Riss Series 4: The Riss Accession (17 page)

I nodded.

Sakaata said,
 
"They encountered one at Defiance,
probably because it hosts a lot of for-hire mercenaries. The
Medusa
had eight Light cruisers. The joint
task force lost one Heavy, six Lights… one a Riss certified Light, and had
damage of one degree or another to the other eight cruisers. He said you were
right about the cost to destroy a
Medusa
.
He needs Riss cruisers as soon as you can release them. "

killing.>

us.>

 
"What, Nadya? " Sakaata sat
staring at me, forehead wrinkled in concern. I must have been quiet for a long
time.
 
"The loss of the Riss?
"

 
"No, I weep for the Riss because we
have become part of the insanity. "

 
"What insanity? " Captain Morley
asked.
 
"We are defending ourselves
against an invading force. "

 
"We were defending ourselves against
the clans because they were killing and destroying our ships. The Aliens merely
want to confine us. They make no attempt to kill or injure if we cease flying.
Nor do they intend to rule us. The Riss do not consider that defending
themselves. " I held up my hand before the room could be filled with
retorts.
 
"I am not judging
you. I’m telling you how the Riss feel. "

 
"They are cowards then— "
Morley began. I stood and walked out of the room, with Terril and my
escort
on high
alert. Fortunately, no one made any attempt to follow me.

Over the next three days, I immersed
myself in educating the three candidates in the Riss culture and what it would
mean to be a Riss-human.

Sato seemed enthusiastic.

Chung seemed less interested each day.

Zhang was interested in every detail, as
if he intended to write a book on the subject afterward.

evaluating.>

Image of me staring at a wall with pictures of galaxies, college building,
naval officer uniform.

I had found twenty Riss volunteers,
which surprised me since it would mean giving up their freedom. Thalia pointed
out that the Riss currently being hosted had found the experience exciting, and
providing experienced captains for the Riss cruisers reduced the risk to the
Riss on board and would eventually make the Riss independent.
It still
hurt to know my decision for the Riss had led us down this very steep path.

I was jerked out of my musing, as the
emergency override on my SID brought it to life with r-Galene's image.

 
"Leader. Zhu wants conference with
you, Sakaata. A
Medusa
just entered system, " her voice-box said.

 
"Tell him I'll be on the Bridge in a
minute. Contact Damaass. Tell him what has happened and include him in the
conference call. " I waved to the three men.
 
"If a
Medusa
entered the
system, then it's very likely a scout came with it. Sato, what would you
recommend the Riss cruisers do? " I said as we headed for the Bridge.

 
"The Riss cruisers are best equipped
to take on the
Medusa
. You should lead the task forces on Dong and as
soon as you are within skipping range, take out the
Medusa.
"

 
"Chung? "

 
"I agree with Captain Sato, except I
would position the fleet for an attack before you attacked the
Medusa.
"

 
"Zhang? "

He remained
quiet
for so long I
thought he hadn’t heard me. I was getting ready to ask again, when he spoke.

 
"The scout first I think. " His
voice was soft and relaxed.

When we reached the Bridge, the monitors
showed Zhu, Sakaata, Damaass, and what I thought was the green-Admiral Erdogan,
who would be commanding the current three green task forces on Dong: Green-1, Green-2,
and Green-3.

 
"Leader Reese, a
Medusa
has entered the system. Since you
are the only one here who has fought one, what would you suggest? "

 
"Admiral Erdogan, do you have forces
in place to engage the
Medusa
? "

 
"Yes, Leader Reese. I have three
cruisers, and they are moving into position as we speak. "

 
"I’d suggest they
turn
off their
weapon systems and pull back— "

 
"That would be cowardly. We do not
run from battle, " he said, his voice harsh and the meaning
clear—you ran from the battle at Hayjar.

 
"Go on, Leader Reese, " Zhu
said, ending further comment.

 
"The Aliens will not fire on us
unless we attack or refuse their order to leave our ships. I would like to
delay an encounter until the Riss can find and destroy the scout. It will be
watching the battle and will report on our success and tactics, and more than
likely bring reinforcements. If we keep all the ships where they are with their
weapons systems off, they may delay releasing their Light cruisers. In that
case, we may be able to damage some when we attack the
Medusa
. "

 
"I approve. Admiral Erdogan. "

 
"Yes, sir. I will notify the fleet
immediately. "

 
"Good. Any other thoughts, Leader
Reese? "

 
"Admiral Sakaata, I'd suggest your
Riss-certified cruisers attempt a skip-attack against any Alien cruisers that
have not released their fighters. Each Light cruiser has ten fighters, which
are little more than manned missiles. The fewer the better. "

 
"You’re not going to kill them all,
Leader Reese? " She grinned.

 
"No. I thought I’d save a few for
you to practice on. " I grinned back.
 
"Damaass, silent running, we have a
scout to find before the party starts. Tight beam communications only. " I
was about to cut the connection when Zhu spoke.

 
"Leader Reese, I would appreciate it
if you would join me for dinner tomorrow night. " His image went blank. I
shook my head until I realized it was his way of saying he was comfortable with
the strategy and its probability of success.

For the benefit of the Riss-human candidates,
I had Jaelle posting the essence of any Riss or Riss-human conversations to one
of the unused monitors. Otherwise, they wouldn’t know what was going on. I wanted
to be able to
query
them as part of my evaluation.

It took twelve hours to slide by the
Medusa
and approach the area near the
Wave, where the scout would most likely be.

"Peeping
tom at:
52.021

, 8h 21m 15s, 2.02 au,"
appeared on the overhead Comm monitor.

Minerva
: time
to arrive one thousand kilometers from Peeper.>

"Twenty-five minutes, nine
seconds
,"
scrolled across the monitor.

Minerva
;
Ready
in twenty-eight minutes.>

solution
in twenty-eight minutes.>

solution
in twenty-eight minutes.>

Within seconds, their faces appeared on the Comm overhead monitor, in
split frames.

 
"In just under
twenty-eight minutes, the
Mnemosyne
and the
Minerva
will be
launching a missile attack on the Aliens' scout. I don’t anticipate needing
Ghosts or Scorpions, but you should be on alert. We cannot let the scout leave
the area. Afterward, we will be launching an attack on the
Medusa
. I will let you know the time of the attack. "

 
"The Ghosts will be
ready, " Byer said.

 
"And the Scorpions,
" Seng added.

<
Minerva
holding at designated position.>

from receipt.>

three minutes.>

minutes.>

With nothing to do, I sat watching the
VTM as we slid closer to the scout and the overhead monitor displayed the time
remaining to launch. As the count hit zero, I felt a slight shudder.

And seconds later.

Not much wonder. Twelve missiles coming
from two different directions from only one thousand kilometers would be too
quick for even a computer to respond. Overkill, but necessary. The scout was
potentially more dangerous than the
Medusa
if it got away.

Medusa
. Two towards us. Six towards Dong.>

 
I turned to the three
candidates.
 
"Gentlemen, what
do you suggest? Sato? "

 
"As soon as we are in
skipping distance, we should attack the
Medusa
. " he said with an
air of excitement.

win
and won’t have to
skip
away afterwards.>

 
"Chung? "

 
"We are a long way
from the
Medusa
and approaching
cruisers. We are invisible to the approaching cruisers
,
so I would take them out, then contact the
fleet to start an attack. When the
Medusa
is distracted, attack it. "

 
 
"Zhang? "

 
"From what you’ve said, the
Medusa
is a very nasty ship. One you
would not want to stay near for long. So, I would suggest ignoring the cruisers
so we can get close enough to allow a reasonable exit skip if necessary. The
fleet will need to know the result of your attack before they can decide what
to do. As will you, " he said as if talking to himself about an
interesting problem. He was very much like his brother.

Minerva
.>

Damaass's face appeared on the monitor.
 
"That wasn’t very exciting. Like
target practice with a target an arm’s length. " The rogue smiled.

 
"Well, the next target shoots back,
and you will be only an arm’s length away, " I said.

 
"That will be exciting, Leader.
"

 
"Damaass, ignore the Light cruisers
coming our way. We will make a
slow
, stealthy approach to within a three-second
skip of the
Medusa
. The
Minerva
will approach from the port
side, the
Mnemosyne
from the
starboard. Skip to twenty-five kilometers from the
Medusa
. I'm hoping that will reduce the laser damage Pavao and I know
they can dish out from only one kilometer away, and it won’t reduce the
effectiveness of our missile attack. Fire all twelve and then take a one-second
skip. We’ll evaluate our next
move
after we
determine
our and the
Medusa’s
condition
. "

 
"r-Melete says four hours and ten
minutes with two engines at half speed. "

 
"I’ll contact you then. " I cut
the connection.

* * *

Sato and Chung were a bit agitated when
I took them off to the dining bay. Even more so when they saw the number
already there.

I was pleased to see the relaxed
atmosphere.

Zhang was first to speak after we sat
down with our food.
 
"My
brother was right. War on a Riss cruiser is peaceful. Even here, where everyone
seems relaxed, but more so on the Bridge where there is no external noise.
"

 
"A Riss ship is like your fighting
art of Shuzen: no resistance. We are neither heroes nor cowards, we are just
Riss. "

 
"The art of Shuzen has much to
teach. " Zhang said and began eating.

Well into our meal, my SID buzzed.

When I switched it on, Jaelle's face
appeared.
 
"Leader, r-Asdis
reports two Alien cruisers approaching at five hundred and thirty gravities.
One is five thousand kilometers off to our port and the other nine thousand to
our starboard. "

 
"Thank you, Jaelle. Make sure you
and the others get time off to eat and refresh themselves. " I turned to
Terril.
 
"That includes you and
my detail. "

 
"Yes, ma’am. " Terril waved the
two Scorpions off but stayed.

After a refreshing shower and change, I
returned to the Bridge.

from the destroyed Scout's area. Each has their ten fighters searching the area
in front of them. R-
Asdis
estimates they are five minutes and twenty seconds
from reaching us at our current speed.>

I took the Captain's chair and sat
watching the VTM. The fighters weaved back and forth in what looked like an
organized search pattern across some unseen grid. The odds of finding us were
small, but if they did, it would alert the
Medusa
and would be ugly, especially for the Ghosts.

Minerva
.>

Damaass appeared, smiling. "Leader.
Fight, or play dead?" Damaass looked calm, like we were debating which
restaurant we should eat at.

"I thought we should run," I
said with a straight face.

I was rewarded with an open-mouthed
stare. I noticed Sato looked angry.