Theogony 3: Terra Stands Alone Read online

  Their entrance into the system had been noticed by the Ssselipsssiss fleet. When the lizards had subsequently been unable to determine who or what had entered the system, they had detached two of their battlecruisers to investigate. The two battlecruisers had been easy to avoid, and the Vella Gulf had transited the system without being seen. With their stealth shields up, the crew of the Vella Gulf had no idea where the Emperor’s Paw was; they just had to assume that they were proceeding as planned. Space was large, so they probably wouldn’t run into the Mrowry ship, even if the Terrans took exactly the same route. Probably. They hadn’t had any spurious gravity readings, so they thought...hoped...that the Paw was where it should be.

  As they approached the Ssselipsssiss fleet, the answer to the question of how well the system worked would determine whether they lived or died. Everyone was tense; conversations were held in whispers, as if the lizards would hear them across the intervening miles.

  Captain Sheppard frowned. “I was actually hoping that your answer would be, ‘Shouldn’t be a problem, Skipper. It’ll work perfectly.’”

  “I would like to be able to say that,” replied Lieutenant Finn, “but anything mechanical rarely works correctly the first time you try it. This one is especially hard because the modules were grafted onto two different types of ships. I’ve read everything I could on the Vella Gulf, and I’m pretty sure ours will work. I didn’t have as much material on the Emperor’s Paw. I hope it works for them...but I can’t be sure it will.”

  “The lizzie ships are moving,” said the defensive systems officer (DSO).

  “Where are they going?” asked Captain Sheppard.

  “I don’t know,” replied the DSO. “They appear to be randomly moving around.”

  “Steropes? Ensign Sommers?” asked Captain Sheppard. “Any ideas?”

  “We were just discussing it,” said Ensign Sara Sommers, who was manning the science station. “We’re pretty sure they know two ships are in the system; they just don’t know where. There are three stargates out of the system, the one we came through, the one going to Ssselipsssiss space and the one we’re headed to. They can probably guess that we’re trying to go toward Mrowry space, and they are either trying to find us or cut us off, or both.”

  “What do you want me to do, Skipper?” asked the helmsman.

  “Power levels on the enemy ships coming up,” said the DSO. “It looks like they’re preparing to fire on something. It’s not us though; we’re still out of range.”

  “Got it,” said Captain Sheppard.

  “Gate activation,” both Steropes and the DSO said simultaneously. “Looks like a transit out,” added the DSO; “I didn’t see anything come in. The lizzies are going crazy now. I think they’re looking for us.” The DSO paused. “What the...” he muttered. “Now they’re firing their lasers all over the place.”

  “They are trying to find us,” said Steropes. “They’re hoping that we’ll fly through one of their laser beams, and it will spotlight us.”

  “Solomon,” said Captain Sheppard, “Are you watching the Ssselipsssiss?”

  “Yes, Captain Sheppard, I am,” replied the AI.

  “Good,” said Captain Sheppard. “Please analyze their patterns. If we were to make a high speed run from here to the stargate, what are the odds of their hitting us with one of their lasers?”

  “The odds are minimal,” answered Solomon. “The beams are very narrow, and they have a lot of space to cover. Even if they concentrated all of their weapons on the area near the stargate, they would still have less than a 2% chance of hitting us.”

  “Thanks, Solomon, that’s pretty much what I thought, too,” replied Captain Sheppard. “Helmsman, all ahead full to the stargate.”

  “All ahead full, aye,” said the helmsman.

  The ship began accelerating toward the stargate.

  “Shit!” swore the DSO. “One of the battlecruisers just changed direction. We’re going to pass about 26,000 miles from it.”

  “All ahead flank,” said Captain Sheppard.

  “Increasing to flank speed, aye” replied the helmsman.

  “The odds of detection have increased to 57%,” Solomon noted, “based on the probability of gravimetric detection.”

  “Noted,” Captain Sheppard said.

  “The lizzies are going crazy,” the DSO said. “They are firing everywhere. One of the battlecruisers just hit one of the battleships, and the battleship shot back at it, too. Neither penetrated the other’s shields, but still. It’s crazy, sir.”

  “Five minutes to stargate,” the helmsman said.

  “Entering detection range of battlecruiser,” the DSO said.

  “Four minutes to stargate,” the helmsman said.

  “They know we’re here,” the DSO called. “All laser batteries are firing in our general direction.”

  “On screen,” said Captain Sheppard. The AI indicated where the laser beams were being fired in relation to the Vella Gulf. Lieutenant Finn was pretty sure he was happier not knowing. There were a lot of lasers firing in their direction.

  “Three minutes to stargate,” the helmsman said.

  “We’re hit!” the DSO said. “Glancing shot, starboard shield. Shields at 98%, but they’re going to know we’re here.” He paused. “Yep, they’ve got us,” he added. “All of their weapons are refocusing in our vicinity. The battlecruiser is turning to port to unmask its broadside.”

  “Two minutes to stargate!” the helmsman said.

  “All ships turning toward us and accelerating,” the DSO said. “We’re hit!” Everyone on the bridge could feel the extra energy around them as the shields absorbed it. “Battleship hit! Stealth is down. Shields at 78%.”

  “Permission to fire?” requested the offensive systems officer (OSO). Many of the Vella Gulf’s systems were covered with the stealth modules, but not all.

  “Permission granted,” said Captain Sheppard. “Fire at will!”

  “One battleship, four battlecruisers and four cruisers giving chase,” Steropes noted. “It appears they mean to chase us into the next system.”

  “Missiles launching, both sides,” noted the OSO. The crew could feel the ship shudder as the missiles blasted out of their tubes. “Lasers and grasers firing,” he added.

  “Minefield!” the DSO called. “Mines appear inactive,” he added a few second later, “probably because of the ships following us.”

  “One minute to stargate,” said the helmsman.

  “Two hits on our aft shields,” said the DSO. “Shields are at 12%. We’ll lose them with the next hit. Missiles inbound!”

  “Standby to launch all fighters as soon as we emerge,” Captain Sheppard ordered.

  “Launch all fighters on emergence, aye,” Lieutenant Commander Brighton repeated.

  “We’re hit!” called the DSO. “Aft shields are down.”

  “Laser hit at Frame 220 aft,” the duty engineer reported. “Damage control crews responding.”

  “Counter-missile lasers and missiles firing,” added the DSO. Only the OSO sitting next to him could hear him mutter, “C’mon baby, get me to the gate...”

  “Ssselipsssiss ships definitely intend to follow us,” Steropes advised. “The battleship and two battlecruisers are continuing to accelerate. They will catch us in the next system.”

  “We’re not going to stop all the missiles!” called the DSO. He dialed up the ship’s intercom system. “Missile impact in 10 seconds,” he transmitted. “All hands brace for shock!”

  “Five seconds...” the DSO said under his breath. “Four...three...two...”

  The ship hit the stargate and jumped.

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, 83 Leonis, January 11, 2021

  “Emergence,” Steropes called. “Launching probes.”

  “All space fighters launching,” LCDR Brighton added.

  “Minefield!” the DSO yelled.

  Asp 01, 83 Leonis, January 11, 2021

  Asp 01 launched as soon as the Vella Gulf’s system
s stabilized from the transit, right into the middle of a minefield. A large minefield, Calvin noted. He was an expert on mines, having laid or help lay a number of minefields during his career. The Terran mines were relatively small, massing only about 23 kilograms, including the five kilograms of antimatter that gave them their explosive force. The Mrowry mines were much bigger than their Terran counterparts, massing over 200 kilograms. Calvin didn’t know whether the difference was because they held more explosives, had additional tracking capabilities or whether they incorporated some other offensive or defensive measure...nor did he want to find out. As his fighter separated from the Vella Gulf, the bigger ship blinked back into stealth mode, leaving the fighters nothing to look at but the mines. All he could think of was getting a long way from them, as quickly as he could.

  “All Spacehawks follow me,” he commed as he began a max acceleration transit toward what his sensors said was the closest edge of the minefield. The 11 other space fighters, seeing the threat, turned to follow Calvin’s ship, trying to stay as far away as they could from the mines.

  As Calvin evaded the mines, which didn’t seem to be active, he saw the true nature of the threat. Several battleships and a larger number of battlecruisers and smaller vessels were arrayed around the largest spaceship he had ever seen. It had to be one of the dreadnoughts or super dreadnoughts he had heard of; the craft measured almost two miles in length. He hoped the Emperor’s Paw had let the crew aboard the behemoth know that the Vella Gulf was coming or this was going to be the end of their mission. With that much firepower aimed at it, he doubted the Gulf could even make it back through the stargate before being destroyed. As Calvin’s system registered another stargate activation, the largest vessel began launching missiles.

  “Sir,” said his WSO, Lieutenant Sasaki ‘Supidi’ Akio, “the Mrowry are launching at us.”

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, 83 Leonis, January 11, 2021

  “Sir!” the DSO called, “the dreadnought is launching missiles at us!”

  “Understood,” said Captain Sheppard. “Rotate the ship. Prepare to launch counter-missile missiles. Let’s try to remember that they’re our friends, even if they don’t know it yet.”

  “Most of the tubes are blocked by the stealth modules, sir!” said the DSO.

  “I know,” said Captain Sheppard. “We’ll do what we can to defend ourselves.” He turned to the communications officer. “See if you can contact the Paw,” he directed. “As soon as you can, please.”

  Asp 01, 83 Leonis, January 11, 2021

  “Terran Ship Vella Gulf and all of its fighters, this is the Mrowry dreadnought Night Hunter,” commed a voice from the giant spaceship. “Please vacate the area around the stargate while we deal with the Ssselipsssiss that followed you through it. I say again, please vacate the area around the stargate so we can deal with the ships that followed you through it.” The voice sounded like it was used to being obeyed. As Calvin watched, the missiles from the dreadnought rocketed past his fighter to impact the shields of the battleship that had entered the system behind him. Within seconds, all of the Mrowry ships were firing, and a tremendous amount of ordnance was headed in his general direction.

  While Calvin would have liked to turn and fire the missiles he carried as well, he realized that it was far more important to get out of the way of the missiles aimed at the lizard battleship, most of which were larger than his fighter. He hoped the Gulf was out of the way. His new hi-def stereo was still aboard it.

  The second volley of missiles from the dreadnought knocked down the battleship’s forward shields, and missiles began impacting the front half of the ship. The battleship’s crew was handicapped as they could only employ the missiles and lasers on the front of their ship, its ‘chase’ armament, while the dreadnought and its accompanying ships were already broadside to the battleship and pouring fire into it from all of their main batteries. Waiting within its effective laser range, the dreadnought began lashing the lizard battleship with its 5-meter aperture grasers and 4.5 meter lasers, quickly rendering the battleship’s chase weapons into scrap metal.

  As the fighters cleared the minefield, the battleship began to turn, not to the side to unmask its main batteries, but to go end-over-end so that it could begin decelerating. Realizing that it was in an unwinnable fight, its crew was trying to run. They would never get the opportunity, Calvin saw, as the first two mines detonated close aboard. The first mine exploded with a nearly 400 megaton blast that knocked down the battleship’s aft shields; the second wiped out most of its engines and engineering spaces. The salvo of missiles that arrived just after the mines exploded turned the aft section into a pile of junk metal that matched the front of the ship.

  As the weapons magazine onboard the battleship blew up, tearing the ship in half, a Ssselipsssiss battlecruiser emerged from the stargate, followed almost immediately by a second battlecruiser. Seeing the Mrowry fleet arrayed against them, within seconds both flipped end-over-end to flee; however, like the battleship before them, they didn’t get the opportunity. The dreadnought shifted fire smoothly from the remains of the battleship to the first of the battlecruisers. Not built to withstand the sole focus of a dreadnought’s main battery of energy weapons, its shields were overloading before the first round of missiles had even launched. The dreadnought kept up the fire, and the battlecruiser’s shields failed as the first volley of missiles arrived. The battlecruiser’s counter-missile batteries were successful in eliminating several of the dreadnought’s missiles, and several of the other missiles tracked off to obliterate pieces of the battleship that were in their way. The other 25 missiles hit the battlecruiser, wrecking it beyond repair. One of these was a direct hit on the bridge, which eliminated any further central control of the ship’s actions.

  The second battlecruiser drew the focus of the Mrowry battleships and battlecruisers. Although their weapons were smaller than the dreadnought’s, there were more than enough to do the job. Outnumbered more than 10 to one, and outclassed by the three battleships, the battlecruiser’s shields were down within four minutes of entering the system, and the ship was racked by more than 40 anti-ship missiles two minutes after that. With command and control out, and its engineering spaces decimated, its captain did what many previous Ssselipsssiss captains had done when they realized they were in an unwinnable fight. He detonated the core of the ship’s drive system in a massive explosion.

  The dreadnought continued to punch 16 feet wide holes into the remains of the first battlecruiser for another minute until air and fluids stopped venting from it, and then a pause came over the battle group as it waited to see if any additional ships would come through the stargate. Calvin used the time to look at the 8,200 feet long dreadnought on the WSO’s system. As the massive ship’s capabilities became clear, Calvin looked at Supidi and said, “We have got to get some of those for us!”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Nine

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, 83 Leonis, January 11, 2021

  “It doesn’t look like any more of the Ssselipsssiss are coming,” noted Captain Sheppard. “Recall the fighters, please, and ask Lieutenant Rrower to report to the bridge.”

  “Recall the fighters, aye, sir,” said Lieutenant Commander Brighton.

  “Lieutenant Rrower to the bridge, aye,” added the operations officer. Lieutenant Rrower was the senior Mrowry officer onboard the Vella Gulf. Having served in combat with the Terrans on a couple of occasions, he was the logical choice to have onboard the ship as their liaison.

  Several minutes passed by in a tense silence.

  “Sir!” the communications officer called. “We are being hailed by the Night Hunter.”

  “Put it on the front view screen, please,” said Captain Sheppard. The screen split into two, revealing two nearly identical Mrowry standing on their bridges. Both of them were royalty, as they were completely black in color. The only difference visible between them was that the one on the right wore the uniform of an admiral; the one on the left
was Captain Yerrow.

  The admiral spoke first. “Welcome humans to Mrowry space,” it said. “We gave you some time because Captain Yerrow guessed that your Lieutenant Commander Hobbs would be in one of the fighters that you just recovered. Is he currently back and within viewer range?”

  “Yes, I am,” said Calvin, walking onto the bridge along with Lieutenant Rrower. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Hobbs. Is there something that I can do for you?”

  “No,” said the admiral. “There is actually something that I wanted to do for you. I wanted to thank you. As I understand it, I have you to thank for returning my brother to me.”

  “It was hardly me alone,” replied Calvin. “The entire crew of the Vella Gulf and the Emperor’s Paw all did their parts. I didn’t do any more than anyone else.”

  “Your modesty becomes you,” replied the admiral; “however, my brother told me briefly about your idea to use the battleship that was still in the replicator to destroy the lizard battlecruiser. In all of my time fighting them, I have never heard of a Ssselipsssiss ship surrendering before. Well done!”

  “Thank you, but I didn’t do that all by myself, either,” said Calvin. “In fact one of your officers, Lieutenant Rrower, was instrumental in running some of the cabling that made it possible.”

  “He did, did he?” asked the admiral. “I will have to speak with him about it and get his side of the story.” The admiral turned to look at Captain Sheppard. “Regardless, I am Admiral Krrower, and on behalf of the emperor, I welcome you to Mrowry space. You are indeed very welcome, even if you hadn’t come bearing my brother. Any ally in a storm is welcome, and we are in one of the worst storms ever.”