The Battle of Devastation Reef by Graham Sharp Paul

Author:Graham Sharp Paul
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Michael pushed his plate away and commed the drinkbot to bring him another cup of badly needed coffee.

“It’s all a bit much, I have to say,” Machar said. “Salvation, eh? So much for the Kalici Protocol. Goddamn Hammers.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Michael said.

Machar’s concern was plain to see. “Well, I don’t suppose there’s any point in me beating the old ‘we’re not ready’ drum,” he said. “I imagine you’ve done that already, and the admiral told you … well, she told you …”

“To get on with it. Is that what you were trying to say?”

“Pretty much, sir,” Machar said.

“What about the ‘we shouldn’t do it because it might screw up Operation Opera’ excuse?” Rao asked.

Michael shook his head. “That didn’t fly any farther than ‘we’re not ready so please leave us alone’ did. Look, I understand your concerns, but you need to have faith in yourselves. I know we haven’t seen the plan yet, but I cannot see the Salvation operation being any more difficult than what we’ve just been through on the Manovitz ranges. So can we do it? Yes, we damn well can.” Michael was emphatic.

“I can only speak for myself, sir,” Rao said, “but I’m sure we can—”

“Sorry to interrupt, Kelli, but I am, too,” Machar said, “and I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. I just wanted to be sure the powers that be understood, you know …”

“That dreadnoughts are still an unknown quantity?” Michael said. “Yes, they understand that, even though the First has runs on the scoreboard. Anyway, you both did well this week, so it’s not such a risk. In any case, needs must. Throwing Salvation to the wolves is not an option. Think of all those bilateral security treaties that define our sphere of influence. If planets like Salvation, not to mention Kalici, New Kashmir, Bennet’s World, Panguna, Covoti-B, Lagerfeld, Gok-3, Yushiro—I can go on for hours, there are so many of them—cannot depend on the Federation’s promise to keep the Hammers at bay, we are in trouble. And here’s one other thing you need to think about. An operation to protect Salvation might be a distraction, but I cannot think of a better way to conceal the preparations for Opera. When we make our move, any intelligence the Hammers have on our buildup for Opera will be ascribed to the Salvation operation.”

Rao nodded. “One thing is for sure,” she said thoughtfully. “With all the pressure Fleet’s under, the last thing those scum-sucking Hammers will expect is a battle fleet operation against a tough Hammer target like SuppFac27 only weeks after having their asses kicked at Salvation … well, so we hope,” she added.

“That point had occurred to the admiral,” Michael said drily.

“But even so, sir, why use the dreadnoughts?”

“You know what, Kelli? That was my first question when the admiral told me we were tasked. The answer’s simple. Fleet is under enormous pressure; it’s barely holding the line against the Hammers. The dreadnoughts are the largest single tactical unit in Fleet’s order of battle that is not committed to current operations.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.