It was all spilt milk and he wasn’t going to cry about it.
“Signal the Java to pull back and aid the Mammoth in rescue operations. Order the fighters to provide cover for the frigate. Oh by the way do we know what ship that is?” he asked looking to the comm. station and then to the maser station.
“It doesn’t have a Imperial recognition signal,” the maser crewman said throwing his hands up in frustration.
Mike didn’t like the sound of that, but it could have been damaged in the battle.
“What about their communications?”
“We been signaling, but no answer,” communications reported.
“Keep trying to raise someone,” he commanded, “Let get a couple recovery shuttles over to them with repair teams, medical personnel and a boarding party. Have Gunny Masters and Carronade lead the way. When the ship is secure pull boarding parties off first and have the shuttles tow her into the Mammoth.”
As the Java and the Mammoth moved to aid the crippled frigate Mike pulled the Alamo back and headed towards the armed freighter. He wasn’t that worried about the DE coming back to attack them. The pirates knew the odds of beating all three ships along with a half-dozen fighters were astronomical. In addition, from within the dense ammonium atmosphere they had no way to know that the Confederation ships had pulled away.
Approaching the armed freighter, the Alamo called for them to signal their surrender and prepare to be boarded. The pirates failed to respond and Mike had one of his fusion turrets fire a single blast into the freighter’s side.
“Damn it, we surrender already!” a voice called over the comm. link. The pirate’s vid must have been down, but Collins decided not to take any chances.
“All of your people will leave their weapons on your ship and man your escape pods. You will then jettison them out into space. The command staff of your ship will stay behind to insure that you have not rigged your ship to self-destruct. In the event that you do blow up your ship, all of your life pods will be blown from space,” he paused to let his words sink in. “Do I make myself clear?”
“You do and we accept your fucking terms,” the pirate called back a moment later.
If it were a trap at least he wouldn’t be facing all of the survivors of the remaining crew.
“Ensign Kelly you have the bridge, I’ll be leading the boarding party,” he said, getting up from the captain’s chair even as the armed freighter jettisoned its life pods.
Kelly also stood from her station as first officer. Her Irish eyes were frowning, “Sir, respectfully I think you should stay behind and I should lead the mission. You are too valuable to our ship and to our squadron to be risked on what is most likely a trap.”
This made him pause as Jamie waited for his reaction. She was right in many ways as captain and as ranking officer he shouldn’t be leading boarding parties. If Captain Hope had tried to do that, Commander Richards and all of the senior officers would have done everything in their power to stop him.
“Noted and I agree, but you don’t have the experience as a boarding officer or those kind of combat skills,” he said in a lowered voice trying not to offend her. He didn’t want to get her or any crewman killed because he brought them into danger without the chance to survive and win.
Rushing to the shuttle bay he received word that the Carronade had docked with the Alamo after securing the mystery frigate. After boarding the armored shuttle Gunny filled him in on the frigate.
The ship turned out to be the ISS Varuna, the same ship that the repair station’s crew on Austro Prime had repaired and stolen after the Blues’ break through and they were betrayed by the Austro planetary government. Since their escaped they had been trying to get back to Confederation lines, but had found the primary bender routes blocked by overwhelming forces. They had also been hounded by patrolling Karduan ships until they finally retreated to this relative safe haven or at least that’s what they had thought.
They had been busily making repairs when the privateer had come out from hiding and offered to give them aid. The former Karduan DE had appeared a few hours later and that’s when the pirate ship reveled its true colors with a devastating volley at point blank range. The DE came in and helped render the frigate helpless. They had been still pounding away on her trying to soften her up for boarding when the Mammoth arrived.
“Only twenty-five of her original crew of sixty-five are fit for duty if a little worn. They have another eleven wounded, two badly, but Doc Duarte says they’ll pull through.”
“What about their captain?”
Gunny shook his head with a frown.
“Dead and so are most of their officers. A Lieutenant J.G. named Jaffman was left in command. Nice kid though a little trigger happy, he almost shot us as we came onboard. Their sensors and viewer are down along with most of her systems.”
“How long until they bring her onboard?” he asked as the Carronade closed on the upper airlock of the privateer.
Masters called to the twelve-man squad to get ready and then answered his question.
“Two hours just to make sure she doesn’t blow up first.”
The Carronade docked at the Chaos’ upper airlock without incident letting Mike and his six men rush onboard. The Alamo had ordered the three remaining pirates to wait at the mid-ship airlock. Masters would then take the shuttle to the lower shuttle airlock near engineering. They had planned it this way to get a foothold onboard the ship and grab the two most vital systems, engines and bridge.
Reaching the bridge, they saw that it was a mess with only half of her systems operational.
“Lt. Collins, we have secured the engine room and you were right, they tried to set the engines to blow, but there was no way it was going to work,” Gunny reported, using the vid on his palm link to show the young officer the terrible job of booby trapping they did.
Mike wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cringe, thinking that their efforts were worse than bad. They were lucky they didn’t blow themselves up trying to set it.
“The bridge is secure and we’ll be heading down to roundup our guests in a minute. Shut down emergency power when I give you the word. Bring the Carronade up from engineering and we’ll catch them in between us as you enter.” The Alamo would also watch their movements and the enemies with their sensors.
After securing the bridge’s systems they used the main lift to get to the level above where the pirates were waiting for them. They then used a service ladder to climb down the last level and enter D deck unseen. Mike then gave Gunny the word and all power went out.
Confederation space suits were equipped with red-star vision enhancement systems built into their helmets, which allowed them to see in almost any environment. Five minutes later the Carronade docked at the mid-level airlock on D deck. At the same time Collins moved his six men up behind the pirates trying to be as quiet as possible.
The three pirates were focused on the airlock and the shuttle, and were not watching their backs. As he closed on them he could see that they were huddled down behind a makeshift barricade of boxes and furniture. Getting even closer he could hear one of them talking.
“We’ll hit them fast, take the shuttle, blow the ship and make a run for the Anarchy,” one of them said sounding as if he was trying to convince himself as much as his two companions.
Mike had heard enough and brought his Krager up as he carefully took aim. Firing a shock dart into each of their backs he was surprised when only one of the pirates fell to the deck. They must have had either armor built into their space suits or under them. True to his training he quickly switched to gauss and continued to fire as they turned.
Beside him two of his men had moved up and let loose with their Colt assault needle rifles. The two unfortunate pirates were cut down as close to three-dozen poly-steel rounds tore them apart.
A moment after the firing had ended Gunny and his men entered the ship. Seeing the mess, he shook his head.
“Use enough needles there
, sir?” he asked.
Mike ignored him rather than giving him his middle finger, which would have been undignified for an officer.
“Alright, lets get a damage control team over here, secure this ship. Make sure everyone keeps an eye open for anymore surprises and then we’ll haul this thing into the Mammoth.”
Six hours later the Varuna and Chaos were safely loaded onboard and the three Confederation ships moved to the gravity well to leave. The pirate crew had been secured in the brig; the wounded were all treated and resting in sickbay, as the rest of the Varuna’s crew was made welcome. In all that time the Anarchy never once raised its head from the ammonium covered world. Making the bend to the next system Mike wondered how long the remaining pirate ship would stay hidden before it tried to break atmosphere and return to space?
The next bend was treated as an emergency bend. They went into the system and then right back into the well before anyone could even get a sensor lock. Finally, they gave a sigh of relief as they entered the system that they called home, Delta sector, star-system 1387.
Entering the system, the Alamo’s sensors picked up a shuttle near the largest gas giant. It was quickly identified as the Pay Dirt. The mining shuttle had been scooping gas from the gaseous cloud as its filtering equipment sorted out useable fuel and precious metals.
It made the members of the Wolf’s boarding party feel good to think that Captain Kirkland had made it safely back from Austro Prime. A hail to the little shuttle went unanswered and a moment later the Pay Dirt accelerated to its maximum speed as it raced for the asteroid field.
“What the fuck?” Gunny Masters said, frowning at the shuttle’s odd behavior.
Mike opened a command channel to the other ships. They were already at battle stations for the bend, but he ordered the command anyway.
“Sound battle stations,” he said keeping calm.
Whatever was going on they would find out directly. Increasing their own speed, the three Confederation ships crossed the system and headed towards the hidden entrance. Reaching the opening they downloaded the command code deactivating the mines floating nearby. The Alamo received an all clear signal from the mines and headed into the asteroid corridor.
Passing into the open expanse they were greeted by both sloops of war. The Sundance and the Cassidy looked to be in good shape and fully operational.
“This is the ISS Alamo, Lt. Michael Collins commanding.”
The two smaller ships were unmoved, but a moment later his main view screen activated to show the smiling face of Captain Kirkland.
“Damn it! It is good to see you Lieutenant!”
“And you, sir. I see you got the sloops finished.”
The old officer smiled, “Yes, both the Sundance and the Cassidy are proving to be well worth our efforts. Now you’ll have to come over and we’ll catch up on where you got all of these ships”
Mike nodded and looked to his tactical viewer scanning the ships in the system. He was still reading the old freighter Joseph Priestly, right where they had left her and of course the two old sloops. There were several shuttles flying about including the Pay Dirt, a Karduan model and that old one from the pirate base that had had a badly damaged engine.
There was an additional small freighter and surprisingly a Karduan vanguard sloop. Both ships were in a stations keeping orbit near the base. He wanted to ask about the two new ships, but his pressing question was a different one.
“Sir, where is the Star Wolf?”
The captain frowned, his face looking like a crumpled piece of paper, “I was hoping you could tell me that?”
“We went to a system called Jericho Six to try and find the 12th Defense Fleet except the fleet had been destroyed. While I and a boarding party were investigating the remains of the Alamo an enemy squadron came into the system and the Wolf had to bend to safety.”
The shocked old captain quickly cut in.
“Leaving you behind?” he asked thinking that Randolph Hope would never leave a member of his crew behind if there was even a shred of a chance to save them.
Mike nodded, “There was something wrong with her spinal mount. If she had stayed she would have been destroyed.”
“An amazing story and I want to hear the rest of it, especially how you ended up with those three ships. Bring your ships closer to the base, which we are now calling the Wolf’s Den. I couldn’t stand that old pirate name anymore and renamed it to something more fitting. Bring your senior officers over to the base and we will meet in my office.”
Collins acknowledged his order and confirmed that his two other ships had also copied their conversation. Two hours later, Mike, Rufo, Martin, Gunny, along with Ensigns Kelly, Stevens and Lt. Jaffman were gathered in the captain’s office.
The base looked completely different from the last time they had been there. When the Carronade docked at the base’s internal bay they were amazed at the amount of people working there. The bay had repair crews, new machinery and even eight LN-24 Wasp star fighters. The fighters were in various degrees of repair, some looking like they had been in a battle while others looked like they just came out of a museum.
Passing through the halls of the base they noticed an abundance of not only men, but also women and children. Everywhere they went people stopped working to smile or wave at them. A small boy of no more than eight ran up to him and touched his leg and then ran back to his mother. It was like he was making sure they were real. Mike and his staff felt a little like local celebrities or returning heroes from all of their attention.
Halls that had been dead-ends had been expanded and new rooms had been carved out of the rock. By the time his group reached the former admiral’s office they were convinced that this base had been here for years and that there must be at least a hundred people now living here.
“Sir, are you sure that we have only been gone for a month?” Rufo wondered aloud.
Mike shrugged, “Beats the hell out of me? Captain Kirkland must have had an interesting trip back home.”
A moment later, Kirkland and an ensign who they recognized as Bill Peters arrived. The ensign was a middy that had volunteered to go back with the old officer to Austro Prime. They had left family members and friends behind and had wanted to try to get them out.
Martin and Daley broke ranks and rush forward to greet their former classmate as Mike performed a crisp salute and then shook the older officer’s outstretched hand.
“As I said before, its damn good to see you!” Kirkland exclaimed with a broad smile.
“And you, sir,” Mike started a little overwhelmed by it all. “Where did all of these people come from and please tell me that we’ve only been gone a month, right?”
The old officer laughed as the smile lines on his face showed a road map of wrinkles.
“Come into my office and I’ll explain everything,” he said, opening a door that said Base Commander’s Office.
Entering into the office they could see that the former storage closet had been expanded into three large rooms including a secretary’s outer office and two inner offices. Sitting behind a metal desk was a very busy looking woman, who looked up and smiled as they entered.
“Gentlemen, May I present my wife, Martha Kirkland. Who I might add is also my chief secretary and the base operations officer.”
Mrs. Kirkland was around the same age as her husband looking to be a very fit and a youthful seventy. Genetics therapy and drugs meant to combat aging had increased mankind’s life expectancy as well as the vitality of the elderly. Her hair was a brown, streaked with gray strands. She had a bright welcoming smile and friendly blue eyes.
“Welcome, we’ve all been anxiously awaiting for your return,” she said and stepped from around the desk and hugged Mike.
“Now Martha, give the boy a chance to breath,” Kirkland said as the room laughed and his wife finally released the startled young man. “Lets adjourn to my office.”
Moving to the door to the right of the desk he entered
into a large office. Surprisingly, it was fully furnished with a desk, a couch, and several padded chairs. The floor had a deep red plush carpet and a wooden cabinet was built into a wall behind the desk. An older, but still functional combination communication and computer system was built into the desk. With such a system he could effectively monitor base operations and even interface with nearby ships.
“Please excuse my wife, but the entire base has been waiting for news of the Star Wolf’s return and they are all a bit anxious.”
“Where did they all come from, sir?” Cappilo asked as Mrs. Kirkland closed the door.
The former planetary admiral waved his hand for them to find a seat as he crossed to his desk and sat down on the edge.
“After four days we finished repairs to the Cassidy and went back to Austro Prime. The planetary defense cutters challenged us, but they let us in after we told them we had a load of precious gases and minerals to sell. I didn’t want to reveal myself to the captains of those ships until I had to. Having handpicked them I knew their loyalties were to the Confederation being all former navy officers yet I wanted to contact them without others listening in. When we went into orbit we passed the repair station where we saw several interesting things.”
At that moment a knock on the door made him pause as he told whomever it was to enter.
Mrs. Kirkland entered with a tray containing a teapot, cups for everyone and a plate of cookies. All of the junior officers stood up and Martin who was seated closest to the desk moved to help her pass out teacups and cookies.
While this was going on Mike introduced Stevens, Kelly and Jaffman to the senior captain telling him that they were the ranking bridge officers from their various ships. The captain greeted them warmly, but Collins noticed that their low ranks made the older man’s brow crease.
“Thank you dear,” John Kirkland said as his wife left. “What we saw was that the station was being used to repair the Karduan destroyer that had lost its engines to our shuttle attack. They were also repairing those two privateer ships you trashed on the way out. Those pirates weren’t very happy with you and vowed to hunt you down.”
The Log of the Gray Wolf (Star Wolf Squadron Book 1) Page 40
