by C. R. Daems
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Surprise Visit
My ICD buzzed with an emergency signal, interrupting our discussion of the first engagement at Durban. When I looked at the screen, Admirals Simons and Perkins appeared on separate screens, indicating they were not together.
Simons spoke in the clipped words of someone in a hurry. "Zoe, nine Issog just entered the system. Prepare your squadron."
"Nine?" I asked. That didn't make sense, as the Issog liked squadrons of four. And what were nine cruisers going to do against two fleets? They might not have known two fleets were stationed at New Hope, but after losing Durban and Yorklan… Maybe a quick raid to throw us off balance?
"Yes, nine. Of course, they may be the first wave of a larger force," Simons said. "Get Marsh and his captains and Mikel's people off the Odin. Admiral Perkins will lead the assault." She cut the connection before I could acknowledge the order.
"Everyone, follow me to the shuttle bay. We have Issog in system and you need to get back to your ships." As everyone hurriedly collected their gear, I clicked on the link to the Bridge. Maize appeared.
"Commander, declare Battle Stations. I'm on my way to the Bridge." Looking around, I saw that everyone appeared ready to leave. I waved, and they followed me at a quick walk out of the bay.
"How many?" Marsh asked as we navigated through the hallway to the next bay, where their shuttles were docked.
"Nine so far. So, unless more are coming, your squadron won't be needed. Admiral Perkins is leading the engagement." I stood aside for everyone to enter, then left at a run toward the Bridge, not waiting to see their shuttles leave.
The Bridge stood silent and deserted when I entered and took the captain's seat. I had just sat down when the Heptet requested a tight-beam connection. Perkins sat in his office, judging from the image on the monitor.
"Zoe, what do you think?" He asked in his normal dinner conversation voice. "Could be more coming, or a recon, or hit and run, or…"
"I think we rattled the Issog," I said, unable to think of any other reason for nine Vamp cruisers. "Is it four, four, and one?"
"Exactly. Rattled?"
"If I'm right, the Issog are trying to determine how we destroyed sixteen batmobiles at Durban and Yorklan. Do we have new cruisers, have we changed the size of our squadrons or fleets, do we have a new secret weapon? The eight batmobiles constitute a suicide taskforce to probe, while the ninth is a scout to report the result."
Perkins was silent for several minutes. "Which means the scout can't be allowed to leave. I doubt Admiral Simons wants to lose ten to twelve cruisers to fake our incompetence." He grinned. "Any ideas?"
"Why don't we move the fleet forward? My squadron will stay with the forward line and try to get them to do something stupid, but stopping the scout will be my primary responsibility."
"All right, coordinate with Captain Hannah. She will be leading the first wave."
I immediately connected to the Sobek and Amsit. "We are going to join the first wave initially. Form up on Captain Hannah commanding the Tyche. I'll have orders when we have a clearer picture of the Issog formation." I cut the connection and began maneuvering the Odin into position.
An hour later I received a connection from the Tyche. "Captain LaFon, I'm captain Hannah. Welcome to the party."
"Thank you, Captain Hannah. I appreciate the invite. I've been meaning to meet with you, but…"
"I understand. Admiral Perkins says I should coordinate with you, as you and your squadron are authorized to take independent action."
"Normally, the Odin would skip into the leading enemy line and try to irritate them into wasting skips and making dumb decisions. But we usually precede the fleet by several minutes. If you don't mind, I'd like to get out in front of you by two light-seconds, thereby keeping a four-second separation from the Vamps."
"Why?"
"They don't like to take four-second skips, as skipping is their prime tactic. At some point we will skip in and annoy them. If we are lucky, that will do something you can use to your advantage."
"Sounds dangerous, with us so far apart. The Thor…"
"Your job is far more dangerous. My job is to irritate. Your job is to destroy. Good hunting." I gave her a salute and contacted the Amsit and Sobek.
"We are moving ahead of the fleet by two seconds. I want a four-second separation between the front line and the Issog. Treat this action the same as if we had entered five minutes ahead of the fleet, except this time, our priority is to destroy the scout, the batmobile trailing the two lines of Vamps."
* * *
By the time the leading four batmobiles, B1-B4, had reached the six-second mark, the Odin, Amsit, and Sobek were at the eight, and the Sixth Fleet's first wave was at the ten-second mark. The second four batmobiles, B5-B8, where at the fourth and the scout at the three-second mark.
I sent MiVa100200Sb to the Amsit and Sobek and initiated a tight-beam connection.
"I'm going to skip into the first line on the vector I sent. If they fire on me, skip in and fire, but I'd suggest you fire only a half loads. After that, use your discretion." I skipped.
As the Bridge solidified, I located the closest Vamp cruiser, B3, fired one bank of missiles, and waited. The Commander had what I thought a simple decision—swat the irritating gnat, or not? He had four Vamps behind him for support if the fleet skipped, which I thought he would consider a bonus. The four Vamps fired five seconds later. I skipped to the four-second mark, located the nearest Vamp, B6, and fired, noting that the Amsit and Sobek had skipped to the six-second mark. I jumped back to the six-second mark when B5-B8 fired several seconds later.
B1-B4 skipped to the eight-second mark when the Amsit and Sobek fired fifteen seconds later. The Sixth's front-wave immediately skipped to the eight-second mark and fired twenty seconds later. B1-B4 skipped back to the six-second mark as B5-B8 skipped to the six-second mark, thinking the Amsit, Sobek, and Odin were still in the process of reloading. However, each cruiser still had four loaded and fired twenty seconds later.
With the first wave of the Sixth Fleet only two light-seconds away, the Issog commanders had a problem—fire and skip back to the four-second mark and use more skips, or wait to see what the fleet would do. They chose to wait. As they did, B4, B7, and B3 went Yellow. When we had a full load again, I fired one bank. Seconds later, the Amsit and Sobek each fired a half bank. Having no choice, B1-B8 skipped to the eight-second mark to engage the Sixth’s first wave. Instead, the first wave skipped to the six-second mark when B1-B8 fired twelve seconds later and immediately the Sixth's second wave skipped to the eight-second mark.
At the same time, the Odin, Amsit, and Sobek all skipped to the Wave exit. Ten seconds later, the scout skipped toward the Wave. The scout went Yellow when fourteen missiles scored direct hits—half-loads from the Odin, Amsit, and Sobek. And it went Red twenty seconds later when the second half-load caught the Scout before it could enter the Wave.
I connected to Bergan and Lahti. "Stay put. We will guard the Wave in case one of the batmobiles decides to leave the party early."
We stayed and watched for the next fifteen minutes. The Issog were not only outnumbered and in marginal condition, but had limited skip capacity. Even so, the Sixth lost four cruisers, and four others received significant damage.
* * *
"I was very skeptical about the Odin concept before the Thor squadron joined the fourth, and not surprised when Marsh and his squadron were almost destroyed at Yorklan without providing any advantage," Hannah said while we waited on the server to take our order. She had invited me to dinner at a local restaurant to get acquainted. "I knew the Sixth had good results at Durban, but I assumed the circumstances were different. I see now that Marsh just didn't have the experience."
"What do you think of Copernicus?"
"I need more time with the system, but I like knowing how long before the Vamp cruisers can fire on us and how many skips they have. I also like your policy of only firing
half-loads while they have skips available."
Just then the waiter arrived, and we both ordered the night's special, a local sea bass baked and served on a rice pilaf.
"I'm looking forward to being with the Sixth. It will be a nice change, destroying more Vamp cruisers than they destroy of ours." Hannah raised her glass, and I touched mine to hers.
* * *
Two days later, Simons invited Perkins, the captains of the flagships, the first wave captains, Marsh, and me to dinner on the Sakhmet. Talk during the meal carefully avoided war, rather focusing on our early careers and thus providing background and helping to cement the team.
Simons’s flag captain, Wallace, had a typical military career, graduating the military academy at Utopia, a tour at the War College, and time at each of the Bridge positions on various cruisers, including six tours against the Issog. Conversely, Captain Barker, Perkins's flag captain, had a normal college education and started his military career as an engineering officer. The war had opened up a position as weapons officer and propelled him quickly through the ranks to captain and six tours at the front to senior captain. The career of Captain Behrens, Simons's first wave leader, paralleled Baker's career, except he began his military service at helm and had a tour at each Bridge position as well as four tours against the Issog. Hannah, Perkins's first wave leader, had also graduated the Military academy, but had not attended the war college. She had three tours against the Issog. Marsh, the Thor captain, was the youngest officer present, a college graduate who had started as a fighter pilot, then fighter squadron commander, and had a meteoric rise to captain after three tours at the front. He had the least experience as a captain against the Issog.
As the dessert dishes were removed and wine served, Simons got down to the purpose of the meeting. There were no free dinners. "Well LeFon, you believe the recent Issog engagement was a scouting mission?" she asked after tasting her Riesling.
"Not only that, I think they are nervous." I had given it a lot of thought since the encounter.
"Nervous?"
"I think the loss of Durban and Yorklan, each of which had sixteen cruisers stationed in system, has them wondering at the size of our fleets and whether we have new cruisers or weapons. The eight batmobiles were a suicide mission designed to check out New Hope and test our response. I think the scout proves that. The scout stayed close enough to skip to the Wave."
"If LaFon is correct, and I believe she is," Perkins said, "it might mean the Issog are getting low on cruisers. If so, they may consolidate at the fringes of the Commonwealth."
"I hope you and LaFon are correct. That would also mean they don't have replacements coming." Simons swirled her glass and watched the wine circling. "If that premise is correct, we should find less resistance at the closer systems. Maybe they have even been vacated." She finished the remaining wine in one swallow and activated the room monitors with a star map of the Commonwealth.
"With Durban and Yorklan recently cleared, that leaves Berlin, Alexandria, Angeles, Hydera and Kammu." Simons looked around the table as if awaiting comments.
"They want to know the same thing we do," Wallace said. "How many fleets we currently have. Actually, it's more important strategically to them than to us, because we have factories that can create new cruisers."
"That would suggest an all-out invasion rather than waiting for us to grow our fleets." Hannah made a slight twitch of her shoulders.
"Or a trap," I suggested, withholding a mental laugh. Simons was looking for ideas, and all she got was potential options.
She laughed. "I'm underpaid for making those kinds of decisions; however, I don't think that is going to matter. I'll send out scouts to Berlin, Alexandria, and Angeles, so you have seven days to prepare. Give your troops as much R&R time as you can, but I want half of each fleet ready at any given time."
* * *
At my request, Elaine created an interactive simulator where I could maneuver the Issog cruisers. For the next week, I made up various configurations and tested Marsh and his squadron's reaction time and decision making. By the end of the week, I felt confident Marsh had a reasonable understanding of the Issog's tactics and how to go about teasing them into wasting skips and encouraging them to move in one direction or another.
"That helped," Marsh said late on the sixth day after hearing that we would be departing New Hope two days later. "Admiral Gutierrez had me convinced my function was to destroy twice the number of Issog cruisers because of my ship's special capabilities. Of course, my previous reputation as aggressive and heroic, much like the admiral himself, and my permission to take independent action convinced me he was right. I see now we were wrong. The option to take independent action applies when my squadron and I can help the fleet be more effective, not for me to be a hero." He laughed and reached out his hand. I shook it.
"That will not always be easy. There will be times when it feels like cowardice, but getting killed saving a comrade could cost tens of cruisers and thousands of lives in the long run. We still have the Arrith to contend with, therefore we can't afford a war of attrition."
He nodded and left, talking with his squadron captains.
"Elaine, how about joining me for dinner before our session with Hannah and Behrens?" When she nodded, I led her to my dining room, where I had asked Petty Officer first class Groce, my steward, if he could provide something special for dinner. He had.
After Groce had filled Elaine's glass with a Pinot, she smiled and asked, "What's the occasion?"
"An opportunity to thank you for coming to the war zone and for your hard work. It will make a significant difference in lives and have a positive impact on the war." I didn't smile. The statement was true and I wanted her to know I wasn't just being polite.
"Thanks, Zoe." Her cheeks turned a pale pink as she sat sipping her wine, eyes staring down. After a while, she looked up and smiled. "It's been an interesting experience. A worthwhile one, knowing the training may…will help save lives. We all talk about efficiency…fifty percent this and sixty-five percent that, but in the end, we forget or ignore what that means in terms of lives." She swallowed several times before continuing. "Efficiency doesn't mean much if the objectives aren't right. You've made me realize what is really important. Hopefully, I can convey that to the next generation of Odin captains. Anytime you need me, you have but to call."
Groce entered, saving us from having to dwell on the war. He had prepared a Caesar salad to start, escarole soup, prime rib steak as an entree, and topped it all off with an Irish liqueur crème brule.
"Wow, I'll have to go on a diet for a week. Thank you, Zoe. I love working at Next Robotics, but this was a real-life experience I'll cherish forever."
* * *
Two days later, the two fleets approached the Wave, with the Sixth in the lead. Simons had decided to try Berlin first, then Alexandria, and finally Angeles in the hope of discovering whether the Issog were in fact pulling back and if so, to where. The Odin squadron would lead the way into Berlin by the usual five minutes.
The first three days of the four-day trip were boring, with little to do but spend more time in the simulators, mostly to pass the time. I held daily staff meetings for the same reason.
"Captain, what do you think we'll find on Berlin?" Maize asked the question most of the crew had on their minds.
"In my opinion, the recent attack on New Hope was a probe by the Issog to determine the reason for their latest losses. The eight batmobiles were intended to test the assembled fleet in an effort to expose new cruisers or weapons and to get an estimate on the number of cruisers on New Hope. Unfortunately for them, the scout was destroyed." I waited for the comments to quiet. "To me that means the Issog are nervous, and that could mean they are running low on cruisers. That does not mean they will be leaving."
"Why not?" Vanek asked. "If they are losing…"
"Since we haven't seen any reinforcements, I think we can conclude the world they left is no longer viable, so they have
no place to go. They must fight to the last Issog. The question we are trying to answer with this sojourn is whether they are retreating to one or more systems as a last stand, preparing for an all-out attack, or resorting to traps."
"Your guess?" Disanto asked, frowning in thought.
"Cleaning up in preparation to evacuate to one or two systems they plan to defend, hoping we will cede them to the Issog."
"Why would we do that?" Maize asked, her eyes wide in surprise. Others around the table appeared to agree we wouldn't.
"The Arrith," I said, knowing I needed say no more. Everyone knew we were going to need all our cruisers, and then some, to repulse an invasion by the Arrith.
* * *
Our entry into Berlin space went without incident, and the ESP displayed no activity between the Wave and one light-second of Berlin. Only four Vamp cruisers were in orbit. We began a slow decent toward the planet while we awaited the fleet’s entrance and Perkins’s orders.
"Let's use our normal strategy. Four lines two light-seconds apart with the Sixth leading. The forward line will stop when it's four light-seconds from the Issog cruisers. The Odin squadron will then begin the attack," Simons announced after talking with Perkins, Hannah, and me. Winning wasn't an issue. Doing it with the minimum number of losses and damages was. For the next twelve hours, we skipped to get in position and waited while our skip capacity was restored to maximum.