Standing Alone (Cast Adrift, #2) by Christopher G. Nuttall

Author:Christopher G. Nuttall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Christopher G. Nuttall
Published: 2021-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

ESS Dauntless, Belmarsh System

“Captain,” Wood said. “We just picked up an emergency alert. You’re in command of the remaining fleet.”

Naomi said nothing for a long moment. She was a senior captain - she’d been a captain for five years, which was longer than most - and yet, she found it hard to believe command had devolved upon her. Admiral Morris had several commodores under his command ... no, he’d had them. They were gone now, along with their ships. The admiral’s last stand had bought the remainder of the fleet time, but nowhere near enough to guarantee their escape. She didn’t even have time to re-establish the command network and determine if any of the commodores were still alive.

“Signal the fleet,” she ordered. “We will continue our course towards the crossroads, best possible speed.”

Her mind raced. The admiral had slowed the enemy fleet. She hoped he’d killed their flagship - and, even if he hadn’t, he’d caused a great deal of confusion. There was no way she could bring the fleet around and go straight down their throats, but - hopefully - they could get through the crossroads and take up position before the enemy followed them through. The admiral’s tactic was a desperate one, but they were desperate. Their only hope was forcing the enemy to fight on favourable terms.

She leaned back in her chair as the fleet struggled to pick up speed. Dauntless was one of the fastest ships in space, capable of outrunning anything she couldn’t fight, but most of the other ships lacked her acceleration curve. The Pashtali could pick them off, one by one ... she considered, briefly, using the confusion to take her ship into cloak and try to escape, yet ... she shook her head. It was unlikely to work and, even if it did, where would they go? They were cut off from the only safe crossroads and the enemy’s minelaying operation would ensure that wouldn’t change in a hurry.

They can nip back to their own space or simply make the jump into multispace without a crossroads, she thought. She kicked herself, mentally, for not thinking outside the box. There was no reason another race couldn’t duplicate Alphan technology. Knowing something was possible was half the battle. They don’t have to worry about their mines going after their own ships when they don’t have to pass through the minefield to reach the crossroads.

The display shifted as the enemy fleet picked up speed, the tactical staff outlining various options. Naomi hoped - prayed - the enemy didn’t have more ships in multispace. If they did, the battle would be lost the moment they showed themselves. If they did ... there was no point in worrying about it. She’d have to fight on the assumption they didn’t because if they did she was screwed. She leaned forward as more and more options popped up. The enemy were already opening fire again. All they had to do was take out a few more ships and her entire formation would come apart at the seams.

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