With the Drive stabilized at just below half speed and a course set directly for Atalanta, little remained for Defiant's crew except to wait fretfully for battle reports on the KA'PPA.
They had already made their contribution to the battle; their fate would now be settled by others-at a distance.
Brim was in the wardroom during Night watch, huddled around a KA'PPA display with Ursis and most of the other off-duty officers when the critical message arrived from Penda's forward scouts: ENEMY IN SIGHT. WE ARE ATTACKING.
"Voof," the Bear said imperturbably between puffs of his Zempa pipe, "now it continues, eh?"
"Continues and ends, perhaps," Wellington offered.
"Ends?" Ursis laughed grimly, looking the gunnery officer in her face. "You are a student of history, Dora, Have you uncovered a time when there was no war anywhere among the civilized domains?" He blew a long puff of Hogge'poa toward the ceiling. "So long as the old are willing to send their young off to kill and die for them, there will be war."
"One always hopes that things will change for the better, Nik," Wellington said, staring into her goblet of meem.
"Indeed, one always hopes," Ursis sighed wistfully. "Unfortunately, one is usually disappointed." Just then a series of messages began to flash across the KA'PPA display....
In the opening clashes, Penda's Imperial ships appeared to give good account of themselves, inflicting grievous damage on the invading fleet, in spite of the tremendous firepower of Anak's new super battleships. During the first turbulent moments alone, thirteen of the League's seventeen light cruisers were destroyed by accurate fire from their Imperial peers. And six of Anak's eight powerful battlecruisers were annihilated by the Empire's crack 1st Battle Squadron-quickly proving the folly of too much armor sacrificed for maneuverability. Throughout this phase of the battle, the benders proved to be little more than an annoyance, although at least two Imperial destroyers and a light cruiser were lost to their torpedoes. Nevertheless, during the metacycles that followed, the Leaguers' overwhelming numerical superiority made its presence felt, and the tide inexorably began to change against the outnumbered Imperials.
One by one, foreboding messages began to arrive at Defiant's communications center, each with grimmer news than the last. In a single blow, the three old battlecruisers under Vice Admiral Theobald Corinth, Dilaf, Llongwr, and Ennil, were destroyed with no survivors.
Grizzled old Corinth had exacted a high price for his ships, however: he'd taken the League's giant new battleship Nazir with him, along with the Second-Division flagship Karmat and three heavy cruisers. Not long afterward, proud Ganeth, scarred veteran of a dozen clashes with the forces of Nergol Triannic blew up with all hands, after devastating Anak's giant Parnas and crippling two of her escorts, the First Squadron battleships Samrad and Posen. Then in quick succession, Vanguard and Calid Isel withdrew from the battle with severe hull and Drive damage after disabling or destroying six of the nine battleships from Anak's Second Squadron. Within the megacycle, Triumph and Superb were also put out of action after wreaking havoc in Anak's Third Squadron, and it was soon clear that only a miracle could save the day for the Imperials.
In Defiant's wardroom, the news was received at first with tears of sorrow, then with utter horror. Nergol Triannic's invading armies may well have been destroyed in the early phases of the battle-along with all his plans of occupation. But in the absence of effective opposition by Imperial ships, his powerful fleets would soon be able to utterly destroy the base at Atalanta. "And from there," as Aram put it, studying a map of galactic approaches, "Avalon will be an easy step, indeed."
Brim visualized the coming terror that would soon be unleashed over the streets of the ancient city. He ground his teeth helplessly, thinking of the brightly dressed natives-especially Claudia. They'd all suffered enough of Triannic's evil already-and the worst was clearly to come....
News of Dinas Pont's near destruction and the critical wounding of Admiral Witan Penda brought tears to many eyes-including Brim's. He had been recording a rough tally on his napkin during the preceding metacycles. According to his figures, Rear Admiral Klaus Fischer-who had taken temporary command when Penda was wounded-faced sixteen capital ships with only two surviving battleships, Invincible and Sterling. The latter were powerful warships, to be sure, but in her combat, even the mighty Dinas Pont had been able to destroy only four enemy battleships before she was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. By Moming:3:30 Atalanta time, Task Force 17 had been reduced to hit-and-run raids against Anak's still-powerful fleet as it sped on its way toward Atalanta, now only a single day's travel in the distance.
At Morning:3:61, Folkrum Congor and Task Force 18 sortied from Atalanta on direct orders from the Admiralty. Approximately 12 metacycles later, they joined the remnants of Task Force 17 in a last desperate attempt to stop Anak's fleet. As predicted, the old ships were no more than a foolish sop to Admiralty pride. The leaguers swept past Conger's battleships as if they had no existence. Fortunately, Congor himself was nobody's fool, and after making what appeared to be a last-ditch stand, he quickly withdrew his ships and then joined with the remnants of Task Force 17 to harass the enemy's flanks until Onrad's powerful reinforcements could arrive.
The next morning, with Prince Onrad still nearly a day distant, Atalanta reported its first attacks by Leaguer capital ships. From this first dispatch, it was obvious that Admiral Anak intended to inflict maximum punishment for the part the city and its base had played in building up the Imperial fleet. Brim was at Defiant's controls when he read the first KA'PPAed message, and he felt himself tense at the grisly descriptions.
Clearly, he was not the only one on the Defiant's airless bridge who was reading the messages that morning.
"Great Universe," Collingswood swore in an unhappy whisper, her voice muffled inside her battle helmet. "Such horrible destruction and suffering-I feel so powerless," She shook her head despondently.
"Indeed," Urns answered. "One wishes he could do something-anything-to help."
"Speaking of 'powerless,'" Wellington grumped, "I surely hope our dim-witted friends the Gradygroat gunners are enjoying themselves this morning in their xaxtdamned useless space forts." She laughed grimly. "I guess they probably never will figure out how to get power through truth...."
"GREAT THUNDERING UNIVERSE, Dora!" Ursis's bass voice erupted over the voice circuits. "That's IT!"
"What's 'it,' Nik?" Brim asked, tearing his eyes from another dismal message passing through his display.
"'Power through truth,'" Ursis repeated in an urgent voice. I know how the ancient Gradygroats powered their space cannon."
"You what?" Wellington gasped.
"I understand the old Gradygroat space cannon," Ursis reiterated. "The secret's been right in front of us all along. We simply never looked at what lay directly beneath our noses.