Hero's Return, page 9
Dorothy could only nod in agreement. “Not wanting to sound cold-blooded, but losing crews isn’t as bad as the loss of ships. As you pointed out a couple of days ago, we can’t phone home and get reinforcements.”
“No, we can’t,” Julie stated as she stood. Then she began pacing.
“I could probably buy a few destroyers from the Empire,” Julie thought aloud as she paced around the room, “but it would take three months to arrange the deal, and three months for them to get here. Then we’d have to convert them into missile destroyers, so there’s another two or three months.”
Julie stopped and looked at Dorothy. “So even if we spent credits to buy the destroyers, which I’d prefer not to do, it’d be nine months or more before they’d be of any use.” The Federation’s leader shook her head. “That’s not an option. What are Chuck’s recommendations?”
“For replacing the ships?” Dorothy asked.
Julie shook her head. “For reinforcing 61 Cygni.”
“It all comes down to the least bad option we have. Weakening the Delta Pavonis picket force.”
Julie leaned back in her desk chair and thought about that option.
“I don’t like it.” Seeing her friend about to respond, Julie raised a hand to cut her off. “I don’t like it,” she repeated. “That doesn’t mean I don’t agree that it’s the best decision.
“The damn Teddy Bears are stretched as thin as we are,” Julie continued. She was thinking out loud now, working out the problem.
“And they’re losing ships to the Eesni, as well,” Dorothy added. “The Pyrassun spy network has confirmed that, including one of their big superdreadnoughts.”
Julie nodded, remembering the details from the intelligence reports Snake Atwater had forwarded to her.
“So they’re not likely to get froggy right now. The Eesni are more of a threat to them than they are to us.”
“We were already in the process of rotating forces to 61 Cygni A. I’ve already ordered the 2nd and 3rd Missile Destroyer Squadrons to proceed to the system to swap out with the 1st and 4th Squadrons,” Dorothy informed her boss.
“Chuck left them at Delta Pavonis when he took the 1st Strike Force to Cygni?” Julie asked.
Dorothy nodded. “They mated up with the remnants of the improved Swarm cruiser force that had defended the Cygni System.”
“What’s the disposition of our forces right now?” Julie asked. “I was gone a long time, and you shuffled a lot around.”
“Well, Chuck Anderson’s 1st Strike Fleet is at 61 Cygni A. When the shuffle is complete, it will contain the 5th Missile Dreadnought, 2nd and 3rd Superbattleship, 5th and 7th Supercruiser, and 2nd and 3rd Missile Destroyer Squadrons.
“The 1st Swarm Defense Force of fifty Swarm cruisers and the three repaired dreadnoughts of the 2nd Division of the 4th Missile Dreadnought Squadron are covering Earth. The 2nd SDF, with another fifty Swarm cruisers and the 2nd Missile Dreadnought Force, is protecting the Pyrassun home system. Finally, we had the 3rd Swarm Defense Force defending Tau Ceti. That force provided the cruisers we upgraded. It started with forty swarm cruisers and the 3rd Missile Dreadnought Squadron. With the losses suffered, it’s down to thirty-two ships. I ordered them forward to Delta Pavonis when I moved Chuck’s force to 61 Cygni A.”
“So what’s covering Tau Ceti?” Julie asked. “It is the Federation capital, after all.”
Dorothy shrugged. “Not a lot. Just what’s left of Task Force Constellation. 3rd Superbattleship, 3rd Improved Battleship, and the 8th, 9th, and 10th Supercruiser Squadrons. Two of the 10th’s cruisers are in the yards right now. Engineers are installing the missile upgrades on them.”
“The new missiles based on the Teddy Bear design?” Julie asked.
Dorothy nodded.
“What are we calling them? For that matter, since we now have multiple types of missiles, we should probably name the dreadnought missiles.”
“Already thought of that,” Dorothy said. “The dreadnought missiles are Tridents. I decided to wait till you were back to name the new missiles.”
Julie started typing on her terminal, conducting a search. It had been more than a century since the Britannia Imperial Fleet had deployed missiles on its warships. Finally, she found the information she was looking for.
“Venom,” Julie stated. “The last missile the Imperial Fleet deployed was called the Venom. Since there isn’t anyone still around from those days, it won’t confuse anyone if we reuse the name.”
“Venom it is, then.” Dorothy nodded.
“How long till those ships are available?”
“Another three weeks. It’s a six-week conversion.”
Julie grunted. “Not that long ago, those supercruisers were the backbone of the fleet. Now, I look at them and see ships that are of limited use to the fleet.”
“And when they were the backbone of the fleet, the captains of those supercruisers looked at dreadnoughts and destroyers as obsolete. Now we’re depending on them.”
Julie pounded a fist on her desk. “Infrastructure is our Achilles’ heel. I hate depending on the Pyrassuns and Mordorians for yard space.”
“We’ll soon have the additional Swarm manufacturing ships,” Dorothy pointed out.
“Not really,” Julie said. “The large one has to concentrate on helping to build Earth’s industrial base. Sure, I can have it build new warships or modify existing ones, but that’s robbing Peter to pay Paul. The long-term road to success is an Earth able to support itself. To be the industrial giant it once was.”
“There’s always the smaller one, then.”
“It can help with that.” Julie nodded. “But there again, we need it more for infrastructure. You’re the one who provides me with the fleet supply numbers. We’re terribly short of Trident missiles. With all those that were just expended in the last fight, many of the fleet’s missile colliers are only a quarter full of reloads.”
“Let’s hope Chuck punching them in the nose will force the Eesni to think hard about coming back for another round.”
“I don’t like it, Dot.”
Julie’s fleet commander just cocked an eyebrow.
“Sitting back and waiting for the next shoe to drop. That’s the way the Swarm nearly beat us. The fleet just sat and waited for the next attack, hoping we’d learned something or developed something that would allow us to win.”
“Well, we did that. We did develop, we did learn.”
Julie vigorously shook her head. “Only because of him.”
Dorothy knew who Julie was talking about.
“And he didn’t sit and wait for things to happen. We went out and met the Swarm attack. That’s how we won.”
“I don’t see it, Julie,” Dorothy said. “I mean, a way to do that right now. We don’t know enough, and don’t have enough ships, even if we did. But you’re right, sitting and waiting is a recipe for disaster.”
“But we have him back. And just like he’s done before, maybe Hazard can see a way out of this.”
* * * * *
Chapter 6: Backchannels
61 Cygni A System
United Federation Space
Empire Date: Feb 1049
Chuck Anderson, CO of the 1st Strike Force, was anxious. Five times he’d started writing a follow-up message to Admiral Dorothy Evers, and five times he’d deleted what little he’d created.
Why hasn’t Dot answered? It’s been nearly two weeks, and it isn’t like I didn’t let her know what happened right away. A courier went out within hours of the battle, and the next day, I sent out the detailed report.
The battle was, of course, his fleet’s confrontation with the thirty-ship strong Eesni force. His own 1st Strike Force had inflicted crippling losses on the enigmatic aliens, destroying all but one of the ships. But the force had lost ships, as well. Whatever the Eesni FTL weapon was—and the Federation still hadn’t figured that out—had killed eight of his missile destroyers.
Chuck blamed himself for those losses. He’d had trouble sleeping at night due to second-guessing his tactics. He’d known going into the battle that he’d lose ships, but eight—eight had been too many, and as the force commander, he was responsible. And because of the type of weapon the Eesni were using, there were no survivors from any of the destroyed ships. Nearly a thousand men, Chuck knew, he would guiltily carry around for the rest of his life.
How did Emperor Hazard deal with it? Or for that matter, Gathii Kong or Julie Adams. All of them have lost many more ships and crews than in this one battle.
But losing ships and crews wasn’t what bothered Rear Admiral Anderson. It was his current situation. 1st Strike Force was still responsible for the defense of the Genesis Colony and was now short eight ships. Those ships had constituted 20 percent of his opening missile salvo during the last battle. If the Eesni showed up in the same or even greater strength, he wasn’t sure he could hold them off.
Chuck’s detailed report had included recommendations for what to do next. In a nutshell, that was to pull the 1st and 4th Missile Destroyer Squadrons out of the Delta Pavonis System to replace the remnants of his two squadrons. Because of the losses, he’d combined those units into a single oversized squadron, the 2nd Missile Destroyer Squadron, and disbanded the 3rd Missile Destroyer Squadron.
But even as powerful as it still was, and augmented by The People’s ships, commitments were spreading the Federation Fleet thin. The 1st and 2nd Swarm Defense Forces defended the Sol and Pyrassus Star Systems. Composed of fifty of the People’s cruisers and supported by a single squadron of missile dreadnoughts, each was more than capable of defending those home star systems. The third member of the Federation, the Mordorian Horde, defended its own home world, not because they had an impressive fleet, but because any attacking force would have to get by at least two other Federation forces to reach it.
The fleet had three other combat formations. Task Force Constellation, centered around the fleet battle carrier Constellation, occupied the Tau Ceti Star System, the Federation’s capital. It and the smaller 3rd Swarm Defense Force, containing only thirty cruisers, protected the system.
Anderson’s own 1st Strike Force was the final and most powerful formation. Admiral Julie Adams, before she became President Adams, sure that the Teddy Bears would cause trouble in the sector, had placed her most powerful force at Delta Pavonis. Chuck’s force was more than a match for anything the Zenkarr Fleet could throw against it. But that was before the Eesni had shown an interest in the 61 Cygni A System.
When a Pyrassun defense force protecting their colony in the system detected an Eesni scout, the Cats had asked the Federation Fleet for support. Admiral Dorothy Evers, the newly appointed commander of the fleet, carved out a squadron-sized unit of improved Swarm cruisers to form the Genesis Defense Force. The force engaged two Eesni scouting units in quick succession, driving off the aliens, but not without suffering losses. That was how Anderson and his force came to be in the 61 Cygni A system.
1st Strike Fleet replaced the Swarm force because they didn’t have the firepower to defend the system. With my losses, I’m no longer sure I do.
“Admiral.”
Anderson recognized the voice of his chief of staff, Paul Wheeler, coming out of the comm terminal of his desk.
“Anderson here.”
“The 2nd and 3rd Missile Destroyer Squadrons just hypered into the system.”
“I guess Dot finally acted on my message,” Chuck responded.
He heard his friend and chief advisor chuckle.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Just as the light of their arrival reached us, so did a message from the senior squadron commander. Admiral Evers didn’t send them to replace our losses. They’re here as part of the rotation plan we asked for a month ago.”
After weeks of just sitting, hidden in the system’s asteroid belt, Chuck had felt his force was losing its edge, and had asked that units in less active star systems be rotated in to replace his worn-out forces.
“Regardless of why they’re here, I’m happy to see them.”
“Admiral, there’s another ship with them. One that will surprise you.”
“Connie?”
Another chuckle erupted from the speaker.
“No. It’s a Zenkarr missile ship.”
* * *
“Fleet Commander Nieqids arrived at Delta Pavonis two days before our scheduled departure for Genesis, Admiral.”
Chuck was reviewing the message he’d received from the commander of the 2nd Missile Destroyer Squadron. Paul Wheeler stood just to his right, looking over his admiral’s shoulder to watch the message for the first time. The squadron had arrived in the 61 Cygni A System nearly a light hour away from Anderson’s force, making real-time communications nearly impossible.
“The Zenkarr fleet commander messaged us he was on a peaceful mission and wanted to speak with President Adams. Greater Chief Loud Grumbler, who’s taken command of the 3rd Swarm Defense Force guarding Delta Pavonis, informed Nieqids that the president was unavailable. She then offered to have him escorted to Tau Ceti, where he could meet with Admiral Evers. Nieqids agreed, and the greater chief delayed our departure by a day so we could escort the Bear commander to Tau Ceti.”
“That could explain why it’s taken so long for Admiral Evers to respond to our messages,” Paul observed. “She was busy dealing with this guy.”
“Maybe,” Chuck responded. He hoped he’d hidden his doubt about that. Dorothy Evers was a friend as well as a solid combat commander. Anderson knew she wouldn’t have been so distracted dealing with the Bear admiral as to not respond to a message from him.
“When we arrived in the Tau Ceti System,” the commander continued, “the first thing I noticed was that the Constellation was not in the system. Normally, I wouldn’t have thought anything odd about that, since Admiral Evers routinely travels around and uses Task Force Constellation to carry her. What made me curious was that only the Connie was missing. The other ships of her task force were still in the system.”
“That is odd,” Wheeler responded.
“Listen up. It gets even more interesting and explains why this Bear admiral is suddenly here,” Chuck said.
“I then began exchanging messages with Captain Thompson, the fleet commander’s chief of staff, who was still in the system,” the squadron commander continued. “She informed me that the admiral was suddenly called to the Pegasus System.”
“Pegasus!” Paul Wheeler exclaimed. “What the hell did she go there for?” Then the chief of staff noticed his admiral’s glare. “Sorry, I’ll be quiet.”
Anderson nodded, then began playing the message again after pausing it for the outburst.
“The fleet chief of staff only offered vague reasons for the admiral’s trip. She then ordered us to proceed on our original mission to the 61 Cygni A System and to bring the Bear with us. You’re the only other flag-rank human officer around, Admiral.”
Anderson stopped the replay.
“The rest of the message just informs me she’s going to take her two squadrons, along with the Bear ship, to the gas giant to refuel. Then they’ll head to join our force.”
Wheeler pulled out his tablet and began crunching numbers. “Based on their arrival point, assuming they’ll travel at normal speeds, and assuming the typical refuel times for destroyers—” he typed in some more numbers “—they won’t be here for almost two days.”
“Neither my anxiety nor my curiosity will survive that long,” Anderson said. “Message the 2nd Squadron’s CO to refuel the Bear ship first. Then, after refueling her first two destroyers, she’s to send that three-ship force on ahead. That should cut at least ten hours off my waiting.”
“I’ll get that out right away, Admiral.”
“And prep Daring’s captain and crew. We will render full honors to this Zenkarr admiral.”
“There will be some who won’t like that, Chuck.”
Admiral Anderson didn’t miss that his old friend and now chief of staff had called him by his first name.
And he did it to make sure he got my attention.
“I don’t like it. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all back-stabbing sons of bitches,” Chuck responded. “But the Bear is an admiral, and we will show him the respect the position demands. And—he’s come a long way, alone, on a dinky little ship we can easily blow away. I’m guessing he didn’t do that just to stop by and say hi.”
“But what could he want?” Paul speculated.
“Captain Wheeler, we’ll both find that out in about thirty hours,” Anderson stated. “Now, I believe you have at least one message to send.”
* * *
Chuck stood with the greeting delegation—Paul Wheeler, and Daring’s captain—and watched as the Zenkarr shuttle touched down in one of the dreadnought’s Marine landing bays. He had specifically chosen this location for its proximity to the embarked Marine force and the availability of a nearby conference room. The admiral didn’t want the alien commander to see any more of the warship than absolutely necessary.
As the shuttle’s side door lifted up and out of the way, Anderson caught sight of the Teddy Bear commander. He remembered the four-armed, bear-looking alien from the peace talks in the Zenkarr home system. Then, he’d been Julie Adams’ chief of staff, the meeting had been aboard this very ship, and he realized his security precautions had been in vain.
He’s been aboard the ship and given a tour. Granted, it was a very sanitized tour, but he’s still seen a lot.
“All right, Captain,” the admiral said softly.
“Marines!” Daring’s CO barked out.
Two squads of Marines rushed forward to form an honor guard next to the shuttle. Once in place, the gunnery sergeant in charge barked a command, and the eight men and women in full dress uniforms brought their pulse rifles up in salute. Anderson knew the captain had ordered that they load the rifles, but the honor guard wasn’t the actual security in the bay. Two additional squads in full combat armor spaced themselves along the landing bay’s outside bulkhead.
And the rest of the platoon is waiting in armor behind a hatch on the opposite side of the hangar, Chuck remembered.
