Echoes from Yesterday: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 4

by Sean Benjamin

  Chou stroked a few keys and static played on the image projector over the briefing table. Chou turned to the Admiral. “Sir, it’s in a code we don’t have in our system.”

  Admiral Barrett looked up at Blondie in silent inquiry. She responded quickly. “Please send it up to me.” Everyone waited for a few moments as she received the message on her work computer and decoded it. She looked down at the Admiral. “Ready, sir.”

  Barrett waved his hand in a go-ahead gesture and Blondie hit a key.

  An image appeared over the briefing table in the center of the room. The scene was of black space with a portion of a ship’s upper hull visible in the lower quarter of the frame. The image was clearly coming from a ship’s hull camera looking dead ahead. A running cheetah was plainly visible on the ship’s hull in the lower quarter of the frame. The pirate vessel Predator. The camera began to sweep left. It swept across a formation of ships in column on the port side of Predator. Ships, their names, and their artwork slowly paraded past. There was Shane Delacruz’s Vindictive with its crossed swords of the extinct Marbella Navy. The destroyer was followed by Marauder, Scoundrel, a destroyer with the name of Cottonmouth on her hull, and, at the end of the column, the supply ship Vampire. The camera continued to pan around to directly behind Predator. There were the ships of Hawkins’ own Alpha squadron stretched out behind the squadron leader. Rogue, Rebel, and Renegade were in a straight line with Dragon bringing up the rear. The camera continued to circle and moved up Predator’s starboard side with the supply ship Steppenwolf, and then showed Corsair, Gunfighter, Outlaw, and, finally, Killian O’Hare’s Nemesis with her striding wolf artwork. The camera returned to a straight-ahead view. The unspoken message was clear. Pirate Flotilla One was on the move.

  Blondie knew Scoundrel as the former Firestorm, but didn’t recognize the other two ships named Cottonmouth and Corsair. She knew Delacruz had to replace Bandit after the Murmansk raid, and O’Hare had to replace Desperado after her loss at the battle of the Nomad asteroid belt; so Blondie assumed those two ships were the replacements.

  Raferty Hawkins now appeared via his computer camera. He was in his captain’s chair on his bridge. He sat with his left leg over the left arm of his chair in a relaxed manner and his left hand on the hilt of the dagger stuck in his left boot, a man at ease with himself and his situation.

  “I acknowledge Lieutenant Bychovskaya’s message. Pirate Flotilla One is currently one day from the Electra System and closing. For Admiral Levant: Forwarding code 19 bravo. Would like to coordinate forces using that code. Please respond with receipt. For Admiral Barrett: Will be deep in your AOR by the time you get this. We are using IFF codes provided during our last pass through. For Lieutenant Bychovskaya, I wish to-.”

  Suddenly Baby Doll, with black hair and wearing black rouge on her cheeks flashed up on the screen in a small window beside Hawkins’ image. She smiled happily. “Hey, Blondie!”

  Her words set off an avalanche of small windows popping up all over the screen accompanied by a chorus of yelling pirates. Eli at the helm, Maddie on white phones, Hyatt on comm, Arky Smith at navigation, and Simon from gunnery. There were choruses of “Hi, Blondie!” and “We miss you, Blondie!” Tactical popped in briefly with a quiet “Hello, Blondie.” Logan, Preacher, Joker, and Ace came and went with a greeting. Even Doc Windsor made an appearance with the question, “Reformed anybody lately?” The entire outburst was accompanied by laughter and joking as pirates talked at Blondie and to and over each other. This had clearly been planned without Captain Hawkins’ knowledge and, if Blondie had to pick the instigator, Baby Doll would be the choice. Captain Hawkins leaned back in his command seat and calmly waited for the storm to pass, almost lost from sight in the maze of overlapping small windows on the screen. Eventually the outburst died down but several windows remained on the screen showing smiling, laughing young people. Hawkins shook his head. “So much for trying to send a professional communiqué to the Aurora Empire.” There was a fresh outburst of laughter from the pirate crew.

  “Say good bye now.” Hawkins quietly ordered.

  Renewed laughter and a chorus of “Good bye, Blondie” sounded off as windows disappeared from the screen until only Hawkins remained. Blondie blinked back tears with a smile on her face. Her ship, her crewmates, her friends. She had missed them badly from the first day of their departure, and she now realized that emotion had not eased one little bit since. Now they were going into battle on the Empire’s behalf and she sat here.

  Hawkins leaned forward in his seat and started out deliberately. “For Blondie, I wish to communicate directly with Admiral Barrett. Please give him code 17 alpha and my attached encoded message. Also, we would be interested in knowing when you put together the facts for this scenario. Baby Doll came to the conclusion of a surprise attack when the carriers disappeared. She is convinced you came up with the correct answer at about the same time. We’ll have to get together and compare notes.” He leaned back and smiled. “Hawkins, flag captain, out.”

  The screen went back to the exterior shipboard camera with Predator’s hull in the lower part before ending.

  The briefing room was quiet as the big screen went blank. All officers looked at Admiral Barrett for his comments. The Admiral smiled up at Blondie at the back of the room. “Morale seems to be high in Predator.”

  Blondie opened her mouth to reply, closed it, and then simply said, “They are undefeated.” The note of pride in her voice was unmistakable. She had really said, “We are undefeated,” she just did not phrase it that way.

  Barrett nodded in agreement and quietly added, “If an officer careers the Navy, he or she will serve on several ships and, if he or she is a very lucky line officer, he or she will get to command a few of them also. But for every officer there is always one ship and one crew in his or her career that will stand above all the others. You seem to have found yours early on.”

  Blondie nodded, “Yes, Admiral.” Her voice slightly cracked.

  Sky noticed several other officers in the briefing room flashing back in their minds’ eye to their favorite ship and crew. Sky caught her breath for a moment as the destroyer Pearl came to her unbidden. The captain and crew of that ship had been the best, and the three-year tour onboard her had been a superb learning experience for young Ensign Skyler Mallory. It was strange but true that ships maintained their same reputation despite continual changeover in crew personnel and changes in duty stations. Pearl had always been considered a superb ship in the Royal Navy. Years later in the Badlands, that ship and crew would make the ultimate sacrifice for Captain Skyler Mallory. Now the little destroyer only patrolled in her memory. But she lived on as a standard of excellence. Sky blinked rapidly.

  Barrett turned to Captain Norton, the fleet OpsO. “Ensure the pirate IFF codes are given to our patrols. I don’t think any of our ships are anywhere near the pirate formation but let’s make sure we don’t have a friendly fire incident.” He turned to his supply officer. “We will resupply them after the fight so be prepared to support that.” He looked at fleet support. “We will do all repair work required to fix any battle damage Pirate Flotilla One incurs on our behalf. I would prefer to do it here, but if their ships can’t get here, we will adjust.” He now looked up at Blondie. “I need code 17 alpha.” He turned to the audience. “Sorry to cut this short. I realize you all worked hard on these briefs and I’m shortchanging you here, but I need to follow up on this new development. Thank you.”

  People started to rise. Blondie hurried down the steps to hand the Admiral an information plug.

  “Code 17 alpha, sir,” she told him in a quiet voice. “And Captain Hawkins’ private message to you.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” He looked at her closely and smiled. “And thank you for all your work during this situation. You’ve done very well, indeed. As always.”

  Blondie blushed slightly and nodded her thanks. “Sir.”

  Admiral Barrett walked out of the compartment and the briefing
broke up. People began to file out to return to their duties. Sky made sure she was next to Blondie as the crowd merged at the entrance hatch.

  “Well done,” she remarked in a low voice.

  Blondie smiled at her and then shrugged. “I just read the information differently than my intel comrades. I could have been wrong.”

  Mallory shook her head. “No. It is more than that. Not only about the enemy attack but about the pirates coming.”

  Blondie looked uncertain for a moment then leaned toward Sky. “Your office?”

  Sky was surprised but nodded down the passageway toward her chief of staff compartment. The two officers walked that way as the crowd thinned out. Sky lead the way in through her private entrance and shut the hatch. She passed by her desk and the chair in front of it. On the far side of her office was a couch with a chair at each end with a long table in front. She took a seat at the end of the couch and motioned for Blondie to join her. Blondie took the other half of the couch and the two faced each other.

  Sky waited expectantly. Blondie took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “The OrCon attack was easily foreseen as far as I’m concerned. A commander with a reputation for risks vanishes off the battlefield. Subordinates with a personal loyalty to her also drop from sight. Their units would join together nicely into a classic task force. No way is that a mere coincidence. The targets were easy too. The Electra System and Signe hub have been hanging out there like grapes since the beginning of the war. The OrCons should have hit them at the start of hostilities. I suspect they figured they could smack them whenever they wanted, so were in no hurry. The war is settling into a back and forth phase. A successful large scale raid would help reestablish their momentum.”

  Sky nodded. “I follow that reasoning, but there is no way you happened to guess the pirates were inbound. Even if they had the intel, they could have just passed it on to us and the onus would be on us to act or not act on it. But you knew they were coming. How?”

  Blondie paused then spoke quietly. “The OrCon battlecruisers Citizen and Republic were part of the squadron you fought in the Badlands and both were damaged. They fired on the pirate settlement at Ulatar. They have come out of the repair yards and joined Kupin’s force. Both fought in Kupin’s last battle and both were undamaged so it was reasonable to assume both were still with her. I knew the pirates would be tracking them through their own intel assets and this raid would bring those two ships outside of Orion space for the first time since the Badlands. This is Flot 1’s opportunity to get their payback. No way Captain Hawkins lets this pass.” She paused and then went on. “Also, there is a new Goth Admiral in the Badlands and she is being heavily reinforced with units from all over the Goldenes Tor. The Badlands will be jumping with enemy activity and Flot 1 needs to get out of the region. Captain Zerbe referred to them raiding throughout the Badlands. They were doing that, but I knew it was to cover their upcoming departure to get the two OrCon ships. They raided heavily in the Badlands to rile up the Goths, and now the Goths will chase ghosts around the Badlands while Flot 1 is out of the quadrant. The pirates will return home just as the Goths’ enthusiasm wanes a bit because of their lack of success in finding and engaging Flot 1. After all of the endless patrols with no results, the Goths will relax and get a little careless so will be ripe for a hit.”

  Mallory nodded. She followed the reasoning. “So you knew the pirates had to be close for a variety of reasons.”

  Blondie nodded. “I did but I didn’t know how they would engage the OrCons. It is possible Captain Hawkins would let the fight happen and then swoop in to get his two kills in the confusion afterward. Except for the four OrCon aircraft carriers, the forces are evenly matched. In fact, if Admiral Kupin wants to meet our forces on equal terms she will have to give the carriers a small escort and take as many ships forward as possible. Even if the OrCons win the battle, they will suffer considerable damage. Captain Hawkins will have a chance after that fight to get his shots at the two battlecruisers if they survive the main battle with our forces.”

  Sky nodded. “But the pirates have committed to support our forces now. Your message to them might have tipped them in that direction.”

  Blondie shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe I can find out later.”

  Sky smiled at her. “You’ll get your chance. You heard the Admiral commit to resupplying them. That will probably be done here, as they will need battle damage repairs too. The Admiral will ensure they get taken care of. The best way to fulfill those promises is for the pirates to come here. We got the best repair facilities and Admiral Barrett can keep out the media circus that is bound to spring up after the battle. Once the pirates get here, you can visit them.”

  Blondie returned the smile. She hadn’t considered that the pirates would come the long distance from the Electra System to Wanderlust. There were resupply and repair stations closer to the action, but the Admiral might insist on them coming to Wanderlust unless the pirate ships were so damaged as to require immediate care at a closer location. He was the type of man who would want to ensure they were well provided for in the battle’s aftermath while keeping them out of the political line of fire that will occur due to their participation in the fight.

  Blondie departed and Sky considered the young officer. Blondie had plainly been following all developments in the Badlands through available intel assets. She was tracking her friends and comrades and worrying about their welfare. Sky realized Blondie had never really left the pirates behind. Sky had thought Blondie would miss them when they departed, but that emotion would fade over time. She now saw that it had not happened in the many weeks since Hawkins’ departure. She knew Blondie was a kindred spirit with the pirates of Flot 1. She suspected it would always be that way. She fit in there quite well while being somewhat of an outcast here. Sky thought the young officer might best serve the Empire in another position. Sky would have to give that some thought before making a recommendation to Admiral Barrett.

  Chapter 18

  Sky knocked on the hatch to the Admiral’s day cabin. “Come in,” sounded faintly from the other side. Sky entered the spacious compartment, saw the Admiral rise from his desk, and move to his small bar hidden behind a fake cabinet front. As far as Sky knew, she and the deputy fleet commander were the only ones who knew of the bar on this dry ship.

  Admiral Barrett gestured to a chair by his couch and then said. “Please join me in a drink. What is your pleasure?”

  “A beer would be great, Admiral.”

  He nodded, pulled out a bottle, and reached for a glass.

  “I’ll take it from the bottle, sir.”

  Barrett smiled. “Very well. Beer right from the bottle. Did you pick that habit up from the pirates? I understand the alcohol flows freely on their ships.”

  Mallory nodded as the two officers sat down in the chair and couch, drinks in hand. “I think I did pick up the beer bottle habit there. Beer just tastes better directly from the bottle. At least, their beer did. The alcohol is definitely available on their ships. A few pirates use drugs also, but I never saw it affect their performance.”

  Barrett nodded. “I suspect Hawkins, O’Hare, and Delacruz would never let that happen. They also have the power to shove people out an airlock. That would definitely cut down on repeat offenders.”

  “You envy them that power, Admiral?”

  Barrett smiled. “I certainly do. Not only cuts down on repeat offenders, but would limit my exposure to their damn defense lawyers and legal paperwork. Many benefits.” He leaned forward and looked serious as he switched topics. “Your opinion on Captain Zerbe?”

  Sky thought for a few seconds. “Competent and thorough. A little too much of a disciplinarian for my taste, but she is entitled to run her section as she sees fit. Her biggest weaknesses are that she is rigid to doctrine and has the imagination of this chair.” She patted the arm of her seat.

  Barrett nodded. “Your assessment lines up with mine. She has seen what is coming at her. She knows you ca
n’t be wrong on the big things and expect to keep your job. There is an opening for a captain at the Fleet Intelligence School on Zelenka and she has requested the transfer. I granted it.”

  Sky nodded in response. “She’ll do well there. She is very knowledgeable on all the doctrine material so should be a fine instructor for all the book stuff.”

  “I agree. She is leaving tomorrow. I’ll put nice things in her performance eval and we all move on.”

  Sky nodded. Both of them knew that leaving a combat ship in time of war for a rear area job on the home planet does not help in the promotion process so it really didn’t matter what was in her performance evaluation.

  ‘”Who will replace her?”

  Barrett frowned. “I’m giving it to her deputy, Rodney. I have to admit I am not that impressed with him but it could be he was limited by Zerbe. We’ll see how he performs.” He smiled at Sky now. “If he doesn’t get it done, I’ll see if Hawkins will buy off on a transfer of Baby Doll or Tactical to Home Fleet to run the intel section.”

  Sky laughed. “It would be really interesting to see a newly minted Captain Baby Doll of the Royal Navy performing here.”

  Barrett laughed too. “That would be very interesting. The Marines better go hide.” The two smiled at each other. “I decoded Hawkins’ message to me. A couple of things I would like to run by you.”

  They talked for over an hour on a variety of topics. Also, downed a second round of drinks. Finally, Barrett stood up. “Got to get a few tasks done and then reply to Hawkins.” Sky rose with the Admiral. “Of course, sir.”

  She placed her empty bottles in the waste dispenser and walked to the hatch with the Admiral. As he opened the hatch for her, he asked one final question. “Hawkins refers to himself as a flag captain at times. What is that?”