Jessica stepped up next to Nathan. “Don’t get me wrong-I hope Cameron’s gonna be all right and all-but it’s a good thing she’s not here right now, because she’d probably relieve you of command.”
“You’re right. She would,” he admitted. “And what about you?”
“Hey, you know me, skipper. I’m always ready to kick some ass.”
Nathan turned back to Tug. “What can you tell me about the Yamaro?”
“She’s a heavy cruiser, and she operates several squadrons of short-range attack fighters. She is armed with long-range missiles and short-range energy weapons, of which she has many. But her biggest strength is her shielding. She can project a shield barrier bubble at least two kilometers in all directions. She normally does this to allow maneuvering room for her fighters as they are launched and recovered.”
“How do the fighters get past the shields?”
“They can open and close small holes in the shields to let them in. But the shields are one way. That is, they only keep what is outside from coming in. They do not stop what is inside from getting out.”
“Is it possible to knock her shields out?”
“Not from the outside. You would have to be inside her shield perimeter. Then, it would be rather easy. Just take out enough of her emitters. She would not be able to maintain a proper shield and it would completely collapse. But there is no way to get close enough to even try.”
“I have an idea about that,” Nathan said as he moved closer to Abby and Deliza. “Abby, you said before that the new computer core that Deliza installed makes it possible for you to jump closer more accurately?”
“Yes, considerably so.”
“Does that mean you can jump closer to another object?”
“Yes, but-”
“How close?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Less than, say, two kilometers?”
“Less than one, I would think.”
“Could you jump us to say, five hundred meters off that warship?”
“Yes. I believe so.”
“Would that ships energy shields get in the way?”
“Not at all. When we jump, we are traveling in a different dimension. So matter from this dimension would not react with us while we were in transition.”
“Okay. I’m not even going to pretend that I understand that. I’m just going to believe you when you say it will work.”
“Yes, sir. It will work.”
“Great. Plot a jump to take us back to Corinair. Say, about one light minute out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nathan spun around to face the front of the bridge. “Helm, come about. Set course back to Corinair. Reduce speed to one percent light.”
“Yes, sir,” Josh answered. Josh immediately began executing a slow turn to head back, as Loki began plotting the new course for him. The order to reduce speed to one percent of light put a smile on Josh’s boyish face. He had never flown anything faster than one percent light.
“Captain,” Tug interrupted, “you will only get one chance, maybe two if you are quick enough with your second pass. Once he discerns your strategy, he will undoubtedly pull his shields back in close, so as not to give you room.”
“Jess-” Nathan said.
“Jump in, shoot, jump out, repeat as needed. Yeah, I got it,” she assured him as she began preparing instructions for the fire control computers for the rail guns. “Josh, we’ll need to keep our topsides facing the target as we pass, so I can get all our guns on the target.”
“Got it.”
“Captain? How many jumps are you planning?” Abby asked.
Nathan turned back to Abby, realizing that she would need to calculate each jump on the fly. “We’re gonna jump in to a range of one light minute and then charge in as if we’re going to slug it out. Then just after they fire their long range missiles, we jump forward to about five hundred meters ahead and five hundred meters to his side. That should put us inside his shields and give us a clean shot. Then we jump back out to just beyond his range, and repeat as many times as it takes. Or at least for as long as it still works,” he admitted. “Can you manage that?”
“Yes, sir. I believe so.”
“How long will you need to calculate each jump?”
“At such short distances? Maybe thirty seconds each?”
“Great. That should be more than quick enough.” Nathan straightened up and moved back to the command chair. “Comms, alert both engineering and medical. Let them know we’re going into combat.”
“Captain,” Jessica warned, “she’s going to be performing surgery on Cameron in the middle of the battle.”
“Yeah,” Nathan answered grimly. “I know.”
CHAPTER 10
The blue-white jump flash faded as quickly as it had occurred, the main view screen automatically readjusting its brightness back to normal settings.
“Jump complete,” Abby reported.
Nathan looked at the main view screen. “Opticals on the target, insert and zoom in.”
Kaylah immediately pointed the ship’s long-range optical sensors on the Yamaro and magnified the image. She then put the view in a separate window and placed it in the middle of the main view screen at the front of the bridge for the captain to see.
Nathan turned his head toward Jessica, behind him at the tactical station. “Range to target?”
“Seventeen point nine million kilometers,” Jessica reported. “Three thousand kilometers per second closure.”
“Tug. What’s the max range of their missiles?”
“As you know, Captain, in space, there is no maximum range. However, their effective range is limited by their maximum velocity as well as the amount of energy expended to reach that speed. Generally speaking, you are currently at the extreme limits of their effective range. It is doubtful that any Ta’Akar captain would waste a missile from this range. And even if he did, it would take nearly two full minutes for the weapon to reach you. As you can see, not very effective.”
“Very well. Jess, we’ll call twenty million kilometers their max missile range from now on.”
“Got it.”
“Captain,” Tug said, “in order to ensure that he extends his shields to their maximum effective radius, you need to get him to launch his fighters. Doing so will require expanding his shields. It is standard procedure for them.”
“And how do we do that?”
“You must convince him that you intend to face him head on. It is a matter of pride for a captain to win a battle with as few scars to his ship as possible. If he believes you are about to attack, he will try to preoccupy you with his fighters, allowing him time to move closer and finish you with his main gun batteries.”
“So his order of battle is missiles, fighters, guns?”
“Correct.”
“So how do we get him to come after us?”
“Simple,” Jessica chimed in. “Pick a fight.”
The pristine landscape of Corinair’s capital city disintegrated with each blow from the warship orbiting high above the planet. The unprovoked attack which had begun only ten minutes ago had already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, with ten times as many unaccounted for.
Similar scenes were playing out in cities all over the planet’s primary continent. Those that were unlucky enough to lie under the attacker’s orbital path were the first to be targeted. Massive balls of red-orange energy streaked down from above, vaporizing everything within a kilometer of impact. That which was not vaporized was demolished by shock waves that extended several more kilometers beyond.
Aitkenna, the planet’s capital, had received the blunt of the initial attack, with most of its suburbs being equally targeted. The bombardment, which seemed to strike every ten seconds, was slowly making its way across the sprawling city as the attacking vessel progressed on its orbit. In a few more minutes the attack on this city would end, at least for now. Eventually, the warship would complete its orbit and once again be over the capital.
In the secret underground churches of the Order, in the homes of those afraid to venture out, and even in the battered streets, people huddled together and prayed as destruction rained down upon them. They prayed for reprieve, forgiveness, and for rescue. But mostly, they prayed that the sign witnessed the night before was indeed the sign of their salvation.