“Your point is well taken, Grand Admiral,” Kvel Mavek interjected, avek inbut we are dealing with the present situation. What hope has our offensive now that two-thirds of its forces have withdrawn from the field?”
“The Quotterim and the Syraptose have played their parts, Madame Pro Consul, and played them well,” Khandar informed her. “I admit that Alexander’s boldness surpassed my expectations, and that I never thought our confederates would suffer more than a sound defeat and withdrawal, but what of it? They were meant to divide and divert Alexander’s forces, and they have accomplished that. Indeed, they have accomplished that in far greater measure than I could have hoped. Now Alexander’s two far flung fleets are deep in our confederate’s space, not on the frontiers. They have that much farther to go before they can return to the defense of Terra or strike our own Homeworlds.”
“That is not entirely true, Grand Admiral,” the Bael representative corrected, explaining, “either of Alexander’s fleets can strike Bael in a matter of decurns. There are no forces of Bael or the Alliance which can prevent that. Such is the case for five out of the remaining eight Alliance members. How do we plan to address that issue?”
“With all due respects I do not think we need to, Councilor,” the Grand Admiral said simply. He began pacing again, but continued his line of reasoning quickly in order to forego the expected, and understandable, objections by the Alliance member states at risk. “I ask you to look at the situation through Alexander’s eyes. The Bael are a noble people, and definitely a worthy addition to Alexander’s empire, but he has no need to attack them now. Why should he waste forces in conquest of Bael, or any of our other brethren in the civilized galaxy, if they do not have the capacity to resist his fleets in the first place? No, Alexander is cunning. He will wait. He will seek out and destroy the major threats to his dominion and then allow all others to fall neatly into place. Therefore, Alexander will come to Seer, and to Golkos. When those worlds have fallen the Bael shall have reason to fear Alexander’s fleets, not before.” Khandar stopped again, hesitating until the silence became palpable. None interrupted him. No one had any suggestion or question which would clarify their course. The Council slipped into the apathy of the observer, disconnected from events, and looking to simply hang on to the tidal wave which swept over them. It was exactly the mood Khandar wished for, and he pounced on it. “The only way out of this is to persevere, together, to the full intent of our original plan. The Terrans cannot halt our advance on their Homeworld, and I do not think the y have the forces necessary to defeat us. If we can agree to a few decands of patience I shall take Terra and force a peace on Alexander; a peace on our terms! That is how this war shall end!”
There was a somber silence on the other end of the etherlink. The Councilors queried each other in low monotone voices for only a moment, and then Mavek looked across the vastness of space and said simply, “You have our best wishes Grand Admiral.” The ethernet then went dark.
Khandar stood glowering at the blank wall of the chamber. He was now completely alone with his thoughts, with no one, not even Admiral S’kreen to play the devil’s advocate. He needed no one, as there was not a being in the fleet, or within all the Alliance who did not realize the knife’s edge his world stood upon. He dimmed the lights to reflect his mood, and set out once again pacing the length of the chamber. To anyone listening his voice would have been an inaudible whisper, something felt not heard. To Khandar, however, it was a booming trumpet of thunder; at once invigorating and terrifying.
“I can now resolve myself to an immortal coup: the taking of Alexander’s world, the near mythical Terra! Whatever the outcome of this war that shall be my legacy! Whether we stand or fall shall be of little consequence to history, but that Alexander could not meet my strength in the defense of his own will be a black mark upon his memory and a shining medallion on my own! Yet what after? Do not the victors write history? I myself doubt the very tenet of my strategy: to bring Alexander to the bargaining table with Terra as the balance. Will Alexander concede to peace and so leave this blight on his record uncontested? Never! He would not be remembered as such. Yet would Alexander leave his own world open to bitter defeat; subject to rape and slaughter without his own presence in defense? I find that equally difficult to believe. What then of Alexander, for that is truly the key of this tantalizing puzzle.”
Khandar thought in silence, pacing the darkened deck until with a sudden revelation, he stopped. The answer struck him and his eyes glowed a greedy red. “He must defend his own! That is his code, his badge of honor. Yet when all is lost in battle the wise general preserves what he can and withdraws to revenge another day. Has he not already accomplished so difficult a battle in his past lives? Alexander is wise and would not throw his life away with Terra’s future, not when he can bleed us white and then turn and rend us with his other fleets. When battle is met, however, it is not always so easy to withdraw. If we strike hard and fast enough then boldness may win the day. To kill or capture Alexander, ah, that is the true prize at Terra. If the fortunes of war shine upon me so brightly as to deliver him to that battlefield I shall smite him! Then shall I bring Alexander the Conqueror to Golkos in chains, to my world’s adulation and my everlasting glory!”
CHAPTER 32
Alexander returned to Terra the day after his interview with Admiral Senn’tyr of Quoterra. His reasoning was twofold. Reports indicated a rising level of hysteria concerning the impending Alliance entry into the Terran system. Alexander did not attempt to censure or downplay the news reports that had the Golkos-Seer’koh fleet only two weeks away now, but he wanted to lend his surety to Terrans everywhere. He made nightly broadcasts, preparing his people for the battle to come. He reminded them of their own history when they overcame the most dangerous warrior race in the known galaxy, themselves, time and time again through courage and perseverance. Most of Alexander’s effect was not through speeches, however, but through his presence. No Terran expected Alexander to be anywhere but in space directing the battle when the time came, but for the moment to have him touring the major cities of Terra leant an air of calm. The Terran Overlord was never flustered that the empire was under duress, and his quiet confidence was contagious.
Alexander attended the dockyards, spaceports, social events and legislatures on six continents. Behind the tours was Alexander’s interest in how defensive preparations were progressing. Terra already boasted a significant planetary defense system before the Alliance threat; a result of the Chem intention to destroy the presumed Scythian mercenaries. Since that time the standard array of blaster projectors and defense screens had undergone a radical and very Terran transformation. As Terran engineers studied and came to understand their purchased weaponry a host of innovations and improvements went into the field. Ideas that worked were quickly spread throughout the system, and those that did not were discarded.
To Alexander, who had taken little part in these earthly matters, the preparations were heartening and fascinating. Standing beneath a thirty meter projector rifle on the tropical island of Diego Garcia he listened intently to General Aaron Sharon, former Commander of Israeli defense forces, and now the Commander in Chief of the Terran Defense Force. General Sharon was a well respected commander Admiral Augesburcke’s Chief of Defense in CODOTS. When the CODOTS was dissolved the General retained his responsibilities, and since worked feverishly to overhaul and expand the scope of Terran defense.
“The Scythians sold us nine of these guns,” he told Alexander’s party. “It’s a good gun, though we’ve made some improvements. There was a good deal of wasted energy vented into the atmosphere and into the crust, which the Galactics like to use as a heat sink. We use this practice as well, but we’ve found a way to save that energy. We can expand the principle of the magnetic bottle which is used to contain matter-anti-matter reactions to this use. Under normal circumstances the energy is transferred deep within the crust and allowed to dissipate. We channel this energy via a magnetic con
duit to a holding field in the seamount beneath the atoll and allow it to expend its energy on the matter there. Eventually the energy within the field will turn the matter into a dense plasma, which we can channel back into the gun’s atmospheric phaser. Part of the problem with a planetary gun is the requirement for it to shoot through the atmosphere. This requires us to focus the beam to minimize the energy loss. In reality, however, we still lose about ten to fifteen percent of our power to atmospheric attenuation. It’s not a very efficient method, but it is overcome by the sheer energy available to the gun. Ground power stations are capable of far larger outputs than ship borne engines, and they can be dedicated to the gun alone. Therefore, this gun, despite its limitations, can emit a projector stream greater than that of a battleship broadside. We’ve improved upon this though by concentrating on energy management and finding another method of allowing the beam to pass through the atmosphere. The basic theory was to use the plasma in pulses or “bullets” of energy to create a tunnel in the atmosphere for the gun to fire. These “bullets” are plasma bursts, and they leave a wake in their path which is a near vacuum. The best thing about the idea is the “bullets” are free, as they come from wasted energy. Before we had to curtail and focus the power of the gun, and we still lost a great deal to the atmosphere. Now, however, we can fire almost as if through a vacuum. It took months of tinkering, but now I’m happy to say that we’ve got the bugs worked out and we’re firing at one hundred and twenty-three percent of previous levels.”
“Impressive General, most impressive,” Alexander nodded, “and you say this increase is due to simply finding a better way to get through the atmosphere? I am surprised, I must say, that the Galactics had not found a better way previously. If you look at their technology they have a remarkable level of ability when it comes to controlling the atmosphere with regard to weather, pollution, and the like. Why would this problem be so difficult?”
“It was simply never addressed, Alexander,” Nazar told him. The Chem folded his arms, head cocked to the side, gleaming eyes glancing at the gun. “Again we see an example of our differing modes of thought, and one of the reasons you are so feared as a species and as a being. Such an attention to detail is somewhat alien to the Galactic’s mind. We developed our weapons, and our machines to suit our purposes, but there is little exploration beyond that need. The creation of technology takes a great amount of resources. When this weapon was designed those resources were dedicated to it until such time as the desired performance was reached and then they were promptly diverted elsewhere. This desire and ability of Terrans, to endlessly explore for better ways of doing things is unique to the Galactic’s civilization. It is part of your psyche, it appears, and I am beginning to comprehend just how ingrained this need to learn and to change is to your people. My observations also lead me to believe that this difference between modern Galactics and Terrans is more behavioral than intellectual. I consider myself the intellectual equal of any Terran, but my cognitive training is based on a linear, you would call it stagnant, cultural development. Galactics are concerned with the status quo, and thus the maintenance of civilization, not necessarily the improvement of it. This is a result of a lack of need; there is no starvation, no destitution, and until recently no war in Galactic civilization. Each culture has its place and there are rigid borders set upon what is expected and required of people, states and civilization in general. That in a very simplified picture was the state of the civilized galaxy in the kicellia prior to Alexander.
This weapon is a case in point. It is actually a copy of the standard Chem terrestrial defense gun, and in all ways is its equal. The design itself was last updated a kicellia before you, Alexander, were making your stand on Stamford Bridge. There have been few significant upgrades to the design, and it was built for many kicellia of service life. It is a well balanced weapon with a good service history, though I know of no planet, other than Terra, which has more than five of them. The Scythian’s must have spent the last kicellia acquiring that many.”
“Actually we scavenged four of them from former Scythian worlds outside their Homeworlds,” General Sharon told Nazar. “We’ve found that virtually anything is available at a price, though unfortunately the well is drying up. We’ve pretty much exhausted the Scythian stockpiles. We’ve had to become inventive.”
“Please go on,” Alexander asked, walking around the emplacement and gazing at the Sun through the tritium filigree with the fascination of a young boy.
“There are a lot of hodgepodge and makeshift systems,” Sharon replied evenly. “In addition to the planetary projectors there are multiple emplacements on asteroids moved into high orbit. These batteries consist of smaller power projectors linked in series and dug into the crust of the asteroids. They don’t normally have the power to effect ships with potent defense screens, but we’ve discovered that linked together with their blasters concentrating on a specific location we can penetrate shielding. The batteries are fully automatic and programmed to fire on the same targets as their complementary projectors on Terra. In this way we catch any ship entering a standard bombardment orbit in a potent crossfire. They won’t be able to channel power to ventral shields without leaving their dorsal side wide open. Beyond that our major initiative is the mine fields. We’ve depleted all the available matter-anti-matter generators the Scythians had so we’ve resorted to nuclear again. Specifically we’ve found a use for the roughly thirty thousand nuclear warheads that have been stockpiled over the last half century. The fields are already in place with proximity fuses set. We’ve re-used the magnetic bottle concept to direct the energy of the mine more or less at the target. They should, in theory, be able to disrupt and even penetrate galactic shields. I think it will provide a nasty reception for the Alliance should they try and enter orbit outside our safe corridors. To further confuse the matter there are over one million objects in the fields around Terra, not all of them are nuclear of course, in fact some are simply garbage cans filled with water and tossed overboard, but due to their similarity in size and mass without a minute scan there is no way to tell one from the other. We hope to keep the Alliance busy enough so they don’t have time to look. The minefields are located in low orbits of one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five kilometers: standard bombardment orbits.”
“That’s the optimal bombardment range for galactic style projectors,” Augesburcke added. “We are counting on the Alliance intention of entering orbit for bombardment after they’ve penetrated our systems defenses. In order for them to have any hope of penetrating our defense screens they will have to enter orbit. Beyond one hundred and fifty kilometers their projector streams diverge and lose power rapidly. Interference patterns set up by our atmosphere and our screens similarly reduce projector power within one hundred kilometers. Therefore, the Alliance has a fairly narrow corridor from which to bombard the surface, and our defenses are layered to aggravate this restriction.”
“Exactly, Admiral,” continued Sharon, “In addition to these lethal defenses we’ve developed some added surprises which are primarily intended to confuse and confound. The Scythians had in their possession a dozen tractor beam stations originally meant for mining. They have the ability to move great masses at pretty fair distances. We’ve placed them at various points over the globe with the intention of using them to disrupt formations, draw ships into “killing zones,” and manipulate the minefields.”
“An ingenious change in their purpose, General,” Alexander observed.
“That’s not quite all, Alexander,” Augesburcke smiled. “We have one more offensive program which I thought you’d like to hear about. I know in your former life that you happened to fly B-52’s. Well, we’ve found out they’re still useful as launch platforms. With a sub light engine mounted in the aft fuselage we’ve converted them to missile carriers. We can use the aircraft’s existing weapons loads, ALCM’s and SRAM’s with very slight modifications, in space. The nuclear payloads pack enough punch to disable or des
troy a battleship if it penetrates the shields.”
“Really? I don’t suppose that old bird will ever be truly retired except by combat. What about the rest of our aircraft?” Alexander asked.
“We’ve had similar success with the Russian “Bears,” and the British “Vulcans,” but the B-2’s have too much composite for the tritanium bath process, and the B-1’s, well the Americans couldn’t get them to work under normal conditions so we’ve left them to the museums. Fighters just don’t carry enough of a payload. However, in tests we’ve found their small radar signatures might prove confusing to Alliance warships. Therefore, we’ve put station keeping thrusters on a few hundred with minimal flight controls. They are flown from the ground by datalink. Their purpose is to ram.”
“I can understand the amount of kinetic energy involved in such a collision,” Alexander wondered, “but what damage can we expect if a fighter gets through. Can we take out a battleship?”
“Each fighter has one of our nuclear artillery shells wired into her,” Augesburcke smiled. “It was only a few hundred shells out of the fields, so no great loss. We would have done more but we’ve run out of sub-light engines and thrusters; even the ones that don’t work anymore!”
“How many of these space/aircraft can we field?” Alexander asked.
“All in all we can field over five hundred nuclear armed aircraft for planetary defense. The total offensive punch amounts to roughly four thousand nuclear warheads.” Augesburcke explained.
“That’s impressive, Admiral, General,” Alexander nodded. “Four warheads to each ship. Things are beginning to stack up against Grand Admiral Khandar. He can’t have any inkling over what he’s about to face. This is hardly a standard Galactic defense. I imagine there’s going to be a great deal of surprise and confusion in the Alliance fleet when it arrives. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the essential part in all this. Our defense in depth looks quite menacing, and in all probability it is just that. The numbers are, however, against us. Even the energetic defense we envision cannot hold the firepower of the Alliance fleet at bay indefinitely; possibly not even until our fleets arrive. We must therefore add time to the equation and buy it how we will. Confusion is our greatest ally, in my opinion. The Alliance forces are attempting to coordinate their arrival for a simultaneous envelopment, but that is more difficult in reality than it is in theory. There is bound to be miscalculation and miscommunication on their part, and we’ve got to take advantage of that.”
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