“Hey, Falconer!” Greg called on an open channel.
“Solomon! I thought you were dead!” A man’s voice replied in anger.
“Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! I thought I would give you the opportunity to surrender.”
“I almost killed you last time! This time I won’t fail.”
“I had the same thought,” Greg challenged.
Small mines and electronics countermeasures devices popped out of the Q ship.
“Arm two armor piercing heat seekers each!” Greg ordered.
“Armed,” the girls replied.
“Clock then destroyer!” Avi yelled.
“Roger that! Now!” Greg ordered.
The two P I ships spun and quickly took positions at 3 and 9 o’clock on the Q ship.
“Rachel, stand by to fire!” Greg commanded.
“Ready!”
“Fire two!”
“Two missiles away!” Rachel replied.
The missiles left the tubes and Greg hyper jumped away not waiting long enough to see the results of his actions.
“Wendy, stand by to fire!” Avi commanded.
“Ready!”
“Fire two!”
“Two missiles away!” Wendy sang out.
As soon as the missiles were away, Avi hyper jumped her ship as Greg had done.
The heat seeking missiles sensed and targeted the Q ship’s unprotected reactor cooling panels. The missiles penetrated the thin panels and detonated behind them destroying them. The two P I ships had already jumped out of the way of the explosion that followed. With the cooling panels disabled, the Q ship’s reactors quickly overheated and detonated leaving a rapidly expanding ball of gas and debris to mark the demise of one of the most dangerous pirates currently working the shipping lanes.
“Hey, Falconer, didn’t think you’d find me here did ya?” Greg said under his breath as he headed for the destroyer.
“Dad, who’s Brad Falconer?” Rachel asked.
“Brad Falconer was one of the most intelligent and resourceful pirates to ever harass the shipping lanes. The insurance companies will be thrilled to hear he’s gone,” Greg replied.
They dropped out of hyper drive on either side of the destroyer. The destroyer fired missiles immediately. The girls devoted their attention to destroying the missiles with their lasers while their parents maneuvered the ships to launch their own missiles.
Avi called the next maneuver. “Arm one range effect for RF homing. Arm one armor piercing for heat seeking. Prepare to fire simultaneously on my mark!”
“Ready!” Rachel responded.
“Ready!” Wendy responded.
Once in position, Avi called “Fire all missiles!”
“Missiles away!”
At close range, four missiles sped toward the destroyer overwhelming its defenses. The heat seekers were destroyed by the destroyer’s defenses before they could do any damage, but the range effect missiles got through. Homing in on the antennas that ringed the flight deck, the missiles penetrated the view-port and detonated inside the flight deck. The entire control module separated from the rest of the ship. Sensing a catastrophe, the reactors automatically shut down. The ship was dead.
They turned their attention back to the rest of the convoy.
“Dad, how did you know to look for the Q ship?” Rachel asked as they headed back toward the convoy in standard drive.
“The sensors picked up ten drive signatures. I saw nine ships. The last time I ran into Falconer, he almost got me with the Q ship. I saw it in time to escape. Ever since then, I count drive signatures against identified ships. When we came up one short, I got suspicious.”
“Rachel,” Avi added. “Falconer killed more Federation Space Force pilots than anyone else. It’s too bad we can’t collect the ransom for him.”
“Why not?” Rachel asked.
“We would expose the location of our planet and secrecy is our best defense,” Avi replied.
“Did we really kill one of the most dangerous pirates?” Wendy asked.
“Almost seemed too easy,” Rachel commented.
“We got lucky,” Greg said. “You spotted him soon enough that we could surprise him. If we’d reached the convoy without spotting him, he would have as handily killed us.”
“We still have three 86’s to deal with in the convoy. We’re not out of the woods yet,” Avi said.
“Load an armor piercing heat seeker in tube one,” Greg said. “Put an RF seeking range effect in tube two. Put a light seeking grapeshot in tube three. Put an electronic countermeasures in tube four.”
“Dad, what’s the grapeshot for?” Rachel asked.
“In case we have to go after the passenger ships, we can clear the flight decks without harming the passengers.”
“Ugh,” Rachel shuddered. “Messy!”
Greg laughed, “But effective!”
As they flew back toward the convoy they scanned their sensors and displays to determine where to strike first. The three 86’s were in a triangle with one well behind the other two.
“Well, that makes it easy,” Greg said. “I’ll take the one on the left, and you take the one on the right.”
“Roger that!” Avi replied.
Suddenly the situation became easier. The 86 behind the other two fired on the ships ahead of it. The 86 fighter interceptor was equipped with two missile tubes. One of the missiles was targeted at each of the other ships, and while they hit their targets, did not disable them. A second volley finished the job.
“Unknown Federation Space Force ships approaching the convoy please hold your fire!” The woman sounded desperate. “Please hold your fire!”
“Please identify yourself,” Avi responded.
“Orion Metals Security Officer Madeline Stevens. I have regained control of the remaining Valiant 86.”
“What is the status of your convoy?” Avi asked.
“All ships have been boarded and are controlled by pirates.”
“Are any of the other ships armed?” Avi asked.
“Negative.”
The 86 retracted its weapons pods as a sign of surrender.
“Do you have security personnel on the ships who might have been taken captive?” Avi asked.
“Negative. They have all been killed.”
“Who is left on board?”
“Mining engineers, machinists, mine workers and their families. All non-combatants.”
“How many pirate personnel are on the cargo ships?”
“The cargo ships have flight crews. Three or four people at most.”
“Hey, Dad,” Rachel said. “I have the plans of those two passenger ships on the display. The simulations say it’s time to board the ships. What do you want us to do?”
“Hold that thought,” Greg answered. “Avi, shall we suit up and clean out the passenger ships?”
“I don’t see much choice,” Avi replied.
“Should Wendy and I keep guard on the cargo ships so they don’t try to escape?” Rachel asked.
“Good plan. Stay in your seats and keep your shells closed,” Greg said in that “father knows best” tone of voice.
“Yes, Dad,” the girls huffed.
Greg and Avi put on their armored EVA suits and retrieved their laser shields from storage. Rachel and Wendy docked the P I ships to the passenger ships as they had docked these ships to their father’s cargo ship many times. Greg boarded one ship and Avi boarded the other as they had done dozens of times before. As was their habit, they left their communicators open. No sooner had the air lock doors closed behind them than the girls heard the unique zing noise of the battery packs that powered their parents’ laser weapons discharging and reforming after the intense power use of each shot. Whatever was going on inside those two passenger ships was certainly ugly. The girls’ only comfort was the knowledge that this was what their parents did for a living.
Wendy and Rachel repositioned their ships ahead of the three cargo ships keeping all three in si
ght and in easy missile range.
One of the cargo ships started to pull away.
Rachel watched it dismay for a few minutes hoping it would return to the formation. It continued to gain speed away from the rest of the convoy and Rachel realized that she needed to do something to stop its flight. Mustering her deepest voice, Rachel commanded, “All vessels will maintain formation.” The cargo ship continued to pull away.
“Wendy, you stay with these two. I got this one.”
“Roger that!” Wendy replied in her deepest voice.
“Who are you to stop me?” a man asked.
“A P I ship with a missile full of grapeshot for your flight deck,” Rachel replied.
“Only one man I know carries grapeshot missiles.”
“Would you like to talk to him?” Rachel said, knowing her parents were listening to the transmissions. “He’s kind of busy and won’t be real happy you interrupted him.”
“Ah, but you’re only a kid, you couldn’t hit me anyway!” The cargo ship continued to pull away.
As Rachel had done dozens of times in simulations, she set the distance and tracking program for one of her missiles. Once she was certain that the cargo ship was not coming back into the formation, she fired a countermeasures missile which detonated exactly where she intended it to, immediately outside the cargo ship’s view-port. Hundreds of small blinking lights, tiny radio transmitters, bits of shiny metal and thermal radiators burst in a colorful explosion outside the cargo ship’s flight deck and impacted the outside of the view-port. A hail storm of small electronics, chaff and missile parts rattled the crew inside.
“Pull back in formation or the grapeshot is next,” Rachel said.
The cargo ship gracefully slid back into the formation.
“Nice going, Rachel!” Greg called. “Hey, I have control of my passenger ship. I am docking it to your cargo ship. No fireworks, OK?”
“Roger that!”
“Hey gang,” Avi called, “we’re secure over here. I am docking to one of the other cargo ships.”
The two passenger ships docked to the cargo ships. They heard Greg’s laser weapons fire a few more times. Apparently the pirate that Rachel had convinced to get back in line did not get the message.
“All Clear here!” Greg called a few minutes later.
“All Clear here!” Avi called a few minutes after that.
Greg and Avi spent the next couple of hours verifying that they had control of all three cargo ships, the two passenger ships and the sole remaining fighter interceptor. The survivors assisted by cleaning up the blood and miscellaneous body parts left of what was once a substantial band of pirates. Once the ships had been properly restored, Greg called the girls to dock to the cargo ships at the opposite ports from the ones where the passenger ships were docked.
Once docked, Rachel called her father on the comm. “Hey, Dad, we’re done. Can I drive the rest of the way home to Colleen’s birthday party?”
“No, we’re not going to Colleen’s.”
“What?” Rachel was indignant. “We were supposed to be going to the party! This was supposed to be an afternoon ride out to the asteroid belt and then back to Colleen’s for the party.”
“We are going to escort these nice people to the safety of New St. Louis.”
“But Da-ad! It’ll be two months before we get home! Why can’t Blondie escort them with your cargo ship. She’s planning on making a run after the party.”
“We need to send armed ships. We’re all going. We’ll send our regrets. Blondie can meet us here with the cargo ship, and we’ll go in her place. She can go home in the tug.”
“But, Da-ad!”
“Rachel, that’s enough.”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Hey, Rachel,” Wendy called, “New St. Louis! We get to go shopping! We can pick up a nice gift for Colleen and Helen, too!” The conversation quickly disintegrated into a free-for-all over what they would buy once they arrived at New St. Louis.
After a few minutes, Greg interrupted. “We destroyed one of the most dangerous bands of pirates in the history of mankind and you’re thinking about shopping?”
“Well, yeah, Dad that’s what you and Mom do, right? You kill pirates. We go shopping!”
“Avi,” Greg said exasperated, “they’re your daughters!”
Avi laughed and said, “Greg, they’re our daughters!”
Greg, Avi and the girls regularly traveled to New St. Louis on supply runs with the cargo ship and one or both P I ships as escort. Greg continued to maintain a low profile, but Avi and the girls routinely shopped at the supply depot they had helped liberate. It was one of their few luxuries. The girls grew so quickly that keeping them in flight suits was a challenge. Their builds were so different that old suits could not be passed down. Custom built flight suits tailor made to their growing bodies appeared to multiply in their clothes lockers. They would spend hours in the small shopping mall that had been built to service the families who populated the increasing numbers of emigrants leaving the central system, tramp freighters and treasure hunters. The price of hyper drives and reactors dropped steadily to the point where anyone who wanted one could get one. The big ones were still prohibitively expensive, but the smaller ones that could power a scout, small yacht or tramp freighter had almost become disposable commodities. Fuel was still expensive, but the reactors themselves were cheap. The refueling operation drove the depot’s economy.
After turning the Orion Metals convoy over to the protection of the Space Force and unloading their cargo, Avi and Greg took the girls shopping for new flight suits. One of the first things Avi normally did when they arrived at New St. Louis was head for the post office. Her mother and several of her cousins knew that they could send mail to her care of the post office and eventually she would respond. She and the girls would then head to the ice cream shop for a snack and read the mail. Avi always read the letters from her mother first. Normally her mother’s letters made her laugh, but as she read this letter she started to cry.
“Greg, I need to go get her.”
“How?” Greg knew better than to ask why Avi wanted to do something or give her strong opposition once she had figured out her plan. His only recourse once she was set on an idea was to ensure that the plan was sound.
“I can have one of my cousins get her to Triton and pick her up there,” Avi replied.
“Will she survive the trip?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, I think she will,” Avi said.
“What ship do you plan to use?” Wendy asked.
“I’ll take my P I.”
“Won’t Grandma be uncomfortable in the small cabin for so long a voyage?” Rachel asked.
“Perhaps, but if it means coming to see you, I think she’ll put up with it.”
“Why now?” Greg asked.
“Dad died.” There was a moment of silence before Avi continued. “You girls did not know my father. Greg did. He was a hard and cynical man. He worked in collections for a credit card company. He distrusted people and their motives. He might have been right. While he was alive, organized crime enforcers protected him from the Swordsmen. When he was collecting, he saw that they got some of their money and the credit card people got some of theirs. The criminals knew he would work with them, and he helped keep a lot of people from getting beat up. He made sure the deadbeats paid and stayed on them until their debts were cleared. When he died, the protection ended. Mom couldn’t even give him a decent funeral. Swordsmen had purchased all the funeral homes and refused to allow him to be buried in the plot he had purchased for them unless she converted both herself and him posthumously to the Swordsman church and paid fifty years of back tithing.”
“When do you want to leave?” Greg asked.
“As soon as possible,” Avi said.
“Rachel, Wendy, go with your mother and make sure she has enough food and supplies for the trip. I’ll tend to the rest of getting the ship ready. Do you want me to file a flight plan or are yo
u going under the radar?”
“Under the radar. Get me a couple of spare couriers,” Avi replied.
“Got it. Battle stations everyone!” Greg commanded.
Avi left a few hours later.
Greg and the girls finished their shopping and left New St. Louis for Homestead with a full load of supplies for the settlement and another group of refugees.
Avi dispatched a courier missile to her cousin Buzzy. Buzzy was the attorney who had helped her transfer Greg’s money, and she knew she could rely on him. The first courier told him what he needed to do, but since she did not know what defenses she would encounter in the central system, she could not tell him when he needed to do it.
P I ships are designed to be stealthy and slide through the best defenses undetected. Avi parked her ship in the asteroid belt and sent Buzzy a courier. She monitored ship traffic until she saw what she was looking for. A small private passenger craft landed on Triton, stayed for ten minutes and left headed to one of the outer planets in the system. She had noticed a Space Force sentry ship in the area on what appeared to be routine patrol. It did not appear to have spotted her.
Avi put on her EVA suit, waited until she was sure her hyper drive would not impact the departing ship and short jumped to within a few hundred kilometers of the surface. She quickly landed using standard drive. A solitary person in an EVA suit sat on a space going steamer trunk the end of the runway. Avi put on her helmet and exited the ship. She walked over to the person and pressed her helmet against theirs so the sound would conduct through the physical contact.
Solomon Family Warriors II Page 22
