Kennedy Hudner - Alarm of War

“Still running for the wormhole, Admiral.”

Admiral Kaeser pursed his lips thoughtfully. He would use the Vicky ships to cover his missiles for the first critical moments they entered Refuge space. Or, if that plan didn’t work out, he would turn the missiles on the Victorian ships and simply return to Cornwall.

“Just so,” he murmured, and turned back to the battle display.

Emily told her plan to Skiffington and Stein. “Timing is the key here. If they figure out what we’re doing, they might just decide to kill us and call it a day,” she explained.

“How much time do we have?” Skiffington asked.

Emily glanced at the time display. “Five minutes. Turn your fire controls over to my Merlin. And remember; don’t brake for more than five seconds. We just need a good sensor flare.”

“You know this is pretty goddamned chancy, don’t you?” Stein grumbled.

Emily stared at her coldly. “I think it’s called ‘war,’” she replied.

On the Victorian battleship Lionheart, Admiral Douthat gave a quiet prayer of thanks as the space station Atlas moved slowly away from the worm hole, deeper into the Refuge sector. A single ship appeared on her sensors, its transponder displaying that it was a Victorian warship. The Lionheart’s comm display had opened to show a young woman scowling at her.

“This is Captain Elizabeth Neuwirth of the H.M.S. Frigate Matterhorn of the Third Fleet. To whom am I speaking?”

Douthat blinked in surprise. She knew some Third Fleet ships had been left behind when Second and Third Fleets went to Tilleke, but what the hell was a Third Fleet frigate doing here in Refuge? “I am Admiral Douthat, commanding officer of the Home Fleet. What can I do for you, Captain?” She tried, almost successfully, to keep the sarcasm from her voice.

Neuwirth didn’t back down. “I was sent here by Lieutenant Brill to prepare Refuge for Atlas’s arrival. Where’s Brill?”

Before Douthat could reply, someone on the screen whispered to Captain Neuwirth and she nodded. “Admiral, I just received word that Lieutenant Commander Brill is calling me from the Atlas. Tell your ships not to enter further into Refuge space until Brill has confirmed your identity. I will get back to you shortly.”

Admiral Douthat bristled. “ Matterhorn, I intend to stay with the Atlas. I have thirty warships with me. If you think your little frigate is going to stop us, you are sadly mistaken.”

Neuwirth smiled wolfishly. “Admiral, before you do anything you might regret, may I suggest that you first make a sensors sweep of the area?”

The comm screen blinked off. Douthat scowled. Who the hell was this frigate captain? And just what did she mean, ‘Until Brill confirmed her identity?’

“ I’m the damn admiral here,” she muttered. Then her attention was caught by a harsh trilling sound. It was the alert that warned they were being painted by targeting sensors. She turned to Captain Eder. “What?” she asked.

Eder pointed wordlessly to the battle display.

Douthat stared for a moment, then unexpectedly smiled. The battle display showed not one, but two large forts on either side of the worm hole entrance, studded with missiles, lasers and even some of the rail guns that were too bulky to put on anything but battleships. Even Lionheart didn’t have one.

And emerging from behind the forts were dozens upon dozens of Refugian gunboats, nimble little warships that carried three missiles and a bow laser, but had no armor at all.

“Well, well,” she said happily. “A little surprise for the Ducks if they come through.” She nodded briskly. “Message to all ships, activate Dark Matter Brake and hold in place pending further instructions from our hosts.”

And so they sat, until a sensors officer called: “Courier drone coming through the worm hole from Victorian space. Signal indicates an emergency message!”

Douthat looked up in alarm. Dammit, it could only be one thing: the surviving Coldstream Guards were in trouble.

On the Victorian side of the worm hole, Chief Gibson called: “They’re starting to come through!”

Emily’s relief was almost palpable. On the battle display, five ships had emerged, oriented themselves and began moving towards the Dominions. Behind them another came, then another, then two more. These, she knew, were decoy drones, not real ships, but the Dominions wouldn’t know that.

“Are the recon drones in place?” she asked Alex Rudd.

“In place and ready,” he assured her.

“Merlin, fire the chaff. Be sure to leave the line of sight to Recon Drone Number One.” They would communicate with the recon drone by needle laser and she didn’t want the chaff to block the connection.

In twenty seconds, two hundred chaff rockets launched and spread out on a predesignated matrix. When they exploded, chaff spread out to form a sensor wall between the advancing Dominion warships and the ‘ships’ that were arriving from Refuge. It wouldn’t completely block the Dominion’s sensors, but it would create a lot of doubt and second guessing.

“We have an open channel to the recon drone!” Gibson confirmed.

Emily nodded. Soon now. “Order the Kent to eject its missile mines. Anti-missile system on full automatic.”

On the Dominion ship, Fortitude, Captain Bauer turned to Admiral Kaeser. “We are in missile range of the wormhole, plus three minutes time under power.”

Kaeser nodded. “You may fire, Captain.”

“Fire all missiles!” Bauer commanded.

“Fire the stingers!” Emily ordered. “Merlin, advance the ECM drones! Chief Gibson, put one nuke into the chaff cloud and trigger an electromagnetic pulse. Let’s see if they’ve hardened their missile guidance systems.”

Sixty drones each fired their stinger missile. The fast missiles leapt from their launchers and sped through the chaff cloud.

“Activate Dark matter Brake for five seconds only!” Emily commanded the Yorkshire and Kent .

The Chief Sensors Officer on the Fortitude blanched. “DMB flash! DMB! The Victorian ships are braking and turning!” Then his sensors display caught the first signs of the stingers through the chaff. “Incoming missiles! Can’t determine how many due to chaff interference, but sensors showing many missiles.”

“Sensors, any evidence of new ships, more than the three we’ve been following?” Admiral Kaeser asked.

The Sensors Officer adjusted his instruments. “Sir, we are picking up signs of multiple ships. Readings are weak and distorted because of the chaff, but there are at least thirty distinct emissions sources!”

Frowning, Kaeser asked Captain Bauer: “Decoy drones? Or have some of the Vicky warships actually turned around in Refuge and come back?”

Captain Bauer shrugged.

“Some of the drive emissions are consistent with Refuge warships, sir,” the Sensors Officer said. “Additional missile launch! This one’s from the Victorian ships!”

Kaeser sighed. If they were bringing Refugian and Vicky ships back through the wormhole, he and his little flotilla could find themselves mobbed. He needed more ships, and thanks to Admiral Mello’s recklessness, he didn’t have them. If they were just decoys, well…he had no real choice. Honor the threat, he reminded himself. He couldn’t risk losing any more ships until more reinforcements came from Dominion. Someone on the Victorian side had played his cards very cleverly.

“Just so,” he murmured to himself. “Message to all ships,” he ordered crisply. “Break off attack and return to the planet Cornwall at full military speed.” He swallowed his disappointment. Maybe, with luck, his anti-matter missiles would get through.