Milor!

by Thomas DePrima

"I really can't give you specifics."

  "Okay, but my request to have people aboard your ships, stands."

  "Even knowing that some, possibly half, may not come back?"

  "Even knowing that."

  Jenetta thought about it for a full minute. If she refused, she would have no control over what stories they might send out and when. "Okay, with several conditions."

  "Anything."

  "First, you will not talk, announce, or notify anyone about anything concerning this operation until it's over. One word and I launch your people in escape pods where they'll wait until someone can get around to retrieving them. If the opposing force knows anything about our plans, it could jeopardize lives."

  "Agreed."

  "Second, all of your people will sign waivers before being allowed on a ship. The waiver will clearly state that the chances of returning alive are slim to none, and they fully accept all risk."

  "Agreed."

  "Third, no stories will be filed until my office lifts the restriction on transmissions. I'm not trying to control what you report, only when you report it. I can't afford to have the other side learning even the smallest detail about our deployment by intercepting a news broadcast."

  "Agreed, with one condition. My people will have full access to the bridge and be able to film the action."

  "One person only will be allowed on the bridge, and that individual will act like a spot on the carpet. The captain will decide where the person can stand, and has the right to have the individual permanently removed from the bridge if he or she moves from that exact spot. And there will be no questions posed to anyone while the ship is at general quarters. Your reporter is a mute observer, not a participant."

  "Agreed, Admiral. How many ships will be involved?"

  "Fourteen warships will be leaving from here. One ship is already involved and unavailable."

  "Okay, I'll have fourteen people ready to go when the ships deploy."

  "One last thing. You'll have a twenty-four hour exclusive on all stories, and then all footage must be shared with all other news services who request it."

  "You expect us to take all the risk, and then share our news stories?"

  "That's the deal. I can't provide room for all the news services so the one that gets the spot has to share. If you're not interested I'm sure that one of the other news services will take the deal and share with you a full day after they break the story."

  "O-kay," he said reluctantly. "Deal."

  "My aide will prepare the waiver forms and give you all the information that you'll need. I suggest that you not tell your management about it because if they leak anything, anything at all, I'll have to consider it to be the same as if it came from you."

  "I understand, Admiral."

  * * *

  Jenetta was exhausted by the end of each day, and the stress of knowing that an invasion force was getting closer each minute, was beginning to show on her face. She really looked forward to her evening meals with Christa, and being able to unburden herself with someone she knew would never reveal a confidence. They naturally discussed the preparations for the conflict and tactics that could be used in every conceivable situation, but they also discussed other things.

  "How's your young lieutenant, sis?" Jenetta asked after they had finished talking about the Milori.

  "Adam is caught up in all the hysteria of the moment. Things were going great until we got orders to return to Stewart. Now, all he seems to think about is the Milori. He spends all his free time in the simulators."

  "He sounds dedicated."

  "Dedicated? He's positively fanatical about it."

  "That's what we need right now. It's unfortunate that it's happening while your romance is still in the early stages. With any luck, we'll all make it through this and things can get back to normal."

  "How about you? Heard from Hugh lately?"

  "We exchanged messages at least once a week until he went into stasis sleep. We won't be able to speak for six months but I've been continuing to send messages every week. He'll have a lot to watch once he wakes up."

  "Then he doesn't know that you made Admiral?"

  "No, he went to sleep a few days before I was notified. And by the time he awakens, we'll be on our way to meet the Milori and communications will be restricted."

  "At least you had a full month together."

  "Yes. And it was a wonderful month. It was the happiest time that I've had since I set foot on this base."

  "I'm surprised that the cats took to him so well."

  "It took them a couple of days to get comfortable around him, but after he moved into my quarters, they adapted quickly."

  "They didn't attack him when you made love?" Christa asked, grinning.

  "No, they seemed to understand that I wasn't moaning because of distress. They didn't try to bite him or claw him even once," Jenetta said smiling. "I took care of those things myself." Looking melancholy, she said, "I was really sad when he left. It was as if a part of me was leaving. I didn't think that I'd get that attached in just a month."

  "When you're starved for affection, it doesn't take much to really wind you up. Also, Hugh was really your first attraction since the Academy. I remember how we secretly felt about him after escaping from the Raiders. It wouldn't have taken much back then to get us excited. I think that if Hugh hadn't dropped out of sight right after the court-martial, Zane wouldn't have stood a chance."

  "I knew going in that we'd only have a month, so I shouldn't have felt so lost when he left, and it'll probably be years before we see each other again. His freighter will be underway for almost two years before they get to Dixon, and he has a second sleep period before they get there."

  "I don't know which is worse, going in separate directions, or being aboard the same ship in an upcoming conflict. If anything happens to Adam, I don't know what I'll do."

  "The worst is knowing that I'm responsible for the lives of almost twenty-five thousand crewmen in the task force. If I make a mistake, I could be responsible for the biggest disaster in Space Command history. To make it even worse, if that's possible, there will be four Carvers in this fight. With you on the Chiron, Eliza on the Bellona, Billy on the St. Petersburg, and me on the Prometheus, I could be responsible for wiping out half our family."

  "You didn't start this, sis. The actions of the Milori Empire have brought us to this point. I feel more comfortable having you lead this task force than anyone else I can think of, because of your ability and because I know that you won't unnecessarily risk anyone's life. What's more, I don't know of anyone on my ship that feels differently. Everyone is solidly behind you."

  "I just hope that I don't let everyone down. We're not facing Raiders this time around, and I'm sure that we're not coming through this un-bloodied. I'll let you know just how guilty I feel after the battle is over."

  * * *

  The Bellona arrived at Stewart on the day before the assembled force was scheduled to leave. The victualing and armament crews worked nonstop so that it would be prepared to depart on time with the task force. Like the other ships, the hull was crammed with ordnance, and every possible location on its exterior hull had a mine attached. The St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Cairo, and Mentuhotep would have to catch up after they reached Stewart, and were provisioned and armed.

  Jenetta, Christa, and Eliza met in Jenetta's dining room and were able to enjoy their last evening meal together before departure. It was actually the first time that they had all been together in four years. For a few hours, Jenetta was able to forget all her worries and enjoy reminiscing about past days with her sisters.

  The task force ships began backing away from the airlocks inside the asteroid base one at a time and making their way outside where they'd form up for the trip. Jenetta had come aboard the Prometheus early with her cats and been escorted to her quarters. Her new rank seemed to affect the crewmen and officers that she encountered aboard the ship much more than she expected, even though she knew
most of them from her days as the ship's First Officer. She thought that it might be because crewmen so rarely ever meet an admiral, but more likely it was because of the power her lofty position bestowed. The officer at the airlock entrance, a lieutenant that had been aboard when Jenetta was the XO, went rigid with a salute when she entered the ship. She got him to relax a little after she returned the salute by engaging him in a brief conversation.

  The largest suite in the VIP quarter's section had naturally been reserved for Jenetta. Although rarely used, it was the suite always reserved for admirals, prime ministers, or other top dignitaries. She would have preferred quarters on the bridge deck, but they were already assigned to the bridge officers. Security had established two Marine sentry posts outside her door, and a steward was waiting to welcome her. As a base commander, she was used to always having a sentry at the door to her offices and another outside her quarters, but she hadn't had a steward since turning command of the Song over to Captain Yung. She'd contented herself on Dixon and Stewart with having a private dining room, cook, and mess attendant.

  Commander Ashraf's quarters were immediately next to Jenetta's, although her rank wouldn't have rated such spacious accommodations if she hadn't been the Admiral's adjutant.

  After settling into her quarters, Jenetta told her cats to remain there as she left for the bridge. As she entered from the corridor, someone said loudly, "Admiral on the bridge", and everyone not at a duty station came to attention.

  "As you were," Jenetta said loudly. She continued over to the captain's briefing room and waited until the door opened.

  Captain Gavin, sitting at his desk, stood up. "Welcome aboard, Admiral."

  "Thank you, Larry. Are we about ready to get underway?"

  "Commander Eaton is down at the airlock. We're just waiting for a final container of fresh food supplies to be delivered and then we'll button it up."

  "Good. I'll feel better when we're finally away."

  "Coffee, Jen?"

  "Yes. I'll get it. How about you?"

  "I'm fine, thanks."

  Gavin sat back down as Jenetta went to the food synthesizer and prepared a mug of coffee for herself. When it was ready, she came back to the desk and sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs facing him.

  "I feel extremely uneasy about taking every available warship with us," Jenetta said. "The base will be virtually unprotected, except for the transports and quartermaster's ships. I'd hate to try to fight a battle here with just them for my defense. I hope that the ships behind the Ottawa aren't just a feint to get our warships out of the base."

  "Some of the additional ships that Space Command is sending will be here shortly, and they'll assume protection duties when they arrive. In the meantime, the base will simply seal up if any hostiles approach. You have no choice other than to send every warship that you have available to this confrontation. If we don't fight the Milori in a place of our choosing in the Frontier, we might have to fight them here. And fighting them here would put a lot of civilians at risk."

  "I wish that we had some Intel on the number of ships following the Ottawa. If the others have fallen back and are maintaining a parallel course more than a hundred-twenty billion kilometers away in hopes of outflanking us, we could be doing all the preparation work for nothing."

  "I think that your plan is sound, Jen. Everything we've heard about Milori tactics indicate that they don't fan out until they're almost at their destination. Reportedly, they've developed a special electronics system to keep each ship a precise distance from the ship in front of it; so close that they appear as one ship on sensors. And every ship is connected to the sensor system of the lead ship. If the lead ship detects an object in its path, the temporal envelopes of the trailing ships are immediately dissolved to avoid a collision."

  "Hmm, that's interesting. That information wasn't included in any report that I've seen."

  "It wasn't in an SCI document. It was by a newsie who referenced an article in an Uthlaro military engineering publication. I'll send you a copy."

  "Thanks, Larry. Let's hope that the Milori make maximum use of that technology until we get them in our cage."

  "As long as Jeff Crosby follows the course instructions that you've given him, I think that we'll bag our limit of Milori ships."

  * * *

  A task force can only travel as fast as the slowest ship, so it took forty-three days to reach the site selected by Jenetta for the confrontation. The ships began deploying their mines and the equipment that would create the electronic grid as soon as they arrived. In three days, they were able to complete as much as they could until the other ships arrived with their complement of mines.

  The arrival of the Cairo and Mentuhotep a couple of days later allowed the mine laying groups to almost complete the planned mine field, but it was seven more days before the St. Petersburg and the Buenos Aires arrived. Still, the work was completed with seven days to spare. Since they knew exactly when the Ottawa would arrive, the crews could relax until the final hours, but most gunners chose to use the gunnery simulators to hone their reflexes to an extra sharp edge, while maintenance crews checked, double-checked, and triple checked everything on the fighter craft.

  Jenetta and the ship captains enjoyed dinner together every night, always hosted on a different ship in the task force. The talk at the table was always about the upcoming conflict as they sought to cover every possible contingency. With the possible exception of D-Day in Earth's World War II, Jenetta doubted that any single battle had ever been planned and discussed as much in advance as this one.

  * * *

  Surprisingly, no other ships traversed the area of space selected for the confrontation during the weeks that the Space Command ships were in the area, so the Beijing wasn't required to engage any shipping. Of course, Jenetta had selected it because it was so unlikely that anyone would happen by.

  As the hour for the battle neared, the ships of the task force pulled back four-point-two billion kilometers from the grid area. Being well out of DeTect range, the sensors of the Milori shouldn't see the Space Command vessels until the task force began to move in. The ships didn't cancel their DATFA envelopes. Once the Milori ships were stopped, the task force was ready to move immediately to a position ten-thousand kilometers from the grid work cage. Sensor buoys, placed within range at the trap, would provide a complete picture of what was happening.

  The Ottawa appeared on the sensors exactly when expected, and the electronic grid was activated in time to halt the lead Milori ship near the front end of the cage. The temporal envelopes of the lead and trailing Milori ships dissolved as one, and self-guiding mines immediately began moving to block both the front and rear openings of the cage.

  Jenetta and her aide, Lt. Commander Ashraf, were on the bridge of the Prometheus, watching the large view screen, when the Milori ships came to an instant stop inside the cage. The Prometheus was too far distant to see the trapped ships, except as a sensor buoy image, but all sensors indicated that less than ten meters separated the ships. Jenetta marveled at the electronics that allowed such precision.

  "Got 'em," Jenetta heard a young lieutenant at a tactical station, exclaim.

  "Captain," the lead tactical officer, said urgently, "there's a problem."

  "What is it, Commander?" Gavin asked.

  "There are way too many blips, sir. I'm reading a hundred three ships in the trap."

  "A hundred three? Is that a false reading owed to that jamming screen they use?"

  "Negative, sir," the officer said as he studied the data carefully. "The Milori force consists of a hundred three ships; mostly destroyers, but there are twenty frigates, fourteen cruisers, and six battleships."

  "Dear Lord!" Gavin exclaimed. "It's a full scale invasion force."

  * * *

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~ February 14th, 2277 ~

  "Com," Jenetta said, "hail Lord High Space Marshall Gulqulk of the Imperial Cruiser Reguffa."

  "Aye, Admi
ral."

  By the time an image of a Milora filled the front view screen, the SC task force had reached its planned position nearer the cage. Loud shouting was evident on the enemy ship. The Milori were extremely agitated and trying to figure out what they were facing.

  The SC fighters, sitting in launch position inside the ships, got the green light and began deploying the second the task force completed its short FTL jump. They would form up in squadrons and wait nearby until called to begin their attack runs.

  "I'm Admiral Jenetta Carver of the Galactic Space Command. You've chased one of my ships across two hundred light-years of Galactic Alliance space after making serious threats. I order you to surrender immediately or suffer the destruction that you threatened to bring to the Ottawa."

  "You will not give orders to me in Milori space," the Milora bellowed. "In seconds we'll find out how you've stopped our FTL engines and we'll destroy you and every ship you command. No one can stand against the supreme might of the Milori Empire. The sand in the Galactic Alliance hourglass is almost gone."

  Jenetta set her jaw and stared at the leader of the invading force. "This is Galactic Alliance space. Merely declaring that you rendered our previous claim void when you chose to appropriate our territory, doesn't make it so. Since you won't withdraw, you leave me no choice." She added, icily, "You've brought this upon yourselves." She turned to look at the com operator and waved her hand in a cutoff signal. The front screen returned to the view of space. "You have a green light, Captain. Let's do this before they figure a way out."

  Gavin nodded to the helmsman and the ship began its planned run past the Milori. In seconds, the Prometheus was approaching the trap on a parallel course. In order to engage the enemy vessels properly, it would pass the electronic cage at a distance of just fifty kilometers, at a speed of Plus-One. Ships within the trap were already trying to maneuver. Explosions occurred along the length and breadth of the enclosed space as Milori ships made contact with unseen mines and learned the limits of their cage. The Prometheus was distant enough that explosions from the fusion mines wouldn't affect it, but the distance offered no protection from the laser weapons of the Milori ships. Beams of coherent light speared the darkness between the ship and the cage as the Milori laser gunners opened fire. The laser gunners on the Prometheus meanwhile, opened up with their hundred-megawatt phased array laser weapons. So tightly congested were the Milori ships that it almost seemed impossible for the Prometheus gunners to miss.