Return to Haven (Empire Rising Book 3)

by D. J. Holmes

  “And be one less ship Rooke and Cunningham will have to worry about later,” James agreed.

  “I’ll get right on it Sir,” Mallory replied with a grin.

  James went back to his command chair. “Send everyone to their battlestations,” he ordered. Endeavour wouldn’t get to her closest point to the Indian ship that was in stealth for another hour but he didn’t want to be caught by surprise.

  For a moment, James paused to consider his decision. It was second nature now for him to launch straight into an attack. Technically his orders were to gather intel on the Indian fleet dispositions. However, he thought to himself, if we can destroy the Indian ship we can talk freely with the locals, in a way this is the ideal approach to gathering intel. We are supposed to treat Indian warships as hostile after all.

  After the order went around the ship, James opened a COM channel to Major Johnston, the commander of Endeavour’s marines.

  “Major,” James began, “I want you and your special forces marines to prep the stealth shuttle for launch. There is an Indian medium cruiser orbiting above the Havenite colony. We’re going to try and take it out so we can contact whoever is in charge on the planet and get some intel. If it proves too dangerous to attempt to take on the cruiser, then I want you to take the shuttle down and make contact with the locals. It will have to be a quick in and out mission.”

  “No problem Sir,” Johnston replied. “My men can be ready to go in thirty minutes.”

  “Get them ready then,” James said. “I’ll let you know if we are engaging the cruiser once we get closer to the colony,” he finished as he closed the COM channel and switched his attention to the main holo display.

  One of the first things Mallory had taken him to see when he had returned to Endeavour after his wedding had been the new stealth shuttle. It had come on board with a squad of special forces marines. Coated in the latest stealth coverings and incorporating much of the technology that went into making Endeavour so stealthy, it was the perfect tool for their mission to Haven. Being so new though, it wouldn’t hurt if Johnston got a chance to try it out under less dangerous circumstances.

  As they approached the Indian ship that was in stealth, James could feel the tension among the Sub Lieutenants on the bridge growing. There was a chance the Indian ship would be another medium or light cruiser rather than a smaller patrol craft. If it was, then a single broadside of missiles wouldn’t be enough to destroy it. However, it was very unlikely. Whoever was in charge of the Indian fleet would want to keep the majority of their heavy ships at Haven. As far as the Indians knew, there was no shift passage leading from Independence back to British space and there was no need for a large fleet presence in the system. Even the one medium cruiser that was orbiting the planet seemed like overkill to James.

  On the other hand, James thought, maybe the Indians have found out about the Gift from the Havenites. That would throw a spanner in my uncle’s plans.

  *

  “We’re approaching optimal position,” Lieutenant Becket said from the tactical console twenty minutes later.

  After they had successfully crept past the Indian ship in stealth James had brought Endeavour to rest within plasma cannon range of the medium cruiser orbiting Independence. It would give them a chance to turn and give chase to the second Indian ship if it survived his initial attack.

  “Make sure every plasma bolt counts,” James said to Becket.

  “Yes Sir, I understand,” she reassured him.

  As Endeavour was in stealth mode, her reactors were almost powered down. Endeavour’s plasma cannons had their own capacitors that allowed them to fire off a single plasma bolt each in the event of an emergency. If Becket’s first shots didn’t work, she would have to wait at least a minute for the Chief Engineer to power up the reactors to feed her weapons more energy. A minute would be more than long enough for the Indian medium cruiser to bring her own plasma cannons to bear on Endeavour.

  After double checking her targeting data, Becket looked up from her console at James.

  James hesitated for a second. He was about to fire the first shots in another, what would likely become an interstellar, war. One his nation could ill afford to lose. His uncle hadn’t given him any specific instructions about engaging targets of opportunity on this mission. He was just meant to be on a reconnaissance mission. Yet, Endeavour had received an updated rules of engagement from the Admiralty along with the rest of the British fleet in the Sol system before she left. Indian warships within Havenite space were now to be considered as hostiles and treated accordingly. This was too good an opportunity to miss, destroying this cruiser now could save lives in the long run.

  “Fire,” James ordered.

  Endeavour’s three twin plasma cannons fired six plasma bolts into the cold of space. Mere milliseconds later sixteen missiles erupted from their missile tubes as both Endeavour’s starboard and port broadsides released their ordnance at their targets.

  The Indian cruiser was less than three light seconds from Endeavour. Traveling at more than 0.8C the plasma bolts closed the distance in less than four seconds. In that time the Indian cruiser’s gravitational sensors detected the launch of the eight missiles targeted at it. Just as alarms blared on the bridge of the cruiser, the plasma bolts hit. Three were aimed at each of the cruiser’s plasma cannons. All three hit their targets, destroying the cruiser’s ability to quickly hit back at Endeavour.

  Two more bolts hit the cruiser amidships where RSNI intel suggested the Indian cruiser’s main reactors were. One bolt managed to burn its way through the extra layers of valstronium armor the cruiser had around its reactors. Two of the cruiser’s three reactors were seriously damaged. The second bolt missed the reactors, hitting one of the main crew quarters. Over forty Indian navy personnel were obliterated in their sleep.

  Becket had targeted her final plasma bolt at where she judged the cruiser’s bridge to be. Her guess proved correct and no sooner had the Lieutenant on watch looked at the alarms that had gone off than she was dead. The cruiser’s ability to react to the incoming missiles had been crippled.

  Those eight missiles had been launched from their tubes at 0.1C. As soon as they cleared the tubes their impulse engines kicked in and rapidly accelerated them towards their target. They crossed the distance between the two ships in just twenty-five seconds. Whilst the captain of the Indian cruiser had survived the first attack, he had barely made it to the auxiliary bridge when the missiles exploded around his ship.

  The cruiser’s automatic defenses took out two of the missiles but without a human coordinating the point defenses there was no hope for the ship. Four of the remaining missiles scored direct hits on the cruiser within less than half a second of each other. The cruiser disappeared in a massive fireball.

  As soon as the fireball dissipated and James was satisfied that the cruiser was no longer a threat, he switched his attention to the second contact. It had come out of stealth as soon as it had detected the eight missiles launched in its direction. Malik had already analyzed its engine profile and there was now a line of text beside the blip on the main holo display suggesting that the contact was an Indian frigate.

  “Send the signal to the recon drone to ping the target,” James ordered.

  Becket was already updating the second salvo of missiles with new targeting data but giving them a radar reflection from the frigate itself would make sure none of the missiles lost their target lock.

  It hardly mattered at this stage, eight missiles were more than overkill for a single frigate. Maybe if it had its own flak cannon it would have a slim chance. Yet the intel James had been given on the Indian fleet suggested that only their largest warships had flak cannons.

  As soon as the recon drone filled space with high intensity radar waves, the frigate re-orientated itself and tried to hit the drone with its single plasma cannon. Recon drones were tiny though and Malik had already programmed it with an evasive flight plan.

  “They should be focus
ed on the missiles,” Mallory said. “The drone is the least of their worries.”

  “It won’t matter either way,” James said, already sure of the outcome.

  The frigate tried desperately to take out Endeavour’s missiles with its plasma cannon and then its point defenses once the missiles got into range. It was to no avail, six missiles broke through its defenses and the frigate was turned into an expanding ball of debris.

  “Jennings, take us into orbit,” James ordered the Sub Lieutenant who was manning the navigation console once the frigate was destroyed.

  “Get me a COM channel with the most senior Havenite representative on the colony,” he ordered Sub Lieutenant King. “And see if there are any Havenite military commanders on the colony. Put them in contact with Major Johnston. I want a full report on whatever intel we can get on the Indians.”

  *

  Twenty minutes later, when Endeavour slotted into orbit around Independence, James left the bridge and walked to his private office. With a few taps on his personal COM unit the face of Independence’s leader appeared.

  “Greetings,” James said. “May I ask whom I am speaking to?”

  “You are a sight for sore eyes Captain Somerville, I have heard a lot about you of course. Though I can’t say I ever expected to talk to you face to face. You are most welcome to the Independence System,” the face replied.

  “I am glad you are happy to see me,” James replied. “You obviously know me but I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.”

  “Of course, of course. My apologies. My name is Derick Thompson. I am Independence’s Councilor. I was on Independence when the Indians launched their invasion of our territory so I have been stuck here ever since,” Thompson explained.

  “And how are things on the ground?” James asked.

  “To be honest, I can’t say we have very much to complain about,” Thompson answered. “When that cruiser came into the system it blew up the unmanned satellites we had in orbit and then threatened to bombard our city if we didn’t follow their instructions. Everyone was scared at first. However, the Indian’s didn’t land any ground troops. They seemed content to control space around our colony. Life has almost returned to normal for most of our population.”

  “I am glad to hear your colony is in one piece,” James said. “We are here to see just what the Indians are up too. You know Councilwoman Rodriguez I presume? Well she has petitioned my government to accept Haven as a British protectorate. The British Star Kingdom has accepted and so we plan to throw the Indians out of Haven and allow your people a free vote to determine your future.”

  “Well that is good news,” Thompson said. “At least the getting rid of the Indians part. I for one have no desire to swap one tyrant for another. I dare say Ms. Rodriguez has over stepped her authority. But then, she has always been fond of doing that.”

  “I would be careful what you say about the Councilwoman,” James said as diplomatically as possible. “She has sacrificed a lot to try and save your people from becoming an Indian occupied territory. And she is no longer a Ms. She is now Lady Somerville.”

  “Lady...” Thompson said, thinking through the implications. “You mean she has married into the British aristocracy? And Somerville, you don’t mean you, do you?”

  “Yes,” James answered. “She is now my wife and together we plan to liberate your people from the Indians. You may not have suffered too much under their rule yet, but I assure you, it would not always have been so pleasant. What’s more, I’m sure things aren’t going as smoothly on Haven.”

  “No, I don’t expect they are,” Thompson replied. “But I don’t think that will mean the people will just run into your arms if you manage to liberate them.”

  “My government doesn’t expect them to,” James responded. “We simply want your people to have the chance to freely determine their future. When that day comes, you can rail against my wife all you want. But for now, she is the one doing everything she can to make that day a reality. That means you and I are on the same side. I need as much information as you can give me.”

  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, I can see that logic,” Thompson said. “I will be happy to help you. But don’t think that means I will take kindly to your government when they try to sink their claws into Haven.”

  “Cooperation now is all I ask,” James said.

  “In that case let me begin,” Thompson said.

  For the next ten minutes James listened as Thompson described how a freighter had escaped Haven and brought news of the invasion. The Councilman was actually able to transmit some images the freighter had collected of the Indian fleet and the ground invasion before it jumped out of the Haven system. After the freighter’s arrival, panic had broken out among the populace. They all knew they had no hope of holding the Indians off. News of Maximillian’s death had caused many Havenites to prepare for a ground resistance. Others, knowing what such a struggle would mean, had fled the city or locked themselves in their homes in an effort to avoid any fighting.

  When the cruiser had been spotted approaching the planet the panic had come to a head. Yet, when no Indian troops arrived in shuttles and no demands were made of the colonists except to get back to work and continue to mine ore, people had relaxed. The sight of the cruiser exploding in orbit had been the most exciting thing that had happened in over a week.

  “Do you know the name of the Indian Admiral who commands their fleet?” James asked, interrupting Thompson.

  “No, I’m afraid not,” Thompson answered. “The images from the freighter I sent you have some details about the Indian fleet, but that is all I know. My analysts think there must have been more Indian ships in the attack than the freighter’s sensors picked up.”

  “And where is the freighter now?” James queried.

  “The Indians boarded it and took its crew off,” Thompson answered. “They had us fill it with ore and then flew it back to Haven. I suspect it is half way to New Delhi by now.”

  “Most likely,” James said.

  Before he could ask another question, an alert on his desk display caught his attention. Malik was reporting the sensors had picked up a strange anomaly.

  “Hold on,” James said to Thompson just as he was about to speak.

  James took another few seconds to scan through the data Malik had sent him. “One of my Lieutenants has just alerted me to a potential problem. I’m afraid I am going to have to go and attend to it. I will pass you on to another one of my officers. I need all the intel you can give me.”

  “I understand Captain,” Thompson said. “Hopefully we can speak again before you leave for Haven. I have a few messages I would like you to take for my family there in case you get a chance to transmit them.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” James promised. “Farewell for now Councilman.”

  “Farewell Captain, thank you for coming to our aid once again,” Thompson said.

  As soon as the COM channel closed James jumped to his feet and rushed onto the bridge. “What do you make of this signal?” he asked Mallory.

  “It’s strange Sir,” Mallory said, “but I don’t think there is any natural explanation. It must be a ship.”

  “Agreed,” James replied.

  He reviewed the data being shown on the main holo display. Malik had detected two very faint bursts of electromagnetic radiation. Endeavour’s computers had disregarded the first burst, thinking it to be background radiation from a distant pulsar or supernova. However, the second had got Malik’s attention and he had checked to see if there had been any others. As soon as he found another one he had alerted James.

  As James watched the holo display a fourth dot appeared. “I’m looking back into our sensor data for more anomalies. I think the threat computer missed a few of them,” Malik explained.

  “Maybe it is a ship with some kind of failure in its stealth technology,” Mallory said. “Because it is only giving off electromagnetic radiation at random intervals maybe no one ev
er noticed before. The Indians certainly have a lot of old warships in their fleet.”

  “Perhaps,” James said.

  As James watched, Malik plotted a course linking all four points where an anomaly had been detected. They formed a very uniform course around Independence and towards the shift passage to Haven.

  “Take us out of orbit and put us into stealth,” James ordered. “Then plot us a course directly to the shift passage to Haven. Launch a series of stealth recon drones towards the projected course of that contact. And inform whoever is speaking with the people on Independence that they need to get whatever information they can now because we are leaving.”

  A chorus of, “Yes Sir,” followed James’ orders.

  Almost as soon as Endeavour went into stealth the gravimetric sensor sounded an alarm as it detected a new contact. On the main holo display a new icon jumped into life right where the anomaly had been.

  “Indian warship,” Malik shouted. “It’s accelerating hard.”