The Black Sheep (A Learning Experience Book 3) (36 page)

The communications officer turned to stare at him, his mouth snapping closed in shock.  His crew stared too, unable to believe what they’d just heard.  One did
not
question the Tokomak, one merely kowtowed.  And yet ... their shock snapped him out of his fitful trance, his claws clacking against his perch.  Disobedience could not be tolerated.  It was almost always the start of mutiny.

“Send the signal,” he commanded, holding up his claws.  “Tell them we need to verify their identity.”

***

Captain Ruthven Barrows was privately surprised they’d managed to get so close to the looming battleships, although he had to admit that
he
would have hesitated to fire on a Tokomak ship too.  His wife and two of his four daughters, like so many others, had been captured, killed and eaten on Amstar, while his remaining daughters had been very lucky to escape with their lives.  He’d volunteered for the mission,
knowing
it was likely to be a suicide mission, because
someone
had to strike back at the Druavroks.  The remainder of his family, already on their way to Sol, would be fine.

“Target their ships,” he ordered.  “And prepare to open fire.”

He braced himself, feeling an odd calm overcoming him as the targeting solutions appeared in front of him.  All of their active targeting sensors had been removed during the refit - even the Druavroks were likely to suspect something if they
knew
their ships were being targeted - but they weren’t necessary.  The passive sensors and the live feed from the squadron provided all the targeting data they could possibly require.  And at such close range, the Druavroks would have bare seconds to react before the missiles started slamming into their hulls.

“They’re demanding our identity, sir,” the helmsman said.  “No threats, yet ...”

“Too late,” Ruthven said.  The barrage of missiles from the squadron was entering the enemy point defence range, allowing the enemy to open fire.  They were distracted.  “Fire.”

Vengeance
shuddered as her hull plates were blown off, followed by the first missiles fired directly towards the enemy ships.  The Tokomak, for whatever reason, had covered their hull in a sheath that made it impossible to bolt additional weapons to the ship, but under the circumstances it didn't actually matter.  He suspected there wasn't any
real
hope of escaping, once they’d opened fire.  The enemy would return fire the second they overcame their shock.

“Missiles tracking their targets,” the tactical officer said.  “Impact in three ...”

Ruthven smirked.  “Burn, you bastards!”

***

“They opened fire on us!”

Warlord Joist had barely a second to react before the first missile slammed into his ship’s shields, followed by a dozen more.  His electronic servants did what they could, but it was already far too late.  The Tokomak ship was spewing out hundreds of missiles, each one blazing forward on sprint mode.  By the time they were tracked and a course predicted, they were already striking their targets. 
And
the remaining missiles from the human ships were slipping through the sudden chinks in his defences.

“Four battleships have been badly hit,” the communications officer reported.  He sounded stunned, unable to quite believe what was happening.  “The Tokomak ship is opening fire with energy weapons.”

“Target her and open fire,” Warlord Joist snapped.  It was a
Tokomak
ship ... but it had clearly been subverted.  The humans had captured her and turned her into a weapon ... and now she was limping forward with grim determination, clearly hoping to ram one of his ships before it was too late.  “Blow her into dust!”

***

“They’re targeting us, sir!”

“I know, son,” Ruthven said.  It didn’t
look
as though they’d have a chance to ram one of the enemy ships, but at least they’d inflicted a great deal of damage.  Five battleships had been destroyed and seven more had been crippled.  “It was a honour to serve ...”

Fifty-seven missiles slammed into
Vengeance
and detonated, blowing the ship into dust.

***

“The Tokomak ship has been destroyed,” the sensor officer reported.

“Take us in pursuit of the human ships,” Warlord Joist snarled.  “Don’t let them get away!”

***

“Captain,” Biscoe reported.  “The enemy ships are lumbering after us.”

Hoshiko nodded.  It was a shame Captain Barrows hadn't lived long enough to ram one of the enemy ships, but his sacrifice had inflicted a great deal of damage on the enemy fleet.  She thought, briefly, about sticking around and fighting a long-range missile duel, yet she knew it would probably prove futile.  She’d need to close again to inflict any serious damage and that would expose her ships to
their
fire.

And we may even have started a religious war
, she thought. 
They might start fighting each other now that one of their commanders fired on a Tokomak ship
.

“Drop a gravity bomb, then take us into FTL,” she ordered, calmly.  “Direct course back to Amstar.”

“Aye, Captain,” Browne said.  The display flickered and died as the ship jumped into FTL and raced away from the enemy ships.  “They should be able to track us ...”

“They know where we came from,” Hoshiko said.  She would have been astonished if the Druavroks
didn't
know Amstar was the centre of the Grand Alliance.  “Let them give chase, if they wish.”

“Aye, Captain,” Browne said.

***

Warlord Joist stared at the empty display.  The humans had done it again!  They’d tricked him ... and now, no ship
dared
let a Tokomak ship close with them without checking the crew’s identity first.  But that was an offense against a superior race.  Anyone who proposed it would be killed out of hand.

The mood in the compartment changed suddenly.  He tasted the hostile scent in the air and looked up, baring his claws.  His crew were looking at him, their beady eyes conveying a single dark emotion.  He had stepped well over the line and now he needed to fight for his command ...

He hopped off his perch, lifting his claws as he hissed a challenge in the very old tongue, the one they’d learned before the Tokomak had arrived.  If he was lucky, the crew would back down rather than try to charge him.  He
was
their superior, after all, and he had seen off a dozen challenges to his position ...

The crew charged, hissing their rage and hatred.  Warlord Joist killed the communications officer with one blow - the fool had left his neck exposed - but the movement allowed the tactical officer and the helmsman to bury their claws in his skin.  He twisted in pain, cuffing the helmsman on the head and sending him to the deck, just before a pair of jaws latched on to his backside and bit, hard.  There was a wave of pain ...

... And then there was nothing, nothing at all.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Federal troops, ordered to invade Oklahoma, mutinied today after their commanding officer was replaced by a political hack.  Their new commanding officer has sent messages to both Washington and Austin announcing that his formation is reluctant to take part in the civil war, but is more than happy to serve as a border guard.  It is unclear, as yet, if the Alliance for the Preservation of the United States will accept the offer.

-Solar News Network, Year 54

“Well,” Griffin commented to himself.  “It could be worse.”

The Solar Union Naval Base was a modular structure, assembled from components that had been produced at Sol and shipped all the way to Martina.  It was surrounded by a handful of automated weapons platforms - now part of a far greater defence network surrounding the planet itself - which were covered by five squadrons of alien warships, all from the Grand Alliance.  And he -
he
- was in sole command.

He had no illusions.  Captain Stuart’s report on the Captain’s Board was already making its way to Sol.  It was unlikely he’d be allowed to remain in the sector, let alone in command of the naval base, once Fleet Command heard what he’d done.  Captain Stuart might not have relieved him of duty, but Fleet Command would take a dim view of the whole affair and demand further punishment. 

“Commander,” Ensign Tabitha Swan said.  She was a pale-skinned young woman, so young it was clear she’d only been out of the Academy a week before she’d been assigned to the naval base.  “I have the latest reports from the planetary defence force.”

Griffin allowed himself a tight smile.  The only
good
news that had come out of the Grand Alliance’s defeat was that Martina had finally evolved a workable united planetary defence force.  It was going to give them headaches in the years to come - Griffin was old enough to remember NATO before it had collapsed into irrelevance - but for the moment it should be enough to protect their world against any reasonable attack.  And, like Amstar, the longer the Druavroks waited to attack, the stronger the defences would become.  There were nine fabbers in orbit around Martina and eight of them were steadily churning out new weapons, defences and starship components.

“Good,” he said.  “Have they finally ironed out the bugs on the frigate design?”

“Yes, Commander,” Tabitha said.  “They’re planning to go into full production within the week.”

“Let us hope it is enough,” Griffin said.  The Grand Alliance would eventually need Martina turning out cruisers and battleships, but the planet had never had a very strong shipbuilding industry, thanks to its disunited government.  “And training programs?”

“Proceeding slowly,” Tabitha informed him.  “We’re really needing to train the people to train the people at the moment, sir, and its slow going.”

“Same old problem,” Griffin said.  He turned his attention to the display, where hundreds of industrial nodes hung in orbit around the planet.  “Do you think there’s any way we can speed the process up?”

“Only by cutting corners, sir,” Tabitha said.  “We
could
stick with the basics, the same training the Tokomak gave everyone, but they wouldn't be able to handle an unexpected problem.”

Griffin nodded, curtly.  He hadn't expected Tabitha to come up with anything - the vastly more experienced engineers at Amstar hadn't been able to come up with anything either - but it had been worth a try.  Who knew?  Maybe a junior officer, lacking the cynicism of her seniors, might be able to come up with something new.   But then, Tabitha hadn't been ranked too highly at the Academy.  If she had, she would have been assigned to starship duty.

Which is foolish of us
, he thought, coldly. 
Establishing a network of naval bases will become increasingly important as the years roll on and our influence grows
.

“I’m due to meet with the planetary council in three hours,” he said.  “Have Lieutenant Hassan come up with a plan for a whole new series of planetary defence exercises.  I’ll propose them to the council once we meet.”

“Aye, Commander,” Tabitha said. 

She saluted and retreated, leaving Griffin alone with his thoughts - and the near-orbit display.  Hundreds of thousands of freighters were moving in and out of the system, passing through the gravity points or dropping into FTL for the long voyage to their destinations.  Unless he was
very
wrong, and he rather doubted it, some of them were probably spying for the Druavroks.  They
had
to be aware of Martina’s significance, particularly now that Captain Stuart had joined the war against them.  No, had
galvanised
the war against them.  The Druavroks
had
to understand just how important Martina was to their new enemies.

Assuming they can tell the difference between us
, he thought, ruefully.  The Druavroks seemed to be a united mass, but humans - and many alien races - were split into subgroups, some of which warred against the others. 
They may assume we’re from another colony world, rather than Sol.

He shook his head.  There was no way to know just how effective an intelligence net the Druavroks had, if they’d even bothered to establish one in the first place.  The Tokomak could have told them the importance of gathering intelligence, but would the Druavroks have
listened
?  They certainly seemed to hold every other race in absolute contempt, save for their former masters.  It wasn't an attitude he understood, but it had worked for them until Captain Stuart joined the war.  None of the other Galactics had been able to muster a fleet capable of beating the enemy in open battle.

And now I’m stuck here
, he thought.

It wasn't a
bad
exile, as exiles went.  There was work to do - vitally
important
work to do - and his conscience wouldn't allow him to slack off, even if he hadn't found it challenging as well as interesting.  But, at the same time, he’d been dispatched to the rear, to serve as nothing more than a REMF.  The cool contempt held throughout the Solar Navy for staff officers and military bureaucrats - particularly ones who held their posts for longer than a year - made it hard for him to just settle into his new role.  And it didn't help that he knew the
rationale
for the contempt.  The longer an officer remained away from the sharp end, the less he recalled what was actually
important
.

And it’s time to stop feeling sorry for yourself
, he told himself firmly, as the intercom bleeped. 
You could have been sent back to Earth on a courier boat and you know it
.

He keyed the intercom.  “Wilde.”

“Commander, two warships have just come through Gravity Point Three,” Lieutenant Hassan said.  He was three years older than Tabitha, but his promotion had come at the price of a semi-permanent transfer to fixed naval bases.  Thankfully, what he lacked in imagination he made up for with a plodding determination to cover all the bases.  “They’re claiming to be from Tis’ll and requesting a meeting with the Grand Alliance’s representative.”

Griffin checked his implants.  Tis’ll was a small federation of planets, over ten thousand light years away in normal space.  Without the gravity point, communication between Martina and Tis’ll - or Sol - would be impossible.  As it was, the latest update claimed that Tis’ll hadn't expressed any interest in developing relationships with
anyone
.

“Invite them to enter high orbit,” he said.  He was curious to know what they had to say.  “I’ll speak to them personally before they are forwarded to Amstar.”

“Aye, Commander,” Hassan said.

“And check the hospitality records and find out what they can eat,” Griffin added.  “We may need to host them on the base.”

He sighed, inwardly.  The newcomers would understand, he was sure, if certain areas were deemed classified, but he doubted he could get away with not giving them a basic tour of the naval base.  Maybe they were curious ... or maybe they viewed the Grand Alliance as a potential threat, one that would eventually cut their access to Martina and the gravity points. 

Or tax them through the nose
, he thought, sardonically. 
Now the Tokomak are gone, what’s to stop the planetary council charging transit fees?

“They’re acknowledging, sir,” Hassan said.  “They’ll be in high orbit in four hours, thirty-seven minutes.”

“Good,” Griffin said.  It was ironic that he would have to make the case for joining the Grand Alliance to a group of aliens when he had his doubts about the whole concept, but there was no choice.  “I’ll contact the planetary council, then ready myself for the meeting.”

“Yes, Commander,” Hassan said.

***

“I think we may have a problem,” Lieutenant Octavo said.  “Take a look at
that
.”

Thomas nodded, reluctantly.  It had taken a week of prowling around the Tarsus System before they’d located a convoy they could use as cover to sneak into the system, but once they’d dropped out of FTL they’d been greeted with the sight of over two
hundred
battleships lying in wait, accompanied by over five hundred smaller ships.  There was so much firepower gathered in orbit around the star, with nothing to defend, that Thomas
knew
Captain Stuart had been right.  The Druavroks were planning an offensive.

And to think they told us that there were only ninety battleships in orbit
, he thought, with grim amusement.  It wouldn't matter a jot if
Rustbucket
ended up within firing range of ninety battleships or two hundred, but the larger fleet posed a far greater threat. 
Someone must have miscounted
.

“Launch four recon probes,” he ordered, “but keep them a safe distance from the battleships.”

“Aye, sir,” Lieutenant Octavo said.  He glanced up from his console.  “What do you think we can do about
that
?”

“I wish I knew,” Thomas said.  “We may have to slip out of the system and take word back to Amstar.”

But even if they did, he had no idea what - if anything - the Captain could do about it.  Two hundred battleships would require the entire Grand Fleet to handle, yet a straight fight in an uninhabited system would play to the enemy’s strengths rather than their weaknesses.  Could it be that the Druavroks were planning to lure the Grand Fleet into the system for a battle?  A fleet of enemy warships, no matter the size, simply could not be ignored.  They’d know that as well as their human opponents.

He frowned as more and more data flowed into the sensor arrays.  The Druavroks weren't just preparing for an offensive, they were drilling heavily.  He watched their ships engaging in mock battles, spitting out fire at imaginary enemies ... it was impossible to be certain, but it looked very much as though they’d rigged the simulations to face missiles flying at two or three times the maximum speed.  They’d be very well prepared to face human ships, he thought, as their command and control networks slowly revealed themselves.  It looked, very much, as though they’d decentralised the whole system.

We taught them a lesson in the last encounter
, he thought. 
And they’ve learned from it
.

“I can't peg their command ship, sir,” Lieutenant Octavo reported.  “They keep swapping IFF codes.  If there’s a pattern I can't discern it.”

Thomas nodded.  The Tokomak had pioneered centralised control, with one command ship in charge of the whole network, but the Tokomak hadn't fought a serious war for centuries.  Any
human
opponent - any opponent with a little common sense - would try to knock the command network down as quickly as possible and the simplest way to do
that
was to obliterate the command ship.  Now, even
identifying
the command ship would prove impossible.  The enemy might be smart enough not to place their commanders at the centre of the formation.

Of course, we might blow the command ship away without realising what we’d done
, Thomas thought, ruefully. 
And if they have redundancies built into their systems, we might not notice before it was far too late
.