The Desert of Stars (The Human Reach) Read Free

troops from
neighboring territories, had mounted a heroic defense against an entire Chinese
corps for the last five months. The son of the Duke of York was among the
defenders, and the Western press was calling the resistance the “Long Night.”
But Neil knew the defenders were running out of food and ammunition. The new
troops were not expected to turn the tide – that force would not be ready for
several months – but they would provide some relief to the beleaguered defenses.
Substantial portions of the British, Canadian and Australian fleets were waiting
several stars downstream to help the reinforcements fight their way to the
surface of Entente.
    To his captain, Neil said, “Sir, the Hans apparently
completed repairs to Gan Ying much earlier than we expected. It looks
like our information fell short there. We detected her and a supply tender
thrusting to intercept us a little past the halfway mark to the FL Virginis
wormhole.”
    “So they can reach us?”
    “I’m afraid so, sir. She is carrying drop tanks, so she will
have enough remass left to fight,” Neil said.
    “Three frigates against a cruiser? It would be close,”
Hernandez said, shaking his head.
    “Too close. And the Hans launched at the worst possible
time. The convoy has built up enough velocity that there’s no point to turning
around now. I have prepared simulation data for your review.”
    “That won’t be necessary, Mister Mercer, but thank you.”
    One question answered, Neil thought. As intel officer
– the designated bearer of bad news – he shared responsibility with the ops
officer to run various simulations of any prospective battles. But they were
required to keep the outcomes secret, lest bad results destroy crew confidence
and serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy, or good ones lead to hubris and
mistakes. Indeed, one input variable in the simulations was whether the crew would
be aware of the output; Neil had, in this case, left it undetermined. Either
way, it was up to the captain to order Neil to release the data to the crew,
and Hernandez was apparently one of the old-school captains who saw no value in
doing so.
    Perhaps it was for the best. The probability of defeating Gan
Ying with no losses to the troop transports was in the mid-thirties.
Victory with all three frigates surviving without major damage was only nine percent.
    Hernandez absentmindedly tugged at an earlobe. “Any chance
we could be reinforced?”
    Neil tried to punch up some calculations, but he was too
impatient to find the precise data, so he released his handheld computer to
float in front of him and ballparked an estimate.
    “Sir, the fleet at the Lalande keyhole is too far away. From
the Sol keyhole, I think they would need to run at about eighteen milligees to
make the intercept, but …”
    “… but would Admiral Sakuri risk weakening his defense any
more than he already has to aid a lesser ally? He didn’t want to give up a fourth
frigate to escort this convoy. Japan doesn’t have any immediate stake in the
outcome on Entente.”
    “Yes, sir. My thinking as well,” Neil said. “The only ship
that could conceivably reach us is the frigate Kiyokaze, but she’s
heading back to Earth for a candle overhaul. The Brits might be able to release
some reinforcements from the other side of the FL Virginis keyhole, but Gan
Ying can catch us first. And that’s not a big force the Brits have there,
and the Chinese know it.”
    Hernandez sucked in a long, labored breath. His eyes
brightened at the prospect of action, and some of the fatigue seemed to melt
away from his frame.
    “Mister Mercer, this convoy is going through,” the captain
said, his voice drying into a warm tenor. “In the meantime, get to know a
Chinese captain for me, if you please.”
    They had eight days to prepare. Admiral Sakuri declined
to release any relief from the Sol wormhole, and the convoy dispersed in an
effort to limit the number of ships the raider could take. The escorts