The Trafalgar Gambit (Ark Royal) (55 page)

She broke off.  But Henry understood the unspoken apology.

“If you need anything, afterwards, ask me,” he said.  “There are places you can go where the media can't follow, if you’re careful.”

“I may face a Board of Inquiry,” Rose said, as she stood.  “No, I
will
have to face a Board of Inquiry.  But I will have to come to terms with my involvement in the whole affair.  There’s no point in trying to run.”

“I understand, I think,” Henry said.  He rose, then walked towards the hatch.  “I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”

***

“We’ve been trying to find ways to board alien ships,” Parnell said, as Ted toured Marine Country.  “But I don’t think they’ll let us do it again.”

Ted nodded in agreement.  The first – and so far the last – successful boarding operation in outer space had been carried out by the marines attached to
Ark Royal
during her first mission.   It had only worked, he suspected, because the aliens had never seriously considered the possibility.  Normally, boarding a starship without the crew’s consent was tricky as hell – and the crew could blow their own ship, if they thought they were in serious danger of losing control.  The aliens hadn't rigged their own battlecruiser to self-destruct before it was too late.

But they won’t make the same mistake twice
, Ted thought.  They'd certainly
tried
to board
Ark Royal
, during Operation Nelson, but it hadn't worked.  They hadn't tried again, which suggested they’d decided it was futile and given up. 
We’d just be sending Marines to their deaths
.

“We are looking at ways to rig plasma cannons to assault shuttles and using them as a last line of defence, or even ramming units, but they won’t be a match for starfighters,” Parnell added.  “They just don’t carry enough armour.”

“Something to work on in the future,” Ted said.  Marine Assault Shuttles were tough, but nowhere near as tough as
Ark Royal
.  “But set them on automatic.  They might soak up some alien fire.”

“Aye, sir,” Parnell said.  “I’ve assigned the rest of the Bootnecks to damage control duties, for the moment.  They’ll armour up when the aliens arrive, then be ready to repel borders.”

“Just in case,” Ted agreed.  They couldn't take the alien reluctance to board human ships – in the wake of their failure – for granted.  It was quite likely the aliens would consider the ancient carrier a prize worth taking.  “And I think ...”

He paused as his wristcom bleeped.  “Admiral, this is Farley,” a voice said.  “The probe is picking up starships crossing the tramline – multiple starships.”

Ted nodded.  “Understood,” he said.  It would be an hour, at the very least, before they could engage the enemy.  “Get me a detailed breakdown of enemy forces as soon as you have it, Commander.  I’ll be on the bridge in five minutes.”

He closed the channel, then looked up at Parnell.  “It's been a honour,” he said.  “And thank you for everything.”

“It could be harder,” Parnell observed.  “There are no friendly aliens mixed in with the hostiles here, are there?”

“No,” Ted said.  The War Faction had splintered, according to the aliens, until the only ones left were the true fanatics.  None of them would have second thoughts now.  “Just aliens who want to kill us all.”

He nodded to the Marine, then strode out of Marine Country and walked – there was no point in running – up to the command deck.  The crewmen he passed nodded to him – salutes were forbidden when the ship was at alert – and smiled, looking confident.  Ted knew they’d inherited a tradition of victory, a tradition that had been earned after the Battle of New Russia.  Spacers were superstitious and they knew Old Lady had never been defeated, not once.  Ted hoped that would hold true one final time.

The bridge was a hive of activity when he stepped through the hatch and paused, studying the red icons on the display.  Most of them were standard alien ships, including three carriers, but one of them was unknown ... and larger than
Ark Royal
.  It seemed to be slower too, he noted, as more and more data scrolled up on the display.  The ship’s mass had to be comparable to the ancient carrier’s immense bulk.

“I think that’s a battleship,” Commander Williams said, quietly.  “They must have decided to rush one into service after they ran into us.”

“Or maybe they had plans to turn on the other factions,” Ted offered.  An armoured battleship ... no, a dreadnaught, perhaps even a
superdreadnaught
, would be a formidable opponent against the other alien factions, even now the aliens had put bomb-pumped lasers into service. “If they'd known about the Old Lady, they wouldn't have launched the war without some way to deal with her.”

“They could have started work on her after the first battle,” Commander Williams offered.

Ted shook his head.  It had taken five years to build
Ark Royal
; even now, with the aliens breathing down their necks, the best the designers had managed to do was slim it down to three years.  Perhaps a battleship would take less time, but he had his doubts.  They’d have started with a completely new design and completed it impossibly quickly, if that was the case.

“Or they refitted a design they already had,” he mused.  He dismissed the thought a moment later.  “How many ships are we looking at?”

“Twenty-two,” Farley said.  “Fourteen frigates, two cruisers, three carriers, one battlecruiser and one monster ...”

“Designate her as the
Monster
class,” Ted ordered, calmly.  It was a formidable force, easily enough to break through Earth’s defences and launch stealth missiles into the planet’s atmosphere.  And, facing carriers that were lightly armoured, they might even cripple humanity’s remaining fleets beyond repair.  “Time to intercept.”

“They’re moving along the projected course, at speed,” Farley said.  “They’ll enter engagement range in fifty-seven minutes.”

Ted smiled, then walked over to his chair and sat down.  “Continue feeding targeting data to the sensors,” he ordered.  “The principle target are the carriers, not the superdreadnaught.  I want them smashed as soon as we open fire.”

Commander Williams gave him an odd look.  “You don't want to target the superdreadnaught?”

“No,” Ted said.  He hesitated, then explained.  “The superdreadnaught doesn't carry any starfighters, I assume.  Without starfighters, she will be vulnerable to volley-fire from Earth’s defences, even if she smashes us into pulp.  Even if her armour is as tough as ours, Commander, she will be vulnerable.”

He studied the display for a long moment.  The aliens might be in a hurry, but they weren't being
too
trusting.  They had a CSP fanning out ahead of them, probing for trouble.  It was quite likely they’d stumble across the waiting ambush before it was too late to save their fleet from instant annihilation. 

“Take aim,” he ordered.  “If they stumble across us, fire without waiting for orders.”

Farley swallowed, nervously   “Aye, sir,” he said.  “Weapons locked on target.”

Ted understood.  A twitch on Farley’s part could start the battle early, sacrificing the advantage they’d risked everything to build.  He understood far too well.

He keyed his console as the alien fleet grew closer, opening a channel to the entire ship.  “All hands, this is the Admiral,” he said.  “We are about to engage the enemy one final time.  If we win, the war comes to an end.  If we lose, the aliens will push past us and attack our homeworld.  On us rests the fate of Earth – and all of humanity.”

There was a pause as he struggled for words, then fell back on the classics.

“Britain expects that every man will do his duty,” he said.

He closed the channel.  On the display, the alien ships were drawing closer and closer, their starfighters fanning out ahead of them.  It wouldn't be long before they stumbled across the ambush and then all hell would break loose.  But it had been long enough.

“Fire,” he ordered. 

“Projectiles away, sir,” Farley said.

“Launch starfighters,” Ted snapped.  On the display, the alien carriers were starting to launch their own starfighters, despite being caught by surprise.  “Launch missiles!”

Ark Royal
shivered again as she launched her first barrage of missiles.  Ted had few illusions – only a handful of them would survive long enough to detonate – but one or two direct hits would finish any alien starship, apart from the enigmatic superdreadnaught.  The craft was heavily armoured, of that he was sure.  It simply didn't seem to have the speed of any of the other alien craft.

“Starfighters launched, sir,” Farley reported.  He swore, barely loudly enough for Ted to hear.  “Enemy ships are launching missiles of their own.”

They must have the reactions of a Marine
, Ted thought, with cold amusement. 
They didn't know we were waiting in ambush, but they still had their starfighters ready to launch at a moment’s notice.

“Direct hit,” Farley reported.  “One of the alien carriers is gone, sir.”

Ted nodded.  On the display, one of the alien carriers had been shattered into debris by a direct hit.  Another was dodging mass drive projectiles, but even its drive was unable to alter course radically enough to save it completely.  A direct hit to the rear section smashed its drives and left it completely helpless.  Ted was marginally impressed that the remainder of the starship remained intact, despite the damage.  A final projectile slammed into the hulk and completed its destruction.

“Target destroyed, sir,” Farley reported.  There was a hint of heavy satisfaction in his voice.  “Their starfighters are motherless now.”

“Continue firing,” Ted ordered.  The mass drivers were running out of ammunition at terrifying speed.  There simply hadn't been time to find a suitable asteroid in the New Russia system and reload.  “Target the remaining carrier and the superdreadnaught.  Destroy them both.”

The smaller alien ships picked up speed, advancing towards the Old Lady as they fired missiles towards the flotilla.  Ted watched numbly as hundreds of missiles closed in on his ships, most of them picked off by the point defence or the CSP.  But the priority – protecting
Ark Royal
– had a cost.  Four missiles engaged HMS
Blackburn
and blew the escort carrier into flaming debris.

“
Blackburn
is gone,” Farley reported.  “No lifepods detected.”

Ted nodded.  He’d mourn later. 

“Continue firing,” he ordered.  “Move
Wart Hog
into position to provide covering fire.”

He scowled, inwardly.  The attack on Earth had been gravely weakened by the loss of the carriers, but the aliens could still break through and use a frigate to attack the planet with a radioactive warhead.  It was the old nightmare of terrorism on a planetary scale, one that had only grown worse as humanity expanded further into space.  They’d hoped the aliens could be deterred from attacks aimed at genocide, but it was unlikely the War Faction gave a damn about their own people.  All they wanted was the destruction of the human race.

“Alien starfighters are closing in,” Farley reported.  “Our own starfighters are moving to cover us.”

“Stand by point defence,” Ted ordered.  “Warn the CSP not to come within plasma range.”

“Aye, sir,” Farley said.

***

Henry wanted to cheer as two of the alien carriers died in quick succession, but there was no time.  The bastards had managed to launch their starfighters quicker than the Old Lady could match, putting over two hundred starfighters into space before they’d been smashed by the mass drivers.  Some of the alien craft would have to be pushed back into space, Henry was sure, because their remaining carrier wouldn't have space for them all.  But it wouldn't matter.