Merkiaari Wars: 02 - What Price Honour (42 page)

Dreadnoughts of course, were superior to battle cruisers at soaking up enemy fire while dishing out horrendous storms of missiles, but for all of that they were still too slow for anything but system defence, which is what they were used for in the main. Defending was fine by her, but she liked to hit hard and first if possible. A heavy cruiser squadron was perfect for the job, more than one and she was in heaven. A fleet would come to her in time, but for now, she had other concerns to think about.

Although she had left ten heavy cruisers behind at her last posting in Forestal, it was impossible to be blasé about having this one under her command. A
Washington
class heavy cruiser like
Victorious
in her task force made up for a hell of a lot. Rawlins had probably given her the ship as a kind of apology for boosting her out of Fifth Fleet. Whatever it had taken to get
Victorious
here, she
was
here and Meyers thanked God and Paul Rawlins for it.

She gazed at the ship, ignoring the mountainous carrier in the background that made even a heavy cruiser look puny by comparison. She had a great deal of respect for battle group carriers and those who crewed them, but she still found their weak armour and lack of offensive punch a turn off. Carriers could be effective if used correctly, but they needed to be constantly protected by sufficient force to see off an aggressor. That kind of thing was a serious handicap to an admiral with very few ships to begin with and a penchant for offensive tactics.

“What a beauty,” Joshua said, meaning
Victorious
. “Shame we haven’t got a few more, ma’am.”

“Give us time, give us time. Her class is still new. I don’t think we’ve reached double figures as yet, but we will.”

“I heard they have a new battleship in the works,” Joshua said.

“I doubt that. There’s really no need for another class. We have everything pretty much covered. Destroyers and frigates for hard-hitting quick actions, light cruisers to screen the heavier units and safeguard the carriers, heavy cruisers for striking at the enemy, and dreadnaughts for when the enemy won’t take no for an answer. Battleships can’t provide anything we don’t already have.”

“It was a pretty solid rumour, ma’am.”

“From where, from whom?” she asked with a frown developing between her eyes. Building battleships was fine with her, but what need? Surely the money was better spent on improving current designs.

“I’d rather not say, ma’am,” Joshua said uncomfortably.

Meyers considered her flag lieutenant, debating whether to order him to speak, when they finally arrived and began docking procedures.

“Saved by the bell,” she whispered and Joshua flushed as he worked to bring the shuttle into the docking cradle smoothly. Gravity resumed as they crossed the threshold and Joshua, ever the perfectionist, lowered the shuttle with nary a bump.

As the bay pressurised, Meyers stood and straightened her tunic. Taking command of a new squadron, or task force in this case, was something of an event. Already she could see her captains entering the bay accompanied by one or two officers from their ships.

“I hope they left someone in charge when they decided to bring all that lot to meet me,” she muttered under her breath.

“I’m sure they left someone aboard to turn the lights out, ma’am.”

She smiled and made her way out of the cockpit and into the main cabin. Joshua preceded her and keyed the hatch open so that she might descend without waiting.

“How do I look?” she asked.

“Like a very important admiral, Admiral.”

“That’s good,” she whispered and stepped through the hatch.

As soon as she appeared at the top of the ramp, the side party snapped to attention and saluted. She returned the salute and began to descend even as the computer-generated boson’s pipes sounded her arrival.

“Honour guard, attennnnnn-
hut!
” the Marine gunnery sergeant barked, as she set foot on the deck of
Victorious’s
bay. The Marine detachment snapped to attention slapping their rifles in perfect synch. The pipes faded and the ship’s computer announced her arrival.

“Admiral Meyers arriving,” the feminine contralto said.

Meyers turned to face a Commander she didn’t know and returned his salute with one of her own. “Permission to come aboard?”

“Permission granted, Admiral,” he said and introduced himself. “I’m Commander Hanson,
Victorious’
XO. If you will permit me?”

Meyers nodded. “Certainly, Commander,” she said, going through the motions that courtesy dictated at such times, but all the while wondering where her flag captain might be.

Commander Hanson walked on her left and introduced her to the officers standing at attention waiting to meet her. She had been correct in her assessment; they were her Captains. As she moved along the line, she itched to know where Thomas Fernandez—
Victorious’
Captain—was keeping himself. What was he doing that was more important than greeting his Admiral?

Meyers moved along the line memorising faces and names, all the while wishing she knew what was happening. The courtesies were soon over and she could be herself. The Marine detachment was dismissed leaving her to speak with the Captains of
TF19
.

“Commander Hanson, where is my flag captain and why isn’t he here?”

“He’s decoding the Red-One message, ma’am. He asked me to apologise for his absence, but he felt it necessary to read the news as soon as possible.”

“I see.”

Meyers didn’t like what it said of her other Captains. They were here and not on their ships during a Red-One alert. Red-One was as close to war as the Alliance ever came short of the first missiles being fired. These men and women should be aboard their own ships. Their execs could have paid their respects in their places.

“I expect you all to attend a briefing in one hour,” she said then looked to Hanson to show her to her quarters.

“This way, ma’am,” Hanson said, and led her to the elevator.

“Inform Captain Fernandez of the meeting, Commander, and I would appreciate a copy of that Red-One.”

“Certainly ma’am, there should be one on your comp.”

“Good,” she said, thawing a little at Hanson’s obvious competence.

Once in her quarters, she made directly for her office and its comp to bring herself up to date. Keying in her I.D and pass phrase, she read the Red-One alert message, and nothing was ever the same again.

“My God!”

“Ma’am?” Joshua asked from across the cabin.

“Merkiaari have attacked and wiped out the Shan fleet. Our survey ship,
Canada,
came in badly shot up with the news.”

“Our mission is scrubbed then, Admiral?”

“Looks like it—” she began, but lost her train of thought when a password request popped up on her screen.

Meyers frowned in consternation. Why require a second phrase when the message was already decoded by application of the first? Obviously there was more to the message that met the eye, and more to the point it was directed specifically at her and not Captain Fernandez. Only officers of flag rank had the clearance to decode this message further.

“Leave the room for a moment, Joshua. I’ll call.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Joshua said, his puzzlement obvious.

Meyers turned back to her comp after she heard the hatch close, and input her second pass phrase. The screen cleared and another more extensive message was revealed.

“Oh, boy,” she hissed as she read the communiqué.

The bulk of the message detailed a revised mission for
TF19
including threat assessment and detailed notes on the system as well as planetary targets the Merkiaari would be interested in. The destination was the same as her original mission, but the objective…

Admiral Meyers. You will, upon the receipt of this message, assemble TF19 and jump out system immediately. Your destination is NGC 1513-4964. Upon arrival, you will rendezvous with your ground force and immediately jump out system to fulfil your mission within the target system.

The Shan have been declared an allied power and will be protected to the utmost of the Alliance’s ability. Seek and destroy all Merkiaari in the system preparatory for arrival Fifth Fleet. Fifth Fleet will be augmented heavily with divisions comprising: Alliance Army, Alizon Rangers, Alliance Marines, Bethany Airborne Rangers, Faragut Airborne Strike Force…

Meyers whistled at the list of units being sent in the second wave. Was that because they thought she would fail, or was it precautionary? She was determined not to fail, but maybe HQ knew something she didn’t.

She keyed her comm. “Computer: page Captain Fernandez,” she said and smiled as he appeared on screen. “I assume you’re having trouble decoding the Red-One, Captain.”

“How did you—yes ma’am, I am. The stupid thing keeps requesting a second phrase.”

“I’m aware of that, Thomas. The second portion of the message was addressed to me, but you need to see it. Meet me in the briefing room in…” she checked the time. “In thirty minutes. The others will be there.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll be there.”

“Good, until then,” she said and cut the circuit.

At the appointed time, Meyers entered the briefing room followed by a harried Joshua carrying a case full of compads that he had hurriedly updated with their revised mission. Thomas stood as she entered as did her other captains.

“As you were,” she said, and they all took their seats. “Pass those around, Joshua.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Meyers found her place at the head of the table while Joshua handed the compads to her captains. Captain Monroe of
Invincible
was on her left, third from the end. Meyers watched the Captain’s face as she received her compad from Joshua. There was shock at first, and then puzzlement. Monroe looked around at her fellow officers then turned to her admiral.

“You cannot be serious!”

Meyers smiled. “The First Space Lord is very serious, Captain, and so is the President. The Shan are our allies now. The Council ratified a treaty with them and signed a mutual defence agreement just a few weeks ago. If we are successful, they will become full members of the Alliance.”

“I understand that ma’am,” Monroe said. “I applaud the decision, but eight ships against the Merkiaari?”

“That is one of the problems this meeting will address.” Joshua had finished handing out the compads. He was waiting at the holotank controls for her. “If you would, Joshua?”

“Yes ma’am,” Joshua said, lowering the lights and activating the tank. “The plan was to extract
Canada
from the system without firing a shot. As you can see that is no longer the mission. This data was obtained by
Canada
while in system and fighting for her life against a squadron of Merki ships.”

Everyone leaned forward to study the new data. They keyed personal compads to life and began making notes, but all eyes were on the battle raging in the tank. The Shan cruisers were dishing out horrendous storms of missiles, but few of them were reaching their targets. As many as eighty percent were decoyed off target or destroyed by point defence.

Meyers watched one brave ship battered and barely making way trim her course and ram a stupendous Merki dreadnought. Both ships blew up in spectacular fashion, but more ships were coming. The holotank blanked for a moment as another log was uploaded. This time there was a gasp from all those watching.

“Hold the playback, Joshua.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“This data gentlemen, was taken from the log of a heavy cruiser. The Shan call them heavy fangs by the way.” Meyers aimed her wand at the figure at the centre of attention. “This is Tei’Varyk, Captain of
Naktlon
. I am told the word Tei means leader or commander. This portion of
Naktlon’s
log begins just as Tei’Varyk makes his run against the Merki ships. They outgun him four to one.
Canada
and
Naktlon
are the only friendlies remaining in system.”

“Excuse me ma’am, but where is
Canada
?” Thomas Fernandez asked.

“Captain Colgan has withdrawn his ship at this point.
Canada
has taken critical damage to her aft shields and engineering. I might add that
Canada
is a survey vessel ill equipped to fight a concerted Merkiaari attack. Colgan believed otherwise and fought his ship with distinction. He destroyed two ships outright—destroyer class I believe. Am I right, Joshua?”

“Yes ma’am. Two positively identified as kills. One or two more that were heavily damaged and later destroyed by our allies. She also finished off a heavy at the close of the action, ma’am.”