by PJ Strebor
“Yes, Captain.”
CHAPTER 72
Date: 25th December, 326 ASC.
Position: Aboard E 811. En-route to Planet Spinney. Northern Quarantine Zone.
Orson’s tactics looked like they were working again. With his ability to track Telford and using his Y boat to confirm his location, time was running out for the Athenian. Having docked with the E boat he stepped into the briefing room.
“He’s on the move again,” Saxon said.
“Where?” Captain Coppins asked.
“He left Spinney a day ago and is currently heading due west.”
“West? There’s nothing out there.” Coppins considered the intell for a moment. “He could run south using the corona’s interference for cover. But that wouldn’t prevent you from tracking him, would it?”
“I can find him wherever he hides,” Orson said. “Set course for the corona. If he enters the hyper-free zone I will give you coordinates to intercept him. One of your boats will enter with me and the other two will get ahead of him. We’ll box him in and capture him.” Orson grinned. “This time he’s mine.”
CHAPTER 73
Date: 25th December, 326 ASC.
Position: Adroit convoy, approaching the northern frontier. Northern Quarantine Zone.
Moe strummed her fingers against her console. Waiting did not come easy to her. She shook her head, trying not to think about Nate and the terrible peril he could be in.
Concentrate on doing your job, Captain.
The Commander had agreed to take his stealth boat to the frontier to scout for enemy activity. If Deception was spotted then the giant freighter wouldn’t stand a chance of sneaking past the diminished enemy forces. More stealth-worthy than a monitor, Deception also boasted a highly advanced sensor suite.
Nathan had said these coordinates offered the best chance for the three vessels to slip across the frontier and into League space. The responsibility for protecting both Adroit and Odenwald preyed on her mind. Deception could look after herself. Her comm beeped.
“Captain.”
“Captain Okuma,” the Commander said. “There’s a way through.”
Succinct as ever.
Moe listened as the Commander explained the distribution of the enemy forces. After being months on station, with nothing to do, it had created a condition of lethargy amongst the enemy crews. The oscillating patrol patterns covered as much space as humanly possible, but they were predicable.
Deception led the way. She would check the frontier for any possible changes, then flash feed Adroit with either a go or come about signal.
Moe decided to cross the frontier within normal space. If the enemy patrol pattern changed Moe didn’t want to risk detection from their hyper wakes.
Twenty minutes after beginning their run, Odenwald reached her top speed and cut all engine thrust. Adroit matched speed with her, and prepared to cover her six, if need be.
They were one minute from the frontier when Moe’s comm beeped.
Be a go signal. A go.
“Captain,” Moe said.
“Go,” the flash feed comm said.
Maintaining their forward speed, with judicious bursts of their stern mag maneuvering plating, all vessels crossed the frontier without detection. Thirty minutes later they slowed in preparation for hyper ingression.
Moe double checked her navigation plot. They could make into Cimmerian space in half a day. Nathan’s instincts had once again proved to be abundantly accurate.
Her comm beeped.
“Captain.”
“Captain Okuma,” the Commander said, “I’ll leave you to escort the Pruessen ship into friendly space. I have other business to attend to.”
“Very well.” Her comm went dead.
And good day to you, Commander.
CHAPTER 74
Date: 27th December, 326 ASC.
Position: Transiting south through the Ebony Corona.
Nathan knew the risk he was taking. Saxon could deploy the E boats to bracket him. With no hyper to escape into, he would have a good chance of snaring him. Commander Ryden held the same fears.
“I’m not crazy about your plan, Nathan,” Ryden said.
Nathan sensed Saxon closing the distance with E 692.
“Saxon is obsessed with capturing me,” Nathan said. “That’s our biggest advantage. Obsession clouds judgment. Also, he’s a spook, not a combat officer.”
“You’re taking a big chance, Nathan.”
“Why, Ernst, didn’t you know that fortune favors the bold?”
***
Two days later Orson arrived at the corona. Telford must believe that the interference within the hyper-free zone would block his ability to track him. That would be his final mistake. Orson followed his course from normal space while he awaited the arrival of the depleted squadron.
The E boats turned up twenty hours later. Orson gave Coppins the intercept course to cut Telford off then, with an accompanying attack boat, gave chase into the corona. Telford was so close Orson could feel his anxiety.
Orson wriggled within his form fitting V suit. Although uncomfortable in the extreme it was a sensible precaution. Especially when dealing with someone who’d proven himself to be uncannily insightful. Even within the corona his courier boat outpaced his escorting E boat. Orson steadily closed the distance with the stolen E boat. Something didn’t feel right about the situation.
Stepping onto the flight-deck he could see nothing ahead but empty space.
“Can you scan him from this range?” Orson asked.
From the right-hand seat the tech looked up from his scanning hood. “No sir, we’re too far away. But I have his wake. We’ve got him, sir.”
No, something’s not right.
“Pilot take us into sensor range.”
The pilot and tech exchanged anxious looks. “That’s not advisable, sir.”
Orson gritted his teeth. “Why?”
“Well sir, it would bring us dangerously close to her torpedo envelope.”
“Tech, what speed is that vessel doing?”
“One-third, sir.” Once again the tech glanced at the pilot. Orson fought to control his anger.
“Pilot, am I right in assuming that a landing boat’s top speed is about one third of an
E boat?”
“Ah, yes sir, but I don’t see …”
“Of course you don’t,” Orson snapped. “What if we-re tracking a landing boat? We could be flying into a trap. He’s used that ploy before and badly damaged an entire squadron of E boats. Misdirection, pilot. You will close the range to that contact quickly and confirm what it is. Once you’ve done that you can fall back out of range.”
“Sir, respectfully, that’s an E boat. Her sensor suite is far more powerful than ours. They’ll see what we’re doing.”
“Then do it quickly.” Orson’s uncompromising tone left no question as to his intent.
The pilot looked at him and for a long moment. Orson could tell that he contemplated questioning his order. His shoulders slumped and he turned back to his flight controls.
“Aye, sir,” he said glumly. To the tech he said, “Let me know as soon as you identify the contact and I’ll get us out of there.”
“Amen to that,” the tech said.
***
“I’ll be damned,” Willet said from the tactical station. “He’s closing the range with us.”
Nathan snorted. He found it difficult to believe that Saxon would be so foolish. He hoped the Pruessen would act rashly but didn’t expect it. Saxon’s obsession with apprehending Nathan had proved to be his Achilles’ heel.
“How close?” Nathan asked, although he could feel Saxon’s presence growing.
“He’s still outside of our torpedo envelope but he’s getting closer.”
Nathan slowed the boat’s speed by a half notch on the throttle.
“Come on, you fucker,” Nathan whispered, “just a little closer.”
Nathan sensed Saxon, ste
adily closing the range.
“Rudi?”
“He’s sitting on the edge of our envelope,” Willet said. “He’s just scanned us.”
“Right.”
Nathan push his throttles to zero and rolled the boat over in a vicious turn that pressed the crew over to port. He pushed the throttles to flank speed to rapidly slow the boat and close the range with the courier boat.
“Skipper, he’s just inside our envelop, now.”
Nathan fired a torpedo. At extreme range he doubted it would reach the courier boat but considered it worth a try.
With his boat travelling at such a slow pace, braking at flank speed dropped their speed dramatically. However Saxon’s boat couldn’t say the same.
“Captain,” Willet said, “he’s in range.”
“Gotcha.”
Nathan fired two more pulsar head torpedoes.
***
“Confirmed,” the tech said. “She’s an E boat.”
The pilot rolled the boat over so fast that Orson smashed into a bulkhead.
“He’s rolled over,” the tech said. “He’s braking fast. Oh shit, torpedo fired.”
The pilot attempted to bleed the courier’s momentum by pushing the throttles to maximum. Caught off-guard by the sudden deceleration Orson was flung into the back of the tech’s seat. Struggling to his feet, he stood behind the pilot’s seat.
“Can you evade?” Orson asked.
“Like I’ve said, sir, we are not a warship,” the pilot said through gritted teeth. “If he doesn’t fire another one we have a slight chance of -”
“Torpedoes fired,” the tech screamed. “Two torpedoes inbound.”
“Do something,” Orson yelled.
“I can’t overcome the laws of physics,” the pilot said. A resigned tone, quiet and detached. “Congratulations Commander, you’ve killed us all.”
Orson’s mind raced. No, I’m not meant to die. I have a greater destiny. I refuse to die.
Fleeing the flight-deck, and its defeated crew, Orson fitted his helmet, strode to a locker, got the equipment he needed and stepped into the airlock. He overrode the safeties, took a deep breath and opened the hatch. His body flew into space, tumbling as he did. He caught a glimpse of the courier boat fading into the distance. Gradually it dwindled to a spec and Orson was alone, floating in the vastness of interstellar space.
The darkness turned to brilliant light by dual explosions in the far distance, as the courier boat disappeared from existence in a brief flash. Orson immediately cut his mental link with Telford.
His E boat would be here in less than three hours. Orson waited an hour before activating the mobile transponder.
“No, Telford, it’s not over yet.”
CHAPTER 75
Date: 29th December, 326 ASC.
Position: Approaching the planet. League space.
As soon as the courier boat, together with the troublesome Saxon, vaporized, Nathan turned the E boat on a course out of the Ebony Corona. After two days of pushing his boat east, they were half way to the rendezvous with Adroit, Odenwald and Deception on Cimmeria.
He would find no safe harbor on the planet Lucifer. Except for a few mining crews clad in rigorously designed survival suits, the aptly named planet was unpopulated. No one visited the planet and only the abundance of precious minerals attracted the intrepid miners.
Two days with no enemy activity had Nathan feeling cautiously optimistic. Still the lingering doubt remained. Saxon had survived two hollow points to the chest. Then he resumed his insane pursuit. What kind of a creature was he dealing with? A man who could walk around inside his mind and recover from wounds that would kill any normal human being. The Pruessen organization Commander Spotiswood had mentioned was unlike anything Nathan had encountered. How do we fight someone like that?
He finished dressing and stepped onto to the bridge. Lt Cmdr Krause looked up from his console as Nathan approached.
“Good morning, Captain,” Krause said around a smile.
“Good morning, Werner.”
Krause’s overall demeanor had taken a sharp left turn since Nathan had destroyed Redemption.
“Status, please,” Nathan said.
“Shield buffers are recharging nicely. We should be ready to go in two hours.”
“Very well. Keep me updated.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Taking an access shaft to deck two, he stepped into the mess a minute later. As an indication of his improved status some of the crew said ‘Mornin’ Skip’ while others smiled and nodded.
Petty Officer Blass had done such an outstanding job in the mess that Nathan had made him the full-time chef. He loved the work and was a natural at it. Not only had he risen to the challenge, his meals were always first class.
“What can I get for you, Skipper?” Blass asked.
“Something that doesn’t make yack.”
Blass grinned. “How about some nice porridge?”
Nathan didn’t know, nor did he want to, what Blass did to the navy porridge, but he’d transformed the usually bland mess into something sensationally good.
“I guess it’ll be easier to throw up.”
He grabbed a coffee and hoped that whatever Blass added to it would make the usually sour blend taste a little more palatable. He took a seat opposite Commander Ryden.
“Mornin’ Skipper,” Ryden said. He too had opted for the porridge.
“Good morning, Ernst.” He took a sip of his coffee. “What is that? Cinnamon?”
“Hmm. Makes it almost drinkable.” Ryden pondered over his porridge for a moment. “So, two days without contact. I’m starting to think that we might actually make it.”
“We’ll make it.”
“Then what?”
“Ernst, please believe when I say that I’ll do everything in my power to have the crew processed as painlessly as possible. But this is so unprecedented, I just don’t know what will happen. Pruessens changing sides? That’s a big one. Regular Pruessen navy? Wow.”
“So, it could be a problem?”
“I know someone who holds a very powerful position within the Athenian navy. He owes me one, so – ” Nathan half-shrugged.
“I suppose that’s something,” Ryden said.
“It’s a big something. Oh, you and the crew will have to jump through some hoops but I think you were expecting that.”
“What kind of hoops?”
“Military intell is a given. I’m sure there are people who would be very interested to hear what you and the crew have to say. That will go a long way to showing that your desire for asylum is sincere. You’ll probably be truth tested so that will also help your case.”
“That sounds a bit more optimistic,” Ryden said.
“One other thing, Ernst. I wasn’t here and you’ve never heard of me. You’ll have to say that you surrendered to Lieutenant Okuma after your escape from the prison.”
“You’ve evaded capture for five months and saved Odenwald’s crew and mine. Plus you destroyed three PLF warships which, if left unchecked, would have caused more death and misery. You deserve a medal for all that you’ve done.”
“Medals don’t mean anything to me. I’m on a top-secret mission that I can never talk about, so as far as you and the crew are concerned, I was never here. The same goes for Adroit and Odenwald.”
“That’s a lot of people to keep quiet. And you should get a medal anyway.”
Nathan smiled. “I’ve already got some medals.”
Ryden returned his smile. “Good to hear. So this guy, what’s his name? Saxon?”
Nathan nodded.
“Is he dead this time?”
“Sure.”
In all honesty, Nathan couldn’t be certain of anything when it came to Saxon.
CHAPTER 76
Date: 29th December, 326 ASC.
Position: Preparing to enter the Cimmerian system. League of Allied Worlds space.
Krause asked. “Will they open fire at us?”
<
br /> “If they do my wife will be really upset,” Nathan said. From the helm station Nathan glanced over his shoulder. Krause didn’t look in the least amused. As usual, Ryden wore a blank mask.
Nathan checked his board. “The boat is at dead stop,” Nathan said. “Commander Krause, as soon as we egress into normal space, you will drop the shields. And no active weapons.”
Krause took a short hissing breath. “Captain, respectfully, we’ll be totally defenseless. If they fire on us -”
“I’ve taken note of your concerns, X-O. Now carry out my orders.”
A paused followed by a uneasy, “Yes, Captain.”
In fairness, Nathan didn’t know if the Cimmerians would fire on his boat, or not. Their hatred of Pruessen had been indelibly etched into their collective consciousnesses after the attack on their world from four years ago. It was a calculated chance.
He heard Ryden whispering something to Krause. Probably something like shut the fuck up and listen to the Captain.
“Yes, sir,” Krause said in reply.
“Egressing, now,” Nathan said.
The perforation opened a portal through which E 692 passed through at dead slow speed. Once into normal space Nathan keyed his larynx mike.
“Cimmerian naval vessels, do not fire,” Nathan said. “I am an Athenian naval officer aboard a captured Pruessen E boat. My shields are down and my weapons inactive. Do not fire. Respond to my signal.”
Sweat moistened Nathan’s collar as the interminable seconds ticked by. Then his comm beeped.
“Athenian naval officer, I am aware of your status.” The voice was firm yet welcoming with a distinctive Bretish accent. “Captain Okuma arrived four days ago and told me to expect you. I am Captain Joan Garner, commander of the Cimmerian Navy, outer marker picket. You are always a welcome guest to this world Te… ah, Captain.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Nathan said. “May we proceed?”
“Certainly,” Garner said. “We are activating the approach beacon now. Please dock with my boat when you get here.”