by Gem Jackson
“I presume the Titan ships are the issue?” he said.
“Aye, Captain,” said Torren. “Three warships identifying themselves as the Titan fifth fleet. The one in the middle is a proper battleship. The other two more like destroyers.”
Sleet joined him in the central area of the CIC along with Long and the scientist. Leon extended a hand to the scientist.
“Leon Wood. Everyone calls me Starflight.”
“I’m Dr Aadita Ramachandran. Pleased to meet you,” she said. It was difficult to decide whether she looked like a mad scientist or a middle-aged drug dealer.
“If you’ve quite finished with the pleasantries?” said Sleet. “How close are we.”
Torren scratched his head. He was nervous, Leon was sure of it. Barring the fight with Birch, Leon had never seen the Murpo look anything other than calm and collected. Seeing him like this unsettled him.
“We’re very close,” said Torren. “By fluke, the T-jump as brought us out within spitting distance of Ceres.”
“Battle stations, then?”
“Not necessary at the moment, boss. Before we jumped, I thought it might be a good idea if we disappeared for a bit. Only it’s difficult for a ship this size to disappear, but—”
“—you can disguise it,” said Leon. “What do we look like, Torren?”
“A chemical tanker. I switched off all of our active systems and beacons and instead I’m broadcasting from the Jackdaw’s Straw. I tweaked the IFF a little to match with our size and heat-signature, so unless anyone looks at us closely, we’re a lumbering transporter at the moment.“
“Excellent work,” said Sleet. “But why the urgency? It sounds like we’re safe for the time being.”
“Oh, we’re safe enough. It’s not us that I’m concerned about. The Titan ships have been issuing threats to Ceres, demanding they be allowed to dock and deploy troops.”
“Deploy troops?” asked Long. “Titan has troops, now?” She sounded as surprised as Leon felt. It made sense; if they had a navy, why not an army? He shuddered, remembering the rough hands of the guards on the Cronus pulling and shoving him. Titan had an army now. An army of tough, uncaring men and women with armour and guns to push and kick anyone they were ordered to. He felt the hard chair at his back and the handcuffs biting into his wrists. Images of the bag and the hammer swam before his eyes. He tasted blood in his mouth and realised he was biting down on the soft tissue of his cheek. He bit harder, intensifying the pain so it overwhelmed him, leaving no room for the chair or the bag or the hammer.
“This is what they’re broadcasting on a local radio blast,” said Torren. He piped the broadcast through the speakers and they stood listening, dumbfounded.
…We are here to help you. Citizens of Ceres, we understand your struggle. We understand your cities are overrun by organised crime and gangsters. We understand your corrupt government has abandoned you to vice and suffering. We are here to assist. We are here to help you. Citizens of Ceres…
“They’re annexing Ceres?” said Ramachandran. “This isn’t a war of independence, it’s a war of expansion. I need to speak to someone about this.” She dashed away to another part of the control room.
On the main view screen multiple media feeds showed the Titan ships firing warning shots across Ceres Junction. Shaky footage from nearby vessels showed Ceres drone ships organising a blockade of the capital ship docking booms. The drone ships, while heavily armed, were a fraction of the size of a destroyer, never mind a battleship. They couldn’t possibly hope to stand up to the Titan fleet.
“What do we do?” asked Long.
Leon looked at Sleet. They hadn’t accounted for this. The plan had been to reach Ceres, negotiate a price for the Aggressive and disappear. Leon liked the idea of buying a mining ship and going prospecting in the belt. He could hire a small crew and make a living hauling metal around. Without starting capital, an ambition like that could only ever be a dream for most people, but if they sold the ship? It was possible. It could really work. Except, if Titan took control of Ceres, it would remain a dream for as long as he remained a wanted man. And he didn’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Sleet was lost in thought too. The Titan ships were scuppering her plans as surely as they were his own.
“Boys and girls? Would you care to join me over here?” asked Ramachandran. Leon, along with Sleet, Torren and Long gathered around the communications console. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of contacting Ceres Junction. Luckily, they took my call. I’ve just had a brief chat to my good friend, Station Commander Patel. He has a request he would like us to consider; protect Ceres from the warships.”
“What?” asked Sleet.
“Everyone saw what you did around Titan. He wants protection. Ceres can’t hold out otherwise.”
“How? That’s a battleship and two destroyers,” said Torren. “We got lucky before, no offence Starflight, but we can’t keep rolling against the odds.” There was a murmur of agreement. “I say we run.”
“He’s offering three billion,” said Ramachandran. Someone whistled. Three billion was a lot. More than they were expecting for the Aggressive. “That’s what is on the table. Three billion to take out the Titan ships. They’re scared. There have been massacres around the Jovian system, apparently.”
Sleet whirled round to face him.
“You said this was the toughest, meanest ship in a billion kilometres. Did you mean it?”
He nodded. “It is.”
“Do you think we could pull it off?”
He thought about it. “I do.” He strode across to the spatial environment board. “Look, we’re almost on top of them as it is, but they’re not reacting because we look like any another big tanker.”
“Don’t forget, they’re a rookie crew. Motion was the only experienced captain in the entire fleet,” said Birch.
Leon tapped the board. “We’ve got stealth, we’ve got position and we’ve got surprise. We can do it. We just need time. Doc, tell the Station Commander that he needs to stall them until we get closer. It’s going to take about half an hour to get within five hundred kilometres. If we can get that close, they won’t have time to manoeuvre effectively and return fire. We can do it.”
Sleet and Torren agreed. From then on, time dragged. Leon felt every second tick by as they closed the gap on the Titan ships. They were bunched together. Not as much as they had been around Titan itself, but close enough that two could be covered in the same firing solution.
“Are you sure about this?” whispered Tem. For once, she appeared out of her comfort zone. “I mean, what about the crew on those ships. You would be killing hundreds of innocent people. It doesn’t seem right to me.”
“I’m sure,” said Leon.
“Leon, look at me,” she put a hand on his arm. Her eyes were aflame. “You don’t need to do this. It will be a massacre.”
Gently, he lifted her hand from his arm. “If we do nothing, it will be a massacre. Do you think Ceres will remain peaceful when they send the marines in? Thousands will die, and they won’t be soldiers. When the men and women on those ships put on the uniform, they made a choice. They knew the risks, just like I did when I signed up.” She wasn’t convinced. It didn’t matter. “You have no idea what’s it like to be crushed beneath their heel. No idea at all. They made their choice. This is mine.”
“It’s as simple as that?”
He shrugged. “It is to me.”
“Captain, we’re in range,” said Torren.
Long retreated and Leon refocused on the task in hand. There could be no hesitation. At any second they might be discovered. He took a breath and exhaled slowly. It came as a surprise to realise he was relaxed. There was no tension in his shoulders, and no feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. The others were waiting for him and for once, he felt no sense of panic. The Titan ships were on the main viewing screen now. They were as sleek and dangerous looking as the Cronus. Above all, however, they were
still oblivious.
“Action stations everyone. Torren, Birch, when we power up you need to get your firing solutions fast.”
He manoeuvred the ship to present the starboard batteries to the Titan vessels. They had a clear shot across the outward face of Ceres Junction. It was almost too perfect.
“Okay, Hail, light us up.”
Hail worked quickly to bring the targeting arrays on-line. Leon watched Torren as he acquired the firing solution. Alerts and sirens rang around the room as the Titan ships panicked, searching desperately to find who was targeting them. They would have maybe two minutes once the barrage started? Two minutes to find them, bring themselves around, find their own solutions and fire; that’s assuming they didn’t choose to run.
“Firing solution ready, Captain.”
“Thank you, Torren,” he said. “Give ‘em hell.”
The End
Afterword
Thank you for reading The Aggressive, I hope you enjoyed it! I'd really appreciate it if you left a review on Amazon and Goodreads - they are the lifeblood of indie authors such as myself.
You can get a FREE copy of FUTURE ECHOES when joining the Gem Jackson newsletter using the following link: https://BookHip.com/XTGZTT
FUTURE ECHOES contains three short stories set in the Titanwar universe, years and decades before the action of THE AGGESSIVE took place. Find out about:
- Captain Bryant's deadly first mission in charge of a hunter-killer ship
- Tem and Tariq's first case working together, a baffling attempted murder with a bizarre twist
- Fenton's early days as a hitman in the Fifteenth Street gang on Ceres
If you would like to find out about upcoming books and so on, head to:
www.gemjackson.com
Look out for part II of the Titanwar saga, THE CRONUS, expected spring 2021
Acknowledgement
Thank you to my wife and children for putting up with me as I endlessly typed and fettled at the laptop, and for their support in getting the book finished.
I'm also grateful to Tom, Yogi, Rick, Tony & Emily for your insights and welcome criticism along the way.
About The Author
Gem Jackson
Gem Jackson lives in the North West of England with his wife and two children. He spends his days teaching other people's children to become 'attack dogs of the mind' and his evenings creating imaginary worlds.