Chapter Thirty-Nine
That is an absurd argument.
Every war in human history can be said - reasonably - to lay the groundwork for the next war. The First World War laid the groundwork for the Second World War; the Gulf War laid the groundwork for the Iraq War; the American Civil War laid the groundwork for the Second American Civil War. Yet should those wars not have been fought?
And even if they were fought, they were not the sole cause of the next war. Their successors could have been avoided.
Yes, we may wind up fighting our former allies. But right now we are fighting the Tokomak!
-Solar Datanet, Political Forum (Grand Alliance Thoughts).
“Decloak,” Jenny snapped. Odyssey was doomed unless she acted quickly. “Point defence, engage at will!”
“Aye, Captain,” Lieutenant Pei said.
Jenny gritted her teeth. It had been sheer luck that they’d dropped out of FTL close enough to detect Odyssey, then manoeuvre into position to save the stricken ship. The Harmonies were trying to overwhelm her before help arrived ... she cursed as her sensors picked up a second wave of enemy ships advancing towards Odyssey. Enough firepower, perhaps, to give her and her squadron a major headache.
“Tactical, engage the enemy ships,” Jenny ordered. Her display updated. Odyssey was badly damaged, although she clearly still had some drives left. But no stardrive ... Captain Yasser would have jumped into FTL if he could, given how many ships were chasing him down. “Communications, raise Captain Yasser!”
“Aye, Captain.”
Jenny leaned forward as her first salvo roared towards the enemy battleships. They seemed to flinch, as if their commanders were unsure what to do. She silently blessed their hesitation as her missiles entered attack range and threw themselves on their targets, blasting through their shields and smashing the battleships to atoms. They’d been picking on Odyssey, a deep-space exploration and diplomatic starship rather than a pure warship. They were about to learn what a squadron of genuine warships could do.
“Enemy battleships destroyed,” Lieutenant Pei reported. “The smaller enemy ships are retreating to join Force Two.”
“Understood,” Jenny said.
Captain Yasser’s face appeared in front of her. “Commodore Longlegs,” he said. He looked haggard, but he was grinning broadly. “It’s very good to see you.”
“Your messengers made it through,” Jenny said, briskly. “What’s your status?”
“Poor,” Yasser said. He glanced at something off-screen. “Shields are practically gone; stardrive is offline; sublight drives are at barely thirty percent power; weapons and tactical ECM are pretty much gone too.”
“But you made it,” Jenny said. “I look forward to hearing your story once we get out of here.”
“I’ll send you a complete copy of the logs,” Yasser said. “Something will get out of here, even if we don’t.”
“You will,” Jenny assured him.
She thought, quickly. The simplest solution would be to take Odyssey in tow and drag her through FTL, but the Harmonies were unlikely to give them enough time to set it up. Their second force was still advancing, while more ships were racing to join them. Others might be heading straight for the Hudson Point, cutting her off. And that meant ... she might just be at a considerable disadvantage.
“Set course for the Hudson Point,” she ordered, shortly. “My squadron will cover you.”
“Understood,” Yasser said.
His image vanished. Jenny ran her hand through her hair, trying to find another option. She might just have enough time to evacuate Odyssey and escape into FTL before the Harmonies caught up with them, but she knew Captain Yasser would be reluctant to abandon his ship, let alone blow her up to save her from falling into enemy hands. Jenny couldn't even blame him for wanting to preserve his command. Odyssey had been through a hell of a lot in the last few weeks. And yet, a running battle might just work in the enemy’s favour ...
I could inflict horrendous damage and yet lose, she thought. Her ships carried enough Hammers to smash most of the enemy battleships, but the remainder would pound hell out of her. Worse, she wouldn't even be able to use her speed for best advantage. Her squadron would be tied to Odyssey as long as she remained intact. And they know it.
“Move us to cover Odyssey,” she ordered, grimly. “Tactical, prepare to engage the enemy when they enter range.”
She silently calculated the vectors, trying to find another set of options. But she could think of none. Assuming Odyssey was unable to pick up speed - and the status download made it clear that she was rather more likely to lose her drives altogether - they’d need at least fifty hours to reach the Hudson Point. By then, the Harmonies could have overwhelmed her squadron or - at the very least - blown Odyssey into space dust. If she abandoned Odyssey, she could break contact easily ...
“Damn it,” she muttered. She didn't want to tell Captain Yasser to abandon his ship. He’d been through too much already. But she couldn't think of anything else. Unless ... a thought struck her. It wasn't something she would have considered, normally, but they were desperate. “Engineering, could we extend the FTL field around Odyssey without a physical link?”
There was a pause. Her engineers would be hastily running simulations, she knew, trying to determine if it was actually possible. It might be possible. She’d heard of a couple of experiments in launching missiles through FTL without actually giving them a working stardrive, although none of the experiments had actually worked. Another science-fiction concept that hadn't quite proved usable in the real world ...
“Our field isn't configured for such expansion, Captain,” the engineer said, finally. “We’re too small and Odyssey is too large. Even with a towline, Captain, she’s not in good state. I don’t think she would survive the trip.”
Jenny cursed under her breath. “What if we mated hulls?”
“We’d still have the same problem,” the engineer said. “I’d honestly recommend leaving Odyssey in sublight until we have a chance to carry out some proper repairs.”
“Understood,” Jenny said.
Odyssey would have to be abandoned, then. The thought gnawed at her. She’d hate herself for stripping Captain Yasser of his command after he'd done so much to keep Odyssey out of enemy hands. But there was no choice ...
And then another thought struck her.
“Tactical,” she said. “How many drones do we have left?”
“Thirty-two,” Lieutenant Pei said.
“Good,” Jenny said. “I’ve just had an idea.”
She sucked in her breath. One last roll of the dice, then. Who knew? It might just work.
***
“The drive cannot be repaired, Captain,” Wolf said. “Not without shutting everything down and dismantling the wrecked superstructure.”
Elton nodded, grimly. He’d thought they were going to die. Now ... now, he knew that Odyssey was going to die, even if her crew had a chance to survive. He hated to even think of abandoning his ship, but he couldn't see any alternative. There were too many enemy ships steadily closing to engagement range, too many ships that couldn't be avoided if Commodore Longlegs had to stay close to Odyssey. His ship had to die so that the remainder of the squadron could live.
“Order all non-essential crew to prepare for evacuation,” Elton ordered, finally. He hoped - prayed - that the enemy wouldn't realise what they were doing and try to stop them. A salvo of antimatter-tipped missiles would cause enough distortion to make teleporting impossible, even if they missed their targets. “Activate teleporter transponders, then transmit complete copies of our logs to the squadron.”
“Aye, sir,” Grave said.
Elton looked around his bridge, feeling cold. It was a joke, a cosmic joke. His ship had survived so much, yet now she had to be abandoned ... there wouldn't even be a chance to ram her into an alien battleship. He wanted to stay on the bridge, but he knew it would be pointless. Odyssey had kept her crew alive long enoug
h for them to reach safety, at least ...
“Message from Commodore Longlegs, Captain,” Grave said. “She’s ordering us to hold off the evacuation.”
“What?”
“She’s ordering us to wait, Captain,” Graves said. “She didn't say why.”
Elton blinked in shock. Commodore Longlegs was an experienced naval officer. She’d know just how hopeless the situation was, if she tried to escort Odyssey to the Hudson Point. The only hope of preserving the crew - and her ships - was to evacuate and abandon Odyssey, then make a run for the gravity point. She had to know it.
“The enemy ships will enter missile range in two minutes,” Callaway added.
“I hope she knows what she’s doing,” Elton snarled. It wasn't the sort of thing he would have said out loud - normally - but this was different. What was the commodore doing? “Can you muster any more point defence?”
“No, Captain,” Callaway said. “We don’t even have a working uplink to the squadron datanet.”
Elton gritted his teeth. The damage was far worse than he’d dared fear. Solarian starships were designed to slot into command datanets, even ones pulled together on the fly. The communications nodes were deliberately hardened, just to ensure the datanet stayed together as long as possible. Losing the datalink meant that Odyssey would be on her own, rather than fighting as part of a team. She’d be wasting a great deal of effort trying to shoot down missiles that had been already targeted by her escorts. Worse, there was a very real possibility she’d actually start shooting at a friendly ship.
“Engage any missile that threatens our hull,” he ordered. They’d just have to hope that Commodore Longlegs knew what she was doing. “Fire at will.”
“Aye, sir,” Callaway said.
On the display, the enemy ships belched yet another wave of missiles.
***
“The enemy ships have opened fire,” Lieutenant Pei reported.
“Return fire,” Jenny ordered.
She watched, grimly, as the enemy missile salvo was steadily picked apart by her sensors, each missile assigned an ID tag and a place in the firing queue. A third of the missiles seemed to have been targeted on Odyssey, the remainder aimed at her ships ... she puzzled over the odd pattern for a moment before deciding the Harmonies probably wanted to smash Odyssey even though they’d already lost. Perhaps it was the only way they thought they could regain some face after the series of disasters they’d suffered.
And they’re going to pay for it, she thought, as her own missiles lanced into the teeth of enemy point defence. They know they’re going to pay for it.
She smiled, coldly. The Harmonies were luckier than they knew. They might prefer lumbering battlewagons, but humanity had designed a fleet of fast and deadly cruisers that packed a considerable punch and were extremely hard to hit. If she had had complete freedom to manoeuvre, she could have picked their formation apart. But she didn’t ... as long as she wanted to protect Odyssey. They knew it as well as she did.
We’ll give them one hell of a shock when the real war starts, she thought, as a stream of missiles blasted into the enemy ships. A dozen died, but there were dozens more to take their place. Yet if we’re trading one of our ships for ten of theirs ... they’re still going to come out ahead.
“Enemy missiles entering point defence range,” Lieutenant Pei reported. “Engaging ... now.”
Jenny nodded. “And the drones?”
“Still moving into position,” Lieutenant Pei said.
“Good,” Jenny said.
She leaned forward, watching as the enemy missiles started to vanish from the display. They were doing better than she’d expected - she assumed they’d learnt a great deal from facing Odyssey - but they really weren't prepared to face genuine warships. Her crews had trained on the assumption that their enemies would have superior missile technology. Theirs ... she didn't know for sure, but she had a sneaking suspicion their combat exercises were carefully scripted to ensure that there were no surprises. It might look good, to the untrained eye, yet only chaos could teach spacers how to react to the unexpected.
“Jellicoe took four hits,” Lieutenant Pei reported. “Raeder took two. No significant damage reported.”
“Continue firing,” Jenny ordered. Any sane enemy would have backed off by now, if only to lick their wounds and prepare for the next encounter, but the Harmonies were still pressing forward. And they might just win too. “The drones?”
“In position,” Lieutenant Pei said. “Deploy?”
“Deploy,” Jenny said.
On the display, the enemy ships belched yet another wave of missiles.
***
“Captain, the enemy ships are closing in,” Callaway reported.
“I can't push the drives any harder,” Marie added. “Drive Four is on the verge of complete failure.”
“Hold her steady,” Elton ordered. The constant series of shudders running through the hull was not a good sign. Odyssey’s drive field was fluctuating so badly that it was slapping constantly against the hull. Sooner or later, something vitally important would fail because of the battering. “Tactical ...”
“Captain,” Callaway interrupted. “New contacts!”
Elton looked up at the display. New icons were flickering into existence, far too close to the fleeing squadron for comfort. The Harmonies ... no, other alien starships. A dozen races, he thought. Most of them were Great Powers ...
“Picking up a wide-band signal,” Grave reported. “Captain, they’re ordering the Harmonies to back off and return to their territory.”
“Good,” Elton said, stunned. He hadn't expected the Galactics to get their act together in less than a year, if they bothered to do anything. Given that the Tokomak were backing the Harmonies, he rather doubted they’d lift a finger to help the human race. “Are they going?”
“I don’t know,” Callaway said. “They’re stopped firing, but ...”
He broke off. “Captain, they’re altering course,” he added. “They’re retreating!”
“Good,” Elton said, again. Was it good? Had they moved from the frying pan into the fire? Or ... he looked again at the newcomers. There was something odd about their formation. “I wonder ...”
“Commodore Longlegs is ordering us to continue our course towards the gravity point,” Grave reported. “And she wants to know if we think we can be towed.”
“Check with the engineer,” Elton ordered. He leaned back in his chair, feeling weak. They’d made it back to Hudson Base, intact. It was over. “And stand down from red alert.”
“Aye, Captain,” Callaway said.
***
“It was a trick,” Elton said, an hour later.
“Yes,” Commodore Longlegs said. “We used drones to convince them that the other Galactics were on the verge of intervening.”
Elton shook his head in amused disbelief. “And they bought it?”
“Any watchers would have seen you, then us, give them a pasting,” Commodore Longlegs pointed out. “Their reputation would have gone straight into a black hole.”
She smiled. “I’ve taken the opportunity to review your logs,” she added. “You’ve been through hell.”
“We made it,” Elton said.
He looked down at his terminal. “My chief engineer estimates that we can repair the stardrive within the week, if you provide men and equipment,” he added. “Is that doable?”
Commodore Longlegs frowned. “Hudson Base has been abandoned,” she said. “The base is untenable now. Either the Harmonies will get over their shock and mount a renewed offensive or we’ll be ordered to leave, after the others realise what we did. They won’t be too pleased if we accidentally spark off a full-scale war.
“But we can find a patch of space somewhere between the stars to carry out repairs,” she added, after a moment. “I assume you intend to head straight home?”
Elton nodded. Odyssey had been battered beyond belief, but she was still largely intact. Her designers
had done a very good job. A week of intensive repairs would be enough to get her back to Earth, assuming they didn't run into any further trouble along the way. There was no point in sticking around. Commodore Longlegs and her squadron might be able to influence events in humanity’s favour, but Odyssey was in no state to lend her weight to any future engagements.
“We should be able to get home shortly after the first courier boats,” he said. “And after that ... we’ll see what happens.”
“War,” Commodore Longlegs said, flatly. “If your prisoner interrogations are accurate, Elton, this was all a Tokomak plot. The cold war is about to turn hot - again.”
Elton made a face. Rebecca had been right. Odyssey might have escaped one trap - and then several more - but the overall mission had failed. The Harmonies had not become humanity’s allies, while the other regional powers remained uncommitted. And while his ship had fought well, they’d shown the enemy too much for his peace of mind. How long would it be, he asked himself, before the Tokomak started producing Hammers of their own?
The Long Road Home (A Learning Experience Book 4) Page 41