by P J Strebor
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialog are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 P J Strebor
Published by Tickety Boo Press Ltd
www.ticketyboopress.co.uk
Edited by Teresa Edgerton and Gary Compton
Cover Art by Gary Compton
Book Design by Big River Press Ltd
Uncommon
Purpose
by
P J Strebor
Book One
Hope Island Chronicles
Published by Tickety Boo Press Ltd
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
No one makes this journey alone. I know, I’ve tried it solo and it didn’t work out too well.
Many thanks to Teresa Edgerton who was the first professional to discover my lack of brilliance. We didn’t always agree but when she’s right, she’s right. Thanks TE.
My appreciation to J Scott -Marryat as well. He is a great editor and critiquer. A man of rare insight and common sense.
Also grateful thanks to my friends at SFF Chronicles who were always there with encouragement and advice. Their support helped me through the tough times. You guys rock.
And finally, to Gary Compton at Tickety Boo Press for a marvelous cover and the editorial team who helped put the final spit and polish on my story.
CHAPTER 1
It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
Emiliano Zapata. Mexican reformer & revolutionary (1877 - 1919)
Time: 3rd January, 305 ASC. (Athenian Standard Calendar)
Position: Francorum Sector. League space. Tunguska Fault
Status: Independent freighter Bellinda, en route to planet Iberia.
Nathan Telford’s heart beat furiously as the cold grip of fear tightened around him. On his screen he tracked the incoming barrage, his eyes widening as his dread intensified. Bellinda’s few remaining defensive pulsar turrets fired at the unstoppable wave of destruction but managed to stop only two of them. He averted his eyes from the screen as the rest of the torpedoes ploughed into Bellinda's dying shields. Nathan’s small hands gripped the edge of the workstation as the old freighter shuddered under the impact of nuclear detonations.
Nathan blinked to clear his vision and stared at the screen. Several spouts of mist showed where the shields had failed and air escaped from fissures in the hull. Parts of her armor cladding had terrible gaping wounds exposing her vulnerable skin. Many of her bow and chase DPT’s were smashed and useless.
“Stop it, stop it,” he implored. “Please God, just let us go.”
In answer to his pleas, the enemy ships fired another salvo of torpedoes. He winced, drawing back from the screen. “Stop it,” he screamed.
Bellinda lurched violently under the assault. His sweaty hands lost grip on the workstation and he was thrown to the deck.
***
"I don't suppose they've closed to pulsar range?" Celia Telford asked.
"Negative Captain," Mary said from the tactical station. "They're sitting well outside of our defense envelope. They don't want to destroy us."
At the First Officer's console, Lucas snorted. Of course the Imperial Navy ships did not want to destroy Bellinda. She represented a great prize for the Pruessens. Her cargo of high tech appliances would fetch a pretty penny for the E boat crews. Not to mention capturing a serviceable freighter along with her entire crew. Yes, the bastards must be salivating over that prospect.
“They’re launching fighters,” Mary said. “Six of them, Cobra class.”
“Weapons Officer, are we ready to bake.”
“Aye, skipper,” Salome said, “all pulsars are fully charged and the energy buffers are cloaked behind our new force field.”
“Excellent. Stand by.”
“The Francs are supposed to have a heavy cruiser and two destroyers in orbit to protect the Iberian system,” a bitter voice snarled from the Nav Station. “Typical, bloody unreliable Francs.”
“Save it for later, David,” Lucas snapped, even though the same thought had struck him.
Lucas tracked the fighters as they streaked in, line abreast, oblivious to any danger. The two remaining stern turrets went first, quickly followed by one guarding the bow.
“Captain,” Mary said, “they’re coming about for another pass.”
“Very well.”
The turn completed the Cobras charged into Bellinda’s waiting guns.
“Weapons Officer, stand by … aaaand, fire!”
Twin beams of blue green fire struck out from Bellinda’s bow. Two fighters exploded in a brief flurry of fire.
“Yeah, get em,” Lucas hissed and slapped his flat palm against his console.
Bellinda fired again, and again. As they passed her, Salome engaged the stern pulsars, destroying another and damaging one more.
As the remaining fighters limped home a cheer went up from the crew.
Lucas sighed.
His mother often talked about Telford's luck. Her words echoed in his mind as the ship shook under a fresh volley of torpedo strikes. "Telford's luck is rarely ambivalent." On a scale between good and bad luck, stumbling onto a squadron of Imperial Navy E boats certainly qualified in the latter category. They had handled their share of headhunter attacks in the past but E boats were another, more dire proposition. Lucas feared that the family's luck had finally run out. They were caught too far from the nearest hyper ingression point to escape into hyperspace. To attempt to match harmonics this far inside the system would be a death warrant for everyone aboard.
More torpedoes fell against Bellinda’s weakened shields.
"Captain, our shields are down," Amy reported from the Damage Control Station. "Shield blisters twenty eight through fifty two have been destroyed. All chase DPT's are gone. Stern pulsars gone. Grav maneuvering plating down to twenty three percent. We have an imminent hull breach running along sections port twenty eight through to thirty five."
“Seal off those sections,” the captain said. “If you can.”
“That’s it,” Lucas whispered.
Mary glanced from her readouts and into her husband’s eyes. A short despairing gesture. Lucas nodded.
The captain's shoulders sagged under the weight of her next decision. They had held out for as long as humanly possible in the forlorn hope that the Francs would come to their rescue. That faint possibility was now all but gone. The captain's next decision would be mortally significant.
Lucas felt ice run through his gut at the very thought of making such a decision. In his mother's hands lay an impossible choice. Surrender her ship to spare her family and crew or refuse to capitulate to a life of slavery and blow the reactor.
"We’re being hailed, captain."
The captain pulled herself upright and straightened her shoulders.
"Put it through, Jack." Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
On his linked console the face of a middle-aged Pruessen Naval officer appeared. His unblinking blue eyes were a perfect match to the hard, unyielding line of his jaw.
"I am Captain Hartman of the Imperial Naval vessel E516."
Lucas noted his stern, uncompromising tone. Not the sort to bluff.
"I order you to come about and prepare to be boarded. You are now a prize of the Pruessen Empire."
"Captain Celia Telford of the Athenian Independent Trading vessel Bellinda. Captain Hartman, can you guarantee the safety of my family if I comply with your order?"
The Pruessen�
�s chin rose minutely. "We are regular navy, captain, not headhunters. I can guarantee you safe passage into Pruessen space free from interference by… that element. After that, your fate is in the hands of the good Lord."
Slavery. The very word conjured the most vile of images to any free thinking Athenian.
The captain looked about the bridge gauging the feel of her senior officers, her crew, and her family. Lucas noted the fear that stood clearly on their faces but also the determination not to yield. Yet, would they consider death to be a preferable option to slavery? Not only their deaths but that of their families. Lucas hoped that he would never have to make such an agonizingly crucial decision. Let alone on behalf of a family and crew of eighty-nine men, women and children. Three generations of Telfords gone in a white flash. Who could make such a decision?
The main hatch opened and Nathan stepped onto the bridge. He strode quickly to the tactical station and strapped into the jump seat beside his mother.
Lucas stared at Mary who shrugged. This was no ordinary seven-year-old. Nathan knew perfectly well what was going on. Lucas would bet a month's pay that he had been following the battle from the moment he had ordered him not to do so. In the same breath he wanted to shout at his son to return to their quarters and to hug him to his chest one last time.
Nathan stared at each of his parents and then his sister. He spoke to his mother but Lucas could not hear the words. He’s where he should be. With his family.
"Captain Telford," Hartman said, "I need your answer."
Celia Telford faced the enemy the shadow returning to her eyes.
"I accept your conditions, Captain Hartman. We are coming about now and will open our main boat bay for your marines once we have reached zero accel."
"Did you hear that, Helm?"
"Aye-aye, captain," Rebecca replied.
Hartman’s face relaxed moderately.
"Captain, may I be excused for a few minutes to inform my crew?"
"Of course, Captain Telford."
"Thank you," Celia said, around an exhausted sigh. Yet, as the image disappeared from Lucas’ screen, their captain reemerged. "Jack, put me through to the Chief Engineer."
It took only a moment for the Chief Engineer to respond.
"Aye, captain?"
"John, we are expecting guests shortly. Are you ready?"
"Just waiting for you to give the word." John Telford sounded remarkably calm, considering the implacable circumstances.
"Good, stay on line. With any luck one of their ships will get cocky and come into range. At least I hope so." She grinned wolf like at the surrounding family and crew. "It would be nice to take at least one of the bastards with us."
"We are at zero accel, captain."
"Very well, Becky, stay icy."
Rebecca nodded, her eyes remaining fixed to her readouts. She, like many of the crew, was ex Athenian navy.
"Boat bay doors are fully open." Lucas said. "Are you going to wait until the marines are onboard?"
"I'll play it by ear."
"Why don't we close the gap to the leading ship?" Nathan asked his mother.
Mary brushed the strand of hair from over Nathan’s right eyebrow. Lucas forced a smile. All too often the seven-year-old acted like an obstinate middle aged man. Yet it could not be denied that his acceptance of the current circumstances and his determination to never compromise were true Telford characteristics. Lucas could tell that Nathan fought the crushing fear even knowing the end was near. He knew what family obligation demanded of him.
"It’s up to the captain," Mary said.
Lucas thought it was a pretty good idea.
"E615 calling, captain," Jack reported.
"Put them through." The Pruessen’s image steadied on her screen, his forehead furrowed. "Yes, Captain Hartman?"
"Captain Telford our scans show that you have one active pulsar remaining on your ship. Disengage it immediately."
"My apologies, captain," Celia said. "I assumed with the shellacking you gave us that all of our weapons were gone. I will attend to it immediately." She drew her hand across her throat and the image disappeared. A tired smile crossed her face as she turned to her first officer. "Nice try son, but you better close it down."
Lucas returned the gesture and nodded once.
"Jack, pipe me through the ship please."
"Open channel, captain."
"Good evening family. Well, it would seem that the old Bellinda has finally run aground. We have been in tight fixes before and talked of this possibility on many occasions and so, now the time has come. Take a few minutes with your loved ones to say good bye, make peace with the universe and remember that death is only a new awakening."
Within a minute the hatch snapped open and family members from the Telfords and their crew rushed into one another’s arms. Some sobbed uncontrollably while others attempted to sooth their distress with platitudes. The clock ticked down toward the end.
It took only minutes for the Imperial landing boat to cover the distance from the E516 to the enormous number one freight boat bay. The crafty E boat skippers were taking no chances and kept well out of blast range.
"Rebecca, prepare to go to maximum thrust. E516 is nearest so we will try ramming her. If you can get us close enough I will hit the self-destruct. "
"I'll do my best nana," Rebecca said as she began making calculations.
"Captain to family and crew. Stand by. The time is near. John, are you ready?" Lucas felt his skin prickle as the seconds ticked over. "Chief Engineer, respond."
"I can't let you do this." The voice quavered with such fear that for a moment no one recognized it.
"Jasper? Is that you?" Celia asked.
"I don't want to die Granma."
"Jasper put the Chief Engineer on."
"I won't let you kill me." Jasper Telford's pathetic whining ended as the channel went dead. Seconds later the chief engineer's voice came on the line.
"Celia, that gutless piece of shit has sabotaged the self destruct. He's locked himself in the core room, I can't get to it. We can’t self-destruct."
An odd feeling swept over Lucas. His relief collided with a tragic sense of loss. He suspected that the rest of the crew battled with such contradictory emotions. Would they ever see Beachport again?
A cold chill settled on his skin as the sound of armored feet vibrated through the deck plates.
***
With a full company of Imperial marines stationed onboard Bellinda; the crew had little choice but to accept their fate in the stoic tradition of their forebears. Imperial naval engineers oversaw their every action thereby closing off any attempt to sabotage the vessel.
The same engineers had done a remarkably good job in replacing Bellinda's destroyed shield blisters. With haste and typical Pruessen efficiency the entire repair process had taken less than half a day. Attempting to ingress into hyper without shields would be inadvisable. The destructive forces within hyper space were a death warrant for unshielded ships. Without waiting for a test run the Pruessens led Bellinda to the local ingress point and escorted her into hyperspace.
Hope lingered within the minds and hearts of the crew during that all too brief journey. As long as they remained within League space they could hope for a miracle. If the Francorum navy could find their backsides with both hands a possibility of rescue lingered.
As Bellinda crossed into hyperspace that fleeting hope evaporated along with the spirit of all onboard. No one would be coming to their rescue. Not into hyperspace and certainly not across the northern frontier and into the Quarantine Zone. Lucas saw the despair on the faces of every crewmember on the bridge. He was not immune to the intense sense of loss.
It had been fourteen years since the disastrous end of the second Franco Pruessen war. Fourteen years since the Coalition League Navy had driven the invaders back across the Northern Frontier.
The Pruessens, beleaguered, outgunned and f
acing certain defeat fought bravely as the time to surrender counted down. President Schmidt, leader of the Pruessen Republic, had earned a reputation for ruthlessness and unpredictability, but no one, on either side of the border, could have imagined that he would release a pathogen as a last resort to avoid the total annexation of Pruessen. Germ warfare had long since been abolished by every civilized society and so the very thought of someone using such an insidious weapon did not occur to the brightest of leaders. Until the day it appeared on the planet Derwent.
The plague that was supposed to be Pruessen’s salvation got loose from its cage and turned on its masters. For in a turn of ironic justice President Schmidt had released the plague without first developing an antidote. With a dormant incubation period of forty-two days, the plague stampeded through Pruessen space with staggering speed.
The populations of entire star systems perished as the infrastructure of Pruessen imploded. President Schmidt fell to a, more or less, bloodless coup and the reign of Emperor Thaddeus began. Amidst the horror of an out of control plague and with the arrogance that Athens had come to expect from her northern cousins, the Pruessen Empire came into being.
The League's decision to quarantine the area north of the frontier came as an inevitable conclusion to this tragic tale. With half a million casualties from the brief war, the Coalition League Navy had accomplished their mission. Pruessen's ability to wage war ended.
So, an uneasy peace became the norm for many years. Then the headhunters began to venture into league space, raiding soft targets for whatever booty they could plunder. Although no better than pirates, Pruessen tolerated them as a means to an end. Each year their forces grew and the technical sophistication of their ships increased. Some CLN admirals were rumored to have bet a year’s wages on them being supplied and maintained by the Pruessen military. Commerce raids like the one that had nabbed Bellinda were far more rare but still no less dangerous.
For three days, Bellinda journeyed through hyperspace and with each passing day a dark cloud of depression settled over her crew. The feeling of hopelessness deepened as they egressed into normal space and settled into orbit around the planet Kulak. They sat there for a full day before things took a turn for the worse.
