Fighting the Silent
Page 7
“Danger, X.O.?”
“Most likely, Captain.”
She looked into my eyes and immediately believed me.
“Any ideas?”
“Not yet. She’s going left and back. That’s all we know. And nobody is reacting, which means they still think it’s nothing. We asked the Loghi twice to confirm the contacts, but they didn’t get it. Still mistrusting the probes.”
“And that’s a mistake, I gather?”
“I wouldn’t, Captain.”
“Ok.”
We used our binoculars, trying to look everywhere. But it was too empty, too dark, and we had to be careful not to get sick. It was very easy with those binoculars. Even for experienced hands.
A few minutes passed. A few silent worried minutes. Mirany looked at me.
“What would you be doing if you were in the Navy, Mr.Iddo?”
Easy call. That answer I knew.
“I would be clearing the boards, Captain.”
Mirany nodded.
“Zhany, issue a message to the whole convoy. The Harvy is clearing the boards.”
There wasn’t a Merchant Fleet equivalent to ‘clearing the boards.' No boards to clear, in fact. But that message surely would not be ignored. In a few minutes, several merchant ships were responding. They were ‘clearing the boards’ as well. In seconds, the whole convoy was on alert status. The merchants trusted Mirany more than they trusted the Navy. And Mirany trusted me.
“Captain,” Zhany called. “The Ascim is hailing! Captain Saltz for…”
“CONTACT!!” shouted Loly.
“Fucking hell!” said Rock next to her, protecting his ear.
I lashed at Loly.
“What’s the heading?! Dammit, Loly, put it on primary!”
We all looked at the screen. Oh, hell! She was 6-and-9! Right behind us!
“BATTLE STATIONS!!” I shouted. But they looked at Mirany.
“Battle stations!” She called. “Battle stations everyone!”
Not quick enough!
“TORPEDO!” shouted Loly.
Oh, fuck! Mesmerized, we all looked at the primary screen. There it was. That slash from a brush of fire. That moving tail of white smoke and orange flame in the dark. That sign of death. It went on directly to the target. It passed one ship, then another…
“It’s going for the Farcot.” Said Zhany.
“Oh, the stars help me…” said Kritia.
It was as if it was happening in slow motion. The Farcot was hit very close to the main engines, and there was an explosion, and for a moment it seemed much smaller than we would think. But just for a moment. Then the real explosions started to break it apart. One engine. Then another… The Farcot. Tym Gatty’s ship. Breaking apart. I knew immediately he wouldn’t survive. No one would.
“Oh, the stars help me …” Someone said.
I was the first to shake it off. To take my eyes off the screen. Off the balls of fire swelling in the dark. I looked for the Silent.
“She’s moving in!” I said, gaining the Captain’s attention. “She’s pursuing the back merchants! She’s going to get inside the convoy and use missiles!!”
“ANOTHER TORPEDO!!”
There it was: it was going to hit the Farcot once more. Just like the other time. More explosions!
Mira looked into my eyes. There was a question there. She didn’t know what to do.
“Oh, poor souls…” said Kritia.
And then Mirany nodded.
“Act.” She whispered. And I nodded back.
I jumped into my chair and fastened my seat belt while I ordered:
“Rock! Break left! Full speed! All the way port!!”
And Rock would hesitate. And he would look at Mirany to get her consent. But before that he obeyed. Just like he should. He just did what he was asked. Instinctively. Good man! The Harvy left the convoy formation and turned left. And then we got hit. We felt the impacts, the ship trembled, and then Kritia’s screen started flashing red lights.
“We got hit!! We got hit!! We got hit!!”
“Where?” asked Mirany, fastening her seat belt.
“Hulls 7 and 5!”
“Missile fire?”
I knew it wasn’t. Not violent enough.
“Debris,” I answered. “Farcot’s shrapnel!”
“Loly?”
Loly seemed to have tears in her eyes, but her voice was firm.
“No missile, Captain. It must have been debris!”
But in zero-gravity and that speed, debris could be just as dangerous.
“We have a breach, Captain! Hull 7!” Called Kritia. “And Bravo Engine got hit! I don’t know if we can keep it!”
Mirany released herself and got up.
“Loly! With me! Kritia, you have Sensors! X.O., you have the bridge, I’m going back there!”
“I have the bridge!” I assumed it without the slightest hesitation like it was second nature to me. I even managed to nod to Mirany to assure her it was okay. I have it. And then she left. And Loly followed her.
“Missiles! Missiles! Missiles!” announced Kritia.
I looked at the primary. There she was. The Silent. Shooting at close range with her full 24 HCHE batteries. Hitting the Haarly and the Dhofer left and right, once and again, even before they could get their low-grade missile batteries in order. All 10 or 12 of them. And the explosions lighted the black. Hurt our eyes.
“Oh, the stars…” Said Kritia.
“The Ascim is hailing, sir.” Said Zhany. “Captain Saltz demands we get back into formation!”
“Keep turning, Rock!” I ordered. “Lower the bow and turn hard! Get us out of the way of that bitch! Are the weapons ready, Kritia?”
“All even batteries ready, sir! And most of the odd! We don’t have 5 nor 7!”
“Solutions?”
“Negative, sir. Not yet.”
I picked up my binoculars and rotated my chair.
“Do I acknowledge the Ascim, sir?” asked Zhany.
“I’m busy!”
I looked to the rear. The Haarly was on fire. The Dhofer was on fire. The Silent was gaining speed and moving up the convoy. I looked at the primary screen. The Loghi was approaching rapidly to intercept the Silent. But the escort frigate wouldn’t be getting any fire solution quick enough. None better than us. And she wouldn’t be able to use the PTL30’s or the MSS1’s because the Silent was inside the formation and the cluster-missiles would hit the merchants just the same!
But the Harvy was getting out of the way. The Harvy was getting the tragic wreckage of the Farcot between herself and the enemy. The Harvy was going to survive.
“MISSILE LOCK!!”
Fuck! They got us!! Through the eye of the needle, they’d managed a solution.
“Missile!! Missile!! Missile!!”
“Wait for it!” I said. I looked at the distance measures. We’d managed enough distance. The missiles were closing in. “Countermeasures, Kritia. Batteries 2 to 6. On my mark.” I counted backwards. 3-2-1. “Release!!”
The countermeasures flew away. There was an explosion. We felt the shock waves hit us. The ship vibrated. And there was a soft bang, and I looked and saw a burned disfigured body bumping against the bridge’s window and flying away. And then the gravity controls failed. Maybe it was shrapnel from the Farcot or the missiles, maybe it was just the shock. Rock was strapped, and so was I, and Kritia held on tight, but Zhany didn’t have her seat belt on and flew off violently towards the ceiling. I managed to grab her foot just before she’d crash and break her head. I pulled her to me, and she looked at me, wide-eyed, scared stiff and nodded, and I pushed her towards her station.
“Strap yourself, Zhany.”
“Yes, sir!”
There were no more missiles. I looked through my binoculars and saw the faint silhouette of the Silent pursuing the Gera.
“Zhany! Warning to the Gera. Enemy ship 6-and-9. Climb 90 degrees now!”
“Enemy ship 6-and-9. Climb 90 degrees now. Yes,
sir!”
And the Gera started to climb, leaving formation. And the Silent followed her for a bit, leaving the convoy as well, looking for a solution. But the Loghi was approaching and preparing to fire. So the Silent vanished. It was there one minute and the next she was gone. Leaving behind nothing but fear and destruction.
*
It took me about an hour to feel I could leave the bridge to Rock without much trouble, with gravity back to normal and everything under control. Mirany hadn’t come back or checked in yet, and we weren't able to reach her. I went to find her and just bumped into her in the corridor.
“Byl.”
“Mira.”
She looked me in the eyes. She looked exhausted. Her hair was messy. She had a small cut on the side of her face and dirt all over her suit.
“Is everything okay?” She asked.
“The Silent’s got four ships. Over 2.5 million tonnes. No survivors.”
“But is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “We got away.”
She sighed.
“Come with me.”
She led me to her quarters. She pointed to the table, and I sat down. She picked up a bottle of awrey. Clear as ice and just as chilly. And two glasses. And she sat across me. And poured a couple of shots. We both drank them in one go, and then she poured some more.
“We had a breach… Worst than we thought.” She said. “Lost five hands in Hull 7. And two more from the rescue party.”
She drank again and poured again.
“Loly managed to close the hole, but then… At the last minute, she fell. Six meters. She broke her neck. And a lot more bones, I’d expect. She didn’t make it.”
I drank as well. I remembered Loly’s weird smile. And Tym Gatty’s timid eyes.
Mira’s hand came across the table and took mine.
“Thank you.” She said.
I squeezed her hand. And for a few minutes, we remained there. Looking at the empty wall. Breathing deeply of both sadness and relief. Hand in hand. Sweaty palm in sweaty palm.
“Come on.” She said finally, releasing her fingers and getting up. “We have a wounded ship to run.”
*
The next day, we were called to the Ascim. Mirany and I were escorted by a petty officer to the Captain’s office where Saltz was sulking behind the desk. His First Officer stood next to him, with a grave face. Saltz greeted Mira with a melting handshake and responded my salute with a sloppy gesture, pointing to the chairs where we could seat.
“Please.”
He then crossed his hands over the desk and looked at us both.
“I’m very disappointed in you. A military operation is a difficult and rigorous thing. It needs absolute discipline and alignment. We are traveling dangerous ‘seas,’ and there’s a war going on. I was clear at the beginning of the journey. A convoy works in a very specific way, within specific rules. For everyone to have a better chance of survival, that’s how it is. And the one thing that cannot happen, the one thing that can create a real mess of it all and put us all in danger is if each ship suddenly starts to decide what to do on her own.”
Mirany was just sitting there really calm, listening to the man, but I was feeling uncomfortable, so I tried to speak.
“Sir, if I may…” I started.
“YOU CERTAINLY MAY NOT!!” He suddenly turned red, pointed his finger and shouted. “YOU ARE A NAVY OFFICER! YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!!”
“Be careful, Captain.”
Mirany’s very calm but strict voice stopped him right there. We all looked at her. Saltz had a very surprised look on his face. Mira looked into his eyes and continued, a definite menace faintly carrying in her tone.
“We are not low-life moon-based scavengers on our first long-haul trip… You know why we are here. So please calm down.”
Saltz's eyes opened wide, shocked, trying to figure out what was happening. I was also surprised and trying to grasp it. To this day I don’t know if she was referring to the Admirals that had put us, her and me, in this convoy, our patrons, or to the clout she carried within the merchants, and some sort of idea that we were representing them all. But Captain Saltz immediately calmed down. He grabbed his own fingers.
“You… You disobeyed my orders in the battlefield. Several others followed you. That will not do.”
“Yes, Captain, I understand.” Smiled Mira. “But please understand that if we hadn’t acted fast enough, we would have lost more ships. The Harvy would’ve certainly been lost. And that was unacceptable. We were in a better position to perceive the whole situation, so we acted. Can we agree on that?”
Saltz didn’t say a word. He uncomfortably looked at her.
“Now…” said Mira. “Would you please listen to what my Executive Officer has to say?”
Nothing, for a few moments, but then he nodded.
“Please speak, Mr.Iddo.”
I was surprised he knew my name. I looked at Mira, and she nodded as well, so I started.
“Thank you, sir. I understand the orders we were given, but in truth, sir, the whole convoy formation is not good enough. It doesn’t work against these Silent.”
Now he was curious.
“Continue.”
“Well, sir. The Silent study us for days undetected, they know exactly what they are targeting when they engage. They have higher range than ever, they are able to be invisible for longer than ever, keep up with our speed, and choose the moment of attack. When they do, they can approach almost undetected before it’s too late. They engage very quickly and very deadly. There is no chance whatsoever that the convoy can get into a defensive position in time for it to be effective. Not even for the escorts to get into offensive position! They hit us, they run, and they disappear. Well before anybody can do anything.”
Saltz flinched. He looked at Mirany and back at me.
“And you know this how?” he asked. I avoided the question.
“This convoy formation is obsolete, sir. Maintaining relative positions once we’re attacked is the wrong thing to do. Ignoring any signal whatsoever from the probes is the wrong thing to do. Trying to circle around once we’re attacked is completely ineffective. Relying on wide area weapons to respond is next to useless. If you analyze the data of what happened, you’ll find out I’m right. The Silent are much better prepared for the fight. They are way ahead of us.”
Saltz sat back, looked at Mirany and asked.
“You agree with your officer?”
She smiled.
“He saved my ship.”
Saltz looked back at me.
“So what do you propose, Lieutenant?”
I shrugged.
“I’m not sure, sir.”
Saltz turned to his F.O.
“Is Captain Neehan already here?”
Neehan was the Loghi’s Captain. Apparently, he had also been called and was waiting.
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, tell him to come in and join this discussion.” The F.O. left, and Saltz looked at us. “You start thinking, then, Mr.Iddo. Start figuring out what to change now, because I don’t want to get into a fight with a Silent like this ever again. I’m not sure that disobeying my orders did indeed save you or not, but I’m pretty sure that this could have been much worst. We are sitting ducks. All of us. Every single one of us is meat for the slaughter. We weren’t even able to fire one single missile…”
He leaned back in his chair.
“By the way, I don’t know if you know already, but it’s official.”
Mirany and I exchanged glances, then I asked:
“What, sir?”
“War, Mr.Iddo. Axx declared. We’re officially at war, now.”
I twisted my nose at the irony.
“No kidding…”
*
When we got back to the Harvy, a couple of hours later, Mirany presided over the burial of Loly and the other casualties. We launched them into space. It was a sad and short ceremony.
*
The Silent came back for us again. And once more. This time the escorts did not ignore the first signals of the probes and acted quickly, not allowing the Silent to come inside the perimeter of the convoy, but still, QC1 lost over 4 million tons of cargo by the time we reached the Eeron and arrived at the space ports of Torrance. The Harvy, however, was spared from danger on both occasions. Both attacks came from the starboard bow side, and by the time our ship was able to spot the action the Silent had already disappeared, unharmed, leaving fire and destruction behind.
*
We got one-week leave after the journey.
Torrance was already under siege. Its ally, the rich planet of Duellot, had been invaded by Axx and it was close enough to serve as a spring board for Axx’s bomber ships to reach Torrance. The military bases in Torrance’s five moons had been working around the clock to defend against attacks and, amazingly, they had been able to succeed most of the times, repelling even the most massive of attacks.
On the far end of Torrance, there was an area called Uthon that was permanently secure from harm once the Adri moon’s orbit would follow the rotation of the planet and be constantly present in the sky. Adri was a fortress, so the Uthon region was a safe haven. And so we were sent there for our leave.
The Harvy’s crew and officers were accommodated in the town of Athzim. Most of the crew was given quarters in military installations, but the officers stayed at a local hotel. On the first evening, Zhany and Kritia decided to sleep as much as they could, and Rock just sat on the corner of the hotel bar and got very drunk.
Mira and I left to take a walk. There was a local carnival going on, for which the town was famous. In time of war, the carnival attracted even more people from the surrounding areas, trying to forget all that was going on on the other side of the planet.
The weather was hot, and people were loud, chanting and dancing in abandonment. Mira had left her overalls behind and was wearing khaki pants and a casual blue blouse. Her hair was pinned on the top of her head, and a few drops of sweat slid down her long neck. I could hardly take my eyes off her. And she spotted that. It happened in one moment when two boys and one girl passed her by with big fans and saw her sweating and decided to cool her down with frantic joyful moves of the colorful fans. It was surprising, and Mira just started to laugh loud as they sang and waved the fans. And then they left, and Mira looked at me, still laughing, and suddenly realized the way I was looking at her. And it was just a second. A short stare. But it was enough. She came to me, she put her arms around my neck, and she kissed me deeply.