Chronicles of Athena Lee

by T S Paul

  “I'll tell you later, lets fight this battle first. Damage control teams get moving. That was a hull breach in the starboard section, we’re going to have minor damage both fore and aft.”

  The ship shuddered again, violently this time. Alarms started to sound. “Get a team to fusion one, the room is open to vacuum. Get a hull patch in there ASAP! Anyone not in a pressure suit needs to put one on right now!”

  “This is the Captain speaking, Good work folks, the fighters are returning to the cruiser. Gunnery crews excellent shooting. We need damage control teams both fore and aft. Med teams to your stations.”

  “OK, Jacobs, Bartleby? I need you to take your teams and join damage control. We need to get as many of the hull breaches repaired as fast as we can before the next attack. Get moving”

  The little trash can looking droid was already in action repairing small breaches from the outside of the ship.

  Chapter 17

  The battle so far was in our favor. The James Cook had destroyed a carrier, at least five freighters, and over two dozen fighters. The ship had taken some serious hits and was open to space in several areas. The fight was far from over.

  “Status reports.” Captain Gorshin was happy, his ship and crew had performed admirably so far.

  “Sir, engineering reports that repairs have begun, Lieutenant Lee says that all major repairs will be patched and resealed within two hours. Medical is reporting lightly sustained injuries and five deaths due to decompression. All other systems are normal and functioning within standards. Staff replacements are switching crew around to allow some food and rest. Ammunition levels are at 75%.” The XO wondered how the captain kept from looking as stressed out as he was..

  “Good work Peter. What are the pirates doing?”

  “The cruiser is just out of our range. It's called the Ganuaile, it is the flagship of Kate O'Malley the selfsame pirate 'Queen'. Radio intercept identified her during the battle. They are rotating the fighters in and out of the cruiser for resupply. That destroyer along with the squadron of Stukas is patrolling the perimeter.”

  “What about the planet? Any further communication with the colony?”

  “No sir. They have been real quiet. That shipyard of theirs took a real beating. The pirates have left those defense platforms alone. They must be bad news.”

  The captain leaned back and closed his eyes. “A good strategy would be to pin the pirates between us and those platforms. If possible we will do that regardless of whether they are assisting us or not.”

  “Captain! We have movement. The enemy is getting into a formation.”

  Watching the plot, the Captain and XO saw that the pirates were lining up into a battle wall formation with the cruiser in the middle, the destroyer on one end and the Stukas on the other. The now rearmed fighters surrounded the cruiser.

  Hmmm, thought the captain. Someone has been reading some books. “XO bring us about, I want us facing the cruiser head on. Be sure to keep the colony platform to our stern.” The ship swung around and was now pointing at the pirates. “All stop. They are trying to draw us out. Stay right here.”

  The pirate destroyers began to move forward, edging to port, trying to flank us. On the starboard side the small squad of Stukas were doing the same thing.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Good, they are trying to use an ancient Earth Zulu tribal attack formation called ‘the horns of the buffalo.’ The trick is to lure the enemy into attacking head on. When they do the outside of the formation loops around and encircles the attacker. Someone over there is thinking. It won't work but it’s a smart move. Have our main guns both fore and aft open fire on the 'outside' ships, the Stukas and destroyer. Let point defense take the fighters. We have one chance at this or we may lose them if they run.”

  Watching his plot, the captain saw the outside attack force begin to circle around. It was at that moment that the James Cook's weapons began firing.

  Lieutenant Hudson fired two full spreads of torpedoes before the main guns opened up on the destroyer and Stuka force. The pirate fighter squadrons began moving forward on attack vectors toward the cruiser. Explosions could be seen on the light cruiser. At least one of the torpedoes struck the light cruiser. It was at that moment when Captain Gorshin knew he had been suckered.

  The empty pirate freighters had been hidden behind the light cruiser. They now came into view. The ships were moving at top speed, all on collision courses with the James Cook.

  Jumping to his feet, the Captain began yelling “Sound collision alert. Evasive maneuvers, target change, target those freighters. Fire!”

  All of the guns swung around and started firing on the now dodging civilian ships. One was hit by laser fire and instantly disintegrated in a large explosion. The pirates were using kamikaze tactics. Shattered debris and chunks of ships battered the ship as they bounced off our shields. All of the freighters had been destroyed. It was then that the real attack came.

  “Captain, torpedoes closing to port!”

  “Helm roll ship to avoid port torpedoes” It was then that the captain saw his mistake. The Stukas. Yelling he said “ BELAY THAT ORDER! Roll starboard.”

  Slow and sluggish, the ship fought the helm for control as it rolled to starboard to avoid the torpedoes.

  “Everyone hold on, we are going to take some hits!”

  Two of the torpedoes hit the ship. The first striking the stern just above the engines. The second hit us amidships, punching through to the center of the ship.

  Gunnery crews continued to fire killing many of the fighters and damaging the destroyer. The damaged pirate cruiser had changed course and was closing. It seemed that all might be lost, but then the colony opened fire. The flanking defense platforms fired on the remaining pirate fighters. There were few survivors. Starfury squadrons screamed up from the planet below and targeted the wounded cruiser attacking with War Shot. The explosions lit up the night sky. The lightly damaged destroyer reversed its course and boosted for deep space.

  None of the colony’s ships had the 'legs' to catch it.

  Chapter 18

  Engineering was a mess. The torpedo strike above the engines opened our compartment to space. Ensign Johnson, one of our new officers, was sucked out of the breach to her death. Alarms were sounding and my command and control board was lit up like a starry night.

  I saw legs sticking out of a pile of packing crates. Using an anti-grav unit I was able to shift the crates. “Jacobs are you alright?” The midshipman opened his eyes and smiled at me.

  “I am now. Thank you, Lieutenant Lee.” The ship shuddered again.

  “Good let’s find the rest of our team and get to work, we have damage to fix.”

  Internal gravity stuttered and I felt the ship roll to one side as explosions rocked the ship. We managed to find about half of our people alive. The rest would have to wait.

  “Jacobs take half the group and head toward the center of the ship. That is where most of the damage occurred. Repair as you go. Main lines first, get the vital systems up.” He took his team and got moving. The training I put them through was paying off. None of my people had a lost look on their faces.

  My group stayed in the aft section. Without the engines we were screwed. I had a stray thought. “Wilson. Wilson are you there?”

  “Yes Athena?”

  “Are you still in touch with the droid.”

  “I am. It is on the outside of the hull conducting repairs to the weapon system circuits.”

  “How the hell did it get out there? Don't answer that. I don't have time. Do me a favor and check the internal computer system and reroute if you have to.” He was annoying but could be very helpful.

  Working my way back to engineering I found midshipman Ellery repairing the airtight doors.

  “Ellery, good to see you alive. When you get a chance go and let those three out of the fusion control room. We can use their help on repairs.”

  “Yes, Ma'am, and thank you.”

 
“For what Ellery?”

  “For believing in us and for the training you gave us.”

  “You just needed a push in the right direction that's all. Now let’s get back to work, we have a ship to fix.” She left to let our people out. It was nice that my backup plan wasn't needed.

  There had not been any explosions for a while so maybe the battle was over. Internal communications had just been repaired by Jacobs’ group.

  Midshipman Bartleby didn't make it. He had been in the ship’s cafeteria when the torpedo hit. He and a full fifth of the crew had died in the explosion.

  My console beeped. It was the captain. “Yes sir?”

  “Lieutenant Lee, status on repairs?”

  “Sir, power to the engines has been restored. Midshipman Jacob’s team just finished with communications and are moving on to life support and the gravity system. Midshipman Ellery's team is working on patching the larger hull breaches. My team is checking air tight doors and is on fire watch.” Taking a breath I asked, “Sir, how did the battle go?”

  “It was close lieutenant, very close. At the last minute the colony intervened and wiped out the pirates. Don't let me stop you, finish what you were doing . There will be an officers meeting at 1000 hours to discuss our next steps. Try and be there.” I told him I would be.

  I was able to stand my crew down at 0500 hours to get some rest. The majority of the major repairs had either been completed or were at least patched and holding. This allowed me to return to my quarters and get a short nap before the meeting.

  The officers meeting was in the Captain’s Ready Room, just off the bridge. We had lost many of the officers who would have normally attended. The ship was still at general quarters so the meeting was going to be a quick one.

  The Captain called the meeting to order. Many of the officers had a haggard and beaten look about them. Not all had fared well in the battle. “I called everyone here to discuss the aftereffects of the battle. I have reviewed your status reports. Most of the departments have recovered. Casualties were light for what we had against us. I see surprise on some faces. The answer is yes, a fifth of the crew is small compared to some battles. In war people die.” He stopped and scanned the room catching everyone's eyes. “I would like to commend engineering and weapons. Without their efforts we might have lost this one. It was that close. If the colony had not joined the fight we might not be having this conversation.” I caught his eye.” Yes, Lieutenant Lee?”

  “Sir, what is the status of the colony? Are they talking to us?”

  “That is a bit complicated, but yes they are talking. And yes, they are a lost colony from one of the Ghost ships. For now they are talking to Commander Dunne. They call the colony Beck’s Refuge. Their ship, called the Boston Tea Party, was launched in the first wave of colonization. They claim that a navigation error led them this far out. The colonists were religious and political extremists. Calling themselves Conservatives they were fleeing from the totalitarianism of Earth. From what we know about Earth Gov at that time, they might be telling the truth.” The captain sighed. “We were right about the Tetch brothers. They stumbled upon the colony and tried to exhort them for supplies and technology. When that failed, they brought in 'representatives' from what they said was the government. That plan went south when one of the Tetch brothers attempted to kidnap a young girl and hide her on his ship. They managed to escape but only barely. We know the rest of that story. The attacks began shortly after that. Small at first then the big one we joined. They don't trust us. Not even a little. Apparently the sentence 'we are from the government and here to help you' is a huge curse on this planet.”

  There was a knock at the door and Lieutenant Merlin had a message for the Captain.

  “Sir, a courier ship just jumped into the system. It’s IFF says it belongs to Governor Tweed. Its really fast and should be here within the hour.”

  “Thank you lieutenant. That just about completes this meeting. One more thing.” The Captain touched a button and vid from outside the ship came on. “Our marines found this on the outside of the ship. It was doing repairs and acting independently. The marines claim that it alone saved the ship by repairing the main guns after they were damaged.” The vid showed my little droid moving along repairing things as it went.

  Uh oh. Busted. “Captain that belongs to me, it is a prototype of sorts. It got loose during the battle.”

  “Lee it is autonomous, is it not? Later we need to discuss your revolutionary new design. Everyone is dismissed.”

  As I walked back to my quarters Wilson chimed in. He echoed my thoughts at the time, how did the Governor know how to find us? WE didn't send a courier.

  Chapter 19

  The courier had a negotiation team on board and our new orders. We were to proceed to Clew Reach and finish off the pirate threat. The Governor thanked us for destroying the infamous O'Malley pirate clan and told us to make sure they were all gone or in prison. His negotiation team would take over for us in dealing with Beck’s Reach. Since the pirates were gone he was 'releasing' us to go back to our regular patrol. The whole thing was very strange and too hurried. It also left a lot of questions.

  The Captain did not forget about our talk. He put it on my schedule and made sure I showed up.

  “Lieutenant Lee, thank you for coming. Have a seat.” I sat at the conference table. It was just the two of us. “As promised I would like to talk about this project you have. Is it truly autonomous?”

  “Yes, sir. I used a clone of Wilson's that he dumbed down as its operating matrix. It can take complex orders but really only understands engineering terminology. It will repair until it can't, then it will shut down. It waits for either more repairs or verbal orders.”

  “This is a revolutionary design that I know for a fact the Navy will want first crack at. Can you build more?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Good. I will contact navy research and you can start testing them here on the ship.”

  “Thank you Captain.” I hesitated, “I had a couple of questions about our fleet orders.”

  “Just spit it out Athena. What is it you want to know?”

  “More like questions really. How did that courier know where we were? How did the governor know to put a negotiation team aboard? How did the Governor know the name of the colony to put on the orders? And finally, how did he know about a 'notorious' clan of pirates that even we had never heard of?”

  The captain had a thoughtful look on his face. He looked me in the eyes and told me what intelligence had told him.

  Oh Crap!

  At the very least our next deployment couldn't possibly be more exciting than this one could. It will be boring by comparison.

  The battered Banzai class destroyer was seeking to hide in the shadow lanes of space. Taking time to get the previous wounds fixed that would allow it to return. Kate O'Malley looked at the records from her recent battle. Her face twisted in disgust as she slapped her hand, turning off the video. She looked out her view port and said softly, "Revenge, dear Captain, will be sweet..."

  Look for more Athena Lee adventures soon

  Book 4 - Revolutionary Due April 2016

  Book 5 - Title not yet determined (Rev part 2) due April/May 2016

  Book 6 - ?

  Check out my blog www.tspaul.blogspot.com

  Or on Amazon www.amazon.com/-/e/B01C7IPHYQ

  So I have gotten a lot of Reviews some good some not so good. My First two books were works in progress. When they first came out they had a few issues. Now both have been updated with some new material.

  Look for books 4, 5, and 6 This summer. Plus a few more surprises. Keep a close eye on blog for news.

  Some of my reviews for Book 1 : The Forgotten Engineer

  -Just a note. This book has been a #1 Bestseller for over 3 weeks in shorts reads.

  3.0 out of 5 starsThis reads like a decent story IDEA

  By daleraby on March 3, 2016

  This reads like a decent story IDEA.
It is too short however, overpriced on that basis alone and had too many grammatical and spelling errors. The story idea could have been developed into so much more that I was kind of disappointed. Keep at it, but don't give up your day job just yet. If this seems harsh, welcome to the world of professional writing padawan. At least you were brave and motivated enough to try..

  3.0 out of 5 starsDecent but truncated.

  By Adam Andrews on February 26, 2016

  This feels like an incomplete story. It's got a good beginning part, and a good ending part ... but it's like the author decided to skip all the boring bits in the middle and just jump straight from start to end. It might be better to think of it as an introduction to whatever comes next -- which I'm still going to read when it comes out.