by T. R. Harris
Eric turned back to Mios with a wry grin on his face. “I suppose now you will report this conversation to others, which will only help confirm their distrust of me.”
“I will do nothing of the sort. As I have expressed honestly, I believe our mission against the Kiran’s to be a lost cause. And if it wasn’t for the presence of this ship, I believe there would a petition for peace between the Clans, with Nigel McCarthy being declared Lord of all the Clans. Many lives would be saved in the process.”
“Then why don’t you advocate for that?”
It was Mios’ turn to grin. “I am but a lowly Second-Commander; I have no influence when it comes to such matters of importance. I can predict the outcome as best I can, yet I cannot change anything.”
“That is too bad, Mios Valnon,” said Eric McCarthy. “You seem to be the only one around here with any common sense.”
Four hours later, Mios departed the Leviathan in a Sub-Nine cruiser to return to his base. He had to assemble his fleet and maneuver them to the Golan Cluster, where they would meet up with the remaining ships in the Polimor fleet in less than a week.
Yet at a range of fifty light-years from the Leviathan, Mios Valnon sent an encrypted message toward the planet Anicett. He was confident that the information he sent would be welcomed and also bring a much greater reward than any of his past reports. This one could allow him to abandon his command and emigrate to Anicett, a free being at last—and a wealthy one as well.
He longed for that outcome, believing as he did that Anicett would be safe from the meager forces the Humans were aligning against it. He just hoped Nigel McCarthy would act quickly with his reward since Mios was not anxious to lead his fleet against the Kirans, not knowing what he knew of the strength and military readiness of the Polimor fleet and their Human allies.
Andy Tobias placed a hand on the communication officer’s shoulder. The creature was a Locan, from a planet located about a thousand light-years from Juir. “It is confirmed, sir,” the officer said. “He has sent the message to Anicett.”
Andy nodded. “Good. Now the game is underway.”
Qwels Nur was standing next to Tobias. “I still find it incomprehensible that my second-in-command has been a traitor for so long.”
“You’re the one who discovered the payments and traced the leak back to him.”
“That is true, Admiral, yet it still does not lessen the shock.”
“Just be grateful we found out and can now use him for our own purposes. The only way this mission will succeed is if we can lure McCarthy out of his hiding place.”
“And you are sure he will lead the fleet against you?”
Andy smiled. “He wouldn’t miss it for all the tea in China.”
“I assume that is a lot of the beverage, as the translation has related?”
“Oh yeah, that’s a lot of tea, my friend. Now let us go and set the trap.”
167
Nigel McCarthy lifted the hapless alien by the collar and pinned him against the cold metal bulkhead of the Goliath. “I don’t care if you have to bolt cannon to the hull, just get these damn weapons aboard. I want this ship ready to depart in two days—or you will pay the ultimate price for your incompetence.”
“Yes, My Lord,” cried the terrified creature. “It is just that we had been working by a different schedule.”
“That’s all changed now.” He set the alien back on the floor. “The fleet’s leaving in two days and the Goliath will be my flagship.”
“Of course, My Lord, I will add labor and hours to the task. It will be ready.”
Simone was reading a datapad as the two walked away from the thoroughly chastised repair supervisor. “Nine thousand ships, plus the Goliath,” she said. “That’s an awesome amount of firepower to go up against one battleship and a ragtag fleet of inexperienced Polimors.”
“I don’t care, this is my version of Shock and Awe. I don’t want to leave any doubt as to the outcome of the battle.”
Simone smiled. “It will also send a pretty clear message to the other Clans. After this, they’ll be no one who’ll stand against you.”
Nigel was feeling a giddy as a schoolboy. Mios Valnon really came through, not only with the location and readiness report on the ship they called the Leviathan, but also regarding the loyalty of his son. This news did, however, pose a problem. If Eric did favor Nigel over the others, then how was he going to spare him their fate?
If anything was to be done, it would have to be during the battle, when the units were within close proximity of one another. Then Eric would have to escape the Leviathan and make his way to the Goliath. Nigel’s good mood dropped a degree or two with the thought. That would be virtually impossible, with Eric more than likely getting his ass shot off in the process.
Nigel tried to compartmentalize the upcoming events. He would first destroy the Leviathan and his Human enemies. He would then be in a position to demand the annexation of all the other Clans in the face of his overwhelming power. And lastly, if he could save his son, then he would. If not, well at least he had been open the idea, which didn’t make him all bad—at least in his opinion.
“Can this intelligence be trusted?” Simone was asking, shaking Nigel from his thoughts.
“I believe so. This asset has always been right in the past. And like you said, with nine thousand ships and the Goliath, even with the Leviathan at full strength won’t be able to stand against full a force. Nine thousand is the largest space fleet ever assembled, either here or in the Milky Way. It will be a glorious victory.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“Have a little faith, love. And just think, in a little over seven days we could be the undisputed rulers of an entire galaxy.”
“I’m glad you said we.”
Nigel smiled and placed a huge arm around Simone’s narrow shoulders. “You know you’re the only woman for me.”
“Yeah, the only Human woman; just don’t you forget that.”
Five days later Mios Valnon arrived with his fleet at the Golan Cluster and was assigned to Corridor Green by Qwels Nur.
“This sounds very much like guard duty, Commander-One,” Mios questioned. “Are we not assembling for an assault?”
“Until the Leviathan is fully operational, we will remain here.”
“And another thing; I understand all the other commanders have had meetings aboard the Leviathan, all except me.” Mios was growing more nervous by the hour, confident in his belief that something was happening he was not aware of. Maybe it was just the paranoia of the guilty, but he was seeing conspiracies in every shadow.
“You attended the first strategy meeting, Mios,” Qwels explained. “The others didn’t and had to be briefed. There will be a full staff meeting once the final timeline for the mission is formalized. Until then, your units must be made useful. With only three access points into the cluster, it is only wise to station units at each. We cannot risk losing the Leviathan to a surprise attack.”
“That does make sense, Commander-One. I will station my ships as directed. Valnon terminating link.”
“He is growing suspicious,” Qwels said to Riyad and Andy Tobias.
“As well he should,” Andy said. “I’m sure he would have preferred to be in a forward position so he can bolt out if things get tough. Just keep an eye on him. We can’t afford to have him let Nigel know we’re fortifying the cluster.”
“I have monitors now filtering all his communications. He will not be allowed to send any links we cannot intercept.”
“Good. Now do we have any estimates of the force McCarthy will send against us?” He directed the question to Riyad.
“Qwels brother, Nurick, has been using his contacts in the Channeler system to collect observations of troop build-ups, and it’s been substantial. It seems every ship that’s not in the yards or off fighting another battle is being called up.”
“And the Goliath?”
“Still in the yards, as far as anyone can tell. The s
hip is being worked on in space so it’s not that easy to get near her since it’s such a high-security area. But the bottom line, Andy, is that we’re going to be facing several thousand ships regardless of the status of the Goliath.”
Tobias turned to Qwels. “And your ships, how many are we getting?”
“Six hundred are currently engaged in struggles against the Kiran’s and can’t be withdrawn. With no new units available and spare parts very scarce, I am only able to bring two thousand forty-one on station out of my active fleet of thirty-five hundred.”
All three of them were silent for a moment as the gravity of the situation sank in; Qwels was the first to speak.
“How powerful is the Leviathan in reality? I know we have embellished the truth some for Mios’ sake—with regards to the ship not being fully operational—yet what can we expect from this one ship?”
“You want the truth, Commander-One? The truth is I don’t really know. You said it yourself; we didn’t build this ship and we’ve had very little opportunity to test her full capabilities. For the crew, this trip to Tanic was their shakedown cruise, and we didn’t know what to expect once we got here. In hindsight, if we’d known we would be fighting a pitched battle against several thousand enemy units, we might have held more drills and honed our skills better.”
“You also have to realize our goal is not to defeat the enemy fleet, but rather to cut off its head,” Riyad added. “Once Nigel McCarthy is dead, the Kirans may lose the enthusiasm to fight. At least that’s the hope.”
“And you believe he will be aboard the Goliath?”
“If he can get her running again, otherwise it will be the most-powerful ship to come up against us. In a way, I hope the target is not so obvious at the outset. That would mean the Goliath is not part of the fleet.”
“Let us then hope for the best and that the Goliath remains out of commission.” Qwels Nur then excused himself and returned to his command duties aboard his own flagship, a little less enthusiastic for the upcoming battle than he had been only a few hours before.
168
Unfortunately, the best outcome for the Humans was not to be. For the past three days, the Kiran Clan’s fleet of eight thousand, six hundred ninety ships had been bolting through space, spread out like a gigantic cone behind the lead ship—the Goliath. The mighty warship was not one hundred percent battle ready, yet her engines were fully charged and her weapons systems were at eighty percent, including two powerful flash cannon that were literally strapped to the exterior hull at each side of the bridge. Able to employ twelve focusing rings at once, the flagship had to travel at about half her maximum speed just so the other ships could keep pace. Yet even at that, the fleet was due at the Golan Cluster in eighteen hours.
As Nigel nervously paced the bridge of the Goliath, he was under no illusions that he could keep the massive fleet a secret until they arrived on station. The gravity signature of such a large number of ships was lighting up this part of the Tanic Galaxy like a Roman candle. At some point, newscasts from the various worlds they passed would take note and that would be picked up on the CW comm band. Cain and his Crusaders would know he’s coming. What—if anything—they could do about it was anyone’s guess.
The Kirans had excellent star charts for this region of space, including the Golan Cluster, so Nigel was aware of the limited ingress and egress points. For ships as huge as the Goliath and the Leviathan, there were only three. Two faced Nigel’s direct line of attack, while the third was on the far side of the cluster. With so many ships at his disposal, Nigel planned to split his forces into thirds and place barricades at all three points. This way, even if the battle took longer than planned, Cain and his forces wouldn’t be allowed to escape.
Advanced reports also indicated that a number of the smaller Polimor units were stationed outside the cluster with most stationed at the critical access points to the nebula’s interior. They would be the first order of business and shouldn’t pose too much of an obstacle to Nigel’s forces. The Leviathan, however, was another matter.
He wasn’t looking forward to entering the interior of the cluster in search of the mighty warship, and he was sure any conventional units he sent in ahead of time would be summarily vaporized. He knew the capabilities of the Goliath, so he had to assume her sistership was every bit as powerful.
Yet if the Leviathan didn’t come out to face him, he knew eventually he’d have to take the initiative.
Adam Cain was in the comm center of the Leviathan when Mios Valnon came aboard for his final pre-battle briefing. After the meeting, Adam tracked the traitor’s movements on video until his suspicious were confirmed. There they were, Eric McCarthy and Mios Valnon, on the observation deck and engaged in a hushed, protected conversation, hidden from the audio pickups in the security camera.
He had witnessed a brief conversation they had the last time Mios was aboard the flagship, and it just seemed like too much of a coincidence that the two of them—traitor and the son of his mortal enemy—would strike up a friendship in such a short time.
Adam knew Mios had relayed information to Nigel about the Leviathan and her status; that was the purpose of inviting him to the first strategy meeting. But now he was beginning to believe that Mios had a double mission—and that involved turning Nigel’s son into an agent for the Kirans.
Adam had been especially angry when he learned Eric had come along on the mission to rescue him from Nigel’s prison ship. Dracus had tried to explain the reasoning behind it, and how the young man had purposefully made himself visible to the security cameras on the landing deck. It all had to do with psychological warfare and about building a conflict in the mind and heart of Nigel McCarthy. Yet unlike the others, Adam knew Nigel had no heart. He would not change his plans to protect a long lost son any more than he’d hesitate to squash a bug under his boot.
And now it appeared as though the strategy may have backfired. It was now Nigel who was using his son to his biding. What the young man had in mind was anyone’s guess, yet with such an intense—and secretive—conversation taking place between him and Mios, Adam was sure it wouldn’t be good.
Adam couldn’t let such a dangerous asset roam free aboard the ship with impunity. He would have to do something about that.
169
The Battle of the Golan Cluster—the largest space battle to ever take place in two galaxies—began innocently enough as the outer fringes of both fleets engaged each other a full fifty light-years from the cluster. The units were compatible, so the fighting was intense and prolonged. In the end, fifty Polimor ships were destroyed along with forty-three Kirans. The loss stung the Polimors more than the Kirans, and the mighty fleet pressed onward.
Nigel knew the cat was out of the bag for sure by then, so he set about dividing his forces into thirds and ordered an all-out attack.
Much to his chagrin, he soon found that the enemy had saturated the area of space surrounding the cluster with thousands of proximity mines. These were magnetic, and even at faster-than light speeds, they were able to lock on and track their targets. He lost over a hundred ships in the first few minutes of the engagement before the minefield was bypassed.
It was then that the real battle began.
Most conflicts in space occurred at sub-light speed. This made sense when one considered that flash cannon bolts travel at light speed and not beyond. If ships streaked past one another at many times the speed of light, nothing would ever be hit and no battle resolved.
So the scientists and tacticians in the past developed vast dampening fields which impeded the development of fast-than-light gravity wells within the field of battle. Singularities could still be created, yet it was extremely dangerous to enter an event horizon while in a dampening field. The wells were very unstable and a gravity burst could easily consume even the largest warship. However, steering wells were still possible, and able to divert the path of a vessel while in the throes of battle. Called influence-wells, these creations were able t
o redirect craft at such radical angles that only the ship’s internal compensators were the limiting factor to the speed and severity of the course changes. It didn’t pay for a ship to make an instant ninety-degree course change at near the speed of light if all the occupants aboard ended up as nothing more than bloody stains on the bulkheads.
So the greatest space battle in history was soon racketed down to what was essentially slow motion in terms of interstellar travel. The Goliath, with her twelve focusing rings and superior compensators was able to wind her way through the enemy forces, blasting dozens of ships to atoms. She took hits herself, yet Nigel had to give a mental nod to Kroekus and his engineers for the cross-field diffusion screens the ship carried. He had never even heard of such a thing before seeing them aboard the Goliath. They could withstand even a close proximity nuclear explosion through the use of variable phasing—whatever that was. Nigel didn’t need to know, he just knew it worked. And he had four solid banks of these shields covering his ship.
Yet even as effective as the screens were, they still had their limits. Each hit by a plasma bolt had to be absorbed, and at that the diffuser could only hold so much capacity. He wasn’t too worried about the Polimor forces breaching the shields; what he worried about was that the Leviathan would carry the same capacity. After a quick calculation, he found that he had enough firepower in his conventional units to overload the Leviathan’s shields. It would result in substantial loss of his units and would involve a prolonged and concentrated barrage to bring down their shields, but it was possible.
Whether Cain’s ship would allow that to happen was another question, and with the attrition of his forces as they cleared the surrounding space of Polimor units, he began to wonder if he’d have enough left to do the job.