by Dale Sale
Nan spoke first. “All right, people, you all know the situation. We need Grey to light off his primary drive to trigger the mine.”
“Can our drones lay out a mine field like the one Gus used?” Pela asked.
Nyrkki shook his head. “Those drone mines aren’t large enough to knock out a cruiser.”
“What if we launched the whole drone swarm?” Zia asked. “Make a couple of passes at Erebus and see if they make a run for it.”
Nan considered that for a moment. “That would play right in to Grey’s hands. We don’t want to get into a shooting war.”
Pela said, “That also won’t help our friends on Terne Station get away.”
“I could rig our drive to run with a dirty trail. Erebus should see it on their passive array. I can make it look like our drive mixer is faulty. As much as it pains me to make a machine run poorly,” Nyrkki grumbled.
“Okay, how long will it take?” Nan asked.
“We can start as soon as I’m in ECC. I will run the mixer manually. They should spot it right away if they are marginally even competent.”
Zia asked, “Umm, can you fix that quickly if we need to make a run for it?”
Nyrkki looked hurt. “No need to worry little Auntie.”
Zia punched his shoulder. “I’ll show you who is little, tin man.”
“Tungsten,” he corrected.
It took Corvus an hour of maneuvering to get ready to start their plan. Grey continued to search.
“We At Spot”
Nyrkki responded from ECC. “Ready down here.”
Nan said, “All right, Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s do this. Corvus begin the prepared flight plan. Pela and Zia, be ready to charge the weapons and launch the swarm if things go south.”
“Aye, Start Now,”
HAM twirled in circles, “Oh Dear, I do hope this is successful. Please avoid damaging the ship, Gunner, It takes ever so long to repair and my maintenance list is far too long as it is.”
Nan just ignored the little bot. “How are we looking there EO,” she asked Nyrkki on the squawk box.
“Adjusting the mix now. We should be spewing enough x-rays and high-energy particles to look like New Year’s celebration.”
They watched the image from the remote, a small point of light formed in the darkness. Then they gasped as a giant aurora formed with green and yellow pulsing ribbons.
On board Erebus. “Sir, there is some strange activity bearing three zero zero, dorsal fifteen degrees, range three thousand kilometers,” the Conning Officer said.
Grey squinted at the screen. “Ops, are the Straps hung up in the barn?”
“Yes Sir, Straps secured in the hangar.”
Grey keyed his comm to CIC. “Combat Control what is that out there?”
“We are getting some drive emission spikes, random x-ray and particles, looks like a ship with a faulty drive mixer,” the voice responded.
Grey paused, the screen flared yellow and green with the outline of Corvus directly in the center. “Conn set a course for that ship, full acceleration!”
“Aye, Captain, bringing primary drive online now.”
A klaxon rang throughout the Erebus. “Attention all hands, prepare for maximum acceleration in 15 seconds. 14, 13, 12, 11…3, 2, 1, maximum acceleration.”
And the lights went out.
Gus was just climbing out of his fighter when the crew sailed through the hangar hatchway, laughing and playing in the micro-gravity.
Nan tackled Gus. “I told you that plan sucked!” she proclaimed as she straddled him with a scissor hold.
Gus twisted away. “How was I to know that Grey finally learned not to fly off the handle?”
Sheridan was shucking off his vac suit as he said, “Hey, no love for me? I’m the one who took all the risks!”
Pela bounced off the hangar bulkhead and snagged his helmet away as she shot past, “No one is going to get anywhere near you until you hit the rain locker! You smell like old socks.”
He flipped his jackline and neatly lassoed her foot, stopping her cold. “Come on now, you know you can’t wait for some of this Grade A prime vacuum jockey.”
Pela kicked her foot loose and said, “Ha, not even on Beltane.”
Nyrkki looked at Zia. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Zia nodded and squeezed his hand.
Drake asked them, “What’s a Beltane?”
Nyrkki smiled and said, “I got a feeling you are gonna find out.”
Lenore eased out of the fighter and glared at Nan and Gus wrestling. “I will attend to my duties,” she declared and pushed away toward the exit.
Zia turned to Nyrkki. “Looks like someone is a little jealous.”
“ICF bot programming directs primary bonding with a ship, not people.”
Zia smiled and said, “Since when has anyone on this crew followed rules?”
The crew was just finishing stowing gear and securing the fighter in its cradle when Lenore’s voice came over the 1MC, “Captain, please report to the Bridge.”
Gus jerked to attention. “What’s up Lenore?”
“We have a situation with the Erebus.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lenore was standing serenely in front of the forward view screen with her hands clasped behind her when the crew burst onto the Bridge. Nan took the Operations Console, Zia back at the Helm, Pela Weapons, Sheridan was monitoring Engineering, and HAM had joined Nyrkki in ECC. Gus flipped over the back of his Command Chair and landed in the seat, “Sitrep!”
The forward screen showed the Erebus adrift, slowly tumbling uncontrollably end over end. Lenore began, “Erebus has emergency power and life support. It appears their primary drive fired erratically for several seconds before shutdown. The ship is no longer in a stable orbit with the rest of the ring. It has become caught in Ix’s gravity well.”
Pela said, “Good riddance!”
Gus shot her a look, “Play nice! Lenore, how bad is it?”
“Internal temperature will exceed life support in fourteen hours.”
Gus said, “Nan, wide band clear channel transmission please.”
Her fingers played the console, and she nodded to Gus. “On board Erebus, this is Corvus actual, over.”
Harrison Grey’s irritated voice came back, “Johansson, what have you done to my ship?”
“Sorry Hazy, I don’t know what you are talking about.” Gus chuckled. “Looks to me like you had a drive ignition failure. You fellas need any help? We are a salvage tug you know.”
“We have everything under control. As soon as we get repaired, I’m gonna blow that piece of shit you call a ship out of the Void. I’m done playing with you. Erebus out!”
Zia said, “So much for Grey learning calm.”
“Nyrkki, what are the chances they can get fixed in a few hours?” Gus asked.
From the speaker. “None, I laced that mine with thermite. Even if they could repair the ignition relay, the inside of that drive cone is full of holes. It will never hold a stable drive reaction.”
“Can we tell what they are up to?”
Lenore replied, “Two BUG pods have launched. One is inspecting the drive, the other is trying to stabilize the ship’s spin.”
Gus said, “Okay, stay at stations and see what they do next.”
On board Erebus, things were not going well.
Grey yelled across the Bridge as emergency lighting returned, “Damage Control Central, report!”
“This is DCC: Investigators report the main drive cone is slagged. Engineering reports that the drive failure backwash fried the power distribution system. They are working to rig casualty power at this time.”
Grey looked around the Bridge. “Weapons?”
“The only thing we have is manual target and firing of solidox cannon. Torpedoes are down as well as rail guns and laser.”
“Ops, can those BUGS stabilize the ship?”
The Operations officer replied, “Both BUGs working the bow to do
that now. They will not have enough thrust to halt our descent into the star. Two MCBs are being fitted to the stern emergency thruster cradles to help. The Deck Department is jury rigging our operational Strap with a tow bridle to help the BUGs.”
Grey slammed his fist against the arm of the command chair. “Send out a distress call and see how soon someone can get here.”
The crew of Corvus watched the bridge screen. The two BUGs had finally stopped the roll and were straining to slow the massive cruiser’s fall. Figures were EVA working to attach a towline from a fighter. MCBs clamped near the stern and pushed at maximum.
Gus asked, “Are they gonna get free of Ix pull?”
Lenore said, “Negative Captain, even if they succeed in attaching the fighter’s towline they are merely delaying the inevitable.”
“We intercepted a call from GFS Terror,” Nan reported. “They are en route, two days away.”
Gus said, “Well, we better brush off our tow plan; looks like Grey is going to have to accept our help whether he likes it.”
Grey jerked at the sound of a knock at his cabin door. “Enter,” he said. Commander Atil Meza stepped in. “What is it, Commander? I’m rather busy.”
Meza looked at the blank display and empty desk. “Captain, ECC reports that they are ready to energize casualty power to life support and hotel functions. There isn’t enough juice to power weapons.”
“What about engines?”
Meza just shook his head. “The drive cone is going to need total replacement at space dock. The BUGS have stopped our roll and MCBs are thrusting to slow our fall, but their drives will overload soon.”
“What about the Strap, isn’t it helping?”
Meza said, “Every time it applies full thrust, the drive burns through the towline.”
“How close is the nearest Governance ship?”
“Two days minimum,” Meza replied. “I believe we will have to take Johansson up on his offer.”
Grey’s eyes bulged, and the veins on his forehead popped out. “Never! I’m not gonna let that bastard win, I mean, embarrass the Fleet again!”
“Captain, the environmental systems will fail in ten hours,” Meza said calmly. “Besides, we can deal with Johansson in the courts once we get back. Isn’t that why we keep all those expensive lawyers?”
Grey slumped, defeated. “All right, set it up. Call me when they are ready to pass the towline.”
“Aye, Aye, Sir” Meza said as the door closed.
Grey watched him leave and grinned.
“Attention on Deck!” someone called as Grey entered the forward weapons bay.
He wore a heavily starched uniform and shaved. “At ease. Who is in charge of this battery?”
A grizzled voice replied, “I am Chief Warrant Officer Belen Obo.” The man did not salute a blunt statement of who was really in charge here. This was his world, and he didn’t need any four-striper in it.
“Yes, Gunner Obo, may I have a word with you alone?” Grey steered the man reluctantly away.
Gus surveyed the Bridge of Corvus, “Okay, people, here we go. Erebus, this is Corvus, standing by to deploy tow.”
Meza wondered, Where is Grey, I called him ages ago? “Rodger Corvus, Erebus, standing by to receive tow. We see your Port and Starboard drones. What do you need us to do? I don’t see any tow gear.”
“Yeah, we got a special method of making tow. You boys just hang tight.”
Gus looked around the Bridge again and grinned. “Lenore, you have the Deck and the Conn.”
“Aye, Captain.” She looked down at the console that had dropped out of the bulkhead.
Pela leaned over to Nan and whispered, “What’s that?” Nan shrugged back.
Gus said, “Nan, give us a remote view from our Port Wingman.”
The screen shifted showing Corvus holding station off Erebus’ s bow.
Lenore spoke, “Deploying tow.”
A gasp sounded on the bridge. The tail of the Corvus split into four gleaming black arms that stretched toward the drifting ship.
Corvus backed down until the arms reached Erebus bow shield. The arms flowed over the bow and drew Erebus tighter in their grasp.
Zia whispered, “It looks like an octopus catching prey.”
“Very observant,” HAM, who overheard Zia, said. “we modeled this towing configuration after the class Cephalopoda of Terra. It is a prototype and unique to this vessel.”
Someone on Erebus said, “What the fuck is that? Are we being swallowed?”
Meza said. “Steady boys, they said it was unconventional. If they wanted us dead, we already would be.”
The Bridge door opened and Grey rushed to his Command Chair. He keyed the comm, “I’ve got you now, Johansson! Gunner Obo open fire with solidox cannon.”
The Bridge turned to look as Grey laughed madly. “What are you waiting for? Fire, Fire now, I have him!”
“Security, please escort Captain Grey to his cabin and make sure he stays there,” Meza said.
Grey swiveled his head. “Meza, what is this? Mutiny? I’ll have you hung.”
The Commander responded calmly, “Grey, you may have been Captain, but you were never in command. This is my crew; didn’t it occur to you that Mr. Obo would tell me about your visit? Firing upon a ship rescuing us from falling into a star, no one signed up for that.”
The Security Team frog marched Grey out the door as Meza leaned over to the comm.
On Corvus they heard, “This is Commander Meza. Captain Grey isn’t feeling well at the moment. We much appreciate the tow. You have quite a flair for the dramatic, Captain Johansson. Your reputation is well deserved.”
“Thanks, Erebus,” Gus said. “We are gonna start back to Terne Station and see if we can give you a smooth ride. Let us know if you need anything.”
Gus turned to Lenore. “Lenore you may proceed.”
She nodded her head gracefully. “Corvus please begin to return to Terne Station, standard tow protocol.”
“I Tug!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Fiona Patrick, Fredrika DeWitt, Andrew Chang, Pela, and Consul Sidra joined the crew to celebrate their triumphant return to Terne Station in the All Hands Club. Lenore had strategically positioned herself between Gus and Sidra. The newly repaired video wall showed an illuminated Corvus, and the damaged Erebus against a star field.
They hadn’t been able to buy a drink all night. Mike the bartender busy running drinks to their table. Every person who was glad that Harrison Grey was being shipped back to Fleet headquarters insisted on buying a round, and every person was glad.
Pela said, “Ha, that should be the last we see of Harrison Grey!”
Fredrika shook her head. “I wouldn’t count that weasel out just yet. He has a lot of friends in high places.”
“I saw Grey play both sides against the middle on Kragus once, it was masterful. He even got a promotion out of it,” Nan said. “But Gus got the Navy Cross.” She raised her glass to him.
Gus raised his own glass back. “Well, that Navy Cross and two credits will get me a cup of mediocre coffee. Besides, you walked away with a Silver Star from that little mess if I remember right.”
Lenore glared at Nan.
Sidra said, “Gunner Stanski you have filled your contract to obtain our release from quarantine, although in a most unorthodox manner. I extend a standing invitation to you all to visit us on Matira.”
Pela said. “Springtime is lovely there. I would recommend a visit during the Beltane celebration.”
Fiona sputtered and beer shot out her nose.
Nan slapped her on the back until she regained her composure. “You gonna make it there, counselor?”
Fiona caught her breath, still coughing slightly. “All right war heros, if you are done patting yourself on the back I’ve got some splendid news,”
Zia laughed. “Yeah, we aren’t dead!” slapping Nyrkki on the back.
Nyrkki threw his massive arm over her shoulder and pulled her
close. “Or in prison!”
Fiona said, “I filed a salvage claim against the Erebus.”
Nan asked, “Yeah, maybe we can get paid. How much of the value?”
Fiona continued, “All of it.”
Gus fell over in his chair.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gus fidgeted and pulled at the tight collar of his modernized Imperial Confederation Fleet full dress uniform, approved by Lenore. Lenore pulled his arm down and gently patted it. He looked at her and she smiled to reassure him. Fiona had explained their strategy, but the Admiralty Court was unsettling. He turned to the gallery to see his crew, all sparkling and looking almost presentable. Pela and Consul Sidra wore their Matria Defense Force uniforms.
It had been a tense three weeks waiting for the Admiralty Court judge and Governance lawyers to get all the way out to Terne Station.
“All rise,” proclaimed the bailiff. “Court is now in session, the Honorable First Lord Admiral Falkirk McGowan presiding.”
“Shit!” Gus leaned to Fiona and whispered, “Do you know who that is?”
Fiona turned to him. “Umm, someone of previous acquaintance?”
“Mitzi McGowan-Grey’s father, Harrison Grey’s Father-in-Law.” Gus choked. “And yes, he knows me.”
Lenore patted Gus’ hand. “Calm, Sir. We shall prevail.”
The Judge began, “I will dispense with the reading of the Claim of Lien, I believe we are all thoroughly familiar with the circumstances of these proceedings?”
Fiona nodded and looked at the table to her right, a team of Governance Judge Advocate General lawyers and Captain Harrison Grey arrayed against her. The lead JAG Officer said, “Captain Gregory Arbatov for the State, we agree Lord Admiral.”
“Very well, Ms. Patrick, would you like to begin?” McGowan said.
“Yes your Honor, I will show that Captain Johansson and his crew, at great risk to their own vessel and lives, rescued the cruiser Erebus and its crew from certain destruction at the Rings of Ix: these events being caused by the gross negligence of her acting captain Harrison Grey. As such, a salvage lien for the full value of Erebus should be awarded in addition to a personal bounty of 10,000 credits per Erebus crewman.”
