by Taylor Smith
Instead of finding the ship they were pursuing, or the trail of the trackers that should still be attached, they found a very upset Alliance patrol cruiser. The alarm was sounded and Doctor Grant doubled her effort to wake the crew from their tanks and get them to work.
“I think that recon ship beat us here,” Cade said as he scrutinized his screen, a mirror of Steven Wards’ tactical station as he ran continuous scans of the area. The sixth planet revealed its colorful, gaseous bands on the main view screen, and Terry Beck was plotting and replotting his courses in and around the gas giant’s fourteen moons. Cade felt for the kid; he was good at his job, but the constant fluctuations of gravity wells from the massive planet and its dancing fourteen moons gave the young navigator a run for his money. “The Admiral underestimated the speed of that thing.”
Andy’s mood darkened at the mention of his mother. “Surprising,” he muttered ruefully. “With all that tech, you would think that they could predict course and speed more accurately.”
Cade shrugged, still not sure why Andy felt that his mother was the harbinger of doom. He shook his thoughts back into focus and studied his station, and then opened a channel to the Reaper’s engineering section. “Mr. Finn, how are the new drives holding up?”
“Power spikes on egress,” Hubert Finnegan replied, his craggy voice barely audible over the sounds of banging and equipment in the background. “Blew a power converter and fried some wiring but it’s under control now. Found the problem in the coolant manifold. It won’t happen again.”
“Thank you, Mr. Finn.” Cade switched the channel off and brought the ship readiness screen up at his station. “Tactical, status?”
Wards seemed to shake himself out of his own thoughts and looked down to his screen. “One contact bearing dead-ahead, zero mark two degrees. We’ll be in weapons range in two minutes.”
Cade glanced to Steven Wards and said, “I need more reports like that, Mr. Wards. Don’t wait until we ask.”
“Aye, Sir,” came the reply.
“Have they spotted the others?” Andy asked.
“I don’t think so,” Cade replied as he checked the communication logs from his implant’s link to the ship. “They’re still pinging us repeatedly about being lost, and want to board. There’s no sign that they’re querying any of the others.”
Andy chuckled. “That was the best that you could think of? Oh, sorry, we’re lost. Can you help us find Adara?”
Cade shook his head. “Hey, I had to think quickly, Captain Johns.”
Andy grinned as he worked the control panel on his chair. “Yeah, I had that coming.”
“Sixty seconds to weapons range,” Wards reported.
“All hands,” Andy said into the ship-wide comm. “Prepare for combat.” Andy deactivated the comms and turned to Cade. “Signal the others, make sure they’re ready.”
“Aye, Sir,” he replied and opened the command comms channel. “They’re ready, Captain, and waiting for your word.”
“Weapons range!” Wards shouted.
“Hold your fire, Mr. Wards,” Andy said calmly. “Let them come into optimum range for all our friends as well. How long until they can acquire a detailed profile of the Reaper?”
“They should already see our armaments, Sir.” Wards replied.
Cade looked at his readings, and then to Andy. “He’s right. They should be firing at us by now.”
“Lazy?” Andy asked.
“They’re probably just too comfortable, Sir,” Terry chimed in from the helm. “I don’t think they see much action this deep in Alliance Territory.”
Cade looked to Terry and nodded. “It’s possible.”
“Optimal range for all ships, Captain,” Wards reported more calmly than his earlier outburst.
Andy glanced at Cade and shrugged. “Mr. Wards, jam their comms and open fire.”
“All ships, secure from stealth-mode and attack,” Cade ordered over the command channel. He felt the soothing hum of the Reaper’s engines interrupted by a procession of muffled thumps as the cruiser’s forward energy weapon released pent-up power toward the Alliance patrol ship. A larger and more resounding percussion followed that indicated a full battery of missiles had been launched. He felt the deck vibrate at a higher pitch as the ship’s reactors spun up to accommodate the sudden discharge of energy.
The main view screen came alight as the Reaper’s weapons fire was joined by the added firepower of the Clew Pirate cruisers No Quarter, Tyrant and Jackknife. A fifth, smaller display of light was from the frigate Dark Tide, as it added its own guns to the party. Tiny pinpoints of light, over forty of them, erratically followed in the wake of the energy weapons toward their target like a confused swarm of fireflies.
“Evasive maneuvers, Mr. Beck,” Andy ordered. “They’ll return fire any–“.
“New Contacts!” Wards interrupted with a shout as Terry Beck began his course changes. “A cruiser and frigate flanking the patrol ship! They must have been running silent in its wake!”
“Not alone or lazy after all, but we still outnumber them almost two to one.” Andy muttered. “Have the Dark Tide tie that frigate up,” he said louder to Cade. “Assign the Jackknife and Tyrant to the new cruiser. The No Quarter stays with us to take out the lead ship.”
“Aye, sir,” Cade said before he relayed the orders over the command channel.
“They’re firing!” came the warning from tactical and the Reaper shook violently against the Alliance weaponry.
In space, the eight warships met. The lead Alliance cruiser took the full force of all five Clew ships. The patrol cruiser turned to starboard at the last second, and focused-energy raked across its port side, flash-melting thinner armor and rending heavier plating that protected its more sensitive systems. Immediately after, it was able only to destroy thirty of the incoming missiles with its point-defense systems with help from its comrades. Out of the remaining thirteen missiles, six were confused sufficiently by the combined electronic counter measures and one flat-out missed. Six missiles impacted the already damaged port side, which caused the ship to stagger and spew shredded metal and air as it rolled desperately to protect its damaged port side just as the ships shot past one another.
The Reaper was already arcing through space when the return barrage reached it, though it wasn’t enough to ward off all damage. Ribbons of energy from the Alliance ships caught its starboard dorsal engine pylon, nearly ripping it from its housing. Another, aimed for its missile bay, missed its mark and destroyed two point-defense turrets which allowed a single missile to hit home and rip a heavy repeater cannon emplacement from the ship’s hull.
“Damage to starboard engine two, point-defense and heavy guns!” Wards shouted over the sudden influx of alerts.
Cade winced as the ship shook again, and glanced at the damage control board. Red highlights were flashing all up and down the starboard side of the Reaper. “Damage control to starboard gun compartment four and engine room” he said into the ship-wide comms system, then shifted the controls and continued. “Finn, what’s the damage to engine two?” he asked as confirmations from teams began rolling in.
A burst of static, then the sound of shouting in the background emanated from Cade’s comms panel. “Two’s fried!” announced the harried voice of the Reaper’s Chief Engineer. “Nothin’ we can do with it until we get back to port.”
“Acknowledged, Finn,” Cade replied and cut the channel.
“Bring us about for another pass on the lead cruiser,” Andy commanded as his screen pulsed with new data. “Looks like it’s turning to retreat.”
“No Quarter,” Cade called into the command channel. “Target the enemy’s engines. We can’t let it go without bringing the entire system down on us.”
The acknowledgement came through and he turned his attention back to the tactical display. The Reaper was swinging in a wider arc to face the enemy once again, while its sister ships turned sharply to re-engage.
“Our fighting tr
im is off,” Cade muttered with an aggravated scowl. “We can’t turn tight enough with an engine down.”
Andy double-checked his screen and shook his head. “Make it work, Cade.”
Cade hissed through his teeth as he crunched the navigational data from Beck’s station with his implant. “Mr. Beck!” Cade shouted as he saw the error. “Roll the ship sixty degrees. Put our damaged engine inside the turn!”
Beck seemed to freeze, his eyes glazing over his station as he reviewed the data that flowed to his implant. “Aye, Sir!”
Cade recognized the panic stricken voice and moved to grab the young helmsman by the shoulders. “You have an engine down that you need to compensate for,” Cade said with a hard tone. “You can do this, Terry. Just keep that engine on the inside of your maneuvers.”
Terry Beck took a deep breath and nodded. “Aye, Sir.”
Cade moved back to the XO’s chair to strap back in, and was rewarded immediately by readouts of a sharper turn back toward the fight. “That’s it, Mr. Beck,” Cade said.
“The second cruiser is down,” Andy said.
Cade nodded as he checked the positional data and found that the Tyrant and Jackknife had slowed considerably just before contact to ensure they could pounce on their target quicker. He hoped that his new navigator was taking notes.
The lead Alliance cruiser’s engines flickered as it ran for safety, a tell-tale sign that its power core was either impaired, or there was more catastrophic damage than the Reaper’s systems reported. The No Quarter was slowly gaining, the Reaper just seconds behind it now.
Cade’s brow shot up as his screen alerted him to a communications request. “Captain, I’m receiving a general surrender from the lead cruiser. The No Quarter wants to know what to do.”
Any looked away for a moment, then back to Cade. His eyes seemed to disagree when he said, “Kill it.”
Cade stared at Andy for a few seconds before passing the order along. He then looked back to his Captain and friend and asked, “Is it necessary?”
“We leave them here, and they’ll find a way to broadcast our position through the entire system,” he replied, not meeting Cade’s gaze. “While we have them jammed, no one knows we’re here except those three ships. We can’t take the risk that they have friends close enough to hear a distress beacon and pick them up.”
“No Quarter is in range,” Wards reported. “They’re firing. Twenty seconds until we’re in range.”
“Fire at your convenience, Mr. Wards,” Cade ordered with less gusto than he’d like, and turned his attention to his tactical screen. The Dark Tide had its hands full with the Alliance frigate. Damage was reported on both ships, and the enemy seemed to have the upper hand. Both ships were nearly even as far as armament and defensive capabilities go, but somehow the Dark Tide had lost its grasp on the fight.
“Tyrant is joining the Dark Tide and the Jackknife is joining us,” Cade reported to Andy.
“They won’t make it in time,” Andy said just as the Reaper shuddered with the release of another volley of missiles, followed by its heavy guns.
As the No Quarter shot toward the crippled cruiser, it suddenly banked across the ship at an angle. Several shots were landed on the untouched starboard side of the ship, but the tactical crewman aboard held the majority of its fury back for the already battered port armor.
When the Reaper reached its target, internal explosions were already rocking the ship. Large caliber rounds holed the weakened shell and the chasing missiles dug several decks down before detonating. The ship broke into four large sections before its reactor went critical and vaporized itself in a blinding white show of freed power.
“Lead cruiser’s down,” Wards reported. “And that frigate is breaking up.”
“Survivors?” Cade asked, hoping for a report of escape pods.
Wards was quiet for a moment before he shook his head and replied, “Only a few pods. Three, five… Seven pods, Sir.”
Cade repressed the feeling of regret that suddenly ate at him. He knew what was at stake, and what the consequences would be if they couldn’t keep their entrance into the Lordell System quiet. But he hadn’t fortified himself properly for so much loss of life, even if they were the enemy. Pirating, taking on a freighter loaded with goods, or stealing a ship, never presented them with the need to kill everyone, but they’d never been in such a desperate situation before. “Better get used to this, I guess,” he mumbled to Andy.
His friend turned to him with a grim look, but didn’t respond to the question. Instead, he checked his screen and said, “Drop a probe loaded with a jamming suite. Those pods should last a few days after the probe runs out of juice.”
Cade nodded, glad that Andy hadn’t given the order to start shooting escape pods. “Launching.”
“Have the others form up on us,” Andy continued. “If that ship beat us here, we need to find the trail left by the Sol tracker.”
“Aye, Captain,” Cade said as he sent the orders to their other ships. “Any contacts, Mr. Wards?”
“No new contacts, Sir,” was the reply.
Cade nodded and accessed the Sol Fleet equipment that was installed before they left Clew Station. The screen displayed an overlay of their position, relative system markers such as the heliopause, which they were well inside, an Alliance Station on the other side of the primary, and several planets in their quadrant of the system. It also displayed a spherical representation of their search area. He made several adjustments and said, “I’m increasing the range on this thing now that we don’t have a patrol breathing down our necks.”
Andy grunted beside him as he viewed the damage report to his ship. The red highlights that once covered the entire port side of the Reaper had turned yellow as they were repaired or secured.
“Finn,” Cade said after establishing a comms link to engineering. “What’s the word?”
After several seconds, the gravelly voice of Hubert Finnegan replied. “We lost a heavy gun and twenty percent of our point defense on the port side,” his said, his voice laden with stress. “Engine two has a chance in hell of being operational again. Samper was able to shut it down before it blew. It turns out that he was quick enough to save it from being a total loss. We’ll see, but it’ll take four hours and every replacement heating coil and spare conduit we have just to see if it can be turned back on.”
Cade nodded and looked to Andy, who was working the panel before him while listening to Finn’s report. Keely Samper was a newer engineering crewman who had fought to work aboard the Reaper. He was as green as they come, fresh off Clew Station, but he had potential.
“Very well, Finn,” Andy replied, turning from his own screen at the good news. “Give our thanks to Keely.”
There was only a momentary silence before Finn responded. “He’s dead.”
Cade met Andy’s surprised gaze and then shook his head. “Understood, Finn. Bridge out.”
“I’ll speak with his family when we get back,” Cade said solemnly as he closed the channel and leaned back in his chair.
Andy, his hand covering his chin in thought, shook his head. “I’ll do it. At least –“.
Cade’s console chirped happily, drawing them both out of the conversation. “We have a hit on the tracker,” Cade said as he read the data. “It’s faint, but this thing is one-hundred percent sure it’s what we’re looking for.”
Andy took a deep breath and lightly slapped the arm of his chair. “About time.”
“Mr. Beck,” Cade called out with a renewed sense of determination as he read the data flowing across his screen. “Change heading, eleven by minus five degrees. Give me as much speed as you can.”
***
Cade had apparently fallen asleep on the bridge. Slumber had come in varied spurts over the past few days, and it had started to gnaw on his nerves, but he dealt with it. His eyes had been closed for only an hour before he was wrenched once again from his dreams.
“New Contact!” Wards shouted o
ut in hysterical shock. “Sir! I’ve got a new contact! Proximity Alert!”
“Wards! Calm down,” Cade shouted back as his heart pounded from the sudden jolt. “Where?” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at his screen to find several waiting messages from their partner ships. Andy had left the bridge hours ago to get some rest and was still absent.
“Zero! At-Zero!” Wards shouted with panicked emphasis over the wailing proximity alarms.
Cade was instantly awake. “Get Andy up here and shut that alarm off!”
“No clear shot. Adjusting vector,” came the voice of Blake Eldridge of the Dark Tide.
“I surrender,” a static-laden voice suddenly interrupted.
“I’ll shoot it,” Eduardo Garns on the No Quarter stated matter-of-factly. “Reaper might get bent up though.”
“I surrender,” the unfamiliar voice repeated.
“Everybody shut up,” Cade ordered into the command channel. “Who is this?” he asked as he accessed his implant’s overlay and studied the Reaper’s tactical systems. Wards was right, there was a small ship tucked up to the Reaper’s hull directly beneath them. He squinted at the numbers that indicated the ship was, impossibly, within only a few meters of them.
“This is Harold Jonas, formerly of the Allied Fleet,” came the response. “I’d like to speak with Andrew Neese, if I may.”
At the mention of the man’s name, Cade immediately began relaying commands across the secondary command channel, ensuring his helmsman, Beck, also got the message. It read: ‘Reaper to climb relative to the No Quarter on my command. Prepare to fire.’
“Thought you were dead. How are you on this channel?” Cade asked, knowing the command channel was encrypted and supposedly secure against hacking.
“I was retired… a necessary untruth. Breaking your channel wasn’t difficult with the tools I have. They’re yours, if you’d just let me come aboard.”
