“So, what’s the plan? Make them chase us all over the place until Gold gets in position?”
“Is that what you would do?” Wulf asked, one dark brow raised in query.
“Depends.” She pursed her lips and thought for a bit. “We have shields. We have outstanding maneuverability. We have fighters that can harry the enemy and deliver some knock-out blows to their weapons and shields. We have two aft weapon systems fully online.”
She looked at him. “I’d shift course and see if they followed. If they did, then I would plot a course for them, hailing them to ask their purpose in this sector. See how they react. If they prepare to fire upon us without responding, then I’d go on the offensive and take out as many of them as I could. If they’re smart, they’d retreat and then we send some of Gold’s light battle-cruisers after them and force them to yield. Then, I’d drag their asses back to Tooh 10.”
“Sounds very similar to what I would do,” Wulf said. “Another advantage that we have that you are not as familiar with is the beta-weapon we used on the pirate’s ship that attacked the Galanti.”
“What does that do exactly? When we came upon the pirate’s mother ship, they were dead in space. No power to the engines and no weapons, but the ship itself looked as if it had not sustained any battle damage.”
Wulf swivelled his chair back so that he once again stared into streaming space. “The beta-weapon disrupts the ship’s energy source. Thus, if the beta-weapon is aimed at and manages to hit the correct spot in the ship’s reactor, it interrupts the production of energy.
No energy—no weapons, no power. The ship is relegated to using emergency back-ups to maintain even the most minimal of life support.”
Mel frowned. “But the types of power sources are different from ship-to-ship, and even among the same type of ships within different militaries. If it is the wrong kind of power source, and you manage to hit exactly the right spot—which in and of itself is no mean feat—you could destroy everything within the vicinity.”
“Exactly. We were lucky to have the specs for that particular type of Volusian battlecruiser that the pirates had stolen. The weapon will not work with every type of power source. And, as you mentioned, some ships are harder to target with precision. But for the ones that it will work upon, it is an effective weapon that can take out an enemy without killing everyone on board,” Wulf said. “For our current situation, I have Huw seeking the specs for the light battle-cruisers that are speeding toward us. If the C-Class battle cruisers are as old as Commander Sinclair says, they might be a simple fusion reactor, easily disrupted by changing the nature of the core material.”
“We can only hope. So, what we do now?” Mel asked.
“We wait.” Wulf stood and held out his hand. “Dinner with the crew?”
“Yes. I’d like that. I want them to become comfortable with a female around, since I have in mind several female soldiers from the Leonidas to bring over.” She took his hand.
“Plus, I’ve always found the crew appreciates their captain acting as if death wasn’t waiting around the next corner.”
“A definite morale booster,” agreed Wulf as he guided them from the conference room.
* * * *
Red Alert—Battle Stations
After no response to their hail and after a slight change of course, which the bogies mirrored, Wulf ordered the Galanti to red alert. The hunted was now the hunter. Just the way Wulf liked it.
“Commander Nowicki has communicated that they are less than one standard hour away,” Huw relayed.
“Tell them we plan to proceed with the attack on the ships operating under false Alliance Military identity codes,” Wulf said. “Relay this information to Alliance Military Command: The five unknown battle cruisers have refused to identify themselves and have acted in a threatening manner. We now consider them to be a threat to this ship. Galanti will attack and subdue the unknowns. ”
“They’ve been informed, Captain.” Dakkin, the communications officer said.
“Mel is in Weapons Control,” Huw reported from his position at engineering control,
“in case you didn’t know.”
Wulf turned and smiled at his brother. “I know. She told me—her mind is totally open. We made a pact to keep the line of communications accessible during battle.”
“That’s a relief,” Huw said, a smile on his lips. “Iolyn and I didn’t want to continue in the roles of interpreters and mediators for each of your actions.”
“Don’t worry about it, Huw. I’ve always known that Melina was strong and smart and quite capable of running this ship without me. And she now knows that my emotional responses to her being in danger are just that—emotional—and not based on a lack of trust in her abilities. I’ve promised to have patience with her when she acts precipitously—but with the mental link open, I will not be as apt to overreact.”
“I’ll pass that along to Iolyn,” Huw said. “He’ll be relieved. And Mel? What did she promise to do?”
“She has promised to trust me.”
“Didn’t she trust you before?” Huw asked, shock evident in his facial expression.
“She didn’t come to me with her plan to go outside the ship on the EVI because she felt I would have forbidden her.” Wulf shrugged. “She was probably correct. To that point, I had acted the overprotective male and she feared that I wouldn’t listen to reason.
Now, she knows I might huff-and-puff but I’ll listen to her with an open mind.”
“It will be hard for you, won’t it?” Huw said, a deep crease of worry drawing a line between his brows.
“If you mean, letting her walk into known danger? Yes—but I will always try to be by her side during those times—to lessen her exposure.” He laughed. “And she’ll cover my ass, too. We are very much alike in that way. Both of us are protectors as well as warriors.”
“Captain!” Commander Ard, the Science Officer broke in. “The five unknown ships are on screen and within firing range. They are powering up their weapons.”
“Battle stations,” Wulf ordered. “Full shields. Prepare the beta-weapon. Put all fighters on standby.”
Each station reported in affirming battle readiness.
“Melina. The bogies are preparing to fire upon us.”
“Hold the fort, Wulf. We may have a way to get you full weapons fairly soon.”
“We’ll manage.”
“Of course we will. I’ll be up as soon as we get things straightened out down here.” Wulf turned back toward the large monitor on the command deck. The forward view showed the bogies approaching the Galanti in a V-wing formation, definitely an attack formation.
Turning to Huw, he asked, “The lead ship is a first-generation Volusian C-class light battle cruiser. How about the others? They look different.” Huw frowned over his monitor. “They are all C-class in specs. The modifications seem to be in the superstructure. Power sources on all five seem to be upgraded from first-generation. But they are still using nuclear fission in their reactors. The beta-weapon might work if we can target around the mods on the superstructure.”
“Weapons, prepare the beta-weapon to fire.”
“Aye, sir,” the Weapons Officer responded. “Beta-weapon firing solution is programmed. Will record for study later.”
“Take out the lead ship and then target the others. First, the ships on either side of the leader, then the last two. Make them count, Ensign. This fight could be over before it even begins.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Fire,” ordered Wulf.
The sound of the beta-weapon reverberated throughout the command deck due to its proximity to the upper levels of the ship.
The enemy ships returned fire with the exception of the lead ship and the one to its immediate right. The beta-weapon had done its job on two of the five ships.
“How are the shields holding?” Wulf asked, gripping the arms of his command chair as the ship rocked from a hit.
“Holding,” Huw replied.
“Weapons, fire the beta-weapon again. Helmsman, use Delta-A evasive maneuvers.”
“Firing, sir.”
“Delta-A evasive maneuvers engaged, sir.”
The command deck crew seemed to hold its breath as the beta-weapon fired and hit each of the three remaining ships. Two still had maneuverability.
“One of the ships is breaking away, sir. They are making an attempt to come in behind us.”
“Use the active aft weapons and take them out if you can, Ensign.”
“Aye, sir.” A slight pause. “Direct hit, sir. They are crippled and heading away from us.”
“Sir, three of the five enemy ships are now dead in space,” Ard reported. “My readings show environmental is cut in half on each. Life signs have congregated amidships. All shields down, no weapons, no power to the engines.”
“The fifth ship is also retreating, Wulf,” Huw said. “We are losing two of the five.”
“Contact Gold, let them know what heading the remaining two bogies are following.
Ask them to pursue and subdue.”