The Shadow of Cincinnatus (37 page)

She sucked in her breath as yet another wave of red icons appeared on the display. This time, they were small cruisers, their sensors already probing space for possible targets. If the Outsiders hadn’t damaged her defenses so badly, the cruisers wouldn’t have lasted long enough to orient themselves, let along scan local space and send their results back to their commanders. But now, they had all the time they needed to check on the results and send a message home. It wouldn’t be long before the battlewagons started to transit the Asimov Point, then secure local space.

“Commodore, the shuttles are closing in,” Lieutenant Janelle reported. She sounded puzzled, as if she didn’t understand what she was seeing. “They’re scattering...”

Tanya frowned. It didn’t quite make sense...

“They’re launching assault troopers,” she said. She keyed her switch, then checked the firearm at her belt. “All hands, prepare to repel boarders. I say again, all hands prepare to repel boarders.”

She cursed under her breath. Boarding actions were rare, almost unheard of outside adventure stories and bad movies. The enemy would have to gamble she wouldn’t blow the fortress, just to prevent it falling into enemy hands. But if they succeeded, they would have taken possession of a useless hulk. She’d definitely have time to purge the command network, if nothing else...

“And send a signal to Admiral Garibaldi,” she added. On the display, a green icon representing a fortress flashed and vanished. Another two thousand men and women had just been wiped from existence. “Inform him that we will continue sending updates as long as we can.”

* * *

“Admiral,” Lieutenant Thompson said, “there are smaller attacks at the other two Asimov Points.”

Roman cursed under his breath. The enemy was trying to be clever, which he’d expected, but there was something about the timing that bothered him. At least the assault on Point Delta was too strong to be anything other than the main assault...unless the Outsiders were far stronger than he had believed possible. No, the assault on Point Delta had to be the main assault. And that meant...what? Why was the enemy probing the other Asimov Points?

He stared down at the display for a long moment, then understood. The Outsiders
hadn’t
anticipated the StarCom network. They’d launched three assaults, two of them feints, just to distract him, believing that he’d hear about the assault on Point Gamma first. And he would have done, if he hadn’t been using the StarComs. Instead, he knew which of the assaults was the real one.

“Set course for Point Delta, best possible speed,” he ordered. By the time they arrived, the enemy would likely have secured the Asimov Point and started to advance into the system, probably heading for Point Alpha or Point Beta. But they would have to take out his fleet before declaring victory. “And contact Commodore Lopez. I want him to bring his fleet to alert status now.”

“Aye, sir,” Lieutenant Thompson said.

Roman sat back in his chair and forced himself to relax.

* * *

Uzi smiled to himself as the fortress loomed up in front of him. She was colossal, a giant box-like structure crammed with missile tubes and directed energy weapons. The Federation Navy’s Fortress Command had constructed thousands of similar fortresses, then broken them down into prefabricated structures that could be assembled quickly, if the need arose. It had come in very handy for the war against Admiral Justinian, allowing the Federation to seal off Asimov Points that had been left undefended. Now, they served a similar purpose as the Outsiders pressed the offensive into the Federation.

He landed on the armoured side of the fortress, then activated his sensors. Two-thirds of the force had made it through the maelstrom outside, the remaining troopers wiped out by enemy fire or antimatter discharges. It would probably have been more, if the enemy had realized the Outsiders would attempt to board the fortresses. But there was no time to waste. He checked the formation, then sent a single command: Find the hatches and get inside, whatever it took.

“Hatch located,” one of the troopers sent. “We’re breaking in now.”

Uzi nodded, then followed the advance unit as it broke through the airlock and into the station. The atmosphere started to explode out of the station as they opened the second airlock, then stilled as the inner compartment vented completely. Uzi wasn’t too surprised, although some of his men sounded alarmed. The innards of the fortress would have been secured, with airlocks and tubes sealed tightly shut. Even if the hull was breached, the remainder of the fortress would have remained pressurized.

But the lack of resistance troubled him.

“Seal the hatch, then press onwards,” he ordered. One team was already trying to hack the fortress’s datanet, through an uncovered set of datanodes, but he would have been astonished if they actually succeeded. The Federation had learned a great deal about improving its computer security, in the wake of the Justinian War. “And watch for ambushes.”

He led the way towards the command deck himself, trusting Roebuck to handle the assault on the power cores. No resistance materialized until they made their way through a second airlock, whereupon they ran into an enemy-held position. The fortress crew were armed, he noted, although it was clear from their tactics that they’d never had any proper combat training. But that wasn’t really a surprise. The Marines would have been deployed to Boston, just to make sure the planet stayed loyal. There would only be a handful left on the fortresses.

Unhooking a grenade from his belt, he threw it along the corridor, then lunged onwards as the grenade exploded. A handful of bodies lay on the deck, damaged beyond repair by the grenade. He felt a moment of cold disdain as he saw one of the bodies – what sort of idiot didn’t even wear protection when there was a very real chance of the entire fortress venting? – and then dismissed the thought. No one in their right mind would have anticipated the Outsiders actually storming the fortress directly...

“This is Roebuck,” a voice said. “The power cores are heavily defended.”

“Unsurprising,” Uzi said. They’d drilled time and time again, but it seemed that most of their assumptions had been wrong. “Hold the line. We’ll try and break into the command core.”

The resistance grew stronger as they forced their way up the corridor. A pair of IEDs claimed two of his men, while a third fell to a sniper who’d hidden herself in a tube and opened fire the moment his men came into view. Uzi glanced at her body, then led the way up to the command core itself. The solid metal hatch seemed to glare at them as they paused, then fixed explosive charges to the hinges. Uzi braced himself as they sought cover, then triggered the charges...

* * *

Tanya watched, grimly, as her fortress fell to the enemy. They’d probably had plenty of time to study the layout – the basic design had been standardized for years – and they hadn’t wasted any effort. Her computer network was under siege – thankfully, she’d primed it to seal off contaminated sections before the enemy could use them to overwhelm the entire system – while two enemy parties were advancing through the interior. One of them was heading right for the command core...

The entire compartment shook violently as the hatch was blown off its hinges, allowing the enemy to charge into the room. Tanya considered drawing her pistol and going out in a blaze of glory, before deciding otherwise. There were young men and women in the compartment who deserved to live, assuming the Outsiders were telling the truth when they claimed to treat prisoners decently. Besides, resistance would only get them all killed, for nothing. She tapped a switch, triggering a core dump, then kept her hands in view as the armored men advanced forward.

“Get away from those consoles,” the leader snapped. “Hands in the air!”

Tanya obeyed, as did her subordinates. The Outsiders searched them roughly, removed their weapons and then bound their hands behind their backs. She forced herself to relax, remembering everything she’d been taught in the dreaded Conduct After Capture course. If dealing with humans, the first few moments of captivity were always the most dangerously unpredictable. Being captured by aliens was much worse. There were plenty of reports of humans being dissected by their captors, or simply tortured through ignorance...

They were marched into her office, then placed against the wall and told to wait. They obeyed – they had no choice – as the Outsiders checked the datanet. It didn’t take them long to discover that it had been purged, leaving the fortress completely useless. Tanya watched them as they spoke in hushed voices, wondering if they would take their frustration out on her people. It was quite possible they’d be willing to make her people pay...

“Get them to the shuttles,” the leader ordered, finally. “And then blow the hatches completely.”

No
, Tanya thought. Blowing the hatches would decompress the entire station. If some of her people had managed to avoid capture – and she had a large crew – they would die when they ran out of oxygen. She tried to think of something she could say to prevent the Outsiders from venting her command, but she couldn’t think of anything. The fortress was no longer hers.

She grunted as she was hauled to her feet, patted down again, then pushed towards the hatch. Her crew followed her – at least the Outsiders were professional, she noted – their faces desperately worried. Who knew what would happen to them once they reached the POW camp? Even if the Outsiders treated them well, they might never return to the Federation...

...And if they did, she asked herself, would they be blamed for being taken captive?

There was no way to know. All she could do was wait and see.

* * *

“Three of the fortresses have been secured,” Lieutenant Juneau reported, as the latest flight of drones returned through the Asimov Point, “but two of them had their systems purged. The third almost destroyed itself. The engineers believe the self-destruct system jammed when the boarding parties attempted to hack the system. They think the station should be abandoned.”

“See to it,” Charlie ordered.

“But the other fortresses are useless,” Lieutenant Juneau said. She sounded shocked. “We won’t learn anything from them.”

Charlie shrugged. It wasn’t a surprise. Attacking the fortresses had always been a gamble, one that might well not have paid off. It had, to some degree; they’d taken upwards of three thousand prisoners. But he’d wanted the fortress computer records too.

And the weapons would have come in handy too
, he thought.
We could have held the point, if necessary
...

He shook his head. “Order the first battle squadrons to proceed through the Asimov Point,” he ordered. “Then dispatch two transports for the prisoners. They can be shipped back to Athena for interrogation, then moved to the detention camp.”

“Aye, sir,” Lieutenant Juneau said.

Charlie smiled, then sat back in his chair. The assault, so far, had gone about as well as he’d dared hope. The Marsha had done their bit – and other assault units were hitting the other points, hopefully keeping the Federation’s defenders unsure which one was the main axis of attack. But now, there would be no mistaking the true assault. His fleet would be impossible to miss, once it slipped through the point.

And then we will see just how well they prepared for us
, he thought. On the display, the first superdreadnaughts vanished as they entered the Asimov Point.
Because we have quite a few surprises up our sleeves
.

As always, the main problem with launching a major attack remains one of coordination. This is why the Federation’s tactics were often simple in the extreme – and why the Blue Star War went so badly wrong
.

-The Federation Navy in Retrospect, 4199

Boston, 4100

“They’re coming through the Asimov Point, sir.”

“I can see that, boy,” Captain Ward growled. “Get your head out of your ass and give me a detailed breakdown.”

Lieutenant Carmon looked down at his console. Admiral Garibaldi had given
Dasher
strict orders; she was to remain near the Asimov Point, close enough to monitor the starships as they made transit, without revealing her presence to the enemy. A network of sensor-stealthed platforms hung nearby, linked to the cloaked ship through laser transmitters, feeding data into her computers without forcing her to use her own sensors. Several of the platforms had been blinded by the assault on the Asimov Point, but enough remained to allow
Dasher
to carry out her assignment.

“Nine battle squadrons, sir,” Lieutenant Carmon said. “Plus at least fifty-seven cruisers, mostly Type Alpha or Type Beta, and one hundred and nine destroyers. Nine of them read out as ex-Federation Navy designs.”

“Probably captured or surrendered by traitors,” Captain Ward muttered. He was known for being a hard-ass – and for being the Federation’s most loyal supporter. “Can you get a precise ID?”

“Not at this range, sir,” Carmon said. “They’re not broadcasting any IFF signals.”

Captain Ward grunted. “Keep monitoring them,” he ordered. “They will betray themselves eventually.”

Carmon watched as the enemy fleet shook itself down into formation, then started to move away from the Asimov Point. A small flotilla of cruisers remained at the point, guarding the Outsider rear, although they couldn’t have stood up to a serious offensive. The destroyer recorded everything she saw, then forwarded the data to Admiral Garibaldi. It would be his task to intercept and destroy the enemy fleet.

“Pull us back from the point,” Captain Ward ordered. The enemy fleet wasn’t even
trying
to be stealthy. It was sweeping space with hundreds of high-powered sensors, looking for any traces of cloaked ships. “We don’t want to be spotted out here.”

“No, sir,” Carmon agreed.

* * *

“They’re leaving a small detachment at the point,” Lieutenant Thompson reported. “But the remainder of the fleet is setting course for Point Alpha.”