Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space (The Henry Gallant Saga) (17 page)

Ten uneasy days after the first radar sighting of the Titan Fleet, Captain Caine in the
Repulse
led a small but steadfast band of ships toward the aliens. Captains Rook of the
Renown
, Minford of the
Remarkable
, and Waller of the
Retribution
followed. The four battle cruisers formed a column flanked by a column of five destroyers. Their weapons were at the ready. Their men were at battle stations, fully confident they would prevail.

On the hangar deck of the
Repulse
, Gallant watched the refueling, rearming, and pre-flight checks being completed on his Eagle. Kelsey sat nearby, her arms folded and eyes closed. Nearly four hours had passed since they had returned from their solo escort mission. Bone tired, they had tried to nap but failed. The rest of Squadron 111 had returned earlier and was already prepped and rested.

Making his way through the crowd of swirling technicians, Chief Benjamin Howard strolled toward Gallant. He extended his hand and said, “Henry, I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to wish you, Godspeed.”

“Thanks," said Gallant shaking his hand. "Good luck, Benjamin.” They held their grip for a long moment. Instinctively they sensed that the life they knew was about to change All too quickly, however, they had to part and return to their duties. Howard left to take his station in the communication shack, as Gallant got aboard his fighter.

Gallant’s AI console revealed a mesmerizing scene of the two approaching fleets. Recon drones that had been sent hours before were providing detailed information to supplement the current radar readouts. From the combined intelligence, it appeared that the Titans were targeting Ganymede, approaching in three separate formations.

Like an octopus, the aliens extended their tentacles toward their prey. Each of the three threatening appendages pointed toward a UP target. They acted in concert to threaten the Jupiter frontier; the enemy ships never extended beyond the ability to provide mutual support.

The first Titan tentacle was the main battle fleet, about thirty light-seconds ahead of the assault force. It was arranged in an ellipsoid formation as it approached the UP fleet. There was a large outer screen of destroyers with two dozen cruisers inside the perimeter.

The outer screen formed a quilt-like arrangement. Each patch in the quilt made up of a group of a dozen Titan destroyers arranged in a simple geometric form, positioned in three dimensions with three ship triangles at each corner of a square. The overall effect solidified the volume of the outer screen which consisted of 144 ships.

The Titans had the advantage of being higher up in both the Jupiter and solar gravity wells, so they could withhold their attack until they felt ready. They were on course 010, azimuth up 10 degrees, and speed 0.0022c - a direct intercept course toward the Jupiter Fleet.

The second formation consisted of twenty-four ships, each of which had multiple large shuttles attached. They had small weapons profiles and appeared to be assault transports. Their course of 015, azimuth up 10 degrees, speed 0.0018c was aimed directly for Ganymede’s main settlement communities, including Kendra, home to over thirty thousand colonists..

The third formation, made up of another twenty-four destroyers on course 015, azimuth up 10 degrees, speed 0.0022c, acted as a covering force for the transports.

It was a moot question to ask how large the alien ground-assault force was. The only military presence on Ganymede was the Seventh Marine Regiment - 1800 men with a few armored vehicles and tanks. Clearly they would be outmatched by the contents of twenty-four assault transports. Such overwhelming strength could only be defeated from space before enemy troops landed on the moon.

Caine sat in his chair on the bridge of the
Repulse
, broadcasting to the aliens on all available channels. He demanded, “Ships approaching Jupiter Station, identify yourselves.” He repeated this several times before he ordered, “All ships, man battle stations. All fighters, deploy in close support formation.”

Caine broadcast a video message for all members of the fleet. "Officers and crew of the Jupiter Fleet, we are faced with a grave threat. The aliens have assembled a powerful force. It is apparent that they intend to attack our settlements and bases on the Jupiter frontier. As much as I would like to destroy the assault force, we must confront their main battle fleet first. Their arrangement prevents us from passing through their battle fleet without being decimated. The marine garrison on Ganymede, the research lab, and the Jupiter Station must defend themselves until we have dealt with the Titan main body.

"The enemy’s capabilities and tactics are unfamiliar, but we will learn fast. Their motivation is unknown, but ours is clear. The fate of over three hundred fifty thousand colonists—men, women, and children—rests in our hands. Many of you have family and friends among them. I am certain that each of you will do whatever is necessary to protect them and defeat this callous enemy. Godspeed."

That afternoon at 1616, Caine made the fateful decision to deploy his fleet to meet the enemy. On the command channel, Caine ordered, "Set course 150, azimuth up 10 degrees, speed 0.002c, at time 1616." The fleets approached each other at a closing speed greater than 0.004c.

The four large battle cruisers launched their fighters, a total of forty-eight, and moved forward in a column, parallel with the five destroyers to starboard. Caine sent half of his fighter force to fly high cover. The rest of the fighters would remain for close antimissile support. Gallant flew escort around the battle cruisers. Preparations for the battle had kept Gallant so busy that he had not consciously acknowledged the danger. Now after hearing Caine, he felt strong and full of hope.

The Titans' main battle force tightened their formation but kept coming straight toward the UP fleet. The alien’s movements were very precise, and Gallant wondered if whether the ships were manned by sentient beings or if they were automated. Gallant heard the order, “Flight 4, maintain close support on
Repulse
’s forward starboard quarter.”

Gallant began the process of visualizing the planets, moons, and nearby ships, as well as their motion and the space-time curvature around them. The presence of the many UP ships caused him to strain to separate out the distinct patterns. He wondered how the other pilots did this same process. When he tried to concentrate on the alien formations, all he could see at first was a large blur of overlapping images. Slowly, he was able to distinguish individual Titan ships, their trajectories, and their influence on local space-time curvature. After a few minutes, he had a comprehensive mental image.

When the fleets were at a separation of 1.3 million miles - a full seven light seconds - the aliens began firing missiles. The tracking radar showed that the missiles’ velocity was 0.11c, ten percent faster than UP missiles. Their flight time would be sixty-four seconds to target.

Gallant noticed with some concern that the nuclear-tipped missiles traveled in a close-packed grouping. They might achieve a solid hit to their target.

Heavily armored ships with powerful force shields could minimize the blast effects of nuclear-tipped missiles using speed and distance. Ships moving at 0.002c, or 1,860 miles a second, were in the vicinity of the explosion for only a tiny fraction of a second. Most of the blast dissipated into empty space. A missile would only do serious damage if it hit directly on the ship’s hull plates. Near misses could, however, weaken shields and armor over time. Direct hits could penetrate the ships’ shields and tear openings in the ships’ hulls. Even near misses contributed to the damage ships suffered.

The Titan’s close-packed missile launch indicated that they were targeting a small area with a high density of warheads, expecting some direct hits.

The alien fleet of one hundred and forty-four destroyers and twenty-four cruisers faced the UP's nine ships, but they had no small craft comparable to the UP's forty-eight fighters. Previous encounters had shown that UP ships had a slight technological advantage in weapons and defensive systems, but the saucers were more maneuverable and slightly faster.

Ship velocity of 0.002c produced small relativistic effects. Gallant knew GridScape would automatically adjust for them. However, fighters and missiles traveled at more troublesome speeds. Fighters traveling at 0.01c, or 6.7 million mph, produced a 0.00005 spatial contraction and associated time dilation. Their missiles accelerated to 0.1c, or sixty-seven million mph, caused a 0.005 spatial contraction and associated time dilation. This was more difficult for the GridScape system to handle.

Caine order a full UP salvo consisting of eight Hydra-III missiles, each fired from the battle cruisers, and four smaller missiles from each of the destroyers. This totaled fifty-two missiles. The fighters' antimissile missiles were held for close range. Sooner than Gallant thought possible, missiles belched from the
Repulse
’s bow, and the beginning of a life-and-death struggle was started.

The aliens' first missile volley contained 384 large and small missiles. Gallant estimated that the larger saucers each had four large missile launchers and some plasma and laser weapons with a maximum speed of 0.0022c. The small saucers appeared to have two forward missile tubes and some plasma weapons.

As the alien missiles approached the UP fleet, countermeasures were deployed to good effect. Decoys and chaff misdirected more than a third of the incoming weapons.

Then, it was the fighters’ turn. They moved through space like sharks hunting for prey. When they acquired a target, they launched their AMM-3 Mongoose antimissile missiles.

Using his neural interface, Gallant was able to visualize incoming missiles. He had a window of only twenty-four seconds to engage them. He began visualizing the individual missiles, but he was having a problem with the sheer numbers. Slowly and methodically, his mind constructed a comprehensive image of the battlefield, the ships, the missiles, and their trajectories. Finally, he had a grand view, including every individual missile and its flight solution. As his understanding of the dynamic situation improved, he discovered that many of his fellow pilots were shooting at the same targets while ignoring others. It occurred to him that they didn’t have as comprehensive of an interpretation of the battlefield as he did. He wondered whether it could be that, with all their vaunted genetic engineering advantages, his natural talent was superior.

Over the fighter communication channel, Gallant said, “Red, you are targeting incoming missiles that Flight 5 is also targeting. Shift to the next pair to starboard.”

“How can you tell?” asked Red.

“Never mind for now, but I can.” Gallant began to direct the antimissile traffic.

“Roger.”

"Flight One, you are targeting the same missiles as Flight Two. Shift to the next two targets to port," he instructed.

"Roger," the pilot immediately replied.

Next, Gallant started to direct other squadrons. He said, “Squadron 112 you are overlapping targets with Squadron 113. I recommend you shift to targets below the reference plane and let 113 focus on targets above.” He was pleased that his shipmates accepted his instructions. But then he heard Neumann ask, "Can you really distinguish individual missiles within such a dense launch at this distance?"

“Yes, I can follow every single alien missile and extrapolate its full trajectory. With your permission, I’ll help direct antimissile launches to optimize our fire,” said Gallant.

“Permission granted,” said Neumann.

With feedback from Kelsey, Gallant destroyed eight ship-killer missiles. Under Gallant’s direction, his forty-seven fellow pilots took care of one hundred of the remaining projectiles. Then the UP ship’s own antimissile batteries took out about another hundred.

Only a few dozen alien missiles detonated near their target, Captain Rook’s
Renown
. The first tremendous shock of explosions accentuated the grave danger the Jupiter Fleet faced. The nuclear warheads inflicted significant damage to the battle cruiser’s forward shield and bow plates. The
Renown
’s forward missile compartment was ruptured and rendered useless.

While the fighters were not as well protected, as the larger ships, they flew at speeds up to five times as fast, which limited their exposure to nuclear blasts. Nevertheless, one of the
Renown
’s fighters was bracketed and crippled.

The Jupiter Fleet had survived the first blow of the battle.

“That tells us something of their command structure,” said Kelsey. “They targeted the
Renown
because they didn’t expect our commander to be in the lead ship.”

“Good observation,” said Gallant.

The flight time of the UP missiles was seventy seconds. As the UP’s fifty-two missiles approached their target, the aliens deployed counter measures that diverted only eleven. Antimissile missiles from the saucers were strewn in the path of the remaining forty-one missiles. Nevertheless, Gallant distinguished a dozen explosions that appeared to disable or destroy three Titan destroyers and two cruisers.

The UP fleet had gotten the better of the first exchange, despite its fewer numbers.

If Caine remained on his current course, however, the enemy could, potentially, cross his T. It was a long-standing naval convention, crossing the T of one’s enemy, brought superior firepower to bear. In this tactical dilemma, Caine compromised and swung his column.

Caine ordered, "Hard to port. Come to course 120, azimuth up 10 degrees, speed 0.002c, at time 1626."

The range continued to close while all the ships reloaded their missile tubes. The destroyer column remained on Caine’s starboard side, the Titan side.

After a few minutes, the Titans had completed their reloading and launched their second volley of missiles. They changed their course to 330 to close the distance with the UP fleet more quickly.

Caine ordered a further turn, hoping to confuse the incoming missiles, "Hard to starboard, come to course 220, azimuth up 10 degrees, speed 0.002c, at time 1632. All fighters move to close-in support." Caine was now moving across the Titan's line of advancement.