The Log of the Gray Wolf (Star Wolf Squadron Book 1)

by Shane VanAulen

  “What’s the status?”

  Martin pointed to the console.

  “We are about thirty-five minutes until we reach the bend point. Most of the human crew is locked in the galley except for those on the bridge and in engineering. Of course the Blues are also in those locations and have taken up residence in the crew quarters.”

  “Anyway we can trap them in there, possibly by activating the emergency bulk heads?” he asked, thinking that without those guardswomen this fight would be a bit easier.

  Cappilo looked at his palm pad as Martin stared blankly in thought. The short Italian fireplug answered first.

  “If we can get to the auxiliary controls in either engineering or in the emergency bridge on C deck.”

  Daley quickly added to this, “We could even vent the air out of those sections and either suffocate them or reduce their air to levels where they are unable to move.”

  “Sounds good, can you access the Mammoth’s corridor sensors and reroute them as well as the lift controls?” he inquired, wishing that he had thought of it sooner.

  Mike had managed to get a couple hours of sleep and it worked wonders on him. In the last twenty-four hours they had bended to three systems, fought three battles, and had rescued the Alamo’s crew. They than evaded capture and were now about to try and seize an enemy held ship the size of four battleships. It was no wonder he had cobwebs for thoughts.

  Martin and Rufo were smiling and Mike knew that they had already done just that.

  “Good,” he said and continued without asking for clarification. “Now this is what we will do, four teams, Rufo and Chief Bell will take six men and take control of the engineering section. Martin you’ll take a team to the auxiliary controls and then trap those guards. Knock them out if you can, if you have trouble then kill them, but keep them out of the fight. After that monitor their preparations on the bridge for the bend. If my team fails to get to the bridge on time you’ll have to subvert the bend and download our coordinates to the navigation computer. Also, if we can knock out the ship-to-ship communications system all the better.”

  “What about me?” Gunny asked.

  Mike smiled, “You’ll take a team and rescue the crew locked in the galley. Mister Rabb and I will take the last team and seize the bridge. We’ll need a head start and a clear path. Let’s try to synchronize our attacks, but if any section is compromised then we all go.”

  Ensign Kelly and several of her senior NCOs had been listening to the briefing from just outside of the circle. She pushed her way through the Wolf’s teams to the inner circle.

  “What about my people sir?”

  Her tone told Mike everything that he needed to know. They didn’t want to be left out. They were probably thirsting for revenge after their horrendous ordeal, but the last thing he needed was an unknown group tramping around shooting anything that moved.

  This was a complicated surgical strike that if it got fouled up could cost them all their lives. His teams had trained, worked and fought together and would have a better chance without any help.

  Of course that not what she or her men wanted to hear so Mike lied.

  “Ensign, you’re late I was looking for you,” he said, dressing her down and putting her back in her place. Before she could offer an excuse or an apology he continued, “You and your people have the most important job. You’ll prep the Alamo for take off and hold the ship until we get back. If you get a signal that things have gone to hell you blast your way through the hull and do your best to escape.”

  Gunny Masters jumped in and added to her orders in a fatherly voice, “Ensign, that means you give us every break, but don’t lose your ship on account of us.”

  She nodded in reply not liking the minor role, but realizing that her crew was still exhausted and would do the most good on the Alamo.

  “Yes sir, we’ll hold the ship until you get back,” she said, looking at Collins and making eye contact.

  It was in that moment that he realized that the little brunette had pale green eyes. Irish eyes, it had to be a good omen he thought.

  “Do you have a sidearm?” he asked.

  She shook her head no.

  All of her men were holding borrowed weapons from the Wolf’s crew, but she had felt it was important to get them armed first. She also had been busy helping Mister Cappilo to get the engines fully restored. Mike handed her his Colt needle rifle and then drew his Krager. If he had to give a weapon up the larger bulkier rifle was his choice. He’d rather keep his pistol, which was what he was the most comfortable with and was after all a gift from his father.

  “Gunny, lets have a weapons check and get saddled up,” Mike ordered, wanting to get started. His group had the furthest to go and time was now their enemy. A few minutes later they were on the move.

  They all headed out together, but Mike’s group had to practically run so that they’d be in position on time. He had the benefit of having Gunny’s team travel part of the way with them until they had to get off at C deck. He also had a guardian angel watching over them. Ensign Kelly and Dr. Duarte were manning the sensors that Martin had tapped into.

  If an enemy started to move towards them they would at least have a heads up. Daley had also set up a block so that the bridge crew wouldn’t be able to monitor their approach. Mike had to admit that the man was a wizard with computers and he was more than glad to have him with them.

  His team had reached deck A where they had to leave the lift. They would have to travel down a hundred meters to the bridge access. Hurrying down the hall they reached the bridge lift that would take them to the command deck. As he scanned the hall a call came across his link.

  “Lt. Collins, there is a team of eight armed guards coming up the port lift. They should be at your location in a few minutes.

  “Roger, all teams go in two minutes,” he called, having already received their signals that they were in position. Looking to his team he saw that they were scanning the area waiting for the enemy to show up. “All right, it’s probably a change of duty shifts. Mister Rabb set up an ambush for the Blues here at the hall’s junction. I’ll go on with Mister Pendleton and hit the bridge.”

  Will Rabb looked at him and frowned. “Sir, with all due respect I’d like to go with you. Joe can handle the ambush and two men hitting the bridge isn’t going to be easy.”

  Pendleton also looked like he was about to argue, but Mike held up a hand cutting him off.

  “Joe, can you take the ball?”

  The young man smiled, “Either way no problem, its your call boss.”

  “All right, Mister Pendleton sets the ambush and Will comes with me,” he said, hoping that the sophomore could handle it. Mike looked at the older men in the group and his eyes stopped on a quiet, but tough hand.

  “Chief Reynolds, you’re to assist Mister Pendleton,” he said, really meaning don’t let the young man get them all killed.

  The seventy-nine-year-old man nodded in reply. He was old, but fit due to a combination of better health care, exercise and advanced medicines.

  “Don’t worry, no one will step on their dicks, sir,” he said, making the group chuckle in amusement.

  Mike turned and rushed the finally few meters to the lift as Rabb followed him sticking close to his heels. Entering the lift, they reached the command deck and a short open hallway. On the floor plans this hall lead to the bridge and to two side rooms. One was the captain’s private day cabin and the other was a planning and briefing room.

  Running to the bulkhead door he touched his throat’s comm. link.

  “All units have a go, take them down!”

  Looking to Rabb he nodded that he was ready and tried the door, but it was locked.

  “Fuck!” he swore and reached into his pack. It took a minute as they quickly placed a shape charged explosives along the perimeter.

  Moving back down the hall they knelt down as Mike pulled out the remote detonator.

  “Did you use enough explosives sir?�
� Rabb asked with a questioning look.

  Mike shrugged and hit the detonator. The explosion was deafening despite their helmet’s automated sound buffers.

  “I think I used enough!” he yelled, rushing through the open doorway before the smoke had even cleared.

  Bursting onto the bridge they found that everyone had been stunned for a moment by the blast. The two guards stationed at the door prior to the explosion were down and not moving having been thrown several meters away. The lady Karduan captain had also been thrown from her seat and was struggling to get back to her feet.

  Collins and Rabb wasted no time. Mike moved to the left and Rabb to the right as they started to find their targets and shoot. Their pistols were set on semi automatic to reduce the risk of hitting a console or a human prisoner.

  Mike’s Krager was on gauss mode and he systematically fired, working his way from the twelve o’clock position to the six. He worked his way left moving in a counter clockwise pattern. He had just hit three guards with clean head and chest shots when he was slammed into from the side. The tackle took him to the floor and he lost his grip on his pistol.

  Turning as he fell he managed to land on his back with a guardswoman on top of him. Reaching up he grabbed the edge of her armor’s collar and pulled her towards the left. Her momentum added with his strength sent her flying off to the side. Rolling after her he struck downward with a hammer fist hitting her across the bridge of her nose. The blow smashed her nose flat and bluish blood poured from the break.

  Rising to his feet he turned just as a sword thrust towards his head. Leaping back his left hand brought up his carbon sword as the blade sprung to its full extension. Parrying the head cut he double stepped back and switched sides as he transferred his sword to his primary hand.

  This was wonderful, the ship mistress thought for a mere second at the challenge of facing a sword carrying opponent. She had expected to run him through as she had the other human attacker, but this one had from almost thin air not only produced a sword but block her cut.

  Seeing an opportunity as his sword switched hands, Krall-Ly charged forward presenting a series of fast attacks as she crossed the distance. She had started with a small circular cut on her first step and then followed with a slow low feint, which turned, into a quick high thrust. The series was called, Stabbing the Flying Mual. Her teachers had told her that on Voroosh Prime, it was practiced at night by plucking the Mual or bat/birds from the air on the points of their swords.

  Mike on the other hand didn’t have time to think as his years of training in fencing had taken over and he instinctively blocked her first strike. The female captain was attacking aggressively which though normally was a strength in a fight was in truth her weakness.

  His counter came smoothly as he retreated back from her first two moves and then performed a technique that was from the European school of fencing called, the passata sotto. This maneuver was done by dropping beneath the incoming blade and then hitting the charging foe with a thrust of your own.

  He changed it a little and instead of just dropping he sidestepped with his left foot into an evasion called a demi-volt avoiding her high lunge as his sword thrust into the charging woman’s stomach. The carbon blade went all the way to the hilt and a good two-thirds of the sword’s length jutted out the ship mistress’s back. The look on her pale blue face was one of total and unbelieving surprise.

  Retracting his blade rather than trying to yank it out he took two quick steps to where his Krager laid and retrieved his pistol. Scanning the room, he saw the human crew finally stirring and that everyone else was down. All of the Karduan were dead except the one he had smashed in the face. Rabb had shot the other two guardswomen before the ship mistress had stabbed him. Mike ignored the bodies and the Mammoth’s crew as he rushed to his fallen comrade’s side.

  Rolling him over, Mike heard a moan and he let out a sigh of relief. If Rabb was alive he stood a good chance of staying that way. Looking to Will’s wound he saw that the Karduan thrust had missed his fourth intercostals space between his ribs and therefore missed his heart.

  Instead of a fatal wound, the patar had punctured between the fifth and sixth ribs and passed through without hitting any major organs or arteries. Mike made a mental note to check if Karduan organs were significantly different in their location.

  Rabb sat up even though Collins had told him to lay down.

  “My auto medical unit pumped me up with Heal-X,” he said, even as his wound was closing.

  Smiling he pulled his friend to this feet, “Remind me to buy stock in Ameri-Corp,” he said smiling.

  “Yeah, like we can afford that,” Rabb laughed.

  An unfamiliar voice broke up their moment of laughter.

  “Who are you men?”

  They turned to see that the five human prisoners had finally gotten to their feet. The man questioning them looked to be in his late twenties early thirties with a long narrow face and small brown eyes. He was wearing the rank of a full lieutenant on his collar and had worried look on his face.

  Over Mike’s link he heard Cappilo report that engineering had been secured. A moment later Gunny reported that the Mammoth’s crew had been rescued without casualties. Martin’s voice then added that the auxiliary control room had been taken without incident and that the Karduan guards were unconscious and locked in the crew quarters by emergency bulkheads.

  The astonished lieutenant again asked who they were and Mike held up a finger telling him to wait a minute as he listened to his team’s reports.

  “Mister Pendleton, report,” he called, worrying that they had run into trouble. A moment later Gunny broke in that he was sending half his team to check on them.

  “This is Chief Reynolds, negative on the reinforcements, we’re just fine and all of the bad girls are down. Mister Pendleton took a nasty leg wound and passed out, but he’ll be just fine.”

  Mike acknowledged their messages and told them to carry on as he then turned his attention back to the bridge. Rabb had already moved from the maser station to the navigation station and was monitoring the Karduan squadron around them.

  “Sir, the enemy is still unaware of us and we have five minutes until we bend.”

  “Very good,” he said and then scanned the Mammoth’s happy if stunned bridge crew.

  “I’m Lt. Collins of the ISS Star Wolf. There is no time to explain, everyone man their stations and prepare for bend!”

  Passing by the questioning lieutenant he moved to the navigation console and imputed a data crystal that had the new bend coordinates. Once he verified the download he crossed to the vacant helm station. Looking for the helmsman he saw that it was the still immobile officer.

  “Lieutenant, if you are the helmsman would you man your station? I can do it but it would be better if you did.”

  The officer’s faced flushed red with either embarrassment or anger as he finally moved back to his seat and sat down.

  “Sir, the Karduan battle destroyer is signaling for all ships to enter the well and bend, the crewman operating the communication station reported and then added, “They are waiting for voice confirmation and they wont except it from me.”

  Mike looked around the room searching for a female crewman.

  “Damn!” he swore and then touched his link.

  “Kelly put Angelique on and hurry,” he ordered as the helm office made a comment about getting them all killed.

  Ignoring the other lieutenant, he proceeded with his impromptu plan.

  “Angelique, have Jamie patch you through to the communications station and then repeat what I’m about to tell you.”

  A moment later both Ensign Kelly and the comm. officer reported that they were ready. He then slowly pronounced in Karduan that they acknowledged the order and that they were prepared for bend. He decided that Duarte would be a better choice to repeat his words having not only language training, but also an accent that could pass more easily for Karduan.

  The Mammoth�
�s Lieutenant turned from the helm and looked at him accusingly, “You speak Karduan?”

  “Quiet!” Mike ordered, trying to listen for their response in case he had to translate. His Karduan was passable if in a limited vocabulary, but he was by no means a linguist.

  The comm. computer could do an instant translation and even broadcast in Kardie, but the enemy had a habit of wanting a real voice to confirm orders. The Confederation had tricked them earlier in the war with computer simulations and they had been cautious ever since.

  Everyone held their breaths and several people said quick prayers as they waited for the verdict.

  “It’s all right. They bought it and have acknowledged our message,” the communications operator reported. A small cheer followed his announcement.

  “Comm. have all stations report,” Mike ordered, moving to the captain’s chair and standing next to it.

  “Sir, all stations report ready for bend, the hull’s shell has been polarized.” At that moment the maser station cut in.

  “The battle destroyer, a destroyer and one of the destroyer escorts have entered the gravity well and have gone into the bend. We are the next ship to enter, the other destroyer escort and the damaged destroyer are to follow us.”

  After having taken such a beating from the Wolf the damaged destroyer had been placed at the back of the bend in order to better protect it.

  Mike now had a choice, he could move into the bend and escape cleanly or … “Does this ship still have torpedoes?” he asked, surprising the crew.

  “Yes sir, two torpedo launchers, one fusion turret, ten missiles turrets and twenty anti-missile gauss turrets,” a crewman answered.

  It wasn’t much, but he could give them a good slap maybe a little more.

  “Target the damaged destroyer, the same one that the Star Wolf had mauled, with all missiles and torpedoes.”

  The helm lieutenant leaped to his feet.

  “Are you insane! We need to run not try and fight it out with a destroyer escort and a full destroyer!”

  Mike waited a second before he answered, “What’s your name Mister?”