7
Staff Major Esther hung on the side of the antenna mounting pole of the network detector. Her meteoric rise from battalion commander to brigade commander had left her a little dumbfounded, but the former brigade commander was now under arrest in the brig on the fortress, heavily guarded by royal guards, and she was the most experienced out of all the other officers. The general’s voice sounded in her headset, “All assault team commanders at the ready, in one minute there will be a three second suppression of the reflector field. There will be a ten seconds countdown.”
The staff major nervously changed her grasp on the mounting pole and turned, glancing around at her assault group. Forty space marines were hanging on the pole behind her, like bunches of grapes on a vine. She threw a plasma rifle across her chest and straightened her sword in its sheath. The general’s dry voice sounded in her headset, counting down the numbers. When the voice reached zero, her headset crackled, her head began to spin, and her ears were squeezed as if taking a sharp dive underwater, but only for a few moments. The staff major touched a switch with her tongue and screamed hoarsely into the intercom, “Let’s go!”
Pushing herself away from the pole, she turned to the side until the disc of the blue planet was hanging directly over her head, then dropped down feet first. Careful not to stray from the beam’s path, she lifted her head. space marines were hanging above her head, and the huge ball of the fortress quickly drifted up towards them. The major glanced around. Another five assault team groups hung to the right and left. It was a strange sight, dangling in the void or slightly displaced from each other were the figurines of people against the cold silent stars. The blue disk of the planet was under her feet, and the ball of the fortress was slowly floating away above her head. Esther felt a chill run through her bones, and shouted, “Get ready!”
At the same moment the predatory silhouette of a Triumph class destroyer appeared underfoot—they had slipped through the reflector field. Esther wanted to scream, but she restrained herself. Thanks to the efforts of the fortress’ powerful force field emitters, theoretically no one on the destroyer could hear their conversations, but it was better to be careful.
Especially because, although the destroyer’s command and control systems had been disabled by a strong suppression field, its ability to control its gun batteries manually was intact, so that if they were somehow detected, they would be likely to run into a barrage of fire. Their chance was that people react much slower than command and control systems and the destroyer’s commander would not venture to open continuous fire. Who knows why the fortress had turned on a suppression field—at the end of the day, it was a system of protection and not for attack, and if General Santana had known that the destroyer was so close, she could have blown the ship into atoms with just one blast. The staff major grinned. The destroyer’s captain had outwitted herself. Creeping up so close, she made detection difficult but gave the chance to intercept all conversations on open intranet channels, but when she was discovered—she lost her chance to escape. Most likely, she was planning to strike swiftly in the moment of a massive attack by the duke’s ships, and if she succeeded, then there is no doubt that the fortress would have been captured. At this moment her gravity boots clanked loudly against the ship’s outer hull. The major snatched out a package with an expelling charge, and waited until the entire assault team had landed, before marching toward the top of the destroyer’s gun battery. Once she set the charge, a lieutenant, her deputy, excitedly leaned helmet to helmet with her so that not a single ergon of radiation would be leaked out into the ship, and, with a hint of excitement in her voice said, “Six corrections on the whole group! We are on a gallop!”
Esther frowned in annoyance, but nodded. Among the space marines there was a kind of unspoken, but very honorable competition that when you made a space jump with the least amount of correction, the winner was the group whose leader initially chose the most correct trajectory. This time hers was the most accurate group, and that gave her the honor. But now it was coming time for the serious boarding, and this fuss with corrections seemed like a childish game. There was an inaudible blast of air, and flakes of frozen vapor flew from the opening in the hull. The first pair rushed inside, followed by another pair. Several more explosions sounded, which could be noticed only by shaking of the hull underfoot. The staff major glanced at the surface of the hull, which resembled a leaky underwater chamber from which fountains of instantly freezing vapor poured out from the holes punched through the hull. She switched to a broad band.
“Message to the assault groups, the hundredth brigade is here, and I remind you that the ship is no longer fully operational. I authorize the use of plasma rifles, I repeat; I authorize the use of plasma rifles.”
Something flashed in a hole nearby. Esther chuckled and ducked into hers. The destroyer’s emergency lighting dimly lit the corridors. Some shadows darted ahead of her. She snatched out her sword and rushed forward, but partway around a corner, she came to herself and stopped. What an idiot, she herself had reminded everyone else about the plasma rifles, but she had charged into the fight with a sword out of habit. Esther thrust her sword back into its sheath and held the plasma rifle in a comfortable grip. Jumping out from behind a corner, she glanced at the space marines and winced in annoyance. Her fighters and the enemy were in the same combat suits. Well of course, because they belonged to the same fleet. The enemy could only be distinguished by the stripe with the brigade logo on the sleeve of their suits, which was problematic in such lighting conditions. She tried for a while to distinguish between the colors of the stripes on the flickering sleeves, but then gave up and just blasted her plasma rifle into the ceiling of the compartment. The skirmish froze for a moment, and the staff major, taking advantage of the pause, yelled on the general coms channel, “Drop your weapons! Or I will blast you all to damn Adam!”
The enemy stared at her stunned for a while, then someone threw the first sword on the floor. Reluctantly, the others did the same. Esther took a deep breath and nodded to her troops, “Forward to the bridge!” When they were far enough away from the prisoners left under escort, the major angrily challenged the assault team. “What took it in your heads to start swinging swords around? The ship is not even operational.”
The space marines looked at each other sheepishly. It was in their flesh and blood that boarding is primarily hand-to-hand fighting. Who would think to use a ray beam or plasma weapons, when the ship was fully operational? Its structural integrity could fail immediately, and everything within the displacement radius would be instantly crushed under the pressure caused by the displacement of the structural frame. But now the destroyer just hung in free fall, and only the artificial gravity field emitters and reflector fields were working. That’s why a plasma rifle hung across every fighter’s shoulder. The staff major swore to herself. Stupid bastard! I tried to read the stripes on their sleeves, when I could simply recognize my own because they carried plasma rifles on their backs. Something flared up ahead. Someone had fired a plasma rifle. The staff major looked around. Two more turns, and there it was—the bridge.
It was all over there. Near the command chair, a headless corpse lay with its neck fused with its suit. The commander of the Second Battalion nodded towards the body. “The captain; a brave girl, but stupid. She went against a plasma rifle with a drawn sword.”
The staff major nodded stiffly and switched to the external channel. “the hundredth reporting. Objective achieved.”
The general’s voice sounded in her headphones, “It’s now seven-thirteen, I confirm. Prepare to receive the mooring team.”
“Yes, General,” replied the staff major and looked at her watch, she was stunned. From the moment she had pushed the soles of her boots off the antenna mounting pole, little more than seven minutes had passed.
Tera was outraged. Not only had nobody woken her up when the attack on the destroyer began, but she even slept through all the fun. It had been less than two
hours since the carrier had left the protection zone of the fortress, and the duke’s ships had moved towards the fortress, hiding behind the curve of the planet. That was the moment the general had signaled for the attack on the destroyer, and from the start of boarding, the fortress had closed a powerful force field tightly around the destroyer. Not even the slightest murmur could escape from it. When it was captured, she scattered random volleys from the auxiliary battery facing the planet, simulating an attack on the destroyer.
Karsaven’s ships rushed forward. The general let them reach within distance of the kinetic cannons, which fire four-ton steel shells. This heavy artillery operated only for short distances, no more than four thousand miles, but the shell could pierce through any force field, only losing some of its power depending on its mass.
The impact was immense.
Of the seventeen attacking ships, five were turned into piles of melted metal. Three were adrift without power, surrounded by clouds of vapor, and the rest barely escaped. Also, two frigates rushed from the protection zone to intercept a carrier having repulsed the attack on the fortress, the general sent them her regards as well.
And Tera had slept through it all!
The door crawled open, and the mentor stepped inside the Princess’ apartment. The girl pursed her lips together resentfully and looked away. Her mentor grinned. Their courageous leader was still a little girl with a very curious-looking little nose.
“Well, well, do not be offended my little girl.”
“Yes, yes, you made me miss all the fun.” She jerked her little shoulder irritably. “Get out! I 'm angry with you.”
Galiyat shook her head and sighed deeply, “Alright, I'm going, but I thought I might take the time to show you a recording of the fight, but …”
Tera screamed and hung on her sleeve, “Where is it Galiyat, where? Can you show me?”
Her mentor laughed. When she could finally catch her breath, the little girl stood next to her and wrinkled up her nose, “Oh, you … you specially arranged all this, I know.”
Galiyat nodded. “Well, shall I leave?”
Tera laughed, “Oh, no, after you have tricked me so, I demand immediate payback.”
Her mentor nodded and walked over to the console. When the first shots came on screen, the girl curled up on the bed and watched intently.
Karsaven was beside herself. The scheme with the destroyer had failed. Moreover, it had failed at the last moment. They had lost two landing carriers, both destroyers and four fast corvettes. Now, even after she withdrew the ships from the blockade of Derra and Unira, it would still not be enough for a new strike force.
Besides that, the defeat had adversely affected her prestige. Many of the peers, who she had hoped she was about to win over, had made it clear that they had decided to refrain from choosing sides for the moment, and jubilation prevailed in her opponent’s camp. Count Elmeyda’s comments were being repeated everywhere. In any event, no one would follow a loser, only a winner.
The duke broke down and slammed her fist on the table. Damn it, she lost. And to whom? An elderly garrison trooper and a snotty girl with a bunch of toy soldiers from the royal guard. However, she still had a surprise for this little bitch and her hangers-on, and she planned to throw down her trump card before the remnants of the Royal Fleet tried to get closer to the Throne of the World.
However, at this moment, the fact was that very soon she would need all her trump cards. She clenched her fists. God, how she missed Agrippa! Commodore Danner, who had become her right hand, was a good administrator and a faithful vassal, but she lacked resourcefulness. Karsaven gritted her teeth. Agrippa had been such a smug, ambitious creature! How dare she die at the very moment she needed her so much!
There was a soft knock on the door.
“Yes!”
The left-hand side door opened and Garmada’s head appeared in the doorway.
“Your Majesty, Commodore Danner is here for you.”
Karsaven barely suppressed her irritation.
“Let her in.”
The commodore appeared in the doorway, radiating downright, incredible zeal. She saluted, walked to the table, and stood at attention, loudly clicking her heels together.
“What have you got?”
“Messages from the Outpost on the Second Corridor.”
The duke gave her a look of annoyance. “Well, what else is there? Mass births in the garrison?”
“No, sir,” said the commodore rustling her papers. “Take a look. The first message was sent nine hours ago on a broad channel. They have reportedly detected a fleet of forty pennants.”
The duke snorted.
“Oh really, the royal fleet is a mere squadron!” Then she grimaced. In the current situation, even this fleet would be enough to plunder plenty of defenseless planets. After all, orbital fortresses didn’t protect every planet. She sighed, “OK, continue.”
“That’s all there is,” shrugged the commodore. “Since then the regular reports are that all is calm, and the command at the Outpost is not responding to requests.”
“So, why in damn Adam do you bother me with this nonsense? What do I care if the command on Outpost is having hallucinations?”
“But you ordered me to report everything suspicious,” mumbled the commodore.
The duke howled. Damn that Agrippa!
“I only care about anything that is associated with that vile brat, understood? As for everything else, if it bears no immediate threat, of course, then I don’t give a damn!” She gave the commodore a disdainful look. “OK, get ready, it's time to go and collect our trump card. Go!”
The commodore nervously raised her hand, trying to salute, but then changed her mind and getting tangled up in her arms and legs, dashed off to the door. Holding back her irritation, The duke felt a little calmer. But to really bounce back, she needed something more. She got up, went to the old walnut desk, opened the creaky lid, and removed the bottle of old Mother Neferet’s brew. She poured out two fingers, lifted her glass and drank it down in one gulp. She felt better at once. The duke threw a longing look at the bottle, but there was still a lot of work to do today. She tucked the bottle back and returned to her desk.
***
Tera was happy—Umarka had returned. Taking advantage of support from the fortress, the carrier had managed to break through the reflector field and send the information to Unira. There really were a lot of supporters of the former queen who enthusiastically received the news that the young heir was alive and in possession of the royal regalia.
However, they could do nothing to help. Unira had no troops or warships on its surface and until the arrival of Umarka’s ship, the local lords had trusted that the duke remained the only surviving representative of the royal family. Unlike the peers on the Throne of the World, they had not even begun to gather detachments of troops. But nevertheless, the call to the Royal Fleet went out to its destination.
Everyone understood that this had been an incredible stroke of luck. The Interceptor ships had been seriously damaged by artillery fire from the batteries on orbital fortress Mae. The garrison commander of the orbital fortress protecting Unira, after the ships of the second light squadron left orbit, urgently called back to the Throne of the World by the duke, decided it would be better for them to ignore the arrival of a troop carrier and the artillery on the fortress stayed silent.
The little girl learned this entire story directly from Umarka herself, who reported to her upon her arrival.
Now, a meeting was to be held to decide what to do next.
After taking her seat at the head of the table and glancing around at those present, the girl noticed that everybody looked more cheerful.
Firstly, as usual, General Santana took the floor.
“Your Majesty, I am pleased to announce that our strength has now been increased by three more ships. Besides a troop carrier, we now have a destroyer and two frigates. By the end of the week all the ships will be completely renovated.
We have enough modular elements and spare parts to put them in good order.
Even though this was not news to the majority of those present, everyone was talking excitedly.
Then Marquis Amalia spoke. “What about the crews?”
The general shrugged her shoulders. “We are in the process of choosing them. Of course, we have nowhere to find a strong, well-organized crew, but among the garrison guards there are plenty of experts, so the ships will move and fire, and it wasn’t planned to let them go far away from the fortress anyway. We will use them as gunboats and to cover the attack ships during their withdrawal after the torpedo attack.
The marquis nodded in agreement.
“Have we received any news from the planet?” asked the mentor.
The general grinned widely. “The peers are vying to express their respect to their ruler. Many are ready to come to the fortress and protect you with their lives my lady.”
Galiyat shook her head in thought. “Why are they in such a hurry? I do not believe that the duke has been so simply and stupidly defeated. She obviously has something else up her sleeve.”
At this point Tera leaned forward.
“General, tell me, can we contact someone on the surface who could have access to the main transmitter on the Throne of the World?”
The general thought to herself. Then she activated the display module built into the armrest, pulling up multiple files. She quickly reviewed them then nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty, I think now we can do it, but why? The news channels have already published the information that you are alive and that the duke was defeated at orbital fortress Mae.”
The girl smiled. “My opponent has already had several opportunities to appeal to my people. Now it’s my turn. Besides that, I think, another piece of news needs to be made public.” She nodded towards the safe in the corner of the meeting room, in which the crown jewels were locked up.
Everybody nodded in agreement.
Swords Above the Stars Page 9