“No, I got you, Cap,” Roby said, getting more comfortable in the conversation. “Are we talking catastrophic collapse or imminent explosion? Or are you thinking something subtler?”
“More like we’re limping back to civilization and are easy pickings,” I said.
“Liam Hoffen, wouldn’t this be dangerous? If those ships are indeed brigands, they might find your actions enticing,” Jester Ripples said.
“I’ve sure missed you, little buddy,” I said, scrubbing behind his ears affectionately. “And, that’s exactly what I’m hoping for. If we don’t get these cutters to stop parking here, it remains too dangerous for those who sail through without a ship like Intrepid.”
Jester Ripples nodded his head, thoughtfully considering my words. The pacifist in him did not appreciate the idea of a conflict, but he also didn’t like the fact that others were being put in danger by the pirates. Of course, the general Norigan answer was to give aggressors what they wanted. I had a hard time imagining how their species had survived with that approach, but I was nonetheless glad they had.
“I got it, Cap,” Roby said. “When do you want this to happen?”
“Hit it at five hundred kilometers from the wormhole and then again at two. If there are ships on the other side, give me one more display once we’re through plus five seconds,” I said.
“Roger that.”
I set Jester Ripples down and jogged back to the bridge. Intrepid had covered half the distance to the wormhole by the time I entered. It was clear neither ship had seen us yet.
“Ada, things are going to get interesting. Roby is going to…”
Before I could finish my statement, three ships transitioned from Tamu into Santaloo.
“Marny?” I asked.
“That’s the Genteresk ship, Sangilak,” Marny replied. “Two attack craft flanking her.”
“Ada, spin it up and take evasive,” I said. “Roby, belay previous order.”
“Frak, copy that, Cap,” Roby replied.
“Jala, pull those straps on,” I said. “This is likely to get dicey.”
“Incoming hail,” my AI warned.
“Don’t show bridge crew other than myself and accept hail,” I instructed.
The thickset Belvakuski appeared on the forward vid-screen, transmitting a vid of herself from the waist up. I pinched my fingers, shrunk her image and pushed it to the side so we continued to have a wide-angled view of space.
“Captain Hoffen, once again we meet as adversaries,” she said. I was momentarily distracted by her flabby jowls and how her jewelry musically echoed in response to her movement. “I find I am intrigued by one who escapes my grasp a second time. I do appreciate you awaiting my arrival, however.”
“Zone defense, alpha,” Marny ordered, as she grasped the gunnery station controls. “Stay tight, kids, these guys mean business.”
We’d drilled on only four scenarios — or packages as Marny referred to them: Alpha and Beta for both offense and defense. The zone defense was designed for multiple, fast targets. The goal was to keep ships from breaching a five-hundred-meter perimeter and thereby reducing potential damage to Intrepid.
“Belvakuski, why am I not surprised to find you here?” I asked. “I take it you’re sore about Goboble?”
Belvakuski smiled. Surprisingly, it was a winning smile. To be a truly effective pirate leader, you would have to have equal parts carrot and stick in your personality. I knew for a fact she had plenty of stick.
“I don’t suppose you would save us all the effort and turn over your ship before I pound it into dust? It is such a pretty thing,” she said.
“And what? You’d let my crew go?”
“No, I’m afraid that wouldn’t be possible. But I would certainly consider placing a fine man such as yourself in my harem. I haven’t enjoyed a shapely human such as yourself before.”
“What is it with you Pogona?” I asked, disgusted. “You’re either misogynists or extreme feminists.”
“Feminist you say? This is a word I will cherish.”
“All hands, combat burn in three, two, one,” Ada announced.
Intrepid’s engines fired and I was pinned back into my chair as the four massive engines fired and the inertial systems attempted to bleed off the excessive g-forces. The fast-attack craft still closed on us, but Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and Sangilak dropped quickly behind us.
“Where are you going, Hoffen?” Belvakuski said. “Your ship is most impressive. I really must have it.”
“Cut comm. Marny are you ready for a flip?” I asked.
To keep up with us, the small attack craft had fallen in line with Intrepid and were now directly behind us.
“All gunners, prepare for Aggressive Offense Beta,” Marny instructed.
“Ada, once they’re in firing range, I want a flip and reverse burn so we stay with the attack craft as long as possible,” I said.
“Copy, Liam,” Ada said. “On your mark.”
Whoever was flying the smaller ships had no trouble staying out of the way of Intrepid’s aft-facing sixty-mil cannons. The cannons were designed for larger ships, so while it was disappointing, it wasn’t completely unexpected.
“We’re taking fire, Cap,” Marny said.
The attack-craft blasters plunked away at our haunches, but it was mostly ineffective; the two most heavily armored sections on the ship were fore and aft. Add to that the stealth armor layer and I was willing to take a few hits as they closed in.
“Copy that, Marny. All hands prepare for combat flip, in ten seconds,” I said. I punched the synchronized counter so everyone received the same countdown.
“Focus fire on Larry,” Marny said, quietly. It was unnecessary, but reassuring, nonetheless. Larry was a reference to the first-priority ship and Bob was priority number two. In the Aggressive Beta plan, all gunners were to shoot at the top priority if they had any line on it. We’d risk some damage from Bob, but the goal was to burn down one ship quickly.
My stomach flopped as Ada smartly spun us over. Streams of fire erupted from five of our eight turrets, four of which focused on a very surprised Larry.
“Larry is down. Concentrate on Bob,” Marny said as Larry’s engines blinked out and the ship dropped its pursuit.
“Second fleet entering Santaloo,” Ada said.
“Give Sangilak a wide berth, Ada,” I said. “Put her in the hole if you can.”
“Copy, Liam,” Ada said, her voice tight.
The ‘hole’ referred to a maneuver designed for escape, usually from a larger and more powerful ship. Because of our flip, Intrepid was now headed into the path of the incoming Sangilak. Ada would attempt to keep the ships apart, but on opposite trajectories. If all went well, Intrepid would shoot past Sangilak while increasing acceleration. If Sangilak wanted to find us, she’d have to work against her own acceleration, turn, and then burn hard to match the acceleration Intrepid had gained. It would work well, as long as we could stay away from Sangilak’s guns on the way by. While dangerous, Ada knew our sensor image was the most difficult to read if she pointed us directly at the incoming ship.
“Bob is down. Disengage,” Marny ordered and then two seconds later she reiterated. “Disengage!” The fast-attack craft exploded beside us.
I wondered what was going on, but we were in the thick of things and there would be plenty of time for arm-chair analysis later.
“I’m taking a close pass on Tweedle Dum,” Ada said. We’d made up names for every ship other than Sangilak, primarily because they weren’t transmitting transponder codes.
Ada’s line on our pursuers made sense. They hadn’t yet adjusted to the fact that we were accelerating directly at them and as a result, our delta-v was ratcheting up at twice the expected rate.
“Marny, any read on the new fleet?” I asked.
“Looks like a merchant convoy, Cap.”
“Incoming hail, Abasi flagged ship, Flaking Bark.”
“On screen,” I said. “Captain Hoffen.”
A female Felio wearing a traditional officer’s uniform appeared on the forward vid screen.
“This is Imara Captain. Is assistance requested?”
“I believe we have this, Captain,” I said. “Thank you for the offer. I recommend staying clear of Genteresk ship, Sangilak.”
“Yes. Flaking Bark desists.”
“Gunners, Zone Defense Alpha,” Marny instructed.
“Incoming comm, Sangilak.”
“On tight screen,” I answered.
“I will not underestimate you again, Captain Hoffen,” Belvakuski said and touched her fist just beneath her chin.
“Sangilak is pulling off. Should I adjust?” Ada asked.
“No. Keep our original line. We don’t need to mix it up with a destroyer if we can avoid it.” Belvakuski had made the right decision. Her fast-attack craft had been woefully under-armored for facing off with a frigate and she no longer had ships capable of catching us if we decided to run.
“All hands, stand down,” I said.
“Permission to leave bridge,” Marny said. She was fuming about something.
“Granted,” I said.
“What was that about?” Ada asked.
“I’ll let her cool off before asking.”
Ada chuckled in agreement.
“Jala, any thoughts you’d like to share regarding Belvakuski?”
“Does Belvakuski know my face now?” Jala asked. Her expression was stoic as always, but I was learning how to read her and saw fear.
“She does not, Jala. I kept the camera tight to my own,” I said.
Jala sighed almost inaudibly, but I caught it. “Belvakuski is a legend among our people. I had not anticipated how intimidating she would be. You are wise to treat her respectfully and as an equal. When captured, she will make your death quick and painless.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said.
“Yes,” Jala agreed.
“What did her gesture mean when she rested her fist beneath her chin?” I asked.
“She did this?” Jala asked.
“It was on screen; did you not see her?”
“I turned away. I was afraid, Captain Liam Hoffen.”
“Send video data-streams of all communication between me and Belvakuski to Jala. Replay final minute of conversation.” The AI immediately started replaying Belvakuski’s conversation which ended with the odd fist-beneath-her-chin gesture.
“Respect, Captain Liam Hoffen. Belvakuski considers you a worthy opponent.”
“Great. I’d settle for her considering me invisible.”
“Yes. That would be best,” Jala agreed.
“Ada, do you have a line on Larry? Seems like we should collect Intrepid's first official privateer prize.”
“We’re burning toward her now,” Ada said.
Chapter 18
Prize
"Careful of the turret, Cap,” Marny warned as Tabby and I stepped off the edge of the forward cargo bay’s deck, through the pressure barrier, and into the space that separated Intrepid and the fast-attack craft Jester Ripples labeled Larry. According to Ada, Jester Ripples had been reading old Earth history and had taken to naming the otherwise unnamed ships for characters he’d discovered in his reading.
Larry’s eighteen-meter-long, ten-meter-wide design was simple and obvious; it was made for speed and maneuverability. A single, fat engine sat behind gracefully swept-back wings that attested to its ability to function well even in atmospheric operations. The cockpit that could accommodate four passengers sat atop the wings. Just behind it was a turret with a limited range of motion.
“Why do you suppose Belvakuski abandoned these guys?” I asked. “Couldn’t she have just picked them up on her way?”
“Intrepid’s superior speed would have put Sangilak at risk of strafing runs,” Marny said. “The fact she sent two minimally armored ships after Intrepid suggests she underestimated our capabilities. If you look at it from her side, she had to be wondering why Intrepid didn’t engage the cutters at the wormhole. Belvakuski might have thought your actions were designed to call her out,” she added. “Too many unknowns for her to risk coming back for this ship.”
“What happened to Bob? Was it Gunjeet who blew it up?” I asked.
“Stay in the moment, Cap. Larry is rotating,” Marny warned. She’d remained behind on Intrepid’s cargo deck specifically to watch for hostile actions by Larry’s crew.
I’d seen the same blast from Larry’s directional jets. The pirates were attempting to line up on either Intrepid or us, no doubt concerned we’d space them once we gained control of their ship.
Before I could react, Intrepid nudged forward, her cargo bay swallowing Tabby and me like a giant fish might swallow its prey. We fell to the floor in the artificial gravity at about the same time Intrepid’s hull contacted Larry and sent it slowly tumbling away.
“Jala, see if you can contact that crew and explain that we’ll keep ‘em alive if they settle down. Ada, can you help her get a comm contact?”
“Sure thing, Liam,” Ada answered.
I picked myself off the cargo bay floor and looked on as Larry’s pilot attempted to right the ship. Larry would just fit into our forward hold if we depressurized and left the nose sticking out. Our plan had been to do just that. We would bring it with us to space station Chitundu, where we’d file a prize claim with House Mshindi.
“To answer your question about who blew up Bob; that was on me, Cap,” Marny said. “I’d given the rookies control over turrets for a period. We were in no real danger from those attack craft once Larry was down. I assumed the gunnery crew would understand that and would be disciplined enough to stop firing.”
“I can review the logs, Marny.”
“It was Sempre.”
“Really?” I asked. If anything, Sempre was generally too timid.
“She didn’t understand the idea of privateer prize and believed Bob still posed a threat.”
I nodded. Marny had her hands full with our current crew. “Did you ever figure out what the security issues were when we boarded Intrepid from Petersburg?”
“Gunjeet attempted access to every hatch on the main deck. He also took a bag full of med patches and stored them in an unused footlocker in the crew bunks.”
“What’s he going to do with those?” I asked.
“Sell them,” Marny said. “Our med-patches are considerably more potent than anything Pogona manufacture.”
“That’s horrible. We should transmit the pattern universally,” I said. “There’s no reason for people to have poor medical treatment.”
“Wouldn’t help,” Marny said. “Replicator technology is highly controlled by Confederation of Planets. Only the powerful would benefit.”
“Captain Liam, I have the information you requested,” Jala’s soft voice interrupted our conversation.
“Go ahead, Jala,” I answered.
“Pilot Jaspati agrees to acquiesce,” Jala said. “He requests an honorable death for he and his co-pilot at the hands of his victor.”
“I take it punting them into space without a suit is not considered an honorable death?”
“You speak with truth, Captain Liam.”
“Inform them that we have no intent to kill them, either honorably or dishonorably. Also, tell them to release atmosphere from their cockpit and exit their ship,” I said.
“I will transmit this information,” Jala said.
“How will you discipline Sempre?” I asked, turning to Marny.
“I won’t, Cap,” Marny said. “I put her into a position she wasn’t ready for and the fault is mine. I cost us that ship, not Sempre.”
“And Gunjeet?”
“Same issue. I placed him on the ship and failed to lock down the medical bay. He had been given no expectations.”
“Sounds like you’re getting soft on your recruits,” I said, immediately wishing I hadn’t.
“Sounds like you’re second guessing me.”
�
�Hold on, you two,” Tabby said. “Let’s focus on the task at hand. Everyone’s always a little jumpy when boarding an enemy ship, no reason to be stirring up trouble.”
As Intrepid closed on Larry, a puff of atmo billowed from around vents surrounding the cockpit. A moment later, two figures appeared at a hatch on the ship’s keel.
“Captain Liam. Pilot Jaspati requests a safety line and would convey that their external ship suits have no capacity for movement once detached from ship.”
“We’ll retrieve them,” I said and jumped away from Intrepid, easily covering the two hundred meters that separated the two ships.
“Tabby, Sempre, would you join us in the forward hold?” Marny asked over tactical. “I’ll need you to place these two into the brig while Cap and I clear Larry.”
“Copy,” Tabby replied.
“I have point,” I said.
“Roger that, Cap,” Marny replied as the two of us slowly made our way back to Larry. “Toss a disc in before you enter.”
“Copy,” I agreed.
When I arrived at Larry, I twisted so that I sailed slowly underneath and lined up for an angled toss into the ship. Upon entering the hatch, the coin-sized sensor disc attached itself magnetically to the first surface it contacted.
“Negative on movement, you’re a go,” Marny said. While I maneuvered to toss in the disc, she’d been orienting herself to back me up on insertion.
“Copy.” I ducked around and wriggled through the hatch with blaster pistol held in front. “We’re clear.”
There was seating for four, with two narrow rows. It didn’t take a lot of imagination to realize the ship had the dual purposes of ferrying passengers planet-side as well as combat missions.
Marny worked her way through the open hatches of the simplified air-lock and surveyed the interior. “Think you can get her backed into Intrepid?”
“We’ll let Roby and Jester Ripples pull it back with come-alongs,” I said. “Hey, sorry for giving you the business back there. I didn’t mean to overstep.” Marny and I had always been tight and I had difficulty leaving tension between us.
“Appreciate it, Cap, but not your fault. I’m pissed about letting things get out of hand like I did.”
Corsair Menace (Privateer Tales Book 12) Page 22
