Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space (The Henry Gallant Saga) (18 page)

"All ships prepare to fire. Fire!" The second UP salvo was on its way.

The follow-up missile exchange produced similar results. The
Renown
was bruised, and several fighters were destroyed. Several of the Titan destroyers and a cruiser were knocked out. The two fleets continued to close. At 1638, the Jupiter Fleet had traveled nearly half a million miles since the start of the action. The two enemy forces were now less than a million miles apart, nearly within plasma and laser range.

Captain Waller of the
Retribution
signaled, “Recommend concentrating fire on the damaged ships. We could finish them off.”

Caine didn’t reply but continued on course to cross the aliens' T just as they reached plasma and laser range, allowing the UP force to maximize weapons fire on the enemy while minimizing the Titans’ ability to fire.

This move probably saved the Jupiter Fleet. As the distance closed, the Titan plasma fire proved devastating, and the UP ships writhed from the onslaught. The neighboring space was lit up with the glow of multiple radiation bursts and reflections. Two UP destroyers were damaged, and the
Remarkable
took a few hits that scorched its port side. A very confused struggle wore on. The simultaneous missile strikes left behind a mess of drifting broken ships. The bow of another UP destroyer was blown off.

Caine ordered, "All ships prepare to fire missile salvo. Fire. Hard to port. Come to course 180, azimuth up 10 degrees, speed 0.002c, at time 1646."

This gutsy call turned the UP fleet directly toward the enemy and closed the range very fast. They were actually following their own missiles toward the enemy ships.

The missile flight time was a mere twenty seconds, and it didn’t allow the aliens time to deploy decoys, or countermeasures. It completely disrupted their organization. Instead of firing a return salvo, the alien ships spent several confused minutes avoiding collisions after they tried to evade the incoming missiles. A dozen Titan destroyers and several cruisers were destroyed or badly damaged.

The Titans apparently ordered a general attack at that point, which called for the fleet to split into different divisions and attack independently. The Titan cruisers were forced into repeated evasive actions. This slowed their advance and increased the confusion in the already badly disorganized formation.

Kelsey said, "Look at Ganymede. It’s being bombarded. I hope there are enough underground shelters to protect the population. Shuttlecraft are on their way to the surface. Alien ground forces are attacking the marine base."

Gallant thought of Jake’s son, Sergeant Bernstein. He said, "It looks like they'll be overrun."

Caine must have been thinking the same thing because Gallant heard him signal the Ganymede troops, “Stand firm. We're coming.”

Caine intended to use his current tactical advantage to pass right through the Titan battle fleet, forcing them to reverse their course to follow him. This would give him a clear shot at the assault force attacking Ganymede. But he would have to hurry; the assault force’s bombardment was wreaking havoc on the moon.

Caine hoped to cut through the Titan formation just in front of the enemy cruisers, isolating some ships in front and taking them out of combat. The plan would allow the fleets to close their distance as quickly as possible. It would also quickly bring on a frantic battle by breaking the Titan line and inducing a series of individual ship-to-ship fights, in which the UP spacecraft were likely to prevail. Caine knew his ships had the advantage of better gunnery and defensive measures. The main drawback of attacking head-on was that as the leading UP ships approached, the Titan ships could direct broadside fire at their bows to which the UP ships would be unable to reply.

The United Planets and Titans were now in a ragged, curved line, headed toward each other. The badly damaged UP fleet approached the disorganized Titan formation. The foremost UP ships were under heavy fire from several of the enemy ships for a considerable time before they could return fire. For many tense minutes,
Repulse
was under fire from the Titan cruisers. Although many shots went astray, others killed and wounded a number of her crew.

The shuttles that were in flight were likewise burned to a crisp. The alien assault force was badly mauled.

However, Jupiter Fleet paid a heavy price for this maneuver. The main Titan battle force launched a missile salvo of its own that had a devastating effect.

Gallant and his comrades struggled to shoot down the incoming missiles, even as plasma and laser beams cut them apart.

Despite the fighters’ best efforts, two destroyers were badly damaged and fell out of formation. The
Retribution
was severely damaged and had to reduce its speed to 0.001c. Twenty fighters, nearly half of the fleet’s total, were also destroyed, or severely damaged.

"Ken, we’re crippled, and we must fall out of formation," reported William Waller of the
Retribution
.

In a desperate gamble to save the battle cruiser, Caine ordered, "All fighters attack enemy forces at close range."

“All squadrons form on 111,” ordered Neumann. “Guide on me.”

The remaining twenty-six fighters fell into an attack formation and flew at full throttle into the teeth of the Titan fleet, firing their lasers.

“Flight 4, stay tight,” urged Red.

Gallant acknowledged, “I’m with you.”

The fighters weaved through the Titan ships, striking their blows one after another. To avoid collisions with the enemy, as well as friendly ships, they shot at targets of opportunity.

The Titan’s close-range plasma blasts produced a cataclysm of violence. Gallant was stunned when Sandy Barrington’s fighter took a direct hit. It disintegrated and broke into hundreds of pieces right before his eyes.

Despite the heroic assault, the enemy ships stayed on course. The fighters, however, were decimated by plasma cannons from all sides and had to break off. Less than half returned to the fleet.

As the Titans closed in on
Retribution
, she fought a desperate battle. On her own, against overwhelming odds, she was hit mercilessly with missile after missile. Belching wreckage and air, she staggered bravely onward, until finally, she erupted, and the dying wreck disappeared into a giant fireball.

As the battle ebbed and flowed, the superior number of saucers had a greater impact on the UP ships. The battle was only one hour old, and thousands had already died.

When the afterglow of the
Retribution
’s explosion faded out, Caine turned his remaining ships to open some distance to the Titan main battle fleet. He commanded, "Hard to starboard. Come to course 090, azimuth up 10 degrees, speed 0.0018c, at time 1716."

The Titans changed formation and also moved to open the distance between the fleets. Both sides needed time to regroup.

Fourteen of the Titans’ cruisers remained in the center of a screen of forty-eight destroyers—four patches of a dozen destroyers each. Their remaining cruisers and destroyers had been demolished or were left as derelicts floating in Jupiter’s orbit. The battle now continued at long range.

The enemy assault force continued to attack Ganymede and bombard the Jupiter Station. One group split off to attack the colonies on Ganymede.

Caine was forced to keep what remained of the Jupiter Fleet together, leaving Jupiter Station and Ganymede to defend themselves.

Gallant was flying on Gregory's wing when he tracked inbound missiles with a zero bearing rate.

"Red, incoming. Hard to starboard! Kick it hard!" said Gallant, his stomach reeling from nerves.

"Roger!"
The explosion rocked both ships. Red’s Eagle took substantial damage from the near miss.

"Henry, my Eagle is badly damaged. One engine is blown. I’m burned down the side of my body, and I think my arm is broken. I'm heading for the barn. You're on your own now. Good luck."

Gallant covered Red as he left formation to limp back and dock with the
Repulse
.

Soon, several more fighters were damaged or destroyed. Then another destroyer fell out of formation, badly damaged from direct missile hits.

Several fighters tried to extend their antimissile screen to cover the damaged ships, but they became easy targets for the saucers.

Caine ordered the fleet to maneuver to better support the damaged ships, but the aliens attacked in group formations of a dozen ships at a time. They fired their missiles in salvos, which greatly contributed to the confusion of battle.

Gallant fired his antimissiles at incoming missiles and fired his lasers at nearby saucers. All the time, he maintained his relative velocity alongside the
Repulse
by accelerating in a tight spiral. In addition, he constantly offered target information to the other pilots who were eager for his input.

There was no time for ships to fall back to accomplish repairs or to return to the repair facilities of the Jupiter Station. They could only stop the bleeding and keep fighting. An increasing number of lifeboats were floating among the battle wreckage. Unfortunately, no one could rescue these vessels.

Jupiter Station eventually became enmeshed in the combat, along with the facilities on Ganymede. However, Caine had prepared a few surprises for the aliens. The laboratory was successfully cloaked, and the Faser cannon it housed was primed and ready to disintegrate any saucers that came within range. Unfortunately, only a few MASS mines had been built, but they were deployed near Jupiter Station. Jupiter Station launched its missiles and coordinated with the
Repulse
’s GridScape throughout the battle.

As the battle continued, the aliens concentrated their long distance attack on the battle cruisers.

Although the outcome of the battle was still in doubt, Gallant could see that the UP battle cruisers had taken serious damage. Fortunately, both fleets were moving beyond each other’s missile range. They appeared to be ready for a respite.

After several more minutes, Gallant maneuvered his fighter toward a saucer that had been badly damaged by missile fire. He made several passes, firing his lasers until he was convinced the saucer could no longer resist a direct hit.

Gallant prepared to press the firing button to launch an antimissile into the center of the damaged saucer, but then he paused. He suddenly realized that he had the opportunity to discover important information about the aliens, if he could get inside the saucer and relay what he found to Captain Caine and GridScape.

“Kelsey, we’ve got to dock with that saucer and board it. Once we’re inside who knows what we'll discover?”

Kelsey grew alarmed, “No, no, no. Henry; is that even possible - in the middle of this chaos?”

“It’s an opportunity we can’t afford to pass up.” He abandoned caution and committed himself to the risky venture.
Kelsey stayed silent and motionless for several long seconds. Then any reservations she had faded. She calculated the course to dock, matching the saucer's speed, course, and orientation so that they would be relatively stationary.

"Kelsey, you’ll have to remain with the fighter and use the lasers to cover my spacewalk, but if things go badly, I want you to break off," said Gallant, strapping on his gun. "I don’t know if the ship’s crew will offer any resistance."

"I’ll inform
Repulse
what you’re attempting. Maybe they can provide covering fire if needed," she said.

“Great idea. I’ll send a video feed from my suit comm pin to our Eagle. You can let
Repulse
follow my progress and record everything that happens for intelligence analysis.”

With the aftermath of the violent space battle around him, Gallant prepared to spacewalk to the saucer. He sealed his mirrored armored suit and exited the fighter through his overhead hatch. The suit included an oxygen generator pack that maintained an appropriate atmosphere for him to breathe as he traveled in space. He traveled along the surface of the fighter using short bursts of gas to propel him and then released his umbilical line. Using his propulsion jets he propelled himself forward into the darkness. He looked for a way to enter the alien ship.

As Gallant floated and maneuvered outside his ship, rapid-sequence cameras on the fighter transmitted his movements. As he left the protective walls of the spaceship, Gallant’s life depended entirely upon the effectiveness of his space suit and the gear he carried. Though the spacewalk looked easy in the silence of space, it was in fact a dangerous gamble that could end disastrously at any moment. He could be hurled off into space, or struck by a missile, or laser blast straying from the surrounding battle, even with the current lull in the action.

Gallant maneuvered the jetpack deftly. His suit shielded him from incredible extremes of temperature—up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit on sunlit surfaces and down to 150 degrees below zero on the shady side of the fighter.

Tremendous solar flares continued to spew out radiation that required Gallant to increase the filter setting of his visor. The suit was also designed to protect him from deadly cosmic radiation and possible bombardment by micrometeorites that zipped through space hundreds of times faster than high-velocity rifle bullets. A large puncture in the pressurized suit could make his blood boil within seconds and cause him to explode like a toy balloon.

Propelling himself forward, he tumbled and then straightened up. By using the communicator to connect to the fighter, he relayed information directly to the ship’s AI. He could also access the ship’s monitoring capability to see how the battle was progressing. Suddenly, the communicator notified him that an alien saucer was approaching. He could see laser shots flash near him. For a moment he couldn't breathe, and then he let his training take over and found the strength to go forward.

He heard Kelsey call the
Repulse
, her voice desperate with apprehension. "We’re under direct fire! We need immediate support!"

Was her anguish because of me?
Gallant wondered.

“We can fire a…missile at…but with the solar interference hitting…would be pure luck.” A broken message came from the officer of the deck on the
Repulse
.