Attac of the Bounty Hunters

[This is not a "sex story". It is a story about a society where people have superfast reflexes... and guns.]

Chapter 10: The Fleet Steps In

The fleet had arrived, and was waiting in orbit.

The transport landed in the main landing bay of the League Battleship Majestic. They had made it.

A large number of very shaken diplomats slowly emerged. Medical and support personnel were waiting to take them away. On Croft's say-so the Slurians were put under guard.

"I'm looking for Clifford Croft," said an officer.

The Clapper came forward and gave a moronic grin. The officer looked at him. "Are you Croft?"

"What do you think?" said Croft, stepping forward.

"Admiral Lillard wants to see you," said the officer.

"I'm used to being in high demand," said Croft dryly.

The officer made a deprecating face, but led Croft to the bridge. Before they got there, however, they felt something and the ship shook slightly.

"What was that?" Croft asked.

"I don't know," said the officer.

They hurried to the bridge.

A middle aged admiral sat in the battle chair. Admiral Lillian Lillard was one of the few women Admiral in the League fleet. She was often compared to a crusty, weather beaten boot. And that was one of nicer things people said about her.

The officer led Croft to the Admiral, and saluted.

Admiral Lillard looked Croft up and down. "This is Clifford Croft?"

Croft looked Admiral Lillard up and down, and turned to the junior officer. "This is Admiral Lillard?"

"Your levity is ill-timed," said Lillard.

"Admiral, they're launching a second wave," said one of the bridge officers.

"A second wave of what?" said Croft. But he only had to check the holoviewer to see what was going on. The Graftonites were lobbing anti-ship missiles from the planet at the fleet.

Anti-ship missiles. Either Croft hadn't destroyed them all, or Quandry had procured another shipment.

Croft eyed the trail of the ten or so slow moving missiles. Surely Quandry didn't think he could destroy the fleet with a relatively small number of missiles.

"Anti-aircraft batteries on full," said the Admiral. "Target their launching points."

"Admiral," said Croft.

'We're a little busy now, Mr. Croft,' said the Admiral.

A holoimage of the launching points appeared in the air. They were all clustered at one point on the eastern seaboard.

"They're launching from a very narrowly confined area," said Admiral Lillard. "Not very smart. Set main lasers."

A narrowly confined area? Croft eyed the image closely. That was Regular! All the launchers were in Regular.

Why, with so much open space over a nearly completely empty planet, were all the launchers clustered in Regular, the only real city on the entire planet?

It didn't take Croft more than half a second to figure out the answer.

"Admiral-" said Croft.

Suddenly they felt a small explosion, and then another, and then another.

"Damage?" said Lillard

"All ten offensive missiles destroyed," said an officer. "The destroyer Janson reports minor damage from a close interception."

"Prepare to fire," said Lillard.

"Admiral, you have to withdraw," said Croft.

Lillard turned to Croft. "We are under attack, Mr. Croft. What kind of message would we be sending the Graftonites by running? That would only encourage their aggression."

"Normally I would agree," said Croft. "But Quandry wants you to fire back! That's part of his plan!"

Lillard cocked an eyebrow. "Then the warmonger will get what he wants."

"Lasers targeted," said the weapons officer.

"Fire!" said Lillard.

Brilliant stabs of light shot out from the Majestic. On Regular, deadly beams thundered from above, incinerating launchers, but also nearby streets and buildings. The explosions started fires which spread. In moments, a third of Regular was on fire.

On the Majestic, a magnified holoimage of the city could be seen.

"Launchers destroyed," reported the weapons officer.

"Cease fire," said Lillard. "We'll keep our response proportional."

"Believe me, you've done more than enough," said Croft.

Lillard glared at him.

********

"See what the offworlders have done to us," said Quandry. He was speaking at a Peaceful Debate, where a holoimage of Regular displayed above him. The fires were largely out, but wisps of smoke could still be seen rising here and there. Blackened and partially destroyed buildings could also be viewed.

"What did you expect?" said one Graftonite, standing up. "You lobbed anti-ship missiles at them."

"Yes, that's true," said Quandry. There was a murmur in the audience. "But I only did so after I was attacked. I was willing to reach an honest parley with the offworlder diplomats; what I found instead was a commando team sent in to assassinate me."

The murmuring rose to a roar as the image of the burned out building where the diplomats had been held came on the screen. Then an earlier image of a transport hovering above the building appeared.

"They landed a commando team from the roof and tried to assassinate me; when that failed, they tried to set the building afire," said Quandry. "Should I have sat still for this?"

"No!" some cried.

"Will we take this lying down?"

"No!" more cried.

"Then join me, and help us teach the Leaguers a lesson they won't soon forget!" said Quandry.

The crowd was chanting his name now. Quandry allowed himself a small smile.

********

Croft was on a transport headed back to August with Red Sally, the Clapper, and Tane when he heard the news. The Chief broadcasted on a secure holo.

"The Graftonites have invaded Karis," said the Chief. She didn't have to wait long for this to sink in. Unlike Grafton IV, the previous planet to be invaded, Karis was a full-fledged member of the League. This was nothing less than a direct attack on the League itself.

"I'm not surprised," said Croft coolly. "Not after what that idiot Lillard did."

"Explain."

"Quandry wanted to provoke an attack. That was why he was going to slaughter those diplomats," said Croft. "Only since I rescued them, he had to work a little harder at it. By getting us to attack Regular, he helped unite the Graftonites behind him."

"But his attack was unprovoked," said the Chief.

"Have you checked the latest newsfeed from Grafton? That's not how he's portraying it," said Croft.

"Will the entire population believe it?" said the Chief.

"The entire population doesn't need to believe it," said Croft. "All Quandry needs is to convince a minority of the population to carry his war to us. And that's what he's done now."

"Well, we certainly have to resist him now," said the Chief.

"Certainly," said Croft. "Or, at the very least, stop the next invasion."

"The next one?"

"It's not going to stop with Karis," said Croft.

"I'll talk with the President about deploying the fleet," said the Chief.

"Good," said Croft. "If we have any chance of stopping them, it's in space. Just make sure you get an admiral with a little less attitude and a little more brains."

Admiral Lillard watched as reinforcements arrived to help enforce the blockade off of Grafton II. There was now a similar blockade off of Grafton IV and Karis. Nothing was getting in or out.

If the intel could be believed, the Graftonites had invaded Karis with little more than space fighters and a handful of transports. Lillard's capital ships could handle the transports, but fighters required a different tactic.

Lillard eyed the Command Carrier Glory, which had been detached from regular duty and assigned to her. She established communications with the ship. In seconds a holoimage appeared on the bridge.

"Admiral," said the grizzled looking officer staring at them.

"Captain Harkness," said Lillard.

"I've heard things are quite a mess," said Harkness. Captain Myster Harkness wasn't the regular Captain of the Glory; he had been pressed into service at the last minute when the assigned captain had fallen ill. Harkness had protested that he didn't have the experience to command a Battle Carrier, but evidently his superiors thought that his skill in commanding battleships would carry him through. Either that, or they didn't have any other carrier captains available on very short notice.

Lillard glared at him, interpreting his remark as criticism. "You only need be concerned about the present, Captain. I want an airtight cordon around Grafton II. I want two squadrons in continuous CAP around the planet at all times, and four squadrons on active duty ready to launch."

"Continual active duty?" said Harkness. "Admiral, how long is this going to be for?"

"Until further notice."

"Admiral, I'm no genius, but having six squadrons on active duty will wear down our resources very quickly. It's only meant to be done-"

"When ordered," said Lillard. "And it is an order, Captain."

Harkness muttered something.

"Did you say something, Captain?" said Lillard.

"Just that this isn't the kind of working vacation I planned," said Harkness. "Glory out."

Battle Lieutenant Idaho J. Took sat in the cockpit of his Wildcat 98-J looking very annoyed. As the commander of Wildcat "C" it was now his squadron's turn to sit on "active ready" status. That meant the pilots had to sit in their cockpits of their very still and unmoving ships in the Glory's landing bay. In eight hours, maybe, his squadron and Wildcat "D" would get a chance to replace Wildcat "A" and "B" on patrol. Took flicked on his comm switch.

"Obe, you there?"

"No, I transferred to the seventh fleet two weeks ago," came back Ensign Obe's voice.

"I think my sense of humor is rubbing off on you," said Took.

"Or rubbing against me, in the wrong way," Obe suggested.

"I can see you're testy too," said Took.

"It's all this waiting," said Obe.

"Are you sure it wouldn't be anything else?" said Took.

"Such as...?"

"Well, I don't know, let's see," said Took. "The Captain is gone. And our new Captain knows nothing about fighter combat. Our Admiral is reputed to be one of the dumbest to win flag rank. And we're about to face the fastest gunslingers in the galaxy."

"Being fast with a blaster doesn't automatically mean they're fast in a cockpit," said Obe.

"Don't you know anything about Grafton?" said Took. "Everyone has a starfighter. That's how they get around. I hear they have fewer miles of electric road on the planet then they do in all of Sarney Sarittenden."

"Don't believe everything you hear, Iday," said Obe.

"I don't," said Took. "But the problem is, I tend to believe most everything I say."

********

"A convoy is launching; forty fighters, eight long range transports."

"It looks like another invasion force," said Lillard. She reflected. "Just how do they take over an entire planet with such small forces? Never mind. Launch fighters."

********

"Wildcat "C", rendezvous with Wildcat "A" at the following coordinates," came the voice over Took's helmet. He eyed the coordinates which were pouring onto his screen.

"Understood," said Took. "Launching." He pressed the launch button, and was pushed back into his chair. He had just cleared the Glory launch tubes when he heard the cries for help over his comm. It was Wildcat "A". They were in trouble.

"Squadron C, full thrusters," Took ordered his squadron. It would cut down on their fuel available for combat maneuvers, but time was of the essence. His Wildcat 98 J accelerated to the max. It was a pity they didn't have the new Wildcat 110's like Wildcat "A" and "B" did, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. He had to make do with the resources at hand.

Took checked his sensors. He could see the rapid images of ships darting around each other. There must be quite an active dogfight. He should be close enough to see it visually...

Took saw nothing. Then, suddenly, he saw a piece of debris whip by him. Then another, then another. His trained eye knew the obvious immediately. They were all bits and pieces of Wildcat hulls. Took tried to raise the squadron leader from Wildcat "A". There was no response. Then he broadened his message to anyone from Wildcat "A".

********

"What's happening?" said Admiral Lillard. She had Captain Harkness on holo.

"Just a moment," Harkness growled. He was talking to another officer whose voice couldn't be heard.

"Captain!" said Lillard. She demanded his attention.

"We've lost contact with Wildcat "A"," said Harkness bluntly.

"If you can't contact the squadron commander, try one of his subordinates-"

"You don't understand," said Harkness. "The entire squadron. It's been destroyed. Just a minute." They saw him receive another battle report. He conferred with another officer.

"There are four survivors from Wildcat B. They're trying to link up with "E" and "F". Wildcats "C" and "D" are engaged in heavy combat right now."

"Blow the enemy out of the sky!" said Lillard. "Have them target the transports."

"But Admiral-"

"Carry out my orders!" she said.

********

"Target the transports, sure," said Took, as he received the order. He was having a hard enough time just dodging the fighter that was on his tail. The only thing that had saved him so far was that the pursuing fighter periodically diverted momentarily to destroy "easier" targets, but the fighter always returned to his tail. "Obe, need some help here!"

"I can't help you," said Obe. "Every time I try to turn and acquire one, they simply flit out of the way. I've got one on my tail now."

"Time to go on the offensive," said Took. He did an inverse corkscrew maneuver, twisting the ship violently. He watched with satisfaction as his pursuer overshot him... only to return to his tail seconds later.

"Well, that bought me a good five seconds," said Took. Suddenly there was a blinding flash as one of his wingmen was blasted out of existence. The other pilots started to call for help.

********

On the bridge of the Glory, Harkness watched without expression as a holoimage of the battle played above him. Every few seconds one of the lights representing one of his fighters would wink out.

"What's the situation, Captain?" came the holoimage of Admiral Lillard. "How many transports have been destroyed?"

"None," said Harkness. "Our fighters are getting slaughtered."

"Slaughtered? With two to one superiority?" Lillard asked. How could this be?

"Our pilots can't keep up with them," said Harkness. "More than thirty ships have been lost already."

"Thirty? How many of those are Graftonite?" Lillard demanded to know.

"None," said Harkness. He signaled for his fighter officer. "Withdraw the fighters."

"What?" said Lillard. "I gave no such order. I order you to pursue and engage!"

"Withdraw them now," said Harkness, ignoring her, speaking directly to his comm officer.

The comm officer looked hesitant.

"I take full responsibility," said Harkness. Another light winked out on the screen. "Do it."

"Harkness, you'll be court martialed for this," said Lillard, her face a mask of rage.

Harkness snapped, "It wouldn't be the first time."

********

"That coward," Lillard fumed. She opened another comm line. "Fleet Battle, this is Admiral Lillard. All capital ships are to pursue those transports. I want them disabled or destroyed, immediately."

The Grafton fighters broke off from the Wildcats almost immediately after they stopped pursuing the transports and turned back towards the Glory. Took gave a sigh of relief. If the Graftonites had wanted to, they could have destroyed most of their fighters before they had reached the Glory.

The battleship Majestic, supported by a quartet of heavy cruisers, bore down on the transports. The Graftonite fighters turned their attention to these capital ships. Racing across their hulls, they blasted away at sensors, gun emplacements, and engines.

Admiral Lillard felt the Majestic give another shudder. "Why haven't the anti-aircraft lasers disposed of them?"

"Admiral, they're too fast for our AA lasers," said the weapons officer.

"Then forget about them," said Lillard. "Target those transports!"

But the Majestic was losing gun emplacements almost as fast as it could target them. The situation was the same with the other cruisers. One of the weapons emplacements managed to get online, however, firing at a transport. The shot scored a near miss, and they could see the transport sputter with damage.

"Good," said Lillard. "Keep going."

The fighters as if on cue changed tactics after that, targeting the battleship's engines. In a few minutes the capital ships were either defenseless or without engines.

Lillard watched on the screen as the image of the fleeing ships faded away, and her career along with it. How would she explain it? A numerically inferior force had disabled an entire fleet, killing dozens and injuring hundreds.

For a moment Lillard thought of the Glory. It was a command carrier with capital weapons of its own. The Glory was undamaged; if she replaced Harkness and took command... the results would be the same. Lillard was enough of a realist to realize that. What, then, would she say to fleet command?

********

It was called the Complex. It was the command and control center for the combined armed forces of the League. Located in the heart of Sarney Sarittenden, it was a large bunker complex that extended beneath the city. In one especially secure room, deep underground, a group of senior admirals sat, watching reports.

One of them, a man in a War Admiral's uniform, sat back in his chair, scowling.

"I told you she wasn't ready," he said. His name was War Admiral Adam Lafferty.

"What was your solution to the problem?" said another, Battle Admiral Kenna.

"North," said Lafferty simply.

"That's always your answer," said Kenna. "But sending Admiral North in repeatedly to solve our most difficult of situations breeds a certain resentment in the ranks. It makes the military look impotent, as if only he can solve our problems. The resentment-"

"Obviously extends to some of those in this room," said War Admiral Lafferty calmly.

"Gentlemen," said a new voice. It was War Admiral Carnaby, the Chief of Staff. He expected a certain code of conduct in this room. "I've just briefed the Chief of Staff. He wants to know why the engagement went so poorly. We outnumbered and outgunned them by every method we can measure."

"Except that they're much faster than us," said Lafferty. "I think we've now learned that their exceptional speed isn't limited only to gunfighting."

"Gentlemen, I need options," said Carnaby. "What should I tell the Chief of Staff?"

They were silent for a moment. No one seemed to have any ideas.

"Well?" said Carnaby.

"I don't know the answer," said Lafferty. "But I suggest I know who does."

"There you go again," said Kenna.

"This is a serious crisis," said Lafferty. "Two planets have been invaded in two weeks. How long do you think it will take for them to launch another invasion?"

"How do they capture planets so quickly?" another admiral asked. "From the intel I've seen, they only invade with a few hundred soldiers."

"That's an issue for the army and the intelligence community to find out," said Carnaby. He had to keep the group focused. "Right now my issue is space defense. What am I to tell the Chief of Staff?"

"Tell them you're sending Norman North in," said Lafferty.

"Any other suggestions?" Carnaby looked around. He wasn't against using Admiral North; but he always liked to have choices. But the other admirals were silent. They had no other ideas. Much as they were jealous of Norman North, they knew that he was their best chance to fight the Graftonites.

Carnaby turned to an aide. "I'm going to meet with the Chief of Staff now. I want you to set up a holomeeting with Battle Admiral Norman North in sixty minutes."