The Chance Encounter: The Linda Eccles Series - Book One

by Robert Woodard

  “They could split up with one ship following us while the other swings around the planet to cut us off?” Sharon said. “That first alien ship is also shadowing us again, and they could be a problem if we have to reverse direction.”

  Linda was impressed. Sharon seemed to be expressing a tactical side that Linda hadn’t seen before. Again, she wondered if she had misjudged her XO. Nodding, she said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, though, let’s see what they decide to do.”

  With the Privateer now racing along its new course, Linda felt more at ease. Each passing minute bought distance, and distance was exactly what she needed right now. The thought of getting out of this mess finally looked achievable.

  “Commander, I think we can risk a little down time. I would like you to go to the mess hall and see about a quick meal for the crew. While I’m not comfortable with pulling people off their duty stations, just yet, I fail to see any harm in getting some sandwiches to everyone. Once you have that taken care of, return to the bridge.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Sharon said. She gave the tactical display a quick scan before turning to leave the bridge.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Jeftrick felt his luck had turned on him when the prey ship altered course away from his ships. He focused on tracking to get a feel for what his prey was up to now. It appeared to him that they were planning on swinging around the planet in an attempt to get ahead of him. Hissing at the screen, he silently told himself it wouldn’t work.

  How stupid does that commander think I am? All I have to do is swing the Slayer around one side while the Claw Plunge takes the other.

  Thanks to the data transferred over by Sinska, he knew where this prey ship entered, and where it would most likely have to exit. All he had to do was keep his ships between it and them. The exact location of that entry point was noted on the tracking display as a simple light-grey, square, box. This had to be their first venture into Remp, since the buoy carried no prior history of their arrival. Armed with that knowledge, Jeftrick found it unlikely they would risk jumping from anywhere other than that known point in space. Nothing was going to keep him from guarding that grey box. That ship could maneuver around all it wanted, but Jeftrick would keep his ship positioned between them and their escape. Like a single watering hole on a dry plateau, sooner or later, his prey had to come to it. Hissing at the thought, Jeftrick only had to wait them out.

  His two ships had already come into firing range of the prey ship, but he had held off shooting to let them come even closer, but now he was losing distance again. Flashing his tongue out at the monitor, Jeftrick knew the time had come to launch his rockets before the prey ship moved out of range. He would launch an overwhelming number of them to reduce the chance that his prey could elude them all. Whipping his tongue back into his mouth, Jeftrick felt ready to take charge of this situation at last.

  “Underlord, prepare the Slayer to launch its full load of rockets. Coordinate with the Claw Plunge to do the same. I tire of this chase. It is time to end it.”

  ◆◆◆

  If it had not been for the constant clicking of an overhead fan blade on one of the cooling vents, the bridge would have been dead quiet. Linda enjoyed the moment of peace to relax. Her entire body hurt from the constant tension she had been under lately. Now that the muscles let loose, their fatigue rang out through her nerve endings. Pulling in whatever energy reserves she could muster, Linda remained determined to see the Privateer through this situation.

  Closing in on the nearby planet, Linda watched the tactical view to see how the two alien ships would respond. She strongly hoped their commander would make a mistake and keep chasing her with both ships, but she wasn’t counting on it. Her mind worked over the problem of what to do if the ships split up to go around each side of the planet.

  Once the two ships split up, and they were separated by the planet, they would not be able to communicate with each other. Could she use that to her advantage somehow? Her tired mind searched for an answer. A hint of an idea began to form but was quickly interrupted.

  “Multiple inbound target contacts!” the Nav Specialist shouted out. “Possible weapon fire from the trailing ships!”

  Giving tactical a quick glance, Linda could see sixteen inbound track-lines. They began from in front of the alien ships and shot onto a straight path toward her ship. Doing a quick estimation of the best evasive maneuver, she ordered, “Take us up two-thousand meters; rapid incline!”

  Although she could not feel the movement due to the equilibrium controls of the ship’s gravitational unit, the planet on their right and the distant stars ahead of the ship appeared to drop downward with the ship’s rapid rise. If these incoming weapons were of the same design as those used by the first ship, they would pass harmlessly under her ship.

  Tactical quickly showed Linda that she faced a far deadlier weapon. All sixteen track-lines reflected an elevation rise underneath them. The numbers that had been zero in elevation now rapidly counted on the positive side as each weapon rose to match her change in elevation.

  “Down two-thousand; port thirty,” Linda ordered.

  As the Specialist confirmed the order and put the ship into its violent course correction, the sixteen track lines began to reverse their elevation number, and all of them began to veer left. Frowning, Linda ordered, “Bring us back on course, Nav.”

  While the Privateer swung starboard to return to the original heading, Linda studied the overtake rate of the incoming weapons. They acted like homing missiles and were coming at her at double her own speed.

  Slapping the comm unit and making a selection, Linda said, “Commander Launtra, this is the Captain. We are tracking sixteen inbound missiles. You are cleared to open fire on them.”

  “At once, Captain.”

  Linda found Bill’s calm and collected voice comforting. If there was one person on this ship she could count on the most, it was Bill. Rolling her eyes up toward the ceiling, she silently prayed that he was up to the task now.

  ◆◆◆

  Bill had already anticipated Linda’s orders to take out the incoming targets. Although he had hoped to have a target lock and firing solution already in place, the rapid maneuvering of the ship had made that difficult. With the ship back on a steady course, Bill studied the line of sixteen incoming objects to determine his best course of action. He knew that taking them all out wasn’t feasible, but he would get as many as he could. He had to trust to luck that the shields would protect them against any he didn’t get.

  “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll take out two of the weapons on each side and keep working our way inward. This will allow the turret time to swing port or starboard as the charge pots reload, saving valuable time. Marcus, lock onto the two outer starboard targets first.”

  “Target locked,” Marcus responded.

  “Fire!” Bill said after he heard the firing solution tone sound.

  Don tapped the firing icon and the two bolts shot away from the Privateer. The compartment rattled as the turret swung around to align onto the port side set of missiles. Bill already had the computer working on the firing solution. The turret swung in line with the target as the pots recharged and the ready tone sounded.

  “Fire!”

  With his crew already working on locking in the next set of starboard targets, Bill took time to review the results of the first shots. The first thing Bill noticed was the ragged line of the incoming missiles. Initially in a clean line of flight, they now appeared staggered. Before he could make any sense out of the pattern, the next firing solution became available. Bill did not even have to say fire. He simply looked at Don and nodded. The Specialist’s finger was already positioned over the icon and ready to tap it.

  When the two plasma bolts shot away, Bill watched their flight path directly to the next set of targets. Suddenly, he figured out what was happening. The heated plasma was drawing the attention of the missiles away from the ship as they
detected the new heat signature. As the plasma bolt shot outward at the outer most missiles, it was confusing the inner ones until it shot past them and they re-locked onto the ship again.

  Realizing that the missiles had heat-seeking capability, Bill wondered how he could put that knowledge to good use. An idea began to form in his mind.

  “Marcus, Trea, I will take it from here,” Bill said as he set the targeting scope to manual.

  With ten incoming targets, Bill knew he did not have a lot of time to experiment. He turned the turret as far as it would go to point backwards. Selecting a target for each barrel, he said, “Fire.” The bolts struck home to take out two more missiles.

  Eight to go, Bill told himself. Spinning the scope the opposite way, he waited for the slower moving turret to catch up, and then for the tone indicated that another round was ready to be fired. Pulling the target selector wide he ordered fire while locking onto another missile and ordering fire again.

  The remaining missiles deviated to follow the first wayward plasma bolt that caused them to lose distance from the ship. With that extra time, Bill managed to knock out all but four missiles. They were now only ten-thousand meters from the ship and directly behind the ship where the turret couldn’t swing onto them.

  Bill swung the scope left and wide of the targets before having another bolt fired. He waited until the missiles deviated far enough to clear the rear of the ship and fired again to keep them locking onto the plasma bolts. When the pot recharged, he locked onto the two inner missiles and took them out. The pot recharged, and he eliminated the final two.

  Leaning against the back of his chair, and sighing deeply, Bill relaxed while checking the tactical display to be sure no further missiles were detected. The close, rapid explosions had played havoc on the sensor readings that was disrupting the tactical display, but Bill knew he got all sixteen of them. Swinging the scope away from him, he let his anxiety subside.

  ◆◆◆

  Sinska watched with enthusiasm as his mine closed in with the prey ship. When Jeftrick had launched the rockets, and after the prey ship had stopped its wild maneuvering, he had decided to fire a mine in the hope of sneaking it into the confusion to get a hit. The range was well beyond the fuel capacity of the mine, but as long as the other ship didn’t change direction, the mine would continue to propel forward on its own momentum.

  His hope soared as he watched the prey ship take out the last of the missiles that had to be keeping their focus away from his lone mine. His tongue lashed out in anticipation of that very mine exploding and knocking his prey senseless. To him, it seemed way too close now for them to have time to shoot at it.

  ◆◆◆

  Jeftrick stood in stunned silence after watching all of his rockets being taken out. He had come off his chair when the last of the rockets neared the ship, but now he was at a loss for words. Whoever commanded that ship was no easy prey.

  “Overlord, I am tracking another object closing in on the ship. I think the Tail Whip may have launched a mine at them.”

  With one eye looking over at the Overling, and another onto tracking, the route line of the mine suddenly appeared on the monitor. His mind had already calculated that its rate of closely made any sudden course change by the prey ship too late to avoid triggering the powerful weapon. Then an explosion was seen on the live viewer. Jeftrick's hopes soared at the sight.

  “Overlord, I am showing a reduction in propulsion output from the prey ship,” the Overling reported. “The energy readings that were emitting from the ship’s hull are no longer detectible. I believe their shielding is down, too. I am also detecting a strange energy release from the top of the ship.”

  Sinska did it! He had given this prey ship the disabling blow they needed. Now Jeftrick knew it was just a matter of capturing it. All three ships were still too far away to hit their prey with energy weapons, but with any luck, they could close in to finish the job.

  “Underlord, I want the tubes reloaded, rapidly. Order the Claw Plunge to reload, too.”

  “At once, Overlord.”

  Thinking over his options, Jeftrick added, “Ready the energy weapons, too. Once we close within range, we’ll target any energy readings to keep their propulsion and shielding disabled. They won’t get away from us now.”

  Through the live viewer, Jeftrick could see the white vaporous cloud had formed above the outline of the prey ship. Sinska had not only gotten a hit on the ship, he appeared to have hit them hard enough to puncture the hull.

  “Overling, are you detecting any energy readings from the prey ship?” Jeftrick asked.

  “I can still detect energy readings, Overlord, but they are far reduced from what I was picking up before.”

  Without propulsion, Jeftrick knew their commander was vulnerable. They could not steer the ship, and that meant they could not evade him. However, their momentum would continue to propel them forward at their current rate of speed. That still left them faster than his ship. Since he could not catch them, Jeftrick decided to cut them off.

  He suspected the prey ship would be impacted by the pull of the planet they were trying to swing behind. The prey ship would be slowly sucked into an orbit around that very planet. Unless they regained propulsion, they would be helpless to prevent it. That would bring them right to him if he swung around the planet now.

  Walking over to the communication station, Jeftrick ordered, “Overling, send a message to the Overlord of the Claw Plunge. He is to continue to trail the prey ship and make every effort to get another rocket hit on them.”

  “At once, Overlord.”

  Returning to sit in his chair, Jeftrick said loudly, “Overling, swing the Slayer onto an opposite orbit from the prey ship.”

  Jeftrick would cut the prey ship off himself. They had given him a fine chase, but now they were tiring and ready to be taken down.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Bill lay on his side where he fell. The explosion that rocked the ship had been so violent that it threw him right out of his chair. The main lighting was out, but the emergency lanterns had taken over to provide visibility. The roaring of a waterfall sounded over his head, and he realized that one, or perhaps both, of the conduits had ruptured, allowing heated plasma to flow into the compartment. Looking up at the vaporous cloud that continued to build in size and slowly drop like a balloon losing its helium, he knew they needed to get out of the compartment, and fast.

  “Everyone keep low and make for the hatch!” Bill yelled out to be heard over the roar of plasma.

  Keeping his own body low, Bill moved toward the hatch while pulling people into action. When he reached the hatch, he opened it and guided everyone out. Just before leaving himself, he flipped open the access panel that exposed the emergency switches. He hit both switches that would cut off the plasma flow and all incoming vents, while also opening the emergency vent that would release the plasma out into space, but also suck the oxygen from the compartment. Closing the hatch behind him, he entered the lock code to prevent anyone from accidentally entering the space.

  “Everyone okay?“ Bill asked while making sure all his crew got out. When he received head nods from each of them, he ordered, “Good. Now you four muster in the mess hall in case help is needed for damage control. I’ll be on the bridge if anyone comes looking for me.”

  ◆◆◆

  Linda lay on her stomach trying to assess whether or not she was hurt. When the explosion hit the ship, she had been thrown forward onto her knees. Unable to stop her momentum, she had tumbled over the edge of the upper bridge section to land face first onto the lower bridge deck.

  Rolling onto her back, Linda tested her arms and legs. Not sensing anything broken, twisted or otherwise damaged beyond use, she struggled to a sitting position. Looking down at herself, she saw a drop of blood hit the front of her shirt. More drops hit her pants where it pooched out just below the waistband. With her right hand, she pressed her fingers against her chin and received a sharp sting for her ef
forts. Pulling her hand away, she saw fresh blood running down her palm.

  Yanking the bottom of her blouse free from her waistband, Linda pressed it against the wound. She ignored the stinging and looked around in the dim lighting of the emergency lanterns. Every console was dark. While keeping the cloth pressed firmly against her wound, she came to her feet.

  Remaining on the lower level, she looked at each of the bridge crew. Everyone had ended up on the deck, and they only now began getting back to their feet. Walking on shaky legs, Linda went to each specialist to make sure they were okay and helping them into their chairs. Mostly shaken, with a few cuts and bumps, everyone seemed to be in one piece.

  Working her way back to her command chair, Linda sat. She tried to activate the comm unit only to find the entire armrest and control arm lying on the floor in a twist of wiring. Staring at it, Linda guessed it must have been the last thing she held onto before taking her wild ride forward.

  She realized it didn’t matter. With the communication console dead, she had no way to communicate with other parts of the ship anyway. Linda needed Sharon back on the bridge, so she could send the XO on a damage assessment. There was no question they had been hit hard, but she needed to know how bad the damage was to her ship.

  Instinctively, she stared at the tactical display even though it was dead. Somehow, someway, her adversary had snuck a missile in to score a hit. The rapid explosions that had occurred when Bill had taken out the closest missiles had overloaded their sensor, blinding them temporarily, and during that blindness, another missile had gotten through and struck them. Shaking her head in disbelief, she had a hard time understanding how. She had seen all sixteen missiles struck, but another one had come out of nowhere.