Pirates (BOOK ONE OF THE RIM CONFEDERACY 1)

by Jim Rudnick

  As he sipped, Tanner noted the sensor logs and listened to reports on their current position and the ETA for Juno. He handled minor problems with Engineering and asked for a diagnostic to be run on the long-range sensor array first, figuring that perhaps the missing Barony Mephisto might be a product of an equipment malfunction. He awaited word back from Engineering on that set of tests and got himself another coffee. And another sugar too.

  The regular Ansible reports came every two hours from headquarters at Juno, and the next one came in with the URGENT bell ringing loudly. Ensign Matthews scanned the screen, jabbed the off-bell switch, and hustled the hard copy over to the Comm. He stood at attention after saluting and passing over the sheet of paper and awaited the pleasure of his superior officer.

  “We don’t stand on all regs, Ensign,” Tanner said dryly as he took the proffered sheet of paper. “Dismissed and whatever you do, don’t salute again.” He forgot and shook his head, suddenly hating ensigns as the pulsing began again in his temples...

  As he read the transmission from the Navy Comm, he was a bit perturbed. Seems a merchant class passenger ship had been attacked by Pirates about six light-years off DenKoss, en route from Eons to Juno. The Pirates had successfully boarded the ship and had kidnapped every passenger they found, as well as taking only some of the cargo. The crew had not been touched, and while a few had been stunned only, the attackers had taken their captives and left the ship before the crew could even mount a defense to the boarders. Also it was reported that the ship had not even seen the Pirates coming and that somehow the attackers were able to stop their TachyonDrive from even working.

  Finishing up reading, he purposely spilled a slop of coffee down the front of his uniform shirt.

  "Lieutenant," he said to the Helm, "you have the Comm while I pop down to my quarters—appears that I need a clean shirt." He sighed.

  Three minutes later he was in a fresh shirt and back on the Bridge, again sitting in his chair with his now spiked coffee in hand. Two shots and then a triple added to the thermos cup and he'd be fine. For a while at least, he thought as he carefully searched the faces of the on-duty Bridge crew for any notice or raised eyebrow.

  My morning coffees always include a shot or three. He grinned to himself. This is the way that a shift should always start. And always would as long as I'm on the Comm. He sipped his coffee again, swirled the sweet intoxicating brew, and then the Pirates came back to the front of his focus.

  They had attacked using some new method, and he pondered this for a moment or two, thinking that the FTL TachyonDrive had been the one single scientific invention that had let man come out to the Rim. In addition, as far as he knew, no one could “make” a TachyonDrive do anything if you were not at the controls for same. This “puppeting” of another ship’s controls may be a function of some other type of newest tactic by the Pirates, but he couldn’t as yet determine how this was done. And as far as the Pirates not being seen before the attack, well, he knew that the merchant-class ships out here on the Rim had the worst of all possible officers available … out here on the Rim, you took what you could find.

  I should 'a joined them myself, he thought, they’d a hired me surely, where I could even drink on the Bridge. Most likely, their own potted captain could not read their sensors was more like it. For a moment, the nagging thought that the Pirates might have suddenly popped into view just like the Barony cruiser last night zipped through his brain, but he shrugged and took a final big gulp of coffee and tossed the bulletin as he went to get more sustenance. More coffee, sweet, sugary, and edgy.

  Ensign Pruitt, the helm officer announced, “Sir, we’re nearing Genie; no traffic to report. Do we add on a stop on Bottle?” His tone implied he’d love to do just that.

  Bottle was the fourth planet in that system and had a reputation for being a welcome spot for Navy men. The planet itself was an alien world, still only as advanced as the Bronze Age had been back on earth three millennia ago. But that didn’t matter out here on the Rim. Every world was fair game for trade, and while there were only so many items that could be used from such a society, the natives here were willing to do anything to achieve superiority among their peers. Their women were tall, tanned, and all had the long-haired look of a warrior with their blue eyes, hawkish noses, ample breasts, and long, long legs. Pruitt turned towards the Comm and looked for permission.

  “Not this time, Lieutenant,” Tanner said, sipping his fourth coffee of the shift. “We’re heading back to Juno straightaway. This is just a milk run, boys.” He drained the double-double in his hand. “No reason for us to stop either. Bathroom visit, lads,” he said and made to get up to refresh his liquid lunch back in quarters.

  “Aye, Comm,” Pruitt said, and as he turned back toward the Helm, the ship rocked violently to the left. Klaxons came on from the Mass Sensor, and the sounds of straining deck plates could be heard all in an instant.

  # # # # #

  “Status,” Tanner roared as he grabbed the stanchion beside the coffee station that was now on the floor. “Captain to the Bridge—Tactical online,” he shouted to the crew. His head was being split open, but he remembered his duties from long ago.

  “Unknown aggressor, off port beam,” Pruitt screamed back.

  “Decks Four and Five took a direct energy pulse hit and now under force-field stasis—we’ve lost life support on those decks completely,” the Ansible officer, Lieutenant Smith added.

  ”Sir, the captain and Lieutenant Darnell were in the gym.” He didn’t have to add that the gym had also been on Deck Five.

  “So it's you," Lieutenant Smith added, "Sir, and the TachyonDrive is off …” He turned back to his display.

  Ahead of Tanner and to his left at Tactical, Lieutenant Price scanned his sensor displays and thumbed buttons and toggles as he spoke up.

  “Shields up, at 100 percent, and we’re online with all armaments, Comm. Plasma cannons are fully charged and ready, and the men are all at ready stations. Um ... looks like we’ve lost nine crewmen that were on four and five—their stations are unattended ...” His quiet voice gave notice of their added loss.

  “Right, where’d they come from will have to wait,” Tanner spoke as he dropped into the captain’s chair. “Helm, spin us ninety degrees to port and put the IntertialDrive online but at rest—let’s face those bastards.” His voice was quiet under the strain of the moment.

  “Comm, they’re not showing at all in the RIM ship dBase, these guys are Pirates for sure,” Lieutenant JG Anders at the Science station reported. “Their Ansible is not registered and they’re jamming our own. Permission to kill klaxons, Sir?”

  With the ship’s Ansible jammed, the automatic sending of the URGENT bulletin back to Juno would not get through, and no one would know of the attack, Tanner thought as he nodded to the Ansible officer. Jamming their Ansible frequency can be done quite easily, he knew, but the un-jamming of it had never been done. They were without the ability to report this attack, and as such, no one would know if the Pirates won the day.

  “Science, send a probe now. Fill in the spatial co-ords and let them know about the fact we didn’t see ‘em coming either. Send it soonest,” he stated matter-of-factly, not bothering to wait the outcome of the battle.

  “Tactical, add your battle display to the main forwards and let’s see what we’ve got here, boys.” In the big display on the forward bulkhead, their ship and the attacker were outlined, and beside each, a list of stats appeared. It was a frigate-class ship the same as the Kerry, and it had the same armament of two pulse cannons, one forward and one aft, and a single particle cannon as well as the forward and rear facing lasers. It looked like the Pirate ship had just recharged their forward pulse cannon and would bring down their shields to fire again soon. Tanner had awaited that chance knowing his head would not explode but knowing any single pulse cannon blast could be fatal.

  “Tactical, lock onto their engines, and let’s see if we can’t kill her ability to move away from u
s for now. Await their shields down—and Helm, move us past them by at least a kilometer at their shields down instant. Let’s jump and fire the aft cannon at the same time, Tactical,” he commanded. It was an old navy trick that required nano-second timing but could often mean a less experienced opponent fired where you’d been and not where you were. The Tactical computer could do exactly that if handled by a Tactical Officer who knew the trick. His didn’t, but Tanner did.

  In a second or two, the display ahead jumped ever so slightly as the Kerry now appeared behind the Pirates and faced them stern to stern. The display registered the pulse cannon of the Pirate ship behind them. They had missed the Kerry.

  “Got ‘em, Sir. Their InertialDrive is offline, and they won’t go to TachyonDrive without it, now will they?” he said. “Damn fine trick!” he offered up a moment later.

  On the display ahead of them, the flashing red print of updated stats on the Pirate frigate showed their InertialDrive was offline and they were using thrusters to now swing to again face the Kerry. Their pulse cannon was again recharging, and they were targeting the Kerry’s aft cannon array and moving swiftly to attack again.

  “Spin her to beam, Helm, and let’s see if we can—”

  The shock of the Pirates’ particle cannon as it hit the Kerry’s aft quarter shields was sudden, and the quick maneuvering by the helm officer moved them out of the particle stream as best he could. The Kerry took on no damage but still vibrated from their shields and the assault they had taken. Shields will hold up for a few seconds under particle assault but not for long. As the Kerry swung to starboard, Tanner considered his options and wondered if he could command the ship and be successful in his defense of the men. He knew in his past that he could have done so, but that was four long years ago and more than 1200 light-years distant in another man’s Navy. He had known how to win tactically then, but now had him much worried. He straightened his shoulders and shook his head regardless of the hangover and got to work.

  “Right, Tactical, target their Ansible array, and see if you can’t cut it off with our forward laser. Ansible, try to hail them, that is, make their Ansible respond to our attempt to contact them even though their jamming us. That may get the job done,” he said with some conviction, his mouth now dry and wishing for a shot, regardless of how he felt about this ploy.

  As the forward display showed the laser flashing out toward the Pirate ship, the shields around her responded and glowed, but then as the Ansible called out to the Pirates, their shields flashed and the laser cut through to sheer off the Ansible array itself.

  “Bingo, Comm ... we got them,” Smith said, as they all watched the array drift off after being severed from the Pirates’ ship.

  “Good, now, Tactical, see if you can—”

  Again, the Kerry shook as a pulse of plasma shook their shields and spun them back to port. The shields would hold against a direct hit of plasma, Tanner knew, but they declined in their strength at each pulse. Too many hits meant you lost shields and the pulses then destroyed hull plating and the decks below.

  “Shields?” he inquired.

  “Sixty percent still and holding,” Tactical replied.

  “Right, now we back up,” said Tanner as the crew turned to face him. “Take us back to the initial starting point, Helm.” He watched as they obeyed. No time to explain and they still had InertialDrive so they could move about the Pirates who were only on thrusters. The screen display jumped again, and they were again behind the Pirates, whose aft shields showed at forty percent. Their pulse of plasma rocked hard against the Pirates and took their shields out completely. Tanner felt the tremors starting as he winced at the display.

  “Recharge and then let’s take out their—”

  In the display ahead, the Pirate ship suddenly disappeared, like it had suddenly gone to TachyonDrive, and they were alone again in space. They watched the screen for a moment, each of them alone in their thoughts as the sudden end to the battle meant the crisis was over. They turned to look at Tanner, their faces open and wondering.

  He cleared his throat, tried to freeze out the tremors, and looked to Lieutenant Smith.

  “Our Ansible back up and running,” Lieutenant Smith said, and Tanner rewarded him with a nod.

  “Fine, then send HQ a copy of the logs and our spatial co-ords again. We lived through this one, gentlemen, but I think that the Rim now has Pirates we can’t see coming. They seemed to leave in a hurry so I suspect that they were just testing us though it cost us dearly. Tactical, stand down, and Helm, set course for Juno and engage.”

  “Price, you’re with me,” he said, got up, and went to the Bridge turbo-lift door. “I’m making you Repair Officer for now, so let’s get down to Deck Five.” They moved onto the turbo-lift and went down five decks, and when the door slid open, they saw the damage the opening Pirate shot had made as they floated up in the weightlessness.

  The plasma pulse had come from just off the beam, punching its way through the hull plating, and had eaten up almost twenty-five feet of deck. The hull was now sealed with the radiant blue glow of the force field as it kept the vacuum at bay, while around them emergency lighting showed the floating debris of the plasma hit. Pieces of decking, rivets, and bulkhead trim drifted by, and clouds of water vapor rose to the ceiling, which was the floor of Deck Six above them. No body parts at least, Tanner thought, as he carefully dragged his way through the piecemeal debris that milled about the corridor. Occasionally he gave a little push to a piece or two that got in his way as he made his way toward the torn-up floor and what was left of the port Deck Four beneath him.

  “Gym was about here,” Price said, noting that in fact it was gone as he pointed at where the walls had stood and the machines inside had been. Each ship in the line carried a complete gym that allowed all men, both officers and enlisted, to work out and to stay in shape.

  “Gone. All gone,” Tanner said, and they moved together past and as close to the edge of the hull as they could get. Careful not to touch the force-field, they peered out at the edges of the hull that were now blackened and twisted in their melted state.

  “Full plasma hit, it seems,” Tanner noted, and Price made more notes in his log PDA. He moved to the side to peer down at the remains of the hull below on Deck Four and nodded.

  “These guys were pulling no punches,” he said. “Full plasma hit and it was lucky for us it didn’t go right through,” he said as he turned to look down the torn-up corridor.

  “So, Price ... let's get some men up here. I want immediate work done on the replacement of the hull plates—weld in what you got and seal off what you can’t replace right now. Forget the life support on Four and Five, but get gravity back up and running if you can. See what kind of extra gym equipment we can find in storage, and set up a temporary gym up on Deck Seven in Cargo Bay Two. Let’s get rid of that force-field soon as we can and get back underway ASAP. Now hop to it,” he said, and he noted Price was copying down his orders and already beaming them to various CPOs throughout the ship. Repairs would be underway in mere minutes, and they’d be back underway soon after.

  Tanner returned to the Bridge’s ready room—he actually acknowledged that it belonged to the captain but he was just using it for now as he stepped over the sill.

  “First things first,” he said to himself as he coded in his entry to open up his own stanchion cupboard and pulled out his reserved thermos that he kept for special purposes. “And yes, this is surely one of same,” he said as he pulled the lid wide open with one hand, took a swig, then another, and then still another. He swallowed the Scotch gratefully and rubbed the cool plas-bottle against his sweaty neck.

  There were dead and as the current superior ranking officer, he knew it fell to him to carry on. Another pull. And then one more and he sat at the console and opened up the ship’s logs. As he began to dictate in his own reports of what had happened with the Pirates, he accepted, read, and then thumb-print signed off on reports from Price as they came in.
>
  He thought about returning to his quarters for that last full bottle of Scotch and then paused as he remembered what was still in front of him. He was now the acting captain, and for that he decided he would need to stay at least semi-sober until he saw his admiral. He closed off the logs and then realized that he would now have to write letters of condolence to each of the lost crew member’s families and a special note to his captain’s wife who he had met at a backyard party almost six months previously. He had gotten drunk at that social, had fallen asleep on their couch, and had crawled away early in the dawn’s light to avoid embarrassment, but had always thought she would have made him feel at ease had he stayed for breakfast. He knew she would take this hard and that she should; the captain had been a good man, and his loss was truly a tragedy for her and for the Navy.

  Pirates, he shook his head as he turned back to the console and began dictating his letters, his thermos at hand. Maybe later he'd go to quarters and quietly get drunk. Maybe later this might not hurt as much with a layer of Scotch over top. Maybe, he thought, as he sighed and returned to the keyboard.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A block away from Navy Hall, in a bar that was quiet and dark and usually populated with silent, solitary drinkers, Tanner sat quietly too. Around him on the walls were vid screens of a home world. Obviously a Randi owned this place, Tanner thought, as the huge waterfalls that made the planet famous for tourists were everywhere. Some, he noted, were of water that was opaque and yellow while others were normal water colored. Still more were even higher, and it was no wonder that the Randi race, though humanoid, loved their views.

  The nice thing about Juno, Tanner thought, was that as the RIM capital world, it was populated with many races and nationalities and that meant there was an overabundance of places to unwind. To calm ones nerves or to steel them for what was to come.