Hero of the Republic: (The Parasite Initiative, Book 1)

by Britt Ringel

  Chapter 20

  The dive into the Kalyke star system had come with the customary nausea experienced after any transition between tunnel and normal space. Twist remembered gagging briefly at his WEPS station on Falcata’s bridge but not as brutally as Lieutenant Salle had, sitting behind her sensor panel.

  Upon arriving, Twist had examined the system plot on the main screen and found it free of red units. Six tunnel points spread out like a spider’s web from the system’s primary K3V star. Kalyke contained another star, a small M7V, but the orbital period of that star was so extreme and elliptical that it held virtually no influence over the system’s six planets. Of the terrestrial planets, only the third cool subterran possessed the necessary ingredients to support life. Given the proper name Calycia, the frosty planet had only a brief growing season that accounted for its low population. Farther away from the K3V, a domed city on the largest moon of the system’s first gas giant served as a mining and starship depot for helium-three skimmers. Farther out still from Kalyke’s yellow-orange star were her tunnel points. All were standard, Type-A. The tunnel point leading to the Aegir star system had been fortified with two fortress stations and a smaller defense outpost.

  Twist thought of the doomed tunnel point defense posts in Sponde as he walked with Lieutenant Hayashi down a passageway. They arrived at the doors to the main briefing room. “Ma’am, I won’t be expected to say anything, right?” he asked nervously.

  Hayashi smiled reassuringly at the junior lieutenant. “No, Caden. In fact, you and I will sit opposite each other, at the heads of the table. That way we’ll be out of camera view and nobody will even know that we’re there.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief and looked at his first officer gratefully. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Hayashi held her datapad to the door controls. “Captain Weis and I want you here as a growth experience. With your career trajectory, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be sitting in fleet meetings where you will be expected to contribute.” She shifted her black eyes to Twist. “Listen first but I also want you to watch the interactions. Try to develop a feel for the people on the screens. Lastly, Captain Weis will undoubtedly ask you questions after the meeting is over. He wants to hear your opinion so don’t hold back.” She smiled again. “Ready?”

  Twist nodded and Hayashi pulled her datapad from the panel. The portal slid open and the two officers stepped inside. Weis was already sitting at the middle of the conference table, facing a large wall screen. As instructed, Twist took an end of the table, safely out of view from the wall screen’s camera.

  The screen itself had been partitioned into seven separate boxes containing the leaders of the Kalyke defense force. Falcata, along with the rest of the group, had arrived in-system forty-eight hours ago. Twist busied himself matching the faces on screen to the major players in Kalyke’s defense.

  Rear Admiral Yessenia Salazar occupied the upper right corner. The woman’s close-cropped, grey hair evoked more a marine than a sailor and her crisp movements were made with a military precision obtained only after decades of discipline. Admiral Salazar, working from the flag bridge of BRS Scythe, commanded the whole of Task Group 2.6. The three-squadron group comprised the traditional half of Kalyke’s defenders. Cruiser Squadron 6 and Destroyer Squadron 14 constituted the punch of the group and Escort Squadron 10 provided protection.

  Opposite from Salazar, in the upper left corner, was CruRon 6’s commander, Commander Welch. Unsurprisingly, there was no box on the wall screen for Lieutenant Commander Weis in Falcata’s briefing room. With Weis filling the role of DesRon-14’s commander, that left only the bottom right image of CortRon 10’s Lieutenant Commander Freeman to round out the leadership elements of Task Group 2.6.

  Next to Freeman’s square, a relatively young man sat, face oriented downward presumably at his datapad. The name riding at the top of his partition identified him as Lieutenant Commander Ward and below his name was his position label: “SupRon 3/CC.”

  Supply Squadron Three, Twist mentally recited with envy. Where I could have been. Although far removed from the battles, supply squadrons were the fleet workhorses. Without the collection of logistical tankers, refitters, medical and magazine ships, their combat brothers would quickly be reduced to using sticks and stones. For Kalyke’s defense, only SupRon-3 had been appointed to watch over and replenish both Task Group 3.1 and 2.6. Twist knew that although it was possible to have only a single supply squadron cover two task groups in a defensive action, the margin for error was razor thin.

  Third in line at the bottom, a handsome officer was in discussion with someone off his screen. The tape labeled him as Avenger’s Captain Ramirez. Next to the carrier captain, in the leftmost bottom square, was another young lieutenant commander, a man named Baker who commanded Task Group 3.1’s escort squadron.

  (Link to Kalyke I Defense Org Chart; there is a return link after the chart to continue reading)

  Twist tried to remember any details about Baker and Ramirez from Sponde but could not. Three-One had barely dove into Sponde before the battle. We didn’t even have a chance to exercise with them before we fought the Hollarans.

  Over the speakers, a voice announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, the admiral.”

  Every head faced forward as conversations stopped. In the largest, center square, the rugged image of Rear Admiral Hayes appeared as he took his seat.

  He’s been promoted, Twist noted while staring at the second star resting along the veteran’s shoulders. Considering his heroics at Sponde and then again at Helike, I’m not surprised.

  Hayes was not one for pleasantries. “Yessenia,” he said as he looked toward Admiral Salazar’s square, “your CortRon commander needs to improve her squadron performance or be replaced.”

  Twist looked toward Freeman’s square. She was blushing furiously. Ouch, he thought with empathy for the beleaguered squadron commander. Harsh way to start a meeting.

  Salazar nodded in acquiescence but stated, “CortRon Ten will do better but we’ve got to realize that Commander Freeman is playing with a limited hand.”

  Twist had been on the bridge to witness Hayashi’s horrified reaction when they discovered that the six-ship escort squadron responsible for their protection contained not only a standard frigate but a standard destroyer as well, instead of dedicated escort variants. He shivered, recalling how quickly the standard frigates within Garrett Heskan’s escort squadron in Sponde had folded. Once those regular frigates were hit, everything started to come apart.

  “We made it work in Sponde,” Hayes insisted briskly, “and my plan calls for your task group to be able to defend itself.” Hayes’ attention focused on the bright red CortRon commander. “Commander Freeman, can your ships do their job or not?”

  Freeman looked like she had been punched. “Yes, Admiral. We’re making some adjustments from the last exercise—”

  “Good,” Hayes interrupted, “because missile defense across the board was terrible the last time around.” He reacquired his former target. “Yessenia, your other squadrons are going to have vampires leak through. That’s just the nature of this war. If your WEPS officers can’t perform basic point defense, then we may as well just hand Kalyke over to the Hollies right now.”

  Twist flinched at the rebuke. Although not directed solely at him, Hayes’ critique had struck home. The admiral is right, he admitted. I’m still too slow in target allocation. Not only do I have to follow the tasking procedures but now I have to analyze each incoming missile and decide whether to hand it off to the Laze or Haze section. It was a growing frustration as each exercise confirmed his self-doubts. I’ve been handed a job that takes one minute to do properly but given twenty seconds in which to do it. During the last exercise, Falcata had taken five missile strikes—enough to destroy it.

  “We’ll do better, Admiral,” Salazar answered behind a tightly locked jawline.

  Hayes glowered a final moment to drive his point home before resuming. “That�
��s good because the word from Intel is that Task Force Three dove into Hati sometime over the night.” Hati, an uninhabited star system, was just two dives down the tunnel chain.

  “We’ll see our pickets from Hati and Aegir appear at the Aegir tunnel point inside of twelve hours,” Hayes predicted. “Because of that, we’re finished with the exercises. I want all ship crews to receive a mandatory six-hour rest within the next twelve hours. They’re going to need it.”

  Hayes looked off-camera and motioned with his hand. Several seconds passed before the inlaid screen on Falcata’s conference table synched with Avenger. Twist looked excitedly at the system view of Kalyke overlaid with the fleet symbols of the Brevic Navy.

  “In twelve hours, we’re moving to our initial positions, marked Points Hope and Ambition, on the chart.”

  “You’re splitting us up?” Salazar blurted out.

  Twist concentrated on the system plot, trying to make sense of the multitude of etchings near the Aegir tunnel point. Task Group 2.6, including Falcata, would be positioned 22lm from the tunnel point. The carrier group, Task Group 3.1, appeared to be positioned a full 30lm from the tunnel point on the opposite side. The two formations would be separated from each other by nearly a light-hour.

  “Yessenia,” Hayes said crossly, “they’ll be searching for my carrier close to you after you’ve been detected. We can’t do the same thing I did in Sponde.”

  “Admiral,” Salazar insisted stubbornly, “with Vindicator’s destruction three weeks ago, the Hollies have no reason to believe that we’ll have another carrier in this region. If you put us a light-hour apart, you lose any chance we have at coordinating—”

  “We’ve already had this conversation!” Hurricane Hayes snapped. “There’s risk to my strategy but you can’t win a battle without risk! We’re finished discussing this.”

  Silence pervaded. Twist watched, fascinated by how such important people could seem so small in the aftermath of the admiral’s outburst.

  Finally, Hayes cleared his throat. “The Hollarans will dive in. Latest estimates are twenty ships with a possible carrier presence.”

  Twist felt his stomach lurch at the bombshell even as Salazar’s eyes bulged.

  “That’s new,” she commented dryly.

  “We handled their largest fleet carrier in Sponde,” Hayes dismissed. “My plan will handle whatever they send at us this time as well.”

  Travel lines and vectors flashed along the planned routes the task groups would take when the Hollarans inevitably set course for Calycia.

  “Admiral Salazar will sail her group in-system, gradually reducing the distance between her and the Hollies until she enters detection range. Once we have positive confirmation the Hollarans have taken the bait—”

  “Now in the form of a Hollaran fighter strike,” Salazar added bitterly.

  Hayes glared at the lower-ranking admiral. “In the form of a Hollie fighter wave launched against Two-Six,” he confirmed. “Once they’ve sent their fighters in, Avenger will launch a counterstrike against the carrier itself.” He sat back and smiled confidently. “Take out their carrier and those fighters are worthless.”

  Only after they’ve fired their missiles, Twist thought. At us.

  “Admiral,” Salazar pressed, “standard point defense practices fail in the face of this new form of combat. The missiles from these fighters won’t be in waves. They’ll hit my group in one, gigantic pack.” She glanced sympathetically at Freeman’s square. “Given the fact that CortRon Ten is understrength, can we realistically expect an acceptable attrition rate from that attack?”

  Hayes pounded a fist on his table. “Dammit, Admiral! You’ve already voiced these concerns in private. This is the plan!” He looked around his own briefing room in disgust. “And CortRon Ten isn’t understrength. It has a full allotment of ships.”

  “But a third of them aren’t dedicated escorts,” Hayashi whispered in frustration. A panicked Weis shot a silencing look at his first officer.

  The compartment’s mic had not picked up the slip. “Plus,” Hayes bolstered, “Commander Heskan’s CortRon had standard ships integrated with his escorts as well.” He looked toward Freeman’s square. “I know in my heart that Commander Freeman possesses just as much skill and dedication to the Republic as Garrett Heskan.” Hayes glared wickedly as his eyes returned to Salazar. “And, Yessenia, as far as your reluctance to play your role in the campaign, perhaps I’ve overestimated your dedication to our cause. The Republic asks no more from you than any other citizen.” Hayes leaned back in his chair as his eyes took on a distant look. “It reminds me of another calling. None of you were there but at Helike, when things were at their worst, Commander Heskan volunteered… no, he begged me for the honor of safeguarding Avenger’s withdrawal.” He raised a clenched fist and leveled his gaze at his officers. “And he returned a hero, Yessenia. He gave what was asked of him and the entire Republic is in his debt. Including you, Admiral.”

  Salazar’s head bowed. After a moment, she nodded in reluctant acceptance.

  The first battle won, Hayes moved on to the next phase of his strategy.

  * * *

  The communications request grew progressively louder, nudging Twist from his sleep. Groggy-eyed, he glanced at the chronometer. He had been asleep for over seven hours. He groped for his datapad and accepted the request. A petty officer’s face filled the tiny screen.

  “Sir, Lieutenant Hayashi would like to see you in Briefing Room Alpha.”

  Twist rubbed his eyes. “Okay,” he mumbled. When he was slightly more awake, he asked, “Any change on the system plot?”

  “No, sir. No Hollarans yet.”

  After sailing to each group’s holding position, the entire fleet had stood down for Hayes’ mandatory rest period. Twist had split the twelve-hour interval with his chief petty officer, Julia Devore, giving her the first rest. After finishing his shift, he had immediately headed to his quarters, anxious to get the most sleep possible. The extreme fatigue experienced in Sponde was a hard won lesson in the limits of his body’s endurance.

  He grumbled to himself over the message while rolling out of bed. He would miss almost a full hour of sleep but Falcata’s first officer surely had good reason for the disruption. Ten minutes later, he exited his room and made his way for the briefing room closest to the bridge.

  The portal opened with a swipe of his datapad and Twist entered the room. Over the weeks on Falcata, Lieutenant Hayashi had transformed from a reserved and quiet leader into Twist’s friendly mentor. On the bridge, she paired well with the more talkative Captain Weis and the two formed a team that had kept the ship and DesRon-14 running smoothly.

  Hayashi was seated at the conference table, near its middle. Twist wondered if her seat selection was purposeful, intentionally not taking the head of the table where Twist would be unable to sit next to her.

  “Good morning, Lieutenant,” she said in her customary gentle voice. She slid a finger across her datapad to place it into sleep mode.

  “Hello, ma’am,” Twist echoed while taking a seat beside her.

  She looked at him directly with inscrutable eyes. “Lieutenant, my apologies for waking you early but we have some unfortunate business to discuss.” She frowned slightly before continuing. “Chief Devore and Chief Dozier approached Captain Weis earlier this afternoon.”

  Twist felt a jolt surge through his body. He furrowed his brow. Devore went behind my back? Well, not technically since Falcata’s bosun isn’t really in my chain of command. As the destroyer’s bosun and senior enlisted member, Jamie Dozier reported directly to Captain Weis and was available to any enlisted crewmember to approach. What did Devore say about me?

  “Chief Devore voiced concerns over the weapons section’s performance during our last exercises,” Hayashi explained. “Has she had this discussion with you?”

  Twist’s heart raced. “I know she’s been unsatisfied with our section during the exercises.” She’s worried how the poor perfor
mance is going to affect her career, he added silently to himself.

  “Not just the whole section, Lieutenant,” Hayashi pressed, “but she has specific concerns about your leadership. She believes Falcata might be stronger with you in an alternate position. Has she voiced these specific concerns to you?”

  Twist felt his shoulders sag. “Not explicitly but I’ve gotten the gist, ma’am.” He stared at the tabletop as his cheeks burned. “Devore thinks I’m too inexperienced and slow at the WEPS station. She’s worried how poor performance from my section will impact the ship.” And wreck her chances for future promotion. Say it, Caden!

  “And your thoughts, Lieutenant?” Hayashi was a cool professional now.

  “I understand her concerns, ma’am,” he admitted. “I am young and I am inexperienced… especially when it comes to this kind of conflict. On Lochaber, my PO and I worked extremely well together. It’s very… different with Chief Devore.”

  Hayashi nodded her head. “Other than what you submitted in your last post-exercise evaluation, do you have any additional recommendations given the situation, Lieutenant?”

  “We’ve improved with each exercise, ma’am. I really believe that we’re getting better but am I satisfied with our performance? No.” He looked away with chagrin. “That includes my performance too, ma’am.” The confession would have been humiliating in front of any superior officer. For Twist to be admitting it to an officer he deeply respected was soul-crushing.

  Hayashi stared at him. After an eternity she said, “Thank you for your candor, Lieutenant. It’s important that you know you retain Captain Weis’ and my complete faith. Every section on Falcata can improve, not just yours, Lieutenant. The key is to improve just enough now so that you survive long enough to make more improvements later.”