Nova Romae (The Adventures of Christopher Slone Book 2)

by Donald Nicklas

  A very long 25 minutes later, all stations reported ready for action. “Open the ship wide communication.” This was done by the com techs. “Attention all crew, this is Captain Christopher. I know this is all new to you and none of you know anything about me, yet this is the time to set those concerns aside and work as one. We are about to engage a ship that has invaded your space and caused you to lose your home world. I have no idea how much action they have seen or how good they are, and none of that matters. You have your CEO aboard and if he dies, your corporation is dead and your space is no longer yours. Your CEO and I expect the best of you. If you are ever to see your families again, they expect the best of you. We will be in weapons range in 10 minutes. Make your corporation proud. Good hunting all.” Slone now turned to the marine major, “Station your marines in the engine room area and near the CIC. Take the CEO to the CIC and seal it.” To Arthur Balin’s credit he was about to object. “This is not a ploy to keep you safe only, but to keep you as a bargaining chip, since surrender is impossible as long as you are alive.” Balin did as he was told, and went with the major.

  Slone now blocked out the other concerns and started issuing orders. “Seal the bridge and project the combat data on the screen.” The bridge armor came up and covered the windows. The tactical map appeared on the front window and Slone could see the oncoming enemy cruiser. Thus far, there had been no communication from the vessel at all and it was in violation of the Border Worlds sovereign space. The Draco kept hailing the vessel since it entered the system, but to no avail. The tactical showed that they were almost within cannon range. “Roll out the guns,” Slone ordered and below decks, the gun port covers slid down and the force fields went up as the cannons were exposed and ready to fire. The missile tubes also opened, exposing their contents. Normally, at this point Slone would fire a shot across their bow, but he was not sure of this crew’s reload time and he may need that shot. Just before they reached maximum cannon range, Slone ordered the forward cannons and missiles to fire at the other cruiser. He was pleased to see that the crew obeyed, even though they may not understand his logic. He was hoping the Petrov Corp ship would want to keep its smallest profile towards the Reynolds, and that would hamper them maneuvering. He was gratified to see he was right. They also fired their forward guns, but too late.

  Slone watched the star wind reading on the screen and used his sails to maximum advantage. “Forty-five degrees to starboard, now.” Again, he was happy to see the helmsman respond to his order and he was gratified to see them turning to starboard as the other cruiser came along their port side. “Port cannons, fire.”

  The Reynolds was pushed slightly to starboard as the cannon shot sprung from the left side of the vessel. “Helm continue starboard turn another 180 degrees and depolarize the sails. Full ahead on the engines. Port missiles lock and fire. Stern cannons and missile fire as she bears.”

  Things started to happen fast now and Slone wanted all of his orders out before things got dicey. Before he fired his broadside, his first shots hit home. The missiles were taken out by the point defenses but the shots both hit and penetrated the bow. Slone ordered detonation and was pleased to see explosions behind the bow plates. The damage however was minimal. “Engineering, seal the bulkheads.”

  Slone could hear the doors compartmentalizing the ship. The first shots from the enemy’s forward guns reached the Reynolds as she was turning to starboard and both hit the hull at an angle and bounced off, to the cheers of the crew. Slone knew those cheers would soon end. When the Reynolds fired her broadside, the enemy did as well. The shots closed the distance rapidly as they passed each other. The Reynolds shots hit the port side of the enemy. One flew into a gun port and dismounted the cannon with its kinetic energy. Detonation actually blew the cannon out of the port and into space. Of the other shots, two missed by bouncing off the cylindrical hull and the last three all penetrated with detonation in the interior of the ship. Bodies were ejected from the gun port and from one of the penetrations, as the blast blew a section of hull outwards. Now it was the Reynolds’s turn. This time they were not lucky and Slone had to admire the skills of the Petrov Corp gunners. All six shots hit home and penetrated. Two hit amidships in the crew area and detonation shook the ship but did little damage. One penetrated near the forward part of the ship and stopped just behind the bridge. Luckily, this was a dud, but it did block the port exit from the bridge. The last three shots did fatal damage to the cruiser. One went high and hit the base of the main mast, bringing it down and taking more of the sail power out of future maneuvers. The most damaging were the last two shots, both of which hit the engine area. One destroyed the port engine while the second one entered the engineering area and detonated, knocking out the generators and the engine controls. The Reynolds missiles were taken out by enemy point defenses, but the two enemy missiles reached the Reynolds after her electrical system was taken out and before the backup batteries could kick in. As a result, there were no point defenses to take them out. One entered the hangar opening and passed right through the ship and out the opposite hangar opening. The second one slammed into the rear of the ship and destroyed the rear slipstream sail, making certain there would be no leaving the system.

  “Engineering, damage report.” Slone ordered, when the batteries kicked in. and communication was back up.

  “Engineering reports many casualties including the chief engineer. We lost control of the engines and lost one engine entirely. We can jury-rig it but it will take time. We lost the rear sail and the main mast. Therefore, we cannot maneuver and we cannot enter the slipstream, even if we could out run them. I have no idea yet about the rest of the ship.”

  “Captain, the ship is still rotating in a starboard direction and the enemy is coming up on our starboard batteries,” the weapon’s tech reported.

  Slone looked at the tactical, which had just booted up. They would get one more broadside. Something must have been damaged on the enemy, because she was maintaining a straight course. “Starboard cannons and missiles, fire”

  Again the ship moved to the side, this time to port and the shot flew across the distance. Slone was gratified to see each of the shots hit their mark and the follow-up explosions did even more damage to their port side. With guns and people ejected. They were able to return two shots, both of which hit and further crippled the Reynolds. Both ships were now drifting near each other and instinctively, Slone knew the ship-to-ship part of this battle was over. They wanted the Balin CEO alive. He looked around the bridge as the men awaited orders. His Romani guard was still with him as were some of the Balin marines. “Prepare to repel boarders. Attention all crew, arm yourselves.”

  The computer began to transmit through the ship, “All hands, prepare to repel boarders.” The computer repeated this three times and followed it with the Battle Stations klaxon.

  “Engineering, keep the lights on at all cost. I don’t want to fight them in the dark.”

  “We’ll try our best captain.”

  “Sensors picking up multiple boarding sleds leaving the enemy.”

  Slone looked over to the Decanus, “Decanus, may I borrow one of your handguns?”

  The Decanus handed him an automatic with an extra clip. Slone could see the sleds coming in the usual boarding configuration, with half to the hangar and half to the bridge. This gave him an idea. “Everyone clear the bridge and get weapons from the armory. Do not come back to the bridge. Decanus you and your men come with me.”

  The others cleared the bridge and headed to the nearest armory. Slone then left the bridge through the only door that was not blocked and ordered it closed. He had the Romani troops stationed in the hall behind the door. Slone had no idea how well the Romani fight, he just hoped they fought as well as they trained. “Decanus Marshal, even though I outrank you on board this ship, I rely on you to take care of this situation and put myself under your command for the duration of the boarding action.”

  “Thank you, captain. Not many c
ommanders have that kind of courage. Please step to the rear and watch our backs, in case they get through the others in the hangar bay.”

  “Will do,” Slone stated and moved to the rear, keeping an eye on the rear corridor. A few minutes later, they heard the explosion of the breakthrough into the bridge. One reason the bridge was always used as an access is the fact that it is self-sealing with a built in force field that is always on. This prevents losing atmosphere if the bridge is hit by weapons or debris. If the full complement of marines came over, they would have close to 50 entering the bridge. Slone hoped they kept half back to protect themselves against boarding. He also knew, though he told the crew to arm themselves, in a pitched battle, they stood little chance against well-armed and armored marines. The Romani troops could only fit four abreast in the hall and they stood there waiting. The Decanus was on the right end of the first row and a second row of four was just behind. The remaining two marines were next to Slone facing the rear. This was going to be a very close order combat. They could now hear them working on the bridge exits. They would soon discover the port exit blocked.

  The Romani front line was behind their body shields and the second line took cover behind their shields with the shields pressed against the backs of the first row. Slone soon realized there was no intent to retreat for the front row. In a retreat, they became the rear guard. The Decanus and his row put away their guns and pulled out their short swords. Slone had never seen any military trained like this. The second row had their automatic rifles out resting on the shoulders of the first row. Slone hoped the desertion of the bridge would make the enemy think the crew had panicked and were trying to abandon ship. This might make them careless and cause them to rush into the corridor. The door finally slid open, but the Petrov Corp marines were well trained and disciplined. They did not rush in but rather threw in a fragmentation grenade.

  “Grenade,” the Decanus shouted and the front row knelt down behind their shields, which they now seated firmly on the floor. The shields of the second row came up rapidly, were brought forward to overlap the front, making a solid wall. The grenade exploded and shrapnel peppered the shields with no effect. As soon as the explosion was over, the top shields were pulled back and the front row rose. “Grenades,” shouted the Decanus and eight fragmentation grenades flew into the bridge. These caught the enemy marines by complete surprise and the detonations killed or wounded several of them.

  The marines now let their anger get the best of them, and that never ends well. They rushed into the corridor with guns blazing. The second row of Romani opened fire but the first row stood their ground with their sword sticking along the right side of their shields. The front two marines dropped from gunfire, and one of the second row Romani was hit in the head and died instantly. It now became obvious that the two standing next to Slone functioned as a reserve since one of them immediately sprang into the opening, straddling the body of her comrade. The next group of marines ran at the Romani line, right into the short swords, which they did not see. The swords were held at a height that put them below the chest body armor worn by the marines. Slone later was told that the proper way to use the sword is to bring it up below the armor and thrust upwards and deep then give it a twist. All he knew is he did not want to be on the wrong end. Three marines were dispatched that way but one of the front row Romani was wounded and immediately pulled back to let a second row trooper fill the front and the last reserve filled the second row vacancy. The wounded Romani went all the way to the back and Slone took a tourniquet from his flack vest pocket and placed it on the arm, above the bullet wound. His right arm was wounded. Slone saw the Romani get up and put his pistol in his left hand. These troops were tough.

  In the meantime, things were still going on in the front and the marines decided the only way to clear the corridor was by a massive frontal assault. It was later determined that eleven marines charged into the corridor with guns firing at the line. That kind of force is hard to resist and with so much lead flying, casualties are inevitable. Two more Romani died and one more was wounded and out of commission. The remaining five were now all using their swords and stabbing at the face of the enemy. This caused great consternation in the ranks of the marines and they soon began to break. As soon as there was a weakness, the Romani went in like lions in a sheep pen. Slone followed them as they chased the three remaining marines into the empty bridge and started firing at them as the Romani again changed weapons and began using their pistols. One marine fell before the last two surrendered along with the wounded from the grenade attack. Slone was stunned. Ten Romani had taken on 25 highly trained marines and killed or capture all of them with only three of their number killed and two wounded. Both of the wounded could still hold a gun, so they were left to guard the prisoners on the bridge. Slone and the remaining five ran down to the hangar deck where the other part of the boarding party was being dealt with.

  When they arrived at the hangar, things were not going well for the Balin marines. More than 25 marines were overwhelming them. The enemy must have sent a larger than normal boarding party. On the way to the hangar bay, Slone picked up one of the dead Romani’s shield, helmet and rifle. He had to admit, the shield was quite an innovation. It was light as a feather yet stopped bullets, unless there were multiple hits in the same spot. He also found the helmet much lighter than it looked, yet it protected his entire head. He would have to get this gear for Alaya’s crew. The Decanus ordered everyone to lock shields and the six of them slowly walked towards the enemy with rifles firing until the clips were empty and they used all of their reserve clips. Another Romani went down wounded before they reached the spot where the remaining Balin marines were making a stand. They were cornered but could not be surrounded and had piles of crates in front of them as a makeshift wall. Of the original 50 marines, it appeared only half or so were left, and few were without a wound. They were running low on ammunition and things looked bleak. Major Regale was down with a head wound that opened his skull to the brain. His second in command was bleeding out from a chest wound and the marines looked about to panic. The Decanus immediately began to issue orders and they obeyed automatically. The Petrov marines were beginning to move in to finish them off, when there was a bright flash coming from the Petrov cruiser. Someone had fired on her but Slone knew the destroyer had no ammo. He let out a little smile.

  “Way to go, darling. Let him have it.” As they watched, a cannon shot follow the missile in and did more damage to the cruiser. Suddenly the marines stopped firing and looked like they were listening for orders from their ship. Slone could see the remaining three cannons on the Petrov cruiser’s port side fire at something. He hoped it was not the Draco. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a larger vessel through the port hangar bay opening and recognized the defenseless destroyer. It was heading right for the side of the cruiser. The cannons fired at it went wide and appeared to be firing in haste as the destroyer continued to accelerate. She flew over the Reynolds and rapidly cleared the gap between the vessels. The nose of the destroyer plowed into the hangar bay of the cruiser, broke her back, and wedged into her side. Slone saw a number of boarding sleds coming out of the destroyer’s hangar bay and heading to the Petrov cruiser. Apparently, Captain Rand sent his available crew in as marines. The Petrov marines on the Reynolds knew their ship was not leaving the system, so, when their senses came back, they redoubled their attack. During the short pause, the Decanus was not idle. He reorganized the defense and redistributed his troops. The biggest problem was the shortage of ammunition.

  “Here they come,” Slone shouted, “make every shot count and don’t shoot till you have a good target. Slone and the four remaining Romani held their shields above the crates to make the wall higher and started shooting through the space between the shields. Both sides hit their marks, but the Petrov marines were also running low on ammunition and they were on a strange vessel. Suddenly, some of them broke from the pressure and ran to their boarding sleds. Those who
were not cut down took off for their own ship. The marine commander lost control of his troops as they tried to get back to their ship. He was in a rage and charged Slone’s position with such force he ignored a few hits to his armor. He jumped at the shields and broke through, knocking Slone and the Decanus down. Before Slone could react, he had a pistol pointed at his head, and just as fast the hand holding the pistol dropped on Slone’s chest and he was squirted by blood coming from the stump. The Decanus had cut clean through the arm with his sword. He then thrust the sword through the leader’s neck and the battle was over. The Petrov cruiser send a message in the open that they surrender and the destroyer crew started rounding up the survivors.

  Slone looked around from where he was sitting on a crate, after the Decanus helped him up. They had fought a good fight and the deck was slick with blood and covered with bodies from both crews. The smell of cordite from the explosive rounds was everywhere. All Slone could think about was the mess. Suddenly he realized someone was standing next to him and he looked up to see Decanus Marshal standing at attention waiting to be recognized.

  “Something on your mind, Decanus?”

  “Yes sir. Since the battle is over I formally release you from my command and turn command back to you.”

  Slone was not sure he would ever get used to the formalities of the Romani. “Thank you; see to your men and to the others. You’re temporarily in charge of the marines aboard. Have one of them get the CEO and bring him here. Also find my bridge crew, if they’re still alive and bring them to me for orders.”

  The Decanus gave a salute, picked up his shield and issued orders to his men and the Balin marines. Things were starting to calm down and the crew was congregating in the cavernous hangar bay. Slone noticed a shadow on the port side of the ship and soon realized that the Draco was coming through the force field to land on the Reynolds. Alaya set the ship down in an area not covered with the dead and shut down the engines. The bridge door opened and a ladder came down. Alaya was the first off followed by the others, but not Sly, who had to remain secret. Alaya ran over to Slone and could not help falling into his arms and hugging him. She gave him a quick kiss and then asked how they could help.