Alarm of War

Guards, carefully omitting just who on the New Zealand was calling. “Looks like they were expecting us. On my mark, all ships to shoot off chaff pods and ten seconds later, two sets of decoy drones. Send the first set of drones to travel twenty degrees to the right flank of the Dominion cruisers, the second set to move directly away from the cruisers. Our attack force will continue in the direction of the Dominion supply ships. New Zealand will control all offensive weapons for the first volley. If you are too damaged to fight, you should follow the drones away from the Dominion cruisers and try to reach Atlas. Acknowledge orders.”

One by one the ships acknowledged.

“Hits on the Dominion cruisers!” Tactical shouted. “Looks like one of them got hit hard and is falling back. A second is hurt, but can’t get a good read on it.”

“Mr. Gibson, do we have those damn colliers yet?”

“They are on a diagonal course that will take them behind the Dominion cruisers. From there they can turn and head straight back toward Bogey One, Lieutenant. They are accelerating, but still moving slow.”

The Dominion energy cruisers finished recharging and fired their second round. Only two of the four ships fired. But still…

“Destroyer Canberra has engine damage and is dropping out of line. Swansea reports loss of missile controls. Minor damage to other ships”

They were down to twelve fully operational ships. Not good. Not good at all. “Chief Gibson, do you have a lock on the supply ships?”

“Not yet. Lots of chaff and ECM. Another minute or so, skipper.”

“Max!”

“Who shall I attack?”

Gods of Our Mothers, I need a chess player assassin, not a brawler. “Max, switch program to Merlin.”

“Yes, Lieutenant Tuttle?” Merlin’s voice was wonderfully soothing.

She explained what she wanted to do. “The timing is critical. We need to be on the firing line just as everyone’s lasers have recharged. If we get there too soon, we’ll be sitting ducks.”

“A course with that time line is on the holo display, Lieutenant.”

Emily studied it. Next to her Naama Denker was working on Captain Grey, inserting an IV line. The captain looked pasty white, but slightly more focused. She smiled weakly at Emily.

Emily took a deep breath. “Betty, open the com to the other ships, audio only.” When Betty nodded, she said: “New Zealand to all ships. On my mark, fire all weapons at the cruisers, then launch your decoy drones. After the first volley, turn over navigation and chaff launchers to Merlin. Recharge your lasers immediately and reload all missile tubes. Merlin will coordinate the next attack. Acknowledge!”

She was gambling and she knew it. The ship captains in the Coldstream Guards were a proud lot and not above arguing with orders they didn’t like. And they wouldn’t like these. Giving control over to the AI for anything other than missile defense would be a blow to their pride. If they discovered that it was not Captain Grey giving the orders, but a mere Lieutenant, one of them — probably Captain Wicklow on the Gloucester — would assume command and her attack would fall apart.

“This is the Southampton. I must protest, Captain Grey. This is no time to risk a computer glitch. Tell us what you want to do and we’ll do it.”

“H.M.S. Gloucester here. I concur with Southampton. I will not turn over my ship to Merlin if we’re facing close-in maneuvering against heavy cruisers.”

Dammit, there was no time for this. The Dominion cruisers would have their lasers recharged in a moment. She turned urgently to Captain Grey. “Captain, I need to have Captain Wicklow relieved. Will you back me up?”

Grey coughed and took a rattling breath. “We need to kill those supply ships, Emily,” she wheezed. “What do you need me to do?”

Emily shouted to the ceiling microphone. “Merlin! Identify the Gloucester second in command.”

“The second in command is Lieutenant Commander Kamela Greer.”

Emily turned back to Captain Grey. “I need to get Captain Wicklow out of there now.”

Captain Grey gritted her teeth, and then broadcast to all ships: “Captain Wicklow, you are relieved,” she said in an almost normal voice. “Lieutenant Commander Greer, you are now acting captain. Acknowledge your orders!” Then she slumped back in her chair, eyelids fluttering.

“You’re killing her, goddammit!” Naama Denker hissed. “I need to take her to sickbay now.”

“No,” Emily replied. “She stays here on the bridge until I tell you. I need you to keep her in that chair and keep her awake.”

“If anything happens to her,” Denker spat, “I’ll hold you personally responsible.”

“Fine, do that,” Emily said absently, her eyes scanning the holo display.

Around her, the bridge crew was staring open mouthed. One of them started to say something, but Chief Gibson cut them off with a sharp gesture.

“Lieutenant Commander Greer, acknowledge your orders!” she barked.

“This is Greer.” Greer didn’t sound very happy. “Orders acknowledged. Standing by to execute.”

Emily breathed a sigh of relief. She would probably hang for this. Well, bugger them if they can’t take a joke. “All ships, fire on the cruisers, then assign chaff and navigation control to Merlin. Execute now!”

More lasers and missiles reached out for the Dominion cruisers, then the chaff bombs burst open, hiding Emily’s ships from the Dominions behind a cloud of foil, but effectively blinding the Victorian sensors. The holo display went to snow.

For a few moments, both sides would be groping about in the dark. But Emily had planned for this.

“Merlin, you have navigation control of the entire Battle Group. Execute.” Then she sat back in her battle harness and contemplated the ruin of her career.

Merlin fired off more chaff rockets, guiding them in close to the Dominion cruisers and exploded them there, further hindering their sensors. The cruisers slowly began to fall back.

Then, Merlin took the entire Battle Group to maximum acceleration, crossing in front of the Dominion cruisers, and curving in an arc to the Victorian’s left flank.

As they crossed in front of the cruisers, the entire Battle Group was hideously vulnerable.

On board the Dominion cruisers, there was elation. They had neatly surprised the Victorian attack force trying to sneak up on the supply ships, scoring at least one kill and inflicting a lot of damage. But the long recharge time for the lasers had prevented them from full exploiting their advantage. Now it looked like the Vickies might be running…or attacking. It was hard to tell through the jammed sensors.

“Targeting radar! We are being hit with targeting radar from our left. Missiles! Numerous missiles incoming. ETA is four minutes.” The Dominion Tactical Officer hastened to activate the ship’s anti-missile defense.

The Dominion ships fell into a frenzy of activity, bringing their ships about to bring as many of the anti- missiles batteries to bear as possible. All their attention was focused on their left flank, and no one noticed the quick glimpses the sensors picked up of the Coldstream Guards flashing across their stern. In moments hundreds of half inch lasers were firing a continuous stream of protective fire in the direction of the incoming missiles. A well- placed anti-matter warhead exploded, destroying many of the incoming drones.

Finally, the Dominion cruisers’ powerful active sensors burned through the ECM of the drones.

“These are not missiles,” the Sensors Officer announced. “These are drones! Only drones.” There was a collective sigh of relief.

It was nothing more than a feint, a feint to keep them off guard while the Vickies escaped. “They’re running,” said the lead captain, with barely suppressed glee. The supply ships were safe and the Vickies were in disarray. It was time to disengage while the Vickies were still licking their wounds. He ordered one last missile volley in the direction they had last seen the Vickies, then began to withdraw.

“Gods of Our Mothers, Emily, are you trying to kill us all?” She looked up to see Alex Rudd, a white bandage wrapped around his head, dried blood still on his face.

On the holo display, they could see the last volley of Dominion missiles exploding behind them. The