“While the technical teams at New Sierra prep the fleet for its extended voyage, the Ninth will deploy with Colonel Blake’s squadron for a task that will be the critical first step in completing the overall mission that ensures the Phage are never able to threaten another populated world. Colonel …”
“Thank you, Captain,” Blake said. “I’ll keep this brief since this is just a general overview. Mission details are available in the technical package each ship received. In a nutshell, to make this work we will be required to capture an Alpha intact … and not just any Alpha. We’ll need the same type that first ventured into Terran space: one of the Super Alphas, as we’ve come to call them.” The shared conference channel erupted into simultaneous conversations that caused the video perspective to flicker wildly before Hayashi locked it back to focus on the Ares.
“Let’s all settle down and focus,” Jackson said loudly. “You heard the colonel correctly, we’re going to try and catch one of the bigger Alphas alive. We’ve been given some specific equipment to that end, but it won’t be an especially easy task. Ninth Squadron will depart the system almost immediately and head for the Frontier, while the rest of the Fleet is reorganized into two separate task forces and prep Ares for departure should we be successful.”
“We’ll now begin hearing from individual team leaders and begin receiving specific assignments,” Marcum said. “Godspeed to the crews of the Ninth Squadron in their unenviable task, but don’t think for a moment that they have the most dangerous assignment in this mission. Before this is all done we’ll have all bled.”
“Colonel Blake, for organizational purposes I’m rolling your strike force into the Ninth Squadron even though you obviously don’t fully report to CENTCOM.”
“Understood, sir,” Blake nodded. “It will be an honor to fly with the Ninth.”
“If nobody has anything else to add we’ll now switch everyone over to their respective sub groups,” Jackson said. “Good luck, everyone.”
For the next three hours the COs and their respective staffs quibbled back and forth over the details even as the Ninth broke orbit and began pushing for the outer system. Colonel Blake’s group formed up behind the five Starwolf-class ships and easily kept pace.
What hadn’t been included in the briefing was that the five Terran destroyers were on their own in the task of capturing one of the more advanced Alphas. Colonel Blake’s potent group of warships had a different job. It had come to light during the initial planning stages of the mission that the Vruahn didn’t actually know precisely where the main core mind was, only a general area, because the Phage had wised up to that particular vulnerability and began moving it at random times and to random places.
So instead of coming with Jackson to try and wrangle an Alpha and capture it intact, all eighteen of Blake’s ships, with their superior range, ability to quickly scan a system and get out unseen, and then report back instantaneously over vast distances, would split up and begin searching the area where Setsi said the “big brain” was most likely moved to.
Admiral Marcum had convinced Jackson to keep the details of Blake’s mission murky. While he wasn’t exactly trying to deceive his captains, he was trying to minimize the losses through defection that might occur if they began to catch wind of how shaky the plan really was. The extended trip alone would likely lead to the loss of more than a few ships and crews.
Jackson suppressed a shudder as the Ares accelerated to transition velocity ahead of the rest of the squadron. They were betting it all on one roll of the dice. Even if they were right, the losses were sure to be horrific and it would take the Fleet decades to recover. If they were wrong, however, then humanity would be left defenseless and stripped bare before the retaliatory onslaught of the Phage.
Chapter 12
“Report!” Jackson ordered once the Ares shuddered back into real space.
“Passive scans already started, sir,” Barrett said.
“We’re getting a status ping from the CIS drone still in the system, Captain,” Lieutenant Keller said.
“If that’s still here we can assume there aren’t any Phage assets in the system,” Jackson said. “Stand down from general quarters, normal watch schedule. Tactical, begin high-power active scans of the entire system.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Coms, let the rest of the squadron know we’re clear as soon as they transition in,” Jackson stood. “OPS, let Engineering know I want to be under power immediately. Nav … set your course for the X-Ray jump point.”
“Aye aye, sir!” Specialist Accari said smartly.
“Warp drive is secured and stowed, sir,” Ensign Hayashi said. “Main engines and maneuvering thrusters are online.”
“Helm, come onto your new course and get us moving,” Jackson began pacing around the bridge. “All ahead full.”
“Helm answering new course,” the helmsman said. “Ahead full aye!”
The squadron had made the flight from the DeLonges System where the New Sierra Shipyards were to the Xi’an System, the place where the Phage War had officially begun. Jackson figured it was as good a place as any to start their hunt given that the Phage seemed to have a strong compulsion to keep the Xi’an System under their control. It had been well over a year since the last time Fleet ships had chased away or destroyed their rearguard, just after the Battle of Nuovo Patria. To everyone’s relief they had yet to make another appearance, but Jackson was hopeful there might be another Alpha hiding in one of the two systems that the Asianic Union had secretly colonized. Some even accused the AU of ignoring colonization protocols and attracting the attention of the Phage in the first place. After receiving a personal message from the Phage and meeting with the Vruahn, Jackson was no longer sure that was the case.
The argument was academic at this point. They were already engaged with the Phage and no matter who started it there was only one way it was going to end. Jackson didn’t like the fact that the most critical parts of the mission relied on Vruahn technology that was currently sitting in the cargo holds of the Ares and the Icarus, but he also had no alternative readily available.
The Vruahn had provided a few sets of self-contained sensor units that the Fleet Science geeks were calling “sniffers.” Essentially, they had the ability to detect a Phage presence by sensing the apparatus they used to build their group consciousness. It couldn’t decipher what was on the mind of the Phage nor could it tell what type of Phage specifically it was detecting with much accuracy, but the fact that it could operate nearly instantaneously within the sphere of a star system meant Jackson had a theoretical advantage he’d not had before. But his lack of experience with the equipment and his instinctual distrust of the Vruahn made him take it slow rather than blundering into a situation that he couldn’t get out of.
“It’s too bad we can’t interface all the loaner gear the Vruahn sent with our own systems,” Davis said softly. “Having to prop up crews to sit in the cargo bay and watch the terminals down there isn’t all that efficient.”
“The help came under duress,” Jackson said. “I don’t think they’re all that wild about us having any of their tech at all so they made sure there was no way we could do anything but watch the displays. To be honest, I’m perfectly happy to not let them have direct access to our systems.”
“I see,” she nodded. “Was there any talk of maybe upgrading our systems with some of the gear we’ve seen on Colonel Blake’s ships?”
“I floated the idea out there, but it was quickly shot down,” Jackson snorted. “It would be wildly impractical with the time table we’re working with. Our ships can’t produce one-tenth of the power needed to fire just one of their primary weapons, and their power systems are completely incompatible with our technology. It would be faster and easier for them to build us a whole new fleet … but that wasn’t going to happen.”
“Is their distrust of us so complete?” she asked.
“Probably more arrogance than distrust,” Jackson corrected h
er. “They seem to view us as little more than jabbering primates, and they sure as hell weren’t going to give us the hardware we could use to threaten our neighbors.” He fell silent as he felt he may have said too much. They all had a lot to worry about; there was no point in filling his XO’s head with the same doubts he carried.
“Initial scan complete, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Barrett announced after five hours of constant scanning. “Nothing of note that we weren’t already aware of.”
“Has the rest of the squadron checked in?” Jackson stood and stretched his lower back out.
“Still waiting for the Artemis to appear, sir,” Ensign Hayashi reported. “The rest of the squadron has come through and is reporting normal operations across the board.”
“Very good,” Jackson said. “We keep steaming for the X-Ray jump point. Lieutenant Davis, you have the bridge.”
“Aye aye, sir, I have the bridge,” she said and moved over into the command chair he’d just vacated.
Jackson took the opportunity of relative calm they were having while crossing the Xi’an System to walk through his ship and do a more detailed inspection while also, and most importantly, gauging the crew and how they were feeling. He snuck off the command deck without Master Chief Green taking notice, not because he didn’t enjoy the salty senior spacer’s company but because the crew was almost more intimidated by him than they were of their captain.
He watched them go about their tasks with an almost enthusiastic efficiency and again marveled at how they’d matured in the short time since the war had begun. A lot of them had served on the Blue Jacket and were typical of Black Fleet spacers: young, bored, and mostly with some sort of disciplinary issues in their past. After the initial encounter with the Phage Alpha, despite the many casualties, they'd adopted an undeserved swagger and irrational eagerness to go to battle again.
Jackson chalked that up to the fact that they’d been the only combat-tested crew in the Fleet at the time. Now, over five years later, enough blood had been spilled and enough lives snuffed out by an enemy that still none of them really understood that the reality of war had sunk in. Now they were warriors, trained professionals that went about their job with a grim competency while knowing that the next engagement could be their last just as easily as another victory. They still had unwavering faith in their captain, and he in them, but they’d all witnessed how quickly things could go so badly.
“Captain,” Commander Daya Singh greeted him as he walked in through the main hatchway to Engineering. “What brings you down here?”
“Just a walkthrough,” Jackson said. “Don’t let me interrupt anything you have going on.”
“Just routine operations, sir,” Singh said. “She’s running like a top.”
“That’s good to hear,” Jackson nodded. “Have you had a chance to go down and take a peek at our cargo?”
“I have,” Singh scrunched up his nose. “I’m not thrilled at having so many closed systems aboard without even really understanding how they work or what they’re supposed to do, but so far they don’t seem to be interfering with ship functions so I’ve put it in the back of my mind.”
“I’m not much happier about it than you are,” Jackson said quietly. “But I do know that we’re not equipped to capture an Alpha without the help.”
“So why all the added difficulty?” Daya motioned Jackson over to a monitoring station that wasn’t currently in use. “Why can’t Blake and his group handle this capture and the Vruahn employ other resources to do the recon for the Phage nerve center?”
“I think there is probably more than one reason as that would be the most logical strategy,” Jackson shrugged. “But even this amount of help came with great struggle. From what I understand there are many in the Vruahn leadership that aren’t happy we’re being assisted at this level with the expressed goal of wiping out an intelligent species no matter how horrible they may be.”
“Funny how they changed their tune after getting punched in the nose,” Singh mused. “How much do you really trust these new ‘allies’ of ours, Jack?”
“I don’t … at all.” Jackson struggled with a way to sugarcoat what had been weighing his mind down since his original meeting with Setsi. “But ‘the enemy of my enemy’ and all that.”
“That’s terrifyingly shortsighted, even for you.”
“I’m not sure what you want me to say, Daya,” Jackson said. “I think the Vruahn have their own agenda, but I also don’t see anyone else coming forward to help us. One crippling, existence-threatening crisis at a time is about all I’m able to handle.”
“I’m not throwing stones,” Singh raised his hands. “I’m just thinking aloud.”
Jackson left Engineering feeling decidedly worse than when he’d left the bridge. There were so many unknowns and things were happening so fast now and everyone still seemed to be looking to him for answers that he’d never felt qualified to give. He was a starship captain, and he hoped a decent one, but it seemed the more he tried to extricate himself from being the one making choices that could possibly have profound ramifications the more he could do nothing to avoid them.
The rest of his tour was happily devoid of any further existential conversations that called into question his judgment. His crew was rested, calm, and as ready as they would ever be for what was coming next.
****
“We’re coming up on the X-Ray jump point,” Lieutenant Davis reported as Jackson walked onto the bridge at the beginning of First Watch.
“And the rest of the squadron?” he asked.
“Already in position and maintaining intervals for a standard staggered transition,” she said.
“Very good, Lieutenant,” Jackson said. “OPS, deploy the warp drive and prepare to secure the main engines from standard flight mode.”
“Aye, sir,” Hayashi said. “Deploying warp emitters and prepping the drive for engagement.”
“Coms, signal the rest of the squadron and tell them we’re not pausing,” Jackson ordered. “They’re to hit the jump point at speed and maintain full combat readiness on the other side.”
“Aye, sir,” Keller slipped his headset back on fully.
The Ares disappeared from the Xi’an System as quietly as she’d come in. While it was strange to be actively wishing for an encounter with a Phage Alpha, Jackson didn’t want to drag this mission out any longer than necessary.
****
“Captain! Monitor Team One reports their display just lit up,” Hayashi called as the main display was just coming back up after the transition back to real space. “Confirmed Phage presence in this system; they’re working on narrowing it down to a general direction now.”
“Stow the warp drive and get the mains up,” Jackson said calmly. “Tell the monitor team to keep at it. Tactical, begin passive scans but keep the active arrays off for now. Nav, get us a course to clear the jump point and put us in a shallow descent down into the system.”
“Helm, engage on the new course when you get it,” Davis said as Jackson picked up his comlink. “Thrusters only until the engines come online.”
“Aye, ma’am,” the helmsman said. “Thrusters only.”
“Set engines for low-output mode until we know what we’re dealing with,” Jackson nodded to her. “Also, set up the laser beacon so the rest of the squadron knows what’s going on.”
“Yes, sir,” Davis said quietly. She began relaying his orders as he talked on the comlink to the two monitor teams watching the Vruahn gear in the cargo hold.
The rest of the squadron emerged into real space over the next twenty hours and each was greeted with a low-power, wide-beam laser that was pulsing with a predesignated code that let each ship know there was potential danger in the system, to rig for quiet running, and begin forming up loosely behind the Ares while she began trying to sniff out what had triggered the Vruahn equipment.
During that time Barrett was able to clear their local space of any threats with the passive scanners, s
o Jackson rotated a full watch on and off duty while waiting for the rest of his ships. Even though the jump points were just conveniently chosen points in space and were actually a large area more than a “point” Jackson never felt comfortable loitering after a transition. Despite the odds being against it, having another starship pop out of warp just to ram his ship was always one of those “can never happen” scenarios that played through his head.
“The Hyperion just transitioned in, Captain,” Davis said when Jackson walked on the bridge fifty minutes before First Watch. “All the squadron is stacking up behind us and running silent.”
“Excellent,” Jackson sipped his coffee and ignored the fact that it was still far too hot to drink. “Have the monitor teams had any luck pinpointing the direction of the Phage contacts?”
“Negative, sir,” Barrett frowned. “If anything, the information displayed on the Vruahn machines has become even more vague. Monitor Team One is still insisting that there are strong Phage contacts in this system, but they’re unable to confirm bearing or distance.”
“I really thought the Vruahn help would be a little more … helpful,” Jackson sighed as he sat down. “OPS, maintain stealth protocols for now. Any light or EM emissions are to be carefully controlled. Nav! Let’s set a course that takes us on a more direct flightpath down the hill. We can waste a lot of time searching the outer system and sneaking around, but we all know that larger Phage formations prefer to be close to a system’s primary star.”
“Course plotted, Captain,” Accari said. “I have a direct course and one that will swing the formation around the seventh planet for a grav assist without having to fire the mains for too long.”
“What’s the time differential between the two courses for crossing the orbit of the fourth planet?” Jackson studied the most recent diagram of the Zulu System.
“Approximately thirty-seven hours, sir,” Accari said.
Jackson squinted his eyes at the display and ran the pros and cons of each through his head.
Counterstrike (Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 3) Page 9
