"How long do we have?"
"We lost some time with the aircraft and stinger, but made it up afterward. Ten minutes, give or take."
If the aircraft didn't spot us earlier. He raised his voice. "You heard the man. Spread out and ready up!"
The freighter would approach from the east, so they arranged themselves behind a large dune so that the enemy wouldn't see them until the last possible moment. Their machinery formed a triangle, with the two anti-aircraft lasers removed from the cruisers and placed at the base of the incline. Tripod legs fired deep into the sand to provide stability. Each gun was comprised of a double-barrel laser mounted on the base, with a carriage at the back for a gunner to sit and aim. They made a high-pitched hum as the gears moved, tilting the barrels at the sky.
They positioned the radio jammer farther behind, forming the third point of the triangle. If they managed to shoot out the engines, the freighter would likely drift to the west before crashing to the ground. The jammer had a limited range, and placing it farther in that direction meant a greater likelihood of covering the freighter after it crashed, so no emergency broadcasts could be sent.
Two Freemen manned each anti-aircraft laser, with Hob and another engineer on the jammer. Farrow and Kari climbed to the top of the dune so they could spot their target coming. The remaining seven Freemen loaded onto the now-unburdened cruisers to wait. Getting everyone in position took less than a minute. Farrow stared to the east, waiting for movement in the sky.
The ten minutes felt like an hour. The ten after that were worse.
He shifted uncomfortably underneath his camouflaged sand cape, trying to adjust the parts of his body that rested against the scalding sand. Thoughts of what could have gone wrong began invading his mind, unbidden. At best, the freighter simply changed schedules or routes. That could happen for any number of reasons unrelated to them. It might mean nothing.
At worst, they were sitting in a trap. He trusted Hob above everyone except maybe Kari, but he didn't trust the source of Hob's information. Farrow had brought half their strength as a precaution, to ensure they could beat back any number of peacekeepers, but suddenly that seemed reckless. If the Melisao were expecting them, and descended on their location in force...
"Stop it," Kari muttered next to him.
"Stop what?"
"Stop worrying. The freighter loaders are slow. They rarely get a ship off on time. This is expected."
"And if that's not the reason?" he asked. "If three dozen shitting peacekeepers with shitting air support bear down on us?"
She kept her eyes to the east while she spoke. "Then there's little we can do. If we packed up and fled now we wouldn't get very far before they found us. These capes help against idle aircraft, but not against scouts who know what they're looking for. If they send those, we're done."
"The Goshawk that flew by earlier..." he said.
"Again, if it spotted us then there's nothing we can do. Once they know we're in an area it's only a matter of time before we're spotted. We can't hide underneath our capes for days. Especially with..." she trailed off.
Especially with stingers active, he finished in his head. He shuddered at the thought.
Kari was right, but that didn't make it easier. "If logic could banish fear, we'd all live calm, peaceful lives," he said.
She nodded.
"How long do you think we should wait before turning back?" he asked.
She twisted to look at him. "How long until you tell Mira that her daughters are dead?"
The question struck him completely off guard, like being kicked in the back of the knee. He faltered under Kari's insistent gaze. "I don't know."
"You don't know," Kari said.
"It's a difficult thing..."
"It's an easy thing. Rip the bandage off and clean the wound before it festers."
He boiled at her commanding tone. "If it is so easy, why have you not told her?"
"You are the one who brought her in," she said. "You are the leader of the Freemen. The news needs to come from you. And if I told her now, it would reveal your lie of omission. You'd lose her loyalty completely, then."
He saw the truth to her words. "We know nothing for certain. Escape ships have been known to slip through the blockade, on occasion."
"Rare occasions. We know with near-enough certainty to tell her. She has hope, Farrow. And it grows every day. Letting her believe is a cruelty."
It was nearly the same thing Akonai had said. That stung most of all. "You're right. I need to, I just haven't had the strength. Not with all other preparations taking so much of my focus."
Her eyes finally softened. "If you want help, perhaps we could tell her together. When we get back. The news will be heard more easily."
"Perhaps," he said, nodding. He struggled to find the words. "You don't think I am just using--"
"Of course not. Akonai thinks everyone is as cold and manipulative as he, but I know it's not true. Most of the Freemen know that." She returned her eyes to the sky. "Is there new word from him, when the attack will begin?"
He shook his head.
"Do you know anything of his plans? Any hint?"
Why did she keep pestering him? "He's told me next to nothing. They do not care for Praetar one bit. We are a novelty, a proxy location to annoy the Empire from. Their true focus is on Melis. I fear we'll receive little to no help from them. Perhaps not even a signal at all."
"The Exodus Fleet," Kari said with a hint of question. "They probably care about its departure. The Children speak of the Fleet as a blasphemy against Mother Saria."
"I suppose," Farrow said. "I heard Spider speak of it once, now that I recall." It had been a passing comment, overheard in the halls. He knew no more than that. "They seemed more focused on rooting out the Empire's shades. Akonai and Spider were both unnaturally afraid of them, as if they were lurking in every shadow and crevice of the base. It bordered on paranoia."
Kari's face darkened at the mention of the Empire's spies. "Perhaps they know something we do not."
Farrow shrugged. "I would hope they would have told us if they had specific information." It was a fear Farrow constantly battled. Beyond the few closest Freemen that he trusted, there were too many at Victory Base to be certain all were loyal. He pictured Binny's brother, stealing a weapon and shooting three of his men in the kitchen.
"Do you really think that," Kari said, "after just saying you think Akonai would leave us on this planet, to fend for ourselves?"
He had no answer. They continued to stare at the horizon for a long while.
"Do you remember your father?" Kari suddenly asked.
The question was so unexpected that he gave a start. "My father?"
"Yes. Your father. Do you remember much about him?"
"Of course I do," Farrow said. "He shuttled supplies to and from orbit, when our people were allowed to fly." He had been a jovial man, always full of stories to tell the passengers that often accompanied the material. "His ship crashed in the sulphurous ocean."
"Was that during..."
"No," Farrow quickly answered. "It was long before they came. We were still free, then. I was only thirteen."
Kari chewed on that. "I don't remember my father's face," she finally said, hardly more than a whisper. "Even thinking of memories, and specific times together, his face will not appear."
"What did he do?"
"He was a great man. A great man." She seemed so insistent, as if she were convincing herself.
When she didn't say more, he asked, "How long ago did he die?"
She glanced at him, opened her mouth, closed it again. "It's been six years."
"Six years is not so long."
She sighed and returned her eyes to the sky. "It's long enough." Farrow wasn't sure what she meant by that, but her unusual melancholy attitude unnerved him.
Motion flickered on the horizon. Kari tensed, squinting. "I think that's our target. And only thirty minutes late."
The shap
e grew in the distance. Definitely coming in their direction. Farrow rolled sideways and gave a hand signal to the men waiting below. Hob waved back, and the group switched from lazy impatience to hurried readiness, capes fluttering as they moved into positions.
Farrow focused on the ship as it drew closer. Soon he could make out its shape. He frowned. "Looks wide for that model of freighter..."
"No, it's right." Kari pointed. "Look at the exhaust coming off the back. Two streams."
She was right, of course, but... "Oh shit," Farrow said as the ship began drifting to the left.
"What?"
The turn of the freighter was slight, but enough to reveal two smaller aircraft following behind. "Riverhawks," Farrow said. "It's being escorted by a pair of Riverhawks." Not only that, but now its path wouldn't pass directly overhead--it would fly to the north, a few hundred feet away. It might still be within range, but if not... sixty seconds, he thought, judging the aircraft's speed. Maybe less.
Farrow rolled off the visible crest of the dune before rising and jogging down to Hob by the jammer. "Huh," said Hob after Farrow relayed the info. "It was supposed to turn north-west later. I must have had the route wrong, or they changed it..."
"Or they know we're here," Farrow said. That would explain why they sent escorts.
Hob chewed on his lip and looked to the east, though the aircraft were blocked by the dune. "We've gotta focus on the Riverhawks first. Wait until they're close, right above us, then open fire. If they're matching speed with the freighter then they're moving far too slow for a Riverhawk to maneuver well. Vulnerable. But once they're alerted they'll rocket off at speed."
"So the first shots need to count."
Hob nodded.
"What about the freighter?" Farrow asked. "If we focus on the Riverhawks first, can we still bring it down before it's gone?"
"Maybe," he shrugged. "But if we don't take out the Riverhawks they'll speed up, gain altitude. Rip us apart at their leisure."
Kari jogged down and joined them. "We could toss the tarps over the guns, let the ships pass overhead and then retreat back to base. We don't have to engage."
"Unless they know we're here," Farrow said.
The sound of aircraft engines drifted from the east.
Hob said, "Need to decide quickly. Which is it?"
Farrow looked around the small depression between dunes. The men and women at each anti-air gun looked over their shoulders at him, waiting. They could tell something was wrong.
Farrow couldn't simply let the freighter pass without trying. Our need is too great.
The sound of the aircraft rose.
He raised his voice. "There are two Riverhawks accompanying the freighter, following behind." He pointed to the south-most gun. "You focus on the Riverhawks." To the other: "Take a few shots at the Riverhawks as well, but as soon as the freighter is past and its rear engines are in sight, knock it down. I'll give the signal "
He turned back to Hob. "Crank it up. Let's go!"
Chapter 13
The radio jammer sputtered to life like a generator as Farrow ran back to the dune's incline with Kari, throwing himself onto the hot sand. He wouldn't be much help with his rifle, but some small fire on the Riverhawks might help distract them away from the larger guns, if it came to that. He shared a look with Kari before raising his eyes to the sky.
The roar of the aircraft drowned out all thought, made it impossible to think. It seemed to last forever, until finally the bulky freighter flew into view. Several hundred feet above the sand, slightly to the north. Unlike the orbital freighters which had no need, this one possessed reasonable aerodynamics, with a cone-shaped front and wide, long wings that spread behind it in a V shape. It seemed to crawl across the sky, such was its size and easy speed. It loomed above them, blocking the sun, a sky of steel and sound.
The Riverhawks came into view. Next to the freighter they looked tiny, though everything about their appearance screamed dangerous. Arrow-shaped, with heavy lasers on each wing tip and smaller weapons closer to the fuselage.
They were overhead, just to the north. Farrow screamed, "NOW!" and began firing his rifle.
The anti-aircraft lasers pulsed green, a vibration in his feet through the sand. The lasers clawed at the sky around the aircraft. The freighter made no change, but the Riverhawks immediately reacted. They peeled off to the south, turning sideways, exposing themselves in a wide, flat target. Beams of green raked one, ripping wide chunks across the wings and cockpit. It became a shower of fire and metal, its momentum carrying the debris to the west in a long swath. Farrow felt it strike the sand.
The north gun began aiming at the freighter's glowing engines while the south gun focused on the second Riverhawk. The aircraft shot forward at incredible speed during its turn. The gun missed long. It pivoted on its stand to come around, but the Riverhawk was already lining it up. Bright flashes answered the Freemen from the sky, and an instant later lasers began striking the sand around them. The beams tapped across the ground, cutting through the south gun crew, red mist bursting into the air. Sparks flew as the gun itself took damage.
Farrow screamed a wordless scream as he fired his rifle at the Riverhawk, which leveled off from its run and bellowed a hundred feet above them. It zoomed away, gaining some distance before it came back around. The south gun still aimed at the sky, but both operators lay motionless.
Farrow pushed himself off the sand and ran for the gun. Dimly he was aware of one freighter engine exploding overhead in a ball of fire, but that was a concern for later. He could hear the sound of the Riverhawk's engine changing pitch as it turned in the sky behind him. The downed freighter wouldn't be worth one ounce of scrap if they were all dead.
The sand around the gun wore shocking shades of red and pink, but the gun itself looked okay. Farrow forced himself to callously push aside the remains of Lori--mother shine on me, four of my best men and women gone in a blink--and jump into the seat, tossing his rifle to the ground. The two control sticks were sticky with blood as he pivoted the gun around.
The freighter passed in his view as he turned, tilting at a precarious angle in the sky, the hull at its rear continuing to absorb laserfire from the north gun.
The remaining Riverhawk appeared in Farrow's vision. Several thousand feet away, judging from its size. It moved horizontally and then appeared to freeze in the air as it began returning toward them. Closer, Farrow thought, watching it rapidly grow. It may think the laser is no longer operational. To the left, Kari stood and began firing in the ship's direction. Trying to distract it.
The ship drew closer, and Farrow waited as long as he dared. The sound rose in his ears, and another explosion sounded somewhere to the west. When he thought the distance was right he clenched his teeth and squeezed the triggers on the control sticks.
Nothing happened.
At least, nothing happened at the barrel of the gun. Its base flared with electricity, arcing across the air and making the hair on Farrow's arm stand up. Sparks burst all around him before he saw the hole in the gun's base, charred black.
Oh no.
Kari continued shooting haplessly at the incoming ship, but it was very obviously bearing down on him.
Farrow winced as the Riverhawk flashed with laserfire.
But the shooting was all wrong, different than what it should have been. Sparks and explosions followed as he realized the ship wasn't shooting lasers, it was receiving laserfire. From the north gun. He twisted to look: the freighter had crashed and the north gun now launched thick beams at the Riverhawk.
The small fighter trailed dark smoke as it soared over them. Moments later it became a fireball in the sand behind a distant dune.
Farrow looked around, dazed. Nothing remained of that gun's crew, four Freemen. One body laid in the sand by the other gun, so they'd somehow lost one there too. And Hob's crew was nowhere to be seen, the jammer sitting in the sand and the cruiser gone.
Kari came jogging up, rifle held across h
er body. Her eyes sparkled and she looked fresh, no sweat to speak of. "They brought the freighter down to the west. Hob's group took the cruiser to the wreckage."
"We don't know how many peacekeepers are onboard," Farrow said slowly. He had to blink a few times to summon any thought. "Need to pack up the anti-air guns to take with us. Bear them down on the freighter."
"The other gun's already being loaded," Kari said. She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him up, shoving his rifle into his arms. "This gun's gone. We can grab it later. Come on!"
His thoughts became clearer as they jumped on the sand cruiser and shot across the sand, with the other one loaded with the anti-air gun following close behind. Clouds of black smoke billowed in the sky to the west, and the wide shape of the freighter appeared as they crested the next dune. A long ditch carved the sand behind the ship where it had crashed and slid for miles. It lost one of its wings in the crash, and its engines burned freely, but otherwise looked to be in good shape.
"In range of the jammer?" he asked.
"Don't know."
They stopped at the next high dune, close enough that they could deploy the anti-air gun and bring it to bear on the freighter. It possessed no defenses, but if peacekeepers emerged from inside they would need to beat them down. We've lost enough men already, he thought, doing the math in his head. One sixth of their total strength, and some of their most seasoned men and women. Is the prize worth it?
He shook his head as if that could banish the thought. "Where's Hob's group?" he asked, noticing the cruiser parked on the sand next to the freighter. A door in the side of the freighter hung open. "They didn't storm inside already, did they?" That was stupid, reckless.
Kari frowned down at the ship as if thinking the same thing.
They deployed their heavy laser and aimed it toward the ship. Five of us inside, and five up here. He could leave two to operate the gun, and head down with Kari and one of the others to help Hob.
He gave the orders and readied himself. "Let's go. We don't have time to look for another entrance, so we'll enter through that same door Hob's team must have used. Two take point, one farther behind for cover. Move fast until we find them. "
Born of Sand (Tales of a Dying Star Book 5) Page 13