The Long-Range War

by Christopher Nuttall

  “Set course for the RV point,” she ordered, once they were clear of the gravity point. The odds of interception were very low. “And prepare to resupply the ships.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  Sally nodded, feeling a cold hand clenching around her heart. They were alone now, until the fleet fought its way back up the chain or they found a way to sneak back to Apsidal. She’d known the mission, when she’d been briefed on it, but now ... now it felt real. Admiral Stuart wanted them to hit the enemy supply lines, when the Tokomak started funnelling freighters through the gravity points. It would probably be quite some time before they had to go back into action, unless the situation radically changed. The Tokomak were going to be moving warships through the gravity point for the next few weeks.

  And once we run out of supplies, we’ll have no choice but to retreat through FTL, she thought. She hadn’t liked that aspect of the plan. Odyssey had made it home, after being cut off by the Harmonies, but she’d been a single ship. Getting twenty-seven starships home was going to be a great deal harder. Perhaps we should go on the offensive instead.

  She stood. “We did well today,” she said. It was true, even though she knew they’d barely slowed the enemy down. “And we showed those bastards that human lives don’t come cheap.”

  Commander Wiseman grinned. “We hurt them,” he said. “And even if we lose, we might encourage some of their slaves to rise up and go for their throats.”

  Sally nodded. She’d heard that there were plans to insert propaganda messages into the galactic news networks, although she hadn't heard anything more concrete than vague rumours. The Galactic datanets were closed systems, incredibly restrictive. A rogue message could be wiped, even from private terminals, before it was seen by more than a handful of people. And if a few of them chose to lash out at their masters, they could be crushed without much effort. The Galactic security forces were incredibly ruthless. Now, with the Tokomak facing their first real challenge for thousands of years, she doubted they’d be gentle with any rebel cells.

  “We’ll see,” she said. “Commander Wiseman, you have the bridge.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  ***

  “The enemy missiles were impressive,” a researcher commented, his voice echoing through the ship’s datanet. “We were lucky they didn't seem to have many of them.”

  “And that they didn’t fire their black hole missiles,” another said. “They could have devastated the superdreadnaughts.”

  Neola listened to the debate with half an ear as her fleet slowly took possession of the gravity point. The human ships had vanished into FTL, which meant they hadn’t tried to get through the gravity point and escape. No doubt they intended to attack her rear or harass the other worlds within FTL range. She wasn’t really concerned. The humans hadn’t had anything like enough time to establish a proper supply dump for their ships. Cut off from its supply lines, the enemy squadron would wither on the vine and die. And whatever problems they managed to present in the future would die with them.

  She smiled, grimly, as the chatter continued. The researchers were brilliant - she’d picked the smartest scientists she could, the ones who were interested in pushing the limits once again - but they weren’t practical. How could they be? They’d never flown starships, they’d never been in real combat ... they didn’t understand the implications of what they were saying. She knew that producing black hole missiles wasn’t easy. The vast industrial base on Tokomak Prime hadn’t been able to produce anything like enough missiles for her fleet. It was easy to believe that the humans had the same problem.

  And they wouldn’t have risked making a stand here, she reminded herself, once again. She could see a couple of alternate ways to reach Apsidal from Winglet. They’d add several weeks and three more gravity points to the journey, but it could be done. They have to make their stand somewhere they know I have to come to them.

  She cut the datanet connection and studied the display. The humans hadn’t launched any counterattacks, not yet, but none of the scoutships she’d sent through the gravity point had returned. She hadn’t been surprised. The humans could have layered enough mines over the gravity point to allow someone to walk from one end to the other, although it would be counterproductive. A single interpenetration event would wipe out the entire minefield. And a more rational defence would still have been enough to take out her scouts before they could reverse course and retreat.

  Perhaps we could build two single-use jump drives, she mused. It seemed a plausible - and practical - idea. One to get the ship through the gravity point, the other to yank it back before the mines could take it out.

  She reached for her personal datapad and started to make notes. The idea might be impractical - she knew she was no engineer - but it had to be tried. A starship’s sensors would be scrambled by the jump, limiting what it could see in the seconds between the first jump and the second, yet ... perhaps if she rigged the ship with more sensors, they’d see something ...

  And the researchers will probably try to find a way to tell me it can’t be done, she thought, crossly. It was notable that the humans hadn’t tried to modify their assault pod technology to produce recon probes. If she could see how the technology could be modified to launch spies through a gravity point, she was sure the humans could see it too. But it might start the researchers thinking.

  She sent her notes to the researchers, with orders to consider the possibilities, then settled back to wait as her fleet slowly assembled for the next assault. Technically, she could afford to wait before pushing into Mokpo - she was fairly sure the humans couldn’t do more than they already had even if she gave them a few extra weeks - but she did have a timetable. She was too experienced an officer to believe that the timetable could, let alone would, be followed to the letter, yet all her planning would be wasted if she waited too long. It had been hard enough to put all the pieces in place without giving the game away.

  Her aide approached, looking confident. He hadn’t realised that he was going to be replaced, then. Neola considered simply informing him herself, but it would be a mistake to let him know until she had a replacement lined up. Besides, she also needed to find a place for him, one that wasn’t too dishonourable. His family would be annoyed if she simply fired him.

  His voice was very calm. “Your Excellency, the first assault forces are in place. The freighters are also ready.”

  “Very good,” Neola said. The humans would expect the freighters, she was sure. The tactic dated back all the way to the early wars, before FTL had made the Tokomak unquestioned masters of the universe. “Signal the lead forces. They are authorised to begin the attack.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  They’re getting better, Hameeda thought. That isn’t good.

  Her intelligence and analysis subroutines picked apart the data from GS-3532 even as the LinkShip maintained station some distance from the gravity point. Two courier boats had made it through the gravity point before the enemy - evidently - had cut off all traffic from GS-3532. They’d sent through a handful of scouts, none of which had survived long enough to report back to their masters, but otherwise the gravity point was quiet. Hameeda doubted that would last for long.

  She studied the intelligence reports as she waited. So far, the fears that the Tokomak might have quietly developed a universe-changing superweapon didn’t appear to have turned into reality, although she was grimly aware that a superweapon was most effective if it was held back until it could be deployed decisively, with all the bugs worked out. The Superiority dilemma affected the Tokomak too. But yet ... she scowled as she saw how the enemy had improved everything from missile throw weights to point defence. They might not have produced a game-changer, but they’d certainly started shaking the dust off their shoes.

  Then it is all the more important that we continue to push the limits, she thought, and felt the LinkShip hum in response. We need to build on our advantages before they overwhelm us through sheer weight of
numbers.

  A dozen examples ran through her mind as her subroutines assessed the situation. The Germans in World War Two had often had technological superiority over their enemies, but they simply hadn’t the numbers to defeat them. Hitler hadn’t helped, she supposed - he’d wasted resources on battleships and rockets when they would have been better spent on tanks and aircraft - but Germany had faced severe resource limitations that no amount of fascist propaganda could overcome. And the same could be said for many of the post-Contact wars on Earth. The good guys - or at least the better guys - often hadn’t had the numbers to turn their technological superiority into guaranteed victory. And then ...

  Her awareness snapped back to the gravity point. A freighter - a massive bulk freighter, easily ten kilometres long - materialised in the exact centre of the point. Hameeda blinked in surprise. No civilian shipping had passed through the Winglet Point to GS-3532 once the system had been occupied by the enemy, even though it would give the bastards a chance to spy on the defences. The Tokomak had been more interested in throwing warships through the point than allowing civilian craft to pass through. And yet ...

  The freighter twinkled ... and exploded. A blinding white light filled her awareness, pain surging through her nervous system a second before the automated limiters cut in. Hameeda felt her hands scrabbling at her helmet as she fought to control herself, panic yammering at the back of her mind. Her eyes felt as if someone had stabbed daggers through her eyeballs and deep into her brain. The sensation was so acute that she was half-convinced she was dead - or dying. Her body had been thoroughly enhanced, in all kinds of ways, but she couldn’t survive a knife in the brain. She was dead ...

  No, she told herself firmly, as her implants took control. I’m not dead.

  She felt numb, oddly disconnected from the world. She’d hated the emergency system when it had been tested, even though she knew why it existed. She felt as if a pane of glass hung between her and the world, as if whatever was happening on the other side wasn’t truly real, as if it was no more than a television program. And yet, she knew it was real. She took a long breath, steadying herself, then reached out through her implants. The LinkShip was hurting, but it was intact.

  And the enemy are flooding through the gravity point, she thought, as her mind slowly cleared. Her internal clock told her that she’d only been stunned for five minutes, but it had been more than long enough for the situation to change dramatically. The Tokomak were sending a steady stream of light units through the gravity point, ignoring the handful of surviving defenders. What did they do?

  Her subroutines provided an answer. They hadn’t invented a new superweapon. Instead, they’d dug up a very old one. They’d taken a freighter, crammed her to the gunnels with antimatter, and sent her through the gravity point. It didn’t matter, from their point of view, if the freighter struck a mine or survived. All that mattered was that the containment fields would fail and the antimatter would explode. Given the sheer size of the blast, it had to have been a lot of antimatter. The blast had wiped out the entire minefield and most of the automated defences.

  Clever, she thought, sourly. And unanticipated.

  She ran a handful of simulations as she steered away from the gravity point. If the Tokomak repeated the tactic when they attacked Apsidal ... no, they would repeat the tactic when they attacked Apsidal. They wouldn’t have wasted so much antimatter on Mokpo if supplies were limited. She had a feeling they’d pour a stream of disposable freighters through the gravity point, clearing more and more of the automated defences with every blast. The fortresses and starships would be safer - their crews wouldn’t be tied to neural nets - but they’d still be weakened. It was, she had to admit, a very neat tactic.

  The Tokomak kept coming, steadily expanding their control over the gravity point. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry to secure the Apsidal Point or Mokpo itself. But then, they didn’t need to do more. There was no hope of keeping the combat reports from getting back to Apsidal, not when sensors right across the system would have picked up the antimatter blast. It made her wonder if they wanted to intimidate the defenders ... or if they had something else in mind. Did they have a shortage of antimatter after all? No, her logic held. They wouldn't have wasted the antimatter if they didn’t have it to spare.

  She kept a wary eye on them as the first superdreadnaughts began to slide out of the gravity point, one by one. The reports from the previous engagement made it clear that the superdreadnaughts were tough customers, even if they lacked some of humanity’s technology. It was enough to make her wonder if the Solar Union’s concentration on cruisers had been a mistake. Sure, a human cruiser could go toe-to-toe with an alien battleship, but it lacked the sheer weight of fire a superdreadnaught could produce. But superdreadnaughts took longer to build, even with the latest technology. The Solar Union simply couldn't have produced enough of them to make a difference.

  And now they’re heading straight for the gravity point, she noted, as the superdreadnaughts bunched up into a tight formation. It looked as if they expected to be attacked at any moment. There were raiders, waiting for them, but they couldn’t do more than irritate the enemy ships. It won’t be long before they slam the door closed.

  The LinkShip spun around, then raced away from the gravity point. Hameeda was tempted to buzz right through the enemy formation, to test her stealth systems against the best the Tokomak could offer, but she knew it would be incredibly dangerous. And foolish, too. The Tokomak could not be allowed a close look at her, not until she could bring her full weight to bear. Instead, she circled the superdreadnaughts at a respectful distance - their sensors didn't even notice her, as far as she could tell - and dropped into FTL, heading straight towards the gravity point. Hopefully, she’d be able to nip through it before the enemy took up position to intercept stray human ships.

  And if they get there first, I’ll just have to blow through them, she thought. Ideally, she could sneak through the defences - she’d done it before - but there were too many unknown factors for her to be sanguine about the risk. If the Tokomak had figured out that someone could sneak through the gravity points ... she shook her head. Unless they’d invented a completely new drive technology, or improved the one they had, there was no way they’d beat her to the gravity point. And then ...

  She winced, inwardly. Admiral Stuart was not going to be happy when she read the report.

  Thankfully, she’s not in the habit of shooting the messenger, Hameeda thought. But this time she may make an exception.

  ***

  “The antimatter blast worked, Your Excellency,” the aide said. “We cleared their defences.”

  “Perhaps,” Neola said. She wanted to believe that the antimatter explosion had wiped out the enemy defences, but she knew better. The humans hadn’t bothered to put up a serious fight for Mokpo, even though a handful of starships were sniping at her ships as they advanced into the system. A better-organised defence might have cost her dearly. “But we don't know for sure.”

  She contemplated the situation for a long moment. There hadn’t been any fortresses on the gravity point, although the reports from Apsidal had made it clear that the humans were putting together prefabricated fortresses with terrifying speed. The fortresses would have survived the blast, even if their shields had been down. And they wouldn't have been down, not when the humans knew she’d just captured the last system. They would have been ready and waiting for her. No, she hadn't smashed a major defence system. She’d just killed a few thousand mines.

  “Dispatch additional superdreadnaught squadrons to the gravity point,” she ordered. The gravity point had to be secured. “And then order the flag squadrons to prepare to advance on the planet.”

  A stream of reports from her covert observers flowed into her terminal as the fleet prepared for its next move. Mokpo hadn’t been formally occupied by the humans, but that hadn’t stopped rebel factions from making an appearance. Large parts of the planet had fallen out of the p
lanetary government’s control, although - so far - they’d managed to keep the rebels from contacting the human fleet and requesting help. Neola made a face as the remainder of her flag squadrons signalled that they were ready to advance. The rebels would have to be ... dealt with.

  “Order the flag squadrons to advance on the planet,” she said, coldly. “The remainder of the fleet is to continue preparing for the coming engagement.”

  “Yes, Your Excellency,” the aide said.

  The fleet slipped into FTL. Neola waited, bracing herself against the inevitable moment the fleet dropped out of FTL. If the humans had baited a trap ... she told herself, once again, that the humans were not gods. They were good, both technologically-adept and imaginative when it came to using their technology, but they couldn’t predict everything she’d do. They certainly hadn't tried to set up a gravity trap in Mokpo. And even if they had, she had enough firepower to blast her way out of it.