"I'm not sure I know what you're—"
"You have five seconds," Jackson said, cutting him off. The rest of the crew in the CIC was sitting and staring at the interaction in open-mouthed shock. Wordlessly, Peters moved over and began entering commands into his terminal. Jackson watched and could see at once how the operations officer had bypassed the normal failsafes. They were meant to protect against a technical failure, not a deliberate act of sabotage. Once the scripts to counter those commands had executed he shoved Peters out of the way, and not gently, so he could use the terminal and enter his own command codes to fully restore ship functions.
"Bridge," he said after a moment, "this is the captain. What's your status?"
"Captain!" Davis's voice came over the intercom. "Everything is coming back online up here, but that ship has slowed again and is turning toward us."
"Range?" Jackson asked as he keyed in the commands to unlock the Marines still stuck in their garrison two decks below.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand kilometers and closing," Davis said. "It's still hurt, but it's coming."
"I'll be up shortly," Jackson said. "Tell Tactical to get the mag-cannons ready to fire. CIC out."
"You need to get back up there," Celesta said. "I'll go get Major Ortiz and get steering and propulsion back."
"Very well," Jackson said. "Restrain this scum along with that other Marine outside. Once you're with Ortiz, tell me and I'll reactivate his weapons. Let him know what's happened. And get Daya to Sick Bay!"
"Yes, sir," she said, motioning for the bridge sentry to bind Peters and the remaining guard who was still lying face down.
Jackson raced back to the left that would take him back into the superstructure so he could be on the bridge as the alien approached again. He held the .45 at low ready, trying to remember the smatter of tactical training he had received with personal weaponry. Even with recapturing the CIC he wasn't sure if there were collaborators still roaming the corridors that wouldn't hesitate to take him out. The only way he'd get the names of everyone involved was to take Kazenski alive, wherever he was hiding at.
Chapter 17
"Range?" Jackson barked as he ran back onto the bridge. He flicked the safety back up on his pistol and stuffed it into his pocket as he went to his terminal and began entering commands.
"One hundred and ninety thousand kilometers," Lieutenant Barrett said. "Cannons are armed and trained on the target. Capacitors are charged so we're ready to fire at your command, sir."
"Excellent," Jackson said, the relief washing over him as he learned that his ship was able to at least defend herself. "I'm working to get maneuvering and propulsion back. There's still a pocket of mutineers in the engineering spaces."
"I can't believe we're dealing with this on top of an alien ship in human space," Lieutenant Davis remarked acidly.
"That makes two of us, Lieutenant," Jackson said absently as he scrolled through the menus to reactivate the ship's internal security systems.
"Captain, XO," Celesta's voice came over the intercom. "We've released Major Ortiz and his men. They're armed and ready to go."
"Reactivating their weapons now," Jackson answered. "Get the mains back online as fast as you can. Maneuvering jets don't take as long once power has been restored to that system."
"Yes, sir," she said. "I'll let you know as soon as we have anything to report. XO out."
Jackson had waffled about enabling all the small arms on the ship. He was sure the Marines could rush in and take a bunch of Fleet techs unarmed, but the mutineers were smart and determined ... there was no way to tell what sort of improvised weapons or traps they'd been able to rig up. He also didn't want a melee down in Engineering. Better to trust Major Ortiz to do his job and give him all the tools he needed to secure the ship.
"Lieutenant Davis, I assume you've been taking this opportunity to get detailed recordings of the enemy as it does its slow approach?" Jackson asked.
"Yes, Captain," she said.
"Good," he said. "Package that data up and add it to what I've already given you. Load it all to a com drone and launch it as soon as you're ready." He leaned back in his seat and tried to relax and refocus as the enemy approached. They didn't know full range of that damn plasma weapon, but he had to assume the giant tunnel they'd blown through the ship had to negatively affect it. There was nothing he could do until the Blue Jacket could move under her own power, so he forced himself to sit and wait while his crew tried to rectify the situation.
****
"Commander, we have a group in the compartment ahead," Major Ortiz said as he looked at the security feed on a small tile he was holding. "Three of them are armed. How do you wish to proceed?"
"Are any of them Master Chief Kazenski?" Celesta asked.
"No, ma'am."
"Secure the compartment however you see best, Major," she said, swallowing hard. "Lethal force is authorized."
"Yes, ma'am," Ortiz said, also not looking pleased about the situation. "Alpha Squad, you're up. Three targets, no hostages that I can see. Breech the compartment and dispatch all three hostiles. Do NOT damage any of the equipment in there."
The eight Marines that made up Alpha Squad quickly deployed around the entry hatch to the compartment, making almost no noise. The hatch was standing wide open, but the ambient noise of the ship would have masked their approach. On a signal from their squad leader the two on either side of the hatch stepped back and angled their weapons into the room, each taking out a target on the opposite side of the room. Two more Marines rushed in past them, the first killing the last hostile standing while the second swept the room for anyone who may have been missed.
"Clear!" the shout came after less than ten seconds.
Celesta and Ortiz rushed into the room as the other members of Alpha Squad grabbed and detained the other three spacers who had been in the compartment. They'd just secured the Engineering Operations Center and from there would be able to reinitialize the remaining systems the attempted mutiny had knocked out.
"Major, check on Lieutenant Commander Singh," Celesta ordered as she began checking to see exactly what they'd done. Trying to decipher the information without Daya Singh was a bit frustrating as she still wasn't completely familiar with the systems. "And find out where they put the second engineer, Lieutenant Caldwell. He should be here to help get everything back up and running."
As she continued to muddle her way through the process of restarting their maneuvering systems, she heard a Marine roughly questioning one of the restrained techs.
"All the crew that weren't part of this are being held in a storage compartment one deck up, ma'am," the Marine reported after he'd slapped around a blubbering specialist second class.
"Go get them," Ortiz ordered. "Ma'am, we need to press on to the shut-off valve to get the engines running. Lieutenant Commander Singh is still alive. I'll have him taken to Doctor Owens."
"Right you are, Major," Celesta said, stepping away from the console. "Let's move."
"Bravo Squad, let's go!" Ortiz bellowed as he walked out of the Operations Center.
****
"Captain, propellant pressure is coming back up in the mains," Lieutenant Davis said. "We should be good for engine start in less than five minutes."
"Not a moment too soon," Jackson said tensely. They'd been watching the enemy creep closer and closer. It hadn't been accelerating, which was good. After the initial burst of energy to change its direction it had just been drifting towards them. "How's its wound looking?"
"It's still opened up to space, but it's closing rapidly," Davis said. Jackson swore under his breath. They’d had a real chance to finish it off when Barrett's Hail Mary shot had punched a hole clean through it, but whatever it was that performed the extraordinary damage control on the strange ship had already begun to work its magic.
"Lieutenant Barrett," he said. "Go ahead and fire the Avengers. Let them cold coast most of the way and then accelerate into the opening on the starboard
side."
"Yes, sir," Barrett said. "Updating missile programming now ... firing."
Jackson could just see the four points of light as they raced away from the destroyer before they went dark to cover most of the distance on inertia. He was glad he'd taken another chance on his tactical officer. After his bout with near-crippling panic the young lieutenant had performed flawlessly, not only proficient at his job but devising successful strategies with what little he had to work with on the stricken destroyer.
"Engines are coming online, sir," Davis said. "Plasma chambers are all heating up within limits and magnetic constrictors are fully engaged."
"OPS, give the helm an updated course that will allow us to bring our guns to bear on the most heavily damaged side of the target," Jackson said. "Helm, as soon as you have engines I want one-quarter thrust until we clear around the target's nose and then go to full power."
"Aye aye, sir," the helmsman said, shifting around in his seat and adjusting his controls now that he was back in business. The telltale rumble of the mains igniting vibrated the deck and to Jackson there could have been no sweeter music at that moment. She was beat up, but the Blue Jacket was ready to go one more round.
The helmsman nudged the throttles up and angled their course over to come across the target's nose and bring them up on the more damaged starboard side. Jackson looked up at the information Davis had projected onto the main display and saw that they were only forty thousand kilometers from each other. Once the helmsman kicked her in the ass the Blue Jacket should be able to cover that distance in a relatively short sprint.
"Target is maneuvering," Davis said. "It's reversing course and coming about."
"Shit!" Jackson said, standing up. "It's running now that we're underway again. Tactical, send a signal to the Avengers: hit that ship wherever they can land a hit and get ready to let 'em have it with the mag-cannons."
"It's too far out of range," Davis said. "We can't land a cannon shot at this distance."
"Not for long," Jackson said through gritted teeth. "Helm! Run that bastard down!"
"Yes, sir!" the helmsman said with enthusiasm as he pushed the throttles all the way to the stops. The Blue Jacket responded with a roar as her mains ran up to full power and she leapt ahead, chasing the fleeing ship.
"We're closing the gap," Davis said. "Helm, come starboard four degrees and you'll have the inside line to come up alongside."
"Adjusting to starboard," the helmsman confirmed.
"Rate of closure is decreasing," Davis said. "The target is now almost matching our acceleration." Jackson frowned at that.
"Where is it going?"
"Unknown," she said. "It's not angling back towards Podere ... looks like it may be running for open space."
"Or it's getting ready to go FTL and leave the system so it can lick its wounds and come back," Jackson said. "Status on our missiles?"
"They expended their fuel before they could catch the target, sir," Barrett reported. "I ordered them to detonate so they weren't a navigation hazard."
"Good thinking," Jackson said absently as he watched the target's acceleration creep up to match theirs, causing a stalemate. He looked over as Celesta walked onto the bridge.
"All guilty parties have been rounded up and detained," she said. "The ones left alive anyway. Lieutenant Commander Singh is in Sick Bay and Commander Owens said his injuries were non-life threatening."
"All good news," Jackson said with obvious relief. "Outstanding job taking the ship back, Commander."
"Thank you, sir," she said, clearly taken aback at such a generous compliment from a CO that barely acknowledged when someone went above and beyond save for Davis' field promotion. "Major Ortiz deserves much of the credit. He and his Marines minimized loss of life and avoided damaging the ship while suppressing the mutiny."
"I'll make a note of that," Jackson promised. "If we ever make it back to Haven I'll do what I can to see he's recognized."
Celesta nodded, knowing the part he left out was that the both of them might not be in a position to recognize anyone as they were likely to be arrested as soon as the Blue Jacket was dragged into port.
"Sir," Davis interrupted both their internal musings. "There is something up ahead on this course. It's the jump point from Podere to Nuovo Patria."
"That's one of the oldest colony worlds in the Alliance," Celesta said. "There are tens of millions of people there."
"Could this thing really be going to try its luck in another system after all the damage we've done?" Jackson asked. "I would have thought it'd try to run for home, not push deeper into human territory."
"Depends on what its mission is," Celesta said. "Maybe it was sent to test our resolve and see just how much destruction and death it could wreak before we mounted an effective defense."
"A suicide bomber strategy?"
"Basically."
"Let's see if the old girl has one more left in her," Jackson said. “Helm, full emergency acceleration."
"Aye aye, sir." As the Blue Jacket strained with everything she had to catch the fleeing alien, Jackson could see they were beginning to close the gap again.
"If you two are right, we have another problem," Jackson said to Celesta and Lieutenant Davis. "Our jump points are just arbitrary points in space, they don't mean anything other than we know the warp lane is clear to the destination point. The lanes are created by sending automated ships to make short hops all the way to the target and document or clear any hazards. If this thing knows about the warp lanes it knows a lot more about us than it should."
"It did just take out two planets by landing ground forces," Davis said. "It's possible it was able to access the computer networks."
"Maybe," Jackson grunted. "It'll all be academic soon. We're closing the gap quickly."
"We'll be within firing range in less than—"
"Massive thermal build up on the starboard, rear quadrant!" Davis' shout ran right over time of Barrett. "They're going to fire!"
"Hard to port!" Jackson yelled. "Break off, break off!"
It was too late and a blinding flash of light streaked towards them, encompassing the entire main display as the Blue Jacket had just begun to swing her nose over. There was a horrendous impact and everyone was thrown from their seats. Jackson had been standing so he was sent airborne until he impacted the row of consoles next to OPS. Alarms began blaring loudly accompanied by red strobes.
"Report!" Celesta struggled to get out as she saw Captain Wolfe was not getting back up.
"Damage reports coming in," Davis said in a shaky voice. "Massive damage along the starboard side. Two hull breeches along the rear quarter and outer hull damage on the entire flank. Engine four is ... gone!"
"What?!"
"Engine four has been blasted clean off the ship," Davis confirmed. "Half the pylon was taken with it. Emergency shut-off valves engaged and saved most of our propellant."
"We're in a tumble, ma'am," the helmsman reported. "I'm trying to straighten us out."
"Where's the target?
"Not showing up on our sensors," Barrett said. "Radar shows it disappearing right as we were hit. I can't confirm with optics because they were washed out by whatever hit us."
"It jumped to FTL," Jackson said, struggling to get to his feet. Blood was running freely down the left side of his head and he looked to be in considerable pain. "Helm, straighten this damn ship out. Nav, set course to take us back around the system towards Podere. OPS, prepare a com drone for Nuovo Patria. We need to warn them about what's coming."
"Com drones are unavailable," Davis said apologetically. "The hit on the starboard side partially liquefied the upper armor of the hull. The hatches for the com drones are welded shut."
"Can we cut through them?" Celesta asked.
"I'm receiving no status from any of our remaining drones, ma'am," Davis said.
"Have Commander Juarez deploy a crew in EVA gear to the internal maintenance hatches for the drones," Jackson said. "If
they're still viable we'll worry about cutting the hull away then. Am I to understand we're down to three engines?"
"Yes, sir," Celesta said. Jackson went to run his hand over his head and winced, pulling away a hand covered in blood. "You need medical attention, sir."
"No argument there," he said. "I don't think a compression bandage will help with this. Commander, you have the bridge. I'll be in Sick Bay and then we'll figure out what we're going to do to unfuck this mess."
He turned before he could see Celesta's jaw drop at his profanity.
As the rolling battle moved along, the forced professionalism of the captain in front of the crew was beginning to crack and peel. The mutiny had shaken him up more than he was letting on, and he wanted nothing more than for this nightmare to be over. Unfortunately, a happy ending didn't seem to be in the cards. If he could only catch a break on this cursed cruise ... he'd give anything for just one thing to go right.
****
"Captain! Are you okay?" Commander Owens, the Blue Jacket's chief medical officer, just happened to be walking by the entrance to Sick Bay as Jackson walked in.
"I've been better," he admitted. "Can you get one of your techs to patch me up?"
"Of course," Owens said. "This way, sir." The doctor led him back into a room and indicated a chair for him to sit on. He began inspecting the wound and pushing around the affected area, causing Jackson to grit his teeth.
"It's deep, but nothing a new skin bandage can't take care of," Owens said. "I'll have Specialist Ki come in and take care of it and then we can talk.”
"Thanks, Doc," Jackson said. Specialist Ki, a woman so youthful looking he would have sworn she was too young to wear the uniform, gave him a shy smile as she entered the room and began cleaning the wound and getting it ready for the bandage coated in an organic substance that would promote healing.
For so much blood the cut was actually fairly small, barely an inch long and not especially deep. The med tech had him patched up and out of the room within twenty minutes. He hadn't heard any klaxons or announcements indicating the enemy ship had come back to finish them off. He debated just leaving, but he'd sort of agreed to talk to Commander Owens. When he found the doctor, and who he was attending to, he was glad he had stuck around.
Black Fleet Trilogy 1: Warship Page 18