First Strike - An Earth@War Novel

Chapter 11

ESS Argentina (D-868)
1240 AMU from Omar
June 6, 2487, 1130 UT

Yeoman First Class Andrew Wilson sat alone in the Administrative Office having excused the other Yeoman to lunch. His stomach was knotted as he checked with the Quartermaster of the Watch on the ship's position. They were still so far from Omar. Andrew was anxious, ready to start killing his enemy. He got up from the desk and started pacing.

On the bridge, Ensign Singleton was the Officer of the Deck as Task Force One raced toward Omar. The tension in the air was heavy. The crew knew that Omar IV was under attack and they were hoping that the ship would arrive in time to save the planet. Despite the tension, the watch on the bridge, so far, was uneventful.

Throughout the morning, the ship was engaged in routine work. Maintenance was being done on machinery, cleaning tasks performed, and most recently, the crew had begun to eat lunch.

Suddenly, the Sensor Technician Third Class looked up from the sensor display. "Missiles inbound, port side!" she shouted.

"Sound General Quarters!" Al ordered as he moved to the sensor display. Four missiles were inbound from a distance of 20 AMU. The Boatswain Mate of the Watch called General Quarters over the intercom as Al calculated the trajectory of the missiles. They were headed for Newton.

Andrew's heart raced when he heard the call to General Quarters. Finally, he thought as he made his way to Mount 54. A single person operated the 75-mm gun mount. Unlike the BA-75, there was no loader, since the gun was charged by the ship's power supply with its own emergency backup supply. Andrew grabbed the headset that connected him to the Combat Information Center (CIC) which would assist him in tracking the enemy.

Back on the bridge, Al went to the comm unit and selected the Weapons Officer. "Fire missiles one through four on a return trajectory," Al ordered. Argentina had all missile launches loaded with M-7 missiles.

"Aye, sir," the Weapons Officer replied.

"Come right to 218 by 060, decrease speed to 28," Al ordered as the Captain arrived on the bridge and moved beside him, silently studying the sensor data. He was pleased to see how the young Ensign was handling the situation.

"Missiles one through four away," the Weapons Officer reported over the comm.

"Very well. Reload launchers one through four with M-7s," Al replied. He watched the sensor data as he moved the ship between the inbound missiles and Newton. The destroyer's primary mission was to protect the capital ships: the carrier, battleship and cruiser. As the ship settled into position, Al ordered, "Come left to 218 by 048, increase speed to 30," resuming the base course and speed of the task force.

"Nicely done, Ensign," the Captain whispered as the ship settled into position.

Al watched the missiles closing in on the ship on the sensor display. "Launch decoys...now...now...now...now," Al ordered releasing four decoys in an attempt to fool the missiles. The four missiles locked onto a pair of decoys and exploded off Argentina's port side. The ship shook violently from the shock waves generated by the explosions.

"Damage report," Captain McCollum asked after selecting Damage Control Central on the comm unit.

"Damage Control teams are checking now, sir," the Damage Control Assistant replied.

Al continued to track the outbound missiles. Looking out of the bridge window, the explosion of the first missile briefly revealed a stealth ship, which then exploded as two additional missiles struck it. The bridge crew cheered at the sight and Captain McCollum slapped Al on the back and joined in, cheering loudly.