by Ryk Brown
“Tug, what can you tell me about these ships?” Nathan asked.
“The Loranoi is one of the empire’s newest patrol frigates. She is a significant advancement over the previous models, like the ones you faced in the Korak system. While she has no fighters, she does have four missile turrets placed fore and aft on her top and bottom sides. Each turret can fire up to eight missiles per load and can fire both high-speed short-range missiles as well as the slightly slower long-range type. She also has advanced sensors and weapons targeting systems, with multiple redundant arrays in order to maintain combat effectiveness even after taking several hits. We believe her design was in direct response to the original tactics of the Karuzari in which we targeted their weapons systems only in the hopes of capturing the ships relatively whole.”
“What about guns?” Jessica asked.
“She has a significant number of rail guns as well,” Tug answered. “However, they are remotely operated by individual gun crews located deeper inside the ship. This design was also in response to our earlier methods. We used to try to infect their weapons control systems.”
“Nice,” Jessica commented.
“It was never very effective, to be honest. It should be noted that their rail guns, while effective and capable of causing significant damage, are more for defense against fighters than for ship-to-ship actions. For that, they depend on their missile batteries, and they usually use them from a distance.”
“How many missiles do they carry?”
“That is unknown,” Tug admitted. “However, I have never heard of a frigate running out of missiles, if that tells you anything. They do have a weakness, however. Their missile batteries take several minutes to reload.”
“That’s not much of a weakness,” Nathan observed, “not with four batteries.”
“No, it is not.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair, looking at the faces of his staff as he considered their statements. “People, we are going to be outnumbered and outgunned. Our best, possibly our only hope is our jump drive and the element of surprise. To the best of our knowledge, the enemy ships that are about to arrive are completely unaware of the events that have transpired in this system over the last few months. If we’re lucky, they’ll come in without shields, expecting only fear and subservience from the Corinairans—no offense intended, Major.”
“None taken, sir,” Major Prechitt answered. “My people have cowered down to the Ta’Akar for more than three decades. In my opinion, the time for resistance is long overdue.”
“Mine as well,” Master Chief Montrose added.
“That’s good to hear,” Nathan admitted. “Not all of your political leaders seem to share in your sentiment, however.”
“They are afraid,” Master Chief Montrose stated without reservation. “That same fear is what led them to surrender to the Ta’Akar decades ago. With your help, we now have a chance to correct their mistakes.”
Nathan took in a deep breath. “It is my intent to strike fast, strike hard, and strike without warning.”
“Without declaring intent?” Major Prechitt wondered.
“Why give them cause to prepare?” Nathan defended.
“I do not disagree with you, sir,” Major Prechitt explained. “However, I suspect that the Corinairan government will.”
“He is correct, Captain,” Tug agreed. “The Corinairans are quite rigid, both politically and in their interpretation and application of law. They will insist on making some sort of declaration prior to the commencement of hostilities.”
“Well that’s just dumb,” Jessica commented.
“Not from the perspective of the Corinairan people, I suspect,” Tug countered. “And this is their system, after all.”
“Yes, but we do not want to lose the element of surprise,” Nathan argued.
“You may not,” Tug said. “As arrogant as they are, I would not expect a Ta’Akar nobleman in command of a warship to take any such declaration seriously. He will most likely respond with an arrogant threat of his own. If you attack at that moment, you may still have your element of surprise.”
“And the Corinairan people will have their honor,” Master Chief Montrose agreed.
“Very well,” Nathan acquiesced, “but unless they immediately turn tail and run, I’m attacking. I’m not waiting around for the Prime Minister to grant his permission.”
“I am confident the Ta’Akar will not ‘turn tail’ and run, Captain,” Tug insisted. “This battle will take place, rest assured.”
“I expect so, Tug,” Nathan agreed. “Now, we’ve got about ten hours until the frigate arrives, and we still haven’t confirmed the arrival time of the Wallach yet, so we have to assume that either ship could arrive at any moment. Meanwhile, I think we should check and recheck all systems, maybe even take the time to conduct more drills in order to better prepare the…”
“Captain, pardon me, sir,” Master Chief Montrose interrupted, “but I disagree. The ship and the crew are ready, sir. Right now, they need two things; they need to rest, and they need to know that you believe they are ready. If you believe in them, they will believe in themselves. Stand them down as soon as we finish our replenishment. Let them rest. Let them mentally prepare for what lies ahead.”
Nathan looked at the master chief, realizing he was right. He looked at Tug, who had become something of a mentor to him over the last few months, sort of like the commanding officer he had never really had. Tug nodded his agreement with the master chief. “Very well, Master Chief,” Nathan agreed. “We’ll stand down after the replenishment, but first we’re moving the ship to Karuzara. I want the system to look helpless when the Ta’Akar arrive, and the sooner we go into hiding the better. We have no idea how deep in the system they will be when they come out of FTL, and I don’t want our old light to give us away.”
* * *
Nathan had always been a sound sleeper. Ever since he was a child, he had slept through the night, every night, without waking. Even in the academy, his roommate, Luis, had envied Nathan’s ability to simply lie down, close his eyes, and drift away into blissful slumber.
Unfortunately, that had ended when he came to the Pentaurus cluster. These days, he was lucky if he slept even a few hours in a row. Occasionally, he would get a full eight hours, but never in a row, and never without waking at least once. He had tried everything to get back into his normal pattern of deep sleep: exercise, meditation, herbal teas, even white noise. None of them seemed to help. So it was no surprise that with the pending confrontation looming on the horizon that Nathan Scott, captain of the UES Aurora and leader of the Earth-Darvano Alliance, could not sleep.
Nathan sat up and swung his feet off the side of his bed, turning on the light on his night stand. He looked at the clock. It had only been thirty minutes since the last time he had checked. He had been trying to sleep for two hours now, and he was still wide awake. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he rose, went back into the main room, and pulled a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in his kitchenette.
The door buzzer sounded and Nathan walked to the entrance, turning on the main lights before opening the door. Standing in the corridor, looking as haggard as Nathan felt, was his chief engineer and friend, Vladimir. “You couldn’t sleep either?” Nathan asked as Vladimir entered carrying a coffee pot and a couple mugs.
“I did not even try,” Vladimir admitted. “I brought coffee, or at least what passes for coffee in this part of the galaxy. I knew you would not be sleeping.”
“Thanks. How did you know?”
“You forget, Nathan; before you became captain, we shared a cabin together. It was not long, I know, but I know you better than you think. Besides, we are alike, you and I. If I were in your position, I would not be able to sleep either. Not possible.”
Nathan sat down on the couch across from Vladimir and poured himself a cup of the dark liquid that the Corinairans had gotten them all addicted to over the past months. It wasn’t coffee—it was more nutt
y and sweet—but it had the same effect, and that was what he needed right now.
“So how would you like to pass the time?” Vladimir asked. “We can a watch movie, or maybe a sporting event? I am sure there are many programs in the database that we have not yet seen.” Vladimir could tell by Nathan’s lack of enthusiasm that he was not in the mood for mindless diversions. “Bozhe moi, Nathan. You look like a little boy who was just told that he could not go outside and play.” Still there was no reaction. “You are worried about the battle, da?”
“Da,” Nathan responded, choosing to mimic his Russian friend as it usually irritated him to no end.
“What do you have to worry about? You are the mighty Na-Tan!”
“Funny.”
“Seriously, Nathan, what is it?”
“Is it wrong to feel guilty?” Nathan asked.
“Guilty about what?”
“Guilty about wishing that someone else was captain. Wishing that I would’ve ended up on the Reliant working the D-watch like I’d planned, instead of facing down a couple of Ta’Akar warships on the other side of the Milky Way.”
“Are you joking? Who would wish for your responsibilities? Certainly not me, my friend,” Vladimir insisted. “Seriously, Nathan, only a crazy man would want this responsibility.”
“Then I guess I’m not crazy because I sure as hell don’t want it,” Nathan admitted. It felt good to say it to someone, especially to himself.
“Of course, life never asks us what we want,” Vladimir added as he sipped his coffee.
“Now you’re starting to sound like Tug.”
The door buzzer rang again.
“Expecting company?” Vladimir asked. “Hey, we should have a party, invite some of the Corinairan nurses over,” Vladimir joked. “There are some really cute ones, I hear.”
Nathan opened the door and found Commander Taylor standing there.
“Am I interrupting?” she asked.
“Not at all,” Nathan said, opening the door to let her in.
“Not exactly the cute nurses, but good enough,” Vladimir joked.
Cameron looked at Nathan as she entered, puzzlement on her face.
“We’re having a meeting of the insomniacs,” Nathan stated. “Care to join us?”
“Yeah, I guess I’m qualified enough,” Cameron stated, taking a seat on the couch. “What are you guys talking about?” she asked. “If you’re telling stories about women, I’m leaving,” she warned.
“Nothing of the sort,” Nathan assured her.
“Nathan was just whining about the pressures of being captain,” Vladimir teased, receiving a dirty look from Nathan as a result.
“Really?” Cameron wondered, “because, you know, I’d be more than happy to take over for you.”
“Careful what you wish for, Commander,” Nathan warned.
“You see?” Vladimir said. “You could have given up command right there, but you did not.”
“Oh, come on,” Nathan protested as he sat down.
“And do you know why you did not?” Vladimir asked.
“Because I’d look like a wuss?”
“Because Nathan Scott always does the right thing.”
“Which Nathan Scott are you talking about?” Cameron asked in jest.
“I don’t always do the right thing,” Nathan protested.
“Yes, you do,” Vladimir argued, “or at least you try to.”
“That’s a little more accurate,” Cameron agreed.
“Okay, maybe sometimes you do not do the right thing,” Vladimir admitted. “Maybe sometimes you do something stupid, but you always try to do the right thing. And that is what makes you a good man.”
“A good man? A second ago you were calling me stupid,” Nathan protested.
“I’m really beginning to like the direction this conversation is heading,” Cameron announced, pouring herself a cup of Corinairan coffee.
“Okay, maybe stupid is the wrong word,” Vladimir said. “My English is not always correct. I meant silly, da.”
“So now I’m stupid and silly. Great.” The door buzzed again. “Just in time,” Nathan stated, rising to answer the door.
“Maybe it is the nurses this time,” Vladimir joked.
“If it is, I swear I’m leaving,” Cameron declared.
“Jess! Perfect, come on in,” Nathan invited as he opened the door. “How did you know about our little get together?”
“I noticed all three of you gathered together on the personnel tracking system,” she announced as she entered the room. “I figured it was either a party or a mutiny. Either way I figured I should check it out.”
“Well, who’s watching the bridge?” Nathan asked.
“I left Mister Hayes in charge,” Jessica admitted.
“You left Josh in charge of the bridge?” Cameron asked. “Are you nuts?”
“We’re holed up in the middle of an asteroid. What’s he going to do?”
“But he’s a civilian,” Cameron pointed out.
“Jesus, Cam, relax,” Jessica said. “I’m kidding. I left Ensign Yosef minding the store.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair, listening to his friends banter back and forth mindlessly about one thing or another. After a few minutes, he realized that if he couldn’t sleep, then spending a little time relaxing with friends was the next best thing.
* * *
“As soon as we exit, I want to jump away while we’re still hidden behind Karuzara,” Nathan instructed.
“Where would you like to jump to, sir?” Loki asked.
“Turn outward, away from Darvano,” Nathan instructed. “We’ll jump here,” Nathan said, pointing to the system chart showing on Loki’s console. “That should be just past the Wallach, assuming she’s still inbound. It will also be far enough away that she won’t see us until well after the engagement has started. We take a quick peek to get a fix on her position. Then, we immediately jump to the farside of Corinair, right into a high orbit behind her. That way, we’ll come out around the planet and break orbit heading directly toward the frigate on her way to Corinair. If the Corinairans want to broadcast their declaration, they can do it while we’re hidden on the backside of their world.”
“Interesting strategy,” Cameron admitted.
“We’ve been hidden inside Karuzara long enough that our image is already past them, so they don’t know we’re here. I want to keep it that way for as long as possible. As far as the Loranoi knows, they’re headed toward a planet full of sheep.”
“You’re assuming that they didn’t stop to take a deep scan of the system before entering,” Jessica pointed out, “like we did before we charged into the Savoy system.”
“That’s not their M.O.,” Nathan said. “But if they did we’ll surely know about it, as they’ll come in with their shields up and their guns blazing.”
“Thirty seconds to open space, Captain,” Loki reported.
“Very well.”
“First jump plotted and locked, Captain,” Loki added.
Nathan turned his head and glanced at Abby. Their eyes met for only a moment, but he knew that she was keeping an eye on the jump plots that the new interface was creating.
“Open space,” Loki reported as the walls of the Karuzara exit tunnel fell away on the main view screen.
“All sensor feeds from Karuzara have been discontinued,” Ensign Yosef reported. “All sensor data is now live.”
“Turning to new course,” Josh reported.
The stars on the view screen began to slide to port as the Aurora turned to starboard, followed by the nearby gas giant, Cleo, as it also slid into view along the uppermost portion of the view screen.
“All hands, stand by to jump,” Abby announced.
“Jumping in three……two……one……jump,” Loki announced.
The bridge filled with the blue-white light of the jump flash, which subsided a moment later.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported.
“Tactical plot
to main view screen,” Nathan ordered. He still found it extremely annoying that the standard view everyone seemed to expect was of nearby space, especially since ninety percent of what you saw was so far away it didn’t matter.
The system plot appeared in a window in the middle of the forward view screen in a rectangular box superimposed over the image of space outside the ship. The map showed the Darvano system, as well as a light day outside the system. There were two tracks, one coming in from the left that represented the flight path of the Loranoi, and another coming in from the right that represented the last known path of the battleship Wallach.
“We are in position, one light day outside of Darvano, along the route from Juntor,” Loki reported.
“Helm, come about on a heading for the backside of Corinair,”
“Aye, sir, coming about on new course for Corinair,” Josh reported.
“Sensors, find that battleship,” Nathan ordered Ensign Yosef.
“Aye, sir,” Ensign Yosef answered.
“Mister Sheehan,” Nathan said, “calculate a jump to high orbit over Corinair, and make sure we come out on the backside where the frigate can’t see us.”
“Yes, sir,” Loki answered.
“With any luck, the Wallach has been delayed,” Tug said quietly.
“I can’t afford to bet on luck,” Nathan replied, “not anymore.”
“Contact,” Ensign Yosef reported from the comm station. “Definitely faster than light, Captain. Calculating course and speed now.”
Nathan looked at Tug. “See what I mean?”
“Speed is nine times light, on course for Darvano. Based on size and similarities with Tug’s earlier contact, I’d say it’s the Wallach, sir.”
“Calculate its arrival time at Darvano, Ensign.”
“Based on course and speed, ETA to Darvano is thirty-two minutes, Captain.”
“Tactical, mark that time and keep an eye on it for me,” Nathan ordered.
“Aye, sir,” Jessica answered.
“Whenever you’re ready, Mister Sheehan,” Nathan told Loki.
“All hands, prepare to jump,” Loki announced ship-wide.
