Komi Syndicate (Dark Seas Book 6)
Page 21
He slammed the ship downward at 3Gs, then rolled it under the destroyer before pointing the shuttle toward the front of the stricken battlecruiser. She couldn’t help but enjoy the next sensation, a strong push into her seat as they rocketed forward.
Minutes later he was thrusting the shuttle against the direction of flight as he slid the small craft into the Stennis’ flag officers bay.
The vessel locked to the deck with a clank, and ice appeared on the front viewports as air entered the chamber.
“Struts locked,” the pilot reported. “You’re free to depart, Admiral, I’ll lower the back ramp. Don’t touch any of the surfaces or you’ll lose that skin,” he said to her as well as those behind in the passenger area.
Sarah stepped off the end of the ramp as it hit the deck. “Seto, get to the bridge and take command. If Mors has a problem with that, have him commlink me.”
“Aye,” Seto said as she ran toward the hangar airlock, magnetic boots clinking.
She keyed in the command frequency for her ship. “Sheffaris, transfer Lucy to the Stennis. I want her with me as I examine this ship to log the damage.”
“I am here, Admiral,” Lucy’s familiar voice said from the shuttle bay loudspeakers. “Please confirm that I am allowed to follow your movements through the ship?”
“Yes. Access the Stennis’s analytical sensor systems, and be prepared to answer my questions.”
“I am ready,” Lucy said.
“You medics, follow me.”
Sarah took her team of two medics and an AI through the ship, down the central spar toward engineering. If Mors mentioned that specifically, it was probably a good place to start. Probably near the center of the gamma beam focus.
A lot of the electrics on the ship were fried, the radiation created a surge in the wiring, much the same effect as an EMP.
That thought stirred her creative side. She contacted her ship. “Mister Harmeen, research the possibility of using the Komi planet killing weapon as a concentrated EMP beam, a ship killer. I’d like to know the potential range, energy cost, and a ballpark figure on the construction effort involved.”
“On it, Admiral,” he answered. “I’ll brief you when you return.”
She approached a woman floating unconscious. “Check her.”
The medics tapped a sensor into the woman’s arm, it withdrew a tiny DNA sample. The victim’s radiation alert band was blinking red. Only those working in the outer compartments had the bands, which mean this woman had dragged herself a long way to this point. Sarah noticed the patch on the woman’s jumpsuit. Starboard low defense batteries. A gunner.
The senior medic looked at her, then shook her head. “No saving her, Admiral. DNA’s too damaged.”
“Can we use the anti-rad nanites on the Sheffaris?” Sarah asked.
“She’s too far gone, we’re too late. She needed help within moments of exposure at this level. Her cells are dying.”
“Is she in pain?”
“No, she’s past that. Probably wasn’t feeling very well not long ago,” the medic said, pointing to a trail of smeared blood on the corridor wall.
Sarah closed her eyes a minute and took a deep breath. “Let’s go. We have to leave her for now.”
They moved toward the starboard side of the ship, and the body count rose. The lights were out, and almost all the status lighting on equipment as well.
“Lucy?” Sarah said.
“Can you hear me?” Sarah asked as she pushed further on.
Biofluids floated in the gangways, along with the bodies the ichor came from. Dead faces stared blankly as Sarah and her medics passed by.
“Radiation levels now?” one medic asked.
“Slightly elevated, but close to normal background levels,” the other said.
They rounded a corner, transitioning from a corridor out from the central spar to one that ran along the outer hull. Ahead a few dozen meters lights flashed about as people worked.
“This way,” Sarah said. “Either survivors or a damage control team.”
As they approached a dozen people were working on a large electrical panel.
“Admiral,” one said.
“Carry on,” she ordered as others started to turn around. “What are we fixing?”
“Life support. Down on the starboard half of the mid-section,” the one who noticed her said.
“Have you seen Captain Heinrich?”
“Passed this way a while ago, sir. Toward engineering.”
She thanked the crewman and her team moved on. Fewer bodies now, she wondered if it was because they all survived just long enough to try to flee toward the interior of the vessel.
She’d thought of the possibility the beams would swivel outward. But it’s impossible to lock down every variable in combat. Those nukes hitting the front of the ship were exactly what the grapplers weren’t supposed to do. She wondered if she should look for the guilty party, but then she remembered the beam swinging over the grapplers and them going silent.
The sloppy grappler crew had paid the price, but so had these poor souls.
“Engineering bulkhead is just ahead,” she told the medics. “It’s shut. Probably due to the life support situation.”
They got to the hatch, it was sealed. Blood smears covered the latch.
“Lucy,” she spoke into her commlink.
“See if you can get someone in engineering to open the forward hull pressure hatch.”
“Working,” Lucy replied.
Sarah looked at the medics. “If you’ve never seen this before, it could get uglier.”
“You have, sir?”
“Twice. Once at Korvand, once at Hamor,” she answered, then waved her hand at the ship around her. “This one is worse than Hamor.”
The medics nodded. “We’re trained for Tandella Station. Antimatter burns. We’ve seen a few victims, so it’s not entirely new.”
Sarah smiled, glad she had competent crew members. Then the hatch creaked. Opening them manually could be a chore. “Grab on,” she told the medics as she gripped the latch bar herself. “Pull.”
They pulled and the bar gave suddenly, spinning one medic into the air. Sarah grabbed her and put the woman’s boots on the floor.
The hatch opened, and Kuo poked his head through. His skin was pallid, and he looked like he’d just ran half the day. “Admiral, good to see you.”
“Not as good as it is to see you. Is Inez in there?” she asked.
“Working on a reactor. Number three is down.”
“Why do you need three reactors?” Sarah asked.
“To be battle ready,” he said, then coughed. “The lasers…”
Sarah grabbed his arm and dragged him after her. “There will be no battle for now. Bannick is on his own for the moment. We’re going home to get treatment for everyone. Once there we’ll dock with the Fyurigan. They have the best hospital in the Oasis system.”
Kuo nodded. He looked nauseous.
Heinrich finally glanced up from the panel she was working on.
Sarah motioned her over, speaking when the Fleet Captain stopped next to her. “Inez, this is over. Secure your ship for travel, get damage control on cleanup. We’ll rewire him at Oasis if we have to, but we have other ships. Once everyone is given a clean bill of health, we’ll get our payback. Until then, you’re going to the hospital.”
Heinrich looked defiant for a moment, and Sarah got that. People who trusted Heinrich died here today. They’d trusted Sarah too, but accidents happen. It was part of life being in the military.
“If that’s what you want, Admiral, but I want command of the ship we come back with,” Heinrich replied.
“You’ll calm down, then we’ll talk. Right now you’re emotional. I’ve been there,” Sarah said. “Recently. So I get it. But let’s get help for your crew.”
Heinrich
nodded, Sarah could see the tears in the woman’s eyes, just waiting to burst.
“On second thought,” Sarah added, “I brought Lieutenant Commander Seto, she will secure the Stennis for travel. You both will come with me to the Sheffaris and we’ll talk about this.”
“Are you taking my command?” Heinrich asked, her defiance edging back onto her face.
“Stars, no,” Sarah said. “I’m saving it. Now let’s get home.”
Heinrich nodded.
Which was what Sarah needed to see.
Chapter 52 - Admiral’s Personal Log
AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 12:06:57 29 SEPPET 15332
Personal log entry #1976, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.
Current Location: Deep Space, Mindari System
We’ve taken a terrible hit, the Michael Stennis being another casualty of the inhuman Komi. An as of yet undetermined number of my people are dead. Salphan clearly had concerns that this would push me once again past my limit, but that isn’t going to happen.
I have set a new limit for what I can endure, and I will stand with my people as we destroy those responsible for Mindari and the Stennis.
We are coming for you, Urdoxander and everyone who stands with you.
While I consider Bannick an aberration of humanity, I may still be able to use him to accomplish my greater goals. He is my enemy, but if I can utilize him to meet the need for destroying the Hive, I will.
[A forty second pause]
If Bannick crosses me, I will end him in fire. If he tests me I will do the same. There will be no patience, no respite. The Komi will serve only one purpose now. To evacuate the nearby star systems and save trillions from the wavefront of radiation that will be coming.
[A growl]
The fact is I need him, but I can’t let him see that. The Seventh Fleet simply doesn’t have the depth to undertake this sort of exodus. If Bannick won’t cooperate, I’ll need to replace him with someone who will.
[Twenty seconds of silence, followed by a deep breath]
And during all this detente the Seventh Fleet will need to protect our secrets. We cannot reveal to the Komi the nature of the adepts. We can’t let them know how we kill the stars. We cannot let them know how we move about the galaxy… no, it’s plural now, isn’t it? We can’t let them know we move about the galaxies as we do. If they find out how we do these things, they are one step closer to finding a counter to adept power. My first rule in combat is to know your enemy to defeat them.
We cannot allow the Komi to know us.
Only to fear us.
[A sound AI estimates 83% likely to be a fist punching furniture]
Sarah Dayson the humanist exists no more. Except for my people and the innocents who will be exposed to the radiation front I am creating. There will be no more humanity for my enemies.
I will end them all if they do not fall in line.
[A twenty-four second pause]
End the log, Lucy.
Chapter 53 - Protecting Assets
29 Seppet 15332
“Emille,” Sarah said. When the adept turned to face her, she asked her question. “How long until you can transfer us to Mindari orbit?”
“Anytime you’re ready,” the adept answered.
“Nobody but you thinks this is a good idea,” Alarin said. “They won’t tell you that, but it is deep in their thoughts.”
“Not everyone,” Emille said. “I agree with Sarah on this.”
“On what basis?” Alarin asked. “People are wounded, many dead. We need—”
“We need to support our leader,” Emille said. “And she’s right to do this. I don’t need a basis for believing in her choices. There is much you don’t know, so trust her.”
He looked at his wife like she was an alien.
“Good to know,” Sarah said, interrupting the conflict. “I’m aware of your concerns, Alarin, I’m aware of the concerns of others. This is not a debate, so we’re going anyway. I’m not about to let those irradiated grapplers with the dead adepts fall into the hands of the Komi.”
“So what’s the plan?” Heinrich asked. The woman was clearly sick, despite the anti-radiation nanites she’d received.
Heinrich didn’t have to attend this command meeting. She did anyway, as did Kuo, who looked even worse. Sarah admired their force of will.
“We jump in, nuke both grapplers, and jump out to Oasis.”
“Are you sure we should have sent the Stennis on home?” Kuo asked.
“Do you think he could fight?” Sarah replied. “Seriously, we might be a destroyer, but we pack a punch.” She shook her head. “Or is it that you’ve lost confidence in me?”
“That’s not it,” he protested. “I am upset you believe I could think that about you.”
Sarah shook her head. “I don’t. I’m just trying to brain punch you so you’ll listen to me.”
“Please don’t brain punch me,” Kuo said as he grabbed his head.
He looked pathetic.
“We have the coordinates,” Harmeen mentioned, directing them back to business. “I’ve predicted the drift of the grapplers and their possible locations along their orbit, we should come in pretty close to the center point between them.”
“Do we know what the enemy cruisers have been doing?” she asked.
Harmeen seemed to be very much on top of the situation. Good. Sarah liked that in her captains. “The system fleets are moving toward Mindari to better defend the two remaining gamma cruisers, who have been joining with FTL ships and retreating. It’s possible the remaining Komi navy will see us when we drop in, but unless they’ve moved into higher orbit, we should have plenty of space between us and them at first.”
“Gamma cruisers. That’s a good name for them, we’ll use that,” Sarah said. “So why are we still here? We need to get this done and get home to lick our wounds.”
“Permission to sit on the bridge,” Heinrich requested. “I’d like to see this small ship in action.”
“Granted,” Sarah said. “Unless there is something else, this meeting is dismissed. Everyone who belongs on the bridge be at your stations in five minutes. Captain Harmeen, take us to battlestations.”
Harmeen nodded as he got up to leave, hitting his commlink at the same time. “Battlestations. All hands battlestations. Set condition one, release the safeties on the antimatter missile batteries.”
Everyone left except Salphan, who stayed behind to see to Sarah.
“You’re risking a lot to destroy some dead bodies.”
“It wouldn’t take much for the Komi to do an autopsy on the bodies of the adepts. And if the DNA is intact, grow their own adepts in a lab if they figure out you are the next step in evolution,” Sarah said.
“Not everyone thinks that concern is valid,” Salphan replied. “The two doctors still alive on the other ship think that DNA exposed at those levels would be too damaged to reconstruct.”
“They are not in command. I am. And do you know what DNA is?” Sarah asked him.
“Nope. I’m just repeating what I heard. But the gist of it is that you’re taking a risk for a very remote danger.”
“The only acceptable risk when it comes to the Komi getting their hands on adept DNA is zero.”
“You’re the boss,” he said in resignation.
She kissed him quickly, then pushed herself toward the door. “Don’t you forget that.”
He laughed. “Nobody can forget that.”
She smiled as he followed her to the bridge. In all the pain and suffering she’d seen today, her tight knit crews and Salphan were a silver lining.
Chapter 54 - Eternity
29 Seppet 15332
“Two cruisers, Captain,” Algiss reported. “One-four-eight mark three-one-zero, seventy thousand klicks. The other two-nine-four mark one-nine-four, a hundred and five thousand.”
“Target them, Mister Algiss, fire three birds per on lock,�
�� Harmeen ordered.
“Aye,” the young officer responded. “Their ECM is pegged, Captain, I can’t get a solid lock.”
“We’re an ELINT destroyer, Mister, put it to work.”
“I have, sir. These cruisers are taking electronic warfare to epic levels,” Algiss replied.
“They are locking onto us and firing,” Heinrich said, filling in at Seto’s position. “Railguns only.”
Harmeen felt strange ordering the superior officer filling in as his XO, but these were strange times. “On screen.”
“Magnifying,” Heinrich said. “And now the other on the starboard screen…”
The images were of standard Komi designed cruisers. The elegant shapes of the ships belied the brutal government and ruthlessness behind them.
“Probably not a real lock on us, we’re as good at ECM as they are. It’s just a pattern laid down to maximize their hit probability on us. Time until their fire gets here?” Harmeen asked.
“Do you have lock on the grapplers?” Sarah interjected. “We are here to kill them and get out.”
Ouch. That stung. That was why they were here, not to fight the cruisers.
“Fourteen minutes, roughly, before the nearer cruiser’s fire gets to our position,” Algiss reported.
“Then let’s not stay that long.” Harmeen tossed the tactical map to the main screen. It was clear from the positioning of the cruisers they were guarding the grapplers, probably until a Komi ship with a hangar large enough to hold them showed up. One cruiser on guard per grappler.
“Range to the nearest of our mission targets?” he asked.
“Sixty-eight thousand,” Algiss answered.
“Emille, prepare to transfer us again. To the nearest battlecruiser,” Harmeen ordered. “Mister Algiss, advise when the cruiser, designate ‘target one’, stops firing. We will move inside their previous fire and take them out along with the grappler near that ship.”
He couldn’t help but see Admiral Dayson’s nod. She liked the plan.
“Can you transfer us several more times in rapid succession?” he heard Algiss asking Emille.