by R. A. Ender
Richard also paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully and thinking again back to how long he should be keeping a potential mutineer in a position of such power and command.
“My advisory circle, unlike yours, is not afraid to tell me the news that I may not like to hear, and so, I am aware of the sentiment. That said, it is vital and important that we maintain our strategy. We know from history that supply lines of an invading army are key to their success. Our strategy of attrition will give us victory. Anything else is risky and potentially disastrous in our present situation. We cannot risk being drawn into a battle on anything less than a wholly favorable battlefield and in superior numbers. In the dead of space where a run to jump can be so easily tracked is not favorable.”
This last sentence seemed to light a fire behind Longus’ eyes and he couldn’t help but smile a little. Obviously, Richard had just played into Longus’ agenda.
“With that in mind, this is the new intelligence that I came to share with you. One of my commanders obtained some intelligence from one of the crippled warships which was damaged as it fled from an engagement a couple of weeks ago. He did not want to broadcast it and delivered it personally this morning.”
Richard tapped a quick note into his display to review which fleet division returned this morning and identify the commanders as a potential issue for future actions, being perhaps a little too loyal to Longus. Also, an opportunity to look into how a warship was damaged while it fled. Quickly typed, Richard returned his attention to Longus, who had brought up a strategic plan on his pad and was showing it to Richard.
“I quickly put this together for all of us to consider at this evenings strategy review, but I wanted you to consider it first, just you and me, so that I can get a real chance to sell the merits. And, I promise, it fits into your strategy perfectly.”
Hmmm! Richard thought with annoyance. If you wanted to get me on your side, how does throwing a pad on a desk and storming out of the room build to a strategy meeting? Very odd strategist this man, but I guess it worked. We are talking about it.
Longus continued his presentation. “According to the database that we broke into, the warships were not ordered to continue with their escort duty all the way to Tionaga. In fact, at the transition where we intercepted them, they were under orders to take a course into a planetary system in deep space which we identify as JIY90991. The information seemed to indicate that the system is fairly immature and is essentially a giant gas and asteroid field.”
“Their target was a clear orbit section between the first two future planetary belts of debris. They provided very detailed information about an exact location to jump and details of the supply fleet that is inbound. Apparently, they have been using this transit point for several months as a trial to find a safe alternative to deep space. They are now satisfied and a huge supply fleet is traveling as we speak to that location. The warships were to wait in the clear orbital space, protect the fleet when it arrives and escort it to Tionaga.”
“I think this is a great opportunity. If they are moving such a large supply fleet, as you said, it shows your strategy is working and they are beginning to get desperate.” Longus now paused for a moment to refer to his pad, obviously reading his next point of argument from prepared notes.
He said he received this only this morning? I find that hard to believe. I think I’ll check on fleets going back a few days. He might be trying to avoid me knowing who is with him. Richard thought to himself but then smiled as he realized Longus’ first point had been an attempt to stroke his ego. How little he knows me. Obviously writing his points as though it were himself that was being persuaded!
Longus had finished reading ahead and continued almost without skipping a beat. “The location is ideal as we can survey it using a Nemesis bomber. With that precise information, our fleet can jump in the system and remain hidden in the gas and asteroid field, choosing the best spots. We can then ambush the supply fleet and its escorts with either all or most of our fleet. It should prove to be a major victory.”
“It is also a very safe option,” Longus continued without reading his notes. “We can be dispersed within the field and come together only when we assault the enemy, meaning we are always safe to run away. The clear orbital battlefield will mean no worry about debris, it will offer clear jump paths out of the system, and limit the enemies ability to split their fleet.”
Touching a key on his pad, the screen went off, and Longus sat back in his chair. “Truly, Richard, this is a great opportunity. Even if it is a trap, we will be safe. We need to do this. The men need a victory.”
Maybe I need a victory more than I thought, Richard thought to himself contemplating exactly how much power Longus had with the men and women of the fleet.
CHAPTER 33
The main display showed only a dark brown and gray image. It was the image of the huge asteroid that the Caesar Augustus was stationed beside. It was not a very interesting sight. The more spectacular view was the rear section of the ship. The gasses and debris in the young solar system proved to be a brilliant, colorful and beautiful sight as illuminated by the warm star in its center. More than a few crew members had collided with each other while walking around the command center looking at the large display screen, so they had been forced to change the view.
The only place to truly watch nature’s show was the rear staff lounge, which had been constantly full to capacity as everyone on board wanted their chance to look out into space through the massive two deck high windows and watch the show. The display was made even more exciting due to how Richard had opted to conceal his ship. He had opted for a difficult position on the far side of the asteroid to avoid detection. Due to the irregular orbit and low gravity of the asteroid, it had meant holding position at an off 45-degree angle on the windward side of the mass.
As the micro asteroids impacted the shields, they often sparked and danced across the surface, creating explosions of light or streaks of color. Though none of the gasses reacted with the shields, there were occasional pockets which became engulfed and burned as a reactive asteroid passed through a more volatile gas. Sometimes the asteroids were of a particular material that reacted with the gasses around them energetically and a small colorful gas explosion in space redirected the rock and it shot off in another direction, blazing like a mini-comet until its fuel was consumed.
In all, the image was a constant fireworks display, which captured everyone’s attention and was far too distracting for any crew at work. Hence, the dark brown and gray main display. That image kept the crews attention on the second most interesting spectacle, their workstation display.
For Richard, his workstation showed a constant tactical readout of the IAE fleet, safely confined to their clear region of space. A few Nemesis bombers were safely deployed in the area sending back a great deal of information from their passive scans.
So far, the mission was as advertised by Longus. Though a part of Richard had longed to say no to the mission simply to prevent Longus from learning the wrong lesson from their last encounter, he could not ignore the opportunity. Longus had deployed a Warwickshire reconnaissance fighter to the area after Richard granted approval at their tense meeting in his private study.
By the time everyone assembled for their daily evening meeting, the information had been received and it was an olive tree that needed only a tap to drop its fruit. It was a truly rich opportunity to do serious damage to the IAE. Though they still did not know anything about the supply fleet, the escort ships had been assembling for a few days, and the news got better every day.
So far, only twenty-seven ships were present. As they were all smaller warships, they didn’t seem keen to venture out into the asteroid field, meaning Richard’s fleet was easily able to remain concealed. More good news was that they had no warships with fighter capabilities, so there were no scouts searching and scanning the asteroid field.
All in all, it seemed almost too good to be true. And th
at was an oft-repeated refrain from Robin. She had been strongly opposed to the mission when Longus presented it that evening. She smelt a trap, and she made no bones about her opposition to walking into it. This was despite a convincing case Longus made about the safety even if it was a trap. Richard’s support of the mission had quieted Robin a bit at the meeting, but she had continued to speak her mind afterward.
Her argument got even more pronounced when Richard told her about his meeting earlier that day with Longus. Her opinion was clear.
“It is time to push him out an airlock. He is leading a mutiny, I have no doubt.”
Richard did not disagree but again stressed the need to keep him in his place. As much as I hate to say it, he leads his men very well and his fleet is a major component of my fleet, Richard thought to himself again. I really worry about how disruptive and demoralizing locking him up would be.
Robin had warned him that it would have to be done soon unless victory suddenly came. “The longer we continue to not win,” she had said. “The closer comes the time when Longus will try to replace you as an ineffective commander.”
Richard knew that she was right, but he hoped to delay that day as long as possible. In part, his support of this mission was to delay that day. A clear victory, especially as it was Longus’ idea, should tide the crews over for a while, and will stroke Longus’ ego enough to keep him loyal and subordinate. If it is a big enough win, they may even have a chance to parlay it into another win and the inexorable march to victory will seem certain. That always keeps crews loyal.
Richard hated even having to think about crew loyalty. When you had a large bureaucracy and a clear and powerful chain of command, crew loyalty was never a discussion. Even senior commanding officers who had more knowledge and chance for a dissenting opinion could be counted on one hundred percent. This war was the first where Robin provided a side report directly to him about loyalty and reliability of ships, crews and especially commanders.
So far she reported favorably, but the cracks were beginning to show, especially the closer you got to Longus’ handpicked commanders.
The other reason Richard had been strongly supportive of the mission is that to be frank, they could afford it. With a base of support on New Earth, they had managed to reassemble their entire fleet strength. The report Mato presented at the evening meeting showed all ships present and all ships at battle ready.
They had even managed to recruit some freelancers. As soon as the news of New Earth freedom began to spread, ships began to appear in near space claiming to be refugees from other worlds. The fastest freighters were recruited, with promises of free ship upgrades and weaponry, as long as they agreed to accept a Defense Force officer as their second in command. As of today, that fleet was up by fifty ships, a good contribution.
Even the Royalist League had managed to increase their strength. Though they could not replace the ships lost at the battle of New Earth, the upgraded weaponry installed at the New Earth shipyards meant that their military power had more than doubled. Their commander, August Prince Tarquinius, had had no objection to the mission and offered his usual unquestioned support to Richard. The Prince knew his orders were clear from King Dredmoorus of Augustus to follow Richard’s command. The Prince executed that order superbly.
And now, they waited.
Until the supply fleet exited hyperspace, there was little to do. The ships could not communicate for fear of revealing themselves, so each was an isolated island. Everyone was just waiting until they received the go ahead to jump into hyperspace.
Usually, ships would not perform a run to jump over such a small distance, just easier to power in under full engines. But, with such good intelligence, they had managed to assign each ship a set of coordinates that would result in a circling of the enemy. It would mean that some sides of the circle were weaker than others, but the area was quite large, and it was safer than trying to coordinate a fleet jump to a single location.
It would also mean a complete surprise. Each ship could easily power up to 1/900th the speed of light, perform a run to jump and hit light speed. They would all emerge at their assigned coordinates within five minutes. This meant that for passive sensors and visual sightings, the ships would appear both at their hiding place and in the clear area of the asteroid field at the same time. A little trick discovered in the early days of hyperspace travel during a test run of the first hyperspace capable defense force vessel, the Stewartius.
As the chances of the IAE fleet performing an active scan at just the moment they jumped was remote, especially since they would be paying attention to the incoming supply fleet, not the asteroid field, the plan looked perfect.
But, Richard thought to himself, you never know what can go wrong until it goes wrong.
For now, they waited.
Richard continued to watch his display. It had been decided that they would jump the moment a freighter was spotted, assuming that the rest of the fleet would be emerging over a small period of time. Robin had wanted to wait until all ships had exited, but Longus made a strong case that they never knew how many were coming, better to be there at the beginning than guess when the end was. And, again, Richard agreed.
Richard was about to change his display to recheck the other ships of his fleet when a ship exited hyperspace in the middle of the clear field. It took a moment for the various passive sensors to get a clear silhouette, especially in the scattered light of this young solar system.
Richard’s eyes never left the screen. This same thing had happened at least a dozen times in the past week. Every time, the silhouette had returned as a warship.
There are usually at least three of them together, though Richard thought to himself.
Staring at the little unknown ship symbol, Richard was almost willing his eyes to uncover its identity. The unknown symbol of a generic ship stayed firm and red. It did not waver or blink, just a solid red symbol without any information.
And in the next instant, the symbol switched to a red freighter. Immediately, the information window populated with the class and specifications of the ship.
And in the next instant, Richard pushed a button sending the jump signal to all ships in the fleet, before raising his head up and speaking to Commander Jennifer Klodokus at navigation.
“Jennifer, a freighter has exited hyperspace. Jump the ship.”
And with that single order, the entire strategic plan for the fleet went into motion, and the individual plan for the ship began rolling.
A touch of a button was all that was needed to push the enormous Battlecruiser sideways, as all the maneuvering thrusters on the starboard side of the ship fired. The Caesar Augustus slid to the side, maintaining its synchronous speed until it had a clear path to its destination. Then with the full thrust of its eight mass driver jets, it leaped forward passing its former hiding spot and then jumped into hyperspace a moment later.
The main display showed the distorted view of space much slower than Richard was used to. But the point right in the center, their destination at the edge of the clear IAE staging area, was crystal clear. It showed the twenty-seven warship fleet sitting dead center. It still did not display a visual record of the freighter, as the light had yet to reach them, but Richard knew it would display itself soon, and he watched for it.
During their five-minute travel in hyperspace, Richard’s eyes never left the staging area. As the minutes past, first, the original freighter became visible. Shortly after, there seemed to be a flash of light identifying the exit of another freighter, and then multiple flashes heralded the arrival of more and finally that area of space just danced with light as ships were emerging in a constant flow.
The supply fleet was indeed as huge as Longus’ intelligence had suggested. If this was a trap, it was a very risky one for the IAE. They were dumping a lot of weak and slow ships into a small space all at once. It would almost be like hunting seals on a beach.
By the time the Caesar Augustus emerged from h
yperspace, the system had counted over two hundred and fifty freighters of various classes. It still only counted twenty-seven warships as the sole escort and protection.
The first communication Richard’s station received upon exit was from Longus’ flagship. He had been in his position for over a minute and using active sensors had obtained clear and precise strategic information.
It had not been in the plan for anyone to arrive that early, Richard thought. He must have run faster to arrive first. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Shaking his head at the small act of insubordination, he looked at the data to inform his first fleet command. Already it was clear that their ships had formed a circle around the enemy. In space, of course, that meant next to nothing as one could escape in any direction equally well. The sphere formation was always best, but difficult to coordinate in advance, best applied during the course of battle.
And that was the formation order that Richard sent, for his entire fleet to form a sphere around the warships and destroy them. With a quick series of keystrokes, the order was sent. Richard was gratified to immediately see ships beginning to move into formation.
But, he could also see that a number of ships, mostly close to Longus’ flagship, were still holding position. Richard watched it for a moment before bringing up the private comm line between his station and Longus’
The tone rang only once before Richard heard Longus on the other end. Longus spoke first, knowing why he was calling.
