The Complete Thunder Series (Thunder In The Heavens)

by Dietmar Wehr

  Eagleton didn’t bother to reply. He resumed direct maneuvering control of his Mark 2 corvette and ordered the auto-pilot to bring the ship around to a heading that would take it back to the orbiting station, which was the squadron’s temporary base. When the corvette was on its final approach vector under direct station control, he took the opportunity to use one of the ship’s external opticals to zoom in to the ship that was orbiting roughly 166 kilometers away. The view made his heart beat faster. Ranger was the first mothership, officially designated as a corvette carrier, to be completed. The fact that its overall shape was similar to that of a manta ray was an interesting coincidence. The Mark 2 corvette was a streamlined, flattened tube with the anti-tachyon weapon occupying the middle section, and all the other supporting equipment, including crew compartments, arranged on each side. The flat, winged shape of the Ranger class of corvette carrier was much larger. The hangar bay for the corvettes was in the middle with engines, power plants, life support and crew quarters on either side, with openings at the front and back for corvettes to enter or exit from.

  Eagleton smiled when he thought of the Ranger as being considered a light carrier. At just under a kilometer long, that adjective didn’t seem to make much sense, but when compared to the larger classes that were still on the drawing board, light seemed more than appropriate. Eagleton felt a shiver of excitement as he thought of serving aboard and maybe even commanding a super heavy carrier that would be almost four kilometers long IF it ever got built. Right now it was just a conceptual image that was not even undergoing detailed design studies yet. But the two kilometer long Waterloo class heavy carrier was, and construction of the first one was now scheduled to commence in about three months time. He checked his corvette’s progress to docking with the station and, satisfied that it was proceeding correctly, let his mind ponder the question of time. The Tyrell had dropped off their seed drone in Earth orbit just over 18 months ago. They were due to attack the Sheepul in less than four months, and the Sheepul were becoming almost frantic in their requests for human military forces to defend their world when the attack came.

  Eagleton looked at the Ranger again. She was almost ready for operational missions. The second carrier, Bismarck Sea, was nearing completion too. With a little push, it could be made operational in time to help defend the Sheepul. Scuttlebut had it that the top brass were divided on the issue. He wondered if Cate’s upcoming attendance at a meeting at HQ had anything to do with the question of whether to defend the Sheepul or not. As the commander of the first corvette squadron, it would be natural for her to be asked what she thought of the idea and how best to use her squadron if that decision was made. He expected that she would be in favor of military assistance. The squadron had been training now for over six weeks, and Cate was exhibiting some nervous energy that reminded Eagleton of how some race horses tremble when they’re in the starting gate waiting for the race to begin.

  Two days later, Harrow arrived at the conference room at HQ and saw that she was the last one to arrive even though it was not yet the scheduled start time. There was one empty chair at the far end of the oval table. The other officers, almost all of whom outranked her, didn’t let her entrance interrupt their private conversations. As Harrow sat down and got her data tablet ready, Senior Fleet Admiral Mirakova finished speaking to the admiral on her right and looked down the table at Harrow. With a nod to Harrow, she cleared her throat and the room quickly became quiet.

  “Since we’re all here, we may as well begin early. As most of you know, the issue to be discussed is whether EAF should actively intervene when the Tyrell attack the Sheepul—” she checked her data tablet, “—three months and twenty-four days from now. In the interests of time, I’m going to summarize the arguments for and against the idea.” She paused, probably to organize her thoughts, thought Harrow.

  “Essentially, the argument in favor of committing our small force of corvette carriers this early consists of two parts. The first part is the moral component, stemming from the notion that we and the Sheepul have a formal alliance that is intended to provide for the common defense of all parties and that we have an obligation to help them. The second part is a recognition that if one or both of our corvette carriers take part in the battle, we’ll gain valuable combat experience not only in terms of personnel experience but also in terms of evaluating our corvette systems under actual combat conditions. The fact is that the EAF has never fought a war before, and I strongly suspect that we have some important lessons to learn that unfortunately can only be learned the hard way.”

  “The argument against active defense of the Sheepul is that we’re simply not strong enough to defend the Sheepul against repeated attacks of increasing strength as happened to the Odina. Add to that the fact that we’d be giving up the element of surprise after the first battle to an enemy that would realize the Sheepul are getting help from another race. They would have to be strategically stupid to ignore that fact and not respond in some way. If we hold back, we’ll have another eight and a half years to build up our own defense before the scheduled attack on Earth. If we don’t hold back, we may have to defend Earth much sooner. Now I’ve talked privately about this with everyone here except for Commander Harrow who, as you know, is the Squadron Leader of our first corvette squadron. So before I open this up to debate, I’d like to hear Commander Harrow’s thoughts on this. Go ahead, Commander.”

  This is it! Don’t screw this up, Cate! Harrow decided to stand up. “Thank you, Senior Fleet Admiral Mirakova, for allowing me the opportunity to offer my comments on this issue. After a lot of thought, I have come to the conclusion that retaining the element of strategic surprise and maintaining the maximum possible buildup time more than offsets the risk of political repercussions from not adhering to the letter of the alliance agreement. If I’m not mistaken, I believe that the agreement gives the EAF the right to hold back our military if we feel that committing them to defending another Alliance member would jeopardize our own defense. As far as saving the Sheepul from being conquered by the Tyrell, I don’t believe that’s possible in the foreseeable future. Until the EAF becomes a lot stronger, it won’t matter how many battles we win in the Sheepul star system, the Tyrell will keep coming back with bigger and bigger forces until we’d be overwhelmed. And when the Tyrell then come looking for the race that helped the Sheepul, they’ll find us almost helpless. I believe that the best thing we could do for the Sheepul is liberate them from Tyrellian domination at some point when the entire Tyrell Empire is defeated.

  “I also have a solution to propose for the other argument in favor of committing EAF forces now namely the benefit from gaining combat experience. We can achieve that by raiding a Tyrell-controlled star system that is not near the Sheepul system. Picking one further away will make it harder for the Tyrell to figure out which race is responsible.” Before she could continue, Mirakova interjected.

  “Interesting idea. Do you have a particular target system in mind, Commander?”

  Harrow allowed herself a tiny smile. Time to drop the bombshell. “As a matter of fact I do, Admiral. I propose that two Corvette Carriers conduct a raid on the Tyrell home system.” She kept her focus on Mirakova’s face and tried to block out the surge of murmuring among the other officers. After a couple seconds delay, Mirakova’s expression also showed the barest hint of a smile.

  “But we’re not sure which star system contains their home world,” said one of the more junior admirals whose name Harrow couldn’t recall off hand.

  Harrow nodded. “And confirming the location of their home system would be part of the mission brief. Our intel people have narrowed the list of probable systems down to three, I believe. All three are relatively close together in the center of the sphere of Tyrell-occupied space. With careful reconnaissance, the task force should be able to identify the home system without revealing its presence in the other two systems. Once the home system is confirmed, the task force commander will have discretion as to where,
how and when to attack. That mission will achieve the goal of gaining real combat experience along with the testing of systems under actual field conditions. And when we know where their home system is, we’ll be able to raid it again as often as we wish. If we can force them to divert forces from an offensive to a defensive posture, then the Alliance as a whole may gain more time to get ready.”

  When it was clear that Harrow wasn’t going to say more, Mirakova cleared her throat and said, “Thank you for that report, Commander Harrow. I will now entertain any comments or suggestions from the rest of you. I think the best way to do this is to go around the table so that everyone has an opportunity to respond. Admiral Kirens, why don’t you go first?”

  Harrow listened with one ear as Kirens and then the others essentially reiterated the same points that Mirakova had summarized at the beginning. Only one flag officer referred to Harrow’s raid idea, and she was in favor of it in a way that made it clear she wanted to be in command of that task force. When it was Harrow’s turn to speak again, she said she had nothing more to add. By the time everyone had had their say, an hour had gone by. Mirakova leaned forward as she looked around the table.

  “I’ve decided that I will be recommending to our political masters that the EAF not commit its limited force of corvette carriers to the defense of the Sheepul star system. As for Commander Harrow’s daring proposal, I’ll take that under advisement, and all of you will have an opportunity to give me your written comments on it. Thank you for your attention. This meeting is adjourned.”

  Harrow waited until everyone except Mirakova had left the room. As she walked to the door, Mirakova came up to her.

  “It seems that Admiral Harkaman not only liked your idea of raiding the Tyrell home world but also liked the idea of leading that mission. Was that your impression too, Commander?” asked Mirakova.

  “Yes, Admiral, that was indeed my impression.”

  “I noticed that you were careful not to volunteer for the task force leader’s spot. I’d like to know if you have any interest in that position.”

  Harrow took her time answering. She didn’t want to give the impression that she was too eager. “I didn’t think it appropriate for a mere Commander to express interest in the Task Force Leader’s position, but if I had a star on my collar, I would definitely have expressed my interest, Admiral.”

  Mirakova nodded. “I suspected that might be the case. You’re correct that commanding two corvette carriers would typically be under the command of a one star admiral, although there’s no hard and fast rule about that. If we were to go ahead with that mission, I would have the flexibility to give the task force to a Senior Commander…” she paused before continuing, “or even to a temporary Senior Commander. The reason I’m asking you this question is that you have hands-on experience commanding corvettes both individually and as a squadron. Admiral Harkaman does not.” She paused again, and Harrow remained silent. “I wonder, would you be willing to have your tactical skills evaluated in some simulations in comparison with Admiral Harkaman and maybe others, if the mission is approved of course?”

  Harrow didn’t hesitate at all this time. “Yes, absolutely, Admiral.”

  “Good. If I decide to approve the mission, then that’s what we’ll do. One more question, just for my own information. If you were given a temporary field promotion and command of that task force, who would you recommend to take over your squadron?”

  “Gort Eagelton, Admiral.”

  “Oh? Why him?”

  “He has very good tactical skills.”

  “As good as yours?” asked Mirakova.

  “Yes, maybe even better.”

  Mirakova looked Harrow in the eye for a few seconds and then nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. Unless you have something you wish to ask me, you’re free to go, Commander.”

  Harrow said she didn’t, thanked Mirkova and left. When she got outside the HQ building, she stopped and took a deep breath. She wondered if she had handled that conversation the right way. Time would tell.

  Chapter Ten:

  The decision to raid the Tyrell home system came down ten days later. Rumors were soon making the rounds that Admiral Harkaman had made a beeline for Mirakova’s office as soon as she had heard the news and that she had lobbied hard for the Task Force Leader’s slot. There were also rumors that Harkaman had flown into a rage when she had found out she would have to compete for the slot in the simulators.

  The simulations didn’t begin for another week, and during that time Eagleton was notified of a promotion to Sub-Commander. Harrow didn’t say anything, but she was willing to bet that Mirakova had moved his promotion up sooner than would otherwise have been the case in order to make a temporary promotion to Commander and assumption of the squadron possible if she, Harrow, got the task force.

  When she arrived at the section under HQ that housed the simulators, Harrow was surprised to see Mirakova herself present to observe the tests. The Head of the section gathered all four contestants in a conference room for a briefing. Harrow was not surprised to see that she was the only contestant who wasn’t a flag officer. Harkaman refused to look at her, and the other two one-star admirals had expressions that were clearly disapproving. When all four of them were seated, the Section Head cleared his throat and began speaking.

  “I’m Senior Commander Ogilvy, and I head up the Tactical Training Section. You’re here because you’ve expressed interest in, and have been invited to have your tactical skills evaluated for, selection as the Task Force Leader of the upcoming raid on the Tyrell home system. This evaluation will consist of two scenarios. One scenario will involve the overall mission strategy, where you’ll determine how to conduct the raid against a simulated Tyrell home system consisting of multiple possible targets and defenses. The opposing forces will be controlled by our tactical A.I. All four of you will be taking that simulation at the same time in order to avoid sharing information. The second scenario will be designed to test how well you react to possible enemy forces, and once again all four simulations will take place at the same time. You will not be allowed to chat with each other between scenarios. Are there any questions?”

  Harkaman responded right away. “Yes, I have one. Why is a commander being evaluated when a task force consisting of two ships is typically commanded by a flag officer?” Ogilvy looked over to his left to where Mirakova was standing. It was she who answered the question.

  “I could answer that question by saying that we’re looking for the best tactical commander regardless of rank, and that would be a valid answer, but the real answer, Admiral Harkaman, is that Commander Harrow is here because I approved her request to be considered for the TFL slot. Are there any other questions not related to who is being evaluated?”

  When it was clear that no one had any further questions, Ogilvy nodded and said, “In that case, please follow me to your simulator bays.”

  Harrow made sure the other three flag officers and Mirakova left the room first. When she arrived at her simulator bay, she quickly got settled. This wasn’t her first time in the simulators, and she knew how to operate the controls. As soon as she donned the virtual reality helmet, it activated with a countdown timer that showed 34 seconds and counting. When the timer reached zero, she saw what appeared to be a tactical display with sidebar data showing that her task force (Task Force 4) had 2 corvette carriers, each with a squadron of 12 Mark 2 corvettes. The task force was seconds away from dropping out of hyper-space into the target star system.

  When the task force re-entered normal space, the tactical image began to show first planets, then orbiting installations that were emitting EM radiation of some kind. Harrow held her breath, waiting to see if there were any ships within detection range. The answer seemed to be no, which was what she would have expected given the fact that TF4 had dropped out of hyper-space at the outer edge of this star system. The nearest planet was over eight billion kilometers away. There was no good reason for any Tyrell ship to be close enough
to be detected or to detect TF4. She reminded herself not to assume anything. While it was unlikely that there were any Tyrell ships too small to be detected but perhaps close enough to detect the big corvette carriers, a prudent Task Force Leader would take the appropriate precautions.

  “Launch VC001 to conduct reconnaissance of surrounding space out to extreme detection range,” said Harrow. She heard a computer-generated voice respond as if a human crewmember had acknowledged the order. While she waited for the 12 corvettes of the first squadron to fan out and make sure that there were no Tyrell ships close enough to detect the carriers, she checked the sidebar for data on all the planets in this system. Three of them had either EM transmissions from an orbiting source or from the planet itself, but total energy was relatively small. A fourth planet, lying far enough away from this system’s sun to allow for liquid water on its surface, was emitting a whole lot of EM energy across almost all frequencies. That had to be the home world. It also had multiple EM sources in orbit. She noticed that there were a dozen intermittent sources of transmissions from different locations in the system’s asteroid belt. The fact that those locations were transmitting omnidirectional signals and not tight beam micro-wave or laser bursts that would be more energy efficient and also harder to detect, caused her to smile. In the real Tyrell system, the latter would undoubtedly be the case, but the designers of this scenario were operating under a time constraint. Reconning the real star system could take days before an attack plan was implemented. Clearly these simulations could not take that long. It also meant she didn’t really have the luxury of taking her time. With no specific orders as to what kind of targets should be given priority, she made the decision that orbiting support structures such as stations, shipyards, etc. would be top of the list. Any super-ships would be the next highest priority, followed by any asteroid location that was suspected of being a mining colony. The home world itself would not be attacked directly, partly because any damage two squadrons could do in a short time would be relatively minor, but also because she did not want to give the Tyrell the excuse to attack the home planets of any alien race in general and Earth in particular. If they crossed that line first, then she’d be willing to reciprocate, but space-based infrastructures were fair game. It was time to take action.