Worlds at War (A Captain's Crucible Book 5) Read online

  “You’re right, that is odd,” Jonathan said. “Because I never authorized it. Who was aboard?”

  “Two MOTHs, three Centurions, and IS Vance.”

  “Vance,” Jonathan nearly spat the word. “Is there any way we can catch him before he reaches the Elder ship?”

  “Unfortunately, sir,” the lieutenant said. “I only noticed its aberrant course a few minutes ago. The shuttle has a head start of an hour on us, and it has already crossed to the far side of the moon. If the destination is really the Elder ship, not even one of the faster Raakarr vessels will reach it in time.”

  “Who were the MOTHs aboard?” Jonathan wanted to know the names of those who had betrayed his trust.

  “Chief Rade Galaal and LPO Aaron Johnson,” the lieutenant replied.

  Jonathan was surprised by the names. They were his best men. They wouldn’t readily disobey him, unless Vance somehow coerced them into coming with him, or tricked them.

  “How did Vance get the authorization to leave the ship?” Jonathan asked.

  “According to the logs,” the officer of the deck said. “Maxwell gave it to them.”

  Jonathan leaned on the far bulkhead. Because of the way the virtual beach was arranged behind him, it looked like he was propped against empty air.

  “Ah,” Jonathan said. “All is clear, now. Thank you, lieutenant. Captain out.”

  Jonathan disconnected.

  He cleared the aReal augmentations from his stateroom so that the calming beach scene beside him was replaced with the standard steel bulkhead once more. He needed to think with absolute clarity during the coming moments. No distractions.

  “Maxwell,” Jonathan said sweetly. “Go ahead and explain yourself. And please note that the outcome of our conversation will determine whether or not I give the order to permanently reformat your AI core.”

  “IS Vance used a high-level override code, Captain. I was compelled to obey, I’m sorry.”

  “A high-level override code...” Jonathan said.

  “Yes,” Maxwell said. “Very high-level. Certain members in the upper echelons of the government and intelligence services have these. For the latter, the purpose is to allow clandestine operatives to function without restrictions that could impede missions critical to the security of the United Systems.”

  Jonathan shook his head. “Do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve just killed the crew members aboard that shuttle. There’s no way they’ll make it out alive. Not anymore. Because I have to order the fleet to make the attack run immediately. We can’t wait the two hours until oh eight hundred.”

  “May I ask why, Captain?” Maxwell said.

  “Because as I told Vance earlier, the boarding party could cause the Elder to become hostile against us.”

  “That is speculation...” Maxwell said.

  “Yes,” Jonathan told the AI. “But I can’t risk it. We have to attack now while we still can, while the Elder have their guard down. That bastard Vance and the MOTHs he coerced into his service are on their own. Inform the fleet, we’re leaving early.”

  Jonathan hurried to his clothing closet and began to change. “And Maxwell?”

  “Yes, Captain?”

  “The next time someone issues you an override like that, I want you to inform me immediately.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Maxwell said. “The nature of such a high-level override precludes me from informing any of the crew unless authorized to do so by the individual in question.”

  Jonathan had to laugh. “You’re lucky I can’t afford the five hours I need to reformat you. If we didn’t have a homeworld to save, I might very well have done it. Now inform the damn fleet. And wake the first watch. I want them on the bridge.”

  nineteen

  Jonathan finished changing and made his way to the bridge. The passageways were relatively quiet at that hour, but the few crew he did pass nodded or saluted respectfully. The tension was obvious among them. It was always that way before a battle. Especially against an alien foe whose capabilities were well beyond those of their own.

  Still, he took comfort in the fact that humanity had united at long last against this common foe. Sino-Koreans and United Systems ships were fighting side by side, their differences ignored for the time being. Whether this small act of unification would have any lasting effects on the relationships of both governments, Jonathan didn’t know. But he could at least enjoy the moment.

  The Raakarr, once enemies, were also fighting with them. It was truly a historic moment. A unified human species joining forces with an alien race against another invading entity. It would be an event recorded in the annals of history that would forever stand out among the ages.

  Assuming of course that humanity actually survived to continue writing its history.

  Jonathan reached the bridge and took his place at the Round Table. When the first watch bridge crew had assembled, the captain told Miko to instruct the fleet to assume attack formation. It took about fifteen minutes—there were a few individual laggards among the Sino-Korean, United Systems, and Raakarr fleets, and after some prodding from the various flagships, at last all ships had assembled in formation.

  The different groups had clustered around their respective flagships: the Callaway for the United Systems, the Raptor for the Raakarr, and the Baxian Shan for the Sino-Koreans. They had separated into three distinct battle units. On the left were the Raakarr and two Liaoning supercarriers. The Sino-Koreans took the center position, with four of the Liaoning-class vessels. The United Systems fleet assumed the rightmost flank, along with the final two Liaoning starships.

  Each battle unit was arranged in a long, segmented cylinder; eight ships formed the points of an octagon in every segment, with each octagon spaced ten kilometers from the next. Each successive segment was rotated slightly counter-clockwise to the previous so that no ship was in the direct line of fire of any other craft, at least in terms of the forward vector.

  The planet killer-harboring Liaoning vessels resided in a horizontal line at the forefront of each of the three battle units, near the central axis so that they were also clear of the line of fire of the subsequent ships.

  “Miko, give the order to advance,” Jonathan said.

  The fleet accelerated. The moon flitted past as the battle units emerged from the cover of the natural satellite, and Earth loomed ahead, the size of a thumbnail.

  Halfway to the planet, Jonathan said: “Fire spread A1.”

  On the tactical display, different shades of yellow dots expanded outward from the three battle units as the nukes, missiles, mortars, and slugs launched from those ships that had them. The only dots emerging from the Raakarr unit were from the two Liaoning vessels at their fore. That initial spread was meant to lure the Elder into a false sense of confidence, and to make them believe the fleet was attempting another ordinary attack run.

  “Ops, status on the rogue shuttle?” Jonathan asked.

  “It’s approaching the Elder ship,” Lewis said. “And decelerating to match their orbital speed. None of the scavengers have made any move to intercept. Also, the Elder ship hasn’t fired its nanobot beam at them, nor am I detecting any super-suits out there.”

  “I guess they don’t deem one tiny shuttle a threat,” Robert said.

  Jonathan merely studied his tactical display. The dot representing the shuttle abruptly winked out.

  “The shuttle’s indicator just touched the target,” Lewis said. “It’s vanished from our sensors.”

  “Did they make it inside?” Jonathan asked.

  “I’m not sure,” the ensign replied.

  When the fleet was about thirty thousand kilometers away, Lewis announced: “Scavenger ships are breaking from lower Earth orbit to intercept.”

  Jonathan saw twenty red dots moving away from the planet on an intercept course with the fleet. That was a bit more than the three that had come against them during the initial flyby, as if the Elder understood the threat posed by the planet killers. Then aga
in, that fool Vance might have set them off with his boarding party, assuming his team had actually made it inside.

  “Fire spread A2,” Jonathan said. “Multiple bursts. Herd those scavengers away from our trajectory.”

  Jonathan watched as the next group of nukes and mortars departed the fleet, these ones heading toward the incoming scavengers.

  “Tighten the formations,” Jonathan said. “Let’s move in behind our planet killers.”

  The ships in each of the three units moved inward, forming single file lines behind the Liaoning-class vessels.

  “Miko, have Zang give the order to activate the charged fields,” Jonathan said.

  Miko transmitted the command. On the tactical map, the indicators of the Liaoning class vessels at the head of each battle unit turned a darker shade of blue.

  “The fields are active,” Miko said.

  Jonathan watched as the different dots representing the fleet and its weapon barrage continued toward their targets.

  A few moments later Lewis announced: “The Elder ship is firing its nanobot beam. So far, they’re only targeting the incoming nukes and mortars.”

  Jonathan nodded.

  “Apply deceleration protocol,” Jonathan said. “Begin separation from autonomous elements. Update our flyby vector to give the planet killers enough clearance.”

  The Liaoning supercarriers began to pull away from the battle units, as did the leading seven craft in each column. Unlike the overall composition of each battle unit—either Sino-Korean, United Systems, or Raakarr vessels—the seven craft with each group of supercarriers were mixed: two United Systems destroyers, two Sino-Korean cruisers, two Raakarr pyramids, and a Reach-class vessel.

  As those lead ships pulled away, the succeeding starships of the main fleet slowed and thrust slightly to alter course.

  The crews of the Liaoning and her escorts had been evacuated, alien and human alike, so that the ships were operated by autonomous AIs—none of the vessels were expected to survive. While it might seem wasteful to expend entire starships like that, neither the slower Avengers nor the Raakarr fighters had the necessary speed to carry out the mission.

  The plan was to detonate the bombs close enough to the Elder vessel to damage it, yet high enough from the Earth’s surface to minimize planetary harm. Unfortunately, radiation from the high-powered bombs would blast the area immediately surrounding the Arctic Circle, including portions of Russia and Canada. Medical treatment would save many citizens, but many more would die from radiation poisoning. The environmental clean-up effort would be ongoing for years afterward. But it was either that or lose the whole planet.

  On the tactical display, while the main fleet receded, the eight SK supercarriers and their escorts continued the approach toward the Elder vessel. If Harv’s charged fields didn’t work...

  “The Elder ship is firing its nanobot beam at the Liaoning supercarriers in turn.” The ensign paused. “The ships seem unharmed. It looks like the charged fields are holding up.”

  Jonathan exhaled in quiet relief.

  On the tactical display, red dots began to appear from the Elder. At first only a few. But in moments there was a literal swarm of them.

  “They’ve launched super-suits to intercept the supercarriers,” Lewis said. “Several of the incoming scavenger vessels are also changing course to intercept them. More scavengers are breaking orbit to join them.”

  “Looks like the Elder have finally figured out our ships are shielded,” Robert commented.

  “Have the automated escorts break formation,” Jonathan said. “Protect the Liaoning.”

  The AI-controlled destroyers and cruisers with the supercarriers were supposed to launch nukes at any incoming disintegration or fragmentation bombs sent by the scavengers, while the Raakarr pyramids were to use their particle beams to eliminate any of those that got through.

  “I want the rest of the fleet to fire a Viper volley when those scavengers are in range of our heavy lasers,” Jonathan said. “Concentrate our beams. I want twenty beams targeting the same spot on a given scavenger. We have to do our best to distract them. And hopefully draw them into attacking us instead.”

  “Super-suits are coming into firing range with the Liaoning...” Ensign Lewis said. “As are scavengers. Other scavengers are closing with the main fleet. Some super-suits are also on an intercept course with the rest of us.”

  Jonathan glanced at the display and saw that ten scavengers were heading toward the decelerating battle units that contained the majority of the fleet.

  “Fire spread A3,” Jonathan said. “Mortars only.”

  The incoming scavengers changed course to avoid the mortars. Jonathan waited several seconds, then: “Fire spread A3 again. Nukes this time.”

  The nukes launched.

  “We just lost one of the Liaoning vessels to a scavenger disintegration device,” Lewis said.

  One planet killer down.

  There was no devastating explosion, of course. Even if the ship and its planet killer had been destroyed by some sort of kinetic kill, without the proper detonation sequence, the warheads in the delivery vehicles could not attain the environment necessary for a runaway nuclear reaction.

  Flashes appeared on the forward external camera feed Jonathan had piped into his vision.

  “What was that?”

  “Some of the incoming scavengers steered right into our nukes,” Lewis said. “Four of them went down. But not before launching disintegration and fragmentation bombs in return. The rest have launched weapons as well, and are pulling away to put some distance between the main fleet during the flyby.”

  Damn it.

  “Get some nukes out there to intercept those bombs!” Jonathan said. “And have the Raakarr employ their particle beams in a sweeping motion, taking out as many of them as possible.”

  The moments ticked past. Nukes took out several of the incoming bombs, but it wasn’t enough. Blue dots were winking out in the main fleet.

  “Update me, ops,” Jonathan said.

  “We just lost seventeen vessels to a combination of the scavenger disintegration and fragmentation bombs,” Lewis said. “Two Raakarr, ten Sino-Korean, and five United Systems.”

  Another Liaoning vessel vanished from the forward attack group.

  “Two scavengers concentrated their gravimetric beams on one of the planet killers,” Lewis said. “It just broke apart. We’ve also lost twelve of the escort vessels. Five self-destructed after being hit by the nanobot beam. Three were lost to scavenger disintegration bombs, two broke apart when hit by fragmentation bombs, and two more have been disabled by the super-suits. We’re also on the verge of losing a third Liaoning to the super-suits. They’re hammering it relentlessly.”

  Two planet killers down, with a third about to succumb.

  “I’m reading another wave of incoming disintegration and fragmentation bombs destined for the main fleet,” Lewis said. “Also, the super-suits are making their flyby with us.”

  “Miko, get nukes out there,” Jonathan said. “And have the Raakarr fire their particle beams at anything that is in range.”

  Once again the nukes intercepted many of the bombs, and the Raakarr were able to take out a significant number from the location of their particular battle unit, but a handful of the weapons made it through to the main fleet.

  “How many did we lose this time?” Jonathan said.

  “Eight ships,” Lewis said. “All Sino-Korean. The rest of us took heavy damage from the strafing run made by the super-suits. They’re decelerating to make a second pass.” She paused. “Supercarriers are approaching detonation range... we just lost the third.”

  Three planet killers down.

  “And nearly all the escorts have been destroyed,” Lewis said.

  “Tell me as soon as we’re in detonation range,” Jonathan said.

  She looked up a moment later. “We’re in range.”

  “Blow the Elder to hell,” Jonathan said.

  His
external feed flashed a bright white. When the color faded, the Elder ship remained, though it was obviously badly damaged. It was like a giant mouth had taken large bites in three different areas of the hull of the Möbius strip vessel.

  “Tell me what we did, Ensign,” Jonathan said.

  “I’m reading three extensive breaches,” Lewis said. “The thermal leakage is off the charts. We hit them good, sir. The section that housed the nanobot beam is completely gone. They’ve also stopped firing their main graviton beam into the Earth’s crust. The scavengers and super-suits that had been closest to the explosions are gone.”

  “And the remaining scavengers and super-suits?”

  “Five scavengers and twenty super-suits escaped the blast because of their proximity to the main fleet. They’re still pursuing us. As for the eighty or so scavengers in low Earth orbit, none of them have moved.”

  “Maybe now they’ll be open to negotiation,” Robert said.

  Jonathan nodded. “Miko, tell the Raptor to transmit the surrender request to the Elder.”

  He waited a few moments and then Lewis reported the expected gamma ray transmission from the Raptor.

  “Maxwell, how is our radiation armor holding up?” Jonathan asked.

  “Armor is holding steady fleet-wide,” the Callaway’s AI said. “It filtered out most of the intense gamma rays from the blast.”

  “And the Earth?”

  “Bombarded with the expected radiation levels,” Maxwell replied. “We’ve created a few environmental catastrophes.”

  “Just a few,” the captain commented.

  Jonathan watched the incoming scavengers and super-suits slowly approach the retreating main fleet on the tactical display.

  “Get our specialized fighter wing out there,” Jonathan said. “Intercept those super-suits.”

  “Launching Avengers,” Miko said.

  “Any response from the Elder yet?” Jonathan asked.