Ive noticed that, Tag said. It actually helps mask our ships and might buy us more time. If they are tracking us, they havent started changing their fleet positions yet, according to Saratoga.
Excuse me sir, Lieutenant Kelley said. The Saratoga reports that the Alliance transport ships are evacuating their troops from the planet. It appears that they might be anticipating an asteroid strike on the surface. You would think that they would come out and destroy it before it impacts the planet.
They wont do that, Tag said. This is a golden opportunity that the Cainth wont pass up. Now they wont have to execute the population and be blamed for an atrocity. Theyll let the comet impact do the work for them.
It appears youre right, sir. The ships located on its line of approach are moving to new locations.
Thats the hole we need to drop our transports through, Kosiev said. We wont even have to fight our way in.
Sub-admiral Ecsra looked at his sensor officer and said, Why didnt you see this coming long before now?
Sir, it came in from the other side of the sun and is so small that it just entered our sensor range. It is coming on a line from the sun and was evidently catapulted on a path that will have it impact the planet. Its moving at a very high velocity, and when it hits its going to destroy most of the life on the surface.
Whats its composition?
An outer layer of ice but a core of metal and rock, and at the speed its traveling it wont have a chance to burn up in the atmosphere. It might even penetrate to the planets core and split the planet.
Contact Admiral Dorg and fill him in and ask for instructions.
It took half a drag for the admiral to be contacted, and then he appeared on the communication screen. It appears that if we let the asteroid impact, then our work here will be over.
Sir, it will kill every living thing on the planet.
Then you better start the evacuation of your troops immediately. You didnt think we were going to leave any survivors behind, did you, Admiral?
But we can destroy the asteroid and execute the humans at our leisure, sir.
Ive already received a massive number of communications condemning us for executing the other humans. This way, I can rightfully claim it was an act of fate that killed them and that we did a favor to the ones we executed by a quick painless death. Quit wasting time. Evacuate your troops. If they have to leave some of their equipment behind, so be it. If we can leave quickly we can say we left the humans alive.
Yes sir. Issue the orders ship leader.
Sir, do you want us to exterminate the people in the concentration camps?
Why waste the time and energy? Theyll be gone soon enough; there are only fourteen drags until impact, and you need all that time to move your troops off the surface.
Saratoga reports that the Alliance fleet is moving away from the planet and assembling into two groups, Lieutenant Kelley reported. The closest group to our line of approach has eighty ships with five dreadnoughts and their supporting ships. They appear to be positioning themselves to view the impact. The others are on the backside of the planet, helping with the evacuation of the ground troops. Theyre using ship transports and shuttles to supplement the troop transports.
Kosiev said, Notify the transports following us that they are to hold position and wait for further instructions.
Tag said, You might want to think that through, Admiral.
What do you mean?
Lets say when the groad hits the reactor and the leader of the Cainth ground forces sees his fleet being shot up around him, what do you think his options might be? Those transports cannot outrun a warship. Hell know that theres no way he can make it to the star drive limit. What would you do?
Kosiev thought for a moment and said, Id land my transports on the planet and take the population hostage against my safety.
So would I.
Cancel that order. The original plan stands.
It was an hour until impact, and Tag could see the ships on the end of their fleet start to come out of the psychic shadow. Have the last twenty ships move up to just behind the comet, Admiral. They will be detected in less than a minute if they dont. The ships fired a brief thrust and moved close to the comet. Tag asked, Is there any reaction from the Alliance?
No sir. Saratoga says theyre maintaining position. Mikado said. Time seemed to crawl. Finally Lieutenant Kelley said, Eight minutes sir.
The explosive device in the comet-is it strong enough to totally destroy it, Admiral? Tag asked.
Well give it a push far enough out to gain separation. The fusion blast wont leave pieces bigger than a marble. Theyll burn up in the atmosphere. Melbournes screen will shield us from the blast, Kosiev answered.
Is her screen that strong? Tag asked.
It could handle twenty of those simultaneously, Mikado answered.
Kosiev said, On my command, order comet separation and destruction, have Saratoga disrupt their communications, and then move to assigned targets. Three minutes, two minutes, execute, Kosiev ordered.
On board the Cainth flag ship Armed War, the sensor operator said, Theres something odd here, Admiral. That comet is emitting a low energy source.
A what? Admiral Ecsra asked.
It appears to be coming from behind the comet, but our sensors show an energy source there.
Put that comet on visual, Ecsra said as he stood up and looked closely at the comet on the screen, and suddenly the comet exploded in a nuclear blast, which overloaded his screen. When the screen reset he saw human warships closing on his position at incredible speed. Sound battle stations, fully charge the screen. Evasive maneuvers, get us underway.
The Earth fleet tore into the Cainth fleet like a pack of wolves attacking a bear as their troop drop ships flew right through the Cainth fleets formation, unnoticed to the planets surface. Sixty destroyers paired off and attacked the Cainth cruisers. One would fly by and knock down a cruisers screen, and the second would follow and fire missiles and primary lasers into the exposed hull. Thirty cruisers were destroyed outright or badly damaged within the first minute of the conflict. Each pair of destroyers then turned and attacked their second target. On board the Clearwater, Captain Franklin looked at the cruiser she and her sister ship were about to engage and saw one of the dreadnoughts moving to give supporting fire. As she flashed by and fired on the cruiser, blowing its hull into two pieces, she saw her partners screen turn violet and explode. Then she saw the second dreadnought. They had both fired more than four hundred primary beams into the single Earth destroyer. Now her five screens were going from white to light blue as Captain Franklin turned and flew through the screen of the Los Angeles. The Clearwater emerged from the screen with the excess energy drained off and paired up with another destroyer that had lost its sister. They targeted another cruiser and moved in to attack.