Harris nodded. “Can’t be soon enough. Any thoughts on producing more?”
The colonel shrugged. “I think that all has to do with the monies available. Bannis told me they’re running close to a hundred million credits each. He’s put a large part of his personal fortune into this.
“Although… I might have a solution. Instead of the DDI, if I turn this ship and the information you have given over to Mr. Morgan, he might be able to generate enough contract work through upgrades to more than cover his costs. I would imagine the fleet admirals would be keen to have what you’ve brought us today.”
“Excellent idea. In fact, I believe I’ll open a comm to him right now and give him the news personally.”
The colonel nodded. “Please do.”
An image of Bannis Morgan showed on the display. “Mr. Gruberg, Miss Freely, the colonel filled me in on your latest exploits. I’m told you have a Denzee ship in your custody?”
“We do. I have it here at the Retreat, waiting for you.”
“For me?”
“I was just discussing with the colonel. We’ve conducted a quick analysis of the ship’s drive, shielding, and systems. I have a number of design updates to offer, not only for our freighters, but for you to submit for contract updates to the Domicile fleet. Enhanced shielding, weapons, and a drive that can propel a ship to 60 percent light-speed. I don’t see how they could refuse. Especially given the current threat.”
Bannis sighed. “The DDI is fully aware of the threat. Our politicians have buried their heads in the sand and don’t want to hear about it. That’s partly because the New Earth emperor insists they have the Denzee under control.”
Harris shook his head. “The Barrier colony is under assault right now. We’ve managed to run some interference, including grabbing this ship, but that time is coming to an end. And the Earthers don’t have anything that can stop the Denzee warships.”
“Then why not ask for our help?”
“The emperor still has his mind set on conquering us all. If he can beat back the Denzee while building up his own fleet, he would be unstoppable should he come after us next.”
“I see. Send me what you have and let the Denzee ship sit. I’ll have a crew out there to move it.”
Harris winced. “There is one thing. Your people will find about five hundred dead Denzee splattered all over the inside of the ship. We have the inside temp set at below freezing, but the mess is still there.”
Bannis returned his own grimace. “We’ll take care of it, Mr. Gruberg.”
“Oh, and I’m sure the Hailstorm repairs are a significant cost. Let the colonel know we’ll reimburse whatever that cost is. Along with the updates we’re sending you.”
“Will do.”
The comm was closed, the data sent, and the Gooch returned to Midelon.
Chapter 26
_______________________
Harris stood watching as Trish welded a hull plate from the Denzee ship onto the Bangor.
“I wish you wouldn’t stand back there like that. Gives me the willies when someone’s looking over my shoulder.”
Harris chuckled. “I was just about to compliment you on your welds, but I guess that’s lost now. Looks like you’ve already made good progress.”
Trish nodded. “The nose is done. As long as we’re aimed toward the enemy, we should be in good shape.”
“Let’s hope that’s later rather than sooner. Would like to have the drive update in before we have to go out again.”
“Will that make a difference? I mean, doesn’t that only do any good for distance travel? We can already turn faster and accelerate faster in combat.”
“True, but we can be outrun if they decide to leave, or we can be chased down if they decide to follow. And if we have to run, we need separation to open a wormhole.”
Sharvie came over the comm. “The warships have returned to Barrier. They’re in a fight with the Earthers, who have five cruisers and twenty-three destroyers. One cruiser has already been destroyed. And our hacks on the warships are no longer working. They’ve closed the holes we slipped in through.”
Harris nodded. “Just do what you can. Even if it’s just an annoyance.”
Harris turned to Trish. “When will you be finished with that plate?”
“Five minutes. You aren’t thinking of taking her out, are you?”
“We may have to. Just keep working while I talk this over with Tawn.”
Harris walked into the supply hut. “The Denzee warships are back at Barrier.”
Tawn shrugged. “Not much we can do about it. We don’t have the firepower to do anything more than dent their hulls.”
Harris let out a long sigh. “I feel like we can’t just sit and watch.”
“You have any suggestions?”
“Actually I do. Let’s take a ride to Eden. See if Bax is there. She has the emperor’s ear. Maybe she can talk some sense into him.”
“When will Trish be done with the welds?”
“She’s at a stopping point now, having covered the nose. Another day or two for the rest.”
“So we taking the Gooch?”
“Unless you plan on flapping your arms with me riding on your back, yeah.”
“Let’s get this over with, then. And when are we gonna check out the next access level in that bunker? We’ve been finished with that for days now.”
“Whenever we get Sharvie back down here. I just talked to her by the way. The Denzee are catching on and pushing them out of their systems. She says the Denzee are back in full control.”
A jump was made to Eden space. Twenty minutes later a comm was relayed to Fireburg.
Baxter Rumford answered. “What is it? We’re kind of busy here.”
“We’re watching the fight at Barrier. I’d say it isn’t going well for your emperor.”
“He’s slowly coming to this realization. Just not fast enough. Barrier will be a huge loss. It’s a ranching colony, and since its expansion, now produces 20 percent of New Earth’s food. I think the Denzee picked that colony because of its fertile grasslands. They want to grow their population out here, and a planet with those resources fits their bill. I lobbied for sending a larger fleet, but His Highness was unwilling to commit.
“The fight out there has been cat and mouse the last few days. Will take two to three weeks to fall, but it will fall. And with it goes the huge food resource.”
Tawn muted the comm. “I think we might have an opportunity here. Those billions of bogler on Farmingdale. I bet we could sell a million head a year and not make a dent in that herd.”
Harris nodded as he flipped the mike back on. “Would the emperor be interested in purchasing bogler?”
“You have beef?”
“How many head does Barrier produce every year?”
“The data I saw said a million and a half as the annual production.”
“Get us a price of what he’d be willing to pay per head. We think we could supply up to a million per annum.”
“I’ll check. That would certainly ease some of the pain they’re gonna feel from this loss.”
Tawn asked, “Have you managed to capture one of the Denzee ships?”
“I can’t talk about that type of information without risking my head.”
“We have one. And there’s a lot of tech to be had from it.”
Bax sat forward. “You have a Denzee ship?”
Tawn replied, “We did. Just turned it over to the DDI.”
Bax winced. “Oh. Bad move. I could have gotten you probably half a billion credits for one. It’s one of the emperor’s priorities. And he wants some Denzee to go with it, for interrogation.”
“We had a ship. The Denzee all fought to the death. It seems they’re devoted to their queen. That’s all they live for. Don’t know if we could get you another one. We lost six good people getting it.”
Bax scoffed. “Yeah, but you’re slugs and stumps. That’s what you do. You live for dying.”
Tawn growled
. “We love life just as much as you. Just because we’re good at fighting wars doesn’t mean we’re eager to die.”
Bax waved her hand. “Relax. Was just yanking your chain… or leash, or whatever it is they keep you on these days.”
Tawn began to respond, and Harris stopped her. “What would your emperor be willing to pay to have the main guns damaged on those warships at Barrier?”
“You offering to take that suicide mission on?”
Harris shrugged. “Maybe. Find out what it would be worth to him.”
“You got five or ten minutes?”
“We do.”
“Hang on.” The comm closed.
Tawn gave Harris a look of bewilderment. “You off your rocker? We can’t take out those guns.”
Harris chuckled. “Not yet. But I would like to know what he would offer if the day were to come.”
A hail came in from Bax. “A hundred million credits each. You get rid of those ships at Barrier and that’s what he’ll pay.”
Harris said, “That’s to get rid of the main guns, not the ships themselves. A hundred million credits for each main gun.”
Bax nodded. “Sorry for the mistranslation. He agreed to what you proposed. We can handle them without those ship killers they’re using on us.”
Tawn raised her chin. “You said us. That mean you’re officially an Earther now?”
Bax scowled. “No. Just phrasing. So what do you say? We have a deal?”
Harris chuckled. “We don’t have a deal. We have a bid. The emperor is offering a hundred million credits for each main gun. We have to go see if we can even attempt it first. And I’ll add this: if we do even one and the emperor reneges, we will be drawing at least a hundred million in destruction from this colony and whatever ships of his we encounter. And if we feel that’s insufficient, we’ll do more.”
“The emperor will keep his word.”
Harris nodded. “I guess we’re done here, then.”
The comm closed on a scowling Baxter Rumford.
Tawn shook her head. “Glad you clarified that we would only be looking into it. Not worth risking my life for another hundred million credits. We already have plenty.”
“Not true. For every one of those we kill, we can have another freighter built. And I want you to think about this… if the Retreat had five of those freighters, the colonel could declare independence from Domicile. Those five ships would be more than a match for the Domer fleet right now.”
Tawn laughed. “Are you psycho? The Domer fleet could attack the Retreat and wipe everyone out. Five of those freighters might win in a straight up space battle, but if they attack the ground, Biomarines or not, even a couple cruisers making it in close could overwhelm their defenses.”
“Again, not true. The domes are protected by the updated rail cannons. They can’t get their ships close enough to do any real damage without killing themselves. Anyway, we won’t solve this argument here. So let’s get home.”
A jump was made back to Midelon. Harris, Tawn, and Farker hopped from the shuttle and made their way over to the Bangor.
Harris said, “We had a short talk with Bax. She’s still managing the titanium effort at Eden. According to her, she thinks Barrier will fall in a few weeks. And with it goes 20 percent of the Earthers’ food supply. I had the idea that we might want to set up a ranching operation on Farmingdale where we round up Bogler and sell them off to the Earthers.”
Trish asked, “Can you do that?”
Tawn nodded. “All outer colony resources are considered public domain. You just have to file a claim with the local government and that claim has to be active. In other words, no filing claims just to camp on them. Those bogler are non-native. We can take as many as we want. Other than roundup labor and transport cost, they’re free.”
Harris said, “A live bogler on Domicile will fetch about five or six hundred credits at auction. The Earther market would be a million or more per year. Given the fact they are free for the taking, I can’t imagine not making 50 percent profit.”
Trish raised an eyebrow. “That is huge money. Way more than you were making from weapons sales.”
Tawn chuckled. “And legit.”
“We have another offer to discuss as well. The emperor is willing to pay a hundred million credits for each main weapon we can disable on those Denzee warships. Right now there are four doing their dirty business at Barrier. We take out those weapons and that’s pure profit.”
Trish shook her head. “Sorry, but the bogler sounds like a safer bet.”
“Obviously you haven’t been around any wild bogler,” Harris quipped. “And that effort will take a full year, along with hiring a shipload of cowboys. Not sure Domicile has enough of them hanging around for us to hire.”
Trish frowned. “You really want to go up against a Denzee warship with the Bangor?”
Harris laughed. “Yeah. I think we can take ‘em. No. I’m thinking we have a shot with the Bangor and the Hailstorm. And if we can hold out another week after that, two more of those freighters. And if Barrier falls, we can always start up the bogler trade and try to knock out those Denzee weapons.”
Trish groaned. “Well, aren’t you the ambitious one.”
“What I know is that if the Earthers can’t turn back the Denzee at Barrier, we are looking at an overrun of all the Earther colonies within six months. And New Earth right after. Where do you think they would be coming next?”
“So this is more of a defensive move than for profit?”
Harris nodded. “It is, but I also think it’s one that we could do well with. Every one of those guns we take out is a new freighter that we own. And those freighters are also ideal for hauling bogler.”
Tawn said, “Sounds like you’ve already talked yourself into this.”
Harris thought for a moment. “Hmm. Yeah. I guess I have. You in or out?”
Tawn scowled. “Well, I have to go where my partner goes. Can’t let my investment in the business go bad.”
Harris grinned as he began to walk away. “We are so going to do this and do it big.”
“Where you going?”
“To talk to Alex. At the bunker. Where I can sit in a chair and pick his AI brain.”
The holo-image of Alexander Gaerten came to life.
“Hello, Harris.”
“Hello, Alex.”
“What is it I can assist you with today?”
“You have all the recordings from our encounter with the Denzee warship, right?”
“I do.”
“And can I suppose you’ve done some analysis on them?”
“You can.”
“Good. What I want to know is your recommendations on how we might attack a Denzee warship and disable or destroy its main weapon. We hammered the hull plating to either side and disabled the one that attacked us. Would it be possible for us to do that again? This time using the Bangor and the Hailstorm?”
“Of course it would be possible, Harris. You have already proven such.”
Harris leaned back in the chair, clasping his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling. “I guess what I’m asking for is help in planning a raid to do it again. Now, given that you probably have the internal layout of that warship, harvested by Sharvie and her team, and you have the recordings of the damage we did using the Bangor’s rail cannon, can you map out a strategy for the lowest risk assault with the highest probability of success?”
“I can.”
“Please do, then. How long do you need?”
“I have them. Would you like to see simulations?”
Harris sat forward. “Yes. Very much. Show me what you have.”
An image of the warship, the Bangor, and the Hailstorm, floated above the table. “I would suggest the low risk approach would be where you draw the fire of the main weapon while at a distance, giving you time to react. It would appear the Denzee need time for the weapon to recharge. From the recordings, I would estimate a minimum of thirty seconds.
From the data harvested by Sharvie and her friends, it would appear to be approximately fifty-four seconds.”
Harris nodded. “Good. That should give us enough time to close and fire. Should even be able to hit that disc it fires from.”
“I would recommend a round placed on either side as you did before.”
“Well, you won’t be driving, will you.”
“Do you want my help, Harris?”
“I do. Am I being too much of a smartass?”
“You are.”
Harris chuckled. “That’s what I like about you, Alex. You’re blunt. I like blunt. It’s funny.”
“I know. Now would you like to return to the simulation?”
“Sure. Show me what you’ve got.”
The next hour was spent with a back and forth conversation. When Harris emerged from the bunker he walked straight to the supply hut where Tawn and the others were having a meal.
“What? Why didn’t you comm me?”
“You’re a big boy. Of everyone here, you certainly know when it’s time to eat. What had you so wrapped up in there?”
“Alex was showing me a few simulations of how we might confront one of those warships. I like some of his ideas. He showed me simulations, and even threw in a few variables to make the decisions harder.”
Gandy asked, “So how’d you do?”
“Nine out ten tries we killed or disabled the weapon. Seven out of ten we survived.”
Gandy frowned. “Sounds high risk.”
“We’re taking on a giant Denzee warship. Of course it’s high risk. No pain no gain, you know.”
Tawn said, “Seven out of ten against four warships? Doesn’t sound all that bad.”
“Oh, that was against one. Alex assumed we would be able to draw at least one ship away from the others.”
Tawn scoffed. “I suddenly like this plan a lot less.”
Harris opened a comm. “Sharvie, how many of those Denzee warships do they have total? I’m not talking about the rattle ships. Just the big ones?”
“Six. Two still at Rumanta and four at Barrier. And just so you know, we’ve been completely kicked from their networks. We have zero access. My teams are trying to get back in, but at the moment we have nothing.”
ARMS Jebwa Atrocity Page 24
