Captain Hawkins (The Jamie Hawkins Saga Book 1)

by H. Alesso

  Hawkins looked down at the man Wyden had struck. He grabbed the other thug around the neck, held his gun to the man’s head, and demanded, “Which way to the exit?”

  The man pointed a trembling finger.

  “How many goons are there?”

  “None.”

  Hawkins hit him on the head and the thug crumpled to the floor, out cold.

  He grabbed Wyden’s arm even as his frightened chalk-white face tried to pull away. Hawkins pulled him in the direction the guard pointed until they reached a stairwell.

  They climbed the stairs and found themselves at a locked door. Once more Hawkins used his electronic contraption to unlock it and they went through to find themselves on the main concourse of the Tarija habitat inside the central hub.

  They mingled with the crowd and managed to elude relentless surveillance. Silently, without protest, Wyden did as he was told.

  Hawkins felt a numbing sensation, eerie and uncanny because the situation seemed like a stalemate, for while his stalkers couldn’t find him, he couldn’t get to his ship.

  “They’re looking for me,” said the old man.

  “They’re looking for me too.”

  Pointing to an exit sign, the old man said, “We’re going the wrong way. From now on you’re on your own.” He tried to pull away, but Hawkins tightened his grip on his arm and yanked him back.

  “You’re staying with me. I can’t risk you betraying me.”

  Or perhaps betraying me again?

  Hawkins gave his arm a twist and Wyden said, “I won’t do it again! I swear I won’t!”

  Hawkins said, “For now I may need you, so I will keep you close until you become a threat to me. If you try to run, I will assume you will compromise me. I can’t allow that. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. Yes. But will you let me go later?”

  “When I’m sure it’s safe. Then you can go.”

  “When will that be?”

  Hawkins didn’t respond. He continued to pull Wyden along while scanning his surroundings for a clue that could lead them to safety.

  The corridor had a lot of foot traffic passing them by.

  “Halt!” shouted a man who hastened toward them.

  Hawkins looked up, his stomach squeezed into a knot. He realized too late that Wyden had waved his arms at this man to attract attention. The man must have been a gang member.

  “Oh! God! You’re breaking my arm!” cried Wyden.

  “Quiet!”

  As the man came closer, Hawkins said, ‘Can I help you?”

  “Huh?” asked the thug in confusion.

  Hawkins was now close enough to slug the man. He fell back and Hawkins hit him several more times until he lost consciousness. Wyden took the opportunity to bolt and he quickly disappeared around a bend in the corridor.

  Hawkins studied his dull features in the metal bulkhead’s reflection. He looked a filthy mess, but no one should pay him much attention.

  How far can I go? Where should I go?

  CRACK!

  A sound behind him alerted him.

  Silence.

  CRACK!

  Closer?

  Someone was concealed in a stairwell.

  He ducked down. Just in time.

  A heavy-set man thrust his fist at him. They scuffled. A powerful arm shot over Hawkins’ shoulder, pulling him into a hammerlock. His opponent was a professional. Hawkins tried to break the grip, but failed. His throat was briefly choked, causing dizziness.

  Finally, Hawkins managed to clasp the man’s fingers. He pulled until he broke several. He was free again. The man pulled out his gun and Hawkins bent the man’s wrist and pulled the trigger. It was over. The man was dead.

  He knew there must be dozens searching for him, trying to close the trap around him.

  When he reached the next intersection in the corridors, he saw Wyden being pummeled by two thugs.

  Damn!

  He snuck up and waved his gun. “Release him.”

  They jerked around and reached for their guns. Hawkins fired. They fell.

  You saved me? Why?” Wyden’s bloodied and bewildered face stared up at him.

  “Habit,” shrugged Hawkins. “Now take off. Get out of here.”

  As Wyden waddled away, Hawkins was grabbed from behind by a pair of rough hands.

  CHAPTER 25

  Overlapping Lies

  The enormous paws clutching Hawkins’ shoulders belonged to Gunny

  “Thank goodness, I was able to navigate to your GPS beacon, Jamie.”

  Even though startled, Hawkins recognized his friend in time to hold back the powerful elbow blow he was prepared to deliver.

  “Gunny?!”

  “This way, Jamie,” said Gunny. “We’ve got to move fast.”

  Together, they fled back to the shuttle.

  “You shouldn’t have risked it,” said Hale, once Hawkins was safely aboard the Indefatigable.

  “Ha!” laughed Hawkins. “The trouble with you is you take life too seriously. We’ll all meet the same end eventually.”

  “Yes, but I see no reason to rush the rendezvous.”

  Hawkins frowned, “I couldn’t send another in my place. The nightmare truth is that Hellion’s counter intelligence could have been behind all this. To believe the information, I had to see everything for myself.”

  ***

  “Enter,” said Hawkins to the tap on his stateroom door.

  Joshua came in with a woeful countenance. He sat on the chair across from Hawkins without a word. He didn’t even acknowledge Hale who was already sitting near Hawkins. In one hand, Joshua had a tablet; in the other was Wyden’s memory stick.

  Hawkins waited patiently for his young charge to collect himself.

  Finally, Joshua said, “Wyden’s memory stick is a treasure trove of Hellion secrets.”

  Once more the boy paused unable to continue.

  Hawkins said, “Tell me what you’ve found Joshua.”

  “I’ve been working with the CIC data techs and we’ve unpacked the data on the Wyden memory stick. So far we’ve identified two Hellion Top Secrets. The most immediate is a plan for the Hellion Combat Fleet to conduct a quick ‘snatch and grab’ operation to occupy the biggest Jaxon mining colonies, regardless of whether, or not, Victor accepts the ceasefire.”

  Hawkins said, “I’ve done everything I could to discourage the ceasefire talks. Catherine Parker has too. Hopefully the mutual lack of trust between the two governments will prevent that from happening. But a ‘snatch and grab’ operation is another problem entirely."

  Hale asked, “What was the other Top Secret?”

  “It had to do with the assassination attempt on Victor, several months ago, that was blamed on us. The Hellion documents show that it was their assassins that made the attempt, but they claim it was never authorized by the Hellion hierarchy. The documents show that they have begun a massive man hunter, trying to find who forged the authorization orders. They are under the impression that their entire security apparatus has been penetrated by an unknown group of secret agents. They suspect us, Tarija, Jaxon, as well entertaining the possibility of a newly formed Hellion rebel group."

  “I would welcome an internal Hellion uprising,” interjected Hale.

  There was even some talk of Earth involvement,” Joshua continued, “though they don’t elaborate on how that could be possible.”

  Hawkins said, “This mystery is growing in complexity.”

  Joshua said, “That’s not the only mystery.”

  Hawkins looked at the young man and said, “Go on.”

  “Captain, I told you about the deep space signal I found, and you said to leave it as an unsolved mystery.”

  “I did.”

  “Well, I haven’t.”

  “Haven’t what?”

  “I haven’t left it alone. I’ve been working to decrypt the deep space signal using our AI computer with the help of a data tech, Nathaniel McClain. We’ve used every minute of free time, we could
spare.”

  Hawkins was surprised, but also impressed with Joshua’s initiative.

  “What does a deep space signal have to do with Hellion Top Secrets?” asked Hale.

  “Everything.”

  “You’ll have to explain that.”

  “Let me give you a metaphor for how I solved this puzzle, because it is a puzzle.”

  “Go on.”

  “Think of a simple portrait of a woman, say the Mona Lisa. Now consider a jigsaw puzzle of the Mona Lisa—a modest picture of a woman cut into a thousand irregularly sized pieces and spread out for someone to reassemble.”

  “A kid’s game.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Joshua licked his lips and took a deep breath to gather his wits before presenting his radical idea to the senior officers.

  “Now let’s start again with our portrait of various colors of gray, brown, black, and flesh tone that shows the image of Mona Lisa. Next, suppose that I took a black felt pen and drew a sketch of Captain Hawkins right over the portrait, only I centered it catty-corner. I could still recognize the image of the woman with its stark colors, but overlaid on that, I would also see the outline of a man in ink, in its skewed position. My brain could flip, back and forth, between the two; seeing them individually, as well as a composite. If I cut this into a thousand irregularly sized pieces and spread those pieces out. Can you image how you would go about reassembling them?”

  Hale said, “I don’t get where you’re going with this.”

  “Let’s say a kid looked at the thousand pieces of our puzzle and was told to assembly them into a portrait of the Mona Lisa. Once he began, he would connect pieces of vivid colors and woman’s image would emerge, but he would, also, see thick black lines crossing through the woman. At first he wouldn’t be able to recognize that the black lines connected in a meaningful way, but eventually, as he filled in more and more of the puzzle, he would see both the Mona Lisa image and a second, dual image, the outline of a man.”

  They looked at him.

  “That’s what happened to me,” said Joshua, becoming agitated. “I’ve decrypted a pattern in Hellion communications, and as I was decoding some of their orders, I began to recognize an overlapping pattern.”

  “That’s great. Why didn’t you just say that?” asked Hale.

  “Because the Hellion secret communication pattern, I was working on—had the overlying pattern of the deep space signal, I was interested in. When I was putting the first ‘image’ together, I recognized the second.”

  “Huh? I don’t understand?”

  "Neither does the Hellion security forces. They think our agents have penetrated their security apparatus and are sending false orders to their ships, but the phony orders are actually somehow a product of the deep space signals."

  Hawkins and Hale sat stunned and quiet for several minutes.

  Hawkins said, “Joshua you’ve accomplished something amazing. I want you and Nathan to work full time on the connection between the Hellion communication system and the deep space signal you’ve uncovered. Draw on whatever resources you need. It’s a top priority. I have no idea how advanced this outside interference is, or whether it’s also effecting more than Hellion, but time may be short to react to it.”

  “Aye, Captain. I’ll do my best.”

  Hawkins said, “In the meantime, Hale, I want you to concentrate on the immediate threat of the Hellion Combat Fleet conducting a scorched earth policy through the asteroid belt. Find a way to relay the information to those who can use it.”

  Hawkins used various rebel intermediaries to relay the secrets to the Jaxon Intelligence Service and the Jaxon Combat Fleet, but he didn’t know if anyone would believe him, or if they did, whether they would send help to defend the mining colonies.

  CHAPTER 26

  In Harm’s Way

  Hawkins stared at the blip on the view screen. The ship had just appeared at the edge of the sensor range and he wondered if more would follow. His flagship, the Indefatigable, waited at low power with minimum emissions near an asteroid just a few minutes from a large Jaxon colony on this side of the asteroid belt. The rebel fleet, including thirty-six gun frigates Pollux and Castor, eighteen-gun sloops Retribution and Revenge, and the converted cargo vessel Liberty of eight guns, followed her.

  These ships had become a fine reassuring sight for the nearby colonists who had heard troubling news reports of Hellion fleet movements in the area. Stories reported that the entire Hellion Combat Fleet had been deployed to this sector of the asteroid belt. It appeared to be methodically capturing mining colonies, one after another, while the Jaxon Combat Fleet, under Admiral Forester, remained in their main spaceport. It was rumored that Victor had ordered the fleet to avoid a decisive battle.

  “No help will be coming from Jaxon. We’re on our own. I don’t know if we can make a difference, or if we’ll just add more victims to the carnage,” said Hale.

  “We’re not exactly naked and helpless,” Hawkins reassured him. “We can help evacuate the threatened colonies and cover their withdrawal.”

  “As I understand it, their greatest need is transport vessels to evacuate personnel from the most exposed colonies. That’ll take at least a week. Can we delay the Hellion for that long?”

  “We’ll be damn lucky if we can, but we can try. I’ve rounded up several more small craft and I’ve sent several spy drones out scouting, to give us some advanced warning.”

  Hawkins sent a comm message to the nearby mining base, “Prepare to evacuate.”

  But before evacuation preparation could be started there was an interruption.

  “There’s another contact, but this one is coming from the sunward side of the belt,” reported the sensor tech.

  Hawkins squinted from the glare of the sun as he tried to spot the ship in the view port.

  “Sensors are picking up more signals at extreme range, coming from opposite directions, sir.”

  All eyes on the bridge turned toward Hawkins.

  Hale leaned over the sensor operator’s station. “Multiple ships are heading toward this colony.” “So now we have ships, coming from each side of the asteroid belt. Exciting,” said Hawkins.

  “Something is wrong. Jaxon doesn’t have a fleet this size, in this vicinity.”

  “According to the rumors, Hellion is moving a fleet to grab colonies and it appears that the rumor may be right. On the other hand, the ships coming from the sunward side of the asteroid belt can only be the Jaxon Combat Fleet coming out to meet them, in direct contradiction to rumors.”

  They watched in tense silence until the sensor tech reported, “Captain, we have two large fleets, approaching from opposite direction.”

  “The sunward ships must be Jaxon’s Combat Fleet under Admiral Charles Forester,” said Hale, “possibly forty ships, including twenty dreadnaughts.”

  “Probably,” nodded Hawkins.

  “The ones on the far side of the belt would be the Hellion Combat Fleet under Admiral Ivan Slade, perhaps seventy ships of which half would be dreadnaughts.”

  “Most likely.”

  “And we and the colony are smack in the middle,” said Hale with a frown. “Fate couldn’t have planned it any better,” said Hawkins.

  Old fighting techniques, learned from previous battles, resulted in great fleets of ships closing with each other and fighting in whatever arrangement they found themselves in, and often boarding enemy vessels when opportunities occurred. However, recent warship construction had developed new ships capable of forming a line of battle so that their rows of ray guns, which protruded along the sides of their ships, could fire in unison at a given target, thus combining their firepower. These dreadnaughts were now the mainstay of the space fleet and were named after Jaxon’s Presidents, the largest of which was the Victor.

  Dozens of ray guns protruded from the hull in rows along the sides of ships. Battle tactics were dominated by the tactic of firing a broadside.

  For example, a dreadnaught of
74 guns would have 36 guns on each side arranged in three rows of 12 guns each with the two remaining guns in the bow. As a result, ships would have to turn to show their broadsides to the enemy before firing. The fire of the rows of guns was coordinated by AI control and when ships sailed together, such as, three columns of three ships each, they would all turn together to fire a broadside. Each ship’s guns would be directed by the flagship’s AI control so that all nine ships fired at specific targets with concerted fire. In effect, they fired from a wall of gunfire. In addition, the wall of ships would overlap and interlace their Unified Quantum Field (UQF) force shields to provide mutual reinforcing protection.

  The evolving tactics required ships to form several single-file lines to build a two-dimensional wall of ships then close with the opposing fleet, battering the enemy until one side finally had enough and retreated. Any maneuvers would be carried out with the ships remaining in line for mutual protection.

  Usually, each column of opposing warships would maneuver to bring the greatest weight of broadside firepower to bear. Since these engagements were often won by the largest ships carrying the most powerful guns, admirals maneuvered to bring their most powerful ships, as close as possible. To keep the battle line of guns from being broken at some weak point, they kept ships of equal strength in the line. The typical dreadnaught carried 74 guns, but after several years of war, they only fought indecisive actions.

  Hawkins surmised that Admiral Forester intended to defend the main colonies at the periphery of the belt. The flagship, the Victor, and its escort vessels crossed the sun's horizon at a great distance. There were only a few warships as large in the column.

  Hawkins guessed that Admiral Slade was making a show of strength, but it didn’t seem likely he would engage in a major confrontation.

  As the minutes ticked by, Hawkins wondered when the fleets would discover each other. The Indefatigable’s bridge crew was unusually quiet in the tension.

  As the distance between the fleets shrank, Hawkins ordered, “Battle stations.”