Black Fleet Trilogy 1: Warship (26 page)

Chapter 22

"Thank you, Lieutenant Commander," Jackson said before closing the intercom channel. "Commander Wright, you may begin the ignition sequence at your discretion. Tactical! Have you found my target yet?"

"I believe I have located it in low orbit over Nuovo Patria," Barrett said. "It keeps popping in and out and without the high-power array I'm having trouble verifying it. It'll be another ninety minutes before I can confirm target's location."

"You better be on your game then, Lieutenant," Jackson said. "You won't have a lot of time to calculate a firing solution and engage before we're already flying back out of the area."

"Yes, sir," Barrett agreed. "All the computer needs is a positive lock on the target and it can calculate the firing solution almost immediately based on our previous engagements."

"And your inputs take into account what Commander Wright's program will be looking for?"

"Yes, sir," Barrett said confidently.

While part of Jackson wanted to have someone double check his work, he left it alone.

"We've received the first confirmation signal from all ten missiles, Captain," Celesta said from her seat. "Initial burn was successful. All ten were stacked up behind the
Blue Jacket
so it should have been hidden by our own engine signature. Second burn will be in ten minutes and then they'll be out of contact for the remainder of the mission."

"Hopefully we'll still be around to see if this works," Jackson said quietly. He'd thought he had said it softly enough to not be overheard but he saw Lieutenant Davis twitch at his fatalistic comment. He mentally kicked himself for that sort of talk when they were so close to what promised to be the end of the battle ... either for them, the aliens, or both.

"Long-range optics have positively identified the target," Lieutenant Davis said after an hour of tense, silent flying had passed. "It is still in low orbit over Nuovo Patria. Damage from the previous kinetic strikes is significantly repaired, but still visible on the port flank."

"You have that, Lieutenant Barrett?" Jackson asked.

"Yes, sir," Barrett affirmed. "Primary target is still the enemy's port flank. Secondary target is the corresponding damage on the starboard flank where the shot exited."

"Here we go," Jackson said. "OPS, sound the alert and set condition 1SS ... I want all pressure hatches on the ship closed. Make sure damage control teams are standing by. Nav, how close are we?"

"Range is three hundred and sixty thousand kilometers and closing rapidly, Captain."

"Helm, come to port two degrees and hold velocity steady," Lieutenant Barrett ordered. "The computer has a lock. Targeting now."

Jackson looked out the at the view on the main display as the dorsal turret swung to starboard and both cannon barrels pitched down in preparation to fire.

"Thermal build up on the target's nose," Davis said. "Probable plasma burst weapon. This one is far more powerful than the others."

"At your discretion, Lieutenant Barrett," Jackson said tensely. They were committed. There was no way to avoid the close pass with the enemy even if he'd wanted to.

"Stand by," Barrett said, his face a mask of concentration as sweat beaded on his brow and ran down his face. "Five seconds ... Firing!" The flash of the upper cannons firing brightened the bridge as the
Blue Jacket
bore down on the target. The shells were flying at an angle tangential to the destroyer's course and would, ideally, all impact the flank of the enemy ship in a devastating wave of destruction.

"Target is moving! Fast!" Davis called out. "Nine impacts on the port, aft quadrant. Unknown damage." Jackson cursed bitterly. The target hadn't shown any ability or even inclination to maneuver quickly enough to avoid their weapons-fire before, but now it had essentially "hopped" out of the way of eleven of the high-explosive shells they'd sent to it. He'd thought and hoped that with it being parked so deep in Nuovo Patria's gravity well that it wouldn't be able to avoid the full brunt of their one and only salvo.

"Try and recharge the—"

"Target is firing! Brace for impact!" Davis' strident call was followed a few seconds later by an impact of such force that Jackson's head snapped forward and he was flung against his restraints. He felt something tear in his shoulder and his vision was clouded with red.

He looked up, straining to breathe and trying to gain some sort of bearing as the main display was completely dark and warning alarms blared in his ears. He felt the
Blue Jacket
shudder and buck under him and knew secondary explosions were ripping her apart. Barrett was slumped over his console, blood running freely from his head, and Davis was slumped over in her restraints.

"Is anyone—" he had to break off and clear his airways of blood before he could continue. "Is anyone effective?"

"I'm good, Captain," the helmsman said, his voice shockingly strong and clear. The helm station had a wide, steeply reclined acceleration couch with much more robust restraints. Apparently they performed their job as the spacer first class didn't seem any worse for wear.

"I'll be okay in a minute," Celesta said next to him, groaning as she forced herself upright.

"Lieutenant Davis!" Jackson called out as he popped his restraints off. "Jillian!" She started to blink and come around as she heard her name. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I ... I think so," she said in a shaky voice. "My back hurts."

"I need you to reset the bridge systems," Jackson said loudly with slow exaggeration. "I have to know what's happening outside of the ship."

"Y ... Yes," she said, shaking her head. "Yes, sir." He walked over to check on Barrett as the deck thumped hard with another internal explosion, at least he thought it was internal, and he knew the ship was done. She'd given all she could.

"I'm fine, sir," Barrett said as soon as Jackson put a hand on his shoulder.

"The hell you are," he said. "You've got a nasty gash in your head. I'm looking at your skull."

"Better than seeing what's inside of it," Barrett said.

"True enough, Lieutenant," Jackson said. "Davis!"

"Systems are resetting now, sir," Davis said, her voice stronger than before. A second later and the main display flickered and snapped back to life. Jackson ignored the warnings and alerts scrolling down the left side and stared at the view.

"My God," was all he said. The entire prow of the destroyer was gone. The hull was peeled back and deformed, the edges still glowing red where the plasma burst had liquefied the hardened alloy. The dorsal turret was still there, but the cannon barrels had been melted away and damage from the slag could be seen all the way up to the base of the superstructure.

"Davis ... get me a damage report and try to get the external sensors online," he said as he watched atmosphere billowing out of the front of the ship, escaping from a hundred different compartments that didn't survive the hit. "Helm, all astern. Stop this ship."

"Engines all astern full, aye," the helmsman said, struggling to keep his eyes off the carnage in front of him.

"Target has moved into high orbit," Lieutenant Davis said. "Aft optical feed coming up now." A large portion of the main display was devoted to a pane that showed the enemy ship lumbering up away from Nuovo Patria and turning towards them. The damage from their nine shots couldn't be seen from the angle they were at. But one thing could.

"Thermal buildup on the nose again," Davis said with dread.

"Is it maneuvering towards us?" Jackson asked

"Yes, sir," she confirmed. "Radar is offline so I can't give you an accurate range, but the computer estimates it at less than two hundred thousand kilometers."

"What's the damage report look like so far?" Jackson asked as he stared at the enemy, the hatred and impotent rage churning in his gut.

"From the prow back to section fifty-two is gone," Davis read off the list, her voice numb. "Sixty-six crew unaccounted for and presumed dead. No weapons available. Limited maneuverability. Engine one is showing signs of imminent failure and reactor one has gone into safe mode. There's a whole list here, Captain ... do you want me to continue reading?"

"No, Lieutenant," Jackson said. "I get the picture. Commander Wright, is it possible that you have some good news for me?"

"I don't have any additional bad news," Celesta said, "but I have no way to see if the missiles were successful or not. It's possible the enemy may have spotted them despite our precautions."

"Should we begin accelerating away, Captain?" the helmsman asked.

Jackson thought a moment before answering. What good would running around the system do when the enemy still had full flight capability? The
Blue Jacket
was on her last leg and it didn't seem he'd given the enemy anything more than a light sting on the—

An immense flash washed out the display, interrupting his ruminations. He blinked as the display automatically dimmed and then waited as the optical sensors reset and brought the feed back up. When it did reappear he wasn't prepared for the sight in front of him. The enemy ship was rotating slowly in space, its entire aft, port quadrant mushroomed open and spewing some sort of mixture of gas and viscous fluid that froze instantly as it hit open space.

"I can't believe it worked," Celesta breathed. Jackson could only nod his agreement as he watched the ship slowly stop its spin. Despite the damage to the aft section it looked like it was trying to limp off away from them.

"Enemy appears to be retreating, Captain," Davis said.

"Noted," Jackson said. "I wonder what its plan is."

"It looks like it's making a run for it," Barrett said.

"Yes, it is," Jackson said, frowning as he tried to work the problem out in his head. He could see only one obvious solution despite what the outcome would cost.

"Captain?" Celesta said, having learned during her short tenure on the destroyer to be alarmed when Captain Wolfe was wearing that look. "There's not much we can do. The ship is so damaged she can barely fly."

"We have to abandon ship," Jackson said simply.

"Sir?"

"You heard me," he said. "Davis ... sound the alarm. All hands, abandon ship. The
Blue Jacket
is no longer viable. Get all hands to the lifepods and get off this tub."

"I don't see how this helps—"

"This is not a discussion, Commander!" Jackson cut her off. "Lieutenant ... make the call. Now!" He walked over to where Celesta was still strapped in her seat. "I'm trying to save as many of the crew as I can," he said softly. "This ship is no longer safe and I can't guarantee that the alien ship isn't just going to heal up some and come back to finish us off. This is the best bet everyone has. The pods can last a couple of weeks and in that time another Fleet ship is bound to fly into this system."

"Yes, sir," she said, popping her restraints as the alarms began blaring and the automated messages began directing crews to lifepods. "You're coming too, aren't you?"

"I'm not suicidal nor do I have any intention of going down with my ship," Jackson said. "But I want this done while we're not under fire. The pods can drift a bit and let the
Blue Jacket
clear the area before activating the beacons. I want you to go get Major Ortiz and make sure the prisoners get off as well. Go, now."

"Yes, sir," she said, standing up. "It was an honor flying with you, sir."

"The fight's not over yet, Commander," Jackson said. "I plan to be on another ship in the near future and finishing what we started."

"I hope I'm there for that, Captain Wolfe."

"As do I, Commander Wright. Now get your ass moving."

Once she was gone he turned to the rest of the bridge crew.

"That goes for the rest of you," he said. "Everyone ... off the bridge. Get to your designated lifepod and get out of here before the reactors decide to go." They all got up, their faces reflecting a sort of shocked numbness, and shuffled off the bridge, the Marine sentry following them out.

"Captain—"

"I'll be right behind you, Davis," Jackson said, turning to look at his operations officer. "I need to make sure everyone else gets off first and then I'll use the pod two decks down, but I want you out with the rest of the bridge crew." She didn't say anything, just walked up and put her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek and then, more hesitantly, on the lips before turning and hurrying off the bridge herself. He just stood in shock for a moment, trying to figure out what the hell just happened, when he heard the alert that the first lifepods were ejecting from the ship.

With a feeling of detached calm he walked over to the bridge entry and closed the hatch, sealing it from the inside. He strolled over to the operations station as if he had all the time in the world. Adjusting the seat height, he began to log in through a secure backdoor that would allow him to access ship functions not widely known about. Menu screens that nobody else had ever seen began to populate the terminals at Lieutenant Davis' former station.

He opened one pane that allowed him to keep a running tally on how many crew were left on the ship and how many lifepods had been launched. So far it looked like the remaining crew was disembarking at a steady clip. After moving that to the corner he began verifying the backup dump to the servers buried down in the belly just aft of reactor two. These servers, really more just data cores, were already built into a tough alloy shell and ready to be ejected in a moment's notice. He was about to transfer the ship's log and eject it when he realized the log itself needed updating. After a moment of thought he decided on a video update and activated the imager embedded in the OPS station.