“Apologies accepted,” said the Commodore, recovering his composure. “Whereas it is true the Orion is not designed as a combat vessel, I can assure you we are quite capable of not only defending ourselves but we can deliver an adequate offense. During the Battle for Earth it was not necessary to demonstrate our capabilities thanks to the courageous efforts of Colonel Markham and his men. In addition to forty short-range defensive missiles and ten rapid fire cannons we carry twenty long-range missiles, each delivering ten independently targeted warheads. Our screens can withstand multiple hits. With the Orion directly in the path of the Kaedians, we will provide a focus for their attention, what you would call bait.”
Commander Frulé stood up, “At just under 800 million miles you will be a sitting duck.”
Seeing the strange look on the Commodore’s face he translated, “If you remain visible you will be vulnerable. We may catch the fish but loose the bait.”
The Commodore was smiling. Son of a bitch he knows that, thought Frulé.
“With war there is always risk,” said the
Commodore. “However, I can minimize that risk by sending all but a few essential personnel to the planet.”
“As the Orion is the Command Center for the Brigade I will remain with the Commodore,” said Tom. “All other Brigade personnel will transfer down to Altis-5 effective immediately.” Tom looked at Sergeant Deming and before he could say anything said, “That includes you, Sergeant.” Tom did not know it but with that order he saved Sergeant Deming’s life.
“So, moving on, if they break their formation as they pass between the asteroids at the edge of the field it forces their ships to close in on each other. At this time, they are at their most vulnerable. If we hit them with the missiles the instant they leave the protection of the cluster we can cause maximum destruction. It must be timed precisely so the Kaedians have little opportunity to launch their own missiles. Ladies and gentlemen, we have eight days. Here’s what we are going to do.”
After the brief, Andrew sought out Sergeant Major Crease and sketched out a diagram of a ‘sticky bomb’.
When he finished, he explained the function, pointing to the diagram as he spoke, “It has four basic components, first is the attachment adhesive, second the corrosive liquid, third the compressed explosive gas and fourth the igniter. It is attached manually and operates autonomously once activated. Of course, the devil is in the details but basically the adhesive allows the device to attach to the side of the ship. The safety pin is then removed breaking the acid capsule. The acid, which over time eats through both the skin of the ship and the capsule containing the gas. The gas is released into the ship and disperses through the ventilation system. When the pressure in the gas cylinder is reduced, a firing pin is released. This causes a spark igniting the gas resulting in a ship-wide fire storm.”
On the planet’s surface Andrew, Kris, Sara, and Marcie were standing next to one of the ‘Tanks’ looking out over the wall toward the woods. Andrew was in command of the defenses with Sara as second. Kris and Ray would man their Jaguars and provide aerial cover. For the past month, they had worked non-stop bringing to the surface all the remaining yurts, construction materials, machines, and food supplies while preparing the village defenses. They expected that the attack would come from the forest but prepared for any eventuality.
In addition to the fifteen-foot berm, the crenellated metal wall which completely surrounded the village and the four tanks positioned at each corner of the berm, there were other defensive weapons in place. Some were sophisticated high-tech weapons like the jack-inthe-box, an antipersonnel mine detonated by a proximity switch. As the attacking troops pass by the buried box, the lid flips open, the mine springs up fifteen to thirty inches before the detonator ignites the primary charge. The resulting explosion blasts out a hail of steel balls effectively killing or crippling anyone within a onehundred-foot radius. There were hundreds of them buried two hundred feet apart surrounding the village one hundred and fifty feet out from the edge of the berm.
Kris’s addition to the village defense was less hightech than that. Hornets’ nests, fifty of them suspended high up in the forest canopy and attached to trip wires and forty, crude but effective, bear traps, concealed under the brush that covered the entire forest floor.
All Brigade maintenance and Admin personnel were assigned to the village defense. Everyone including the dependents were issued a nine-millimeter side arm and a Hevinian BAL particle beam weapon that resembled a rifle with a three-inch diameter barrel. Sergeant Deming oversaw weapons training and held practice sessions twice a day until the villagers could hit what they aimed at and could keep their weapons ready for use.
Kris held special lessons for Anne. In his mount out box he brought out what looked like a sawed-off shotgun. It was in fact a Hatcher side-by-side 12-gauge coach gun and holster. Kris showed her how to wear the holster on her left hip at about thirty degrees of horizontal. This allowed for a rapid draw of the eightand-a-half-inch barrel. He showed her how to reach across her body with her right hand, grasp, remove the weapon, and bring it to her right hip and fire. She learned at the same time, to bring her left hand alongside the weapon as it was removed then place her hand under the weapon to support it by the time it was in the firing position. Anne practiced until she could draw and shoot in one smooth fluid motion in about half a second. Accuracy was not a problem; if she pointed it in the general direction of the target she would hit some part of it. The effectiveness of the weapon was the sheer force of the discharge that would knock an opponent down and the hundreds of tiny pellets that would penetrate any chinks in the body armor shredding the flesh underneath.
A bell placed in the center of the square would be rung by the elder runner sending everyone quickly to their defensive positions. The very young children were to be taken to an underground bunker and watched over by two of the older women. The five children between twelve and fourteen were trained as runners including Jennifer and Ron. Everyone fifteen and older became defenders. Marcie and Sande would be in the clinic attending to any casualties. Anne was trained by Marcie to triage. The Navy Corpsmen assigned to the Battalion were not needed in a space battle so they became medical response teams. The greatest success had come in the form of the eight women who volunteered to operate the four tanks. In four weeks, they had done so well they claimed they could hit the butt of a black fly at a thousand yards.
Andrew looked around, everyone was busy putting up the last of the yurts and storing away the food supplies. The villagers were wearing Brigade blue coveralls and ball caps making them indistinguishable from the military personnel and hopefully giving the enemy the impression that they were facing a much larger force. The coveralls had been Sara’s idea to give them a greater sense of involvement and pride and it had worked.
“We have six days left. I think we are ready.” “I feel kinda like Davy Crockett at the Alamo,” said Kris. He shivered as a cool breeze wrapped around him. Instinctively he looked up as the late afternoon rain clouds moved in over the ocean.
23
Mount Up!
Since setting up the Karnat system James had dedicated himself to its operation. Even though he was assigned an eight-hour shift with his fellow SETI scientists, it was rare not to see him sitting at his console at any time of the day or night. So, it was no surprise that 5 days after the system management consoles were moved to James’s yurt on the planet’s surface that he discovered the first indicator of the approaching fleet.
At 3 am James was working on his fifth cup of Muska when he noticed a shimmer on the holographic screen in front of him. As his senses went on screech, an audible tone sounded and a bright gold circle highlighted a tiny spot of distortion. The system responded to its programming and focused on the area. As the screen zoomed in the distortion became larger and James hit the alert button. The Karnat system, even though independent, was linked to the systems aboard Orion, and within a minute the Brigade alert teams were depart
ing the hangar as the rest of the crews rushed in.
Commander Frulé was the first to mount up and lead the other flights into the void. Tom entered Orion’s Command Center and took up his position next to Commodore Querrion. Both he and the Commodore were receiving information as it streamed from the Karnat which was clarified and updated by the second. Tom was having difficulty processing all the data coming at him through his mental connection to the ship’s Information System. It took a conscious effort to ignore the constant hammering in his brain and he ordered the data to the big screen. The hammering stopped abruptly. The display showed deep space but as Tom collected and focused his thoughts the screen homed in on the Brigade as it formed and headed out to the assigned stations.
“Brigade communications on audio,” he ordered and instantly Commander Frulé’s voice came over the speakers.
“Jaguar crews and Shark riders mount up. Prepare for dispersal order from BrigCom.”
Tom looked over to Commodore Querrion. “Any news of EDB2?” he asked already knowing the answer.
“Not yet, Colonel,” said the Commodore.
“Very well, thank you,” said Tom.
To the Brigade he said, “Disperse to plan coordinates and stand by.”
He watched the screen as the numbers on the screen identified the shrouded Barques stopping at the edge of the meteorite field and taking up their positions right up against their designated meteorites on the opposite side of the oncoming Kaedian fleet. The Jaguars and Sharks stayed manned and ready inside the Barques. The Sharks were manned with their riders in their Extravehicular Mobility Unit suits hooked to the Barques air supply. One Barque from Bravo flight had continued into the field. With everything but life support shut down it stayed silent, hidden behind the massive iron rocks. The Brigade waited, it would not be long.
The Karnat system did not see the one small uniquely shrouded target entering the meteorite field heading directly for the Orion. Ten minutes later the system identified twenty-five anomalies entering the field. The plan was to wait until the fleet stopped prior to exiting the field then deploying the Sharks to attach the sticky bombs. The second the line of ships began to exit the field the Moon-based missiles would lock on and launch. By the time the ships had completely exited the field the missiles would slam into them.
James was monitoring the evolving events closely. He was so focused that he almost missed the shimmer on the monitor traversing the blackness of space on the other side of the planet.
On the surface of Altis-5, the single bell in the village square was ringing. Ron had heard the alarm go off in James’ yurt and had rushed over to the bell. He kept up the ringing for a full five minutes then ran over to where Andrew was standing on the berm. Andrew turned to him.
“Well done, Ron,” he said, then he turned his attention to the forest. Behind him the rest of the villagers were already at their stations. Each station had a leader with communicators and Andrew mentally checked them off as they reported in. The last to check in were Kris and Ray as their shrouded Jaguars lifted off. He checked his timer, twelve minutes, fastest time yet. Now we wait, he thought.
Commander Durack was watching his screens as his brain processed the stream of data coming from the ship’s management center as it sent minute course changes to the guidance control module. Maneuvering through the meteorite field was a simple task for his ship’s SMC so he made a visual sweep of his control center. His senior officers were at their stations also monitoring their systems but ready to respond to any changes he might order. As he glanced up at his command screen he noted the fleet had automatically powered down their protective screens to threat initiation mode as they entered the field. This was a routine precaution in order to have maneuvering room through the maze of meteorites. Routine it may be but it did not sit well with Durack. He knew it would take an instant for the automated systems to recognize they were out of the field and begin to power back up but he would be vulnerable.
As they approached the outer edge of the field he began to feel uneasy. There was nothing unusual on the search screens. When they entered the field the ship’s systems had spotted a slight short-lived shift in the void on the other side of the field but was not able to identify it beyond a possible cloud of dust. It was not uncommon for a dust cloud to form at the edges of a meteorite field. Passing comets or individual asteroids could come close enough to move several meteorites causing them to collide and create dust that always seemed to gravitate to the outer edges of the field. Whereas most Commanders would have dismissed the anomaly on the other side simply as dust he dismissed nothing. Anything out of the ordinary was always worth consideration however briefly which was the secret behind his success. Ever since entering the field Durack’s instincts had been on high alert. His instincts had never let him down and right now the closer they got to the edge the more focused he became.
Were those military Barques from the Orion waiting on the other side? If so where? The systems were not identifying any ships other than the Orion waiting in orbit around the planet they knew as Kryton so, where were they? Ten Hevinian Barques were no real threat to his fleet but he did not want to take any unnecessary chances. Standard fleet regulations required evaluating the movement of the smaller meteorites at the edge of any field before exiting so this gave him the opportunity
“The fleet will hold. I want an evaluation of obstructions in our course,” he ordered suddenly. Immediately all twenty-five ships came to a halt.
Battalion Senior Chief David Campbell sitting in his Shark observed the maneuver. Well, well, well, the Commodore was right, he thought. He raised his arm and brought it down in a chopping motion. The Barques pilot opened the doors and the ten Sharks silently departed the still hidden Barque. They each locked on to a ship and gave a brief burst of energy and then shut down. The momentum created enough forward motion for them to drift silently and hopefully undetected toward their target. As they came within five hundred feet of the ship they released their sticky bombs. They then turned, locked on to the Barque and with another brief burst of power drifted back trailing a long monofilament line behind them. Using the momentum generated by the Sharks the sticky bombs continued slowly until they bumped gently onto the side of the targeted ship and stuck to it. Sensors in the ship’s skin immediately detected the object and determined it to be an inert organic substance. The SMC automatically assigned a threat level nine and the report was filed under routine maintenance and made only a cursory appearance on Durack’s command console. A thousand yards from the Kaedian ships the Shark riders pulled on the monofilament removing the safety pin, gave another quick burst of power, and returned to the Barque. The acid immediately went to work beginning an
unstoppable chain of events. As the acid breeched the skin of the ship sensors analyzed the danger and sent information to the SMC according to its protocol.
Durack was agitated. He could feel something was wrong but could not see the reason for it.
“It’s too quiet. The Orion must have seen us but is taking no evasive action. It’s just sitting there. I don’t like it,” he said to no one in particular.
He turned to his Communications Officer. He wanted to contact the scout ship for a report but it was important for the ship to remain undetected. He still could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. The information on the hull breech was queued but was quickly overridden by an immediate high-level threat signal from the scanners: Warning! Vessels approaching from the rear. Designated Hevinian Barques.
“Navigator, get us out of this field as fast as possible,” shouted Durack. He needed maneuvering room to take on the Barques.
“Once we have destroyed them we will concentrate on the Orion.”
Commander Frulé hated waiting, especially in silence even though he was a master at it. On one mission in Afghanistan he had been surrounded by enemy fighters who were searching for him. He had remained absolutely still covered in sand and rocks for six hours before they gave up a
nd left.
His screen had showed the Kaedian fleet had stopped. Had they been spotted? He didn’t think so. He put himself in the enemy Commander’s shoes. It’s as the Commodore predicted. He’s just being wary, he thought. In his mind’s eye, he could picture the Sharks out there in the field sending off the sticky bombs. The minutes ticked slowly by. Then the fleet moved forward again but at an accelerated rate. Something has spooked them. Suddenly his onboard recognition system started a faint chirping sound. What the hell? His system was communicating with someone or something. The chirping became more intense and a message came up on his screen. “This is EBD2, we are in position behind the fleet. The enemy seems to be aware of our presence and are heading for open space.”
The Kaedian fleet burst out of the field. “Incoming missiles!” yelled Durack’s Defense Officer. “Fifty plus missiles on track. Impact in ten seconds. Durack did not panic, ten seconds was plenty of time.
“Launch decoys. Locate targets and launch defensive missiles. Manual override. Get the screens up to full power now.”
To the men in the Barques behind the meteorites the darkness erupted in brilliant light as the decoys, explosive cylinders launched by Durack’s fleet exploded and attracted some of the missiles away from the ships. At the same time, each ship launched four defensive multiple warhead missiles. Billions of electronic signals flashed invisibly through the darkness guiding almost five hundred killing machines toward their targets with detached single mindedness. In a game of electronic chicken where flinching was not an option, the inevitable happened and the dark void was split open by blinding light as the missiles struck. From the resulting carnage, only five Hevinian missiles got through and hit their targets.
“First Brigade, detach and form up with the Second. Colonel Barisniki, your timing is excellent. Please deploy your Jaguars.” Although he did not show it, Tom was deeply relieved when he saw the message from Barisniki.
Altis-5: Book #2 of the Sleeper Series Page 21
