Darklight Pirates

by Robert E. Vardeman

  "Threat analysis and foresight projection is complete. If a squadron of fighters armed with somewhat larger than standard warheads or a tank battalion can be deployed within two kilometers, a warbot can be destroyed." Riddle set the tactical computer's playback for her to see. The hologram never glanced toward the readouts.

  "The warbots carried weaponry they didn't use. Both had aurora guns."

  "I missed that." Riddle scowled as he scanned videos from the attack, hunting for evidence the powerful energy weapons had been mounted. Small nodules on the upper torso might hold the aurora guns, but he couldn't be certain. "Why weren't they used rather than allowing the warbots to be scared off? Perhaps those aren't operational but are only mock nodules to make the enemy think the firepower is greater than it is? Or were the guns useless because of poor fusion plants powering them?" Even as the questions left his lips he knew the answer before his holographic ally supplied it.

  "The prisoners, you fool. Tomlins wanted his wife and daughter back. The aurora guns would have leveled the entire base with a single blast."

  "What is your best guess? Did Kori and Bella escape?"

  For a moment Riddle thought the fiber optic cable had somehow developed static. Then he realized his benefactor was hissing like a snake. When this quieted, she said, "Yes. I am hunting for them. Concern yourself with preparations for a new attack by the warbots."

  "The orbiting laser cannons are more than a match for them. Neutralize the Shillelagh and the robots have no safe harbor." He began working on a new simulation. "Even if those mechanized fighters attacked the station, they wouldn't be able to take it."

  "Those warbots are ground units, not ones intended for space battles. There is a high probability the Highlander was partially disabled and marines in exoskeletons boarded. What com I had from the cruiser shows this and that Lochlan was unprepared for it. The comlink to the Highlander was broken early in the engagement. It is likely Lochlan thought he was sending a detailed report when nothing of the sort happened and we instead were out of touch."

  "It's not possible to cover every contingency. I am sure the captain had trained for many more likely attacks."

  "The one you are unprepared for will destroy you completely." The advice didn't fall on deaf ears. Riddle understood the problems facing him better than his benefactor.

  "My senior officers are working on this," Riddle said, "especially the Middle Guard and the Low Guard. In combined attack, they will destroy any warbot touching down on-planet. Already scenarios are being plotted and training will be instituted to counter the warbots."

  "Good. That is where the most serious threat awaits us."

  Riddle hesitated, then asked, "When can we meet? Face to face?"

  "When you are installed as Programmer General."

  "I could never handle the Blarney Stone. There is a genetic component to programming that I lack. It would be better if I assumed the position of military ruler and let the programmers handle the daily, menial load. Someone else, a figurehead as Programmer General, would be a better course to follow."

  "You are right. You're not fit for the job genetically." The laugh that accompanied the agreement struck Riddle as cruel, mocking. It quickly died. "Burran became a powerful country because of its fighting forces. After the Great Migration, only a strong military kept us alive long enough to terraform the world."

  "I can make it happen again," Riddle said confidently. "Both Uller and Eire can fall, uniting the planet for the first time. With your help, I can make it happen." Riddle held his breath, wondering if the praise came off as too effusive. He held the woman is as much contempt as she did him, but he still needed her sources of information until he secured his position─and Weir was added to history as a small footnote of no real importance.

  "Such a fusion of leadership would benefit those countries. Their constant sniping tells of internal problems that you could solve easily. With my help."

  The hologram simply vanished. Riddle let out a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. Having such an ally carried incredible risks. Whoever she was, ruling the entire world as a dictator appealed to her. Riddle leaned forward and began working on new combat simulations. In the field he was tactician enough to survive. In the ranks of government bureaucrats, he had to become the master strategist to consolidate his power. Otherwise Burran would be split apart and be laid to waste by its voracious neighbors.

  Uncovering the identity of his benefactor ranked very high on his list of ways to maintain his authority. She would discard him the instant he was no longer useful. He could be no less merciless when it came to their partnership.

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Sir, two armed ships are approaching. They have full sensor shielding." Lieutenant Bridget Sullivan motioned to bring up the trajectory chart on the bridge viewscreen. "What are your orders, sir?"

  Donal looked up and saw the red curves showing the intersection of the two interceptors with the Shillelagh. A number embedded on his dreadnought decreased rapidly, showing how little time they had before new combat had to be faced. He settled the control helmet and began a quick inventory of crew and equipment. They had done well repairing themselves, but the battle on the planet below occupied more of his attention.

  "Cletus and Leanne will be back soon." He blanked part of Sullivan's chart in favor of one covering a quarter of the planet's surface below.

  "Our comlink with the warbots is intermittent, sir. There's nothing I can do to improve it."

  "I know, Lieutenant. Any update on the report from five minutes ago?"

  "That was the last we heard, sir. The tanks with their heavy guns presented the warbots significant opposition. Neither 'bot had located the prisoners."

  Donal saw another part of the challenge multiply and spin away from his grasp. He closed his eyes and let his mind surge through the neural net controlling the dreadnought. He sank back, drained. A click brought the new danger to the viewscreen.

  "That's an orbiting laser cannon platform. How did they position it so fast, sir?" Sullivan moved closer to the captain's chair. She touched a button on the arm. "They've opened fire on the warbots."

  "We have to decoy the laser battery. I had no idea those platforms were so maneuverable. I left such development up to Planetary Guard. They must have kept secret the capability to move so easily in orbit."

  Donal had always been more engaged with supply and commerce for the citizens, depending on his military commanders to keep the borders secure. It had been a relief when Cletus had taken over, but had Riddle kept the laser cannon mobility secret from him, too? That secrecy now placed Cletus in dire straits. He stood, removed the control helmet and laid it on the captain's chair.

  "Ten minutes until the interceptors come within firing range, sir."

  "Take the conn, Lieutenant Sullivan."

  "I've never been in such a situation, sir."

  "You know the tactics they're most likely to employ. I don't. We have to divert the lasers from the warbots─and avoid the interceptors closing on us. My foresight projection shows the Shillelagh has enough armor to take some damage, but our weapons are only on a par with the interceptors. Less, actually." Not for the first time he cursed his orders to remove the dreadnought's heavy laser batteries to prevent a squabble with Far Kingdom.

  "That's right, sir. Our last sitrep worries me. We lack missile capacity to make an attack on their part fail quickly." Sullivan dropped into the captain's chair and donned the control helmet. She stiffened, then relaxed as she melded herself with the neural net controlling the dreadnought. She blinked up her HUD and set it according to her personal preferences. Once it satisfied her, her blue eyes fixed on Donal. "What are you going to do, sir?"

  "There's a carrier in the hold. I will─"

  "Permission denied, sir. I can't risk your life."

  "I'm Programmer General. You─"

  "I'm acting captain and in command, sir. Do you want to remove me?"

  Donal stared at the vie
wscreen. The interceptors launched from the orbital station on the far side of the planet were within minutes of engaging the Shillelagh.

  "Dip into the atmosphere and decoy the laser cannon firing on the warbots. Take care of the interceptors the best you can until Cletus and Leanne return."

  "You don't ask for much, do you, sir?"

  "The difficult we do first. The impossible takes a little longer." He reached down and took the auxiliary helmet. The instant he connected, he received a microburst com from Leanne. "Pickup needed," he grated out. "They'll reach orbit in a few minutes. Barely. No, no they won't. The warbots' fuel is exhausted." Donal piped the data from Leanne's microburst into the ship's computer for Sullivan to use.

  The displays around the bridge began to light up. The few officers remaining worked at the most critical positions. Donal felt some confidence they would do well when he saw that the most experienced weapons officer had survived and now worked on firing solutions. Data flowed in a thousand directions, coordinating everything into the warbots' rescue while the dreadnought dodged the interceptors.

  A battery of low-power lasers fired futilely at the interceptors. Donal started to override the waste of energy, then saw the reason for the blast. It forced the interceptors to counter while their weapons were marginally effective. The Shillelagh built speed as it vectored down into a lower orbit. He ignored the hull sensors showing friction from the upper atmosphere heating the prow. The LiftShip was never intended for atmospheric maneuvering.

  "Cargo bay doors open!" He cried out the command even as he sent the order using the control helmet. "Prepare to match vectors and take aboard two warbots."

  Donal ignored the interceptors changing direction to come after them. Captain Sullivan handled them as well as anyone could. He worried more how the way the laser cannon platform tried to follow the approaching warbots and blow them from the sky. They cannon faced the planet, not the Shillelagh. The slow progress of the two robots arcing up from the planet completely occupied his attention. If force of will could make them move faster, his intense concentration would have caused it.

  "We're taking fire," Sullivan said. She worked on the virtual panels in front of her, shimmery when seen from Donal's angle. "Those are light destroyers, sir. We can hold them at range a while longer."

  Donal's clenched fists began to ache. He forced himself to relax and watch the slow progress. The warbots edged closer, then cargo arms grappled and brought them both in as a single unit before they reached apogee, all fuel gone, and gravity dragged them back to Ballymore. Anxious, Donal tried to contact Cletus. Nothing. Dead air. He recognized now that Leanne had locked her warbot magnetically to his son's. Very little power radiated from Cletus' mechanical coffin.

  "Chang, report." Donal reached up to pull off his helmet and go directly to the cargo bay, but he received a prompt answer.

  "Cletus is unharmed. His warbot is severely damaged, but it protected him. We will report to the bridge as quickly as we can get free of the warbots."

  Donal saw the warbots were now enclosed in a thin mist. The outgassing might be dangerous, but the cargo hold had powerful recirculating fans that filtered poisonous fumes. The cargo master began spraying a thick foam over the warbots and caused a new cloud of thin, swirling vapor. When this was whisked away, the fronts of the warbots opened like clamshells. Donal finally sagged in relief when Cletus tumbled out and got to his feet to help Leanne from her robot.

  "Sir, the nearer destroyer launched a swarm of unknown composition. Our laser fire can't disperse it."

  Donal turned his attention back to what had become the more immediate danger. One destroyer stood off, barely within range of its lasers. The other came at the Shillelagh on a collision course.

  He started to cry, "Blow it up!" but the fire control officer had plotted the firing solution perfectly. Four turrets homed in on the destroyer─and destroyed it. The beams cut through the smaller warship in four different places, then swung while still active. Huge hunks of the vessel spun off into space. One smaller piece touched the upper reaches of the atmosphere and became a new sun for a split second, then winked out.

  "Prepare for impact."

  Donal had no idea who issued the warning. He grabbed the back of the captain's chair in time to keep from being thrown high into the air when the artificial gravity failed. The impact of bits and pieces of the destroyer ricocheted off the hull and caused the entire ship to ring like a bell. Before the echo died, gravity returned. Donal fell heavily to his knees, then got up. A quick adjustment of his auxiliary helmet showed that sensors on the dreadnought's planetward side were offline.

  He understood only a small portion of the orders Sullivan issued. Damage control rose in importance, but she only set one laser to fire on the second destroyer. Then he understood. Sullivan diverted power from their armament to the engines. The Shillelagh blasted away, leaving the destroyer behind.

  "We're still in orbit, sir."

  "Break orbit immediately." Leanne rushed ahead of Cletus onto the bridge, as perturbed as he had ever seen her. "If you continue, you will overtake the space station and allow its weapons to blow us out of space."

  "She's right, Father. We have to get away from Ballymore until we find out the situation below."

  "Kori?" Donal had to know.

  "I'm sorry," Cletus said. "The entire base was blasted into plasma. I don't know how she could have survived. I'm afraid both she and Bella are gone."

  "That is not knowable," Leanne cut in. "The prison walls were breached before the real devastation began. Your family might have escaped. There were dozens of people on foot going into the woods."

  Donal saw how stricken Cletus looked. His face was gray with strain, and his hands shook when he ran his fingers through his auburn hair now turned a soot black to get unruly locks from his eyes. No hope survived there. But Leanne was expert using the warbot sensors and might have a better take on Kori and Bella.

  "You must break orbit. Now!" Leanne pointed to the viewscreen. At the planetary limb a bright speck appeared.

  "That's the station." Donal spoke to ... no one. Sullivan had properly shunted power to the engines and already blasted to get them away from the planet.

  Donal worried that the Shillelagh would launch at a tangent to their orbit, but Sullivan realized this would bring them under the station's heavy lasers. The ship had flipped end-for-end and full thrust applied to kill not only orbital speed but vector them away opposite to the tangent that would have meant their deaths.

  The destroyer behind them in orbit was taken by surprise and had a single opportunity to fire as they blasted away in the reverse direction, under full thrust.

  "Let the destroyer fire on us. It has to ..." Cletus' words trailed off as the Shillelagh drilled into space, leaving their attackers behind.

  "Why did you want that? To get a fix on their position?" Donal went to his son and hugged him. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you again. In one piece and─" Donal held him at arm's length. He stank of stale sweat and ozone and was close to perfection.

  "They sprayed us with a swarm. With those on our hull eating away at our sensors, we'll be blind and unable to communicate soon. I'd have to examine them to see if they can replicate. If they can, the swarm will coat the entire ship in a few days."

  "Can they breach the hull?" Donal tried to find the specifications of such a weapon but failed. He took off his helmet and dropped it into its cradle behind the captain's chair.

  "Not unless they have advanced that program more than reported. But there's no way we can clean it off without going into dry dock. That's why I wanted the destroyer to blast us free of it."

  "The Commander in Chief is right, sir. We're losing our sensors on the sunward side right now. The targeting sensors on the laser turret will be engulfed in a few hours, crippling our offensive capability."

  "We need to Lift," Donal said. "What's the nearest dry dock able to clean us?"

  "The nearest dry dock with
an ally in power," added Cletus. "Can we return to Far Kingdom?"

  "Not directly, sir. At current energy levels, we can't Lift more than fifty light years. If we had time to recharge after being drained by the lasers used for the battle, we can make the four hundred light year Far Kingdom Lift."

  "How long would that recharge take, Captain?" Donal knew the answer but had to hear it from the Shillelagh's new commander.

  "More time than we have, sir. Two more destroyers are rounding the limb of the planet. Using a gravity whip, they can be on us within a few minutes." Sullivan flashed the trajectories onto the viewscreen.

  "The destroyers do not have Lift engines," Leanne observed. "We can be gone before they are in range, even if they have missiles."

  "Missiles, aye, ma'am," Sullivan confirmed. "From the sensors we've got trained on the vessels, they have nukes on their missiles."

  "If the swarm smeared all over our hull keeps chewing away at us, they'll have us dead in space," Donal said. "Set course for Babylon, Captain."

  "Sir?" Sullivan looked around. "Am I acting skipper?"

  "Permanent rank of captain," he said. "You've shown you can command. The Shillelagh is yours."

  "Father, has she ever computed a Lift? She was second officer, not even XO." Cletus took a deep breath. "I have never computed a Lift, but I know the basics. With you helping, this might be safer if we do it. I don't want to risk being lost in StringSpace forever."

  "Captain Sullivan, what is your experience with such navigation?" Donal stepped in front of the captain's chair, ready to take out the auxiliary helmet. If the equations and database were intact, he could supply Cletus anything he needed, but neither of them had navigated a starship before, and never under such conditions.