“Fuck you, Kary.”
*
I heard they were bringing her in on a gurney.
“Is she hurt?” I asked over the comms.
“She’ll be okay, Captain.”
I ran towards the dock, on Hull 1, where the shuttle would come in. I waited for a few minutes, anxiously. I thought she was dead! She probably thought I was dead as well. Was it her? What if it wasn’t her? ‘Mirany Iddo’ is not her name. Not yet anyway. She’s Mirany Cavo. What if it’s not her? What if it’s an amazing coincidence? It has to be her, right? What will she think when she sees me like this? Disfigured? Will she still love me? Will she reject me? Will she pretend not to notice? Or not to care?
When the shuttle came in, I didn’t even flinch, of course. I ran inside. There was the gurney. She had a mask on. A breathing mask. But it was her. I could see immediately; it was her. Those eyes. That hair. I grabbed her face.
“Mira! Mira, my love. It’s me. It’s me!”
It took her a few seconds to recognise me. She was puzzled, then shocked, then she burst into tears. I hugged her and kissed her mask.
“You can take off the mask if you want to, Captain. She should be alright.”
I yanked the mask off and kissed her. And kissed her. And kissed her.
“I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!”
“Look at you. Look at you.” Her voice was faint. “What happened to you?”
I smiled.
“I’m uglier now.”
She pulled me to her, hugging me tightly.
“How did you find me? How did you find me?”
I couldn’t stop smiling.
“I didn’t… I thought you were dead. It was luck. I thought you were dead.”
And then she cried compulsively.
“That’s okay.” I said, holding her. “I’m here. I’m here. You’re safe now.”
“I thought I was dead too…” She finally whispered.
*
We took her to the infirmary in Hull 1, as the tower was damaged by enemy fire. They insisted that I would leave so they could examine her, but I insisted on staying, and I won the fight in the end. Mirany didn’t say anything. But when I saw her cry in embarrassment, looking at me from the corner of her eye, I knew it had been a mistake. That’s when I knew she’d changed. The old Mirany would have told me to leave. This one simply let the tears slide down her face until I left. What had happened to her?
She wouldn’t tell me her story for a long time. Not the particulars, anyway. She told me she had given herself my name, Mirany Iddo, because she was afraid they’d connect ‘Cavo’ to her father and make matters worse.
She was very vulnerable. Very fragile. She cried again when I came back to the infirmary. She was laying there, in bed, looking at me, her tears flowing freely. I was a bit disturbed by this. I remembered a strong Mira. Someone who had been through tough times to assert herself as a Captain. Someone who seemed capable of handling the horrors of war without losing the softness in her eyes. What had they done to her to break her? But they hadn’t. They hadn’t. She broke them. She carried the signal to the belly of the beast. Made it possible to find her. To find the Mother. Made it possible to kill them all. To win the war. But still… The cost…
I sat down next to her. Held her hand while she slept.
“How is she?” I asked the doctor.
“Physically? She’s going to be okay. She… well… she seems to have been assaulted.”
I tried to remain composed.
“Sexually?”
“Yes. Probably with an object, not just… you know… We’ve tested for STD’s, they all came negative. She has some bruises, and her digestive system needs to recover. She has been eating badly for a long time. Still, she seems pretty well.”
“But…?” I asked.
“But… Her psychological condition is something else entirely.”
She didn’t have the same smile. The same flare in her eyes. There was vagueness, a void, behind her stare. She would look at me for a long time, and suddenly I’d notice she wasn’t even in the room. But I was patient. I told her everything I had been through. I told her about her father. I told her about the mission. About Fumu. About the Arrabat. About the crew. She asked:
“The Harvy. Do you know what happened to the Harvy?”
I sighed.
“No-one made it?” She asked.
I waved my head. She cried more. It came to a point when I was suffering as well; I was feeling heartbroken and sad. It was almost a relief when Ojoe came to call me. I still hesitated. Didn’t want to leave her. But she said:
“Go. You need to go. Just go.”
*
“Well, sir…” Said Jilton to Ojoe and me. “The worst off is the Tower. A bit of a mess. We closed the upper decks and got the main functions delegated to the hulls. I’m afraid most of your belongings are lost, sir. You can access your office if you want, even though it’s a bit messy, but your quarters are gone.”
I showed a little smile.
“That’s okay, Mr Jilton. How many did we lose?”
“87, sir.”
“Shit.”
“Including Mr Tamburo.”
“Patt? Oh, fuck.” I looked at my Number One. “That’s fucking…”
Ojoe nodded.
“I know, sir. It will be hard to replace him.”
I got back to Jilton.
“So what’s our status?”
“Well, sir…” He frowned. “Nothing too bad. Looking back, it could have been a lot worst. Every single hull was hit and damaged, but none was breached, nor were any of the vital functions compromised. Hull 6 had its oxygen containers destroyed, but we’ve reconnected the supply pipes so that it will be covered by H4. We still have quite enough air for everyone. Our air recyclers are still very much in play with plenty of clean filters to replace if need be. Hull 2 had a small fire in a maintenance storage compartment. It took us a little bit to control it, but it was contained. H2 will have to be resupplied with maintenance oil and other things, but nothing major. We had a few injuries in some of the hulls. Accidents, mostly. The tower was the worst…”
“The antennas?”
“The primary is gone. Well, all of the tower’s antennas in fact…”
“Shit… And the secondary?”
There was a secondary antenna built inside the hull, going from bow to stern.
“Damaged, sir, but functional. We’re fixing it the best we can, but… if it suffers a lot more damage… it won’t last.”
“Have we lost range?”
“Fifty or sixty measures, sir. Nothing major.”
I nodded, worried, then I looked at Ojoe.
“How about the rest?”
Ojoe scratched his ear and looked at his tablet.
“Well, sir, we’ve been navigating directly towards the Mirox. We haven’t had any contact so far, but I’m betting they will come for us. The Haggadda issued an S.O.S. before she was taken. We have it in the logs. I think we’ll have to fight soon.”
I sighed.
“How long to the Mirox?”
“8 days, sir. We’re flying fast. Of course, if we have any contact…”
I stopped him with a gesture.
“Yes… And we will…” I turned on the maps on the table. We were at H1’s Captain’s office, but I still could access the maps. I looked at the course. “Direct line to the Mirox is a good strategy. But we haven’t had any contacts yet.”
“No, sir.”
“If they’d come immediately for us, it would have been the best strategy.”
“Yes, sir.”
“But now they’ll have to intercept us. And they will have difficulties resupplying, now that we destroyed the Mother.”
Ojoe scratched his ear again, trying to follow me. Jilton was frowning. I twisted my lip.
“If we pass near Raven, we’ll have a few things against us. First, the direct line to the Mirox is the most likely path, so it would be ea
sier to intercept us, correct?”
“Affirmative, sir.”
“Second, any Silent wanting to resupply would also be going the same way, towards Fumu. Correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Third, any Silent wanting to take us but still be close to her supply line would also be better off near Fumu, right?”
“Right, sir.”
“And finally, we would also be more likely to bump into some pirate ships on the way, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
I nodded.
“Then let’s change course, gentlemen. Let’s go around, cross the Mirox down below and go straight to Webbur. It will add us two more days in hostile territory, but it could save us some trouble.”
I looked at them. Jilton didn’t say anything. Ojoe was thinking. I could see the wheels turning in his head. He finally looked back.
“It wouldn’t delay the comms recovery. We would be closer to Webbur, even though in the Dark Sea, so we would be able to connect as planned. Maybe even sooner.”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“And we’d be closer to the convoy paths and any likely Navy ship’s course.”
“Yes.”
He was clever. He finally was seeing where I was going with this. I wanted to relay our intelligence as soon as possible. I didn’t think we had much of a chance of surviving. However, at that point, in that meeting, I was just doing my job. Relaying was more important than surviving. Completing our mission was more important than living.
“Well, sir.” Said Ojoe. “I’m with you.”
I smiled.
“Good man. Go ahead and change course, will you, Mr Ojoe? I’m going with Mr Jilton to take a look at the damages, all right?”
“Yes, sir.”
*
I found Kary near H5. I called him to join Jilton and me.
“How was the info gathering, Mr Erbay?”
“It was good, Captain. Important.”
I looked into his eyes.
“Listen Kary, we’ve lost the main antennas.”
He didn’t flinch.
“I’ve heard.”
“Secondary doesn’t look that good either, so we were thinking, Jilton and I…”
“Go on.”
“As a last resort, we should put as much of the intelligence data as we can in an orphan probe. So we can send it away towards Webbur if the worst happens.”
Erbay looked at the floor, thoughtful. Finally, he said:
“Can it be detected?”
“By the enemy? Unlikely. It will be detected once it comes in a range of home planet. We’ll get it to send a signal then.”
He nodded.
“Good. Do that.”
“We still have the escape pods, but they’d be easier to detect, and we’d have to deploy them in time.”
“Fine by me. Just do what you think best. Tell me what you need from us.”
“Okay. By the way, we’re changing course.”
He raised his eyebrow.
“We are?”
“Gonna go around Fumu and cross the Mirox down below. Will get us close to a relay faster and it’s probably less risky. What do you think?”
He looked at me for a moment, trying to figure out what to do, then he finally said:
“Good call.”
*
They got me a cabin in H1. Next to the infirmary. The one where Mira was. I got back there a few hours later. Mira was sleeping. I talked to the doctor.
“How is she?”
He tilted his head and pressed his lips.
“Nervous, anxious. She’s been trying to sleep, but she keeps waking up with nightmares. We gave her something to calm her down. Let’s see how she responds. You can take her to a cabin, if you want, there’s nothing physical we should be watching for, but…”
“You’d rather she remains here…”
“I think it’s best if she’s not alone right now.”
“Okay. Let her be, then. Please take care of her.”
“Don’t worry, Captain.”
*
I was trying to sleep for a bit when they called me. About 50 hours after we had destroyed the Mother. It was time. I was on the bridge in a matter of minutes.
“Yes, Mr Ojoe?”
“Contact, sir.”
I sat on my chair as soon as Ojoe left for his. He continued as I looked at my screen.
“10-and-8, Level 6. Here one minute, gone the other.”
It was a Silent.
“So here we are…” I whispered, not expecting a reply. But Ojoe heard me.
“Yes, sir.” He said.
Dalto announced:
“Contact, sir. Level 5, 10-and-7. Red flag.”
“Very well, Mr Dalto.” I said. “Mr Steen, battle speed, please, and then a blind starboard-S. Let’s try to avoid her if we can.”
“Yes, sir.”
I leaned towards Ojoe and whispered in his ear.
“If this gets ugly, Ned… You take D&D, I take M&W, got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
I meant he would take care of defence and damages, I would take care of manoeuvring and weapons. Classic command teamwork.
For a few minutes after the starboard-S, nothing happened. There was no contact. We kept our course.
“Think it worked?” I asked Ojoe. He raised his shoulders in doubt.
We all looked at our screens in silence.
“Should we stay in battle speed, sir?” Asked Steen.
I thought for a second.
“No, Mr Steen, take it down a notch. Let’s see if the contact is still there.”
No-one had a clear idea of the top speed of an Axxian Silent Boat. I was very sure the Arrabat could top it, but what would take to out-manoeuvre a Silent was a real mystery. I’d rather know it sooner than later. So speed went down to cruise. And we waited. And waited.
Jilton came in and relieved his subordinate, sitting in his chair.
“How’s everything, Mr Jilton?” I asked.
“We’re still working on the antennas, sir, but they’ll be ready in no time. Everything else is being wrapped up. We’re the best we’ll be, sir.”
“The probe?”
“Done, sir.”
“The pods?”
“Ready, sir.”
“Good. Well done, Mr Jilton.”
“Thank y…”
“Contact! Level 4, 6-and-9!”
I looked at the screen just as Dalto called again. The starboard-S manoeuvre had apparently left the Silent at our stern. And they weren’t that fast. She had been able to keep up with us, but not been able to get closer than Level 4. Good. That was our advantage. Speed.
“TORPEDO!”
Torpedo? At that range? What was the enemy doing?
“Okay, Mr Steen. Get it off of us, if you please.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Arrabat started climbing and turning starboard in a text book evasive manoeuvre.
“What is this, sir?” Asked Ojoe.
“Just keep your eyes open, Ned. I have a bad feeling about this.”
Our speed kept increasing, and we rolled and turned again, and once more, until, finally, the torpedo lost steam. But then…
“Contact! Level 3! 2-and-4!”
What the hell? How the hell did she get there?
“It’s another one, sir!” Jumped Ojoe. And he was right. Dalto announced:
“Contact! Level 5! 7-and-10!”
“She set us up!” The first Silent had fired the torpedo to distract us from the other Silent coming in. “Find us a space, Mr Steen! Keep them at a distance!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Arrabat turned again, doing a 90-degree angle to the left, and then another turndown.
“Torpedo!”
This one came from the closest enemy ship. We had to be faster avoiding it.
“Step on it, Mr Steen!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr Alzira, please have all counter-measures standing by at
my command.” Said Ojoe.
“Yes, sir. Standing by.”
The Arrabat changed course again and again, twisting and turning to escape the torpedo. But Steen was a pilot of the genius. He could manoeuvre the ship as you, and I can breathe or eat a banana. Suddenly, the torpedo lost steam and was left behind.
“Good job, Mr Steen.”
“Thank you, sir.”
But those hadn’t been serious shootings. The Silent were simply making us lose time and space escaping the torpedoes in an effort to close in for a fatal blow.
“Now you need to get some distance from those sharks. Give us a 50-degree starboard-S, Mr Steen.”
“Yes, sir.”
I was guessing where the sharks were at this point. Through all the twisting manoeuvres I had concentrated in speculating their positions. Now I had to be right. Still, our best weapon was speed.
“How much speed can we get from the engines, Mr Jilton?”
“We’re at 115%, sir. I think we can manage 125 for a while.”
“125% it is. Mr Steen?”
“Yes, sir. 125.”
But we were flying blind. If I’d missed our initial position relative to the Silent, or the general idea of where they should be heading, we could be flying fast into their jaws.
“Any contact, Mr Dalto?”
“Negative, sir.”
For ten minutes we were flying the course at high speed. Finally, I said:
“We can’t keep this up. Get the engines back to 115%, Mr Steen, and correct course towards the Mirox, or we’ll be lost in no time.”
“Yes, sir.”
I was worried, now. Where were the sharks? We were all in silence, waiting for the sudden torpedo to come from nowhere. That’s when Erbay came in.
“Byl, need to talk to you out here.”
I didn’t even look at him.
“Not a good time, Kary.”
“Byl, make time.”
I could hear the urgency in his voice. We were working more and more as a team, these days, and I knew I should trust his judgment. I followed him off the bridge and closed the door.
“Tell me.”
He looked me in the eyes.
“We’re flying blind, right? The Silent are, well… silent, right? Invisible?”
“Pretty much, yes.”
“I think I can locate them. Would that help?”
I raised my eyebrows and stared at him.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Shark-Killer (The Dark Sea War Chronicles Book 3) Page 4
