Falcone Strike Read Online Free PDF Page B

merely caught them by surprise and forced them to jump their plans forward.
    “Overall, however, we are forced to remain on the defensive until we have completed our transition to a war economy,” Sonja concluded. “This has obvious weaknesses, starting with the fact it leaves the initiative in their hands. They may overcome their problems before we overcome ours, and resume the offensive.”
    “Thank you,” King Hadrian said. “Admiral? ”
    The grand admiral cleared his throat. “Operation Knife has two major objectives,” he said. “First, to force the Theocracy to react to us for a change, diverting their strength from the front lines and buying us time to gear up for war. Second, to make contact with resistance movements within the Theocracy itself and provide assistance, as well as gather intelligence on the true nature of the enemy. We have very few insights into the enemy’s sphere, as you know well, and we need to know more about them.”
    Kat nodded wordlessly.
    “You will be given command of a small squadron of starships, mostly older models we can spare,” the grand admiral added. He didn’t use the word expendable , but Kat heard it regardless. “For this, you will be given the brevet rank of commodore, although I’m afraid you will not receive the salary or the staff. You will take your ships into enemy space and proceed as you see fit: attacking convoys, trading posts, industrial nodes .  .  . everything you can find, provided it belongs to the enemy. Your overall task is to disrupt the enemy’s ability to resupply the front lines and go on the offensive, while gathering intelligence and making contacts we can use to continue to undermine the Theocracy and take the offensive into their territory. You will continue your operations as long as reasonably possible.”
    Kat glanced at her father, whose face was completely impassive. The operation would be a challenge, but it was one she would enjoy; it certainly wasn’t a punishment. But, on the other hand, they would be deep within enemy space. If something went wrong, they would be trapped and unable to retreat . . . and no one would ever know what had happened to them, at least until the war was won. Hell, even get ting into enemy space would be tricky. The Seven Sisters Hyper-Route was likely mined or guarded by now.
    And if we run into formidable defenses , she thought, we might be wiped out before we realize just how badly we’ve fucked up .
    “You will also be given a handful of fully loaded freighters as your fleet train,” the grand admiral informed her. “We do not expect you to be able to maintain operations for longer than six months once you arrive on station, unless you manage to capture enemy weapons and turn them against their masters. Depending on your success rate, we may manage to ship additional supplies to you, but that may prove chancy.”
    Kat nodded. There would be no StarCom, no FTL transmissions; she would be unable to request supplies without actually sending a ship back to the front lines and demanding assistance. It was highly unlikely that any reinforcements would reach her in time to make a difference, even assuming they were dispatched as soon as the message arrived. She would have to be careful, very careful. If there was one thing both sides had learned from the Battle of Cadiz, it was that the consumption of missiles in wartime had been grossly underestimated; both sides had practically shot themselves dry. And it was unlikely she’d be able to adapt any enemy weapons to shoot from her missile tubes.
    The Theocracy fired our missiles, but they parked them in open space , she thought. Firing the missiles wouldn’t be a challenge; the trick would be luring the enemy to engagement range in the first place. Maybe if we attach them to the hulls . . .
    She pushed the thought aside as the king spoke. “Captain Falcone, do you accept the mission? ”
    “ Yes, Your Majesty,” Kat said, quickly. If nothing