The Jovian Sweep (Asteroid Scrabble Book 1)

by Martin Bourne

  “It’s no better for anyone else. I’ve been on active service for over three years and I’ve never seen anything like what happened today.”

  Josie twirled a lock of her hair. “Do you think the Trigs really are upping the ante?”

  Donal pursed his lips. “Perhaps, but I rather doubt it. The attack was a shock sure, but it was also carefully targeted. Ganymede Ultima spaceport really is a legitimate target, but the surrounding city, which isn’t, is much larger and the only damage it suffered was some accidental hits from debris.”

  “If you’re killed accidentally instead of deliberately you’re just as dead.”

  “True, but you’re much less likely to be killed accidentally.”

  Josie twirled a lock of her hair. “Cold comfort for the relatives of the casualties.”

  “I’d give more comfort, if I could.”

  Josie gave a wan smile. “You can’t reassure everyone.”

  He sighed. “No, I can’t.”

  Josie stared out again at the serene expanses of the cosmos. It was hard to accept it was also a place of death and destruction. She sat silently for a while. Donal didn't say anything, but she sensed and glimpsed him giving her sidewise glances every now and again. It wasn’t his fault, but it disturbed her mental equilibrium.

  “I suppose I’d better go,” she said eventually, remembering Dinjer. “I said I would meet someone in the tech sheds.”

  “OK,” said Donal. “Nice to see you…and try not to worry.”

  She smiled, then clambered down and headed to the tech sheds. It was good advice, but it was hard not to think about Ganymede. The horror kept. Then as she passed one of the myriad passageways, she glimpsed something that made her back up and do a double-take. Two familiar figures tucked into an alcove.

  It was Lilybeth and Packer, lip-locked, eyes closed, arms twining around each other. One of Lilybeth’s legs was cocked as she stretched up. Her profile came into view as the kiss increased in intensity. She looked radiantly happy. Josie hurried on, not wanting to intrude.

  It all made sense thinking back. Lilybeth had always gone a bit quiet whenever Packer had turned up; always kept her eyes on him a little longer than anyone else; giggled more at his jokes or little mannerisms. In hindsight it was all so obvious.

  Josie wondered if she would ever know that kind of joy. She got a sudden mental picture of Donal’s lopsided grin, and then another, this time just now, when it was creased with concern. Drat! He had been offering her comfort, and she had been too stupid to take it. She sighed. No, not too stupid. Just distracted.

  She really hoped Celene was alright.

  Chapter 28.

  Depot Ship Valiant, 100 spatials spinwards of Ganymede.

  Jack Courage gave the main holotank another cursory glance. There were fewer blue icons now. Casualties had been heavy. The red ones were disappearing too, but more because they were dropping out of range of Virtue sensors. To all intents and purposes the battle had been over for a while. Most the viewers must surely have given up on it by now, but that did not mean it could be safely terminated. The sailor’s union was interested in the letter of the law, not its spirit. Deciding when to end a battle transmission called for nice judgement by the fleet’s legal team.

  Curiously Jack Courage had found the vid of the battle even less interesting than the warriors and the technicians on the lower decks did, even though he had access to the flagship’s excellent tactical holotank, and therefore a much clearer idea of what had been happening. After viewing the initial clashes with his aides, he had retired to his personal space at the back of the bridge where there was a vidscreen repeater. He continued to check over it and occasionally the main holotank at periodic intervals, but only for forms sake. The crew expected their leaders to be involved in a battle. Seeming to be unengaged would be noted. Whispers would soon fly around. The admiral did not care. The admiral did not know what to do. The admiral was defeatist, or worse.

  It was an illogical expectation of course, but people were like that.

  So he took particular care to stare at the main tactical holotank for a little longer when the battle reached its’ climax. He had known the 15th Battle squadron was going to take a pounding. They were heavily outnumbered and outclassed. Their drones were older and their crews less experienced than the crack Triangle warriors. There had been very little chance the battle would have a happy outcome, at least in the classical sense. His orders to Vanderkolk had been to put up as good a fight as possible and avoid getting too entangled. That wasn't easy against a powerful and clever opponent, but to give him credit Vanderkolk had done extremely well.

  Courage had counted on the Trigs’ legendary caution. Normally it worked against Confederation forces. It was difficult to lure League forces out of position; hard to press home any advantage because they always seemed to have a metaphorical foot stuck in a half-opened back door. They never fully committed, no matter how much of an advantage they had. This time he had been able to get that caution to work for him. The Trigs had expected more opposition. They had pushed forward expecting a trap or an ambush, or some clever ploy or stratagem. By the time they realised that the screen of drones he had ordered deployed was just that – a screen, masking nothing of substance, Vanderkolk had managed to pull most of the rest of his force out. They’d taken a bit of a pounding in the retreat of course, but surveying the final results it had all worked out very nicely. He allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction at the success of his calculated gamble.

  Then his eye strayed to the cloud of small green dots around where Dragon and Griffin had died. The gambles didn’t always come off.

  And on that thought his eye was further drawn to the unfamiliar symbol for a major incident that hovered accusingly over Ganymede Ultima base. The unavoidable sacrifices weren’t the greatest moments either. Of course, no one had thought the Trigs would go as far as that…

  He smothered that train of thought. This was no time to think of all the pain, the death and the destruction yet. There especially wasn't time to think of his culpability. This campaign wasn’t over yet.

  There was a sudden polite cough – startling and yet also a relief. Commander Prince was standing next to him. “Sir? Do you have any further orders?”

  He refocused quickly.

  “Yes I have rather a lot of further orders as it happens. Please can you summon Commander Cromarty and Captain Raime?”

  Prince saluted after only the barest fraction of a pause. He returned with Cromarty a few seconds later. Raime, stern and expressionless, trailed by two paces.

  “Now then Commanders – Captain - we need to re-organise our division. We shall be centring the formation on Valiant, of course, so will you coordinate all movements with Captain Raime?”

  "Aye, aye sir" chorused Cromarty and Prince. Raime did not react.

  Shuffling slightly, Courage continued. “We are heading spinwards, standard acceleration, in a rather looser battle formation than is usual. I want a wall of three Depot Ships by three, fifty spatials wide along each side, with a scout drone search pattern to a depth of 150 spatials ahead and to the side of the formation.” Prince and Cromarty entered furiously on their perscomps. “Hmm…better have the stronger units on the corners. Amethyst can take the rimward upper plane position, Diamond at the coreward lower plane position. Belofte can take the rimward lower plane – she’s near there now so her low acceleration won’t matter as much – and it better be Wyvern at the coreward upper plane. She’s the most capable of the escort carriers.”

  “That may be so sir,” said Cromarty, “but she’s still a long way behind any of the Fleet Depot Ships in capability, even Belofte. Valiant would be able to provide much better coverage.” Raime gave her a sidelong look.

  “True,” said Courage, eyeing the exchange carefully, “but if we were at a corner and the Triangle force popped up at the opposite one it would add precious seconds to communications. No, we have to be in the middle. We’ll fill in the sid
e walls with whichever ships are currently in the best position.” He affected a sigh that he knew wasn’t very convincing. The simple fact was that he loved this stuff. “Wyvern will be alright. She’s covering the least likely area where they will be anyway. Just to make sure, make the scout drone screen a bit thicker near her. Slot the other escorts into the centre of the box walls. As soon as the formation is complete, we’ll go to battle acceleration.”

  “What about the 15th battle squadron and their support ships admiral?” asked Raime, his quiet voice unsettling. “They are still some way astern of us. We will have to order them to move now if we want them to be in a position to support us.”

  “They’re not in much condition to help anyone admiral,” warned Prince. “They lost a lot of drones in that last engagement. Even if their repair squads perform minor miracles I doubt they'll be able to put up more than three hundred.”

  Cromarty cocked her head. "Losses were particularly high amongst the modern ‘Classic’ type drones too. They'll be lucky to have more than twenty."

  Courage nodded. “And all of their other drone types have too short a range. We would risk getting the Depot ships overrun if we engaged with them.” Courage pursed his lips. “It doesn’t matter. They have served their purpose. Order Rear-Admiral Vanderkolk to swing to rimwards and retire at best acceleration,” said Courage. “When he gets to beyond twenty spatials of Ganymede he is to alter course to Delaney at standard safe acceleration.”

  “You are ordering them to disengage?” said Prince in surprise.

  “Like you said, Commander, they lost a lot of drones in that last engagement. There’s no chance of replenishing their stock anytime soon and their low acceleration means they won’t be able to keep up with the rest of us. The only part they can play now is as decoys.”

  Prince blinked. Raime didn’t look happy either, but he said nothing.

  “Rear-Admiral Vanderkolk fought his command very well sir,” said Cromarty, quietly.

  “Yes he did,” agreed Courage, rather surprised.

  “Perhaps he might like to hear that from you sir.”

  “What? Oh, yes. I suppose so. Can you draft a message thanking him and all of the 15th battle squadron, commander? Brilliantly handled…very valiant…proud to serve with them etc, etc. I leave it to you to fill in the necessary…gumph.”

  “Yes sir,” said Cromarty, her face carefully impassive.

  “Sir,” said Prince carefully, “you say you intend to use the 15th battle squadron as decoys? Well sir, it will look logical that they are retreating before a superior force, and the Trigs got to see a lot of our top Classic drones, but it’s going to be hard to convince them that is all the force we have in the Jovian system.”

  “No, but it will take the Trigs some time to figure out where the rest of us are. We have to use that time well.” He turned to his aides. “I want us moving in fifteen minutes.”

  A flurry of salutes, and they were gone. Courage, sensing Prince’s confusion, felt a spike of guilty pleasure.

  It was seventeen minutes later when his aides stood before him again. He was not unhappy. It was rather better than he had thought they would manage. They, and the command, were beginning to pull together.

  It was just a pity that he and his team would not be with the fleet long enough to reap the benefits of all the work they had all put in. Whatever happened, he knew he would be recalled as soon as the emergency was over. Probably the fleet would be heavily scaled down too. He hoped whoever took over the rump of it would be grateful.

  Cromarty saluted and held out a vidscroll. “Battle orders in compliance with your instructions sir, complete with recommended course changes.”

  Courage scanned the document, although he knew it would be fine. “Excellent work commander. Execute please.”

  Cromarty saluted and left. Prince was next. A grizzled Lieutenant-commander he recognised as the link warrior in charge of Valiant’s flight operations was at his aide’s shoulder. “Pattern for the reconnaissance drone sweeps sir, plus the fighting drone squadron combat readiness rotas.”

  Courage took the proffered vidscrolls and peered at them, partly because it was important and partly because he didn’t know Prince as well. He tapped his chin meditatively.

  “That coverage is too thin.”

  “Sorry sir," said the link warrior. "We did the best with what we had, but we simply don’t have enough scout drones to cover that sort of area.”

  Even Jack Courage heard the unspoken thought “Now that Dragon and Griffin have gone.” He dismissed it. Their loss was unfortunate but it had happened. Nothing could change that. Certainly not his regrets.

  “Then supplement the dedicated scout drones with ‘Epee’ types from the lighter attack squadrons.” There was an appalled look on the man's face. “Yes I know it will weaken our fighting formations. It won’t be so bad if we use whole squadrons rather than parts of all of them.”

  “No sir, but extra duty like that is bound to cause more fatigue amongst the link warriors.”

  “I know that too. It’s an acceptable risk. There’s a Triangle League fleet out there somewhere. We have got to find them before they find us.” He handed the vidscrolls back to Prince. “Get me a revised plan based on every light attack squadron doing one reconnaissance sweep per shipboard day.”

  He could tell they were unhappy, but they both saluted. Courage returned the gesture and headed to go back to the main fleet holotank, then turned sharply, catching Prince and the flight ops controller exchanging looks. They saluted again and scurried away under his gaze.

  It was so true that timing was everything!

  And on that note, he could afford to keep the fleet on this course for only so long. He now had his back to the Trigs. If they came at him hard and fast there was a risk they might strike the vulnerable supply ships and then bundle the rest of his command into open space, where they would be cut to pieces. The conventional way of countering that would be to turn now to face them, but that would bring on the set piece battle he was desperate to avoid. How long did he have? There was no indication the enemy even knew where he was yet. They were still milling round the site of their recent fight with the 15th Battle squadron, no doubt combing the debris for anything useful.

  Cromarty approached.

  “Sir, all ships have acknowledged your orders and have executed course and formation changes.”

  “Excellent.” He glanced over at her. “How many of them questioned them as well?”

  Cromarty shuddered slightly, a small outward expression of immense internal struggles. “Only a few sir. Very few in fact. Nothing I couldn't handle.”

  “Very well.”

  This time it took eighteen minutes before Prince and the flight deck controller returned to submit a revised reconnaissance plan, which probably meant they had encountered no little opposition themselves. As Prince was explaining the finer points, Raime suddenly popped up behind him, casting a brooding and malignant presence over the whole presentation.

  Courage approved the new plan and the division swung spinwards, forming itself into a giant square in space. Courage waited until the manoeuvre was completed and the new search pattern finalised before retiring to his quarters. He noticed Raime squinting at him suspiciously.

  Courage returned midway through the next shift.

  "No contact with the enemy sir," said Prince immediately. "We no longer have a fix on the position of the Trig fleet. Persephone reports two of its scout drones have been destroyed."

  "Very well."

  "Sir, may I ask why we are on this course?"

  Courage was very conscious that Raime had sidled up to them. "Because we need to keep out of the way of a vastly more powerful fleet."

  Raime interrupted. “Sir, it seems to me your underlying assumption in all this is that we were always going to retreat.”

  “True,” said Courage, carefully.

  Prince stared. “But sir, retreating meant giving up Ganymede to the enemy!
”

  Courage straightened. “Once I saw the size of the force bearing down on us I knew I couldn’t help Ganymede,” he said shortly. “The only thing to do was pull back.”

  Raime’s eyes positively bulged. “You are admitting that you deliberately left Ganymede and Io wide open to attack?”

  “This isn’t a safe profession captain. You saw what they had coming at us. We couldn’t have stopped it. If we’d have tried to the only result would have been the loss of this fleet, and Ganymede and Io would still have gotten a pasting.” Courage noticed the shocked expressions. “It was an easy decision. We lacked the ability to keep the fleet supplied at any distance from Ganymede anyway.”

  Prince coughed. “Sir, our orders were to protect the Jovian satellites at all costs. If VSB find out, or figure out, that you always intended to simply abandon them there will be hell to pay.”

  Courage sighed. “Yes Commander. I know. But it doesn’t matter. There was no other choice.”

  Cromarty intervened. “If you think about it, it wasn’t the admiral who left Ganymede and Io wide open. It was the VSB. They didn’t provide us with enough force to do the job.”

  Raime gave her a dark look “That won't wash at a court-martial.”

  Cromarty’s face tightened. Courage intervened quickly. “There will be no need for that if we all do our duty now.”

  “And what is our duty admiral?” shot back Raime. “The enemy have caught us with our forces divided and they are on the point of defeating us in detail. They have driven off the 15th Battle squadron and we are currently running away from them!”

  Courage’s perscomp beeped. He pressed accept. A confidential message from Cromarty – be careful. He can make trouble. Courage pressed ‘delete’. He recalled Cromarty’s earlier comment – if VSB find out…

  “We are not retreating captain. We are now moving to intercept the second Trig force.”

  “Second…”

  “Walk with me, all of you.”

  Courage strolled over to the holotank. His subordinates clumped behind him.