Relentless (11 page)

The list of disabled or destroyed Syndic cruisers and HuKs was gratifyingly long. The center of the Syndic flotilla had simply disappeared.

“Executing maneuvering package two at time one four,” Desjani announced, the excitement of battle finally breaking through her aggravation with Geary.

He simultaneously checked the Alliance fleet’s status and the movements of the Syndic flotilla. The Syndics were swinging their formation to the right and around, keeping the four corner formations slaved to each other, probably expecting the Alliance ships to keep heading for the jump point. But instead, the big Alliance formation was dissolving again, the battle cruisers, light cruisers, and many of the destroyers angling down as they coalesced into a new formation, while the battleships, heavy cruisers, auxiliaries, damaged warships, and the rest of the destroyers closed up on each other and bent their track upward.

Geary felt like he’d swallowed grapeshot as his display pulsed with alerts reporting heavy damage or destruction of Alliance warships. A bright symbol in the wake of the Alliance fleet marked the spreading debris field that was all that was left of
Exemplar
, his last scout battleship. Smaller than battleships, bigger than cruisers, the scout battleships must have made sense to somebody but had suffered from the compromises in their design. Like her sister ships destroyed in previous engagements,
Exemplar
had been large enough to draw extra enemy fire but too small to withstand it.

None of the Alliance battleships were out of commission, but the Syndics had concentrated their fire on
Resolution
and
Redoubtable
as the Alliance battleships engaged them, and both of those battleships had taken major damage forward.
Resolution
, having also suffered propulsion damage, was trying to keep up with the fleet but sliding backward relative to the other warships.

In the wake of the fleet, the battle cruiser
Incredible
drifted, having suffered even more damage as she protected the auxiliaries. She still had some weapons operational, but otherwise was a sitting duck, her crew doubtless praying that the battle would remain clear of
Incredible
until they could get some propulsion units back online.

Heavy cruisers
Tortoise
,
Breech
,
Kurtani
, and
Tarian
were knocked out, with nothing left of the first two but pieces of wreckage. Light cruisers
Kissaki
,
Crest
, and
Trunnion
were gone, and destroyers
Barb
,
Yatagan
,
Lunge
,
Arabas
, and
Kururi
had been destroyed.

There was simply no time to review all the lesser damage inflicted during the first firing pass.

Where the formations had clashed, swarms of escape pods filled space, Alliance survivors of destroyed ships intermingled with Syndics who had abandoned their own disabled craft.

Worst of all, with a second volley of missiles fired just as the forces passed through each other, the Syndics had finally scored serious hits on one of the ships Geary could least afford to lose. “
Goblin
has lost all propulsion units,” the operations watch reported. “Serious damage aft from two or three missile hits. Estimated time to regain partial propulsion is at least one hour.”

Geary watched the auxiliary’s track through space as, unable to alter its course or accelerate, the stricken
Goblin
followed the path of the wreckage and derelicts from the engagement, curving away from the rest of the Alliance warships. Running out
Goblin
’s path and comparing it to the movements of the Syndics produced a simple and unpleasant result. “
Goblin
doesn’t have a chance. Can anyone confirm for me that the most probable estimated time to the Syndics hitting
Goblin
is twenty-five minutes?”

“Confirmed, sir,” the operations watch responded immediately. “I have twenty-four minutes on my estimate.”

Way, way short of the hour
Goblin
needed to get moving again, and in any event the lumbering auxiliary couldn’t have escaped even if half of her propulsion units miraculously popped back online at this moment. Nor could the Alliance fleet get back and around in time to try to prevent a Syndic firing pass on
Goblin
. Geary sighed and tapped his controls. “
Goblin
, this is Captain Geary. Recommend you begin abandoning ship immediately and set power core for overload in about twenty minutes.” He planned to win this battle, but the outcome remained in doubt, and he couldn’t risk the Syndics’ capturing
Goblin
intact.

Goblin
’s answer came half a minute later. “Sir, we’re trying to load what fuel cells are left on board onto our heavy-lift shuttles. We might be able to get them out. Our repair crews are trying to get one of the propulsion units back online.”

Desjani made a disbelieving sound. “Those heavy-lift birds can’t get clear of the Syndics. They don’t have the speed even if they’re empty.”

Geary nodded. “
Goblin
, the heavy-lift shuttles are far too slow and will be magnets for enemy fire. They cannot escape, and anything on them will be lost. One propulsion unit can’t save your ship, and the fleet can’t get back to you in time to cover you. You’re an engineer. Do the math. Get your people off that ship while there’s still time. You may regard that as an order if that makes the decision easier.”

This time
Goblin
’s reply took an extra minute and sounded resigned. “Yes, sir. I’m ordering all personnel to the escape pods now. Setting power core to overload in . . . eighteen minutes.”

“Sir,
Incredible
’s commanding officer informs us that he has given orders for nonessential personnel to abandon ship.”

“Very well,” Geary responded. The situation didn’t leave any other choice.

“
Resolution
cannot keep up with the fleet. She’s declaring her intention to close on
Incredible
and provide support.”

“Approved. Tell
Resolution
and
Incredible
that we’re going to try to keep the Syndics busy.” Geary concentrated on the movements of the Syndics and his own two formations as the three groups of warships swung through the huge turns required at velocities still close to point zero eight light speed. As the Syndics came around to the right, a cluster of battleships began sliding over to fill the gap where the center of their flotilla had been, then apparently halted halfway between its old positions and the center.

“They’re confused,” Desjani said scornfully.

“That’s the idea.”

Rione’s voice came from the back of the bridge. “Why are they confused? You’ve put our fleet into only two formations instead of up to six as you have in the past.”

“It’s how those formations are constituted,” Geary advised her. “One is built around all of our battleships, slower and massive, obviously configured to slam right into the heart of the Syndic flotilla again. But the other formation contains all of our battle cruisers, swift and agile, obviously configured to hit the edges of the Syndic flotilla.”

“I see.” Rione smiled with one side of her mouth. “They don’t know where you’ll hit, so they don’t know where to put their heaviest firepower.”

“Exactly.” Geary shook his head as he watched the Syndics. They’d been expecting the Alliance fleet to turn back toward the jump point for Padronis, but instead found themselves lining up with the Alliance battleship formation to one side and above them, while the Alliance battle cruisers were to the other side and beneath. “I don’t think I should punch the battleship formation through the middle of the Syndics again. Not yet, anyway. If the Syndic commander reacted quickly enough and collapsed his flotilla around the center he could hurt our battleships badly.”

Desjani thought about it, then nodded. “I agree. May the Alliance battle cruisers lead the way
this
time, Captain Geary?”

“Yes, Captain Desjani. Let’s do that, while I bring the battleships around to hit the Syndics from another angle.”

“Captain Geary, sir,
Resolution
and
Incredible
request that you leave plenty of Syndics for them.”

Desjani laughed, and even Geary grinned despite his tension. “Tell them that shouldn’t be a problem, Lieutenant.”

Led by Captain Tulev’s Second Battle Cruiser Division, the fifteen remaining operational Alliance battle cruisers and their light cruiser and destroyer escorts angled upward and to the right, while Geary ordered the battleships to come left and accelerate. The battleship formation moved much more sluggishly, both because of the massive battleships and because it included the three remaining auxiliaries in the fleet. Hopefully, he’d compensated properly for that in his orders.

The Syndics were continuing their turn, angling slightly downward. Geary adjusted the track of the battle-cruiser formation to counteract the Syndic maneuvers, increasing the angle of the Alliance attack so it was climbing almost straight up toward the enemy.

The Alliance battle-cruiser formation screamed upward at the rear bottom corner of the Syndic flotilla. “They’re braking!” the operations watch-stander shouted at the last moment before contact, too late for anyone to react. At the velocities they were all traveling, both sides noticed the changed vectors too late for either group of warships to compensate.

Instead of racing past outside the corner of the Syndic flotilla, the Alliance battle cruisers slammed through that corner. The automated maneuvering systems managed to avoid collisions, which would have instantly vaporized the ships involved, but the Alliance battle cruisers still ended up enduring close passes against enemy battleships.

The four Syndic battleships anchoring that corner threw out a barrage of hell-lance fire that tore apart
Steadfast
, riddled
Intrepid
, and hammered
Inspire
, while
Illustrious
took more damage on top of that suffered at Cavalos, and
Courageous
spun out of control as the Alliance warships cleared the Syndic formation.

“
Intrepid
thinks she can keep up but all of her combat systems are out,”
Dauntless
’s combat watch reported. “
Inspire
has full maneuvering but has sustained heavy damage to weapons systems. We can see escape pods leaving what’s left of
Steadfast
.”

“What about
Courageous
?” Geary demanded.

“No communications, sir. She’s off the fleet net. Sensors register all systems dead.”

Along with who knew how many of her crew.

“Roberto Duellos is very hard to kill,” Desjani commented.

“Let’s hope so.” Geary shoved his worries for Captain Duellos to the side and grimly focused on the Syndic flotilla. The Alliance battle cruisers had been hurt, but had also been able to hit the corner of the flotilla with a lot of firepower. The two Syndic battle cruisers there were both too badly damaged to keep fighting, and one of the enemy battleships had taken enough hits that it was falling out of formation, while another seemed as badly off as
Intrepid
, able to maneuver but otherwise badly hurt. Most of the Syndic light cruisers and HuKs in that corner of the flotilla had been knocked out or destroyed, but there were more Alliance escorts also missing now or helplessly falling behind.

Fortunately, the Syndic maneuvers that had put the Alliance battle cruisers badly out of position had also positioned the Alliance battleship formation to hit another corner of the Syndic flotilla head-on. This time the four Syndic battleships there were not only badly outnumbered locally but facing warships as heavily shielded and armored as they were.
Gallant
and
Indomitable
were the focus of the enemy fire, and both suffered damage as their shields failed in spots and Syndic grapeshot or hell lances made it through to their hulls. But as the Alliance formation opened the distance again, they left three of the four Syndic battleships out of action and three Syndic battle cruisers in pieces.

“That more than evens the odds,” Desjani remarked.

The rest of the Syndic flotilla swept toward
Goblin
, which vanished into a ball of fragments a moment later as its power core overloaded. Beyond where
Goblin
had been,
Resolution
and
Incredible
threw out everything they had left at the approaching Syndics.

Geary involuntarily closed his eyes as a corner of the Syndic flotilla tore past
Resolution
and
Incredible
. When he opened them, he was astonished to see that both Alliance ships were still there. “They survived? That’s . . .”

“Incredible?” Desjani murmured. “
Resolution
shielded
Incredible
as much as she could. She got shot to hell, and
Incredible
took more damage, but the Syndic intercept must have been far enough off to save both ships.”

Luck had saved
Resolution
and
Incredible
, but a moment later the gods of war favored the Syndics. “Damn,” Desjani commented. “There goes
Intrepid
.” Missiles had leaped out from the Syndic formation during the last firing pass, aiming at the projected course for the Alliance battle cruisers. Because of the last-minute vector changes, most of those missiles had been too far off the Alliance track to get hits and had curved through space, chasing the Alliance ships. Many of the missiles were destroyed as their slow relative speeds in a stern chase made them easier targets for the Alliance escorts, but one made it through to the already heavily damaged
Intrepid
. The stricken battle cruiser seemed to buck as the missile hit her dead astern, smashing her propulsion units.
Intrepid
spun off to the side, her weakened structure visibly buckling under the stress of the impact and the sudden changes in course and speed. “She’s not going to be recoverable, sir.”