Nemesis (First Colony Book 2) Read online

“Welcome aboard the Vigilant, General,” Colonel Howe said.

  The colonel was a trim man whose mostly bald head sported close-cropped hair barely beginning to show a color closely matching that of the nearby bulkhead walls.

  “Thank you, Colonel. What’s the status of the Banshee and the Wyatt?” Connor asked.

  “They’re escorting the cargo carrier Chmiel to Titan Space Station. They departed ten hours ago,” Colonel Howe said.

  Connor nodded. “I think we’ve given them enough of a head start.”

  “We’re ready to depart at your command, sir,” Colonel Howe said.

  “Make it so,” Connor said.

  Colonel Howe began issuing orders. The Vigilant’s fusion reactor core increased its output to the main engines and the ship began moving away from New Earth.

  “Comm, send a message to COMCENT that we’ve gone command blackout and will no longer be sending automated transponder updates for our ship’s location,” Colonel Howe said and gave Connor a nod once the communication was away.

  Connor used his implants to activate a ship-wide broadcast. “Crew of the Vigilant, we’re about to begin our combat operations drill. Our target will have no advance warning of our intentions and will act accordingly. This is as much a test of Major Corwin and Major Cross’s reactions to us as it is to see how well you perform the orders you’ve been given. Combat drills are nothing new and we will continue to do them long after today. This is our time to prove ourselves and conduct ourselves with the highest orders of excellence. And if that doesn’t motivate you, then how about a reminder being given to our two destroyer crews as to why a heavy cruiser is not to be underestimated in this star system.”

  Connor closed the broadcast and saw the hungry gleam in the eyes of the bridge crew. He looked over at Colonel Howe.

  “I’ve invited senior staff to go over the plan, as well as a few ideas that have cropped up that I thought you might like to hear,” Colonel Howe said.

  Connor gestured for the colonel to lead the way.

  Chapter Seven

  Over the next several days, Connor observed the crew of the Vigilant as they stalked their prey. The Starwolf-class destroyers were restricted to the cargo carrier’s best speed. The Banshee and the Wyatt traded scouting sweeps, patrolling the area ahead of their escort. Their course headings took them near the missile-defense platforms, and Connor noted that they had applied the software updates for the onboard AI cyber warfare suite.

  Major Savannah Cross of the destroyer Banshee proved to be the more dangerous player in the cat-and-mouse game Connor was executing. Since this was their home system, Major Cross did a fair number of active scans while on scout patrols and had nearly detected the Vigilant.

  Major Alec Corwin of the destroyer Wyatt was a bit more conservative with active scans while on scout patrol and he didn’t take his ship as far away from the ship he was escorting as Major Cross had. Both destroyers executed their orders as they saw fit, and there were risks to both of their approaches. Major Corwin liked to stay closer to the cargo carrier and would quickly be able to respond should the carrier run into trouble. Major Cross made wider patrol sweeps and so had more of an insight into the surrounding area but would take longer to respond if the cargo ship got in trouble. Connor preferred Major Cross’s approach and noted that in his report. Those reports and analyses would be made available to the destroyer commanders after the training exercise.

  Connor also kept an ongoing report on how Colonel Howe and the crew of the Vigilant performed. There were times when the colonel had all the subtlety of a blunt instrument. The Banshee had almost detected them while Colonel Howe had been on duty and thought that running a scheduled scan of the system was acceptable. Colonel Howe was a good man, but he needed to break free of running his command by adhering to a checklist. Connor glanced over at Reisman, who was sitting across from him, working on his own terminal. They were in a strategy room near the bridge. Connor had taken over the room during his stay on the Vigilant.

  Reisman was studying a data readout from last night’s logs. His green eyes slipped into calculation, and he seemed to reach some sort of conclusion. He noticed Connor watching him. “They can’t all be Kasey Douglass,” Reisman said.

  “No, they can’t,” Connor replied. “That’s the thing I always noticed about ship commanders who’ve spent too much time on a certain type of vessel. They tend to think only in terms of the vessel’s well-established practices and aren’t willing to push the limits. Colonel Howe is a good commander. He can get things done, but he lacks a certain finesse when it comes to all this sneaking around.”

  “Well he does have quite a large ship with great big guns and what not,” Reisman said.

  Connor glanced over at Sean, who sat at a different terminal. “What do you think?”

  Sean twisted his mouth into a thoughtful frown. “He’s not a hunter. He commands the ship, firm in the knowledge that he has the tactical weapons advantage in any engagement.”

  Reisman looked at Connor. “Colonist.” He snorted. “You’ve corrupted this young man.”

  “Corrupted or not, he’s exactly right. The question is what to do about it,” Connor said.

  “You could shift the ship commanders around, but then you’d need to account for a learning curve. I would suggest taking the straightforward approach—telling him what he’s doing wrong,” Reisman said.

  Connor had already made up his mind but was curious to see what Sean and Reisman would suggest. Sean had great instincts for engagement and had grown into an excellent leader.

  “We’re due to be on the bridge, sir,” Sean said and closed his terminal session.

  Reisman did the same and rose from his seat.

  “Time to scare the crap out of a few people,” Connor said.

  They entered the bridge and Connor went over to the command area where Colonel Howe sat. Connor sat in the seat next to him.

  “Tactical, confirm the position of the decoys and put it up on the main holoscreen,” Colonel Howe said.

  The output on the main holoscreen updated to show the current position of the cargo carrier, along with its destroyer escorts. Then fourteen red dots appeared for each of the decoys they’d deployed. When their transponders went active, they would do so with different classes of warship identifications, and the decoys could also generate the drive signature of vessels both large and small.

  Connor used his implants to check a few data feeds and saw something that gave him pause. “Tactical, don’t activate the decoys yet. We just need them to check in on the passive channels. It will take longer because of the distance, but it won’t give away their position just yet.”

  The tactical officer paled. “Yes, General. I’m sorry. I was just looking to get the quickest response possible.”

  Colonel Howe glanced at Connor. “Pre-mission jitters.”

  “We’re playing poker, and once this thing begins we’ll see how well Corwin and Cross can play,” Connor said.

  Chapter Eight

  Major Alec Corwin slouched in the commander’s chair on the bridge of the Wyatt. They’d been at this combat patrol for nearly a week and it was extremely tedious work. However, the work seemed to suit Savannah Cross just fine; she loved this stuff. Corwin would have preferred to see a bit more action. Weapons training on nearby asteroids was more fulfilling than running escort duty. It was thrilling to fire the rail-guns and missiles, giving the destroyer’s weapons system a chance to clear its throat.

  There was nothing out here that hadn’t been placed here by the CDF. He glanced at his terminal, and it was the same as before. All the weapons platforms in the system were active and their onboard diagnostics indicated that they were functioning normally. Perhaps on one of the next scouting missions he’d push the engines a little more as a way to break up the monotony. The crew always appreciated that. There was only so much a person could learn running training drills anyway.

  “Major, I’ve detected an anomaly with the last
passive scan,” Lieutenant Green said.

  “On screen,” Corwin ordered.

  The main screen showed the scan data from the most recent passive scan. There were two anomalous detections, and Corwin glanced at his tactical officer.

  “The second one was just detected, Major. The computer matches the drive signature to that of a Raptor-class cruiser,” Lieutenant Green said.

  “Comms, are we being hailed?” Corwin asked.

  “No, Major,” Lieutenant Kordek replied.

  Corwin pressed his lips together in a thoughtful frown. “Can you confirm these are actual ships and not decoys?”

  “Running diagnostics on the system. It checks out,” Lieutenant Green replied.

  “Run an active scan of the area,” Corwin said.

  “Major,” Kordek said, “Captain Benson of the Chmiel is asking for a status update. He says that the two ships are appearing on his sensors as well.”

  Corwin sat up in his chair. If those ships were being detected on a cargo carrier’s sensors, they must be closer than initially thought.

  “Comms, open a channel back to COMCENT,” Corwin said.

  “Sir, the time lapse is over an hour,” Lieutenant Kordek said.

  “Okay, never mind that—”

  “Sir, one of the ships is on an intercept course,” Lieutenant Green said. “Make that both of them.”

  Corwin sat in the command chair with an ugly twisting feeling churning in his gut. If those ships weren’t decoys, could they be part of the alien fleet that had rampaged Earth? Could they have made it here already? And how would they have gotten this far into the system without being detected? Surely the automated defenses for the turrets and missile-defense platforms would have detected them.

  “They’re heading right for us, Major,” Lieutenant Green said. “What are your orders?”

  Corwin’s mouth became dry and he couldn’t tear his eyes off the main screen.

  “Three more ships detected, sir.”

  “Orders, Major.”

  Corwin sat in the chair, unable to move or think. This couldn’t be happening. This must be some kind of drill, but what if it wasn’t? He was out here with just one other destroyer. There was no way they could stand against Raptor-class cruisers. The armament differential was too great, and they already knew the Wyatt was here.

  “What are your orders, Major?” Lieutenant Green’ voice went up an octave.

  The breath caught in Corwin’s throat as he tried to think of something they could do.

  “Any response to our hails?” Major Savannah Cross asked.

  “No, Major,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  “Okay, they had their chance. Action stations, set Condition One,” Major Cross said. “Helm, move us ahead of the Chmiel. Operations, I want the anomalies designated by groups, beginning with alpha. Tactical, I want firing solutions ready to go, both long and short range, if any of them decide to close in.”

  Her orders were confirmed and carried out. Savannah peered at the main screen, which showed that the Wyatt hadn’t changed course.

  “Comms, link up the ship’s systems to any defense platforms in the area. Tactical, I want you to account for missile platforms’ capabilities in your firing solution. If these really are hostiles, I want to be able to return fire as soon as possible,” Savannah said.

  “Yes, Major,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  Captain John Elder, who sat next to her, leaned over. “Major, with so many potential hostiles in the area, should we necessarily wait for them to fire their weapons first before we engage?”

  Savannah eyed him for a moment. “You know the rules of engagement. We’re away from COMCENT, and until they make their intentions known, I don’t want to be the one to fire first. We’ll tag them so they know we mean business but won’t fire our weapons just yet.”

  Captain Elder nodded, but he still looked pale. Savannah understood his concern. With five potential hostiles, three of them cruiser-class or above, they might not survive the first salvo.

  “Comms, any word from the Wyatt?” Savannah asked and was unable to keep a tinge of annoyance from her voice.

  “No, Major. I’ve tried to reach them multiple times, but they won’t respond,” Lieutenant Daniels replied.

  “Open a comlink to the Chmiel,” Savannah said.

  A successful connection to the cargo carrier registered on the main screen.

  “Captain Benson, I need you to update your course to the space station with the one we’re sending you now,” Savannah said.

  “Course received,” Captain Benson said, his voice sounding relieved. “We tried to reach Major Corwin but haven’t had a reply.”

  “They could be having an issue with their communications array,” Savannah said.

  John Elder glanced at her, making his opinion of Major Corwin known with just a passing look.

  Savannah shrugged.

  “Use best speed available and we’ll cover you,” Savannah said.

  “Understood, Major, and thank you,” Benson replied.

  The comlink was severed and she looked at her comms officer.

  “Still no reply from the Wyatt, Major.”

  Savannah nodded. She hoped he was having a communications issue and just couldn’t respond. “Computer, record the following,” she said, and the status on the main holoscreen showed that the computer was ready. “Major Corwin, I’ve sent the Chmiel an updated navigation course for Titan Space Station. Our current firing solution will cover their escape for a time. We’ve been unsuccessful in opening a comlink to the Wyatt. If you’re receiving this, can you go on an intercept course to the cargo carrier to protect them in the event that these anomalies do prove to be hostiles? End recording. Send message.”

  “Message sent, Major,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  “Contact!” Lieutenant Brennan said. “Incoming missiles detected.”

  Savannah swung her gaze to the main screen. The missiles were almost on top of them. They shouldn’t have been able to get this close and avoid detection. “Launch countermeasures. Evasive maneuvers,” Savannah said.

  Since they were already at battle stations, the bridge crew was strapped to their chairs.

  “Tactical, launch firing solutions alpha, bravo, and charlie groups,” Savannah said.

  Savannah noted the time and waited for the confirmation that their weapons had successfully fired. She watched as the main screen showed missiles closing in on the Banshee. They each had an unknown designation, so she didn’t even know who the hell was firing on them. There had been no communication from the hostile ships.

  “Still waiting on that confirmation, tactical,” Savannah snapped.

  “I’m sorry, Major. I authorized the firing solutions as you ordered. The system won’t respond,” Lieutenant Brennan said.

  “Major, we’re being hailed by General Gates on the Vigilant. Transponder codes and authorization clearance are a match,” Lieutenant Daniels said.

  Savannah’s brows pulled together and she narrowed her gaze. “On screen,” she said.

  General Gates’ face appeared on the main screen. “Major Cross, stand down. This is a training exercise designed to test your actions against a surprise attack force.”

  Savannah clenched her teeth. General Gates had a reputation for being opportunistic with his training exercises. She felt her racing heartbeat slow down but only slightly. “Acknowledged, General. Banshee will stand down.”

  General Gates’ hard gaze softened for a moment. “Major Cross, please congratulate your crew on their exemplary performance. They did well, but there’s a lot of room for improvement, as I’m sure you’re aware. I want you to review the data from this encounter and in the next twenty-four hours I want you to present to me ten alternative actions you could have taken. Vigilant out.”

  General Gates’ face disappeared as the comlink was severed. Savannah blew out a breath and John Elder did the same.

  “Alright, you heard the general. This was a trainin
g exercise. Set action stations to condition three. I want the entire dataset from this encounter, beginning with the first onset of the anomaly detection, put up in the simulators so we can start running combat scenarios against them,” Savannah said.

  “How does he already know that we could have done better, Major?” John asked.

  “Because General Gates designed this whole encounter. Do you think he didn’t already have more than a few tactical solutions on how best to deal with this scenario ready to go?” Savannah asked.

  “I see your point, Major,” John replied.

  She got up from her seat and walked over to Lieutenant Brennan. Her tactical officer’s hands shook as he tried to work through the menu options on his terminal.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. You followed my orders, which is exactly what you were supposed to do,” Savannah said.

  Lieutenant Brennan sucked in a deep breath and glanced up at her. “It all happened so fast. I don’t know what I could have done differently, Major.”

  “That’s the whole point of this exercise. The secrecy of its execution was the best way to test us. I know once we all calm down and put our heads together we’ll improve our performance. Let’s get to work, shall we?” Savannah said.

  “Yes, Major, and thank you,” Brennan replied.

  Savannah went back to her command chair.

  “What the hell happened to the Wyatt?” John asked.

  Savannah nodded. “An excellent question and one I’m keen to know the answer to myself,” she said and pressed her lips together. “One of the first scenarios I’d like to run is a coordinated response that includes the Wyatt.”

  “But they weren’t available during the encounter,” John said.

  “Doesn’t matter. We know the capabilities of our own ship, and that’s a resource we have available. The fact of the matter is that if this had been a true encounter, we would have died. Don’t get me wrong, we would have bloodied the enemy, but we would have died or come close to it. We need to devise a way to respond to that scenario where we don’t lose our capacity to fight, and we only have twenty-four hours to do it,” Savannah said.