The Complete Thunder Series (Thunder In The Heavens)

by Dietmar Wehr

  Torq looked through his spacesuit’s visor at the interior of the captured mothership one more time before re-entering his shuttle for the trip back to the Fleet flagship. He would have a long report to write and send back to High Command, but he already knew what one of his recommendations would be. The Empire needed ships like this to carry the new small craft from system to system. Garrisoning every useful star system with hundreds of the craft would take far too long. If the Empire could deploy a fleet of motherships, they could be moved to wherever they were needed quickly. With this captured mothership and the captured attack craft in hand, he was certain that he could convince High Command to authorize the building of Tyrell motherships. The only bad news was that it was now clear that the alien computers had been scrubbed clean of any data that might be potentially useful to his people before the ship was captured. So the Tyrell still didn’t know who these aliens were or where they came from, but that knowledge would be gained eventually. He was sure of that, and he was also sure that he would be given a command again, perhaps of one or more of the new carriers. The Wheel of Life was once again turning in his favor.

  Earth, EAF Headquarters:

  Mirakova told her computer to close down the video channel now that her conversation with Representative Foxworthy was over. He had been a lot more civil ever since the Alliance had grudgingly agreed to re-instate humans as full, voting members after the disaster at Omega2. She had to give Foxworthy his credit. An asshole he definitely was, but he had played his cards masterfully. Not only did humans get to vote in the Council again, but they also got the Council to agree that the EAF would NOT be subordinate to the Council’s existing military chain of command. Instead, the EAF would have the flexibility to operate separately if it chose to, and if it engaged in combined operations with Alliance forces, a human officer would be in sole command. That was the good news. The not so good news, which she had not told him, was that decoded Tyrell transmissions from Omega2 had revealed the fact that one of N’kanu’s carriers had been captured, though thankfully not any of the crew, and apparently efforts to download data from the computers aboard that carrier had failed. The Alliance had lucked out on that one. She shuddered to think of the havoc that could ensue if the Tyrell had figured out which star systems the Alliance was composed from. God, if the Tyrell knew that humans were part of the Alliance in some way, they might not wait until their pre-determined attack date, which was now less than eight years away. That still seemed like a long time, but a lot could happen in eight years. She snorted. Hell, a lot WOULD happen in the next eight years. If the Tyrell were still around in eight years time, then the whole Alliance project would have failed. They couldn’t afford to wait that long. The Tyrell had to be stopped in their tracks and damn soon! If she had to bet on how the Tyrell would be defeated, she would put her money on Eagleton’s stinger concept. The projections had been clear. With the same amount of resources as were needed to build one corvette, the EAF could build a whole squadron of stingers, and once the mass production line got going, they could do that in a lot less time too. The new designs for the larger carriers were already being redesigned to accommodate stingers. Mirakova could hardly wait, and she knew that Cate Harrow and Gort Eagleton would be impatient to see those ships operational too. But the stingers were still a ways away from having even one squadron operational, and the EAF was still in the middle of replacing its losses. This lull in the war would end eventually, and then the EAF, in conjunction with the Alliance forces, would take the initiative away from the Tyrell.

  As she left HQ later that day and stepped out into the open, she heard thunder in the distance. There was a storm coming, and she noticed that particular smell that was always present before a thunderstorm. She felt the refreshing breeze on her face and smiled. This war was like a thunderstorm too. The Tyrell had started a thunder in the heavens with their desire for battle. Yeah, we heard your thunder. Pretty soon you’ll be hearing ours! With a laugh, she stepped over and into the limo that was waiting to take her home.

  The Thunder of Vengeance

  By Dietmar Arthur Wehr

  Amazon edition

  Copyright 2017 Non-linear Visions, Inc.

  Chapter One:

  Senior Fleet Admiral Mirakova sighed as she left the outer office of her civilian boss. She had just received orders that she strongly disagreed with and had argued against. But her boss had received his instructions from the politicians who clearly thought they knew how to fight an interstellar war better than she did, and he had passed those instructions on to her. Intercepted and decoded transmissions had confirmed that the Tyrell were now building their own carrier designed to carry their small system-defense craft, and Earth’s civilian leadership wanted the EAF to raid the system where that carrier was being built and destroy it. The fact that the system in question was the Tyrell home system, which now had anywhere from 40 to 80 of those same system-defense craft, was a detail that the politicians shrugged off. Except this detail mattered, and it mattered a hell of a lot! The EAF’s answer to those small Tyrell craft, the Stinger, was still a few weeks away from testing in the prototype stage. It would be months before an operational squadron could be fielded. That meant that any raid on Zulu3, as the Tyrell home system was known, would be by Mark 2 corvettes. They hadn’t fared very well in the last battle at Omega2, and that battle hadn’t included those small Tyrell craft of which the EAF knew absolutely nothing. And attacking Zulu3 again now could well make the Tyrell wonder if it was just a coincidence that after a long interval of neglect, their home system was getting yet more attention at the same time work had started on their first carrier. The ability to decode the Tyrell’s FTL transmissions was a huge advantage that had to be managed carefully in order not to arouse suspicions that could result in them switching to a new and probably more complex code.

  So Zulu3 would have to be raided again, but when, in what strength and under whose leadership were questions that she had the responsibility and right to answer. The heavy carrier Waterloo, the first of her kind, was undergoing acceptance trials. It could be operational in a matter of weeks if Mirakova was prepared to defer further modifications required to accommodate stinger craft. Her four light carriers, Kursk, Saratoga, Ranger and Bismark Sea were all repaired and in the process of training their replacement corvette crews. The one new development that might make a huge difference between the upcoming raid on Zulu3 and the disaster at Omega2 was the their ability to deploy their own recon drones. LeClair and Harrow were already testing tactical concepts for recon drones in the simulators. She would take a close look at how those two were doing with the simulations and then decide who would command the raid.

  Six days later:

  Harrow entered Mirakova’s inner office and was surprised to see that Admiral LeClair was also present. Mirakova gestured for her to sit down in the vacant chair next to him, and waited until she was seated before speaking.

  “I know that rumors have been going around HQ that the EAF is going to conduct another raid on Zulu3. Usually the rumors are wrong, but in this case, they’re right. Our political masters have decided that since Zulu3 is building the first Tyrell carrier, it deserves to be raided and that carrier destroyed.” She paused to watch Harrow’s and LeClair’s reaction. She was surprised to see from his frown that LeClair appeared to understand almost immediately the risk this kind of raid would pose to continued decryption of enemy transmissions. Harrow’s poker-face suggested she hadn’t figured it out yet.

  “I’ll be frank with you two, and I don’t want this repeated outside this room. I have serious misgivings about the timing and nature of this raid. It’s been months since our first and so far only raid on Zulu3. The results were less than expected, in spite of your flawless tactical decisions, Cate, and the Tyrell have gained more experience since then in defending against our corvettes. If it were up to me, I’d wait until we could field at least a couple of stinger squadrons. But I don’t have the flexibility to wait that long, so
we’re going to go in with corvette squadrons plus the few dozen recon drones we’ll have by the time this mission kicks off. All five carriers will be involved and will form Third Fleet.” She turned to look LeClair squarely in the eye. “You will be Fleet Commander, Admiral LeClair. Cate will be your deputy FC as well as the Leader of Task Force 3.2 composed of Kursk and Ranger. The other three carriers will form TF3.1. I’m not going to tell either of you how to conduct this raid; however, I do have some specific orders. This raid will NOT be a repeat of the disaster at Omega2. Bringing all five carriers back is the number one priority. Destroying the enemy carrier is number two. If we can accomplish its destruction without losing any of our carriers, I’ll consider that a bonus. Unlike our political masters, I don’t feel that destroying that first enemy carrier as soon as is humanly possible should have a high priority. Even if we do destroy it, we have to assume that they’ll just start building another one. I’d much prefer to ambush that first carrier in open space with our stinger squadrons. So, here is my first specific mission order. Do not, under any circumstances, bring any carrier closer than 300 light seconds of Zulu3-C or any other fixed enemy position. Carriers are to avoid capture at all costs, including jumping away if attacked and, if unable to do so, then by self-destruction. Your corvette squadrons have to be considered expendable if your carriers are at risk of imminent danger.” She paused when she saw Cate wince at that last sentence. “My second order is one that you’re not going to like, but it’s necessary in my opinion. If the enemy is building more than one ship and you somehow determine which shipyard contains the carrier, you are to structure the attack in such a way that it appears to the enemy that the carrier is not our primary target. I know that will likely put corvette crews at greater risk, but we can’t give the Tyrell any reason to suspect that their communications have been compromised, and focusing on the carrier in an obvious way might do exactly that. One final order. If you, Admiral LeClair, feel that the defenses around the carrier are strong enough that you might lose a significant portion of your squadrons, then you have the flexibility of calling off this raid.” Both Harrow and LeClair looked surprised. Mirakova nodded. “Yes, I understand your reactions, and yes, the politicians won’t be happy if the raid is called off and the enemy carrier is left intact, and yes, there may even be adverse impacts on your careers, but we cannot afford to lose carriers by pushing aggressively in a mission that right now has limited strategic value. If you call off the raid, I’ll support your decision and try to protect you from the political fallout as best I can. I’m sure you have questions, so now’s the time to ask them.”

  LeClair and Harrow looked at each before LeClair turned back to Mirakova. “What data do we have from our reconnaissance of Zulu3?”

  “No as much as we’d like,” replied Mirakova in a regretful tone. “As you both know, I’ve ordered recon ships to stay well beyond the old 10 light-second scanning range to avoid being detected by enemy sensor drones, so we have no hard sensor data to confirm whether the carrier is being built in orbit around Zulu3-C or somewhere else. Nor do we know for sure how many super-ships they’ll have there. Decrypted transmissions suggest there should be at least eight super-ships, with the possibility of as many as another six. Ever since our first raid, the Tyrell kept larger numbers of super-ships in that system, but the number has varied over time, and they don’t always send FTL messages announcing arrivals or departures. Next question.”

  “How many recon drones will Third Fleet have?” asked LeClair.

  “Thirty-six RD1s and six RD2s will be ready by the time this mission kicks off. How you allocate them among your carriers is up to you, Admiral.”

  Harrow and LeClair exchanged looks again. Harrow was willing to bet that LeClair would want his flagship, Waterloo, to carry all of the recon drones, but she would try to convince him that each carrier should have at least six of the smaller RD1s that did not have jump capability and at least one of the larger but more flexible RD2s that could micro-jump within a star system.

  “How soon is the kick off?” asked Harrow.

  “As soon as Waterloo’s second corvette squadron finishes their work up to the minimum level of operational readiness, which I expect would be roughly two to three weeks from now.”

  LeClair couldn’t help showing his disapproval of that answer. “My flagship won’t have all four squadrons?”

  Mirakova shook her head. “That would take too long, Jack. Our corvette losses have created a serious shortfall of not only corvettes but also trained corvette crews. The ships and crews that would have made up your third and fourth squadrons were needed to replace loses from the light carrier squadrons.”

  LeClair gave Harrow a quick look that almost seemed to say, ‘It’s your fault’. She managed to keep her expression neutral as he spoke. “I don’t like this, Admiral. Waterloo’s offensive punch is its squadrons. What’s the point of having a heavy carrier if it’s not allowed to exploit its singular advantage? With eight squadrons, Third Fleet would be able to blast its way through whatever defenses the enemy has at Zulu3-C.”

  Harrow watched Mirakova’s expression carefully to gauge her reaction to that statement. To Harrow’s way of thinking, it sounded far too bull-headed for her liking. Mirakova waited a few seconds before responding. “While I applaud your enthusiasm for taking the fight to the enemy, Jack, I would hope that your tactical plan will not rely solely on brute force. When I said the corvette squadrons were expendable, I did not mean to suggest that they’re throw-away assets. Let’s try to bring as many of them back as you can, okay Jack?”

  Harrow actually held her breath. That was as close to a reprimand in front of a junior officer as she had ever heard. Mirakova had to be really annoyed to be straddling the line that says officers do not chew out other officers in front of those of lower rank. To her surprise, LeClair reacted as if he wasn’t aware of what Mirakova had just done.

  “I intend to do exactly that, and having eight squadrons instead of six will make it more likely that corvette losses will be low, Admiral.”

  Harrow could feel the tension in the room ratchet up a notch. As the Admirals stared at each other, she had an idea that was tantalizing in its potential. She cleared her throat and both admirals looked at her.

  “I have an idea that might resolve this issue. Suppose I take Ranger and Kursk with all the recon drones on a careful recon mission of Zulu3-C. The rest of Third Fleet will wait here. By the time TF3.2 returns, a seventh squadron will be almost ready. You won’t have eight,” she said looking at LeClair, “but you’ll have more than six, and you’ll also have precise targeting data. That has to count for something.” She wasn’t sure if it was only her imagination, but the tension level seemed to have eased a bit.

  “I’d be willing to go along with that,” said LeClair.

  Mirakova shifted her gaze from LeClair to Harrow and back to LeClair before responding. “I may be able to convince the civilian leadership that the targeting data and the extra squadron is worth the delay. Until we know how they’ll react, there’s no point in discussing this further right now. This meeting is adjourned.”

  LeClair wasted no time in leaving Mirakova’s office. Before Harrow could leave the room, Mirakova said, “Hold on a minute, Commander.” As Harrow waited, Mirakova came out from around her desk and moved over to her. “How confident are you that you can get the recon drones close enough to get that precise level of targeting data?”

  Harrow hesitated. Should she tell the CEO what she was really planning? If Mirakova didn’t like the idea, then she might quash the whole recon mission idea too, and Third Fleet might end up going in cold with six squadrons and the likelihood that LeClair’s brute force approach would generate horrendous corvette losses. Better to play it safe and keep her cards close to her chest.

  “Very confident, Admiral, especially if I can use all six RD2s.”

  Mirakova wondered why Harrow had hesitated if she was that certain. “Just in case we get approval for th
e recon, I want it clearly understood that my orders about minimum distance and carrier priority applies to the recon mission too.”

  Harrow nodded. “That’s clearly understood, Admiral.” The CEO seemed satisfied with that answer and Harrow left.

  Three days later, word came down that the compromise solution was approved. Harrow decided that each of her two carriers would carry three RD2s and eighteen RD1s, which left no docking bays available for any corvettes. She requested, and to her surprise got permission, to bring Eagleton along as a tactical advisor, even though he had no corvettes to command. She told him the news over lunch that day.

  “That’s great news, Cate. It’ll be fun standing beside your command chair and watching as you con a bunch of recon drones that can’t shoot back at the enemy.” He said it so casually that Harrow wasn’t sure if he was serious or sarcastic.

  “Actually, we won’t be on the same ship.” She suppressed a laugh at his surprised expression and continued before he could say anything. “Both of us on the same ship is asking for a disaster that would leave the other carrier on its own, and while Ranger’s CO is okay as a ship jockey, I don’t know how good he would be as a Task Force Leader. So I’ll be on Kursk and you’ll be on Ranger with a field promotion to Acting Deputy Task Force Leader. If something happens to me or to Kursk, you take over, got it?”