by Dave Bara
“Eighteen minutes to contact,” came Amanda’s voice.
Renwick sighed heavily.
AT THE TWO MINUTE MARK the activity began.
“I’m detecting scoop energy signatures,” called out Kish from the engineering station. With Yan aboard Renwick had taken over the weapons console, sending the engineer back to his regular station. “Multiple contacts. They’ve split their forces as we expected. Breakthrough to normal space at any time.”
“They’ll come with HuK’s and destroyers first,” said Yan. “Their scoop ships are small, so expect multiple contact points.”
“Got it,” said Renwick, already targeting multiple energy points with torpedoes. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Wait for my order,” said Yan. Renwick nodded. The energy signatures on his display suddenly multiplied exponentially.
“I’ve got dozens of new energy points forming!” he called to Yan. “Maybe as many as a hundred. I can’t target them all!”
“Stay calm,” said Yan. “They’re likely punching through multiple points just to confuse us, so don’t get confused. Stay focused and don’t fire until you have actual contacts.”
“Affirmative,” said Renwick, trying to stay as calm inside as he was portraying himself on the outside.
“Tracking contacts now,” said Mischa Cain. “Cruiser and heavy cruiser displacement! They have entered normal space.”
“Concentrate on the heavy ships first, and fire!” ordered Yan.
“Firing all flak cannon batteries! Targeting cruisers with atomic torpedoes!” said Renwick excitedly, unable to hide his emotions any longer.
“There’s too many cruisers,” said Yan calmly, looking at her tactical console. “Hold your torpedo fire, Mr. Renwick. Flak cannon only. And I’m withdrawing the Devi,” she said.
“That will open up the main tunnel for the rest of their fleet,” said Renwick.
“I’m aware of that, Senator,” Yan said back, with emphasis on his non-military rank. “But I can’t risk losing her out in the open like that against those cruisers.” Renwick watched as the automated Void Ship pulled back and took up a defensive position near the emitter station. “I’m deactivating her emitters and bringing her weapons online. I’ll handle her from here.” That was fine with Renwick, he had all he could handle with the Kali’s weapons.
Ten minutes into the battle and the Soloth fleet had taken light damage, but they were making steady progress towards the emitter station. The Kali and her sister ships were mostly untouched, and holding back most of their torpedoes.
“Now counting thirty-four cruisers of various displacements in the battle zone,” said Mischa. “Multiple energy signatures near the main tunnel portal, Captain. Breakthrough is imminent in three minutes.”
“And when they break through that tunnel wall everything they’ve got will be in play,” said Yan. “Destroyers, frigates, HuK’s, you name it. It’s a good tactic. We expected the lighter ships first. They came with the heavy stuff instead. Now when they break through it will the Death of a Thousand Cuts.”
“Or a thousand stings,” said Renwick.
Yan’s clenched fist went to her hip. “Give me a report, Mr. Kish,” she said.
“Shields and screens holding, sir,” he said. “The cruisers are keeping their distance.”
“Waiting for the breakthrough,” said Renwick. “They don’t have to engage at torpedo range. Hanging back like this they can take our flak cannon fire all day long.”
“Thanks for the tactical update, Senator,” snapped Yan. Renwick turned to her.
“If we don’t take those cruisers out, or shore up that tunnel portal, we’re doomed,” he said. “We have to move the Void Ships closer. If the Kali and the Balrama move to torpedo range of those cruisers then the Devi can reinforce the tunnel and buy us some time.”
“So suddenly now you’re a tactician again? To what end, Senator? We can only engage so many cruisers without risking ourselves, and our goal is to defend the station, remember? They’ll eventually free up some cruisers and take out the station. And without the station, it will take us a millennia to clear the Known Cosmos,” she said.
“Do we have another option?” he asked.
“Breakthrough at the tunnel in two minutes,” reported Mischa Cain.
Yan stared hard at Renwick. “Let’s find out,” she said.
“Amanda,” Yan called out.
The Amanda AI appeared on the main display.
“Here, captain,” she said, or rather, her disembodied transparent head said.
“Do we have any more weapons options?” said Yan.
“None that I am authorized to release to you,” said Amanda.
“So that means yes,” said Yan. “Amanda, I demand that you release all additional weapons to me.”
“I cannot do that, Captain Yan,” said Amanda. “My programmers explicitly forbid me from releasing certain technologies to Successor races, based on their likelihood of being abused.”
Yan swiped her hand across the command console. Renwick’s weapons display and every other display on the bridge went blank.
“Weapons are down!” said Renwick.
“Navigation is out!” shouted Mischa. Kish came running over from his station.
“What just happened? The engines are down!” he said.
“And they’ll stay down,” said Yan.
“You have one minute, thirty seconds to the breakthrough,” said Amanda, her imaginary face placid and unmoved.
“And I’d guess you have about two minutes beyond that before this ship and your precious station are destroyed. Now what would your programmers think of that?” Yan said to Amanda.
“All emotional outbursts and tactics have been accounted for in my programming. There is no scenario that you can present to me that I haven’t already anticipated,” Amanda said.
“Fine,” said Yan. “Then that’s what will be.” She turned her back to Amanda and crossed her arms.
“Yan-“ started Renwick, taking a step towards her. She held up her hand to him. He stopped.
“No,” she said.
Amanda’s face remained placid.
“Suicide is against most moral laws of your kind, and humans have a built in survival instinct that is stronger than almost any other drive they have,” said Amanda, as if quoting an encyclopedia. Yan turned back to Amanda.
“I am not human anymore, remember? And if you want to test my resolve, you’ll find out in about a minute,” she said.
“One minute eight seconds,” said Amanda. Yan turned away again. After ten seconds the Amanda AI looked to Renwick.
“Is she really capable of allowing this ship and the station to be destroyed?” she asked him. Renwick shrugged.
“I’m afraid I don’t know her well enough to answer that,” he said, then he took a calculated risk and also turned his back on Amanda. Ten more seconds of silence dragged on like an eternity.
“Very well,” said Amanda, relenting. “There is one other weapon system I can make available.”
Yan snapped around. “What is it?” she said.
“An anti-graviton field.”
“Anti-graviton?” said Renwick, “You mean-“
“The field separates matter at the sub-atomic level by nullifying all of the effects of gravity within the field’s range,” said Amanda.
“What’s the range?” asked Yan.
“Twenty kilometers from the station.”
“It’s on the station?” asked Renwick. “Is the system operational?”
“Yes,” said Amanda. “But I will not make it available for your use as an aggressive weapon. Only to defend the station.”
Renwick came and stood next to Yan, who quickly activated the command console again. She punched in some tactical calculations with blinding android speed. “If we move the automated Void Ships to take on the cruisers, we can close to firing range, release our torpedoes, and then come about and take on the destroyers and HuK’s at the t
unnel with our flak cannons.” She looked up to Amanda. “And you’ll agree to take out anything that gets within twenty kilometers of the station?”
“Yes,” said Amanda.
“That’s well outside torpedo range. They’ll have to get within ten kilometers to launch,” she said, her voice trailing off. Then: “Agreed,” she said. “Stations everyone!” Amanda’s image vanished.
“Wait,” said Renwick. “A weapon like this, that can dissolve a person at the sub-molecular level-“
“Save your conscience for another day, Senator. We have a battle to win,” said Yan.
“I am in command of this mission, captain, not you,” he reminded her. She glared at him.
“Forty seconds,” said Amanda in her disembodied voice.
“Then command it, Senator. Do we have another choice?” Yan said. Renwick looked around the bridge at Yan, Mischa, Kish, and he thought of Reya, helpless in the auto-medic.
“No,” he conceded. “Let’s do this.”
25.
Void Space near the tunnel warped and bended, threatening to break, releasing the Soloth fleet into the bubble of normal space surrounding the emitter station.
“Thirty seconds,” called Mischa Cain from navigation. Renwick watched the macabre scene on his display, watching as the two divergent forms of space fought to occupy the same position in the universe. Only one could win and Renwick knew which one.
“Ten seconds,” called Mischa.
Renwick watched as the Devi and Balrama closed to torpedo range on the Soloth cruiser formation. The Kali hung back a few kilometers, waiting for an opportune moment to launch a torpedo volley and then turn to attack the support ships that would undoubtedly be coming through the tunnel portal at any moment.
Suddenly the tunnel wall gave way.
“Breakthrough!” called Mischa. Renwick expected to see a swarm of war ships appear in the portal opening linking the tunnel to the normal space bubble. He was shocked at what he saw instead.
“Soloth Command ship at the tunnel opening!” he called. “I say again, Soloth Command ship has breached the bubble!”
“Shit,” said Yan, whipping around to scan her tactical console. The main display showed a multi-decked ship with a menacing looking tail, likely a heavy coil cannon. Yan swept over the scan a second time. “They’re holding back the small fry. Forcing us to take on their heavy ships with our torpedoes. I should have seen this coming,” she said, then smacked the console with her hand.
“Orders?” asked Mischa. Yan’s eyes whipped over the display.
“Maintain course and speed,” she said. “Engage enemy cruisers with a single volley of torpedoes, then make for the Command ship. The Devi and Balrama will follow us.”
“Just a single volley?” asked Renwick. “We can’t guarantee we’ll get them all.” A single volley from each of the three Void Ships would result in about thirty torpedoes hitting the cruiser formation. Not enough, considering they were spread out behind a unified energy defense field.
“Goddamn you Renwick! Can’t you just follow my orders once without questioning?” demanded Yan. It was true, he admitted to himself, he couldn’t.
“Captain, on this mission it is my job to function as the ship’s exec. Therefore it is also my job to bring you alternatives,” he said.
“Ten seconds to firing range,” said Mischa.
“I appreciate your input, Mr. Renwick, however-“
“However, thirty torpedoes will not be enough to disable that cruiser formation, captain,” he said.
Yan looked at him angrily. “I’m aware of that,” she said. “We’ll need the rest of the torpedoes to use against the Command ship. Amanda will have to handle the cruisers. Now, will you carry out my orders?”
Renwick contemplated the Soloth crew aboard the cruisers, knowing they were being doomed to a horrible fate at the hands of the anti-graviton field. He hated the choices they had.
“Preparing the volley, captain,” he said. She nodded.
“Coordinate with my board. Follow the volleys of the Devi and Balrama by ten seconds. Just long enough to make them think they survived the first shot,” she said.
“Aye captain,” he replied, his eyes glued to his display console.
The two automated Void Ships launched their volleys simultaneously, then broke off, their vector taking them away from the Soloth cruiser formation. The ten seconds of waiting was an eternity.
Renwick targeted a dense pack of nearly twenty cruisers furthest from the emitter station. The first volleys from the Void Ships would damage them. His follow-up volley would likely destroy many more than the ten ships he targeted.
The first volleys slammed into the approaching cruisers, their coil cannon fire ineffective in stopping the shielded torpedoes. Nuclear-thermal fire lit up the dark normal space bubble as explosions ripped through energy defense fields and melted the hulls of many of the ships. The initial volleys had been spread out to do maximum damage. Renwick watched as the second wave from his volley hit the dense pack of Soloth cruisers.
The resulting flash of the near-simultaneous explosions lit his display to the point that he lost both his tactical and visual feeds for a few moments. The display then corrected itself. The Kali was already breaking off her attack run and making for the Soloth Command ship.
“Tactical report, Amanda,” Yan called. Amanda’s voice echoed through the bridge.
“Twenty-one cruisers destroyed or permanently disabled,” she said. “Four enemy cruisers damaged beyond their capability to fight. Nine cruisers still operational and making course for the station.”
Renwick shook his head as she watched the two fleets diverge, the Void Ships to engage the Soloth Command ship; the cruisers to certain death at the hands of the anti-graviton field.
“They’re all yours now,” said Yan.
“Understood,” replied Amanda.
SEVEN MINUTES LATER and the Soloth Command ship was entering firing range of the trio of Void Ships. The smaller ships of the Soloth fleet; HuK’s, destroyers, and frigates, were hanging back, waiting in the tunnel to make their runs once the heavy weapons fighting was over. The Soloth cruisers were three minutes out from the emitter station.
“Triangular formation,” ordered Yan. “The Kali will take the point.”
“Understood, captain,” said Mischa.
“Mr. Kish, I’ll need all the power you have. We’ll have to punch a hole through her energy shields to get under her and fire our torpedoes,” she said.
“Affirmative captain, “ said Kish. “I’ll have one-hundred percent power available to the forward coil cannon batteries.”
“That’s you, Mr. Kish. Mr. Renwick,” said Yan, turning to the Senator. “We’ll need sustained, concentrated coil cannon fire while we try and bust her shields. Once we’re through, you’ll have to switch off the cannon and launch your torpedo volleys before they have a chance to target us with their torpedoes.”
“That’s assuming they don’t get us with their cannon fire first,” said Renwick.
“That’s my job, keeping us away from the cannon batteries,” Yan said.
Renwick nodded acknowledgement. He looked up to watch the progress of the Soloth cruiser fleet. Unknown to them, they would be entering range of the anti-graviton field in slightly less than three minutes, and facing annihilation.
“What do you think the Soloth commanders will do when they see their cruisers cease to exist?” Renwick asked Yan privately over the com.
“Launch everything at us. At least, that’s what I’d do,” she said.
“And we’ll be out of torpedoes and they’ll outgun us with coil cannon fire by a wide margin,” he said.
“Assuming their Command ship has similar armament to our ships of the same class, we can survive their torpedo volleys due to our superior shielding. But their energy weapons will wear us down. We’ll eventually have to retreat to the station, behind the anti-graviton field,” she said.
“Stalemate,”
was his response. There was a pause on the line.
“That may be the best we can hope for.” Then she cut the personal line between them and called out “Stations!” for all to hear. It wasn’t really necessary, but it did help them all to focus on the job at hand.
“We are within firing range of the Soloth Command ship,” said Mischa.
“Commence firing, Mr. Renwick. Coil cannon fire concentrated on my coordinates,” ordered Yan. Renwick saw the coordinates as they fed into his console, and he rigged and fired the coil cannon. The cannons of both the Devi and the Balrama also fired simultaneously with him. The three ships maintained their firing angles even as they passed under the enormous Command vessel. The Soloth ship responded with similar weaponry. They stayed together like this, locked in combat, their weapons pounding at each other, each looking for the breakthrough that would tip the scales.
“Their anterior shielding is collapsing!” called Mischa from her station. “We’re through!”
“Advance and volley, Mr. Renwick!” said Yan. “Fire at will!”
Renwick switched off the coil cannon and brought his volley of torpedoes online. It took him only a second to launch.
“Torpedoes away!” he said. His volley was followed by similar shots from both the Devi and the Balrama. The torpedo volleys were countered by flak batteries from the Soloth Command ship, hundreds of orange lancets streaming out to take on the incoming missiles. The torpedoes bobbed and weaved, some even taking hits on their energy screens, but deflecting them away. One or two had their screens overloaded by multiple hits and were destroyed in bright nuclear fireballs while they were still kilometers from their target, but most of them got through.
The Command ship was enveloped in bright white light.
“Multiple hits!” called Mischa as Renwick loaded a second volley.
“Amanda,” said Yan.
“Reporting,” came Amanda’s voice. “Defense capabilities of the Command ship depleted by twenty-one percent.”
“That’s not enough,” said Yan. “Renwick-“
“Second volley away!” called the Senator from his station. Just then the tactical alarm went off. Renwick checked his board. “Multiple torpedoes and interceptors inbound!” he reported.