Maxwell Saga 5: Stoke the Flames Higher

by Peter Grant

  —————

  ATHI ORBIT – ORBITAL CONTROL CENTER

  Commodore Singh told the officers gathered around the Plot display about General Attenborough’s suggestion. “Get your ships to listen on all normal tight-beam frequencies for such a transmission. If they hear it, plot its bearing and report it to OrbCon ASAP.”

  “Yes, sir,” Lieutenant-Commander Misra agreed, “but if I were in their shoes, I’d detach one of their patrol craft to send the signal from a different place. That way, if we got a bearing and range on the signal, we’d assume it was the whole force; but they might be coming in from a different direction. We’d end up concentrating all our ships against only one of theirs, while the rest slipped past us and reached the planet.”

  “Good point, Commander,” Singh said approvingly, and the others murmured their agreement. “I think we can take Commander Maxwell’s suggested bearing of 069:047 as a starting point. We have no system detection array, so we’re limited to the sensors aboard our warships. If the Kotai are coming in along or near that line of bearing, without any emissions we can detect, how are we going to locate them?”

  Lieutenant-Commander Stackpole replied, “Sir, may I make a suggestion?”

  “Of course, Commander.”

  “Sir, in local terms, the destroyers, carrying one-hundred-plus missiles apiece, are our heavy artillery. Our patrol craft, carrying only twenty each, are more of a screening force, although they can dish out a punch if they need to. I suggest we use them to form a screen, centered on that line of bearing. We can space them about two million kilometers apart, using their active sensors. We can extend the screen even further by deploying our drones, which have their own active and passive sensors.

  “Two of our ships are on distant patrol, too far away to be of immediate help. Given light speed delay, it’ll take up to twelve hours for them to receive our signal and get back to Athi. We’ve got two more ships about one light-hour from the planet. They can reach that line of bearing within one to two hours. We also have four patrol craft in orbit around Athi. I suggest we launch them immediately from orbit, moving along that line of bearing, and have the other two join us as fast as possible. We’ll head out at full speed, one-third Cee, using all our active and passive sensors, to a range of three light-hours from the planet. If we get there without detecting the enemy, we’ll halt there and wait, with all our defensive systems on standby in case they sneak in to attack us.

  “We’ll have six ships and six drones spaced out on and around the line of bearing, two million kilometers apart, each searching a sphere around it with a radius of up to a million kilometers. What’s more, we’ll stick out like a sore thumb. The Kotai will detect our radar and lidar emissions, and realize that they’ve lost the advantage of surprise. If we’re across or near their line of approach, they’ll have to maneuver to avoid us, which will allow us to detect their gravitic drive emissions.

  “They’ll be moving on an almost reciprocal course to us, at up to one-tenth of light speed. Our closing velocity will give us very little time to engage before we pass them and move out of range. We’ll then have to brake to a halt, turn around, and come back at them. However, if the destroyers wait closer to Athi, we can show them where the Kotai are. They can then take up the engagement while we reverse course to rejoin them; and they have far more missiles than we do. If we don’t detect the Kotai – which is possible, I’m afraid; they’ll be only a speck in the vastness of space – the destroyers will still provide a strong orbital defense force. If we detect the enemy’s approach signal, it’ll be a pointer to their possible location. What’s more, the Kotai shuttles will have to use their gravitic drives to slow down and maneuver as they approach the planet. The destroyers’ sensors are sure to register that. They can then use their missiles and laser cannon against them.”

  “Your patrol craft would be better suited to a fast-moving, close-range engagement like that,” Commander Korrapati observed as he traced out her proposals on the Plot display.

  “Yes, sir, but we don’t have enough of them to both patrol the orbitals, and search down that line of bearing. If they get here in time, our two remaining patrol craft can form an orbital defense patrol. That would allow your destroyers to move further out, looking for the Kotai.”

  “I like it,” Commodore Singh declared. “Can anyone think of anything else we can do right now?”

  “What about the hospital ship, her tender, and the depot ships, sir?” Senior Lieutenant Gardner asked.

  “Good point. I’ll tell them to orbit Vellalore, Athi’s largest moon. It’s far enough from the planet that they’ll be well clear of any combat in the orbitals, but the hospital ship will still be close enough to receive casualties. I’m afraid we may have more than a few of them, because even if we stop this batch of Kotai from reaching the planet, there are still those two thousand hidden troops to deal with. We’ll send LCS Pickle to Vellalore as well when she arrives, since she’s not armed. We’ll direct her message drone to rendezvous with her there, so she can recover it.

  “Anything else?” There was a brief silence, then everyone shook their heads. “Very well. Report to your ships, and brief your crews and the other Commanding Officers in your detachments. I’ll get a movement order drafted and out to you within the next ten minutes. Good hunting.”

  He came to attention and saluted them. Gravely, solemnly, they returned his salute; then they all turned on their heels and broke into a run for the small craft docking bay, where their gigs and cutters were waiting.

  The Commodore watched them go, then turned back to the Plot display. “Duty Officer! Record this message. ‘To all UP vessels in the Athi system. Be advised…’ ”

  —————

  ATHI – HEADQUARTERS, 24th MARINE EXPEDITIONARY BATTALION

  Brooks watched Lieutenant-Colonel Neilson as he listened to Major-General Attenborough’s explanation of the warning they’d received, and what the ground force would do to prepare for it. The conversation was broadcast over the speaker, so Brooks busied himself making notes of all important points. Several times his eyes flickered as he heard something that worried him, but he forced himself not to interrupt.

  Finally, the General said, “That’s all I have for you so far. Any questions?”

  “Yes, sir,” Neilson said. “Those two thousand Kotai who were allegedly smuggled onto the planet a couple of months ago. Surely they’ll be watching our movements? If we launch a hurried evacuation of all our firebases, to consolidate our forces at central points, they’ll realize we’ve had some sort of warning, and try to interfere. They won’t want us strengthening our positions.”

  “Yes, they may do that,” Attenborough admitted frankly. “That’s a risk we’re going to have to take. We have no choice but to concentrate our forces if we’re to fight off a concentrated attack. Don’t forget, our present structure is adequate for a guerrilla war, but it’s useless for a more conventional engagement – and if they’re coming in with assault shuttles and armored troops, that’s regular warfare, not guerrilla. If any of the local Kotai try to interfere, at least they’ll expose themselves to counter-attack in the process.”

  “Yes, sir, but how can we counter-attack while we’re evacuating? We’ll be too disorganized. I suggest that we first assemble a central reaction force, to reinforce any firebase that’s attacked. Only when the reaction force is ready should the rest of the evacuation proceed.”

  “I take your point, but the warning said that the attack might come in as early as the sixth. That’s just a few hours from now. It’ll take a couple of hours to designate one or two platoons as a reaction force, assemble and arm them, and have them standing by in a central location. I can’t spare that much time. Each battalion can provide a small emergency response force out of its own resources, if it sees fit, but not at the expense of delay. Get your people moving right away.”

  “Yes, sir,” Neilson acknowledged reluctantly.

  “Any other questions?�
�� There was silence. “Then I wish you the best of luck. Keep me informed of your progress, and I’ll pass on more information as it comes in. Attenborough out.”

  Neilson hung the handset on the radio, then looked across the table at his Executive Officer. “You heard?”

  “Yes, sir.” Brooks’ face was as worried as his boss’s. “I think you’re right about needing a reaction force. If I were the enemy, I’d do everything I could to prevent us concentrating our forces, or at least slow us down as much as possible. They must realize that if we hit their assault force hard as soon as it lands, before they can get themselves organized and link up with local units, their attack will be over before it’s even begun.”

  “I agree. Remember all those warnings from captured Kotai in recent weeks about ‘the revelation of our God’s power’, and us being ‘overwhelmed by the power of God’? This must be what they were talking about. We owe your friend Steve Maxwell a big one! If we’d been caught off guard, scattered across a third of the continent in penny packet detachments…” The two professional soldiers looked at one another in grim understanding. “All right. I’m sure the Kotai will try to interfere with our redeployment, so I want you to set up and command a reaction force of two assault shuttles.”

  “But, sir, I’m your Exec. Don’t you need me to organize things here as our companies come together?”

  “Yes, I do, but I don’t have enough officers to do everything that’s needed, and this is a critical job. I need someone with enough seniority, tactical awareness and experience to take control of a firefight, maybe a big one, and get everyone out without taking too many casualties. He’ll have to take command of the firebase force plus his own relief force. I can’t trust a lieutenant to handle that, and all our captains will be busy with their companies, so you’ve been selected from a host of applicants.”

  Brooks snorted with amusement. “I guess so, sir.”

  “Take one of the two guard squads from HQ platoon. That’ll give you three fire teams of four Marines each, plus a Sergeant in charge.”

  “But that’ll leave you only one squad to protect HQ, sir.”

  “True, but that’ll be temporary. As soon as the first of our sub-units come in, we can borrow some of them to augment our security. Find enough hangers-on – cooks, clerks and what have you – to make up a second squad, and liaise with Heavy Weapons to arrange support fire.”

  “Yes, sir. This is one time I’m really grateful for the Corps’ tradition that every Marine is a fighter first, no matter what their specialty.”

  “You and me both! Load two of the HQ shuttles with every weapon that might make a difference in a close-range knife-fight against fanatics coming through the wire, then stand by in full battle rattle. If – or, rather, when – an alarm comes in, I’ll send you out to deal with it.”

  “OK, sir.”

  Brooks tossed a salute to his boss and headed for the entrance to the tent. Behind him, he heard his boss say to a signaler, “Get all firebase commanding officers on circuit. We’ll have to plan this very carefully.”

  Warrant Officer Tamagant came awake like a cat as Brooks tapped at the entrance to the container in which he’d made himself comfortable. He rolled out of his unzipped sleeping-bag. “What’s up, Major Shelby?”

  Brooks rapidly explained recent developments. “We’re going to pull back all our sub-units from their firebases. If the Kotai are launching a conventional strike, as opposed to using terrorist tactics, we’ve got to consolidate our forces to defend against it.”

  “No shit!” Brooks could see the worry on his face. “Problem is, sir, Marine Corps HQ reckoned we wouldn’t need the usual artillery fire support, what with expecting us to operate from firebases against small groups of terrorists. That’s why they gave us a battery of heavy mortars instead. Those aren’t going to cut it against armored assault shuttles.”

  “Don’t I know it! I complained about that when we were formed, but HQ insisted on giving us only what they thought we needed for our mission. They said there weren’t any enemy conventional forces on the planet, so I was worrying about nothing. What’s more, they wouldn’t assign us a dedicated Heavy Weapons officer. They said they didn’t have a qualified Captain or Major to spare; and besides, I was Heavy Weapons qualified myself, so I could handle that function on top of being the Executive Officer. I complained about that, too, but it didn’t get me anywhere.”

  Tamagant grinned. “That’s the Marine Corps way, sir; make do with what you have, whether it’s people or weapons. I’m glad you assigned me to run Heavy Weapons in your absence. That’s more responsibility than a Warrant Officer would normally get, and I’ve enjoyed it.”

  “Well, this is going to be your big moment. I’ve got to lead a reaction force, in case any firefights develop during the evacuation. Frankly, I’m expecting more than one. The Kotai aren’t going to sit on their hands and let us come together without a fight. They’ll realize soon enough that we know what’s coming. They’ll try to delay us, so their landing force will find us disorganized and unable to put up a fight.”

  “That’s what I’d do if I were in their shoes, sir. How can the mortars help?”

  “Their max range with rocket-assisted projectiles is two hundred kilometers, right?”

  “Yes, sir, but accuracy at that distance is lousy, unless you’ve got local target designators – laser beams or a beacon. With that, they’ll hit right on the nose, and all around it in any pattern you designate. Without it, you’ll be lucky to land half your rounds within a hundred meters of the target.”

  “OK. Most of our firebases are inside that radius from Battalion HQ. Check your grid, and set up fire support missions for all of them within range. Assume there’ll be target designation. I need to know the time of flight for your projectiles to each firebase, and the density of pattern you can provide. We may need to stonk the hell out of an area, to force the enemy to keep their heads down while we break contact.”

  “I’ll do that, sir, and relay the plans and time of flight to your shuttle. There’s one problem, though. Our warheads aren’t as sophisticated as heavy artillery. They can’t discriminate between friend and foe. If the enemy gets in among our own people, our bombs will kill or maim everyone in the impact zone.”

  “We’ll just have to keep them at arm’s length. Next, I want every missile reload prepared for use. Don’t hold any back. Some of our shuttles are sure to expend their war loads during the evacuation. I want them rearmed as soon as they land, to be ready for the main event.”

  “I’ll put Master Sergeant Cort and his team to work, sir. The missiles will be ready when you need them.” He hesitated. “Trouble is, sir, we’ve only got two reloads per shuttle on the ground. The rest are stored in orbit. If we’re going to fight enemy assault shuttles and a conventional strike force, that may not be enough – and I guess we can’t spare shuttles to collect any more right now.”

  “Then we’ll just have to make do with what we’ve got. The same goes for mortar rounds. Use what you must, conserve what you can. Once the battalion’s assembled, we’ll see about a resupply run to the orbital depot.”

  “All right, sir. Keep your head down.”

  “Count on it!”

  Brooks turned and ran towards the tents housing HQ Company’s security detachment.

  —————

  ATHI ORBIT – LCHS EDITH CAVELL

  “I’ll assemble our emergency teams,” Captain Haines promised. She was a tall, willowy woman wearing blue Service Corps uniform, her close-cropped dark hair streaked with gray that she didn’t bother to disguise. Her shoulder epaulettes bore the three ringed planets of her rank, while her collars bore a gold staff of Asclepius, indicating membership of the Fleet Medical Service. “We’ll pull them from their regular shifts at once. Do we have any casualty projections?”

  “No, but I expect they’ll be heavy,” Captain Butler said, shaking his head. As Commanding Officer of the hospital ship, he also wore three ringed plan
ets, but on the epaulettes of a black Spacer Corps uniform. “If the Kotai reach the planet, they’ll have six thousand troops spearheaded by an armored battalion, to take on two of our armored battalions and four unarmored Athi units. It’ll be a hell of a fight.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right. Thank heavens for that early warning message! If we’d been taken by surprise, it would have been a bloodbath.”

  “That’s for sure! There’s one problem. We’d normally have our ambulance shuttles moving up and down between our ship and the planetary casualty clearing stations. We can’t do that this time, because we’ll be orbiting Vellalore; and besides, if the Kotai reach orbit, their assault shuttles might shoot them out of space. I’m inclined to send all of them down to the casualty clearing stations in advance. They can fly out to us in orbit around Vellalore as they fill up, picking the safest route off-planet at the time. That’ll take longer, of course, and consume more fuel, but I think it’s the best we can do right now.”

  “Won’t they be more vulnerable to a Kotai attack down there?”

  “They’ll be under the protective umbrella of the Marines’ defense systems. That’s more than they’ll have in orbit – or aboard this unarmed hospital ship, for that matter.”

  She shrugged. “I suppose you’re right. I’ll send some extra evacuation pods down to the planet with them. The worst wounded might not be able to survive the longer transit time on their own, but a pod’s equipped to keep them alive no matter what, for up to two days. If they live long enough to reach a planetary clearing station, they should make it to the ship. I’ll also send down two emergency medical teams. They can assist clearing station staff to triage incoming casualties, and prepare the severely wounded for insertion into the pods.”