by T J Bryan
By 09:00 Toni had read all of the last weeks patrol reports along with just about every bit of OCN trivia found in the daily dispatches. Breakfast was next in order, but she did not feel hungry.
Toni was about to take a walk across the short deck of Holgata station to stretch her legs when Lars Ulf called out.
"Incoming. I repeat Incoming. This is not a drill."
Toni stopped dead in her tracks and walked purposefully back to the bridge.
Toni looked up to the status board but there was little new to be seen.
Lars continued, "I have a small fast transport entering from the Tarn portal. This is not Megra. I repeat this is not Megra."
Toni walked to her captains chair on the bridge and sat. Then she pulled down her seat restraints and then again very hard. Double hard she thought, just to keep the bridge crew on their toes.
"Signature of the ship is Diana. I have one ship from Diana entering the system from Tarn. She is stopping at the entry. She is responding to our hail."
"Mr. Ulf. Confirm that Wu station has detected this entry and is sending its' revenue cutter for inspection."
Lars replied, "Aye aye, Sir."
Then Lars continued before he could contact Wu Station. "I have another entry. It's another Diana ship this one a small liner. It's the Diana Aloft."
Toni thought moment. "And the Hail, Mr. Ulf?"
"The first ship is Thunder of Diana. She says that the Diana system has been attacked and destroyed by Megra. They are refugees seeking asylum."
Toni looked at her status board and located the two closest ships to the Tarn portal. "Mr. Ulf, direct Hirst and Hildeberg to the Tarn portal. I want a full scan of both those ships. Has Wu Station responded?"
Lars waited a moment, "Yes Sir. Wu is dispatching her revenue cutter. And I think..."
Lars stopped speaking and was intently listening to his station. "Commodore Hamilton I have another ship at Tarn and she is another Diana."
Toni was starting to wonder how many ships might be in the tunnel. Even the relatively small ships that Diana produced might not fit well between the mine field and the portal entry wall. But she was soon to find out.
"Incoming, We have another Diana ship. It is the Spark of Diana and she is a liner."
Toni turned to her defense station. "Mr. Sanofi can we quiesce the mines at Tarn?"
Paul Sanofi responded, "Yes, but give me a moment. The encryption takes some time."
As Paul spoke yet another Diana ship appeared. She was the Thunder of Diana and was another small liner. Toni realized that this was a full abandonment of the Diana system by those who had taken the slim chance of making it out.
Moments later two additional ships, these fast freighters, entered.
Paul Sanofi called out, "I have quiesced the mines. But if these ships keep coming in there will be a collision. May I ask them to move out of the mine zone if only for their own safety?"
Toni responded, "How far out are Hirst and Hildeberg?"
Paul responded, "Two hours twenty minutes."
"Can any of those ships reach Wu Station before they are intercepted by our SARs?"
Paul responded, "No Sir. Hirst and Hildeberg will be on top of them sixteen hours before they might reach the station,"
"Very well Mr. Ulf. Direct all Diana ships to cautiously pass through the mined space but hold up within one million kilometers of the portal."
As Toni watched six more Diana ships passed through the portal and then carefully passed the minefield and drew up at a dead stop.
Toni realized that Diana, with all the power of its' AI's, and the OCN warnings of the coming war with the Megra, had finally reached a decision. Unfortunately, the need of the AI's for certainty had finally been reached, and that certainty included the destruction of their home world and the deaths of a hundred million.
Toni listened on the comm as Wu Station queried the Diana refugee fleet. Toni heard Wu traffic control trying to get a hand on the confusing situation. No less that 20 ships had entered the Wu system via Tarn. Moment's later Saran Molofo, whom Toni knew was on the Governing Council of Wu came on the comm. She was asking for details concerning the refugee fleet, and while Toni wanted to know more about the invasion of Diana and its' probable fall, she knew Saran had the right priority. After some confusion among the Diana ships and their communications, one voice began to speak for them all.
The voice Toni immediately realized was an AI.
On board the 20 ships were perhaps as many as 14,000 souls. The abandonment of the system had been so chaotic that an exact count of the refugees was not possible. Saran queried the AI about injuries and was informed that several ships had badly injured passengers. 32 ships had made the run for Tarn when the Megra attacked in force, but of these 20 were the only ones to make it. Many of the ships had been hit while fleeing and there were heavy injuries on some ships. The number of those injured was greater than Wu Station could handle alone with its' Medical Staff and 8 doc boxes.
Before Toni could offer assistance, her comm squawked. It was Dr. Salant of Wu Station asking if some of the injured might be taken aboard Holgata Station. As an OCN orbital base station, intended to serve a battle fleet, Toni had no less than 20 doc boxes, two fully qualified surgeons, and a medical staff of 19. She quickly agreed to take any overflow Wu Station had and Toni knew that the overflow would be large. Triage would be at Wu and as the injured were sorted out and the worst injured would be transferred to Holgata Station.
Toni had the station claxon sound and then made the announcement that the station would be having a large number of injured within 20 hours. There was a prepared protocol for an influx of massive casualties and as Toni made the announcement she thumbed open her inter-tab and found the mass casualty plans. As Toni reviewed the plans she continued to monitor the traffic between Saran Molofo and the AI directing the refugee fleet.
Before the question could be asked, Saran assured the refugees that they were welcome at Wu Station. The station itself had a population now of only about 3,500 but a capacity to support more than 50,000 in its' current configuration. The government of Wu had wanted to increase its' population in order to return to commerce as a fully functioning market place. They had hoped to slowly absorb a new population from occasional visitors and organic growth. But the influx of 14,000 was going to strain their systems. The challenge to Wu would be to absorb the refugees as fast as possible and that included opening up and heating closed off sections of the station. Toni knew that the warehouses and markets at Wu contained more than enough food to take care of the incoming refugees.
Toni stood for a moment in her office and then took the few steps to the bridge. "Heads up everybody. I want a full scan of every one of those refugee ships. We have no idea what might be hiding there. And I want to increase our surveillance of our portals. It would be just like the Megra to stampede refugees into the system and then attack. On your toes everyone."
Toni had deliberately directed that triage and the receiving of the refugee fleet be performed at Wu Station. If this were a ruse then Wu alone would suffer the consequences and Holgata Station would survive to deal with the aftermath. This might seem heartless to some Toni realized, but she was after all the Area Commander in a war zone and she was taking no chances.
Two hours later Hirst and Hildeberg had completed full 'M' scans of all twenty Diana ships. The scans revealed no hidden surprises, but six were heavily damaged, and one so heavily damaged Toni found it incredible that it had survived. As the Hirst and Hildeberg began to escort the Diana fleet to Wu Station Toni watched in horror as the most damaged ship simply fell apart. She had been a very small freighter and Toni knew that hundreds had died.
The small fleet was barely underway to Wu Station when Lars Ulf called out. "Incoming. We have Incoming. Dumbbells. Severan Portal. I repeat incoming dumbbells Severan Portal."
Toni quickly turned to the status board. "Mr. Ulf? There was no probe before entry at Severan?"
&n
bsp; "No Sir. No probe."
The vid screen flickered a moment and revealed the Severan portal just as the first of the dumbbells careened into the mine field. The result was a brilliant flash of death. Foolish thought Toni. They should have held back and begun to clear the field before moving forward. And then another dumbbell entered and began to move ahead into the jowls of death. Toni suddenly got it. They were going to clear the minefield with ships. What a waste thought Toni, but if they want to play that game I am happy to waste them.
"Mr. Ulf, notify all ships of the entry and initiate our plan for a Severan attack."
Moments later her flotilla of ships began to form in a well pre-planned assembly to take on the Megra. Always attentive to simultaneous attacks from two directions the Crusher New Kara approached Severan but remained well into the center of the Wu system. The extensive debris fields from the Great War 200 years ago would mask New Kara's presence for some time.
Again another dumbbell met its' death in the minefield. Toni brought up the Severan portal status display. The total mine count at Severan had been 1,050 and the four ships that had plowed ahead into the field to meet their death had taken out only 85. As Toni reviewed the status of the seeker mines moving into fill the void yet another dumbbell staggered and shattered from multiple mine impacts.
Eir, Hildeberg, and Gunnr raced toward the portal. For Eir the travel was short at two hours, but for Hirst and Hildeberg the time to assume its' battle position would be eight hours. Gunnr was within caster range and advancing quickly. Hirst with Tom Baxter as Captain was already at the Severan portal.
Again another dumbbell was destroyed and Tony saw that her mine count was down to 832. If they kept this up they would need perhaps a dozen sacrifices before they could break through. What a waste Toni thought.
"Mr. Ulf get me Captain Smilot on the horn. We need to get those Diana ships out of here."
Moments later Captain Smilot's face appeared on Toni's vid-com.
Before Smilot could speak Tony began, "Smilot, how many of those Diana ships can make it out of here. To Nelots and on to Jamon. They cannot stay here."
Toni could see Smilot turn and talk hurriedly to someone off screen. Only a few was her reply. "The heavily damaged ships will have to be towed in to Wu and the three liners lack sufficient reaction mass to even reach the Nelots portal. Perhaps one or two of the freighters might make it, but they have injured desperately needing attention. I agree that allowing them to stay might get them all killed, but I am afraid Toni that our refugees are simply stranded here. The will have to share our fate."
Toni uttered a swear word she had never used in her life.
Another dumbbell exploded. Toni began to wonder why at this point, when they had hollowed out a path through half the minefield, they didn't just place an anti-matter torpedo into the remaining field and have done with it. Moments later her question was answered as the next ship in, just as she was beginning to move forward, fired a torpedo. Gunnr was fast on the uptake and fired three casters which given their speed nailed the torpedo in a blinding explosion within less that 6 kilometers from its' launch point. The dumbbell caught within the kill zone of its own torpedo was vaporized, however 121 mines detonated moments there after. Toni read the status board and only 531 mines remained and most of those were seekers and they were moving in to fill the space previously cleared by the Megra ship.
OM Marx, thought Toni. That man is quick and not easily fooled. That was good anticipation of the next move by the Megra, and as she reflected upon Gunnr's shot another dumbbell entered and before she could launch a torpedo Gunnr launched two casters. The impact was nearly immediate and the dumbbell staggered but seemed undamaged. However the ship did not move out of the portal entry fast enough and was immediately impacted by the next to enter. Both ships collided. The connector on the first ship separated and the two spheres simply drifted away. The later arrival sat dead still in space. Toni called for a magnified view and she could see that the forward sphere, where they always assumed the crew lived, was completely crushed in the impact. Toni saw no atmospheric venting because the impact had resulted in such a large breech that the atmosphere immediately vented from the ship upon impact moments earlier.
Another dumbbell entered, but seeing the last ship dead ahead moved laterally, but that brought her into direct contact with the mines that did not lie directly in the path any ship might logically take when leaving the portal. She too met a fiery death.
Another ship soon appeared and fired a torpedo but for some reason Gunnr's two caster shot failed to impact. Moments later Gunnr fired again, but too late. The torpedo had traveled will into the center of the remaining mines and as the casters impacted on the torpedo the sky lit up with the brilliant flash of an anti-matter explosion followed by what Toni could only describe as firecracker chain reaction of almost three hundred mines exploding over the next twenty seconds. The path was clear.
Chapter One Hundred Twelve
Girots System - Destructor New Hildr - Year 3248 October 13 ET 08:51
Repairs to New Hildr had not taken long, but the priority had been on restoring SARs to action so Farn had to wait her turn. Repairs had been completed and Farn was ordered to Girots and then on to Cranmore and eventually to Wu for picket duty before returning to Jamon. The entire voyage was expected to last three to four months. She was accompanied by the now refurbished SAR Sigrdrifa and her captain
Tommy Turgis. Tommy was the son of the Head of the Child Welfare Syndicate and the a psychologist at the Collegium hospital. Turgis was a bit older than the average SAR captain at the age of 29. But he had scored high on his qualifications and had served under Silvi and OM Marx on previous voyages. Tommy had a quick smile and his crew worshiped him, but he was still a green captain, and there was a great deal of difference between manning a station on the bridge and commanding a SAR in battle.
With the imminent recommissioning of another 18 SARs, crews and captains were brought forward at a pace that concerned Farn, but upon reflection she remembered how rapidly the OCN had formed four years ago and made up at that time with only green and inexperienced crews. Kids in fact she thought. She smiled remembering that she was a kid at the time Abel spotted her talent and asked her to join the Navy.
Standing on the bridge of New Hildr felt good to Farn, and her crew which, she managed to keep regardless of Abel's insistence on crew break ups and rotations, gave the spartan bridge a family feel. To enhance her comfort on the bridge was the knowledge that she carried eight antimatter torpedoes in her autoloaders.
The New Hildr passed quietly through the Girot's system always taking notice of the dead planet and its' ever orbiting Spikey alien. OCN ships now traveled through Girots and on to Cranmore, or even more frequently on to Wu on almost a weekly basis, and apart from the one unfriendly encounter of three years ago the Spikey seemed content to protect his nest or whatever the planet had become. For a moment Farn thought about giving the spikey a couple of anti-matter torpedoes for all the deaths it had caused at Girots, but she quickly rejected the thought. As long as Spikey remained passive at Girots the OCN needed to preserve its torpedoes. Perhaps at some point in the future Farn might return and complete the retribution needed at Girots.
New Hildr was about to approach the Cranmore entry tunnel when her inter-tab chimed. The Q Ball was receiving a message. Since Q Ball traffic was restricted to only the most important of messages, she called on her Captain Siggy Ivar to remain in system while she decoded the message. Q Ball messages could not be received in the tunnel and even the simplest message might take 12 hours to complete.
The message was from Wu. It was simple. Code 421 appeared after about an hour. Farn knew the code by heart but she looked it up just in case; Wu under attack.
More elements of the message would probably follow but Farn decided to redirect New Hildr at best speed to Wu.
"Mr. Ivar. We seem to have an attack under way a Wu. Please redirect our ship and Sigrdrifa at best sp
eed to Wu."
Siggy turned to their astrogator an in moments a new plot was created and New Hildr changed course.
Siggy asked their pilot Hilde Einarsson for an estimated time of arrival at the entry point from Nelots and into Wu.
Hide responded, "At best speed we will enter Wu in 216 hours or about nine and a half days."
Farn shook her head. She knew they were a long ways out and she realized that whatever might happen at the Fifth Battle of Wu she would arrive to late for any assistance. However she directed New Hildr and Sigrdrifa to continue on into Wu. They might be able to assist in the clean up, or for that matter the battles at Wu never seemed to really end, so whatever happened there might well be a fight ongoing when she arrived.
...
Wu System - Holgata Station - Year 3248 October 14 ET 14:20
The path from Severan into Wu was now clear of mines for those Megra ships that stayed on a narrow path. The SAR Gunnr took advantage of this predictable path by the dumbbells and fired one or two volleys of 'K's at every ship that ventured into the system. Between volleys of 'K's Gunnr fired casters just in case the Megra decided to launch torpedoes. Gunnr's missile accuracy was extraordinary. In her recent battles with dumbbells OM Marx had fine tuned his missile tracking systems and with every volley of four 'K's at least two hit the weak connector of the dumbbell. Few dumbbells managed to clear the gauntlet and of the few that did Hirst would finish off from behind. Toni's four SARs assumed the rectangular formation so successfully used in the past. As dumbbells moved thought the cleared space they would face four SARs all targeting the Megra ship from different angles.