V'eet watched another Rg'Tkeen frigate explode. "Disperse the ships! Engage the enemy one on one!"
His frigate engaged two enemy cruisers before the other one was destroyed by the supporting Rg'Tkeen frigate.
"Straight toward the enemy! Ramming speed!" ordered V'eet. "Fire all weapons!"
The cruiser turned and accelerated. The Kaitian cruiser almost didn't realize what V'eet was doing and barely evaded the Rg'Tkeen cruiser. V'eet sighed, relieved, for he'd feared that the Kaitians wouldn't understand to evade.
"Destroy them!" commanded V'eet to a supporting frigate. It immediately destroyed the Kaitians.
"Direct hit!" shouted a clone. "Hull breach! Three enemy cruisers approaching!"
V'eet cursed and tried to decide what to do; they were no match for three cruisers.
"Turn toward them! Maximum speed! Fire all weapons!" he ordered.
The cruiser turned to meet the enemies and accelerated toward them.
"Direct hit!" called a clone when the enemy cannons battered the bow of the cruiser. "We won't hold another hit!"
"Drop mines and enter hyperspace!" said V'eet.
The tactic was successful and the mines destroyed the enemy cruisers.
"Exit to normal space and be ready to fire!" said V'eet, after a pausing a second in hyperspace.
They emerged back to normal space and destroyed the enemy frigate that was right in front of them.
***
Mr. Grey watched as Colonel V'eet emerged from hyperspace. He thought that V'eet was very resourceful and decided to promote him to admiral--if he survived the battle.
The battle was fought without a clear initiative on either side and with nearly equal forces. Both were losing ships at steady rate.
But the enemy had more and larger ships than the Rg'Tkeen, and Mr. Grey feared they'd lose the battle unless he thought of something that would give the Rg'Tkeen the initiative.
He turned to one of the clones and said, "Do some quick research on military tactics. Try to find a situation similar to this and tell me what tactics the winning party used."
The clone nodded.
"Research the humans first," said Mr. Grey as an afterthought.
He watched the battle raging and an idea came to him.
***
"Evade!" yelled V'eet yet again. "Fire! Fire!"
His cruiser had seen better days; multiple direct hits had reduced his firepower to only forward plasma rays and cannons. It meant that he had to maneuver his cruiser straight toward the enemy and it limited his options quite severely.
Fortunately, he was not alone in the battle and other Rg'Tkeen ships fought side by side with him. But the Kaitians were at least equal to them and it wasn't clear who'd be victorious in the end.
V'eet was getting tired and many of his clones had been killed. If the battle didn't end soon, he feared he'd be doomed.
The cruiser rattled after another direct hit.
"Return fire!" said V'eet.
He was getting desperate.
***
Mr. Grey toyed with his idea and knew that it was his last hope. He had no doubt that he'd lose the battle if he didn't do something. He'd already sent half of his reserves to the battle, but it had only made the forces equal.
"Forget the research," he said to the clone walking beside him. "I know what we must do."
The clone only nodded.
"Send the remaining reserves to hyperspace and tell them to wait for my command," said Mr. Grey.
"Yes, Admiral," said the clone.
"Call the fleet," said Mr. Grey, and the clone opened a channel to the fleet.
"Listen!" Mr. Grey said. "When I say the command, all of you will turn quickly back toward the home world. Try to act as if we are in disarray. Make it look like you're retreating."
There was a moment of silence. Mr. Grey knew that his officers wondered at the order; they were not used to retreat.
Colonel V'eet wondered that, too, but at the same time, he was glad. His ship was badly damaged and if the fight continued, he'd be destroyed soon. Now he had a chance to live a little longer.
He was also ashamed of these thoughts and so said nothing.
Mr. Grey watched as yet another Rg'Tkeen frigate was destroyed.
"Now!" he commanded.
The Rg'Tkeen ships turned around and really made it look like they were retreating in disarray. Mr. Grey frowned to think that perhaps they looked like that because they were, in fact, retreating.
As they retreated toward the home world, several ships were destroyed, but the Kaitians acted as Mr. Grey had hoped. All of them pursued the retreating Rg'Tkeen.
And now came the moment of fate.
"Send the message to reserves! Attack the enemy!" he ordered.
As the remaining reserves emerged from hyperspace, and the plan became clear to all.
The Rg'Tkeen didn't even need an order; they all turned around to meet the enemy at same time as the Rg'Tkeen reserves attacked the Kaitians from the rear.
The Kaitians were suddenly forced to fight the enemies in front of them and in the rear. Now the Kaitians looked like they were in disarray.
"Forward!" ordered Mr. Grey. "Join the attack!"
V'eet had also realized what his admiral had thought and, with a smile on his face, he turned his cruiser to meet the enemy.
"Fire all weapons!" he yelled.
The final clash of ships commenced and now the Rg'Tkeen had the upper hand.
"To victory!" yelled Mr. Grey to his fleet. "To victory!"
The Rg'Tkeen cheered. The clones said nothing.
The last of the Rg'Tkeen reserves emerged from hyperspace and battered the enemy from the rear with little opposition. Once the retreating Rg'Tkeen forces had turned around, the Kaitians were doomed. Although they had a few more ships, they had lost the fighting momentum. The Kaitians realized that they'd lost it right after they started pursuing the retreating Rg'Tkeen and so sprung the Rg'Tkeen trap.
"Fire!" yelled Mr. Grey, and the Rg'Tkeen fleet hammered the enemy in front of them. Colonel V'eet's cruiser was just beside him.
"Colonel!" he called. "Let's concentrate our fire and break through!"
"Yes, Admiral!" said V'eet.
Both ships moved as one and destroyed everything in their path until they had broken through the enemy ships and then turned around to do it again.
"Let's finish them!" ordered Mr. Grey on an open channel. The Kaitians heard it, too. They knew they were lost, but none of them made any attempt to escape.
The Kaitians fought bravely, but desperately, until they were all destroyed.
***
The victorious Rg'Tkeen cheered for the victory. Mr. Grey had to contain himself not to join in the cheering.
He let the officers cheer, but he knew that it would end soon when they realized the cost of victory.
"Assess the damage," he ordered one of the clones.
"It's already done, Admiral," the clone said. "On your console."
Mr. Grey turned to his console and sighed. He'd lost over four-fifths of his fleet and his own ship was the only one undamaged. All others were damaged--some so badly that it was a miracle they were in one piece.
As he'd predicted, the cheers went silent as the survivors looked around to see what had survived.
"Send a message to Coalition Command," said Mr. Grey. "Tell them that we were victorious and the enemy has been totally destroyed. Tell them also our status."
A clone nodded and carried out his orders.
"Open a channel to the fleet," said Mr. Grey to another clone. When it was done, he said,
"Rg'Tkeen warriors! You were victorious!"
Cheers came from the fleet.
"But at great cost," he continued sadly, "and the war is not over yet. Assess the damage, make repairs and be ready to fight yet again if, and when, called to do so. But now you may rest and be joyful! You have earned the respect of the Rg'Tkeen and the entire Coalition, the victor
ious Rg'Tkeen warriors!"
The fleet cheered--not only the Rg'Tkeen commanders, but also all the clones.
34
"The enemy will be here soon," said Rachel to William. "We must go."
Rachel and William were still on the Miccvan home world, reluctant to leave. But they knew they had to leave now, before the battle, because otherwise they might not be able to leave at all.
"Yes, my love," said William and hugged Rachel. They were parting once again; William had to return to his own corvette, and Rachel to the Thoughtful Flame.
Rachel held William tightly and kissed him.
After a long silence, they let go of each other and went their own ways. William saw tears in her face and he felt moisture in his eyes, too.
He sighed sadly and flew to his corvette, the Lake of Nevada, where he was alone, accompanied only by the AI.
"Welcome aboard, Commander," said the AI.
William grunted. "Anything new?"
"Yes, Commander," said the AI. "Message from the Rg'Tkeen."
William hoped the best. "Yes?"
"They were victorious," said the AI.
"Right on!" cheered William, feeling his spirits lifting.
"But," continued the AI, "the victory came at great cost. They lost 83 percent of their forces and those who survived are badly damaged. They are in no position to come to our aid."
William's spirits sank again. "Damn. Do you have any good news?"
"Define good," said the AI.
"Forget it," said William, and called Milton.
"William," he answered. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I can be," said William. "You got the message from the Rg'Tkeen?"
"Yes; for some reason, I was not surprised by their victory," said Milton. "But their victory will be in vain if we don't have victory here. And I would've liked to see them come to our aid, but they can't help us now."
"No, although I'm sure they would come if asked," said William.
"They would," said Milton, "but that wouldn't help much. And speaking of helping, are you sure that your own fleet is in a position to help us?"
"I'm sure. They've already tasted victory and I know they're eager for more of it. They will fight bravely and they will fight to win."
"That's good to hear, William," said Milton.
"We must win. You know that."
"I know," said William. "I know."
Milton paused and William knew why.
"The Kaitians are coming," said the AI.
"This is it, Milton," said William. "Let's win this and have a drink."
Milton laughed. "Hear, hear. We'll do that."
***
"They're here," said Marya. "All of them."
"It sure looks that way," said Bruce as the Kaitian fleet emerged from hyperspace at the edge of the system.
"Command orders us to wait," said Marya.
"Let the enemy make the first move," said Bruce.
"Call Command. I have an idea."
"Channel open, sir," said Marya.
"Bruce," said William, "to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Commander," said Bruce, delighted. "I didn't know you were still here."
"I wouldn't miss this for the world," said William, smiling.
"Right, right," said Bruce. "I have an idea."
"Go on," said William.
"I assume you've decided to wait for the Kaitians make the first move," said Bruce. William nodded. "We could do hit-and-run attacks with our fleet. I mean the Human Empire fleet. And then divide the Behemoths do the same, and the Miccvan fleet could make an assault with us supporting."
William shook his head. "We already thought of that. We decided it wouldn't be effective and instead we thought of another plan."
William then informed Bruce of the plan they'd decided on.
"Risky," said Bruce, and smiled. "But it might actually work."
"It will work," said William.
"All right, then," said Bruce. "Let's wait for the enemy to make their move."
"When this is over, let's have a drink," said William. "Milton has already agreed to join us."
"Let's do that." Bruce smiled, and raised an imaginary glass.
***
Jiao watched hyperspace on the observation deck, waiting. She'd had orders to wait in hyperspace until called. Command had something in mind, but they hadn't told her any details.
"Admiral," called Jeffery, "can I see you?"
"Of course, Commander," she said. "I'm on the observation deck."
"I'll be right there," said Jeffery.
Jiao watched hyperspace and thought how little they knew about it. She remembered stories of odd phenomena and sightings there, usually far beyond the normal hyperspace routes, but she herself hadn't seen anything odd.
She was still watching hyperspace when Jeffery came to the observation deck.
"Admiral." Jeffery saluted.
"Jeffery," she said. "What's on your mind?"
"Do you know how long we wait here?" he asked.
"No," said Jiao. "Command didn't say anything, but they have something in mind."
"I'm sure about it," said Jeffery, "and that's partly why I'm here. The fleet is still tired from the battle and we have all suffered damage. Some more, some less."
"And you wonder whether or not we are in any shape to fight," said Jiao.
"Right," confirmed Jeffery. "Exactly."
Jiao turned toward the window again and sighed. "I said that to Command. They said they realize it and they said they have full confidence in us."
Jeffery came beside Jiao, also watching hyperspace.
"I'm glad to hear it," he said. "But I still have doubts. I mean, this is the enemy fleet that destroyed half of our Behemoths."
"I share your concern," said Jiao. "But I have also full confidence to Command. They wouldn't send us into harm's way if they didn't think we were useful. After all, they didn't request the remains of the Rg'Tkeen fleet."
"The remains?" asked Jeffery. "But didn't they win the battle?"
"Yes," said Jiao, "at great cost. They lost over eighty percent of their forces and those who survived are all badly damaged."
"But they did win," said Jeffery. "And we won, too. We really have a chance here."
"We do have a chance, Jeffery," said Jiao reassuringly.
They watched hyperspace quietly, listening to the silence and the ever-present humming of the ship.
Suddenly, Jeffery thought he saw something in hyperspace.
"What is that?" he whispered.
"You see it, too?" asked Jiao quietly. "I saw it a moment ago, but I wasn't sure whether or not it was my imagination."
Now that they knew what to look, there was definite flickering in hyperspace. Far away, although they couldn't estimate any distances.
"It moved," said Jeffery. "Did you see it?"
"I saw," said Jiao.
They looked at the flickering, but it didn't move again.
"You know," said Jiao, "Before you came, I was just thinking of the odd sightings in hyperspace. This is the first time I have actually seen something in hyperspace. Damn! I should have recorded it!"
She ordered the computer to record anything visible on the window and to monitor and record all possible frequencies from the flickering.
"Whatever it is, I'm recording it now," she said, mostly to herself.
"Should we scan it?" asked Jeffery.
Jiao thought it a moment. "No. Let's just record everything we can," she said. "The scanner might scare it away. Or, worse, it might become hostile and attack us."
"You assume it's something that can actually become hostile--a sentient being, perhaps?" asked Jeffery.
Jiao glanced at him, surprised. "That's right, Jeffery. But I'm not sure why I think so."
Jeffery's communicator beeped; he smiled as he looked at the message. Jiao noticed his smile and assumed it meant that the message had come from Ellen.
She waited for Jeffery
to leave, but when he didn't, she said, "Did you have anything else, Jeffery? I'll be here while the computer monitors and records that flickering."
"No, ma'am," he said. "Call me if you need me."
"I will." Jiao smiled. "Have a good time."
Jeffery realized that Jiao knew he was going to see Ellen.
"I will." He smiled and left the observation deck.
Jiao turned to look toward the flickering.
"Can you tell me anything about it?" she asked the computer.
"Not yet," said the computer. "And analysis will be limited without active scanners."
"Do your best without," said Jiao. "I don't want risk anything."
"Yes, Admiral," said the computer.
Jiao watched the flickering intently, but it didn't move or show any other signs of activity. She thought of various possibilities of what the flickering might be, and none were very encouraging. For all she knew, it was yet another enemy. Or, even worse, an unknown enemy.
She felt shivers and left the observation deck after instructing the computer to keep monitoring and recording the flickering.
***
"What the hell they are waiting for?" wondered Marya, looking at the Kaitians. She'd been looking them for hours and they hadn't moved at all.
Bruce smiled. Marya didn't know the plan, but he knew. Hundreds of Coalition warriors moved toward the Kaitian fleet. Each warrior was riding a cloaked space bike, and was equipped with personal stealth technology and a fusion bomb that would bring death to the Kaitians.
Once the bombs had exploded, the Coalition fleet would start their attack.
"Patience," said Bruce. "Patience."
Marya looked at Bruce and moved closer to him.
"You know something," she whispered.
Bruce just smiled and Marya understood that something was indeed going on.
"Patience, then," said Marya and Bruce nodded.
***
"They've reached their targets," said Milton.
He couldn't scan for the warriors in the emptiness of space but assumed they'd reached their targets, since they hadn't seen any activity from the Kaitian fleet.
"Soon, then," said William, "the battle starts."
"Very soon now," said Milton, hoping that warriors would be out of the way when the Coalition fleet started their attack. The fleet would not evade the warriors if they were in their way.
The warriors had been instructed to move away to the nearest planet, where they would stay in the orbit and watch the battle.
"I'll join the attack," said Milton.
"Are you sure?" asked William. He didn't like the idea that Milton would be at the front line. Rachel was aboard with Milton.
"I'm sure," said Milton. "But before we start the attack, I'll send Rachel to your ship."