Jane almost saluted the Air Force general. Instead, she slapped her chest with her open right hand. “General, we will fight! I will advise you when we launch the pods. And I will have our ship AI downlink you a continuous feed of our combat actions.” She looked Bill’s way, her expression intense. “Executive Officer and Weapons Chief, what counterattack do you recommend?”
At last. “Overwhelming missile launches of thermonukes!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jane blinked, then nodded. “Carry it out. Now.”
Bill tapped the Fire Control action points atop his Weapons control pillar. “I’m launching six MITV torps on a polar arc toward the Collector ships. That makes 30 thermonuke warheads that will independently seek their targets. As you know, they have guidance mobility in space.” He looked over at Richardson. “Vice admiral, the warheads within our Hunter-Killer torps are true Fire-and-Forget weapons. Their sensors track targets in UV, infrared, far infrared and by active pulsed compression radar. I’ve never seen them miss a target.”
“Impressive,” the CNO said, looking at his own system graphic holo which now showed the six torps ejecting their warheads. “How many torps are left on this ship?”
“Four,” Bill said calmly as he watched the same warhead separation. “Our normal load is 14 torps. We fired four torps in the Moon battle to help create the mine field. That left us ten torps in the launch room below us. Six of those are now gone.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Star Traveler, get your robots in the Factory Chamber to work on building new torps ASAP!”
“Complying,” the AI said in a tone that sounded smug. “Your battle efforts were anticipated by me. Six torpedoes are even now being fitted with new thermonuclear warheads. They will be available for launch within eleven minutes.”
“Good.” Bill looked aside to the CNO. “Vice admiral, instruct the Louisiana to fire 22 of her remaining 23 Trident missiles. Half will take a western equatorial track and half will take an eastern equatorial track. At 12 warheads per missile, that makes for 264 W88 warheads arriving at the same time as my MITV warheads. Please have the Louisiana activate the magnetic field proximity sensors on each warhead.”
The CNO tapped his liaison comlink on top of his control pillar and spoke. “Captain Baraka, launch 22 of your Tridents at the coordinates I’m sending you now.” The man who had once commanded an aircraft supercarrier seemed happy to be acting. “All warheads will go sensor active upon emergence from the third stage’s aeroshell.”
“Tridents launching,” the boomer’s captain said, his tone sounding pleased.
Richardson looked at Bill. “Weapons Chief, any orders for the Minnesota?”
“Yes.” Bill watched his system graphic, counting the Trident launches from the giant boomer sub. It seemed the sub was alternating launch tubes to avoid having two missiles go out from adjacent silos. Nice. The fast attack sub lay 300 miles to the left of the Blue Sky. “Vice admiral, have the Minnesota fire ten of her remaining eleven Standard 2 missiles on a south pole trajectory, targeted at the six Collector ships. The Standards are also fitted with magnetic field proximity sensors, yes?”
“They are,” the CNO said quickly. He spoke to his liaison comlink. “Captain Leonard, let her rip. Ten Standards on a south pole vector, sensors activated after warhead separation from the missile.”
“Launching,” came the gravelly voice of the attack sub captain.
Richardson looked his way. “All subs have launched missiles as ordered.”
“Good.” Bill looked over his shoulder to Jane, who was watching attentively. “Captain, America’s first retaliatory strike has been launched against the Collector ships.”
She nodded slowly, one eyebrow lifting. “What about our transports? They have a fair number of MITV torps left after the Moon battle.”
Bill nodded back. “You are correct. I’m saving their torps for defense of this fleet, in case one or more Collector ships comes hunting us. They are good fighters, as you know. If we are attacked, I will send the subs off to L4. We and the transports can put up a good fight.”
She frowned. “That we can. What is the timing of these warhead arrivals? Simultaneous or staggered?”
“Mostly simultaneous,” Bill said, tapping his Ship Weapons Fire Control panel to send Jane a graph showing estimated times to impact. “The south polar Standards will arrive a few minutes after the other warheads. But we will hit those Collectors with nearly 300 thermonuclear warheads! Those ships are armed with four lasers each, for a total of 24 lasers firing at any one time. They will take out a lot of the warheads. But I expect a dozen or more of our warheads to get close enough to go to proximity detonation. Like what happened with the tail-end Charlie ship out past the Moon.”
“What?” called Richardson as a voice spoke to him from his control pillar’s comlink. “You should have told me that earlier. But it’s good news.” The man looked to Bill. “Weapons Chief, Captain Baraka advises me that one of their Trident missiles is fitted with x-ray laser thermonukes. They are upgraded designs from the old Project Excaliber of last century. That makes for 12 standoff weapons that will use their thermonuke blasts to create coherent streams of x-rays. I believe you said the hulls of Collector ships could not deflect x-rays. Is that correct?”
“It is correct,” the ship’s AI hummed quickly. “Our hull has the ability to cause most electromagnetic radiation and emissions to wrap around this hull, which is why we are invisible to normal light, infrared, UV and other sensors. But x-rays, gamma rays and cosmic rays are too powerful for our hull to warp around us.”
Bill liked what he was hearing. “Vice admiral, that is outstanding! Uh, does the Louisiana still have targeting control over the Trident carrying the x-ray laser warheads?”
“It does,” Richardson said, looking at his system graphic holo. “We’ve just had second stage separation from the first stage. Once the third stage carrying the warheads separates from the second stage, we lose all targeting control.”
“Understood,” he said hurriedly. “Have the Louisiana tell its Trident to target its x-ray laser warheads at the tail-end Charlie Collector ship.” Bill tapped his control pillar. “I’ve just told our spysat to give you the exact orbital location for where to target your missile. It’s the wounded ship that seems less able to fight effectively. Maybe we can disable the entire crew aboard that ship!”
“Sending that ship location,” Richardson said hurriedly.
“Bill,” Jane called. “Those x-ray lasers should make it easy for our boarding team to take over the ship, right?”
“It would,” he said. “A heavy dose of x-rays will either disable the Alien crew, or possibly kill some of them. Just depends on how strong a dose of x-rays makes it past the hull.” A worry hit him. “Star Traveler, please warn the AI mind on that ship to raise lead shields around the space where its mind is stored. I recall hearing that one Collector ship mind had to be retired due to damage from cosmic rays.”
“You are correct. That has happened,” the AI hummed long and low. “I spoke with my fellow ship mind. It understands the danger from coherent streams of x-rays. It is now bringing in hover bots to erect lead shields. How long does it have to do this work before your missile warheads fire their x-rays?”
Bill looked to Richardson. Who looked thoughtful, then scanned his system graphic. “Eleven minutes,” the CNO said. “The Trident II is an intercontinental ballistic missile with the capability of injecting warheads into orbit, which requires an insertion velocity of 17,500 miles per hour. That will be the speed of all Trident warheads as they follow their two equatorial vector tracks to the Collector ships.”
The AI hummed again. “My fellow ship mind advises that will be sufficient time for it to protect its brain functions. It expresses its . . . appreciation for your warning.”
Bill felt relief. Harm to the ship mind of any Collector ship was to be avoided at all costs. “Captain, the missile warhead barrages are rounding the curve of Earth. They are half
way to target.”
“Good,” Jane murmured. “Advise me when the warheads get close enough to detonate and when the x-ray lasers fire. Once that happens, this fleet will head over the north pole to make a laser strafing run against the Collector ships!”
He had wondered what the next step was going to be in Jane’s Stage Two defense of Earth. “Uh, I assume we will launch our six collector pods before we go on that strafing run?”
“You assume correctly,” she said softly, her tone distracted. “In fact, best we launch those pods now. They can travel across the United States at a slow speed, while we are strafing. Once we complete the strafing attack, we will head for the L4 orbital. At which point I expect the Collector ships to launch their own pods. They’ve taken some damage and your warhead barrage plus our laser strafing will surely encourage them to think about leaving sooner, than later.”
“I hope so,” Bill said. “But they threatened to knock out our space launch sites and to kill any plane or ship that launches a missile against them. Think they will still do that?”
“Yes,” Jane said firmly. “Those attacks will cause losses to our forces, to the Russians and to the Chinese. But while the Collectors laser zap some planes and some ships, our pods will arrive on board those six ships, along with other pods. Once our boarding teams start taser zapping ship crew, I expect those Earth-side attacks will fall off as each captain fights to keep control of his starship.”
“Understood.” Bill hoped that would be the case. The death of up to 10,000 sailors and airmen on the two laser-zapped carriers hit him where it hurt. His job had always been to anticipate enemy action, to infiltrate the enemy and then destroy that enemy before it could harm Americans and their allies. He licked his lips. At least when the pod teams boarded the Collector ships, the counter-attacks were likely to fall off as the ship captain and crew focused on trying to zap the boarders. Every one of those 18 people understood the stakes. Each of them had risked their lives for the team or for the mission in the past. Nine of them were people he’d spent the last three years with drinking, telling tall tales and sharing good times. Stefano, Alicia, Frank and Joe had gone trout fishing with him in the nearby Rockies. He’d built a special link with the four of them. Being out in the wilderness with just another person, making camp, catching your food, watching sunsets glorious together, and sharing personal upsets best kept private made for a relationship that went beyond that normal for fighters who shared a battle space. He didn’t want to lose those four. Or any of the other saloon vets. And the MacDill folks had impressed him with their dedication to duty, to the mission and to working as part of the team that had to infiltrate and take over the six Collector ships. Taking over the enemy ships meant more than gaining a fleet for America. It meant those six ships could no longer kidnap Americans and other humans for slavery in a far distant star system. It also meant those ships could act as a defense of Earth against future Collector ship visits. Time to act now! He tapped his control pillar, shifting his vacsuit comlink to the frequency used by his boarders.
“Alicia, Frank, Stefano, Janice, Mack and Jake, I’m launching your pods in one minute. Be aware that the Collectors are in orbit above the Pacific and we’ve had our first losses.” He took a deep breath. “We lost the carriers Vinson and Roosevelt just now, off of Hawaii. The Russians lost a Typhoon. Right after we launch you this ship and its allies are heading over the pole to make a laser strafing run against the Collectors.” He paused, recalling Richardson’s news. “Alicia, your pod is set to enter the tail-end Charlie ship that lost one engine in the Moon fight. Be aware it is the target of thermonuke-pumped x-ray lasers that may knock out its crew before your arrival. If that is the case, put any surviving crew into clamshell healers and then head for the Command Bridge and take control of the ship with the aid of the ship mind.” The comlink holo to his right showed Jane nodding approvingly at his order. “Everyone else, expect the Aliens to fight you the way they fought me and Jane in our takeover. Go for it!”
“Changed circumstance acknowledged,” Alicia replied over the suit comlink.
The other five team leaders gave similarly brief responses. He looked at his system graphic, then over at the true space holo that showed the six Collector ships as they hung in a line above Hawaii. While the spysats could not see the actual shape of each ship, the devices could detect the neutrino emissions of each ship. The sats then transmitted that location with an overlay of a ship outline to his station. That imagery was what he, Jane, Richardson, Bright Sparkle and his other crewmates all saw in their own true space holos. He looked right at the segmented worm shape of Long Walker. “Zipziptoe friend, open the Collector Pods Chamber hull and eject the six pods carrying our boarding teams.”
The creature who loved intense white light, could survive vacuum and had worked as a roaming genealogist on his home world lifted one of his front leg-hands and tapped the top of his control pillar with a claw-finger. “Chamber hull opened,” he moaned. “Local gravity turned off. Six collector pods are now . . . ejected.”
Bill’s true space holo split to show the night side of Earth. He watched as six white-glowing teardrops headed down into the air above eastern Canada, moving at a vector angle which would take them across Quebec, over Lake Huron, then they would skim slowly above the upper Midwest to give time for the launch of collector pods by the orbiting starships. Once Bill saw some collector pods leaving the mountains of California for the orbiting starships, he would have ship mind send the pods up to orbit with the other pods.
“Captain,” chittered Lofty Flyer from her Navigation station. “Two of the Collector ships are launching pods! The pods are entering atmosphere and heading toward the Earth provinces of Japan and British Columbia.”
That surprised Bill. He’d thought the starships would spend more time hunting down surface navy ships and missile launching subs. This development was encouraging. It moved up the timeline for their pods to enter the enemy ships.
Jane slammed a fist on her armrest. “Damn slavers! Fleet, we leave now for our strafing attack! Transports, use your lasers against any pods you can reach. We on Blue Sky will go after the Collector ships!” The woman who had the manner of an officer born to command gestured forward. “Navigator, take us up over the north pole of Earth! Make our altitude 500 miles above sea level. Transports and subs, follow us!”
“Magfield engines moving us up and out,” hissed black-skinned Time Marker as he used his neck fringe tentacles to tap in commands on the top of his control pillar.
“Life Support parameters are stable,” barked Wind Swift as the silver-scaled kangaroo leaned back on her thick tail. Red eyes looked Bill’s way, as if she wanted to do more to support the fight.
He understood her anxiety. The reptilian Alien had worked as an asteroid belt mining engineer in her home system. She was used to doing rather than watching others do. But among his five Alien crewmates, only the work of Lofty Flyer at Navigation, Long Walker at Collector Pods and Time Marker at Engines was relevant to a fight in space. While Bright Sparkle’s role in managing the ship’s three fusion power plants was vital to powering the lasers, MITV railgun launchers, the plasma batteries and the antimatter projector, still, the color-banded woman likely felt passive in the face of the actions taken by him, Richardson and Jane. That passive feeling was likely why Wind Swift had spoken up.
“Thank you Wind Swift,” Jane said calmly, her command instincts finding time to reassure Bill’s crewmate. “You provide the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. You were vital in adjusting the Greenery Chamber oxygen output to accommodate the 18 temporary guests we had. Without you, none of the rest of us could fight this upcoming battle. Or the battle we fought out beyond the Moon.” His wife nodded to him. “Weapons Chief, can our rear lasers deflect enough to fire downward even as our nose lasers are firing?”
“They cannot,” Bill replied as he scanned the ship outline in his Weapons holo at the upper left of his station. “Our no
se and tail lasers are slightly mobile, but not like the WWII Sperry ball turrets whose globe could rotate and aim across 180 degrees.” A thought hit him. “But if Lofty Flyer can set the Blue Sky to flipping tail over nose in a constant roll as we come into firing range, I can use all four lasers for rapid firing on the Collector ships.”
Jane looked surprised, then thoughtful. “Do it that way! And flipping this ship in a continuous roll will reduce the hull exposure to any laser counterfire. Right Star Traveler?”
“You are correct,” the AI hummed low, its tone sounding warm, almost friendly. “While the adaptive optics seeded into our hull can deflect glancing laser strikes, head-on strikes will penetrate. As we saw in the Kepler 443 battle. Rolling the ship will reduce the exposure time for any section of the hull.”
“Weapons Chief,” called Richardson. “I admire your determination to use all your lasers. But won’t this rolling disorient you?”
Bill almost laughed. He didn’t. The CNO had not spent nine months in space like he and Jane and their crew. “I will not be disoriented. My Weapons fire control image will be provided by our spysat imagery. Which is stationary. While I like seeing true space directly from our electro-optical telescopes, I’ll take targeting data from any source I can! And the spysat allows this ship to go to a constant roll in space without any bother to me. With the benefit of an increase in our laser firing rate.”
The man blinked gray eyes, then grinned. “Oh. Stupid of me. I had forgotten about that spysat. Which of course is neutrino signaling to us the image we now see of the far side of Earth.”
“Which side is now coming into direct line of sight,” Jane said loudly. “Vice admiral, tell your subs to launch Harpoons, ASROCs and SUBROCs at any ship except the tail-end Charlie ship. Which is highlighted in green. Their fire control officers are getting the same spysat feed we are seeing.”
Escape 2: Fight the Aliens Page 11
