Kris Longknife Stalwart

by Mike Shepherd

  Zom gave the order to flip ship at the appropriate time, but an idea would not quit niggling at his brain. There was a solid risk that the Longknife woman and her fleet would have a powerful position behind him as he approached her fleet. They could shoot straight up the vulnerable sterns of his ships.

  "What if I was to cut deceleration just as we come in range of her guns?" he mused to himself. "We could whiz past them before slamming back on the deceleration. I might lose some ships, but I could get behind them and jam some lasers up their backside."

  He liked that idea.

  "Did you say something?" Number One staff officer asked.

  "Just to myself. There is no need for a slug fest to be just a slug fest. We can be fast on our feet."

  "Sir?"

  "I will tell you about it later," Admiral Zom said.

  Of course, two could play the same game. If he was too obvious, she might cut her deceleration just as quickly. Mentally, he examined the options. If he cut deceleration down to nothing, he'd have no weight on the ships as he sped by her fleet. There would be no dodging and dancing.

  She could slaughter them. Still it would only be for a few seconds. Then she would be ahead of him and he would be slashing at her reactors.

  Now he switched and examined her options. One was only too apparent. She could drop her deceleration just like him.

  However, if she cut her deceleration, she would also have no weight on her ships. She would be no better able to dodge and dance than his ships could. It would turn the battle into a bloody massacre, but she would not have the advantage she used so often.

  This might, indeed, turn the tables on that Longknife Human.

  But would it be enough?

  He eyed the fleets as they met. They would be little more than 100,000 kilometers apart. The gunnery on both sides would make bloody work of each other.

  More importantly, the small gunboats would be in a position to charge the enemy fleet and get in range to use their powerful short-range weapons. They might be in a good position to get in between the battlecruisers and do their bloody work while being ignored by the other side's battlecruisers.

  Zom closed his eyes and breathed as deeply as 3.5 gees allowed. He was planning a battle like no other battle had ever been fought in the long history of the Empire.

  Yes, there had been auxiliary warships and smaller ones sailing in the wake of the larger ones. Still, using the gunboats and frigates as a strike force at the same time the battlecruisers did their best to blow each other apart. No, that had never been the way of the Iteeche.

  Would this come as a shock to the Longknife Human? He thought back on what he could remember of Human Navy history. Yes, they had destroyers to help their cruisers and battleships. But they were assigned to keep the other side’s destroyers from slipping in and firing missiles at the other side’s big ships.

  Admiral Zom had heard of no new destroyers being constructed. Everything the Humans built nowadays were battlecruisers, or so it seemed. How would this new admiral with such a short career react to his small gunboats? Had she ever faced small ships attacking her big battlecruisers?

  It took the Iteeche admiral a moment to remember the Longknife woman's first battle. Oh, right. She had commanded small ships attacking huge battleships in the defense of her home world.

  Admiral Zom grinned, though at 3.5 gees it was more of a grimace. Wouldn't it be interesting if he defeated her with some of the same tactics she used to win her first battle?

  Contented that he had the situation well in hand, the Iteeche admiral reclined in his high gee couch and considered how he would get the little gunboats in range to do the most damage. It would be hours before it was time to reduce deceleration and make what preparations he could that would win this battle for him.

  "Number One staff officer."

  "Yes, Admiral?"

  "I intend to slow when we come within a million kilometers of the enemy fleet. If I fall asleep on this couch, make sure I am woken."

  "I find it hard to think that anyone could sleep on one of these couches," the staff officer said.

  "This bouncing around at high gees is a young man's war, Number One. You would be amazed what I can do."

  "Yes, Admiral."

  Zom took one more long look at his board. Now his ships were slowing down, decelerating toward their planet and delaying the onrushing battle. Delaying it so they could make it last longer.

  He let his couch recline all the way and stared at the overhead. He saw the lines of his board etched in his memory and projected above him. He tried to think of all the things he could do, and what she would do in response. It was like playing a solitaire game of chi. Here he moved a knight. There she moved a castle. Now he moved an Imperial advisor. She countered with her war leader. Every move was aimed at capturing the Emperor.

  He'd enjoyed many games of chi in his life aboard ship. He wondered if he'd ever want to play that game again. After living through this coming fight, the game would be very tame.

  69

  Kris came awake with a start. She hadn't really expected to nap, but apparently she had. The burden of high gees was tiring. That and the reality that she'd done about all she could do had let her mind drift off.

  "Kris," Nelly announced, "the hostile fleet just cut its deceleration to 1.5 gees, Iteeche. They're a million klicks out."

  Blinking sleep from her eyes, Kris studied the battle board above her face. Nothing was different from what she expected. Fine. She wanted to be well-rested and on her toes for the coming fight.

  Of course, she'd likely be on her back for that fight. Ah, the vagaries of the language and Human behavior.

  "Any idea what they're doing at that low gee? They've been at 3.5 gees since forever."

  "Sorry, Kris, but a million klicks is a long way for even our fire control optics."

  "See if the boffins don't have a telescope they can turn on his ships. I know if he's repairing and dialing in his lasers, we won't see anything. If he does anything we can see, I want eyeballs on it."

  "I've alerted the science team. They are swinging their best optics on the enemy fleet. They'll get back to us in a few minutes."

  "Fine," Kris said and turned her head to suck in some water. That made her mouth a lot happier.

  "What's the fleet situation, Nelly?" Kris asked.

  "We're still decelerating at three gees, Iteeche. No complaints from anyone. No ships are having any trouble holding this deceleration. Guns are at over 99 percent. Every once in a while a laser will hiccup, and the gun crew get to work on it. We're the closest we can come to perfect that Humans and Iteeche can hope to get."

  Kris took another swig of water, then tried the nutritional paste a tube on the other side of her head was dispensing. It was promised to be tasty and low residue. Although the high gee stations were supposed to take care of all bodily needs, the bridge air blowers were on high. The place was starting to stink of sweat and worse.

  Pictures of the enemy fleet began to fill the screen above Kris's head. Most showed a few dozen ships. The ships were little more than large, bright dots. Their rocket engines pointed at the cameras. There seemed to be something different about the hulls. They weren't perfect dots, but seemed blurred a bit.

  "Nelly, ask the boffins if they can clear up the pictures any. Some of them seem to be a bit off."

  The next batch of pictures to float across Kris's screen didn't look like dots. They'd been rasterized. Each tiny square had the brightness value of the ship's picture.

  It was as you'd expect. The center of the dot was white. The pixels slipped into shades of gray before going black around the edges. However, there were stray squares that showed a brighter gray than those immediately around it. Most of those could be the reflection of a nearby ship's rocket motor or even the distant sun. However, they still puzzled Kris.

  "Nelly, have the boffins concentrate on the stray pixels near the hull that have a different brightness from those around it."
>
  "Will do."

  A few minutes later, more pictures began to fill Kris's screen. These showed similar photos to the first batch. On serious review, some of those looked exactly like the first batch.

  "Talk to me, Nelly."

  "Kris, they took a second set of photos and compared them to the first. Most still have the stray bright pixel. However, in almost all cases, the stray has wandered to somewhere else in the photo."

  "They still can't tell what they are?"

  "No, Kris. All they've got is the raster map with various gradations of light and dark. We can't make anything else out."

  "Okay, well tell our science team to stay on this. I think this guy is trying to pull a fast one on us and I'd like to know what it is, soonest."

  "Aye, aye, Admiral."

  For the next quarter hour, the enemy fleet cruised along at a much more comfortable deceleration. Still, the two forces closed as two irresistible forces moved into position to pummel each other.

  "Let's reduce our deceleration," Kris said. "We're far enough out from our target that we can stay loose. Let's go to 1.5 gee, Iteeche, and see how our opposite number reacts to that."

  "Aye, aye, Admiral," Nelly said, and passed the order to the comm officer.

  Two minutes later, her fleet was at the same deceleration as the rebel fleet. They were at 800,000 klicks and holding as they hurried toward Longnae 4.

  With the gees reduced, she ordered her egg to let her sit up.

  "Let's get ready for this fight. Admiral Tong."

  "Yes, Admiral."

  "Bring the fleet back to Condition Zed. Apply sixty revolutions per minute to our outer skin. Bring us up to immediate readiness for a shoot."

  "Aye, aye, Admiral. Will you hold for a moment while I issue the orders?"

  "Of course, Admiral."

  The screen blanked for a moment while Admiral Tong got his ships buttoned down. Then he was back.

  "Admiral, we have noticed that the rebel ships have been doing something. Have you figured out what it is?"

  "No, Admiral, we're just as puzzled as you are. I've had my scientific team on the Princess Royal go over the visuals with a fine-tooth comb. We'll have to get closer before we can make it out."

  "It appears that almost every one of their battlecruisers has done whatever this is."

  "Yeah. I figure our rebel admiral has come up with some trick that will make our life miserable."

  "I fear so, too."

  "Well, he certainly didn't come here to lose a battle," Kris pointed out.

  "I most certainly did not."

  "Then keep your high gee station loose and your ship ready to scoot when I say so."

  "Scoot we will," the Iteeche admiral said, and cut the comm link.

  Kris leaned forward in her egg, eyeing the forward screen. It showed the entire enemy fleet, but in a small window, it showed the ship nearest to her fleet. The visual was still the jagged image of a heavily pixelated point of light.

  "What are you up to?" Kris muttered to herself. "And when the blazes are you going to get up to it?"

  "Patience, dear admiral," Jack said.

  Kris made a face. "Patience my ass. I want to kill something."

  "Well, my dear vulture," Jack said, reminding Kris of the ancient cartoon she was quoting from, "You're just have to hang around on this dead tree like the rest of us dirty birds."

  Kris stared at the screen. Nothing happened. More staring. Still nothing happened.

  Then everything started to happen at once.

  70

  Admiral Zom watched as information flowed into his battle board. Availability of lasers had fallen to nearly 80% during the brutal approach. Now they were back up to almost 95%.

  All the longboats were deployed. In fact, most of his battlecruisers had deployed eight long boats if they had them, six if they did not. The idea was to use the first four at the cardinal points of the compass. Then, when they were shot away, fall back to the four aimed at the ordinal points.

  It was good that his crews were thinking on their feet, even if they did lie on a couch.

  He was the first to notice that the distance between the two fleets was no longer closing.

  "Oh, so the Longknife Human sees what I am up to. She has been reacting to my actions this entire battle. Now she gives over to me the decision for when we give battle. I thought she had more fight in her."

  "She does not appear to be a very aggressive admiral. Could it be that being a woman, she cannot decide?" Number One staff officer said.

  "Do not underestimate this woman," Zom said, as much to himself as to his staff officer. "She did not win so many battles by accident. One? Maybe. Two? No. She knows what she is doing."

  Number One staff officer did not reply.

  This left Zom wondering just what she might be doing, giving him this important decision. Was she also bringing her lasers back up to 95 percent available? Did she have repairs to make to engines that had been worked too hard?

  There were many questions, but few answers for him. His board showed that every admiral had reported that all their ships now had deployed their longboats.

  It was time to take action.

  "Communications, send to the fleet, on my execute command, battlecruisers will cease all deceleration. When that order is given the gunboats will accelerate at two gees at the enemy fleet. Battlecruisers will fire salvos by squadron as we pass within range of the enemy ships."

  "The message is sent, Most Eminent Admiral.

  Zom waited for half a minute, then said, "Execute."

  In a moment his body went from weighing half-again more to nothing. On his battle board, the battlecruisers began to zoom toward the enemy. The gunboats followed the same plunge. However, with their engines now pointed away from the enemy, their acceleration toward the enemy rapidly closed the distance.

  He had the Longknife woman. His one regret was that he could not see the look of shock on her face as she gaped open-mouthed at what he was doing to her.

  Admiral Kris Longknife had devoted a tiny portion of her battle board to the range to the enemy fleet. So it was that her eyes spotted the numbers beginning to unwind even as Nelly said, calmly, "Kris, the enemy has cut all deceleration."

  "So he has," Kris said then snapped. "All ships, fleet will make a hard left ninety degrees turn and accelerate to three gees, Iteeche, away from the enemy's base course." She paused for a moment to let her word get out to her fleet. There was no time for intermediate commands, she'd apologize to any offended junior admirals later.

  She didn't wait for acknowledgments, but ordered, "Execute."

  The ninety degree turn away was a bit ragged. The acceleration was also applied without the usual precision Kris expected of her fleet. Still, she was turning away from her present course, so there was little chance of collision and no problem with ships taking a bit longer to go to three gees.

  Kris ignored the disarray in her wings and concentrated on the range. It was actually opening as her ships opened up the distance from her enemy's course and all the ships fell toward Longnae at the same general velocity.

  Now, she began issuing targeting orders to her admirals. They would use the same firing order. Most ships would fire by divisions. The combat experienced Iteeche ships under Admiral Tong would fire in pairs as would the Human cruisers.

  Once again, the target would be the lead ships that made up the advanced vanguards. They'd been hard hit by the last shoot. They'd be even harder hit by the second.

  Kris knew that envelopment was at the heart of the rebel admiral's plan. She doubted she'd have much to worry about from the vanguard's quarter.

  She spared a glance at the incoming cruisers. Their effort to close the range was negated by Kris's decision to open the range.

  Kris could not hold this course for very long if she intended to reach orbit around Longnae 4. Still, for the moment, she had blocked the rebel admiral's move.

  "Now, fine sir," Kris muttered, "what wil
l you do?"

  71

  Admiral Zom gnashed his beak together. He should feel like he'd won a victory, but he didn't.

  He had the Longknife woman on the run. She was fleeing ahead of his ships. She would never be able to make orbit around Longnae 4 if she stayed on this course. Likely, she'd never make any orbit around a planet with a space station. She'd run her ships dry and end up drifting in space forever.

  Then the Iteeche admiral remembered that the battlecruisers could send off a pinnace to do a refueling dive into any handy gas or ice giant. No, he had not seen the last of the Longknife woman.

  Which placed him on the horns of a dilemma.

  His orders had been to save the Longnae system from invasion. However, he was also ordered to engage and destroy any major portion of the false Imperial fleet that he encountered. Fleeing from him was a major portion of that fleet led by its most victorious admiral.

  Could he report that he merely chased her out of the system? Would that be acceptable, or would he be immediately cashiered from the service of his clan? Assuming he didn't have to make a Formal Apology.

  Admiral Zom slanted his chair up to get a better look at his battle board. He might have no weight on him, but he wasn't about to leave the safety of the couch. He examined the lines and vectors. The board showed his ships dropping toward the distant planet. Her ships fled from him and would be well out of range before he came level with her.

  She was presenting him with shots right up her stern.

  If he pursued her, would she turn and engage him? How would she choose to meet him in battle?

  There certainly was one advantage to chasing her. If she tried to change course to make orbit around Longnae 4, he'd be in a better position to block her and give battle.

  "Number One, send to fleet: ‘On my order we will execute a ninety degree turn and begin accelerating at three gees in the direction of the enemy fleet.’ Send it and get acknowledgements."

  Five minutes later, every admiral in the fleet had responded.