Exodus: Empires at War: Book 7: Counter Strike

by Doug Dandridge

  “And tell them that this human is to get through, at all costs. If his vessel is taken, their lives are forfeit.”

  The Advisor gave a head gesture of obedience, then led the human away. The Admiral returned to his comp holo, trying to get back to his dispatches. But he couldn’t concentrate on the work in front of him. His mind kept coming back to the proposition that the Ca’cadasan fleet might have wormholes. It might take some years to develop the production capacity. But once it was developed, they could continue to expand it until they had all that they needed to defeat the humans.

  Maybe we should fall back from human space, he thought for a moment. We could then come back when they aren’t the only ones with the advantage of wormholes. The Great Admiral gave a double shoulder shrug at that thought. There was no way the Emperor would allow them to retreat from the humans. And there was no telling what new advances the humans would come up with. Surely everything the Ca’cadasans had developed to date, and probably many tricks beyond.

  And what should I do with the forces I have? thought the Great Admiral, looking over his dispositions, what was combat ready, what needed major repairs. Some raids for now, without weakening the defenses in my important systems. And maybe in a month, another offensive. But this time I will strike them where they are weak, and further erode the strength of my enemies.

  Chapter Nine

  Love has its place, as does hate. Peace has its place, as does war. Mercy has its place, as do cruelty and revenge.

  Meir Kahane

  SAURON SYSTEM. DECEMBER 1ST, 1001.

  “We’re about to enter the Sauron System, your Majesty, ” came the call over the com net.

  “Thank you, Admiral,” said Sean, sitting at the table with Jennifer. He looked at his love, feeling sorry that she would have to go through another translation. She already looked a little pale just at the thought of translation. “Is it getting any better?” he asked hopefully.

  “Not really,” she said. “Unless you are talking about my nausea. When there’s nothing left in my stomach to vomit out, it’s a little better. I guess I had better lie down.”

  “Want me with you?”

  “I really hate having you see me that way,” said Jennifer, shaking her head, getting up from the table.

  Sean watched her walk away, his heart going out to her. At least when she’s back at Capitulum she won’t have to go through this. Thank God for the wormhole network.

  Sean got up from the table and headed out the door to his quarters, his guards falling in around him. He headed for the lift bank, where one was being held for him, then rode the car up to the level of the flag bridge.

  “Emperor on deck,” yelled out the first officer to see him.

  “At ease,” yelled Sean, striding to his command chair and taking a seat. The tactical plot in the center of Augustine I’s flag bridge was set to a scale out to two light years, with the ship’s icon blinking a couple of light months out. Sean zoomed in on that icon, and saw that they were represented as being in hyper VII, moving forward at point two five light. All around her were other ships, hundreds of them. A dozen other groupings followed, while some fairly large groups were closer to the system, and lower down the dimensions of hyper.

  “It’s still an impressive force,” said Rear Admiral Kelso, walking up behind his Emperor.

  “It was damned sight more impressive when I led it out,” said Sean, thinking of all the ships and crews that did not come back.

  “If you hadn’t led them to their deaths, your Majesty, someone else would have,” said Kelso, stepping around and sitting in the VIP chair to Sean’s right. “It’s the price of command. Win or lose, you have blood on your hands. Hopefully more of theirs than that of your own.”

  “Does it get any easier?”

  “I’m just a lowly two star,” said Kelso, looking into the holo tank. “You’ll have to ask Lenkowski or Mgonda about that. But I believe they would tell you no. They gain some more distance, most of the time. Not in battles like Congreeve, but then, those kind of battles don’t come along often, though they might in this war. No, mostly they order other lower ranking flag officers to take a portion of the fleet out and meet the enemy. They are not there. But you know what?”

  “Tell me, Admiral.”

  “I have seen Mgonda looking over the casualty lists of an engagement, and I could swear he was barely holding back the tears. He knows what those figures mean, as cold and clinical as they are. They represent real people, humans and non, who have given their lives, their futures, their children’s mothers and fathers, to implement those orders. And he feels just as responsible for those deaths if the orders originated from him, or from the CNO, or above.”

  “That’s the way I feel, Admiral,” said Sean, looking around the chamber at the men and women who served on his flag bridge. “I feel responsible for these deaths, and I was here to see them die.”

  “And would you feel any less responsible if you were sitting in your office in Capitulum when battle was joined?” asked Kelso, looking into the eyes of the man he had sworn oaths to serve.

  “I don’t think so,” said Sean.

  “Good. You should feel responsible, just as you should feel responsible when you pull off a victory like you did at Congreeve. It is so sad that so many had to die in that battle. And so necessary. No one wants to die in battle. But sometimes it is necessary that many die, that so many more might live. Never forget that. You are our Emperor, our commander in chief. And you sometimes must choose who to send into harm’s way that the Empire might live.”

  Sean stared into space a moment, digesting what the Admiral had said, then looked back at Kelso. “And tell me honestly, Admiral Kelso. What kind of leader am I?”

  “Not the most educated,” said the Admiral without hesitation, raising a hand to stop Sean from making a defensive reply. “Very good for your age, but lacking experience. A lot of potential, just waiting to grow. You can be very immature at times, and wise beyond your years at others. But most importantly, you listen to the people who are under you. You learn. You don’t always agree, nor should you. The hard decisions are yours, not theirs. And most importantly, you accept blame where blame is due. That is very important in a leader, and has been lacking in many through history. You own up to your mistakes, and don’t try to scapegoat others. Now, you just need to work on accepting the credit you deserve as well.”

  “Jumping to hyper V,” called out a voice over the intercom. The lights dimmed, and the space on the main viewer showed as the slightly less vibrant red of the dimension they were now in. Neither man showed much effect from the jump. Both were experienced spacers, with a high natural tolerance, and hyper travel would never get the better of either of them.

  “Am I making a mistake, leading from the front?” Sean asked the man, who had become one of his primary military advisors. “Some in Parliament are saying that I should stay on Jewel, and keep my hands off the military.”

  “Parliament just wants to run the war their way,” said the Admiral, shaking his head. “And that would be an unmitigated disaster. Their plan would be to fall back and protect the Core Worlds, leaving the rest of the Empire to be picked off by the Cacas, and picked clean by the other powers. As vital as the Core Worlds are to our effort, they are not all there is to this Empire. The Developing Worlds are responsible for almost twenty-five percent of our military construction and materials. Plus, most of us in the Fleet think their plan would only result in the loss of the Core Worlds as well, one by one, or a couple at a time.”

  “And what about my leading from the front?” asked Sean, a slight smile on his face. “You avoided that one very neatly, Admiral.”

  “The, uh, Admiralty seems to have mixed feelings on that, your Majesty,” said the Admiral, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. “While some see the advantages that you bring to the table, others, uh, are uncomfortable having you in actual operational command.”

  “What about the Spacers and Marines
serving under them?” asked Sean with a frown.

  “Those people would follow you into hell, your Majesty,” said Kelso without hesitation. “They think the world of a seated Emperor who puts his life on the line beside them. But there are some reservations there as well.”

  “They don’t like seeing me on the front of the battle line,” said Sean, nodding.

  “That they don’t, your Majesty. Being in the same system is enough for them to see that you are really one of them at heart. But they also want to feel that you are the Emperor, to be protected. It’s good for morale to see you in the battle force, but bad to see you actually putting your butt on the line.”

  “And bad for the Empire if I get killed,” said Sean, shaking his head again. “But I’m just one man. I can be replaced.”

  “No,” said Kelso, raising his voice and pointing a finger at the Emperor. “At this moment, you cannot be replaced. If you were to be killed, then the fight for the throne would be on. There are too many people out there with a claim, none of them particularly strong. A fight for the succession is not what we need at this time. You marrying the Duchess is a step in the right direction. Getting an heir will be another, as long as that heir has a strong advisor while he or she grows up.”

  “So. I need to get married, knock up Jennifer, and get myself a smaller ship, so Augustine can go into the line of battle where she belongs, without putting the head of state at risk.”

  “I guess that about sums it up, your Majesty,” said the laughing Admiral. “And I could suggest some people to help with your selection of a new flag. Something that would serve you well.”

  “Thanks for the advice, Admiral,” said the Emperor, leaning back in his chair. “I’ve got a lot to think about. Now leave me to do just that.”

  “At your command, your Majesty,” said the Admiral, standing and saluting. Kelso executed a picture perfect about face and walked away.

  It’s good to have an advisor, thought Sean, watching the straight back of the Admiral as he walked away. It’s up to me to seek good advice, and weigh it. But the buck still stops here. It’s up to me to make the final decision. Though the advice about a new flagship makes a lot of sense. Sean looked around the flag bridge of the most powerful unit in his fleet. There were only five like her in service, three of which were just coming online. It was a ship that needed to be in the line of battle, where he didn’t need to be.

  It took almost another hour to make it through the gradations of hyper, but finally Augustine jumped through the final dimensional breach into normal space. The stars were out in all their majesty, many sending their light in blazes of glory through the gas clouds of nebulae. The G0 primary of the system was straight ahead, one of the class of stars most similar to that humanity had evolved around. About twenty degrees above the ecliptic of the system, ten degrees to the right of the star, was a bright blue dot, the blue supergiant, on the fate of which hung the success or failure of the planned offensive.

  Almost a hundred other ships appeared along with Augustine I, several superbattleships, a score of battleships, and the only other member of the Dreadnaught’s class to have survived the battle. That’s a decision I can make right now, thought the Emperor, looking at a view of Archduke Leslie, twenty thousand kilometers to port. Imperium, the third ship of the class that had been engaged at Congreeve, hadn’t made it, proving that in modern war there were no such things as indestructible ships. When objects were flying around with massive warheads at significant fractions of light speed, anything that could be hit could be killed. Superheavy battleships, decided the Emperor. From now on, that’s what we’ll be calling them. And when they came up with a bigger class, he would pick something out for them.

  He turned his attention to the tactical holo, which was updated second by second as new information came to it through the wormhole com, which was receiving information from every other wormhole equipped platform in the system. Over a thousand ships were shown on that display, superbattleships, battleships, carriers, cruisers of all classes, destroyers, even several hundred frigates, ships usually only used for patrol duties.

  Several hundred icons blinked in a position a couple of million kilometers from the inhabited planet of Sauron III. Sean zoomed in on the icons, grunting with surprise as he saw the identifications below them. Not that he could pronounce any of those names, though he had enough knowledge of Crakistan from recent learning programs to read them. The reptilians had only been marginally involved in the Congreeve battle, though he had heard that they were giving a good account of themselves in Republic space. The lizard like aliens, not cold blooded at all, though they seemed like that emotionally, were staunch warriors. Fear would never deter them from a task that was called for in the heat of battle. They would fly their ships to their deaths if it was the logical decision that would benefit their species. He was happy to see them, and hoped that they were just as loyal to their allies as they were to each other.

  And when the Elysiums arrive, we will have yet another ally against the Cacas. Something that will have to dishearten even those bastards. Command structure would be the problem, if only a minor one. The aliens would fight in their own task forces and battle groups, under the overall command of Sean himself. But the avians would not arrive until the ship gate was in place, and it was even now being carried by a superbattleship several light hours behind Augustine in the procession of warships transferring from Congreeve.

  In fact, for all the thousands of ships already here, they were but the tip of the iceberg. Thousands more were on the way through hyper, and more would come by way of ship gate when it was up and running. And when Len gets through with his little task, he’ll be bringing quite a few ships here himself. The wormholes were indeed a godsend. Allowing them to move forces at unprecedented transit times across the Empire. As long as they possessed them, there didn’t seem any way the New Terran Empire could lose.

  Don’t think like that, Sean. There were still many ways they could lose this war against their much more massive enemy. Arrogance could lead to several of those ways. It was best to use every asset they had to the fullest advantage, while still realizing that an enemy had plans of their own, which didn’t include losing the war.

  “We’re being welcomed by Sauron Traffic Control,” called out the Com Officer. “The Admiral commanding wants to know if you would like a pass and review, your Majesty.”

  “No,” said Sean. “I think not.” We really don’t have time for that. We need to concentrate on the business at hand. Then he realized that it was not just about him. To these people, on these ships, it would be an honor to be reviewed by their Monarch, a much needed morale boost. “Belay that last, Com,” he told the officer. “Inform the Admiral Commanding that I would be honored to review the Fleet. At his convenience.”

  “Aye, your Majesty,” said the smiling Com Officer, turning back to her board.

  And after that, me and my bride will be on our way back to the capital, and one chance at a celebration among all this turmoil.

  * * *

  SPACE TO COREWARD OF CA’CADASAN EMPIRE. DECEMBER 2, 1001.

  “We’re picking up eight contacts to rimward,” called out the Sensor Officer, a look of alarm on her face. “Moving in our direction in hyper VII.”

  “Identification?” asked Commodore Natasha Sung, fearing the worst.

  “Resonances are consistent with Ca’cadasan ships. Two supercruisers, and six scouts.”

  It could have been much worse, she thought. While her ships were not warships, they still massed almost twenty-eight million tons each, and were as heavily armed as battleships. What they didn’t have was the armor of battleships. They also carried six destroyer sized hyper VI exploration ships, which were armed much like frigates. The biggest problem with those ships was that Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria were currently cruising in hyper VII at a velocity of point nine light. They had no way to deploy those hyper VI ships, which would fall out of VII as soon as they left the hyper f
ield of their launching ship. And that translation would more than likely destroy them.

  And there’s no way we can decelerate down to translation speed ourselves before those ships reach us. It might have been a near thing with a warship, or even a courier. But her ships had a hundred gravity limit on their acceleration. They had been built for the long cruise, not quick accel and decel. And maybe the next class of exploration ships should be designed with speed and maneuverability in mind.

  “All crew to battle stations,” ordered the Commodore. “Pinta and Santa Maria to battle stations. I want us arrayed in a battle line to take their attack.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” called out the Tactical Officer. “All weapons powered up. All tubes loaded and ready.”

  “Pinta and Santa Maria are reporting all ready,” said the Com Officer.

  “Are you picking up any other ships?” she asked her Sensor Officer, dreading the answer.

  “So far no, ma’am,” said the officer. “The only resonances I am picking up at those of the eight ships in that force.”

  “What are you thinking, ma’am?” asked the Exec from the secondary bridge, the only other control center on the ship. There was no CIC, the vessel not being a warship.

  “They might be the advanced scout force of whatever else is out there,” she said over the personal com link. “I know we can outfight these guys, even though we would take more damage that we want. But if they have some of their battleships coming after them, even one, we might find that it's more than we can handle.”

  And we can’t even drop into normal space and hide. Not at our pitiful acceleration rate.

  “Enemy ships will be in visual range in three minutes,” called out the Sensor Officer.