From the same image, Billy could also see around thirty Ganthoran Cruisers clustering in the centre of the formation. Hundreds of Ganthoran Destroyers were pushing forward to engage the Alliance ships, whilst this large body of Cruisers massed for what would be a hammer blow of a counter-attack. This was indeed a dangerous situation. Billy knew that if he called Alliance vessels in from the periphery of the formation, it would leave them weakened and vulnerable to a break out by the more nimble and agile Ganthoran Destroyers. The Ganthoran Frontier Fleets were only just being penned in on the margins of the battle by the Alliance Star-Cruisers and Eagles, which were supported by the Cruisers and Destroyers from Grobbeg’s Fleet.
The large numbers of Ganthoran Destroyers were fighting to gain the initiative, whilst the Cruisers massed in the centre behind the Destroyer screen. It was only going to be a matter of time before those Cruisers decided to attempt a break out.
And, if they did break out whilst Billy was still aboard the Appomattox, then he would have to scamper back to the Olympus to regain his War Table and take charge of the battle once more.
That, Billy knew, would take time, and in those crucial minutes, decisive opportunities could be lost that could swing the battle one way or the other.
“Acknowledged.” Billy’s reply was bitter, since he realised that he could not control the battle from this close to the front line.
In a battle situation, he had to have full knowledge and understanding of what was going on to make effective decision-making possible.
Here begin-eth the lesson, Billy thought.
He had been in such a hurry to get into the action that he had forgotten what his true and correct role in the battle had been. He was the Supreme Commander; the Master Tactician and Strategist. That was what he was best at. That was what the Mind profile of First Admiral Teg Skarral Portan had made him. He now realised that he had no business to be risking his life aboard a crippled Star-Cruiser, simply because his vanity and arrogance had made him want to be the hero. Silently, Billy cursed himself for his foolishness and arrogance
“We’ve just lost the Archimedes,” Lokkrien announced in his inner ear, “we won’t be able to hold the centre for much longer, sir...Do we start withdrawing, sir?”
Marrhus Lokkrien was asking a perfectly reasonable question, given the circumstances. The centre of the Alliance position would start to crumble, and if the expected Ganthoran Cruiser counter-attack came, the Alliance position would collapse. With the Alliance centre pierced, the vessels on the edge of the formation would be isolated making them easy prey for the huge numbers of Ganthoran Axe-Blades. This was the critical juncture of the battle. However, Billy could still see that none of the big “Six Cigar” Carriers had appeared yet.
If he could neutralise the combined threat of the Cruisers and Destroyers, the Carriers would be vulnerable when they emerged from the Wormhole. It would then be a case of setting the high-yield pulsar-cannon onto the Carriers before they could launch their swarms of single-seat fighters.
“No, Admiral,” Billy replied to the last request from Lokkrien, “grit your teeth and hold on here - I need two more minutes.”
“Acknowledged, sir, we’ll try to give you that time,” Lokkrien responded.
Right, here we go, Billy thought.
To make the Appomattox into a first-rate flying bomb, he had to set the Force Shielding to the maximum setting he could muster from the Proto-Star Reactor. That was going to be difficult, because the self-destruct mechanism would close down the Containment Fields around the Reactor. As the doomed ship travelled forward towards the target, the energy levels would be depleted as the Proto-Star matter was released into the ship. That meant a very fine balancing act between energy for propulsion, and energy for the Force Shielding, plus some careful timing as to when the vessel finally detonated. For the maximum effect, Billy wanted the Appomattox to explode right in the middle of the Ganthoran formation. The cluster of Cruisers that were massing for the counter attack would be directly in the path of the Appomattox. It wouldn’t take the Ganthorans too long to figure out that the lone Star-Cruiser; single-handedly attacking the strongest part of their position, was on a suicide mission. And, consequently, every available Ganthoran gun would be turned on her.
“Caudwell to Olympus,” Billy announced into the Comms Net.
“Go ahead, sir,” the voice of Marrhus Lokkrien said.
“Admiral, when Appomattox makes her attack run, I want you to concentrate your fire on the ships that are trying to stop or block her,” Billy ordered.
“Yes, sir,” came the crisp response from his Chief of Staff.
As the Force Shielding of the Appomattox started to fail from lack of energy, Billy hoped that the Alliance guns would smooth her path right into the heart of the Ganthorans.
Looking at the two-dimensional Tactical View Screen once more, Billy selected a path for the red-highlighted image of Appomattox to travel towards the yellow images of the Ganthoran ships. Gently pressing down to the right on the Navigator’s pressure plate, Billy aligned the doomed vessel onto the path he had chosen, and then pushed the small green button that locked the course, and heading, into the Navigation Computer. The only thing that would stop the Appomattox now was the vessel’s total destruction.
With the Navigation set, Billy turned his attention to the throttle control, moving it forward from the pale-blue to the middle-red setting. A few moments later, a loud metallic creak announced that the Appomattox was starting to gain greater momentum. However, Billy had to make sure that the vessel maintained a straight and true course right up until the last possible minute.
So, with his left hand committed to the throttle control, Billy pushed the large red rectangular button on top of the Console. Below the button, the Console surface slid back slowly to expose a large rectangular recess. In the recess was another hand-shaped pressure plate, flanked by a red and green circular button. Setting his right hand on the plate, the red button lit up.
“Identify First Admiral William Caudwell.” A disembodied, sweet, almost syrupy female voice made the announcement from the crew address system, as the red button extinguished and the green button lit up.
Billy Caudwell then pressed the green button, which extinguished whilst the red button lit up.
“Self-destruct sequence activated.” The calm, almost syrupy voice somehow masked the anxiety that Billy Caudwell felt, and downplayed the severity of the situation. “Please confirm First Admiral William Caudwell.”
With a deep sigh of anxiety, Billy pressed the red button once more, which began to flash rapidly.
“Identify please, First Admiral William Caudwell?” the disembodied voice asked once more.
Calmly, Billy put his now-sweating palm onto the pressure plate once again. This time, both the green and red buttons began to flash rapidly.
“Thank you, First Admiral William Caudwell, self-destruct sequence now completed, detonation in ninety seconds.” The recess in the Console closed up for the final time.
There, that’s that done, Billy let out a long sigh of relief.
The self-destruct sequence was now counting down. Nothing could stop it, not even a direct verbal order from First Admiral Billy Caudwell. He now had ninety seconds until the final Containment Field around the Proto-Star Reactor closed down and the liberated Proto-Star destroyed the Appomattox.
“Caudwell to Olympus, I have set the self-destruct, instruct the Tele-Port Technician to retrieve me in thirty seconds,” Billy ordered.
“Acknowledged, sir, thirty seconds,” the voice of the Tele-Port Technician rang in his inner ear.
“Sir, we’ve just lost Adamant as well,” Lokkrien announced, “we can’t hold on much longer.”
“You have to hold them, Admiral,” Billy replied, “and be ready to keep these Ganthorans away from Appomattox.”
With the self-destruct mechanism set, Billy watched the two-dimensional Tactical View Screen and the holographic image of the Appomattox to
make sure that the course was straight and true. There was only going to be one chance to deliver the doomed Star-Cruiser into the Ganthoran position, and Billy had to make sure it would be done right.
And, as he watched, Billy could see that the holographic image of the Appomattox stayed rock-steady. On the two-dimensional Tactical View Screen, Billy could see that the Appomattox was just about to break cover. In a few moments, the Ganthorans would spot her, and start to turn their weapons fire onto her.
Throughout the Alliance position, Billy could see that the ships were being hard pressed. In the centre, a large force of Ganthoran Cruisers was massing, and growing stronger with every moment that passed. Cruisers and Destroyers, afforded some protection by the mass of space debris and wreckage, were gathering for what must be the inevitable counter strike. On the edges of the battle, the Ganthoran losses were still murderously high, but the sacrifices amongst those Destroyers on the edges of the battle area were holding Alliance ships in places that Billy should have been sending to the centre.
“One minute to detonation,” the soft, syrupy female voice of the self-destruct mechanism announced.
That’s my cue to go, Billy Caudwell thought to himself, and began to lock down the Control Console for the ship’s last destructive journey into the heart of the Ganthoran position.
The first shuddering and shaking of the dying vessel told Billy that he was close enough to the Ganthoran Frontier Fleet positions to feel the blasts of Screaming Death that were being directed at all of the Alliance ships.
Out in the battle area, the Appomattox had broken cover and was making a straight run towards the cluster of Cruisers and Destroyers. The Star-Cruisers and Eagles that were in the proximity of the Appomattox now turned their guns onto the screen of Destroyers that stood between Appomattox and her target. The Ganthorans, having spotted the Star-Cruiser, and aware that the Alliance weapons were trying to protect her, realised that she had to be stopped.
“Tele-Port, stand by.” Billy patiently waited for the Tele-Port Technician to begin the sequence to retrieve him from the Battle Centre of the Appomattox.
With the Destroyer screen in front of Appomattox being whittled down sharply by the concentration of Alliance gunfire, the Ganthoran commander on the scene had to make the decision to either wait for this Alliance ship to attack his centre position, or to launch his counter attack and sweep the lone Star-Cruiser away in the early stages of the assault.
“Acknowledged, sir, locking onto your signal now, sir,” came the response from the familiar voice.
The Ganthoran commander sensed that the lone Star-Cruiser approaching his counter attack force was not there to execute the same type of “smash and grab” raid that the Alliance forces had carried out previously. This was something entirely different. This was a suicide mission, and as such, had to be stopped before it could do any real damage to his forces. The counter attack had to go in, and it had to go in now.
On the two-dimensional Tactical View Screen, Billy could already see the bulging blister of the Ganthoran Frontier Fleet warships growing even larger, as the thirty Cruisers and their Destroyer supports began to move forward. The Alliance line was under severe pressure and was buckling dangerously before the Ganthoran advance.
Nine Alliance Star-Cruisers had now been lost out of the formation, leaving the defensive position badly stretched.
And, to make matters worse, those Star-Cruisers that were holding their stations were starting to pull slowly back from the defensive perimeter. The weapons fire from the Ganthoran ships were growing stronger as more and more of their Cruisers survived the initial contact with the Alliance vessels. The smaller Ganthoran Destroyers were able to use their speed and manoeuvrability to dodge between the debris and wreckage to add their Screaming Death waves to the mayhem of the weapons fire exchange.
White-hot pulsar-bolts sped and zipped through the twisting, turning maelstrom of wreckage and destruction; through the criss-crossing, shimmering waves of Screaming Death, and in amongst the frantically dodging-and-weaving Ganthoran Destroyers. Still, the Ganthorans were sustaining heavy losses, but fresh reserves just kept pouring through the mouth of the Wormhole. Billy knew that he had to get the Appomattox into the very heart of the Ganthoran position, or they would break through. And, if they broke through, then the carefully planned trap would end up as a massively uncoordinated scrimmage that would be overwhelmed by the Frontier Fleet vessels.
Being thrown violently to his left, Billy clung desperately onto the edge of the Control Console as a huge wave of Screaming Death hit the Appomattox. The Ganthorans were now starting to pay closer attention to the abandoned Alliance Star-Cruiser that had suddenly come back to life, and was now starting to move towards their positions. It was now time for Billy Caudwell to get out of the Appomattox and leave her to her final heroic journey of destruction.
“Whenever you’re ready, Olympus!?” Billy anxiously waited for the Tele-Port Technician to confirm a lock-on and lift him away from the danger zone.
“Sir, we can’t reach you through the enemy weapons fire, our Scanners can’t lock onto you!” The voice of the Communications Technician sounded almost apologetic.
The message struck Billy Caudwell like a hammer blow to his stomach. The combined electro-magnetic and sonic waves of the Ganthoran Screaming Death were interfering with the Tele-Port Scanners. The Tele-Port Technicians would have the capability of retrieving him, but would be unable to accurately detect and lock onto his unique signature amongst all the interference. He was trapped aboard a flying bomb, with a self-destruct countdown that he could not stop, that was heading into the heart of an enemy formation in the middle of a battle.
Way to go, Billy, he thought, cursing himself, the irony of the situation striking him squarely between the eyes.
He had succeeded magnificently in getting himself into this particular deadly mess. He had no one to blame but himself for the situation. He had wanted to play the big hero, despite the sensible warnings of Marrhus Lokkrien, and the niggling feeling in his mind that was Teg Skarral Portan, and now he was in the greatest danger imaginable. Billy now realised that his eagerness and stupidity had gotten him into this mess.
And, now he had to get himself out of the mess. He had learned rapidly from his mistake and his actions, and now he hoped he would live long enough to profit from that lesson.
“Forty-five seconds to detonation,” the sweet, syrupy female voice announced.
Thinking quickly, Billy knew he had no time to waste in creating a solution to his latest incursion into stupidity. The Scanners could not penetrate through the waves of Screaming Death that were jolting and jarring the Appomattox. And, what Billy desperately needed was some sort of blind-spot in the barrage that would allow the Tele-Port Technician to reach through the Ganthoran weapons fire and snatch him to safety. Looking at the two-dimensional Tactical View Screen, Billy realised that there was likely to be such a blind-spot.
“Olympus, move to position directly behind-repeat-directly behind this vessel!” Billy ordered via the Communications Net.
Looking at the two-dimensional image, Billy realised that with the correct angles, the Force Shielding of the Appomattox would create a blind-spot in the shimmering haze of Screaming Death. The Alliance position was still holding steady, with the solitary figure of the Appomattox heading straight towards the advancing Ganthoran ships in the counter attack. The silvery-white shimmering waves of Screaming Death were being directed right at the single red-highlighted image on the two-dimensional screen from the noses of the lead Ganthoran vessels. The lead vessels were all Destroyers, which at least gave the Appomattox the chance of getting close to the Ganthoran attack. If several Cruisers had concentrated their fore on the Appomattox, then her life-expectancy would be much shorter.
Clambering through the half-opened door to the Battle Centre, Billy could already feel the deep, rumbling vibrations in the hull of the great warship, telling him that the Containment Fields aroun
d the Proto-Star reactor were being shut down, one by one. The Proto-Star matter, chained and restricted by the Containment Fields, was less than forty seconds from complete liberation. And, when the Proto-Star matter broke free, Billy knew that the Appomattox would not be a healthy place to be.
Now, Billy knew that he had to get as close to the rear of the vessel as he possibly could. And, fortunately, the architecture and design of the Alliance Star-Cruiser was working in Billy Caudwell’s favour. The Battle Centre was located about half way down the length of the vessel, below the final two high-yield pulsar-cannon turrets. Beneath each turret was a Ready Room, with a large ramp that allowed the gun crews rapid access to the weapons. The Ready Room housed all the guidance and targeting mechanisms for the guns and also the resting quarters for the off-duty crew members. Beneath the final two Ready Rooms was a long corridor that led directly to the very rear of the vessel. Billy’s objective had to be to reach that corridor, and to make it to the large rear Viewing Window at the end of the corridor.
Turning left into the dimly lit corridor, Billy knew that he would have to get as close to the rear of the vessel as he could in the time that was left. The Proto-Star reactor was located further forward in the vessel, and as the Containment Fields collapsed, the Proto-Star matter would liberate along the corridors, from the front of the vessel towards the rear.
Even with his Personal Environment Suit on, Billy could not be sure that if he were engulfed in Proto-Star matter, that the PES would be able to protect him for any length of time. Billy was aware that he had a greater chance of survival out in the freezing, airless depths of space than he had in the Proto-Star matter liberation. If the worst came to the worst, he could, hopefully, get clear of the vessel, and take his chances in the harsh environment outside of the Appomattox.
The Ganthoran Gambit (The First Admiral Series) Page 24
