by AJ Vega
******
Julius looked at the spectacle with some amusement. The Sea Wolf’s sensors could see the small battle that took place under the clouds; the pilots had fared well. Now they faced impossible odds, yet they did not signal their surrender. Perhaps there was some true mettle in them.
“Jared, sensor report,” Julius said.
“Yes, sir. Along with the recruit ship, there are eight Martian Civic Guardian contacts within active sensor range. I show no other active contacts on the scope. Nothing in the stealth shroud either.”
Julius could hear the sound of the bridge doors opening. He turned his command module around to see Laina. She was wearing her usual business attire: clothing that pretty much hid every inch of her skin, save for her hands and face. Her face looked drawn and tired. She stumbled into her sub-command chair.
Julius turned his command module back around.
“You look tired,” Julius said.
“A bit too much drink is all,” Laina said, rubbing her forehead. “What’s going on? Where are we?”
“Martian space,” Julius said. “Our recruits have managed to get themselves into trouble; they nearly got away but were blocked off by those Martian Civs.”
“Oh, really?” Laina said. “What did they do—rape another innocent woman?”
“I don’t know,” Julius said, turning his module to look deliberately at Laina. “I was hoping you might know something.”
“Me?” Laina said.
“Sir,” Ramey interrupted. “One of the scouts is closing in on them, looks to be positioning itself to board them.”
“Are we going to help them?” Laina said.
Without answering, Julius moved his command module up toward the holographic images of the ships.
There were three destroyers and five scout class ships. The scouts were maneuverable but not heavily armed. They could not survive a prolonged engagement and were designed for minor skirmishes. The destroyers were a different matter; in a one-on-one battle the Sea Wolf could outmatch them—but three at once?
Julius turned his eyes to the small ship the recruits had stolen and began to assess its capabilities. The tactical showed it to be an unarmed transport—not a combat asset. Nevertheless, they had surprise on their side and the fact that the transport appeared to be carrying something of value—the Confed would be unwilling to do anything that could destroy it.
Satisfied with his examination, he returned his module to its home position.
“Yes,” Julius finally answered to Laina. “Ramey—go to battle alert.”
The lighting on the bridge darkened and tactical information appeared all around them. Holographic displays appeared depicting shield and weapon status, damage control, and life status for the crewmembers. The sound of battle drums echoed throughout the ship—Julius had replaced the original siren sound long ago.
“Shields and weapons are ready,” Ramey said.
“Stealth integrity and engines fully functional,” Jessen said.
“Ramey, what’s your guess on the strength of the recruit ship’s hull?” Julius said.
Ramey glanced down at his station then looked up at the holographic image of the recruit ship. “It’s an interplanetary cargo transport, about average hull strength. What did you have in mind, sir?”
“A high-speed slingshot maneuver,” Julius said.
Ramey keyed information into his instruments then thought for a moment.
“The computer says there’s a fair chance it would get torn to pieces.”
“What does your gut say, Lieutenant?”
“They… might make it, sir,” he said.
“I agree. Jessen, take us as close to the recruit ship as possible while keeping us at the edge of the gravity well of Mars.”
“Aye, sir,” Jessen said.
The view around the bridge began to change as the Sea Wolf closed in. As they got close, target reticles appeared over each Martian ship with lettered designations from “A” to “H.”
“Sir, what about fighters?” Garval asked.
It was a good question. He did not have too many pilots on board, and the best ones were stuck in the predicament Julius now tried to solve. Julius hated having Murdock lead the small squadron they did have when he should be handling engineering.
“We’ll make do without them,” Julius said. “We don’t have the pilots to spare.”
“Captain, I can lead what we have,” Garval said. “There’s not much for me to do here otherwise.”
He was right of course. The logical decision was to have Garval lead the squadron and at least create a diversion while the recruits were rescued. The real reason Julius did not want him to go was for fear of losing a good officer, but he could not tell him that.
“Very well, Garval,” he said. “Saddle up.”
“Yes, sir!” Garval said, unable to contain his excitement.
He left his module and headed for the elevator.
“Nothing fancy, Garval,” Julius said.
“Of course, sir,” Garval said as the elevator doors shut.
Julius keyed a command in his module to transfer the tactical operations module functions to his module. A display lit up at his module showing Wolf Squadron in the launch bay. There were only five of them with Garval and most of them were average pilots, but their speed and maneuverability would give them the edge.
“We are in position now, sir,” Jessen said.
“Good. Ramey, do you think they would notice Wolf Squadron sneaking out of the bays?”
“Don’t think so sir,” Ramey said. “Their scans are directed at the recruits’ ship.”
Julius activated his link. “Garval, sneak the squadron out slowly. Position yourselves within striking distance of the scouts. Await further orders once in position.”
“Yes, sir,” Garval said.
“That scout is beginning docking procedures,” Ramey said.
Julius mulled over the situation. The odds were against him, but he still had surprise. Not to mention, most of these Martian Civic Guardians had no space combat experience. There were no other forces in the immediate area. They had more than enough to handle one lone rogue ship, yes, but they would likely call for backup if they saw the Sea Wolf. Julius knew he had some advantages, but he needed to keep them.
“Jared, how good can you jam the communications of all eight ships?” Julius said.
“Hmmm, never tried that many at a time,” Jared said. “But I think I can do it.”
“Tell me when you’re ready.”
“Yes, Captain,” Jared said.
“Jessen, on my command, I want you to swoop us in there and activate a tow beam on the recruit’s ship. Once locked, with all power to engines, take us out of the gravity well as quickly as possible.”
Julius looked at his station display; he could see Wolf Squadron was now in position and undetected. He looked over to Jared, who appeared engrossed in working his station.
“Status, Jared?” Julius said.
“Almost,” Jared said. “I’ve localized their carrier waves and am readying a jamming package to disrupt them. Only thing is, they will effectively disappear from the screens of Mars Traffic Control and Civic Guardian command. That will likely cause some alarm, but not as bad as if they made a call for help.”
“It will do,” Julius said.
As Jared continued to work, Julius waited. There were always standby forces in the system that could jump in within minutes of a distress call. Jamming the communications was always a critical component of their attack plans.
“Jamming package ready, sir,” Jared said.
“Execute,” Julius said.
