The Price of Liberty (Empire Rising Book 4)

  The Price of Liberty

  Empire Rising Book 4

  D. J. Holmes

  https://www.facebook.com/Author.D.J.Holmes

  d.j.holmess@hotmail.com

  Comments welcome!

  Cover art by Ivo Brankovikj

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales are entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © D. J. Holmes 2017

  Prologue

  20th June 2467 AD. ISRS Kali, in orbit above the New Delhi Colony

  As Vice Admiral Khan walked forward, the sliding doors opened to admit him into Kali’s large briefing room. Upon entering, the thirty or so Captains and ranking officers seated around the long oval table jumped to their feet.

  “Sit down,” Khan said as he waved his hand. “I want this to be an informal briefing.”

  Once everyone was comfortable he continued, “You all know why I have called you here. I have just received our latest orders from Earth. I wanted to let you know what they said in person.”

  Khan took a deep breath and rested his hands on the pedestal he was standing behind. “Exactly twenty-three days ago the British Star Kingdom declared war on us. They are demanding we remove our troops from Haven and until we do so, hostilities will continue. Both Prime Minister Devgan and Admiral Kapoor believe the British will be dispatching a fleet to try and liberate Haven. It may already be on its way.”

  As soon as he stopped for another breath, murmurs broke out among the assembled officers. “I know you are all concerned,” Khan said as he raised his hands in a conciliatory fashion. “But we have been preparing for this eventuality for months. The British fleet is powerful; they have already proven themselves against the Chinese. Yet they are not invincible.”

  “But what about the attacks on our warships in the Haven territories?” one of Khan’s senior Captains asked. “One British ship destroyed a light cruiser and several destroyers. How will we defeat an entire British fleet if they decide to come right through our positions?”

  “A good question,” Khan replied. “That is what I would like us to discuss. My latest orders are to block the British at Aror if they try to get to Haven. I have dispatched a messenger corvette to Haven with orders for Admiral Kumar to send more ships to us. There will also be another flotilla of ships from Home Fleet in the Sol system. However, until they get here, we are responsible for preventing the British getting to Haven. So, what are your thoughts?”

  “Why Aror?” Sai Chambal, Khan’s Flag Captain asked. “That is leaving us a little hamstrung, isn’t it?”

  “How so?” Khan queried. He already had a fair idea what Chambal meant, but he wanted the rest of the officers to come to the same decision he had on their own.

  “Aror has few defenses, and so we couldn’t rely on them to help us out in a battle. Worse, Aror has one of the largest bubbles of dark matter, by my memory it is over fifteen light hours in diameter. If we wait for the British there, they could very easily slip past us and head for Haven if they wanted.”

  “Why would that be bad for us Captain Batra?” Khan asked the youngest Captain in the briefing room.

  “Well,” Batra said after clearing her throat to give herself a moment to think. She commanded a lowly frigate and hadn’t been expecting to say anything at this briefing.

  “Apart from the fact that the British could slip past us. If we want to stand a chance of intercepting them in the Aror system, we will have to spread our forces thinly, in the hope that a part of our fleet can engage whatever ships the British send against us long enough for the rest of the fleet to get into range. Yet if we do that, we would be giving the British the chance to defeat our fleet piece by piece.”

  “Exactly,” Khan said. “I believe that whoever wrote our orders doesn’t want to get the blame if the British decide to attack Aror. If we leave it undefended, I imagine that is exactly what the British will do. It won’t look good in the news broadcasts back in India if the Indian Star Republic Navy left a colony defenseless and unguarded.

  “However, I have to think about the defense of all our colonies,” Khan continued. “If we try to meet the British fleet at Aror, they could slip past us and hit New Delhi. Or they could try and destroy our fleet. Therefore, for the purposes of this briefing I want you all to assume our orders are simply to stop the British. Let’s see what ideas we can come up with.”

  “How sure are we that the British haven’t found another way to the Haven colony?” one of Khan’s Captains asked. “That British stealth ship sure gave Admiral Kumar the run around. Is it possible the Havenites have discovered more shift passages we don’t know about? They may have revealed them to the British.”

  “It’s possible,” Khan said. “Kumar already has orders to try and root any secrets out of the prisoners she has taken. Her latest orders advise her to have her fleet ready to withdraw from the Haven system at a moment’s notice. If the British have found another way to Haven, she isn’t to risk her ships.

  “Yet, that is beyond our control. As far as we know, the only way the British can get to Haven is through our colonial space. Our job is to stop them. That is all we have to worry about. If things change, then we will just have to deal with it.”

  “If we are going to go beyond our orders,” Captain Chadha of the Athavar said. “Why don’t we go on the offensive? We have enough ships at New Delhi to blast our way through Cook’s defenses and charge on into the heart of the British colonies.”

  “That might be exceeding our orders a touch,” Khan said. “And it would be too great a risk. We would lose ships taking on their battlestations and the defending fleets which would leave us vulnerable to their main fleet. If our fleet is destroyed, then there will be nothing stopping the British from rampaging through our colonies and driving our industries and economy into the ground.”

  “Then our best option must be to stay in the New Delhi system and meet the British when they come here, as they must,” another Captain said. “It will be easier to stop the British from slipping past us here, we can use the colony’s fortifications to protect our backs and give our fleet a safe place to retreat too if the battle goes against us. If the British want a real fleet engagement, perhaps we can even lure them into range of the orbital battlestations. And if they don’t, well at least we can engage the British fleet together rather than having to split as we would in the Aror system.”

  “Fair points,” Khan said. “What other options does anyone see?”

  A couple more suggestions were thrown around as Khan remained silent. None of them were very attractive and the conversation quickly turned back to preparing the fleet to meet the British in New Delhi.

  When it seemed like almost everyone was on board with the approach, Chambal, Khan’s Flag Captain, smiled at him across the briefing room. Khan gave a slight nod in reply. They both knew each other well enough to know that was what Khan had been planning all along. Technically, he should be following the orders he received from Earth. Yet if it was the consensus of every Captain in the fleet to meet the British at New Delhi, then he had to listen to them. They were the ones one the ground after all. Of course, that had been what Khan had wanted all along, he just needed an excuse to reinterpret his orders.

  “I think you have all come to a decision,” said Khan. “My operations officers will draw up various scenarios and we will begin running battle simulations tomorrow. I want this fleet to be as prepared as it can be to meet the British. They may think getting to Haven will be easy, it is our j
ob to dissuade them of such a notion.”

  Chapter 1 – Off to War

  When Haven was first rediscovered its significance was passed over on Earth as all eyes were focused on the Void War. That changed once the Vestarians and Kulreans were discovered. All of a sudden, Haven became the center of attention for the Earth nations.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

  10th June 2467 AD, HMS Endeavour, Sol System.

  “We’re approaching Mars now,” Sub Lieutenant Malik said over the COM to James, as he sat in his office adjacent to Endeavour’s bridge.

  “I’ll be there momentarily,” James replied.

  Instead of jumping up, he continued to watch the holo recording he had been reviewing. While he had been taking Endeavour to Haven, and then embroiled in the court martial Shadow Defense Secretary Reynolds had thrust upon him, Admiral Cunningham and Rear Admiral Rooke had been running war games over Mars. They had been simulating a ground invasion of a hostile planet. Elements of Home Fleet under Admiral Cunningham had played the defenders while Rear Admiral Rooke’s beefed up Fast Reaction Fleet had played the aggressors.

  Just hours ago, his uncle, the First Space Lord, had assigned him to Rooke’s fleet and he wanted to be up to speed on their preparations for the coming war with India. The first-time James had watched the replay of the mock battle, he had simply been mesmerized by the ship formations. Even in the Void War there hadn’t been so many British ships concentrated in one area. The Royal Space Navy was a sight to behold. At least at the beginning of the engagement. The holo recording showed the simulated damage both fleets suffered as the battle ensued. Whilst Cunningham had been outnumbered, he and his ships had still given a good account of themselves. Before Cunningham had been forced to retreat and abandon the planet, he had damaged or destroyed a third of Rooke’s fleet.

  The simulation had been a worst-case scenario. With luck, the Indian defenses around Haven wouldn’t be nearly so strong. Still, he knew it was better to be prepared. After the tough exercise Rooke’s fleet had been through, they knew just how costly the coming battles could be if they made any mistakes.

  After the simulated fleet battle finished, James paused the recording. The marine transport ship HMS Albion was just about to move into position over Mars to disgorge her landing shuttles. From Major Johnston’s report, James knew this was where the real battle would be. He didn’t have time to review that part of the simulation now; he would have to come back to it.

  Satisfied he was fully up to date on the status of Rooke’s fleet, he stood and strode out of his office towards the bridge. When he arrived, First Lieutenant Mallory already had the main holo display showing visuals of the RSN ships in orbit around Mars.

  “It’s an impressive fleet, Sir,” Mallory said as James took his seat.

  “Indeed it is,” James agreed.

  Cunningham had taken the elements of Home Fleet engaged in the exercise back to Earth a few days previously, leaving Rooke’s fleet by itself. Nevertheless, the ships in orbit around Mars were still impressive. Rooke’s flagship, HMS Hood, was the pride of the navy’s engineers. Boasting a broadside of twenty-two missiles, she was the most powerful ship in the British Navy. She would be over taken by the new battleships that were under construction but these were still at least a year away from beginning their space trials. The second battlecruiser in the fleet, HMS Justice, was slightly smaller than Hood but still just as impressive. Around the two large warships, twenty-five cruisers, fifteen destroyers and twenty-five frigates and corvettes held station. The fleet was ready for war.

  “Will it be enough?” Lieutenant Becket asked from her station at the tactical console.

  “I sure hope so,” Mallory answered. “If it isn’t, then we’re all going to be in a spot of trouble. What do you think Captain?”

  “I think we are going to have to be smart if we are going to win,” James said.

  Having been present at some of the early planning stages of the invasion of Haven, he already knew the attack with Rooke’s fleet was a ruse. As far as he knew though, Rooke and his immediate juniors were the only ones in the fleet aware of the full plan.

  “You may have noticed that the Indian Home Fleet was missing a few heavy cruisers when we left Earth,” James said. “We also know the Indians have three battlecruisers in their colonies. If they can concentrate them against Rooke’s fleet, then a fleet engagement could go either way. I don’t think that is something Rooke will want to risk.”

  “Our technology will see us through,” Sub Lieutenant Malik said as he squared his shoulders and pushed out his chest.

  “I wouldn’t bet on that,” James responded. “As soon as battle is joined anything can happen. It’s true, in one on one fights, the ship with the better technology usually wins. But in fleet engagements it’s all about tactics. One well timed missile salvo can devastate a fleet and turn certain victory into disaster.”

  “Then why is the Admiralty not sending more ships from Home Fleet?” Becket asked. “The Chinese are no longer a threat and the Sol Treaty means that even though we are officially at war, there should be no fighting in the Sol system itself. The Admiralty could send Home Fleet with Rooke and destroy the Indian fleet in one battle.”

  Perceptive, James thought. Becket had already identified a key element in his uncle’s plan. Still, there were good reasons for the Indians to assume his uncle would keep Home Fleet at Earth

  “They could, but I imagine they aren’t for the very reasons I just outlined. If the Admiralty sent Home Fleet, it would be our four battlecruisers against their three. We would have the advantage. But then we would be risking four out of our five operational battlecruisers. If we brought the Indians to battle and lost, we would lose our entire empire. Whatever Indian ships survived would be able to run riot in our colonies and the Argentinians would likely join the party. The risks are simply too great. Haven is important, but from our Government’s and the Admiralty’s perspective, it’s not worth risking everything we have spent centuries building. I suspect Home Fleet will stay in the Sol system as a warning to the Indians and the other space nations not to mess with our colonies.”

  “I see,” Becket, said lapsing into silence as she pondered James’ words.

  “We are receiving a signal from the flagship,” Sub Lieutenant King reported from the COM station. “It’s a text message, it says ‘Welcome to the fleet. Take station astern of the flag.’”

  “That’s all?” James asked, slightly taken aback at the brief communication.

  “Yes sir,” King answered. “There are coordinates for us to move to, but that is it.”

  “Jennings, take us to our assigned position,” James ordered.

  “Aye Sir,” the navigation officer said.

  All of a sudden, the conversations of the bridge died down. Everyone was wondering what was going on.

  “I guess Rooke is a man of few words,” James said to ease the tension on the bridge.

  It was customary for an Admiral to greet a newly arrived Captain to their fleet face to face. Either by requesting the Captain report on board the flagship or over a COM channel. A simple text message was very close to an insult. “He’s probably busy getting the fleet ready to depart,” James added.

  “Do you think this will be our position in the fleet going forward?” Mallory asked.

  On the main holo display he had the fleet formation up with Endeavour’s assigned position highlighted. Endeavour had been ordered to join the flagship’s flotilla. Along with a light cruiser, two destroyers and three corvettes, Endeavour’s position indicated her role would be to protect the flagship in any upcoming fleet engagements.

  “Endeavour was designed to operate on her own, not babysit the flagship,” Mallory explained.

  “I don’t know,” James replied, eyeing the formation with concern. “It may be Rooke has just assigned us there for now until he decides how best to use his raiding ships.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Mallory said. �
��Or else this war is about to get very boring for us.”

  “A boring war isn’t the end of the world,” James said with as much positivity as he could. Deep down he knew he didn’t believe his own words, being assigned to the flagship’s flotilla would be a disaster.

  “I’m getting another text message,” King said. “It’s from HMS Discovery. It says they would like to welcome the second finest ship in the fleet to the war.”

  “The second finest?” James said, feigning insult. “Who would dare say such a thing?” he continued in the same tone. “Focus our visual sensors on Discovery.”

  When the ship appeared, James had to contain his surprise. Discovery was the spitting image of Endeavour. The last he had heard the first of Endeavour’s sister ships wasn’t scheduled for completion for another couple of months. The Admiralty must have rushed another one to completion. He wasn’t surprised, the ships were made for operating behind enemy lines, exactly what his uncle’s plan called for. As he watched the ship waggled, tilting her port side down towards Mars as a sign of respect.