Henry Gallant Saga 2: Lieutenant Henry Gallant (4 page)

Got to keep firing . . .

SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER . . .

“It looks like a civilization. There’s an entire community on the main island,” said Gallant, animated by the scene. “The structures appear to be mainly small habitats in clusters along the shoreline with a large central plaza. Along the southern perimeter there are a few industrial buildings, possibly factories, and then on the western side, segregated somewhat, are farms and animal enclosures.”

Captain Cooper examined the telescopic display as he zoomed in on the areas highlighted by Gallant. Nodding, he asked, “Are there any other inhabited areas?”

“No sir. This is the only visible settlement on the main island chain. The rest of the planet’s land masses appear bare of habitation, nevertheless they are teeming with plant and animal life.”

“I see large herds of various mammals roaming freely across the main island. Are there any signs of domestication?” asked the captain as he watched the rapidly changing color images came skidding across the screen.

“There are a few hundred animals in corral pens on the outskirts of the settlement. The rest appear to be running wild,” said Gallant, sweeping his arm in a wide arc to illustrate the free range the animals enjoyed.

“Agriculture?”

“There’s a desert to the west and a volcanic region on the northern section of the main island, but lush vegetation covers the temperate portion of the islands. Irrigated farming activity is abundant near the western part of the settlement, sir. The crops under cultivation might support a population of several hundred to several thousand individuals.”

“Can you estimate their level of technology?”

“There is a road system crisscrossing the settlement with several fossil fuel ground vehicles in transit. Surprisingly, there are glass and steel industrial buildings showing a sophisticated construction we would normally find on Earth. By all appearances, this looks more like an advanced, yet isolated, colony rather than a naturally developing indigenous population, sir.”

“What kind of population?”

Deadpan, the ship’s surgeon, Lieutenant Mendel, said, “Human.”

“Right . . . humans,” responded Gallant dryly. “Eleven light-years from Earth? How is it possible they got here, ahead of us . . . the first FTL ship?”

“You caught me, Henry. I told an outrageous lie for no reason,” said Mendel raising his hands over his head in mock surrender.

“Funny, Doc,” said Gallant. “You shouldn’t be such a smartass when the captain’s on the bridge. I might have to put you on report.”

“Oh, no. I guess my punishment will be getting reassigned to engineering,” said Mendel.

Gallant sighed, shaking his head. “And you used to be such a respectable medical doctor.”

“I’m only along for the ride now.”

Unable to keep a straight face, Captain Cooper put his hand over his mouth to suppress a snort.

“Yeah, Yeah. Enough. How about evaluating the inhabitant’s physiology?” asked Gallant.

“I completed the physiological scans two minutes ago. Like I said, they’re human. I wasn’t kidding. They’re human!”

Suddenly, no one was smiling, it wasn’t funny anymore.

“A colony? A human colony?” asked the captain, perplexed. “From where? Surely not from another planet in this system?”

No one could think of a response to the
Intrepid's
commanding officer.

Cooper looked directly at Gallant and said, “I don’t like this, Gallant. Not one bit!”

For several seconds, it remained disarmingly quiet on the bridge.

“There’s something strange,” started Gallant, when he was interrupted by the exclamation of the senior sensor technician.

“Radar contact! A high speed ship is emerging from behind the moon. Designate, Tango-one.”

The comfortable atmosphere on the bridge spontaneously changed as every station galvanized to face a potential interloper.

The Chief of the Watch reported, “Tango-one emissions’ signature is identified as a Titan vessel, destroyer class.”

While the announcement surprised everyone on the bridge, they showed their professional poise by rapidly adjusting to the arrival of the enemy threat.

“Sound General Quarters. Full power to the shields,” ordered Captain Cooper.

Gong! Gong! Gong!

Battle stations brought a flurry of activity on the
Intrepid.
A moment of bustle and movement erupted as men proceeded to their duty stations. Mendel left the bridge to prepare the medical center for casualties while other personnel quickly got into their battle station assignments. Multiple reports from various stations fed into the CIC, attesting to their readiness.

“Captain, there are no other contacts,” said the sensor technician. “We’ll be within Tango-one’s missile envelope in seven minutes, sir.”

His illusion of an amiable mission shattered, Gallant thought,
The destroyer must have been hiding in the moon’s radar shadow while we were making our way across the star system. How could a war we left light-years away have followed us to Tau Ceti? Damn!

The Titan destroyer charged directly at the
Intrepid.
The Titans were not known to have FTL drive, but their fusion engines were capable of 0.0022c. Their destroyers were armed with anti-ship missiles, lasers, and plasma cannon systems, and this one was attacking at full throttle.

On the other hand, the
Intrepid
carried minimal weapon systems. It had only a few pulsed lasers and plasma cannons for short range defense. Without anti-ship missiles and carrying no anti-missile missiles, she was completely outmatched. By attacking them while they were entering planetary orbit,
Intrepid
was caught operating at minimum sublight speed on its fusion engines. In addition, they couldn’t use their FTL drive while within the star system. This ambush caught them at their most vulnerable.

Several years earlier, UP had fought a series of space battles against the Titans after discovering they had colonized the outer planets of the Solar System. The Titans had traveled in generation ships from Gliese-581, and the methane-breathing Titans were Gliese-forming the volcanic moons of Saturn and Uranus. Gallant had fought in the
Battle of Jupiter
where, he had played a pivotal role in the great victory that drove the Titans back to the outer edges of the Solar System.

We beat them before—we can do it again.

Gallant shared the faith and confidence the bridge team had in their captain. Far from Earth and about to face battle, the crew, surrounded by the virtual screens and scanned reports, worked feverishly to prepare for action against a familiar foe.

“Helm, break orbit, steady as you go, full speed ahead,” said Captain Cooper.

“Aye, aye, sir,” said Craig, focusing on setting the course and ringing up the speed.

A moment later Cooper ordered in a calm, but commanding voice, “Engineering, I want everything those engines are capable of and I want it now!”

“Will do, Captain,” said Lieutenant John Paulson.

Then a few moments later the bridge speaker blared, “Answering, all ahead emergency, sir. Both reactors are RED-lined!”

John’s always been fearless. I hope he isn’t being reckless.

Gallant visualized the excitement on his roommate’s face. Paulson would ride those engines to the edge of a core meltdown.

The fusion reactors, working beyond their safety limits, increased the momentum of the
Intrepid
and accelerated her out of orbit. Still, the crew could only watch as the Titan destroyer continued to close the distance preventing their escape.

Like the rest of the crew, Gallant wore a tight-fitting pressure suit for survival from large G-forces during routine operations. In addition, he was strapped securely into his acceleration couch because as the
Intrepid
left orbit and accelerated at an abnormal rate, the crew was pressed forcefully into their chairs.

Gallant watched in fascination as the forward view screen showed the Titans launching two medium anti-ship missiles. They separated from the destroyer and began their journey to attack the
Intrepid.
They grew visibly as he looked on. They were known to carry multiple one hundred megaton thermonuclear warheads.

“Incoming missiles designated, Tango two and three,” reported the radar operator.

A continuous stream of reports was coming in from every direction, but Cooper remained calm and organized. “Concentrate port laser and plasma weapon systems on Tango two and starboard batteries on Tango three.”

“Sir, the missiles are closing and moving so fast we’re having difficulty adjusting our target acquisition systems.”

“Adjust your aim on-the-fly,” was the captain’s order, born from desperation.

The
Intrepid
had a titanium-molybdenum alloyed steel hull with powerful force shields. Together they helped minimize any effects of a nuclear blast. By using speed to distance the ship from an explosion, most of the blast effects could be avoided. Since any ships which moved at 0.001c would be in the vicinity of an explosion for only a tiny fraction of a second most of the blast would be dissipated into empty space. A missile would only do fatal damage if it hit directly on the ship’s hull plates. Direct hits could penetrate the ships’ shields and tear openings in the ships’ hulls. However, near misses could damage the ship by weakening shields and armor over time.

The
Intrepid's
laser and plasma weapons struck the incoming missiles, but the missiles resisted immediate destruction. It took repeated hits on the warheads before they detonated. The multiple warhead vehicles exploded across a wide area of space around the
Intrepid.
A fitful red glow appeared on the port bulkhead side of the bridge. The end result was a thermonuclear fury which damaged the ship and wounded numerous crew members. The injured were taken to the medical center for surgical help.

“Damage control reports coming in from all sections of the ship, sir,” reported Gallant.

The destroyer remained on the
Intrepid's
starboard side and the range continued to close while the destroyer reloaded its missile launchers.

The Titans changed course to three-three-zero to close more quickly. As soon as the reloading was accomplished, the Titans launched another pair of missiles.

The captain gave a rapid fire series of orders. “CIC, give me a plot on Tango one. AI, show me the new missile projections. AI, show me the most effective laser fire options. Weapon’s officer, synchronize laser fire and recharge all plasma weapon systems. Helm, come to course 090, azimuth up 10 degrees, increase speed to 0.002c, at time 1626.”

The experienced crew responded without hesitation.

Again the
Intrepid
concentrated fire on the incoming missiles. One exploded short of its target, but the second explosion was a near miss, causing the
Intrepid
serious damage.

Reevaluating his position, Cooper ordered, “All stations, commence continuous laser and plasma fire.” Then he added, “Helm—hard to port—come to course 180, azimuth up 10 degrees, speed 0.002c, at time 1647.”

This gutsy call turned the ship directly toward the enemy and closed the range even faster. They were following their own laser fire toward the enemy ship. By this decision, he hoped to give his ship time to reach maximum speed while the enemy executed a difficult reversal of course and reloaded their missile launchers. The missile flight time was now mere seconds, which didn’t allow the alien ship time to deploy more missiles. Instead of firing a salvo, the alien ship spent several confused minutes changing course.

As the
Intrepid
swept past the Titan destroyer, it once more opened the distance.

Rapidly, the Titans recovered and fired another pair of missiles.

The few moments lost before
Intrepid
was ready to respond proved fatal. The shock waves of the missile warheads’ exploding rocked the ship. The violent repercussions of this salvo were devastating to the UP prototype spaceship.

The nuclear bursts damaged
Intrepid's
reactors and the ship’s speed dropped drastically. In engineering, men struggled to keep the nuclear reactors functioning, the weapon systems up, and the environmental controls working. In the engineering control room, communications were lost and it rapidly became a death trap as fires from adjoining compartments roasted the inhabitants alive before fire suppression systems were able counteract the flames.

Men struggled throughout the ship as damage mounted. The aft crew’s quarters were completely demolished and the port laser batteries were bent like pretzels. The starboard repair shop was flooded when the main water recycling tank ruptured. Ironically, the spill quelled the fire in the area. Other compartments weren’t so lucky. One of the plasma stations exploded from a direct laser hit and began to burn like a Roman candle. The heroic efforts by its gun crew failed to extinguish the blaze and most of the men perished in the attempt.

So the battle went; one horror after another. The small craft flight deck was hit by plasma fire and set ablaze. Craft after craft was disabled.

Little doubt remained amongst the survivors; the
Intrepid
was teetering on the edge of disaster. The only question was would internal explosions produce their demise, or would the Titans strike the final blow?

The men had one consolation during those horrific few minutes; the veteran crew stayed at their combat stations and continued to fire their remaining weapons’ batteries, despite the cost in lives. They kept pouring laser and plasma fire at the Titan ship, inflicting whatever damage they could, until, they too, were silenced by return fire.

On the bridge, Captain Cooper, deprived of communications, visual images, and AI systems, had only a vague picture of the chaotic state of his ship. He tried to issue orders to readdress the damage, but the loss of communications, coupled with the destruction of men and material throughout the ship, reduced his efforts to near futility.

“Captain, fire in the engine room. We have several hull ruptures aft of the Operations compartment. Damage control teams are being dispatched. Hull integrity is dropping,” said Gallant. He looked at the computer readouts and saw compartment lighting flicker on and off, and then the panel hesitantly continued to function.