* * *
“Fighters away, Commodore!” An officer on the battle bridge called up to Nazareth.
The commodore thanked the officer and shouted to her helmsman, “Bring us to port, on the double!” She waited as the Chisamore groaned hard off to the left. When it was finally facing west, Nazareth gave orders to her bridge officers. “Take us in fast! The jig’s up and speed’s our business now! Sound quarters and ready all guns!”
“Code red the battle group!” Nazareth ordered her navigation officer. “Tell ‘em to stay packed in close! We’re going for the fox...” She paused in thought, adding, “And tell ‘em to make noise, lots of noise. I want those bastards to remember this day, that the sons of Damnation do not go quietly into the night!”
Nazareth shouted down to the battle bridge, “Ready the cluster torpedoes and charge the rail gun! We’ll give ‘em something they won’t forget!”
The quizzical look on James’ face prompted his mother to explain. “Before the Chisamore was refitted, it was pretty much stripped of its weaponry. By the time it was pulled off the demolition list, little remained but the torpedo launchers and a few antiquated bubble turrets on the outer hull. I was desperate to find needed armament, so I went to RadapNasi to secretly meet with our king’s chief technical advisor, a certain Major Garlock.”
“It was fortuitous for me because it just so happened that the commander of Special Forces, Commodore General SarahCnidus, was present with the major, expediting the reequipping of the Chisamore.”
Nazareth paused and glanced around the various bridges to make sure everything was going as directed. “Major Garlock informed me that he had little to offer at the time. We finally settled on a few more missile launchers and turret cannons. I also procured our scrap-yard fighters that day. Then the major mentioned some older rail guns that were being warehoused. I was told that a ship the size of the Chisamore should easily support two such machines, especially with the new engines that were being installed.”
“Three weeks later, the rail guns were delivered and quickly emplaced. I have only fired them a few times, testing out their capabilities. I found out that once fired it takes over twenty minutes to recharge the system. Another thing was all the reinforcing needed for the superstructure to support a rail gun and all its hardware. For this reason, it was decided to mount them side by side and rigidly fixed, facing forward. It was quicker reinforcing just one part of the ship’s hull. And with them fix-mounted, they require less space.”
She explained their one weakness. “We are forced to be pointed directly at our target when we shoot the guns.” Then Nazareth smiled. “But with a mendelevium charged projectile, we can punch a hole the size of a house through any ship afloat! Some of the Tarezabarians have rail guns, but we’re the only ship I know of that has two facing forward. We pack a double-barreled surprise in our nose!”
The commodore then wagged her finger. “At twenty thousand yards, it only takes three seconds for our little friends to reach their targets. And killing range is over forty leagues.”
The navigation officer called out, “Twelve minutes and closing, Commander!”
Nazareth looked toward the bow. “Combined, our two battle groups are outnumbered, two to one. It is possible that Battle Group II’s fighters will knock some of the stuffing out of the enemy, and our WolfPack Marauders may inflict no little damage. But it falls upon us, the big ships of Battle Group I, to carry the day. The future of the Empire may well hinge on our success.”
She drummed her fingers on the captain’s rail, musing, “Now what was that poem General Copeland told me? Part of it went something like ‘Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.” She turned, smiling - the first time James had seen any doubt showing in his mother’s face. “‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’...that was it. Well, maybe there’ll be a poem in what we do today.”
Again facing forward, Nazareth lowered her head. “Now for my part...” She closed her eyes and began concentrating on a far off location.