Bright Horizons (12 page)

“That
is brilliant, General. You can protect your most valuable resource while taking
the offensive.”

Kyle
tensed and turned a steady gaze at Smith. “My men are our most valuable
resource.”

“I’m
sorry General, I meant no offense.”

“Just
remember that, Mister Smith. These men and women, and the families they fight
for, is what this war is all about.”

“I
was just impressed at the strategy you have developed.”

“Thank
you, but it was the brain child of Williams, not mine. What moved this from a
good idea to a great idea was the thought that we could strike multiple targets
at once with our full power.”

“I
don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“The
sleds are designed to ferry a single cruiser or five scooters at a time.  But
if we were to pre-position, let’s say thirty scooters and six cruisers a half
light year from a target system, we could move all vessels in less than three
hours with three sleds. Is that correct?”

“That
would be five trips per sled, at approximately twenty minutes each. Yes, I
would say that would be reasonable. The docking and undocking would take some
time, but if you had it go smoothly, that would be about right.”

“So
if we have fifteen sleds, we could pull off a simultaneous five system assault,
and be done in about twelve hours tops. Right?”

“Well…
yes.  But that would require thirty cruisers and one hundred and fifty
scooters. And you said you…”

“Could
only have a fleet of twelve and thirty if we used your engines on them. We
aren’t going to use your engines on them. We are going to use your engines on
the sleds.”

Smith
gulped heavily. “How many vessels are you looking to build?” he softly asked.

“We
have four more docks being finished now. That brings us up to a total of twelve
working full time. In six months we are hoping to have eighty eight cruisers
and four hundred and fifty scooters,” Kyle said while looking at the screen. 

He
missed seeing Smith wiping sweat from his brow.

Chapter 13

22 March
2044

Kyle stood
on the bridge of the Grant and looked at the crew. The low murmur and hum of
activity was in sharp contrast to the intensity of the moment.

The
Sophocles and the other two sleds had just dropped two cruisers, the Grant and
the Sun Tzu, and five scooters. The next run would bring in the Berlin and ten
more scooters. The last trip would bring in fifteen final scooters; all of them
set up as giant mobile railguns. Those experimental weapons would have to run
and hide after the engagement got underway, but with three massive projectiles
each, it was hoped that they would pack a nice punch.

Kyle
felt the bump of the Sophocles pulling away and heard the ion engines being
brought online.

Captain
McKendree stepped into his field of vision. “We are set, General. Looks like
both cruisers engines came online as planned, and the scooters are taking up
defensive position. In another few minutes we will see if we were noticed by
the Iltia’cor.”

The
initial insertion of the Earth forces was the most questionable moment in this
whole mission. The plan was to warp in far enough out that the Iltia’cor
wouldn’t pick up on the power surge and the Earth forces would have time to
prepare themselves for the assault.

“Sounds
like things are going well, Captain,” Kyle said looking at the data screen to
his right.  “How did undocking go?”

“No
hitches, sir. Hopefully this will be a smooth operation.”

“Practice
makes perfect. But remember what Ike said.”

McKendree
smiled as he quoted Eisenhower. “In preparing for battle I have always found
that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

“I
always preferred ‘Dollars and guns are no substitutes for brains and will
power’,” Kyle chuckled.

“I
hope our brains are better this day,” McKendree said.

“They
are, and we have the planning this day as well,” Kyle stated.

Kyle
ran through the day’s operation in his mind. He was with the strike team at
Kortit, and if everything was going as planned, there were other cruisers and
scooters being put in place at three other worlds.  Two of the worlds, Terti
and Fi’cala, were highly strategic, supplying many raw materials and holding
manufacturing facilities. Kortit was the Hedali home world, and there were some
sentimental reasons for picking it as the third target. The fourth planet,
Cyrum, was chosen specifically because it was the least important.

Kyle
had decided that he would throw a puzzle at the Iltia’cor. Let them try to
figure out why it was chosen.

“Scouts
are in position sir, no reports of enemy activity,” a young officer informed
McKendree.

“I
think I will go take a rest, Captain,” Kyle said as he stepped away from the
data station.

“Aye,
General, if it gets busy, you’ll know,” McKendree said while scanning the
communications screen.

Kyle
had never met McKendree before he was given this command, but he liked him
instantly. McKendree not only knew the rules and procedures of military
command, he also knew when to disregard them and to what level. It is a hard
line to walk to be guided by the rules and not controlled by them. Some
commanders never learn it and others take it too far and lose the focus of
discipline.

Kyle’s
resting cabin was two doors from the bridge and had a bed, a toilet and a desk
with two data displays. Kyle flopped down on the bed as the door shut and
closed his eyes. If Williams was right, the Iltia’cor cruisers would be ripped
apart in the initial engagement. The giant railguns would work, he just knew
they would. 

It
had sounded so stupid when Dolsen pitched the idea, but the more they thought
about it, the more brilliant it became. The Earth cruisers had been designed
from the start to have some powerful railguns, but projectiles of seventy five
tons only had so much inertia. Plus, if the enemy had inertial shields, and
Smith had hesitated before assuring them that the Iltia’cor did not, the high
speed of the railguns might work against the Earth fleet.

But
the scooters modified to be a giant railgun? It was such an audacious suggestion,
such a primitive answer to a complicated puzzle. And yet, the simplest way to
overcome all possible defenses the Iltia’cor might have. By the time they left
the meeting, everyone was grinning ear to ear. At 2,000 metric tons per
projectile, it would be… incredible. Williams, of course, had summed it up best
with his off the cuff comment to the Chancellor.

“It
will be like throwing a localized asteroid field at them,” he had said.

Kyle
ran through the plan in his head. By the time the Iltia’cor cruisers reached
20,000 kilometers, the fifteen modified scooters would set up in a spray
pattern. The fight would start with three volleys of projectiles fired as fast
as the crews could manage. The Iltia’cor cruisers were not nimble enough to
avoid the pattern completely and any shielding they had would be crushed in the
first wave.

The
Earth cruisers would then engage the Iltia’cor at close range and it was hoped
the enemy cruisers would be destroyed with few human casualties. After that,
the scooters would sweep up the remaining smaller Iltia’cor vessels in the
system and provide scouting details. Any Iltia’cor bases with significant
defenses would be destroyed long range by the cruisers and communication
stations would be targeted by the smaller vessels.

Once
communication with the Hedali on Kortit was established, they would know they
were free from the Iltia’cor domination.

Four
planets simultaneously liberated. Kyle hoped that would shake the confidence of
this enemy and drive them to the negotiating table. War was too costly on all
fronts, despite how necessary it was sometimes.

“General,
to the bridge.” McKendree’s voice come through his com unit.

Kyle
looked at his watch as he stood and straightened his clothes. He must have
dozed a bit while thinking. He stepped quickly to the bridge and sought out the
main display. The Berlin was already in position, and the status table told him
the third run of the Sleds should be coming out of warp in less than five
minutes.

“Trouble?”
Kyle asked as he stepped beside McKendree.

McKendree
pointed at a small blip on the screen right inside the rings of a gas giant
near their drop point.

“We
picked it up just a minute ago. It’s a small scout or relay ship we think. I’ve
sent a couple of scooters over to investigate.”

Just
then the blip darted towards the drop point on the screen and McKendree
switched the main view to get a visual check. It was a small Iltia’cor
communications relay vessel. It was flying right into the formation of the
Earth ships.

“What
is it doing?” McKendree asked under his breath.

“It’s
trying to get our formation and count so it can report back. We need to take it
down,” Kyle replied.

“Number
four and number six, fire on bogey,” McKendree ordered his crew.

A
sharp pulse coursed through the Grant as two shots from the railguns hurtled
towards the trajectory of the small relay ship. Both struck the vessel and
ripped it into three parts. Several small explosions and electrical discharges
were seen before the vessel started breaking up into small pieces. Kyle nodded
at the impressive accuracy of the railguns in real action.

“If
they had time, they may have been able to get a message off to the rest of
their fleet,” Kyle said. “We need to start moving towards the inner system now
and get ready for the engagement.”

“Davidson,
put us on battle alert. Helm, coordinate course with the Sun Tzu and Berlin and
let’s get moving,” McKendree ordered.

The
bridge started humming like a swarm of bees as each member of the crew worked
in unison; a well-oiled machine where every cog knew when and where to help
turn the gear. A squad of ground pounders worked much the same way, but to
watch a ship’s crew in action was a sight that never failed to impress Kyle.

“Sir,
we have two Iltia’cor cruisers coming our way,” an Ensign to Kyle’s left said.
“It looks like they are going to meet up about 22.4 out, between the fourth
Planet and the asteroid belt.”

Kyle
checked the long range sensors and looked at the location the Ensign indicated.
There were plenty of better locations to set up an attack and bringing both
heavy ships into the same zone indicated that they were not expecting a
concentrated force to be brought against them. Their smaller vessels were
milling about with no structure or formation.

“What
do you make of that?” Kyle asked McKendree as he saw the Captain looking at the
same screen.

“They
are not sure who we are or if we are even a danger,” said McKendree barely
above a whisper.

Kyle
smiled. This was going better than he hoped. With the Iltia’cor still not
responding to them as a threat, he was sure they would be able to take them by
surprise.

“Sir,
the sleds are coming through,” Davidson informed McKendree.

Kyle
started looking for the best place to engage the enemy. If they were to slip
behind the gas giant, it would interfere with the sensors of the Iltia’cor and
they would have to swing wide to get a good view of the Earth ships. If they
pulled them far enough around the planet, it would cut off communication with
Kortit.

Kyle
pointed at a position on the screen. “There, if we can get there and then turn
on the Iltia’cor, we will be able to close with them and engage them while
their communications are disrupted.”

McKendree
nodded and sent the coordinates to his XO and Helm. “Look good to you,
Davidson? Cornwall?”

Both
men nodded their approval as they studied the plan.

McKendree
pressed a switch on his console. “Sun Tzu, Berlin, we have a target engagement
zone, set course for received coordinates, engage ion engines and God speed.”

McKendree
looked at Kyle for a second and then said, “Helm, engage engines.”

Kyle
did a quick calculation in his head. The engagement zone was a little over 18
million kilometers away. That would take about twelve and a half minutes. Once
there, they would turn to engage the Iltia’cor as they rounded the curvature of
the gas giant.

Kyle
quickly scanned the fire control console on the Grant. Eight railguns were the
heavy weapons. Six quad laser arrays would handle any smaller, faster ships or
missiles coming within twenty kilometers of the Grant. The Cruiser also had
three dozen missiles with miniature ion engines and small fusion warheads.
Those were online, but were only to be used if the railguns failed to live up
to their promise.

Kyle
looked over and saw that McKendree was methodically going through each system.
A steady hand at the wheel and a cool head in the battle.

Kyle
nodded and smiled. Earth’s best were in charge and he knew today would be
successful.

“Sir,
approaching Delta point, disengaging engines on your mark,” the young helmsman
announced.

“Disengage
on three, two, one, mark,” said McKendree. “I need com up ASAP.”

“Com
on, sir.”

“This
is the Grant, report in.”

“Sun
Tzu reporting.”

“Berlin
reporting.”

“Alpha
Wing reporting.”

“Gold
Group reporting.”

“Let’s
get these ladies turned around, the music is starting and it’s time to dance,”
said McKendree to his fleet.

The
sensors were picking up the first Iltia’cor scout vessels as the Earth cruisers
started engaging the pulse engines that would move them into battle. Alpha Wing
had set up in a screening position about 10,000 kilometers in front of the
cruisers. Gold Group, those scooters that were modified to be the giant
railguns, took up positions a mere 100 kilometers in front of the large Earth
vessels.

Kyle
looked at the display and saw all ships were in position.  At 20,000 kilometers
away the Iltia’cor scout vessels turned towards the Earth fleet and started
accelerating.  Another 50,000 kilometers out, just clearing the interference of
the gas giant, were the two enemy cruisers.

“Sir,
we are receiving transmissions from one of the Iltia’cor cruisers,” an aging
Korean man said from one of the stations behind Kyle.

“Can
you translate, Commander Kim?” McKendree asked.

“Kiltao
Gor’dal wants identification. He also issues a warning that the Kortit system
is sovereign territory of the Iltia’cor.”

Kyle
looked back at the communications officer. “Tell them we are from Earth,
Commander. No other message.”

Kyle
looked back at McKendree who nodded.

“Fleet,
forward at sixty percent pulse. Keep in formation. Coordinate fire control
through the Grant and prepare for engagement,” McKendree said.

Kyle
watched the main display as the Earth fleet moved slowly forward. A full minute
passed and Alpha Wing was a mere 8,000 kilometers from the closest Iltia’cor
scout vessels.