The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (17 page)

“
Hello Ronan, thinking deep thoughts?
”
said someone behind him. Turning he found Captain Selha Tneba, commander of the
Ganges
, one of
Mississippi
’
s
sister ships and another veteran of Science Fleet. Behind him was another officer, with the shiny captain
’
s stripes of a new promotion.

“
Well thoughts anyway Selha. How have you been?
”

“
Can
’
t complain,
”
the swarthy Libyan, replied shaking his hand.
“
Well I can complain, but no one is obligated to pay any attention to me. Oh, this is err, Captain Julie Lokke of the
Zeus
.
”

“
Glad to meet you,
”
Crowe said offering his hand.
“
And Captain Longman?
”
The question hung in the air.

“
I
’
m afraid he was killed at Alpha Centauri,
”
she replied. Looking into her eyes, Crowe could tell she
’
d been there, not just at Alpha Centauri but on board
Zeus
, which made it a dead man
’
s boots promotion.

“
I see. Well nonetheless congratulations on your promotion.
”

“
Thank you. Will you both excuse me a moment? I see someone I need to speak to. Captain Crowe, I
’
d like a word with you before you go, just for any insight you can offer on the Nameless.
”

“
Of course Captain. I
’
ll see you later.
”

“
You didn
’
t look at the list of casualties,
”
Selha commented as she walked away.

“
No. After drawing up my own I couldn
’
t stomach it,
”
Crowe replied.

“
Longman had his head knocked off by a metal splinter. I
’
m glad to say he didn
’
t suffer,
”
Selha sighed and took a sip from his drink.
“
Margaret Bernanke went up with
Amazon
. I
’
ve heard from survivors she didn
’
t even try to get out.
”

“
She loved that old ship. I always said they
’
d have to crowbar her out of it,
”
Crowe said.

“
I know I
’
m supposed to say I
’
m sorry I wasn
’
t there for
…
but that would be a lie.
”

“
Yeah it was bad. Anyway I heard you damn near melted
Ganges
’
s
heat sink.
”

“
I didn
’
t say I didn
’
t try to get back in time,
”
Selha replied shaking his head.
“
Listening to my engineer
’
s complaints, you would think he was being asked to pay for the repairs.
”

“
Well don
’
t worry about it Selha. The thing about wars is if you miss one battle, the odds are there will be another one along real soon.
”

“
Ladies and gentlemen,
”
the briefing officer began as a few laggards found seats for themselves,
“
as you are most likely aware, since Alpha Centauri we have been dispatching reconnaissance elements in the direction of the Nameless retreat after the battle with the objective of regaining contact with the enemy.
”
Behind him a simplified star chart of the region between Earth and Landfall lit up. A rough line of stars, approximately three quarters of the way to Landfall, blinked red.
“
This is the point at which our scouts began to encounter enemy vessels. These were mostly of the scout type first observed by
Mississippi
a year ago, backed by an occasional cruiser. Heavier elements have not been observed so it seems reasonable to assume that this is a picket line formed for the purposed of detecting and reporting any move by us back towards Landfall.
”

“
So we don
’
t know where their fleet has gone since Alpha Centauri?
”
someone asked.

“
No. No vessels heavier than their cruiser equivalents have been sighted since then. It is speculated that since a disproportionate number of their observed support ships, particularly tankers, were destroyed during the first offensive, they have withdrawn the bulk of their fleet to their starting line to reduce their logistical burden.
”
The officer paused for a moment before continuing.
“
But that is speculation. What is more concrete is that this represents a chance. Since Alpha Centauri the fleet has been committed to the close defence of Earth. With the Nameless having withdrawn so far, there is a chance of establishing a defence perimeter further out from Earth.
”

On the display a second curving line of stars lit up in blue, approximately halfway to Landfall.

“
We are calling this the Junction Line
…”

___________________________

“
We
’
re going back to the Junction Station,
”
Crowe said. With nearly every one of the ship
’
s officers
’
present
Deimos
’
s
wardroom was filled to bursting and Crowe
’
s announcement was met by a kind of collective sigh.
“
It
’
s going to form the centre of a defence line. Starting here towards the rim, at a gas giant planet that has been designated Rosa, it then runs towards the galactic core terminating at another gas giant that is to be called Hydra. The star systems in between these three points are going to be seeded liberally with observation satellites.
”

“
So Hydra, Junction and Rosa are going to act as strong points and refuelling points?
”
Hockley asked.

“
Yes. All three planets are small gas giants with deep mass shadows. So the Nameless can
’
t do a close range jump in like they did to Baden. The position will allow us to strike at their supply lines should they make another run at Earth. If they try to go over or under the line, they leave their supply lines exposed. Obviously fuel processing stations are going to have to be built at Hydra and Rosa,
”
Crowe replied.

“
Odds are they
’
re going to have to build one at Junction too. The station was already pretty banged up when we rolled through,
”
grunted the gunner.

“
And it may well have been destroyed completely after we left, so headquarters is planning for a complete rebuild if that is the case,
”
Crowe said.

“
Do we really have to go back there Skipper?
”

“
The planet Phyose is still the best source of hydrogen anywhere within a dozen systems,
”
Crowe replied with a shrug.

“
Yeah, but do
we
have to go?
”

“
I
’
m afraid so folks. Call it the price of competence.
”

___________________________

For the officers and crew of
Deimos
the periods spent in jump space were the quiet times. The ships further down the jump conduit had to stay a bit sharper to make sure they didn
’
t either run down the ship in front or get hit from behind. But at the head of the convoy,
Deimos
could take a moment to relax.

In the wardroom the Chief Engineer was telling a joke that was probably a bit
risqué for mixed company but the Doctor and Navigator seemed to be taking it in good part. To the Navigator
’
s left were
Deimos
’
s
two new fighter pilots. The first, Lieutenant
Deyn had, on the handful of times they had spoken, always reminded Crowe of a puppy dog, with its tail wagging furiously. Alanna Shermer was harder to read. She certainly couldn
’
t be faulted with regards to her duties, which were completed in a timely and diligent manner but beyond that, she was a nonentity. Even now her eyes were lowered as she concentrated on her dinner.

“
Lieutenant Shermer. How have you settled in, now that you
’
ve had a couple of weeks with us?
”
he asked.

“
Well, thank you sir,
”
she replied, then paused to see if he had anything more to add.

Crowe sighed, before the war there had been an ideological battle going on within the fleet regarding the role of space fighters. Certainly in the planetary defence role they were useful, but many in the fleet had felt whatever usefulness they had in deep space, was largely offset by their need for large, expensive and vulnerable carriers to fly from. The pro-fighter lobby had been mounting a steady rearguard action when the war began but even so the number of flight crews being trained each year had been slowly dropping.

The layer defence had changed that but the losses suffered in the first weeks of the war, particularly the carrier
Lexington
and squadrons based at Baden, meant there now weren
’
t enough fighters to go round.

“
So you aren
’
t having any difficulties being back on board a starship?
”

“
No Captain,
”
she replied.

“
Well apart from possibly getting into your bunk,
”
the Engineer jovially butted in.
“
If nothing else the accommodation must have been a bit more comfortable aboard the old
Dauntless
.
”

Conversation in the wardroom abruptly ceased. The officers present split between those glaring at the suddenly contrite Engineer and those waiting for a reaction from Alanna. For an uncomfortably long moment she stared at him without expression.

“
Yes, pilot accommodation aboard the
Dauntless
was more comfortable but I am managing here.
”

“
It must have been difficult losing your ship,
”
the Doctor said carefully.

“
Yes it was, and I prefer not to talk about it.
”

“
Of course, Lieutenant. But if you do.
”

“
Thank you, Doctor but no,
”
Alanna replied. She paused then continued:
“
I appreciate you might be concerned about post-traumatic stress but I have been cleared for duty. I have accepted I survived
Dauntless
through luck, just as you must have accepted you survived Baden by running.
”

Those officers around the table who had been at Baden now stiffened angrily, but Alanna
’
s attention had very deliberately shifted back to her meal. After a few moments conversation started up again but the atmosphere in the wardroom was uncomfortable. Crowe watched his pilot thoughtfully for the rest of the meal.

“
That was quite a display Alanna,
”
Deyn said as he came into the hangar. Alanna was sitting in a wedged position, her feet against D for Dubious
’
s portside stabiliser, her back up against the bulkhead. She merely grunted in reply.

“
I mean I
’
ve seen people burn bridges but that was break out the flamethrower and then lob in the thermite for giggles stuff.
”