The Queen's Hammer: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 5

by Sean Benjamin

  After the ship was cleaned, the crew was ordered to ensure their appearance was appropriate to receive visitors. Haircuts were given and clothing washed. Foot gear was cleaned and polished. Logan again made sure nobody lagged behind. Then battle drills and ship casualty exercises were conducted to sharpen skills gone dull after weeks of in-port time.

  After three days at maximum speed, Predator closed on predesignated coordinates in open space. Two hours out, long range sensors picked up a lone ship stationary in space. Predator honed in on her. Thirty minutes away, Raferty Hawkins emerged from his day cabin onto the bridge. He ordered the ship to battle stations. He was not expecting trouble but best to be safe here.

  “A Zeke destroyer of the Spinnaker class.” Baby Doll informed Hawkins from her intel station as he stepped to his chair. She had received an updated ship database from Home Fleet and the newest ships from all navies were in it.

  “Very well,” Rafe gave the standard answer. “Slow to one-third,” he ordered as he sat in the command chair and brought up his floating computer screens. Eli slowed the ship down. “Send out a challenge and response, please.” Rafe ordered Tactical.

  “Already done. Correct response.” As usual, Tactical was ahead of the situation.

  “Anything on white phones?” Hawkins asked Madison Hopkins. She shook her head while remaining focused on her listening. Rafe continued to look at her. “There are at least three out there, maybe four.”

  Baby Doll spoke. “I’ll send you a standard subspace protection scheme these guys use and you can listen based on that.” Maddie nodded and would narrow her scan appropriately based on the information she received from Baby Doll.

  The range closed. At fifteen minutes out, Maddie talked. “One in front of us, low down, barely moving. We’ll clear over the top of him easy. Based on the scheme there should be one high to port.” A pause of several seconds and then she talked again. “Got him! One high to port closing on us.” Another pause. “Now another one to starboard level, holding position.” She turned to the Captain. “They had 360-degree coverage on the stationary destroyer and the port ship moved toward us after they picked us up. There are only three subspace ships out there.” She looked quite happy with herself. “Nice exercise. I need the practice.”

  Hawkins smiled at her. “You did great, Maddie. As always.” She returned the smile.

  Predator closed on the drifting Zeke ship and soon the two destroyers had visual on each other. As the gap closed to nothing, Blondie came on the bridge to watch the rendezvous. Soon details became apparent and the name of the Zeke destroyer was legible.

  “Well, what do you know? Spinnaker herself.” Eli remarked. He took an interest in all ships from a we are faster than they are point of view.

  “Nice looking ship,” Logan offered.

  Blondie stared out of the large portholes at the new Royal Navy destroyer. She remembered the last time she was on board Predator and they had met Spinnaker class destroyers in space, so she was not in an admiring mood. Her voice had more than a hint of venom. “We could kick her ass.” Nobody argued the point. They all believed that too.

  Predator came to a stop beside Spinnaker. Raferty called up the prearranged frequency and spoke. “Pirate vessel Predator. Raferty Hawkins commanding.”

  A visual immediately came up on screen. “Aurora Empire Ship Spinnaker. Russell Lowenstein commanding. We have a package for you, Predator.”

  “Ready to receive. We think you have three destroyers in subspace. One below and behind us. One port and high. One starboard and level. I hope they are yours.”

  Lowenstein smiled. “Sure enough, Captain. They are awaiting transfer of the package before coming out. Taking all precautions here.”

  “No problem. Just wanted to ensure we are in agreement as to what is out there.”

  The hangar doors on Spinnaker began to separate. Hawkins stood up. “Let’s get our good clothes on in a hurry and meet outside the hangar bay hatch. Logan, you have the bridge.” Logan acknowledged the order as the senior people departed to their staterooms.

  The pirate greeting party met outside the hangar bay five minutes later. As directed by Raferty, everyone was in their best outfits, and Blondie looked resplendent in her dress uniform. She had put her hair up per regulations but did have one slight alteration from the uniform regulations. She wore her cheetah earrings. Still a pirate at heart.

  The shuttle from Spinnaker landed and the hangar doors closed behind it. The interior hangar lights went green and Raferty opened the hangar bay entrance hatch. The party entered the bay. As they neared the shuttle’s passenger hatch, the hatch sprung open slightly and Hawkins reached forward to swing it out of the way. Once the hatch was completely open, Queen Alexis descended the two steps to the deck. At the same time, a bell went ding, ding and Logan’s voice announced over the ship’s sound system, “Queen Alexis the First, Monarch of the Aurora Empire, arriving.” Two bodyguards followed the Queen down the steps and then spread out, one to each side. They stood quiet and watchful.

  Raferty bowed and introduced his party. The Queen acknowledged each by name and asked a few questions. Rafe had prepared a briefing sheet and forwarded it to her several days prior, and she had clearly committed it to memory. She knew all the senior people and their histories. Finally, it was Blondie’s turn.

  Rafe stopped in front of her and made the introduction. “Lieutenant Junior Grade Lara Bychovskaya, Predator’s chief engineer and Royal Navy liaison to Pirate Flotilla One, Your Majesty.” Blondie bowed.

  The Queen reached forward with her right hand. “Blondie, it is so good to finally meet you. I have heard many fine things about you from several sources. Your work on the Murmansk raid was critical to its success. Thank you.”

  Blondie looked surprised at the use of her nickname and the knowledge as she briefly shook hands with Alexis. She bowed her head slightly. “Your Majesty is very kind.” It was all she could think to say.

  The party turned to exit the hangar deck. Raferty glanced up. The hangar deck was two stories high and the second deck had a series of large portholes looking down on the hangar. It had taken about thirty seconds for a crowd to gather. Right now, every porthole had crewmembers pressed against the glass looking at the Queen of the Aurora Empire. Alexis was used to this. She glanced up and smiled and waved at the onlookers. A few pirates tentatively waved back. Most ducked out of sight. The Queen smiled. Hawkins shook his head.

  The party headed to the open hatch. As they approached, Raferty and his party slowed to allow the Queen to pass through the hatch first. The sound of receding footfalls could be heard as the pirates looking through the open hatch or nearby portholes were now departing in haste. Raferty glanced at his guest. “With the crew acting this way, if you had a shooter in your hand, you could capture the ship single-handedly.”

  Alexis laughed. She realized that Hawkins was one of the few who met her who was not the least bit intimidated. He had been that way from the very first. He treated her with respect but never awe. She had thought that was due to his upbringing in the Badlands and that his mother probably had instilled her own contempt for the peerage into her son. Now she concluded it was the man himself. It was not contempt at all; the pirate captain just never considered anyone his superior. She had seen him treat everyone with respect and courtesy but never more than that. Alexis found she liked that and enjoyed his company.

  “I would like to tour your ship if possible,” she replied and then added. “I promise not to try to take it over.” The two exchanged smiles.

  “At your convenience, Madam. I would be pleased to show you Predator.”

  The tour began with a quick visit to the mess decks and a walk through of crew billeting. The spaces had never looked better or more deserted. There was not one crewmember to be seen. The ship might have been deserted if it were not for the sounds of unseen people in front of the touring group hurriedly getting out of their predicted path. Rafe frowned and then smiled. He had never see
n his crew give such deference to anyone. They usually took great pride in showing no deference at all regardless of the person or occasion.

  The travelers moved on to engineering. Three crewmembers were surrounding Preacher telling him of the visitor. Once the newcomers were spotted the three pirates scattered, leaving Preacher to his fate. He was in charge so couldn’t scatter with them.

  In a complete panic, Preacher watched for a second as the royal party closed the gap to him. Then he dropped to one knee and bowed his head slightly. “Welcome, your Queenship,” he said in as steady a voice as he could muster.

  Alexis didn’t miss a beat. “Arise, noble sir.”

  Preacher stood up and looked solemn while still staring at the deck. Alexis continued. “Thank you for your kind greeting. I am pleased to meet such a fine gentleman aboard this famous ship. What is your name, sir?”

  Preacher couldn’t immediately recall his name so Blondie bailed him out. “This is Preacher, Your Majesty. He is the assistant chief engineer. My right-hand man who keeps me on the straight and narrow.”

  The Queen looked suitably impressed. “Second in command of engineering? Preacher, you look much too young for such responsibilities. You must be very good.” Preacher beamed at the compliment. Alexis added. “Would you do me the courtesy of providing a tour of the engineering spaces?”

  “Certainly, your Queenship.” He looked around for a moment; he was at a bit of a loss on how to proceed. From behind the Queen, Blondie gave a circle motion with her right hand and pointed at the far end of the engineering space. The signal was clear: Get on with it and start there. Preacher bowed again and turned to the far end of the engineering spaces. “This way, please, your Royalness.” He sidestepped out of the way to let Alexis pass in front of him. Preacher showed the Queen around the engineering areas. The Monarch made the appropriate comments and asked probing questions. Preacher had the chance to shine, and he did. The young pirate responded well as he was a fine engineer and was on his home turf while talking about a familiar subject. After fifteen minutes, the visitors departed and Preacher was ready to sign up for the Royal Navy. Blondie flashed Preacher a thumbs up as the group departed. He gave a huge grin in response.

  Raferty walked next to the Queen. “My understanding is you were in engineering while an ensign in Cobalt.”

  Alexis smiled at him. “I spent my first year in operations, and the remaining time in engineering. It was good to get a quick refresher course.”

  Hawkins nodded, and the two exchanged smiles again. Preacher probably hadn’t told her a thing she didn’t already know, but Alexis made it seem like a whole new world to her.

  “She is good at this,” thought Hawkins.

  He leaned toward her. “We have to stop by Medical. Someone has insisted on meeting you.”

  Alexis nodded. She knew who that someone would be and looked forward to it.

  The medical spaces were always clean, but now they shone. Even Doc Windsor’s desk, usually as unkempt as the doctor, was tidy and organized. Hawkins noticed a new addition behind the desk. Doc Windsor’s medical license, signed by the Queen, was prominently displayed on the bulkhead there.

  The doctor and his two corpsmen were equally prepared to meet royalty. Doc Windsor was clean-shaven with a fresh haircut. He wore a new surgical garb that was right out of the bag. His shoes were polished. His two corpsmen mirrored his shipshape appearance. The approaching pirates tried not to look surprised. The three medical people bowed as the Queen halted in front of them.

  Windsor rose up and extended his hand. “Your Majesty, welcome aboard Predator and to the Medical Department.”

  The Queen completed the handshake. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Doctor Windsor. I have heard so much about you and your fine work here.”

  “Thank you, Madam. We have a great crew here and it is a pleasure to serve with them.” He paused and then gestured to his license on the bulkhead. “The restoration of my medical license means a great deal to me, and I thank you for that also. I am very gratified you took the time to sign it yourself.”

  “You have earned it, Doctor.”

  The Queen was introduced to the two corpsmen and given a quick turn around the sickbay by the Doctor. Rafe noticed neither of them bothered to mention Doc Windsor’s parents. He suspected they didn’t have much reason to bring them up. The Queen thanked Doc Windsor and his corpsmen and the visitors departed.

  The Queen was given Raferty’s stateroom for the night and his day cabin would be used by her two guards. Hawkins would bunk with the XO. She briefly retired to the stateroom to freshen up before the evening meal.

  The meal was standard shipboard fare, exactly what the Queen had requested. It was the best standard shipboard fare eaten by the pirates in a long time. Doc Windsor had taken charge of overseeing the meal preparation, and he and the mess personnel did not disappoint. Alexis sat at the head of the table with the Captain on her right and Doc Windsor on her left. Blondie, Tactical, Mason Reed, and Baby Doll completed the company. All was going well until Mason Reed spoke up. He looked at Alexis. “Your Majesty, we understand you were responsible for our two new destroyers, the new engines, and for a Royal Navy squadron returning to the Badlands. Thank you for that.”

  The Queen smiled at the XO. “I supported the moves, but others made the decisions and did the work to make it happen. I feel all those elements are only your due for all your help. These changes will benefit both you and the Aurora Empire.”

  Now Reed took the conversation where he really wanted it to go. He looked at Hawkins. “Well, did you ask her, Captain?”

  The unexpected question brought a few moments of silence as everyone looked at Hawkins. Tactical was sitting across from Reed and the slight delay allowed her time to wind up and fire out her left foot.

  “OW!!” Reed reached down and grabbed his right shin under the table. Tactical’s glare at Reed left no doubt as to the possibility of that being an accident.

  Silence ruled as the Queen stared at Raferty expectantly. He smiled at her and said, “Not important. The XO is insane so feel free to ignore him.”

  The Queen smiled and let it go. Reed saw that and didn’t let it go. “As a matter of fact, the question- OW!!” Tactical scored on the other shin. She stared at him and hissed a one-word warning. “Airlock.”

  Reed now rubbed his left shin, smiled at Tactical and turned to the Queen. “Never mind, Your Majesty. Not important. My bouts of insanity are accompanied by sharp pains in the shins. Both will pass momentarily.” The meal continued with smiles all around.

  Later the Queen spent time on the bridge. Hawkins offered her an officer of the deck watch and she accepted. She sat in the command chair and took the ship through a number of maneuvers and drills. Hawkins had prepared the crew for this possibility, and they performed well. Alexis was quite impressed and told the crew that over ship-wide comm. She relinquished the command chair to Tactical and walked with Rafe into the day cabin. The bodyguards were drinking coffee in the officers’ mess, so the day cabin was empty at the moment. The two sat at the briefing table for a few minutes of conversation covering tomorrow’s schedule before Alexis retired.

  After going over the events on the schedule, it was time to call it a day. Alexis rose from the table and moved to the hatch to Rafe’s stateroom. Hawkins moved to the hatch that opened into the central corridor. “I’ll tell your two guards to come on down.”

  He reached for the handle of the hatch, but the Queen’s voice stopped him. “Raferty.”

  He turned and looked the short distance to her in front of the hatch to the stateroom. “I can honestly say it has been an eternity since I’ve had such a superb day. Especially the OD stint. Very nice. Thank you for that.” She smiled her best smile of the day.

  He smiled in return. “Any time Your Majesty wishes to return, please come on back. We can always use another watch stander.” Then he got serious. “You miss the Royal Navy, don’t you?”

  “Every da
y. I would rather be an officer out on the front lines right now than be in the palace.” She shrugged. “It was not to be.”

  Hawkins knew her story. He nodded. “Well, I realize it is of little consolation, but you’re one hell of a queen. The Empire is lucky to have you.”

  She smiled her best smile again. “Thank you very much.” She paused now in indecision but then plunged ahead. “What question was your XO alluding to during the main meal?”

  Hawkins now paused as he debated about telling her, but then he shrugged. What the hell. “When we were transitioning from the Electra System to Wanderlust after the battle, Admiral Barrett gave us the news of two destroyers coming to us. He also said you were the mover behind that and our engine upgrades. At that time the XO said that, out of gratitude, I should propose marriage to you. He wanted to get a situation update at the meal.” Hawkins shrugged while looking a bit abashed. “I know it’s stupid, but there you go.”

  Alexis gave a laugh that was much longer than mere politeness. She was enjoying the situation and Raferty’s slight embarrassment about it. She opened the hatch to his stateroom but held his gaze while still smiling. “That would be the best offer I’ve had in a long time.” She turned to go inside but looked back once more. She spoke in a soft voice. “You should hold out for five battle squadrons before proposing. You’re worth at least that.” She was gone, and the hatch closed behind her.

  Raferty exited through his hatch while shaking his head. He muttered to himself. “Yup, one helluva queen. And one helluva woman.” He went down the passageway to retrieve the bodyguards. Then he sent a message to Captain Lisa Cassidy before retiring.

  Chapter 16

  As the crew awakened the next morning, Predator was two hours from Royal Navy Base Hartley in the Brill system on the border with the Goldenes Tor. As breakfast concluded, the Queen requested Hawkins’ presence for a short meeting. Five minutes later, Hawkins followed her back to the day cabin, and the two sat across from each other at the briefing table. The Queen reached into a small, flat case and brought out two folders. She passed one to Rafe and opened the one remaining in front of her.