"Copy," I answered, unable to talk much given my current focus. "Watch that starboard clearance, would you?" We weren't overly close to the tall trees that lined the city, but I didn't want to get tangled in them.
"You have eighty meters, zero delta-v and will clear in five seconds," he answered immediately. His response made me believe he'd already been paying attention to them. I appreciated his composure.
Escaping the ground was by far the most difficult task for Hornblower. Understandably, she enjoyed her time nestled against Kito's wild surface. She did grudgingly give way, apparently knowing once I got our main engines beneath us, the battle would be over. I pushed the gravity systems to maximum, surprised at how hard I had to go to accomplish the task but was soon rewarded. The song – still playing – muted as a cheer from the crew erupted. I turned the bow skyward and Hornblower's massive engine's propelled us into the light clouds and blue sky.
"Nick, set a course to intercept with the Confederation fleet," I ordered once we finally broke free from the atmosphere and were once again surrounded by the inky black of space I'd always considered home.
"Course plotted," Nick answered.
"Mr. Stolzman, the helm is yours," I said.
"Helm is mine, Captain," he answered, grabbing the sticks on his own chair.
"And, thank you for the use of your chair …" I said, looking back to the pilot I'd displaced and reading the name plate my AI projected. "Ms. Shults."
The woman nodded and slipped back into the chair. It occurred to me that I probably should have taken Stolzman's chair as Shults was his senior with substantially more experience. I also appreciated that she was completely nonplussed by the event.
A light beeping sound woke me from where I slept on the couch in my quarters. I was awake enough to realize it wasn’t my alarm, but an internal comm request from the bridge watch.
"This is Hoffen. Go ahead, bridge," I said.
"Captain, we're being hailed by Thunder Awakes."
"I'll take it in here," I said.
"Copy that, Captain."
"Go ahead, Thunder Awakes," I said, pushing sleep from my eyes. I hadn't been sleeping very well and the anticipation of joining up with the Confederation of Planets fleet had me on edge. I pulled at an indicator in my peripheral and tossed a view from Hornblower's external data sensors onto the smaller vid-screen on my desk.
"Bold Prime, you are welcomed to Fleet of the Confederation," Mshindi Prime said, a three-dimensional bust of her showing in the lower right corner of my screen.
"Thank you, Mshindi Prime," I said. My display showed we were still an hour from overtaking the forty Confederation warships.
I'd been surprised to discover that only eight of the Confederation fleet were Abasi, not including Hornblower. I'd voiced my concern to Mshindi in a previous communication exchange about the small showing. Her answer had been direct, as I'd learned to expect from her. With the capability to defend Abasi Prime within their grasp, she would not leave her citizens open to a counterattack by Kroerak. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. We needed a full-court press on the Kroerak if we were to destroy them. It was not the time for defense.
"I have dispatched a patrol from Abasi Prime to travel to the moon Kito," she said. "They will provide protection in your absence."
I felt a flash of anger at her presumption. Kito was mine to defend and we'd left a sloop and several recovered atmo fliers for protection. Further, Intrepid would arrive in twelve days. "What in the frak, Adahy? Are you aware of a specific threat? We have defenses." I said, trying to tamp down my irritation.
"We have entered a time of extreme danger within Tamu. We have desisted all travel off-planet due to presence of large numbers of enemy ships," she answered. "We have intercepted communiques specifically targeting Mhina system. I apologize for my presumption."
I sighed. She was doing me a solid. The least I could do was to be grateful. "No, sorry about that. I'm just feeling edgy. Thank you for your assistance. How can I be of assistance to you?
"My Engineer First has worked with the Confederation fleet to identify our needs for Iskstar," she said. "I would transmit so that you would have time to prepare."
"Understood," I said. "Send the list and we can raft up before we hit the wormhole for transfer."
"That is acceptable. Mshindi desists."
"Nick, are you up?" I asked.
"Yup," he answered, sounding refreshed. "Amazing how much sleep you can get when there's no baby in the room."
I chuckled despite my mood. "Might have to get me one of those. I can't seem to sleep."
"Not sure it works that way. What's up?" He was slightly out of breath as he spoke.
"Where are you?"
"Quarters, we were just getting ready to head over to the bridge."
"Oh. Oh…" I said, understanding coming to me all at once.
"Hi, Cap." Marny's voice came over Nick's comm. "Just getting in some exercise."
"Stop," Nick whispered.
"Uh, Mshindi sent an inventory of Iskstar crystals for the Confederation. When you get a chance, could you work on getting that organized for raft-up?" I asked.
"Sure. I've got it," he answered.
I smiled as I closed the comm. I was glad Nick and Marny had each other. I thumbed my ring as I often did throughout the day. Tabby answered a moment later. It wasn't much, but the simple connection meant a lot.
What the fleet lacked for in numbers, it worked hard to make up for with sheer firepower. Each of the different species-based nations had sent what looked to be their very best ships, from the spherical behemoth battleships of the turtle-looking Chelonii, to the sleek but equally large battlecruiser-classed ships of the rat-faced Abelineian. My hopes buoyed, and I felt both pride and relief at the eclectic, yet powerful collection of ships. I was a little surprised at my reaction and realized I still very much had things to prove to the enigmatic Admiral Alderson.
"Liam? Are you awake?" Tabby asked.
I startled. "Yeah, sorry, I must have dozed off."
"Intrepid just transitioned into Mhina," she said. "The Iskstar like what we're doing on Kito. It's like they're proud of us for recovering the moon and making a place for families."
I just nodded. Tabby and I shared something important with the Iskstar: an innate sense of what was worthwhile in this world. "Any further thought about that surgery?" I asked. "Things are going to start heating up on my side. I don't know how much time we'll have to talk."
"When will you meet up with Alderson and Sterra?" she asked, ignoring my question. She would give her life for the Iskstar and there was nothing I could do about it.
"Forty hours and then we're only two jumps to the system adjacent to the Kroerak homeworld," I said.
"I wish you had convinced them to turn away," she said. "The Iskstar believe you can't win."
"Not exactly an inspiring talk," I said, equally uninterested in her attempts to get me to turn away.
"I know. I'm sorry," she said. "Do you ever feel like we don't have as much control of our lives as we think?"
"Lately, I can't think of anything else."
Chapter 21
For All the Marbles
"Any minute now." Nick answered the unasked question of when the combined ships from human space would join us. Not only were we expecting ships from Earth and Mars, but we'd learned that at the last minute, humanity's Bethe Peierls and Tipperary systems had joined with twenty additional heavy warships.
"There, Cap." Marny pointed at the forward armor glass that moments ago looked over an empty, darkened starfield. This location of space was technically not associated with any known galaxy. In the vast emptiness, the glittering light that appeared could have been a previously unseen star, but soon that single point was accompanied by dozens, then hundreds of similar points of light. Even at this distance, Admiral Alderson's massive dreadnaught Bakunawa wasn't hard to pick out, as it was twice the size of even Earth's largest battleships.
I pulled the plan onto the holo display. As expected, it showed Mshindi Prime moving the fleet to meet up with Alderson's much larger group.
"Accept plan. Engage on my mark, Mr. Stolzman," I said.
We’d subjugated Hornblower to Mshindi Prime's command for the sake of keeping an organized fleet. Humanity's battlegroup had been set to arrive four hours in advance of the Confederation fleet, but with the aid of quantum comm crystals, Mshindi and I had negotiated with Alderson and Sterra throughout the transit about our general strategies and assignments.
"Cap, we're being hailed by battleship Iowa," Marny said. "It's marked as private."
I rolled my eyes at what seemed like unnecessary operational security. If you were on Hornblower's bridge at this point, your very existence depended on us getting the next seventy-two hours right. I sighed and tapped the earwig that sat comfortably along my upper jaw bone.
"This is Hoffen. Go ahead, Iowa," I said.
"Greetings, Captain Hoffen." Admiral Sterra's face appeared in a virtual window on my HUD. She'd aged since our last face-to-face, but then I suppose I had as well. It had been a long four years.
"Greetings, Admiral," I answered. "I have to say I'm glad to see you guys made it. Even with Iskstar, I'm not sure our Confederation fleet would be up to the horde we're about to face."
"Our simulations tend to agree with your analysis," she answered. "Apologies for the privacy requirement, but I don't have to tell you what's on the line."
"What can I do for you?" I asked.
LaVonne Sterra was one of my favorite people in the universe, but I was done with pleasant conversation. Me and mine had paid a big price – and were about to again – to do what we knew was right. I was ready to get on with things.
If my abruptness bothered her, she didn't show it. She gave me a crisp nod. "I'm dispatching fifteen fleet tenders to intercept. We're asking you drop out of hard-burn, away from the Confederation fleet, and allow for offloading of the Iskstar weapons."
"You're changing the plan?" I asked. "Confederation fleet will be to you in four hours."
"It is a small adjustment. We want to equip the Iskstar as quickly as possible," she answered, her face impassive. I sensed her discomfort.
"Liam, we're showing a small group of ships headed our way. They're accelerating hard," Nick cut in.
I muted. "Tell Mshindi they're coming to grab the Iskstar crystals."
"Copy," Nick answered.
"Cap, what's going on?" Marny asked.
"Not sure," I answered, unmuting the private comm with Sterra. I could think of only one reason they'd be accelerating the timeline. We'd chosen our meet-up location because it put us three days from Kroerak space. Timing had been planned down to the minute. Everything was perfectly choreographed for Alderson's fleet to jump around the wormhole's endpoint only moments before the Confederation fleet transitioned. We'd worked out the details all the way down to the amount of time it would take to ferry the crystals from Hornblower to the various ships. Sterra’s modification, however, gave the engineers a bit of breathing room. It was reasonable.
"Is there a problem, Captain Hoffen?" Sterra’s demeanor was once again settled, further confirming my belief that she was under stress about the conversation.
"No, we're just updating Confederation with the new plans," I said. In the short span of the conversation, Mshindi had updated Hornblower's navigation plan and requested contact once I was off with Sterra. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Please do," she said.
"Tabby says Iskstar doesn't believe we'll survive contact," I said. I'd passed the information on in a previous briefing only to be dismissed by Alderson. He'd suggested that our inexperience in battle and Tabby's feelings for me were getting in the way of reason.
"We've talked about this," Sterra reminded me.
"No. I told Alderson about a legitimate threat and he diminished it," I said. "If we lose to Kroerak, there's nothing that will stop them from rolling humanity or the dozens of species in the Confederation of Planets."
"Perhaps you have taken my reticence in accepting everything Admiral Alderson has said as a weakness in our command," she said. "While I do not appreciate his mechanism for delivering information, his analysis mirrors my own. You should not be engaged in this battle. You are emotionally compromised."
"That's rich," I said. "We wouldn't have this chance without my emotional involvement. Clearly, I'm good at tamping that down. Or have you forgotten the last four stans?"
Sterra's face softened. "Every commander feels doubt before battle, Liam. Perhaps Iskstar does have some piece of knowledge and the Kroerak will bring an end to us. Without specifics, can you really ask us to turn away? We have a chance to take the worst threat to humanity off the board completely. We have to at least try."
And there it was. I finally figured out why the conversation between us had felt off. I half-smiled at the revelation and felt saddened by it all at the same time. "If the battle turns against us, you're jumping away, aren't you?"
Surprise registered on her face. "Did Iskstar tell you this?"
"We're not exactly on speaking terms, contrary to the fact that my eyes still glow," I said. "I'm right, though. You know if you jump away, the Confederation fleet won’t prevail. They'll slaughter us."
"One of the tenders that is coming to you now carries TransLoc engines that can be inset into your wormhole engines," she said. "Thomas Anino insisted we deliver them. He said you'd know how to use them best."
I felt physically repulsed at the suggestion and held back a gag. "And leave Mshindi behind? You've got to be kidding? How in the world did someone get Alderson to buy off on that?"
"Mr. Anino can be very convincing. That's why the change of plans. We need extra time to install the TransLoc engine insets," she said. "Can you now see why we needed a private conversation?"
"You think Mshindi hasn't guessed that you'll bug out if things get too hairy?" I asked.
"Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to keep living," Sterra said. "Death is easy. Life is the real challenge. Sterra out."
I was dazed by the conversation. The thought that part of the plan for Alderson's fleet was to see how things were going and then run if the odds were too bad was horrific to me. I knew for a fact that no Abasi would do the same. Before I'd met the Abasi, I'd believed honor was something reserved for the best of humanity. I now knew better. Part of me also understood Alderson's cold calculus. Returning home with a way to defend against Kroerak might lack honor, but it would save a lot of lives, albeit at the cost of many other lives.
My alarm woke me as a med-patch shot nanites into my blood stream to remove the melatonin added to help me sleep. The pit in my stomach instantly refilled as I recalled what we were up against. I'd told myself that I'd take a shower before heading to the bridge, but four semi-urgent comms were already in my queue. I ran water in the sink and splashed it on my face, running a sani-wipe through my unruly hair that apparently had chosen this moment to need to be cut. Ignoring all that, I palmed myself through to the bridge.
"Captain on the bridge." I didn't bother to even look for the speaker before I allowed everyone to return to their duties.
Marny met me at my chair and handed me a bar. "Go time, Cap. I got your favorite."
"Strawberry?" I asked, thumbing my ring. I received a weak response from Tabby, but it was enough. She was still with me, but I could feel her slipping away.
"Last one," Marny quipped, handing me a cup of coffee and turning straight to business. "Thunder Awakes' long range sensors have picked up what looks like a welcoming committee at the wormhole entrance to the Kroerak homeworld."
"How many?" I asked.
"Two hundred," she said. "Nothing we can't handle."
"I can't figure these Kroerak," I said. "They must have some way to communicate to the main force and don't min
d losing two hundred ships just to learn of our arrival. Why not sacrifice just one ship?"
"Caution," she said. "Kroerak have no idea how many we're bringing. If we only brought a handful of ships, they'd knock us out before we made it through the wormhole."
"Anything else shaking?" I asked. "Have we heard from Alderson's fleet?"
"We're set to rendezvous in T-minus three hours twelve minutes. As long as we're not delayed by this group, we'll be right on schedule," Marny said. "Cap, do you mind a question?"
"What's up?" I asked.
"It took a lot of guts to tell Mshindi about the TransLoc engine inserts," she said. "I believed you when you said you had no intention of using them, but Alderson isn't wrong. If it goes badly enough, retreat might be the best answer."
I studied Marny's face. This was a woman I trusted with every fiber of my being and I resisted the urge to scream at her. My anger was at the situation and because I had a bad feeling again that I was missing something. The small voice inside me that went against all reason was telling me we couldn't possibly defeat the Kroerak by force. I finally relented and nodded slightly. "If it gets to that, but not a second before."
"Copy that, Cap," she answered. "Not a second before."
"I'm activating fleet comms," Nick said. "Our bridges are linked. Remember, if you want to address the entire fleet, prefix with fleet."
Along with reestablishing comms, I noticed that several Confederation ships jumped slightly, repositioning as better data was transmitted over the full data-streams that had become available.
If trying to sleep before battle was hard, it was nothing compared to the two-hour-long deceleration to the Kroerak wormhole where we were outnumbered four-to-one. If the Kroerak had a secret weapon, now would be the time we’d find out. I'd wracked my brain, trying to come up with a game changer, but if the Kroerak were anything, they were consistent – ridiculously so, even. Their goal at the gate was to soften us, hoping to win a slow battle of attrition.
Judgment of the Bold Page 24