The storm was over. Particle density was down to four percent, and would remain at near that level for some hours. The ships could handle that with their own electromag fields, and the Donut had withdrawn its support. From what he had heard over the com it was having problems of its own. Nothing he could do about it, and he needed to concentrate on the job at hand, starting with the flagship.
“Admiral Bednarczyk is in the Romulus' med center,” said a computer voice. “Status. Unconscious and going through rad scrub and cellular regeneration.”
“Shit.” There would be a lot of that going around. Chin was surprised he had retained consciousness, as close to the hull as he had worked. His stomach had emptied, he had suffered from extreme weakness, but he had been able to keep it together and maintain control of the graviton shield. He had grabbed a nanite injector from the shielded container in his compartment and pushed them through the suits infusion port. While still sick, he was already starting to feel better, though it would take a full night's sleep, maybe more, to regain all of his faculties.
“Who is in command?”
“Next ranking officer, still conscious, if Grand Fleet Admiral Jrasstra Klanarat. Should I contact him.”
“No,” shouted Chin, preempting that disastrous routine from firing. “Block all transmissions from Admiral Klanarat to this ship, and repeat the message that Admiral Bednarczyk is busy and will be with him as soon as possible. And inform all Imperial com officers that they are not to talk with the admiral.”
Chin knew how Bednarczyk and the Emperor felt about the Klavarta admiral, and he was not about to see that Alpha take command of the fleet, even if temporarily. They needed to get organized, and quickly, and that loose cannon could do nothing positive to help the situation.
“Who is the next in rank Imperial officer within the fleet?”
“Fleet Admiral Hahn is the next highest in rank. But the admiral is also incapacitated.”
It made sense that the senior officers, mostly older humans, would have a harder time with the radiation. Chin thought it a miracle that he had fared so well. Statistical probability called for the radiation effect to be spread unevenly among its recipients. Not that much of a difference, but enough.
“The next highest rank and time in rank is Full Admiral Uriah Chin.”
Chin stared at the computer terminal in shock. He had come here to supervise the deployment and employment of the graviton shield. He was no a line officer, had never commanded a warship. But now was not the time to split hairs.
“I hereby take command of the Imperial Fleet on this station. Until such time as Admiral's Bednarczyk or Hahn are capable of taking it from my hands.”
“Acknowledged.”
Chin wasn't sure how this was going to go over with both his command or that of the Klavarta. At the moment he didn't much care. What mattered now was the mission.
“I want the damage reports from all Imperial and allied ships in proximity to Pleisia,” he told the AI, ticking off a mental checklist. “To be collated and arranged by priority. I want my staff to gather for a conference in five minutes in the nearest conference room, by holo if not in person. And I want a link to Fleet logistics.”
They were going to need parts and supplies, megatons of them. The ships had their own spares aboard, and the capability to make what they needed. But the damage might go beyond that.
* * *
“The storm should have passed Pleisia by now, my Lord,” reported the chief of staff, Trostara.
Mrastaran gave a head motion of acknowledgment, his eyes still locked on the screen that was showing what had happened in Pleisia orbit many hours prior. The devices were almost all fully assembled, at least the ones he could still see around the curvature of the planet. The rest were out of sight, but it was obvious that whatever they were, they were set to interpose something between the planet and the star. The wormholes were also on the other side.
“I still wonder what those things are,” said the great admiral. “And could they possibly survive that inferno.”
“Either they already have, or they haven't my Lord,” said Admiral Trostara, walking over to his commander. “You need to make a decision on whether we are going to move or not. The launch will be coming through in just over an hour.”
The Great Admiral put his head in his upper right hand, doing the math in his head once again. If they jumped they would be in hyper with carrying no momentum in with them. At maximum acceleration it would take just under an hour to get to the barrier, then back into normal space. Still, it would cut four hours off the flight time of the missiles coming through the wormholes. It would give his position away to the enemy, but if he spent the fifteen minutes needed to get all the missiles from the first launch through, he could jump back into hyper and move. After that he could set the gates again and send the next launch through.
“Take down the gates and prepare to translate into hyper. I want us to emerge at this point, set up the gates, and fire, while we decel and prepare for another translation.”
“It will be done, my Lord.”
“My Lord,” called out the tactical officer, looking up from his station. “Report from the analysts back in the home system.”
“Well, tell me,” growled Mrastaran, glaring at the younger male. “Then get back to calculating the best firing solutions for our wormhole launch.”
“Yes, my Lord,” stammered the young male. “The scientist think those objects on the hulls of the enemy ships are electromag projectors of a new type. They're estimating they will boost the field by four hundred percent.”
“That still wont be enough to protect them from the photon wave, much less the particle storm,” protested Trostara.
“No,” agreed Mrastaran. “But it may be enough to handle whatever bleeds through those other things.”
“You think they have some other technology? Something to shield their fleet and the planet?”
The great admiral stared at his chief of staff for a moment, wondering if the male was really that obtuse. “Why do you think they would move such massive objects into the system? To let them be vaporized.”
Just because they had something they thought might protect them from a nova didn't mean that it would. But if he had to bet, he would put his money on the ingenuity of their engineers.
“Whether it protects them or not, it has to sustain some damage,” said the great admiral, still watching the event that happened in orbit six hours prior. “And if they take enough damage, we can destroy them with a launch or two. Then take out whatever they left out here.”
* * *
“How did the station come through, Director?” asked Sean, doing a mantra in his head to calm his nerves. Short of the escape from the Cacas at the beginning of his short tenure as heir, and the time when Jennifer had been kidnapped, this had been the most anxiety provoking episode in his life.
“We were hurt,” she admitted, looking over from the series of holos she had been studying. “Nothing we can't fix. But as a wormhole producing station we are crippled.”
“You can't make wormholes?” asked Chan, her voice breaking.
“Oh, we can still make them,” said Yu, shaking her head. “Four a day. Five a day. But it will be weeks before we can get up to again ramping out thirty a day.”
Sean felt the frown forming on his face. He hadn't expected their production to be hurt so badly. But it the shield had seemed to work.
“Admiral Bednarczyk,” he said into the air, asking for a connection.
“This is Admiral Uriah Chin, your Majesty. Admiral's Bednarczyk and Hahn are incapacitated at the moment. I have taken temporary command.”
“And who is he?” asked Sean, almost silently mouthing the words to McCullom.
The CNO nodded and sent a holo image his way, a short record on the engineer, which, Sean noted, had no real command experience. And this man was in charge.
“I didn't want the Klavarta admiral getting wind of the injuries to our hi
gh rankers,” said the engineer, his face appearing in a holo. “I hope I made the correct choice.”
“You did indeed, Admiral,” said Sean, again grimacing. He didn't want that idiot Klavarta in charge of anything out there. That he was in nominal charge of the Klavarta fleet was bad enough, since New Earth provided most of the ships on that front. “And how are we doing out there?”
“The fleet was hurt. I'm estimating that we will be up to fifty percent capacity within the hour. To get back to full capacity will take much longer.”
“And the planet?”
“I think they came through okay. We're getting reports of some power outages, minor injuries resulting from equipment failures. But they came through. We'll know more about radiation damage down there in the near future.”
Sean nodded. He wasn't worried about that. Radiation poisoning, unless severe, was nothing to worry about with modern medical technology. In a few days everyone down there would be okay, if they survived the coming battle with the Caca fleet. The Emperor reminded himself to make sure that a couple of medical divisions were sent to Pleisia once the smoke cleared. He really didn't want to be an asshole about it, but he didn't want to put thirty or forty thousand more noncombatants at risk until he was sure that system was secure.
* * *
“I demand that you put me through to Admiral Bednarczyk,” yelled Grand Fleet Admiral Klanarat, staring at the image of the human com officer in the holo.
“As I told you, sir, the admiral is indisposed at the moment. She will be in touch with you as soon as she finds the time.”
“This is intolerable,” screamed Klanarat. “I am one of her force commanders. In fact, I am in command of the largest force in this operation. She will damned sure become available and talk to me.”
“I am sorry, Admiral. I have my orders, and I will obey them. Now, is there anything else?”
“Yes. What is your name, so I can include it in my protests to President Klanarat and Emperor Sean.”
“Commander Alonzo Pizarro, sir,” said the young human, what looked like a slight smirk on his face. “And you are, of course, welcome to register a protest to whom ever you like. Now, if there is nothing else.”
Klanarat nodded to his own com officer, who cut the connection.
“Something is up over there,” he said to no one in particular.
“Do you want our casualty figures, Admiral?” asked Captain Gammara, his chief of staff.
“How bad?”
“Not really bad at all,” said the other Alpha, trying and failing to keep a smile off his face. “Seven dead across the entire force. Several thousand injured, mostly from radiation sickness. Most of those will be returning to duty by tomorrow. As far as the ships go, the news isn't as good. Reports range from ten to seventy percent of systems down, and from several hours to a week to make repairs.”
“No reactor breaches?”
“No sir. The larger ships have their thickest armor over the reactors. Add to that the really strong containment fields, and nary a neutron made it through. Maybe some neutrinos, but we can't keep them out no matter what we do.”
Klanarat took a moment off from his rage to think about that. He could see the wisdom of the human admiral in not allowing her cruisers or destroyers to stand in the line behind the graviton projectors. The smaller ships had lighter armor over their reactors, and the danger of a breach would have been very real with them. Of course, if the graviton shield hadn't worked, every ship in the fleet would have gone up in a flare of plasma as antimatter contacted matter. He had to admit she had made the right call there. Still, the damage and the injuries, and....
“She's injured”, he stated to his COS. “Probably radiation poisoning. Incapable of functioning. Which leaves me the highest ranking healthy officer in the fleet.”
“I'm sure she will recover, if that is even the case,” said Gammara, giving his admiral a questioning look.
“That isn't the point,” said Klanarat, gesturing with his hands in rapid motions. “She's not fit for command at the moment, which means it should be mine.”
Klanarat looked over at his com officer, ignoring the expression on his chief of staff's face. “Send out a message to all ships in the fleet. I am assuming command, until the time that Admiral Bednarczyk can prove she had recovered. Then send a message to the President, informing him of my decision.”
“And your protest?” asked Gammara, frantically trying to sidetrack his superior.
“I can deal with that later on. Right now the important thing is to make sure that firm leadership is in place.”
* * *
“He's done what?” shouted Sean, looking at the face of the leader of New Earth on the com holo.
“He has issued orders to the fleet, all of the fleet, to follow him. Until Admiral Bednarczyk can come forth and prove that she is fit for duty.”
Which ain't going to be happening for at least a day. From what Sean had heard the admiral would be fine, in a day. But the doctor, Levitt, was insistent that she be allowed to rest for twenty-four hours, while the nanites worked their magic on her cells. She might be able to rise and take command sooner, but Sean was not willing to risk her health. Not after what she had been through.
“You realize that my people will not follow him,” said Sean, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the Alpha. “I will issue orders to that effect if it is not clear.”
“That would be unwise, Sean,” said Klanarat, his own forehead creasing. “We can't afford a division at a time like this. The real battle is about to begin.”
“And that is why I can't turn my people over to that incompetent fool,” said Sean, his voice rising with his anger.
“He made a mistake, Emperor. Don't tell me that you have never made one. In fact, I seem to recall seeing records of decisions you made that cost millions of lives.”
“And resulted in victories, not defeats,” said Sean, his voice lowering, taking on a dangerous edge.
“Be that as it may, Admiral Klanarat is now the senior officer of both of our contingents by two grades. If I sacked him now there would be hell to pay in congress.”
Sean nodded, knowing that what the president spoke was nothing less than the truth. New Earth was governed by a three branch system, and the legislative branch was made up of two houses, both elected by the people. That came with some strengths, such as not having to deal with an entrenched aristocracy that could not be removed from office. That was also a weakness. Legislators were beholding to the people who elected them, and often made poor decisions based on what the mob demanded.
However, Sean had a responsibility to his people as well, and wasn't about to let them go into battle under what he considered a walking disaster.
Maybe if I transferred one of my other six star admirals to that front, immediately, it might stabilize the situation,” thought Sean, dismissing that thought as soon as it came. Lenkowski and Mgonda both had their hands full, and he couldn't afford to pull them away from their commands. The next thought to cross his mind was to brevet Admiral Montgomery up to grand fleet admiral. Again, that might not fly. Maybe one rank, but not two. If only Timothy Hahn was still healthy, he could be promoted up one rank.
“What are you going to do, Emperor?” asked the President in a slightly sarcastic tone.
Sean realized that tempers had flared to the point where it might be better to just back away and talk about this later. He couldn't afford that, and neither could the fleet.
“One thing I will not do is order my people to follow that Admiral. Put another man in charge and I'll see what I can do. But not that admiral.”
“And I've told you that is impossible,” said Klanarat, his voice rising again. “Just order your people to follow him until Admiral Bednarczyk is back at the helm. Surely nothing bad can happen in that short a time period.”
“And we have a large Caca fleet still in the system, Mr. President. You know they are firing on our fleet around that planet as we speak, if t
hey haven't already. I need someone in command that I can trust.”
“Very well. If that's your final word. I'll get in touch with Admiral Klanarat and let him know that your people are not playing on his team.”
You better, thought Sean, barely keeping his temper under control. His people had paid a price supporting the Government of New Earth. A heavy price, and one that had been necessary to the survival of those people. He had an urge to just order all of his ships and people through the wormholes back to the Empire. Then collapse every wormhole that led to their space and let them take care of themselves.
No, I can't do that, he thought, closing his eyes and shaking his head. Those were the actions of a child, not the leader of the human species.. But he had leveled an ultimatum to President Klanarat, and he couldn't back down. He would pay for it later, of course. Like so many decisions, one delayed was sometimes the best decision.
“Get me Admiral Chin on the Com.”
* * *
“I'm sorry, Admiral Klanarat,” said Uriah Chin, looking into the face of the Alpha on the com holo. “Admiral Bednarczyk is in command of this fleet, including your ships. The action you are taking is gross insubordination.”
Chin wasn't familiar with the facial expressions of the subspecies of Klavarta, but if he had to guess, he would say that the Alpha male was furious.
“Then produce Admiral Bednarczyk for me, or order your ships to respond to my commands.”
“Admiral Bednarczyk is not at your beck and call, Admiral. You are at hers. As soon as she is available she will get with you. Until then, you would be wise to continue to prepare your fleet for combat. We are predicting that Caca missiles will be arriving here within the next two hours.”
That was another problem, and one which the injured fleet didn't have an organic solution to. He had an idea, one he had been thinking about even before arriving in this space. He wasn't sure it would work, but the theory was sound. He dismissed the transmission from the Alpha so he could continue to work on his idea.
“Start moving the graviton projectors into position,” he said into the com to his people.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 16: The Shield. Page 11
