Crimson Worlds: Prequel - Bitter Glory Page 5

  Garret tried to hide his smile. “Good work, lieutenant, but let’s maintain our composure.” Forsten had a great future, but he needed to control his excitement better. There’s nothing wrong with him but youth, Garret thought with amusement…and he’ll grow out of that.

  Forsten turned back to his screen. Garret would want a report on Scorpion’s shot as well, and he didn’t want to wait until he was ordered to check. “Scorpion scored a direct hit as well, sir. Their second torpedo detonated approximately 30,000 kilometers from the target.” He was silent for a few seconds as he read the data. “Enemy ship is critically damaged, sir. Secondary explosions…she’s streaming air. No detectable power generation.” Forsten turned again to face Garret. “My preliminary analysis is she’s dead in space, sir.”

  Garret was monitoring the damage assessment reports as well, though he’d remained silent and allowed Forsten to report. He sat silently, savoring the moment. He felt as much excitement as Forsten…probably more. He could feel the thrill, the intense satisfaction. But he hid it better.

  “A good showing all around.” He turned to his left. “Ensign Randall, prepare to bring us about for deceleration.”

  “Yes, captain.” Randall turned to his workstation and spoke softly into his com. An instant later: “Coming about now, sir.”

  It was hard to sense the effects of the positioning thrusters, but Garret had been in space for more than a decade, and he could feel the subtle force. Wasp was equipped with six of the small jets, which were used to change the orientation of the ship itself. Wasp had changed to a facing opposite the vector of its current velocity. To an onlooker with a perspective to see the ship’s movement, she would appear to be flying backwards. When Garret ordered a new engine burn, the thrust would begin to decelerate the ship.

  “We are in position and ready to begin deceleration on your command.” Randall paused, looking down to check his display. “Scorpion reports ready as well.”

  “Both vessels are to decelerate at 1.5g, commencing in two minutes.” Garret leaned back in his chair. There was no point in subjecting the crew to any higher gee forces until he decided where they were going next. But first it was time to land a small jab. Scorpion had sighted the enemy ships first; he conceded that. But Wasp had landed both her torpedoes and Scorpion just one. He knew his self-satisfied smugness was immature and beneath the dignity of command. But that didn’t stop him. “Ensign, get me Captain Compton on my com.”

  Chapter 9

  Control Center

  AS Wasp

  Wolf 424 System

  “Oh my God. There she is.” Garret was speaking quietly to himself. He stared into his display, mesmerized. He was feeling a mix of sensations…excitement, tension, fear. They’d just transited into the Wolf 424 system, and they were running silent again. He was still elated from taking out the two transports. Until the first scanning report in Wolf 424 came in.

  The initial data confirmed it was big, more massive even than the large supply ships. At first Garret thought it might be another, even larger, freighter. Then it fired a laser blast no transport could have managed. Wasp was still far out, and the scanning data was rough. It took the AIs longer to identify the contact, but now they’d confirmed it. A Shang-class capital ship.

  Garret swallowed hard. This was no unarmed freighter…it was a battleship with twenty times the tonnage of Wasp and bristling with weaponry. And it was chasing something, a much smaller vessel.

  “Ensign Randall, get me a laser com link to Captain Compton.” Garret was staring at his screen, waiting for an ID on the second ship.

  “Yes, sir.” Randall was silent for a moment. It took a little time to set up the direct laser link. Finally, he turned and looked over at Garret. “I have Captain Compton on your line, sir.”

  “Terrance, are you picking up what we are?”

  “I think so.” Compton’s voice sounded tense, distracted. “What the hell is a CAC battleship doing here all alone?” A short pause. “And who are they pursuing?”

  “No idea. I’ve been trying to figure who might be…” Garret stopped abruptly. Ensign Randall interjected, something he’d only do if he had critical information.

  “Sir, we’re getting a distress signal from the smaller ship. Alliance protocols.” Randall was edgy. He didn’t like interrupting Garret’s communication, but he knew the captain needed to know.

  Garret’s head snapped around. “Any ship ID?”

  “Working on it, sir.” Randall was focused on his workstation. “The signal is really broken up.”

  “Did you get that, Terry?” Garret was looking over at Randall as he spoke, as if staring at the back of the ensign’s head would make him work faster.

  “Yes. We’re picking it up too.” Compton sighed. “No ID yet here.”

  “Captain, it’s the Burke.” Randall looked up from his display and met Garret’s gaze. “It’s a research vessel. We don’t have any information on its mission or manifest yet.”

  “Very well, ensign. Let’s…” Garret hesitated, thinking. Burke? Why was that familiar? He couldn’t place it, but he knew the name.

  “Sir?” Randall was looking intently.

  Garret waved the ensign off. Why, he thought…why do I know that name? Then it hit him. Charlotte. He hadn’t heard from her for a couple years, but the last letter she sent had mentioned her new posting. It was a research ship, and he was pretty sure it was the Burke.

  “Captain?” It was Randall. His voice was halting, tentative. Garret had just silenced him, but he knew the captain would want to hear what he had to say. “Sir, we’re getting more info from the Burke.”

  Garret snapped out of his dreamy trance and looked over at Randall. “Report, ensign.”

  “Sir, the Burke has heavy damage. Her engines are out, and she’s moving at better than 0.03c. It looks like she got caught behind this enemy offensive, and was trying to escape. Just before she got out of range she took a hit and lost her reactor.” Randall glanced down at his board and back to Garret. “The enemy battleship is ceasing pursuit. Its thrust appears to be well below capacity.” He paused, unsure how much he wanted to speculate. “Sir, it looks like she’s damaged as well.” Another pause. “It’s hard to be sure at this range, but my guess is she’s in rough shape.”

  Garret’s mind snapped away from Burke, from Charlotte. He felt a stirring in his gut, the feeling of a predator stalking wounded prey. “Terry, you still there?” He thought he’d left the line open.

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “What do you think of that? Garret was pulling up the incoming data on the enemy ship as he spoke. “She looks pretty badly hurt.”

  “She’s still a capital ship, Augustus.” Compton’s voice was measured. He was considered one of the most aggressive commanders in the navy, but in his partnership with Garret he tended to be the restraining influence. “If you’re thinking of taking her on we better be damned sure she’s hurt and hurt badly.”

  “I know, but if we can take out an enemy capital ship…” Garret let his thought trail off into a long pause. “I’m going to launch a probe to get a closer look. I know it may give away our location, but I think it’s worth the risk.” He paused again then added, “It doesn’t look like she could catch us anyway.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Compton knew Garret was dead set on going after the battleship. He felt it was his place to offer at least a passing note of caution. Not that Garret would listen anyway. But Compton’s caution was half-hearted; he wanted to go after the enemy ship as much as Garret did. “But I agree. I say do it.”

  “Ensign Randall, I want a probe launched toward the enemy battleship.”

  Randall turned and looked at Garret for a few seconds. He opened his mouth, but he closed it again without a word. He was going to warn that the probe would significantly increase the odds of them being detected, but Garret knew that, of course. “Yes, sir.” He worked at his board for a few seconds. “Probe ready, sir.”

  G
arret leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. “Launch.”

  Wasp shook as her magnetic catapult fired the probe. The reactor on the small drone fired up and it blasted toward the enemy ship at 40g.

  “You there?” Garret’s line to Compton was still open.

  “Yes. Still here. And you’re going to tell me to get ready to restart my reactor because we’re likely to be detected now anyway.” Compton let a little amusement slip into his voice. He knew Garret well, better than anyone. The two of them thought alike most of the time.

  “Yes…” Garret suppressed a small laugh. “…that’s what I was going to tell you.” He was glad his connection with Compton was audio-only. He didn’t want to give the smug SOB the satisfaction of seeing the amused look on his face. “And run a weapons diagnostic. If we go in, we’ve got to be perfect.”

  “Yes, sir.” Compton’s tone was an odd cross between respectful and mocking, especially on the “sir.”

  “Just do it.” Garret had to clamp down on another laugh. “Garret out.” He turned to Lieutenant Forsten. “Lieutenant, have the engineer prepare for high-speed reactor activation.”

  “Yes, sir.” Forsten was already reaching for his board, and a few seconds later he was passing Garret’s order to engineering.

  Garret swung around toward Randall’s station. “Ensign, run a full diagnostic on the plasma torpedoes and point defense systems. I want everything ready to go on short notice.”

  “Yes, sir.” Randall snapped his reply quickly and hunched over the workstation, punching in the parameters for the test. He could feel the tension, in his shoulder, his stomach. He knew his commanding officer well enough to realize Wasp was going into battle. But this time it wasn’t going to be a troop transport. Battleships were dangerous adversaries, even when they were all banged up already. If Garret went after this wounded prey with just Wasp and Scorpion, he was going to have one hell of a fight on his hands, and everybody on Wasp and Hornet would be in there with him.

  Garret had become almost totally absorbed by the idea of taking on the enemy battleship. But he had the Burke to deal with too. And possibly Charlotte. If she was on board he had to rescue her. He knew it was his duty to help the Burke no matter what, but the thought of his childhood love stranded forever on a ghost ship was too much to imagine. Could he take on the enemy ship and save Charlotte? Was she even on the Burke?

  “Ensign Randall, send a communication to the Burke.” So much for running silent. He didn’t have a direct laser link set up to the research vessel, so Wasp would be broadcasting in the clear, advertising her presence. “Request a complete status update.” He took in a deep breath and held it for a long while before exhaling. “And ask if they have a Charlotte Evers on their crew.”

  Randall nodded, but the look on his face was one of confusion. “Yes, sir.” He paused for a few more puzzled seconds before turning to his panel and setting up the communication.

  “Lieutenant Forsten, prepare an attack plan to take out the enemy battleship. I want a course that keeps us as close to the Burke’s projected location as possible.”

  “Yes, captain.”

  Garret leaned back, his face a mask of determination, with only the slightest shadow of doubt in the background. I’m coming Charlotte, he thought, though he wasn’t even sure she was on the Burke. I can take out this battleship and loop back to get you in time. He paused for a few seconds before muttering under his breath. “I know I can.”

  Chapter 10

  Control Center

  AS Wasp

  Wolf 424 System

  “He knows we’re here now.” Lieutenant Forsten verbalized his thought. The enemy battleship had just increased its thrust to 5g. It was attempting to vector away from the two incoming attack ships, but its thrust capacity appeared to be well below normal.

  The probe had transmitted back a much more detailed analysis of the CAC battleship. She was, in fact, heavily damaged. Her exterior missile racks had been ejected, and her hull was pockmarked with damage from nuclear detonations. She’d taken a number of laser hits as well, and it appeared that many of her systems were running at substandard levels.

  “Yes, lieutenant, it would appear so.” Garret’s tone was firm, a mild admonition to Forsten. Blurting out his thought wasn’t a major transgression, but Garret didn’t want to let discipline erode, especially not now. Not when he was going after a ship twenty times the size of Wasp. He stared at the incoming data on his screen. The enemy ship was a Shang-class capital ship, which made her one of the CAC’s largest battleships. She was a powerhouse, bristling with weapons, but Garret was focused on one thing.

  “Lieutenant Forsten, get me Captain Compton.”

  “Yes, sir.” A short pause. “I have Captain Compton, sir.”

  “Terry, you’ve seen the data, right?” Garret’s voice was soft, distracted. He was still deep in his own thoughts as he spoke.

  “Reviewing it now.”

  “I need your gut.” Garret pulled out of his introspection, focusing completely on Compton. “You think her bays are knocked out?”

  The Ming class battleships carried 18 heavy fighter-bombers, usually C-111 Monsoons. If the Ming could launch five or six of those, it wouldn’t matter what shape the rest of her weapons were in…Scorpion and Wasp wouldn’t get close to her.

  “My gut is her bombers are long gone.” Compton sounded fairly confident, though perhaps not entirely convinced. “Considering the amount of damage, I can’t believe she managed to recover any of her squadrons.” He paused, staring at the steadily growing list of data on his screen. “I don’t see any way those bays could be operational.” I hope, he thought silently.

  “I agree.” Garret’s voice was strong. He’d made his decision. “I just wanted to confirm with you.” He took a deep breath. “Get your folks ready for battle. Garret out.”

  He turned toward Randall’s workstation. “Ensign Randall, plot an intercept course.” Garret was staring intently at his screen. “Compute minimum thrust necessary to close to firing range.” He looked up from his workstation. “We still have to rescue the Burke.”

  “Yes, sir. Calculating now.” Randall’s voice was distracted; he was already working on the plot.

  “Coordinate with Scorpion. I want a synchronized attack run.” Garret could feel the excitement building. The chance to take out a CAC battleship was more than he could have hoped for, and he could hardly sit still in his chair.

  “Yes, sir. Almost done with the plot.”

  “Augustus?” It was Compton on the command line.

  “Yes, Terry? You should be receiving our projected intercept course in a few seconds. I want you to synchronize. We’re going in together, and we’re going to plant four plasma torpedoes right in her gut.”

  “Augustus…” Compton’s voice sounded troubled. “I want to take this battleship on too, but shouldn’t we link up with the Burke first? Those are Alliance civilians on there.” He paused. “And we don’t know what their condition is. Aren’t they our first priority?”

  Garret hesitated. On some level he knew Compton was right. He thought about Charlotte again, possibly trapped on that damaged ship. He couldn’t imagine not saving her…if she was there at all. But the lure of the battleship was too strong. It took hold of him and pushed other thoughts aside. Two suicide boats trapped behind enemy lines taking out a battleship? It was the most glorious thing he could imagine; it was everything he’d dreamed of his entire life. His mind raced, justifying what he wanted to do. He didn’t have to choose - he could take out the battleship and still save the Burke. He was sure he could.

  “We sent a communication to the Burke, Terry. We should have a response in about an hour.” Garret knew he was rationalizing, but he was ready to believe his own justifications. “We’ll get right back to the Burke after we take down this battleship.” By then we’ll have an update, and we’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with.

  Compton started to respond, but he cut himself shor
t. He knew Garret too well to think he could change his mind. The lust for glory was too strong. Compton felt it too…he wanted the battleship as much as Garret did. But the civilians needed them too, and there was no guarantee they’d get back to save them. They had no concrete information on the battleship’s specific damage. It was possible, likely even, that Scorpion or Wasp…or both…would be destroyed in the fight. A capital ship, even a wounded one, was nothing to take lightly.

  “Alright, Augustus.” Compton sighed softly. He’d given in. “Send me the attack plan and I’ll get it locked in over here.”

  “You should have that any minute. Garret out.” He leaned back in his chair, staring at the information scrolling across his screen. His mind drifted, images of a young Charlotte, smiling…she always smiled for him. He’d loved her then…and in his moments of self-honesty he knew he still did. But he’d left her behind, discarded her to pursue his dreams. He could sugarcoat it any way he wanted, deep down he knew he’d chosen glory over her. He’d done it twice…once when he left for the Academy, and again after graduation. He could have arranged a posting that would have allowed them to be together. But Augustus Garret wanted a trajectory to captain’s rank and beyond. And officers on the command track didn’t have spouses; they didn’t have girlfriends and boyfriends. They were married to the navy, and they sacrificed all they had to the service.

  Was he doing it again? Was he deserting her when she needed him? No, he told himself. He would rescue Charlotte right after he destroyed the enemy battleship. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind about it…at least not one he’d let himself consider.

  Chapter 11

  Control Center

  AS Scorpion

  Wolf 424 System

  “Activate all point defense batteries.” Terrance Compton sat in his command chair, looking straight ahead as he snapped out orders. Like everyone else on the bridge – everyone on Scorpion – he was wearing his survival suit, and his helmet was on and sealed. His ship was heading into battle.