“Ada, give us some distance,” I said.
Belvakuski’s fleet had been waiting on the opposite side of the moon, hidden from our sensors as we approached.
We couldn’t hope to outrun the entire fleet with only three engines, but we could use the moon to cut down on the number of ships we had to engage at any one time. One thing I knew for sure was Intrepid couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with Sangilak for more than a few moments.
“We’re taking fire,” Marny said, her voice tight.
“What? Where?” We were two thousand kilometers from the main fleet.
The outline of three stealthed ships popped into view on the holo projector. Explosions rocked Intrepid as together they loosed a fusillade of blaster fire and missiles.
“That’s Munay’s sloop, Gaylon Brighton!” Tabby exclaimed just as the AI flagged it.
“Return fire!”
My order wasn’t particularly necessary as Marny, Tabby and Sempre were already firing Intrepid’s blasters. Our fire was defensive — Marny was trying to give Ada time to put distance between Intrepid and the three stealth ships.
I forced my mind away from the momentary details of the fight. We wouldn’t survive on short-term, tactical decisions. We needed a strategy that would work for more than the moment. Belvakuski had split her fleet and approached from two sides. The sloops were positioned to prevent us from escaping into the deep dark, something our stealth armor would certainly allow if we could put enough distance between us and our enemies. Her plan was solid, but no plan was foolproof.
“They’re targeting engines,” Marny said. “Rockets away.”
The rockets forced the Navy sloops to break off their attack and a seam opened in the battlefield. I’d have preferred that it led out to safety. All the same, it was an opportunity of which we had to take advantage. There was no possibility of us standing against this fleet.
“Burn for Kameldeep!” I said.
Ada guided Intrepid into the gap created by Marny’s rockets, even though she questioned the sanity of the decision. “Liam, they’ll trap us against the planet.”
“Engine two is offline,” Roby called from the engine room, the sounds of explosions carrying through his comm channel. “We can’t take much more of this!”
Intrepid turned hard as we returned fire on the sloops that still had the drop on us.
“Bitch!” Tabby exclaimed from the gunner’s nest just as one of the ships accompanying Gaylon Brighton exploded.
“Accept hail.”
“Stop firing and you’ll live,” Belvakuski said. “You’re outnumbered and you will not outrun my shiny new human Navy ships.”
“Marny, cease fire,” I said.
“Don’t do it, Liam,” Tabby said. “She’ll never let us live.”
I felt the weight of the universe on my shoulders once again. We might survive the Navy sloops, but Belvakuski would eventually run us down. The pounding we were taking ceased as we stopped firing.
“What have you done with Munay and the crews of those ships?” I asked.
“Always the hero,” Belvakuski said. “Are you not worried about your immediate future?”
“Tell me, Belvakuski,” I said.
“The human soldiers were a most resistant lot,” she answered. “We found they were not suitable for lives as slaves.”
“You killed them?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure as to their fates. Turn over your ship and we will negotiate. I could perhaps find those that remain. It will be expensive, however,” she said. “As will the lives of those aboard Intrepid.”
The two remaining Mars Protectorate sloops moved to flank us.
I muted comms. “Marny, can you take both those ships out?”
“Tough call, Cap.”
“On my word, put everything we have into it,” I said.
“What do we have to trade if we give up Intrepid?” I asked, unmuting.
“There is no if, Liam Hoffen,” Belvakuski said. “You have been surprisingly adept at escaping my net, but your single-minded pursuit of the wounded Kroerak ship exposed a weakness.”
“You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to chase me down, Belvakuski. Is Intrepid really worth all this?” I asked.
“You peck at me like a Farmogan worm on a Begod. My very reputation is at stake,” she answered. “Without reputation, we are nothing.”
“You will come out of this with less than you started, Belvakuski,” I said. “Marny, do it!”
Rockets streamed from Intrepid’s launch tubes and her turrets sprang to life. I watched as the weapons batteries drained and rocket inventory bottomed out. The first rockets missed their targets, as the ship captains had been wise enough to anticipate our actions. Marny however, was smarter, anticipating their evasions and poured fire into their paths. Gaylon Brighton was sent broken and tumbling through space just as the third Naval sloop peeled off, running hard for safety beyond our guns.
“Spunky to the last,” Belvakuski said. “I will have you and your ship, Liam Hoffen. Your fighting against me only makes you more desirable.”
I cut comms between us.
“That’s not creepy,” Tabby said.
“Roby, do we have enough power to land on the surface of Kameldeep?”
“Landing is one thing, Captain,” Roby answered. “Taking off again might be something entirely different. I don’t think we should do it.”
“What are you thinking, Cap?” Marny asked. "We'll be trapped on the surface. From a fleet that size, we can only expect to hide for a matter of hours, at best."
“I’m taking Intrepid off the table and giving us some breathing room. She can't take what she can't reach."
“Liam Hoffen, the average surface temperature of Kameldeep is seventy-one degrees. It is also geologically unstable,” Jester Ripples said. “Long term survival is unlikely.”
“Sounds like a bargain,” I said. “We won’t survive more than an hour if we stay up here. Ada, take us down, fast as you can.”
“Won’t they just come get us?” Tabby asked.
“I’d be more concerned with them knocking us down before we land,” Ada said. “Everybody strap in. This isn’t going to be pretty.”
A blinking light on my HUD showed that Belvakuski was trying to re-establish comms. I ignored her and gestured at the virtual display of Kameldeep on the holo, pulling it to me for inspection. The planet was twice the size of Mars and not suitable for habitation, even though it had a mostly breathable atmosphere.
“Give me a location to shoot at Liam,” Ada said.
“Working on it.”
Intrepid shook and I looked up, hoping a fourth stealthed ship hadn’t appeared. Instead, I realized we’d already entered Kameldeep’s upper atmosphere.
“Put down there.”
The location I tossed to Ada was three kilometers from where the Kroerak cruiser had set down. I hoped we were outside the range of the cruiser’s devastating weapons.
“That will put us right on top of the bugs,” Ada said, “Don’t we have enough problems?”
“That cruiser will provide cover,” I said. “Any of Belvakuski’s ships that fly over will get a quick lesson in Kroerak etiquette.”
“Cap, there are limits to that ‘enemy of my enemy’ saying. I like where your head’s at, but I’d like a bit more room between us and those bugs,” Marny said.
I pulled the terrain map closer and expanded my search to a twenty-five-kilometer radius around the Kroerak ship. The next best location was on the opposite side of a mountain ridge. We’d be fifteen kilometers away and lose some of the cover the Kroerak ship would provide. The slope, however, would allow Ada to orient our heavy aft cannons skyward and provide some amount of protection.
“Check that,” I said, my voice quavering due to our descent through Kameldeep’s thin atmosphere.
“Got it, Liam,” Ada said.
I pulled out Anino’s crystal and plugged it into the transmitter. If this was to be our last moments
, I would at least share what we knew about the Kroerak, not to mention, Genteresk and Koosha tribes.
“Anino, come in,” I called, once I had it plugged in.
“Did you find the ship?” Anino replied immediately. He must have been waiting for my call.
“It’s on the surface of a planet called Kameldeep. Genteresk set a trap for us and Intrepid is badly damaged. Gaylon Brighton is here. Belvakuski has taken it and two other Navy stealth sloops. We destroyed one of them,” I said.
“That’s a lot to take in. Where are you now? Are you secure?”
“Safe for the moment,” I said. “We’ve been forced to set down on Kameldeep. They’ve taken out two of our engines.”
“How? That ship can outrun anything,” Anino said.
“It appears Koosha ratted us out,” I said. “They were waiting for us at the Adit Pah gate. Sangilak landed an eighty-millimeter cannon hit and took out engine one. We escaped, only to have the Navy stealth ships jump us. They took out a second engine. We’re not in good shape.”
“You can’t escape Kameldeep gravity, can you?” he asked.
“Not without repairs.”
“Surface of that planet is unstable. You need to get out of there as quickly as possible.”
“Got it, Anino,” I said, annoyed. “Why would the Kroerak set down on Kameldeep?”
“Energy. Magma is loaded with it. They probably set down over a vent,” he said. “Those Kroerak were probably left behind after the war because they were damaged. You flushed them out. My guess is they won’t stay long. Not with all this activity.”
“I’ll have Jester Ripples send as much data as we can,” I said.
“Be safe, Hoffen.”
“That ship sailed a long time ago, Anino,” I said. “In no small part due to you.”
“I’ll apologize if it’ll make you feel better.”
I pulled the crystal from the cradle handed it to Jester Ripples. “Would you work with Anino and send him whatever he wants?”
“Yes, Liam Hoffen,” Jester Ripples said. The colorful lids around his eyes were pulled back — the furry, little alien was terrified. For a moment, I wondered if all this was worthwhile. If we’d just left things alone, how much more peace could we have had?
“Thanks.” I rubbed between his eyes, smoothing his fur. The effect was immediate as his brow eased.
I sat back in the captain’s chair and looked out through the forward video display. The surface of Kameldeep rushed up to greet us as we dropped into a steamy cloud nestled against the mountains. I’d seen the pocket of vapor when I’d chosen a landing spot half a kilometer north. At the last moment, however, Ada adjusted and set us into the middle of the cloudy gas.
“Vapor won’t provide much block against their sensors,” Ada said. “But it’s at least something.”
“You’re brilliant, Ada. Shut down all non-essential systems,” I said. “Belvakuski wasn’t close enough to track us all the way to the surface. Between the vapor and our stealth armor, she’ll have to look long and hard.”
We were all jostled as Intrepid came to rest against the mountainside at a thirty-five-degree angle. Without the gravity system, we wouldn’t have been able to stand. As it was, the incline felt perfectly natural.
“Roby, can you fix that engine?” I asked.
“I need to get outside,” he said. “It’s really buggered up.”
“We need to secure the LZ, Cap,” Marny said.
“We might be here a while, Roby,” I said. “Do what you can from inside.”
“What’s LZ?” he asked.
“Landing zone,” I said. “We’ll get you a trip outside soon enough. Jester Ripples could you head aft and help Roby?”
“I do not like Kameldeep.” Jester Ripples jumped from his seat and bounded through the bridge hatch, nearly colliding with Tabby.
She was focused on our position. “We’re blind. We need to drop a sensor package on the ridge. Time to break out the Popeyes.”
“Ada, the ship is yours,” I said, jogging after Tabby’s retreating form.
“Never a doubt in my mind.” Ada’s voice drifted through as the bridge door closed behind me.
“Marny sent a pattern up to the replicator,” Tabby said. “It’ll take twenty minutes to complete, though.”
“That’s about how much time we have before the Genteresk will arrive if they’re coming,” I said.
“You think they tracked us?”
“Hope not.”
I hinged open the crate’s lid and placed my hand on the Popeye’s chest cavity, causing it to open. It reminded me of the first time we’d uncovered a mech suit in the warehouse on the Red Houzi base, only this time, the suit was as familiar to me as an ore sled. I sat in the suit, shimmying my legs into position. Lying back, it closed around me, holding me firmly in place.
Running a quick systems check, I verified the multipurpose tool was strapped on my shin and thrust my hands down. With just the right amount of force, this maneuver would pop an experienced operator into a standing position. I’d failed enough times in the past that I was careful not to over rotate.
Tabby was only a moment behind so I punched in the code that would open the hold. At three and a half meters tall, the Popeye was too big to fit in most places within Intrepid, including the airlock. The size of the cargo hold door, however, was more than sufficient. We were on low power use, so couldn’t fire up the pressure barrier. As a result, clean ship air exited and steamy, nitrogen-rich Kameldeep air quickly swirled through the hold. I felt wasteful, but there wasn’t much to be done about it.
My suit read the external temperature at seventy-nine degrees. Twenty degrees warmer and liquid water would turn to gas. The Popeye didn’t seem to mind, although I wasn’t sure if the sweat on my brow was due to nerves or if the suit’s air chiller wasn’t keeping up. One thing was clear, normal vac-suits would struggle with the Kameldeep environment.
I jumped onto the rocky soil. The planet’s gravity was .6g and I felt right at home as my boot sank four centimeters into the powdery ground. I kicked up a small cloud as I moved.
“Ash from the volcanos,” Tabby said, watching the cloud settle.
“Should show tracks if anything’s been through here,” I said.
“Look there.” Tabby pointed at a ten-centimeter track crossing beneath where Intrepid had landed. The track was a series of thin, crossing lines.
I pointed to where a six-legged bug resembling a spider skittered across the surface of the ash. “Wouldn’t have expected any life at all.”
“Spiders,” Tabby said. “Frak. Why is it always spiders?”
As we climbed along the slope of the ridge, the ash lessened. We were careful not to step too far from the gas cloud, preferring instead to patrol the edges, popping out for a few moments at a time to gather sensory data and step back in. Aside from spiders, Kameldeep was spooky in its silence. Most notably, even after forty minutes, we caught no sign of a Genteresk ship.
“You think we’re clear?” Tabby asked.
“For as long as we want to stay holed up, I imagine,” I said. “Belvakuski doesn’t have to run us down, she just has to wait. That’s something those pirates have to be good at. Can you imagine how much time they burn sitting at wormhole gates, waiting for hapless ships that can’t defend themselves? I think waiting is part of being Genteresk.”
“Seems a waste to me,” Tabby said, knocking on the airlock door that sat next to the forward hold.
Marny opened the door and looked out at us.
“Heya kids, anything interesting?” she asked, just making conversation. She’d had access to our feeds the entire time we’d been patrolling.
“Frakking spiders,” Tabby said.
Marny nodded sagely. “Remind me to tell you the story of the green wooly dingo spiders we ran into in the Amazon. Venom would numb you. If they got you when you were sleeping, they’d have you wrapped up in silk, unable to move by morning.”
“Not he
lping,” Tabby complained.
“Put these at least two kilometers apart.” Marny handed me three cylindrical devices, each two meters tall and four centimeters in diameter. “Plunger on top activates them. They need line of sight on Intrepid. I’ve marked locations, but anywhere near my spots will work.”
“Tell Roby he’s clear to work outside,” I said. “You’ll need to watch his bios though. His vac-suit won’t hold up long in this heat. I’ll help when I come back.”
“Aye, Cap,” Marny said.
Tabby and I set off down the mountain. We’d plant the easiest sensor first. Outside of the gas cloud, it would provide a good view of the sky. We exited the cloud and trudged across the planet’s surface, kicking up small plumes of dust as we moved. I didn’t like being exposed, although I knew we were just tiny specs moving across a vast planet.
We paused, waiting for confirmation of the sensor’s contact with Intrepid. A dull green throb of light pulsed in acknowledgement. Still I waited. I wanted to know if we’d been followed into the atmosphere and if a fast-attack craft or cutter waited just out of my suit’s passive-sensor range, waiting to pounce on us.
As so often occurs, there was no immediate feedback beyond a higher resolution map of the surrounding area. The sensor had no difficulty penetrating the vapor cloud at eight hundred meters and suddenly, Intrepid sprang to life with an overlay on the HUD.
“Next?” Tabby asked, spurring me onward.
We placed the second sensor on the opposite side of the ridge. It would give us visibility of the valley where the Kroerak ship sat. Tabby and I stood stock still on the Kroerak side of the ridge but below the top of the hill, so we wouldn’t stand out as we waited for the sensor to activate. I didn’t need the sensor to tell me there was movement in the valley below. Initially, I thought the bugs were congregating, my mind jumping to thoughts of a coordinated attack.
“What are they doing?” I quietly asked over comms.”
“Looks like they’ve been mining,” Tabby said. “That’s a tailings pile.” She roughly drew a circle around a feature I hadn’t yet noticed.
The sensor came online and the details of terrain around the Kroerak ship snapped into focus.
“Jupiter piss, that’s a hatchery,” Long furrows had been dug out of the ground and hundreds of meter-tall eggs sat proudly atop perfectly constructed pedestals.
Corsair Menace (Privateer Tales Book 12) Page 33
