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a
resigned voice. He noticed that the noise level in the room went up as the
staff sent out the alert notice to the entire planet. “Do we have any lasersats
that can fire on that ship?” he asked.
     
    “Just
one, Admiral. It wasn’t in a position to fire on any missiles, but it does have
line-of-sight to that ship, and we have a good firing solution on it.”
     
    “Then
let’s take the shot while we can,” ordered Chenko. This time the Duty Officer
did acknowledge the order. The display flashed again, and the red triangle lost
one of its sides, indicating a hit.
     
    1st
Empire Fleet Ship Victorious
    Senior
Commander Nagumo swore as his tactical display showed the fleet flagship get
hit by the full fury of an exploding lasersat’s x-ray laser beams.
     
    “Try
to raise the Admiral again!” he shouted. The orders to launch a massive missile
barrage by every ship in the fleet had taken him by surprise, and then the lack
of communications after the launch had puzzled him, but now he needed to know
if Admiral Romanov was alive and still able to exercise command of the fleet.
If not, then he had to assume temporary command of the fleet and continue the
operation. Even as he thought that, he realized that there wouldn’t be much
left of the operation after the remaining missiles hit. Landing troops at that
point would be a waste of time unless they were going to try to save as many
survivors as possible. The troops weren’t trained for that and didn’t have
anywhere close to enough of the right kind of supplies to help more than a tiny
fraction of Earth’s population. Nagumo couldn’t get rid of a nagging feeling
that something had gone terribly wrong and that the missile attack was a
mistake.
     
    “Where’s
that com channel to the Admiral?” he asked.
     
    “No
reply, Sir,” said the Com Officer. Nagumo cursed again. As the seconds passed
and the waves of missile got closer to the Earth, that nagging feeling at the
back of his head was getting worse. This wasn’t the mission at all! Romanov had
told his ship C.O.s that they were to open the way so that the troops could
land and pacify the planet, not blast it back into the Stone Age for God sakes!
     
    Planetary
Defense Ops:
    Chenko
pounded the railing in front of him. Where the hell was that com channel to the
Council Chairman?
     
    “Council
Chairman is on the line now, Admiral,” said a shaken voice that didn’t sound
like the Duty Officer. Before Chenko could say anything, he heard the Chairman
speak.
     
    “What’s
happening Admiral Chenko?”
     
    “Earth
is under missile attack, Mr. Chairman. We have one confirmed enemy ship, but I
have a strong hunch that there are more we can’t detect yet. We don’t have a
lot of time. The nearest missiles will hit in less than 60 seconds. We’ve
already fired all the lasersats that had any chance of hitting those missiles
that we can see. I strongly recommend that we broadcast a surrender declaration
while there’s still time for the enemy to stop their missiles.”
     
    “Surrender?
My God, you can’t be serious! Those missiles will do some damage, yes, but
we’ll have our ground-based defenses if they try to land troops afterwards! No,
I won’t authorize the surrender! Grow a spine, dammit!”
     
    Chenko
shook his head. “You’re assuming that those missiles have chemical explosive
warheads intended for surgical strikes on specific ground targets, Mr.
Chairman. There’s too much at risk to make that assumption. Those missiles
might very well be carrying nukes, and if there’s as many as I suspect,
civilization on this planet will disappear!”
     
    “No!
They wouldn’t dare launch a massive nuclear strike on Earth! You’re letting
your fear cloud your judgement, Admiral! I thought you had more guts than
that!”
     
    “Well,
we’ll find out in about ten seconds when the first missiles hit.” Chenko was
about to add that one of the thirteen missiles on the display seemed to be
headed for