Silent Running (The Hope Island Chronicles Book 3)

by PJ Strebor

  “You get that,” Nathan said.

  ***

  “Buffers are firming up, Captain,” Grace reported. “Three hours till they’re fully charged.”

  “Very well.”

  “Captain, grab a couple of hours sack time, like everyone else,” Grace said.

  “I’m fine.”

  “No Captain, you’re not,” Grace said. “It’s pretty obvious to me that you haven’t been sleeping well. We need you sharp if we’re going to get through the shoals. I’ll keep an eye on things. So, sir, respectfully, git.”

  Nathan snorted. “Aye, aye, ma’am.”

  She was right of course. His fatigue had seeped through to his bones. The burden of command required more of him than he could have imagined. Nathan fell onto his rack and fell asleep immediately. Sometime later the alert alarm woke him. Wiping his eyes he stepped onto the bridge and dropped into his chair.

  He stared at Grace until she looked from her readouts. “Hyper egression points. Five of them, dead ahead, right on top of the shoals. On passive I’m getting fuzzy readings. It’s almost as if –”

  “They’re stealth capable?”

  She nodded.

  Moe stepped through the hatch and hovered between the two of them. Grace explained the situation to her. She gritted her teeth.

  “How?” Moe asked.

  “It’s the how that’s worrying me,” Nathan said.

  ***

  “Full active scans, Captain,” Reinhardt ordered.

  “Aye, sir,” Kramer replied crisply. “Tactical, full active scan.”

  Reinhardt rested the special detector on his console and engaged it. No readings. Probably too far away. If the Athenians knew he’d bugged their boat they would shit themselves.

  “Sir, I’m getting nothing on scans.”

  “Very well,” Kramer said. “XO, signal to E 799 and E 801 to commence search pattern baker. The rest of the squadron will guard the entry to the shoals. Helm ahead one-third.” He swung around in his chair. “Sir, how close will we have to get before your, ah, device picks up a signal?”

  “Pretty close. This bug was a last minute thought on my part. I didn’t have time for anything fancy.”

  “Still sir, it gave us a rough location before it cut out. And from hyper as well. It must be very advanced tech.”

  “Yes.” The Pruessen navy had, for many years, gained technical assistance from an anonymous source. Reinhardt didn’t care who they were. If it helped place Hans within his grasp, he’d deal with Satan himself.

  ***

  Grace was as good a D-O as Nathan had served with. After nearly two weeks working side by side she had learned to read his moods. From the stolen glances she shot his way she knew of his concerns. At least he didn’t have to worry about Deception. She’d been sent out of harm’s way. Her stealth capability made Adroit look like a pulsing beacon. Nathan keyed his L-M.

  “Senior engineer - Captain.” A slight pause while Tollini responded. “How are the buffers looking.”

  “They’re getting there, Captain. Another hour and a half and we’ll be topped up.”

  “Is there any safe way of fully charging them to maximum in the next ten to fifteen minutes?”

  “Safely, sir? No.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I figured. Captain out.” He rubbed at his bump again.

  “Adroit’s a twenty-year-old boat, Captain,” Grace said. “She would have been put out to pasture years ago if the polys hadn’t cut our budget. Again. She doesn’t have the refinements of a newer model.”

  He nodded and checked his plot. “If they keep coming at the same rate we’ll fall under their sensor envelope in fifteen to twenty minutes.” His voice was a whisper. “Alert one, but keep the shields down.”

  He began slowing his breathing, slipping into a meditative state. He concentrated on the star map of the surrounding region, his forehead creasing. He sharpened his focus. Something there, something benign. A safe harbor perhaps? Maintaining his focus he walked from the briefing room to the helm.

  “We can’t just sit here,” Moe whispered.

  “Slowly, bring us about on a heading of 324. Tactical, we are moving the boat. Watch the enemy for any change.” While Rudi acknowledged Nathan braced himself.

  Using subtle tweaks from her starboard mag plating Moe brought Adroit onto the new heading. They waited. No change from the enemy.

  “If they spot us don’t wait for an order. Understood?”

  Moe nodded as her hand hovered over the thrust controls. “Both stealth engines active, Captain.”

  Nathan took a deep breath, exhaling it noisily.

  “Both ahead, dead slow.”

  “Answering both ahead dead slow.”

  Nathan sensed the tension mounting throughout the boat. Three against one were lousy odds. Five would be fatal.

  “Tactical, any change?”

  “Negative, Captain. They’re still approaching at one-third speed.”

  “Helm, ahead one-third.”

  The seconds ticked by as the boat gained speed. Nathan’s back flared.

  “They’ve spotted us Captain,” tactical yelled. “All three boats have increased speed and changed their headings to intercept us.”

  Nathan held onto the back of Moe’s chair as power poured into Adroit’s engines.

  “Port five,” he whispered.

  As Moe made the course adjustment she asked, “Anything you want to share?”

  “Don’t know yet.”

  “They’re closing with us, Captain,” Willet said. He kept his nerve pretty well for a grommit.

  “Rudi, full active scan of those boats,” Nathan ordered.

  “Senior engineer - helm,” Moe said.

  Over his command channel he heard Amos reply. “Tollini.”

  “Amos I need more power to the engines. Take the reactor twenty percent over the red line.”

  “No ma’am.”

  Nathan sighed as the bargaining began.

  “I’ll give you ten,” Tollini said.

  “Fifteen.”

  “Done.”

  Moe winked at Nathan.

  “Captain, I have a report,” Willet said.

  “Go.”

  “Sir we have three E boats pursuing us. Two are Jackal class attack boats the third is undesignated. She’s an escort boat sir. Fighters.”

  “A brand new boat by the look of it,” Moe said. “With top of the line tactical upgrades. No wonder she spotted us.”

  “Good report, Rudi. Now scan the region of space directly ahead of us. Let me know of anything out of the ordinary.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Marine one - Captain.”

  “Noffke.”

  “Report.”

  “We’ve got the L50’s fitted Captain, but this Pruessen tech is proving to be tricky.”

  “We might need them so make it work, marine. Captain, out.”

  “Captain, enemy boats are continuing to close with us,” Willet said. “Estimate eleven minutes till we fall within their torpedo envelope.”

  “Very well.”

  “I should be in the combat sphere, don’t you think?” Moe said.

  “Go.”

  Nathan took over helm and with only one working hand made subtle adjustments to their heading. What the hell’s out there? He sensed the first spatial distortion and raised the port dorsal. The boat shuddered.

  “SMC – Captain.”

  “SMC.”

  “Give me a secure channel with Lieutenant Okuma.”

  “Confirmed. Channel open.”

  “Moe?”

  “That felt like an eddy.”

  “Class two, I’d guess.” A sudden flair of pain in his back. “Port fifteen.”

  Nathan lurched over as Moe swung the boat away from danger. He struggled to strap in.

  Bringing up the stern feeds he saw the enemy boats entering the area of spatial disturbance. The lead boat, the escort boat, maneuvered around the eddies with apparent ease
. The E boat’s helm must be very good. The other boats did the same until the attack boat to starboard hit something. She fell behind as the other two continued to close. The light carrier did a full axial rotation. “Damn good flying,” Nathan conceded. Looking through the view hood he switched to bow optical. “Something’s not right,” he whispered.

  “Like what?” Moe asked.

  “Zero minus thirty degrees.” Adroit’s nose dropped.

  The disturbance must be massive. He felt nothing but danger from dead ahead.

  “And another thirty.”

  The throbbing on his spine eased. They continued on for two minutes before passing the eddy. “Zero plus sixty.” Maybe, just maybe.

  “Damn, that was huge,” Moe said. “I didn’t sense a thing.”

  He felt no danger from ahead. Eddies were undetectable to the naked eye and only the most aggressive ones showed up on scans. The smaller eddies presented the greatest problem due to their covert nature.

  “Tactical, did you pick up anything.”

  “No sir.”

  Better and better.

  The Pruessen pilots were good, but that was an eddy unlike anything Nathan had encountered. Tied into the stern feeds he saw the light carrier plow into the invisible eddy. The attack boat followed. He waited on Willet.

  “Captain, both enemy boats have been damaged. I can’t get exact readings through the interference but it doesn’t look good. For them, sir.”

  “Very well.”

  Nathan pointed the boat due north. He would change course a few times before rendezvousing with Deception. Activating the hyper generator, the attack boat disappeared from the universe.

  CHAPTER 29

  Date: 8th August, 326 ASC

  Position: Pruessen Empire. Imperial Pruessen Navy base Virtus.

  Status: Training.

  The slave withered to little more than a husk by the time Orson finished feeding on his life-force. First feedings, as Oscar Draeger remembered, were a profoundly cherished experience. The feeling of bliss and absolute power almost overwhelming. And there were plenty of slaves for Orson to practice on.

  “How do you feel?” Oscar asked.

  Orson’s face took on a euphoric expression. “I feel like a God.”

  Commodore Oscar Draeger chuckled. Yes, associates and advocates of the Family were like Gods.

  “Good. Now return the energy to the slave.”

  Orson hesitated. “He’s dead, sir.”

  “This is an exercise, Orson. I have told you that before. Get on with it.”

  Draeger could sense his resentment but he complied nonetheless. It would leave him drained but that also was part of the lesson.

  Orson’s solution to the Talgarno issue, four years ago, was as fine a piece of strategic deception as he had ever seen. Tens of thousands of Pruessen servicemen owed him their lives. Then at the last minute the advocate assigned to the Cimmerian mission had been stupid enough to get himself killed. An air car accident of all things. Orson was the only operative close enough to take his place and activate their asset, the Bretish Captain. With minimal instruction he accomplished that mission also.

  Then, everything on Cimmeria went to hell. One young naval officer had destroyed the ninth fleet and prevented the planet’s destruction. A rookie on his first deployment. Oscar knew of this troublemaker well before the incident. He had tried to acquire him when he was a boy living on Kastoria. That mission had also gone badly and cost the life of a very promising advocate.

  Returning from Talgarno, filled with rightful pride at his outstanding accomplishments, Orson had been treated poorly by the Family. It shamed Oscar to think of living Gods in that manner but their refusal to recognize this man’s extraordinary talents baffled him. For the first time in his life he defied them. Defied? No he would never do that. Exactly. He’d assigned Orson to lesser tasks and couldn’t promote him from associate to advocate. But he could train him for the day when the family would finally acknowledge his potential and reward him appropriately. Naturally, he kept the arrangement hidden from the Family. Over the past four years Orson had shown a brilliant adaptability to learning what it meant to be a white-level Advocate. He had a raw talent that could see him achieving greatness.

  Orson groaned as he returned the last of the slave’s life force to the emaciated carcass.

  Draeger steadied him as he threatened to keel over and guided him to a nearby couch. He gave him time to recover then handed a mug of strong coffee to aid in his recovery.

  Draeger could sense the anger rising within the young man. After years of training Orson still struggled to control it. Always questioning, always thinking his way was the best way. The only way. Perhaps that’s what makes him exceptional? Perhaps, but it still stood as an obstacle to his elevation to Advocacy level.

  “How do you feel now?”

  His face hardened. “Sir, I feel like shit.”

  Oscar sighed. “Moreover you don’t see the point of the exercise, do you?”

  For once he had the good sense to say nothing.

  “Do you think I’ve put you through this and many other trials for no good reason?”

  His face took on a genuinely shocked expression. “No sir, of course not.” He licked his lips. “To be instructed by the greatest of all black level Advocates is an honor. I have learned so much from you. I don’t have the right words to express my respect for you or my gratitude for everything you’ve done for me.”

  Oscar nodded. Orson had done well in his limited studies, worked hard, obeyed instructions, even when he resented it or didn’t understand the point of the lesson. His stubbornness however had not abated in the least. And his anger still simmered just under the surface.

  “I want you to try the mind exercise.” He keyed his comm. “Jannel, step into my office would you?” Oscar didn’t wait for a reply that was clearly redundant.

  The hatch slid open and his assistant snapped to attention before him. Females in the male dominated workforce were frowned upon. Draeger had made an exception for this gifted young woman. She’d worked out well enough.

  He sensed her fearful anticipation. Orson had been none too gentle with her last time.

  “No rough stuff this time, Lieutenant Commander Saxon,” he said to Orson.

  “Aye, aye, sir.” Orson ran his eyes over her firm young body. “Jannel, please come here.” She complied. No choice. Her apprehension grew. “Take my hand.”

  Draeger sensed her every emotion.

  She hesitated for a moment before presenting her hand to him. Gently this time, he began to slowly insinuate himself into her mind. Her shoulders slumped with relief.

  “What are you sensing, Commander?” Draeger asked.

  “Fear, sir. But I sent her an image to relax her. She’s feeling quite wonderful now. Aren’t you, Jannel?”

  “Yes.” Her tone was dreamily calm.

  Jannel’s body trembled and she gasped. Draeger shook his head. Young people. There would be bed play between them tonight, nothing surer. Orson liked women and women always liked the bad boys. The ones who reeked of unpredictability with the lingering hint of menace. They came no more dangerous than Orson. He released her hand. She smiled at him, a knowing smile, a sexually-charged smile.

  “Thank you, Jannel, that will be all,” Draeger said.

  When the hatch shut he turned to Orson. “What did you get from her?”

  He smirked. “She wants me so bad she’s ready to burst.”

  Draeger rubbed his forehead.

  “Also, she’s fanatically loyal to you, sir,” he added with haste. “An intelligent young woman with a strong heart.” He snorted. “I thought they’d stopped making them that way after the war.”

  “Yes, the reformation has come at a price.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “That’s enough for today. Practice those techniques I taught you yesterday, get some rest and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.”

  Orson snapped to attention. “Aye, a
ye, sir.”

  Draeger watched his retreating back. Barely thirty yet he showed more potential than any associate had displayed in many a year. Draeger sighed.

  “I hope I don’t have to destroy him.”

  CHAPTER 30

  Date: 20th August, 326 ASC

  Position: Dead space, ten light-years from the southern frontier.

  Status: Monitor Adroit at alert stand down.

  Nathan examined the three dimensional image floating above the briefing room table. Reaching out with his senses he detected danger all along the frontier. The Pruessens had a hard-on for his boat and must have diverted massive resources to cover such an enormous area. “I could run the gauntlet,” he said. “Might make it through in one piece.” Unlike the worlds that constituting the League of Allied Worlds, the square heads had no compunction about crossing the border. Despite the condition of his boat they’d pursue him into league space. If Adroit took damage, their chances of making it home would be greatly diminished. No matter how much he rubbed at the bump above his right eyebrow he couldn’t find a solution to his dilemma.

  “You’ve got to do something, Captain,” he told himself. He’d toyed with a number of extreme notions and had dismissed them all. All, except one. An outrageous idea which fermented and without a sensible alternative it stood a crazy chance of working. He laughed. “Yeah, crazy is what you do, Telford.” The boat trembled.

  Stepping onto the bridge he waited for the relief D-O to report.

  “That’s a hyper bump, Captain,” Lieutenant Rudderman said. “There shouldn’t be any shipping in this area, sir.”

  A vessel in hyperspace had just passed close enough to their position to give them a rattle. Two objects could not occupy the same area of space, even if one was in hyper and the other in normal space. They would have felt the bump too.

  “D-O, alert one. Helm, heading due north. Ingress promptly.”

  “Hyper egressions detected.” Lieutenant Rudderman groaned. “Five of them sir.”

  Shit. After their last encounter, his senses assured him that Captain Reinhardt was aboard the light carrier E boat. Tenacious mother fucker. Pity I can’t kill him.