Invisible Enemy

by Ken Britz

  “That’s not good,” Mitchum added.

  “Nothing from the Venger.” Cowan frowned at the medical bot repairing her visor like a spider checking its web.

  Mitchum nodded at Ash. The tech grabbed a handhold for leverage and pushed with his feet. The cut section tipped, releasing a puff of atomized alloy and Tran caught the edge, carefully moving it away. It didn’t weigh anything but it still had enough mass to crush someone if they let it float free.

  Lin slid through the hole, her medical bots swarming after her.

  Mitchum followed her, drawing his pistol.

  A suited body floated inside the fin, and Dr. Lin was examining the readouts.

  “Doctor? Can we power this up or not?” Cowan asked.

  “Just a moment,” Dr. Lin said. The body moved and he saw the star on the breast.

  This is the ship’s captain. Mitchum frowned.

  The ship shuddered.

  “Exec, can you reach the skipper?” Mitchum said.

  The captain’s body spasmed and she grasped the doctor’s shoulder. He realized they were talking on a private channel.

  He fumbled with his pistol. He’d been helping the enemy this whole time. Nothing else made sense.

  “I’m Captain Karine Kenga of the Kuro Hai,” the subspace captain rasped on the local circuit.

  29

  HFSS Kuro Hai

  Rigel B Inner System

  0125 U.Z.

  1254.12.15 A.F.

  This is not going well at all, Reed thought. He, Jin, and Chapel had been just about to extend the port fin and begin final approach to the orbital when the Kuro shifted to real space unexpectedly. And before they could determine what happened, they’d slammed into another damned corvette!

  Kuro fought like a snared tiger, he thought. In the incredible bad luck was good; the port fin was facing away from the corvette and thus undamaged. The bridge might be overrun, but he was safe inside the port fin, and when power was restored to the impeller, they’d wrench themselves free. If that didn’t happen, they would fire their payload at the orbital. There was little else to do, but gods he intended to finish his mission. Damn Kenga and her idiocy!

  He mulled it over, listening to damage control reports and the fighting around the ship. Boarders! It was almost unbelievable, but the Kuro wasn’t designed to fight close range with a corvette twice her size and double the firepower. Reed supposed he could use part of the fin payload to take out the corvette; he couldn’t miss at this range. He could also use the aft torpedoes, they weren’t damaged at all in the collision.

  He decided to do just that that while he waited for the impeller to power up. He ran through the checklist, powering up and reconfiguring the after torpedoes. There were plenty in the bay and a full salvo in launch tubes, restocked after the mine deployment. Targeting points on the corvette to paint with lasers for the torpedoes to home on. That would save him using the attack fin launcher, though the hull might be too damaged for subspace anyway.

  Take care of the corvette, then worry about the rest.

  Ahead of him, Jin manned the command controls. Reed was at pilot controls again and the sensorhead Chapel behind them. Jin’s face was hidden, but Reed knew the astrogator was upset by him taking command. His time as XO had been turbulent, and the collision put his astrogation skills in doubt. Reed reminded himself to put a note about Jin’s support during this difficult mission in his report. If we succeed.

  “Proconsul, we should abandon ship,” Jin said. “If we can’t get her free—”

  “We’re not abandoning anything. We’ll stay here until the impeller is online and the Kuro destroys that corvette. We destroy that corvette. I have the aft torpedo batteries ready for you.”

  Reed’s fingers strayed down to his gauss pistol and rested on the butt, then he frowned at such messiness. He opened a link to Jin’s suit instead.

  “Gravitic impeller is online,” Jin said. “I have control.”

  “Can you get us loose?”

  “We’re the smaller ship. Unless we’re fused to their hull, we should be able to.”

  The impeller purred and chuffed through the hull.

  “I have some maneuvering thrust available,” Jin said, his fingers sliding over the controls.

  The maneuvering thrusters weren’t enough to free them—they’d tried already—but couple it with the impeller…

  Reed continued working through the spacesuit override codes, looking for and finding Jin’s euthanasia. He left it two steps away from execute. He thought about it and did the same to Chapel’s suit as an added precaution.

  “Stand by,” Jin said.

  Reed braced himself, though it wasn’t necessary. He was safe in his creche, staring at that damned corvette, targeting lasers aimed and ready.

  A howl and a lurch tore through the ship as the gravitic impeller took hold of Kuro and yanked. The maneuvering thrusters engaged, and Jin tried to twist Kuro, rocking back and forth. Reed’s suit speakers head filled with the screams of Kuro’s hull tearing. Jin edged the throttle, pouring more power into the gravitic impeller, rolling the ship port and starboard.

  Kuro wasn’t coming free.

  Reed gritted his teeth. He’d have to set the torpedoes to no delay, then—

  WHARUMP. The ship shook and then she was free, spinning away from the corvette. The attack fin swung dangerously close to the corvette and Jin hurried to arrest the roll.

  “We’re free!” he reported.

  “I got it,” Reed said, activating the targeting lasers and slaving them to the after torpedo bay. He tapped them all, spinning up their drives and opening the bay doors. They accepted the targeting data and went yellow. The Kuro wasn’t at minimum safe distance.

  That was something that couldn’t be overridden. The corvette’s weapon ring spun, but she didn’t fire.

  The impeller cut.

  “I’ve lost thrust,” Jin said.

  Reed tapped the comms panel. “Engineering, Reed, status of the gravitic core.”

  “Reed, engineering, gravitic online, ready to answer all bells,” engineering replied.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Jin said. “We haven’t lost power. We’ve lost control.”

  “The attack fin assumes control automatically when the ship’s systems are slaved to it.”

  “That’s correct, proconsul,” Jin said. He pointed to a screen showing a schematic diagram of the ship. “The starboard fin is deployed. Control automatically shifted to that fin.”

  Reed racked his brain. He’d never heard of a procedure deploying both fins, though it had been done in training. In that case, the controls could be shunted from one fin to the other… He scanned his controls for the shunt. When he found it, he ordered it to return control to the port fin. It flashed with the error COMMAND OVERRIDE.

  Command override?

  Jin said, “They’ve locked us out, sir.”

  Reed worked feverishly over the controls, but they no longer responded, and neither did the fin launcher rack. “Who has command overrides on this ship?” he yelled, though he knew the answer.

  The impossible answer.

  He went over his options. He still had communications circuits, and he could retract the fin to its stow position. He could operate the fin launcher manually, but without command control, the payloads would be unresponsive. That seemed out of the question, already.

  He jolted in his creche as the ship to a stop, holding steady at ten thousand kilometers from the corvette on a parallel course. Both ships were reorienting, the corvette swinging its nose around to bring its rail gun to bear. The bow was smashed, the rail gun open barrel wrecked and the forward torpedo launchers crushed. This was the first corvette… But how? They’d come out of nowhere to destroy Kuro. Had the Galactic League acquired some new technology?

  “Orders, sir?” Jin said.

  “I’m going to the bridge,” Reed said. “I can shift the controls back from there. If we can’t execute our mission, I have another plan. You s
tay here. If the corvette reaches minimum range distance, launch the torpedoes at her. You still have aft torpedo control.”

  Jin floated out his creche, considering Reed’s orders. Reed could tell he was teetering toward disobeying.

  “I’ve given you an order, acting captain!” He pulled the FIN DEPLOY level from DEPLOY to STOW and the fin swung and retracted smoothly into the ship. It didn’t matter about Jin now. Reed had to solve the next problem. Every moment that passed seemed to make success unlikelier. He also wondered at his impossible idea… Kenga was alive.

  Kenga whispered, “Get me up, please. Lynn, another stim?” Her head spun and she was stiff and, as always, in pain. Her suit flashed a multitude of red and amber warnings, mostly medical. Her heart raced—the result of Lin’s stimulant. How in Hel’s name was she alive? And why

  Were there GLF spacers gaping at her?

  “What’s going on?”

  “In a nutshell,” Dr. Lin said, “we collided with the corvette. Proconsul is in the port attack fin attempting to get the ship free for a final attack.”

  Kenga grimaced, righting herself. “I’m Captain Kenga of the Kuro.”

  “I think that makes you our prisoner,” the male GLF spacer replied.

  “I still have command of my ship,” Kenga retorted. “Such as it is.” She still had her pistol—through her pain-fogged mind she recalled that she had aimed it at Reed… She shook her head. “If you give me a little time, I’ll surrender to you, but I have to get my ship clear. There are… hostiles on board.”

  “Yes, us. You attacked us, we won,” the GLF officer said. “This is a boarding party.” He had a clipped accent and she guessed he was from one of the Ten Inners. Virginis, perhaps? Her faceplate showed him in false color but she could make out his tag: MITCHUM.

  Kenga mentally chided herself. She was the captain, and she had a mission. She had a duty to her crew, to her fleet, and to the High Admiralty. To Admirals Mercer and Radachi… and Zeng. “I will surrender to you, but you must let me get my ship and my crew to safety.”

  “Commander Amber Cowan, XO of the Galactic Fleet Corvette Venger,” the other GLF officer said, holding a pulse rifle ready with the relaxed ease of a space marine.

  Kenga had heard of the Venger. She’d employed some unorthodox tactics while destroying the supply depot at Tau Ceti a solyar ago. She struggled through the pain & drug fog to remember…

  “Captain Rogers’ ship?”

  “You know him?” Cowan couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice.

  “This war is not so long that I don’t remember his work in fold-space mathematics. He’s not exactly a peer of mine, but it was an interesting choice to give him command.”

  “We’re in a hurry,” Mitchum said. “Commander Javier Mitchum, ma’am.” He tapped his pistol against his thigh.

  “First, contact your ship. Let them know we’re working together to determine the right course of action,” Kenga said.

  “Is that course of action to destroy the shipyard orbital?” Cowan asked.

  Kenga frowned. “That was the… cover. The real mission is to deliver a message from the High Admiralty to GLF’s Chief of Space Operations. A message of utmost importance to the Galactic League.”

  “What’s the message?” Cowan asked.

  “I cannot divulge,” Kenga said. “But I am both carrier and message.”

  Dr. Lin got up. “I can help with that.”

  Cowan hesitated.

  Kenga tapped the communications panel, opening the universal frequency. “I’m patching you through our comms arrays, if they aren’t all disabled… Galactic League Corvette Venger, this is Hegemony Subspace Ship Kuro Hai hailing. I am Captain Karine Kenga and I wish to parley.”

  Kenga crossed her arms at her waist, discreetly putting pressure on her sides. Her temporary coma hadn’t helped matters. I’m getting worse. How long do I have? Hours? Dr. Lin reviewed her vitals, her features a mask of concern. Kenga waved her away. Why can’t this be easy?

  “This is Captain Julian Rogers,” the communication screen blinked to life on a gray-bearded man. He was familiar, though it had been a few decasolyars since Kenga had seen his face.

  “Captain, I have your Executive Officer and Commander Mitchum with me as my guests. Will you permit me to resolve a particular… problem on my crew before I surrender to you?”

  “This is Commander Cowan, sir,” Cowan said. “I’m the one with the gun.”

  “How much time do you need?”

  Kenga considered her next course of action. “Thirty minutes should suffice. If I need more, I’ll let you know.”

  “Very well, I can give you thirty minutes,” Rogers said. “Please establish an outside line to my team.”

  Cowan floated over and punched in the frequency and synchronization codes. She spoke privately to Rogers for a moment as Kenga waited, alternately sweating and shivering in her suit. “Why am I alive?” Kenga wondered.

  “I’ll explain later,” Lin said.

  “Okay, your fifteen starts now, sir,” Cowan said.

  “Very well,” Kenga said. Her fingers danced over the control panel. “Stand by the hatch, please. I have a diversion for some of my crew.”

  Dr. Lin, Mitchum, and Cowan floated out the compromised hatch.

  Kenga finished and slammed the FIN DEPLOY button from STOW to DEPLOY. Wasting no time, she swam through hatch. The ten-second warning klaxoned on the shipwide circuit. “That should give us a minute. To the control room, if you please?”

  “I’d rather you led the way. Your crew is trigger happy,” Cowan said.

  “I’ll lead,” Dr. Lin said. “I can get there faster and tell the crew to stand down.”

  “Will it work?” Mitchum asked.

  “It worked on you,” Dr. Lin said.

  “Fair point.”

  “If you please,” Kenga said through a wave of nausea.

  Dr. Lin darted like a minnow up the shaft through the center of the ship. She sent Kenga a private message. “What did you do to Kuro?”

  “Control lockout. It won’t go into effect until the starboard fin deploys, but when it does, Reed will lose local control.”

  “What will happen then?”

  “He’ll do what I’m doing, only I’m doing it first. All controls are resident in the control room. Normally, I think I’d just leave without him, but I can’t leave the crew and the ship as it is. I’d like to get Kuro away.”

  “Tan, Atarashi and Wagoner can help.”

  “Atarashi?”

  “I’ll explain later, but he brought me some data that proved that Reed tried to kill you.”

  “Reed,” Kenga said, her voice trembling with tired rage. “There are a few destructive things Reed could do, but if he’s smart, he’ll try to regain control of Kuro before he resorts to final options.”

  “How do you feel?” Dr. Lin said.

  “I won’t make it, to be frank.”

  “I came to recover your body,” Lin admitted.

  “I thought I was dead. I’m still surprised I’m not.”

  “I replaced your suicide cocktail with something that wouldn’t kill you. Something I’ve been working on… I’ll explain—”

  “Later. Yes, I know. I got a few hours of good sleep” She coughed weakly. “Thank you for coming for me.”

  The ship’s acceleration warning blared, followed a howling wrenching scream. Kenga grabbed a handhold as the ship shimmied, whined then broke free. She slammed into the overhead as the ship reversed thrust. After a moment, the alarm squalled again and thrust ceased.

  “What the hell?” Cowan said.

  “We’re free of your ship,” Kenga noted. “But I’ve locked out the drive for the moment.”

  They reached the control room, Lin and Mitchum leading with Kenga, Cowan and the enlisted Estaban trailing.

  Gunnar Tan floated in the control room, rifle ready in his good hand. “Skipper?” he said.

  “Captain!” Wagoner barked. “Captain on t
he bridge!”

  Kenga smiled weakly, holding up a hand. “Carry on.” Lin floated protectively nearby.

  “I thought you were dead, ma’am,” Tan said, looking relieved. “So it’s not an all-bad day.” His shoulder was still in splint-mode, but he managed his rifle easily with one hand.

  Kenga said, “I’ll explain later. Please do not harm these spacers.” She punched her command code and put her hand on the comm pad. Her voice reverberated over the PA and suit PA systems. “This is the captain speaking. I am still in command of Kuro. Stand by for orders.”

  “What the hell! That’s not standing your crew down,” Cowan said.

  Kenga turned to Cowan and Mitchum. “I guarantee your safety. I don’t want Kuro in your hands. In return for my boat, you have me instead. Kuro Hai and her crew will go home.”

  “To fight another day? I don’t think so,” Cowan snapped.

  “You can have my crew, if I’m allowed to scuttle this ship.”

  “She’s going to blow the fusion cores,” Mitchum said. On the screens Venger turned toward them, range, one thousand kilometers.

  Cowan put a hand on his arm. “That will take out Venger, too. We have to save our ship.” She turned to Kenga. “I need more.”

  “I have more than you know, if you can get me and my crew out alive.”

  “I can’t rely on the promise of some secret message.”

  Kenga considered her words. What could she say that would convince them?

  She pulled out her terminal and brought up the messaged titled ‘FOR COMMANDING OFFICER’S EYES ONLY’ and pulled up the brief missive and handed it to Cowan.

  Kenga hissed in pain and eased into her creche, the microgravity exacerbating her vertigo, which was not something she was used to. Her condition was worsening. She focused on Cowan, the expression on her face as she read the two line message.

  “Bullshit,” Cowan said. She read it again. “Bullshit,” she repeated.

  “What is it?” Mitchum asked, but Cowan waved him away, staring Kenga down.

  “You’ll have to take my word as an officer. We’ve just wasted several minutes having this conversation. Can I please save my crew?”