Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space

by H. Peter Alesso

CHAPTER 28

  FLOTILLA ACTION

  Violence erupted across the Jupiter frontier. The fat gas giant was once more the epicenter of a great struggle. Titan ground forces emerged from their bunkers and swarmed to assault Kendra, the capital city of Ganymede. High above them, the surviving Titan cruisers and destroyers from the original Battle of Jupiter launched missiles in an attack on Jupiter Station. Meanwhile, a fresh taskforce of Titan cruisers and destroyers, coming from the asteroid belt, rushed to join the conflict.

  The United Planets counterattacked every Titan thrust. The7th Marines deployed to protect the civilian population still huddled in deep underground shelters. Jupiter Station launched missiles in coordination with the valiant remnants of the Jupiter Fleet; damaged battle cruisers Repulse, Renown, and Remarkable, along with the lone remaining destroyer, Madison.

  The squadrons of fighters and bombers, dispatched by Admiral Collingsworth’s Mars Fleet, were in hot pursuit of the fresh Titan taskforce emerging from the asteroid belt. Gallant led the fighter-bomber flotilla in its high speed chase for over one hundred million miles in a vain attempt to catch the asteroid cruiser taskforce. Even as the flotilla reached the extremities of the Jupiter frontier, the two Titan cruiser forces were combining into one powerful fleet. They focused their attack directly on the remaining UP battle cruisers defending Jupiter Station.

  Gallant knew that Captain Caine and the Repulse would be fighting against daunting odds. He was straining every engine in the flotilla to reach the battlefield, but already he could hear Repulse and Renown reporting numerous missile hits and severe damage. Wash from the blasts of the nuclear weapons caused savage concussions that shook Remarkable. Madison disappeared in a tremendous explosion.

  Gallant worried as he listened to the carnage mount. Repulse ordered the battle cruisers to move closer to Ganymede, seeking the added firepower of the research lab’s Faser canon. From the protection of their invisible laboratory, the scientists fired the Faser canon and scored some hits on the enemy cruisers.

  Direct missile hits were being scored by both sides. A missile spat from the Repulse and dispatched an alien destroyer. The Titan forces concentrated on Remarkable, firing missile after missile. The battle was degenerating into a ship-to-ship free-for-all at close range. The remains of the Jupiter Fleet were completely outmatched by the numerous Titans. Space around Jupiter Station was littered with lifeboats and escape pods.

  Over the general command channel, Captain Caine ordered, “All ships close on the enemy.”

  The order, Gallant recognized, was intended primarily for him. He responded, “Aye, aye, sir.”

  He waited endless minutes as the flotilla finally closed on their targets. Using his neural interface, Gallant examined the battlefield before him. He let the deposition of all the ships unfold in his mind. He wiped his eyes, clearing his vision and concentrating his thinking, he tried to comprehend the fantastic scope of the situation.

  Just hours earlier, he had debated with himself about how he would deal with the problem that was now revealed before him. He had foreseen this possibility, but he hesitated to implement his risky solution. He wondered if he was up to the task that he would be creating for himself.

  Finally, Gallant decided to execute his dicey strategy. He designated three squadrons of fighters and three squadrons of bombers as Red Wing.

  “Red Wing, attack from the sunward side of the Titans. Once there, the bombers are to release their first barrage of missiles at extreme range,” said Gallant.

  Next, he designated the remaining six squadrons as Blue Wing.

  “Blue Wing, guide on me. We will attack from the opposite side of the enemy formation. Once there, we’ll have the Titans in a crossfire,” said Gallant.

  Gallant realized that his plan was fraught with dangers. The most serious of which was how much it hung on his ability to coordinate the two wings. If the Titans exploited the divided command, they could defeat him in detail.

  Attacking at long range would also prematurely reveal the new missile capabilities of the bombers. However, given the direr circumstance of the battle cruisers, he couldn’t wait for a more opportune time. They had to be relieved, immediately.

  The minutes passed with agonizing slowness. Gallant passed out orders for his selected targets. Each bomber was armed with four advanced anti-ship missiles, powerful enough to seriously damage the largest ships. At the maximum Hydra-3 missile range, he ordered the Red Wing bombers to launch. The first bomber barrage was underway.

  As fast as he gave an order, he found that there as always more to do. He ordered the fighters to deploy to defend the bombers. They prepared to launch their antimissiles to shoot down any incoming Titan missiles.

  Moments later, the bomber’s missile barrage approached the Titan cruisers and began to score devastating hits. The Titan force was surprised by the firepower coming from the bomber group. They began to realize that the battlefield dynamics had changed. In response to this new threat, they began deploying decoys and using electronic countermeasures to jam tracking signals. They accentuated maneuvers to put distance between them and the bombers. Nevertheless, the UP missiles devastated cruiser after cruiser as the Titans suffered critical hits.

  To his surprise, Gallant was able to identify a couple of fighters being launched from Repulse. He didn’t realize that any had survived the last battle, but he used the neural interface to calculate their trajectory. On a secondary communication channel, he heard, “Henry, save some for us.”

  “Yeah, Gallant. Squadron 111 has a score to settle.”

  Gallant recognized the voice of first Red, and then Neumann. He said, “I’m glad you guys are here. Form with Squadron 801.” As the remnants of Squadron 111 obeyed the order, Gallant prepared to maneuver the flotilla into a new firing position.

  Gallant had grown accustomed to the visage of battle, but this was the first time that he was in a command and responsible for so many others. He continuously spat out orders to keep the flotilla properly engaged and on course, but the accumulation of complex interactions between ships and missiles was taxing his faculties.

  The Titans, recovering from their initial surprise, launched a heavy missile barrage of their own.

  This time they shifted their fire against the flotilla, rather than the remains of the Jupiter Fleet.

  Soon explosions across the battlefield were distorting his image of ships. Individual objects were becoming hard to distinguish. A series of missiles exploded, bracketing Gallant’s Eagle, and suddenly his mission changed from commanding a flotilla in battle, to battling to stay alive. He drove the Eagle to avoid the shock waves and thermal blasts. He supercharged his engines and began to, first roll, and then, bank his ship. Each maneuver looked like it would offer him an escape, but repeatedly Gallant had to either increase thrust or throttle back, in order to avoid the worst of the explosions. The strain of acceleration forced him against the restraints of his seat. The Eagle seemed to exhibit its own strains and he heard sounds similar to groans. Small internal fires sprang up in the cockpit, and Sam went to work extinguishing them.

  Gallant struggled to find a safe line of flight through the storm of explosions. His Eagle flew through a debris field of metal and composite materials. Finally, he was able to find a relatively peaceful section of space and he began reasserting control of the flotilla. In the eye of the storm, Gallant was focused on destroying his enemy.

  Gallant’s fighters were able to successfully shoot down many of the remaining Titan missiles. He was just beginning to feel more confident when a warhead exploded very close to Gallant's Eagle. The effects of the blast blinded his systems momentarily. He maneuvered away, as sparks and smoke streamed from some of his command circuits. The fires were quickly controlled by the ship's automatic fire suppression systems.

  A second nearby explosion sent a shockwave passing right through Gallant’s body. He felt a flood of misgivings as everything become hazy and out of focus. He lost his mental image of the
battle scene. He was knocked out for a few seconds and slumped forward in his seat.

  Unconscious, Gallant was plagued by nightmarish images. First, the faces of his parents appeared, only to suddenly change into images of dread and calamity as he recalled the day they were killed. Gallant’s dream-state became even murkier and more forbidding. He imagined the dead and dying friends, he had lost on Repulse. Finally, Kelsey’s bleeding body appeared and he heard her voice pleading for help, “Henry, Henry!”

  But the visions were only illusions. As he began to shake them off, it was Sam, who was shaking him, “Henry, Henry! Wake up! We need you! Henry! Henry, I’m administering adrenalin.”

  Gallant felt a needle penetrate his skin. After a few seconds, he began to wake. He turned his head and felt extreme pain across his temples. He moved very cautiously after that. He was disturbed and unsettled, but he was exerting every effort to regain reality and become his own master once more. It was all very well for him to think logically about what must be done, but his body would not obey. He couldn’t find a mental picture of the battle. His brain should be planning a coordinated attack, but he lacked the clarity and swift reactions to achieve it.

  The entire battlefield seemed merged into an image resembling storm clouds. A work of art painted by a brilliant, but irrational artist.

  The fanciful portrait consisted of humans and Titans, pitted against each other, powerfully intent upon disturbing space itself. But nature was manufacturing its own creation, transforming the battle’s nuclear eruptions into a violent hurricane of lightning and fury.

  Panic reached the edge of Gallant’s awareness. His mind was a blank. He couldn’t sense anything over the confusion that reigned in his head.

  As the flotilla maneuvered without specific orders, squadron commanders tried to work together to coordinate their actions, but none of them had a comprehensive understanding of the entire battle scene.

  Titan missiles were scoring more hits. Bombers and fighters were being destroyed. The battle was beginning to slip away from the United Planet’s grasp.

  Red and Neumann broke formation and moved to parallel Gallant’s Eagle to provide covering fire.

  “Henry! Henry!” Sam continued to shout, concerned about his friend and commander.

  Gallant struggled for clarity. The AI couldn’t help. And he didn’t have the genetically engineered boosters like Neumann. If he was going to recover and perform what was required, he had to find the strength within himself.

  “I’m... I’m OK. I’m OK,” Gallant managed to stammer, but he felt dizzy and disoriented. He thought, This is the critical point in the battle. I’ve got to get myself together. He struggled to recover his equanimity. He pulled his neural interface tight into position. He struggled to focus his mind, but he repeatedly lost concentration.

  “Commander Gallant! Gallant!” he heard of the communication channel. The flotilla had become disorganized, as the squadrons were forced to operate independently. This greatly reduced their efficiency and was costing lives.

  Several alien missiles detonated very near Remarkable. The first tremendous shock of explosions accentuated the already severe damage in its forward compartments. A panorama of death and destruction raged on Remarkable. The ship became a derelict. Captain Waller’s final order before he died was to abandon ship. The few remaining survivors escaped in lifeboats.

  Gallant made a desperate effort to regain his self-control and mental focus. Finally, he exerted all his power and restored his mental control over the neural interface. He began recognizing ships and their trajectories once more. The battlefield was once more visible to him as a cohesive image.

  “Sam, get this fire under control. I’ll reestablish control of the flotilla,” said Gallant.

  Sam immediately set about clearing debris and restoring systems while Gallant focused on evaluating the battle scene through his neural interface.

  “Henry, the fire is under control. Main controls are now functioning,” said Sam.

  “Thanks. I’m on top of the battle scene now.” As he assigned priority targets, Gallant coordinated the disparate squadrons and ordered the bombers to fire a second barrage. Once again they flew as a coordinated group on the course he set and launched their missiles at close range. The Titan cruisers had little opportunity for an accurate counterattack.

  The fighters were able to shoot down much of the weak Titan counter barrage.

  Jupiter Fleet concentrated its fire on damaged alien ships while the countermeasures of the United Planets’ forces, were proving effective in decoying the incoming Titan missiles.

  Gallant coordinated the fighters' antimissile missiles. But as the battle continued, the triumphant victory that the UP forces were beginning to roll up was becoming a costly affair. Fighters and bombers were dropping out of formation and escape pods were being released.

  The Titan ships had launched another missile barrage at the fighters. For several minutes, the UP ships were in turmoil adjusting to the incoming missiles. Gallant coordinated the antimissile swarm to defend the formation. It was an effort for Gallant to think clearly. He could only compel his mind to it by an exertion of sheer will. He was tired and tense, but he had bought breathing space for the battle cruisers of Jupiter Fleet. They were limping off, out of range of the Titan forces, given new life.

  Still there was no means of telling how the Titan force would react. Another volley from the Titans came and approached the fighter-bomber group.

  It was a situation Gallant had envisioned and he was prepared for this assault. He spun the formation around, bringing their full antimissile salvo to effectively cover the bombers. They, in turn, were coming into position to fire their third salvo. The well drilled crews fired an effective barrage while dodging the alien missiles. This proved to be an effective strike, damaging many of the remaining Titan ships.

  Finally, Gallant ordered the bomber groups to turn and fire their fourth and final missile barrage. The action went on for several minutes, but the bombers’ latest attack was proving decisive. Cruiser after cruiser was damaged or destroyed as the crossfire continued to confuse the Titan defenses. Another Titan ship suffered from a thermal nuclear blast that shredded its armor, leaving debris, and vented its atmosphere. Soon alien ships were becoming easier victims, contributing to an ever widening battlefront.

  Gallant saw the Titan ships begin to maneuver away. They left their numerous crippled ships behind while the rest of them began streaming back toward the outer planets. Each ship appeared to be operating independently, without coordination, or support for others. Clearly, the Titans were a spent force. The enemy was broken.

  It had been hot work indeed, in those critical minutes. Gallant paid little attention to the retreating Titan force. Instead, he rallied his force to concentrate on finishing off the crippled ships. He wanted to make sure that they would offer no further threat to the Jupiter frontier. Gallant watched as damaged Titan ships self-destructed.

  The vital importance of what remained to be accomplished still lay in front of them. Calls for help and life support kept coming in from damaged UP ships.

  Meanwhile, on Ganymede, the marines showed their famous grit by counterattacking directly into the strength of the Titan ground forces at Kendra. The long volcanic coastline on Ganymede revealed a close combat action of destructive effectiveness as the Titan positions fell to the marines.

  The Titan ground forces were being hastily evacuated from Ganymede by their support ships. Many were escaping pell-mell out of the Jupiter area. The remaining Titan force was heading back toward Saturn, leaving the asteroids and Jupiter frontier clear of operational enemy ships.

  The remains of the Jupiter Fleet were two badly damaged ships. Some escape pods with dreadfully wounded men and women still awaited rescue. Gallant contacted Repulse for new orders.

  The United Planets had their victory. They had refused to settle for anything less. Ganymede and Jupiter Station radioed their congratulation for a hard fough
t victory.