Hams nodded. “I understand and will comply.” He sounded a lot steadier now. “Let me get the word out.”
“Go.” Rogero settled back against a broken section of portable wall, breathing deeply and trying to believe that they still had a chance.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MARPHISSA held her flotilla’s vectors as the enigmas arced slightly down and starward and her own force curved to meet them, rising slightly and angling a little bit to port. Having slowed to point one light speed, the warships had pivoted again so that their bows faced toward the enemy once more. It was a textbook approach to an engagement, technically perfect and totally lacking in imagination.
“All units,” Marphissa broadcast. “Turn up zero one point five degree at time three seven.” It was a very minor adjustment, but given the speeds being traveled and the distances covered, it would produce a significant change in the projected encounter. “Engage targets as they enter weapon envelopes.”
When two formations were closing at a combined rate of sixty thousand kilometers per second, the enemy went from a very distant speck to right there in what felt like a moment of time. But even that was a bit of illusion created by the human mind. The ships were moving so fast relative to each other that they were never actually seen when close. They were far ahead, then far behind.
But in that instant, Marphissa felt a thrill of elation as she realized she had guessed right. The enigmas had assumed her formation would not shift its vector.
The enigmas had run head-on into the firepower of a human battleship, while the battle cruiser Pele and the heavy cruisers Basilisk and Kraken skimmed the top of the enigma formation, only targeted by the enigma warships there and able to concentrate their fire on that same fraction of the alien armada.
Marphissa blinked, her eyes fixed on her display as the sensors on her ships evaluated a combat engagement whose duration was measured in much less than a second. Humans had not pulled any triggers in that engagement since their reflexes were far too slow. Only automated fire control systems could choose targets and fire in the time allowed. But with so little time to hit the enemy, the awesome firepower of the Midway had been in its element.
Thirty-three enigma warships had entered the engagement. Twelve of those in the center of the enigma formation had been blown to pieces by Midway’s broadside. A half-dozen others were staggering from damage inflicted by the battleship.
On top of the enigma formation, five more enigma warships had been knocked out by the combined fire of Pele, Basilisk, and Kraken.
Even the battleship’s shields hadn’t been sufficient to shrug off the enigma return fire, though, and in some places her armor had also been penetrated. Marphissa waited tensely as damage reports scrolled down, seeing that nothing critical had been hit on Midway. Pele had taken several hits, one knocking out a hell lance battery and another spearing through the shuttle hangar, but was still in fine combat shape, while the other ships in the Midway flotilla had suffered only minor damage as the enigmas tried to take out the human capital ships.
Sixteen enigma warships, six of them bearing significant damage, curved back around toward the human formation.
Marphissa seemed to hear Bradamont lecturing her. “When the enigmas get hurt, when victory by conventional means suddenly slips from their grasp, that’s when you have to worry about ramming tactics. You can’t outmaneuver them. But you can hit them hard enough to knock them off a collision course.”
“All units in Midway flotilla,” Marphissa ordered, “pivot zero eight zero degrees. Maintain current velocity.”
“What are we doing?” Kontos asked, not frightened at all but intrigued.
Marphissa answered him with another transmission to everyone. “Assume the enemy intends to attempt to ram our largest warships. Set fire control systems to prioritize enemy ships on courses with smallest intercept distances.”
Kontos nodded. “I see. That’s why we’re holding this vector. The enigmas will accelerate and catch us, but at a much smaller relative velocity, so we will have ample opportunity to destroy them on their approach. Did Captain Bradamont tell you of this enigma tactic?”
“Yes.”
“That woman is an angel of death,” Kontos said in admiring tones that made the label sound strangely seductive.
Marphissa gave him a startled glance, wondering if President Iceni now had a rival for Kapitan Kontos’s chaste, martial admiration.
The flotilla was pivoting, every ship continuing along the same course at the same velocity, but facing nearly backward toward the enigmas who were coming out of their turn and lining up for another charge at the human formation.
About thirty light minutes behind the enigmas was the other enigma formation, tangling with Imallye’s flotilla. The pirate queen had not let up, using the agility of her battle cruisers to hammer the enigmas on pass after pass until only a dozen now remained of the armada that had launched from the planet. Marphissa hesitated, then angrily touched another comm command. “Imallye, this is Kommodor Marphissa. Be advised that according to experience with the enigmas, when facing defeat they are likely to engage in suicide tactics including ramming of the largest human warships within reach. For the people, Marphissa, out.”
“Let’s hope the warning reaches her in time,” Kontos said.
Marphissa turned a scowl on the young Kapitan. “She tried to kill me. She tried to destroy Manticore. And I have to warn her anyway. But I don’t have to like it.”
The enigmas came in at full acceleration, which was significantly better than any human ship could manage. But with Marphissa’s flotilla moving away from them at point one light speed the alien ships were still exposed to human defensive fire for an unusually long run in.
Two of the remaining enigma ships blew up, a third broke in half, the two halves self-destructing as they tumbled away to prevent anyone from learning anything from the wreckage.
One of the smaller enigma ships suddenly veered toward the light cruiser Falcon, which had only moments to react. Fortunately, Falcon’s commanding officer did the only thing that could have saved the ship, putting the main propulsion on full and abruptly beginning to brake the light cruiser’s velocity. The sudden change in vector threw off the enigma warship’s approach so that it slid past a bare hundred meters from Falcon’s stern. Before the enigma could turn again, it was blown apart by fire from Falcon, the light cruiser Eagle, and the Hunter-Killers Scout and Defender.
Midway and Pele unleashed a stream of missiles that tore into the advancing enigmas and destroyed four more. Kraken and Basilisk each accounted for another.
And that was enough. The eight surviving enigma warships broke off, changing vectors rapidly so that the human defensive fire failed to hit. The remaining aliens kept accelerating for all they were worth, heading away from the star.
“They’re going for that new jump point of theirs,” Kontos said. “Shall I pursue?”
“No,” Marphissa said. “Even Pele couldn’t catch them if all they want to do is run.” She looked to where Imallye had been fighting the other enigma group. As of thirty minutes ago, one of Imallye’s heavy cruisers was limping away from the fight, but five surviving enigma warships had been tearing away in the same direction as the six fleeing from Marphissa’s flotilla. “Let’s hope we don’t have to fight Imallye now that we’ve dealt with the common enemy.”
* * *
“ANOTHER flotilla arrived at the jump point from Ulindi!” the senior watch specialist cried. “Three hours and twenty minutes ago. A heavy cruiser and two light cruisers!”
Bradamont had just begun muttering a curse when the specialist spoke again, this time sounding puzzled.
“I can’t identify the unit recognition codes they are transmitting. It’s not Syndicate.”
Diaz swept his hand through his own display, peering intently at the data. “They’re calling themselves Ulindi
? It must be a trick. Ulindi doesn’t have any warships.”
“Incoming message from the new flotilla,” the comm specialist reported. “It’s addressed to the commander of Midway’s flotilla, as well as President Iceni and General Drakon.”
“At the moment, I’m the commander of Midway’s flotilla,” Bradamont said. “Let me have a look.”
The man whose image appeared looked oddly familiar to her. Along with a satisfied smile, he was wearing a CEO suit that had been modified enough from its Syndicate origins to look distinct.
“I know him,” Diaz said. “From when he was with the Reserve Flotilla, and when he commanded the Syndicate flotilla that Black Jack drove away from this star. That’s CEO Jason Boyens.”
“He was taken prisoner by Admiral Geary after the fight at Varandal and was most recently a prisoner of President Iceni,” Bradamont said. “She told me she had released him not long ago and sent him to Ulindi. Why is he back and with those warships?”
“Another betrayal,” Diaz said bitterly.
But Boyens’s first words were unexpected. “Greetings from the newly independent star system of Ulindi to the people of Midway Star System,” he said with a broad grin. “And to President Iceni and General Drakon as well. I wanted them to know that their . . . what’s the word? Oh, yes, their trust in me was well deserved.”
Boyens indicated the heavy cruiser whose bridge he was on. “These three warships were part of the forces the Syndicate had been massing for a coordinated attack on you. With help and encouragement from covert agents I had sent out, the crews of this heavy cruiser and the two light cruisers mutinied against the Syndicate while in jump to Ulindi Star System, which they were to transit before jumping to Midway to hit you along with a couple of other flotillas. They didn’t like that plan, because Syndicate ships sent to attack Midway have a tendency never to come home again, but were happy to tell us all about it when they arrived at Ulindi and requested asylum. We were in turn happy to grant them a place to stay in exchange for their becoming the first of Ulindi’s own mobile defense forces!”
“I don’t believe it,” Diaz said, looking stunned.
“I’m not sure I do,” Bradamont said. “But President Iceni said that Boyens might do some real service at Ulindi.”
Boyens’s grin had turned smug. “Since we knew you might be in need of a little help against the other attacks, I brought Ulindi’s new fleet to assist. Just let me know what you need. Ulindi, and I, owe you a few favors. For the people! Boyens, out.”
“I’ll be damned,” Diaz said. “What are we going to do?”
Bradamont indicated her display, where the Syndicate flotilla they had been fighting was already twisting about as quickly as possible. “Since they’ve figured out that one of their expected reinforcements has turned out to be reinforcements for us, I’d say we’re going to chase these guys out of this star system. Once Gryphon joins up we’ll more than match Boyens’s flotilla, so we’ll escort them toward the main world so he can talk to General Drakon in something like real time. Unless the general tells me otherwise. We’ve won, and one of our allies has picked up some decent firepower. Our ancestors are watching over us, Kapitan.”
“You may make me a believer yet,” Diaz said, grinning.
* * *
COLONEL Rogero checked his armor’s power levels, then scrolled rapidly through his whole force to see how everyone else was doing. Not well. And the Syndicate ground forces and citizens were even worse off.
Another enigma bombardment swept past like a deadly hailstorm, but by now the human soldiers had learned the best means of hiding from the enigma seekers and few were targeted.
That wouldn’t matter if everyone ran out of power, though. Without power for heat, oxygen regeneration, and water recycling, no one would last long on the surface of this planet.
“Colonel, that big hole is closing,” a scout left in that area reported.
He didn’t like the sound of that. “All scouts, get away from that hole and rejoin us. Move carefully. I want you back here in one piece.”
What were the aliens up to now? Why had they finally sealed that access to their base?
A powerful signal cut through enigma interference that had increasingly been hindering the human comm net. “Colonel Rogero, this is Kommodor Marphissa. I understood there was a big hole I could drop some big rocks down, but it seems to have vanished. What is your situation?”
“Awful,” Rogero said, feeling weak with relief as well as fatigue. “We’re not capable of breaching their defenses. We’ve barely been able to hang on. The whole force needs to be pulled off planet, but the enigmas have a seemingly endless supply of munitions that they’ll use against any shuttles that try to land now.”
“The area to your southeast looks clear. Keep moving that way. When you’re far enough from the enigma positions, I’m going to start dropping small rocks to keep the enigmas pinned down while we carry out the lift.”
It wasn’t easy, and they lost a few more people on the way, but Rogero got his unit, the Syndicate soldiers, and the citizens far enough to planetary southeast to be safe when the warships in orbit began dropping “small” rocks on the surface over the enigma base. Small meant metal projectiles falling at immense velocity to release their energy on impact, producing massive explosions that not only destroyed anything nearby such as enigma weapons launchers and sensors, but also threw up a lot of dust to help screen the human evacuation.
Rogero sent the citizens up first, dazed men, women, and children who weren’t hysterical only because they were too tired to panic. He then started sending up groups of his soldiers along with the Syndicate soldiers who willingly gave up their weapons. Despite encouragement from President Iceni and Kommodor Marphissa, and perhaps a few orders that Rogero insisted he had not heard due to enigma jamming, he stubbornly refused to leave until the last shuttle came down to pick him and a dozen other remaining soldiers up.
Exhausted despite the up meds his battle armor was pumping into his bloodstream, Rogero realized with a start of surprise that two of those soldiers were Capek and Dinapoli, two of the three who had been rescued by Manticore. “You two are making a habit of being rescued from this planet,” he said.
“I hope this is the last time,” Capek said.
Dinapoli, weaving on her feet from tiredness, managed a nod. “We saved some citizens.”
“Yes.” Rogero let everyone else begin boarding the shuttle, feeling the reassuring vibration in the ground that marked the ongoing orbital bombardment of the surface above the enigma base. “But let’s allow the mobile forces to finish this fight.”
He went up the ramp last. The shuttle began rising while its ramp was still coming up, then as the ramp sealed the shuttle pivoted to face straight up and rocketed for space.
* * *
“THE last of our people is off the planet,” Leytenant Mack reported to Marphissa. “The final shuttle lift has cleared atmosphere.”
“Good.” She ended the call and glared at her display. “Let’s stop playing around. Midway, see what your big ones can do.”
Battleships could carry some big rocks. Midway unloaded the biggest chunk of streamlined metal she had, and fired it downward from an altitude of twenty thousand kilometers above the ravaged surface of the planet. Picking up energy with every kilometer it fell, the rock impacted with the force of a multimegaton nuclear weapon, creating a massive crater directly above where the enigma base lay and shattering the planet’s surface for a wide region around the site.
“My sensors can’t tell if the shot penetrated the enigma base,” Leytenant Mack reported. “But there doesn’t seem to have been nearly enough subsidence of the surface. The enigmas must have dug out some huge spaces under that planet, and if we collapsed them we should see the surface drop a lot more than it has.”
“Well . . . damn,” Marphissa said. “We’ll have t
o let the pirate have the last word on this.”
Imallye had taken her flotilla out to where a natural asteroid about thirty kilometers across was swinging through the wide, elliptical orbit about the star Iwa which it had followed for countless years. Though occasionally crossing the orbit of the planet, and currently heading inward only thirty light seconds from the planet, it would never have come close enough to be caught in the planet’s gravity and be pulled down to its doom.
But even though thirty-kilometer-wide asteroids had a tremendous amount of mass and momentum, the amount of diversion necessary to change its path enough to meet that of the planet was within the capabilities of several human warships. With tow cables wrapped about the asteroid, they tugged it about, altering the age-old path, and setting it on a course for the planet.
It would take a little while to get there. But when it did, the impact would devastate half the planet and break everything on the other half.
“Maybe that will get their attention,” Marphissa growled. “Just leave us alone! And we’ll leave you alone!”
“The base, the armadas, this must have cost the enigmas a lot,” Kontos suggested. “Even if they want to strike again, it will take them a while.”
“It had better take them a long while.” Marphissa leaned back, trying to relax after the long strain of the preparations for the fight and the actual engagements. But she couldn’t relax, because President Iceni had ordered Marphissa to take her flotilla to rendezvous with Imallye’s flotilla.
To negotiate.
“I have done this before,” Marphissa had protested to Iceni. “At Moorea, I took my ship close to Imallye to negotiate. It didn’t end well.”
“This time we outgun her,” Iceni had said.
“Not by much!”
“Make it happen, Kommodor.”
* * *
THE virtual conference was centered on Iceni and Imallye, apparently facing each other across a table at which only Iceni was actually seated. To either side of Iceni were Kommodor Marphissa and Colonel Rogero. Imallye was alone. She still wore the black skin suit, the weapons, and the glittering insignia, but Imallye had added a long jacket that made the tight bodysuit less revealing. She lounged back in her seat, one elbow resting on the table, her chin lying on the palm of that arm’s hand.