Cradle of War (A Captain's Crucible Book 3) (18 page)

“I’m guessing you’re glad I didn’t send you down, now,” Robert told Miko.

“I am.” Miko said. “But what I’m wondering is... why haven’t the Raakarr weaponized this tech? Why use it only for ship construction?”

“Looks fairly weaponized to me,” Robert responded. “Given what just happened to our Dragonfly.”

“But why not use the things during space battles?” Miko said.

Robert shrugged. “I think those bots would be fairly useless at the speeds involved in space combat. They’d be destroyed on impact: basically really,
really
expensive slugs.”

“Well obviously they’d need some kind of deployment device,” Miko said. “If they could land that device on a hull, and then release the little bastards, they could sure wreak some havoc.”

“I guess so,” Robert said. “Let’s just say, I’m glad the Raakarr don’t have anything like that.”

“Some of their ships might,” Miko said. “We just haven’t encountered the tech yet.”

“It’s possible,” Robert agreed. He wasn’t looking forward to the day when such an encounter would take place.

He studied the surface from the remaining shuttle’s point of view. “Let’s try this again, shall we? Maxwell, dispatch Dragonfly 4 directly to that crater. There have to be a few nearly intact microbots that survived the blast. Send another unit down. Let’s make sure the other Centurions didn’t fall for nothing.”

“As you wish, Commander,” the AI returned.

The shuttle approached the blast crater, and the designated unit, H, strapped in to the tether and descended with the sample container in hand.

Robert switched to its point of view and watched as Unit H landed on both feet in the crater, and then moved about the debris.

“The other robots are swarming back toward the crater,” Ensign Lewis warned.

“Maxwell, tell Unit H to hurry up...” Robert said.

In rapid succession, the unit retrieved three damaged microbots—one of them was still moving, though sluggishly—and then shut the container. The tether reeled in just as more microbots swarmed into the crater, and Dragonfly 4 took flight.

In moments the Centurion was back aboard the shuttle and the rear ramp closed.

Robert exhaled. “Well done, Unit H. Maxwell, recall Dragonfly 4 and Raptor 1, along with the repeater drones. Let’s get those hard-won samples back to the
Callaway
.”

“Aye, sir,” Maxwell replied.

After the craft had docked, Robert gave his final orders: “Helm, bring us down to optimal firing range. Miko, instruct the
Dagger
to join us. We’re going to raze that site with our Vipers.”

“If we miss even one of those microbots,” Miko said. “They might be able to begin the shipyard anew. The Raakarr will have a foothold in this galaxy.”

“An automated foothold, maybe,” Robert said. “Until the Elder decide to stop tolerating their presence. But point taken. We’ll keep firing until we’ve destroyed them all, down to the last microbot.” He tapped in the acting chief scientist, Hayley O’Rielly. “I’m bringing a few samples to cargo bay seven, O’Rielly. I want you to keep them under constant observation, at least until I can get them into the hands of our chief weapons engineer.”

“What kind of samples are we talking about?” O’Rielly returned.

“Small robots. I’m not sure how functional they are, but there’s a chance they might be able to break down the container. So it’s possible you’ll have to continually reinforce it.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” O’Rielly answered.

After spending the next few hours razing the shipyard, and then sending the Raptor down on survey runs to finish the job, Robert ordered the task unit to break orbit.

“Set a course for Task Unit One,” Robert said. “It’s time to rejoin the rest of the fleet.”

J
onathan waited patiently on the darkened bridge, the red glow emitted from the bulkhead filaments reduced to a dim smolder.

The
Talon
resided one hundred thousand kilometers past the asteroid where the two corvettes had hidden earlier, a rock that aReal records indicated was named David 25. The alien vessel had deactivated its engines and shut down its life support systems. While the yellow fumes of the alien atmosphere remained in the compartments and passages, the air had grown very cold, forcing the six Zarafe officers in the pit area to don the dark mists that served as their environmental suits. According to Barrick that fog interfered with their operation of the ship, but since almost everything was turned off the crew wasn’t overly concerned about that at the moment. One reactor still ran at a quarter power, providing energy to the passive sensor system so they weren’t running entirely in the blind.

The outside of the
Talon
would appear dark on the thermal spectrum, with only a small amount of heat radiating from the aft quarter of the hull thanks to the lone reactor.

A debris trail floated behind the vessel, simulating attack damage. As per Jonathan’s instructions, the Zarafe had ejected garbage at intervals into space, including organic matter Valor claimed had been stored in the equivalent of sick bay. Jonathan suspected the alien captain had grabbed one of the Elk prisoners from a holding cell somewhere aboard the ship and simply spaced him. In any case, the goal was complete: the
Talon
appeared to be a derelict, drifting in the void.

The
Galilei
and
Artemis
had launched four non-nuclear missiles into the void at different nearby locations. These kinetic kill missiles had been drained so that they contained only a quarter of their usual propellant. The human ships had driven the missiles toward the
Talon
from the forward and aft directions before cutting propulsion. From the trajectory and speeds of the missiles and the
Talon
, it would seem the ship had braked to avoid “smart” mines—the missiles—but had done so too late, triggering the proximity fuse of one of them. It would appear that the remaining missiles had also braked to pursue, yet had exhausted their propellants in the process.

Meanwhile, by design, there was no sign of the
Artemis
and
Galilei
. This included the entire EM band: all ships at the moment were under strict orders to maintain radio silence. The
Talon
appeared to drift alone—the perfect bait.

Approximately an hour and a half after they had set up, Barrick informed Jonathan that the passive sensors had detected exploratory probes of Raakarr make at the Slipstream entrance behind them.

“Otter tells me our pursuers have entered the system,” Barrick said. “The laser ship, and its two escorts. They’re remaining in orbit by the Slipstream for the moment and launching more probes. It seems they’re worried about an ambush.”

“Rightly so,” Jonathan said.

“The probes are moving outward,” Barrick said.

“And the ships?” Jonathan asked.

“So far they still haven’t moved,” Barrick replied.

“Let me know when that changes.”

Half an hour later Barrick announced: “The three ships are finally accelerating, maintaining the current distance from their advance probes.”

“They’ve discovered the radiation belt,” Jonathan said. “And don’t want to lose contact with their scouts. How far away are the advance probes?”

“Eight hundred thousand kilometers.”

When the probes reached the six hundred thousand kilometer mark, one diverted toward a nearby asteroid, ostensibly to check for potential ambushers. The system records labelled the rock Goliath 11 due to its relatively large size.

“According to Otter, the probe has passed behind Goliath and already looped back,” Barrick said.

Jonathan nodded.

The three ships reached the six hundred thousand kilometer mark from the
Talon
.

“The two dart ships are braking,” Barrick said. “They’ve come to a complete halt. Meanwhile, it looks like the laser ship is continuing forward.”

“All too predictable,” Jonathan remarked. Though he had to admit that predictability only extended so far. Luck was a large factor in the battle to come.

“Wait, one of the dart ships is accelerating,” Barrick said. “It looks like it’s going to escort the laser ship.”

Jonathan felt one of his eyebrows rise. “That’ll make things... interesting. Please refer to that vessel as the ‘escort,’ or T1, and the craft that stayed behind, T2.”

A minute later Barrick said: “The laser ship just crossed the five hundred thousand kilometer mark. It’s begun separating. The first lens segment has deployed, while the rest of the ship is moving forward. As is the dart escort.”

The laser ship continued to separate, leaving behind a segment every hundred thousand kilometers. The final segment and its escort halted at the hundred and fifty thousand kilometer mark.

“A hundred and fifty thousand” Jonathan said, echoing Barrick’s range quote. “A little farther than I had hoped.”

“But within the range of the weapon as Valor told you,” Barrick replied.

“At the very upper limits of that range,” Jonathan corrected him. “Unless Valor lied.”

Barrick’s eyes defocused. “The laser is firing.”

Jonathan felt nothing in the compartment. “Damage?” he asked after ten seconds.

“Minimal so far,” Barrick said. “Otter tells me the laser will have to strike the same spot four times to breach the hull.” He paused. “Valor wants to power up and increase our distance from them.”

“Not yet,” Jonathan said. “If we move now, it ruins the whole plan. We can hold our ground for a few more minutes. Forcing us into action is precisely what the aliens want. They’re testing if we’re truly dead in the water.”

Barrick remained silent for several moments. Then:

“Valor agrees to continue playing dead,” Barrick replied. “For now. But when the hull is breached, he’s going to power on and turn another side toward the enemy at the very least.”

Jonathan sighed. “Fine.”

A minute later Barrick announced that the laser had fired again, striking the same spot.

“Has the
Artemis
emerged from hiding yet?” Jonathan asked.

“No, but one of the alien advance probes is halfway to the closer asteroid, David, so I expect we’ll hear from the
Artemis
shortly.” He paused. “A kinetic kill missile just emerged from behind the asteroid.” The aliens were able to distinguish between nukes and kinetic kills by the heat signature.

Jonathan frowned when he heard the news. He felt the launch was a touch too soon
.

Given the position of David, the kinetic kill was fifty thousand kilometers from the final laser segment and the closer dart ship, T1. More than enough time for the laser to adjust its firing position and take out the weapon. Then again, perhaps it was a wise move on Rail’s part, as it
was
drawing attention away from the
Talon
; Rail would have known by now how much of a loose canon Valor could be, and she must have imagined the alien captain would be arguing with Jonathan to remove their ship from the line of fire. 

“The heat signature of the
Artemis
just lit up our passive sensors,” Barrick said. “It’s maneuvering in front of David.” He paused. “The asteroid is moving, too. Very slowly. But it’s moving.”

The robot teams aboard the corvette had secured a long tow line to the rock before the battle. Those teams had drilled the hook into the outward-facing rim of the asteroid, and after a few test runs to determine the feasibility of the set up, the
Artemis
had flown around to the back to hide. Even with its engines and life support shut down, the irregularly shaped asteroid had barely concealed the residual heat signature of the craft.

“How fast?” Jonathan asked.

“She’s brought it up to ten percent of maximum thrust,” Barrick answered. “Eleven. Twelve. The speed is stabilizing. The
Artemis
just launched four more kinetic kills, and eight mortars. The craft is repositioning itself behind David once more.”

Jonathan nodded. Things were going somewhat to the plan...

“Location of Goliath?” he asked.

“Otter says the farther asteroid just crossed the five thousand, five hundred kilometer mark off the starboard bow of T2.”

The
Galilei
and
Artemis
had teamed up to alter the course of Goliath much earlier, and that asteroid had been steadily drifting inward on a diagonal vector toward T2’s current location six hundred thousand kilometers from the
Talon
.

“The
Galilei
has emerged from hiding,” Barrick said.

In a lucky break, the Goliath had an old mining tunnel big enough to fit the
Galilei,
which had allowed the corvette to escape detection by the advance probes. The
Talon
had tested the security of the location with its own telemetry probes.

“It looks like they’ve cut loose their tow line, given the distance they moved out from behind the cover of the asteroid,” Barrick said.

Jonathan nodded. The
Galilei
wouldn’t need to tow the rock, not at that range. Besides, in test runs the Delta V requirements necessary to move Goliath on its own had proven inordinately high, so he had advised Rodriguez to discard the tether at the earliest opportunity. The
Galilei
had remained connected only in case the opposing ships halted somewhere far removed from the expected position.

“T2 is issuing emergency thrust,” Barrick said. “The
Galilei
just fired its heavy lasers.”

At the five thousand, five hundred kilometer mark, the intensity would be enough to cut a gash halfway through the enemy ship.

“Damage?” Jonathan asked.

“Otter says T2 appears to be completely disabled,” Barrick answered. “The
Galilei
is accelerating toward the closest lens segment of the laser ship...” A segment that was a hundred thousand kilometers away.

Valor had explained through Barrick earlier that at least one ship was needed to power the laser ship, and it could do so from any of the segments. With T2 gone, that meant eliminating T1 was the highest priority.

Also, because of the design, the individual lenses could not repeat the laser backwards, so even though the
Galilei
didn’t have an asteroid to protect it, the corvette was in the clear, at least until it reached the firing range of the first segment.

“The first segment fired again,” Barrick announced. “It’s taken down the closest missile.”

“What about the other four missiles, and the hemming mortars?” Jonathan asked.

“Still in the game, thirty-five thousand kilometers from the targets.”

“And the
Artemis
and David?” Jonathan asked.

“Forty-eight thousand kilometers from the targets,” Barrick said. He glanced at Jonathan from behind his faceplate. “Valor wants us to power up and join in the hunt.”

“Not yet,” Jonathan said. “Tell him to follow the plan.”

“He’s insistent...” Barrick said.

“Hold him back!” Jonathan said.

A moment later, Barrick said: “I think I’ve calmed him down.”

The minutes passed tensely. The laser ship continued to fire, taking down the incoming missiles one by one. Then it focused on the asteroid, David. Fortunately for the
Artemis
, the rock was solid throughout, and the thick iron ore would take some time to penetrate at that range.

When the asteroid reached the thirty thousand kilometer mark from the targets, the
Artemis
emerged, and rotated another side of David to face the laser before returning into hiding, prolonging the durability of their shield.

Meanwhile, from its position five hundred and fifty thousand kilometers away, the
Galilei
launched a missile and mortar spread. It followed that up with another, slower volley of mortars to use as a shield for itself.

While not an immediate threat to T1 and the laser ship, that second attack triggered the flight reflex in the enemy.

“They’re accelerating,” Barrick announced. “Heading straight for the
Talon
.”

“That’s right,” Jonathan said, mostly to himself. “Fly precisely where we want you to. Come to daddy.”

“The laser is changing attitude, as is the escort,” Barrick said. “They’re reorienting toward the
Talon
.”

Jonathan nodded grimly.

“The
Artemis
emerged from cover,” Barrick said. “They’ve fired another couple of kinetic kills and mortars... and it looks like they’re diving back behind David. The laser segment is turning away from the
Talon
.”