Guardian (War Angel Book 1) by David Hallquist (best contemporary novels .TXT) 📕

other, maybe we can keep them from wiping each other out…by getting right in the middle of it ourselves.

Floating overhead, and accessible in all our cyber-augments, is a detailed map of the Earth–Luna system. Everything is there and as up to date as our intelligence services, scanners, and the speed of light will allow. The five Lagrange colonies show up as bright dots held in place by the gravitational forces of the two worlds. Each of those giant spinning cylinders is a city in its own right. L4 and L5 before and behind the Moon’s orbit are controlled by Luna, as is L2, orbiting perpetually on the far side of the moon. L3, eternally on the other side of the sun, was the State of Terra’s accident-prone and problem-stricken contribution to space colonization. The L1 station, directly between both worlds, was to be administered as a jointly run “friendship project.” In the early hours of the fighting, Terran Special Security forces launched a sneak attack from inside L1 and took over the whole station, holding the Lunars there hostage.

Each world is englobed by double layers of weapons platforms. The inner platforms orbit in a tight sphere close to the worlds, able to provide last-minute defenses against incoming missiles or small craft. The outer ones are a mixed bag of reconnaissance and heavy weapons platforms, and they orbit higher and more slowly.

The space between the two worlds seems to be filling up with ships. Swarms of fighters, missile-bombers, gunships, and troop carriers are taking off from Earth and Luna and setting up in staging areas. The cruisers and frigates are also maneuvering in a tense dance to make sure each has the best position in relation to the other’s constantly shifting movements. With this much firepower out there, it almost doesn’t matter that Terra is a couple of generations behind in technology; if they throw enough nukes and plasma at us, something will probably get through.

The binary system screams in radio and coded directed laser as both sides try to keep their forces organized. Jamming, computer viruses, and semi-sentient intrusion programs hurtle through the vacuum as they try to distract and disrupt each other.

Finally, somewhere out there are four Saturnine heavy cruisers that just kind of disappeared before all this went down. That’s probably the thing that has me most worried. A surprise attack by a modern cruiser squadron could cripple or destroy our task force all together.

Our plan is for the fleet to zip right on by, maneuvering and decelerating as it goes. There probably aren’t too many mines out there in such heavily trafficked space between the worlds, but you never know, and we’ll have to be on the lookout. Our Angels will be out there to bolster the anti-missile and anti-drone capability of our escort ships. Aegis-class drones will be in close formation to our big ships and operating as dedicated anti-missile platforms. Invictus-class drones will be farther out, bolstering our offensive firepower and missile capability.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to pass through the system, decelerate, and then come into a stable orbit peacefully. If not, we’ll fire in passing, then turn back and engage the enemy. After all that…who knows? We’ll have to be flexible in what looks like very chaotic battlespace.

“Good hunting,” Rackham closes as he sends us to our frames for battle.

* * *

The Earth–Luna system glows far below me.

Luna is closest and appears to be a huge crescent of mottled silver, with the lights of her cities shining on the nightside. Ganymede might be a bigger moon, but up close, Earth’s moon is impressive. I can see why it’s inspired so much art and poetry over the ages. All around her, slowly moving blue stars show where the Lunar fleet is on the move. Their ships might not be as advanced as ours, but they’re pretty good, and their small Navy is tightly run.

Earth shows as a smaller crescent, its bowed dayside perfectly lined up with its massive satellite. It looks like the Moon is a giant gray bow aimed at the Earth, while the Earth is widening its jaws to consume its rebellious satellite. Much of Earth’s nightside is pitch black, with only a few arcology tower centers here and there still lit up. The State of Terra has launched a much, much larger fleet, and all of space ahead of us glows with the blue sparks of their drives. Terran ships might be primitive, but eventually numbers can catch up, and both Luna and my task force are massively outnumbered.

Beyond both, the Sun shines on the upcoming battlespace as a fierce sphere of white fire. Unshielded by any atmosphere, this close, the Sun is no longer the friendly golden globe of life, but a stark, glaring sphere of fierce light and radiation. This close, it totally dominates the sky, with a presence unknown back on Jupiter. It’s also a huge problem. This close, the Sun is blinding to a lot of sensors, so we’re all rushing in half-blind.

Our task force’s cruisers and destroyers are keeping in tight to the host carrier, adding their defensive systems and linking together with various drones and remotes to create a hopefully impervious wall of lasers against any missiles, mines, drones, or fighters that might get in close. Frigates and scout ships are out near the periphery, able to give early warnings and put their superior maneuverability and speed to work. Another cloud of drones in looser formation occupies the outer defensive potions. Finally, our stealth attack ships are out there, lost in all the chaos of the system we’re approaching…they might be in there already, for all I know.

Our whole wing of Angels is arrayed around the fleet, protecting it. The other squadrons are protecting the flanks of the fleet, while mine gets the position directly ahead of the whole force. With only remote reconnaissance drones and the scouts ahead of