Leviathan

by Jack Campbell

  “And with the screen of battle cruisers and battleships they’ll have to get through, none of them will survive to get a shot at us,” Geary said. He tapped his comm controls. “All units in First Fleet, I expect that this first formation of dark ships will make vector changes to avoid contact. If they do, the Dancers will handle them. If they do not, if they attack our formation, let’s make sure none of them survive the first pass.”

  It felt odd, going into an engagement determined not to make any last-moment maneuver. Throwing off the enemy’s fire was always important. But he felt certain that these dark battle cruisers would not throw themselves away on a hopeless attack.

  Because he would not have done that.

  “Five minutes,” Lieutenant Castries said.

  “The Dancers still haven’t moved,” Desjani noted.

  “They will,” Geary said. “The dark ships are going to go after them.”

  “You think so?” Desjani studied the situation. “Yes. If they come a little up and to port, they’ll go right through the Dancer formation instead of ours.”

  “And you can bet the Dancers have seen that, too.” He knew he sounded confident. He hoped he was right.

  The last minutes seemed to pass very slowly.

  The moment of contact came and went too fast for human senses to register.

  “No engagement!” Lieutenant Yuon announced.

  Geary realized that he had been holding his breath and let it out slowly.

  “Oh, nice!” he heard Desjani say.

  Focusing on his display again, Geary saw that the Dancer formation had dissolved in the minute before contact, the forty bright ships sweeping down and over to catch one flank of the dark ship formation as it tore past. While none of the Dancer ships were the size of human battleships or battle cruisers, and none carried as much armament, forty of them could do a fair amount of damage, especially against smaller Alliance warships.

  A dark heavy cruiser was reeling out of formation, unable to control its movement. One of the light cruisers was gone, nothing but debris remaining. A second had broken into sections, which were disintegrating as they tumbled through space. And one of the dark destroyers was gone as well.

  “They’ll think twice before trying that again!” Desjani said gleefully.

  “Damage to some of the Dancer ships, but none are disabled,” Lieutenant Yuon reported.

  The dark battle cruisers were whipping around, the Dancers swarming and rising to meet their turn like huge, shining bubbles flying upward, all pretense of a rigid formation vanished in favor of something that resembled the movements of a school of fish.

  “It’s too bad the Dancers don’t have more firepower. The dark ships didn’t take into account the maneuverability and skills of the Dancers,” Geary said. “The dark ships won’t make that mistake again, but the Dancers should keep that one group of battle cruisers busy.”

  Which left four more groups of dark ships.

  The battleships that had come out of the docks had started out an hour behind the dark battle cruisers and accelerated more slowly, so they were now more than two hours from contact. The three groups of dark ships that had come out from behind the two stars were pushing their own velocity up, aiming to reach Geary’s formation at the same time as the first group of battleships.

  “We could detach enough ships to help the Dancers finish off that first group of battle cruisers,” Desjani suggested.

  “That’s what they want,” Geary said. “To get us focused on fighting those battle cruisers, then the groups here after them, until our option to do anything else disappears. We’re going to hold together, we’re going to blow through any opposition that we can’t avoid, and we’re going to wipe out those docks and warehouses. Then we’ll engage the dark ships. By that time, we’ll also know whether or not the hypernet gate is blocked to us.”

  He called up his division and squadron commanders, repeating what he had told Desjani. The news that the gate might be blocked was met with as much anger directed at the dark ships as fear for the consequences. Captain Badaya, though, saw a positive side to the situation. “They can’t get away from us this time!”

  “We’ve got them trapped,” Captain Duellos agreed, smiling slightly.

  Captain Jane Geary smiled broadly. “Nothing to lose. Let’s hit them just like Black Jack would.”

  “We’re going to do just that,” Geary said, accepting the role of Black Jack as needed now. “We’re going to hit them and keep hitting them. If the fleet has to break into small formations centered on the battle cruiser and battleship divisions, I trust you all to operate independently, and I know you will all carry out your duties in a manner that does honor to your ancestors.”

  He ended the call, concentrating once more on the situation. The first group of dark battle cruisers, scarred by the Dancer attack but still powerful and fast, was behind and above the Alliance ships, accelerating again. But they were beginning to roll to one side to evade the Dancers’ second pass. That was taking the dark ships off a vector to intercept Geary’s formation again. “General Charban, please inform the Dancers that they are doing all I could ask for, and to please continue keeping those dark battle cruisers occupied.”

  “We may be inventing a new art form,” Charban replied. “Improvisational battle haiku. I will inform them. Admiral, I’m looking at this situation. Is it as bad as it appears?”

  “Yes,” Geary said.

  The dark battle cruisers fell increasingly far behind as they dodged repeated attacks by the Dancers, who could outmaneuver even the fastest and most agile dark ships. But after forty-five minutes of provocation, the dark battle cruisers darted directly onto a chase after Geary’s formation, ignoring a slashing Dancer attack that took out more of the dark cruisers and destroyers.

  Fifteen minutes after, with the dark battle cruisers behind racing to catch up, the Dancers chasing those dark ships, and four dark ship formations approaching ahead, Geary sent new orders. The dark ships in front of Geary’s force were already beginning to decelerate in anticipation of intercepting his formation in half an hour. “All units in First Fleet, immediate execute, accelerate to point two five light speed.”

  “What happens after we blow through them?” Desjani asked.

  “We start braking, drop off Mistral as we blow past the government facility, continue braking to ensure the accuracy of our bombardment as we swing past the orbiting support facilities for the dark ships, blow away those facilities, then break into three formations and go after the dark ships.”

  “Got it. Need help configuring the formations?”

  “I would be grateful for your assistance, Captain.”

  Because of the distance still separating the forces, it took the dark ships several minutes to see that Geary’s force was accelerating, limiting their time to counter his move. All they could do was further reduce their own velocity, and the three dark ship formations that had been hidden behind the two stars were already braking at near maximum.

  Their carefully planned maneuvers thrown off by Geary’s acceleration, the dark ships were now coming in at rates that would cause them to encounter Geary’s fleet at slightly different times instead of all at once.

  “Estimated relative velocity at contact with closest dark battleship formation is point two seven light,” Lieutenant Yuon announced.

  “Nobody is going to get many hits at that speed,” Desjani said.

  On Geary’s display, the thin, curving lines marking the projected paths of the dark ships were growing in diameter, shading lighter on their outer edges, reflecting growing uncertainty as to exactly where the enemy ships were and exactly what their vectors were, as the relative velocities grew so large that human sensors and tracking systems could not fully compensate for relativistic effects that warped their view of the universe. The closer objects got to the speed of light, the worse th
e relativistic effects, and the harder it was to see an accurate picture of what was outside of a ship. It was just one of the reasons why warships rarely pushed their velocities above point two light speed, but it was an important reason.

  The dark ships would be having the same problem precisely tracking Geary’s warships. It was hard enough hitting something on the fly while shooting past at tens of thousands of kilometers per second. If you didn’t know exactly where that ship was and would be, the problem became an impossible one.

  At five minutes before contact, with the different formations only about one light-minute apart, Geary sent new orders. “All units in First Fleet, immediate execute, pivot one six zero degrees port, down zero four degrees, brake velocity to point one light speed. Mistral, maneuver independently as required to close on the government facility.”

  The Alliance warships swung their bows far over and slightly down, then lit off their main propulsion, not only slowing their velocity but also altering their path through space. The long curve of the First Fleet’s projected course began shifting to swing just past the government facility, then through the vast field of orbiting docks and warehouses.

  Mistral’s track, though, began diverging as the assault transport started braking much harder than the warships and aimed directly for the government facility. Still nestled within the Alliance formation, Mistral started sliding back and slightly to the side relative to the other ships.

  The dark ships had only a couple of minutes to spot Geary’s alterations in course and speed, their task complicated by having to guess what vectors the Alliance warships would steady out on and by the relativistic distortion smearing their views of the other ships.

  The dark battleships immediately to the front of Geary’s formation misjudged how much his ships were turning and swung too wide for an encounter as the two forces tore past each other.

  Less than a minute later, the dark battle cruisers that had come out from behind one of the stars skidded past just ahead of Geary’s fleet, having guessed wrong about how hard he would brake his ships’ velocity.

  One of the two dark battleship formations still forward of Geary almost immediately afterwards raced past behind the Alliance warships.

  The second of the dark battleship formations guessed better, skimming the top edge of Geary’s formation. Weapons fired on both sides, but the relative velocities were still too great to get decent fire-control solutions, and nearly every shot missed.

  Behind, the first group of dark battle cruisers, still pursuing Geary’s fleet, was closing more rapidly as Geary’s warships slowed down, and behind the dark battle cruisers in turn, the Dancer swarm chased those dark ships.

  To port and starboard, above and below, the dark ship formations whose attacks had been frustrated by Geary’s maneuvers were swinging around to set up new intercepts.

  “We’ve got some vector divergence on the five heavy cruisers left to those dark battle cruisers behind us,” Desjani noted. “They’ve spotted Mistral’s movement, and they’re moving to intercept.”

  “I was expecting that.” Geary tapped his controls. “Captain Tulev, take your battle cruiser division and maneuver to intercept the dark heavy cruisers behind us that I have designated. Those dark cruisers are aiming for Mistral. I don’t want any of them getting to her.”

  “Understood, Admiral.”

  Leviathan, Dragon, Steadfast, and Valiant began braking harder, also veering out more, aiming for an intercept on the dark heavy cruisers before they would reach Mistral.

  A notice told Geary that Mistral was calling him. He accepted the call, seeing Commander Young’s image appear in a virtual window before him. “Admiral, we’re getting a look at more of the government facility as our angle of approach changes. There’s a covered dock attached to that facility,” Commander Young reported. “Big enough to hold a single battle cruiser or an assault transport, and the doors of the dock are open wide. When the staff on the facility tried to flee, they must have not bothered closing the dock doors behind them. I can get Mistral inside instead of dropping off my shuttles for the first wave of the Marine assault. All of the Marines can hit the facility at once, my shuttles won’t be exposed, and Mistral will be safe inside the dock.”

  “Will you be safe?” Geary asked. “That dock is an easy target.”

  “Admiral, there are no signs of that facility having been fired on. We’ve got plenty of indications that the dark ships have shot up shipping in this star system, but not a mark on any of the orbiting facilities. If the dark ships have any inhibits left active at all, at the top of their list would be not to fire on the government facility where their human overseers were located. It’s still a gamble, sir,” Young admitted, “but I think it is less risky than trying to play keep-away with the dark ships while also sending in and recovering multiple waves of shuttles and Marines.”

  Geary stared forward, weighing options and risks, then nodded. “Very well, Commander. You are authorized to enter the dock and launch the assault from there. Notify Colonel Rico. Make sure you don’t loiter outside the hangar lining up your approach and matching velocity. I’m going to do all I can to keep the dark ships off you, but if you’re just hanging in space, you’ll be a very easy target for them.”

  Commander Young grinned. “Admiral, I can dock ol’ Miss anywhere I’ve got a meter to spare on the sides and in front and back. Consider it done.”

  Young’s image had no sooner vanished than Desjani gestured for Geary’s attention. “The dark battle cruisers behind us have seen Tulev’s battle cruisers moving. They’re altering vectors to intercept Tulev at the same time he intercepts their heavy cruisers.”

  “Good.” Geary touched his controls again. “Captain Badaya, you are to take the First and Sixth Battle Cruiser Divisions, as well as the Third and Fifth Heavy Cruiser Divisions, and the Second, Twelfth, Fourteenth, and Seventeenth Destroyer Squadrons, and join with Captain Tulev’s Second Battle Cruiser Division to intercept the dark battle cruisers moving to engage Mistral. Captain Tulev, your division is now part of Formation Delta One commanded by Captain Badaya.”

  Captains Badaya, Duellos, and Tulev acknowledged the orders, as did the commanders of the heavy cruiser divisions and destroyer squadrons. Illustrious, Incredible, Inspire, Formidable, and Implacable accompanied by ten heavy cruisers and thirty-one destroyers altered their vectors, sliding outward and up toward the path of the oncoming dark battle cruisers.

  Geary could see Desjani glowering at her display. “I’m holding back Dauntless and the rest of the Fourth Battle Cruiser Division for a reason,” he said. “I want those dark battle cruisers to think they have a chance of getting to Mistral. If I added four more battle cruisers to our intercept force, the dark battle cruisers would be certain to veer off. But they might believe they can handle nine of our battle cruisers, especially since I am not part of that force.”

  “You’re trusting Badaya to handle them.” Desjani grumbled.

  “He’s the senior officer among those three battle cruiser division commanders, and Badaya can handle an overtaking intercept.”

  “You still owe me one. Sir.”

  Mistral was falling back fast now as she braked to match orbital velocity with the government facility. Geary’s battle cruiser formation Delta One was dropping back even faster so as to intercept the oncoming dark ships before they reached Mistral. Those dark battle cruisers had joined up with their heavy cruisers again and were coming on steadily, apparently ignoring both Badaya’s Delta One formation before them and the Dancers approaching from behind.

  “Twenty-two minutes to intercept of dark battle cruisers by Delta One,” Lieutenant Castries said. “Mistral reports estimated docking time at facility in thirty-five minutes.”

  Desjani, still grumpy, was eyeing her display. “The other dark ship formations are coming back onto intercepts, but they won’t be able to engage us again until after
we pass through the region holding their orbiting support facilities. Clumsy of them. They’re giving us a clean shot at what they need to keep fighting.”

  “It’s just like at Bhavan,” Geary said. “Whoever programmed the dark ships put a lot of effort into the tactical model but didn’t put nearly as much work or emphasis on logistics. The dark ships are still thinking primarily in terms of destroying us, not in terms of defending their support structure from us. And they’re not going to get a chance to rethink those priorities.”

  He called up the bombardment routines again and, designating all of the docks and warehouses as targets, told the fleet’s combat systems to come up with a launch plan for when the Alliance warships went through the region of space holding those facilities. Not certain if the battle cruisers in Delta One would be back with the main formation, Geary told the combat systems to make full use of the awesome bombardment capabilities of the twenty-one Alliance battleships as well as Desjani’s Fourth Battle Cruiser Division. This time, with such short flight distances between launch platform and target, any unpredictable or varying interactions of the gravitational fields of the two stars had too little impact to worry about. The proposed plan popped up almost instantly. “Can you do a sanity check on this for me, Captain Desjani?”

  She looked over the plan on her own display, brightening as she saw the sheer size of the bombardment. “We’re going to make sure nothing survives this run.”

  “Right,” Geary said. “I don’t want to have to worry about coming back to finish the job.”

  “It looks very good to me.” She checked another part of her display. “It also looks like you were right, Admiral. Those dark battle cruisers are going to try to take Badaya. They want Mistral bad and probably figure they can whittle down our number of battle cruisers at the same time.”

  Their bows facing backwards while their main propulsion labored to slow them down, the ships under Badaya’s command already had the majority of their weapons and strongest shields pointed toward the enemy. The dark battle cruisers, though, having ramped up their velocity to catch Geary’s ships, were now having to brake harder and longer in order to effectively engage the Alliance battle cruisers, their sterns toward the enemy they were rapidly closing on. And as the dark battle cruisers and Geary’s battle cruisers both slowed, the Dancers gained more rapidly on both of them.