“Aye, Colonel.” A moment later, she turned to Ashlyn, a relieved smile on her face. “The Admiral sends her regards and reports that Second Fleet is on station and will be uncloaking momentarily. She asked me to pass on that the betting pool is up to five to one that the enemy commander will need a new pair of pants very shortly.”
Ash grinned, hoping Tremayne was right. The cynic in her warned not to get overconfident. From what she knew of Dorescu, he would not give up, at least not easily. Even faced with the firepower of Second Fleet, he would try to deal as much damage as possible before ordering his ships to withdraw. The latter had to be prevented, no matter what the cost. They needed to capture at least one ship, preferably the Anubis. More than that, they had to do so before the ship’s databanks could be scrubbed.
“Let’s make sure we give the Admiral an appropriate greeting, everyone. Tell the LACs to resume their run on the enemy ships. Focus on the Anubis. Keep Dorescu and his people focused on the LACs until the fleet is in place.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
CAPTAIN BERNARD HUGHES CURSED long and hard, partly in pain but mostly in frustration. Calls for help with damage control filled the air, alternating with alarms signaling another incoming attack. Dorescu had lost his mind. There could be no other explanation. Why else move into Fuerconese space without adequate intel or force? While he would never shed a tear over the man’s death, he would prefer his not accompany it.
From what he could tell, and that wasn’t much now that Dorescu had cut his link to the bridge cameras, the Anubis had managed to deal damage first. But, like so much the Callusians did, it had not been enough to incapacitate the enemy. Instead, the attack served to strengthen the Fuerconese resolve to not only hold this sector of the system but to defeat the invaders.
Not that he could warn Dorescu of the consequences of his actions. Nor could he fulfill his duties as an advisor. When the first alarm sounded, he had considered his options. He knew the likelihood of Dorescu, or one of his crew, using the battle as cover for killing him. It was a risk Hughes was willing to take in order to try to talk some sense into Dorescu. If he could convince the man to withdraw from Fuerconese space, they had a chance to not only survive but to complete their original mission.
So he had changed into his light armor. Then he tried to leave his quarters, only to find them secured from the outside. Now he paced the outer room like a caged animal, wondering how long it would be before the Anubis took a fatal hit or Dorescu sent someone for him. Death awaited with either option.
He moved back to his desk. Working carefully, he opened the comms panel. The ship rocked yet again as he studied panel. Then he went to work. Dorescu might have cut his official link to the bridge but Hughes had certain talents that had not been included in the Callusian’s briefing packet, including the ability to reprogram almost any comm system.
Half an hour later, he carefully replaced the cover for the comms panel. If he hadn’t managed to short something out one of the times the ship had been rocked by enemy fire, he should be able to not only tie into the bridge feed but the tactical display as well. That should let him know what was going on.
He watched in growing concern as Dorescu paced the bridge. Reports poured in from not only the Anubis’ damage control teams but from the rest of the taskforce. Almost every ship had taken damage. Several of their smaller, lesser armored ships had been forced to fall back, using the rest of the taskforce as a screen between them and Second Fleet.
Had they walked into a trap?
Hughes swallowed hard. Second Fleet should not have been there. If there had been anything to indicate its presence, he would have done everything possible to force Dorescu to turn back. The Callusian might think himself invincible but Hughes knew better. He had taken part in campaigns during the last war that had included not only Ashlyn Shaw but Miranda Tremayne as well. Between the two of them, they had not only the experience but the determination to do whatever was necessary to not only stop Dorescu’s ships but destroy them if forced to.
For more than an hour, he watched as the battle continued. Could Dorescu not see that it was turning to Second Fleet’s advantage? Their counter-measures were much more effective than the Callusian’s. For every missile that penetrated Second Fleet’s defenses, at least five of their missiles made it through Dorescu’s defenses. The Callusian taskforce was being torn apart.
Worse were the enemy LACs. If he didn’t know better, Hughes would swear their pilots were the Devil’s disciples. With the addition of Second Fleet’s LACs, they had all but destroyed their Callusian counterparts. Now they engaged the taskforce, moving faster than their weapons crews could adapt. There did not seem to be rhyme or reason to their attacks. Hughes guessed the LAC commander had ordered his pilots not to rely on the usual one or two lines of attack but to have their navigation computers use a random attack pattern, changing not only their approach vectors but the timing of their attacks. If so, that meant Dorescu’s crews had little hope for their own targeting computers to find the pattern for the next attack run.
Why didn’t Dorescu realize the mission was lost? If he wanted to survive to fight another day, he had to call the retreat. If he didn’t, they would all die. The problem was the Callusians saw death in battle as something to be desired. Hughes doubted Dorescu would consider for even the briefest of moments retreating, much less surrendering.
That meant he had to act if he wanted to live. The first order of business was to find a way out of his quarters. It might take time to hack through the locking system but he could do it. The real challenge would be maneuvering through the corridors of the ship to the escape pods. If he managed that, he could use one of the pods and be off the ship before Dorescu knew.
Then all he would have to worry about was being targeted by either side. Long odds, to be sure, but they beat waiting for death to come.
Damn it, he wished he had never agreed to take this assignment.
* * *
The lights dimmed again but this time did not return to normal levels. Dust drifted from overhead, a reminder – not that he needed one – that the Anubis had taken yet another hit. The bridge was filled with the odors of blood and bowels thanks to the comms tech who had failed to duck when part of the inner bulkhead buckled and then broke free. It had sliced the man almost in half. The comms officer had simply kicked the tech out of the chair to his right before continuing to try to restore comms with the other ships of the taskforce.
“Captain, we can’t take much more of this,” Kovacz said, clinging to the arms of his shock frame as the Anubis rocked under another round of fire from Second Fleet. “We have lost another two ships.”
“We will complete the mission,” he growled. “Helm, lay in a course to take us down the starboard side of Target Alpha.”
“Sir, that means we will open our portside to them and our shields are still compromised and weapons down fifty-five percent on that side.”
“Are you disobeying orders, Helm?” He pushed to his feet. Without giving the man time to respond, he pulled his sidearm and shoved the muzzle against the back of his head. The helmsman’s head exploded. Blood and grey matter splattered across his board. Dorescu grabbed the back of the man’s uniform tunic and hauled him out of his chair. Then, using his side arm, he motioned Kovacz to take the helm.
“Sir, we can’t keep this up. We are running low on torpedoes. Most of our turrets are no longer functional. Our bays, with one exception, are no longer useable. Damage Control reports it can’t keep up with the demand. We are venting atmosphere and risk losing all shielding if we take another hit.” Kovacz spoke softly, calmly, his eyes never leaving Dorescu’s face.
“You have your orders.” Dorescu lifted his side arm for emphasis. Then he stalked back to his chair. “It would do all of you – especially you, Mr. Kovacz – to remember that I am in command. You will follow my orders or meet the same fate as your former shipmate.” He nodded to the assistant helmsman’s body. “We will complet
e our mission before leaving the system. Anyone who doubts our ability to do so is a coward and a traitor. You will be dealt with now or later, the decision is yours. This is your chance to prove you are true warriors, worthy of calling yourselves Callusians.”
The Anubis shuddered again. Alarms sounded throughout the ship. As more sections of the ship vented atmosphere, calls for help, for rescue came across the comms. Dorescu ordered them silenced. The trapped would either be saved or not but not now. Not until the battle was won.
“LACs incoming!”
All he could do was watch helplessly as his nearly crippled turrets tried to lock onto the LACs. He heard himself order their remaining counter-measure torpedoes launched. Sweat pricked out on his forehead as too few, far too few LACs were stopped. The others continued to plow through the debris, bearing down on the Anubis.
“Shields down,” Kovacz reported as the LACs fired.
“Engineering reports system critical. I repeat, system critical,” Comms added.
Dorescu threw his head back and snarled like a wild animal. How had it gone so wrong? If he wanted to survive, he had to order his ships to fallback. He also had to trust the other commanders to shield the Anubis from subsequent attack. A bitter laugh escaped his lips at that thought. He had no doubt what would happen. The moment one of them saw the opportunity, they would destroy the Anubis. That would be the penalty for not successfully completing the mission. Part of him approved but that other part, the part that had no intention of accepting death, swore not to let that happen.
By the gods, he couldn’t believe it. He clung to the arms of his chair and rode out what he knew was far from the last hit Anubis would take before the fight was over. All around him, the bridge crew clung to their seats and worked diligently to counter the enemy fire. At least they had stopped pleading to withdraw. What happened to the crew he had been so proud of? That crew would have enjoyed the battle, their first real fight in much too long. Death might come to any or all of them but it would be a death with honor and no one could hope for better.
But these coward wanted not honor but life. Each and every one of them who had begged him to retreat would die. If the gods were just, they would die by his hand.
A hand touched his shoulder and he started nervously. Looking up, Dorescu cursed softly. This truly was a nightmare. Standing at his side, anger and something else, something that turned Dorescu’s bones to jelly, was the Midlothian. His hand moved once more to his side arm. Before he could bring it to bear, Hughes twisted it from his grasp and leveled it at him.
“You!”
How dare this coward interfere? Wasn’t it bad enough he had refused to let them loot Cassius Prime as was their right as conquerors? He had also demanded they abide by the Accords as much as possible in dealing with prisoners. That had been almost harder to accept than anything else he had done. No bounty and no slaves. He had done his best to turn them into the enemy they fought to defeat.
Now he stood there, so smug and confident, as if convinced he was about to witness Dorescu’s ultimate humiliation. The fool. Did he think that side arm was the only weapon Dorescu had on him? The Callusian looked forward to seeing him beg for mercy just before he slit his throat.
But he had to play this carefully. The enemy was in those ships attacking his taskforce. It was also on the bridge. Any doubts he might have had disappeared the moment Hughes entered the bridge. If the cowards had been loyal, they would have stopped the Midlothian before he took two steps. They knew he had been confined to his quarters. Dorescu swore he would make each of them, as well as whoever helped Hughes escape his quarters, pay with their lives.
“What do you want?” He bit back a laugh as Hughes stumbled when the ship was once again rocked by enemy fire.
“Captain, it is time to leave the battle,” Hughes said firmly. “We can’t risk any of your ships falling into their hands.”
“I’ll decide when it’s time to leave the field,” Dorescu said coldly. “This isn’t your fight any longer, Midlothian. You aren’t giving the orders.”
“Captain, I suggest you think again.” He gestured with Dorescu’s side arm. “You have this ship because of my government. Your taskforce exists because of the money and technology we shared with your people. Do you really believe they won’t take action against you and those you care for if you allow these ships to fall into the hands of the enemy?”
“I have this ship because I command it and my people crew it,” Dorescu countered. “Your government won’t say anything about what might happened because they won’t know.”
* * *
Hughes tightened his grip on the pulsar and glanced around the bridge. As he did, he angled his body so he could keep the crew, as well as Dorescu, in sight. Most of them continued to man their stations, doing all they could to keep the Fuerconese ships from breaking through the last of their defenses. A few, however, had stopped to watch the confrontation between him and their commanding officer.
Interesting. He had fully expected them to try to stop him as soon as the lift arrived on the bridge. Instead, they had ignored him as he moved in Dorescu’s direction. No, that wasn’t quite right. Kovacz had watched, anticipation reflected on his expression.
“Your government won’t say anything about what might happened because they won’t know.”
Dorescu’s words confirmed his suspicions. The Callusian had no intention of letting him live. He would never return home, not as a hero, nor even as a fool. If he was lucky, there might come a time when his family would be told what happened and why. He doubted it. Watchman tended to bury those, including any mention of them, who failed him. The most he could hope for was to be listed as MIA in the annals and that would be that.
It wouldn’t bother him except it was so bloody unnecessary. Dorescu was a madman. Worse, he was the product of those his superiors wanted to deal with. From what he had learned while onboard the Anubis, most Callusians were like Dorescu. They didn’t care about anything as much as they did defeating an enemy, even if there was no way to do so. Death to them was eagerly anticipated. That attitude reminded Hughes of something he had read about some ancient religious sect. Their “true believers” believed all the infidels had to be killed and if they died in the process, they would be rewarded in the life beyond.
Except there was no life beyond and certainly no reward except the eternal sleep of death.
Like it or not, he was about to meet that so-called reward.
Well, he could still fulfill one part of his mission. He would make sure there was no evidence of his involvement in the mission. Hopefully that would be enough to keep suspicion from his homeworld.
“You’re not a fool, Dorescu. You know I’ve been reporting regularly to my superiors. If I fail to check in on time now, they will begin asking questions I promise you don’t want brought to the attention of your superiors.”
As he spoke, Hughes saw the almost imperceptible signal that passed between Kovacz and one of the other members of the bridge crew. He waited, wondering if this was when they would make their move against him. Possible but there was another possibility he had to consider. They could wait, knowing their captain would sooner or later lose patience and try to rush him. Even if Dorescu managed to get the pulsar from him, Hughes knew neither of them would live. Kovacz had the look of a man who was about to mutiny and take command.
Gods help them all.
At least he wouldn’t die alone. A smile touched his lips. Seeing it, Dorescu blanched. Then the Callusian’s eyes narrowed as he studied Hughes. The Midlothian had no doubt Dorescu was trying to figure out why he smiled. Little did the Anubis’ commander know that his people weren’t the only ones who valued honor and bravery. He would deal with Dorescu, making sure he could never again go against orders from Midlothian, before taking down as many of the crew as he could before they killed him.
“Consider this the revocation of your authorization to use any and all Midlothian tech, Dorescu.”
; He whipped the pulsar into position and fired. Dorescu’s cry of disbelief died before it formed. He slumped in his chair, the top of his head gone. Before the life drained from the captain’s eyes, Hughes turned, taking aim at Kovacz. As he did, other members of the bridge crew acted. Some dove for cover. Others looked as if they were considering attacking. He used their moment of indecision to fell two more. Then he swung in Kovacz’s direction.
“Thank you, Mr. Hughes, for removing a problem for me.” Kovacz grinned. A moment later, his fist caught Hughes on the point of his chin.
I should have told Watchman to go to hell.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“COLONEL, INCOMING MESSAGE from the flagship.”
Ashlyn moved to stand behind the comms station and placed a hand on the young ensign’s shoulder. As she did, she looked around the wreckage of what was left of the Nagato’s bridge. Its bulkheads hadn’t been breached but that was about all she could say. Most of the stations had sustained damage and had been forced to go to backup systems. Damage Control had been too busy elsewhere in the ship to send more than a skeleton team up. At least the Anubis and its two sister ships had been able to fall back to the rear, letting the rest of Second Fleet continue the battle against the Callusian taskforce.
“Put it on, Ensign.”
A moment later the screen filled with the image of the flag bridge. Miranda Tremayne stepped into the picture and Ash touched a finger to her forehead in what had to pass for a salute just then.
“Admiral.”
“Colonel Shaw, what’s your staus?”
“Engines down to twenty percent. Our chief engineer was injured in the fighting but his assistant assures me his people can get us back up to forty percent in a day or two, assuming we can cadge some parts from the fleet.”
“Anything we have you need is yours.”
Honor from Ashes (Honor and Duty Book 3) Page 22