The Riss Enemies: Book VI (The Riss Series 6)
Page 12
"What are you saying?" Wattson stood.
"He's right, Wattson," Gebauer interjected before Zhu could reply. "I not only admire Admiral Plimson but accept he is my superior, and I'm subject to his orders."
Wattson sat. "You're right." He laughed. "What a war college problem this would make."
Plimson rose. "Admiral Zhu, Leader Reese, if you will excuse me, I need to address this problem before we can continue. You deserve an SAS force you can depend on."
"What do you think, Nadya? What does the future look like?" Zhu asked in his normal low voice. He looked serious and cocked his head like he awaited the answer.
If I’d had a blanket, I would have pulled it over my head. Instead, I buried my head in my hands. No one said anything and I don't know how long I remained in that position. Then it hit me, and I jerked up and opened my SID.
"R-Galene, tight-beam connection to the Cerberuses."
**Connected,** she said as the three faces appeared on my SID in separate boxes.
"You are to proceed in stealth mode to the Wave. Captain Ja'Sai, you will proceed to Earthol, Captain Bradshaw to Sparrow’s Nest, and Captain Katlin to Port Lost. On arrival, you will position your cruiser two light-seconds from the Mother ship and wait. If the SAS fleet shows up, you are there to observe and report back when it's over. I say this for the Riss: you are not to get involved. You can not possibly affect the outcome, and the information you return with could save hundreds of millions of lives. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Leader," they said in unison.
As I closed my SID, I noticed everyone staring at me. "If the SAS decides to take independent action, observers might provide the information we need to defeat the Ecitoni."
"If they take sufficient forces, they could win," Sheva said, making it a what-if type question.
"They could, since we don't have enough information to speculate one way or the other. If they do and have sufficient forces to defeat the Ecitoni on Sparrow’s Nest and Earthol, the UFN and the Riss can go home, and they can call us cowards. I'm not the leader of the UFN or the SAS. They are each free to make their own decisions. I only offered to help if they wanted it. I was even willing to put Riss on each of their cruisers."
I paused to take a drink and await comments. When none came, I continued.
"They may choose to come back to the table tomorrow, in which case we can work toward a unified strategy where I propose to send Zhang, Da'Maass, and myself to join the Cerberuses in probing the Ecitoni Mother ships in each system."
* * *
It was early in the morning when my SID buzzed with a priority connect. When I clicked Accept, r-Galene's face appeared.
**Leader, the Bateleur is requesting a connection.**
"Connect," I said, and Plimson appeared.
"Admiral Gleason has convinced two thirds of the SAS fleets' senior officers to attack the Ecitoni on Port Lost. I'm sorry, Nadya. I couldn't stop them without a revolt that would have resulted in SAS cruisers firing on each other. Admiral Wattson is going along to advise Gleason in the hope he can make a difference. They will be leaving within the next few minutes."
"I apologize, Albert. I put you in an impossible position by forcing Martial Law on the SAS and having them appoint you. It would have worked in the UFN with their strong sense of tradition or in the old JPU because of their rigid command structure—but not in the SAS. Their captains tend to autonomously think the military a democracy."
"That's exactly what happened—a vote where each captain got to decide. Gleason used our long standing relationship against me, implying you were dictating the SAS strategy and that the Riss are cowards. What do…the Riss plan to do now?"
"I sent Cerberuses to each of the three system to observe, in case Gleason mutinied. We may learn something of the Ecitoni's strengths and weaknesses. If he wins, Admiral Zhu and I can return home; if not, we will be better prepared to either perform additional probes or to attack."
"Zhu is right. You do see the future. I'm left with a fleet the size of Home Fleet and I've put Admiral Gebauer in command. Although he still isn't comfortable with the Riss-human project, he respects the Riss and you."
"Why don't you take the next couple of days to get your fleet organized while we await word from Port Lost? You can use the time to determine where you can use Riss. It was always my intention to provide the UFN and the SAS ships with Riss for the confrontation with the Ecitoni."
"Thank you, Nadya." He looked despondent as he cut the connection.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Port Lost - First encounter with the Ecitoni
Katlin sat contemplating her assignment as she awaited Wave exit. She was excited at being sent to Port Lost, where the main Ecitoni Mother ship resided. However, she was surprised that Bradshaw hadn't been sent, as it had been his previous assignment. Leader Reese had changed everyone's assignment for some reason.
Katlin nodded understanding. It wasn't that Reese would feel she or any of the Riss-humans were of less value, but the solution would be a tactical decision, whereas with Bradshaw, emotions would be involved, if only delaying the decision for several seconds—seconds that could adversely impact the outcome.
As Bradshaw had reported, she could see the Mother ship even this far from the planet, but nothing else.
**Attention. Status Standby, stealth mode,** r-Radru announced, and the lights flashed blue throughout the ship then turned steady blue as a status change message went out to every SID.
Katlin sat wondering if the SAS would elect to take on the Ecitoni on their own, and if they did, could they win? And how would she feel watching, knowing she couldn't help? In the SAS, most captains considered it their right to modify orders from the fleet Admiral, based on the situation at the time. However, when Leader Reese spoke for the Riss, the order was absolute.
Ironically, that was the trouble with the SAS navy. Too often, they acted separately. Plimson was in charge, yet there were those who thought they had a right to act against his orders. She had just arrived at her assigned position when it was obvious a large force was entering the Wave. One or two cruisers wouldn't be noticed, but ten cruisers would create a disturbance that could be easily detected even at this distance and in passive mode.
As the hours passed, the SAS armada became visible on the Cerberus's passive sensors: ninety-eight cruisers. They were arranged in four lines of four six-cruiser squadrons each, separated by a half light-second. The two command ships were in the fourth line. She thought it strange the Ecitoni didn't appear to be responding—the shuttle-line to and from ship continued, as did the attack on the planet—as if the armada hadn't been noticed.
Maybe they were like real ants: nothing happens if you walk next to a mound so long as you didn't disturb it. If you do, th
en all hell breaks loose. She had just finished the thought when the first line of twenty-four ships jumped and four seconds later appeared forty thousand kilometers from the Mother ship. A standard attack jump without a Riss on board. That meant the missiles would arrive within ten seconds—too fast for humans or even automatic systems to respond, if not already online.
Katlin held her breath as the seconds ticked by. She waited for the tactical officers to determine the attack vector and fire their missiles. Before the SAS could fire, hundreds of small fighters burst out of the Mother ship, looking like a swarm of angry bees. There were so many, it looked like the explosion of a Duster Missile. Ten seconds later, the twenty four cruisers began firing and two hundred and sixteen missiles streaked towards the Mother ship. The fighters released flares and other material as they coalesced into groups of twenty accompanied by two Lights and accelerated towards the invading cruisers. Twenty-five percent of the missiles zeroed in on the fighter engines and either destroyed the fighter or went astray. The flares and chaff took out fifty percent of the missiles, and twenty-five percent struck the Mother ship with surprisingly little effect—none of the subsequent explosions one would expect when the hull is breached. The impact reminded Katlin of fighter practice against an asteroid—an explosion of rock which did nothing but leave a hole.
Simultaneously with the missiles’ impact on the Mother ship, the Ecitoni fighters reached the cruisers. Like the Alien fighters or the Riss red-Wraiths, they didn't release missiles or use lasers—they rammed the ship. The scene resembled a Fourth of July celebration, as a couple hundred fighters collided with the twenty-four cruisers. Twelve thousand lives incinerated in the flash of a second. Tears flowed freely and bile rose in Katlin's mouth, burning her throat like her stomach had disgorged hot lava. Anger replaced the misery and she…couldn't grasp the thought she’d had a minute ago. Against her will, she felt herself relaxing.
Katlin sat thinking for a long time about what she had almost done—no less than almost jeopardized the Riss Nation. The SAS would win or lose, and there was nothing one Cerberus could do to change the outcome. If the SAS lost and she had entered the fight and lost the Cerberus, valuable information would have been lost to the remaining coalition, which could impact the final outcome of the war.
Katlin laughed. Without that time to think, she would have issued Battle Stations, Nidaba would have taken control, and she would have lost Nidaba, whose company suddenly was more important than being a captain.
Her musing was interrupted when the fleet jumped two light-seconds toward the Mother ship. As they came out of the skip, they reformed into two lines of thirty-six cruisers separated by a half light-second. Two minutes later, they began firing in unison every sixty seconds—three hundred twenty-four missiles per row. Accelerating at five thousand kilometers per second, the missiles from the first row would reach the Mother ship—which had turned to face the armada—in sixty seconds. The second row's missiles would reach the Mother ship in ninety seconds, being one-half light-second further away. Katlin was surprised the fleet commander wasn't using Dusters or Dragonflies and appeared to be relying on brute force.
At the same time, all the combat shuttles coming and going to and from the Mother ship—some three hundred along with thirty Lights—had turned toward the fleet and began firing—releasing over seven hundred missiles. The swarm of Ecitoni fighters also turned and headed toward the fleet, again accompanied by Lights. In this case, however, their presence caused more chaos, as the missiles had further to go. Again the missiles honed in on the fighters' engines, destroying at least twenty-five percent but in the process causing many to stray off course or explode—leaving only thirty percent on course. The Mother ship’s change of direction and the lack of active engines caused another fifteen percent to shoot harmlessly by. The fifteen percent that hit sprayed debris from the first two kilometers of the Mother ship's cylinder.
Twenty seconds after the SAS’s second missile release, the combat shuttles and Light cruisers’ missiles arrived at the first row. Only one out of ten reached an SAS cruiser, but eight cruisers were damaged and two destroyed. Fifteen seconds later, the surviving one hundred sixty fighters reached the first row. Sixty-five were destroyed by fighters and ship lasers, but the remaining ninety-five destroyed the first row—and forty-four continued on to the second row. Mercifully, only five survived, but they destroyed two cruisers. The Second row fired again, as did the Ecitoni shuttles and Light cruisers, which hadn't been targeted. Before the missiles had gone half way, another swarm of fighters left the Mother ship—close to five hundred. A surge of depression hit Katlin so hard she wanted to run so she wouldn't have to see what she knew would happen in less than two minutes.
But she found she couldn't turn away. As the seconds ticked by, she wondered if the outcome would have been the same if all seven fleets and the Riss had attacked. She knew three SAS fleets wouldn't have survived. She now knew why Pavao and the others didn't want to be the Riss Leader.
An hour later, Katlin left for Hayjar.
[CK1]
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Hayjar - Reevaluation
Katlin stood on the third level of the Mnemosyne surrounded by the SAS delegation, Admiral Plimson and Gebauer, the UFN delegation, Admiral Zhu, Iwata, Kishi, and Husing, and Reese, Pavao, Da'Maass, and Iglis. She awaited questions after giving her report of the engagement at Port Lost. Several monitors had been installed so that it was easy to view the Cerberus-3 sensor data as Katlin talked.
"You say the entire two fleets were destroyed and the Mother ship is still intact?" Gebauer asked as she finished her verbal summary of the action.
"Yes, sir. The Mother ship does not appear to have any substantial offensive or defensive weapons, but they had a thousand fighters, which acted like manned missiles. They produced chaff but fired no missiles. They headed straight for the cruisers kamikaze style."
"What do you think the outcome would have been if all three nations had committed their entire resources?" Zhu asked the question many had on their minds.
"I've given that a lot of thought on the way back to Hayjar. The SAS fleets didn't significantly damage the Mother ship, maybe the first two kilometers. They had around three hundred fighters remaining after the battle, but they could have another thousand on the Mother ship. They definitely have five hundred or more combat shuttles left, because the SAS fleet didn't target them, and maybe another hundred or two Light cruisers." She paused for a drink of kaffa and sat quiet for several seconds. "I think it could have gone either way, but I doubt we would have had sufficient forces to take on the other two Ecitoni colonies. No, we would have lost in the end. I'm sure of it."
"Well, Leader Reese, you were right. What next?" Zhu asked, a small smile dancing on his lips.
"I would rather have been wrong. But since we can't change the past, it's important that we honor the brave men and women who gave their lives in defense of their country, by using what we've learned to crush the Ecitoni," I said, feeling no satisfaction being right. Gleason's folly had provided us with a lot of information about the Ecitoni and their tactics, which would enable us to fight smart. But would that be enough, I wondered. "I've had a copy of the Cerberus' sensor data made for each of you. I'd like a couple of days to review the data before we meet again. That will also give us a chance to brief our personnel."
* * *
<
Leader, a shuttle from the Bateleur is requesting entry,> r-Kojin sent.
"I don't like it," Terril said. "I know you trust Gebauer, but why no call first? Feels like Green Admiral Erdogan's ploy using Admiral Zhu."
"They came in a combat shuttle."
"Still don't like it. I've sent Kraits to meet the shuttle. We stay here until they report it's clear." Terril's gaze held mine.
I nodded. She was right to be concerned. I made my way to the conference room, fetched a cup of kaffa, and sat.
**Leader?** r-Galene answered.
"Send to all Riss ships via tight-beam message, Prepare to take immediate action on my command."
**Sent,** r-Galene said after a few seconds’ delay.
I kept the connection open. Several minutes later, Terril opened the door and Master Wei entered and moved back against the wall.
Admiral Gebauer followed, looking exhausted to the point of collapse.
"Admiral Plimson had a meeting of the captains to consider the data from Cerberus-3. It seemed like the right thing to do—get everyone thinking about the problem. But several captains concluded that we could have won if you and Plimson had voted to send the entire SAS, UFN, and Riss fleets. They then concluded you hate the SAS and used Plimson to ensure Gleason wouldn't have the resources to win. They have concluded the Ecitoni will destroy the SAS and that you're to blame. They shot Admiral Plimson and sent me to deliver the message."
"R-Galene, send tight-beam to all ships, issue Battle Stations, stealth mode. Proceed to Freeland immediately, prepare for war." I looked at Gebauer, who looked glassy-eyed. "You are welcome to stay, Admiral Gebauer, or return if you wish."