Read Online Barbarians at the Gates by Christopher Nuttall - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christopher Nuttall
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some got through.
“Brace for impact,” the tactical officer shouted. His voice was automatically relayed through the entire station. “All hands, brace for impact...”
The entire station shuddered as four missiles slammed into the shields. Compressed antimatter was the most dangerous substance known to man. Huge explosions flared against the shields, burning out several shield generators and allowing the fires to rend the fortress’s hull. Marius hung on for dear life as red icons flared on the display, warning of terrible damage. One red icon caught his eye—the containment systems had failed—and by all rights everyone on the station should be dead right now. Marius wasn’t sure how they’d survived such a terrible hit, to be honest; if they’d been carrying antimatter warheads, the entire station would have been vaporized when the containment systems failed. Unlike a nuclear warhead, antimatter didn’t need a complex triggering mechanism. Simply lowering the containment field sufficed.
“Report,” he barked. Apart from the shockwave, there shouldn’t be any damage to the station’s armoured core. “How badly are we hurt?”
“Major damage to outer sections,” the sensor officer reported. Blood streamed from a cut on his forehead. “We’ve lost most of our weapons, sir, but structural integrity is reasonably stable.”
Marius glanced at the report flashing up in front of him and shook his head. “And the enemy?”
“Shifting their fire to EDS6,” the tactical officer reported. “They must think we’re dead.”
“Or not worth bothering about,” Marius said. Even if the enemy destroyed the station’s weapons, her inner core would survive and would be worth rebuilding, even if they had to reconstruct the remainder of the station later. “Send a general signal to all stations. I want a focus barrage; every station in range is to launch a mass strike against the enemy. We have to show them that we’re not dead yet.”
He scowled as the system display flickered back into existence. The sensors were faithfully reporting the presence of Home Fleet’s drones at the edge of the mass limit; the enemy, of course, would be tracking them already. If they were fooled, they’d either push their advantage against Earth, or break off the engagement. If not...they’d probably break off the engagement. Only a fool would accept battle against a superior force if there was an alternative.
And we have to keep them focused on us , he added, in the privacy of his own thoughts. If they’re focused on us, they’re not thinking about other threats .
“Sir, the enemy ships are adjusting their position,” the sensor officer reported. Marius nodded. It was too soon to tell what they were doing, apart from altering their formation, perhaps to provide additional point defense from the undamaged smaller ships. Or perhaps...
“They’re breaking off,” the tactical officer said in disbelief. Marius ran through the tactical situation in his head and knew the truth. The enemy commander had seen Home Fleet approaching, despite the cloaking devices, and decided to cut and run before he found himself trapped against Earth. “Sir...?”
Fallon turned to look at him. “Admiral Drake, we could launch the starfighters, perhaps give chase...”
Marius considered as Home Fleet decloaked and went to maximum acceleration. The crews would be pushing their ships to the limit, but even so, it wouldn’t suffice to catch the retreating enemy ships. The starfighters could slow the enemy ships down, perhaps cripple a few of them, yet even the fighter jocks couldn’t maintain such a tempo for long. Besides, unless Home Fleet’s carriers got into range, the fighters would wind up operating outside their effective range and end up running out of life support.
But it would drive the enemy away, and give them time. Which wasn’t altogether a bad thing… still, he wanted to kill them now, while he still could. Perhaps there
“Brace for impact,” the tactical officer shouted. His voice was automatically relayed through the entire station. “All hands, brace for impact...”
The entire station shuddered as four missiles slammed into the shields. Compressed antimatter was the most dangerous substance known to man. Huge explosions flared against the shields, burning out several shield generators and allowing the fires to rend the fortress’s hull. Marius hung on for dear life as red icons flared on the display, warning of terrible damage. One red icon caught his eye—the containment systems had failed—and by all rights everyone on the station should be dead right now. Marius wasn’t sure how they’d survived such a terrible hit, to be honest; if they’d been carrying antimatter warheads, the entire station would have been vaporized when the containment systems failed. Unlike a nuclear warhead, antimatter didn’t need a complex triggering mechanism. Simply lowering the containment field sufficed.
“Report,” he barked. Apart from the shockwave, there shouldn’t be any damage to the station’s armoured core. “How badly are we hurt?”
“Major damage to outer sections,” the sensor officer reported. Blood streamed from a cut on his forehead. “We’ve lost most of our weapons, sir, but structural integrity is reasonably stable.”
Marius glanced at the report flashing up in front of him and shook his head. “And the enemy?”
“Shifting their fire to EDS6,” the tactical officer reported. “They must think we’re dead.”
“Or not worth bothering about,” Marius said. Even if the enemy destroyed the station’s weapons, her inner core would survive and would be worth rebuilding, even if they had to reconstruct the remainder of the station later. “Send a general signal to all stations. I want a focus barrage; every station in range is to launch a mass strike against the enemy. We have to show them that we’re not dead yet.”
He scowled as the system display flickered back into existence. The sensors were faithfully reporting the presence of Home Fleet’s drones at the edge of the mass limit; the enemy, of course, would be tracking them already. If they were fooled, they’d either push their advantage against Earth, or break off the engagement. If not...they’d probably break off the engagement. Only a fool would accept battle against a superior force if there was an alternative.
And we have to keep them focused on us , he added, in the privacy of his own thoughts. If they’re focused on us, they’re not thinking about other threats .
“Sir, the enemy ships are adjusting their position,” the sensor officer reported. Marius nodded. It was too soon to tell what they were doing, apart from altering their formation, perhaps to provide additional point defense from the undamaged smaller ships. Or perhaps...
“They’re breaking off,” the tactical officer said in disbelief. Marius ran through the tactical situation in his head and knew the truth. The enemy commander had seen Home Fleet approaching, despite the cloaking devices, and decided to cut and run before he found himself trapped against Earth. “Sir...?”
Fallon turned to look at him. “Admiral Drake, we could launch the starfighters, perhaps give chase...”
Marius considered as Home Fleet decloaked and went to maximum acceleration. The crews would be pushing their ships to the limit, but even so, it wouldn’t suffice to catch the retreating enemy ships. The starfighters could slow the enemy ships down, perhaps cripple a few of them, yet even the fighter jocks couldn’t maintain such a tempo for long. Besides, unless Home Fleet’s carriers got into range, the fighters would wind up operating outside their effective range and end up running out of life support.
But it would drive the enemy away, and give them time. Which wasn’t altogether a bad thing… still, he wanted to kill them now, while he still could. Perhaps there
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