Silent Running (The Hope Island Chronicles Book 3)

by PJ Strebor

  “Opening hyper perforation, now, sir,” Ensign Perrie said.

  ***

  “We’ve got a bug onboard this boat,” Nathan said.

  “Yeah, we must have,” Moe said. “Those fuckers couldn’t keep nipping at our heels if we didn’t.”

  “So we need to find it,” Grace said. “We should begin with the Pruessen.”

  Nathan had detected nothing in the way of a threat from the boat’s new doctor but felt obliged to consider Grace’s point. Two minutes later the three of them, plus Willet and his scanner, stepped into the infirmary.

  Doctor Jahn smiled, held his hands above his head and said, “It wasn’t me.” His smile faded at the cold response. Willet ran his scanner over the doctor.

  “Where is your uniform, doctor,” Nathan asked.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Answer the question,” Grace snapped.

  He pulled a sour face. “My former uniform is in my quarters.”

  “Come with us.”

  In Jahn’s quarters Willet scanned the Pruessen uniform then pulled it from the rack and scanned it more exactingly. He held up the corner of the jacket’s right shoulder. “There, sir.”

  Nathan could see nothing, but his Prep screamed.

  “It’s a tap on sir. It blends with the fabric it adheres to. Impossible to see, and only detectible with a sensor pad.”

  Jahn’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t suppose it would matter a damn if I said I had no idea about this?”

  Nathan could still not detect danger from Jahn.

  “In the brig, back on Saint Joan, where did Reinhardt sit?” Nathan asked.

  “What? Hmm, for the most part he sat, oh fuck. He sat next to me.”

  Willet snorted, a short scornful sound. “How very bloody convenient, you lying square head f—”

  “That’s enough, ensign,” Nathan snapped. “You’re dismissed. Repeat nothing of what you’ve seen or heard. Understood?”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  Once he left, Moe voiced everyone’s question.

  “So, do you believe him?”

  “Yep.”

  Jahn breathed out through pursed lips.

  “So,” Grace said, holding up the jacket, “do you want me to dispose of this.”

  “Not on your life,’ Nathan said. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m sick to death of turning tail from these bastards.”

  “Oh, shit,” Moe said around a tight smile. “There’s that look again.”

  “Moe, do you remember that trick I pulled at Fighter Training School?”

  Moe grinned. “Yeah.” She chuckled at the recollection while Nathan grinned like a maniac.

  Grace looked on bewildered.

  CHAPTER 31

  Date: 25th August, 326 ASC

  Position: The Scaren Archipelago, Northern Quarantine Zone.

  Status: E boat squadron 77, at alert condition one.

  Captain Reinhardt reported. “I have them,” The squadron C-O, Captain Kramer, hovered by his shoulder. “There they are, Kramer. Trying to hide from us.”

  “Sir,” Kramer said, “I suggest that we come at him from all directions, encircle him so he can’t escape.”

  “That sounds good, Captain,” Reinhardt said. “You’re the combat professional, so do what you need to. But we take that boat, intact.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  While Kramer issued orders to his squadron, Reinhardt leaned back in his chair. “So Hans, you’ve led me on quite a chase. Soon, I will do things to you that have never been done to another human being. You will beg for death.”

  The asteroid, behind which the monitor sat, was the largest and densest in the archipelago, but not large enough to hide from Reinhardt’s advanced tech. Again, he’d taken a calculated guess as to her location, and again had found her.

  The five E boats broke apart coming at the target from five different vectors. Kramer, Reinhardt conceded, knew his job. Minutes passed as the boats took up positions. Kramer would take no chances this time. Hans had finally made a mistake. He couldn’t escape into hyper whilst within the asteroid field.

  “All boats report ready, Captain,” Kramer’s exec said.

  “Very well,” Kramer said, “all boats ahead, one-quarter.”

  Reinhardt’s smile faded. Something didn’t add up. Hans had proved to be not only elusive but extremely crafty. Would he really allow himself to get bottled up like this? Reinhardt’s readings said yes, but a small part of him had doubts. The unmistakable signal from his bugging device subdued his concerns. It had to be the monitor.

  “Captain,” the exec said, “E 783 reports contact with the enemy.” He held his hand to his ear. “The comm is breaking up sir, but I think he said something about a landing boat.”

  “Are we still in line of sight with E 226?”

  “Aye sir. Ah, yes, I get it sir, she will be in contact with E 783.” He keyed his comm.

  “E 226, did you receive comm from E 783?”

  A short pause while the attack boat replied. The exec’s forehead creased. “Captain, she’s saying that E 783 has a visual on the signal. It’s a landing boat sir. No sign of the monitor.”

  Kramer sat bolt upright. “Exec, signal to all boats. Pull back.”

  “Aye sir, signaling to all boats to pull –”

  Then the universe went mad. A massive explosion lit up dark space as the asteroid blew apart. Reinhardt averted his eyes from his screen as the nuclear blast wave followed.

  “All power to forward shields,” Kramer ordered.

  Sixteen million tonnes of dense asteroid were flung into space by the massive explosion. The high velocity debris had a fearsome kinetic discharge.

  “Sir, all boats report severe damage,” the X-O reported. “Hold. E 783 is gone. She just blew up. Oh, no, E 226 is gone as well. The shock wave will hit us in three seconds.”

  Reinhardt couldn’t believe what was happening. How? He seized the edge of his console as the avalanche fell against the boat’s forward shields. She shook violently and tumbled end over end. Thrown from his chair, Reinhardt landed hard onto the deck. Systems blew out, while high speed debris tore at her shields and hull. A maddening number of alarms blared warnings as the boat continued to be pounded by the rocky deluge. Finally, the storm passed. His V suit saved his life as the boat was opened to the airless wastes of space.

  Reinhardt breathed a sigh of relief. “Captain Kramer, what the fuck happened?” he asked.

  “We got suckered, is what happened.”

  “Sir,” the T/O yelled, “contact from astern.”

  “What!”

  ***

  With all emissions, including life-support, turned off, Adroit maintained her covert hiding place while the Pruessen squadron passed her by. Nathan waited for the enemy boats to close with his little surprise before acting.

  “Helm, like we discussed.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Moe replied.

  Adroit rose from behind the asteroid till she sat just above it, in direct line of site with the E boat squadron. And the largest asteroid.

  “Do it,” he told Grace.

  With crossed fingers she hit the activate key. It had taken three hours for Adroit’s single pulsar to penetrate to the asteroid’s core, place the three fifty mega-tonne warheads, and, very carefully, seal the fissure. The sensor pickup may not have been powerful enough to read the execute key. Nathan’s instincts detected little danger of that happening.

  The asteroid could not have blown apart better. Moe hid Adroit from the shockwave, behind their smaller asteroid. The crew had been at alert condition one for an hour. Nathan waited till his Prep stopped aching.

  “D-O, shields up.”

  “Aye, Captain, shields are up, energy buffers firming. Fifteen seconds to full shields.”

  “The big one first, helm. Take her engines only. Understood.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Moe said, from the combat sphere.

  “Captain, I’m reading two attack
boats gone,” Rudi said from tactical. “They just blew up. The others are badly damaged.”

  “Very well.” Nathan contained his smile. This wasn’t over yet.

  “Sir,” Rudi said, “I’m reading active stern weapons from the light carrier.”

  Everyone lurched into their harnesses as Moe took severe evasive maneuvers. Evading the enemy fire she closed with the largest of the E boats firing into her engines as she did so. The starboard engine went first, quickly followed by the port. She took out her stern pulsars for good measure.

  “Captain, all forward weapons on the light carrier are scrap.” Rudi couldn’t keep the elation from his voice, which actually squeaked a little.

  Nathan established a secure comm link with Moe. “I know you’re tempted, and to tell the truth, so am I. But engines only. All right.”

  “You’ve got to tell me why.”

  Nathan sighed. After what they’d both witnessed over the years, the temptation to obliterate the enemy boats may prove to be too great a temptation for his friend.

  “There is a deep cover Athenian operative on the light carrier. So if we kill the other boats and not his …”

  “It’ll send up a red flare.”

  “Right.”

  “Shit.” Moe remained silent as she closed with the first badly-damaged attack boat. “All right, but you owe me three E boats and I’m going to call in the debt one day down the track.”

  Nathan snorted. “Fair enough.”

  He switched back to an open channel.

  “Sir, no weapons showing on the first one,” the T/O reported.

  “Very well.”

  Twenty minutes later, having disabled all three of the E boats, Adroit cleared the Scaren Archipelago and ingressed to hyperspace.

  Put a bug on my boat, will you?

  CHAPTER 32

  Date: 1st September, 326 ASC

  Position: Imperial Pruessen Navy base Virtus. Pruessen Empire.

  Oscar Draeger exited the lift on the sub-basement level deep beneath the base. Only he had access to this lowest level. The bare, dimly lit area smelled of dust and neglect. As the head of Pruessen Naval Intelligence, he took no chances. Draeger punched the code into his hand-held reader causing a section of the wall to open. After he stepped through it closed behind him. The small room contained only one item. The altar of worship. He knelt before it and waited while his breathing slowed to a pace that a physician would consider near death.

  He felt them building within him. His Gods. Although their bodies were hundreds of light- years distant, their minds reached deep within his. Within his mind the room slowly transformed until the Council of Nine stood before him. Although it was a projection into his mind the effect felt no less overpowering. All tall, with long black hair, amber skin and mesmerizing green eyes. All equal to one another, but Chantico spoke first.

  “Isaac.”

  “Yes, my Lord Chantico. I live to serve.”

  “We sense an abnormality in the spiritual ether.”

  “And it’s centered on you, Isaac.” Lady Xilonen’s harsh tone tore through his mind like a blade. He fought against the pain but it doubled him over.

  “Enough,” Chantico snapped. The pain disappeared instantly.

  All equal to one but no one disobeyed Chantico. The last God to do so, had perished over two hundred years ago.

  “We have not forgotten your service to us over these many years, Isaac, but we are concerned.” As usual Lady Toci became the voice of quiet reason.

  “I live to serve, my Gods,” Oscar said. “But I have detected no such disturbance.”

  “That’s because you are mortal.” Lord Nagual made a good point.

  “May I speak, frankly?” Isaac asked.

  “Of course you may,” Lady Toci said.

  “My Gods, you say the disturbance in the spiritual ether is centered on me?”

  “We all feel it, Isaac,” Lady Toci said. “We are in disagreement as to its exact nature but I believe your young protégé is at the heart of it. Orson.”

  “My lady, I have done as you commanded,” Isaac said. “He is still only an associate.”

  “In name only,” Lady Xilonen said. This time she restrained herself and the pain was tolerable. “We sense his power growing, a power that disturbs us greatly.”

  “As with all of your servants, he lives only to serve,” Isaac said.

  “And the aggression and arrogance?”

  “I will purge him of those impediments, my Gods.”

  “Very well, Isaac,” Lord Chantico said, “we will leave it there for now. There is something that we have all felt in recent times. An even more curious anomaly.”

  “Yes, my Lord, I have sensed it too. I believe it to be Nathan Telford. The one we have been watching over the years.”

  “We want him, Isaac,” Lady Toci said. “On his knees before us.”

  “I live only to serve your glory,” Isaac said.

  CHAPTER 33

  Date: 1st September, 326 ASC.

  Position: Imperial Pruessen Navy base Virtus. Pruessen Empire.

  Commodore Oscar Draeger met Orson on the way to his personal transport. His protégé carried a small duffel bag for his mission.

  He stopped and looked intently at Orson who stared back with unblinking eyes. Am I making a mistake with this one? Time will tell.

  “In orbit above this base is an Associate,” Draeger said. “What ship is he on?”

  Orson nodded and closed his eyes. Shortly, his forehead furrowed and sweat dotted his upper lip. He had completed the training but couldn’t locate the Associate fluently. It would come in time but for now required a major effort. Finally he breathed out with a slight moan.

  “The transport ship Westensee.” He wiped his upper lip and forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.

  “Good. Keep practicing.” Draeger continued to appraise him. He could send an experienced Advocate but wanted to see what Orson could do with a significant challenge. The Commodore sensed his excitement and his burning ambition.

  “My personal transport is the fastest craft in Tunguska. Use it to locate him, then let the

  E boats do the rest. Ensure that he’s taken alive. If you can take the monitor intact that will be a bonus. All clear?”

  “So, he’s that important?”

  “Yes.”

  “Very well, sir. This Telford is as good as yours.”

  CHAPTER 34

  Date: 2nd September, 326 ASC.

  Position: Planet Northrop, Northern Quarantine Zone.

  Status: Stock replenishment.

  Moe sighted down the shaft of her bow, lined up the wild pig and fired. The arrow flew true and tore through the pig’s heart. It staggered for a moment before collapsing to the ground.

  “Pork chops tonight. Yum,” Petty officer Zameer said around a broad smile.

  Moe and Zameer tied the pig’s legs together before sliding the pole between them.

  “On three,” Moe said. “One, two, three.”

  They grunted as they hoisted the two hundred kilogram beast onto their shoulders. By the time they reached the camp Moe’s shoulder felt numb. She wiped sweat from her eyes.

  “We’ve got another one for you, Sanchini,” Moe said.

  Petty Officer Sanchini’s usual sour mood had not been improved by being detailed to the landing party. She’d been a butcher’s apprentice in civvy life and was the only one of Adroit’s crew with the experience to skin and dissect the meat professionally.

  “Please tell me this is the last one,” she moaned.

  “Yep. There’s no more room in the cold storage locker for any more.”

  Moe checked in with the supply officer, who scanned the unusual native vegetation picked by his team.

  “How’s it looking, Fish?”

  “Good,” Lieutenant Keirn said. “I’m detecting nothing out of the norm. Cookie should be able to fashion something out of this without poisoning us.”

  “We can only hope.”


  Moe touched her right ear as her comm beeped.

  ***

  Nathan paced the briefing room, restlessness eating at him. His damaged hand prevented him from participating on the hunt, forcing him to send Moe. Not that his D-O would let him leave the boat. ‘The Captain’s place is on the boat,’ she’d said on numerous occasions. For two days the landing party had been scouring the planet. Adroit sat above the southern polar region, the magnetic interference providing a fine cloak. Deception awaited them at the rendezvous point. His main concern was that at any time an enemy patrol could arrive, forcing him to abandon seven of his crew on the planet, including Moe. He had already lost her once and the thought of it happening again tore at his heart.

  He keyed his L-M. “Okuma – Telford.”

  “Okuma.”

  “How much longer?”

  “And hello to you.” Despite his concern Nathan snorted. “A couple of hours and we should be good to go. Hey, I bagged a good-sized pig.”

  “Good going. Cookie is torturing that poor deer you got yesterday so the crew will eat well tonight.”

  “Just as well. Two days without food wasn’t fun.”

  “Yeah.”

  Nathan knew he was taking a dreadful chance, but something had to be done since they’d ran out of food. With resupply imminent, the food stocks on Saint Joan had been badly depleted.

  “Get back here as quickly as you can. All right?”

  “Shall do.”

  “Adroit, out.”

  Nathan stepped onto the bridge and slumped into his chair.

  “Anything to report, Grace?” he asked his D-O.

  “Nope, and that’s the way I like it. How much longer?”

  “A couple of hours.”

  “Good. The sooner we’re out of here the better I’ll feel.”

  CHAPTER 35

  Date: 2nd September, 326 ASC

  Position: The Scaren Archipelago, Northern Quarantine Zone.

  Captain Reinhardt strapped into his chair aboard the courier boat. He would join up with another E boat squadron within a half day. Then he would continue the pursuit of Hans and the Athenian warship. That could prove difficult since Hans had obviously discovered the tracking device. He’d been assured that someone would meet him at the rendezvous with the E boat squadron. Someone who could help locate the fleeing enemy vessel.