Allies of Convenience: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 1

by Sean Benjamin

  “Not much for comm discipline, are they?” Cassidy remarked in passing. “Not noticing you though.”

  “They’ve noticed me,” responded Sky. She watched the images of the pirates as they spoke to each other. “They don’t want to say something out of line to us or about us. They’ll wait and take their cue from their commander.”

  Hawkins and O’Hare quickly matched up in conversation. Hawkins said, “I’m going to my day cabin. Meet me on the private freq for a P4.”

  “Give me a second to get to my day cabin and give me a call,” she answered.

  Hawkins had different frequencies for private conversations with his captains. He could talk with O’Hare without others listening in online. Of course, this didn’t rule out people listening in while in the immediate vicinity of the speaker. No sooner had Hawkins and O’Hare met on the private freq and gone covered, Baby Doll entered the day cabin, sat in a chair out of view of the screen, and listened in. Hawkins noticed but said nothing.

  “I need to talk with you about Delacruz and the Goth destroyer.”

  O’Hare’s face immediately darkened and she opened her mouth to rant, but Rafe held up a warning finger and cut her off.

  “No. No,” he said empathically. “I get the fact you’re all pissed off and want to yell about Shane, but I’ve got bigger things in mind than screwing around with one damn Goth destroyer. Fact is that destroyer did try to warn off his squadron mates in the attack at Ulatar. Once they get back to Rosstrappe, the story will come out. There will be two lessons for the Goths out of this. Lesson one is payback is swift and expensive. Lesson two is if they act within the rules, they will receive some consideration in return. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. We got a lot of fighting ahead of us here, I also got a mission in mind about six months out, and I need both you and Shane for it so I don’t need a little ongoing spat over this. Am I clear here?”

  “You sent an order to kill everyone and that didn’t happen. And the reason it didn’t happen was because of Delacruz. Doesn’t that concern you at least a little?”

  “Shane was the commander on the spot. I’m satisfied he made the right decision. Besides, he has the right for revenge on this at his own convenience. You know that.”

  Baby Doll watched the exchange with her usual interest. As with all good intelligence officers, Baby Doll had an obsessive need to know not only what was happening, but also why it was happening. The relationship between these two captains had always fascinated her. They had known each other forever. Nobody knew why they put up with each other but many speculated. This much was known: they were a team; had been for years and always would be, and if anybody went after one of them, that person would be well advised to get them both.

  The conversation followed its usual course. Not many people could talk to Hawkins in the tone O’Hare routinely adopted. In fact, mused Baby Doll, she couldn’t think of a single person who could get away with that on a regular basis. And not many people could issue O’Hare orders that she would actually carry out. Again, thought Baby Doll, she couldn’t come up with a single name. Each let the other enjoy privileges not extended to another person in the universe. There was more to this relationship than anyone knew, and Baby Doll loved the fact she was one of the few who did know. She continued to watch and listen with interest.

  O’Hare spoke loudly, “We had the chance to kill Goths and passed it up.”

  “Simple fact is, the Goths can replace lost ships and dead people. We can’t kill them all.”

  “Maybe YOU can’t kill them all. Don’t include me in that ‘we’ comment.”

  “You can’t kill them all. If nothing else, ammunition would be a limiting factor.”

  O’Hare sighed, “Always the practical one, that’s why you’re in command.”

  “And don’t you forget it,” Rafe smiled at her.

  “Like you would let me.”

  Rafe leaned close to the screen, “We got much bigger events here and nobody needs the grief on this. I need you for the upcoming fights here in the Badlands and for the mission I envision six months from now. I need Shane too. So let it go.”

  “Is that an order?”

  “Sure is.”

  O’Hare gave an exaggerated salute with her right hand, “Of course, mon capitan.”

  “You’re a pain in the ass.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, genuinely pleased with the remark, and the screen went abruptly blank.

  “She IS a pain in the ass,” agreed Baby Doll from her seat.

  “Yea, but she’s smart, brings in money, and has the loyalty of her squadron.”

  “Your loyalty also.”

  “That too,” agreed Hawkins.

  Chapter 36

  Light Admiral Erich Dietrich stood at one of the viewing ports on his flag bridge and scanned the large convoy moving in space around his ship as they departed Rosstrappe. The ships had moved out in good order and were now sliding smoothly into position. The unarmed freighters moved toward the center of the convoy as their warship escorts took up posts on the outer edges. Dietrich smiled grimly to himself. There were more escorts than supply vessels. That was hardly an accident. During a long talk with Admiral Beck, he had been informed of the tactical situation from the fight at Potenka to the present. He had read summaries of the data streams from all the ships in Admiral Kaufmann’s squadron. His true mission was to seek out and destroy the pirate force assisting the Zekes. If a few Zeke ships went up in flames also, well, so much the better. At least that was the point of view of Admiral Beck. Dietrich was not so sure. Destruction of a small Zeke squadron was not worth the potential diplomatic crisis that would arise between the Goldenes Tor and the Aurora Empire. Allowing the OrCons to transit Goldenes Tor space into the Badlands was provocative enough, and this new mission could add to the potential problem. The fallout from this entire episode could have negative repercussions for years to come. Dietrich shook his head. All this for a few inconsequential Zeke ships and some damn pirates.

  Dietrich had served several tours in the Badlands, and he had seen many situations such as this. A plan starts out with a small number of ships sent on a mission with limited goals and somehow, someway, it grows into an out-of-control affair demanding many more assets for a longer duration with much higher stakes. Yes, the Badlands was like that. It was easy to find yourself up to armpits in quicksand, and you’re not even sure how you got in the swamp. The admiral was under no illusion that the upcoming mission would be simple and straightforward. It just didn’t work that way in this region of space. He would do what he could.

  He now scanned around his bridge and his eyes settled on Captain Bergman. Dietrich shook his head again. He was not happy. Admiral Beck had been honest about the captain’s presence, and Dietrich appreciated the candor. But he still did not like a headquarters spy on his bridge, especially a man who had never served in the Badlands before and had no real knowledge of the natives or the general ebb and flow of life out here. Dietrich mentally shrugged. Oh, well. Got to learn sometime, and now was as good a time as any. He had seen headquarters meddling before and would undoubtedly see it again. Dietrich was nothing if not a pragmatist.

  All ships were in position now and the convoy moved toward the Badlands at the maximum speed of the freighters. Admiral Dietrich moved to his command chair and settled in.

  A freighter moving slowly toward the civilian side of the Rosstrappe spaceport saw the convoy depart from the navy side. The freighter’s captain counted the departing vessels, noted their types, and then moved to his cabin. He did not know if the information would be important, but he knew Raferty Hawkins regularly gave him cargo to move, and always paid on time with a little extra thrown in. He owed the pirate many favors. A coded message on a discrete frequency flashed from the freighter out into space.

  Chapter 37

  The pirates and Zekes drove on for several hours until a large formation of huge rocks appeared ahead of them. At first glance it appeared to be an asteroid
belt but first glances can be deceiving. This was a huge belt of floating debris but it was not natural, it was entirely manmade. At its center was the planet Chaparral. Or rather, what was left of the planet Chaparral. At one time, many decades ago, it had been a large planet with three moons and several large rocks in orbit around it. The planet, the moons, and the rocks were rich in a several minerals and precious gems not found in such large quantities elsewhere. For this reason, the planet and its orbiting bodies were mined for years. When conventional mining had accomplished all that was possible, the planet and moons were systematically sliced into pieces and further mined. The slicing continued and produced smaller and smaller pieces until there remained a large debris belt orbiting a husk of a planet. The field resembled a large spinning ball of asteroids vice the usual elongated shape of normal asteroid belts. But it was thick enough and big enough to provide thousands of hiding places and nobody would follow any pirate vessel into it without having overwhelming strength. The large size of the field and its thousands of rocks of varying sizes hid the mining structure in the middle from visual and sensor detection.

  The ships reduced speed to a crawl, entered the large asteroid field, and proceeded to dodge through the thick ball of floating rocks. The ships maintained a loose formation as they slid past huge chunks of rock and ice. Communication was done in short-range radio bursts.

  “Time to the Fort,” asked Rafe from his command seat.

  “Thirty minutes,” replied Eli from the helm.

  Rafe spun the command chair to look at the ops station. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

  Tactical heard the chair pivot and talked without looking up from her station, “We have clearance in. All codes sent and acknowledged correctly. All the Fort’s sensors are clear of any activity. Their logs reveal nothing unusual over the last seven days. I see no problems but recommend battle stations going in. You never know.”

  “Concur, do it.”

  The general quarters alert sounded throughout the ship. People hurriedly moved to their stations as the other ships followed suit. The Fort represented safe haven for the pirates, but it could have been discovered and occupied since the last visit.

  “All ships report ready,” Tactical stated.

  “Very well,” the Captain acknowledged. “Tell the Zekes to maintain a straight in approach as we do our thing.”

  “Roger.”

  All ships slowed on command. The Zekes maintained their single column as the pirates spread out and maneuvered through the rocks. They approached the Fort’s position from several directions at once. All clear was reported from all pirate ships as they searched their assigned sectors for hidden attackers or enemy sensors.

  The Fort suddenly loomed ahead out of the darkness. As the ships approached, its lights brightened to mark the structure’s outline and highlight the landing locks. The floating structure was an old mining storage facility. The ore mined from the pulverized planet of Chaparral, its moons and the surrounding asteroids, was dumped and stored here. When a huge load was built up, large ore carriers would load up and transport the ore to smelting plants. The structure consisted of a large horizontal X with a huge vertical cylinder at each end of the X. Each of the four cylinders was joined to the X at a different point along its tube so the resulting offset allowed for docking ports on the cylinders to deconflict with each other so several ships and ore barges could dock at once. Each cylinder had three docking stations at the top of the structure for ore barges to dock and dump their ore into the cylinder. At the bottom of each structure were two docking ports, one on each side of the cylinder for the larger space-going ore transports. The ore was dumped on the transports at these lower points and taken to planets with smelting and processing factories. In addition to these twenty docking stations, two more docking points were on the X itself. The X structure was a giant square tube housing the admin offices, a recreation room, a medical station, and berthing areas.

  This structure had been in use as a mining facility for decades but the combination of Chaparral’s richest veins of ore being depleted, and the cost of cutting up the remaining rocks while operating in a space environment had made the operation less profitable. As the ore veins died out the cost exceeded the profit, and the mining corporation abandoned the station. It sat deserted for years. The pirate vessel Gunfighter under Ross Landry had found it and informed Raferty Hawkins of its potential. Rafe had inspected it and decided to buy it through a dummy corporation. This removed the facility from the mining corporation’s book of assets. Rafe did not refile the facility as a new asset for his dummy company so it soon disappeared from databases. The Fort was a perfect pirate base, hidden from view by the manmade debris field and no longer on any active records.

  Because it was a perfect base, Hawkins had hesitated to bring the Zekes here. He had only agreed because he could not think of another place that had the central location to gather all his scattered ships together in a reasonable time, had the facilities for face to face briefings, and allow for transferring supplies in the short time available. He would talk to Captain Mallory about deleting the location from her ship’s databases. That was a big favor to ask but he thought it could happen.

  “How about Captain Delacruz?”

  “He and his ships are thirty minutes out. Vampire is carrying survivors of the house attack.”

  “Is the Fort up?” asked Rafe.

  “Affirm.”

  There was a four-person caretaker team at the Fort: Bill, his wife and son, and his son’s girlfriend. Bill was an old miner injured in a mine accident ten standard years earlier. He and his family then moved from job to job at subsistence level. His son Billy had become a young crewmember on Gunfighter. When the pirates acquired this facility, Billy had suggested his miner father and mother could be caretakers there. Bill and his wife Millie had been at the Fort for four years. In addition to maintaining the structure, they had continually improved it. The one weakness in the arrangement was they didn’t understand the defense or sensor systems. After Billy was wounded in a raid, he retired to the Fort to maintain and monitor the defense and warning sensors. Billy soon brought his girlfriend to live there, and the four of them had proved to be invaluable in maintaining and improving the Fort. The Fort could not be protected from a determined assault, so had many sensor arrays but only a few defensive measures. These few measures consisted of five missiles and several magnetic mines hidden in played-out mine shafts on drifting debris, to be used against approaching vessels to slow them, and allow for the Fort’s evacuation. A small ore barge was kept at the Fort to give a quick departure for Bill and his family. With the barge, they could hide in thousands of places in the debris field and simply wait out the attackers.

  All ships moved to their assigned docking points and locked in. Elevators within the cylinders moved people to the X level to enter the admin areas. Dragon took an admin dock on the X tube to unload supplies and water to the four caretakers. The supply ship would also distribute materials received from the Zekes. Predator took the other admin docking point on the X.

  Key pirate leaders disembarked. Communicators gathered at Predator to receive codes and procedures to support future operations. Logistics people headed for Dragon to divide the Gammatiga supplies. Maintenance personnel gathered in the storage areas to draw parts and tools. Simple repairs and upgrades would be done in the short time allowed.

  Hawkins, Tactical, and Baby Doll met Bill and his family upon leaving their docking cylinder and emerging into the X. Hands were shaken all around.

  “How are things?” Hawkins asked.

  “Good as always,” Bill cheerfully replied. “No problems. Work is easy. Entertainment systems still holding our attention. Get to eat anytime we want and still plenty of supplies. I understand Riki is unloading more for us. We can last for years.”

  The other three family members echoed the same sentiments. Everyone was happy with the current arrangement.

  Rafe smiled. He expect
ed nothing less. This was a vacation for these people compared with their previous labors. Also, Rafe picked people for independent operations with an eye to those who could not only do the work, but also handle the working conditions for the particular job they were being considered for. This applied to his spies, bankers, business managers, and facilities upkeep. People had to be able to do the work without supervision, keep their mouths shut, and handle the work conditions, not only for the short term but also for the long haul. Rafe didn’t like turnover in these key independent billets. He wanted experienced people who could last awhile. He was very, very particular in that regard. The Fort caretakers did not disappoint him.

  “Tactical want to go over the sensor records?” asked Bill.

  “Anything to report?” Hawkins asked in response.

  “No ship has been around the debris field since your last visit. No visitors except for Flicker. She was here for several days on two occasions.”

  Rafe nodded. When he had bought the Fort, he had ensured the mining company’s field reports declaring Chaparral was cleaned out of all valuable raw resources was readily available in all data searches. The last thing he wanted was small time, independent miners nosing around the debris field looking for scraps. So far, it has worked as few ships ever came near the debris field. Flicker used this facility as its main base in this sector when between missions. This kept her out of ports and away from prying eyes. Hawkins had no problem with Flicker staying here as long as needed. The sensor logs for the passive sensors were also reviewed to see if any Flot 1 ships were visiting too often. The Fort was a squadron level support facility. Regular visits were to be done on a flotilla or squadron level. This would limit the visits to the Fort since the squadrons and the flotilla rarely got together. Rafe didn’t mind single Flot 1 ships putting in here if circumstances required but it shouldn’t become a habit. If a single ship was followed here and the Fort’s location was revealed and subsequently lost, Raferty Hawkins would be very unhappy. Losing this facility because somebody got careless would be a major blow to the Flotilla. Limiting visits might be inconvenient to individual ships at times but it enhanced operational security. Also, only key personnel on each ship had the coordinates for the Fort, and all ship logs were scrubbed after each visit to ensure no trace of the Fort was on file.