Counterstrike (Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 3) (11 page)

“Position confirmed, sir. We’re just inside the outer boundary of the Zulu System and carrying enough velocity from transition to clear the jump point.”

“Very good,” Jackson said. “Tactical, begin passive scans of the system. OPS, give Tactical a hand … I specifically want you looking for nearby navigational hazards. This system has a lot of large asteroids that fly right through the jump point’s locale.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Coms, you know the drill. Keep watch for the rest of the squadron and keep any communications directional and short range.”

“Yes, sir.” Keller didn’t look up from the terminal he’d configured to watch the aft thermal imagers for the transition flashes of the other destroyers.

“Any Phage signatures in this system?” Jackson pressed his earpiece further in. Why the hell they couldn’t come up with a “universal fit” earpiece that actually fit but could move hundreds of thousands of tons worth of starship across billions of miles faster than light was beyond him.

“
Affirmative
,” the voice from the Cube said. “
Strong contacts in the inner system; preliminary analysis indicates they are the same units encountered in the previous system
.”

“Good,” Jackson said quietly. “You’re clear to interface with our main display to provide distance and bearing. No other systems are to be accessed for now.”

“
Acknowledged
.”

“Captain!”

“As you were, Mr. Barrett,” Jackson said as numbers and targeting brackets began appearing on the main display. “We’ve interfaced the main display with the telemetry output of the Vruahn device in the hold. Nav! You are to assume that the bracketed contacts on the main are enemy ships. I want a course that takes us downhill with the least chance of being seen.”

“Aye, sir.” Accari spun and began punching the numbers into his terminal.

“Tactical, these are most likely the three Alphas that we encountered in the X-Ray System and not of the type we’re hunting,” Jackson said. “We won’t know for certain until we’re able to get a hard confirmation from our own sensors. I want you to give me the optimum range you’ll need to quickly paint them with the active array and still give us enough room to accelerate and attack.”

“Aye, sir,” Barrett said. “This may take me a moment.”

“We’re still far out of range. Take your time and make sure you’re as accurate as possible,” Jackson stood. “OPS, make sure the monitor teams are in place and still keeping a close watch on the Vruahn cargo.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s your plan if these are the same three Alphas, Captain?” Davis asked.

“I’m working on that, Lieutenant,” Jackson frowned. “Thankfully we have a bit of time before we have to commit to one strategy or another.”

The rest of the squadron slipped into the system without incident, their next-generation warp drives making a much smaller visible light flash during transition than any other capital ship in the fleet. After a quick message via short-range com laser from the
Ares,
they all stacked up behind the lead ship to provide a minimal cross-section to any active sensor sweeps and began the slow march down into the inner system.

As the procession moved along at a relative crawl, Jackson ran dozens of scenarios through his head as to what he would do if the ships down in the inner system were just the three basic Alphas they’d already run into. While he’d given a few motivational speeches about not giving up until the mission was complete, there were some stark realities he faced that were cause for serious concern. First and foremost the
Starwolf
-class starship was a destroyer, not an expedition ship. They just didn’t have the range to fly out much past the Zulu System and make it back in any sort of realistic timetable with the fuel they had on board. High-warp flight chewed through their deuterium reserves, and they were already nibbling into the safety buffer Jackson liked to keep in reserve when flying a mission with so many unknowns.

The range issue was a bit academic because the space beyond Zulu was largely unexplored. There were no jump points into warp lanes that would take them to the next system that might have Phage ships. So far they were concentrating on systems with planets that were habitable by humans, but there was no indication the Phage needed such specific conditions to survive and thrive. For all he knew they were massing an enormous battle fleet in the next system and they could fly right past it trying to get to another star with Goldilocks planets. So going out past Zulu wasn’t an option, but neither was turning back and making the trip back to the DeLonges System empty-handed.

For the thousandth time since leaving New Sierra he cursed their new allies for providing aid in the form of a veritable puzzle box he was forced to figure out before they could even begin planning an assault on the Phage core mind.

“Steady as she goes, Lieutenant,” he said quietly to Davis. “I’m going down to CIC.”

“CIC?” she asked, her voice betraying her surprise.

“I’ve got less than twenty hours before this mission goes completely sideways,” he almost whispered. “I’m going to go through the sensor logs with the analysts and see if there’s something obvious we’re missing that could get us back on course.”

“Of course, sir.” Her skepticism was evident even though she did an admirable job of maintaining a neutral expression.

****

“Report.”

“According to the Vruahn equipment’s feed the Alphas have drifted into a high orbit over the fourth planet and their velocity has been constant,” Barrett said. “I don’t believe they see us or intend to break orbit and flee, sir.”

“How long until we go active?” Jackson sat down, forcing his clenched hands open.

“Five hours, nine minutes.”

“Very good, Lieutenant Commander.” Jackson leaned back. “OPS, inform Engineering that we will need the
Ares
’ full performance available shortly. While you’re at it, make sure all applicable departments know that we will be abandoning stealth and charging down into the Alpha formation within the next twelve hours. Coms!”

“Aye, sir,” Keller anticipated. “Prepping a tight-beam transmission for the rest of the squadron now.”

“Lieutenant Commander Barrett, when you go active you are authorized to bring all tactical systems online,” Jackson said.

“Yes, sir!”

“Captain, a word please?” Lieutenant Davis leaned in.

“Speak your mind, Lieutenant.” Jackson made no move to get out of his seat. Davis looked a bit unsure of herself at that but pressed on regardless.

“Captain, is it wise to waste the time and munitions to engage three targets that aren’t our objective?” she asked. “Not to mention the risk?”

“You feel I’m acting rashly?” Jackson asked conversationally. “Perhaps even foolishly?”

Davis’ cheeks burned red and she set her mouth in a thin, hard line. “I would not presume to understand your motivations, Captain,” she said. “But my responsibility is to ensure the safety of the ship and the crew. Perhaps if I knew what the plan was I would not be so concerned.” She was still keeping her voice low enough to not be overheard, but Jackson could hear the steel behind her words.

“Relax, Lieutenant,” he said with a small smile. “I was just pressing you.”

“Sir?”

“There may be times when I am either incapacitated or otherwise unavailable, Lieutenant Davis,” he continued. “I need to know that you place your responsibilities ahead of anything else, including your trust in your superior officers or conflicts from personal relationships.”

“I see.” She looked confused and no less concerned.

“Listen up!” Jackson stood up. “We’re getting ready for a five-ship attack run on three Phage Alphas sitting in high orbit over a large, rocky planet. On the surface this is fairly routine, but our objective will not be to eliminate the targets.

“Since we don’t have one of the Super Alphas here to try and capture and we don’t have the time or the resources to continue to hunt blindly, we’re going to try and draw one in to us. The plan will be to destroy two of the Alphas and let the one escape while we put on a show of harassing it. Hopefully it will go and tell one of its big brothers that we’re here.”

“Why not let two go, sir?” Barrett asked. “Double our odds of success.”

“Because I can’t be certain that our objective won’t return with the Alphas we let go,” Jackson said. “I’d rather thin out their potential retaliatory force here while we have the slight advantage.”

“Understood, sir,” Barrett nodded.

“So since you’re all old pros at this sort of thing, I want a detailed plan for the attack sent to me within the hour,” Jackson sat back down. “Your XO will coordinate your efforts and you will all report to her. Impress me.”

Fifty-three minutes later and his crew did just that. Barrett, Accari, and Hayashi worked to put together an impressively workable plan of attack. It was even complete with contingencies and did not ignore the fact that the
Ares
would not be attacking alone. With the amount of time left before they would need to commit to the attack by activating their active sensor arrays, Jackson had decided it was a perfect time for a little real world training.

He was both relieved and surprised at how tight the plan was his crew had put together. Much of the relief was due to the fact that he was now reasonably confident that, should something happen to him during a battle, one of his bridge officers would be able to assume command and have the instincts to know whether they should continue to press or disengage and withdraw.

“Well,” Jackson said neutrally, looking up from his tile at the trio arrayed in front of the command chair. “I suppose this isn’t a complete cluster fuck. You’ve smartly deployed the squadron to maximize our weapons coverage, but you’ve left the
Ares
too far ahead. Depending on how the target reacts, the
Atlas
or the
Icarus
could end up inadvertently hitting us on the aft quadrant.”

“That was my fault, Captain,” Hayashi spoke up. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Be right,” Jackson said. “Lieutenant Commander Barrett should have been the one to catch that oversight as he’s intimately aware of the auto-mag’s capabilities and limitations.”

“Yes, sir,” Barrett said. “I—” He trailed off before clamping his mouth shut.

“What?” Jackson demanded.

“I may have assumed a margin of error that was too tight for our flanking ships,” Barrett said. “But that’s no excuse, sir.”

“Not all explanations are excuses, Lieutenant Commander,” Jackson said. “Now … let’s rework the deployment of the ships during the initial attack run so that we’re not putting the other two ships in a position where they could accidentally fire on us. I’d also like you to think a little more three-dimensionally. There’s no reason to array the wedge parallel with the ecliptic during the approach, and it actually cuts off some potential escape lanes for the inner three ships. Once the shooting starts this could all fly out the airlock since we have no idea how those Alphas will react, so let’s leave ourselves as many options open as possible.”

“Yes, sir,” they said in ragged unison.

“A little harsher than I expected, sir,” Davis remarked after they left.

“I’ve come to realize that perhaps I’ve insulated them from making the tough choices, you included,” Jackson sipped his coffee. “Their plan wasn’t bad, even workable, but they need to be pressed a bit. If this war has taught us anything it’s that relying on any single person can lead to lost battles and countless lives lost. Remember the
Dao
?”

“The Asianic Union battleship that was lost during the second battle for Xi’an?” she frowned.

“Yes. Her captain, the one with the politically connected family, panicked and simply tried to flee the area,” Jackson said. “He not only killed everyone aboard an irreplaceable battleship, but the gap he left in the line let the Phage swarm and kill even more aboard the smaller support ships trying to clear the area.”

“I’m not sure I understand, Captain.”

“Just think if the
Dao
had an XO, or even a tactical officer, that would have recognized that the captain was incapacitated and had assumed command,” Jackson sighed. “I watched the sensor logs from the
Brooklands
. If someone had simply turned the ship into the onrush of Bravos and let her automated systems fight back the way they were designed to, from the front, they could have held on long enough for us to arrive.”

“I understand now, sir,” she nodded.

“Then this wasn’t a waste of time, Lieutenant,” he smiled at her briefly. “I’m going to grab a quick bite in the wardroom and then I’ll relieve you before things get exciting around here.”

After a sandwich that had been sitting out for far too long to still be considered edible, but offset with a cup of coffee that was outstanding, Jackson was back in his seat and watching the updates from the Vruahn telemetry link. The device was now able to clearly resolve the three Alphas and seven Bravos holding formation over the lifeless hulk of the fourth planet in the system. They were just about to fire up their active sensor systems, including the Link, so soon they’d have five high-power, high-resolution radars painting the target area and sharing the data so he’d be able to verify just how accurate the cube really was.