She shook her head. She wanted to believe. She straightened her back and her uniform and went forward to see what she could learn.
Alarms whooped aboard Dark Star as the crew scrambled to battle stations.
“What are they, Kim?” Commodore Whittaker sealed the top of his ready suit and racked his helmet on the back of the command chair. He stood, hands clasped behind him, rocking slightly on his toes as he squinted at the holochart.
Green sparkles of the task force, The Gleaner and the small blob that was Plowshare were a cluster at the top of the chart. Behind them, coming in fast, were the red warning lights of an unknown force.
“I make it four or five battlecruisers, at least that many destroyers, and probably two star ships. They’re only about twenty light minutes behind us, Skipper. They must have been coming in ballistic. They just weren’t there fifteen minutes ago.”
“All right.” He frowned. “Turn those damn sirens off! Is The Gleaner underway?” He took a deep breath and then his voice took on the steady, slow cadence of command.
“Aye, sir. I’ve loaded everything over to their bridge. What shall we do about Plowshare?”
Whittaker grimaced, baring his teeth. “Are the boxes loaded?”
“Oh, yes, sir. Half an hour ago.” Kim continued to tweak his data run. The unknown ships behind him continued their headlong pursuit.
“Tell all ships we’ll activate Tango-seven-four.”
His Tac Officer nodded and turned back to his panel.
Hal, the Exec, arrived on the command deck sealing his suit. “What do we have, sir?”
The commodore sat in his chair, his eyes never leaving the chart. “I dunno. Whatever it is, it’s a damn sight bigger than we are.”
Hal studied the holochart while the commodore rubbed his chin, eyes squinting. Then he sat upright.
“Patch me through to Captain Campbell.” Kim nodded, and Whittaker leaned back in his chair, shaking his head.
The rather anxious face of Harry Campbell looked out of the screen beside the commodore. “Yes, sir? What’s going on? I got your data feed. Are those hostiles behind us?”
“I’m afraid so, Harry. It’s a big bunch of bastards, too. There’s not time to get you on board. I want you to run for it.”
Harry’s eyes went wide in surprise and consternation. “Run for it, sir? Where to?”
“Wherever the hell is safe! Find a friendly ship, a friendly station, a friendly planet. What you have in your hold belongs to us. I don’t want it falling into enemy hands.”
“Yes, sir. I understand, but...”
Hal stepped closer to his CO. “Sir, there’s an asteroid belt about 15,000 klicks away, remember? We plotted it to avoid it. The pinnace is small enough that—”
“Harry? Did you hear that?” Whittaker interrupted without ceremony.
“Yes, I heard it, sir. Asteroid belt. I don’t have it on my chart...” The anxiety had gone out of his voice. “Ah, thank you, now I do.” Kim had quickly transferred a new starchart to the pinnace’s database.
“Get out of here, Plowshare. Keep your people and all those seeds as safe as you can for as long as you can. God speed.” The Commodore signed off, exchanged a worried look with his officers and stood up. “Harry’s good, and if anything happens to him, Renn is just as good. It’s the best we can do.” He smiled an unfriendly smile. “Now let’s see how we can welcome the bogies.”
Renn’s jaw dropped. “Run for it? Is he fracking crazy?”
Harry shook his head. “We have orders, Renn. Run those numbers. Least time to plant ourselves in an asteroid belt!”
“Aye, sir. I am your humble servant.” Renn bent over the tactical controls, her fingers flying on the keys, and numbers started rolling out. The small chart in front of her changed and reconfigured. “Okay...there they are. We’ll be running directly away from home. I’m not sure I like that.”
“I don’t either. Talk to me. I need numbers.”
“Course three-five-seven-niner should bring us in just above them. We can refine that as we get closer to see if there are any doors.” Renn made motorboat sounds with her lips and Harry smiled, sneaking a look at her fiercely concentrated face.
“Thank you, ma’am. Three-five-seven-niner it is.”
The pinnace began a slow pitch to starboard then streaked away as Harry pushed their acceleration .
On the Dark Star, Commodore Whittaker commed The Gleaner. The worried face of the scow’s CO, frowned from the screen. “We see what’s coming. What do we have, G. W.?”
“More than we can handle, Gus. Get your people into the boats and praise God for automation. I’m detaching the destroyer Targus Pride to pick you up and redline out of here. We’ll slow them down, but...” The Commodore shrugged. “We’ll save what we can.”
“We’ve already got the shuttle hot and the bays open.” Gus Anderson stared into the screen and clenched his teeth. “Did Plowshare get away?” He smiled stiffly as Whittaker nodded. “Good. Good luck, sir. We won’t forget you.”
Whittaker smiled and shook his head. “And to you. Get away and send someone back to pick up the pinnace. They’re headed toward the asteroids. Whittaker out.”
Renn squinted at the small screen in her display. “They’re getting the people off The Gleaner. Damn, they need every hull they have, but they’re releasing a destroyer for rescue.” She let out an explosive breath. “This is not going to be pretty, Harry.”
Harry patched the holochart into the big screen in the mess galley. “Company, on your feet. The task force, as you can see, is under attack from unknown forces. Our orders are to find a place to hide. We’re heading toward an asteroid belt, which just may save our skins.”
All eyes in the ship watched in dismay and horror as the small task force turned and headed toward the enemy. The galley was quiet but bristling with tension. Harry’s voice cut in again.
“All personnel, get into your ready suits. Then, Hennings, Kuota, Ferris, LaVallez: get our cannons hot, just in case.” The four sailors left immediately to get into battle gear and man the four small weapons the pinnace carried.
Renn’s eyebrows went up. “The cannons? Pea-shooters?”
Harry shrugged. “We may have to smash some asteroids, Renn.” Then he was back on the comm. “Tony, check our stores. I want an inventory of everything we’ve got ASAP.” He turned to Renn. “Go get suited up, then you can release me to do the same.”
She nodded and went aft as Harry mumbled to himself watching his displays. “Shit. There goes a cruiser...“ He winced as the tell-tale white glow snuffed out a green icon.
Renn hurried through the galley but was stopped by Tony. “What’s happening, Lieutenant?”
“The task force is getting blown to hell out of space.” She frowned and focused on the big screen, watching with glistening eyes as Targus Navy’s Dark Star blossomed with angry red sparkles. Then it bloomed white and winked out.
Renn’s voice was a breathy whisper. “Thank you and farewell, Commodore George Walter Whittaker. It was an honor to serve with you.” She bit her lip bloody to stop the scream she wanted to scream, then went to her compartment to get into battle gear.
Five minutes later, she was back on the command deck, relieving Harry to change. Renn sucked on her sore lip watching the battle in progress. She turned her attention away from it with a growl and pulled up a chart of the asteroids.
It was a big spiral of what must have once been a small planet. It was miniscule, by space standards, and tilted on its axis like a giant, warped ferris wheel. The Plowshare’s course was bringing them in above the orbiting rocks.
Harry arrived back on deck. They studied the configuration. The shards were close together, making a gravity sink, with no large open spaces where the pinnace might hide.
“We’ll have to just get on the other side of it, Renn.” She nodded and studied her tac display. “What’s happening behind us?”
Renn shook her head. “The bogies are about finis
hed with their killing spree, and I hate to say it, but it looks like they’re coming our way.” She straightened her back. “Damn! We have missile separation. Skew to port, Harry!”
The range was too long. The missile streamed past them. Plowshare bucked and rolled, taking them beyond the asteroids, red-lining to hide behind them.
“They’re still coming. At least two destroyers are.” Renn wrinkled her forehead and licked her lips. “This does not look good.”
Harry nodded. “’Fraid you’re right.”
Renn leaned back and sighed. “We’re cooked, Captain...”
Another missile separated from the lead destroyer and lobbed into the far edge of the asteroids, sending shards of rock in all directions. One of them smashed into the stern and Plowshare shuddered.
“They can’t see us, Renn. They’re going to blow the rocks around us.”
Captain and Lieutenant looked into each other’s eyes. A flash of fear, or maybe despair, quickly turning to something softer. Then Renn unbuckled herself and sat sideways.
“We have to save the cargo.” Harry stared at her and nodded stiffly. “I’ll take it under us and get it into a different track. They won’t be able to see me. I’ll let it go where somebody else can find it.”
Harry nodded again and touched his comm unit. “Tony and Kuota, report to suit Lt Haggarty up, and get the sled ready. Bring the boxes into the bay. She’s going to take them out of here.”
Renn stood up. She snapped the captain a smart salute. “It’s been more than an honor, Captain Campbell.” She smiled at him, “It’s been a pleasure.”
He returned the salute, his eyes shining. “The honor was mine, Renn. And the pleasure, too.”
She leaned over and her lips brushed his lightly. She left without looking back.
Harry was on the comm again, a privileged band. His voice was steady. “Mayday. Mayday. This is Captain Harry Campbell of UTN pinnace Plowshare. We are under attack by unknown hostiles. We’re hiding behind asteroids marked A74-Beta, but the bogies are blasting them. Lieutenant Haggarty will take our cargo, drop down underneath us and release it where the hostiles won’t see it. We trust you’ll find it later. Campbell out.”
In the boat bay, Renn was suited up except for her helmet. Tony brought the sled and attached it to the four boxes of seeds.
Renn had retrieved the manifest from her berth, placed it carefully inside, and sealed Box A. She looked around with a grin. “Hey, Tony, where’s the paint can?” He pointed across the deck. Renn retrieved a pressurized paint can and the middies watched while she scrawled a message on the side of Box A: “A gift from Plowshare and Unknown Others.”
Tony laughed. “That’s good, Lieutenant!” He put the helmet on Renn and sealed the seams.
The middies brought the boxes and the attached sled to the lip of the bay and waited while Renn fastened her umbilicals. There was a brief pause, then all four midshipmen stood academy stiff and saluted. She grinned at them and returned the gesture. She pushed off, disappearing below the pinnace.
On the UTN starship William Fitz, the control deck was dead quiet as Harry’s message came in “...bogies won’t see it. We trust you’ll find it later...”
Commander Ellen Fesoli ran her fingers through her short dark hair. “Plot it, Morgan. I want a least-time course. And I want that message relayed to all ships. Let’s go find them.” She turned to her tall, lanky Exec. “What else could they do? But that means Haggarty is going Dutchman. Maybe we’ll get there in time...”
He nodded, but his eyes, like hers, didn’t believe that for a minute.
Renn leveled off, underneath the asteroids and guided the cumbersome boxes away from the spinning rocks as fast as the sled would travel. Once clear of the belt, she looked back over her shoulder in time to see the sudden brilliant explosion that was the death of Plowshare.
She kept watching, to make sure the bogies—and who the hell were they, she wondered—weren’t coming after her. Not that it mattered.
No, she had the inky vast expanse of space all to herself. Renn carefully loosed the umbilicals and watched as the boxes tumbled away from her. She smiled. Someone would find them. There would be a happy ending to this story, she was certain of it.
Renn focused on one brilliant star and stepped off the sled. She whispered her farewell. “That’s my star. I’m coming to you. This won’t take long.”
Author Bios
David Weber
Introduction: On Looking and Leaping
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. He started writing poetry and short fiction in the fifth grade, and a lifetime of reading, writing, and studying has given him a love of storytelling that shows in his work. In his stories, he creates a consistent and rationally explained technology and society. Even when dealing with fantasy themes, the magical powers are treated like another technology with supporting rational laws and principles.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He challenges current gender roles in the military by assuming that a gender-neutral military service will exist in his futures, and by frequently placing female leading characters in what have previously been seen as traditionally male roles, he has explored the challenges faced by women in the military and politics.
His most popular and enduring character is Honor Harrington, whose story, together with the “Honorverse” she inhabits, has been developed through 17 novels, four shared-universe anthologies, and a newly begun young-adult series. The next Honorverse anthology, In Fire Forged, is due in February 2011.
Brenda Cooper
Cracking the Sky
Brenda Cooper has published fiction in Analog, Asimov’s, Nature, Daybreak, Strange Horizons, and in multiple other magazines and anthologies. She is the author of the Endeavor award winner for 2008: The Silver Ship and the Sea, and of the sequels, Reading the Wind and Wings of Creation. She co-authored Building Harlequin’s Moon with Larry Niven. Watch for Mayan December, coming soon from Prime Books. By day, Brenda is the City of Kirkland’s CIO, and at night and in early morning hours, she’s a futurist and writer. See her website at www.brenda-cooper.com.
Nancy Jane Moore
Gambit
Nancy Jane Moore writes everything from flash fiction to novels. Her novella, Changeling, is available as an ebook from Book View Café and in print from Aqueduct Press. Her collection, Conscientious Inconsistencies, is published by PS Publishing. She is a founding members of Book View Café, where she published a series of 51 flash fictions in the first year of operation. Her fiction has appeared in magazines ranging from the National Law Journal to Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, various online venues, numerous print anthologies, and several ebook anthologies.
Maria V. Snyder
Godzilla Warfare
Maria V. Snyder switched careers from meteorologist to fantasy novelist when she began writing the NYT best-selling Study Series about a young woman who becomes a poison taster. Maria dreamed of chasing tornados and even earned a BS degree in Meteorology from Penn State University. Unfortunately, she lacked the necessary forecasting skills. Writing, however, lets Maria control the weather, which she gleefully does in her Glass Series. Maria’s published science fiction novels include Inside Out, and its sequel, Outside In, both are about the dystopian and fully-contained world of Inside. Readers are invited to read more of Maria’s short stories on her website at www.MariaVSnyder.com.
Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Ghosts on the Battlefield
Award-winning author Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for over fifteen years. She has published three novels, edits the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series,and has contributed to numerous other collections, including all four of the Defending the Future anthologies. To learn more about her writing, visit www.sidhenadaire.com or www.badassfaeries.com.
Kimberly Long-Ewing
Come Like a Tailor
Kimberley Long-Ewing is a writer and photographer. Her work focuses on fantasy themes and finding the unusual in ordinary objects. She is the author of the graphic novel series Urban Fey and Revenge of the Nature Imps. Her short story “Brahma’s Missile” appeared in the August 2009 Crossed Genres and “Forensix” in an upcoming issue of New Myths (newmyths.com). Additional stories and work can be found at www.mysticsheepstudios.com.
Ann Wilkes
Immunity Project
Most of Ann Wilkes’ fiction found in anthologies and magazines leans toward tragic, funny or both. Her first published novel, Awesome Lavratt, is a tongue-in-cheek space opera filled with mind control, passion and adventure. She is also founder and editor of Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys, a blog with book and other media reviews, author interviews and commentary on writing and science fiction. She lives in California’s wine country with her husband, Patrick. When she’s not writing, she’s dancing like a Greek at her favorite Taverna or listening to the blues. Visit her at www.annwilkes.com.
Laurie Gailunas
In the Middle of Nowhere
Laurie spent her earlier years living in Mexico and traveling in Spain. She likes to think she’s settled down, but isn’t fooling anyone. She’s lived with her husband in the same house in Ann Arbor, Michigan for many years, but uses it as a base from which to travel. Laurie is a two-time Finalist in Writers of the Future and author of non-fiction articles in professional nursing journals. She’s worked as a nurse, church administrator, spiritual counselor, office manager, and, toughest of them all, wife and mother of three. You can find her online at http://laurie-gail.livejournal.com.
No Man's Land (Defending The Future) Page 28