by Kal Spriggs
“Right...” Reese rolled his eyes, “you just happened to be on a ship on the back-end of human space when I'm here to make this deal.”
“Reese,” Alannis said in a harsh voice, “I'm going to tell you this slowly and as plainly as I can, so that you understand and actually hear what I tell you. Lucius didn't know you were here. I didn't know you were here. You know why? Other than trying to make certain you don't hurt anyone else... we don't care about you. I don't care about you.”
Reese recoiled from the hate in her voice. He stared at her for a long, silent moment, his blue eyes filled with a mixture of shame, anger, and pain. “Well, I'm glad I know where we stand,” he said after a final moment. He cleared his throat. “How... how is our son?”
“Anthony is fine,” Alannis growled.
“Anthony?” Reese asked. “You named him for Anthony Doko?”
She nodded, “He and his wife helped me through after...” She cleared her own throat. Dammit, she thought, I am not going to get emotional here.
“I'd heard, but I wasn't sure if it was true or not,” Reese said in a low voice. “Do you have a picture?”
“Not one that I'd show you,” Alannis growled.
Reese's face went hard, “So what do you tell him about me, then? Did you tell him the truth? Or just some lie?”
“It hasn't come up yet,” Alannis said and it was her turn to look away. In truth, she didn't know what she'd tell Anthony. It was one of the reasons she dreaded spending time with him... for that moment when the question did come up.
“Of course,” Reese shook his head. “Did you ever stop to think that I did what I did because I love you? Because I didn't want something like this to happen? You're out here alone, you could have been killed...”
“Like your men killed Lieutenant Commander Douglass?” Alannis snapped.
“Yeah, just like that,” Reese replied. “Life is lived on the knife edge out here, Alannis. And Lucius may insist he had nothing to do with your decision to serve, but he damned sure shares responsibility for where he sent you. You don't belong here. Let me protect you, let me show you the truth. I have contacts, they could get Anthony to us, and we could have a family again...”
“A family, seriously?” Alannis stared at her ex-husband. “You've killed people, Reese. Your men just killed an officer I knew, right in front of me... and you want me to run off with you and have a happy little family? You want Anthony raised in a place like this?!”
Reese glared at her, “He should be raised with his father, not as the second string to Lucius's little troll.”
“His 'little troll' is my niece, Kaylee, and she's a sweet little girl,” Alannis snapped. “And the only way you'll get anywhere near Anthony is over my dead body.”
Reese went still. “Alannis... you should be very careful what you say.”
She felt a chill pass through her as she met his blue eyes. There was something there that she hadn't seen before. An edge of madness, perhaps... and she could see that part of him took her declaration as an offer, as a condition that he would accept, a price he might well pay.
“We'll continue this discussion later,” Reese said. “I'm sure that once I show you how things really work, you'll come to your senses.” He nodded at one of the thugs. “Keep watch. I'll signal when you should move her to the landing pad.”
“Reese, you can't take me,” Alannis said. “I'm an officer of the United Colonies Fleet--”
“You're my wife,” Reese snapped. “No matter what you think, I'm only doing this for your own good. You're coming with me. Get used to the idea.”
He turned and left before Alannis could come up with any response.
***
Two-Fingers stooped through the low hatchway and onto the bridge of the Cutthroat. His flagship had never seemed small to him... not until now.
The Cutthroat was a Forerunner-class destroyer. It wasn't new, not by any measure of the word, but it had been heavily modernized and improved, even more than the other ships in his fleet.
Not that I'll mind moving to something a little more capable, he thought with a smirk. The military cruiser hung in low orbit over Sapphire, the space immediately around it clear. Two-Fingers had called in favors from some of the other assorted pirates and mercenaries to block it into that orbit, though.
He had no doubt that his allies would prove little more than distractions to the ship... but that was their point. They would distract the Navy boys while his ships positioned themselves to strike it. For that, though, he needed the ship to move to a higher orbit and he needed his ships to have time to build up enough speed to sweep around the planet and into position.
“What's the status of the weapon?” Two-Fingers asked.
“Sixty percent charge, Commodore,” the Cutthroat's Captain said. “We'll be fully online when the enemy is in position.”
The cruiser had already begun to maneuver and one of his more anxious allies opened up with their weapons. Two-Fingers just gave a giggle. The very thought of one of those frigates doing more than scratch the paint on the cruiser was beyond silly.
It was just as absurd as the idea of that idiot One-Eye managing to overwhelm a man like Copley. One-Eye was no more than a distraction just like the other ships here in orbit. Two-Fingers figured the other slaver had hidden himself in a bunker as far as he could get from the actual fighting, no doubt throwing his incompetent cannon-fodder against Copley's defenses.
After Two-Fingers finished up his business here in orbit, he'd take care of Copley... after his defenses had been depleted and Two-Fingers' rivals had been exhausted fighting him. I'll have to remember to record their expressions of surprise after I betray them and lock them in their own slave-holds, he thought with a manic grin.
He detested the weak, pathetic worms who had considered him their equal for so long. It was time for him to finally establish a true order of things... and this was only the first step.
“The cruiser is firing,” his Captain said.
“Oooh, pretty,” Two-Fingers purred as he watched two of the pirate frigates vanish in explosions. Their debris would rain down through the atmosphere in only a few days. He'd have to remember to watch the show, it would be an impressive display.
Powerful weapons for such a ship, he thought. It would fit his needs perfectly.
“Bring the fleet's engines online,” Two-Fingers said. “Full acceleration.
***
“Engage bogies two and five,” Commander Bowder snapped.
Lieutenant Forrest Perkins brought up the target solutions he'd already worked through. The cruiser's main weapons were overkill against the light ships... but that wasn't a problem for Forrest. Until now, the Constellation had not returned fire on the pirate vessels which had swarmed around her.
The XO had ordered them into evasive maneuvers, but the intent had been to open range. Clearly the XO felt the time had come to change the dynamics of the situation.
Forrest grinned as he cued up the firing solution, “Firing,” he said, feeling a tremble of excitement as he opened fire.
The exotic particle cannons were of similar power to the old War Shrike's main batteries. The quantum physics derived exotic particles were projected at near-light-speed and the exotic particle cannons were designed to hit far outside of a mere cruiser's weight-class. Hits from the weapons could, in theory, open up dreadnoughts or gut cruisers.
The two closest enemy frigates simply vanished.
“Bring up targets ten, eleven, twelve, and fourteen,” Commander Bowder said, “for rear batteries. Engage one, three, four, and six forward as primary targets.” There was an impressive tone of dispassion as he spoke, almost as if he had reverted purely to his training as he ordered up targets.
Forrest somewhat envied that mechanical tone. It must be nice, he thought, to be so disconnected from the process of taking human life. Forrest could admit he was excited by it. These bastard pirates had attacked them and here he was dispensing righteous justice in
the form of exotic particle beams.
“Engage secondary targets after you have serviced the primaries,” Commander Bowder said.
“Engaging,” Forrest said as the exotic particle cannons charge came up again. That was the one downside to such a powerful armament, in his opinion: it took longer to come to full power on them. In theory they could have engaged the small enemy vessels with their secondary batteries, but those were on standby in case the enemy launched missiles. Forrest couldn't help a maniacal grin as the weapon systems aligned and began to open fire.
As the enemy ships shattered in a chain of explosions he thought, I love my job.
***
Captain Daniel Beeson flinched as bullets whined and bounced off the doorframe.
“I need to get to that shuttle,” Daniel snapped.
“No use,” the pirate at the door shook his head. “Even if we get you in the air, there's enemy anti-air. They took down the gunship we launched already.”
Daniel grimaced and pulled out his comm unit. Deep below the ground the combination of overhead cover and jamming had cut his signal, but now he was close enough to the surface to perhaps get through. “Constellation,” he said, “This is Captain Beeson, what's your status.”
“Sir,” Commander Bowder answered after a moment's pause, “XO here, we have been engaged by a variety of pirate craft. We are maneuvering and returning fire. No damage to report. What is your status, sir, do you require supporting fire?”
“We might,” Daniel said. “It seems some of the local pirates and assorted scum didn't approve of Mister Copley's decision to welcome us here.”
“Sir,” Commander Bowder said, “we have to this point engaged and destroyed eighteen enemy vessels. Our sensors indicate that approximately twice that number have already fled and a dozen or more are breaking atmosphere headed away from the fight. What are your orders, sir?”
“Engage hostile vessels, but do not fire on those leaving the planet,” Daniel said. While Ensign Giovanni might well be dead, she might also be aboard one of those vessels. While he didn't want to let her attackers get away, he was aware that many of those fleeing might well be innocent... or at least as innocent as anyone was from Sapphire.
“Yes, sir,” Commander Bowder said. “Is there anything else we can do to assist?”
Daniel looked at Staff Sergeant Witzke who gave a nod and then spoke, “Sir, Staff Sergeant Witzke. The enemy is using some sort of air defenses to keep Copley's gunboats grounded. If you could locate those and eliminate them; that would be very useful.”
“We'll get on it,” Commander Bowder said. “Now, if you've nothing else, we're picking up another group of hostile vessels moving into attack positions.”
“Carry on, XO,” Daniel said. He withdrew down the hallway a bit and sighed. “Staff Sergeant, what's the status of your other squad?”
“They're still at the shuttle, sir,” she responded. “I obtained contact while you established comms with the XO. They have not come under fire, yet.”
Well, there's a ray of sunshine, he thought. “What about Chuni?”
“Leader Chuni established comms with the shuttle but she went quiet just after the main fighting opened up,” Staff Sergeant Witzke said. “Do you want me to try to reestablish comms?”
Daniel frowned. Chuni had been the one on the scene when the ambushers had attacked Lieutenant Commander Douglass's group. He had hoped to send his shuttle team to look for their attackers... but he couldn't without Chuni. For that matter, she might be doing that herself.
He felt nervous and ill-at-ease. Daniel knew that came from the fact that his ship was fighting and he was here on the planet. There's nothing I can do right now besides trust in my subordinates, he thought. The rattle of gunfire outside reminded him of just that fact.
Daniel had a ship and crew capable of handling the situation. They fought enemies with less resources, less capabilities. They held all the cards and the most the slavers and pirates could do was bluff or fold.
He just hoped that the enemy didn't have any cards up their sleeves.
***
“Weapon is ninety-eight percent charged,” the Cutthroat's Captain said, just as Two-Fingers' fleet came over the horizon. “Acquiring target.”
Two-Fingers grinned. The cruiser was in perfect position. It had cleared the planet's magnetosphere, had broken orbit which would prevent it from falling into the atmosphere before his ships could get it into tow... and it wasn't yet traveling fast enough to escape them.
“Launch our fighters and prepare to launch boarding craft,” Two-Fingers said. The way he had organized his formation it would look like the fighters were the main strike force while his other ships were supporting.
Under other circumstances that would be correct... but the Navy boys didn't know about the induction cannon. The weapon generated an immense pulse of electromagnetic high frequency radiation, comparable to the output from a star's flare, only directional. It wasn't nearly as powerful, of course, but still the weapon could be absolutely devistating when fired at close range against almost any vessel. Standard defense screens and radiation shields did nothing to mitigate the burst, which would cause induction along power lines and fry even hardened circuitry.
The huge magnetic coils used to generate that induction took up most of the Cutthroat's armament, but the weapon, used in secret, had been the source of his many successes. Besides range and speed, there was literally nothing that could defend against it, so long as he used it from surprise.
“Weapon at one hundred percent charge, range in one minute,” his Captain said.
My father gave me it to test out, Two-Fingers thought with a smile, he never dreamed it would prove so successful. His father had wanted a test against a real warship... well, Two-Fingers would give him that. Maybe then he could return home.
“Launch boarding craft, prepare to fire,” Two-Fingers smiled. And even if he doesn't welcome me back... well, I'll have a nice kingdom out here to rule.
***
Chapter XII
Sapphire, Gamma Serpentis System
Neutral Space
December 12, 2407
Commander Bowder looked up as a shouting man rushed onto the bridge, “No, no, no!”
He recognized the civilian engineer, Rory, just as the man's constant companion followed him. “Professor, you need to leave the bridge, we're at battle stations,” Commander Bowder said. He nodded at Forrest, “Prepare to engage those fighters and small-craft.”
“Well...” Rory said in a loud voice, “if you want to doom us all to die that's a great idea!” The scientist threw his hands in the air.
“He's right,” Feliks nodded, seemingly oblivious to how the entire bridge had frozen, staring at the two men.
“Get off my bridge!” Commander Bowder snapped. He had no time for the two men's histrionics. “The main threat is the fighter force, they'll be armed with heavy missiles and their formation is designed to
“Sure they are,” Rory said. “But let me ask you this, are they oriented to give the destroyer at the center of their formation a clear cone of fire, with no ships inside that cone?”
Commander Bowder's jaw dropped as he confirmed that with one glance, “What's going on?”
“I detected a massive magnetic field around that destroyer as soon as we cleared the magnetosphere. The only reason for that powerful a magnetic field would be some kind of massive set of induction coils, far bigger than even a dreadnought would carry for its defense screens. It's got to be some kind of magneto-induction weapon.... the operation of which would be very interesting to study...
“To the point,” Commander Bowder snapped, “what's the range of it?”
“Short, very short,” Rory said. “No more than three thousand kilometers. In fact, I'd give it a ninety-eight percent chance--”
“Um, thirty percent at most,” Feliks interrupted.
“Seventy-five percent chance that it would be ineffectual at distances outside of tha
t range,” Rory said.
The range was at four thousand kilometers and closing. “Adjust course to one one seven,” Commander Bowder said, “Maximum acceleration.” As the Constellation accelerated, Commander Bowder looked at Rory, “This kind of weapon, why haven't I heard of it?”
“Well, there was a paper by this Confederation scientist, a real corporate hack, works for Nova Corp, real snooty type...”
“He once told Rory he was pretentious,” Feliks said helpfully. Commander Bowder did his best to ignore the byplay as he watched the range. The pirate destroyer had accelerated as well, and so had the fighters, but they had maintained their formation. The fighters are a screen, Commander Bowder thought, which confirms the destroyer is the primary threat, at least.
“He's a marginally competent moron!” Rory shouted at Feliks. He smoothed a hand through his thinning hair, “As I was saying, he published a paper suggesting that you could design induction coils to discharge in sequence sort of like a synthetic magnetar, creating this massive radio-frequency burst. It's outside of the threatening radiation wavelengths so most ships don't have any real protection against it... but it would create induction inside every bit of electronics, whether it's online or not.”
“The effect would be devastating,” Feliks nodded. He interlocked his fingers, “it would overload every system on the ship. Everything electronic would go into emergency shutdown or be destroyed. It would take hours, perhaps days to get any systems online... and that is assuming that the systems are not so damaged as to be irreparable.”
“Lieutenant Perkins,” Commander Bowder said. “Primary target is that vessel, I want it neutralized.”
“No!” Rory shouted.
“Why not?” Commander Bowder asked, holding up a hand to signal Lieutenant Perkins to wait.
“Look, leaving aside the scientific impact of destroying such a weapon, there's also the forensics aspect. Someone gave what has to be a functioning prototype to some pirates operating out here. This has got to be a weapons test, shouldn't we know who's behind it?”
