Against All Odds

by DePrima, Thomas

  "You're probably right.

  * * *

  The task force left Coleman the next day. Two platoons of Marines and a dozen engineers remained behind to occupy the station. Since the Tsgardi battle group assigned to take the station had already passed by and then been destroyed, there seemed little chance any invader would again attempt to take the station. The Tsgardi prisoners were immured in the station's brig. With the torpedoes returned to the armories and the laser weapons functioning, the station could defend itself from attacks by a small force.

  A thousand ships make an impressive armada until you spread them out to cover three sides of a territory that stretches across fifteen hundred light-years. Then it becomes difficult to find any of those ships when they aren't trying to be found. The seven-ship SC task force spent three days crisscrossing space once they arrived in the area where they expected to find the next Tsgardi battle group before finally locating it.

  This time they weren't seeking information from the Tsgardi, so Jenetta placed no restrictions on the force the ships in her task force could use to defeat the enemy. It was more important they not lose any more ships. The scout-destroyer Amazon had taken point and when it spotted the enemy ships it immediately sent a message to the task force. There was no need for talk this time, so the Amazon announced it was attacking then jammed the IDS band communications. When the rest of the task force arrived, they found the Amazon engaged with sixteen Tsgardi ships. Several had already been destroyed by torpedoes and most of the others were damaged in varying degrees. The arriving ships immediately joined the fray and made quick work of the remaining ships.

  Although not willing to put her ships at greater risk to collect what information the prisoners could provide, Jenetta was perfectly willing to accept the gift of additional intel when it was available. While Marines photographed the dead and recorded their elbow prints after completing their search for any live Tsgardi, she authorized the engineers to upload the contents of the shipboard computers to the Themis. The dead were stored in shipping containers for later disposal.

  "Twenty-nine down and just nine hundred seventy-one to go," Jenetta said to the captains of the task force on a seven-ship conference vid-link from her office aboard the Themis just before the task force was due to leave the battle site. "Good job, Amazon."

  "Thank you, Admiral," Commander Kimberly Riccio, the Amazon's captain, said.

  "When reviewing the logs of the first two encounters, one thing became apparent," Jenetta said. "There was a three-minute period when the Tsgardi fired almost no torpedoes at our ships. It was only after they realized their laser weapons were having little or no effect that they began sending torpedoes our way as quickly as possible. Therefore, I'm amending our battle plan. Upon identifying a Tsgardi battle group and notifying the rest of the ships in the task force, the scout destroyer will wait twelve minutes before beginning its attack run. That will allow us to arrive just about the time the Tsgardi are ramping up their use of torpedoes. With so many more targets, there's less chance of a single ship becoming as overwhelmed with torpedoes as the Colorado and Amazon were during their attacks. Does everyone understand?"

  The captains all responded, either audibly or by nodding.

  "Good. The Yangtze will take the point next. Good hunting, Captain Fannon."

  "Thank you, Admiral. The crew of the Yangtze will do their best to locate another battle group quickly."

  * * *

  After just two days of crisscrossing the next area identified by Admiral Kanes' intelligence staff, the ship commanded by Commander Fannon discovered Tsgardi Battle Group Five, composed of eleven destroyers and one cruiser. As with the Amazon, and the Colorado before her, they signaled the task force they were preparing to attack and jammed IDS communications. Fannon waited the mandated twelve minutes before they moved in, then used attack plan Delta-Three. The Tsgardi responded by spreading out into their standard 'V' battle formation as the Yangtze approached at Sub-Light Five. Without information about the success of the SC attack plan against other Tsgardi battle groups, the enemy ships responded according to their training and the Yangtze was fully involved when the main task force arrived. The enemy cruiser took a lot more killing than the destroyers, but it too succumbed quickly when the seven other SC ships arrived and began filling it with laser fire. The Tsgardi battle group managed to fire more than two hundred torpedoes total, but all were destroyed before they got close enough to any of the DS ships to do any damage.

  "This has been too easy," Captain Neil Elder of the battleship Boreas said from the privacy of his briefing room when the site had been cleaned up and Jenetta had set up a seven-ship vid-link conference with all captains. "I don't want to appear overconfident, but what gave these Tsgardi the idea they could defeat us? They only have titanium hulls on their warships, for God's sake."

  "At the time they entered into their pact, they were probably unaware of our development of Dakinium," Jenetta said. "If we were fighting with older ships having tritanium hull plating, the outcome of these engagements would be a lot less certain."

  "Our attack plan wouldn't be so bold, that's for sure," Commander Diana Durland, Captain of the Boreas' scout-destroyer Danube said. "Having a hull impervious to laser fire is a great comfort when the point ship begins its attack on the group."

  "What now, Admiral?" Captain Lynda Stager of the battleship Hyperion asked. "Do we continue along the Tsgardi front wiping out battle groups?"

  "For as long as we can. At some point they'll either learn of our tactics and adjust, or we'll run out of Tsgardi ships and have to rethink our attack plan against our other enemies. "I don't expect the Uthlaro to be so rigid in their response to the sudden appearance of one small scout-destroyer."

  "Will the battleships get a first crack at any of the Tsgardi battle groups, Admiral?" Captain Sandor Erikson of the Themis asked.

  "Not while attack plan Delta-Three is working so well, Captain. The Tsgardi don't consider the small ship much of a threat so they don't scatter. By the time they learn differently, their ships are damaged almost to the point of being incapable of interstellar travel. Let's stick with this format until we have to change. The Danube will take the point next. Good hunting, Commander Durland."

  "Thank you, Admiral," Commander Diana Durland, the Captain of the Danube said. "We'll bring home the bacon— or, in this case, the monkey-meat," she added smiling.

  "After the Danube, the Hudson will take the point, then it will fall to the Amazon again. If there's nothing else to be said, let's go bag our limit of baboons."

  * * *

  "Good Evening, and thank you for responding so quickly to my call for this emergency meeting of the Admiralty Board," Admiral Moore said as he took his seat in the large hall the Board used for its regular meetings. As was normally the case for emergency sessions, the gallery was empty, but a dozen or more aides and senior officers occupied chairs behind their admirals. "This message," the admiral said, gesturing towards the still dark, large, full-wall monitor occupying one end of the room, "received two hours ago was transmitted more than three weeks ago by Admiral Carver from Coleman Space Command Base." Turning towards one of his aides, he said, "Play the message."

  The monitor illuminated with a head and shoulders image of Admiral Jenetta Carver sitting in the office adjoining her VIP quarters in Coleman. As the message began to play, Jenetta was heard to say, "A task force, composed solely of the eight DS ships assigned to the Second Fleet, have met and engaged a Tsgardi battle group of thirteen destroyers approximately one hundred twenty-five light years inside our borders. I know now that this battle group was assigned the task of commandeering Coleman by whatever means necessary. Upon their arrival, they found the station dark and empty. They were unable to restore the systems disabled by our engineers during the evacuation and so moved on quickly.

  "After several days of investigation, Admiral Kanes and his staff have concluded beyond any shadow of doubt that Region Two has been simultaneously in
vaded by four interstellar powers working in concert to expel the Galactic Alliance. The four powers are the Tsgardi, the Hudeera, the Uthlaro, and the Gondusans. We've learned that they've signed a mutual aggression pact that will see our territory divided up among the four powers once we have been defeated and expelled.

  "Documents found in the safe of the Tsgardi battle group leader outline the plan, giving the specifics of their involvement. One thousand ships, most of them Uthlaro, have begun crossing our borders on three sides. The plan is to squeeze us out slowly, with all enemy ships converging at Quesann. There was never any intention of declaring war until they arrived at the Region Two Headquarters, where they would issue their ultimatum. An error on the part of a Tsgardi officer, executed for his mistake, was responsible for us being alerted to the invasion prematurely. We have learned of the plans early enough to make a substantial difference, but my forces are greatly outnumbered. The first fight with the Tsgardi went well. Only the Colorado, which led the assault, was damaged in the engagement. I hope our luck holds as we can't afford to lose any more ships. The Colorado has returned to Quesann for replacement of it's starboard maneuvering engine damaged by an enemy torpedo during the battle and hopefully will rejoin us in two months. We desperately need its firepower in this massive endeavor.

  "It's my intention to seek out the Tsgardi battle groups and engage them as soon as they are located. Since war hasn't been declared, I'm treating all invading ships as pirate vessels. At each encounter we will jam the IDS band so word of the engagements can't get back to the Tsgardi home world until it's too late for them to act. With luck, we can destroy much of the Tsgardi fleet before they even know what we're about. Our intel, derived from maps and plans found in enemy ships, tells us the Gondusan and Hudeera fleets have been strengthened by ships from the Uthlaro fleet, so defeating them will present much greater challenges. The documents found by Admiral Kanes' people state that the Uthlaro have brought over six hundred ships into our territory. This is almost double the number we believed they had available. It's indicative of a plan hatched long before we defeated the Milori. I believe they intended to invade the Milori Empire and annex its territory when Maxxiloth had been sufficiently weakened by his attacks on the Galactic Alliance, so our annexation following the Milori surrender must have come as a great shock. I also believe that their announced intention to share this prize with three other powers is a lie. If they could unseat us, they would no doubt turn on their allies and eject them from the territory. They might even be planning to annex the territory of their so-called allies.

  "The battle plan, and other relevant data, is appended to this vid message. Admiral Kanes will shortly be relaying a complete report to Admiral Bradlee's office.

  "It's imperative the Board expedite, to whatever extent possible, the development of the DS ships promised to the Second Fleet. The speed and strengthened hull of the new ships provides our only chance of defeating such a large and powerful enemy armada. By the time any older ships not already underway could arrive, most of Region Two could already be in the hands of the THUG pact. We leave now in pursuit of more Tsgardi battle groups. I'm sure we have your approval and blessing in this endeavor.

  "Jenetta Carver, Admiral, Commander of the Second Fleet and Military Governor of Region Two, aboard the Themis. Message complete."

  After the accompanying documents, messages, and vid images of the prisoner interviews were played, there was complete silence in the Board's meeting hall.

  The silence was finally broken after several minutes by Admiral Hillaire. "We thought the situation with the Milori invasion to be impossible, but this is far worse. How could the Uthlaro have implemented such a campaign without our agents picking up the slightest shred of information about their plans or the construction and staffing of so many ships. For them to send more than six hundred must mean they have several hundred or more still protecting their territory."

  "Unless they sent everything they have," Admiral Plimley said. "They know we beat the Milori, and might see us as a far greater threat, motivating them to send their entire fleet."

  "They wouldn't be that stupid," Admiral Burke said. "Would they?"

  "This might be an all-or-nothing scenario with them," Admiral Ahmed said. "If they fear we have expansionist ideas that include their territory, they might feel this will be their only opportunity to halt our progress before we're knocking on their door."

  "No, this was planned a long time ago," Admiral Bradlee said. "You don't build and staff six hundred, or nine hundred, ships without expansionist goals of your own. Their territory is about the size of Region One. We've always felt that five hundred ships was more than adequate for our defense."

  "Until the Milori invaded us," Admiral Woo said. "Perhaps the Uthlaro feared they would be Maxxiloth's next target and wanted to be prepared."

  "Regardless of their past intentions, they've invaded our territory now and we have to stop them," Admiral Platt said. "We must send Admiral Carver every ship we can. What's the current situation at the Mars Shipbuilding Facility?"

  "The five scout-destroyers we promised Admiral Carver during her visit will be ready to launch within the next few weeks," Admiral Plimley said. "We can possibly speed that up and launch them within a week. We have nine new battleships under construction. The Prometheus class will end with completion of the next three. The six after that are all of the new Ares class. In line with our plans to step up production to twenty-five new DS warships every year, we also have fifty destroyers, twenty-one frigates, and fifteen cruisers under construction."

  "What's the status of the refit docks where we intended to produce more scout-destroyers?" Admiral Ressler asked.

  "We've laid the hulls for ten more scout-destroyers, but we're talking about five more months before they're ready to launch."

  "Any way that can be sped up?" Admiral Hillaire asked.

  "I'll get together with the yard manager and his assistants and see what we can do. May I brief them of the reason for the urgency?"

  "Yes," Admiral Moore said, "but make sure they understand it's still classified top-secret. We can't allow any newsies to learn of this until after the Tsgardi know we've discovered their plans and are targeting their battle groups."

  "So in seven or eight months, Admiral Carver will have fifteen additional scout-destroyers ships to add to her task force," Admiral Burke said. "If her assessment of the fighting ability of these little ships is accurate, that should help her immensely."

  "Twenty-three ships against a thousand still leaves Admiral Carver ill-prepared to protect her region," Admiral Ahmed said, "but at least she won't lack for supplies and ordnance. We've dispatched the two new quartermaster transports that were recently completed. They'll arrive at Quesann in thirty-five days. Two more transports will be launched in a couple of months, and we can immediately send them off with more ordnance and supplies. Since it will only take four months for the round trip, my four new ships can make three runs every year until Quesann has everything it needs."

  "I just wish we could send her a couple of hundred ships today," Admiral Moore said, "but, as she said, older ships not already underway cannot get there in time to help. However, a fleet of ships aligned along the border of Region One will ensure that the Uthlaro stop at the former border if the they get past Admiral Carver. Let's prepare a list of the ships that can be sent."

  "Our plan to produce twenty-five new ships each year was established back when we only had to provide patrol coverage for Region One," Admiral Plimley said. "Now that our territory has been enlarged to four times that size, our need for four times as many ships is obvious. We must have more docks. I'm not saying we need anywhere near the thousands Maxxiloth had, but an increase is clearly called for. I propose we make plans to quadruple the number of ship docks at the Mars' yard from one-hundred to four-hundred."

  "Quadruple?" Admiral Hubera said.

  "Yes, Donald. Quadrupling the yard will give us one-hundred new ships each year. Th
at will be barely enough if we're going to patrol a territory that stretches three-thousand light-years."

  "Obviously," Admiral Moore said, "our appropriation from the GAC isn't nearly adequate for our current needs. I'll prepare a presentation for the next committee meeting and see if I can convince them of the need."

  * * *

  "We're unable to make contact with eight of our battle groups, sir," Premier Warlord Qerdesqa's aide said upon returning from a special meeting with the First Director of War Room Communications.

  "What? No contact at all?"

  "None, sir. Reports from all eight groups are overdue."

  "Which groups haven't reported in?"

  "The center of the line from Group Three that overran Coleman SCB to Group Ten, who crossed the border almost halfway to the Gondusan border."

  "How many ships?"

  "One hundred nine warships, including three cruisers and one battleship."

  "Which battleship?"

  "The Slepeakus, sir."

  "The Slepeakus is our newest battleship."

  "Yes, sir. It was placed in the center of the groupings so it could respond to any resistance along the line."

  "Have there been any reports of contact with Space Command?"

  "No, sir. We've received no messages at all following their previous reports that all was normal and that they were proceeding on schedule."

  "If our ships had been engaged in battle, they would have reported in before attacking."

  "Yes, sir. They should have."

  "Can this be attributed to some sort of space anomaly? Something to do with a pattern shift in the dimensional displacement frequencies or something?"

  "It's unlikely that eight different battle groups could be affected."

  "Then what could be the reason?"

  "Uh— uh— I can't imagine anything except Space Command, sir," the aide said.

  Premier Warlord Qerdesqa stared at his aide intently. "How could it be Space Command? We know that Carver has very few ships in the former Milori Empire."