The Lost Stars: Shattered Spear (14 page)

“Yes. I was told such attempts were all blocked.”

“They were, Kommodor! Are you familiar with the standing instructions we software specialists have always had when encountering non-Syndicate ships?”

Marphissa shook her head, frowning. “You mean standing instructions under the Syndicate? You are still following those?”

“Some of them, Kommodor, that do not conflict with the orders of our president,” Beltsios hastened to assure her. “One of those instructions is that when we encounter a ship not under Syndicate control, we are required to test its software defenses to see if it is vulnerable.”

Relieved, Marphissa nodded. “There is nothing objectionable about that. It is a good policy. You tested the defenses of Imallye’s ships, then? Just as her ships tested ours?”

“Yes, Kommodor, and Imallye’s ships were found to have effective defenses against any intrusion attempts on our part.” Beltsios paused, concentrating on his next words. “But, I thought, we have copies of the snake software captured at Ulindi. We have employed it defensively against intrusion attempts. The software we were given after Ulindi does not identify itself as offensive. It self-describes as defensive. But could it nonetheless be used offensively against Imallye’s ships despite their firewalls and other software defenses?”

Marphissa felt a stirring of hope. “And?”

Beltsios smiled triumphantly. “It is possible, Kommodor. I went into the menus and the code and I dug, looking for eggs and rocks and land mines and treasure chests,” he explained, giving the nicknames for various hidden software features, some good, some bad. “And I found something that calls itself Blindfold.”

“What does it do?”

“From what I and my coworker can tell, it is an attempt to use our kinds of software weapons to mimic what the enigma worms did to our sensors.”

That took a moment to sink in, then Marphissa gave Diaz a startled look. “The enigma worms selectively blinded our sensors so our systems could not see enigma ships. If we can get that into
Vengeance
’s systems—”

She faced Beltsios again. “Can we get it into the battle cruiser’s systems?”

“I do not know, Kommodor. I can tell that Blindfold contains the very latest snake tunneling worms. If Imallye’s ships do not have defenses against those, they can tunnel through the firewalls.”

Diaz gazed at the depiction of
Vengeance
on his display. “Doesn’t that require our systems to shake hands with the systems on the battle
cruiser? Why would they do that instead of rejecting our attempt to link?”

“It does not require a handshake, Kapitan,” Beltsios said confidently. “The tunneling worms and Blindfold itself are contained in the initial contact attempt. When we knock on the battle cruiser’s firewall, the firewall’s defensive responses will give the worms the openings they need to exploit.”

“How did you think to look for that hidden program inside the snake software?” Diaz asked.

“It is a trick used by code monkeys,” Beltsios explained. “Hiding something inside another piece of software. Officially, it is never supposed to be done. Under Syndicate instructions,” he added quickly. “It is something that software inspectors were always searching for when they audited our systems. So no one thought that snakes would employ it. But, I thought, the snakes always had a visible presence, and a hidden presence, so we would never know when we were being watched. Maybe they would also do that in official software, have an open function and a hidden one, even though their own rules prohibited it.”

“Good thinking,” Marphissa said. She checked her own display. “Imallye’s battle cruiser is twenty-three light seconds from us and closing at an ever-faster rate. Send that software to knock on
Vengeance
’s firewall, and let us see what happens.”

“
Vengeance
could have defenses against that generation of tunneling worms, Kommodor,” Beltsios said. “It is possible our intrusion attempt will fail.”

“It is still a far better option than any other we have,” Marphissa said. “Kapitan?”

Diaz nodded. “Senior Specialist Beltsios, attempt the intrusion as soon as possible.”

“I understand and will comply!”

As Beltsios’s image vanished, Diaz looked suddenly startled and gazed at Marphissa again. “It just occurred to me that even if we
manage to blind
Vengeance
, Imallye will still know that we have to leave this star system through the jump point for Iwa. She can keep heading that way while working to clear her sensor systems of the snake worms. She’ll get there before us and wait for us like a cat at a mouse hole.”

“Damn! Couldn’t you have mentioned that thirty seconds ago?” Marphissa demanded. “Call that senior specialist and tell him not to send that knock yet!”

Diaz hastily conveyed the order. “It had not been sent. Senior Specialist Beltsios will hold it ready to send on our command.”

“Good.” Marphissa frowned, doing the thinking she should have done before too-eagerly ordering the employment of the malware. “Even if we get it into
Vengeance
’s systems, there is no telling how long it would take the code monkeys on the battle cruiser to neutralize the malware. It might take them hours, or only minutes. More likely minutes, if they are any good.”

“Then no matter when we send it—”

“Now you are being too pessimistic,” Marphissa chided him. “Kapitan, you were quite right that we could not send that malware too soon. We must wait until just the right moment.”

“But it might not work, Kommodor,” Diaz pointed out.

“Then we are no worse off than before,” Marphissa said, thinking that there probably weren’t a lot of ways in which they could be worse off. “But if it works, it can give us a small window of opportunity. Thank you for realizing that we must wait to try it and giving us that chance.”

“Senior Specialist Beltsios should have told us how limited the effectiveness of that snake malware is,” Diaz grumbled, his expression dark.

“Do not blame him,” Marphissa said, shaking her head. “He knows nothing of tactics and maneuvers and combat. Not our kind of combat. His job was to provide us with a weapon to use, and he did that. We are the ones who are supposed to know how to best employ that weapon.”

She checked her display, focusing on not only the position of
Vengeance
and the battle cruiser’s rate of closure but also on
Manticore
’s fuel state. “We’re burning through fuel cells, Kapitan. Cease accelerating. Hold our current velocity.”

“Kommodor?” Diaz looked and sounded bewildered by the command. “If we cease accelerating in order to conserve fuel cells, the battle cruiser will overtake us quicker.”

Marphissa nodded. “And without having built up as much velocity, so our relative speeds will still be fairly close. I want an extended opportunity to engage that battle cruiser, Kapitan. Our hope lies in that.”

“You want to be within weapons’ range of the battle cruiser longer? Yes, Kommodor.” Though clearly not understanding why, Diaz gave the orders, and
Manticore
’s main propulsion units cut off with what almost felt like a collective sigh of relief after the extended period of acceleration. “You have a plan?”

“I have a plan,” Marphissa announced assuredly, knowing that the specialists on the bridge would hear and convey the news throughout the ship so that
Manticore
’s crew would feel hope.

Diaz shrugged and smiled. “We all have confidence in you, Kommodor.”

Marphissa smiled herself and leaned back in her seat again, the very picture of poise on the outside. Inside, she felt fortunate that no one else aboard the heavy cruiser knew just how tiny were the odds of success.

But if
Manticore
was destroyed, she would go down fighting.

“WE
will be within range of the battle cruiser’s weapons in ten minutes,” the senior specialist on the bridge reported.

Marphissa waved an acknowledgment, her hand now encased in the glove of the survival suit she had donned in preparation for battle. Everyone else was wearing a suit as well. The suits were nothing like the heavy battle armor of soldiers, being just strong enough to protect a human from the dangers of space and minor physical hazards if the hull of the ship was pierced by enemy weapons. “Kapitan Diaz, is your ship at maximum combat readiness?”

“Yes, Kommodor,” Diaz replied. “All shields at maximum, all crew at combat stations, all weapons ready.”

“Good.” Marphissa took a long look at her display, trying to estimate when to act given all of the uncertainties that existed. “Order your senior software and systems specialist to transmit the snake software when we are five minutes from being within range of the weapons on
Vengeance
.”

“Yes, Kommodor.” Diaz passed on the order, then gestured toward
his display. “This marker will indicate when the software has been transmitted. Senior Specialist Beltsios has set it to show red if the knock fails, yellow if its status is uncertain, and green when the tunneling worms send back a pulse indicating success. It will remain green as long as the malware is active aboard
Vengeance
.”

“Understood.” Marphissa reached out to wave an extended finger through her display. “Pivot
Manticore
to face
Vengeance
bow on.”

Diaz didn’t question that command. It was an expected move prior to combat. Thrusters fired, swinging the heavy cruiser’s bow up and over in a smooth arc until more thrusters fired to halt the swing.
Manticore
’s bow, carrying most of her weapons and her strongest shields, now faced the enemy even though the heavy cruiser’s velocity in the other direction had not changed.
Vengeance
had been overtaking
Manticore
from both behind and a bit above and to starboard, hanging off that flank of the heavy cruiser and growing steadily larger as the remaining distance between the two warships dwindled.

As she waited through the next minute, Marphissa wondered why, after all her time in space, it still felt odd for the ship she was on to be racing backward at such incredible velocity. As long as the ship was going forward, that felt all right. But backward? It didn’t feel right at all.

The symbol marking the status of the snake malware came to life, glowing yellow.

Marphissa kept moving her gaze from the deadly threat of
Vengeance
drawing ever closer to the malware marker that continued to stubbornly display a yellow hue. Was it darkening to red? No. Maybe. No.

“One minute until we are within range of the battle cruiser’s weapons,” the combat systems specialist announced with a voice that somehow remained steady.

“Kommodor?”

“Wait.”

Somewhere aboard
Vengeance
, a different sort of battle was being
fought between weapons and defenses carefully crafted by humans from coded pulses of energy. The battle was taking place at an incredible pace as the snake software attacked and the battle cruiser’s software tried to parry and block in a fencing match at the speed of light.

“Kommodor,” Diaz said urgently, “thirty seconds before
Vengeance
can open fire on us.”

“Wait.” Was the color of the marker altering yet? No. Yes. Darkening? But which way?

Green.

“Kapitan! Brake
Manticore
’s velocity enough to quickly bring us directly astern of
Vengeance
, then pivot one hundred eighty degrees again and target his main propulsion!”

“Yes, Kommodor!”

Manticore
’s main propulsion surged to life once more, slowing the ship this time and allowing
Vengeance
to overtake her more rapidly.

Marphissa could not help smiling fiercely as she thought of the scene that must be playing out aboard
Vengeance
. Imallye would have been preparing to give the order to unleash a devastating volley upon
Manticore
, only to see the heavy cruiser suddenly disappear from her display. Imallye would be screaming at her crew right now, demanding that they find out what had happened, demanding that they find out how their target had completely vanished, ordering them to—

Vengeance
fired her forward-facing hell lances, a lattice of deadly particle beams that speared through space.

The salvo tore through the spot where
Manticore
would have been if she had not reduced her velocity, then subsequent shots from
Vengeance
began working their way through space farther ahead along that track.

“They think we’re trying to accelerate away from them while we’re hidden,” Diaz said with a laugh. He was wearing the same sort of ferocious grin as Marphissa.

Manticore
’s main propulsion had cut off as
Vengeance
slid by off to
starboard and slightly above the heavy cruiser like a huge shark sailing past a smaller cousin. Usually, space engagements took place at combined velocities so great that the actual combat occurred within a tiny fraction of a second when the opposing forces were within range of each other. But despite the great speed that both
Vengeance
and
Manticore
were traveling, they were going in nearly the same direction, making their relative speed as slow as that of two ground vehicles passing each other.

Diaz brought the heavy cruiser back around so she was once more facing the same direction as she was going, her bow facing toward the stern of the battle cruiser as it came into view at close range. “Main propulsion on full,” Diaz ordered. “We want time to put a lot of shots into his tail! All weapons, fire!”

Manticore
unleashed a barrage from her own hell lances, launching missiles and, this close to her target, also firing the ball bearings called grapeshot. “Continuous fire!” Diaz called out. “Maintain attack!”

The battle cruiser’s stern had the weakest shields and the least armor because of the main propulsion units clustered there. The bow was always supposed to be pivoted to face an enemy. But that couldn’t be done when the enemy couldn’t be seen.

The hits registering on the stern of
Vengeance
were a clear sign of
Manticore
’s general location, however. Even though the battle cruiser did not yet have a precise target to engage,
Vengeance
ceased hurling hell lance shots into empty space, cut off main propulsion completely, and began firing thrusters to pivot around and face toward the attacks.

But as the battle cruiser’s bow began to swing up, the stern remained clearly in sight of
Manticore
. The heavy cruiser’s weapons impacted on
Vengeance
’s stern shields with brilliant flares of light that blazed and faded with every blow as the merciless barrage continued. Marphissa, checking the time, was startled to see that barely a minute had passed since
Manticore
opened fire. For those used to typical microsecond-long firing engagements, this one felt incredibly prolonged.

“Enemy shields are almost down,” the combat systems specialist reported.

“Their turn rate is increasing, but we’ll still be able to hit his stern for another two minutes before it swings out of our line of sight. How much longer do we have before
Vengeance
can see us again?” Diaz wondered, his eyes locked on his display to monitor the attack.

“We won’t need much longer,” Marphissa said.

“Hell lance batteries are beginning to overheat,” the weapons systems specialist warned.

Marphissa breathed another one of the prayers that Bradamont had told her. Designed for fights of very short duration, the particle beam weapons could not sustain firing for long periods. If they overheated enough and shut down too soon
Manticore
would lose critical weapons capability.

That was just one of her concerns. Was the green malware marker changing color? Not yet. Marphissa blinked rapidly, trying to spot the first trace of change in hue.

The stern shields on the battle cruiser collapsed.
Manticore
’s shots began impacting the ship, slamming into
Vengeance
’s main propulsion units and in some cases triggering secondary explosions.

“Hit them!” someone on the bridge whispered exultantly.

Marphissa stared intently at the malware status marker. Had the green shade flickered? There it was again. “Kapitan, continue your attack with any weapons that can bear on the enemy but get this ship turned and start braking hard!”

Diaz clearly wanted to keep landing blows on the enemy, but hesitated for only a fraction of a second before calling out orders.
Manticore
’s main propulsion cut off again.
Vengeance
, though pivoting now as fast as the thrusters could bring the battle cruiser around, was still rocketing forward at undiminished velocity. The distance had already opened enough that
Manticore
’s grapeshot was no longer effective, but the heavy cruiser kept throwing out missiles as fast as the launchers
could reload and firing any hell lance whose projector could bear on the enemy as
Manticore
’s bow swung through another half turn.

Facing away from her foe once more,
Manticore
lit off her main propulsion and began reducing velocity as fast as the ship and crew could endure. The inertial dampers shrilled protests again as red stress warnings pulsed on displays and the heavy cruiser’s structure groaned under the conflicting forces that threatened to shatter it.

Marphissa, her head once again pressed against the back of her seat by momentum forces leaking through the inertial damper fields as
Manticore
labored to slow down, saw the malware marker abruptly turn as red as the stress warnings. Seconds later,
Vengeance
, bow pointing straight up relative to
Manticore
, began firing the hell lances that could target the heavy cruiser astern, following those with a stream of missiles that rolled and spun onto intercepts aimed at the heavy cruiser.

With the distance between the two warships now increasing rapidly,
Manticore
dropped out of range of the battle cruiser’s hell lances after only a few shots had been fired, flaring against
Manticore
’s shields and weakening them but not breaking through. Marphissa breathed a sigh of relief as the chance of a full volley of
Vengeance
’s hell lances slamming home vanished. But the missiles were another matter.

“Target incoming missiles with hell lances and grapeshot,” Diaz ordered, his face reflecting the strain that the entire crew was feeling as
Manticore
continued to brake velocity at a rate that was producing increasingly urgent warnings from the ship’s systems.

With
Manticore
’s stern facing toward the rapidly receding
Vengeance
as the heavy cruiser reduced speed, few weapons could engage the oncoming missiles. Diaz opened his mouth to give a command.

“Hold your current vector and propulsion settings,” Marphissa ordered.

Diaz gulped as if swallowing his unspoken command before replying. “Yes, Kommodor.”

“Stand by for maneuvers, Kapitan. Keep your combat systems
targeted on those incoming missiles, and remember that maneuver that Captain Bradamont showed us against the Syndicate warships.”

Marphissa waited for the right moment, watching as the missiles tore closer, hoping she had learned enough from watching and listening to Bradamont. “Main propulsion off!”

Diaz repeated the order, but Marphissa’s command was already being carried out.
Manticore
’s propulsion units ceased laboring to lower her velocity. Her speed unchecked now, the warship was moving faster than if she had kept slowing down. The incoming missiles, aiming to hit the heavy cruiser where she would have been if she had kept braking, were now aiming for a point behind where
Manticore
was.

Two missiles passed close enough to
Manticore
for their proximity fuses to detonate. The warship shuddered as the shock waves of particles and shrapnel slammed into her shields, but the shields held. The rest of the missiles shot past the heavy cruiser and labored to turn fast enough to reengage their target. Most of those missiles disintegrated as their structures failed under the stress of the too-rapid maneuvers. The few that survived were almost at a standstill relative to
Manticore
when they came out of their turns, and having raced past the heavy cruiser were now facing
Manticore
’s heavily armed bow. Hell lances tore into them and wiped out the remaining missiles.

“We are out of range of
Vengeance
’s weapons,” the combat systems specialist announced, sounding dazed.

Marphissa could see the battle cruiser on her display, the massive warship still pivoting under the push of her own thrusters to face back fully toward
Manticore
. “I need an assessment of damage to
Vengeance
’s main propulsion units.”

“Preliminary estimate from our sensors is that
Vengeance
has lost eighty percent of her main propulsion,” the senior watch specialist said.

“Eighty percent?” Marphissa felt herself finally beginning to relax. “And he got his velocity up to nearly point three five light speed before we clipped his wings. With that much momentum, that much mass,
and only one-fifth of his normal propulsion working, it’s going to take
Vengeance
a long time to slow down again.”

Diaz was working on his maneuvering display. “Our systems say
Vengeance
won’t be able to get his velocity down to reengage us before overshooting the jump point. We can just keep going, following
Vengeance
at a distance, until we reach the jump point after he overruns it. Imallye’s light cruisers and HuKs back at the planet’s orbit are so far out of position they couldn’t catch us unless we dropped our velocity to the pace of a CEO going to hand out bonuses to workers.” He put up one hand to rub his forehead, smiling in disbelief. “Your plan was a good one, Kommodor.”