The Anvil of Dust and Stars (Dark Seas Series Book 1)

by Damon Alan

  “Status, Lieutenant Seto?”

  “Calls coming in from all over the battlegroup, Captain. Several enemy fleets have been destroyed, moderate losses to friendlies. Do you want a list?”

  “No, just to know we're winning.”

  Sarah looked at her tactical screen. If the scouts were correct, eighty percent of the enemy attack force was destroyed. Sarah crossed her arms and smiled. It felt good.

  “Enemy FTL nukes, zero-six-zero-mark-one-one-five,” Harmeen said.

  Sarah strained against the straps of her grav couch to see Harmeen's console display. “Range and numbers?”

  “Going on screen.”

  Thirty or more target numbers popped up on the tactical display, moving toward Sarah's fleet with increasing speed. They were just outside the marked effective range of the fleet's defensive railguns. As they entered railgun range, the Michael Stennis rumbled with the sounds of defensive fire.

  “Take 'em out, Mr. Harmeen. Maximum fire.”

  One by one the missiles began disappearing as small kinetic projectiles ripped them into scrap metal. Sarah's gut clenched as the numbers dwindled but the range grew closer.

  “We're not taking them out fast enough,” she said.

  “No…” Seto whispered loud enough to hear.

  Sarah watched as one of the missiles slipped behind the Stennis, passing in front of the fleet's antimatter fueler. An AI stopped defensive fire on that missile so the ships wouldn't hit each other. Seto changed part of the main screen to visual and a thin streak of white danced toward the trailing vessel…

  FLASH.

  The bomb detonated too far away from the Stennis to do any damage.

  “Incoming comm, Captain. Djinni's Bottle.” Seto looked frantic.

  “Stennis, we're losing containment. EMP has fried our con—”

  A blue-white ball of fire vaporized the fueler and two small escort ships near it. A massive front of flame raced toward the Stennis.

  “Shi—”

  The wave impacted the heavy battlecruiser, slamming it forward. The ship groaned and alarms sounded. The sound of metal breaking reverberated down the corridors and gangways of the kilometer long vessel.

  “Status!” Sarah barked.

  “Damage reports coming in from all over the ship. The singularity is still contained,” Harmeen answered.

  Sarah's voice sounded thin. “Are we losing air—”

  Almost in answer automatic bulkhead doors across the ship slammed into place. The bridge was sealed off.

  “Damage control to pressure leaks on decks eighteen, fourty-seven, and fifty-one through sixty,” Harmeen yelled into his mic.

  “Captain…” a weak voice called. Sarah looked over at Qabri. The front of his uniform was drenched in blood.

  Sarah hit the emergency release on her grav couch and pushed over to Qabri in zero G. Giarri did the same.

  “Let's see it,” Sarah said as she released Qabri from his grav couch.

  “Let me, Captain, I've trained in this.” Giarri pulled back the fabric over Qabri's wound, revealing a small metal plate embedded deep into his abdomen. Giarri looked at Sarah. “We need to get him to the medbay right now.”

  “Medbay is past deck sixty,” Harmeen said. “You can't get there from here.”

  Giarri looked back at Sarah. Her look said what she didn't verbalize. Qabri was going to die.

  “Is there pressure between here and the shuttle deck Mr. Harmeen?”

  Harmeen checked his console. “Yes, Captain. All the way.”

  “Seto, find a ship that can take casualties from the forward sections of the Stennis,” Sarah ordered. “Commander Giarri, get the Lieutenant to the shuttle bay, we're medevacking him to another ship. Find a shuttle and a pilot, get him on board, and get him to help.”

  Giarri briefly treated Qabri, then gently floated him toward the bridge exit.

  The door failed to respond to Giarri's badge and override code.

  “I got this,” Seto said. She accessed the pressure containment network from her console. The door opened. “I'll open them as you go.”

  Sarah nodded. “Mr. Harmeen, get my sensors back. We have a fleet to put back together.”

  “Aye, Captain,” he replied. “Damage reports from the rest of the Seventh starting to come in now.”

  The door cycled closed behind Giarri and Qabri as the bridge speakers squelched. “Stennis, Binogi, over.”

  Sarah waved Seto off from answering it. “I'll answer that. Open doors. Get Qabri to that shuttle.” Sarah put the comms on speakers. “This is the Stennis, Binogi. We've had a situation.

  The voice changed to Admiral Heyden. “A situation? You think?”

  Sarah scowled and put the conversation on visual. “Admiral, our fueler took a nuke and the antimatter lost containment.”

  “First Fleet is closing on your position to offer aid. We'll be there shortly.”

  “I don't have damage reports yet. I'll get them to you as soon as I have them,” Sarah said. “We'll take any help you have.”

  “My sensors are reporting you have several ships on fire, several without steering, and… well, we'll make a plan as we approach.”

  That was already more information than Sarah knew. “Thanks, Admiral.”

  “Get the Stennis healthy. You'll be riding home in our bubble, and I don't want you losing containment of a black hole while you're with us. That's your first priority.”

  “We're on it, sir. The Stennis took the hit pretty well considering.”

  The Admiral nodded as he said goodbye. “Heyden out.” The link went dead.

  Sarah looked at Harmeen. “Concentrate on getting the Stennis in shape. We'll scuttle other ships as we need to, but this one is going home.”

  Harmeen gave her a curt nod and turned back to his duties.

  * * *

  “No medics?” Sarah asked.

  Giarri's face pixeled in and out of clarity due to EMP damage. “No. None can get to this location without vacuum suits. Qabri needs to get to surgery now. We can't wait. I need to go with him.”

  Sarah needed her bridge crew back, but Qabri's life was on the line. “Do it. Get back to us right away.”

  Giarri smiled. “Four hours at most. I'll need to see he gets priority treatment once he's—”

  “Four hours,” Sarah said. “Get going.”

  The link closed.

  The Fyurigan was a huge multi-purpose vessel. Not a warship, per se, but a combat engineering vessel that could double as a hospital ship, a mobile base, or a mining platform. It was the multi-tool of Sarah's fleet.

  She put Qabri and Giarri from her mind. There was work to do.

  Chapter 35 - Death's Reach

  15 SEPPET 15324

  Sarah lay tethered to her bunk. She was supposed to be wedging in four hours of crew rest. Instead she was going over the details of the battle of Lirizam.

  Many of the Thirty-First Battle Group fleets suffered huge loses. Eighth Fleet was gone. Second Fleet lost their FTL, and Second Fleet ships were dispersing to other fleets with heavy losses.

  Seventh Fleet lost seven ships. Four escort gunboats, a light cruiser, an ECM ship, and a fueler. The fueler went up like small sun, damaging several ships around it, and cutting into an already scarce supply of anti-matter. Lieutenant Harmeen estimated the explosion at forty gigatons. Flashes of radiation were still occurring nearby as unexploded antimatter collided with battle debris.

  The time the Seventh Fleet spent near the first planet was a waste. A lure by the miners to draw extra defense to themselves. Admiral Heyden sent a shuttle to return those responsible to First Fleet for a military trial. Sarah guessed they'd be mindwiped, but she didn't know. It's what she'd recommend.

  Once the Seventh Fleet managed to enter the battle Lirizam V, they were credited with twenty-seven kills, not counting enemy grapplers and G-Ks. Four capital ships. Losing sixty-one ships, the battle group managed to kill over two hundred. The battle analysis guys were still countin
g the numbers, studying the tactics. It was a solid victory, and better yet, not a single Hive bomb reached the surface of planet V.

  If only Korvand had joined the Alliance. This battle group would have been there…

  Captain Sheffaris once told her, don't play “what-ifs”, it only led to bitterness.

  Sarah asked Lucy to have Ensign Seto set up a private link with Admiral Heyden at the Admiral's convenience.

  Her personal comm chimed.

  “Admiral?”

  “Not yet, Captain. It's Captain Vargas.”

  “Captain, good to hear from you. Is my navigator doing okay?”

  “That's what I'm calling about. I waited to see if there were any survivors before I called. The shuttle with your XO and navigator lost power on approach. Probably EMP damage to control circuits, but we'll investigate and find out. All hands lost. They hit the side of the Fyurigan hard enough to break apart.”

  Sarah sat quietly, stunned.

  “Captain?” Vargas queried.

  Sarah shook her head as if shaking off a restraint. “Thank you. If you recover the bodies of my crewmen, please return them to the Stennis.”

  “Of course.”

  “Dayson out.” Sarah severed the link.

  She lay back in her bunk and cried, something she hadn't done in years.

  My own bridge crew. There is nobody I can keep safe. Nobody who the enemy can't reach.

  Chapter 36 - Replacements

  03 JAND 15325

  The Michael Stennis sat berthed in spacedock over Mindari.

  Sarah worked with Lieutenant Seto alone in the captain's mess. The small room offered privacy and comfort as the two women worked. “These are our choices.”

  Halani Seto flipped through the files. “Pretty good ones, especially for Commander. All four have commanded units themselves at points in their careers.”

  Sarah frowned. “Yeah… so had Giarri, though. We know how that turned out.”

  Seto stopped flipping the holoprojections. The image staring at the two ladies was a decorated officer, male, very handsome. He smiled a friendly smile contrasting the mood of the two women. “This is as personal as the fight has been for me. Qabri was my friend.”

  “I know.”

  Seto tried to wipe a tear without seeming to do so.

  “He will be missed,” Sarah said. Neither spoke of Giarri. She wouldn't be missed, but it would be impolite to say so. But Sarah didn't think anyone wanted the woman dead.

  Seto sighed. “We should get busy, Captain. Talking about Qabri or Commander Giarri isn't finding their replacements.”

  “You're right,” Sarah acknowledged. “How about this guy you stopped on? Commander Franklin Gilbert. He's a marine, switched to ship duty. Commanded tanks? That might bring a different style to the mix.”

  “And he's cute.”

  Sarah laughed despite herself. “Hardly professional, Lieutenant. Stick with the program.”

  Seto surprised Sarah with her next comment. “Think he'll be dumb? Stereotypical Marine?”

  “You'll find stupid everywhere you go. But you'll also find the opposite. Everywhere you go.”

  “Says here he transferred to naval operations to get into the fight,” Seto observed.

  “I like his eagerness to serve,” Sarah observed. “We don't fight the Hive with tanks. Tanks are a great place to be if you don't want much risk.”

  “Maybe he's got something to prove. Switching from ground forces to the Navy can't be easy.”

  Sarah looked at Seto. “You're right. He's the one.”

  “What?”

  “I have something to prove. It's why Admiral Heyden selected me. If this man is the officer his record says he is, he's going to be ready to make the hard decisions. Says here he served putting down a rebellion on… Azar. Never heard of it. But he was awarded some shiny for bravery. So he's probably not afraid of combat.”

  “You're not going to look at the other candidates?”

  “I'm looking for a different dynamic, Lieutenant. Commander Gilbert has wartime experience, even if it was in tanks and fighting people instead of Hive. He'll bring that different dynamic.”

  “He's about eight months out, if we send a courier to get him today.” Seto said.

  “That's not a problem. The Stennis will be in dock to reload and upgrade our targeting systems for most of that. Admiral Heyden won't deploy us unless there is an emergency if we are due for replacements.”

  Seto drummed her fingertips together, looking conspiratorial. “Does that mean shore leave on Mindari?”

  Sarah laughed. “I suppose it does. We can see to that later.”

  “It will be nice to get a break. I'm tired of feeling like I'm about to turn to radioactive gas.”

  “Maybe you should find a stress reliever. Slip a few bottles of whiskey when you board next.”

  “I can't do that,” Seto objected, “it's illegal.”

  “Relax, Lieutenant, I'm kidding.”

  Note to self: Do not offer Seto wine.

  “Oh, sorry Captain.”

  “Nevermind. Franklin Gilbert is selected for XO. Let's look at the nav officers.”

  Seto projected all four from the datapad with a holoprojector.

  Sarah studied them. She closed the first open window. “No combat experience. Good enough for a frigate, but not for the bridge of the Stennis.”

  Seto's eyes narrowed. “I didn't have combat experience.”

  “I know,” Sarah said. “But you had other qualities. Stop distracting me.” Sarah returned to the holos. “This one is fresh from academy. Also no combat experience.” Sarah closed another window.

  “But look at his scores,” Seto said.

  “Giarri had very high academy scores,” Sarah offered in explanation.

  “Oh.”

  “This guy was removed from flight school a few months before graduation… transferred to nav school and graduated top honors. Serving on a grappler now… Hey, I like that. Keep him up.”

  “This young lady is… well, she's just as exceptional. But she's months away if we select her. This guy… Peter Corriea, he's here on Mindari in the Ninth Fleet.”

  “He'll know the procedures for our battlegroup.”

  “Yes, and I can get him right away, then I won't be training a navigator and an XO at the same time.”

  “Are these your choices, sir?” Seto asked.

  “Looks like. I want you to get the requisition to Admiral Heyden's office by 0600.”

  “I can send it tonight.” Seto looked down at the table a moment before speaking “Can I speak freely Captain?”

  Sarah laughed. “You haven't been? Sure, go ahead.”

  “You sure a marine won't be just another Giarri? I don't want to disrespect the dead, but she—”

  “I know what she was. If Gilbert operates like Giarri, he won't be here long.”

  “Most marines I know on the Stennis can be pretty rigid.”

  Sarah stood up from the table to end the conversation. “He's the one. Quit trying to talk me out of it.”

  “Not trying, Captain, just pointing things out.”

  Sarah floated to the comm panel to order food delivered from the galley to end the topic. “Let's get dinner. Our shift starts in an hour.”

  Chapter 37 - The XO

  17 JUNI 15325

  Sarah returned her new XO's salute.“Welcome aboard, Commander Gilbert.”

  The Commander smiled warmly as he dropped his salute. He reached out and shook Sarah's hand. “Thank you, Captain Dayson. Thanks for this opportunity.”

  “Thank you for uprooting yourself to be here. Follow me.” Sarah turned and pulled herself down the gangway. “I went a bit out on a limb selecting you. You're not exactly the standard choice.”

  “I'm guessing you weren't looking for the standard choice, since you noticed,” Gilbert replied.

  He isn't afraid to say what he thinks. Good. Seto's going to think he's even better looking in person.

  S
arah led Gilbert through the ship to his quarters, pointing out gangways, access points, sections, introducing him to crew members on the way. They chatted about ship operations, about Sarah's expectations, and about command style.

  Sarah had to wait several times for Gilbert to catch up. He wasn't fast at zero G movement yet.

  “I'll make every effort to meet your expectations,” he promised.

  They stopped in front of a door. A crewman painted script on the section above the door. Commander Gilbert's name glistened in wet red paint. He started to salute, but Sarah waved him back to his duties.

  “As you were.” Returning her attention to the new XO, she answered Gilbert's last statement. “Then we'll get along fine. These are your quarters. They're on the habitation ring, so if we do stay in one place long enough to spin it up you'll have a room with gravity.”

  “Great,” Gilbert answered. “My last quarters had a great view of the ship's septic system.”

  Sarah laughed. “Good grief, what were you on?”

  “Bulk munitions freighter transferring nuclear missiles,” he answered.

  Sarah scowled. “That sounds delightful.”

  “If you like all the danger of nuclear weapons with absolutely none of the responsibility or acknowledgment that comes with being on the ship that actually uses them, then yeah… it was awesome. I wasn't there long, it's just what the Navy had open for me at the time.”

  Sarah snorted a short laugh and pointed at the deck. “Then you'll like being here, teaching the Hive to respect us. Humanity will not go quietly into oblivion.”

  “That's exactly why I'm here, Captain. I want service to mean something.”

  Sarah liked that. “Then serve. You have a lot to learn about how the Stennis works, Commander Gilbert. There will be a lot of training thrown at you in a short time. I expect you to get it right.”

  Sarah shook Gilbert's hand one more time, then pushed off to leave.

  Gilbert called after her. “So do I pass?”

  Sarah paused, making sure she had a grip on the bulkhead before she turned to answer. “Pardon?”

  “Your initial appraisal. Do I pass?”

  “You pass day one, Mr. Gilbert.” Sarah stared at him a moment. “I won't toss you out an airlock yet. You have forty-eight hours to explore the ship, meet people, and get your feet wet. You're on duty watching me for a week after that. Then you'll be released to sink or swim.”