It was a new gel, made specifically to slow proton beams.
A sigh of relief seemed to fill the bridge.
Cassius leaned forward as he studied the holoimages. Ports opened in the kilometers huge Doom Star. Space-to-land missiles launched toward the planet. Each had a MIRVed nosecone—multiple reentry vehicles. It meant that each missile shot a spread of five nuclear warheads.
He switched settings. The heavy orbitals also launched missiles, but at the floating cylinders, the former farm habitats. Checking range and distances, Cassius quickly calculated debris drop-rates.
“They have battle-level wattage online,” Scipio said.
From Eurasia, from Kiev, Berlin and Milan, proton beams stabbed upward at the Julius Caesar. The white beams hit the heavy lead-additive aerosol-gels, chewing through them with unbelievable speed.
“Emergency pumping,” Scipio growled.
Grand Admiral Cassius leaned back in his command shell, watching the crew. They moved with efficiency, with calm speed. That was another reason he’d dipped so near the stratosphere and over Eurasia. It had been a long time since these warriors had been in space combat. An unused sword became rusty.
“There is a breakthrough,” Scipio said.
Cassius returned attention to his holoimages. A weakened proton beam burned through the gels. It struck the Doom Star’s outer plating. It wasn’t the original plating, but a collapsium coating. It was a breakthrough technology, very hard to make. The Julius Caesar was presently the only warship with it, a coating micro-microns thick. Collapsium was hard and dense, and similar in nature to the core of a white star. The electrons of an atom were collapsed on the nuclei so the atoms were compressed so they actually touched. Lead in comparison was like a sponge.
The collapsium shielding held long enough for the Julius Caesar to begin rotation. No point on the ship received the hellish proton-beam longer than a second. Soon, more gels sprayed, absorbing the beams, giving the huge warship enough time to speed around the Earth’s curvature and out of line-of-sight first from Kiev, then Berlin and finally Milan.
“The proton beams are retargeting, sir,” Scipio said. The tall Highborn looked up. “They’re burning orbitals, sir.”
“Point-defense installations are opening up on the surface,” a different Highborn said.
“All orbitals are to take evasive action,” Cassius said.
“They’ve already begun do so, sir,” said Scipio.
The Grand Admiral nodded. That was the Highborn way, to take matters into your own hands. If a Highborn didn’t have the initiative to disregard a foolish order, he wasn’t worthy of the exalted status of super soldier. If a Highborn disregarded a wise order, however, he could be shot. A preman might fold under that kind of pressure. A Highborn thrived, exalting on the knife-edge of existence.
“There are new point-defense establishments!” an officer shouted.
“I can hear you quite easily, thank you,” Cassius told him.
“There are hits in the Po Valley,” Scipio said.
“None on Milan?” asked Cassius.
“It was too heavily defended.”
Cassius switched settings on his command shell, which switched his holoimages. A mushroom cloud rose in the Po River Valley. That was prime agricultural land. Good, good, that would hurt them in the belly.
“More nuclear warheads are detonating,” Scipio said.
“What percentage made it through their defenses?” asked Cassius.
“Fourteen point three-seven percent,” Scipio said. “No, make that fifteen point three.”
“So little?” asked Cassius.
“The number of point-defense establishments has dramatically risen.”
“Hmm,” said Cassius. Yet again, he redirected his holoimage, noting that Felix’s two-seater had interposed a drifting habitat between itself and Eurasia. Was the cockerel foolish enough to think he could remain there? Ah, no, the heavy orbital headed for deeper space. Maybe the youth could think after all.
“Begin battle analysis,” Cassius told Scipio.
“…Yes, sir,” said Scipio.
“Speak your mind.”
“Not all the orbitals have escaped the danger zone.”
“Notice the nuclear warhead patterns,” Cassius said. “Now direct your vectoring—”
“Oh,” said Scipio. “Yes, I see, sir. The warheads have affected SU defense, giving our orbitals cover. I will begin the battle analysis.”
Cassius switched off his holoimaging. How was it that he could see these things more quickly than other Highborn? Was it merely his superior genes? Or did his intense study of military history have something to do with it? Felix had his chromosomes and he’d received full Academy training. Would Felix be able to see as quickly? It was an interesting question, and one that Cassius planned to study in depth.
-20-
The raid over Eurasia had repercussions in Highborn High Command. Soon, Cassius found himself under criticism.
Item: He had revealed the existence of collapsium. The axiom concerning a technological advantage was simple. It should remain a secret until a substantial number of units were deployed in order to achieve a strategic victory.
Item: To a lesser degree but with the same logic, the upgraded gel had been demonstrated. Now SU Command realized their proton beams lacked their former punch. They would likely compensate accordingly.
Item: The raid had achieved no appreciable advantage, and Highborn deaths had occurred. The deaths likely heartened the enemy. And even if only minimally, the deaths certainly weakened deployable military strength.
Cassius had weathered each criticism with a repeated counter-argument. Unfortunately, as the Solar System’s supreme strategist, he realized that the cumulative effect of the attacks had weakened his position among the Highborn as Grand Admiral.
The counter-argument was simple: the best ones usually were. Social Unity was on the defensive. Pressure had continuously mounted against them. The raid over Eurasia had added more pressure because a) superior technology had foiled the surprise proton-beam attack. And b) nuclear strikes had hit Eurasian food supplies despite the massive addition of point-defense systems. That meant c) nothing Social Unity did could prevent its ultimate demise. This had brought about d) demoralization and likely growing apathy among the SU leadership. In other words, the raid kept the pressure high. Soon, Cassius had predicted, there would be large-scale ruptures within Social Unity. That might well give them the Earth in one fell swoop.
It had been a heated meeting. Cassius now jogged through the corridors and hallways of the Julius Caesar to unwind. He wore a sweat suit, with a towel around his thick neck. His iron-colored hair was short and slicked with perspiration. With long, even strides and calm breathing, he’d raced two kilometers already.
He was getting older, but he still credited himself as the most dangerous Highborn alive. Not only was he a strategic genius, but in his opinion, he had few equals and no superiors in hand-to-hand combat. Physically, he feared no entity. It didn’t mean he was foolish or took foolish risks.
He saw the monofilament line stretched across the corridor. It was nearly invisible and a quarter-meter off the deckplate. Conceivably, it was meant to sheer through his ankle and deprive him of a foot. The implications were ominous.
Unfortunately, he saw the line too late to halt—he was running too fast through the ship corridor to stop on the spot. So he jumped over the monofilament line. While passing over it, he entered a hyper-state of readiness. Every sense tingled with awareness. His muscles rippled under his skin as his eyes shined with murder-lust. A yearning to kill surged through him as adrenalin hit him like a love-drug.
“Hello, old man.”
Cassius spun to his right, toward a viewing port. Through the ballistic glass was pockmarked Luna. There was a big black spot seemingly on the moon. It was the position of the Genghis Khan in orbit around it. Stars shined like a blanket of gems in the background.