by C. R. Daems
"Intellectually I see your point. The Issog considered us cattle and the Arrith consider us monkeys…and we consider them lizards." He laughed. "Maybe the Riss have the right of it. I'd be willing to settle for a non-aggression treaty with the Arrith and the Issog, but the Commonwealth Committee won't like it. Your idea of two segments of the government might be the right approach."
* * *
Reese woke to an emergency message on her SID. When she opened the unit, Admiral Simons's face appeared.
"Captain Reese, the Arrith are entering Utopia space. So far, three fleets have entered and they are forming lines one light-second apart and approaching at two hundred fifty gravities toward Utopia. We are taking up the positions we discussed: Eighth Fleet at six, Fifth Fleet at seven, and the Fourth fleet at eight light-seconds from the Wave. We should reach our assigned positions long before the Arrith reach the four–second mark."
* * *
"Admiral Goosen and Admiral Westly, remember the strategy. We wait for the Arrith fleet to skip to your location, target the cruisers closest to you, and fire only a half load. Then wait for them to return fire. When they do fire, skip one light-second toward the wave. That position should be empty. Then wait for the next Arrith fleet to skip to your position and repeat the sequence. Given that the time for the Arrith to target you is ten to fifteen seconds longer, i.e., after the twenty plus seconds for you to target them, and the time to skip to your position, you should always have one half of your missiles loaded. When you reach the Wave, exit to Rockland."
"I don't like leaving Utopia," Admiral Goosen said. "They could destroy the cities—"
"It's a risk, but it’s the only way to avoid the Commonwealth and the Arrith destroying each other. That is an order. Remember, any fleet failing to follow our strategy could result in the destruction of the Commonwealth. Good hunting." Simons cut the connection. "Captain Reese, any last comments?"
"We plan to leave one of the Flagship Admirals alive. As the ranking officer, it should avoid the junior captains arguing about what to do when you leave Utopia." Reese cut the connection.
***
As Admirals Cushings and Zackery had predicted, the Arrith entered Utopia with five fleets, each fleet formed a line of twenty cruisers, and each line was spaced one light-second apart. The Flagships and the squadron leader cruisers were positioned slightly to the rear of each fleet's line. After the last fleet had exited the Wave and the first Arrith fleet, designated AF1, reached the four-second mark, M4, it skipped to the six-second mark, M6, where the Commonwealth's Eighth Fleet, designated CF1, waited.
CF1 took twenty-six seconds to target the AF1 and fired four missiles, a half load, and waited. Twelve seconds later AF1 fired and CF1 skipped one light-second to M5.
At the same time, Commonwealth's Fifth Fleet, designated CF2, skipped to M6, targetted AF1, which was reloading, fired, and waited. Simultaneously the second Arrith fleet, AF2 at M3, skipped to engage the CF1 at M5, while the Commonwealth’s Fourth Fleet, CF3, skipped to M7.
It took CF1 eighteen seconds to target AF2, fire a half load. When AF2 fired and they skip to M4.
CF2 waited on AF1 to fire. If AF1 refused to fire, CF2 would fire again, because CF3 was waiting to skip to M6 and couldn't until AF1 had fired and was reloading. When they did fire twenty seconds later, CF2 skipped to M5 and CF3 to M6.
Now the third Arrith fleet, AF3 at M2, skipped to M4 to attack CF1, which targeted AF3 in twenty seconds, fired, and skipped to M3 after AF3 returned fire fifteen seconds later.
CF2, now at M5, fired on AF2, waited for return fire, and skipped to M4, where AF3 was reloading. And CF3 at M6 fired on AF1—the third round of half loads from CF1, CF2, and CF3—a total of more than two hundred missiles. The combined attacks on AF1 resulted in the destruction of ten cruisers and major damaged to another six.
The Mnemosyne with CF3 destroyed the Arrith flagship using two red-wraiths—cruiser-busting missiles. CF3 then skipped to M5 after AF1 fired.
The fourth Arrith Fleet, AF4 at M1, skipped to M3 to attack CF1, which targeted AF4 within fifteen seconds, fired, and waited for AF4 to fire and then skipped to M2.
CF2 at M4 targeted AF3—which was reloading—and fired nineteen seconds later, waited for AF3 to fire, and skipped to M3.
CF3 at M5 targeted AF2 and fired, skipping twenty-one seconds later to M4 when the eight functional AF2 cruisers returned fire. AF2 had lost eleven cruisers and had six damaged. Again, the Mnemosyne destroyed the Arrith flagship.
AF5 at the Wave promptly skipped to M2 to engage CF1. But before CF1 could target AF5, the Riss cruisers destroyed the Arrith flagship and the four Arrith squadron leaders. Fifteen seconds later, CF1 fired on the remaining AF5 cruisers, which returned fire twenty-five seconds later. CF1 then skipped to the Wave and exited Utopia. AF5 had lost fifteen cruisers and their flagship.
When AF4 returned fire, CF2 skipped to M2, targeted and fired, and skipped to the Wave and exited when AF5 returned fire. Only one AF5 ship remained functional.
At M4, CF3 targeted AF3, fired, and skipped to M3 after AF3 returned fire. Captain Reese decided to leave the AF3 flagship intact and instead destroyed a squadron leader's cruiser. Thirteen cruisers were destroyed and four damaged when CF3 skipped.
At M3, CF3 targeted AF4, fired, and skipped to M2 when they returned fire. The Mnemosyne destroyed the flagship and only nine functional cruisers remained when they skipped. At M2, only one functional cruiser remained when CF3 arrived. After destroying the last cruiser, they exited the Wave. Only the Sakhmet and the Mnemosyne stayed. When CF3 exited, the Sakhmet sent out a general broadcast in the Arrith language that had been prepared for the engagement.
We are leaving Utopia to give the Arrith time to think. The Commonwealth is being helped by the Riss Nation, which does not want to see the Arrith or the Commonwealth destroyed, which will happen if this war continues. As you can see, you cannot win a war of attrition with your current active fleets. and as we speak, the Riss are destroying your production facilities, so the one hundred forty cruisers you had in production are not going to be available. The delay is for you to verify what I'm saying. And if you destroy Utopia, we will destroy Ga'Siih and eventually we will have destroyed both our nations. The Riss suggest we call a truce to negotiate a non-aggression treaty. We await your answer thirty days from today at our normal meeting system, NS268.
* * *
"What do you think, Terril?" Reese asked after the Sakhmet had exited the Wave.
"That was an impressive performance. The Arrith lost more than sixty cruisers and didn't score one missile hit. I’d wager most of the Commonwealth captains wanted to continue the engagement. They could have wiped out the remaining Arrith, who only had the equivalent of two fleets remaining."
"True. But they were out of skips, so the engagement would have been more even. They would have won, but at a loss of at least one fleet."
"What do you think the Arrith will do now that the Commonwealth fleet has left?"
"I imagine they are madder that a smashed hornet's nest and looking for anything to kill," Terril said, grinning. "If that were the SAS, they would be voting whether to scorch the planet."
"That's why I left one flag officer alive. Without a senior officer, the remaining captains might have taken independent action or gone with the majority opinion. I'm hoping they will listen to a flag officer and that he will feel it necessary to verify what we've said and want to have a strategy going forward."
"They are leaving," Reese said sixteen hours later. "Probably concerned the Commonwealth fleet may return after they recharge their skip capacity."
"I wonder if New Faith and New Hope got invaded?" Terril asked as she watched the Arrith cruisers entering the Wave.
"I hope so. That could have made the empires closer to parity and the Arrith more willing to negotiate a treaty," Reese said as she prepared to exit Utopia after the last Arrith cruiser.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Negotiating Peace
/> "Captain, the Mnemosyne has entered Rockland space," the Comm officer said, giving Wallace a nervous look. He clicked on his PCD and spoke as soon as he saw Admiral Simons’s face.
"Admiral, the Mnemosyne has returned."
"Get me a connection," she said, looking calm and feeling as though she stood on a landmine that was humming Your end of days. A minute later Captain Reese's face appeared, and she smiled.
"They destroyed your production facilities but nothing else."
"I guess that's fair, since you informed them you were destroying theirs. And it’s a gigantic relief. I know the captains of the three fleets feel we should have stayed and finished the fight. I felt the same way."
"You would have lost at least one fleet, maybe close to two—"
"And saved our production facility—"
"True, however the Arrith are not going to fall for that Issog tactic again. Next time you engage them, they will also be skipping, so it's going to be a slug fest."
"Yes. Right now, everyone is overconfident. They had a fantastic victory and forget the Arrith aren't stupid. They will adjust, and could surprise us."
* * *
Three weeks later, the Riss fleet returned to Rockland and Reese invited Admiral Simons to the Mnemosyne. When everyone was connected via tight beam, Reese spoke.
"Welcome back. You were gone a bit longer than I had expected."
"We decided to attack each facility with all five ships. I thought one ship would take too long to ensure the facility was beyond repair, and that would attract Arrith attention. So travel time was longer, but the facilities will have to be built new, and it will take a year or two for the new facilities to be operational." Da'Maass's bushy face smiled as he raised his ubiquitous glass to the screen.
"They are all destroyed?" Simons asked, somewhat taken aback. "All one hundred and forty cruisers?"
"Yes. That's why I thought we needed all five cruisers. I wanted to make sure the cruisers in production were also destroyed. That took extra time but made for a magical fireworks display."
"What is happening in the Commonwealth?" Gebauer asked, obviously concerned about what happened when the Commonwealth cruisers left Utopia space.
"The Arrith flag commander decided that attacking the Commonwealth cities might not be a good idea, or maybe he was concerned the Commonwealth fleets might return. Anyway, they left after destroying our production facility," Simons said.
"Admiral Simons and I will be leaving for the proposed rendezvous space to see if the Arrith are interested in a treaty," Reese said. "We'll meet you back at Utopia."
"Maybe I can get someone to order me some wine. I'm running low." Da'Maass raised his empty glass to a chorus of laughs.
* * *
The Sakhmet entered NS268 with their weapon system offline while the Mnemosyne entered in stealth mode and moved three light-seconds from the Wave. The space was empty. Two days later, an Arrith flagship and a squadron entered at battle stations, but the system was quickly turned off. An hour later the Flagship was within a light second of the Sakhmet and the Mnemosyne, which had its sensors active. To the Arrith's credit, their squadron remained at the Wave.
"I am First Commander S'hiituu, representing the Arrith Nation. Who are you?" were the Arrith’s first words after the communication links were established. His mouthful of sharp teeth were exposed, indicating aggression.
"I am Vice Admiral Simons, representing the Commonwealth of Stars," Simons said and paused.
"I am Leader Reese of the Riss Nation." Reese’s image appeared along with R-Saga’s. "We are here to watch the negotiations and act as peacekeepers."
"You destroyed our production facilities!" The Arrith snarled, exposing more teeth.
"If we hadn't, you wouldn't be willing to talk peace, since the destruction of your ships wouldn't have mattered. You would still have a superior number of cruisers and would adjust to the Commonwealth’s skipping tactics. Now you have roughly equal forces and will destroy each other’s entire navies if you continue the war," Reese said, amused as the Arrith remained silent.
"You're not on the Commonwealth's side?" he asked.
"We would like the Arrith and Commonwealth to live in peace. Not only with a mutual non-aggression pact, but with a mutual support agreement."
"Why? We don't like the monkeys."
"That appears to be normal for intelligent species. They are inherently predators and distrust any foreign species, believing them lessor animals who are either food or vermin," Reese said. "But any species who has attained space travel is intelligent and civilized and has a right to be treated as such. You don't have to like them, only to recognize their right to exist peacefully."
"Non-aggression I understand, but why support?"
"The Riss Nation is located in another part of the galaxy, but we have found there are other species roaming the galaxy who are neither friendly nor civilized. They are hostile to all life: Riss, Arrith, or Human. Unlike the Issog, they destroy all life on the planets they visit and are extremely difficult to kill. Without help, neither you or the Commonwealth would survive them. But together you might."
"The Arrith are willing to sign a non-aggression treaty," the Arrith growled with less teeth showing, which Reese took as a good sign.
"It must include monitoring…" The negotiations went on for three days. In the end, they agreed to limit the size of each navy, to permit one cruiser to tour the other's systems to monitor the terms of the treaty, and to talk about a mutual support treaty in five years.
* * *
Over the next month, the Commonwealth government was restructured into two branches: civilian and military. And arrangements were made for the Riss to transfer some technology to the Commonwealth—more for protection than to defeat the Arrith. Zoe was promoted to Rear Admiral, Upper Half, and put in charge of the Odin squadrons: their training, technology, and integration within the fleets that would eventually free Hydera and Kammu.
The End
