Orion Gambit - Traci Ganner series book 2

Orion Gambit - Ch 17

Chapter 17

Breaking Through

“Status,” Traci said, walking onto the bridge. Michael stood up from the command chair and Traci slid into it. This was a maneuver they had performed many times during his presence on her ship, like a dance that they both knew well. He watched over the ship, but both knew that it really belonged in her care.

“CIC reports five Terran ships near the rift. There are also three more ships near the Spica hyperspace lane. It appears there may have been others, but they seem to have been recently called away,” Michael said.

“Initial sensor reports indicate a rather dense minefield around the rift, presumably requiring fewer ships to tend to it,” Magnus said from his post at the tactical station.

“Classes?” she asked, calling up the plotted view on her repeater station.

“Two heavy cruisers, a destroyer, a frigate, and…” Magnus said, “…a dreadnought in the rear of the formation, guarding the rift. The ones farther away are sketchy at this range, but one might be a battleship class.”

Traci sighed. “A bit more than our little escort of two cloaked light cruisers and missile frigates can handle, I suppose. The real problem is the minefield.”

“Captain, maybe we should wait until we can reinforce,” Michael said, grimly looking at the tonnage disadvantage. If things turned ugly, a dreadnought was a tough ship to go up against. They had discovered that the hard way.

“With what, Commander? We lost three cloaking destroyers and a frigate in our last exchange with the Terrans, and I don’t intend to lose any more. Besides, our fleets don’t have any additional cloaking units to spare, and it will take time to refit replacements. We’ll have to make do with what we’ve got.”

“Captain, there’s another consideration,” Wallace interrupted from the helm station. “Even if we can sneak by them in cloak, we can’t enter the minefield without revealing ourselves. Whether we sweep the mines with our beam cannons or let the fighters do it, they’ll know where we are. And some of the mines will certainly be set to be triggered by Valdi fighters. One mine blast could wipe out an entire squadron.”

Traci stood up and walked closer to the main view screen as though it might contain some answers.

“Can’t we get a message to the Valdi on the other side?” Lazarus asked. “Maybe they can send fresh forces through to help us.”

“We have to be on the other side of the mines to send the probe through. If we are unable to get past the mines, it is possible the Terrans will destroy us, and my people will not even know we have died,” Zuarit responded. “They can not see what is transpiring on our side any more than we can see theirs.”

“We also have to consider our broader mission. We need to have full cloaking capability if we do get through to the other side, so we can investigate the Terran artifact there. If we sustain damage in a protracted fight, we’re back to square one. It looks like a stalemate, Captain,” Michael added.

Traci continued to stare at the viewer, but her mind was in full gear. She was solving the puzzle, like she always did, sliding in this piece and that until they all clicked into place. The Terran dreadnought was a terrible foe to go up against in the best of circumstances. If the Terran Third Fleet hadn’t been present at the last encounter to support her with a decisive missile strike, she never would have risked it. But here, she only had the support of her far smaller escort vessels.

She closed her eyes and worked through the initial engagement, move and countermove. The minefield proved to be a slippery problem, but not insurmountable. After all, these were Terran mines—she knew exactly how they worked.