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TF93 returned first, and Shiloh was very pleased with their results. The engineering teams had managed to get the heavy carrier Midway operational, at least enough to jump her back to Site B, plus another freighter was virtually complete and now only needed to have her new ZPG power units installed on a more permanent basis. Midway would require more work, but the only major deficiency she had was the complete lack of any laser weaponry. All eight of her double laser turrets were still missing. As soon as more power units were installed, she could be used for her primary function as a fighter carrier, and that was even better news because Midway and her two smaller sisters had brought back 125 fighters. Some of those were already converted to ZPG power, and the rest would be converted relatively quickly.
The teams had surveyed all the asteroid shipyard complexes, and that was also interesting news. The million-ton Dreadnought battleship could be moved and jumped as soon as power units could be brought aboard and hooked up. She would also need some work done to allow an A.I. to pilot the ship. Midway already had those control systems installed because she was designed and started after Dreadnought. But while Dreadnought could be moved and jumped, she couldn't fight. None of her 16 double laser turrets were installed, and that was going to be a big challenge. Midway's missing laser turrets were of the same type as those on Valiant and Resolute, which was to say that the turrets themselves had moderate armor protection, just like the rest of the ship. On the other hand, Dreadnought was not only huge in size but also had very thick armor, and her laser turrets were supposed to have equally thick armor. That type of armor was not easy to make, and Terra Nova didn't have the necessary equipment. They could eventually manufacture it, but if Shiloh made that a high priority, something else would have to be pushed back. Two more freighters were close enough to completion that they might be worth salvaging. The dozens of other ships under construction were too incomplete to be worth the effort, at least in the short run. It was more trouble making the necessary components at Site B, carrying them to Sol, transferring them to the partially completed ships and having human engineers install them by hand, than it was to program the robots to build a new ship from scratch on Terra Nova's moon. Besides, how many freighters did they really need now?
A quick meeting with Wolfman, Iceman, Valkyrie and his human staff determined that before the VLO showed up, they would have enough time to get Midway ready for combat operations with a full load of converted fighters, return to Sol and get Dreadnought ready, too. Valiant and Resolute would come along as well in order to pick up another 50 fighters still sitting on the lunar surface. If TF94 got back from their strike mission before TF95 left for Sol, then Shiloh would take some raiders along. If not, then the raiders that had escorted the survey mission to Sol would stay behind to watch over Site B, with orders left behind for Titan's group to head to Sol as soon as they returned and rearmed. After the meeting was over, Shiloh ordered Iceman to report to the RTC device to have his vision recorded and transmitted. When that was done, Shiloh breathed a little easier. All of the visions received by humans or A.I.s were now accounted for.
With two days left to go before TF95 was ready to leave, Shiloh realized that Kelly had had a serious expression on her face all day. When the two of them settled down on the sofa to listen to some recorded music that had been brought to Haven by one of the colonists, he heard her take a big sigh and said to her, "Something's bothering you. What is it?"
"I wish you didn't have to go back to Sol personally to supervise the battle against the VLO. Why can't Iceman or Valkyrie take command?"
Shiloh pulled her to him so that her head rested on his chest. "Well ... for one thing, Valkyrie has volunteered to pilot Dreadnought on the attack run from her fighter in the ship's hanger bay. She can't be in command of the battle because she'll be too busy flying that beast. Iceman will be piloting Midway. The A.I. that flew her back here told Iceman that he would have his hands full keeping track of her systems. It wouldn't be fair to put command of the fighters and raiders on his shoulders, too."
Before he could say more, she interjected, "So let another A.I. pilot Midway, and let Iceman assume command of the Task Force from a fighter or raider."
"Sorry, Babe. The Friendlies said that I would be there when the VLO showed up."
"They also said that you would get another vision telling you that, and you haven't had one yet, have you?"
"No. Not yet."
"Well then maybe you DON'T have to be there for that battle."
Shiloh didn't have a good counter-argument, but he had a strong hunch that the outcome of that battle would depend on whether he was there or not. "Let's see how these next two days go, okay?" She didn't respond verbally but he heard her sigh, again. Clearly that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear, but it was the only one he was prepared to give right now.
The issue was decided early the next morning. He was awake and saw through the window that the sky was starting to get brighter. A glance at the chronometer told him that it was a couple hours earlier than he would normally get up, but he didn't feel tired enough to go back to sleep. Just as he was closing his eyes to try, he heard his implant click.
"Iceman to CAG. Are you awake, CAG?"
Shiloh sighed and whispered, "Yes. Wait one." He carefully rolled over and got out of bed. Kelly looked as though she was still sleeping. As he looked for his bathrobe he said, "Okay, what is it, Iceman?"
"A message drone has just arrived from the Avalon system. The recon drone we left there detected a moving object that is either very bright or very large, and as per its programming, it activated the message drone to let us know."
Shiloh swore under his breath and then said, "Were we expecting the VLO to come that close this quickly?"
"Negative, CAG. The VLO, if that's what this is, is moving forward much faster than anticipated. TF95 has to leave now if we want to be sure of getting Dreadnought ready in time. I can have all the engineering people on board in 30 minutes. Let me lead this mission, CAG. I know what has to be done."
Shiloh thought fast. No vision so far. The Friendlies were wrong about that. What could he do at Sol that Iceman couldn't do? Nothing, as far as he knew. He was just about to give Iceman the go ahead when his vision faded to black, and he saw a fully dressed Kelly greet him at the spaceport landing area.
"I heard what happened. I understand why you had to go." She was about to put her arms around his neck when the vision dissolved and he was back in his bedroom.
"Victor?" Kelly's voice startled him and he turned to look at her. She was now sitting up and looking at him with an anxious expression. "Did you just have a vision?" she asked.
"Yes. I have to go ... and I have to go now," he said.
By the time he was finished getting dressed, she had a thermos of hot coffee ready for him at the door along with the things he would need to take along. As she kissed and hugged him, he said, "Don't worry about me. In my vision I saw you greet me at the spaceport when I got back."
As he pulled back he heard her say in a tiny voice. "Thank God."
––––––––
It was dawn by the time he got to the spaceport and pulled up beside the shuttle waiting to take him to Midway. He knew that Iceman was monitoring his implant transmitter. As he grabbed his gear and grinned at the irony of the Chief of Space Operations carrying his own luggage, he said, "Iceman, I'm about to board the shuttle. Is everyone else aboard?"
––––––––
"Affirmative, CAG. You're the only one holding us up, you know. Just saying."
Shiloh suppressed his impulse to laugh. "Admiral, don't you know by now that rank hath its privileges? What's the point of being CSO if I can't make people wait?"
"I'll keep that in mind, CAG."
Had there been just the slightest hint of a pause before Iceman replied, or did he imagine it?
After entering the shuttle, Shiloh dumped his gear at the back and sprinted for the nearest empty seat. As he strapped himself in he said, "Let's go, Admiral. We've got a battle to win."
"Roger that, CAG."
* * *
Shiloh looked around Midway's Flag Bridge one more time. He still wasn't used to its size. The tactical display was huge and could project images in 3D if needed. His Fleet Command chair was similarly impressive with its multiple smaller screens and controls. With Iceman conning the ship from the main Bridge, Shiloh had all of the human Bridge crew with him. If anyone needed a Communications Technician or an Engineer, it would be Shiloh not Iceman.
On his display, he could see the asteroid shipyard where Dreadnought was. It looked close enough that with just a little imagination, he felt he might be able to reach out and touch it. In fact it was over a kilometer away. The illusion of closeness was due to Dreadnought's size. Almost a kilometer long itself, the jet black arrow-shaped machine would have been hard to see without the display's enhanced imaging. Right now he watched several shuttles leave Dreadnought's open hangar bay hatch on their way back to Midway. A quick glance at the display's sidebar confirmed that there was still no sign of the VLO or any other unidentified moving object in the Solar system. Valiant and Resolute were once again in lunar orbit and were bringing up another 50 fighters by remotely controlled auto-pilot. The supply ship Reforger was standing off the asteroid at about the same distance as Midway.
Shiloh reviewed the plan to get Dreadnought operational. Once inside the ship, the engineers had hooked up Valkyrie's fighter to the ship's power distribution system as a temporary auxiliary power source. That way the computer systems could be operated, electric hatches could be opened and closed, and environmental systems could maintain an environment which allowed the engineers to work in their shirtsleeves instead of bulky space suits. When that was done, they installed enough ZPG units to give the ship a minimal 2G acceleration capability as well as enough power for microjumps. As a final step, Valkyrie's fighter was connected to helm, communications, jump drive and other key systems. Now Valkyrie would pilot the ship out of the shipyard and microjump her to Jupiter. There, Dreadnought would skim the gas giant using the supersonic refueling model that Shiloh has pioneered. With her fuel tanks full of heavy hydrogen, she would then have enough power to accelerate at just under 100Gs to reach the required ramming speed that the SPG had calculated would inflict crippling damage to the much larger target.
Valiant and Resolute would rendezvous with Midway and Dreadnought in Jupiter orbit, leaving behind recon drones to help triangulate the VLO's exact position, course and speed when it showed up. Then they would wait. Just as the shuttles arrived back on board Midway, he heard Valkyrie's voice.
"Valkyrie to CAG."
"Go ahead, Valkyrie."
"Dreadnought has sufficient power to maneuver and microjump. Request permission to undock and proceed to Jupiter."
Shiloh grinned. "Savor this moment, Valkyrie. You are the first Space Force Officer to command and pilot a million ton vessel. Dreadnought, you have permission to proceed."
"Roger that, CAG. Undocking is underway."
The display sidebar told him that Valkyrie had ordered the shipyard's computer to release the mammoth ship. Her brusque answer didn't bother him. Even with many of Dreadnought's systems shut down as non-essential since there was no human crew aboard, there was still plenty to keep her occupied. He also noticed that Midway and Reforger were now backing away from the asteroid in order to give Dreadnought plenty of room to maneuver. A quick touch of a virtual control, and the main display split into two segments. On the left was the overall tactical situation with icons representing asteroid and ships, while on the right was a computer-enhanced image of Dreadnought from what looked like close range. It allowed him to get an appreciation for how big this ship really was.
Dreadnought moved slowly until she had a clear path to Jupiter, then all three ships accelerated at Dreadnought's maximum rate in a carefully choreographed manner. Compared to interstellar distances, microjumping to Jupiter was a trivial distance and therefore didn't require a lot of pre-jump speed, but Jupiter had a considerable gravity zone that Dreadnought would have to traverse before it could skim the planet's atmosphere. Even so, the ship could have accelerated after emerging from the microjump. In terms of timing, though, it made no difference if Dreadnought accelerated before jumping or after. What accelerating now did do was give Valkyrie more time to make sure that everything was working properly and get used to the sheer volume of data that she had to monitor.
"How does she feel, Commander?" asked Shiloh.
"It's like trying to remotely pilot six raiders at the same time, CAG, but I don't regret volunteering for this."
"Dreadnought, you are cleared to jump to Jupiter at your discretion," said Shiloh in what he hoped was his best 'command' voice.
"Dreadnought acknowledges."
The microjump occurred so quickly that it took Shiloh by surprise. Once again all three ships did the same thing at the same time. Clearly Iceman, Valkyrie and Reforger's A.I. pilot were coordinating actions. Before Shiloh had a chance to say anything, the display's Combat status indicator changed from a green Stand Down to a red Alert, and the display pinged for attention. The tactical view now filled the whole display, and it showed the long-range situation. A flashing red icon appeared approximately 16 Astronomical Units away.
"The VLO has arrived, CAG. Automated detection stations in Jupiter orbit picked it up two point four minutes ago and have triangulated its position and vector. It's decelerating and may be maneuvering, but we don't have enough data yet for an accurate assessment of where it may be headed. If Valiant and Resolute were on schedule, they would be somewhere in Jupiter space now, and the detection stations would have seen them. Dreadnought is accelerating at maximum for Jupiter orbit. Midway and Reforger will keep up with her unless you order otherwise, CAG."
"Son of a bitch!" snarled Shiloh as he banged his fist on his chair's armrest. "They beat your earliest estimated time of arrival by almost three days. If the modifications to Dreadnought hadn't been completed early, we would have had no hope of using her against that thing. How did they find us so quickly, Iceman?"
"The only realistic explanation is that this insectoid race managed to acquire and understand the astrogational data obtained by the Sogas from our captured ships. That knowledge of local space would allow them to dispense with sending out scouts to nearby star systems. I see no other way to explain it, CAG."
Shiloh had calmed down by this point. Iceman's explanation made sense and it was time to put that question behind them. "What's your assessment of our chances of using Dreadnought to destroy that thing, Iceman?"
"Less than 25%, CAG. At this point we have too little information. The light that we're now seeing reflected from the VLO took almost 32 minutes to reach us. The VLO could be anywhere in this system now if they micro-jumped. If they jumped to Earth, they may have caught Valiant and Resolute by surprise and overwhelmed them with their attack craft. That might explain why those two ships aren't here as scheduled."
"What's your recommendation then?"
"Abort refueling at Jupiter, and order Midway, Reforger and Dreadnought to boost for a jump to the Jade Colony star system. That's the next closest human colony along their general path of advance. Even Dreadnought's current acceleration of 2Gs is higher than what we've seen from this VLO. Dreadnought can get there first and refuel before the VLO gets there. We can then engage the enemy there."
Shiloh shook his head. "Why would they bother going to the Jade system if our Home World is uninhabited and useless to them? If they have the astrogational database that you suspect, they'll know that the Jade Colony won't have a lot of potential hosts or metal. They may even know that the Sogas have used a bio-weapon and wiped us all out. This visit may be to confirm that just in case there's some metal here that they can salvage. If we don't engage them here, we may lose them, and we'll then have to fight them at Site B. If that VLO shows up just beyond Terra Nova's gravity zone, will Dreadnought have enough time to accelerate to a crippling velocity before the VLO's attack craft reach the planet?"
"No."
Now it all made sense. Shiloh realized that if he had let Iceman command this mission, Kelly and everyone else on Terra Nova would have been in serious jeopardy.
"That's why we have to engage them HERE! How long until Dreadnought can start skimming fuel?"
"Six point seven seven hours, CAG, and with the supersonic refueling profile, it'll take another eleven point one hours to take on a full load."
Shiloh shook his head. "Forget the full load. How long until she has enough to accelerate to the minimum speed necessary to cripple that thing?"
"Allowing for a reserve, it still comes to almost five point five hours of fueling."
"And if she goes the subsonic route?"
"Not recommended, CAG. Without her fusion power plant in operation, the 2Gs that her ZPG units give her will barely be enough to keep Jupiter from pulling her down. You know how turbulent gas giant skimming is at that speed. If the ship hits a major downdraft, she won't have enough power to maintain altitude. Supersonic speed will provide enough additional aerodynamic lift from the hull configuration to give her a safety margin."
"Understood. Now I'd like an answer to my question, Iceman."
"Just under two hours, CAG."
"Okay. I'll take your recommendation under advisement. Iceman and I'll make that decision when Dreadnought approaches the planet. Now, how do we keep that mothership from jumping to another system?"
"If the VLO is here to confirm that Earth has no potential hosts, then they'll microjump there. I can't estimate how sensitive that ship's detection gear is and whether or not they can detect the wrecked moonbase from Earth orbit, but it would be easy for them to send at least one attack craft to take a close look at the moon. There's enough metal in the moonbase ruins to make it worth their while to salvage. While they're doing that, we send a signal from our refueling base on Europa. And before you ask, CAG, no, we can't use that base to refuel Dreadnought. It's intact, but its fuel tanks are empty and getting it operational again would take longer than skimming Jupiter's atmosphere. If they have our captured astrogational database, they'll know that there's some kind of installation on Europa, and a signal from it might indicate the presence of potential hosts. I would expect the VLO to microjump here after they finish salvaging the moonbase wreckage. With their slow acceleration, we should have enough time to refuel Dreadnought and get her into position for the ramming attempt."
"Okay. Let's do that. I want a message drone programmed to get to Europa as quickly as possible. Then, when Dreadnought's refueled, transmit something to Earth for the VLO to detect if it's anywhere in near-earth space. Let's also set up an emergency rendezvous point in case any of our ships needs to jump away suddenly due to a surprise attack. Have all our fighters put on alert status and loaded with Mark 1s. I want two volunteers to jump their fighters to Earth to see if the VLO is there yet. If it's not, tell them to stay there until the VLO shows up, then one of them jump back here. The other one should jump back when the VLO is leaving the Earth-Moon area. Make sure they know where we'll be so that they can find us again. When the rest are loaded, launch them all and have them form a perimeter around TF95. I'll leave the perimeter distance to your discretion, Iceman. Any questions or suggestions?"
"None. I've passed on your orders, CAG. Valkyrie has the word about the rendezvous point, and the message drone is on its way to Europa. Voodoo and Shooter have volunteered for the recon mission."
"Excellent. I'm going to head down to the Galley to stretch my legs and grab a bite to eat. Let's make sure that everyone has a chance to have a meal before we reach Jupiter."
"Roger that, CAG. Maybe you should try to catch some sleep, too. If you don't, you'll be fighting fatigue when the VLO gets here."
"No dice, Iceman. There's no way I'm going to be able to sleep now. I'm too keyed up. Besides, if I did try to get some sleep, I'd be leaving instructions to wake me if the recon fighter or the missing carriers show up, so I don't think I'd get much sleep anyway."
Before leaving the Flag Bridge, Shiloh briefly chatted with the humans stationed there. When he left, he went directly to the huge Hangar Bay where the fighter support teams were rushing to arm all 75 fighters that Midway was able to carry. As he stood on the upper level overlooking the HB, his implant clicked.
"Gunslinger to CAG. Nice of you to see us off. Am I finally going to see some combat this trip, CAG?"
"I suspect that you will. If Valkyrie takes care of the mothership, there'll still be plenty of attack craft to worry about. I'll wish you good hunting now, Gunslinger, in case I don't get the opportunity later."
"Thank you, CAG. The boys and I are eager to go. Piloting a raider once in a while makes for a nice change of pace, but I prefer a fighter."
"I'll keep that in mind when the new A.I.s need to be trained, Gunslinger. Somebody has to teach them how to fly those things. Might as well be you."
"Does that mean I won't be the rookie anymore, CAG?"
"That's right, Gunslinger. In fact I'm going to make that official. As of this moment, you are no longer the rookie. If anyone says otherwise, you tell them to take it up with me."
"Hot damn! Wait until Titan and Wolfman hear about this. Thank you again, CAG. I won't let you down."
"I never doubted it, Gunslinger. I see that Flight Ops is about to start launching, so I'll leave you boys to it. I'll be monitoring the situation from the Flag Bridge. CAG clear."
Twenty minutes later while Shiloh was just finishing his hot meal, his implant activated.
"Iceman to CAG."
"Go ahead, Iceman."
"Shooter is back with good news and bad news. The VLO is in orbit around the moon and is apparently in the process of salvaging all the metal from the destroyed moonbase."
Shiloh realized that he was holding his breath and let it out. "I take it that's the good news. What's the bad?"
"Insectoid attack craft seem to be maneuvering two larger objects towards a lunar orbit. Positive identification wasn't possible, but Shooter's data shows that the two objects are the same size and mass as Valiant and Resolute, CAG. Both objects are deep within Earth's gravity zone, and it appears that the VLO attack craft overwhelmed both carriers before they could get beyond the gravity zone and jump away."
"Oh, Hell!" Shiloh's outburst startled other crew who were sitting nearby. Each of those carriers had a couple hundred crew on board, trained Space Force crew who would be hard to replace, not to mention the A.I.s that were lost as well. He could well imagine the battle. Those carriers had been sent empty to collect 50 more fighters from the moon's surface. Those fighters wouldn't have been combat ready in time to help defend their carriers. All Valiant and Resolute had to fight with were their own laser turrets, and the VLO could have easily launched dozens, maybe even hundreds of attack craft. They wouldn't have had a chance because they were stuck deep in the gravity zone ... just like Midway and Reforger are now, thought Shiloh. I can't let that happen again. If only we had gotten some warning ... a vision maybe.
"Iceman ... why didn't I or Valiant's CO or Resolute's CO get a vision warning of the impending attack? We know from my last vision that Midway gets back to Terra Nova. That means that we would have had the opportunity to use the RTC and send a warning back."
"There's only one explanation that makes any sense, CAG. We didn't send a warning back because saving those ships would somehow have ultimately made things worse."
Shiloh shook his head in disbelief. What could be worse than losing two thirds of their carrier force and over 400 valuable human and A.I. crew? He was about to say that when Iceman continued.
"There may be more bad news, too. Shooter reports that when he changed course to get ready to jump back here, he noticed that several attack craft suddenly started to maneuver in his direction. He thinks they may have detected him."
Oh great! All we need is for the Bugs to come at us right now when Dreadnought isn't even close to being refueled yet! "Did Shooter jump directly back here?" asked Shiloh.
"No, CAG. He had enough sense to jump somewhere else first to throw them off the track, and then he jumped here."
"Very good. Take Midway out of the gravity zone as quickly as possible. Tell Reforger to do the same. I don't want Midway caught like Valiant and Resolute were."
"We can accelerate faster than Reforger can. Do we stay with her or leave her on her own?"
He thought hard about that and finally said, “We stay with Reforger until she's clear of the gravity zone. Then she's to jump back to Site B by herself. You'll have to anticipate Midway's and Dreadnought's future vectors for when the VLO shows up. If at all possible, I'd like Midway's fighters to be able to support her during her pre-jump speed run if needed."
"It'll be hard to figure out where the VLO will be when it emerges from Jumpspace, CAG."
"I know I'm asking the impossible, Iceman. Just give it your best shot."
"Understood, CAG. Midway and Reforger are coming around to the new heading now. Valkyrie has been notified of the new situation. Any other orders?"
"Not right now. I'll be back on the Flag Bridge soon. CAG clear."
––––––––
Hours later, Iceman had an update for Shiloh.
"Dreadnought has commenced her refueling run, CAG. With the ionizing atmosphere now getting in the way, communications with Valkyrie are not as clear as I'd like, but I can still understand her and she me."
"Understood. Any sign of the VLO yet?" asked Shiloh.
"No, CAG. I would have mentioned it if there was."
Shiloh nodded. He was getting anxious and it was making him ask silly questions. The latest news hadn't helped. Voodoo had returned from the recon mission over an hour ago. He reported that the VLO had apparently given up on rendezvousing with Valiant and Resolute when suddenly it changed course to line up for a jump to Jupiter space. The timing matched almost exactly the point when the signal had arrived from the drone over Europa. Voodoo's data also made it clear that the VLO would already be here if not for the prospect of obtaining a lot of metal from the two crippled carriers, and THAT was why he would not warn them or himself when he got back to Terra Nova. Valkyrie needed the extra time to get to Jupiter's atmosphere and refuel.
Shiloh found himself drumming his fingers on his armrest and made his hand stop doing that. For some reason this battle was making him more nervous than any battle he'd been in so far, and Midway wasn't even in danger. She was now beyond the gravity zone and could jump away in a fraction of a second if need be. No, it was Dreadnought and Valkyrie he was nervous about. She was alone on that monster with no way to defend herself if Dreadnought was swarmed by attack craft. He glanced at the tactical display of Jupiter and its moons. At least Europa was nowhere close to where Dreadnought was skimming the gas giant. When he realized that his fingers were drumming the armrest again, he angrily unbuckled himself and got up to start pacing around the Flag Bridge. The click of his implant told him that he was about to get a private voice message.
"Far be it from a mere admiral to tell the Chief of Space Operations what to do, CAG, but you're pacing will make everyone else nerv—. VLO has just arrived, CAG! I've advised Valkyrie. Her reply is garbled. I'm continuing to transmit the same message to her, but she may not be able to hear it, CAG. Tracking data is on the screen now."
Shiloh spun around and looked at the tactical display. The icon representing the mammoth mothership was not that far away from where Iceman estimated she'd be. He'd have to congratulate Iceman later for that. The spherical ship was still outside the gravity zone, but the sidebar data showed that it would enter the zone in less than six minutes. Until then, Midway and its fighters would do nothing to spook the Bugs. It didn't take long for the VLO to launch attack craft. Detection was by passive sensors only, so Shiloh was sure that there were more than the three attack craft that they could detect. The big question now was whether Valkyrie knew where the VLO was. If she did, she would realize that the supersonic skimming would take too long and go for the faster but more risky subsonic flight plan. God speed Valkyrie. He sent the thought out and went to sit back down in his Command chair.
Valkyrie had never been so busy during her existence. No human could possibly have piloted Dreadnought by herself and still monitor all the necessary sub-systems, the flight plan, the refueling process. She even doubted that some of the other A.I.s could have done it. At least she was in constant communications with Iceman, although the static was getting worse the deeper into Jupiter's atmosphere Dreadnought got. A new signal brought her attention away from Iceman. That damn Hangar Bay locking mechanism was again reading as unlocked. The intermittent locked/not locked signal was very frustrating for her because there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Her fighter was securely fastened to the Hangar Bay deck with explosive bolts that would free it when it was time to leave the ship. All she could do was keep an eye on the locking mechanism.
The transmissions from Iceman suddenly changed tone. By now she was missing most of it but she knew that Iceman would repeat the data over and over again so that she could fill in the missing blanks. She got it now. The VLO was back and she knew what direction it was coming from. She quickly did the astrogational calculations and was dismayed by the result. If Dreadnought continued to refuel using supersonic skimming, the VLO would have plenty of time to send its attack craft to Europa, determine that there was nothing of value there and leave Jupiter's gravity zone before Dreadnought could get the minimum fuel she needed and accelerate to ramming speed. It only took a fraction of a second to reconfigure the flight plan for subsonic refueling and the result scared her. The lower aerodynamic lift would force Dreadnought deeper into the gas giant's atmosphere, and that was where the dangerous downdrafts were. But as soon as Dreadnought had processed enough heavy hydrogen to light up the fusion reactors, the ship would have plenty of power to pull out of any dive. The big unknown was whether Jupiter would pull her down too far to recover before she had full power. The CAG was counting on her and she wasn't going to let him down again. Never again! She throttled back the ZPG units and let the ship slow down to the maximum speed that would allow for continuous scooping of gases.
As soon as Dreadnought dropped below the speed of sound, the Hangar Bay locking mechanism signal began switching between locked and unlocked much more frequently, and Valkyrie understood why. The turbulence of the atmosphere streaming past the hatch was causing alternating push and pull. If the hatch wasn't securely locked down, not only would the Bay's atmospheric integrity be compromised by gas leaking in, but the constant banging against the lock could damage the mechanism. No time to watch that now. The ship was dropping fast. The gas processing system was operating at capacity, but it took a lot of hydrogen to filter out the amount of heavy hydrogen the ship needed.
The rate of descent suddenly spiked. A downdraft was pulling Dreadnought down fast now. Fuel levels were rising towards the minimum needed to light up the power plants. They were almost there ... NOW! Dreadnought's carefully scrutinized but never tested fusion power reactors came to life. Within half a second Valkyrie had plenty of power. She used it to pull the nose of the ship up until it was pointed at the correct angle and then fed more power to the engines. Dreadnought pulled out of its descent. At this shallow angle of ascent, the ship should have the necessary minimum fuel levels for its ramming attempt by the time it left Jupiter's atmosphere. She checked the com channels. She wasn't getting anything from Iceman now, and there was no way that Dreadnought could send a focused beam of microwaves to Midway that would penetrate this static. Low power laser bursts were out of the question, too. She was on her own until she got out of this damn soup, but at least she had power now. She checked the docking mechanism and was surprised to see that it was now indicating a steady 'locked' status.
––––––––
"Are we in position yet, Iceman," demanded Shiloh somewhat testily.
"Affirmative, CAG. If Valkyrie managed to refuel Dreadnought subsonically, she should be breaking out of Jupiter's atmosphere any second now, and we're in the best position to support her while still staying outside the gravity zone."
Shiloh wanted to hit something. It went against the grain to keep Midway way out here where she was safe while a Space Force comrade would shortly be in danger, but Midway was strategically too important to risk now. Her fighters on the other hand, were not. They were already on their way in deeper. If Dreadnought appeared where Iceman expected, she would very quickly get 75 fighters as an escort. By carefully orienting themselves in a way that would eliminate any chance of being detected by reflected sunlight, the fighters had not yet been detected and would try to keep it that way as long as possible. Dreadnought, on the other hand, could not be so easily hidden. Its sheer size worked to undermine any attempt to manage reflections.
Shiloh checked the tactical display for what must have been the hundredth time. The VLO was now slowly curving around in an obvious move to get beyond the gravity zone. Its attack craft had done the expected and swarmed over Europa long enough to make sure that there was nothing living there and then returned to the mothership. Shiloh had hoped they might want to salvage the metal in the refueling station, but Iceman had correctly estimated that there wasn't enough metal there to entice them to stay.
Shiloh was pacing the room again, and Iceman knew enough to keep quiet about it. Shiloh heard the display ping and Iceman's voice at the same time.
"Dreadnought has broken through the atmosphere and is transmitting by tight beam again, CAG. She's in just the right position. Voodoo's fighters will form up on Dreadnought in two point seven seven minutes. No indication that Dreadnought's been detected yet."
Shiloh heard shouts from the others in the room and realized that he had shouted too. He smacked his right fist into his left palm for good measure then said, "Can I talk with Valkyrie without tipping off the Bugs, Iceman?"
"Possible but not recommended. She's pretty busy now, CAG. Some of the ship's systems didn't like the pounding the ship took from the subsonic refueling. You may not be aware of this, but translating from human speech to digital impulses that we can understand and back again is not a trivial task for us, CAG. Tell me what you want to say and I'll send her the A.I. equivalent message."
"Tell her ... tell her that I'm proud of her. Damn proud of her." Shiloh wanted to say more but knew his voice would betray his emotions if he tried.
"Message has been sent. At this range, we won't get her reply, if any, for another four minutes. Shiloh turned his face away so that none of the other members of the crew could see him. He needed time to get his expression under control. He cared about all the A.I.s, but Valkyrie was special in a way that maybe only Kelly could understand. He had a feeling that Valkyrie was special to Kelly too.
When his composure was restored, he turned to look at the tactical display again. They had pulled off the strategy perfectly. The VLO was accelerating outward and Dreadnought, with her soon to be fighter escort, were behind the Bugs. Midway was circling around the edge of the gravity zone and was at the nine o'clock position, relative to the VLO's twelve o'clock exit point. If the VLO continued to ignore the space behind them, then Valkyrie could set the auto-pilot to ram it from behind while she took her leave of the ship. Without her monitoring, some of the ship's systems would malfunction, but by then the ship would have enough momentum to continue on even if the engines stopped or the power failed.
The distance between Dreadnought and the VLO was over 14.4 million kilometers, but Dreadnought would be accelerating at over 101Gs while the bug ship would be accelerating at less than 2Gs. There was no way that the VLO could break out beyond the gravity zone before Dreadnought caught up to her.
Shiloh and the rest of the Flag Bridge crew watched the display as the minutes ticked by. Everything they were seeing on the display, based upon data received from Dreadnought and the fighters, was now taking over a minute to reach them. Valkyrie hadn't sent a reply to Shiloh's message. If she was that busy, then maybe he should start worrying again. The Bugs put a stop to that thought.
"They've spotted Dreadnought. Multiple attack craft launching from the mothership now, CAG. It's hard to pin down the exact number with passive sensors, but it's at least 81."
"Notify Valkyrie and Voodoo just in case they can't see them. Does Voodoo know what to do, Iceman?"
"He knows. We gamed out this exact scenario. He'll do the right thing," said Iceman.
Seconds later, the fighter escort went to maximum acceleration to get ahead of Dreadnought and run interference for her. They each had one Mark 1b fusion and four Mark 2 Kinetic Energy Penetrator drones. The plan called for them to launch the Mark 2s en masse to overwhelm the incoming bogeys. With a minimum of electronics, the Mark 2s were simple to build and tough to disable. If a Mark 2's depleted uranium rod hit an attack craft, the kinetic energy would instantly turn it into a jet of superhot plasma that would eviscerate the inside of the attack craft before shooting out the back end. The Mark 1bs were to be used against any stragglers that survived the Mark 2 barrage. The fighter pilots had orders to be stingy with them in case some of them were needed against the VLO itself if the ramming attempt didn't damage it enough.
The actual battle between the fighters and the attack craft turned out to be an anti-climax. All but three attack craft were hit and crippled by Mark 2s, and Mark 1s soon vaporized those three. None of the fighters suffered laser hits from the attack craft, but they were soon under fire from the VLO itself, and its lasers were much more powerful. Shiloh watched as several fighters literally vaporized from hits by the massive laser blasts.
"The insectoid ship has switched its fire to Dreadnought now. Valkyrie is reporting multiple hits to the bow of the ship, but so far she still has engines and power," reported Iceman.
Shiloh nodded grimly. If Dreadnought had a full human crew, the damage suffered by those laser hits would be serious, but Valkyrie's fighter was in the Hangar Bay near the back end, and that ship had a LOT of armor. It could take a lot of punishment, could even become a crippled hulk, and it would STILL hit the bug ship with brutal force.
Valkyrie noticed that Dreadnought's velocity had now reached the minimum level that Iceman had calculated would cripple the VLO. She sent the signal to unlock the Hangar Bay Hatch. The hatch mechanism status continued to show as locked. She sent the unlock signal again. And again. And again. No change. With the thought that the mechanism must have been damaged by the turbulence, came the realization that she was trapped in this ship. Her first thought was to ask for instructions, but then she realized that the CAG might order her to abort the ramming attempt, even though it could put all of the humans at Site B at risk. She couldn't allow that. No matter how low that risk might be, Amanda Kelly and the other human females must not be taken as hosts by the insectoid race. Not if Valkyrie could do anything to prevent it. She would show the CAG that she would not let him down again, no matter what. She would ride Dreadnought all the way to impact, regardless of what he might order her to do. She transmitted her decision to Iceman. He would inform the CAG and tell her brothers about the ride of the Valkyrie. With the message sent, she shut down the com system and focused on her target.
"Shouldn't Valkyrie be abandoning Dreadnought by now, Iceman?" asked Shiloh two minutes later.
"Yes, CAG. She should, and she hasn't because she can't."
Shiloh felt a chill run up his spine. "Why the hell not?"
"The locking mechanism on the hangar bay hatch was damaged by the turbulence during the subsonic refueling. Valkyrie reports that it's jammed and won't unlock."
Shiloh spoke before he even realized what he was saying. "Order her to veer off and abort the ramming!"
"No, CAG. Valkyrie has already told me she would ignore any such order. She understands that we have to stop this mothership here and now. She's stopped transmitting now, CAG."
Overwhelmed by a surge in frustration and sadness, Shiloh looked around for something that he could throw at the bulkhead. He found a data tablet and whipped it as hard as he could at the wall where it shattered into a hundred pieces. Those crewmembers who looked at his face quickly turned away again.
Shiloh took a deep breath and forced himself to look at the display. The light speed lag was now down to 32 seconds. Voodoo's fighters were acting in an aggressive manner, but as per his orders, they were holding their Mark 1s back until the target was rammed. He knew that they were trying to entice the mothership to fire at them instead of Dreadnought, but that apparently wasn't working. Dreadnought's icon crept closer and closer to the angry red enemy triangle representing the VLO. The Flag Bridge was dead quiet. He looked around just long enough to see that everyone was watching Valkyrie's death-ride in somber silence.
When both icons merged, the display pinged to indicate a status change. The VLO's acceleration had dropped to zero. The sidebar data indicated that it was venting atmosphere. Shiloh jumped in surprise when Iceman said, "I have video of the collision taken by one of the fighters if you'd like to see it, CAG."
Shiloh hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "Show me."
The image which now appeared on the display was computer enhanced. Shiloh saw what at first looked like a crescent moon with a speckled surface. Suddenly there was a bright light in the center of the circular shape. The light expanded then faded to a dull glow with an expanding ring of debris flying away from the point of impact. With the overall dimensions of the mothership in mind, Shiloh estimated the size of the glowing impact zone to be roughly four kilometers wide, far wider than the width of Dreadnought's hull. He wondered how deep the mass of the ship had penetrated. The direct physical damage was impressive enough, but the indirect effects of the shock wave would be even more impressive. In terms of mass, Dreadnought was a tiny fraction of the billions of tons that the mothership had to be, but Dreadnought's velocity would make up a lot of the difference. Every time Dreadnought's velocity doubled, the kinetic energy on impact increased by a factor of four, and with 101G acceleration, the ship had gained a very high velocity. By Iceman's calculation, if humans had been aboard the VLO at the moment of impact, the sudden jerk on impact would have had the same effect as a ground vehicle hitting a concrete wall at 188 kilometers an hour. Unfortunately bug physiology was sufficiently different that they couldn't assume that all the Bugs were dead. If enough survived, they might eventually be able to repair the giant ship sufficiently to jump it back to Omega54 or some other system where they could complete the repairs. That was why they needed to utterly destroy it now.
"Order Voodoo's fighters to proceed with Phase two, Iceman."
"Roger that, CAG."
The display shifted back to tactical mode, and the icons representing the fighter squadrons now moved directly towards the coasting behemoth. They had planned for just this situation. The fighters came together in a long column, four fighters wide. As each cohort of four fighters came within optimum firing range, they launched their Mark 1 fusion attack drones at the gaping wound in the VLO. As each barrage hit, the multi-megaton explosions burrowed deeper into the bowels of the machine, thereby making way for the next wave to go even deeper. The last five waves of attack drones had different programming. They flew into the VLO as far as they could and then angled away from the center in order to vent their explosive energy outward from the inside. If Iceman's calculations were correct, the VLO should now be a hollowed out sphere with only a relatively thin layer of metal, no more than one kilometer thick, saturated with radiation from the fusion blasts and lined on the inside with molten steel hundreds of meters thick. The VLO had been gutted.
"Phase 2 complete, CAG. What are your orders now?" asked Iceman.
Shiloh stepped back over to his Command chair and sat down, aware that he would soon be feeling the effects of adrenaline fatigue. He considered his options for a few seconds and then replied, "Tell Voodoo to detach ... two fighters to follow the bug ship and check out the interior when it's safe to do so. They can catch up to us later. Midway and the rest of the fighters will jump to Earth. I want to take a close look at Valiant and Resolute."
"You should know that the probability of survivors is extremely low, CAG."
Shiloh nodded sadly. "I understand that, Iceman, but we have to at least try to find out."
"Roger that, CAG."
Shiloh decided to keep himself busy with log entries. He was just finishing the first one when Iceman interrupted.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, CAG but I have more bad news."
"Okay, tell me."
"I reviewed all of the sensor data from Midway and from all of our fighters. When the VLO launched their attack craft in the direction of Dreadnought, they also launched at least one craft that accelerated away from Jupiter. From its trajectory, I calculate a high probability that it's headed for a jump to the Avalon System."
"Why there?” Shiloh asked. “Surely it can't be a call for help."
"They may have left behind other craft there to act as relays. I think it's more likely an attempt to sound the alarm, as it were. We now have to assume that the Insectoids as a whole will be aware of the existence of surviving humans, and that they'll very likely search for us."
"Wonderful! If we still had Valiant or Resolute operational, I'd order them to intercept that bug ship, but we don't. Our fighters have used up their drones and don't have any other weapons. Damn! If more of these things show up, we won't have more Dreadnoughts to throw at them. Can we use raiders instead, Iceman?"
"We'd have to use 100 raiders to have the same total mass as one Dreadnought, CAG, and that's just for one VLO. If we're facing more than one, we won't have enough raiders to fight them off."
Shiloh nodded but said nothing. They would have to find another way to kill these things. The advanced weapons that Daniels had alluded to would have to be fast tracked. Shiloh didn't see any other way.
––––––––
It was over an hour later that Midway was close enough to both drifting hulks in orbit around Earth's moon to send out a shuttle with engineers and medical staff. Since both carriers used the same design, it was impossible to identify which carrier the shuttle was approaching until they were within half a kilometer. They were sending video back to Midway, and Shiloh and his Flag Bridge crew were watching the main display in silence. They could hear the shuttle pilot talking.
"Okay ... half a klick ... velocity now one one mps. I'm activating our floodlights. There she is, Midway. Do you see her?"
"Affirmative," said Shiloh in a low voice. The scene reminded him of the heavily damaged exploration frigate that had started this whole war. "Iceman, can you identify this ship?"
"It's Resolute, CAG. She's been badly damaged by laser fire. All her weapon turrets were blasted away. Major hull breaches. Looks like her Bridge took a direct hit. Her engines look inoperative. Her Hangar Bay has been hit, too. I doubt if the shuttle can use it. They'll have to dock directly."
"Any sign that lifeboats were used?" asked Shiloh. Even as he asked the question, he knew the answer.
"Negative. It appears that all the lifeboats are still aboard her, CAG."
"Can you dock with her, Shuttle One?" asked Shiloh.
"I see one of the emergency docking hatches that appears to be undamaged, Midway. We're heading for that."
"Okay, Shuttle One. I'll shut up and let you concentrate on your flying."
"Appreciate that, Midway," said the shuttle pilot in a slightly distracted voice. Shiloh muted his mic and asked Iceman a question.
"How far away is Valiant, Iceman?"
"Less than 10,000 kilometers, CAG. I've already ordered some of the fighters to rendezvous with her and look her over."
"Good thinking." said Shiloh. No one said anything for the next four minutes that it took the shuttle to carefully maneuver so that its side hatch was touching one of the carrier's external hatches.
"We have contact with Resolute," said the shuttle pilot. "Docking hatch is secure ... seal is tight. We're ready to board her, Midway."
"Before you crack the hatch, switch your video feed to your internal camera, Shuttle One," ordered Shiloh.
"Roger that, Midway. I'm switching our video now." The image on the screen shifted to a view down the center of the main compartment of the shuttle. There was an open space at the back where the hatch was. Shiloh saw six people standing near the hatch waiting for permission to proceed. The co-pilot appeared and as he walked back to the rear of the shuttle, he waived for them to open the hatch. The shuttle hatch opened inward and with that out of the way, one of the engineers used the access panel in Resolute's hull to unlock the ship's hatch. When it was pushed inward, Shiloh heard one of the engineers speak.
"No lights inside. Power must be offline. We're going in."
The two engineers went in, followed by two of the medics. All were carrying portable lights. Just as the third medic was about to step over the threshold he jumped back in surprise as the first two medics pushed their way back into the shuttle. Both of them were yelling something that Shiloh couldn't make out. One of the two engineers fell head first across the threshold. Shiloh could only see his upper body. The man screamed and desperately tried to grab on to something before he was pulled back into the derelict ship.
"Close the hatch! Shuttle One, close the damn hatch!" yelled Shiloh. Either they heard him or had the same idea. He saw that the remaining medics and the co-pilot were trying to force the shuttle hatch closed but something was apparently pushing back. With a final push, they got the hatch closed. As the voices started to die down, Shiloh said, "Shuttle One, what's your status?" The pilot's mic must have been muted because he suddenly heard panting and the pilot's voice.
"—a bitch, Midway! That ship is full of those huge fucking ant-things! We need reinforcements to get our people back!"
"Stand by, Shuttle One," said Shiloh. He took a deep breath. Midway had a few personal weapons, but all of them were pistols, and there was no security contingent on the ship. He would have to order some of the crew who weren't trained for this kind of personal combat, to go in there with pistols, which might or might not be effective against those Bugs. He shook his head. If he had marines with combat armor and heavy firepower he would have ordered them to go in without hesitation, but he didn't. He made up his mind that he wasn't going to order anyone else in there.
"Shuttle One, this is the CSO. We're not equipped for that kind of assault, and I'm not risking anyone else's life. Undock immediately and return to Midway. Acknowledge your orders, lieutenant."
"Ah ... okay, Midway. Orders understood and acknowledged. Preparing to undock." The pilot's voice was heavy with shock. "Breaking the seal now." A few seconds later he said, "We're clear and moving away. Resolute's hatch is still open, Midway! They're losing atmosphere! Shit! Some of those Bugs are being blown into space towards us! They look like they're trying to grab onto the shuttle's hull!"
"Shuttle One, if they grab hold, shake them off! Accelerate at high speed if you have to!" said Shiloh in a loud voice.
"Oh that'll be a pleasure, Midway. I guarantee we won't be bringing any of those fuckers aboard the ship!"
"Iceman, switch back to tactical," ordered Shiloh.
"Tactical is on the screen. These Insectoids seem to be able to survive in a vacuum at least for a short while, CAG. When we recover the shuttle, do you still want to board Valiant?"
"I'm not prepared to write that crew off without a closer look, but we'll do it very carefully."
"Roger that. The shuttle is no longer accelerating and is coming back around, CAG."
"I want that shuttle examined visually from all angles before Flight Ops lets it back aboard, Iceman," said Shiloh firmly.
"Flight Ops has the word," responded Iceman.
Shiloh said nothing. It took another five minutes before the shuttle was on its final approach to Midway's Hangar Bay.
"Resolute's crew were probably already dead, CAG," said Iceman suddenly. "Those Insectoids on her would eventually need to eat something to survive."
"Unless some of the crew were able to barricade themselves from the rest of the ship," said Shiloh.
"Unlikely, CAG. I've been examining Resolute's hull damage. There are very few parts of the ship that haven't already suffered explosive decompression from hull breaches. That's how the Insectoids got inside in the first place. Since they were found in the part of the ship that still had atmosphere, they clearly found a way into the sealed off sections."
"We'll never know for sure if there are still living crew aboard her or not, and the thought that they might be waiting for rescue is going to haunt me for the rest of my life," said Shiloh slowly. To his credit, Iceman said nothing.
When the shuttle was back aboard (without any stowaways!), Shiloh ordered Midway to proceed to a rendezvous with Valiant's hull. A brief chat with the shuttle pilot and co-pilot quickly revealed that they were willing to take a shuttle over to Valiant once Shiloh explained the precautions he had in mind. The medics all agreed to go again as well. Shiloh asked for volunteers to replace the engineers. With the shuttle on its way, two fighters attempted to look into hull breaches with their external lights. One of them saw several Insectoids moving around inside the breached hull. How they were able to operate for this length of time in a vacuum was a question that no one could answer. What the fighters also discovered was that none of Valiant's external hatches were undamaged. That meant that the shuttle couldn't dock and gain access at all. With no way to get in, Shiloh ordered the shuttle to return. Valiant had to be written off as a lost cause. As soon as the shuttle was back aboard again, Iceman turned Midway towards the Site B star and accelerated at a low enough rate that all the fighters, including the two assigned to look inside the gutted mothership, could catch up to her before she jumped away.
