July 2203 part 1
July 4th 0900 hours/US Space Station
'It's unusually quiet' thought Admiral Bradley Walters. In the absence of a 'formal' war, the observance of the holiday was going on as usual. All non essential work was cancelled and the crew given a day to rest, or in rare cases a furlough to the surface. The station was a veritable beacon of radio transmissions as many took the opportunity to contact friends or family.
'The Joint Task Force won't be much of a beacon. They haven't been heard from for the last seven days. The communication black out will last for another 24 hours or so, until they pass inside of the belt. Until then, the only assurance we have that they still exist is the fact that they haven't transmitted any sensor readings of contacts - or distress calls.' Admiral Walters changed from one display on his monitor to another. Status reports, progress reports, theories on the data transmitted by the JFK. It all left more questions, and not comfortable ones. The chief question among them - 'Is this the last days of the human race?'
The US combat ship roster was terribly limited. If you included the ships of Task Force 1, it mustered only six Interceptor Mk IIa's, and five Missile Escorts. With no way of knowing what the enemy held in reserve, that roster was going to have to expand. When it did, the cat would be out of the bag. The folks at home would quickly realize that the rumors were true, and that a war was being fought. Shortly there after, they would find out who the real enemy was and all hell would break loose. For the moment, only military ships and personnel knew the truth, and not even all of them. None of the governments had released the information to the public.
'No matter how good the lies, this secret is going to be too big. Yes, it is unusually quiet today." Admiral Walters thought again as he tried to relax.
Also that day/Combat Vessel 7, Titania, Uranus
Commander of Combat Vessel 7 monitored the progress of the evacuation. The colony ship was nearly finished loading the last of the survivors from the moon's surface. The three Patrol Vessels and their nine scout craft were involved in forming the mobile 'umbrella' covering the rescue. If any of the enemy combat ships were in the area, or tried to intercede, they would be detected and destroyed.
The devastation on the surface of the moon was too precise, and the energy emissions from the ruins ruled out the weapons that this race typically used. There had been short transmissions from Defense Station 3 before it was destroyed, reports of impacts in the absence of any inbound contacts. Perhaps this race used some form of energy emitting weapon. If so, it would seem to be a short ranged weapon, as its use against combat vessels had never been recorded. It would not matter. Combat Group 1 would find this race's homes and destroy them. Just as this race had destroyed the helpless lives on this moon.
As soon as the survivors were safely off this moon, Combat Group 1 would turn toward the inner planets of this system, and one by one clean any infestation from them. Soon.....
July 7th 0450 hours/Heavy Escort Tatianna
Rear Admiral Brenna Muldoon wondered how long this assignment would last. The 3rd Battle Group had been assigned to convoy escort duty. 'Not that I mind.' she thought, 'but this isn't going to last. The repairs are complete, and soon they will give us another combat posting.' The 1st Battle Group had 'reappeared' at the Pallas Colony about 3 hours ago. Rumor had it they were a ship short of what they had left with. The commercial channels were full of speculation over what was going on, and where the possibly 'missing' ship could be, and what it was up to. Brenna knew that it wasn't going to return. She had no firm reports of what had happened, but she knew. No one who went beyond the belt and turned up ''missing' was ever coming home again. That would raise the Pan Euro's losses to two Attack Escorts and two Armed Explorers. Over two hundred crew. Someone was going to start asking questions.
She hoped that someone would actually have answers then, and not just guesses.
"Admiral, we have Cargo Liners 012 and 137 on the sensor track. Time till departure for Mercury, 3 minutes."
"Thank you Petty Officer. Helm, plot escort course and upload to my station." Brenna turned back to monitoring the civilian channels, looking for something she wasn't sure of, but was sure she would know when she found it.
July 8th 1620 hours/Interceptor Mk IIa JFK, Mars orbit
Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Jack Ryan could almost feel his metallic and composite body relax as his ship settled into orbit. He had been on edge ever since leaving, and had never worked so hard trying to plot the best and fastest course back to this red ball of dust and rock. It had felt like hounds had been on his heels the whole way. Mars Station packed more firepower than his whole Task Force, and with it near he felt safe. For the first time in nearly a month, safe.
Unlocking his station, he gave the order for the crew to stand down. Soon they would dock with Mars Station, and begin resupply. The crew would be hoping to get off the ship, but that wouldn't happen for days. A great deal of debriefing, and many meetings, would have to take place before the crew would be allowed to step foot off the ship. Most of the crew by now had heard that a new race had been discovered, and that wasn't something command would want talked about willy-nilly. If at all.
But he was home, after a fashion, and that was enough for now. He decided as soon as he could, he'd write a note to his daughter to let her know that he was alive. No business, just a chance to let her know he was still here, and looking forward to hearing from her.
2240 hours/Cruiser Mao Tse Tung, Ceres orbit
Vice Admiral Zhu Rongji checked progress reports. The Missile Frigate Anhui had just finished with the installation of the new sensor system. The function checks looked good. The increase in range and sensitivity was impressive. More than double the capabilities of the other ships in the group. The only problem was the interface to the weapons station. Calibrating the new returns for targeting solutions was slow and imprecise. That would hopefully change as the crew grew more accustomed to the new system.
The Missile Frigate Hubei was currently beginning the installation process for the new system. It should go more quickly, as the work crews now had a better feel for what they needed to get done. Next would be the Attack Frigate Hunan. The last to undergo the 'upgrade' would be the Tung. It had been decided that the Cruiser would be last, as it would be the most capable at defending itself should the US or Euro attack, even without the new system. The smaller ships would have more to gain from the new system. They were also more expendable should the new system prove to be less successful than projected.
For the moment, it looked to be a valuable addition, and should prove to be a rude surprise for the US and Euro should they decide to challenge Chinese sovereignty.
July 11th 0210 hour/Heavy Interceptor Anastasia, Mercury Shipyards
Vice Admiral Elizabeth Avery had been briefed on the ship currently under construction at the Mercury Shipyards, but actually seeing the Pan Euro's newest combat vessel was a stirring sight. She was fully twice the size of the Anastasia, and packed twice as many launch bays. She should help tip the balance of power in future engagements against the Alpha Class ships this new race used. Word had it that the Queen Elizabeth would clear the slip by the end of July, and that the 1st Battle Group would join her during the shakedown and training cruise. It was a shame she hadn't been ready a few months earlier. Perhaps the Victoria would still be here.
More stirring was a quiet rumor that Liz would be transferring her flag to the Queen Elizabeth when she started operations. To be the first Admiral to command her would be a great honor. There were rumors that Rear Admiral Muldoon, or perhaps Admiral Kushnir would claim her as their flagship. Liz was sure that Brenna was to junior of an officer to be placed on the Q.E. Admiral Kushnir might transfer to the Q.E., but Liz doubted it. The Red October was going to be the fastest ship in service for some time, and it allowed her to respond to situations more quickly than this ship would. The Red October was also more flexible in deployment as a science vessel. This ship was going to be a pure combat vessel. Vice Admiral Esme Jurkat of 2nd Battle Group was the only other serving combat ship flag officer, and she had yet to receive a combat assignment.
No, the Q.E. was going to be Liz's ship.
0315 hours/Attack Escort Cynthia, Mercury Shipyards
Commander Giovanni Vetra looked over the order again. The Cynthia was to be assigned to the 1st Battle Group. That could mean only one thing. The Attack Escort Victoria was gone. Whatever had destroyed the Boudicca had claimed the Victoria also. Maybe the Anastasia and Mary Queen of Scots had been able to make it pay in blood for that victory. He hoped so.
Regardless, he was no longer commander of the 2nd Light Battle Group. It was being disbanded. The two Armed Escorts, the Louis and Cornwallis, would be performing convoy escort duties for the next few days as they made their way out to the Pallas Colony. They would join the Red October and be the combat portion of a new science and survey group. A rather heavily armed one.
He didn't want command though. He wanted to see whoever had murdered the 1st Light Battle Group brought low. Whoever had killed his Rachel was going to pay for that. He didn't want to die. But if that's what it took to stop the killing...
July 17th 0735 hours/Armed Science Vessel Red October, near Pallas 2
Admiral Jude Kushnir tried to calm her racing mind. Her fingers were nervously and aimlessly tapping at the keys. Her old habit was displaying itself with a vengeance. The last few hours had been a blur of activity. Now she had to think, and clearly. Her next few choices would affect many more lives than those aboard her ship. Too many lives had already been lost this day. More were going to be. But a mistake now....
The Red October had been hit. The plating and baffles had kept the impact from breeching the hull, but only by the smallest of margins. She could still fight, but the next blast would rip through her. Definitely cripple her. Possibly destroy her. By herself she was no match for what was chasing her. In her current condition, she wouldn't last two minutes. The only thing keeping her alive was her speed now. For all of their power, the ships chasing her were no faster than a standard Pan Euro combat vessel. The little scout craft they used had no chance of keeping up. They had been left far behind. It was only the largest of the ships now, all slicing through the asteroid field. Darting by ship killing rocks and debris fields. Risking death to escape, or catch their prey.
Two hours ago a transmission had been picked up by the Red October. A Chinese Civilian Heavy Lift Cargo Vessel was enroute to the Pallas Colony Distribution Depot for a routine pick up of ore. The Chinese still honored the trade agreements of the Treaty of Serenitatis, and the arrival of a trade ship occurred regularly. Ceres was only a few light minutes away from Pallas at the moment. The freighter had reported contact with a small ships' boat and was requesting verification of ownership.
Jude remembered authorizing the transmission to the Chinese ship. Telling them to accelerate to their best speed and try to outrun the small craft. Then losing the freighter's signal minutes later. She wasn't sure if the ship had even had time to receive her transmission.
She had ordered the three small science ships and the Mobile Shipyard to engage drives and make best speed for Earth. The Chinese ship had been less than a light minutes from Pallas 2, and the danger was too great to risk the ships needlessly. 'They could always be ordered to return to the belt' she had told herself. If only she had known. But no, she wouldn't have done anything differently, even if she had known what was coming.
The Red October, Louis, and Cornwallis had positioned themselves close to the surface of Pallas, trying to hide their presence. She had sent orders for the colony to shut down all non-essential systems. Cut all broadcasts. 'Turn out the lights' as it were. But the Distribution Depot wasn't going anywhere. Even with all systems off line, it still floated in a slow orbit of the giant rock. And it was obviously not a natural object.
It had been twenty two minutes later when the single small craft had appeared on her sensors. It was going to pass within 70,000 km of Pallas 2. It would easily see the station floating in space near the great asteroid. Then it would notice the colony there. A colony of one million souls. It could not be allowed that close.
The Red October had launched on the small ship, but it was nimble. The asteroids had clouded sensor returns, fooled terminal guidance systems. Four separate missiles had detonated near the craft, but only the last made intercept. The small craft had been over a light second from the colony, but it had over 30 seconds to broadcast what was happening. It had only been a matter of time before the larger ship that carried it would arrive. But the Red October and two Armed Explorers could handle an Alpha Class ship and protect the colony. She had been sure of it.
What had arrived wasn't one Alpha Class, it had been three. The other ship with them didn't even have a designation yet. It massed more than the Red October. It was nearly equal in size to the ship Jude knew was being built at Mercury. The Red October had detected the magnetic signature of the ships at just less than 8 light seconds. The asteroids made detection even at that short range difficult. They had come in slowly, circling the area where the small craft had been fired on. They were just over 4 light seconds out when the small craft had come pouring at them.
Ten of the small ships had made a bee line for the colony's location. The group must have been able to detect the Depot station at that range, and had sent the small ships in to see what it was. They were close enough for the Red October to see the four large ships on her scanners, but to far for the systems to plot targeting solutions through the rocks.
When the small ships had closed to one light second, the entire group had opened fire and engaged drives. Jude had no illusion of her chances, and had ordered her group to accelerate away from the enemy ships. She had hoped to draw them away from the colony. It had worked, to a degree. The three Alpha Class had launched only once on the Distribution Depot as they passed it. That had been enough to destroy it utterly. The large ship was easily big enough to mount several launchers, but it only made single launches at her group. The large ship and three smaller Alpha Class vessels had launched five salvos on her group. Both the Louis and the Cornwallis had come apart after single intercepts by the enemy's missiles. Even the Red October had taken a single impact as she came up to speed. The return fire of her group had managed to collapse the field around one of the Alpha Class ships, but Jude couldn't stay within range to pit her two missiles against the launchers of these four alien ships. She could only run. But the ships had followed her, and not stayed to attack the colony.
The cries for help, and distress calls, had come as a horrible shock. The small craft that were left behind had begun deploying small munitions on the colony. The bombs didn't have to be big to pack a nuclear payload. The sealed habitats of the colony were terribly fragile in the face of such an attack. The Red October had been able to detect 18 separate detonations across the surface before the range grew too far. The few transmissions as the Red October had pulled away made it clear that at least 90 percent of the population had been killed. Ninety percent of one million people. The rest were doomed.
The Red October was a good ship with a good crew, but she was damaged. Her drives would likely give out long before her pursuers. She would hit a rock, of burn out a particle accelerator. The drive shield may give out if it was damaged too much in the attack. She would need to do whatever she could in the next few minutes. It would all be over after that. The speed she was going made a clean transmission on a tightbeam impossible in this asteroid field. The colony had broadcast on broadband waves though. In less than an hour the Earth would hear the cries of the dying colony. Know that a million people had died. The secret was out now. It was obvious that mankind would have to face this truth or perish. She keyed the link to the communications officer.
"Radio in the clear, no encryption. Tell the Chinese at Ceres colony they are going to have visitors in the next few minutes. If they have any warships there, to get them to battle stations now. Then transmit everything we've got on these damned ships. Tell them I'm going to lead them right to them. And let them know to blow the bastards to hell."
Ceres colony held nearly 3 million Chinese nationals by the last estimates the Pan Euro had. They were also less than 3 light minutes away from Pallas now. These alien ships were going to find them soon enough. Maybe if the Chinese knew they were coming, they might have a chance. If she could lead the aliens into some ambush. She hoped the Chinese had something there to defend that colony. She didn't want to be the one responsible for what would happen otherwise....