Smoke on the Wind

by Sean Benjamin

  Two hours passed quickly as the Typhoon group moved back to the first-battle casualties. The two heavy cruisers and the two damaged ships that had been left behind were just ahead as they continued to move toward the Typhoon group, the border, and home. The Orion Fleet led by Admiral Dudnik was in missile range of the crippled ships but did not fire. The three Orion scouts were closer to the action so had the arriving Typhoon ships on their screens. Undoubtedly, the three enemy scouts reported the presence of the Zeke fleet, and Dudnik knew that firing on the crippled ships would end up being intercepted by missiles from the Typhoon group so would lead to nothing. Fifteen minutes later, the two wounded ships moved slowly past the new arrivals as the two heavy cruisers fell into formation. Thirty-six Zeke ships lined up against forty-seven Orion ships. The OrCons had the heavier broadside, but any fight would result in few surviving ships, and both sides knew it.

  Admiral Dudnik hesitated. He thought the destroyer raiders were on their way home but couldn’t be sure of that. If he commenced fighting and the twenty-four destroyers showed up on his flank or behind him, it would not end well for his fleet. He looked over his tac screens yet again. The Zekes sat on the edge of missile range and showed no interest in moving in any particular direction. Five of their ships had moved out of their formation and began collecting escape pods of both sides. If he shot at maximum range, it would take the missiles three minutes to reach the Zekes, assuming they didn’t retreat. If they did retreat, the missiles would never get there as the Zekes would be backing out of range while the missiles were inflight. The same maneuver was open to him so there was no point in anyone firing at this extreme range. Dudnik was content to wait as long as the enemy wanted. He knew something they didn’t know, and he was willing to drag this out as long as he could.

  Hawkins asked a question to nobody in particular. “Timing and location for rendezvous?”

  There was a pause and then Tactical said, “We have to move back up the battle route about a tenth of the way. Wilson should be in position now.”

  Hawkins turned to Levant. “Admiral, let’s retrace our steps toward home. Slow pace to allow recovery of pods.”

  “Aye, Your Grace,” acknowledged Levant, and he directed his ships via the command network.

  The Zeke warships began to pull back at a snail’s rate while maintaining a formation forward so each ship had a clear field of fire. The five ships that had been retrieving pods joined the battle line and then five other ships pulled out of the line to pick up pods. Nobody, either friend or foe, was going to be left behind in a pod.

  Dudnik watched on his screens. He blew out a long sigh in frustration. He wanted to hold the enemy in place for as long as possible, but the only way that seemed likely was to initiate battle. He wasn’t too happy with that prospect. He had no idea what lay beyond his sensors in the direction of the border. He had watched the data streams from several of Kasyanov’s ships, and he knew they damaged or destroyed at least two missile boats, but what of the other three freighters? If those three freighters made an appearance, his advantage was gone. What if the Zekes had ten or twelve warships remaining out of sensor range conducting repairs or pod collection? What was left of that small force that had been the objective of Kasyanov? Dudnik frowned. He knew doing nothing was not an option as the enemy pulled back. He ordered his ships forward so they remained on the edge of missile range. He would wait as long as he possibly could before initiating battle. The longer he could stretch this out, the better for his side.

  Hawkins said to Levant, “Call our stop when you desire.”

  The Admiral replied, “Of course, Your Grace. We have three missile boats and Cockeyed Bob coming up now. They will be in formation in thirty minutes.”

  “Very good,” Rafe responded. He had noted them on sensors an hour prior but had not tracked them since then. Barrett’s damage and casualty report had come in at that time, and Hawkins took great interest, partly due to the missile boat casualties but also because he knew he had hung Barrett’s small force out there as a lure to the OrCons. They could not ignore the firepower in that group, and their small numbers made them an enticing target. The OrCon move against Barrett was predictable. It also had spared the Typhoon group many casualties, but Barrett paid for that gift to the Typhoon warships. Of his ten warships, six of them and Dragon were lost. The remaining four warships, Cockeyed Bob, Appaloosa, and two destroyers, all took significant damage. The magnificent work of the crews kept those ships in action. The freighters Steppenwolf, Griffin, and Vampire had come through the fight unscathed, thanks to the efforts of the warships protecting them.

  The formation stopped at a predetermined position and waited. The heavy cruiser Yangtze started engine repairs of a particularly loud nature. The Orion’s slow pursuit came to a halt on the edge of missile range. The five Zeke ships gathering pods swapped out again, and the pod retrieval was begun by five new ships. Admiral Dudnik pondered his options. He didn’t like any of them. The expected arrival of the three missile boats would tilt the odds to the Zekes, but a full-on battle would still leave few surviving ships and, if they were Zeke, they would be dealt with soon enough. Of course, Dudnik realized he would have a hard time enjoying that outcome if he were dead.

  The decision was made for him. Suddenly, a full barrage of missiles came from the Zeke formation. Then each ship continued to fire on her own. Dudnik was surprised. He knew he was on the edge of the missile engagement envelope and all he had to do was withdraw out of range while the incoming missiles were taking almost three minutes to reach him. He knew the Zekes knew that too so were basically wasting their ordnance. There was something else to this, but he would think about it after pulling back.

  “All ships, withdraw along the route we came in,” he ordered over his command net. His warships began pulling back in an orderly fashion.

  As the first missile volley reached the halfway point, Dudnik concluded they would be out of missile range, but he was preparing to launch one volley of interceptors just in case the Zekes had somehow found a way to add range to their missiles and this was their initial employment of that weapon. It wouldn’t take out the entire volley of missiles but would reduce it so the remainder could be easily handled with guns, lasers, and shields.

  As the enemy missiles reached approximately two-thirds of their range, there was a simmering in space behind and below them. Dudnik knew exactly what he was looking at. Immediately, he announced loudly, “All ships go offensive now!”

  Dudnik knew what ships coming out of subspace looked like, and he knew where the twenty-four raiding destroyers were now—halfway between him and their own fleet. He wanted to go offensive to get some free shots on these destroyers while staying out of range of the supporting barrage launched from the Typhoon warships. The problem was all launchers were loaded with interceptors, and it took two seconds to reprogram and launch offensive projectiles.

  Wilson’s force came clear of subspace. The Royal Navy destroyers, with one exception, were all over the place while the pirates were in a tight group. The exception was Blondie’s Jib which was tight on Wilson’s flagship, exactly where she was supposed to be. Despite the ragged appearance, the key objective was that all ships were behind and below Typhoon’s cascade of missiles, and that was achieved. All of Wilson’s ships began putting out their own stream of missiles as they moved to get into a defensive formation.

  Dudnik was so focused on the new threat he was slow to recognize that the main Zeke formation was moving toward him at maximum speed. They clearly wanted to get back into range of his ships. “Pull back!” he ordered. His ships obeyed while continuing to shoot offensive missiles at Wilson. Dudnik was determined to inflict damage on the destroyers while staying out of the range of the main body.

  Then an unexpected event occurred. The Orion missiles aimed at the destroyers were intercepted by the main Zeke barrage. Dudnik now saw the whole plan. The Typhoon flotilla had launched interceptors which were intended to support the destroy
ers as they emerged from subspace and went offensive. The Typhoon assault had never been a threat to Dudnik’s fleet, but the destroyers were. “Go defensive!” he ordered. His ships did so, but the closeness of the destroyers and the tardiness in recognizing the threat meant some of the destroyer missiles would get through to ship shields. Dudnik knew he was at fault here, but this was recoverable. He would simply remain on the defensive as he retreated. The main Zeke force was just outside of missile range, but his retreat meant it would take an hour for their slightly faster speed to get them into missile range, and they would have to do it without their slower missile boats. All the while, their destroyers could remain in range, but Dudnik could easily fight off their offensive jabs. He couldn’t really strike back against the destroyers because the Zeke main fleet could continue to cover them with interceptors.

  Dudnik ran through the scenarios in his head. In fact, this might work out well. His retreat would draw the Zekes away from the border and back into Orion space. All the while, their missile boats and their damaged ships would have to be protected or left to their own fate. If the Zekes left any ships to cover their cripples and their rear, that would reduce the ships arrayed against him. Considering what was coming to support him, Dudnik thought this might work out just fine.

  But he had to absorb the first volley from the destroyers. His late move to interceptors reduced the time of engagement for those interceptors, but they still managed to hit the great majority of the destroyer volley. Guns and lasers reduced the threat further. Enemy missiles did get through. Only two destroyers were targeted. The first received six hits on her aft shields and one on her hull before the next two missiles took out her port engine. The small combatant slewed hard to port before straightening out and running away at a reduced speed. The second destroyer took five shield hits and then two missiles to her engineering section. Her engines died and she began to coast.

  Dudnik knew the enemy destroyers had targeted only those two ships to ensure hits. Both ships, now unable to keep up, would be easy prey for the oncoming Typhoon formation. There was nothing Dudnik could do but continue to withdraw. To stop and fight with his now outnumbered force would be to accept defeat and destruction. His ships easily fought off the remaining missiles of the destroyer attack. The Zeke destroyers ceased firing and their main body did the same seconds later. The Zeke and pirate destroyers continued to come forward to remain within range of Dudnik’s force, and the main Zeke formation did the same so they could shoot at the two disabled Orion destroyers. The two wounded destroyers were left in a virtual no-man’s land between the two opposing fleets. Dudnik knew that the Zekes would take them under fire with their main force, and there would be no protecting them from that much firepower. The prediction proved to be true as the entire Zeke flotilla fired one large volley at the two destroyers as soon as the main body came within range. Dudnik put out interceptors to support his two cripples, but he knew it was a losing cause. However, if this action caused the Zekes to use up more of their limited munitions, then this would serve some small purpose. The defense of the two destroyers was quickly overmatched, and multiple hits were made on both ships. Escape pods began coming off the pair of victims.

  All firing ceased but the chase continued with the destroyers maintaining the same distance from the OrCons while the Typhoon group slowly gained on them. In seventeen minutes, the Zeke main body would be in range.

  On Typhoon’s flag bridge, the staff was busy prioritizing targets and firming up firing orders for each squadron. “Message from Flicker,” said Tactical. She was so engrossed in the message’s content she said the spy ship’s name rather than her code name.

  Raferty did not miss that and knew this had to be important. He spun his chair to look at his sister. She talked when she saw she had his full attention. “There is a single OrCon flotilla headed at us along the border. At least thirty ships. Coming full speed. They are twenty-six hours out from our current position.”

  Everyone on the flag bridge now looked at Tactical as Hawkins frowned. He said, “Batsur. They couldn’t have gotten this close since some of Wilson’s ships were originally discovered. These OrCon ships were probably doing a routine patrol in some area on this side of their base when they got the word about Wilson’s destroyers, so they were closer to us than ships coming out of their base.” He paused and then said, “That is why the OrCons behind us are staying close enough to engage us. They are giving us a shot at them in hopes of holding us here as long as possible so the Batsur group can cut off our way home.” He spoke over his command net. “There is a Batsur force coming hard along the border and is twenty-six hours from our current position. They will probably angle behind us to set up another blocking action. We head for home right now. We move at the speed of our slowest ship. If that ship is too slow, we will take the crew off and blow her up.”

  Hawkins knew no captain or crew would like that course of action so all the wounded ships would do their damndest to get damaged engines online and their speed increased. Everyone returned to their job with renewed vigor.

  As Levant issued orders over his command net to his squadrons, Hawkins turned to Tactical and talked in a low voice. “Did you tell Dylan to take the long way home to cover our flank toward Batsur?”

  She shook her head, and he smiled in response. “Dylan Whitlock is a good man,” he said simply.

  She gave a slight smile in return. “He surely is that. Glad someone was thinking ahead.”

  Hawkins nodded and turned back to his screens. He eyed the Orion formation just out of reach. He would have kept Wilson on offense while his main force covered him. Wilson would keep them engaged and the main force would have gotten within range and then that second OrCon fleet would have been doomed. He could still do that, but the time spent would allow the Batsur ships to move closer to blocking the path home. When he eventually met them in combat, he would have fewer ships, more cripples, tired crews, and less ordnance. Regardless of the ship numbers, there would be no winning that last fight. He shook his head at the lost opportunity. Well, it wasn’t the first time and wouldn’t be the last time. The right thing to do was to head for home. He briefly smiled as he thought that he meant both Wanderlust and the Badlands in that single word.

  He brought up Wilson on a private channel. “We are heading home at reduced speed until we can get a handle on all our cripples. I need you to be a rear guard against the force behind us. Stay close so we can cover you. I think the OrCons will leave you alone and just follow behind but, once that Batsur force gets close or it becomes obvious that we will outrun the Batsur warships, somebody back there might get brave.” He changed topics. “Nice approach and emergence and two good kills. Good work all around.”

  Wilson nodded. “Will do on the rear guard, Rafe.” He now switched to the second topic. “I think our subspace approach was fine in that we were not detected, but the emergence needs work. If we had emerged like that within missile range of an enemy, we would have been chopped up damn quick. Your people had a nice formation and mutual support on emerging.”

  Raferty knew what he said was true, but he thought there were extenuating circumstances. “Your ships haven’t worked together so nobody trusts each other, so your captains built in their own safety factor when they got their subspace routing in order to avoid the other ships, so that is why you were scattered all over hell and back.”

  Wilson considered the critique and then nodded. “True enough but with captains on their own agenda, one of them could have built in a safety factor in one direction and another could have built in a safety factor in another direction, and the two could have collided in subspace or upon emerging before shields would have come on line.” He paused and said, “I hate captains on their own agenda.”

  Hawkins smiled, “So do I.” He then added, “One ship was tight on you. Who was that?”

  Wilson smiled. “As if you couldn’t guess. It was Blondie in Jib. She put in the course and approach exactly as it was given
to her and, as if by magic, she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Hopefully, the other captains saw that. If I kidnapped her and then told you she died in battle, would you believe me?”

  Rafe matched his smile. “I would because I’m a trusting soul, but I suspect others in my command would be suspicious.”

  Wilson shrugged his shoulders. “I thought so, and the last thing I need is a bunch of suspicious pirates poking around. If you were going to be in the Empire for a while, I would fire half these idiot captains and come to you for replacements.”

  “If we were going to be around for a while, I’d give them to you. I have many people deserving of a command; I just don’t have a ship for them.” They signed off.

  Chapter 42

  Wilson spread his destroyers out in four ship detachments to cover the rear and the flanks of the main formation. Single pickets were sent out to each side of the proposed route home. The Zeke force moved to the border at a moderate rate of speed. Wounded ships had gotten a head start on the journey for home, but the main body was gradually gaining on them and collecting these ships as they were passed. Hawkins had no intention of slowing down. By giving them a head start and then chasing them at moderate speed, he was giving each damaged ship every opportunity to do repairs and get up to formation speed. If these ships did so, all well and good. If not, then decisions would be made. As Typhoon approached each damaged ship along the route, it would be obvious whether that ship could maintain her place in the formation. If not, Hawkins ordered the ship abandoned and set for self-destruction. He had no intention of letting one ship endanger the entire force due to a lack of speed. Forty-five Orion ships were behind them and thirty more ships were closing in from his port side. He had the Typhoon force of forty-four effective warships and ten disabled ships with propulsion problems whose fate was still to be decided. There was Barrett’s force of Cockeyed Bob, Appaloosa, two destroyers and three freighters plus the wounded Gawain. There was also Wilson’s twenty-four destroyers. Best-case scenario was all the disabled ships would be repaired to an acceptable level of battle worthiness, giving him a total of eighty-five fighting ships to the enemy’s seventy-five. Hawkins never believed in best-case scenario. The real best-case scenario was there wouldn’t be a war. Since that didn’t happen, there was no point in believing in a next best-case scenario. Hawkins looked over the damage reports of the ten severely damaged ships with the propulsion problems. He figured maybe six could be kept. That took him down to eighty ships, the majority with some damage and all with less than half a normal loadout of munitions and tired crews. Their enemy had no damage, no crew problems, and full magazines. On paper, the numbers said it was an even match. Wars aren’t fought on paper. This was not even close to a straight up fight. Hell, the OrCons could just draw out the fight until the Royal Navy forces ran out of ordnance. Hawkins knew all the numbers and wanted to take the victories and run for home. He was going to do just that, but he knew the trailing Orion fleet would be keeping the Batsur reinforcements updated, and the Batsur warships would merely adjust course, setting up for an intercept at new coordinates if their speed allowed them to do that.