A Greater Interest: Samair in Argos: Book 4

by Michael Kotcher

  “Forward sensors are coming back, but I’m only getting a forty percent return on them, Captain.”

  Reshi nodded, grim-faced. “I’ll take it. Helm, reverse course. Get us back into the fight.”

  “Aye, Captain!” the pilot exclaimed with gusto.

  Reshi had to fight not to roll her eyes in amusement. There were Navy ships that were out there fighting pirates, after all.

  “Lieutenant! Sigma 1 is reengaging,” the sensor watch urgently reported.

  Ramza growled wordlessly. The fight, though invigorating, was not going as well as he’d hoped. Byvennot was a superior vessel with a battle-hardened, veteran crew, but fighting a two-on-one battle was taxing even them. The two Navy ships were doing a decent job of trading off, not letting him focus too much on any one ship, while simultaneously maintaining fire on him. He was convinced their levels of damage were higher than what they’d inflicted upon Byvennot, but his ship was definitely showing the strain (and the damage) from the fight. Now the third corvette was coming back into the fight and the general’s last lighter unit was in danger of being overwhelmed.

  “Helm, break off, turn us toward the planet.” His order was instantly obeyed; his crew new better than to argue. Diving into a planetary atmosphere was certainly dangerous, moreso for a ship already battered by combat, whose shields had all but collapsed, but sometimes grave risks were necessary to survive. “We’ll dip way down into the atmo and level out – try to evade. You know the drill, Helm.”

  The pilot yipped, engrossed in his controls. The ship started to shake, a fine tremor at first as the engines roared to full power. Another half dozen hits came from Sigma 2’s last salvo and then they were clear of them.

  “They’re giving chase,” the sensor watch called out, actually sounding impressed.

  “Of course they are,” Ramza grumbled. “Can’t leave a hard-working ship captain be!” He watched the tactical display as the three ships dove into the atmosphere after them, flying in a loose triangle formation, Sigma 2 in the lead. Sigma 1 was a few hundred meters above and to port, Sigma 3 was to starboard and just behind Sigma 2, but slightly below. Sigma 1 was peppering Byvennot with shots, only one out of every three actually connecting. The range was so close that energy weapons should not miss, but random evasive maneuvers were easier to affect now. A miss by a meter was still a miss.

  The other two Navy ships were inching forward, trying to close the distance and get a clear shot.

  “Got a lock, Captain,” the tactical officer said with feeling.

  “Fire!” Reshi ordered.

  Spirit’s salvo struck Byvennot’s stern at the exact instant as did the one from Firelight. The corvette’s aft shields popped like a soap bubble and damage sparkled on the pirate’s main propulsion units. The enemy vessel visibly rocked in mid flight, wobbling a bit on her course and she began to lose altitude.

  “Good shot, Guns,” Reshi congratulated. “Hit them again!”

  Byvennot bucked under the hits and two seconds later, main propulsion failed. The aft section of the ship was on fire and trailing smoke, but no more thrust was coming. “No!” Ramza roared, leaping to his feet. Another hit rocked the vessel and the wolf stumbled and nearly fell. “Get those engines back!” he screamed, watching on the forward view display as the ground seemed rise up to meet the ship. They were over land now, screaming across the terrain but dropping ever lower. Damage markers glowed red, showing the back quarter of the ship in crimson; crippling, if not total damage. He could make out rocky bits of mountains, trees, then a lake directly ahead.

  Ramza, followed a moment later by the entire bridge crew, let out an ear-shattering shriek of pure frustration and rage. He held that howl for twenty seconds as Byvennot’s belly sliced into the top of the waters of the lake, water cascading in huge waves to both sides. The bottom of the vessel shredded under the weight of the water and the bow slammed into the rocky edge of the cliff face overlooking the lake. The force of the impact crushed the front third of the ship like an empty beer can, the stern of the ship crumpled in and rose out of the water at a crazy arching angle. The whole ship was engulfed in water as a wave washed over the ship, dousing some of the fires, but then the aft end of the ship fell back and the warship flopped down into the lake.

  The Seylonique ships soared overhead, each letting loose another salvo from their energy weapons. The mangled power cores on the pirate vessel up to this point had somehow, miraculously managed to maintain a semblance of stability. But under the barrage the bottles failed and they detonated, tearing the ship apart and sending flaming debris in all directions, raining it down on the lake and the surrounding countryside.

  Thankfully, there aren’t any homesteads or cities nearby, Reshi thought as a great mushroom cloud erupted from the blast site. They were at least two hundred kilometers from one of the bigger cities and while she couldn’t be sure, the Navy captain believed the pirates were moving to try and attack the city, perhaps to distract her from her duty or maybe to try and strike some sort of vengeance for the end they’d seen coming.

  “All ships, pull up!” she ordered, watching hull stress markers on the damage control displays rise from low in the yellow to dangerously red. “Get us out of the planetary atmosphere and back into a high orbit.” Multiple sonic booms tore through the atmosphere as the three ships altered vectors upward and accelered back out into space. In moments, the three ships managed to get clear of the planet and return to the black, the blue and green orb of Heb glowing beneath them as they established high orbit.

  Reshi Dharvhan wanted nothing more than to slump back in her chair and gasp for breath, but she refrained. The instructors at the Academy had drilled into the cadets’ thick skulls that the captain was the Master of her ship and as such needed to project an aura of command, calm and confidence at all times. It was all right and understandable to feel fear or indecision, they had said, but a captain must keep her cool and at least a façade of absolute control.

  She pressed a comm stud on the arm of her chair. Her hand was visibly shaking and she hurriedly clenched her fist. She called to engineering for a status update, making sure that all the damage control teams were deployed.

  “Captain,” the comms officer said, his voice still a bit shaky. “I have Councilor Chakrabarti on the line for you.”

  Reshi nodded, suppressing a sigh. Even though the enemy warship had exploded in empty country in a deserted lake, the blast could surely have been heard for many kilometers. They weren’t that far from one of the cities, so someone must have heard what happened, reported in and now the captain of the Navy Squadron was about to get an earful. She squared her shoulders a bit, then nodded again. “Put him through here.”

  An instant later, a comm display window opened, showing her uncle. He had a mix of concern and anger on his face. “Captain, I’m getting reports of a massive explosion two hundred kilometers southeast of the city of Rengell. The citizens are concerned, the governor is having a fit and he’s screaming bloody murder to Governor Val. What the hell is happening?” he demanded.

  “We had a slight problem with a pirate ship, Councilor,” Reshi said calmly. “He tried to evade us, but he failed. He’s been dealt with.” Smiles broke out across the bridge as the watch standers congratulated themselves. No one spoke, however, not with a Councilor on the line.

  “A pirate ship?” Chakrabarti’s expression changed from anger to heavy concern. “Here?”

  “Yes, Councilor,” she replied, unable to keep just a trace of smugness from her tone. “In fact, sensors indicated it was one of the ones who participated in the battle in the Outer System back home. He was hiding behind one of Heb’s moons and tried to ambush my squadron. We taught him a stern lesson before we killed him.” This time the bridge crew did cheer in triumph. She smiled as they did so, not wanting to dampen their spirits. This was a victory, a big one, as far as Reshi was concerned. “He tried to drop into the atmosphere either to evade us or to attack one of the cities, but we
destroyed his ship before he got the opportunity to do either.”

  Her Uncle put a hand to his forehead for a moment before he lowered it and straightened. “I see. And the status of your ships?”

  “Lobo was out of the fight and I’m sure I’m going to get an earful about that,” Reshi said ruefully. Then she waved a hand. “I’m waiting for full damage reports from the others, but we got banged up. I’ll have a full report in a few hours, if you want it.”

  His lips twitched. “I look forward to reading it. Any serious casualties?”

  She gritted her teeth. “Some. None dead, so far, but reports are still coming in.”

  “Well that’s good at least. That no one died so far, I mean,” he corrected himself hurriedly. “If we need to, I can speak with Governor Val about having any of the serious casualties from your ships transferred down here to the local hospitals.”

  She nodded. “I appreciate the offer, Uncle. If necessary, I’ll get you on the line.” Then she scowled as another display opened to show the casualty figures. “Actually, Councilor, if you can arrange it, I mean, if it is possible, could please prevail upon the good governor to free up some hospital space? I have four of my crew that are in serious need.” She paused, grimacing.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  Reshi did not relax her frown when she spoke. “They need serious medical attention, sir. Can we trust that the locals can provide the proper care?”

  Chakrabarti shrugged. “They say they can. I’m no surgeon. As I understand it, they have received a good deal of assistance in upgrading their medical facilities from some of our own citizens. I don’t know what that means, exactly, or how much actual skill they have. But it has to be better than the one or two medics you have aboard your corvettes.”

  “Two sir,” she confirmed. “Nurses. But I suppose you’re right. I’ll have them loaded on a shuttlepod and ready to send down.”

  “I’ll make sure you have landing instructions and teams standing by, Captain. You did well. And I look forward to your report.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Turn us away from the planet,” Major Nezerek ordered. The crew on the cramped bridge watched the sensor displays, showing the battle. The displays showed the icon of the cargo ship TC2741 on a vector toward the planet Heb and the battle with the enemy corvettes. Their comrade ship, Byvennot dove into the atmosphere, but the rats followed her down. They watched as the corvette exploded and the enemy climbed out of the atmosphere and resumed orbit.

  The brindled brown and gold furred lupusan turned to the commander of the cargo ship, a grizzled veteran with shaggy white fur. The old one, Braelock, was still strong and spritely, but at four hundred and forty-eight years of age, he couldn’t keep up with the wolves two hundred years his junior. He’d been with General Typhon’s forces from the beginning, a member of the Grenadiers since before the war, even before the General had taken command of the brigade. He couldn’t serve as a front line grenadier any longer but he could serve as the driver of one of the general’s “swag barges” as the troops liked to call them.

  “We’re just going to leave?” Braelock demanded, not quite sure what he was hearing. He wasn’t being insubordinate, he genuinely didn’t understand.

  The major’s glance was filled with irritation. ”Yes, Lieutenant, we’re leaving. Byvennot is lost and the soldiers on this ship can do nothing to save her. We will bypass the planet, transit the system and move on to Bimawae.”

  “But we have orders to stop here for supplies,” Braelock protested.

  The major took a step closer. He was a battle-scarred veteran of many campaigns during the war as well as hundreds of raids and boarding actions since their exile. He feared no one but he remembered that no one but he recognized that while old, Braelock was by no means harmless. However, he could not let a mere lieutenant dictate terms. Nezerek was in charge of this mission and he was third in command of the division. Braelock knew this and was also well aware of the general’s orders. But it was his ship and he had a saw in where they went.

  But there was no chance here. There were four enemy corvettes in the system and they had made short work of Byvennot, the only ally they had out here. TC2741 had a company of ninety-three grenadiers with two assault shuttles, but they could only get in and do their thing if they could fly in close to their target. If the corvette captains didn’t feel like accommodating, they could just stand off and hammer the freighter, or the shuttles, into free-floating ions.

  “No. We’ll leave here and head for Bimawae to try our luck there.”

  “You have the troops and your shuttles have stealth capabilities,” Braelock grumbled, turning away. “Take one of the corvettes.”

  Nezerek considered this. But then he shook his head. “No, they’re already in a heightened state of alert and their active sensors are banging away. I don’t want to be caught out in the open trying to sneak in close and get hit with an active sensor ping. The stealth would be compromised and we’d have an angry and paranoid enemy after us. There are far better hunting grounds.”

  Braelock huffed out a sigh, looking to his displays. “Do as you will. Helm, alter vector to bypass the planet. Do not be clumsy in your maneuvering. Try to make it look as though we never intended to stop here but we were just passing through. I don’t want to attract any more attention than necessary.”

  Major Nezerek nodded in approval. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Hopefully Bimawae will provide more satisfying sport.”

  Chapter 21

  “Wait, they want how many A2s?” Tamara asked, incredulous.

  Galina yipped a laugh. “Twenty. I know, I’m impressed as well. I didn’t think R3 Systems would be willing or able to pull together the necessary funding for that many, but apparently they’re firm in their commitment.”

  “They want all those replicators for what?” Tamara asked, putting a hand to her forehead. “They’re going to put everything into the moon base?”

  “They’re splitting their resources,” Galina told her. “From what my sources tell me, they’re moving forward with the planetary shipyard project.”

  She shrugged. “Well that can only be for the good. Get more industry and repair capability. And if they can build and service more ships, that means more will come here and… well you know.”

  Galina gave another chuckle. “I can never quite understand human behavior and especially yours.”

  Tamara blinked. “Mine?”

  “Yes,” the lupusan replied. “You’re in charge of the largest and most powerful industrial operation in the star system. You should be building an orbital yard, but you don’t. In fact, you’ve deliberately left the field open for someone else to exploit. Why?”

  “Because I don’t want First Principles to start looking like this gargantuan evil empire. And I don’t want FP to the be only stop for people wanting to do things. If there are options, then there’s competition and we’ll all push each other. Besides, if FP is the only game in town, eventually, the government is going to decide they don’t like the way things are going and will move against us.”

  “Surely you don’t think that they will send troops and ships to take company assets,” Galina said, sounding horrified.

  “You’ve forgotten already?” Tamara shrugged. “They’ve done it before. I don’t think that Colonel Gants would participate in another attack, but that doesn’t mean that the council won’t find a way make an accident happen. Or just make the whole thing legal and break up the company.” She sighed. “I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to screw over all our workers.”

  The lupusan waved her hands. “Wait, wait. You’re worried about the workers?”

  She scowled. “Of course I’m worried about the workers. But it’s not just that. I don’t want everyone looking at us, worrying that the company is going to jack up prices or cut wages or strangle productionor something just because we have the monopoly. And besides, we’ve got enough projects going right now that opening up an
other shipyard just isn’t practical. Let R3 build it and get more ships and shuttles out there. Orbital infrastructure. They’re paying us for the A2s, that’s fine with me.”

  Galina looked at her for a long moment and then shrugged. “If you say so, Tamara.”

  “I do. Now, what’s the status of the new implants?”

  The new prototypes were ready, and several sets of new command modules had been assembled and implanted. All of the senior staff had gotten a set, with Tamara, Galina, and Vincent getting the command datasets, and Tiyanna Moreetz, Ka’Xarian and Eretria Sterling getting a secondary sub-command set. It had gotten to the point where Tamara had needed her guards to all but threaten to hold her down for Eretria to agree, but in the end she acquiesced, not without a great deal of complaining. Once the new command datasets were integrated, then eight shiny new FP-brand industrial replicators were delivered to the shipyards, and four more to the Samarkand. Tamara and Galina had been discussing sending more to the Kutok mine, but plans for that were on hold for the moment.

  “Everyone who needed to get a set has done so, yourself included, so I hear,” Galina replied, smiling. “Did they remove your old Republic Navy implants?”

  “No,” Tamara said ruefully, shaking her head. “I just got an upgrade to the firmware and a few new bits and bobs. If I do end up meeting with a Republic admiral or other high ranking officer or civilian official, the will be able to still shut down my Navy implants. So, with some handy knife work and some nanite assistance, Kassix was able to implant my FP command set separate from the Navy set. I won’t lose function or command access, which is a good thing. Though,” she said, thoughtfully, tapping her chin. “I certainly wouldn’t say no to a really good look at the Republic’s tech database, get a good sniff at what their software geeks have gotten up to in two centuries.”