"Perfect. We're looking for a full load plus twenty tonnes on the deck," I said.
"Safe travels, Captain. We'll have your fuel and precious metals delivered shortly," he said and closed the comm.
"Nick, Ada, we're about done here," I said. "I believe they've been in contact with the business office, so you should be able to refuel and pick up supplies."
"Yup. I was just notified and we're headed there now. We also have a meeting scheduled with the station manager, J.T. Emre," Nick said.
"What's that about?"
"He agreed to meet with us and talk about the issues we're having with Oberrhein," he said. "He's sending a shuttle to pick you up."
"Understood," I said, and closed comm.
"I'm coming too," Tabby said.
I hadn't had enough time to process and had conflicting emotions about Tabby coming along. I trusted her with just about everything other than keeping her cool when people were being dishonest. J.T. Emre's brother, Atin, had felt pretty greasy to me and I suspected J.T. might be much the same.
"Sure," I said.
"You don't sound too convinced," she said.
"You have as much invested in this as I do. I just need you to keep your cool, okay?" I asked.
"I'll do my best," she said. I'd annoyed her.
We didn't have long to wait as a comm request came in fifteen minutes later and a shuttle pulled up next to the airlock. It was Jeeker, the same Ensign who'd been on watch the night before.
"Mr. Jeeker, you certainly have a lot of duties here. I'd have thought you'd be asleep after pulling a late shift," I said as Tabby and I found seats on the hard metal benches that ran the length of the shuttle.
"Yeah. About that. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell J.T. that I wasn't completely alert when you arrived," he said.
"In the Navy, falling asleep at your post is a court-marshal offense," Tabby said.
Jeeker looked back at us nervously, but didn't say anything.
"We have your back, Jeeker," I said.
"Thank you. What are you meeting with J.T. about?" he asked.
"Claimholder stuff," I said. "We're still working out some of the details."
"Oh good," he said relieved. I wondered if he'd volunteered to come pick us up so he could have this conversation.
He landed in a docking bay that held several other shuttles and led us into the main station.
The finish of the interior of the station was considerably nicer than the exterior, although still not up to the other Belirand terminals. We met up with Nick in a reception area.
"Mr. Emre will be out in a few minutes," Jeeker said and excused himself.
"Did you take a shuttle over too?" I asked Nick.
"No, we're tied up here. Marny and Ada are loading fuel and supplies. I asked them to drop off the ingots on Hotspur, you okay with that?" Nick asked.
"That's probably better. We don't have a lot of interior storage," I said.
"Ah, Gentlemen. Ma'am."
A younger, handsomer version of Atin Emre emerged from a pair of double doors. He had a wide, welcoming smile and I found it difficult to dislike him as we traded introductions.
"Come in, come in. You'll have to excuse the mess. Most of my meetings are about the construction project and I'm not set up to receive visitors," he said.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us," I said.
"Absolutely, have a seat and I'll clear off some space."
The walls in his office were covered with vid screens that displayed all manner of information about Terminal Seven. I even caught the refining station's report on our recent delivery. In addition to a desk, J.T. had a table surrounded by comfortable chairs. Both flat surfaces were covered by transparent reading tablets of varying sizes. In the center of the table stood a replica of a finished TransLoc Terminal and the refining station we'd visited.
"You've set off quite a chain of events around here," he said. "I've already got department heads squabbling about who gets the priority on the finished products. So how can I help you?"
I smiled despite myself. The man exuded confidence.
"The corporation you hired to provide security for the expedition has leveled threats against our company and other claim holders," Nick said.
"Oh? I'm not familiar with that arrangement. Let me take a look," he said, picking up a reading tablet. After a few minutes of searching he finally asked, "Oberrhein?"
"Right," Tabby answered.
He creased his eyebrows and nodded his head appreciatively. "I see here that we contracted them to escort the expedition to Descartes, but I don't see that they are still in our employ. Could you share more specifically what's going on? This is most disturbing." he said.
"Do you mind if I use one of these?" Nick asked pointing at a vid-screen on the wall.
"Go right ahead," he said.
Nick displayed several video sequences starting with Oberrhein trying to inspect the barge while we were over Grünholz. Next, was the sequence where the three cruisers attempted to breach our security perimeter. And finally, Nick ended with the destruction of David Muir's ship, the armed invasion of our station, threats to the other colonists at the swap meet and their direct threats to Loose Nuts.
"I certainly understand your concern and I assure you that Belirand does not condone this activity. I guess I'm not sure how I can help," he said.
"In our contract, Belirand agreed to provide secure transport and periodic patrols of the claim," Nick said. "When we asked your brother about this, he indicated that Oberrhein was fulfilling this obligation. I'm having a difficult time reconciling what you're saying with what he said."
"I think it's pretty clear. When Atin communicated that, it was true. We have since revoked Oberrhein's contract," he said and slid a reading pad across the table to Nick.
"How will you fulfill your obligation to provide periodic patrols?" Nick asked after reading the pad.
"As you witnessed, Cape of Good Hope and her forty-five crew died heroically discharging their duties. It will take us time to replace both the ship and her crew. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but that is the simple truth of the matter," he said.
By bringing up the lost ship and crew, he'd successfully made me feel guilty for questioning why things weren't going the way I wanted. I knew it was wrong, but I had to admire his tactics.
"I feel like I need to be equally blunt, then," Nick said. "The threats against our company and crew are real and we'll be taking all necessary measures to defend ourselves."
"Of course you will and I would expect nothing less," he said.
Tabby started to speak, but Emre held his hand up to hold her off.
"You know what, we're really approaching this the wrong way. I can see here that you've worked hard and under difficult circumstances. We here at Belirand like to foster that pioneering spirit of tenacity and hard work. Certainly, you all have demonstrated those characteristics in delivering on your contracts ahead of schedule. To that end, I believe a bonus is in order. I'll be adding a twenty-five percent performance incentive to this and your next load. Now, I know you're busy and so am I. If there isn't anything else, I'll have Jeeker see you off," he said and stood up.
"One quick question," Tabby said while shaking his hand, refusing to let go.
"What's that?" he looked amused, as if they were sharing an inside joke.
"What role was Cape of Good Hope to fulfill once she arrived in Tipperary?"
He smiled, as if entertaining a simple question from a child. "Security, of course."
"Was Cape of Good Hope transporting Belirand personnel to either Terminal Six or Seven?"
He pulled his hand back from her and looked scandalized. "I'm not sure what you're implying. There are always transfers on Belirand ships."
"I guess I've never bought the accident story and wondered if there was another reason someone would have wanted Cape of Good Hope destroyed," Tabby said.
"A thorough investigation was performed and noth
ing suggests anything but an accident. The people on that ship were my co-workers and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tarnish their names with wild speculation," he said. "Now, if there's nothing else, I have other business to attend to."
"That man is a snake," Tabby said as we loaded into the shuttle with Jeeker.
"Not here, Tabby," I said.
"You should be careful talking like that," Jeeker said. "Mr. Emre and his brother are very powerful men."
"You're right, Jeeker. Sometimes it's hard not to get annoyed, though," I said. "By the way, I was meaning to ask. You mentioned that you'd been expecting us. How'd you know we were coming?"
"Lucky guess. We knew someone would be coming," he said.
"I don't mean to be a prick about this, but I think you owe us a little since we didn't tell about your sleeping on duty and all," I said.
"Frak. You can't tell anyone where you heard this, but Mr. Emre told the chief engineer that you were coming. I heard about it from someone …else," he said.
"Wouldn't have been that cute little gal we saw you with last night would it?" I asked.
"Maybe. But, you're not going to say anything about that are you?"
"It'll be our secret."
SPACER'S DREAM
"Ada, I'm sending a navigation path for our trip back," I said.
"What's with this dogleg at two hundred thousand kilometers?" she asked. "It looks like you're headed to Grünholz."
"That's the idea. It's been awfully convenient that Oberrhein and Belirand both seem to know where we're going before we get there. Remember, Oberrhein ships found the Adela Chen when we went to Léger Nuage instead of Descartes. Now, somehow, Belirand knew when we left Descartes. You have to ask, how'd they know?" I said.
"I don't think Oberrhein has anywhere near the tracking capabilities Belirand does," Marny had been listening to the conversation. "Makes me wonder just what agreement they have."
"You know, just because you're paranoid…" Ada said chuckling.
"Finish the saying," I said.
"What do you mean?"
"The saying is 'just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after you,'" I said.
"Oh. You're just burning an extra twenty-five hundred in fuel," she said.
"Roger that. I want anyone who's tracking us to believe we're headed to Grünholz. I'm hoping to get those small cruisers out of Descartes before we get back," I said.
"Well, I hope it works," Ada said. "I assume you're going to let me scout the area before you try to sail back to the claim."
"Roger that," I said.
The first leg of the plan I'd sent her would take us eight hours to execute. At that point, we'd take a twenty degree turn away from Grünholz and head directly over to the Descartes asteroid belt. By turning at two hundred thousand kilometers away from the new Terminal Seven, we'd be well out of range of their sensors.
"Are we really going to keep playing cat and mouse? I'm not a very good mouse," Tabby said.
The autopilot on the ship had been navigating us out and away from the Belirand structures and we were awaiting the short burn to engage.
"More like a mouse with claws," I said. "No. We learned important things on this trip. Oberrhein isn't operating under contract with Belirand, so we can retaliate without any expectation of repercussions. We just need to get this ship back to safety and then we change our arrangement with Petar."
"I like the sound of that," Tabby said.
"I thought you might. Hotspur is an even match against one of those cruisers inside the asteroid belt. In the open, however, we'd have a hard time getting close enough to do much damage, except possibly with our missiles," I said.
"What happened to the Liam who needed to be shot at first?" she asked.
"Still here. I'll give them a chance to back down," I said.
***
"Liam. Get up here," Tabby called. We were six hours into the journey and I was in the galley making a fresh pot of coffee.
The urgency in her voice caused me to throw the loose items into a drawer and lock it closed. I climbed the ladder as quickly as I could, cursing under my breath at the inconvenience of my prosthetic foot on the ladder.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"I've got sensor contacts, closing in from the aft," she said.
"Are they on intercept?" It was mostly a stupid question. At the speeds we were travelling the odds of meeting up with any ship without it being intentional were literally astronomical.
"I'm taking the helm," I said. If we'd been in Hotspur, I'd never have superseded her, but I had a lot more experience sailing the tug than she did.
"Roger that," she said. "Bringing weapons online."
Tugs, in general, didn't have much for offensive weapons and the Adela Chen was no different. We had a single large blaster with limited range.
"Can you get any resolution on them?" I asked. Under hard burn the Adela Chen's sensor package had a difficult time overcoming interference generated by the engines.
"No. But there are three of them. I don't think it's hard to guess who it is," she said.
"Delta-V?" I asked.
"We're cornered, Liam. They're coming in hot, and we've no hope of outrunning them. They'll overrun us in three minutes. We could extend to six if we ramped up to max burn," she said.
"Frak."
"We can't keep burning. We need to get maneuverability," Tabby said.
"It won't work. If we do, Ada will come back and take them all on. Hotspur will get shredded," I said.
The cabin grew quiet for a heartbeat.
"Hotspur just cut their burn," Tabby said.
I followed suit. Immediately, the cruisers popped up on the vid-screen in full resolution. They'd be on us in a hundred forty seconds and Ada had beat me to the punch, powering down and jumping between us.
I lifted up on the Adela Chen's flight stick and twisted, causing the ship and barge to circumvolve. Under normal circumstances the task would take six or seven minutes, time we didn't have. I torqued it hard and would accomplish it in one.
"Ada, one pass with missiles and then you have to go silent running," I said.
"Don't be stupid, Liam," she said.
"Put everything you have into Stenka," I wasn't going to argue. She would either do what I asked or she wouldn't.
"Marny, can Hotspur take a single pass from two cruisers?"
"Aye, but not much beyond that," she said.
"Liam, maybe we can, but the Adela Chen can't," Ada said. "They'll shred you."
I accelerated as hard as the Adela Chen would allow and closed distance with Hotspur. Tabby's calculation hadn't considered that I'd be dumb enough to turn around and head at our pursuers and the vid-screen displayed the rapidly closing distance between the five ships.
"Roger that. You need to drive Stenka upward with your fire," I said. "Let me stay close on your six. Dive beneath the ships at the last minute. But tell me when you make your break." I turned to Tabby. "I need you to trust me."
"With my life."
"Get in the life-pod and hold on," I said.
"I'm not going without you."
"You have to trust me. I can't argue with you about this. Too many people are going to die," I said.
"Frak you, Hoffen. Don't do this," she said.
"Trust me, damn it. GO!"
The life-pod was at the back of the cockpit, just over the ladder that led down to the galley and sleeping quarters. Tabby jumped from her seat and grabbed my face, giving me a fierce kiss, tears running down her face.
"You better have a good plan," she said.
I laughed, although it sounded more like a cough as my throat was too constricted from the swirl of emotions.
"I do. Don't give up on me," I said.
She clambered back over the hole that opened up to the ladder leading to the galley and sleeping chambers and climbed into the now open life-pod. As soon as she was in it, I overrode its controls and closed the door. I'd pay for that later�
�� if I was lucky.
The deep dark of space exploded in a brilliant show of lights as the cruisers opened fire.
Return fire, target Stenka. I said.
The Adela Chen's heavy blaster blurped a single shot that the Stenka easily avoided. I'd been hopeful that I'd actually hit them, but I knew any decent pilot would see that coming.
I twisted slightly to lift the starboard leading edge of the barge upward. Ada immediately recognized the move for what I intended and allowed me to place the barge protectively over Hotspur. The move only provided a shield from one of the approaching ships, but it was all I could hope to do.
Unfortunately, this left the Karelia with nothing to do but fire at me. On the positive side, we were only ten seconds from passing beneath the approaching ships.
Blaster fire ripped at the Adela Chen and my suit closed up moments before the cabin's atmosphere was violently and instantaneously exhausted.
Hotspur surged forward, all three turrets pouring their fire into the Stenka. Their armor was holding, but taking a terrible beating. Marny's discipline with the missiles was legendary. She wouldn't have time for a reload so she was waiting for the optimum range to ensure a hit. Even with the pounding we were putting onto the Stenka, we couldn't hope to take it out with only two missiles.
I adjusted my flight path to keep the Stenka centered as much as possible. Her pilot made small adjustments that I mirrored and we settled into the final seconds of our tilt.
"Now," Ada yelled into comm.
A million things happened all at once as I pushed down hard on the flight stick. I saw the puff of missiles launch from Hotspur as she dove beneath the Stenka. The Stenka's pilot correctly assumed that Hotspur would dodge down, out of the way. What he or she hadn't understood was that Adela Chen would not be dodging beneath with her. It really wasn't even a possibility, given the location of my engines. By pushing down on the flight stick and with the Adela Chen's massive engines still accelerating as hard as possible, I pushed the barge's front end into the path of the approaching cruiser.
I punched the escape pod's release, flinging Tabby out into space, safely beneath the pandemonium caused by the colliding ships. I also hit the emergency release which should have freed the Adela Chen from her burden, but I was too late. I'd timed it incorrectly and the barge had been driven back into the tug and wasn't letting go.
Buccaneers (Privateer Tales Book 8) Page 19