The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (53 page)

The
America
’
s
commanding officer, Captain Waugh, had seniority over her. But he wasn
’
t part of the Dryad force, so couldn
’
t excise command unless the Rizr actually arrived and that would be too late for command change. She had spoken to him privately. He was just as sceptical as Kinnear but had agreed that if the Rizr did arrive,
America
would have number two seniority.

So anything up to twenty-four ships against her five, which was not as bad as the numbers alone would suggest.
America
could take on any three Rizr cruisers single-handed, while the two Storm class ships were each more than a match for any single armoured cruiser, but after that it started to go downhill. With only four guns and two launchers,
Hood
packed less firepower than a modern destroyer. While Willis was confident her elderly command could tackle any single Rizr ship, she was equally sure they
’
d get hurt doing it. Still better than
Onslaught
though - the old raider had simply never been designed hold a place in the battle line and had absolutely no armour. Although
Onslaught
was still a stealthy ship, even by modern standards, it was a case of quantity versus quality, without enough quality and only one week to prepare.

16
th
May 2067

“
Commander?
”
Willis looked up from her desk at the sound of the hesitant voice. She saw a vaguely familiar officer standing at the hatch and tried to remember who he was.

“
Lieutenant Holland Ma
’
am. You asked to see me.
”

“
Oh yes, please sit down Lieutenant,
”
she replied waving him towards the spare chair.
“
You
’
re ready to go?
”

“
Yes Ma
’
am. We
’
ve completed the pre-mission checks and we
’
re ready to go.
”

Like all couriers,
L23
had two crews who flew alternate missions, a necessity for a vessel with no centrifuge and minimal crew facilities.

“
That
’
s good. You know I
’
m sending you after Vice Admiral Melchiori. I need you to find him and summon him back as fast as he can make it.
”

“
Yes Ma
’
am,
”
Holland replied,
“
it will nice to go back to couriering for a change. Where am I going?
”

“
That
’
s the problem Lieutenant,
”
Willis said ruefully.
“
Melchiori alters the timing of his patrols on the border region and we don
’
t have that information on file. I have a list and the order of the systems he
’
s going to pass through but you will have to search for him.
”
She passed across a data stick, which Holland plugged it into his computer pad.

“
Oh boy,
”
he muttered half to himself as he saw the number of possibilities, before looking at her again.
“
Ma
’
am, we could overtake them in Jump Space. In fact we probably will! If that happens…
”

“
I know,
”
Willis interrupted,
“
you won
’
t see each other. Load up with communications buoys. Do what you have to Lieutenant, just find Melchiori and find him fast.
”

“
Twenty-four against five that isn
’
t a great match up,
”
Willis said to her sub commanders. They were all gathered in
Hood’s
wardroom to discuss tactical options.

“
It
’
s more like against four,
”
Commander Farrell said, looking towards Commander Daler.
“
No offence but
Onslaught
doesn
’
t have the plating to trade punches.
”

Daler acknowledged Farrell
’
s point with a gruff nod.

“
If we simply go toe-to-toe with them, we
’
ll get swamped by their numbers,
”
Farrell continued.
“
I reckon we
’
ll take half of them out but that will still leave them with enough.
”

“
If I might make a suggestion,
”
Captain Waugh said quietly.

“
Of course sir,
”
Willis replied.

“
Let
’
s not concentrate on what we don
’
t have and instead concentrate on what we
do
have.
”

Willis stared up at the deckhead as she considered Waugh
’
s advice. Briefly the sheer absurdity of the situation struck her. There was both an Admiral and full fleet Captain in the system, and yet politics had put herself, a mere Commander in command.

“
We have the
America
. Your ship, sir, will turn at least the first two Rizr warships that take her on into scrap. All of our ships, with regrettably the possible exception of
Hood,
can out-accelerate anything they have.
”

“
And
Onslaught
is still a hard ship to spot if we shut down and go dark,
”
added Daler.

“
That
’
s okay for raiding,
”
said Romanek,
“
but not for a stand-up fight.
”

“
Then we don
’
t use her for a stand-up fight,
”
Willis said before Daler could make any reply.
“
The Rizr troop transports are what really count. They can smash up the orbital infrastructure, but without ground troops, they can
’
t take and hold any real estate.
”

“
You reckon we can get
Onslaught
into the transports?
”
Daler asked. There was Willis noticed a hungry look in the Commander
’
s eye.
Onslaught
hadn
’
t made it to Alpha Centauri, breaking down before they got there and while no one blamed Daler, he was clearly a man looking to prove himself.

“
I don
’
t see how,
”
Romanek objected.
“
Even if
Onslaught
is dark when they arrive the Rizr will see the rest of us.
America
’
s
engine profile is too different from the rest of us so they
’
re going to realise that someone is missing. If
Onslaught
doesn
’
t have the element of surprise
…”
Romanek shrugged her shoulders.

Willis gave her a frustrated frown. Romanek wasn
’
t wrong. If the Rizr had learned anything from the raiding, it was the engine profiles of the Geriatrics. When they arrived and couldn
’
t see
Onslaught,
that would be all the encouragement they
’
d need to be cautious. Two or three cruisers in close escort to the transports would be enough to hold
Onslaught
at arm
’
s length. Of course the flip side of this was that if they could see all four Geriatrics, then why would they keep ships they needed for a slugging match close to the transports. They
’
d just need a fourth old ship.

Willis flicked on her intercom.

“
Bridge, can you please ask the Chief to join me in the wardroom,
”
she asked.

“
You
’
re having a thought Faith?
”
Farrell asked.

“
Maybe,
”
Willis replied. After a few minutes there was a polite tap at the hatch as the Chief entered and came to attention.

“
You wanted to see me Ma
’
am?
”
he asked crisply.

“
At ease Chief. I need to know if we could get one or other of the ships that were towed out here for parts moving?
”

Apart from a slight widening of the eyes, Guinness didn
’
t give too much of an indication of just what he thought of the request. The senior officers in the room however murmured among themselves. The Chief stared up at the deckhead for a few moments.

“
Ma
’
am, are we talking about trying to turn them back into fighting units?
”
he asked in a slightly strained voice.

“
No Chief. I need them to be able to move under their own power,
”
Willis replied before explaining what she needed. As she did Guinness
’
s expression turned thoughtful.

“
Thunder
is the better hope of the two of them, Ma
’
am,
”
he said eventually.

“
But she is the older one,
”
Captain Waugh said.

“
Yes sir,
”
Guinness replied,
“
so we
’
ve been hitting
Monsoon
as first choice for spare parts. I mean we
’
ve still gutted
Thunder’s
armament and fire control systems but the engines and power room are still more or less in one piece. Of course none of it has run in at least a decade.
”
He looked back toward Willis.
“
How long do I have Ma
’
am?
”

“
One week.
”

Guinness let out an unhappy whistle.

“
Right, I need to get over there with a work party Ma
’
am. Tomorrow I should know if it
’
s a runner.
”

___________________

24
th
May 2066, 07.17 Hrs Dryad time

Twenty thousand kilometres beyond the Red Line of Dryad Five, the fabric of space opened to form a jump in portal through which SS
Weser
, SS
Altair
and bringing up the rear,
Deceiver
, filed into real space.

“
Radar, give me a full sweep. Helm, get us onto least time approach for Dryad Five,
”
Vincent ordered. On the main holo the first radar returns were starting to arrive.
Weser
and
Altair
were both firing up their engines with their courses already starting to diverge as they headed for different parts of the planet
’
s orbital industry. No expected contacts appeared on the display, although directly astern of
Deceiver
remained an annoying blank, blocked by the
‘
noise
’
of their own engines. A warship would make a small turn just after jump in just to make sure that nothing had found itself in that blind spot. This was not an option for
Deceiver
however, as always needed to keep up the appearance of being anything but a warship.

“
Radar sweep
’
s complete sir. No additional contacts within five light seconds,
”
called the petty officer at radar.
“
The planet is blocking our view of Hawkings. We can see the orbital facilities around Dryad Three on the passives and all appears to be normal.
”