Smoke on the Wind

by Sean Benjamin

  The comm officer spoke in an excited voice. “Zavodila is under attack by a force of enemy destroyers!”

  All heads immediately turned toward the man. He said, “Forwarding all reports and visuals. They are identified as Zeke Spinnaker class destroyers and pirate ships that had been in the Electra System battle.”

  For the next twenty minutes, the command element watched the battle at Zavodila as provided by a data feed from the Metal Moon. The attack was an unqualified Zeke success. Kasyanov was not fooled by their subsequent move toward the homeworld. The Zekes would take their victory and run for home. She knew Admiral Dudnik would depart Rurik in pursuit of the enemy destroyers, but it would likely end in nothing. This was a defeat in detail and heralded a new era in Zeke tactics and risk-taking. She knew this had ramifications beyond Zavodila.

  Kasyanov then let her thoughts go down a different path. The Zeke destroyers and pirates had done a good job at the Metal Moon, but that still left their capital ships and Armet class destroyers unaccounted for. Surely, those ships must be out and about. There were dozens of enemy ships unaccounted for, and the pirates were back in the war. That meant something, and she focused on it. The pirates wouldn’t be here just to augment the Zeke forces. They would have plan approval or they wouldn’t play. Hell, maybe they even developed the plan. Suddenly, a thought came to her, a dark thought with grave consequences. Her eyes narrowed as she considered the idea from a variety of angles. She allowed herself a small, bitter grimace as she came to an unfortunate conclusion. She knew exactly where the missing Zeke ships were. She had no evidence to support the conclusion, but she was convinced she was absolutely correct.

  She talked over her command net to all her ships. “Come starboard eighty degrees and go six degrees nose down.” She turned in her chair to the navigation station. “Plot a course that parallels the border.” She turned to her OpsO. “Put us in a formation that will give us the widest sensor coverage while still being able to provide mutual support. Once in formation, go to max speed. We have an enemy task force to find and engage.”

  The OpsO asked, “Do you hope to intercept the enemy destroyers running for home, Admiral?”

  Kasyanov shook her head. “No. I hope to intercept the force that is in the process of destroying our base at Rurik.”

  Everyone turned to stare at her as she focused on her screens while deciding on a battle plan.

  ~ ~ ~

  Captain Farrago of Appaloosa watched his pursuers turn away and made an immediate decision. He spoke over the command net. “I will be breaking off here to track our Orion friends. Captain Carlson in Percheron has command. He will take our force back to Wanderlust as previously ordered.”

  All ships acknowledged the call and Appaloosa turned to follow Kasyanov’s task force. Farrago wished he could take one more ship with him in case the enemy decided to drop ships in subspace, and he missed seeing it on sensors. Two ships spread out wide would be harder to ambush. Unfortunately, the Wanderlust defenses needed every ship they could muster, so Farrago was on his own. He would make do. Appaloosa trailed the departing OrCons by one hour. She started sending out position reports every fifteen minutes.

  Chapter 31

  The two OrCon raiding forces were gradually closing on each other as they both moved toward Wanderlust. They would meet up in twelve hours and enter subspace together for six hours before returning to regular space within close striking distance of Zeke base.

  The spy ship Prizrak had sent a report two hours prior. There had been no major ship engine activity at the base for several hours. Prizrak couldn’t emerge in sight of the base to get a visual account of ships numbers but estimated the base had fifteen to twenty ships of various types in port, including several in repair berths at the shipyard. The spy ship also reported she detected no sensor sweeps except from the base itself. That meant no picket ships were posted around Wanderlust to expand the base’s sensor range with their own sensors. Apparently, they were keeping their merger defensive assets in close for immediate use in case of attack.

  Admiral Pervak reviewed the report again. With few ships for base defense, Wanderlust was vulnerable. He would hit it hard with both raiding forces comprised of nineteen ships headed by two battlecruisers. It was not an ideal number of ships for this sort of attack, but it would be enough to do great harm to a near empty base. He had a good idea of the defenses they would face and the number of ships still there. He briefly wondered if this scenario was too good to be true. The Zekes could have a large force in subspace waiting for his ships. He doubted it, but he had to consider the possibility. He would be much more comfortable if he knew where all those departed ships were right now.

  As if in answer to his silent wish, the comm officer said, “We have an immediate response message.” He paused as he read and then announced, “A combined force of Zeke and pirate destroyers have just hit the Metal Moon.” Another pause as the flag bridge personnel turned to stare at him. He continued, “Their attack was a success. The majority of ships in harbor are destroyed or badly damaged and the Moon itself has sufficient damage. Forwarding the message and visuals to all ship departments and acknowledging receipt of the message.”

  Pervak took a deep breath. No way destroyers raid that deep in Orion territory without support. There were Zeke capital ships near the destroyers for sure. Pervak had read of Admiral Kasyanov’s earlier sortie against the raiders that had been tracked by one of the remote sensor systems. Half the ships in Rurik were chasing that small group of Zeke ships now. Perhaps the enemy capital ships would hit the other half of the ships from Rurik as they moved to support Zavodila and the Metal Moon. He considered that for a moment and then discarded further thoughts along those lines. It was not his problem, and he needed to concentrate on what was his problem. His problem was Wanderlust. At least he now knew where all the Zeke ships went.

  Six hours later, his conclusion was confirmed when a report of Zeke ships breaching the minefield at Rurik was received. Pervak smiled slightly. Bad for Rurik but good for him. He now knew there was no subspace ambush waiting at Wanderlust. His force could go subspace and come out right on top of the base.

  Chapter 32

  Dylan Whitlock was on the sensors as Flicker emerged from subspace at the halfway point between Rurik and Zavodila. They had emerged briefly two hours prior to make a quick comm call that the second Rurik force had just passed them while returning to Rurik. They had quickly gone under again as they knew the comm call would be picked up by the passing Rurik force which was still in sensor range. The OrCons would not detect the small spy ship or pinpoint the location of the comm transmission, but they would know it came from behind them and would report the incident to someone. Whitlock didn’t want to have to dodge a passing patrol craft or a couple of destroyers sent back from the Orion fleet.

  Sensors showed all was clear. Whitlock shut down the sensors to avoid detection and leaned back in his seat. Everything was going well. His orders were complete, and he could head for home. He reviewed the situation again while not noticing the silence around him. He looked around and saw his three companions watching him.

  “We done?” asked Jasmine, knowing full well they were. She also knew her captain and boyfriend. Having accomplished their orders and being done were not the same thing in his mind. He was always looking for something else to do.

  Dylan surveyed his crew and then said, “I can’t think of a reasonable follow-on mission for us here. No point in us looking at the two spaceports we hit, and we can’t go near their homeworld while everyone there is on high alert.” He paused in thought. “I guess we head for home but will be heading for home by a certain route.”

  Everyone smiled at the “heading home” part and then quickly unsmiled at the “certain route” part.

  “A certain route?” Scarecrow asked in a skeptical voice.

  Whitlock nodded. “We will head for home but in a roundabout way. Wilson’s destroyers, or at least a section of them, were discover
ed on the way in. Orion forces were scrambled out of Rurik, but I bet they were scrambled out of Batsur too.”

  Scarecrow nodded in agreement. “Makes sense. Rurik is on one side of the destroyers and Batsur is on the other side. The OrCons would cut off as much area as they could in order to trap the raiders, but Batsur forces would have been a good four days away from Wilson’s route, even at top speed.”

  “I agree,” Dylan said. “But the Batsur forces will keep coming once they hear of the hits on the Metal Moon and Rurik. They will alter course for the border to see if they can catch anyone on the way home. Hell, if they had a force out doing a routine sweep in this direction before the alert went out, they may have ships closer than any of us think they do.”

  Jasmine stared at Whitlock. “I see your plan. We cruise up to where Wilson destroyers were and head home that way. Any Batsur forces moving to hit our people at the border will have to pass by us if they take a direct route to the border.”

  Dylan smiled. “That’s it. Should be easy duty.”

  Gabrielle frowned. “Easy duty? Those have to be famous last words.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Admiral Dudnik scanned through the message traffic as his force closed on Rurik from the Metal Moon. The three ships from Rurik were trailing the departing Zekes and would keep up a steady flow of position reports. Despite that advantage, Dudnik was sure his force would not catch the intruders. They were almost four hours in trail of them, and the Zekes were actually slightly faster than his own ships. Even the destroyer raiders were out of contact now. Dudnik suspected they were somewhere far out on his starboard side running for the border on a parallel course to his. With their speed, they could be slightly ahead of him so turning to starboard to intercept them would be a fool’s errand. The best he could hope for was a report from a random ship about a destroyer formation at high speed. His most realistic hope lay with Dabria Kasyanov and the first half of the Rurik force. Her pursuit of the few raiders tracked earlier now put her much closer to the border and in a much better position to cut off the retreat of the Zekes.

  Of course, it was highly possible the Zekes didn’t mind that at all. Since Kasyanov had already made contact with the small fleeing Royal Navy group, the Zekes knew her location and would have a rough estimate on her numbers. Since she had fifty-two ships, any rough estimate would be within the Zeke’s comfort zone, and they would look forward to a meeting engagement. The Zekes had sixty-five plus the possibility of the twenty-four destroyers from the Metal Moon attack joining them at some point. The Zekes would want an intercept as badly as he did. With his own force so far back, the Zekes could fight Kasyanov with no fear of him entering the battle. Dudnik knew Kasyanov would still fight. She would always fight. He hoped she would come up with something to even the odds but had to admit he had no idea what that could be.

  ~ ~ ~

  Jack Wilson and Killian O’Hare were also reading message traffic. They were the only force maintaining comm silence as everyone else was already found so the comm reports flowed freely from those other forces. The two captains conferred.

  Wilson said, “I think the second Rurik force is far out to our port now and paralleling us. We are abeam of them or slightly ahead. The first Rurik force can intercept Raferty if they want. They will be outgunned, but they will probably fight.”

  O’Hare nodded. “They have to fight. This is the first action where Orion civilians have been in the battle zone and two of their bases destroyed. They will want revenge for that. If their navy lets us slip away with clean victories, especially after the civilian deaths at the Metal Moon fight, the OrCon civilian leadership will be screaming for their commanders’ heads. They have to fight even knowing it will not go well for them.”

  Wilson agreed. He had a brief flashback to Excandor and Task Force 2 rushing to aid Task Force 1 even though everyone knew it was hopeless. The unwritten code of loyalty required the OrCons to at least make a good show of it. Wilson looked forward to it.

  Chapter 33

  Hours trickled by uneventfully as forces maneuvered across the far-flung distances of space. The Typhoon task force ran for home on a straight course. The three trailing OrCon ships were slowly falling behind the speeding Zeke ships but would maintain contact for many more hours. Admiral Dudnik’s armada of forty-one vessels was three and a half hours behind Typhoon’s fleet.

  Far out to Dudnik’s starboard side, Wilson’s destroyers were no longer abeam but an hour ahead on an almost parallel course. It was almost parallel as Wilson had come to port three degrees and was slowly cutting down the distance between his and Dudnik’s ships. He didn’t know exactly where Dudnik was, but he knew the Orion commander had to chase Typhoon’s group, so Wilson had a fairly good idea of his enemy’s location.

  Far out to the port side and ahead of Typhoon’s ships was Kasyanov and her fleet. She knew exactly where the enemy was and would intercept them near the border. She would have to engage them at less than desirable odds, but there was nothing she could do about that.

  All other forces knew Kasyanov’s location as Appaloosa was still trailing her group and sending out position reports and had reported the enemy numbered fifty-two ships. Since every force was at maximum sustained speed and had already established their courses, it was easy to predict upcoming events. Kasyanov would intercept the Typhoon group in thirty-nine hours.

  ~ ~ ~

  Admiral Pervak had his raiders enter subspace after receiving one final report from the spy ship Prizrak. The report stated no change at Wanderlust. The Orions would emerge six hours later on the edge of the base.

  Admiral Barrett reviewed his plan one more time. He put his five newly-commissioned ships in front of the five pirate freighters. Those missile boats had to be protected at all costs. In addition to those five warships, there was a battlecruiser and two heavy cruisers in the repair docks. One destroyer just out of the repair yards was placed behind Little Drifter, a large floating rock that orbited Wanderlust. He wished he had more resources, but that was rather the point of this part of the operation. The enemy would be attacking Wanderlust because they thought the base was largely defenseless. He would make do.

  Barrett now was aboard the battlecruiser Cockeyed Bob in the repair docks. Cockeyed Bob was the third ship of the Wind class of battlecruisers so had been in service for many years. She had always managed to be around when border disputes, trade disagreements, or enforcing the Empire’s will lead to small, impromptu wars in out-of-the-way places, so she had the most battle streamers of any large ship in the Royal Navy. Her war record, plus her colorful name, had made “Bobby” one of the most popular ships in the Aurora Empire.

  The Admiral smiled as he looked around the flag bridge. Like the great majority of the sailors in the Royal Navy, he had a soft spot for this ship. He had never served in her but was glad to hoist his flag here at this time. Bobby had the reputation of a lucky ship, and it worked for her at Excandor. She had suffered major damage early in the Excandor fight so had been withdrawn from the battle zone with other early casualties. This allowed these ships to escape the sad fate that had overtaken other ships heavily damaged later in the battle. The battlecruiser had been in the repair docks since the Excandor fight. Her weapons systems, engines, and sensors were replaced or repaired. There were few back-up systems available, and nine compartments were still sealed off as repairs had not been made to make them airtight. No cosmetic work had been done at all. With her hull still marked with holes and scars, Bobby might not be pretty, but she could fight.

  Admiral Barrett had put the base on high alert twelve hours prior. All defensive positions and ships were at battle stations, and personnel shifts rotated on a regular basis to ensure everyone stayed fresh. Barrett was sure the enemy raiders were not in the immediate area when the two attacks occurred in the Orion Confederation. The Metal Moon attack was eighteen hours ago and Rurik was hit six hours later, more than enough time for the Orion raiders to learn of the attacks, realize Wanderlust was l
argely empty, and move to her. Since there was no intel on the raiders’ location, Barrett couldn’t be sure when the OrCons would appear, but he was sure they would. His job was to be ready regardless of how long it took for the enemy to arrive.

  Chapter 34

  Admiral Pervak ensured all his screens were set as his raiders neared their surfacing point. Tension weighted down the flag bridge watchstanders, but that was to be expected. Pervak knew his ships would perform well. Hitting a large base such as Wanderlust was different than the open space battles his force had always engaged in before, but his crews were veterans and were good at their jobs. Pervak knew that the base defenses would score hits on his ships, but he was confident that he could inflict major damage despite the limited resources at his command.

  “Thirty seconds,” said the OpsO. Everyone made sure they were strapped into their seats with a breathing apparatus at hand.

  The nineteen ships rose from subspace on the edge of Wanderlust’s harbor. The eight seconds to fully emerge passed slowly but without incident. The Zekes were not prepared for what was coming so were not ready to open fire on any attackers when they were at their most vulnerable. As ship sensors came on line, the first thing Admiral Pervak noticed was two lines of old freighters directly in front of him with the spaceport beyond that. The two lines were one stacked above another and composed of six ships each. Lined up like two rows of little ducklings, a synchronized barge towed each row, keeping them in orbit over the spinning surface base. Pervak knew why they were there. It was assumed by the Zekes that any attack on Wanderlust would begin from the edge of missile range much further out from the base than Pervak’s ships were now. The two lines of old ships would disrupt many missile shots at the base and provide cover for the defending Royal Navy ships that would normally be in the outer harbor. However, there were no Royal Navy ships in the outer harbor, and now the Orion raiders would use the old freighters for their own cover as they attacked the base.