Chronicles of the Expansion War
Episode 1
The Battle of Yates (Part 1)
A Short Story By Gerold F. Eberl III
November 11, 3054
Scout Vessel Ore Seeker II, Surveying Planet AC-1194a, System – Ari Cygni 1194
“It’s that same thing again.” Payne shook his head as he looked at the sensor feed from their survey satellite. Only this reading wasn’t coming from the planet, “I don’t think we’re alone out here.”
Captain Lang walked over, she was skeptical at best, “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Have you ruled out…?”
“It’s moving at FTL, its changed course, and it’s heading right at us, I think we can take anything natural off the table.” He interrupted.
Frowning, Lang turned to him, “I was going to ask if it could be from the colony. With this damn interference they might not be able to get a message through.”
Between the stellar activity and the planets magnetic field, sensors and communications had been less than reliable the last few days; even now they couldn’t get a clear indication of what was coming their way. Payne had no answers, “Except it’s coming from the wrong direction. Well, whatever it is, if it maintains course and speed, we’ll know in about three hours.”
Once again Lang looked at what sensor data they had, given the speed it was traveling at, she was now alarmed as well, “Alright, no need to take chances, keep trying to make contact and clear up those readings; and keep me apprised. I’m going to recall Duke and Sawyer.”
Payne nodded, “I’ll see what I can do.” He was pleased with Lang’s decision; whatever was coming towards them, he didn’t want to be responsible for dealing with it.
It was painful to walk away right now, they still had a few days left on what was proving a very promising survey, but Lang really had no choice. If this was a contact scenario they were hardly equipped for it, and protocol demanded they report so a team of specialists could be put together. While Payne did what he could with the sensors she opened a channel to Duke and Sawyer who were conducting a mineral survey of a mountain range nearby, “Survey team, this is base, please respond.”
“Sawyer here.” A voice responded, “What do you need.”
“I’m pulling the plug on this operation.” Lang replied, “Whatever you’re doing, pack up and get back here.”
“What?” Duke yelled over the comm., “Captain, we were supposed to have at least two more days, if we bail now we’ll lose our commission.”
“No choice.” She explained, “We have an unidentified contact coming our way fast. If it turns out to be nothing we’ll get back to the survey, but if it is something we need to be ready to get out of here.”
“Understood.” Duke answered despondently, “It’s going to take us at least two hours to get everything together and get back.”
Lang glanced at the sensor feed and the unknown ship’s ETA, “Do what you can to hurry that up.”
Over an hour ticked by before Payne finally had an update, “Captain, some of that interference is clearing.”
“What have we got?” Lang demanded as she frantically rushed over.
With some fear and reluctance Payne pulled up the sensor display and shrugged; it still wasn’t clear, but it was enough to make some conclusions, “Hell if I know, but it’s not one of ours.”
“Any response to communication attempts?” She asked, transfixed on the display.
Payne just shook his head, “Nothing. But we may have a problem, they sped up, they’ll be in orbit in less than an hour and a half.”
That was not news Lang wanted, and she felt her chest tighten. She quickly got Sawyer back on the comm., “Survey team, what’s your ETA?”
“We’re a little over an hour out.” Sawyer replied.
Unfortunately the survey rover they had taken was not designed for speed, “Any chance you can pick up the pace.”
A loud slam could be heard as the vehicle bounced over a hill. This time Duke chimed in, “Not if we want to make it back in one piece.”
“Just do what you can.” She replied. If they made it back when they estimated they would have twenty minutes to secure everything and get the ship off the planet. It would be tight. She looked at Payne, “Forget about making contact, start getting everything ready for liftoff, this is going to be close.”
He agreed with her and started working, but he had to point something out, “We don’t know that they have hostile intent.”
“We don’t know that they don’t.” She countered as she dropped through a hatch to the lower deck.
After an hour of work they had everything ready when Sawyer and Duke pulled the rover into its garage. As soon as the area pressurized they stepped out and pulled off their helmets. Sawyer tossed his hands up in the air, “What the hell is going on?”
Lang’s pace had not abated since she began readying the ship, “We have an alien ship coming in, possibly hostile. I need all of this secured in the next ten minutes, get to it!”
The longest ten minutes of Lang’s life ticked by as she carried out the last preflight checks, finally, Sawyer and Duke, climbed into the survey ship’s cockpit, both signaling that everything was good to go in the lower deck. Lang didn’t wait, “Initiating engine startup.”
Payne was still watching the sensors, “Captain, that ship is out of FTL and on course to enter orbit. I have a visual.”
On the sensor display appeared an obviously alien vessel. Lang had no idea what it was, she only knew it was a lot bigger than their survey ship and so far had shown no interest in talking. She felt a slight jolt as her ships artificial gravity activated, they were good to go; she fired the main thruster propelling them off the surface.
“Uh, their directing active sensors at us.” Payne stated, “Oh fuck.”
“What is it?” Lang demanded as their ship shot through the atmosphere.
“I think their targeting us.” After a few seconds Payne’s suspicion was confirmed, “Incoming we have incoming! Two, no make that three missiles, coming in fast, range ninety eight thousand kilometers!”
“Countermeasures!” Lang commanded, their maneuvering options were limited while trying to reach orbit.
“Launching interceptors!” Duke shouted from the survey ship’s weapons station. Unfortunately, their capabilities were limited; they certainly had nothing like what had just been launched at them.
Payne watched on the sensors, interference was still affecting them; their targeting was going to be unreliable. Then the situation got worse, “Shit. They’re jamming us.”
“That EM interference might affect them too. If we can evade those missiles we should be able to get clear for FTL.” Duke added as he watched the sensors. One of the interceptors found its target, “We have a kill!”
“Oh no. No, no, no, no, no!” Payne’s eyes went wide at the latest sensor data; significant radioactive readings from the destroyed missile. It must have come from a warhead, “Those things are nuclear!”
Lang looked at the range, thirty thousand kilometers and closing fast. If they were as powerful as it seemed they only had to get close; a proximity detonation in the upper atmosphere would be more than enough against their scout ship, “To hell with it.” She muttered as she deactivated the engine safeties, pushing the output to almost twice safe levels. She could only hope it was enough.
The desperate attempt was their only option, but looking at the sensors, Payne knew what was about to happen. He went pale as he glanced over to Lang shaking his head. Within a second a blinding flash tore through the cockpit window.
* * *
November 11, 3054
Yates System
Lindon Colony, Colonial Defense Headquarters
“Are we sure about these readings?” Commander Jenkins asked looking at the lieutenant who had woken him and the specialist in front of the sensor display.
Lieutenant Fox nodded, “I wouldn’t have woken you up if we weren’t sir. We double checked everything. I don’t know what they are, but they’re heading this way.”
Jenkins could feel his pulse racing and sweat forming on his brow, “Alright, keep tracking, I need to make some calls, and for now this doesn’t leave this room, understood?”
“Yes Sir.” They both nodded.
Nothing like this had happened to Jenkins before; he was in command of an early warning system on a backwater colony. All he wanted to do was put in his time and retire, now it seemed like he just stumbled into a contact scenario. Now sweating profusely he stepped into his office across the hall from the analysis room, “Computer, get me Commodore Novak and Governor Parsons, Emergency Priority One.”
“Working. Please wait.” The computer replied.
Several minutes ticked by as Jenkins waited, he didn’t know what he had just pulled the Commodore or the Governor out of, but he was certain they would find his reasons compelling. He found himself unconsciously pacing around the room until he got a response.
Commodore Novak was the first to appear in the display on the wall, “What’s going on Commander? Priority One?”
“Yes sir, I…” Before Jenkins could continue, Governor Parsons appeared on the screen as well.
“Tom, would someone care to explain what’s going on?” Parsons demanded looking at Novak with an angry scowl on her face, “I was in a meeting with the Economic Development Board.”
“I’m sorry about that Governor.” Jenkins offered, “But I think you’ll find this a bit more important.”
“Let’s hear it Commander.” Novak pressed.
“Our sensors just picked up fourteen unknown contacts heading this way from bearing two six zero.” Jenkins replied.
“Which means?” Parsons inquired.
“It means they’re heading this way from outside our territory.” Novak clarified, “How far out are they?”
“A little over a hundred light years; at their current speed they’ll be here in just over eight days.” There was audible apprehension in Jenkins voice.
“Eight days?” Parsons jaw fell open in disbelief.
It was easy for Novak to see what that implied, “That means their FTL technology is on par with our own.”
Parsons was equal parts terrified and excited. Until now, the intelligent alien races humans had encountered had been less advanced; this was the first time we had found one whose technology might match or exceed our own, “Then their other technology might be as well.”
“Yes.” Novak scratched his chin with concern.
“Problem?” Parsons wondered as she heard Novak.
“Too many unknowns.” He replied, not hiding the pessimism in his voice, “And you don’t need fourteen ships to make contact.”
“Should we try to communicate with them Sir?” Jenkins inquired.
“Not yet, we follow protocols.” Novak quickly decided, turning to Parsons on his own display, “I need to run this up to military command, and you need to contact civilian authorities. With signal delay, it will probably be a day before they get back to us.”
“We can wait a few days, but at some point we’ll have to try to make contact, regardless of what they tell us.” Parsons opined.
Novak turned his attention back to Jenkins, “Commander, how many other people know about this?”
“Just the lieutenant who was on duty and two sensor techs.” Jenkins answered.
Novak nodded, “Until we know more, keep it that way; I don’t want to risk a panic right now. And I want to be updated on any developments immediately.”
“As do I.” Parsons added; with some reluctance, she had one more order, “Tom, start making preparations just in case they aren’t friendly, but just what you can do without alerting people that anything is wrong right now.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Novak nodded, “Commander, we’ll need copies of all of your sensor data to send back to Earth.”
“I’ll have it to you in a few minutes.” Jenkins said with relief now that this was no longer his responsibility.
“Alright.” It occurred to Parsons that depending on what happened in the next few days she might be responsible for handling the most important alien contact in the history of the human race, but she tried not to let that thought excite or intimidate her too much, “We all have work to do, and it’s going to be at least twenty four hours before we know how we’re proceeding. Let’s plan on another meeting then.”
* * *
Lindon Colonial Defense Fleet Flagship Themistocles
Novak leaned back in his chair and considered what to do next. His report to command would be short, they had little information right now; but he was certain that he was going to request the status of any possible reinforcements. However, given Lindon’s remote location he had no illusions, whatever was coming their way, they were most likely on their own. Novak had twenty two ships, plus over a hundred orbital defense stations and some surface defenses. Assuming technological parity he was fairly confident his forces would prevail, but there would inevitably be some losses.
After sending his report he had to consider the possibility that the aliens were hostile. He pressed an icon on his desk display, “Captain Isler, report to my office.”
A few minutes later the Themistocles’ Captain walked into his office and saluted. Rachel Isler was a tall imposing woman with a stern look. Of all of the officers under Novak’s command she was probably the most instrumental in maintaining a degree of military discipline at the remote colony. Novak returned her salute and gestured for her to sit down, “Come in; take a seat.”
“What can I do for you Sir?” Isler asked as she sat down.
Novak drew a hesitant deep breath as he settled back into his chair, “Over the next few days, I’d like you to organize some fleet wide combat readiness drills, and some combat simulations. Throw the orbital defense stations into the mix as well.”
Isler was puzzled; they conducted periodic drills, but why did the Commodore suddenly want them now? She leaned forward, “I’ll see to it, but why the urgency?”
It would be far simpler if she knew, Novak decided, “Rachel, I’m going to read you into something and I don’t want it out just yet.” He pulled up the sensor readings from earlier, “We just picked up fourteen alien ships heading this way, and we’ve got eight days until they get here, unless something changes. I don’t know what their intent is, but if they’re hostile, I don’t want us caught with our pants down.”
“What about putting the colony on alert?” She asked.
“Premature.” Though the idea did have some appeal to Novak, Parsons would never allow it, at least not yet, “We have to let the diplomats have their chance, at least try to establish contact and figure out what they want.”
“Fourteen ships aren’t exactly what I’d call diplomatic.” She observed.
“That’s exactly why I want those drills. Parsons and the rest of the politicians might see this as some great discovery, and perhaps they’re right. But we’re the ones that have to be ready if they’re wrong.” Novak replied solemnly, “Any questions Captain?”
She stood up, “No sir, I’ll have the schedule worked out by shift’s end.”
He nodded approvingly, “Dismissed.”
Isler saluted and turned to leave, but she couldn’t help be a little apprehensive. Most of the people in the Colonial Defense Force had never seen actual combat; she had her concerns over how they would hold up if they were forced into a fight.
* * *
November 15, 3054
Lindon Colony, Colonial Defense Headquarters
Governor Janet Parsons sat in Commander Jenkins’ office within the Defense Headquarters complex. It was small compared to what she was used to, but not to the point of being uncomfortable. Her purpose here today was one she certainly never expected in her career, but before she could get to that, she wanted to update Novak and Jenkins.
It didn’t take long for Novak to appear on the display, he was precisely on schedule. He immediately noticed that Parsons was at Defense Headquarters, but didn’t comment on it at that moment, “Commander, I’m guessing the lack of updates means nothing’s changed.”
Jenkins shook his head, “All fourteen ships are on the same course, same speed, and they’ve made no attempts to communicate as far as we can tell.”
“I guess it’s our turn then.” Parson’s commented.
“They want us to make contact?” Novak asked.
She nodded slowly, on many levels she felt overwhelmed, “Apparently the nearest team trained for this sort of thing is two weeks away. So that leaves us. That’s actually why I’m here. What about you, military command have anything interesting to say?”
It was quite the contrary as far as Novak was concerned, “Well, ETA on any reinforcements was even less optimistic than the timetable on your diplomats, and considering how out of the way we are they don’t want to send any without a definitive need, so we are definitely on our own. Aside from that it’s standard operating procedure, assume hostile intent in the absence of evidence to the contrary. I’ve already ordered combat drills with the fleet.”
“You didn’t tell them why, did you?” Parsons asked with concern.
Novak shook his head, “No, but I’m sure there are plenty of people with suspicions.”
Parsons could relate, she had been keeping this secret from those around her as well, “Hopefully we’ll have some answers for them soon. No point in putting it off. Commander, I’d like to try to make contact.”
Jenkins punched some commands into his desk display, “Relay is ready. Sending standard greetings and linguistics databases, now.”
Parsons stood up, straitening her clothes, a habit when she was very nervous. She had no idea what to expect in response, and it could take time to translate whatever they received, but she wanted to be there if some form of communication was established. Several minutes dragged on without hearing anything, “Are you sure they got it.”
Jenkins nodded, “They got it, so either they’re analyzing it, didn’t understand it, or didn’t care.” He sighed and punched a few other commands into his desk, “Cycling through alternative greetings.”
“You realize this could take time.” Novak commented, “We have no idea just how alien this race is.”
“That’s true.” Jenkins agreed.
All of this relied on the assumption that these aliens wanted to communicate, something Novak had doubts about, “Look, I need to make sure this fleet is at its best, so let me know if and when you manage to get a response. Novak out.”
Over an hour passed and Parsons was beginning to get impatient; this contact might be the most important moment in her life, if it ever happened. She waved her hands as she took out her frustrations on Jenkins, “Are you sure they haven’t tried to respond?”
“Governor, we’ve got every sensor we have pointed at them, if they have tried to respond, it’s not in any way we can detect.” Jenkins was growing tired of her presence, she was beginning to get in the way, “Why don’t you go home, or back to your office, or wherever. We will keep trying, and I will contact you the moment we have anything.”
She couldn’t just give up that easily, “What about Dr. Garvin, from the University? He’s the colony’s top expert on xeno-communications. Maybe he could help.”
A muffled sigh came from Jenkins, “I’m certain he’ll be able to, after we establish contact. But the simple fact is that until we have contact there is nothing he can do to help. We are running through every contact protocol in the book, hell we even dug out the old optical greetings. So at this point, I don’t know. Either their methods of communication are so different from ours that we can’t even begin to comprehend them, or they don’t want to talk.”
Parsons could tell her presence was becoming too disruptive, “Alright, I’ll go home, just keep me up to date.”
* * *
November 19, 3054
Lindon Colonial Defense Fleet Flagship Themistocles
For four days they had been sending out greetings, and for four days they had received no response. Novak was just glad he was in orbit, Parsons had been bothering Jenkins every day on the surface. The situation had ultimately required them to reveal the approaching aliens to the senior officers of the Defense Force and a number of Colonial Government officials; with somewhat tumultuous results. Simply put, no one could agree on the proper response; but as the senior military official in the system, Novak had the final say on all military matters, it made his job simpler than the Governor’s.
Novak was at least satisfied reviewing the reports on the combat drills, times were improving, and fewer mistakes were being made. But there was still room for improvement, the drills would continue. It was late morning, ship time, when Novak’s door chime sounded, “Enter.” He replied.
Captain Isler entered the office, “Sir, under the circumstances I thought you’d like to know about this. It just came to my attention.” She handed him a tablet, “A survey ship with the Colonial Mining Initiative, failed to return today. They missed their last check in as well. We tried contacting them, but no success.”
A quick glance through the report told Novak all he needed to know; he frowned and stood up, “Computer, get me Governor Parsons.” Isler began walking away, “You can stay.”
The wall display in Novak’s office came to life, revealing Parsons seated in a conference room with several other officials including Hans Bauer, the Colonial Attorney General. Parsons looked up from the table, “Commodore, do you have an update for us.”
“Is everyone there read into the situation?” Novak inquired, though it really wouldn’t matter with what he was about to do.
Bauer leaned in, “We’re all well aware.”
“Fine.” Novak very much doubted they were going to like this, “We’ve had four days of silence as the only thing to show for our communication efforts, and now I’ve just gotten a report that one of our survey ships is missing. I don’t know if this is related to the alien fleet coming towards us, but I have to assume it is. I think it’s time we announce this to the public, and I want to declare a colony wide state of alert.”
A cacophony went around the table before Parsons silenced everyone else, “Tom, if we do this we could have a panic.”
“And if we don’t, we have a colony that is unprepared for a possible attack.” Novak countered, “We need people aware of what might be coming. What kind of panic do you think we’ll have if people start getting shot at from orbit?”
“You think it will come to that?” Bauer replied.
Novak was not losing this, if they wouldn’t go along with it he would declare martial law; if he was wrong he would deal with the consequences later, “I don’t know. But no matter how many plans I make, I cannot guarantee it won’t. What I can do is offer some troops to support local police, there might be some unrest at this announcement, but that we can deal with. With the colony on alert, we fortify defenses, we make sure all shelters are stocked, and we send out an emergency plan.”
“We should have one in place before we do this.” Parsons agreed.
“So you agree?” Novak felt some relief.
Parsons sighed, “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but here we are. We’ll make preparations with the police and security forces down here. Tom, do whatever you need to prepare us for a possible attack, our full resources are at your disposal.”
“We’ll be ready.” There was renewed confidence in Novak’s voice as he closed the channel.
“I didn’t think they’d actually do it.” Isler said as she walked over.
It wasn’t quite as surprising to Novak, “Parsons may be a politician, but she’s not stupid. I’m sure she was hoping this would be her time in the limelight, but she sure as hell doesn’t want to go down as the governor that marched the colony to its demise.”
Isler wondered what Novak had planned now that Parsons had given him a blank check, “So what do you want us to do sir.”
“I want all of our ships loaded for bear.” Novak began pacing around his desk, “Computer, display full inventory of fleet weapons. Between ships, orbital defenses, and surface installations, we currently have eleven thousand nuclear devices of various yields, and two hundred antimatter devices, including three Mark Seventeen’s.”
“I hope we won’t have to use those.” Isler gulped. The MK XVII was a powerful antimatter device with a one gigaton warhead. But if it scored a direct hit on even a large enemy vessel it would cripple it, if not destroy it outright. The problem was getting it past defenses.
“They’re there if we need them.” Novak commented, “I know that seems like a lot of weapons but I want to see what we can do about expanding that. Do what you can, but don’t compromise fuel reserves or power generation.”
“I’ll get on it sir.” Isler saluted and left.
* * *
November 22, 3054
Lindon Colonial Defense Fleet Flagship Themistocles
The day had finally come. Whoever the unknown aliens were, they had arrived in the system and were now traveling at sub-light speeds. Novak sat in the Command Center of the Themistocles, donning an emergency pressure suit and taking in the first visual images of their ships with the rest of the command crew. They now knew that the aliens were on a direct course for the colony, and that they would pass near Lindon’s second moon. Novak selected that as the best place to engage them. If they could alter the alien’s course enough they might be able to force them into orbit around the moon, and keep any battle away from the colony itself.
The alien’s formation was what Novak would call overtly hostile, and despite the fact that they must have detected the larger fleet in orbit of the moon, they made no efforts to alter their course. Data now available forced Novak to reassess the situation; while he had numerical superiority and the support of planetary defenses; the alien vessels were generally larger than the ships of his fleet, with the sole exception of his command ship. Initial estimates indicated they were evenly matched; and as they drew closer, Novak was certain that a confrontation was now inevitable, “Computer fleet wide. All ships; general quarters. Place all nuclear and antimatter devices in standby mode.”
A battle station alert sounded, while Isler and her XO unlocked the Themistocles’ nuclear and antimatter arsenal. She glanced over to Novak who nodded; there was one last formality to observe, “Comm. Transmit a final warning.”
As expected, the warning went ignored, and the alien ships drew closer. At just over 110,000 kilometers they launched their first attack. A swarm of missiles appeared on sensors, closing fast.
“We have incoming, a lot of them.” Someone observed.
“I guess that removes all doubt as to their intent.” Novak commented, “Activate defenses and deploy countermeasures.”
At this range almost all of the missiles were easily picked off by lasers or interceptors. It was most likely an attempt to gauge combat capabilities. A communication officer glanced towards Novak, “Fleet reports minimal damage.”
“Our turn then.” Novak turned towards a targeting display, “All ships, load SF-3’s and prepare to fire main rail guns.” He waited for confirmation, “Fire.”
Shots went out from the ships of the defense fleet. Each one a fragmenting projectile to maximize the area affected. The alien ships attempted to intercept the main projectiles but by that point they had separated, and a swarm of smaller projectiles sailed towards the enemy fleet. This was what Novak was most interested in; he wanted an assessment of their kinetic defenses. As he watched on sensors, some of the projectiles were deflected away from the ships; others on more direct impact trajectories hit, though not to the effect he would have liked.
“External AG fields.” Isler observed, “We’ll need to use heavier projectiles.”
“Which means getting closer.” Novak added. Not that the larger rounds were any less effective at extreme distance, they were just easier to evade. He pulled up a tactical plot on his display, the aliens would pass by the moon below their orbit, as intended, that would be the ideal point to strike, “Load all rail guns with high impact rounds and stand by.”
Minutes ticked by without another exchange of fire, but everyone knew it was coming. The alien fleet’s passage by the moon would take less than thirty seconds; that was the window in which they had to strike. As they closed the aliens finally took the first shot, swarms of missiles poured forth, most of which quickly accelerated then broke into vast fields of kinetic projectiles. It was a cloud intended to distract while they passed by the moon.
Novak saw what they were doing; a tactic like this wasn’t surprising. He would not let it distract from his plan, “Focus interceptors on the larger missiles. Stand by to engage assigned targets.” He had to wait in order to maximize the effectiveness of their strike, just as the alien fleet began passing the moon he had his chance, “Fire missiles.”
Hundreds of missiles soared from the fleet towards the enemy ships. Most of them armed with low and mid yield nuclear warheads. If a few of them could hit the enemy ships it might be possible to force an engagement in orbit of the moon. As the missiles closed, one of the mid-sized enemy ships broke off from the main group, moving towards the wave of missiles.
“What are they doing?” Isler quietly wondered.
It took Novak a second, but he figured it out, “Their sacrificing themselves; target all rail guns on the main group and fire.”
The lone alien ship moved towards the Colonial Fleet, launching vast numbers of missiles and other weapons as it went. None of them were targeted on the colonial vessels, but rather intended to take out as many of the incoming missiles as possible. Flashes illuminated the black of space as nuclear detonations consumed the incoming missiles. Even with the support of the fleet’s rail guns, the few that got through would not be enough. The only consolation was that the lone enemy vessel was going to take direct hits for its efforts, and soon three nukes found their target, leaving gaping holes in the enemy ship.
“They’re outta commission.” A sensor tech reported, “Most weapons destroyed or disabled, and if they try to fire their main engines that whole ship’s gonna blow in less than a minute.”
“Focus fire on the main fleet.” Novak ordered.
While sensors had been obscured by the nuclear detonations, the enemy fleet had launched an attack of its own, the same sensor tech spun around, “Incoming fire!”
As the incoming enemy missiles were detected defenses leapt into action picking them off, but it was too late to get all of them. Novak watched a display as the destroyer Farkland took a hit. For a moment he didn’t know if the ship survived, but then he saw it as the sensors cleared, “Farkland status report!”
Seconds ticked by, but finally the Farkland’s captain responded, “Sully here. We’re still in one piece, but we took some external damage. Some of our weapons are out, and RCS took a beating, we’re going to be sluggish for a while.”
It was good that they were okay but Novak had to focus on the rest of the enemy fleet right now, “Fall back and provide support.”
“Confirmed Sir.” Sully replied.
“Everyone else, pursuit course. We need to catch up with them.” The alien ships lower orbital pass had given them a momentary speed advantage, but nothing that Novak’s ships couldn’t make up for.
The fleet activated their main engines, accelerating towards the enemy ships, and passing the dead vessel that they had sacrificed. As they did sensors detected something strange. The tech at the station glanced over with a perplexed look, “Sir, that ship just powered up its engines.”
Isler pulled up the same scan, “I thought you said they’d blow?”
“They will.” The tech replied, “I don’t… wait. They’re heading directly for the Farkland, collision course!”
The Farkland had fallen behind the main fleet, and with its damage it was in no condition to evade, and by these readings they couldn’t take out that ship before it hit. Isler deftly opened a channel, “Farkland, evasive maneuvers now!”
“We’re…” Captain Sully of the Farkland was cut off.
On the display, everyone could only watch as the alien ship collided with the Farkland’s midsection, breaking the ship in half before both were consumed in a massive fireball. Novak cringed; the whole fleet must have seen what he just saw. Whoever these aliens were, self-preservation meant little to them; a change of tactics was in order. He was about to give an order he never thought he would even consider, “Computer fleet wide. This is Novak. Blow these bastards out of the stars. Give no quarter. Coordinate strikes with orbital defenses and ground forces. Don’t stop shooting until their ships are nothing but debris.”
By the time everything was ready the remaining enemy ships were almost in orbit of Lindon. But Novak’s fleet was in close pursuit; an unavoidable exchange of fire accompanied as they followed, and they lost two more ships in the exchange, but with the help of orbital defenses they managed to pick off three of the enemy forces. Finally, both fleets settled into orbit and Novak gave the order, “All forces, engage targets, fire at will.”
Between his fleet, orbital defenses, and surface installations Novak knew the enemy was in a hopeless position. He had actually expected them to break off, but they had effectively opted for suicide. A part of him knew there must have been some reason for that, and soon he and everyone else learned why. Even as the fleet and orbital stations opened fire, the enemy ships made minimal efforts to evade or defend, instead, they adopted a purely offensive stance, opening continuous fire on the nearby orbital stations and targeting the surface.
“All stations and surface defenses focus on taking down their missiles!” Novak ordered. A nuclear strike on the surface could be devastating, “Deploy all atmospheric fighters and drones to support missile defenses.” Ordering the fighters out right now might be a dangerous mission, but they had to stop them from bombarding the surface, “All ships focus fire; take those bastards down!”
The battle descended into chaos as the enemies began to launch missiles at the surface. Fortunately, the colony’s surface defenses were equipped to deal with this sort of attack but even a few strikes could be bad. Despite their efforts a handful of nukes made it through to some more remote areas, but thankfully none hit urban areas.
Auroras became visible over the planet as hundreds of nuclear blasts went off in orbit, it would have been beautiful under better circumstances, but there was no time to admire the scene. In the furious exchange of fire Novak’s forces had managed to deal massive damage to the enemy fleet, but they had lost another two ships and dozens of defense satellites. Still, it appeared as though their victory was inevitable.
As a series of explosions tore through an enemy ship it did something unexpected. In a final act it deorbited, sensors showed it on course for a city, “Target all fire on that ship!” Novak commanded.
With the combined firepower of the fleet directed at it the heavily damage alien ship did not last long. The fire was enough to alter its course and cause it to break up in the upper atmosphere, what pieces of it survived reentry went down in an ocean. It was the first of the enemy ships to attempt a suicide run, but certainly would not be the last.
After the first attempt Novak knew it was only a matter of time before another ship made the same choice. Those fears were vindicated in the worst way. Even though it was not crippled, one of two large cruisers that had led the enemy fleet began dropping out of orbit.
“They’re heading for Newbury!” Someone called out.
Newbury was a city of over four hundred thousand, if that ship hit, the city would be obliterated, “Take it down.” Novak felt his already elevated pulse quicken, he wasn’t sure they could take down a ship that size quickly enough; it was already in the atmosphere. The only thing that might take it down were large nukes, but detonated in the atmosphere they would also spread radiation across a wide area. He couldn’t risk irradiating millions, “Rail guns, fire!”
Several shots tore through the enemy vessel, but they were not enough. The ship was too massive to have its trajectory altered that easily; it would still hit on the edge of the city. Everyone on the Themistocles watched in horror as a massive blast rippled across the surface. Whatever weapons the ship was still carrying must have been detonated as well and the resulting blast flattened everything within a hundred kilometers of the impact.
There was no time to mourn, there were still a few enemy ships left and Novak wanted them gone before that happened again, “Stay focused, we’re not done yet.”
With their overwhelmingly superior position, finishing off the rest of the alien ships was short work. But even though they had achieved a victory, no one felt like celebrating. Novak leaned back in his chair, drawing a deep breath before finally getting up. He looked to Isler, “Have any of our available forces assist with rescue efforts on the surface. I want a full damage assessment for all ships and military installations; and get our engineers studying whatever’s left of those ships; I want to know what we’re up against.”
Before Isler could even respond, Novak turned and walked out of command. Any normal enemy would have retreated, but this one didn’t even seem to care about survival. They had just sacrificed fourteen ships, and he had no idea why. He had never heard of a life form that didn’t have at least some survival instinct, so there had to be some reason for their actions. Despite his frustration he had a more pressing concern, updating Governor Parsons and then military command on the engagement.
Novak stepped into his office, before he did anything else he removed his emergency pressure suit, while functional it was not designed for comfort. Straitening his uniform he sat down at his desk, “Computer, get me Governor Parsons.”
A few seconds later Janet Parsons appeared on the display, looking frantic, “Tom what the hell happened up there. I’m getting reports, Newbury was hit.”
“Newbury is gone.” He clarified with a numbed voice.
Parsons collapsed into a chair, some of her friends lived in Newbury, “What do you mean gone.”
There was no easy way to put it, and Novak didn’t have time to be gentle, “They crashed a ship into it. We’re looking, but, I don’t anticipate many survivors.”
While they spoke Parsons pulled up an orbital view of Newbury, a smoke cloud drifting across the continent was the only thing left. Tears flowed from her eyes as she covered her mouth, “Oh my god.”
“I don’t mean to be calloused, but you can’t afford to fall apart right now.” Novak said, “You need to keep that colony together, people are going to panic as word of Newbury spreads.”
“We might need some help.” She admitted half in shock.
“You’ll have it.” He replied, “I’ll be sending my report to military command within the hour and requesting reinforcements.”
She looked up as the gravity of that statement hit her, “You don’t think this is over?”
“The way they threw away those ships? No.” He admitted; he had to assume they were only part of a larger force, “I think we’ll be seeing more of them.”
It was not what she wanted to hear, but she was not entirely surprised, “I’ll hold a cabinet meeting and work emergency plans.” Parsons hesitated, she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer to her next question, “Tom, how will we faire if there’s another attack?”
That was a question Novak wished he didn’t have to answer, “I’m still awaiting a damage report for our forces, but most of our ships took some damage. If I had to estimate, right now we’re at half strength.”
“How long to make repairs?” She asked.
“I’ll get back to you once I have that damage report.” He replied.
“Alright, keep me up to date.” Parsons replied and closed the channel.
Novak took the time to record his impressions of the battle. The savagery of these aliens is what struck him the most. They were completely unwilling to retreat or surrender; preferring to sacrifice themselves to maximize the damage they could cause. He had gone into the battle operating under standard rules of engagement for a contact scenario, he could not make that mistake again, he had to view them as fanatics, and fight them as such. No warning shots, no mercy; if another battle occurred, his only goal was to destroy the enemy ships as quickly as possible with no regard for them.
The door chime sounded as he finished part of his log, he turned, not realizing how long he had been dictating, “Enter.”
Isler entered with Tanaka, the Themistocles’ Chief Engineer. Isler took the lead and approached Novak’s desk. The look on her face portended bad news, “We’ve got a preliminary damage report for the fleet; I sent you a copy. In addition to the Farkland, we lost the Proxima, the Williams, the Verdun, and the Bolivar. The Wolfe, King, Sirius, and Frost, all need major repairs, they’re out of commission, and the Wolfe may be beyond repair. To top it off, we lost forty-four defense sats, they took a beating when the enemy settled into orbit.”
Three, frigates, two destroyers, and a cruiser destroyed, along with forty four defense satellites; Novak was not pleased. Having another four ships disabled only made it worse. They hadn’t even mentioned damage on the surface, “Casualties?”
They were bad, Isler took a deep breath before speaking, “We lost over six thousand in the engagement, with another thirty two hundred injured. But that’s nothing compared to the surface. The nukes that hit in remote areas killed a few thousand, but Newbury was a total loss. We’re finding a few survivors, but we’re projecting over four hundred thousand dead.”
After growling under his breath Novak turned back to them, “Any good news?”
“Tanaka.” Isler turned toward the engineer.
“Yes ma’am.” Tanaka stepped forward, “Sir, the Themistocles, didn’t take any major damage, so we recovered some debris from the alien ships and started analyzing it. Their technology, while alien, seems at least comparably advanced to our own. But, we did find a few interesting things.”
“Anything that can give us an advantage?” Novak didn’t have time to listen to long winded technobabble.
“I think so sir.” Tanaka nodded, “Some of their computer technology appears semi-organic. In some ways it’s similar to control units we…”
Novak held up his hand, “Focus Commander. How does this help us?”
Tanaka again nodded, “While the technology seems like it would be fairly resilient in the long run, due largely to some regenerative capabilities. Our analysis of one of their sensors indicates that it may render them slightly more susceptible to interference from radiation sources. Now without some large pieces of debris, with intact systems to see exactly how things work, I can’t guarantee anything…”
Isler could see Novak’s patience wearing, “But if we detonate enough nukes, we may have the advantage. We’ll know more as we keep going.”
“Keep at it.” Novak commanded, “As for the Wolfe, if she’s that far gone, it may be better to cannibalize her parts for the King and the Frost. At least we might be able to get two ships back into shape. I’m sure Captain Yellen won’t like it, but…”
“He… didn’t make it sir, neither did his XO.” Isler stated.
“Damn.” The loss of two seasoned command officers would be a blow, but Novak couldn’t be distracted by it now, “We’ll mourn for the fallen later. Right now, we need to get as many ships as we can into fighting shape in case they come back, and figure out the best way to fight them. Keep at it; I need to finish my report. Dismissed.”
* * *
November 26, 3054
Lindon Colony, Colonial Defense Headquarters
Novak and Isler had taken a shuttle to the surface the moment they received the news. Teams studying the debris from the alien vessels had recovered an intact corpse. It was in an isolation ward in the hospital at Defense Headquarters, and he wanted to see it firsthand. A lift carried them to the isolation wards and Novak glanced at the military doctor who had met them, “So what do we know so far commander?”
“We’ve only had it for two hours. Last I heard they were running a series of scans.” Lieutenant Commander Benning replied with excitement, “I’ll tell you one thing sir, it’s weird.”
“At least we found one of them, after the last few days I’ll take some good news.” Isler added.
In the wake of the battle several bouts of looting and a few riots had broken out on the surface. Novak couldn’t blame them for being afraid, but their actions were only making the situation more complicated. The worst of it was that force had been required to stop two of the riots. It was pathetic to see people fighting each other in the face of an alien threat.
“Sir, is it true what we’ve heard? Two weeks until we can get reinforcements?” Benning asked.
“Unfortunately.” Novak admitted. His report had prompted a swift response from military command, and they had dispatched three fleets to reinforce Lindon, but the first of those wouldn’t arrive for another twelve days. That was a lot of time in which things could happen.
The lift brought them to the hospital and Benning led them to the isolation ward, a team of specialists were huddled around a holographic display of the scan results. Benning waived one of them over, “This is Doctor Laura O’tool, head of the university’s xeno-biology department. I asked her to help out with this.”
“Doctor.” Novak greeted her, and glanced to the display, “What have we got?”
O’tool was almost giddy as she led them to the display, “What we’ve got is interesting. The actual corpse is in a scanner right now, but this should give you an idea. First, it’s big, over three hundred kilos.”
“Is that an exoskeleton?” Isler wondered, looking at the image before her. The closest thing she could think to compare it to was a four armed crab.
“Not exactly, it’s more like a turtle’s shell.” O’tool replied, “Definitely protective though. It gets far more interesting when we get to the internals. There nothing analogous to a human skeleton, tissue support more decentralized. Then there’s the… tentacles, I suppose they’re this species equivalent of fingers, three on the end of each arm. But it’s the brain where things really get weird.”
“How so?” Novak pressed.
O’tool sighed, what she had to say sounded strange even as she thought about it, “Well, obviously these are a spacefaring species, but given our analysis of the brain I don’t understand how.”
Isler glanced at Novak, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, I’ve studied hundreds of alien species, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say by this one’s brain structure that it’s not any more intelligent than Neanderthals were on Earth.” O’tool clarified, “I’d expect them to have a society, but certainly nothing approaching advanced space flight.”
“That is, remarkably unhelpful doctor.” Novak responded in frustration, “I was up there; these things have technology on par with our own. So how do you explain that?”
There was no hiding the anger in Novak’s voice; O’tool realized that he expected far more, “Maybe the next set of scans will tell us more.” She hesitated, “Right now, I can only speculate, but, theory: this could be a drone.”
Novak frowned, “A drone?”
With seeping arms, O’tool gestured to the display, “It would make sense if we were looking at a eusocial, or caste based species, or even a group of species. This thing is optimized for physical labor. There could be an entirely different portion of their species, or even an entirely different species, responsible for intellectual pursuits. Either way, this thing looks like it’s just a laborer. Like I said, we’ll know more once we complete our scans and have a chance to fully analyze the genetic code.”
“And how long will that take?” Novak realized it sounded like a demand, but time was a factor.
O’tool shrugged, “Sometime tomorrow, at latest. I can let you know if we find anything that seems important.”
“I’d still like to see the actual remains.” Novak told her.
Isler nodded, “So would I.”
The scan should have been nearing completion; O’tool looked to a clock, “The scan will take another twenty minutes.”
“We’ll wait.” Novak decided. Soon his comm. interrupted him, it was Commander Jenkins, “What is it Commander?”
“Sir… Are you alone?” Jenkins’ voice sounded stressed.
Jenkins hadn’t seemed this stressed even when they had found the first signal, Novak didn’t like this, “Not right now, I’m at the hospital examining the remains. What’s going on Commander?”
The fact that Novak was in the base made things easier for Jenkins, “Sir, could you come over to the analysis room, there’s something you need to see, and I’d prefer to show you in person.”
This was irritating Novak, but given the events of the last few days it was probably best to find out what this was about. It would also give him something to do while the scan finished, “I’ll be there in a few minutes. This better not be a waste of my time Commander.”
Isler looked to Novak as he turned around, “Problem sir.”
“I just need to check on something, but I should be back soon.” He replied as he moved past her.
A lift carried him across the facility to the sensor analysis room. Upon entering he immediately knew something was wrong. Jenkins and the two technicians didn’t even bother to stand up or salute, they just sat around a display with looks of despair, “What’s going on Commander?”
Jenkins moved aside so the Commodore could see; there was little need to say anything, so Jenkins just pointed, “That.”
Novak felt faint the second he saw the display, but he absolutely could not fall apart now, “I’m the first you’ve told about this?”
“Yes but…” The Commodore cut off Jenkins.
“Keep it that way.” Novak commanded, “I’ll deliver the news myself.”
“It’s sixty four ships!” Jenkins had lost all composure, “What the fuck are we gonna do?”
“We’re not going to fuel hysteria.” There was little doubt in Novak’s mind that Jenkins’ response would be the norm, “Because the only way we have a shot in hell is if we maintain composure. Now pull yourself together Commander. You keep a watch on this, and if anything changes you tell me immediately. Now transfer those scans to my tablet.”
“Yes sir.” Jenkins gulped.
As he left, Novak considered his options. There were simply no good ones, he had only one option. Pulling out his comm. he contacted Isler, “Change of plans Captain. I have to meet with the Governor.”
“Should I be concerned Sir?” She could have sworn she heard a tremble in Novak’s voice.
“I’ll give you the details soon.” He replied, “For now, just get back up to the Themistocles and make preparations to deploy troops in all major cities. Things are going to get bad.” Novak hadn’t even waited for her response; he simple marched out onto the landing platform towards his shuttle.
“Back to the ship Sir?” The pilot asked as Novak approached.
Novak shook his head, “No, Capitol Building, ASAP.”
“Yes sir.” The pilot replied as they boarded.
The flight was short, but it gave Novak time to look up a few things before they landed. He wanted to know just what might be possible before he threw this at the Governor. Novak’s adrenaline was surging as he marched through the halls toward the Governor’s office. A secretary tried to stop him but he simply walked past, he had no time for any distractions.
He barged into the Governor’s conference room, disrupting her meeting and garnering angry protests from those around her. Novak silenced them, “Shut up!”
“Tom, what’s going on?” Governor Parsons was stunned to see him in person.
Novak pulled out his tablet with the sensor data and slid it across the table. It didn’t matter that there were some unknown faces, everyone would learn the truth soon enough, “We just picked that up. It appears to be another enemy fleet, only this time it’s sixty four ships.”
An unusual and unsettling silence fell over the table as everyone looked at each other with wide eyed terror. After several tense seconds, Bauer, the Attorney General spoke, “But, the military’s sending reinforcements, right.”
“They’ll be four days too late.” Novak informed them.
Bauer continued, trying to convince himself everything would be alright, “But if we can hold them off…”
There was no time for Novak to coddle them, “I don’t think you get it. If need be I will throw everything we’ve got at them. But that won’t hold them back for four hours, much less four days.”
“We must be able to do something.” James Collins, the Minister of State exclaimed.
Novak took a deep breath, he kept telling himself there was no other way, but that didn’t make this any easier, “We can, but you won’t like it. Unfortunately we don’t have time to debate it so I’m doing this the hard way. Governor, as of this moment, I am declaring a state of martial law.”
“You can’t do that.” Bauer replied.
Novak glared at him, “It’s done.”
Parsons looked at him, “What good is that going to do? If you’re right, we can’t fight that many ships.”
“No, but we can prevent the planet from descending into chaos while we initiate a planetary evacuation.” It was the only option Novak had that could save lives.
“There are over ten million people on this planet.” Bauer commented, “You’re talking evacuating them in eight days, and do we even have the ships for that?”
“I already considered that.” This was what Novak had looked up on the way over, “If we take every interstellar capable vessel, including military, rig extra life support, and really pack people in; we can evacuate, four point six, maybe four point seven million.”
That garnered some protests from around the table, until finally Collins spoke over them, “That’s less than half our people, and the rest would just be left to die. That is completely unacceptable.”
“This is the only way to save anyone.” Novak, replied, “And it’s happening.”
“How would we even decide who gets to go?” Parsons said with a lost expression.
“Essential personnel, pilots, doctors, engineers, people to keep the ships flying. Then children and families of young children. Hold a lottery for whatever is left over.” It was the best Novak could do on short notice.
“We’d still be abandoning over five million people.” Bauer complained.
Their emotions were getting the better of them, Novak had to be the ruthless one right now, “It’s better than letting ten million get slaughtered. We simply don’t have the resources to move that many people.”
“Uh, about that.” An unknown man sitting at the table chimed in, “Sorry, Zach Newsome, Power Authority. What if we used the Cousteau?”
The Cousteau was the original colony ship that had brought settlers to the colony over a century ago. It was certainly the only ship large enough to even attempt a full evacuation, but it had largely been converted to an administrative complex, it was never intended to return to space.
Parsons leaned forward, glancing out the window at the massive sphere shaped vessel just a few kilometers away, “Is that even possible?”
“That thing hasn’t been a space ship in a hundred years.” Bauer added, “It’s practically built into the center of this city. No way we get it flying in eight days, we don’t even know if it will power up.”
Newsome leaned to look at Bauer, “It will power up; the reactors have helped power this city for over a century, and they’re still fully intact. Besides, if I understand the situation, we’re dead if we don’t. This is the only thing we should be thinking about, we can devote the full resources of the colony to it.”
“It’s a desperate plan, but it might be the only chance we have.” Novak agreed as he looked out the window; but he needed to know if this plan was more than just wishful thinking, “But, Newsome was it? Don’t bullshit me. Can we actually get that ship operational in eight days?”
“I’m not saying it will be easy, and it will be tight, but I think it’s possible.” Newsome felt sweat on his brow, in mere seconds the lives of millions rested on what he said, “Of course we’ll need total cooperation, from everyone. Every resource we have devoted to this only.”
That would be easy as long as they could prevent large scale riots; Novak knew his forces could see to that, “Imminent death is a hell of a motivator. You’ll have it.”
“I need to ask.” Parsons seemed slightly calmed, “The ship originally carried just over two million. How many can we actually get on it?”
It was a legitimate question, and while Newsome knew a great deal about the old ship from his time with the Power Authority, he didn’t have a definitive answer for her, “I need to check into that, but, we don’t have to get people all the way back to Earth, just somewhere safe. If we pack in additional life support, I think we might be able to get everyone aboard. It would be cramped, but it should keep everyone alive for a few weeks.”
“I don’t see that we have anything to lose.” Novak decided, “Get started; call in whatever resources and personnel you need.” Reluctantly he turned to Parsons, “Are we going to have a problem with martial law.”
After a brief glance at Bauer, Parsons shook her head, “No. I’ll make the announcement as soon as your forces are in place. I better have a hell of a speech ready; I’m about to ask ten million people to abandon their homes.”
“Show them a picture of Newbury, that’s what they have to look forward to if they won’t leave.” It was a totally insensitive remark, but Novak knew it was what was needed, “I need to get back to my ships. Newsome, I want a report on the status of the Cousteau by eighteen hundred local, and updates every twelve hours after that. Anyone not helping with the Cousteau is helping with the rest of the evacuation. Find every ship with interstellar capability, commandeer civilian ships if need be, and get them ready to carry as many people as possible.”
Novak left them to make preparations on the surface. It was still too early to know how this would play out. In a best case scenario they would get everyone off the planet in time and the aliens would arrive to find an abandoned world. But he knew that was wishful thinking, and if they did have to fight what was almost certain to be a losing battle, he was going to make sure the enemies victory was a costly one.
