The neutrons, with a nearly fifteen-minute half-life were only indirectly dangerous by their decay. It was their ionizing effect that caused the highest risk, as they struck atoms and were absorbed, causing the atom to become unstable, or a nucleus they struck without absorption recoiled, with a subsequent gamma ray emission. If the eventually slowed neutrons were absorbed in body tissues, there was induced radioactivity where the degree of hazard depended on which type nucleus was involved, and its new half-life.
Med labs, and specialized nanites, could ameliorate the damage to a crewmember if implemented within hours. Moderate exposures would become fatal if not treated, but in days, not minutes. The most fatalities, those which were not due to proximity to a nearby hull breaching blast, were created within thirty seconds or less from massive doses of penetrating radiation, but the actual deaths from that dosage would follow hours later, depending on the level of exposure. These subsequent fatalities and ship losses applied to more than just the Scouts embedded within the enemy fleet.
The follow-on radiation damage hit TF 1 hard, because it was closest to the enemy fleet, and the leading edge of the expanding radioactive debris field enveloped nearly a hundred ships, exposing them for long seconds before their micro Jumps were executed.
A portion of the undetonated enemy anti-ship missiles, and the suddenly accurate targeting of TD plasma cannons and heavy lasers, started finding stealthed PU ships with startling frequency. Nearly a hundred of the PU ships of TF 1, closest to the TD fleet, were struck. Those that were hit by anti-ship missiles formed expanding spheres of radioactive debris from fission warheads, which would have surrounded adjacent ships had they not executed their micro Jumps. Dozens of those that Jumped did so with hull scorch damage from energy beams, which created spots on one side of their hulls that were no longer stealthy.
Ten more Scouts vanished under an onslaught of energy beams, because they were unarmored, and somehow seemed to be fully revealed to the enemy. Suddenly an unexpected group Comtap link, using the PU’s secure and quantum encryption, ordered the Scouts to Jump to coordinates on the other side of TF 2, which they did, evaporating the small black holes that were in the process of ravaging ships of the TD fleet. The source of the transmission didn’t originate from Commander Billsworth, as Chenowith would have expected. In fact, the source wasn’t from either Task Force.
Commander Chenowith promptly challenged the man that issued that order. His main AI had, of course, decrypted the broadcast, and he recognized the voice. “Mr. Caldwell, those Scouts were tearing up the enemy ships. How in hell did you obtain that encryption key, and dare to order them to withdraw?”
“Commander, my apologies, but in a few more seconds your remaining Scouts would have been destroyed, even if they micro Jumped within the enemy fleet. Firing from the outside of the radiation and debris field is their only hope of avoiding detection. Commander Billsworth is no longer senior to you by the way, he’s dead, along with his heavy cruiser, the Victory.” Without waiting for the angry response, which he knew was coming, Caldwell hurried on.
“Sir, if you keep all your forces outside of any radioactive debris field, you can keep pounding them. Your stealth isn’t compromised if you do that.”
To his credit, and rapid Kobani thought processes, Chenowith first issued orders that incorporated Caldwell’s suggestions. Then he asked in a rapid and private Comtap exchange, “Well, Howard, do you have any brilliant ideas for how to stop those heavy missiles from reaching atmosphere? Millions are going to die down there if we can’t do that.”
“I’m moving to the upper atmosphere as we talk, to get in front of some of those missiles. I urge you not to waste energy beams on the TD fleet, and go after the missiles with those, as I’ll do. We can’t get them all, but use your missiles and Scouts to hit the enemy ships. From an idea proposed by Maggi Fisher, of the Federation, I’m going to try to talk profit margins with the Thack Delos.”
“What?” The statement sounded like a non-sequitur to Chenowith.
“A negotiation they might listen to, Sir. Fisher has acquired some insight into Thack Delos thought processes and motivations. I’ll try to exploit that information while you make this attack very costly for them.”
“I’m not sure we can do that very well. Not while they stay cloaked in that cloud of radioactive debris. My AI says we can’t target them properly, and they keep micro Jumping, just like we do, so their weaker stealth is helped by breaking our missile tracks. How can we track them in that mess they created? The debris improves the effects of their stealth, the radiation is off the chart, and it messes with our missile sensors. This was a strange suicide mission. The Thack Delos here are dead in a few days anyway.”
“No, Sir, they aren’t. They evolved in high radiation levels on their home world, and they have self-repairing DNA. This isn’t a serious problem for them. On the other hand, that radiation and debris is how they found your Scouts among them, and how they saw some of TF 1’s ships before they Jumped clear of the debris. The AI’s on your anti-ship missiles, if given a simple new program module, can use the same method the Thack Delos used to find your ships too, even in the debris. I predict they’ll set off more missiles within their formation from time to time, to maintain that cloud of crap around them. Look for the shadows, or holes in the radiation and fragments. It’s what they did to find your ships.”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s a variation of the entertainment laser sky displays Poldark, and some other Rim worlds diverted to use over their cities, to spot stealthed and slow moving clanships. On Poldark, we used those holes and shadows to find stealthed Krall clanships before we learned how to penetrate their stealth systems. That’s the same level of stealth the Empire and their security forces still employ. We filled the sky over our cities with crisscrossing and sweeping low power laser beams. Although a clanship couldn’t be seen directly, it reflected or absorbed all visible radiation that touched it. We fired missiles and beams at the slow-moving holes. I doubt the TD fleet has ever had that trick used on them, although they certainly know how to use it themselves on us.”
“I’ll be damned. Can you link to my AI, Louie, and transfer the detection techniques?” In a half-cynical follow up question, he asked, “I don’t suppose I need to give you that quantum key, do I?”
“Yes, Sir, you do. Or let your AI communicate in the clear with me. The enemy won’t learn anything they don’t already know, even if they understand Standard. I only had a general communications key for the fleet, not one for your AI, Combat Center, or Weapons Division. I only needed to be able to talk to you during the fight, in an emergency. I didn’t expect to actually need to do that.”
“Fine. Louie, please accept the Comtap data Mister Caldwell will share with you in the clear. You were listening to us, so you understand the context.”
“Yes, Sir.” The AI linked, and accepted the rapid data transfer, and promptly disseminated the tactic to all the ship AI’s in the now combined single Task Force.
That happened only moments before Chenowith yielded his enlarged command, when Admiral Foxworthy, and her twenty-two refitted light cruisers, made their Jump exit at New Glasgow. She’d been in a continuous link with Billsworth, until it had suddenly ended.
Chenowith Comtapped her, and he rapidly brought her up to date.
“Commander,” she ordered, “you will retain tactical control of the combined fleet, and I’ll consider overall strategy. You should continue to use missiles and Scout black holes on their fleet, and I’ll send the twenty-two LCs that arrived with me down to atmosphere, to take out as many of the ground attack missiles as possible. I want you to divert at least twenty LCs for that same task. I was at Poldark in the war, as was Caldwell, and he knows how to organize low altitude atmospheric defenses. Stopping those missiles is a high priority.”
“Yes, Mam. I’ll detach twenty LC’s with orders to coordinate with Caldwell, and with your LCs. Some of the heavy missiles are obvio
usly arcing around the planet in sub orbital paths to attack cities on the opposite side. We can guard the twenty largest cities pretty well, but some of the smaller towns will be vulnerable.”
“I understand. I had my AI inform the Governor what they faced, just after we emerged, based on what Billsworth had told me before his ship was lost. They already had evacuations underway from population centers, but now they need to get their people underground, and sealed off from radiation filled air circulation as best they can manage. This has the makings of a population catastrophe.”
****
Implementer Desh expressed his surprise at how quickly the enemy fleet elements reacted to, and recovered from, what had historically been a hugely successful attack strategy.
“They moved extremely quickly to avoid our radiation envelope. It was as if they expected that tactic, they Jumped away so quickly. I was startled to find so many small invisible vessels merged within our formation. Had I not triggered our radiation shield when I did, we would not have detected their presence among us. They were the source of the small massive objects that swept through so many of our ships, with no warnings of their being launched.”
Negotiator Gelander, never trained as an Implementer himself, didn’t grasp Desh’s conclusion. “I saw the small shadows of the enemy craft among the shadows of our own ships, but how would such tiny ships produce the power needed for such devastating energy? Those were not missiles our mass detectors sensed, and they moved very fast, and reversed course to strike again. They passed completely through our ships. Why do you say the smallest shadows were their source, and not the cruiser mass ship detections we found ahead and behind us?”
“Several reasons, Negotiator. The destructive massive compact objects, which may have been small black holes, first appeared inside our formation with no arrival trails detected, and the small ships were also found inside with them when we first saw their shadows.
“Several of the dense objects vanished simultaneously with the destruction of a small ship, when we fired at their shadows in the radiation field. When the small ships Jumped clear of us, all the dense objects vanished at the same time. The compact objects radiated sharp bursts of gamma rays when they vanished, as if they truly were small black holes.
“Negotiator, I have no idea how the enemy produced them. Nevertheless, their use here suggests how the Thandol, and the other two security forces, may have suffered the profit losses we suspect they have experienced, if they too encountered such unexpected negotiation tactics.”
Gelander was concerned. “Failure of the Thandol to share all the risks involved in this contract is informative. When we accepted their terms without verification, it suggests our Master Negotiator and the Board of Adjusters agreed to a poorly examined contract. We may be dissatisfied with the profit level we will obtain here, but future negotiations will be better informed, and we can demand higher payments to recover lost profits. We will best earn more favorable terms in the future by demonstrating the most successful implementation possible, under this hastily accepted contract.”
Desh accepted the rationale offered by his Chief Negotiator, and decided to adjust his implementation tactics. “Our ground attack missiles appear to be our best means to implement most of the terms of our contract, and if I keep our fleet within a constantly maintained radiation and debris envelop, that should somewhat counter their negotiations to increase our profit losses.
“I will retain our most valuable assets where they are safer, as we remove any of their assets that attempt to reenter our protective field. If we stay alert for their shadows, and watch for incoming trails of dense compact objects, we can shoot at them even as we Jump away.”
In a startling short time, their opponents sent assets into the upper atmosphere to start countering their missile “proposals” before they competed their assigned tasks. At the same time, the enemy initiated a remote form of profit reduction by deleting more of the TD assets. In that surprising negotiation, they revealed an unexpected understanding of how the Thack Delos used their own protective radiation envelope.
Gelander asked, “How are their missiles finding so many of our Exterminator Heavy Cruisers within our envelope? You have replenished the debris and radiation around us, and we Jump within the formation, yet their missiles enter our envelope, and then change direction quickly to go after a different Exterminator. Our HCs are our most prolific producers of fresh heavy missile negotiators, and we are losing missiles from our most prolific launchers when we lose one of them.
“My sensor screens show there are also compact objects appearing within our formation without a revealing trail of their arrival. They are now finding and penetrating more of our fusion generators. Why has that changed from their first attacks from much closer? They seem to have improved their negotiating skills.”
A harried Implementer could only acknowledge the observations his Chief Negotiator made. “The way their anti-ship missiles alter targets suggests to me that their guidance systems understand the shadow effects of our radiation shielding, and an Exterminator makes a bigger shadow than a hard to follow light cruiser. The enemy missiles can find our largest assets, a HC with a large shadow, more easily than a Marauder LC.”
“How do you explain the more frequent destruction of fusion generators by the small black holes? They were only hitting the central generators at the start, so rerouting power to the nose and tail generators, and our damage control systems kept those assets active in our negotiations. Now, we can’t see the enemy ships except when they launch a missile or fire an energy beam, and they promptly Jump when they do that.”
Desh explained something the Negotiator probably didn’t know about Thack Delos ship designs, compared to other Empire warships. “We distribute our fusion generators more widely than do our competitors in the Empire. They each place their triply redundant generating capability near the centers of their ships, and we do not. I think our enemy has learned that attacking our ships from nose to tail, or tail to nose, increases their chance to puncture two, or even all three of our generators. Their black hole weapons seem to be formed within our formation, and if they sense the motion of one of our units, they have a shadow sense of the nose and tail, and attack from those ends. I have just instructed our units to turn more often, to reduce that possibility.”
The Negotiator, observing the overall slow progress, proved himself to be a master of stating the obvious. “They are using our own shadow method of detections to find us in our envelope, and we can’t find them that way out in the open. Only the smaller, and nearly undefended population centers, are experiencing profit losses, except for a single middle sized site. The larger centers, representing most of the planetary investments, have been protected thus far.
“Implementer, your heavy missiles do not have the advantage of a radiation envelope once they enter atmosphere, and are being wasted. I expected you to produce an extension of our radiation and debris shield over their most precious assets, and you have not produced that for us yet. Do you have an alternative to increase their planetary losses?”
“Negotiator, our Egg Layers would be vulnerable in atmosphere, but if they launch their Infiltrators closer to the edge of atmosphere, they may be able to descend to low levels and proceed close enough to larger population assets to penetrate them with a short-range missile. If the electromagnetic pulse is powerful enough, it may shield them when they withdraw, and we might recover those assets and crews.”
Gelander ran a quick cost versus benefit analysis through his mind, and decided. “Six small craft per Egg Layer, with two crew in each, is a small price if even one of them delivers their nuclear weapons on target at a large city. The blasts and radiation will make it unusable by the enemy for multiple orbits, and those present will die within a few cycles at the center, and more within fifty cycles at the edges, depending on how effective their medical technology proves to be.
“I authorize you to spend fifty of our two hundred Egg Layers. We wi
ll have three hundred Infiltrators to apply many more negotiating points, with ten small ground attack missiles on each of them. We need to increase their costs far above our current profit losses.”
****
Howard was describing the situation at New Glasgow. “Tet, we’re outnumbered in combat ships, but they aren’t really using their fleet the way the Ragnar and Finth do. Individual ships or squadrons are not swooping down to attack the cities. I’m sure they’d do that if we weren’t here, but they’re devastating the rural areas, and the small nukes are polluting the environment. They keep sending a lot of large missiles at the biggest cities, and we’re scrambling to keep knocking them down.
“Their ships have stayed clustered in their thirty-mile-wide envelope of radiation and small metallic debris, which plays hell with our sensors. The PU can’t Jump into the formation to attack up close, not without being spotted as holes in the flood of electromagnetic emissions. This is comprised of infrared from hot debris, UV, X-rays, and gammas. They refresh the cloud from time to time with fresh detonations.
“Against the planet, they’re using low to medium yield nuclear tipped missiles, both ground attack and anti-ship, but so far none have been thermonuclear. These warheads are designed to be dirty weapons, taking advantage of their own species relative resistance to tissue and DNA damage from radiation.
“The PU will need to load up and divert as many med labs here as possible, with the limited supplies of nanites that are programed for radiation damage and repair. We’ve managed to take out all the large missiles aimed at the big cities, but they were destroyed in atmosphere, and even undetonated, the warheads are blown apart and pieces are falling on the countryside. Small towns of a few thousand people, up to ten or twenty thousand have been hit, over thirty-seven of them so far, because we can’t stop every missile. The big population centers are getting the lion’s share of our efforts. I’m over the capitol, keeping my promise to Governor Goodfem to help protect them.”
Koban: When Empires Collide Page 30