by Chris Hechtl
The more he read the more he began to wonder and then fear. What the file was describing was a technology proscribed by the Forerunners.
And the Terrans had it. Not only did they have it, but they used it. He clicked a link to one of the historical files and found an entry about how the technology had been proscribed by the Terrans. He felt intense relief but then wondered why.
His hand hovered over the mouse for a long moment before he took the plunge and clicked the link. It led to a series of articles in the historical files about the Terran's last Great War. Alarm flooded through him as he read about the Terrans exploration of artificial intelligence, something else proscribed by the Forerunners. He was confused by the reference to Skynet, but the concept of a malicious intelligence wasn't too much of a stretch for him to grasp.
But when he found the links to the A.I. using nanotech to destroy entire cities … the tiny robots ate anything, it terrified him all over again into a quivering wreck.
“Truly these aliens are as dangerous to themselves as they are to others,” he murmured softly to himself. He shook his head and then made an appointment to talk to the Alpha bull. He hated having to burn the time to go over to the flagship, but some things had to be done in person. Besides, he was supposed to check on the point defense turret upgrades anyway. He might as well get as much as he could out of the trip.
(@)()(@)
“We're still having interface problems with the point defense turrets. The other ships have not made the changeover to the new designs,” the Beta bull reported, handing over a tablet to the ship's Alpha bull.
“Are they laggard?”
“A lack of parts. We sucked up the majority of the last production run, and the sensors are direct from the shuttle, fighter, and bomber lines,” the Beta bull reported.
The Alpha bull grunted as he scanned the report. Dreamer had overseen the construction of point defense turrets on the hull. The first version were conventional rail guns but were tiny in comparison to the turrets normally seen on a great defender. But what they lacked in throw mass they made up for in rate of fire and response time. They also had integrated lidar and radar, components shared in common with the shuttle, fighter, and bomber production lines. The system was designed to be as autonomous as possible.
The latest version had been tested and installed an eight of days ago. Converting the old mounts over was an interesting exercise. The downside of the rail guns was that they required ammunition and a means to get that ammunition to the turret quickly. The newest version was a laser turret which meant they could use most of the existing mount, software, electronics, and sensors. They did need to beef up the power lines to each turret, and he didn't like that they were exposed on the hull. But that was better than cutting holes in his hull for the rail gun munitions that he'd had before.
The lasers fired faster but took a little longer to burn through to their target. They moved faster and needed less of a window in the ship's shields; therefore, they didn't compromise them as badly as the other turrets did. There were still issues with the lasers rate of fire and turning speed and the window software. The window software sometimes didn't keep up in time.
But, that was a fiddly bit, something the weapons techs and coders were working on. He appreciated the new weapons though they cut into his magazine space greatly. The use of the lasers brought back some of that space … until Dreamer came up with another new toy he thought with a sniff.
“How are we on the refits?”
“The great defenders are completing the latest cycle on time. The lesser defenders and cruisers are behind as I mentioned. We have some new ideas coming forward as well. They are under review,” the Beta bull reported.
The ship's Alpha bull nodded. The Beta bull was conservative, but he knew the herd needed every advantage they could get. Which was why he had come around and now actively encouraged the bulls under him to speak up with their own innovations. The ships buzzed with activity and discussions as engineers and coders worked on various ideas in their spare time.
The Beta bull had also come around to training. He was still not thrilled about the computer simulations, but he did appreciate them. They had some target practice with the rock left over from the mining projects. He'd even hit on the idea of shooting them in the direction of the enemy scouts … just as a way to obstruct any shipping that might come in that direction. The ship's Alpha bull was amused by the sentiment.
(@)()(@)
Vice Admiral Kepler smiled grimly as Second Fleet inserted itself into the Janus star system, exactly where she wanted them to … and in formation no less. Apparently, Willard's chat with the captains and navigators had worked.
She'd taken all four battleships, all eight of her carriers, all twelve of her cruisers, and her seventeen destroyers. Admiral Oh was short his third squadron of tin cans, but that was all right. The others were picketing Protodon, Antigua, and the jump point from Sol. He'd assigned the orphan to watch over the fleet train.
Jan nodded approval as the destroyer settled into her assigned duty like a hawk watching a set of chicks. Fat chicks, she thought.
She had a third less ships in her fleet train as well. She had left the three repair ships, one of the colliers, half of her dispatch ships, and both of the tankers back in Pyrax. But each of the four munitions colliers was with her and was stuffed with missiles and other ordinance. Since the mission was planned as a short single-star system operation, one of the colliers had been converted into a troop transport. Thousands of Marines and militia were packed into the ship with a minimum amount of equipment. Hopefully, they had enough to do the job. But first she had to give them that opportunity.
“Securing from jump stations. Hyper wake dissipating,” CIC reported.
“Send the signal to the scout ships. I want to know what they know,” Jan ordered.
“Aye aye, ma’am,” Ensign Lex replied dutifully.
(@)()(@)
Dreamer heard the wail of alarms as he stepped off the shuttle. “What is it?” he demanded. He'd been anticipating a check of the point defense turret refits. He hoped the problem wasn't serious.
“The enemy has arrived!” the Tauren pilot said, pushing him out of the shuttle. “We need to secure this craft. Move!”
“Where …?”
“I don't know! You are an engineer, do something useful!” the pilot said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Dreamer frowned, unsure of what to do. He got out of the way though. When he saw some of the techs bumbling into each other he sighed internally and took a hand. “No, no, this,” he stepped in and started to issue orders, his mission forgotten.
(@)()(@)
“They are here,” Kathy Dugan reported.
Captain Cooley looked up and then turned to her. “They as in …?”
“Sorry. Second fleet has arrived, sir,” Kathy replied.
“Ah. They'll want the log and our files. Comm, get with Democritus and send them the files before they ask for them. Let's be on the ball about this.”
“Aye aye, sir,” the communications tech replied with a nod.
(@)()(@)
Two hours after their arrival, Jan received the report from CIC as well as lasers from the scout ships. “Download commencing, ma'am,” a communications rating reported.
“Good.”
“Download complete. We're processing it now,” Ensign Lex reported before the tech could get his mouth open. The tech shook his head. Jan ignored the byplay as the plot was updated.
Jan frowned as she scanned the logs, but her attention was on the plot. She could see that the enemy force had been drawn to the scouting ships but hadn't gone out as she'd hoped. They had moved to a position at L5 and had been using it as a staging ground to where a cluster of asteroids had been towed to, undoubtedly to be used as resources for their repairs. That was fine; they were still out of position. They could turn it into a horse race to see who would get to the planet first, but she doubted it would come to tha
t.
Based on Democritus's report the enemy had two battleships, four battle cruisers, eight cruisers, seven dispatch ships, and twelve support ships.
It was clear that the enemy had gotten some reinforcements. But they were almost evenly matched, Jan thought. She actually had the edge in the mass of her battle line for once if you took the battle cruisers out of the equation or counted them as three-quarters of the firepower of the BBs. When one factored in the fighters and bombers, the balance of power tipped in her favor.
(@)()(@)
The Alpha bull's heart sank when he got the report on the enemy numbers and the existence of their own great defenders. They had more of those infernal carriers too. His ships were out of position, facing the wrong threat axes. He realized what the enemy had accomplished; they had tricked him into positioning his ships where they wanted, away from the planet.
Based on their position the enemy had come from the neighboring colony. Most likely they had liberated it. His last hope that the Gamma bull had somehow stayed there for some unknown reason flared into ashes.
“What do we do?” the ship's Alpha bull demanded.
“Plot a course back to the planet. But make certain the course can be corrected to go to the jump point to home if necessary,” the herd Alpha bull rumbled.
“Herd Leader?” the ship's Beta bull demanded, aghast at the idea of abandoning the herd on the planet.
“You heard me,” the Alpha bull said coldly, staring the other down until he rolled his eyes and lifted his chin in token submission. “We must preserve this fleet,” the Alpha bull said heavily, stabbing his fingertip into the armrest of his chair. “Even at the expense of our honor. Tell the herd on the planet to evacuate the population centers and prepare for a possible invasion. We will do what we can.”
“What of our new weapons?” the weapons bull asked bitterly. “Are they all for naught?”
“They have undoubtedly been learning as much from our last clash as we have. Then there are their new great defenders.” He indicated the enemy great defenders. “Who knows what new weapons they have in their arsenal?” the ship's Alpha bull said, shooting the occasional look to the Alpha bull for support.
“Agreed. We do not know. But I intend to find out. We will test them and our own weapons and see if they balance out or if one side or the other has the advantage,” the Alpha bull rumbled.
There was a restless rumble of soft disagreement in the herd, but he ignored it. He knew they weren't happy about being thrust into the situation they were in. He understood and empathized with it for he felt the same. But he had a responsibility to the greater herd, to the race. If they fell defending the one herd, what of the rest? There were only so many defenders in the fleet … and none were as advanced as his own.
His herd knew the enemy, knew how to fight them, and how to use the new weapons. No, they had to be preserved, even at the expense of their honor and of the herd on the ground.
Chapter 32
If one thought that the battle would be quick, one would be wrong, Jan thought five days later as she checked the plot. They were still settling into their final courses. She could see by the way the enemy maneuvered each time she did that they were edgy and wary of a bomber strike. She couldn't blame them.
Each time she tried to tack into range for her carriers to launch, the enemy maneuvered sharply away. The cat and mouse game was wearing on both sides she knew. But she had the advantage in speed. Eventually she'd overtake the enemy she knew.
But they knew that as well it seemed. The battle was going to be a running one, not a stand and fight battle she'd originally envisioned. So be it. She was starting to get used to long drawn-out battles. Trying to sleep with the prospect of a nasty surprise lurking in the darkened void wasn't easy, but she'd found ways to get herself to pace herself and rest somewhat when required.
The sailors in the fleet were a different story. She'd gotten a few reports of personnel having accidents or reporting an inability to sleep. Hopefully, no one shorted themselves when it really did come down to crunch time. She made a note to talk to Willard about that shortly.
(@)()(@)
The first time the herd leader saw the massive herd of enemy small craft assembled and en route to attack him, he flinched. There had to be many eights out there. The distances were too vast, but he could easily see there were nearly twice as many small craft as he had faced before. Instinctively, he had balked and changed course. His intent had been to get into extreme missile range to test the new missiles and the enemy's intent, but he didn't want the enemy's small craft involved in the exchange.
Which was a problem. He wasn't certain how to get into missile range without involving the small craft. He would need to figure out a solution soon he realized.
(@)()(@)
“They've changed course. Do we pick up speed and extend the range of the fighters? The battleships will have trouble keeping up,” Willard warned.
Jan scowled. The carriers were faster because they lacked the mass of the battleships. She had been tempted to reorganize them under two arms and perform a pincer. But that would have meant trying to coordinate two forces. She knew Seong-Jin, but she wasn't certain about trusting him with her battle line just yet. Not when he was more comfortable with the carriers.
Sometimes she could kick herself for not leaving Lexington for Spirit of the Confederation. The battleship was set up as a flagship after all, she reminded herself. Yet no, she hadn't wanted to shift her lights to a new ship and learn a new ship's routine and flag captain on the eve of battle. Now she was paying for it.
“No,” she said after the numbers came in. “We'll get them eventually. Order them back to the carriers. We'll keep the pressure on. Eventually, they'll have to get within range and do the dance,” she stated flatly.
“Aye aye, ma’am,” Willard replied.
(@)()(@)
Broken Jaw saw the ships maneuvering in and out and scowled. For days he had wondered what to do. The captured ship had no shuttles onboard, so they couldn't evacuate even if they wanted to do so. And someone had drained half of her fuel out of her tanks and dismantled her drive for parts and material, so the ship itself wasn't going anywhere.
All he could do was wait and watch. He now knew what his prisoners felt. The insight didn't help him at all.
(@)()(@)
“We've got another course change, repeat, another damn course change,” Mace Malone reported over the fighter radio network. There were heartfelt answering groans from the pilots in the wings.
“Damn it,” Adrienne muttered. Every time they launched and got settled in on an intercept course, the enemy detected them and changed course to draw out the range. There was too many craft in use to use the refueling shuttles, so they had to abort. They were burning through a lot of fuel and clock time on the birds on all the aborted attack runs.
Not to mention wearing on her people she reminded herself. “All units,” she said clearing her throat as the mission was officially scrubbed by the admiral. “Back to the barn. Again,” she said heavily.
She winced when she heard the cursing over the net. She wasn't the only CAG to bark a “Belay that.” “Settle down! We all know the game. The enemy does too. We can't make them dance just yet, but we'll get our shot. Just simmer down and behave,” she growled.
(@)()(@)
Jan shook her head as she realized the running battle was in her favor but frustratingly undetermined. She had realized days ago that despite the supine colony nearby, the defending Taurens were not committed. They had thought that the aliens would fight to the last to defend their colony. Apparently, not she thought, chalking up another fail in the psychologist's columns of victories and failures.
If she couldn't have it her way, fine then. She would settle on running off the Tauren ships, chase them out of the star system, and then deal with them another day.
(@)()(@)
“Wait … wait until they are halfway back to their mother ships. Then
we will change course again,” the herd leader ordered as he watched the main plot with intense concentration. He had settled on staying out of range of the enemy's small craft and drawing them out. He knew it would be wearing on both the pilots and the machines, not to mention their fuel reserves. He'd tried the current tactic he was about to employ before, but he'd turned about and gotten out of range when the enemy had turned its fighters around and increased speed. Now he wondered if they would take the bait and believe he was feinting again.
(@)()(@)
“They've altered course again. They are following the wings in like the feint the other day,” Alton said with a shake of his head. “Two gets you one they'll change course and run again if we turn the wing around,” he warned.
“I know. Let them come in,” Jan said.
“Ma'am?”
“I think I know what they are up to,” Jan said slowly. Heads looked up and turned to her. “They don't want to face our small craft so they are drawing them in and out, making them run out the clock. They want a missile exchange though.”
“That's the worst for them … right?” Willard asked, turning from the vice admiral to Commander Krenshaw.
Alton frowned thoughtfully. “It could be, but we don't know what they've been up to on the planet. Making good on their repairs obviously,” he said, indicating the orbital works in orbit of the planet. “Beyond that though …?” He shrugged.
“Not a nice thought,” Willard murmured. He turned to the admiral. “So, what's the plan, ma'am?”
“We let them come in. I want to see what they've got; this ace they are itching to try,” Jan replied as she checked the numbers. “But we keep it low key. Get the fighters and bombers back onboard and turned around as quickly as possible. I want the enemy to get in deep and then we'll have our missile exchange, but while they are distracted, I want the fighters launching to run them down.”