Juggernaut: The Ixan Prophecies Trilogy Book 2

by Scott Bartlett

  Keyes extended his right thumb to scratch the back of his left hand. His lips pressed together. “Piper’s algorithms are untested, outside his simulations.”

  “With all due respect, Captain, I don’t view that as a reason not to try them out. Attempting to rid the Commonwealth of Darkstream’s considerable influence is also untested.”

  “Indeed. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t try out Piper’s gauge. I see ousting Hurst from power as priority number one, right now. If we can’t break Darkstream’s grip on the UHF, they’ll continue self-destructing humanity, leaving us woefully unprepared to fight the Ixa. What I am saying is that I’m not confident Piper’s gauge will be sufficient on its own.”

  Bernard nodded. “Okay. I’m listening.”

  “I think we need something new. I’m not a sociologist, but I do know the Commonwealth is no stranger to suppressing traditional protests. Their arsenal for doing so is well-developed. If we stick to a traditional playbook, we’ll lose. Even if it’s possible for us to win that way, we can’t possibly do so quickly enough. The Ixa will overrun us long before that.”

  “What do you suggest, then?”

  “We need a new way to object to what our government is doing. A new way to dissent. Something that will embarrass the Commonwealth and put unprecedented pressure on it. Something that will drive up Piper’s progress bar as quickly as possible.”

  “That sounds great, but I’m not sure what this new way of doing things will look like.”

  “I’m not completely sure, either. I also don’t know that it will work. But just like Piper’s revolution gauge, it’s worth trying. And I think it begins with paying a visit to a man I served with during the First Galactic War. He hasn’t served since, and he carries around a lot of baggage from that war. This might be just the way for him to offload it. It could be the perfect match, in fact. His name is Calum Ralston.”

  “Sounds like a lot of maybes. But I suppose that’s all we have right now, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. Obviously, I’m not able to visit him myself, but I’d be willing to take you to him.”

  “Wait. You’re offering to take me there? In the Providence?”

  Keyes nodded. “We can hammer out the details of our plan in transit, but we need to get underway right now. If you go alone, in just a shuttle, you could get picked off too easily. Or, the Tumbra might not let you through. In good conscience, I can’t let that happen just because I failed to do my part. This is too important. So the Providence will take you to Ralston.”

  The captain rose from his seat, hand extended, and Bernard rose with him. They shook.

  Chapter 29

  UHS Firedrake

  Captain Vaghn squinted at the main viewscreen, which showed the wreckage of a Winger fleet, following yet another rout. A wide channel broadcasted inside her corvette’s CIC, and they could hear the raucous cheering of the other UHF captains who’d fought in the battle, along with that of their CIC crews.

  Vaghn did not feel moved to join in their celebrations, and her somber mood had apparently infected her own crew, who sat their seats stiffly.

  It’s funny how a culture forms aboard a ship. Even though Command decided who got assigned where, every ship she’d ever served on had its own distinct set of attitudes, beliefs, and habits. And the culture on the UHS Firedrake doesn’t like what we’re doing in the Bastion Sector. Maybe that had something to do with who the Firedrake’s captain had been before Vaghn took over.

  She’d waited a long time to receive her own command. There was no getting around the fact that it was almost two decades overdue. During the First Galactic War, there had been ample talk of making her a ship captain after they defeated the Ixa. Then she’d gone on a mission to negotiate a ceasefire with the Ixa. At the time, it had seemed like the most important mission of her career. But it had ended with Captain Warren Husher betraying humanity, and that had tainted her. His defection had left her briefly in command of the UHS Hornet, but the admiralty transferred her the moment she returned. Her prospects of promotion dissipated into the void.

  Even the fact that they’d given her the Firedrake felt like a message: If you don’t toe the line, if you pull something like the Hushers did, you’ll be court martialed quicker than you can blink. The Firedrake’s last captain had been Vin Husher, after all.

  Vaghn’s sensor operator tried to say something, and she cut off the wide channel’s broadcast so she could hear him. “Say again?”

  “Ma’am, Gok are advancing on a small Winger farming colony. The colony’s essentially defenseless.”

  “Thank you, Chief.” She shifted in her Captain’s chair, where she could never manage to get comfortable. That reminded her of how relaxed Warren Husher had always appeared while sitting in his. Command fits some like a glove. Others, it fits like a noose.

  She sighed. “Put a view of the tactical situation surrounding the Winger colony on-screen. Coms, send Admiral Carrow a transmission request.”

  “Done. He’s accepted, ma’am.”

  Vaghn glanced at her sensor operator. “Splitscreen.”

  Carrow appeared on one-half of her viewscreen, a rictus of laughter fading from his face. A slight grimace replaced it. “Captain Vaghn. What is it?”

  “Admiral, our sensors have detected Gok about to attack a Winger farming colony.”

  “Yes? Our sensors have detected the same thing.”

  “The colony has very few defenses, sir.”

  “So it does.”

  “I’m seeking permission to take the Firedrake and back up the colony’s few defenders.”

  “Denied. Our mission has not changed. We will continue defeating the Wingers’ forces and taking over their colonies. This Gok attack advances those objectives.”

  “It won’t help if the Gok obliterate the colony, leaving nothing left. The Commonwealth wants their resources, doesn’t it?”

  “What the Commonwealth wants is none of your concern. Command has decided not to directly engage the Gok, since they have not specifically targeted us. As long as their aggression serves our ends, they are to be left alone.”

  Vaghn stared back at the admiral, speechless. Have we become no better than the Ixa?

  Carrow pursed his lips. “And Captain, please don’t contact me on a whim again. We’re in the middle of a war, and I lack the time to entertain your every fancy. Carrow out.” A black square replaced the admiral’s face, which the tactical display extended to fill.

  Looking around her CIC, Vaghn saw the blank expressions of people who felt as hollow and helpless as she did.

  Noticing that she’d begun to slump, she corrected her posture, taking a breath. “This is imperialism,” she said, her eyes moving from crewmember to crewmember. “We’ve become conquerers, and we’re not even trying to hide it anymore. The UHF was meant to help us live in harmony with our allies and work together to defeat clear-and-present threats. We weren’t supposed to be tyrants.”

  Her CIC crew nodded along with her words, their expressions turned grim. Vaghn turned to her Coms officer. “Patch me through to ship-wide.”

  “Yes, ma’am. It’s done.”

  “Men and women of the UHS Firedrake, this is your captain. The Gok are about to attack a sparsely defended Winger farming colony. I have requested permission from Admiral Carrow to leave and help them, but that permission has been denied. My conscience tells me to help the Winger colony despite that. If any crewmember objects, you have five minutes to contact the ship’s primary Coms officer, who is at his console now. I will order him to keep from me the identities of any objectors. If there is even one objector, then we will obey the admiral’s command.”

  Motioning for the Coms officer to end the transmission, she looked around at her CIC crew. “The same goes for all of you. If you object, please inform Ensign Stuckless. I’ll be in the wardroom for the next five minutes.” She turned to her XO. “Commander, you have the CIC.”

  Vaghn strode calmly to the wardroom, determined not
to let her maelstrom of emotions show on her face. When she arrived in the tiny room, she tried to eat a cardboard-like biscuit from the cupboard, but she found she had no appetite.

  Five minutes later, she returned to the CIC and retook her chair. Her stomach dipped as her gaze fell on the Coms officer. “Ensign?”

  “There were no objectors, Captain. It’s unanimous.”

  She nodded, though the tension she felt did not subside. If anything, it increased. I suppose that’s to be expected.

  “Nav, set a course for that colony.”

  Chapter 30

  Battle Group

  Private Ryerson is no longer in his quarters, the message from Doctor Brusse read. I went to refresh his pain medicine but found him missing.

  Keyes replaced his com in his breast pocket and turned to his sensor operator. “Tell me what Private Ryerson’s com says about his location.”

  “Yes, sir.” Werner bent over his console and worked for a few seconds. “It says he’s in his quarters.”

  “Well, he isn’t. Doctor Brusse says she went to give him pain meds, but he was gone. Use the ship’s interior cameras to try locating him. Prioritize other tasks, but I want you to spend every moment you can spare searching for Ryerson. And keep an eye on sick bay. I’d rather not have to deal with another attack on our resident Gok.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  After two days of travel, the Providence had transitioned into the Feverfew System just over an hour ago. The system only had one planet fit for colonization, but the colony it held, Zakros, was one of the Commonwealth’s most important.

  Zakros boasted abundant resources, not to mention one of the few major Ocharium deposits ever found outside the Bastion Sector. It had a population of ten billion. And most importantly, from a strategic perspective at least, the Feverfew System featured four darkgates, making it a well-trafficked hub for reaching anywhere in Commonwealth space.

  It was also where Calum Ralston lived.

  If Bernard thought she could spark a galaxy-wide movement against Hurst, Zakros offered a tantalizing place to start it. Widespread dissent here would hit the Commonwealth right where it hurt.

  His conversation with the senator had given him another idea, and shortly after it, he’d approached Blackwing about taking a Condor packed with as many supplies as it could hold and using it to track the pirates who’d attacked Piper’s monitor ship. If the Winger could enlist his old associates in the fight for the Bastion Sector, it could make a difference.

  Blackwing had assured him that he could handle tracking down the pirates, even in their stealth ships. “I know the tech,” he’d said. “I know how it limits you, makes you walk one of just a few narrow paths. I’ll find them.”

  Keyes had nodded, hoping that the Winger’s words amounted to more than just his usual bluster.

  The Providence was around halfway between Zakros and the darkgate she’d used to enter the system when Werner gave Keyes some troubling news. “Sir, a UHF battle group just entered the system through the Feverfew-Hellebore darkgate.”

  Keyes considered that for a moment. “What does it consist of?”

  “Three corvettes and two destroyers.”

  “They were waiting for us. The Hellebore System’s a dead end, of no strategic importance.” The only business those ships could possibly have had in Hellebore was setting a trap for the Providence. “Maybe we can still complete our mission. How long will it take them to reach Zakros from Feverfew-Hellebore?”

  “At the battle group’s current speed, seven hours.”

  And we’re four hours away from Zakros. “If they accelerate, we can outpace them. Our engines are superior. Let’s see Senator Bernard to the planet safely and then make a beeline for the darkgate into Caprice. It’s time we rejoined the fray in the Bastion Sector.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  But less than an hour later, Werner had more bad news. “Sir, a second battle group has emerged from the Feverfew-Caprice darkgate. A destroyer, two missile cruisers, a corvette, and a frigate.”

  “Damn it,” Keyes yelled, drawing glances from a few of his officers. He drew a long breath and exhaled slowly. “We have to turn back. It’ll mean going the long way around to reach the Bastion Sector, but getting to Ralston isn’t worth endangering the Providence.”

  He briefly considered messaging Bernard and giving her the chance to make for Zakros aboard a combat shuttle, but he decided against it. If he could be sure she’d actually reach the planet, maybe. But the shuttles traveled a lot slower than the supercarrier, and he could easily envision a scenario where the UHF quietly scooped her up before she ever reached the relative safety of Zakros. Bernard would be no good to anyone rotting in a warship’s brig. There were other colonies where she could complete her mission.

  “Sir…” Werner said.

  “What?” Keyes snapped. “What is it, Ensign?”

  “A third battle group of four more warships has emerged from the darkgate we used to enter the system. They must have been trailing us.”

  “No shit,” Keyes said, and instantly regretted letting his agitation slip into his speech. “I can see where this is going. Nav, plot a course for the remaining darkgate, one that keeps us equidistant between the two nearest battle groups. Update it as those groups change position.”

  The darkgate they headed toward now led into the Petrichor Sector, which was ultimately another dead end, but at least it had a few interconnected systems where he could attempt to evade his pursuers, maybe split them up and confront them one battle group at a time.

  That said, he had no expectation of ever reaching that sector. And within a few minutes, Werner confirmed his suspicions.

  “A fourth battle group has just come out of the Petrichor Sector, sir. Five more ships.”

  Chapter 31

  Heavy Beam

  Keyes leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. Nineteen. Nineteen enemy ships. He gave himself ten seconds to compose himself before resuming his usual crisp posture.

  “Give me the composition of the third battle group to appear, Werner.”

  “It has a destroyer, two missile cruisers, and a corvette.”

  “And the fourth, out of Petrichor?”

  “A destroyer, three corvettes, and a frigate.”

  “That’s the one we like best. Nav, scrap our present course and calculate one that gets us to the fourth battle group as quickly as possible while allowing time for us to decelerate and engage. Helm, bring engines to full power along the course Nav has already sent you, but stand by to switch to the new course the moment you have it.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Keyes cleared his throat. “The enemy captains will think they have the upper hand. Which they do. But their dominant position will make them sloppy. They won’t expect a head-on charge. They’ll see it coming, obviously, but they’ll be scrambling to prepare for it. Coms, brief Fesky on the situation and tell her to prepare to launch the entire Air Group.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Werner, put up a tactical display, full-screen.”

  Before telling Arsenyev to start calculating firing solutions, Keyes waited to see how the opposing battle group responded to his charge. As he’d anticipated, they started rearranging their formation, since their present one didn’t come close to resembling an optimal configuration for taking on a supercarrier.

  The trio of corvettes arranged themselves in front of the destroyer in staggered formation, with the frigate above them and slightly ahead. Together, the smaller ships formed a screen to protect their highest-value unit, the destroyer. Which Keyes intended to ignore completely, to start.

  “Sir,” Werner said, “all corvettes from the other three battle groups have broken away and are traveling at speed toward the darkgate into the Petrichor Sector.”

  “Acknowledged.” They’re trying to head us off. “That doesn’t affect our current line of action. Arsenyev, calculate a firing solution for a full spread of Ocharium-boosted kinetic
impactors and space them out along a line that cuts across the center and leftmost corvettes. Work with Nav to find a timing that coincides with our top speed, to take advantage of our momentum.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I also want a firing solution for our primary laser, targeting the frigate.” The smallest ship was likeliest to explode under three-hundred petawatts of power, so it made good strategic sense to target her first.

  Keyes decided to wait to learn the outcome of their first salvo before making any more battle decisions. The longer he managed to delay formulating a plan, the less likely the enemy was to anticipate it.

  His CIC fell into silence as his officers worked at their stations. Keyes spared a moment to wonder about Ryerson’s disappearance, forgotten in the rush to prepare for what would likely prove one of the biggest battles in the Providence’s history. If not the biggest.

  Two hours later, Arsenyev spoke. “Kinetic rounds are away, Captain. Impact in eighteen minutes and thirty seconds.”

  “Very good. Ensign Werner, inform me of the result the moment you have it.”

  When the time came, just before Werner gave him the news, Keyes saw one of the corvettes vanish from the tactical display. Excellent.

  “The leftmost corvette has exploded, sir,” Werner said. “The other managed to evade the shot. The remaining ships are distancing themselves from each other, so that we won’t be able to hit two of them with a single spread again at this range.”

  “Laser range in nine minutes, Captain,” Arsenyev put in.

  “Acknowledged. Nav, I have another course correction for you. Nudge our nose two degrees to port and adjust our deceleration so that we come to rest with the destroyer between us and the rightmost corvette.” The corvette’s primary weapons were rail guns, and her captain wouldn’t risk firing past the destroyer at the Providence. “Coms, tell Fesky to prepare to launch Condors on my mark. She’ll be targeting the corvette that will still have a firing solution on us.”