by Britt Ringel
Chief Brown removed his shockseat restraints and hopped up. “Goin’ now, Capt’n.”
As he walked by Heskan, the captain shot his arm out and grabbed the chief. “Be careful, Chief, we have no idea what’s between the bridge and Engineering. If you can’t make your way down there, just come back.” Brown nodded back with a grim look, manually slid the door open and left the bridge.
Heskan looked at the remaining crew. All three had numbed looks on their faces and as he looked into each officer’s eyes, he could see the shocked and disbelieving expressions of people who did not understand how they were still alive. They probably mirror my own expression, he thought. I need to keep them busy, which shouldn’t be too hard since there’s plenty to do.
“Each of you needs to start diagnostics of your sections and computer systems. Then start working to restore at least a basic functionality on your consoles. I’ll work on the tactical plot. Jack, you work on restoring sensors.”
Heskan heard the various acknowledgements from his bridge officers as he moved to the damage control locker. Fishing out a med-kit, he walked down to Selvaggio. “Let’s look at that leg, Diane.”
He pointed the portable medical diagnostic scanner and pressed the auto-doc button. It told him there was a minor break in the right fibula on the medial surface and recommended administering a splint and a painkiller. Pulling out a red and white flexible splint, he began to wrap it around Selvaggio’s lower leg. “No marathons for you for a while, Diane.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, wincing as he tightened the splint. “Aren’t you supposed to freeze it before you put the splint on, sir?”
Oops. “Uh, yes, I guess I could’ve done that,” he answered sheepishly. From the med-kit, he grabbed a twenty centimeter implement shaped like a wand, nicknamed a “shiver-stick.” After pressing it against the diagnostic scanner so the auto-doc could set the dosage, Heskan poked the wand’s tip to her shocksuit just below her right knee.
“That’s better,” she sighed as the pain subsided.
“Sorry. Okay, gonna lock up that splint now,” Heskan said as he selected a different wand, colloquially called a “stiff stick,” and pressed it against the splint. The splint’s molecules lined up and immediately went rigid. “Good as new. Can you function, Diane?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be all right, thank you,” she answered back shyly.
Heskan nodded and then moved to his seat. Placing the med-kit next to his chair, he sat down and re-secured himself to his shockseat. Bringing the tactical plot controls to the front of his right arm console, Heskan first brought up the image of the tactical situation frozen just before Anelace took her direct hit and placed it on the main screen. He didn’t bother posting the minutes-old opticals of Blackheart and Ketch-One and used the space on the main screen to post Anelace’s status display instead. Both were outdated but it was a start.
After five minutes of hard work, Heskan’s comm unit chirped. The noise made him jump but he quickly pushed the button and simply said, “Report.”
Lieutenant Jackamore’s voice came through crystal clear. Why did I think it would be scratchy and distorted, Heskan wondered. “Captain, communications is up and emergency power should be restored shortly. Our power plant is cold right now; Ana popped the ‘chicken switch’ during the big hit. We’re checking the systems and— No, no, don’t bother with the inductives, they’ll be fine, just run through the core systems, dammit.” Jackamore cleared his throat. “Sorry, sir. Uh, after we check the system, I’ll initiate a hot start. It’ll take about ten minutes from when we start. Just a, just a second, Captain.” Heskan waited impatiently.
“Okay, emergency power restored now, sir. Is the bridge up?” As Jackamore asked the question, the bridge lights intensified.
“It looks like it, Brandon, good work. Get the core going and then tell me the conditions of our drives. Tell the chief to contact me in five minutes if he isn’t coming back to the bridge.”
“Will do, sir. Jackamore out.”
Heskan heard the connection terminate. “Reach out to your sections, folks. Lead your departments. I want status reports on your systems in two minutes.” He returned his attention back to tactical. The plot was up and it would be up to Truesworth getting the ship’s sensors online before it would show anything close to a real-time picture. He used the remaining time to look over Anelace’s status. Unlike tactical, the status display was not frozen and as power returned to the thousands of sensors built into Anelace, the display updated. Even destroyed sensors provided information by not providing information.
The situation looked bad. No sensor forward of the enlisted quarters on the lower deck was transmitting. Heskan reminded himself that power may not be getting to the internal sensors but deep down he understood the last big hit had brutally damaged some part of Anelace and if it was not the middle of the ship or Engineering, it had to be her bow. The good news was a small portion of the enlisted quarters had life support but things got sketchy again as he looked further back on the lower deck. Auxiliary Control was a total wreck and the shuttle hanger had been destroyed early on but there was a pocket of life in the navigation room and medical bay between the dead zones. This was a very good thing since the majority of the life support systems were located next to navigation. A quick check told him Anelace had about thirty percent of her original atmosphere with much of the ship uninhabitable without a pressure suit.
The upper deck looked marginally better. There were no sensor readings forward of the AIPS room and the room itself had clearly been smashed. However, besides most of the officer berths being damaged, the upper deck looked operable. Most importantly, the sensor control room, directly aft of the bridge, seemed mostly undamaged. It may have taken some shock damage like we did but with any luck, we’ll still be able to get an outside picture soon, Heskan hoped.
“Captain,” Vernay said, “all our weapons are currently inoperable. I’m not even getting a reply from my ping on the mass driver. I think it’s lost, sir. Port lasers were already out but the starboard lasers are responding although they’re sending me dozens fault codes ranging from power insufficiency to targeting system errors.” Her head dropped slightly as her eyes turned downcast. “No word from our gunners yet.”
“Very well, Lieutenant. Work on clearing those codes and I’ll arrange for someone to make their way to the starboard turret control rooms.” Heskan noticed that Selvaggio had turned from her station and was ready to report. He gestured at her to wait as he tapped a text message to Chief Brown into his console. Finished, he looked at his navigator and asked, “What do you have?”
“All drives are dark but I guess Lieutenant Jackamore is bringing them up after the core. Inertial compensators have been severely weakened and assuming we get the drives back, we’re still going to be very limited in terms of mobility. Frankly, I can’t believe Ana didn’t tear apart during the last hit. We’re lucky our thrusters didn’t misfire when the inertial compensators went down or we’d be paste.”
I can do without that kind of commentary, Diane, Heskan thought with more than a little irritation. “Best guess on where we’re headed, Diane?”
“I managed to get the course correction into Anelace before the hit so we should be on an intercept course for Ketch-One as you ordered, sir. Our speed was point two-six-C and that shouldn’t change anytime soon...” She paused as she thought. “We were rolled seventy degrees to port so the starboard turrets could fire… I think that’s about it.” She turned and looked up at the main screen. “Oh, the tactical is pretty accurate, sir,” she said as she pointed toward it. “The schooner is behind us now; I’d estimate we’re coming up on two light-minutes apart. We’re due to reach the ketch in twenty-nine minutes.”
Heskan’s comm blinked and a text reply appeared on his screen. “Thank you, Ensign. Propulsion and mobility are your priorities, Diane. We have a fight coming up soon and we need to be able to maneuver.” Selvaggio’s head bobbed and she turned back to her station
to get to work.
“Stacy, we’re working on getting you a damage controlman to the turret control rooms,” Heskan informed before turning his attention to Ensign Truesworth. “What’s our sensor picture, Jack?”
“The BigEye is down. I actually think it sheared off Ana. The fixed sensors will be up soon along with the forward-looking optics. I’m trying to spin the SnapShot to face Blackheart but it won’t turn.” He paused to type furiously. Heskan saw the tactical plot on the main screen flash and then begin to update Anelace’s position and attitude.
“There we go,” Truesworth said triumphantly. “The SnapShot optical sensor is moving. It’ll only turn right but I’m just spinning it around the long way to face Blackheart.” He tapped more keystrokes and the main screen split into thirds. He then divided the new third into two views. One showed a distant view of Ketch-One and the other was a view of a spinning starscape as Truesworth rotated Anelace’s second most powerful optic toward the schooner’s last position.
Twenty seconds later, the optic swept over Blackheart’s last known position and an expanding debris field filled the picture. “Is that her?” Heskan asked.
Truesworth continued searching for the schooner but finally reset the view to the wreckage. “I think so. The size and composition of the wreckage could have come from an exploding schooner-sized vessel.” The tactical plot illuminated a bright flashing blip near the edge of the debris field. “Wait a second…” Truesworth said. “Yup, that’s Blackheart’s ELTI. She’s definitely been destroyed, Captain.”
Heskan exhaled, “Very nice shooting, WEPS.” Smiling with relief he continued, “Jack, give me a full sweep and then refocus on that last ketch.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
Heskan stared at the tactical plot. With Blackheart out of the way, things became much simpler. He had a little over twenty-five minutes before he crossed paths with the last pirate ketch and he was not in any rush. The power plant would probably be running soon but he had no idea about the condition of Anelace’s drives or her inertial compensators’ capabilities. For now, his ship was little more than an unguided dart pointed at the pirates.
Chapter 21
Spaceman Gables jumped in alarm when the door to the hallway chimed and Chief Brown’s voice came through the intercom. “Denise, get your ass into the bathroom an’ seal the door.”
She sprang up and punched the intercom button. “Give me a few seconds, Chief,” she replied and bounded for the bathroom. Once safely inside, she heard the rush of air escaping into the hallway. She backed up and sat on top of the closed toilet lid wondering what she was supposed to do now. A minute later, the bathroom door slid open. Chief Brown looked at her quizzically from the threshold. “Let me know when you’re done sittin’ on the throne an’ we can get back to work, Spaceman.” He held out a fresh replacement helmet in his right hand and a comm booster unit in the other.
Smiling as she stood, Gables took the helmet. “I hope you put Rowe and his roommates on report, Chief. Their room is a mess.”
On the bridge, Heskan monitored Engineering’s progress toward getting Anelace’s heart beating again. Jackamore had trimmed the start-up procedure down to the bare minimum and the Kanata Split power plant begrudgingly came to life. They now had twenty minutes until Anelace would intercept the pirate ketch unless one of the ships changed course.
“I need propulsion, Brandon. What’s the status on our drives?” Heskan questioned as he watched the distance between the two ships shrink on the tactical plot.
“Well, Drives One and Six are gone for sure. Four and Five were operating but with severe vibrations in their mounts and that was before the last hit. If I had to guess, I’d say we’ll have Two and Three operational in ten minutes and maybe Four and Five much later.”
Just two undamaged topside engines, Heskan thought. We’re down to a third of our propulsion.
Behind Heskan, the bridge doors opened and Chief Brown strode through. “Capt’n, Damage Controlman Gables is pickin’ her way up to the starboard laser stations.”
Vernay immediately tapped commands into her communications console and said, “Denise, this is Vernay. I need to know what condition the lines are in as you go forward. Will we have to drop new cable to connect with the turrets?”
Heskan spoke into his helmet’s mic, “Work fast, Brandon.” He broke off his connection before turning to the chief. “How bad is it on lower deck?” he asked. The ship’s status display indicated Anelace’s condition in a clean, cold format; he wanted the eyes-on assessment.
The chief took off his helmet and placed it on top of his station console. “She’s a wreck, Capt’n. I don’t know how she’s stayed together this long.” The old chief sighed. “I had to go through Aux Con to get Gables, an’ I think that hit near Auxiliary Control broke Ana’s back. Dependin’ on her bow, sir, I’m not sure a shipyard would even wanna try to fix her.” He looked down and shook his head. In his nearly thirty-year career, Brown had had to abandon ship twice before, both of them less damaged than Anelace was now.
Heskan’s heart sunk. My first command and it was shot out from under me. Still, the old girl isn’t quite dead yet and that’s a good thing since we’re still headed into harm’s way.
“Boats, Jackamore is bringing the engines online. I need you to work with Lieutenant Vernay and make sure we have something stronger than harsh language to throw at that last ketch. We have less than twenty minutes before our first pass and I’m not sure if I can change that. I’m afraid to order any radical changes in speed or course without knowing the state of our inertial compensators. Ensign Selvaggio is working on maneuverability… hopefully, when the engines and weapons come up, we’ll actually be able to maneuver,” he finished and looked over at Diane. She nodded as an acknowledgment but continued to work feverishly in silence.
Chief Brown looked around the bridge. “Okay, Capt’n, unless you need me, I’m gonna go help Gables out.” He started out but then stopped and gestured at Riedel’s body. “Beggin’ your pardon but could you give me a hand, Capt’n?”
The two men carried the fallen officer out of the bridge and laid him on the bed inside his quarters less than a dozen meters down the hall. Riedel’s and Heskan’s were the only two officer quarters that had not received significant battle damage. The task completed, the chief excused himself and left the room. Alone, Heskan looked at his friend. “I’m sorry, Mike. I don’t know what else to say right now, we’ve got so much happening and we’re not out of the woods yet by a long shot.” He paused and thought about the past two and a half months. Riedel had always backed him up; he had been the perfect first officer. “I wish I was better at finding the right words…” Heskan trailed off and then a thought came to him that made him chuckle. “I guess you’d be telling me to get my ass back to the bridge instead of sitting here talking to a dead man.” Heskan walked toward the door but stopped short and turned to face his friend. Coming to attention, he rendered a precise salute. “Thanks for everything, my friend. Keep watch over us a little longer.”
When Heskan arrived back at the bridge, he was greeted with two requests. Both Vernay and Selvaggio wanted permission to leave the bridge to help with repairs. He agreed on the condition that they stayed in constant contact with the bridge and could return to their stations in less than two minutes. He disliked allowing his bridge officers to leave their posts in the middle of an engagement but the manpower situation on Anelace was critical. There was literally no one else who could do the work that was not already busy or out of the fight. Besides, he thought, it’s not like we’re actually in combat right now, and, if I let them help with repairs, it improves our chances that we’ll be combat-capable when it does come time to fight.
After they left, Heskan looked around. It was just he and Ensign Truesworth.
“Bridge seems roomier now, sir,” Truesworth quipped.
The time seemed to crawl and yet fly by at the same time. The distance between Anelace and Ketch-One dropped p
recipitously while the repairs to Anelace’s vitals lagged behind. Heskan once again found himself in the position where everyone had a job but himself. He monitored the progress of each repair and tried to think of a combat strategy that would keep his ship safe while eliminating the last pirate ship.
Ketch-One was a laser boat. Like the pirate ketch, Raptor, she had been outfitted with two B-pack lasers, one mounted to each of her sides. Even after all of the damage Anelace had taken, Heskan still held out hope that she would have her two starboard GPs available for the final fight. In terms of tonnage, Anelace was the favorite in this battle. She was twice as large as the ketch and a military grade ship. However, Anelace was now a dying shell of her former self. With her inertial compensators already compromised, he questioned just how much more punishment she could take before she finally broke apart. They had been lucky so far in that her power core had remained undamaged but it seemed only a matter of time before uncaring statistics mandated a strike through Anelace’s heart.
Her closing speed on the ketch was only .06c. Since the GP laser’s range was 5ls, the ships would be in firing range for one hundred sixty-five seconds before Anelace overtook the ketch and passed her by. With the fast recycle times of the GP and B-pack lasers, it amounted to an estimated eighty-three shots per laser during the entire pass. Neither ship could withstand anything remotely near that much fire. This would truly be a fight to the finish. Heskan knew he could try to skirt by the ketch to limit the time inside weapons range but also knew that, given his ship’s brittle condition, he would have to start the maneuvers so far ahead of time that the captain of the ketch would easily be able to respond to them. For the first time in the battle, Heskan was more concerned about what his opponents would do to him than what he would do to them.
