The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Invincible

by Campbell, Jack

  Geary kept his eyes on his display, knowing as the last minutes counted down that whatever had happened had already taken place. He would see it all too late to do anything but watch.

  Bare moments before the two forces collided, specter missiles leaped from every human warship, racing to meet their targets as hell lances fired in terrible volleys; on the heels of the hell lances, masses of grapeshot filled space before the human warships.

  The barrage had been perfectly coordinated. Missiles and hell lances struck almost simultaneously, followed within less than a second by the ball bearings of the grapeshot field. Instead of a series of hard blows, a single mighty blow struck all at once.

  Geary heard someone on Dauntless’s bridge gasp as the region of space just before the main body of the fleet lit up with titanic bursts of energy, the enigma ships following behind the front of their formation running right into the debris and unleashed energy of the weapons and power cores detonating among the leading enigma ships.

  More bursts of energy sparkled among the human warships as pieces of debris slammed into their shields and armor. Dreadnaught jerked under multiple hits flaring on her bow, Orion staggered, Dependable fell off under hammerblows to one side of her bow, and for one heart-stopping moment, Conqueror looked like she had exploded. Then, as the fleet’s sensors peered beneath that flash of light, and status reports came in, Geary realized that a wave of dense but tiny debris had struck Conqueror’s shields, generating that terrifying outburst but not getting through to seriously damage the battleship.

  More hits on Superb, and on Splendid, helplessly connected to Invincible. And then a huge blast as something substantial made it through and slammed into the immensely thick armor on Invincible’s bow.

  As Armus’s formation swept clear of the debris, it could be seen that Invincible now bore a substantial crater on her bow. But she was otherwise intact.

  “I’ll be damned,” Desjani whispered. “I can’t believe it survived that. An Invincible that lived up to the name.”

  The auxiliaries and assault transports were rushing ahead, or at least rushing as best they could, to be enfolded among the battleships again, while the heavy cruisers swiftly pivoted and faced the enigmas who had passed through their formation. The battleships began slowly swinging upward by the front edge of the formation, like a plate tilting up slowly to face in another direction, where the enigmas were now to be found.

  The enigmas . . . Geary breathed a prayer of his own. Roughly one hundred and sixty enigma ships had met Armus’s formation head-on. Fewer than eighty were still in motion, sweeping around behind the main body and—“What the hell.”

  “They’re breaking up their formation,” Desjani said.

  In an instant, he knew why. “All units in the pursuit force, immediate execute you are free to maneuver. The enigma force is no longer concentrating on defeating our fleet and is instead scattering to get units past us so they can attack other targets in this star system. Operate independently to engage any enigma warship you can get within weapons range of. I repeat, all units in the pursuit force, maneuver independently now and get every enigma you can.”

  Desjani was already rapping out orders to jolt Dauntless onto a new vector aimed toward an intercept with a cluster of enigma warships that hadn’t yet separated much. “I agree that they’ve given up on trying to take us out, but how do you know they aren’t scattering to escape to the jump point?” she asked a moment later.

  “If they wanted to run, they could have just kept going in formation. The reason for scattering like that is to make it damn near impossible for us to stop all of them from getting to targets like the hypernet gate. Not the complete victory they wanted, but it would still cost us something we want and need.”

  “If our main-body formation disperses, too—”

  “No! Then some of the enigma ships might try for the assault transports and auxiliaries!”

  On his display, the pursuit-force formation looked as if it, too, had exploded, ships hurtling outward on hundreds of vectors.

  Geary swept his gaze across the rest of the display, taking in both the likely targets of the surviving enigmas and the three small Syndic or former Syndic flotillas. He hadn’t called any of those possibly friendly/probably neutral forces yet, but now he punched in the right circuit for such a message. “All armed forces in the Midway Star System, this is Admiral Geary. The enigma ships have broken formation and will be heading for targets within this star system. We will stop all that we can, but you must also intercept and engage anything that gets past us. The enigmas will ram targets if all other methods of attack fail. Do not, repeat not, attempt to engage the six ovoid ships that accompanied my fleet. They are neutral in this fight and allies of humanity.” That was perhaps strongly overstating the spider-wolf attitude toward humans, but now was no time to fine-tune adjectives.

  “I welcome your assistance in defending this star system,” Geary continued. “To the honor of our ancestors, Geary, out.”

  The widely dispersed and still-spreading force of enigma warships was expanding like a puff of dandelion seeds hit by a strong gust of wind, every ship bending toward a course heading toward the star and the human targets there. Opposite them, and slightly closer to the star, the ships of Geary’s pursuit force had also burst outward, more numerous than the enigma vessels but with the harder task of stopping those who wanted to just get by them. Between them lay the main-body formation, and there Geary saw some hope. “The individual enigma ships can’t go too close to our main body, or they’ll get nailed by all the firepower there.”

  “It’ll restrict the enigmas’ maneuvering options and help us herd them a little,” Desjani agreed, her expression intent. “I’m giving you two targets, Lieutenant Yuon. I want them both.”

  “Yes, Captain! Fire control systems are tracking the targets you’ve designated.”

  “Engage the targets as soon as they get close enough,” Desjani ordered.

  Geary couldn’t keep track of everything anymore as his display filled with hundreds of vectors rising and dropping around the mass of the main-body formation, hunters and hunted twisting, evading, and pouncing as they flashed by each other. Dauntless lashed out as she tore past a much smaller enigma ship, pounding it badly enough that the alien craft broke in two. Moments later, a second enigma ship was engaged, this one tumbling away only partially under control as two Alliance destroyers chased after it.

  “I have no idea of how things are going,” Geary muttered, looking at the rat’s-nest of intersecting and intertwining vectors, the reports of firing, the estimates of damage to enemy ships, and reports of damage to his own ships as the enigmas fought back.

  “Keep an eye on this,” Desjani suggested, as Dauntless swung down and over in a dive tight enough to generate groans of protest from the inertial nullifiers and the ship’s structure. She pointed to a single number there. “Estimated number of enemy ships. As long as it keeps going down, we’re doing okay.”

  His head jerked from momentum as Dauntless leveled out and surged after a third enigma warship, about the size of a heavy cruiser, which was dueling with a light cruiser and inflicting more damage than it was taking. “Tell engineering I need more thrust from main propulsion,” Desjani ordered her bridge watch-standers.

  “Engineering says we’re already at one hundred and ten percent, Captain, and if we—”

  “One hundred fifteen. Now.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  Seconds later, Dauntless surged from a bit more acceleration, closing the gap just enough. “Get him,” Desjani ordered.

  Specter missiles fired, racing toward the enigma ship, which belatedly realized that its battering of the light cruiser was not going unnoticed. The enigma tried to roll away, but two specters caught it, damaging its propulsion. Dauntless drew closer, hammering away with hell lances as the enigma ship fired frantically back.

  “Our bow shields are almost down,” Lieutenant Castries called out.

&n
bsp; “I see,” Desjani replied calmly. “They’ll hold long enough.”

  One enigma shot got through, holing a storage compartment up forward, then the alien shields collapsed, and Dauntless poured a rain of hell-lance fire into the enemy.

  Geary was barely aware of the enigma ship exploding under the punishment that Dauntless was inflicting; instead, he watched the whole situation and the number Desjani had pointed to. Even though their numbers were dwindling fast, the surviving enigma ships were breaking through and past the human warships.

  “Thirty-five,” he said as the Alliance ships steadied out in stern chases after the enigmas who had gotten clear and were heading for their targets. A moment later, several specters fired at extreme range got hits. “Thirty-four.”

  “Even the Syndics ought to be able to handle that,” Desjani said, smiling. The smile disappeared as she studied the nearby situation. “Tell engineering to ease back to one hundred percent on main propulsion. We’re going to have a long stern chase before we can catch up with any more enigmas.”

  “The Syndics don’t have enough ships to cover all of the possible targets adequately,” Geary said. “Have we ever heard from any of the Syndics?”

  Desjani looked back at her comm watch, who nodded. “Something came in five minutes ago,” the watch-stander reported. “Your standing instructions—”

  “Are not to interrupt time-critical events for messages that are not time critical,” Desjani finished. “You did the right thing. Who is this message from?”

  “It came from the flotilla that has been transiting from the inhabited planet to the docks near the gas giant. The nearest one to us. It’s addressed directly to Admiral Geary, Captain.”

  “Send it to me and Captain Desjani,” Geary ordered.

  An instant later, windows popped open before him and Desjani, showing a woman in Syndic uniform on the bridge of what was plainly a Syndic heavy cruiser. But her collar insignia were different than Syndic standard, and her words immediately contradicted the rest of her appearance. “This is Kommodor Marphissa on the heavy cruiser Manticore of the Midway Star System.”

  “Kommodor Marphissa on the heavy cruiser Manticore,” Desjani repeated. “Military ranks and names for the ships? There have been a few changes around here. She didn’t call herself a Syndic, either, but she still looks like a Syndic.”

  “I wonder what happened to CEO Kolani,” Geary said.

  “Probably something that we’d be better off not knowing.” Desjani eyed the image of the kommodor suspiciously.

  “Kolani struck me as being fiercely loyal to the Syndicate Worlds,” Geary said, “which would explain why this Kommodor Marphissa is now in command rather than Kolani.”

  Kommodor Marphissa had paused for several seconds, as if anticipating that her audience would exchange comments, and now spoke with quiet assurance. “We welcome the assistance of the Alliance fleet under the command of Admiral Geary in defending the Midway Star System against all who threaten it.”

  Her emphasis on one word was impossible to miss. “All?” Desjani demanded. “All? That ex-Syndic bitch is trying to rope us into fighting their battles against the Syndic government. What makes her think we’ll fall for that?”

  “We are en route to the gas giant,” Marphissa continued. “We will continue on that track until we either encounter enemy forces or are ordered to assist you. However, I already have standing orders that the fleet of Admiral Geary is always welcome at Midway. For the people! This is Kommodor Marphissa. Out.”

  Geary frowned in thought as the message ended. “Did you hear that?”

  “Every word,” Desjani said, her own voice sharp.

  “I meant the end, where she said ‘for the people.’ I’ve heard that a lot from Syndic authorities, and it always gets said without any emphasis or emotion. Just ‘for the people’ spoken quickly and without feeling, as if the phrase didn’t have any meaning.”

  Desjani shrugged. “Is that surprising? You know it’s a joke. Nothing about the way the Syndicate Worlds has been and is run is really ‘for the people.’”

  “But the way that Kommodor said it, she really seemed to mean it,” Geary insisted.

  She replayed the end of the message, then nodded reluctantly. “All right. I see that. These people have revolted against the CEOs. Maybe they really are trying to be something other than Syndics. But the people at the top, Iceni and Drakon, are both former CEOs. Either they’ve changed their stripes, or this is all theater. I know where I’m placing my bets.”

  Geary sat back, looking at his display, where hundreds of individual Alliance warships chased after thirty-four enigma warships, every ship on a different path but all of the vectors arcing down toward either the inner star system or the hypernet gate. None of the vectors displayed intercept points, reflecting the reality that his ships couldn’t catch those enigmas unless the enigmas altered their own courses or speeds. “Whoever these former Syndics are, they’d better fight smart. We can’t stop those enigmas. They’ll have to.”

  Alerts came to life on his display, highlighting a dozen enigma ships.

  “They launched bombardment projectiles,” Desjani said. “Aimed at the inhabited planet by the looks of the trajectories.” She clenched a fist and pounded her seat arm softly but firmly. “Neither we nor the Syndics can stop those.”

  EIGHTEEN

  DAUNTLESS was moving at close to point two light speed herself now, hurtling through space at almost sixty thousand kilometers per second, but even that was too slow to catch the enigma ships ahead of them. The bombardment the enigmas had launched was also unreachable.

  They could only sit, knowing that they would spend the next couple of days watching the bombardment heading for its target and that they couldn’t possibly stop it.

  “Admiral, we’re receiving a message from the inhabited planet.”

  Geary nodded despairingly. “They don’t know what’s coming at them yet. Let’s see what ‘President’ Iceni has to say.”

  The image that appeared showed Iceni and a hard-looking man sitting behind an impressive desk of polished wood. He didn’t look like an assistant but rather an equal.

  Iceni no longer wore the dark blue suit that was standard wear for Syndicate Worlds’ CEOs. Instead, her outfit suggested power and wealth without flaunting either. The man beside her wore an unfamiliar uniform that seemed to have been modified from Syndic designs. He didn’t need that uniform to project an image of being military, though. Geary would have pegged him as such no matter what that man had worn.

  “This is President Iceni of the independent star system of Midway.” Iceni paused.

  The man in uniform spoke crisply. “This is General Drakon, commanding officer of Midway’s ground forces.”

  “We are happy to welcome the Alliance fleet back in our star system,” Iceni continued. “Especially considering current circumstances and previous agreements between us. We will do our utmost to defend our star system against invaders, and ask only that you assist us in that task until the people of Midway are once again secure. Kommodor Marphissa, our senior warship commander, has been sent orders to follow your directions unless they conflict with her obligations to defend this star system.

  “Be aware that the battleship located at our main military dockyards has functional propulsion but not working shields or weapons at this time, so it cannot be counted upon to assist in the defense of this star system.

  “This is President Iceni, for the people, out.”

  Rione had appeared at Geary’s elbow, bending a questioning expression his way. “Previous agreements?”

  He nodded, trying not to look guilty. “Previous agreements,” Geary said, as if that were natural and normal.

  “Are we talking about more than the peace treaty made with the Syndicate Worlds’ government? Additional agreements?”

  “Why would you ask me that?”

  Both Desjani and Rione were giving him hard looks now. He was abruptly aware that he was pinned
between them. “Admiral, did you reach any other agreements with the authorities here at Midway?”

  He nodded. “I agreed to help defend them against the enigmas, which was consistent with the peace treaty.”

  “That’s all?” Rione pressed. “That kommodor also seemed to expect more from us than the peace treaty would necessarily require.”

  “Yes,” Desjani said. “She did.”

  That was about as bad as it got, having Rione and Desjani agreeing with each other that he must have done something wrong.

  “Did you say anything,” Rione asked, “that this President Iceni could have twisted into a claim that Black Jack would defend them against their own government?”

  “No. I did not promise that.” They were watching him. “I did agree, for good reasons, not to publicly declare that I would not defend them against threats like that.”

  Desjani glowered at him. “I should never let you talk to women alone.”

  But Rione appeared thoughtful. “A vague commitment without real promises? I’m impressed, Admiral. We might be able to use that.”

  “Oh, wonderful!” Desjani said. “You’ve got her approval! Does that tell you just how wrong you are?”

  Geary held out a restraining hand. “Later. I need to reply to those two. By the time they hear back from us, they’ll have seen that we knocked out most of the enigma force but also that the enigma bombardment is already on its way toward them.”

  “That planet has a lot of water and not much land,” Desjani commented, her expression gloomy once more. “Even if the enigma shots miss land targets, they’ll kick up some nasty wave action that will swamp all of those islands. I’d tell them to try to evacuate everybody they can to orbit and get the rest to whatever high ground exists. But knowing Syndic CEOs, they’ll probably just make sure they get clear so they can watch the citizens catch hell from some safe spot.”

  He almost asked Desjani how she could predict the results of a widespread planetary bombardment so well, then caught himself in time. The Alliance had adopted such tactics, had tried to destroy enemy morale as well as civilian targets by indiscriminate bombardment. That strategy had never worked in the past, it hadn’t worked for the Alliance; but it had been followed for too long. And Desjani had been a fleet officer while those bombardments were conducted. It wasn’t something they talked about, but he knew it had happened. It would be best not to comment on that now.