“Let’s be smart about this,” Twingo said. “The more diverse our load-out, the better off we’ll be. What do we have left on board in the aft weapons bay?”
“Four low-yield fusion and three high-explosive penetrators,” Jason answered.
“So nothing really worth keeping compared to what’s in here,” Twingo confirmed to himself. “We have some time. Let’s grab a full load of thirty-two and replace the seven we have left right now. I’m sure Crisstof won’t mind.”
“After what we’re about to do to his ship, swiping a few missiles will be the least of his problems,” Jason laughed. “By the way ... since this is your idea, I feel it’s only right you explain it to him.”
“If it works,” Twingo said, making a face.
“If it works,” Jason confirmed.
Over the next two hours, the conversation was reduced to single words and grunts as they worked to load up the missiles on dollies to move them up to the hangar deck and begin loading them onto the Phoenix. This first step nearly met with disaster when Twingo, in a momentary lapse of reason, powered on the hover-dolly and it, with him still attached, went rocketing to the ceiling since artificial gravity was still disabled. The damage was minimal, at least physically, as Jason (and even Lucky) made many jokes at his expense over the next half hour.
The micro-gravity did make short work of actually moving the munitions around once they were secured and detached from the storage racks, so once the trio began dragging the missiles up the long, wide access tunnel that led to the hangar, the job went much more quickly. The Phoenix, being a vessel designed from the ground up for combat operations, was relatively easy to load up. First they opened the forward weapons bay and commanded the internal racks be lowered to the ground. The rack unlocked with a heavy clunk and easily slid down on six telescopic guides.
The missiles were quickly loaded up onto the launching arms and the inductive connectors of the umbilicals were attached. It took a few minutes for the Phoenix to negotiate with the new missiles, after which the status lights on all of the individual pylons winked green, letting Jason know the gunship had connected to each smart weapon and that it was now fully functional and available.
They secured the forward bay and then went to work on the aft bay, lowering the launch rack and going about removing the seven missiles already there. Three of the missiles actually had an amber status light, meaning their health was questionable, and looked to be about ten years out of date.
“I’ll bet these were part of the original load-out when this ship was first deployed and patrolling space for that mining company,” Twingo said, gingerly disconnecting the hard lines from the weapons.
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Jason said. “We always fire and reload from the forward bay. They’ve been here as long as I’ve had the ship, I know that. I wonder why the Eshquarians didn’t replace them when they rebuilt her.”
“I think they were more than a little miffed that you actually decided to rebuild an aging gunship than accept the gift of a brand new ship out of their shipyards,” Twingo laughed.
“No doubt about that,” Jason said. “I still think that if the premier had known what my choice would be they’d have just scrapped her while we were all still laid up in the hospital.”
“Lucky us,” Twingo said.
“Excuse me?” Lucky asked in confusion.
“Huh? Oh, no,” Twingo answered. “I meant fortunate us.”
“Oh.”
The three quickly unloaded the missiles, secured them on of the now-empty transport dollies, and put the new weapons in the rack. Jason dragged the dolly with their discarded weapons into the forward part of the hangar and engaged the mag-lock, securing it to the deck. He paused to look around. The ConFed had not only left the weapons and fuel aboard the ship, the hangar was littered with various expensive ships. He briefly toyed with the idea of trying to save them, but decided it was an unneeded complication on top of an already overly-complicated plan.
“How is it coming?” Jason asked Kage as he approached.
“I’m actually finished,” Kage answered. “I’m just running it through some simulations to make sure there aren’t any surprises. This thing isn’t as dumb as we originally thought, it just takes a very specific syntax.”
“That’s good to know,” Jason said. “This will be our one and only diversion. Otherwise, they’ll see us coming half an orbit away.”
“It’ll do the job,” Kage said confidently. “Assuming Twingo is able to get the ship moving at all, of course.”
“He says everything is ready,” Jason said. “Anyway, press on. Just make sure you’re disconnected and it’s ready to do its thing within the next two hours.”
He left Kage and went up into the gunship to find Twingo. He caught up with the engineer, still in his pressure suit, sitting in the galley grabbing a quick meal. “With the main computer down, how easy do you think it would be to rig every remaining missile in the magazine to blow?” he asked, sinking wearily into the seat across from his friend.
“Not too hard,” Twingo said between bites, “but not especially advisable. You’d be bypassing a lot of safety measures, which would make them fairly unstable. You think we need a little extra punch?”
“I’d like the insurance, if nothing else,” Jason said. “Maybe every missile would be too much, but if a few of the anti-matter warheads cooked off at the right time that could be a real difference maker.”
“Hmm,” Twingo grunted thoughtfully, staring off into space for a moment. “Four of the high-yields would do it probably. I could rig them up outside of the magazine and run a remote detonator to them.”
“It’d have to be more than just the mag-locks on the dolly securing them,” Jason said. “Otherwise the g-forces are going to send them flying before we get a chance to trigger them.”
“Leave it to me,” Twingo said with a wink. “Let me finish up here and I’ll take care of it.”
*****
The mag-locks in the landing gear released with a slight lurch and Jason triggered the ventral thrusters to push the Phoenix up out of the hangar. He kept the ship slightly nose-up and moved at a veritable crawl, not wanting to crunch his ship into the opening during the last part of the operation. The gunship emerged from the hangar and gracefully moved off to starboard. He could see Number Two perched on the flight deck with cables snaking into one of its open access panels. The cables were wired in with breakaway connectors so that, when given the word, the little drone would be able to zip off on its own and leave the frigate behind. The cables ran down through the hangar and all the way to Engineering where they terminated into propulsion and basic attitude control.
“We’re looking good, Captain,” Doc reported from the sensor station. “I can’t get a firm read on the ship’s core, and we’re directly next to it. I think it’s a safe bet that nobody else will detect it as they enter the system.”
“Let’s hope so,” Jason said. “I’m moving us above the formation. Let’s keep passive and optical sensors trained on planet for now. Give me a heads up of any slip-space distortions. We’re only going to get one shot at this, and we’re not even one hundred percent sure we’re in the right spot.” The bridge fell into an uncomfortable silence as everyone pondered the fact that days of frenzied activity could be for naught. “Nothing to do now but wait,” Jason said, climbing out of his seat. “Take the chair, Doc,” he said. “I’m going to go get ready. You too, Crusher. There can’t be any unnecessary delays.”
Jason, Crusher, and Lucky walked off the bridge on the way to the armory. It would be less than comfortable to be sitting around in full armor for potentially up to a day, but if their hunch proved to be correct things were going to happen very fast. He looked at his hulking crewmate and braced himself for the argument he knew was coming. If they were going to have to get aboard Dalton’s ship, Crusher was going to have to make some concessions and wear a full pressure suit with life support capability. This had proven to b
e a bit of a challenge in the past and now he was going to have to convince him to not only wear the gear he despised, but to sit in it for an extended period of time. He sighed inwardly and began preparing his arguments he would need to convince the big warrior that this wasn’t really something optional.
Chapter 23
Kellea felt the shudder of the Stalwart’s subluminal engines through the deck of her detention cell. She’d been unceremoniously dragged from the bridge by Steader’s private security guards after the third exchange in which he tried to bully her and was made to look foolish by Agent Alux, who seemed to be enjoying himself enormously. Since he couldn’t take it out on the agent directly, he opted to punish her. In the end, however, he only reaffirmed the impression that he was a petulant child who was quickly losing control of the situation he found himself in. She idly wondered if he was having second thoughts about betraying his First Father and climbing into bed with the ConFed.
Her thoughts were interrupted by two pairs of heavy footfalls approaching her cell. She stood, knowing who it would be.
“You will come with us,” the guard said, holding out another set of restraints as the other kept a heavy stunner trained on her. She wordlessly held her hands out and allowed them to be bound together again. Nothing would be gained by antagonizing the guards, and any form of protest at this point would be a meaningless gesture. It wasn’t like she could storm the bridge on her own and subdue the crew. Besides ... Omega Force was still out there somewhere. She found it highly unlikely Jason would have shrugged off her capture and went back to whatever he had been doing before all of this started. They were determined and, when backed into a corner, dangerous. Their uncanny ability to suddenly appear where they were least expected never ceased to amaze her. She hoped their luck held out.
“What now, Steader?” she asked as she was led back onto the bridge. “How long will this game continue?”
“The end is upon us now, my dear,” Steader said with an oily smile. “We’re flying towards a rendezvous that, unfortunately, signifies the end of your usefulness. I thought you’d like to watch, at least.”
“So what is it?” she asked, abandoning the sarcastic back-and-forth and going on the attack. “What made you betray Crisstof? Money? Promises of power? What was it about your life that was so unbearable you would do this?”
“Not that it’s any of your concern,” Steader said, also dropping his thin veneer of civility, “but Crisstof Dalton was a short-sighted fool. The ConFed will control all of this quadrant, one way or another. Would you rather be a power broker, or part of the last vestiges of resistance that will only exist for as long as they allow you to?” Kellea just stared at him for a moment, marveling at his lack of understanding.
“I’m not entirely sure why you feel compelled to convince me,” she said, looking pointedly at the captain of the Stalwart as she did. “I won’t agree with you and I certainly will never turn my loyalty from Crisstof.”
“Then you’re a fool,” Steader snorted. “I’ve given you a few chances to convince me you should be allowed to live, but your blind allegiance to someone who will never again see the light of day has clouded your judgment. You’re really so willing to throw it all away?”
“Some things are more important,” she said simply, turning to look out the floor-to-ceiling observation window.
“We’re beginning our approach,” the ship’s captain reported. “We’ll be achieving orbit within the next three hours and then we can begin the rendezvous maneuver.”
“Very good, Captain,” Steader said. “Please alert the crews to prepare the decks for cargo.”
*****
“We’ve got a slip-space burst near the edge of the system,” Doc reported. “Decaying energy signature shows it turning on course for the planet.”
“Right on time,” Jason said quietly. “Monitor its progress on the passive array. Is Number Two still standing by?”
“Yes,” Kage said, “although it seems a little over-eager. It’s sent twenty-eight queries within the last hour asking if it may proceed. I’ve been telling it to hold fast.” Jason just nodded and continued to watch the data feed from the sensors. The little drones seemed to be programmed with a certain amount of “enthusiasm”, though it would be a little inaccurate to ascribe that characteristic to something of such limited understanding.
“And the factory ship?” he asked.
“My data is limited with just passive sensors, but the computer projects the incoming ship will make orbit while the factory ship is on the far side. If they’re going to dock with each other, I’d imagine the newcomer will want to reach stable orbital flight before attempting to approach that monster,” Doc said, running the limited incoming data through a continual series of computer simulations to try and determine the most probably flight path. “The good news is that they won’t be flying near this formation if they hold course and speed.”
“Are they coming in with active sensors?”
“Limited,” Doc said. “Mostly some short-range radar and lidar, no long-range active sweeps.”
“Looks like they’re also sneaking into the system,” Kage said. “Does that seem unusual? Why would they be running silent?”
“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “There could be a certain vulnerability in that factory ship, although I’m not sure who would be attacking it. Maybe they don’t want to risk detection on the slim chance someone is flying near enough to this system to pick up an active sweep.”
They sat tight for what seemed to be an eternity as the ship slowly traversed the distance from the system’s edge to the gas giant’s orbit. In that time, Jason rotated people off the bridge to go stretch their legs, grab something to eat, and generally give them something to do besides stare tensely at their displays.
“I’ve got the ship on extreme visual range,” Doc said. “Cleaning up the image now.” A second later the grainy image of an immense ship appeared on everyone’s monitor.
“Uh oh,” Jason said. “That is indeed a carrier. Depending on her complement, we could be in serious trouble.”
“Computer has made a positive identification, Captain,” Doc said in surprise. “It’s the Stalwart, a commercial carrier in Crisstof Dalton’s fleet.”
“Commercial carrier? As in ... no weapons?” Jason asked, equally surprised.
“No weapons and no combat shields,” Doc confirmed. “At least as far as our data on the ship goes. Captain Colleren gave us a complete listing of Crisstof’s ships a while back so there were no ... misunderstandings. Unless the ship has been retrofitted for combat within the last year, it’s essentially a giant, ungainly target.”
“We don’t know what she’s carrying,” Twingo warned. “Two full squadrons of fighters could ruin our day.”
“We stick to the plan,” Jason said. “I’ve seen nothing that leads me to believe we need to change tactics now. In fact, this may have gotten a bit easier.”
“Please don’t say things like that,” Crusher said plaintively. “Every time you do the entire op blows up in our face.” He was sitting uncomfortably near the canopy in his pressurized combat suit. Jason had been shocked, and secretly a bit disappointed, when Crusher had walked into the armory and, without any discussion, had pulled out the bulky garment and began suiting up.
“Sorry,” Jason said. “Force of habit. Let me know when the Stalwart enters orbit and then I need a projection of when they’ll catch up to the factory ship.”
“Running the numbers now,” Doc said. “Given the engine profile we have for that ship, it looks like it will be nearly five complete orbits for them to close in for docking.”
“As soon as the ship crosses over our position, inform Number Two it’s clear to turn on engine pre-heaters but not to fire the engines until we give the order.”
“I’ll keep watch and let it know,” Kage volunteered and pulled the sensor feed over to his own station. The carrier crossed the formation’s orbital path without so much as direct
ing a radar sweep towards them. Ten minutes later Kage ordered Number Two to begin pre-heating the Diligent’s engines, and Jason began waking the Phoenix up from where they’d been drifting cold.
It was another four hours before their second operational trigger threshold was crossed. “The Stalwart has closed to within five hundred thousand kilometers and is holding. They’ll likely begin their final approach to the factory ship shortly,” Doc reported.
“That’s it,” Jason said. “Let’s light this fuse. Tell Number Two to execute.”
“Number Two confirms the order,” Kage said. “We’re on our way.”
Ahead of them the four inboard engines of the Diligent burst into life and the big frigate immediately began to surge though the formation, climbing above it and coming about to port, her prow aimed for the planet. Once the ship had turned, the engines flared brilliantly to full power and the warship shot away with surprising acceleration. Jason throttled up the main drive, no longer concerned with stealth, and tucked in tight behind the hard-running ship.
*****
“We have movement within one of the formations!” a sensor operator on the Stalwart’s bridge exclaimed, startling everyone.
“What?!” Agent Alux leapt from his seat, his relaxed, almost lazy demeanor disappearing. “Carefully, tell me exactly what you see.”
“A ship’s drive just lit up and the ship itself just flew out of the formation,” the operator stammered.
“How did we not detect a starship drive running when we came in?” Steader demanded.
“It appears it was a cold start, which means the engines will likely burn out before they can get away,” the Stalwart’s captain said as he examined the sensor record.
“I don’t think this is a theft,” Agent Alux said tightly as he observed the sensor tracks. “It’s coming right at us. What ship is that? Go to active sensors.” It only took a moment for the sensors to identify the incoming vessel.
Omega Force 3: The Enemy Within Page 22