"They may think we are potential client races who will appreciate protection. The fact they are being pursued tells me there are at least two races with more advanced tech, and they may not be friendly to each other. We have seen with the new-met races that all technologies don't advance at the same rate. Not to insult Lee or other humans but they seem to surpass at killing efficiently and in quantity. I'm just glad we Derf got a good treaty and have integrated into the human sphere of influence, because I wouldn't want them as enemies. I know Derf are a minor player in the human sphere.
"I expect the Caterpillars to make a very fast, close, cometary pass around this star,” Gordon finished. “When they get here I want to be sure in my own mind how to act if things happen suddenly. Are the Caterpillars our allies or are we neutrals? They certainly have not been our enemies."
"In the end how do you decide?" Lee asked. "What matters?"
Gordon smiled. "If everybody makes nice-nice and talks it will be complicated. Then we leave it to the politicians and time to sort out. If somebody has no patience and starts shooting that makes it real easy to take sides. I have little patience with anybody who is quick to fire."
"I wish we had a report from the Sharp Claws," Lee said. "That would tell us a lot." She sat and stared at Gordon a while, frowning harder. “You just look too smug. You have an idea what's going on with the Sharp Claws and you won't say anything you aren't almost one hundred percent positive about. No wonder you do good predictions, because we never hear the bad guesses."
"A person would look foolish to share every crazy theory they are capable of imagining," Gordon said. "No, worse, it doesn't just look foolish, it is foolish."
"You still owe me instruction. Write down what foolish thing may be possible with the Sharp Claws and give it to me to read later," Lee demanded.
"For your eyes only?" Gordon asked.
"Yes, I swear it."
Gordon retrieved a paper pad from his console drawer and scratched out a quick note. He folded it over and, stretching, handed it to Lee. She put it in her com pad cover without looking at it.
"You're thinking the same thing. I can see it in your eyes. You can't hide a thing from me," Gordon accused her.
"You've taken up mind reading?" Lee asked him.
"Yes, every move of your head and twitch of your eye for almost sixteen years is a code nobody could help but learn. The way you hold your lips and the tilt of your eyebrows all add up. The harder you try to look blank the louder it shouts."
"I'm not that transparent," Lee objected.
The rest of the bridge crew looked back and forth, staying safely silent.
"Then write down what you think, the same as I did, and hand it to me," Gordon demanded.
Lee looked miffed but complied.
"This is torture," Thor finally said.
"How so?" Lee asked.
"We can't bet on the notes being the same or not," Thor complained.
Ha-bob-bob-brie rarely spoke, but did now. "Brother," he said, to soften his counsel to Thor, "you have been around the Fargoers too long."
* * *
The com buzzer woke Gordon. When he slapped the key Vigilant Botrel appeared looking stressed, and peered at him out of the screen. "I suggest you rouse yourself and prepare to start your shift early. The Caterpillars have made the loop around the star even faster than we imagined. They appear to be aimed at us and have to be planning an amazing braking action if they aren't going to overshoot us."
"They're both running noisy then?" Gordon asked.
"The Caterpillars are hooting and gobbling from time to time. They haven't transmitted any 3D that’s shown up on our rig. The ship chasing has kept up a regular transmission of radar that seems to automatically run through a broad frequency range cycle. The Caterpillars don't seem to favor running their radar continuously."
"What about the ship following them?" Gordon demanded. "Is it keeping up?"
"They looped around the star too, but nowhere near as close as the Caterpillars, and they took a lot more delta-v to reverse direction and continue the pursuit."
"Ummm," Gordon made a satisfied grunt. "They've played this game before and the Caterpillars know their advantage over the other type of ship."
"Yes," Vigilant agreed readily. His face said it was a new thought though. "I'd have to agree this isn't a first encounter and they are aware of their adversary's weaknesses. I have no idea why the Caterpillars transmit audio. They know we don't understand it and there is no other Caterpillar ship to receive it."
"Maybe the guys chasing them understand it," Gordon reasoned.
Vigilant blinked processing the idea... "But, still, what would they be saying?"
"Why, they're probably taunting them," Gordon said. "Something like – Too hot for you? – as they whipped around the star so close. Who knows? Maybe they are reading them the riot act."
Vigilant face said he was completely uncomprehending.
"Look it up on the web fraction," Gordon told him. "It's a human thing not Derf. Colonial English era. Think of it as a fair warning. I'll be up as soon as I clean up and have some breakfast. Have you awakened the rest of my crew?"
"No sir. I was waiting to make sure you wanted to take the shift early before doing that."
"Good thinking, but go ahead and get them all up now," Gordon ordered.
* * *
"Brownie, send a notice to the entire fleet," Gordon said. "Pretty it up in polite neutral language but make it clear. If we come under attack from this new alien presence and are unable to deal with it, then each commander is free to flee the area on separate heading and make their way home on their own. He may be fast but he can't chase down more than one of us before the rest have dispersed in every direction. If the Badgers want to stay teamed up or stick with an armed ship that's up to them, but the more paths the aliens have to follow the harder for them."
"You want to read my copy first?" Brownie asked.
"Nah... You say things gentler than me. Crap, everybody seems to be more eloquent than me, except maybe Lee." That got him a sharp look, but Lee didn't disagree either. Even Ha-bob-bob-brie, her biggest fan, knew subtlety wasn't her strong point.
"The Dart informs us if we are forced to disperse they shall follow us," Brownie relayed.
"Would you inquire why?" Gordon requested. He'd have thought they'd want to go with the heavily armed Retribution if anyone.
Brownie gave a little snort. "They say because you are lucky."
"That's interesting. The Fargoers just think I'm sneaky. I kind of like lucky," Gordon admitted.
"Devious, plotting, conspiring, underhanded... It probably looks lucky," Thor admitted.
"Your faith is also reassuring," Gordon said, smiling. "How long until they get here, Brownie?"
"They are decelerating at a little more than sixty-two G, which will bring them to a stop about fifty thousand kilometers from us. They ramped up to that over just a few minutes and are holding it. I suspect that is their full emergency thrust or near it to take full advantage of the lead they have over their pursuer. Call it thirty minutes and they will be at rest to us. The others are lagging behind and won't catch up until the caterpillars have been at rest about twelve minutes."
"I'd like the Retribution and The Champion William and us all on a plane facing their approach. Space us equally twenty thousand kilometers around common center. Our unarmed friends I suggest withdraw behind us, well apart. I want full crews on weapons, everybody suited up. Greasers charged and other crew in a safe shutdown condition by the time the trailing ship is in missile range. I intend to direct fire and not be distracted to actively fight the High Hopes unless it becomes necessary." Right now Gordon was wishing he still had the heavy cruiser Murphy's Law with them to match the firepower of the Retribution.
"You do anticipate problems with the new ship then?" Captain Fussy of the Dart asked.
Thor rolled his eyes for Gordon's benefit, but held his tongue. Lee just looked incredulous.<
br />
"Yes, they didn't chase our acquaintances in the Caterpillar ship so aggressively because they forgot something in the other system and they want to return it," Gordon said in patient normal tones.
"That's sarcasm, isn't it?" Fussy decided.
"It is, yes. If it were a Biter ship would I have to explain my reasoning?" Gordon asked.
"No, I admit I'd have drawn the same conclusions readily," Fussy admitted. "I'm afraid I sound naive. I had to look that word up."
"You sound hopeful," Gordon said, to let the Badger down easy. "I have the burden of command and responsibility for your safety as well as ours. I can be hopeful, but I can't afford to act hopeful if it puts you at risk. I'll be delighted if the new folks stay reasonable, but I can't count on it."
"We appreciate your protection," Fussy said. "Thank you for explaining." Gordon took that for a leave taking and said no more.
"Retribution, do you have enough angle on the following ship to ping them hard without laying a damaging power density on the Caterpillars?" Gordon asked. "I'd like you to run it manually instead of slaving it to our boards so you can turn your ship and manage power systems to get the maximum effect.
"Yes sir," Captain Aristotle replied. "How aggressive do you want me to get with him?"
"I believe I'd like him to know he's dealing with a warship, even if we are smaller and slower than him or the Caterpillars. Lay full power on him at a very narrow angle now while you don't need the power for other systems. Assume I'd like to count the hull rivets on that big plate if they use them."
"Aye, Gordon," Aristotle said laughing. He left his mic live for them. "Mr. Ellis. Commander Gordon wishes to read the surface detail of that big plate down to rivet bumps. Please shut down all power to secondary systems and give them a ping from hell."
"Yes sir. Everyone is getting notice. I'm taking everything to minimum or off, including lighting. Rolling ship to bring the antennas to optimum position." He seemed to be enjoying it entirely too much. "Bringing the auxiliary reactor up and using the storage for the pea shooter too. That should be ready in another two minutes and we're good to go... Pulse away. Might you like another or should I return systems to normal sir?"
"That should be entirely sufficient, Jeremiah, thank you," Aristotle said.
"That's the most fun he's had in months," Thor said off mic.
"They are still a couple light minutes out," Brownie said.
"They could consider that an aggressive act," Thor worried. "An attack even."
"Then I miscalculated," Gordon said. He didn't sound especially remorseful.
"Do you have a fire plan if we do have to shoot something that big?" Thor asked.
"Yes. I do," Gordon said, but didn't elaborate for him.
"Well, your ping knocked their radar offline," Brownie said in a bit. "They have to notice that."
"Good, maybe that will make them back off a little," Gordon hoped.
"Data coming in from the Retribution's ping," Brownie said. "Damn that's a big sucker. He's near four times the volume of the Caterpillars' ship. I see all sorts of surface detail but no way to tell if any of it is weapons or what."
When the huge Caterpillar ship came to rest relative to them the hatch on the side toward them opened and the Sharp Claws was expelled with none of the careful gentle handling they'd seen the Caterpillars use before. The com came alive immediately with Captain Frost's voice.
"So good to see you! When we made our jump there was a tremendous big ship radiating right on our entry line. We piled on the side thrust to avoid running straight into them and the Caterpillars snatched us while we were still at a five G of acceleration. We didn't resist just as you suggested. We hoped they would take us back to you!"
"That big ship pursued them and is right behind you," Gordon informed them. "Take a position between us where Brownie is showing you on com. We're standing our ground with the armed ships forward and everybody at weapons stations."
"We're all suited up and in emergency mode too," Frost said. "The Caterpillars have been flashing the hold lights the last twelve minutes so we knew something was happening."
"The big plate is emitting radar again, but it's a simple single frequency system instead of the variable frequency that was cycling before," Brownie said. "They are changing course like they are coming around the Caterpillars."
"William and Retribution, you are free to radiate tactically for targeting. Move laterally if needed to keep a clear line of sight on the plate," Gordon ordered. "If they start shooting you are weapons free to use your Greasers. I'd like to reserve missiles at this time. Repeating... hold on any missile launches if we can," Gordon repeated.
"Data feed from the Retribution's radar on your screen," Brownie said. "Holy... Caterpillars moving to block the plate. They actually were on a collision course!"
"They're protecting us. Tell me any other explanation!" Lee said.
"Weapons away. Damn, damn, damn. Plate has fired on the Caterpillars," Brownie called out.
"You are free to fire Greasers," Gordon said calmly.
"Hit," Retribution reported, "Cycling. Will continue firing until ordered to desist," Aristotle made clear. "Radar shows debris. Whatever that big tower was sticking up amidships we blew it clean off."
"Hit," The Champion William added. "We don't know how they are laid out inside. I'm just walking fire up the middle and hope to hell we hit something vital."
"Defensive fire from the Caterpillars, lots of something small on radar. They will hit before the Greasers cycle," Aristotle said.
The Caterpillar ship was silhouetted with nuclear fire on the other side, and the ports went almost black to block the flash.
"They either hit the incoming or made them fail-fuse," Captain Fenton reported. "Second hit from Greaser. There's the Retribution's hit too. Four holes through them and they still just released a second salvo."
"Caterpillars replying," Brownie said.
The same scenario played out with the missiles inbound for the plate detonating at a distance. They couldn't tell if they were the defensive missiles exploding or if they made the offensive ones burst.
"Six Greasers shots absorbed," Fenton counted. "Any of our little ships would just be gone. They can absorb an unbelievable amount of damage."
"They're not shooting at our ships," Lee said, obviously mystified.
"You can't see a Greaser beam," Thor said. "They may not understand what's happening. The Caterpillars are obviously a threat they know. They may think the Caterpillars are doing it."
"Those warheads went off within range for an X-head!" Brownie said. "I think all they have is conventional nukes," he said, all excited.
Lee looked at Gordon and he was totally unsurprised.
The plate and the Caterpillars exchanged another flight of missiles and neither scored a hit.
"Retribution. William. One X-head from each of you. Set the steerable beams forward and take them from both ends. Set them off at an angle so one missile doesn't take the other out." Gordon ordered calmly. He didn't even raise his voice.
"Missile away," Aristotle called and Fenton echoed. Calm was infectious. They both sounded like Gordon. "Detonation in minus three minutes," Aristotle told them.
"Plate and Caterpillar just shot one missile each," Brownie reported.
"They're both running low on missiles," Gordon said. "We did right to end this before our guy ate one, but I was hoping to avoid showing them what we can do."
The Greasers cycled again, blasting two more holes through the plate with as little effect as before.
Both alien's single missiles and counter missiles flashed again accomplishing nothing.
The two X-head missiles turned in and aligned on the long axis of the plate far beyond the range the aliens had fired at each other. They detonated in a fireball much less impressive than the ones the aliens were throwing. However the main beam from each and five secondary beams transversed the plate from each end. What wasn't vaporized outright was
blown to confetti around twelve simultaneous X-ray beams.
The ship was so huge actual chunks of it survived and were driven away on the expanding shock wave. Some of the pieces were even a couple meters long. The flash dwarfed the previous detonations and when the expanding ball of plasma cooled sufficiently to not radiate in the visible spectrum there wasn't a ship to be seen. There was only an expanding cloud of debris on radar.
"Perhaps one would have sufficed," Gordon said in a subdued voice.
"I did the same thing with the Biters," Captain Frost reminded him. "You want to throw everything at the threat in front of you, and it's hard to hold back. I'm not sure I could restrain myself from shooting two missiles at something that big," he admitted.
Gordon was still in shock despite the Captain Frost's attempt at comforting him. It was a horrible thing to destroy such a mighty ship in a heartbeat.
The surviving great ship released a smaller vessel. Something they'd never seen before. It was bigger than a shuttle but smaller than their fast courier the Road Runner. It eased away from all of them with uncharacteristic caution, given how fast the Caterpillars usually moved. It didn't pile on the acceleration until it was well away, and then quickly ramped up to near forty G on an obvious run to jump.
"They wanted to be sure we didn't think it was a missile," Thor said.
Gordon looked up sharply, but it was Lee who spoke.
"No, I wish that's all it was. They were moving slowly because they weren't sure we would let them send a report home about what happened here. Gordon tried to stop the plate without disclosing what our missiles can do, but it wasn't working. Their commander, whoever fights their ship, saw that. He wasn't sure we'd permit the knowledge to be sent to the other Caterpillars just what they are dealing with. I'm sure he's still in shock at the reversal, since he thought he was protecting us."
Secrets in the Stars (Family Law) Page 13
