Exodus: Empires at War: Book 06 - The Day of Battle

by Doug Dandridge

  “Thank you,” he said, caressing her cheek with his hand.

  “For what?”

  “For improving my morale.” Because if I didn’t have you, this shitty situation would drive me crazy.

  Chapter Thirteen

  CONUNDRUM SYSTEM SPACE. OCTOBER 30TH - NOVEMBER 7TH,1001.

  ‘That’s the fifth one this week,” said Commander Chris Browne over the wormhole com.

  Commodore Bryce Suttler nodded as he watched the icons of the incoming Ca’cadasan force. This was not the largest that had come in during the week, nor the smallest. It was balanced between warships and logistics vessels, and proof that the enemy was preparing for a big push.

  But where? he thought, recalling the intelligence they had already gathered. Not that there was an overabundance of it. They had been listening to everything they could pick up, any bleed on the supposed secure tight beam communications of the enemy. Translating everything they gathered, and passing it on to headquarters for further analysis. The Admiralty had been lavish in their praise, and Suttler wondered how much of that was just a bone thrown their way because of the risk they were taking, and not for the wealth of data there were sending back.

  The enemy ships jumped from hyper into normal space, within ten light seconds of the huge space station that was the hyperlimit base of the enemy. Seastag and Dolphin sat a half light hour out, as close as he dared place his ships with all the traffic around the station. Another pair of his ships, Grampus and Tiger Shark, were sitting the same distance on the other side of the station, while his four other vessels were sitting near the two biggest exit points from the Conundrum system that led toward the inner Empire and the Core Worlds.

  “I think we’re going to see a big movement toward the core worlds any day now,” said Suttler, turning back to the central holo tank that displayed the entire system. On that holo were the icons of all the enemy assets in the system. There were thousands of ships, from superbattleships to the smallest class of Ca’cadasan ships seen to date, two hundred thousand ton system patrol vessels. The major warships, with the exception of those around the nearby station, were clustered into three groups over by the other edge of the system, near one of the exit points where another huge station was positioned.

  “I would say they are going out in three strike groups,” said Suttler, zooming in on the area around that station. Each group was made up of warships and troop transports, as well as freighters, and gave the impression of forces that were not just going out for quick strikes, but to conquer and occupy. “And soon.”

  “That’s, not good,” said Browne in understatement. “Don’t we need them to go out as one force, in one direction?”

  “Yep. And if they don’t cooperate, command is going to be pissed.” But what the hell can we do about it? Suttler didn’t know why command wanted the enemy to go in that direction, but had the general idea that they had some kind of trap set for them. Other than that? I don’t have the need to know, even though the safety of my command depends on my making good decisions. Informed decisions.

  So at the moment the options for the enemy were to attack something that seemed like an easy but valuable target, one unknown to the Commodore. Or to make a major thrust into human space, taking three or more, and he would have guessed many more, systems, denying them to the humans.

  But what in the hell could be so enticing to divert them from a major offensive. Suttler couldn’t think of a thing that would make the enemy go for that last scenario. Maybe the entire Imperial Family, the Joint Chiefs, and the major players of Parliament. But no one would be crazy enough to offer that up as a prize. Would they?

  Whatever it was, so far it didn’t look like the enemy was going for it. Or else they don’t know that the bait is out there, dangling right in front of their faces.

  “That, uh, is bad news, Commodore,” said Grand Fleet Admiral Gabriel Lenkoswki on the holo when Suttler reported back to headquarters.

  Suttler was shocked that the commander of the battle fleet would be involved in listening to the report of a relatively junior officer. “Sir, since I don’t really know what this is about, I can’t say whether it’s good or bad. Except that it can’t be good if they launch a major strike on the Core Worlds.”

  The Admiral was quiet for a moment, thinking. “I may have to order a drastic action here, Suttler,” said Lenkowski, looking at the Commodore through troubled eyes. “Something I really don’t want to do. But I may not have a choice.”

  Suttler didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Can I ask what’s going on, sir?”

  “You don’t have a need to know,” said the Admiral, shaking his head. “I may have to order one of your ships to sacrifice itself. To be captured, so we can feed information to the enemy. What we need them to know.”

  “That’s. How can you expect me to give a crew an order like that, sir?”

  “I know it’s something you didn’t expect. I hadn’t expected to have to do this either. But we had other plans to get the information to the enemy. And it would seem that they didn’t get it, or didn’t believe it.”

  “What information?”

  “Again, this information is classified Top Secret Galactic.”

  “So you aren’t authorized to disseminate the information?”

  “I am, Commodore. I am. But I must be careful to whom I give the information.”

  Suttler was quiet for a moment, thinking of his response. “If I must choose a ship to perform a task that will result in the death or capture of their crew, then I choose the Seastag.”

  “You are in command of the stealth/attack squadron in that system, Suttler. I will not allow you to use yourself and your crew. You will ask for volunteers.”

  “And if someone doesn’t want to volunteer on that crew?”

  “We’ll deal with that if it happens. Now, will you follow my order and find me a ship to carry out this mission?”

  “I would like to know what’s so important that I must sacrifice a ship and crew under my command, Admiral. Look, sir. If the whole idea is that the enemy is to be leaked certain information, then why can’t we know up front what that information is.”

  “Well reasoned, Commodore,” said the Admiral with a laugh. “Impressive enough that I might let you get away with that bit of insubordination. So, OK. Let me fill you in on what we have planned.”

  Suttler listened in silence as the highest ranking officer in the sector laid out their plan to defeat the Cacas. He marveled at the audacity of the plan, while at the same time wondering what madman had come up with it. Sean, he thought, picturing the face of the young man, now Emperor, who he had helped to rescue from the defeat at Massadara. Only he could come up with a plan like this. None of his officers would take such a risk. But if he loses, the Empire is decapitated.

  “Now that you know the importance of our getting this information to the enemy, I want you to get your volunteers, and put a plan in motion that will accomplish the task. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir. And how long do I have?”

  “Give it one more day, Suttler,” said the Admiral. “I don’t like this any more than you do, Commodore. I hate the idea of sending men and women into a situation that almost guarantees their deaths. But it’s something I have to face every day. If I don’t make the decision, then someone else has to, and I don’t wish that on anyone. I don’t wish it on you, Commodore. But you are the commander on the spot. You know your captains and your ships, which is knowledge I don’t possess.”

  “And something I really didn’t think about when I accepted promotion, sir.”

  “And something you will face more and more as you move up the ranks, Commodore. A learning experience I don’t envy anyone. Contact me tomorrow, direct channel, when you have executed your part of the mission. Lenkowski out.”

  Suttler got on the com and talked with all of his captains, telling them the nature of the mission, and asking them to talk with their crews. He was not surprised when the crews of six
of the seven ships were unanimous in their acceptance of the risk, with only one ship having two dissenting Spacers. Captain Browne was the most vocal in his request to be selected, making the decision an easy one, in one respect. In another it was very difficult, as the young man was the captain he had made the closest connection with.

  “You understand that you might not survive,” he told the younger man on a private com. “Even if they capture you, and interrogate you, there is no guarantee that you will survive.”

  “I understand, sir,” said Browne, nodding his head, eyes wide with understandable fear. “I didn’t sign up for stealth/attack to play it safe. And it will make a big difference in how this war proceeds.”

  “We’ll send you out tomorrow to make an attack on the station,” said Suttler, a sick feeling in his stomach. “You will botch the attack, and let them track you, just in case they don’t do any damage to your ship while you’re trying to get away in stealth mode.”

  “Tomorrow then,” said the young man.

  An hour later everything changed. They picked up a cruiser coming into the system, and were in the right configuration to pick up their transmission to the station, from whence the message was relayed into the system.

  “We have a translation from their code, Commodore,” his intelligence officer told him.

  “Good news?” he asked, mentally crossing his fingers, knowing that the officer knew what they were looking for.

  “I’ll say. The message gives a time frame, and the Caca coordinates for the Congreeve system. And a mention of our supreme commander.”

  “Get on the com to headquarters,” shouted the Commodore across the bridge. “Let them know that the enemy has the bait in hand.”

  His next com was to Dolphin, and her captain.

  “We’re ready to go, Commodore. Just give us the word.”

  “The word is stop. Good news, Chris. The enemy has the information. You and your ship can stand down.”

  “Thank God,” said Browne, relief on his face.

  “We’ll keep monitoring the enemy, and when their fleet begins to move, we’ll let HQ know.” And I can only hope they will act on the information in a manner that works in our favor.

  “And after they move?”

  “Then we go hunting, Captain Browne. Then we go hunting.”

  * * *

  “You need to see this, Great Admiral,” said the excited Intelligence Officer, holding a message flimsy in his hand. “We just received this from a newly arrived supercruiser, just back from patrol.”

  The Great Admiral reached out his lower right hand for the flimsy, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong. He looked at the flimsy, his eyes growing wide, then back at the Intelligence Officer. “This has been verified?”

  “As much as possible, my Lord,” said the officer. “Two of the humans had similar information, and we found references to the same in an intact portion of the ship’s computer.

  And it’s similar to that report I saw last week, thought the Great Admiral, scratching the side of his face with a lower left hand. “We will have a meeting about this, and decide what to do.”

  The feelings of the staff were mixed, to say the least.

  “It’s an obvious trap,” stated one of the battle group commanders, at the station on an errand. “There’s no other reason this information would have been on those ships.”

  “But very incomplete intelligence?” said the Senior Intelligence Officer. “If it was a trap, why would they risk such a means of dispersal?”

  “So it wouldn’t look like a trap, you idiot,” yelled the battle force commander.

  The Senior Intelligence Officer growled at the other male and rose out of his seat, four fists clenched and murder in his eyes. The other senior officer stood up as well, one hand reaching for his ceremonial dagger.

  “Sit down,” yelled the Great Admiral, jumping to his feet and pointing a pair of index fingers at both males. “I will not have fighting in my staff meeting. Now sit down, or I will have you both executed for insubordination.”

  The males sat, both with sullen, angry looks toward the other.

  “Now, we will discuss this like intelligent beings,” said the Great Admiral, giving each and every male in the room a measured look. “I want reasoned speculation and assessments, not the angry recriminations of children. Now, someone give me that reasoned speculation.”

  “I agree that it might be a trap,” said another of the intelligence staff. “But if it is a trap, it would mean they would have to have the assets in place to close it. This might be the opportunity we are looking for to bring their fleet to a decisive battle.”

  “Not if they have an overwhelming force within the system,” said the battle force commander.

  “Then we make sure that they trap a bigger carnivore than they thought they would,” said the Senior Intelligence Officer. “We spring their trap, if it is one, and destroy their fleet. And if it isn’t a trap, we capture or kill their Emperor, decapitating their government.”

  “Is there any way we can verify that their Emperor will actually be in that system?”

  “We have operatives reporting in on almost a daily basis,” said the Senior Intelligence Officer. “But we have yet to hear from our new network.”

  “What network is this?” asked the battle force commander, glaring at the other officer. “Why weren’t we told of a new network?”

  “Because it was not necessary for you to know,” said the Great Admiral. He sat for a moment, thinking. “We will wait for a week, and see what other information we can develop.”

  “And what then?” asked the battle force commander.

  “And then I will decide on what action we will take.”

  “Then we will suspend our operations into their Core Worlds?”

  “Be ready to execute those plans. But have your staff prepare plans for a strike on the Congreeve system. I will order the other commanders to do the same.”

  “Then we will do nothing until you make the decision?” asked the battle force commander.

  “We will continue to send out smaller strikes on the planets in this sector, until we make it ours. But I wish to retain the bulk of our force here for a hammer strike against the enemy, whether it’s Congreeve, or their Core Worlds.”

  It was five days before the Great Admiral received the intel he was waiting for.

  “Our operatives have confirmed that the Imperial Escort Squadron in on the way to Congreeve,” said the Senior Intelligence Officer.

  “And that is the unit of their fleet that accompanies their Emperor?”

  “Yes, my Lord. He goes nowhere without it.”

  “And why is he going to this system?”

  “From what we can gather, the Congreeve system is what they term a developing world, with enough industrial capacity to make it worth defending. And their Empire is converting the system into a major base. Their Emperor is going there for an inspection and dedication ceremony.”

  “A dedication ceremony? In the middle of a war? Are they crazy?”

  “I think the humans have a great love of ceremony.”

  “Obviously,” said the Great Admiral, giving a head motion of disbelief. “I wonder why he isn’t just going by one of their wormholes.”

  “From what I understand, my Lord, they have limits on their production. A single gate is on its way to the Congreeve system. But it is behind their Emperor’s squadron.”

  “A single gate? And not one of those ship gates, like they used against us in the Massadara system.”

  “Not from what we know, my Lord. They have a shortage of negative matter. They will eventually open a ship gate there. But not at this time.”

  “What else will be there? What will we face?”

  “Most probably a good percentage of their battle fleet, my Lord. Especially if this becomes a major military base.”

  “Then we will strike, now,” said the Great Admiral, clenching his left fists and raising them into the a
ir. “When does he arrive, again?”

  “One week, my Lord.”

  “We will strike in nine days. Give him time to move into the system and get comfortable. Then we will hit them with overwhelming force. We will destroy their battle fleet. And if we get their Emperor, so much the better.”

  “Who will command, My Lord?” asked the Senior Intelligence Officer.

  “Why, I will,” said the Great Admiral. “This is a glory that will be much sought after by my group commanders. And one that I am not willing to share. Let the Emperor only hear one name attached to this triumph. My own.”

  * * *

  “We’re picking up a lot of movement, sir,” came the call over the com.

  And it always happens right in the middle of a sleep, thought Suttler, sitting up on his bed and rubbing his eyes. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

  “All three of the battle groups are on the move,” said Ngovic, his voice cracking with excitement. “All of them.”

  “Calm down, Tactical,” said Suttler, getting out of his bed and linking into the ship’s tactical display. He zoomed in on the other side of the system, where the three groupings that were the battle fleets of the enemy had changed to vector arrows, all pointing to one target. Extrapolate destination he ordered the system, and lines extended from the groups to a single point. That’s it, he thought, hurrying up the corridor to the bridge. That was the point, just within the hyper barrier, that was the most likely gathering area for a straight shot to Congreeve.

  The bridge was crackling with excitement, the duty crew monitoring all of the incoming data, double checking what the computers had already analyzed and extrapolated. The central holo was zoomed in at a level that showed all three battle groups on the other side of the system, thousands of vector arrows with acceleration numbers underneath.

  “They don’t appear to be in much of a hurry, sir,” said Ngovic, looking at his commander for a moment before his eyes slid back to the much more interesting holo.

  Suttler looked close at the holo and nodded. The highest vector accel was less than a hundred gravities, for ships that could make over five hundred. “So they aren’t planning to jump anytime soon.”