Refusing Excalibur Read Online Free Page A

cruisers Sabretooth , Vulture, Hammerhead , and Stallion under your command.”
    Victor nodded. The four other vessels were all Thresher-class cruisers, just like the Osprey . He also knew each vessel’s captain—Lyse of the Sabretooth , Markab of the Vulture , Jaron of the Hammerhead , and Hasan of the Stallion —were all experienced commerce raiders and veterans of the defense of Arcadia. “Roger that, Admiral Selan. Moving to intercept as soon as we’re outside the atmosphere.”
    “Good hunting, Osprey .” Admiral Selan broke the connection.
    The Osprey continued to climb until Lieutenant Colletta announced, “We’ve cleared the atmosphere. Shutting down turbines. Activating main thrusters.”
    Savannah fell away from the Osprey as the cruiser’s acceleration multiplied. She was doing over ten standard gravities of acceleration, though none of the crew felt it inside the protection of the ship’s AG field.
    Thirty thousand kilometers above the planet’s surface, the skeletal remains of the gate that once led to the long-lost solar system loomed over the planet’s single continent. It orbited idly, while dozens of starships flew past it to reinforce the battle at the Arcadia jump point a billion kilometers away.
    The space around the Arcadia jump point was alight with weapons fire. The energy spikes from kinetic weapons and nuclear detonation practically buzzed on the sensor display.
    “God, that’s a hell of a fight,” Commander Dace said, leaning toward her screen.
    Victor suppressed a shudder. All the intense fighting he saw now had occurred an hour ago. In the time it took the light to reach his ship, the battle could’ve already been lost. He pushed those thoughts from his mind and scanned the surrounding space. “Some of the Lysandrans have broken through.”
    Commander Dace nodded. “The pickets are dealing with most of them. However”—she pointed at a group of hostiles—“no one seems to be moving against these guys.”
    “Let’s change that.” Victor looked to his pilot. “Lieutenant Colletta, plot an intercept with the hostile warships.” He keyed his flotilla’s communications channel. “All ships, maintain formation with the Osprey as we move to engage the enemy.”
    The four other cruisers in his flotilla acknowledged his orders.
    “Intercept course plotted, Captain,” Lieutenant Colletta said.
    “Full speed ahead,” Victor said. Just an old-fashioned way of saying, “Maximum acceleration.”
    The Osprey ’s thrusters fired at full power, and her AG generators dialed up to maximum to keep the ship’s 150 g acceleration from crushing her crew.
    The Lysandran warships also moved, accelerating toward Savannah at the same rate Victor’s flotilla was accelerating away from the planet. If the enemy maintained their course, it would be roughly six hours until they reached weapons range.
    “Shields are charged and ready, Captain,” Commander Dace said.
    “Good. Be ready to bring them up to combat power on my order,” Victor said.
    Shields spread the energy of any impact over a larger area of the ship’s surface. They were most effective at diffusing electromagnetic energy; a hit from a laser would be spread over most of the ship’s surface area. The shields were less effective against kinetic weapons, which was why the Savannan Navy liked putting big guns on their warships.
    The Osprey , like all Thresher-class cruisers, had a near-hull-length kinetic cannon mounted on each side. The rapid-fire weapons could fire a burst of metal spikes at 3 percent the speed of light, giving the Osprey a deadly close-range punch.
    Threshers paid for their big guns by having a purely defensive missile armament.
    The hours passed as Victor’s flotilla moved to intercept the Lysandran warships still moving toward Savannah.
    “Six Scimitar-class cruisers,” Commander Dace said after the sensors resolved enough to make out the vessels. “They’ll probably try for a flyby attack against