“Sensors are tracking thirty-six ships C-class and above. All in station-keeping mode,” the sensor tech said. “We’re getting high EM energy levels that might indicate they’re armed and active.”
“We’re being hailed,” the com officer said.
“Put it on,” Captain Franklin said.
This is Commander Drayfus of the Impulse, to the approaching multicruiser group. You are entering a controlled flight zone and are advised to vacate the area. This is your only warning.”
“This is Captain Franklin of the Kitty Hawk. We’re only here to investigate a report of a situation at NHC, and to assist as needed. Our orders are to render humanitarian relief.”
“Kitty Hawk, continue on your way, we’ve got the situation under control.”
“We have resources and can help.”
“Perhaps I wasn’t clear Captain Franklin. You need to continue on your current heading and do not return to this area. If you fail to follow my instructions, we are authorized to use force to maintain jurisdiction in this zone.”
“We do not wish to engage Drayfus, but we can and will defend ourselves if you push it. Our grief isn’t with you. We really are here to render aid.”
“It’s your call Kitty Hawk, but if I see even so much as a puff of exhaust from one of your nozzles, you’re done.”
“Sir, they’re redeploying into what may be an attack formation,” the sensor tech said.
“Are we tracking any response from the ships stationed at Galileo?”
“Negative,” he said. “They’re standing tight.”
“Hopefully, that will keep things from being any messier when we come back through,” her ExO said.
She nodded. “Sensors look sharp. This is our only recon pass so we need to make it count,” she said. “All hands maintain battle status in case they change their minds, and somebody let the admiral know we’re not staying to dance this time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Governor’s Office: Gateway Colony: L-4 Prime:
“Boss, you’ve got a visitor on the way down,” Shona said. “Edison Wentworth just landed and asked for you.”
“Thanks Shona,” Jeph said as he closed the file on his desktop and sighed. What would he be coming down here to talk to me about?
“What can I do for you Investigator?” Jeph said, standing up as Edison appeared at his door.
“I thought maybe it was time you and I had a talk,” he said, tilting his head at a chair.
“Of course, please sit,” he said. “Is this a social call or am I in trouble again?”
“In trouble? I don’t think so. The Chancellor speaks highly of you in fact,” he said.
Jeph shot him a skeptical eye.
Edison laughed. “Well that’s a lie. She calls you a pain in the ass, but she does respect you.”
“I can live with that,” Jeph said.
“She told me about your first encounter,” he said, reclining in the seat and relaxing. “She said you outmaneuvered them all, and that apparently impressed them enough to not vent you for holding the Armstrong hostage.”
“I figured that was a real possibility,” Jeph said. “Lately, I think they’re all reconsidering it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“They’re getting desperate for us to shut down the quicksand, and I think they’re blaming me for the delay because of how we’re managing things down here.”
“I don’t understand what this quicksand is, but I know it’s got them all in a twist,” he said, nodding. “I don’t think they blame you, but it’s frustrating their ability to make plans for when the ghost fleet arrives.”
“We’re trying, but it’s a lot more complex than I think they realize,” he said.
“Why?”
“Have you ever had to deal with scientists? I don’t mean your run of the mill working in the field type, but the high-chit, one-vision, pure-academic types?”
“Not often, thankfully,” Edison said.
“You’d think they’d be smart enough to know not to mess with things they haven’t been trained to mess with,” he said. “But no. They think they know enough to be above going through the basic training.”
Jeph got up and walked around the desk, the yellow ring followed him on the floor. “See this,” he said, pointing down at the ring. “It’s a gravity gradient. Because I’m an ecto and I’ve got acute osteo-degeneration as a result of compression syndrome, I have to stay inside this personal gravity field. I can wear a PSE, but only for a very limited time.”
“That sounds challenging,” he said.
“Not anymore.” Jeph shrugged. “The problem is that this ring shows we have control over the gravity here. We’re not sure how it works, but Dutch can control it, and it keeps me comfortable and alive.”
“What does this have to do with the scientists?”
“We had one the other day that couldn’t resist trying to hack into a control node and adjust his own gravity. Unfortunately, when we found him he had two broken legs and a crushed spine.” Jeph nodded. “The truth is, he found a button and couldn’t resist pushing it. 3.5-g later … well, you get the idea.”
“That had to hurt,” Edison said, crinkling his face in disgust.
“Imagine what could happen if I turned a swarm of educated idiots like him loose in a playground full of buttons connected to technologies from a civilization with a million years of science behind it?”
“Is that really what you’re sitting on here?”
“Yes. It is literally that,” he said. “The main power plant that keeps this thing operating is a black hole. Think about a civilization that could harness something like that and use it to produce energy. What happens if someone turns the containment field off?”
“I see your point. You’ve got to protect that,” Edison said, letting out a long hissing breath. “And that brings me to why the Chancellor asked me to talk to you.”
“I assumed this wasn’t a social call,” Jeph said, sitting down on the edge of the conference table and crossing his arms in front of him.
“No. They’re forming their defensive strategies up there, and they wanted me to approach you about putting security forces in the colony. In case they can’t hold the ghost fleet off.”
“Figured that was coming,” Jeph said. “I’m going to have to think about it.”
“I don’t think it’s an attempt to take over down here,” Edison said. “I meant it when I said the chancellor respects you, even if you and she don’t always see square-eyed.”
“That helps,” he said. “It isn’t so much worrying about her turning me over her knee as it is that if this would turn ugly, I want people in the chain of command I know won’t be taking orders from someone who doesn’t breathe the same air I do.”
“That seems reasonable,” Edison said. “Should I pass the word?”
“Not just yet. Let me talk this over with my people and I’ll let you know.”
Kitty Hawk: Low Lunar Orbit:
This time when the Kitty Hawk came over the horizon they were low and moving fast. They’d pinged the fleet at Galileo to make sure nobody had moved to reinforce the battle group over New Hope City, and as soon as they confirmed that nothing had changed, they piled on the velocity. They wanted to make sure they had the attention of the Impulse when they got a line of sight.
Fighting in orbit was tricky since gravity worked against them and they’d all be moving in different energy trajectories. Their plan was to blow through and past the enemy battle group in a strafing run. If they were lucky, they’d draw them out of position.
They arced up and away from the surface before they began braking hard to bring them through the enemy in as close to a circular orbit as they could manage.
“Hail the Impulse,” Captain Franklin said over the command com as she sat in her acceleration seat and ground her teeth. The roar of the engines shook the deck plating.
“You’re live and they are receiving you,” the com offi
cer said.
“Drayfus, this is the Kitty Hawk, you have three minutes to withdraw or we will open fire,” she said.
“You got eggs woman,” Drayfus said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. “Bring it on.”
“It doesn’t have to go down this way,” she said. “Withdraw or die. Your choice.”
“They’re moving,” her ExO said. “Looks like they’re spreading out.”
“Perfect. Where’s the Defiant’s group?”
“They should be almost line of sight on the enemy ships. The Pegasus wing will take the clown car. They’re about a minute behind the Defiant and about ten degrees to port.”
“Helm, what’s our position?”
“We’re at 6600 meters per second at 800 klick and descending under power. Weapons range in 180 seconds.”
“We’re about to lose sensor lock to the exhaust plume,” the ExO said, reminding the captain that they were still stern forward.
She nodded, doing quick calculations in her head. The enemy ships were scattered out over almost a hundred kilometers. That meant they’d run end to end through the ghost fleet battle group in forty-five seconds. Adding weapons range to the estimate meant they’d be in the firefight for no more than three minutes. That assumed the enemy didn’t accelerate to give pursuit.
“Com, send the orders to flip and engage. Target at will, and good hunting.”
Impulse: Station-keeping Above New Hope City: Luna:
“They’re really going to do this?” Commander Drayfus stood anchored to the deck and stared at his radar tech’s screen in disbelief. The ConDeck of the converted Hawking class science vessel was over crowded with a combat crew and the latest technology, but it was efficient and everything worked well together. Even his crew.
His ExO nodded. “They’ve stopped braking and are coming over to bring their weapons to bear.”
“Can we project their focus from their trajectory,” Drayfus asked.
“No sir,” the radar tech said. “They spread out and looks like they’re planning a through-and-through.”
“Sixty seconds until they’re in range,” the ExO said.
“Let command know we are about to engage,” the captain said.
“Camden is under fire,” the com officer reported. “They’re maneuvering but taking damage.”
“Obviously they’ve got better range than we do,” Drayfus said. “Order all ships to position for optimal weapons arcs and close to weapons range. Let’s take that reach advantage away from them.”
“The Blake is down,” one of the other officers hollered across the deck.
“That was quick,” the ExO said, glancing over his shoulder at the captain.
“Camden reporting an engine failure. They’re dead in place but still able to engage.”
“The portside flanking ship will enter our firing arc in forty-five seconds,” the helmsman said. “We should have range on it for two minutes. Should we maneuver to pursue once it’s passed?”
“Just don’t flash them our ass,” the captain said. “Have all ships focus on targeting their reactors. If we can take out their power, they’re unarmed.”
“Sir, the Baileyville is taking fire,” the com officer said, shock obvious in his voice. It sat below and behind them in the formation as far from the approaching ships as possible since it was a lumbering slug. It was the only ship in his fleet further than the Impulse from the approaching multicruisers.
“How is that possible?” the ExO said.
“We’ve got another attack group approaching from below-stern,” the radar tech said.
“Didn’t anyone see it?”
“Negative boss, we’re all facing the Kitty Hawk group,” the tech said. “The new attack group is still almost 1000 klick out so we got no proximity alert.”
“It’s got to be lucky hits at that range,” the ExO said. “Can’t be doing much damage.”
A whistling hiss vibrated through the deck plating a second later, sending his dismissal of damage potential out the airlock. The lights flickered and a warning claxon blared.
“We’re hit,” the engineer said. “HCF-2 is down. We’re venting atmosphere on deck twelve and thirteen. Bulkheads are sealing.”
“Evasive Maneuvers!” Drayfus yelled, spinning and shoving himself toward his acceleration seat. “Full thrust, let’s get some distance!”
“Belay that!” the engineer bellowed, “We’ve also got a main cooling rupture in the number two engine. Hit it and we’re dead.”
“Frag, there are three more incoming ships braking for the troop carrier. The Baileyville’s in trouble,” the ExO said, shaking his head.
“Looks like we got one,” the radar tech said. “It’s tumbling and ballistic.”
“Frag! Holy fragging shit,” the helmsman roared. “It’s lined straight on us.”
“Collision alert,” the AA said, its emotionless voice cutting through the chaos like a stream of liquid nitrogen. “Take immediate evasive action. Collision alert.”
Captain Drayfus made eye contact with his engineer who was shaking his head.
Kitty Hawk: Lunar Orbit:
“The Orion’s down.”
“She’s scattering pods,” the ExO said. “It looks like they’ve lost primary power and control. We’ve got no com connection.”
“Tracking her trajectory puts her hard down somewhere near Unity Mining on the far side of Mare Serenitatis,” the navigator said.
“Negative on that, it’s going to smack the Impulse first,” the ExO said. “Why aren’t they scooting?”
“Their engine’s down,” the sensor tech said.
Captain Franklin closed her eyes for a second, she wasn’t a particularly god-thinking type, but she whispered a quick prayer and then nodded. “Warn Unity Mining that they might have incoming debris. An E-class cruiser’s going to make a mess out of a lot of real estate.”
“It’s going to be raining metal all over the Iridium basin for a week, too,” the com officer said. “We might want to put out the word down there.”
“Do it,” the captain said. “How long until we can get back into the engagement?”
“Twelve minutes to complete our turn, but it might be recovery by then,” the helmsman reported.
“Is it over?” she asked.
“Everything but the Orion sir,” the sensor tech said. “We killed nine and crippled power and engines on at least another eleven, including the assault carrier. The remaining ships have broken off and are running for Galileo. Most of them appear to be limping.”
“Damage reports coming in,” the ExO said, the coldness in his voice telling her he was clamping down hard on his emotions. “We’ve lost reactor three and atmosphere on decks 27-31. Two portside guns are down and the main nose weapons are offline from grid failure. Engineering teams are dealing with minor fires throughout the ship.”
“Dream well, Orion,” the navigator said, as the image of the multicruiser erupting into an expanding cloud of gas and debris played out in slow motion on the main screen. The size difference between the ships was almost a factor of ten, but still there was more than enough mass in the Impulse to shred what was left of the Orion.
The inevitability of inertia finished the job for both ships.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Governor’s Office: Gateway Colony: L-4 Prime:
“Do you have a colony wide com system?” Chancellor Roja asked. Her face looked like she was dying. On the inside.
“We do,” Jeph said. “At least I think we do. Is there a problem?”
She nodded. “I have an announcement to make and I’d prefer not to have to do this more than once. We just got news from down-system and it’s likely to change things for all of us. When I’ve finished, I’d like you remain on the com so we can discuss what comes next.”
“Of course,” he said, swinging around in his seat and watching the wall image.
“We are ready when you are, Madam Chancellor,” Dutch said.
“Tha
nk you.” She cleared her throat and Jeph watched her pick herself up and shake off the weight of whatever it was.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” she said, her voice filling everywhere in the colony and the Kanahto control room. Her face shifted as she considered her words before she went on. “Actually, it is not a good afternoon. A few minutes ago, we received word from Admiral Quintana at the L-2 Shipyard that there has been a massive attack on New Hope City.
“A little over a month ago, Mayor Pallassano declared her support for our resistance of the illegal coup that has taken over the Union government. As a result of her decision, Derek Tomlinson launched a military assault on New Hope City and Underhive. His forces have mercilessly attacked civilians in an attempt to undermine public support for her decision. FleetCom has been working to reinforce NHC and Underhive against this attack. However, as of about seven hours ago Tomlinson’s so-called government escalated the situation to unprecedented levels. We fear the results have been … severe.”
She paused and cleared her throat again as she looked down.
“At this moment, it seems likely that Underhive has been destroyed entirely. It appears that the attacking forces detonated a fifty-kiloton nuclear device in or near the lower levels of Underhive. We assume that there are few, if any, survivors.
“Immediately after the detonation, Paulson Lassiter made an announcement. He took responsibility, and warned that further resistance to the new government will result in a similar swift and devastating response. The magnitude of this unprecedented attack shows the ruthlessness of those now in power, and it must strengthen our resolve to resist them at any cost.
“FleetCom sent a wing of multicruisers to assist in rescue and recovery efforts. We expect they will have met with resistance by this point, as there is still a substantial enemy force in position above the site of the attack. With any luck, it is likely that our multicruisers have delivered our response to the enemy warships, so rest assured this is not over. We cannot let this brutal act intimidate us into submission.”
She paused again this time letting out a slow sigh, the weight of responsibility settling back onto her shoulders. “I know that many of you among our combined crews have friends and family in NHC, and our hearts go out to you and them. We will do our best to keep all of you informed as news comes in, but for now we must all stay focused on the task at hand. Tyranny never sleeps, and we must be ready when it comes for us.”
Redemption of Sisyphus Page 19