Wing Commander #07 False Color by William Forstchen (novels for students TXT) 📗

remains to be confirmed by closer examination of individual planes. Vaktoths were superior in every respect to the Landreich's Raptors. Even if they could only get eight of them in service, they'd be a powerful strike force for the carrier.

Heavy fighters, Strakha-class, approximately one squadron in very good condition. That was really something to take notice of. The Landreich so far couldn't field anything using modern stealth technology, but the Strakhas were capable of cloaked flight that enabled them to evade detection before they struck. Even in the Confederation stealth fighters, the new Excaliburs like the one that had dropped the T-Bomb on Kilrah, had been slow to reach the front lines and scarce as hen's teeth right to the end of the war.

Bombers, Paktahn-class, numbers hard to determine because of heavy damage to many individual units.

Dedicated bombing craft were comparatively new to human flight wings, where the recent Longbow bomber was still a novelty. The Paktahn wasn't nearly as good as the Longbow, but like the stealth fighter the bomber was something the Landreich hadn't used at all . . . until now. If they could even get a few of these fit for combat action, they could greatly extend the Landreich's ability at power projection.

Electronic Warfare Craft, Zartoth-class, more than a full squadron apparently intact. Built on the same frame as a Vaktoth heavy fighter, the Zartoth was only lightly armed, but was crammed with electronics gear and electronic countermeasures. They were most useful when it was necessary to pinpoint and destroy enemy targets by detecting energy outputs, or when it was deemed advisable to knock out defending sensors or communications channels. The Confederation used larger EW vessels, corvettes, but Tolwyn had always thought the Kilrathi practice of deploying multiple Zartoths for the same role was a better way of doing the job.

Reconnaissance craft, Hrakthi-class, approximately one squadron in good condition. Unarmed and constructed from a modification of an older light fighter, the Salthi, the Hrakthi was intended purely as a scout craft. They possessed the ability to cloak, and were packed with sensors, but their combat worth was small. Still, the ability to study an enemy formation from close up without being detected appealed to Tolwyn.

Shuttles, various types, roughly four squadrons. The Kilrathi design philosophy emphasized dispersal and duplication of valuable assets to allow a force to suffer losses and still win a battle. They had adapted one basic shuttlecraft design for a number of different purposes. The Naktarg was the original version, an assault shuttle large enough to hold troops and small vehicles and armed with gatling lasers and anti-armor ground-support missiles. A Search and Rescue variant, the Rogharth, was not unlike the Type-R ConFleet shuttle that had carried the castaway party back to Karga, devoting space to a medical bay and extra sensors. Another intriguing type, as far as Tolwyn was concerned, was the Gratha, which was fitted for command and control duties. It carried a crew of six as well as room for a strike commander and his staff, and duplicated the tracking, communications, and tactical computer functions housed within a carrier's Primary Flight Control center. They effectively increased the carrier's ability to control flight operations over long distances.

Finally, there was the Kofar shuttle variant, a flying munitions and fuel dump that could dock with a Kilrathi fighter in space and transfer fuel and missiles. Tolwyn had long argued that the Confederation fleet could have used a similar platform. Carriers, after all, were at their most vulnerable when they were in the process of rearming and refueling fighters in the middle of combat operations. Terran carriers could launch small tankers, but there was no provision for restocking a fighter's missiles without having it return to the flight deck. The Kofar extended Kilrathi planes' flight times dramatically.

Tolwyn shook his head. All those planes, enough to fit out something close to a full flight wing that was considerably more modern than anything the Landreich could fly, and Richards was actually thinking of throwing it all away! And that wasn't even considering the carrier herself, a marvel of advanced naval design far better than escort carriers like Independence and her sister-ships. Even if they couldn't make good all of the damage—and Tolwyn had to admit there was all too much to do before the battered vessel was ready for combat again—the Goliath team couldn't afford to ignore the ship's potential.

He shut off his computer monitor and stood up to pace back and forth across the cabin. Tolwyn knew with absolute certainty that Goliath had to go forward, but he wasn't sure he could convince Richards or Bondarevsky. They might not believe what he knew about the Belisarius conspiracy. And if they didn't, they could do more than just pull the plug on the carrier refit. They could keep Tolwyn from carrying on his personal war against the people who were planning the unthinkable back on Earth. He couldn't afford to lose an argument . . . he had to take some other kind of action.

And he knew what that action had to be.

CHAPTER 9

"There is no treachery greater than the betrayal of comrade against comrade."

from the Sixth Codex16:33:17

Mess Hall C, FRLS City of Cashel Near Vaku VII, Vaku System 0845 hours (CST), 2670.315

Commander Donald Scott Graham was conscious of hostile eyes turned toward his table, but he forced himself to ignore them and concentrate on his food and his conversation. The relief of being rescued was starting to turn into concern for what might come next, but he was determined to enjoy the benefits of civilization without letting anyone spoil his first day off of Nargrast. But it took plenty of effort to ignore the stares and the muttered comments. Plainly there were fellow passengers aboard the transport ship who didn't approve of his choice of breakfast companions.

Murragh Cakg dai Nokhtak evidently noticed the hostility as well. "It would seem that my people