Scimitar's Glory: A Swordships Odyssey Novel

by Dietmar Wehr

  “Which means nothing insofar as whether that’s 7th Fleet or not. It’s unlikely that we would get reflections from all 15 ships at the same time if that is our Fleet. Either way, we have to assume that there are more than nine ships there.

  “What if we sent them a short-burst com signal?” she asked.

  Koenig shook his head. “I’m not sure that would do any good. By the time their reply gets back to where we were, we’ll have covered so much distance that their comlaser beam might miss us altogether. And if it’s not 7th Fleet, then they’ll start maneuvering in ways that we’ll have difficulty tracking.

  Before Soriya could reply, the display pinged again.

  “New reflection contacts, multiple contacts. If these new contacts are arriving from jump space, they’re behind the first group,” said the tactical AI.

  “How many in the second group?” asked Koenig.

  “Seven detected so far.”

  “Which group is 7th Fleet?” asked Soriya.

  “I HOPE it’s the second group, but my gut is telling me that 7th Fleet is being chased by a Tong fleet, and with the other Tong fleet waiting for them in MR66, this smells to me like 7th Fleet is being pressured to run headlong into the ambush.” He paused and then shook his head. “This changes things. We can’t afford to play it safe now. Com, send a short-burst comlaser signal to the first group with our recognition code and approximate position. Ask them if they’re being chased and, if so, what they want us to do? How long until we can expect a reply?”

  “Thirty-four point eight nine minutes at this range,” said the com AI. Koenig clenched his fists in frustration. Star systems were just too damned big when it came to communication. He instinctively knew that the light from the reflections they were seeing now had left those ships over 17 minutes ago. A lot could have already happened during those minutes.

  “Detecting very faint traces of micro-wave emissions now. Unable to tell which group is sending them, but TacComp gives an 88.4% probability that the emissions are coming from the second group,” said the tactical AI.

  Koenig nodded. That made sense. If the second group was in fact a Tong fleet chasing 7th Fleet, they would be scanning with radar in order to target the human ships for a missile barrage. The explosion of a nuclear-tipped missile would be a clear indication that Excalibur would see even at this range.

  Koenig realized that he was still standing next to the Command Pod. “Okay, XO, I may as well relieve you now as the BDO. You can stay on the Bridge if you wish, but I may go to Battle Stations if—” The display double pinged and they heard the tactical AI’s voice at the same time.

  “Multiple detonations detected from the vicinity of the first group.”

  “DAMN!” shouted Koenig. He was positive now that the first group really was 7th Fleet. “Battle Stations! Astro, forget the indirect approach! Intercept trajectory on the second group! I say again, second group!” When he saw Soriya’s puzzled expression, he explained. “If we join the first group, we’ll have to fight with our missiles, and because of our small number of missile tubes, adding a few more missiles to the fight isn’t going to make a big difference. But if we can get close to the second group, we can use the gravity cannons to deliver multiple hits.”

  He and Soriya quickly exchanged places. By the time he was strapped in, Koenig had calmed down. Excalibur was already accelerating at maximum and could not possibly get to the enemy any faster. He was now waiting for the counter-attack. The missiles fired by the human ships had had enough time to negate the forward momentum given to them by their launching ships and would be now moving towards the enemy. Any second he expected to be notified of more nuclear detonations. He was not disappointed.

  “More detonations in the vicinity of the second group,” said the AI in its maddeningly calm electronic voice.

  “How many?” asked Koenig.

  “Minimum of 15, but intensity of the energy spikes suggests that there are overlapping detonations that can’t be distinguished separately.”

  Koenig felt a shiver of fear. When Excalibur had left the Fleet, there were 14 ships capable of firing missiles with enough launch tubes to fire a barrage of 82 altogether. Even with overlapping detonations, there should have been a lot more than 15 visible. There were only three possible explanations. Either the Fleet had taken heavy damage, which had cut down the number of operational launch tubes, or it was running low on missiles, or the Tong’s anti-missile defenses were a lot better than expected. If the Fleet was in danger of shooting themselves dry, then they must have had to engage in previous combat and would almost certainly have sustained losses from them.

  “The second group seems to be maneuvering,” said the AI.

  “Can we tell how yet?” asked Koenig.

  “Insufficient data for a high confidence assessment. TacComp estimates a second barrage should hit the first group in less than 30 seconds.”

  When a full minute passed without any more detonations, Koenig began to wonder if the second group had decided to disengage and veer off. That would explain why there didn’t seem to be a second missile barrage.

  “Data now indicates that the second group has veered off. Do you still want Excalibur to intercept the second group?”

  Koenig looked carefully at the tactical display. It was zooming in on the second group with a new projected trajectory that was curving downward. If the first group intended to get to the other side of the sun in order to jump to MR66, then the shortest route would be the reverse of Excalibur’s trajectory. Therefore the second group’s trajectory, which seemed to be going around the sun from the opposite direction, did make a certain amount of sense if they intended to follow 7th Fleet to MR66 but wanted to avoid further contact until then.

  “No. Maintain our current heading and velocity. When we get confirmation of the identity of that first group, then we’ll decide how to maneuver.”

  That confirmation came right on schedule after the expected light-speed delay, with a long text message from Dejanus.

  AFC TO KOENIG. YOUR UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL IS WELCOME. 7TH FLEET HAS BEEN ENGAGED IN A RUNNING BATTLE WITH TONG SHIPS FOR THE PAST SEVEN JUMPS. ALL SHIPS ARE STILL ABLE TO MANEUVER AND JUMP BUT SOME HAVE TAKEN CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE. MISSILE INVENTORIES ARE LOW. ALL LIGHT AND HALF HEAVY CRUISERS HAVE SHOT THEMSELVES DRY. HOPE THERE’S A RESUPPLY FLEET WAITING AT MR66. NOT COMPLAINING BUT WHY ARE YOU HERE IN MR65? OUR TONG PURSUERS APPEAR TO HAVE DISENGAGED FOR NOW. CAN YOU RENDEZVOUS WITH 7TH FLEET AS IT MOVES TO OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SUN? END OF MESSAGE.

  After conferring with the astro AI and approving a rendezvous trajectory, Koenig got busy composing a response.

  Dejanus shifted her injured arm with a slight hiss of pain and wondered what was taking Koenig so long to respond. She desperately wanted Excalibur back in the fleet formation if for no other reason than it still had a full load of anti-ship missiles to add to the Fleet’s offensive strength. She also wanted to know why that ship was here instead of MR66.

  “Incoming text message from Excalibur,” said the com AI.

  ““About damn time too,” muttered Dejanus as the message scrolled across the bottom of the display.

  KOENIG TO AFC. THE TONG HAVE ATTACKED TOSF BASES. TOSF IS NOW AT WAR ON TWO FRONTS. UNABLE TO GET BACK HOME QUICKLY ENOUGH TO ORGANIZE A REINFORCMENT/RESUPPLY FLEET. IT’S JUST EXCALIBUR NOW. MR66 HAS A TONG FLEET WAITING TO AMBUSH 7TH FLEET WHEN IT DROPS OUT OF HYPERSPACE. EXCALIBUR HAS TWO ARENIAN GRAVITY CANNONS INSTALLED. THE TONG HAVE NOT YET BEEN INTRODUCED TO THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY. EXCALIBUR IS READY TO TRY TO BREAK UP THE AMBUSH FORCE BEFORE 7TH FLEET GETS THERE BUT WE ALSO HAVE A NEW JUMP PATH THAT CAN GET 7TH FLEET BACK TO HUMAN SPACE WITHOUT GOING THROUGH MR66. LOTS TO TELL YOU ABOUT. IF YOUR PURSUERS ARE EXPECTING YOU TO HEAD FOR MR66, I SUGGEST WE RENDEZVOUS AWAY FROM THE EXPECTED TRAJECTORY TO COMPARE NOTES AND MAKE PLANS. ASTRO DATA FOLLOWS. SORRY TO BE BEARER OF BAD NEWS. END OF MESSAGE.

  “Oh god,” said Dejanus. No resupply or reinforcements other than Excalibur herself. Th
e Fleet was just about out of missiles. One more major combat, and it would be unable to strike back. If the Tong figured that out, they’d pound the Fleet mercilessly until it was destroyed. She hoped Koenig’s alternate jump path was workable. Right now, 7th Fleet had a bit of a lead on the pursuing ships and could get to the other side of the sun and be able to jump to MR66 first. But if the Fleet followed Koenig’s suggestion of an out-of-the-way rendezvous, it would lose that lead, and the alternate jump path would be the only remaining option.

  “Let’s see their data,” she said. After pondering the visual representation of it on the tactical display, she nodded. “Com, advise Excalibur that 7th Fleet will rendezvous with her as suggested. Okay, Astro, you know what to do.”

  Chapter Twelve:

  Koenig was shocked by Dejanus’ appearance on the video conference screen. She looked like she had aged 10 years in the few weeks since he had seen her last. Fleet Command had obviously been a strain. Note to self. Do NOT accept responsibility for more than one ship.

  “Okay, Wolfe, now that we’re in video com range, suppose you bring me up to speed on your gravity weapons and on what’s happening at home,” said Dejanus in a weary tone.

  Koenig spent the next five minutes explaining everything, including Excalibur’s improved ability to accurately jump over long distances.

  “So that’s why I’m suggesting that the Fleet follow us back along the shortcut path.” He saw her close her eyes and heard her sigh.

  “There’s no way you could have known this, but your shortcut path isn’t a viable option. As you already know, most of my ships have taken combat damage, and it’s become quite clear from the results of the last few jumps that some of that damage has degraded the OAE on some ships to the point where they are taking dangerous risks just jumping what are considered to be routine distances. Matching trajectories isn’t the answer either, because some of the maneuvering modules needed to make fine course adjustments are damaged too. If the Fleet tried to make the first long jump in the path, we’d lose half the ships.”

  “In that case, we’ll have to continue along the milk run path and there may be a way to do that,” said Koenig. “When Excalibur found the ambush fleet, I was very tempted to launch a counter-ambush of my own with the gravity cannon: a high-speed run along the enemy formation from their rear, taking advantage of Excalibur’s radar-scattering hull design and her ECM. I think there’s a good chance she could inflict a lot of damage, maybe even enough to cause them to withdraw. Then I bring the ship back here and give you the all clear.”

  “And if they get a lucky shot at you with their grasers, you might be too damaged to make it back here,” said Dejanus quietly. “If I had half a dozen Javelin-class ships all armed with gravity cannon, I’d let those ships blast a path through any Tong forces in our way, but we don’t have five more like Excalibur.” The silence that followed soon became so long that Dejanus shrugged, “We’re both obviously out of ideas. I’ve been awake for almost 24 hours now, and I need some sleep. We’re far enough away from the Tong pursuing force that I don’t think they’ll find us in the next few hours, so I’m going to order the Fleet to stand down for 12 hours. Let everyone get some rest, and then you and I will talk some more. Out.”

  By the time the two of them were in communication again, Koenig had come up with another alternative.

  “While you were sleeping, I had my astro contact the astros throughout the rest of the Fleet, and I think I have a way to get all our people home. But it would be painful. Of the 15 ships you brought to this system, there are 8 that have OAEs that are good enough to make it through the shortcut path if Excalibur takes the lead, and if we make a few shorter jumps in between the long ones. That leaves seven ships who would have to take the milk run path. But those same seven ships have no missiles left, and each one has enough combat damage to make survival through the MR66 ambush highly unlikely. Therefore, my suggestion is that the crews and supplies of those seven ships be transferred to the other eight and that the seven ships be sent to MR66 via AI control in order to give the Tong the successful ambush that they’re looking for. When they have that victory, they might stop looking for more human ships. To increase the number of ships arriving at MR66, Excalibur will act as the lead ship for the jump, thereby improving jump accuracy, but will not actually jump away. Once those seven are gone, Excalibur will rejoin the Fleet and lead it along the modified shortcut path. If necessary, we’ll scout ahead to make sure there are no more ambushes lying in wait. It’ll talk longer to get home that way, but I think we’ll have enough food to last that long.”

  Dejanus’s expression seemed to brighten a bit at the idea of everyone getting home. “It sounds good in theory. I would want to check those astrogational details before I approve the plan. Have your astro send the data to mine, and if it’s as good as it sounds, we’ll do it. I’ll get back to you soon. Out.”

  She took longer to vet the suggestion than Koenig thought was necessary, but he reminded himself that he hadn’t given any thought to where the displaced crews would be transferred or to any of the other practical details that a Fleet Commander should probably consider.

  When Dejanus finally did come back on the line, she nodded. “Okay, your proposal is better than anything anyone else has come up with. How many additional bodies can Excalibur accommodate?”

  That question caught him off guard. “I’ll have to check and get back to you, sir.”

  She gave a quick laugh. “For God’s sakes, Wolfe, don’t go all formal on me now, not after all we’ve been through over the last few months. When it’s just you and me on the line, you call me Tyler. That’s an order.”

  “Okay, Tyler,” said Koenig with a smile. Dejanus looked like some of the weight had been lifted off her shoulders. At least there was some hope now that the crews would make it back okay. The lost ships could be replaced.

  It took almost another 48 hours for all the transfers to be completed. The food had been the most difficult to allocate since Dejanus had made it clear that she did not want any ship stuck with too much of one kind of food and not enough of anything else. Luckily, Reforger had not suffered much damage and had an OAE low enough to risk the shortcut path. Koenig was shocked to learn that all of the spare missiles on Reforger had already been distributed and used. The ship was now primarily a mobile food locker, and since it hadn’t been designed to carry many passengers, it couldn’t take many displaced crew either.

  By the time the transfers were done, the tactical and astro AIs had reached a consensus on what actions the sacrificed ships would take after arriving at MR66. They would accelerate at maximum and disperse in order to convince the Tong that the humans were panicking and needed to be run down and destroyed. Dejanus temporarily designated Koenig as the Task Force Commander for the operation. The rest of 7th Fleet would stay right where it was, off to one side of the MR65 system in a section that was not appropriate for jumping to any other system and therefore was unlikely to be searched. They would wait for Excalibur to rejoin the formation, and only then would those nine ships head for the jump point to the first of the giant star systems that made up the shortcut path.

  Lining the AI-controlled task force up for their jump to MR66 took hours. Incremental adjustments to trajectory, which normally took a few minutes, took up to ten times longer due to the impacts of combat damage on sensors, maneuvering modules and opticals. Only when all seven Astro AIs reported that their ships were matched to Excalibur’s as close as it was possible to get, did Koenig give the order for them to jump. The return to the Fleet took the better part of a day. Soriya had the BDO shift when Excalibur slipped back into Fleet formation. The move to the side of the sun that made their next jump possible was thankfully uneventful, with no sign of any Tong ship.

  All nine ships arrived at SC1, as the blue giant was now designated. However, the heavy cruiser Tassafaronga had missed the star’s center by a dangerous amount, arriving just barely within the sun’s jump threshold; a
few more degrees and she would have missed the gravity well altogether. With no sign of Tong ships and nothing in the system to justify a Tong presence, Dejanus took the time to hold a video conference with all COs to discuss the heavy cruiser’s poor jump accuracy. Compared to the prior jump, the accuracy had gotten significantly worse, and the astro AIs were of the opinion that combat damage had loosened the optical sensors used to aim the ship at a jump target and that continued maneuvering would only make the misalignment worse. Dejanus brought up the idea of abandoning Tassafaronga and transferring her crew to other ships. Her CO asked for permission to call for volunteers to stay with him on the ship to try and get her back to human space. Dejanus reluctantly approved the request, and all of her current crew volunteered to stay aboard her. The next jump to SC2 was longer, and Koenig, as CO of the lead ship, ordered his astro AI to take extra time to let Tassafaronga get matched up as closely as possible. The line up took so long in fact that Dejanus called him to inquire if Excalibur was having a problem. When he explained why he was taking extra time, she nodded and let him get on with it.

  Only eight ships arrived at SC2, and Tassafaronga was not one of them. Koenig cursed under his breath, knowing this loss would add to the burden Dejanus was already carrying. The distance to SC3 was longer still, but unlike the gap between SC1 and SC2, there were star systems that allowed for shorter jumps in order to get closer to SC3. Koenig had already decided to take advantage of them, in spite of the fact that those smaller stars were more likely to have planets that would be of interest to the Tong and therefore more likely to have Tong ships in them. After conferring with Dejanus again, it was decided that Excalibur would scout each star system ahead of the Fleet. The delay caused Koenig concern. The ample food supply from a few months ago was looking not quite so ample anymore. At this rate of movement, it would take over two months to get back to human space, with further travel needed to get to a base or Earth. To his surprise, no Tong ships were detected. Eventually the Fleet arrived at SC3 without any further loses.