Europa Strike. Ian Douglas

was just starting to work at it when the far door opened and Major Warhurst walked in.

      “Attention on deck!” Dave cried. There was a swift rattling and shuffling as shot glasses and bottles somehow vanished into BJ’s porta-bar, which closed and locked and made it to the floor as the rest of them stood up.

      Warhurst didn’t seem to notice—likely a deliberate oversight on his part—but he seemed fascinated by the expression on Nodell’s face. “Carry—” he started to say, and then stopped. “Nodell? Are you okay?”

      “Um…mmm-mmm…mmm!” He was working his jaws furiously, trying to swallow the mess in his mouth without parting his lips.

      “That’s ‘Mmm-mmm, sir,’ Nodell. What have you got in your mouth?”

      Lucky stood at attention, wondering what was going to go down. V-berg wasn’t dry, but the only drinking allowed was at the various designated watering holes, the enlisted bars and NCO clubs and such. They could all be in a world of shit if Major Warhurst decided to be a prick.

      With several more vigorous workings of his jaw, Nodell managed to get the congealed mess chewed and swallowed. “Uh, sorry, sir. You caught me with my mouth full.”

      “Of what?”

      “Uh…my girlfriend sent me some cookies.”

      Warhurst glanced at the suspiciously empty table—no wrappings, no crumbs. “I see.” He sniffed. “Lime cookies? Smells good! I don’t suppose you have any for your CO.”

      “Uh, sorry, sir. That was the last one!”

      “Very well. Carry on, then!”

      “Aye, aye, sir!”

      “Almost taps, people. You’d better break this up. We start weapons training early tomorrow. M-580, stripping, cleaning, and troubleshooting. You’ll need clear heads.” He gave Nodell a hard look. “All of you!”

      He turned and walked out, as the Marines at the table slowly, ever so slowly, relaxed again.

      “Jeez! We coulda all been busted!” Lucky said.

      “I don’t think so,” BJ said. “He knew!”

      “Nah,” Dave said. “No way.”

      “So…what kind of skipper is he?” Corporal Mayhew asked. He was the company’s current newbie, newly arrived from Space Training School at Quantico.

      “Damned tough,” BJ told him. “So tough I’d follow him to hell.”

      And the others agreed. Lucky wasn’t quite that trusting…but was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was willing enough to consider following the guy to hell.

      But…to Europa?

      23 SEPTEMBER 2067

      Tiantan Shandian

      Solar Orbit

      1412 hours Zulu

      They’d been extending the tether for the past thirty hours, allowing the fifteen-kilometer cables to play themselves slowly out into the night. At the far end of the four superconducting cables, a twenty-ton doughnut of steel, ceramics, and titanium used electrostatic forces and tiny rocket motors to maintain tension against the cables as they unspooled from the Heavenly Lightning’s blunt prow. Lasers ensured perfect alignment, while powerful optical and infrared telescopes assured proper tracking and aim.

      On the Lightning’s bridge, drifting beside the communications suite, Captain Lin Hu Xiang grasped a handhold and pulled himself alongside the communications officer, head down. “Do we have our final word?”

      “Yes, Captain!” The comm officer’s young face betrayed the flush of excitement. “It is confirmed both by Mission Control and the Star Mountain. Jia you!”

      Go.

      “I can’t help but feel certain…misgivings,” Lin said. “We advance blindly into an unwise war…”

      “Sir! The Space Military Directorate would never—”

      “It’s not the Directorate I’m worried about. It’s our inspired leaders in the Great Hall of the People. The men who put us here, who decided we should begin a war launched against the entire world.”

      The comm officer looked shocked. Evidently, he’d never expected to hear a commanding officer criticize the government. “I…I am sure they have their reasons.”

      “No doubt. And urgent ones, I imagine. Still…how is your military history, Lieutenant?”

      “I am a graduate of the Beijing Academy, sir. First honors!”

      “Which guarantees nothing. Do you know the name Zhu-gang?”

      “No, Captain.” He looked puzzled. “Is that a place in the homeland?”

      “No. But our actions today will draw inevitable comparisons. I hope our leaders are prepared to accept the consequences.” Turning carefully in midair, he addressed the Lightning’s weapons officer. “Mr. Shu. Are we on target?”

      “We are, Captain. Target One is locked in. The computers are programmed to execute a five-degree yaw to bring Target Two to bear, as soon as Packages One and Two have been released.”

      “And our little distraction is ready?”

      “Ready for launch, Captain.”

      He looked at Commander Feng Sun Wa, the Executive Officer. “And the crew?”

      “All crew members report themselves strapped in and ready for action.”

      “Very well.” There could be no further delay. “Mr. Shu, launch the decoy.”

      An eight-ton Zhuongshu missile sped from the Lightning’s launch bay, accelerating in a burst of energy at nearly twenty Gs. Its course took it back along the path traversed by the Lightning, chasing after a bright blue star and its tiny, grayish consort—the Earth and the Moon, now 50 million kilometers distant. Before long, the fast-moving missile had canceled the original velocity imparted by the Lightning away from Earth and begun closing with the distant planet.

      Not that Earth was the target. After six minutes, the range between the Lightning and the missile had opened to 20,000 kilometers. A quick targeting check made certain that the missile was precisely aligned between the Lightning and distant Earth, and then the Weapons Officer pressed a key, triggering the detonation sequence over a lasercom link.

      The missile’s 100-megaton thermonuclear warhead detonated in a savage, death-silent flash.

      “Radio communications with Earth is now interrupted,” the comm office said. “Nothing but static on all channels.”

      “Confirm that all hands are strapped in.” Best to double check. This was going to be a rough ride.

      “Confirmed, Captain.”

      “Very well.” Lin took a deep breath. “Fire main weapon. Package One.”

      “Package One, launch at three hundred forty thousand gravities. Fire.”

      The Heavenly Lightning lurched as the egg-shaped, ten-kilo mass hurtled down the channel formed by four taut, superconducting cables. Accelerated by a fusion-charged magnetic pulse at an acceleration of 340,000 Gs, it traveled the fifteen-kilometer length of that immense gun barrel in just under a tenth of a second, emerging from the doughnut at the end with a velocity of over 316 kilometers per second. Ten kilos, compared with the Lightning’s 25,000-ton mass, would normally have been insignificant, but hurled into the void at that speed, it imparted a significant recoil to the huge ship. Lin felt the nudge, a hard kick transmitted through the back of his acceleration seat.

      Seconds passed as the main weapon powered up for a second pulse…and then Package Two was launched, hurtling after the first. The range to target was just under 525 million kilometers. At 316 kps, the warheads