by Max Glebow
What could they possibly want here? There was nothing remarkable about this system, unless, of course, you count the entire planet with the captured humans and lizards. The man and the lizard rescued by the scouts told the same story. In addition to recounting the everyday details of life on a half-wild planet, they said that the quargs would occasionally select a number of humans and lizards from among the prisoners and take them somewhere else. They never came back, and what happened to them next, the ex-prisoners didn’t know. When I looked at the enemy transport ship, I thought maybe there was an answer to that question now.
A simple question haunted me: if the quargs have such an ally, why are the humans and lizards still alive? I couldn’t answer it, but I was hoping that something was preventing the enemy from using all of its power against us, and if it’s been interfering with it so far, there’s hope that it will be interfering in the future. But this question was not very relevant to me now, that being the case, it would be good for us to just survive.
The enemy was hesitant, and it was understandable. The convoy commander clearly had a specific mission. Most likely, he was required to accompany the transport to the place of loading, receive the cargo or passengers and leave without staying in this hole. But it didn’t work out. When he came out of hyperspace, he couldn't understand, what the hell was going on in the system: several hundred ships of humans and lizards were brazenly robbing the planet that was the target of his arrival. And now what? Humans and lizards have pretty mediocre ships, but there are too many of them, and there’s a structure that’s never been seen before, where bloated transports go in and out. Kind of like, in a situation like this, it is necessary to help the Allies, as well as to find out what kind of a weird ring is hanging here, and on the other hand, no one has set such task for the commander of the convoy. His job is to secure the transport, and where to put it if he has to fight? The enemy warships are crawling all over the place, and it’s not clear where to put the transport safely, and dragging it around with you is like having a ball and chain on your feet. So, there's a lot of questions and zero answers.
The decision made by the adversary didn’t surprise me. I don’t know if the convoy commander made it himself, or had the time to report by hyper-comms to his command and received orders from above, but the enemy ships split up. The transport, escorted by a single cruiser, set course for the system’s boundaries and began acceleration for a jump. The two remaining cruisers hung a little still, then set course for the transport ring, which I feared. They decided to destroy the portal in order to turn all our successes into defeat. We wouldn’t have to wait long for a few dozen more of these same ships, or even larger ones, to arrive in the Kappa Ceti system, and it would be difficult for us to get out of here without a portal, to put it mildly.
The acceleration of the enemy ships was impressive, but in this case it was not decisive, as we were in defense and we weren’t going to chase them.
“Fleet, start moving toward the enemy. Acceleration at 10 per cent power,” I’ve decided to move the ships away from the portal. The range of the enemy weapons remained unknown, and I did not want to get a projectile into the transport ring right through our formation.
The battle scene looked surreal. 80 heavy ships, 170 'Invisibles' and eight aircraft carriers already raising the pursuit planes were now gathered at the transport ring. This magnificent armada was creeping with precautions towards two cruisers which were resolutely rushing to attack. Why? I was scared, personally. I knew what plasma cannons were capable of, and at that speed, the enemy would reach an effective range of fire in a matter of tens of seconds.
And their defensive fields? A third of my heavy ships were dreadnoughts of lizards. Not only did their guns fail to penetrate the field, they couldn’t damage it at all. The field must be crushed with either plasma or projectiles with detonating warheads, and there is absolutely no point in smearing sticky corrosive material on it.
“Fleet, take the data to change the combat order,” ordered I, marking on tactical projection the ships that needed to change positions.
I’ve detached three flank groups, each with a Titan-class battleship, ten heavy ships, and two dozen 'Invisibles'. I sent these groups to surround the approaching enemy cruisers from three sides, keeping a respectful distance from them. I was worried about their incredible speed. I was sure that using it and their long-range weapons, that have a range of fire greater than ours, for sure, the enemy would decide to shoot at my ships from a safe distance, like on a shooting range.
“Cover squadron of the second planet, move to the transport ring,” I gave the following order, leaving the planet unprotected. Now, no one was going to attack it, and I could really use two dozen more battleships and cruisers and a couple of aircraft carriers. Besides, they’ll approach the enemy cruisers from the back, if they make it on time, of course.
Ironically, despite my misgivings about the enemy powerful plasma cannons, I saw our only chance in close combat. A defensive field is no panacea. It’s a very good thing, but it can’t hold an infinite number of hits. In fact, it’s just another armor, except that until the field is down, the ship is not getting any damage at all, at least not with our gun power.
“At the current approach speed, three minutes to the opening line of main batteries fire,” reported Slin-at. The lizard, as always, looked calm, but the tip of his tail made erratic movements, this meant that the Commander of the battleship was also uncomfortable with what was happening.
“Enemy started deceleration!”
“Enemy opened fire with the main batteries!”
Reports were made one after the other.
“Battleship Bangui got hit! Armor’s broken. 30 percent of the major caliber guns are down.”
“Battleship Hargeysa got hit! The engine is down. Ship's operational capability is 20 percent.”
“Fleet, full speed! Reduce the distance to the opening line of main batteries fire. 'Invisibles', fire! Pursuit planes, escort torpedoes to targets. Flank groups, approach the enemy and attack him on perpendicular courses. Cover group of the second planet, maximum speed! I need you here ASAP. Don’t let them fall back. I want a close fight!”
“The Titan-class battleships of the flank groups opened fire with the main batteries! Hit! But... Admiral, Sir!” I heard the real horror in the voice of the duty officer.
“Stop the panic!” I barked, “It’s a defensive field. It reflects the impact of the projectiles and prevents damage to the hull. My Ministry has been conducting theoretical studies on this subject. There's nothing impossible in this, but the field always has a limited capacity. It can’t hold a hit indefinitely. Keep firing!”
“Battleship Pter's Wing is lost! Triple impact, detonation of the ammunition.”
That was bad. The latest Titan-class hybrid battleship that led one of the flank groups was dead. The enemy quickly realized where the greatest danger came from.
“The torpedoes are closing in on the targets,” stated imperturbable Slin-at, “two minutes before impact. Admiral, we can open fire with the main batteries. Shall I fire?”
The question was reasonable. The enemy responded very quickly to the shelling and returned fire on the most dangerous targets with high precision. Putting the flagship under attack, and thereby endangering the fleet’s control, was unwise.
“Dragon's Tail, don't open fire,” responded I to the Commander of the battleship.
“Accepted, Admiral,” the lizard didn’t expect another answer.
“Battleship Vladivostok has been critically damaged and is leaving the battle! Double hit. Command post destroyed, multiple hull depressurization. The fire control system is down.”
Another flank leader is out of action, but my ships were attempting a pincer movement on the enemy, constantly reducing distance, and the enemy had nowhere to turn but to try to run back. But it was not his intention, the cruisers' target was the portal and that’s where they were going.
“Torpedoes at tar
get! Heavy fire from enemy anti-aircraft weapons. Hits!”
Despite the heroic efforts of the escort pursuit planes, the enemy burned 95 per cent of the drone torpedoes with plasma cannons. The others exploded, striking into the defensive field and causing it to flare up, instantly gaining a volume.
“The opening line of main batteries fire of battleships,” reported the duty officer, “Admiral, Sir, we have lost 14 heavy ships.”
“Keep attacking! If we retreat, they’ll reload the fields and we’ll have to start again. After the torpedo strike, their defenses would have been badly damaged. Increase fire!”
At last, my fleet’s standard battleships were able to fire their main betteries. A minute later, they were supported by the cruisers, but we were losing ships at a terrifying rate as the enemy plasma cannons entered the field.
“Admiral, Sir, we have already lost 26 battleships and cruisers...”
“Keep the fire going!” said I between gritted teeth, “Don’t fall back! They can’t hold the hits forever.”
The enemy cruisers' defensive fields were continually flared up by heavy shells. I didn’t know what they were capable of, but in my experience from my past life, I assumed that now their commanders would have no fun watching the field power drop to zero.
“Admiral, Sir, the enemy is changing course! They’re trying to get out of the fight!” In the voice of the officer on duty, there was an uncertain hope.
“Do not release! Attack on oncoming courses! Reduce the distance to a minimum. Each projectile must be placed on target!”
I felt that the end was near, and when the field of one of the enemy ships blinked for the last time and extinguished, it didn’t come as a surprise to me.
The armor of the cruiser, which had lost its field, was covered with flares of hits. It was impossible to miss at that distance. The dreadnoughts of the lizards, who had hitherto held back from the fight, did not miss their chance. Their coordinated salvo literally drowned the enemy cruiser in the corrosive liquid combat substance. The return fire of the damaged cruiser weakened sharply, and a minute later the fire flower of the explosion blossomed in space.
“It was impressive,” stated Slin-at, “Admiral, permission to fire the main batteries?”
“Permission given,” at this stage of the battle, the participation of the flagship could greatly aid the fleet. “Tell the enemy cruiser to surrender.”
The battle lasted another two minutes before the enemy cruiser’s field flashed up for the last time and disappeared. A dozen shells hit it immediately, causing extensive damage.
“Call from the enemy cruiser!” shouted liaison officer.
“Fleet, cease fire! Turn it on.”
I guess fate isn’t tired of mocking Brigadier General Dean, and it's chest of surprises has no bottom indeed. An image of the command post of the enemy cruiser and its commander appeared on the projection screen. A toad looked at me with its round, watery eyes! Yes, it was the toad, the nasty frog that I’d already fought in my previous life, and that’s why I ended up here.
Well, hello, my nightmare.
Chapter 11
I don't remember well what happened within the next 48 hours. I expected a fleet of toads at any moment, knowing full well that we weren’t able to take another blow, but none of us were going to abandon humans and lizards on the second planet. Barrington did his best to expedite the evacuation, and we helped him to the best of our ability. I pulled all the troops off the planet, and I sent them to the Barnard’s Star system. The troop transports returned empty from there, and I gave them to Barrington for transportation of ex-prisoners. On the last flight, we loaded everyone we could on anything we could, including warships, and to my great relief, finally left the Kappa Ceti system. The transportation ring disengaged and the ships-segments, guarded by a dozen battleships, headed home through the chain of hyper-beacons.
Almost eight billion people and three billion lizards have returned home. As trophies we got the toad cruiser and the quarg warships that were part of the system’s cover squadron. Our return may have been triumphant, but the Federation’s ruling elite was in a funeral mood. No one expected SUCH an adversary. Two enemy cruisers destroyed a third of our combined fleet, what happens when the enemy sends their battleships into combat?
I personally interrogated the cruiser commander who surrendered, when we were still in the Kappa Ceti system, and frankly, I was feeling a little better. After all, they weren’t those toads, not ours. Where did they come from? Who knows? Where did humans come from? I have no answers to these questions, nor did Dr Silk and the imperial generals who sent me here have them. There must be some laws of the origin of life in the universe, or maybe it didn’t originate, so to speak, on its own initiative. Perhaps if one searches hard enough, one can find lizards and quargs in General Dean’s galaxy, too, I wouldn’t be surprised.
At first, the cruiser’s commander was very evasive, but he was a toad, and I’ve seen enough of our scouts in my past life to work with these guys. No, I didn’t use torture or any other such ugly thing, but I was well aware of the chemical formula of the substance that perfectly loosened tongues of the toads without causing much harm to their health. Lit-ta only hemmed dismissively when I asked her if her engineers could quickly produce the chemical I needed. Half an hour later, I had the desired remedy, and in general, the conversation got better.
The toads here were on their own, and I have to say, they were nothing like ours, they were inferior to them. Once upon a time they had reached great heights of development and may have been more advanced than the ‘frogs’ I fought, but the peak of their civilization was a distant past. The toads lost the will to expand, and gradually began to lose technologies and the past grandeur. This process had been going on for thousands of years, when the quargs came upon them. For a short period of time, it stirred up the society of intelligent ‘frogs’, but the only effect of this surge of activity was that the ‘frogs’ decided to subjugate the quargs and secure their own peace at the expense of the enthralled race, constraining the development and expansion of other races in the galaxy. They've got it made with the quargs.
The toads had enough knowledge and technology to gain complete control of the quargs by installing mental blocks of loyalty into the brain. As in any society, the quargs also had their own renegades, enthusiastically accepting new masters and forming a caste of Surveillants. Soon the toads even had no need to interfere in the process of setting up and renewing the blocks, as the Surveillants were doing fine on their own. Meanwhile, the toads did not transfer technology to the Surveillants, but merely provided them with equipment. As a result, a network of Loyalty Centers was created, and the political structure of the quarg state took on the modern form.
“What were you doing in the Kappa Ceti system, Commander Clee?” I continued the interrogation.
“We came to get another batch of people and lizards for our labs,” responded calmly the toad. He couldn’t actually lie now or just shut up in response to direct questions. “We’ve learned to put blocks in the quarg brain pretty easily, but the progress of research with humans and lizards is quite moderate. It can be said that there’s no progress at all, but our scientists are still working.”
“And what happens to those who enter your labs?”
“Most often, they die as a result of failed attempts to put block. What happens to those who survive, I don’t know, is not my specialty.”
I really wanted to hit that imperturbable toad with something heavy, but I held back.
“Is it possible to remove the block without memory loss?”
“Yes, it is. This is done on the same equipment as its installation. Except the patient can’t know they’re going to take the block off, or he’s going to die. If such a need arises, which is very rare, we do so under the pretext of unplanned renewal of the block.”
“Does your cruiser have the necessary equipment?”
“Yes, it's in the medical bay. I don’t know th
e details. You’d better ask our medic.”
“What will your leadership do after the Kappa Ceti incident?”
“It’s a difficult question, it’s out of my league.”
“But do you have any idea?”
“It is likely that they will decide to intervene directly in the war on the side of the quargs, although this will not be an easy decision for them. But you killed ten of our fellow citizens and captured ten others, including me. Every citizen’s life is precious, because we live almost forever. So wait and prepare if you can, but judging by the quality of your ships and weapons, this war will be short-lived.”
“Can you deploy such a large fleet?” I tried to convey to the toad the depth of my skepticism, “Then why didn’t you do it before?”
“You didn’t know about us before, man. You were at war with the quargs, and this war could have lasted a long time, which we would have been quite comfortable with. Why put ships that are limited in number at risk? But now you’re a real threat, especially since you've captured our cruiser with the crew.”
“Let’s get back to your fleet. How many ships and what ships can you use in the war?”
“I don’t know the exact numbers, it’s out of my league, but a dozen battleships and up to 20 cruisers are in perfect combat condition. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of other ships, but their condition does not allow us to use them in combat.”
“Is it that bad? Can’t you get these ships ready?”
“Unfortunately for us, we can’t. Not all knowledge has been preserved in the millennia since our heyday.”
“Are you building new ships?”
“We can build them, but that won’t be necessary for now. They will be, in any case, weaker than the ones we have now, and we still have enough ships available.”
“Why did you decide to attack our transport ring, Commander Clee? You couldn’t be sure of success.”