by Damon Alan
And in all cases, trust.
Emille’s mind assumed dominance. “You will become as one with us,” she whispered.
The surrounding space unfolded. The fabric of creation between the fighters and their target unraveled in Emille’s thoughts. She saw with a dozen pairs of eyes even as her own closed. She heard with their ears as they breathed heavily in their helmets. Together, they pushed their senses into the darkness, trying to find their target.
There. There was the EF-2358. Hiding near a metal rock as large as a city, falling inward toward Faroo.
The small ship was designed to obliterate vessels such as the ones her students were on. Killing it in this simulation would not be easy.
“We have found your ship,” Emille-Alarin said to Sarah.
“Well, that wasn’t creepy at all,” the admiral replied to the sound of them speaking in synchronicity. “Hang on one.”
As they listened, Sarah asked someone with her if they were detecting the small ship Emille-Alarin was about to order an attack on.
“We don’t see it,” Sarah said. “If you do, then prove it.”
“Attack,” Emille-Alarin sighed into the void. “Leap upon it like guthtas.”
The image of the cat she’d mentioned danced in the thoughts of her students, and then they were off. No time passed. They were orange dots of fire on the screen in front of her, and then gone. On their target. The speech of the newcomer pilots came through to Emille via the ears of her acolytes.
“Two has the target.”
“Shut it. This is Zero-One, jump at will. Don’t stay in any spot more than fifteen seconds.”
Halfway to Tsungte, near a large rock in space, the newcomer ship simulated opening fire on her people. The combat wasn’t real, it was much like how the city guards of Antecar used to spar in their barracks. But it was still terrible how the fear of her students surged into her as their pilots called out their deaths. One by one her ships took hits, and each hit was lethal.
“You’re not jumping fast enough, and you’re too predictable,” she heard the pilot of Zero-One say. With each simulated death she felt the self-recrimination of her students. Her judgment was no easier on them.
You do not jump fast enough. Use my power.
Seconds later the event was over. One-One scored a direct hit on the small ship with a simulated weapon. If this were real, the EF-2358 would be an expanding cloud of gas.
“The test is complete,” Emille-Alarin said to the bridge, and, with her mind, to her students. “Your frigate is pretend dead, as are five of my students. The survivors will reap a reward that will make the dead regret failure.”
Alarin swayed behind her, a physical manifestation of his unhappiness with the outcome. She sensed his displeasure like a cold and blinding eclipse of emotion.
The surviving fighters popped back into existence near the Stennis. The losers would spend a few days watching the stars until she felt ready to bring them home.
Alarin broke from his link with her.
“For a first attempt, that’s a good number,” the admiral answered.
“Not good enough,” Alarin said. “We repeat it until our brains burn with tiredness.”
Emille turned and stared at him. He was not in charge of this.
“We can’t expect battle to be free of death. But we can try to achieve that it be so,” he added, just for her.
She nodded. Of course he was right.
Once the strike team was reassembled, in a few days, they’d try again.
And again.
What started with the exhilaration of an historical moment soon turned into weeks of anger and determination as the adepts pushed their limits.
Emille felt herself growing. In pregnancy and in power.
Chapter 9 - Inward
17 Jand 15332
Most days the XO ran the ship and the Admiral did whatever she felt was necessary otherwise. Today Inez Heinrich lay strapped into the gravcouch reserved for the Executive Officer and Admiral Dayson called the shots.
They were headed to Mindari.
The plan was simple. They’d contact the Alliance, explain their plan to destroy the Hive, and hope the Alliance High Command would cough up ships for the defense of Refuge.
Because the adepts were the only chance humanity had to survive.
The Alliance had to see that.
But she and the admiral had agreed on one thing. They would betray their oaths as Alliance officers if they had to do so to achieve their mission. One way or another, they were bringing ships back to Refuge.
“Two minutes,” Harmeen said.
Ensign Algiss nodded his readiness to Harmeen. Now permanent crew on the Stennis, the Admiral had transferred him after his performance flying EF-2358 at Korvand. The kid could definitely pilot a ship, and Heinrich appreciated that after her years of doing the same on the Schein.
She keyed her microphone. “Battlestations. Set condition one. Railgun and laser crews man your stations. Damage control at the ready. Ninety seconds until insertion into the Mindari system.”
Admiral Dayson smiled at her as she unkeyed. “You ready for this?”
“Yes sir,” Heinrich answered. “Think the Hive are at Mindari?”
“No, not yet. Another decade or so and they will be, if we don’t stop them. Not that it matters. Unfortunately Mindari will be in the sterility zone created by our plan.”
“Reactors at full power. Fuel is stirred and under pressure,” Harmeen informed them.
“Very well. Sixty seconds,” Heinrich responded to him. She looked back at the Admiral. “Sentimentality cannot stand in our way. Unless you count caring about the survival of our species as sentimental.”
“Trust me. It won’t,” Dayson replied, before issuing orders to the other officers. “Ignite the torches, Mister Harmeen. Let’s go in already under full thrust. Get us up to 3Gs, Mister Algiss.”
“Aye sir/ma’am,” they responded.
The Stennis shook as his fusion drives surged to life.
“Fifteen seconds,” Seto reminded them.
“Got that Emille?” Admiral Dayson called through her mic to the fighter control deck where the adept and her team waited to do their part in this task.
“Ten seconds,” Emille answered. “I have the image of our destination in front of me. Five seconds.”
Heinrich tensed up. This was her first time traveling this way.
The viewscreen that wrapped around half of the Stennis’s bridge displayed no data. It showed the outside view from the ship. The Tapestry, as the adepts called it, disappeared. Stars appeared in its place.
“Sensors at full, Mister Harmeen,” the admiral ordered.
“Sensors full,” he answered.
“Location, Ensign Algiss?” Heinrich asked.
“We’re deep in the Mindari system, sir. Two orbits out from our destination, in fact,” Algiss said.
“Set our course for Mindari III, Mister Algiss,” Heinrich ordered. “We don’t want anyone noticing our adept-given abilities, so we go in the old fashioned way.”
“On it, sir.”
Two hours passed as they studied the incoming signals the sensors provided. Passive detection provided location information on ships and bases across the system. The active sensors showed precision data in an ever expanding sphere around the ship.
“Seven ships on an intercept course,” Harmeen said. “Two light cruisers and five destroyers at first analysis.”
“Distance and closure?” Heinrich asked.
“Inside six million kilometers, and closing at two hundred kilometers per second relative to us….” Harmeen said, hesitancy in his voice as he turned to look at her. “And Admiral… they’re in battle formation.”
“As they should be. A dead ship shows up in system and claims to be friendly, well, that should raise lots of alarms I’d think. We could very well be Hive for all they know. We’ll hail them and verify who we really are… what do we call ourselves?” Admiral Day
son mused aloud. “Mister Algiss, start matching our speed and vector to theirs. I’d like to be able to come alongside with them if that’s what they want.”
“We’re Oasian,” Seto replied. “We’re the Oasian starship Michael Stennis.”
“Nice,” Heinrich said. “But why not just be Alliance?”
The admiral paused as she thought of that. “No, we can’t be that anymore. We’re not part of this military structure, and we can’t submit to their authority in any way. We must be independent.”
“Sounds good,” Heinrich agreed, seeing her leader’s logic. “We’re Oasians.”
“Laser link them so I can send our greetings, Lieutenant,” Admiral Dayson ordered Seto.
“Done, Admiral.”
Admiral Dayson smiled. She seemed to be enjoying this part of coming home. “Alliance vessels, this is the Oasian starship Michael Stennis. We wish to move into Mindari orbit for a conference with the planetary representative of the Alliance High Command.”
Now to wait for the reply. About half a minute for the signal to get to the warships, and about half a minute to get back. Plus whatever time it took for the squadron commander to formulate his reply.
Five minutes passed. Nothing.
“Do you think they got it?” Harmeen asked.
“Of course they did,” Seto said, rolling her eyes at her husband. “I’m still locked onto them… oh, here they are.”
The viewscreen popped to life with the image of a man in a uniform Heinrich had never seen before.
“Alliance vessel, this is the Syndicate vessel Kurig. I’m Captain Sten Hozz. You are to set a course for Mindari orbit under no more than a one gravity burn. You will deactivate your sensors, and run your ship on minimal power. Any weapons arrays that are active will result in your destruction.”
The bridge was quiet for fifteen seconds, shocked faces all around.
“Well, that was unexpected,” Admiral Dayson said.
Everyone, including Heinrich, stared at the admiral, waiting for orders.
Sarah Dayson seemed nonplussed, and shrugged. “Open the channel again.”
Seto did so.
“This is Admiral Dayson. We’re on a diplomatic mission, seeking to speak to Alliance High Command. We’d like to trade strikes on Hive inhabited systems for starships.”
They awaited the reply in silence.
When the image of Sten Hozz appeared again he was laughing. “You’re not from around here after all, are you?” He laughed some more. “The Alliance is no more. Alliance space is occupied and controlled by the Komi Syndicate. Your vessel, on the other hand, is an Alliance FTL battlecruiser logged as lost at Hamor according to the Alliance database I’m accessing. You will surrender it to the Syndicate as occupation property.”
“Admiral, they’re ranging us with targeting sensors,” Harmeen reported.
“By all means, return the favor,” Admiral Dayson ordered.
Harmeen activated the weapons systems.
Heinrich keyed her mic. “Combat is imminent. Seal all airtight hatches. Fighter crews to your ships. All adepts not assigned to fighters report to the flight control deck.” She breathed deeply as she finished.
Admiral Dayson looked at her. “It seems we’ve found a convenient way to test our new combat abilities and maybe pick up a few ships for Oasis.”
“I concur, Admiral,” Heinrich replied. “They’ve initiated hostilities. That’s a choice they made, and we have no obligation to respond kindly.”
“Seto, open the channel again,” Admiral Dayson ordered.
As soon as it was open, she responded. “Captain Hozz, you are mistaken. By now you know we’re readying for combat. You are to surrender your squadron. Power down your sensors, your weapons systems, and your fusion reactors. You will maintain your life support via batteries until we arrive to board and seize your vessels.”
Thirty seconds passed.
“Admiral, they’re firing anti-ship railguns. I’m detecting missile launches as well,” Harmeen informed them.
“Any of those missiles pop an FTL bubble?” Admiral Dayson asked.
“None. They’d probably consider it a waste at this range.”
“Who in the stars is Komi Syndicate?” Dayson asked nobody in particular.
Ensign Algiss answered, although an answer probably wasn’t expected. “There is a system named Komi-Cetii one hundred and forty-seven light-years from Mindari, Admiral. We have no records as far as any governance or the size of their controlled area.”
“Apparently their controlled area is at least from there to here, Mister Algiss,” Dayson said.
Heinrich directed the engineering section to fire up the third fusion reactor. Used before to power the FTL drive coolant pumps, it would now provide power for the laser systems. “We’ll have combat lasers in three minutes, Admiral.”
Dayson nodded at her, then spoke to the entire bridge crew. “This is not at all what I was hoping for. Whoever the Komi Syndicate are, they’re not friendly. They’re probably not going to let us have ships like nice people would. So combat is imminent.”
“What’s our plan?” Heinrich asked her commander.
“We’re going to need information. We take at least one ship, we cripple or destroy the rest,” Dayson answered. “This syndicate needs to know we outclass them in every way that matters to combat resolution.”
“Hey, when we do launch our fighters?” Emille’s voice called over the main bridge channel.
“Please stay quiet until the Admiral directs you otherwise,” Heinrich answered. “We’re working on a plan.”
“We could jump in and engage at close range. They’d never expect that. With our relative speed, they probably won’t be able to track us and fire.”
“You mean after the fighters have their chance, sir?”
“Of course,” the admiral said.
“Sounds like a good plan,” Heinrich agreed. “Our laser weapons will track them just fine, the turrets are fast. I built this ship with just this tactic in mind.”
“Then show me what you think the tactics for this type of combat should be,” Dayson ordered. “Lead this strike.”
Heinrich’s mouth fell open a little. She clearly hadn’t expected that. “As you command, Admiral.”
She keyed her microphone. “This is Captain Heinrich. We meant to meet with friends, but instead we have found hostiles. We’re going to engage and school these intruders in our former home regarding how we feel about that. I will be commanding this operation, I’m certain you will all perform as I have come to know you are capable.” She paused a few seconds before she began barking orders. “Flight deck, launch the crewed fighters with full nuclear release on launch. Laser crews, you should just now be showing full capacitors. Use your fire wisely. We will not be utilizing ship to ship railguns or missiles for this encounter other than from the fighters, although the crews will remain on station and alert just in case. Point defense railguns, standing orders are to target and destroy weapons systems on the Kurig. As soon as the bridge knows which of the two cruisers that is, we’ll mark it.”
The weapons board lit up as crews reported their turrets and stations ready.
“You mean to take their commander?” Dayson asked.
Heinrich nodded affirmative, the admiral said nothing.
“Lieutenant Seto, open the channel to the enemy one more time,” Heinrich directed. Channel open, she continued. “Captain Sten Hozz. We are about to engage you. If we arrive at your location and you have powered down and complied with the orders of Admiral Dayson, you will not be destroyed.”
She signaled to Seto to cut the channel. “Power down the laser link. Let them know we’re done talking to them, if they want mercy, they come to us.”
Heinrich keyed her mic to speak to the flight control deck. “First order of battle is to move our ship. Then launch our swarm for our first attack. Emille, when you send them in, put them in a location where they will not be damaged by their own weapons
. I want them no closer than a thousand kilometers from their targets. Once they’ve launched their missiles at the destroyers, pop them back to the Stennis and we’ll load them up before stage two begins.”
“I can do all that,” Emille replied.
“Ensign Algiss, pick a point a few hundred AU out system, and have Emille park us there,” Heinrich ordered.
“She has the point now,” Algiss replied.
“Fast work,” Heinrich complimented him. “Good.”
The Stennis jumped.
Heinrich looked over at Dayson. The Admiral’s face was emotionless, so she continued her plan.
“Launch the fighters,” Heinrich ordered. “Destroy the five destroyers if they have not complied with our demands.”
Moments later twelve darts of fire raced away from the battlecruiser.
“Emille, execute the attack.”
The fighters blinked out.
And they were in the dark. Only Emille knew what was going on, any information the Stennis’s sensor systems might gather was more than a day in the future at this range.
“The enemy has not complied. I am attacking,” Emille informed them. “All weapons are on their way to the targets. The fighters have laid down a railgun spread on the ships.”
“Do the fighters need more time on target?” Heinrich asked Emille.
“No, all weapons are used.”
“Bring our people back,” Heinrich ordered.
Moments later the fighters blinked back into existence near the Stennis and the crews recovered them as quickly as possible under Heinrich’s urgent orders. The process was far too slow, but it took time to match trajectories and be in the same location for recovery.
As that continued, Heinrich readied the ship for combat up close and personal. She spoke to the railgun and laser crews directly, until she was certain that they’d perform as trained.
“Fighters are all on board,” Emille informed the bridge nearly half an hour later. “Three missiles targeted each of the smaller ships.”