TFS Ingenuity: The Terran Fleet Command Saga – Book 1

by Tori Harris

  Without prompting, Ensign Fisher banked the ship in the direction of the ongoing duel between the two destroyers, angling his course to put Ingenuity astern of Delta 1.

  "Captain, we are receiving a laser comlink signal from the Gresav," Lieutenant Dubashi announced. "Audio and video this time."

  "On-screen, please."

  "Aye, sir, opening channel."

  A smaller window opened on the view screen so as not to obscure the view of the battlespace. Prescott was surprised by his immediate impression of Admiral Naftur. He looked energized, vigorous, and fully within his element. Prescott had no idea how Wek appearance changed with age, but by Human standards, he looked ten years younger than he had during their first meeting.

  "How can we be of assistance, Admiral?"

  "An hour ago, I would have urged you to keep your ship clear," Naftur said with what looked like a conspiratorial smile. "Now, I welcome whatever assistance you can provide. Their shields have been intermittent for the past few minutes. With sustained fire, I believe we will be able to bring them down completely. Be cautious, they will no longer hesitate to destroy your ship."

  "Understood, Admiral. Prescott out."

  "Were they hesitating to destroy us before?" Reynolds remarked under her breath.

  "Missile launch!" Lieutenant Lau yelled from Tactical. "Eight missiles, Captain. Gresav is too close, so they must be headed our way. Capabilities unknown. Estimated time to impact, two five seconds."

  "Launch countermeasures. Evasive action. All weapons to point-defense mode," Prescott responded instantly.

  "Captain, the Hunters have an intercept solution," Lieutenant Commander Schmidt reported.

  "Do it!"

  Ensign Fisher kept the ship moving in the same direction as before, but now pushed the Cannae sublight engines to emergency power, temporarily allowing them to deliver twenty percent more thrust than their design maximum. Ingenuity streaked away from the destroyer, accelerating at a rate nearly half that of the inbound missiles. Every member of the crew struggled to continue executing their assigned tasks as the frigate’s inertial dampening system lagged well behind her dramatic acceleration curve.

  Back in the direction of Delta 1, the two, four-ship RPSV formations rapidly closed the distance to the oncoming missiles. They approached from both above and below the missiles’ flightpath to avoid the deadly curtain of point defense weapons fire now streaming from Ingenuity. Already too close to utilize the intercept capabilities of their remaining HB-7 missiles, all eight Hunters opened up with their railgun turrets. Although the point in space and time where the kinetic energy rounds intersected the missiles’ flightpath was incredibly small, the RPSVs still manage to score three kills.

  "Three missiles destroyed, sir," Lau reported. "Five still inbound. Revised time to impact, two eight seconds. None of them are going after the decoys."

  "Commander Reynolds, the Gresav is still keeping our target heavily engaged. If you think you have a shot with the C-Drive missiles, take it," Prescott ordered.

  "Aye sir. There’s a high probability of intercept at this angle, but their shields are down to thirty percent and intermittent."

  "In that case, send them a volley of eight standard missiles just like they sent us. I want them playing defense – and it just might be enough to finish off their shields."

  "Three more missiles down, sir!” Lau reported. “Sea-whiz now engaging the last two."

  "Missiles away!" Reynolds exclaimed, a hint of fear in her voice for the first time.

  As the destroyer’s last two anti-ship missiles rapidly closed the remaining distance, their sensors were momentarily confused by the eight missiles launching from Ingenuity’s vertical launch cells. Programmed to seek their target’s center of mass, both altered course slightly in the direction of the departing missiles. With only seconds remaining before impact, Ingenuity’s AI locked onto both missiles with its close-in weapon system and immediately opened fire with its mini railgun and energy turrets. Unlike Terran anti-ship missiles, their Sajeth Collective counterparts carried both propellant and oxidizer onboard, creating a spectacular explosion at very close range as the first missile was successfully intercepted. The second missile was hit by energy cannon fire, but continued in the same general direction just long enough for its onboard computer to calculate that it had reached its closest approach to the target. In the milliseconds remaining before being ripped to shreds, the missile’s small nuclear warhead switched to proximity mode and detonated.

  Without the benefit of a surrounding medium, such as the atmosphere of a planet, nuclear weapons designed to detonate in the vacuum of space must provide their own fragmentation material in order to create a debris shockwave. In this case, much of the warhead and the body of the missile itself were instantaneously vaporized by the weapon’s penetrating x-ray radiation. The result was a rapidly expanding, conical shaped-charge that struck the frigate’s starboard side a glancing blow near the stern, violently spinning the ship clockwise and raising her bow sharply. Although most members of the crew, including those on the bridge, were strapped in place, any whose job required them to be unrestrained were thrown about their respective compartments. Depending on which part of the ship they were working in, this typically resulted in a bone-crushing impact with either the floor or the ceiling. Emergency lighting switched on momentarily as the ship’s power systems struggled to compensate for the effects of the blast.

  "Report!" Prescott yelled, struggling to overcome a wave of nausea and disorientation resulting from the jarring impact.

  "Nuclear detonation close aboard, Captain. Starboard side near the stern from what I can tell," Lieutenant Lau reported. "No other inbound ordinance at this time."

  "Dubashi?"

  "One reactor is offline, sir. There is some ablative damage to the ship’s outer armor layer, but it appears to be holding together for now. Three close-in weapon system turrets nearest to the impact are offline and presumed destroyed. The main railgun turrets went into diagnostic mode temporarily, but they are back online already. All other systems in the green. Sublight engines online and still at one hundred twenty percent power. No report from Doctor Chen yet."

  "Fisher, you had probably better throttle back. Is the helm still answering?"

  "Aye sir," he replied sheepishly, still shook up and reacting well behind the ship for a change. "So far no problems other than the decrease in power availability."

  "Commander Logan, bridge," Prescott announced.

  "Logan here!" the chief engineer yelled over the sound of multiple alarms. "I can’t hear very well at the moment, Captain. I’ve got two fatalities down here and several other injuries. Reactor one scrammed when the nuke hit and is still restarting, but there is no apparent damage to the containment units. Full power should be restored in zero two minutes."

  "Understood. Prescott out."

  "Tactical, what’s the status of our missiles?"

  "All eight of them were destroyed by Delta 1’s aft shields, sir, but Gresav was still hammering away with her energy weapons at the same time," Lieutenant Lau replied. "The target’s shields are down just about as much as they are up at this point, and I’m only reading about twenty percent of the power output they had originally."

  "It’s time to end this fight. Fisher, bring us around for a final run at her stern. Stay well clear of Gresav’s line of fire. Tactical, hit them with railguns, then energy weapons and plasma torpedoes as soon as we’re in range."

  "Aye, sir," both responded with a tone of grim resolution.

  "XO, hold your fire on the C-Drive missiles, but if this attack run is ineffective, launch them as soon as possible afterwards."

  "Yes, Captain."

  "Schmidt, launch the Hunter’s remaining missiles. Hopefully that will hold their attention while we make this run."

  "Eight missiles away, Captain," he replied immediately. "Time to impact, one three seconds."

  Wek Flagship Gresav, Near Gliese 667 Cc

&nb
sp; (24 light years from Earth)

  Admiral Naftur knew his ship intimately, having spent nearly twenty years of his life heading up the program to design and build the Gresav. When completed, she represented the state of the art in warship design across all seven worlds of the Sajeth Collective. She was the first ship of her class – a class that unfortunately included the enemy vessel off his starboard bow. Naftur also knew the enemy ship’s commanding officer to be arrogant and proud far beyond what was warranted by his experience and military accomplishments. Accordingly, the admiral had thus far pursued what might appear to be the rather simplistic strategy of exchanging energy weapons fire with his adversary in a manner reminiscent of two seagoing men-of-war firing broadside after broadside until one was no longer capable of firing.

  Like many "first in class" vessels, however, Gresav had a number of design features that were not included on subsequent ships in her class. There were a variety of reasons why this was the case, but it almost always came down to practicality and economy of resources. Gresav, for example, had been a testbed for a massive energy cannon mounted along the ship’s longitudinal axis. It had triple the range and nearly ten times the power of her other energy weapons, but required the entire ship to be lined up with its target rather than being mounted with an articulated turret. That, combined with its massive power requirements, prompted the design board to deem it impractical, and it was subsequently dropped from all later ships in the class.

  The Wek admiral had waited with a sense of patient confidence earned over a lifetime of service – waited as the impetuous enemy captain carelessly attacked the Terran vessel, exposing his vulnerable aft shields to the Gresav – waited as her shields became intermittent, heralding their imminent collapse. Now, as he watched Ingenuity’s missiles impacting near the same area he had been attacking since the battle began, his face assumed a vicious, predatory smile. His quarry was defenseless. As was so often the case, experience had proved to be the most powerful weapon of all. "Fire," he growled.

  TFS Ingenuity, Near Gliese 667 Cc

  (24 light years from Earth)

  Ensign Fisher pulled Ingenuity’s bow into an inverted dive relative to the two ships centered on the bridge view screen. The maneuver allowed the frigate’s weapons to bear on Delta 1 for as long as possible while still remaining clear of Gresav’s relentless bombardment of the enemy ship’s aft shields.

  "Railguns will be in range in one zero seconds, Captain," Lau reported.

  Delta 1’s shields flared brightly as the Hunter’s final salvo of HB-7 missiles impacted near her stern. Glowing waves of energy rippled along the entire length of the ship as her shields struggled to dissipate the enormous amount of energy raining down from aft and above her flight path.

  "All eight of the RPSV’s missiles impacted the aft shields again, Captain," Lieutenant Commander Schmidt said. "Her shields don’t look like they can … stand by … her shields are down, sir!"

  Prescott was about to order another missile strike when he noticed what at first looked like an explosion near Gresav’s bow. For what seemed like several seconds, an enormous stream of orange-tinted, focused energy discharged from the huge emitter mounted along her keel. The beam literally impaled Delta 1, entering her ventral hull near the stern and slicing upward along the entire length of the ship before exiting near the bow. The stricken enemy ship seemed to hang transfixed for a moment before a huge series of internal explosions could be seen travelling along the path of the energy beam. The destroyer’s hull visibly expanded before flying apart in multiple directions, explosions continuing to erupt from the largest pieces of debris spinning off into space.

  There was stunned silence for several seconds on Ingenuity’s bridge before Lieutenant Lau officially reported the end of the battle. "Delta 1 destroyed, Captain. The threat board is clear. Gresav is the only contact other than debris from vanquished enemy ships."

  "Vanquished, huh?" Prescott grinned. "Well, I suppose they do meet the definition." He paused, breathing deeply and commanding himself to relax before continuing. "Nice job, everyone. We just survived Earth’s first interstellar battle and each of you acquitted yourselves well. Take a deep breath, try to relax, and let’s keep our heads in the game. We have a lot of work to do."

  "All hands, this is Prescott. All enemy ships in system have been destroyed. I know we have battle damage, but none appears to be critical at the moment, so the priority is attending to our casualties. All crewmembers designated as medical supplemental staff should report to Doctor Chen immediately. Department heads, make your reports as soon as possible. We will remain in the Gliese 667 system until we can fully recharge our C-Drive unless other enemy forces arrive. Prescott out."

  "Captain, both reactors are now online. Both standard and C-Drive hyperspace transitions are available. C-Jump range now 10.1 light years and increasing steadily," Lieutenant Dubashi reported. "Also, Admiral Naftur is hailing. He requests your and Commander Reynolds’ eyes only, sir."

  "Thank you, Lieutenant, reply that we will be with him momentarily," Prescott said, standing and gesturing for Reynolds to lead the way to his ready room.

  "Lieutenant Commander Schmidt, you have the bridge," Commander Reynolds said as she followed her captain off the bridge. "Please pull together a status report as quickly as you can and make preparations to depart for Earth as soon as possible."

  "Aye, Commander."

  "So obviously these ‘Pelaran Resistance’ forces are either actively tracking Naftur’s ship or they have someone on the inside. Before this battle, I might have also said Naftur himself could be playing us, but that seems a little farfetched at this point," Reynolds observed after securing the ready room door.

  "Agreed. If nothing else, this battle did give us some solid evidence to back up his words. My gut tells me he’s an honorable man, though, and I’ve thought that since the first time we spoke. Anyway, after what we just saw his ship do, I’d like to keep him on our side if at all possible." Prescott nodded to signify that he was opening the channel from the Command console at his desk.

  "This vidcon is classified Top Secret, code word MAGI PRIME. Your ready room has been automatically secured for this briefing," the ship’s synthetic voice announced as Admiral Naftur appeared on the large view screen.

  "Wish you both joy of our victory, Captain Prescott and Commander Reynolds," he greeted. "Do you require any assistance?"

  "And to you as well, Admiral. No sir, not at this time. We took a glancing blow from an anti-ship missile and unfortunately do have some casualties from the force of the impact, but damage to the ship is relatively light."

  Naftur’s face took on a doleful expression reinforced by a deep, rumbling sigh from his massive chest. "My deepest apologies, Captain. I can only assure you that this has never before been the way of the Wek people, or of the Sajeth Collective for that matter. These separatists act out of fear. They walk the path of cowards leading inexorably to ruin."

  Prescott did not reply, staring instead at the admiral’s expressive face on the view screen. Naftur had closed his eyes, lowered his chin to his chest, and now appeared to be offering a prayer. It would be fascinating indeed to compare the religious traditions of the Wek and other civilizations to those of Earth. It would not be particularly surprising to see common themes, but what if there was common symbology, or even similar religious figures?

  After a few moments of silence, Admiral Naftur continued as if the pause had never occurred. "May I presume that this battle was a first for your people?"

  "Yes, sir, this was the first time Humans have been involved in a battle beyond the confines of the Sol system. I don’t think any of us expected it to happen so quickly after venturing away from Earth for the first time."

  "It is indeed regrettable, Captain," Naftur said, bowing his head again before continuing. "As you both know from Terran history, however, just warfare is often the price of lasting peace. In any event, your intentions thus far have been honorable, you were not t
he aggressor in this battle, and your ship and crew performed admirably. There are a great many species who could not truthfully say the same when they journeyed from their home worlds for the first time."

  "Thank you, sir," Prescott replied. "I would also like to express our gratitude for your friendship. It seems we Humans have unintentionally put your alliance in a very difficult position."

  "We must never consider doing the right thing to be an imposition, Captain," Naftur smiled. "Forgive me, but as I grow older, I sometimes feel compelled to impart what little wisdom I have gained during my lifetime. I have visited thousands of worlds and met a great many species, but I have always found that right and wrong are universal concepts. Yes, moral ambiguity does exist, but it is much less common than many would have us believe. This ‘Pelaran Resistance,’ for example, acts ostensibly in the name of defending the seven worlds of the Sajeth Collective – an honorable objective to be sure. Committing genocide in the name of their objective, however, clearly invalidates any honorable intentions they may have. As I believe you Terrans have often said, the ends do not justify the means."

  "Well put, Admiral. We agree wholeheartedly. Rest assured that we recognize the potential threat posed by the Pelarans. Although Commander Reynolds and I cannot speak for Terran Fleet Command, let alone our entire world, I expect that we will find a way to work with you to find a mutually agreeable way to address this threat."

  Prescott paused, not wanting to be rude, but anxious to get on with the business at hand. "Sir, my orders are to deliver whatever intelligence information you can provide regarding a potential attack on Earth back to Admiral Sexton as quickly as possible."

  "Of course, Captain. I hesitated to transmit the information via Nenir Turlaka for fear it would be intercepted – if not by the ‘Pelaran Resistance,’ then by the Pelarans themselves. After today’s brazen attack on our ships, however, it is clear that at least some of my information has been compromised by some other means. I have obviously underestimated their intelligence-gathering capabilities. In fact, until ten days ago, I thought them little more than a fringe opposition group lacking broad political, let alone military support. I also did not truly believe they would go so far as to attack another Sajeth Collective vessel. I will not underestimate them again. The source of their information regarding Gresav’s movements must be very highly placed within our command structure. In fact, I’m inclined to believe they are also receiving information from a member of my crew."