“Talk to me, Major.”
“The Macros have made their next move, sir,” she said.
I stood up and headed for the door. “Fix up Sandra, Marvin!” I shouted over my shoulder as I left.
“The prisoners assure me they will do their utmost, sir,” Marvin said.
I hesitated at the hatchway, looking back. I didn’t entirely trust Marvin. I decided I would send Ning down here later to keep an eye on him.
35
“They’re coming right at us, sir,” Sarin said, her voice wavering slightly. “On a collision course.”
I reached the big screen and stared down into it. I had my helmet tucked under my arm. My sides heaved from the run up to the bridge. Everyone stared at me. I knew they were all wondering what I was going to do. What magical trick I could pull to stop this nightmare.
“All right, strategy session,” I said loudly. “Major Welter, you are in this. Get over here.”
Welter handed the controls over to the robot pilot we’d built and came to the screen.
I looked at him, “You’ve been flying since I left the bridge.”
“Yes, Colonel. I think I have the hang of it now.”
“Good to know. Okay Gorski, tell me how many drones we have.”
“Five ready to fire, sir. A sixth should be available within the hour.”
“Not enough to stop a volley of eight, but it will have to do,” I said. My eyes flicked over the screen. I could see two curved colored lines and ticking digital times flying by. The lines projected the course of Jolly Rodger and the enemy cruiser, predicting their collision point and the point where we would come into range of their cannon. The screen displayed our speed and the estimated times require to reach our goal points. The Macro cruiser had left its distant, shadowing position. Instead of flying parallel to our own path, they were now veering toward us. Both ships would reach the ring and escape the system in thirty-nine minutes. On their current course, the Macros would collide with us on the far side three minutes after that.
“All right,” I said. “Give your best guesses. What are they up to?”
“They are increasing speed,” Gorski reported. “They could be planning to dive through the ring before we do, sir. They don’t want to eat our mines again.”
“We shot down all the other incoming missiles,” Sarin said. “They might think we can shoot down anything they fire at us from a distance. Therefore, they are holding their next volley until we are very close.”
I turned to Welter. “You’re a flyer. What do you think?”
Welter shrugged. “Both possibilities are reasonable. They are either trying to get in close and blast us, or they are going to fly through the ring ahead of us.”
“That could be why they are making their move now,” I said. “They don’t want us to exit the system before they do.”
“What if they lay mines of their own on the far side?” Major Sarin asked.
“Then we blow up when we follow them,” I said. I leaned on the screen. I had very few options. We weren’t up to this. I needed weeks of careful build-up and repair-but I simply didn’t have the time.
I thumped my armored fist down on the edge of the screen. It wobbled slightly, but didn’t crack. “We can’t keep them from firing at us. They could do that now, if they wished. So, nothing I do can alter that possibility. But I can stop them from getting through that ring before we do.”
I looked at them. Sarin looked worried, but resolute. Gorski shook his head bemusedly. Major Welter looked around at the others and finally at me, frowning. I could tell he was the only one who didn’t get it.
“How can you stop them from getting through?” he asked. “They’ve got the speed on us. We’ve got no missiles to fire.”
I smiled. “Captain Gorski,” I said loudly. “Lay in our new course.”
“About nineteen degrees at full acceleration should do it,” Gorski said, working his tablet interface. A new yellow line appeared on the screen. It curved away from the broken nose of Jolly Rodger and swerved right into the Macro ship.
“You’re going to ram them?” Major Welter asked.
“Not exactly,” I said. “I only want to get close enough to send about eight hundred troops on flying dishes over there to visit.”
“Oh,” said Major Welter. “How is this better than flying straight for the ring?”
“At their current course and speed they will reach the ring first,” Major Sarin said. “We can’t match their acceleration in this damaged ship. But right now, they are still a little behind us. If we veer right into them, we’ll get close before they can get to the ring.”
“Then they’ll fire their missiles,” Welter said, “at point-blank range.”
“Right,” I said, “and we’ll fire our drones, taking a few hits.”
“I’ve never seen them lay a single mine,” Welter argued. “They only fire missiles. The longer we wait the safer we are, as we have time to produce more drones.”
“It’s actually not Macro mines that I’m worried about,” I said. “It is their missiles. If we chase them through the ring, they will launch into our faces. They will time it so the missiles hit us exactly as we come through. We won’t be able to stop them with drones because we won’t be able to see the missiles until we go through the ring. If they do it right, we’ll fly directly into a series of warheads.”
Major Welter nodded slowly. “So…we are screwed,” he said.
I chuckled. “Now you’re catching on. But I think we have one critical thing they don’t have. We have troops to board with and a delivery system for those troops. They’ve expended their assault ships and storm troops.”
Major Welter sucked in a huge breath. I could tell he didn’t like my theories, or my solution. “Well, I guess we should do it then. Otherwise, they could just sit on the far side of the ring and plug us up.”
“That’s right,” I said, “It’s always best to take the initiative from the enemy, to do the unexpected and screw up their plans.”
Major Welter turned to Sarin. “Aren’t you going to order the helm to change course?”
“I did several minutes ago,” Sarin said. “The moment Colonel Riggs brought it up, I knew where we were headed. We needed every second-I hope you don’t mind, Colonel.”
Welter looked shocked. I smirked at Sarin, and she gave me a shy smile in return. I watched the two yellow lines which traced the future paths of both ships as they ticked closer to one another on the big screen. I reflected upon what a good officer Sarin was. She had reached the point of anticipating my orders. She was easy on the eyes, too. A perfect combination in an ops officer.
I didn’t know how close the macros were going to let us get before they fired their missiles. I suspected they would figure out our plan before we got in their faces. They would know then they had to pound our ship before they lost their own.
It was nearly thirty minutes later when the Macros fired their missiles. Our ships were very close by that time.
“We’ve got eight new contacts incoming, Colonel,” Gorski announced, trying to sound as calm as Major Sarin. He failed.
“Impact in nine minutes,” Major Sarin said.
I stared tensely at the screen, noting the enemy ship’s projected path. It did not vary its course to avoid us, meaning we would be getting cozy very soon. I’d ordered Kwon to marshal his troops. Everyone with dish training was to suit up and prepare to board.
“Fire our drones when we get to the five minute mark,” I said.
“We’ve only got six drones ready, sir,” Gorski said. “We’ll take two hits at least.”
“I can count,” I snapped. I contacted Kwon: “Captain. Get your men to the sally ports. I want them to jump in five minutes on my order. Take seven companies. You’ll have to ride in under fire, but I don’t want everyone wiped out if the hull ruptures.”
“What about the bricks, sir?” Kwon asked me.
I chewed my lower lip. “Send the reserve company into the hold. Release the magnetic clamps. Push them
