“Very brave,” Desjani murmured, acknowledging the doomed charge of the light cruiser.
Alliance Formation Bravo swept on up and outward. Geary, admiring how well Duellos had dealt with the attack, saw the surviving Syndic capital ships taking up positions around the hypernet gate and clenched his fists in frustration. The suicidal attack had done exactly what it needed to do, buying time for the other Syndic warships to prepare to destroy the gate.
“Formation Gamma, Captain Tulev, ignore the battle cruiser in the center of the gate. Hit the Syndic ships around the rim of the gate.”
“Tulev, aye.” He didn’t sound nervous, but solid Tulev never did. Geary watched as Tulev altered the track of Formation Gamma, taking his battle cruisers toward the area where two of the surviving battleships were braking to glide slowly past sections of the hundreds of tethers holding the hypernet gate particle matrix in place. The heavy cruisers attached to Formation Gamma arrowed away, heading for the crippled Syndic battle cruiser opposite the center of the gate, while Tulev’s Leviathan, along with her divisional sisters Dragon, Steadfast, and Valiant, swung up toward the two battleships.
Geary cast a grim eye on the last two unengaged Syndic capital ships, a battleship and a battle cruiser. He couldn’t fault Tulev’s decision. Splitting the Alliance battle cruisers in Tulev’s formation would have left even odds facing the Syndics, which very likely wouldn’t have been enough to stop the enemy ships. “Formation Delta. Dauntless and Daring will engage the Syndic battleship at ten degrees to port and six seven degrees up from Dauntless. Terrible and Victorious will engage the Syndic battle cruiser at one five degrees to port and four one degrees up from Dauntless. Heavy cruisers accompany Dauntless and Daring. Light cruisers and destroyers accompany Terrible and Victorious. All units, come to new course up five zero degrees at time zero zero.”
Geary leaned toward Captain Desjani. “We need a quick kill.”
She nodded. “You’ll have one, sir.”
Tulev’s ships were still short of engagement range when the weapons watch called out the words Geary had been dreading hearing. “The surviving Syndic ships have opened fire on the hypernet gate tethers.”
SEVEN
Geary stared at his display, watching the tethers blossom and shatter under the blows of the Syndic weapons. “How much damage can the gate take before it starts collapsing?”
“Uncertain, sir. We’ll be able to tell when failure begins, but we won’t know we’re there until it starts happening.”
Geary barely managed to keep from yelling at everyone on the bridge. Next time you want to build something this dangerous, take some time to try to understand it first! But he knew that wasn’t fair. Under the pressure of the war, with the enemy also in possession of the hypernet technology, both sides had lacked the luxury of time to figure out the theory behind the technology.
He couldn’t believe how quickly tethers were being destroyed. The Syndic ships were ignoring Tulev’s oncoming attack, probably still fully under the control of their automated programs, fixed on trying to destroy the gate no matter the cost.
The cost came first for the last crippled battle cruiser in the center as a weak forward shield collapsed, leaving the hull open to bombardment by the hell lances on the four heavy cruisers. The battle cruiser shuddered under the barrage, falling off and down, all systems apparently dead.
Minutes later Tulev’s battle cruisers climbed past the two Syndic battleships, making a dangerously close pass. The first battleship took the full brunt of a volley of specters that even its shields couldn’t withstand, then fell apart as grapeshot tore through it. The second battleship managed to hold up briefly under the concentrated fire of the hell lances of four Alliance battle cruisers, then blew up as its shields collapsed and the lances ripped it open.
Tulev’s ships were curving up and over, away from the hypernet gate again, as Geary led Formation Delta up at the last two Syndic ships.
Terrible and Victorious reached their slightly closer target first. The light cruisers and destroyers with them, knowing the Syndic weapons were focused entirely on destroying the gate tethers, slashed past the Syndic battle cruiser at insanely close distances, unleashing weapons as they went. A battle cruiser’s shields weren’t the equal of a battleship’s, and at extremely close range even the light Alliance warships pounded the shields dangerously low.
Behind the light units came Terrible and Victorious. Volleys of grapeshot from both ships finally crashed the Syndic battle cruiser’s shields, then the hell lances did their deadly work, leaving a broken wreck in their wake.
Geary’s eyes kept switching from the status of the gate to the shape of the Syndic battleship ahead. “Gate status. Give me a guess.”
The watch hesitated just a moment. “I think it’s going, sir,” he reported in a voice higher-pitched by stress. “I think we’re too late.”
Geary’s hand triggered the communications switch. “All units in the Alliance fleet with the exception of Dauntless, Daring, and Cruiser Division Four, this is Captain Geary. You are to accelerate away from the hypernet gate at best possible speed. Reinforce shields facing the gate. We estimate the gate is collapsing and may produce a very powerful burst of energy. Dauntless and the units with her will destroy the remaining Syndic ship, attempt to stabilize the gate, and if that fails, try to reduce the intensity of the energy burst by further selective destruction of gate tethers. I repeat, all units other than Dauntless, Daring, and the heavy cruisers of Division Four are to accelerate away from the hypernet gate at best speed.”
He’d barely finished speaking when the heavy cruisers got within range of the Syndic battleship and began pummeling it, throwing out every weapon they had. The battleship’s shields held, of course, but shivered under the blows.
Desjani spoke calmly. “Daring, this is Dauntless. Closing to hell-lance range in conjunction with maximum volley of grapeshot.”
“Dauntless, this is Daring. Aye. Right beside you.”
Geary couldn’t know whether the Syndic battleship had been released from its automated control now that the gate seemed to be collapsing, or if the crew had managed to override the controls on some of its weapons, but fire suddenly lashed out at the heavy cruisers. Two of them reeled away from the hammer blows of the Syndic battleship’s massive main hell-lance batteries, damaged enough to be out of the battle. A third cruiser arced up and back, curving away from contact. The fourth, Diamond, spun sideways and rolled in an attempt to confuse the Syndic aim and kept firing.
The grapeshot from Dauntless and Daring hit the Syndic battleship’s shields, setting off a riot of flashing lights as the shot converted its energy to heat and light. In a few places, the shields thinned enough for grape to get through and flare against the hull. Moments later, before the shields of the battleship could recover, hell-lance fire from Dauntless on one side and Daring on the other pounded into them. The battleship trembled as the charged particles ripped through its armor and on into its crew and vital systems. “Specters,” Desjani rapped. “Full volley.”
Six missiles shot from Dauntless, taking just a moment to lock onto the Syndic battleship and accelerate straight into the stricken warship. Massive explosions bloomed and what was now nothing more than a derelict staggered away from the position it had held near the gate.
“They never stood a chance, being at almost dead stop,” Desjani stated, shaking her head.
“The gate is definitely collapsing,” the watch-stander monitoring it called out, his voice carrying a trace of fear now.
Geary entered a code and punched activate, calling up the program Commander Cresida had developed. Ancestors, please let this work. It wants me to slave available warships to the program. Fine. Do it. I wish I had more than three right here, but how many do I need? The last two formations have already turned in accordance with my earlier order and are heading away. “Dauntless, Daring, Diamond, this is Captain Geary. Your combat systems are being put under control of a program desi
gned to try to control the collapse of the hypernet gate. Effective now.” He punched in the authorization, pondering the irony of doing the same thing to his ships that the Syndic commanders had done to their Force Bravo flotilla. But then he was doing this to try to stop massive destruction, not to cause it, and if his commanders wanted to, they could override the program at any time.
Almost immediately Geary could feel Dauntless pivot and begin braking at maximum thrust to slow its movement across the hypernet gate. He could see Daring and Diamond also straining to kill their velocity and assume positions near the gate.
Geary looked up at the visual display, in which the hypernet gate now loomed. He had seen only one other hypernet gate, and that only for a few moments. Admiral Bloch had been eager to show it off to Geary, but Geary had still been half-dead from his extended survival sleep and the psychic shock of awakening a century in the future and therefore hadn’t paid much attention. He vaguely remembered a shimmering in space, as if something wasn’t quite right inside the gate.
Now he stared at something different. The destruction wrought by the Syndic ships had been limited by their losses, but it had clearly been too much for the particle matrix suspended between the tethers. The shimmering was gone, replaced by a waviness that rippled across space itself like spasms on the hide of some impossibly vast creature.
“Captain Geary,” Desjani spoke as if discussing routine maneuvers, “the gate neutralization program is projecting positions for all three ships.”
“Any problems with it?” Geary asked Desjani.
She shook her head. “We’re already committed to the maneuver, sir.”
Geary watched the image of the gate slide past Dauntless, the hypernet gate’s size dwarfing even the Alliance battle cruiser. On his display, he could see Daring and Diamond also taking up positions called for by the program.
“Program reports gate collapse analysis complete,” the weapons watch reported in a slightly baffled voice. “Stabilization impossible. Initiating destructive neutralization sequence.”
Apparently that meant it was opening fire. The hell lances on all three ships hurled their charges at tethers spaced around the gate, taking them out in a pattern Geary couldn’t understand. He found his eyes fixed on the gate itself again, appalled but unable to look away from the tortured death of the particle matrix bound within the gate.
The image of space through the gate now twisted and rolled as if reality itself were being bent. Something in the back of Geary’s brain recoiled from the sight, repulsed by a vision that stripped bare the illusion of solidity which the universe normally held for human eyes. Inside the matrix of the gate, the fundamental nature of matter was being warped, and in the process literally unimaginable amounts of energy were being called into existence.
The hell lances on the Dauntless kept firing in apparently random sequences, vaporizing tethers singly and in groups. Daring had moved above and to port of Dauntless, and Diamond below and also to port, both of them firing their weapons as well under the coordination of the same program. It was impossible for Geary to tell from the visual display if the program was working or not. “What are the energy readings in that gate like?” he asked, his near whisper carrying clearly across the otherwise silent bridge.
“Rocketing all over the place, off the chart and then nothing, and then incredibly high again,” the sensors watch reported, her voice strained by disbelief. “The changes are happening instantaneously. A lot of what’s going on in that gate seems to be occurring in ways our instruments can’t measure.”
“Captain Geary, this is Diamond. What the hell is going on, sir?” The message was torn by some kind of static but still understandable.
Geary reached to push his controls without taking his eyes off the visual display. “Diamond, this is Geary. We’re trying to leash a monster before it destroys everything in this star system. Make sure your forward shields are set to maintain at maximum. Daring, that goes for you, too. Do not, repeat, do not interfere with the firing pattern of your weapons.”
A strange sort of humming seemed to be filling the air, a resonance traveling through everything near the gate. Geary felt it inside himself. He could hear someone whispering a prayer and didn’t call for silence. The vision through the gate had twisted some more, into something almost impossible to look at because of the way his brain reacted to the sight. The maw of the monster. The mythical beast that eats ships, leaving no trace of them in space. I’ve finally seen it. By the living stars, I pray I never see it again.
A very low voice sounded near him. Co-President Rione, her tone reflecting the same awe and terror that Geary and everyone else must be feeling. “Captain Geary. Thank you for trying.”
“We haven’t failed yet,” he managed to reply.
“Captain Desjani,” the weapons watch called, his voice sounding too loud and with an undertone of panic. “Hell-lance batteries two alpha, four alpha, and five beta report overheating from the constant firing.”
“Conduct emergency heat dumps,” Desjani replied, her voice steady. “We have Captain Geary aboard, ladies and gentlemen. We won’t fail him or the rest of the fleet counting on us.”
Even through his fear Geary felt a rush of gratification at her words and admiration for Desjani’s ability to project control even in the face of what was happening inside the gate.
The strange humming had grown to a moan running through and tearing at everything. Geary felt the sort of strange instability that came with being very drunk and realized his nervous system was being pummeled by whatever was happening inside the gate. He hoped that Dauntless’s electrical systems were better shielded than his own body was at the moment.
“Captain Geary, this is Diamond. Experiencing secondary system failures. Primary systems remain operational on backup circuits. We’ve lost one hell-lance battery to overheating. Holding position.”
“This is Daring. We’re suffering the same. Remaining on station and continuing to fire.”
“Captain Desjani, failures to secondary systems throughout the hull, hell-lance battery two alpha nonoperational due to overheating.”
“Very well,” Desjani replied in the same steady voice. “Hold station. Continue firing.”
Geary had been proud to command this fleet when he wasn’t feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility. But now he felt such a strong sense of honor in commanding ships and sailors like this that he had to fight back tears. “Damn, you’re all good,” he stated roughly. “May the living stars reward such courage.”
“This is Diamond. My weapons have stopped firing. All combat systems nonoperational. Request further instructions.”
Geary slammed his hand onto the control. “Withdraw, Diamond. Maximum acceleration. Keep your shields facing the gate as strong as possible.”
“Diamond, aye. Unable to comply. Inertial compensators are still working but main maneuvering controls have just failed. Looks like we’re staying at the mouth of hell with you.”
“I couldn’t ask for better company there than you, Daring and Dauntless,” Geary replied. “Captain Duellos, if Dauntless is destroyed, you are to assume command of the fleet by my order.”
It would be a while before Duellos heard that order, assuming the strange static emanating from the gate didn’t mask it completely at a distance. Geary took a deep breath. “How much longer can we hold out, Captain Desjani?”
“No telling, sir,” she stated in a soft but firm voice that left Geary marveling at Desjani’s self-control. “The ship is undergoing a unique set of stresses.”
The pace of firing from the hell-lance batteries had finally slowed, with pauses of varying length occurring before the firing program ordered new shots to blow apart more tethers at locations all around the gate. The hell mouth inside the gate was fluctuating wildly, one moment swelling as if to burst the bounds of the gate and the next dwindling to a point almost too small to see.
Geary felt his body pulsing in time, wondering how long humans coul
d endure whatever was happening to the structure of reality in this part of space.
The hell mouth shrank into nothingness in the blink of an eye, vanishing from sight. “What—?”
Geary’s question was cut off as a shock wave hit the Dauntless, traveling so fast that there’d been no warning time this close to the gate. He’d seen time-lapse images of the shock wave from a nova, and this seemed like that, though happening in real time the event was so fast his senses didn’t really register it. Dauntless shuddered under the impact, the inertial compensators whining as they dampened the effects of the force.
“Forward shields being reinforced.” The lights overhead dimmed. “All nonessential power being diverted to forward shields.”
It ended as fast as it had come. Geary blinked at the visual display, which showed nothing but normal space. The remaining gate tethers had been vaporized by the energy release from the gate collapse. “Diamond! Daring! Report your status!”
“Sir, communications are down. Systems being restored now. You have communications, sir.”
Geary punched the control again. “Diamond and Daring, request your status.”
The delay was agonizing, but a reply finally came. “This is Daring. A lot of equipment is off-line, but we haven’t taken serious damage. Estimate we can restore full capability given time. We’ll have a time guesstimate for repairs for you as soon as possible.”
“This is Diamond. We should be able to get moving again, though it will take a minimum of several hours and possibly much longer. We’ve lost a lot of vital systems. Diamond is in nonoperational status for an indefinite period.”