Jack Campbell - Leviathan

This time he did a last-second shift to starboard with the battle cruisers, while the two battleship formations swung lower and toward each other, in an attempt to bracket the dark ship subformation to one side of the main formation.

“No engagement.” Lieutenant Yuon had stopped sounding guilty. Now he appeared to be confused.

Geary, feeling angry and frustrated, assessed the status of his ships, then called out new orders. One Alliance battleship formation swung wide to starboard, one swung wide to port, and the battle cruisers twisted about and aimed straight for an intercept with the dark ships coming back for another run.

He dove the battle cruiser formation before contact, aiming under the dark ships, while the battleship formations on either side held their vectors so that no matter which way the dark ships went, the Alliance warships should get some shots at them.

“No engagement.”

Geary could feel everyone on the bridge carefully not looking at him. He could sense how crews on every other ship in the fleet were reacting. Something was very wrong, and he wasn’t sure what it was.

Had he lost his nerve? Was he so afraid of losing this battle that he wouldn’t take the necessary losses to win it?

But he was doing nothing differently. He was trying to hit the enemy. And how could the dark ships keep missing his ships if Geary was displaying any sort of unconscious pattern of avoiding closing to weapons range? He might not be aware of it, but the dark ships would see such a pattern. They would exploit it and catch him next time.

“Admiral?” Tanya was eyeing him with an unusual level of concern apparent.

“Something is wrong,” Geary said. “None of the passes are working.”

“We have to close to engagement range.”

“I know that!”

“Admiral,” Desjani said in her most formal tone of voice, “we have to hit them despite the risks—”

“I have demonstrated my willingness to take risks, Captain,” Geary snapped.

“Getting too close is dangerous, but if we don’t—”

“Captain Desjani, I am making just as strong an effort to engage those dark ships as I ever have in any battle!” He glowered at his display as Desjani fell silent and stared fixedly at her own display. What wasn’t working? he wondered. To guess incorrectly that many times in a row? To completely miss engaging the dark ships time and again? How could that be happening?

Not by chance.

“Damn.” His tone of voice brought Desjani’s eyes back on him. “It’s not us. We’re not engaging on these firing passes because the dark ships are deliberately avoiding getting within range of us.”

“They’re avoiding action?” She took another look at her display, swallowed, then inclined her head toward him. “My apologies, Admiral. I did not consider that possibility, but I’m certain that you’re right.”

“None of us considered it, Captain,” Geary said. “Because of the ruthless tactics of the dark ships prior to this. But they are tactics, and tactics can change depending on the situation. Right now, the dark ships have a reason to avoid action just as we have had reasons to seek action.”

“But why would they—?” Her eyes widened. “They’re just keeping us engaged and occupied in dealing with them, forcing us into repeated maneuvers to counter them. Stalling for time and keeping us in this region of space.”

“Until their battle cruisers get here,” Geary said, his voice as grim as his mood. “And then they will hit us with everything at once.”

The dark battleships were turning to engage again, but Geary swung his formations on through their last turn, not steadying out until the enemy battleships were behind him and his own warships were aimed at an intercept with the dark battle cruisers ahead. Those battle cruisers were braking velocity at a rate that would have torn apart Geary’s ships. By the time they reached where Geary’s ships were tangling with the dark battleships, they would have been going slow enough (if point one light speed could be considered slow) to engage the Alliance forces.

“What are we doing?” Desjani asked.

“Changing the game,” Geary said. “We underestimated the dark ship AIs. First we get out of the trap they tried to pin us in. Next—”

An alert sounded on his display.

“ Fearless just lost another main propulsion unit,” Lieutenant Castries said.

Geary slapped his comm controls. “ Fearless , can you keep up with the formation?”

The image of Captain Ulrickson looked back at Geary. “We’ll keep up or die trying. Repairs are underway.”

The determination and the desire were admirable, but as Geary looked at his data he could tell that neither were adequate substitutes for a main propulsion unit. If Fearless could not keep up, they would have to leave her, or else sacrifice the rest of the fleet protecting her.

Desjani was looking at her display, her expression revealing no emotion.

“We’ve got half an hour before any more maneuvers are necessary,” Geary told Captain Ulrickson. “I need Fearless able to keep up at that point.”

“I understand, Admiral.”

“We’ve still got a chance,” Geary told Desjani as the call ended. “Those dark battle cruisers based their approach on reaching us back where we were tangling with dark battleships.”

“Which means they’ll be going too fast when we reach them, since we’re heading straight for an intercept with the dark battle cruisers,” Desjani agreed. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” she called in a louder voice to the watch-standers. “What is the first rule of combat maneuvering?”

“Never take your ship to the limit of her capabilities unless you absolutely have to,” Lieutenants Yuon and Castries chorused in reply.

“Because?”

“Once you take your ship to her limits,” the lieutenants said, “the ship has nothing else to give if you need it.”

“Exactly.” Desjani indicated her display with a dismissive gesture. “Those dark battle cruisers based their approach on the maximum deceleration they could endure, which means they can’t slow down any faster now that we are closing on them.” She lowered her voice to speak only to Geary. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to hit them as they pass us.”

“No.” He was sizing up the situation. The dark battleships were behind his formations, but accelerating at a better rate than his own battleships could achieve, especially with Fearless limping along. The repeated attempts at firing passes had kept Geary’s units fairly close to the dark ships as distances in space went, so the dark battleships were not that far away and closing on the Alliance warships. Even if Fearless got one of her off-line main propulsion units working, Geary wouldn’t be able to avoid them for long.

The dark battle cruisers would slide helplessly past the Alliance formation at a combined closing speed of point two five light, too fast to hope for any significant number of hits. But as Desjani had noted, Geary’s ships wouldn’t be able to hit the dark battle cruisers, either. After that, both the dark battleships and the dark battle cruisers would be right behind Geary’s own formations.

“If we try to reduce speed to engage the dark battle cruisers, they’ll just evade us, and the lower velocity will allow the dark battleships to catch us faster,” Geary said between teeth clenched with frustration.

Desjani shook her head, looking pained. “Admiral, I’ve got nothing.”

“We’ve got one chance,” he said, speaking slowly to allow his thoughts to form. “Now we’re going slower than they are. We can turn inside them, or at least match them since they can maneuver tighter than us under equal conditions.”