Excalibur's Quest: A Swordships Odyssey Novel Read online

  Excalibur’s Quest

  By Dietmar Arthur Wehr

  Amazon edition

  Copyright 2018 Non-Linear Visions Inc.

  Illustration © Tom Edwards

  Tom EdwardsDesign.com

  www.dwehrsfwriter.com

  Other books by the author (many of these books are also available as audiobooks):

  The Synchronicity War Part 1

  The Synchronicity War Part 2

  The Synchronicity War Part 3

  The Synchronicity War Part 4

  The Synchronicity War Omnibus edition (complete series)

  The Retro War (stand alone novel set in the Sync War universe)

  Rumors of Glory (The System States Rebellion book 1)

  Rumors of Honor (SSR book 2)

  Rumors of Salvation (SSR book 3)

  The System States Rebellion (complete series)

  Empire in Crisis

  The Last Valkyrie (A stand alone Space Opera novel)

  The Thunder of War

  The Thunder of Vengeance

  The Tattooed Angel (A tale of the High Avenging Angel)

  Scimitar’s Glory

  Contents

  Cast of Characters:(When they first appear)

  List of Ships and Origins of Names:

  Glossary of Terms:

  Chapter Seventeen(from Scimitar’s Glory):

  Chapter One:

  Chapter Two:

  Chapter Three:

  Chapter Four:

  Chapter Five:

  Chapter Six:

  Chapter Seven:

  Chapter Eight:

  Chapter Nine:

  Chapter Ten:

  Chapter Eleven:

  Chapter Twelve:

  Chapter Thirteen:

  Chapter Fourteen:

  Chapter Fifteen:

  Chapter Sixteen:

  Chapter Seventeen:

  Chapter Eighteen:

  Chapter Nineteen:

  Chapter Twenty:

  Here is the Prologue (for Caliburn’s War, Swordships Odyssey #3)

  Author’s Comments:

  Cast of Characters:(When they first appear)

  Corrigan, Admiral and Chief of Space Operations (CSO)

  Koenig, (Wolfe), Commander, CO of Excalibur

  Nakatomi, Commander, CO of Durendal

  Torriega, Commander, CO of Curtana

  Hanson, Commander, CO of Tizona

  Strucker, (Karl), Commander, CO of Sting

  Henriques, (Teresa), Commander, CO of Tassfaronga

  Soriya, (Eriko), SubCommander, XO of Excalibur

  Vasily, (Karine), SubCommander, XO of Sting

  Carson, (Angela), Senior Commander, GED Base

  Flannery, Lieutenant, shuttle pilot

  Munro, (Matt), Head of Excalibur technical team

  Conrad, (Walther), SubCommander, XO of Excalibur

  Chen, Lieutenant, 3rd Officer on Excalibur

  List of Ships and Origins of Names:

  Anduril (Aragorn’s sword from Lord of the Rings)

  Caliburn (Name of the sword that Arthur pulled from the stone)

  Curtana (Ceremonial sword used in coronation of British Kings and Queens)

  Durendal (Legendary sword supposedly given to Roland from Charlemagne)

  Excalibur (Sword given to King Arthur by the Lady in the Lake)

  Hauteclere (mythical sword belonging to a character from the Song of Roland)

  Savannah

  Sting (magical sword given to Frodo in Lord of the Rings)

  Tassafaronga (Named for the WW2 naval battle between US and Japan)

  Tizona (Name of sword carried by legendary Spanish warrior, El Cid)

  Glossary of Terms:

  AstroComp – Computer programmed specifically for astrogational computations.

  BDO – Bridge Duty Officer

  ComComp – Computer programmed specifically for communications computations.

  ECM – Electronic Countermeasures (used to jam/spoof or negate enemy radar)

  EngSysComp – Computer programmed specifically to monitor engineering systems.

  EVA – Extra-Vehicular Activity

  Graser – short form for Gamma Ray Laser

  MOE – Margin of Error

  OAE – Optical Alignment Error

  TacComp – Computer programmed for tactical computations.

  TOSF – Treaty Organization Space Force

  UETO – United Earth Treaty Organization

  Chapter Seventeen(from Scimitar’s Glory):

  When they heard the news, the initial reaction by TOSF leadership was enthusiastically positive. However, when they learned the details of the battle and how one fleet almost slipped past 7th Fleet due to Dejanus’s lack of foresight, she started receiving some criticism, although nothing official. As a result of the battle at Tau Ceti, Intelligence now believed that the Tong would have to regroup. While the total number of ships committed to the attack was only 18, analysis of tactical data strongly suggested that all of them were either heavy or super-heavy cruiser equivalents, and the subsequent loss of 17 ships represented a big chunk of those classes of ships in the Tong Grand Fleet. Intelligence also estimated that the Tong could put together another fleet if they were willing to leave their other borders vulnerable to attack by other races. Replacing the lost ships with new construction would take months, and the TOSF would be attempting to replace its losses as well. To the surprise of both Dejanus and Koenig, the Jabs continued to sit tight, even though reconnaissance flights had confirmed that reinforcements had been brought up to the beachhead on the human side of the Rift.

  “I’ll bet you the Jabs are waiting for the Tong to crush the TOSF before moving in,” said Dejanus as she and Koenig chatted over lattes at a trendy Parisian café. The crews of 7th Fleet had been granted R&R leave, including the officers.

  “Well, since we gave the Tong a bloody nose, the Jabs are going to be waiting a while then,” said Koenig.

  Dejanus stared off into infinity. “A bloody nose? I wonder, did we really do that? Eighteen heavy cruisers are nothing to sneeze at, but I’m beginning to wonder if that was just reconnaissance in force. Did they really think we were so decimated that 18 heavy cruisers could win the war?”

  Koenig took a sip of his latte and shrugged. “Don’t forget that if 7th fleet hadn’t made it back from the Great Beyond, Earth would have had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get anything in front of that fleet, and let’s be honest here. We were outnumbered. If we had engaged them in a straight up fight, we’d have lost.”

  “That’s true enough. I guess I’m just being paranoid. I can’t shake this feeling that we’re barely hanging on by our fingernails.”

  Koenig nodded in acknowledgement. He sometimes had the same feeling but didn’t want to encourage her paranoia by admitting it. He tried to change the subject.

  “I heard that work on the latest super-heavy is coming along nicely. Another three months and it’ll be ready for its shakedown cruise. Did you know they had planned to call it Excalibur because they thought our Excalibur was lost?”

  “No! I didn’t know that. I wonder why they chose Excalibur when there are plenty of other names, including names of other lost ships?”

  “I suspect it’s because this new super-heavy cruiser incorporates the same kind of flat surfaces that the light cruiser version has. It’s virtually the same overall design grossed up by a factor of almost two.”

  Dejanus frowned. “You mean twice the mass? That doesn’t sound like a super-heavy, more like just a heavy cruiser.”

  Koenig shook his head. “No, no. Not twice the mass. Twice the length. Twice the width and twice
the height. In other words, eight times as massive. It’ll apparently be one point six times more massive than Corregidor.”

  “Nice! What else have you heard about it?”

  Koenig hesitated. “Well…I find this a little hard to believe. I suspect it’s gossip that’s been embellished every time it’s passed along, but I heard that this beast will have 20 missile tubes, 10 on each side, and have enough missile magazine capacity for 50 broadsides. I’ve also heard it’ll have eight, count ‘em, eight grazer turrets, although I’ll bet some or all of those will be switched to gravity cannon. Apparently the first home-built prototype was successfully tested. If that’s true then we know how to build the damn things from scratch and can start working on building bigger, more powerful, and fully compatible versions. The Arenian cannon we brought back have turned out to be too damned difficult to retrofit to the curved hulls that most of our ships have.”

  “Huh. If even half of that is true, that ship will be one deadly weapon. We’ll need ships like that if we’re going to win this war. Somehow, we—and by that, I mean you and I—have to find a way to hold back the Tong, and if necessary the Jabs, until that ship is ready to fight.”

  “Amen to that,” said Koenig softly.

  In the days that followed, Koenig kept track of the other two Javelin-class cruisers. Curtana was sent along the most likely Tong path of advance to try to determine their next move. If she found anything, she would use long jumps between giant stars to get back first and warn TOSF. Durendal was standing down for a while, just like Excalibur. When two weeks had passed, he was called into the office of the Chief of Space Operations. It was the first time that Koenig had been summoned by the CSO. The officer did not invite him to sit down.

  “I called you here because there’s a mission that requires a Javelin-class cruiser. That means it’s either you or Commander Nakatomi that gets the nod. You’re my first choice because of the way you’ve handled yourself, especially at Tau Ceti. I’m not going to order you and Excalibur to take on this mission, because it’s high risk. So high, in fact, that the Strategy Board has decided it should be voluntary. You can turn it down without any negative consequences.

  “The Arenian database you brought back had some tantalizing clues buried within the technical data. What seems to be the case is that just prior to the outbreak of the plague that decimated the Arenians, they apparently made contact with another alien race that seemed to have faster than light communication capability. What we don’t know is who this race is, where they are—other than a very general direction—or whether they’re likely to be friendly or hostile to strangers. That’s literally all we know about them. It has occurred to us that the plague might have resulted from that contact, either accidentally or deliberately. So, there are plenty of risks involved. Can you find them? Are they hostile? If friendly, or at least non-hostile, can you convince them to give us the FTL technology? If they are willing to trade the FTL tech for something else, you’d be authorized to trade any technical data we have, including gravity cannons technology. Whatever ship takes on this mission will carry a special technical database that includes mark 14 and 15 warhead design, graphene hull manufacturing, gravity cannons design and function, ECM tech and lots of other more mundane technical knowledge that other races might not have. If it’s in the database, it’s tradeable. If we can implement FTL communication, it would be a major force multiplier that could literally win the war for us, so no pressure there!” The CSO smiled at the implied joke. “Do you want some time to think over your answer, Commander?”

  Koenig thought for a few seconds before replying. “I may not need time if I can ask a question or two now.”

  The CSO leaned back in his chair. “Ask your questions.”

  “Is there a high probability of another Tong attack before the new super-heavy is ready?”

  “If by high you mean greater than 50%, the consensus among the planning staff is yes. Next question.”

  “Would I be correct in thinking of this FTL tech mission as more of a longer-term Hail Mary play versus the shorter-term impact of getting the super-heavy into the field?”

  “I can see an argument being made for that point of view. Even if we got our hands on the FTL technology relatively quickly, deploying it might take time. Is there another question?”

  “Not a question, no, sir. I do want to say that I wonder if Excalibur could be more useful in the short run in helping keep the Tong at bay long enough for the super-heavy to become operational.”

  The CSO took his time responding. “I think I would feel the same way if I were in your shoes, Commander. I’m going to interpret your comments to mean that all other things being equal, you would prefer not to take on this mission. Is that correct?”

  Koenig was reluctant to say yes, but the fact was that he didn’t really want to be away when the next Tong attack came. “Affirmative, sir.”

  “Well, that puts me in an potentially awkward spot, Commander. With Curtana likely to be gone for weeks, maybe months, that just leaves Durendal and Commander Nakatomi. It wouldn’t be fair to give you the option and not give him the same option. If he declines the mission, then where does that leave us?”

  Koenig mentally nodded. He should have expected that comeback. His own sense of duty was now telling him that he no longer had any choice.

  “If Commander Nakatomi declines the mission, then Excalibur will take it, sir.”

  “I’m relieved to hear that, Commander. We’ll know one way or another within 24 hours. You’re dismissed.”

  When Koenig told Dejanus about the meeting, she surprised him with her response. “I hope Nakatomi turns it down, Wolfe. If the Tong attack while the mission is still going and we can’t stop them, then I think humanity’s chances of surviving this war are greater if you are the one left standing versus Nakatomi. He’s a competent CO, but you have superior strategic insights. Losing you in the next battle would be a worse outcome than losing Nakatomi.”

  “I’m surprised by that, Tyler. It wasn’t all that long ago when you thought I was too impulsive.”

  Dejanus nodded. “You are impulsive, and that’s exactly what saved us at Tau Ceti. Nakatomi isn’t impulsive enough! Not in these circumstances anyway, but it’ll be a tough mission. You’ll never be sure if your decisions are correct, and at some point, if you don’t find them, you’ll have to decide how much longer you keep searching. No one expects you to search until your food supplies run out, but whenever you make the decision to return, there’ll always be that nagging question: what if I had kept looking a little bit longer? If you end up going, try to get the CSO to give you firm orders concerning when to call off the search.”

  “Good advice. I’ll try, but he may not make it that easy for me.”

  Eight hours later, Koenig got the word by personal messenger from the CSO. Nakatomi had turned down the mission. Excalibur would be receiving official orders soon. The ship was being resupplied, and the crew recalled from leave.

  When Koenig received his orders, there was nothing in them about time limits. He contacted the CSO’s Office and requested a meeting which was granted.

  “What’s on your mind, Commander?” asked the CSO. Once again Koenig was not invited to sit down.

  “I’d like to request some guidance as to how long Excalibur should keep searching if it can’t find these aliens, sir.”

  “I wish I could give you that guidance, Commander, but I can’t. I don’t know how long of a search is enough. Clearly you would have to call off the search when you have just enough food left to get home, but it could be the better part of a year before you get to that point. No one here expects your ship to stay out that long, so you’ll have to make a judgement call if you get to the point where you’ve exhausted all leads, if there are any, and you’re already far beyond where the Arenians had explored. For what it’s worth, that’s about all the guidance I can give you, and it’ll have to remain verbal. I won’t put it in writing because it’s just too ambigu
ous. Your orders were phrased in such as way as to give you the maximum amount of flexibility. Any attempt to define a time limit would only impinge on that flexibility. You can take Excalibur anywhere you think will prove fruitful. This is a suggestion, not an order, and you’re free to disregard it, but paying another visit to the Arenian home world might just result in more data. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific than that. Was there anything else?”

  “No, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  As Koenig left the CSO’s office, he was disappointed at not getting a firm or even a general time limit, but looking for more data from the Arenian home world was something he hadn’t thought of yet, and now that it had been brought up, it was the obvious first step. There wasn’t enough time left to meet with Dejanus again before leaving orbit, so he left her a detailed message, including his hope that she would make it through any Tong attack.

  When Excalibur was ready to leave orbit, he told Soriya to take the Command Pod and tell the astro AI to head for F1 by the quickest and most direct route. As the ship broke out of orbit and accelerated away, the com AI reported an incoming message from TOSF HQ

  CSO TO EXCALIBUR ACTUAL. ON BEHALF OF ALL FLAG OFFICERS, I WISH YOU GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HUNTING. END OF MESSAGE.

  Dejanus happened to be in the HQ Operations Center when Excalibur accelerated out of orbit. She watched the huge multi-story display that showed the actual telescopic image of the ship next to the tactical view of Excalibur’s green icon moving away. She said a silent prayer for her friend and the crew of that ship. Even as she said that prayer, she had a nagging feeling that she would not see Wolfe Koenig again.