Weary with exhaustion, Captain Jason Bondarevsky strode across the
landing field towards the command post with Admiral Richards behind him.
Stepping onto the veranda he coldly eyed the two Landreich guards at the
door.
"I'm here to see Kruger."
"We have no orders to let you pass, sir."
"To hell with your orders, I want to see that son of a bitch now," and
he moved to shoulder his way past the guards.
Caught by surprise they backed up slightly and then physically moved to
block the doorway, one of them grabbing him by the shoulder.
"Listen, sir, don't make me get rough about this," the guard snapped.
"Get the hell out of my way right now, mister."
"Hold it, Jason," and he looked back at Richards. "They're just
following orders."
The guards looked to Richards with some relief. They obviously knew
that Kruger would skin them alive if anyone got past. They knew as well who
it was they were trying to stop, and even if he was Confederation, he was
also a first class hero.
"Sir, if you stay put, I'd go in and get my captain," a sergeant
growled, coming out of the doorway to the aid of the two guards.
"Well, damn it, go get him," Jason snapped, and the sergeant turned and
went into the building.
Jason paced up and down the length of the veranda angry at everything,
his mood made worse by the searing heat of the Hell Hole. He could feel the
moisture draining out of his body, barely cooling his skin before
evaporating.
He looked back at one of the guards.
"You know something, corporal, this planet of yours truly sucks."
The corporal showed the faintest of smiles.
"I fully agree," he whispered.
No longer able to get mad at the man, Jason turned away.
"Admiral Richards, Captain Bondarevsky?"
Jason turned back to see a very young captain, wearing commando
fatigues and barely out of his teens, in the doorway. Though the man was
shorter than him by a good half a foot, and skinny as a rail, Jason could
tell from his eyes that he was deadly.
"President Kruger is expecting you, sir, come on in."
Jason nodded, grateful to be stepping out of the blazing heat of the
twin suns and into the dark cool corridor. He followed the captain down into
the below ground bunker, the captain leading him through the blast doors
into Kruger's small and austere office. The captain withdrew, closing the
door behind him.
Kruger looked up from his desk
"Care for a cold one?" and he motioned to a refrigerator.
"Don't mind if I do," Richards said, and he went over to the refrige
and pulled out a beer.
Jason looked at the Admiral angrily and then back at Kruger who sat
behind his desk, smiling.
"Well, young captain, out with it."
"We monitored that signal reporting the confirmed loss of Tarawa,
Bannockburn, and Normandy," he continued. "Just who the hell do you think
you are to do that?"
"Last time I checked I was president of the Landreich son. Just who the
hell are you?"
"An officer in the . . ." he paused. He was, in fact, not an officer in
Confederation at all but rather on leave, serving the Landreich forces.
"You are under my orders, young captain, and need you or not, I'll put
your ass in the clink till this planet turns into an ice ball if you ever
talk like that to me again."
Jason stood silently, still seething with anger.
"How about that beer, Jason?" and Richards came back to his side,
holding an open container.
Jason stared at Richards, expecting support, but Richards merely
smiled.
"But the emergency decree. Three-ninety-fourA is mobilizing all fleet
personnel, and that includes me and my ship," Jason finally replied.
"Jason, we are officially listed as missing in action, presumed dead,"
Richards replied, "and I think our host intends to keep it that way."
Jason looked back at Kruger.
"I have your carrier and the others," Kruger replied. "We can make this
happen one of two ways, young sir. Either you continue to command your ship
under Landreich colors or one of my people will. I'd rather have you do it.
You know the ship better than anyone else, and besides that, you're damn
good. You managed to bring her out in one piece.
"No thanks to you."
Kruger smiled.
"You're here, aren't you? Therefore, any effort expended on my part to
pull you out would have been a waste."
Jason felt ready to explode again. He had made a fifteen day run out,
pursued all the way to the frontier Bannockburn, the only Stealth light
recon ship in the fleet was finally turned around and sent back on auto
pilot with Paladin cramming into a light shuttle sent over from Tarawa. The
momentary delay created by the supposed counter attack had gotten them
through the final jump with a very angry Paladin cursing the entire universe
over the loss of his ship,
He had not been able to snatch more than two hours' sleep at a stretch
throughout the entire retreat and all he really wanted now was for someone
at whom to vent his rage for being left out in the cold after doing his
mission. A barroom brawl might even serve the bill, and then a good drink
followed by a long sleep. And beyond that, there was still the pain of
losing Hunter.
Richards, without waiting for the offer from Kruger, settled down on a
sagging and thread bare sofa, which obviously doubled as Kruger's bed, and
took a long pull on his beer.
"You know something, Kruger," Richards said, "I got holy hell over the
fact that you hijacked that destroyer from my squadron and went gallivanting
off."
СVance, that was thirty years ago."
"Well, I got a reprimand in my file thanks to you, and wound up a desk
jockey in intelligence.
"Consider that beer as payment then. You most likely would have had
your butt blown off by now if I hadn't worked your transfer for you like
that. There are very few old destroyer skippers floating around. Besides,
last I heard you loved intelligence work."
Richards chuckled and held up the container in salute and then looked
back at Jason.
"Settle down, son, the old man did the right thing. He didn't have the
assets to pull us out, it was that simple. You did a damn masterful job
getting out on your own. So damn good I think Kruger here owes you a
decoration."
"I hereby award you the Order of Nova with diamonds and promote you to
commodore," Kruger said sarcastically. "My adjutant will send you the award
and paperwork when he gets the time. It's a nice looking piece of tin,
you'll like it. Does that settle it?"
Jason could see that he wasn't going to win but still didn't know what
to do.
"I want to rejoin the Confederation fleet with my ship."
"Impossible," Kruger snapped. "I need you here, and here you're
staying."
"Look, son," Richards said, suddenly serious. "It's a ten day transit
back to Earth at full speed. You'll arrive back to the inner worlds with
just twenty fighters on board."
"None," Kruger growled. "Most of them are mine anyhow, and I'm
requisitioning the rest."
"All right then, none, and no munitions, because even if Kruger did let
you go I doubt he'd spare one IFF missile out of his stores to refit you."
Kruger nodded and said nothing.
"The battle shaping up back there, wherever it is they're going to
fight it, might already be over. Meanwhile, we can expect a major sortie by
the Cats straight in here to pin us down. You could very well run from one
action to the other and miss both. It's that simple."
Jason had already heard the argument once before from Richards just
before loading him into the Sabre for the trip from orbit down to the Hell
Hole. He'd been too damn angry over the abandonment and then from the signal
reporting him dead to think. He realized now he could no longer argue the
point.
"Damn you," he said quietly, looking back at Kruger. "All right, you
won. You've got me."
"I'm so honored that you would volunteer to join me," Kruger replied
with false sincerity.
He took an old style printout report and held it up.
"This is our latest intelligence report. Three Kilrathi carriers are
moving to the frontier and are expected to cross it momentarily, with an
estimated eighteen escort ships. They're moving straight at Landreich and
will make planetfall here in this system within eighteen hours."
And your response."
"Meet them and beat them, it's that simple."
"Four escort carriers going head to head against three Kilrathi fleet
carriers?" Jason asked. "At best we've got a hundred fighters on board our
ships."
"Eighty seven."
"They'll have over three hundred. We'll be frozen meat an hour after
the action starts."
"Do you have any better ideas?"
Jason looked at the President. Though he was still simmering with rage
he could not help but wish that it had been Kruger who had been running the
Confederation instead of Rodham. They wouldn't be in this mess now if it
were.
"No, sir."
"Then get back to your ship . We leave here in six hours."
"What about the Confederation, sir, what's happening there?"
"The usual screw-up. The only positive sign is that Geoff is heading
Third Fleet. They moved out five days ago, and have kept radio silence
since."
"Admiral Tolwyn commanding the Third? What about Banbridge?"
Kruger told him of the bomb plot, the pardon, and the political
confusion that still gripped the Confederation, along with the growing
panic.
Jason took it all in, wishing more than ever he could be back under his
old commander for the showdown.
"If Geoff stops the invasion, it'll be a miracle," Kruger said.
"And if he doesn't, what about you then?"
Kruger smiled, the first time Jason had ever seen him do it.
"We'll survive. It's what we've been doing for thirty years, with
precious little help from your Confederation, I might add."
"It's official, gentlemen, a state of war now exists between the
Kilrathi Empire and the Confederation. Four old style carriers crossed the
frontier four hours ago, and the Senate passed the declaration."
He looked around at his bridge crew on Concordia flagship of Third
Fleet.
"All signal traffic from Station Hanover and the Hanovian System was
lost forty-five minutes ago, the last report stating they were under heavy
attack."
"Good God, there's two million people on that world," a staff ensign
whispered.
"There were two million people there," Geoff said.
Geoff saw a young communications technician lean over his desk,
covering his face, and he inwardly cursed, realizing that Hanover was most
likely the boys home. He wanted to say something, to apologize for his lack
of tact, but knew he couldn't. The cold reality of what they were facing had
to be driven home.
The bridge was silent, more than one turning to look at the boy as he
muffled a sob and then sat back up, his features pale.
"We're going to lose a lot of worlds in the days to come," Tolwyn said,
"a lot of worlds."
"Communications, put laser locks on the other ships in the fleet, pass
the information, and order all ships to continue silent running."
He turned and retreated back to his wardroom. Sighing, he settled down
into his chair and looked at the holo map. They were now positioned three
jump points ahead of Sirius in towards the frontier. The Kilrathi had yet to
show their main fleet. The carriers could be a diversion, or the vanguard of
the main assault
Damn, to be able to use full size carriers as a vanguard, while he had
to husband the five ships that would be under his command, that is if
Saratoga and Leyte Gulf could get up in time to join his other two ships. He
ran a quick question into his nav system and the answer coldly blinked back
at him. If the Kilrathi came on at flank speed, they'd get to Sirius a day
and a half before the other two carriers could join up.
He looked at the three dimensional map, pausing for a moment as a new
signal burst in, updating the situation. Three more red blips appeared, the
three tentatively identified as cruiser squadrons, crossing the frontier.
Far off to one side, over by Landreich, a thin red line was already traced
deep into Kruger's territory, two definite and one probable carrier moving
fast towards the core worlds of Landreich.
Which was the main assault? The carriers at Hanover could be a feint to
draw him in, the main fleet following behind one of the three cruiser
squadrons. If he had the strength, that would be his approach, hoping to
draw the enemy forward, then flanking by a side jump line, cutting him off
from the rear.
He sat back, hands clasped, pondering, wishing he could somehow
penetrate the fog of war. The Kilrathi had shut down nearly all military
channels and kept silence ever since the burst signal from Tarawa got
through, except for the nonstop bombardment of propaganda. The mere fact
that signal traffic was nonexistent showed just how well planned the
operation was. In the ordinary sphere of war, it was impossible to maintain
operations for long without a steady flow of information.
Masterful.
I've got to buy a little time till they show their hand, but at the
same time I need to wiggle a little bait, bringing the main assault on
myself.
It was almost a foregone conclusion that Thrakhath was in charge of the
main fleet. He was always bullheaded, and when he believed himself to have
the upper edge, arrogant. Thrakhath never really gave a damn about taking
territory; he wanted battle, to close with his enemy and destroy him.
He'll come straight in and dare me to stop him. He was behind the
carriers.
I need to show confidence, aggression, he thought, not let them think
we're already whipped.
Geoff punched in to his bridge officer.
"Pass the word to the fleet. We jump forward to the Warsaw system and
will move at full speed to meet the carriers head on. Get Admirals Ching and
Bjornsson on laser."
He turned the channel off and within seconds felt the vibration run
through the ship as the helm officer called for full engine thrust.
Ching's image materialized on a flat screen, the bridge of his carrier,
Moskva, in the background, followed seconds later by Bjornsson, commander of
Verdun.
"We're going up to bloody nose them a bit and get their attention,"
Geoff said. "It'll be three on four, and with luck we'll buy enough time for
our other two ships to get into position."
"Tough move, Geoff," Ching said. "They could be flanking in behind the
cruisers."
"They're diversions. Thrakhath will come straight on in, looking for a
fight."
"I hope you're right, Tolwyn. If not, they won't be too happy back on
Earth if those super carriers get there and we're out chasing shadows.
Tolwyn laughed grimly.
"If they do, we won't hear the complaining for long."
"It's a risky move, Geoff," Bjornsson said, her features grim. "If we
lose a carrier that'll leave just four to face off against the big ones."
"If we don't slow them, there'll only be four anyhow in front of Sirius
when they arrive. It's a risk I'm willing to take though.
"Glad you're running this one, Geoff. This isn't just a battle, its the
whole shooting match."
"Yeah, thanks. If there's ever another time, remind me to retire
first."
The two admirals laughed softly and signed off.
Again the thought crept in. The old rhetoric of the battlefield, how
the fate of civilization depended on what happened next. It had been used by
his ancestors when they had stood at Agincourt, Waterloo, the Somme and
against Hitler and Zhing. In most cases it was just rhetoric; this time it
was for real. He realized that if he allowed himself to dwell on the
outcomes it'd cripple him, and he pushed the fear aside. There would be time
enough for that later.
Another update flashed on the holo, a blinking purple light, showing
that action had started in the Landreich. It had taken hours for the signal
to travel, even at burst speed. Three carriers of the Kilrathi fleet now
confirmed against what a colonial militia could put up. Their chances were
next to nothing, he thought, just about the same as ours.
* * * * *
"Ten seconds to jump and counting at nine, eight . . ."
Jason punched in to the deck flight officer.
"All fighters prepare for launch!"
"Two, one, jump initiated."
The phase shift of the jump field kicked in, space in the forward and
aft screens disappearing in a wavy haze. Jason swallowed hard, the momentary
nausea of jump taking hold, as Tarawa and everything inside of it winked out
of existence at jump point 324C and then rematerialized seconds later half a
dozen light years away, back into position in the Hell Hole system.
The screen shifted, star fields returning to view.
"All ahead full, move it!" Jason shouted and Tarawa surged forward. Not
five seconds later Gallipoli appeared behind him in nearly the exact same
space he had just been occupying, followed seconds later by two more escort
carriers.
The maneuver was insane. Standard fleet procedure was to have at least
one minute intervals between jumps. The actual point of rematerialization
was problematic, never occurring at precisely the same spot, and if a ship
in transit should come out of jump in the same space occupied by another
vessel no one in the two ships involved would ever even realize that their
existence had suddenly winked out in a white hot explosion.
"Launch all fighters, launch all fighters!"
A hazy shimmer appeared in the forward screen.
"Helm hard to port, up ninety degrees!"
Tarawa shifted, turning, as a destroyer of the Landreich fleet
materialized out of jump less than four hundred meters ahead.
Jason was nearly knocked from his command chair and at the same instant
a bank of red lights started to flash at the damage control desk.
"Ship hulled starboard side, sections twenty-two through twenty-four
Decompression hull breach!"
Internal bulkheads had already been sealed for action stations. Jason
looked over at the damage display board. Three sectors of the outer hull
were gone, crew quarters. He could only hope no one was still in there. He
waited, watching to see if the breach would rip down the length of the hull
or burst into the heart of the ship. It held.
"What ship was that?"
"Destroyer Blitzkreig, Kruger's flagship, sir."
"Damage?"
"Part of her port rear stabilizer gone. Hull integrity holding."
"Then the hell with her, get the rest of those fighters out!"
He turned back to tactical display and drew in his breath.
Kruger was either a genius or a madman, the next five minutes would
tell Ч so far the plan had worked.
Directly ahead, at less than a thousand kilometers, were the three
Kilrathi carriers, moving in line abreast formation. Kruger had met them ten
hours earlier as they jumped into the Hell Hole system, fought a brief
skirmish, trading a corvette and two fighters for two destroyers and nearly
twenty fighters of the Cats and then fled, the enemy in hot pursuit.
They had jumped out of the Hell Hole System, come to a dead stop, and
then turned, jumping straight back into the system they had just fled.
The Kilrathi, assuming they were chasing a beaten and far weaker foe,
had recovered nearly all their fighters in preparation for jump in pursuit.
Forward of the carriers by three hundred clicks was the outer screen of
frigates, which would, according to standard doctrine, jump through first to
secure the next point in preparation for the carriers to follow.
Range to the forward ships would close in under a minute.
Doomsday gave the thumbs up to the deck launch officer. She saluted,
crouched down low, pointing forward, and the senior deck officer in the
launch control room hit the catapult button.
In under two seconds Doomsday was clear of Tarawa, full afterburners
roaring, even as Tarawa turned to avoid colliding with Kruger's flag ship.
Doomsday banked hard over, skimming past the destroyer with less than a
dozen meters to spare, and took a deep breath as he shot clear.
His heavily modified Sabre, with side-by-side pilot and co-pilot seats
crammed in, and a single heavy Mark IV torpedo slung underneath shook with
the 110% power surge. Grinning, he looked over at Paladin who was flying the
right hand seat as weapons officer.
"Here we go again, laddie," Paladin said calmly, though Doomsday could
tell that the old pilot was miffed that there weren't enough fighters in the
fleet for him to get one of his own.
"Weapons check?"
"Torpedo armed and ready, now give me a target."
Doomsday spared a quick look down at his tactical screen. The forward
string of frigates were less than a minute away, the first of them already
slowing, turning to move in across the carriers. Less than thirty seconds
behind them the three carriers were starting to come about
"All hells about to break loose," Paladin chuckled. "These two fleets
are about to go straight through each other.
"There's the rest of the strike," Doomsday announced, pointing nearly
straight up, and he edged his stick back, climbing a thousand meters to tuck
himself in under a Broadsword's belly, giving himself a little more
protection from the heavy strike craft's gunners.
"We're going for the middle carrier," Doomsday said quietly.
"We'll go for his port launch deck, you take the starboard one, lad,"
the Landreich pilot of the Broadsword above them replied and Doomsday
clicked his mike twice as an affirmative.
"Hang on, crossing through the frigates!"
A crisscrossing of neutron bursts, laserflashes, and mass driver rounds
snaked out from the Kilrathi picket line. Doomsday held steady on his
course, working for an early fix and lock on the center carrier, which was
now full broadside and starting to come around astern.
"Launch bay hits are out," Paladin announced. "Go for main engines."
A Landreich fighter, moving ahead of the two, winked into a fireball
and disappeared. They shot through the wreckage, Doomsday wincing when a
bloody smear of what had once been the pilot smashed into his forward canopy
and spun away into the darkness. The blood seemed to be a dark omen and he
started to breathe hard, fighting down the sense of premonition and Paladin
looked over at him.
"He was already dead, laddie, already dead."
Doomsday gulped hard and shook his head. He pulled open his helmet
visor. wiped the sweat from his face. He reached into a breast pocket and
pulled out a short cigar and clamped down hard on it, chewing the end.
Ian had given the cigar to him long ago. He had never smoked it, but
somehow, for this mission he felt it was a talisman and he brought it along.
They shot under the belly of a frigate, the two attack craft shuddering
as they skimmed through the high energy field of the ship's fuel and
maneuvering scoops.
"I have target lock," Paladin announced calmly, "and counting at thirty
seconds, twenty nine."
Doomsday hated torpedo launches more than anything else. It required
the fighter to stay on a straight and steady course for thirty seconds until
the torpedoes' guidance and arming systems cut through the high energy
shielding of the target, decoded the shield phasing, and then countered the
phasing so that it could penetrate for the kill.
The carriers were now clearly visible in space, three silvery masses
less than fifty clicks ahead, the ships completing their turns, engines
winking white hot. Three Landreich fighters darted past Doomsday, their
afterburners flaring, diving straight in, loosing a string of infrared
guided missiles. The shots would not penetrate but their explosions on the
carriers aft shields would momentarily blind the point defense systems.
"First fighters coming out," Doomsday announced, able to clearly see
the pinpoints of light leaping out from the Kilrathi carriers.
"The furballs are a bit late today. Caught them with their pants down
this time, that is if the buggers are wearing pants."
The pin points of light disappeared, and Doomsday knew that meant they
had turned and were coming straight back towards him.
He caught the first hum of an IFF locking on. and then three more.
Taking over defensive systems control from Paladin, he launched one of the
new noise makers, hoping it would distract the missiles. The Kilrathi
carrier seemed to fill all of space in front of him and he felt that if he
closed any further, he'd run straight into it. The sweat was soaking his
back and he found himself silently praying.
A modified Ferret, stitched onto what looked like old twin Sabre A
engines, slammed past, diving straight into the emerging fighters. Several
flashes of light appeared, fighters being killed, though Doomsday could not
tell who had bought it
"Ten seconds, nine. eight. Signal lock on, phase counter lock on,
warhead armed, three, two, one . . . it's away!"
Doomsday felt his ship lurch as the ten meter long torpedo dropped from
the underbelly pylon, its engine flaring to life. He looked up and saw a
Landreich craft above him dropping his spread of three Mark III Torpedoes as
well. Breaking his ship hard to starboard Doomsday nosed straight down and
then spun over, keeping his belly turned towards the carrier so that the new
laser torpedo guide could maintain lock. Paladin stayed hunched over the
weapons screen, ready to take over manual guidance of the torpedo if
Kilrathi jamming should throw it off course.
Doomsday spared a quick glance at his tactical as half a dozen red
blips closed in.
"She's closing, closing," Paladin chanted softly, punching in a
guidance command as the torpedo lost lock for a second, his guidance laser
firmly tracking on the torpedoes tail. The fact that Kruger had half a dozen
of the new ship-to-torpedo laser guiding systems in his munitions inventory
had surprised Doomsday, who figured it was best simply not to ask how they
got into Landreich hands.
"Closing, closing . . . impact, laddie, we got Сem!"
Doomsday punched in an aft visual and saw an expanding fireball of
light erupting from the carrier's main engine bank. A second ball of light
snapped as one of Doomsday's torpedoes slammed into the explosion. Four of
the Landreich's old obsolete scimitars darted in towards the carrier's tail,
disappearing into the inferno, two of them reemerging from the fireball
seconds later and as they pulled out, a solid ripple of explosions shuddered
across the carrier's stern from the missile spread they had launched, now
that the aft shielding was overloaded and down. The entire aft end of the
carrier suddenly disappeared in a white hot light.
Doomsday watched the Scimitars, amazed yet again at the suicidal
tactics of the Landreich pilots, flying fighters that should have been on
the scrap heap years ago.
"Fuel igniting, she's going!"
The explosion burst out, the blast wave washing over Doomsday's Sabre,
shuddering it as if from a direct hit. He lost sight of the two surviving
Scimitars, who were simply consumed in the ball of light, the enemy fighters
pursuing them disappearing as well.
"Look out ahead!" Paladin shouted, and Doomsday looked up to see a
frigate turning directly in front, her gun mounts shifting, tracking
straight down on him, preparing to fire a full broadside at near point blank
range.
"All weapons fire independently and at will," Jason announced calmly,
standing now and pacing behind his row of bridge personnel, who remained
hunched over their tactical, communications, damage control, and fire system
holo displays.
He looked up at the main holo battle screen, watching the converging
line of blue and red dots. A blue dot, representing a light frigate winked
out, followed an instant later by two red dots to either side, one of them a
cruiser, the other a destroyer.
"Landreich frigate just detonated her reactor pile, crew has ejected,"
the tactical officer announced calmly.
"These people are insane," Jason whispered, realizing that even if the
crew had ejected, a bridge team would have had to stay on board to time the
detonation.
The explosion cut an opening straight through the middle of the
Kilrathi defense line deploying aft of the three carriers. All of the strike
fighters from the four escorts had already launched and were inside the
picket line, engaging the carriers. A dozen fighters disappeared within
seconds caught by the crossfire between the picket line and carriers,
hundreds of blinking yellow dots marking the crisscrossing paths of
missiles. Bright green snaps of light flared inside the holo display,
detaching from half a dozen fighters.
"Torpedoes are launched and running," tactical reported.
"All ships close and advance on carriers, follow me."
Kruger's image appeared on the command screen only long enough to pass
the order then disappeared. Helm, lock on Kruger's ship, follow her
maneuver.
Kruger turned in, racing through the opening created by the Landreich
frigate's sacrifice, and within seconds every battery on Tarawa was engaged,
trading shots with Kilrathi frigates, and destroyers to either side.
Jason suddenly imagined that he could almost hear a bugler blowing
charge, the way the Marines still did when their landing craft went in on an
assault. as they raced straight towards the three carriers. It was madness;
they were about to close and trade broadsides with capital ships at point
blank range. The center carrier in the holo flared, exploding outward.
"Scratch one flattop!" tactical shouted, and Jason looked up at the
visual, watching the explosion, then back down at the holo as two fighters,
his own, emerged out of the fireball. A Kilrathi frigate turning towards
Tarawa moved in front of the fighters, its guns turning to fire.
"All weapons, train on frigate, port side!" Jason shouted.
Turrets swung about, fire rippling out from Tarawa, the frigate
swinging her guns back on Tarawa, ignoring the two fighters as they raced
between the two ships.
A shuddering explosion ran through Tarawa, battle lights winking out
for a second, a gust of acrid smoke filling the bridge, red lights coming
back on again in the now shadowy gloom
"Main generator off line, emergency back up, shielding down to seventy
one percent"
"Tarawa, close it up, hit the carrier to starboard."
Kruger's image appeared for only a second and was gone again
The fleet flagship was out forward of the charge, a Kilrathi cruiser
angling in, opening with a spread of missiles. Flare, chaff, and noise
makers streamed out of the destroyer and the two ships traded fire. Behind
the flagship the four escorts, moving in two lines of two, stormed through
the maelstrom, while frigates, corvettes, destroyers, and fighters swirled
about them.
Another shudder ran through Tarawa, damage control shouting out a
report, red lights blinking on his screen. Jason could barely hear the
officer as the explosions echoed through his ship, the concussion nearly
bringing him to his knees. The Kilrathi cruiser shot past, unable to turn in
tight enough to run parallel.
On the port side the still expanding wreckage of the blown carrier
continued to swirl out and then was astern. Kruger arced his destroyer
directly across the stern of the carrier they were pursuing, lashing out
with a volley of torpedoes and missiles at near point blank range. Landreich
corvettes raced past the escort carriers, closing in on the prey, two of
them fireballing from the strikes of Kilrathi fighters, the survivors
launching torpedoes, most of which were shaken off by the carrier but three
impacting nevertheless. Four more of the corvettes disappeared.
"Her shieldings down!" tactical shouted.
Jason felt as if he were about to explode with excitement. The battle
had lost all semblance of tactical maneuvering, the old standard of fleets
launching fighters at long range, and capital ships rarely if ever coming
within ten thousand clicks of each other, was gone in the mad confusion. He
thought of Nelson at Trafalgar, charging into a broadside exchange with the
French and Spanish, and felt that if Tolwyn were here the old man would be
proud.
The Kilrathi carrier was less than fifteen hundred meters ahead.
"Fire on her, fire!
Simultaneously the four escort carriers opened fire, hundreds of mass
driver rounds and neutron bolts, from the anti-aircraft batteries, now
slamming into the stern of the enemy carrier. Explosions rippled, jagged
fragments of metal hurtling off into space. Tarawa raced down the length of
the carrier, stitching the side of the ship with everything she had, while
Gallipoli turned to cross the T of the Kilrathi carrier astern. The
Kilrathi, however, were firing with everything in return, and explosions
rocked Tarawa. Jason felt as if the frenzy of battle had torn into the heart
of his soul. He stood rigid, wanting to roar with both rage and delight.
More than one of the bridge crew had broken discipline, pounding the sides
of their monitors, screaming curses, oaths, encouragement, and whooping with
joy at the destruction.
"Gallipoli's going!"
Jason looked up at the aft visual and saw his sister ship splitting
open as if she had run straight into a buzz saw that was tearing the ship
apart from stem to stern. The fuel cells astern ignited and the ship
fireballed, her flame washing over the topside stern of the stricken enemy
carrier.
They darted past the ship, turning to starboard while the Kilrathi
carrier edged over to port and started to dive.
"Tactical report!"
"Enemy carrier suffered multiple hits, computer counting two hundred
plus hullings, secondary explosions igniting, three of five engine pods
destroyed.
"Damage control?"
"Sections one, three through five portside hulled, midships port mass
driver gun mounts destroyed, main generator still off line, shielding down
to forty-two percent, holding steady."
Jason looked back at the tactical.
The enemy carrier was turning hard over to port, now moving away at a
right angle, debris trailing out behind her as she struggled to accelerate.
The other carrier was coming around to flank the stricken ship. The enemy
picket line was now racing full back, coming abreast of their two surviving
carriers and moving to pursuit.
"Helm, prepare to come about for a second strike," Jason announced, and
his crew looked up at him, startled.
He knew it was madness, but they had not finished the carrier off and
he'd be damned if it was going to get away.
"All ships follow me,"
Jason looked up at Kruger's image and then back at tactical.
Kruger was moving straight away from the engagement, heading back
towards the Hell Hole.
"Get me Kruger," Jason snapped.
The old man's image reappeared, looking annoyed.
"Let's finish em, sir, he's crippled."
"We killed one, we crippled another and lost one escort," Kruger
snapped. "Go back and we'll lose the rest of our escorts just to finish a
kill. We want him crippled. They'll have to protect him. Bondarevsky, I'm
breaking the engagement. We got what we wanted, they'll run for home now.
Hell Hole is still under bombardment and that's our main priority now.'
"Aye, sir."
The image winked off.
Jason took a deep breath, realizing that the excitement of the charge
and the lust of battle had clouded his judgment
"Belay helm over, lock on Blitzkreig and follow."
He could see that some of his crew were disappointed while others took
a sigh of relief
"Damn good, I'm proud of all of you," he announced and then settled
back into his command chair.
He looked up at the chronometer.
It was less than six minutes since they had jumped through, undoubtedly
one of the shortest fleet actions in history. Kruger had lived up to form,
shattering an invasion, killing a carrier, and crippling another. He had
certainly taken them in harm's way.
The question now was, what would Kruger do next?
"Signal all fighters, return to your ships for recovery."
Admiral Tolwyn stood silently, watching the display screen.
It had been a standoff for more than a day. They had met the four enemy
carriers just inside the Warsaw system, his fleet and theirs arriving at
opposite jump points almost simultaneously.
He had raced to cover Warsaw but the Kilrathi carriers had held back,
staying close to the jump point.
The question had been whether to close and engage, or wait. It could be
that they were holding at the edge of the jump point, waiting to lure him in
and then the main Kilrathi fleet would jump through. A listening post inside
the next system had managed to get out a brief burst signal, reporting the
transit of more than thirty escort ships and then had gone off line. It
could only mean that the main fleet was coming up fast. Yet if he did
advance and close for action there was a chance to meet the enemy three on
four, with the possible edge that the pilots aboard the enemy ships were not
their first line Guard fighters.
He had opted for action, but with the stipulation that his carriers
would not close within ten million clicks and engage at long range only with
fighters.
The action had been inconclusive throughout the day, with the loss of
thirty-eight fighters in exchange for two hits on a carrier with moderate
damage, and three enemy frigates destroyed in return for one hit on Moskva
and a destroyer lost.
But now there was no longer a question as to Prince Thrakhath's
strategy. He was indeed coming straight on.
For the last hour, the jump point covered by the carriers had disgorged
destroyers, frigates, fuel tankers, and supply ships. And now at last the
first of the new carriers had emerged.
His intelligence officer passed up a continual stream of reports, the
hazy images from Paladin's recon scan, replaced now by clear optical and
radar images passed up by light Ferret recon fighters moving back from the
edge of the fleet.
Tolwyn continued to pull back, his fighters coming in to land, a screen
of escort ships guarding the sterns of the carriers from enemy fighters,
while dropping out a spray of porcupine mines to slow the relentless advance
of the enemy fleet.
A fourth carrier appeared and then a fifth, each of them identical,
each of them terrifying.
"Sir, we are receiving a hailing from the Kilrathi fleet.
"What?"
The communications officer looked back at his console for a moment and
then turned again to Tolwyn.
"Confirmed, sir. It's an in the clear translight signal from their
fleet."
"I'll take it in my office."
He left the bridge and stepped into his wardroom. He spared a quick
glance at a mirror. The circles under his eyes would tell of his exhaustion
but there was no helping it.
He settled into his chair and punched the holo screen to life.
"Go ahead, comm, patch it in."
The image of Baron Jukaga appeared.
"Ah, Admiral Tolwyn, our intelligence reports said that you were in
command of Third Fleet. My congratulations on your promotion. We have always
admired you as perhaps the best of the fighting admirals of the
Confederation."
"What do you want, Baron?" Geoff replied coldly.
"Your surrender."
"I'm a military man, not a diplomat, Baron. Direct your inquiry to
President Quinson. I'm sure he will tell you to go perform a certain
impossible anatomical act."
The Baron chuckled.
"You humans and your sexual obsession. So strange, we must discuss the
differences some time. But I am asking a military question, Admiral. I'm not
demanding the surrender of your Confederation, merely your fleet."
Geoff replied with what he assumed the President would have said.
"Such crudity, Admiral it's not becoming of one of your breeding and
education. You and I are alike in our study of human warfare. It creates a
bond between the two of us, a bond I should add that I feel is even stronger
towards you than to many of my own species. It would be distressing to see
you defeated and dead."
"You assume too much, Baron. Do not worry about my death until it is
accomplished, but instead worry about your own.
"Touchщ. But come, can't we reason this disagreement out?"
Geoff laughed coldly.
"My government was stupid enough to believe you once. It'll be a very
cold day in hell before we believe you again. This time the fight's to the
death, no quarter asked or expected."
"A shame you put it that way."
"No, I want it that way, Geoff snarled, angry with himself that he was
losing his temper. "You murdered my closest friends in your bomb plot. I
heard as well about your attempt on the Emperor. I'm surprised they didn't
rip your guts out for that, you utak."
He deliberately chose the Kilrathi word used to describe the lowest
caste member of Kilrah society, the cleaners of privy pits for fertilizer,
one considered so untouchable that it was a defilement if his shadow even
touched the shadow of anyone of a higher class.
He could see that the word caused Jukaga to bristle.
"I'm surprised the Emperor even allowed one such as you to live. I've
heard that assassination is all but unknown in your society. It seems you
learned it from us. You know nothing of us. You learned but the worst and
learned none of the best. You are beneath the contempt of both my race and
yours.
He noticed a change in Jukaga's demeanor and his image disappeared.
"Communications, what's going on?"
"Signal shifted, sir, coming back in, on a fleet scramble line."
Jukaga's image reappeared on the screen
"I feel more comfortable now, Admiral, talking without anyone able to
listen in on my side for the next several minutes. May I have your agreement
that this conversation will be kept strictly between us?"
"I can't promise that," Geoff replied.
"Then at least do not let it be shared with my own people. I've managed
to have the signal scrambled from here but soon it might be compromised."
"I agree then, it will not get back to your side."
"We don't have much time to talk, Admiral. I want to give you a
warning. I was supposed to do this anyhow but I want you to understand that
my concern in this is genuine."
"Go on then."
"If you do not surrender your fleet, Prince Thrakhath has declared that
this shall be a war of gatagak'vu. How do you say, a war of total
eradication."
Geoff felt a cold chill.
"Has it not always been thus?" he finally ventured.
"No. This is different. He will not only slaughter everyone Ч man,
woman and child, but he will also slaughter the very worlds you live on
through the use of high radiation doses. Nothing will be left, nothing. Your
home, your Earth, with all its long history, will be dead, uninhabitable,
lifeless."
His words trailed off and Geoff was startled to realize that Jukaga's
voice was filled with remorse.
"You wanted us destroyed, enslaved, why your concern now?" Geoff asked.
Jukaga smiled and shook his head.
"That is not your concern, Admiral Tolwyn, only my own. I therefore
implore you. Surrender. If you do, I will ensure that you and your warriors
are treated with honor, that your Earth will continue to live."
"Better to die as free men then live as slaves," Geoff replied coldly.
Jukaga nodded, a smile lighting his features.
"As any true warrior would reply, he said quietly, "as I knew you would
reply."
"Then there's nothing more to be said."
"I have been told to advise you that you have twenty four of your
standard minutes to reply. If not, the planet you call Warsaw will cease to
live.
"Go ahead and do it now," Geoff replied coldly, "but by God, Baron,
tell Thrakhath that if he does, there'll come a day when we'll come back. If
it takes a hundred years, we'll come back and we'll watch Kilrah as it's
burned to ashes."
"Good-bye, Admiral," Jukaga said quietly and he started to reach over
to switch off his screen. He paused and looked back up.
"I'm sorry," and then his image disappeared.
Shaken, Geoff sat back in his chair. He had just condemned more than
twenty million to death
"God help me," he whispered and he lowered his head for a moment,
offering a silent prayer for forgiveness and strength.
He stood back up finally and went back out on the bridge.