“Captain?” Lieutenant Castries said. “The dark battle cruiser formation was up to point three five light speed an hour ago.”
“What?” Desjani glared at her display. “At the rate they have been moving, they’ll get within combat range in another three hours,” she warned Geary.
“Even though the dark ships can handle more stress on acceleration and deceleration than our ships can, they’ll have to start braking that velocity really soon, or they’ll tear right past us,” he replied. “I wouldn’t have ramped up the velocity on those battle cruisers and their escorts that high. Is the dark ship AI based on my actions breaking down, or is this supposed to be the Black Jack who people imagined before I came back?”
“Maybe the Black Jack legend,” Desjani said. “You in reality try to think a few moves ahead. I don’t know. We might have to assume the AIs are getting erratic, maybe testing their limits.”
“Dr. Nasr said they could run into problems if they encountered new situations,” Geary said. “New limitations, or possibilities they create by working around old limitations. But unless those problems cause their weapons to go off-line, they probably won’t help us much.”
He was studying his display again, seeing the dark battleship formation, a little smaller now, the two subformations on either side remaining close, as it came up and around to head back toward an intercept with the Alliance warships. The dark battleships had been moving a lot slower, and so could turn in much less distance, though that was a relative term given how huge the turns were when ships were moving at appreciable fractions of the speed of light. The dark ships were steadying out earlier than Geary’s ships were, heading along a flat curve to meet up with the Alliance warships as they cleared the top of their own turn.
The enemy was clearly aiming to hit the Alliance formations head-on again, and this time he couldn’t count on any dark ships holding their fire while waiting for the right target to get within range. “They’re still going at a lot less velocity, so they can keep turning inside our own maneuvers,” he grumbled.
It left only one good option, to change velocity just prior to the dark ships’ intercepting his formations, aiming to throw off the enemy plans and enabling Geary to hopefully hit a portion of the dark ships while the rest of them were unable to engage the Alliance ships.
With plenty of time left before both sides clawed through their vast turns, Geary rearranged his formations, keeping three of them, but changing the diamonds to discs aligned along the path the ships were taking.
Trying to judge the right moment for the next maneuvers, he watched the movements of ships through space, the great arcs marking the projected paths of his formations and the dark battleship formations, as well as the flat curve of the route of the dark battle cruisers racing to reach the scene of the fighting. “All units in First Fleet, reduce propulsion to forty percent maximum at time three six.”
The propulsion of the Alliance warships had been pushing them around the arc, altering the direction of movement, the more force, the tighter the turn, limited by how much stress the ships and crews could stand and how much push the main propulsion units could provide. Even with the ships’ inertial dampers straining at full capability, both ships and crews had been feeling some of the pressure of the forces tearing at them.
As the dark ships raced toward another intercept, the force on Geary’s ships abruptly lessened as the main propulsion units on the warships throttled back in accordance with his orders. Just as abruptly, the arc of the turn the ships were going through shifted, growing wider, the Alliance warships swinging outward farther than they had been moments earlier.
The dark ships, aiming for where the Alliance ships should have been, were now on paths that would take them just under the Alliance formations, whose flattened discs would give nearly every Alliance warship a decent shot at the enemy. Ideally, if Geary had called it right, the top edge of the dark ship formations would be within range of the Alliance warships’ weapons. The Alliance warships themselves were traveling along the arc, but their bows, with the majority of their weaponry and their strongest shields and armor, were pointed toward where the enemy ships would pass.
If this pass worked, it would be perfect.
The moment came, and went.
“No engagement,” Lieutenant Yuon reported, sounding as if he were responsible for the failure.
“The dark ships thought you were going to accelerate again and tighten our turn,” Desjani said as she studied the playback from the last encounter. “They tried to compensate for that, we both went in different directions, and nobody was within range of anybody.”
“I considered tightening the turn,” Geary said. “It could have gone either way. Let’s try again.” He activated the fleetwide command net. “All units in First Fleet, immediate execute, pivot one four zero degrees up, accelerate to point one light speed.”
The Alliance warships swung in place, then lit off their main propulsion again at a higher intensity. Their paths began to recurve, twisting up along the opposite direction of the previous turn, but higher, aiming toward where the dark ships were also slewing about and maneuvering for another intercept.
“Have engineering check something for me,” Desjani called to her watch-standers. “I want to know what they can tell me about the main propulsion signatures on the dark ships.”
The answer came within a minute. “Engineering has been running that analysis, Captain. They say the signatures on the dark ships are identical to those on our main propulsion units.”
“But the dark ships have consistently been maneuvering harder than we do,” Desjani said. “It’s not because their main propulsion units have more capability than ours? They’re just using more thrust?”
“Yes, Captain. They’re burning their main drives hotter and longer to get more thrust out of them.”
“Thank you.” Desjani glanced at Geary. “Can we use that?”
“I don’t know.” Geary gestured toward the virtual tiles hanging in the air near his command seat that listed the status of all of his ships, updating every time any change took place. “They’re forcing us to maneuver hard as well. As hard as we can, anyway. I can’t let them run rings around us.”
“So they’re burning fuel cells faster, but they’re also forcing us to do the same.”
“Yeah. And we don’t know how big their fuel cell reserves are. Did the builders use the same levels as on our ships, or did they add extra stockpiles?”
Desjani made a face. “One of those agents we’re holding might know. How about if we stick them on the bow of Dauntless before our next engagement with the dark ships? Just to encourage them to talk.”
“We can’t do that, Tanya.”
“I wasn’t going to put them out there in their shirtsleeves. I’d put them in survival suits,” she said. “I wonder if duct tape would hold them on to the outer hull? We could find out.”
“Still can’t do it,” Geary said. “But I wish we could.”
This time, the two formations were racing toward an intercept in which both would be at an angle to the other, meeting partway through their turns. Once again, Geary faced the question of whether to try to tighten the turn or to slack off on acceleration and widen it. Another look at the damage status of some of his ships, Fearless and Incredible in particular, led him to decide to once again ease off acceleration just before contact.
“I should be used to the waits between firing runs by now,” Geary murmured as he watched the apparently slow movement of both forces through the immense distances of space.
“I’m not,” Desjani commented, “and I’ve been doing it longer than you have, old man.”
“Excuse me?”
“Old man, sir.”
“That’s better.” A touch of the comm controls. “All units in First Fleet, go to forty-four percent propulsion at time one four.”
; In the last moments before contact, the Alliance warships swung a little wider, once again aiming for the upper portion of the dark ship formation.
“No engagement,” Lieutenant Yuon reported. “No ships were within range of the enemy during the pass.”
“Damn,” Geary got out in a whisper. “Let’s try this different.” He swung the battle cruisers up again, curving back once more, but both of his battleship formations went out to the sides and then up, the three formations bracketing the future path of the dark ships also coming back in another upward curve.
This time he did a last-second shift to starboard with the battle cruisers, while the two battleship formations swung lower and toward each other, in an attempt to bracket the dark ship subformation to one side of the main formation.
“No engagement.” Lieutenant Yuon had stopped sounding guilty. Now he appeared to be confused.
Geary, feeling angry and frustrated, assessed the status of his ships, then called out new orders. One Alliance battleship formation swung wide to starboard, one swung wide to port, and the battle cruisers twisted about and aimed straight for an intercept with the dark ships coming back for another run.
He dove the battle cruiser formation before contact, aiming under the dark ships, while the battleship formations on either side held their vectors so that no matter which way the dark ships went, the Alliance warships should get some shots at them.
“No engagement.”
Geary could feel everyone on the bridge carefully not looking at him. He could sense how crews on every other ship in the fleet were reacting. Something was very wrong, and he wasn’t sure what it was.
Had he lost his nerve? Was he so afraid of losing this battle that he wouldn’t take the necessary losses to win it?
But he was doing nothing differently. He was trying to hit the enemy. And how could the dark ships keep missing his ships if Geary was displaying any sort of unconscious pattern of avoiding closing to weapons range? He might not be aware of it, but the dark ships would see such a pattern. They would exploit it and catch him next time.
“Admiral?” Tanya was eyeing him with an unusual level of concern apparent.
“Something is wrong,” Geary said. “None of the passes are working.”
“We have to close to engagement range.”
“I know that!”
“Admiral,” Desjani said in her most formal tone of voice, “we have to hit them despite the risks—”
“I have demonstrated my willingness to take risks, Captain,” Geary snapped.
“Getting too close is dangerous, but if we don’t—”
“Captain Desjani, I am making just as strong an effort to engage those dark ships as I ever have in any battle!” He glowered at his display as Desjani fell silent and stared fixedly at her own display. What wasn’t working? he wondered. To guess incorrectly that many times in a row? To completely miss engaging the dark ships time and again? How could that be happening?
Not by chance.
“Damn.” His tone of voice brought Desjani’s eyes back on him. “It’s not us. We’re not engaging on these firing passes because the dark ships are deliberately avoiding getting within range of us.”
“They’re avoiding action?” She took another look at her display, swallowed, then inclined her head toward him. “My apologies, Admiral. I did not consider that possibility, but I’m certain that you’re right.”
“None of us considered it, Captain,” Geary said. “Because of the ruthless tactics of the dark ships prior to this. But they are tactics, and tactics can change depending on the situation. Right now, the dark ships have a reason to avoid action just as we have had reasons to seek action.”
“But why would they—?” Her eyes widened. “They’re just keeping us engaged and occupied in dealing with them, forcing us into repeated maneuvers to counter them. Stalling for time and keeping us in this region of space.”
“Until their battle cruisers get here,” Geary said, his voice as grim as his mood. “And then they will hit us with everything at once.”
EIGHT
THE dark battleships were turning to engage again, but Geary swung his formations on through their last turn, not steadying out until the enemy battleships were behind him and his own warships were aimed at an intercept with the dark battle cruisers ahead. Those battle cruisers were braking velocity at a rate that would have torn apart Geary’s ships. By the time they reached where Geary’s ships were tangling with the dark battleships, they would have been going slow enough (if point one light speed could be considered slow) to engage the Alliance forces.
“What are we doing?” Desjani asked.
“Changing the game,” Geary said. “We underestimated the dark ship AIs. First we get out of the trap they tried to pin us in. Next—”
An alert sounded on his display.
“Fearless just lost another main propulsion unit,” Lieutenant Castries said.
Geary slapped his comm controls. “Fearless, can you keep up with the formation?”
The image of Captain Ulrickson looked back at Geary. “We’ll keep up or die trying. Repairs are underway.”
The determination and the desire were admirable, but as Geary looked at his data he could tell that neither were adequate substitutes for a main propulsion unit. If Fearless could not keep up, they would have to leave her, or else sacrifice the rest of the fleet protecting her.
Desjani was looking at her display, her expression revealing no emotion.
“We’ve got half an hour before any more maneuvers are necessary,” Geary told Captain Ulrickson. “I need Fearless able to keep up at that point.”
“I understand, Admiral.”
“We’ve still got a chance,” Geary told Desjani as the call ended. “Those dark battle cruisers based their approach on reaching us back where we were tangling with dark battleships.”
“Which means they’ll be going too fast when we reach them, since we’re heading straight for an intercept with the dark battle cruisers,” Desjani agreed. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” she called in a louder voice to the watch-standers. “What is the first rule of combat maneuvering?”
“Never take your ship to the limit of her capabilities unless you absolutely have to,” Lieutenants Yuon and Castries chorused in reply.
“Because?”
“Once you take your ship to her limits,” the lieutenants said, “the ship has nothing else to give if you need it.”
“Exactly.” Desjani indicated her display with a dismissive gesture. “Those dark battle cruisers based their approach on the maximum deceleration they could endure, which means they can’t slow down any faster now that we are closing on them.” She lowered her voice to speak only to Geary. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to hit them as they pass us.”
“No.” He was sizing up the situation. The dark battleships were behind his formations, but accelerating at a better rate than his own battleships could achieve, especially with Fearless limping along. The repeated attempts at firing passes had kept Geary’s units fairly close to the dark ships as distances in space went, so the dark battleships were not that far away and closing on the Alliance warships. Even if Fearless got one of her off-line main propulsion units working, Geary wouldn’t be able to avoid them for long.
The dark battle cruisers would slide helplessly past the Alliance formation at a combined closing speed of point two five light, too fast to hope for any significant number of hits. But as Desjani had noted, Geary’s ships wouldn’t be able to hit the dark battle cruisers, either. After that, both the dark battleships and the dark battle cruisers would be right behind Geary’s own formations.
“If we try to reduce speed to engage the dark battle cruisers, they’ll just evade us, and the lower velocity will allow the dark battleships to catch us faster,” Geary said between teeth clenched with frustration.
Desjani shook her head, looking pained. “Admiral, I’ve got nothing.”
“We’ve got one chance,” he said, speaking slowly to allow his thoughts to form. “Now we’re going slower than they are. We can turn inside them, or at least match them since they can maneuver tighter than us under equal conditions.”
“They’ve got enough superiority now to hammer us in any encounter,” Desjani said.
“If they get within firing range.”
Her anguish changed to surprise. “Now we’re going to avoid closing with them?”
“Yes. It’s not a tactic I’ve used before, so it will take them by surprise,” Geary said. It would surprise the dark ships the first time, and maybe the second time as well. But after that . . .
The dark battle cruisers whipped past the Alliance formations at a distance of five light-seconds, far too distant to engage even if the relative velocity hadn’t been so high. On Geary’s display, the projected track of the dark battle cruisers showed them braking steadily and hard until past their own battleships. He did not expect them to maneuver in that way, though.
“Dark battle cruiser formation is turning,” Lieutenant Yuon said.
The dark battle cruisers and their accompanying heavy cruisers and destroyers were bending their path through space, their main propulsion still blasting at full power, heading down. The projected path of the dark battle cruisers on Geary’s display bent and bent some more, shifting into a wide, wide turn that would bring the enemy ships back toward Geary’s formation.
He knew that everyone was waiting, nervously, to know what he would do, so Geary touched his comm controls. “First Fleet, the enemy believes that our options have been eliminated and we cannot avoid meeting them at their advantage. My intention is to frustrate their plans and force them into a variety of maneuvers until we can once again hit them at our advantage. I need the best from everyone. To the honor of our ancestors, Geary, out.”
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