Theogony 1: Janissaries (30 page)

Bridge,
Wanton Killer
, Tau Ceti System, May 25,
2019

Captain Sssseth was sitting in his captain’s chair dreaming
of tasty desserts when the power came back on. Looking at the sensor
technician, he ordered, “Make sure there are no more mines around us.”

“There are none,” the technician quickly confirmed. “We have
coasted clear of the minefield; they are all behind us to starboard.”

“Very well,” said Sssseth, “Give me the best speed
engineering’s got. Head directly to the research base.”

“Aye aye, sir,” replied the helmsman, and the ship began
accelerating toward the distant planet.

“Captain Sssseth,” the sensor technician called. “Records
indicate the Eldive are quite tasty and best served with a light quarnberry
sauce.”

“Sounds yummy,” replied Sssseth. “Let’s see what the prey
looks like. Contact the other ship and put it on screen.”

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Tau Ceti ‘d1’ Orbit, May
25, 2019

“The battlecruiser has restored power and is coming in this
direction,” said Steropes. “It’s piling on the G’s and is now accelerating at
almost 490 G’s. Within an hour, it will be traveling at over 38 million miles
an hour.”

“Captain!” called the communications officer. “I am getting
a hail from the other ship.”

“Very well,” replied Captain Deutch, “on screen.” He smiled
at Bullseye, who he knew was a
Star Trek
fan. “I’ve been waiting to say
that.”

“Yes sir,” said the communications officer. “The lizards
have the same faster-than-light communications system that we do; even though
they’re over two hundred million miles away, communications will be instantaneous.”

Within seconds, the view screen shifted from the moon they
were orbiting to the face of a very large lizard. “I am Captain Sssseth of the
Wanton
Killer
,” it hissed. “I congratulate you on the minesss. They were a nasssty
surprissse, although they were successssful in ridding the galaxy of its worssst
admiral. As you can sssee, we have repaired the minor damage that it caused usss,
and we are now prepared to destroy you. Would you like to lower your shieldsss
and be boarded, or would you like usss to come and hammer them down for you?”

“I’ll tell you what,” answered Captain Deutch. “The Terran
Space Force has never lost a battle, and we’re not going to lose our first to
the likes of a belly-crawler like you. Now, why don’t you run back through the stargate
and go back to the little egg that you crawled out of before we destroy your
ship as well? You have five minutes to decelerate and leave this system, or you
will be destroyed.” Captain Deutch turned to the communications officer and
said, “Terminate connection,” just as the lizard started to shriek something in
outrage.

“Better let Lieutenant Commander Hobbs know that we’re going
to have company soon,” Deutch continued. “Get the shuttles down there and let
them know they need to evacuate ASAP.”

“Aye aye, sir!” said the communications officer.

Steropes walked over to the captain’s chair. “I’m not sure
that was wise to antagonize their captain,” said Steropes. “After that taunt, I
do not believe that he will negotiate with us any further. The Ssselipsssiss
are known for being very honor conscious. They will duel at the slightest
provocation.”

“Are they slowing down?” asked Deutch.

“No, they are not,” said Steropes. “In fact, they just added
another five G’s to their acceleration.”

“Well, maybe they’ll blow up their engines,” remarked
Captain Deutch. “If so, the taunt was worth it. The way I figured it, if they
turned and ran, we won. If they didn’t run, maybe they would be so mad that
they would accidentally kill us before they can capture and eat us.”

“That is an interesting analysis,” said Steropes. “In all
the people and races that I’ve known, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anyone
express it like that.”

“And I hope I never hear anyone else do it ever again,”
muttered Bullseye in a loud whisper.

The joke made everyone on the bridge chuckle. It alleviated
the tension a little. A very little.

* * * * *

Ssselipsssiss Base, Tau Ceti ‘d1’, May 25, 2019

“
Nice day for a bounce,
” said Master Chief O’Leary as
the Space Force bounced up to the hangar. “
How’s it coming sir?
” he
asked Calvin.

“
Good,
” said Calvin, “
we just got into both the
hangar and the base, but we’re rapidly running out of time. The defensive
screen is down, and the shuttles are inbound to get us. Night, Master Chief, I want
you to take your squad and get the hangar open. As soon as the shuttles get
here, get the replicator strapped onto one of them and get out of here. I’ll
take the Ground Force and go into the base to get our lost sheep.
”

“
You got it sir,
” commed Master Chief. “
You heard
the man! Let’s get those doors open so we can leave this godforsaken moon!
”
He walk-bounced off, continuing to issue orders as he went.

“
OK, Top,
” Calvin said, “
let’s go find our guys in
the base. If you see a computer room, let me know. I’d love to download what
they were doing here.
” The Ground Force entered the base at a trot.

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Tau Ceti ‘d1’ Orbit, May
25, 2019

Steropes looked up from his sensor display, his face a shade
or two paler than normal. “Umm, Captain Deutch,” he said, “I don’t know if
anyone else has done the math, but if we don’t leave orbit in the next couple
of minutes, we’re not going to be able to beat the lizard ship to the
stargate.”

“What do you mean?” asked Captain Deutch.

“What I mean is that the lizard ship is coming toward us at
almost 60,000,000 miles an hour. It also can out-accelerate us. If we don’t
leave orbit now, the lizard ship can beat us to the stargate. They may not know
where it is, but they know where we are and will be able to get into weapons’
range before we can go through the gate.”

“We’re not leaving without the folks on the planet,” said
Captain Deutch. His tone of voice didn’t leave any room for negotiation.

“Then we will either have to do something to slow them
down,” said Steropes, “or they will be able to shoot at us.”

Captain Deutch look at Bullseye. “Get them back aboard,
now!” he said.

Under the Ssselipsssiss Base, Tau Ceti ‘d1’, May 25, 2019   

“
Roger that,
” commed Calvin, stopping to talk while
the rest of the platoon continued down the hallway. “
We’re going as fast as
we can. We’ll be airborne shortly.
” Calvin switched to the Space Force
link, “
Night, Calvin,
” he commed, “
How close are you to being
airborne?
”

“
We’re just finishing up securing the replicator to the
shuttle,
” Night replied. “
We should be airborne in the next five
minutes.
”

“
Good,
” said Calvin. “
Don’t wait for us. As soon
as you’re ready, take off. You’ll need time to get the replicator hooked up to
the ship.
”

“
Wilco,
” answered Night. “
We’ll see you back at
the ranch.
”

Calvin saw a large number of laser flashes from down the
corridor as he switched back to the Ground Force link. “
Top, we’ve got to
hurry. We’re not going to make it to the gate before the lizards catch up with
us.
”

“
Got it sir,
” replied Top. Although Calvin was only 50
feet behind him and around a corner, the lasers firing continuously sounded
even louder over the link. “
We ran into what looks like a mixed force of
soldiers and armed scientists who have set up a barricade across the corridor.
Their laser rifles are extremely powerful, way more than anything we’ve got.
I’ve already got two dead. Corporal Ball and Petty Officer Conboy took laser
bolts on the first volley. Damn it! Corporal Goudie is down now too. He took
one through the helmet; he’s dead.”

Shit, thought Calvin. Corporal John ‘Oh!’ Goudie had joined
the platoon just a couple of weeks before they left. He seemed like a really
good guy, too. “
That’s it, dammit.
I’m less worried about breaking
things than I am about getting out of here,
” said Calvin. “
Clear them
out with trident rounds!
”

“
WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!
” yelled Mouse before anyone could
fire. “
We’ve got this.
”

Several seconds later five or six explosions could be seen
rippling through the barricade in front of them, and the force of the
explosions could be felt at the other end of the corridor accompanied by an “
Eat
that, dude!
” over the link. The sounds of lasers firing disappeared. Calvin
jogged up to find the Mouse and Good Twin standing over the pieces of about ten
dead lizards behind the barricade.

“You picked a good time to put in an appearance,” he said
with a smile.

“We heard the shooting,” replied Mouse, “so we hurried.
There’s a big room about 50 feet up the corridor. I think it’s the computer
server room.”

“Great,” said Calvin. “
Mr. Jones! Ms. Rozhkov! Front and
center! Let’s get that data and get the hell out of here!
”

* * * * *

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Tau Ceti ‘d1’ Orbit, May
25, 2019

“OK, Steropes,” said Captain Deutch as the first shuttle
could be seen on the viewer towing the replicator. What are our options for
outrunning the lizards?”

“Our options for outrunning them?” repeated Steropes. “None.
They are faster than we are and already have a tremendous velocity built up. We
can’t beat them to the stargate home.”

“No, we can’t,” said Deutch, “but what about the stargate
into the other system?”

“What? Why would we want to do that?” asked Steropes.

“We might want to do that, because it uses their momentum
against them,” said Deutch.

“Oh yeah!” said Bullseye, looking at the plot. “I get it.
They’re coming at us here, going really fast. But the star is in between us,
and they have to aim just a little bit to the side of the star in order to get
here. Once they’re committed to going around on one side of the star, we
accelerate as hard as we can to go around the other side of it. They will have
to kill off all of their momentum before they can begin accelerating back the
way they came. We use their momentum to their disadvantage.” He got more
excited the longer he looked at it. “If we plan it right, they won’t be able to
shoot at us through the star either. We can probably make it through the gate
that they came through...and they’ll have to get through the minefield to get
back out again!”

“Ah, I see what you mean now,” said Steropes. “Actually,
that is an excellent tactical maneuver. If they had more ships, they probably
would have come through already. The lizards will have to transit the minefield
again, giving us time to either run further or plant another minefield on the
other side.

“We don’t have many more mines,” warned Bullseye, “however,
we know which way they’ll be coming, so we can put them where they’ll do the
most good. Besides, we need to get them off the ship before we go into battle.
I don’t think we want a lucky hit to set off a bunch of 215 megaton mines
inside our ship.”

“I like it,” said Captain Deutch, “Figure out when we need
to leave. If the rest of the troops aren’t on board by then, they’ll have to
catch up to us in the shuttle.” He sat back in his chair contemplating. As he
looked forward, he saw the replicator approaching the side of the ship where a
small army of space suited soldiers and sailors were waiting to tie it down.

“Steropes,” he asked, “what is having the replicator tied to
the side of our ship going to do our acceleration?”

 “It is going to decrease how quickly we’ll be able to
accelerate,” admitted Steropes. “I will go outside and see to tying it down so
that it will best handle the acceleration.”

Under the Ssselipsssiss Base, Tau Ceti ‘d1’, May 25, 2019

“
Are you done yet?
” commed Calvin. He had tried as
hard as he could not to look over their shoulders, but they had to leave.
RIGHT
NOW!

“
Yeah, we’re done,
” said Mr. Jones, disconnecting a
cable. “
It is a good thing we brought Irina. She figured out one of the
protocols that I was having a problem with.
” Calvin made a mental note that
it was now ‘Irina’ and not ‘Ms. Rozhkov.’ Interesting, but not the time to
pursue it.

“
Was nothing,
” said the Russian spy. “
Sometimes
all that is needed is different perspective.
”

“
Good,
” replied Calvin. “
Squad, let’s get the hell
out of here!
”

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Tau Ceti ‘d1’ Orbit, May
25, 2019

“Everyone’s aboard captain,” said the operations officer.

“About time,” growled Captain Deutch. They were leaving five
minutes late. The shuttle had developed an engine malfunction on its way back
and, despite what he had said about leaving it behind, he had waited for it.
They only had two of them, after all, and there wouldn’t be any more for quite
some time. “Punch it!”

“Full speed ahead, aye sir!” said the helmsman.

“Are we going to make it?” Deutch asked Steropes.

“They are probably going to get a maximum range shot off at
us,” said Steropes. “They may also get another shot at us before we make it to
the stargate. It does not look promising.”

“Will we be able to shoot back?” asked Deutch.

“Unfortunately, it does not appear that they will come
within range of our missiles,” Steropes answered. “Ours only have a range of
about eight million miles. Their missiles are larger and outrange ours by about
25%, giving them an effective range of about ten million miles.”

Bridge,
Wanton Killer
, Tau Ceti System, May 25,
2019

“The Terrans are accelerating around the other side of the
star from us,” said the sensor technician. “The vector will put them very close
to the stargate to the Gliese 832 system.”

“These Terrans are full of surprises,” replied Captain
Sssseth. “They show up in an ancient Eldive ship, but are able to effectively
mine the stargate. Now this. I thought they would have the courtesy to run back
to wherever their stargate is, to give us its location so that we could pay
their civilization a visit. But instead, they go the opposite direction so that
we have to chase them down.” He looked at the tactical map. An experienced
captain, he saw immediately what the enemy was trying to do. “Will we be able to
get a shot at them before they get behind the star?”

“Yes sir,” said the weapons technician. “It will be a
maximum range shot, but the target is a cruiser, and an old one at that. We may
be able to overload her defenses.”

“I’ve got detonations on the surface of the fourth planet’s
moon!” called the sensor technician. “It looks like two 40 kiloton nuclear explosions
at the research facility.”

Sssseth hissed, “Full of surprises, indeed.”

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Tau Ceti System, May 25,
2019

“How close are they going to get to us?” asked Captain
Deutch.

“They are going to be at about nine million miles at their
closest point of approach,” answered Steropes.

“And what is the range of their missiles?”

“About ten million miles.”

“How close are they now?”

“Ten million miles.”

“Shit.”

Bridge,
Wanton Killer
, Tau Ceti System, May 25,
2019

“We’re at 9.5 million miles,” said the weapons technician.
“We can get off three volleys if we launch now.”

“Fire at will,” said Captain Sssseth.

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Tau Ceti System, May 25,
2019

“They’re launching,” noted Steropes. Calvin thought he said
it far too calmly for the gravity of the situation. “21 missiles inbound. One
must have failed to launch.”

“You are cleared to engage when in range,” said Captain
Deutch.

“Clear to engage aye,” replied the defensive systems
officer. “Missile hatches open. Laser hatches open, and mounts extending.” The
ship’s point defense lasers were normally stored inside the hull to prevent
damage to them during transit and were physically extended through a hatch when
needed.  “Standing by to launch counter-missiles.” The lizards’ anti-ship
missiles continued to track inbound. “Seven million miles. Six million miles.
Five million miles. Launching counter missiles.” He pushed a button. “First
volley away.” 27 missiles leapt from their tubes and raced to meet the incoming
missiles at over 100,000 G’s. Calvin could see flashes of fire on the view
screen and feel a slight rumble through the hull of the ship as the missiles
launched from the ports below the bridge. They were quickly lost in the
vastness of space.

“Second volley launching from the lizard ship,” Steropes
advised. “21 more inbound.”

“Second volley of counter-missiles away,” said the DSO. “The
first volley should intercept the incoming missiles at about four million
miles; the second wave at two million miles.” The CO could see lights winking
on and off on the DSO’s display. “Intercept.” He continued watching. “14
missiles still inbound.” He moved a switch and pushed a button. “Firing at
second volley...Second intercept of first volley; six missiles remaining. Lasers
firing.”

Calvin knew that he wouldn’t see the point-defense lasers
firing, although he wished he could. He could see their effects as several
missiles detonated when lasers hit them just right. Others were destroyed
without detonating or caused to miss. He waited for the impact of missiles on
the ship...but there were none.

 “First volley destroyed,” the DSO said. “Second volley
intercepted by counter missiles at 3.3 million miles. 16 remaining.”

“The lizard ship is launching a third volley,” warned
Steropes. “22 missiles inbound.”

“Second intercept of second volley at 1.4 million miles...eight
missiles remaining,” announced the DSO. Calvin could see that intercepts were
happening closer to the ship. That was bad. “Launching at third volley,” the
DSO called. “Counter-missile tubes at 50% remaining.” The DSO’s voice had risen
in pitch several notes.

“Lasers firing at the second volley...computer modeling indicates
we’re not going to get them all.
Brace for impact!
”

* * * * *