by David Adams
“These Demons represent a power beyond what we are capable of destroying,” Sheng said, jabbing a finger towards the radar screen near Liao. “So while your courage is admirable, I ask you... what if we lose? We’ll have tipped our hand and sacrificed this vessel for nothing, a pointless waste of one third of our naval assets!”
“I’m aware of the risks, Commander... and I’m not being impulsive about this. In fact, I’d imagined that I’d be holding you back in this situation.” Liao carefully and deliberately articulated her words with calm precision. “But the reality is this: if we cannot defeat a simple scout ship one on one, holding the initiative and the element of surprise, then all hope for future engagements is already lost.”
Sheng balled his fists, looking desperate. “Captain, please reconsider.”
Liao did not listen. Instead, she moved over to the tactical console and tugged down on her jacket. “Enough, Commander. Tactical – weapons status?”
“All missile tubes loaded, railguns at full power,” came the reply from Lieutenant Jiang, the woman manning tactical. Liao recalled what she had heard the woman say earlier... ‘I’m with stupid.’ Funny at the time, less funny in hindsight. Still, Melissa had to trust her judgement.
“Good.” Liao placed her hands on her hips. “Distance to target?”
“Fifty six thousand kilometres. We are closing at fifty kilometres a second. The target is still stationary... no movement at all.”
Liao wondered idly if the Demons had seen them... or if they had, but didn’t care. The initiative lay with them, clearly, and Liao intended to use it.
“If they’re going to just stand there and let us punch them, then let’s bloody their noses good and proper. Tactical, align railguns and prepare to fire.”
“Captain...” Moving behind her, Sheng leaned in closely. “I want my objections to this action noted in the ship's log.”
Liao’s head snapped around, glaring at the man. “Commander Sheng, at your request your objections will be formally noted in the ship's log. Now... prepare this ship to engage our contact.”
Sheng seemed for a moment as though he would contest the move. Then, with an angry sigh, he nodded. “...Sir.”
Liao watched the man return to his duty. Bringing her attention to the scene before her, she took a breath and slowly let it out.
“Railgun crews report ready,” came the call from Jiang.
Liao took another breath. Right at this very moment, they stood at the precipice of either the first victory of mankind or a stunning, catastrophic defeat. Sheng’s warnings echoed in her head – there was still time to avoid all this. They could still turn around and head back. There was some tactical sense in that decision. Even their brief contact would provide Task Force Command with a huge wealth of information on the Demons, including the very fact that they were still visiting the solar system. Their passive sensors and optics would be invaluable intelligence...
But there was more at stake here than simply facts about their enemies. Melissa firmly believed what she had said to Sheng earlier. If the Demons... aliens... were so supremely powerful that one of their scouts, apparently caught unawares, could not be stopped by the best humanity had to offer, then their fight, their struggle, was already over. Liao might as well find out either way.
“Fire.”
Act II
Chapter IV
“Fortune”
*****
Operations Room
TFR Beijing
Space, near Jupiter
“Fire.”
For a moment, nothing at all happened. Then a soft hum filled the Operations room as, fuelled by the ship’s nuclear reactors, the twin magnetic accelerators propelled their projectiles into space.
“Time to impact, Mister Jiang?” Liao asked her female tactical officer. Although it had taken her some time to become accustomed to after enlisting, as per naval tradition, even female officers were referred to as ‘Mister’. Liao didn’t exactly care for it, but it was a tradition and protocol.
“Fifteen seconds, Captain!”
“Mister Ling, any change in the target’s position on radar?”
There was a slight pause as Ling interpreted the radar’s information. “Negative, Captain. Due to the speed of the projectiles, by the time they see them the target will only have a few seconds to react before impact.”
There was a brief quiet as time ticked down. Liao inspected her radar, glancing between her senior officers, to ensure that everything was still working. Then the radar operator spoke up again.
“Captain, the projectiles have merged with the hostile target.” A pause as Ling consulted his long range radar screen. “I’m seeing numerous small contacts spreading out from the main ship in addition to a slight drop in mass. All consistent with a direct hit.”
An elated murmur ran through the Operations room. Ling’s voice was triumphant as he twisted in his seat, grinning to his Captain. “It’s debris, Captain. Good effect on target.”
Sheng called out from his own station. “Confirmed, Captain. There's a sizable debris field forming.”
Liao nodded with satisfaction. “Excellent work. Helm, close the rest of the distance to target. Inform the marines to prepare a boarding crew and prepare to salvage what we can from the wreckage... and someone wake up Summer. I want our best Engineering team on the job, and-”
“Captain!” Ling shouted over Liao, something that would be considered to be quite a significant breach of protocol. “The debris, it’s moving!”
A hush fell over the Ops room. Liao blinked in surprise. “Moving?”
“Straight towards us, Captain.” Ling’s voice intensified. “...in formation.”
“他妈的!” spat Liao. “That’s not debris! How big are they?”
“Approximately twenty metres long, ten metres wide, five high.” Ling spent a moment reading his radar again, tweaking some of the settings to get a more accurate picture. “It’s hard to tell since they’re all close together, but it seems like... it seems like they’re about the size of a fighter aircraft.”
The reality dawned on Liao. “That’s what they are; they’re strike craft.” A pause as the information sank in. “How many?”
“Thirteen- no, fifteen. And they’re closing fast,” Sheng called, “as is the larger ship!”
“So if the ‘debris’ we saw are strike fighters, did the railgun barrage even damage the larger ship at all?”
Liao was grateful that Ling nodded. “Yes, Captain. There is a lot of much smaller radar debris back at the Lagrangian point. We hit them alright, but to a fairly modest effect...”
Summer had warned that the railguns did a lot less damage than the nukes. They were moving so fast that the majority of their energy wasn’t transmitted to the target - they instead tended to go ‘in and out’, leaving a relatively manageable hole in their hull.
“Very well then. Keep hitting them with the railgun, maximum sustainable rate of fire, and load all missile tubes. Then open the launch doors. When they get into effective range, nuke the strike craft.”
There was a tense silence as the preparations were made, punctuated only by the occasional soft hum of the rounds of railgun fire.
“Status on railgun effect?”
Ling shook his head. “Minimal, Captain. They’re anticipating our shots and moving to compensate. Ten shots, two hits.”
20% effectiveness, Liao mused to herself. That was actually not too bad... but it wasn’t too good, either.
“Just keep firing. Any evidence of return fire?”
“Negative, Capt-.… belay that, the strike craft are-”
There was the faint rumble of some kind of impact ahead of them in the ship’s bow, followed by several more in quick succession. Senior Lieutenant Jiang from tactical spoke up, her voice charged with energy.
“They’re firing some kind of directed energy burst. External sensors report the hull temperature has increased by one hundred kelvin, and there’s significant be
ta and gamma radiation.”
Liao put her hands on her hips. “Evasive manoeuvres. Avoid the blasts as best you can. Damage assessment?”
More rumbles. Jiang checked her sensors. “The forward hull is now at four hundred kelvin, but the temperature is rising rapidly. If it reaches around one thousand two hundred kelvin, that’s it – the alloy begins to break down and return to its liquid state.”
Liao could just imagine the whole front of the ship boiling off and the catastrophic damage that would cause. She nodded. “That would be bad.”
Jiang, despite herself, couldn’t help a dry chuckle. “That would be bad. Aye ma’am.”
Liao grinned a strange, proud grin. “Let’s not break the ship on his first day out, then. Ling, weapons status?”
“We’re too close for railguns now. We can’t turn our bow fast enough to aim. However, missile crews report they are ready to fire, Captain. The hostile strike craft are getting into range...” The ship shook a little more violently. Alarms started calling out from Jiang’s console, echoing around the Ops room. “...but their fire is getting more intense, more accurate. Forward hull at six hundred and eighty kelvin!”
“Duly noted. The ship’s ballistic and since our guns are useless anyway… Rotate us one hundred eighty degrees to the incoming fire. Present our rear to them, and prepare tubes one through six. Mister Ling, fire when ready!”
“Aye ma’am!
More and more shots hit the ship’s hull, on the stern now. Liao put her hand on Ling’s shoulder. “Missiles, Mister Ling! Fire them!”
“Belay that!” Commander Sheng’s voice rang out across the room, cutting over the tactical chatter.
Liao spun about, a deep scowl on her face. Sheng moved over to her, stepping so close their faces were almost touching.
Sheng’s voice was barely a whisper, pleading. “Liao, just listen to me. It’s not too late to stop this! We can move past them, into the Lagrangian point, and jump back to Earth! The aliens will probably…”
“…follow us straight to Earth again, Mister Sheng. Or report their findings to their people, including their assessment of our significantly improved tactical situation. That’s not a good outcome for us, no matter which way you spin it.”
Resigned to Liao's instruction, he nodded. “... as you wish, Captain.” His face was hard, but accepting and he moved back to his station.
Liao turned her attention back to the Operations room. Once again her ‘Captain’s Voice’ saw action.
“Mister Ling.”
“Yes, Captain?”
She squeezed the man’s shoulder, articulating every word clearly and calmly despite the continued barrage of fire now hitting their stern. “Status. On. Missile. Tubes.”
“Crew still report they are ready to fire, Captain.”
Stepping over to his console, Liao jabbed a finger towards the man’s radar screen, to the swarm of incoming contacts.
“Then light them up. Nuke those sons of bitches back to the galaxy they came from.”
Ling gave a wild grin, seeming to agree with Liao’s notion. His fingers flew over his keyboard, and a moment later, he nodded. “Missiles away, Captain.”
Another tense silence filled the Operations room as the missiles streaked towards their targets. Strangely, the hostile impacts stopped. The Operations room became deafeningly quiet.
After a moment Ling spoke out. “I’ve lost communication with one of the missiles... might have been a dud.”
Liao doubted that.
Sheng called back to Liao. “...and another missile’s out.”
Jiang called from her console, “The energy barrages – they’re shooting down our missiles, Captain!”
“Good.” Liao’s face held a firm, triumphant visage. The rest of the Operations room looked at her like she might be crazy, but Liao felt a surge of energy run through her. “That means they’re afraid of them.”
Ling spoke up. “All missiles defeated, Captain. 抱歉.”
She nodded. “Not your fault. It was worth a shot anyw-”
Jiang shouted over her. “Wait, no! One of them got through. I’m reading a detonation!”
Liao turned to face her, eyes wide. “Effect?”
“Got about half of them,” responded Ling, his voice triumphant. “They’re debris now. And the rest are turning around! They’re heading back to their mother ship, and it’s... the larger ship is withdrawing!”
A spontaneous cheer rang up from the Operations crew.
“NO!”
Liao slammed her fist into the console in front of her. “Helm – pursuit course! Head to the Lagrangian point! I want to cut them off! We can’t allow them to escape!”
“Uhh... aye, Captain! Course laid in!”
She whirled back to Ling, her face set in a dark frown. “How many missiles do we have loaded and ready to fire?”
“Four, Captain. Tubes one through six are still reloading...”
She knew the aliens could not be allowed to retreat. To do so would permit them to return their findings to whatever blasted rock they came from and report that the humans had attacked them. Earth had three ships: one combat ready, one still in drydock, and who knew what damage the aliens had done to the Beijing. Liao understood the situation clearly; if the ship jumped away and escaped, they would return in force.
The aliens had underestimated humanity once already. Liao anticipated they would not do so again.
She paused, taking a deep breath. There was no decision to make here. This was a matter of action.
“Four is enough; We’ll make do with what we have. If we fire now, will they reach the Lagrangian point before the mother ship?”
Jiang, as though anticipating this very question, spoke up instantly. “Yes, Captain, if we turn our bow to them and fire as soon as possible, the missiles should arrive before the hostile ship does. Since we’re already ballistic and moving at quite a fast pace, the missiles will go even faster.”
Summer’s warning echoed in her mind. Hilariously unsafe... well, Liao wasn’t laughing.
“Then execute the manoeuvre and fire everything that we have at the hostile mother ship, all four tubes. I want them blown to atoms before they reach the jump point.”
“Coming about, Captain.”
She nodded. Her father had always told her to finish what she started. It was a problem she’d had since childhood – she was excellent at beginning things but less skilled at finishing them. But this was one thing she had to finish... Humanity’s future depended on it.
“Fire when ready.”
Liao felt the ship turn, then watched as the four lights indicating missile launch status turned green. The missiles, magnetically propelled and with rockets for guidance, streaked towards the hostile ship. Liao tapped her finger on the metal of the console in front of her impatiently.
The seconds passed.
“Hostile ships have docked with the mother ship, Captain... and now it’s increasing speed.”
Liao‘s frown intensified. “How far away are they from the Lagrangian point?”
Despondent, Jiang shook her head. “They’re going to reach it before the missile strike.”
So it was all for nothing. Liao’s fists balled in anger. She refused to accept this outcome. It wasn’t fair to condemn humanity to extinction because of this incident, because of a single period in time where they had failed… where she had failed.
“Options.”
Dead silence. Nobody had any.
Jiang’s voice was quiet in the still air of the Operations room as she voiced her thoughts. “They may not jump straight away. Maybe their jump drive has a charge period like ours...”
“This is no time for guesses, Mister Jiang.”
More silence. Then a voice cut over the quiet of the Operations room; it was Lieutenant Ling, his voice charged with energy.
“Captain, I have an idea! Fire railguns!”
His shout came without warning, startling everyone in the area. All eyes wer
e upon him as he tapped furiously on his keyboard.
Liao stepped over to his console.
“Mister Ling, explain yourself!”
The man twisted in his seat, grinning like a wild man. “We can’t hit them because they’re too manoeuvrable, but we know where they’re going... if we bombard the Lagrangian point, they can’t use it! They’d have to move into our line of fire to jump!”
He returned to his console. “They’re pulling into the point, but... Sensors show impacts – it’s working. They’re moving. They’re pulling away!”
It was those few extra seconds that they needed. Jiang gave a triumphant cry. “Missile impacts! Direct hits – four detonations!”
Ling, despite the situation, gave a triumphant laugh. “I’m reading a massive debris field! They’ve been blown to bits!”
Liao let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. A momentary wave of light-headedness washed over her. How many seconds had she held it? Minutes? … It didn’t matter.
“Mister Jiang, Mister Ling, confirm that ship is wreckage. I want an Engineering team to pick up every damn piece of that boat, and I want it stowed in the cargo hold. Everything. Save as much as you can from as much as you can.”
Liao clicked her tongue. “If you can find their computer core, or their jump drive, then the drinks at the mess hall are going to be on me.”
“Aye aye, Captain. We’ll begin recovery operations immediately. We’ll get everyone we have on the job.”
“Good. When you have as much as you can get, make your best speed back to the lunar colony.”
She spun about on her heel, striding for the exit. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in Engineering, supervising the salvage. Lieutenant Jiang, talk to Commander Sheng if you need anything. … Well done, everyone.”
*****
Sheng's Office
TFR Beijing
Deep Space
An hour later
Lieutenant Jiang saw that the door to Sheng's office was ajar. She stepped up to the door, her clipboard in her hand, but stopped when she heard his voice.
“... that's correct, miss Bose. The hostile ship was destroyed. We're just salvaging what we can now.”
