Betrayal

by E. Wayne Stucki

  What if… A shout caught Drillyn’s attention. “The Kthpok are adjusting their course, Swarm Master,” Lieutenant Cancorlin reported. “They’re no longer on a converging intercept. They’re heading directly for the Swarm!”

  “They may be trying to ram,” said the Swarm Master. “Strengthen our firepower facing the enemy; consolidate our fire on the closest enemy vessel. Tighten our formation further to provide support.”

  Acknowledgments came in rapid succession and the tactical plot shifted to reflect the Swarm’s movements. Fireballs dotted space and explosions rocked the swarm ship as the ferocious battle continued. Drillyn watched the amber icons representing the Kthpok ships moving closer to the red icons of his Swarm. Although many of the Kthpok vessels had been destroyed and what remained were damaged the Kthpok still possessed a formidable force.

  The Swarm Master checked the count and classes of ships of the two forces then nodded his head causing his antennae to wave. His Swarm did have the advantage in capital ships so if the enemy wanted to close it would shorten the fighting. And when the Kthpok Swarm had been destroyed he’d be free to clear the enemy from the skies of Main Hive.

  A missile exploded against the Zet’s armor, rocking the Swarm ship. Damage reports continued to come in as the tactical plot flickered then stabilized. Drillyn studied the Plot, taking in the damage to the ships of the Swarm and the projected damage of the Kthpok ships. His antennae began to tremble in uncertainty. Were they insane? Did they really think they could still win? Or was there something else? Something he was overlooking? The plot shifted again and the Swarm Master’s antennae began to wave as he saw the Kthpok had lost another BattleCruiser.

  “I have missile traces!” yelled the Scanning officer. “Multiple traces!”

  “Of course there’s…”

  The Swarm Master cut off Commander Peltorat’s rebuke in mid-sentence. “Where are they?” he asked.

  “Behind us,” replied Lieutenant Navical from Scanning. He’d taken over the suite to help as his people had become injured or killed. “They’re not coming from the Kthpok Swarm.”

  “Stabilize rear scanning!” ordered Drillyn. “Find those ships!” His orders came out in clear, crisp tones, sending his people to work. But he knew it was too late. It was now clear the Kthpok had more stealth ships and had lured the Swarm into another ambush. They’d done it by sacrificing ships and lives, drawing attention onto themselves and away from the hidden ships. As he watched the mass of missiles showing on the plot he knew the efforts of his people wouldn’t be enough. His antennae drooped in dejection as he stared at the missiles bearing down on his command. At least they could see these. Apparently the supply of stealth missiles had been exhausted. Although they could hit and kill these missiles there were too many for the defenses to handle.

  The missiles fired by the stealth vessels reached the destroyers forming the rear screen first. They raced through the defensive zones of laser clusters and AMM’s to smash through the armor plated hulls. A flurry of explosions obliterated the screening destroyers. The cruisers and battle ships quickly followed.

  The next target was the flagships companion dreadnaught. The Larat had been severely damaged from the pounding received in the earlier fighting and was trailing atmosphere and debris from several breaches in the immense ship’s armor. Some of the missiles struck pieces of equipment that’d been pulled from the ship and exploded. Most didn’t and explosions played over the armor as missiles impacted. Other missiles drove through weakened sections of the hull to reach deep inside the immense vessel. Then fate intervened. An Iidx AMM was just being launched when a Kthpok missile struck that particular launch tube. The resulting explosion stripped away the ship's protection in that quadrant. Fury continued to rain down on the Larat and it disappeared in a series of blinding fireballs.

  Swarm Master Drillyn ignored the jolts, the explosions and screams that surrounded him. He watched as the only other ship remaining to his Swarm was blown apart with all hands. With the Larat’s destruction all that was left of his once powerful Swarm was the Zet’s Rage. Damage reports continued to stream into the Command Deck as the ship endured this latest maelstrom. At last the thunder and shaking began to ease indicating the Zet would survive this latest attack. A quick glance at the tactical plot confirmed what his last act would be.

  “Status of drives?” called out the Swarm Master over the din.

  “Undamaged,” was the swift reply from Lieutenant Remander. The officer left unspoken the thought that the drives were about the only system onboard that wasn’t damaged.

  Drillyn’s antennae gave a wave of satisfaction. “Navigation,” he called. “Our new course is directly for the remaining Kthpok dreadnaught. Full military power. Have engineering take all safeties off the drives. Compute and engage!”

  Drives flared propelling the Iidx command ship forward. It made a course adjustment and drove straight for the remaining Kthpok dreadnaught. Its speed continued to increase as the distance shrank. The action seemed to catch the Kthpok by surprise. They’d expected the Iidx to attempt to disengage, to run for repairs and resupply at the systems other habitable planet.

  Missiles continued to batter armor and laser pulses flared as the Iidx ship closed on the Kthpok formation. When the Kthpok realized the Iidx intended to ram the bombardment intensified. Two cruisers tried to intercept the onrushing dreadnaught. Both were swept aside by the heavier ships pulsers and the Iidx swarm ship continued on.

  Its armor covered with and savaged by explosions, the Zet’s Rage closed on its victim. The stricken ship was streaming atmosphere and shedding armor as it moved deeper into the Kthpok formation.

  Fleet Admiral P’Mar’s eyes widened as he realized the oncoming ship wouldn’t be deflected or destroyed in time. “Hard starboard!” he yelled. “Emergency power!”

  The orders came too late. The Kthpok flagship was starting to turn when the Zet arrived. Armor scorched and buckled by explosions tore like paper as the two ships smashed into each other. Atmosphere exploded into space as compartments decompressed then collapsed. The beings inside had no chance to cry out or attempt to escape before they were crushed. Both ships continued to move for an instant, grinding further into each other. Then a power center in the Iidx command ship, its coolant system knocked out of action by the shock of the collision, went into overload. A brilliant explosion that was visible from the night side of Main Hive signified the end of the Iidx Swarm. But as the Iidx ship died it gutted the strength of the Kthpok force.

  Chapter 20

  S’Cinf sat on his perch in the Center Room of the Colony Ship, Raging, and fidgeted. He glanced from his tactical plot over at the communications console and went to speak but stopped when he saw the clock. The last time he’d asked about Fleet Admiral P’Mar and the fleet had been less than five minutes ago. The Run Point gave a slight shake of his head. Lieutenant L’Art would report any incoming messages as soon as there was anything to report.

  He went to stand so he could pace around the Center Room’s deck and burn off some nervous energy. Again he stopped, settled back onto his perch and curled his tail around its base to stop it from whipping back and forth. Although the fate of the Kthpok people rested on the outcome of the space battle that was going on millions of miles away it wouldn’t do for the ships Command Pack to know their leader was nervous about the outcome.

  Instead of walking round the room disturbing his staff S’Cinf turned back to his console and entered a specific communications sequence. A moment later a Kthpok answered, “Main Weapons Cache, Commander A’Pok speaking”.

  “Commander, how are the missile techs and scientists coming on my special project?” S’Cinf asked.

  “As ordered, Run Point, missiles are being armed with the special warheads and programmed for an air burst,” reported the officer. While the Colony Ship was designed to carry enough colonists and equipment to establish a viable colony it could also defend itself. Each Colony Ship had the fire power and d
efenses of a Battle Cruiser. “Two weapons are ready for deployment,” the Kthpok continued. “Two more will be available within a day.”

  Satisfied, the Run Point ended the link and turned his attention back to the tactical plot. There still wasn’t much to see. Under the best of conditions from this distance all he’d be able to see was that the Iidx and Kthpok fleets had met for battle. And with all the jamming and counter jamming going on it was impossible to tell who was winning.

  Spikes of light and x-rays signified the destruction of a ship but again it was impossible to tell whose. At first the radiation spikes started slow then picked up coming in groups of twos and threes. The battle had been going for what seemed hours when an exceptionally large burst of light and x-rays appeared. Then everything stopped and the plot stabilized to show one mass of ships. That had to be the surviving fleet. But whose fleet was it? Pulling his tail tighter around his perch he settled in to wait for news.

  “Run Point!” called Lieutenant L’Art from the communications suite ten minutes later. “I have an incoming message from our fleet!”

  S’Cinf’s tail gave an involuntary twitch at the news as he turned to face a communication screen. He’d been considering an order to have the Colony Ships leave orbit as a precaution. The Run Point took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His tail relaxed its death hold on the perch base. “Link the Fleet Admiral to my screen here,” he ordered. He made no effort to hide the triumph and relief in his voice. They’d won!

  “Sir, it isn’t the Fleet Admiral,” replied L’Art. “You’ll be speaking with S’Cal, the Captain of the Battle Cruiser, Rapacious.”

  The Run Point’s head jerked back in surprise. “The Captain of the Rapacious?” he repeated. “Why isn’t P’Mar reporting? He’s senior.”

  “S’Cal reports that he’s the senior surviving officer of the fleet, your Eminence.”

  “The senior surviving officer?” repeated the Run Point. Then he gestured to his console. “Link the captain to my station, Lieutenant. It appears the fight was more difficult than anticipated.” He keyed the accept sequence on his console and watched as his screen flashed then cleared to reveal a Kthpok wearing the harness of a captain. “Yes, Captain S’Cal?” asked the Run Point. “You have a report to make?”

  Swarm Master Zelof sat at his station and listened as the Kthpok Captain made his report to the Run Point. His communications people were using satellites positioned near the three Kthpok ships in orbit to eavesdrop on their communications. The lag in communications caused by vast distances was a little disconcerting but it was expected. One of the more intriguing items Commander Kazikami had brought back from the Kthpok base on Tarren was an encrypt key. That meant Zelof was getting a translation of this conversation almost as fast as S’Cinf.

  He shook his head. How was it the Kthpok hadn’t destroyed those satellites? Or at least jammed them! Besides stopping all chances of eavesdropping they should’ve done it to eliminate any possibility of the Iidx communicating.

  Zelof shook himself and concentrated on what was being said. The fact that a mere ship Captain was giving the report made two things very clear. First, the Kthpok had won the engagement with the Swarm. His antennae drooped a little as he recognized the implications that little bit of information held for his people. The other item was that the Swarm he’d trained and commanded for years before being grounded had exacted a heavy toll from the Kthpok before it died.

  In his report Captain S’Cal provided a few details of the battle as an explanation of what happened to Fleet Admiral P’Mar. He promised a full report as soon as emergency repairs had been completed. His excuse was that his ship needed his full attention and the time lag was awkward. The Swarm Master listened as S’Cinf congratulated the Captain again on a brilliant victory then ended the conversation.

  Zelof switched off the link and turned to face the two Queens and his Second who were waiting nearby.

  “Well, Swarm Master?” asked Dahoni, the senior Queen. “What’s our situation now?”

  The Iidx commander gave a concerned wave of his antennae. “Desperate, your majesty,” was his concise reply. “With our Space Swarm, major bases, and communication centers destroyed our ability to defeat the Kthpok is seriously in question.” He shrugged his antennae. “Oh, with our surface batteries we can attempt to shoot at their ships. If they’re really stupid and come in range we may actually destroy one or two. But I don’t think that’ll happen. All they have to do is stay in an orbit that’s out of our range and drop kinetic strikes onto our cities and remaining bases.”

  “But that would destroy the very planet they want,” Sesum exclaimed.

  “Yes,” agreed Zelof bobbing his head, “it would do that. It’ll be very interesting to see what the Kthpok ‘s next step is. What they do in the next few days will tell us if they want the planet or are intent on genocide and are willing to destroy a planet to meet that objective.”

  He paused for a moment then looked at the Queens. “If you’re looking for my opinion: I think the Kthpok want the planet.”

  “But what if their objective is to have the Iidx dead, regardless of the cost?” asked Krissen, the junior Queen. “Isn’t that the worst case?”

  The Swarm Master took a deep breath and let it out. “If that’s what they intend then it won’t matter what we try, Queen Krissen,” he replied. “They can kill us and there’s nothing we could do to stop it.” He shook his antennae. “Although destroying the planet wouldn’t be a logical move for them unless they have resources we haven’t seen yet. They have to have a base to resupply, make repairs, recuperate and heal…” He let the sentence die.

  “Devastating the planet would defeat the purpose of fighting for it.” Zelof continued after a slight pause. “So we’re going to assume they want the planet in reasonably good condition.” He gave a definite shake of his head. “With that in mind we’re going to prepare our defenses.

  “If our Swarm caused enough damage to the Kthpok they may postpone their assault on Main Hive until after they’d made repairs. The fact we got their command ship is a good sign. They’ll have to reorganize their command structure. They also have to worry about what we’ve got on New Hive. It’s a possibility that after making repairs they’ll move to deal with New Hive first.” He paused to consider then spoke again. “If I remember correctly that’s on the priority list in the Kthpok plans. But it could change.” Zelof shook his head. “Whatever happens I hope we have long enough to get our people concentrated where we can protect them and the defenses strengthened.”

  Both Queens nodded their approval then Dahoni gestured to Krissen. “We’ll leave you now, Swarm Master,” she announced. “I’m sure you and your staff can work better in getting our people ready without someone watching between the antennae. If you need us we’ll be in our apartments.” With that Dahoni, gave a regal wave from her fluffy antennae, swung around and headed for the hatch. After giving a regal nod of her own Krissen followed close behind.

  The two Swarm commanders watched in silence as the Queens make their way through the room. After the hatch shut behind the two females Swarm Second Sesum turned back to the Swarm Master. “Do you really think the Kthpok are going to make repairs before attacking Main Hive?” he asked.

  Zelof gave a shake of his antennae. “Who knows?” he replied. “If I were commanding the Kthpok I wouldn't hesitate if I had one vessel that could make orbit.” He gestured at the ceiling to space beyond. “And the Kthpok have more than that including those three big ships in orbit right now. I’m not sure about those three; what their capabilities are, no one does since the Kthpok wouldn’t allow anyone access, but the rest of the Swarm have to be damaged. In addition, they have limited supplies of missiles.” The Swarm Master gave a satisfied wave of his antennae. “That at least works in our favor. The factories to manufacture new missiles are here on Main Hive.”

  “So to beat them all we have to do is get them to exhaust their missile supply,” suggested Sesum.
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  “That’s one possibility,” replied the Swarm Master, “but one that’ll devastate the planet. Although, from what we’ve seen from the Kthpok so far, I suspect they’ll have anticipated that approach and have prepared more surprises for us.”

  “If that’s the case what can we do? How can we win?”

  Zelof gestured with a true-hand to encompass the world. “If the Kthpok want this planet for themselves they’re going to have to come down here to claim it. After that battle they can’t have more than five or six thousand people on those ships” He held out his true-hands. “That’s all they have to conquer our billions.” The Swarm Master nodded at the map of Main Hive hanging on a nearby wall. “We pick our spots to consolidate our people then have our ground and air forces there to protect them. And when the Kthpok come down we lure them into a killing ground to do just that. Kill them!”

  The Swarm Master paused for a minute to stare at the Plot and think. Sesum kept quiet to let his commander work through whatever he was considering. Then Zelof bobbed his head. “Yes!” he said, “it may work but we can’t wait.”

  He turned his attention back to Sesum. “We don’t know how long we have to prepare. Assemble the staff in the main conference room in…” Zelof paused again long enough to look at a clock. “Let’s meet in ten minutes. Make sure everyone knows this meeting is mandatory!”

  Sesum waved his antennae in understanding then headed off to get the staff assembled. Zelof turned back to the plot that showed the diminished Kthpok swarm heading towards Main Hive.