Chapter 59

While the others had been planning, Sir Henry, after supplying the Staff with the details of the escort, turned immediately to organising signatures of the escorts which he then rapidly transmitted to the other 119 vessels.

The MC captains had been on the planning net and had their own planning under way as the master was being drawn up. They took the planned tracks onto their 'puters and moved immediately McCock approved. Still in cosmic they positioned themselves about the supply train and on the command from "Devon" they moved through the layer. Once through, they activated Holeinspace, raised their sails and at low velocities moved along their appointed tracks discharging nests, each nest holding the signature of its target. Upon completion of the nest laying, each MC moved away to just outside energy range from the supply train pyramid.

With the nest laying complete, Slow gave the order for the fighting ships to move through the layer and take up their assigned positions. Once there, the nests were brought under their control and the whole process was again checked. This activity kept the weapons and bridge staffs occupied; the rest of the ships' companies did, as matelots and spacers had done for time immemorial, relaxed as best they could at their action stations.

McCock had nothing to do but observe the process from a distance. He did not watch the progress of the armada as he could have done. Earlier, McCock had used Tabes to brief his crews on events and explained the trigger he was waiting for.

McCock watched as the holo in the CIC filled out with information and was then decreased to cover "Vector's" area of operations and just a little beyond. McCock then moved with his staff to the Marine Sergeants Mess Hall taking up positions on the third 'puter in front of which Denny formed a holo of the total operational area.

Major Rosemary Peebles, gray skin suit instead of her usual blouse and skirt, took one of the com positions, having been delegated by McCock to follow the progress of the armada. 119 had finished its preparations and were waiting as were apparently the supply train with its escort.

"The armada has just translated into n space and there is a message going out on the guard that the Mountserrat government has declared Settlement an open city. Elizabeth is now on guard saying her government will accept whatever terms are offered and that the navy is laid up in ordinary in the harbour" Rosemary reported, "what's the significance of 'laid up in ordinary'?"

"The ships are shut down and only skeleton crews are aboard just to keep the environment systems functioning" McCock answered.

"I'm picking up the vid. Its coming from U94; where's that?" Rosemary asked them.

"That's the UVA over Sol" Denny answered her; "how come?"

"Westlake was given a heads up about events" McCock answered him "and he said he had a few favours owed him."

"Well, one lot have certainly taken him up on it" Rosemary informed them "they have the Shipping Manager from Bollard identifying the harbour and an executive from Jane's identifying the warships; here is Westlake now, repeating the broadcasts from Settlement. Hello, here is another newsfax interviewing a Chencon official at what looks like the USW Senate and he is denying all knowledge of everything. He looks absolutely terrified, he's sweating buckets. Couldn't they find anyone else as their spokesman?"

Silence reigned for another eleven minutes,

"Oh shit!...

Diety preserve them."

Major Peebles turned to face Commodore McCock as he sat in his command chair, and in flat formal tones, reported,

"Commodore, the Chencon armada has just passed overhead the metropolis of Settlement and dischared their energy broadsides into the metropolis and surrounds; the area appears to be oblitered. Sir."

"Thank you, Major" McCock answered just as flatly and formally, "Denny, put me on all ships' Tabes.

Do ye hear there? Do ye hear there. This is Commodore McCock. The enemy armada has opened fire upon Settlement.

Ready all firing circuits and on my mark," and he paused for half a minute, "five four three two one fire!"

There was surprisingly little to see at first; just a canopy of small bursts of light surrounding the pyramid of ships. This increased to multiple streaks of flame as thousand of missiles accelerated towards their designated targets. The missiles did not have time to work up to full velocity because of the short ranges but still managed a gratifying seventy percent of maximum velocity. All struck their targets roughly at the same instant.

The escort did not have time to bring their CEW and point defence weaponry on line and their defensive shields constituted their only defence; but in the face of the massive missile load fired at each vessel, overall, it was not enough.

The periphery of the pyramid exploded into multiple bursts of light briefly illuminating the surrounded supply train.

It was not perfect.

On the tail, one battlecruiser was unscathed and Harryfor was targeting it with his frigate's missiles when it dropped its shields in the traditional signal of surrender.

"What the Diety do I do with her, she outmasses me twenty fold?"

"Order them to abandon immediately?" offered his First.

"Hugh, you are a genius. Simon, guard frequency, please. On? Good."

Captain Harryfor Avers spoke into his boom mic

"Do you hear there in Chencon battlecruiser, you will immediately abandon ship. You will leave the ship intact. You will in no way sabotage her. You will lie off in your lifeboats to your starboard side in a very tight cluster under my guns. You will leave your executive officer behind to meet my prize crew in your boat bay. If anything untoward occurs I will destroy you, ship and crew, surrendered or no. You have five minutes. Clear."

Harryfor turned to Hugh Avers,

"Not a bad promotion rate, Hugh; from retiree to BC captain in four months. Get twenty ERAs and the Master at arms to issue sidearms. Pinnace asap and I'll get another twenty odds and sods over to you on a return trip. Get to it. I don't want them wakening up."

The sides of the pyramid went to plan.

Two of the galactic disc side DEs had been damaged and were moving away only to run into "Shriek" who fired into them with the one point five graser. Only the debris slowly moved afterwards.