Resolve of Steel (Halloran's War Book 2)

by J. R. Geoghan

  He stalked back over to his station and hit the comm control. “Captain Orris, may I point out the two small craft in the middle atmosphere?”

  Orris came back on immediately. “Yes, we’re aware of them, Captain. A shipment to the spaceport gone off-course. They’ll correct…the priority is the Prax, Captain. Or have you forgot?”

  Heres’ cheeks reddened as he looked around his bridge. Not a face was angled in his direction.

  “Close ranks, Captain. Prepare an armed shore party for departure in ten minutes to join shuttles from the other ships. I want your sensor team focused on the planet surface with everything they’ve got until further notice—is that clear, Captain?”

  Heres gritted his teeth. “Yes…sir. Preparing shore party. Now.” He smacked the channel closure control hard and exhaled angrily. “Old fool.”

  Renno turned in her chair. “Sir, I’ve taken the liberty of informing Major Dillarn to activate his unit.” Dillarn commanded the detachment of soldiers stationed aboard the Valor.

  “Very well, Lieutenant. Thank you.”

  “Will you be accompanying the Major to the surface, sir?”

  “By the stars, no!” Heres dropped into his chair. “What next?”

  “Sir, the two small craft have disappeared from the sensors.”

  Heres crossed his arms. “Of course they have.”

  USS Serapis

  “Shuttle 1-5, Serapis. You’re a welcome sight. And I see you come bearing gifts,” Antonov’s voice boomed inside the shuttle.

  Halloran tapped the comm. “Captain, good to hear your voice. I’m assuming our channel is secure?”

  “And you as well, Captain. Correct, this frequency is the one recommended in the Prax operating instructions for Hidden Claw comms. Opening shuttle bay door now.”

  Halloran briefly outlined the plan of action. “We saw the explosion on our underpowered scans; it must have been massive.”

  Reyes said, “Sir, Max promised one big bang when that fuel storage was triggered.”

  Antonov replied, “Lieutenant Travers is on the bridge and pointed out that the explosion was a ‘factor-six’ which is apparently an atmospheric event.”

  Halloran frowned at Reyes. “I hope they didn’t overdo it.”

  “I don’t know, sir. He only promised a big bang that would accompany the report of Prax on the surface.”

  Antonov said, “Lieutenant Carruthers points out that the Valor has aborted a ‘suspicious’—her word—series of course corrections and is taking up station at the far side with the other Fleet units.”

  Kendra nodded as she angled the nose of the shuttle toward the opening bay below them. “They’ll likely send troops down.”

  Antonov called again. “Sir, the Tavarrans have exited their vessel and are moving to deploy the repair robots. Lieutenant Travers has linked the ship’s computer with them.”

  Halloran smiled. “On autopilot.”

  “Not me,” Kendra replied.

  Halloran leaned close to her ear. “You wish you were with them? The Fleet ships?”

  She stared out the viewscreen for a moment, then shrugged without looking at him. “They don’t need me; your sorry bunch certainly does.”

  “No argument there, Captain. I need you.”

  Now Kendra looked, her raven hair rustling as she shook it from her eyes. “Even if I’m frumpy?”

  He sat back. “Especially if you’re frumpy.”

  Behind them Parker poked Wilson in the rib. “You hear Skipper call her ‘frumpy’ just now?” he asked softly.

  “Nope. Did she haul off and punch his lights out?” Wilson looked half-amused, half-incredulous.

  “No, she even laughed it off,” Parker whispered.

  Wilson shrugged. “No understandin’ it, Chief.”

  “Guess not.”

  “Captain on the bridge!”

  Halloran walked onto the bridge and immediately felt the sense of satisfaction wash over him. He realized how close he’d been holding his expectation of failure; that there was no way everything would work out. But he’d found a critical ally in Governor Jackson and— among many miracles—that had made the difference. So he again got to stand on his own bridge, looking over the expectant faces. His people. Even Djembe at the pilot’s station had a small grin on his face when Halloran caught his eye.

  He drew in a big breath and exhaled, smiling. “Feels good to be back. Thank you to everyone who held the fort while we were away.” He saw Axxa standing in the corner, as always, and walked over to him.

  “My understanding is that you uncovered Prax on the planet,” the big alien said quietly.

  “Yes, Commander.”

  Axxa frowned at the title but ignored it. “Please know that I was unaware of this.”

  Halloran felt as though he was seeing Axxa for the first time; so much had happened in the last few days. The Prax was marooned on a stolen warship, stuck with a human crew. Even if the guy professed sympathy for their cause, he still had to be alone and rudderless. Then, as if to counter his budding empathy, the image of his best friend being beheaded by this creature leapt into his mind unbidden.

  He nodded stiffly. “Understood.” There seemed nothing else to say so Halloran turned away to his own kind.

  Antonov and Lieutenant Travers were at a station across the bridge, bent over a monitor. Halloran came up behind them looked over their shoulder. “Travers. XO.”

  Antonov looked up. “Watching the robots work, Captain. Incredible.”

  Travers was excited. He pointed to something a bot was doing. “That’s cold welding in action. Something you don’t see much outside of a shipyard. Excellent! They’re moving very fast.”

  Halloran’s brow creased. “Are we rushing this?”

  Antonov stood and crossed his arms. “The guy Cassis from Tavar seems to know what he is doing with the robots. The other individual is aboard ship and being checked out by Wilson’s team.”

  “He knows Anders well. Won’t be a problem.”

  “The Valor bothers me, sir. They know who we are. Perhaps their computer kept our drive signature somehow? Similar to what we do with enemy sub reactors back on Earth.” He blinked. “You know to what I refer.”

  “No offense taken, Captain. With the current tech anything is possible. Carruthers?”

  She turned. “Captain?”

  “Does our computer retain drive signatures for target designates? Like the ASIC10 would do back home?”

  “I’m sure it does, sir. Just haven’t figured that out yet. Sorry, sir.”

  “Thanks, Lieutenant.” He turned to Antonov. “Let’s say that they ‘see’ us somehow. Would that make some sense of their movements since entering orbit?”

  “To be honest, Captain, I don’t know. This is all very new to me.” Antonov made a face.

  Halloran thought about it. “Well, he’s been recalled to his group either way. He’s got to be pissed.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sure he is.”

  They shared a silent chuckle together before Travers spoke. “I think the bots are finishing up.”

  Halloran leaned in again to see the bots floating away from the ship’s hull, gathering in one area of space about fifty meters away from the Serapis. “Call Chief Parker and see what his assessment is.”

  Parker’s voice came on the comm line. “Parker here. Cassis tells me that the repairs are complete. Twenty-four minutes by my time, sir.”

  “I owe you a coffee, Chief.”

  “Luckily, we happened bring along a crate of the stuff in the shuttle, sir. Your treat.”

  “Any time.”

  “There’s another thing, sir. Cassis says that the bot analysis of our hull is that it’s ninety-four percent grade Tavarran steel.”

  “Meaning?”

  Cassis came on the line. “Well, just that it’s not exactly the same material The Prax seem to have done something to it.”

  “Mr. Cassis, is our hull integrity restored?”

  There was a s
hort lull wherein Halloran could hear Parker in the background saying something sternly that sounded like ‘no editorial comments to the Captain,’ making Halloran grin. Finally Cassis came back on. “Yes…Captain. The bots report that the patching mated perfectly to the Prax steel material.”

  “And the ship’s existing hull is different in composition somehow?”

  “Yes, the metallurgy scan shows that the material has been coated with something that enhances energy absorption. Nice formula; I’d like a sample if possible.”

  “For the Hidden Claw, sir,” Carruthers offered.

  Halloran nodded. “Thank you for that report, Cassis. Chief Parker will fix you up and find you a berth. Chief, round up Anders as well and have the two of them assigned by Chief Reyes ASAP.”

  “Aye, sir. Now, if we—.”

  “Captain! Sir!”

  Carruthers’ urgent call drew Halloran away from the comm unit. “What is it?”

  “Sir, sensors are targeting nine new contacts, designations of Charlie One through Charlie Nine. Range two hundred eighteen thousand kilometers, in decel approaching Tavar.”

  Halloran strode to his command station as Antonov took Travers’ seat and pushed the young man toward the entrance. “Get down to Engineering now, Lieutenant!”

  Halloran leaned forward to study his screen where Carruthers was repeating her main monitor view. The ships were clearly heading to Tavar. “They just jumped into the system?”

  “I believe so, sir. The computer just started telling me about them.”

  “And the target designations?”

  “I added those a day ago. Feels more familiar, sir.”

  “That it does, Lieutenant. Nice work.” Halloran studied the pattern of the ship formation. “That lead one—Charlie Three—seems bigger?”

  “The computer is trying to call it a friendly, sir.” Almost apologetically she added, “It still thinks we’re Prax.”

  “Okay.”

  “It’s calling out names to each of the signatures. Look at your screen now, sir.”

  Halloran saw a scrolling set of ship schematics. “So that’s the Faraxxan. It does look big.”

  “Aye, sir. The rest are below if you scroll down.”

  “Any chance they will recognize us even if we’re cloaked?”

  “No way to know, sir.”

  “Well, we’ll find out in…eleven minutes, when they come out of decel.”

  Aboard Argon

  “Can we get the shuttles back in time?” Orris demanded of his Lieutenant Commander, a heavyset man named Danyal.

  “Unlikely, sir. They were just touching down at the site. The visibility is reported to be near zero and sensors are severely compromised at the surface.”

  “We’ll have to leave them. Instruct Usar and Saranin to break orbit with us. We’ll form up between the Prax and the planet in wedge formation. Have Valor break above us as the high position. Borelin and Vanguard stay back to plug a hole if needed.”

  “Yes, sir.” The officer began relaying orders to others over the comm channels.

  Orris went to the communications station. “I want Grisa up here now.”

  “He’s on his way, sir.”

  “Prepare a jumpdrone communication to Fleet Command, priority one action. My authorization.”

  “Go ahead, sir.”

  “From Orris, Tavar stationkeep, urgent action needed. Nine-ship flotilla inbound Prax medium-class warships, estimated arrival 2365 local Struve time. Argon, Usar, Saranin and Valor preparing to engage with Borelin and Vanguard in reserve. Reinforcements requested. Repeat urgent, action imminent.” He reread the transcription and nodded to the tech. “Send that now.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Captain! The Prax lead vessels are exiting decel early.”

  “Let me see!” Orris stormed over.

  Lieutenant Treela was showing the trajectory data on her screen, looked up at him. They both knew the maneuver; it was designed to cut the time available for a defensive force to form up against a decelerating attacker. The extra-hard decel put a lot of stress on a ship and threw off the navigational and targeting computers on all but the very newest classes. Plus, a ship executing this maneuver close to a planetary body ran the risk of overshooting and slamming into it. If done correctly, however, and with a dose of luck, the attacker could successfully disorient the defenders and open fire much sooner.

  She rechecked the rapidly changing data. “Four—no, six—vessels are exiting decel and will enter mid-orbit. They are trying to get behind us, sir!”

  Chapter 27

  Aboard Serapis

  “Captain Kendra.” Halloran was watching the unfolding tactical situation on the Serapis’ sensors but was having a hard time of understanding.

  Kendra came on the comm. “Kendra here.”

  “Leave Engineering and get up here on the double.”

  “On my way. I’m assuming that means quickly.”

  “It does, Captain. You’re needed on the bridge.” He felt his voice rising somewhat in concern.

  “May I, Captain?” Axxa was by the command station.

  Halloran waved at the display, inviting the Prax to look at it.

  “Something is wrong,” Axxa announced.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It is well-known among the Prax that this planet—this system—is firmly in the hands of the humans. Now we see an infiltration and an attacking fleet. Something is wrong within Prax command.”

  “I don’t see how that helps us here, but thanks for the heads-up.”

  Kendra burst onto the bridge and went straight to Halloran’s station. She was out of breath. “Captain? What’s happening?”

  “Nine large Prax warships just jumped in and are entering our sector. They seem to be maneuvering rapidly. The human ships have broken orbit and are forming up somehow. Can you interpret all this?”

  She studied the display for a long half-minute, then jumped over to Carruthers. “Let me see the tracks.”

  “Report, Captain,” prompted Halloran. He could feel Antonov’s eyes on the group from across the bridge.

  “The Prax have pulled off a rare maneuver called—by us—a high-gee decel exit. They must have practiced this to get it so close to the gravity well of a planet…impressive.”

  “So it’s a surprise attack?”

  She straightened. “Well, surprise attacks are pretty hard to do in space, with modern sensors. What this commander did was split his forces with the lead six dropping in below the Fleet formation, essentially placing themselves between the defenders and the planet. The other three will come out further away and put the Fleet ships in an exposed position defending on two axes initially.”

  Halloran processed what she had explained to him as the sounds of machinery hummed through the silent bridge; everyone waiting expectantly for what would happen next. “What does the tactical situation look like for our side?”

  She shook her head. “They’re going to get hit hard.”

  Halloran watched the six Prax ships turning and lining up behind and below the Fleet ships. “Mr. Antonov.”

  The Russian was there in an instant. “Yes, Captain.”

  “Our mission is to protect the colony,” Halloran said softly.

  “Aye, Captain. What are you considering?”

  Halloran placed an elbow in a palm and cupped his chin in the other palm. “What if we dropped in ahead of the human column and fired everything we had at that lead Prax, Charlie Three—the big one named the Faraxxan? Then head straight for the outer three enemy ships and push through their formation doing maximum damage.” He looked at Kendra. “Would that give Heres and the other's assistance?”

  “Sir, that would of course expose us to both enemy and friendly fire,” Antonov pointed out.

  Halloran was still looking at Kendra.

  She nodded slowly. “Yes, if we could disable the Faraxxan, that might allow the others to take on the remaining ships. Would give them a fighting chance.
But,” she nodded at Antonov, “he’s right; we’d be giving everything away.”

  After a curt nod to them and a few strides he tapped the comm on his station. “All hands, this is the Captain. We’re about to engage a numerically superior enemy force. Sorry Chief Parker, but we may poke a few fresh holes in your hull. Everyone do their best; I know we’re new at our jobs, but I’m proud of what each and every one of you have done to make Serapis a fighting ship. Now, let’s show them what we’re made of. Captain out.”

  “That was good,” Kendra whispered.

  Halloran shot her a hard glare as he pointed to Axxa. “You, back in your seat. Antonov, I want you riding shotgun with Carruthers on the sensors. Kendra, we will want to jump the moment we get a clear path beyond the incoming Prax formation. The coordinates are logged in the navigation system.” He fixed her and Antonov. “By me personally. If I am disabled you execute on those coordinates if all possible, clear?”

  Both nodded automatically.

  Everyone bustled about the bridge as Halloran retook his seat. “Djembe, fire up the mains and move us out ahead of the Fleet formation. I want a clear shot with the plasma cannons at the Faraxxan, understand?”

  “Perfectly, sir. Leaving orbit now along the necessary thrust vector and acceleration.”

  Aboard Argon

  The formation was setting up too slow for Captain Orris. He was taking turns berating the other Captains over public channels. Now, Captain Jollo of the Vanguard was the subject of his ire. “Your ship movements have been sloppy! Was your pilot asleep? You should be abreast of Borelin by now!”

  “The same engine trouble as before, sir,” explained Jollo with a clear edge of frustration in his voice. “If we don’t follow the modified procedures during startup the same reactor issue—.”

  “You should have been working around the shifts to fix that, Captain. I don’t want to hear about it now as we go into battle. Match our velocity!” He closed the channel.

  “Captain, the enemy ships are all out of decel and forming up in standard staggered line. They’ll be within firing range in three minutes.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant Treela.” He walked behind the pilot and glanced over his shoulder, reading the instruments.