After their respective interviews, Jan and Bill ran into each other in the commissary. They were both buying extra stars.
"OK, this is getting ridiculous," Bill said.
"I told you they were coordinating. Betcha I can tell you what planet your orders are to, and on what ship, and for how long."
"Go for it."
"Kodu, on CSS Zenobia, for two years," Jan said.
"Got it in one."
"Well, we can save a couple credits."
"How's that?"
Jan pulled off her two-star shoulder badges and handed them to Bill.
"We don't need to buy new ones of these. Unless you'd rather have new ones."
"Actually, I'm fine with wearing these. You wore them at Feirm. They're good luck."
Jan settled into building up her battleship squadron for Kodu. The rest of Task Force 32 was already on station, but she would bring a new battleship squadron to rotate out Admiral Deshpande's, which had been there two years.
She let Rear Admiral Sven MacAllen, who had been captain of the Ikaika Kalani on Pahaadon, take her second division, and she let him have Senior Captain Bev Bhatia as his flag captain aboard the Genghis Khan. She took Senior Captain Joo-Won Moon, who had been tactical officer of one of Alice Chang's cruisers on Calumet, as her flag captain on board Zenobia.
None of the ships in her squadron were new-build, and sorting everything out only took a month.
A week before departure, Jan and Bill moved her flag aboard Zenobia. Bill also took a cabin down the hall on the Admiral's deck, as had become their custom.
Also as per custom, her door buzzer sounded within an hour of coming aboard. It was Senior Chief Angus Dougherty, who had also been one of Senior Chief Chin's 'clean-up' crew on Boadicea.
"Hi, Senior Chief."
"Good morning, Admiral. Ma'am, we'd like to invite you to honor us with your attendance at a little 'welcome aboard' party in the Chief's Mess tonight. You and Admiral Campbell both, Ma'am."
"A vice admiral, Senior Chief? In the Goat Locker?"
"You know that don't make no difference to us, Ma'am."
"Yes, Senior Chief, I do. We'd be delighted to attend. Thank you."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
The crossing to Kodu was without incident. After a month of integration of her battleship squadron into the task force and readiness exercises with all forty ships, the task force went to two-in-four rotations. Jan and Bill settled into their routine on such deployments, with her spending planet leave with Bill in a furnished flag townhouse on Kodu Fleet Base.
Jan's forty ships were her battleship squadron, comprised of one division each of Cleopatra-class and Alexander-class battleships, a squadron of heavy cruisers, a squadron of light cruisers, and a flotilla of destroyers.
It was in the eighteenth month of their deployment to Kodu that Jan handed Bill a sheaf of papers one evening at home.
"Hon, could you look these over quickly and let me know what you think?"
"Sure, Jan."
Bill scanned through the papers while Jan said nothing.
"You have got to be kidding me," Bill said.
"That's what I said. First thing I asked for was a clarification. I basically got back a 'You have your orders' message."
"I've been worried since Graham took over from Leahy as CNO. This makes those worries more than justified."
Jan's orders were to prepare for fleet exercises against visiting Task Force 41 under Vice Admiral Salvatore Heyerdahl in three months. Observers would be sent out from Sigurdsen. The exercises were to take place around the moon, Kodu-5a.
Bill looked at the orders again.
"Do they know that Kodu-5 is near opposition to Kodu at the moment?"
"They apparently don't care."
"What are you going to do?" Bill asked.
"What can I do? I already filed a formal objection to the orders, on the basis that I can't possibly protect the planet when I'm on the other side of the system. Want to bet I don't get a pro forma response that says, 'Do it anyway, because we said so?'"
"No. Never bet against stupidity. Especially in the Navy."
"Apparently they think their security is so tight that I can get to the other side of the system, participate in this exercise, and then be back on station before anybody notices," Jan said.
"Before anybody notices? Paradiso and Villam and God knows who else probably knew about this before you did. I can't believe Durand would stand for this. He knows there are foreign agents active at Sigurdsen. We've tried to root them out, but we can never get them all."
"But Intelligence Division isn't under the CNO. He's got Tactical Division, Supply Division, Planetary Division, Personnel Division, Legal Division, all the combat and combat support groups. But Intelligence Division, Science Division, Propulsion Division, Shipbuilding Division, Weapons Division are all under the Chief of Naval Research. And this is an operations issue. I don't think Durand has a say."
"So what are you going to do?" Bill asked.
"Plan as best I can for the foreseeable incursion. What else can I do?"
Jan and Bill saw less of each other over the next three months as Jan crammed as much operations planning as she could into the time she had. If there was an incursion, it was going to get ugly. She dug back into the hyperspace mathematics, made loss estimates, designed a custom book of maneuvers for the likely incursions. She did everything she could, and came to one inescapable conclusion.
This was going to hurt.
Vice Admiral Jan Childers, commanding Task Force 32, watched the preparations for the naval exercises from her flag bridge on the Cleopatra-class battleship CSS Zenobia. Her task force was Red Navy, while Task Force 41, under the command of Vice Admiral Salvatore Heyerdahl on CSS Tomoe, was Blue Navy. Sammy's job was to defend the planet, while Jan's job was to attack the planet and reduce its orbital infrastructure with minimal losses to her own force.
The planet they were practicing on was an uninhabited moon circling a gas giant, and that was the problem that made Jan's skin crawl. The gas giant, locally known as Apollo but officially designated Kodu-5, was currently on the other side of the system from the Commonwealth planet she had been posted to for almost the last two years, Kodu.
She had protested the naval exercises taking her too far out of position to protect the planet, but the new Navy brass thought it was a good idea to give the exercises what they called breathing room. Besides, the thinking went, no one would know the planet was uncovered until she was back on station anyway.
Famous last words, Jan thought, as she watched her sixteen heavy and twenty-four light combatants work up.
Why in the world the Navy brass thought their information security was so tight as to put a Commonwealth planet at risk for a set of exercises was incomprehensible to Jan. She had thought of leaving half her heavies and some light units around Kodu, but there were observers here for the exercise who would count ships and come up short.
There was some planning she could do, and she had done it. Whether it would work was another question.
"Approaching hyper transition now, Sir," Commander Adrian deVries said.
"All right. Remember, first priority is to make sure those heavies are where we think they are. No sense sticking our toes in the water until we know where the sharks are," Admiral Peter Sebastian said.
"Yes, Sir," deVries said. "Transitioning now. Transition complete. Sensors acquiring."
"Where are they, where are they, where are they?" Sebastian muttered.
"Confirmed, Sir. Approximately eighty warships in orbit about Kodu-5. Energy levels indicate roughly thirty heavies and fifty light units."
"Excellent. Just like we planned it."
Sebastian had twelve ships: four heavy cruisers, including his flagship PSS Tiger, four light cruisers, and four destroyers. His force was designated Second Fleet. It was a huge fleet by Paradiso standards, nearly half their available units, but the payoff would be worth it.
K
odu dominated the shipping and trans-shipping business in the sector. Paradiso business interests couldn't compete. Now, if some mischance were to befall Kodu's orbital infrastructure – like getting blown out of space by Sebastian's fleet, for example – that would cease to be the case. The icing on the cake was when they found out the CSF's incoming brass had scheduled fleet exercises that would take the task force protecting Kodu way out of position. CSF wasn't to be messed with, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
"OK, let's get underway. Navigation Plan Alpha."
"Status change. Ma'am, twelve point sources just made hyper transition on the published system periphery below the ecliptic. Zero minus zero-nine-zero on the planet, Ma'am," Commander Ted Nguyen said.
Right where she would have done it, Jan thought. Directly below the planet, where the flattened sphere of the system periphery was closest. It would also allow them to fly vertically past the planet and exit the system at zero mark zero-nine-zero without bringing them anywhere near Jan's or Heyerdahl's forces.
"They're warships, Ma'am. Power levels indicate four each, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers. Outer colony design. No transponders. No IDs."
Probably either Paradiso or Villam. They were the ones screaming the most about Kodu's trade policies.
"Comm, record for transmission to TF32."
"Recording, Ma'am."
"Message begins. Fleet orders. All units. Case Blue, Case Blue, Case Blue. This is not a drill. Navigation Plan Blue 3. Departure fifteen minutes. Acknowledge readiness. Message ends. Send it, Comm."
"Yes, Ma'am," Lieutenant Freddy Macintosh said.
Now to see if she had planned well enough.
"Sammy, I'm going to see if I can't catch them before they can get to the planet. Why don't you see if you can position yourself to pick off any that make it to the other side of the system periphery?"
"I'll do that, Jan, but there's no way you can catch them. You've got to get halfway around the system first, and they'll be well within the inner envelope by the time you can get there. You'll be behind them all the way in. Your battleships won't be able to even keep up with them, much less catch them. They're just too slow."
"Well, we'll keep them running in your direction, at least. Happy hunting. Childers out.
"And you, Jan. Heyerdahl out."
General quarters alarms were sounding all over TF32 as the exercises were forgotten. Spacing orders for the heavies and the light cruisers were to make for the closest point of approach of the lower system periphery, approximately one-six-zero minus zero-nine-five on the sun. They would hyper around the system periphery to zero minus ninety on the planet, where the bogeys had transitioned. But then it would get interesting.
The destroyers would make for the planet at their best speed to provide defense against any follow-up attacks. They were fast enough a great arc over the sun was their best route. Half would come in hot on the planet, and provide earlier defense in passing, but overfly the planet. The other half would decelerate on the second half of the trip to take station on the planet, to be rejoined by their mates when they made their way back.
Her flag captain, Senior Captain Joo-Won Moon, commed her as the fleet shook out.
"These spacing orders, Ma'am. Are these for real?"
"You bet, Captain. Our job is to protect the planet. I don't see any other way to do it."
"Isn't this a little dangerous, Ma'am?"
"No, it's a lot dangerous, but it's our only option given the situation. I will take up the unenviable position in which we find ourselves with Navy brass – if we survive, that is – at a later time, but right now, it's all we've got, other than to sit here and watch the destruction of Kodu's infrastructure and, thereby, it's economy."
"Yes, Ma'am. That would bother me even more than attempting this. I think."
"That's the spirit."
When Task Force 32 spaced for Kodu-5, Bill had started living in the Intelligence Division headquarters on Kodu Fleet Base. It was close to the Planetary Combat Information Center, and he spent a lot of time over there.
He was in the Planetary CIC when Paradiso's Second Fleet popped out of hyperspace at zero minus zero-nine-zero on the planet. It was less than thirty minutes before Task Forces 32 and 41 responded, Task Force 32 spacing for the system periphery on the south, and Task Force 41 spacing north.
Bill looked at his watch. He knew it would be hours before they got to the system periphery. He went back over to the Intelligence Building and took a nap. It took him a while to fall asleep.
After a couple hours of sleep and some food in the mess, Bill was back in the Planetary CIC. Task Force 32 must be approaching the outer system envelope now.
He knew what Jan was going to do. She hadn't discussed it with him, but he knew all of her options were bad. And he knew which one she would pick. That she had peeled off her destroyers in the very first moments of her response proved it.
Oh, let this go well. Please, let this go well. Bill thought.
TF32 made its best speed to the system periphery on one side of the system, as Second Fleet continued to accelerate toward Kodu on the other. When the ships of TF32 reached the outer envelope, they hyper-transitioned out of normal space.
"Bogey One has hypered out downside, Sir. Bogey Two is running for a hyper transition topside. Bogey Three is coming for the planet over the sun. By their energy profiles and acceleration rates, I make Bogey Three to be destroyers," deVries said.
"All hopeless gestures. We'll be done and gone before they can catch us. Maintain profile," Sebastian said.
TF32 maneuvered across the inner envelope of the system periphery to a position directly astern of Bogey One, and turned toward the enemy. They continued their pursuit of Bogey One, following right up her wake.
They passed the hard system periphery without transitioning from hyperspace.
"Comm, record message."
"Recording, Ma'am."
"Message begins. Fleet orders. Modulation Override, Epsilon-7. Fire Plan Gamma immediately on transition from hyper. Guns free. Fire at will. Message ends. Send it."
"Message sent, Ma'am."
TF32 made a crash transition into normal space from hyper within the hard system periphery, which was bad. They also carried a lot of velocity over into normal space, which was also bad. They were still well clear of the ecliptic, which was good. And Modulation Epsilon-7 was Jan's personal best shot at maximizing their chances on the down transition.
There! Jan's ships disappeared into hyperspace. Bill started watching the Paradiso Second Fleet as it continued to approach Kodu. Several minutes passed. A few more.
The twenty-four battleships and cruisers of Task Force 32 reappeared in normal space directly behind Paradiso's Second Fleet. In the first few moments, a third of Task Force 32 simply disappeared from the plot.
On transition, the heavy cruisers CSS Willard Dempsey and CSS Manfred Koch broke up and exploded, along with the light cruisers CSS Provence, CSS Schwarzwald, and CSS Sichuan. All the stouter battleships survived, but the older Alexander-class battleships CSS Julius Caesar, CSS Napoleon Bonaparte, and CSS Genghis Khan suffered major engineering failures that left them without propulsion or weapons systems. There were multiple minor engineering failures, personnel injuries, and more than a few deaths throughout the remaining five battleships, six heavy cruisers, and five light cruisers of TF32.
Well, that's why you're not supposed to do that, Jan thought. Fat lot of choice we had.
TF32 emerged from hyper directly behind Paradiso's Second Fleet, with overtake velocity, and well within the firing range of even the light cruisers. The remaining operational ships of TF32 opened fire. Fire Plan Gamma had each ship firing only at ships one step below its weight – punching down, so to speak – and not firing on any other ship until all those were gone. Target priority among those was the enemy ship closest, and working out from there.
"Status change. Hyper transition. Multiple point sources one-ei
ghty mark zero. Distance two light-seconds."
"What!? Fleet orders. Hard to port!"
But the first salvos from TF32 were already on the way.
Because of Fire Plan Gamma, each of the twelve Paradiso ships was fired upon, and hit, by at least one of the sixteen remaining effectives of TF32. Battleships fired on heavy cruisers, heavy cruisers fired on light cruisers, and light cruisers fired on destroyers. With the guns of Second Fleet all trained forward toward the planet and forward shields energized, there was no return fire and no aft shields to attenuate or deflect the incoming fire.
Three salvos were enough to destroy Second Fleet, one-half of Paradiso's navy.
Kodu itself suffered no damage, as Second Fleet had not gotten within firing range of the planet or its infrastructure.
Aboard Zenobia, Jan gave fleet orders to begin emergency rescue operations on Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, and Julius Caesar, which had lost power on the transition to normal space. The ships would drift on and assessment and recovery crews could go out and retrieve them later. First priority was to get the personnel off before anything else let go on one of those ships and she took her crew with her.
Then she took a second to trigger the transmission of a pre-programmed message.
Bill was watching the plot with his heart in his throat when his phone alerted. There was a one-line message:
AM OK. BUSY. LATER. JC
He started to breathe again.
"Heyerdahl."
"Hi, Sammy. Childers."
"Jan! Are you OK?"
"I'm fine. Most of us are fine. We lost five ships, and we have three battleships adrift that we're evacuating now. The rest of us are pretty beat up. All our ships have systems down or failing all over."
"What can I do to help?"
"I think we can hold ourselves together and get to Kodu on our own. Sammy, I need you to cover the planet. Somewhere back there we stopped being an effective defensive force."
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