Desperate Measures: The Issog

by C. R. Daems

  * * *

  I visited each section during the sixty hours we were in the Wave, hoping to keep the anxiety levels to a minimum.

  "No, Commander Cortez, I don't foresee the need for missiles. It's look and run, so the weapons will be offline. But to be safe they should be loaded and ready."

  "No, Commander Dawson, I don't foresee needing fighters, since I don't plan on stopping. But they should be ready in case I'm wrong."

  "No, Colonel Houston, I doubt marines will be needed. But the ship will be at Battle Stations because we will be in enemy territory."

  By the time we arrived, I was exhausted. "Attention, Wave exit in one hour. Battle Stations," I sent over the loudspeakers and to the individual ICDs, and then began my routine of locking down each terminal and ensuring they were operational. I spent the remaining time getting mentally prepared.

  The Wave exit went smoothly, and to my surprise the ESP showed no ships of any kind within six light-seconds, so I switched from passive to active sensors. The ESP remained blank to the planet.

  "Angeles space appears empty. Remain at Battle Stations while I take a closer look," I sent to my staff and the Backup Bridge. With a twelve-second skip capacity, I could easily skip safely back to the Wave if trouble arose. It didn't. We were in-system for more than ten hours without incident. I felt confident the Issog had deserted the system, and we entered the Wave back to Alexandria.

  * * *

  "I feel confident it's safe to reposition the fleet to Angeles. I went to within two light-seconds of the planet and detected no activity," I said. Simons and Perkins wore skeptical expressions.

  "Maybe they have decided we are a pain in the ass and are leaving," Perkins said.

  "Or are invading Utopia," Simons said. "At this point, we have no choice but to continue pushing forward. We have to know where the enemy is before we can determine their objective and our response." Simons finished the wine in her glass before continuing. "Tomorrow, the Sixth and Third Fleets will proceed to Angeles. Captain LaFon, you're authorized to scout Hydera."

  "Ma'am, what if you remain in Alexandria? It’s central to Hydera and Kammu. In nine days, you could know the status of Hydera and Kammu. Whereas if you move to Angeles, it will take sixteen days. Plus, you'd be in a better position to engage Hydera or Kammu from Alexandria," I said reluctantly, since she hadn't asked my advice.

  "I agree," Perkins said, nodding agreement. "Angeles has no strategic advantage."

  "What about the civilians there?" Simons asked with concern in her voice.

  "They are free. Hydera and Kammu probably aren't," Perkins said. After a long silence, Simons nodded.

  "Zoe, which one?" Simons asked.

  "Hydera, I think. It's closer."

  "All right, scout Hydera and return here before proceeding to Kammu."

  * * *

  We left an hour later. It didn't matter to the crew, as there was no planet-side entertainment, nor any leave if there had been. They were stuck on the ship whether it was moving or in orbit. Once in the Wave, I assembled my full staff.

  "We are heading for Hydera, which should take slightly less than two days. Afterward, we will be returning to Alexandria. Admiral Simons has decided to stay there, since it's located closer to Hydera and Kammu than Angeles. Besides, there are no Issog in Angeles space to warrant the move." I waited for questions while scanning the room. Everyone knew we would be going to either Hydera or Kammu. The only real news was the fleets were staying in Alexandria.

  "What about the citizens on Angeles?" Doctor Wells asked. "They will need help recovering from their captivity."

  "It's unfortunate but true of all wars that those who suffer the most are noncombatants—the old, the young, and the weak. Right now, the priority is defeating the Issog…not just defeating them but with sufficient resources to take on the Arrith. A tradeoff—millions against billions. The Issog are on the run or retreating or preparing for an offensive. We must know which or be surprised or miss an opportunity. The reality of war."

  Wells nodded reluctantly after several minutes of silence. "Much like a hospital emergency room after a major accident. You spend your time on the ones you think you can save…or you lose them too."

  "Same procedure as before." I smiled. "If the Issog are occupying Hydera, a quick look and run."

  * * *

  "Akar, what made you think about using the chairs when fighting the Issog?" I had heard the marines raving about how the Mactans had used the available chairs in the dining room and how effective it had been. By any logic, the Mactan should have lost half their numbers fighting the Issog. They’d had a number of wounded, yet no deaths.

  "When fighting someone with a long weapon, get in close. When fighting someone with a short weapon, stay back," he recited as if from some manual. "The bats have deadly claws on their hands and feet—short weapons. The chairs permitted us to keep them far enough away to avoid the claws. The chairs also inhibited their range of motion. Perfect for the situation, and available."

  "Thank you. Without you and your team I'd be dead. I'm glad you're along."

  "We too are glad we are along. It's an interesting assignment."

  Looking at the chronometer, I saw it was time to begin my preparations for Wave exit into Hydera. "Attention, Battle Stations. Wave exit in sixty minutes."

  Within seconds of exiting the Wave, the ESP lit with row after row of Issog cruisers. They were arranged in rows of eight. The passive sensors depicted eight at two, four, and six light-seconds. I set up a vector to the row of Issog at the six-second mark and a return vector to the Wave and skipped. The Bridge faded to a ghostly mist, and I felt suspended in space without the ship. Six seconds later the mist cleared and my eyes sought the ESP. I didn’t need the active sensors to see the remaining distance to the planet—eight more batmobiles were at the ten and twelve light-second marks. I skipped two seconds after several Vamps fired at the Thor.

  When the mist cleared, I accelerated at maximum speed five hundred fifty gravities toward the Wave entrance, which was sixty-one seconds away. The Vamps at the two-second mark were slow to skip, waiting thirty seconds to see my next move, then took twenty seconds to target the Thor. By the time they fired, it was too late to reach the Thor before we entered the Wave. We made it with five seconds to spare.

  * * *

  We arrived back two days later. Simons didn't waste any time, and called for a meeting on the Sakhmet as soon as we were in orbit. I let the primary Bridge crew take over and went to my quarters to refresh, rest, and change uniforms for the upcoming meeting.

  We rendezvoused with the Sakhmet at fourteen hundred hours. Twenty minutes later, I was being pulled into the Sakhmet's shuttle bay. When I exited, I was met by Captain Wallace.

  "Welcome back, Zoe," he said after giving me permission to enter the Sakhmet. "Everyone has been anxiously awaiting your return. I know of at least five different lotteries. Will she return? What date and time? How many batmobiles on Hydera? And there are probably ten more I don't know about." He laughed. "Come, Admiral Simons hasn't relaxed since you left. Can't blame her. Your findings could foretell the Commonwealth's fate." He stared hard at me. When I didn't say anything, he strode out of the bay and led me to Simons’s office, where she and Perkins sat drinking coffee.

  "Ma'am, reporting as ordered," I said while at attention and holding my salute.

  Simons returned the salute in a hurried gesture. "Get something to drink and let’s hear what you found, Zoe."

  I poured a cup of coffee and settled in the empty fourth chair at the small table in the back of her office. "Forty cruisers arranged in rows of eight at the four, six, eight, ten, and twelve light-second marks," I said quickly, feeling like a guilty person at an inquiry board. My quick recap was met with stony silence, as each person evaluated the information and what he or she thought that meant.

  Finally, Perkins spoke. "That makes Kammu the hundred million credit answer to the question."

  "Yes. How to p
roceed? If Kammu has been deserted, it's an entirely different problem than if Kammu has another forty or more cruisers," Simons said softly as if thinking out loud.

  "The good news is that it could have been a hundred or more," Wallace said. I didn't think he saw the problem, which concerned me. He was focused on the Issog, forgetting the Arrith—and probably thinking we could duplicate our previous better than one-to-one kill ratio.

  "What do you think, Zoe?" It surprised me that Perkins asked me rather than Simons.

  I had given it considerable thought on the way back, and had formed an opinion no matter what the numbers at Kammu. But this wasn't the time for that missile. Maybe if the Issog had an equal or greater number in Kammu space.

  "Sir, I think you're right. Kammu will dictate our strategy," I said instead.

  "Why not move the two fleets to Hydera and free the system? If Kammu is empty, we're done. If not, we can finish the war," Wallace said with confidence that the humans' superiority would win the day over the animals. I think he had forgotten that just two years before, the Arrith and the Commonwealth high command thought the Issog would win within five years. I doubted the Commonwealth had a hundred operational cruisers. To my way of thinking, we had a problem no matter whether the Issog had forty operational cruisers or eighty.

  "Zoe, are you sure there weren't more cruisers beyond your sensors effective range?" Simons asked, her forehead wrinkled in concern.

  "It's possible they had cruisers at minimum power sitting someplace, but I skipped to the six-second mark and had my sensors active—"

  "You what?"

  "I had the same concern you did, ma'am. So I jumped closer to make sure they weren't setting a trap for us."

  "You could've been destroyed. Then what?" Simons persisted.

  "It was a minimum risk, ma'am. I have a twelve-second skip capacity, so six there and six back." I made it with a five-second cushion, I mused, but thought it better to say nothing.

  Simons sighed in resignation. "Kammu, Zoe, as soon as you're ready. I need those numbers."

  * * *

  Simons forced me to stay for a quiet dinner with Perkins and her. We spent several hours discussing our early years. Simons was a senior captain by the time the Issog entered Commonwealth space. She had attended the Naval Academy on Olympia and been assigned to Bridge, where she rotated through the positions, which earned her a position as XO. She made captain early and earned a slot at the Naval War College, Ares. Therefore when the Issog invaded, she was the logical choice for Fleet commander.

  Perkins, on the other hand, had a naval scholarship to Rockland University and had been required to serve six years afterward. Since his major was mathematics, his logical choice was the Navigator position. He found he liked naval life: the travel, seeing new places, and meeting new women. Satisfied with military life and timely promotions, he continued to reenlist every four years. A full commander, he too had been only a few years from retirement when the Issog invaded. The high attrition in the early years of the war had propelled him to captain.

  I had joined after college because I wanted to see the various Commonwealth systems, and stayed in because of my desire to command a cruiser. With my sights on captain, a willingness to take the less popular assignments, and a few lucky breaks, I made captain with minimum time in grade. Consequently, I had been a captain when the Issog invaded, and had gone to the war zone immediately.

  I left wondering what Simons would recommend and what Fossett would approve, feeling certain that Kammu had a like number of cruisers as Hydera. Unless I was mistaken, the Issog were staking their lives on an interesting gambit.

  * * *

  Our entry into Kammu went smoothly. I left the sensors in passive mode, hoping for a few extra seconds to survey the space. Ten seconds later, the ESP displayed an image of space some six light-seconds away: four batmobiles at the two, three, four, five, and six-light-second marks. An interesting configuration, suggesting another forty cruisers. It may have been a bit reckless, but I felt it important to know rather than assume. I skipped to the six-second mark, set the sensors to active, and when the ESP lit with the result, skipped back to our original position, then raced to the entrance to the Wave back to Alexandria.

  This time the Issog were quicker to react, and two of the Vamps fired in time to intercept the Thor before we entered the Wave. Although I dispensed chaff and activated the automatic laser system, three missiles scored hits. Fortunately, the damage didn't preclude us from entering the Wave eight seconds later.

  I watched the damage reports for an hour, wondering whether I had made the right choice skipping closer when I could have just exited the Wave and assumed what I had found anyway: four batmobiles at the seven, eight, nine, ten and eleven-light-second marks. That would have saved forty-one lives and avoided forty-four injuries. I concluded it would depend on how Simons and Fossett decided to proceed. I rose from the captain's chair with a cruiser-size headache and notified the primary Bridge crews to report for duty.

  When they arrived, I prepared to leave. "Commander Amaya, you have the watch. Notify my staff of a staff meeting in twelve hours." Before Amaya could do more than nod, I continued. "You have the watch."

  "I have the watch, ma'am," she responded.

  Back in my quarters, I debated walking around the damaged areas but decided I'd just be in the way. Besides, I felt too guilty at the moment to face anyone. Instead, I stood in the fresher until I became groggy from the heat and then dropped on my bunk into a restless sleep.

  I woke eight hours later surprisingly clear headed if not totally rested and with the confidence I had made the right decision regardless of Simons or Fossett's use of the data. I regretted the deaths and injuries, but they were unavoidable in war. I had a meal sent to my office, where I spent the next several hours reviewing the damage reports and considering the data from Angeles, Hydera, and Kammu.

  Akar entered the conference room first as usual, which caused someone to call attention as I entered. "At ease," I said, and sat. "As you probably know by now or have guessed, I skipped to the six-second mark to get a good look at the space immediately around the planet. The Issog configuration at Hydera consisted of row of eight cruisers every two light-seconds—a total of forty cruisers. Here, the Issog admiral chose to have four cruisers every light-second from the two to the eleven-second marks—again, a total of forty cruisers. The conclusion is that they have eighty operational cruisers."

  "That sounds like good news," Commander Locke said, but it was more a question.

  "Captain?" Amaya asked, unconsciously shaking her head unperceptively. From the looks around the table, the people were split about evenly: one-third thought it was good news, one-third bad, and one-third were unsure.

  "I think it will depend upon how the admiralty decides to proceed." I laughed. "Which means we won't know until we see the decision and the results."

  "Which configuration do you feel will be the hardest to defeat?" Amaya asked.

  "In my opinion, I'd rather fight against the rows of eight which are two light-seconds apart."

  "Do you think the Thor…and Odin will make a difference?" Amaya again, probing, and I'd wager weighting it against her conclusions.

  "In my opinion, no. If we had ten, yes, but we only have two." I spent the next hour discussing the damage to the Thor and the repairs necessary. Except for the deaths, I concluded we had been lucky and would be fully operational even if a bit short on crew by the time we reached Alexandria.

  * * *

  This time the Sakhmet met me halfway. I had twenty of the wounded shuttled to the Sakhmet, which I felt had a slightly better medical unit. Besides, our facility was overcrowded.

  Commander Wallace again met me when I exited the shuttle. After the obligatory permission to enter, Wallace wasted no time in hustling me to the Admiral’s office, where Perkins sat with Simons, waiting.

  "Bad?" Simons asked, waving a halfhearted return salute.

  "We took three hits
leaving. We're operational, but our medical unit is overcrowded." I proceeded to get a cup of coffee before sitting. "Kammu has another forty Issog cruisers, although in a slightly different defensive configuration."

  "What do you see as the Odin and Thor's part in the upcoming engagement?" Simons asked, her eyes locked on mine as if trying to read my thoughts.

  "I don't think we are going to be much help. Too many to rattle," I said, having given it a lot of thought on the way back.

  "Losses?" Perkins asked, although I thought he already had a good idea and might have been thinking along the same lines as me.

  "Three to two—Commonwealth to Issog. One to one if we fight exceptionally smart and get lucky. They aren't going to surrender."

  "One hundred twenty cruisers…" Simons gave a soft whistle. Perkins nodded agreement.

  "Good news, bad news. We can get rid of the Issog, but we’ll have little remaining to take on the Arrith," Perkins said quietly.

  "What choice do we have?" Simons's hands covered her face, her fingertips massaging her forehead and temples. When she finished, she lowered her hands and gazed at me. "Perkins? Zoe?"

  "I think Zoe has known all along what must be done, which was her reason for wanting to visit Angeles, Hydera, and Kammu. Now it's confirmed. We must concede Hydera and Kammu to the Issog if we wish to survive." Perkins shrugged in resignation.