‘’I may be safer here, Captain Forster, but it is not my planet and my people desperately needs me. We will be aboard in less than an hour. By the way, congratulation for your second space victory, Captain.’’
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‘’Uh, you’re welcome, sir.’’ Could only say Tina, taken off balance. Janet Robeson then reappeared on the screen.
‘’Those Martian politicians can be so pushy. I will use that last opportunity to send to you by cargo shuttle our last available batch of missiles, along with Governor Watts, so that you can load them in your tubes during your trip. I will advise our friends by coded message to Pallas and Hygiea that you are departing now for Pallas.
Everything should be ready there when you will arrive. After that, I can only wish you and your crew good luck.’’
‘’Thank you, Madam Governor. And tell Governor Watts to step on it, or we will leave him behind on the sidewalk.’’
‘’I will tell him, Captain.’’ Replied Robeson with a smile before cutting the link.
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CHAPTER 7 – MARS EXPEDITION
15:49 (Universal Time)
Saturday, December 11, 2315
Pallas Prime Spaceport orbital terminal
Pallas, Main Asteroid Belt
‘’I must say that it is a rather ugly ship, Mister Stein. It is however quite impressive.’’
Jacobus Stein, standing on the observation deck of the orbital terminal with Captain Michel Koniev, gave the Sverdlovsk Group security officer an amused smile.
‘’Don’t repeat that in front of Captain Forster, or she could roast you in her fusion plasma exhausts. However, as you must already know, form goes with function in space, rather than with aerodynamic laws. The important thing is that the KOSTROMA has proven itself to be a formidable opponent in a space battle. It is also a very fast ship, especially now that it is next to empty of cargo, and has very long space endurance. It will be perfect for this expedition.’’
Stein then returned his eyes on the approaching cargo ship, which already filled most of the dark space sky visible from the observation deck. His mind went again through all the obstacles and difficulties of the coming raid to Mars as the KOSTROMA maneuvered to dock at the orbital terminal. The grim truth was that it would probably take a minor miracle for that mission to succeed without incurring significant casualties. However, the fate of Mars, the most populous Spacer world in the Solar System, was in the balance.
Once the ship was securely docked and its communications tubes extended and sealed, Stein and Koniev led a group of over 200 men and women loaded with equipment, weapons and personal kits aboard the KOSTROMA. The great majority of them were security officers from the Sverdlovsk Group, while twenty men and women came from the unofficial Pallas Defense Forces. The group was greeted on the Promenade Deck by Tina Forster and Charles Watts, who shook hands with Jacobus Stein and Michel Koniev.
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‘’Welcome aboard the KOSTROMA, gentlemen. I am Tina Forster, captain of this ship. You must know Governor Watts. Mister Stein, I presume?’’
‘’Correct, Captain. And this is Captain Michel Koniev, from the Sverdlovsk Group security forces. We have with us your intended landing party, plus the support crews of two fighter craft of the Pallas Defense Forces that will soon fly into your hangars.’’
‘’We will certainly need all the help that we can get for that mission, gentlemen.
Before we discuss further, let’s get some accommodations for your people.’’
Distributing cabins to the newcomers on one of the passenger decks took half an hour, with Tina and Governor Watts then leading to the bridge Stein, Koniev and the flight crews of the two fighter craft that had just landed aboard. The small group took seats around the table of the small bridge conference room, in which a giant electronic 3D map of the Solar System was displayed atop the interactive conference table, along with a map of Mars on one corner of the table surface. Once seated, Tina looked at Jacobus Stein with concern.
‘’I first have to say that we have up to now very little intelligence on the actual situation on and around Mars, Mister Stein. Did you get some fresh information from your side, by chance?’’
‘’Fortunately, yes. A number of merchant ships that had been on Mars or in orbit were able to leave before the Terrans could establish a solid blockade force around Mars. Some of those ships then stopped here, on Pallas. According to their reports, the Terrans have established a permanent orbital watch with two pairs of frigates, one stationed above the North Pole and the other pair above the South Pole. From there, they are able to cover all the approaches to Mars with their radars and other sensors.
There are as well Terran parties aboard the various orbital installations around Mars, including the main space traffic control center on the moon Deimos. However, the word is that the Martians, short of other means, are massively practicing passive resistance, refusing to cooperate with the Terrans and even committing some small acts of sabotage. As a result, the usual traffic control network coverage is said to be spotty, to say the least. That should help your ship approach Mars undetected, at least for a few crucial hours.’’
‘’That still leaves these two pairs of frigates on orbital watch. They will be able to detect the KOSTROMA on their radars at a distance of up to about 200,000 kilometers, or much farther by optical and infra-red sensors if we fire up our fusion drive to 138
decelerate to achieve orbit around Mars. We need something to distract or draw away those frigates.’’
Tina was thoughtful for a moment, then looked at Jacobus Stein.
‘’If I gave you a design made out of standard ship parts, could your shipyards produce it quickly, within a day or two at the most, Mister Stein?’’
‘’If all the parts are in stock and if your design is simple enough, I believe so. We will certainly give it top priority if we decide to build whatever you have in mind.’’
‘’Good! What I am thinking about is to build drones, to distract those frigates.’’
The engineer in Jacobus Stein woke up at that notion and he smiled to Tina.
‘’Now, that is one interesting idea. Tell me what you have in mind exactly, Captain?’’
‘’Please, just call me Tina, Mister Stein.’’
‘’Very well, Tina. Show me a design sketch and I will have it built right away.’’
Using the computer at her end of the table, Tina took a few minutes to draw a rough design, explaining as she went what she wanted to get and finally getting a nod from Stein.
‘’I can already tell you from memory that I have in my shipyards and warehouses all the parts for these drones. With such a simple design, they should be completed within 24 hours.’’
‘’Excellent! Then, we will stand a much better chance of breaking through that Terran blockade of Mars undetected. Now, let’s talk about tactics once around Mars…’’
22:07 (Universal Time)
Boreal forest ecosystem, Bow Gravity Sail Deck MSS KOSTROMA, docked to Pallas orbital terminal Tina was reading an old book while sitting on one of the wooden park benches of one of the two boreal forest ecosystems in her ship when Michel Koniev approached her, walking slowly along the path while admiring the trees around him. Tina smiled to him, discreetly admiring the tall, athletic and handsome blond man.
‘’A relaxing surrounding, isn’t it?’’
‘’You certainly can say that. These ecosystems, along with the giant aquariums, are fantastic! I can’t think of a single ship other than yours that has this kind of environment. May I sit?’’
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‘’Please
do!’’
Sitting besides Tina, the young security officer eyed with curiosity the old-fashioned book in her hands.
‘’A paperback book? Aren’t these considered collector items these days?’’
‘’Correct! I found it, along with other books, during my last vacation on Earth, in an old antiques store in Vancouver.’’
‘’May I ask what the book is about?’’
She answered by raising the book and showing its cover to Koniev. He looked with some confusion and incredulity at the image of an old sea-going ship at night.
‘’You are reading about old floating ships?’’
Tina shook her head slowly, her face serious.
‘’Not simply about ships, Captain. This is an account and analysis of various major naval battles fought during the mid 20th Century, during what was called World War Two. You wouldn’t believe the amount of ingenuity and cunning that was displayed in those old battles, along with more than a little dose of incompetence and negligence mixed in.’’
‘’Uh, why study such old wars?’’
‘’Because nobody now knows about real wars, since the last one was fought over a hundred years ago. Essentially, we now are all amateurs at this business of war. The TCN thinks it knows about it, but it is in reality little more than a glorified armed police force. The technology described in this book and other books I bought may be obsolete, but the general principles of war and basic tactics discussed in them are still relevant, in my opinion. In fact, the idea about the drones we are actually building came to me from one of my old books.’’
‘’It did? Maybe I should read them as well.’’
‘’It wouldn’t be wasted time, I can assure you.’’
‘’About battles, were you thinking of painting victory marks on your ship? You did destroy quite a few Terran ships above Callisto.’’
Her reaction surprised him, along with its vehemence, as she glared at him.
‘’NEVER! Each of these ships destroyed represented the death of hundreds of men and women, mostly in horrible ways. I am fighting and killing now because I have to, to preserve our freedom and all that we cherish, not because I like war. The sooner we can repair this mess, the sooner I will be able to go back to cargo hauling.’’
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‘’I’m sorry if I said something dumb.’’ Said Koniev, trying to placate her and swearing mentally at himself for his question. ‘’Please excuse my insensitivity.’’
That seemed to mostly calm her down and she nodded once her head slowly.
‘’Forgive me in turn for barking at you like this. It is just that this whole business didn’t need to happen.’’
‘’We didn’t start it, Tina. Earth did, but now we have to finish it, or be gobbled up by those corrupt politicians on Earth. Right now, 186 million Martians need our help, badly. I will have to kill Terran troopers on Mars, but I will do it knowing that it is to free innocent civilians from a brutal, undemocratic rule. You will also have to kill, partly to protect your crew, but you shouldn’t feel bad about it. For one thing, those old books of yours most probably say the same.’’
Tina lowered her head, some discouragement on her face.
‘’Yes, they do. These sailors from the past were mostly conscripts and regretted the killing they were involved in, but they did their duty nonetheless.’’
Closing her book, she then got up and gave an apologetic smile to Koniev.
‘’It is getting late and we have a lot to do tomorrow morning. I should be going to bed now. If you will excuse me, Michel.’’
‘’By all means, Tina.’’
Koniev watched her walk away towards the apartments ringing the ecosystems, her book in one hand, and couldn’t help feel sorry for her: she was much too young for the kind of responsibilities she presently had on her shoulders. Even though he was himself one year younger than her at 27, at least his own responsibilities were much less overall than hers.
10:03 (Universal Time)
Sunday, December 12, 2315
Bridge of the MSS KOSTROMA
Tina was reviewing maps of Mars with Michel Koniev, Charles Watts and the crews of the two fighter craft now aboard the ship when they were interrupted by the intrusion of Patricia O’Neil, who looked apologetically at Tina.
‘’I’m sorry to disturb you like this, Captain, but we started to receive a system-wide broadcast: Grand Administrator Li is doing a declaration. It is on channel three.’’
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Then adding action to words, she activated herself the giant wall display panel of the conference room and tuned it, making the image of a John Li speaking from a podium appear.
‘’…of over 2, 400 brave men and women of the Terran Customs Navy, cowardly ambushed by Spacers in the Jupiter System, leaves me and my government no other choice but to declare war on the so-called ‘Spacers League’. Earth will thus not rest until that illegal grouping of local politicians and industrial magnates is dismantled and its leaders punished as the traitors they are. Already, our forces have nipped in the bud one of the centers of this rebellion, Mars, and have captured a number of traitors in the process. Three hours ago, those traitors paid the price for their acts, after having been judged and found guilty of high treason.’’
The image then switched to that of some kind of underground hangar with concrete walls, with twenty ISF lined up on one side, rifles in their hands. A mix of fourteen men and women dressed in civilian clothes were then pushed by more troopers within the field of view of the camera and in front of the waiting troopers. Many of them had difficulty walking, being in apparently poor shape. Some of them bore as well visible marks of severe beatings. The sight of one such woman with bruises on her face made Charles Watts suddenly scream with anguish.
‘’CAROLYN! NOOO!’’
Tina immediately went to his side to try to support him, guessing what was going to come. It took as well the efforts of Michel Koniev to restraint the Martian governor as he screamed his despair at the spectacle on the display. Pushed brutally in front of a concrete wall, the fourteen civilians were made to line up facing the armed troopers, who then shouldered their rifles at the command of an officer. The detonations of the rifles discharging and the image of his wife crumbling to the ground, like the thirteen others, only made Charles Watts madder, with the image of a stern John Li coming back on.
‘’Thus will pay the traitors who tried to steal from the masses of the people in order to preserve their privileges.’’
‘’YOU BASTARD, LI! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, I SWEAR!’’
Watts then crumbled, shaken by violent sobs. Tina shouted at Patricia O’Neil while holding Watts steady in his chair.
‘’Quick, get Doctor Perez up here on the double!’’
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Less than six minutes later, Charles Watts was carried out on an anti-gravity gurney, having been heavily sedated by Maria Perez. Tina watched him go out, her own eyes still wide from the tragic scene they had witnessed. The hand of Michel Koniev on her shoulder then pulled her out of her trance.
‘’I am still ready to show mercy to a man or woman of the TCN, but not to any of these murderous goons from the ISF, Tina. Not after this.’’
‘’What you will do with them on Mars will be up to you, Michel.’’ Replied Tina in a cold voice. ‘’I don’t care what will happen to them. As for those ISF I will catch up in space, may Gold help their souls!’’
06:11 (Universal Time)
Friday, December 17, 2315
Bridge of Terran frigate TCNS KARELIA
In Mars polar orbit
‘’Captain, we have just detected two unidentified ships at the very limit of our radar range. They are approaching Mars from the direction of the Main Asteroid Belt.’’
Commander John Marston immediately came out of his command chair to approach the main sensors data fusion display, a transparent sphere about three meters in diameter in which was projected a 3D holographic image of what the external sensors saw. The center of the sphere represented the position of his ship, with most of the lower part taken by the surface of Mars.
‘’Did we get any fusion drive flare signature?’’ He asked to one of the technicians, who shook her head.
‘’No, sir! Those ships seem to be approaching on gravity sails alone. They are now about 216,000 kilometers distant and are on a course to either enter a high orbit around Mars, or to pass close to Mars and continue on to Earth.’’
‘’Any identification beacons active?’’
‘’None, sir! I should be able to give you a better estimate of their trajectory in a few minutes.’’
‘’Good!’’ Said Marston before looking at the officer of the deck. ‘’CALL THE
SHIP TO BATTLE STATIONS! HAVE THE CREW DON THEIR SPACESUITS IN
ROTATION! ALERT THE TCNS ATTIKA!’’
‘’AYE,
SIR!’’
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As his crew ran to their combat stations, Marston went to his day cabin aft of the bridge to put on his own spacesuit. When he came back on the bridge, he returned to the sensors display sphere.
‘’Any more data now?’’
‘’We have definitely trajectories towards Earth, sir, and that will skip Mars by about 60,000 kilometers, still close enough to do a gravity assist acceleration but much too far for our weapons. Those two ships also follow each other, with a separation of about 1,300 kilometers between them. They are totally silent electronically but are definitely under power: they just made a trajectory correction using gravity sails. If we stay in our present orbit, we will be unable to intercept them, sir.’’
‘’Hmm.’’
Marston saw at once that he could not allow those two ships to simply pass by without intercepting them: if allowed to approach Earth, they could then do some grievous damages to orbital installations…if the ships were armed. If he did nothing, Grand Admiral Wa would have his head on a platter.
‘’ALERT THE ATTIKA TO FOLLOW US ON AN INTERCEPT COURSE FOR
THOSE TWO BOGEYS! ADVISE COMMODORE BARBANZON THAT WE HAVE TO
VACATE OUR PICKET. NAVIGATOR! PLOT A MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
INTERCEPT COURSE!’’
‘’PLOTTING,
SIR!’’
Less than three minutes later, the two frigates were powering up their thermonuclear drives and starting to climb out of orbit on two searing white trails of plasma.
06:32 (Universal Time)
Bridge of Terran frigate TCNS ALGIERS
Southern polar orbit of Mars
‘’Commodore, we have an urgent transmission from the frigate KARELIA. It and the ATTIKA just left orbit to intercept two unidentified ships broaching Mars and heading towards Earth. The message from Commander Marston is on channel 2.’’
Commodore Lucius Barbanzon, in charge of the Mars Picket, took a minute to absorb the data and information from the KARELIA before looking at his communications officer.
‘’Retransmit this data to the TCN Headquarters on Earth and to our command center in Ares City. Then tell the ALASKA to go replace the KARELIA and ATTIKA over 144
the North Pole. We will stay here to cover the South Pole picket. Advise me instantly of any new info or data about those two approaching intruders.’’
‘’Aye,
sir!’’
06:49 (Universal Time)
Bridge of Terran frigate TCNS KARELIA
On intercept course above Mars
‘’Do we have a better picture on those two intruders, Ensign Mayers? We will soon have to reverse thrust to break our speed and adjust course for our interception.
Then, our plasma exhaust will obscure most of our sensors for precious moments.’’
‘’I know, sir,’’ said apologetically the young woman in charge of the sensors display sphere, ‘’but those two ships are playing the stealth game to the hilt. They have not emitted any electronic signal of any kind up to now, at least not in omnidirectional mode. They are also using only their gravity sails, which makes them much harder to spot via optical and infra-red means and prevents us from analyzing their drive flare for identification. Our view of them through our forward telescope is still no more than two separate dots. However, from their radar return strength, these are definitely ships of appreciable size, at least as big as our frigate. I would advise extreme caution, sir.’’
‘’Your point is well taken, Ensign. Make sure that we send immediately any new data to Commodore Barbanzon via dedicated data link.’’
‘’Will do, sir.’’
Two minutes later, Marston ordered thrust to be reversed, to brake his ship and curve his trajectory towards the plotted course of the two unidentified ships. Tension was now high aboard the frigate, with the sudden and still unexplained destruction of seven warships above Callisto only eleven days earlier on everybody’s mind. The fusion drives burned at high rate for a bit over four minutes, then quieted down to idle power.
Marston immediately looked at his chair’s display, plugged to the forward sensors. His heart accelerated when he saw that the picture of the nearest intruder now showed a definitive shape.
‘’Can you identify the ship class visually or by radar, Ensign Mayers?’’
‘’Sorry, sir, but no! Our main telescope can make out their silhouette, but the computer cannot recognize it. It seems to be a totally new class of ship, sir. However, I 145
can tell you that it is definitely bigger than us, with a length overall of over 300 meters and a maximum diameter of ninety meters. The second ship appears to be of a similar class.’’
‘’The Spacers League would already have two brand new ships? I find that hard to believe. Anyway, we are here to deal with them. Comms, hail them!’’
After a minute of tense waiting, with the intruders now closer and closer on near parallel courses with the KARELIA and ATTIKA, the communications officer finally reported back to Marston.
‘’No answer at all on any frequency, sir!’’
‘’Dammit, those buggers asked for it! Fire a visible laser beam across their bow!
If they don’t react still to that, then we will fire for effect.’’
‘’Aye, sir! Firing warning beam now.’’
Even though Marston was expecting trouble, his stomach knotted up when Mayers shouted in alarm ten seconds after the laser beam was fired ahead of the first intruder.
‘’Sir, targeting radars just powered up on the intruders!’’
‘’Damn! TO ALL THE CREW: SEAL YOUR SUITS NOW! WEAPONS
OFFICER: TARGET THE FIRST INTRUDER FOR A 4-MISSILE SALVO AND STAND
BY TO FIRE!’’
Marston then saw on the display sphere that the ATTIKA was getting much closer than he liked to the second intruder. They were already well within standard missile range and getting so close would limit the time the laser batteries from the ATTIKA would have to intercept and destroy any incoming enemy missile. As it was, the laser firepower of TCN frigates was already too limited in Marston’s mind, so there was no need to tempt the devil like this.
‘’TELL ATTIKA TO WIDEN THE DISTANCE WITH THE SECOND INTRUDER!
IT IS…’’
‘’MULTIPLE MISSILE LAUNCHES FROM THE FIRST INTRUDER! THE
SECOND INTRUDER IS ALSO FIRING MISSILES!’’
‘’LASERS ON COUNTER-MISSILE AUTOMATIC MODE! FIRE ALL OUR
FORWARD MISSILE TUBES!’’ Shouted immediately Marston. Another shout from his sensors officer then baffled him for a second.
‘’Sir, the intruders are firing massive salvoes of some kind of radar-jamming material.’’
‘’What?’’ Started to say Marston, who was then cut by another warning.
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‘’EIGHT MISSILES INBOUND, ACCELERATING AT 20 Gs, SIR! ATTIKA ALSO
HAS EIGHT MISSILES ON ITS BACK.’’
‘’Sir, our fire control radars are having a hard time seeing through the enemy counter-measures. Our missiles still have not acquired their target.’’
‘’What about our lasers? Are we getting hits on these incoming missiles?’’
‘’Not yet, sir! Those missiles are still quite far and are also very fast. The hits ratio should however improve soon as the range diminishes.’’
Marston swore mentally at that remark. While a shorter range improved laser accuracy against small targets, it also meant that enemy missiles would be closer to hitting his ship. The problem was that his frigate could fire no more than two laser beams at a time, beams of limited durations due to heat dissipation constraints and of a maximum power of forty megawatts per beam. That was quite meager, not to say insufficient, to stop with good certainty eight incoming missiles. However, the powers that be had decided decades ago that the firepower of present frigate designs were quote perfectly adequate for their roles unquote. Now, Marston was stuck with being the one to prove them right…or wrong. A horrified shout then started answering that question.
‘’THE ATTIKA JUST EXPLODED, SIR!’’
‘’WHAT?’’
‘’IT WAS HIT BY AT LEAST FOUR MISSILES, SIR. THEY MUST HAVE HIT ITS