As he struggled with this dilemma the escaping destroyer escort came about and turned back towards him.
“What the hell is going on?” Curtis asked.
“We didn’t hit that ship’s engines, they should easily be able to escape,” Baker remarked also surprised.
“We’re not in all that great of shape, maybe they mean to come back and finish us off,” Mike said seeing that his impulse engines’ output was now down to less than fifty percent and his bender drives were totally off-line.
“Lock remaining weapons,” he ordered and added, “lets at least go out with a roar and not a whimper.”
“Aye, sir,” Petty Officer Baker answered.
Opening a command channel, he made an announcement over the ship-wide PA system.
“All hands prepare to abandon ship, this is not a drill! Make your way to an escape pod and prepare to jettison on my order,” he said tasting the bitter flavor of defeat in his mouth as he spoke.
“Sir!” Curtis yelled as an immense flash occurred on the main viewer.
“What the hell!” Mike exclaimed and then asked, “What just happened?”
“Sensors read a massive particle hit on the Karduan destroyer escort. The shot came from somewhere to their rear and out of the gravity well’s horizon,” PO2 Curtis said with a big smile.
The young captain looked down at his command chair’s arms and saw that his comm. channel tie-in link was blinking indicating that there was an incoming message. Activating the channel, he was more than surprised when he looked up at the main viewer.
“Lt. Collins, what are you doing on a battle frigate?” Admiral Sir Randolph Hope said in surprise from the bridge of the attack cruiser, ISS Star Wolf.
Mike smiled and let out a sigh of relief while thinking - when all hope is lost, Hope arrives.
“Just waiting for a ride, sir,” he said as the old man laughed from the other side of the link.
Chapter Fourteen
“It’s really good to see you, Admiral,” Mike said also taking some joy in using his new rank and title.
“Good to see you too but your ship looks like a block Swiss cheese, old man,” Lt. Alister Dover said moving up and standing next to the captain’s chairs. The last he had heard his old friend had been the Star Wolf’s executive officer and it looked like he was still serving in that capacity.
“We’ve had a time of it but it’s not over yet,” he replied.
“Do you have casualties?” Dover asked.
“Yes, we have both wounded and killed in action,” Mike answered unintentional making a sour face.
“We’ll send, a damage control team and a medical team over to help stabilize your ship and take care of your people,” Admiral Hope said nodding to his comm. officer to make it so.
“Sir, you shouldn’t worry about us you have bigger problems. That star destroyer is closing on the well and it is Grand Fleet Mistress Pir-Ly’s ship.”
“Meaning a maser unit, spinal mount and heavy armor,” Dover said with a slow nod.
Sir Randolph Hope’s old face cracked a slight grin.
“Oh, I don’t think that we will have much of a problem with her,” he said.
“We? Sir, I’m down to my last two energy turrets and I’m at forty-eight percent impulse power. I don’t think the Goliad will be much help in this fight unless you throw us at her,” Collins informed wishing he and his crew could help.
“Not you and your crew, as it looks like you have more than done your part. I was thinking of another ship,” Sir Randolph said and again nodded to his comm. station.
The Goliad’s maser unit alerted as a second attack cruiser appeared on its scope and on their viewer. The ship was a twin to the Star Wolf and Mike didn’t have to ask her name.
“It’s the Star Tiger,” he said for his crew’s sake.
“We were hunting for the Grand Fleet Mistress’ fleet as we headed to the meeting with the 34th,” Lt. Dover informed with a smile.
This changed everything as one on one the star destroyer had superior range and the firepower but against two attack cruisers, it was a different story. The attack cruisers with their spinal mounts and torpedoes could come at the massive Karduan ship from different vectors. Combined with two highly skilled ship captains it now looked very bad for the Blue Fleet Mistress.
“Sir, the Star Destroyer is reversing course and heading back the way she came,’ Curtis said from his station.
“She’s going after the Ajax and her escort ships,” Mike quickly deduced.
“Order the Ajax and her Task Force to reverse course and pull back to the Half Moon,” Hope ordered as the comm. officer repeated his command.
“You have her trapped between two spinal mounted ships to her front and two to her rear,” Collins commented.
“We could also just stand back and just wear her down with missiles and torpedoes,” Dover remarked knowing that all of their captured Karduan ships that were under their command had been retrofitted with missile turrets and torpedo tubes.
“The next move is hers but there is not much she can do at this point except go down fighting,” the Admiral said fairly certain that she was trapped.
“Sir, an incoming signal from the Half Moon,” CPO Parker reported.
“On screen and include the Star Tiger and the Goliad,” Hope instructed.
A moment later the smiling face of John Kirkland appeared on the screen from the massive bridge of the Half Moon.
“Damn fine timing Randolph!” his old friend exclaimed happy to see both him as well as the fact that they had the Karduan Star Destroyer caught between their two forces.
“And it is good to see you, Commodore Kirkland,” Admiral Hope said with a straight face.
John Kirkland looked at him for a moment in slight confusion before he finally smiled.
“You’re an Admiral!” he replied.
“Yes, and they promoted you to Commodore,” Hope repeated more clearly.
The new flag officer nodded at their mutual good news having heard him the first time.
“Right, but let’s take care of this star destroyer before we break out the Irish whiskey,” he said.
“Agreed, shall we say Cannae?” Hope said suggesting a pincer movement that General Hannibal had used at that battle.
“Roger that, double envelopment it is,” the Commodore said with a nod and a smile knowing exactly what his old friend was saying.
Grand Fleet Mistress Pir-Ly let out a deep breath of frustration and anger. She and her star destroyer could have escaped if it wasn’t for the two attack cruisers that had just come out of the gravity well. Both ships were known to her, one being the Star Tiger, a ship she had previously captured. The other was the ship she had been hunting and who had been such an embarrassment to her.
Now knowing there was no escape or possibility of victory she changed her heading. Reversing course, she had hoped to engage the weaker pursuing ships. Against a heavy cruiser and her escort ships she could have at least caused them considerable damage but now that easy victory was also denied to her.
“The enemy’s heavy cruiser’s squadron has rendezvoused with their star destroyer and her destroyers,” her maser controller reported.
She looked up at the force now approaching her position which included a start destroyer, an improved heavy cruiser and at least twelve more standard destroyers and light cruiser sized ships. Coming from the gravity well were two attack cruisers which had once more gone into stealth mode and became hard for even her maser unit to detect or get a positive weapons lock on.
“Incoming transmission,” her communications controller informed.
“Ignore it,” she said the anger in her voice telling all that they shouldn’t speak. The human commander would now offer her to surrender but there was no way she would go that peacefully or give them yet another ship. Saving that course of action, she knew that the human ships would now try to encircle her.
Minutes went by and she sat there as the en
emy closed the distance from all sides. Her bridge personnel sat quietly many of them quickly deactivating anything from their consoles that might make any noise.
“Move us as close to the red star as possible,” she commanded.
“Yes, my lady,” her pilot replied without hesitation.
“The star could hamper the enemy’s target locks,” the ship’s Second commented in support of her idea.
“We fight?” her Ship Mistress said it sounding somewhere between a question and a statement.
“Scan for a gravity well,” Pir-Ly ordered ignoring her ship mistress.
“There is a gravity well but it is very unstable,” her sensors controller reported.
The ship mistress hurried to the sensor station and looked down at the computer’s data for herself.
“The star’s magnetic field is too unstable to form a bend,” she stated and added, “If we try our ship will be torn apart.”
“Then we fight!” the Grand Fleet Mistress said now that the option of escape had been completely taken off the table.
“My Lady, the enemy ships are halting outside of our firing range,” the maser controller announced.
“Prepare for missiles and torpedoes,” the Second called out.
“The humans are still trying to contact us,” the Ship Mistress remarked as she moved to the maser station.
“Are any human ships in range of our spinal mount?” the Grand Fleet Mistress asked.
“No, Mistress but if we fire all of our impulse drives and thrusters we might be able to gain a fast surge and make up enough distance to get in range,” suggested the weapons controller.
“What ships would that take us close to?”
“A light cruiser and a heavy frigate,” the maser controller replied.
“Prepare for a full speed surge followed by a spinal strike,” Pir-Ly ordered determined to hit this enemy that would defeat her from a distance. She hoped that if she could open a hole in their lines perhaps she could fight her way to the gravity well but it was a small chance at best.
“Ready, my Lady,” called out the helm station’s controller.
“Mistress, I’m reading something strange coming from the star!” her sensor operator yelled in panic.
“What? Be more specific,” the Ship Mistress hollered back before the Grand Fleet Mistress could.
“It’s … it’s a solar flare,” she replied looking down at her sensor panel.
The Second rushed to the sensors station and hovered over the operators and controller.
“My lady, detecting a slow coronal mass ejection of highly magnetized plasma. Also detecting a coronal shock wave and an electromagnetic pulse that is reading off our sensors and will hit us ... now!”
“Full impulse and thrusters surge, get us out of here!” the Grand Fleet Mistress ordered as the lights of her bridge flickered and went out.
Across the system by the gravity well, the crew of the Goliad was welcoming personnel from the armored grav shuttle Carronade. The Star Wolf had sent the shuttle over as they had passed by them. Medical personnel and damage controls teams came on board to helps stabilize the battered frigate and aid her crew.
Master Gunnery Sergeant Jack Masters led the damage control teams along with a half dozen repair droids and robots. Lt. Dr. Angelique Duarte came aboard with a team of medics and a Care Giver droid to help treat the wounded.
Lt. Duarte had just reached the bridge with a corpsman and the Gunny but had to wait as the door was sealed. It outer sensor showed that it was being pressurized with air and she had to wait until it had equalized with the hall’s pressure.
When the door opened she found the remaining bridge crew had been busy putting emergence hull plating over the breaches and gaps in her interior hull.
She could see that several systems also looked damaged especially the navigation station which was wrecked. There were only five crewmen on a bridge that would normally have nine or ten. Two of the crew were laid out on the floor and were unmoving. The other three were busy working on systems or checking with hand scanners for any additional hull leaks.
“Looks clear,” Mike said as he lowered a hand scanner and then touched a switch on his sleeve. His helmet then receded back into his combat armor’s neck housing.
Not wasting any time, she crossed to the down spacers laying on the deck.
Mike saw the woman he loved and she saw him but now was not the time for warm and passionate greetings. They both had jobs to do that could mean peoples’ lives and after all, they were professionals.
“Good to see you, sir,” the Master Guns said with a wide smile on his old wrinkled face.
“Good to see you, Jack,” Collins replied crossing and offering him his hand in greeting.
“Looks like your ship has seen better days,” the NCO said looking about the bridge.
“Yeah, we banged her up a little but nothing that a good wash and wax can’t fix,” he said with straight face.
“Now you sound like Lt. Cappillo, sir,” the Master Gunnery Sergeant with a sour face.
“You’re right Top, the Goliad’s in bad shape but she put up a heck of a fight,” Collins said with justifiable pride.
“This ensign will pull through thanks to your buddy kit but we need to get him to the Star Wolf or to the Mary Queen of Scots for surgery as soon as possible. Unfortunately, your comm. specialist is dead with a broken neck. It was probably instantaneous and there was nothing you could have done,” Dr. Duarte said joining the two by his captain’s chair.
Mike frowned and let out a sigh, “He was a good man,” he said paused for a moment in thought and then added, “that makes eight dead including two Blues and ten wounded.”
“From the look of it sir, it could have been a lot worse not to mention all of the enemy ships you were able to disable or defeat,” the old marine pointed out trying to set the young officer straight.
Before Mike could respond, his maser operator interrupted him.
“Sir, they have the Star Destroyer trapped but something is happening with the flare star,” PO2 Curtis said bringing up the sensor feed from the fleet and loading it to the main viewer.
Mike moved to the comm. station and paused for a second thinking of Ryan before activating the comm. unit and tying it into the fleet’s communications traffic.
Master Guns Jack Masters followed him and then took over the station. Mike moved over to the maser station and looked down at the sensor data.
“I think there was a solar eruption,” Curtis announced.
“Confirmed, detecting a massive electromagnetic pulse from the red dwarf,” Collins said shaking his head.
“Wasn’t that’s what you were trying to cause when you fired those Blitzen torpedoes into the sun?” Petty Officer Curtis said.
“Yeah, I guess better late than never,” the young ship captain commented.
“Opening Admiral Hope’s broadcast from the Star Wolf,” the senior NCO said from the comm. station.
“Karduan Star Destroyer, you have lost power and are in danger of being pulled into the sun,” CPO Parker aboard the Star Wolf called.
There was no response and everyone listening in had to wonder if they even had power for their comm. systems. All ships were built to withstand an EMP but not one of this level or this close. There was also the question of - was the crew of the KSD07 even still alive?
A moment later Admiral Hope’s voice could be heard across the link.
“This is Admiral Sir Randolph Hope, captain of the ISS Star Wolf and sector commander of all Confederation forces. If you are reading me you need to respond immediately. Your ship is losing altitude with the sun and its gravity is pulling you down to a fiery death. We could try to save your ship but not until you have surrendered,” he said stating his terms.
There was still no response and not even escape pods were being launched. Even with all of their systems fried or at least temporarily offline, they still could have jettisoned life pods as they were set-up with
a chemical backup ejection system.
“To all ships in the fleet. Do not attempt to help the Karduan star destroyer unless I order you to do so. This may be a final trap or even a last-ditch attempt to take as many enemies with them as possible. Hold your positions and your target locks,” the Admiral ordered taking no chance with the cornered Grand Fleet Mistress.
Minutes went by as the encircling Confederation ships waited. The huge Star Destroyer didn’t tilt or list but was slowly being pulled down whole. As time went by it was almost certain that there was now nothing the Confederation ships could do to save the Star Destroyer and her crew.
As the ship’s hull heated up to a glowing red and then white several escape pods were finally launched but quickly exploded from the heat. In another minute, the star destroyer suffered several explosions of its own and was pulled down and disappeared into the surface of the red dwarf sun.
“To all ships - return to life pod recovery and salvage operations. Ships involved in boarding parties and prisoner operations need to report in with numbers of prisoners, wounded and the status of captured vessels,” CPO Parker said speaking for the admiral.
“So that's it?” PO2 Curtis said in disbelief of what he just saw. “No grand final battle to the death, no heroic last stand? Just an EMP fart from the sun and a one-way ticket to hell.”
“Petty Officer Curtis,” Mike started sounding angry but then took a breath, let it out and regained his control. “You read too many romance stories and watch too many vids from New Hollywood. You need to read a little more history and you’d realize that there is no such thing as a glorious victory or defeat. In the end, there is a winner and a loser and a lot of people left dead.”
PO2 Curtis didn’t know what to say and ended up just saying, “Aye sir.”
“Sir, I’m getting a message from Commodore Kirkland and he says that the ISS Patton and Bastogne are on their way and we should prepare for towing. The Bastogne is to tow us to the Wolf’s Den and then to the Mammoth for repairs. The Patton will be in charge of boarding operations on the damaged Karduan destroyer escort and any other ships in the area. They will also be gathering life pods and prisoners as well as securing any enemy intelligence,” the Master Guns reported.
Wolves at the Gate Page 39