One of the software changes that had been incorporated into the new Disruptor was the ability for the originating ship to order it to abandon its current target and seek a new one. Greg issued the redeployment command. The Disruptor missiles spun around to face the enemy now racing to intercept them. Then, Greg ordered a full force retreat. The prearranged retreat point was in orbit around the second moon of the system’s larger gas giant.
After regrouping, Greg explained what had gone wrong. “Those ships were decoys. It’s a scenario out of one of my combat games. It’s in Planetoid Defender. The difference is that the defending force, which is us, is supposed to dodge and feint in order to lead the attacking force to the point where the ground based defenses can be brought to bear. Except there are no ground based defenses that can stand up to a force that size.”
“Do we know the force is as big as we think it is? Could there be more decoys?” Avi asked.
“It’s possible.”
“Abraham, can you tell by the deflection of the light from the stars, the strength of the field around the drive units?”
“With a reference, yes.”
Greg said, “The strength of the field times the acceleration gives us the mass. Decoys are light. Less mass, less deflection. Reuben, are the sensors sensitive enough to pick up the differences?”
“Yes, They are.”
“Let’s do it.”
They developed an algorithm that would allow them to compare the star patterns from one ship looking through the suspect ship’s fields and one looking around it. They jumped to around the clock on the closer of the two larger of the P A F ships. It appeared to be too light to be what it claimed to be. The wall of small P A F ships turned like a school of fish to engage them at the decoy. Greg ruled out this ship as a target and they moved to the next largest ship. Without firing a missile, the P I ships jumped again to put four of the twelve ships behind the other large warship’s propulsion unit. This one read that it was real. The few pickets they encountered guarding the aft end were quickly lasered out of existence. As had been proven before, Saturn made better ships than Valiant. The four Federation ships arrayed around the drive unit fired a full volley of missiles at the same time each of the other ships arrayed around the ship fired a single missile.
The missiles aimed into the propulsion unit got through the big ship’s defenses and detonated destroying the propulsion system and fracturing the fusion bottle. The resulting energy release enveloped the entire ship in a glowing ball of white hot plasma.
The P I ships had moved away long before the missiles impacted their target and were already assaulting the cruisers which were the next size smaller ship. They split into two teams of six for this phase of the operation. Four of the sixteen ships that appeared to be cruisers were decoys. They quickly sorted out the decoys and attacked the cruisers en masse. The P I ships took a beating from the cruisers’ lasers and missiles. More than one had its hull breached. Had the flight crews not been wearing their pressure suits, they would have died. As it was, they maintained the assault in spite of their damage. Again the message came home. Saturn made better ships.
Even with the cruisers gone, there were too many destroyers and interceptors to deal with so Greg called a retreat, but this time to the relative shelter of the Schweitzer and its defensive weapons.
The P I ships arrayed themselves around the Schweitzer and waited for the arrival of the first wave of P A F interceptors. The Disruptor missiles had thinned their numbers slightly, but not enough to make a significant difference.
Wave after wave of the P A F interceptors threw themselves at the formation. Many of them attempted to use the tactic that Rachel’s tactical instructor at the Academy had espoused and which Rachel had challenged. The tactic was every bit as suicidal as Rachel predicted it would be. Lasers from the Schweitzer, Peter, the destroyers and the P I ships sliced the vacuum of space. Expanding debris fields quickly littered the battle space. The Swordsman ships who had survived the previous battle, fearing that the Federation ships might be overwhelmed, attacked the P A F ships from behind. They destroyed several of the P A F ships without incurring significant damage to themselves.
As suddenly as it started it was over. There were no P A F ships left. All of the Federation ships had suffered battle damage, but none of the personnel had been lost. The Swordsmen had suffered damage as well, but they appeared to not have lost any personnel.
When the fighting stopped, the Federation ships linked together to evaluate their situation.
DEPLOYMENT - CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
“YOU HAVE A SPY on board!” Greg shouted when they returned to the confines of Rachel’s quarters.
“Yes, Greg, I know,” Ambassador Kirkland replied calmly. “ Actually, you have two I know of and there may be a third. You also have two that are reporting to the Conservatives.”
Ambassador Kirkland blithely sipped his coffee before continuing. “I had wondered why both the Swordsmen and P A F showed up together just as you were preparing to leave. I don’t believe in coincidences. I asked Rachel to authorize unlimited access to the ship’s logs. I must say that having an intelligent ship makes this kind of search much easier. The Swordsmen and P A F must have known with enough time to redeploy fleets from their previous missions to intercept you. As nearly as I can tell, the only thing that kept you from being captured or killed is the fact that your plan to foment a slave rebellion blew up in your face a day early. Had you departed one day later, you would have been caught in a horrific cross fire. As far as I am concerned, the fact that you all are alive is dumb luck.”
A stunned silence filled the room. Ambassador Kirkland took another sip of coffee. “One of your spies is Lt. Dale Hammersmith. Lt. Hammersmith is working for the Swordsmen. I suspected as much when I first saw him on the ship. Part of what I told him is true. His father is not dead. His father is in prison as a Swordsman spy. I lied to him to draw him out and it worked. He let slip some information that made it easy to track his activities. The other spy I know about is shy, quiet, timid, Lt. Martini. She is working for the P A F. She was careful to cover her tracks and I had to do quite a bit of sleuthing to track her down. Before she came on board this ship there was nothing shy, quiet or timid about her. She has been a P A F activist for a long time. I am surprised she passed the security screen.”
“I’ll kill them!” Rachel stood from the table.
“Not so fast.” Ambassador Kirkland cautioned. “Someone on your ship has access to the Third Force. I haven’t figured out who that is. We can’t go running around busting spies because we’ll drive them underground. We need to know who this is so we can use them to find the third force.”
“What about Curra?” Rachel asked. “Who did he really work for?”
“Hard to tell about Curra. He had no love for the P A F and I think he would have been happy with the destruction of the prison. Maybe I give him more credit than he deserves, but I think he would have preferred to rescue the guards.”
“So, what do we do now?” Rachel asked.
“The Sisters of Mercy should be here shortly. I think I should head back to Earth with my staff. I will take Lt. Hammersmith and Lt. Martini with me for trial. They won’t know that’s what is in store for them until we arrive. When you return to Eretz for supplies, you need to find a way to dump the Conservatives and go about your business. Finding the Third Force spy may be difficult. You can’t be going on a witch hunt though. My take on their activity is the opposite of the others. I have a slightly different attitude toward the Third Force. The Third Force appears to be leaving you alone. Their attacks seem to be a spoiler. They make just enough trouble to keep the two major powers on edge so that they don’t launch a full scale war on each other. I may be guilty of wishful thinking, but I see them as something of a referee in a cosmic game of war. In the meantime, make what repairs you can and I will continue to snoop around.” Rachel sent all of her personnel except for the engineers and flight crews to the s
urface to help the medical teams.
The engineers reasoned that the all the ships could still fight in their damaged conditions assuming the flight crews wore their pressurized flight suits with the new helmets. Their first priority was to reload munitions and prepare the ships in case they had to go into battle again quickly. Within five days, all the ships were re-armed and work began on the damaged sensor arrays which had taken a beating.
As the ships were deemed safe to fly, they were sent out on patrol until only the four with the most serious damage were left.
DEPLOYMENT - CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
THE SISTERS OF MERCY ARRIVED two weeks after the battle with the P A F. The majority of the Sisters’ personnel descended directly to the surface to assist the Swordsman colony and see to their recovery. A small contingent of the Sisters remained in orbit. A Federation executive yacht like the one Ambassador Kirkland used and a Federation cargo ship arrived with the Sisters’ fleet.
A delegation from the Sisters who had remained in orbit was invited to the Schweitzer. The Federation escort did not request permission to come aboard.
The Sisters were escorted to the briefing room. They were treated to coffee and pastries while they were briefed on the situation below. When the briefing was finished, the Sister in charge of the delegation thanked them profusely. “Now I have some disturbing news,” she said. “You, your ship and your crew have been declared outlaws by the news media partial to the Conservatives. There are calls for your Courts Marshall back on Earth. You cannot return to Earth and you should not attempt to go to New St. Louis. Sometimes life is not fair. Your acts of charity have brought sanctions against you. You and your crew appear to be destined to wander from planet to planet doing good deeds without the option to go home.”
“I was about to announce that we were returning to Eretz for supplies.” Rachel said.
“There is someone you should talk to before you make that decision. He is on the yacht and wishes you not know who he is until you arrive on his ship. Captain, he wants you to go alone.”
She looked at Greg and Avi. “Sometimes we have to let them go.”
Rachel said, “I will go in one of the P I ships. The other P I ships form up around the clock on the yacht.”
Commodore McGuire met Rachel at the airlock. The anger in Rachel’s eyes needed no translation. They were still in the passageway when she turned on him.“Is this mission a lie, too?”
“No. That’s why I had the Sisters approach you.”
“You planted spies on my ship,” Rachel charged.
“I did not know that. We believed you had spies, but I did not plant them,” McGuire said.
“Well, you did. Hammersmith and Martini.”
“I did not plant them. Your friend Lt. Sherman insisted that they join you,” McGuire replied.
“Faye Anne?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I think she was suckered. You need to find out.”
“So what brings you all the way out here?”
“As the Sister told you there is a price on your head. I wouldn’t get bent out of shape over it. Your parents have prices on their heads. My goal is to keep you out of sight for a couple of years until things cool down. The Swordsman propaganda machine is grinding down the Conservatives and it’s only a matter of time they fall on their own corruption. I have a new mission for you.”
“No secret prisons this time?”
McGuire grimaced. “Yes, actually there are two secret prisons.” He held his hand to stop her outburst. “Each of the ruling war lords has one that he uses to torture captives from the other.”
“And you want me to take them over?” Rachel asked.
“Not exactly. Can we do this in my conference room?” Commodore McGuire pointed along the passageway where they had been conducting their conversation.
“Sure, you lead.”
Inside the conference room, Rachel said, “Why is the Federation interested in the activities of two petty war lords?”
“For two reasons. The first is that they are using biological weapons on each other. Under the terms of the Federation charter, we have a contractual obligation to intercede when one side of a conflict uses biological weapons on the other. While that alone would be reason enough for us to go, there is a more pressing reason. The real reason is that the planet is rich in the rare metals we need to make the piezoelectric crystals that run our power plants. Whether the reactor uses fission or fusion, the piezoelectric crystals generate the electricity. Our supply is becoming exhausted. If the Federation can secure the ore fields, we can guarantee an adequate supply of these metals for a generation. That’s part of what the war lords are fighting over.”
“So you want me to bust up the fight, make peace with these two greedy monsters and secure the mining sites for an even greedier Federation mining company?” Rachel concluded.
“Essentially, yes.”
“No.”
“There is more to it. Both sides in the battle are Muslim. One warlord is Shiite, and the other is Sunni. They have both vowed to fight to the death.”
“And take their entire populations with them?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
“Some people never learn.”
“No, they don’t.”
“I am still not taking my ship and my crew into this mess.”
“You can’t refuse. I have an order from the Chief of Staff.”
“So how do I keep the P A F and Swordsmen from intercepting us when we get there?”
“Good question.”
“And am I supposed to do this with a bunch of civilians and flight crews? I lost most of my Marines on Brainerd’s Folly.”
“I have a division of Marines and their associated armor on the cargo ship. The ship also has supplies for your crew for six months of duty. Some of the Sisters will travel on your ship.”
“Do you have a briefing data module?”
“Yes.” He handed it to her.
“Where is this planet?”
Commodore McGuire pointed to a place on a star chart. Rachel scribbled numbers on a piece of paper. She handed the note paper to McGuire “Have the cargo ship meet one of my P I ships here in forty-eight hours. Alone. No escort. They will be given another location to jump to. You will not come with them. Go back to Eretz and alert them to expect an attack.”
“Are you giving me an order?”
“Call it a suggestion. Accidents in space involving errant missiles are real nasty.” Rachel turned and left.
DEPLOYMENT - CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
RACHEL RETURNED TO HER P I ship and ordered all the orbiting ships and crews under her command to dock to the Schweitzer and report for a briefing. Rather than heading for the briefing room, Rachel headed for the bridge. When Rachel returned to the bridge, she sought out her parents and Ambassador Kirkland. “Ambassador, we have a mission that will require your special skills. I would appreciate if you would join us in this deployment.”
“Do you intend to tell me about this mission?”
“Yes, but first we have to go back to Eretz for supplies.” She looked around at the bridge crew to see who was listening.
“Do you want us to go ahead with a shopping list?” Avi asked.
“No, thanks, I need you here. Please gather all personnel in the galley for a briefing.” Rachel scanned the bridge one more time before taking a position near the view port.
Rachel waited at the view port until she saw Commodore McGuire’s ship leave the system. She then recalled all her ships and personnel from the planet’s surface. The Sisters of Mercy had taken over the hard work and it was time for them to move on. Rachel then relieved the entire bridge crew to attend the briefing and set the ship on automatic control.
Once the ship’s company had gathered in the briefing room, she thanked them all for their participation in the recent combat and asked that they find time in their daily lives to pray for those who had been lost in the recent bat
tles. She announced her intention to depart for Eretz in forty-eight hours before proceeding to their next duty station. She stated that she believed that the Federation supported their mission and would see to it that the humanitarian efforts continued unabated.
Avi looked at her daughter with the eyes that knew when her daughter was being less than candid. The fire in her motions, though, reminded her that above all else, Rachel was her daughter and when she set her mind on a plan, woe be unto who might ever get in her way. David observed the expressions on the two women and recognized the interchange. Something huge was going down and Rachel was not talking. Or rather, Rachel was talking a lot and what she said made sense, but she was laying down a smoke screen. Avi, Greg and David noticed it and hoped no one else did.
After Rachel called in all the ships, the people who had been relieved by the Sisters reported that the Sisters of Mercy had the situation on the surface well in hand. The crews who had done the hard work in the settlements agreed it was time for the Schweitzer to be on its way. Rashi and Esther did not attend the briefing. Shortly after Rachel had headed back to the ship from her meeting with Commodore McGuire, they had taken Daisy out on a shakedown cruise to test the repairs and not returned. In the crew briefing Rachel had made a comment about them spending more time playing adult games in weightlessness than testing the ship and not paying attention to their duties. She pointed out that the P I ship was designed to travel long distances by itself and if the Schweitzer was not there when they returned, they were adults and perfectly capable of finding Eretz on their own. In fact most of the P I ships were not attached to the Schweitzer, but rather were tethered via fiber optic cables and would be making the trip under their own power if not their own guidance.
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