by D. J. Holmes
Fairfax shook his head. “This could be the most important moment in the history of our species, and you two are playing games with it? What will you be like as Emperor and Empress? Perhaps both of you were right. Neither of you are qualified.”
“Who else would be?” Christine asked as she raised her chin.
“What are our chances?” James asked quickly to cut off any argument. Fairfax’s words were causing him some genuine concern. “We haven’t messed this up, have we?”
The fury on Fairfax’s face disappeared completely and he actually burst out laughing as he shook his head. “Hurt our chances? Ha! A Royal wedding? Long lost loves reunited for the sake of an Empire? The darling of the Chinese people and Britain’s greatest living Admiral? Hurt our chances indeed,” Fairfax responded as he continued to shake his head. “I just wish I had thought of it!”
James breathed a sigh of relief, though his concern only grew, albeit for a different reason. He knew the look in Fairfax’s eyes. The former British Prime Minister was getting excited. He was scheming already. It will be like my coronation all over again, only worse, James thought with a groan.
“Well, come on then,” Fairfax said as they both stared at him. “We have a lot to do, elections to prepare for, a wedding to plan and then we have to figure out how both of you will rule together. And we need to let the Emergency Council members out, not to mention figure out how we’re going to get the other nations to hold their own votes. Come on, the work has only just begun! You two can hold hands some other time.”
James’ face reddened at Fairfax’s words, and his anger spiked again. Suzanna was the one he wanted to be holding hands with. When he looked down at Christine and saw her smiling though, his anger faded. For the first time since the Karacknid missiles had struck Earth, she looked happy. A small part of James allowed himself to be happy for her. After everything she had been through, she did deserve to be happy. He just didn’t know if he ever would be. But those thoughts had been following him ever since Suzanna’s death.
Chapter 32
One must always plan every detail of a naval operation. Then one bust be ready to throw it all out at a moment’s notice. Such is the skill of a true master strategist.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
Intrepid, Rulen system, 10th March 2482 AD.
Emilie sat in her command chair on Intrepid’s bridge with her hands clasped together in her lap, casually flicking the palm of one hand with the fingers of the other. “I just don’t see it working,” she said to Jones and Alvarez. “There’s too many things that could go wrong.” Intrepid was currently in stealth mode, slowly moving along the edge of the Rulen system. Technically, it now belonged to the Karacknid Empire, but Emilie would not acknowledge that. They had stolen it from the Nanee, it was not theirs. On the holo display several routes into the system were marked out. Each was designed to bypass the Karacknid ships on patrol and sneak close enough to drop a team onto the colony’s surface.
They’d been monitoring the activities of the Karacknid ships in the system. There were two Karacknid frigates watching the shift passage into the system that Intrepid had arrived from. Emilie wasn’t worried about them, for the last three days Intrepid had been slowly looping around them. It was the ships patrolling the inner system that held her concern. In orbit around the Nanee colony there was a light cruiser. Two more frigates were moving back and forth from the colony to two orbital installations around other planetary bodies. All three ships had their active sensors permanently on. She, Jones and Alvarez had come up with a couple of potential routes past them. One relied on using a stealth drone as a decoy and another on slipping between one of the system’s gas giants and its largest moon at exactly the right moment. If either trick didn’t work perfectly, there was a very good chance they would be spotted.
And even then, it doesn’t solve our biggest problem, Emilie thought. If they managed to sneak close enough to the colony, they would have to deploy their team using covert insertion vehicles. That in itself was fine, Emilie had used one herself to sneak onto the surface of the Leipzig colony with Lieutenant Shaw a couple of years ago. The problem was getting their team back. They would have to borrow or steal a shuttle and that would alert the Karacknid cruiser in orbit. Even if the shuttle wasn’t immediately intercepted, Intrepid would have to take on the Karacknid cruiser to ensure the team made it away from the colony. One way or another, trying to sneak into the system would inevitably lead to them being discovered.
“So what do we do?” Alvarez asked in response to Emilie’s initial comment. “We could try slipping through this system and move onto the next?”
Emilie shook her head. “If there are this many ships protecting this small colony, whatever we find further in will likely be better protected. No, this is our best chance. If we can’t sneak in then we are going to fight our way in.”
“And reveal to the Karacknids that Human ships can venture this far?” Alvarez queried as his eyebrows rose.
“At this point, what have we got to lose?” Emilie responded. “If the Folians and the others won’t fight, then alerting the Karacknids to our presence here will at least make them paranoid. Besides, I’m not saying we just reveal ourselves willy-nilly, if we leave no witnesses, who is going to know?”
“No witnesses?” Alvarez asked as he turned back to the holo plot. “There are five Karacknid warships in this system.”
Emilie flashed him a knowing smile. “Your point Commander?” she asked in a tone that she usually reserved for when they were alone together.
Alverez shook his head. “You’re becoming more and more like your uncle every day. You think we can take them all?”
“What do you think Jones?” Emilie asked, turning to her First Lieutenant. “Is your Captain out of her mind?”
Jones looked between Alvarez and Emilie and then turned to the holo projection of the system. He cleared his throat, obviously buying himself a few seconds. “Altogether, they would overwhelm us. But one at a time; we might have a chance?” he said as he turned back to Emilie.
Emilie smiled and nodded. She leant over her command chair and typed in a series of course corrections and orders. “Run this,” she said as she sent it to Jones’ terminal. Seconds later a simulation of Emilie’s strategy played out.
“It could work,” Alvarez admitted. “But it is risky. We could lose the ship. It would be the end of our mission.”
“If we don’t get more allies, we could lose the war,” Emilie replied. “Like I said, we are done tiptoeing around. We’ve been training for months now. I have never known a ship better prepared for combat. Everyone on board is itching to get some payback for Earth. It’s time we scratch that itch.”
“Then let’s do it Captain,” Alvarez responded.
“Send orders for our two Spitfires to be prepped for launch,” Emilie ordered. “And ask Phelps and Cameron to report to the bridge, I want to speak to them before they launch. Navigation, lay in the course I have input, take us into the system.”
Two hours later Intrepid and her two Spitfires were in position. The exploration cruiser was sitting right where the flight paths of the two Karacknid frigates patrolling the inner system intersected. “Send the signal,” Emilie ordered when the moment came. “Launch missiles!”
As Intrepid’s COM officer sent the go order to the two Spitfires, Lieutenant Maguire tapped the button to launch the first missile salvo Intrepid had fired in anger. Twelve missiles were thrust out of their launch tubes and then ignited their engines. The gravimetric waves given off by their acceleration alerted every ship in the system to the threat. Just two seconds later, two more missiles appeared. Being much smaller and harder to detect, Phelps and Cameron had put their Spitfires right in the path of one of the Karacknid frigates. Their missiles took just six seconds to close with the enemy ship. When they were a second out, the missiles detonated, releasing two balls of superheated plasma. Though the Karacknid frigate had begun evasive maneuver
s, there wasn’t enough time for them to have any real effect. One ball of plasma grazed the frigate, ripping a giant scar along its hull. The second struck home directly amid ships. As soon as the plasma reached the frigate’s reactors, the entire ship disappeared in a blinding flash.
Emilie nodded in satisfaction and turned to watch her own ship’s missiles. Intrepid had a compliment of one hundred and twenty multistage missiles along with two hundred and forty normal ones. With no chance she could have snuck up to a Karacknid ship close enough to fire normal missiles without being detected, Emilie had chosen to use some of her precious multistage ones. They had a flight time of sixteen minutes to their target. It would give the Karacknid frigate plenty of time to prepare, but there was nothing they could do about the fact they were facing twelve missiles.
“Second frigate is turning towards us, they’re accelerating,” Jones reported.
“Put us on an intercept trajectory,” Emilie responded. “Load normal missiles,” she added. If the frigate survived the first salvo, she would happily let it get into range to fire its own missiles if it meant she could fire her normal missiles in return. Their ECM and warhead payloads were significantly more devastating than those of multistage missiles.
“They’re engaging our missiles with point defense fire,” Jones updated everyone.
Of course, he needn’t have bothered, everyone on Intrepid’s bridge was watching the holoprojection. When two missiles were taken out almost instantly, Emilie feared she had wasted a salvo. But the rest continued unabated for several seconds. They just got lucky, she told herself. In the last minute of the salvo’s flight, six more were destroyed. That left four that got close enough to release their destructive energy. Detonating half a light second away from the frigate, each missile’s thermonuclear warhead released its energy. The laser focusing lenses converted the nuclear energy into a single high-powered laser beam. The frigate’s evasive maneuvers made two beams miss, however the other two did not. One punched through the frigate’s nose, melting missile tubes, point defense weapons and sensor blisters. The second struck further back along the ship. It took out a critical energy transfer conduit.
On the holo projection, the energy readings from the frigate flickered and then disappeared. Several officers cheered and pumped their fists. Emilie watched for several seconds to make sure the frigate really was dead in the water. When no backup reactors or energy reserves appeared to kick in, she nodded in satisfaction. “Target the frigate with two normal missiles. Fire as soon as we are in range,” she ordered. Unless the Karacknid ship transmitted some kind of surrender, she was going to make sure it could not be repaired to fight another day. Even if they did surrender, she wasn’t sure she would rescind her order.
“What is the Karacknid light cruiser doing?” she asked as she sought out the holographic representation of the larger Karacknid ship.
“It broke orbit as soon as we opened fire,” Jones responded. “It’s already on an intercept course. It will enter range with its missiles in twenty minutes.”
Emilie nodded, she hadn’t expected anything else. “Simulate their missile launches and send the data to Phelps and Cameron. Make sure they get in position.” Ideally, Emilie would love to bring the two Spitfires back to Intrepid and refuel and rearm them. Without a proper hanger though, it would take almost an hour to land them and get them ready to launch again. By then, the battle with the cruiser would be over. Instead, they would have to help as best they could. “Turn our starboard tubes towards the cruiser. Begin launching multistage salvos as soon as the cruiser enters our maximum powered envelope.”
Just four minutes later, twelve more missiles shot out of Intrepid’s missile tubes. Five minutes later, another twelve followed them, and then a third salvo was released before the Karacknid cruiser could return fire. Emilie couldn’t help but smile as she saw the three waves close with the Karacknid cruiser. Whoever its Captain was, it was very unlikely they had expected to face an opponent with superior missile range. Just wait until you encounter our proper missiles, she thought. Intrepid was one of the few ships in the Human fleet that carried Scott’s new Mark IV missiles. They had been designed from the ground up to make use of the new miniature inertial dampeners and were smaller and more agile than the standard anti-ship missile the UN had been using for the last several years. Yet, at the same time, with the infusion of Mindus and Varanni tech, they carried a warhead capable of releasing three devastating laser beams.
“Our missiles are entering their point defense fire,” Jones reported.
Emilie wasn’t surprised when all but one of her missiles were taken out. A Karacknid cruiser had significantly more defenses than a frigate. Even so, when the one missile that they got close enough to detonate missed with its laser beam, she pushed her lips out in frustration. Her frustration only grew when the two missiles of her second salvo that fired their lasers failed to get direct hits. The cruiser’s evasive maneuvers caused one beam to shoot wide, while the second, though it scored a hit, did so at such an angle that the cruiser’s armor appeared to absorb most of the force. When the enemy ship steadied itself again and fired its second salvo, Emilie swallowed hard. As deadly as she believed Scott’s new missiles to be, they still weren’t up to the standard of Karacknid antimatter missiles. Just one direct hit would knock Intrepid out of the fight.
When the final salvo of multistage missiles approached the Karacknid cruiser, Emilie wasn’t surprised to find she had her fists clenched. She was willing the missiles on. When only one got into attack range, she started to lose hope. Then its beam struck the Karacknid cruiser head on and she found herself shouting in satisfaction with her officers. As soon as Intrepid’s sensors could make sense of the damage, Emilie pumped her fist. It looked like the cruiser had lost at least two missile tubes.
“Phelps and Cameron are engaging now,” Maguire shouted.
Two new contacts appeared on the holo projection of the battlefield. After attacking the Karacknid frigate, both pilots had kept their fighters in stealth and slowly maneuvered into position. Just three seconds before the first salvo from the Karacknid cruiser passed them, they powered up their reactors and engines and accelerated hard. With a much higher starting velocity, the Karacknid missiles quickly caught them and began to pass by. For a full six seconds though, both fighter pilots were able to engage the missiles with their small plasma cannons. The Karacknid missiles, unaware of what the fighters were, did not react with evasive maneuvers. The pilots managed to shoot down four of them.
With just six left, Emilie rolled her shoulders and forced herself to relax. Intrepid’s gunners should be able to handle six missiles. They had trained to face many more. Even so, she felt a trickle of sweat run down her back as the six antimatter missiles entered range of Intrepid’s point defenses. Just one mistake and it would all be over. Ten seconds later she berated herself for not trusting her gunners, even as she breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as the last missile was shot down, her eyes sought out the Karacknid cruiser. Intrepid’s first salvo of Scott’s missiles had just entered range of the Karacknid point defenses. There was already one more Karacknid salvo on its way, but if the cruiser survived Scott’s missiles, it would quickly release a third towards Intrepid.
Emilie looked to Alvarez and nodded when it became apparent the Karacknid cruiser was having a lot more trouble with Scott’s missiles. Either because of the missiles’ improved ECM, or because the Karacknid gunners had thought the multistage missiles were the hardest targets they would have to face, their point defense fire was failing them. Four missiles made it to attack range. Together they released twelve laser beams. No amount of evasive maneuvers could save the cruiser from all of them. Five appeared to score hits. Two actually punched holes right through the ship, spraying debris out the other side. Just seconds later a large secondary explosion ripped the Karacknid cruiser in half. Both sections started to spin away from one another.
This time, Emilie held back h
er desire to shout and cheer, though she allowed her officers several seconds to do so. “Focus,” she called. “They could still strike us from the grave.” At once her officers lowered their eyes and turned back to their command consoles. Emilie found she had her hands curled into fists again. This time they would be facing ten Karacknid missiles. Phelps and Cameron would not be able to help.
The first weapons to open up on the enemy salvo were Intrepid’s four flak cannons. Firing fifty exploding rounds each, they put up a wave of shrapnel in front of the Karacknid missiles. Eight flew through without hindrance. Plasma bolts, laser beams and counter missiles raced out to strike those that remained. It’s going to be close, Emilie thought as she forced her eyes to remain open. The enemy salvo was down to three, but they were seconds out. When one and then a second were struck by counter missiles, Emilie’s hopes rose. Her emotions wavered though when everything fired at the final missile missed. “Evasive maneuvers!” she screamed when it became clear there was little hope of hitting it in the seconds that remained.
Without hesitation, Intrepid’s navigation officer threw the cruiser into a wide corkscrew. The maneuver made Emilie’s harness tighten around her to compensate for the increased g-forces. Moments later a much stronger force flung her around in her command chair. For a couple of seconds her vision closed over as she fought the g-forces trying to make her blackout. Then the cruiser’s inertial compensators increased their output and her vision widened. Flashing lights and alarms greeted her increased sense of awareness.