The commander said to Steg, “Damn. You’re right. That’s a full house. If it wasn’t for our need to remain hidden here, I’d pursue and shoot them down.”
Steg said, “We can assume they’ll intercept the Xesset. This is going to get interesting.”
“We’ll reposition Wasp; this location’s compromised,” the commander said.
There was a flurry of activity as the bridge team leapt into action to move the starship to a new location.
Weapons reported, “We’ve managed to get a heading on their first jump. I can confirm their course is intended to intercept the Xesset.”
The commander said to Steg. “We should’ve tightened security.”
“I agree,” Steg said. He turned to Dean. “Do you think the priestess’s dose of incense may have been more than merely smoke? Could she have used a drug to influence us? Normally, I would’ve had someone like her under guard and locked away, with a far stronger security net around Attwood. Likewise for Monty’s widow.”
“Hmm. It certainly feels like a forced failure. I agree we were excessively lax, and I can’t account for it. I suspect you’re right. However, we’d need a forensics expert to determine whether we’ve been influenced by a narcotic.”
Commander Gillespie said, “I’ll arrange for Engineering to scrub our air, in case there’s a lingering effect. It’ll take the best part of a shift.” She turned her attention back to her Helm who was preparing to move Wasp.
Thirty minutes later the starship was in her new location, and the three remote drone sensors’ narrow beam communication links had been re-focused.
“Commander, I was certain I’d only have to do this maneuver once in my lifetime. I hope this is the last. I don’t think my nerves will cope with a third time.” Aadan wiped her brow, theatrically.
“Very neatly done, I must say,” Gillespie said. “You’re improving with practice. I’ll try not to inflict a third time.” Wasp was now using the shelter of a gigantic and slowly tumbling asteroid. Other rocks, some larger, some smaller, presumably the remnants of a past planetary disaster, were moving together with their protector, forming a stream tens of millions of klicks long and almost a million klicks wide and deep.
Gillespie instructed, “Weapons, I want our shields up, now. The Xesset may be delayed for a short time while they meet up and confer with Attwood, but they’ll be visiting us shortly.”
###
Tension on Wasp’s bridge increased as the minutes threaded their way towards the expected arrival time of the two Xesset starships. The Weapons team anxiously checked the drone communication links for the tenth time. Steg located himself at a spare command module, and, ignoring the surrounding turmoil as the bridge crew prepared for action, sat back and closed his eyes.
He reached out past the drones, searching for a trace of the familiar evil that heralded the Xesset. Steg felt the passive traces from the waiting sensors and moved past them. He ignored the call of nearby stars and evaded the shrieks from the swarm of asteroids sheltering Wasp. There were whispers from strange, possibly intelligent, entities, far too remote to explore. There was no trace of the Xesset starships. He waited, his eyes closed, his mind floating in space.
Almost to the second of the time estimated by Rose Curtis, the Weapons team leader, two starships burst out of their s-t transit. Their arrival was followed by a third, smaller, signal. Steg assumed it was the fleeing shuttle, returning in company with the Xesset. He estimated the starships had broken out of their s-t jump at least two light minutes distant from Wasp’s current position, near to its initial hiding place. The Xesset craft were close together, which surprised him; he had expected them to approach from different directions. Presumably they wanted to present themselves as a more powerful force. However, the two starships together were easier to locate.
Steg returned his focus to the bridge, opened his eyes, and said to Rose, “The Xesset have arrived. They’re traveling with a third craft—it’s smaller. I assume it’s our missing shuttle.” He provided the proximate location, a three-dimensional reference point. The bridge crew no longer expressed surprise at Steg’s abilities, and one of the Weapons team entered in the coordinates and quickly confirmed the presence of the starships. The team re-directed the general directive array of the sensors, focusing them on the Xesset location, tracking the alien ships as they moved towards the asteroid swarm.
“They’ll be in range of our weapons in approximately ten minutes at their current speed, assuming a turnover if they’re planning on decelerating so they can search for us. If they do a fly past, they’ll be here sooner,” said the Weapons team leader. “I’ll update as they get closer. The third vessel is our shuttle; I did a passive check of its responder.” She entered a command on her workstation and the larger screen in front of the bridge refreshed the displayed starchart to include the relative positions of Wasp and the other craft.
One of the Weapons team, monitoring signals from the passive sensors, interrupted, almost shouting. He said, “Commander, we have indications of a large starship, destroyer size, just breaking out of s-t. Origin unknown. It’s close to the Xesset ships.” The display refreshed automatically, adding the newcomer to the starships seeking Wasp.
*****
Chapter 22
The Alliance captain was a big, burly man, his rough beard hiding a number of scars resulting from starship mishaps and possibly other more youthful misadventures. The stories were hidden in Admiralty files, although rumors embellished the truth to an alarming degree. Now he, Captain Richard Montrose, was more mature and commanded an Alliance destroyer, Defender. He and the warship’s crew were creating an unexpected storm as they carried out anti-piracy sweeps across this edge of the Fury Nebula. His ears itched—a silent signal his suspicions were correct: they were about to encounter more pirates.
He sat in front of a huge semi-spherical viewscreen, relaxed, as his bridge crew prepared to exit their s-t jump. A substantial number of his crew had worked with him for almost two years and their group performance was always professional. Their achievement scores continued to be impressive, raising some envious comments in the inner reaches of the Admiralty. These results served to make him drive his crew harder, and they all enjoyed the challenge.
“I want to see the position of every starship inside five light minutes, within thirty seconds of exit,” he reminded his Tactical team.
“Yes, sir,” replied Jessie Brent. The young commander was totally unfazed by the pressure the skipper was applying. She spoke softly to her team. “Fifteen seconds or you’ll pay my bar bill for the next week.”
“What was that, Tac?” questioned the skipper.
“Just reminding my team, sir.”
“And you’ll pay mine, if it’s more than twenty seconds,” he whispered, sotto voce, yet loud enough for the bridge to hear.
“Damn. I mean, yes, sir.” There was a soft round of laughter across the bridge, quickly silenced as the skipper raised his head, as though seeking a miscreant.
The watch navigator began counting down the seconds to re-entry into normal space, adding to the tension on the bridge. “Re-entry,” he marked, and commenced a second count to add to the pressure on the Tac team. “…13…14…15…16…17…18…”
“Sir, we have two small starships and a smaller craft, possibly a shuttle. There are some anomalies my team wish to check,” reported the Tac commander. She posted the positions and descriptions on the huge screen.
“What are the anomalies?” asked the captain.
“There are three passive sensors. At least, that’s what we’ve identified. We’re stripping their data. They appear to be focused on a location inside the asteroid stream, which could mean there’s a ship lurking there.”
“Find it.”
“Yes, sir.”
He nodded. “Tell your team well done. I suggest you pick up their bar bill next off shift.”
“Yes, sir.” There was a brief outburst of cheers from the Tac team, quickly
silenced in response to the captain’s frown. Their commander continued, “Sir, they’re definitely sensors, Imperial origin, modified. We suspect there’s a ship in this portion of the stream, possibly tumbling with this rock.” She circled the section of the asteroid belt on the screen display. “It’s large enough to shadow a small vessel. We’ll keep searching for it.” She paused to listen to one of her team members. “The two starships are alien. Their species is unlisted. We don’t have details of their craft.”
“Hail the aliens in Standard. Tell them we want to know who they are, where they’re from, and what they’re doing here.”
The Tac commander recorded a brief message and set it to transmit on two frequencies. Her team watched and listened for a response.
“Sir, we’ve detected and recorded a narrow beam exchange between the shuttle and one of the alien starships. There’s a two-minute delay. The exchange is in Standard.”
“Replay.”
“Yes, sir.” The bridge crew listened to the exchange of message.
“Attwood to X One. That’s an Alliance destroyer. Suggest you respond to their hail.”
“X One. They have no jurisdiction here. We will continue searching for our target.”
“Attwood to X One. Can you take us on board? We’re exposed, here.”
“I have another solution.”
“Sir, we’ve detected a particle beam firing by one of the alien ships. It destroyed the shuttle.”
“Put me on the frequency used in their exchange.”
“Yes, sir. You’re on, now.”
“Alliance destroyer Defender to starship X One. We’ve recorded an unlawful attack by your craft on an unidentified shuttle. Stand to and prepare to be boarded. This is a legal order permitted by Alliance-Imperial and related treaties. Defender out.”
The bridge waited; it was almost as though everyone was holding their breath. After a wait of almost four minutes, the alien starship responded.
“X One to Alliance destroyer. You have no authority over us or our systems. We are busy, with urgent matters to attend to.”
Montrose raised his head to examine the viewscreen. “Which ship destroyed the shuttle?” he asked the Tac commander.
Jessie marked the starship on her monitor, and the viewscreen displayed one of the alien vessels circled in red.
“Good.” Montrose entered a code in the small keypad on his command station. “Action log. Captain Montrose. My executive decision, based on evidence contained in the bridge log of even date and time, is to destroy the starship, which attacked an unarmed shuttle, killing its occupants, without any apparent legal basis. If the second alien starship does not comply with my orders, we will destroy it, also. End action log.”
He turned to the bridge. “Prepare for action. Master Gunner, ready tubes one and two. You’re authorized to use beams and grasers for offensive fire. Helm, alter our course and head five degrees to port of the marked starship. Accelerate to point five. Tac, prepare a firing schedule for two missiles. Shields up. Implement.” His commands were acknowledged in turn by each team leader.
The destroyer moved forward as though at a snail’s pace, at an almost imperceptible speed in the vastness of its operating theater. However, instruments on the bridge reported a different story. The Alliance starship leapt into its accelerated motion, turning to take the position instructed by Montrose. The Helm team monitored progress of Defender as it accelerated towards the target, and Tactical watched for changes in the position of their target. The distance was too short for the destroyer to reach the speed indicated by the skipper, and it would be still be accelerating when it reached a suitable firing position for its attack on the alien starship. Their speed would reduce the effectiveness of any response from the aliens.
They were half way to the target starship when the Tac commander said, “Sir, the alien ship has begun to move away. She’s showing remarkable acceleration.”
“Helm, go to point eight.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’re overtaking her,” confirmed the Tac commander.
“Missiles ready, sir,” said the Master Gunner. “Our defensive shields are fully deployed.”
“The second starship has changed course, possibly to position itself to attack us from behind,” said Tactical.
“Missile one launched. Contact expected in fifteen seconds. Missile two launched.”
The missiles could accelerate to fifty thousand KPS in ten seconds and reach double that in fifteen. While they were not capable of exceeding light speed, given a long chase they could give it a good fright. The bridge teams watched as the plot displayed on the huge viewscreen showed the tracks of the alien ships and the missiles fired by Defender, the latter projected to coincide with the fleeing starship in less than sixty seconds.
“Sir, the second starship is moving into an attack position,” warned Jessie Brent.
“Master Gunner, take out the second alien starship.”
“Yes, sir.” The Master Gunner paused, checking his display. “Missile one has made contact. Shields destroyed. Missile two is impacting…now. The first alien starship is out of control, streaming wreckage and atmosphere. Graser team reports the second starship has been destroyed. Just scattered debris remaining.”
“Tell your team I said well done. Right, everyone, let’s find this hidden starship.”
The bridge crew, comfortable in the evidence of their superiority, prepared to intensify their search for the ship they suspected was somewhere in the asteroid belt. The destroyer moved closer to the stream of tumbling rocks, some mountain size, to allow the searchers to focus more resources on their task. They were confident of success.
*****
Chapter 23
The bridge team on Wasp watched and listened, entranced, as the destroyer made itself known to the Xesset. The Weapons team had tapped into the Alliance starship’s transmissions and was relaying these to the bridge.
“That is one large piece of work,” said Rose Curtis to her team. “I hope we don’t have to take it on.”
“Keep focus,” cautioned the commander. “Our stealth shields are good. We’re not likely to be attacked by them—they’re Alliance and there’s a Sicca-Alliance treaty, which provides for Siccan letters of marque.”
“They’ve detected our remote sensors. They stripped all their data,” advised one of the communications team. “They’re efficient.”
Weapons said, “They can probably triangulate on the tight beam orientation and work out where we are. At least approximately.”
“Comms, prepare a message package. Include our ID and the Sicca letter of marque. We’ll send that if they challenge us.”
Steg said, “Commander, I suggest you include a summary of our knowledge of the Xesset. The Alliance skipper may appreciate the additional information.”
“Should we tell him of the third ship?” Gillespie asked.
“Let’s see what dialogue we get into.”
Wasp’s bridge team watched the almost clinical destruction of the two Xesset starships. The scattered debris and tumbling portions of what once were aggressive military-style starships attested to the Alliance starship’s battle efficiency. Steg was inclined to reach out to the destroyer, to assess its systems and possibly to take control if the Alliance starship posed a threat. After a short internal debate, he restrained himself. The destroyer’s skipper, if he detected such an intrusion, could take it as a threat of enemy action, possibly causing him to deal with Wasp in the same manner he had dealt with the Xesset.
“The Alliance destroyer is heading this way,” advised Weapons. “She’s got a good estimate of where we are.”
“Hold tight. Maintain external electronic shutdown. Keep our shields at full power,” the commander instructed.
The approaching starship’s position was being updated continuously on the display, and the bridge was silent as everyone watched the progress of the destroyer towards Wasp. The Alliance starship commenced a transmission as it
approached.
“This is Alliance destroyer Defender to unidentified starship. We know you are hiding somewhere in this asteroid belt, presumably to escape or ambush the two alien starships we destroyed. If your presence is legitimate, you will respond. Otherwise we’ll assume you’re engaged in illicit activities. If so, you will be arrested or destroyed. Respond now. Defender out.”
The transmission looped. Steg and Commander Gillespie exchanged an unspoken agreement. The commander said, “Comms, transmit the data package.” The transmission included ownership details of Wasp, of members of the starship’s command and the mercenary officers, and a copy of their letter of marque.
The destroyer’s transmission stopped some seconds after Wasp’s data transmission began. There as a short period of silence, presumably while the Alliance bridge crew examined the contents of Wasp’s transmission.
“Defender to Wasp, This is Captain Montrose. I accept your credentials subject to my team physically checking your ship. Please exit the asteroid belt and drop your shields. You have my personal undertaking that Defender will not fire on you, unless you do something stupid. Defender out.”
Aadan again took helm responsibility and slowly edged Wasp out of the tumbling stream of mountainous rocks. At the commander’s signal, she ceased the starship’s forward motion once she had moved the ship into the relative safety of open space. Weapons then cut the shields. The Alliance destroyer moved from its position and headed closer to Wasp.
“Defender to Wasp. Well done. You have a proficient helm. We’re readying a shuttle and will be at your bay in thirty. Please ensure neither arms nor force are raised against our team. We don’t want to lose men or destroy your starship. Defender out.”
Fracture Lines (The Glass Complex Book 2) Page 15