“Will we be able to make a practice shot first?” Hammond asked.
“Negative, I want this as a surprise.” Stone said. “I’m going to let them get closer, before I make my move.”
“Tell me when.” Hammond said.
The main screen glowed red again.
“Sir, they’re firing again.” The pilot said.
“What is their position?” Stone asked.
“Five degrees off our port, plus two off the ecliptic plane, just over twenty thousand miles.”
“Tell me when they’re eighteen thousand miles.” Stone said.
The main screen glowed red again. The pilot threw a worried glance at the Captain, then bent to her console.
Stone keyed his comms and relayed the information to the Lieutenant.
“Change the thrust settings.” Stone said. “On my command, I want a two second burst on the bow thrusters and the upper deck thrusters only, then full main engines. That will allow the main gun to see the target.”
The pilot changed the settings on her console.
The main screen glowed red again. This time it wasn’t the whole screen, just part of it.
“The laser is not so diffused.” Stone said. “Distance?”
“Nineteen thousand miles.”
Stone keyed his comms again.
“All hands, all hands. Secure all doors and hatches, we are about to engage the pirates.” Stone said.
He walked over to the door and called the Peace Officer standing guard into the bridge before securing the bridge door.
He keyed the comms again.
“Engineering.”
“Rawlins, I will need everything you have on the main engines.” Stone said.
“Yes sir, when you’re ready.”
Part of the main screen glowed red again.
“Eighteen thousand miles.”
“Full thrust and full main engines.” Stone said.
The ship lurched sideways then surged forward. Stone braced himself.
“Lieutenant, fire when ready.” He said into his comms.
A spark of white light erupted from the main gun overhead as the first missile left the ship. The spark became a streak as the secondary engines kicked in and the missile leapt forward towards the distant pirates. A second missile, then a third missile followed closely behind.
Stone watched as the missiles tracked towards the target. The pirates however had their missile defence system ready and all three missiles were detonated close to the target.
Stone keyed his comms.
“Hold fire lieutenant, we need to get closer.”
“Two second burst on the starboard thrusters, let’s point towards the pirates.” Stone said.
The pilot quickly keyed into his console and the stars swung across the main screen again.
“Distance?”
A small circle of red appeared on the main screen.
“Too close.” The pilot said. She looked at her console readouts. “Twelve thousand miles.”
“Tell me when we’re at ten thousand.” Stone said.
A red light appeared on the pilot’s console.
“Sir, the main engines are running hot.” The pilot said.
“Keep full power to the engines.” Stone said. “What’s the distance?”
“Eleven thousand miles.”
A smaller red dot appeared on the main screen. Stone keyed his comms.
“Lieutenant, fire at will.”
Almost immediately a spark spat from the main gun. It hovered for a moment before the secondary engines kicked in, then streaked ahead.
“Main engines all stop.” Stone said. “We can drift in from here.”
The pilot punched the button on the console.
“The engines are still marked as too hot.” The pilot said.
A second missile was launched. Stone could see that the pirate ship was targeting the first missile with its lasers. He punched the comms.
“Engineering.”
“Rawlins, the main engine is running hot.”
“I’m monitoring the engines Captain.” Rawlins said. “I want to shut her down and flood her with coolant. It would only be for ten or fifteen minutes.”
“No, we are still dealing with the pirates. How long until the jump drive is ready?”
“I’m having problems with that Captain. The jump engines are not designed to be pulled out of hyperspace so abruptly. The computers needed a full reboot. I may need a few minutes more.”
“Keep me informed.”
Stone cut the connection abruptly. The first missile had been destroyed by the pirates and they were now targeting the second. For some reason a third missile had not been launched. Stone keyed the comms again.
“Lieutenant, what is going on up there?” Stone asked.
For a long moment there was no response then an unfamiliar voice came over the comms.
“Sir, this is Lea. The Lieutenant is busy at the moment. He is reprogramming the missiles so we should be ready to shoot the next missile very soon.”
“Tell him to reprogram it fast.” Stone said. He cut the connection.
The second missile was still targetted by the pirates. The toughened nose cone of the missile was specially designed to withstand being hit by laser weapons.
“If the missile is destroyed, the pirates will immediately begin to target us.” Stone said. “Up until now we have been out of range of their lasers so they have only hit us a couple of times as practice targets. Now that we are in range and drifting closer, I want you to set up the side thrusters to fire on full power. We will let the main engines rest as long as we can.”
“Aye sir.” The pilot said.
Stone watched the pilot make the necessary changes to the engine commands. Again she set it so that the push of only one button would be sufficient to jolt the spaceship to one side.
A flash of light in the distance confirmed that the second missile had been destroyed. The pirates must have difficulties in hitting the missile as it exploded very close to their spaceship. For a moment Stone hoped that the blast from the missile had been enough to damage the pirate ship but then a pinpoint red dot appeared on the main screen and started to burn through.
“Thrusters.” Stone shouted.
The ship responded to the sudden sideways thrust and jolted to the side. The pilot looked at captain.
“Don’t look at me.” Stone shouted. “Look at the screen.”
A second dot appeared and again the ship jolted to the side. Stone keyed the comms.
“Lieutenant. We need that missile.”
“A few more seconds.”
It was Lea who had answered the comms again. Her voice calm to the shouting captain. Stone disconnected as the spaceship jolted to the side again, the pirates were targeting them more rapidly.
“This time, full engines please.” Stone said. “Aim directly for the pirate ship.”
The pilot’s fingers danced across the controls for a moment. The sudden thrust took Stone by surprise and he was pressed back in his seat. A klaxon alarm started and red lights appeared on both consoles.
“Engine overheated.” The pilot said. “I need to shut it down.”
“Wait for just one second more.” Stone said.
“But sir.”
“One second.”
The pirate ship grew rapidly in the main screen. Tiny red pin pricks danced across the main screen scoring the armoured glass. The pirate ship was repeatedly hitting the bridge with its lasers. A tiny white spark appeared at the top of the main screen and, for a moment, Stone thought that the lasers had finally broken through the glass. Then he realised that it was a missile.
The laser attacks stopped when the secondary stage of the missile started and the pirates started to target the missile instead.
“All stop.” Stone said.
The pilot cut the engines. The momentum continued to carry them closer. The red lights continued to flash on the console however.
Stone key
ed his comms.
“Engineering.”
“What’s the state of the engines?” Stone asked.
“We have some problems.” Rawlins answered. Stone could hear keys clicking as he keyed a query on the computer. “We have lost primary cooling systems, I had to flush them into the engine housing to stop the engines from burning out. The secondary coolant is online but I want to use that to stabilise the engines. I will need to take the engines offline to do that. I do not know what sort of damage we have done to the engines until I strip it and look.”
“Let me get back to you.” Stone said.
The missile was still running. Stone noticed something new. The secondary engines had stopped early and the missile had continued to drift for several seconds. Then the engines kicked in again. The lasers were having trouble locking on a second time.
He keyed the comms again.
“Lieutenant?”
“Yes Captain.” Hammond said.
“Do you have a second missile ready?”
“Programmed and ready.”
“Wait for my order before firing.” Stone said then disconnected.
The missile continued to run. At a distance of less than a mile from the pirate ship it detonated in a large flash. The pirate ship started to slowly spin from the shock wave.
Stone studied the main screen.
The pirate ship continued to spin out of control. The missile had exploded close enough to the pirate ship to damage it. He had won.
Stone keyed his comms and told the lieutenant to stand down. A second call to engineering took the damaged main engines offline.
As long as there were no additional pirates hiding out there, they were safe for the moment.
Chapter Thirteen
The pinnace detached from the spaceship and floated for a moment in space.
The lieutenant dreaded boarding actions on ships but he had never attempted a boarding action on a spaceship. The pinnace was large enough for him and ten of his Peace Officers as well as the engineer and one of his assistants, and of course the pilot. The engineer had spent several hours stripping the main engine and reported that they needed some additional parts. This expedition to the pirate ship was intended to strip what was left of their engines and try and jury rig a fix.
“Permission to proceed.” The pilot said.
On receiving an affirmative she slowly increased power and eased the pinnace towards the distant pirate ship. The lieutenant had watched the spaceship, his finger on the trigger, waiting to see if there was any attempt to attack. The pirate ship had floated silent and unresponsive to any hails on the comms.
“Perhaps they’re all dead already.” Lea said.
“I hope not.” Stan said. “I’m hoping they’ll try something.”
There was a round of agreement at this. The engineer looked up from his notes and shook his head. His assistant stared wide eyed.
“Don’t worry.” The sergeant said. “They always goof off like this when they’re tense. They’re just pussycats really.”
James Rivan looked back at his own notes. He had been given the choice between coming across and helping Rawlins or letting Tyler Hart come across. One look at the pale face of Hart and Rivan had volunteered. He was now beginning to regret it.
“Lieutenant, do we take any prisoners?” Lea asked.
“I’ll confirm with the Captain.” Hammond replied.
He keyed his comms and, after a moment, the welcome voice of the Captain replied.
“Captain, what do we do about prisoners?” Hammond asked. “Your ship is too small to hold many prisoners, and we don’t have any restraints.”
“You’re several million miles outside of your jurisdiction.” Stone replied. “Any prisoners, disarm them and lock them in a stateroom. We can notify the authorities of their position on arrival at the planet Jewel.”
The lieutenant relayed this information to the members of their team.
The pilot called back to confirm that they were approaching the stern of the pirate ship. Hammond studied it as they approached. It was larger than their ship, built originally as a cargo vessel. He could see an external pod connected to the ship as a separate module. As ships got larger and larger it was more logical to build the ship itself as a tractor, dragging the modular trailers as external pods. On arrival at a star system the captain simply detached the pod, letting it float closer to the planet until it was captured by an attending tugboat which dragged it to the correct orbit.
“Two minutes.” The pilot called.
She boosted the thrusters slightly to match the spin of the pirate ship. The starboard side of the ship had gaping holes but the port side was undamaged. The pilot was aiming for the hatch on the port side. Along the side of the ship the lieutenant could see the name of the ship had been partly scraped away. ‘The Bridge of Sor’ was the only part that he could read. He made a note of it.
“Remember, our first step is to secure the ship.” The lieutenant said. “Partner up. If we meet any resistance, do not advance but call for reinforcements. Understood?”
There was a brief mumble of agreement.
“The Lieutenant will take half the squad to secure the bridge.” The sergeant said. “The rest of us will follow me and secure the remainder of the ship. Our objective is the engine room. Remember to test each compartment for atmosphere before you enter. The indicators on each door hatch should warn you. Be careful everyone.”
The lieutenant tapped on the engineer’s notepad to attract his attention.
“Once my men disembark, the pilot will withdraw with you and Rivan to a distance of one mile.” The lieutenant said. “Once we have secured the ship, she will return and you can play with the engines to your heart’s content.”
“Thank you Lieutenant.” Rawlins said. “I had listened to the captain’s instructions as well.”
Hammond flushed then ducked his head.
There was an external scraping sound then a large clunk on the outside of the hull.
“Sorry.” The pilot said distractedly. She pointed to a handle next to the outer hatch and asked one of the men to raise it.
“We have a solid seal ladies and gentlemen.” The pilot said. “There is air pressure on the other side so you are free to disembark when you are ready.”
The lieutenant stepped forward but the sergeant raised his arm.
“Lea and Stan, take the lead.” The sergeant said.
Lea and Stan stepped forward. Stan had his new Birkeland gauss rifle ready. He had never used it in a firefight before and was eager to try it out. Gauss rifles were specifically developed for space as they did not shoot using the standard ‘blasting cap’ style bullets instead they accelerated the bullet up to subsonic speeds by use of magnets. Scientists were still trying to create gauss pistols but that was a distant dream.
The hatch slowly opened and they could see the outer hatch of the pirate ship across a short walkway. Stan stepped forward. The pilot had pumped air into this short corridor so they could cross but the outer surface of the two hulls had been exposed to the freezing cold of space.
He didn’t wear a vacc suit. In fact, none of them had a suit which was suitable for the rigours of space. It was one more thing that they had forgotten to provision. They had left in too much of a hurry.
Lea nudged him from behind to move forward. Stan turned on his light and inched across the short corridor. If the two ships should somehow separate he would be blown out to the darkness of space to die alone.
He paused at the pirate ship’s outer hatch and studied the screen on the hatch. According to the screen there was atmosphere beyond the hatch. He placed his hand on the wheel to unlock it. Lea stopped him. ‘Idiot’ she said in a whisper as she keyed a test on the screen. The computer ran a quick test which reconfirmed the two atmospheres were equal.
“Now you can open it.” Lea said.
Stan glanced behind him to confirm that the hatch to their pinnace was already closed. If there was any danger on
ly Lea and him would be hurt. He opened the hatch. An inner hatch lay beyond, but that was already open.
“Sergeant, the way appears to be clear.” Lea said.
Stan stepped forward. His gauss rifle had a larger barrel. Lea would be able to shoot over his shoulder but he could not shoot over hers.
Piece of Nicias: A Sci-Fi Novel Page 8
