The flagship, Tretra’s Pride, was running on one fusion plant and about one quarter of its engine power. One third of its crew did not survive the battle. Harmon invited the admiral and his surviving staff to Salvage Title to plan for the next wave. There was no way it could be held on the flagship.
* * *
Aboard the Squilla dreadnought, Rogue Wave, Commander One K’Pitah was watching the video of the unknown battlecruiser tearing through a heavy squadron with his second in command in charge. He didn’t know if it was crewed by humans or their allies, but, in the end, it didn’t matter. That ship was more than enough to give the humans the advantage, regardless of his task force’s shielding and advanced missiles.
If he could just get Squilla on the surface of the capitol planet, he could make these humans beg for peace…and then destroy them anyway. As his task force raced toward the center of the system, he prepared a report to send back through the gate. He would let the king know what they faced with that ship. If he failed, there would be more task forces following. Even if King C’Rabi had to pull ships from some of the systems they had subjugated, they would take this system.
“The battlecruiser has fired missiles on us,” the tactical officer said.
“Engage with rapid lasers. Launch missiles on those ahead of us. We must get to the planet,” K’Pitah ordered.
The lasers stopped eighteen missiles. When the two remaining missiles hit the rear shields, it rocked the dreadnought, even as big as it was. K’Pitah felt it through his platform. When the energy blasts started hitting the shield, he knew they would not reach the planet.
“Sir, the light cruisers ahead have just launched thirty-two missiles each. Ninety-six missiles are inbound, and all of them are targeting Rogue Wave,” tactical told him. His eyestalks were dropping in resignation. “We have miscalculated their capabilities. We should have concentrated on them first. They will be able to launch again before we can target them.”
He was still receiving damage reports when the bridge was breached, and he was pulled through the hole and into space.
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty-Four
Five shuttles sat in the bay of Salvage Title. Admiral Timerton, Captain Arton, Jr. Captain Opawn, Commanders Largoss and Allen, and Captain Loid were seated in the conference room off the bridge of the ship. The original crew of Hauler was seated there as well. Lieutenant General Wilton was present through a video call, as was Jayneen, though there was no image of her. That was an ace in the hole that Harmon wasn’t ready to reveal to the entire universe yet.
“The capabilities of this ship are impressive, as is the crew. I cannot believe you were able to hire fully-trained personnel,” Admiral Timerton said. “Can I say personnel? They are Leethog, are they not?”
“You can, sir. It translates to something acceptable to them. I prefer to call them beings like we call everyone on Joth,” Harmon said. “If it wasn’t acceptable, I am sure they would let you know. Especially our chief warrant officer,” Harmon said, indicating the smallest being in the room.
All heads turned toward Kyla, who smiled. Introductions had been made around the room, but her smile still obviously unnerved some of the Tretrayon officers. Big Jon, leaning against the wall behind Harmon, hissed as he laughed to himself.
“I thought all Leethog were…small. Your bodyguard isn’t so small, and he carries himself as well as any Marine,” Lieutenant General Wilton said through the video link. He had realized he had amends to make.
“Staff Sergeant Jontilictick is in charge of the ship’s security. He is not necessarily my bodyguard, sir. And yes, he is one being that handles himself well. If the Squilla make it to the planet, I intend to send him and his platoon down to help in the fight,” Harmon said.
“We need to formulate a plan,” Admiral Timerton said, bringing the subject back to the reason for the meeting. “We have about one week before thirty more Squilla ships come through the gate. We only have seven ships, eight counting this one. And Tretra’s Pride is in bad shape. My engineer says she can get us another fusion plant and half engine power within five days, but that’s it.”
“Well, sir, we have been discussing it. We think we have something,” Harmon said.
“I’m all ears,” Admiral Timerton said.
Hank and Stan started hissing, poking each other, and looking at the admiral. Vera whistled for them to stop, and they just kept laughing. Even Big Jon was laughing again. Kyla hissed, and all three of them stopped immediately.
“What did I say?” Admiral Timerton asked.
Kyla sighed and said, “They are laughing because humans have very little ears, sir,” she said, giving the three male Leethog in the room a look. “It was rude, and I apologize for them.”
“They are males,” Vera added, looking over to Jr. Captain Opawn, as if she could sympathize. Opawn hid her smile.
Admiral Timerton smiled, reached up, and rubbed his ear. He was not upset; he understood combat humor. When all hell was about to break loose, it was often how members of the fleet coped. Perhaps it was the same with other races.
“We think that we can get several of the fleet ships’ fusion plants started to provide enough power for their weapons. We will have to tow them into place, but they can be a surprise for the Squilla,” Harmon said.
“We could link their computers remotely to one source so we don’t have to have anyone aboard the hulls. Environmental, main engines, none of that will be necessary,” Clip said.
“That would have to be a pretty powerful computer. I don’t think the flagship could handle it,” Captain Arton said.
“Clip can program them. I can handle it,” Jayneen said.
“I? You mean you have a computer on this ship that can handle it?” Admiral Timerton asked.
“Tell them,” Zerith said.
“Yes, tell them,” Jayneen said.
Harmon looked around the room. Every Leethog was nodding its head. Clip just shrugged. If his friend wanted it to be known, then he agreed with her.
“Lieutenant Commander Jayneen…is an AI,” Harmon said. “Sorry Jayneen, I know you are not artificial,” he added.
“I understand. It is so they can understand what you are saying, but don’t make a habit of it,” Jayneen said.
The room was silent as the members of the Tretrayon fleet realized what Captain Tomeral was saying. He couldn’t blame them. It was a lot to grasp. There were races with very powerful computers, but there was no known example of the ever-elusive artificial intelligence.
“Amazing. I had no idea, as we were talking to you,” Admiral Timerton finally said. “You can control all the weapons on the ships we put together?”
“I can, but like any other being, I have my shortcomings. I will need Harmon to give me instructions. I am self-aware and capable of independent thought. However, I am a lousy tactician. I lack the instinct for battle. In that regard, I am just like any other being. I need guidance, training, and experience. Not everyone has the ability to do what Harmon has done,” Jayneen said.
“If you already realize that, you can become a leader one day. You can’t be a leader if you are unable to take orders yourself, lieutenant commander,” Lieutenant General Wilton said.
“Why don’t we use the Squilla ships in the same manner?” Kyla asked the room.
“If I had access to their systems, I could figure it out,” Clip said.
“We could park them close to the gate,” Harmon said.
“And fire everything they have at the Squilla as they go by, whittling them down before we have to face them with what is left of our fleet,” Admiral Timerton said. “I like it.”
“I suggest we bring every Marine to Tretra. If their plan is still the same, they will try to land troops on Tretra,” the Marine commander said. “Even with the ground defense, we will need all the help we can get.”
“If they land on Joth, they won’t make it very far. Everyone iss armed,” Zerith said.
“Unfortunat
ely, on Tretra, only the military and law enforcement are armed,” said Lieutenant General Wilton.
Over the next three days, repair crews worked around the clock to repair what they could on the disabled fleet ships. Clip wrote a program that would allow remote usage of the weapons consoles. Several intel officers expressed their dismay that he was able to do it. Not just quickly...but do it at all. Admiral Timerton sent word through the fleet for those voices to shut the hell up.
Missile tubes and racks were reloaded on the ships they were able to restore some power to. Several ships’ bridges were destroyed. Zerith came up with a work-around for those ships—a simple slate wired directly into the launchers with minimal targeting programs. Basically, the missiles were going to be fired out of their tubes and would lock onto the nearest signature that was larger than a missile rocket engine.
Salvage Title raced out toward the gate with the four Squilla ships attached. In space, aerodynamics do not matter, so the ridiculous shape of the ungainly collection was not slowed by it as they headed out. Three frigates and a destroyer had survived the battle, since second and third fleet initially targeted the larger ships. Their commanders had surrendered before they could be destroyed. The destroyer was a missile ship, and it still had enough missiles for four full volleys.
As soon as Clip finished the program and sent it encrypted through the net to fleet, he started figuring out how to do the same thing with the Squilla ships. With the time restraints, he opted to write a patch that put the helm and weapons consoles on remote operations. They were detached and sent in a patrolling pattern off to the side of the gate. Before they detached, Clip had the shuttle fly to the front of the destroyer, and Hank and Stan suited up and used a sealant to attach twelve shotgun missiles to the hull of the ship. They could be remotely detonated.
By the time Salvage Title got back to the area of the battle, six days had passed. Fleet personnel had managed to restore eight ships enough that they could launch missiles. Two more ships had been repaired enough so they could place crews on them and actually fight. The personnel came from those they rescued from damaged ships and life pods.
All in all, there were four Squilla ships out near the gate, as well as eight weapons platforms and nine functional fleet ships. Along with Salvage Title, it would have to do. All the fleet ships had full missile loads after they pulled them from the ships they didn’t have time to repair. The fleet moved deeper into the system so the Squilla would have to come past the platforms to meet them.
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty-Five
Two days later, the Squilla arrived. They came through the gate in squadrons, one after another. There were thirty-one ships. They were nearly at their maximum speed and headed straight for Tretra.
“We have an emergence,” Jayneen announced over the entire fleet’s comms. It would take almost four days before they reached the planet. Jayneen waited until all of the ships came through and then launched a total of thirty-two missiles at the destroyers in the third and fourth squadrons. Twenty missiles from the captured destroyer went to one squadron and twelve from the frigates at another. She also fired all four ships’ pulse lasers at a light cruiser in the fourth squadron as well.
The first Squilla destroyer targeted was able to stop fourteen missiles before the rest impacted. Six made it past the ship’s rapid laser defense. The last missile impacted deeply enough in the ship that it started a chain reaction in the missile magazines, and it blew apart. The destroyer was followed so closely by the squadron behind it that some of the debris hit the forward shield of one of its frigates.
The next destroyer targeted stopped ten missiles. The two missiles that hit rocked the ship and left its shields weak. The pulse lasers, all aimed at the light cruiser, burned through its shields and hit the ship near its engines.
The second Squilla destroyer was able to fire a full spread back at the now-Tretrayon destroyer. Jayneen blew the shotgun missiles, and they destroyed eighteen of the twenty incoming missiles. She launched another round from all four ships. Twelve missiles from the frigates went to the offending destroyer, and two of them slammed into the ship, heavily damaging it and destroying its usefulness for the upcoming battle. The twenty missiles from the destroyer were aimed near the engines of the light cruiser, and three made it through the ship’s defenses. The aft end of the ship separated from the hull as its power plants blew.
By this time, the shock of the unexpected attack was over, and missiles came in from most of the incoming task force. All four ships were destroyed in the onslaught but not before the pulse lasers destroyed the frigate that had been damaged when the first destroyer blew up. The Squilla were down to twenty-seven ships.
* * *
Supreme Commander One L’Kivil was on his platform in the mega-dreadnought Tidal Wave, the largest of all Squilla ships. The king had sent him to personally wipe out the defending fleet of the Tretrayon System. The reports of the first wave’s battle had reached them through the gates. Most of what had been written was probably lies to make up for mistakes and the failure to take the system. He would prove it to the king himself. It was ridiculous; a member of the high command had to oversee the destruction of an out-of-the-way inferior system. He had better things to do than this. He had wives waiting in his lagoon for him. Just ridiculous, he thought.
Tidal Wave led the task force. He would have no other ship ahead of him. Lessons were to be learned. L’Kivil was looking at the main screen with both eyestalks as they came through the gate. Sensors showed the wreckage of three Squilla ships near the gate. And there, on the other side, was a light squadron of Squilla ships moving toward the gate, as if they were on gate guard.
Perhaps the reports sent back had been hasty, he thought. Farther in system, the sensors indicated numerous wrecks and powerless hulls. Some showed minor power fluctuations, which was to be expected after a major battle. There were many more that showed no energy readings whatsoever.
“Sir, we detect a light squadron nearby. It is the destroyer Whitecap and three escorting frigates. They are moving in overwatch pattern Lima,” the tactical officer informed him. “Evidence of three destroyed ships are farther from the gate. There are indications that a major battle took place much farther in system.”
“Can you locate the rest of the task force? How far away are they?” L’Kivil demanded. He could already see what he had just been told.
If there was a light squadron guarding the gate, then the idiots must have finally succeeded in taking the system. If I made this trip for no reason, claws will roll, he thought. He relaxed and eased back down onto his commander’s platform.
“Incoming!” the tactical officer shouted. “Whitecap and its escorts have launched missiles…directly at third and fourth squadrons!”
“What?” L’Kivil sprang up on his legs. “Hail them now!” he shouted. It had to be a mistake; they needed to self-destruct the missiles now. Idiots!
“Incoming! Twenty missiles inbound! Sir, Whitecap has fired on us!” the tactical officer of the destroyer Hidden Reef shouted over the radio.
“Use anti-missile defense delta…no use bravo! What the chum are they thinking?!” L’Kivil shouted back.
The defensive lasers stopped just fourteen of the incoming missiles. It had been a surprise, and the hesitation cost them. Six missiles impacted against the shields on Hidden Reef’s flank. The shields couldn’t hold, and the last missile impacted deep enough to set off an entire missile rack. The ship exploded, sending debris in every direction. A large piece crashed into the frigate Driftwood and knocked out most of its shielding.
Twelve missiles were aimed at the destroyer Poison Barb from the three frigates. Its crew was able to stop ten of them, but the last two rocked the ship and left it with fifteen percent shields on that side. His ship fired a spread of twenty missiles back at Whitecap even though L’Kivil hadn’t ordered it. He then watched in shock as eighteen of the outbound missiles either blew apart or went careening off
in different directions. Two missiles impacted, buckling the shields of the traitorous ship but did not do any major damage.
“The lasers from those ships are hitting us!” the tactical officer on the light battlecruiser Strangling Kelp called. “They’re going to overload our shields! They are at seventy-five percent and dropping quickly!”
L’Kivil’s tactical officer cried out, “There are twenty missiles inbound toward Strangling Kelp!”
“Engage with the rapid lasers!” L’Kivil shouted, coming off his platform toward the main screen. He couldn’t believe this was happening.
Three missiles made it through the defense and impacted in the power plant and engine areas. One quarter of the ship was blown off, and the light cruiser went spinning out of control.
L’Kivil looked at his screen and saw they were headed toward Poison Barb, whose shields were fluctuating between twelve and eighteen. “Twelve more missiles, incoming!” L’Kivil’s tactical officer cried out.
The ship’s defense lasers fired their crisscrossing pattern, and only two missiles made it through the laser fencing to slam into the ship. “The Poison Barb is reporting fires in almost every major console and penetration in six decks,” he added. “Their power plant initiated an automatic shutdown, and they are running on emergency power. They have enough power to sustain the environmental systems for five days. Maybe six.”
“Fire!” L’Kivil yelled. “All ships fire on the traitors!”
Sixteen of the remaining Squilla ships launched missiles at the renegade ships, but they were too late to keep the traitors’ lasers from striking the frigate Driftwood several times each. Its shields fell, it was cut open, and most of its crew were exposed to the vacuum of space.
L’Kivil was livid. Four ships of his task force had been destroyed or rendered combat ineffective. Four. He ordered his crew to scan for any more ships near them, Squilla or human. He would not be lulled into another trap.
Salvage Title Page 16