The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (70 page)

For the moment though the situation had stabilised and Crowe needed that time to think. The original plan had been to orbit around Landfall and go back the way they
’
d come to rejoin Heavy Cover. But that would take them straight past Breaker
’
s Rock and as he watched their ammunition levels drop, that didn
’
t seem like a good idea. Rising from his seat he switched the main holo to navigation mode.

“
Lieutenant Colwell,
”
he ordered.
“
Give me the estimates of the convoy
’
s best speed with ships running on empty.
”

The information appeared on the screen and Crowe alternated between the navigation and tactical displays.

“
What are you thinking sir?
”
Colwell asked quietly from behind him.

“
That the plan didn
’
t include Breaker
’
s or these new missiles,
”
Crowe said slowly. He poked his finger into the holo.
“
It didn
’
t include them coming this deep into the Mass Shadow either.
”

“
What difference does that make?
”

“
If we break orbit here and go in this direction
,
”
he pointed into the holo,
“
then we can outrun the Nameless as we go for the Red Line and we
’
re shielded from Breaker
’
s by the planet.
”

“
But sir, that takes us directly away from heavy cover
…”

“
Who are too far away to support us and are frankly already doing a useful job chasing the enemy reinforcements.
”

“
Also the
SS Destiny
has taken engine damage. Even empty she isn
’
t going to outrun anyone.
”

“
Then we scuttle the
Destiny
.
”

Colwell hesitated.

“
No plan survives first contact Lieutenant. Ours was based on faulty intelligence. It
’
s time to choose another option. You can return to your station Lieutenant.
”
Crowe then turned and said:
“
Coms, take the navigation data from this console and disseminate it to the convoy. Signal the
Destiny
that if they cannot match the convoy
’
s acceleration they must either scuttle or be left behind. Inform Heavy Cover of my intentions. We
’
ll rendezvous with them at the first cool down point.
”

___________________________

“
Admiral sir.
”
Eulenburg looked towards his communications screen. The Commodore looked tired.
“
I
’
ve just received a signal from the drop master. The last of your supplies are on the way down.
”

“
Thank you Commodore. I know what this has cost you,
”
Eulenburg replied.
“
Have you uploaded my report?
”

“
Yes sir.
”

Eulenburg paused, looking for the right words, then said:
“
Commodore, when you get back to Earth, tell them we will hold on and be the second front for as long as we can.
”

“
I understand, sir,
”
Crowe replied grimly. He looked as if he was wondering whether to say more, something more suitable for the moment, but instead he settled for a simple
“
good luck, sir.
”

Eulenburg
’
s screen went black and his sense of loneliness, briefly dispelled by the convoy
’
s presence, returned. There were things he could and should be doing, but instead he watched the display, which showed the convoy breaking orbit and unexpectedly heading away from Heavy Cover. The Nameless clearly were also taken by surprise. Their ships had split into two groups, one pursuing directly, the other moving in the opposite direction ready to cut off the convoy as it headed back towards its original entry point. When convoy chose its new route, these were left floundering, while the group hard on the convoy
’
s heels lacked the strength to seriously test the escort.

As Kite String disappeared from the view of Landfall
’
s

battered detection grid, Eulenburg could see Commodore Crowe had got clean away, leaving Landfall behind.

___________________________

20:20 Hrs Douglas Base time

As she slowly dragged herself out through the hatch of Dubious Alanna felt more tired than she ever had before. After hours clenched round the control column, it was agony to even attempt to open her hand. The deck crew was already opening up the engine access panels. Dubious was their responsibility now. As she made her way across the ship, she passed members of the crew, all of them looking as weary as she felt. Entering the other hangar, the smell hit her even before she got through the airlock and the sight of C for Curious stopped her dead in her tracks. There was a massive breach near the cockpit and the rest of the fuselage was peppered with holes, while the portside manoeuvring engine was completely gone. How it had kept going, let alone been able to fight, was a minor miracle. That was her first thought, then the sounds of someone having hysterics and someone else throwing up penetrated her consciousness. One deckhand was huddled in a corner sobbing while the rest looked sickened. Up at the personnel hatch was Malm. In micro gravity it wasn
’
t possible for tears to stream down his face, instead water droplets hung in the air around his head, as he tried to pull the corpse of Weapons Controller Thomas Rackow through the hatch.

___________________________

“
Commander Hockley
’
s face looked peaceful. He still required an oxygen line but his breathing appeared strong.
Deimos
’
s
sickbay was pretty small, designed mainly to handle sickness rather than injury. The brutal reality was that if a plasma bolt burst inside a ship
’
s compartment, anyone inside would be instantly beyond the help of any doctor. In many ways they
’
d been lucky. The projectile that had hit them had punched clean through without hitting anything they couldn
’
t really do without. But it had sent out a spray of fragments that had inflicted terrible wounds on those unlucky enough to be hit.

“
It got him in the lower back,
”
the surgeon told Crowe in a low voice.
“
He
’
s lost two vertebrae, a kidney and his bowel was perforated. I
’
ve stabilised his condition but when possible I would like to evacuate him to the
Fortitude
.
”

“
What about his spinal column? I mean long term? Will he ever walk again?
”
Crowe asked.

“
Walk, probably. Run or jog, never. With the latest therapies sir, he
’
ll probably walk again in two or three years, but he
’
ll never regain anything even close to full mobility. He won
’
t ever be fit for service again.
”

“
He told me once that he was aiming to make Admiral some day. He was ready for his own ship.
”

The surgeon started reply but another patient called out and he hurried away. As he looked down the length of sickbay at the various broken bodies, Crowe felt a profound sense of sadness. Had it been worth it? That was a dangerous question for line officers to ask themselves. Some day historians might answer it. But he could only focus on facts. In terms of their primary mission, they had landed perhaps sixty percent of their cargo. On top of that there had been the unexpected bonus of Heavy Cover forcing contact on the Nameless reinforcements, which had cost the aliens all three of their capital ships, a cruisers and two escorts. But on the other side of the balance sheet, of the fifty-nine ships went into the Landfall system, eighteen including four irreplaceable warships hadn
’
t made it back out. Of those that did, few had come away unscathed. No, Crowe thought, if Operation Kite String was a victory, then at the very best it had been an expensive one.

Chapter Seventeen

What We Missed

10th August 2067

K7
dropped into real space, nearly forty light minutes away from the system
’
s star. The modified courier did a quick jink to sweep its own stern quarter before the towed sensor array began to deploy.

“
So why are we here again?
”
Jeff Harlow asked as he looked over Lieutenant Driscoll
’
s shoulder.
“
We seem to be a long way out from the star.
”

“
Yeah, the local star classes as a super massive, just about. Twenty-six solar masses so it
’
s putting out a lot of power. With our hull, we have to be pretty careful.
”
The Lieutenant frowned for a moment.
“
Even this far out the passive array is going to be cooked by the time we leave, which is why it
’
s our last stop before we head back to Junction Station.
”

“
Then why come?
”

“
Aside from the fact the people with the braid told us?
”
Driscoll shrugged,
“
because no one in their right mind would come here, or stay here. That
’
s a reason for the Nameless to attempt to use it and for us to do an occasional sweep, just to keep them honest. We
’
ll jettison a beacon before we leave, just so they know we
’
ve been here.
”

“
Could there be anyone here?
”

Driscoll brought up an overview of the solar system. There were only three planets showing - two rocky ones and a gas giant. The Lieutenant tapped the screen over the display of the rocky planet closest to the star.

“
That one, no one could even get to. The planet is inside the star
’
s mass shadow, so you
’
d have to make a real space approach and you
’
d need a purpose built ship.
”

Jeff gave him a questioning look.

“
Our hull would melt before we got there,
”
Driscoll explained,
“
and it wouldn
’
t be worth going. The planet is so hot it makes Venus look like Norway. The third planet is so far out and so small it barely counts as a planet at all. A battleship could fire on the surface without even entering its mass shadow, so no use for putting a base on or around that one.
”

“
And the gas giant?
”

“
Well that and its moons are the only places in the system that are worth diddly squat. It
’
s still pretty close to the star - twenty light minutes - which is close enough to be dangerous and like Jupiter it puts out a fair bit of radiation in its own right. So we
’
re going to move into position to sweep the dark side of it. Once we
’
ve seen there
’
s nothing there, then we
’
re out of here. If it wasn
’
t for this system being so close to Junction Station, I don
’
t think we
’
d bother to look at all.
”

Jeff took a couple of notes.

“
Y
’
know I don
’
t think this one is going to make it into my next report,
”
he commented.