There Will Be War Volume X

by Jerry Pournelle

  “Roger that. We are taking up patrol at angels twenty. When you arrive at Saturn, please maintain separation of five thousand kilometers from my ship.”

  “Acknowledged, Commander Kano. I look forward to meeting you.”

  Hoshi cycled out of his duty shift and retreated to his cabin to catch up on paperwork. Nothing would happen for hours. Takao had to keep watching the Chinese, and pounce when they revealed their intent.

  Four hours after his request, Nakamura called him.

  “Commander, response from Earth. No records of a Captain Huang Wei in known personnel records of the Chinese Space Forces.”

  Japanese knowledge of Chinese records was incomplete. The captain could simply be a nobody, and utterly expendable if he failed. Or else he had lied.

  No matter. Hoshi needed to be fresh to face the Chinese. He exercised with his men, took a shower, had a meal, sent mail back home, and took a nap.

  Kamishiro shook him awake.

  “Sir, the Chinese want to speak with you.”

  Hoshi dragged himself to the CIC and took stock of the situation. The Chinese had now closed to seventy thousand kilometers. Both carriers were discharging smaller craft. Sensors identified the latter as Houyi drones, the current-generation Chinese military drone.

  “Commander Kano,” Huang said. “I have received new orders. Our mission is to assist the local forces in securing Saturn. The Titanian authorities have agreed to lift the no-fly zone for ships that have been inspected. We have two battalions of space marines ready for inspection duties. We would like to work with you to assist the Titanian authorities.”

  It sounded reasonable, but there were the matter of the drones. Also, the Chinese were using laser communications. They didn’t want the civilians listening in.

  “Captain Huang, I look forward to working with you. I see you have launched Houyi drones. Please to explain this launch?”

  “There are a large number of ships in Saturn orbit. The drones will help monitor the situation and provide assistance where necessary.”

  “Very well, Captain Huang. Please to put them on vector ahead of my ship to prevent collision.”

  “Commander Kano, roger that. We will do so at the soonest possible moment.”

  Hoshi could not accuse the Chinese commander of perfidy, not openly, but they had launched way outside typical Chinese engagement ranges. Why?

  Hoshi typed up his observation report and sent it off to Earth. When he looked back up, the drones were burning in at three gravities, adopting an attack vector aimed at Takao.

  Hoshi briefed his intelligence officer and asked, “Nakamura, what do you think about Captain Huang’s explanation?”

  “Captain, it is bullshit. Saturn’s escape velocity is thirty-five and a half klicks per second. The drones are making fifty, and they are burning straight at us. If they are headed for orbital injection they should be decelerating by now.”

  “Unless they are setting up kinetic shots at our flanks.”

  “Yes sir. We cannot let them cross five thousand klicks. Past that and their missiles will be flying faster than our point defenses can track them.”

  The textbook insisted that he should pull in his radiators and call home. But home was one and a half hours away. By the time a response arrived, the situation would be over—and Takao would have cooked in her juices. Also, the Chinese would see it as a hostile act, and would be justified in firing first.

  At the same time, if he kept his radiators out, the Chinese drones would have a clean line of fire at them. If they fired first, they could end Takao.

  He needed to buy time.

  “Captain Huang, we are pleased to see you are sending drones to help us,” he radioed on the guard channel. “However, they are flying too fast for orbital injection and are still on a collision course with us. We advise to decelerate and adjust vector.”

  “Commander Kano, roger that and thank you for your concern. Our Houyis have expanded propellant tanks. They will be able to make the trip. They will also adjust their vector at the appropriate time.”

  “Please to adjust vectors to avoid collision, or we will take necessary actions.”

  “Rest assured, Commander, we are simply taking the fastest vector possible. We will endeavor to avoid a collision.”

  Bullshit. Hoshi typed up his observations, attached recordings of the exchange, and sent them on to Tokyo. It would arrive too late, but he needed to keep a paper trail.

  “Subaru, launch four sunrays. Boost them to angels twenty-five.”

  When the sunrays reached an orbital altitude of twenty-five thousand kilometers, Hoshi placed them on a track parallel to Takao’s. Then he ordered, “Mori, ping the drones with lidar.”

  In military terms, this was the equivalent of saying, What the hell are you doing? And sure enough, Guangdong hailed Takao on the guard channel.

  “Commander Kano, please refrain from pinging our drones with active sensors. Our drones are loaded with live ammunition and are on AI control. They may fire upon ships that paint them without warning. We would like to avoid misunderstandings.”

  “Captain Huang, your drones are still on an intercept vector with my ship.”

  “We have no hostile intentions towards your ship, but we cannot prevent our AIs from following their programming.”

  The game had to end here.

  “Be advised, Captain, my lasers are on automated point defense mode. If your drones close to within five thousand kilometers, they will be assumed hostile and fired upon.”

  “Roger, Commander. Do not fret. We wish you no harm.”

  Hoshi muttered darkly under his breath and hit the ship-wide intercom.

  “All hands, sentou youii. All hands, sentou youii.”

  Klaxons sounded. The crew rushed to their places with alacrity. Moments later, Kamishiro announced, “Sir, the ship is battle ready.”

  “Very good.” Addressing his officers, Hoshi said, “We will draw our line in the sand here. The moment the drones cross six thousand klicks, prepare targeting solutions with passive sensors only. If they cross the five thousand kilometer mark, or if they fire, retract radiators and destroy the drones.”

  “Sir, won’t this start a war?” Sato asked.

  “Drones are expendable,” Hoshi said. “Destroying drones is not as severe as destroying ships. I believe they mean to intimidate us out of the system. Before the drones reach their engagement envelope, I think Huang will claim that he has received orders from Beijing and ‘request’ that we leave, or he will be forced to shoot.”

  “It’s unlikely they want to be seen as the bad guys, sir,” Tanaka said. “If they fire first, they risk starting a war.”

  “Not if they use drones,” Kamishiro said. “They accused us on the guard channel of targeting their drones, and said their drones’ artificial intelligence allows them to fire without men in the loop. If their drones fire, they can simply claim self-defense.”

  “Thank you, gentlemen. Keep an eye out for suspicious Chinese activity, and be prepared to broadcast our side of the story over the radio. The Chinese will use deception, so we will use the truth. We must have witnesses on our side.”

  The minutes sped past. Hoshi grew restless. The ship was turning, trying to present as small a target to the drones as possible. The Chinese drones had finally cut their acceleration, but showed no signs of altering their course.

  At sixty-five hundred kilometers out, Mori yelled, “Threat lidar!”

  Arrows streaked from the drones. Eight of them.

  “Tanaka, defensive maneuvers! Subaru—”

  A string of flashes played across the feed.

  “Nani?!”

  “Side kick! Side kick!” Tanaka yelled belatedly.

  Her maneuvering rockets fired. Takao turned faster, bringing her nose to face the threats. Hoshi glanced at the display.

  The ship reported no damage.

  But the sunrays were destroyed.

  “Commander Kano, this is Captain Huang.
Our drones reported being pinged by active sensors, and fired upon your mirrors. As a sign of good faith we prevented them from targeting your ship directly. Please exit the Saturnian system to avoid further misunderstandings.”

  The maneuvering thrusters fired again, canceling the ship’s momentum. Hoshi ignored the Chinese officer, instead addressing his officers.

  “Tanaka, retract radiators. Nakamura, Mori, what the hell was that?”

  “Sir, flashes were consistent with nuclear weapon initiations,” Mori replied. “Estimated yield of five hundred kilotons.”

  “A nuke couldn’t harm anything at this range. What the hell did they use?”

  “Mori,” Nakamura said, “Did we pick up anything from the flashes?”

  “Negative. But the fireball took the shape of a cone. Indicative of a directed nuclear charge.”

  “Sa…” Nakamura said. “Captain, I think it’s a Tianlei. It’s a bomb-pumped x-ray laser. It’s a classified experimental project. We have no data on it. But Chinese doctrine encourages the use of lasers the moment a target enters their maximum effective range. Perhaps the Tianlei has a max known effective range of sixty-five hundred klicks.”

  Hoshi shook his head. This was a show of force, one step away from outright aggression. But they didn’t know what Takao had.

  “Thank you, gentlemen. Designate the Chinese ships as hostile and prepare for immediate action.”

  On the display, the Chinese ships turned red. Hoshi returned to the radio and broadcast his reply on the guard frequency. “Captain Huang, you fired upon us with nuclear bomb-pumped lasers. We will not tolerate this act of aggression. You are in violation of international law. Withdraw your drones immediately.”

  On his display, four red columns, five deep, marched towards Takao.

  “Negative, Takao. They are committed. They do not have the delta-vee to withdraw.”

  All of humanity could see that the drones were on an intercept vector with Takao, and that the drones could accelerate much faster than Takao could. And the Chinese did not deny using nuclear weapons.

  He was now free to act.

  “Subaru, initiate defensive solution! Dial lasers to UV-C!”

  “Initiate defensive solution, dial lasers to UV-C, ryoukai!”

  The eight laser turrets facing the threats fired at will, taking one target each. A quarter of the enemy formation vaporized. Five more blew apart, then the survivors began launching missiles. But before the missiles reached minimum standoff distance every last threat flashed into rapidly-expanding plasma. In the space of a breath, everything that could pose a threat to Takao was gone.

  “Sir, we have a grand slam,” Mori reported.

  This was Takao’s first secret. A UV-C beam would remain coherent far beyond a UV-A laser’s effective range. Takao could deliver more megawatts per square centimeter than any vessel smaller than a capital ship.

  Hoshi returned to the radio. “Captain Huang, we were fired upon by your drones and acted in self-defense. Take an exit vector immediately, or we will take every necessary action to safeguard our ship and the Saturnian system.”

  The Chinese could not depart, of course. They did not have the acceleration to make such a radical vector change, not without making an orbital injection and turning slowly, very, very slowly, with their gyroscopes to align the vector. Hoshi was simply covering his ass.

  “Takao, we do not have the delta-vee and acceleration regime to do so. We recommend you leave the system to avoid future mishaps.”

  “Guangdong, we cannot. The civil authorities have requested us to ensure the security of the Saturnian system. We have every right to be here, but we have not received confirmation that the civil authorities have requested your presence. Depart the system immediately or we will carry out our orders.”

  The next response came on a laser narrowcast.

  “Commander Hoshi, today is not a good day to die. You are outnumbered, outmassed and outgunned. Fighting us is suicide. Your crew have families. You have a family. Please, think of Hana and Kikyo. They are waiting for you in Osaka. Please don’t throw your life away. Just make a burn for Earth and you can see them again.”

  Hoshi was unsurprised to learn that Huang had known who he had been all along. But indignant fury exploded in his chest all the same. How dare they try to use his family against him!

  “Kamishiro. Rebroadcast that last message to Titan, Tokyo, and the civilians around us. Let them know that the Chinese have fired upon us with nuclear weapons and are now personally threatening our families. Tanaka, extend radiators. Sato, plot an attack vector towards Chongqing. Subaru, boost four sunrays.”

  As the sunrays blasted off on beams of black light, the Chinese ships cut acceleration and skewed around to aim their weapons. They, too, were on an attack vector, and they were committed. There was no turning back, no diverting, nothing but death or glory.

  “Commander Hoshi, that was a mistake. We will send flowers to your family at the funeral.”

  Hoshi knew his next words would be recorded for posterity. And he knew he should be very, very careful with them. Instead, he threw caution to the winds.

  “You do not threaten me, Captain. You do not threaten my crew. You do not threaten my family. Kusokute shine, Chankoro! Kuroso zo!”

  Eat shit and die, Chink! I will kill you!

  Takao could run. She had the delta-vee to exit Saturn and avoid this fight, or head to Titan and make a last stand there with the Americans.

  But he would not shirk this battle. Unlike Takao, Titan could not dodge. The Chinese could bombard Prometheus with their railguns even as they lined up for an approach. Hoshi wasn’t afraid of a hit; he was afraid of a miss, of a stray shot striking the space elevator. At least here the civilians could evade stray kinetics. If he had to fight, it had to be around Saturn.

  Also, he had promised to kill Huang, and he always kept his promises.

  Kamishiro called Hoshi. “Captain, we have been attacked by Chinese nuclear weapons. I believe this fulfills the special conditions in our rules of engagement.”

  “The Chinese destroyed our mirrors. They could argue they didn’t attack us directly.”

  “They can’t. Those drones were launching missiles at us. They had to be Tianleis too. If those had gone off, we’d all be dead. We have to release our special weapons.”

  “I…” Hoshi shook his head. This was not a time to hesitate. For the third time in history, Japan had been attacked by a nuclear power. But this time, Japan could strike back. This time, Japan would strike back!

  “Ensign Mori,” he said. “In your professional opinion, have we been attacked by nuclear weapons?”

  “Hai! The enemy drones launched missiles on attack vectors. Laser spectroscope shows significant amounts of fusion material in the vapor and debris clouds.”

  “The Chinese drones use nuclear gas-core engines. Is there any possibility of contamination?”

  When this was over, the court-martial would pore over the ship’s black box. He needed Mori to state what he had seen on the record.

  “No sir. Nuclear gas-core rockets use uranium hexafluoride fuel. The debris clouds contain concentrated amounts of deuterium, tritium and lithium. This is consistent with materials used in Chinese nuclear fusion warheads.”

  “Very well.” Clearing his throat, Hoshi hit the intercom. “Attention all hands. We have been attacked by nuclear weapons. As per our rules of engagement, we will now release our special munitions.”

  “Release special munitions, ryoukai,” Kamishiro acknowledged.

  Hoshi pressed his palm against a sensor-embedded corner of his desk. A green light lit up, and a translucent guard box sprung open, exposing a keyhole. He opened a breast pocket and produced a tiny key.

  “Insert keys,” Hoshi ordered.

  “Insert keys,” Kamishiro echoed.

  Hoshi inserted the key.

  “On my mark, rotate key,” Hoshi said.

  “On your mark, rotate key.”

 
; “Three. Two. One. Mark.”

  Hoshi turned the key.

  A new window popped up, displaying Takao’s secret arsenal: sixteen Type 82 missiles. Visually indistinguishable from the other Type 82s in the missile banks, they were the reason Takao carried a full war load.

  They were also experimental weapons, originally slated for testing at the edges of the Solar system. Hoshi hoped they worked as designed.

  “Nakamura, how will the Chinese fight us?”

  “Sir, they know what our lasers can do. They will deploy drones and laser-propelled missiles to overwhelm our lasers and destroy us at standoff range. They will also use their railguns to shape the battlespace.”

  Hoshi smiled. “No, Nakamura, they only think they know what our lasers can do. Subaru, charge the ultracapacitors.”

  The Chinese continued to turn. Their hulls were long and vulnerable, but still too far away for Takao to target accurately. When the guard ships stopped turning, they fired their railguns. Projectiles sped towards Takao at twenty klicks per second relative to her velocity. They were guided shells, firing rockets to take them on an intercept course with Takao.

  “It’s harassing fire,” Nakamura said. “They want us to expend delta-vee to dodge them, maybe even force us out of the Saturnian system. At this range, those have got to be flechette shells.”

  “Very good. Nakamura, Sato, Tanaka, Subaru: develop a vector that will take us towards Chongqing and minimize acceleration and delta-vee expenditure. Priority is to set up a laser solution at standoff range. What flechettes we can’t dodge, we trash.”

  The Chinese shells approached. Takao adjusted her vector just so, occasionally firing her maneuvering thrusters to jink sideways. The shells followed, but their fuel reserves were limited, and when they burst into flechettes, Subaru only needed to destroy four darts to ensure Takao’s safety.

  The following waves of shells weren’t aimed at Takao. They went for the mirrors. Hoshi ordered the shells destroyed before they could wreck the mirrors. It told the Chinese how Hoshi intended to strike them, but not where or when.

  The Chinese kept their formation tight, staying within each other’s point defense envelopes. The guard ships were specialized in counter-missile and counter-drone defense. Hoshi needed to blow a hole in their formation before he could employ his special weapons. He glued his eyes to the display. The opportunity would come soon enough. Either Takao would get close enough or…