Hawkins was skeptical. Not that this was a new idea to him; there were several prostitutes of various social classes on board all of the Flot 1 vessels. Some were retired and some were still plying their trade. As long as it was not a source of trouble, Hawkins took no interest nor passed judgment. His concern here was the small crew size for Flicker did not allow for this type of talent.
“What do they bring to the table, besides the obvious?”
“Gabrielle was the bookkeeper and financial manager for her house. She has a talent for it and would be the logistics department for the ship. Jasmine was in electronics before becoming an intimate and would handle that aboard ship. Also, I assume one of our missions will be transporting important people from Point A to Point B with no fanfare. Neither woman will sleep with the passengers, but they definitely will make them remember the trip and want to come back. Anything else necessary for ship operations, we can learn on the fly.”
“Why would the two of them want to trade the money and status of being intimates for the fun-loving life of piracy?”
Dylan smiled. “I’d like to think they would do it for Scarecrow and me, and that might be partially true. Truth is, business in the Burgh System isn’t what it used to be. Uncertainty is causing people to tighten up their spending. Clients are changing over. There is also a bad element moving in. New players from the Goldenes Tor and several of the natives who sold out the government got rich off of it, and want to indulge themselves now. As you can imagine with any class of traitors, they’re not the most-refined gentlemen you’ll ever meet. Violence and crime are on the rise. The girls are ready to move on before it gets too bad in their business.”
Hawkins was skeptical, but he would not have picked Dylan to be the captain if he did not have faith in his judgment. And a captain should get his own crew. He agreed to the three members.
Flicker had performed well under Whitlock’s command. There had been several missions of transporting persons who wished to travel with no notice. Equipment items, large amounts of money, jewels, gold, and antiques were taken from place to place with no losses. The crew learned their trade and their ship in a benign environment and turned a profit as well.
Raferty Hawkins saw a bigger type of mission in the future for Flicker. He was going to use the ship for its originally intended purpose. He would have it scout potential targets and potential enemies for possible future operations. Hawkins began the work up by having Flicker conduct practice subspace missions against open civilian ports. The crew practiced gathering sensor data and evaluating it. A Flotilla One ship would often be in the port to listen for the spy ship. Flicker was caught twice by the posted pirate ship but never by anybody else. When Hawkins was satisfied the spy ship was ready, he ran them into Rosstrappe for a three-day subspace mission. Flicker successfully charted all the sensors, the floating defenses, and the orbiting dry-docks. They were now qualified for their most important mission if called upon to do it. Flicker returned to more mundane tasks. She never put into any port; all resupply was done at the Fort. While the ship was at the Fort, the crew could get shore leave to other planets. Using a small shuttle kept at the Fort, the four often travelled together on shore leave and went to a variety of locations. They were always low key and stayed out of trouble. Flicker and her crew lived in the shadows.
Now the ship had penetrated the most secure base in the Orion Confederation and was back for a return trip. The crew was well aware of what was at stake. They knew the information gathered earlier had gotten the mission supported by the Aurora Empire. With the mission approval, Whitlock had been given a detailed outline of the upcoming assignment so he could ensure there would be no holes in the intel gathering. Hawkins also told Whitlock of a few other assignments Flicker would be tasked with to support the mission.
Each probe of the OrCon base ended after several hours of subspace. The spy ship would depart the base, hide behind nearby planets and moons, and come out of subspace. A report would immediately be sent to Raferty Hawkins to ensure he had the latest information for planning purposes in case Flicker was captured or destroyed.
They had been at this since getting the GO message from Hawkins after he had received Zeke support. That had been three weeks ago and soon they would get a break. Flicker would depart the base and continue out of Orion space for a rendezvous with the supply ship Dragon again. Flicker would be restocked and then put in Dragon’s shuttle bay while the crew enjoyed three weeks of liberty on a planet in a neutral system bordering the Orion Confederation. After the respite, Flicker would be back at it.
Chapter 19
Captain James Concannon of the pirate vessel Marauder leaned back in his command chair. His ship stood off the port quarter of the freighter Cat’s Eye. The old trader was loaded with produce from Agra 2 and was on the way to market in the Oliminate System. She was also bait.
In front of Cat’s Eye was Firestorm under the command of Axel Buckner. Shane Delacruz had taken Firestorm a few months back in a dispute with the Halder family, and she now flew as a member of his squadron. The most relevant part of the new arrangement was that the change in ownership was known to only a few, and none of them would talk out of turn. It was an important part of the plan that no ship associated with Pirate Flotilla One be tied to the plan until the appropriate time and place. When it became common knowledge Firestorm was part of Flot 1, her name would be changed and her past association with the Halder family expunged, especially her recent past association.
Now the small corvette led the three-ship convoy to market. She was far ahead of the freighter so was just on the edge of Marauder’s sensors. The ships were also spread out vertically with Firestorm being above the freighter’s plane of travel and Marauder being below. A sensor sweep would pick up one of the escorts and then the freighter. Of course, that highlighted escort would pick up the incoming ship on its own sensors. The untracked escort would go subspace and follow the base course of the convoy at a slower speed to keep noise to a minimum. If the intruder proved to be just a passing ship, the second escort would emerge from subspace, and the convoy would continue. If the scanning ship were a patrol vessel or Goth ship, the second escort would stay in subspace as the faster freighter pulled away. In the front, Firestorm would turn away from the closing intercepting ship and, once off sensors, she would go subspace and double back. The freighter would have to stop to be inspected by the intercepting ship. Cat’s Eye was to delay the boarding party with excuses and empty threats while the two escorts closed on the position from opposite directions. She was also to keep her engines at a high rev to give the escorts a signal to close in on. Then Firestorm would emerge from subspace and disable the intercepting ship. If the fight turned into a long affair, Marauder would emerge to assist. The majority of the blockading ships were small, obsolete vessels used for customs patrol, and search and rescue missions for local planetary governments. They had few weapons and little military training. More importantly, they did not have data stream transmitters. Their builders and their governments had never foreseen their use as combat units. Even during this blockade mission, no patrol ship had been fired on. After all, they were just intercepting privately owned freighters who operated exclusively in the Badlands. These ships and their owners wanted no trouble. Firestorm should be able to handle any such patrol craft by herself, but Marauder would be available if the unforeseen happened.
Several hours passed. Concannon wasn’t concerned. Cat’s Eye had been the first freighter to do business with Agra 2 for several months. She had offloaded parts for agriculture systems and infrastructure repair. She had loaded out with several tons of vegetables. The atmosphere on the planet was akin to a festival as the population thought this was the beginning of a new era for Agra 2. Of course, there would be several informants among that same population who would quickly tell the Sunrise Corporation of the new development. For that reason, Concannon was positive his small convoy would be intercepted. The only variable was how far the intercepti
ng ship would have to travel to meet the convoy.
Cat’s Eye had proceeded alone to Agra 2 while the two escorts had followed a different route to the planet, and had arrived while the freighter was loading her cargo. They had stayed out of the sensor reach of Agra 2. Outside of the Cat’s Eye’s captain, nobody on the freighter knew they would soon have an escort. To the crew it was just another trade run. Nobody from Agra 2 would talk to the Sunrise Corporation about the escorts for the simple reason they did not know about them. The only person on Agra 2 who did know was Sheriff Greg Paulsen, and he could keep a secret. As far as the Sunrise Corporation would know, this was just a lone tramp freighter trying to run the blockade for a quick profit. Of course, they would have to stop this freighter. If this ship was successful, other traders would try to run the blockade, and this could not be tolerated.
The report to the nearest blockade ship would talk of only the lone freighter. As the intercepting ship closed on the trader, they might get a brief sensor reading of a ship far in front of their target and that vessel would turn away and depart, obviously not wanting any trouble. The interceptor had probably done this duty several times and would treat this as a routine event to help break up a boring day.
The three ships maintained their separated positions for two more hours. Marauder’s sensor operator suddenly announced, “Firestorm turning hard port.”
Concannon immediately ordered, “Hard port. Mimic her movements.” Marauder turned quickly. Due to the distance, Firestorm had turned several minutes before Marauder would have seen the maneuver. This meant the incoming patrol vessel had been closing in during that time. Marauder had to move smartly to ensure she did not appear on the closing ship’s sensors. They would not go subspace until receiving confirmation from Firestorm or Cat’s Eye that the closing ship was a patrol ship and not just a passing ship.
Concannon turned to one of the three screens projected in the space around him. This particular screen was a continuous direct comm link to the other two ships. Shortly Axel Buckner appeared. “The incoming ship is an Otter class patrol craft built by the Solaris System government. Got one 75 mm gun and two missile tubes. I assume the original plan is still in effect. Going subspace and turning back inbound. Time will be fifty-five.”
Firestorm vanished from sensors as she went subspace. She had set a time to reappear at fifty-five minutes after the hour. Marauder would have to be in position by then so she could appear and support Firestorm quickly if the ensuing fight got out of hand. Arriving early would allow Marauder to linger and adjust her attack position before reappearing. Arriving late was not an option.
Concannon turned to his OpsO on the tactical station. “How does that time shape up?”
An answer came after a few seconds. “No problem. Firestorm left plenty of time for closure.” This was an educated guess as Cat’s Eye was still moving, but she would stop soon as the intercepting ship closed on her. Concannon was comfortable with the estimate. He knew Axel would always allow a margin of error.
Concannon leaned forward in his captain’s chair. “Put Cat’s Eye directly on the bow and go subspace.”
Marauder came back to starboard, lined up on the freighter and went subspace. Gray color filled all the vision ports. Sensors were shut down as they were useless in this environment. Only the white phones were of value now. Sound was everything in subspace. The operator clutched the headset to his ears and concentrated on guiding the ship to the freighter by honing in on her noisy engines. He gave slight course corrections as the pirate ship moved toward the freighter. Silence reigned on the bridge but there was little tension. This was a veteran crew who had done this many times usually with far higher stakes in play.
Cat’s Eye slowed as the approaching patrol vessel approached from ahead of the trader. The crew of the blockading craft thought the slowing was in response to them, but it was actually to allow the slower subspace pirate ships to maneuver into position. Eventually the limbering trader came to a halt, but she kept her engines running. The patrol craft moved within five kilometers of the stationary ship. Comm messages flowed between them as the patrol craft demanded to board and inspect the cargo, and the freighter protested this pirate-like behavior. The discussion dragged on as the pirate ships closed on target.
“Ten minutes.” The OpsO was counting down from her station. “We’re good.”
Concannon nodded absently. The white phones operator could not pinpoint the exact location of Cat’s Eye, but the noisy, stationary ship would be right in front of them when and if the pirate ship emerged. If necessary, Marauder would come out behind the freighter after Firestorm emerged in front of the two stationary ships, thus placing the patrol craft and the freighter between the two pirate vessels.
Concannon scanned the bridge. The crew was ready. His computer screens showed all weapons and countermeasures were on line. Everything was as prepared as possible. This was the initiating action in a three-part offensive to deal a decisive blow to the Goths. If the two pirate ships took casualties here, or if the patrol craft escaped, that would be a setback. This ambush had to be quick, decisive, and, hopefully, would involve only Firestorm.
The patrol craft was now stationary in front of the immobile Cat’s Eye facing toward her. Firestorm was on one side of the two ships while Marauder was on the other side. The communication had grown heated between the two stopped vessels as the freighter still refused to be boarded. Firestorm closed to close range. Axel Buckner could not have done that against an experienced crew in a well-armed ship. No vessel could raise shields or fire weapons before completely emerging from subspace. This window of vulnerability lasted only eight seconds, but a well-prepared, expectant enemy at close range could decimate an emerging ship before that ship could get a shot off. The patrol craft was not heavily armed. The crew was not well trained and had become focused on the freighter, not the surrounding area. Firestorm would get the time she needed to emerge from subspace.
“One minute.” The operations officer was announcing the time left until Firestorm engaged the patrol craft at fifty-five minutes after the hour.
Time clicked by as crew members quickly and quietly rechecked their equipment and information. If needed, Marauder had to be ready to instantly emerge from subspace to engage and destroy the enemy target.
“Thirty seconds.”
Switches were flicked to armed positions. Hands closed on handles and knobs. Fingers lay lightly on control and computer consoles. Eyes became slits of concentration as they focused on floating computer screens. Tension seeped into the bridge compartment but it was a tension of anticipation only.
“Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Hack.”
Silence ruled after the quiet countdown to the engagement time. Ten seconds passed, then ten more.
“Missiles in flight, probably two,” announced the white phones operator, a slight edge to her voice. “Coming this way.”
Nobody on the bridge moved. The situation was unfolding exactly as planned. Firestorm emerged on the far side of the gathering and fired her missiles toward the patrol craft. Cat’s Eye and the hidden Marauder were in the same direction. Of course, all missiles would be targeted on the patrol craft. The object was to damage the government vessel, not destroy her. Somebody had to be alive to tell the tale. Besides, the crew was just doing their job as dictated by their chain of command. Some would probably die from the two missile hits, but destruction of the patrol ship was not the goal here.
“Two impacts,” white phones kept up her commentary. “No return missile shots. No gunfire.”
Concannon leaned back in his chair. “Come to starboard and full ahead. We’ll loop around the three ships and proceed back on base course.”
Marauder moved slower in subspace than the two other vessels of the convoy, and Concannon was getting a jump on moving out. Firestorm and Cat’s Eye would lend assistance to the wounded patrol craft if required and then resume course to their destination. Concannon had no way of knowing the
damage to the patrol vessel, but he knew Firestorm would ensure the craft’s sensors were off line so once Marauder was out of visible range, she could exit subspace.
Marauder continued on course for an hour and then white phones announced two ships closing from astern.
“Come out of subspace,” Concannon ordered.
Marauder emerged as her two companions closed up rapidly from behind. Communications were quickly established.
“Two good hits,” Axel Buckner was trying hard to be matter of fact, but couldn’t quite get there. This was his first action as a ship’s captain, and he was proud of his and his ship’s performance. “The target has lost propulsion and was rigging up backup power as we moved away. I’m sure they can last long enough to be rescued. I’m also sure their data logs will have plenty of info on us and Cat’s Eye. Cat’s Eye sent out an SOS on their behalf immediately. There are a couple of freighters who can get there in three hours.”
Concannon nodded at the image on his screen. “Nicely done. Let’s resume formation and get on to market. The blockaders are spread thin so we should be good from here on in.”
The three-ship convoy resumed course at the top speed of the freighter with the two pirate ships returning to their original convoy positions.
Two days later Cat’s Eye made port at the planet of Saffron and offloaded her vegetables and fruits to waiting buyers. The ship, with her two escorts, set sail for Necessity. This planet was a crossroads in the Cinnamon System. People passed through from all around the Badlands and from points outside. The local authorities ignored visitors as long as they kept moving. If they stopped in for any length of time, they were expected to spend money. There the Cat’s Eye crew was paid and cut loose. They could easily get a job on another trader, or have a good time as long as their money lasted. They had been told that the recent run was Cat’s Eye’s last for a while, as the ship was to be overhauled, so they knew nothing of the real plan and could not sell the pirates out. A skeleton crew from the two escort ships moved onboard, and the three ships set out for a return voyage to Agra 2. Along with the new crew, several maintenance people came onboard with the equipment to rig the ship for a limited remote control capability. Three ordnance people and a large amount of explosives also joined the ship.
Payback Is a Given: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 2 Page 15
