Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  “Of course Empress, if that is what you wish,” Fairfax responded.

  Christine nodded and led him out of her office. It wasn’t really what she wished. What she wanted was to go with Home Fleet so she could be reunited with James. If he was going to fight and perhaps die trying to stop the Karacknid battlefleet from reaching Earth, then she wanted to be at his side. Yet she knew her place was here. There were still more things she could do to send aid to New Shanghai. Showing her face to her staff as their last hope of stopping the Karacknid battlefleet left Earth was just one of them.

  Chapter 37

  Even the best commanders can be caught out and tricked. Cadets have this drummed into them again and again in the classroom and in the battle simulators. Those who do not learn this lesson never rise above the rank of Lieutenant.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  Slayer

  “Exiting shift space in thirty seconds,” Slayer’s navigation officer reported.

  Tanaka-lang didn’t bother to look up. His fleet was about two thirds of the way along the shift passage to the next system. Exiting shift space and reorienting down the next kink of the shift passage was a standard maneuver. Instead, he continued analyzing the feint the Humans had made on his fleet in the last system. If they tried again, he wanted to be ready to punish them. He was so engrossed in the simulation he was running that he didn’t even notice the slight jolt from his flagship emerging into real space.

  “Something is wrong,” a sensor officer reported, his voice full of confusion.

  Tanaka-lang’s head shot up in an instant. “What is it? he demanded.

  “Our vanguard, half of them are not here. They didn’t jump out of shift space,” the officer answered immediately.

  “Impossible,” Slayer’s Captain said. “Run a diagnostic on our sensors. We’re only thirty light seconds from the turn in the shift passage. If they didn’t jump out with us, the dark matter would have pulled them out.”

  Though the sensor officer didn’t look up at his Captain, his voice grew in confidence. “The sensors are operating within normal parameters, there is no sign of them.”

  “The Humans,” Tanaka-lang growled. “They have done something.” He had been waiting for one trick or another. But with four hundred of his lead ships nowhere to be seen more than a trick was going on! How did they do it? he asked himself as he searched for the answer. One of the reports he had read several months ago sprang to mind. When the Humans had raided the Jaranna system one convoy had been trapped within the system. Long-range sensors from the survivors on Jaranna hadn’t been entirely sure what happened. But for some reason the convoy, though it had fled, hadn’t jumped out of the system despite crossing the mass shadow. Something had kept them in real space. “They have a way to pull ships out of shift space,” he said. “It’s the only explanation.” And it explains a few other things, Tanaka-lang thought. He was still waiting to hear from two border fleets that had been stationed to the eastern end of the frontline with Human space. That they hadn’t attacked the Humans or made contact with him had been nagging at him. Now it made sense. If the Humans had prevented them from jumping into shift space they couldn’t have closed with the Human fleet or sent a message.

  “How is that possible?” Slayer’s Captain asked as he struggled to get his mind around the possibility.

  Tanaka-lang was already three steps ahead of him. “It’s not good enough that they can pull them out, they have to keep them trapped. Otherwise our ships would have jumped out as soon as their shift drives recharged. That means whatever they are doing, they are still doing it. Order the fleet to turn one hundred and eighty degrees. We’ll jump back into shift space along our previous course. Whatever they’re doing should pull us out of shift space too. We may have a chance to catch and crush them!”

  For twenty seconds confusion reigned on Slayer’s bridge as previous orders were countermanded and new orders sent to the fleet. With almost four thousand ships still arrayed around Slayer, it took several minutes to turn them all. Then it took another ten to recharge the shift drives. All the while Tanaka-lang had to fight from grinding his claws into his command chair. He was certain the Humans had his four hundred ships surrounded and outnumbered. Every minute his fleet delayed meant more ships needlessly lost.

  “The fleet will be ready to jump in one minute Admiral,” an officer reported.

  “Do so immediately,” Tanaka-lang snapped back. Before anything could happen, new alarms blared. “What now?” he growled.

  “We are reading a massive gravimetric force. It just appeared out of nowhere. It’s preventing our ships from entering shift space,” an officer Tanaka-lang didn’t know shouted over the din of the alarms.

  “Show me,” Tanaka-lang ordered.

  On the holo map a single point began to flash. Extending out from it was a massive bubble of gravitational energy. It engulfed Tanaka-lang’s battlefleet and stretched twenty light minutes beyond them. The Humans have something there. “Dispatch Talon squadron to that location. They are to make best possible speed.”

  Just minutes after the squadron of light cruisers raced away towards the source of the gravitational energy, Tanaka-lang’s worst fears were confirmed. A small cluster of Human ships powered up their engines and moved in the opposite direction. Whatever the Humans were using to create the gravitational bubble, it was mobile, for as the Human ships moved, so too did the new source of gravitational energy. Tanaka-lang growled at the speed of the Human ships. They weren’t moving fast enough to prevent Talon squadron catching them, but then, he suspected they didn’t need to. As soon as Talon squadron got close enough, they’d drop their gravitational bubble and jump to shift space themselves. Worse, at the speed the Human ships were going, the gravitational bubble would keep his fleet trapped for another hour. “Dispatch two more squadrons after them,” he ordered. “I want them caught if we can. The rest of our fleet will begin a full acceleration burn in the opposite direction to the source of the gravity bubble. As soon as we pass beyond that we will jump to shift space back along our previous course.”

  As his subordinates carried out his orders, Tanaka-lang gave into the urge to dig his claws deeply into his command chair. You have bested us for now, he thought towards his opponent. His missing four hundred ships were on their own, for now at least. And he suspected that the Humans had secured all the time they would need. But it won’t happen again. He was already working on ways to counter this new threat.

  *

  IS Drake, 29th April 2484 AD.

  Without knowing exactly where the Karacknid ships would be pulled out of shift space, James had his fleet split into four large squadrons of three hundred ships each. They were arrayed around the edge of the gravitational bubble the gravity well cruiser was producing. Each squadron was spaced out so that it could support either of its neighbors. For an hour, he had been sitting on Drake’s bridge waiting and watching. Every warship in his fleet was at battle stations, for the fight could begin at a moment’s notice. Growing tired of staring at the holo plot, James pulled up a letter for Christine. Idly he scanned through it, looking for points where he could add something. Before he got too far, alarms pulled his attention back to Drake’s sensors.

  “New contacts! Multiple ships exiting shift space,” Anderson shouted.

  “Anchor is powering down her gravity well generator,” Miyagi said at almost the same time.

  Only half a second passed between the first Karacknid ship being detected and Anchor switching off her gravity well generator. Yet in that time, four hundred Karacknid warships were pulled out of shift space. The rest of the Karacknid battlefleet, unaware of what had happened, would continue down the shift passage at hundreds of times the speed of light. It worked, James said to himself as he smiled. Lightfoot’s idea had worked. And it looks like he is front and center for the next part, James added as he assessed the situation. The Karacknid ships were directly in front of Lightfoot’s squadron. Even as he wat
ched, Lightfoot’s ships moved forward to engage them. “Move us to support Lightfoot’s squadron,” James ordered. “We’ll take the Karacknids’ left flank, Jil’lal can move in and take the right.” As the three hundred ships around Drake surged forward, missiles shot from Lightfoot’s squadron and the Karacknid ships. “Signal Lightfoot, make sure he stays at optimal missile range. He is not to take any risks until we get there,” James said as he caught his COM officer’s eye. Lightfoot should already know that, but with the speed Lightfoot’s ships were putting on as they closed with the Karacknids, James wanted to make sure.

  “Aye Admiral,” Martinez replied.

  “Interdictor is powering up her gravity wells,” Fisher reported.

  James nodded. Enough time had elapsed that the rest of the Karacknid battlefleet would have passed them by. Once shut down, it took twenty minutes to power up the gravity well generators again. Thankfully, he had brought five of the cruisers with him for Operation Counterstrike. Two were still operating to the east, barring the Karacknid border fleets from outflanking him, but they had managed to get three back in time to attempt Lightfoot’s strategy. As the Interdictor powered up her gravity wells, a new bubble of gravitational force enveloped the Karacknid warships. They would not be jumping to shift space any time soon.

  “We’ll be in missile range in three minutes,” Anderson updated everyone.

  “All right,” James said after glancing at a secondary timer that had started counting as soon as the Karacknid ships had appeared. “We’ve got eighteen minutes until the Karacknid ships exit shift space at the next kink. Then eighteen more for them to get back here. Let’s hammer them as hard as we can,” he said to his officers. “Every missile must count.”

  As his and Jil’lal’s ships moved in to surround the Karacknids in flanking fire, James watched the first couple of missile salvos strike home as Lightfoot’s squadron fought the Karacknids. Despite being taken by surprise, the Karacknids fought like devils. They knew they were trapped. Lightfoot lost twenty ships to the first Karacknid salvo and eighteen to the second. In reply, his two salvos took out twenty-six Karacknids. Then James and Jil’lal’s ships opened fire. The two salvos were timed to perfectly coordinate with Lightfoot’s third. As all three salvos raced towards their targets, the Karacknids fired their own salvo. They were still targeting Lightfoot’s ships.

  “They are not even trying to outrun the gravitational bubble,” Anderson commented.

  “No,” Fisher responded. “They would rather fight.”

  From her tone of voice, James sensed the same respect he felt for the Karacknids. They might be evil genocidal oppressors, but they knew how to fight. But that won’t be enough this time. As the three salvos from his ships crashed into the Karacknids, hundreds of missiles made it through the point defense fire. The first to get into attack range were the Human missiles. Detonating some distance from the Karacknid ships, they channeled their nuclear force into focusing lenses and released powerful grazer beams. Every beam that struck a Karacknid ship pierced deep into its hull. As the explosions and damage wrought confusion among the Karacknid ships, the Alliance missiles reached their targets. More than forty thermonuclear detonations bloomed within the Karacknid fleet. James immediately switched his attention to Lightfoot’s ships. What he saw made him grimace. Karacknid missiles were detonating there as well. In the space of just a few seconds twenty-two more ships were taken out or crippled by antimatter warheads.

  When Drake’s sensors were able to get an accurate read on the Karacknid ships, eighty-four of their number had been removed from the fight. The Karacknid fleet was still a threat, but their numbers had been reduced by twenty-five percent. “Keep hitting them!” James ordered.

  Over the next twenty minutes, three more salvos crashed into the Karacknids. Their ships were beaten into something that resembled a scrapheap rather than a war fleet. Despite the losses, they kept firing as many missiles at Lightfoot’s ships as possible. Though as their fire dwindled, so did Lightfoot’s losses. When Drake’s sensors confirmed there were just forty-six enemy warships functioning, James glanced at the timer. “Time is up,” he decided. “Send the general order, all fleets are to disengage and pull back to the rendezvous point immediately.”

  Though he was loath to leave the vastly outnumbered Karacknid ships without finishing them off, he had no choice. His fleet had a tight timetable to keep. For a couple of seconds he thought Lightfoot and Jil’lal were going to give into the urge to fire another salvo. But then both of their squadrons turned. Ya’sia’s fleet, unable to reach the Karacknids in time, was already moving towards the rendezvous point. Technically, even if the Karacknid commander had figured out what was happening, James knew his fleet still had ten more minutes before the battlefleet could retrace their steps and come to the aid of the ships he had ambushed. Yet he didn’t want to take any chances. He had just destroyed three hundred and sixty enemy ships for the price of eighty of his own. That was good enough for now. We just have to keep those odds going, James couldn’t help but think. If he could keep killing Karacknid ships at such a loss ratio, he’d eventually be able to whittle down the four thousand ships of the Karacknid battlefleet. He wouldn’t have a fleet left if he managed to do that, but neither would the Karacknids. And they would just send another four thousand once they have the supplies, he said to himself, further deflating his satisfaction and the victory they had just won.

  “We are ready to jump out,” Anderson reported ten minutes later. “The Karacknids are not attempting to pursue us.”

  “They may be willing to fight at very bad odds, but they’re not suicidal,” James commented. “All right, order Interdictor to power down her gravity well generator. Jump the fleet out.” As his fleet jumped into shift space, six warships were left behind. Too badly damaged to make the jump, they had been evacuated. Seconds later each detonated as their reactors were overloaded.

  With the battle over, James watched as his officers set about analyzing everything that had just happened, coordinating the repairs that would have to be carried out and the supplies needing to be distributed throughout the fleet. For a few minutes James was happy to just watch them as he allowed his adrenaline to wear off. Then his mind turned to his next concern. According to Lightfoot’s plan and the timer he kept glancing at, they were perfectly on schedule. Yet he couldn’t help but feel nervous. The one problem with Lightfoot’s plan was that his fleet was now behind the Karacknid battlefleet. That was the last place he wanted to be. As a result, they were about to try something quite daring. This had been the key point of debate when the plan had been analyzed. Though Drake’s sensors couldn’t detect it, James could easily imagine it. Somewhere out in front of his fleet, all, or a significant part of the Karacknid battlefleet would be chasing his third gravity well cruiser. If his fleet ran into the cruiser’s gravity bubble, they would be pulled out of shift space, possibly right in the midst of the Karacknid ships.

  The moment of truth, James said to himself as the timer hit forty minutes. His entire body tensed and he almost squinted as his fleet passed over the point where the interdictor cruiser was. For a couple of seconds James held the same pose. Then he forced himself to relax. Glancing at Fisher and Miyagi he smiled. They had done it! Waylayer had dropped her gravity well generators just in time for his fleet to pass by her. James hoped she and her escorts were already in shift space themselves as they escaped the Karacknid battlefleet.

  With his fleet safe, James’ mind turned to the Karacknid commander. He wondered how his enemy had responded. It was possible the Karacknid battlefleet was already on its way to the scene of the ambush Lightfoot had so brilliantly planned. It was also possible that the battlefleet had been pressing Waylayer in an effort to continue towards the next system. If that was the case, they’d likely only be minutes behind his fleet in shift space. Thankfully, Lightfoot had thought of that too. As soon as she had her gravity wells charged, Anchor would drop out of shift space with a strong escort. This
time she would pull the entire Karacknid battlefleet out of shift space. Then, if the Karacknids wanted to enter shift space again, they’d have to chase Anchor down and force her to flee in shift space. When they did, James intended to have Interdictor lined up and ready to take her place. Now that they were so close to the edge of the Karacknid empire, he had no fears that the Karacknid fleet would turn back towards Jaranna. Or at least, if they did, he could get back to Earth ahead of them. That meant he could use his gravity well cruisers to hold up the Karacknids all the way to the first Human colonies.

  *

  Drake, 30th April 2484 AD (one day later).

  “Twelve hours,” James said in satisfaction as the first Karacknids jumped out of shift space. Their tactic of leapfrogging gravity well cruisers over one another as they slowed the Karacknid fleet had delayed the Karacknids by twelve hours. With nearly four hundred of their warships also destroyed, Lightfoot’s tactic had worked wonderfully.