Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space Read online

CHAPTER 13

  RADAR CONTACT OF ALIEN FLEET

  Several weeks later, Gallant went to the captain’s cabin and reported, “Junior Officer of the Deck, sir. The Officer of the Deck sends his respects and reports a distant radar contact approaching Jupiter at high speed.”

  Captain Caine had just sat down to a very special breakfast, given to him from the Ganymede laboratory as a present for the glowing report on their performance that he had filed with Mars Fleet. It consisted of a cup of strong steaming hot coffee, two real eggs over-easy, crisp bacon, and toast with strawberry jam. A delicious aroma was wafting about the compartment.

  From the captain’s longing glances at his breakfast and the frown on his face, Gallant couldn’t quite tell if he was more concerned about a possible enemy invasion fleet, or the forfeiture of his morning repast. Gallant couldn't help wondering, whether, perhaps, this day held some special personal meaning to Caine.

  “Thank you,” replied Caine, as he pulled away from the table. He briefly checked his local computer readout before following Gallant.

  Caine finished buttoning his jacket as he opened the stateroom hatch. He had just enough time to acknowledge the salute of the marine guard stationed there.

  Taking two rungs at a time, he bounded up the ladder toward the bridge.

  “Report,” said Caine, as he reached his destination.

  “Captain, we have a contact at a distance of three hundred million miles moving at 0.002c on a flight trajectory directly toward Jupiter Station. It must be a very large formation of hundreds of alien ships to register this significantly. ETA is ten days,” responded the OOD.

  Caine considered the distance to the aliens. They could be coming from any of the moons of Saturn. The sixty-two moons of Saturn ranged from tiny moonlets, less than a kilometer across, to enormous Titan. The rings of Saturn were made up of objects, ranging in size from microscopic to hundreds of meters. Of course, they could have started even further out. Uranus has twenty-seven moons and Neptune thirteen, including its largest, Triton.

  Caine said, “Mr. Gallant, signal Mars Fleet Command and inform them of a possible major attack to Jupiter Station in ten days.”

  On returning to the bridge as JOOD, Gallant resumed manning the communication station. In response to the captain’s order, he broadcasted the message. Then, they waited as the signal went outward at the speed of light. Mars station was four hundred eighty million miles away and it took eighty-six minutes for a response.

  "Repulse, this is Mars Fleet Command. Mars Fleet is being placed on alert, but it will remain to defend Mars. You are to collect all available units in your area and defend Jupiter Station at all costs.”

  The captain shrugged, "I was expecting that; even if they could send help at flank speed - 0.002c, Mars Fleet reinforcements wouldn't reach Jupiter for sixteen days."

  Then he ordered, “Send a general recall to all ships between Mars and Jupiter. Tell them to rendezvous with Repulse at best possible speed."

  Caine leaned closer to Gallant and asked, "What’s your best estimate for how many ships can respond in time?”

  Gallant made a few quick motions over his computer panel, to locate the last known positions of certain ships. He said, “Renown and Remarkable.” Then he hesitated before adding, “Possibly Retribution along with six or seven destroyers.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Yes sir.”

  Caine nodded, but made no further reply as he reviewed the fleet’s battle characteristics and assessed its strength.

  Gallant was lost in his own thoughts. He wondered what four battle cruisers and some destroyers could do, to defend this post.

  Repulse, Renown, Retribution, and Remarkable were all ships of the Repulse class. They resembled a supersized nuclear submarine. Their armament included eight bow missile tubes and four aft missile tubes, ten short range plasma weapons, forty laser guns deployed amidships, and armor belts and force shields, with electronic warfare decoys and sensors.

  Each sixty foot section of the hull had been constructed on Earth and then launched into orbit where it was assembled piece by piece in a shipyard orbiting Earth. The construction had taken several years and a great deal of money and resources.

  The missiles were both fire and forget (which had their own AI controls for target search and selection) as well as remote guidance including laser target painting. The missiles had a maximum speed of 0.1c and were equipped with their own sensors and decoys.

  The hangar deck of each battle cruiser carried a dozen Eagle fighters for launch from amidships, each with a maximum velocity of 0.01c.

  The UP destroyers looked like a smaller version of a battle cruiser. Each included four bow missile launchers and two mid-ship launchers. The missiles launched by a destroyer were only one-fourth the explosive power of a battle cruiser’s missile. The destroyers had six lasers, but no plasma weapons and no fighters.

  Previous confrontations with the Titans had involved only one or two alien ships. Usually, they exchanged missiles or laser fire; some ships were damaged, but little information was learned. The coming encounter was going to be on a considerably different scale.

  Gallant looked up as Caine surveyed the bridge. The Repulse was a powerful ship and worthy of the pride the captain was showing in his command. She had already won her spurs through a number of previous skirmishes with the aliens. Caine's face showed a mixture of faith in his ship and concern for her mission, but Gallant was troubled that there were just too many unknowns.