Asahi!”

  With only a few minutes left, Sori didn’t waste time. “With the enemy vulnerable, my four ships will concentrate fire on the light cruiser. I recommend that Saber engage the destroyer. Sori, out.”

  “Ensign Reichert,” Rob said, “set the enemy destroyer as our priority target.”

  “Fire control set to engage the enemy destroyer as priority target,” Reichert said. “One minute to engagement.”

  The two enemy ships were using their thrusters to turn their bows toward the four allied destroyers, exposing their beams to fire from Saber. Their shields had bottomed out and not yet begun rebuilding. The light cruiser, its missiles expended, was badly outmatched by four destroyers. “These guys are toast,” Shen whispered, smiling.

  Rob knew his sight of the allied warships whipping past was the product of his imagination, since the action had occurred too fast for human senses to register. Saber came in immediately behind them, her remaining weapons hitting the enemy destroyer.

  “Status,” Rob said as Saber curved up and around for another firing pass.

  “No damage to Saber, no hits on our shields,” Lieutenant Reichert reported. “They concentrated their fire on the allied warships. I don’t think they penetrated the shields on any of them, though. We got solid hits on the destroyer. He’s lost some maneuvering thrusters and two pulse particle beams.”

  “How’s the cruiser?” Shen asked.

  “Evaluating . . . they hit him hard. Looks like he’s lost almost all weapons and maneuvering control.”

  “Captain Sori is broadcasting, Captain.”

  Rob saw Sori’s image, the captain from Benten appearing perfectly relaxed and confident. “Enemy warships, this is the commanding officer of Asahi. You are directed to surrender immediately. Power down remaining weapons and cease attempting to rebuild your shields. I repeat, surrender immediately or you will be subject to another attack.”

  “Private message for you from Asahi, Captain.”

  “Commodore,” Captain Sori said, “I have directed Shark to assist you against the enemy destroyer on this next attack run. My remaining three destroyers should have sufficient firepower to eliminate the cruiser.”

  “Adjust vector to intercept the destroyer,” Rob ordered as Saber reached the top of her loop and began angling back down again.

  “Sir, the four allied ships were able to weave about faster to a new intercept than we could because of their approach vector. They’ll hit the enemy again about ten minutes before we can.”

  “That can’t be helped,” Rob said, trying to think of a way to put the best possible gloss on the situation. “Saber will deal the final blows.”

  “Finish them,” Ensign Reichert murmured.

  “They haven’t responded to the surrender demand,” Shen said.

  “Then we will finish them,” Rob said.

  The allied destroyers tore past the light cruiser again. Rob stared as the cruiser’s forward section came apart, shattering into a swarm of broken pieces, and the stern section wavered off into space, out of control, lifeboat pods ejecting as the surviving crew sought safety.

  The enemy destroyer staggered under the barrage from Shark, also veering off its former vector under the blows.

  “Five minutes to intercept,” Lieutenant Cameron said. “He’s helpless, Captain.”

  “I know.” Rob cast a look at Lieutenant Commander Shen. “We don’t have any choice, do we?”

  “Not if he doesn’t surrender,” she said, unhappy. “What a waste.”

  “Captain! Message from the surviving enemy ship.”
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br />   The commanding officer of the enemy destroyer was in a survival suit with the helmet sealed, signs of damage visible on what could be seen of the bridge behind him. “I surrender my ship to you. I have no remaining working weapons, no maneuvering control, and most of my shields have been knocked out and cannot rebuild. I repeat, I surrender my ship and place the lives of my surviving crew at your mercy.”

  Rob hesitated for a crucial second, wondering why he felt a sense of recognition as the enemy captain spoke. He wrenched his mind back into motion, speaking loudly and clearly. “Ensign Reichert, disengage fire control targeting!” Rob said. “Do not fire on that ship!”

  “Understand do not fire on enemy warship,” Reichert responded. “Fire control system ordered to break lock on enemy warship. Weapons set to no-fire status.”

  Saber raced past the surviving enemy warship, but this time no weapons tore at the helpless vessel.

  This fight was over.

  * * *

  • • •

  One moment two groups of people were using the latest tools crafted by human ingenuity to try to kill each other, and the next the winning group was trying to save the lives of those they’d been trying to kill. If any aliens were secretly watching humanity, Rob thought, they must be having a hard time understanding what they were seeing.

  “Do you have enough life support?” he asked the captain of the surrendered ship, which turned out to be named nothing except D-11.

  “It won’t be comfortable, but we’ll manage,” that officer replied. He was out of the survival suit, in a part of D-11 that had restored atmosphere. “I guess Rob Geary turned out to be the better captain.”

  Rob shrugged. He’d never really liked Charlie Forez when they’d served together in Old Colony Alfar’s fleet. Charlie had been the sort who knew all the right people and kept his eyes fixed on his next promotion. But Rob also wasn’t interested in gloating over having beaten him. “I thought you were doing well at Alfar. Why’d you come out here?”

  “Alfar was downsizing,” Forez said. “Even someone like me didn’t have many chances. But these guys offered me a command.”

  “Sure.” Never mind what “these guys” wanted him to do. They’d offered him a command. “Keep us informed of your medical and life support needs. My people are installing monitors in all of your systems. Please don’t mess with any of those. We need to know the status of all of your equipment at all times. I’d hate to have to fire on your ship again,” Rob said, “but I will if it seems my own ship might be in danger from your actions.”

  “Hey, not a problem! I’ll let you know as soon as we’re ready to be taken under tow. It’s great seeing you again, Rob!”

  Rob ended the call, feeling a headache coming on. Even after losing his ship in combat and his crew suffering a lot of casualties, Charlie Forez was still schmoozing his way through life.

  Never mind what aliens thought of human actions. He himself had a lot of trouble understanding people sometimes.

  * * *

  • • •

  Rob sat in the grandly named wardroom of the Saber, because as not-really-that-large as it was, the compartment was nonetheless large enough for several displays to have been set up facing him. On those displays he saw Captain Sori of the Asahi, Captain Hubbard of the Caladbolg, Captain Tanya the Wicked (what was her last name?) of the Gae Bulg, Captain Derian of the Shark, Lochan Nakamura, and a woman named Freya Morgan representing Catalan. The five warships were close enough for the virtual conference to be in real time.

  The captain of the surrendered enemy warship was not present, of course, but the fate of D-11 was first on the agenda.

  “Who gets the ship?” Bard Hubbard asked.

  Rob waited to see what the others would say.

  “We’re in Glenlyon star system,” Nakamura said. “This is space that belongs to Glenlyon.”

  “But not everything in that space belongs to Glenlyon,” Tanya said.

  “Glenlyon should have it,” Freya Morgan said. “For two reasons. One is simply practical. How is anyone else going to get a badly damaged warship home to their star system? The other is longer term, a matter of generosity, and recognition that Glenlyon has borne the brunt of a nasty fight here.”

  Captain Sori nodded. “I agree. There is another factor that you didn’t mention. The success of Glenlyon’s malware intrusion caused the enemy ships to lose their shields just before combat, ensuring our victory was much quicker and less hazardous to our own ships. For all the reasons given, I believe that the ship should be considered a prize for Glenlyon. What is your opinion, Captain Derian? Kosatka has also suffered serious harm from attacks.”

  Derian smiled. “Kosatka would’ve lost Shark if not for Glenlyon. We owe them a warship. I agree with Citizen Nakamura and Citizen Morgan.”

  “Will Eire’s captains make this an issue?” Sori asked them.

  Hubbard shook his head. “I felt an obligation to bring up Eire’s interests. But I can’t deny the other arguments. Tanya?”

  “I’m good,” she said. “We have no way to get the hulk home. Glenlyon can have the prize. I’m sure the prime minister of Eire will be happy to be able to tell others how generous Eire was in this instance.”

  “He’ll find a way to bring it up fairly often for a while,” Freya Morgan agreed.

  “Thank you,” Rob said. “I wasn’t looking forward to a fight over that.”

  “I think you’ve earned a break from fighting,” Captain Sori said. “Commodore Geary, have you heard from your government regarding the clearing-of-trade-routes mission?”

  “Yes,” Rob said. “Glenlyon extends its regrets that it is physically unable to participate in the operation due to damage to its only warship. We’re also very low on fuel, so even without the damage the need for us to return to our world to refuel would slow you down by at least a week. However, there’s an issue you need to be aware of if you’re going to Hesta. The freighter that brought the invasion force against our orbital facility should be leaving dock soon to return the surrendered troops to Hesta.”

  “You’re sending them back?” Tanya said, surprised.

  “With all of their weapons and equipment.” Rob grinned at the reactions to his statement. “The enemy forces were hired from Old Earth by Hesta’s puppet government, actually Scatha pulling the strings in this case, we’re certain. They believe their terms of employment were violated, and agreed to take employment with Glenlyon for a single mission in exchange for their release with all of the arms.”

  “What’s the mission?” Freya asked.

  “They’re going to try to overthrow the puppet government and allow Hesta’s people to govern themselves again. From what we’ve been able to learn, they’ll have a high chance of success, especially since they should achieve total surprise when they hit the puppet government’s forces.”

  “We will not engage that freighter if it is encountered,” Captain Sori said, nodding. “It should be well behind us, though. Our ships should sweep Scatha space of any threats to it before the freighter arrives there, allowing it to transit Scatha’s space safely and jump to Hesta, which we will have also swept of threats by that time.”

  “If Glenlyon helps free Hesta,” Freya said, “you’ll have Catalan’s warm thanks.”

  “What exactly are you going to sweep out of Scathan and Hestan space?” Rob asked Captain Sori.

  She made a dismissive gesture as if the task wasn’t of any concern. “Pirates. Any merchant ship carrying weapons or extra propulsion. They won’t be able to fight us or escape us.”

  “What about warships?” Rob said. “Scatha isn’t just going to sit and watch you do that.”

  “They might have no choice but to sit and watch,” Bard Hubbard said. “We put together what our different governments have seen of warships heading outward from Earth and the Old Colonies, and have a pretty good handl
e on what Scatha, Turan, and Apulu must have been able to assemble to date. Bouncing that against their losses, they don’t have much of anything left.”

  “They bet the farm on their attacks on Kosatka and Glenlyon succeeding,” Commander Derian said. “Instead, their attack forces were almost wiped out. There is the destroyer that got away from Kosatka, but that was beat up so badly that if we encounter it we won’t have any problem finishing the job.”

  “In addition to that destroyer, there might be a corvette or two left to Scatha at the moment,” Captain Sori said. “We’re authorized to deal with them in response to Scatha’s attacks on Eire.”

  “When we’re done passing through Scatha,” Tanya the Wicked said, “they won’t have anything left to mess with anyone else. And good luck to them finding the money to keep hiring new ships and mercenaries after that. They won’t be able to extort from any more merchant travel through other star systems.”

  “Win-win,” Freya said. “We ought to do this kind of thing more often.”

  “I thought that was the point of the alliance,” Hubbard said. “I didn’t get the impression this was a one-off and then we’d all get back to glaring at each other.”

  “I’ll do all I can to make it long lasting,” Lochan Nakamura said. “No other star systems should suffer as Kosatka and Glenlyon have. There are a lot of details to work out, but I think we can manage that now that our governments have all experienced the negative sides of not having anyone watching out for the interests of everyone.”

  “Never underestimate the ability of people to mess up a good thing,” Freya said.

  “I didn’t say it wouldn’t involve a lot of work,” Nakamura replied. “Commodore Geary, in the discussions I’ve had with your president, she seems to have become much more enthusiastic about the alliance than when we first spoke.”

  “She was concerned about outsiders coming in to coerce us,” Rob said. “Which is understandable concerning our recent history.”