Kris Longknife 13 - Unrelenting

by Mike Shepherd

  “You will need that,” Admiral Furzah purred. “Surely you have learned that the ratio of the forces in a battle is the square of their size. You have two hundred ships. They have sixteen hundred at last count. By my reckoning, they outnumber you not eight to one but two hundred and fifty-six to four. Sixty-four to one.”

  “We know that rule, Admiral Big Cat,” Granny Rita said, “and we’re going to beat them. Thank God that ex of mine is good at getting the best stuff pushed forward to where the fight is. You can always count on him for that.”

  “But won’t the aliens dodge these neutron bullets if they see them coming?” Admiral Kitano asked. “I know I would be opening up my formation to let them pass. Incoming always has the right-of-way,” she added with a chuckle.

  “Can you dodge a machine-gun volley?” Jack said softly.

  “Machine gun?” Kitano asked, with a raised eyebrow.

  “If the beam ships fire a bolt every fifteen seconds, that means a shot every five seconds. Nelly has a way to make the fifty-thousand-ton bullets splinter into four darts. Try dodging that.”

  Admiral Kitano thought for a long minute, then shook her head. “That sounds great, assuming these three beam ships fire as fast as you say they can. Can they?”

  “Someone read our report,” Kris said.

  “Every inch of it. Out loud,” Kitano shot back.

  “Okay, yes and yes. Yes, when we took the beam ships out for a test run we found they were still in the experimental stage, so we kicked butt, replaced personnel, mind-set, software, and hardware.” Kris paused to let that sink in.

  “Right now, the repair ships Vulcan, Arasi, and Artifex are tied up alongside each beam ship. Those Navy hammer and screwdriver types are going over the ships, reviewing where the breakdowns occurred and toughening them to battle standards. We’ve got the fabs on the moon knocking out tons of critical spare parts. We will mate the repair ships permanently to the beam ships. In the coming fight, if they need something fixed, those Sailors will have what they need to get it working in Navy time, not civilian time.”

  Kitano considered that. “What about armor? Those beam ships are big targets.”

  “I’ve talked to Admiral Benson about that. He says there’s no way to cram all that high-tech kludge into anything like Condition Zed.”

  “Can we load them up with more Smart Metal?” Amanda asked.

  Abby shook her head. “We’d be blending local Smart Metal with what they came with. That’s something we’ve avoided. And when we finished, they’d weigh so much, they likely couldn’t get under way. No, folks, what you see is what we fight.”

  “Any delay,” Kris said, “would have the aliens charging into the Alwa system, where we’d be fighting with our backs to the wall.”

  “My wall,” Granny Rita drawled.

  “Glad I won’t be fighting in those big eggs with a target painted on them,” Jacques said.

  “Unfortunately, you will be,” Kris said. “Everyone who has one of Nelly’s kids will be forming three-person teams to manage the fire control systems on those battlewagons.”

  “Oops,” Jacques said. “Honey, you’ve been lusting after this computer around my neck. How about I give it to you?”

  “I was lusting after the body under your computer, lover boy, and I’ll be right there beside you.”

  “So I get to be the courageous warrior, but I don’t get to kiss you good-bye and go off to do fun guy things, huh?”

  “Kiss me all you want, but never good-bye,” Amanda said, and leaned over and gave him a kiss that went way longer than a peck.

  There are problems having civilians in war counsels, Kris thought, not leaning over and giving Jack just as long a kiss, though she longed to.

  “Moving right along,” Abby said. “I take it that me, Colonel Bruce, and Cara will have a beam ship of our own.”

  “Yes” Kris said. “I know this will disrupt the colonel’s regiment dirtside, but if this works, they won’t have to fight.”

  “And if it don’t, there likely won’t be much chance of their winning. I suspect the aliens intend to sanitize Alwa right down to bedrock, like they did that first planet.”

  “I’m getting that impression,” Kris admitted. “Those fast suicide boats didn’t mean to leave much standing.”

  “Who does that mean I’ll be going out there with?” Jacques asked.

  “Jack, Penny, and I will be on the Conqueror. You, Professor Labao, and Chief Beni will be on the Opening Statement,” Kris said.

  “Retired Chief Beni who came out here to fight them that killed his boy? All three of us who got the new computers to replace the last three of Nelly’s kids that got killed in a three-way hookup.”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Honey, kisses or no, you stay here.”

  “Kisses or no, I’m going out there with you,” Amanda replied.

  “I’m being drafted into this.”

  “And I’ve got a reserve commission that I’m sure the nice princess over there will activate if I bat my eyelashes at her husband a few times.”

  “Activate her, Kris,” Jack said. “Torture by batted eyelashes terrifies me.”

  “Consider yourself on active duty,” Kris said, smiling fondly at Jack.

  “Foolish woman,” Jacques said.

  “Foolish man,” Amanda said. “Now, if there’s nothing we can add to this meeting, I have a few words I want to exchange with this warrior of mine.”

  “I doubt there will be words exchanged,” Admiral Furzah purred, as the two left.

  “What have we got left to check out, Kris?” Granny Rita said. “You will defend far forward. That’s settled. What next?”

  “How do we enter the system?” Kris asked. “The aliens don’t know that we can use fuzzy jumps. They don’t even know they exist. There’s a nice fuzzy jump near the neutron sun. The nearest standard jump is much farther away. Using that jump would have the advantage of getting them committed and headed our way before they have to face the full fury of our neutron bolts. However, using that jump would also cut down on the time we have to hit them with those bolts.”

  “Why not use the closer fuzzy jump?” Admiral Kitano asked.

  “What are the chances we can annihilate every ship in the enemy horde?” Jack asked back. “Any one of them gets away, and the next alien ships will know we have some way of appearing out of space they don’t know about. At best, they get nervous. At worst, they go looking for the fuzzy jumps and discover a fast way around the galaxy. A fast way to the human side of the galaxy.”

  “Not good,” Captain Drago said. “I, for one, vote for a normal entrance. The O club on Cannopus Station has the silhouettes of four base ships with a nice bright red line through them. When we finish these, I expect to add another four. Still, that leaves thirty to forty.”

  Those around the table nodded agreement.

  “We use the normal jump,” Kris said, ending that discussion.

  “What next?” Admiral Kitano asked.

  “This will be as much your decision as mine,” Kris said. “I will be commanding this fight from the Conqueror. You will have tactical command of the battle line. As I see it, that will consist of all four of the main fleets. I’m adding one of the newly arrived squadrons to each of the existing fleets, and one to Admiral Benson’s Fifth Fleet in reserve. Do we send it with you to make the interception or hold him back with the beam ships?”

  “We’re going to have a hell of a fight on our hands, what with a thousand of those warships of theirs now having six hundred of their fast movers to outflank us,” Admiral Kitano said slowly. “I’d like to have Benson with me. Sorry to strip you down to just about nothing.”

  “I’m leaving four Bird class guard ships at Alwa. The other eight will escort the beam ships,” Kris said.

  “I’ll try to have a decent-size fleet when we rally to your position,” Kitano said.

  “The beam ships should attrite the aliens for you before the fight.”
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  “When do we move?”

  “There’s no use in further delays,” Kris said. “The yards have finished up the last of the battlecruisers. Even if they were to lay down another squadron for us, I’m none too sure we could find crews. We head out day after tomorrow. Sortie at 0900.”

  “How are you going to get on the Conqueror?” Amber asked. “I noticed you sent Captain Drago over to kick butt and take names when the beam ships screwed up.”

  “Yep. Baby and X-rays do not mix. They’re taking me over in Wasp’s pinnace. It’s hardened enough for orbit. They’re also jacking up the hardening on the Conqueror. It should be a piece of cake.”

  “You’re setting your pretty ass down on the biggest target, and you call it a piece of cake. Admiral, you’ve got a skewed perspective.”

  “No doubt I do. I’m a Longknife,” Kris said, with a chuckle.

  The two went to study the order of battle on the wall of Kris’s flag plot. Jack stood at Kris’s elbow, Admiral Furzah and Captain Drago at Kitano’s.

  “Who commands Fourth Fleet?” Kitano asked. “You took it out last time.”

  “I’m short flag officers,” Kris admitted. “Captain Zermatt of the Helvetican never fought more than a squadron. Commodore Nottingham fought the Earth task force when Admiral Yi funked out on us. There is one captain who might fit a three star slot.”

  “Who?” Kitano asked.

  “Captain Drago,” Kris said.

  “What?” the mentioned captain said.

  “You were an admiral once upon a time,” Kris said. “A damn good one, I hear. You left a desk job to keep a certain princess delinquent out of trouble, which got you into enough trouble and fights to satisfy any fighting man. We’re heading into a desperate fight. I won’t be commanding a fleet from my old flag. Why don’t you take Fourth Fleet out for a spin?”

  Captain Drago stood silent for a long minute. “It sounds like an honor I can hardly refuse,” he finally said.

  “You have any problem with this?” Kris asked Kitano.

  “I’d say you’ve been underutilizing this man for a long time. I’d be glad to see him back in the saddle.”

  “Nelly, cut the paperwork,” Kris said.

  “It’s on Admiral Longknife’s desk,” Nelly said with glee.

  Kitano retrieved the certificate. Kris signed it, and handed it to her longtime friend. “You better go find some stars.”

  “Thank you, I think. Wouldn’t you know I’d get a fleet with just days to get ready.”

  “What do you expect from one of those damn Longknifes?” Kris said.

  Admiral Drago saluted. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a rather tough job at hand.”

  “You want to keep Wasp?” Kris asked.

  The freshly minted admiral shook his head. “I think having Wasp and Intrepid with those Birds will be the least I can do for you.”

  “Thanks. Let’s hope I don’t need them.”

  “Yeah, right,” Drago said with a smile, and exited.

  For a long moment, Kris and Amber continued gazing at the screens. Both gravitated toward the one showing System X. Kris measured and remeasured the distance between the alien base at one end of the system, her neutron star toward the other, and the jump she’d use to enter.

  “You think they’ll charge you once they take a few hits?” Amber asked.

  “But will they charge in without decelerating or come in slow and light on their feet to dodge?”

  “I’m ordering the ships on blockade duty to refuel on their way to the rally point. I’ll have the ships here take on double their normal reaction mass load. If they don’t use it, they can dump it, but if they need it . . .” Amber left unsaid.

  “Nelly, calculate a Condition Zed for the battlecruisers with excess reaction mass.”

  “How much excess?” Nelly asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You’re no help,” Nelly growled.

  “There’s no way to tell until we get there,” Amber answered for Kris.

  “A fat lot of good all that nice crystal armor is going to do you if you’ve got reaction mass bulging out love handles.”

  “Love handles, Nelly?” Kris yelped.

  “You know, those things you get . . .”

  “Yes, I know how you get then,” Kris said, cutting Nelly off, and patting her own very bulging “love handle.”

  Amber was polite enough to almost stifle a laugh at Kris’s computer’s image of her fleet. Or Nelly’s discomforting of Kris. Kris didn’t ask which and changed the subject.

  “Anything more we need to do?” Kris asked her Navy deputy.

  “Yes, would you mind promoting Rear Admiral Hawkings to command the First Fleet so I can concentrate on leading all of them?”

  “The Battlecruiser Fleet for you,” Kris said. “The Battle Fleet for me.”

  “Something like that,” Kitano said, nodding.

  “Nelly.”

  “The paper is already on your desk,” Nelly answered.

  Kitano retrieved it; Kris signed it. “I wish I had more ships for you,” she said as she handed Amber the promotion for her subordinate into her place.

  “We took on the first alien base ships with what, thirty-four frigates with only 20-inch lasers. Now look at us. You’re sending me out with five fleets as big or bigger. What’s that, two-hundred-plus battlecruisers? How will I handle all of them?”

  “You’ll find a way.”

  “God help the aliens. If they’re still thinking of us as vermin, they won’t know what hit them.”

  “You did read the report that they may have longer-ranged lasers on those fast cruisers. Maybe some on their warships.”

  “I read it. I’ll keep them at arm’s length. I’m no Admiral Yi. My religion strictly forbids doing crazy charges. But we’ve got the 22-inch lasers and crystal armor. I’ll use it all—cautiously.”

  “Good. Godspeed, good hunting, and sink them all.”

  Admiral Kitano saluted. Kris returned it. Admiral Furzah, Penny, and Masao followed her out. Kris was left alone with Jack.

  “You really that confident?” he asked.

  “Hold me. Feel my trembling,” Kris said, folding herself into his arms.

  59

  Most of the fleet was already on station, guarding three exits from System X. Word went out to pull back from Jumps Alpha, Beta, and Gamma and rally at Jump Eta.

  A pair of courier ships were left at each jump to keep an eye on what the aliens were up to. At last report, they were still orbiting that gas giant, busy making more ships.

  Three days later, every human battlecruiser this side of the galaxy was one jump out from System X. Kris joined the Conqueror, using Wasp’s pinnace. It had been strange, sailing with Commander Pett. She was a competent woman, well versed in Kris’s need, but she was not the friend Drago had become.

  He had taken Unrelenting in Captain Becky Kaeyat’s division for his flag. Kris had issued a lot of promotions in the last three days. She would not send young people into bloody battle wearing junior rank for the job they’d do this day.

  Admiral Furzah calculated the odds against them at sixty-four to one. She, the ever-optimist cat, had transferred with Kris, Penny, and Masao to the Conqueror. They would provide her key staff for the coming fight.

  With the newly respun Falcon and Harpy Eagle keeping watch on the far side of the jump and reporting no activity from the aliens except in their own little corner of the system, Kris decided to risk a fast entry into System X. The Conqueror and her sisters would go through the jump at forty-eight thousand kilometers an hour. Keeping eight hundred kilometers between them, they’d make the jump a minute apart.

  The battlecruisers coming out from the Alwa system were all under Admiral Kitano’s direct command. She had them tucked in closer, at a hundred-klick interval; they’d jump every ten seconds. Tight, but not likely to dent any hulls.

  None of this would have been possible if the aliens had deployed even the most ru
dimentary pickets. They hadn’t even chased the Victorious away but left it to report on matters until Kris ordered it withdrawn as her beam ships approached the jump.

  The Victorious and Vanguard waited patiently fifty klicks from the jump. Kris could only wonder how Hanson was taking the word of his promotion to commodore and command of BatRon 16 in Benson’s reserve fleet.

  The jump went smoothly. Kris watched from her flag plot, reestablished in Conqueror’s core. Wasp had even brought over her desk, leather couches, and chairs. More importantly, they’d brought her screens. Nelly attached them to the very good sensor suite aboard the beam ship, necessary for targeting even if the designers hadn’t been nearly as committed to hitting something.

  Kris and Nelly would see that changed.

  Once through the jump, Conqueror set course at 1.5 gees for a burned cinder of a planet orbiting the neutron star. The other beam ships followed.

  Immediately, battlecruisers began to shoot through. Thirty-five minutes later, the fleet was sorting itself into a cross of four task fleets, each with four or five squadrons. Admiral Benson trailed in reserve with four squadrons.

  Wasp and Intrepid caught up with Conqueror and took station well ahead. The eight Bird class frigates, Ostrich, Cock o’ the Walk, Eagle, Falcon, Heron, Osprey, Kiwi, and Kookaburra, came up the rear. Slower to join were Merlin, Hermes, Apollo, Atalanta, Diana, and Artemis. Unlike the Birds, they had four reactors instead of three. That gave them speed but only four 20-inch lasers to the Birds’ six. Birds could fight but not run. Merlins had better run rather than fight.

  Kris had no idea which class would help her the most, but they were all she had. Beam ships could hardly run.

  Hours later, the aliens answered Kris’s gambit. Every alien ship, warship, fast cruiser, and mother ship, took off for Kris’s side of the system. The mother ships accelerated at 1.3 gees. Most of the warships pulled ahead at 1.75 gees, then slowed to 1.5 gees. The cruisers had also bolted at first, at nearly two gees, but were slowing to keep close to mother.

  Only the door knockers stayed in orbit. Interesting, that.

  Kris ordered the battlecruiser fleets to slow to one gee and intercept them halfway across the system. That done, she urged the beam ships to lay on more acceleration, but the skippers of the three big round balls were reluctant. “Remember, we have to slow this steaming hunk of cow turd, Princess. If we lay too much energy on, we might not slow down, and then what?”