by Jay Toney
"Captain the fleet reports that they are in position."
"Advise the fleet to fire when ready."
"Captain, we are closing to missile range," Tanya reported.
"Amber, bring PDC online, and initiate ECM jamming."
"Aye, aye Captain."
"Tanya hail Red."
"On screen Captain."
"Red, take out the destroyers and frigates. l will keep the cruiser busy."
Red nodded and ended the transmission.
The Crimson Tide had a slight advantage in ship numbers, but not in fire power. We had a slight advantage counting the Lucy and the Vargus. This was going to be a battle to the end. As soon as we were in missile range I launched a spread of missiles. I didn't expect them to impact from this range, but it would keep them on their toes. As soon as the tubes were reloaded I launched a second volley.
"One direct hit Cappy, they are returning fire."
"Damage?"
"Minor structural damage port side aft."
I Launched another series of missiles, and Doc and Jane opened up with their guns.
"Incoming missiles," Amber announced.
**********
Our torpedo boats teamed up together to take on one of the destroyers. They were slugging it out with a destroyer, firing more missiles than the destroyer could defend. It was clear who the victor was going to be. The destroyer's drive plume vanished as the main drives went down. Then suddenly there was a series of explosions, and it was gone, enveloped in an expanding ball of plasma and gasses.
The Hedge Hog had taken damage in the battle. It was being pursued by a destroyer. Red skillfully turned, twisted and dodged, the destroyer evading its fire. So intent was the destroyer on destroying its wounded prey that it didn't notice it was being led into a trap. The destroyer followed the damaged ship, unaware that its path took it into range of the Vargus and Lucy, while it continued to close on its prey. It was a fatal mistake. Concentrated fire from both ships quickly overcame the destroyers shields. Before it could evade, it was left a lifeless hulk.
**********
"Their missiles are not responding to our ECM," Amber said. "PDC are tracking the targets."
The PDC fired a wall of bullets, destroying two of the incoming missiles. Two of the remaining missiles were going to hit us. I rolled the ship to starboard, as the PDC continued firing at he missiles. The first missile glanced off our hull detonating safely away from our ship. We weren't so lucky with the second missile. It impacted and detonated directly on the keel.
"Port side tubes two and four down. Damage repair crews report that they are unable to repair the missile tracks. The keel and hull plating are buckled, on the port side forward section." I rolled the ship back to port, Doc and Jane continued firing at our adversary.
"Doc and Jane cease firing. Natasha cut drives and run and run dark. Time to play dead." I had a plan but it was risky. We would have to get in very close to our opponent."
The odds shifted, they were now in the Crimson Tides favor. They still had three destroyers, two frigates, and their cruiser out numbering and gunning us. We had two destroyers, two torpedo boats, the Hedge Hog, and our modified freighters. Red assumed command not being able to get a response from me. He continued with the attack plan concentrating our attack on the smaller ships.
**********
The enemy cruiser continued to approach slowly, scanning us for signs of life, as we waited in silence playing dead.
"Commander, we have verified port side hull damage and structural damage to their keel. They may have other damage starboard side that we cannot see." Their sensors officer reported.
"Helmsman, pull along side of the Revenge, approach slow in case its a trap. Gunners, keep particle beam weapons on standby, prepare to fire. Electronics Warfare Officer, (EWO), maintain active sensor sweeps. Let me know if there are any signs of activity aboard the Revenge. When we capture the Queen Anne's Revenge, she will make as fine trophy to my collection. If somehow Captain Roberts survives, I'll make him beg for death, as he grovels at my feet. I'll enjoy breaking him, as my slave.
**********
Red was having better luck, the enemy frigates closed on him, and he expertly dodged and evaded his pursuers letting them get closer. By the time they realized they had been led into a trap, it was too late. The Lucy and the Vargus opened fire. The frigate's shields were overloaded and their hulls were opened to space, from the barrage of fire from both energy weapons and cannon fire. They were left derelict, and drifting. Red changed course to assist with the last three destroyers.
**********
The enemy cruiser was now within grappling range of the Revenge.
"Wait... a little closer... a little closer... Amber fire all PDC. Natty get us out of here. Doc and Jane, fire when clear. 30mm and 40mm projectiles suddenly fired point blank at the approaching enemy cruiser. Its energy shields did nothing to slow the ballistic rounds. Thousands of armor piercing rounds penetrated the hull opening it up to the vacuum of space. Natty fired up our engines going to max thrust. Doc and Jane raked the damaged hull with our particle beams. Internal explosions detonated throughout the ship. It didn't have a chance. In seconds it was left a lifeless wreck.
Red teamed up with one of our destroyers. They slugged it out firing missiles, particle beam weapons, and 40 mm cannon. The out numbered Destroyer was destroyed in a brilliant flash.
The remaining two destroyers surrendered, outnumbered with the loss of their flagship. The support craft, having held back from the battle were out of range. They wisely escaped to hyperspace.
Chapter 23
All that was left was the mop up. With our hull damaged there was little we could do to help. Red coordinated the salvage operations. The Lucy and Vargus grappled the derelict cruiser and towed it back to the Buenos Aires system.
Red said, "To bad it took so much damage. I doubt its worth repairing, but there is still plenty of salvage."
The captured crew from the destroyers were taken to Lupin IV. There they were sold to its mining operations as cheep labor. They would spend the rest of their lives as slaves, in the mines. The Frigates were deemed to be in better shape and towed back to Buenos Aires. That left the three destroyers. Two were relatively undamaged, so a skeleton crew was placed each to ferry them back to San Paulos. The remaining Destroyer was towed home by our two destroyers.
"There probably isn't a lot of treasure aboard the ships, but selling the two undamaged destroyers, the two repairable frigates and destroyer will still make a hell of a good payday, aside from the salvage we will get out of that cruiser. l'm gonna have to reach deep into my pockets to pay you and Amber. There is always a battle to fight, and these ships will make a fine addition to my fleet. Still, with the salvage from the cruiser, I'll be all right."
"Natty, set a course for home."
Before we could make our jump to hyperspace, our ship was struck by a series of explosions. Main and auxiliary power went out, leaving us in the dark until engineering could bring emergency power online. Our drives shut down and we were left drifting helplessly. "Ouch! l don't feel so good." Natasha said collapsing to the floor.
"Randolph, Damage Report."
"Amber, what happened?"
"We appear to have entered an uncharted mine field, left over from the war against the Alliance. Our sensors did not pick up any energy emissions from them. They must have been conventional warheads using mechanical or proximity detonators."
Amber went to Natasha's side trying to help her.
"l can't hear my sister." Natasha cried. "Cappy help my sister!"
"Captain, we have severe structural dam
age to decks three through six. We have hull breaches on decks 4 and 5. Main and auxiliary power is out. We are running on damaged batteries, until emergency power can be established. Natasha is offline, I can't tell how extensive the damage is in until we get power and I can run some diagnostics. I have damage control crews patching and sealing the hull. I also have a crew working on getting power back online. Until then we are dead in space."
"Randolph get Kim and do what you can to repair Natasha."
I helped Amber and Tanya carry Natasha to our cabin. She laid in bed, curled up crying. We tried to cheer her up, and cuddled with her, but it didn't help. She continued sobbing uncontrollably.
"Randolph, any luck with Natasha?" I asked over the ships communications system.
"Her cores intact Captain. We are patching her systems as fast as we can. I expect we will be bringing her back online shortly."
"Natty, did you hear that? Randolph said your sister is going to be alright. She will be back with us shortly." I hoped this new information would cheer her up, but she still continued to cry. All we could do was wait and continue to comfort her.
Suddenly she said, "Thank you Cappy, I feel much better. I can hear my sister again. Thank you for helping my sister and I. l like cuddling with you, Amber and Tanya. Can we have sex now?"
The next morning after breakfast I contacted Randolph again. This time to check on repairs. We were still on emergency power, and until main power was brought back online, we were dead in space drifting. Natasha was nearly blind. Most of our exterior sensors were destroyed in the explosions leaving our sensor arrays useless. The damage to our hull made replacing and tuning the sensors impossible, they would have to wait until we were in the repair docks.
"Captain, we nearly got the hull patched up. There is a lot of structural damage. It was a collapsed bulkhead that severed the power feeds. We are still cutting away the damage bulkhead. It has to be cleared before we can splice in new conduit. It will take at least another day," Randolph said.
I returned to our quarters, where I told the girls about the repairs. With little to do for the next day I suggested we get out of our jump suits and into something more comfortable. This pleased Amber very much, as she didn't like wearing them, and only wore them when needed.
"Tanya, Isn't it your turn to be tied up?" I said.
"Yes, it is," Natasha said, excited by what was to come. "We're going to make Tanya happy and giggly." Amber started seductively caressing Tanya's body kissing her, as she slowly removed her clothing.
Chapter 24
It was three weeks before we managed to limp back to San Paulos's space station. The damage to our ship, became visible to those aboard the space station as we approached.
"Tanya, open a hailing channel with the space station."
"On main screen Captain."
"San Paulos Station, This is Captain Roberts of the Revenge. I am requesting docking assistance. Our sensors are damaged and we are flying blind. The ship also has extensive hull damage."
"Captain Roberts hold your position, we are dispatching tugs to bring you in."
With our maneuvering thrusters damaged and misaligned, there was no way we could safely dock. A group of tugs attached themselves to our hull using magnetic clamps. They towed us directly to the repair docks. Gantry extended to clamp our damaged ship in place, and a docking tube extended to our airlock.
Red hailed us while we were still docking. The view screen was full of static, but there was no mistaking his features.
"What happened Captain Roberts? Were you attacked after we left?"
"We had the unfortunate experience of running into an uncharted mine field." Before he could ask I told him, "Amber is fine, she is in the officers galley with the girls. We got lucky, there were only minor injuries."
"Some of the old mines are still quite powerful. Your lucky you survived."
"This ship may be old but she has thick plating. She is a tough old girl."
"I've got the maintenance crew ready to start repairing your ship. They will get your ship fixed up like new," Red said ending the transmission.
True to his word, the maintenance chief was there, with a group of men suited up to start surveying the damage. I transferred Randolph's damage report to the chiefs comp.
"They don't make plating like the Revenge's anymore, but I have a few Ideas. We'll go over your ship inside and out, she'll be better than new by the time I get done with her," the chief assured me.
Red was on the dock waiting to make sure that his sister, Amber, was unharmed. The trio of girls exited the Revenge's airlock, whispering to each other and giggling. Seeing us, they came over and joined Red and l.
He hugged his sister, overjoyed that she was unharmed. "l got your cuts. You and Captain Roberts, each get 1,200,000 credits."
"Natty, insure the crew get paid 50 credits per day, drawable over the next 60 days, I don't want them going broke waiting for repairs to be completed."
Tanya asked, "how long will we be in dock Nathaniel?"
"l don't know, it will be a while before the chief finishes his damage survey."
"Red, I want to sell the Lucy, do you know anyone who might be interested?" Amber asked.
"l might at that. I'll have to make a few calls. Why do you want to sell your ship?"
"This last trip showed me that life is to short. It can end suddenly, without warning. I want to be happy, spending the rest of my life with Nathaniel, Tanya, and Natty."
"Does he feel the same about you?"
"l believe so, I only know that I love them dearly and don't ever want to leave them."
"You know there is a way you can keep your ship and do that too."
"How?"
"You can let some else have the burden of command, and still maintain ownership, giving the orders. Kind of like what I do. I got just the person in mind to be your second officer. Let me make a call and see if she will accept the deal. If she does, you'll get to spend as much time with your new friends as you like."
I suggested we go down to San Paulos and get a suite at the Landsor. The girls and I packed for a one week stay. We booked passage on the first available shuttle going planetside. The ride down was smooth and I fell asleep during the decent. I woke when the shuttle settled on the tarmac. We walked, from the landing field, to the Landsor Hotel, where I had reserved a suite for us. After unpacking I asked Amber what nearby attractions were available to visit. She mentioned a swimming hole with a private grotto nearby, that she always enjoyed visiting.
We rented a speeder, and drove to the swimming hole. It was secluded in a jungle area. There were a few picnic tables were available for visitors, by the lakes shore. As far as I could tell we were he only people here. Not having packed bathing suits, the girls stripped to their bras and panties then entered the cool water. I undressed and joined them.
Amber led the way to a rock outcropping then said, "Follow me, its only a short way." She swam underwater with us following. After about a half minute we surfaced into a small cavern. There was a hole in the caves ceiling allowing just enough light to illuminate the grotto. The cave floor was more than spacious enough to accommodate the four of us.
Amber sat on a rock outcropping and said, "Only a few people know about this grotto. Since I chanced upon it, I've made time to visit it whenever I could. I find it peaceful and calming here."
I hugged and kissed her, thanking her for sharing this place. Tanya and Nattie joined in. Soon we were undressed, making other special happy memories in this place. Before we realized it, time had gotten away from us and we found ourselves in the dark, Natty suggested that we cuddle together for shared body heat, unless of course, I w
as up to making love to them again.
In the morning, when we could see again, we made our way back to the speeder. "Someone took our clothes," Natty said.
"At least they left us our ears and tails," Tanya said, putting them on. The girls would be able to maintain some sense of their dignity, being partially dressed in their panties and bras, I thought. Unfortunately l was left completely naked. It was times like these that made me wish that I wore underwear more often.
"Tanya why do I keep finding myself in these circumstances?" I asked rhetorically.
"Nathaniel, its karma's way of rewarding you, for your sins.
The girls giggled as we got into the speeder. The trip back to the hotel did not take long, and I soon found myself walking through the hotel lobby, naked. The hotel staff stopped, whatever they were doing, to stare at us as we made our way to our suite. This could be good advertising I thought, looking at a beautiful blond woman, to bad de Tomcat was content enough with his lady friends, not to stray.
After showering and dressing, I suggested the girls take a trip to Trixy's, and get some replacement clothing. I had other shopping to do. They were delighted at the idea. Before they could leave I begged, "Get some clothing for Kim, either cover her or uncover her, I don't care. Anything will be an improvement on her."
"Poor Nathaniel, upset by her geeky looks," Tanya said. All three girls erupted in laughter as they headed out the door.
Chapter 25
While the girls were shopping for clothing, I was having four custom rings made, one was a simple platinum band for myself. The other three rings were identical. They were also made of platinum, but with an intricate design I hoped the girls liked. The rings each had 3 diamonds, one for each girl, and were engraved with their names. I thanked the jeweler for his craftsmanship and paid for the rings.