Wrath of the Shaitans

by Sudipto Majumdar

  The antimissile count from all the three Shaitan warships was similar. What was interesting was which human missiles each of the Shaitan warships chose to target. Tango – 3 was not targeted so obviously all its antimissiles attacked human nukes aimed either at Tango – 1 or Tango – 2.

  What was interesting was that 90% of Tango – 3 antimissiles were shot at human missiles that were targeted at Tango – 1. At first glance Francis thought that it was a smart strategy. You first concentrate on ensuring that at least one of the two targeted ship survives. If you still have antimissiles left, then you help the other ship.

  Humans would not be able to prioritize their friends and comrades this way, they would divide their missiles equally amongst both the ships, but they knew that the Shaitans did not suffer from any such emotion. They did things in a brutal, logical and efficient manner.

  Francis however started doubting that conclusion, when he looked further at the details of the data. In some cases the Tango – 3 antimissiles chose to protect Tango – 1, even when that particular shot was difficult and there was an easier shot available that could have protected Tango – 2.

  It was not just ruthless single mindedness, but even from the perspective of OR (Operations Research, which is a branch of computer science and mathematics), it was sub optimal. If the Shaitan computers were optimizing, then they were doing so poorly.

  Tango – 1 as expected fired all its antimissiles to kill human nukes that had been aimed at itself. What amazed Francis was when he looked at the statistics for Tango – 2. It had fired 12% of its antimissiles not to defend itself, but to kill missiles aimed at Tango – 1. These were not just during the last moments, when it knew that it was doomed. Tango – 2 kept firing some of its antimissiles from the start to protect Tango – 1 even at the cost of its own peril!

  It could be considered selfless altruism by some, or working to cold hard logic by others. After all they did manage to somehow get Tango – 1 out of the fight alive. However if it was altruism or cold logic, then why did Tango – 2 not fire more antimissiles to protect Tango – 1? Two human nukes were still let through by their missile defense, it was only luck that one actually hit.

  If Tango – 2 wanted to save Tango – 1 so desperately that it was willing to sacrifice itself, why not send more of its antimissiles to defend Tango – 1? It would have made no difference to Tango – 2 if it let through 50 missiles on itself instead of the 32, it could not have been killed any more.

  It was a puzzle to which Francis did not have a clear answer. Somehow the thought kept nagging him. Was Tango – 1 somehow special to the Shaitans? Or was it someone traveling on Tango – 1 so important that they wanted to save that person at any cost, like an Admiral or a chieftain? Or was Tango – 1 carrying something important, like a terrible bomb to be unleashed on Earth?

  Francis summarized his discovery and his speculation and dispatched it back to USC command. Let Admiral Daniel Cloutier make some sense out of it.

  Chapter 31

  Slippery customer

  Approaching Earth

  May 2084

  If there is no emergency or other battle compulsions, every human Captain or Admiral sets a pace for their ships such that the amount of deceleration needed to stop at the target point in space is well below the maximum thrust of its ships’ engines. This is done so that if the ships need to stop some distance before the target point, due to any unforeseen reason, the ships will be able to do so by braking harder.

  The Shaitans seem to follow a similar doctrine. The Alpha Shaitan fleet, after taking a turn towards Earth from their rendezvous point, had fired their ships’ thrusters at near 55% of their maximum observed capacity. It was as if they were in no particular hurry to reach Earth.

  Fabi and Gerald guessed that the admiral of the Alpha Shaitan fleet was just being extra cautious in his approach towards Earth. It gave the Alpha Shaitan fleet ample leeway in stopping well short of Earth, if the situation warranted. It also gave the Shaitans more time to observe the defenses around Earth and the preparations humans were making.

  So what if added a few more weeks to the travel time into the solar system. When you have been travelling for almost two decades, a few more weeks hardly makes any difference. The extra measure of caution had paid dividends for the Shaitans.

  After being ambushed by the First Fleet in the asteroid belt, one of the two Shaitan ship’s engines had gone out for some time. Tango – 1’s engines had now been brought online again. It had taken Tango – 1 over three days to bring back its engines online, but it was still amazing. The ship had suffered a 2. 1 megaton thermo nuclear strike at a distance of a few hundred meters and was still functional!

  During the time when Tango – 1 must have been repairing itself, both the surviving Shaitan ships had been coasting on their momentum. They had lost a few days of deceleration. To reach their designated stop point, they were now thrusting their engines at over 60% of their maximum.

  That still left them with ample capacity to brake even harder if the situation warranted. With the orders Fabi had just gotten, that was a problem. It meant that the Shaitan admiral could still choose the place of the battle or choose not to fight the Third fleet at all. He called his favorite strategist, whose opinion he had come to value in the last few months fighting together. “Captain. Would you be so kind as to step into the flag bridge please?”

  When Gerald entered the flag bridge, they didn’t exchange any salutes or pleasantries. They had just had a meal together before entering the bridge. The captain’s ready room and now the flag bridge of the Nautilus was slightly off the absolute center of the rotating axis of the ship, unlike the bridge itself, through which ran the axis. So there was slight gravity here, strong enough for one to sit and not drift away. Gerald pulled down a seat from the wall and sat opposite Fabi.

  “Well… we have an issue captain, and I will like some more ideas from that fertile mind of yours.” Fabi opened up.

  Gerald gave a good natured laugh and said. “Last I saw admiral, all the ideas were coming from your side. I was simply calculating the details. But please go ahead, I would be glad to put in my two cents of thought for whatever it is worth.”

  “I have got orders from command HQ. Admiral Cloutier would like us to engage the enemy at this point about 3 million kilometers from Earth.” Fabi got up and pointed at a spot that was marked on the wall screen. “The problem I see captain is this. I just checked the current thrust rate of the Shaitan fleet. It is just over 60% of their maximum.

  There is no way for us to force them to have a confrontation at that point. They can stop well short of that if they want to and wait for the other Shaitan ship TC – 2 to join up with it if the Shaitan admiral wants that, and I cannot see why he would not want that.”

  Gerald got up, swiped away the screen to remove the map and confirm the thrust figures that Fabi was mentioning. Fabi had got that right. He selected one of the options from the menu, and then as an afterthought looked back and asked Fabi for permission. “If you don’t mind admiral, can I?”

  “Go ahead by all means. You are good with numbers any way, I… what do you say… yes I suck at it. Give me a good straight up fight any day, I can handle that. Numbers are not for me.” Fabi said in good humor.

  Gerald played around with the tables on the screen for a few minutes before he spoke up. “Just as I thought. Here admiral, have a look at this.” Gerald moved sideways to let Fabi have a view of the screen before continuing. “This is what the projected trajectory of the Shaitan fleet was before they were ambushed by the First Fleet in the asteroid belt.” He pointed to a blue colored line.

  “This is what the projected trajectory of the Shaitan fleet is now.” He pointed to a red colored line. “In this magnification it looks the same, but let me just zoom it.” He zoomed the map and one could make out that the red line extended a bit further than the blue line.

  “The previous rate of deceleration would have made the Shaitan fleet halt 6
million kilometers from Earth. The current rate of deceleration will take them further, closer to Earth, making them halt at a distance of about 4 million kilometers from Earth.

  Clearly there has been a very slight and subtle change in their destination. I would assume that it is a direct result of them being ambushed and one of the ships being destroyed and another wounded. The question to ask is why change the position? What can they hope to gain?” Gerald asked rhetorically.

  “I guess they are being more circumspect right?” Gerald answered his own question. Fabi was about to nod before he caught on and was about to answer something but Gerald continued. “If they were being more cautious, then logic dictates that they would have stopped further from Earth not closer.”

  “Exactly captain. Which can mean only one thing!” Fabi said excited.

  “Yes admiral. It means that the fleet can brake no harder than it currently braking. That current rate of deceleration takes the Shaitans 2 million kilometers closer to Earth than originally planned, but they cannot do anything about it. I suspect it is the wounded Tango – 1 which is the limiting factor. It may have repaired and revived its engines, but not to their full capacity. This is the maximum thrust the repaired engine can generate.” Fabi said in conclusion.

  “Brilliant captain! You were saying something about all the ideas coming from me?” Fabi asked sarcastically.

  “I am sure you will still take that input from me and turn it into one of those brilliant Maskirovka of yours. But I don’t mind admiral, I am getting to learn a lot.” Gerald said with a good natured laugh.

  “No. No more Maskirovka. You can fool the enemy only once. To try to fool the enemy twice is worse than insulting his intelligence. It is fooling yourself and possibly setting yourself on your path towards doom. No captain. This time we fight straight with bare knuckles.

  If there is something you want to learn, then learn this. There is an appropriate tool for every fight. You are the best thinking captain in the fleet. No… what do you say… yes… scratch that. You are the best thinking captain in USC. That is why I love discussing strategy with you. But now we need tactics. Instinctive and instant tactics in the heat of the battle.

  If you were the right tool for the first phase of the battle that required strategy, we now need to use a different tool for the next stage of the battle. You know why that Indian captain is number two in the fleet despite being such a hot head? By all counts he should not even have gotten a Nautilus class command, because he is so impulsive.

  Hamid Dar is where he is because he is a brilliant and instinctive tactician. The best part is that he does not even know how he does it. Put him in a tough spot and he comes up with a harebrained idea which somehow works. Some people are born with such gift. Capt. Dar is the right tool for the job right now. Right now we need a street fighter, not a prize fighter.

  If you want to learn something Gerald, then learn this. Sometimes you need to give control to the person who can best utilize and exploit the situation at hand, whatever the chain of command may be, and not take it personally.” Fabi looked at Gerald who nodded.

  “So let us talk to the hot head captain of ours and see what he has to say.” Fabi said as he opened a channel to the Shiva. He explained to Capt. Dar the entire situation and asked for his opinion.

  “If you would indulge me in a bit of a metaphor admiral. Our people would go hunting mountain goats for sport and meat in the mountains of Kashmir. If the hunters were ever to find a herd with a goat that has injured its legs, which happens a lot with mountain goats, their tactics would not be to immediately try and isolate that goat from the herd, for that is very difficult in a mountainous terrain.

  The hunters would instead invest their energy in chasing the herd all over the mountains. This is a lot more work than trying to sneak in on one of the goats, but it has a higher rate of success. That is because sooner or later the goat with the injured leg would slip up somewhere. Unlike the savannas, the injured animals don’t fall behind for it is not distance that separates the prey from the predator but treacherous terrain.

  So the injured goat does not fall behind, but ends up taking a wrong turn or slipping down a slope or a cliff. The injured goat ends up taking the wrong turn because it can’t make the jump the rest of herd can, and if he tries, it ends up slipping and falling to its death.

  I have always thought that space is not like the savannas, flat and a two dimensional field. It is more like the mountains of my home – a three dimensional playground. It is very hard to corner your quarry, for they simply move away in any of the other dimensions. With just 3 ships we would find it very hard to corner the enemy even if we were to split up, which is not a good idea anyway.

  So we simply chase the herd, all 3 of us together. Sooner or later the lame goat Tango – 1 would slip up, either making a mistake or not being able execute a maneuver properly. And when it does, we will be waiting for it. We will figure out what needs to be done at the spur of the moment and go in for the kill.” Hamid summarized his thought process.

  “Yes. Spur of the moment is more your style Hamid. I like it though. Simple and uncomplicated plan. Not much that can go wrong other than whatever goes wrong in a battle anyway – that mischievous fellow called Murphy. What do you think Gerald?” Fabi asked.

  “Spur of the moment is not my style, but I will be honest that I cannot think of a better plan. In fact I cannot think of any plan. So I will go along with Hamid’s plan. In fact I would like to recommend sir that the Shiva takes the lead in the quest. Capt. Dar is a good tactician better suited for this job.” Gerald said. Hamid looked surprised and Fabi raised his eyebrows while smiling inside.

  “I agree with your assessment. Captain Dar, would you please draw out a detailed plan of this quest that you will lead in the next hour? We convene a conference of the captains of the fleet in an hour to hear your detailed plan. Fabi out for now.” Fabi cut the line after the customary salute and looked at Gerald inquiringly.

  “Sir this is me learning. You yourself said that Hamid is the best tool for the job, and that I should let go of my ego.” Gerald explained.

  Fabi smiled and simply said. “You will make a good admiral soon Gerald.”

  Capt. Hamid Dar came back in an hour with his plan. It couldn’t really be called a detailed plan. There wasn’t that much of a detail to the plan. He requested that they decelerate harder to try and come closer to the Shaitan ships. This will force Tango 1 to strain its engines to the max. If they get lucky something in their engine might break. If the Shaitans do nothing then the two fleets would meet at a distance of 6 million Kilometers from Earth.

  It was more likely that the Tango 1 and Tango 3 would veer off sideways or off the plane of the solar system in order to avoid the Third Fleet. The most likely direction to veer off would be towards the direction of the other Shaitan ship approaching at an angle – TC-2. The Third fleet will follow and chase, hoping to come within missile range. Beyond that it was very much a seat of the pants plan, very much according to Capt. Dar’s style.

  Chapter 32

  The Second Fleet

  Between Earth and Moon

  May 2084

  The Second Fleet had played a conservative game all along. They were the reserve fleet, the last defense between the Shaitans and Earth. It was becoming more and more apparent that the Second Fleet would have to get out of its comfort zone in the orbit of Earth and step out to meet the enemy now. The Second Fleet was marking TC-2. It was the responsibility of the Second Fleet to prevent TC-2 from not just reaching Earth but also from being able to join up with Tango 1 and Tango 3.

  TC-2 had been keeping up a slow and creeping pace all this while decelerating slowly, heading towards what had appeared to be Earth. It was clear now that it was actually heading towards the point marked by the Third Fleet, which was the presumed stop point of Tango 1 and 3. Second Fleet would have to get in the way to prevent that from happening.

  Admiral Maginot got the final OK
from the admiralty and passed on the order to the captains of the fleet. Eight Resolute class vessels left Earth orbit on a very slow trek which would take them to a point barely a million Km from Earth. This point was on the line between TC-2 and the presumed stop point of the Tangoes.

  It helped to conserve propulsion and fuel as much as possible on the Resolute class of ships. You had that much more for the battle. Each Resolute class ship had a conceptual equivalent of a GPU (Ground Power Unit) used by commercial aircrafts. Just like a GPU is plugged to an aircraft when it is on a tarmac to provide power, so that the more expensive aircraft fuel is not used, each Resolute class ship docked to an orbiting structure called a OPU (Orbital Power Unit).

  An umbilical connecting the OPU to the Resolute class ship provided power while the ship was in orbit, thus conserving the fuel tanks of the ship and keeping them full. That way any ship could leave orbit at short notice with its tanks full. Each ship detached its umbilical and gave themselves a gentle nudge with their thruster to take them out of orbit.

  Then they turned on their main thrusters for just 30 seconds, which set them off on their slow drift towards their destination. The Second Fleet would arrive at their destination in 4 days’ time. The slow speed would mean that they would also have to use just a 30 seconds thrust to stop at their destination.

  Fuel conservation was paramount. The fleet would still arrive a day before TC-2 was to cross that spot. The slow speed also meant that if TC-2 changed its direction to avoid the Second Fleet, which was very likely, the fleet would not have to fight too much momentum to change direction themselves to give chase.

  It was a good thing that the Second Fleet was drifting slowly, because as they were about to reach their destination and come to a halt, TC-2 changed its direction. That much was expected, what was unexpected was the direction the Shaitan ship took. It was heading straight towards the moon!