Commander Henry Gallant (The Henry Gallant Saga Book 4)

by Alesso, H. Peter

  Gallant was able to gain control of the base’s sensors and he manipulated the sensor data to disguise the Achilles task force’s blip so that it looked like one large natural object. It was a matter of size and clarity. The transparency of space was contrasted with the opacity of material bodies and it was not difficult to mismatch objects of the Achilles’s size. He merely introduced sensor input data that resembled a comet and overlaid it on the sensor readings for the Achilles. The Titan screens showed what looked like a comet making its way through the star system approaching the fifth planet. The Titan sensor techs dutifully reported a comet approaching their planet from the inner system and nothing more.

  He was justifiably proud of the accomplishment, but he felt no elation as he contemplated the gloomy possibilities of the formidable battle to come.

  Gallant reported his success in disrupting the Titan sensors to Neumann who acknowledged the spoof without comment. The Achilles’s task force continued on its rendezvous with the fifth planet.

  As a sensible precaution, Gallant examined the defenses in greater detail. The bases had a layered defense with satellites, minefields, and overlapping fields of fire with scores of missile launchers guarding the approaches. The obstructing strong points were difficult to navigate because of the deployed mine field. As he penetrated deeper into the Titan system he became convinced that he might be able to gain control over some of the base missile batteries.

  Finally, when the UP ships were arrayed near the fifth planet and ready to close in on the enemy, Gallant requested permission to proceed with a plan he had devised. After more debate than he thought necessary, Neumann finally gave him permission.

  The Warrior remained in stealth mode behind the fifth planet while Gallant and Stedman took the Wasp to the main command and control communication junction box on the large moon. There Gallant worked his way along the strange landscape of the surface until he could connect into the master circuit. It had to be done. He settled in and used the fake identity he had generated to access the missile bases defenses. Next he introduced a virus that locked up the controls for the batteries. He had no idea how long it would take the Titans to discover what was wrong, so he wasted no time informing Achilles.

  “The missile bases’ defense systems are no longer operational,” reported Gallant to the Achilles. Whether Neumann attributed this to a fluke, or to cold calculation by Gallant in gaining access to the Titan’s command and control systems, he couldn’t know, but he was pleased with himself and began making his way back to the Warrior.

  Although he had disabled the sensors and defenses of the bases’ weapons, he hadn’t been able to access the individual cruiser’s internal networks. The aliens would be able to fight at full capacity once they realized that the Achilles was upon them.

  Because the bases’ sensors remained distorted, the Achilles approached the moon from the sunward side and achieved complete surprise.

  The four large Titan space ships orbited sublimely through space around the large pockmarked moon oblivious to their peril while their foe stole up to them—preparing to pounce.

  Finally close enough for the individual ships’ sensors to detect, the Achilles was identified. Alarms sounded throughout the Titan task force and military bases. The aliens scrambled to recover from their false sense of security. Though startled, they sprang quickly into action now that the Achilles was upon them.

  It’s a bad policy to open fire at maximum range. The first salvo, patiently calculated and properly aimed, was too precious a punch to expend lightly. It needed to be saved until it could be thrown with optimal effect. Despite the temptation to act while chaos reigned on the scurrying Titans, Neumann showed great patience in waiting until the right moment arrived.

  When he was satisfied that his ships were at optimal range and position, he ordered, “Attack. Repeat attack. All ships launch missiles on predesignated targets.”

  The Achilles and its destroyers had preselected individual cruisers to target and the first salvo of twenty four missiles was launched at optimal range with great precision—six missiles per cruiser—each multi-warhead missile had a dozen thermal-nuclear devices ready to wreak havoc.

  Expecting the base defenses to protect them, the cruisers took several minutes to reach their highest level of alert. When they did, they detected the incoming missiles, but they didn’t have time to release chaff, or deploy decoys. And they weren’t fast enough to accelerate and evade the salvo. However, they did manage to fire a ragged anti-missile barrage which prevented the complete destruction Neumann had hoped for. Nevertheless, several of the UP warheads exploded directly on their targets and in one fateful blow, the Achilles task force destroyed one cruiser and critically damaged another.

  “Grand shooting! Grand!” boomed Roberts’ baritone voice.

  Gallant’s heart beat rapidly as he realized that his efforts had paid off. He wanted to join the action, but he calmed himself and patiently made his way back to his ship.

  The UP forces now had a fair chance in a toe-to-toe slugging match with the remaining Titan ships. However, the Titans would be outraged at being caught so vulnerable. They were known to be resourceful and contentious, and they would seek retaliation.

  Meantime, the Warrior remained in stealth mode on the opposite side of the fifth planet awaiting Gallant’s return. He moved along the moon’s surface as fast as possible in low gravity. He knew, and he told himself as he bounced along, that he must not delay an instant in getting the Warrior into the battle.

  The battle was now violently underway as the Achilles and its four destroyers charged headlong at the remaining enemy cruisers without waiting for the Warrior.

  As it turned out, the Titans still had a great deal of fight left in them. They were quick to put out a large salvo of missiles aimed at the Achilles.

  One destroyer, the Fletcher, maneuvered to shield the Achilles from intercepting the incoming missiles.

  She exploded in a fiery ball and disappeared from everyone’s view screens.

  “If those guys aren’t so good, how did they find the range so quickly?” asked the Warrior’s OOD looking at the destruction.

  Several of the remaining missiles managed to reach the Achilles and she suffered considerable damage from near misses.

  Neumann signaled “All ships close on the enemy.”

  The Titan cruisers left the moon and the fifth planet behind as they tore through space directly toward the Achilles task force.

  Gallant was now desperate to join the battle. He docked the Wasp with the Warrior and ordered her to set course to intercept the enemy ships, but the Warrior was significantly out of position and a good distance from the action because the enemy cruisers were moving directly away from him. It would be at least thirty minutes before he could play a role in the battle.

  “Red alert message from Achilles, sir” said the OOD.

  “Read it aloud.”

  “Engage enemy more closely. Repeat, engage enemy more closely.”

  Gallant cursed . . . Neumann was a fool to engage at close range without waiting for the Warrior.

  Gallant tore his mind away from regrets and ordered, “Engineering; red-line the reactors. Chief Howard; I want everything you can give me and more.”

  He estimated that despite all he had done, the odds against the Achilles were still long.

  “Helm, steer an intercept course to the nearest Titan ship. Follow its maneuvers as necessary.”

  The Warrior was accelerating toward the battle, but the action remained brutally violent while moving away from them.

  The Achilles task force fired another salvo. It destroyed the crippled cruiser and damaged one of the two remaining cruisers.

  Then CIC reported, “Enemy cruisers have launched a salvo at the Achilles. She’s already a wreck, barely able to navigate, let alone defend herself. Her destroyer escort is forming a defensive line to protect her and firing antimissiles.”

  Gallant had to watch as the antimissiles
hit many of the incoming missiles, but enough got through and another destroyer exploded and disappeared. The Achilles was now a shadow of its former self. The harmony that typified a well-coordinated, finely-tuned machine had dissolved. The engines weren’t in their normal rhythm; the ship’s motion was slightly erratic, though he couldn’t put a name on the different direction. He sensed the ship and its crew were hurting.

  “Red alert message from the Achilles, sir.”

  “Read it.”

  Neumann called out the Warrior explicitly for admonishment over an open channel. “Warrior, engage the enemy. Repeat, engage the enemy.”

  Gallant turned bright red. From the commencement of the action, there was not a man on board the Warrior ignorant of the need to close on the enemy cruisers. The crew was prickling to get at them, but physics dictated their approach.

  “Weapons, bridge; how long until we’re within our maximum weapons envelope?”

  “Seven minutes, sir. But that’s stretching it.”

  “Engineering, bridge; increase reactor power.”

  “Sir, we’re well past the red line, at 120% power already.”

  A desperate compromise presented itself to him. He said, “Overload reactors, allow limited core damage, evacuate the engineering spaces with exception of the emergency response team, and initiate radiation protection protocol throughout the ship.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  “Helm, continue on course to intercept the nearest Titan cruiser.”

  “Aye aye, sir.”

  Over the speakers Gallant heard, “Bridge, engineering; starboard reactor is overheated and approaching meltdown.”

  Gallant recognized the strain in Chief Howard’s voice. He and four volunteers had remained in engineering while the rest of the team was evacuated.

  “Engineering, bridge; initiate emergency radiation protocol,” ordered Gallant. He had no spare attention to consider the fate of those men, even Howard who was the closest thing to a father figure he had ever known. This battle had taken on a fantastic unreality to it. It was like a never-ending nightmare in which he was running in molasses unable to get anywhere.

  The two remaining enemy cruisers launched another devastating missile salvo at the Achilles. She suffered more and more damage.

  Again the Warrior received a direct order from the Achilles, “Warrior, engage the enemy more closely. Repeat, engage the enemy more closely.”

  The Warrior was nearly in range when Gallant heard, “Bridge, engineering; the second reactor is overheating. We are in imminent danger of core meltdown.”

  Gallant heard the report and his hopes waned. He knew how desperate Howard must be to make such a report at this critical time.

  Finally, within weapons range, he ordered, “Helm, reduce speed to standard.”

  “Weapons, bridge; commence firing.”

  Slowly methodically, his mind constructed a comprehensive image of the battlefield, the ships, the missiles, and their trajectories. With the Achilles on one side of the enemy and the Warrior on the other, the Titan’s would have to decide which course to take.

  They came around and headed at the Warrior.

  “Humph,” said Gallant watching the enemy bear down on him. A wave of apprehension and excitement didn’t stop him from calculating his next course of action. He swallowed hard and set his plan of action in motion.

  Because the Achilles was no longer able to respond to communications, he directed his ship’s fire as well as the two remaining destroyers. He managed to concentrate their missile salvo at the weak spots of the two remaining cruisers while the Warrior’s high energy cannon spat at the foe.

  Each side approached unwaveringly. All the ships reloaded their weapons. The destroyer remained on the starboard side of the Achilles in an attempt to shield her.

  After a few minutes, the Titans had reloaded. They changed their course to close the distance. The two badly damaged Titan cruisers launched their last missiles from a parallel course with the Warrior. Fortunately for the Warrior the aliens split their missiles between their targets.

  The missile flight time was a mere twenty seconds, and it didn’t allow time to deploy decoys, or countermeasures. It completely disrupted their organization. The UP destroyers attempted to knock them down with antimissiles. Instead of firing a return salvo, the UP ships spent several confused minutes avoiding collisions while evading the incoming missiles. The devastating accuracy of the missile fire was disheartening to watch.

  The destroyers launched another small salvo of missiles. As the UP’s missiles approached their target, the aliens deployed counter measures. Antimissile missiles from the Titans were in the path of the remaining missiles. Nevertheless, Gallant distinguished half-dozen explosions. One cruiser exploded, and the remaining Titan cruiser was disabled.

  He wrenched his mind away from the turmoil and forced himself to concentrate on taking action. He ordered his remaining force to maneuver to better support the damaged ships.

  As the battle ebbed and flowed, only one Titan cruiser remained. But it had a greater impact on the UP ships. The battle was only one hour old and thousands had already died. The Achilles’s position was sunward of the lone remaining enemy cruiser. She was engaging closely, but was taking a terrible pounding. To her credit she was beating up on the Titans too.

  The last Titan fired two missiles which greatly contributed to the confusion of battle when the thermonuclear firestorm erupted around the Warrior.

  “Damn them! Damn them all!” the baritone voice could be heard over the din of confusion.

  The explosions were enough to convince Gallant that the remaining cruiser was too well led and dangerous not to open some distance between them. The Titan came on attempting to finish the fight.

  A word from Gallant swung the Warrior toward the last enemy ship. The ships were now fighting in the clinches with their remaining lasers and plasma weapons.

  Roberts said, “Their fire is slacking. I’m sure of it.”

  They passed ahead of her and the cruiser came up on their larboard quarter. The action commenced abreast until the enemy cruiser passed ahead of the Achilles. When she had gained sufficient distance, it raked them and the enemy launched a single missile.

  Gallant fumed while the Warrior was unable to bring a single weapon to bear upon the cruiser.

  The cruiser bore around upon her heel, and ran toward the Achilles. The ships were extremely close and they used their secondary weapons to light up the enemy. The nuclear warheads damaged the cruiser’s forward shield and ruptured its forward missile compartment.

  They separated momentarily and then the action recommenced, even more deadly than before. Nothing deterred them.

  At that critical juncture, Gallant ordered the destroyers to launch an all-out counterattack by charging at the Titan ships and launching missiles. Despite this tactic, the Titan cruiser streamed forward. If anything the enemy cruiser continued with renewed ardor.

  Gallant hoped the Achilles could hold on a little while longer. He tried to balance in his mind the calculus of ships lost on each side, to reach a conclusion that he could accept.

  The weapons’ fire from the Warrior was conducted with so much skill and effect that the enemy cruiser finally turned aside.

  “Bridge, med-center; three of the volunteers who stayed in engineering have died of radiation poisoning. Chief Howard and the other men are critically ill in the med-center.”

  “Very well.”

  Gallant was puzzled for a moment his ship’s propulsion likely to fail at any moment. Sucking in a deep breath he considered a plan of attack. Three of the UP destroyers were lost. The Achilles was out of action, and only one destroyer remained to support the Warrior against the single crippled Titan cruiser.

  There was serious concern on the faces of the men on the bridge. Gallant still had no better feel for the quality of the captain of the enemy ship.

  The engagement between the two forces was hotly contested, but wouldn’t be
over until all four of the Titan cruisers were destroyed.

  The last limping cruiser circled around and prepared another attack.

  Gallant had maneuvered farther away and started taking long range shots with the FASER.

  After exchanging several shots and knocking out the enemy missiles with antimissiles, the last UP destroyer veered away. She’d had enough. She was so badly damaged that she could no longer fight, but could only look for a means to escape certain doom.

  The power of the Titan’s missiles was now set against the Warrior’s high energy cannon. One dwarfed in scale, the other in results.

  He was now engaged alone in a desperate battle with the remaining damaged Titan cruiser.

  A missile exploded nearby, then another. He leaped to his feet after falling from his chair. He dry-heaved.

  Gallant had to make a rapid decision and live with the consequences . . .

  Courage will only get you so far, you must use your head, he thought.

  The Warrior had sustained significant damage from the last missile and a hull leak had opened. Before the air became too thin, they had to isolate the leak. A column of smoke drifted across the compartment.

  The smoke wafted through the corridors. The noxious fetid stink caused him to pull back from the fumes. The stereophonic blare from the speakers blanketed the room. Warning lights flashed critical information. The environmental systems were overloaded and failing. He cursed. In vain, he had struggled. He didn’t think he had enough time to respond.

  He was merely following the only course of action open to him; he kept his ship fighting. The Warrior would not falter from want of courage, or lack of determination.

  Almost forgotten, the Achilles had been marked as dead long ago, but thanks to the time the Warrior had afforded her, she came back from the grave and managed to launch several missiles at the Titan cruiser.

  They were enough.

  The exploding warheads made crescendos as they exploded against the enemy cruiser.