"Execute," he ordered.
His battlecruiser executed left turns, some smartly, others not so much. The accelerated 3.0 gees toward the enemy warships was also ragged. Still, it was done.
Zom leaned back as his couch reclined to level. That should leave the Longknife woman thinking. Would she keep running or turn to give him battle?
Admiral Kris Longknife smiled as the rebel commander turned his ships to pursue her. She hadn't been sure he had it in him.
Still, she'd expected that even a peace time admiral would not pass up a fleeing enemy. His class standing might put him out of touch with the lower decks, but it couldn't isolate him from the desire for victory.
Good.
"Remember, my admiral," Jack said, "you're fighting battlecruisers just like our own."
"Thank you, Jack, but the question is, how much are they like our own? We have more powerful reaction jets. From the looks of the last fight, they can't jink worth beans. We've trained our gunners and fire control people for hours on end. We killed over a thousand of his battlecruisers, he got less than forty of ours. Our fleet may be a scratch team hastily thrown together, but Admiral Tong has taken advantage of every minute to train. How much training did that snob have his subordinate admirals do with his fleet, which is likely also newly built?"
"All potentially true," Jack answered, "but also, potentially all wrong."
"Yes, there is that," Kris agreed. "We have only the sample of our one quick brush with him and the poor quality of many of his ships when they turned to give chase."
"That is true. What do you intend to do?" Jack asked.
"Slip up on him and see if his long range shooting has gotten any better. I'd prefer to plunk away at him from maximum range. See how he takes to it."
"So?"
"Nelly, get me Admiral Tong."
A moment later, a small window on the screen of her egg showed the Iteeche admiral. He was flat on his back as well, in one of the high gee eggs that Nelly had designed for Iteeche use.
"Yes, My Admiral," he said.
"What are your thoughts on the rebel admiral giving chase?"
"He may be an ignorant clan spawn, but he does appear to have a fighter’s heart. It will be interesting to see how long it beats like a warrior's."
"I would like to steer closer to the rebels, but not too quickly. Can we keep up that three gees?"
"For however long you want. We will not lose our fighting edge, My Admiral."
"Very good. I'd like to hold at three gees, Tong, but I want to swing the sterns down fifteen degrees. That will give us a vector of 2.5 gees away from the rebels and half a gee slowing down our dive toward Longnae 4."
The Iteeche closed his eyes to think. "That will allow the rebels to slowly catch up with us while we also climb up to them."
"Yes," Kris said. "If they keep on the course they're on right now, they'd still be 600,000 kilometers distant when they came even with us on our own course."
"Let them close on one vector while we slowly close on another. It will still give us a shot at their sterns."
"I wouldn't count on that," Kris said. "All it takes is for them to keep zero vectors away from the planet and they zip by us and start shooting up our sterns."
"I foresee that there will be much jockeying for position in this battle.”
"Yes. We'll need to stay ready to adjust vectors and gees at a moment's notice."
"No problem, My Admiral. We are ready for this."
"Good, then order the change in vector and let's see how our opposite number responds to us offering battle, but slowly."
A moment later, the Princess Royal did something that Kris only felt in her inner ear. A few minutes later, Kris could see the results. Her fleet still fled the rebel force. However, they were now closing on her along one vector. Meanwhile, along a perpendicular vector, she was closing on them.
Battle was still a long way off. However, both she and her opposite number now knew that they had made the decision for battle.
There would be a bloody and possibly decisive battle here today.
Kris relaxed back into her egg and took a swig of water. How would the rebel admiral react to her move on this deadly chess board?
72
"My Most, ah . . . Admiral, the Longknife Human's fleet has changed course."
With a groan, Admiral Zom pushed the button and his couch began to angle up. The servos raising his high gee couch protested against raising the tripled weight of his body to where he could see the battle board.
"Number One, send to the ships carrying messages back to headquarters. Battle board must be rigged so that they can be seen when the person in the couch next to them is flat on their back. Also, strengthen the power and endurance of the servo motors on the couches. Three gees taxes them."
"Yes, Admiral."
"Oh, and tell them the water couches need to have a thicker skin. My couch is being held together by that incredible Human product, duct tape." While they were at 1.5 gees, they'd checked all the cushions and found many that were wearing thin. Two corners on his own couch had to be reinforced.
Zom closed his eyes and sighed. If an eager Human merchant had not brought a ton of the stuff and sold it to a rebel agent, way too many of his men would be zonked on pain suppressants. He might be one of them.
"Both messages are sent," Number One staff officer said.
"Good, now let me look at this board," Zom snapped. Every joint in his body seemed to be aching. Every move at 3.0 or 3.5 gees had been a struggle and was only getting worse.
Maybe I should cut my acceleration and see if she will slow her flight?
Zom considered that, then put it aside for later. She had just turned into him. He would not want to show her any sign of weakness. No. Let them close for an hour. The Iteeche admiral set his alarm and lowered his couch to the full horizontal.
"Admiral, what are you doing?"
"I am doing nothing, Number One. I like the way the battle is developing. Let's see if she will keep on this course for a while. If I fall asleep, wake me in an hour."
"Yes, My Admiral."
Well, at least he got his Number One to shorten the time it took him to say anything to him. Still, the staff officer had sounded incredulous. Whether that was for his decision, or his mentioning he might fall asleep, Zom could not tell.
Maybe for the younger officer it was easy to bear up under the feeling of having a dozen denizens of the deep, dark abyss jumping up and down on his chest. For the admiral, it was exhausting . . . and getting worse. He might well need to rest. Maybe even close his eyes.
He did. Behind his eyelids he contemplated his coming battle. The Human was coming back at him, slowing her ships to let him catch up with her. He was closing the range from another vector. He would come under fire from her at maximum range. However, if he changed his vector and charged toward the planet, that would put him in much closer range of her fleet very quickly.
There was another thought that lurked in the back of his mind. He relaxed and let his mind go blank.
And so he fell asleep. However, just before he drifted off, the thought came at him. Yes. There was something he could do that would totally ruin that Longknife woman's day . . . and likely end her charmed life.
An hour later, Number One woke him before his alarm.
"Has anything changed?" Admiral Zom asked.
"Nothing, My Admiral. Both fleets are still on the same vectors and accelerations."
"Very good. Now, let's play with our hooked fish. We know she's willing to give battle. Let's see how willing. Number One, order the fleet to reduce acceleration to 2.5 gees. Let's see how she reacts to that."
Admiral Kris Longknife was about ready to break out a video game. Watching this battle develop had all the excitement of watching paint dry. Worse, yawning at three gees was agony on the jaw muscles.
Nelly, as usual, was the first to identify the rebel's change in acceleration. "Kris, the enemy fleet has lowered its
deceleration to 2.5 gees."
Kris eyed her board and waited for it to show any change. It took it half a minute to switch the acceleration next to the rebel fleet's vector. That didn't change. He was still pursuing her, just at an acceleration that would never catch her.
"Do you think he's gotten cold feet?" Jack asked.
"Cold feet would be switching his vector to slow him down so he could make orbit on Longnae 4. No, he's still chasing us, but I bet he's tired of three gees and would like to take some of the weight off."
"So he goes to 2.5 gees for a diet?" Jack said, with a bit of a chuckle. "Do you want to take some gees off the fleet? The Iteeche might like it."
"Nelly, get me Admiral Tong."
"She already has me," the Iteeche admiral said. "I've been listening in on your conversation since our rebel friend went to 2.5 gees."
"Any ideas?"
"I have plenty of them. I just don't know which of them relate to reality. Their high gee stations are very likely not as good as ours. I would expect that his sailors, maybe even the admiral himself, are all tired of all the extra weight. Remember, you asked for younger officers and sailors. You wanted crews with strong backs. I wonder how many of his people are lost in drugged dreams."
"I thought about that," Kris said. "What are the chances he just wants me to come to him?"
"That is also a fact. You must have noted how poor their gunnery was during that very brief shoot. If you approach him on a slat range, he could flip ship and accelerate toward the planet. That would get him into moderate range very quickly."
"Yes," Kris said. "I do like to keep my battles at long range for as long as I can manage it."
"Might we also dive toward the planet?" Jack asked.
"We'd have to," Kris said. She then changed the subject. "Admiral, how are your Iteeche taking to three gees?"
"About as good as can be expected. I can't say that these high gee stations make it fun, but it is certainly survivable."
"How many officers and men have reported for sick call?" Jack asked.
"Jack, your Sal offered to keep track of that for me."
"Sal, are you freelancing again?" Jack drawled.
"More like looking for something to do, General," his computer answered back, not quite as insubordinate as Nelly.
"Admiral," Jack said, "when things are slow, feel free to keep Sal as busy as you want to."
"It is nice being on Nelly Net and getting access to her kids," Admiral Tong said. "Anyway, on average less than one percent, say ten out of a thousand in the crew, have suffered muscle tears and sprains since we jacked up acceleration. If you plan to keep this up for a week, I might have a mutiny on my hands, but the next day or so, no problem."
"Good, because I'd like to use the extra half gee to slow down our approach to the planet."
"So," Tong said, "you want to spend one third of our vector to slow us down and the other two thirds to let the rebel slowly creep up on us."
"Yes. We'll still be letting him approach us using the two gees. He's not slowing his velocity at all toward the planet. We'll let him accelerate at half a gee toward us.
"I will issue the orders. Anything else?"
"What do you think of going back to Condition Charlie so the cooks can get a hot meal into the crew?" Kris asked.
"I would not object to that. It would have to be soup or something that could be eaten at their battle stations and in their eggs."
"Let's do that. Tell every captain that they are free to go back to Condition Zed on their own authority if things start developing fast. Also keep the hulls rotating at twenty revolutions a minute. I don't want us to slip into battle without that defense up and working."
"It will all be done, My Admiral."
They ended the call. After a minute, Kris again felt that strange sensation in her inner ear. She still weighed a bit more than two and a half times her normal weight, but this was three gees for an Iteeche, not her.
She relaxed back into her egg and eyed the screen above her. Her fleet slowly approached from below the rebels. They slowly approached from behind. Kris would have to watch the rate of closure carefully, as well as the velocity of the two forces. If the rebels picked up too much velocity, she might lose control of choosing the range.
She couldn't let them barge in with enough velocity to rapidly close the range so that even poor gunnery could win the battle.
Kris knew the battle was only an hour away. It both terrified and excited her. She knew the feeling well, now, having felt it so often in her time in the Navy.
She sighed. She was in that awful time when everything had been done and all she could do was wait upon the outcome. She eyed the enemy fleet and waited for the rebel commander’s next move.
If he tried to pull a fast one on her, she'd have to be ready to respond immediately.
Hot soup in a plastic bag with a long straw was delivered to her egg by a mechanical arm. She sucked on it. It was a nice fish chowder with the fish reduced to tiny slivers that would not block the straw.
"Tasty," Jack said, beside her.
"Warm and filling," Kris added. "Just what I like while I wait for something to happen."
"Yeah," Jack said.
Together, they talked about the kids while both kept their eyes on their boards. The fight would come soon enough.
73
"The Longknife Human has reacted to your decreasing acceleration to 2.5 gees, My Admiral," Number One reported.
Once again, Admiral Zom forced his high gee couch to bring his head up above the lip of his battle board. He raised it only as high as he needed to. The weight was taking more out of him than he wanted to admit.
More than that, he feared that the gears raising and lowering his couch would fail with him not high enough up to see his board, but not low enough down to keep the blood from flowing to his feet.
"We should have tested these high gee stations in a long high gee cruise," he muttered to himself.
"Who would have thought that we would be in such a grueling high gee battle?" Number One said.
"We have read the battle reports," Admiral Zom shot back. "This Longknife Human luxuriates in her youth and fights like an eel, striking fast, but never there when you try to spear it."
"You have sent back reports. The next fleet will be better prepared," his senior staff officer answered.
"Hopefully, we will live long enough to make our own report to headquarters," the admiral said ruefully. "Now let's see what she has done."
The board showed her closing faster than she had been.
"What did she do?"
"My Admiral, she did not reduce the gees she's forcing her Iteeche allies to take," Number One said. "Instead she has divided the vector of her three gees so that two gees add acceleration to her flight from us and the third gee decelerates her on her approach to the planet."
"She keeps her own Iteeche under three gees?" the admiral muttered.
"She has only recently put her sailors under such a punishing acceleration, Sir. Certainly, they can survive this."
"Yes, yes, they did not spend almost half a day at 3.5 gees to get where they are," the admiral grumbled. So, she was slowing as he slowed. How far would she slow down if he kept sliding down the gee scale? He'd love to settle the fleet at 1.5 gees.
Over the next quarter hour, he did just that. First he slowed to 2.0 gees, then to 1.5 gees, and finally settled finally at 1.25 gees. One gee decelerated toward the planet. The other .25 gee slowly let him catch up with this Human.
He had his board do some alternate courses. The way this was going, they'd be at nearly the same velocity when his fleet came in range. She would have a very slight angle on his stern, so shots at his reactors were unlikely.
Still, if he hiked up his gees to close with her, there would be little gained by diving down on her. Even if he dropped straight down, he couldn't get a better range than 250,000 kilometers on her.
That was still extremely long range for his
ships.
Admiral Zom eyed the amount of time he had before the two fleets came in range. He also studied the enemy ships. "Number One, are they at Condition Charlie?"
"Yes, My Admiral, they do appear to have expanded their ship to that size. I imagine that is to allow some hands to get meals just before the fight begins."
"Let us do the same, alert the fleet that they may go to Condition Charlie and dismiss one quarter of the crew at a time to the mess deck and washtubs. Let us try to loosen up. Also, check the high gee couches again. I don't want any cushions going flat if I have to ask for 3.5 gees again."
"Yes, My Admiral," and Number One began talking on his comm link. A few minutes later, Zom's flagship spread out. Runners were sent to the wardroom to draw tea and biscuits.
"Will some mechanic look at the workings of my couch? Its gears seem to be grinding."
A chief and two ratings soon had the cover off and were looking inside.
"There is definitely something wrong, Admiral," the chief reported. "There is an oil leak with what looks like small metal filings in the oil. I think your couch is in failure mode."
"Can you repair it?" the admiral asked.
"No, sir. We did not get a supply of spare parts before we sailed. They were on order. They didn't arrive."
"Hmm, Number One, do we have a spare couch?" Admiral Zom demanded.
"No, My Admiral. When we sailed, we were short by several hundred thousand high gee couches. Some sailors that don't need to move around much just have water or air mattresses."
"Number One, swap my couch out for someone who doesn't always have to go up to see and down his battle board."
"Yes, My Admiral."
A few minutes later, one of the Marines pushed his couch up beside the admiral and helped the admiral move to it. Then he pushed the failing one back against the wall.
Only now did the admiral realize that a dozen runners now sat on couches that lay along the wall. They talked quietly among themselves. Doubtlessly, they'd recline if the gees got too high.
Kris Longknife Stalwart Page 41
