“If he didn’t, a whole lot of other people might’ve said the same,” Jack allowed.
“The Challenger checked on three systems and found sixteen ships in some kind of dock spawning suicide boats. Nelly, what’s in the systems with base ships?”
“One base ship has sixty-eight warships guarding it. The other has eighty-four.”
“So two or three dishes,” Kris said.
“But you’d have to come through a jump and close the distance to the base ship,” Jack pointed out. “They could be running away the whole time. You planning on doing a hammer and anvil on them? I don’t see much of a hammer and damn little of an anvil at your disposal.”
“We’ll talk about what I can lay my hands on later. For now, let’s look at the nut I might be tempted to crack. Nelly, put one of the systems up on the nearest screen and make it big. I’m comfortable, finally, and I don’t want to have to waddle over to get a good look.”
“You do not waddle, wife of mine.”
“If I say I’m waddling compared to the dainty way I used to mince around, I’m waddling, husband, and you will agree under pain of losing way more husbandly points than you can afford at the moment.”
“I will only stipulate to your opinion of your gait if I may enter into the record my delight in your glowing countenance.”
“I’ll give you a 5.9 for your save, lover boy. Now, foreplay complete, let’s see if there’s any way I can blow another base ship to hell. What have you got, Nelly?”
“What I will call System One is a mess. Three suns. Six jumps. Lots of gas and rock crap wandering around them in odd obits. The alien is close to one jump. That makes it easier to get the suicide boats running for it. There’s another jump fairly close by, but it wouldn’t help all that much if you wanted to use it for a pincer movement. The base ship would have a pretty easy run for any of the other four jumps.”
Nelly made the system large and easy for Kris to follow as she walked her through it. Kris shook her head.
“Nothing nice there. What’s the other one like?”
“This one is a simpler situation. One nice yellow dwarf. Three normal jumps. The aliens are orbiting a gas giant close to one of them.”
“Nelly, you said three normal jumps. Does that mean there’s a fuzzy jump?” Jack asked.
“Two of them,” Nelly said, and showed them.
Both were close to the gas giant the aliens orbited.
Kris whistled. “We got a back door right into their nice party, and they don’t even know it’s there.”
“Kris, we’ve been keeping those fuzzy jumps a secret,” Jack said. “Is now a good time to show we can pop out of thin air?”
“You’re assuming that they’ll have any survivors to report what happened,” Kris pointed right back.
“You think you could fight a battle of annihilation? How many warships does this one have, Nelly?”
“This is the larger force. One honking big mother ship and eighty-four of her huge kitten warships.”
“And what have you got to take a shot at them?” Jack asked. Most likely he knew the present count of ships in port or fitting out, but he was leaving it to Kris to put her best spin on them or settle for a lower count.
“We don’t have the Birds,” Kris said. “They stay at the jumps and keep swatting suicide boats. I’ve got the good old, no, new Wasp. Triumph, Swiftsure, Spitfire, and new Hotspur from Helvetia now with 22-inch lasers. I’ve got that darling Admiral Yi and the twelve Earth frigates he didn’t throw away on our last shoot.”
“Assuming he follows orders better than last time,” Jack said.
“Are any of his Marines talking to your Marines about his maybe having a drinking problem?”
“None within my hearing. Sorry. Do you think he does?”
Kris winced. “I have no proof.”
“Can’t you just relieve him because you’ve, what’s the wording, ‘lost confidence’ in his leadership or ability to command or fight or something?”
Kris chuckled bitterly. “It does say that somewhere in the book, but it also says that coalition warfare is the pits. You can’t just go around firing officers other people have put in charge.”
“And if it wasn’t for a coalition, we’d be mighty weak,” Jack added.
“Exactly. If there were a senior Earth officer out here I could go to, I would. But Yi is the senior Earth officer. That complicates things. And no, I will not go to his subordinate officers and ask them for a vote of confidence in him. That’s no way to command.”
“I didn’t suggest it.”
“Correct, you didn’t, and thank you, but I felt the need to clear the air. Nelly, get me Admiral Benson.”
“Yes, Your Problem-ness.”
“How is the Tenacious squadron coming along?”
“The first division is making a gentle tour around the moon. The last four are in the final stages of fitting out. Be warned, some of the locals on those ships are pretty raw. Pipra and I are holding on to our more experienced folks at the moment. Something about production being priority one, or so I’m told.”
“And the Victorious squadron?”
“Just starting to quicken, Admiral. Likely we’ll need a week before one of them can risk getting away from the pier. Tirpitz just laid her last one down a few hours ago. Can I ask why you’re joggling my elbow?”
“I’m thinking of taking a few ships out for a spin.”
“How long a spin?”
“The aliens have a mother ship sixteen jumps out, as the crow flies. I’m thinking of making a few fast jumps and seeing how they take to surprises.”
“I’m wondering how I take to surprises. Would you mind if I dropped by? Maybe brought Admiral Hiroshi with me?”
“Feel free to. Jack’s trying to talk me out of this jaunt even as we speak.”
“Jack. Good man, even if he did marry a crazy woman.”
“Be careful. That crazy woman may be throwing crockery by the time you get here.”
Silently, Kris mulled the screen with Jack. Silently, she tried to imagine how a mere twenty-five frigates could take on eighty-four huge warships and one honking big mother ship. Not just take them on, but wipe them out. Leave no one to tell the tale of how it happened.
The smart thing would be to stay home.
Home here, or home on the other side of the galaxy? Kris answered herself.
The two admirals arrived and seemed to have somehow caught up Abby in their wake. They eyed the screen, then silently took seats around Kris’s desk. Being comfortable, and baby presently engaged in doing backflips on her bladder, Kris stayed with her feet up, knowing very well this would have to end soon when she made one of her frequent trips to the head.
Nelly briefed them on the potential target.
“You going to drive them to the nearest jump?” Benson asked when Nelly was finished.
Kris shook her head. “I was thinking of something like a wild highland charge. Pop in on them from the nearest fuzzy jump, barrel at them with all I’ve got, and take them by surprise.”
“Kris,” Nelly said diffidently. “Even if you jump in at four hundred thousand klicks an hour and brake at four gees, they’ll get a good six hours’ warning, and you’ll still be braking as you hit them.”
“I was thinking of flipping ship, going through them fast, and using an orbit around that gas bag of theirs to sling back at them.”
“And if they charged right at you? Through you and off to who knows where?” Benson asked.
“I’ve never known them to run from us while there was still any chance they could kill some of us.”
“She has a point,” Jack admitted.
“But she’s basing her plan of attack on the enemy’s not having learned a lesson. If I heard right about those latest fights out on the picket line of System X, some have learned to tiptoe away when we slam the door in their face.”
“Those were probes looking for a weak spot. This is a fight for their mother ship. That
hunk of steaming hate can’t run nearly fast enough to get away from an attack,” Kris said, rubbing circles on her belly.
“Another point for my gal,” Jack said.
“You keeping score, General?” Admiral Benson asked.
“No, but I am remembering a certain law that allows me to cancel any order a certain serving member of the royal blood gives if I consider it dangerous.”
“You wouldn’t,” Kris said, giving her husband, and security chief, the eye.
“I would, honey. I would. Being out here is one huge danger. You’ll have to go pretty far to rise above the background noise, but if I think this is a totally harebrained suicide stunt, I and a half dozen Marines will lock you in your quarters. Your Highness.”
Kris eyed Jack hard. He did not flinch.
“Totally harebrained suicide stunt, huh. That gives me a lot of rope.”
“We are on Alwa Station,” he said with a shrug.
“Okay, let’s look at what we have. Admiral Benson, what’s the status of the Tenacious squadron?”
“Not too bad now. They’d be better after a week of shaking down. Damn good and up to Alwa Station standards by next month. But you aren’t asking me about next month, are you?”
“Two days. Three at the most. Nelly, how fast can we get out to this target?”
“Accelerate through Alpha Jump, use the fuzzy jump in the next system with plenty of rpms on the hull, pass through another fuzzy jump and drop right in on them. Four days, ten hours, thirty minutes from Cannopus Station to that system.”
“A day of fighting in the system, then four and a half days back. Ten days away from here. The aliens are hunting for a less deadly pass around the blocks we’ve set up. I’ve got courier ships taking orders out to the pickets to outpost their flanks so the aliens don’t steal a march around them. I want to be back here before things get too hot out there.”
Kris paused to take the measure of the men who would judge her. “I want to move on this now or not at all.”
“Why must you move at all?” said Admiral Hiroshi, sometimes retired from the Musashi Navy, and always superintendent on the Kure Docks on Cannopus Station.
“The three wolf packs attacking toward System X will likely sweep in from there to hit our Beta Jump. The two wolf packs that have so far been content to throw suicide boats at us could hit us through our Alpha Jump. Need I say anything about the problems of fighting an assault coming at us from both jumps at once?”
“So you wish to launch a spoiling attack to push them back.”
“To let them know that they can’t hit us without us biting a chunk out of their hide,” Kris said. “We are not a tethered goat waiting for them to ring the dinner bell.”
Admiral Hiroshi nodded. “This is not a foolish vanity. Many generals and admirals in history have done just as she wishes to do. Marty, is there any chance we could finish some of Victorious squadron and join her in this gallant ride?”
“Don’t I wish, Hiroshi, don’t I wish,” Benson said, “but I think she’s kind of counting on us to provide some sort of backup to the Birds out on the line. Am I guessing right, Your Highness?”
“The sooner you can have some sort of reserve force laid up at your yard but ready to go to space on a moment’s notice, the happier I suspect Ada and my Granny Rita will be.”
“The Victorious is coming along fine. Building all these ships to a single design is letting us just spin out the kernel and plug in the furnishings that we’re getting from those moon fabs. Which brings us to the point, Admiral. I’d suggest that you visit each of the new ships in the Tenacious squadron. Those officers have come along mighty quickly, and some of the crew aren’t all that far from the bird farm.”
“You think a chance to see their admiral might help?”
“It can’t hurt.”
Kris eyed her belly. “You sure of that?”
“If you don’t think so, then maybe you shouldn’t be taking the fleet out,” came in an even voice. There was no flinch behind it.
If I can’t face those I’m leading, then I shouldn’t be leading them.
Kris nodded. “That’s what I’ll do tomorrow.”
50
Kris made one last pit stop. Resting a hand on top of baby, she whispered, “Be good for Mommy, dearest. This is only the first of many fights we will no doubt be in,” she said, and smiled at the memory of her and her own mother duking it out in her teen years.
If I could see myself now, would I have been a little happier with my lot in life then?
An old question, no closer to an answer than it had been ten years ago.
First, Kris marched for Wasp’s Forward Lounge, there to meet her senior officers. Those ranged from Admiral Yi down to division officers on her new frigates, like gunnery and engineering.
Kris was struck by just how young they were. Take the skipper of the Tenacious. Becky Kaeyat looked like she should hardly have the family car keys. But Nelly explained as she shook her hand that Becky had come out as gunnery officer for the Congress and had handled her job well during the first Battle of Alwa. She’d gotten XO of the Resolute when promotions to flag opened up a vacancy and had fought her well during the expedition to take down the first suicide base. Now she not only commanded the Tenacious, but was brevet squadron commander.
She carried the burden of command cheerfully and with a firm handshake.
If she was bothered that her commanding admiral was bulging, she didn’t show it.
None of the officers did, but met her eye to eye with confident handshakes. Kris called each by name as Nelly passed along where they’d come from to get these new ships into fighting trim. Many of them were promoted to their jobs from Yi’s own battle squadrons.
Kris went through BatRon 16, then started with Yi and went down his ships. While few of his captains had been promoted after the dismal showing during the last expedition, many of the ranks below them showed men and women promoted to fill in behind. Kris even shook the wing of an Ostrich that was now the gunnery officer for the Admiral Yamamoto and a Rooster who had come from the reactors on Cannopus Station to take command of the Franklin D. Roosevelt’s engineering department.
Yi might have had to be dragged kicking and screaming into accepting locals, but given the choice of leaving empty billets aboard his ships, he’d adjusted.
Done with going eye to eye and hand to hand through her officers, Kris marched to her place at the head table, where Penny and Jack were holding the fort.
But Kris didn’t sit down. Neither did she stand her troops at ease.
“We have won victory after victory here on Alwa Station. We had to. Victory meant the alien bastards died. Defeat means we die and everyone on the planet beneath us. As we stand here, three fleets from our station are harrowing the alien wolf packs, pushing them back from the system they have chosen as their rallying point. That point from which they will all advance on Alwa with murderous intent.
“Even as they defend us on their far-flung stations, from the other side of space, two alien base ships are hurling venomous suicidal attacks at Alwa. Attacks we have defeated one after another. Attacks we must defeat or see a horrible price extracted from those below.
“So far, all we can do is sit here and hit them as they come in. However, the aliens have gotten sloppy. They apparently think it is their job to strike out and ours to take it. They’ve spread themselves out to cover sixteen launching systems. They’ve left only a handful to guard their base ship.”
Young officers leaned forward, eager for what would come next. Kris felt the energy in the room charging her. Even as she took that in, her eyes fell on Admiral Yi. He alone was standing hunched over, staring morosely at the table in front of him.
Kris felt the energy sink that was that admiral and made a note to talk to him afterward.
“We will show them that they can never count on Alwa Station to take what they hand out and not slap the hand that gives it.”
The room took in a br
eath.
“We will make that base ship pay for its reckless disregard for its own defenses.”
“Yes,” came as a low hiss from her gathered officers.
“We will show those aliens the risk of turning their backs on an armed human.”
Now the “Yes” was more than a hiss. Now it was a vow and a promise.
“We sail at 0900 tomorrow. Make ready for a fast cruise and a hard fight. Good hunting to us all. Dismissed.”
The room filled with the cheers of hunters who saw the prey and were ready to take it down. They knew they faced a hard job but went at it with a will.
Fighters looking for a fight.
In an isolated island stood Admiral Yi. Beside him, his chief of staff looked almost as worried as Kris felt.
She made her way through the happy throng to Rear Admiral Yi.
“You ready for a fight?” Kris asked.
“Of course. Of course I’m up to a fight,” he said, almost stuttered.
Kris glanced at the chief of staff.
“We’ll be right with you, Admiral,” Captain Nottingham said.
“Good. I’ll have a council of war this afternoon to brief the senior officers down to squadron leaders.”
“We’ll be there, ma’am,” the chief of staff said when Admiral Yi failed to answer.
The Forward Lounge had begun to empty as officers hurried off to make sure their ships would be shipshape and battle-ready. Kris rode the ebbing tide out until someone hollered, “Make a hole for the Admiral.” Then she walked as quickly as she could, both to let them be about their duty and because baby was tap-dancing on her bladder.
51
The final jump was coming up fast—360,000 klicks fast. But then, the entire operation had been fast.
Kris’s brief to her command staff had been quick; there was little to go on. To her surprise, Admiral Yi had been quiet through the entire meeting. She put that down to keeping her tiny fleet in one compact strike force.
Apparently “Don’t divide your forces” was all he’d learned in his Navy.
The course Nelly laid in had been obtuse to say the least. The first jump had taken them 750 light-years toward the center of the galaxy. The speed and rpms Nelly laid in for this next one took them back out to the edge a good 350 light-years from Alwa and directly into the system with the alien mother ship.
Kris Longknife 13 - Unrelenting Page 26