Loyalty to the Cause (TCOTU, Book 4) (This Corner of the Universe)

by Britt Ringel

  Cooke’s main suffered even worse than the vanguard. The section’s heaviest ships, the third-rate, a brig and the heavy snow, Malabar, were all pockmarked and trailing debris. Given slightly more time to prepare for the first pass than the Seshafian van, the main inflicted more damage to their Saden opponents. Formidable and both brigs in Wallace’s main had taken obvious damage, but a replay of the combat run revealed that the final two Seshafian snows had rotated and thrust away from contact, leaving Wallace’s elements free to team up and devastate Malabar.

  Heskan’s own section fared better. With minimal exchange of fire, none of his ships endured serious consideration from their counterparts. Additionally, because the rearguard included four Colossus-class snows, their particle cannons bypassed AIPS screens to deliver at least token punishment to the Sadens. Scepter had taken the worst of the pass, but was still spared any degradation to her combat capabilities.

  “Attention, all sections,” a sedate voice called out over the command channel. “This is Commander Nguyen.” Heskan knew Nguyen was the captain of the brig, Hawk, and now the vanguard’s acting commander. “All ships in the flotilla are to set a course away from the enemy and strike their lights. We will reform at Point Alpha where I will negotiate our surrender and agree to IaCom’s terms of victory. All section commanders acknowledge.”

  Heskan’s jaw dropped at the news. One pass and that’s it? he thought incredulously. His eyes turned to an astonished Vernay. If we surrender, it will be up to Wallace to honor our contract. We’ll lose everything.

  “Order acknowledged,” Commander Tannault, now the main section’s commander, confirmed.

  Heskan studied the flotilla status display. We can still fight, he thought. Why are we giving up? Images of Anelace doggedly clawing toward Blackheart flickered through his mind, causing Heskan’s pulse to pound. The memory of CortRon-15’s brutal but successful dash past the Hollaran fleet during its escape to the Kale tunnel point made him grit his teeth. He pounded his chair arm and looked around the bridge. “We’re not giving up,” he resolved.

  Heskan inhaled deeply and then activated the command channel. “This is Captain Heskan of the rearguard. No.”

  Seconds passed before Nguyen’s disbelieving response came back. “No? Who the hell do you think you are—”

  Nguyen’s words were lost as Heskan fired back, “I don’t think, I know! This is Captain Heskan and I am now the ranking officer of this fleet. Any ship captain that breaks the line without proper authorization will be shot after this battle!” He was pretty sure he did not have that authority but realized he needed to make a stand.

  “Captain,” Tannault pleaded, “be reasonable. We’re too damaged and too disorganized…”

  Heskan ignored the man and ordered, “The van will come to course two-seven-eight, same plane, immediate execute. Fleet speed is point two-one-C. All other sections will maintain line ahead formation and follow the van. Expect course and speed change in three minutes.” He stared at the tactical plot. That will buy us a little more time. Heskan mentally prepared himself for his upcoming speech. To his left, he heard Vernay encourage, “Make it a good one, sir.”

  “To all ship commanders, this is the fleet commander, Captain Heskan. Sade’s treachery must not be rewarded. We were waylaid on that first pass and we lost many people precious to us, but I swear to you that we are not defeated. We understand now that this won’t be the bloodless encounter we were all hoping for, but aren’t your homes and the Seshafian way of life worth a drop of blood?” His voice took on a hard edge of emotion. “And could you really trust your lives to the man who just murdered his long-time friend in cold blood? Think about your family. Think about surrendering and going home to look into the faces of the people who counted on you to protect them. Will you be able to tell them you gave it all you had?”

  Heskan watched the tactical display as Wallace’s flotilla fully came about. His ships were beginning to tack toward the Seshafian fleet once again. Heskan said plaintively, “If you quit now, you’ll never forgive yourself. Give me one pass and then you can decide if you want to surrender. We still have a fleet. Only one ship is completely out of the fight. Doesn’t your family, your home, deserve a second pass?” Inspiration struck Heskan. “Would Admiral Cooke have surrendered Seshafi to Wallace after a single pass? Don’t we owe him more than that? Each of us has a chance to give him a legacy of honor.”

  Silence pervaded the communications channel. Finally, Commander Nguyen’s impassioned plea sounded over the bridge speakers, “But, Captain, my section can’t withstand another pounding from their van.”

  Heskan’s eyes swept over each person on his bridge. His heart ached as he knew what he had to do. Slowly, he nodded to himself. “It won’t have to, Commander. All ship captains, execute immediate one hundred and eighty degree rotation. Make your speed point two-five-C, continue line ahead formation. My section is now the van.”

  Chapter 28

  “Sir,” Lieutenant Hall asked meekly, “are you really taking us against a ship of the line?”

  “We faced worse on our last ‘vette,” Vernay confidently answered for him.

  No, we didn’t, Heskan thought pessimistically. Blackheart only had two missile ports to bear on us and we never faced her lasers. This fourth-rate we’ll go up against, Courageux, can salvo three missiles and has twin heavy lasers, two dual GP laser mounts and a quad GP. That’s eight GP lasers total on their broadside plus the heavies. This ship is a much different animal than a pirate-converted passenger liner.

  Hall’s eyes darted nervously to Vernay. “Where is your last ‘vette now, ma’am?”

  Truesworth brought the optical over Courageux. Although sailing briskly, she was not without damage sustained from her first pass. All the missile launchers appeared functional but a nasty scar carved through her aft heavy laser emplacement. Additionally, her forward dorsal dual GP mount looked smashed.

  Six functional GPs plus a heavy laser, Heskan estimated. Not to mention her—

  “Vampires,” Truesworth warned.

  Hall eyed his console and confirmed, “Sixty light-seconds out and headed this way, Captain.” Elathra began to paint inverted “v” missile symbols on the tactical plot.

  Heskan knew the actual missiles were much closer given the time lag waiting for the light of their launch to reach Elathra. He stared at his fleet and reflected on his workload before turning toward his first officer with a roguish grin. “Commander, you’re ready for this. I need you to fight the ship while I plan the fleet’s overall maneuvers.”

  Vernay seemed momentarily stunned by his request but after mentally shaking herself, sprang into action. “Diane, I want our starboard broadside for point defense and then spin us into the forward firing arc during the actual pass.”

  Not waiting for acknowledgment, she turned to her weapons officer. “Lieutenant Hall, rig the starboard carronades and GP for immediate point defense; those missiles are only about thirty light-seconds from us. You’re helping Thomas with the starboard GP turret. I’m assisting the carronades.” Hall gave her a quick nod as she continued instruction. “During our firing run, Mark, you’ve got to make sure Thomas gets off more GP shots than he did on our first pass. That was disgraceful. I’ll be assuming direct control over the port particle cannon.” She quickly set to work at her first officer’s arm console while speaking encouragingly into her mic. “Not a single missile gets past us, boys.”

  At his own chair, Heskan reviewed the tactical situation. The fleets would pass near each other within four minutes at a combined closure speed of .25c. That suited Heskan fine as he wanted to keep the time spent inside weapons range to a minimum. His fleet was now clearly outmatched and extended time inside the knife-fighting range of GP lasers would only cut his forces to ribbons. He was evaluating his next fleet maneuver when Admiral Wallace’s voice came over the general channel.

  “I rather expected to receive your surrender by now. Even though I understand that your chain
of command has been decimated, you’ve had more than adequate time to strike your lights. Will the commander of the Seshafian forces please indicate their intent to yield so we can forego additional, unnecessary destruction?”

  Heskan quickly ordered over the Seshafian fleet command channel, “All ships, maintain point two-C, stay in line ahead, flagship is Elathra. Follow the vanguard section. Heskan out.” He closed the channel and instructed, “Diane, Z angle plus sixteen and tack starboard three degrees.” His hope was to cross parallel to the enemy but angled upward to reduce exposure.

  Finally, Heskan worked his comm controls and casually answered Wallace, “This is Captain Garrett Heskan, Admiral. I’m commanding the Seshafian fleet now and I haven’t the foggiest idea why I would surrender when this battle has only begun.”

  Forty seconds later, Heskan heard Wallace’s ill-tempered reply. “For heaven’s sake, man, you’ve been beaten. Be a good gentleman and admit to it. Do we really need to reduce our forces to scrap when we both know the inevitable outcome? This is not how we fight, privateer.”

  Everything about their combat smacks of limiting damage and casualties, Heskan thought. He let his voice turn menacing as he answered.

  * * *

  The privateer’s response reached Wallace twenty seconds later.

  “You’re going to have to earn it, Admiral.” The brash ruffian’s voice turned sour. “I won’t let you take this system for free and your tactics have hardly been gentlemanly. Neither shall mine be. Your ships are going to be destroyed and your men are going to die if you want Seshafi. And I promise that you’re personally going to receive a most explicit demonstration on how I’m willing to fight.”

  Wallace felt himself stiffen at the barbarian’s taunt. Hands curled into fists as he rose from his command chair. “How dare that man! How dare he have the gall to suggest that he could instruct me in the art of war!” He turned to his assistant strategist. “Damien, inform Courageux that I want nothing larger than dust left of Elathra after this pass.”

  The man nodded timidly and looked hesitantly down at the holographic tactical display. “My lord, we’re risking severe damage to Formidable with a second pass,” he observed.

  Wallace sighed. “It can’t be helped, Damien. The entire main may suffer but the cost to that privateer’s forces will be far greater.” Wallace tugged at his service coat’s sleeves. “We’ll see who instructs whom,” he muttered angrily.

  * * *

  “Missiles nearing point defense range.” Hall’s voice broke slightly as his trepidation resonated inside Petty Officer Third Class Lee Thomas’ shocksuit helmet. Nine light-seconds from Elathra, the first salvo of three Javelin-IX missiles streaked toward the snow at .44c. Behind the trio, another group was closing from 18ls away. Twenty light-seconds behind that group, a fresh trinity of missiles burst forth from Courageux’s open missile ports before containment fields snapped over the apertures to commence the forty-five second reload sequence.

  Thomas fixated on his gunner’s screen with a savage grin. His dual GP laser mount was uncannily similar to Anelace’s and that threatened to drive him to distraction. The situation is different, he told himself. I was a wet-behind-the-ears gunner back then. Now, I’m a war veteran who specializes in point defense. He stared at the missile under his sights. Originally, the missile was designated as “Missile #2” on his targeting console. However, after Commander Vernay sorted out point defense, he noticed the moniker of all of the incoming missiles changed to “Vampires.” His missile, Vampire Bravo, had been firmly locked by his targeting software for nearly eleven seconds. As the missile pierced into his 5ls weapons envelope, his turret released twin streams of charged energy.

  The burst from the laser mount spanned the distance in four seconds and Thomas was rewarded with a pulse of light on his console indicating the missile’s negation. The remaining two missiles, vampires Alpha and Charlie, survived only slightly longer. Elathra’s starboard carronades possessed a pathetic 3ls range but compensated with a nearly doubled rate of fire. Both missiles blinked out of existence before closing to within 2ls of Elathra.

  Thomas’ eyes moved up the screen to his next designated quarry.

  * * *

  Behind the bridge’s WEPS console, Lieutenant Hall pumped his fist at the successful defense. The initial call of incoming missiles sent shivers down his spine, amplified by the dread of many more, unseen missiles streaking toward him. The situation initially paralyzed him with fear. No brig in the Seshafian Navy had ever completely defended itself against a missile attack from a ship of the line, let alone a mere snow. In fact, in those unmoving seconds, Hall had been unable to think of even a single instance where a snow placed against a ship of the line did not immediately surrender.

  The smooth professionalism of Elathra’s first officer after being handed the ship by Captain Heskan was not only reassuring but also surprising. In recent history, no Seshafian captain had ever turned over his command to a subordinate. The reasoning was simple; if the ship’s captain was incapacitated, then the ship itself was too damaged to continue the fight. The utter confidence Vernay displayed when assuming control made Hall wonder if such actions were unremarkable in the Hollaran Commonwealth.

  Hall placed such extraneous thoughts aside as he stared at the next incoming volley. Missiles Four, Five and Six… correction, Vampires Delta, Echo and Foxtrot… are just ten light-seconds out, he thought anxiously. The nomenclature was strange. He had never heard missiles referred to as vampires before, not even by privateers, but these eccentric people possessed such serene calm they were obviously no strangers to missile attacks. Already, the petty officer operating the starboard dual GP turret had obtained a lock on his newly assigned Javelin. The first officer not only had locked in Vampire Delta for a carronade gunner, she was also assigning the next volley of targets to gunners based on their projected, inbound paths. The speed and fluidity of Elathra’s point defense was mind-boggling to Hall and with little more to do than monitor GP heat levels, he whispered encouragement to “his” gunner.

  Elathra’s gunners were given twenty-eight seconds to switch targets and obtain locks before the second volley of Javelins broke the 5ls shell. Two seconds after the breach, Vampire Echo burst into a shower of metallic debris and light. An instant later, Foxtrot was clipped by a carronade burst that removed fifteen percent of its mass. The missile’s center of thrust altered dramatically and it flew apart as it twisted into an uncontrolled, 77-G turn. Vampire Delta lived longer but only marginally. The first carronade burst missed by kilometers but under Vernay’s assistance, the gunner maintained his lock to redeem himself a second later.

  “Two waves down,” Hall cheered triumphantly as he rocked back and forth. He beamed at Vernay who politely smiled back but placed a subtle finger across her lips. Hall caught her meaning immediately and dipped his head back to his console, knee involuntarily bobbing up and down as his body sought ways to relieve the tension. “Courageux is thirty-eight light-seconds out, Commander. Twenty-eight light-seconds from direct weapons contact.”

  “Acknowledged,” Vernay said curtly. “Diane, that fourth-rate will be seven light-seconds from us when we finish our point defense. You’ve got to get us into the forward arc as soon as we’re finished with the missiles. Then, you have to swing us back to our broadside for point defense when we come out of five light-seconds.”

  Selvaggio wiped the back of her hand quickly across her brow and nodded. “Aye, ma’am. I’m cheating on Elathra’s facing a bit right now. Those carronades can’t quite fire ahead of us but they can come close. You’ll be in the forward arc before we come within five light-seconds,” she promised.

  “They won’t fire missiles after the pass, ma’am,” Hall stated. “It would be considered a violation to fire immediately after a pass since they must give us a chance to surrender between runs.”

  Vernay shook her head crazily at Hall. “That’s stupid but I’ll take it, not that I trust Wallace. Two more waves
to stop, WEPS.” Her brow furrowed dangerously as she threatened, “Then, it’s our turn.”

  Her fearsome look both inspired and chilled Hall. I will never dare face off against this crew in combat, he promised himself. Across the bridge, he heard Lieutenant Truesworth call out, “Incoming heavy laser fire from that fourth-rate, Commander.”

  * * *

  As Courageux sailed to within 10ls of Elathra, she exploited yet another of her many advantages over the snow. The Maclex heavy laser, conceived in the Solarian Federation, unleashed its first barrage of charged energy. Ten seconds later, it spit forth a second volley just as the first shots reached its target.

  Elathra’s defensive screen crackled against the high-powered rebuke. Inside the snow’s Combat Defense and Countermeasure Center, or C-DAC, Seshafian Sub-lieutenant Joseph Curray monitored the AIPS controls to ensure the screens absorbed as much energy as possible before shutting down to avoid catastrophic overload. The AIPS screen worked superbly, absorbing the first heavy laser barrage completely while barely avoiding a shutdown. As soon as the bombardment ceased, Curray worked feverishly to recharge the screen in anticipation of additional shots.

  * * *

  Hall was blissfully unaware of the violence occurring along Elathra’s defensive screen. His focus was narrowed solely to the third set of missiles racing toward his snow, 7ls out. Thomas had Vampire Golf locked tight and India was hopelessly spoofed by the C-DAC’s electronic countermeasures efforts. Only Vampire Hotel appeared to be a danger but both carronades were teaming up on the threat. After eight seconds of furious laser fire, all three vampires had been rebuffed.