The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (56 page)

The jolt felt like
Deceiver
had damn near stopped dead in her tracks and pitched Vincent out of his seat.

“
Skipper! The jump drive has just offlined!
”

“
Tactical, Bridge! That was a broadside gun. It went straight through the abrasion plate!
”

“
Contact separation! We have thirty five missiles incoming!
”

“
Point Defence, commencing fire!
”

The reports came in thick and fast as he hauled himself back into his seat. He couldn
’
t keep up with it all, so he instead had to let his crew work while he tried to focus on the most immediately critical priorities

“
Bridge, Tactical,
”
he called out.
“
Start streaming gas.
”

From pipes mounted on
Deceiver
’
s
nose, helium gas started to vent, almost invisible, it slid like silk over the Q-ship
’
s hull. The next two lasers hits spent most of their energy against the gas rather than the hull. It was a respite, but only a brief one.

“
The shot went straight through the jump drive, sir,
”
Mamista reported.
“
The entire unit is scrap.
”

“
Without that drive, there
’
s not much point in worrying about getting ourselves across the Red Line. I don
’
t even think we
’
re going to take much more of this.
”

For nearly forty minutes
Deceiver
had ploughed forward, soaking up hit after hit. Although many of those hits had simply been absorbed by her sheer bulk, they were starting to loose critical systems. The centrifuge had slammed to a halt after a direct hit to the hub spot. The torque stress of that alone had probably twisted the keel. One engine had been torn open and the point defence grid was gutted. A railgun on one side was smashed and on the opposite, another had been reduced to local control. Damage Control teams were shoring up damaged load bearing beams and patching command lines as fast as they could but
Deceiver
was coming apart at the seams.

Vincent could feel his stomach twist. His second-in-command was going the same way as his first, and so was his second crew. They were a good lot. No one was losing it and everyone was doing their job. It was like being back at Alpha Centauri, people staying at their stations for as long as they could complete a task and when they could no longer do that, they joined Damage Control. When a man or woman was killed another would pause only to push their body aside and then step into the breach. His churning stomach was nothing compared to the tightness of his throat. The second Baker had abandoned the chase of the transports and was now moving to assist its comrade. This time Faithie wouldn
’
t be coming to the rescue.

“
Bridge, Fire Control,
”
he said.

“
Fire Control here sir.
”

“
We
’
re going to turn to port in a moment. Set the guns for proximity burst.
”

“
The range is still pretty long, even with the proximity fuses.
”

“
We
’
re only going to get closer as drifting wreckage,
”
Vincent replied grimly.

“
Understood Skipper.
”

“
Bridge, Tactical. Once we fire launch both message drones.
”

“
Aye sir.
”

“
Helm, turn to present starboard guns. Fire Control, fire as you bear.
”

Both drones slipped smoothly from their housings and together they turned for edge of the Mass Shadow, and then engaged their drives. They were perfectly positioned to see
Deceiver
start to salvo out railgun rounds. There was no attempt at precision targeting. It would take each projectile over a minute to reach the Baker. Time enough for the protected cruiser to take evasive action. Instead
Deceiver
fired as fast as her guns would allow, trying to fill all the possible places the Rizr ship could reach. As some of the projectiles got close they exploded sending out sprays of fragments and for the first time since the battle began, the Baker started to take damage.

As the drones crossed the Red Line and spun up their jump drives, far astern there was a pinprick of light: a starship reactor letting go.

___________________

12.38 Hrs Dryad time

“
We are
…
seven minutes from the Red Line Ma
’
am and ten from our calculated jump out point.
”
Hood’s
navigator replied to Willis
’
s question. The Geriatrics and
America
were making best speed for the edge of the Mass Shadow, which wasn
’
t very fast. Willis could only grit her teeth and resist the urge to order more acceleration. Push harder and the odds were the engines wouldn
’
t take it. She couldn
’
t pass the time planning, as there was no information to base a plan on. Instead, as hypocritical as it felt, she prayed that Vincent had been able to run, or was at least still alive.

“
Contact!
”
shouted a radar operator.
“
New contact has just jumped in, bearing zero, four, three dash three, five, three, it
’
s small, it
’
s… New contact, same bearing.
”

“
Coms, Bridge. Contacts are communication drones, we are receiving an audio transmission with a secondary data stream, standard encoding protocols.
”

“
Put it up on the command channel,
”
Willis ordered.

“
This is
Deceiver
to Dryad Defence Force.
”
At the first sound of Vincent
’
s voice, she felt herself choke up.
“
A couple of Rizr protected cruisers jumped in shortly after we did. I thought they were here to chase us down but their pursuit was half-hearted. I think we
’
re being used as bait to pull a couple of your ships out, away from the rest where they can be ambushed. So you
’
ll need to come in force. I
’
ve managed to pull the cruisers away from the civvy transports but I
’
ve blown my cover and I
’
m taking fire. I
’
ve included our sensor data right up to the moment we launched these drones. I think I
’
m going to be able to take a lump outa at least one of these guys but unless you
’
re going to arrive in strength really soon, it probably isn
’
t going to help us.
”
Vincent
’
s report started out sounding professional, but as it went on it sounded more and more human. In the background there was a sudden bang and someone screamed.
“
Sorry Faithie, I guess this time I won
’
t be able to hold on long enough for you to ride to the rescue. This is
Deceiver
, over and out.
”

The transmission clicked off and suddenly there was absolute silence across the intercom
’
s command frequency. Willis sat motionless. Slowly she unclipped herself from her seat and drifted aimlessly towards tactical, before changing course and coming to halt by the tactical station. The display was showing the information downloaded from the drones. She stared as if mesmerised at the pattern of lines, letters and numbers.

“
Skipper,
”
the communications officer said quietly,
“
the Captains of
America
and
Onslaught
are requesting instructions.
”

Willis nodded slowly without replying. The two small protected cruisers wouldn
’
t have added much extra firepower in a stand up fight with the Geriatrics, but by using them as decoys, they could have bought a clear run at Hawkings Base and once they had the base, they had the system. Vincent had gone into a fight he knew he couldn
’
t win, so she wouldn
’
t make the mistake of coming to the rescue. Her mind swirled. Could she get to
Deceiver
or send a ship? No, the fight was probably already over and even if it wasn
’
t, there was nothing she could do. Her friend was on his own and she wanted to scream.

“
Skipper,
”
Horan
’
s voice penetrated her consciousness,
“
we
’
ve crossed the Red Line, are we jumping out?
”

She leaned on the table and closed her eyes. Then, in a sudden violent movement she swept her arm across the surface, launching computer pads, pens and other detritus across the bridge. The rating and NCOs on the bridge hadn
’
t heard the transmission but they
’
d picked up on the tension. Not one of them moved a muscle, not even the ones hit by flying debris. Willis spun herself around and shoved herself back into her chair.

“
Coms,
”
she snarled,
“
order all ships to reverse course. We
’
re returning to Hawkings!
”

The order broke the spell and the bridge swung into action. The squadron made a ragged turn and started to brake hard. At the centre of this activity Willis sat lost in her own turbulent thoughts. As the Geriatrics started back towards the planet she roused herself.

“
Coms, instruct
Onslaught
to take position at the lunar Lagrange Point and power down.
”

14.20 Hrs Dryad time

Three of the Geriatrics waited just beyond the planet
’
s orbit. They were accompanied by
America
and the newly reactivated
Thunder
, now under the command of a very scared sounding lieutenant.
Onslaught
was halted on the Lagrange Point between Dryad Two and the planet
’
s small moon. With all her systems powered down, the old raider had disappeared from
Hood’s
scopes. Willis sat on
Hood’s
battle bridge in the conning tower staring morosely at the holo display. She was still filled with the almost overpowering urge to charge off to help Vincent, but that would now be the worst kind of useless. For better or worse his battle was already over. She
’
d already done, what she
’
d never imagined she would do: turn away from him when he needed her.

“
Coms, Bridge. Signal from Hawkings.
”

“
Put it through.
”

“
Commander Willis. This is Hawkings. Are you receiving me?
”
came Admiral Kinnear
’
s voice.

“
Yes sir. Loud and clear.
”

“
Commander, the lunar tracking station has just picked up a force of twenty-seven Rizr ships making real space re-entry. Composition is much as expected, five armoured cruisers, six protected cruisers, ten destroyers and six transports. It looks like they intend to orbit around the moon.
”

“
I see,
”
there was no inflection in her voice.
“
Thank you, sir. I would appreciate it if you would transmit updates to Earth via FTL for as long as you are able.
”

“
Yes of course.
”
There was a hesitation on the line.
“
You were right Commander, I was wrong.
”

“
Yes sir, you were,
”
Willis replied flatly.

“
The frontier squadron is likely on its way,
”
Kinnear said but there was doubt in his voice.