No one had any doubts that Admiral Justinian was on the way. If he punched through Boskone, he would be able to push out a defensive perimeter or drive on towards Earth. Either would be disastrous.
But attacking a strongly-held Asimov Point was a difficult task at the best of times. Pushing Justinian back would be costly.
Roman had hoped they would have several weeks to prepare before the system was attacked. Instead, the Retribution Force was still struggling when Justinian’s first probes transited the Asimov Point.
Chapter Seventeen
A system with only two Asimov Points is a natural chokepoint, even after the invention of the continuous displacement drive. The enemy must attack through an Asimov Point in order to reach his target. The defenders have the advantage of massed firepower and—often—prior warning.
Boskone System, 4092
The display sparkled with red icons as alarms howled through the Magnificent.
“Admiral, we have recon drones transiting the Asimov Point,” the tactical officer reported. “The CSP is moving to intercept.”
“Order Mason to ready fighters and then prepare the remainder for antishipping strikes,” Marius ordered calmly. Mason could handle it. He was competent, even if he’d been demanding that a superior officer take command of Enterprise. “Bring the entire fleet to alert and prepare to engage the enemy.”
He settled back in his command chair. The Book insisted that all Asimov Point assaults had to be preceded by recon drones, just so the attacking force knew what it was about to face. It wasn’t a bad idea, even though it was predictable; there was no way to know what was waiting for the attackers until they actually went through the Asimov Point. If Admiral Justinian had had a pre-placed ship in the Boskone System, it shouldn’t have been able to pass through the Asimov Point with the latest updates.
One hundred and twenty enemy recon drones had jumped through the Asimov Point. Seventeen had interpenetrated and died in colossal explosions. The remainder were sweeping local space using active sensors, and had picked up the presence of superdreadnaughts and even a few of the Retribution Force’s jury-rigged fortresses guarding the Asimov Point. The CSP was killing those drones as fast as possible, but Marius already knew they would be too late.
As he expected, a handful of drones flickered and vanished, skipping back to Admiral Justinian with their data. Marius wondered fatalistically if Admiral Justinian would launch the attack at once, or if he would decide to suspend operations until reinforcements arrived from the Harmony Sector in order to give the Retribution Force absolutely no chance of escape.
Marius had picked the Boskone System to make his stand with malice aforethought. Boskone might have had only two Asimov Points, but it provided a place that Admiral Justinian would have to take in order to seize later nexuses in order to cut off a third of the Federation from the Core Worlds, or make another attempt on Earth. The crazed logic of the Asimov Points also made it difficult for Justinian to bypass the system using continuous displacement drive. Justinian could reach the Earth in a handful of months through the Asimov Points, but it would take him over ten years using stardrive.
No, Admiral Justinian had to take Boskone. There was no other alternative.
“We are receiving the data download from the drones now,” Caitlin said. “Drake’s forces have secured the system.”
Admiral Justinian nodded. There had been many delays while they’d been struggling to prepare for the grand offensive. Far too many of his superdreadnaughts had needed repairs before they could be sent back into action; even though the repairs hadn’t taken long, they had gobbled up time. He’d lost his chance to cut Admiral Drake off from the Core Worlds, which was why he and his forces had come to Boskone instead.
He had to defeat Admiral Drake’s force before he could achieve his overall objective: Earth.
“Launch the first assault wave,” he ordered. By now, his entire fleet should have seen the sensor recordings taken by the drones. “They are cleared to engage at will.”
“Captain, we have multiple small contacts transiting the Asimov Point,” Sultana reported. “The CSP is moving to intercept.”
Roman nodded, feeling tension rise on the bridge. He hadn’t expected to remain in command, not when Admiral Mason had made his attitude clear with every word he’d said. But by regulation, the captain was the supreme master of his own ship—and even a lowly ensign could issue orders to an admiral when he happened to be sitting in the Captain’s Chair. And yet, it would be a brave or foolish ensign who presumed to issue too many orders to an admiral. If Admiral Mason had been in the command track, he would presumably have relieved Roman a long time ago.
“Launch the ready fighters upon command,” he ordered. Enterprise was hanging well back from the Asimov Point, surrounded by a score of destroyers and the other fleet carriers. There was no point in exposing a carrier, even Enterprise, to the maelstrom that was about to envelop the Asimov Point. Besides, Enterprise wasn’t in good fighting trim and wouldn’t be until she saw a shipyard. “And then…”
“Admiral Mason is issuing orders for the fighters to withdraw,” Sultana said suddenly. “They’re pulling back from the Asimov Point…”
Standard military doctrine stated that a single starship that transited into an Asimov Point would immediately find itself under fire from the point’s defenders. The Federation Navy had learned that rule during the First Interstellar War, and then relearned it in the opening battles of the Blue Star War. Conventional doctrine, therefore, ordered the use of heavy antimatter bombardment to remove any mines and enemy starfighters covering the Asimov Point before sending the main body of the fleet through the gateway.
Marius watched as the brilliant white light of antimatter detonations started to flare out through the Asimov Point. He’d mined the point as much as possible—there had only been a small supply of mines on hand available to work with—but all of the mines were now being cleared by Justinian’s forces, along with a handful of starfighters that hadn’t swerved in time. He made a mental note to commend Admiral Mason for his quick reaction.
The bombardment was, if anything, growing in intensity. The constant barrage was wearing down his sensors and disrupting his plans, even before the battle proper began.
“Admiral, we’re picking up superdreadnaughts transiting the point,” the sensor officer reported. “I believe they’re ECM drones.”
Marius turned to look at him. “How can you be sure?”
“The sensor returns keep flickering,” the sensor officer reported. “Real superdreadnaughts don’t flicker.”
“Pass the word to the remaining mines,” Marius ordered. “Hold them back from engaging the drones unless we’re certain that they’re real superdreadnaughts.”
“Aye, sir,” the sensor officer said.
It was one of the variants they’d rehearsed during the desperate struggle to prepare a defense strong enough to give Admiral Justinian pause. Even so, it carried its own risks. They might mistake a real superdreadnaught for a drone long enough to let it get its shields up and start launching missiles. On the other hand, once the newcomer did open fire, there would no longer be any doubt about its reality.
For a long moment, the intensity of the bombardment seemed to fade, winding down to nothing. And then the first starships appeared.