“We don’t have any other promising target right now,” he said. He had no idea why the aliens had given them so long to ransack the planet, smash the deep space facilities and perhaps even commit genocide, but he had a bad feeling about it. “The other tramlines lead to empty systems, as far as we can tell. Tramline Four is the most promising target.”
“The aliens will know that too,” Fitzwilliam pointed out. “They could have set an ambush for us.”
“An ambush that relies on us doing precisely what they want us to do,” Captain Bellerose said. The Frenchman, who had said nothing up to this point, snorted rudely. “How could they be sure we would use Tramline Four? Right now, we could simply withdraw through Tramline One, get home and declare victory. They would be more inclined to block our escape than divide their forces in the hopes of setting an ambush.”
“There simply isn't another promising target,” Fitzwilliam countered. “We're not here to occupy territory” – the Rhino snorted – “at least not permanently. Target Two isn't just a promising target, it’s the only one we have. They would be able to make a very good guess about where we would be going.”
“We can't afford to leave it untouched either,” Shallcross pointed out. “That’s a facility supplying our enemies with everything they need to wage war on us. Either we open communications with Faction Two there or we destroy it. We don’t have any other choice.”
“No,” Ted agreed. “We will attack Target Two as soon as possible, then swing back here, recover the Marines and pull out completely. If we manage to make open contact with Faction Two, then we will have some idea of just what is actually going on.”
“Or what they want us to know,” the Rhino said, pessimistically.
Ted nodded. “In any case, we can't stay here much longer,” he added. He looked over at the Rhino. “When we come back, I want your troops and men ready to pull out at once.”
“Yes, sir,” the Rhino said. “Do you wish to leave the transports here?”
“Yes,” Ted said, after a moment. “But I want them to go completely dark.”
He looked from face to face, then smiled tightly. “We’ve learned a great deal today,” he added, softly. “Perhaps, just perhaps, we’ve also learnt how to make contact with our enemies and actually talk to them. And who knows where that will lead?”
***
“Captain,” Amelia said, as James returned to the bridge. “All systems are fully functional; all weapons tubes have been reloaded.”
“Excellent,” James said, as he took the terminal and glanced down at the report. “We are to advance on Target Two.”
Amelia smiled as she sat down facing him. “Very good, sir,” she said. “And the alien attempt at contact?”
“Remains a mystery,” James admitted. “We may never know what they had in mind.”
He looked up at the system display, carefully working out angles in his mind. Four hours, more or less, until they intersected Tramline Four. Maybe a little longer, if the Admiral wanted to try to avoid appearing at a predicable location. Or maybe it would seem a waste of effort. The aliens would have a rough idea where they were going to arrive even if they didn't have Target One’s system under observation.
“You should probably get some rest,” Amelia offered, after a moment. “They won’t come for us until after we’ve crossed the tramline.”
“I’ve been resting since we fought our way into orbit,” James countered, dryly. “It’ll look very bad on my service record.”
Amelia smirked.
“Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Daniel Lightbridge said, “we have course directions from the flag. We are to depart, along with the rest of the fleet, in ten minutes.”
“Then set course,” James ordered.
He looked down at the status display as the starship prepared to leave orbit. The XO had done an excellent job, he had to admit, of keeping his starship ready for war. As she’d said, all of the Old Lady’s missile tubes were fully loaded, ready to deal out death to any aliens who came into striking distance. The mass drivers were ready, the point defence systems were online and the damaged blisters had been completely replaced.
Pity there’s no replacement for the lost starfighters, he thought, grimly. We need to start bringing cross-trained pilots with us.
But he knew the Admiralty would never agree.
Time ticked away slowly as the fleet made its way towards the tramline. There was no sign of any aliens, although James knew better than to take that for granted. The aliens could lurk within the system as effectively as any humans, perhaps better. Their stealth systems were still alarmingly good at long-range.
“Picking up signals from the frigates,” Farley said. “Local space seems clear on the other side of the tramline.”
“Good,” James said. He tried to consider just what the aliens would do, assuming they knew the fleet was heading to Target Two. The probes hadn't located any major alien presence in Target Two’s system, but that meant nothing. A solar system was just full of places to hide, even an entire fleet. “Keep a careful eye out for unexpected surprises.”
***
Ted braced himself as the task force moved through the tramline and jumped five light years into the next system. The display blanked, then reformatted itself, displaying the system primary, the gas giant the aliens had turned into an industrial node and the live feed from the frigates and drones that had preceded the carriers through the tramline. There was no sign of anything remotely threatening, apart from the system’s orbital defences. It worried him, for some reason. Either they’d forced their way into a place the aliens considered impregnable or they were flying into a trap.
“Launch probes,” he ordered. “I want a complete sensor shell spread out two light minutes from the fleet.”
“Aye, sir,” Lopez said. “Drones launching ... now.”
“Order the Chinese to advance towards the planet,” Ted added. Captain Wang had been petitioning for the job as soon as they’d started to plan the operation, so Ted had agreed, with only a few minor reservations. If the aliens were plotting an ambush, there was a very good chance the Chinese would accidentally spring it before the carriers put their necks in the noose. “Remind them that I don’t want any heroics. I merely want them to survey the outer edge of the alien industrial node.”
He sucked in his breath as the drones raced outwards, eventually confirming that there was nothing within several light minutes of the fleet. Ted felt cold ice slipping down the back of his spine; something was wrong, but what? Why hadn't the aliens attempted to block their advance? Given their speed advantage, they could have landed a few blows then retreated before Ted’s forces caught up with them. Could it be he was heading towards precisely where they wanted him to go ... or were they distracted elsewhere?
The thought chilled him to the bone. What if the aliens are attacking Earth right now?
“Transmit the contact package,” he ordered. There was no point in trying to hide. They were making enough electronic noise to ensure that they could be detected from right across the star system. “Let’s see what answer we get.”
“It will be at least half an hour before the message reaches them,” Lopez warned. “And a full hour before we get any reply.”
If they do reply, Ted thought, grimly.
“Understood,” he said. There was nothing they could do about the laws of physics, at least until someone came up with a way of sending messages faster than light. Some of the scientists might talk about creating artificial tramlines, but Ted would believe it when he saw it. The power it took to expand the tramlines alone was quite significant. “We will just have to wait.”
He settled back in his chair as the fleet moved away from the tramline, surveying the data as the drones and frigates relayed it back to the analysts. The planetary system had two gas giants, he realised, although one of them didn't seem to have received much attention from the aliens. There were still no traces of any life-supporting worlds, which did
n't really surprise him. The aliens seemed to follow the same basic logic as humanity when it came to settling other worlds; they concentrated on the life-supporting planets first, then started to develop the rest of the system. So far, there was no trace of any alien terraforming program, but that proved nothing. Their biology would predispose them towards habitable worlds rather than trying to terraform Mars-like worlds that would require the infusion of vast amounts of water. But there was no shortage of water in space ...
“No response,” Lopez said, when eighty minutes had passed since they’d transmitted the message. “Not even an uncomprehending response.”
Ted gritted his teeth. If they were right, the facilities ahead of them might be controlled by Faction Two ... and firing on them would bring Faction Two into the war on the wrong side. But if they were under Faction One’s control ... there was no way to solve the problem without actually talking to the aliens and the damned creatures refused to talk!
“Continue towards primary target,” he ordered, finally. “And transmit the standard warning ...”
“Contacts,” Lopez snapped. “Multiple contacts.”
Ted swore out loud as red icons flared into life on the display – no, two groups of red icons. One directly in front of them, the other on a course that suggested they’d been lurking behind the tramline. The aliens had set a trap ...
“I don’t understand,” Lopez said, blankly. “We surveyed that part of space, sir.”
Ted looked down at the display, puzzled. Lopez was right. The aliens hadn't been there when the drones passed through that section of space, unless their stealth systems had improved remarkably. And that meant ... what?
He looked at where the aliens had appeared and knew the answer. “They set a trap,” he said, grimly. “And they’re trying to catch us between two fires.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
In hindsight, Ted realised, as the alien ships closed in, it should have been obvious. Everyone had known that tramlines didn’t form between planets and the stars they orbited – but then, everyone had also known that it was impossible to extend a tramline. If the aliens could do one, why not the other?
“They used a tramline between the gas giant and the star,” he realised. “Jumped their fleet right into prime interception position.”
Lopez blinked at him. “Sir?”
“If they’ve mastered jumping without a tramline, we’re dead,” Ted pointed out. “They could have jumped right into close range and torn us apart before we even knew we were under attack. Instead ... where they appeared says there has to be a tramline there, even if we didn't expect it to exist.”
He shook his head, dismissing the thought. The analysts could work on it later, once they got out of the trap. “Launch probes at both alien fleets,” he ordered. “I want to know what we’re facing.”
The display updated rapidly. Both alien fleets included eight large carriers and a number of smaller ships, including several of unknown design. Ted had to admit they’d timed it very well; if he continued to advance towards the planet, he’d have to fight his way through one force while the other came up behind him. If he turned and retreated back to the tramline, the same thing would happen, only in reverse. And, with one enemy fleet blocking his path back to the tramline, he couldn't hope to avoid engagement.
We can't enter the tramline without engaging the fleet, he thought, grimly. And if we don’t try to enter the tramline, we’ll die here.
“Alter course,” he ordered. If the enemy could be tempted to merge their fleets into one unit, the tactical problem would become simpler. But then, if they did, they could just crush his fleet by sheer weight of numbers. “I want to head away from both fleets.”
He watched, grimly, as the enemy fleet altered course too. Force One – the fleet between them and the gas giant – started to move in pursuit, while Force Two hunkered down near the tramline. Ted silently cursed the enemy commander under his breath, knowing just what it meant; whoever they were facing was not someone inclined to make rash moves. They might be able to beat Force One, but Force Two would still be blocking their escape. And, given the alien speed advantage, it was unlikely he could smash his way through Force Two before Force One caught up with them.
And even if we did, they’d still be in position to charge after us into the Target One system, he thought. He shot a wistful look at the display, where Target Two still glowed invitingly, then dismissed the thought. There was no way they could attack the system now. We have to beat them both here.
“Force Two is moving,” Lopez said. “She’s advancing along the tramline.”
Ted nodded, unsurprised. Force Two would always be between the humans and their only means of escape. If they set out through interstellar space, it would be years before they reached another star ... and they’d better hope it had a tramline. And if the drives failed in interstellar space, they’d be stranded for the rest of their lives. No, that wasn't an option. But nor was forcing their way back through the tramline ...
“Show me the system’s other tramlines,” he ordered, slowly. If they were trapped, and it certainly looked that way, it was time to gamble. “And then compare them to the data we pulled from the alien battlecruiser.”
There was a long pause as Lopez worked her way through the data, then forwarded it to the analysts to check and double-check. “There's one tramline that leads here,” she said, bringing up the star chart. “And that star has, we think, a link back to Target One.”
We think, Ted mused. Tramlines were normally predicable, but there were odd hiccups from time to time. He vaguely recalled a gravity specialist predicting that the tramline network would sometimes shift configuration from time to time, upsetting all of humanity’s trade networks. But in over a hundred years of exploration, no tramline had ever been noted to vanish or shift to a different star. No one really took the threat seriously.
He stared down at the display, calculating the odds. There was no way of knowing what they’d encounter along the way, or what the aliens would do when they realised that the humans weren't planning to risk engagement with Force Two. No, Ted shook his head; he had a very good idea of what the aliens would do. They’d mass their forces and then advance against the human fleet. Their speed would make it possible to catch up with his fleet sooner rather than later.
Or they’d head back to Target One and wait for us there, he thought. Cold ice ran down his spine as he realised just how easily the aliens could thwart them. All they’d have to do was return to Target One and set up an ambush there, which meant ... that he’d have to defeat at least one of the alien forces here before it could ambush them for the second time.
“Alter course,” he ordered, using his fingers to trace out a course on the display. “Let them come after us, if they dare.”
It was a hell of a risk, he knew. In order to disable or destroy the alien fleet, he had to tempt them with the prospect of actually crushing his fleet. And yet, if they refused, he would have to either challenge them directly or take the risk of passing through the other tramline without damaging the alien fleet, which would merely move the decisive battle to Target One.
“Aye, sir,” Lopez said.
Ted sat back in his chair, silently cursing the sheer ... slowness of space battles under his breath. It would be nearly an hour before Force One entered engagement range, assuming the aliens took the bait, and longer still before he knew if they’d won or lost. He would have plenty of time for second-guessing himself, or working out possible alternatives to a direct confrontation. Maybe they could simply break contact completely ...
Unlikely, he thought. He looked down at the display, thinking hard. The aliens presumably had a solid lock on his fleet. They might well have scattered stealth platforms around the tramline, taking advantage of their rough idea of where his fleet would appear. No, he couldn't hope to break contact easily. It was much more likely that the aliens would be able to keep tracking him anyway.
“Program some of
the drones for multiple images,” he added. The aliens wouldn't lose their sensor lock, but maybe he could spoof it. “And stand by to deploy mines.”
It was rare to use mines in space combat. Normally, the enemy could pick one of any number of approach vectors and mining them all would be staggeringly expensive. But now, the enemy fleet was advancing on a predicable vector. They’d run right into the mines, if they were laid properly.
“Aye, sir,” Lopez said. She paused, inspecting her console. “The analysts want us to beam the First Contact package to the alien ships.”
Ted snorted. It was alarmingly clear the aliens had hostile intentions, even if they hadn't been fighting a war for the past year. Their fleet deployments were intended to trap or destroy the human fleet. Maybe it was possible to open communications ... but it was also possible that the aliens would use the exchange of signals to try to convince him to stand down, perhaps as a prelude to more formal talks. And then, when he was helpless, open fire.
Ark Royal 2: The Nelson Touch Page 29
