“Yes sir.”
Dorg said, “With all due respect, I would like to see them.”
Tag said, “Don’t worry. They have started ramming our ships with dreadnaughts; I don’t see any other purpose of those ships except to do the same.”
“Warleader, we are in position.”
‘Start your acceleration now.”
Lt. Minishe said, “Sir the ten ships have turned and are accelerating toward our fort.”
“Attention all fortresses; this is Colonel Taz. We are going live weapons. Target the ships around our screen. Hold your fire until we eliminate the ten suicide ships. The four fortresses on this side of the planet are to target their zones. As the other forts rotate into position, move your zone with the rotation. I think they will run directly from the planet, but stay alert in case they try to run around it. We will fire in 30 seconds.”
The ten Vgrig ships were accelerating at their maximum speed and were 80 miles from the surface of the screen when a bright white light 5 miles wide erupted from the fortress and hit the ten ships. Nothing remained when it turned off.
“Holy Groad, what was that?” the Warleader said. Then he saw more than a hundred of those beams fire through his ships. “Get out of there!” he yelled into his com; but it was no use. His fleet was sitting still and it took a few moments to get under way. Those moments proved fatal when those beams moving at light speed hit his ships. Out of 800 ships hanging above the planet only 10 were able to start moving but they were hit before they could move out of range. Where those beams hit, nothing remained. “War leader, the screen has reduced to 87 degs thickness,” the sensor officer said, “and all of our ships have been blown out of existence.”
“How are our other fleets doing?”
“Only 210 of 2000 managed to make the third fleets lines. We lost 1790 ships to the Humans first fleet of 450 ships. They are attacking the third fleet with 780 ships now.”
“Pilot, take the ship away from the planet and head for the Star drive limit at top speed. We have got to warn the Alliance about this race.” The big ship turned and moved toward the moon then went vertical to escape the system. As it picked up speed the sensor officer said, “Warleader, there are ten of the Human battleships closing on us at twice our speed. They will intercept us more than 1000 segs from the jump limit.”
The Warleader had never known the fear he was feeling. He was trapped. He sat in his command chair and watched those ships coming at him at unbelievable velocity. His silver plume was laying flat against his back and he could see his death approaching. “Warleader, I know we would never consider surrendering,” his second said, “but if we all die here, there will be no one to warn our world of this danger. I will follow you to death, but the Home Nest must be warned.”
“Honor demands a death before dishonor,” the Warleader said. “But you’re right. This is a danger that we must try at all costs to warn the Vetrel. Abandon ship; set the self destruct. Everyone into survival Pods. Let’s hope these Humans take prisoners. Abandon ship!”
Commodore Johnson saw the big ship stop and start emitting life boats. “Hold your position,” he ordered his ships. “I’m sure they have set a self destruct; let’s wait until it goes off. Communications; order a transport for the prisoners.”
On Cainth the Clan Leaders watched the fortresses totally destroy the fleet above the planet. Terl looked at the clan leaders and said, “That’s what will go on line over us tomorrow. Only 300 ships remain to be converted. For the first time in more than 1500 cycles, we can feel what it’s like to be free.”
Tgon-Gee saw the slaughter of the fleet at the planet and turned off his feed. “How close we have come to being made powerless. Dorg was right; the Alliance Leadership had set us up. He felt a deep burning anger and was determined to make them pay but first a trip to Cainth to thank them for their advice.”
Kosiev said, “Commodore Johnson, have one of your ships move toward the Saratoga and fire a light beam at it. We’re going to stop the feed now.”
“Yes, sir, the ship is already in position and the Saratoga has acknowledged the cut.”
The remaining Alliance warships were caught between two Human fleets and they had no chance of survival. The 738 human ships destroyed twice their number within 60 seconds of contact. The Subleader ordered a fast withdrawal but now the numbers were in the Humans favor and each ship took one of the remaining Alliance ships and destroyed them all before any of them could make it to the jump limit. The Alliance had sent 4800 ships and none survived. The Humans lost 240 of their 900 ships. More than 60 % of those losses were from being rammed by larger Alliance ships.
Kosiev reviewed the results and said to Tag, “We have to change our fleet strategy; staying in formation works in space battles but not against ships willing to ram. We can’t give up our edge in speed and maneuverability by having our fleet stay in line.”
“You’re right,” Tag said while looking at the ship losses. “The weave worked well but we waited too late to start it. Perhaps we use both next time. We’ll engage them in formation and then start the weave once we break into their ranks. We should also change direction every ten seconds. They can’t maneuver as fast and it’s hard to ram when your target turns away faster than you can match.”
“I understand we took the flagships crew prisoner,” Dorg said. I thought this race was supposed to suicide before being captured?”
“I think they saw no one was going to escape and they know the importance of getting a warning to the Alliance,” Tag said as he watched the flagship self destruct on his video. “Admiral, leave a ship hidden that can watch the wreckage of their ship.”
“Why, do you think they have something planned?”
“How hard would it be to hide a small armored shuttle in the wreckage that was isolated from the blast?”
“I see your point. Their Warleader was not among the prisoners. Should we just destroy the wreckage?”
“No, we might want to let him escape.”
“For God’s sake, why?”
“We now know the screen will protect the planet. I don’t want the next invasion to target Earth but to target the fleet. He knows we only used 900 ships. The Alliance will not have a clue how many we used so they may order an all out attack fearing we have huge numbers. I hate to let them know about our planetary defenses, but I don’t want them to think we have more ships than those 900. The Warleader will also be able to verify that we lost 240 ships so the Alliance will not feel it needs to send all the ships in its arsenal. We still haven’t cut into their numbers enough. One thing for certain though, we won’t need to hide anything for the next battle; they will send everything they have if they lose the next one.”
Kosiev thought about Tags suggestion and said, “What if there isn’t a ship hiding in the rubble?”
“Then we have to arrange an escape but I think that is premature at this point. Move all your ships away from the wreckage and have the Cleveland come around from the sun and keep an eye out. We’ll give them five days to make their break. We also should make it look real and have one of our ships start the chase from too far away to catch them.”
“I’m nervous about revealing our planetary defenses, but you’re right. We can’t handle more than 40,000 warships. Do you think it might be a good idea to maybe add four more asteroid fortresses?”
“We haven’t fully charged the ones we’ve got. We’re still at only 60 % charge after destroying those 800 ships. We can add more if we can get them to 100 % capacity. Even with the sun and all those reactors, the system holds an inconceivable amount of energy and is still weeks off from fully charging. Think about how valuable that screen will be to our ships during a planetary fight to discharge their screens.”
Kosiev thought a moment and said, “I hadn’t even considered that.” Then he smiled. “You know; we’re not as much an underdog as it appears.” Then he started laughing.
Chapter 6
The Warleader sat in his
small ship watching his screen as the Humans finished destroying the ships in the outer system. His race was not one to ever be intimidated by any military they had ever encountered but now he was nervous that his life was on the line for the first time in his career. He knew his species was no match for what he had witnessed here in this attack on the Humans. He thought back to his initial over confidence and wondered how he could have possibly planned things differently that would have led to a different outcome but he was forced to admit that the end result would have been the same. “I talked about killing; they actually did it,” he thought as he watched his screen. Every one of the survivors on his small ship was in a somber mood and frightened that they, too, would be discovered. He watched as the crew of his battle ship was picked up by the Humans and loaded aboard a transport that then moved out toward the large planet near the Star drive limit. The Warships escorting the transport followed as it moved further and further away. “Do you detect any other ships in the vicinity?” he asked his sensor officer.
“No Warleader, all the Human ships are now in the outer system. There could be some on the other side of this systems star but not where our sensors can see.”
“How much faster did our instruments show their ships are than ours?”
“At least twice as fast, maybe more; I don’t know if they went full speed in their attack on our fleets.”
“Let’s assume they are three times faster, is there a route out of this system that would allow us to reach the Star Drive limit before we could be overtaken?”
“Warleader, you also have to factor in their missiles. This small ship cannot handle a full attack because of our small screen. However, if we wait for two more drags then the closest ships will be those escorting the transport and if we go down away from the plane of this system taking an angle toward the back of that star, we should make it. I wouldn’t suggest delaying beyond that because now that the battle is over at that large planet some of those ships may start back in system.”
The Warleader pondered his options and then decided. “In one drag we will break our cover and accelerate to the closest jump point. We’re assuming that they will see us immediately and respond instantly. There has to be a few dregs of uncertainty and that’s all we will need to make our escape. Notify me if any ships start our way.”
“Yes Warleader.” The time moved slowly and the tension mounted in the small ship. Finally, the sensor officer said, “Now is the time.”
The Warleader said a quick prayer to the universe and said, “Engage engines and accelerate to the jump point. Have the star drive ready.”
The small ship burst out of the rubble of the flag ship and accelerated down1 and away from the Human’s solar system. They had covered 35 % of the distance when the sensor officer said, “Warleader, two of the Human battleships have left the transports and are accelerating to intercept.”
“Will they catch us?” the Warleader asked in a nervous voice.
“It’s going to be close.”
The entire crew watched as the two battleships moved closer and closer. Everyone could see that it was going to be very, very, close. The chase seemed to last for an eternity and the Humans were gaining ground each second. “Warleader the jump point is fifty sems.” At that point the battleships fired twenty missiles at the fleeing Alliance ship.
“Are we going to make it?” the Warleader shouted.
The Sensor officer yelled, “Engage star drive on my command!” The Missiles bore down on the small ship and just before they impacted the Sensor officer yelled, “Engage now, engage now!” The small ship disappeared into star drive just as the missiles went through the space it had just occupied.
Captain Franklin looked at his weapons officer and said, “You cut that pretty close, Lt. Malcolm.”
“Not really sir; the missiles were programmed to go around the ship and not impact. You asked me to make it look real.”
Captain Vaughn on board the Coastal City commed the Clearwater and said, “That was close.”
Captain Franklin smiled and said, “We aim to please; so we are pleased to take close aim.”
Both Captains laughed and then they turned back to join the transports.
Kosiev and Tag had been watching the chase on their screen that was being fed directly from the Clearwater. Kosiev said, “That was close!”
Tag smiled at him and said, “Whoever that weapons officer is, he should be rewarded. You can’t make it look more real than that. If we were this worried, can you imagine what it was like on that ship?”
Kosiev laughed and tried to restrain his chuckles but the more he tried the harder he laughed. Tag caught the infection and soon everyone of the Washington’s bridge was holding their ribs and laughing out loud. “I’ll bet he,” Kosiev started then laughed louder, “I’ll bet he reached out a porthole and pushed some of them away,” Everyone broke up again and laughter ruled the moment.
Admiral Dorg entered Terl’s chamber running and said, “The Glod ambassador has just entered our system and is requesting an interview with us.”
“What is he doing coming here? He’ll see the asteroid forts we’re bringing on line and he will know something isn’t what it should be.”
Dorg thought for a moment and said, “I’ve not been comfortable being less than honest with him. I suggest we tell him the truth and let the Drang groad fall where it will. What’s the worse he can do, turn us in to the Alliance or attack us? The Alliance will eventually learn about us any way and I think he will talk first.”
Terl said, “I’m glad those forts are in service. I’ll call and welcome him to our world.”
Tgon-Gee saw the asteroids surrounding the Cainth home world and knew that something was not right. “Those are the same weapons I saw around the Human home world. What’s going on here?”
His fleet Admiral said, “Excellency, I don’t think we should go any closer and get within range of those orbital forts. I would suggest leaving now; I’m responsible for your safety.”
His com screen came on and Terl was on it saying’ “Welcome to our home, Mr. Ambassador. I look forward to meeting you.”
Tgon-Gee looked at his Admiral and said, “Head Clansman Terl. I am reluctant to come any closer to your planet. Especially if what I see on my sensors is what I think they are, then I think it would be foolish to even stay here.”
Terl was in turmoil. What should he say to this Glod Leader? Then he decided. “They are what you think they are. Please stay where you are and Admiral Dorg will come out to you and explain. If you would feel safer, please move out beyond the Star Drive limit and he’ll meet you there. You are a friend of my people. We would never place you in any danger.”
Tgon-Gee looked at the screen and thought about what Terl said. His world was safe because of the Cainth warning which they did not have to give. He suspected that he wasn’t told the whole story but he sensed real concern from Admiral Dorg when he gave the warning. He looked at his Admiral and said, “No, that won’t be necessary. We will come to your planet and meet you on the surface at your Central Assembly. Please send me landing instructions and would you mind if I bring my Fleet Admiral with me?”
“You may bring anyone you like, Ambassador. I look forward to meeting with you.
Tgon-Gee and his Admiral looked across the table at Terl and the 14 other Clan Leaders; Admiral Dorg sat at the end of the table closest to him. “I came here to thank you for your warning about avoiding the battle with the Humans. Now I’m confused about your relationship with them especially in light of the forts overhead. What’s going on here?”
Terl looked at Dorg and nodded, “Ambassador,” Admiral Dorg said, “After our battle with the Humans we had lost 80 % of our warships and more than 10,000 drop troops. We only had 900 ships available to defend our planet and the Human Fleet had jumped into our system with more than two thirds of the fleet that had just destroyed more than 2000 warships. We have been harassing them for more than 200 cycles because we viewed them
as a threat to our survival. I personally hated them for the death of my grandfather 99 cycles ago. Everyone in this room knew that our planet was doomed and there was nothing we could do to prevent it. Remember, our forces had massacred 20 % of their colonists on their colony planet named Ross and I was the one that ordered it to be done. Now our nightmare was facing us and advancing on our fleet.”
“You’re still here,” Tgon-Gee said, “what happened?”
“We waited for them to attack us and they just sat in space facing us five segs away. Then one of their leaders said, “What do we do now?” They ordered us to send our planetary and military leader to one of their ships. Headman Terl and I went fully expecting to be executed for what we did to the colonists. When we arrived their first question was, “Give a good reason for why we shouldn’t wipe your race from the universe?”
Terl then said, “We found common ground. They knew us better than we knew ourselves. They recognized we were acting out of our fear and that we were making irrational decisions.”
“How about you Admiral; do you still hate them?”
“The most remarkable thing happened, Ambassador. They showed me where my hate was misplaced. I blamed them for something we did. Once I saw that, I knew that the Humans were no danger to us. We were the danger to them; yet they were willing to help work out a foundation for cooperation between our races,” Admiral Dorg said. “Now I hope I can get an opportunity to make up for the Humans I killed out of my hatred and fear.”
Tgon-Gee looked at his Admiral and then asked, “How did you resolve your differences?”
“We made the Humans our sixteenth Clan. They are now our Clan Brothers pledged to protect us and we are pledged to protect them.”
“They appear to need very little protection from anyone,” Tgon-Gee observed. “I assume that those forts overhead is a gift from them.”
“They have also converted all our warships to their technology,” Terl said.
Tgon-Gee looked surprised. “How could they trust you after all these years of trouble you caused them? They must be crazy to put that kind of faith in an enemy.”
The power of a Queen a-2 Page 8