Approaching the Refuge Worm Hole
The thirty nine remaining ships of the Black Watch and Queen’s Own were now four hours ahead of Atlas, well clear of the sphere-shaped shell of mines and missile platforms that encircled the space station. Together with the three Arks of the Home Fleet, they headed directly toward the Dominion blocking force.
On board the battleship Lionheart, Admiral Douthat could direct the upcoming battle and stay in touch with Atlas and the Coldstream Guards. Her monitors showed that the worm hole to Refuge was already moving to the left as they approached it, and the Dominion blocking force was falling back with it. No matter. She would press forward until they gave battle. She knew she was outnumbered, but she didn’t have to win the fight, only slow the Dominions enough so that they could not prevent Atlas from slipping through the wormhole when it finally stopped moving. So let the Dominions fall back. Every mile they moved further west put them a mile further from Atlas, assuming the damn worm hole really did move back to the east like the Light promised it would.
It should work.
Admiral Douthat snorted derisively. What could possibly go wrong with a plan like this one? Gods of Our Mothers, she thought, if my old tactics instructor from the Academy could see me now, he’d give me a failing grade for sure.
On board the Dominion battleship Vengeance, Admiral Mello glowered at Captain Pattin. “Are you sure, Jodi?”
“Quite positive, sir.” Captain Pattin had learned never to show the slightest doubt around Admiral Mello. Doubt implied weakness, and Admiral Mello instinctively attacked any sign of weakness. “We’ve triple checked. Although the worm hole is moving to the west as seen from our plane of approach, the Victorian space station is turning to the east.”
Admiral Mello shook his head. This didn’t make any sense. Why were the Victorians making such a blatant mistake? The space station was huge; it had to be difficult to turn. Were they pulling some sort of feint on him?
He turned back to Pattin. “Do you have any idea what they’re doing?”
She shook her head. “No, sir. Unless they think they’re going to miss the worm hole and they are turning around to make a run for Darwin.”
“But the Refuge worm hole is moving west?”
“Absolutely, sir.” Captain Pattin hesitated. “Shall I order the attack to be moved up, sir?”
He looked again at the holo display. Feint or no, at the end of the day the Vickies had to go to the worm hole, it was their only open path of escape. Let them twist and turn, that is where he would find them. Mello smiled. “No, Jodi. Let them continue to turn the wrong way. A very famous Old Earth general said, ‘Never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake.’ We’ll let the Victorians continue their mistake a while longer, then finish them.”
• • • • •
Two hours later the Refuge worm hole suddenly changed direction. One second it was moving west, then abruptly it was moving back east along the same path it taken earlier. The leader of the Dominion blocking force blanched.
“What the hell is it doing?” he shouted at the hapless Sensors Officer.
“I don’t know, Captain!” the man stammered. “It simply changed direction and is moving east.”
“Well, where is it going?” On the holograph display, the captain could see that it was coming up fast behind them and would go past them, toward the Victorians, in less than an hour.
“I- there is no way of knowing, Captain,” the hapless Sensors Officer confessed.
The captain cursed loudly and eloquently, displaying a rich vocabulary gathered during a lifetime of service in the Dominion Fleet. Then he sent a message to Admiral Mello. Several minutes later, he received a one word reply.
Attack!