Suddenly an image came on the bridge screens. A woman with a wolf tattoo on the right side of her face and a maniac smile growled at them. “Run, you Goth bastards, run.” Steiner stared at the screen. Killian O’Hare. The situation just got worse.
“When will the starboard vessel be in range?” asked Steiner of his operations officer.
“Seven minutes,” came a quick response.
Steiner quickly reviewed his options. There was no good answer. He couldn’t outrun the pursuit and would soon be trading shots with the third ship in addition to the two ships in close pursuit. The best course was to take on the two in the back and hope for a few lucky hits before the third ship was close enough to join the fight.
“Prepare to come hard port and engage the two behind us,” commanded Steiner.
The destroyer turned to port and opened fire with missiles. The two pursuers turned to port to run parallel with the Goth destroyer and shot interceptors and offensive missiles. The interceptors handled the incoming missiles and the offensive missiles drove at Abendhimmel. The Goth destroyer responded with guns, decoys, and jammers. Several missiles were destroyed but four impacted the shields. Steiner knew it was only a matter of time. The two ships had over twice the missile tubes of his ship and would soon be joined by the third ship. They would eventually beat him down and finish him off, but he would go down fighting without abandoning ship. He was under no illusion as to what would happen to any survival pods. The exchange continued for several more salvos, and the Abendhimmel’s shields began to lose power under the impact of several hits. The third ship closed astern and joined the fight. Missiles began to leak through the weakening shields, and hits were taken on the hull. Three compartments were opened up to space. Long-range sensors were knocked out. The ship keeled slightly to starboard. Two missiles impacted a 75 mm twin turret and destroyed it. Steiner calmly adjusted his speed and course to throw off targeting solutions, and mixed up his defenses to spread out the impacts on all his shields. He ordered all repair efforts to concentrate on sensors and weapons systems in order to continue the fight. He glanced at his bridge crew. All were working hard. Steiner scanned his bridge crew. One young sailor on her first space mission looked at him fearfully from her monitor.
Steiner smiled at her, “We’ll be fine.”
She tentatively smiled back and replied in a small voice, “Yes, Captain.” She returned to her work.
Suddenly the incoming barrage of missiles stopped. The three pirate ships were content to fight off the Abendhimmel’s last few offensive shots, and when that assault ended, they just kept pace with his wounded ship. Steiner ordered a cease-fire. His bridge crew looked at each other in puzzlement. Each knew the way it was going to end and didn’t like being played like this. Suddenly, the operator on the fire control sensors sounded off. “Two ships incoming from the direction of Rosstrappe!”
Everyone smiled and began to whoop but Steiner put a stop to it. “The pirates would have seen those two ships on their long range sensors long before we saw them on our fire control sensors. If they were reinforcements, the pirates would have finished us off and then ran, or would have finished us off and then fought them. These are more pirates or neutrals. Since the pirates stopped firing, these are probably pirate reinforcements who will be given the honor of joining the attack on us.”
The bright mood ended instantly, and the crew redoubled their work efforts.
On the bridge of Nemesis, Captain O’Hare stared at her monitor. Vindictive and Marauder were inbound. Long-range sensors had picked them up minutes prior, and message traffic began to fly back and forth. Shane Delacruz was claiming the Goth destroyer as his target. O’Hare was less than happy with that.
“You’re late to the party. Not my fault. My hunt, my kill.”
“My house was hit. I claim the right for revenge on my terms and my timetable,” Delacruz replied calmly. “This is the first of several actions against the OrCon force and their Goth escorts. There will be plenty of opportunities for you.”
The closing range allowed the conversation to be conducted with little communication time delay so the heat built up quickly.
“I’m not concerned with future ops. I’ve got this little Goth lamb right where I want him, and I’m not good at sharing. Get your own targets.”
“I don’t need to get targets. I’ve got one right here.”
Both speakers leaned toward their monitors so they were figuratively nose-to-nose despite a distance of several thousand kilometers.
O’Hare continued, “My kill. You can join in or watch.”
“My kill now,” Delacruz didn’t back down. “I’m coming in.”
On Nemesis, O’Hare flared with anger. Her operations officer, Reese Patrick, stepped forward. He leaned toward his captain as she put her monitor on hold. Patrick spoke low and respectfully. Challenging Killian O’Hare on her own bridge was a very risky course of action.
“This isn’t worth it, Captain. Let Delacruz have the Goth.”
O’Hare leaned to the opposite side of her command chair, away from her OpsO. She stared at him and her eyes shone. It was obvious what she was thinking and Patrick started to sweat. At that moment, the executive officer, Rip Heron, stepped from the elevator onto the bridge. The Captain and the XO went back a long way. Raferty Hawkins and Rip Heron were probably the only two people who could talk to O’Hare, and she might actually listen to them. Killian watched him approach through slit eyelids while keeping a neutral expression on her face. She knew his arrival was not a coincidence, and someone from the bridge had signaled him to come up from his battle station in aft steering.
He smiled as he approached his captain. “Killer, we don’t need this. Let Delacruz have the Goth and be done with it. Everyone knows this is your victory. If our house were burned down we would expect the right of revenge just as Delacruz wants now.”
O’Hare stared at him and then back at the Ops O. She began to shake slightly. She threw her right arm in the air. “Fine. Fine. To hell with it.” She turned back to her screen and keyed it back to life.
“You can have your little Goth playmate but we aren’t joining in.” She now spoke to the two other ships with her. “Wolfpack, hard to port.”
With that, the three attacking ships turned away toward the original battle site. Unaware of any of the pirate conversations, Steiner watched in amazement as the three attackers faded from his fire control sensors screens. There was a small window of opportunity there for escape, but Abendhimmel was in no shape to leap away from the approaching two ships. Steiner ordered his crew to use the brief respite to prepare for battle renewal as the two new ships approached. He was surprised when the communications watch stander called out, “We are being hailed by the approaching ships.”
“Route it to me,” ordered Steiner.
The image of a tall thin man appeared. He had long black hair, a full mustache, and was clad in dark blue overalls. He looked haggard. There was none of the gaudiness associated with some of the pirates; he had an air of quiet competence about him.
“Captain Shane Delacruz of the pirate vessel Vindictive. Identify yourself.”
“Captain Fritz Steiner of the Goldenes Tor ship Abendhimmel. Your comrades have attacked our convoy without provocation and inflicted a large loss of life. You will be held responsible for this.” Steiner had no intention of bowing to this pirate. His ship would likely go down in defeat, but he would have his say and then fight it out until the end.
To Steiner’s surprise, Delacruz barked out a harsh laugh. “You got guts saying that. But you are correct in someone being held responsible; you just got the wrong someone. Do you really believe you can hit one of our houses, kill a bunch of women and children, and not pay a price for that?”
There it was. Steiner had no retort for that. Shame drove a spike into him. “I take no pride in what happened at Ulatar. The Orion Confederation ships did the shooting, and we did nothing to stop them.”
“You also miside
ntified the target for your own convenience,” Delacruz shot back.
“That happened, but not by me.”
Delacruz looked at him grimly, “According to our downloads, one ship sounded off over an open freq, and we identified it as you. Did you try to stop the attack?”
“The attack was not required by the mission.” Steiner was aware he was speaking for the record and was not going to condemn his superiors or his Empire.
Delacruz nodded. He knew the restrictions Steiner would impose on himself, and no further conversation would solicit any other response. “Your two convoy companions are finished with total loss of crews. Go home to Rosstrappe. Tell them what happened, and you can invent your own reasons as to why you were let go. Follow us and be quick. Captain O’Hare will not be happy, and you need to put some distance between her and you.” Delacruz stared at him hard, “You tried to help at Ulatar. For that you get a free pass. But just this once. Tell Rosstrappe that attack will not be forgotten.”
The transmission ended, and the two pirate ships turned around and proceeded toward Rosstrappe. Steiner settled back in his command seat and ordered his ship to follow. Once at Rosstrappe, Steiner decided he would tell the truth and let the future look after itself.
Chapter 27
Captain Mallory’s squadron zoomed into orbit around the Gammatiga. Time was pressing. Their pursuers were within seven hours of the Base. Everyone needed to load up supplies, and her two support ships needed to depart before the upcoming battle. Sky had sent the battle plan for the upcoming fight to all her ships. If the battle went as planned, her forces would not be actively engaged but would act as a lure at the supply base. Of course, battles had a way of not going as planned. If the two enemy support ships were destroyed, the OrCons would be in serious trouble and would have to work with the Goths to get resupplied. No way would they like that option, and they would press hard to conclude their Badlands campaign. They might get desperate and make a mistake. Sky would not depart the Badlands unless she lost all war fighting capability so there would be at least one more battle after this one, hopefully, at a time and place of her choosing.
The orbit above the base was crowded with ships. The two Zeke support ships in the orbiting dock were loaded and had moved out of the way. The dock now held Dragon and Predator. All ships had supplies not only in their stuffed holds but also in their hangar bays, empty berthing compartments, along passageways, and in every other available space. Crewmembers had supplies stacked in their quarters. This was the biggest windfall Pirate Flotilla One had ever enjoyed, and every available space would be packed full. Anything not of use to the Flotilla would be sold to those who could use it.
As soon as the three pirate corvettes had been loaded to the point of overflowing with supplies, Captain Hawkins had them move to the outer orbit and be prepared to depart as soon as Predator was loaded. Shuttles continued to speed back and forth. Predator was getting a resupply of missiles and other supplies. The pirates were moving at a hectic pace.
“We’ll be out of the dock in a couple minutes,” Rafe informed Captain Mallory’s image on his screen over pirate common frequency. “Your people here have been fantastic. I thank you.”
“Thank you for all you did at Potenka,” Sky replied. “Commander Snyder informs me your crews have been working hard to get this loading done.”
“We will be moving out to our attack positions as soon as we leave the dock. I’m leaving each ship’s shuttle from our squadron to assist in the loading. We’ll get them back after the battle. Dragon will carry the shuttles out for us.”
“Thank you. The extra shuttles will help.”
“No problem. Battle prep good to go?”
“We’ll be ready. We’ve integrated the few base defenses into the plan. Probably use them to cover our pullout. I do have a question for you before we part. What rank is flag captain?”
Rafe smiled, “When I command my ship, I am a captain. When I command Alpha squadron, I am a senior captain. When I command Pirate Flotilla One, I am a flag captain.”
“Not an admiral?” Mallory asked. She couldn’t quite keep a note of teasing out of her voice.
“Pirates don’t have admirals, we kill admirals.”
Sky smiled, “Remind me not to get promoted around you.”
Rafe smiled back, “You can be the exception to the rule.”
“Thank you. And thanks again for all you’ve done.”
Rafe shook his head as he shrugged off the comment. “We both face the same problem here, and we have to win this fight. The OrCons get rid of you, and the Goths will expand in the Badlands. Not good for the Aurora Empire and, more importantly, not good for me.”
Tactical came up behind Hawkins and whispered in his ear. Rafe nodded and spoke to Mallory, “We’re loaded up with supplies and need to get going. If the OrCons are seven hours in trail of you we have to get set up in our ambush positions before they get within sensor range of that area.”
Sky nodded, “Good hunting.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Raferty said in response and was gone.
Predator now moved out to join the three corvettes of Alpha Squadron. The three smaller ships fell into formation on their leader and sped out of Gammatiga controlled space and toward the approaching enemy force. Accompanying Alpha Squadron was the Zeke destroyer, Emerald. Her job was to act as sentinel and warn the Aurora force of the approaching OrCons while giving the enemy something to focus on.
Dragon and the Zeke ships continued to load. Shuttles rapidly moved back and forth. They ignored speed limitations and safety regulations as the supply base was emptied of all supplies and moveable equipment. The OrCons would arrive in less than seven hours. The two Zeke support ships and Dragon would depart in four hours to allow them time to clear the base controlled airspace before OrCon sensors could scan the base. The approaching enemy would not get them on sensors and would not know the direction they departed. The loaders met the deadline. The three support ships moved out fully loaded in three hours forty-five minutes, heading for the pirate base called the Fort. The combatants remained behind and continued to load using their own shuttles. The Zekes would leave only buildings and heavy equipment. The heavy equipment and environmental control units had key components removed to make them inoperative, but Captain Mallory did not blow up the base. She had plans of returning to it.
Alpha Squadron and Emerald continued back up the track they had recently used to arrive at the base. Two-and-a-half hours of flight time brought them to a large rock in space. This was just outside sensor range for Gammatiga and would be an obvious place for the OrCons to drop their two supply ships and the Goth escort prior to their push on Gammatiga. Not for the first time Rafe reflected on why humans seemed to need to be close to something, anything, in space rather than floating out in the middle of nothing. It wasn’t necessary from a navigation aspect. Navigation operated on a three-point coordination system to find any spot in space regardless of where any celestial bodies were located. Rafe smiled to himself; regardless of the advance of technology, people still needed a security blanket, even if it was a cold solitary rock. Rafe had no doubt the support ships and the Goths would anchor to this bit of creation.
The destroyer Emerald set up behind the rock and would keep watch for the approaching enemy. The four pirate ships moved away from the rock at a ninety-degree angle. When Emerald picked up the OrCons on sensors, the reciprocal would also be true. The OrCons would see Emerald and bore in on her and her little bit of cover. The pirates would be in subspace abeam and slightly forward of the rock and below its plane of travel. They would be close enough to hear Emerald’s initial reports back to Gammatiga but far enough from the rock to be outside the approach path of the enemy. They would quietly wait for the enemy to pass, drop off their two support ships and the Goth escort, and move against to Gammatiga.
Chapter 28
Admiral Stavka paced the flag bridge. He still thought the Zekes would not stand at Gammatiga but had
to prepare as if they would. He thought the Zekes might evacuate the base and return through neutral space to the Aurora Empire. He did not think that would be Captain Mallory’s first course of action, but she might take her victory at Potenka and leave the Badlands with her forces intact. Her victory, he thought bitterly. Yes, he had to be honest with himself. He had lost to an inferior force. The Zekes had been warned, probably by pirates, but to some extent, it did not matter. No conjecture of pirate actions, blaming the Goths, or a failure of intel would make any difference at home. He had to win now more than ever. He was prepared to chase his quarry into neutral territory.
“Time to the enemy base?” he asked nobody in particular.
“Five hours,” answered the flag officer of watch.
“Contact report from Ranvir,” report a sensor operator.
The light cruiser, Ranvir, was leading the formation with a destroyer on each flank.
“A single Gem class destroyer is anchored to a rock ahead of us. Two hours to arrival there,” reported the operator.
The Admiral quickly ordered, “Move on the position. Be prepared for an ambush from behind the rock or from nearby subspace units.”
Battle station klaxons sounded throughout the flotilla. The force continued to move forward but gradually spread out with their white phones listening for an ambush from subspace. Missiles tubes were opened and guns turned outboard to cover all sectors.
Emerald sent a contact report back to Gammatiga but did not depart from the rock as the enemy closed on her. The continuing presence of the destroyer acted as a beacon for the oncoming OrCons. They bore sighted on the small ship. Although the OrCons continued to probe the surrounding space, the destroyer was the center of their attention. Emerald sent reports every ten minutes. The pirate vessels in subspace were close enough to hear these reports. When the enemy was within one hour of her, Emerald backed off her rock and moved toward Gammatiga, matching speed with the OrCons to maintain a constant separation. Position reports continued to go out.
Allies of Convenience: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 1 Page 13
