“Alien fighters seem to be roughly equal to ours in terms of drives,” the analyst said. “However, they posses both stealth systems and advanced energy weapons capable of seriously damaging a starship’s hull. Our best guess is that they are actually modified plasma cannons, which suggests that the aliens have actually overcome the containment field problems that bedevil human researchers. An alternative is that the weapons actually induce limited fission in their targets.”
Ted winced. Humanity’s plasma cannons had a nasty habit of overheating and exploding, which was why they were rarely deployed by the military. But if the aliens had cracked that problem, somehow, it would give them a decisive advantage. For one, all of their starfighters would pack the punch of a torpedo-bomber. They’d have genuine duel-role starfighters.
“They also managed to get much closer to our carriers without being detected than we believed possible,” the analyst added. “Indeed, our first thought was that the alien starfighters had managed to make an in-system FTL jump. If we hadn't been so convinced that was impossible, we might not have realised that they merely remained hidden until they were very close to our ships. We are currently looking for ways to break their stealth systems, but so far we have come up with nothing.
“Worse, it seems likely that they have a better FTL system than ourselves,” he concluded. He pointed to a starchart, then focused it on the New Russia system. “Their appearance within the system didn't correspond to any known tramline. It seems that they jumped from a star we would consider outside normal tramline range. This suggests that our strategic maps of human space may be badly outdated.”
Ted exchanged a long look with Fitzwilliam as the information sank in. Normally, the tramlines rarely stretched past five light years. It still took time to move from system to system… but if the aliens had access to weaker tramlines, they might well be able to evade the human defences and outmanoeuvre the human starships. It could give them a potentially decisive advantage.
To add to the other ones they have, he thought, grimly. They’d been wrong; the aliens hadn't been reluctant to attack further, they’d just waited until humanity had offered them a tempting target. And then they’d attacked, wiping out a colossal force and shattering humanity’s unity. The loss of New Russia alone was a serious blow.
“We have prepared recordings of the battle for you,” the First Space Lord said. “I advise you to watch carefully, as the recordings will not be released until the PM has addressed the nation.”
“Good idea,” Fitzwilliam muttered. “There will be panic if this gets out.”
Ted didn't bother to disagree. Everyone knew that carriers were the most powerful starships in existence. Losing one alone would be a disaster, losing twelve… even if only two of them had been British, would seem catastrophic. And, if the aliens really did have a decisive technological advantage, it might not be long before Earth itself was targeted.
He leaned forward as the main display lit up, showing the New Russia system as a tactical display. The alien fleet — fifteen carrier-sized starships, forty smaller craft — jumped into the system, well away from any known tramline. Ted wondered, absently, if the aliens were actually trying to trick the human analysts. They had enough stealth technology to hide their fleet until the moment they chose to show themselves. Why not try to intimidate humanity into surrender?
But those plasma weapons weren't illusions, he thought, numbly. They were real.
Humanity’s fleet assembled, blocking the alien advance. Messages were sent, offering talks… only to be ignored. Humanity’s starfighters had advanced forward, ready to engage the enemy… until the moment the enemy starfighters had appeared, between the human starfighters and their carriers. They had to have passed through the swarm of human fighters, completely undetected. Ignoring the suddenly frantic starfighters, the aliens threw themselves at the human carriers. Powerful blasts of plasma fire tore into their hulls, burning through flimsy armour and wrecking havoc inside the ships. One by one, humanity’s ships were rapidly torn apart.
The battle wasn't completely one sided, he noted. Human weapons could and did kill enemy fighters, but there were just too many of them. The humans were overwhelmed and destroyed before they could reorganised their formation, allowing the alien starships to advance forward to engage New Russia itself. And then the recording came to an end.
“We will be rethinking our plans in light of this development,” the First Space Lord said, with admirable understatement. “I don't think I need to explain just how serious this situation is, do I?”
No one disagreed.
Ted stared down at his hands, wondering briefly why he hadn't taken early retirement. It wasn't as if the navy wanted to keep him. And he could have been on the ground, instead of standing on the command deck of a carrier. But the navy was his life. And he knew his duty.
I volunteered to place myself between Britain and war, he reminded himself. And yet he’d never really faced the prospect of his own death in wartime. Accidents had accounted for more naval deaths over the past decades than enemy action. I don’t get to back out because it might have become dangerous.
“Dismissed, gentlemen,” the First Space Lord said. “Captain Smith, if you and Commander Fitzwilliam will remain behind…”
“Yes, sir,” Ted said.
He waited until the massive compartment was almost empty, then followed the First Space Lord through a guarded airlock into a tactical planning centre. A handful of analysts were seated at terminals, working their way through the data from New Russia. He looked at one of the screens and saw an alien carrier, a fragile-looking craft. But they hadn't needed heavy armour to rip New Russia’s defences apart.
“Take a seat,” the First Space Lord ordered. “We have a mission for you.”
Chapter Seven
“A mission,” Ted repeated. “What do you want us to do?”
“The important detail, I think, is that the modern carriers simply lacked the armour to stand up to alien weapons,” the First Space Lord said. “That, combined with their stealth systems, gave them a definite advantage over the united fleet, allowing them to tear us apart.”
His voice was curiously flat. Ted realised, not entirely to his surprise, that the First Space Lord was too tired to really feel the deaths… and grasp the full magnitude of what it meant for the war. If humanity’s unarmoured ships were easy prey for alien fighters, the war was within shouting distance of being lost along with the carriers. Once the carriers were gone, humanity wouldn't even be able to continue the war.
Understanding clicked. “Ark Royal might be able to stand up to them,” he said. He found himself fighting to hold back the urge to giggle in a decidedly-unmilitary manner. “We still have our armour.”
“Indeed,” the First Space Lord agreed. “Ark Royal might be able to survive where more modern carriers would have real problems.”
He tapped a switch, activating the star chart. “We are still studying the records, of course, but it seems to me that the aliens managed to jump over nine light years to New Russia, judging by their appearance. If this is the case, they have a major advantage over us. In particular, they will be able to avoid all of our blocking forces and reach Earth directly.”