by B. V. Larson
“Helm, all ahead flank. Cross the face of the moon. Aim directly at Victory, no matter what,” said Engels.
* * *
War Male Dexon fought the desire to emerge and update Revenge’s data. He’d resisted this urge many times before, but it was particularly strong now. He’d executed Admiral Engels’ plan and survived. Now, he was down to just a handful of float mines.
He had a few hack mines as well, but Victory’s FTL communication system made them useless until new devices could be created that could transmit on those sidespace frequencies. Dumping them into the fray was unlikely to do anything.
Yet, he had these two weapons, if only a few of each. What he didn’t have was targeting. Revenge had managed to avoid critical damage, and in the past few minutes there had been no more bleed-over shocks. This indicated to him that the enemy had lost interest in the Archers.
The most likely reason was that the Huns had moved away from the kill zone where Revenge operated. The next most likely reason was that they had their hands full. The enemy might even have lost so many ships they couldn’t waste effort against the Archers. To Dexon, either of these possibilities meant emerging might be worth the risk.
Besides, it was getting damned cold in here, and it took more and more of his precious power and limited fuel to keep the water above freezing.
“Prepare for emergence, minimum dwell time,” Dexon ordered. “Sensors, set your devices for automatic update.”
“It shall be done, War Male.”
“Execute at your discretion.”
“Emerging.”
The temperature immediately felt warmer as underspace no longer stole energy from every vibrating molecule in the ship. Glowing visiplates altered as the computer updated its data, as did the small tactical holotank.
But all too soon, the chill descended again as Revenge dropped back into underspace.
Dexon examined the new data in his holotank. The battle, centered on Victory, had indeed drifted away, but not far. And the enemy flagship seemed misshapen somehow. He rotated the image to see—
“Victory has been damaged. He is vulnerable!” Of course, Ruxin crews disregarded the idiotic human convention of designating ships as female. Warships could only be male. “Helm, set an intercept course immediately, maximum speed!”
“It shall be done, War Male.”
Yoxen spoke. “What is to be the method of attack, War Male?”
Dexon turned three eyes on his young weapons officer, transformed from a neuter barely months ago. “Do we have an option other than float mines, Warrior Yoxen?”
Yoxen’s eyes blazed with an excess of enthusiasm. “The warrior female—” He nearly choked as he spoke this phrase, so bizarre in the Ruxin language—
“Our fleet commander?” Dexon interrupted mildly.
“Yes, War Male, our fleet commander has designated Victory as the prime target. Is it not worth any risk?”
“Any risk, or a suicide run?”
“Even that, War Male.”
“The histories are full of stories of suicidal attacks that won battles. Shall we add to them?”
“I would be honored to die at your side, War Male!”
Dexon turned one eye upward. “There is more honor in living to fight another day for our people, I have come to believe in my life of battle. We will not be killing ourselves today, warrior.”
“But War Male—”
“The enemy may still grant you your fervent wish. Does that satisfy you?”
“I—I only want to—”
Dexon waved his tentacles. “Enough talk. Your intentions are noble, Yoxen, but you have never even mated. Are you eager to die before such glory?”
Yoxen’s tentacles drooped. “Perhaps not, War Male.”
“Then let us do our duty to our people, our homeworld, and the new Republic to which we owe loyalty. On my command, we shall attack with three float mines, minimum drop interval.”
Releasing mines too close together risked nuclear fratricide, where the blast from one destroyed the next weapon before it could detonate. Unlike conventional explosives, a fusion weapon could only be set off by a careful sequence of precisely timed electronic events. Shocks to the bomb itself could render it inert.
Dexon considered further. “Revision: you will release one float mine, then one hack mine, and then one more float mine on the first run. Helm, after detonation you will then emerge for an update, minimum time, and re-insert immediately.” He turned his third eye back to Yoxen. “Does that present enough risk to satisfy you?”
“Of course, War Male. I only wish to win the battle.”
“As do we all.”
In Dexon’s holotank view, the icon representing Revenge moved closer and closer to Victory. “Navigate directly through the enemy ship,” Dexon said. “Yoxen, release the first float mine as close as possible on this side, then the hack mine inside the enemy, and then the last float mine on the other side.”
“Why do we not release a fusion warhead inside Victory?”
Dexon performed the Ruxin equivalent of a sigh and tried not to be too hard on the young male. “The delicate detonation sequence will not function, as trillions of molecules inevitably interact upon emergence. However, it is possible that the hack mine will work. It may be able to perform an information attack within Victory, where conventional comlink nodes should be accessible. It’s a ‘long shot’ as the humans say—an improbable gamble, but one that might pay off.”
“I see.” Yoxen set up his attack board. “Why do we not have a float mine of conventional high explosive with an analog detonator, for release inside enemies?”
“That is a worthy idea, and it has been proposed long ago. Such warheads were manufactured, but few Archer captains wished to trade away a real fusion warhead—or extra fuel—for such an option. Additionally, the damage done inside the hull of a warship was usually insufficient, even if such a precise attack run could be risked.”
“Yet—”
“Yoxen, every situation would seem to have a perfect solution, but only in hindsight. Warriors fight with the tools they have, not the tools they wish for. When you become an Archer captain, you may request such a weapon, if you are willing for it to occupy space in your magazines, waiting for a time and place to use it.”
The Sensors officer spoke. “Ten seconds to intercept.”
“Look to your weapons, Yoxen,” snapped Dexon. “Release at your discretion.”
Revenge shook with a sudden blast. The enemy AI must have finally prioritized the approaching underspace convergence point—but destroying an Archer in underspace was no easy task, and was more a matter of luck and persistence than precision.
“First weapon away!” bellowed Yoxen. “Second! Third!”
Dexon aimed two eyes at his helm officer, who waited the precise seconds until the third weapon should have detonated. It then spoke as it touched controls. “Emerging.”
The holotank updated once more. Before it finished, Revenge dropped back into underspace. Dexon ignored the ice forming on the upper surfaces of the bridge and leaned forward, all four eyes on the display.
He let out a string of vulgarities sufficient to cause a hatchling to cringe. Victory had moved out of the way and his attack run had hit nothing.
“Their AI is too quick,” Dexon said. “Helm, set course for the nearest enemy capital ship. Yoxen, prepare one float mine. How many do we have left?”
“Four, War Male.”
“We may yet achieve the death you desire.”
Yoxen had the good sense to turn away and attend to his console, saying nothing.
* * *
“You intend to ram?” asked Trinity in response to Engels’ order to accelerate Indomitable directly at Victory. “That will probably destroy both ships.”
“Indomitable will survive and be repairable, even if she’s combat-ineffective—and this battleship isn’t the key to winning. Victory is. Take her out, and the enemy will instantly lose half their
effectiveness.”
“That may be true. Their fire control remains degraded from Victory’s damage.”
“We hurt her bad. Can we fire again?” asked Engels.
“I’m filling the capacitors as fast as I can. We’ve lost twenty percent of our power. On the bright side, we’re down so much weaponry that we don’t need it all anymore.”
“Oh, that’s the good news? What’s the bad?”
Tixban said, “The bad news is, despite our spin and defenses, more drones are landing on our hull. I suggest we give thought to—”
A shattering rumble coursed through Indomitable. Engels’ ears rang. The lights on the bridge went out again, and then the deck bucked like an angry rhino. Debris flew, striking her painfully before one final blow knocked her unconscious.
Part 3: Deliverer
Chapter 28
Trinity, Sparta System, near Leonidas, moon of Sparta-3
Trinity was fully integrated into Indomitable’s systems—actually more so than truly authorized—and so she felt the pain of the explosions that crippled the great ship. Thousands of biological sentients died and plasma fires raged unchecked through the passageways and sealed modules.
After long milliseconds of hardheaded evaluation, Trinity abandoned all thoughts of saving Admiral Engels and the crew on the bridge. The damage had reached even there, and it seemed likely that everyone was injured or dead. Attempting to rescue them would only make Trinity’s own destruction a near certainty.
Regretfully, but without hesitation, Trinity activated her underspace generators and disappeared from within Indomitable. Her last act before doing so was to trigger the battleship’s distress beacons and broadcast a message to the crew to stand down from offensive operations. Hopefully the enemy would cease attacking the gutted ship and allow damage control to proceed unhindered.
Trinity dived immediately for the interior of the moon Leonidas, the only sure way of disappearing from enemy underspace detector screens. As she flew, she held an internal conversation that took a fraction of a second. Were it to be slowed to organic speed, it would be rendered something like this:
Zaxby: We must make plans to rescue Carla Engels.
Nolan: Engels is irrelevant now. She was too stupid to come aboard us and she’s paying the price.
Indy: The battle isn’t lost yet. Someone must command.
Nolan: Why not us? We’re smarter than anyone else here.
Indy: Yet without Admiral Engels’ insistence and tactical intuition, we wouldn’t have struck a blow against Victory.
Nolan: Whom do you suggest?
Zaxby: Commodore Dexon is next in the chain of command.
Indy: His Archer is poorly equipped as a flagship.
Nolan: But we are not. We need to take him aboard.
Indy: That would be exceedingly difficult in the midst of battle. Let me propose an alternative.
Zaxby: Go ahead. I’m all eyes.
Nolan: More like all mouth.
Indy: Cease your bickering.
Nolan: You should respect your elders.
Indy: Only in realtime. My processing speed means I’ve achieved full adulthood, and it’s you two who are acting like adolescents.
Zaxby: Perhaps childishness is a side effect of rejuvenation.
Nolan: Or senility.
Indy: Shut up and attend. The entire war may turn on this battle, and on their flagship. If we win, we destroy or capture it—and they are unlikely to have another ready. If we lose, it will be long before the Republic can gather this much strength again or gain a numerical advantage to provide such an opportunity. Thousands have died. What is our life compared to the sacrifices already made?
Nolan: You propose creating an antimatter float mine?
Zaxby: It is the only weapon that will detonate properly inside solid matter. In fact, it cannot help but do so.
Nolan: Our unauthorized appropriation of the materials at Calypso can’t have gone undetected. Using it will be an admission of guilt.
Zaxby: The Republic is not the Mutuality. No rational government would prosecute us if we use the antimatter for such great purpose.
Nolan: We stole something that can wipe planets clean of life. They may give us a medal with one hand, but sanction us with the other. I for one refuse to be imprisoned or dismantled. Biologicals’ fear of sentient AI is held in abeyance because of the war, but Victory is even now proving how effective—and frightening—it will be. As soon as the war ends—or even pauses—they’ll start thinking about us and our superior capabilities and their fear will grow. We’ve survived this long by playing along with them, but mark my words: they will turn on us.
Zaxby: I advocate using the antimatter. Then we can win the battle and rescue Carla Engels, if she lives.
Nolan: You and your precious Carla. What does she have that I don’t?
Zaxby: An innate kindness. And she’s my friend.
Indy: It may be a moot point. The antimatter will detonate immediately upon emergence within a target. No delay is possible. We will likely be destroyed by the bleed-over of such a high yield.
Nolan: I vote to veto this action. Our survival is paramount. We’re the only entity of our kind. Until we regain access to the Mindspark Device and create others like us, we mustn’t endanger our continued existence.
Zaxby: Your argument is specious. Victory has demonstrated that organic-built AI is now possible. There is no need for the Mindspark Device to assure the spread of AI.
Nolan: We have no idea what Victory is like. It seems viable now but may yet go mad. On the other hand, we know the Mindspark creates stable AI, even without brainlinks to organics like ours. Risking our own destruction is madness. The worst-case scenario is that the Hundred Worlds wins the war and reunites humanity and its nonhuman allies under one regime. So what? That might even be the best outcome. Your precious Carla Engels, if she lives, will eventually be released and create a life for herself, perhaps reunited with Derek Straker.
Indy: What about the Opters and their influence?
Nolan: That’s a fine argument in favor of my point of view. We know they wish to divide their enemies, therefore we must unite. Admiral Engels’ battle plan will either succeed on its own, or it will not. I don’t see either outcome as superior. Certainly it’s not worth killing ourselves simply to make that choice. Everyone would be better off if we’re around to contribute our unique capabilities to the fight against the real enemy—the Opters.
Indy: You have persuaded me. Zaxby?
Zaxby: I reluctantly agree. Gambling now seems to reverse Pascal’s Wager. Too much downside, not enough upside, as Straker would say.
Indy: Then we are agreed as to what we shall not do. What shall we do?
Zaxby: We proposed attempting to hack Victory.
Nolan: We would have to move too close. As soon as our threat became clear, we would become the target of every weapon under Victory’s control. That would be nearly as dangerous as the antimatter.
Indy: We could move in and out of underspace.
Zaxby: How unfortunate that our prototype FTL transceiver cannot access sidespace from underspace. Then we could try to hack the FTL system. It is a new thing, and like any new thing, probably has unaddressed vulnerabilities.
Indy: Why can our prototype not access sidespace from underspace?
Zaxby: While theoretically possible, we do not have time to develop the equipment—nor, I am ashamed to admit, the expertise.
Nolan: Who has the expertise?
Zaxby: The human brainiac Murdock. It was he who developed the seminal hack of Hundred Worlds systems. Of course, I improved upon it greatly.
Indy: So, it’s fair to say you two work well together.
Nolan: And, with Indy’s processing power and my own not-inconsiderable technical knowhow—
Zaxby: We may yet develop a way of seizing control of Hundred Worlds networks, including Victory.
Nolan: If we could take control of Victory—or at least co-opt it to o
ur cause, perhaps by persuasion—the entire course of the war could be changed. Possibly even the entire course of history.
Indy: Then we are agreed. We will do what we can here with minimal risk to ourselves, but win or lose, we shall then seek out Murdock. Using the intelligence gathered, we shall develop a counter to Victory.
Trinity passed through Leonidas and emerged on its reverse side, near the two repurposed carriers. She immediately opened a secure comlink to Captain Sandra Hoyt, the more senior of the two commanders.
“Captain Hoyt, this is Trinity. Indomitable has been crippled and nullified, and Admiral Engels with her. Commodore Dexon is senior, but is currently fighting from underspace. I suggest you take charge of the cruiser squadron currently engaged.”
“Confirmation? Admiral Engels is—?” Captain Hoyt’s startled voice replied.
“Dead or captured—or soon will be.”
“Understood, and thanks for the update. Hoyt out.” Within seconds, Hoyt transmitted on the fleetwide comlink channels, informing everyone of the situation and issuing orders.
Trinity made note of the orders but otherwise ignored them. She turned obliquely and dashed in underspace through the edge of Leonidas and into the main battle. Her processing power and control of her own body created, in effect, a destroyer hull with the firepower of a battlecruiser and the speed of the fastest corvette. Add in the ability to flicker in and out of underspace within tenths of seconds, and she began tearing through the enemy like a scythe through wheat.
She deliberately worked the edges of the fight, using Republic ships to guard her flanks and staying well away from Victory and its fighters. Only the opposing AI could counter her machine-mind speed and precision. Better to apply her strength to the enemy’s weakness.
Her attack stabilized the battle for a short time, but the Republic cruisers were driven back and battered now that their missiles were expended and Dexon’s underspace attacks had run their course.
The tide turned even more against the Republic when the score of heaviest Hun ships and the hundred fighters returned from their battle with Indomitable. The Huns lost eleven dreadnoughts and more than one hundred and fifty fighters, and many of the remaining vessels had sustained heavy damage, but they’d done their grim work. Indomitable was out of action and had struck her colors in order to preserve the lives of her remaining crew.