Ep.#1 - "Escalation" (The Frontiers Saga: Rogue Castes) (28 page)

“Very well,” Cameron replied.

“Spreaders are jumping,” the tactical officer reported.

Cameron watched the semi-spherical main view screen, as twenty small flashes of blue-white light appeared simultaneously, directly ahead of them. By the time the light from those flashes had reached them, the missiles had already come out of their jump and were spreading their payloads of anti-FTL mines in precise patterns across the path of the incoming Jung battle group. Once detonated, their energy would destabilize the mass-canceling fields that enabled the enemy ships to travel faster than light. They would become targets, and remain that way for several minutes, until they could reinitialize their emitters and escape into FTL again.

Those few minutes would be more than enough time for the Aurora and the rest of her battle group to destroy the trespassers. However, the fact that they were required to issue a warning,
and
give the enemy one full minute to show signs of compliance with that warning, meant they would have half that time. It would be close.

“Twenty seconds to detonation,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported.

“Stand by for intercept jump,” Cameron ordered.

Luckily, the enemy battle group was still nineteen days away from being able to launch an attack on Earth. If they were unable to destroy all the ships this time, they would have a chance in the next attack. Although the Aurora’s supply of jump missiles was still limited until she could rendezvous with the supply ship, both the Jar-Benakh and the Cape Town were fully stocked. Between them, they had enough anti-FTL mines to knock ten battle groups out of FTL.

Cameron only hoped they would not be needed.

“Anti-FTL mines should be detonating…… Now,” the tactical officer announced.

Cameron glanced at the mission time display. She needed to give the anti-FTL mines enough time to do their job before jumping to the intercept point, or the energy from those countless antimatter detonations would severely disrupt the Aurora’s targeting systems. When she jumped her ship into the path of the incoming battle group, she wanted to have immediate target locks on every enemy ship.

She glanced at the time again. In a few seconds, she would either be ending a war before it began, or committing the Alliance to an all-out war against the Jung, a war that would likely cost billions of lives. At times like this, she wondered why she ever wanted to be the captain of a warship.

Another glance at the time display. “Jump us to the intercept point, Mister Bickle,” she ordered calmly.

“Jumping to intercept point in three……two……one……jumping.”

The blue-white jump flash washed over the bridge, momentarily canceling out the red trim lighting that reminded the Aurora’s crew that they were at general quarters.

“Jump complete.”

“Multiple contacts,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “Four of them!”

“What?” Cameron replied, her head snapping to the left.

“I only have four contacts!” the lieutenant commander repeated. “One battleship, and three frigates!”

“Broadcast the warning message, fully translated, and on all known frequencies,” Cameron ordered. “Prepare to launch multiple jump comm-drones. Notify command that we have four ships unaccounted for!”

“Targets are firing missiles!” the sensor officer warned.

“Did you send the warning message?” Cameron snapped.

“Twenty-eight missiles inbound! Thirty seconds to impact!”

“Yes, sir!” Ensign deBanco replied, “but it didn’t even have time to reach them yet!”

“Point-defenses activated,” the tactical officer reported. “Targeting the incoming missiles.”

“Lieutenant! One by one! Left to right, high to low!” Cameron instructed. “Tactical! Fire as she puts our tubes on the targets. Full power triplets on all tubes!”

“Coming onto first target now!” Lieutenant Dinev reported from the helm.

“Firing on all tubes! Full power triplets!”

“Get those comm-drones launched! I want the other ships warned as well!” Cameron directed as the bridge filled with the red-orange light of her departing plasma torpedoes. “They need to be on the lookout for those other four ships!”

“Adjusting course to next target,” the helmsman announced.

“First drone is on its way to command!” the comm officer assured his captain. “Three more are being launched now!”

“Direct hits on frigate one!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “Her forward shields are gone! She’s turning away!”

Cameron glanced at the tactical display on the auxiliary display screen to the left of her navigator, taking note of the direction to which the first frigate was fleeing. “Get our port plasma turrets on that target, Lieutenant Commander, before she gets her good shields to us.”

“Already on it,” the tactical officer replied.

“Tubes on target two, another frigate!” Lieutenant Dinev reported.

“Firing all tubes!” the tactical officer announced. “Port plasma turrets are locked on the first frigate and are firing!”

“The battleship is targeting us with her big guns!” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned.

“Put a round of jump missiles on that battleship, Mister Vidmar,” Cameron ordered as the bridge continued to flash with the red-orange light of her plasma weapons. “Nukes across the board. Let’s give her something to think about.”

“Loading jump nukes, aye!”

“First wave of enemy missiles has been destroyed!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported.

“All comm-drones are away!”

“Changing course to the third frigate,” the helmsman reported.

“Frigate one has taken more hits!” Lieutenant Commander Kono said from the sensor station. “She’s lost all shields!”

“Keep pounding her,” Cameron urged.

“Aye, sir!”

“Tubes on the third target!”

“Firing all tubes!” the tactical officer reported. “Launching jump missiles!”

Cameron caught the view of her jump missiles streaking ahead of them and disappearing in flashes of blue-white light.

“Missiles away!”

“We’re down to five kilometers, and closing fast,” Ensign Bickle warned.

“Noted,” Cameron replied.

“Missile impacts!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “Direct hits on the battleship’s forward shields. They’re down fifty percent! And frigate one is coming apart! Frigate two is diving! She’s trying to get below us!”

“Ventral guns on frigate two!”

“Ventral guns, aye!” the tactical officer replied. “Torpedo locks on the third frigate! Firing all tubes!”

“Four kilometers!” the navigator warned, as the bridge filled with red-orange flashes again.

“Helm! Get our tubes on that battleship,” Cameron ordered, “and be ready to pitch down.”

“Turning into the battleship now,” Lieutenant Dinev replied.

“Escape jump is ready,” Ensign Bickle added. “Three kilometers.”

The Aurora’s shields flashed repeatedly, as explosive rounds from the battleship’s massive rail guns slammed into them.

“Taking heavy fire on our forward shields!” the sensor officer reported.

“Forward shield strength is dropping,” the tactical officer warned. “Down to eighty percent!”

“Tubes are coming onto the battleship now!” the helmsman announced.

“Frigate two is spinning up her mass-canceling fields!” the sensor officer warned. “She’s preparing to go to FTL!”

“All tubes locked onto the battleship!” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported from the tactical station. “Firing on all tubes!”

“Two kilometers!” the navigator warned, his voice tensing as the distance shrank between their ship and the approaching battleship .

“One spreader! Out the tube, no jump!” Cameron instructed. “Have her spit her load as soon as she clears our bow!”

The bridge flashed red-orange repeatedly, as twenty-four plasma torpedoes left the Aurora’s tubes, streaking toward the onrushing battleship.

“Launching a spreader!”

“Launch another comm-drone; to the Cape Town! Tell her to jump in and target the battleship with everything she’s got! Come out of her jump firing!”

“One kilometer!”

“Direct hits!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “Her forward shields are down to twenty percent!”

“Spreader is away!” the tactical officer shouted. “She’s clear the bow, deploying anti-matter mines!”

“Comm-drone away!” the comm officer announced.

“Pitch us down now!” Cameron ordered.

“Frigate two has gone to FTL!”

“Pitching down, aye!”

“Mines are out!” the tactical officer announced.

“Frigate three is also spinning up for FTL!”

“Clear jump line!” the navigator reported.

“Detonate the mines!” Cameron ordered. “Execute escape jump on my mark!”

“Detonating mines!”

“Jump!”

The blue-white jump flash lit up the interior of the Aurora’s bridge, as she slipped away, jumping to safety a full light minute behind the enemy battleship. A sudden calm came over the bridge now that they were momentarily out of harm’s way.

“Bring us hard about, and prepare to jump back to the targets,” Cameron instructed.

“Coming about, aye,” Lieutenant Dinev acknowledged.

“I don’t remember
that
little trick in the tactical manual,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar commented.

Cameron smiled, remembering the last time the Aurora had jumped away from an antimatter explosion. It was on the Aurora’s second jump ever, and Cameron had been a young ensign fresh out of the academy, serving as the ship’s navigator. The energy from the antimatter explosion had thrown them nearly a thousand light years, and put them in the middle of a battle between peoples they hadn’t even known existed. It was a turning point in the history of humanity, one that had led to the very Alliance in which they now served.

“Turn complete,” Lieutenant Dinev reported.

“Prepare a jump,” Cameron began. “Put us astern of the targets, five up, five out, and five behind.”

“Five by five by five, aye,” the navigator replied.

“Be ready on all weapons,” Cameron instructed. “And have another spread of jump missiles ready with nukes, just in case.”

“Aye, sir,” the tactical officer replied.

Cameron turned toward her sensor officer. “You didn’t happen to pick up any trace of those other four ships during all that, did you?”

“No, sir, sorry.”

“Jump plotted and ready,” the navigator reported.

“All weapons ready, and jump nukes loaded,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar added.

“Execute your jump,” Cameron ordered.

“Jumping in three……two……one……jumping.”

The jump flash washed over the bridge.

“Jump complete.”

Cameron looked toward her sensor officer again.

“No targets!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “Just a lot of debris…and the Cape Town!”

“With a big smile on her face, no doubt,” Cameron said.

“Incoming message from the Cape Town, Captain,” Ensign deBanco reported from the comm station. “The battleship has been destroyed. And the second frigate. The third frigate escaped into FTL. Also, command reports new contacts on the opposite side of the Sol system. The Jar-Benakh and the Tanna are moving to intercept.”

“Are we to join them?” Cameron wondered.

“No, sir,” the ensign replied. “We’re ordered to locate and destroy frigate three. The Cape Town is being ordered back to Earth for now.”

“Very well,” Cameron replied. “Stand down from general quarters. Lieutenant Commander Kono, plot that frigate’s course based on her last course and speed.”

“She was maneuvering when we jumped away, sir,” the lieutenant commander warned her.

“Give it your best guess, Lieutenant Commander,” Cameron replied. “We’ve got to start somewhere.”

* * *

“
Mister President, with all due respect, we have multiple sightings all around the outer boundaries of our system. If this is not a clear act of aggression from the Jung, then please, tell me what is?
” Admiral Galiardi begged from the view screen in the President’s office.

“You’re talking about a strike against
civilian
populations, Admiral,” President Scott reminded him. “You don’t think that has the potential to escalate the situation even further?”

“
Mister President,
” the admiral began calmly, “
the Jung have invaded the Pentaurus cluster, one of our allies, and using jump technology, no less. Possession of jump technology explains why we were unable to detect them before they penetrated so deeply into our territory. If they do possess jump technology, then they could appear anywhere, at any moment. Outside our system, or deep within it. If they were to suddenly appear in orbit over the Earth, they could unleash enough ordnance to destroy all life on the surface before we would be able to stop them, as our defenses are primarily designed to attack targets that are much further away.
”

“But if the Jung have jump drive technology, why are they running around this sector using traditional, linear FTL systems?” Mister Lovecchio, the president’s security advisor, challenged.

“
I believe the Jung did not expect us to become aware of their invasion of the Pentaurus cluster so quickly,
” Admiral Galiardi explained. “
According to the data sent by General Telles, the Jung’s capture of the Pentaurus cluster was swift and sure. Had it not been for the Ranni jump comm-drone, we would still be unaware of the situation in the cluster, and that the Jung possessed jump drive technology. They are using linear FTL in our presence, but are using jump drives to penetrate deep into our territory.
”

“That’s ludicrous!” Mister Lovecchio protested. “That would mean they purposefully sacrificed their ships and crews, when use of their jump drives during battle would have prevented it! Besides, why wouldn’t they just jump all their ships in and strike?”

“
Because they are testing us,
” the admiral responded. “
They are calling our bluff!
”

“But we aren’t bluffing,” President Scott reminded the admiral. “We have the super KKVs, and we can fire them at any time.”

“
The Jung obviously have reason to believe otherwise
,” the admiral argued. “
Otherwise I doubt they would be engaging us in such a way.
”

“And you believe that we need to show them that we are
not
bluffing,” the president surmised.

“
Precisely
.”

“Isn’t it also possible that the Jung are just trying to keep us busy so that we won’t send ships to the Pentaurus sector?” Mister Lovecchio postulated.

“
That is a possibility as well
,” the admiral agreed. “
However, the two are not mutually exclusive. Either way, the Jung need to be sent a message…and a strong one. We must launch a KKV strike, and we must launch it now, before this progresses any further.
”

President Scott sighed. “Admiral, I’m not convinced that such a strike will have the desired effect. If the Jung have jump drive technology, then there is nothing to stop the ships that are already so equipped, from immediately jumping to Sol to attack. I fear that launching such a strike
may
precipitate just such a reaction.”

“
And that is exactly what the Jung would expect you to fear,
” the admiral replied. “
That is why they are testing us. If you do not retaliate in the very way that they most fear, they will continue to escalate testing our resolve. As of yet, we have not lost any ships or men. I do not know if that is due to our defensive abilities, or by Jung design, although, if they have jump drive technology, then I strongly suspect the latter. What I do know is that if we do not strike, they will continue their attacks, and those attacks will become more severe. Men will die. Ships will be lost. Ships we cannot afford to lose. And in the end, we will still have to launch a full strike. The only difference will be that the strike will be too late, and its purpose will be vengeance rather than protection, as by then, there may not be anything left to protect.
”