by S. H. Jucha
Maria couldn’t follow Mutter’s preamble, but the reference to emulating Alex bolstered her confidence.
“In order to effectively apply this technique,” Mutter continued, “we must convince the high judge to choose the more circuitous route because he believes a dangerous force blocks his path. In the language of our president, we must bluff.”
Maria would have laughed if the circumstances weren’t so dire.
“Bluff?” Will Drake repeated. “Your strategy for our planet’s protection depends on bluffing, Mutter?”
“Precisely, Minister Drake,” Mutter replied. “The Reunion will have reported to High Judge Bunaldi when the battleship first entered Méridien space that the engineless-vessels seen operating throughout the system were merely shuttles. Until the contest, the high judge would have been unaware that our travelers were capable of fighting. By extension, he will be equally unaware that your travelers are only shuttles.
“I understand, Mutter,” Maria said, excited by the strategy. “Your sixty-four travelers might not deter the high judge from taking the inward path, but if we add our traveler-shuttles, your forces will appear nearly twice as large.”
“Yes, Madam President,” Mutter replied. “A hundred or more travelers, each supposedly beam-capable, might be enough to persuade the high judge to take the outward path around Niomedes and gain us the time we need.
* * *
Bunaldi was studying the New Terran system as the Hand of Justice made its way inward toward the system’s populated planet identified by the guide. Theostin stood by his side on the battleship’s bridge.
“The old woman appears to have told the truth,” Theostin remarked.
“Indeed,” Bunaldi acknowledged. “The guide indicates that almost all intersystem traffic is between this one world and a destination that aligns with Hellébore, the Haraken’s star. I surmise that if we were to isolate and control these two worlds President Racine would be forced to submit to us, and he would bring us the Méridiens.”
“The guide has identified the odd shuttle-fighters at Méridien and also in this system. Who’s to say, Judge, that every world in this part of the galaxy doesn’t have these ships?”
“And why were they not employed until we challenged President Racine?” Bunaldi retorted. “I’ll tell you why, my dear Admiral, it’s because to have a weapon does not necessarily mean you possess the will to use it. That president has the will; the Méridiens do not.”
“Your pardon, Judge Bunaldi,” Captain Chofsky said. “The guide has detected significant structures on a planet that is on our path toward the populated world, which we take to be New Terra. The shortest route is an inward pass of the planet, but I wonder if it wouldn’t be more prudent to pass outward of the planet so that hidden forces do not trap us between the two planets.”
Bunaldi and the admiral studied the guide’s telemetry information for several moments. “Captain,” Theostin said, “I see only freighters and the occasional shuttle-fighter. Nothing warrants your prudence. Judge Bunaldi, I recommend the inward path.”
“Make it so, Captain,” Bunaldi confirmed.
* * *
New Terran shuttle pilots from across the system, most engaged in traffic between New Terra and the planet’s twin orbital stations, quickly landed, unloaded their passengers and cargo, and flew their travelers to Niomedes.
Captain Durak, waiting for the New Terran travelers, flew a slow orbital path from the backside of Niomedes, hidden from the battleship’s view now, but designed to later position the freighter inward of the planet and in full view of the Hand of Justice.
During the course of the next day, the majority of New Terran travelers made rendezvous with the Money Maker. When Durak and Mutter could wait no longer, the freighter-carrier swung out of Niomedes orbit to an inward position 500K kilometers from the planet. Then bay after bay opened to launch the Haraken’s travelers. One hundred and thirteen of the sleek alien-shaped craft spread out in a screen pattern around the Money Maker to face the oncoming battleship.
* * *
While the Money Maker made its preparations, Commander Ellie Thompson readied the Last Stand’s entire wing. Ellie argued with Sheila that some of the fighters should be held back to protect the carrier, but she lost that argument.
“Commander, your forces will be out massed by that battleship’s fighters as it is,” Sheila had replied. “Retaining a small force to protect us against that ship has no value. We have our speed. That’s our defense. President Racine entrusted us to keep New Terra safe. Your wing has first crack at making that happen. It’s my hope that I won’t have to be the second.”
As Ellie climbed into her cockpit for launch, she replayed Sheila’s comment again and again. A defenseless carrier, acting as an offensive weapon, had only one attack choice, which was to ram the battleship. But the carrier hadn’t been designed with emergency exit craft. That was the job of its travelers.
Ellie was about to comm Sheila, when her commodore beat her to it. Sheila sent and closed the comm.
It occurred to Ellie that eleven years ago a derelict Méridien passenger ship wandered into this system and was rescued by a lone captain, who became the key to saving the Confederation. Now a rogue human civilization threatened the captain’s home world, and Méridiens, human and SADE alike would defend his home world.
For the great favor you bestowed on the Confederation, Ser, may the stars grant us fortune to deliver your world from harm, Ellie thought as she launched her entire wing. The carrier’s travelers pushed their gravity drives to their limits, quickly achieving their unmatched velocity of 0.91c. For the pilots, it would be a long flight. They were a full day out from Niomedes, and if the battleship passed inward of the planet, the high judge would make orbit over New Terra hours before them.
* * *
“Judge Bunaldi, your attention is requested on the bridge immediately,” the high judge heard over his monitor’s speakers, waking him from a dead sleep. He had enjoyed a couple glasses of celebratory cognac before retiring, having considered his run of bad luck to have been reversed.
A quarter-hour later, Bunaldi trudged onto the bridge, eyes bleary, and with his usual calm all but nonexistent. “Yes, Captain,” he growled.
“The guide has detected two forces closing in on our path, Judge Bunaldi,” Captain Chofsky replied.
Bunaldi despised the way the captain appeared looking impeccably groomed, as if he caught a full night’s sleep, instead of probably having been awoken at the same time he was.
“More details, Captain Chofsky,” Bunaldi demanded.
On the monitor that the captain pointed out, Bunaldi watched the guide display their intended course and the planet they would pass. The guide highlighted a point in space just inward of the planet and proceeded to magnify that view. A small freighter could be seen with a host of small bright objects surrounding it.
“What am I looking at, Captain?” Bunaldi huffed, his patience dwindling.
“The guide identifies these small objects as the fighters we encountered in Méridien, Judge Bunaldi. It counts 113 of them.”
Despite his hung-over condition, Patricio Bunaldi pulled his thoughts together. The keen mind that enabled his rise through the UE ranks was pressed into service once again, and he began considering the odds. His ship outnumbered the fighters by more than three to one, but the Méridien fighters easily defeated his pilots and craft. In addition, there was the question of whether the fighters in front of him were the only ones possessed by this system, particularly by this planet. If the Hand of Justice took the inward path, his ship-killer missiles and rail guns would be useless against these small craft. Only his close-in ship defenses would be effective against them, if they were to eliminate his fighters.
“You said there were two forces, Captain,” Bunaldi said.
“That ship we’ve been tracking and suspected was the one lurking outsi
de the Méridien system has launched 128 of its own fighters. Based on the guide’s analysis of the ship, we believe it is a carrier with minimum armament and has probably launched every fighter.”
“So its commander launched the ship’s entire force,” Bunaldi mused. “Exactly where in the system were the fighters launched, Captain?”
Chofsky manipulated the monitor view, and the guide responded by displaying the orbits of the planets outward from New Terra. A ring encircled a point in space far outward in the system.
Examining the vast distance the fighters must travel to reach them, Bunaldi began to chuckle. “Too little, too late,” he muttered under his breath.
“Perhaps not, Judge,” Chofsky countered. “Those inbound fighters have achieved a velocity of 0.91 c. If the fighters surrounding the freighter are a blocking force meant to drive us outward from this planet, then the carrier’s fighters could intercept us as we swing outward of the planet. The timing will be that close.”
“Captain, suppose we were to take the outward path. How long will those carrier’s fighters have been underway before they intercept us?”
Chofsky turned to his navigation officer, and the two men huddled for a few moments. “Their flight will have been slightly longer than a full day, Judge,” Chofsky replied.
“There you have it, Captain,” Bunaldi replied. “These two forces are meant to dissuade us from taking either path around that planet. Facing a combined 241 of these fighters, we are meant to see that we have no option but to turn and flee.” Bunaldi enjoyed himself for a moment, laughing at the image of his battleship turning and running. “I think our option is obvious, Captain. Take us outward of that planet,” Bunaldi ordered.
When Chofsky hesitated, Bunaldi decided to be lenient. After all, the man was an excellent captain, just not as brilliant as Bunaldi perceived himself to be. “Captain, the carrier’s fighters are a ruse. Do you honestly think they haven’t exhausted their fuel already to achieve that velocity? I believe they might already be dead in space before they even intercept us. But even if they have some small reserve left, they can’t engage in a protracted battle. It’s obvious, Captain. The carrier’s force is a bluff,” Bunaldi said. He walked off the bridge, chuckling at the subterfuge he congratulated himself on uncovering, leaving a disturbed captain behind him.
Two of Bunaldi’s own people, Captain Lumley and Administrator Wombo, could have disabused the high judge of his false assumption about the distance the carrier’s fighters could cover. Then again, since the concept was too foreign for the Speaker to consider, Bunaldi might also have dismissed it.
Chofsky ordered the change in course but continued to keep a close watch on both forces. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something seemed to be missing from their calculations. Chofsky was a survivor of too many battles not to know when a critical piece of the battle plan’s puzzle was wanting.
-27-
Clustered around the Money Maker’s holo-vid, Mutter and Captain Durak watched the Hand of Justice change course to take an outward path around Niomedes.
“Success, Mutter!” Ahmed crowed, hugging the white-haired, elderly appearing avatar.
“We,” said Mutter, smiling at him and placing a friendly hand on his shoulder, “did well, Captain.”
“Now what do we do?” Ahmed asked.
“That is an excellent question, Captain. I must admit that I didn’t consider maneuvers past this point, but then warfare is not my forte, and I hope it never will be,” Mutter replied. “If you will excuse me, Captain, I will examine our next possibilities.”
Ahmed watched the persona of the woman disappear and that of the SADE-mannequin take its place as Mutter focused on their next tactics. Someone such as Ahmed, who had worked closely with SADEs for years, knew to wait patiently. It wouldn’t be long before even an individual such as Mutter, who was not proficient in battle tactics, would have examined innumerable possibilities, assigned values for potential outcomes, and decided on the best possible course, and he was correct. The avatar’s frozen expression softened, and the persona of the kind and gentle woman resurfaced.
“Captain, what do you suppose the high judge would do if he was presented with this scenario?” Mutter asked. The holo-vid lit up with a view of Niomedes and the surrounding area of space, labeling the players: Hand of Justice, Money Maker, and Ellie’s incoming wing. The travelers surrounding the freighter divided into two groups. One group headed to intercept the Hand of Justice; the other group circled behind the planet to join the carrier’s wing.
“Which group of travelers is going which way?” Ahmed asked.
“Your pardon, Captain,” Mutter said, realizing her logic wasn’t been obvious. “New Terra’s shuttles will take a direct path toward the battleship. Our travelers will circle behind the planet.”
Ahmed studied the holo-vid, trying to anticipate the Earthers’ response. He hadn’t believed the commander of the battleship would fall for Mutter’s bluff, and he was wrong. Now, he felt more out of his depth than ever, and heartedly wished for the presence of the indomitable trio: Alex, Julien, and Tatia. “Mutter, I must admit that I have no idea what the Earthers would do. I am woefully inadequate when it comes to warfare tactics.”
“We are the same, Captain. Music is beauty; war is ugly, but there is the matter of necessity.”
Ahmed nodded his head and stared again at the holo-vid. “The masters of that battleship believe the safer path is outward of Niomedes despite the advance of our carrier wing. I believe they might have made false assumptions about our travelers.”
There was silence for a moment, and then the captain and the SADE said as one, “gravity drives,” and laughed. The trip to New Terra was convincing Mutter more every day that she was erring in not involving humans more in her life, and she reached a decision to change that starting now.
“They must believe our travelers have fuel limitations, like the Daggers. They might think our fighters can’t cover the distance and still fight,” Ahmed said. “That’s what they consider our bluff,” and the two shared another laugh having realized the irony of the situation.
“If we send the New Terran shuttles in the open, then the high judge would be further convinced to take the far path, would he not?” Mutter asked.
“I believe he would, Mutter! Then our travelers could support the carrier’s wing. That’s brilliant, Mutter,” said Ahmed, excitedly squeezing her hands.
With Mutter’s algorithms’ hierarchy reordered to focus more on humans, Ahmed’s touch quickly achieved a rarified position in her kernel’s memory, and she felt an intensity that compared to the enjoyment of singing for the Swei Swee. The world of humans has more to offer than I supposed, Mutter thought.
Ahmed and Mutter contacted the Haraken captain leading the freighter’s travelers and the New Terra captain leading the shuttles. The freighter’s captain received the data download via her traveler’s controller and relayed the information to the squadron. The Haraken travelers left the screening force, taking the route behind the planet to join the incoming wing. The New Terran captain was not so quick to comprehend her orders.
“Captain Durak, madam, are you ordering our shuttles to fly at that huge battleship?” Captain Hailey Timmion asked. She was tasked by none other than President Gonzalez to support the Harakens’ efforts and specifically to follow the orders of Captain Durak and Mutter. When the white-haired, aging woman first appeared on her traveler’s vid screen, Hailey thought there was a mistake. In the New Terran’s mind, if a SADE could choose any avatar, it certainly wouldn’t be that of an old woman.
“Precisely, Captain,” Mutter agreed.
“Captain Timmion,” Ahmed said, attempting to intervene and calm the captain, “the battleship is passing outward of Niomedes. The planet is starting to block their view of our forces. We need you to continue our ruse by circling the planet and chasing the battleship along the path it’s already chosen.”
“Understood, Captain Durak, but what do we
do if we’re engaged?”
“Then Captain Timmion, I would advise you to turn and run,” Mutter said matter-of-factly.
“Captain Timmion, we don’t expect you to reach an engagement window,” Ahmed added. “We want you to pretend to intercept the battleship, but don’t close on it. The concept is just to be seen.”
“We have been ordered to follow your instructions implicitly, Captain, Madam, which we will do. I just hope that your plan doesn’t get my people killed for little or no gain,” Timmion grumped.
“Captain,” Mutter said, “I’m sending your controllers our latest evasion routines. If you encounter trouble, initiate this program at the earliest moment. Whatever you do, don’t switch to manual flight. It will be the last thing you do.”
* * *
Sheila paced the Last Stand’s expansive bridge, while Edouard and the bridge officers stood quiet and resolute. The holo-vid displayed the forces of the upcoming battle drawing inexorably closer. When did I adopt Alex’s habit of pacing the bridge? Sheila wondered.
“I always wondered, Commodore, if pacing was a New Terran technique that somehow hastened the events about to unfold,” Edouard said, his face showing no signs of the mirth he was harboring.
“Yes, Captain. It was first discovered by our president as a method of impelling our adversaries to rush to their doom. Under the circumstances, I thought it worth adopting. Care to join me? We can hasten the Hand of Justice to its doom twice as quickly.”
“I’m afraid, Commodore, it appears to be a particularly New Terran technique. Perhaps it has something to do with mass.”
A bridge officer failed to maintain control, and a snorkel of air slipped out. He snatched a glance at the commodore and wished he hadn’t. Apparently, the captain could jest with the commodore but the bridge crew was not invited to the fête.
“Commodore, Captain, we’ve received an update from the Money Maker,” the comms officer announced. “I’m updating the holo-vid.”
