The Tau Ceti Agenda

'Gunnery Officer, begin sensor sweep and lock and commence firing of main DEG batteries at your discretion. Be advised to excise military targets only, and do not hit the teleportation facility as briefed and gamed!' Colonel Chekov tapped at his console, double checking the power levels of the guns.

'Roger that, XO! Multiple targets identified, locked, and firing solutions ready. Firing at will,' Lieutenant Rice acknowledged.

'CO, CDC!' the commander of the Combat Direction Center a few decks below the bridge chimed.

'Go CDC.'

'We've got multiple sensor pings and are actively jamming on all frequencies. Expect incoming fire, as we are getting lit up like a Christmas tree, sir!'

'Roger that, CDC. Is the jamming buying us anything?'

'It might be confusing their point and track, sir, but they know we're here.'

The supercarrier pressed through the active wash of sensor energy from the Seppy facility at maximum normal space velocity. The computers of the ship picked out targets and blasted away at them with mammoth directed energy weapons. The intense blue-green bolts of energy tore through the surface of the Oort object beneath them, blasting away surface materials and manmade structures. Smaller anti-aircraft railguns came online automatically and started searching for enemy flying targets to shoot. Sensor domes and weapons batteries on the planetoid facility exploded into the quiet vacuum of space, scattering debris and chewing up the surface like a behemoth repulsor plow.

Red dots appeared in the captain's DTM sphere, moving toward the supercarrier at extreme velocities. The IFF algorithms not only identified them as foe but also as anti-carrier missiles, hundreds of them.

'CO, CDC! Incoming!'

'We've got it, CDC.' The captain turned his chair toward the XO. 'Forward SIFs at maximum! XO anti-missile batteries, fire!'

'DEG and railgun Phalanx systems are active, Captain,' Chekov replied. 'SIFs at maxi . . .' He was interrupted as the first missile detonated against the forward force fields and armored plating. The ship vibrated against the explosion as the debris from the missile washed over the bow and was absorbed by the supercarrier's hull.

'Keep firing. And get me a fix on those launch tubes and start battering the hell out of them!'

'Aye, sir!'

'Good hunting, DeathRay!' The deck chief snapped a salute from the top of the mecha support scaffold and grabbed at the handrail as the ship's inertial dampening systems compensated for a sudden impact against the exterior hull of the supercarrier.

'Roger that!' Jack saluted back, and the chief quickly climbed down and began unhooking the power and com umbilical. He finished by giving the VTF-32 Ares-T fighter one last affectionate pat on the empennage.

Jack pulled his helmet over his head and gave it a twist to lock it in place as he settled into the cockpit. Air rushed into his suit with a faint, hissing sound. He then pulled the hardwire connection from the universal docking port of his fighter and plugged it into the thin rugged composite box on the left side of his helmet, which made a direct electrical connection to his AIC implant via skin-contact sensors in his helmet. The direct connection wasn't necessary as the quantum membrane wireless connectivity was very strong that close to the fighter's computer systems. It had once been thought that enemy jamming of the wireless connection between the AIC and the fighter was almost impossible. The wireless connection was spread spectrum and highly encrypted. But the Seppy attack during the Exodus had shown quite the opposite. The entire fleet had been spoofed, and the wireless systems were told by a Seppy hacker—rumored to have been coded by Ahmi herself—not to see enemy targets with any sensors. Since then, the hardwire was promoted from backup to primary connection, and the wireless was only used in emergencies and in noncombat situations.

'Hardwire UDP is connected and operational. Lieutenant Candis Three Zero Seven Two Four Niner Niner Niner Six ready for duty,' Jack's AIC announced over the open com channel. Then directly to Jack, Let's go get 'em, Commander!

Roger that, Candis!

Jack saluted the flight deck officer and brought the canopy down. The harness holding the fighter lowered and dropped it the last twenty centimeters to the deck with that ever-so-familiar squishing feel from the landing gear suspension. The drop always used to leave him with a lump in his throat and butterflies in his stomach because it meant that he was about to go screaming out the ass end of the supercarrier into a storm of raining and streaking Hell from all directions. Or at least it had meant that up until the Exodus and the few cleanup actions afterward. There had been merely training exercises for the better part of four years now, and Jack preferred that to the horrific sights and sounds of war.

The aftermath of the Exodus was enough to leave serious scars in any soldier's psyche and, indeed, many had resigned from service after it. But Jack was made of sterner stuff, he had told himself. And somebody had to be prepared in the case that America, the Sol System, came under attack again. With the Exodus, he had hoped that war would be a thing he wouldn't have to deal with for a while. He had trained, nevertheless.

Once again, it looked like it was time for war, and all bravado aside, he was good at it. Jack swallowed the lump, calmed the butterflies, and followed the flight deck sequence. He moved his fighter first in line for takeoff. The tricycle wheels of the little fighter squeaked against the deck plate as it rolled into launch position. Jack could feel the supercarrier vibrating from anti-aircraft fire—a deadly feeling that he had almost forgotten.

'This is double zero,' Jack called over the tac-net. 'This is gonna get hairy, folks, and I want everyone covering their wings and following the plan. Good hunting and good luck.' He thought his faceplate down and pulled his mouthpiece closer with his teeth.

'Fighter zero-zero callsign DeathRay, you are cleared for egress. Good hunting, Commander Boland!' the control tower officer radioed. 'Handing off to cat control.'

'Roger that, tower.' Jack went through his ritual. 'Y'all just keep the beer cold, and good ol' DeathRay will be back soon enough.' Jack taxied to the 'at bat' slot and braced himself for the 'ball' and chewed at the bite block.

'Fighter double zero, you are at bat and go for cat! Call the ball.'

'Roger cat, double zero has the ball,' Boland responded as the little gold catapult field alignment sphere blinked on in his DTM view, overlaying the projected launch window circle.