Space Chronicles: The Last Human War (31 page)

“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

General Tragge looked at an old book, opened on his desk. The pages were yellow and brittle with age. Cloth of the binding had long ago worn through, revealing original cardboard and glue beneath. It was titled, “Military Battles of the Human War”.

“
Sir! They’re coming again.”

The intercom startled him
, but he did not close the book. He carefully slid the fragile book to the corner of his desk before returning to the War Room.

“Status.
”

“No contact,
sir. They came in hot, and then went right back into orbit out of gunnery range. Must be testing our response plan.”

The g
eneral studied his opponent’s tactical alignment on several displays. The big command ship had closed to half its prior distance. He wondered if it might be possible to mount a strike against her. In that moment, he realized he and Rotaga had reached the same conclusion. Tanarac vessels could hold their own against the Cosh and Rahl heavies, thanks to the improved shields, but not against his command ship. They both knew the Tanarac fleet was safe below planetary force fields. It was an indefinite standoff, unless the enemy could lure Tanarac forces into open-space combat where the big command ship could swing the balance of power.

“So, that’s it Rotaga
,” the general spoke under his breath. “You’re offering bait. I grant you, your command ship makes an attractive target, but what will you do if I ignore temptation?”

One of the War Room technicians asked, “Sir, what are they doing?”

“They’re trying to draw us into open space, but we’re not going to fight on their terms.”

The fleet intercom activated.

“General.” Admiral Paad was spoiling for a fight. “Can we bounce up through our shields long enough to take a few shots at that command ship and drop back down before they engage?”

Nothing is more uncomfortable for a fighter than a standoff.

“Negative. Patience is our ally. Position your best ships near our shield generators. If any of their heavies approach, fire at will, but stay below the upper shield.”

“Sir
, I’d like to speak with you privately.”

General Tragge left the War Room
and entered his ready room.

“Go ahead. I’m in my office now.”

“We can’t sit under planetary shields forever. It’s obvious our real problem is that damn command ship. How are we going to take her out?”

“Heptari
leaders are well-known for their lack of patience. If we don’t respond, they will make another attempt to break down our planetary shields. That’s our position of strength. We can destroy their heavies from a safe position each time they try to penetrate the shields. If we’re patient, we might build enough numerical superiority through attrition to send a force after that command ship. Do you have a better idea?”

“
When the 11
th
attacked that command ship, they didn’t have these shields. Maybe we can handle her now.”

The
general countered, “The 11
th
had overlapping front shields and still got decimated. I’m not confident our shield enhancements will be enough. There’s too much risk in that initiative, right now.”

“What if we compress and stack the new enhanced shields using two ship groups? That would more than double our front shield strength.” The admiral pressed his aggr
essive agenda.

“It would be a s
uicide mission. When those ships turn from their attack run, they’ll be destroyed with their engines exposed. It’s a one way trip.”

“Byn, we’ve got to find a way to take out that big ship. You know as well as I do, we can’t win this damn war until she’s destroyed.”

General Tragge related one of the lessons from his book on the Human War. In this battle, Heptari had a dramatic advantage in numbers, yet humans won the battle by using a commando attack on the enemy’s centralized combat control. The humans called it Spartan Creed.

“H
umans might have been onto something.” The general tapped on the page of the open book as he thought aloud. “What if she’s disabled? That firepower isn’t much threat if she’s dead in space.”

Admiral Paad
asked, “What are you thinking?”

The general
expanded on the idea gleaned from the unusual tactics used by humans three centuries earlier.

“Heps might not feel any threat from a single attacking light or medium. They’d just use standard deck cannons to deal with them. Th
at command ship wouldn’t even maneuver.”

“Yeah, but small ships can’t do anything against a
vessel that big.”

“Not true. A small ship could damage their engines, and tail gunners don’t have heavy cannons
. We could enhance shields on a couple Kyels to handle Hep tail defenses.”

“Why
not send a couple heavies with the new shields stacked to take out those engines?”

“Too much threat. Heps would cover their command ship with Rahls,
and they’d maneuver to bring their heavy weapons to bear. Starship-class heavies would never get through. This plan will work if Rotaga doesn’t perceive a threat.”

The
admiral hated sending soldiers on a one-way mission, but the general was right. Defense of their home world depended on neutralizing Rotaga’s command ship.

“We need two light ships
with minimum staffing and fully-informed volunteers.” The general expanded his plan with a somber voice. “Order the ships to the space dock for shield enhancements and weapon loading.”

Neither commander liked it
, but this was simply one of those inevitable moments in war when the good of many demanded the sacrifice of a few.

General Tragge returned to the War Room.

“Ludic, I’ve got two lights coming to space dock for shield upgrades. Give them Command Staff Priority. See if we have any old fusion mines on the docks.”

“Yes,
sir.” He immediately brought up an inventory screen on his monitor. “There are six fusion mines in space dock one and sixteen in dock seven.”

“Good, contact Admiral Paad and have him send his ships to those docks.”

“Sir, those are really old mines. They don’t even have propulsion systems, and light ships don’t have a way to launch them.”

“
Just follow orders,” General Tragge said coldly.

“Heps are making an
other attack run, sir.”

The general
watched as three Cosh medium-heavy cruisers parted from their fellow ships and approached the planet at full throttle. Oddly, they were firing every weapon except their big cannons as they approached the planetary shield.

Admiral Paad adjusted his fleet to counter the attack.
Half a dozen of his heavy warships paralleled the approaching Heptaris, two shadowing each enemy vessel.

Enemy
ships abruptly leveled off above the top planetary shield.

Tanarac
heavies opened fire. Underbellies of the Heptari ships glowed white as their shields dissipated energy, but they continued on course, undaunted.

General Tragge sat forward in his chair
, suddenly realizing the real nature of the attack. He assumed direct control of the situation.

“Lorm, those ships are going to try to ram our shield generators.”

“They can’t come through our planetary shield without dropping their own protection. We’ll get them when they’ve got no defenses.”

Heptari
warships slowed and dropped toward the planet. Cascades of static sprayed in every direction as their shields clashed with the upper planetary energy field.

Simultaneously, all three Heptari ships dropped their shields and passed into the uppermost
global field. As they did, Tanarac firepower cut large holes in the skin of the enemy spaceships. Damage was substantial but not enough to destroy them.

After clearing the planetary shield, Heptari warships
re-raised their defenses and returned fire at the nearest of the defenders.

One Tanarac ship took a fatal hit near its engines and began an uncontrolled roll. Hundreds of escape pods marked the captain’s order to abandon the craft. Five other Tanarac
vessels survived initial blasts, their enhanced shields holding for the moment.

The Heptari cruisers adjusted course down
ward toward the second planetary shield, just as the general predicted. They separated, each heading for one of the three shield generators.

F
ierce exchanges of firepower left a second Tanarac heavy with damage near its engines, forcing it to retreat. The attack was only a few minutes old, and two of Admiral Paad’s heavies were lost due to engine hits behind their compressed shields. Heptaris found the vulnerability in the enhanced shields.

All three enemy
ships repeated the shield penetration process for the second Tanarac shield. This time, fleet gunners hit their marks when the cruisers dropped their defenses. Two of the Cosh cruisers suffered fatal hits. One exploded in a raging ball of fire and debris, while the other began rolling out of control.

The last enemy ship penetrated the second shield intact, only this time, it did not bother to engage the trailing Tanaracs. It accelerated to full throttle
toward the generator that produced the topmost Tanarac shield. If it succeeded, the entire Tanarac fleet would be exposed to open space combat.

“General, we’ve analyzed
the flight path. It’s a pure ballistic course. Even if it breaks up on the last shield, its antimatter core will fall directly on the generator array. Sir, we’re going to lose shield three.”

“How long to impact?”

“Four minutes, sir.”

“Advise the staff at generator three to take cover. Ludic, can we extend shield two up to level three?”

“Already working on it, sir. I’ll need ten minutes.”

(From across the room) “
Sir, the whole damn Heptari fleet is coming. They’re anticipating top shield failure.”

General Tragge look
ed at several monitors showing approaching warships. Even Rotaga’s command ship was joining the attack.

“Admiral, your fleet isn’t going to have shield cover for ten minutes. Can you get them below the second shield before the Heps engage?”

Admiral Paad did not reply.

“
Sir, the admiral’s flagship is passing through the bottom shield. His comm link is down until he clears field static.”

Comm speakers crackled with
static masking the Admiral’s radio signal.

Another soldier in the War Room called out. “
General, the Cosh hit shield one at full speed. It’s been destroyed but the wreckage is on a direct trajectory for the generator facility.”

“Byn, you there?” Admiral Paad’s voice boomed out above other sounds in the War Room.

“Lorm, Heps are anticipating top shield failure. They’re bringing the whole fleet.”

“I’ve got it covered
.” The admiral sounded strangely calm in this moment of crisis. “We’ll keep your shield up. You just kick some lizard butt for me.”

There was a brief pause in the
admiral’s transmission as he gave orders for his crew to abandon ship. Klaxons on his ship sounded in the background, droning out the urgent warning.

“I’d appreciate if you would tell Dylla that I love her.
Pick up my crew, will ya?”

“General, we’re reading hundreds of escape pods from the flagship. It’s on a collision course with the Hep ship.”

“I’ll tell her, Lorm. Can’t you get out? Put her on autopilot.”

“
Autopilots can’t correct fast enough for atmospheric turbulence. We only get one shot at this. I’m transmitting my final staff ledger now. Good luck, Byn.”

All eyes turned to the central monitor. Satellite cameras
tracked the burning hulk of the Heptari ship as it arched in the atmosphere on a trajectory to destroy the planetary shield. The admiral’s flagship approached the enemy vessel at full speed from the side, its leading edges glowing white with atmospheric friction and sloughing off molten metal. Two great ships collided in a massive impact sending a ball of flame and debris arcing across the sky.

A momentary hush came over the War Room until a nearby computer operator broke the silence.
“Sir, collision trajectory is away from the generator. They’re going down in the western Sitt Ocean, just offshore from the capitol of Kloth.”

General Tragge did not have time to reflect on th
e loss. He had to deal with the approaching Heptari fleet.

“Sir,
enemy fleet reversed course.”

A monitor showing the sun side of the planet began flashing.

“General, we’re getting visual reports of an alien craft in the sun-side atmosphere.”

“Heptari?”

“Negative, General. We can’t get any readings on it. Only visual. Fighters are in pursuit. It’s on Monitor twenty-six.”