Free StarFight 1: Battlestar by T. Jackson King Page B

damper field that covered the entire ship. Above, purple lights blinked from the ceiling and a whirring siren that sounded like an old-style fire engine filled the Bridge and echoed over his helmet’s comlink speaker.
    “Crew, prepare for combat. Battle group, crosslink your Weapons Deck targeting with the targeting sensors of other ships.” He paused, then realized what else he needed to say. “We will prevail!”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Thirty-three minutes later, the wasp ships were rising up to Jacob’s geosync orbit. Electro-optical scope imagery on the front wallscreen showed the enemy still maintaining its two six-ship clusters as yellow-orange fusion flames pushed them toward Jacob and his battle group. Carlos and Lori were still seated in the observer seats behind him. Quincy had left for his combat post at the right pod laser node. Daisy sat in the XO seat below him. Filling the seat formerly occupied by the ship’s captain, at Daisy’s right, was the man he had called up to the Bridge right after the declaration of Alert Hostile Enemy. The timer on his left armrest said the enemy would reach the range of their CO 2 and proton lasers within nine minutes. Time enough.
    “Chief Warrant Officer Richard O’Connor, what do you make of the enemy formation?”
    The man in command of the twenty Marine boarders on the Lepanto wore a vacsuit and helmet and was strapped in just like Jacob, Daisy and everyone else. Keeping his attention on the front wallscreen, with its sensor listings on the right and left sides of the true space image, the man spoke.
    “I think their maintenance of the two six-ship formation means their commander is wedded to traditional attack formations,” the man said, his deep bass voice sounding thoughtful. “Which means our fleet movements may surprise him. Or her. Or it.”
    Jacob almost smiled. He didn’t. Everything that now happened on the Bridge and on every other deck of the Lepanto was being recorded by the ship’s AI. It would be subject to review by Earth Command. And perhaps by the captain in charge of the Star Base at Kepler 10. He was not about to show amusement when lives were at stake. The reality of his first combat had been the reason he had called O’Connor up to the Bridge. The man was the only officer on the Lepanto with true experience at deadly combat. He’d led a Marine battalion in the invasion of the island Mauritius after its elected leaders were overthrown by a Muslim jihadist group. While the Islamic State was dead and old history, the extreme fringes of Islam still tried to recreate the caliphate of ancient times. America and other nations had moved to end the newest safe haven for religious fanatics. O’Connor’s battalion, assisted by Darts and F-37 jets, had reduced the jihadist stronghold in the island’s capital. Then had come the ground attack. The fighting had been bloody, without mercy, and the man carried a scar on his left cheek from that fighting. That had been twelve years ago. His presence on the Lepanto showed his superiors had confidence in his judgment. Which was a second reason Jacob had called him to the Bridge. The man might understand enemy actions that Jacob didn’t.
    “Good,” he replied. He looked up. “Melody, activate our neutrino audiovid link with the other ships.”
    “Encrypted link activated.”
    Jacob stared straight ahead, but his mind was already visualizing three dimensional maneuvers. “All battle group ships, change your orbital orientation by 90 degrees. Point your noses downplanet and toward the oncoming enemy.”
    Compliance responses came from the two cruisers, two destroyers and four frigates that surrounded the Lepanto .
    “All ships, move to the Alpha Ring formation,” he said, giving thanks he had paid attention to the academy class that covered standard spaceship battle formations. “Cruiser Chesapeake , move to directly above the Lepanto . Cruiser Hampton Roads ,