by S. H. Jucha
-28-
Mock Fight
Yumi Tanaka enjoyed a full day with her parents, but Edouard and Miko were anxious to talk to Ellie. The parents asked Ellie to join them for dinner on the second evening. The Haraken captains wanted the latest updates from her, regarding the chase and cornering of the sphere. In addition, they were interested in spending some precious hours with an old friend, someone who had been part of Alex’s workings since he arrived at the Libran colony.
For her part, Ellie was enjoying the dinner and company. Compared to the frugal quarters aboard a Trident, she was dining in a carrier’s salon that was luxuriously appointed.
“What do you think are your chances for the commodore positions?” Ellie asked Miko and Edouard.
“Probably excellent,” Miko replied. “We have pull with the admiral.”
Ellie laughed at the characterization of a fellow Dagger pilot, who had risen through the ranks with them. Her laughter died, when she caught Yumi’s wince, and Ellie glanced at Edouard.
“Our daughter believes that she should be the only one of the family to endanger her life,” Edouard commented, leaning over to kiss Yumi’s temple. “Parents should stay out of harm’s way.”
Yumi scowled but made no comment.
“It’s normal to want to protect our loved ones,” Ellie said, to ease Yumi’s discomfort, “especially when they insist on doing a job they’re qualified to handle.”
The family knew Ellie was referring to her partner, Étienne, who protected Alex and Renée. There was often no more dangerous place to be than standing next to Alex Racine.
“But what about your carriers?” Yumi asked plaintively.
“They’re outmoded, daughter,” Edouard replied. “If we continue to act as their captains, we’ll be passed over for promotion. This is our opportunity, and we must take it. We have long lives yet to be enjoyed.”
“Yumi, we could be building these forces for no reason. The Nua’ll might face us and decide to negotiate,” Miko said. She looked at Ellie for support on this point, but Ellie returned her plea with a stoic expression.
Edouard was about to ask Ellie if she would like another drink, but the Trident captain held up a hand to signal an incoming comm.
“We have to cut our gathering short,” Ellie said to Edouard, Miko, and Yumi. “Alex is requesting we launch soonest.”
“Where are you headed?” Edouard asked.
“Presumably, we’re returning to Haraken,” Ellie replied.
“Has Alex said so?” Miko asked.
“No, which is why I’m waiting for confirmation,” Ellie replied. “We came here to investigate something that Alex seems to be chasing. What, I’m not sure, but he visited the observatory platform this evening.”
Edouard and Miko exchanged glances, wondering what the future held for them and their daughter if Alex was on the hunt, once again.
Ellie sent a recall to the crew via the Liberator’s controller. She ordered her traveler pilots to collect them from the planet and the local stations, as quickly as possible. Ellie and Yumi had dined aboard the Last Stand, which enabled them to get a lift from a carrier traveler to return to their warship.
Hours later, Ellie announced to Alex that they were ready to depart. It was the early morning hours, but Alex and Julien had joined Ellie and Yumi on the bridge until the third watch, who was standing by, began the remainder of their shift.
“Where to, Alex?” Ellie asked, assuming nothing.
“Bellamonde, Captain.”
Yumi glanced questioningly at Ellie, who ignored her, saying, “Report our exit from orbit, pilot, and thread us through traffic. When you’re clear, take a course for an efficient exit from Hellébore in Bellamonde’s direction and have the controller calculate our transit. After that you can retire.”
While Yumi worked, Ellie said to Alex, “I hear that they might abandon the carriers.”
“Heard that too,” Alex replied. “I’m trying to figure out if we can use them to support the Freedom and any freighters the other worlds supply.”
“Alex, even if we can’t use the carriers, they’re carrying a tremendous number of travelers.”
“Black space, how could I have missed that?” Alex said with heat.
Ellie chuckled at the intensity of Alex’s statement. “Could be you’ve had a little too much on your mind lately. I don’t know … like the Nua’ll.”
Alex glanced at Julien, who protested, “Just because I have a fabulous processing ability and an enormous data repository doesn’t mean that I haven’t been preoccupied either.”
“Good suggestion, Captain,” Alex replied, appending a note about the travelers to the one concerning the carriers that was stored in his ever-full implants. “President Terese and I might strike a deal to have Haraken lend us the fighters to house in the Freedom’s spare bays, or we could purchase the travelers outright. Come to think of it, neither of those ideas would do us any good without the pilots. Let me think on that.”
Alex eyed Julien, and the SADE replied, “I have managed to make a note of the need for that discussion in case your human implants fail to remind you.”
Alex laughed and wished everyone a good night.
* * *
“The OS Liberator has entered the Bellamonde system, Ser,” the captain of the House liner said to Katrina Pasko.
Katrina glanced with concern at her partner, Gino Diamanté.
“Captain, can you determine the principals who might be aboard?” Gino asked.
“Negative, Council Leader. As I understand warship protocols, the Omnian Trident won’t allow an open comm with its ship’s controller. I can request the names of the principals from the controller, but it will be the prerogative of the captain to grant my request. Is there a difficulty, Ser?” the captain asked.
“You’re new aboard, Captain,” Katrina said, “but I’ll remind you that this liner is the Resplendent, which once housed the SADE Allora.”
“And I can think of only one reason an Omnian warship has entered the Bellamonde system,” Gino added.
“Alex Racine has come to inspect our efforts,” the captain supplied.
“Precisely, Captain,” Gino replied.
At that same moment, Julien was updating Alex, Renée, and Ellie. “Telemetry indicates the Méridien footprint on Bellamonde is minimal.”
“Has the planet recovered enough to start a new colony?” Renée asked.
“It doesn’t appear to be a colony, as yet, Ser,” Julien replied. “The only evident constructions on planet are the naval academy and its support facilities,” Julien replied. “Also, I detect three orbital stations around Bellamonde. None of them appear as sophisticated, passenger-transfer platforms. They’re dedicated to ship construction.”
“Captain, we’ve been pinged by twenty-seven Confederation Tridents requesting more data than our ship ID,” Yumi said.
Ellie waited for Alex’s permission to respond, but he was staring into space, and Yumi glanced from her captain to Alex, wishing to understand the reason for the delay.
“Julien, ship positions,” Alex requested.
The holo-vid sprang to life. “Blue dot, us; red dot, Bellamonde; yellow dots, enemy Tridents,” Julien said, smiling, anticipating Alex’s idea.
“Vectors on the enemy ships, Captain,” Alex requested, eliciting a predatory grin from Ellie.
Yumi, who was not on board with the concept, nonetheless, dutifully added trajectory lines to the Confederation warships.
“If we make straight for Bellamonde, Alex, we’ll pass behind these three Tridents within 13.8 hours,” Ellie said, adding a translucent sphere around them.
“Perfect, Captain. I’ll leave you and your pilot to design your sneak attack. When you have a shot lined up on any one of the warships, you’re to ping them with a message that indicates you’ve fired. Understood?”
“What are my rules of engagement, Captain?” Yumi asked, fascinated how quickly Julien and Ellie had caught on to Alex
’s idea.
Ellie looked at Alex, who said, “Lieutenant Tanaka, you’re to attack, create havoc, and score hits, but you’re to survive the encounter. Captain, warn me before you attack.”
“Understood, Ser,” Ellie replied, straightening her stance.
When Alex and Julien left the bridge, Yumi said to Ellie, “It appears we’re testing the Méridiens’ training. This should be interesting.”
No, my young pilot, Ellie thought, Alex’s testing the Méridiens and us.
* * *
Senior Captain Descartes was whiling away the time, indulging in one of his favorite pastimes, calculating potential conflicts and the strategies to win them. To his delight, this afternoon had handed him a perfect opportunity to test his designs and his squadron’s readiness. An Omnian warship was headed for Bellamonde and would pass to their rear.
The SADE, Descartes, was freed from his box two years ago and continued to serve aboard a House passenger liner during the following year of indenture. Secretly, he yearned to fly travelers, swirling them endlessly through space, swift and maneuverable.
When the agreement to produce Trident warships was introduced and approved by the Council, Descartes realized a better opportunity. At first, he sought to pilot a Trident, but when he discovered that a Haraken would be in charge of the naval training facilities, Descartes realized the possibility of an even greater goal. It would be possible for a SADE to captain a warship.
Sifting through his attack options, Descartes chose a three-pronged maneuver that suited his small squadron, and he signaled his intention to the other two captains.
* * *
Ellie was about to signal Alex and Julien that her attack run would soon begin, when she saw the pair walk through the bridge accessway. Of course, you two were monitoring our position, Ellie thought. Their close attention underlined her earlier thought. Alex and Julien were evaluating her, as much as they were the Méridiens.
Before the attack was initiated, Ellie reviewed Alex’s engagement rules. He’d said to attack, create havoc, and score hits, but that they were to survive. It would be a difficult balance to strike, but it insisted on a real-world scenario versus a game strategy.
Ellie would leave the intricate fight maneuvers to Yumi, while she orchestrated the tactics. However, Ellie could envision an upcoming challenge with her youthful pilot. In the heat of battle, Yumi might choose to pursue and win, forgetting Alex’s orders to survive. It would be her job to stay Yumi’s hand, if necessary, at the crucial moment.
The Redemption’s holo-vid displayed the four warships. Ellie had marked the adversaries in colors. Every Omnian senior commander and captain had adopted Alex’s preferences to use colors to identify entities rather than number designations in scenarios.
“Lieutenant, blue leader will probably be the first to move when we attack,” Ellie said. “Be prepared to target red or orange for your first pass. If your attack is successful, your next maneuver will depend on their defensive pattern. Again, try for either the red or orange adversary. Blue leader will probably be the toughest target.”
As the chronometer ticked down, Ellie briefly eyed Alex. Julien and he stood well back, watching the holo-vid display. It was as she thought. They would be silent observers.
“Now, Lieutenant,” Ellie said quietly.
Yumi initiated the attack run she’d programmed into the controller. The Trident swung in a tight arc, chasing the Méridien squadron’s rear.
Precious moments were lost to Descartes. The Omnian warship had the greater velocity and had swung to the attack before he’d initiated his maneuver. So, we play, Captain, Descartes thought, even as he signaled a new strategy to his captains.
Yumi witnessed the accuracy of her captain’s prediction. Blue leader was the first to arc above the ecliptic, probably hoping to come behind her after the initial pass. Fractionally slower, red antagonist cut right and slightly below the ecliptic, which would complicate her attack. For a recent trainee, blue leader is not acting like a newbie, Yumi thought, as she signaled the controller.
The Liberator’s orange opponent failed to react quickly compared to the other two Confederation or CO warships, and that spelled its end. As the Méridien warship swung to the left and attempted to dip below the ecliptic, Yumi’s Trident shot past it. The controller beeped twice, indicating it had scored two hits on the enemy.
Having taken one Méridien ship out of the game but recognizing the blue leader’s gambit, Yumi opted not to play. She stayed near the ecliptic, continued her swing inward and came parallel to her Trident’s original course to Bellamonde.
Directly ahead and easily within reach for Yumi, before the enemy could gain her tail, was a dense line of asteroids. They weren’t part of Bellamonde’s twin asteroid belts, but there was enough rock to serve her purpose.
Shooting under the heavy pile of asteroids, each of them dwarfing Yumi’s ship, she slewed the Trident around and retraced her course. In the time it took to accomplish that, the Méridien warships had arrived. They took up positions about 45 degrees apart on the opposite side of the asteroids and remained on the ecliptic.
Yumi grinned. It was what she’d hoped the enemy would do. They had stationed their ships too close to the asteroids, while she remained a good distance back. When she accelerated, arcing under the field of asteroids, the Méridiens lost precious time skewing away from her attack.
Yumi signaled her controller to target the red adversary, which she bore down on. The CO warship had belatedly tried to accelerate away from her, and Yumi scored two more strikes.
Quickly reorganizing the hierarchy of his strategy list, Descartes had an epiphany about the nature of battle. Not assigning blame to his commandant, he now understood that he’d taken much of his teachings too literally.
The Omnian warship had completed its arc and now shot above the ecliptic. He was traveling on it and away. Swinging his Trident into a hard arc, Descartes sought a head-on pass at the Omnian. The probabilities were good that the Omnian captain would best him, but Descartes had decided he would take the captain and her ship with him, if he could.
Yumi
insisted with her thought.
Part of Yumi’s mind yelled at her to object and find a way to convince Ellie that she could win the next pass. After all, it was only a game. But, Yumi had been raised by two warships captains. They had told her stories of how they’d often thought Alex wrong but chose to follow his orders anyway. Later, they’d discovered that he’d been right. It was those stories that made Yumi relent.
“Breaking off, Captain,” Yumi announced firmly. She continued above the ecliptic, taking a broad arc to regain a course toward Bellamonde. She had the greater velocity on the Méridien warship, that wouldn’t be able to catch her now.
-29-
CO Tridents
The SADE’s enthusiasm was evident in his voice, and Alex glanced at Julien, grinning.
Descartes sent.
