Wandering Engineer 6: Pirates Bane

by Chris Hechtl

  The final ship was definitely a tanker. Her class wasn't in the known database either, and the Admiral didn't recognize her. She was a series of beads, three massive spherical fuel tanks with just enough superstructure wrapped around them to keep them together. A small habitat was on top, the rear had three sublight drives and four drive nacelles. She might be a mutt or a Frankenstein. They would know more when they got closer.

  What the enemy didn't know was that Irons didn't need the fuel. Bounty and the other ships had tanked up from his gas giant refinery before their arrival.

  <----*----*----*---->

  “They accepted the recognition signal?” the Admiral asked.

  Sprite rolled her eyes. “You've asked that before Admiral. The answer is the same, yes. As far as we know.”

  “As far as we know,” he said, echoing the qualifier. "Signal to noise ratio? Any issues?"

  “Admiral, they are still coming to the rendezvous. Had they been spooked they would have broken off and shaped a course back to the jump point. That isn't the case here,” the AI reminded him patiently.

  “True,” he said.

  “Opening night jitters?” Sprite asked.

  “Something like that,” he answered, picking up a tablet and checking it over. Bounty had been overhauled, but her crew was far from what he would consider ideal. They were however eager, and sometimes spirit made up for training deficiencies. Or covered them over. They would find out in a day.

  “We'll get it done Admiral. One way or another. We've got some good people here Admiral,” Sprite said. Now that the ship's were all online and the crews taking up the slack she was taking a step back to her proper role as the Admiral's Chief of staff.

  “Bounty, any issues?” the Admiral asked?”

  “You mean with the crew?” the ship AI asked, coming into the conversation. The Admiral leaned against his right hand, quirking an eyebrow. “Since I know very well you are looking at the ship's status on that tablet,” the AI responded. “I refreshed it three seconds ago. No change there. And the crew is fine. Excited, a bit nervous, but as ready as they ever will be.”

  “You are never ready enough for combat. But we'll get it done,” Sprite responded, turning to the ship AI as Defender opened a port in the Admiral's firewall so it could project his avatar on his HUD. “What is your opinion on this plan?” she asked.

  “I think it's risky letting the corvette into our range, let alone dock with it. But if she's docked she won't put up that much of an external fight if things go bad,” the AI replied.

  The Admiral frowned and then nodded. The corvette, which went by an alpha numeric string he didn't even bother to remember, had transmitted it's crew list. They were packed to the deck heads with six additional crew, all destined for Bounty. Another thirty were on the freighter turned collier.

  “The hologram is ready?”

  “Yes Admiral. As you said, we'll get it done,” Sprite replied primly.

  “Very well. I'll stop being a pest.”

  “For now,” Sprite teased with a roguish smile.

  “For now,” the Admiral replied with a nod. “I'm going walk about,” he said, setting the tablet down. “If you need me...”

  “Give me a break, I'm built into you sir,” Sprite said, laughing.

  “Yeah,” Irons said with a nod. “Dismissed,” he ordered, adjusting his jacket and then picking up his cover. He put it on and then went to check the crew.

  <----*----*----*---->

  “How are you today sir?” Lieutenant Commander Alverez asked formally. The younger man was clean-shaven, with a professional haircut and look about him. The black uniform was the only thing out of place on him. That and the gold skull and cross bones earring in his right ear.

  The corvette had come to drift off their port bow, with the collier and tanker just beyond. All three ships were supine, with their sublight drives offline.

  The more he looked at them the more the Admiral was both impressed and disturbed by how clean and efficient looking they were. Sure all had a mix of components on them, but they seemed to function as a whole all too well. As an engineer he could appreciate that. As a Federation Admiral looking at an enemy force he didn't like the implications of what he was seeing.

  “Better now that you are here,” Captain Hathaway's image responded a moment later. “I'm down to my last liter of ice cream and my last two cigars,” he growled. Irons smiled ever so slightly in approval. Sprite was keeping in character.

  “Got them here for you and a replacement draft so you won't be so short handed,” the Commander replied with a smile. “We'll take some of your prisoners off your hands to relieve the crowding,” he said.

  “I could care less about them,” Hathaway's character said indifferently. A few of the bridge crew bristled indignantly and glared at the AI.

  Sprite shrugged to the crew. “Just keeping in character,” she said in an aside through their implants.

  “Did you make any progress restoring any of the ships? I see you have a new capture,” the Commander said.

  “We have a bit,” the false Captain replied and then shrugged. “Mister Blye has been his usual efficient self in motivating the crew and prisoners. We found a pair of replicators on the yacht and put them too good use. Our use,” he said smiling.

  That got a slight chuckle from the bridge crew. The Horathian had no idea what that statement truly meant.

  “We'd appreciate permission to dock first sir, we need to get your warm bodies off to relieve the crowding here,” the Commander said. “I know it's not protocol and you need to refuel, but sir, my engineer said we're pushing it pretty close. We're going to need a resupply ourselves.”

  Hathaway's image nodded. He turned as if to look off to one side. “Very well. Make it so,” he said.

  <----*----*----*---->

  A few minutes later the corvette's force field dropped. “This is the moment of truth,” Bounty said. Enric held his crossed fingers up.

  Irons snorted. “Drop shields,” he ordered. “Prepare for docking. Are the marines ready?” he asked.

  “Ready and waiting impatiently,” Gustov replied through his implants. The Admiral grunted.

  “Closing velocity twenty four, now twenty three meters per second and falling. Range one forty meters. Corvette's speed down to nine meters, four, now three meters per second. We are one meter away. Corvette is extending its docking arm. We have capture. They are pulling themselves in.” the OPS officer said. He tapped his board and then looked up. “Docking clamps are fixed.”

  “You hear that Mister Gustov?”

  <----*----*----*---->

  “Got it sir,” the Marine replied. He turned to his men. “Remember, bridge, engineering then the other compartments. No shooting. Use the stunners if you have to,” he said. A few faces worked and he shrugged. “But I'm not going to complain about any bruises or shed any crocodile tears if anyone is limping,” he said.

  A few grim smiles flashed briefly. “Seriously people, keep your heads on straight and don’t shoot the ship up. You might hit something vital and we'll all be in for a world of hurt. Keep your heads while you kick some ass. Oorah!” he growled.

  “Ooorah!” the marines returned, pumping fists or fist bumping.

  The locks cycled open and a Horathian came through; before he had a chance to look around the marine on the left of the lock grabbed him. The Horathian was struck in the solar plexus and hit with a stunner before he could open his mouth to get a sound out. He crumpled to the deck with his space bag. A second Horathian came through and was also grabbed and similarly stunned.

  One by one the relief crew was grabbed, then the marines moved in.

  Lewis on point raised his stunner and hit the man standing at the lock as he turned in surprise and confusion. Lewis vaulted the body and then used hand signs to move his people out.

  <----*----*----*---->

  It was a tense five minutes of waiting on the Bounty as they waited with bated breath for news. “W
e've got them sir,” Gustov said through his implants. “She's ours,” he said. The bridge crew broke into cheers.

  “But...” Gustov waved urgently. Irons shushed the crew. “But, they got word off with a communication laser to the other two ships.”

  “Crap,” Sprite said. “I can't get into her systems to confirm Admiral. I'm sending in a bot now,” she said.

  “Sir, the collier and tanker have energy spikes. The collier is moving,” Enric said.

  “I think they got the message,” Irina said.

  “Collier is doing a Z axis flip Admiral. They are definitely trying to run for it. The tanker is still trying to get her engines warmed,” Enric said. “I'd estimate they have about five minutes to get them online.”

  “Then let's keep them from doing that,” the Admiral said. “Bring us about helm. Tactical,” he turned to Irina. “Hit the tender with a force beam.”

  “Sir, incoming transmission from the tanker. She's demanding to know what is going on and if it's a joke,” Bounty said.

  “Nope, no joke,” the Admiral replied.

  He had been tempted to let the tanker dock first and then hit corvette, but hadn't wanted a tanker filled with fuel attached to ship if things went south and they entered combat.

  “We can't let them go,” Irina said.

  “We're not going to,” the Admiral said. “Are we locked up?” he asked.

  Irina checked her board and then looked up and nodded.

  “Then fire Lieutenant. Force beam, half power. Target is the collier. Take her shields down.”

  “Firing,” Irina replied, tapping her board. The Admiral could hear the slight change in the power grid as it hummed, dropping ever so slightly when the force emitter's capacitors drained and then drew on a replenishing charge.

  Outside the ship gravitational force ripped across the void between the destroyer and the unarmed freighter turned collier. The force ripped into the ship's shields, ripping and tearing at them, blowing the breakers in her wedge force pods and sending a spike of electrical power from the no longer working pods through the ship's systems. After a moment she was adrift, running lights and engines dark.

  “She's out Admiral. Tanker is hailing us. They are surrendering,” Bounty reported.

  “Good,” the Admiral said, nodding. “Very good. Tell them...” he paused and smiled. The smile was a cold one. “Tell them prepare to be boarded,” he said.

  “Aye aye sir.”

  ACT III

  Chapter 19

  Once the corvette was secure Lewis was dispatched via the pinnace to board and secure the unarmed supply ships. He reported success with the tanker, it had a crew of twelve and all were properly cowed by the turn of events and the arrival of the marine boarding party.

  The freighter went down almost as smoothly. Only one marine was reportedly injured, Yorrick tripped over a knee knocker and fell flat on his face, cutting his chin and breaking his nose. But he hadn't dropped his weapon, and wonder of wonders, he hadn't accidentally pulled the trigger during the fall. According to the rather amused medic, the quick heal was already setting in and he'd be back to bumping his nose into things again by next shift.

  Lewis reported a significant find. In a sweep of the ship his team discovered sixty nine human slaves in the brig and one of the small holds of the freighter. Some were from the eight ships that had been taken in Beta 100 omega and tearful reunions were underway. “That's good news!” Sprite said. “Right?” she asked, turning to the Admiral. He nodded.

  Once the ships were secure the shuttles returned to Bounty with the prisoners and then made a turn around to bring over navy prize crews. There was a great deal of celebration over the irony in jacking a pirate ship.

  The freed slaves were transported over to the ship in small groups. Some were terrified, sure that the Horathian's would show up any minute and punish them if they left the brig.

  It took a day for the crews to settle down. While they did Sindri took a picked engineering crew to each ship to look them over for any hidden surprises. Sprite, Defender, and Phoenix did the same in the computers of each of the ships. What the two groups found disturbed them.

  “Admiral, a moment?” Sprite asked.

  “What is it Commander,” Irons replied testily. He was alone in the wardroom, going over the latest reports. “Do you have a report.”

  “Yes. Commander Sindri expresses his regret in not being here to report in person. We've gone over it, and combined it with our own,” Sprite said, sounding formal. That got the Admiral's attention.

  “We? Who's we?” he asked absently.

  “Lieutenants Bounty, Defender, Phoenix, Ensign Proteus, Lieutenant Gray, Commander Sindri, and myself,” Sprite replied. Irons frowned. That was all the AIs. “It's important sir,” she said.

  The sir clinched it. The Admiral flipped the tablet he had been reading onto the table in front of him and then rocked side to side for a moment. “Let's hear it,” he finally said.

  “Just don't shoot the messenger,” Sprite said.

  “Okay...” Irons drawled. “I'm sufficiently warned of pending bad news. Now spill,” he growled.

  “Very well,” Sprite said, activating the holographic projector embedded in the table. She turned and rescaled the image so she was smaller and under an image of the Apollo corvette as it tumbled on all axis. “We've gone over each of the ships with a fine tooth comb. We have checked, rechecked, and checked again, but our facts remain the same. The corvette and tanker are new construction Admiral.”

  Irons instantly scowled. “You are not serious,” he growled.

  “As I've said, we've confirmed it Admiral.”

  “This I have to see for myself,” he said, holding up a hand. He was shocked; he had to admit it to himself. It just wasn't possible. “Hold off on the rest.”

  He got up and exited the compartment, then sternly marched to the starboard airlock where the corvette was docked.

  He nodded politely to those he passed. Some of the crew paused what they were doing when they noted him in passing, but his stride and stern expression made them hold off approaching him. He ignored protocol, moving quickly. He ducked and stepped through the various hatches until he arrived in the lock.

  Right off he noted the new but crude frame supports. Some of it was very crude, held together with rivets, not a standard of construction back in his time. Still, it could be a slap dash repair job or a desperately quick built ship so he reserved judgment.

  Over the next hour he nodded to the crew but remained silent as he studied the ship and it's components. He found the ship used a mix of civilian and milspec hardware, but the frame and a quarter of the sub systems were new construction. Some of that he had known about from Proteus's prior findings, but this was beyond his expectations and pretty close to his dark nightmares.

  He nodded to the crew and then returned to the wardroom. He sat heavily in his chair and looked at a very sober looking Sprite.

  “This changes the playing field.”

  “Indeed. It also confirms a few things. We're comparing the databases we've captured and cross-referencing them Admiral. We're getting a clearer picture. One we don't like.”

  “And you've waited to tell me this now?” Irons snarled, furious. What the hell were they thinking holding something like that back from him he thought?

  “You've been busy. And we classified it as unsubstantiated until we had a secondary source. Now we do for some of it sir,” Defender replied.

  “Lovely. Brief me.”

  “You're not going to like it.”

  “I'm not going to like a lot of things. That doesn't mean I don't need to hear it. Don't do that to me, don't go behind my back or only give me Intel to keep me happy. I need it all.”

  “Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam war,” Sprite said.

  “Come again?”

  “President of the ancient United States. He would fly into rages if his people brought him bad news, so they censored it. The people in the field
were ordered to inflate the body counts of the enemy.”

  “Politics.”

  “It's happened with flag officers as well Admiral,” Sprite said. “And you are right.”

  “Don't do it again,” Irons growled.

  “Aye sir,” the AI replied, now subdued.

  “Now brief me,” he said, getting comfortable.

  <----*----*----*---->

  When Sprite and Bounty finished their report the Admiral frowned pensively.

  “I was worried about them getting into Pyrax and capturing the yard intact.”

  “That is true. What bothers me is we don't have a commission date on the corvette because her hardware is a jumble from various sources and Alverez did his best to wipe her database. Some of the hardware dates back to our time, but some of the electronics are crude copies,” Bounty said. “Newly made copies.”

  “Yes.”

  “So, the ship could have been commissioned last year, or a century ago.”

  “Now that last part I don't believe. Get someone to do a wear check on her hull and drive. A spectrographic analysis will give you a number on how long it's been in service. And even though you can't get a hard date, you can check some of her back up files and look into the ship's usage that way. Bug reports.”

  “They are hashed. Surprisingly though, the ship is free of viruses,” Sprite said.

  “Good.”

  “But the mess does explain why our virus attack didn't work.”

  “Yes, I realize that,” the Admiral said.

  “Admiral, they could have hundreds, possibly thousands of hulls waiting for the right mix of parts to finish. All mothballed like Commander Logan is doing in Pyrax. And as they bring back their booty...”

  Sprite left the rest for him to figure out. As they processed the booty, the Horathian's had slotted into various ships. They might have even taken captured ships apart for their parts. They were more valuable for their parts than their hulls. “It does explain a few things,” the Admiral replied.

  “Yes.”

  “And yes, I did figure that part out,” the Admiral growled. “Unfortunately, we're not in a position to do anything about it. Yet.”