HMS Nightingale (Alexis Carew Book 4)

by J. A. Sutherland

  “The crew are not the only ones to have improved greatly since I came aboard, Mister Villar. I’m entrusting you with my ship and my lads, and I have no reservations.”

  Villar looked at her for a moment. “Thank you, sir, I’ll —” His shoulders squared and his jaw firmed. “Aye, sir. I’ll not disappoint you.”

  Alexis ended her communication with Villar, though she kept the link to Nightingale open. At least she’d be able to follow her ship’s progress to the Lagrangian point. She glanced up and found Stoltzfus looking at her oddly.

  “I’m sorry, Mister Stoltzfus, but the Owl and those aboard her must be stopped.”

  She expected him to object, to make some further plea, but instead he simply nodded.

  “Such is your path,” he said, simply.

  Alexis waited in Stoltzfus’ office. The two of them seemed to be waiting for whatever happened next before their conversation would continue. Whatever Stoltzfus was thinking, Alexis was wishing that she was aboard Nightingale. She watched the two ships’ positions, transmitted to her tablet by Nightingale, and saw the moment the Owl disappeared from normal-space just before Villar contacted her to report it.

  “Sir,” Villar said. “The Owl’s just transitioned and we’re closing on the Lagrangian point ourselves, a bare ten minutes behind them, I think. There was a transmission, though, just as the Owl transitioned.”

  Alexis waited out a brief pause, knowing that she’d only be talking over Villar’s next words due to the brief but noticeable transmission lag given Nightingale’s distance from the planet.

  “It was encrypted,” Villar went on, “but poorly, and the signal’s console made short work of it.” He frowned. “Only two words and not much sense to it, just: Attack now. We’ve seen no signs of other ships in-system, what do you suppose it means?”

  Alexis glanced at Stoltzfus and saw that he too suspected the message’s meaning. The pirates, rebels against Man’s Fall, call them what you will, might have crewed three or four ships, but they also had a settlement on the planet itself. It appeared the commander of the Owl had decided if he couldn’t finish off the heretics, then his comrades should.

  “I believe we understand that message, Mister Villar,” she said. “Carry on and take the Owl — it appears I’ll not be so idle as I thought while you do so.”

  Fifty-One

  6 June, Man’s Fall System

  Alexis rushed back to the boat, collecting Spindler, Nabb, and her Marines along the way. Her mind worked furiously. In the worst case the pirates would have mining charges at their base here on Man’s Fall, not just aboard the Owl. If those charges were aboard ship’s boats and even now speeding toward the port town in response to the Owl’s orders, then there was little she could do about it.

  She thought of calling Rasch with her tablet and ordering the pilot to take the boat up and intercept anything coming toward the city, but the other possibility, that the pirates had boats, more than one, but without any charges, meant there’d be a ground battle in the town itself, and her boat crew, other than the two Marines, was currently weaponless.

  There were weapons aboard the boat itself, but secured in an arms locker which would open only for Alexis or one of her officers — none of whom were with the boat.

  The delay grated on her nerves, as she felt with every moment a pirate boat filled with explosives or murderous fanatics must be drawing ever closer, despite Rasch’s repeated reports that the boat’s sensors detected nothing in the air or space nearby.

  She reached the boat, keyed the arms locker with her thumb and code, and had her boat crew empty it. There were more arms than they needed, but if it came to a fight in the city she hoped she might convince some of the residents to give over their claims of pacifism and defend themselves.

  That done, she stepped into the cockpit and laid a hand on Rasch’s shoulder.

  “I want you to take the boat up — you’ll gain sensor range with altitude.”

  Rasch nodded.

  “Copy your sensor plot to my tablet. If you see anything, anything at all in the air, don’t wait for my orders. According to Stoltzfus, there are no legitimate air transports on the planet — anything flying is the enemy.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Alexis thought Rasch looked nervous and understood he had reason to be. Ship’s boats had little in the way of weapons. They were never used in darkspace, since they lacked any propulsion that would work there — well, they each had a small lug-sail for use as a last resort if a ship were damaged or destroyed, but they were useless in an action.

  In normal-space they might be used to stand off a surrendered ship’s bow or stern during boarding, but such actions in normal space were rare and seldom practiced.

  Rasch would have control of two small guns in the boat’s bow, should he need to engage another boat. They were powerful, being tied directly to the boat’s fusion plant since there was no need for gallenium protected capacitors as in a darkspace action. The guns could fire almost continuously and with enough force to eventually breach a ship’s hull, but he’d be facing more maneuverable boats and not a stationary ship.

  “It’s a job more suited to the Marine’s landing and support craft, I know,” she said, squeezing his shoulder, “but those coming — if they come at all — have no more experience with this sort of thing than you, and less than you in flying the boat, yes?”

  Rasch nodded, but didn’t look entirely convinced.

  “Do your best for me, Rasch, that’s all I ask. If they come and have mining charges …”

  “Aye, sir,” Rasch said, swallowing. “I’ll do my best.”

  Alexis squeezed his shoulder again and hurried aft. Nabb and the Marines had completed handing out weapons to her boat crew. The extras were bundled for carrying and distribution to those in the city who’d take them up to assist in their defense.

  Most of the arms used chemical propellants for use in darkspace, though there were several flechette rifles and a few laser rifles. The latter came with bandoleers of capacitors, each capable of a handful of shots before needing to be replaced.

  Alexis took one of those to supplement her tiny flechette pistol. She eyed the rack of short, chopping blades more commonly used in darkspace.

  “Do you suppose we’ll need those, Connelly?” she asked.

  The Marine shook his head. “Imagine if it comes to hand-to-hand we’re in the shitter sure … begging your pardon, sir.”

  Alexis grinned at him, though she did wish she’d brought more of Nightingale’s Marines and Corporal Brace along instead of only her boat crew.

  “I could wish Corporal Brace and the rest of the lads were down here with us,” Connelly said, echoing her thoughts.

  Alexis nodded. She hoped neither she nor Connelly nor Villar would have cause to regret her mistake further. Brace and the Marines would likely do Villar little good in his pursuit of the Owl, while they’d be far better suited to the sort of fighting she thought would soon occur here.

  There were belts with medical kits as well, which she saw passed out, leaving the pouches of vacsuit patches behind — they’d not need those in this battle.

  “Have you any experience with land battles?” she asked.

  Connelly shook his head. “I’ve only ever served aboard ships, and small ones at that.” He shrugged. “A bit of the basics, I suppose — but that more for attacking. How to clear off the transport without getting yourself knackered on the ramp and such.”

  “Well we’ll have to muddle through as best we can. I can rely on you to speak up if you have aught to say on the matter?”

  “Aye, sir, I will.”

  “Good.”

  They closed up the boat and signaled Rasch that he could lift, then watched for a moment as the boat rose — slowly at first, then more swiftly until it was out of sight above them.

  Alexis checked her tablet and ensured that the boat’s sensor suite was relaying to her. Nothing else showed in the air and she had a moment’s wo
rry that she might be about to storm into Man’s Fall’s town with a dozen armed men, two dozen more weapons, to no purpose at all.

  She pushed that thought aside, though.

  The hatred the captured crew of the Distant Crown had expressed and the Owl’s last message made her certain that the fanatics, for want of a better name, intended to wipe out those they considered heretics as some sort of vicious last act.

  If the arrival and departure of a ship’s boat so close to their town wasn’t enough to draw out every resident, it seemed that marching a troop of armed men through to the town square sufficed. By the time Alexis arrived there, the square was crowded. Stoltzfus stood to one side with a half dozen older men Alexis assumed were the other leaders of the colony.

  Fortunately, the crowd parted easily before her group and she didn’t have to force a path through to confront them.

  “Your ship landing here wasn’t enough?” one of the men asked, glaring at her. “Now you bring your vile weapons to our world?”

  “Hush, Samuel,” Stoltzfus said, then to Alexis, “I assume you mean some sort of defense against this attack you warned me of?”

  Alexis nodded. “I have weapons for two dozen more.”

  “We have our own guns,” the man who’d first spoken, Samuel, said. “Meant for hunting or defense against beasts, not men.”

  “Well, you’re about to be attacked by men, not beasts,” Alexis said. “I’ve sent Nightingale’s boat aloft to detect, and perhaps intercept, them, but we’d best prepare here. Perhaps evacuate the town, in case they use mining charges as they did on Al Jadiq?”

  “It is in God’s hands,” Samuel said. “There is nothing to prepare.”

  Stoltzfus nodded. “I do wish you would take your crew back to the landing field, lieutenant, or even outside of our town. We wish no violence here.”

  Alexis stared at the two men for a moment, not quite believing what she was hearing. Her tablet pinged and she shouldered her rifle to pull it out.

  It appeared her fears were well-founded and an attack was underway. Worse, she’d underestimated the force involved, for four ship’s boats had been detected closing on the town. They were still more than an hour away, and Rasch already had Nightingale’s boat closing on them, but the number was more than she’d expected.

  They must have stripped boats from their captures. Planning for this? Or for attacks on farmsteads?

  It didn’t matter now, though. She looked around at her little band of crew. Merchant boats were smaller than her own from Nightingale, but with four inbound there could be as many as a hundred men or even more on their way.

  “Violence is coming whether you will it or no, Mister Stoltzfus,” she said. “The only question is how you’ll meet it.”

  “Get to your place, man,” Nabb said, “they’ll be here soon.”

  “Aye, they will, and why’s that our worry, eh?”

  Nabb’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. Alexis laid a hand on his arm. They were still at the town square, now all but deserted, but centrally located. Since they had no idea where the pirates …

  Pirates? Rebels? Zealots?

  Regardless of what she called them, she had no idea where their boats would land, so the central square offered the place they could most easily deploy from. Connelly agreed, saying they could move forward once they knew where the enemy’s boats would come to ground.

  The residents of Man’s Fall had left the square quickly once it was known the four boats were incoming. Some returned to their homes, others to the large, central structure Alexis assumed was their house of worship. None had stayed to fight, which was the crux of Nabb’s argument with Arington, one of Alexis’ boat crew.

  “They run like sheep!” Arington said. “Why’s my neck on the line fer ‘em then?”

  “You took the Queen’s shilling and you man a Queen’s ship, Arington,” Alexis said. “These are the Queen’s subjects in danger, think of them what you will, and you’ll stand for them.”

  “Well, we ain’t on no ship, are we?” He shook his head. “Didn’t sign for this, I didn’t.”

  Alexis looked around at the others of the boat crew and found several of them wavering as well. They didn’t think much of the Man’s Fall colonists, not with their refusal to fight for themselves. She felt Nabb tense and squeezed his arm again — it wouldn’t do to simply order the men, not this time. If they were unsure they might break at the first moment that offered itself.

  “These men mean to wipe out what they see as heresy, Arington. Not just sack the town, not just take it — wipe it out, root and branch. The women and children here’ll be left widowed and orphaned, or worse. Would you stand by and see that happen?”

  “I’ve a wife and children of my own, sir.”

  “And who might stand for them one day, if you won’t stand for these?”

  Arington paused at that.

  “Aye, they may be sheep,” Alexis allowed. To be truthful, she had a low opinion of the colonists herself. She thought it was one thing to abjure violence, quite another to stand quietly and take it. Perhaps if she’d been raised in their faith she might feel differently, but there it was. Regardless, she knew there were those who wouldn’t or couldn’t defend themselves for whatever reason. “But with the wolves coming, will you stand by idly and see them put to the slaughter?”

  Arington seemed to consider that and Alexis turned to the others.

  “This is why you joined, then, lads, isn’t it?” she called out, louder than she needed to for addressing such a small group, but she felt they needed to hear it loud. “We Nightingales may have had other work ‘til now, but did you join to collect the Queen’s taxes? Did you, Arington?”

  “Not rightly, no.”

  “Did you join to stop some fool shipping bloody jam from Eidera, lads?”

  Some, a few, but enough, she thought, called back, “No!”

  “Did you take the shilling to chase drunken miners off some Fringe world?”

  “No!”

  The shouts were more and louder now, and followed by:

  “No, but I’ll make a bloody spacer-man of one if it kills him!”

  That from one of the lads set to train Iveson and Spracklen.

  Alexis laughed with the rest. Then, quieter than before, so that they drew closer to hear her:

  “Did you join to stand at the fore, lads? To be the Queen’s strong arm between Her subjects and the evils that ply the Dark?”

  “Aye!” several shouted.

  “I were pressed!” sounded one voice, and there was more laughter.

  Alexis grinned, then sobered.

  “So will you stand with me now, lads? Between these folk and those who’d do them harm? Sheep they may be, but you’re not are you?”

  “No!”

  “The bloody wolf’s at the door, will you stand with me?”

  “Aye!”

  She looked out over them, seeing their confident expressions, the surety that they had the right and right would prevail. At Nabb, looking so much like his father and already a sure, steady force she could rely on, at Spindler, who’d shouted along with the rest and had the glint of glory in his eyes that she knew only too well, and she wondered which she’d see the next morning — or which she’d next see in her dreams.

  Fifty-Two

  6 June, Man’s Fall System

  Rasch was the first to fall, as part of her had known would be the case.

  Alexis watched on her tablet as his boat transmitted his position and those of the oncoming enemy. She saw him turn in toward the approaching boats, knew, even as he did it, that it was the wrong time — too soon — but before she could key her tablet to call out to him, it was over.

  He’d turned in, firing, and managed to take down one of the oncoming boats, but the maneuver left him in the sights of the rearmost enemy and her tablet went blank as though neither Nightingale’s boat nor Rasch had ever existed at all.

  After that it was all waiting.

  S
he crouched in the shadow of one of the buildings bordering the town square, blind now that Rasch and the boat were gone, and not knowing where the enemy would land or strike. She supposed, if they had mining charges and were willing to use them, despite Stoltzfus’ confidence that they wouldn’t, that she’d never really know when they arrived — she’d simply cease to exist, along with all her lads.

  She thought to send out scouts to other areas of the town, but had too few men, and Connelly agreed. Against a force which was almost certainly larger, she had to keep her own men together. It seemed likely that they wouldn’t be able to defeat the oncoming force, but perhaps they could do enough damage to drive them away.

  There was a screeching roar and a ship’s boat crashed into the town square. It had too much momentum, likely the result of an inexperienced pilot, and there was the further screech of metal on stone as its landing gear slid across the cobbles. Its bow struck a building on the far side, and Alexis offered a silent prayer of gratitude that she’d hadn’t been waiting there as the building collapsed to cover the adjacent street.

  “Wait for it, lads,” Connelly called out. “Wait for my word!”

  Alexis had turned the specifics of the battle over to the more experienced Marine. Firing before the boat’s hatches opened would be pointless, as their arms would never penetrate the boat’s hull. Connelly was waiting for the hatches to open and those on board to leave its cover before firing.

  Two of the boat’s hatches opened, the starboard side being covered in rubble from the collapsed building. Figures streamed out from its port and rear. Alexis counted silently to herself, reaching twenty before Connelly apparently judged the exiting figures were becoming too dispersed.

  He fired, shouting, “Fire!” at the same time, and an instant later Alexis’ men fired. She raised her own weapon, sighted on a figure rushing down the boat’s ramp, and pulled the trigger.

  Light flashed from her rifle and she heard the crack of ionized air mixed with the louder cracks of chemical rifles and the soft whine of flechettes.