by Britt Ringel
* * *
Two seconds after the Brevic maneuver was completed, the light of its beginning reached Alp. The Hollaran formation was just finishing its own rotation to orient its ships to reduce the range of the combat pass.
“Movement!” Alp’s sensor officer called out.
“Damn!” her captain cursed. “Engage our drives! Send the order out!” He stared impatiently at the optical of the Brevic lead ship, one of the damaged destroyers. Will Puki still be able to close the range?
Alp’s main propulsion lit off, pushing the light cruiser into a skid toward the enemy. The captain’s stomach plummeted when the Brevic destroyer’s own drives began to glow brightly. His eyes flickered to the tactical plot. Thirteen light-seconds and closing… but not fast enough. He glared at the Brevic flagship. That ‘Vic gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse and because of it, I became predictable.
“We won’t break five light-seconds,” Alp’s first officer forewarned. “We need to change our targeting orders and concentrate our fire!”
The captain shook his head in disgust. Alp was a mere 11ls from the lead destroyer. “It’s too late for that,” he spat. “He timed it perfectly. Three seconds to contact.” He tightened his hands around the arms of his chair.
* * *
The engagement lasted eighteen seconds with each ship averaging just sixteen seconds inside the lethal range of heavy laser weaponry. A total of forty heavy laser shots were expended. The Hollaran ships, expecting a knife fight, divided their twenty-four shots evenly among the Brevic fleet while the concentrated fire from the Republic lanced through just two of its enemies.
Twist heard the urgent chirping from Crowley’s trouble board before even realizing the firing pass was over. He quickly popped his restraints to stand while asking, “Where and how bad?”
“Checking, sir.”
Twist took a step toward Crowley’s panel but stopped short and looked back at his tactical plot. You have more concerns than just Falcata, Caden, he reminded himself before returning to his station. All five Brevic ships were still sailing. In their formation’s wake, two ELTI beacons pulsed at the last locations of an enemy destroyer and escort frigate.
What do we have available for the second pass? he wondered. Forward thinking had always come easy to him. Twist activated the squadron command channel. “Harpoon needs your damage reports as soon as possible.” He released the button and repeated, “Marcus, where and how bad?”
“We only took four shots from that missile destroyer, Captain,” Crowley replied. “In fact, most of the Hollies attacked separate targets.”
“They were expecting a brutal, winner-take-all, knife fight,” Dozier explained as he finally gave Falcata’s captain a genuine smile. “That was some grade-A baiting, sir.”
“What’d he do?” a voice asked at the doorway of Auxiliary Control.
Twist spun to find Kirkpatrick standing at the threshold.
Dozier pushed himself out of his seat with a grunt. “The Hollie captain had every advantage so young Mister Twist gave him exactly what he wanted to see until he only had one, real course of action to follow.”
“How bad are things, Vix?” Twist asked anxiously.
“An Issic shot penetrated one of our Allison drives.” Kirkpatrick shrugged. “We’re already speed-limited by some of our sister ships so it’s no big deal. Better yet, since it hit a drive, there weren’t any casualties.”
Twist exhaled with relief. Finally, some good luck.
“Call from Captain Hardy, sir,” Anderson said as he channeled the message to a side screen.
Lieutenant Michael Hardy was young, perhaps in his late twenties with sandy, blonde hair that peeked just below the visor of his helmet. He was smiling. “Captain Twist, the enemy fleet has turned away. They’re heading in-system on an intercept course for the two frigates, still a couple hours away.”
“How bad are you hurt?” Twist asked.
Hardy’s smile broke. “Harpoon is trailing flame. No word on casualties yet but probably… bad. My chief engineer says we’ll be limited to point-one-six-c after we change course.” He sighed. “We won’t be able to keep structural integrity at anything faster. The other ships are reporting moderate to heavy damage. I’m glad the Hollies are running because I doubt if we could withstand another pass.”
Twist nodded. “Their commander doesn’t know how badly we’re hurt. All he sees is five ships against his three.”
“So what do we do?” Hardy asked. “We’re in no condition to fight.”
Twist looked at the tactical plot. Eleven light-minutes away, Admiral Balraji’s group was just commencing a missile engagement with the major Hollaran units. The numbers favored the Hollarans but neither force was dominant.
If neither side wins outright during the missile attack, Balraji is going to need our ships in a laser battle, Twist judged. We can still win this fight. “Sir, I suggest we lay an intercept course for Two-Six. The admiral is depending on us.”
Hardy frowned at this. “We’re almost an hour away, Captain.”
“We can still fight,” Twist persisted, “and just seeing our squadron on the way will force the Hollaran commander to adjust his tactics to include our ships.” He looked at Hardy with a great need. “We can’t give up. The entire Republic is watching us. We have to win this battle.”
Both men met each other’s stares. Hardy’s eyes dropped first. “Dammit, send the order, Captain. Falcata will lead the formation and I’ll contact you after I get a better hold on Harpoon.” The screen blinked to black.
“Do it, Navigator. Best fleet speed possible.”
“Uh, Captain,” Kirkpatrick said, “I’m fine with not getting any more opportunities to be a hero.” He smiled weakly at his friend.
Twist turned on him. “Don’t you understand, Vix? Kalyke is it. If we lose here again, we’ll never be able to turn back the Hollies. We’ll lose the war!” He looked around the room desperately. “This battle is bigger than any of us. This is our last chance to save the Republic.”
Six sailors faced him but all avoided his eyes.
“I don’t want to die,” Twist explained, “but I can’t give up yet.” He looked around the room again and said in a more impassioned tone, “Not just yet.” With no answer, he sank lower in his chair.
Silence pervaded the room for several minutes. Finally, Ehn announced quietly, “We’re on course for Task Group Two-Six. Speed is point-one-six-C, sir.”
Twenty minutes passed. Twist brooded over the squadron’s apparent lack of resolve as he watched the heavy fleet missile engagement play out over a ten-minute delay. Anderson had pivoted Falcata’s optical to cover TG 2.6 and the command crew of Falcata watched the remnants of CortRon-12 defend the group. The miniscule twinkles of light provided little insight as to the battle’s outcome.
The action was over in five minutes, ending inconclusively. Each fleet took several missile strikes but retained its integrity. With no decisive winner, neither side could decline the next engagement. Escorts in both fleets twirled quickly, seeking refuge in the protective fields of fire that their larger consorts would provide. Light cruisers began intricately calculated burns to position themselves on the flanks of their fleet, all while maintaining a combined closure rate of .4c.
The ballet of position, action, reaction and reposition unfolded over the course of fifteen minutes. During the dance, Falcata and her sisters sailed doggedly toward her comrades at the painfully slow speed of .16c. When the light cruisers of CruRon-6 broke within 10ls of the Hollarans, Falcata was still trailing a frustrating 4lm away.
This time, Falcata’s optical was zoomed on the flagship, Implacable. The Republic dreadnaught had been previously damaged in Cyllene and bore even fresher marks from a Greyhound that had exploded directly on a shield near her starboard bow. As the massive ship approached laser range, the behemoth rotated to a final facing to offer her strongest broadside to the Hollarans.
From the onset, things went poorly f
or the Brevics. Implacable, sailing boldly forward and dispensing death at one moment, was obscured in a hazy field of debris the next. Twist squinted at the wall screen as sudden flashes illuminated the growing cloud flowing behind the capital ship. Twenty-two seconds after becoming obscured, a blinding white light filled the wall screen to the accompanying cry of “ELTI, Implacable” from Anderson.
We can’t have lost her, Twist disputed silently, refusing to believe in the flagship’s demise. It can’t end like this.
The heavy units inside Kalyke sliced from laser range forty-one seconds after they entered it. The toll of such a protracted energy engagement bespoke to the rarity of the event.
Hundreds of lifeboats littered the battlefield, most activated automatically upon sensing their parent ship’s imminent destruction. ELTIs from twenty-one ships drifted among the clouds of wreckage that slowly expanded toward infinity.
Of the Brevic fleet, only the light cruiser Crossbow was intact but appeared to be drifting out-system at her original speed. Twist’s heart sank. The sole, Brevic survivor was clearly dead in space having changed neither course nor speed in the last minute. Worse still, the Hollarans, though suffering mightily, still had five active ships. At least we killed their dreadnaught, Twist consoled himself. His eyes turned to the remaining enemy fleet. Five cruisers. He hung his head in final acceptance. We’ve lost.
Chapter 29
“Turn us toward the tunnel point, Emma,” Twist ordered. Hardy was still busy battling the fires aboard Harpoon but Twist doubted he would have any objection.
“Aye, sir.” Falcata’s navigator quickly entered the maneuvering orders on her panel. “Forty-three minutes until dive.”
“We have a problem,” Dozier stated.
The entire Republic has a problem, a crestfallen Twist thought. “What is it, Chief?”
“Those heavy units aren’t giving up.”
Twist looked down at his tactical plot. The five-ship Hollaran formation, led by an abused command cruiser, had laid in an intercept course for the Carme tunnel point. What’s the point? he angrily asked the symbols on the screen. We’ve already lost not only Kalyke but the whole, damned war. “Who gets there first?”
“We should edge them out,” Ehn stated but then hedged, “unless they increase speed. Right now their commander is keeping them together at point-two-C but he could probably order those light cruisers to charge ahead.” She turned toward the sensor panel. “Scott, can you swivel the Looking Glass toward the Hollarans? I want to get a look at those two light cruisers.”
“And get me Captain Hardy, please,” Twist added.
The optical view showed the twin Commonwealth light cruisers had suffered various degrees of damage. The worse of the pair had taken horrific missile damage on her formerly arching bow, giving the ship’s front a jagged hole. The other light cruiser resembled a striped tiger with the numerous GP and Carbovan laser wounds lashed across its hide.
“Hard to see their propulsion from this angle,” Hardy pointed out over the command frequency.
“I wouldn’t want to sail at higher than point-two-C with that bow,” Ehn pointed out. “The other probably can push up to point-two-one-C and maintain structural integrity.”
“So we’re safe,” Twist summarized. “We can handle one light cruiser.”
“For now,” Hardy agreed. “We’ll dive as soon as we reach the tunnel point. The fires are out on Harpoon although we had to abandon much of the bow.”
Twist nodded at the image on the wall screen. “Then I’ll talk to you just before the dive, Captain.” The screen flickered and returned to black.
Twist took his seat as his thoughts turned to consequences. Out of imminent danger, he looked past his own ship’s welfare to that of the Republic. Minutes passed as he anguished over the fate of his home and tried to speculate just how much the Republic would lose in negotiations with the Commonwealth.
“Sir.” Dozier’s voice jolted him from introspection. “They’ve increased their speed.”
Twist lifted his head from his chest. Sometime during the last fifteen minutes, he had sunk deeply into his chair with arms crossed. “The light cruiser, Chief?”
“No,” stammered the chief, “the whole damn formation.”
Twist sat bolt upright and looked at the tactical plot. The Hollaran formation’s vector line had grown in length and the fleet was now sailing at .22c. Even the command cruiser, Twist thought incredulously. “How is that happening?” he asked while looking at Falcata’s engineering representative.
Engineersmate Second Class Roozen stared back in horror. “I-I don’t know. They’re sailing right at the edge of overload. It’s completely reckless.”
“Kaley,” Twist said, “I was told that something as big as a command cruiser can’t sail that fast.”
“Sir,” the petite woman faltered, “it can’t! Well, it can… thrust for long enough and anything can accelerate but Hoss-Boland dictates that the more energy we pump into our drives, the more energy we have to pump into our inertial compensators.” She pointed at the command cruiser’s symbol. “That commander is risking his entire ship. It’s not even a question of if it tears apart but when.”
“They can’t keep it up,” Dozier predicted. “He’ll have to slow down.”
“Captain Hardy is calling on the command frequency, sir,” Anderson said while routing the communication to the main speakers inside the compartment.
“Attention DesRon Fourteen, this is Captain Hardy. The enemy fleet has increased speed and will now intercept us twenty-nine light-seconds from the tunnel point.”
“We noticed,” Matchlock’s captain noted gravely.
“I’m ordering each ship in the fleet to sail at its best speed. We will rendezvous inside Carme.”
Twist flinched as if struck. “Sir, you can’t ask us to leave others behind.”
“I’m not asking, Captain,” Hardy growled. He took a steadying breath and stated resolutely, “I’m making this decision.”
Saber’s soft-spoken voice entreated, “We could stay together, maybe provide just enough covering fire to get us all clear.”
“You will follow my orders!” Hardy’s tone left no room for discussion. After a pause, he said more gently, “It’s going to be fine. Pistol and Harpoon will rendezvous with the rest of you near the Kalyke tunnel point inside Carme. Hardy out.” The channel dissolved.
“Emma,” Dozier said loudly, “take Falcata up to her best speed.”
Twist felt his hands curl into fists at the sudden order. He opened his mouth to countermand but stopped himself. There’s no point, he told himself. I can’t disobey Hardy’s order and, eventually, I’ll just have to give the same damned order myself. He swallowed his words.
DesRon-14’s formation tore apart over the next several minutes. Little Matchlock, far fleeter than her larger sisters, accelerated not only more quickly but also to greater speeds and rapidly opened the distance between herself and the rest of the squadron. Not far behind, Falcata and Saber more gradually pulled away from the broken destroyer and frigate duo of Harpoon and Pistol.
The heavy units of the Hollaran Commonwealth thundered after the trailing Brevic elements. Each minute saw the enormous ships creep another 3.6ls closer and it soon became clear the two slowest Republic ships were doomed.
Twist watched the chase play out over an agonizing twenty-two minutes. Falcata and Saber had approached to within 2.5lm of the tunnel point. Matchlock was even closer.
“Dive in eleven minutes and twenty-one seconds,” Ehn stated sedately from her station.
Twist slowly resigned himself not only to abandoning Harpoon and Pistol but also returning to Carme as the actual commander of the defeated task group. When the heavies got slaughtered in the laser engagement, command of the entire group passed to us and when the Hollies murder Captain Hardy on Harpoon, I’ll have to assume command because he made me the vice commander. He shook his head in disbelief. History will show that the Republic lost th
e war when Caden Twist’s task group failed to drive back the Hollarans from Kalyke. He shuddered as he thought of his mother but quickly chastised himself as his eyes refocused on the tactical plot and Harpoon. At least you’ll be alive, Caden. An idea sparked to life. Wait a minute, maybe I can do some good after all.
Twist leaned forward in his shockseat. He activated his communications panel and then took off his helmet. His hair was a knotted mess and he took a moment to run his fingers through it. He wiped as much dried blood from his chin as he could before pressing Record.
“This message is to the Hollaran commander in charge of the invasion force in Kalyke. This is Lieutenant Twist of BRS Falcata, vice commander of the destroyer squadron you are pursuing. Sir, let me first offer you my compliments on your tactics in the battles today. Both of our forces have fought valiantly and honorably.” Twist peered into the camera, seeking the right mixture of strength and vulnerability. “You’ve won this battle, Commander. We can offer no further resistance to your dominance in this star system and all I wish is to return my sailors home alive. You know the state of the war as well as I do. It will be ending, probably soon. I appeal to you as a fellow naval officer to grant my sailors safe passage. Twist out.”
Before he could change his mind, he sent the message. Seconds later, Anderson shot him a look from his adjacent panel but remained quiet.
Two minutes for my message to reach him, figure another two minutes to respond and then two more minutes to get back to us. Twist drummed his fingers on the console. He hated appealing to the Hollarans but swallowing his pride was a small price to pay for the sailors on Harpoon and Pistol.
The response arrived five minutes later.