No Way to Start a War (TCOTU, Book 2) (This Corner of the Universe) (26 page)

His
sour look turned into astonishment as Heskan watched Lombardi’s cruiser begin to
pour Issic laser barrages into the floundering Hollaran missile destroyer. 
After a dozen seconds of sustained fire, the destroyer broke apart.

“There’s
a lot of coded comm chatter between the Hollie ships, Captain.” Truesworth warned.

Is
Lombardi losing control of her fleet?
 
Will we have to fight them after all?
 His comm console beeped and he
looked down to see both Gunnery Sergeant Holloway and an incoming request from
Curator
. 
Why can’t my disasters happen one at a time? 
He forwarded the Gunny’s
request to Vernay and answered
Curator
.

Before
the offensive into Helike, Heskan’s contact with both
Curator’s
and
Bolt’s
commanding officers had been limited to two combat exercises and a week’s worth
of morning staff meetings.  They had both conducted themselves professionally
but Heskan found both lieutenants aloof.  Heskan understood and accepted it.  Both
ship captains had been thrown into the CortRon at the last moment and were
doing their best to adjust, but the transition must have been sudden and
unwanted from their perspective.  Moreover, Heskan had been much more concerned
with Durmont’s reclusiveness at the time.  In hindsight, Heskan realized that
CortRon 15’s leadership had been woefully inadequate in welcoming and
indoctrinating the new ships into the squadron. 
I’m paying for that now
,
Heskan realized as he looked upon a man with whom he had almost no
relationship. “Yes, Captain?”

Lieutenant
Alan Aaron Arnold had the distinctive accent of all New Londoners.  “Does Kite
need any assistance, sir?”

Okay,
not the worst way to open
,
Heskan thought.  Heskan glanced at Vernay who was rapidly talking into her
helmet mic.  “I think we’re going to be okay, Alan.”  Heskan inwardly smiled upon
remembering his first name.  “Every ship that was struck by an alien cutter has
been boarded.”  He elevated his voice to gain Vernay’s attention.  “Although I
think our marines are mopping up Kite right now.”  He spoke it as both a
statement and a question.  To his relief, Vernay nodded and gave him thumbs
up.  Heskan reached inside his helmet through his open visor to cover the mic
with his hand.  “Stacy, call down to Engineering the second those cutters have
been destroyed.”

“Then
what are your orders, Commander?” Arnold asked.  “I noticed Kite isn’t bearing
on the enemy.”

“Our
orders from Captain Grey were to honor the truce, Lieutenant.  This CortRon
will not fire unless fired upon.”  Heskan paused, remembering the surreal loss
of Kelly Gary.  “You’re the acting vice commander, by the way.  Send out the
order to the squadron to face our weapons away from the Hollarans.”

“Sir,”
Arnold protested, “that will waste valuable seconds retargeting them when they
fire at us.”

Heskan’s
comm panel beeped again.  It was another communication request forwarded by
Truesworth.  Heskan felt his temper building.  
Can’t people figure out what
to do on their own for a change?
  The panel beeped again as yet another forwarded
comm request came through his console.  He seethed,
I guess not.

Working
out all of his frustrations from the past hour in one sentence, Heskan erupted.
 “Arnold, dammit, give that order or relieve yourself of command!”  He pounded the
channel closed and looked at Truesworth as he growled, “Who now?”

The
lieutenant wilted like a flower.  “Uh, one of the fighter pilots and the
Hollies, sir.  Sorry, sir,” he answered meekly.

Crap,
I completely forgot about the fighters
,
Heskan thought.  Vernay had finished her conversation with the marines. 
“Stacy, handle this,” he said curtly as he forwarded the pilot’s comm request
to her station.  He then looked at his stricken sensorman and uttered
apologetically, “Mea culpa, Jack.”  Returning his attention to his comm
console, he took a deep breath. 
Relax, Heskan, you’re already keyed up and
the last thing you need to do is blow your top on this one
.  Heskan snickered
to himself,
Maybe I’ll be lucky and the crew removed Lombardi in a coup.
 Brevic
tales of Hollaran “promotions” ran rampant.

He opened
the comm channel and Lombardi’s face appeared on the main wall screen.  She had
taken off her shocksuit helmet. 
That’s a good sign
.  He took off his
own helmet and ran his fingers through sweat-soaked hair.

Lombardi
began speaking in her usual, wobbly English.  “With whom am I speaking to now?”

Heskan
sat up straight and said, “Lieutenant Commander Heskan, acting commander of
Task Group Three-One.”

A
slight smile crossed Lombardi’s face, along with an expression Heskan could not
place.  She snorted and said, “Ha, you are the equivalent rank as me.  Your
task group is running out of high-ranking officers, yes?”

Heskan
allowed his expression to visibly sour. 
A jab at the loss of Eagle, no
doubt
.  “Don’t worry, Komandor, even our junior officers are still more
competent than your higher grade ones.”  He smiled roguishly before adding, “Present
company excluded, I’m sure.”  Off to Heskan’s left, he saw Vernay checking with
Chief Brown before speaking into her mic.

Returning
his attention to the wall screen, Heskan watched Lombardi parse his retort. 
She shook her head disgustedly and her voice adopted an almost regretful
quality.  “Commander, if only your officers were as good at watching tunnel
points as they are at tossing insults.”

Uh-oh
, Heskan thought.  “Jack…”

“On
it, Captain.”

Lombardi’s
expression shifted from disgust through exasperation to a genuine curiosity. 
Her animated words began to run together during her tirade.  “How could none of
your people be watching such an obvious threat?  Seriously, what do ‘Vic
commanders order their people to do besides shoot at Hollarans?”

Heskan
cursed the rising heat in his cheeks. 
Because we are an unorganized, hot
mess at the moment, Komandor
.  Instead of speaking the truism, he replied, “I
guess sometimes we just have to be content watching you shoot at your own ships,
Komandor.”  Heskan openly grinned. 
Boom.  Headshot
.

This
earned Heskan a malevolent look.  “Bahamut’s captain asked us to destroy his
ship, ‘Vic,” she spat.  “I know that you, personally, Garrett Heskan, may find
it easy to fire upon your own people but this is not so for us.”  Lombardi’s dark
grin widened at the verbal haymaker even as Heskan felt himself spin.  To his left,
Vernay looked at Heskan with a bewildered expression even as Lombardi piled on. 
“That’s right, Commander, I know who you are and what you did on that ‘Vic
frigate.”

Heskan’s
heart felt as if it were tumbling into a black hole. 
Everything comes back
to Derringer.  I will never escape her
, he thought grimly. 
Rightfully
so
, a voice answered inside him.  After the initial shock, Heskan was unsurprised
that Lombardi’s comment, clearly designed to push him over the edge, had the
reverse effect.  He had already had too many sleepless nights for the anger
born from that tragedy not to have burned itself out.  All that remained was a
lingering misery and the strong desire to see past the curtain.  Heskan sighed
before he said, “Komandor, I assume you didn’t call to exchange insults, or
laser-fire, with me.” 
Not much of an olive branch…

“
Si,
”
Lombardi nodded.  “There are many more alien ships emerging from the Maub
tunnel point, Commander.  Your fleet will not be able to reach the Sponde
tunnel point before you are overhauled just as my fleet cannot hope to reach
the Helike tunnel point.”

“That’s
a definite, Captain,” Truesworth confirmed. 
Kite’s
computer was busy
painting dozens and dozens of individual alien cutters at the Maub tunnel
point.  More were pouring out and already the leading elements of the new alien
horde were sailing toward them, closing the 13
lm
distance.

“Options,”
Heskan said absently as he stared at the plot. 
Fight or run.  Fighting in
our condition is certain death but run to where?

Both
Vernay and Lombardi said simultaneously, “Perdita.”  The tunnel point was only
10
lm
away and on a nearly opposite heading from the aliens at Maub.

Unaware
of Vernay’s agreement, Lombardi continued, “The preservation of my ship takes
priority over the destruction of yours.  Perdita is our only hope.  If we can
maintain point two-C, we can dive out of Kale with roughly fifteen minutes to
spare.”

“You’re
suggesting we run together?” Heskan asked dubiously.

“
Mal comune, mezzo
gaudio,
” Lombardi answered and then hastily translated, “Uh, trouble
shared—”

“—is
trouble halved,” interjected Selvaggio.

Vernay
interrupted next.  “Captain, Kite can’t go anywhere for the next few minutes.  As
we speak, our fighter pilots are ditching their Pups and are being picked up by
our shuttles along with the lifeboat survivors from the squadron’s lost ships.” 
She shrugged contritely.  “Sorry, sir, but you told me to take care of it and
this was before we knew about the threat at Maub.”

Although
inconvenient, the actions were necessary, Heskan knew. 
Kite
was near
relative rest.  When combined with the fact that the fighters had no place to
land,
Kite’s
speed had given them the perfect opportunity to recover the
sixteen pilots.  Despite the best efforts of the alien cutters, all of the Pups
had survived the collision attempts against them.  Additionally, Heskan could
not abandon the survivors that had escaped
Aspis
.  “It should be okay,
Stacy.  We’ll still have about five minutes to spare.”

What
are my choices?
Heskan
questioned. 
We can’t fight alone which means we obviously have to run toward
Perdita.  The Hollies have to do the same.  I can either refuse Lombardi’s suggestion
and, at best, we end up running behind her, or I can accept and we run together
. 
He dreaded the prospect of collaborating with the Hollarans again, particularly
this one. 
There has to be an alternative
.

If
there was, he could not see it.  Heskan spoke with resignation.  “Komandor, if
you can wait another five minutes while we pick up our fighter pilots, we’ll
form up with you and run together.”

Lieutenant
Selvaggio began to turn toward Heskan but stopped herself.  She mumbled just
loud enough to be audible while inputting the proper heading commands into
Kite’s
navigation computer.  Heskan searched for the proper idiom that would support
his decision to join forces with the enemy but could only think of “When you
lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” 
Probably best not to say that
one.

“You
have a suggestion, Navigator?” Heskan challenged.

Selvaggio
lightly shook her head as she said, “Navigation orders sent to the squadron, Captain.”

“We
cannot wait longer than five minutes, Commander,” Lombardi cautioned.  “As it
is, we’ll barely have time to prepare a defense when we dive into Perdita.” 
Her eyebrows shot upward as a thought occurred to her.  “Can we assist your
recovery effort?”

“No!”
Heskan and Vernay both answered immediately and loudly.  They exchanged glances
and nearly laughed.  Heskan cleared his throat.  “I mean, we appreciate your
offer but we’re almost done, Komandor, and adding Hollaran shuttles will only
confuse things.” 
That’s the understatement of the year.  How will my ship
captains take the order to sail with the Hollarans?  Will they follow it?  What
about the other Hollie captains?  What if a renegade captain takes a shot at
someone while we’re in formation?

Heskan
worried over the situation as he impatiently watched the last shuttle return to
Kite’s
bay and the three Hollaran ships begin to sail unnervingly close
to his own. 
Phoenix’s
enormous Issic heavy laser batteries faced away
from him on the optical but Heskan knew that could change quickly enough. 
At
this range, just one false move by anyone and those aliens will have nothing
left to ram.

 “Tunnel
disturbance, Captain.”

Heskan
looked at Lieutenant Truesworth curiously.  There had been ongoing tunnel
disturbances for the last thirty minutes as more and more alien cutters flooded
out of the Maub tunnel point.  Worse yet, the first, larger ship had dove from
the tunnel point eight minutes ago.  The ship, classified as a carrier by
Kite’s
computers, was four times the size of
Avenger
. 
Kite’s
Hawkeye
focused on the ship, gleaning every parcel of information from the
“super-carrier” it could.  One difference was immediately apparent; the alien cutters
docked externally with the carrier.

“Um,
yeah, Jack, I know,” Heskan said.

Truesworth
pressed buttons on his console and the wall screen split to show another
optical.  This one displayed a Hollaran carrier and her escorts.  “No, sir,”
Truesworth explained, “we have a disturbance at the Helike tunnel point.  No
beacons but
Kite
identifies them as Hollaran.”

Good
thing I ordered all the tunnel points watched.  That must be the carrier that
launched its fighters at us while we were running out of Helike
, Heskan reasoned.  The carrier fleet
was 45
lm
distant, well beyond rendering any assistance to Lombardi. 
How
will this change things?
  Each Brevic ship remained at battle stations not
only because of the pursuing alien craft but also the proximity of the
Hollarans.  During his brief meeting with his ship captains, he had ordered
Lieutenant Arnold to plan a coordinated “lightning strike” against the
Hollarans in the event hostilities broke out.  Even though Heskan hoped neither
side would break the uneasy truce, he realized it was pure fantasy to think
that the ceasefire could hold.  He would not be caught sorting out targets as
his squadron was destroyed underneath him.  This precaution had the added
benefit of giving his decidedly unhappy ship captains something to do that they
certainly agreed with.  Even Vernay had nodded approvingly as Heskan ordered
it.

Heskan
checked to ensure his communique was encoded and then sent a squadron-wide
message: “CortRon Fifteen, prepare for Operation Sting but hold your fire until
you receive my command.  I repeat, you will not fire until I, personally, give
the order.”  The message took only seconds to reach
Curator
and
Bolt
. 
Heskan knew that every gunner in the squadron had their hands on their turret
controls, ready to slew their laser turrets toward their pre-assigned targets
and open fire.

Truesworth’s
voice added to the tension on the bridge.  “Captain, we’re picking up coded
messages from that carrier to the Phoenix.”

Probably
asking why Lombardi is sailing so close to us without firing
, Heskan thought.  He realized
the fleet commander on the Hollaran carrier would easily outrank Komandor
Podporucznik Lombardi. 
Definitely a full komandor, probably a
kontradmiral.  What will Lombardi do when he orders her to attack?

“Coded
messages going out from Phoenix to her squadron,” Truesworth updated.

“Captain,”
Vernay said, “it is my duty to tell you that if we are going with a preemptive
strike, now is the time, sir.”

If
we fire first, we have a fighting chance.  Lombardi is in the same position.  A
moment of truth, Heskan.  What you do next speaks to who you are
.  Heskan pressed his comm button. 
Seconds later, Komandor Lombardi appeared on the main wall screen.  She looked
warily back at Heskan.  Deep lines etched around her eyes; her mouth was tight
as if ready to speak.  Heskan searched her brown eyes for any hint of intent. 
Despite the strain evident around them, the light inside her eyes conveyed
hope.

“Isabella,
I’m going to trust you,” Heskan simply said.  He knew she would understand him
immediately as each ship captain was painfully aware of what was just moments
away.

Lombardi
dipped her head slowly in acknowledgment.  “The pressure is considerable but I
will not break my word.”

Keeping
his channel open with the Hollaran commander, Heskan opened a second, squadron-wide
channel.  “CortRon Fifteen, Cheerful Teddy Bear.”  While planning his
squadron’s attack, he had deliberately chosen the most absurdly peaceful code
phrase he could think of to cancel Operation Sting.  He wanted no
misunderstandings among his ship captains.

Lombardi
smirked.  “Should I be thankful you did not say Nasty Panda?”

Heskan
let loose a short bark of laughter and could not help but grin. 
Maybe I can
work with this woman after all.
  “That would have been the end of us all,”
he deadpanned.

“Maybe, for now,”
Lombardi said as the deep lines engraved in her face softened, “we can start
planning how we will fight the aliens instead of each other.”

*  *  *

Ensign
Gables waited impatiently in the in-processing line.  She had intentionally
placed herself last in the queue, choosing to walk up and down the line to
check on each of the other fifteen pilots.  They stood interspersed among the dozens
of rescued crewmembers from
Aspis
and even several marines originally
from
Tomahawk
.  Despite the recent brutal events, there was quiet
excitement throughout the in-processing line, soon to be the entire ship.  A
surviving marine from
Tomahawk
was none other than Tetium Tempest
Slamball star, Tony Campbell.  News of his enlistment had played in patriotic
broadcasts all throughout the Brevic Republic for over a month.  If the day had
been even slightly less grisly, Gables would have asked him to sign her
Tempests jersey. 
Of course, that jersey was on Eagle
, she reflected
grimly.  The ugly thought was easily enough to give Gables restraint as she
walked past the ragged but still handsome flanker toward her pilots.  Abandoning
her Pup had been bittersweet though she understood there had been no
alternative.  The consolation was knowing that she would be returning to the
Anelace
family on
Kite
.

As a
former enlisted member of
Anelace’s
operations section, she knew exactly
what
Kite’s
OPS crew was doing at the front of the line.  First, they
would positively identify the in-processing crewmember.  Next, that person
would be added to the personnel rolls of
Kite
.  After that, a brief interview
and records check would determine if the in-processee could fill any of
Kite’s
open billets.  If no fit were found, the new crewmember would be added to the
overflow list to be given a job the individual could perform with minimal
on-the-job-training.  The new personnel would be assigned quarters, issued the
equipment needed for their new assignments and given the name of their sponsors
on
Kite
to assist with their assimilation.  Most of the
Aspis
survivors
would be placed directly into their old billets while the pilots would be added
to the overflow.  Of course, Gables knew where she would end up.

She could not help
but reflect on her journey. 
Basic training at Tetium plus tech school and then
into the OPS section on Anelace as a damage controlman.  Chief Brown
practically dragged me kicking and screaming through the OTS application
procedure.  And now, after OTS and Flight Training and then all the combat
sorties, I’ll be back in Operations.  Talk about full circle.
  The prospect
was not terrible.  After the last battle, Gables had been immensely relieved to
see
Kite
in one piece.  With
Eagle
destroyed, nearly all of her surviving
military family resided on the ship and she was excited to be back among them,
even though her heart ached at the loss of so many friends on
Eagle
. 
Working
with Chief Brown again will be a hoot
, she thought with a smile.  He had
always been a teacher and father figure when she was just a lowly spaceman. 
She wondered how things would change with her new rank.  It was an unusual
situation since Brevic Personnel Center denied, as policy, any requests from a
prior enlisted to return to their old shipmates after commissioning.  She shrugged. 
Who cares what BPC thinks?  I’m here now.

*  *  *

“Awkward,”
Vernay whispered to Heskan.

It’s
not too bad
, Heskan
thought as he looked around the wall screen.  Eight separate panels showed
eight separate officers.  The largest panels were labeled Komandor Podporucznik
Lombardi and Lieutenant Commander Heskan.  The next two were Komandor
Podporucznik Christova and Lieutenant Arnold.  The next two slightly smaller
screens housed Kapitan Vitale and Lieutenant Kwan.  Completing the final two
screens were Kapitan Valokov and Lieutenant Vernay.

Unlike
most virtual meetings that Heskan attended, there had been no streaming in of
individuals as officers randomly joined before the meeting.  Instead, both
sides had assembled their officers and then joined at once.  It was clear that
each side had gathered in another virtual meeting room first before joining the
current one.

Now
what?
Heskan
wondered.  He immediately realized the impromptu meeting could derail before it
started. 
Will the Hollies resist if I open the meeting?  Will they see that
as some kind of power play? 
There was not much time for formalities. 
Kite
was 3
lm
from the Perdita tunnel point. 
Why is everyone just staring
at each other?

Heskan
cleared his throat.  “Okay, I would first like to thank Komandor Lombardi for
jointly holding this meeting and extend my welcome to her officers.”  He tried
to smile but knew it was coming off as fake.  He paused to see if anyone wanted
to interject but the Hollarans stayed silent.

“The
most important order of business is what the—” he almost said “fleet” but
realized they were certainly not one fleet, “—what we… all of us, will do when
we dive into the Perdita system.”

Komandor
Christova said, “We should consider changing course toward the Kallikantzaroi.”

Lombardi
cast a withering glare at her vice commander.  “No, they…”  She paused as if
grasping for the correct word.  “Um, remain at the Helike tunnel point and we
cannot reach them in time, and there are other… considerations.”

Christova
refused to yield and returned Lombardi’s stare with his own hostile
countenance.  “Her fighters may have reached us and who do we have to thank for
their lack of support?” he accused.

Odd
, Heskan thought. 
He clearly
is referring to us but the way he’s staring down Lombardi makes me wonder if
there’s something more.

“Watch
your bearing, Stephan,” Lombardi cautioned.  “I am your lawfully appointed
commander and I will not hesitate to demonstrate that if you force me.”

Christova
remained silent but his eyes bore deeply at the Hollaran commander.  An uneasy
silence fell over the meeting.

Okay
, Heskan thought,
I feel the “awkward”
now
.  “So, the worst case, and most likely scenario, is the aliens will
dive out five minutes behind us.”

Vernay
spoke next.  “Based on what we’ve seen at Maub, the aliens are limited to point
one-C, just like us, in tunnel space and that gives us two options.”

Lombardi’s
greying first officer, Kapitan Valokov, picked up where Vernay left off. “Option
One is to defend the tunnel point using their slow speed and the disorientation
experienced immediately after a dive to full advantage.  Option Two is to continue
our run for the next tunnel point inside Perdita.”  He paused to look down as
he consulted a star chart before saying, “Iocaste is the agreed name between
our governments but neither Bree nor Hollara has explored that system.”

“Sure
you haven’t,” muttered Arnold.

Ignoring
Arnold, Vernay finished, “So it could be a dead end, a way home or a way to alien
central.”

“The
only known is to head toward the Kalli,” Christova insisted.

Lombardi
threw her hands into the air.  “And we die ten light-minutes from her.  Brilliant,
Komandor!  Perhaps Kontradmiral Giannopoulos will report to fleet headquarters how
bravely we committed suicide.”

Christova’s
eyes narrowed and his voice lowered threateningly.  “Oh, there
will
be
reports, make no mistake, Komandor.”

Wow,
and I thought Arnold was bad
,
Heskan thought gratefully. 
With a vice commander like that…

Lombardi
pushed forward.  “Continuing our withdrawal is the best choice.  If we stay
near the tunnel point, we surrender our own speed and we are tied to a fixed
location.”

Lieutenant
Kwan, captain of
Bolt,
added his opinion.  “And if we run, they attack
and begin to slow individual ships with their drive nullifier.  The entire
formation spreads out and it becomes every ship for itself.  Survival of the
fittest?  I know that’s a governing Hollaran philosophy but it’ll be disaster
at Perdita.”

“That’s
never been a core philosophy!” protested Kapitan Vitale.  “Your twisted notions
about our Commonwealth might help justify your government’s military budget but
let’s leave ‘Vic lies out of this discussion.”