Chapter 15

"Sir," the new Communication officer said timidly.

"What is it?" Weelock understood that during the prelude to a major battle was not the best time to go killing too many of his senior officers, still, the interruption was an annoyance.

"The invisible ship we dispatched to check on the support fleet reports that, while inter-ship communications were disabled, Admiral Guadneef says that he destroyed the attackers and is now working to effect repairs."

"Good! Get that ship back in formation with the rest of my invisible fighters."

"Sir, the pilot reminds me that it has been a long flight and requests permission to dock and relieve himself before joining the battle."

"I thought those invisible ships had their own facilities," Weelock answered distractedly.

"The pilot reports that the facilities on his vessel are clogged and need servicing before they can be used," the Coms officer replied.

"Tell him to talk to his squadron commander. I don't have time for this!" Weelock turned dismissively and studied his battle plot.

Honestly, it didn't look like this system was going to be much of a challenge, but the Tellers were full of stories of over-confident Fleet Admirals who had been blind-sided by a clever enemy.

Okay, Kimiko, Pham communicated through their MIs. He and the Marines took up defensive positions to guard the corridor in both directions as Oshiro approached the armored door to the bridge of the Gorz support fleet's flagship. Switching on the energy cutter she began the circular cut she had practiced so many times in the sims - keeping the tip of the cutter angled outward from the center of the circle. This would cut a tapered circular plug that could be easily pushed inward but could not be pushed outward, making it a one-way door into the bridge, but blocking any attempt of those inside to counter-attack before the Marines were ready to charge in.

Is it true that the Commodore got the idea for this cutter from a farmer's plow? she asked conversationally as she concentrated on finishing the cut properly: instead of making the end of the circular cut line up with the beginning, she overlapped the ends of the cut for about a foot, leaving a thin metal 'hinge' at the bottom, ensuring that when pushed, the top of the heavy plug would fall inward, creating a sort of ramp for the invading force, while clearing the area immediately around the hole.

After a chorus of Beats me and That's the rumor from her companions, her own MI joined the conversation with, That is correct. Commodore McClintock developed the idea after a visit to a family on Bates' World several decades ago.

Bates' World? What the hell was he doing visiting a family on Bait?

The Commodore developed an interest in Commander Sangeeta Olsen's family when her parents asked him to perform their marriage ceremony during their transit from Earth to Bates' world on the first colony ship. The Commander, of course, had not been born at that time. When military business brought Admiral McClintock to the planet some time later, the family invited him to dinner at their farm and the Commodore accepted. It was during that visit that he noticed that the farmers on Bates' World were using ID tractors with plows formed from modified energy shields. I believe it was the ease with which the plows cut through stone that gave him the idea for the cutter.

Hmph! Whaddaya know about that? Kimiko grunted, slinging the cutter and bringing her SonoBlaster to the ready position, automatically thumbing the charger. Okay, Colonel, whenever you're ready.

Since the cutter operated by simply separating molecules from one another, none of the Gorz, in the chaos on the bridge in the wake of the attack on their communications and weapons, had even noticed that the sealed door was being breached, so when the heavy plug clanged onto the deck, startled Gorz faces looked up from workstations and instruments to find themselves confronted by ... nothing but a giant hole in the battle hatch.

Admiral Guadneef reached for his sidearm, the only weapon allowed on the bridge, only to have it snatched from his hand by something invisible.

The bridge crew's puzzlement was soon dispelled as a number of bipedal figures, wearing some sort of bulky suit and helmet, and wielding devices that were unquestionably weapons - in a very business-like manner, appeared out of the haze of the ships atmosphere as if materializing before their eyes.

"Welcome to Bait," a voice said, from one of the helmeted suits in a somewhat stilted version of Gorzai. "Please relax while we finish capturing your fleet."

"The support fleet is in our control Commodore" Djai told Colin.

"Casualties?"

"Seventeen fighters and four shuttles destroyed. All thirty-four crew members of those vessels were killed but with the exception of four whose suits were breached, all of the marines from the shuttles have been recovered alive. There was some resistance on a few of the enemy ships, but as you know, the support fleet was not as heavily manned as the attack fleet, nor were the crews as well disciplined, so we lost only seven Marines in the assault."

"Still, that's forty-five humans and over a hundred MIs. Its fewer than we anticipated but more than I hoped for. Very well. The attack fleet is continuing on course, so our ruse seems to have worked. What about the captured ID fighter?"

"As far as the Gorz are concerned, it is experiencing technical difficulties that are making it hard to dock. Its new MI has almost finished restoring its systems to reasonable operating levels and expects to be able to take the Gorz ship that carried it hostage after docking, if the need arises."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Anything else I should know?"

Mtumbo didn't answer immediately and Colin shot him a penetrating stare, "What is it Djai?"

"It's Commander O'Hare, sir," Mtumbo answered reluctantly. "Her fighter was one of those destroyed in the attack on the support fleet."

"I see," Colin could not keep the pain from his expression, but he had prepared as best he could for just such a situation, and pain or no, he still had a war to win. "I will be in my day cabin, Djai. Please notify me when the Gorz fleet comes within range of the decoy ships."

"Well, what do you know," Weelock bared his teeth in the Gorz equivalent of a grin. A member of any other race would not have been able to distinguish the expression from that worn just before a Gorz attacked. "It would seem that they intend to put up a fight after all!"

A dozen slow moving ships had appeared from the opposite side of one of the smaller planets of the system just as the Gorz fleet passed, and now seemed to be burning their mass-reaction drives at maximum in an effort to catch up with the Gorz ships.

"Gunners, target those ships and disable their drives, if possible, but try not to destroy them. Despite their primitive design, they may have some technology aboard that we can use."

Almost casually, the gunners aimed and fired at their pursuers. Weelock turned his attention to the forward battle plot, not expecting any trouble from the handful of ships.

"Torpedoes, take out those satellites," he ordered. "One or two of them might be armed."

Weelock felt the slight vibration as the torpedoes left their tubes accelerating to near light speed. It was the shock that came after the firing of the torpedoes that made him jump up from his command chair.

"What the hell was that?" he roared.

"Those little ships are proving a little harder to kill than we thought, Admiral," the gunnery officer said. "They seem to be little more than an engine and a big gun. They're hard to hit but they pack a pretty big punch."

"Are we damaged?"

"Slightly," the damage control officer answered. "Nothing serious. One of the thrusters was damaged but should be easy to repair."

"What about the rest of the fleet?"

"Some minor damage, mostly to engines, since they're attacking from astern. We'll have to effect repairs before we leave the system, but they shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Gunnery Officer," Weelock said softly.

"Yes, sir?" The Gunnery Officer trembled visibly.

"If those ships are not destroyed in the next ten nanocycles, I will personally stuff you into a torpedo tube and fire you at them! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Your idea about using the UFWP's for the decoy fleet was a good one, Djai," Colin told his exec as they surveyed the battle plot. "It looks like they managed to damage the engines of most of the Gorz ships, even through their shields."

"Yes, sir," Djai answered somberly. He knew what the next question was going to be and didn't want to answer it.

"How many of them managed to get away?"

"Almost half, sir."

"How many, Djai."

"Four, sir."

Four. That meant eight destroyed, which meant thirty-two more deaths and a couple-hundred more MIs destroyed. Statistically, the number was miniscule, and his military mind told him that it was a good result. His heart wasn't so sure.

"Thank you, Exec. In the future, please provide requested information succinctly. Are all of our elements in position?"

"Yes, sir." Djai answered both the question and the reprimand. He had come to know Colin McClintock as a friend and an able commander, and knew that it had been the commander speaking, whereas he had been trying to protect his friend. The message was clear: they were in a battle and had no time for friendship or its concerns.

"The enemy has destroyed the satellites we had in orbit, as expected, sir." Djai continued. "The ground units are staged but we can only guess where the landings will occur so they're holding in the shuttles."

The new colonists gazed in wonder at the scene that was revealed to them as the ship's doors opened. They had been a little late leaving the Bates' World system, and there had been some concern that the Gorz would fire on them before they could engage their FTL drive, but thankfully, that had not happened, and their escort assured them that they had not been pursued.

"Well, it certainly lives up to its name," Sandeep said softly, "at least on first glance."

Sanctuary was their reward for having put up with three generations on Bait to act as a decoy for the Gorz, and to all appearances, it was well worth the wait.

"Look, Grandpa!" Colin shouted, pointing at someone in the crowd gathered around the landing field, "It's Dad and Grandma!"

Sure enough Helmut and the other nine of Sandeep's surviving children, some with children of their own, surrounded Grandma Josie as she and they waved madly at the figures in the door of the transport. Sandeep's eyes filled with tears as he saw how the years had sloughed away from his wife's face, leaving her looking twenty years younger.

Sanctuary, he thought, has been good to her.

Sandeep lost sight of the onlookers as young Colin, without asking, turned his wheelchair and began backing it down the ramp.

At the bottom, the lad wasted no time in wheeling him over to his waiting family. The flimsy barrier erected to keep the crowd out of harm's way as the ship landed melted away under the onrush of grandchildren and great-grandchildren and Sandeep feared for the integrity of the wheelchair as he was buried under a babbling mountain of, first, little ones, then the older grandkids, and, finally, his own children.

Helmut had tears in his eyes and he bent to embrace his father. "Oh, Dad, it's everything they promised and more! The soil is so fertile it'll grow almost anything, and the local plants and animals are edible. Some are quite delicious!"

"That's good to hear, son," Sandeep answered, "and I really want to hear all about it, but first I'd appreciate it if you'd get out of the way and let me see my wife."

Helmut grinned sheepishly and stepped aside to let his mother through.

With tears flowing down her cheeks, Josie didn't bother bending over. She threw her still-slender body on Sandeep's lap and covered his mouth with her own. Sandeep's arms went around her and the crowd melted away as the the long-time lovers got reacquainted.

Finally coming up for air, Josie whispered, "I missed you so much!"

"No more than I missed you, but I've got a really important question to ask," Sandeep replied in a low voice.

"Yes, dear?"

"What's for dinner? Please, please, please don't say 'rabbit'!"

Josie laughed and hugged him tighter, "No, believe it or not, we're having steak for dinner. Honest to God, real beef steak! We can actually grow cows here, and horses, and sheep and chickens and goats, and damn near anything!"

"How about rabbit?"

"We've got strict laws against the importation of live rabbits!" Josie laughed. "If you want rabbit, you'll have to import it - as meat."

"Thank God!" Sandeep said. "Now let's go try that beef! I've heard great things about it."

"Glardfan, load 'em up!" Weelock ordered over the command channel. "If you don't run into any more resistance than we have, this should be a piece of cake. There are only two cities on the whole damn planet, so you should be able to take both of them at the same time. We'll drop you and three of your units over the largest city, and two units over the other one."