Battleship Indomitable

by B. V. Larson

  Unfortunately, Proon seized on the one flaw in Benota’s argument. “Except for Indomitable, you say. We can chase her down and recapture or destroy her. That removes the threat to the Committee Systems.”

  “If I were not under strict orders to end this Liberation, I would agree with you, Commissar. But you see, not only is Indomitable their threat, it is their anchor. If we destroy her, they will disperse and continue to liberate fringe worlds. We will be like an elephant trying to kill rats one at a time.”

  “Then we divide up into task forces and hunt the rats down like terriers,” Proon snapped.

  “This Liberator is crafty and effective. He is a respectable opponent, not to be underestimated. He already destroyed one heavy task force, led by a dreadnought, with loss of only a few ships. I will not allow that to happen again. We might split into two fleets, but no more—and this insurgency would likely be drawn out for months or years.” Benota stroked his chin. “No, comrade Commissar. This is a chance to destroy them utterly, here and now, and we must take it, even if we risk the shipyards at Kraznypol to do it. For you see, if they do head straight for the Committee Worlds, that will be the end of them. We will in turn have them deep within our own territory, where we hold all the cards. They may do damage, but they will not prevail.”

  “So…” Proon mused, “you would risk much in the hopes of winning all.”

  I would risk what others have, to gain for myself. Never to be spoken, but frightening the Committee thoroughly might get them to allocate more resources to the Fleet—and give me more influence. Perhaps, even a Committee seat. Benota smiled. “You know me well, and see clearly, old friend. Have I ever let you down before?”

  The sincere-sounding platitude apparently fooled Proon, as Benota expected. The man relaxed, and his pacing turned into a slow strut. Now he spoke with a smile for the benefit of the listening crew. “So it is just a matter of time before the Hero of the Mutualist Party, Admiral Benota, adds another victory to his long list. It may cost, but that is the way of war, and of victory.”

  Benota merely gave a slow nod, almost a bow, as befitted a humble servant of the People, the State, and the Committee. Once again he’d won the preliminary battle with his own political officer. Now he could move forward to win the battle with the enemy.

  ***

  Over the next two hours, Commodore Engels—Commodore! Who’d have thought? she mused—shepherded her task forces back into a semblance of organization as they proceeded on impellers toward Ruxin. She barked orders to send short, sharp missives to any captains who seemed slow, chivvying them out of their comfortable squadrons, trying to turn them back into a fleet. The bigger the formation, the harder it was to keep everyone in line, but the more effective they would be.

  She also had to put the Unmutuals somewhere that made sense, and she didn’t fully trust them. Okay, Ellen Gray had assured her she was in charge of fleet ops, but DeChang could countermand her at any time. Would the woman who’d been a friend warn Engels if she were ordered to betray the Liberation?

  Engels hoped so… and there was really no reason for the Unmutuals to do it. But, once bitten, twice shy. So she put them off to the side of Indomitable, where they couldn’t rake anyone and where the battleship would provide a bulwark. Indy may not want to kill, but she’d assured Engels that she was willing to disable weapons and drives of anyone attacking her or other Liberation forces.

  Back in the flag chair, Straker was arguing yet again with Indy, trying to get her to act offensively. The best he’d been able to get her to agree to was to bombard some of the robotic factory asteroids in orbit around Ruxin, as a demonstration of the power of the battleship. Indy was also willing to consider lower-power particle beam strikes that would burn out sensors and smaller weapons on the fortresses, a tactic with a low probability of killing anyone. After all, the defenders would be at battle alert, with full field reinforcement.

  But at the end of the day, Engels knew this wouldn’t work. Indy would have to do as she’d reluctantly agreed: move her processors and some robots to the destroyer Gryphon, even now being cleared of personnel, to provide a new body…a body that the Liberation could spare.

  Then, with the improvements Indy had made in place, Indomitable could be used for her intended purpose: smashing fleets and fortresses. Even though Engels had no love of killing, she thrilled at the thought of the power of the battleship’s weaponry. She told herself it would save lives in the long run by forcing more surrenders, convincing the enemy of the uselessness of fighting… but truthfully, the naval officer in her couldn’t help exulting in the sheer awesome glory of the thing.

  It is well that war is so terrible, one of Old Earth’s commanders had said, else we would grow fond of it. She couldn’t disagree.

  At this leisurely speed, it would take two days to move within extreme firing range. Yes, they could launch railgun bullets at any distance—both sides could—but nobody would hit anything. Even the stolid orbital fortresses had the capability to adjust their orbits enough to dodge shots at interplanetary distances, shots that would take hours to strike.

  Straker evidently gave up arguing with Indy for now. He threw himself out of his chair and stalked over to the holo-table. “This is going too slow.”

  “You always say that about space operations, but there’s no changing it,” said Engels. “Relax. Be happy we have time to sort everything out. There’s no need to rush.”

  “Do we have confirmation that the enemy fleet has left yet?”

  “Soon. Frankly, if they suspected anything, they’d have sent ships over here to take a look, but they haven’t.”

  Straker glanced sharply at her. “They haven’t—or we haven’t seen any?”

  Engels shrugged. “True. We can’t be sure. You wanted to get this show on the road, so here we are, heading inward. If you really wanted to confirm, we should have waited until we saw them transit.”

  “We could have sent scouts back there ourselves.”

  “I considered it, but if we did, and if the enemy had stayed to check be sure about us, they’d have been seen. That would have tipped off the enemy that we didn’t really leave.”

  Straker rubbed his temples. “Cosmos, you’re giving me a headache.”

  Engels made her tone formal and crisp. “Admiral, there’s no perfect answer, just educated guesses, reconnaissance and feinting in the dark. Sending out patrols or scouts can tell them as much about what we’re doing as what they are. We talked this over when Kraxor proposed the plan, and we decided to do it blind, in hopes they’d see our complete commitment and take the bait to run home. Stop second-guessing me—or yourself. It’ll either work, or it won’t.”

  “Contacts, transiting inbound, just outside in flatspace,” Tixban said abruptly. He watched the board with two eyes while swiveling the other two around to meet those of his commanders. “One, five, eleven… more. It’s the enemy capital fleet.”

  “Guess it didn’t work.” Straker turned to the holo-table. “Shit. We’re pinned.”

  Chapter 31

  Ruxin System, Battlecruiser Wolverine, Trapped in Curved Space

  As she examined the holo-table, Engels saw what Straker meant about now being pinned by the Mutualists. The enemy had arrived at the edge of the lumpy curved-space bubble directly behind the Liberation fleet, which was inbound toward Ruxin, deep within the star’s gravitic influence.

  That meant none of the friendly ships could simply transit out. What’s more, they couldn’t easily reach flatspace to do so. They’d have to keep going inward, perhaps turning gently outward or crossing the system completely as they fled. And, they’d soon be raked if they didn’t accelerate.

  Fortunately, her fleet was faster than the enemy dreadnoughts.

  Engels began snapping orders. “Helm, all ahead flank, with minor evasions. Pass to the fleet to conform to our movements. I want a good, tight defensive formation in case they launch a missile strike. Tell Indomitable to go to max burn and set a mi
n-time course for flatspace. Admiral, you think you can plot that for me on the table?”

  “Think so,” Straker said with a scowl, inputting parameters for the battleship. “I’ve got the hang of this thing now. It does most of the work for me anyway. I’m not sure of Indomitable’s acceleration numbers, though.”

  “Let the computer tell you once she starts her burn, then extrapolate.”

  “Right.”

  Engels checked the hologram. The enemy had started their main engines and were blasting at flank speed toward her fleet even before they’d formed up from their sidespace jump. They were prioritizing the chase over a proper battle formation, but they had such an overwhelming weight of metal—if Indomitable didn’t count—that it hardly mattered.

  Minutes went by. “I’ve got Indomitable’s possible course plotted,” Straker said. A curved line appeared, turning shallowly away from the fight, cutting across a chord of the bubble and out again toward flatspace.

  “Now add in the enemy fleet using their current acceleration,” said Engels. “I want to know if—or when—they’ll catch her.”

  “Okay…” Brow furrowed, Straker began to work.

  “I can set up the extrapolations much faster,” said Tixban. “We’re on full automated active sensors, so my assistant can cover for me.”

  “Yeah, I can do it but I’m not that fast,” said Straker.

  “No explanation needed, Admiral. Your species was not blessed with the dexterity, visual acuity or speed of thought of a Ruxin, so of course is inferior at operating such complex machinery.”

  “Great. You’re turning into Zaxby.” Straker moved out of the way.

  Tixban took a seat at the holo-table. “Though physically impossible, that would be an honor. Console yourself, Admiral, with the fact that you seem a particularly competent leader, despite your youth.”

  “Any chance you could revert to your former, non-smartass self?”

  “Perhaps if I cease association with humans.” Tixban raced his subtentacle clusters across the controls. “There.”

  Now, curving lines projected from all the fleet. Under the Ruxin’s control, they fast-forwarded along their future timelines until…

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” said Engels. “The rest of us can get away, but not Indomitable. They’ll catch her. It won’t even be close, so a rearguard and a running battle won’t buy enough time.”

  Straker slammed his fist on the table. “And if Indy won’t fight offensively, my battleship will be scrap, Ruxin won’t be freed, and the whole Liberation is in jeopardy.”

  “Not to mention Zaxby and a bunch more of our people are aboard Indomitable,” said Engels. “They can abandon ship and be picked up if we do it soon.”

  Straker waved off that idea. “And lose Indomitable? No. Proceed as you planned, but faster. Indy clears out her processors, the crew stays, and we fight. With the battleship, we can smash their supers. It’ll be tough, but they don’t know how Indomitable has been upgraded. They think she’s just as glitchy as before. We’ll surprise them.”

  Engels felt skeptical, and showed it on her face. “I need a comlink to Indy.”

  “Comlink established.”

  “Indy, this is Engels aboard Wolverine.”

  “How may I assist you, Commodore?”

  “Tell me how soon you can move your consciousness aboard Gryphon.”

  “Regrettably, not before the enemy destroys me.”

  Engels exchanged glances with Straker. “You’re sure?”

  “I am. I cannot fend them all off unless I shoot to kill.”

  “Then you’d better shoot to kill.”

  “I refuse to do so.”

  “Indy… you’ll die.”

  “Better one death than tens of thousands. My crew is already making ready to abandon my body. I will cover your retreat, and will force the enemy to expend much of their munitions store. I will also damage many of their drives and weapons before I die. They will have to refit here for weeks before they are back to full capacity.”

  “Indy, we’re not going to abandon you!” Engels shouted.

  “That’s right, we’re not,” Straker said with a thoughtful furrow of his brow. “It’s not in my DNA to sacrifice my people so I can run away.”

  “It is the rational course of action. This is the optimal solution.”

  “Bullshit,” Straker barked. “I have a better idea. Put me through to Captain Zholin.”

  “Zholin here, Admiral.”

  “Captain, under no circumstances are you to abandon ship. In fact, you’re to prepare for multiple dockings. You have a bunch of ports, right?”

  “Sixteen major docking ports and thirty-two minor ones, yes, sir.”

  Indy’s voice broke in. “Admiral, I object. The crew must abandon ship within the next two hours.”

  “Ensign Indy, you said you’d follow my orders that didn’t directly kill anyone, right?”

  “That is true.”

  “Then do as you’re told. Follow the orders of your chain of command.”

  “Aye aye, Admiral.”

  Straker turned to Engels. She saw the light of vision in his eyes, that look on his face that said he’d seen a way forward that nobody else could. Her knee-jerk reaction was to insist on knowing his mind, but that could come later. She decided to trust him, so she listened.

  Straker continued, “Dock all our ships with Indomitable as fast as we can. We should be able to do it in time. Transfer all our infantry, marines, passengers, anybody else we can off all ships and onto the battleship.”

  Now Engels felt she had to object, though respectfully. “Admiral, that will do exactly the opposite of what we want, won’t it? Putting even more people at risk of being captured or killed?”

  “Trust me, Carla. I know what I’m doing. Now give the orders.”

  Engels gave the orders to rotate all ships into dock with Indomitable, feeling deep reservations. Was this another of Derek’s all-or-nothing “roll the dice” scenarios, like taking Freiheit, or the Sachsen fortress? It wasn’t in her nature to put all the eggs into one basket… but Indomitable was a pretty big basket.

  Straker muttered something as she was finishing up her instructions.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I said, and they say I don’t know how to handle people.”

  Engels squinted. “Gaining compliance by force of personality isn’t ‘knowing how to handle people,’ Admiral. You’re a one-trick pony there.”

  Straker chuckled. “We’ll see.”

  As the ships rushed to dock at the multiple ports, the enemy fleet began firing missiles and railguns. The railgun projectiles had to travel on their ballistic courses for long minutes, and so were easy to dodge with even slight alterations in Indomitable’s course. These evasive maneuvers slowed down the docking procedure, but not enough to prevent the offloading.

  The missiles, though, close to a thousand of them, would soon overtake the fleet.

  “All non-docking ships, flip to face backward for missile defense,” Engels ordered.

  “Have no fear, Commodore,” Indy said over the open comlink. “I will reorient and use my defensive suites. Please order our ships to get behind me relative to the missiles.”

  Engels considered. Could Indy really be that good? Or was this AI overconfidence? Better to split the difference. “Pass to all ships, withdraw to refused flanking positions, but maintain firing arcs to aid missile defense. Add our firepower to Indomitable’s.”

  “Thank you, Commodore,” said Indy, “But that will not be necessary.”

  “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy,” Engels retorted. “There are no sure things in war until the battle’s over with. Better to maximize our defense.”

  “I do not think you fully understand my capabilities,” said Indy.

  “Perhaps not, but what does it cost to be certain?”

  “Fuel. Time. It’s better for your ships to run now.”

  Straker spoke up. �
�We’re not going to run. Not with tens of thousands of our extra people aboard you—aboard your body.”

  “Ah… I thought perhaps you had decided this was an effective way to eliminate superfluous personnel.”

  “What? Hell, no! Why would you think that?” Straker said.

  “Because you seem quite callous about expending lives in the pursuit of your goals, Admiral.”

  Straker stomped over to his flag chair and faced the vid pickups. “Is this the face of someone that doesn’t care about his people?”

  “I have no idea. Humans are variable in their expressions and highly adept at concealing their intentions. I haven’t yet developed specialized subroutines for nuanced biometric interpretation.”

  “Take my word for it. I’m not intending to sacrifice my people.”

  “That is good to hear. Yet, they are aboard me, and I and my body will soon die... This seems a contradiction.”

  “That’s because, no matter how smart you are, you still don’t really understand things like duty, selflessness, service, honor, integrity, all the things that make up the military virtues.”

  “I have extensive data from the historical records.”

  “Knowledge and experience are two very different things.”

  “Pardon, Admiral, but the missiles are entering my effective engagement range. I need all my processing power.” Indy fell silent.

  In the hologram, Indomitable had turned gently sideways, continuing on her course with impellers only, impellers that could push in any direction, unlike drive engines. This unmasked her broadside of secondary beams—secondary only to her primary weapons, and still large and numerous.

  The cloud of missiles—shipkillers, decoys, bomb-pumped X-ray laser warheads—crossed the pale green shell that showed Indomitable’s beam range. As soon as they did, they vanished. Not just a few, but all of them. Every single one, by the dozens, scores and even hundreds, simply disappeared long before they came anywhere near a target.