The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (9 page)

Gillum wasn’t on the pick-up for the hologram conferencing but Representatives certainly heard him. There was no need to spell out what it meant. While Baden and the Third fleet might be nine light hours away, they had provided Landfall with an unspoken and unseen protection from the first days of the planet’s settlement. That protection had now just evaporated. Eulenburg turned back to the conference table. Two more Representatives had come online. They must have caught enough to grasp what was going on though, because neither of them spoke. Ghostly half-formed figures appeared beside or behind several Representatives, aides or advisors only partially caught by the hologram pick-ups. Eulenburg waited for a few moments.

“
Representatives, your attention please,
”
he said, and once all were facing him, continued:
“
time is now of the essence. If Baden has fallen, then we are quite probably the next target.
”

“
Admiral,
”
the Canadian Representative spoke up,
“
if the Third Fleet is in retreat, then logically it will come here.
”

Eulenburg looked up from the computer pad he had been reading. It had beeped just as the Canadian started speaking. Gillum had downloaded the last message from Baden.
Base lost. Fleet ordered to scatter. Enemy
…
The last message from Baden cut off.

“
They didn’t say retreat,
”
Eulenburg replied.
“
They said retreat and scatter. That means it has ceased to be a functioning military force. Whatever is left will be heading for Earth, not here.
”

“
But
…”

“
There are no significant orbital facilities here. There is no way Landfall can support a fleet. The ships are not coming here.
”

“
What
…
what do we do?
”

“
Complete evacuation to the shelters,
”
Eulenburg said firmly.

“
Christ, that’s going to be messy,
”
said Helen Reynolds of the British settlement.

“
The evacuation plans have been in place
…”
Eulenburg started to speak.

“
Yes plans, plans that were last updated six or seven years ago,
”
Reynolds cut in.
“
The population on this planet has
doubled
since then.
”

“
Which, Helen, is why we agreed to an ongoing programme to expand the size of the shelters,
”
replied the American governor.
“
I certainly know we have kept to the terms of the agreement.
”

“
I didn’t suggest otherwise Mister Bernanke,
”
Reynolds replied frowning,
“
the most immediate problem isn’t the shelters themselves - it’s getting people there.
”
She looked Eulenburg.
“
Admiral, have you looked at the evacuation plans?
”

It was an uncomfortable moment.

“
I reviewed the file when I was posted to Landfall,
”
Eulenburg replied. Even to himself his answer sounded weak.

Reynolds
’
s expression strongly suggested disapproval.
“
The plan, one that I might add I’ve been trying to get people round the table to review, predicated it would take a week to get everyone to the shelters. That was when the population was half of what it is now,
”
she said.

“
But the available airlift has also increased,
”
someone said.

“
By perhaps twenty percent,
”
Reynolds countered.
“
Most of that is short range aircraft so no use for transporting large numbers across intercontinental distances.
”

A number of Representatives tried to cut in and the conference dissolved into a number of overlapping discussions. Eulenburg took the opportunity to open the evacuation file on his computer pad and flick down through it. There were three great shelters on Landfall: Douglas Base and the Chinese base of Anshan in the northern hemisphere and the American Endeavour Base and in the south. There was also a second southern hemisphere shelter under the control of the European Military Coalition. But there had been some kind of scandal over the awarding of contracts and the missile silos needed to protect it were still under construction, making it less than useless. Truth be told, Eulenburg knew he should have found time to review the plans in more detail. But saying that, there was a limit to what he could have done.

The whole idea of the shelters for the general population was a concept with a limited lifespan. The planet’s population growth would inevitably at some point make the policy of moving everyone to shelters untenable. The expectation was that by the time that happened, there would be an entire network of orbital forts, backed up by a missile grid that covered the entire sky. At this point however there was still enough space in the shelters to house everyone, but as Reynolds pointed out, getting them there would be the problem. That had been acceptable because the expectation was that a future war would be against the Aèllr. In that case, Landfall would probably not be the main target. Even if it was, the Third Fleet would hold them for at least the weeks needed. But now the Third Fleet was gone and the evacuation hadn’t even started.

Eulenburg looked up from his computer and noticed that there seemed to be at least four conversations now going on. The last of the Representatives had arrived and seemed to be noisily trying to figure out what was going on. The voices all cut off abruptly as Eulenburg pressed the mute button. With their sound cut off, everyone turned towards him. He turned the sound back on.

“
Excuse me Representatives, but we have to act,
”
he said firmly.
“
The population has to start moving towards the shelters. First priority has to be the settlements furthest from the shelters. All long-range transports will need to be pooled to try to maximise the effort.
”

“
Well, we need to move out own peop
…”
the American Representative began.

“
Your own population is all within two hundred kilometres of Endeavour. Helicopters will be able to move them. Even if they have to walk they’ll be able to reach the shelter within a week. In fact, we
need
people to start walking.
”

“
You’re hardly suggesting we walk across continents!
”
Gambon exclaimed.

“
Right now people are concentrated in settlements that provide an orbiting starship with a perfect target. We must get the population moving. We must use our air assets to start moving people from the furthest colonies and work inwards. That
’
s the way to get the most people into protection in the quickest time. People who are on the move will be safe from anything short of a generalised bombardment.
”

“
Admiral, you’re proposing thousands of people trek across hundreds of kilometres of untamed terrain that has never been subject to anything more than satellite mapping.
”

“
And yet, it is still the best idea we have yet heard,
”
said a new voice. The speaker was Yuen Ziyi, the Chinese governor.
“
The Chinese administration will make available all long range transports and as many short range aircraft as we can spare. The Chinese people do not fear to use their legs.
”

“
I agree but with one addition. We need a single point of organisation for the lift,
”
Reynolds added.
“
Douglas base has the best communications package so seems the most logical choice.
”
There was general agreement around the table.
“
Since I am at present the Representative of the Fleet Governing Council on Landfall, I will be taking the plane out of New London to Douglas.
”

Eulenburg groaned inwardly. The last thing he needed was a civilian like Reynolds looking over his shoulder. But that was a fight he’d lose, so he kept his opinion to himself and instead said:
“
your experience with the evacuation plans will make you useful to have here Governor.
”
Before he could say any more the intercom on his belt buzzed.

“
Admiral, Captain Gillum here. We need you in Four C, right now.
”

“
Excuse me Representatives, please hold the connection,
”
Eulenburg said before hurrying out of the chamber.

As he entered Four C, he immediately saw the reason for the call. On the big holo showing the space around Landfall, a new blip had appeared.

“
It came out right on the Red Line, sir,
”
Gillum said.
“
Friend or Foe is identifying it as the Myth class heavy cruiser
Valkyrie
. Only thing is, the engine profile we’re getting from the passives don’t match a Myth class.
”

“
Any communications?
”

“
No. We sent a challenge as soon as we saw them making real space re-entry but we haven’t had a response.
”

Eulenburg gently bit his lower lip as he stared up at the holo, trying to decide the best course of action.

“
That doesn’t look like an approach for orbital insertion,
”
he said eventually.

“
If they don’t change their approach they aren’t going to get any closer than two hundred thousand kilometres from the planet,
”
Gillum agreed.
“
Right now, it looks like they
’
re planning a fly by.
”

The approaching blip wasn’t the only one on the holo. There were just over a dozen ships in orbit, as well as the two docking stations for commercial traffic and the Hampton Roads orbital fortress. The effective range of cruiser scale plasma cannons was about a hundred and fifty thousand kilometres. The cruiser railguns had a shorter effective range, at least against mobile targets. Against something like a planet, that couldn’t take evasive action, the range was effectively limitless. Hampton Roads was shifting its orbit to get into position. It could probably destroy rounds aimed at priority targets, but against an indiscriminate spread some would be bound to get through.   

“
I need to see that ship Captain. Move an observation satellite into position. I need to be able to see it
”

“
Yes sir,
”
Gillum replied.
“
You don’t think she’s somehow been taken, do you sir?
”

“
I don’t know what to think Captain.
”

“
Admiral sir,
”
the speaker was a petty officer at the main sensor centre.
“
Sir, the passives aren’t a hundred percent sure, but it looks like
Valkyrie
just went weapons hot.
”

What did that mean? Eulenburg wondered. Either
Valkyrie
felt under threat, or was a threat. Seconds were galloping past and at the back of his mind a little voice was shouting at him to make a decision.

“
Captain, I want all available space fighters armed for an anti-ship strike, I want them scrambled within twenty minutes. And where’s my satellite?
”

“
We’re shifting orbit now sir, two minutes until acquisition.
”

Eulenburg prowled round Four C as he waited.

“
Admiral, satellite imagery coming up, sir.
”
Gillum reported.

Eulenburg was over at the relevant screen before Gillum finished his sentence. At first the image wasn’t much more than a small blurry blob. But then it zoomed and sharpened, and suddenly a lot of questions were answered.

They were seeing the starboard side of the ship, where its A, C and D turrets were all trained fore and aft. Its B turret was swung out to starboard though with its two cannon barrels bent in opposite directions. Eulenburg could see that the armoured plate that should have formed that part of the turret face between the two barrels was completely gone. That wasn
’
t the only damage. There were the scars of weapon strikes along the entire length of the armoured belt and the two engines on the side of the ship facing the camera were cold and dark.