Alarm of War

O’Toole grinned and cut his connection. He turned to his bridge crew, who were staring at him with wide- eyed apprehension. “Okay, boys and girls, we’re going to dance!” He raised his voice. “Prepare decoys! Merlin, go to Max!”

“Who shall I attack?” growled Max.

“Advance and fire!” Captain Rowe ordered. The two cruisers and five remaining destroyers pushed past the edge of the minefield.

“Enemy sighted!” shouted the Dominion Sensors Officer. Admiral Mello whirled to the battle display. Two red dots were emerging slowly from the Victorian minefield, slightly to the left of where they had last been spotted.

“All ships, fire! Fire! Fire!” he yelled.

The thirteen remaining Dominion cruisers fired their anti-matter weapons as one. Their missiles criss-crossed with the incoming Victorian missiles and exploded. The Victorian ships and a huge piece of the minefield they were near vanished in an expanding ball of corpse-white light.

“Reload!” ordered Admiral Mello, although the order was unnecessary. The cruisers were reloading as fast as they could.

“What the fuck was that?” Captain Rowe screamed. “Sensors, report, dammit!”

“Sensors identify them as the Swansea and Repulse,” the Sensors Officer said, his voice shrill with excitement and stress. “They popped out and flushed their weapons at one of the Duck cruisers, then all of the Dominion ships blasted them with anti-matter missiles.”

“Status of Swansea and Repulse?”

The Sensors Officer shook his head emphatically. “Code Omega, sir. No life pods, no nothin’.”

“Enemy cruiser?”

“They killed it, sir.”

Well, that was something, at least, he thought bitterly. “Fire all weapons!” Rowe ordered. The two cruisers and five destroyers concentrated on four of the Dominion cruisers. All four sustained heavy damage and fell out of formation. Two of them blundered into the minefield and were chewed up by missile mines.

“Pull back,” Rowe said again. “Reload missiles and recharge lasers!”

The eight undamaged Dominion cruisers frantically tried to recharge their lasers, but for the moment their entire weapons array was empty and impotent. Dominion cruiser captains were not selected for their timidity, however. As one the eight ships accelerated forward, intent on maintaining sensor contact with the retreating Vickies so that they could destroy them once their weapons were back on line.

Then the H.M.S. Everest reached the front edge of the minefield, flanked by twenty stout tugboats and their precious missile pods. More tugs were arriving behind them.

“Merlin!” Captain Johanna Fuller called. “Slave all missile pods to you and fire when ordered.”

A pause. “Twenty five pods are clear to fire; all systems integrated.”

Fuller turned to her Sensors Officer. “Go active, Fiona, we’ll only get one shot.”

Fiona nodded, pale and pinched, but her hands were steady as she typed in her orders. A moment later her sensor array blasted its energy across the incoming Dominion cruisers and her readout display lit up with tracking data. Several lights turned red and tones sounded. On the frigate’s battle display, more tugs appeared on their flanks and their missile pods synchronized with the Everest’s computer.

“Firm locks on three of the ships coming towards us, Captain.”

“Merlin!”

“I have locks.”

“Then fire, you damn computer! Fire!” Fuller said, eyes intent on the battle display, a wide grin on her face. God, she had waited so long for this!

Admiral Mello leapt from his seat. “How did that happen?” he shouted angrily. The battle display showed that three of his remaining eight cruisers just blew apart. The Sensors Officer flinched, then stammered. “Admiral, Vicky reinforcements have just arrived. Missile pods. More are arriving.”

Admiral Mello seethed. “Full military power! All anti-matter missiles prepare to launch on my order. Lasers, target any missile pods and fire as soon as you have a lock.” He folded his arms and glowered at the battle display.

The battleship Vengeance leapt forward. It shouldered past the wreckage of two cruisers, simply plowing through the debris and life pods. Vicky missiles reached out for it and the Vengeance swatted them down with lasers. Its main battle lasers probed for the offending Vicky missile platforms and turned them into molten slag.

“More missile platforms arriving,” the Sensors Officer warned.

One thousand miles away from the Everest, Captain Rowe of the Bristol looked at his battle display, where dozens of tugboats were emerging into view on either side of a small glowing blue dot. He increased magnification and smiled when he saw the ship’s name: H.M.S. Everest. “Best damn frigate captain in the Fleet,” he muttered to himself, relief washing over him.

“All ships,” Rowe radioed to the others, “turn around and go back to the edge of the minefield. Fire as soon as you have targets.” The seven ships wheeled about and sped back to minefield’s edge, where they would be clear to fire once more.

We’re going to do this! Rowe thought savagely.

Above the fighting, Emily Tuttle watched the battle display in horrid fascination. On the display the enemy battleship looked like a marauding bull, huge and unstoppable as it raced forward to join battle with the Victorian forces.

“Geez, look at the bloody size of that thing,” someone muttered reverently.

“‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!’” Seaman Partridge quoted softly.

Emily looked at him and blinked in surprise. Rudd shook his head and snorted. “You have unknown depths, Mr. Partridge. Now, please, tell us what the hell is happening.”

“Admiral, two Vicky cruisers and five destroyers are joining the missile platforms!” the Sensors Officer called out.

Admiral Mello nodded in satisfaction. The enemy ships were massing directly in front of them. Excellent.

A strong man can bend the universe to his will.

“Fire the anti-matter missiles!”

Captain Rowe watched, appalled, as the monster sized battleship appeared on his holo screen. The Bristol had arrived a moment too soon; none of his ships had had a chance to reload their missiles and only a handful of lasers were ready. He was dimly aware that more of the missile pods were firing, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough.

“All anti-missile batteries to full automatic!” he ordered.

The anti-matter missiles sped towards him. Rowe just had time for a fleeting thought of his wife and teenage son. His son would grow up without-

Then he was gone.

Chapter 68

On the H.M.S. New Zealand

It could not have been worse.

When the New Zealand’s sensors finally came back on, the rest of the Coldstream Guard was gone. Simply, irrevocably, gone. Captain Rowe and his cruisers and destroyers, Captain Fuller, the Everest and all of the tugboats had disappeared, gone in the blink of an eye. A long, winding hole had been gouged out of the minefield, with missile platforms along the edge scorched and tumbling wildly.