Two days later the small fleet of starships set off for their target in AR 84993. Breval had charged Admiral Galaway with the responsibility to lead the Imperial force after she agreed she would take strategic guidance from Zhu. Two Alliance destroyers had arrived in time to join the raid. The Alliance skippers, with Graham Hamilton acting as their senior Tac commander, also had agreed to work at Zhu’s direction and to cooperate with the Imperial admiral. The fleet departed at midnight, hoping for the late hour to disguise their numbers from any Xesset observation drones. At the same time, the remaining Imperial fleet conducted exercises, with multiple s-t transits away from and back to Djii. It was unlikely spies would have data to communicate until after the attack force reached their destination.
Steg had agreed with Jessie’s request that she be allowed to travel with Zhu; she was accompanied by a squad of Ebony Company marines led by Sergeant Velez. Denke added himself to the group, after stating it would be a good learning curve for him to see how Zhu and the other AIs performed. Steg thought his friend’s presence would help add authority. As a result, Denke added two hundred of his new battalion to the starship’s complement. Zhu said he welcomed the additional passengers, although they’d have to do their own catering.
Waiting, for Steg, was an anxious process. He had restrained his desire to travel with Zhu, and even Alke and her fellow AIs had claimed they had wanted to take part in the action.
“It will do us all good,” claimed Steg as he paced his admiral’s bridge. The superdreadnought was in a geostationary orbit above Djii’s main city. “It’s important to protect Djii. I’m also concerned about Homeworld, although the probability is close to unity that the Xesset will attack here before they hit anywhere else in this sector. Djii represents their major loss, and is where they’ll seek revenge.”
“Yes, Steg, we agree,” Alke said. “However, it’s unusual not to be in the middle of an action.”
“Waiting is good for your character, I’ve heard,” said Ioke. “Although I think my character is all right as it is.”
Steg eventually headed to his suite. He climbed into bed as quietly as he could, trying to not disturb the Fain bodies already in possession. He slept. Eventually.
The following evening, about twenty hours after the small fleet had departed, Alke announced, “Steg, Zhu has reported. It’s a brief message. They succeeded in their attack on the fleet. Two starships attempted to escape and one collided with an Imperial destroyer. Both the escaping ships were destroyed. The Imperial destroyer has minor damage. All the Xesset starships self-destructed. Zhu reports he took control of a number of warships including those belonging to ImpSec while the virus was being uploaded. Our fleet is growing larger. He said there’s no sign of other starships and they’re preparing to return. One of the Imperial destroyers has taken on a load of prisoners.”
“Inform Admiral Breval, although I assume Galaway will send him a message. Also, communicate details to Tziksis and Theas. Reply to Zhu and all ships. Message reads: Congratulations. Well done. Signed Admiral de Coeur. Message ends. Ask Breval if he wants a shipwide announcement. I must say, that’s a relief.”
“We agree,” said Ioke. “I’ve decided I don’t like waiting.”
“They should be back in Djii space in what—twelve hours?” Steg said.
“They have to travel slower. Zhu can’t go at his normal speed when he has passengers. I’d estimate eighteen hours.”
“Of course. Well, I’m giving myself an early night.” He headed to his suite, this time he was the first to bed. He did not know what the Fain were doing. He was tired and fell asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.
When Alke sounded the alarm, he leapt out of bed and was halfway to the door before he was properly awake. The AIs hologram was standing in the middle of the room, eyes flashing red. He staggered and fell to his knees as a wave of evil impacted him.
“Alke. What’s the urgency?” He barely managed to speak. Finch helped him stand, her concern obvious. Steg rested his arm across her shoulders as he listened to Alke.
“Admiral, we have signs of a major fleet exiting s-t. They’re at the limit of my sensors. I’ve counted five hundred large starships and hundreds of smaller one. Indications are they’re destroyers and frigates. I’ll confirm the details when they are closer. They’re shielding as soon as they exit although I’ll be able to detect them as they approach. I estimate they’ll be in range of Wanderer in about six hours and close enough to attack the planet in eight hours.”
“Damn. So it was a trap—a diversion. Let Zhu know. He can send Amber, Echo, and the two new AIs on ahead to help us. Ask for their ETA; explain the urgency. Get a signal out to Tziksis, Sullivan, and the Imperial admirals. We need to prepare.”
Steg cursed to himself. They’d focused too long on the small fleet in AR 84993, not realizing it was a diversion. At least they had a virus they could use against the Xesset. And the remaining Imperial officer and crews were reasonably capable. He wished Zhu and the other starships were here to help. He would be challenged in the next twenty-four hours.
He struggled against the waves of evil.
oOo
CHAPTER 36
AT STEG’S DIRECTION, Alke sent messages to Zhu, Echo, and Amber, to instruct Zhu to travel at his maximum speed without harming his passengers, and for the other two warships to return at their top speed. She also sent messages to Breval, Lae, Tziksis, Theas, and Sullivan, advising them of the approaching fleet, presumably Xesset. Steg composed a message for the senior Alliance officer, General Kuzman, requesting his supporting fleet sooner if possible, and she sent that. The reinforcements would not arrive in time to join in defensive actions; however, they could help against subsequent attacks if the Xesset fleet won through to the planet.
Steg was in deep thought when Breval reached his conference room. The Imperial admiral brought Admiral Lae and two of his senior captains. He was also accompanied by a junior Tac officer, the lieutenant who had aided the earlier presentation. Griffin, the more senior Tac, had accompanied Admiral Galaway. Theas and Tziksis arrived seconds later. Sullivan, absorbed in his bridge duties in preparation for the pending battle, was attending via remote links. Finch and Kirby were the last to arrive. The senior Homeworld captain was also linked in from his bridge, and Steg suspected he was relaying the meeting to his other captains.
“Richard, you’ve been informed of the results of the attack on the fleet in AR 84993?”
“Yes, and we’re impressed with the results. Commander Griffin gave my captains a comprehensive briefing before he left and a number had doubts. They hadn’t experienced the power of the Glass Complex. Nor, if I may say, the effectiveness of you and your resources.”
“Very good,” Steg said. “Now we have the bad news. The aliens have moved up their schedule. Their target is as we expected: this planet. The attacking fleet is excessive; they are obviously determined to re-take Djii.” He shrugged. “It’s not good. It’s what we have.”
“As you say, it’s what we have. How soon before Zhu and the other starships return?”
Alke replied, “Zhu will take eighteen hours; he’s carrying passengers. We’ve had a message from Amber: the destroyers without crew or passengers can make it here in six hours. They’ll be redlining for the entire transit.”
Steg said, “Thank you, Alke. Admiral, how many ships can you provide, manned, provisioned, ready to fight?”
Breval turned to Lae and his two captains and asked, “What do you think? Twenty destroyers, forty frigates, two thousand fighters?”
Lae nodded, although he had a doubtful expression on his face.
One captain frowned. The other replied, “That’s optimistic. We’ll give it a good try.”
“We could move out of this system,” the first captain suggested.
“Over my—and your—dead body,” said Breval. “We’re part of this task force, and will follow orders. Understand?”
Steg said, “If anyone tri
es to leave, I’ll have my AIs take over their ship. We’ll move that ship to stand in the path of the Xesset. Hear me—neither surrender nor retreat are acceptable. We have weapons available to defeat the Xesset. You can assist us. Understand?”
The captain paled. He’d not encountered Steg in his more savage mode.
Alke interrupted, “I’ve received another message from Zhu. He’s offloaded his passengers to one of the Alliance destroyers. He’s redlining and expects to be here with the other AI-controlled starships.”
Steg said, “Good news. Send him a message, well done. So we’ll have five AIs to support us. They’ve had experience with the virus, and it will be one of our major weapons. Now, back to the Imperial fleet availability. You were saying?”
“We agree, Admiral de Coeur. We’ll have our ships are available, fully crewed and ready to fight. We’ll make sure everyone supports you and that we help defend Djii.”
Steg continued, “Good. I’m preparing a strategy to allow for the size of our fleet. We’ll utilize your resources and all our AI-controlled starships. My initial thoughts are thus: first, we’ll upload the virus to as many of the Xesset starships we can reach. As a second step we’ll commandeer their dreadnoughts and destroyers, those without a virus, and whenever we can, we’ll cause those ships to attack other Xesset ships. If we can create enough chaos, it will provide an opportunity for the virus to do its damage. These steps will eliminate a number of enemy vessels; hopefully, we can destroy their more powerful warships. Those that survive will encounter all of our AI-controlled defenses. We’ll look to you and your fighters to provide protection for the AI fleet, and you’ll also help eliminate enemy ships that manage to avoid us. Homeworld and Djiis fleets will provide last resort protection for the planet.”
“You don’t want us to be a front line force?” Admiral Lae asked.
“With respect, we have tools that we can use, which will be far more effective. Your forces are better focused as a rearguard. I want your fighters. I don’t want to sacrifice them; however, if the Xesset break out into a number of smaller fleets, we’ll need them to attack smaller groups and stragglers while we deal with the larger groups.”
Richard again turned to his senior officers. “Well, gentlemen, what do you think? Admiral de Coeur is requesting our support, which is why we’re here. I believe we can assist him and help protect Djii. What say you?”
Admiral Lae said, “Admiral, as you say, we’re here to provide support. We’ll do it.”
The two captains nodded their agreement.
Breval turned to Steg, “You have our word. We’ll support you.”
“Thank you, Richard. I plan to spend some time with Alke working through details of how we’ll apply our strategy. I’ll provide a briefing to all your captains and to the Homeworld and Djiis fleets in two hours. I can do that via hologram links. It’ll save you a couple of shuttle trips, and we’ll be able to move sooner.”
“Excellent. We’ll be ready.”
Steg stood and shook Breval’s hand. He repeated the gesture with each of the Imperial officers. He said, “Good luck and thank you for your support.” When they departed, he turned to Tziksis and Theas. The question on his mind must have been obvious.
Tziksis said, “I think they’ll keep their word.”
“Tziksis, if they don’t, they’ll be surprised when they find themselves in the front line. We’ll do our best for you. This is an opportunity to eliminate the Xesset threat once and for all.”
“Everyone on Djii is supporting you. The Darga are preparing. You’re excused because you’re leading from here,” Theas said.
“I’m relieved I don’t have to join with the Darga. You both need to head back to your ships. I’m planning to spend time with Alke and Ioke. We’ll keep you informed.”
The two Djiis officers saluted and left. Steg said to Finch and Kirby. “I got you both into this. Kirby, if you want to take Dreamer and board Ebony Company and get the hell out, I won’t hold it against you. Likewise Finch—and your companions, you can go with Kirby.”
“Boss, you’re not getting rid of us that easily. We adopted you, remember?”
“What about Dr. Yi? She’s here through no fault of hers,” Steg wondered aloud.
Finch replied, “We’ve discussed possibilities. She’s with us. Same for Aadan. We’re committed to supporting you.”
Kirby said, “I agree. Besides, the marines would kill me if I suggested we retreat and leave you by yourself. As Finch said, you’re not getting rid of us that easily.”
“Thank you, both. Tell the others I said thank you, as well. I’m heading to my bridge. Coming?”
The main multidimensional display on the bridge used by Steg in his role as task force admiral continually updated as Ioke detected more Xesset starships entering the Djii system. Steg had stopped counting them. He was deep in thought.
“Alke, we have a frigate available, uncrewed? One we captured from ImpSec?”
“Yes, Steg.”
“Does it have an AI installed?”
“No, not yet.”
“So we can take over its ship functions and fly it out to the approaching fleet? If I prepared some messages in Xesset, we’d be able to broadcast them from the frigate? Or we could use it as a relay station, and I can engage in a dialog with some of their senior officers? When they get closer to us, both of us can access their communications networks. In that case, we’ll have to make an early delivery of the virus file.”
“You plan to attach a copy of our virus to the messages?”
“Definitely.”
“Do you think the Xesset will detect the virus before it has spread far? If they do and run preventative processes, it could limit the number of ships we infect?”
“I’m relying on Xesset arrogance. If I include enough insults, they’ll be distracted. By the time they realize what’s happening, it will be too late.”
Alke said, “We’ll lose the frigate, of course.”
“If you provide a random path for it to follow, the Xesset will have difficulties calculating its course predictions. As it will be uncrewed, it can maneuver at higher speeds. It will survive long enough—remember, their inter-ship messages will be contaminated. If they stop sending ship-to-ship messages, that will contribute to the chaos we need.”
“I’m preparing the frigate now.”
“I’ll record some general messages for the frigate to broadcast automatically. We’ll keep those virus free. Once we have the ship positioned in front of the oncoming fleet, I’ll use it to relay messages with attacks on their senior officers. We’ll attach the virus to the second or third message we send in each conversation.”
“Good. I’ll set up the virus process.”
“Have you tapped into any of the Xesset transmissions? I need names of their ships, their senior officers—admirals or those they call Admiral’s Champions—and other details I can use.”
“I’ve recorded Xesset and non-Xesset messages, all with lots of information. There are human ships—mainly ImpSec—in the fleet, and I have their details. Overall, their security is inadequate.”
“Send me the audio files so I can identify officers and starships. I’ll prepare messages while the frigate gets into position.”
A wave of evil washed over him. It was more intensive than before. He held onto Finch until he recovered.
“Thank you.”
Finch said, “You’re welcome, boss.”
Steg had a flash of inspiration. “Finch, do me a favor, please.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Ebony—my sword. It has some protective features; it has helped me before. It might give me some protection against the Xesset evil. Would you bring it to my bridge for me?”
oOo
CHAPTER 37
STEG NOW HAD a list of the Xesset admirals, some of whom appeared to be exalted and regarded as near-gods by their crews. There were ten dreadnoughts in the vanguard, and he assumed more of those powerful warships w
ould be in the main body. Ioke had identified a starship called Planet Crusher that was either a large dreadnought or perhaps would rival Wanderer in size. He planned to attack that warship as soon as it came into range; its loss would be demoralizing to the fleet. While the AIs readied their defenses, he was drafting possible messages to commence communications, intended to be insulting enough to anger the recipients.
The unmanned frigate was heading towards the incoming alien fleet, and Wanderer was following at a more measured pace. The Imperial warships were taking positions behind him, while the small fleets from Djii and Homeworld were taking positions to defend the planet. All signs indicated the fleet was launching what they considered would be a devastating attack on Djii.
Ioke had sent out sensor drones to the far side of the planet to detect and warn of any incoming enemy ships separate from the main body. Fighter squadrons were ready to move as required in defense of Wanderer and of the planet.
Steg recorded messages in Xesset, intended for the alien crews and designed to anger their officers. He transmitted the first tranche via the destroyer now closing with the approaching fleet. He listened to the transmissions and wondered if they would reach the intended audiences. When the fleet was closer, he intended both he and Ioke would reach directly into Xesset communication systems, and the messages would be far more provocative.
There were twenty or more admirals in the approaching fleet, and he directed the second set of messages to the Admiral’s Champions; Xesset admirals each had their champion who was responsible for defending the admiral and for killing his challengers, enemies or attackers.
Long range Xesset weapons, missiles, laser, and lidar-based reached out towards the frigate; however, it had moved well away from its initial position by the time the crews had focused and fired. Subsequent ship-to-ship transmissions indicated tempers of the senior officers were short.
Steg added a new message, focused, and relayed via the frigate. He said, in High Xesset, naming the officers mentioned, “Crews of Hammer One, Hammer Two and Hammer Three. Your efforts are puny, your officers are hopeless, and your tactics will fail. Your Admiral’s Champion is a coward and sleeps with drachs and eats their dung.”
Diamond Cut: Book Three in The Glass Complex Trilogy Page 22
