Уильям Форстчен. Wing Commander: Битва флотов (engl)

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     © Copyright 1994 William ъ.Forstchen. Wing Commander Fleet Action
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        PъOLOGUE

     "According to the final calculations projected on your holo  screens, I
think it  is  evident  that over the next eighty days  we run  the risk of a
serious reversal that could set our war effort back by years."
     A  rumble  of stunned  and angry  growls shook the room.  Baron  Jukaga
settled back in his chair and waited for the storm to settle.
     "This is preposterous, an insult," Talmak of the Sutaghi  clan snapped,
looking  around  the room  as  if seeking to  find someone to blame and thus
sacrifice. "How did we ever get to  this  state? Our fleets are  the finest,
our warriors filled with  the zeal of skabak,  the will to die for the glory
of Kilrah.  By the blood  of Sivar,  we even outnumber the low born  scum in
nearly every  class  of ship. How did  this happen!" and as he  finished  he
slammed  his fist down  on  his  holo projector, shattering it,  as if by so
doing the grim figures would simply die.
     Baron Jukaga of the Ki'ra clan silently turned in his  chair and looked
to the end of the table where the  Emperor, and his grandson and heir Prince
Thrakhath, sat.
     "Perhaps  our Emperor can enlighten  us," Jukaga said silkily, lowering
his  head just enough to show  obeisance, but  doing it slowly, thus  subtly
revealing a disdain and defiance. The Emperor, of course, was not visible to
those  in the  room. Sitting upon his high throne  he was hidden from direct
view by a silklike screen emblazoned with  the  three  crossed red swords of
the Imperial line. Sitting at the foot of the dias was Prince Thrakhath, who
shifted slightly under Jukaga's gaze, a  soft yet audible growl echoing from
his throat as a signal  of  his readiness  to  accept challenge, and also in
reaction to the insult of directly placing a question to the Emperor.
     Baron Jukaga struggled to conceal a  flashing of teeth, a  revealing of
his true hatred for this Emperor whom  he believed to be of lesser blood and
who had attempted to place  the blame for the  disaster  at Vukar Tag on his
shoulders.
     He had endured over a year  in  exile because of that disaster. It  was
only  due to  the latest reversals that the other clans  had finally pressed
for his  release and  use of his known talents as one  who better than  most
understood the strangeness of human behavior.
     The Emperor sensed  the challenge and  the trap. He  stirred  uneasily,
framing  his thoughts. If he answered the question directly, it  would be  a
lowering of himself before  the leaders of the eight clans of Kilrah; if  he
deferred the question to his grandson, the Prince,  it would appear as if he
were shifting responsibility Ч and ultimate blame.
     "You  go too far, Baron,"  a voice rumbled from the corner of the room,
breaking the impasse.
     Baron Jukaga looked over at the  speaker, Buktag'ka,  first born of the
clan of Sihkag. The Sihkag were, of the eight ruling families, considered to
be  of the  lowest  blood and as such could usually be  counted  on to curry
favor with the Emperor in a bid to elevate their status whenever possible.
     "Your  insult to the Emperor is evident," Buktag'ka  snarled, coming to
his feet and leaning over the table to stare at Jukaga. "It is not the place
of  the  Imperial blood to answer questions. We  requested your release from
exile  for the skills you  have in understanding  humans  and  as master  of
spies, not for the surliness of your tongue, the haughtiness of all  of your
blood line, nor for the plots you are known for."
     Jukaga looked around the table,  gauging the response which ranged from
nodded lowering of heads  in agreement, to rippling of manes in defiance. It
was time to change approach.
     "I stand rebuked  before the Imperial blood and intended no insult," he
said, bowing low to the shaded throne. Prince Thrakhath, who sat at the foot
of the  throne, and was  not hidden from view  like his  grandfather, nodded
curtly in reply.
     "Let us not  ask the  hows  of it,"  the Emperor's voice whispered from
behind the  screen, "there is  blame enough for  all.  ъather let us talk of
what now is, and what is to be done."
     Knowing he could not press the point, Baron  Jukaga lowered his head in
reply.
     You  low born old  bastard, Jukaga thought coldly. Everyone  here knows
that this  reversal  is  your fault  and that of your fool grandson. Yet  if
victory should  come it will be you who  will sweep the  honors  around your
feet. And  even  as he thought a concept that was beyond the range  of  most
Kilrathi, rage and intense hatred towards a sworn overlord, he still assumed
the posture of obeisance and then slowly rose up to speak again.
     "Buktag'ka is right," Jukaga said, "and I accept the rebuke."
     He looked around the room, gauging the responses  and felt it was  best
to simply push on with the facts and figures that needed to be presented.
     "We do outnumber  the human confederation  in total number of carriers,
fighters of all classes, and heavy cruisers.  However, as you can see by the
charts  projected, we will  see  no  new replacement of carriers of standard
design for the next three of eighty days. In the meantime it is projected by
my intelligence staff that  the  humans will  have four  of their  new fleet
carriers coming into operations, thus enabling  them  to form an  entire new
task force  and reach  a rough parity with our  own  carrier  forces for the
first time in this war.
     "This is due to the loss  of the construction bays and nearly completed
ships in the raids on our  construction sites over the last year. First they
hit  our primary bases  on our moon during  the Vukar  Tag  debacle," and he
could  not  resist  sparing a quick look at  Thrakhath,  "and  then  the two
follow-up raids which destroyed three other construction yards."
     He paused for a moment, looking around the room, the other clan leaders
stirring  uneasily. The successful human raids  deep within the  Empire  had
been  a  source of  extreme  embarrassment for Thrakhath and  for  the  clan
leaders. Jukaga  smiled  inwardly.  If anything  the exile  after Vukar  had
enabled him to wash his own talons of any responsibility. In a dispassionate
sort  of  way, he found he could even admire the human  who had conceived of
the strategy of using light carriers for the strikes. Spy reports both  from
their plant  high inside the ruling  circle  of the Administration, and from
prisoner interrogation,  indicated that it was Admiral Tolwyn who instituted
the plan.
     "Our  shortages," the Baron continued, "are made worse by the fact that
within the next eighty days  nearly one quarter of  our carriers are due for
overhauls,  resupply,  and  refitting,  with one needing  an entire  reactor
replacement."
     "Can't such things wait?" Buktag'ka asked.
     "It has already  been  delayed  too long," Thrakhath announced  coldly.
"The Ha'Tukaig's  reactor is leaking so  dangerously that engine  room crews
have  to be suited up and  after three duty shifts  retired. We might see  a
total reactor  failure if we push her any further. As for the other ships, a
variety  of  minor things  threaten  to  soon become major  problems if  not
addressed. ъemember the  standard  rule is  that  for  every day of flight a
carrier needs one day of docking for a variety of reasons. We are stretching
that out to almost two to one, pushing our equipment too hard."
     He fell silent and Jukaga made a show of nodding his thanks.
     "I  know the argument is that  we cannot afford to move carriers out of
action at this time," Jukaga said, "but I believe Prince Thrakhath will tell
you we can not afford  not to. Unfortunately  the  humans, at least  for the
moment,  have  found  a  weak  point  and are exploiting it, using their new
escort carriers to raid deep into our Empire, seeking  not to engage in ship
to  ship combat, but  rather to shatter our ships in their construction bays
before they  are completed and launched. What is even worse is their  use of
these strike forces to hit our transports and supply ships. Our losses there
have been disastrous."
     "At least they have paid in turn," Thrakhath replied sharply.
     "That is true, my lord, but let  us look at  those figures. In the last
standard year we can be certain that we have destroyed seven of their escort
carriers, two fleet carriers  and seven eights of other ships. In  turn they
have smashed eight carriers under construction, destroyed valuable equipment
and inflicted thousands of casualties on trained personnel. And perhaps most
seriously  of all, just under  seven eight-of-eights of transport and supply
vessels."
     He paused and looked around the  room and  could see the frustration of
the  clan  leaders  as  they  looked to  Thrakhath, who was  forced  to show
agreement with Jukaga.
     "What sort of animals are these humans?" Buktag'ka asked  rhetorically.
"What honor, what glory is there to be possibly gained by smashing a carrier
when it cannot even  fly? Their gods  must vomit  in disgust at  such craven
cowardice."
     "I don't think their god  sees it quite the same  way ours do,"  Jukaga
said dryly, realizing the irony of what he was saying was completely lost on
those present
     That  was the weak point.  In his  studies  of  humans he at least  had
gained  some  small understanding of  just how alien was  their logic, their
beliefs, and  their  concept of the nature of war. To try  to translate that
understanding  to those gathered around him,  no matter how intelligent they
were, was nearly impossible; the gap was simply too broad to leap.
     It  was,  as well, the weak link in their military. All  their previous
enemies  had been totally destroyed in  wars that lasted, at  the longest, a
little more than four  years, and  that was simply due to  the sheer size of
the Hari  empire  which had  to be occupied  and destroyed. In  such a case,
where victory was  usually assured from within hours of the  first assaults,
the need to truly understand ones enemy was moot. The human war was now four
eights of years old and still most of those who led  the  Empire into battle
did not truly understand the thinking of their foes.
     "With honor,  or without, a carrier  destroyed is  still dead,"  Jukaga
said quietly, "a fact which can not be debated."
     He  looked over at Thrakhath, and to his surprise actually saw a nod of
agreement
     "The real crisis,  however, is in our logistical support, our transport
ships supplying the fleet."
     There  were several snorts of disdain from the clan leaders. Such ships
and those who served in them  were considered to be beneath contempt. Any of
fighting age who accepted  assignment to one was disgraced  within his clan,
deemed not worthy to sire heirs for  himself, but rather only  to sit at the
edge of the feasting tables, heads  lowered,  when boasts of war were shared
and  arm veins opened to  pour  out  libations on the  altars of Sivar.  The
quality of personnel could be readily inferred from this.
     "It  is  a simple fact  that,  without fuel,  food, replacement  parts,
weapons, and even such basics as air  to breathe and water to drink  a fleet
is  useless. The  humans  have  hit  upon the  strategy  of  avoiding direct
confrontation and  striking  instead  to  our rear,  cutting  our  supplies,
destroying our  transports,  forcing us to detail off precious frigates  and
destroyers to  escort them.  Their escort carriers attack  and  against them
even destroyers  are  outclassed,  so  that now heavy cruisers  must  escort
convoys. As a  result  there are  not enough  heavy cruisers  to escort  our
carriers and our  own construction  of these new light carriers  has yet  to
come fully on line."
     He paused for a moment and  looked at the charts projected on the  holo
screens.
     "We  have  lost  over seven eight-of-eights of  transports in  the last
year, along with four yards for their  construction. That is our weak point.
We have reached the stage where, for the moment, our carriers must leave the
front  and  return  all  the  way to  Kilrah to resupply since there are not
enough transports to bring supplies to them. As a result, in actual  numbers
of ships  at the front, our strength has been cut  in  half, and so, in most
sectors, Confederation ships outnumber us."
     He paused again for effect and  saw  the cold looks  of disbelief, that
something as mundane, as  undignified  as this issue, could actually  affect
their fighting of the war.
     "What I hear is impossible," Yikta of  the Caxki clan snarled. "Are you
truly saying we have lost the war because of such a thing?"
     "The  humans  have  a  saying that  for want of a nail a horse-shoe was
lost, for want of a horseshoe a . . ."
     "What is a horse?" Yikta asked.
     "It  is a  beast  of war which  humans  once rode  upon,  and  then  he
explained the rest of the statement and saw that it had its effect
     "No,  the  war  is  by no  means lost," Prince  Thrakhath finally said,
stirring  at  last "The Baron  tends,  I think, to overplay his thinking and
chartmaking to scare us."
     "But you will not deny that we are in trouble," the Baron retorted.
     "Temporarily," Prince Thrakhath said, "perhaps."
     "Prince Thrakhath," the Baron said smoothly,  "more  than six years ago
it  was you who detailed  off all  new  transport construction  to  your own
Project Hari. Just how many transports and other  material has your own clan
tied  up  in  that  project,  while the  main battle  suffers  for  want  of
supplies?"
     He paused, seeing the stirring of interest in the room.
     "We  are  not here  to talk  of Hari," Thrakhath snapped,  "we are here
instead to hear your own report and ideas first."
     The clan  leaders looked  from Thrakhath  to Jukaga and the Baron could
sense that more  than one  finally  wanted  the truth of this secret project
revealed. But first he would drive another point home.
     Baron Jukaga nodded to an aide standing in the far side of the room who
controlled the holo screen.
     The image shifted  to  a three  dimensional  map  of the  Empire and  a
weaving of orange and red lines.
     "Intelligence  has  found  out  that   the  humans  are  aware  of  the
opportunity that exists  for them for at least the next two  eight-of-eights
days, and are contemplating an offensive to exploit our short term weakness.
They will commit  their carriers to an opening operation  in what the humans
call the Munro  System.  They  know we  must hold Munro for it  is a  direct
doorway into  a  number of  the  shortest jump  points into the heart of the
Empire.
     "Meanwhile, on eight different fronts," and  as he  spoke orange arrows
started  to flash, "eight of their light escort carriers,  along with raider
transports will jump into the Empire,  aiming to cripple  us from behind and
to  smash  our  remaining  transport, cruiser  construction yards and  light
carrier conversion centers, while ravaging planetary bases and crippling our
few supply convoys still in operation.
     "That, in short, is the plan."
     The room was silent as the clan leaders studied the screens.
     "It is a  hideous plan," Thrakhath said coldly, "a stabbing in the back
against  defenseless positions. It lacks  all honor,  all meeting  of  steel
blade against steel blade, ship against ship."
     "But it  will cripple us even  in  its cowardice,"  Jukaga retorted and
Thrakhath could only lower his head.
     The room was silent for a moment
     "And yet," Vak of  the ъagitagha clan whispered, unable to speak louder
due to the fact that the surgeons had experienced some difficulty in putting
his mouth back together after a challenge duel, "if all goes as rumors state
regarding this project in the Hari sector, within a year we  will see such a
growth in our strength as to overwhelm the humans and end this war."
     He looked straight at Thrakhath waiting for a response.
     "Even  here,  Project Hari  should not  be  spoken of," Thrakhath  said
hurriedly.
     The clan leaders stirred. The project was nothing more than rumors, its
development under the  complete  control of  the Kiranka clan of the Emperor
and the Prince.
     "These are our brothers," the Emperor announced from behind the screen.
"Let it be spoken of."
     Thrakhath looked back at the screen behind him as if to protest.
     "Speak of it."
     Jukaga could see the hesitation. It  was known that there were a number
of security breaches  coming out  of the Imperial  Palace and the  less said
about certain things the better. He  could see as well that  the Emperor was
playing a  maneuver of  showing confidence  in  the other clan leaders, thus
winning  favor for acting as if those in his presence were trusted comrades.
He could  see  the effect  on  Buktag'ka who  puffed  up visibly  and leaned
forward to hear.
     "Even  before these  human raids  had  started,"  Thrakhath said,  "the
Emperor in his  wisdom had foreseen certain dangers  along  these lines  and
thus  ordered a  tremendous  investment of  wealth  and  material  into  the
building of a secret construction yard. It is located in the conquered realm
of the  Hari  on the  far side  of our Empire in relationship to the  Terran
Confederation."
     He  took a holo  cube out  of his breast pocket  and loaded  it. Jukaga
found  this alone to  be  interesting, that  Thrakhath had come to the  this
meeting fully prepared to reveal the extent of  Project Hari. His own people
had found out most of its well-kept  secrets to  be sure and  it seemed that
Thrakhath had expected Jukaga to force its full revelation at this meeting.
     On the main holo screen a map of the Empire appeared, the frontier with
the  Confederation at the top, Kilrah and  the Empire in the middle, and far
down at the bottom the conquered space of the now dead Hari, a collection of
a thousand stars around which orbited more than a  thousand blasted lifeless
worlds.
     Thrakhath highlighted  a single star  on  the  screen  deep  within the
former territory of the Hari.
     "Here, for the last five years, a new class of carriers has been tested
and  developed,  overcoming  the difficulties of translight jumping of ships
above a certain  size  and mass. These new carriers, what we call the Hakaga
class,  are  capable  of  carrying  and  servicing  our  newest Vatari-class
fighters to  be launched next year. With their  increased size  the carriers
have  shield generation systems capable of repulsing nearly  any weapon  the
Confederation now has, including their Mark IV & V antimatter torpedoes."
     The image in the holo screen  shifted and a carrier  appeared. The clan
leaders  looked at  it excitedly and  then Thrakhath pushed  a button on his
monitor. Beside the carrier appeared a second image, that of a current fleet
carrier. The room echoed with shouts of surprise.
     Even Jukaga could not conceal his curiosity. Though he had read the spy
reports, the only  images he had  seen  so  far were grainy two  dimensional
shots  clandestinely taken  by a  transport captain  in his  employ. The new
carrier  was at  least twice the length of the old design, and bristled with
six launch bays,  three aft and  three forward. As  the image slowly  turned
inside  the  holo  field  he  saw that the  vulnerable engine nacelles  were
compl