The Hope Island Chronicles Boxed Set

by PJ Strebor

  “On your feet, Captain,” he said.

  “Could you give me a hand?”

  “No.” Hans showed enough caution to keep a healthy distance between them.

  “But I’m wounded.”

  “What you are, Captain, is a very dangerous man. Now get up.”

  As he stood, Reinhardt wondered why he was still alive. Hans had been brutalized so badly that any other man would seek some measure of revenge. They moved toward the stairs. Presently they entered the infirmary. Doctor Jahn lay on the floor and stirred as Hans shook him.

  “Not again,” the doctor said.

  “On your feet doc. I’ve got a patient for you.”

  Jahn, unsteady on his feet, staggered to a cabinet, selected a vial and shot it into his neck. He recovered most of his composure in quick order and treated Reinhardt’s wound.

  “There is tissue damaged and tearing of the muscle, so the best you can do is not use it for a few weeks.”

  Reinhardt nodded. During the exercise Hans stood well out of range of a possible attack. His eyes never left the two Pruessens.

  Jahn turned to him. “He’ll live. So, what now? Are you going to stun me again?”

  “Pack what medical supplies you can carry to treat stun wounds.” He kept looking at his watch.

  Hans took them back upstairs, opened the brig hatch and ushered them inside. Personnel lay on the floor, some unconscious. The hatch snapped shut.

  “Who is that man?” the doctor asked.

  “Now, that doctor, is the question.”

  ***

  Nathan checked his watch before keying his comm. “Moe, are your teams in place?”

  “Yep.”

  “Three minutes to go,” Nathan said.

  “We’re ready.”

  “Good. Did Riley report to you?”

  “Yeah. He’s been a bad boy, hasn’t he?”

  “Just keep him out of trouble,” Nathan said.

  “Shall do.”

  “Two minutes.”

  As he talked he made his way toward the armory. His back flared. A hatch opened and Jaeger stepped through. His former torturer froze. Nathan reached for his sidearm. The marine was too fast for him. Jaeger’s sharp kick knocked the pistol from his hand. Instinctively, Nathan blocked his next blow with his left arm. Pain seared through his arm as his damaged hand took the brunt of the hit. While Nathan reeled from the agony the marine swung behind him, wrapped his arm around his neck and dropped to the floor. Nathan’s spine screamed as his back bowed across Jaeger’s knee. The grip on his neck tightened and he felt consciousness slipping away. His elbow struck back again and again but the Pruessen’s training prevented Nathan from striking anything significant. Nathan’s eyes began to blur over and he could feel consciousness ebbing away. Desperate, he groped into a pants pocket. Gripping the hypo he flicked off the cap and jabbed it into Jaeger’s leg. All of it.

  Almost immediately the pressure eased on his throat. The giddiness faded and he staggered to his feet breathing raggedly. Jaeger’s face distorted as the chemical worked its way into his bloodstream. As Nathan dragged him into a nearby room the shrieking began. Curled into a ball on the deck the Pruessen writhed in agony and screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

  ***

  Moe had her teams positioned around all the key areas throughout the base. They waited, IR goggles ready, weapons primed. Adroit sat in the hangar below. She’d be their first target. She counted down the seconds.

  “All teams, stand by.”

  They would all know when to act. If Nathan’s time delayed sabotage of the primary base generator worked. “It’s just a small conventional explosive,” he’d said.

  Moe adjusted her infra red goggles, ready to slip them on. Any second now. If it worked. A dull thump from far away, then all the lights went out. The personnel crawling over the monitor were at first bewildered then panicked by the absolute darkness. As the Pruessens stumbled about in utter confusion her team lit up the dark hangar with pulsar fire.

  ***

  Nathan linked up with team one. They positioned themselves where he strongly suspected the enemy would go to first. He ordered four into the armory with the rest spread out in adjoining rooms. It didn’t take long for the first group of armed soldiers to grope their way to the only source of light. The IR goggles. As soon as the armory hatch opened the Athenians inside fired. At the same moment Nathan’s group came out of their rooms and finished off the rest.

  A young petty officer summed it up.

  “I think we’re going to need a bigger brig.”

  Other teams reported in. All military personnel were accounted for and were on their way to the brig.

  Nathan left team one to their duties and strode to the main hangar. Along the way he passed sailors dragging limp bodies. Adroit came into view.

  “Moe, where are you?”

  “Bridge.”

  As he walked through the boat more unconscious bodies were being removed. The bridge appeared to be ship-shape. Lieutenant Ruvera sat at the operations station with her CPO beside her.

  “How are we looking?” Nathan asked.

  “I’m still checking,” she said without looking up.

  In the briefing room Moe examined the holo-display of the boat.

  “What’s happening?” Nathan asked.

  “I’ve got the senior engineer checking her out. And people doing spot checks. She seems to be in good shape but I won’t know for sure until we complete our inspection.”

  She looked up for the first time. “What’s going on, Nate?”

  “What do you mean?” Nathan asked.

  “Wadda you mean, what do I mean. Sparing the Pruessens. You?”

  “I told you,” Nathan said, “I can’t discuss it.”

  “Not even with your very best friend?”

  He pursed his lips and shook his head.

  She sighed. “So what’s the play?”

  “What would you do?”

  “I’d leave here really soon.” She glanced at his timepiece.

  “We’ve got plenty of time. Hours.”

  “So, we get out of here and make a run for the frontier?”

  He shrugged.

  “And the Pruessens?” Moe asked.

  “There’s a resupply ship due here within twelve hours. I’ll evacuate all personnel in landing boats and they can wait in orbit for her.”

  “If you do that you know what that will mean for us?” Moe didn’t seem happy.

  “Yep. They’ll alert every ship between here and the frontier to track us down. Yeah, I know.”

  “And you’re all right with this arrangement?”

  “It’s not ideal but we’ll have to live with it,” Nathan said.

  “Yeah, you get that.”

  CHAPTER 19

  With the backup generator engaged Nathan abandoned his goggles.

  Passing the guards he stepped into the crowded mess. The civvies clustered together in small groups, all wearing their apprehension openly. Their attitude did nothing to calm the anxiety of their children. A man approached, hands held up in supplication. Nathan remembered him.

  “Are you in charge?” he asked.

  Nathan nodded.

  “Hans, is that really your name?”

  “It’ll do, for now. I know you’re concerned, Lance, but we don’t make war against civilians. That’s more of a Pruessen trait.”

  “So, what happens to us?”

  Nathan faced a sea of troubled faces.

  “This base will be evacuated as soon as possible. We will not harm any of you unless you do something stupid.” Their frowns softened moderately. “Questions?”

  “What about our research?”

  A few more eggheads sparked up and Nathan could see where this was leading.

  “This base will shortly become a glass lined hole in the ground. Damn your research. You’ve got your lives and that of your families. Be
grateful.”

  He turned away as his comm beeped. “Tel, Captain.”

  “It’s been two hours so, as ordered, I’ve scheduled a meeting of the boat’s senior officers,” Moe said.

  “Good, I’m on my way.”

  “Not so good I’m afraid,” Moe said.

  Ten minutes later Nathan stepped into Adroit’s briefing room and took the Captain’s chair.

  He passed his eyes over the faces of the boat’s senior officers. Many were younger than he.

  “Where’s Doctor Bryant?”

  “Dead,” the D-O said.

  “Team six got into a firefight just before the lights went out,” Moe said. “The doc took one. Captain.”

  Nathan rubbed at the bump above his right eyebrow. “Continue, D-O.”

  “I’ve done a complete diagnostic of the boat’s systems and almost everything checks out, Captain.” Ruvera paused for a moment. “However –”

  “Yes, I’ve heard,” Nathan said. “Senior Engineer?”

  “The square heads decided to have a tinker with the reactor,” Lt Cmdr Tollini said. “At least they had the common sense to close it down before they started. It’s completely cold.”

  “Any damage?” Nathan asked.

  “Not sure.”

  “You have reinitialized it?”

  “Not yet. I was waiting –”

  “What?” Nathan said. His mood darkened. “You’re sitting here while the reactor’s cold?”

  He looked first to the D-O then to Moe.

  “I ordered Lieutenant Commander Tollini to fire her up,” Moe said. “Apparently, Captain, he doesn’t recognize my authority as second in command of this boat.”

  Nathan fixed a cold stare at the senior engineer.

  “It’s SOP aboard this boat. Captain Winstone insisted—”

  “Do I look like Winstone to you?”

  “No, but still the orders of the Captain stand.”

  “Order revoked,” Nathan snapped. “Anything else of difficulty in maneuvering?”

  “Not that I can find.”

  “Captain,” the D-O snapped.

  About time.

  “Or do you question his authority too?” Moe asked.

  Tollini cleared his throat. “Captain.”

  “Talking of authority, Commander, if you receive an order from either Lieutenants Okuma or Ruvera, it’s as good as from me.” Nathan’s tone became frosty. “Are you reading me mister?”

  Tollini sat bolt upright. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

  “Good, now get out of here and fire up the damn reactor. Any problems report it immediately to one of the three of us. Understood?”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Go.”

  As he disappeared through the hatch a few half-formed smiles edged onto the younger officer’s faces.

  “Moe, what have you done with Riley?”

  “Brig, Captain.”

  “Good. Let’s move on. Lieutenant Keirn?”

  “Captain, like maneuvering the square heads have stuck their beaks into my departments. I’m still running a diagnostic on damage control but so far it’s looking all right. Stores on the other hand have been ransacked.”

  “How about V suits?”

  “All bar three are right where they should be. With Captain Winstone gone and two of our crew dead we’ve broken even. However they’ve cleaned out our food stores. They only left K pack rations. Sadistic bastards. They’ve also rifled through some of the containers and stock is missing. I have two of my people scouring the base for what’s missing, Captain.”

  “Very complete report, Fischer. Well done.”

  “Thanks skipper.”

  Moe leaned into his ear and filled in one of the many gaps in his knowledge.

  “Very well, Fish, I’ll let you get back to work.”

  As he walked to the hatch Nathan turned to the Weapons Engineering Officer.

  “Lieutenant Applebee?”

  “Captain, same thing I’m afraid,” the WEO said. “They’ve tinkered with the port pulsar. It’s a mess but I have a team working on it. They took a couple of torpedoes but I asked Fish to have his people keep an eye out for them. The rest of the inventory looks good.”

  “Can you get the pulsar working?” Nathan asked.

  “I can try, Captain.”

  “Thank you Roma, off you go.”

  He sniffed the air. “Seems that the Environment Control Center is in working order, Lieutenant Wanganeen.”

  “Aye, Captain,” he said. “I think the square heads are too stupid to figure out how it works.”

  “How’s your duty NCO?”

  “He’s good, sir. And a pretty decent stores NCO from what Fish told me.”

  “Good to hear, Leroy. You may go.”

  He gestured for the boat’s tactical officer, Ensign Willet to continue. Damn, he’s so young.

  “I got lucky, skipper. Tactical is working perfectly. I ran a diagnostic to make sure, but it looks like the Pruessens left it alone.”

  “Good to hear. Thanks Rudi, you’re dismissed.”

  He stared at the marine officer. She didn’t look happy.

  “Let’s hear it Lieutenant Noffke.”

  “They’ve cleared out my weapons lockers, including the L50’s. They took one ‘droid and left the rest. I’ve activated them and the D-O has put them to work around the boat. I checked the Pruessen arsenal and my weapons aren’t there. I’ve got Corporal Sinnott looking for them and Fish’s people as well, Captain.”

  “How about the Pruessen weaponry.”

  “It’s useable though a tad unsophisticated,” the marine said. “They’ve got a couple of weapons that could match our L50’s but I wonder if they’re necessary.”

  Beside him Moe chuckled.

  “I have, for some years, advocated that a monitor needs more protection to her stern quarter,” Nathan said. “I want two of those weapons placed into the boat bay to cover our six.”

  “Captain, they each weigh at least a hundred and twenty kilos.”

  “Then what are you going to do about that, marine?”

  “I can’t use anti-gravs on them or it’ll scramble their guidance circuits, so I guess I’ll have to man handle them.”

  “Grace, detail a couple of cans to the marines.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Next time, Jacinta, just ask for help. All right?”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  “All in all not too shabby,” Nathan said as the marine left. “But why isn’t this boat in pieces?”

  “We’ve only been here for six days, Nate,” Moe said.

  “It’s our belief that it took time to set up this base,” Grace said. “And I think they were waiting for specialists to be shipped in from Midway. From what we’ve overheard they were supposed to be here on the last supply run but they didn’t show up.”

  “I guess Pruessen bureaucrats are as bad as ours,” Moe said. “If not we wouldn’t be here and the boat would be in worse shape than she is.”

  “When we get back home we’ll raise a glass to pen pushers everywhere,” Nathan said. Then a thought struck him. “Winstone?”

  “They must have taken him,” Grace said. “No one’s seen him since the boat was captured.” She snorted. “If they think they’re going to get valuable intell from that numbskull they are going to be sadly disappointed.”

  One less moron to mess up Monitor Corps.

  He stood, tilting his head to avoid the low overhead. “Anything else?”

  Moe and Grace shook their heads.

  He stepped into the Captain’s cabin and rummaged around. Locating Winstone’s spare flight suit he tore off the enemy uniform and donned monitor black. It hung off his taut frame but it felt good to be back in uniform. Taking a deep breath he stared into the mirror. “Don’t fuck this up,” he whispered. He stepped from his quarters and set course for the hatch.

  “Where
are you off to?” Moe asked.

  Nathan stopped at the hatch. “This being my first command, I’m going to walk the boat.”

  ***

  Walking the boat, Nathan checked on every crewmember he encountered. They appeared to be surprised that he knew their names. Setting to memory Adroit’s crew roster before leaving Deception turned out to have unexpected benefits.

  “How are you feeling, Wilkinson?” he asked a junior rating.

  “Good sir.”

  “Looking forward to getting home.” Of course she is, idiot.

  “Aye sir,” she said. Like most of the crew she carried the cuts and bruises meted out by the square heads. “Anywhere will be good after this place.”

  He moved on speaking with other crewmembers. Nathan checked in with the department heads, encouraging them to do all that they could to get the boat back to first-class fighting order. Deliberately, he started at the bow and worked his way sternward.

  Entering maneuvering he made his way to the shielded reactor room. The reactor had been activated. Tollini sat at a console watching the steadily climbing power levels.

  “How’s it going,” Nathan asked.

  The senior engineer jumped. “Jeeezass, don’t sneak up on me, fuck you.” As he turned to face Nathan his face sagged. “Sorry sir, ah, Captain.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll wear a cowbell next time.” With the previous reaming behind them Nathan grinned. Tollini’s face lit with relief. Nathan nodded toward the panel.

  “She’s on the way,” Tollini said, “but cold starts are notoriously tricky. We should be ready to go in about three to four hours.”

  Nathan glanced at his countdown watch. Two hours nineteen minutes remained. He leaned in close and spoke in an urgent whisper.

  “What I’m about to tell you stays between us.”

  Tollini nodded.

  “In two hours a high caliber nuke is going to drop onto the roof of this base. Amos, I for one would really like to be somewhere else at that time.”

  “Fuck my brown dog,” Tollini hissed. His eyes had changed, fear dominating. “Two hours?” Nathan nodded. Amos rubbed his chin then looked his Captain in the eye. “I don’t know how, but I’ll have her ready to launch by then. You have my word on it, Captain.”