Maintenance channels? Puzzled, Brim hastily unfolded the small scrap of message plastic from its envelope, then suddenly grinned when it all came clear. "Good luck and universe speed you, lover," the note read in old-fashioned symbols. "Expect all equipment back in one gorgeous hunk. Claudia." Cheeks burning, he tucked the plastic into the arm pocket of his battle suit.
At approximately Night:2:40, Ursis cut generator number four onto the main energy bus; all mooring beams were shut off to the gravity pool; and Brim eased Defiant onto the canal, followed immediately by I.F.S. Deadly, and the four high-speed P-class cruisers Perilous, Perdition, Perisher, and Poison. Out on the open waters of Grand Harbor, the ships went immediately into Readiness Condition One. At Night:2:58, with the ruby eye of vector 91E
centered in his Hyperscreens, Brim began his takeoff run, lifting from the water a few clicks afterward and standing out to space on course 6145H at maximum takeoff velocity. Only cycles later, he cleared the North-forty-five-J synchronous buoy while Ursis started the four DDB-19A7 Drive crystals, and within moments the LightSpeed indicator was on its way past 1.1-Haelic suddenly ebbing into the starry blackness astern as if it had never existed....
Within a metacycle, Onrad's six battlecruisers and five fast battleships were also reported spaceborne; by Night:4:19 the Prince, himself, with his eight battleships took departure as well, all ships setting course 6145H across the galaxy. These thirteen capital warships-with their ancient, tradition-bound names-were the vital heart of Task Force 16.
I.F.S. Resolve, Onrad's flagship, was the scarred victor of a dozen deadly jousts against Anak's power. She was followed by I.F.S. Intractable, I.F.S. Spiteful, and the just-commissioned I.F.S. Ateb Credu. A second division under Vice Admiral Jacob Sturdee comprised I.F.S. Conqueror, I.F.S. Canodd, I.F.S. Morwir, and I.F.S. Thunderer- the last had the largest number of high-amplitude disruptors and turrets in known space. Ahead of these cruised the four fast battleships of Vice Admiral Erat Plutron: I.F.S. Queen Elidean, I.F.S. Ganriel, I.F.S. Daithom, and I.F.S. Barreg. Many considered these the finest warships in the known universe: all had been designed with a nearly perfect balance of stout armor, powerful armament, and extremely high speed. They were considerably smaller than Kabul Anak's three massive Rengas-class battleships, but with proper leadership-in the person of the wily old Plutron-it was widely accepted that the powerful squadron would make more than a match for anything it might encounter. Anywhere.
In the van, Onrad's battlecruiser squadron pushed through space under the broad pennant of Vice Admiral Zorn Hober hi I.F.S. Benwell. Astern Greyffin IV, Princess Sherraine, Gwir Neithwr, Oedden, and Iaith Galad followed in her wake. Three of the sleek battlecruisers were veterans of Anak's earliest raids. Many on board those ships still had deep grudges to settle.
Brim knew that Onrad needed to destroy as many of the Leaguer ships as possible-especially the Surface Occupation Group with its nearly one hundred thousand ground troops. As Collingswood had put it during her briefing, "We want to rid ourselves of this garbage, out in space, not anywhere near an inhabited surface...." However, Onrad was also painfully aware of the League's numerical superiority in ships-and Anak's secondary goal of destroying the Imperial Fleet. So it was his added responsibility to preserve every fighting ship he possibly could. The Prince's handling of the dilemma would prove his mettle as a future Emperor one way or another. And if he lost, he might as well not bother coming home.
Two days later, Brim dozed in a jump seat listening to KA'PPA reports of Task Force 17's departure-during what should have been Haelic's ancient Festival of Lights. This year, Atalanta had shelved tradition in hope of happier tomorrows and a more secure future, but he recalled illustrations, from previous observances: children with colorful flags, speeches, festive bunting, parades. Today, the city's streets would echo to the mighty thunder of great warships lifting from the harbor. He wondered how Claudia was spending her time, then chuckled to himself. He knew how she'd spend at least part of it were he in town...
Four powerful star fleets-the accumulated might of Greyffin IV's galactic Empire and Nergol Triannic's League of Dark Stars-were blindly racing toward one another and a head-on collision with fate. With them traveled issues infinitely greater than the aggregate weights of their hullmetal or manpower. Only one fleet could emerge victorious from their combat. Immediate objectives were defense-or invasion-of a small planet circling a third-class star. Secondary goals, however, would decide the fate of Avalon and a number of neighboring planets. And even these were small compared to the real issues hanging in the balance. The upcoming battles would ultimately decide the whole warp and woof of civilization-for generations to come....
As Task Force 16 continued across the galaxy, its crews settled back into traditional, workaday routines. Every six megacycles, each ship conducted rigorous disruptor practice-and for lack of anything else to do, there were countless inspections of everything-including brasswork and silver-service polish. Aboard I.F.S. Invincible, Captain (the Hon.) Katherine Lorant convened a special mast and clapped two junior navigating officers in the brig for three days each, a woman for "unauthorized partial nudity on the bridge," and a man for "gross misuse of navigational tables."
The initial clash with Leaguer ships occurred on the fourth day out. At approximately Dawn:1:03 Atalanta standard time near BD*2/31:0, I.F.S. Kracken, a K-class destroyer on remote patrol, KA'PPAed sighting two benders at Red, Red-Orange and slightly to nadir, bearing Green, Green-Blue. A few cycles later, Kracken again KA'PPAed-this time to report that she was under attack. Thereafter, nothing more was heard until the reconnaissance craft called back with the words, scratch two benders. Following this, however, do further sightings occurred for nearly two more days.
At last, on the sixth day out, a destroyer on the far yellow wing of Task Group 16's van KA'PPAed three electrifying words: ENEMY IN SIGHT. Brim watched the words flash across his situation display at Morning:2:20. Moments later, the destroyer flashed a second signaclass="underline" TRANSPORT SQUADRON IDENTIFICATION DEFINITE. SMALL BATTLE CRUISERS AT YELLOW-YELLOW. BEARING GREEN, YELLOW-GREEN AT FIFTEEN THOUSAND LIGHTSPEED. DISTANCE 99188. MY POSITION GV*21/-78:98. I AM ATTACKING WITH...
The transmission ended abruptly at Morning:2:23. After five more cycles, it was generally conceded that Liat-Modal had apparently drawn first blood-but his small victory was nearly a cycle too late. Behind him, Brim could hear Collingswood wrapping up her first report to Onrad that the game had been flushed.
"Well, my friends," she announced straightaway on the bridge intercom, "it seems that Prince Onrad requires us to have an early look at the Leaguers." She grinned. "Commander Calhoun, you may call the ship to action stations. Wilf, bring us onto an intersecting course with those battlecruisers.
"Aye, Captain," Brim said. "Mr. Chairman, I shall need a course alteration to GV*21/-78:98-updated by fifteen thousand LightSpeed at bearing green, yellow-green."
"A moment, Lieutenant," the voice of the Chairman said. Presently, it returned with,
"Updated course alteration will be 48.1 at -10 Nadir in thirty clicks, Lieutenant."