Carol finished up a Conn shift for an officer who hadn't had any sleep. XO James George remained on the Bridge until Terri Michael came out of her duty cabin around 0900.
The day had the odd 'hurry-up-and-wait' feeling to it. They had scrambled to get off Kapteyn and underway as soon as possible. Now that they were moving, there was little for them to do for nearly four days. For Carol, those days could not move fast enough. They were running in low-EMR mode, so anything she wanted to say to Powell would just have to wait until this mission was over.
Antares
GJ 1061
Tuesday, May 11, 2078, 2242 UTC
XO James George stood behind the Surveillance position as they exited FTL travel and the universe came back into focus around them. They deployed every sensor, and double staffs were making sure they didn't miss anything. It was only a short transit from Kapteyn, but it felt much longer from the loss of the expected crew leave time. Every member of the crew had been looking forward to the break. Terri Michael had tried to make the best of it, loosening some of the watch requirements and looking the other way at some games and parties. It wasn't the same, she knew, but it was what she could give them. A day from GJ 1061, the word went out that it was time to get back in line. Aside from some minor grumbling, the crew responded well. By 12 hours from their destination, they had the ship configured and ready to fight.
They digested the follow-on message from Fleet Operations, 'reliable sources' saying that there was enemy activity near their destination. They wondered what that term might actually mean but, in the end, decided it didn't matter. They took the warning seriously, and they would be on guard when they arrived.
The Surveillance display lit up almost immediately. The Surveillance Watch Office, Ensign Jayvon Dean, turned to the command position.
"Multiple enemy ships, Captain. Working to resolve their positions."
Carol didn't wait, deploying the rotary launchers.
"Captain we are ready to shoot as soon as we get targets designated."
"Very well, Weaps." She turned back to Surveillance.
"How long, Lieutenant?"
Dean paused a moment before responding. "A few minutes yet, Captain — they're pretty far away..."
Michael quietly cursed in frustration, but she knew the young officer was doing all he could. It took time to integrate the passive data they were gathering and calculate a true position for the enemy. As she watched, the target list on the Surveillance display began to light up. Five targets. Jayvon got up and headed over to the Captain.
"Ok, we have good data on those five now, Captain. We're linked up with Columbia, so they use what we see, and we use what they see."
Carol had joined the conversation. "We're up with Columbia as well, Captain."
"Fine. Mister Dean, any evidence of Otbara?"
"Not yet, Captain. We're still looking, but it might take some time — if she's even here."
"Any indication the enemy is aware of us?" George asked.
"Too soon to tell, sir. We're still more than an AU away from them."
"Eight light minutes," George said quietly to Terri Michael. "Too damn far."
"It is, but we'll have to work our way in slowly. Meantime we need to check in."
She walked over to the Comm station.
"First, tell Columbia that I am sending the check-in message. Then, send a flash to CINC and OPS...uh...On arrival, GJ 1061 detected five silver dots. We are monitoring and preparing an attack. No sign of Otbara yet. Will advise."
The tech quickly transcribed and sent the message.
"It's gone, Commander."
"Very well. Nav! Turn us thirty degrees right and ten down!"
If the enemy was listening on SLIP, she wanted to change course to throw them off. Columbia made a complementary move, left and up, to also clear the area where they had transmitted. They continued for a long half hour, cruising as quietly as possible and watching the enemy. The eight-minute delay was maddening to Michael, but she did not want to get them any closer until they had a better picture of what the enemy was doing. Finally, she walked to the Surveillance station.
"Show me what you have."
Ensign Dean pointed to the Surveillance display where she could see the five targets, each with a red circle around it. They were slightly more than dots, but not large enough to see in any detail. They appeared to be in an ellipse, more likely, as Dean explained, a circle seen from near the edge, fairly close together.
"What's nearby?"
"There is a rocky planet near where they are, but I don't think they're in orbit. This star is so small...less than a fifth of Sol...it wouldn't take much power to just hang there."
"Anything habitable?" Hansen asked.
Dean shook his head.
"No. The rocky planets, we've seen three so far, are all too close or too far."
Michael looked at the display for a moment, seemed to make up her mind and turned to Comms.
"Get me a voice link to Commander Reynolds on Columbia."
In a moment it was up, and Terri sat in her command chair to talk to Columbia's CO.
"It's Michael."
"Good evening, Commander," Dave Reynolds responded.
"We need to make a plan. These are pretty fat targets, but they sent us here to find Otbara."
"Some of us here are wondering if that's what they're hanging around," he said, grimly.
"Yes, that thought had crossed my mind as well."
"If they have her, or her crew, it could be a problem for us."
"It could. And they've had plenty of time to break them."
"Impossible to know at this point."
Terri didn't want to think about what might have happened, or be happening, to the Otbara crew.
"So, let's concentrate on what we do know - we have five targets."
"Yes, and I think we should strike them as soon as we can. I don't think this is a time to loiter and watch."
Michael paused a moment to consider Reynold's words. Moving quickly might work, but speed sometimes meant you missed something important, and that could get you killed even in peacetime.
Without waiting for her reply, he continued.
"I will take Columbia right down into them, nail them with a volley and then get the hell out. You could do BDA from a few light seconds away and then see what needs to be cleaned up. Once we're rid of these bastards, we can look for Otbara."
Terri hesitated just a moment before deciding for herself that a quick strike was probably a good idea.
"That sounds reasonable. We'll be ready."
They agreed on the schedule and the course Columbia would take in and out. The only change was that Michael wanted to get Antares in place before Columbia dashed in.
"Conn, set minimum EMR. Nav, put us two light-seconds outside the enemy ship group, same inclination, before 0100."
The Nav officer looked at his commander for a long moment before turning back to his workstation and setting the course. Terri impassively returned his gaze. It took a minute or two before he could turn back to her.
"Ready, Commander."
"Execute."
Carol watched this exchange from the Weapons station, keeping her own deep concerns to herself. They were getting awfully close to these ships. Close enough to get burned if they weren't careful. She got up and walked to the command position. Michael looked hard at her as if expecting an argument.
"Something to say, Lieutenant?" she asked, stiffly.
"No, ma'am. I just thought it might be advisable to swap in some Spartans."
Michael's stern face eased just slightly.
"Yes. Reload with half Spartans and half Lances."
"Yes, ma'am," she said quietly as she turned back to her position. She gave the orders, and the crew retrieved the rotaries and reloaded them with Spartan self-defense missiles and Lance attack missiles. During the short transit, Surveillance Officer Ryan Lewis arrived and began pacing nervously behind the Surveillance position
, exchanging several intense conversations with Jayvon Dean. They came out of FTL exactly where planned, and the silver dots were no longer dots. The image processors made quick work of the new data, announcing on the main display what they were facing.
"Three type fours and two type ones, Commander."
Carol had the targets identified and missiles assigned to each. With twelve Lances loaded out, she assigned two to each target. She turned again to the command position.
"We have good positions on all five, Commander. I've designated two Lances each, and we can shoot at any time. Minimum flight time profile."
A few minutes passed as they waited for Columbia to make its attack at 0100. Dean suddenly stood very still, staring at the Surveillance display.
"Something is happening..." he said, almost to himself. Terri Michael could see it, too.
"Nav! Turn ten degrees towards the enemy and then give me 100 meters per second more." The ship moved slightly then sped up. As they watched the visual display they could see the enemy ships re-orienting, three turning in the direction of Antares, the other two were turning in another direction. Dean looked at the time - 0100 exactly. The Surveillance display lit up with white circles.
"Multiple IR flashes on the enemy ships, Captain. Look like Lance explosions to me."
Columbia
GJ 1061
Thursday, May 12, 2078, 0100 UTC
Dan had plotted the approach as the Captain had requested, with the breakout from FTL just 1000 km from the estimated position of the enemy ships. Their Surveillance crew, working with Antares, had resolved the enemy's position to about 100 km. They had argued about how close to cut it, and Dan's caution had finally won Commander Reynolds over. It would not do to find themselves too close, or worse, to exit FTL beyond the targets. The Lances would strike in a few minutes, and unless the enemy were quicker now than they had been at Inor, those weapons would not miss.
The breakout occurred about 1100 km from the enemy ships. They lit them up for a few seconds with radar to precisely define their position, a tactic Dan had opposed, but Reynolds had insisted on and then fired fifteen Lances as fast as they could. Columbia then shut down her radar and maneuvered, turning thirty degrees 'up' from the plane of the system and fifteen away from the enemy position.
Shortly after the radar went dark, the Surveillance display lit up with flashing red circles. Surveillance Officer Lieutenant Melinda Hughes called out, "IR transients from the Type I's, Commander. Missiles headed our way."
Reynolds paused a moment, considering his options. "How many?"
"Eight, so far."
"Weaps, let's get some Spartans out there!"
Lieutenant Victor Shoemaker sweated as he managed the reload, filling one rotary with Spartans and the other with Bludgeons in case they needed to hit the enemy ships again. He dispatched all twelve Spartans as soon as he could and started another reload. As he did, the Surveillance display delivered more bad news.
"Eight more launches from another Type I, Captain." Melinda called.
"Weaps – let's get another load of Spartans out there!"
"Working, Captain."
Aa the reloaded launcher started to move back out, the Spartans already launched started intercepting the incoming enemy weapons, but something was very wrong. Melinda saw it first.
"That was too close! Captain! Those incoming must be faster than we thought!"
"Time for our strike?" Reynolds asked.
The Victor looked at the counter on his screen. "Thirty-five seconds."
Reynolds, deciding he needed vision more than stealth, ordered the radar back up.
"Light the incomings up, Lieutenant Hughes, narrow band. Nav, I will need another maneuver as soon as-"
The explosion of an enemy missile somewhere aft cut him off. Dan, surprised but not immobilized, moved the ship slightly down and right and added 50 meters per second. There was a second explosion, the impact more forward this time. The ship status display was now on the main screen, and there were several sections now showing yellow - damaged, losing air, but not dead.
Melinda looked in surprise at her now-empty radar display.
"Radar's gone, Commander. Looks like the last hit took the-" A third explosion, now very close to the Bridge, stopped her report.
"Smith! FTL now!" Reynolds yelled.
Dan reset his controls, set a 'good enough' course away from the enemy, and engaged the Forstmann Drive at full power. Two more explosions damaged the ship aft as they were turning, but as they bugged out the Forstmann field's flood of anti-gravitons effectively redirected the last few threats, and there were no more hits.
Safe for now, the Bridge was a chaos of noise and activity. Weaps was shouting back at Reynolds, Comms asking over and over if they should send a report to Fleet, Damage alarms were sounding for the hits she had taken. Reynolds looked frozen, staring at the status display. After a few seconds, he seemed to regain himself. The damage control teams, composed mostly of maintenance and engineering staff, were already on the move. They could see which areas needed attention first and XO Barry Wood was leaving the Bridge to supervise their work.
There were casualties, and the medical team was scrambling to get them out of the compromised sections of the ship and into treatment. After a minute Reynolds collected himself.
"Comm, send to CINC, OPS and Antares...Have taken five hits. Retiring FTL to evaluate status."
The Comm tech took only a few seconds to draft and send the message.
"It's done, sir."
"Very well..." he sounded tired, more tired than one would think.
Antares
GJ 1061
Thursday, May 12, 2078, 0105 UTC
"Holy shit," Carol said under her breath, seeing how quickly the enemy missiles had crossed the 1100KM to Columbia. If they could shoot that fast it would change things, and not for the better.
"Any more launches from the enemy?" Michael asked.
"No, ma'am."
The Surveillance team zoomed the visual telescope's view to get details of the damage to the enemy ships. Two were clearly venting now - something that seemed characteristic of the enemy's construction. The working theory was that they were using fuel cells for power, not nuclear reactors, which everyone thought was strange. It might, however, provide some explanation for the size of the enemy ships. It would take an enormous amount of fuel to power a Forstmann drive in that way. The other three seemed intact, but they saw skin damage on all of them. The IR sensors were seeing a heat plume, again now typical of O2/H2 venting and then combining in the light of the star.
"Hansen!" Terri Michael called.
Carol got up and headed for the command position. Terri came down, and they walked together to the Nav station.
"OK, Weaps, let's get ten Bludgeon's loaded out on the port launcher."
Carol turned and signaled to her techs to get the launchers in and load the Bludgeons.
"Alex," Michael said, addressing the Nav officer, "I'll need a move towards the enemy, say, fifteen degrees. Stay on the plane and drop maybe 50 meters per second."
Alex Williams nodded his understanding.
"Ok, we're going to drop ten Bludgeons with a five-minute delay. Then we'll maneuver-"
Conn officer Miho Ito interrupted her. "SLIP Message from Columbia, Captain."
"What does it say?"
"Have taken five hits. Retiring FTL to evaluate status."
Michael looked at Dean, who responded.
"That matches what we saw. The surprising part was the time - something like forty-five seconds from launch to impact. I know Lieutenant Ballard will evaluate it later, but their stuff is faster than we had thought."
"Well, at least they're alive to retire. OK, back to our plan - we'll maneuver, then the Bludgeons will execute. Lieutenant Hansen, after the five-minute delay, let's set them for a minimum time course. Once they hit, I want another maneuver to take us up further out of the plane."
She paused to take a
breath and think, then she looked directly at Alex Williams.
"Have an FTL retreat course ready to go...if I call for FTL I'll want it immediately."
"Yes, ma'am. We'll be ready."
"How long, Carol?"
Hansen looked over at the Weaps station. "We're almost ready, ma'am. Rotaries are moving back out now."
"OK, Nav?"
"I just need a minute to set the courses, Captain."
Terri looked around the group.
"Questions?"
There were none.
"Ok fine. Alex, when you're ready, tell Carol, and she'll drop the Bludgeons. Once that's done we just follow the plan. Let's go."
A minute later Nav reported ready. Michael watched as Hansen launched the Bludgeons and gave Alex a thumbs-up. Antares changed course and slowed slightly. Dean kept an almost unblinking eye on the enemy ships. The Bludgeons would hit about eight minutes after their release, using their onboard Drive to strike at high speed. There was a timer counting down on the Weapons position, and Ryan would sneak a look at it from time to time. They were still almost two light-seconds away, so it was yet a moment after the time hit zero before the displays lit up. Their aim was pretty good, not perfect. They hit the two that had been venting again, and the gas release increased in volume. Two other ships took severe hits as well, they hit the fifth but it was not badly damaged. Carol, standing at the Weapons station, looked hard at the images of the enemy ships.
"We hit them, all of them, but they're just so big..." she said to her techs.
"Yes, Lieutenant. We seem to need a bigger club," one responded, just loud enough for her to hear.
Carol pursed her lips in frustration, pounding the back of the position gently with her fist.
Dean looked back and forth at his displays. He wished for radar, but he knew full well that was too dangerous right now. The picture began to become clear in his head.
"Captain, I think they were trying to link up with the damaged ships."
Michael and Hansen came over to the Surveillance position. Dean ran the visual back and forth, in time-lapse, and they could see what he was talking about.
Silver Enigma Page 20
