“Plan to leave your living quarters within the hour.”
“Thank you for your offer of transportation, but I’ll arrange my own,” Danielle told the group.
They all started speaking at once and she said over them, “I’ll get there in time. If I’m not there in six hours, then you can provide a battleship.”
That silenced them. They all looked at her then looked at each other. Then Alesia said, “It will be done as you say. However, nothing can get there in six hours; star drives do not work this close to the sun and nothing can go faster than the speed of light in normal space. Are you certain of arriving in time? This is a critical event.”
Danielle could tell they all had numerous questions about how she could possibly get there so quickly, but Sung Lea said, “This is not something we need to inquire about. Let her go her way in peace. Danielle, you are now co-leader of the SFTwith your husband. The only authority over you is yourself. We will notify the Director and Tag of this change in six hours and 20 minutes.”
“Thank you but now I must go home and pack.”
“We have an emergency shuttle on the roof waiting to take you. You’ll arrive at your quarters in less than ten minutes. We will inform Inspector Connor about the change.”
“How did you know I would go?”
Sung Lea smiled, “This is the future all the others branch off. This meeting is the critical event. I’ve already seen the other futures begin to disappear when you entered the room; it’s not in you to refuse to help when you’re needed. Contact us upon your arrival with the fleet.”
Danielle turned and ran from the room.
“Admiral, do we have any idea how many ships the Cainth Empire has remaining in their fleet,” Tag asked as he replayed the battle counting the Cainth ships that had been destroyed. “I think we’ve destroyed eight hundred in both battles.”
Kosiev looked at his screen and said, “That’s accurate but we have no idea of their total numbers. I would think that they would have as many as we do but we’re been overbuilding because of their threat. I don’t really think they have been threatened for hundreds of years and it’s an economic drain to maintain a huge fleet. I would guess between 1,800 and 3,000,” Kosiev answered.
Tag reached over and poured himself a stimulant drink and leaned back in his chair. “Let’s try and figure this out. Would they use half their ships to ensure our destruction?”
Kosiev thought a minute and looked back at the screen and rewound it to the frame of the Alliance fleet as they emerged into our solar system. We know they sent two hundred of their ships to Ross. The remaining Alliance ships from all participants totaled about 1,200 that came back from the destruction of the Grendap. I think it would be safe to assume that they would use 20 % in their initial plans.”
“Why not more ships?” Tag asked.
“Remember, they had no idea of our number of ships. They wouldn’t feel threatened enough to use more plus their colonial empire would require some of the fleets presence. They thought we were limited to two space ports and their estimate would be low if they used that to figure our numbers. I think 20 % is about right initially. Once they lost the two hundred ships at Ross, then their threat estimate went up and they sent an additional four hundred ships. If four hundred represents 20 % then they should have 1,200 plus those that escaped. So a good guess would be between thirteen hundred and eighteen hundred remaining.”
“Admiral, do we need more ships than the two hundred survivors? I really don’t want the Alliance to think we have more than the three hundred and fifty we used in the last battle. If we show up with more than two hundred then there will be questions about our total that I would prefer to delay. Is the mix of ships the right ratio?”
“Our ratio is actually stronger than the original mix because the majority of the ships we lost were cruisers and destroyers. We had fifty Empire Class Battleships at the start of the battle and lost nine. The Alliance ships that jumped to safety at the end of the battle saw the ten battleships we used to destroy the sentries in the outer system as they moved in to assist in the mop up so we can include them in our totals.” Kosiev rubbed his chin and said, “Our seven squadrons will now have thirty ships instead of fifty but one third of them will be battleships now instead of one of five. I actually think that this is a better number to manage than fifty. The ratio of battleships to the others will make it easier to discharge the screens of the support ships. Now every battleship will have only two ships to support instead of four. The majority of our losses were due to ships that would have been used to discharge other’s screens weren’t available after they had been destroyed.”
“Did we learn anything else from our tactics,” Tag asked?
“Yes we did. In both of the battles so far we have had our ships preselect targets and rush in and attack them. As a result, our ships lost contact with the battleships that would decharge their screens, which led to their destruction. We are now going to do it another way. We have found that Alliance tactics are to try and gang up on our Battleships. It’s no longer necessary to chase them, they will come to us. In our next battle, we will hold our line together and go thru the middle of their formations. The two smaller ships will place themselves above and below to make maximum use of the larger ship’s screen. They will maintain that position thru out the conflict.”
“Then you’ve reorganized the makeup of the squadrons and practiced the new maneuvers.”
“Yes and our rearming should be completed in two hours. The provisions will be completed an hour later.”
“Then we should be ready to leave shortly,” Tag said. “I’ll inform the Director. I’m also going to have an additional hundred ships ready to jump to support us in the event we have misjudged their number of ships.”
“That’s a good idea but why only a hundred? Why don’t you make it two hundred ships?” Kosiev suggested
Tag looked at the display and said, “Good idea. Why take a risk when we would have to reveal we have more ships anyway if we called them in. Let’s make it three hundred and they can be learning the new attack tactics while they’re waiting. You might also get Fleet operations and start training the other 6,000 ships on those tactics.” Tag lifted his com and said, “Open a channel to Central Command; I would like to talk with them about the additional ships.” He sat and tapped his foot to the rhythm of warships exploding on his screen. Then he remembered and thought, “I wonder what they wanted with Danielle?”
Danielle arrived home and rushed in to pack her bags. She looked in her closets and they were empty. “Atlas, have you been busy?”
“Yes, Danielle. I’ve already transported your belongings and you can choose on the way to the fleet what you want to take; I’ll return the rest.”
“Where are you?”
“Just a moment, I think the SFT are curious about your method of departure. The shuttle that brought you here has a camera on your quarters and is remaining stationary above your dwelling. Go in your bathroom and close the door. I’ll extend a corridor you can walk thru to leave.”
Danielle did as he asked and when she closed the door she saw a round hole in the wall extending toward the balcony. She entered it and walked into Atlas’ port. “They couldn’t see me could they, Atlas?”
“No, and they are going to wonder after some time has gone by why you haven’t come out.”
“Oh, well. You can’t know everything,” Danielle said as she started going thru her belongings selecting what she was going to take. “How are you going to get me to Tag without being seen?”
“Pretty much the same way; I’ll run a corridor into Tags cabin on the Washington and you just walk in with your bags. It will be up to you to explain how you got there. You might want to finish packing your bags now so you can take them with you. We should be there in less than ten minutes”
“Holy groad, Atlas; you can get to Jupiter that quick.”
“I’m going to jump there this time. So hurry up and get ready to leave.”
“Tag was right; you really don’t have a jump limit. I’m glad that everyone else has to be outside Jupiter’s orbit to use a star drive otherwise we would have no warning of uninvited guests.”
“True and no one else is even close to the technology necessary to do it. Alright here we go.”
One moment Danielle was looking at the building housing her living quarters and then she was alongside the Washington beyond Jupiter’s orbit. “Atlas, you big showoff; you mean you can jump right out of a planet’s atmosphere. Whatever method you use, it’s obviously not affected by gravity; you are truly amazing.”
“Thanks, you’re making my hull swell; the corridor is ready. I’ll be listening in, this should be very interesting. Call me if you need my help,” and Danielle could have sworn that in her mind she heard the ship laugh at her.
Danielle walked thru the corridor and emerged into Tags cabin. She knew it was his because of her picture on the writing table. “Tag,” she thought.
