by Dietmar Wehr
Turning his focus back to the tactical display, he saw that one of the high orbit optical satellites had detected what appeared to be three ships approaching Makassar. With no ships expected, they had to be hostiles. He thanked whatever Gods there might be that Majestic was too far away to take direct control of his and his ship’s actions. The fucking machine either didn’t understand that humans couldn’t react as quickly as it could, or else it didn’t care. Even training simulations were marathons of trying to act on a tsunami of detailed instructions with intermittent spasms of pain meant to encourage him to perform faster. God, will this nightmare never end? It won’t even let me kill myself! Get control of yourself for God sakes! Focus on the hostiles! Just as he was about to wonder why Makassar Defense Control hadn’t reacted, another ping announced a text message from the MDC.
[Agincourt will accelerate at maximum to gain altitude in order to acquire second bearing on hostiles. Helm data follows.]
So Ground Control wanted his ship to be a new set of eyes in order for the lasersats to have a precise point at which to aim. No orders to fire yet. From his Command Station, Hendricks could tell that the Helm Station was receiving the precise vector that MDC wanted his ship to take.
“Execute the new Helm instructions when ready,” ordered Hendricks to the Helm Officer. The young woman gave him a quick glance with an expression that he understood all too well. She hated having the device in her neck just as much as he did. Failure to follow orders quickly would be punished. It was a damned shame that such a young and beautiful face already showed the signs of so much punishment.
Cruiser Phantom
With less than two minutes to go before reaching the optimum bombardment altitude, Murphy’s recon drone gamble paid off. Two of the drones detected a ship that appeared to be gaining altitude, and quickly too. So far there was no sign of any lasersats. Murphy was puzzled at first by the ship’s apparent vector. If it was reacting to their presence, why wasn’t it on an approach vector? Was it possible that the ship didn’t know about his squadron and was just in a hurry to get somewhere? One of the small screens at his Command Station lit up with Commander Molitor’s face.
“Do you think that ship knows we’re here?” asked Molitor before Murphy could say anything.
“Don’t know, but it certainly isn’t maneuvering as if it wants to exchange missile fire. We’re not in a good position to fire on it because we’re deeper in Makassar’s gravity well than it is, and we’re heading down while it’s heading up. Off hand, I’d say our missiles would have a hard time reaching it before it left the zone. What would you recommend, Rachel?” asked Murphy quickly. He was conscious of the fact that they were rapidly closing in on their bombardment point.
Molitor surprised him with the quickness of her response. “We’re close enough to fire now if we want. Let’s maintain this altitude and fire from here while we accelerate laterally. If their lasersats are tracking us, we want as much speed as possible.” Her suggestion was a good one, but the firm conviction in her voice that said she knew what she was doing was even more convincing. He certainly had no idea what to do.
“Fine, transmit your recommended vector change to all ships. I’ll order the bombardment now. Weps, reprogram our surface bombardment to adjust for our current altitude and transmit that to the other ships with orders to fire when ready.” Switching com channels, Murphy said, "Sorcerer, prepare to execute vector change upon Tigershark’s signal. Helm, that goes for you too.”
Empire Cruiser Agincourt
Hendricks happened to be looking at his Command Station screens when he heard the Helm Officer’s shout.
“THEY’VE STARTED FIRING!” A quick glance at the display showed that he was right. The one optical satellite that was able to see the enemy ships silhouetted against the planet’s lighter background was now seeing fast moving smaller objects that had to be missiles. Hendricks hit his armrest with his fist. Agincourt still wasn’t high enough to get the right angle on its own optical sensors and therefore couldn’t provide the second bearing that would give the lasersats a precise point at which to aim. He really wanted his ship to take a bigger role in this battle, if only to temporarily relieve some of the frustration and despair at his own predicament. Another text message from Ground Control started to scroll across the bottom of the main display.
[Agincourt to reposition for ship-to-ship missile strike. Course correction to follow. Continue to relay optical sensor data to ground. Engage the enemy at your discretion.]
“Helm, you know what to do,” said Hendricks quickly. Her nod was all the acknowledgement she was prepared to give. He decided to overlook her breech of proper protocol. Their new projected vector appeared on the main display, and Hendricks examined it carefully. Now the display also was showing the projected trajectory of the enemy ships given their new vector, and Hendricks understood what Ground Control was trying to do. The new enemy vector seemed to indicate that they had gotten as close to the planet as they were prepared to go, but that same course change also would have the effect of bringing them closer to Agincourt than they would have otherwise. His own vector change would now magnify that impact so that when the enemy ships started to pull away from Makassar, their ships and his would be on converging paths.
Chapter Seven
Cruiser Phantom
“We’ve lost Bogey1,” said the Weapons Officer in a voice now calm.
“Why? What happened?” asked Murphy.
“Bogey1 made a radical vector change, and our two recon drones weren’t able to adjust their own positions fast enough to compensate, Skipper. Here’s our best guess of Bogey1’s trajectory based on the last data we were able to get.”
Murphy looked at the new data and nodded. That was a radical course change all right. There was no doubt now about whether that ship knew about his squadron.
“She’s coming around to set up a long range missile duel,” said Molitor over the com channel that was still open. Since all tactical data was being shared between the three ships, she was seeing what he was seeing, and she must have heard his Weapons Officer’s explanation as well. “That CO must have a big set of brass balls to be willing to swap missile barrages while outnumbered three to one.”
She’s forgetting one thing, Murphy thought to himself. “If he can somehow see us while we have trouble tracking him, then those odds won’t help us much,” said Murphy.
“True, but there may be another factor at work,” said Molitor after a slight hesitation. “If that CO has been implanted with the Majestic device, he or she may not have any choice about whether to engage us or not.”
“Wait a minute, Majestic is on Hadley, right? That’s on the other side of the system. Are you saying it can control ship commanders across that distance in real time?” asked Murphy.
“No, no, but it could have programmed the device with conditional instructions based upon possible scenarios.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, but right now I’m more concerned about whether they can see us or not. If they can, why aren’t they firing their lasersats, and if they can’t, why is Bogey1 maneuvering that way?”
“My guess would be that they can see us, but only from one angle, which wouldn’t give them precise enough data on range for their lasersats,” said Molitor.
“Okay, well there’s no point in launching more anti-missile recon drones now, because Bogey1 is still too far away for effective missile fire. They’re going to want to get closer before they fire on us. How are we doing with our bombardment, Weps?”
The Weapons Officer shook his head. “Same kind of results as Tigershark got in its first attack, Skipper. Only one target in five is being hit. Ground-based lasers are successfully defending the others.”
Murphy cursed under his breath and waited for Molitor’s ‘I told you so’. She had recommended that they fire on fewer targets with more missiles on each one in order to overwhelm the ground-based defenses. Murphy had argued that destroying only a few installations wo
uldn’t have much impact on the Empire’s ability to keep expanding its fleet. The end result turned out to be pretty much the same either way. Even with the two large and one small cruisers, the combined force still didn’t have enough missile barrage capability to overwhelm and destroy a significant portion of Makassar’s installations at the same time. And now we might have to fight our way out of here, came the unwelcome thought.
“Looks like we’re going to have to rethink our whole strategy,” said Molitor in a neutral voice.
Murphy wondered if she was saving her ‘I told you so’ for a more private moment. “I agree. Let’s worry about that after we get our ships out of this killing ground,” he said. After a short pause, he added, “Rachel, if you were commanding Bogey1, when would you open fire on us?”
Molitor nodded. “Good question. Give me a minute to confer with my W.O. and I’ll get back to you on that, Bret.”
When the background noise from Tigershark’s Bridge suddenly stopped, Murphy knew that Molitor had muted her com channel. He hoped she would come back with an answer soon. As he continued to watch the two icons representing his squadron and Bogey1 getting closer, he couldn’t help wondering if missiles were already headed his way.
Empire Cruiser Agincourt
Hendricks resumed sitting in his Command Chair after conferring with his Weapons Officer. The ship had just about brought its upward velocity to zero and would soon be arcing back down towards the interception point where the enemy ships would be if they maintained their course and acceleration. Reaching that projected interception point would take another 55 minutes, but he had no intention of waiting that long before firing. In fact, Agincourt would commence firing as soon as the enemy ships’ current position could be confirmed by a second bearing from another optical satellite. Ground Control had calculated that if those ships maintained their current vector, they would enter the detection range of another satellite in roughly eight more minutes.
“They’re launching missiles again,” said the Helm Officer.
“But not at Makassar,” said the Weapons Officer after a few seconds hesitation.
Hendricks nodded with understanding. “That means they’re firing at us or at least where they think we’ll be. Anybody have any idea how they’re detecting us? It can’t be optically, can it?” He didn’t really expect an answer and didn’t get one. Before he could say anything else, the main display pinged for attention and another text message from Ground Control scrolled across the bottom.
[Second bearing has been achieved against latest enemy missile barrage. Slower enemy ships still not visible to second opsat. Lasersats will hold fire until more precise targeting data available. Analysis of missile trajectories suggests that missiles are being used in a recon mode; however, you are authorized to take whatever precautions you deem necessary to defend your command. Data follows.]
Hendricks wondered if there was anything about this battle that either side knew for certain. Were those missiles really in recon mode or were they attack missiles spreading out in order to maximize the probability that at least some of them would be able to intercept his ship by the time range dropped to zero? If the opsats were able to continue to track them from at least two angles, then his ship’s defense lasers had a good chance of rendering them harmless, but missiles could accelerate much faster than ships, and it wouldn’t surprise him if the opsats lost sight of them at some point. He checked the chronometer. It was now less than three minutes until the second opsat was expected to be able to see the enemy ships. At that point, Ground Control should have enough data to make it worthwhile to use their lasersats. He leaned back and rubbed his hands together in anticipation of that event.
Phantom
Murphy hoped Molitor’s guess about when Bogey1 would start firing at them was accurate. It couldn’t possibly be any worse than his own guess. The fact was that he really had no idea when they might fire. That tiny voice in the back of his mind that was saying he was in over his head when it came to ship combat tactics was getting louder. His career in the Federation Navy hadn’t been long enough to discover how good or bad he really was, and his career in the SSU Navy hadn’t involved commanding a ship at all. The fact that he seemed to be a good organizer and administrator was small comfort now. He tried to calm his mind and quiet his fears. After a few seconds, he realized that one thought was popping up over and over again. Course change. He didn’t understand why that thought was cropping up now, but perhaps it was worth listening to.
“Helm, plot a course change for the squadron. Shift our trajectory laterally by two degrees and execute when the squadron is ready.”
“A two-degree lateral course change coming up, Skipper,” confirmed the officer. After a few seconds, he said, “Course change programmed. Executing now—“ Before he finished his sentence, the main display flickered and alarms started to sound.
“WE’VE BEEN HIT!” yelled the Weapons Officer.
Murphy had already figured that out for himself just by looking at the red status lights popping up on the display sidebar. Phantom was hurt, but it could have been worse. The locations of the damage formed a pattern that Murphy recognized. The ship had been hit a glancing blow. Instead of the laser blasts hitting dead center and slashing through the most critical part of the ship, they had hit the ship near the edges. The laser beams had lost a lot of their energy by being spread over a larger surface area as a result of his last-minute course change and by the fact that the ship’s neutron armor had absorbed most of the energy that did hit. Phantom could still maneuver, fight, and most importantly, jump away when they left Makassar’s hyper-zone. He made sure his com channels to the other two ships were open.
“Tigershark, Sorcerer, what’s your status?”
“Minor damage and casualties, Bret. That course change saved us,” said Molitor in a strained voice.
“No damage at all,” said Sorcerer’s CO. “It doesn’t look like they even bothered to fire at us or else they missed altogether.”
“Good! Let’s keep making random, small course changes to throw their aim off. My Helm will co-ordinate with yours,” said Murphy.
“My thoughts exactly,” said Molitor. “The question is, can we keep them from hitting us with a kill shot for the next 89 minutes until we can jump away?”
Murphy didn’t have an answer for her, but an idea emerged from somewhere in his head. “Rachel, if you were commanding Bogey1, what action could we take that would worry you the most?”
This time she didn’t answer right away, and when she did, her voice no longer showed signs of strain. “If I saw three ships shrug off a laser strike and then change course to close with my ship as quickly as possible, I’d be worried. Damned worried as a matter of fact.”
Murphy had his next question ready. “Are we more likely or less likely to be hit by another laser blast if we did that?”
“I’d say less likely. Our present vector is leading us part way around the planet. There are bound to be lasersats that don’t have line-of-sight on us now but will if we keep going. On the other hand, if we pull up and head straight up as it were, we not only stay hidden from some lasersats, we also put more distance between us and others that can see us. With greater range comes less accuracy. I like the concept, Bret. I recommend doing exactly that.”
Murphy made a quick decision. “Okay, both of you will be getting new helm instruction shortly. Standby.” Murphy unbuckled himself and practically jumped over to the Helm Station. A quick conference with the H.O. resulted in a radical course change that was being implemented even before he returned to his chair.
Empire Cruiser Agincourt
Hendricks bit off a curse as he read the new text message scrolling across the display.
[Spectral analysis shows two enemy ships hit without any impact on acceleration. At present no other lasersats have line of sight targeting. If enemy ships maintain their current general vector, another opsat will have a target bearing—]
A surprisingly l
oud ping from the main display made Hendricks shift his gaze from the text message to the tactical image on the display. The three enemy ships were making another vector change, and this time it was a big one. They were no longer accelerating on a slightly converging course. Now they were swinging around. It was exactly the kind of maneuver that they would have to do if they wanted to close the range to Agincourt as quickly as possible. While not conclusive proof, it strongly suggested that they had somehow detected his ship, and three-on-one were not good odds. He felt a shiver of fear go down his spine. He quickly reviewed the rest of the last text message on one of his smaller Command Station screens. The last part of that message was now obsolete; it was the first part that concerned him. There could be several reasons for x-ray laser hits on a ship not causing any obvious damage, but one of them was the possibility that the ship had enough neutron armor to essentially shrug off the hit. If that was the case, then even a direct hit by a missile-delivered fusion warhead might not seriously damage the target. Agincourt, on the other hand, had only a relatively thin coating of neutron armor. It was enough to let him thumb his nose at any chemical explosive warhead and enough to avoid being vaporized by a low yield nuke, but they were definitely vulnerable to more powerful warheads. His last orders from Ground Control authorized him to take whatever precautions he deemed necessary to protect his command. He made up his mind to wait until it was clear that the enemy ships were coming after him, and if that turned out to be the case, he would try to disengage and use that authorization to justify his actions. Having had that thought, he felt a momentary pressure in his head. The thought that the implant might not like it if he tried to disengage made his hand shake.