Alliance, p.13
Alliance, page 13
The incursion to the Orgon planet had not slowed the relentless advance of the enemy forces into Tressillian Space. More and more planets and space stations were being overrun and either taken over or everything and everyone on them destroyed. The situation became a lot worse as the days passed. Any resistance by Tressillian forces was proving to be inadequate in most cases. The Antarians were not getting everything their own way though. There had been minor successes in some sectors and the enemy had been temporarily stopped in their tracks on a couple of occasions. The onslaught was over; such a wide area of space that the situation looked hopeless. Nothing seemed to stop the advance. Refugees from planets that had been in the line of attack began to arrive in the Tressillian home galaxy in greater and greater numbers. Several transport ships had been fired on by the Antarians as they tried to escape. There had been many near misses. There had also been several occasions where the transport ships fleeing a planet had been just too late and had been destroyed by enemy fire. The loss of life was mounting, both civilian and military. The frequency of the loss of front-line ships was worrying and would soon reach a point where replacement Battle Cruisers could not be built at the rate of destruction of those in service. There had been some valiant efforts by Tressillian Captains to slow the advance of the Antarians. The son of one of the Tressillian Governors, a captain on a Battle-Cruiser, had sent his ship headlong into a flotilla of Antarian ships that were bearing down on three evacuation transport ships. He had destroyed four of the five Antarian ships in the flotilla before his ship exploded under concerted fire from the fifth ship. His was not the only sacrifice made in the coming days as a desperate rear-guard action was under way.
It was a very sombre High Command that met along with Vice-Admiral Clarke and other high-ranking Earth Captains from the fleet. Theo and his team were also present along with the Tressillians they had been working with on the combined neural net.
Kronos Trabet addressed those gathered in the Great Hall of the Command Centre.
“The news is not good. Our forces are being driven back across all the galaxies that we had under out control. We are outnumbered everywhere. The enemy will soon be at the borders of our home galaxy. I have given the order for all remaining ships to fall back to our galaxy, bringing as many personnel from outlying worlds as they are able to do safely. We will defend our home world with everything we have at our disposal, but I fear that it is a lost cause.”
He then turned to address the members of the Earth Space Fleet.
“We thank you for all the help and support that you have been able to give us, but now is the time for you to return to your home world and prepare for the inevitable. Our civilisations would have grown and prospered together under other circumstances. We are all sorry that you have been dragged into this war against an aggressor who seemingly is relentless in the destruction of anything and anyone who stands in their way. The following communication was received just before we all met together.”
He then turned to the screen in the centre of the Great Hall as the face of an Antarian appeared.
“To those in command of the worlds that now call themselves The Alliance. You cannot stop us from taking over your worlds. Your brief victories over our forces should not give you cause for rejoicing. Those who are now fleeing from us will tell you that we do not take resistance lightly. The longer you resist, the harsher will be the retribution when we eventually make your worlds ours. The decision is now yours. Continue resisting us and be destroyed, or surrender immediately and we may be lenient with you. You have one rotation period of your planet to reply.”
The screen went blank and there was silence in the Great Hall.
The calm, clear voice of Kronos Trabet continued after a few seconds.
“Those refugees from our colony worlds who have made it across the coldness of space to return to their home world tell of an onslaught that is both ferocious and unforgiving. Many have seen at first-hand what happens to those who have resisted. The Antarians are leaving a trail of destruction across planets. Our forces have fought back at every opportunity to ensure that civilian casualties are minimised, but that has not stopped there being great loss of life. Our people are being pushed back on many fronts across several galaxies. Our only hope is to consolidate our defence in our galaxy and, if needs must, in our solar system. We will continue to oppose the evil that is now upon us until we can do no more.”
Governor Trabet paused and looked around the Great Hall. The moment weighed heavily on everyone present. Theo Newsome thought back to the relatively short time ago when those on Earth and its outposts in space were still only dreaming of meeting another intelligence, of knowing that humans were not the only intelligent beings in the Universe. If the Cube belonging to the Tressillians had not been found, would the Antarians have fought the Tressillian race without humans knowing that anything untoward was happening far out in the depths of space? He realised that it was futile thinking in such a way. There was now no going back… the die had been cast for better or worse… and as things stood, it certainly seemed that it was for the worse.
18. A Glimmer of Hope
Theo and his neural network team followed the Tressillians they had been working with in silence as they made their way back to the main hub in the Command Centre. Vice-Admiral Clarke followed them into the hub just as they were taking their seats around the core processor that the Tressillians had developed from their Cubes, one of which had started the whole sequence of events that was now unfolding throughout several galaxies.
He beckoned to Theo and the two of them stood near the hub entrance talking quietly. The rest of the joint team had been given the task of building up a complete picture of the situation across as many galaxies as they could. The High Command wanted to maintain a continued monitoring of the progress of the Antarians in as much detail as possible. Gerry’s father’s words, ‘Know your enemy…’ came to mind again as he took a deep breath before looking Theo in the eyes. Theo noticed that the vice-admiral seemed to have aged quite a bit since he first met him back on Earth. He knew that Gerry had been up most of the night in contact with the Command Centre back home. Earth Command had also been linked into the session in the Tressillian Great Hall via the neural link that had been set up using Theo’s team and the Tressillian enhanced net users.
“Earth Command has just contacted me as I followed you down here. They are going to ramp up the defence systems and ship construction as fast as safety allows. They have also asked if two of your team would again stay on Tressillia at the request of their High Command to continue to develop the neural network. How do you feel about that?”
“Did they say which two of us might be the ones asked to stay?” asked Theo.
“Yes… they would like you and Chris to stay.”
“Do I have some time to discuss this with the team?”
“Certainly… let me know within the hour if you come to a decision,” replied Gerry, “and whatever is decided, I will back you fully.”
“Thank you, Gerry. That means a lot. I think I had better have a team meeting right now. What about the Tressillians we have been working so closely with? Can I let them know about the request?”
“In the interests of fairness, I would say that they should be included in your meeting if that’s alright with you.”
Theo nodded and watched as the vice-admiral walked slowly away down the long corridor that encircled the hub until he disappeared from sight around the curve of the building.
This would be a hard conversation. If his team agreed that he and Chris stayed behind to support the Tressillian efforts to repel the Antarians, it might mean that they became trapped in Tressillian space. Theo didn’t have any close relatives back on Earth, but Chris had a fiancé who was serving on a battle cruiser patrolling the outer edges of the Earth’s solar system. There was obviously a chance that, if Chris stayed with Theo and the Tressillians, she might never see her partner again. Theo called the neural net team together and outlined the situation.
Chris was silent as Theo told her of the Tressillian request. It had already been over an Earth year since she had seen David, her fiancé. Nevertheless, she was willing to stay and support the defence efforts even if that meant continued separation or worse.
“Is there a specific reason that Chris has been asked to remain?” asked Lizzie. “I would be willing to take your place, Chris. I don’t have anyone on Earth like you have.”
“No,” replied Theo. “It was just a suggestion for Chris to stay. All the abilities of the team are just as valued as each other. Lizzie, are you sure that this is what you want?”
“Quite sure. Let me stay so that Chris can at least have the chance of seeing David again, whatever happens.”
“I’ll let Gerry know. I can’t see there being a problem. Just give me a minute.”
Theo returned to the console in the centre of the hub and messaged the vice-admiral. He returned a couple of minutes later with the news that it was acceptable for Chris to go back home and for Lizzie to stay with Theo.
Three Tressillian days later, with reports still coming in of further incursions by the Antarians into Tressillian space, the Earth Fleet left the Tressillian solar system to bolster the defences of Earth. The agreement for two of the humans to stay had been reciprocated by the Tressillians. Two of their enhanced neural net team who didn’t have close family connections were on board the Magellan. It was hoped that their abilities, in conjunction with those of Chris and Steve, could be of help back home in the further development of their skills.
The fleet’s journey back to Earth systems was very carefully planned to avoid coming into contact with the advancing Antarians. That meant the use of a sub-Vector Line that could be more unstable than the normal one used. It was a chance that had to be taken though. Hopefully, the fleet could use the ability of the network team to manipulate the Line as they had been able to do previously. They wouldn’t know for certain until they came closer to the Earth’s solar system.
All the intense planning before the start of the journey was the best that the teams could do with the current information. The space chart that was being developed in the hub to keep track of the Antarians and the allies’ attempts to at least slow their progress, indicated that the sub-line should take the fleet away from any ongoing actions. The hope was short lived.
After four days of travelling at the best possible speed using the sub-Vector Line, the defence systems on the Magellan suddenly sounded throughout the ship. An Antarian force of ten battle cruisers was detected through the enhanced neural implants of both the human and Tressillian teams. It appeared not to have detected the fleet, but it was obvious that it was heading for the major Tressillian-settled planet of Garnus Major in the Palunion System. Garnus was an important planet for the defence of Tressillian space. It was one of the planets that mined a rare metal necessary for the Tressillian Cruisers’ drives. It was also far deeper into the Tressillian systems than the Antarians had attacked up until that point. It was well defended, but an onslaught by ten heavily armed enemy ships would quite quickly overcome anything that the Garnus defences could do.
Only a matter of minutes after the enemy ships were detected a close-beam message was received from Tressillia. They too had picked up the enemy ships on the central space chart that was finally up and running in the hub. The decision was not too difficult to make. Theo and his teams on the planet plus those in the fleet would be put to the test once more to see if a sub-Vector Line could be manipulated the same as the major Line had been. A spatial plot was quickly made to establish the best position for the first fleet ships to drop off the line. It was not enough for those who were part of the neural team to try to manipulate the Line. They also needed to try and pinpoint another area near the planet where the rest of the fleet would drop off the sub-Vector Line in an attempt to outflank the enemy formation If successful, there would be a gap of about 30 seconds from the last ship appearing at the first point and the first ship appearing at the next point. They would also have to try to match the speed of the enemy ships so that their appearance would be on each flank of the Antarians at the same time.
Theo and the teams combined their neural nets and, in conjunction with the Magellan’s AI, set the co-ordinates for the ships of the fleet. All the ships were to allow the Magellan’s AI to take control of their systems so that there was complete co-ordination of the manoeuvre. It was going to be close. The projected points for the fleet to leave the sub-Vector Line would mean that the enemy ships were well within the solar system of the planet Garnus when intercepted. If the team had miscalculated anything, the Antarian ships could have begun their attack on the planet before the fleet could act.
At the earliest possible time the signal for the first of the fleet to drop off the Line was sent. It was followed closely by three of the other Earth ships. As they appeared in normal space, all the warning systems on the ships sounded. The calculations had been correct. On the port side of the Earth ships, only a short distance away and slightly in front, was the enemy formation.
On board the Antarian lead ships there must have been something like panic as they realised, they suddenly had company. Before they could react, the rest of the fleet had appeared on their starboard side in a similar position. Both groups of Earth ships opened fire. The Magellan had been tasked with engaging the lead Antarian ship, whilst the other ships concentrated their fire power on those toward the rear of the formation. Magellan’s fire raked along the side of the Antarian Flagship as it tried to evade the incoming salvo by beginning a steep climb at a sharp angle away from its original course. The move was not soon enough. The salvo from the Magellan ripped into the power units at the rear of the ship making it spin out of control. By a stroke of pure luck, the blast from the ship’s power drives caught the following Antarian battle cruiser in the resulting debris field, smashing wreckage into the ship’s bridge. Captain Osaki on the bridge of the Magellan threw the ship into a tight curve to try to evade the enemy fire that was now coming from the third Antarian ship in their formation. The Magellan shuddered as an enemy high energy beam struck the ship. The hit did not succeed in diverting it from the trajectory that would bring it back around for another attack on the enemy formation. As the Magellan came in to attack again, the ships on the far side had already begun their move as the enemy formation broke into their own circular patterns to engage the Earth ships. Two more enemy cruisers were disabled almost immediately. The odds were now far more equal.
The combat now became between individual ships as the Antarian captains tried to out-manoeuvre those commanding the Earth Cruisers. The speed of the combat was so fast that two Antarian frigates were unable to avoid colliding. Both took heavy damage as they glanced off each other and were thrown into the path of the Magellan. Captain Osaki’s reactions were quick enough to avoid a catastrophic collision as the enemy ships came together and broke up. There were now just three Antarian ships remaining of the ten that had intended to attack the planet. They must have realised that any further engagement was futile as they now headed away from the battle on a course that would take them well clear of the battle zone. Surprise had worked. The Earth Fleet had come away from the battle relatively unscathed, unlike the Antarians. It was worrying though, that the Antarians had felt able to penetrate so deeply into Tressillian space. Perhaps the bloody nose they had just received would make them think twice before they tried again. The Antarians now knew that they could be taken by surprise. They didn’t know how that had come about; that the allies had discovered how to manipulate the Vector Lines in their favour.
It would have been good to remain in the system for a while to carry out repairs, but the crews of the damaged ships felt that they were able to do the necessary work at the same time as the fleet continued on its journey to Earth. The speed of the remaining part of the journey would be slower than had been originally planned due to the nature of the repairs that were necessary.
After receiving the grateful thanks from the Tressillian colony on the planet, the fleet re-joined the sub-Vector Line. Everyone hoped that the rest of the trip was uneventful, but no-one dared assume anything.
Theo and Lizzie had watched the unfolding battle with virtually no time delay due to their neural networking abilities. Their view was as if they were on the bridge of the Magellan. They could also tap into the AI of the ship and follow what was happening to other ships in the fleet. It was not good to be so far away and not be able to have any direct effect on the outcome of the battle, but there was obvious relief at the outcome. There had only been five casualties on the Earth ships. Five, too many, but in view of the odds at the start of the battle it was a miracle that there were only five. Nevertheless, it meant that another five families had lost someone.
