Reaper Inc.

by Thomas Wright

  "Shawna, is that you? It's Natalia. Is the captain there?"

  "Natalia, dear, why are you calling me?"

  "It's my job, Captain, and I got a new pistol and a knife."

  The bridge crew of the Warhammer looked at their captain.

  "That is great dear, but I am kind of busy."

  "I know, I told Captain Mahajan you were going to kick his ass but I think you should run now while they are arguing with E'Aria. It looks like we can't help you because we are diplomats or something."

  Ben stood listening to Natalia with his arms crossed. It seemed she had just given Aisling the same advice he was going too.

  "Captain Mahajan, it seems that if you want to get to the Warhammer, you will need to move us first," E'Aria yelled.

  "I am sorry Captain Aok, but I have my orders. Mahajan out. "

  "Andrea, the minute they fire, you fire," E'Aria ordered. Lorelei, get ready for evasive maneuvers."

  "Natalia, do you still have the Warhammer on the com? If so, tell her to get ready."

  "Captain, looks like we are not diplomats anymore. Captain E'Aria says get ready. Claymore out."

  The bridge crew of the Warhammer looked at their captain. Every one of them remembered Natalia. Ensign Ellison looked to her captain. "Captain, she has a pistol and a knife and she is working on the bridge of that warship."

  "Oh yes Shawna, to you she still sounds like a teenage girl, but she has been with Reaper for about four months and I guarantee they haven’t been wasted. She has at least four of the best teachers around. I would bet you a month’s pay in a few years she will be piloting a starship and by the time she is your age, the captain of one."

  "I won't take that bet, sorry Captain."

  "Lieutenant Benson, do you have a lock on your targets?"

  "Aye Captain, just give the word."

  Chapter 8

  "Lieutenant St. James, keep the bow pointed at the Mace. I want the smallest possible target always appearing on their screens. Ensign, inform Chief Miller we are going to make two FTL jumps, a short and a long with minimal time in between."

  Ensign responded, "Aye Captain, message from the Claymore incoming. Should I put it on the screen or your console?"

  "Put it on the screen." E'Aria and the Prime Minister came into view.

  "Captain," E'Aria said. "In a moment, one of those starships is going to fire on our ship. When that happens, our status as a diplomatic envoy will be mute. We are going to attack both of the corvettes simultaneously and force them out of formation. We want you to use the opening and FTL to safety."

  "E'Aria, may I ask what you plan to do if we leave?"

  "We are going to run, Captain. With you gone and hopefully safe, we are hoping to draw them away from Anubis. They do not know the capabilities of our ship, we plan on just keeping ahead of them dangling the carrot, and once we are far enough, we will FTL to Hyson space."

  The Prime Minister interrupted and said, "Captain, the Trillond Empire offers you asylum for as long as needed. I have arranged for a blockade of our border and will notify Trillond Naval Command if you can tell me you would wish to retreat there. They will not be allowing any other Colonial Navy starships entry. You and your crew will be safe."

  "Thank you, Madame Prime Minister. We will take you up on your offer."

  E'Aria had been studying the captain’s face and saw a flicker of relief for a moment. "We will see you there, Captain."

  "E'Aria, they have fired on us. If you two are done gabbing, we should respond in kind, don't you think? Safe travels, Aisling," Andrea was yelling from her station.

  Captain O'Shaughnessy smiled at E'Aria. "Safe travels, Claymore. We are ready, go slap them around some and then a little extra for the Warhammer."

  E'Aria cut the transmission. "Lorelei, you heard Captain O'Shaughnessy, let's slap them around. Andrea, 25 percent power on the laser cannons should get their attention. Aft cannons fire on the portside and forward cannons the starboard. Shields at max power. I don’t think they will be as kind as we are. Target their weapons, later we will target their drives once we have them at a sufficient distance from Anubis."

  The Claymore fired precision salvos as it entered space dividing the two corvettes. The Allond, compared to the Colonial and Trillond standard of starship was building more capabilities over their starships. The drives and generators could power a colonial destroyer with surplus in reserve. E'Aria used her engineering knowledge to compare the Claymore to a number of Colonial warships during the months on Anubis. She knew after her research what her ship was capable of, lacking any practical experience other than the trip home from Hyson.

  Lorelei maneuvered the Claymore in a way that wouldn’t give away their advantage. She tapped the thrusters spinning the Claymore while engaging the drive for a second at a time. She kept the ship moving erratically just to irritate everyone, including Andrea and E'Aria. The two corvettes had to move apart by default so they didn’t end up hitting one another in a crossfire.

  "Did you learn these maneuvers in pirate school?" Andrea asked.

  "You colonials are all the same. Three hundred years of shooting at dumb Allith raiders using text book maneuvers the Allith are too dumb to figure out. If pirate school means being chased around, shot at and chased some more, and surviving it for 20 years then yes, I learned something and know what your people are going to do probably before they do it. Being alive, sitting here, means I passed the class," Lorelei answered.

  ****

  The Warhammer eased forward, giving as much as she was getting against the other two ships. Captain O'Shaughnessy had faith in her crew. It was understandable if their hearts were not totally on board with engaging their own people.

  "Lieutenant St. James. When those two corvettes are 250,000 kilometers apart, I want full thrust, then FTL jump number 1. Pick a spot off the beaten path to drop out and make sure it has some cover."

  "Aye, Captain. Coordinates already loaded just waiting for your order."

  ****

  "Lorelei, set course for Hyson and let’s start drawing them away. We should have given them sufficient incentive to follow," E'Aria ordered "Andrea, keep firing at them." Lorelei completed the slow turn and increased speed. The corvette on their starboard side accelerated to cut them off.

  "Increase speed, Lorelei. Andrea, increase power to the laser cannons. Let’s hit them hard enough to discourage their current course. Target the area just below the bridge. Let’s rattle their cage."

  ****

  "Captain Mahajan, the alien ship is accelerating. It looks like Captain Henderson is accelerating to intercept."

  "Lieutenant, notify Captain Stren to break formation and assist Captain Henderson," Captain Mahajan ordered.

  "Captain Mahajan, we cannot let that ship escape." The voice from the tall man in black standing next to him grated on the captain's nerves. He hated having anyone stand next to him looking over his shoulder. Especially a spook.

  ****

  The Corvette Stiletto shook. The occupants of the bridge were not expecting the cannon fire that just knocked them out of their seats or off their feet. Up until that point, the cannon fire had not been much of a factor. The crew began to get back to their stations when they were hit a second time, then a third. Lights flashed on and off and some sparks flew as electronics were overloaded.

  "Damage report, lieutenant!" Captain Henderson yelled.

  "Minimal damage to the hull, no breaches reported. It seems the bridge is being targeted specifically, no other damage to the ship."

  "Helm hard to starboard, evasive maneuvers. Let’s not give them any more free shots."

  ****

  "Lorelei, increase speed to half. I believe we have that captain's attention."

  "E'Aria, corvette number 2 is leaving formation," Andrea reported.

  The Claymore was gaining on the Stiletto. They would overtake it in a matter of minutes. Andrea continued to fire on the Stiletto at the increased power level but made sure to
avoid the drives.

  "The Warhammer has increased its speed to half and is continuing to increase. She is taking fire but her shields are holding. It looks like she will have just enough time to get past them before they close around her," Andrea reported.

  "The minute she jumps FTL, we will increase speed and overtake the Stiletto. Let’s hope all four of them follow us."

  "The frigate is following the Warhammer. The other three are locked on us. Speaking of locked, the destroyer just fired two torpedoes. Lorelei, increase to full speed and adjust our heading to a collision course with the Stiletto." Lorelei already knew what she wanted to do. The Claymore rocketed towards the corvette Stiletto.

  "Over or under the corvette captain?" Lorelei asked.

  "Under, then pull up hard to port and continue on to our destination." Lorelei ordered. "Andrea, be ready with the cannons if we don’t shake the torpedoes."

  "Do you think they will impact on the Stiletto?"

  "I doubt it but the Captain of the Stiletto is not going to be happy with the Captain of that destroyer. We have already shaken them up. Lorelei, give me 75 percent power to the shields in the front, 25 to the rear, until we are clear and then reverse that config. at the point we are out ahead of them."

  "Attention, all passengers. We are about to make some high speed maneuvers in our escape from the colonial assault group. Secure yourselves and any loose objects."

  ****

  Ben walked through the ship checking on everyone that wasn’t on the bridge. Cook was in the galley belted in a jump seat. The jump seats folded into the wall to maximize space and not be in the way. Buddy and Grubb sat in every other seat in the row down from him. He left them to check on the senator and his aide. He requested entry and found them both strapped in their jump seats with a crystal decanter in the seat between them, while each held on to a crystal glass half filled with amber liquid. The aide held the neck of the decanter in a white-knuckled death grip.

  "Benjamin, are we going to survive our departure?" the senator asked.

  "Hell yes, no worries senator. Your captain and her crew have been playing with them. I think they are going to shake them up a little more before we run. In two or three days, we will be in another scrape when we disable them. You will want to repeat what you are doing right now. Just try and relax and don’t get too hammered, ok? It will be over in a matter of seconds and then smooth sailing."

  "Oh ok. Thank you."

  "Sure, I'm going to check on the Prime Minister and Emily now." Ben no sooner stepped out of the room when the Claymore dived, dumping him on his ass, sliding towards the bridge. He saw the door frame of the Prime Minister’s room approaching and grabbed for it. He caught hold about the time the ship pulled up into a steep climb, reversing his momentum and sliding him back towards the hold. He tried using the sole of his boots to slow himself but the polished metal flooring was too slick. The Claymore leveled out before he made it to the closed door at the end and then dived again before he could stand. Now he was barreling head first on his back towards the bridge.

  "Oh shit!" Ben yelled, as he fast approached the bridge. The nose of the Claymore elevated, leveling out the ship but not in time to slow him down. Ben slid head first into the metal console between Lorelei and Andrea. He lay there holding his head, with his eyes closed. When he opened them, four sets of eyes watched him as four faces waited to burst out laughing.

  "That will teach you to disregard announcements to get secured," E'Aria said. Ben stood up smiling, holding his head.

  "She handles great, doesn’t she? No other ship in this galaxy can maneuver like that. I imagine she is nothing special where she came from but here, she is the shit."

  "Yes dear, and that is one reason why they want to take her from you," Andrea said.

  "The Claymore has more thrusters than all three of those ships following us. The three hundred and sixty degree array of thrusters around the nose, as well as along the sides, pushed the ship according to the commands sent from the helm. A supercomputer making billions of calculations kept the thrusters in sync. That allows us to dump you on your ass at any given moment," Lorelei explained, then laughed.

  "Are they following us like we hoped?" Ben asked.

  "Yes, although the Stiletto is limping along right now. The Captain of the Mace detonated the torpedoes when he saw they were going to hit the Stiletto. They were very close when the self destruct code set them off. It probably took out some of their systems with the blast."

  ****

  "What the hell! Captain Mahajan," Captain Henderson screamed. "You fired torpedoes in our direction. Are you out of your mind?!"

  "The alien ship had not shown us that level of speed or maneuverability, Captain Henderson. The missiles had plenty of time to take them out based on the information we had accumulated," Captain Mahajan replied coolly.

  "It doesn’t matter. We have procedures and you know them. Don’t let outside influences cloud your judgment, Captain. Henderson out!"

  "He may be trouble in the future, Captain," the M.I. officer said.

  "He will be no trouble and he is correct. We have procedures for a reason. Another 10 seconds and we may have killed hundreds of Colonial sailors and damaged or destroyed one of our own. That would have all been on my head and punishable by life in prison or death," Captain Mahajan explained calmly, even though his insides were in turmoil.

  Captain Mahajan looked at the tactical display. "Lieutenant, contact Captain Stren for me."

  "Captain, I have Captain Stren. Should I put it on your personal com?" the com officer asked.

  "No lieutenant, on the screen is fine."

  Captain Stren was standing on the bridge of her ship, the Dagger. Her hair was completely silver gray. She was attractive but had a hardness to her eyes. She looked like she’d brook no shit from anyone and had all the sense but no humor.

  "Captain Mahajan, do we have new orders sir?" she asked.

  "You do, Captain. You will proceed at full speed and follow the target and if given the chance, disable it. The Mace and the Stiletto will be following but slower while the Stiletto executes repairs. We will follow at full speed once it is possible."

  "Understood sir, we leave immediately. Stren out."

  The Claymore slowed once they saw they were not being pursued with any determination. The colonials seemed to be on a Sunday drive.

  "When do you think we will see the Warhammer again?" Lorelei asked.

  "Captain O'Shaughnessy more than likely didn’t go far in FTL. She is somewhere getting her shit together and will be headed in our direction shortly, making most of the journey in FTL. I think she will contact us once she is somewhere we can meet her," Ben said

  "I concur," E'Aria said

  "E'Aria, we have a corvette moving in our direction at a high rate of speed. I guess they made some decision," Andrea announced.

  "Lorelei, ahead 50 percent, let them get closer then increase speed and keep us equidistant for at least 12 hours."

  "How far apart?" Lorelei asked.

  "Three times weapons range and look for a good location about 12 hours from here to see if that captain is any good."

  "E'Aria, you ever play chicken when you were a kid?" Ben asked.

  "Why would I act like some creature your species love to consume?"

  Ben looked at her then the light went on. "Yeah, guess you’re right. It’s a game of nerve, let me explain it to you."

  ****

  Captain Stren walked on her bridge to relieve her XO. She had slept four hours, showered and ate. She was going to take the next 8 hours.

  "Captain on the bridge," the marine at the door announced.

  "At ease, everyone. XO, anything to report?"

  "No Captain, they are still exactly the same distance away as they were at shift change. Who are these people Captain? Who is on that ship?"

  "Commander, I wish I knew. Maybe we will find out when our marines are kicking their doors in," Captain Stren answered, trying to ma
sk her lack of information.

  "Captain, you have the bridge," XO said for the record.

  "You are relieved, Commander. Get some rest, eat something. See you in 8." Captain Stren sat down in the captain’s seat and transferred everything to her up to the second. She adjusted herself in her chair, trying to get comfortable. She looked at her bridge crew. Even though they were all supposed to start at the same time, they made sure they were in their seats before her and on their game. Five seconds into her watch, she could ask them a question and they had the answer.

  ****

  Ben stood on the bridge in a four way conversation about how best to deal with the war ship following them.

  "I know the Captain of that ship," Andrea said. "She will follow orders and play it all by the book. She will also underestimate us and try and disable then board us."

  "I still say we play chicken with them. Once we are past them, we come in behind before they can turn around and blast their drives. We can wave bye as we head on to the border."

  "No!" Lorelei said. "I am not piloting into a head on collision."

  "Well, I hope not. You turn away at the last possible second while Andrea is blasting and disabling their weapons."

  "No, she is not!" Andrea added in support.

  "Maybe she is," E'Aria said

  The two women looked at her like she was crazy. Natalia was listening but didn’t care as long as they did something to kill the boredom.

  The schematics of a colonial corvette appeared on the screen. "This right here," E'Aria pointed out, "is where the long-range transmitters are located. The short-range are on the other side. It is housed in the tunnels. That’s what we used to call that area of the ship. Instead of their weapons, let’s disable long-range com and the drives. We will leave them with weapons and short-range coms. This way they can't contact the rest of the group until they are very close and by then, we should be in Trillond space."

  "What if they try to contact the corvette and it isn’t answering? Don’t you think they will hurry to find out?" Lorelei asked.

  "No, I don’t think they will. They might pick up the pace but they won't race to find them. I don’t want to kill them or us, but I really would like to shake them up. What did you say earlier, scare the piss out of them?"