Assault Line

“You didn’t, but I really don’t feel like walking any more. Let’s go out for dinner, can you spare me one night?”

I shook my head to drive away the dark thoughts, and I laughed.

“Until tomorrow morning, I’m perfectly capable of putting off all plans to save this world.”

* * *

The morning arranged my thoughts in an orderly fashion. There’s no such thing as a stalemate situation, or, I would say, there are almost no deadlocks. There’s always an option, the real question is what price will be paid to achieve the desired result.

I had no intention of dying in an unequal fight with the enemy, it wasn’t my plan. I, of course, expected all the resources of the Federation to be mobilized, but as it turned out, I was overestimating my abilities. So we solve this on our own. What do we have?

The former Lavroff Weapons Company, and now the Federal Advanced Weapons Corporation also has some resources, and in my new position, I have the ability to contract out any private armoury companies. We’ll get to work.

Jeff and Professor Stein listened to me very carefully. Stein only shook his head, and the Chief Engineer wistfully said, “If we have ten revealed targets, and each requires about fifty torpedoes, it will take us… at least a year to produce 500 unique items the size of a pursuit plane on our own. And that’s not all. We’re going to need carriers, we’re going to need command machines, we’re going to need a lot of hardware. When do we train the pilots? We’re never gonna make it.”

“We won’t make it on our own. What I need from you is a project and one or two prototypes to test and train pilots. As soon as the technical documentation is ready, I will offer the Russian Weapons Concern, and maybe not just them, a contract to manufacture our products. So, gentlemen, do whatever you want, you may even spend the nights at work, charge me any money you want, but I have to see a sample in two weeks. Let it look like the fruit of the night vigil of a mad mechanic, but it has to work.”

“Christina’s gonna kill me…” said Jeff with fake horror, but I noticed in his eyes a feverish glint of anticipation of an interesting new challenge.

“Okay, I’ll get in touch with Lieutenant General ge and I’ll ask him to intensify the training for Cadet Yakovleva, so she won’t be around the Academy’s chief tech for a while.”

“No-no-no, you don’t have to do that, please,” bleated Jeff very quickly,“if she finds out what caused it…”

Stein rose up and walked away to the window. His shoulders were slightly shaking, the professor was laughing silently.

* * *

The Fifth Strike Fleet was stuck in the Solar system for a long time. The combat damage sustained by it’s ships required long-term repair under factory conditions, and the Martian shipyards were overloaded. In addition, the fleet had to re-form by two thirds. The losses in the Battle of Barnard-3 were catastrophic. The Fourth Fleet was completely lost, the Fifth Strike Fleet had to re-form, the orbital fortresses were destroyed… This has seriously undermined the Federation Fleet’s operational capability. But these unfortunate circumstances have brought the people I needed within reach.

“Good afternoon, Fleet Admiral, Sir,” I greeted Nelson as soon as I made contact, “Congratulations on your new rank.”

“Mr Chairman of the Commission of the Ministry of Defence, thank you,” the Admiral smiled, “You and I worked really hard that time. I see your shoulder straps have changed, too, Captain. Let’s put aside ranks. What new adventure are you up to?”

“Ehh… I knew my reputation wasn’t always clear, but I haven’t offered anything yet, and you’ve already identified it as an adventure…”

“Don’t mess with my head, Igor. I didn’t give you personal contact to get in touch with me for no reason. You and I both know that, so state it, state it.”

“I need your help, Mr Nelson,” and I gave the Admiral a brief account of the meeting at the Ministry of Defence, after all, he had access to information. It was Inga whom I told something at my own risk, and in the case of the Admiral, I was quite sure.

The Admiral listened to me with a stone face.

“Ten Titan class battleships…” steel cut through his voice, “Have they lost their minds? How are they going to defend our planets?”

“I think there’s a lot more than ten. We couldn’t find all the docks.”

“So the General Staff wouldn’t listen to your suggestions? That sounds like them, Igor. I’m not surprised. It’s a shame Tobolsky can’t turn this around, but maybe he just believes them. They would have been in that fight themselves, on our battleships under the fire of the quarg’s flagship, to see what we’re really up against. To them, it’s just another enemy ship, albeit a very large one. And for those of us who have seen it in battle, it is clear that ten of these battleships is death. Quick and inevitable. How can I help you?”

“I need some advice first. I don’t know anything about shipbuilding and the assignment of ships. I need carriers for…, well, call it pursuit planes. They’re very similar in mass, although they’re actually unmanned torpedoes with the characteristics of a pursuit plane and their own powerful EW systems. A classic aircraft carrier wouldn’t suit me. It’s too big to be effectively camouflaged. And I need ten of them, but each one will have only about seventy machines, placed as compact as possible. The dwelling sections are the bare minimum, and as for the weapons and armor there’s no need for them. The size and mass of the ship have a profound effect on the possibility to make it invisible, we’re planning a surprise strike from the void.”

The Admiral was pondering over it for three minutes.

“Aircraft carriers and other warships really won’t fit you,” the Admiral finally announced his conclusion, “but there’s one interesting option. If you’d shake out of Colonel General Knyazev ten medium troop transports, and give them a good clear-out, they can be converted relatively quickly to suit your needs. It will be a terrible makeshift thing, for sure, your torpedoes and pursuit planes will have to be released through the gates of the landing pods, but you could try to do that. Only if the Admiralty finds out we’ve squandered a dozen well-suited ships…”

“I’ll take responsibility,” I told quickly, not letting the Admiral change his mind.

“Khm… well, yes. You really are the responsible person now, so if anything… Come on, Igor, you know me. After Barnard-3, I could bring you a couple of aircraft carriers. But you should talk to Knyazev yourself,” – Nelson smiled cunningly, “If I just start talking about his transports, he’ll slit my throat at once, and as for you, maybe he’ll listen to you first…”

Chapter 2

“Mr Lavroff, what you’re asking is beyond your authority,” informed me gloomily the Minister of Military Production, “Why on earth would I shift the ship repair schedule to reequip your transports? I have the Fleet order approved by the Minister of Defense, and I will be held accountable for failure to meet the deadline.”

Zwerev pronounced all these correct phrases looking me in the eye, but I did not see the answer „no” in his gaze. Something kept the Minister from just telling me to fuck off. Well, I’ll try to find the right words.

“Mr Minister,” I began carefully, “You heard me speaking at the command meeting. If I may ask your opinion, do you also consider me an empty fantasizer?”

Zwerev took his eyes off for a second, but quickly restored the calmness of his face.

“I really thought so,” the Minister confirmed, “until yesterday.”

“So, what changed?”

“I visited the new shipyard where the captured battleship Titan is being repaired.”

“And what made you change your mind?”

“This ship… We won’t be able to build something like this in the next few years. I’m not even sure we’re gonna be able to convert Titan, so that it could be controlled by a human crew. How could you handle it, Mr Lavroff? And you did it in combat, neutralizing the enemy’s resistance, and then you destroyed several enemy battleships. How?”

“The same way, Mr Zwerev, as I’m going to destroy enemy ships under construction: with the help of the latest developments of the Lavroff Weapons Company, now renamed the FAWC, the Federal Advanced Weapons Corporation. But at that time I was able to do myself everything I needed, and now I need your help. Our company has no shipbuilding facilities and all public and private shipyards are full of Fleet orders, and they won’t take my order for any money.”

“Are you so sure you can do what you’re saying? Destroy ten docks behind enemy lines in quarg-occupied systems loaded with their ships?”

“But once I was there and I could come back…”

“Military transport is not a medium-size recon ship, Mr Lavroff. You can’t camouflage it that easily.”

“We’ll get through it. Review the information on Luyten-5 and Barnard-3, which also seemed hopeless. And also try to imagine for a second ten Titan-class battleships coming out of the hyper inside Neptune’s orbit…”

“That’s what I was thinking yesterday, looking at your trophy. That’s why I’m still talking to you, Mr Lavroff, although I should have denied your request outright and write a memo to your immediate superior. And I know about your fights for Luyten and Barnard, as well as about Kapteyn and Gliese, in fact, I was curious about your biography after the meeting at the Ministry of Defence.”

“Will you give me the shipyard, Mr Minister?” I asked a direct question, knowing that all arguments had already been exhausted.

“Yes, I will. But I have a condition.”

“What is it?”

“You will personally lead the attack on the docks of the enemy. Otherwise, I do not believe in success.”

“Where should I take the ships, Mr Minister?”