"This is totally unexpected, Excellency," said Nassar. "It is also very bad. The Perseus has defected to the opposition! Their first act was to attack our other destroyer escort which they did without any warning. As you can see, the Xerxes took heavy damage and is unable to fight. Captain Hassad of the Perseus has ordered us to surrender."
"Hassad? I might have known!" said the Ambassador. "I have suspected him for some time but now I know for certain. What are our options, Nassar?"
"They would appear to be very limited, Excellency," replied the Captain. "Our shields will hold for a while but eventually..."
On the main viewscreen Carlisle could see that two ships were menacing the station and any ship that was nearby, the Istanbul among them. As they watched on the main viewscreen, twin pulses flashed out of the twin mount beam projector on the bow end of a destroyer that bore Meridian markings and made impact on what appeared to be an already badly damaged UTFN destroyer. A similar ship was menacing the Military end of the orbital station and, as they watched, two accurately aimed pulses from that destroyer's forward turret struck a shuttle that had just exited the air curtain in an attempt to escape. The central portion of the tiny craft exploded in a bright flash and the two ends went cartwheeling lazily outward from the point of impact.
A cutter, also attempting to escape, then exited from the Military end of the station under full acceleration. A pulse bolt, this time from the aft main battery of the aggressor destroyer, grazed past her stern, doing no apparent damage. The cutter immediately maneuvered to place the station between it and the attacking ship. The tactic seemed to have bought them some time, the small craft remained intact, at least for the time being.
Carlisle's tactical mind went into overdrive as she took stock of the situation. One of the two aggressors was presumably the newly defected Perseus while the other was an ally that must have been docked near the station. She remembered having seen the second ship from the bridge of the Asimov earlier. Carlisle took in the scene and immediately surmised that after disabling the Xerxes and attacking the unidentified Federation ship, the two aggressors had fired warning shots at the Santana Station. Rather than actually intending to do any harm to the station, they were instead probably trying to force the authorities to surrender and had no immediate plans to significantly damage it. Her suspicions were confirmed when the Captain of the defected Perseus issued an ultimatum to the Nexus Station.
"Santana Nexus, in the name of the Sheik of Barsoom, true Emperor of Meridian, I demand that you surrender immediately!"
Another of the Istanbul's view screens, set to display nearby space traffic, showed at least four additional ships, one of them appearing to be a fairly large unit, possibly a cruiser, boring in on the station in a loose formation that would bring them within weapons range sometime in the next few minutes. The FNS Asimov was the only Federation ship putting up any kind of defense, probably because she had been set to depart later in the day and the ship had been fully manned and the crew somewhat alert.
The two other Federation destroyers, those that were to remain on guard at the station, had apparently not been ready for any kind of action and had succumbed early during the surprise attack. As Carlisle had just observed, at least one of them appeared to have taken heavy damage within the last few seconds. The remaining Federation destroyer had somehow been able to get her shields up but appeared to have taken significant damage beforehand as well.
Something needed to be done and quickly!
Carlisle, her tactical mind now fully engaged, assessed the situation quickly and efficiently. She remembered several important details from her brief but thorough perusal of the Istanbul's specifications. Combining these details with her recently acquired knowledge of "extreme tactics" she came up with a solution for their predicament.
"Excellency," she addressed the Ambassador. "This ship is equipped with a Pearson compensator. Is that correct?"
Captain Nassar interrupted her immediately. "Yes, we have a compensator, Ensign, but I strongly disagree with what I think you are about to suggest. We simply can't guarantee..."
Carlisle interrupted him in turn, "Sorry, Captain, there's no time! Ambassador Saladin, I suggest we perform a microjump towards the Whitney hyperlink point as soon as possible, preferably within the next thirty seconds, and then use the jump point to get completely out of this system immediately."
"But we are too close to the station," said Nassar.
"The Nexus Station is free-standing, there are no gravity wells of any appreciable size anywhere near this area," said Carlisle. "With the compensator we won't have any problem with the jump, even if we're not in the usual microjump zone. Normally, courtesy and system regulations wouldn't allow us to jump while we're this close to the station, in fact, whoever these people are, they're probably counting on it! This is an emergency! With officials from twelve governments on board, we have to be their prime target! We won't have a chance if we behave the way they expect us to. I say jump and jump now!"
"Program the jump, Captain," said the Ambassador, with no hesitation.
Captain Nassar may have disagreed with Carlisle's suggestion but when ordered to do so by the Ambassador, he carried out the unorthodox instruction without further delay. In the brief period before the jump, Davis-Moore used a small hand transmitter to contact his own ship, the Dingo, frantically repeating Carlisle's instructions to the Dingo's captain.
Just as the incoming enemy ship formation was getting close enough for visual detection and, more importantly, into effective beam weapons range, the Istanbul flashed pure white for a fraction of a second before completely disappearing from the vicinity of the Station. Davis-Moore's ship, the Dingo, on the far side of the orbital station and most likely not a prime target anyway, followed within a minute. The microjump lasted just over two minutes, subjective time, and the Istanbul phased back into normal space a scant fifteen minutes from the Santana Nexus System's Whitney macrojump point.
The ship was almost immediately challenged.
"Istanbul, stand down immediately or be attacked!" came the terse warning, though it was audio only. At that moment Davis-Moore's cargo ship flashed into view a few kilometers away. Both ships ignored the warning hail and began accelerating towards the Whitney jump point.
Carlisle had been rescanning the specifications of the Istanbul on her wrist computer during the entire time they had been in the microjump.
"What kind of ship just challenged us?" she asked.
"It appears to be a Clovian destroyer, very likely an El-Nashar class," said the ship's communications officer. "Not the latest design, but still quite formidable.
Carlisle brought up the specs on the destroyer type, scanned a few vital parameters, and made another decision.
"Have the Dingo take a position that puts us between him and the enemy ship," she said.
"What are you suggesting now, Ensign?" asked Nassar.
"We continue with our plan to jump out of this system," she replied. "According to my briefing materials, this ship is based on a Cutlass class heavy cruiser. We don't have the offensive weapons of a Cutlass, but we do have the same shielding. The armament on that destroyer is no match for our shields. Tell the Dingo to stay in our shadow and jump as soon as possible. In fact, let her go first, we can sustain a few hits."
"Do you agree, Nassar," asked the Ambassador. "Are the shields strong enough?"
Nassar, eying the Ensign with grudging respect, nodded his head in agreement.
"Yes, Excellency, it will not be comfortable, but we should have no difficulty. Where are we jumping to?" asked Nassar.
"Exactly where they won't expect us to," said Carlisle, "New Ceylon."
The Ambassador thought about it briefly and nodded his head in assent.
"I can think of no better destination at the moment, Ensign. Make it so, Captain Nassar. Clancy, inform your ship's captain of our intentions."
Davis-Moore tersely gave instructions over his small communicator. Unob
served by any of them, a minor communications technician, one who was fairly new to the crew of the Istanbul, mumbled something surreptitiously into a small communications device before quickly returning it to concealment. In the confusion of the moment, the illicit communication went unnoticed.
The captain of the Dingo skillfully positioned his modern freighter so it was shielded from attack from the destroyer by the somewhat larger bulk of the Istanbul. Captain Nassar received two more verbal warnings followed by a shot across his bow from the enemy destroyer before the aggressor ship's captain realized the Istanbul had no intention of surrendering and he finally gave the order to open fire on them in earnest. Two sharp impacts from the twin-mount pulse beam turret on the bow end of the destroyer struck the Istanbul. The diplomatic ship's lozenge-shaped energy shield, which outlined the entire ship to a distance of some thirty meters, flared dark purple. On board the Istanbul, the occupants felt the big ship lurch and saw the lights flicker before resorting to their former level of brightness.
The Captain of the enemy ship interrupted his attack to provide the Istanbul with another opportunity to surrender. Whatever else it was the attackers may have wanted, it was obvious that they were hoping to take prisoners, otherwise they would have been firing more intently and more rapidly. Still the Istanbul refused to respond. Five seconds later, the Dingo disappeared as she flashed into hyperspace. The Istanbul took two more hits before she too phased into the relative safety of Wu-Chang psuedospace.
Unseen by any of the crew of either escaping ship, the Asimov, firing her main batteries with superb accuracy, held off two enemy ships while the cutter that had just escaped from the station skidded frantically into her docking bay. Taking a hint from the Istanbul and the Dingo, the Asimov flashed into microjump mode less than five seconds later. Two beams from the Perseus arrowed through the empty space where she had been.
***
After several minutes for the personnel of the Istanbul to recover from the disorienting effects of the jump, Captain Nassar addressed their rogue Spacer tactician. The Captain did not look pleased but he spoke up anyway. "Good work, Dr. Carlisle, I don't know that I would have responded so boldly. It was almost certainly the right thing to do."
Lieutenant Harvick, his diplomatic skills of little use in an actual fire fight, looked shocked and bewildered though Carlisle thought she detected something in his attitude towards her that she hadn't seen before: a hint of respect.
"Remarkable, Dr. Carlisle," said the diplomatic officer, shaking his immaculately groomed head, "simply remarkable!"
"We must return to the ballroom and see if we can calm down our guests," said the Ambassador. "I'm sure they'll all be pleased to know that we're now heading for the New Ceylon system. Sondia? Inform the rest of the ship's company about what has happened. Dr. Carlisle? Lieutenant Harvick? Would you come with me please? I have urgent need for your diplomatic skills."
Carlisle thought to herself, "What diplomatic skills?" but she followed the Ambassador anyway.
The three of them made their way back to the ballroom. Commander Hussein, head of the Ambassador's personal security force, greeted them in the corridor outside the ballroom.
"Do you have a report for us, Hussein?" asked the Ambassador.
"I do, Excellency," replied the security chief. "The so-called Sheik of New Cairo is an impostor, just as we suspected. We are attempting to determine the man's true identity as we speak. The second assailant is dead, it appears he took some kind of poison, something that was hidden on his person. The first assailant is still alive, probably because he was knocked unconscious..." the security chief gave Carlisle a respectful glance. "...He is in the brig strapped to a gurney and under the direct supervision of the ship's doctor. We are assuming that he also has a suicide pill somewhere on or in his body. The doctor is keeping the man sedated so he doesn't have the opportunity to take his own life as the other attacker did. The dead man is being examined to see if we can determine what sort of toxin he used. If we know what killed him we may able to keep the other assailant alive long enough to get some information from him." The security chief's look was grim. "They all appear to be members of 'Aswad Haboob,' the 'Black Storm,' professional assassins for the fundamentalists."
"It is flattering to know that whoever is responsible for this attempt on my life chose to use the best people available," said the Ambassador. "Thank Allah for Sondia and, of course, for Dr. Carlisle!"
Carlisle blushed at the complement. Then she watched as the Ambassador put on his game face, straightened his shoulders and, surrounded by his security people, went back into the ballroom to face a mob of angry and confused "guests" who had now become his responsibility for an indeterminate time. Carlisle and Lieutenant Harvick trailed in after them.
Chapter 25.
On board the Meridian Imperial Diplomatic Ship Istanbul, somewhere in Wu-Chang psuedospace. December 3, 2598.
The macrojump to the New Ceylon system required nearly six hours of subjective time to complete. When the Istanbul phased back into normal space, the Dingo was already waiting for her. Using the Istanbul's Stage I communicator, Captain Nassar immediately attempted to contact the Federation authorities. He received a reply within a few moments.
"Greyhound here," said Helen Murdock, from the Istanbul's viewscreen. "Who did you say you were?"
"This is Meridian Imperial Diplomatic Ship Istanbul calling, we must speak to whoever is in command of this system immediately."
"That's what I thought you said," she replied. "Hang on a minute, I'll get Commander Kresge."
Kresge had been getting some well-earned rest in the first officer's cabin, which he had taken over for his office/living quarters. Though still a little groggy, he was on the bridge of the Greyhound in under a minute. He sat down in the Captain's chair and spoke towards the video pickup.
"Commander Oskar Kresge of the United Terran Federation Navy here," he said. "What can I do for you?"
"Commander Kresge, this is Captain Nassar of the Imperial Meridian Ship Istanbul. Unfortunately we meet again under dire circumstances."
"It is a pleasure to hear from you again, Captain Nassar," replied Kresge. "What is your situation?"
Kresge paled as the most recent developments were explained to him. "So it's begun," he said. "This isn't how I expected it to start but I had a feeling it wouldn't be long. What do you propose to do, Captain?"
"We are as yet unsure, Commander. We were to make our way back to Meridian after our conference but we need to investigate the situation there before making any decisions. At least one of our escort ships defected to the opposition just prior to the attack and, at the moment, we aren't sure of anything. It is entirely possible that we will need to seek refuge in this system for a time." He paused for a moment and then added, "I also must admit that I cannot be certain we won't be pursued."
Kresge looked thoughtful. "We should all be safe here, for the time being anyway. If you were needing to hide out for a while, the Scrapyard is a good place to do it. There are at least eighty wrecks out here in the same size range as the Istanbul. With systems powered down, you'd be very difficult to detect."
"An excellent suggestion, Commander. With your permission, we are on route to the Scrapyard now."
"We'll expect you sometime in the next few hours. Kresge out."
***
Carlisle and Harvick were in the Istanbul's communications suite at the request of the Ambassador when Captain Nassar put through a call to Meridian on the Stage II Whitney Communicator to report current events and to check on the status of their home planet.
"This is Captain Nassar of the Istanbul calling the Meridian Imperial Guard. This is a top priority communication. We have important information concerning Planetary security to report!"
Ominously, he had to repeat the call several times before he got any response. Finally a reply came but the video was of very poor quality and tended to cut in and out. The news from Meridian was not encouraging.
"Meridian Imperial Guard, Major Mustafa here." There was the sound of small arms fire in the background. "Before you continue, Captain, I would advise you not to reveal any information about your current situation or location. There are many separate skirmishes...crackle...all over the planet...crackle...are in the middle of an insurrection here in the capital city...static...aren't sure how long we'll be able to hold out, if at all. Any information you give to me or others in this office could easily wind up in enemy hands."
Captain Nassar was so shocked that he didn't reply for several long moments. Finally he composed himself enough to respond.
"I will tell you then that the Istanbul, with Ambassador Saladin aboard, was able to escape an attack on the Santana Nexus without harm. Prior to the attack we were able to thwart an assassination attempt on the Ambassador as well. Do you have news of the Emperor or the Prime Minister?"
"...crackle...young Emperor is safe in one of the underground...static...may Allah be praised! The whereabouts of the Prime Minister remains...crackle...know that several cabinet members are dead and several others have been captured. I apologize, Captain...crackle...is chaos here at the moment."
"I understand, Major. It sounds like you are fully occupied. We will sign off for now. Please call when you reach a more stable situation."
"Roger, Captain Nassar, ...crackle...stafa out."
The silence on the bridge of the Istanbul after the termination of the call was palpable. The Ambassador immediately contacted Commander Kresge with the news. The crew of the Istanbul kept an anxious eye out for any sign of pursuit but the diplomatic ship and Davis-Moore's smaller Dingo were able to make it to the Scrapyard, a journey of about four hours, without further incident. Kresge directed Captain Nassar to park the Istanbul next to a large conglomeration of similar sized ships. Once there, Nassar proceeded to shut all systems down to minimum levels. The Dingo slipped in next to the cluster of cargo ships where the Greyhound was stationed.
Junkyard Dogs series Omnibus Page 51
