Beyond the Shroud of the Universe (30 page)

“Freyr, the battle station is in motion,” the sensor technician said. “It appears to be spinning.”

“Why would they do that?” the Odin asked.

“They are probably trying to bring a less damaged side of the station to face us,” the Freyr replied. “Frankly, I am surprised it has taken them this long. We have pounded that side to scrap; if I were in control over there, I would have spun the station long before this. They must not have much remaining.”

The Freyr looked at his tactical plot. “Our allies are doing an excellent job on the Aesir ships,” he said. “They are doing too well, actually; they have already destroyed the majority of the Aesir fleet. We will have to hurry with the battle station, or there won’t be any left for us.”

“Contact!” the OSO said. “One of the Jotunn ally’s ships just popped up on the other side of the
Hood
, sir. It is approximately eight million miles beyond the
Hood!
”

“Can we fire?” Captain Nakamura asked.

“No sir,” the OSO replied. “It is in range; however, we would have to shoot across the
Hood.
”

“Understood,” the CO said. “Prepare a targeting solution that takes the missiles around the
Hood,
in case we’re needed.”

“Sir, the ally ship is preparing to fire torpedoes!” the sensor operator shouted.

“Calm down,” Captain Nakamura said. “Make your reports like you have been taught.”

“Sir, the enemy ship is preparing to fire torpedoes,” the sensor operator said in a more normal, although excited, tone of voice. “The ship is larger than the one the
Vella Gulf
fought; this one is cruiser-sized.”

“Much better,” the CO replied. “DSO, if the torpedoes come toward us, are you ready?”

“Yes sir,” the DSO replied. “Decoy systems operational, manned and ready.”

“Very well.”

“Sir!” the communications officer exclaimed. “The
Hood
just asked for us to shoot over them at the enemy ship. They were not at General Quarters, and their systems aren’t fully manned.”

“OSO, take the enemy under fire,” Captain Nakamura ordered.

“Firing, sir.”

The crew could feel the ship jolt slightly as the broadside of 35 anti-ship missiles launched. “Birds away,” the OSO said.

“Sir, the enemy ship has launched,” the sensor officer said. “10 torpedoes inbound toward the strike group.” His tone was back up half an octave, the CO noted.

“Can we do anything to assist the
Hood?
” Captain Nakamura asked.

“No sir,” the DSO replied. “Unless the torpedoes are targeted on us, they will be outside the range of our defenses. The
Hood
is on its own.”

“Admiral, all 10 torpedoes hit the
Hood.
At least one of her engines has been destroyed; she is beginning to drop behind.”

“Should I tell the rest of the strike group to slow to match the
Hood?
” the flag watch officer asked.

“No,” the admiral replied. “I told the Thor we would come at our best speed, and I intend to. If the
Hood
can’t keep up, they’ll just have to get there when they can. Leave them.”

“Skipper,” the communications officer said, “Captain Train just commed me. A couple of our squadron pilots and platoon members are onboard the
Thermopylae.
He’s asking us for a shuttle run to come get them before combat starts. He said, and I quote, ‘I’d feel a lot safer on a ship run by someone who wasn’t an idiot.’”

“I’d love to get them, but our shuttle already has a priority run. Please let him know we can’t get them at this time.”

“Excuse me, sir,” the sensor officer interrupted, “but one of the destroyer-sized ships just popped up on the opposite side of the
Hood
from the first one
.
It’s preparing to launch, too.”

“Geez,” Captain Sheppard said. “This is just like watching a World War II German submarine wolf pack at work. Cut out the weak and destroy them in detail. Helm, how long until we join up with the strike group?”

“30 minutes,” the helmsman said. “And then another 30 minutes until we are in range of the Jotunn dreadnought.”

“This is ludicrous,” the CO muttered. “Get me the admiral, please.”

Admiral Lambert appeared on the screen. He didn’t look happy. “Yes?” he asked. “We are busy fighting a battle at the moment. Is there something you absolutely need?”

“Yes, admiral. You may not know it, but the
Vella Gulf
can jump between universes like the enemy can. I am requesting permission to jump to the Jinn Universe and hunt the enemy ships there.”

“Permission denied,” the admiral replied. “They have to jump into our universe to fire at us; we will fight them here. Continue toward the strike group and take the
Hood’s
screening position to our starboard. When you are there, de-cloak. That should give them pause.”

“Aye, sir, we will take the
Hood’s
position. Can we get a shuttle run to bring our crew members over to us before combat begins? You have two of our pilots; we may need them for the fight.”

“We don’t have time to send a shuttle there and back. I’m going to have to say—,”

“We already lost a shuttle and the command ship has two extra,” Captain Sheppard interrupted. “I’d appreciate it if we could borrow one of yours until we get a replacement.”

“Sure, whatever, just get in position ASAP!” Admiral Lambert ordered. “And get your fighters into formation
now!
”

“We’re on our way!” Captain Sheppard replied. The communication terminated.

The CO turned to the comms officer. “Let Captain Train know they are cleared to bring a shuttle over.” He shook his head. “Staying in this universe is lunacy, but at least that part went well.”

The Freyr watched the plot as another salvo of missiles hit the defenseless battle station. Although a few missiles launched sporadically from its few remaining silos, coordinated actions had ceased several minutes before. “The Aesir fleet has been destroyed,” the Freyr said, “and if that is all the battle station has left, we should shortly be able to turn our attention to these Terrans who have so graciously shown up to be destroyed.”

“The remaining two ships will be in range within 10 minutes,” the missile technician said. He looked at his scope again. “Wait, there are three ships…no, four ships in the Terran fleet now!”

“Four ships?” the Freyr asked. “Where did the two new ones come from? Are they anomalies in your system?”

“I have them on my system, too, my Freyr,” the sensor operator said. “I do not believe them to be anomalies.”

“Well, are they some sort of countermeasures system? Are the Terrans capable of deceiving our systems?”

“I do not know, sir,” the sensor operator said. “One of them, cruiser-sized, just appeared and has remained stable. The other target has fluctuated, growing larger then smaller. That one may be a deception. Certainly, it does not move like a ship; its acceleration vector just changed like no cruiser I have ever seen before.”

“What ships do we have remaining?” the Odin asked.

“In addition to the flagship, we have two
Wind
-class battleships, the
Hurricane
and the
Sirocco
, and four
Raptor
-class battlecruisers, as well as a few cruisers and destroyers,” said the Freyr. “Most of the screening ships did not make it through the minefield. We have more than enough combat power to deal with the Terrans, despite their ability to pull ships from thin air.”

“I agree,” the Odin said. “Prepare our line of battle. Once we deal with the Terrans, we can finish off the battle station and watch the show on Asgard.”

“
We’re out of here,
” Bucket commed. “
I just spoke to the crew of the
Gulf’s
shuttle. They are going to meet us enroute and take you guys to rejoin your unit. The ship they’re on is currently in the other universe, and the shuttle has a jump module to take you there.
”

“
Rendezvous will be in about 10 minutes,
” added Jamming.

“
Can you make it nine?
” Night asked.

“
We’ll try.
”

“Detach all stealth modules!” the CO ordered.

“Detaching stealth modules,” the duty engineer repeated. “Modules detached; we are now visible.”

“Understood,” the CO replied.

“We’re coming up on the firing point,” the OSO said.

“Roger,” Captain Sheppard replied. “I want you to launch our missiles five seconds early.”

“Yes sir,” the OSO said. “Launch our missiles five seconds early.” He paused, then asked, “Umm, sir, you know the admiral is going to have a stroke if I do that, right?”

“I am well aware of what is likely to happen when we launch our missiles early; however, I am also aware of their new capabilities, which the admiral is not. I would tell him, but I don’t think he’d welcome another call from me at the moment.”

“Yes sir,” the OSO said. “I’ll launch five seconds early.”

“Those are the modified missiles?” Lieutenant Bradford asked.

“Yes they are,” the CO replied. “They’re going to work, right?”

“I hope so.”

“Do you know how much trouble I’m going to be in if they don’t?” the CO asked.

“Yes sir,” Lieutenant Bradford said; “I can well imagine.” He shuddered noticeably. “They will work.” He paused, but couldn’t help himself. “I hope.”

“Too bad we didn’t have any of the time bomb thingies to put on them,” the DSO said. “That would have been a nice touch.”

“Oh, I think we’ll be all right without them. 10 pounds of antimatter will work just fine,” the OSO replied. “I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it, anyway.”

“The Jotunn dreadnought is launching,” the DSO noted.

“Weapons free,” the CO said. “Defend the ship. I expect they will try to take us out first; let’s be ready for them.”

“52 missiles inbound from the Jotunn command ship,” the DSO said. “All but one are targeted on us. Anti-missile missiles (AMMs) launching.” Beads of sweat began appearing on the DSO as the missiles approached.

“Approaching missile range,” the OSO noted.

“Understood,” Captain Nakamura said. “Coordinate with the
Yamoto
to launch in concert with them. We want our missiles to arrive at the same time as theirs. We need to overwhelm their defenses and start getting some hits on their dreadnought.”

“Yes sir,” the OSO said. “Targeting the dreadnought, designated as contact ‘Sierra One.’ I am holding the fighters until the
Gulf
launches; their missiles have a shorter range than ours.”

“Second salvo of AMMs firing,” the DSO said.

“Captain, another 10 torpedoes just hit the
Hood,
sir,” the sensor officer said. “She has been destroyed.”

“Launching!” the OSO called. “Confirmed launches from the
Yamoto
. 66 missiles launched.”

“Defensive laser clusters firing,” the DSO said, “The
Yamato
is also providing defensive fire support, but we’re not going to get them all.”

“Notify the crew,” Captain Nakamura reminded.

The DSO nodded and switched to the ship-wide comm network. “
Missiles inbound,
” he said. “
All hands brace for shock!
” He lapsed back into his commentary. “Defensive lasers continuing to fire…six, no five missiles remaining…two seconds…”

The ship rocked with the impacts.

“
Hit alpha, hit alpha,
” the duty engineer commed. “
Missile hits fore, midships and aft. Damage crews responding. Radiation alarms at Frames 17 and 213. I repeat, radiation alarms at Frames 17 and 213.
”

“What the hell did they hit us with?” Captain Nakamura asked.

“Looks like they used nukes,” the DCO said. “Really, really big ones. They overwhelmed the shields in some places, irradiating the ship. Shields at 78%.”

“What about our missiles, OSO?” the CO asked.

“They’re arriving now,” the OSO reported. He paused and then added. “Most were intercepted or absorbed by the shields.” He shrugged. “That’s okay; it was just the opening round, and we haven’t played our hole card yet.” He paused again, then said, “Coming up on second launch…Fire!” He pushed a button on his console and commed, “
All fighters launch!
”