The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (21 page)

“
Well they were kinda obsolete at that stage,
”
Rob remarked.

“
Guys what is it?
”
Alice asked since the conversation didn
’
t seem to be going in an informative direction.

“
Typhoon fighters.
”

“
And this is a big deal because
…
?
”

“
They are pure atmospheric aircraft. All the rest on the planet are drop fighters or space fighters.
”

“
So why are you getting all fan boy about this?
”

“
I am not getting fan boy! I just didn
’
t expect to see anything

like this. I mean they
’
ve been out of service for about fifteen years,
”
Rob replied indignantly.

“
Oh marvellous! Museum pieces!
”

The sergeant had been watching the exchange with amusement.

“
So how long have you two been married?
”
he asked.

“
Don
’
t even joke about that,
”
Alice replied sourly.
“
We
’
re supposed to be taking an inventory of stuff that is useful. Do museum pieces count as useful?
”

“
Well they do still fly,
”
said the sergeant.

“
Really?
”
Alice asked, her stylus hovering over her computer pad.

“
Well probably. We
’
ve done all the maintenance on them and engine tests, but we haven
’
t flown them since some tree hugger complained about pollutants being released into the high atmosphere.
”

“
What, they
’
re powered by
fossil fuels
? Do they burn coal?
”
Alice exclaimed.

“
Aviation fuel. We have a couple of big tanks of fuel buried out at the edge of the field.
”

Alice
’
s stylus stabbed downwards, to hit the NO box beside the question
‘
useful
’
. Rob saw and immediately objected.

“
These are still useful!
”

“
What as? Paperweights?
”

“
They
’
re still useful as fighters,
”
Rob replied.

“
Fifty year old fighters?
”

“
Modern fighters can go faster, higher and carry a heavier payload but there is still a limit to just how much G-force the pilot can handle,
”
the sergeant explained.
“
If you were stupid enough to dogfight, these things could still nail you. When they were building these things, they reckoned they would be the last generation of manned fighters. People thought the planes that would follow would be remote drones. What happened at New York killed that idea.
”

“
Mark them down as a maybe,
”
Rob said.
“
Assuming we can get their fuel and spare parts to Douglas, they might still be useful.
”

“
Okay, you
’
re the boss,
”
Alice replied with a sigh as she altered the entry on the computer to MAYBE.
“
What else have you got round here? A consignment of swords?
”

“
Yeah actually. We use them for the guards of honour at weddings.
”

As the three of them walked back across the airfield toward the shed where their squad leader had set up his temporary headquarters, Rob and the RAF man talked while Alice walked along behind reviewing her data. She
’
d joined Rob
’
s conversations with other military personnel a few times, before realising that it seemed to be the same conversation each time: griping about the food and joking about superiors. Soldiers seemed to be soldiers no matter where they came from. Until a few weeks ago Alice hadn
’
t realised just how many settlements there were on Landfall, or how many of them had military detachments or supplies.

For the first four weeks after Baden, Alice had been one of the trench diggers. At first there were dozens, then hundreds and finally thousands of people as far as the eye could see, busy moving the muddy earth. Then she found herself being reassigned as Headquarters shifted priorities.

It was decided that as many supplies as possible, military and civilian, needed to be gathered and brought to Douglas Base. This would involve liaising with different nationalities. Somewhere far below the surface, someone
’
s computer picked up the words
‘
language expert
’
in Alice
’
s records and to the military mind that sounded like
‘
translator
’
. The degree of welcome they received varied from place to place. The commander of the Russian base in particular had clearly regarded the Battle Fleet personnel as invaders of his domain. Still the work had mostly been interesting for the survey team and the fact that it didn
’
t involve as much heavy lifting didn
’
t hurt either.

The other interesting thing had been the difference in the talk between the military and the civilians. A civilian by status but now dressed in military fatigues, Alice straddled the two groups and had become increasingly aware of the differences in opinion. The civilians thought the risk of attack was receding, the military that it was increasingly likely. Much as she wanted to believe the former, Alice was coming round to the military
’
s point of view. She could only hope that if the Nameless did arrive, that she and her squad wouldn
’
t find themselves stranded too far from Douglas.

___________________________

30
th
December 2066

P3 was one of six big passive sensor arrays that sat in high orbit around Landfall. Large web like structures, they monitored surrounding space as they orbited the planet, communicating with one another by laser hook ups and downloading their readings as they passed over the shelters. Much of their massive processing capability was dedicated to filtering out the background chatter from the planet. That task had become easier in the past few months as most of the surface transmitters shut down. For two months the only thing they had detected beyond natural emissions was the approach of a few fragments of Baden Base. Then abruptly that changed as three light seconds from Landfall, ships arrived. P3 registered the new arrivals and, after a few fractions of a second of electronic thought, beamed the data to the surface.

A kilometre below the surface of Douglas Base a sensor operator saw a new cluster of blips appear on his screen. Training and procedure immediately kicked in as he started to use his equipment to query the new arrivals.

“
Contact. Sector Alpha Five. Ships making real space re-entry.
”

The officer of day was instantly at his side peering at his screen.

“
IFF?
”

“
Negative sir. I
’
m getting nothing from friend or foe.
”
As the seconds passed the quality of the data improved.

“
Sir, all contacts have jumped in within the Red Line.
”

The officer cursed softly before activating his intercom.

“
Admiral sir, enemy ships have just jumped in. They
’
re approaching the planet.
”

“
Two capital ships and six cruiser equivalents, with twelve escorts out in front, all on approach for orbital insertion,
”
Captain Gillum said pointing to the various groups of blips on the main display.
“
There are also these two back here. We got a look at one of them through the optics. It wasn
’
t a great look but enough to tell us it isn
’
t one of the designs in the files Earth sent us.
”

“
Support ships?
”
Chevalier asked.

“
That
’
s one possibility sir,
”
Gillum replied,
“
certainly their propulsion systems seem to be smaller relative to their overall size than the rest. They are definitely setting the pace of the force. That would suggest support ships. The only thing is size. They look to be about the same length as the cruisers, but with a bigger beam.
”

“
Captain, how long until they achieve orbit?
”
Eulenburg asked quietly as he stared up at the big display, his arms crossed.

“
At the moment sir, six and a half hours, assuming Hampton Roads doesn
’
t slow them down. About 3pm local time.
”

“
I have to go topside, sir,
”
Chevalier said.
“
We have half a million people up on the surface. We have to get them back underground.
”

“
Sebastian, you can organise that from here,
”
Eulenburg objected without taking his eyes off the screen.

“
No sir. This I need to be able to see with my own eyes. Those people are exposed out there. They have to be moved underground as quickly as possible.
”

“
Alright, go.
”

Chevalier paused only to salute before starting to stride away.

“
Sebastian,
”
Eulenburg called after him,
“
be careful up there.
”

Chevalier nodded and left.

“
Admiral sir,
”
the call came from the coms section.
“
We
’
re getting a transmission from Endeavour base. It
’
s General Arlidge.
”

“
Put it through in the conference room.
”

Arlidge
’
s image shimmered into existence along with that of US air force officer unknown to Eulenburg.

“
Admiral.
”

“
General.
”

“
This is Major Paterson,
”
Arlidge nodded to the second officer,
“
he is commander of Hampton Roads.
”

The Major nodded jerkily, his expression was pinched and the tension was obvious in his posture.

“
I take it you
’
ve seen our new arrivals,
”
Eulenburg said.

“
We couldn
’
t really miss them,
”
Arlidge replied with grim humour before becoming all business.
“
If they intend to take up orbit they
’
re going to have to clear it of any combat units. That means taking out Hampton Roads. Unfortunately I
’
ve read the reports from Earth. I know they fight at long range with missiles, which wasn
’
t what Hampton Roads was designed for.
”

“
We
’
ve been running simulations for the past couple of months,
”
Paterson said. The Major
’
s voice sent a shiver down Eulenburg
’
s spine. This was a man who had accepted he wasn
’
t going to see the end of the day.
“
On our own we can
’
t stand off a force of any significant strength.
”
It was all too true. Hampton Roads had been designed to fight at mid to short range against opponents armed with energy weapons and under those circumstances, could expect to defeat her own tonnage in starships. Against the Nameless and their long-range missiles however, the fort wouldn
’
t be able to hit back at all, which meant it was now probably little more than a death trap.