For glory, p.15
For Glory, page 15
Her father, who had joined her for the meeting, had stayed surprisingly quiet and now walked silently beside her. Miira glanced at him and noted the worried look on his face. “What is it, father?” she snapped.
Her father forced a smile. “Oh, nothing. I am digesting what I just heard.”
“I’m your daughter. I know when you are lying to me.”
“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
“Father, I have very little patience left today.”
“Yes, that much is obvious. Very well. I am concerned with the latest developments.”
“We are all concerned.”
“The military cannot hold back the Bane indefinitely. Sooner or later, the Bane will break through, and then the military will lose the star system. This will continue to happen until the Bane reach Dvorkan space.”
“What of the weapon?” Miira said. “You don’t think that will stop the Bane?”
“I do not know. What I do know is Dvorkans and General Teev was far more worried than he let on. That tells me he doesn’t believe we can stop the Bane.”
“But we have to stop the Bane.”
“I know that, and I hope we do. But if my instincts are correct, we need to make contingency plans.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if the Empire falls, we need to ensure you do not fall with it.”
“You want me to run?”
“Would you rather be hunted by the Bane and eventually eaten?”
“No, of course not. Still, what you are suggesting is drastic.”
“I am not saying you need to flee now. I am saying that we need to have plans in place in case the need arises.”
“I think that is not a foregone conclusion, and even if it is, I think we have plenty of time before it happens. Nonetheless, if it came down to it, I am sure Jon would take me in. I lived on Earth for eight years, remember?”
“I do. Perhaps you should speak to your friend and plant a seed.”
Miira had a lot of respect for her father’s ability to read other Dvorkans. It was one of the reasons he had become so successful in business. In a negotiation, he could quickly read the other party and figure out how to get what he wanted. She hoped he was wrong in this instance, but the pit in her stomach told her he wasn’t. That made her furious. Those fools at Central Command had brought this dreadful war down on their heads with their ridiculous ideas about glory and expansion. And now they risked losing everything. They weren’t there yet, however. She needed to speak to Jon and get his advice on the matter.
On her ship, Miira opened a long-range comm to Admiral Pike. When Jon appeared on her display, Miira immediately began to feel better. Jon was no fool like her generals. He would know what to do.
“Hello, Miira,” Jon said with a smile.
“Hello, Jon,” Miira said.
“You look worried. What’s wrong?”
“I’m concerned about the Bane. My generals had told me that they had the matter well in hand, but I fear that is not the case.”
“How so?”
“It’s the Antikitheri weapon. It is turning out to be harder to get it on our ships than they originally said. I fear we cannot stop the Bane without it.”
“I see. I hope you realize that we cannot help you in your war against the Bane. We cannot afford a second war right now.”
“I did not ask you to help us.”
“I know, but I sense that is where this might be going. It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but we have our hands full with the Mistraan.”
“I understand, Jon. Again, I am not asking you to help us fight the Bane. We started this war. It is our problem.”
“What about the jumpspace technology I shared with you?” Jon said. “That’s got to give you an advantage.”
“We haven’t tried it yet, but I fear it will not work. Our jump technology is useless against the Bane. They have a way to jam it, so our jump systems do not work. That includes jump bombs.”
“I see. And you are concerned that the same jamming tech will block you from opening a jumpspace portal.”
“That is correct.”
“Well, we are working on some other advancements. I’d be happy to share them with you once they are available.”
“Thank you, Jon. That would be helpful. But I’m contacting you about something else.”
“What’s that?” Jon said.
“A contingency plan in case the Empire falls and I need to escape.”
“Miira, you know you are always welcome here.”
“It would not be just me, though. I am the Empress and would need to bring my Taymati with me, not to mention all the other staff who assist me. If I could rescue more Dvorkans, I would want to bring them as well.”
“I don’t think that is a problem,” Jon said. “Hell, we took in the Diakans, and they’re a bigger pain in the ass than Dvorkans are. Even if there are too many of you to settle on Earth, there are a lot of other planets, especially in the colonies. Don’t worry. We can find a solution.”
Miira laughed at that. “Thank you, Jon. I don’t think it will come to that, but my father suggested I speak to you to ensure that it was an option if the worst case came to pass.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a way to defeat the Bane. And as I said, we will share any advancements we come up with regarding the weapon or the jump system. With any luck, that will be enough to deal with the Bane. Have you tried negotiating a ceasefire?”
“Not yet, but I instructed General Teev to offer peace talks to the Bane, though he is not hopeful.”
“You might have to make some concessions,” Jon said. “If your prospects are as grim as you say, it might be worth it to forfeit some territory in exchange for peace.”
“We need to get them to talk to us first,” Miira said. “General Teev says they will not communicate with us.”
“Perhaps you haven’t been saying the right thing.”
“I hope so. I will let you know what happens. Goodbye, Jon.
“Goodbye, Miira. Good luck.”
Chapter twenty-three
Invading Mistraan territory was always going to be a challenge. The Mistraan home planet was literally on the other side of the galaxy, some ninety thousand light years away, and the only way to reach it was using jumpspace. The problem with that was if, for whatever reason, a ship lost its access to jumpspace, it would be stranded on the other side of the galaxy. Even with the jump system, that distance was too far to travel without jumpspace or even jump gates.
Jon wasn’t worried about that, though. They had access to jumpspace, and even if a ship was damaged to the point where it could not access jumpspace, they could always repair it or be rescued.
Then, there was the problem of keeping an invasion force together in jumpspace until they reached Mistraan territory. The chaotic subspace environment wreaked havoc with ship sensors, and while they had gotten better at navigating the bizarre realm, errors still happened. The last thing they needed was to arrive in Mistraan territory with a partial force in disarray.
What he needed was for Chief Singh to come through with a jumpspace breakthrough. He had been working on developing a target lock within jumpspace so as to fire weapons successfully, and Jon thought that figuring that problem out would also lead to improving a ship’s sensors within jumpspace.
Otherwise, the plans to invade were coming together, and the Diakans had begun moving the bulk of their forces out of Juttari territory so that they could be used against the Mistraan. The Diakans had relentlessly rebuilt their forces, and Jon was amazed at how fast they had regained their prior strength. Only a fool would bet against the Diakans. Either way, Jon was happy to have those hulking Diakan battleships as part of the invasion force. The Diakans had been fighting wars in space since before humans had landed on the moon, and their ships were always a welcome addition in a battle.
“I believe I have a solution,” Singh said to Jon after contacting him through his comm.
“You’ve figured out jumpspace targeting?” Jon said.
“I think so, but I’m talking about mounting the weapon on a ship.”
“You said that was the easy part.”
“Yes, that is what I thought until I saw that the Dvorkans blew up a ship trying. The weapon’s power consumption is off the charts, so you need to downgrade the weapon a fair bit before it can be mounted on a ship. And the ship needs to be destroyer class or greater.”
“How much of a downgrade are you talking about?” Jon said.
“Substantial, but it will still be much more powerful than our existing energy weapons, and it should be strong enough to maintain a beam within jumpspace.”
“That sounds promising. When do you think you can test it?”
“Oh, I’ve already had it mounted on one of our test warships,” Singh said. “I’m planning a test today. We will test it in regular space, and then, if all goes well, I will make some more tweaks to the targeting system so that we can test it in jumpspace. That is why I am contacting you. I thought you might want to observe the test.”
“I would.”
“Excellent. I will forward all the necessary information.”
When the time came for the test, Jon opened the feed on his display and observed an older model destroyer floating in space with several UHSF warships nearby for security. In the distance was an old derelict fitted with shields and under AI control. That would be the target, and the only question was, would the weapon work, and how long would it take to burn through the shields to destroy the derelict.
When they first encountered the weapon during the Dvorkan civil war, it was devastating and could destroy a shielded warship with incredible speed. This was supposed to be a downgraded version of that weapon, and Jon wondered how much that diminished its effectiveness.
When the test began, the destroyer fired the weapon at the derelict, and a blazing white beam speared the derelict’s shields. Jon saw immediately that the weapon was far more powerful than the energy weapons on even the largest warship. The shields quickly changed color, and while it wasn’t as fast as what he had witnessed during the Dvorkan civil war, it was far faster than anything he had seen from an energy weapon, especially one mounted on a ship.
The destroyer maintained the white beam without difficulty, and the derelict’s shields continued to change color until they finally failed. The white beam then punched through the hull with ease and burst through the other side, effectively snapping the ship in half. The derelict blew apart seconds later.
Jon restrained himself from cheering but allowed himself a smile. This was an important breakthrough. The only question now was how long it would take to outfit the fleet with these weapons. He did not want to delay the invasion, but this weapon was too important. All they needed now was to successfully use it in jumpspace.
The jumpspace test happened a few days later. Another derelict was used, and it had been outfitted with shields as before. Jon had boarded his flagship, the Freedom, and they entered jumpspace along with two battle groups for security. Jon didn’t know what the Mistraan’s capabilities were, but he had been surprised by them before and wanted to ensure the weapon was protected as best as possible.
Since the other ships did not have jumpspace weapons, they would shield the weapon from any Mistraan attack, buying it time to return to normal space in the Sol System. It wasn’t ideal, but it could work. In truth, Jon didn’t think the Mistraan had a similar weapon, but he was still wary of the aliens.
Once all ships were in jumpspace and in formation, Jon gave the order to begin the test. Despite the chaotic nature of jumpspace, the Freedom was close enough that Jon could see the test ship, though the target ship was not as easily picked out. The AI helped in this instance by highlighting it on the display. Jon tried to focus on the derelict, hoping his enhanced eyesight would help. He squinted, trying to make out its dimensions, but eventually gave up.
Turning his attention back to the destroyer, he waited as the crew ran a last-minute check. When that was done, Singh indicated that they were ready to start the test, and Jon waited with anticipation. If this worked, it could tilt the balance of power heavily in their favor.
Nothing happened. Jon frowned but thought they might need more time, so he waited a bit longer. Still nothing. Jon opened a comm with Singh, who responded over a distorted channel.
“There is a problem with the weapon’s configuration,” Singh said. “I am working on a solution.”
“Alright, keep me advised,” Jon said.
After an hour, Jon contacted Singh again. “Would it not be easier to work on this in regular space? Maybe we should postpone the test until you figure out what the problem is.”
“No, Admiral. There is still much we do not understand about jumpspace. I cannot replicate its unique characteristics in regular space. It is best if I try and fix the weapon here.”
“Very well,” Jon said. “Let me know when you’ve resolved the problem.” After disconnecting the comm, Jon said, “Hishim, have you been monitoring this situation?”
“Yes, of course,” said Hishim.
Jon didn’t know why he bothered asking. “Is this something you know how to fix?”
“I am not here to spoon-feed you solutions to your problems, Admiral.”
“Excuse me?”
“Did I not use the phrase correctly? I believe ‘spoon feed’ is a common human term.”
“It is. Does that mean you know how to solve this problem?”
“Whether I do or do not is irrelevant,” Hishim said. “It is one thing for me to protect you from a psionic attack and another to just give you advanced technology that you are perfectly capable of discovering yourselves. If you are to stand against the Maeficus, your civilization needs to be as strong as possible, and discovering these things on your own is required to reach that level.”
“I get what you are saying, but what is the difference between that and you helping me on board that Mistraan warship?”
“You were not in a position to escape the warship without my help,” Hishim said. “If I allowed the Mistraan to keep you captive, it would have done irreparable harm to the fight against the Maeficus.”
“You know, you really need to harden up, Hishim,” Jon said sarcastically. “You are way too sentimental.”
“I do not understand.”
“Never mind.”
Jon waited for several hours more and grew restless. He left the bridge and went to the ship’s gym for a workout. He hit the weights hard, lifting more weight than should be humanly possible. Then he hit the bag for a while, practicing his striking skills. When he was done, he checked the situation and found that nothing had changed. So, he visited the ship’s shooting range and worked on his marksmanship.
After that, he almost called Captain Henderson down to the gym for a sparring session. Henderson was a Marine and one of the toughest men he knew. Like Kevin, he made a great sparring partner, but Jon didn’t want to pull him off the bridge while they were in jumpspace.
In the end, Jon returned to the bridge. Luckily, Singh contacted him less than an hour later.
“I think I’ve fixed the problem, sir,” Singh said.
“Only one way to find out,” Jon said. “Start the test whenever you are ready.”
“Yes, sir. Stand by.”
A few minutes later, they gave the test another try. This time, the destroyer fired the weapon, but the beam seemed to dissipate after a short distance. Jon stared at the display but couldn’t make anything out. Finally, he said, “AI, did the weapon malfunction again?”
“Negative, the energy beam has reached the target,” AI said.
“It has? Why can’t I see it?”
“Your eyes are not suited to the jumpspace environment.”
“I see. So what is happening? Is the weapon having any effect?”
“Yes. The target’s shields are deteriorating, though not as rapidly as they did in regular space.”
“So it’s working.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
Jon smiled. Singh had done it. But could the weapon destroy the target? Jon waited for confirmation that it had, but it took longer than he thought it should. After some time, Jon said, “AI, what is the status of the target ship?”
“Shields are at thirty-one percent,” AI said.
“Really?”
“Yes, Admiral. Did you think I would deceive you?”
“No, AI. I did not.”
Jon leaned back in his chair and waited, wondering how useful a weapon like this would actually be. This weapon had been so powerful in regular space yet seemed weak in jumpspace. It was better than nothing, and that was what he hoped the Mistraan had: nothing.
After a time, the AI announced, “Target shields have failed.”
Now, they just had to break through the hull. Again, it felt like it took much longer than it should have, especially considering the target ship was not armored. A beam like that should have punched through that hull in seconds, but this took far longer.
When it did finally break through, AI announced, “Target destroyed.”
The bridge erupted in applause and cheers, and Jon wondered if it was a release of the pent-up frustration everyone felt at how long this test had taken. Still, it was a major accomplishment, and Jon was pleased, even if he had hoped for more. The UHSF now had a jumpspace weapon, which was a hell of a lot more than they had before. All they had to do now was rapidly mount the weapon on their ships, and the invasion could commence.
Chapter twenty-four
The Dvorkan gate defenses failed faster than anyone expected. General Teev, who had personally taken charge of the fleet, was horrified by what he had witnessed. He had tripled the number of ships guarding the gate and had ordered the ships to use all the weapons at their disposal, including jump bombs, to stop the Bane from breaching the gate.
He did not understand an enemy such as this. Every ship that tried to push through the jump gate faced destruction, and it wasn’t as though they had even accomplished anything. The second they appeared, they were hit with a devastating onslaught that no one could hope to survive, and the ships were often destroyed before they fully exited the gate. The Dvorkans spared no resource in blocking them and often used nuclear warheads to ensure rapid destruction of the enemy warships. If there was any worry, it was that they would one day run out of ammunition. That day was far off, however, and it seemed as though they’d be able to hold the gate indefinitely, and Teev could keep his promise to the Empress.
