Privateer (Alexis Carew Book 5)

by J. A. Sutherland

  New traces appeared on the plot, but fewer than before. The frigate had rolled to present her other side and fired, but there were only half as many as the first.

  “Still enough, if they manage to strike us,” Alexis said. “How well-manned we’ll know in a minute or two, as they reload.”

  The next broadside came two minutes later, and Villar sighed.

  “I suppose one should never count on the enemy’s incompetence,” he said.

  “No,” Alexis agreed.

  Two minutes was not so short a time to reload the guns, not with these conditions. The first reload, with fresh shot set to hand, and no return fire — the test would come later, as the frigate’s crew grew weary of lifting the canisters, checking the guns’ barrels, and as Mongoose began to fire her own guns in return. Still, it was not so very long a time, either, and Alexis had to admit she’d been feeling a bit of hope the pirates manning that ship might be less capable.

  “Inform Mister Hacking he may fire at will,” Alexis said.

  Creasy bent to his console to pass the order along. “Aye, sir.”

  Hacking was in the stern, commanding the chasers there. With only two guns to reload and his pick of the crew, Alexis expected him to put the pirate crews to shame with his rate of fire. Still, there was only the single pair of guns there and maneuvering Mongoose to present her broadside would take time she didn’t have, save the twice they’d accounted for in their orbital calculations, and those to be saved for any ships transitioning in or the last few moments.

  She clenched the edge of the plot again, feeling helpless. This wasn’t the proper way to handle a ship at all. She should be able to read the winds, see if she might eke a bit more speed out of Mongoose with a change to the sails, and buy time she might use to bring her broadside to bear.

  No, the most she could do here to buy a bit of time was cut into the evasive maneuvering, and that only left her ship more vulnerable to being struck.

  Villar edged around the plot to her side.

  “It’s frustrating, sir, to have so few options.”

  Alexis shared a glance with him. “Do remind me, Mister Villar, should our travels ever take us to Earth, that I do dearly wish to spit on a particular grave.”

  The private ships continued to approach Erzurum, taking the occasional strike from either the frigate’s or Hind’s guns as they flew straight into the pirate’s teeth. Each passing minute made the delay of the light from their position reaching Erzurum less, refining their position for the defenders and making their gunnery easier.

  That worked both ways, though, and it was time they showed the pirates that the oncoming fleet had teeth of its own.

  “Ready, Creasy?” Alexis asked.

  “Aye, sir.”

  She watched the plot. Around the planet, Hind was on the side facing Mongoose, the frigate on the other. Pennywell, with his Gallion, and Oriana, still under Wakeling, were on the far side of the planet, with Gallion not even visible on the plot. She had to rely on a relay from Lawson’s Scorpion, far enough around to keep the two in sight, to note its location and relay signals.

  “Now,” she said.

  The signal went out, not all at once, for there was the communications delay to consider — nearly a full minute, still, to Gallion, the farthest from Mongoose. That signal went first, relayed through Scorpion, then to Oriana, also relayed, and then to each of the others in turn, so that all would receive it at the same time.

  As one, or as nearly one as such an independent group of captains could manage, each of the private ships cut its engines. Thrusters fired to rotate them and set their broadsides to face the planet, the exact orientation controlled by ship’s computer, rather than their helmsmen as it would be in a proper darkspace action. Guns came to bear and then, as nearly one again, fired.

  Those defending ships had the same problem with the closing distance as the attacking. Jink and dodge though they might, there was only so far they could do so in a given time. It was merely a matter of filling the possible space with enough shot to ensure a few hits, and the private ships, at least for the moment, had more ships and more guns than the two in orbit around Erzurum.

  Mongoose rolled, as well, presenting her other side and firing even before her first lasers reached the planet, then rolled still as her crews rushed to reload the first. Most made it — the advantage of having shot to hand and not having to lay the guns to a target themselves. They merely had to slap new cartridge home and close the breaches, wipe down the breaches fore where the crystalline barrel met the shot’s lasing tube, then rush to the other side and reload those guns there as Mongoose continued her roll.

  It took nearly until the reloading was complete for the results of the first broadside to be visible to her. The images were processed by the ship’s computer even before Alexis could fully register them, and Mongoose adjusted her roll slightly to account for this new knowledge of the target’s position.

  The guns fired again and the ship’s thrusters lit, bringing her stern around again and firing the engines to continue the deceleration toward Erzurum.

  “It’s all a bloody dance,” Hacking muttered. Parrill had the guns so that he might have a brief rest from his time with the stern chasers, where’d be returning soon.

  Alexis caught her lower lip between her teeth, a bit torn between the sterility of it all compared to an action in darkspace and satisfaction as the images on the plot showed shot after shot striking home on the Hind. Images relayed from the ships on the other side of the planet showed the same.

  Clouds of thermoplastic boiled off the ships’ hulls, holes, divots, and ravines were dug as shot struck home. It was a somewhat surreal sight, as the damage all appeared to be nearly magical — with the lasers not being visible in normal-space.

  There was no way to tell which of the private ships had made the strikes, either, much less a guncrew, so there were no cheers from the gundeck, nor shouts of wagers made and lost over who’d struck true.

  She caught Hacking’s eye. She wouldn’t say so, there was no need to, but she disagreed with him. This wasn’t the dance. The dance was in darkspace where ships and men dodged and feinted from their own efforts, each responding to the other, not simply executing some preplanned strategy.

  Hacking yawned.

  “Pardon me, sir,” he said. “I believe I’ll retreat for a bit of a nap before taking on the guns again.”

  “Of course,” Alexis said.

  Hacking left the quarterdeck.

  “We did them more than a bit of damage, sir,” Dorsett said, hunched over the tactical console.

  Villar was studying the images as well.

  Mongoose shuddered as one of the shots the pirates fired in return struck home. Images from the hull showed her it was only a bit of damage to the thick, folded-over planes, and nothing that would be a risk to them, but there’d be more. And the damage they’d done to the Hind and frigate, she saw, might be more than a bit, but was not nearly enough.

  Both ships were still in the fight. A gun or two might have been overset or struck, but the ships were sound and firing back. They did far less damage to the private ships than they’d received, though, for they had to divide their fire between six possible targets.

  One similarity a normal-space battle had to one in darkspace, and one Alexis wished were not the same, was that the action seemed to speed up as the distance closed.

  Now that they were in decent range and slowing to make orbit, the private ships were better able to devote the time to firing their broadsides. It seemed like no time at all before the quarterdeck chimes struck and it was time for the next.

  “On my mark,” Alexis said.

  Creasy hung his fingers over his console.

  “Now!”

  Again the oncoming ships pirouetted to present their broadsides and fire, then spun to present and fire the next, as their crews rushed to reload.

  Closer, with less lightspeed lag in knowing where their targets were, and less
distance for the beams to diffuse as they traveled.

  Both the Hind and frigate were momentarily obscured, first by clouds of thermoplastic boiling off their hulls, then by the next broadside flashing coherent through those clouds.

  “Another!” Alexis called, seeing how much of their shot must have struck home.

  It would take time for her order to get to the farther ships, and they might already have begun to present their sterns to the planet again, but those closest to her would hear.

  “Aye, sir!” Dorsett called, himself caught up in the excitement.

  Mongoose rolled, Alexis couldn’t tell about the other private ships as her eyes were on Hind.

  “No more’n a minute, sir,” Layland said.

  Alexis nodded. That was the time she’d have left to play with if she chose. Perhaps enough for one extra turn and broadside than they had planned now. After that, their engines’ thrust would not be enough to put them in orbit around Erzurum — they’d overshoot and have to maneuver more.

  It was not so difficult a thing to do, but she wanted her ships — and she was thinking of them all as hers now, plotting what they’d do and trusting their captains, even Wakeling, to follow her lead — to make orbit nearly as one, dropping their boats full of men onto the planet to take and hold what infrastructure they could.

  With six ships to fire at an oncoming fleet and that threat to the pirates’ homes and livelihood, she hoped her little fleet would have the upper hand for once in this.

  Hind’s bow came out of the thermoplastic cloud from their last attack, great holes and rents visible in her hull. Still she fired back — sporadically, as her thrusters must have been damaged and she rolled slowly to set her aim. The cloud cleared a bit and Hind moved on, revealing her gunports all knocked in and the hull between them as well, like a spacer’s grin after a fine brawl.

  Alexis was tempted to call for another go, but held off. They had one more roll and broadside scheduled for their approach and that would be closer and better aimed. She’d save the extra for that and possibly finish off Hind.

  The frigate bore damage as well. Not so much as Hind, but enough to show she’d felt the blows.

  Alexis enhanced that image, looking closely. Their next attack would put them close enough to reliably target a part of the ship, and she wanted to know where to concentrate their fire.

  Some of the frigate’s gunports were knocked in as well, but not nearly so many nor so much as Hind’s. She thought there might be more damage to the hull around the quarterdeck, and if they were able to break through there, then the frigate would be more difficult to manage and possibly without her officers — if the pirates even worried about such things, which they might not.

  “Yes!” Dorsett called, then, “Sorry, sir! But look at Hind!”

  Hind was, indeed, a sight.

  She was nearly three-quarters out of the thermoplastic cloud, but the cloud itself was lit up and flickering like a lightning storm. Bright flashes within the cloud were echoed by flashes of the lights on the ship’s visible hull — not proper signals, only brightening and darkening to no purpose.

  “Is it —”

  White fire streaked in lines over Hind’s hull, following some paths only it could explain, then the cloud burst with it as the ship’s fusion plant was breached. Cloud and ship both became a miniature sun in orbit around Erzurum, roiling and billowing into a ball of plasma that sent Mongoose’s optics dark to compensate. Anyone on the planet’s surface, looking up, might have been blinded in an instant, but the sight was over in nearly the same.

  The ball of roiling fire shrank in on itself and went out, ship and who knew how many crew consumed all in an instant. Bits of the ship, either flung loose as the explosion tore at the ship or somehow not consumed in the conflagration, spun about in their orbit.

  “Signal to all ships,” Alexis said, “put fire on the frigate now and don’t let up. And let our guncrews know there’ll be no let up until that frigate’s done for.”

  “Aye, sir,” Creasy said, sending the signals.

  Their original plan had called for meeting both the Hind and frigate in orbit, assuming both those enemies would still be whole when the private ships arrived. They’d fight those while the ships’ boats took infrastructure on the planet’s surface and used that threat to force the Hind and frigate into surrender.

  Now, with Hind gone, they could pour double the fire onto the frigate — perhaps do for her before they dropped the boats. If they could, then overshooting the planet a bit would not be so bad. They could still drop the boats to attack the surface, unopposed by any ships in orbit, and make their way back.

  “Signal to all ships,” Alexis said. “Target their satellite constellation whenever the frigate’s not in sight.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Mongoose and the ships nearest her had a few minutes while the frigate was on the opposite side of Erzurum. With Hind gone, they could turn their attention to other targets, and the pirates’ satellites were the first.

  There were not so many, perhaps three dozen, but they’d represent a good bit of expense and the pirate colony would rely on them for everything from communications to geolocation. Destroying them would both make it clear that Alexis’ ships were prepared to do more damage and hinder the pirates’ response to her boats — if all the satellites were destroyed, then the pirates might have no notice at all of the boats’ approach.

  Alexis felt some of her tension ease.

  Gallion and Oriana were already pouring fire on the frigate, which was firing back, but less effectively than before. Three, perhaps four, of her guns were silent and two more seemed to be slower than the others.

  In ten minutes’ time, the ship crossed into Osprey’s line of fire and then Mongoose’s a few minutes after that. Unless the frigate changed her orbit, she’d now be facing constant fire from enemies who’d each have some occasional respite while she did not.

  “Signal from the Delight, sir,” Creasy said.

  “On the plot, Creasy.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Malcomson’s face appeared, a wide grin breaking his beard.

  “I tol’ ya, lass, an’ reit at ‘em’s best.”

  His voice was barely audible over the screeching wail of the piper visible behind him. How Delight’s quarterdeck crew could think with such a thing in their midst, Alexis couldn’t fathom.

  Alexis answered his grin.

  “We’re not there, yet,” she said.

  “The bread’s all jam-side up, lass, once we’re in orbit.”

  “Transition!”

  Alexis spun to Dorsett at the tactical console. They’d been expecting one or more of the pirate ships to transition to normal-space around Erzurum at any moment, so why was his voice so filled with urgency.

  “Multiple transitions — Lunar L5.” He tapped his console. “L1, as well. Another at L5.”

  The navigation plot was showing the new arrivals — three, now four, ships at the L5 point nearest Mongoose, two at L1, between the planet and its moon.

  “Transition — L4,” Dorsett said, as the plot painted that contact, as well, far around on the other side of Erzurum, but visible to the private ships there.

  “I shouldn’t hae spoke so soon,” Malcomson said.

  Sixty-Four

  The images of the other captains shook and went dark occasionally as their ships were struck, knocking the communications lasers off target. The pirate ships were all still some distance from any of them, but they were coming on hard and firing as they did so.

  “We’re buggered,” Lawson said.

  Alexis had to agree.

  The plot told the story well enough. The private ships were committed to either orbiting or passing close to Erzurum, nothing could stop that now, and the pirates had waited just long enough to show their own forces there to ensure that they couldn’t escape. Even if they scattered, there were only so many ways they could change their course, and each could be caught up, if not b
y a ship of superior strength, then by two or more.

  Mongoose shook, causing all of the images to go dark for a moment until Creasy could lay his lasers on the others again.

  Alexis spared a glance to Villar, who was bent over the tactical console with Dorsett, but there was no miracle of an idea coming from there.

  “Oot’re in,” Malcomson said, his voice backed by a ululating wail.

  “Yes, orbit or flight,” Lawson said. “And would you stop those bloody pipes for a moment, so we might think? I’ll mute you, otherwise.”

  Malcomson snorted, but nodded to the side and the sound of his piper faded a bit.

  There was a pause as each captain scanned their own navigation plot, and Mongoose’s told the story they were all seeing. Colored cones ran off from each private ship’s course, showing where, with their current course, speed, and acceleration, they might get to. The image was not encouraging, for nearly all of them could be caught up and kept in engagement by multiple pirates.

  An hour or two earlier, that wouldn’t have been the case — even a few minutes, for some, as they’d then have had enough speed to outdistance their pursuers by continuing on their courses and slingshot around the planet. Now, though, they’d slowed enough that there were fewer options.

  “There’s only one place we can come together as a single force now,” Lawson said, “and that’s still our best option.”

  Alexis could see the other captains nodding. They might not like it, but it was their best chance.

  “We continue on,” she said, “join in orbit and make a united defense.”

  “It’ll be a bl … grand … stand,” Pennywell said with a scowl, his words cut off as his ship was struck and the communications laser jittered.

  Alexis suspected it was just as well, for she had no need to hear the “last” she was certain he’d included.

  “And we must still drop our boats as planned,” Kingston said. “More than defense, it’s our hands on their infrastructure that will convince them. They’ve no satellites left at all now, so —”