The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (55 page)

“
So two ships, sir.
”

“
At least, Commander.
”

“
Could be small ships, sir.
”

“
I doubt it, Commander. I don
’
t think the Rizr have anything smaller than cruisers that would have sufficiently powerful transmitters.
”

“
So two cruisers.
”

“
At least, Commander, but could be more. With no line of sight it
’
s currently impossible to say.
”

“
If Vincent has called in as
Saturn Conveyor
then it
’
s more than
Deceiver
can handle on her own. If I take
Hood
and
Typhoon
…
”
 

“
Commander, if this is your Rizr taskforce, then you have to take the entire squadron out.
”

“
The three that would be left…
”
Willis started to say.

“
This Rizr taskforce is your theory, Commander, but if they are out there then you either have to confront them with all your ships or none of them. Split your force and you risk being picked off piecemeal.
”

Willis stared into the middle distance for several moments.

“
Sir you
’
re right. Alright, I am officially calling this an invasion.
”
Commander Horan heard her and immediately dashed off to make the necessary signals. Within minutes the Geriatrics would be to creaking into action.

“
Very well, I
’
ll send out a general FTL signal.
”

If it is, then it
’
s too late for that to do any good
, Willis thought to herself.
Still thanks for the belated solidarity
.

“
Commander, where are you up to with your attempts to reactivate
Thunder
?
”

“
My chief engineer was due to be attempt to cold start her reactor about now.
”

“
Get him aboard. If this is the worst, you
’
ll need him. I
’
ll round up who ever I can find. If
Thunder
can be got moving, we
’
ll do it. Get out there Commander. I just hope that Commander Espey has panicked.
”

___________________

11.25 Hrs Dryad time

Vincent stood in front of the main holo, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He second-in-command came over.

“
I
’
ve checked through the information we have on file,
”
Lieutenant Mamista said quietly.
“
The intelligence reports have become spotty since the start of the war but there
’
s nothing on file to indicate that this is the best they can do.
”

Vincent
’
s scowl deepened.

According to the information on file, the two Bakers had an acceleration advantage over the transport
Deceiver
was pretending to be, of somewhere between eleven and seventeen percent. They were closing the range, but for the past hour their acceleration rate had only been three percent higher than the fleeing transports. If they planned to take or destroy the three they needed to close the range and they needed to get on with it. It was all starting to smell.

“
I
’
m starting to wonder whether these guys are trying to be clever,
”
Vincent muttered.

“
Why be clever when fast and stupid will get the job done?
”
Mamista replied quietly.

“
Depends on what the job is,
”
Vincent said,
“
but right now these jokers seem to be trying to have the worst of both worlds.
”
He glanced up at the bridge clock. It would be the best part of another half hour before their radio message reached Faith. Figure on another ninety to a hundred and twenty minutes for Faith to reach Dryad Five, most of that spent getting out of Dryad Two
’
s Mass Shadow.
“
They aren
’
t catching us but when the Geriatrics turn up, they
’
ll be deep into the Mass Shadow. Yeah
…
this isn
’
t right.
”

“
What are you thinking Skipper?
”

“
I
’
m thinking that I
’
m starting to feel like bait. I think they
’
re trying to suck the Geriatrics in for an ambush or get them out of position.
Shit
.
”
They could play it safe, keep running. But that wasn
’
t what they were there for. If the enemy had a plan, then their first duty was to try to foul it up.
“
I think this is going to have to stay our problem. We
’
re going to have to tell them to stay away.
”

Mamista swallowed hard but made no reply.

Vincent turned and walked back to his chair. There weren
’
t a whole pile of options open to him.
Deceiver
’
s
transmitter was military grade, so it
might
be able to punch through the jamming signal. If they tried and failed though that would give them away with no pay off.
Deceiver
did carry a couple of message drones. If they got one away within the next hour it would be capable of getting to Dryad Two before Faithie had a chance to jump out. But the drones were old models, not in anyway designed for combat situations. Those missiles the Rizr carried might not be up to much but they
’
d be able to shoot down his drones before they got out of the Mass Shadow.
Deceiver
would have to carry them close to the line and the Rizr would undoubtedly object. They were in for a fun afternoon.

Standing he flicked his intercom to ship wide.

“
Gentlemen. It
’
s my belief that the reason for the Rizr
’
s half-assed pursuit is that we are being used as bait for an ambush for the Geriatrics. That means we are going to have to deal with these guys ourselves. In a few minutes we
’
re going to turn and make a run for the Red Line. I think they
’
ll cut us off but we can keep them busy long enough to get a message drone away. With a little luck we might also get close enough to take a crack at our new friends. This is going to be tough but I believe we can do it. Make sure your stations are ready and standby.
”

He cut the connection and beckoned Mamista over.

“
Speak to the skippers of
Weser
and
Altair
. Tell them what I
’
m going to do. This will pull the Bakers off their tail. They don
’
t need to know any more.
”

“
Aye sir,
”
Mamista said.
“
Then I
’
ll head down to damage control.
”
He hesitated before sticking out a hand.
“
Good luck Skipper.
”

Slowly
Deceiver
’
s
bows came round and ship started to brake hard. On the bridge holo the range between the Q-ship and the Bakers started to drop more rapidly. Around
Deceiver
debris sparkled, mostly chaff but also few freight boxes, just enough for it to look like they were dumping cargo to run faster.

“
Skipper, we
’
re now running engines at eighty percent,
”
helm reported.

Vincent nodded without replying. Eighty percent power was as high as they could go without showing
Deceiver
had a better power to mass ratio than a transport should have. The shortest distance back to the Red Line would be straight back they way they had come, but that would be through the two Bakers. Instead their course would angle away from them. On the holo the track of one of the Bakers started to change, moving to intercept.

“
Helm, keep angling away. Let
’
s see if we can pull him away from his pal.
”

It would be another forty minutes before
Deceiver
arrested her momentum toward the planet, but in twenty they
’
d be getting inside effective range of the Rizr guns.

Battle Fleet had always rejected lasers as a starship
’
s main weapon. The emitters were sensitive to shock and the behind armour damage effects inferior to that of a plasma bolt. Not that they weren
’
t without advantages though. As a light speed weapon the first warning you got that you
’
d been fired on was when it hit you.

“
Hull breach!
”
the shout went up as the jolt went through the ship.
“
Cargo Bay Two is venting atmosphere!
”

“
Helm, angle us away another two degrees and start taking whatever evasive action this bucket can manage,
”
Vincent snapped.

“
Damage Control, Bridge,
”
came Mamista
’
s voice over the intercom.

“
Talk to me!
”

“
That hit came in through the starboard flank,
”
reported Mamista.
“
That was the second hit. The first failed to penetrate the forward abrasion plates. Recommend we steer in and don
’
t give them too good a look at our flank…
”

The explosion that cut him off was loud enough to make Vincent
’
s ears ring.

“
Lieutenant! Lieutenant!
”
he shouted into the link.

There was silence for a moment then Mamista
’
s voice came through again.

“
Visors down! Visors down! Tell Sickbay to get ready to accept casualties! Skipper, that one just clipped the Number Two Gun.
”
Vincent
’
s eyes immediately sought out the main bridge status repeater on which the green light beside the gun still glowed.
“
The local control booth has been hit. It still has the uplink to Fire Control but if we lose that we lose the gun!
”

“
Understood Lieutenant. Helm, angle us in three degrees,
”
Vincent ordered.

Thirteen minutes after taking their first hit,
Deceiver
finally started to move back towards the Red Line. Every thirty seconds another laser beam struck. The abrasion plates, designed to protect the ship from space particles, were taking the worst of it, but it wasn
’
t proper armour and as the range fell the impacts grew more powerful. Once the range got short enough, even the Baker
’
s small turret lasers would cut through, but by that stage they might be close enough to stand a chance of landing a hit with a railgun round. Except the Baker
’
s Captain lost patience.

“
Contact separation! We have five missiles incoming!
”

Deception over
, Vincent thought as he watched the five blips creep towards them. There was nothing a normal transport could do to avoid or block those missiles.

“
Helm, bring engines to one hundred percent power. Fire Control, bring the point defence grid online. Tactical, bring countermeasures online.
”

Vincent briefly wondered what kind of surprise or shock there was on the bridge of the protected cruiser as a storm of fire swatted their five missiles without difficulty. Certainly their firing paused. Beneath his feet he could feel the deck plating start to tremble as
Deceiver
worked up to full acceleration. On the holo the Rizr ship finally started to react by turning to present its broadside.