by Britt Ringel
“Captain,” Salle’s soft voice disturbed the peace, “Avenger just received comm traffic from an Envoy-class sloop in-system.”
Twist turned in place to look at Weis. Envoy sloops were government-use only, fast transports that carried the highest level officials.
“Nothing for us though, right, Marcy?” Weis asked.
Salle nodded. ‘Correct, sir. It’s for fleet commander’s eyes only.”
Hayashi leaned to her right, closer to Weis, but spoke loud enough for Twist to hear. “A council member wishing a personal update on Kalyke perhaps?”
“Or a minister or secretary asking the same thing,” Weis speculated. He looked into his first officer’s eyes and shrugged. “We did our best. Both sides play to win.”
Twist knew it was a delicate situation. Many ministers and secretaries had never served in the military and most of the Brevic General Council had not. Failure, even military defeat, was not easily understood or accepted by Republic officials. He had heard rumors that the General Council was growing weary of admirals proving unequal to their counterparts’ dynamism on the battlefield. Already, two flag officers with strong political and social prestige had been sacked. Would the Council actually start arresting officers below the flag ranks? Twist wondered. He looked at Weis and Hayashi. Falcata’s commanders were holding a private discussion. Are they worried they might be relieved when we dock at New London?
“Incoming message from Avenger, Captain,” Salle said.
The system plot gave way to the dour Captain Hamilton. “Captains Weis and Aleksev, your two ships will detach from your respective task groups and fall under the temporary command of Secretary Brewer of Internal Security.” Hamilton looked to his right and gestured to someone off-screen. “I’m sending you the command authorization now along with relevant data for your mission. Hamilton out.”
As the man’s face faded from the wall screen quickly drafted orders appeared, confirming Falcata’s detachment from Task Group 2.6. The orders created a two-ship element designated as Task Unit 11.4.7.2 under the command of Captain Carsten Weis with overall authority belonging to Secretary Sebastian Brewer. Beneath the paragraphs sanctioning the new assignment were simple directives:
TU 11.4.7.2/// TU WILL PROCEED AT MAX SPEED AND INTERCEPT CORPORATE SAILING VESSEL HUSSY ENROUTE TO BIANCA TP. UPON INTERCEPT, TU WILL ANNOUNCE A STANDARD SHIPS INSPECTION PER ISC RULE 4505.25 BUT WILL NOT, REPEAT, NOT BOARD VESSEL. TU WILL FIRE TO DESTROY IF HUSSY NONCOMPLIANT.
A sensor tag was attached to the message highlighting the civilian freighter’s location inside New London.
Twist consulted the system plot to judge speed and distance. CSV Hussy had an insurmountable lead, 38lm from Falcata.
“How do they expect us to catch them?” Newcomb asked, voicing Twist’s concerns.
“They can’t. It’s impossible,” Hayashi replied.
Weis stared at the plot for a beat before ordering, “Navigation, plot best speed and course to intercept that freighter. I know we aren’t going to catch her but we have our orders.”
Hayashi’s frustrations drowned out Newcomb’s acknowledgement. “Why are they wasting our time with this? I get it, those corporate merchantmen are smuggling drugs or weapons or something but shouldn’t the local system defense ships be handling this?”
Falcata thrusted toward her new intercept solution even as her main drives began to push her past .14c.
“We have our orders, Kat,” Weis said sourly. “Let’s just hope they don’t tell us to follow that ship into tunnel space. Look.” He pointed at his chair arm console. “If Hussy can keep her present speed, we wouldn’t even catch her in Bianca and from there, she can dive straight to Federation space.”
Hayashi reverted to her native tongue for a moment. Collecting herself, she complained, “So we just lost Kalyke, Carme is under threat of direct attack and Falcata needs at least two weeks to repair and now we’re going to go waste…” She counted the days in tunnel space. “Waste four days plus the time we spend getting to the tunnel point and the time we spend in Bianca?”
“We have our orders, Kat,” Weis repeated sedately.
“Yes we do,” she agreed bitterly.
Hours later the bandit freighter reached the Bianca tunnel point, disregarded orders to heave to from the tunnel point control station and dove into t-space. Thirty minutes after Hussy’s escape, new orders arrived for Falcata.
Weis frowned.
“Let me guess,” Hayashi spat while rolling her eyes.
“Have you ever been to Bianca, Kat?” Weis asked with a defeated smile.
* * *
Falcata appeared inside the Bianca star system forty-eight hours later. The time in tunnel space had been some of the most fruitless of Twist’s life. Every possible repair had already been accomplished in tunnel space from Kalyke to Carme. Now, with a mountain of work ahead of his crew and scant little time to perform it, he had been forced to sit on his hands as the specter of Hollaran invasion approached.
Transitioning into n-space, Twist shook off the dive’s disorientation and immediately searched the system plot for Hussy. Remarkably, the freighter had somehow evaded the single defense ship stationed in the system. That tiny ship, an aged Fox-class patrol craft called Kit, was sailing after the freighter at her maximum speed but it was clear the vintage traffic cop would never make up the distance between them.
Ahead of the patrol craft, the Envoy-class sloop was also in pursuit. Unlike Kit, the sloop would overhaul the freighter approximately 1lm from the tunnel point to Syrinx.
“Maintain pursuit,” Weis ordered. He looked apologetically at his first officer. “Our orders are to keep the pursuit up all the way to the border.”
Newcomb tapped commands into his navigation console before turning to face Weis. “We won’t catch them, Captain. Hussy is only thirty light-minutes from the Syrinx tunnel.”
“Understood, Lieutenant,” Hayashi said for her captain. “She might break down or change her course so we’re going to carry these orders from Secretary Brewer out to the letter.”
Newcomb nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Of course.” No sailor in the Republic would dare to disobey an order from the Secretary of Internal Security. “Is an Envoy-class sloop armed?”
“No,” Twist answered from his station. He had never been aboard one but his mother had. “No weapons at all on them.”
The chase continued. The distance between the renegade freighter and Falcata shrank but far too slowly to make a difference. Three hours and thirty minutes after Falcata had arrived in Bianca, the wanted freighter entered within range of the Syrinx tunnel point, activated her tunnel drive and escaped to Federation space.
Nineteen minutes after her escape, new sailing orders arrived from Brewer’s sloop.
“We’re done,” Weis read. “Our Task Unit is to return to New London and report to Second Fleet for new orders.” On the system plot, the sloop was coming about, preparing for her long return trip to New London.
“Not even a ‘sorry we wasted five days you could have spent repairing your ship’ or at least, a thank you?” Hayashi asked.
“Isn’t serving the Bureau of Internal Security really its own thanks?” Weis said with a hint of amusement.
“Hey!” Hayashi exclaimed in a mild enthusiasm. “We’re eligible for the Joint Service Award now, aren’t we?” The JSA was a ribbon awarded to any military unit that worked in tandem or conjunction with a non-military governmental office.
“Is that right?” Weis said while tapping his console.
Hayashi nodded. “I don’t have that one yet. It’s a pretty blue and black ribbon.”
Weis chuckled. “Well then, even though we’ve probably lost Carme by now, at least we get a pretty blue and black ribbon.” He looked toward his navigator. “Take us back to New London, we have a shopping trip at the local base exchange to make.”
Chapter 24
A trio of pint glasses clinked together, dribbling amber liquid down their side
s.
“To the new year,” Caden Twist toasted with his friends.
“You’re a little late,” Holt commented before bringing the rim of the shaker pint to her mouth. She took a strong pull from the glass and placed it down on the beverage strip, centering it subconsciously. “We’re halfway through the month, Caden.”
Kirkpatrick reached across the table and snatched a handful of roasted chips. The surface of the planet below them was suitable for most grains but New London’s farmers had stuck with the heartiest genetically engineered wheat and maize. Even the overdose of salt failed to hide the disappointing flavor. After several bites, he washed down the mouthful with the bitter draught. “Yeah, but this is the first time we’ve all been together since we moored to the repair dock.”
With Falcata safely in the hands of civilian repair crews, Captain Weis had encouraged his section heads to offer leave to their sailors. Both Holt and Kirkpatrick had jumped at the opportunity to travel planetside. Even Twist had escaped for a couple days during the last week after Hayashi insisted that he take some time for himself. He had spent that time sheltered in a hotel room, contemplating a new method for dealing with his troubles on point defense.
Falcata’s three-week transformation from bleeding soldier to battle-scarred veteran was nearing completion. Both GP turrets had been replaced and fully tested. Amidship, the vessel’s destroyed Merkell gatling heavy turret had been upgraded to a standard Corbovan heavy laser. Another Merkell was simply not available as their production had ceased decades ago. The exchange gave Falcata a decidedly asymmetrical look in both aesthetics and firepower but the more robust and powerful Corbovan countered the weapon’s reduced rate of fire.
Twist hunted through the restaurant’s menu linked to his datapad. He had eaten here a week ago and the fish and chips had been spectacular. He tapped the icon and began to request extra tartar sauce when his datapad buzzed unhappily. He felt his spirits sink. “Damn.”
Holt’s concerned eyes tracked to him. “What?” she asked while running fingers through her chestnut hair.
“They’re out of the fish,” he said with great distress. “This is awful.”
Holt pecked at her own datapad. “Let Lucy make it all better.” A second round was ordered.
“Lucy,” Kirkpatrick said while reaching for more chips, “were you aware that you and I aren’t in the same chain of command.”
The corner of Holt’s mouth curled upward. “I’m not dating you, Vix.”
“I was just making an interesting observation,” he replied innocently. “Just one of the many, stunning facets of my personality that you may not have noticed due to my rugged, good looks.” Kirkpatrick feigned a wide stretch and yawn while curling his arms to flex his biceps.
Holt concentrated on her datapad. “You know I’m an accomplished practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, right?”
Twist choked off a laugh as Kirkpatrick dropped his arms.
“Is that the one where you dance around a lot?” Kirkpatrick asked.
“That’s capoeira, though you probably don’t want to phrase it that way around someone proficient in it. I just throw you to the ground—”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Kirkpatrick interjected with a winning smile.
“—And then choke you out.” She shot the ensign her own demented smile.
Kirkpatrick’s eyebrows shot upward. “Well, that’s really not my thing….”
Twist’s datapad beeped again, precipitating an additional curse.
“Don’t tell me they’re out of beer too,” Kirkpatrick quipped.
“No,” Twist answered, “I just got paged by Lieutenant Hayashi. I have to return to Falcata immediately.” He rose from the table as dual pages sounded on Kirkpatrick’s and Holt’s datapads.
“Uh-oh,” Kirkpatrick uttered, staring at his screen.
Holt turned her datapad upside down and reached for her beer. “Looks like I better finish this while I can.”
* * *
Falcata’s twenty-five officers gathered in Briefing Room Beta, the only compartment large enough to accommodate the crowd. At the front of the room Lieutenant Hayashi stood with Captain Weis, engaged in a quiet conversation. As a bridge officer, Twist had taken a vacant seat at the conference table while Holt and Kirkpatrick had filtered to the perimeter of the room.
When Hayashi confirmed that all of the destroyer’s officers were in attendance, she moved to her own chair, closest to the head of the table.
Weis did not sit, instead choosing to remain near the room’s wall screen. “Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for any interruptions in your scheduled leave but Falcata departs for Kalyke in six hours.”
Eyes widened across the room. Weis looked at his officers, gauging that his words had their intended effect.
“Brevic Intelligence reports that the Hollarans will be renewing their push in this sector. We have word that the Commonwealth sent a second task force through the disputed zone and the newly conquered New Roman systems to link up with the ships that have taken station in Kalyke.”
Hayashi entered commands into her datapad and the wall screen flared to life with various organizational symbols of a reconstituted Task Group 2.6.
“Thank you, Kat,” Weis muttered. “The General Council authorized the release of First Fleet several weeks ago to stem the tide through Themisto and Cyllene and those ships have made a difference. Between the defense of Sponde and the commitment of the majority of First Fleet at Cyllene, the only place we’re losing badly is right here.”
Weis gestured toward the wall screen and smiled proudly. “We are reforming DesRon Fourteen and Falcata will retain command of the squadron. As many of you have heard, First Fleet has sent us a task group consisting of the dreadnaught, Implacable, along with two heavy cruisers, a pair of light cruisers and three frigates. We’re taking one of those frigates and combining with four of the five ships that are currently holding Carme to give us a full roster.” Like the last battle for Kalyke, DesRon-14 would be evenly split between destroyers and frigates.
He pointed again to the organizational charts. “That’s going to leave enough ships to create BattRon Seven, centered on Implacable and an understrengthed cruiser squadron. Electra, Adze and Gada are being folded into the BattRon. Crossbow goes to the five-ship CruRon.”
Weis paused briefly while Hayashi inputted more commands. A fourth squadron organization flashed into life.
“Three hours ago, CortRon Twelve, from First Fleet, dove into New London to round out our escorts. It’s been attrited to just a couple of destroyer escorts but the two survivors from Avenger’s CortRon will combine with them and the remaining two frigates that traveled with Implacable to bring the CortRon to something near full strength.”
There were faint grumbles around the room. Standard frigates inserted into escort squadrons had not done well in the recent past.
“That brings our attack force up to twenty-three ships. This is it, folks,” Weis said with a hard edge to his voice. “We’re running out of reserves. This force must retake Kalyke.”
(Link to Kalyke II Defense Org Chart; there is a return link after the chart to continue reading)
“What’s our expected opposition?” Twist asked.
Hayashi swiped the wall screen clean and a few key-taps later, red symbols representing the Hollaran forces assumed to be in Kalyke appeared. Weis quickly swiped away the Hollaran light carrier symbol. “Republic intel is confident that the Hollies have withdrawn the remaining carrier from Kalyke. We’ve confirmed that Avenger destroyed Poltergeist based on review of the holo-logs. It’s extremely likely that Waldgeist has returned to the Commonwealth, most likely Acca Larentia. Waldgeist is a big ship and A-L is a major shipbuilding system. At any rate, she is out of this fight.”
“Thank God.” Lieutenant Salle spoke for the crowd.
Weis smiled at his sensor officer but quickly grew solemn. “And thank Admiral Hayes. He’s the only admiral to have knocked out two carr
iers.”
“And damaged a third,” an officer from the back of the room added.
“So,” Weis resumed, “the space aviation threat has been nullified. That leaves us with the ships from the first attack and the reinforcements sent over the last three weeks.” The wall screen displayed twenty-five ships, broken into battleship, cruiser, destroyer and escort squadrons. Each Hollaran squadron outweighed its Brevic counterpart. Even the destroyer squadron’s flagship was a light cruiser. “This is just an estimate and I’m using the worst-case estimate so it’s probably not as bad as what you see.”
Weis stepped in front of the screen. “Regardless, we’re going in to take back our star system before the Commonwealth has reinforced it to the point where we’ll never be able to liberate it. Admiral Balraji—she’s the new overall commander of Task Group Two-Six—has made it perfectly clear that we will get only one shot at this. We’ve run out of chances.” He paused again. “Failure here will reverberate through the entire Republic.”
* * *
“Lieutenant Twist reports as ordered, sir.”
A stoic Lieutenant Commander Weis returned his weapons officer’s salute. Seated next to the captain, an equally impassive Lieutenant Hayashi watched Twist behind an inscrutable mask.
“Be seated, Caden,” Weis said, breaking some of the tension inside the small briefing room nearest Falcata’s bridge. The ship sailed with the majority of Task Group 2.6 heading toward the Carme tunnel point. It would rendezvous with the small, screening forces in Carme before making the three-day dive to Kalyke.
Twist sat across from the two officers and placed his datapad atop the table. Lieutenant Hayashi had messaged him that the captain had wanted to talk. Unlike previous meeting requests, the notification had come as a formal appointment on his calendar rather than the typical passing conversation.
Weis cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Caden, your entire generation of officers has been thrown into the fire. Kat and I went through the academy, had years of mentoring in junior positions and then the luxury of advanced military training like squadron officer’s school to hone our skills during a peacetime environment.” He licked his lips a moment before continuing. “You had three months of training in OTS and then a rude baptism by fire in a single incident that saw more loss of life in one day than I witnessed during the first sixteen years of my service.” His eyes dropped to his datapad. “Like Kat says, you’ve done wonders with what you’ve been handed, Caden, and you haven’t let us down.” He looked directly at Twist to reaffirm his statement.