Fields of Fire by Marko Kloos

Author:Marko Kloos [Kloos, Marko]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781503940710
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2017-02-27T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

KICKING THE DOOR OFF THE HINGES

The next fifteen minutes are the slowest ones of my life. The CIC’s holotable displays the tactical map at strategic scale to show both the task group and the Lanky fleet, as well as the two dozen blue V symbols that are racing from our cluster of blue and green icons to their cluster of orange ones. Far out in front of us, so close to the Lanky fleet that the icons almost touch at this scale, is the lone little blue icon that says “CINCINNATI OCS-2” next to it. Cincinnati is still in her forward-observer position, running under stealth, tracking all the Lankies optically and relaying the target data back to the task group, which in turn feeds the information to the Orions. So far, we have only fired Orion missiles at Lanky seed ships that were approaching Earth at high velocity, and those shots were much more difficult than this volley at slow-patrolling Lanky ships that are practically stationary to an Orion moving at one-twentieth of light speed.

All those beatings we got from you bastards over the last few years, I think. Let’s see how you like getting sucker-punched back.

On the tactical screen, the blue Vs are rushing toward the orange lozenges. The scale of the display means that the situational orb is half a million kilometers across, but the Orions are chewing up the distance between us and the Lankies like nothing I’ve ever seen moving through space, and their nuclear-propulsion charges are still accelerating them after they’re way past the halfway point. Fifteen minutes of remaining flight time turn to ten, then five, then two.

“One minute to intercept,” CIC announces.

With every second that passes, I expect the orange icons at the far range of our awareness bubble to scatter and rapidly change course, detecting the incoming Orions and throwing off our final targeting fixes. But however the Lankies perceive the space around their ships, sensing missiles coming toward them at fifteen thousand kilometers per second, which is what the Orions are up to in the last minute of their targeting run, doesn’t seem to be within their abilities. The Lanky seed ships continue their leisurely patrol pattern, unaware of the kinetic energy coming their way.

“Flight One impact in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five.”

It takes all the self-control I have to stay in my seat and not jump up and pace the deck.

“Three. Two. One. Impact.”

The two dozen blue V icons merge with the cluster of orange lozenges in quick succession. Then the tactical display stops updating the icon positions.

“Cincinnati has lost visual. FO is reporting multiple high-energy impacts. Stand by for poststrike assessment.”

Several minutes pass as the sensor suites on Cincinnati and the leading ships in our battle line seek to reestablish a picture of the tactical situation. The kinetic warheads are just big blocks of pykrete, ice mixed with wood pulp, harder than concrete and much less brittle than pure ice, but they release all their energy on impact, billions of joules.

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.