by Dietmar Wehr
Dejanus was so surprised by what she had just heard that she pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. When she accepted the stark reality of the situation, she jumped out of bed and began to put on her one-piece uniform, talking as she did so.
“CO to Bridge!”
“XO here, sir!”
Dejanus could hear the stress tremors in Tulagi’s voice. “Do we have any data on the Tong ships?”
“Affirmative! Triangulated visual data from Curtana and Stinger coming in by relay from HQ! Forty-four confirmed sightings!”
Dejanus gasped at that number. “Why haven’t you sent the ship to Battle stations, Jean!”
“Oh, God, I, ah, guess I was too shocked to think clearly. Doing it now.” Even as she spoke the last sentence, the Battle Stations alarm sounded. Dejanus wanted to yell at her to get her act together but held back. Sounding Battle Stations a few seconds earlier would not make any difference to the final outcome.
“I’ll be on the Bridge in seconds! Out!”
With her uniform and boots finally on, Dejanus ran out into the corridor and toward the Bridge, which was only a few meters away. When she entered, she could hear the tactical AI give a status report.
“—47 confirmed Tangos appear to be on a direct heading for Earth. Insufficient data to classify types of vessels with a high degree of confidence.”
“Tactical! I’m relieving the XO as BDO and I’m assuming command of 7th Fleet on an Acting basis! Confirm that you acknowledge this change of command status!”
“Command status change is confirmed. All tactical AIs have been advised of the change in fleet command.”
By this time, Tulagi had unbuckled herself and gotten out of the Command Pod. Dejanus grabbed her left arm and put her hand on the XO’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry about the delay in going to Battle Stations, Jean. I have faith in your command judgement. Good luck.” She gave the younger woman an encouraging squeeze on both arm and shoulder and let go.
“Good luck to you too!” Tulagi turned away and ran out the exit on her way to her own Battle station. Dejanus watched her go long enough to wonder if she would ever see Jean Tulagi again, then jumped into the Command Pod and buckled herself in. The Pod closed up and the internal displays came to life.
“Fleet Status!” said Dejanus in a voice that was louder than she had intended.
“Nine ships are at Battle Stations now,” said the tactical AI.
Dejanus wanted to vent her frustration at the other two but chose instead to check on the Tong fleet. The sidebar data on all confirmed Tangos was being updated quickly. Velocity appeared to be slightly more than the 5% of light speed that was the minimum velocity needed to transition to hyperspace. Acceleration was pretty much what she would have expected from Tong ships, and the trajectory was about as simple as it could be. The Tong fleet was headed in the direction that could intersect with the Earth’s position by the time the fleet got there. They weren’t trying to be subtle, and there was no reason for them to be so. If they thought they still had the element of surprise, then making a quick lunge for Earth was clearly the best option, but it didn’t really matter if they knew they were being detected or not. This straight-in approach left her with only one real option and that was to meet them head on. They already had too much velocity and were coming from the worst possible angle for her to consider trying to swing around behind them. So, a head on slugfest it would be. What happened after both fleets passed each other was another question entirely. The more she thought about that aspect, the less desperate the situation looked. If 7th Fleet tried to fight the Tong in a head on collision, the Tong would have far more ships left than she would, and there was a good chance none of her ships would be left operational. But if there were some way to survive the first battle and hit them again when they weren’t expecting it, then maybe, just maybe, there was a way to pull victory, or at least a draw, from the jaws of defeat. She began talking quickly to the tactical AI.
It didn’t take long for TacComp to evaluate the various tactical options that she and the AI had come up with. The bad news was that none them had a better than 50% chance of outright victory. In all of them, the most likely outcome was a Tong victory. Some might be a very expensive Tong victory but still a victory from the standpoint of which side would be left with ships in Earth orbit when the fighting finally ended. If only she had more stealthy ships. Another Scimitar-class ship would make all the difference. Even another three Javelin-class ships starting in Earth orbit would have made a difference, but Curtana and Stinger were too far away to join 7th Fleet before the battle, and in any case, they were providing critically-needed data on the enemy’s position, speed and trajectory from their sentry positions. When she checked the results of each tactical option with and without Tizona, the only Javelin in Earth orbit, she nodded with understanding. The two gravity cannons that Tizona carried would not make enough of a difference to justify risking her in the coming battle. If the Tong were going to win the battle, then humanity’s only hope of defeating them in the long run would be if there were enough ships left over that could leverage their stealthiness and weapons into a winning strategy. Keeping Scimitar out of the battle was not an option. Not only would withdrawing from battle while allowing the rest of the Fleet to be destroyed be morally indefensible for a Fleet Commander, it would also leave the Tong with a much larger occupation force. If she played her Scimitar card carefully enough, she could trade her super-heavy cruiser for maybe a dozen Tong ships. Without the new flagship, the chance of an outright victory went from 34% to virtually zero. No, Scimitar would fight alongside the rest of 7th Fleet, but Tizona would not. Wolfe Koenig would need every Javelin-class ship possible if he was going to lead the resistance, assuming that he and Excalibur made it back. It was time to make a decision, and she made it. She told the AI which tactical option the Fleet would use, and seconds later, all 11 ships of 7th Fleet left orbit, with Tizona leaving the Fleet for her own trajectory.
The tactical strategy she chose was still a head on battle—there was no way around that—but it did not involve a direct penetration of the enemy fleet. The two fleets would pass very close to each other at their nearest point, with Scimitar leading the other nine ships. Her six gravity cannons would fire when TacComp calculated that two or more Tong ships could be hit by each gravity beam. For that tactic to be exploited to the max, it needed vectoring data as precise as possible from multiple triangulation sources. That was why Tizona was heading sunward in order to pick up Tong fleet reflections that could be integrated with data from Curtana’s and Stinger’s data streams. The combined data stream would also enable 7th Fleet to fire multiple missile barrages with pre-programmed targeting data that avoided the missiles having to turn on their own terminal guidance radars, thereby minimizing the chances of the Tong detecting their approach and defending against them. It all sounded good in theory, but when the difference between a hit and a miss amounted to only a few meters one way or the other, the data from three ships wasn’t going to be precise enough to get lots of hits. If TacComp’s calculations were off by even a tiny fraction, all the missiles might miss. That was why the Fleet would save their Mark 15-tipped missiles for last. Those could use their internal radars, pinpoint the nearest target, aim the lasing rods and detonate their warheads before the Tong could fire at them. Their tightly-focused beams of high-energy x-rays could punch a hole all the way through a Tong hull, and if they were lucky, it would hit something vital. The warhead detonations would then overload the Tong sensors, hopefully long enough for at least some of her ships to exchange graser fire with the Tong ships as both fleets hurtled past each other.
She smiled at the irony of what a close pass would do to Scimitar’s stealthiness. It was big enough to block sufficient background starlight to be noticeable at close range. Even if only one Tong ship noticed the black shape moving across their field of detection, it could target Scimitar with graser fire that her graphene hull would not s
top.
TacComp calculated that the fleets would pass each other in just over 37 minutes. Missile barrage fire would commence in 29 minutes and gravity cannon fire 89 seconds after that, which meant she had almost half an hour of waiting before anything happened. She began recording messages to be transmitted before the battle commenced.
The recorded messages taken care of, there were now less than 60 seconds before the missile barrage was scheduled to start.
“FC to all ships. Tactical and astro AIs will control all firing and maneuvering under the overall supervision of the Flag AIs. Everyone buckle in! This looks like it’s going to be a bumpy ride! Good luck to you all! FC out. Tactical, give me a five second countdown to commencement of missile fire.”
“Acknowledged. First missile barrage will fire in…five…four…three…two…one. First barrage complete. Second barrage loading. Firing in—”
“On second thought, never mind the countdown,” said Dejanus. “How’s the GC sequence looking?”
“Some of the Tangos are maneuvering. Optimum firing sequence has been recalculated. Firing will commence in 13 seconds.”
Here we go, she thought to herself. Let’s see how many of these bastards we can disembowel!
When all six gravity cannons fired, there was a noticeable drop on the pod lighting for half a second due to the power drain. She hadn’t expected that.
“TacComp confirms 11 hits. Cannon are recharging. Third missile barrage has fired. Detecting faint enemy radar emissions now. Estimated time to their detection of some 7th Fleet ships is 67 seconds,” said the tactical AI.
Dejanus realized she was holding her breath and exhaled. The beefed-up versions of the gravity cannons had longer effective range than their Arenian counter parts, but they took longer to recharge. The first missile barrage was set to intercept the enemy formation just about…now!
“Two confirmed hits from first missile barrage,” said the AI. Dejanus shook her head; two hits out of 52 missiles fired was not good. There was no way to tell how much damage the gravity cannon hits inflicted. The element of surprise was gone. The Tong knew they were in a battle now.
She checked the recharge time. There was less than a minute to go before the cannon could fire again and eight more seconds after that before the Tong ships were again lined up for getting multiple hits from each beam. The AI had assured her that TacComp had chosen the cannon firing schedule that would maximize the number of hits before Scimitar was close enough to be targeted by enemy grasers. She had to trust that the tactical computer was correct.
“Enemy radar is now strong enough to detect the rest of 7th Fleet,” reported the AI.
Dejanus closed her eyes and prepared herself mentally for the coming slaughter. Scimitar was oriented so that enemy radar waves would be deflected off to the sides instead of back to the enemy ships, but the rest of the Fleet did not have the right hull design to do that, and they would attract the enemy’s attention any second now.
“Final missile barrage has fired.”
Dejanus hit her right armrest with her fist in relief. At least the Fleet had managed to fire as many missiles as possible.
“Corregidor reporting incoming enemy missiles.”
Dejanus nodded. Now that the non-stealthy ships were being detected by enemy radar anyway, there was no longer any need to rely on passive sensors. Both super-heavy cruisers were now using their own radars to detect incoming missiles and were passing that data to the other ships’ tactical AIs for anti-missile defense.
“HOW SOON BEFORE WE’RE IN GRASER RANGE?” shouted Dejanus.
“Effective graser range will be reached in 77 seconds. Gravity cannons have fired again. Nine confirmed hits. Recharging.”
Dejanus resisted the urge to swear. The projected number of hits on each cannon volley was 12. If they were only getting nine, that would reduce the chances of a TOSF victory. Scimitar would be able to fire her cannon at least one more time, maybe two more if she stayed invisible longer than expected.
“Two confirmed hits from second missile barrage. Enemy ships are now trying to jam our radar. Both super heavy cruisers have begun doing the same.
Dejanus was about to say something when the ship heaved so suddenly and violently that she yelled out in momentary fear. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?”
“Near miss from enemy megaton warhead aimed at Corregidor. Both super heavy cruisers have been hit by enemy missiles.” The AI proceeded to tell her that both Corregidor and Coral Sea were now just clouds of radioactive debris. The tactical display inside the pod was already showing the same information. The Tong were playing it smart by going after the biggest ships first, but they still hadn’t detected Scimitar.
“ANY DAMAGE FROM THE NEAR MISS?”
“No damage to critical systems.”
Dejanus’s relief at that news was so great that she momentarily felt light-headed.
“Multiple reports of graser fire hits now. Zero confirmed hits from the third missile barrage. Heavy cruisers Kurst, Leyte Gulf and Yorktown hit by missile—”
Dejanus consciously tuned out the AI’s continuous reporting now. She focused all her attention on her own tactical display and the sidebar data showing the impact of the battle on both sides as best the sensors could tell. The Tong were now maneuvering widely. No chance now for multiple hits per cannon beam unless it was a lucky fluke. The tactical AI would realize that and instruct TacComp to re-compute the optimal cannon firing sequence to compensate.
Scimitar jerked again, although not as violently this time. Dejanus knew that the ship had been hit, and it must have been from graser fire; otherwise, a major portion of the ship would have been vaporized, and her status board would show it. She tuned the AI in again.
“—ser fire hit starboard engine cluster. Scimitar appears to have been detected visually. We are taking evasive action. Closest approach coming up in 21 seconds.”
The ship heaved again; this time Dejanus felt like she’d been kicked in the back.
“Graser hit in main engineering. Power one is down. Power two is operational at a lower level. Not enough power for all six cannon and maximum evasive maneuvers at the same time. Request priority.”
Dejanus didn’t hesitate for a second. “WEAPONS HAVE PRIORITY!” Her voice was ragged from stress and fear and her own personal survival was no longer even a possibility. All the other ships were destroyed. The entire Tong fleet, what was left of it, could now concentrate all its attention on Scimitar. If the ship could hold out for just one more cannon volley.
“Cannon have fi—”
Dejanus’s exaltation at having fired another volley was blocked as she shrieked in pain at the searing heat slashing through the upper part of the pod. A graser beam had managed to cut through to the Bridge. The emergency life support systems were trying to maintain the atmosphere in the pod, but the breach was too large, and Dejanus realized she had only seconds of consciousness left. She managed to open one eye and was able to look out through a gash in the hull to open space. The lost air also meant lost heat, and the cold actually helped ease some of the pain.
“It’s up to you now, Wolfe,” she whispered. And then the blackness embraced her.
This is the end of Scimitar’s Glory. The story will continue with Excalibur’s Quest in volume 2 of the Swordships Odyssey series. This ebook includes some preview chapters of Excalibur’s Quest below. Please also read my Author’s Comments at the end of the preview chapters.
Appendix A (What the Heck are Gravity Cannon?):
If gravity cannon sound farfetched, then check out the URL below. The idea was inspired by finding information based on research conducted by Russian scientists at the beginning of the 21st century. I found the information in an article by Nick Cook, who is an aerospace consultant for Jane's Defense Weekly and who wrote a bestselling book about anti-gravity called The Hunt for Zero Point. In his article (http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1064.htm), he talks about the gravity research conducted by Dr. Evgeny Pod
kletnov and the potential for weaponization of that research. This article was written over four years ago and I don’t know how far the Russians have taken their research. To the best of my knowledge, no one else is pursuing this kind of research but you never know what DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) might be up to. D.A.W.
Excalibur’s Quest
By Dietmar Arthur Wehr
Copyright 2018 Non-Linear Visions Inc.
Preview Chapters:
Chapter One:
Koenig awoke to find himself alone on his bed. He was actually relieved that Eriko had already gotten up and left his quarters. Waking up together would have been awkward for the both of them after what did and did not happen during the sleep cycle. They had crossed the line in terms of violating the regulations prohibiting anything other than a professional relationship between two officers servicing on the same ship, but by mutual and unspoken consent, they had not gone as far as they might have. Somehow—he couldn’t remember exactly how after drinking as much as they both had—they had found themselves lying in each other’s arms, still fully clothed, on top of his bed. At first it had been enough to just hold and be held. Then, at some point in the middle of the night, he woke up to find her kissing him with a fierceness that was both surprising and endearing. He understood what she was feeling. He was feeling it too. After months of grueling duty, side by side with occasional moments of sheer terror, they were desperate for the reassurance that only this kind of physical contact with another human being could give. That was as far as they went. They had not had sex, and in the cold light of having just woken up, that seemed like the right decision.