StarFight 3: Battlecry

by T. Jackson King

  “Not yet,” Jacob said, putting down his can of beer. He looked around this time, catching the attention of everyone. “Time to talk strategy and future plans. But first, let me express my condolences to Captain Sunderland. Joan, I am sorry for your loss of three missiliers. My tablet tells me those three served with you during every colony world visit by the Aldertag.”

  The older woman brushed back hair streaked with gray, then shrugged, her strong jaw not showing any tenseness. “Thank you, fleet captain. Yes, those missiliers served with me for the past ten years. I miss them. I will pass on your condolences to the rest of my crew upon my return.”

  Jacob kept his focus on the fiftyish woman. “Captain, you lost your only missile tube in that hit by the antimatter ball. Were any other decks affected? Any injuries to other crew?”

  The trim woman, whose Star Navy service went back to the occupation of Callisto, shook her head. “No injuries to anyone else. The tube launch chamber was the only part of the ship that was breached. Some antimatter wisps caught my people, who were in vacsuits per the Alert Combat Ready status you declared. The room video recorded their loss.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I’ve written Lost In Service letters to the relatives of each one. Once we recontact the Midway and the admiral I will send off those messages for transport by any ship that returns to Earth.”

  Jacob gave her a thumbs-up. “Joan, you have always been an outstanding leader of your ship and your people. I’m sure your crew and the families of the people you lost will appreciate your efforts on those letters.”

  “Just doing my duty,” Joan said, her manner still calm and determined, even though Rebecca understood the woman’s inner hurt at losing people who had been part of her ship family.

  “So are we all.” Jacob focused on Rebecca. “Lieutenant Commander Swanson, please accept my condolences on the fifteen people you lost in Kepler 10. I can only guess at how you must feel at losing part of your ship family.”

  Surprise filled her heart at Jacob’s use of words that matched her feelings about Joan. Clearly this young man understood something about loss, even if he had never lost crew. Other than the four ships of the battle group that died in the wasp battles. Maybe the loss of the Marianas, Ofira, Britain and St. Mihiel had left a scar inside him.

  “Sir, thank you. I will convey your condolences to my crew.”

  Jacob nodded. “Then it’s time for me to share with you all why I called this meeting. In short, it is to outline my plans for the future of this small battle group and to seek input from each of you.”

  Rebecca licked her lips. Now came what she most feared.

  “The Lepanto and our other ships are following after the ship of Hunter Thirteen. Who has slowed his flight toward the edge of this system’s magnetosphere, at my request, conveyed through Hunter One. Our next job will be to track the invader ship fragments, determine which pieces still have power and air, and then board them.” Around her came the rustle of others sitting back in their seats. “Chief O’Connor will lead his four Darts and the LCA Berlin to a boarding of five fragments. There are at least two large wing segments from the manta ray craft hit by Seven’s ship. My orders to him are to recover the bodies of any aliens he finds, bring them back to the Lepanto, and to capture any living survivors. We have to know the physical nature of this enemy that attacked and killed the wasp colonists. And which we just fought.” He gestured to his right. “That is why Commander Branstead of the Science Deck is here, along with her staffer Lieutenant JG Antonova. Earlier they gave me invaluable analysis on the wasps. I expect them to do the same for these new aliens.” Jacob nodded toward Yamamoto. “The presence of my Life Support deck chief is because we may have to create a habitat area for any living alien captive we find in these fragments. The Forest Room is now occupied by Hunter One. And by newly rescued wasps. That leaves the Park Room as one possible habitat area. Lieutenant, if we capture alien survivors and put them into Park Room, can you create a new nature venue for the crew of Lepanto? However long our trip to this Food Enough system might be, our people need access to something other than metal walls.”

  The slim, black-haired woman who sat beside Daisy looked at Jacob, her expression neutral but focused.

  “Fleet captain, yes, I can create a new nature venue if survivor aliens are put into the Park Room,” she said, her voice low but light in tone. “The Lepanto has six hydroponics rooms for recycling and for oxy generation through chlorophyll floaters. I can remove the hydroponic vats from one of those rooms and then fill it with soil and grass from the Forest and Park rooms. We can put some shrubs in there. As for other components, that will depend on the type of alien survivors we find. Do they fly like the wasps? Are they ground-huggers like humans? Are they rock-dwellers like some creatures who occupy the lavalands of Earth? Do they need high humidity and low gravity like the wasps? Their bio-nature will determine what else I can do for the new crew nature room.”

  “Sounds good,” Jacob said, looking away from Yamamoto. “So. What’s next? Well, after we survey the wreckage and pull in bodies and survivors, I plan for us to follow Thirteen’s ship out to the magnetosphere, then follow it to the star that harbors the wasp colony world of Food Enough.” Rebecca noticed surprise on Daisy’s face. Similar looks of surprise showed on the faces of Alicia, Lori and Joy. There was no reaction on Joan’s face. “The reason I plan to do this is simple. My orders from the admiral were to bring Seven’s ship here, with the hope of creating an armistice with the wasps. And to then pursue his scheme for trading star and planet locations suitable for humans and wasps.” Jacob paused, took a sip of his beer, then put it down. “The admiral told me he hopes the sharing of colony world locations will create the basis for a NATO-like alliance with the wasps. If humans colonize one gee worlds in wasp systems, and wasps colonize half-gee worlds in human systems like Kepler 10, well that is good for both species. We each increase our colonies without having to guess whether a system with known exoplanets has a world suitable for that species. And if we share databases on exoplanets, we both gain knowledge that makes future colonization more effective. So we will travel to Food Enough. Any comments?”

  Rebecca was not surprised by Jacob’s announcement. It was in keeping with the admiral’s orders. What was not in keeping was the battle they had just fought.

  “Sir, will we return to Kepler 22 and again fight these new aliens?” Rebecca asked, hoping for the answer she needed to hear.

  Joy and Joan both leaned forward. As did Daisy, Lori and Alicia. Jacob frowned. “I don’t know. It depends on what we find in the Food Enough system. And on what I hear back from the admiral.” He raised his right hand, lifting one finger. “First, the wasps have to send word or scent-words back to their home world and the Primes who run their society. Their bosses must be told about these aliens who nuke-bombed the wasp colonists on planet four.” A second finger went up. “Second, once we arrive in the Food Enough system I plan to send the Aldertag off to Kepler 10 with the full combat video records of our recent battle, videos of the alien bodies and our medical and xenocultural analysis of them, and a request for guidance.” Jacob looked to Joan. “I hope and expect the admiral will send the Aldertag back to us at Food Enough with instructions on our future actions. Perhaps we will follow a wasp ship to their home world. Perhaps we will return to Kepler 10. Perhaps he will join us at Food Enough. It’s up to the admiral.”

  Rebecca nodded, but raised her own hand. “Sir, what happens if these invader aliens follow us to Food Enough? Like how the wasps followed us to Kepler 10. Do we fight them or leave for Kepler 10?”

  Jacob sat back, put both hands on the edge of the table and stared intently at her, his expression thoughtful. “Commander, it seemed right to me to act in defense of the surviving wasp ship, when we arrived here and found what we found. Helping them increased our chances of building an armistice and maybe a future trade of worlds. Which were the admiral’s orders.” The black-haired man who had demanded the allegiance
of herself and the other battle group ships lifted a bushy eyebrow. “No one wants to lose more people. And fighting to defend wasps is not the same as fighting to defend humans. Valhalla was worth the sacrifices we all made, in ships and in crew.”

  “But?” said Daisy, surprising Rebecca.

  Jacob looked to his XO and lover. The clean-shaven, broad-shouldered and lanky young man looked older than his twenty-four years. The light tan did not hide new creases around his eyes. Nor did she miss the nervous tapping of his fingers on the table top. And if she saw that, surely Joan and Joy saw it. Still, he was their leader. The admiral himself had confirmed Jacob as the new captain of the Lepanto and leader of the small battle group that had returned to Kepler 22. Only to find deadly new aliens killing off the wasp colonists. Rebecca was not sure how she would have reacted, if she had been in charge of the battle group. The safest choice would have been to reverse course at the magnetosphere edge and head back to the admiral in Kepler 10. But Jacob, as long months of exposure had shown her, was not a timid or doctrinaire leader. He was daring, determined and ruthless. She just hoped whatever decisions he made did not cause her to lose more people. Exploring space for habitable exoplanets was one thing. Fighting every alien who popped up was something else. Something that Earth Command should make policy on. Yet, they hadn’t. They had just sent the admiral out here with a single Battlestar and a small fleet to protect the Valhalla colony. Clearly the politicos at home were afraid and not able to create consensus on any policy other than self-defense. Which left Jacob and the admiral at the spear point, both fighting and making policy by what they did or did not do.

  “But we have to be prepared for surprises,” Jacob said, nodding to Daisy, then looking around the table, his expression severe. “I don’t want to lose more ships. Nor more people. But we are the frontline of humanity, which now has encountered two alien species we never knew existed. Besides protecting our colonies, we have to find a way to work with the wasps. Somehow. And if that means we are the ally of our old enemy against this new enemy, so be it. Putting ourselves at risk sends a clear message to the wasp leaders that humanity can be more valuable as an ally than as a second enemy.”

  Rebecca put her hand down. Clearly Jacob was going to push ahead with their job here and then go on to the wasp colony system. Heading to Food Enough was a choice she would make if she were the fleet captain. Coping with new nasty aliens was something no one here had expected, including Jacob.

  On her right, Joy rapped the table with her knuckles, making a loud crack. “Damn fine with me! We’ve defeated two wasp fleets. And we rescued one of their ships here. Plus, we just bested these new aliens despite their unusual weapons.” The long-limbed, hard-charging young woman looked around the table, her bright blue eyes excited. “I for one am eager to see a wasp colony world that is developed. Who knows, maybe there will be a one gee Earth-like world there that we can explore? And if these new alien bastards follow us there and attack us, well, the Philippine Sea will fly circles around them and burn their butts to ashes!”

  Jacob laughed. Daisy looked amused. Yamamoto squinted. Alicia and Lori smiled easily. And Joan, the most senior of them all, sat back and crossed arms over her flat belly, her expression watchful. Rebecca could not help thinking that Jason, ever the fighter for what was right, might have seconded Joy’s loud declaration.

  “Joy, thank you,” Jacob said, sounding relaxed. “You, your ship and your crew have always been a great part of the StarFight expedition. As have the ships and crew of the Aldertag and the Chesapeake.” He touched the tablet that lay before him. “Hey Kenji! Time to bring in the hot food. We’re hungry as bears here.”

  Rebecca told herself that mindfulness and inner calmness was what she needed now that the future was as clear as it could be. She would follow the orders of Jacob. She would fight her ship as best she could. And she would help her fellow ship captains in whatever way they needed. But she sure as hell was not going to support any wild jihad pursuit of these new aliens. That was a decision the admiral should make. Somehow. She just hoped there would be no more battles until the Aldertag returned from conveying the shocking news to the admiral. How that man would react she had no idea. She just knew the senior Renselaer was more experienced in years, in space battles and in judgment than she was. And out here, he was the top of the chain of command. She uncrossed her fingers, grabbed the glass of ice tea and took a long draw of the cold sweet beverage. Putting into memory the ghosts of Jason and her other dead crewmates was going to take a while.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Four hours later, Jacob sat in his captain’s seat atop the command pedestal in the center of the Bridge. Below him sat Alicia, who was now acting XO. The stocky woman from Melbourne was focused intently on the holos that surrounded her seat. They included system graphic, situational, true space and Lepanto cross-section holos. A fifth holo held the images of her three girls, new teens who she had left in the loving custody of her husband at their habitat dome on Mars, down in the Valle Marineris population cluster. Her brown hair floated above the helmet rim of her vacsuit. Like everyone else on the Bridge, she had donned a vacsuit as the Lepanto and its sister ships arrived in the space that held the fragments of the manta ray ship.

  While he did not expect an attack from a surviving fragment, you never knew what might be operational on fragments that weren’t obviously cold as space with zero electromag emissions. The orange graser beams had a reach of seven thousand klicks. And maybe these new aliens had other weapons suited for close-in defense, similar to the railguns and plasma batteries of human ships. In the face of a true unknown, he had changed ship status to Alert Hostile Enemy, put the Bridge into a constant neutrino comlink with the other ships, ordered Melody to transmit everything they did on All Ship video for the crew, and now he told himself to be patient as the four Marine Darts and Daisy’s LCA spread out among the tumbling fragments, searching for signs of life. Or at least air and heat. The infrared, electromag and neutrino sensors aboard each of those craft would help them find useful targets. And the lasers and missiles on each craft would suffice to kill anything that attacked them.

  “Sir,” called Rosemary from her Tactical station. “The Tarawa II is closing in on that wing fragment that lies six thousand klicks ahead and down toward the ecliptic. The Berlin is heading for the other wing frag close to it. The Chapultepec has penetrated the hull of a large chunk that shows warm on infrared. So have the Chao Lee and the Fallujah. They’re ignoring the cold dead frags.”

  Just as he had ordered. Richard might be impatient to lead one of the frag boardings but the man listened to and obeyed orders. As had the pilots on the four Darts. Each of which held a boarding team of three Marines, while the Berlin held four. He hoped Daisy would follow standard boarding practice and remain on her LCA, in constant suit comlink and video contact with Richard and his team, but safe from the uncertainties of roaming the hallways of an alien ship fragment. What Richard and his Marines were now doing was different from the boarding of Seven’s wasp ship. That ship had had operational lighting and gravity, and centrally directed fighters who made intentional assaults on the Marine boarders. It was nearly certain the ship frags being penetrated by the Darts and LCA lacked gravity, might lack lighting and likely lacked internal enviro controls. He knew that any Earth ship which had fragmented as badly as the alien manta ray ship had broken up would be out of link with any central enviro and com controls.

  “Good.” Jacob gave thanks for the suit videyes worn by each Marine and the videyes within each pilot bubble and in the cargo space of each Dart. Andrew was monitoring the video transmissions from twenty Marines and five pilots. The man would put up any active or interesting video on the front wallscreen. Jacob focused on the situational holo in front of his seat. Five green dots moved toward five purple dots. An image from the Lepanto’s electro-optical scope showed the two wing fragments were almost as long as a frigate at 100 meters. The other fragments were the size of a house or a s
mall factory block. Which made sense considering each manta ray ship had been 450 meters long and wide, larger than a destroyer but smaller than a cruiser. The Darts would each punch through a hull area, then Marines would exit the forward hatch and create a pressure tube to the frag interior. The Berlin lacked the penetrator nose of the Darts. So it was going to hover above a hull segment, extend a pressure tube from its midbody airlock, let down a Marine to affix a ring of C4 plastique on the hull, blow the plastique, then enter whatever space lay beyond, all weapons aimed forward. Or so Richard had advised him when Jacob had stood in the Dart hangar, watching as Daisy was the last pilot to enter her ship. The senior Marine had followed her, giving Jacob a thumbs-up gesture. A light flare drew his attention to the wallscreen. “What’s happening?”

  “Not a weapon,” called Oliver.

  “Nor a gravity surge,” said Cassandra.

  “It’s the flare from the plastique blast,” called Rosemary. “The Berlin is making entry.”

  “Power emissions detected,” called Maggie. “The LCA’s sensor array says the wing frag is heat emitting, there are power flows below the hull, and there are gravitons coming out. The frag has operational gravplates. Or whatever the aliens use to create internal gravity.”

  Jacob saw the green dot of the Berlin was in immediate contact with the purple dot of the wing frag. Which matched the scope image that showed the spindle shape of the LCA lying adjacent to the silvery wing frag. Yellow spotlights shone on the frag from the LCA’s nose and tail. This far out from the system’s sun local spotlights from the Darts and the LCA were the only illumination source. “What’s the status of Tarawa II?”