Operation Hammerhead - 9. Make All Preparations to Get Underway

Saratoga Bridge

One of the members of Saratoga’s communications division said, “Five minutes gentlemen!”

Danny looked at his new boss Commander Keller and said, “I’d rather fight Antarian sea snakes than make a speech.”

Keller could tell that his new subordinate was ready to run away screaming. He took his most reassuring tone and said, “There’s really nothing to it. It is virtual presence, and we can tweak the settings in the conference room, so you’ll be completely unaware of the audience. Besides - they are all navigators and command staff of the fleet.”

Captain Carter said, “All you have to do is give them a short explanation of the new jump equations. Believe me - they’ll be thrilled to hear what you have to say. Simpler equations, faster computation, micro-jumps, long-jumps: they will be eating out of your hands.”

Keller said, “This is how it is going to go: Admiral Bassett will make a few introductory remarks. Captain Carter is going to discuss the organization of the flag plot. Then I am going to tell them about the Flag-Plot set up that we’ll be running. You will make a brief discussion of your new jump equations and the new capabilities that it gives us. Bassett will conclude. Any questions will come in electronically afterwards, and we will deal with them that way rather than dragging out the conference.”

Carter said, “Don’t sweat it kid. It’ll be over before you know it.”

“That’s what the dentist always says.”

Capella Fleet Academy Auditorium

Thousands of fleet officers had gathered for the briefing. What began as a gathering for Captains, their first officers and navigators had inexplicably expanded. Tactical Officers, engineers, Air Group commanders, and Marine detachment commanders had all elected to attend even at the expense of a few hours of precious liberty. The hosts of the meeting were underclassmen who provided refreshments and even added more tables and chairs at the last minute.

The command staffs of the 2^nd Battle Cruiser Division had all gathered at one table. Their mood was foul because they had received their orders: they would be baby-sitting the carriers. The battle cruiser divisions would be split so that each division of carriers would have a pair of battle cruisers permanently attached.

The command staffs of the Tirpitz and the Scharnhorst were complaining too loudly when Captain Mueller of the Fearless spoke up and told them that there would be plenty for everybody to shoot at. His own officers were sitting quietly listening to the banter. His XO Klein and Navigator Fortier both shook their heads at their fellow officers’ frustration. Their assignment only made sense. The fast, well-armed battle cruisers were perfect for the job. The carriers needed room to operate and the fewer ships crowding them, the better.

Klein said, “What I want to know is how we’re supposed to penetrate the Omicron Ceti corridor with a huge task force and get into the enemies rear areas and launch a surprise attack. The whole area is thick with enemy listening posts.”

“I had been thinking about that myself”, Mueller said. “I think that I have an idea how they are going to pull it off, but it’s a little crazy.”

Fortier said, “Crazy is how I would characterize the scuttlebutt. Some people are saying that we’ve got a secret cloaking device. Others say that we’ve got new radiation shielding that will allow us to fly right through the Carina nebula or simply ignore the Twelve Sisters pulsars.”

Klein said, “I know that we’re packing some new and exotic technology but nothing quite that interesting.”

Their Tactical Officer Lt. Ragsdale piped in, “I can’t wait to see the new Starfish missiles in action or the Standard missiles with advanced evasion by Nakajima. We’re going to kick some ass out there.”

The big display screen at the front of the auditorium came to life showing a message: Conference starts in 5:00 minutes and began counting down.

The crowd began to settle in and quiet down.

Alliance Heavy Cruiser Canberra

Captain Lawson was filled with pride as he sat at the conference table in his briefing room. All of his senior officers and many of his enlisted men had elected to cut their liberty short and return to the ship early. His entire senior staff had assembled to view the conference and the smell of hot coffee filled the space.

His Tactical Officer Jenkins said, “The way I figure it, if this is going to work, we’re going to need at least one minor miracle and pull at least a half-dozen rabbits out of our hat.”

Lawson said, “What are you on about Jenkins?”

“There’s one way in. We need to get into their rear areas without being spotted and that’s going to take a miracle. The pulling rabbits out of hats are the minor miracles we’re going to need like having enough raw throw weight to kill their largest ships.”

Commander Gant, Canberra’s XO, said, “Our magazines are loaded with a range of nukes from 10 kilo-tons all the way up to 100 mega-ton continent killers. Something tells me the gloves are coming off.”

Lawson said, “In the past, the brass has been reluctant to use nukes against our enemy because of their pattern.”

Jenkins said, “What pattern is that sir?”

Lawson said, “Whenever we show the enemy something new, they use it against us a few months later. We’ve been saving our nukes for a Sunday punch.”

Gant said, “Over the last few days I’ve seen more special weapons than I have in my whole career. Nukes, electromagnetic pulse warheads, nanotech bombs: I’m guessing all bets are off.”

Saratoga

Pilots Ready Room

Crash’s meeting with his new staff had gone well. The crew chiefs and squadron commanders knew that their new CAG was experienced and could do the job.

They did send a few questioning looks in Tom’s direction. As the CAG’s deputy, he would be carrying a lot of responsibility. He knew that he would be tested sooner rather than later. He wasn’t expecting it to happen quite so soon. As the CAG’s gopher, Tom was putting the pilot's briefing room back in order when the commander of one of the attack squadrons returned.

The tall, hawk featured officer sat in one of the chairs and said, “Rivers, when you said that you would work with us in any way, did you mean it?”

Tom replied, “Of course Lt. Larkin. What do you need?”

Larkin leaned on his elbow and said, “Last night two of my pilots were involved in a brawl and are sitting in the station brig. Unless we get it sorted out, I’ll have to use two nuggets that aren’t ready.”

“Who are they?”

“Brown and Holloway.”

Tom said, “Are they habitual discipline problems?”

Larkin said, “No. They’re both clean. From all indications, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The owner of the club is being a jerk about it because of the damages.”

Tom sighed and said, “OK. Have Commander McDonald’s shuttle prepped and ready in a half-hour. I need to get it squared away and while I’m on the station, I’ll see if I can shake your pilots loose. Give me until 1600 and then send a shuttle to pick us up.”

Larkin grinned and said, “Thanks Lieutenant. They said you were OK.”

“I’m not doing it because I’m ‘OK’. It’s my job. The CAG needs every experienced pilot he has in the cockpit and my job is to keep headaches like this off of his desk.”

Capella Fleet Academy Auditorium

The official seal of the Alliance Fleet appeared in the holographic display followed by the words: “Operation Hammerhead - Command Briefing”.

“Attention on deck! Admiral Bassett, Task Force Commander.”

As one, the officers assembled in the Auditorium stood at attention.

Bassett said, “As you were. It’s been five years. Five years of fighting. Five years of sacrifice. It has been five years of trading space for time, sacrificing good men in ships that were decades out of date and firing missiles that were older than any of the men in the fleet. It has been five years since we became acquainted with our enemy. This is how most of us came to know them.”

The display changed to the familiar holo-news broadcast:

It started with a view of the city of Sea Breeze overlooking the beaches with their rolling surf. Worried citizens were gathering outside City Hall and other government buildings.

This is David Jordan of Galactic News Network coming to you live from the roof of the Media Towers Building in down town Sea Breeze, the capital of the colony of Pacifica here on the Cygnus Rim. Moments ago we were informed that unidentified ships have appeared in orbit of the colony and have begun attacking both civilian and military shipping in orbit. We have lost contact with Pacifica’s Orbital Station and the Alliance Fleet in orbit. So far, all attempts at contacting the unknown ships have failed, and they appear to be extremely hostile.

We are seeing flashes overhead in broad daylight, so it appears that a serious battle has broken out in the orbital space over Pacifica. Look, get that shot!

A meteor of red flame falls from the sky and lands in the ocean over the horizon. More flashes appear in the sky. Dozens of smaller meteors fall. Air raid warning sirens begin to wail. The crowds on the street begin to thin but don’t disappear entirely.

We are being told to seek cover in the basement, but the network believes that this story needs to be covered as long as is possible. Our connection to the CommStar tachyon FTL network is still live, and we’ll stay with the story as long as possible.

This just in, the Alliance fleet in orbit is signaling their surrender to the invaders but the onslaught continues. OK, more information is coming in now. The unknown ships are approaching low orbit and are launching… oh God, they’re launching at us.

Many small objects have entered the atmosphere. We’re seeing dozens of con-trails streaking across the sky.

The cameraman focused on one as it arced down into Pacifica’s atmosphere and appeared to break up.

Whatever they are, they appear to be breaking up at a set altitude.

The cameraman panned the streets below. They were quickly filling with people diving into vehicles to make a run for it.

We’re seeing people now and many vehicles. It looks like many people are trying to get out of town.

Suddenly, the announcer coughed. He gasped for breath and grabbed his throat. He coughed again, and bright red blood appeared on his lips. The camera recorded the death of David Jordan as the enemy’s biochemical agent dropped on the colony dissolved him on camera.

The film clip ended and the booming voice of Admiral Bassett returned, “This is how we were introduced to the enemy. For the last five years we’ve been holding the line. Now we have assembled the force required, and we’re going out there to kill them. This is how we’re going to do it.”

Captain Jerry Carter appeared on the display. He introduced himself and said, “My ship, the Saratoga, has been designated the fleet's flag plot. We will be responsible for astrogation and movement orders. As usual, we will be transmitting movement via TacCom. TacCom jump orders will include jump coordinates and the next three planned jumps so that if any ship misses a jump they can catch up with the fleet. We have a number of new tricks that we plan to show the enemy, so I’ll now turn it over to Commander Ben Keller, the Task Force Senior Astrogator.”

Keller stood in front of a 3-dimensional map of the galaxy. He said, “The enemy has noted that we have only one way to get out to the Carina spiral arm: the Omicron Ceti corridor. Radiation from the Great Carina Nebula and the Twelve Sisters Pulsars act as an impenetrable barrier to both sides. To the Alliance, it has been a choke point that we can defend, and we stopped them cold there. On the other side, the enemy is arrayed to defend against any attacks that come from Alliance space. We are about to pull a surprise out of our hat.”

“When this fleet jumps, we are going to head due galactic North to the galaxies halo. We will then follow the halo and make a series of way-points along the northern rim of the galaxy and enter enemy space from behind.”

“We have known that we can travel the halo for years. Explorers and scientists have mounted various expeditions out there for a couple of hundred years. It’s just not customary for us to travel the halo, and we’ve saved it for a Sunday punch. We have also been planning this operation for several years. The fleet has sent out automated supply ships that we will utilize along our route.”

“The last surprise that we have for you today is that a young navigator working for Argos Transport has mastered the mathematics necessary, and we now can execute micro-jumps and, with proper testing, long-jumps. That astrogator has joined the fleet and will be present aboard the Saratoga. I want to introduce Lt. Commander Daniel Sokolsky.”

There were gasps in the auditorium and applause broke out. The fleet's command crews were beginning to believe that they could actually make the plan work.

Danny appeared on the holographic display and said, “What I have done with the jump equations is to simply their form. The new equations run faster and are more accurate at the extremes. I had already written the computer code to integrate the equations with our systems. Yesterday the destroyer Summers executed the first controlled micro-jump. Once the fleet gets underway, we expect her to make our first long-jump which should take her three hundred twenty light years. Combined with the conditions in the galactic halo of low star density and using long-jumps, we will set a record making it to the rim.”

Alliance Heavy Cruiser Canberra

Jenkins looked at Sokolsky and at his ship's XO Commander Gant. When there was a pause, he said, “John, I think you’ve got a long-lost cousin up there. The Sokolsky guy looks just like you. He even wears his hair the same.”

Gant looked at the Sokolsky on the display and said, “Small galaxy, I suppose. Maybe we do have an aunt or uncle in common.”

Capella Fleet Academy Auditorium

Bassett’s showmanship and Sokolsky and Keller’s briefing had just the right effect on the audience. The mood had changed from a sober briefing to an excited crowd waiting for the start of a sporting event.

Commander Klein leaned over to have a private word with Captain Muller and said, “That Sokolsky fellow looks just like you did when you were a cadet.”

Muller nodded and said, “I wonder if he’s from a branch of the family that’s been separated over the years.”

Klein said, “Well we’re running close escort for the carriers. Maybe you’ll get a chance to meet him and compare notes.”

Bassett finished the briefing. “Once we enter enemy space, we will have five primary objectives - the planets that the enemy has seized and fortified. In coordination with the rest of the fleet, a series of diversionary attacks will be made on the enemy perimeter to draw out their forces. We will then strike the enemies bases and destroy their production and support facilities. Once their support facilities are destroyed, we expect that we will have to mop up the remainder of their fleet. That should put a victorious end to this war.”

To a man, the assembled officers in the Fleet Academy Auditorium stood in a thunderous standing ovation. Admiral Bassett had his men primed and ready for the battles ahead.

Capella Academy - Fleet Intelligence Offices

Agent Barrett closed his office door and sat down at his desk. This was a disaster; a complete, unmitigated disaster. What were the chances that any of the Bruckner file individuals would have met or interacted? Slim or none. Then Vega-25 and Mars-07 meet and become best buddies and now Mars-07 was on a fleet-wide broadcast. Dammit!

Grissom was going to have kittens. Big hairy, angry kittens and Barrett would be their cat toy.

He opened a file on his pad computer and entered a password. It started a program that would hack the interstellar communications lines and reach his boss on Parliament. The situation was bad and rapidly slipping out of control. Without quick command level intervention, it was slipping away fast.

He sat back and waited for the program to do its work.

Suddenly, the door to his office burst open and a four-man Marine tactical team seized Barrett, pinned him to the ground and cuffed him.

Colonel Gorman walked in and said, “I guess you didn’t hear there was a communications blackout until the fleet jumps out of the system.”

Barrett stared at him blankly.

Gorman picked up Barrett’s chair, sat and said, “Who do you work for Barrett? Who were you trying to talk to on Parliament?”

Barrett said, “Someone who outranks you.”

Gorman said, “You’re under arrest for suspected espionage and hacking a secure Alliance communications system. We’ll see if your patron on Parliament is willing to speak up for you, but I doubt it. Welcome to my brig Mr. Barrett. I can tell that we’re going to have lots of laughs.”

Gorman motioned for the Marines to pick him up. “Get him to the brig. Put him in solitary. He speaks to no one until we have the crime scene guys sweep his office and quarters.”

Capella Spaceport

As soon as Tom landed, the ground crew recognized Crash’s shuttle on sight. Tom ordered that it be placed in long-term storage, so it was drained of fuel and placed in its slip. Once the shuttle was carefully stowed away, Tom rented an antigravity sled called a mule and began unloading their samples from the asteroid. It took him a solid hour of hard, sweaty work. When he was done, he powered down all the shuttles systems and plugged in the external power supply to keep the little ship's batteries from going flat until Crash got back to it. He code-locked the shuttle's computer with Crash’s password and locked the main entry hatch.

Tom led the mule off to the assayer’s office to cash in their mineral finds.

Saratoga Hanger Deck

Danny exited the elevator onto a whole new world. The flight deck of the Saratoga was huge, busy, crowded, noisy, and extremely dangerous.

Crew members were beginning to return from their liberty on Capella Station. Big personnel hauling shuttles were cycling: landing, disembarking personnel, refueling, being checked out by their air crews and launching again.

The first thing that Danny noticed was that all the crewmen were wearing vests of various colors. The next thing he noticed was one of the men in a white vest was running toward him.

The white vested crewman yelled over the roar, “Sir, what are you doing down here?”

Danny yelled, “I’m looking for Master Chief Jenco.”

The man yelled, “I’m the hanger deck safety observer. It’s against regulations for anyone who isn’t assigned to the hanger deck to be down here during flight ops.” As he spoke, he nudged Danny backward to the bulkhead as a tractor towing a shuttle passed. “Go to the flight ready room one floor up. I’ll tell Chief Jenco that you are looking for him.”

Danny got back on the elevator and went one floor up from the hanger deck to the warren of offices and meeting rooms where the squadrons met to plan their missions. His ears were ringing and found that he was feeling dizzy and nauseous.

A few minutes later a large man with a red face stormed into the flight ready room, “Who is the crazy man who walked on my flight deck without orientation!”

Danny said, “That was me sir. I’m new to carriers. In fact, I’m new to the fleet.”

Jenco looked at Danny and said, “Aren’t you the CAG’s Deputy?”

“No sir, that’s my cousin.”

Jenco noted Danny’s rank and science officer piping and proceeded with caution, “Sir. The hanger deck is the most dangerous place in the fleet. Everything we deal with explodes, burns, maims and kills. We have special rules to maintain the safety and operations of the hanger deck and number one on the list is that you don’t go on the hanger deck without a good reason. Are we clear?”

Danny said, “Yes sir. In fact, that’s why I was looking for you. I was just commissioned yesterday. I was an astrogator on a freighter and was asked to join the Flag Navigators staff. While I’m not a bad astrogator and know my way around merchant ships, I know next to nothing about warships. I know that I’ve got a lot to learn and hope that you can help me. You are the highest rated trainer aboard.”

Jenco smiled and said, “Well this is a pleasant change. Most officers think they know everything and don’t bother to ask until something bites them on the ass. You on the other hand, are way ahead of the curve. You seem to know your limitations and are willing to learn. I’ll be having an orientation for officers and crewmen new to carriers right here tomorrow at 1300. We can start there. If you go to your ships' computer, there are numerous lessons and manuals about everything aboard the ship. Once you might want to look into is shipboard etiquette. It can save you from embarrassing little faux pas like saluting an enlisted man like me first.”

Danny blushed and said, “Thanks. I’ve got a lot to learn, and I’m grateful for the help.”

Jenco said, “I’m guessing that with your attitude, you’ll do fine. Now - no more strolls on my hanger deck, OK?

“Yes sir. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jenco returned to his duties on the hanger deck grumbling under his breath, am I getting older or are the officers getting younger?

Capella Station Brig

Tom arrived at the Brig and filled out the forms necessary to get his wayward pilots back. It was by far the most tedious task of the day. It didn’t really take long. Tom just had little patience for people acting like screw ups and wasting his time.

Rather than wait around for their release, Tom gave the shuttles flight number and ordered that they report there immediately. He had a few chores to do while he still had time.

Tom got a haircut and did a little light shopping. He had a steak while he still had a chance and then headed to the spaceport. When he arrived at the shuttle, one of the members of the ground crew informed him that his way ward crewmen were waiting aboard. Good, Tom, though. I wasted a little of their time.

Tom climbed the access ladder to the shuttle and entered the passenger cabin. It was a much bigger and more modern shuttle than Crash’s ship. There were twenty passengers aboard with room for four more. They would wait until they had a full load to return to the carrier.

He said, “Are Brown and Holloway aboard?”

Two voices said, “Yes sir” from the back row. He turned to face the two men and when he saw Holloway, it was like looking in a mirror.