by Ryk Brown
“You’re right. She would,” he admitted. “And what about you?”
“Hey, you know me, skipper. I’m always ready to kick some ass.”
Nathan turned back to Tug. “What can you tell me about the Yamaro?”
“She’s a heavy cruiser, and she operates several squadrons of short-range attack fighters. She is armed with long-range missiles and short-range energy weapons, of which she has many. But her biggest strength is her shielding. She can project a shield barrier bubble at least two kilometers in all directions. She normally does this to allow maneuvering room for her fighters as they are launched and recovered.”
“How do the fighters get past the shields?”
“They can open and close small holes in the shields to let them in. But the shields are one way. That is, they only keep what is outside from coming in. They do not stop what is inside from getting out.”
“Is it possible to knock her shields out?”
“Not from the outside. You would have to be inside her shield perimeter. Then, it would be rather easy. Just take out enough of her emitters. She would not be able to maintain a proper shield and it would completely collapse. But there is no way to get close enough to even try.”
“I have an idea about that,” Nathan said as he moved closer to Abby and Deliza. “Abby, you said before that the new computer core that Deliza installed makes it possible for you to jump closer more accurately?”
“Yes, considerably so.”
“Does that mean you can jump closer to another object?”
“Yes, but-”
“How close?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Less than, say, two kilometers?”
“Less than one, I would think.”
“Could you jump us to say, five hundred meters off that warship?”
“Yes. I believe so.”
“Would that ships energy shields get in the way?”
“Not at all. When we jump, we are traveling in a different dimension. So matter from this dimension would not react with us while we were in transition.”
“Okay. I’m not even going to pretend that I understand that. I’m just going to believe you when you say it will work.”
“Yes, sir. It will work.”
“Great. Plot a jump to take us back to Corinair. Say, about one light minute out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nathan spun around to face the front of the bridge. “Helm, come about. Set course back to Corinair. Reduce speed to one percent light.”
“Yes, sir,” Josh answered. Josh immediately began executing a slow turn to head back, as Loki began plotting the new course for him. The order to reduce speed to one percent of light put a smile on Josh’s boyish face. He had never flown anything faster than one percent light.
“Captain,” Tug interrupted, “you will only get one chance, maybe two if you are quick enough with your second pass. Once he discerns your strategy, he will undoubtedly pull his shields back in close, so as not to give you room.”
“Jess-” Nathan said.
“Jump in, shoot, jump out, repeat as needed. Yeah, I got it,” she assured him as she began preparing instructions for the fire control computers for the rail guns. “Josh, we’ll need to keep our topsides facing the target as we pass, so I can get all our guns on the target.”
“Got it.”
“Captain? How many jumps are you planning?” Abby asked.
Nathan turned back to Abby, realizing that she would need to calculate each jump on the fly. “We’re gonna jump in to a range of one light minute and then charge in as if we’re going to slug it out. Then just after they fire their long range missiles, we jump forward to about five hundred meters ahead and five hundred meters to his side. That should put us inside his shields and give us a clean shot. Then we jump back out to just beyond his range, and repeat as many times as it takes. Or at least for as long as it still works,” he admitted. “Can you manage that?”
“Yes, sir. I believe so.”
“How long will you need to calculate each jump?”
“At such short distances? Maybe thirty seconds each?”
“Great. That should be more than quick enough.” Nathan straightened up and moved back to the command chair. “Comms, alert both engineering and medical. Let them know we’re going into combat.”
“Captain,” Jessica warned, “she’s going to be performing surgery on Cameron in the middle of the battle.”
“Yeah,” Nathan answered grimly. “I know.”
CHAPTER 10
The blue-white jump flash faded as quickly as it had occurred, the main view screen automatically readjusting its brightness back to normal settings.
“Jump complete,” Abby reported.
Nathan looked at the main view screen. “Opticals on the target, insert and zoom in.”
Kaylah immediately pointed the ship’s long-range optical sensors on the Yamaro and magnified the image. She then put the view in a separate window and placed it in the middle of the main view screen at the front of the bridge for the captain to see.
Nathan turned his head toward Jessica, behind him at the tactical station. “Range to target?”
“Seventeen point nine million kilometers,” Jessica reported. “Three thousand kilometers per second closure.”
“Tug. What’s the max range of their missiles?”
“As you know, Captain, in space, there is no maximum range. However, their effective range is limited by their maximum velocity as well as the amount of energy expended to reach that speed. Generally speaking, you are currently at the extreme limits of their effective range. It is doubtful that any Ta’Akar captain would waste a missile from this range. And even if he did, it would take nearly two full minutes for the weapon to reach you. As you can see, not very effective.”
“Very well. Jess, we’ll call twenty million kilometers their max missile range from now on.”
“Got it.”
“Captain,” Tug said, “in order to ensure that he extends his shields to their maximum effective radius, you need to get him to launch his fighters. Doing so will require expanding his shields. It is standard procedure for them.”
“And how do we do that?”
“You must convince him that you intend to face him head on. It is a matter of pride for a captain to win a battle with as few scars to his ship as possible. If he believes you are about to attack, he will try to preoccupy you with his fighters, allowing him time to move closer and finish you with his main gun batteries.”
“So his order of battle is missiles, fighters, guns?”
“Correct.”
“So how do we get him to come after us?”
“Simple,” Jessica chimed in. “Pick a fight.”
The pristine landscape of Corinair’s capital city disintegrated with each blow from the warship orbiting high above the planet. The unprovoked attack which had begun only ten minutes ago had already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, with ten times as many unaccounted for.
Similar scenes were playing out in cities all over the planet’s primary continent. Those that were unlucky enough to lie under the attacker’s orbital path were the first to be targeted. Massive balls of red-orange energy streaked down from above, vaporizing everything within a kilometer of impact. That which was not vaporized was demolished by shock waves that extended several more kilometers beyond.
Aitkenna, the planet’s capital, had received the blunt of the initial attack, with most of its suburbs being equally targeted. The bombardment, which seemed to strike every ten seconds, was slowly making its way across the sprawling city as the attacking vessel progressed on its orbit. In a few more minutes the attack on this city would end, at least for now. Eventually, the warship would complete its orbit and once again be over the capital.
In the secret underground churches of the Order, in the homes of those afraid to venture out, and even in the battered streets, people huddled together and prayed as destruction rained down upon t
hem. They prayed for reprieve, forgiveness, and for rescue. But mostly, they prayed that the sign witnessed the night before was indeed the sign of their salvation.
“Helm, reduce speed to ten thousand KPH.”
“For this ship, that’s a crawl,” Josh objected.
“A crawl is what we want right now.”
“Yes, sir. Reducing speed.”
“Ready to broadcast on all frequencies, sir,” the comm-officer reported.
Nathan stood up in front of his command chair. After straightening his uniform shirt and running his hands over his hair, he gestured to the comm-officer to begin recording.
“Attention, warship Yamaro. This is Nathan Scott, Captain of the United Earth Ship Aurora. I order you to cease your attack on the planet Corinair and stand down, or we will open fire and destroy your vessel. You have one minute to comply.” Nathan froze, staring coldly at the main view screen, trying to look imposing as he waited for the comm-officer to report the transmission was over.
“Transmission ended,” the comm-officer reported.
“How was that?” Nathan asked no one in particular.
“Very threatening,” Jessica answered, trying unsuccessfully to hide her sarcasm.
Nathan sneered at her. “So what now? We wait a minute and then head towards them?”
“Actually, sir,” Kaylah corrected. “You need to wait almost three minutes. We are nearly a full light minute out.”
“Of course.” Nathan turned and stepped up onto the back upper level of the bridge and moved around to stand by Tug. “How many people will die on Corinair over the next three minutes?” he asked.
“In times such as this, it is better not to dwell on such details,” Tug advised.
Nathan contemplated Tug’s words, wondering if that were even possible.
In a desperate attempt to thwart the attack, the leaders of Corinair launched their meager defensive forces. Wave after wave of attack squadrons, once loyal to the Ta’Akar, now targeted their weapons on the powerful vessel laying waste to their world. But the warship’s shields were too powerful and their attack squadron’s weapons simply exploded harmlessly upon impact. Not a single weapon ever came closer than a kilometer to their target.
As the small ships continued their attack, the warship began picking off the attacking fighters one by one with her guns. Of so little threat were the attacking swarms of combat spacecraft, the warship deemed it unnecessary to use her own fighters to dispatch them. To the captain of the Yamaro, the attacking fighters proved good target practice for his gunners.
As the Corinairan squadrons were rapidly reduced in number, the planet’s leaders were forced to launch their defense missiles. Unfortunately, this only angered the captain of the Yamaro, who thus far had chosen a rather languid pace at which to rain destruction down on their world. His intent had never been to destroy the entire planet. He had only hoped to punish them sufficiently while using the attack to draw the Earth ship into a fight that he was confident he would win. But now, these lesser subjects of the great empire which he served were committing the ultimate betrayal. They were attacking a Ta’Akar ship of the line-not only with pesky fighters, but with nuclear weapons as well.
As a result, the pace of the bombardment increased. Strikes began to happen every few seconds, leaving no gaps in destruction, no safe harbors in which to hide. It was apparent to the leaders of Corinair that the warship was now using all its delivery systems in order to quickly finish the job it had started. There was no longer any hope.
Then suddenly the bombardment stopped.
“Captain, the Yamaro has disengaged and is breaking orbit,” Jessica reported.
“You mean it worked?” Nathan said, finding it too good to be true.
“Not unless he’s trying to surrender in a hurry. He’s headed our way at full power and accelerating fast. I’m pretty sure he’s starting an attack run.”
“Incoming message,” the comm-officer reported.
“Put him up,” Nathan ordered.
A moment later, Captain de Winter’s image was again on the main screen, displayed in a separate window overlaying the exterior view of space.
“This is Captain de Winter of the warship Yamaro. In the name of Caius the Great, you are hereby ordered to surrender unconditionally. You are to power down all systems and prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply will be dealt with swiftly, surely, and in a manner most unpleasant.” The image immediately disappeared.
“I say,” Josh began, mocking the captain, “disagreeable chap, isn’t he?”
“Quite,” Loki responded in similar fashion.
“I guess we got our answer,” Nathan concluded.
“Do you wish to answer them, captain?” the comm-officer asked.
“No. I think he’ll understand our answer shortly.” Nathan returned to his command chair. “Helm, full speed ahead. We’ll take him head on.”
“What?” Josh questioned.
“Yeah, what?” Jessica agreed.
“At higher speeds, we’re less maneuverable-”
“Yeah. And head on we have fewer guns on the target,” Jessica pointed out.
“I want him to continue thinking that I’m young and dumb.”
“Well, he’d be half right,” Jessica muttered. Nathan rotated his command chair slowly around to look at her, one eyebrow raised. “You are young,” she added.
“Hopefully, he’ll also think that we either can’t or don’t want to use our jump drive. The longer he thinks he’s in a conventional ship-to-ship engagement, the longer it will take him to start thinking about how to defend against a ship with a jump drive.”
Josh increased the main engine’s thrust to full power, causing the ship to lurch slightly as it began to accelerate. “Main engines coming up to full thrust.”
Nathan turned back to Tug. “Missiles, fighters, guns… right?” Tug nodded agreement.
“Target is also accelerating,” Jessica reported. “He’ll have missile range on us any moment now.”
“How long do you think he’ll wait until he fires?” Nathan asked Tug.
“If it were me, I’d wait until my odds of a strike were better. But I tend to be more prudent in my use of ordnance.”
“Incoming,” Jessica announced. “Four missiles, all conventional, no nukes, accelerating hard. Impact in three minutes.”
“I guess he doesn’t mind wasting ordnance,” Nathan said.
“Curious,” Tug observed. “At this range, the missiles are easily defeated using rather simple maneuvers.” Tug considered the alternatives for a moment. “He may be hoping to lull you into a false sense of security.”
“A curve ball,” Nathan said.
“A curve ball?” Tug wondered.
“A slow pitch, looks easy to hit, then it changes direction at the last moment and you miss.” Tug still looked puzzled. “Never mind.”
“Captain? You want me to evade those missiles?” Josh asked.
“Nope. Hold your course.”
Josh looked over his shoulder at the captain, then at Loki.
“Helm, current speed?”
“Uh, twenty thousand KPH.”
“Reduce thrust to one percent.”
“But Captain, it’ll take us forever to accelerate-”
“I don’t want to accelerate. In fact, we’re going to want to go slower.”
Josh was now even more confused, but followed his captain’s orders nonetheless. “Reducing thrust to one percent.”
“Still trying to look stupid?” Jessica quipped.
“Indecisive would be more accurate. Send the missile track to Abby,” Nathan ordered. He then turned to Doctor Sorenson at the jump control console. “Abby, calculate your first jump from a point a split second before those missiles hit us, to a point like we talked about-five hundred meters forward and five hundred meters to port of that ship.”
“Understood.”
“Can you do that in two minutes?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay,” Josh answered, trying not to look nervous. “And that won’t screw up our jump?”
Nathan had assumed that it wouldn’t matter, as long as their flight path remained the same. But as he wasn’t entirely sure, he looked to Abby.
“It shouldn’t be an issue,” she promised. “Just don’t start your deceleration any sooner than necessary, as an abrupt change in speed could slightly alter our arrival point.”
Nathan gestured understandingly at Abby as he continued instructing his new helmsman. “You’re also going to have to roll us over just enough to get our topsides facing the target as we slide past her. We need to get as many guns as possible on her.”
“No problem,” Josh told him. He looked at Loki, who didn’t look any more confident than he felt.
“Missile impact in ninety seconds,” Jessica reported.
“When do you think he will launch his fighters?” Nathan asked Tug.
“Only when he believes he has severely wounded you… or when he becomes desperate.”
“I’m hoping for the second reason, myself,” Nathan told him. “Kaylah, what’s the current radius of the target’s shield bubble?”
“One point five kilometers, sir.”
“Excellent, plenty of room,” Nathan reassured himself. “Jessica, spin up the rail guns, kinetic rounds only, fastest fire rate they can muster. And point them all straight up.”
“Aye, sir. Kinetic rounds, full rate auto-fire. Pre-aiming all batteries straight up.”
Nathan noticed a smile on Tug’s face.
“I imagine that Captain de Winter is wondering why you are not firing your long-range weapons at him as well.”
“Yeah, he must think I’m a real idiot. He doesn’t know that I don’t have any left,” Nathan answered, also smiling.
Tug’s expression changed to one of concern.
