Destroyer (Expansion Wars Trilogy, Book 3)

by Joshua Dalzelle

  "Try and get there to stop him before he has a chance to complete the integration process," Jackson said. "It'll be close, but I think we can do it without straining her too hard. We've received some helpful navigation data that should give us a slight edge."

  "Let's speak plainly for a moment, Captain Wolfe," Sache said, steepling her fingers. "We were sent out here because we were the closest assets to what was assumed to be your destination when you popped up in the Juwel System, but my two ships cannot physically stop you from continuing your self-appointed mission. Doubly so since you seem to have a co-conspirator in Captain Barrett … imagine my surprise when our missing assault carrier ended up being here.

  "You've also given us an invaluable trove of intelligence by taking the frigate mostly intact and with her crew still alive. For the sake of argument, let's assume that if the Nemesis began pushing for her jump point now, my Prowler would have no means with which to stop you."

  "Hypothetically, if I was asked at a later mission debrief—or court martial—about why I didn't surrender as asked by a CIS Prowler I would have to tell the truth: The Nemesis was too fast for them and I had no intention of relinquishing control of the ship," Jackson deadpanned.

  "I see we're both looking at this problem as realists, Captain," Sache said. "May I say something off the record, sir?"

  "Of course," Jackson said with some trepidation.

  "I had two older brothers serving in Starfleet and on ships that were a part of Admiral Marcum's taskforce when you disobeyed orders and went after the core mind on your own," she said. "I always hoped that one day if I was faced with a choice like yours, to do what you were ordered or do what was right, that I'd do what was right. So with that in mind … happy hunting, sir. I'll provide as much cover as I can to make sure the other Prowler doesn't do something stupid and move to intercept you before you transition out."

  "I wouldn't worry about that too much, Commander," Jackson said. "We have a few surprises that nobody knows about. Just make sure the Aludra Star makes it back to Terran space safely. Nemesis out."

  He terminated the channel and leaned back in his chair to collect his thoughts. The ship was still provisioned and fueled for at least another nine weeks of continuous operation, so he felt comfortable that they wouldn't get stranded. The system they were traveling to was extremely far away, but the Cube's new navigational data along with the Nemesis's new maximum sustainable warp speed should cut the trip down to just over eight days, nearly five times faster than Marcum's taskforce had done it.

  Now what it would all come down to was whether or not he was good or lucky enough to take the Specter out … he'd settle for either. If he managed to get one of the Super Alphas going, all bets were off and Jackson would likely have no choice but to retreat and allow the fleet to hit it with larger numbers. Despite some of the rumors, he wasn't suicidal and he wouldn't waste the lives of his crew in a fight he had no chance of winning.

  "We about ready to shove off and get this mission over with, Captain?"

  "You have something better to do than be here with us, Sergeant Barton?"

  "My girl is militantly unfaithful, sir," Barton said. "I realize that doesn't make me unique among Marines, but it's still a valid concern on long cruises."

  Jackson had to look over at the Marine NCO to see the barely upturned corner of his mouth to realize he was joking.

  "I'll do my best to accommodate you, Sergeant," he said, rolling his eyes.

  "I appreciate that, Captain," Barton said and took up his post just inside the bridge hatchway.

  "Captain, the Nemesis is ready to get underway. All drones are recovered and secured, shuttles are docked, and the Aludra Star has accounted for all her crew and guests," Commander Chambliss said.

  "Very good," Jackson said, sitting down. "Helm, you have the course to our jump point?"

  "Yes, sir, course is entered and locked."

  "Then let's get out of here. All ahead flank," Jackson ordered. "I want to make sure that second Prowler doesn't have an opportunity to cut us off, so keep an eye on it, Tactical."

  "All engines ahead flank, aye!"

  "We're tracking him, sir," Accari said. "They're still broadcasting their ident beacon."

  The Nemesis pulled away from the Aludra Star and the Xiangtan, angling to port and climbing up the well away from both CIS Prowlers. The first continued its slow approach to the other ships while the second didn't seem inclined to try and pursue, but the time lag between when it did something and when they could detect it was still quite large.

  Jackson knew that one way or another, this would be his final time charging into battle on the bridge of a warship. He wasn't sure how he felt about that yet, but he was damn sure he at least wanted to get all his people home alive.

  25

  The Nemesis hung motionless in space, so far away from the primary star of their target system it almost couldn't be picked out among the countless other stars. Jackson had requested that they transition in far short so that the destroyer's muted transition flash would be less detectable by anyone further down the system. He had no doubts that the Specter would assume they'd figured out his ultimate goal. It was likely why he hadn't bothered pursuing them into the Epsilon System; their two ships were a close match for each other, but a reactivated Super Alpha would be an entirely different matter.

  “Passives aren't able to get too much detail at this range, Captain," Accari apologized. "I can confirm that there are still Phage units down in the system, but nothing seems to be standing out as—"

  "Apologies for interrupting, but that is not correct," the Cube broke in. "There is an anomaly that appears to be multiple Phage units clustered together."

  "Why is that important?" Jackson asked irritably. "Tactical just said there were still Phage units down in the system."

  "This cluster is in a stabilized orbit that keeps it in the protective shadow of the sixth planet." The Cube took control of the main display and showed them what it was talking about. "Mass would be consistent with two Super Alphas, three Alphas, and four Betas. The orbit they've assumed is not naturally stable given mass and velocity."

  "That's why we brought it along," Jackson said to a chagrinned-looking Idris Accari. Both he and the analysts in CIC had completely missed something so obvious due to lack of detail and the sheer volume of targets down in the system.

  "This tells us that he's either added engines to a bunch of derelict Phage units, or he's already at least got propulsion restored to them," Chambliss said.

  "And it's seven units, not just one Super Alpha." Jackson frowned. "He can't reactivate and control all the remaining Phage, can he?"

  "Probability is less than a tenth of a percent for your supposition, Captain," the Cube said reassuringly. "The Ushin brain lacks the necessary power to control even a small swarm of individual units and, according to the rescued Terran scientists, the Darshik were no closer to understanding the method the Phage use to instantaneously receive instructions than you were at the height of the war.

  "If he has been able to reactivate any of the derelict combat units, he would have to do so by being in direct contact with what your researchers call the master receiver node."

  "Out of curiosity, could he use a computer to relay his commands to a swarm assuming he could overcome the obstacle of the carrier signal?" Jackson asked.

  "Not to the extent the core mind was able to," the Cube said. "A computer interface would theoretically work, but neither the Darshik nor humans have developed a computer with the necessary processing power … at least one that didn't utilize aggregate processing, which would not work in this instance. Is there a specific reason for this line of inquiry?"

  "No," Jackson said, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Just idle curiosity. OPS! Please inform Engineering that we'll be getting under way momentarily. Tactical, maintain emission security protocols for now. We'll use the passives to begin making our way down to the cluster of units the Cube identified."

&nbs
p; "Aye, sir."

  "Nav, work with CIC to plot us a safe course that uses the terrain to mask our drive signature," Jackson went on. "The bastard has popped up and surprised us more than once, so let's not assume he can't track our movements the same way we do his."

  Within the hour the destroyer was gently pushed along at one-quarter of her available engine power, the constant acceleration of the RDS letting her achieve a high relative velocity quickly over time. It was one of the great advantages of the new type of propulsion: Theoretically, the ship's maximum subluminal speed was attainable at any engine power setting if there was enough room, the only difference being the amount of time it took to achieve it.

  "Let's rotate the crew, XO," Jackson said. "We're … three days before we can expect to show up on sensors if he's running active radar sweeps."

  "Yes, sir," Chambliss said. "I'll let the department heads know."

  "What do you have for me, Lieutenant Commander?"

  "Captain," Jake Hawkins greeted Jackson with a nod. "We've gotten close enough that we're able to begin making out some details of that cluster the Cube pointed us at." Hawkins quickly manipulated the terminal so that a series of enhanced multispectral images were brought up on the massive wall display in CIC.

  The CIC chief stepped back and allowed Jackson to look over the imagery without commentary for a few moments. Jackson could clearly make out the individual Phage units making up the formation as well as some formidable metallic structures linking them all together. He looked at the scaling and was impressed; whatever the hell the Specter had been building here, he'd obviously been at it for a while.

  "Fascinating," Jackson said. "Do you have any theories as to what all this is?"

  "If you'll look at the thermographic data of the Alpha and Beta units compared to those of identical units in the area, you'll see that their outer shells are significantly warmer, meaning some sort of endothermic source," Hawkins said. "We can also see openings that have been cut into the sides of two Super Alphas large enough for a Darshik starship to easily fit inside."

  "He's turned these into a base of operations," Jackson said.

  "That's our best guess, sir," Hawkins said. "We think the smaller units are being used as powerplants to feed the larger units which could house anything from a population of Darshik to heavy production … at this range our detection capability is limited."

  "All of these Super Alphas are tied into this complex with pylons far larger than would be necessary to just moor the thing in place," Jackson mused. "I don't think he's planning on trying to fly any of these."

  "It wouldn't appear so, sir," Hawkins agreed.

  "Keep at it," Jackson said. "Good work with this. Begin setting up a targeting package for our Shrikes to at least take out the units we think are feeding power to the Super Alphas, and send it up to the tactical station."

  "Will do, sir."

  Captain Wolfe was on the bridge for his fourth watch since they'd transitioned near the system and they were about to cross the threshold from the outer boundary into the region where defunct Phage units tumbled about in chaotic orbits. Even with all the evidence that the Phage was dead, it was still unnerving to fly past them at such close range, some of them seeming to turn towards them as the destroyer glided past.

  "OPS, sound general quarters," Jackson ordered. "Bring the reactors to full combat power and charge the plasma chambers in the axillary MPD engines. Tactical, charge all weapons banks including the mag-cannons. Remain on passive sensors for now."

  There was a sudden flurry of activity as the bridge crew scrambled to carry out his orders. Jackson had felt comfortable maintaining normal watches on a heightened alert as they flew in from the heliopause so the crew was fresh and rested. The Nemesis didn't take long to be fully ready for battle, and with the powerplant output reduced and the weapons in standby the chances of them being detected by the enemy's passive sensors was negligible, but now they were within the Specter's range of detection. With his ability to warp hop right on top of them it would be tense flying until they actually engaged the enemy.

  "We're picking up weak RF fields on the hull, Captain," Accari said. "Probably tracking radar … CIC is reporting it was too faint to get a good direction on."

  "Let's look alive, everyone," Jackson said. "He's out there and he likely knows we are too. We can't afford to be taken by surprise."

  "I think we can confirm the enemy knows we're here, Captain," Lieutenant Makers said. "There's a broadcast message coming in for you on eighteen different frequencies."

  "To me specifically?" Jackson asked incredulously. "Never mind. Just play it, Lieutenant."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Welcome to the hero of humans," an artificial voice came over the speakers about an octave and a half too high to be comfortable. "It is well that we are here for our final battle … together … as it would want.

  "I am defeat you and take the prize that will give my immortality. These is inevitable."

  "The message just repeats from there, Captain," Makers said, killing the audio.

  "That transmission came from multiple sources around the system simultaneously, sir," Accari said.

  "So he's fishing," Jackson said. "Cube, what do you make of the poor quality of the translation matrix? Shouldn't he have had the latest and greatest from the Darshik dealings with the ESA?"

  "It is possible that the Specter thought direct contact with humans as beneath him," the Cube said. "All contact could have been routed through those he delegated to handle the prisoners and the ESA collaborators."

  "Maybe," Jackson said. "Any thoughts on what the message meant? Anybody?"

  "We know the Phage told the Darshik who killed it when you stuck the core mind with that toxin," Chambliss said. "This one probably knows exactly who you are and the ESA has probably made sure they know what ship you're on at any given time. The rest just seemed to be gibberish that holds with the theory they had worshipped the Phage before it died."

  "With all due respect, I think it's more specific than that, Commander," Accari spoke up. "It seems to be after something specific as a prize of some sort … maybe the Nemesis herself? This ship is the most advanced in the fleet."

  "But not so far ahead of what he's already been flying that it would be worth this sort of trouble," Jackson said. "Let's go ahead and kick this hornet's nest and see what comes flying out. Tactical, you're clear to fire … target package Sierra Two Two."

  "Target package Sierra Two Two updated and locked," Accari said, referring to the targeting data CIC had sent up for an initial strike on the cluster of Phage units. "Shrikes armed … firing!"

  Six nuclear-tipped ship-buster missiles streaked away from the Nemesis, their first-stage plasma engines burning brilliantly. Telemetry streams popped up on the main display showing the missiles were all burning hot and clean with less than nine hours until they reached the target. They'd navigate purely by dead reckoning until they were within one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers, at which point they'd fire their second stages and turn on their active targeting radars to pinpoint their impact zones.

  "Missiles away, tubes one through six reloading," Accari said. "Nemesis has seventy-three Shrikes remaining along with one hundred and fourteen Hornets."

  "Helm, come starboard fifteen degrees and maintain current engine power," Jackson said. "Nav, begin plotting updated courses that take us further down the well towards the target as well as a bugout course to hit the jump point in case we need to make a run for it."

  "Aye aye, sir," the nav specialist said.

  "This should draw him out at least," Chambliss said.

  Jackson said nothing. He wasn't so sure that he wasn't the one dancing to the Specter's tune. The rest of his crew—except Accari—was more than willing to dismiss the broadcast message as bravado or quasi-religious nonsense, but something told him there was a warning he was missing. It seemed obvious the Specter knew he would come here and welcomed it, but why?

  "Sir!
Those six Betas we passed earlier have turned to pursue!" Lieutenant Hori cried.

  "That's impossible!" Chambliss nearly shouted. "Have CIC—"

  "CIC confirms, sir," Accari said. "Six Betas and now two Alphas have turned toward us and are pursuing. Orders, Captain?"

  "Get ready for one hell of a fight," Jackson said, standing and looking as the threat board continued to update and the two Alphas moved to cut off their escape route. "It appears we just stumbled into a trap."

  26

  "These aren't acting like normal Phage," Jackson said. "Tactical, full active sensors … we're not fooling anyone right now. OPS, what does CIC say about these inbound Betas?"

  "Each is painting us with tracking radar and they're accelerating well under what we know their maximum rate to be," Hori reported.

  "These are the same Phage units that were grown to fight the Terran fleet," Jackson said. "They don't use radar."

  "Lieutenant Commander Hawkins is saying that the drive signature of the Betas and Alphas are identical, sir," Accari said, pulling his headset aside. "They're also a match for the previous generation of ship the Specter used."

  "These aren't Phage … they're decoys meant to make us think they are," Jackson snorted. "But there's still a lot of them and they're likely armed. Opinions?"

  "We could get bogged down fighting these things very easily," Chambliss said. "We'll burn up fuel and munitions swatting these decoys down and the Specter will still be fresh."

  "That is a known favorite Darshik tactic," Jackson conceded. "So our friend has gone through a great deal of trouble to hollow out some old Phage units and turn them into autonomous combat drones it seems … why? Other than the initial shock value, I can't see an advantage."

  "Captain, if the Specter has integrated the Phage power systems to Darshik weaponry, the plasma lance they favor will have almost seven times the range if deployed by an Alpha-type unit," the Cube said, the first time it had spoken up in a while.