Europa Strike(134)

“The American base is under our control, General Lin.”

“Which is why the Star Wind can’t bombard the American forces there. Yes, I know. And, of course, the enemy is still in possession of his command-control facilities, communications, computer system…in short, he still controls everything of importance.”

“General, I assure you—”

“No, General. I will tell you. Withdraw your forces from the enemy base at Cadmus. On our next pass, we will destroy it from space. As you should have done from the beginning.”

Xiang stiffened. “Sir. My orders directed me to capture the facilities at Cadmus intact.”

“I will not debate this further, General. Withdraw your forces to Prime Base. I will see to the destruction of the enemy base, then land the remainder of my forces at your site. We will conclude this conversation then.”

Zhao watched Xiang’s shoulders hunch tighter as Lin’s face vanished from the screen. This was not good. Not good at all.

He turned. “Zhao. The Xiaoyu. Has it been checked out?”

“It is undamaged, General. However, it was aboard the Star Wind’s third Descending Thunder, the one that crashed. The main cargo ramp cannot be fully deployed.”

“We have tractors. We have APCs. We have men. We can right the lander, and get the Fish out of its belly if we have to cut through the hull to do it.”

“What…what do you intend to do, General?” Zhao had a terrible feeling that he already knew the answer.

“This…thing in my head. It is trying to…to communicate. I intend to talk to it, face to face.”

“Assuming it has a face. General, I recommend against—”

“Of course you do, Zhao. You wish the honor of first contact for yourself.”

“That is not the point!”

“Isn’t it? Well, no matter. The Fish has room for two men, a pilot and myself. I will make contact with the Europan Intelligence, in the name of the People’s Republic. Afterward, we will bring in the scientists to study our new…friends.”

“General, I suspect that you’re trying to outmaneuver General Lin. It is not wise to rush things. We still know nothing about this phenomenon. We don’t know if we need an…invitation. We don’t know if it’s hostile.”

“But we do know the Americans have their research submarines in the water. If they can use them to launch an attack on us here, they can use them to reach the Intelligence.” He frowned. “It’s possible they already have. I must get down there, to block the Americans in their effort, if nothing more.”

“General, that is idiocy!”

“And I can still have you shot for insubordination, Doctor. Pick your words carefully when you address me!”

“Yes…sir.”

“I will leave as soon as the submarine can be made ready. You will give orders to have the vessel readied by the civilian team. I will see to freeing it from the lander and getting it to the water.

“And you will not inform Lieutenant General Lin. I will make contact with the Europan Intelligence. I will convince them to join with us against the Americans. And with the Americans eliminated, I shall return to China in triumph! In glory! Let’s see Lin threaten me once I have accomplished that!”

The pain in Zhao’s head was much worse now.



U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson

200,000 kilometers from Europa

1632 hours Zulu



“There it is,” Captain Steve Marshal said. “Just coming over the limb…there.”

Kaitlin leaned forward, trying to see the actual target. The bridge repeater screen showed the curve of Europa in false-color detail, the moon blue-hued, the linea bright red. Green brackets were moving on the screen, marking the exact location of the lidar/EM contact, but even at this magnification, she couldn’t see the actual ship. A green triangle blinked against the blue background of the moon, marking the location of Cadmus Base.

“Two hundred thousand kilometers,” she said. And we’re still moving at a pretty stiff clip. Can we hit it?”

Steve shrugged. “It’s all a matter of physics and geometry,” he said. “The trick is having the crowbars arrive at the same space as the Star Wind, at the same time. Sir Isaac assures me he can pull it off, if we give control of the ship to him.”

Sir Isaac Newton was Captain Marshal’s secretary, and the AI running the ship systems.

“Sir Isaac?” Steve said. “Project the Star Wind’s course, plus our firing solution and intercept.”

A red line began drawing itself from the brackets, arcing along the curve of Europa, bearing down on the green triangle. Yellow lines reached out from the bottom of the screen, a series of them, in fact, nestled close together, following a slight curve in response to Europa’s gravitational field. The lines intersected in rapid succession with the moving end of the red curve. Words scrolled up the right side of the screen, describing elapsed time, projectile velocity, and ending with the single word, INTERCEPT.”