by Jeff Sims
They continued past the apparent body scanners, switched gravitational directions and entered the main part of the station. They wandered around the main thoroughfare for quite a while and eventually purchased some souvenirs.
The lone remaining member of Dolen’s staff still on the ship said, “Admiral, the enhancers are now in place. I am initiating a new scan of the station now. We should have the results in less than a minute.”
A minute later the communications officer said, “The scan is complete. There are no Hiriculan warships on the station. The secret hold inside the station is completely empty.”
Dolen responded, “Perhaps they received advanced notice that we were coming and fled the station.”
Captain Koner replied, “We didn’t see any evidence of a ship or other form of hyperspace communication in Opron. I don’t see how they could have been informed.”
Dolen slapped the palm of his hand on his chair in frustration. He regretted it almost immediately when he felt a stab of pain radiate up his arm. Dolen said, “Contact the crew on the station to complete their transaction and return. We leave the system as soon as they are back aboard the battleship.”
Koner replied, “That’s it then? We just flew halfway across the galaxy just to send some people shopping for a couple of hours?”
Dolen nodded his head in resignation. It appeared that the mission would end in a stalemate or at worst a political disaster. However, something in the captain’s statement triggered a buried thought or idea. He couldn’t quite grasp its relevance, so he said, “Captain, repeat your last sentence.”
Koner responded, “I said that we flew a long way just to go shopping. The mission now seems pointless.”
Dolen said, “No, no, that’s not it. Computer, replay the second to last statement that Captain Koner made.”
…That’s it then? We just flew halfway across the galaxy just to send some people shopping for a couple of hours…
Dolen either had a sudden burst of intuition or perhaps he realized what had been struggling for recognition in his unconscious mind. Either way, he said, “Computer, how long have we been in this system?”
…We have been in the system for 2 hours and 5 minutes, or 125 minutes total…
Dolen thought to himself, if I wanted to spring a trap on my enemy, I would hide my fleet just outside the 6 minute hyperspace mark to avoid enemy detection. When the enemy arrived, I would then send a signal to my hidden ships. Let’s see, the initial signal would take 60 minutes, then 5 minutes to coordinate the ships, and finally another 60 minutes for the ships to jump. That is a total of 125 minutes.
“Admiral,” the communications officer yelled, “We have a problem.”
Dolen: “Yes.”
She said, “Something big is happening, multiple ships just exited hyperspace.”
Both Dolen and Koner raced to the monitor. Dolen said, “Computer, activate both passive and active scans and display the updated chart.
…Displaying now. There are three new hyperspace signatures indicating the arrival of ships and an anomaly on or very near the asteroid…
The main monitor updated and showed that the station’s missing Hiriculan fleet had indeed jumped back into the system. A second, apparently independent fleet had also jumped into a different area. A possible third fleet had just appeared from behind or possibly inside the asteroid. Finally, the Alliance repair ship Exemplar exited hyperspace and came to a full stop at the entryway to the hyperspace lane.
Dolen looked carefully at the plot. To his left was a full 7 ship flotilla, to his right was another full 7 ship flotilla. Directly in front of him was the asteroid and beside it was a single, massive ship. The Guardian’s sensors had originally incorrectly identified it as an entire flotilla.
Dolen double checked the scan of the monstrosity. It may as well have been a flotilla. The massive ship was approximately 3 times larger than a battleship and boasted heavy armor, twin ion cannons, missile launchers, and multiple redundant shield and power generation systems. It was identified as the Retribution.
Dolen responded immediately. He hailed all ships and said, “Set course .012 degrees by 18. We will make an outside loop and try to limit our engagement to only one flotilla. Full military power, engage now.”
He then contacted the Exemplar and said, “We are under attack. Reverse course and jump to Opron immediately.”
The Alliance fleet accelerated at full possible power. They had an initial velocity disadvantage because the two enemy flotillas were already in motion. Fortunately, the enemy behemoth was also initially standing still.
The Alliance fleet swung up and to the right, directly toward one flotilla and therefore directly away from the other. The enemy ship in the center started moving toward the Alliance fleet. Fortunately, its acceleration was lower than all other ships. It was forced to take a diagonal pursuit angle.
Dolen made a quick assessment of the situation. At this trajectory, they would come into missile contact with one of the flotillas for 6 minutes until they were clear of the system’s gravity well. The second flotilla would not be able to intercept them before they were clear. The mystery was the big ship. There was an even chance that it could engage them during the final minute.
Dolen motioned to the communications officer to open a channel to the fleet. He said, “When we get into missile range, use attack pattern alpha.1.”
Pattern alpha.1 was designed to strip away the escort cruisers. The 4 enemy cruisers would be evenly targeted by all 15 of his ships. The fleet’s total volley was 178 missiles and it would be broken down into half offensive missiles and half defensive missiles. Therefore, each of the four enemy cruisers would be targeted by 22 missiles.
They came into missile range and unleashed their volley of missiles. The Hiriculans responded with their own volley. The Alliance fleet continued to turn up and away, forcing the Hiriculan fleet to turn in if they wanted to pursue and stay within missile range.
Admiral Dolen said, “Computer, status, was the fleet hit?”
…The enemy fired 92 total missiles, 46 offensive and 46 defensive. The enemy fired all 46 missiles at the cruiser Attendant in the second flotilla. Of our 90 defensive missiles fired, only 40 were in a position to intercept. Alliance defensive missiles stopped 32 enemy missiles. The Attendant received 12 hits. It is still under full power, but its hull is slightly breached. It cannot jump to hyperspace…
Dolen said, “And the enemy?”
…Our fire was very effective. All 4 enemy cruisers were hit and sustained damage. One has lost power and broken off its pursuit…
The lone flag officer waved for Dolen’s attention. Dolen turned to her and said, “Quickly.”
She said, “The asteroid is emitting gravity waves. It is essentially tripling the range of its gravity, meaning that instead of taking 10 minutes to reach the edge of the system, it will now take 30.”
Captain Koner called him and said, “Admiral, the flotilla is changing direction. They are moving away from us. Shall we pursue?”
Dolen checked the plot. The remaining ships in the enemy flotilla were taking a wide vector away from the Alliance ships. They were headed back toward the command carrier. The second flotilla was also vectoring to join the command carrier. It was apparent that all three groups were going to form into a large battlegroup.
With the asteroid extending the gravity, the Alliance fleet was stuck. No matter what direction they tried to flee, they would have to engage the command carrier and the two flotillas as a combined force. Dolen was confident that they could defeat any one of things in their way, but there was little chance they could stop all three as a cohesive group.
Dolen asked, “Did the Exemplar get away safely?”
The communications officer replied, “No. They were caught in the increased gravity. However, they are moving out of the gravity field and are not being pursued.”
Dolen looked at the plot. The enemy’s current trajectory would take them in a tight ar
c that would make them parallel to the Alliance fleet. Depending on one’s point of view, this was either the best or the worst possible outcome.
It meant that the enemy would able to enter missile range in 7 minutes and remain in missile range for the next 13 minutes. A thirteen minute missile engagement indicated that each side could fire 5 times; (13, 10, 7, 4, and 1 respectively).
The enemy had slightly shifted their heading and was now moving at an arc toward them. This trajectory would carry them dangerously close to the Alliance fleet. When they hit the one minute mark, the two fleets will be approximately 3 million kilometers apart from each other.
This was close enough that the final missile launch at 1 minute would strike before the Alliance ships could reach the hyperspace window. Admiral Dolen doubted that his fleet could survive 3 missile salvos, let alone 5.
Dolen studied the entire board and realized that in their haste to increase the missile engagement window, Hiriculans were over pursuing his fleet. He traced a new path with his finger. If they swooped back around the asteroid, they could keep the enemy fleet away from them for another 14 minutes. That would add a minute to the total trip, but it would shrink the missile engagement to only 7 minutes.
Seven minutes meant that each side could launch three missile salvos; one each at the 7, 4, and 1minute mark respectively. However, the distance between the two fleets would be great enough that the final salvo fired at the one minute mark would miss because the fleet will have passed the gravity field and be free to jump to hyperspace.
Just as Dolen was about to order the course change he received messages from two other captains. Both of the captains had also seen the alternative course and had indicated it to him. Good, if others had seen it, then Dolen wasn’t alone in his thinking. Dolen ordered the course change.
The Alliance fleet swung through a tight half - circle and adjusted to the new bearing. They were now far below the Hiriculan fleet. The enemy fleet responded to the Alliance course change. They must have realized that they were over pursuing because they were now rapidly slowing turning up and to the left. Dolen said, “Computer, time to engagement with the enemy fleet.”
…The maneuver worked. Time to contact is 14 minutes, missile engagement will be 7 minutes, and any missile fired under 1 minute 23 seconds will miss…
Suddenly, a massive ion cannon blast was fired from the asteroid at nearly point blank range. The weapon hit the Defender, the other battleship in the fleet. The strike was focused on the rear section of the battleship, but the blast was so massive that struck the entire ship. The shields were vaporized and everything behind the hangar bay simply disappeared. The front tip still existed to some extent, but was holed throughout and badly damaged.
The good news, if any, was that the emergency interlocks had successfully closed and sealed that section of the ship. Dolen received a message that 4 crewmembers had been inside a shuttle in the hangar bay performing maintenance and were still alive. Unfortunately though, the shuttle was damaged and could not launch.
However, 148 beings died in that instant.
If left unattended, the remains of the battleship would continue on its straight line course the next few centuries. The tip would gradually slow down as it was struck by atomic particles. If it was lucky enough to avoid hitting anything big or stopping entirely, the tip would eventually return to Opron.
Dolen immediately ordered the fleet to spread out as far as possible. He didn’t want the asteroid’s ion cannon to be able to target more than one ship.
Koner contacted Dolen and said, “Admiral, we have scanned the asteroid. There are four ion cannons down there and possibly some missile launchers. I checked and we will be in range of those cannons for another 4 ½ minutes. Each of the remaining 3 cannons can fire with nearly perfect odds of scoring a hit.”
Dolen had already lost 2 of his 15 ship fleet. He would lose three more before engaging the Hiriculan fleet in a running missile battle. He would have 10 ships facing an enemy with 11. However, the enemy had 2 battleships and the behemoth. He was grossly out classed.
The communications officer said, “Admiral, you are being hailed by the Hiriculans.”
Dolen sighed mightily and said, “Is the Exemplar still in the system?”
The communications said, “Yes.”
Admiral Dolen said, “Put the call through to the flag bridge monitor and also send it to the Exemplar.” Dolen knew that it would important for the ship to return with as much information as possible concerning the outcome of this mission.”
A Hiriculan face appeared and said, “Admiral Dolen I presume. I recognize your ship’s designation.” Admiral Dolen translated that to mean, “Hiricula has handsomely paid some spies to discover the names of every ship in the Alliance fleet and their corresponding Captains and Admirals.”
Dolen replied, “Yes. You are?” Dolen also had information about the Hiriculan fleet and their commanders. He suspected that this was Admiral Fruid’la, but decided not to use his name. He wanted to the enemy Admiral to believe that he was beneath Dolen’s notice.
“I am Majestic Admiral Fruid’la, the sanctioned leader of this fleet. I am stationed on the command carrier Retribution.” The Hiriculan spoke in his native language, forcing the computer to translate. Dolen wondered what the honorific Majestic truly meant in Hiriculan.
Fruid’la continued, “As you can see, you are surrounded and heavily outnumbered. You are welcome to try to fight your way out, but you will not succeed.”
Dolen said, “You have my undivided attention. What would you like to discuss?”
Fruid’la answered, “You have violated several sections of the treaty. You will surrender your ships and allow yourself and everyone on all Alliance ships to be placed under arrest. You have 3 minutes to decide.”
Dolen winced at the time to make the decision. The Hiriculan admiral was forcing him to decide before he was out of range of the big ion cannons. Dolen had little choice except negotiate at this point.
Dolen asked, “What will happen to us.”
Fruid’la answered, “You will forfeit your ships to Hiricula and be tried for your crimes. I imagine that you already know the punishment if you are found guilty.”
Dolen certainly knew the punishment. Everyone in his fleet would be forced to sign a document stating that they will never again take up arms against Hiricula. Then, they will have to resign their commission in the navy. Further, unless the Alliance paid a ransom to have them returned, they will be forced to live their remaining days on a satellite station in some out of the way system.
Dolen said, “What are your terms?”
Fruid’la said, “You will slow down, turn around, and proceed back to the station. The cruisers and the destroyers will dock with the station. The battleship will be abandoned beside the asteroid and all personnel will be conveyed to the station.”
Dolen asked, “What about the survivors on my battleship?”
Fruid’la said, “They will be rescued and reunited with everyone else at the station.”
Dolen asked, “Then what?”
Fruid’la continued, “As you know, this is a neutral station…” Fruid’la let the irony of his comments settle for a few moments before continuing, “You will remain on the station for about a week while we arrange transportation. You will then be sent to Hiricula for trial.”
Dolen broke the connection with the Hiriculans and had a brief conversation with his captains. Everyone agreed that surrendering was preferable to fighting and dying without a remote chance of victory.
Dolen reestablished the connection and said, “We agree to your terms.”
The Alliance ships slowed down and reversed course. One by one they docked against the station and powered down. The crew members left their respective ships and entered the station. They were led to a large holding cell in the secret area of the station.
Dolen took one of Guardian’s shuttles from the battleship to the station’s shuttle bay. The shuttle par
ked next to the one that only a couple of hours ago had brought Olova and his team there. He thought it ironic that one mission was so filled with hope and the other with despair.
Chapter 14
After the Sunflower transferred its 40 pilots and fighters to the Exemplar, it made two micro-jumps to get to the Opron – Trilon hyperspace lane. There was no traffic control, automated or otherwise between Opron and Trilon, so Ella simply input the coordinates, ran a simulation, and finally verified that all jump status showed ready.
Ella said, “Captain, We are ready to jump to Trilon.”
“What is the status of the jump engines and the power reservoir?” asked Solear.
Ella replied, “The jump engines are operating in an acceptable range. Energy reservoir is at 33%. We have enough power for another jump. We are traveling at .005 light and estimate exiting at .002 light.”
It takes a tremendous amount of initial power to create a hyperspace window. Once open though, the window takes a negligible amount of energy to maintain. As a result, ships used stored energy to create the window and then recharge the energy reservoir during flight.
Because Alliance warships have one energy reservoir that is shared between the ion cannon and the jump drive, a hostile situation could literally come down to a fight or flight decision. If Captain Solear decides to fire the ion cannon, it would take approximately 80 minutes to recharge the reservoir enough to jump. It takes 4 hours (240 minutes) to completely recharge the energy reservoir.
“Captain,” intoned the new communications officer Putat. “We cannot jump yet because our reservoir will not be fully charged when we arrive. That is an Alliance regulation. You can have the computer recite it.” Putat gave the other bridge crew members a smug smile.
