The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (64 page)

___________________

19
th
July 2067

Grand send-offs weren
’
t really a feature of space travel, at least not beyond historical firsts. Even by these standards the start of Operation Kite String was restrained, starting with more of a whisper than a bang.

Warships and transports gathered in the shadow of Earth
’
s moon. Each new arrival was slotted into a prearranged place inside the formation. With the last arrivals there were a few days of formation flying, just enough to confirm they
’
d be doing a lot of on the job training. Finally the convoy made a moderately smooth turn before accelerating out of the lunar mass shadow and jumping out of Earth
’
s solar system.

___________________

26
th
July 2067

“
Jump in complete sir,
”
reported the Navigator as
Deimos
jolted back into real space. The system they were now entering had never been important enough to warrant a name. In all probability Kite String had brought more ships than the system had ever seen in its entire existence.

“
Radar, full sweep,
”
Crowe ordered.
“
Fighters?
”

“
D for Dubious and C for Curious are moving onto stati
…”

A bridge alarm sounded sharply.

“
Collision alert!
”
called out the helmsman.
“
We
’
re on convergent course with the transport
Van Ellen
! Separation, eighty K, collision in one hundred and ten seconds.
”

“
Hold course Helm,
”
Crowe ordered.
“
Tactical, is she going to stay inside the perimeter?
”

“
She
’
s gone full burn sir,
”
came the prompt reply across the intercom.
“
Negative on remaining within the convoy perimeter. She
’
s going to breach the perimeter by at least thirty K.
”

“
Not again,
”
Crowe muttered.
“
Understood Tactical. Helm, two degrees to port, bows up three degrees. Tactical, order Dubious and Curious to plug the gaps.
”

The last bit of his order was probably unnecessary. Dubious had already read the situation and was moving out, with Curious staying on her wing.

Around him his bridge swung into action. It was now a pretty well rehearsed sequence they went through each time the convoy dropped back into real space. It was getting better, but that wasn
’
t the same as good or even good enough. It was just as well they hadn
’
t yet crossed the Junction Line.

“
Looks like the
Bengal
lost position as well sir,
”
Lieutenant Colwell reported wearily.
“
Damn near went into
Wildebeest
.
”

“
At least
Marchers Wake
seems to have got its act together,
”
Crowe replied. He didn
’
t take his eyes off the main bridge holo, watching as the convoy settled itself and the ships started to deploy their radiator panels to emit their waste heat.
“
I know that Admiral Hyland isn
’
t going to authorise any ship to drop out until after we cross the Junction Line. Not unless something falls off.
”

The formation of the convoy wasn
’
t a matter of shoving ships in any old how. The transports needed to be in as tight a sphere formation as they could manage without ships taking damage from each other
’
s engine plumes. The tighter the formation, the smaller the sphere and the smaller the area the escorts would have to fill with counter fire when the time came. Plus the most valuable transports, the drop carriers that carried thousands of hibernating soldiers, needed to be kept in the middle of the formation, where they would be safest - at the expense of less valuable ships.

The problem was the civvies weren
’
t used to this kind of formation flying. The vessels of the national militaries had been a bit rough at first but quickly became just as smooth as the Battle Fleet ships. The commercial transports though, used to flying with at least a thousand kilometres separation, were flying within a hundred kilometres of other ships and their collision alarms sounding continuously. But every time one of them moved out of formation, they made the job of the escorts harder.

Out of the corner of his eye Crowe saw the duty communications officer wince and raised a questioning eyebrow.

“
There
’
s a transmission in the clear coming from
Fortitude
to the
Van Ellen
, sir. Someone is getting a flea in his ear from the Admiral,
”
he explained then paused.
“
He
’
s telling them if they screw up the next jump in, he
’
ll leave them on the other side of the Junction Line and let them find their own way back.
”

Crowe smiled and shook his head.

“
I doubt it, but no one will risk it now.
”
Next stop would be enemy territory.

___________________

16
th
August 2067

Three weeks passed quietly and pleasantly boringly, as Kite String zigzagged from one remote star system to the next. Each time the convoy dropped back into real space, transports had to be chased back into formation, while fighters deployed to form the outer screen. There they would hold for a few hours as ships cooled their heat sinks, then the fighters would fall back on their base ships and Kite String would jump away. There was no sign of the Nameless.

Deimos
’
s
two Ravens drifted along, with barely a glow from their engines while between them invisible communications lasers beamed back and forth.

“
I
’
m just saying it
’
ll be dry and stringy by the time we land,
”
moaned Schurenhofer as she hunched over her controls.

“
Only if we
’
re lucky,
”
replied Rackow, weapons controller on board C for Curious.
“
Last night what I got was ninety percent fat and gristle.
”

“
I thought it was alright,
”
said Flying Officer Malm, pilot of
Deimos
’
s
new fighter.

“
Well yeah, officer country,
”
Schurenhofer muttered.
“
One rule for the brass and another for the plebs. As for the potatoes, they are not something I want to talk about.
”

“
Then please stop!
”
Alanna snapped across the link before anyone else could reply.
“
Everyone stop yapping about the bloody food and start watching their instruments.
”

“
Just get us off second watch, skipper,
”
Schurenhofer said glancing up,
“
so we can have a decent dinner for once.
”
When Alanna glared at her she hunched back over her display. On Alanna
’
s own screen she could see the transports still radiating off heat, but all the warships had gone to silent running and dropped below the detection threshold of
Dubious
’
s
passive sensors. She
’
d never said, not to the head doctors, to any other officer or even Schurenhofer, but she hated when she couldn
’
t see her base ship. It brought back too many memories of sitting in the wreck of C for Caesar, surrounded by the wreckage of the
Dauntless
, waiting for the air to run out. The warships were currently networking their navigation computers, crunching the numbers in preparation for the jump directly to Landfall.

“
Dubious, Curious, this is
Deimos
control.
”
Alanna
’
s eyes flicked to the communication panel. The transmission was a laser connection.

“
Deimos
, this is Dubious, we
’
re receiving you.
”

“
We have a contact on passives bearing one, seven, eight dash, zero, one, seven, range two and a half light hours,
”

Then the Commodore
’
s voice cut across the link.

“
Dubious, Curious, we have just received permission from the flagship to send you to investigate. Power up your drives and standby for jump settings.

“
Understood
Deimos
,
”
Alanna replied already flicking switches. Below the cockpit a whine started to build as the drive spun up. Dubious
’
s computer was transmitting gravitational readings back to the cruiser. Dubious could make her own calculations but the cruiser could throw a lot more processing power at the problem. Her fingers danced across the keyboard as she programmed and executed a smooth turn away from the convoy, producing a brief burst of engine power that pressed her back into her seat. Whatever else was said about them, one thing fighters did better than their large brethren was changing course.

“
Skipper, drive board is showing all green. We are five minutes from jump capable. Weapons board is green. We are now weapons hot,
”
Schurenhofer reported as she worked.

“
Understood,
”
Alanna replied. On her radar she could see Curious angling in closer.
“
Curious, form up on my port wing and prepare to jump.
”

“
Roger that, Dubious,
”
Malm said. He sounded excited across the link and promptly confirmed her guess by adding:
“
Tally Ho.
”

“
Malm, keep sharp and for the love of God do not get stupid!
”
she snapped back. The communications net between them went silent. The whine from the jump drive had now risen to something that was felt rather than heard. On her control panel the drive ready light came on and beside it the navigation console gave a beep to indicate that the upload was complete. Another couple of minutes ticked by but nothing came through from
Deimos
.

“
Skipper
…”
Schurenhofer started to say.

“
Yes, I know,
”
Alanna muttered.

The drives weren
’
t designed to sit with a charge built.

“
Dubious,
”
came the Commodore
’
s voice across the link,
“
you are to make jump and investigate. Your first priority is reconnaissance. You are authorised to engage targets of opportunity but you are to withdraw if confronted by significant opposition. Target profile has changed - energy output has increased and course has changed. We believe it is on approach. Be advised that no friendlies are believed to be in system.
”

The last damn system,
Alanna thought.
I really thought we were going to get through clean.
If only the system had been a little further from Landfall, but if wishes were fishes
…

“
Deimos
, instructions understood. We
’
re jumping. Curious, jump on my command. Three, two, one, Mark.
”

In front of Dubious, the jump out portal began to form and open as the fighter
’
s drive engaged.

Eighteen point nine seconds after jumping, Dubious dropped back into real space.