The Void War (Empire Rising Book 1) (21 page)

Fisher had to set her spoonful of soup down as she tried to hold back a giggle. In contrast Becket looked up from her soup aghast.

Before either got a chance to reply, James mouthed a thank you to Gupta. Becket then began to tell the story but Fisher quickly shushed her.  “I think the story should come from me – I got the best view after all.” Before Becket could protest Fisher launched into her account of the story. “Chief Harkin had sent us both down to check on the power relays around number two reactor. Becket had been boasting that she had read of an engineer who could check a power relay simply by touch. She had claimed he was able to judge the power levels going through it, just from the static it gave off.

“When we got there, she insisted I put my plasma spanner away and allow her to check the relays by hand. What she hadn’t realized was that they had been fluctuating quite badly. As soon as she touched the second one, her hair shot up and she began to jerk and jolt like crazy. Even when she managed to take her hand away from the relay, the current still jumped out and kept the connection. She had to take four or five steps away from the relay to break the connection. And all the time she was still jerking and shaking! The engineering crew had a right laugh. Every time they see her now they break into a jerking robot dance! In fact, I got a message from one of them, they managed to get the security holo-recording.”

Fisher reached over to an input terminal on the table and after a few clicks had turned on the holo display in the room. Becket tried to grab her hands away but O’Rourke grabbed Becket in a bear hug, holding her off. Moments later a recording of the entire ordeal began to play out in front of the officers. Becket hung her head in embarrassment all the way through the recording.

As the laughs died down, James showed his approval. “Well I think we know who the prize for
Drake’s
best dancer goes to! Though the award for most promising engineer may have to go elsewhere.”

Everyone knew that next to the Chief Engineer Becket was the most knowledgeable when it came to
Drake’s
impulse or shift space engines. James hoped this incident would keep her from getting too big headed.

He sat back as the conversations began to flow. Fisher was continuing to mock Becket and she even got up to give everyone a rendition of the jerking dance. Thirlwall was telling the pursuer all about her childhood on Thames, one of Britain’s newest colonies. The conversation eventually turned to the war and both O’Rourke and Graham were prodding Gupta about her views.

“Come on sir, do you really think the Chinese will keep coming at us? We gave them a real licking. The terms of the UN agreement are very generous for them. They get to keep the planet they have now and no more blood has to be spilled.”

“That’s all perfectly true of course,” she replied. “But if you know your history you will know that the human race rarely gives away anything it thinks is theirs. The Chinese did discover the Void first. They obviously think they own all of it. Their actions at Damang and here at Excalibur show that they are more than willing to shed blood to keep what is theirs. We have hurt them, but they still outnumber us, and they have many more ships they can send into the Void. 

On a slightly more fearful note Becket asked, “Do you think they will be back soon then sir?

“You have all seen the take we got from V17. Their battleships are under repair so I don’t think they’ll be here in the next few hours. But yes, they’ll be back.”

“What about you Commander, when do you think they will be back?” Fisher asked. James was pleased that she was obviously overcoming some of her shyness around him. As he paused before answering, every other conversation ceased. All eyes turned to him.

“Gupta is right, she has clearly thought things through. We all know the Chinese have been lagging behind us when it comes to the expansion race. Their population just hasn’t had the same drive to get out into space. That has hurt the speed at which their government can ramp up their economic and industrial growth on new colonies. Added to that is the fact none of their colonies have been class I or II habitable planets. Cook is a paradise compared to Wi Liang or Parcal and Britannia makes everything they have pale into insignificance. Two of the planets in the Void, Camelot and V34 are both Class II and Excalibur isn’t too far behind. Yet they have been awarded neither by the UN. Think about things from the Politburo’s point of view. They see us as their enemies. We’ve been slowly pulling ahead of them. If we get Excalibur and Camelot, we will only get stronger. Their only advantage over us is the size of their military and we are working hard to come to parity with them in that department. As Gupta said, they have already shown their ability to shed blood. I see no reason for the Politburo to stop now. If they give up, they are basically accepting that they are second best. I don’t think that’s even a possibility in the Chinese mindset. 

“I have grown up all my life around people who thought they were at the pinnacle of power. I used to think that too before I was assigned to
Drake
. I know what it’s like to fall from grace. The Politburo won’t back down. Not when the alternative is a slow fading into insignificance. My father faced the same choice when his first business venture failed. Rather than admit defeat he covered it up and tried to fix the problem by firing good money after bad. I have seen how that worked out but I’m not sure the Politburo can see the folly of a long protracted war.”

“Is that why you were sent to
Drake
, because of your father? I thought it was because of the Princess?” O’Rourke asked.

This time every eye turned to O’Rourke. He was the youngest person around the table and he seemed to shrink back from all the attention. Gupta began to change the subject but James waved her to stop.

Sighing he said, “I suppose you have all seen the news reports from when we left Earth. Well, as you can imagine things are complicated. As you know the nobility protects its image with a vengeance, the King more than anyone. Christine and I hope to have a future together, the King thinks otherwise. That’s really all I’m going to say on the matter.”

As James went back to his meal everyone followed suit. Slowly the whispered conversations grew back into a noisy ruckus as the wine continued to have its effect.  As desert came out and everyone’s attention was elsewhere Gupta leaned over to her Commander. “I think your idea has worked well sir. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. I’m sure you and Christine will be able to work things out in the future.”

“Thank you Lieutenant,” James whispered back. “Christine shares your enthusiasm, I just hope you are both right.”

As the conversations continued to flow, James sat back in his chair and relaxed each of his muscles in turn. He was happy not to be drawn into any more conversations. Instead he enjoyed watching each of his subordinates unwind and show a side of themselves that they usually kept hidden from their Commander.

*

Fourteen hours after the message from
Drake
had been sent into the Excalibur system, James was back on the bridge awaiting the reply from
Valkyrie
. Sure enough, a message came back from Rear Admiral Jensen almost exactly when he was expecting it.
Drake
was to head back to V17 and watch the Chinese fleet.  She was to stay there until she had something important to report or she was relieved.

After reading through the order twice, James looked over to Sub Lieutenant Hanson, who was manning the navigation console. “Are the coordinates locked into the jump drive?”

“Yes sir, everything is ready.”

“Ok engage the engines, take us to V17.

The command structure of the Empire’s navy was taken from the British Royal Space Navy, which in turn was taken from the Royal Navy before it. The Royal Navy had the longest and most prestigious history of any of the navies that combined to form the Empire and so assuming its command structure was the obvious choice.

-Excerpt from Empire’s Rising, 3002 AD

15
th
March 2465 AD, HMS
Drake
, edge of the Excalibur system

Once
Drake
dropped out of shift space James watched the holo displays update themselves. They had spent the last week doing what
Drake
had been designed for.  After arriving at V17 they had spent a day slowly coasting up to the shift limit. There,
Drake
had silently watched the Chinese fleet as it began to reassemble itself. One of the battleships had finished its repair work and, with a number of the cruisers, was drilling battle formations. After collecting lots of data on their drills, James had jumped
Drake
to the other side of the system and repeated the process.

Finally, once he had been satisfied that they had managed to identify most of the Chinese ships patrolling the system, he had taken
Drake
on two passes into the system. Neither entered the inner system as it was too heavily patrolled, however, he still managed to get a reasonably good look at the Chinese fleet. All in all he felt he had a very accurate picture of the Chinese ships present at V17.

Things had gotten a little hairy when another British scout ship had jumped into the system. One of the Chinese picket ships had picked it up and given chase. A number of other Chinese ships also joined the chase and the ensuing commotion had almost led to
Drake
being discovered as well. Thankfully, some quick thinking had kept them out of detection range.

After the second pass through the system he had decided to return to Excalibur. The second battleship was still undergoing repairs but the rest of the Chinese fleet looked like it was battle ready. The ships the Chinese Admiral had under his command were more than capable of blowing Rear Admiral’s Jensen’s fleet into space dust, even without the second battleship. As they looked about ready to make a move, James had decided he better get back to Excalibur. He didn’t know how much information the other scout had managed to get.

The new ships that had jumped into the system as he had been leaving had hastened him. More reinforcements, in the form of a battlecruiser, a heavy cruiser, six other cruisers and twelve smaller ships had jumped into the system and lit off their drives. James hadn’t been able to get any more firm information but he knew their arrival meant the Chinese Admiral would be able to resume offensive operations. It was time for
Drake
to get back to Excalibur.

As the initial readings of the Excalibur system came up fear pierced his heart. For a moment he thought that somehow the Chinese fleet had found a way to beat him to Excalibur. There was a large number of ships moving into the system. Their impulse drives were lighting up the gravimetric sensors. James relaxed as logic took over. There was no way the Chinese fleet could have gotten so far into the system ahead of him. The ships must be reinforcements! Vice Admiral Cunningham had arrived.

Over the next couple of minutes the plot gained more detail, as Sub Lieutenant Fisher, who was manning sensors, was able to identify a number of the ships. There were two new battlecruisers in Cunningham’s fleet along with five heavy cruisers and another twenty smaller cruisers. Fisher wasn’t able to get a positive ID on the smaller classes of ships at this range but there were over thirty other support ships.

Further back from the main body of the fleet there was another squadron. None of the drives matched known British vessels. Fisher had designated them as unknown friendlies and had identified one light cruiser and three smaller ships, probably destroyers. They seemed to be escorting three other ships; one of them was rather large.

James put the mystery to the back of his mind. No doubt he would find out soon enough. “Send our report to
Valkyrie
and take us in towards Excalibur, I’m sure we’re going to be getting new orders.”

Looking around the bridge he smiled. “If the Chinese try to jump us anytime soon they’re going to get nasty surprise.”

*

Several hours later James found himself aboard HMS
Churchill
, Vice Admiral Cunningham’s flagship. Sat around him were over forty other Commanders, Captains and Flag lieutenants. They were all crammed into the battlecruisers tactical briefing room. As he finally managed to squeeze into his own seat, a side door opened and Vice Admiral Cunningham walked to the front of the room accompanied by Rear Admiral Jensen and Commodore West.

James studied the man closely. He had taken some of the Admiral’s lectures at the lunar academy. Cunningham looked just as sharp and distinguished as ever. He had been over one hundred and twenty when James had sat under his teaching almost eight years ago and yet he still walked with the ease of someone who had undergone expensive anti-aging treatments. Apart from a few tinges of grey hair around his ears, there was no sign that the Admiral was of his great grandfather’s generation.

The main medical discoveries with regard to anti-aging treatments had only happened fifty years ago and, initially, they had only been available to the super rich. Today they were readily available, if still somewhat expensive. It was standard practice to offer them freely to all RSN graduates from the lunar academy. James had been assured that he could expect to live to at least two hundred before he would begin to feel the effects of old age. For Cunningham to still be on his feet, he must have received one of the first anti-aging treatments. They weren’t as effective as the modern ones but clearly they hadn’t done Cunningham any harm.

Whatever the Admiral’s age, James knew his mental abilities were impeccable. As part of their training, the cadets were made to run simulations against their instructors and, whether in a fleet engagement or single ship combat, Cunningham had wiped the floor with James a number of times. As a close friend of his uncle’s the Admiral had been approachable and ready to offer help. James looked forward to remaking the Admiral’s acquaintance.

“Ok, everyone please be seated,” Rear Admiral Jensen shouted over the hum of conversations going on in the briefing room.

When everyone had finally quieted down Admiral Cunningham spoke. “Well everyone, welcome to Excalibur. For those of you were already here I want to offer my congratulations on holding the system. I have read over Admiral Jensen’s battle report and I am suitably impressed with everyone’s performance.

“I have called this meeting because I want you all to know our plan for prosecuting this war to its finish. The Government and the Admiralty have no desire to get embroiled in a long term war of attrition with the Chinese. We don’t want their systems, we don’t even want total control over the Void. Space is big enough for all of us. That said, the Chinese have clearly shown us that they don’t share these sentiments. With that in mind we’re going to make sure they can’t cause any more harm.

“My plan is simple. Rear Admiral Jensen and I will take our forces to V17 and set up a blockade around the system. No Chinese ships will be allowed to leave. It is the Admiralty’s hope that once the Politburo and Chinese Admiral see that every ship they send to V17 becomes stuck there, they will be willing to come to terms. However, if the Chinese at V17 do want to fight then we will show them what the RSN is made of. We now have nearly twenty percent of the total RSN tonnage operating within the Void. We have a powerful force under our command ladies and gentlemen. We will be getting more reinforcements but they will be trickling in, for now it’s up to us. We will be expected to do our duty with what we currently have; it’s our job to do everyone back home proud. Are there any questions at this stage?”

Captain Adams of the destroyer
Sparrow
stood and asked, “sir, as you know I was here when the Chinese attacked us three weeks ago. I have seen their resolve first hand. How likely do you think it is they will want to fight again?”

“A good question Captain,” The Admiral began. “We have brought with us new intel from RSNI. We believe the Admiral in charge of the Chinese is Admiral Zheng. He was able to handpick his Captains, at least those of his original fleet. We believe he will put up a fight. He has nothing to go back to, if he goes back empty handed he will be exiled for his failure. For that reason, we need to be working from the assumption that he will try to force a confrontation. If our blockade of the V17 system is successful, we may be able to starve him of fuel before he can force a large-scale engagement. That is our hope at least. If it comes to it though we need to be ready to fight. Admiral Jensen has already shown us how it’s done.”

Wolfe was the next to raise her hand. “Admiral, what about the Swedish ships, can we expect any help from them if it comes to a fight?”

James finally got an answer to his question. The second squadron keeping its distance from the combined British fleet must be Swedish. They must have come to lay claim to V34. As he continued to watch, the Vice Admiral switched the image on the holo display to show the small squadron James had been curious about.

“I’m afraid not Captain. As you can see our Swedish neighbors have brought a few combat ships, two supply freighters and their colony ship. Their plan is to found a colony on New Stockholm as soon as possible.  Officially, they are neutral in this combat. Unofficially, they are afraid the Chinese won’t respect their neutrality and end up dragging them into the war.

“They therefore have no intention of doing anything that looks like supporting us. In fact, I think they wish we would all just disappear or better yet that they could get a colony somewhere else. However, they can’t and we won’t. As this is the only opportunity they’re likely to get for decades to found their own colony, they’re stubbornly pushing ahead with it.

“The governor in charge of founding the colony is keeping his plans close to his chest. My guess, however, would be that once we establish our blockade around V17 he will take his ships to New Stockholm and start constructing their colony. It certainly wouldn’t hurt our cause if they joined the war but that is not going to happen anytime soon.

“Now, if that is all the questions, you should be receiving your orders on your personal datapads. Please check them now and report to your commanding officer for further briefings.”

James pulled out his data pad and immediately checked his new orders.  He had been assigned to Commodore West’s squadron. She had been given the task of overseeing the continued fortification of the Excalibur system. Apart from her flagship there was nothing larger than a destroyer under her command.

In frustration James switched off his datapad. He had been at the center of everything that happened so far.
Why was he being sidelined now?
Looking through the crowd of departing faces James spotted the Vice Admiral. Making his way over he held out his hand as he approached.

“Admiral, it is good to see you again. I am pleased that you have been given this command. I know firsthand how good your tactical skills really are.”

The Vice Admiral merely eyed James. “Somerville, I remember you of course, from the academy. What can I do for you?”

Pausing, James waited for the Admiral to take his hand. When Cunningham merely continued to stare at him James was taken aback by the standoffish greeting. Determined he pressed ahead anyway, “sir, as you know
Drake
and I have been at the center of things here in the Void. I was hoping my crew would get the opportunity to see things through to the finish. We have spent over two weeks within the V17 system and
Drake
has proven her ability to sneak around the Chinese fleet.

The Vice Admiral’s face darkened. He grabbed James’ elbow and directed him towards an unoccupied corner of the debriefing room. “Listen here Commander Somerville. I will not deny that you have proven yourself very useful in this campaign so far. Before I left Cook I received a full download of all the news stories from Earth, as well as a personal communication from the King. I suggest that if you want your career to progress, you try to be more careful in the future. If it were up to me you would be leading the fleet into V17. But it’s not; we all have to respect our betters. You can begin now by obeying my orders.”