Second Born

We were approximately 1 million nautical miles above the system plane. I took the ship through a loop that was apparent only on my instruments and the ship's viewers thanks to the grav generators. Rolling out at the bottom, I switched the helm viewer to optical and dialed up the magnification, aware what I was seeing had happened five seconds ago.

Sparks were streaming from the Orpermial's hyperdrive nacelles and the aft section of the ship like lava from a volcano. It was plain she was damaged, but how badly?

"Target assessment," I ordered.

"There were two ships where we emerged from hyper," said the scanning officer. "Both are now damaged. The heavy cruiser appears to be tumbling out of control; I count at least five hits to the engine room, the normal space drive, and the hyperdrive. The auxiliary cruiser is missing a number of its hull sections, but those remaining as well as the ship framework which carries them took multiple hits from our secondary batteries that appear to be interfering with the Demons' ability to control the ship."

Vamana and the Gunnery Officer smiled; I nodded with satisfaction; the helmsman whose job I was doing looked astonished. She had been trained to handle the ship with precision and delicacy and baby the engines, not throw her around as if she was a fightercraft and whip her in and out of hyperspace like a jockey taking fences in a steeplechase. I suspected she would be re-evaluating the training she had been given for a bit in light of this new experience.

"Congratulations, Guns. Those boosted kinetic bombardment shells were just the thing. Solid metal and heat-shielded, they're immune to anything short of a red tip. I'll want an analysis of that after this is over. When you're reloaded, we'll return to the fray."

"I recommend delay, Admiral," said the navigator. "The other Grafins have jumped in and are shooting anything that moves."

"Confirm that," said the external communications officer. "The scoutships are ... rather displeased with the Grafins. Beta Red just told the Ingrid that if she sent one more shocker his way, he'd put a red tip up her arse, that he has enough troubles without worrying about being shot by his own navy, thank you very much." I had to smile at that.

"Very well, we'll just wait here for a bit until the situation over Medusa resolves itself. Captain, take the conn. And if you would be so kind, helm, resume your seat and get used to driving her with the throttles, not just steering. Captain, report when you are ready to jump." I walked off the bridge and took the lift to the flag bridge.

"Grafin Ilse, come in, please."

The ship's avatar appeared. "What is your status, Your Excellency?"

"Taking the hyperdrive from near-idle to war emergency power is something I have not done before, even during my acceptance trials. It was exhilarating. But thanks to my engineers, no damage occurred. The main battery is reloaded with shocks and the secondary battery is loaded with the usuals for a ship-to-ship action. I am as ready as Captain Vamana can make me, sir."

I took my seat on the flag bridge. After giving me a moment to sip the coffee Chief Warrant Officer Manchester brought, my staff gave me a briefing on the progress of the battle.

Sonellion had anticipated a straight thrust at the planet by me, presuming that Medusa would only have been able to obtain a few destroyers and perhaps one cruiser, not having enough spacefarers to man more than that. He had not drawn the correct inferences from the party he had crashed before my marriage vis-à-vis humankind and the Alphans. He did not understand how deep our hatred for his species ran, nor the willingness of humans to come together for the common good. The idea that Medusa could find a way to buy a fleet, crew it up, and bring it to battle readiness in so short a time was not within the realm of possibility to him and the Alpha Dominion because of their worldview.

The hammer-and-anvil attack of the scouts and the heavies had worked to perfection. The scout carriers, as they had at Sarawak, had jumped as far into the system as they dared beyond Medusa's moon, which was on the far side of the planet relative to the axis of attack of the pocket battleships and the cruisers. They had remained in normal space just long enough to launch their scoutships, then jumped clear. The scouts had baby-stepped in close to the Demon ships and expended their red tips at a prodigal rate, jumping in and out of hyper like Schedari moonbats, swamping the enemy.

"Alpha Black and Alpha Gold are each claiming an Irrillkam destroyed. Blucher confirms another destroyed. Grafin Idalyne spotted one of the aircar ferries sitting next to a hull section from the Rafaello at Lagidan and got both with one 300mm kinetic energy shell; the blast blew them apart."

I nodded. 445 kilogram solids smashing into a planetary surface at orbital speeds deliver nearly half again the power of the famous "Grand Slam" bomb of the Second Global War of Old Home Terra's Classical Period, without the risk of it exploding when you did not want it to. They packed the same punch as a standard red tip rocket but without radioactive side effects, which is why they continue in inventory for bombardment purposes where precision is required.

"And the Orpermial?"

"The Graf Ravensberg came upon her after you jumped us out, Admiral. The Demons had managed to repair some of her circuitry and fired at the Ravensberg. She salvoed every gun at short range. The result was Orpermial spiraled down out of control and partly burned on reentry. What was left of the ship came down in the Great Western Ocean. I regret to report it caused a small tsunami, sir."

"Can't be helped. What of the other Demon ships, the troop transports, the scout carriers, and the rest?"

"Our ships are scanning for them. No results yet." I frowned.

"Mr. Wallis, get me an all-ships circuit." Tubby's hands flew over the commo board.

"Ready, Admiral, whenever you say." I took a deep breath, centering myself, and nodded to him. He flipped a switch and pointed to me to say, "You're live now."

"All ships, this is Admiral Wellesley. There are several Demon ships unaccounted for. They may be on the surface, or they may be hiding on the outer planets of the system. They must be found and eliminated.

"Cruiser Division Two and escorts, break orbit and assist Division Three in checking the outer planets. Let me know what you find.

"All scoutships, englobe the planet and ease on down into atmo. See what is happening down there. Act on the tactical situation as you find it. Provide all possible assistance to the Medusans.

"All Grafins, close on the planet and scan the surface. Those poison-tailed bastards are down there. Locate them and smash them. Use of bombardment shells is authorized, but let's try not to blow holes in the cities and towns, shall we?

"One more thing: Grafin Ilse will be jumping into orbit in a minute or so. I would appreciate it if you positively identify your target before you shoot. Carry out your orders. Admiral out." I turned to my scanning officer and ordered, "Give me a composite view of the outer planets from the most recent scans." She and I both knew whatever we saw would be half an hour or more in the past, but old information can sometimes allow you to project into the future.

It took a minute for the computers to coordinate the data. The ships covering the back door were checking all the celestial bodies in the outer system as per the battle plan. So far they had flushed and dispatched one old converted human merchantman and a Demon-designed corvette not listed in our files, probably built at Sarawak; but there was no sign of the "recently retired heavy destroyer" I sensed had to be out there somewhere. She was a serious concern.

The Irrillkams had been a late war idea of the Alphan naval designers, and a revolutionary one. Instead of the usual multi-armed rocket batteries for heavy missiles used by some of the Demon heavies or the rotating retractable launchers that fired one rocket at a time favored by most human navies, the Alphans had come up with a missile battery capable of firing twelve rockets in any combination from singly, to sequentially, to salvoing the entire load in the launcher. When all the rockets were expended, the boxy launcher was ejected outward, the control arm retracted, and a new launcher attached. They could only carry four reloads for the rocket launcher, but their mission didn't require more. The launcher fired red tips exclusively -- powerful red tips with warheads in the two-kiloton range with oversize engines that propelled the baby nukes at speeds so fast it was difficult for defensive batteries to track and kill them, or for the targeted ship to hyper out in time. The battery was fixed in azimuth, meaning the captain had to maneuver his ship to take aim, but even with this limitation those super-destroyers were a deadly menace.

The Fleet had nicknamed the Irrillkams "cruiser-killers" for good reason. Before the war had ended, five heavy and seven light cruisers had been lost to their missiles. Even battleships with escorts and strong defensive armament needed to be wary of them.

I pressed a button on my command chair that gave me a direct link to Vamana on the command bridge.

"Captain, if you would be so kind, make your heading 037 Down 4, give her six seconds at full hyper speed, then hold her there. I'll be down directly."

By the time I walked onto the bridge, Vamana was standing behind the helm station, staring at the main viewer. He knew I was suspicious of something, and although he was new to space this wasn't his first time in combat. I spoke to the young Medusan woman I'd displaced earlier.

"Helm, get me a view of the planet from the aft scanners on your station viewer." The helm scanner came to life, showing me Medusa. Leaning over the cornet, I worked the controls, shifting the point of view up and left, and magnifying it. Amid the swirls around Medusa, I saw a bright dot that didn't belong there. It winked out.

"Captain, make your head 030 Down 5! Collapse the field! Guns, track your target and fire as you bear!"

"Do it!" ordered Vamana, not wasting time repeating what I had said. The cornet on the helm swung Grafin Ilse with one hand and rammed the normal-space drive throttle to All Ahead Flank with the other. The Gunnery Officer was working his controls like a keyboard virtuoso, taking control of the main battery as the internal communications officer sounded Action Stations. In the helm viewer, I saw the last Irrillkam swinging to line up with Grafin Ilse. Guns didn't wait. He pressed the buttons that fired the after turrets even as Vamana mashed the hyperfield button and the girl on the helm shoved the nose down. The field formed as Vamana ordered, "Give me three seconds at one-quarter ahead and return to normal space."

"Aye aye, sir."

The viewers showed normal space again. In the helm station viewer, I could see an expanding white globe that darkened as I watched.

"Status of the destroyer?" I asked.

"It's bloody gone, Admiral," said the scanning officer. "Not into hyper -- shredded by blast. I am detecting hull fragments."

"Guns must have hit one of the missiles just as it launched," opined the external communications officer. "Nice shooting!"

I looked at Vamana. "Flag Captain, put us into orbit, over Aytont. Get a relief helmsman; I'm taking Miss ..."

"Yoriskia," she supplied.

"Yoriskia with me as my copilot. Tell your best constant repeater gunner to grab a change of uniform and meet me at Peregrine's airlock, and your Second Assistant Engineer and one Engine Room Artificer too, preferably one with experience in the Knights. And summon Captain Regneld's Marines to report there as well.

"As soon as we're in orbit, I'm going down there to find out what's going on and deal with it. Have the Fleet ready to bombard selected targets, and the Marine transports prepared to send their troops down into hostile landing zones.

"Once Peregrine launches, the fleet is yours. Any questions?"

"I will issue an order to the scouts putting them under your direct control, sir. You're going to need immediate backup, and they are already in-atmosphere. If you need something heavier, bypass me and order the fleet directly."

I heard the ship's internal announcing system saying, "Now hear this. Regneld's Raiders, on full kits and ready to board ship. Report to the Admiral's yacht Peregrine on the double!" As I expected, my handset bleeped a moment later.

"I heard the pipe. We're going dirtside?" Thia asked.

"Yes, we are. Have Ms. Manchester collate all the info on what's happening down there, and both of you grab some kit and get to Peregrine. I'll meet you there."

Chapter 30

In Orbit Over Medusa

The last of the Medusan Royal Marines were filing aboard as Thia, Grace Manchester, and I reached my yacht. I waved them aboard as I lingered at the airlock.

"Diana, I presume you've been following the action and my orders. First, is the crew aboard?"

"The ERA is aboard, as is the gunner. The Second Assistant and Ms. Yoriskia are on their way. I'll direct them where to toss their gear and let you know when they are aboard. Our Marines are in the cargo hold, ready to invade when we touch down, Captain." She manifested just inside the hatch. I headed for my cabin to change into combat coveralls, continuing to talk as I changed.

"Have you been able to pick up any signals from the Army down there? If my calculations are correct, the first two shipments of Novalbion comm gear and trainers should have gotten here before the war began."

"I've been scanning the standard frequencies and pinwheel settings. The trainers did a good job. The troops down there change channels and settings regularly; the only reason I can read them is the Navy equipment I have aboard. I don't believe the Demons can break our encryption; as long as the troops don't talk enough that they can be triangulated by computer even with burst transmissions, we have secure communications."

"That's good news." I headed for the bridge and took the center seat.

"All stations, report."

"Constant repeaters, ready." This from the petty officer in the gunner's seat. Ranked out of her usual position, Thia was sitting in the navigator's seat, with Yoriskia on her left, running her hands over the helm controls, similar in function but laid out differently from the Junker console she was used to. I saw her frown at the scram code list attached to the helm station.

"Helm manned, but station unresponsive," she reported. I waved a hand in acknowledgement and waited for the next report.

"Communications ready, Captain," reported Diana, manifesting at the comm station.

"Staff standing by," said Warrant Office Manchester from behind my command chair.

"Engineering manned and ready," Grafin Ilse's Second Assistant reported.

"Thank you, Chiefy," I replied. "Marine complement?"

"Marines ready for launch," Regneld said.

"Ship secured for space. Captain has the conn and the helm," I announced, answering Yoriskia's unspoken question. "Normally, I fly her from the center seat. Helm, watch your normal-space controls and follow through with me." The clamshell opened, I uncoupled from my flagship, and headed Peregrine for the surface of Medusa. As we entered atmosphere, I ordered, "Diana, find a Medusan on the surface. With burst transmission, that may be difficult. Break in on them, get the settings for the most senior officer they can reach, and switch it here."

Diana frowned, an expression that seldom crossed her face. Suddenly she said, "I have General Andrews on line, Captain. Switching to you."

"Helm, stand by to take control if I order you to." I pressed the external comm button.

"Hurry, this is Buc. I'm on my way down in Peregrine. Status report, if you please."

"We had to evacuate Aytont, but we made them pay for it," Hurry said. "We were warned of their coming because our Normand friend M'sieu de Gaullois persuaded the captain of a Normand destroyer that called here for shore leave to reprogram those ground-scanners to respond only to signals from a control unit his communications officer and the managers of the plant making the magazines for the Model 220s cobbled together. After King Berit co-opted and commissioned me, I ordered the artillery units who were equipped with Novalbion guns to cover the likely landing zones. Major Blackwell -- you'll remember him -- devised a gun mount to turn some of those cannon into anti-aircraft artillery.

"We couldn't stop the Demons from landing, but we got two of the three that tried to put down at Aytont Spaceport. Blackwell was commanding the two batteries we put there and he is an artist. He waited until they were a klick up before he opened fire. He knocked out the anti-grav lifters and the normal space drives on a gunship carrier and a troop transport, and both went in like a ton of bricks; no survivors. The second trooper was crippled but managed to land and discharge her soldiers, an understrength regiment, maybe two battalions. They drove for the Palace, intending to kill or capture the King and the Royal Family.

"A few days after you spaced out, His Majesty ordered the formation of a citizens militia. A fredkarno lash-up, worse than the Home Guard we read about in Classical History class. No uniforms, just armbands with rank insignia and shoulder boards pinned on the shoulders, and no standardization of arms. The lucky ones like Captain Bontrio's outfit, the Royal Palace Volunteers, had Cosmidan rifles turned in by units who received Model 220s. The rest had whatever they owned themselves or were able to buy from ships in port.

"Medusan militiamen took the Demons under fire from the moment they exited the spaceport: fire a couple of shots, move, repeat. Hit and run. It slowed them down, bought the Lifes some time to evacuate the Royal Family. The Alphans captured the Palace but the Royals were gone, lifted out in aircars commandeered when the satellites confirmed the Demons were going to land at Aytont. They were fired on but got away, with casualties.

"That regiment invested the Palace, to symbolize they had taken the capitol I suppose, but they didn't count on Bontrio and his Volunteers. Most of them are Palace servants and staff, and they know the place better than the Royal Family does. The rank and file Demons bedded down in the ballroom, the State Dining Room, the Throne Room, wherever there was space for them to spread out, and the officers took over the guest suites and the Royal Apartments while Sonellion flew to the Alphan Embassy to confer with the Ambassador and the intelligence staff. His troops gorged on the food in the kitchens and broke into the wine cellar and got roaring drunk before they stumbled off to sleep.

"The Royal Arsenal that had been making Cosmidan ammunition, advised by the ex-Royal Marines who came to train the Army on the Model 220 rifles, had set up a new production line. Someone dug the plans for 20^th Century Old Reckoning hand grenades out of a historical datacrystal, and the arsenal put them into production. The army received most of the production run but the militia got some. Bontrio's troopers hijacked half a dozen wagonloads intended for the army -- enough to give every Volunteer a bagful of them; that's how they were shipping them, in canvas shoulder bags.