Larkin pressed a couple buttons on a small controller she was holding and a holographic representation of the fleet appeared in the center of the table. “This is what the fleet contained when we first arrived,” Larkin said.
She pressed another button and a lot of ships disappeared. “This is what we had left after the first attack,” she continued. Another press of the controller saw the fleet get much bigger. “Here is the fleet after combined with that of the Uhlinder.” And with a final button push, the fleet then shrank down to a fraction of what it was. “And here’s where we are now. You’ll note that even after the addition of the Uhlinder’s fleet, we now actually have less ships than what we started with when our fleet arrived on its own.
“We’ve been, for lack of a better term, ‘fortunate’ that some of the ships we’ve ended up with are more powerful than what our fleet originally had. Our fleet originally had ten destroyers. We’ve lost five, but gained three heavy cruisers from the other fleet. Most of our corvettes were lost, but we’ve gained more destroyers. And so on. So while our battle fleet is smaller, our straight-up combat strength is actually better than what we started with.
“The problem is, even though a heavy cruiser carries much more powerful weaponry than a destroyer— almost at a rate of three to one in firepower— it’s still only one ship compared to the three destroyers it replaces. One ship can only be at one place at a time. Our defense sphere has had to shrink considerably to make up for this loss of ships on station.”
Larkin turned to Valisia. “Lieutenant (jg) Nonn has assumed control of Alden forces thanks to her skill in combat and the simple fact that we’re running out of viable candidates— no offense, Lieutenant.”
“None taken,” Valisia said.
“Lieutenant, please give us an update on our small craft and Alden numbers,” Kesh said.
“Yes sir. In Aldens, we’re down to five including my own. Dragonfly fighters are at eight, and in attack planes, we’re left with seven Ravens.”
“So our entire fighter wing is twenty craft,” Kesh said.
“Yes sir.”
Kesh shook his head, “When the Uhlinder was destroyed, we were briefly overcrowded with ships from both carriers. Now that…’problem’ has seemed to have worked itself out in its own terrible way.”
“We’ve had reports of our own ships that were presumed lost seen flying inside of alien patrols near the perimeter,” Larkin said. “Ships that the enemy has possessed. And it seems that they’ve captured more Aldens than anything else. It must be something about the Alden design that makes it easier for the aliens to possess.”
Valisia cast her eyes down at this sobering fact and Feln felt bad for her. She and some of her fellows from the Uhlinder were still relatively new additions to the Tannhauser’s crew, but they barely had time to make friends before someone was either killed or possessed.
Kesh turned to Governor Zalk, “Governor, how is the colony holding up?”
“As well as can be expected,” Zalk said. “Losing half of the colonists and colony itself to the Uhlinder explosion is something I don’t think anybody on board will ever get over. There’s a tension in the air that things may boil over into utter chaos at any minute, but I think they can stick it out a little longer. These are frontier-minded people you know. Tough stock, ready to create a new world from scratch. I think more than anything else, it’s the waiting around that is getting to them. These people like to see results and as long as they feel like they’re just cooped up in a giant can waiting for their deaths…well, that’s what gets to them.”
Kesh nodded. “I completely understand. So do you think then, that they’ll support a plan to get out of here even if means they have to stay behind while we search for a safe passage?”
“Yes, I believe so,” Zalk said. “I think as long as they know that something is happening, they can tough it out.”
“And what about your support ships?” Kesh asked.
“Well, we’ve lost almost 75% of them,” Zalk said bitterly. "While all of our ships have some manner of defensive weaponry, it’s mostly for chasing off small time space pirates and such. These ships weren’t built for sustained warfare, so it should come as no surprise that we’ve lost so many.
“The enemy generally won’t attack them unless they fire first— their method seems to be to kill or possess actual warships first. But asking these crews to just sit by and hold their fire while they watch comrades die is hard. I feel the same way they do.” The governor’s hands clenched into tight fists as he said this and Feln fully believed that if he could, the old man would take command of a corvette and put the skills to use that he honed as a corvette captain in wars long past.
“As a colonization effort, this fleet is dead,” Zalk said. "With half the colony gone, and most of the support ships destroyed, even if we made it to our destination, we couldn’t do anything. Thanks to these enemy attacks, our mission is now impossible. So now we’re just hoping to survive and make it home.”
“That is what I intend to do,” Kesh said. “The survival of this fleet is paramount by any means necessary, so here is my plan.”
Those assembled listened intently as Kesh said, “Based on the overall direction previous attacks have come from, we’ve managed to ascertain they generally have two points of origin coming from locations originating in lines approximately 50 degrees apart.
“We’ve attempted to send small scouting parties in those directions in the hope of discovering a base of operations or anything useful. No ships or probes have ever returned. However, you may have heard that this morning, one of the ships managed to limp back. We almost missed it, in fact. The ship was heavily damaged, and the crew was dead from explosive decompression. The ship seemed to be doing most of its travel based on inertia and just enough attitude thrusters left functioning to return on autopilot.”
Kesh nodded at Valisia and said, “We have Lieutenant (jg) Nonn here to thank for spotting the ship while on patrol and helping to recover it. When our specialists were able to check the ship’s records, they found the location of a large scale enemy fleet and what looked like some manner of enemy base in the middle of it.”
Kesh looked around the room, “It is my intention to take most of the fleet to that location and assault the enemy base. We’ll also try to destroy the fleet guarding it, but at the very least, we’ll attempt to get landing parties on the base itself. There, we hope to gather whatever intelligence we can that may help us leave this system. Star charts, warp coils, perhaps discover what it was that pulled us out of warp in the first place.”
Kesh looked at Zalk. “The unfortunate part of this plan is that I feel we need to take as much of the combat fleet with us as possible to pull off this plan. We’ll have to fight our way through to the base itself and quite possibly fight our way back out. We’ll need as many ships as we can spare in case anyone gets lost. As long as at least one ship makes it back here with valuable intel that can save the colonists, it will be worth it.”
Kesh then turned to Feln. “Denxeiter and three heavy destroyers will be left behind to defend the colony along with the colony’s own home guard. We won’t be able to spare any smaller craft from the Tannhauser’s compliment because they’ll have to act in an offensive and defensive capacity for the Tannhauser herself.
"Also, as I stated earlier, we’ve traced that most enemy attacks come from two different directions. While we’ll be attacking one location, the enemy may very well attack from the other. Or perhaps another location altogether.”
Seeing the expression on Feln’s face, Kesh said, “I understand how hard this sounds and please understand that it’s kept me awake trying to think of another way around it, but I believe it’s the best option. Denxeiter is not at 100%, so I think it best to keep it stationed near the colony where it doesn’t have to be used in a wide area of combat space. Also, if we only left ships here to guard the colony and not a Hyper Battle Machine…well, Denxeiter has proven itself adept a
t fighting the particularly strange enemy forms we’ve found ourselves facing.
“This is not a space battle in the classic sense. We all know that. I honestly feel that the colony has a better chance of survival if it’s protected by Denxeiter and Aaltskog’s…unique…abilities.”
Feln turned to Aaltskog. After a moment of thought she said, “The admiral’s right. I think we can do the most good here.”
“Of course, I can’t actually order you to this,” Kesh said to Feln. “But I hope you’ll agree with your Companion’s opinion.”
“It’s no trouble,” Feln said. “I’ve always respected your opinion and skill, Admiral. Even without Aaltskog’s blessing, I’d agree to your plan.” He squeezed Aaltskog’s hand. “Of course, having her agree doesn’t hurt either.”
“Excellent,” Kesh said, sounding relieved. “I should note that Commander Achren and the crew of the missile ship Artemis petitioned to say behind and help with guard duties. I understand you’ve developed a good working relationship with the Artemis since the first battle.”
“Yes sir,” Feln said, hoping that Aaltskog wasn’t going to go into a fit of jealousy. He was also hit with a pang of guilt that one of the first things he did when meeting Achren was to order her to fire missiles that resulted in many friendly casualties.
“While I understand how valuable a missile ship would be here in the role of defending the colony, I’m afraid, the Artemis is the last one we have. Her ability to fire large amounts of ordnance into an enemy fleet is something we’ll need for the attack. I had to refuse the request and order her to accompany the attack fleet.”
“Understood, sir, and I agree with your assessment that the Artemis can best render service with you.”
“Thanks for understanding and I’m glad you agree with her posting,” Kesh said. He then turned to the ship captains sitting near Feln. “As for the forces defending the colony, we have five destroyers left. Three will remain here with Denxeiter. I know that destroyer captains like to be in the thick of things and you will all likely want to be part of the attack fleet. But do I have any volunteers to stay here to defend the colony?”
To Feln’s surprise, three immediately stood up. Kesh seemed surprised by this too. Feln had seen destroyer captains get involved in no-win situations against much larger opponents. They seemed to thrive on danger as much as corvette captains. And yet three of them wanted to stay behind and not attack the enemy base?
Captain Apwell of the Tiger Moth spoke up first, “Sir, my best friend from childhood was one of the colonists who died during the attack. If I can stay here to keep anybody else from having to experience what I’ve been through, I’ll gladly do it.”
Captain Wright of the Ganley said, “My ship was one of the ships closest to the Uhlinder as it crashed into the colony. We fired with everything we had, but it wasn’t enough. I’ll never get the image from my mind of those bodies tumbling out into space and dying horribly. I’d never forgive myself if I found out the enemy came back to finish the job with the rest of the colony while I was off fighting elsewhere.”
Lastly there was Captain Jalik of the Branden. “I’d rather not go into specifics, but this is something my crew and I need to do.”
From that cryptic statement, Feln had the feeling that Jalik had lost someone dear on the colony like Wright did, but was less vocal about it.
“Well, then I guess it’s settled,” Kesh said. “We needed three and we have three.”
He turned back to Zalk. “Governor, I do hate to leave the colony relatively defenseless while most of the fleet goes on this attack, but I hope you understand my reasons.”
“Admiral, I understand your reasons perfectly and agree with them. Hard times call for hard measures.” He stood up and walked over to Feln and the three destroyer captain volunteers. “Besides, I feel perfectly confident that the gallantry of these fine people will keep my colonists safe.”
He shook Feln and each captain’s hand in turn. “It’s my hope that the attack on the enemy base will keep them so busy that that they won’t even think to send forces to attack here as they’ll have their hands full with your assault.”
Feln and the others nodded. It was sound logic. Especially in light of what the enemy may have had planned with the creature in the colony— a plan that Feln thoroughly disrupted when he killed the thing. The enemy had been quiet while the Francescans found Feln on the planet and repaired Denxeiter. That was likely due to them waiting for the creature inside the colony to get bigger so they could attack from both inside and out at the same time.
But now that the creature was dead, they might not wait and instead could attack at any time. On the other hand, since they didn’t know for sure how the enemy communicated over long distances, the enemy may not have even known the creature was dead yet. Katashka and Aaltskog had both confirmed the enemy utilized some manner of psychic connection, but nobody knew what its limits were.
Feln said, “There are so many variables in any battle to begin with, but fighting these things have added so many more. We’ve gone around in circles for so long, that I’m glad that we have a straightforward plan of action. I’m ready whenever you need me and the sooner we get the plan underway, the better.”
There were nods of agreement around the room. Kesh said, “Excellent. The mission will begin tomorrow morning at 0600 hours. This mission will either lead us to victory or defeat, but it’s my belief that this will be our turning point.” He stood, and everyone else in the room followed suit and saluted. After returning their salutes, Kesh left the room, followed by Larkin and some of the others.
Feln and Aaltskog stayed behind, as did the captains of the destroyers who would stay on station with Denxeiter to defend the colony.
“I want you to know that I’ll be honored to have you and your crews fighting by my side,” Feln said.
“I think I speak for my fellow captains when I say the feeling’s mutual,” Captain Wright said. “This fleet was originally put together to protect the colony and that’s what we’re going to do. Our ships are from the ‘original team’, so to speak, and weren’t absorbed in from the Uhlinder’s fleet. Protecting the colony is what our first mission was, and that hasn’t changed.”
The other captains stayed quiet, but nodded somberly to Wright’s words. Apwell had lost a close friend, and while Jalik hadn’t been more forthcoming in his reasons, it was obvious this was personal for him also. Perhaps it was best that Wright spoke for them since his reasons were more for duty than anything personal. It spared the other two from having to say anything painful and close to their hearts.
“I can’t think of three better captains I’d rather have fighting beside me,” Feln said. “Again, it’s my honor.” He bowed deeply to them, as did Aaltskog.
The three men glanced at each other a moment. To have a Space Knight and his Companion show them such respect was surely something they’d never experienced before. They all bowed in response before saluting.
Feln returned their salutes and said, “Now please get back to your ships and get as much rest as possible. And please give your crews my regards. We’ll see this through together.”
The three men nodded and slowly left the room. Feln and Aaltskog were left alone. She rushed into his arms. “Feln, I’m really scared. This is gonna be the worst mission since we got here.”
“Maybe not,” he soothed. “Like the Admiral said, the enemy might get so tied up fighting the fleet they’ll leave the colony alone. We might die more from boredom than anything else.”
“Or, maybe they’ll attack from the other location or God knows where instead and wipe us out. Or maybe they won’t— they’ll just destroy the fleet and then come here to finish the job.”
“I know.” Feln squeezed her close. “I know. But we’ve gotta do something. And this really is the best plan. I have no doubt the Empire’s looking for us, but it’s a big galaxy. Hell, even without the enemy here we could still all be long dead before anyone found us—
or they may never find us. This is our best hope.”
“I know, you’re right,” she said. “That’s why I agreed with the plan. And hey, you’ve gotta admit, I’ve been pretty good about keeping it together and not going bonkers with my usual doomsaying.”
“I’ve noticed. I’m really proud of you.”
“And to be honest, I’m not even doomsaying now. Just worried.”
“Well, yeah, who wouldn’t be?”
Aaltskog paused and said, “I want you to sleep with me tonight.”
“What?”
“We used to sleep together all the time before you…you outgrew me. You said it’s just me and you from now on and it’s gonna go back to the way things were before. Well, I want us to sleep together again.”
“Darling I’m not so sure that I’ll be the best sex partner in the world on the night before a mission that has the potential to go so terribly wrong,” Feln said softly.
“Huh? No, dummy, I’m not talking about sex. I mean, I want us to literally sleep together tonight. I’m afraid I’m gonna have really bad nightmares. I want you to hold me close like you used to. I’ve been sleeping by myself for around ten years and some of the nights get rough for me. You know that. But I’ve never bothered you about it and let you do your own thing.”
She stepped away from his chest and took his hands in hers and squeezed them gently. “But I’m asking you. Begging you. Please don’t leave me alone tonight. I want to be close to you and feel safe in your arms for the first time in so long. I just want to have a good night’s sleep with you in case this is my last chance.”
Feln pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply before saying, “Of course you can sleep with me, my Princess. And you’re right, I said it would only be the two of us and I meant it. My heart is yours forever. So from now on, I want you out of your little cabin and we’ll live in the same space, okay?”
Francescan War Chronicles 1: Space Knight Denxeiter Page 22