Duel in the Dark: Blood on the Stars I

by Jay Allan

  She leaned back as she felt the force of the acceleration. One way or another, soon she would know…

  * * *

  “The enemy vessel is accelerating, sir. They are matching out vector and pursuing.”

  Barron sat in the center of Dauntless’s bridge, bolt upright, unmoving. He’d tried to appear relaxed, calm for his crew, the model of the unflappable captain…but it had proven to be too much of a deception to maintain. His crew needed to see him focused and in control. But none of them were stupid enough to think he was calm.

  “Very well, Lieutenant. Continue course and thrust levels.”

  Barron’s com unit buzzed. It was Fritz.

  “What is it, Fritzie?”

  “I’ve got reactor B ready to restart. I doubt I can get it much past fifty percent output, at least at first. But it’s enough to give you more thrust than the enemy has now.”

  Escape. Fritz was offering him a chance to get his battered ship away from the enemy. He shook his head. Running wasn’t an option. But looking like he was running…

  “Negative, Fritzie.” He didn’t want to risk his energy readings spiking, scaring off the enemy. He needed them to pursue. “Get everything ready…but don’t restart. Not until I give the order.”

  “Yes, sir.” Fritz’s voice was non-committal. Like many ship’s engineers, she tended not to see things beyond the confines of her engines and reactors. Tactics was the province of the captain, and hers was to see he had the technology and equipment he needed ready.

  “How about the primaries?” Any fix to Dauntless’s main guns was likely to be fragile and short-lived. But if things went according to plan, even one good shot could be the difference between victory and defeat.

  “Lieutenant Carson’s team is working on them now, sir. Commander Travis is there too. They’re replacing power conduits, but the accelerators themselves appear intact. We should be able to get them online in the next twenty minutes, sir. Though I can’t promise how long the repairs will hold.”

  “Thanks, Fritzie. And good job getting the reactor ready so quickly.” He was genuinely surprised at how speedily her people had finished the repairs. He suspected it was a patchwork of temporary fixes, but if Fritzie said the reactor would restart, Barron had no doubt that it would restart.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Very well…carry on. Barron ou…wait, Fritzie…” Barron was deep in thought. He’d been trying to put himself in his enemy’s head, wondering what he would do if the roles were reversed.

  Alliance culture is aggressive, warlike, so they won’t retreat. Probably not at all, but certainly not when they think they have the edge…

  “Fritzie, I want you to eject some reaction mass…and some radioactives too.”

  “Sir?”

  “I want you to release some fuel into space. Not a lot, maybe ten percent of what we’ve got left. And I want some wastes from the reactor ejected too. And push reactor A a little harder. Get me five percent more thrust.”

  “Ah…yes, sir.” A short pause then understanding dawned. “Yes, sir! I’ll have it done immediately.”

  “Carry on. Barron out.”

  He turned and looked at the display, his eyes focusing on the small red oval moving steadily closer to Dauntless.

  It’s you and me…a game of chess for the lives of our crew. No, not chess. Poker. And I’m raising you now. Am I bluffing? Or do I have a hand after all? It’s your move…

  Barron sat stone still, his eyes unmoving, locked on the enemy ship. He realized he didn’t have the answer to his own question. Was he bluffing? Or would he have what he needed to win?

  He wouldn’t know, not until the very end.

  * * *

  “More readings, Commander. The enemy ship is leaking reaction mass. We’re also getting clouds of radioactive materials.” Wentus sounded like a predator, hot on the heels of its wounded and bleeding prey.

  “Very well, Commander.” The readings suggested the Confederation ship was crippled, bleeding air and fluids. That should have made her feel more confident, but it didn’t. She didn’t trust her adversary. He was smart, she was sure of that, in many ways, a match for her. Was he really trapped, on the verge of destruction? Or…”

  “Commander, we’re getting strange data from the probes…intermittent readings, almost like shadows…”

  “Cut forward thrust!” Then, half a second later, “Now! Bring us around one hundred eighty degrees and decelerate at full.”

  Wentus looked stunned, but the officer knew how to obey orders, and Kat’s tone had been deadly serious. “Cutting thrust, Commander.”

  Kat felt the weightlessness of free-fall for an instant before the ship’s compensators reacted to the change and restored some semblance of artificial gravity to the bridge.

  “Re-orienting now, Commander. Commencing full deceleration.”

  Kat leaned back as she again felt the pressure of maximum thrust. It forced the breath from her lungs before, once again, her ship’s dampeners intervened, absorbing much of the direct force.

  “Probe data directly to my screen.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  Kat watched as the reports came streaming in. It was just as Wentus had reported. Vague contacts slipping in and out. No real data, just a series of intermittent presences.

  Stealth tech…something out there is cloaked.

  The Alliance was behind the Confederation in such technologies, there was little question of that. She’d run into stealth tech before, fighting against the Unaligned Systems. It was expensive and complex, and…

  What would they be trying to hide out there?

  “Optiomagis, I want more thrust, now. Increase reactor output, regardless of risk.”

  “Y…yes, Commander.” Wentus repeated her commands, clearly unnerved by her obvious concern.

  “And I want those probes on maximum power. Burn them out, but get me a better look at what’s out there.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  Kat watched on the screen as the shadowy images stabilized…and more appeared. Dozens, perhaps a hundred. She felt a cold feeling in her gut, and she fought back a wave of fear.

  Mines.

  “Activate all defensive batteries! Target those objects. Now!”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “Evasive maneuvers. Steer us clear.”

  But she knew Invictus’s velocity was too great. She’d accelerated at full power to close with the enemy, and now her momentum was taking her right into the minefield ahead.

  She nodded slowly as she watched her vessel moving on the display, getting closer to the mines with each passing second. And she knew now she was facing a commander who was her true match, a captain who could defeat her. Who might very well be on the verge of defeating her right now.

  * * *

  Barron watched the display, along with everyone else on Dauntless’s bridge. The enemy ship was moving right into the spread of mines Commander Travis and her people had positioned along the line of retreat. Now Barron would see if his tactics had worked, or if the enemy would manage to escape from the trap he’d set.

  “They’re decelerating, sir. From the energy readings, I’d guess they’re pouring everything they can into it.”

  It won’t be enough…

  Barron’s eyes darted to his own screen, confirming the enemy velocity readings. The Alliance ship would have been hard pressed to escape the minefield with full thrust, but with its damaged engines, there was no chance.

  “Picking up laser fire, sir.”

  Of course, they can’t escape, so they’ll try to pick off the nearby mines. It’s what I’d do.

  Barron felt the tension building in his gut. It wasn’t easy to target mines, but it wasn’t impossible. The enemy had walked into his trap, but they could still get out unscathed. A hundred mines was all he’d had, and his makeshift minefield was far less dense than he’d have liked.

  Still, it will be hard for them to get them all…

>   He pushed the concern from his mind. If the enemy got through unscathed, the battle was over. His ship was simply too damaged relative to its adversary. If he couldn’t even the odds, his people would still fight like hell, but they would lose.

  “Commander Travis…” He tapped his headset, opening the line to his first officer. “Status report?”

  “We’re on it, Captain. It’s a mess of half-assed fixes and patchwork, but I think it will work.” The first officer paused for a few seconds. Then she added, “At least I hope it will.”

  “Very reassuring, Atara.”

  “I don’t lie to you, sir. We’re looking at a coin toss…and that’s the truth.”

  “Atara…” He was about to urge her to do anything she could, but of all the people he knew who didn’t need to be told that, Atara Travis was at the head of the list. “Very well…understood.”

  He cut the line and stared straight ahead, watching the enemy ship enter the minefield, and reminding himself to breathe every so often.

  * * *

  “Another hit, Commander.” Wentus was staring down at his scope, reporting every time Invictus’s defensive batteries destroyed one of the mines. Kat’s gunners had picked off a dozen of the closest contacts, more than she’d dared to hope for. But she was far from sure it would be enough.

  “Very well, Optiomagis. All batteries are to maintain maximum fire.”

  She glanced down at the scanning reports on her screen. The mines were big, probably multiple warhead devices that would send out short-ranged sprint missiles when a target ship moved close enough to trigger them. And Invictus was heading right into a thick cluster of them. Her ship was decelerating, trying to pull back, but Kat had already done the calculations. Her engine output just wasn’t enough to bring the giant vessel to a halt. Not before it plunged through the heart of the minefield.

  “Energy readings, Commander…from multiple contacts.”

  “Prepare for evasive maneuvers.” There was no way to meaningfully change Invictus’s vector, but even a slight blast of thrust to the side could evade an incoming missile.

  “Evasive maneuvers.”

  Time passed, feeling like an eternity, though Kat realized it had just been a few seconds. Her eyes were on the display, watching Invictus move through a cluster of small red circles…watching as half a dozen of the icons disappeared, each of them replaced by eight small dots. All moving toward her ship.

  “Mines activating, Commander.” Wentus was just reporting what she already knew. “Multiple objects inbound.”

  Warheads.

  Damn.

  “Cut forward thrust now! Prepare to implement full evasive maneuvers!”

  “Yes, Commander.” All of the earlier arrogance was gone from Wentus’s voice. “Scanners confirm approximately thirty-eight sprint-mode missiles incoming. Gunnery stations transferring targeting to approaching warheads.”

  Kat just sat at her station, watching as her crew went about their duties. She was proud of them, of their efficiency and courage. They were scared now, all the more so because just a few moments before they’d expected certain victory, not a fight for their lives. Now the only question was a stark one: could they could shoot down enough of the enemy mines to prevent Invictus from being crippled or destroyed?

  Even if they did, she wasn’t ready to discount this Confederation captain. He was out there, waiting. He’d baited her into the minefield, and now she wondered if his ship was as crippled as her scanners led her to believe.

  Her eyes settled on the display, watching as her gunners desperately targeted the incoming missiles. They’d taken down ten so far, which was outstanding performance, but far from enough.

  “Evasive maneuvers…now.”

  “Initiating evasive maneuvers, Commander.”

  Invictus lurched hard as it swung around on its positioning jets, angling the main engines and blasting hard at a sharp angle from its current vector. She could see the ship’s course shift, almost imperceptibly, and as it did, clusters of missiles zipped past. The warheads were sprint missiles. They aimed right at their target and accelerated hard. But once they went past the target, they were expended. They weren’t guided units like the missiles the fighter used. There was both advantage and disadvantage in that. The sprint units were able to attain velocities far beyond those available to their guided cousins.

  “Bring us to 320-111-012…full thrust.” Kat was barking out orders, thrust angles as she stared at the screen, watching the missiles coming at her ship. She suspected the enemy weapons were hyper-nukes, which meant they didn’t need to score a direct hit to damage Invictus. The weapons were designed to get as close as possible and detonate, blasting the target with heat and radiation.

  Kat could feel wetness on her back. Sweat. Fear. She had done well, avoided perhaps half the incoming warheads. But now she was bracketed, clouds of missiles coming in from three directions.

  “Bring us about! 233/210/045…now!”

  But she was too late this time. She saw the dots on the scanner moving closer, even before Wentus could confirm her order. And then the alarms went off.

  “Multiple nuclear explosions, Commander. Massive radiation levels in all outer compartments. Hull breaches in sections Green-7 though Red-9.”

  The bridge lights dimmed, and then they went out, leaving nothing but the emergency lamps illuminating her ship’s control center.

  “More detonations, Commander. Overloads on all power transmission lines. Engineering reports significant damage to reactors. Engines down to twenty-four percent output. Crew casualties severe in all affected areas…”

  Kat sat and listened to the seemingly unending damage report. She’d walked into a trap, and she’d paid the price…and her people with her.

  “Scanners?” she snapped.

  “Still operational, Commander.”

  “Concentrate an active scan on the enemy vessel. Any aspect change?” She could already feel the answer in her gut.

  “Yes, Commander. They are decelerating…” He turned and looked back at Kat. “Commander, their thrust is approximately fifty percent higher than previously.”

  Kat stared at Wentus, not a hint of surprise on her face. “I need power transmission back online, Optiomagis. And weapons. All other repairs are zero priority now. We need as many guns online as we can get, and the power to fire them.”

  She stared off across the bridge as her first officer confirmed and relayed her orders.

  You tricked me…as I tricked you earlier at the transwarp link. Now, we’re even, more or less. But the fight isn’t over. Not yet, it isn’t…

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  CFS Dauntless

  Krillus Asteroid Belt

  40, 500,000 kilometers from Santis, Krillus IV

  307 AC

  “Cut all thrust. Divert power to gunnery stations.” Barron stared forward, snapping out commands. This was the final struggle. The minefield had given his people a chance, equalized the field. But they still faced a dangerous enemy. And there was no room for error now. Not if any of them wanted to live.

  “Thrust at zero, Captain. All weapons stations report ready to go.”

  “Very well, Lieutenant. Active scanners on full…feed all targeting data directly to the gunnery stations.” There was no reason not to pound away with active scanners now. Stealth no longer had a role in this battle. It was a knife fight now…brutal, close-ranged, to the death.

  “All scanners on full, sir. The enemy vessel’s vector is directly toward us. No thrust detected.”

  Barron nodded. His opponent was acting just as he would have done. Just as he was doing. The two battleships were crawling toward each other, their velocities low, their thrust zero. There was no elegance here, no fancy maneuvering. Both ships were too battered for that. This would be an exchange of gunnery, pure and simple. A pounding match until one combatant gave out.

  Barron had sat on Dauntless’s almost silent bridge, watching along with his officers as their
enemy approached the spread of fusion mines they had left behind. The mines had outdated stealth systems, but with no hard data on Alliance scanning capabilities, neither Barron nor any of his crew had known what to expect. Would they detect the mines in time?

  The bridge had erupted into cheers when the first of mines had gotten close enough to detonate. Over the next few minutes, Barron’s people had watched as six sprint missiles closed to detonation range. None actually struck the enemy ship—a direct hit was an extremely rare event that might have vaporized even a massive battleship. But several had gotten close enough to do serious damage.

  Enough, hopefully, to put us on equal playing fields…

  Barron wasn’t sure, but his gut told him the fight had become a match of equals.

  He flipped his com unit to the shipwide channel. “This is the captain. We are about to enter combat range. I won’t sugarcoat this. We’re in a fight for our lives, a battle to the death. We must stop this enemy. Defeat is not an option. I’ve already told you how proud I am to lead a group of men and women like you, and there are no spacers anywhere I would rather have at my side during this fiery trial. Let us face battle again, my friends, and together and united, we will prevail.”

  He leaned back, looking around the bridge. Dauntless had a better chance than before, thanks to the minefield…but the cold reality was still there. His fate—the fates of all his people, and perhaps the Confederation as well—rested on the tenacity and skills of his chief engineer and her band of gifted technicians.

  “Fritzie,” he said, after tapping the com unit. “What’s the status down there?”

  “We got two more secondaries functional, sir. Don’t ask me how. Try to use the port broadside. You’ve got fifty percent more firepower there.”

  Barron felt a rush of surprise. He’d thought most of the damaged secondaries were melted rubble, unrepairable this side of a major base. He wasn’t sure what kind of wizardry his engineer had managed, but he was grateful for it. And two guns on the same side, no less.